okay adequate notice that this meeting was advertised in the Asbury Park Press and the beacon on January 12th 2023 and by posting the notice in the forkid River post office and the lenoa harbor post office and by filing a copy of the notice with the Lacy Township Clerk as required by the open public meeting act roll call please Mrs arado Mr conned Mr armado Mrs Claus here Mr Pino present Mr Peters present and Mrs Downey present thank you we have a quorum okay could I have a motion to go into executive motion be resolved that 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 personel matters the subject matters of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides the length of the the executive session is estimated to be approximately 60 minutes after which the board shall reconvene and proceed with business at 7:00 p.m. action may be taken motion motion second second oh second thank you all in favor okay we'll be back step hey we'd like to resume the meeting of the LA School Board um at this time I'm going to turn the meeting over to our student representative Charlotte you have a few things today yeah I'm just going to keep it brief so our past SGA meeting was on December 4th and then we took our pictures on the 11th and then Battle of the class has been entirely moved in recent events to the February 5th to 9th and so next week's spirit week is just going to be Monday for Lacy day Tuesday for team or college gear Wednesday for workout Thursday is going to be plaid and Friday is going to be ugly sweater and that's pretty much all I have to share and our unsung here will be announcing in January thank you and thanks for coming tonight we appreciate it I'll turn the meeting over to our superintendent Dr prer all right thank you Bo president Downing okay um so typically our board meetings are a time to celebrate the successes of our students and our staff tonight um We Gather with heavy hearts United by a profound loss that has shaken our community to its core the tragic passing of three bright Souls from our high school Deshawn Witter Daniel Watkins and Jason cugliari has left us in a state of deep sorrow and disbelief the impact of losing these three students is immeasurable their absence leaves a void that cannot easily be filled they were more than just names on a roster they were friends classmates teammates and individuals with dreams and aspirations that lit up our school their presence enriched our lives and their absence now leaves an indelible mark on our hearts please join us for a moment of silence thank you I don't have many comments tonight of Bo president Downing other than uh this is Mr peno's last board meeting and uh Frank I just want to thank you for your years of service to the families and students of our district and next month we will welcome uh Mr Daniel Bell and I just want to wish our families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year you okay seeing that's that um public comment an audience member wishing to make a comment will raise his or her hand when called upon state your name address or affiliation and intention to make a statement com coments will be addressed to the board president one issue at a time comments will be limited to 5 minutes no audience member shall be recognized twice until all who have wished to comment have been recognized this portion of the meeting is for public comments only and there will be no questions answered the purpose of this board meeting is to perform our business in public everyone is entitled to a public comment if there is a question for the board there is an established chain of commit that being said are there any any public comments sorry I'm pointing but you want to go up to the podium please hello I'm Mariana green hi I'm a junior at Lacy Township High School school I'm here today to speak on the behalf of my peers and myself to report the Injustice inconsideration and absolute corruption Lacy Township High School has proven throughout a difficult time ever since I started here as a freshman there were incidents that were overlooked and completely dismissed but this specific topic I refused to let be swept under the rug three enrolled seniors of lacy Township High School by the names de sha Whitter Daniel Watkins and Jason Coulier have all died in the span of 3 months de sha Witter was in Lakewood Township early Saturday on October 7th when the car he was passenger in which had four other passengers kened off the roadway and slamed into a metal traffic signal pole breaking into two parts thean had a violent and tragic death no one especially at this age should have to experience or mourn yet that's what the carts were dealt and as a result of this death you should expect expect scrutiny to go along with it unfortunately the only support shown to us students was a moment of silence during fourth period when the seniors and Vocational students weren't there no email went to us students in regards to De Shan no announcement was given that a student had lost their life a de Shan was forgotten before he was even noticed Daniel Watkins aged 17 committed suicide on November 26 2023 at his home he wasn't just a leasy student he was also enrolled in vocational technical school where he had aspirations to follow in his Father's Footsteps and become a diesel mechanic I would like to read Snippets from a former friend's post about Daniel Watkins Dan my best friend I love you one day I asked who you were going to be when you got older you told me I'm going to be the best person I can he wasn't afraid to be himself Dan was the most selfless and hardworking