je cor s adequate notice of this meeting has been provided with the following means anual notice was sensitive Record newspaper Township clerks posted in the library of town hall and the board office set forthcoming a scheduled work meetings and public meetings of the board one quick announcement the terms of the school trustees Paul pasano Dan parda and Anthony scardina will expire three seats all for three years will be filled at Tuesday's November 5th 2024 general election um approval of minutes approval of the minutes make motion motion second who's motioning roll call mrat for Mr andrinopoulos for Miss pasamano for Mr pasamano for Mr parda for Mr petronio for Dr Scardino Miss Stella for and Mr valano for motion carries our student representative report good evening everyone and welcome to today's May report as a school year is coming to a close there are many field trip events and various activities happening around the building our upcoming important event for seniors is our John C McLean award scheduled on June 4th select seniors were chosen to attend the award ceremony and receive acknowledgement and or scholarship for their dedication and loyalty to our high school most students are excited about the upcoming years at LHS and hope to see improvements throughout the building I believe the elcap program will be a great addition to the high school and will most likely grow popular in the next years as as I mentioned since the school year is coming to an end everything is more laidback and the school seems to be more enjoyable for the students that being said that is the end of my report for this month have a wonderful night uh our state monitor Mr Wayne demov is watching via live stream he asked me to read this into the record this is a state monitor's report I have reviewed the financial reports for the month ending April 2024 and support tonight's resolution that certifies that there are sufficient funds available based on the April financials to meet the district's Financial Obligations for the remainder of the 2023 2024 school year we are continuing to monitor the 2023 2024 financials closely so that the district's financial position will remain positive as we close this school year on June 30th 2024 I have also reviewed and discussed the resolutions on tonight's agenda with Mr dorso and support his recommendations to the board that they approve all the resolutions on tonight's agenda that concludes my rep for this evening thank you Mr democ okay well quick quick announcement today as you see we have a bunch of students here going to get some awards that's great to see every time we have a board meeting um I just got a report here hold on all so our baseball team is now advancing to the SE State second round they just won tonight two de against brother that's and then we had a lot of athletes I wish I could name them all in track who who's gotten Awards and broke records I think L's High School sports is doing very well this year and I hope we can continue it in the future uh superintendent report thank you Mr pmana absolutely that you know for us you know for me and the board that's that's really the highlight of our evening is when we get to recognize our students um whether it be academically um with sports or with our Fine Arts um we really get to highlight and see the wonderful things that are you know our students are doing throughout the district so um tonight in addition to our students being recognized we have some faculty members that we're going to recognize we're going to start with that presentation um and then we're going to move to our student uh recognition so I just ask that everyone please um you know listen to all of the awards um and stay till the end um I know sometimes after um the awards people like to then leave because then we start to conduct board business so we have two presentations we have um our faculty and then our our choir and so if everyone can just stay for both of those it would be greatly appreciated so um I'm going to start tonight um by calling up U Mrs Jamie Stevens our director of special services who's going to highlight a program a special services program um that won a state award by New Jersey school board so we're extremely proud of this program I thank Mrs Stevens for um bringing it to me and the district and ultimately assembling this phenomenal team um that we're going to recognize tonight who was um given an award at a state level so I'm going to come down and and meet Mrs Stevens morning everyone thank you so much for coming to uh this evening's board meeting um as Mr dorso said I'm Jamie Stevens I'm the director of student services um and I have three faculty members up here that um do a tremendous job with our special education students so I'm going to share a little bit of the background as to this classroom um and how and why we received this award so that you have an understanding of how just awesome these three faculty members are um so I'm proud and humbl to stand before you tonight to share that Linhurst Public Schools received the Innovations and special education award from New Jersey school boards Association we received this honor for our emotional regulation impairment classroom at memorial Campus because of the academic and therapeutic learning environment that has been carefully curated and designed for our students in the Academic Year of 2122 the Linhurst Public Schools identified a pressing need for intensive behavioral intervention and supports for our students facing some major emotional challenges our students were displaying bursts of anger they were extremely frustrated in class they certainly were not growing academically and their behaviors were getting more