e e e good evening we'd like to call the meeting to order and welcome everyone this meeting is being held in ordance with the schedule of meetings adopted at the organizational meeting held on January 3rd 2024 adequate notice of this regular meeting of the Kenworth board of education has been provided to the home News Tribune The Star Ledger the local Source on January 11th 2024 a copy has been filed with the kennworth burrow clerk posted in the board office the kennworth burough Hall brly and Harding schools as is provided by the open public meetings act thank you Mr Gala please join us and rise to Sol flag Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Mr Galo can we please have roll call yes berer here David here Drogan here Ferrar hather here Madi here Pichi here te here Zimmerman here we have Quorum thank you at this point we will now have the receiving of the minutes for March 11th and 19 2024 may I please have a motion to accept the receiving of the minutes motion to accept can I have March 4th I'm sorry March 4th and 11th sorry correct receiving of the minutes for March 4th and 11th 2024 motion made by m Drogan yes seconded by Mrs te all those in favor please say I I oppose eyes have it motions carry may I please have a motion to accept the committee Norm meeting notes motion second second okay motion made by Mr biner seconded by Mrs Drogan all those in favor of accepting the committee meeting notes please say I okay oppose eyes have it motion carried Mr ganel do we have any public correspondence this evening um we uh do not okay perfect thank you very much uh before we have the superintendent's reports and presentations I just like to make a brief statement board members please be informed that any information that is in your folder or in your Friday folders that is sent out or marked confidential are not to be discussed in the open session during the public meeting as per New Jersey ethics code njsa 18a 12-24 at this time Mr Arlington we have your report and presentations thanks thank you good evening everybody it's good to see everyone uh we have a Full Slate of presentations tonight so we're looking forward to getting started right away and we'll start with Harding's executive student council board uh here to introduce them and some of the good work they are doing for their school and Community is their adviser Mrs Gina Folgar okay good evening uh thank you for having us I'm Gina Folgar and I'm the proud advisor of our wonderful student council at Harding this is my 14th year doing student council and each year our elected group of students continue to shine this year our group is made up of 18 students in grades 4 through six we have four executive board positions we have a president vice president Treasurer and secretary and our four executive board members are here and I'll introduce them one at a time and they're going to come up and tell you a little bit about student council in our program so we'll start with uh Leon Obi and our president good evening I am Leon obien and I am the President of the student council the student council is a great organization because it allows students to lead our school through certain events we organize events fundraisers and work on projects to improve the school being part of the student council is a great way to develop leadership skills make a difference in your school and to have a fun with your friends this is why the student council is a great organization Thank You Leon and he is one of our sixth graders so I'm going to be sad to see him go uh next up we have our vice president Abby [Applause] gribin good evening my name is Abby gin and I'm the vice president of the student council the process of running and voting takes a while to run we have to be in a good behavioral and academic St standing to run for the executive board we have to make two posters write a speech and get three teacher recommendations we hang the posters up around the second floor and on Election Day we read our speech in front of the whole fourth fifth and sixth grade students then fill out a Google form on who they think should get what position the election process is a fun way to have students have a say and who gets a help with fundraisers and fundraisers and other stuff the student council does another sixth grader I'm so sad to see go uh next up is our Treasurer Arya feroli [Applause] good evening my name is Arya foli and I am the treasurer for the Harding student council I am here to talk about our successful food drive it was a Super Bowl the student council members started by handing out flyers around the school to advertise this food drive next we set up tables representing the two teams the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers as the donation poured in students placed their donations donated item on the team table they predicted to win we received so much food that it was almost impossible to count all food went to the elur soup kitchen the soup kitchen distributed all of the donations to Cranford Family Care to help those families in difficult circumstances without the community we even received a thank youo expressing how all donations were appreciated and made people very happy we have a longstanding relationship with the Cranford Elora soup kitchen and they are always so thankful for all we do to help out the Harding student council is proud of this event because it involves their student body taking part in an effort to help the community thank you for your time and have a great rest of your [Applause] evening okay and our last executive board members our secretary Angelina friia good evening my name is Angelina Frio and I'm the secretary for the Harding student council this March we held a spirit world contest for the students here at Harding as a chance to show their creativity and T talent for the