##VIDEO ID:16XoL17jZIw## e so the North hund and Vorhees Regional High School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday November 26 2024 is now called to order in accordance with the requirements of the openland public meeting Act njsa 10 4-6 at seek adequate notice of the meeting has been provided by submission of notice of the time date and location to The Star Ledger on December 5 2023 and the hunon county Democrat on December 7 2023 notice and to the extent known the agenda of this meeting has been posted at North hunon High School and Vorhees High School provided to the municipal Clerks of Bethlehem Township Califon burrow town of Clinton Clinton Township Franklin Township Glennon Gardner B Hampton bur Highbridge bur Lebanon bur Lebanon Township tuxbury Township and Union Township as well as other interested parties and posted on the district website by exits are located in the directions indicated if allerted to fire please move in a common early fashion to the nearest smoke free exit please silence your cell phones and I need a roll call Miss CNO here Mr TR here miss Gallow here miss hin here miss coach here Mr MC ISAC here Mr mik here M Rees here M seleno here Mr spans here M VI here and Mr carban here like Al to the flag of the United States of America and toic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with Li and justice for all so I need a call for motion in second to approve agenda items 41 and 42 which are the minutes from the October 15 2024 board meeting and the October 28th 2024 board meeting so move you got V I'd like to um I don't know if I do it now I'd like to make a motion to amend um the minutes from one of the meetings so we can't amend them um I can make a motion to amend it uh we still can't amend them right we've already decided did you want to clarify something on it and we'll just put it in the record because we had this same discussion last time so at this point we can't change them so is there one make a clarifying statement oh my understanding was I reached out to the um njsba and you are able to amend minutes or make a motion to amend them and in some cases they've amended them even the day of or you know I'm I'm not asking to amend an entire section just to reflect the yay and nay votes just by um by yay and nay votes and not by board member names it only it only States the no the no votes on October 28th meeting so we're talking about the minutes then that are up for discussion right now then corre okay yeah okay if I may go ahead John well no that seems like this that's the appropriate time to talk about the minutes before we adopt right so if I may and I've had a conversation with the business office today after you asked her a question about this okay the open public meetings act does not specify amongst many of the things that it does not specify uh how votes in certain circumstances are transcribed in minutes minutes have to reflect the action of the body and so if you can look at the minutes and from that determine what happened they are compliant with the open public meanings Act the practice of the district uh has been to record votes as they're reflected in the minutes but I understand going forward so that there's no question about this and at your suggestion uh minutes will note going forward specific names with yes specific names with no so if that is sufficient to address your concern I don't know if we have to have a further conversation about what to do with these prior minutes but just so you know going forward including tonight the minutes are going to reflect these members yes these members no regardless of whether or not it was a Voice vote or a roll call vote wasn't it always yes and no am I am I missing something it's always yes and no the minutes the minutes I'm assuming you're talking about seven right seven only reflects no votes it doesn't reflect yes votes is that uh yes it has the no votes and each um of the board members members who voted no but doesn't have yes votes and each the members who voted yes right OB you can infer who the s's were but it doesn't specifically say it well only because I've noticed the um in previous minutes it's normally yes or no votes the number of yes votes the number of no votes and also in certain minutes I also noticed that there were times where it had the um yes vote the name and the weighted vote so well that's roll call vote correct correct yes correct roll it's in favor not in favor correct but in this case there was a roll call vote and it didn't State the um the percentages or no it it didn't this one only says the votes no in of yes and no so the motion is to reflect the yeses is that what is that the request are we allowed to amend the minutes or I don't I mean I obviously I can defer from this who the yeses are because we had a full roll call a motion to amend you're just am you're not amending the actual context of what transcribed what happened the vote took place at voted what she's saying is she wants to see the Nay and yays and if you're going to list the board members you list them all yes all NOS or you don't do we have a and I think correct me from wrong are you trying to establish the best practice I'm just trying to establish like what do we do forward corre so John's comment moving forward is everything will reflect who voted yes who voted no who abstained right that's thect and and that is the you know the outcome again you brought this issue to the table we had a conversation about it I think that these minutes are compliant with obma and I think our practice has been compliant with obma but just so that there's no question and you don't have to go back and look at who was here uh to determine who was in the yes or the no the practice is going to note names going forward is that going to be on every vote now unless it's obviously unanimous we would be naming any yes okay yes are you talking all the roll call