and more challenging so in response to that we established an emotional regulation impairment classroom implementing a com comprehensive approach to address the diverse need of our students with the support of Mr dorso we assembled a dynamic mul multip multidisiplinary team comprising of behaviorist Raymond Vasquez school psychologist Alexis Finley and our special education teacher Barbara cronch our program prioritizes differentiate instruction and a token economy award system this Fosters a private and supportive learning environment teaching occurs one to one between these three staff members and the power professionals that are in the classroom there is daily counseling and social emotional support as well the classroom also encorate movement and exercise and our students are able to earn jiu-jitsu classes every Friday um if they do what they're supposed to do in the classroom and own earn those rewards so Raymond Alexis and Barbara's Innovative approaches to teaching learning Behavior they have they ha they have achieved significant outcomes for our students both academic and emotionally the success of our program underscores the importance of tailored interventions and holistic supports in special education by embracing Innovation and collaboration this team has created a therapeutic learning environment where our students can Thrive academically emotionally and socially I cannot say enough about the kind and empathetic approach Barbara Alexis and Raymond have with each one of our students they all they all truly embody the phrase best interests of students I want to emphasize their Exemplar dedication and compassion shown by Barbara Alexis and Raymond in their interactions with each one of our Learners daily this unwavering commitment to understanding and supporting the unique needs of every individual highlights their Collective commitment to well-being and the success of our kids congratulations on receiving this award e thank you Mrs Stevens so so for us for educators there's really no better reward than when a parent seeks you out to just thank you for the impact that you've made on on your child and I forget what meeting I was at or where I was but um one of the parents in that classroom approached me to just tell me what a difference um that classroom who's made in their child's life and for me there's no better reward and I know for our Educators it's nice to get recognized by the state but at the end of the day we do it for our students and for their families and so um I just wanted to share that that story because these three truly have made a difference in the lives of our children so thank you [Applause] again I would now like to call up Miss Selena wise our choire teacher who's going to recognize some students in our district okay good evening everybody um I couldn't be more proud to be up here uh to announce the names of some very hardworking and talented students that we've had uh through the last uh few years I've got to say our numbers have grown we've um auditioned for many honors choirs on the Bergen County level the state region level and also the New Jersey All State honors level and each year the numbers grow I think this is a big tribute to our feeder programs that come up as well as the hard work that these kids put in throughout their years years um at LHS so uh without further Ado I'd like to announce the names of our students that have earned Bergen County Choir um what they do for some of you who maybe don't know what this means uh we send a bunch of students to uh this year it was in Mawa where they go to audition and in that audition process it's very nerve-wracking I don't know how many of you have ever sung before but to be singled out sing by yourself and be in front of judges is no easy task so they have to go into two different classrooms one of them where they are told to sing their scales and they are scrutinized now those people don't look at them so the judges have their backs turned to these students as they walk in and their heart is pounding out of their chest and then they need to sing um they are writing down the scores they then go onto another room for tonal memory and they have to sing solos and again it's it's a very very tedious process and uh at the end of the day it's against all of Bergen County singers and this year we qualified 12 of them so been a great year for our Bergen County so without know the yep you have the same order I have them okay uh in the soprano section we testing okay um in the soprano section which is the high women's voice we have Simone Caden [Applause] Angelina Brennan and Natalie Leon in the alto section we have Maya wenko I'd also like to add there's a few students that I'm going to be announcing in Bergen County that also qualified last year for all state however we weren't able to make one of the board meetings due to scheduling conflicts with the music program Maya is one of them who qualified for last year's All State Choir also in the alto section was summer Caffrey summer was also an Allstate recipient last year Angelina and Simone also I just wanted to make sure the seniors that weren't going to be recognized this year were also but yes summer and um Angelina and Simone as well I'm sorry okay next we have Olivia Olivera who also qualified for All State last year and our last Alto Lila Santos in our tenor section we have Joseph Brennan get your steps in Drew boft who also qualified for All State last year Ryan yamut also All State last year Lucas Guerrero and Jake kenel who also was all state last year okay um had auditions for North Jersey region Jazz choir which was a new addition North Jersey region Jazz choir and now this process actually just completed