entire School the theme was kindness around Harding and there were many amazing drawings submitted though one really stood out to us which was made by Karly Rivera a fifth grade student in Mrs deer's class we're going to use the money collected from the profit of the items we sold to buy of equipment for the kids here so all of our executive board members are sixth graders I don't think it's been like that in many many years so I feel um it's it's a Bittersweet uh moment for them at the end of this student council year that they'll be moving on um over here at brle and I hope that they'll continue their student council Journey um so our spirit Weare sale that Angelina was just talking about um we're going to in May um sorry we're looking forward to our student our spirit Weare sale which will be underway this month we're going to be selling different items um that will have that design on it that was created by one of the students and in May our student council will take a trip to burrow Hall to learn all about the facets of our local government and the Harding student council goes above and beyond every year and this year is no different we want to thank you for having us tonight at the Board of Education meeting and we're always so grateful and appreciative of the continued support we received from the community every year so thank you thank you very [Applause] much thank you guys it sounds like you're doing a lot of good work and we're really proud of that of those efforts yeah Miss Fogo we were just discussing if each of you had to give a piece of advice to the students that were taking over your positions next year what might it be some advice for school or for government or for something that you've learned always get help I really couldn't make my speech without my parents they really helped me a lot you're not alone always try your hardest and uh do your best for represent your constituents be okay resilient and something that we're really talking about this year is making sure their voice so amongst the students in our school um adults in our school and just making sure that they're always on their best very inspiring thank you yeah great [Applause] job I love vs thank you you should do a back picture of the titles to and this was all them this year they they wanted so badly their titles on the back so we were able to make that happen this year don't worry parents will hold them in place for a moment you'll get a shot too all right now everyone's got to stay put for the mom and dad sh that's okay you can Photoshop it oh that's a good idea that's you can give them the do you mind giving little tokens thank you guys well done thank you congratulations everybody we always keep an extra bag for Nan uh so man you're up with your at least uh least we can do for being the student representative to the board so if you'd like to give you a report um feel free to do so thanks Mr than you Mr good evening everyone I hope you enjoyed your Eclipse day I just have some notes uh before spring break really held a wonderful Women's Day celebration in honor of women's history month we welcomed guests speakers experienced several art performances including poetry and dance and honored several exemplary women in the lives of our students special thanks to miss EK and Miss B pado for their work in leading the event the middle school held a very successful March Madness basketball tournament and the seniors held their senior dinner at Galloping Hill Golf Course coming up next week is spring spirit week and the dress days are as follows Monday will be decades day so dress like they did in a particular decade Tuesday will be anything but a backpack day that's always fun Wednesday is twin day SLG group day Thursday is students dress as teachers and teachers dress as students Friday is soccer mom versus barbecue Dad I think that's going to be interesting the Spring Middle School Dance is scheduled for Friday April 19th and AP student students are busy and uh preparing and studying for their upcoming AP tests the first one will be May 7th in the world of college admissions and postsecondary planning the F this Friday BR is holding a scholarship application Workshop this is an opportunity for all seniors to engage with the school counseling department to work collaboratively on finding and applying for Scholarships in two weeks br will once again run an SAT boot camp for any interested Junior the SAT boot camp will begin on the last full week of April and meet twice per week until the June 1st sat which will be at brly that's all thank you have a good [Applause] evening anyone have questions for Nan about his report no thanks m r thanks ma uh spring approaches uh the time of year sets into motion a variety of end of Year celebrations in the next couple of months we'll look to celebrate our valedictorian and salutatorian scholar athletes and our retired faculty and staff but tonight we'll kick off the celebration season by honoring our Educators and Educational Service Professionals of the year uh representing Harding um please introduce assistant principal Carrera will begin the recognition good evening everyone and I want to thank Mrs folgard for coming tonight with our student council and Echo everything she said about our sixth grade leaders because not only did they serve on student council but they are actively involved every month in our seal assemblies too supporting our Hawk Pride and um helping our younger students with behavioral expectations and I too will miss them next year they are true leaders in our building and Role Models so thank you for coming tonight what a great night that we get to honor and talk about our teacher of the year and our education specialist I have the pleasure of talking about Mrs ventur tonight so Miriam Webster well deserved well deserved Mariam Webster