votes okay okay okay good thank you okay do we have to vote on so we need V so I need to vote on that yep are we going to vote on what the voting you can entertain the motion if you want to entertain the motion to amend that portion of the minutes specifically that resolution to uh reflect the names next to the yes that was the request cor we need a motion in a second to amend the minutes I'm sorry I apologize I hear what you said so we're going to make a motion in a second to amend the minutes from the October 28 2024 board meeting such that section 7 hold on I got to get seven section s right section seven where there is a motion carried a roll call Vote with votes of no you know kagu cow Rees s to also include yes from the remainder of the board so a first and a second I'll second yes there a second okay so the motion is not carried and no there was a motion and I think oh I'm sorry you made a second oh I'm sorry I had a first I didn't hear a second she brought the brought it to motion which is the first oh I'm sorry the second okay so I guess motion and my apology my there's no further conversation uh then shall I take a Voice vote on let's take a Voice vote all in favor yes any no any abstentions whoops any opposed two opposed no no any extensions I have a note from Brian CH Brian and J and got it all right that motion carried so we still need vot minut and then we oh I'm sorry you v a minute excuse me so I need um all in favor of I'm sorry go ahead Brian just um clarify what what did we just pass like we just passed a motion to amend the minutes from last week's meeting to include yes votes for people who voted yes but the idea that from here on out every vote is going to could be not documented yeses and Nos and abstains by name by name every vote does that need to be passed or you guys or just doing that's best practice that is an I I don't know if I'd characterize it as best practice but it's an operational issue and in conversation with the business office that's going to be the practice going forward okay moving on moving on so I need a all in favor of approving the minutes from 41 from 42 in favor I any opposed any extensions the minutes are approved Ron Greg I'll let you decide who sorry all right it is my absolute pleasure to introduce you tonight to the senior North High School and we're going to speak so Aaron is a senior here at North Haron High School uh and we're recognizing him for his efforts in organizing a community event that really made a big difference at North so Aaron specifically in response to the loss of Sophia thought to himself what can I do to make a difference at North and Aaron being the baseball player that he is and I think Avid whiffle ball player came up with the idea of organizing a whiffle ball tournament so the name of the tournament was dingers for dores and it raised money for Sophia sh light foundation and I'm just going to read what Sophia Shining Light does cuz I don't want to screw it up so Sophia Shining Light Foundation honors her Legacy by providing grants scholarships and events to individuals and organizations that promote inclusivity and care for those who are isolated overlooked and underserved so Aaron had this idea of creating the whiffle ball tournament he was really the driving force behind it he rallied his friends many also many other baseball players as well as many seniors and just also friends of Sophia and really made that event event come true uh he worked with again coach uh yokam for that they made Flyers they ran everything through me uh and everything was great and again it it was through his efforts that it was possible there were over 50 participants and the event raised $750 and Beyond just the money it was just a great Community event a great way to people to get together and remember sofhia and you know really come together for a good cause so again I I recognize uh Aaron for that and just a little bit more about Aaron so we learn about him Aon is a short stop on our baseball team he's a member of our interact Club he participates annually in our friendship day which was uh just earlier this week Relay for Life um and Relay for Life Aaron hopes to attend college in the South and Major in sports media on behalf of our school Community we express our gratitude for his leadership and efforts so Aaron congratulations your award and I believe somebody somebody taking a picture picture oh was that yes certificate in hand big smile good evening everybody so I'm proud to introduce to you Annie trola and Juliana ketto H they are the co-presidents for our unified club and uh you may have seen I believe all of you were sent the uh the I'm not yeah I'm not in my elf costume um you got the news report thank you thank you Dr bergus for doing that um there's a December meeting well it's one of the things that they picked they pick the elf costume they do a lot of work behind the scenes getting this all set up including what ridiculous costume they're going to make me wear to reach their you know the their goal amount as far as the fundraising um thanks to their efforts um and the team the unified team itself they raised over $113,000 for Special Olympics New Jersey the great thing about that is is half of that money goes to Special Olympics the other half comes back to us in our unified program um so you know they're helping to keep us going strong uh and moving forward the reason why they chose the elf costume was because they are performing Elf the musical um as our unified drama club and that will be on December 8th and 9th or yeah 7th and 8th um the 7th at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday the 8th at 2: p.m. uh I urge you to come out and and see one of the shows it is fantastic um because of their efforts we took first place in most money raised and most student involvement I think we had with parents and students alone over 50 of us there at the plunge and uh