##VIDEO ID:EBl7CDwUP2M## we like those good luck good evening everyone like to call the meeting in order start off the Pledge of Allegiance please we have enough Mr we're good I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all Adam this meeting was advertised at Ed Park Press and the beacon in January 11th 2024 by posting this notice in the Fork River Lal Harbor Post Offices by following a copy of the notice with the Lacy Township Clerk as required by the open public meeting act roll call please Mr Bell here Mrs armad absent Mr conned present Mrs Walker here Mr armado also absent Mrs Claus here and Mr Peters present all right we're going to go into executive session uh be resolved in an executive session be convened for the purpose of discussing confidential student matters including but not limited to harassment intimidation and bullying confidential legal matters including but not limited to the current case load and confidential Personnel matters the subject matters of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides the length of the executive session is estimated to be approximately 60 minutes after which the board shall reconvene and proceed with business at 7 p.m. action may be taken motion motion Peters second all in favor I bye thank you we'll be back at 7:00 thank you okay good evening everyone we're going to resume our meeting uh we're going to start off with our new student representation Caleb Fitzpatrick and Eric Str welcome good evening everyone my name is Kayla Fitzpatrick and I am the sgaa President and tonight I bring to you some news from the student government Association the SGA met on September 9th for our first meeting of the year the 2024 2025 class officer election for our freshman class will be held at the end of this month the sophomores are in charge of the sgaa trunk of um on the October 29th trunker treat the juniors are brainstorming fundraisers and the seniors are likewise working on our senior raffle and brainstorming a third and final fundraiser and last of all the executive board is pretty busy planning the October 2024 homecoming dance um and other events as well as working on a potential um um 9 through 12 Winter Dance and last of all the next sgaa meeting will take place on October 2nd thank you Kayla uh every month the student government Association recognizes a student who goes above and beyond in all they do um and that they are a valuable asset to our school community so for the month of September we would like to recognize Ava Flanigan as our unon hero Eva are you here nope okay uh Ava Flanigan is an exal student who puts time dedication and hard work into all her classes she is willing to help out other students with their education while still keeping herself at high standings Ava is a part of the stem Academy and is involved in many honors and AP classes at lths she is also involved in lths women's soccer and basketball teams putting in many hours of training playing and supporting her teammates Ava also dedicates her time to the student government Association interact club and biology Club she's willing to help a friend in need and is always there when you need her for these reasons Ava Flanigan has been selected as the unsung hero for the month of September thank you guys great great job time out are you AA yes oh do it again go ahead round two round two do it again go right up there who wait a read it again read it again bring it on you got to go up there you got go you got to go up there stand there spotlights on you all right here that was your practice Round Here We Go Again uh for the month of September we would like to recognize Ava Flanigan as our unsung hero Ava Flanigan is an exceptional student who puts time dedication and hard work into all her classes she's willing to help out other students with their educ a while still keeping herself at high standings Ava is a part of the stem Academy and is involved in many honors and AP classes at lths she's also involved in lths women's soccer and basketball team putting in many hours of training playing and supporting her teammates Ava also dedicates her time to the student government Association interact club and biology Club she is willing to help a friend in need and is always there when you need her for these reasons Ava flan has been selected as the unon hero for the month of September all right congratulations AA and Mom Dad glad we uh got to do that again for you you're late from a soccer game right Eva yeah okay gotcha good um next I'd like to move on to uh superintendent report before I do that just a brief um moment on Dr Pereira for all the years I like to thank her publicly for all the Your Service uh to this District the hard work that she's done um she's picked a new career uh we're going to miss her and uh we definitely have more than enough confidence in Mr lzy uh leading the ship right now he's carrying two roles right now as Acting Superintendent and vice superintendent so his uh schedule is overwhelming right now uh we are uh in the midst of a superintendent search we had our first meeting and Mr Linsky is more than welcome to apply um and uh we're looking for a full-time superintendent starting on July 1st a contract for July 1st and any further Ado it's yours thank you it's a bad enough that the preschool kids think I live at the board office I tell them that's my house so um you know and and and these you know it is thank you very much Mr Peters and and certainly um we wish Dr Perera the best uh actually in her old career so she's principal again uh in her retirement days um but um you know we are off to really an excellent start to the school year um and that's not just me saying that um you know all those hours in the summer and all the hours that we put in um you know I just want to tell a couple of stories you know because every beginning of school year has a couple of things going on this kind of part of my report but kind of how I kind of do things um you know we had um um a