defines a beacon as a source of light or inspiration I see a beacon as a person who shines their light and in turn inspires and guides others for the past nine years Michelle Ventura has been a Guiding Light in the lives of our fourth grade students at Harding School recogniz as teacher of the year Mrs Ventura's Journey has been one marked by tireless efforts and a genuine love for her students a parent who nominated Mrs ventur expressed her gratitude stting Mrs ventur Works tirelessly with my son patiently guiding him until he triumphed over every new skill her approach isn't just about teaching it's about instilling confidence and fostering a love of learning that lasts a lifetime I can't look at Michelle cry but it isn't just her teaching prowess that shines it's her profound compassion Mrs rentur takes the time to know the unique personalities of each student forging connections built on care and understanding her ability to create a classroom environment where students feel seen heard and valued is truly remarkable Beyond her role as educated Mrs Ventura has served as the very successful coach of the high school soccer team and is also currently participating in our teacher leadership Academy I want to share a personal story with Michelle this year um that will absolutely exemplify who she is earlier in the year this year we had another fourth grade teacher who was out for about a week the entire fourth grade team stepped up because they've just had a rough year so every day Michelle was checking in on the sub that was in there checking in on the staff making sure they had their lessons one particular day the staff that was covering the class said I'm having a really hard time teaching math I don't really know the topic so Mrs ventur on her own prepared our own students for what they needed arranged her own coverage and went to that class to teach the math lesson that day she truly is the epitome of a team leader and going above and beyond for students every single day congratulations Michelle such a well-deserved honor [Applause] there are flowers I think sorry you could do pictures at the end and thank you all right our supervisor of special services Mrs Dillo will speak next good evening representing Harding Elementary School as the educational specialist of the year is aenta abdalaziz asenta has an unwavering commitment to fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment which has significantly impacted both students and staff as centa carefully listens to staff and parent concerns and provides proactive strategies to support students and classrooms Asuna is creative she's growth mindset oriented always acknowledging strengths and building off those strengths to affect positive change through her Innovative approaches to behavioral intervention she has transformed challenges into opportunities for growth creating a supportive atmosphere where every student is valued and has the opportunity to excel her exceptional communication skills and collaborative nature have not only improve student behavior and learning but have enhanced the overall School culture ashuna shares her knowledge and expertise with staff through trainings consultation and direct service in the classroom she's visible in the school building and is frequently sought after as a resource for our staff parents and students on a personal note I had the privilege of working with the c since I started working in District um and I learned something new every time we interact uh you are just brilliant and Aubrey and Sienna you should be so proud your mommy is amazing [Applause] congratulations congratulations thanks cathine Mr Davies will speak next good evening everyone thank you for having us and thanks for to the board for this opportunity to recognize our staff members um they represent a wonderful um set of faculty and staff at both schools so it's great to have this opportunity and um sixth graders I look forward to having you here next year um some great students coming up um I have the privilege of recognizing three individuals tonight and um the first is our Educational Services professional here at brly and that is is Mr Ryan Jane Mr Jane is our athletic trainer uh and he works tirelessly with our student athletes to make sure they are in the best shape possible to be successful in all of our Sports fall winter and spring um one of the individuals who nominated Mr Jane says of him he is someone who our athletes always go to when they are dealing with problems and he's happy to listen and be there for them every time when students receive the bad news of long-term injuries that may put them out of sports for a while Mr Jane is there to keep a smile on their face and guide them through the rehab process Mr Jane has been with us at brly since 2014 as our athletic trainer so he's been with us for a good amount of time and he is also a proud alumnist of David Brey class of 20 uh sorry 2007 um so he is a Brey bear through and through um one of the things that I think is such um a wonderful aspect of Mr Jane and I don't know if he knows this but I have had and I can't count how many but I have countless students who have said to me over the years I want to be Mr Jane when I grow up and I can't think of anything more endearing as an educator to be the person that others want to be um and that is such a wonderful aspect of Mr Jane that so many of our students want to be athletic trainers because he inspires them um through the joy that he shows in his job and the care that he gives to all the students and the the mentorship that he provides to them so I want to say congratulations Mr Jane uh for the educational services professional of the [Applause] year uh next I'd like to speak about brely Middle School representing our Middle School teach of the year uh congratulations goes to Mr