person I've ever known if you had asked who I wanted to become I would have said someone more like you with that said the school still made their decision by sending no emails informing Lacy students of another death and no announcement informing Lacy students of this death what they did decide on was hosting only two days of special counselors which came from the Middle School to quote unquote support those going through a difficult time why did I quote support because when me and four other students sat in this very lecture hall there was no speech or advice or anything for that matter said in that room just despare although Danny might not have had many friends he was still someone's son and a human being the cause of his death should have no impact on the school's actions Jason Lee cougary aged 17 died in a car accident on December 9th 2023 he was an exceptional student that was recently accepted to Stockton University and the Su of a former staff member John Coulier on Monday December 11th 2023 the school decided to have a moment of silence for Jason while apparently including desan and Daniel's name as well though being in the gym second period there is not one word we heard from that minut an announcement I'm not standing here today to accuse or fight with any staff or board member though I will stand here today to plead and beg for some form of support and Justice an educator doesn't mean you're up there for a paycheck or yourself but you're up there for us in our future it means you are a mentor a friend a motivator a coach a parental figure and a counselor it means you are responsible for inspiring a group of kids to become better people than they were the day before it means that 1,256 Ames are counting on you to take care of their most prized possession giving your students your very best should be your first consideration as there's children that woke up today because of you the Lacy Township Board of Education under policy statement exclaims start quote since students learn for example by example School administrators faculty staff and volunteers should be commenced for demonstrating appropriate behavior end quote so how do you think it makes us students feel when a staff member comes through the drive-through of my job slurring his words just a day after Jason's death how do you think it makes makes us students feel when we're scared to even sit behind our wheel when that's who our role models are how do you think it makes us students feel when we have to sit behind a desk listening to teachers who don't care about educating us while all we can think about is Danny stepping off that chair feeling he had no one who he could reach out to multiple students and I have sat down with these said special counselors in hopes of reaching the attention they deserved yet every response had an excuse when asked what I want them to do about the situation I gave them a list of possible appropriate actions just for the response of the school having no money mentioning a petition or GoFundMe was only dismissed with another excuse of needing the senior class for the school to realize the impact these deaths have been when two seniors had asked to have a page in the yearbook for Daniel and desan they were told they wouldn't be in the yearbook at all due to the assumption that memorializing these deaths will cause more harm than what's already done memorializing no one asked for the school to be shut down or have their faces on the school page all we asked was that their deaths be noticed and remembered along with who they were before the tragedies all we asked ask us for support as we broke down in your offices hoping to retain that but instead being told to go back to to be go offices hoping to retain that but instead being told to go back to class we feel they fail to realize the extremes these deaths have taken on us as being an adult granting more experience with death and mental interference some students have never seen a dead body until they were standing in front of their best friend's casket forced to look at a soulless figure they no longer recognize you didn't have to know these students to be hurt you could have been a friend of the family A friend of their friends or even just relating to their situation or knowing someone in their situation that can trigger such emotions these students have been here since milpond but yet the recognition they get is as is as if they never attended Lacy at all I'm disappointed my friends have the mindset that star quote the school is not going to do anything and there's going to be another death how long until it's one of my friends end quote we are scared and by the school not speaking out it creates the question if they even care I'm disappointed with the school the board my peers and myself for letting another student pass without speaking up changes possible and I will never stop speaking about these individuals until they get the recognition they deserve especially if their stories can Inspire another student to keep living and one more thing I want to say that I didn't include there were a couple people who couldn't be behind me today that were a little closer to some of these students and the reason they couldn't attend was solely because they believe the Board of Education wouldn't care about any of this is that the kind of leaders you want to be it's pathetic and it's embarrassing thank you thank you before we make a comment are there any other comments Mrs denza well let me Mrs danenza let me let me just address before you come up okay so first of all I just want to thank you because I know