##VIDEO ID:gmT98xdBiI4## yes okay meeting to order of the m one Avenue Regal School District Board of Education the time is now 6:31 the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting your interest is discussed or agreed upon in accordance with the provision of this act the mwan aine Regional School District Board of Education advertised this meeting on June 5th 2024 in the asre Park Press in the Star Ledger these notices were sent to the municipal Clerks of the burough of Manan and the township of aine and the Manan aine Public Library these notices were also placed on the district's website can we please stand for the pledge ofion the United States of America and to the rep for it stands na indivisible can miss vus here Miss Martinez here Mr McGovern here Mr Monon here miss SC here miss Farah here miss wari here M scy here M pal here okay um may have a motion a second to enter second session all motion I'll second be it resolved that a closed session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy personnel and legal matters the subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public and the reason for confidentiality subsides although the board cannot guarantee if the length of the executive session is estimated to be 30 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business action will take place um oh we are in executive session because I didn't I didn't do things in the right order thank you we're going to move on to here we go okay so we have no minutes and then can I have a motion in a second to accept the correspondence to the board and then can we have the superintendent report good evening good evening everyone um opening day in the week this week was a success we were happy to have students smile the staff were excited to open their doors to their students and welcome them I want to take this opportunity to thank the teachers the administrators our custodial staff and support staff for making it a success because without them um we did not have a successful opening for our children um the rooms were inviting the buildings were ready um and the kids were ready to learn it looked like they were ready also to get back to school um a lot of Staff members even though they we all enjoy our summer um but they were excited to come back they everybody likes a little bit of structure in their lives so um we all were able to kind of um talk about that a little bit and um everybody was ready to go um back to school nights this week at Ravine Ms and the high school were well attended um some of the each building um had presentations from the principal in terms of um sharing expectations at the building um whether it was teacher staff and students and so we're happy about that so everything's clear um one of the particularly in high school they each of the back of school nights cell phone um policy was covered um so thank I'd like to thank the board members for supporting that um in addition to the electronic policy so students um have been emailing the principal saying thank you um sta mbers have been saying thank you as well so it's so so far um it's been going great um as far as with U Back school night we also had um community resource tables at our back to school nights this week um so from Trier SAA who has been um providing um drug and alcohol prevention at the high school um we had our school counselors and child study team also have tables that gave information and resources for families but also just to kind of connect and for them to put a face with te meting um when we're emailing so that was wonderful to see as well um this for our next board meeting I just wanted to make everyone aware um it'll be at the high school we will be presenting um the high school will be presenting and we will be also be acknowledging staff um recognition for um that who receive T um from the summer months up until September thank you uh moving on to the president's report I wanted to uh do a quick update on some of our Communications uh our article in all around Madan a for um for October will be distributed on Monday so then I know it's a quick turnaround that was because the school year starting that um if we could get any feedback back by Wednesday that' be really great so we can get it in on time um I think it's been going pretty well so far and thank you to the scop again for making that happen we need to feed back by Tuesday oh excuse me we need the food feedback by Tuesday because we need to submit it Wednesday um but uh from the topic standpoint just just as a preview is again just kind of feed some of the topics that have been suggested previously we're still hitting those um because everybody has such good ideas starting even back in August um so also we will be starting to it seems like we'll be reworking or expanding our communication roles at um both the board and administration with the guidance of the new Communications contractor so I don't know what all that's going to be yet but when when things are figured out we'll keep on passing along and I think it's just exciting we're moving into we're finally moving to an age of Technology right so it's not just newspapers and Public Notices um also on a personal communication standpoint I apologize because I said last meeting that I would have a calendar of events and here we are at this meeting I still don't have a calendar events so I will be getting that to you all very very soon um and then moving forward um the uh the budget process will be starting to be disc discuss in October and um uh leadership and administration are still kind of brainstorming how best to uh meet the board goals our goals and objectives um and so then uh so that we can provide an appropriate level of board input but again stay tuned for figuring all that out um I'm just I'm excited that we have such an active and involved board and so hopefully we can keep going and and keep doing great things um and then uh another update is that uh Dr walls is now going to be attending the policy committee meetings um that uh it's to Liaison and also to uh work together so that uh policies can be put together into their final stage developed even quicker um so thank you again to the policy committee because you guys have especially if that cell phone policy turned it around really fast and hopefully we can do a lot of good work like that um and then also the other point was to get get uh started on mandated policy so that we can keep up with our obligations while addressing District needs so that's what all is happening there's a lot um and I don't know I guess when we get down to Old business and new business we can talk about everybody else's a lot of ideas and good things um so moving on we don't have to representativ report so curriculum instruction thank you under curricul instru instruction we have one item for Action that pay travel items is listed for the regular Action meeting item D number one as listed these are the first round of Grants from the de Foundation there is an explanation of each of the grants question pass details of that as well item number two is asking at the regular Action meeting field trip has listed those particular locations have to go on with to of that concludes CRI instruction thank you um have a motion in a second to accept the action item is there any discussion about the culing an instruction agenda the whole point um I just would like to say the um thank the M AV Educational Foundation because they do such an amazing job raising funds to give back to our um classrooms and communities and teachers and staff with all of these awesome grants that they're providing this year um I'm the one who asks for a little detail all the different um grants and what you know what school what school but also what a little bit of background behind them all and this is just I'm always so impressed when they do their presentation about like the things that they've done in the classroom so thank you to the foundation um and I'm excited to see the presentation at the end of the year all the good things [Music] anything else okay uh moving on to the student services agenda student services um they are action items this evening so for Action we are making recommendation item number one ad of District placement was listed item number two approve the am of District placement is listed number two items three four and fire asking Bo to approve tuition for keys that student okay I have a motion at a second to accept the student services agenda is there any discussion I just wanted I just wanted to ask um M pres so I was talking Tois about this earlier so I think it's important to note that this is the first time we're actually charging tuition to go to keys because you don't have the funding am I correct that's correct um we received funding but there's been a decrease in funding over the last few years when we first started the program we received $1.1 million um the following year was decreased to 500,000 um and then we had some legislators and Senators that um asked for additional funds and then we were receiving additional 500,000 to try and make up the difference um so this year um we did not receive any additional we received the award of $500,000 it was suggested in consultation with the Department of Education that we begin to charge um for tuition so that we can sustain the program if we don't ask for the tuition for this tuition we we can't we're running every year like are we running it are we running it are we running it um so this will help sustain the program we have worked I we want to knowe um and for the board members to know that we have worked individually with each district that's why the is different and various because each district as you know are in a different situation um in terms of budgets um and financial constraints that they might have um and it also does vary if the student has requires more needs so it is tailored to the specific students um in terms of the cost in terms of services and also um the instructional level that they do it also runs solely as a grant so this is not anything that is taken out of regular B thank you um it's just it's it's beyond um frustrating imputing and I'm sure it is for you guys because you guys have been fighting this fight for years um with all of the OD and the drug problems the fentanyl the the death among our young people the fact that they're pulling money versus adding more money this whole entire um opa settlement of 600 and something million dollars it literally it's a joke because where is that money where did that go these are the programs they supposed to be funding there's nowhere to send these kids there's no rehabs it's it's I I hundreds are dying a day and nobody is saying a word about it and they're worried about and I don't mean you guys but I mean overall the country the state is not recognizing what is going on and I'm just so at a loss because that settlement when that came about I really thought oh thank God we're going to get a good chunk of change to go to the Keys program and we won't have to fight every year for funding I I'm just I'm just so sad and I don't know if we could put out maybe for the public where to go how to fight who do we talk to it's it's just it's sad just very sad but I appreciate you guys are exhausting Miss Navas is unbelievable um fighting every day to get as much money as we can for the kids so and