Alejandro Mahia uh senior Mahia teaches both middle school and high school um he is a jack of all trade trades uh the nomination submission of him says Mr Mahia is a great teacher and really engaged with the students he has only been three months with him sorry it has only been three months with him and I've learned so much he is also a really funny guy and makes the students laugh a lot senior mahia's lessons hum with energy his students Delight in constant engagement and he pours himself into his lesson planning Mr Mahia has been a driving force behind the success of br's Hispanic heritage night an annual event every October celebrating the richness of Hispanic cultures he is a passionate member of our school's climate team a dedicated facilitator of br's closet which helps students in need and an eager adviser to the newly created BR volleyball club uh Mr Mah is in his fifth fifth year of teaching at David Bley and and he recently earned tenure uh just last year and I think that speaks to the quality of Education of the educator that he is that he just received tenure back um in September and he immediately is recognized as our teacher of the year in Middle School um when you go into Mr Mia's classroom it is a celebration of the Spanish language every single time five periods a day every single day of the year and the students know that they're walking into a room to celebrate um and that's what's fascinating about him is he's so engaging with his lesson planning and he's so engaging as a personality that is a delight to be in his presence in his classroom and his his students feel that um a couple years ago he actually invited his fifth grade dance uh Spanish teacher dance dance teacher he invited his fifth grade dance teacher in and he had his whole students doing um a whole hispanic dance up on the stage in the auditorium and that's just one of the examples that he just brings the curriculum to life in his classroom so congratulations Mr [Applause] Mahia and representing our high school teacher of the year congratulations goes to miss Eileen McGrath diakova [Applause] Miss McGrath arova teaches high school English a student who nominated her says she is very creative with her lessons in class and it makes me want to be in her class and engage with the assignments like Mr Mahia miss m McGrath diakov is in her fifth year of teaching again that says so much about who she is that she just earned tenure in September and now is immediately up for Teacher of the Year um she's in fifth year of teaching um and she has been uh in addition to being a challenging writing teacher she has been a Crea has a creative knack for blending film podcast literature pop culture to bring her curriculum to life for her students um when I approached her a few years ago and we were going to overhaul the grade 12 curriculum uh Miss McGrath yakova jumped at the opportunity uh it was a challenge for sure um but she completely overhauled it from um something that wasn't as engaging to something that has really blossomed under her leadership um you walk around our school building and you see students holding books and reading books and enjoying the readings because they are really engaging with the content that she is providing for them uh and they're really getting into that content and that's due to her passion as a teacher live in the classroom and it's also due to her abilities to write curriculum um she has a real knack for that and I think she's a wonderful asset for our school um she is an educator who's always looking to learn more and be a be strong in her craft she always Embraces opportunities for professional development and we are lucky to have Miss McGrath yakova she serves as what I call our cleanup hitter in the English Department um because she um teaches both Junior and Senior English and she sends our students off into college and into life really having um that well-rounded education in the English classroom congratulations Miss McGrath [Applause] diova yeah happy get all of tonight's honores in in one picture and maybe them with their principles yeah why you go there than rations everyone thank you so much if you want to say you're more than welcome if not we're going to move on to some board business thank you congratulations guys I guess they heard I was speaking this is the way I clear a room know about you your pH yes yes all my friends friends yes uh so good evening everyone uh just a quick monthly update on our referendum projects uh things uh are progressing very nicely um so the HVAC we moving along really uh inspections were done over spring break and everything is looking great there here uh Harding continues to be progressing nicely and we do appreciate the um um um the the teachers for accommodating us getting in there uh we took advantage of spring break and really tried to get a lot done over spring break when no students were there um we're looking at final completion sometime in July so we're a good whole month ahead of time uh and also we're not looking at a very disruptive summer which we anticipated uh so that's a good thing on that uh the contractors are really great contractors to work with they're um responsive to our needs uh but they're getting their job done as well uh field upgrades uh same uh with that the contra tractor doing a great job you could see the transformation over the past couple of weeks since we last spoke um you know you saw huge mounds of dirt out there uh last month at this time big holes uh now you see a nice surface with multiple layers of stone and and uh different composits that is building up to to the point where it's um um uh looking pretty good uh the turf is in uh Turf is to be anticipated to be installed some time in miday the track could be uh actually paved uh sometime towards the end of this month um and the fence installation