it was a beautiful day um they did a great job Annie was supposed to get recognized last year for unified but we had some things going on and I'm glad she's back so I actually have certificates for both of them both for 2024 and 2023 and I'll be giving that to them uh Juliana has been you have you done every plunge I believe you've done you've done at least the last two you've done three of the plunges so yep so you really got to see the outfits and um and I I hardly recognize her without a camera in her hands you know she's usually the photographer everything and Took a ton of photos at the event itself and uh Juliana is looking to go on hopefully to Kane University where she's going to major in pediatric occupational therapy so we wish her all the best with that and Annie we get to hang out Annie's one of the most popular kids probably at bores high school and uh yeah it's pleasure to always have her around so that being said here you go thanks for all you doing very nice congratulations on our board present reports Sarah so recently we had our production of The Adams Family it was an amazing production it was the week of Thursday November 14th bunch of super talented students in our cast it was hilarious I went and saw it I absolutely loved it and as Mr Peterson just touched on we have another upcoming production our unified dramaa production of Elf junor which is sure to be a very funny show especially nice and festive for the holidays so be sure to out to that and then also as we just touched on the uh unified Special Olympics fundraiser the Splash and Dash and then on top of that our unified um soccer actually on Sun Sunday October 20th they competed in division three for the unified soccer cup and they took home the gold medal they were undefeated and won the entire tournament and then Key Club last week had a Thanksgiving food drive they do this annually to help local families for the holiday season over, 600 pounds of food was collected and that's not including the extra food that was collected by one of our English teachers that food hasn't been weighed yet but it's estimated that it's going to add around another 400 lb to the total which is an absolutely amazing turnout um our student High School integration program recently held their annual ice cream social which is just an event we do to check in on how the freshmen are doing and see if they have any questions just to make sure they're integrating well into high school and that was also a hug success and then tonight at bores high school we have our team pep family night it's just an event that's designed to allow parents and their teens to discuss topics that may be difficult such as trust privacy sex and just growing up and that's been very very Su successful in the past and I'm sure it will be successful tonight thank you great all right um hi everyone for north um I want to start with a shout out to the music program so we just had our fall concert and now we're starting with our winter concerts that's starting December 12th um Thanksgiving um for Key Club they're doing their Thanksgiving can fundraiser it's a class competition so the winners who raise um who can collect the most cans has a ice cream uh social at the end um moving on to sports girls F hockey they made it to finals Unfortunately they lost but getting to that like to the finals is a pretty big beat um The Lady Lion Jers in Sussex um cross country girls they qualify for groups they won sectionals first place uh first and Hunter war in susex and this will mark their 10th sectional win in a row um in boys chase cobber was um he qualified for the me the Champions and he raced really well and as a team they went 14th in groups um and that's it for our fall Sports and good luck for our winner Sports um so we also had our um North for Le Leadership Summit so this is something that we did last year uh just at North and we wanted to extend it to obviously our sister school and it went very well we had um students they picked Rand uh picked numbers out of um a hat and basically got to meet students that they would have already known um they learn how to talk and have restor statements as a leader things like that being a better leader for their class um school spirit so I actually have some um pictures so school spirit has been really really really doing good at north um we had our pep rally we just had our friendship day and our for the mil can we decorated our hallways so we pass these around um yeah our school spirit has really been out of high especially with unfortunately the Sophia tragedy obviously um the school has really unified together as a whole as a community and it's been um really impactful um so Friendship Day um so this year we welcomed over 230 participants um form teams through random selection to inspire students to leave with um new friendships um while Friendship Day is a highlight every year this year held extra significance while with heavy hearts we dedicated the event to Soph Tes whose Spirit truly embodied the essence of friendship and in her honor our interact Club raised $3,000 to present to sopia's Mom and that supported the impactful work of the Sophia Shining Light um Foundation we also collect hundreds of toys and gift cards for the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia for kisses for Kyle and these contributions will bring joy and supports to many children and families facing the challenges of of cancer so we had that and it was really really successful um so we also had our blood drive today um and that was a really really good turnout I'm hoping we can get some pictures for that um donated blood and encourage you for the next time come Don and we also have our thrift shop tomorrow so that's something that my class officers started we get money from or get clothes donated and we resell in for profit and that money goes to the up and C for food pantry and to wear class so