couple of of of uh Transportation things going going on and I have to tell you we had a parent who was standing at the wrong bus stop so we dropped off all the kids the bus driver decided I'll make another lap they go around they go around another time again we got on the radios we got on the phone found the parent at the wrong bus stop never lose track of our kids it's just that like when the buses pull away I almost feel like wow like it's really cool how many kids we can move around get them back to their houses the carrying this that we have for all of our employees that was really an amazing story as I'm on the radio we're on the phone we're trying to find the parents and the bus driver is like I got it does another lap around we find the parent uh and then we get him reunited with uh their young child it was a kindergarten or a preschooler I forget the second brief story we had um kind of not a great story but it ends great we had a bit of a sore backup uh at one of our buildings at lenoa Harbor school and sure as heck our guys come out with the back ho they dig up the SE line find the break fix it all you know um quickly so that our kids wouldn't have any problem in the school um really kind of amazing stories I want to thank everybody I want to thank our teachers that come in early um you won't you can't you don't understand when a teacher calls you August 15th says I'm ready to go to work I'm want to come in and do my classroom as a high school guy I'm like are you crazy and our K to8 teachers especially and our high school people do it in some cases too uh not all but some of our high school people do it but they're coming in August 15th decorating the rooms cleaning up what they have it really is an amazing site and on top of all that I can't thank our um anyone else I'm not thanking I apologize but all of our administrators all the hard work that they put in um you know we were cleaning the milpond school up to the last second uh we are enjoying uh 20 classrooms are have bathrooms now for our preschoolers uh paid for 40% by the state which is really great uh we're still kind of wrapping up some things on that project but they're all functional they're all using them that's really some great stuff and our administrators make a lot of that happen my last piece of my report or commentary um I followed like I don't know it's the newspaper Channel 5 or one of the one of the news outlets and I think it was I would say the name of the school it was a school up north and they were talking about a cell phone ban and they're talking about the process that they're going to do and all the meetings and they might get it done by January 1st I'm thinking we did it in four weeks because we all come together we all work hard on something we all believe in something and that's kind of what really sets us apart I think we don't mess around we do what we got to do uh and we always get the job done whether it's our parents our students our teachers our admin even our Board of Education most of the time uh you know we really get those things done uh uh when we need to get them done and we all Row in the same direction and that's really what we always want so that's kind of like my commentary and final comments uh check out our Facebook and Twitter I got them up and running uh I hope they're getting updated frequently if you're into that sort of a thing um so uh we're going to put some updates in there my tease will be if we get bad weather I'll put it up there first if anybody wants to follow that students can follow it as well if they want uh so look at those things um uh as we move along uh with that I'll come back and do board goals but Jay um principal King is going to come up and do our first round of our awesome seniors of the month you have three this month right yes sir two regular and one vocational which we put in probably about 20 years ago we s of recognize our awesome vocational kids as well right yeah great thing all right uh Board of Education thank you everyone in attendance uh welcome back to another school year we've had a great opening I am proud to announce our September seniors of the month our first senior of the month is Jacob bhuian [Applause] Jacob watch a video on him please hello we're here to celebrate our September seniors of the month our first senior of the month is Jacob ban I'm Jacob bjan I'm proud to be named September senior of the month here at Lacy Township High School all right congratulations Jake I'm winning senior senior of the month so after high school first what I plan to do is I plan to go to OCC do two years there and then I plann after OCC I plan to go to Columbia University to get a degree major in linguistics to work at the United Nations first St I think Jacob is more British than I am because he can do the perfect British accent he knows all the facts about Britain he always has his British t-shirts on too and I've even said to him Jake I think you might be built more British than me some other clubs that I'm involved in an lths are National Honor Society Student Government Association Ada and interact I love having Jake in class because he has a great sense of humor as well as being a really uh great student he's very dedicated hat it isn't he yeah Jacob has overcome a lot in his life hasn't he and he has such an enthusiasm to learn like every day no matter what day of the week Monday Friday he's always eager to learn always participates smile on his face always just an absolute pleasure to have as a student yeah absolute pleasure I think that's the best way to describe it outside of school I like to hang with my friends I like to learn Lang I like to learn different languages all about different cultures I like to play sports Jacob is somebody that's going to go far in life absolutely he is um going to be very successful and I am super proud of him and I can't wait to see what he does yeah same and I just want to say once again congratulations you more than deserve this