is progressing also as well uh we do not anticipate this to to there to be a problem with utilizing the fields for graduation the track might not be installed but the the surface will be ashphalt um but the actual field will be field Turf um the additions project uh the the tension Pond uh has been is is pretty much complete uh there's some um I believe there's still some uh vegetation that has to be some trees and shrubs that need to be installed in that um the underground storage underground underground drainage for the new addition is also almost complete um and um the footings are uh awaiting um um the final decision from the lsrp whether that could be done um and um we're looking right now there there will be no change in the completion date of uh of 2025 September 2025 some of the uh pictures here you can see these are some of the Harding School um HVAC works that were done this past week uh including the uh Cafeteria on your bottom right um some of the field progress you can see the different differentiation in the stone that's being put down um um and and the uh the concrete pads that have been been installed for the various um um sports activities that are going out there and finally here's the uh a piction of the addition with the uh detention Pond uh up in the um the right hand leftand corner um the first two and then some sidewalk work that's being along the addition uh as well as some of the underground uh drainage that's being installed so all in all things are progressing nicely uh as far as the um the soil contamination our claim we did get our first check uh from our insurance company for $70,000 which is basically for some of the um um soil testing that we received so uh things are growing nicely it was nice to get that first check knowing that they acknowledged the claim and aren't really disputing that we are having some um uh back and forth on some different uh price levels of of what it costs but overall uh expecting zero or anticipating zero and going to the positive side is a good thing when it comes to this so it was a good thing that we did file that claim with our insurance company are there any questions regarding the um um projects no the the drainage worked pretty well uh did not really um stop them from doing it the only drainage issues we did was on our current or issues that we had was on our current baseball field um which hopefully once this project is done that will be uh helped out as well even says the complaint issues been basically either yes uh so or it it has we haven't heard anything we put flyers since our last meeting we put flyers in everyone's um uh boxes uh mailboxes along 14th Street notifying them on an on a weekly basis on U uh every Monday we'll be updating them updating our website you could see what they're we're anticipating the work that's to be done that week um that's done every Monday update every Monday thanks any any questions okay thank you Mr canal wait for that okay uh HIV yeah tonight I'm presenting three incidents of HIV for review uh the three are founded cases from brewley usually we like to keep I like to keep the charts brief uh for the first case that was nearly impossible because the details are somewhat complex so it may take a few extra minutes to review um the first chart and then the two subsequent charts follow happy to take any questions on those later in the meeting you'll be voting on the cases I shared in March which were from February for for excuse me does anyone have any questions on the HIV report do we need another few minutes okay if we do few more minutes good good anyone questions another minute or okay thank you there's still going yeah yeah next I'd like to issue an Arata to the substitute study presentation we gave at a recent Board of Ed meeting uh this is to function as a sort of addendum if you will the study we intended uh the study was intended to examine the dimensions of a shortage of substitute teachers and I want to make it clear that it was not a study of teacher absences nonetheless this year in particular we feel the shortage of substitute teachers acutely because we have added additional mandated professional development opportunities to support our achievement goals therefore Beyond needing subs for teachers who may be sick or may need to use personal days we also need sub teers to accommodate teachers and cover for them as a result of the district's increase in these mandated PD events thank you for allowing me to clarify finally uh congratulations uh you'll Mr hather will read later congratulations to Kathleen weie at classroom 8 at Harding on her retirement she has been with the district for seven years Kathleen we appreciate your service good luck yeah that concludes my report anyone have questions for Mr Arlington uh before we move on to report of committees review of resolutions and board discussion we'd like to start with the committee Norms updates from residency yeah so these aren't thanks M president these aren't so much um uh Norm updates but just an update from residency uh Paula and I had the opportunity to meet last week over the break to unpack more of the residency work we did at the committee level a few weeks back so she may help to uh flesh out any gaps that I share here but I think when we brought some of the work of the residency committee to the full board the full board was looking for a recommendation about how to move forward with residency checks and when I went back to watch the video what I heard was like do we have a recommendation from The Residency committee so Paula and I met to better firm up that recommendation um and just to share more about what our thought process was there we vetted out two different options an option where there's a more massive re-registration for students in let's say odd grade levels along with a list