and again parents don't have this money they don't have this money insurance doesn't pay who has money to pay for this nobody it's it's a disease and yet nobody is funding for these kids I just say kids because that's what we're here today for but it's it's every so just frustrating and you know I think everybody knows that I've worked with and been in communication with Senator goal so he is the um he is the one that has continued to give that additional funding over the last few years he hasn't this year he could not um however we are working on a bill and they I did speak with them about this bill and it is about um making sure or trying to see if the insurances will cover part of the program so just as if a student was in rehab or in a detox facility that the insurance is picking up at this point they are not um so we're kind of we're working on that in terms of passing that and just like we're working now with the typ of school solutions that we and we did that with our families that we sent out information they could share their insurance carriers so that in this way we can get some you know part some partial funding there too as well and I'm happy to say that all of the families have been able um have been you know giving us the information to be able to do that because that down back when we were doing the budget that's what assess down to anticipation so now we want to do that with this so these um items three four and five that's coming from the districts right it's not coming from personal like parents aren't paying the districts are is it's like approving an added District placement yes and parents parents would can have have to pay um we are we don't want parents to pay um so we have said no let's continue to advocate for districts to pay and continue to do the fight because the parents should not have to pay for their child's education so we feel very just and I feel very yeah and I just wanted to take a minute to thank you and the rest of the team the fact that on top of everything else that you do for the district you have to fight for money so thank you thank you thank you very much um moving on to the personal action item onight Personnel agenda the superintendent is asking for approval resignation to retirement section one as listed a for the 245 school year listed appointments has listed for teachers as listed for 2425 and locations school section five we also have staff ARR ches as listed section of page sorry four of nine section six we have substitutes uh as listed in these substitutes have uh certification where they can actually substitute for a teacher in the classroom which are very helpful beneficial of coverages and such in section seven of college student observers we have here will be at C element new school and in sections 8 we have administrative need pay 2425 the employee number we have in section N9 salary correction 2425 school year employe number and then section 10 we have visual [Music] instructor that ends the action item thank you can a motion in a second to set the personel motion oh whoops I'm sorry you still have more of the agenda to go over you AC the that isn't for Action the items that will be for action on the 26 of this form are resignations a b c unlisted section two extracurricular activities section three section SE four summer workshop SE five curriculum instruction uh six uh before and after school intervention support seven High School teacher for practice before school supervision and nothing for eight nothing for nine as of yet nothing for 10 nothing for 11 as of yet and section 12 subes and section 13 16 and other we have a Hort 2425 and unlisted substitute administrators e academy one administrator scavage listed section three substitute administrators District employees will be eligible to substitute buildings for principles just principl uh mentoring our students which is most program will be mentioned will be listed here in the 26 extra account number ofion an additional pay and SE section six so that is the section of personnel that will be up for action on the thank you um are there any questions or comments about the personal Personal Agenda a question I at the same time I'll go after you okay so I just want a quick recap of the most program how has that been running um who can volunteer for that I believe it's volunteer correct volunteer for students uh either students meeting members teachers I don't know exactly I don't I don't know well we have to have community members to here for students also we've had high school students uh AP students were going down to but there is a supervision okay so so whoever's there supervising there's a compensation attached to that or for both yes yes okay and is it so so could a teacher do that on a volunteer basis police so it's basically I'm just trying to get to it's basically all volunteer except for the person that's sort of in charge of making sure place then okay that's all thank [Music] you question I had is just please clarify just curious about the final cabinet and new cabinets can you just say what's going on there to understand why it's a line item oh was that the [Music] uh yes that was work that was done outside of the contract hours it was a project that was in Special Services uh and those staff members worked actually on [Music] weekend EXP teers ment there a number of Mentor teachers that we're approving and I just don't know what that R entails VOR teachers assist novice teachers um the district employ they assist office teachers in terms of of welcoming to the district but then also going over you know different protocols procedures that happen in the building uh they're very they're very useful and very resourceful for our is that also like a s position to when you become aent teacher they're paying through the teacher a there a mechanism in place where they are paying the teacher pays not directly but yes that is always that's always that's the requirement [Music] and we have to know the hours ini with it and we get LED it's a requ it's a requirement by the state to have Mentor teachers and the the novice teachers that have to pay the mentor teer our district [Applause] [Music] there's there's like two different levels of RS depending on what the no teachers require to up with the mentor teacher and they standard and it's a wonderful safety you know you someone in the building around BL we just go to with a silly question that you would ever want to to know you're asking understand how things work or help you with Lon plans or you sit in my room and hear this lesson and give me feedback thank you I think it's aome because there's an assignment versus you know you have your third grade teachers or second grade teachers everybody would be led to help but everybody gets busy so it's nice there a mandated has to help and so that person knows who go to all the time I [Music] espe we forget what a young profession is the people are coming in at 22 yeah thank you are there any other questions or comments about the Personnel agenda moving on to the policy agenda the policy agenda this evening there no policy for Action at the first read of the board uh policy 0141 for board member number and term this policy has been revised to add mjsa 18a 12 through 15 Administrative Code uh the number in term has not changed and reflects the ratio based on the Regional School District a lot uh so our number of board members won't change for the term that change policy 2,200 is cural content uh the major change within this policy is that specific language from New Jersey learning standards has been removed uh the removal is based on the everchanging standards and thus preventing a board from constantly updating this policy to match curriculum standard changes uh this list is incorporated by reference within the policy policy and regulation 3160 which is physical examination that's for teachers the New Jersey Department of Health updated the guidelines specific to TV testings thus the revision calls for limiting some of the screening requirements from the 2016 B this provision States the following the Board of Education will follow the current New Jersey Department of Health guidance for TV testing in New Jersey schools thus these policy regulations do not need to be updated each time the Department of Health updates guidance policy and regulation 4160 physical examination for support staff members that is identical to the uh teaching staff group regulation 5200 for student attendance the major change to this policy involves allowing for one exuse absence for attendance at a quote unquote Pacific event policy 5350 for suicide perent this policy was recently revised to include several new statutes regarding students Suicide Prevention the new requirements include training requirements for additional staff members who are required to warn and protect when they have any information regarding a student harming themselves this also includes the district's awareness and response protocols regarding student suicide policy 7510 use of facilities uh anyone from the committee wish to speak on on that I have a couple things on policy but if anybody else I still have facil policy the changes okay yeah just specifically to that um Miss case had uh given us an update on wording correct Miss Cas and then you're going to do uh Rats the second part of the policy so um just the wording part of the facilities update is on here right now her and um the maintenance and operations Department updated what they felt they needed to add to it so it's on there for first read and the committee will look at it um and then she's going to also add the rates chart to the back of it when she's done with that so um other than that we're ready to on that I was just going to say the main changes to that include um the categories of groups that can use the facility and the protocols and procedures for requesting use and how conduct is expected while that the facility is in use so just trying to update all of that to make sure that um the policy you know is impartial and uh follows procedures for the safety of whoever's using the facility at the time continuing uh policy 8420 emergency and crisis situation a new statute states that all students and staff should participate in emergency evacuation drills the provision to this policy speaks mainly to districts ensuring students with disabilities are not excused or held out of these drills but that their disabilities be considered and precautions taken with their emotional well-being in mind the revision also adds that staff should be properly trained and the school security I'm sorry being updated for this change in order to put into Place procedures and protocols for accommodating students with disabilities during emergency situations this policy has been updated to include the unique needs for students with disabilities POS uh policy 8467 firearms and weapons uh this policy has been revised to provide additional details and to include administrative code regarding student possession or use of firearms and weapons on school grounds uh this policy has been Rewritten to align with the language and statute and code the title has also been revised from weapons to now Firearms ands policy 01 64.6 remote public board meetings during a declared emergency uh has been recommended to be abolished this policy was enacted during the pandemic of 2020 19 th