tremendous honor so proud while Jacob is do that he is here with his family extended and friends so please a round of applause for them as [Applause] well see your but [Applause] great job all right our next senior of the month is Katrina KY Katrina come on down Katrina is here with her family CH give a round of applause for them as well and M our next of the mon is Katrina kti I'm Katrina Cony and I'm proud to be named September senior of the month at Lacy Township High School congratulations Katrina County and being named senior of the month some of the sports and clubs I participate here at the high school is cross country track lacrosse I'm also part of the robotics Club the interact club and NHS sometime in this spring it uh Katrina decided she was going to try something new and that something new was uh women's lacrosse and um I got got such a kick out of watching her learn this Sport and be one of the fastest field players that I have ever seen and uh again seeing her be excited and having her teammates cheer her on uh and scoring her first goal and being being a part of something was just a delight it was so fun my future plans are go to college and then join the Air Force I got to tell you ever since you were a freshman you've always been academically driven one who has been goal oriented and I tell you personable all the time since your freshman year in stem you have truly grown as an individual that shows that not only your leadership qualities but also your cooperation skills through various clubs activities and sports such as lacrosse cross country and track you are an absolute rock star when it comes to not only in the classroom but also being a person out of the classroom uh some of my favorite memories are spending time with my team during races or just practice again Katrina you are so very deserving of being named senior of the month for September 2024 I'm very excited to see what the future holds for you you deserve all the best [Applause] thank you congratulations and our September vocational senior of the month is Cara Crips Cara come on now and our vocational senior of the month for September is Cara Crips I'm Cara Crips and I'm very happy to be September senior of the month for Lacy Township High School well gotta you are an excellent excellent wonderful student who's being very focused in my Spanish classes it's a pleasure and honor to have you now that you're a senior ready to graduate and I'm pretty sure you're going to be a a bilingual professional in the future congratulations again and see you in June I play tennis for Lacy and I've been doing it for most of my high school career and I really enjoy it I'm on Varsity this year and I'm really excited for the opportunity for that uh in the classroom and on the tennis courts Cara is a caring and kind person who helps her teammates and classmates whenever she is able to Cara is always there to lend a hand and she's always there to be supportive and help those around her my favorite things to do after school is play video games I love playing dress to impress with my friends um I love playing with my dogs and I love playing piano G was the one who made me buy a new a new dog because G is a dog lover she has not only one not two but three dogs and she tells me beautiful wonderful things about her dog and she trains me how to treat my dog now that I that I have my dog I appreciate all the help that Cara gave me favorite memories of being in high school is just being with my friends having fun in classes learning knowing my teachers and my fellow classmates congratulations to Cara Crips for winning vocational senior of the month car here with her family as well so round of applause for her family as well awesome conat all right Mr that finishes my presentation thank you and remember September seniors of the month you're the most special because they remembered you from last year you were that good it's always the most special of them so congratulations very good thank you principal King all right so briefly before I allow our younger Mr Peters uh president Peters allows him to leave we're we're going to uh talk real quick about board and District goals from last year I'm going to give you a brief update but I will post all of this online uh so that everybody can see if they want um what happens every year is that um uh the district sets goals for ourselves it might be uh qualitative it might be quantitative it might involve numbers it might involve student achievement and then the board also sets goals for themselves um that they try to achieve uh by the end of the year um and then we do a quick report out on it I will post all this stuff up and then by October we'll set new goals for ourselves okay so we don't you know and this is like overall overarching goals they're not very specific to the buildings all the time although they can be on occasion because they usually influence something greater so last year we had a couple of learner success goals we wanted grade five students to achieve better on their nwaa we met that goal uh we wanted 50% we achieved 58% uh we had an SAT goal that revolved around students who took our prep course and Improvement on how they did on the sat there were two pieces of that goal one was a score increase which we did our Target was 8% we did better by 10% uh for the students that took our SAT prep course and then we wanted uh more students to complete the course we wanted a 50% completion rate we got 85% so we achieved that goal as well hopefully that'll show when we look at our SAT scores as well um we had a ranking goal um we hear a lot of word you know if everyone gets uses US News and World Report we talk about ranking we've kind of dissected that ranking one of the ways to improve our ranking was to increase our access to AP exams um we wanted an increase of 2.74 tests two 2.0 we ended up giving so many more tests we considered that goal by 2.74 so I'll give you the numbers in 2022 23 we had 36 exams for AP last