it's hard to come up here and speak at the podium in front of the Board of Education um I have been speaking with Dr pery Who's uh the supervisor of guidance and I've noted some of the things uh that you uh talked about and I'm thinking that maybe the the next best thing to happen is for us to have a sit down and talk about what some of your concerns are because we can't fix what we don't know okay so we are aware of some of the requests I know that Dr pery is working with a group to organize a community event um and I know she was planning on talking about that tomorrow while next week um to my understanding that there is an event plann for January February um I just don't have the specifics yet but we'll talk some more okay because I want to hear uh what your concerns are sounds like you're not the only one okay but I want to thank you for making those comments um because I know that that was hard for you to do so thank you okay thank you did you want before Mrs denza did you want to make a comment sir no okay okay go ahead Regina descends a Sunset Drive Sunrise Beach um yes it's been a very sad three months here my own son has um brought all that information to my attention because even he's affected by it even though he's 24 he remembers kids he remembers their friends um tonight I wanted to remind Miss Ormsby that back in I think 2020 I had donated $2,000 to the legal fee deductible when the four ethics cases had commenced I still think the other five should kick in at least 500 each since they all saw fit to bring the charges that started this expensive mess um Miss Ormsby would you happen to have a legal degree or a law license or just CPA just CPA just CPA because I was wondering why you were questioning the details of my lawyer bills I saw the emails this past week um the details on that bill are between me and her and I think you're kind of infringing on my attorney client privilege and I think if you have a problem with my legal representation bill that you should probably come to me first and let me explain I think you should pay Miss Weinstein's bill in question instead of asking her the alternative for her not listening to that meeting could have cost the district a whole lot more money in fact it could have caused two more lawsuits but I chose to take a different route I just want you to know that so I think the three or $400 that you have in question is practically insignificant since Mr Giordano's bills exceeded over $100,000 at the present time and mine are less than onethird of his costs so I think it was very nitpicky of you to try and deny Alyssa for listening to that meeting you do know that board members are OB obligated to speak the truth from behind the days and when things are twisted a little bit you know I had my issues with that and that was why I asked her to watch that meeting and she didn't think it was appropriate to view just the public comment portion I know Mr um what's his last name Jeff I can't think of his last name Stark is it Jeff Stark Jeff Jeff feels a little differently and yes he may just look at the public comment you know I've been reading the legal bills and also I did ask to see the district legal bills a few weeks ago I don't remember seeing miss Weinstein in the pile did I have to ask for them separately you didn't request those no I said all the district legal bills that didn't you actually asked for specific ones I did write them down all right yes I would like to see them all at some point I'll make arrangements with you for that um okay so one of the things that was spewed was that I was doing an appeal but you know what now I have an appeal I got a docket number this week Mr uh Peters and Mr Pino might have wanted to write these down we're seeking to have them Consolidated but the open public meetings act case has gone to appeal a-009 32-23 and A- 00954 d23 because with proos say applicants we had to get two separate docket numbers but we are asking to have them Consolidated and Mr padulla I would like to thank you for letting me know that the suby ethics case was a Hot Topic during the njsba legal Forum I did manage to get some information from some of the other attorneys that attended that law Forum session but it wasn't a presentation topic it was just discussed thank you any other comments seeing none we will move on to um board committee so Kim would you like to start with policy Cheryl I want start do policy Okay so um this is the minute of the policy committee meeting we had the meeting on Wednesday November 15th 2023 4:45 p.m. in the board office in attendance was Kim klouse myself Jack Cony and Dr Pereira the discussion policy bylaw 0155 board committees the committee discussed eliminating the facilities committee and returning it to the finance committee discussions followed policy regulation 5320 imun ation Dr Pereira provided an overview of policy 5320 as it relates to exemptions discussions followed policy regulation 9180 School volunteers and parents involved in education pie proposal Dr Pereira shared a draft of the piie proposal and discussions followed new policy regulations for review and or discussion policy 2270 religion in the schools revised the United States Department of Education released an updated guidance on constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public elementary and secondary schools 2023 guidance dated May 15 2023 the 2023 guidance replaces the 2022 guidance dated January 16 2020 the updates include minor revisions in the titles included in the 23 guidance policy regulations 3212 attendance revised policy regulation 4212 attendance