should [Music] beol that is thank you are there questions oh wait um okay are there questions or comments about the policy I'm sure so I find it really interesting that the state of New Jersey requires the school to have an emergency plan for a pandemic like situation for remote instruction but they don't care if we have remote board meetings or not I would like that just I guess noted um I I sent in a bunch of questions um on the policy stuff and thank you Dr R this it's incredibly helpful that she that you've given us in terms of what has changed I guess um my one overarching question or observation and I'm guessing it's from Strauss but um I feel like more and more our policies as we revise them are taking big chunks of information out and just referring you to a state statute and me as a parent but more member as I or even a staff member if I were going to look for our policies and then I click and I'm reading it and it says um refer to the state statute for the learning standards if they just feel like is it number one is it coming from Strauss um is the first question second I just feel like we're losing something because you know I know we went through this one of the last policies one of the recent meetings I just feel like I don't know if it's a link to those standards or is it something because otherwise we're expecting them to go and search for the information versus they're coming already to our site to look for the policy information in the search bar which is very hard um and then now we're saying just follow state statute so like even for like TV testing for example um you know it says follow the guidance well it looks like we're required to you know that they do TV testing so why not just say you know like so I I understand that we don't want to update our policies 2,000 times every time something changes but then even if it's a link to something I just otherwise we're expecting and they're just going to give up frankly which doesn't solve the problem um so that was that's probably my [Music] biggest I as a board member don't mind revising a policy in favor of clarity Whoever has been putting this together for us I thank you you've been highlighting what the changes are so I don't have to read the entire policy I'm trusting that it's the same I'd rather have the information in it and change it when the state makes changes so that anyone who wants to access a policy can read it and especially if you're a person who ask you apply by it I don't want to have to like you're saying go somewh else so please I'm just speaking for me and I know we have to speak as a Bo but it doesn't take that much time to change language see the difference and say Yes I want the new or even a link I mean I'd be fine with the link too because then at least you can go directly there and it lists out what the learning standards are or TV testing yes it's required um you know what I mean like I don't I understand it but the place you're sending them to would already may already be updating those things say click on instead of because there are some people out there that AR comp saage and even though it's highlighted in blue they're going to look at it like oh just highlighted in blue like telling them hey CLI on this for more reference those are those are definit legitimate points I I share rather have more than less um and we definitely will make them clickable uh we will that they are within the I think it'll just help us in the long so I guess that's what I was about to ask was can policies are they formatted in a way that you can have hyperlinks on them might and it is trans transparency in terms of it's not like we're trying to hide something by saying go to the state statute like it's it's there it's just kind so that was um one thought um and then on policy 8467 I know you answered the question that I sent in but just um my question was if a student is removed from general education program are we still required to place them into an alternative education program I saw we removed that and it says yes we are required um under the discretion of the school so I'm just curious why we've removed it then in in that policy there's a reference to another policy that get the superintend the same kind of goes along yeah yeah it's just it's just a Clarity thing for me because I'm looking for it it's not there I completely and I read these things because I'm a Nut so like I like I like I'm very thoroughly and I I completely missed it um so you know if it said reference it I totally missed it there is there is a reference of the policy for removal and giv the conditions and the Goa but I would have had to go and reference a different policy in order to understand that there is placement yes got it I understand no I tell and I know it's not you guys it's just for me I I'm just you know and I'm familiar with how to read these things yes but if someone else's a Community member is looking I just think it's what I will also do um to help support that is I will link the reference policy as well so the first sorry I don't mean to make an artif but I just think it better serves the community um friend and staff members and anybody else that's looking for it um I think you answered my other question regarding 10% of enrols um everything else you got yes thank you anybody else have questions comments um yeah I just wanted to give some updates but is anybody else want just have two questions please can you give an examp example or two of what a Civic event would be that stud exed for a Civic they don't provide examples but or a definition that I is really well they they don't provide a def that I think is uh is easy accessible for for all put it that way um but it it would be uh in our climate and culture today uh there are a lot of for example on College universities there there are protests there are walkouts there are things like that protesting some of the societal challenges that we're experiencing a Civic event could constitute as that um a Civic event can also constitute as there's a fundraiser or there's a March for students with disabilities there's a Marge for uh cancer survivors there's so that can be a Civic uh event as well uh it's something to that gives points to the uplifting of society uh it actually is I think a good thing uh for our for our students in some of my reading I found that some districts mandate that a senior to graduate does a certain amount of Civic events uh in their four years so I I think that uh that that it could be something that could be that many of our students are already participating in but that all count as so could it be I'm sorry I was just say that sounds wonderful I'm just curious what is without having clity and knowing we have so many issues with absences in our district that we're trying to work with how is this being managed and being status and being clear how are our administrators to decide if it's a balid c ventor or not or something that someone made up at one in the morning and said they'll be out yes and that's when it's going to come down to a note a parent still has a guardian or caretaker has to adult has to be to school know to the school and then it has to be approved so it still has to go through yes it has to go yes goes through an approval process and that will be something once this is put into place that we will put into place here and I just had one other question on the suicide prevention policy who are the additional staff members who are now going to receive training who hadn't received it in the past the it's it's more specific to when I say additional every everyone re the training but it's more specific to the reporting of this the suicide uh so or student having suicidal iations um so that's what that's what the the spirit really of the of the change was more about that responsibility the respons also all for on school grounds that that's also menud in there uh so things that okay maybe someone the staff members here outside of school but it still has to in school thank you you guys don't mind me just quick piggybacking it was the same policy just really quick um and I I'm apologize for not sending in these question ahead of time uh but and I don't want to put anybody on the spot but on that policy The Suicide Prevention and on emergency and crisis situations do is there is there likely to be a cost associated with this that I mean is this additional work that we aren't already doing um sounds like maybe not on the training for the reporting so much but I'm just curious on the next one about um the drills for students with disability I think it's fantastic that somebody noticed and cared and put that into a policy um but just wondering what uh whether there's more training cost or other cost at at this time there there's no more training cost um at this time I do want to add though that um board MERS we're very very proud that we do include all of our students with disabilities we've never actually I was shocked to even see this because that's just been practice since i' since I've been here how work they not EXC from any of and then it's through training and how we're supporting happening that's the important piece so we in oh yeah I would beiss I did not at all believe that you did um it was that I'm glad that at the state level this is a standard across the state I think my point is that yes um just a question about the C event I think it says only one right here is that right you're correct correct um I so I just wanted a couple thanks um being the committee chair um first off um Dr RS this is awesome thank you so much so the reason why this is great is because reading these policies you get lost in what's new and what's not so you got to keep referencing so this is amazing that you did for us um and move us you know ahead faster so that that thank you so much um and then I know the committee spoke about um having this um elers in our meetings so that really was uh an idea for to have admin with us so that we could move the process quicker faster ask questions and not have to worry about um driving everybody else nuts with all our questions and whatnot so it's just much uh better and easier run that way so welcome and thank you um so so the the school facilities we had already talked about um the committee hasn't met in the last couple weeks CU we've kind of been um caught up so I had mentioned to them that I wanted to bring up before school ended I know Miss pres had mentioned that the substance AB use policy there was some work needed to be done in that so that was something that I had mentioned that I think we need to get moving on that being that the school uh year has started so maybe if you could just like what you want to see in that and then we can move forward um and then I just did have a question also so um and I as far as what an and everybody was saying I really truly believe in education overall this is not speaking about us we make so much more work for ourselves um and things are just messy so when things are messy like there's just so many reasons people could pick and choose and try to make things not say or say like I just feel like by by moving to lengths nobody in this world wants to look at any state page ever I mean and I'm not trying to be no but it's the truth like you you go over to a statute and try to read that stuff and it's painful so in my mind a policy should be easy to read