year we had 368 so that's a big increase of access to AP exams for Lacy Township High School students um we had a social emotional Wellness goal for the Middle School uh giving them information about harassment intimidation and bullying how to combat that how to deal with it how not to do it um and uh through the efforts of the high school administration and the high school middle school staff they they had 16 activities over the course of the year we had assemblies we had Big Brothers Big Sisters we had a cell phone band that they initiated halfway through the year so they did lots of activities and I'll post them up for everybody to see we had um uh a facility finance and safety goal which where we created uh teams in each building that would be um uh social I call them social teams but in officially they're called social behavioral threat assessment teams uh we established them in every building we established protocols we established paperwork um we really had a lot of work done there to get those up and running uh now it's like automatic if we feel that there's something that we should investigate feel that there's a threat to a staff member or a student or anybody um we have those up and running and we have a district team as well so we achieve that goal um we had a um a goal that the district would assess the needs for referendum they met that goal you if everybody knows we are going out to referendum in March so that was a goal as well um we had uh a workshop session goal for the Board of Education they were have quarterly workshops they had them they met that goal uh we held those in the media center I think for all four uh those are in the media Center last year uh there is we're going to talk about our new goals we may be doing that again um and the one where I'll say we felt we partially achieved it um there's a board certification goal you have five years to become board certified it's about workshops where they come to us um our representative who was supposed to come to us from school boards they ended up passing it off to a new person we have one more year to achieve that goal so we have to get the board has to get 16 credits they've got 7 9 remember it's 9 so we're going to work uh we have till August of 2025 to complete that goal and we'll give you an update on that next September so that's where we are goals that's the report out on it I'll post this up under the Board of Education link if anybody really wants to see it and then come October we'll set new goals and we'll publish those as well okay so that's the big uh the big report of things all right before you done I am thank you very much that's the end of my before we move on the public comment um any of your students that would like to leave now we know you probably have a lot of homework and want to give things you can do that now unless you want to stay for public comment you welome too thank you everyone and congratulations parents and students on all your Awards have a good night thank you we'll see you soon bye thank you bye bye too oh Goa bye gu good night congratulations congratulations congratulations you want me have a good night H want me to well if to establish it I mean we might as well I'll introduce the Clock of Doom tonight gives him a good visual cue I think the fancy b a few my I did well I think we did that once and member of the public called the you guys were staying and it kind of stuck so we got rid of that got understand we did do that once I remember that okay okay next move on to the fun stuff public comment an audience member wishing to make a comment or raise his or her hand when calling upon and state their name address or affiliation and intention to make a statement if you are a student I do not want you saying your address or say I'm a student if you're going to speak under public comment comments will be addressed to me the board president comments made a one issue at a time com be limited to 5 minutes we have a new Clock of Doom that you can see clearly uh who was that teacher that named it the Clock of Doom that uh Laie our uh who was it yeah so anyway we now have a uh clock you can see the timer and it's going to make a thing so please keep it to five minutes um no audience member recognized twice and all who have wished comment have been recognized this portion of this meeting is for public comments only no questions answer the purpose of this board meeting is to form our business in public everyone is entitled to a public comment if there was a question for the board an established chain of command to follow do we have anyone for a public comment go ahead are you a student here yes just say I'm a student thank you hello hi I am a student here at Lacy Township and I want to preface this by saying I understand staying engaged is important I understand cell phones have changed the high school experience forever um with the shortening attention spans and increased documented bullying uh the knee-jerk reaction is to completely condemn the technology and idea of the of it being used in the building but I just want to ask if this is truly the answer and the solution to this problem is putting up Big Brother style posters in the hallway telling people to stay engaged and having staff in the lunchroom tell us to stuff every device that even resembles a two-way Communicator into the crevices of our bag never to be seen until 135 really the solution here is taking them away or better yet locking them away really the appropriate response to this I understand the need for regulation and rules but we didn't ban automobiles the first second third not even the millionth time somebody got hit by a car you guys consistently tell us that we are basically adults at this point and we need to have adult-like responsibility but why are we still being treated like a child I'm turning 18 in December why can't I text my dying cancerous grandfather or my dying cancerous ant in the lunchroom because you told me I cannot be trusted