a few weeks ago and it was for New Jersey All State honors choir and that is similar process but we did it on recording sent them in and it is against all of our singers in all states so um this was a quite an accomplishment and each year again our numbers have grown I couldn't be more proud and I I do thank our feeder programs from kindergarten all the way up because they create the musicians that we have up here right now um in New Jersey All State chire Sopranos for 2025 it's actually for next year is Angelina Brennan Simone Kaden familiar faces in our Alto section we have a new face here Isabella Bartlett Alto as well summer Caffrey and our last Alto was Leila Santos and um also our all state teners are Joseph Brennan another new face in this mix Joseph Romeo and adding another notch to his belt up here Ryan y mount for All State Choir I think I said his last name different yamut yeah I I say it different every time I say his name it's it's kind of a joke around here but thank you you guys again I'm so proud of them and um if we could take a picture real quick that would be fantastic Mr shalik is going to be coming up next do you want to do that now while we're all up here we could get a picture together yeah let's do that one thank you I won't make everyone stay up here too long um last month I couldn't be here in person Mr Cardone was nice enough to come up uh on my behalf and present uh Joseph Brennan and George shalad for making the region jazz band NJ AJ region one which is all of North Jersey uh since then the students have gone on to audition at the all state level uh which is much more rigorous and I'm proud to announce that as a freshman for the first time making an all state Jazz Ensemble at least in my 14 years here in murst we have a freshman who plays second in the state on piano um so again with with many thanks to all of our music faculty who helped uh bring him up along the way Mr George shazza I think we'll take that picture now real quick congratulations again to all our students and thank you to uh Mr chall and Miss Wise for all of your hard work and dedication at this time we're going to move into the uh public uh portion of the meeting we're going to go on to our agenda items and also um are members of the public that have signed up to speak um just so you know if you signed up to speak I'm going to leave this mic up here um I'm going to turn it off but when you come up there's a large black bar on the bottom you just click it and the red light will come on um all right so I'm going to leave this down here and I'm going to turn this around e super committee on finance recommends the following resolutions we move forward for a roll call vote I make a motion to move forward Finance resolutions 1 through 29 to be adopted second second four four four four four four pursuant to the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the committee on education and curriculum recommends the following resolutions we move forward for a roll call vote I make a motion to move forward education and curriculum resolutions one through four to be adopted second four four four against I'm against the uh number three the $35 technology fee four four four four no policies pursuing to the recommendation of the superintendent schools the committee on policies and rules and regulation recommends the following resolutions to be moved forward on a roll call vote I make a motion to move forward policies and regulations resolutions one through three to be adopted roll call Mr Abate for Mr andrinopoulos for Miss pasamano Mr pasamano Mr par against there's certain things on here I don't approve of Mr petronio for Dr Scardino for Miss Stella for and Mr valano for motion carries Personnel P pursuant to the recommendations of the superintendent of schools the committee on Personnel recommends the following resolutions to be move forward for a roll call vote I make a motion to move forward Personnel resolutions A1 through M6 to be adopted second roll call Mr B for Mr andrinopoulos for Miss pasamano Mr pasamano Mr parda against we uh laid off people at the last meeting and I can't see spending more money on the uh under personnel Mr patronio for for four something I'd like to say at the latest um Bergen County School Board Association meeting Elaine Stella was recognized for her 10 years of service for the the Board of Education in Linhurst thank you Pete [Applause] I just want to say you know a lot of people don't know how much work goes into this job with um you know the meetings the committee meetings and the board meeting but Elaine goes above and beyond as thank [Applause] you motion to a journ oh little button okay as you guys know I wear quite a few hats um in the community tonight I'm speaking to you as a taxpayer and a parent I want to thank Mr dorso and the Linhurst board of education for establish in the um program that we're going to be having at Felician College um I speak as a father of a son who's going to be participating in a program there uh I also speak as a taxpayer and someone who has found it pretty hard to send my first two kids to college um the the program that you guys are putting together I can't really tell you how much it means to us that our students not only my son but the other kids in town are going to be earning college credits um as seniors for l chess this is an an essence of what it means to be Community we are going across route three to Rutherford to have our kids go to school uh those of them who don't drive are going to be getting a free shuttle which is which is pretty incredible I know a lot of um you know they're going to be seniors most of them will be driving but some of them won't and that's uh that's