of pros and cons for that method and then a second option that we had discussed at committee and then Paula and I further um kind of took up which was a more randomly generated residency check um and she and I met we took the committee's input uh again discuss more of the pros and cons and it seems like the recommendation I have is to trial option b which is the randomly generated residency check uh to see how that works simply based on the list of pros and cons it seems more advantageous uh more efficient to try that uh see how that works and if it doesn't then go back to a method we used to use preco uh to check for residency we felt it was worth a shot to try this option and maybe the work of the committee next is to talk about the metrics we attached to see whether or not this method is successful we talked about not measuring that success by number of residency cases we surface so much as the efficiencies and sort of the operational like efficacy of the process but happy to have you flesh that out more if you want um just before we would pick send the parents will get so many people would be called we would let the whole school know that this is going to happen not to take it personally that that's one of the ways we're going to check and also um we talked about the quarterly report and I I thought maybe even six months a half a year would be better not you don't have to do it all the time so and then the letter will go out to the parents in the beginning so we kind of yeah thank you for if that would be acceptable to the whole board that's what we were presenting we talked about a FAQ sheet right so that when we send notice on mass to the community we would also give them some higher level details about what the process looks like and then of course if you are one of the people one of the families randomly selected we would then have an additional set of supports for you to help walk you through the process and of course if there was reports that someone thought someone wasn't living there we would we would be looking into that too so that's that's a given talking any questions about it sounds good want to look at it and then if everybody the recommendation is option b and everybody's okay with it we can either talk about it later we can add it to um you know like a motion for the next meeting I don't think it means a motion it's just more of a procedural thing yeah okay um do we want to everyone want to discuss it now we want to stable it for close session so we can explore further I'm just okay with going straightforward B okay with the recommendation too for option b and then the fact sheet would be great got it we'll work on that Anthony n okay I'm good no it's perfect okay all right perfect thank you both for this great thank you um okay so at this time um we'll now move on to report of committees review of resolutions and board discussion of first will be Finance facilities and negotiations Mr leotti okay um okay so these are notes kind of from the last month or so so the preliminary budget that we we um had the meeting on last month um was um forwarded to the county um executive County Superintendent we were informed that it was approved and um it's approved for advertisement also again that's not the final the definite the definitive budget is scheduled for approval during a public hearing on April 29th um so that's going to be a big meeting for us um resolution 10 addresses the acquisition of athletic equipment for the new Fields um if you recall during the committee meeting on during the meeting on February 26th um and during our meeting Vin showed pictures of our of our truck Fleet um we've decided to purchase uh a new truck to replace the 2001 truck and we are doing the extensive repairs on the 2008 truck um which we're going to not replace obviously um and those repairs should basically last us hopefully another five years on that truck that truck is critical to our snow plowing observations um as for um just one thing resolutions 12 13 and 14 or approvals for uh facilities for various burrow activities and I'll go over them in a in a a little bit um again going back quickly back to the budget um I we're hopefully going to have a um committee meeting on April 24th but that committee basically is on contingency I guess if you want to say that if we get money if the funding changes if we get funding changes from the state to recruit some of that um 1.6 million 1.56 million that we lost in state aid so I'm assuming that if nothing changes we're going with that tentative budget or that initial budget right Vince corre we're going to go forward with that on the 24th so that's where we stand on that hopefully we'll get some good news and be able to reduce that money um as to resolutions you just heard Kyle's the superintendence report two is the bill list three is the financial reports um they're all in order I saw no outliers no line item transfers over to 5,000 um five and six are workshops and field trips um six seven or six um seven and eight are um construction for the um referendum nine is busing transportation 10 is that athletic purchase I spoke about 11 is the purchase of the truck and then 12 13 and 14 are the street fair the Kenworth recreational programs on summer program and the Kenworth Carnival agreement so I I kind of have a question for two things Vince with the with the um referendum project going on on the field in the carnival um is it going to be are we going to have that protected during this Carnival and during the street no one's going on to the new field or going from Harding to to the carnival across the field there yeah I mean we could we could definitely by that time the fields will be actually open um so so but we can we can lock lock the gates uh appropriately my bigger concern is the fireworks which isn't I bring next yeah