as a victim of cyber bullying I'm going to say every single case of it has happened outside of school and I'm not speaking for all victims but people who are going to break the rules and use technology to make fun of somebody aren't going to suddenly turn into an angel after the board of ed tells us to put them in a pocket or box as a student here I try to follow the rules and generally I not on my phone but phone usage cumulatively has not gone down you don't know about it now which is an insane liability the unfortunate all to statistically probable idea of a school shooter coming into this room leaving the last communication with my family being an iMessage that's treated like a taboo disallowed idea is heartbreaking we need to learn how to include cell phones into our school life like they are in every other aspect of our life or we need to give up because they aren't going anywhere also maybe we should focus Less on staying engaged and more on being engaging in the first place that's all thank you can I reply to you you made a comment about um automobiles yes correct and the license let me ask you a question if you drink a drive what's going to happen to your driver's license get pulled over I going to you're going to lose it what happens when you're driving your car and you get too many tickets what's going to happen I'm going to get away correct so unfortunately we had people in the school that were using their phones inappropriately not correctly correct and we had to do that we have a board member here that happened to drive through the school parking lot one day and go out to the football field and on her way through she noticed a numerous amount of students leaving the school going out to the track guess what they were doing they were engaged and talking to each other yes they weren't on their phon their heads weren't down they were actually having conversations but how is the students that are being how is that representative of how I am as a student who historically hasn't had any issues onine I am so sorry that that happened but unfortunately there's a couple bad apples out there are can I let me finish please you ask me a question I'm trying to give you an answer um hibs you know what a Hib is yes guess what our numbers were down this month okay part of the fact of the phone did you ever realize back in the day when there was a fight uh at school was probably second period third period or fourth period and Mr King brought to store our attention and now all of a sudden there was a fight the minute two kids get off the bus why CU they were yacking back and forth from the phone in social media overnight did you ever let me finish did you ever notice that when there was a fight in the hallway there isn't just 20 kids in the hallway that's there to see the fight there's 200 how did that happen because of cell phones but why are we not actually addressing why the fights are happening why are we the communications are I I just don't see how any correlation is is existent uh majority 100% of the board is for this ban unfortunately uh I'm also a OD of education for 24 years I've never let cell phones in my classroom because I'm a shop teacher and if a student gets distracted and has a problem with the power tool there's an issue but I'm sorry that's the way you feel but that is a rule that we set and a policy that's been affecting to school that hasn't been followed in a while and we're making sure that that policy is being set and we're not going to change our minds over it you have every right to come up there and speak your mind about it and tell us how you feel about it but unfortunately that's the ground we're sticking to it seems to be better the teachers are appreciate the parents are appreciate it the student appreciate it you are one that showed up of 4,000 kids to talk about the negativity we don't know there could be somebody else understand talking about it but we've got way more positive out of this than negatives I'm sorry a shame that people don't feel like they can come and speak cuz I I'm going to tell you I haven't met a student who has been in agreement on this and I can't tell you I'm a teacher who has been in agreement on this either because they're being they're being punished too I mean when no we're not punishing we're just following a rule we're just following a rule that was always established in the school and we're we're we're emphasizing on why Mr President at the five minutes has expired and and I do just want to remind everyone I I thought the young man made very eloquent comments but the five minutes is up and this is public comment not public debate back and forth so i' recommend my apologies you're right I just wanted to give our side of the story I'll do that during my board member comment my apologies anyone else for a public comment yes ma'am good evening Heather scandin um here on behalf of both the Lacy Municipal Alliance and our task force first let me thank the board for reinstating the advisor positions for Ada and interact I only regret that there are other clubs that have not been funded uh because we do feel they are beneficial to all of our students as some of you know we have been raising our concerns regarding the ever increasing use of cell phones and the negative effects on our youth and with all due respect to our student that spoke and I understand his feelings but we do feel there are so many positive sides to this uh therefore I just want to say go on record that we wholeheartedly support the enforcement of the policy regarding cell phone use during school hours and we'd like to thank the school board and the administration for taking this initiative on behalf of our students our students might not think so but we know that it truly is a benefit to them and many other states is not just Lacy Township School District even the governors of almost 10 states now have outlawed use of cell phones or or made it illegal to use of cell phones during the school day as