revised legislation signed on July 3rd 2023 revising njsa 18a 31 and njsa 18a 30-4 expanded allowable uses of sick time for School Employees the pro Provisions in this recent legislation required revisions in policy and regulation guides 3212 and 4212 that addresses staff attendance policy regulation 5111 eligibility of Resident non-resident students revised PL 2023 c61 was recently signed into law revising njsa 18a 383 policy and regulation guides 5111 have been revised to reflect the revisions to njsa 18a 38-3 in order to avoid redundancy policy guide 5111 has been shortened mostly referring statute and administrative code sections that are already included in the existing regulation guide 5111 policy regulation 5116 education of homeless children and youths revised policy guide 5116 has been revised to update the term homeless child to homeless child and youth this term has been up updated throughout policy and regulation guide 5116 co-curricular no agendum items to discuss Safety and Security No Agenda items to discuss ltaa No Agenda items to discuss other the committee reviewed the following job descriptions that are on the December agenda for approval pic preschool instructional coach PS preschool intervention referral specialist cpis Community parent intervention involvement specialist social worker administrators coaching the committee discussed the provision in the LA in the ltaa contract that outlines whether administrators can serve in co-curricular positions discussions following that's it adjournment was 5:30 p.m. and the next meeting is January 10th 2024 thank you thank you Sher Mr Peters facilities we spoke about the stem project we had an update on that the fire alarm project as everybody knows um parts are tough to get um we spoke about that the HVAC project we talked about some of our Pro our um supplies are 30 weeks out with being looked into because we were told there's a shorter time frame discussion followed we had a sistic update we talked at the referendum uh L A discussion on the status of referendum and the committee we had a pre prek facilities Grant talk um that's going to be a December agenda we talked about um emergency lighting that needs to be installed outside the buildings when the uh students are evacuated outside the building the fire commissioner correct yeah the fire inspector inspector said we don't have enough lighting outside so we have to add lighting outside God forbid uh it's dark out and um they could see I guess better out there I mean the parking lot's lit but you know it's code so we have to follow it and uh that is it our meeting was over at 4:44 okay thank you uh Finance I'm going to report on finance um tonight and basically it's the same things for uh facilities um under the stem the project is complete the architect is just doing a final walk through and then the stem room will be able to be utilized the fire alarm project you spoke about Skip um a punch list was completed and provided to the contractor weeks ago that this is in all schools the fire alarm project um we talked about the HVAC project as well as gentic synergetic I can't say that update we did that um the referendum we talked about the referendum committee that the committee will continue under the leadership of a new president once we reorganize in January and um we talked about the lights these lights that Mr Peters was referring to is at Cedar Creek forkid river loka Harbor and the middle school and we talked about um Mrs Ormsby led a discussion seems strange to say that um led a discussion on the need to fund the capital reserve account um nothing else was discussed our meeting ended at 5:14 and our next meeting we don't have a date yet but we will be REM meeting whoever the committee is in January okay uh board member comment I'm just going to on behalf of everyone um this entire board um of sends its condolences to all the families and friends and everyone over these tragedies that have occurred um and also we want to wish everyone a very merry holiday Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah whatever holiday you're uh following um Merry have a wonderful one and Mr um Pino did not want to have a big to-do um when he left so we just I'm just going to say Frank on behalf of all of us we want to thank you for your um you know your leadership and we appreciate everything you've done and on behalf of all of us this is a little something for you you don't have to get up we're not making a big deal thank you thank you and at that we'll move on to the regular meeting Charlotte you want to leave I know I'm sorry you don't need to sit here thank you ladies it's up to you guys we're just going over bills I mean if you want to stay I mean it's all up to you to listen you're more to welome States public meeting but thank you byebye we know you have homework tonight and you have things to do he's already taking okay we're going to do item one under a new business could I have a motion please motion second oh I'm gonna I'm gonna go find her yeah okay thanks for coming so page two meeting minutes A1 could I have a motion motion Peters I'll second roll call Mrs Armada yes Mrs Claus yes Mr pelino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes also on page two list of bills item two could I have a motion motion second roll call please Mrs armado yes uh Mrs Claus yes Mr f yes Mr Peters yes I obain on A2 the ocvts 21121 thank you and Mrs Downey I'm going to say yes except for bills number 95927 955 337 95 3843 95450 95534 and last 955 343 thank you all right okay are we done I was the last one right yes okay on page