a a pretty cool thing um you know my my son's looking forward to it my wife and I are very appreciative and I know Mr dorso has worked pretty hard to bring this to the community that's um that's a special thing second thing is I'd like to thank um Mr anopolis and Miss Stella for attending our veterans program very nice to have you there um it was nice to see Mr petronzio marching in the in the Veterans Day Memorial Day Parade I should say um it's good to see that our elected officials participate in in um the lives of our veterans and and our children one last thing I I I have to ask this question because I'm I've heard it multiple times the speaker system Sy here but do we have speakers above our heads in a building that's four years old and they don't work and they haven't worked and and the stage is warping I'm I'm confused I don't know if the state monitor you know he's not here tonight to you know help answer that question but like $60 million we spent on this building somewhere around there between 45 and 65 I never know know what the real number is but 58 okay that sounds like a good one um how could the the the stage be warped and the speakers not work after four years I'm I'm confused is there a lawsuit or something coming against the people who built it is that not a thing I don't know just again taxpayer speaking no I I hear you so so first I want to thank you for recognizing the elcap program it's something we've been putting together for over a year now so thank you for you know for mentioning that we're very very very excited to have our students going over to Felician College um being on campus there um our seniors are going to have full access to all the amenities at Felician um that is their their Library you know their waight room all their facilities and amenities and really they're going to be considered um Felician students at that point so um it's a great opportunity for our students and thank you for mentioning that um we we plan to expand that program um we want to be as competitive and Progressive as we can and compete with our not just our you know neighboring towns but but theems and we want to try to build programs that that keep our students here in lur so thank you so much for mentioning that um as far as the middle school yeah you know we've we've had minor glitches here and there with the facility I know we we finally just fixed the um the TV wall out there um that was a process so um you know the speaker system is a process too it's a little bit of a trial and error so we're on the speaker system as far as the stage unfortunately we do have to um it was the matter in which the floor was put down so we are looking to just replace it's just it's wood at this point and so um right now there's some some Alternatives we put on for for temporary just to kind of get us through um and we've kind of just had to make the best of it so but Mr Toro it's four years old like why and this was happening two years ago so after two years was there was no warranty there was no way to take the people who built that the court I mean these are supposed to be world class you know the same people who designed the PNC I something like that yeah why why weren't they held to task so unfortunately when the build by the time the building was was signed over and then ultimately released and we came into the building you know many of the warranties you know did expire and so um we've had them the company back um I know we had some uh leaking in the windows and some issues on the roof that was all under warranty um but unfortunately these ancillary things just happen with wear and um a lot of the warranties have since expired the warranties that we were able to get back and and get fixed we did and now we're sort of just kind of fixing things you know as as needed and so um they're not huge ticket items but I mean your points taken unfortunately um we're just working through it okay thank you very much Mr use if I may um sir so um you know I obviously and anybody knows us we know each other a long time we're neighbors and uh we're also friends and I I'm proud to call you that and I want to recognize you I wish I would I could have come to the veterans event but I've seen you put this on year after year after year uh selflessly not just with the simple sort of uh let's record it or put it on a flyer but getting students in a room with our veterans honoring them is just a magnificent thing and from the bottom of our hearts from my heart and the board we we couldn't ask for a better educator to not only be there day-to-day in the classroom but to do these extra things that connect not only to our past but the people we need to remember that have served our country so thank you so much so much thank you thank you thank you Mr Hughes Mr Hughes thank you Dr Scardino for mentioning that Mr Hughes I believe has been doing that veterans program for over 20 years now so thank you again Mr h hello I wish I had so many great things to say um at the start like he did he was great um but I just wanted to bring up a point my name is Sandra Malone I am a mother of a first grader at memorial Campus and we have an issue with Miss Barbara C who is employed by alphabest has become a problem for the children not just for the rude manner in which she speaks to them but also for the decision she makes for their recess time which quite frankly is not part of her job after a variety of complaints from multiple parents Miss Bernardo drafted a lunchtime and recess guideline of rules and regulations for Miss C to follow it has become clear that she is only following these guidelines if another adult is in the room observing her if she is being laid off due to these