like we say to to the lawyer like you got to dumb it down for us it's got to be very simple to the point and and with fact um and specific and so I feel like when when you go off with these links it really gets messy so um we'll see how that works I really would just rather keep it in one spot but I know you know the world is going a th000 miles past us already um so so that that's huge to me um but the policy 8467 I'm concerned when we remove um wordings such as what constitutes a weapon so again this leaves things open to perception and I don't I don't feel like we need to have any perception so what one admin would think is a weapon versus another um so I don't like removing what constitutes a weapon they're just saying firearms and um uh weapons in general to me that could be anything so I I just I feel like we need to leave specifics in the policy just to help admin out they have enough on their PL that have to differentiate and try to understand what it is the state or Strauss or whoever WR your policies is trying to come up with um and no the four of us that sit around a table and go what yeah what is this like so um so just my thoughts on that and um so yeah so as far as moving forward the only thing we're we're working on right now would be substance AB would be next on the on the um agenda so I think anybody else from the committee have any thank you guys two questions on there's some references saying that the board shall remove is that after everything transpires and brought to the board or is that like we're going to get an email saying removing like it the wording of it maybe kind of made a s that the board was going to be involved like at the moment no it goes back to what we were talking about with the policy being a reference to another policy which is the policy that if the superintendent the discretion to present to the board a recommendation uh so that's how that that's how that still would be a recommendation super and then just one other question a line crossed out where when referencing what happened to the scho because now instead of saying what the actual discipline would be now it just says significant discipline but then when it references the staff member it's referencing what the actual discipline might be I'm not a big fan of of using language to kind of talk around things I think that that should be clear and up know the punishment for the crime not that we're saying you want to see this but at the same time I think that should be flat out saying hey you do this that's it but I didn't understand I just was kind of curious as to why they changed that word into say significant versus whatever the previous work I got to it up but it was kind of it was a little the lack of better word was a little posher and straightforward to say what was going to happen and now they kind of changed it it feels like they kind of pulled the language out to make it seem a little less like well you're going to get significant at this point you bring the fire on the school it's going to be a little more insignificant and and again that would be again at the discussion of the superintendent and the board have an opportunity to to vote on that but yeah I was going to say I wonder to what extent that's like um frankly the cell phone I know it's world's different but that that the discipline aspect of it is is Progressive discipline through the code of conduct so that it you know it's it's controlled at the administrative level Al although I mean it's Progressive but the the significance pieces obviously the explosion yeah that's but but like why does it not say that like to me significant could be like okay well what does that mean you know that's why words are so important y I understand that I think there should be a little bit more um Clarity however I do think that leaving it that way allows for a lot of discretion from the administration um you know at all levels like sometimes things happen like you know things happen that are not what they seem or I'm not saying this well but it leaves a lot of discretion for for specific incidents and I think that that's probably the point of why it was done that way I also so when they when you mention the worded weapons is mentioned like we know that's educator that anything can be used as a weapon your phone can be used as a weapon so really and that's important to know to to talk about because when we talk about discipline you may differentiate the discipline and the consequences if you use and you know got bid H another person with your pH you're actually using that as a weapon as opposed to a something you know I mean so that's why I think that there we know that but the discretion is there I think that's why there's well I think it was experienced what a year or two ago when suddenly all the little kids had their pocket knives they weren't they weren't going to go I mean these little kids and they weren't going after anybody they just they just I behind the scenes not to blame Comcast but I suspect they got their totem chip and so then they were like hey yeah like okay I can do this no you cannot bring that to school and maybe it needs to reference the difference between what's a weapon and a firearm to me firearm that that penalty be AER discre cell so do we want to look at that a little bit more spend some time with [Music] it something that we should be to the administrators who have a policy and it's their and we're trusting them as the bo to do as out in their conduct I don't know start first personally I'm fine with leaving it um I and I know I trust my Administration I know that if God forbid somebody brings in something that they're going to handle it and I feel like there's a protocol so I'm comfortable with that um I just in generic speaking in like terms I just don't like you know words that are not specific but in this circumstance I understand and being on the board for so long I know we follow the same protocol all the time so I don't really feel we need to differentiate between one little item that could be serious or versus another and I know that our Administration hand so I'm okay with it other discussion on the topic okay moving on to the Finance agenda good evening uh for the finance agenda item number one will be our only action item for the settlement agreement as listed and then on the ram we'll be looking to take action on payroll and bills we'll be looking on transfer funds the board reports major fund status the treasurers report and then um we're very happy that we have a couple of acceptance of Grant funds for unified Champions and helps offset our Special Olympics organization they're able to get t-shirts with uh transportation and some lead fees that we have uh we have to then show proof of all of our reimbursements in order to receive that and then uh Cliffwood Elementary School is able to have a donation for nights on their birthday so fre sub as well as uh Sundays for Cliffwood as well for an ice cream cone for their birthday and then number 10 will be travel reimbursement for the staff member listed and the last one is the fire and evacuation drill for the month as well as on the last page the bus evacuation drills that we do twice a year that's all for thank you can I have a motion in a second to accept the finance agenda motion any discussion on finance agenda I just I think that the um Jersey M and Sundays is so generous and so wonderful the question came up for me why only in Cliffwood did they generate that for themselves is there something that maybe you want to do as a district because I'm thinking of the other two elementary schools and knowing that one of them is getting these wonderful treats and just curious to find out the background the principal is taking the time to go out and make relationships and so we're very thankful yeah I was actually going to say kudos to Cliffwood because I think that is fantastic that they solicited those and I think they're going to put such a smile on a child's face on their birthday sandwich in a Sunday awesome like that's so cool so great job any other questions or comments about the finance agenda okay see none um we'll move to public comments the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on matters of interest in school Community individuals wishing to speak mistake their name in Municipality of residents comments are limited to three Administration but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard all statements should be directed to the board president and no participant May address or question board members individually all speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the digity and privacy of others whose legal rights may be affected please note while it is not the board's intention to cyle comment on matters of legitimate concern the public should be aware that if their statements Viola the rights of others under the law of defamation or invasion of privacy they may face personal liability to the injured party if speakers are uncertain of the legal ramifications of their comments the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their legal advisor are there any members of the public that wish to speak at this time to say your Cindy you guys Cindy umine um really fast I like watching you guys talk especially about this whole weapon thing that you're were talking about because I know it's really SI right now I have my friend my daughter who was telling not my daughter my daughter's friend is telling me that her school they no longer allow metal water bottles I mean we're talking about pretty young kids and she's like freaking out she's like oh going have to drink warm water all day because metal bottles are now considered weapons so I'm actually I enjoy see you guys talk about this um the next question I want to ask really fast is are you guys going to be revisiting uh Security in the schools this year that's a of PR on that uh yes okay so be it's going to come okay that's fine I be sure and the last thing is um I was the only question I was going to ask my daughter asked me to just let you guys know that the new food lunch contractor is got like really really bad that those were her exact word she said if she had to one to 10 she'd say there were one and as a working mom like not having to make her lunch is like amazing for me because I work so many hours and I get home so late and she said the food is really bad like they have must much less choices and she said that like just the options are just not tasty they're horrible they taste bad like they just brought pack mozzarella stick she said and they don't have any popcorn chicken which is like her favorite thing she could have eaten it every day all day so she just wanted to let you know that she's very unhappy with the new food traces thank you thank you for your feedback we listening so make hi Abby BG I live in maton I second for food my daughter and my son's both said two thumbs down it's gross so and I don't work out of the home and I don't want to make Lodge so that's what we're at so like not in convenient for me but I just don't want to do it so that's she brought it up I had um three little things to talk about first I had firsthand experience of the summer school program again two thumbs down horrible part of I feel like part of summer school is forcing these kids to get up in the morning and go to the building having them do