also page two number three uh budget transfers could I have a motion please motion Peters second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes number four um uh page 2 through 7 finance and facil right yes finance and Facilities A4 through a11 let me read them please for the public sale of solar renewable energy credits srex acceptance of preschool facilities expansion Grant purchase of exterior emergency lighting receipt of bids and award of contract for electrical or plumbing services approval or approval of agreement for private police related activities appointment of special education related services provider sale of or disposal of assets and lastly use of facilities but I have a motion please motion second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr felo yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey I yes thank you okay items 12 through 15 tuition and transportation um out of District tuition placement out of District tuition placement revisions out of District tuition and student transportation jointure CU I could I have a motion please motion second roll call Mrs armato yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downing yes next one items a16 through A8 could I have a motion please motion second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downing yes page eight policies and regulations item 19 and 20 motion please I'll move second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr PLO yes Mr Peters I have a question what was uh the change of 270 20270 religion and schools 2 religion terms was it just terms yeah hold on there was an update the Pol the the structure of the policy did not change I mean I can look okay all right that's good I'll go with that yes Mrs Downey yes page eight Hib items 21 and 22 could I have a motion please motion Peters second roll call Mrs arot so yes to everything but no on 10506 10256 no 1056 thank you thank you 105 106 1056 06 06 all right Mrs Claus yes and no on 10506 Mr Pino yes and all but 10506 no on that please Mr Peters yes and all except 1056 and Mrs Downey yes for all except for number 10506 that's a no the next Item B donations could I have a motion please to accept these president if I may yes can I have a new can I add a new business yep at this time so I want to add a comment if I can go ahead so um my last meeting I want to thank everybody for their diligent work here on the board I know at times we disagreed and sometimes we didn't agree at all and it got hostile so for that I apologize to our backdoor hostilities but we got things done um but I just want everybody to know that my decisions as board president a year ago in this board my decisions I do what's for right not necessarily what's popular um and for that I've taken a beaten publicly and privately but I stand behind what I believe in and and people have their own feelings and I agree with that but I've always been a man of my word I say I'm going to do what I'm going to do and with that I want to wish all the current board members and the future board member Dan uh luck next year I know you're having going to have a tough time with the $4 million deficit um but I know that uh you you guys will fight through it and just remember you know we're business Children First and again do what's right not necessarily was popular so with that I wish you all luck and thank you for our hard work together and especially our staff and administration um what they go through you know Dr perea Mr zalinsky Mrs Ormsby you know everything you do behind the scenes and the hours after work that you put in it's it's tremendous and the same thing with our administrators in our schools and our staff and our teachers and everybody you all do a great job and thank you thanks okay moving on to B Don ations could I have a motion please motion Peters I'll second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes and thank you Mrs Downing yes and on behalf of the entire board thank you for these donations C programs and curriculum items one through three move second roll call Mrs Armada yes sorry excuse me Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes page 10 D professional days and workshops could I have a motion motion you never set that up is there a second no second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes and I'm going to abstain however on Dr Pereira Mr zalinsky and Mr D thank you the rest are yes e certificated Personnel items 1 through 13 I have a motion motion second roll call please Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr sorry I couldn't hear yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes F items 1 through 12 non-certificated Personnel roll call um motion please motion second R call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr PLO yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes we have a walk on yes uh this is uh non-certificated staff support Personnel salary adjustment uh move that a board approve the following salary adjustments for support Personnel Paul schlagen half uh acting head custodian at the high school from 12 2723 to a two determined date for $45 perum and Benjamin Austin acting head custodian at the middle school from 12 2723 to to a to be determined date at also $45 per DM motion move second roll call Mrs armado yes Mrs Claus yes Mr Pino yes Mr Peters yes Mrs Downey yes thank you motion to adjourn could I um I once again wish everyone a very Merry Christmas could I have a motion to adjourn the meeting Frank yes you want to make it I have motion to adress okay is there a second I'll second all in favor meeting a J Wow