issues of her mistreat in the children um and she's able to go to trial it's of concern that she will get her job back because of somebody that she knows in the skit system or because she's had her job for so long um and we'd like to suggest maybe a necessary evaluation of her performance around young AG children before she any decision is made on her trial I asked you a question yeah um yeah no I I thank you very much for your comment um I will I have your name I'll reach out to you okay you know personally we could have a conversation because really and I won't really be able to discuss um a personal matter but I would like to hear some of the claims that that you're saying yeah itd be Happ conversation with you and then we'll go from there but in terms of publicly we really we can't say much even when I call you I I just want to hear the your concerns and then um I'll notate those and and proceed accordingly sure and then one more thing okay um we have been discussing a multiple amount of parents um that it's a townwide disservice to remove the general music class from grades three to five um music class in these primitive years is what builds the foundation for strong marching bands and musical Productions as you mentioned Mr dorso at the start of this meeting how wonderful it is to see what our students do in sports and Fine Arts um the children look forward to going to school on the days they have music gym and art and the state does require both foreign language and music um it's very confusing why music is being removed uh from the day and um is there a reason for removing music class yeah so um about two years ago when when we redistrict the whole District when we built this Middle School um we shifted all our employees around and and something that we offered our students in 3 to five was Computer Applications which we had done before um at that time we posted for a Spanish teacher um we're not able to secure one and so in the interm we did hire a music teacher and that was to fill that Spanish vacancy in order for the students to have all their necessary prep periods per week um knowing that eventually we would have to bring back Spanish so um legally not necessarily Spanish but a World Language so legally over that three to five grade van one time over those three years you need to receive a language and so um those fifth graders next year need to receive um a language and so we're looking and trying to figure out a way um you know to keep three to five music but for right now um it was sort of a replacement um I agree with you and recognize you know the importance of Music in the primary grades 3 to five still has the you know the ability to sing in the choir and also take band you know instrument lessons um but you know the board and I are are aware that that's something that we want to try to bring back so um you know we have a few ideas and hopefully by next school year we might be able to work something out but if not in the near future it is something that we want to bring back okay good thank you you're welcome thank you for your comment it's been a while um okay so sorry I missed the last two meetings but I have watched on YouTube um I needed to collect my thoughts on this and come back to you in a calmer way so here it goes I stood here and asked several questions on August 30th 2022 once the state forensic audit became public I asked if there was any recourse on our part by going after the county who rubber stamped our zero finding audits two years in a row I was told pursuing the county off and told this is quoted because I did go back to the YouTube video pursuing the county office would be a difficult situation and one um one we'd have to be careful with they are The Gatekeepers to qac relationship with the county office is woven quite tightly whether we could go after the county for receiving our cfra reports I would say was less than likely the board would have to decide if pursuing that was a good use of their resources if I was personally asked I would be hesitant to do so this is a quote from our attorney I would like to Circle back on our hesitation for pursuing for pursuing this now that the very same person these would help who remain nameless in our state forensic audit and also served as the VP of the County Board during his time here and was repeatedly hired under the same county superintendent in two separate counties despite knowing his record has gone on to another District to do the almost exact thing line item by line item he did here will the state or County be reimbursing us for the lack of due diligence in regards to our former ba is there a victim fund or do we get a discount on fee on the monitor is there anything that we can do since this person did it again also affecting two more children that I know so just thought i' throw that out there and I understand statutes of limitations I also understand there's only certain things that you can answer and the attorney not being here or the state monitor being here so please I'll just give you my answer um I don't know if we have any recourse um I know the district did look into um certain things at that time um you know we did get a state audit and um these questions were asked at that time as well um and you know there wasn't any specific names or anything tied to that report and so um at this point point I don't I do not believe the district has any recourse um I could certainly ask again um but as far as I know we don't hopefully our missteps work out better for Nutley since ke is also helping them through he retired as uh legal counsel there as well so hopefully something comes out for at least them at this point all right thank you no thank you for