an online program where it is very easy to cheat chat gbt and photo maath are easy to use there's no one really overseeing the program you can keep on taking the tests until you pass and choose the best grade that you want and I was told that there are teachers in the building anyway so if they're in the building so you can drop in to go like yeah right okay they don't have to go They're not going to go and you could take 8 weeks and it's like you have wait till the last second and you just keep on going I don't feel like my son learned any math you didn't get anything out of it except for me being like if you don't do this you're not going to get to the next grade and they're going to kick you out of the both program so like it was more like more screaming and yelling it felt like Co and next and I had to pay for it so that was fun $200 um grade um ninth and he's in 10th he's in 10th this year so it was for ninth grade math so he' come from mlbc over in the middle school and he was 2 years behind and he never kind of caught up and just for reference his four fourth grade her fourth trimester grade or whatever semester grade was like a four he just like realized he couldn't pass the class so he just kind of stopped and I get it so that was that um the second thing I want to talk about was sort of on the same field um my kids are both kids my son got really lucky got into my oldest son got into a apply mechanical engineering program um I'm curious to what the the programs are full right so what I was told by when I I learned a lot about it last year trying to get my son into it I didn't understand the difference in career center and V so like now I understand the difference I didn't understand how it worked and when I talked to the director of the locational programs um and I had a question he was really great he answered me he called me back there are like quadrupled amount of students applying for these programs for space so for example cosmetology 120 spots 250 KS applying um mechanical and electrical 40 spots um 100 Kids applying my question is what are we going to do for the kids in our district that want to get into these programs who are not College Bound kids they don't care about history They Don't Really Care not they don't care about their grades but they want to go into a like a vocational after school like what are we doing so that as parents we don't have to force them to finish the school they're bored they don't want to be there and then I still have to pay at a pocket after they graduate to get a vocational training so I just something to think about that there is a big need there are I know when my son's there are two seniors that I know where I had to do four years of career center because they couldn't get uh three years sophomore Junior and Senior year career center which is really not meant for like some of these kids they just need to get into a career and then they graduate with OSHA training like it's not going to get them anywhere um and they didn't get any education because they're only doing half and half so it's just something to think about that we have a bunch of kids that don't want to go to college and that want vocational programming and so we should do that and oh also um just a little shout out can we do something about the Bands instruments they're garbage and they're probably one of the only teams in the school that actually win state championships so just for the record the B last year won second place um and the color guard of last color guard won the state champs for their division um and their instruments have holes in them I literally had to go online on the town page and beg people for money which is I think really embarrassing so just to reer attention yes how did that go um so we had one uh a teacher actually donated $500 um which is great but they don't have lights back there they don't have practice time on the field um they just they're treated like I feel like secondhand citizens and they win they're really good and they include the seventh eight 7eventh andth graders so my daughter is in seventh grade this is her second season on that guard um and and this is something that they could take with them for their whole their whole High School career and the band I think unfortunately this sometimes the best part of football games lately unfortunately so let's you know I said the football team gets a lot of money and are frustra I do want to say thank you very much for your fundraising efforts fantastic um job for the the program and also that I just wanted to note that I mean you know that I have a soft spot for Career Training and career services so um I I think that the uh the board also is always considering the other aspects not everybody goes to college there's a lot of programs that maybe we can like look into um you know that maybe we can incorporate with like funding from the grants what about public private I'm sure there's tons of companies that are looking for students for employees right so control sorry yeah I'm sorry can come back I don't know if there's any way to look into that but there's got to be like attrition somewhere that would love to have students that are interested in learning that skill an apprenticeship yes something like that and pre apprenti before that that's your training another um stuff that you can do before you IO diploma some of those appren ships require IO diploma first but that's where you get as much as you can for the safy certification having okay yes I can St uh Casey Bara from New Jersey uh just want to talk a little bit about the the policies and I heard your discussion um and just to Echo some of your points um the special ed code if you were to read it is 179 pages long which means if you sent the link to it no one is is going to read it now if you could send a link cuz some of our policies are copied directly from the code if you have the ability to send a link directly to what that person needs that's fine if it's going to be a link that then just links you to a page that has 50 links on it that's just not going to happen um the other thing in a conversation that you had about weapons um and I get the need for being specific and not and I agree with Miss Perez that everything can be a weapon the one thing that I would caution is if you were to get specific are you pigeon ho holding yourself that a parent could come in and say well that's not a weapon meanwhile the kid picked up an object in the room that no one ever thought would be used um so I think in that case being a little vague might be okay um that's okay thanks thank you very much are there any other public that want to speak for the first time okay seeing none um does anybody want you that has already spoken want you speak for a second time I don't know I didn't know if we're finishing talking I think that Happ again hi all right um I think that if you would reach out to the community I do believe that there are a lot of people I know when we were having issues with like um things that were happening on the cotwood side I'm talking about private privatization of school areas um we did have discussions with people who do own um like Hands-On vocational Industries in the community that would definitely be willing I know I don't want to speak gr but there is some catry company that I'm pretty sure would be very very very willing to teach um our kids how to do stuff like that I mean I don't see the downside in this um not all of our kids want to go to college I'm I'm not pushing for it I want my kids to learn how to do something I'd like them to lead this district with like the ability to work just as an example the applied mechanical engineering which is robotics which is in the tin claws program they said the director told me that their senior year when they get the internships and programs these kids all get fired they're making really really good money at 18 and 19 years old and if we want to set our kids up for Success without thousands of dollars of debt then I think that we need to find something for them to do question so the high school does have a work study program where the kids some kids can leave towards the end of the day early if it's approved so as M bir was just saying like if you could link up I don't know how it works but like I don't know counseling department but if there's someone that can help link the kids to the programs potentially in town like you know the citry place or somewhere else that could potentially be a work study so they can leave the last period of the day or I think I think it's the last period of the day um still get credit and they're learning something I think it could be really great okay moving on um is there any uh old business yes I'm sorry um well it's just a question um I think I I know the answer but just for the community we did approve a demographer a month or two ago um so just if you don't mind you know just enough I know we said the process itself takes about I think a year from start to finish year to 18 months so when the work is officially beginning hasn't officially begun just so the community is aware we are doing that study so we could kind of see what the growth is like in the towns and how it will affect us down yes so right now uh we have met with the company and they are getting started they're all they're doing their backend work where they're going on the websites they're seeing uh what's going on in both towns and then they're going to have a rep at each town that they can communicate with so that they can start pulling data and doing all their backend work old business I guess old business so I think that we are still um expecting the website to be updated next month okay and um I just wanted to bring up a little bit about the chain of command when a parent has a concern um I think we're going to be putting out specific information about this but um it's disheartening for me to see parents asking really specific personal questions on Town Facebook pages and I feel like they must be at a point where they don't feel like they're getting answers to to do that because they're not going to get them from the Facebook page so I think that it's important that we kind of have a clear direction for families so that they know exactly what to do when they feel like they're not being hurt or they're not getting the right um direction of how to get their um resolution that they're looking for we plan to that would be great that would be really great um well yeah okay we can mix old and new business we don't need parts out if something they had something new they wanted to bring out but just any other business um I have I have a few things I just wanted to um so I asked I think it's important that when we ask questions on here um prior to the meeting that we just reiterate some of them a lot of them are public things that the community want to here um but just a piece on that as far as the um code of conduct are we able to put that in the article do you think reference it to to something about it in in the the Chand the chain command in the article somewhere somehow some reference to it or some sort of statement about just a thought just a thought about it to reference the Facebook page or our board page um just thrown it out there someone someone email me what the actual procedure that St and I will be happy to explain how much we want parents and children