um so I know I put a a request in for uh to the burrow to take a look at where they locate the the fireworks because I don't want the fireworks to be landing on the um the new field and burning the the field so they're going to hopefully take a look at that I think there's some options even if they have to shoot them out of the parking lot or or something like that that it doesn't affect the the field one thing if they land in the past we were never concerned because it was grass that lands on grass it burns Grass Grass comes back so I was think I even think I mentioned to you about maybe getting the county to give us blackbook park down there sh by there to use the fireworks so that's all I had everyone so so it's you're saying we have this Turf now so we can't have the fireworks on the facility anymore they might want to be they might want to consider relocating where they're shooting them off from they traditionally shot him off right behind the bleachers yes which wound up with a lot of the debris falling onto the football field which I don't think it did too much burning because I think it when it hits but it's more just like that cardboard type of material from the shell exploding coming down but I don't want to take a risk so if we could move it someplace else or maybe make it a a game day decision which way the prevailing winds are going or something like that they could re they could set it up so it's a request that I put in hopefully they will take a look at it and uh we can make our assessment we're not approving the fireworks tonight as you can see okay again though is this would be temporary or now because of the turf we would never be able to do it again couldn't you hose it down or something so this is just for this year maybe we're moving it or you asking the municipality to move it permanently that that's I'm not I'm not telling you to move it off of our site what I'm saying is is there another spot that they could put the put the the the launch spot the launch spot that will have less debris falling onto the they're they're concerned they two concerns the debris falling onto our roofs and the debris falling onto our um New Field okay is there a happy medium I don't know I'm not a fireworks expert um but they are so they know where those things would and one other question um uh where the approval for the Board of Education um the transportation I just wondered the bus as far as seats do we have someone still like looking into that once in a while make sure everyone's seated yeah Mr Davies is always on top of that all right everybody it's a 55 passenger bus you have to the bus should not be in motion if you don't have a seat right we often talk to the drivers about that and if they're never full it's that not everybody wants to share seat so there are seats available but sometimes it involves as my kids say like scooching over a little bit so that somebody else could fit with a backpack I don't think we've had that complaint in a while though no more so no one's sitting on the ground floor concern we agree that's uh not right and so it's been addressed thank you thank you anybody else any questions for Mr L and for negotiations I guess we'll talk that in close session on both the Ka and the PSA thank you okay we'll now move on to personnel management Mr hather thank you uh there are 10 resolutions tonight uh resolution 15 is the aforementioned retirement uh resolution 16 is acceptance of resignation uh resolutions 17 and 18 uh both recognize the honores tonight for educator and educator Educational Service professional of the Year from both Harding and Bley resolution 19 is a revised maternity leave absence request uh resolution 20 is the approval of a maternity leave absence request uh resolution 21 is a leave of absence request resolution 22 is addition additional teaching sections for 2324 school year and resolution 22 is the approval of athletic stipend positions and resolution 24 is the approval of substitute staff any questions thank you Mr hather next we'll have curriculum and instruction Mrs te um one resolution resolution 25 is for the approval of the uh February 2024 hip report anyone have questions about the hip report okay thank you very much we will now move on to Old business does anyone have any old business we'd like to continue to remind everyone each week that the Friday folder has opportunities and supports available for students and families and it includes updates and school level events and we also will have a tab tab committee dates will be forthcoming in the next I guess few weeks for our second meeting before the end of the year um for new business no um we want to just acknowledge and congratulate some of our Scholars they've been involved with a lot of of things this spring plays athletes um athletic events clubs student governments and we'd also like to continue to thank the leadership teams the parents and the community support we had during testing and all the various events we've had going on and there's a lot of things coming up and everyone's excited about it and it takes the support of everybody to make all of these events you know successful for the students as you can see for them right here tonight so want to thank you for that at this point we're going to open up the meeting to the public is there motion to open up the meeting to the public make a motion to open second second okay motion made by Mrs Drogan second by Mrs ters all those in favor of opening the meeting to the public please say I I oppose okay eyes haveit motions Carri Mr ganol public comment will now be accepted the Board of Education sets the limit to the public to speak at the Board of Education meeting to five minutes per person unless prior permission has been granted by the board of education for extended time pursuant to Board of Education bylaw 