many other independent districts have all over the country um and we recognize there may be some bumps along the way and you know maybe you want to take some of the students concerns into consideration as well but we sincerely hope that the schools continue to enforce this policy uh the task force particularly has made uh raising awareness about the impact of the cell phone use on the developing brain in particular is one of its missions and uh we're going to be um and of course there are many other advantages as well so we're going to be at back to school night next week and we're going to have some literature uh informing parents of some of our of the benefits of reducing cell phone use amongst our youth as well as other things too and we're going to continue it as a campaign really it's it's not just in the schools that we are concerned about the excessive use of cell phones it's also 24 hours a day when the students are using it so that's what we'll be addressing so thank you again for taking this initiative up thank you for your [Applause] comment anyone else for public comment anyone okay thank you board committee reports Mr conedy would you like to start please Mr Bell has it oh my apology Mr Bell is handling policy my sir uh first up discussion cell phone policy uh the committee is currently working on updating the cell phone policy and is looking for Relevant examples and will be tailoring it to the needs of the district um policy regulations for review and discussion uh PNR 3160 and PNR 4160 the committee discussed the revisions of uh to physical exams that are required of new employees to the district the majority of the charges were or changes were a result of the update uh revisions to tuberculosis testing TV screening is only required for teachers and other employees and only students who are at high risk um attendance policy R 5200 the committee has agreed to revise regulation 5200 that will provide students the ability ility to take advantage of one state excused absence for the purpose of attending a Civic event Civic events are generally classified as events sponsored by a government agency or nonprofit that incorporates elements of service learning Civic events should address an issue of public concern such as uh community health or safety of the environment um policy 5337 Animal Service or service animals the committee agreed to table the discussion of service animals and therapy dogs for the next committee meeting this will give the committee time to address some of the concerns in the service animal policy and investigate a therapy dog policy for Lacy Township um safety patrol policy 5860 the committee agreed to advance the policy for safety patrol which takes place among our fifth grade students in the elementary school and then uh policy 40 8467 firearms and weapons revised the committee agreed to revise the policy that governs firearms and weapons uh the reason for this revision is due to the changes in language from the state of New Jersey this revision does not substantially change the the way schools handle firearms and weapons violations then uh policy 9181 volunteer athletic coaches and co-curricular activity advisers uh the committee pre previously agreed to bring this policy forward at their previous meeting but made one more change where volunteers uh will bear the cost of the fingerprinting and that's it thank you m clus Finance please sure uh we had a meeting it was myself Mr armado Mr conned uh Mr Linsky and Miss Orby um for facilities uh HVAC project update Miss Orby led a discussion on the status of the HVAC project at the high school the project is complete prek project update Miss Orby led a discussion on the status of the prek project at milpond the project is mostly complete with a few minor tasks to be completed the referendum uh we just had a a general discussion about the referendum um and I believe the committee had a meeting this week Finance uh policy finder update uh Miss Orby led the discussion on to the committee on the status of the policy finder contract the company's still working to find the coverage uh for the District budget freeze Miss Orby led a discussion on the budget free starting October 1st fixed asset inventory U Miss orens we led a discussion for the need for the fixed um asset inventory LT LTS assistant principal uh Mr zalinsky led a discussion for the need for an assistant uh principal at the high school discussion followed and um we are hiring um another assistant um we're very short um up there and U Mr King needs the support Food Services uh free and reduced lunch lunch applications Miss Orby led a discussion on the status of free and reduced applications curriculum we discussed uh Teen Mental Health First Aid agreement Miss Orby led a discussion on the agreement for Teen Mental Health First Aid this agreement will be subject to the resolution uh tonight Human Resources um we are still going forward with the superintendent search and we just had a discussion on that and that was it we are having a liaison committee meeting uh with the township Sharon do we have that date 25th the 25th um and we'll give updates next month on that and that was it M Walker curriculum please yep curriculum we met on um September 10th Mrs Amato and Mr zalinsky and myself uh we talked uh Mr zalinsky shared with the committee the current class sizes of the elementary schools in grades 1 through five he explained the numbers and how student numbers vary based on the subjects being taught um milpond School Mr zinsky presented a proposal where principal Donahue is developing a protocol that would allow parent volunteers to participate in activities during the school day at milpond elementary school a formal protocol is still being developed um K through2 Ela standards uh Mr zinsky covered he's a busy man uh covered the adoption of the new elll standards that were adopted by the State Board of Education Mr zilinsky provided a crosswalk so the committee was able able to see