to be taken care of and please try this because we know posting on social media is a frustration and we don't want them take each and really great um so just a few things um so I I sent an email or a screenshot because of the um the high school pages of the of the uh concerns so I I'm going to just be the one to to say it as usual but I'm very very very disheartened about these comments about the food service so we've spent so long to find a new service we get a new service we're on day five and the and the comments are just not good at all so what is the process cuz we met everybody from the company they were awesome they said please let us know if there's any issues complaints concerns so miss case what like moving forward so now you heard I I just sent you screenshot from the high school page the Middle School ran out of yesterday the other day um and then a few of our our guests tonight so what what is the process when they so the lunch vus are online and there are daily foods to pick from and then there's stuff that is reoccurring every single day that they can choose to eat the middle school did not run out of food um but they are getting to know the likes and dislikes of the building that are each in them um like one of the main things that will be coming back for the high school starting Monday will be the nacho burrito bar on a daily basis cuz that's something that they were missing uh so I think we have a follow-up meeting with the company tomorrow morning uh to address the concerns that we're all hearing and I think some of the things we're going to need to do is incorporate student feedback into that and in a way that they feel that they can be heard um and that will look different at each and every building um so we'll be brainstorming topics on that and and uh we have received a lot of good calls and we've received some not good calls so we need to kind of incorporate um I can tell you that uh sales in elementary school are are pretty stagnant right they where they were is where they are right now and at the high school they're over uh 20 to 30 more per day than they have been at the same time of year um and they do want to hear the concerns obviously the high school got a lot of new equipment so the first couple days were them uh trying to figure that out as it goes for the lunch staff we did bring all of the lunch staff back and they are back in their designated buildings that they were in Prior um so they did go through a lot of brand new training with the company that they're with and they're also looking you know to make changes and make it for the better so I know we had a company here for 20 years we just need a little bit more time for them to get to know us as Matan aine and to really incorporate our needs we also asked as part of that RFP to you know have um more food choices and more diversity and so we're doing that but we are great we are missing things like you know if you like popcorn and chicken right or if you like mozzarella sticks or if you like nacho day or if you like tacos and it's just going to take them a little bit more time to get to know what those favorite days were and you know why they liked them so we just asked for a little bit of patience and we're definitely hearing your concerns and we're thrilled that you know you're letting us know what they are and so we can address them accordingly um they really do want to come in here and do a great job and um we're we're really thrilled and I think they're going to you know come up to the test you need a little more time I I appreciate it Miss Cas and I understand I'm not saying that if it was just a let's tweak some things they have to get things right because they're a new company I'm fine with that my concern is the the heavy negative and so if I was a company owner I would want to hear all the good things but I really would want to hear all the bad things so they're only going to be as good as the the information we communicate to them so we're 5 days in all I'm asking is that they hear everything so that they're aware because 6 months from now hopefully things will be good but if they're not these people are not saying well nobody told me well we met with them from the beginning they they were told they will hear the good Bad and the Ugly and they'll also be at the PTA meetings and the PTO meetings and anywhere else they were at back to school night so they are really trying to come in and still incorporate themselves and so those are opportunities right that we can address also other concerns from parent perspectives but you know they have a phone number too continue to reach out to them continue to reach out to us cuz we want to make sure that it's successful and and like you said student involved is great um just a couple other things um so I know we talked about I again these are questions that came up um that the board sends before a meeting so that we have things answered but i' like to reiterate some things because they're important um so for the pto's um are are we where are we at with them using the new food companies food only and is that a thing or can we make sure that happens or I know we talked about not having outside vendors other than who we have um and then about money being dictated towards the children and not towards staff as far as um you know things for the buildings or parties or whatnot so um I know you guys meet with the PTO so I just want to make sure that these things moving forward there's a lot of fundraisers starting already and I just want to make sure the kids are getting it um because there's been a lot of that back and forth um the um the biggest the biggest thing that I want to talk about and that I'm well two pieces one I am very very very passionate about the security and I know I constantly bring this up so with that being said um I am speaking for myself but I know my fellow board members are with me I'm beyond frustrated with the amount of time since that whole messy thing last year um I personally understand if if I am correct that the township was supposed to in the spring start hiring class three officers and that we were going to come together at a table and share what we were going to do for our buildings um I personally have heard that they're not hiring class 3es and haven't so I don't know if that's true or not what my concern is that we cannot hire crossing guards we cannot hire class 3es this is completely out of our hands and we are at the mercy of the townships to do so both of which we've been hounding them to do so we are sitting here 5 days into school and I I the there's no plan because we're we're waiting on on them to come up with what they're doing I'm beyond frustrated if for real that that's not true that there are not class 3es hired we've been talking about this in last year earlier in the year they knew we needed them um this takes time on boarding training we're already in September our goal the latest was January we've been asking from policy for crossing guards on Route 34 we cannot hire crossing guards so I'm asking the public to please help with these matters like we tell you to call Trenton or write to Trenton and say hey we need help well we need help from the townships because we need crossing guards we can't hire them Route 35 we've talked about those crossing guards um and that sometimes they're not um attentive enough parents have complain okay again this is from the township so I'm just really frustrated because we're in a place where we're waiting for constantly waiting for them to come up with an answer and in the meantime I feel like we're wasting a lot of time and again it's about security for the kids kids on on the streets and in the buildings and I know we do the best we can and we try and we've been reaching out and and whatnot this is why I feel it's important that we discuss this and and people understand where we're stuck and so I would like to open that conversation because it shouldn't be a secret so I just want to voice my concerns my frustrations um with with what went on in Georgia the other day it's it's just things that keep you up at night and um I want to make sure our staff is all like thinking you know like they talk about red flags you see a kid that's a need say something if a child sees someone say something um I we just can't say it enough so maybe if you guys wanted to just talk about or an update on on where we're at with that with the crossy boards and whatnot um I I don't know what else to say I'm just very frustrated in terms of the crosss start there that is something that is fed to each of the towns um and as I shared at the last meeting that we did request evaluate in terms of where how many students were crossing into the streets where we currently have Crossing TOs un fortunately the bad part about we still have a lot of students that are crossing currently on sou so were're not a we're not able to just kind of transfer one Crossing Bar to on to 34 the Avenue um and both M department they can not budget for um additional Crossings um and that comes at but that would have come as request from us um we did not make a request for position crosss at that time um now moving forward budget coming up then we will be engaging conversations with both towns and I will request for additional crosss to see if that's something that we can work together and collaborate with in terms of budgeting that but they they're we're yes we're at the mercy of working I want to say at the mercy because I always believe in the in in Partnership and collaboration at together um so they they it's not pleas for it's like when someone says you budget for that staff member and it's an emergency we with kids I have to open up a program no but I have to our application is to search students so we have to work together as a team way of you know finding those funds the township I can't answer to how they have to do things like that that's not my goal um but they We are continuing to have those conversations and their well aware in terms of the um the need for those crossing guards um parents have called Vis town and they have asked um for crossing cards and they have asked for other modes or how other rounds even they're asking them like there's other safer paths in terms of what to use also to get to and from schools and we were we've been building those problems with Transportation so that would have to be a plan to forward that's not something that's going to happen this year to my knowledge unless someone you know graciously makes a donation to the town I guess or um in terms of school security we have been um ated um the board in terms of the at the last board meeting as far as with where we are with that um we work with um both towns they are um waiting on a they needed to discuss some legal um in terms of um that agreement and that mem the memorandum of agreement but also we are also working in terms of the um the jurisdictions between J um between Madan and also a like trying to do a jointure um so I can sh that um so but that is something that's at again at the towns are working on that that is not something for us um so we I have advocated um and they are well aware that we want the es this Leos for January and we we still anticipate that the will be the posting that's out there right now is for the CO2 but they also are well aware of that and they're ready to put the posting