016 seven uh for the record when you approach the podium please uh include your name and address prior to making your comments thank you Mr is there any public that would like to comment at this time hello Sten dun 32 of Court uh I have two things uh to address so I'm going to ask the question first and see what and then next one um so I was here last month about um requesting a waiver for k Tri basketball and possibly budgeting for next year I had some corresponds with Mr ganela and um didn't hear back so I know I have an answer tonight or if there something we can address now or what that want so I did email you today Mr dun um the committee met to discuss um we have some follow-up questions but the committee is definitely willing to work with you in some ways so we just have to figure out what those ways are um we could do that on the phone this week if You' like sounds great thank you and number two um I am uh president and found a member of a nonprofit organization called Union County connects we're seeking to um connect the whole County through Trails I want to build Trails everywhere and walk and bike everywhere April 27th is our third annual celebrate Trails Day event it's going to be a Four Mile Walk and Roll starting um right across street from acne going through blackbook LP back down the boulevard um I'll send you the fly and everything so you have it but just want to personally invite everyone on the board to come out Walk we're going to two ton afterwards there'll be music and and um food for free drinks you have the B support the business um Tom seon from the national rails Trails conserv he will be there and that's pretty cool I don't know if you guys know but we got a million and a half dollars to do not we we helped the county get the million and a half dollars and uh Kenworth and Roso Park will have a new section of Trail under construction hopefully by the end of this year and I'm going to keep pushing to build a bridge over Route 22 and get all the way up the summit because if you've Riden on Route 22 in Union you know that people are constantly playing Frogger and getting hit and killed um so yeah big goal but anyway uh April 27th celebrate Trails day hope you can all come where's the where's the path that's so this is the abandoned raway Valley Railroad the one by the car wash yeah uh yes it goes right behind the parkway liquers yeah and that's used to be the T the train station was there right um I've actually personally cered all the brush from the boulevard all the way to East Coast Greenwich about 3/4 of a mile and what we do is we're going to go uh through black park lenpy park on East Coast Greenway and then come back down to Boulevard very cool um so last year was pretty cool we about 50 people for the walk maybe 50 or so at the um at the twon and hoping to go bigger and better this year because you know if you have people show up to this kind of thing it shows the need and demand and we can attract more funds to our and I'll add one more thing I think I mentioned this before you know in the 60s or 70 something like 87% of kids walked their bike to school now I think it's like 133% uh so this in my eyes is one way to promote walkability bikeability uh healthy kids and everything and anything I think the school you know do a good job anything we can do to help promotee walking and biking to school it really kills me that with the referendum there was discussion of traffic jams on Monroe we everyone in this town lives less than a mile from the school uh so we I I we need to have more people walking and biking so my little how many miles do you walk on this thing so this is going to be a Four Mile round trip walk and uh if you want to ride a bike you can too there's a couple sections of the raway valley that's you might have to walk it but the rest is all bikable and we come down the sidewalk on the boulevard so we don't deal with the the boulevard traffic thank you happy to advertise anything that's are done in the Friday fold yeah I have a f I should have printed out but I'll send it to you too so you can put that out could be a great opportunity for students for community service and like that thank you thank you any other public at this time would like to make a comment no okay do I have a motion to close salute okay motion made by Mr David seconded by Mr biner all those in favor of closing to the meeting to the public please say I I oppose okay eyes have it motions carry the meeting is now closed to the public for comment um Mr ganal are we ready to vote on resolutions yes um there are 26 resolutions this evening's agenda the first 25 will be voted on now uh number 26 will be voted on after we have a discussion and close uh session regarding it so this is for Resolutions 1 through 25 are there any that need to be voted on separately no okay Mr biner yes David yes Drogan yes hather yes lat yes tears yes Zimmerman yes panichi yes all motions carry unanimously okay thank you since we have a need to go into close executive session can I please have a motion second okay motion made by Mr hather second and by Mr David all those in favor of going into close session please have I oppose I'm sorry anyone oppose okay eyes have it motions carry Mr ganal can yes uh be resolved the Board of Education uh meet and private session from which the public shall be excluded to discuss the topics of special education due process litigation negotiations both PSA uh and Kaa School business administer annual contract and personnel which private discussion is being held pursuant to section 7B and 8 of the open public meanings act matters under discussion will be disclosed to the public as soon as final decisions are made and voted upon okay thank you everyone for coming we're going to go into close session we appreciate it take care thank you so much good evening