the differences between the old standards and the new standards these new standards will be adopted at the September Board of Ed meeting and will cover grades K through 12 um we also talked about the math standards we covered the adoption of the new math standards that were adopted Again by the State Board of Ed Mr zinsky provided a crosswalk so the committee would be able to see the differences between the old and the new and these standards again will will be um adopted by the Board of Education and implemented the new in the year 202 for grades K through six for the 2024 25 school year and grades K through five in the 2025 26 school year we discussed two novels that are being put up for um our approval tonight Peter and the star catches star catchers for English 11 honors and the last quantia did I say it right uh sista sista um language arts for grade seven um he shared both novels with us and um I took home the one I can't pronounce and uh I'm reading it slowly it's not my kind of genre but um I'm getting through it so um the committee also looked at the review published by the common by Common Sense Media both novels are on the agenda for tonight uh Dina what Watson from the New Jersey Department of Education visited milpond our preschool program on September 18th and 19th and the purpose of the visit was to tour the facilities and to look at the curriculum at the preschool and kudos to Mr zinski and the administrators and all the teachers at milpond because they got high ratings for their program do you want to share what they said or well she does it was our first tour of our facilities uh she came in uh they give us like the year to get S settled which was last year it was her first tour of our facilities and um I mean I'll quote her she said best I've ever seen in year one and we're making her job easy good so thanks to principal Donahue over there I mean she's really doing a fantastic job and it's it's a big job yeah um next the ELA Pilots Mr zinsky again shared with the committee that the Elementary grades and the middle school would be piloting new Ela programs that could possibly be adopted for the 2025 2026 school year this is primarily due to the new state standards implemented this year um he shared uh Lacy Township's professional development plan and he also shared the district mentoring plan for this year uh as I think Kim said um we're going to vote tonight um on a memorandum of agreement for high school students grades 9 through 12 to be educated in the curriculum of me Teen Mental Health First a curriculum that correct and uh that's on the agenda for tonight uh Mr Z zalinsky shared this annual agreement the Ocean County memorandum of understanding that allows Lacy Township High School to operate as a satellite campus for OCC it also exists so students will benefit from the college courses they are able to take on and off the college colge campus under special education the high school and the middle school are working with the New Jersey Center for inclusive education to continue and integrate our classrooms um all special education students no matter what disability will be integrated into all emergency drills for the 2024 25 school year that's something new yeah you sometimes they didn't participate in all the drills now they're going to do all drills fire drill lock down anything be um all par professionals participated in a custom Training Program put on by Mr Bond and Miss Kowski and CPI trained all self-contained teachers on September 4th it was an annual training it was completed for all selfcontained special education teachers and the Challenger League fall schedule I believe is posted on the website uh I'll make sure it is okay I think it is it's under Athletics okay under Athletics I'll make sure that okay thank you uh technology new chromeworks were distributed in grades 6 to 7 a replacement server to host virtual environment in place and they updated to Windows 11 in classrooms without any issues and that's it our next meeting is uh October 8th thank you thank you minuted to the referendum committee we had our meeting on Tuesday September 17th at 3:00 and the tenants was myself Mrs Walker Mr Linsky Miss wormy Mr Hopkins Mr duwit Miss bishop and Miss genter unfortunately Mr rato could not make that meeting um our topics were uh discussion uh what was going to be presented today at the 5:00 meeting there was a 5:00 meeting today uh prior to the board meeting on the referendum and uh we also had a discussion development uh the communications the committee setting dates up for tours of the building and forums where we could sit with the public and discuss uh the referendum openly we're trying to be as candidate as possible with this so the work we're trying to complete on the referendum and that is it next we have uh superintendent comment Mr zinski um you know I I appreciate all the public comment um you know I think that uh you know it's important that we all uh get to be heard um you know and we certainly want to make sure that um when anybody ever has a question question when they come here that they call my office I mean that's really the key to the equation uh that you know anything anytime you call my office we'll always try to get back to you as soon as we can uh because public comment can be tricky you know you're here just to say something but I want you to be able to have the answers before you get here so please feel make sure you have that opportunity to call my office at any time we'll route you to the right people and we'll try to help you as always um it is our goal it's always our mission uh you know we have 4,000 students here um and uh you know we're going to do the best we can so that's really my my follow-up comment of the day okay thank you Mr conned board member comments welcome back uh P of luck to the students and staff and everybody else and uh have a great year me um I just want to uh congratulate Dr prayer who's not here obviously and wish her a lot of luck