when this things legal on their is there a timeline on that did they say when they wereing like I said this stuff takes time they're not going to just get people knocking down the door corre it does take time just like it does for us when it comes toal um so we do anticipate by the beginning o thought something I asked it's very specific to particular group of kids so as a high school teacher and my main teach upper class I stress that upper class go through especially seniors and I coach all of my 11th graders to make sure that the summer between 11th and 12th grade they do everything they can college applications the stress that they have when they ground come back to the first working period is so intense and they have to app everything recommendations and their essays so I as a parent of a r senior of course my daughter do her college application summer vacation and we spent time on non and then there was a point this summer where no matter what we did we could not sign on to her password didn't work she was listed as a rising Junior rather than Rising senior so you couldn't register any of her teachers who she had already asked her recommendations from and so frustrated try and plan college visits can't do the surveys that we were able to do when we were in July then we come back to school and suddenly oh by the way we're no longer using alons we have this new thing called school oh none of the staff has been trained yet we're going to train them oh we're going to pull students out of their lunch hours who seniors out their lunch and train them how to school while they're in their first weeks again talked about how the have been all changed around these same students lost their guidance counselors in their junior year the people who are supposed to be writing these wonderful recommendation letters for them because they known them for so many years and they received new guidance counselors so while we're doing all these wonderful things to help younger kid I feel we're totally missing the boot and hurting the senior class and making life so much harder for them um I don't understand why we couldn't pay to have the naan continue for their Sor year why are we putting them through this why are we putting our staff who now have the sence counselors take time and pull kids out of their lunch Pari and train them on a program that they just learned themselves um so I just want you to know you know we're always Le worried about students mental health the amount of stress this is putting on these kids as a parent will have as friends we're using the system it's just unnecessary and I was shocked as a board member that I did not know that this change was happening and I heard something about well it wasn't that much of a budget thing so we didn't have to talk about it it's not and know change so I don't know that anything can be done at this point to rectify it um I just need you to know CA pain and suffering and is still continuing to do so and and I'm sad because I know how much this District cares about kids and You' never do do anything intentionally to HT but this class is really get HT I don't know that to help them now I feel like the damage is already done school but I would be so Overjoyed if just brought that for just the seniors to use keep their login be able to go my DA's College seches are gone we had a list of colleges that we were going to go visit based on all our criteria we had the top 20 that we were going with sort them ready to go it's gone so it's just very disappointing so I also have a colle college um a senior in high school and um some kids I know I've already discussed this but some kids do like to get ahead when it comes to it's not really ahead frankly it's on time over the summer um there was no ability to match for schools um you know I I have some of the same concerns I feel like it was just timing could have been better the planning the forethought I think on this one um I think since I've been through this before with my older daughter I know how stressful the fall is for these kids it's unbelievably stressful so it's just adding a little extra stress um you know we have a month and a half for early action month really um to get those in so I think you know I'm just I'm really hopeful we're going to log in this weekend because we got the information we're going to go through everything we're going to try to match and find out what we can and schedule any addition tours and do that but you know I just wish the process was done a little differently can I say something I I do not have um College um high school children yet so I would not have any idea that this was even happening or this program exists if you hadn't mentioned it Lori and um I that's ter I feel terrible that you know these children are experiencing that because it sounds like a lot of work was put into this program and behind the scenes with all the research you were doing so that's sad um but also it's find it interesting that this is in our district here right yeah so how did we not know about this being on the board of education so that's is that something that we should have it should have been approved by us using a different tool or I don't know so this is the question speak to what the threshold I'm not get to it too much but I mean I think yeah okay yeah i000 conc to cut off that part of the discussion so my my only thought is that I don't know there's like an elepant in the room right now we need to discuss I don't I I could care less if it cost 44 million um the fact remains is I I I said this to Anette because my I have two a niece and a NE in the high school that use well one is using n and I my daughter used it but I said when when we're this to me is like switching curriculum or switching um something from you know uh technology whether it's not a large amount of money or not we always talk to the process so had this come to the board all the parents that have seen or had seniors or know how navian Works would have been like guys that is really scary to do let's think about this the seniors you know uh are in a position with naian is loaded by your senior you you're not transitioning all that stuff it's just impossible and like we were saying about the stress so I'm just really disappointed and I don't I don't get how this even just happened I don't I don't even remember hearing the term School to be honest um so to me it's not about a dollar amount it's about the nine of us sitting here and and and thinking ahead together that you guys or whoever's bringing on this program maybe isn't thinking because you're not let's face it you don't have a child in the district maybe you don't have seniors um so moving forward we really need to be involved in these conversations not for money not not that we don't like the program just to make sure we're covering all our basic um and again i' I've been I've complained about the counselors for years they don't spend enough time with the kids I know we've been working on that um but but this is the reason why junior senior year is huge for kids who want to go away so I just want to make it better for them and I don't I don't like there to be all this uncertainty so moving forward myob change it in January to train people ahead of time so it's not an impct when they got on their [Music] should I think the question was that the question was that um why wasn't it board approved and so that's where the money came so just it wasn't on an agenda because it didn't I'm not negating the fact that you know we should have discussed it um and shared bit clearer in terms of sharing that two programs um and having that over discussion do have that something so I think this is bigger than us like as aard um I think it um obviously it affects the parents and families and they should have been notifi what was going to happen maybe had some sort of meeting about it a committee about it something like that like it's much bigger than us approving or discussing because it's not really affecting all of us but it's affecting every parent and every child that should have known what was going to go on over the summer if there was a roll over or there was a transition everyone should have been well informed I'm going to take my information and I haven't I actually haven't looked at OB in many many years but I'm going to take all my top 20 and I'm going to write them down and I'm going to take all my information out of one database because I know I have to reut it another one instead of losing everything it's a very strong phenomenal like January we done the for the most that's a great time trans summer before senior year yeah I just I saw the first first time I saw I we read all the newsletters that all the school building um principal sent out they're great by the way this year they've been very consistent even over the summer we got them so when I saw that I was a little shocked that that was the first time I was seeing it but it didn't affect me so I kind of like quickly moved on so it was good to hear you know the impact that you had I know Anette spoke to me about it as well um just in passing conversation um but I'm worried that I don't know what the impacts of certain things are on certain populations of kids right so I wouldn't necessarily know like I I saw that I said oh boy they changed from Aviance that's that's interesting but then I don't have a rising senior so I just continued reading the newsletter so um what's a good way for us to determine like what we should even inquire about or or maybe the building maybe should come from building Administration like Hey we're thinking about doing this and then who would be the um person that would say well I think this is something that we need more feedback on and it doesn't necessarily have to come from us to Katie's point to miss K's Point um it it just needs to go to the right people to see like what the impact might be so I just want I don't know how that's going to um you know be like move forward to be determined like who's going to determine that who's going to make sure they get the right input when do they think like this is a big deal maybe we should ask people what they think of it or this isn't really a big deal we don't think it's going to impact anybody this is just going to work out really great and so we're going to move forward like how we don't want to micromanage and have everybody asking us for every little thing either so can you share the process in terms of just so again it depends something's being phased out and is no longer necessary to one process to upgrade or enhance something to another process but at the end of the day like this a recommendation comes from the building level um through my department as an example we have two directors of instruction one secondary one Elementary they then with me so I would get feedback from building level from director level come to me sometimes we discuss it as a as a Cabinet impact Personnel we have that part discussion so there's different stakeholders that come to the table and ultimately so in terms of school that decision me and myart right so looking for what's best for students and again two students two my children now in college so I would most stress myself so I get that from your perspective the intentions were to move a forward toward kids butm of making those decisions that that's where the information comes and