in her new position um and I want to thank Mr zinsky and all the administration and teachers and staff for such a smooth opening so a lot of smiles on our the kids faces in our neighborhood so um congratulations to that that's it thank you Mr Bell just welcome back and looking forward to the year M CL yeah um I'd just like to welcome Mr zalinsky into his new position of acting uh superintendent um everyone I'm sure already knows he's doing two jobs jobs uh the superintendent job and his assistant job so please be patient um he's been doing an excellent job so far it's been two weeks but um you know it's only been two weeks it's been two weeks but you're doing a great job so um you know just be patient with him and be patient with us and uh we're in good hands with Mr zinsky so that's it thank you Mr student because I don't know your name because you said student I'm proud you going up there and speaking and speaking your piece and that took a lot of strength and energy and I appreciate that uh let's try and get something together you grab a few group of your students and I'll grab a few group of mine we'll sit down and we'll talk and have a conversation I think that's the best way to do it things is to work it out s communicate amongst each other I just wish this dismissive attitude wasn't your reaction that's sort of what I was mentioning in my right well you it was your public comment and it was my reflection on your comment so that's what I'm saying let's try and set something up I didn't like the way it went tonight either um so let's try and set that up an open form where we can sit and communicate and you bring up your valid points why you think you should have a cell phone at school and we'll bring up our valid points why you think you should should be treated with like a weapon okay let's continue this conversation at another point I'd love to meet with you okay and talk all right thank you um again u m Dr per congratulations on your your new adventures uh Mr Linsky we have uh plenty of faith in you here doing well appreciate it teacher thank you for supporting the uh the ban that we enforced and um we're looking on possibly uh making changes next September in the school year beginning of the year um some more changes come to the district that uh the board is liking the uh reactions of what we're getting so far um could be possibly uniforms or a poer dress codee so we'll uh I'm just button it out now it's like it's no surprise but we shall see okay um anyway that being said uh let's move on to new business A1 meeting minutes can I have a motion please move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes thank you page 2 A2 list of bills can I have a motion please motion second second Ru call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes but I need to abstain on 9 5 five 955 339 289 299 and 283 300 thank you uh Mrs Walker I'm voting Yes except I have to abstain on Bill number 953 843 thank you Mrs Claus yes and Mr Peters yes I you steem on 82211 210 thank you page two transfers and s1701 A3 through A4 can I have a motion please motion second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes Pages 3 through six Finance facilities A5 through a11 can I have a motion please mot motion second I was Dan and Kim roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes Page 6 812 through 813 student tuition and transportation can I have a motion please motion second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs CLA yes Mr Peters yes Pages six and seven other A14 through a21 can I have a motion please motion second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes but I need to abstain on his orms be on A14 please thank you Mrs Walker yes um I have on item number 14 I have to abstain on Mrs Amos and Mr Dow thank you Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes Pages 78 policy of regulations 822 and 823 move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes and Mr Peters yes page eight hibs we had one this month can I have a motion please motion second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes B page eight donations can I have a motion please motion second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes and thank you Mrs Walker yes thank you Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes and thank you very much page8 C programs andc curriculum can I have a motion please move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes page 9d professional days Workshop SLT travel can I have a motion please move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conedy yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes Pages 9 through 12 e certified Personnel E1 through e 11 can I have a motion please move second roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes by need to stand on KNE one Mr Army thank you Mrs Walker uh yes um I have to what what are we doing one through what what numbers 1 through 11 okay I have to abstain on E8 Mr Brandis and Mr Dow thank you yes for the rest Mrs Claus yes and Mr Peters yes and congratulations thank you page 12- 16 F noncertified Personnel F1 through F14 and we have um an addendum on f11 uh Mr uh culo and Mrs Jones the information for them uh was amended I'll move as amended second as amended roll call please Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes but on F4 Alice cely you to obain please thank you Mrs Walker uh yes m Clause yes and Mr Peters yes we have a walk on resolution yes uh we have a leave of absence uh for Chris Deo for uh njfla for 42924 through 9192 24 we have Brian fiser for military leave 9124 to 10292 24 and then military leave without pay from 10324 to 12124 uh Jeremy lady for military leave from 9124 to 93024 motion motion second Mr Bell yes Mr conned yes Mrs Walker yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Peters yes thank you this right yes okay good uh motion to a I'll move that do we have a second second all in favor I have a good evening folks thank you