UL something that comes on agenda that well that's what I was going to say too is that the uh yes we don't know everything about what would be the best thing for a student of all different needs all different um uh you know levels of of U schooling um we do rely on our Administration which is stellar and yes sometimes sometimes makes a mistake or whatever I don't really want to label it as such but I mean you know things happen but but uh but I think that's the answer is that the board the board doesn't manage the dayto day um and doesn't need to um that's where we rely on our Administration but we do have these meetings and and it is good to have feedback of course um about what everybody you know because we do all bring our own experiences that's the point of us spring our experiences so one thing I can say is just looking at school LS I I think if a very strong program like looking at it it's beyond just College it's career and college so I think it it's a bigger population which I think is phenomenal like just looking at it there's so much great information and I think it's going to be an amazing program I think it's just a question of you know the timing when you've got seniors who are in a very critical stressful time and only have a month left if they're doing early action or early decision I think it's simply that I think the program itself though is going to be amazing for the future like for you know anyone Junior down great um seniors I don't know how much they're going to get out of it at this point um but you know we're going to make doe in the next four weeks um so yeah I I have a quick question about the data I know that I could look in N like when my kids apply I look to see all the different years past like how many kids from our district applied to specific schools and how many got in what's happening with that data we don't have that access to that anymore that's the information those are the questions that I have for for the in terms of research so typically when you are moving programs that that data is stored so it's like so for example when we um when we move from real time to Genesis was back up of all that data the data is there it's just now us getting access to the data that's why I that's a a different discussion that want to have with [Music] administra the school link it doesn't download like download into it so I had asked that question um it didn't carry over all that information it carried over student their like their preference like that sort of stuff but the historical stuff like so for example if they were working on a compression that is not transferable because and the programs are they're two different programs so the values that like but the values are different they car over however it doesn't mean that it was restored and that we may not ACC and I just want to answer your question is that when we move from programs that the um they're typically our committees so for example like when we talk about Lang Ys um our Ma and moving programs we we have committees and the staff engage with Administration in terms of when we move forward and there is a switch so the counselors were involved because that was the first question that I asked when it came up um earlier on in the summer I involved in terms of you know making this decision for the and typically most of the time it's the staff that are requiring saying hey I saw there new program I want to think what so the staff where in terms of Staff input came back the the school counselors Wen involved so I'm surprised I didn't think that it was that's and it could have been it could you know I don't want to have more information for the rant but for you guys earlier I'll include that in our update but um it could be that it wasn't an option I'm not really sure so I don't want to I want to answer that M or even just as simple as um like when when I heard about it I was like what's wrong with na like I didn't like so the whole if it's not broke don't fix it so I didn't even know that there was issues with that and so it's just good information for us to hear from the council department say Hey listen naian is great but this is better we want move on if if that's cool with you you know great will explain it again it's all about process and Logistics it's not even the question because it also could be something positive towards let's say the Strategic plan we know that the Strategic plan had a whole section about um students you know for u career services and apprenticeships and so if schol links sets that up in a way that's better than Navan maybe nav didn't have I don't know um but uh that you know that would be something a b reportable back too that hey this is something we're doing to achieve a strategic plan one just one last thing while we're um taking the floors is open um I do want to have some sort of timetable or accountability I I know that we can't really hold the town accountable about the there's plans for hiring um both crossing guards and security like I don't know what's the best way to make sure that they're sticking you know to the plan or to the agreement or anything like that but I don't want it like you're saying we're anticipating January just an update as to if it gets to the point where it's not going to happen in January or it's going to happen earlier than January or what you know we we would just love to know how that process is moving along and if we have to you know have a plan B hopefully not but just making sure that we're on top of it we [Music] so question that dat be in mem of um it's typically not the memorandum of agreement is what your agreement in terms of um whether it's the cost amount of like that's more specific the memor the memorandum of agreement will come after we already [Music] [Music] say or or maybe even ask Mr Ruben like how where where do we stand with like how far can we um push the issue or get a solid dat down moving forward like you know what I'm saying like something in writing like like Chris was saying had a word that we really want to move forward in January so I don't know just something set in stone so more time doesn't pass this might be a sore subject but I do believe that there was there were people from the town that did agree to help us with this when um we had the um referendum failed to pass last year I would like to ask a question completely off topicity I'm sorry um one last question um Can somebody explain to me how the bu stops are created for transportation is it in a program where we put everybody's names and areas into a system or does a human being sit and look at a map and put children cohort children to stops all the above but I'll go into a little more so we use uh the program called transfinder and so transfinder uh takes our data from Genesis right our student management system and then it Imports it and then what winds up happening is we have our school home bases and then they look like tiny little dots and then those tiny little dots get turned into routes but then those routes are created um based off of a multitude of things so right if a if a student has a special need where they need to be a curved to curve or if there needs to be an aid on the route there's just different program specifications in there that then maybe you would be able to put say you lassoed kids into a route you might not be able to put all of them onto the route because there might be too many um you're trying to use centralized stocks or maybe they're too far from home or there there's as you're building it you are going in and you are manually building it but you also have to use all the specifications and then we're also having to go back in and maybe um on a special ed route it needs to have a harness or a seat or some kind of special device that needs to be on there so it's going to then push those students out so that we know we have to do kind of a second or a triple check on them to get them what you need um um so I don't want to take up too much time but it sometimes appears on some of these routes that nobody's think thinking about maybe the computer generated the route so I'm just hoping that everybody is taking Case by case basis in the transportation department and the administration because some of these routes it seems as though were not thought through for example On Cue saxs you have two different houses walking in two different directions to get to a bus stop maybe because one bus is full however for safety reasons those people that live together maybe should be walking together the 11 minute walk that it takes to get to their bus stop so I'm just thinking maybe I hope that our transportation department and our Administration are listening to these concerns very closely because it seems though it seems as though computers have generated some of these routs and people haven't put real P thought behind them so right they they have and then the um the drivers actually go out and run the routes and then they come back and bring their concerns there are certain areas where you know the BR has to end and then there are where maybe there's too many kids at a centralized stop so there has to be a switch there and then they also will go and take the feedback of what we're provided and they'll actually go what we call in in essence a field trip and we'll visually go out there and spec the area to see what's working what's not working and there have been things that have already been altered and changed as we've gone out and searched it and and they'll continue right like so right now we're in the process of the first two week period so we're seeing how many are actually utilizing it right we're going ahead and we're we're doing our attendance records and our reports so that in the next couple weeks you know they're going to start getting phone calls to see you know are you aren't you people are still trying to figure out if they're using before care or after care or what's working for them so while we're trying to make sure our routes are working everybody's kind of figuring out what will work family oriented wise before then we initate them with phone calls and then we'll make changes from there as well thank you um any other uh comments for business in the general sense um okay uh can I have a motion a second to enter exact session motion anything else oh on yes we should vote I'm sorry good idea we should vote so so for tonight it would be culum instr instruction item a uh special services all Personnel 1 through 10 and then Finance number one miss Vias yes Miss Martinez yes Mr MCG yes Mr Monon yes Miss Scot yes Miss barell yes Miss wari no vote on policies tonight right no vote on policies yes Mrs goie yes Miss P yes thank you bear with me I have to get up to 5:45 every morning now which is not what I'm used to you guys are like yeah whatever um anyways can have a motion in a second to enter executive session motion thank you okay um let me get a second okay uh be resolved a Clos session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy personnel and legal matters the subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides although the board cannot guarantee it the length of the executive session is estimated to be an hour um after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business action may take place already did the motion second again like I did earlier um so I guess all in favor I here