that's it for our great thank you both one clarified question you said this was the second year of the leadersh summit who who runs and organizes Mr runs the entire thing um but yeah we really wanted to start making that a very thing because we just started that at North and being it's a second year we really want to make that into a bigger thing because it can encourage and Foster like new leaders right and then like you were also bringing together leaders from both schools together North hosted North hosted okay and um no that's great I mean anything that you can kind of continue to store and build those purches other questions I love the picture next do you think we could bring the AL picture maybe several copies so we should have thought of that for the December meeting that dece that Infamous December meeting okay uh Rich your report all right so thank you to both of our student Reps for a very comprehensive report the U disadvantage of me going after you is there's a lot of repeat stuff but I think I have a few things to add so um I did want to mention that you know the week in the milc can game was filled with a lot of school spirit as both of our student reps mentioned uh they decorated the hallways uh they had their contest for the decorations I believe seniors w at boat schools so sort of usually what happens um both schools also had their pep rallies ending the day leading up to the milc can game um the milc can game Was Won by North the 49th milk can game the final score of 56 to 21 but for anyone that was there saw that that game was a very competitive game um athletes on both sides of that ball uh played very well and um it was a great game to watch um the score is not reflective foul competitive it was but it was a great game and I think everybody deserves some recognition for that uh also I wanted to mention some more things from Sports and some of these were already mentioned so I can't remember exactly but I'm going to go through my list here um at Voris boys cross country they won the North Jersey group group two sectional Championship um that was the program's eth in the last 11 years uh they were also the Overland Skyland Champions as well as Valley division champions for girls cross country north they won the North Jersey group 2 sectional Champions which was the program's fourth in a row um Daphne rosowski was the individual Skyland Champion uh they were also theun War Su Sussex champion and the sectional Champion boy soccer at bores uh the Skyland conference Valley Division champion ions they Advanced to the north 2 group two sectional semifinals um so they almost made it to the end of the state competition uh for girl soccer ell Ortiz became the all-time leading career point scorer in school history uh for boy or girl on soccer with 175 points she had 77 goals and 24 assists and she's only a junior so we have still another year uh to see some great things coming from Ella uh in football also ores uh Mato TR mola uh is the new record holder for a single season rushing yards 1,258 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns so great year for Mato and as was mentioned by Sarah our unified soccer won the unified cup so that was a great ending to their season as well so North hunin uh they also had a great year a athletically in a fall uh they were the Skyland conference divisional champions in field hockey so field hockey was the Skyland conference divisional Champions uh boys cross country girls cross country and cheerleading for the game day Champion section were also the Hun and Warren Sussex County Champions so they all won their County Championship boys cross country girls cross country and cheerleading and then girls volleyball and field hockey also uh went were finalists in their state group three sectional finals so they both uh went very far and then our girls cross country was our group three sectional Champions and that is the 10th year in a row for the girls cross country at North and then last but certainly not least um this year we had a uh first ever combined gymnastics team with North hun and vores North hunon has always been a North hunon sport uh for many many years but this year we had students from bores that want participate and it became a district um this board voted to make it a cohort um njsia approved that as well so it is now a district um combined team and the district gymnastics team did very well this year they finished finished second in the Skyland conference they finished third in the state sectionals um and they had many individual accomplishments so the individual allaround skyling conference first place Champion was Janet kaas uh the last time North gymnast won this allaround um individual was 20 years ago in 2004 so it's quite an accomplishment individual bars Champion first place was Alexis andic um and there's never been a North bars champion before so that was the first of its ever and individual Vault Champion uh was first place truth Aon and our individual beam Champion first place was again Janet kasos she had a great day that day so congratulations to gymnastics team and all fall fall sports that's all wrapping up as our student reps mentioned and now we're on to winter sports so looking forward to that uh again I think this was already mentioned but food drives were current are currently happening at North H Andes I think they finished today where they were collecting food and they'll probably deliver the food tomorrow uh donations uh were given towards their grade levels so they can hold a competition between classes and all donated items are given to local families in need during this holiday season so thank you for students for those efforts uh North enes also as we heard had their recent plays um The Adams Family uh the Friday Saturday and Sunday shows at Voris that was the Adams Family uh were completely sold out um and there was just great Community feedback um that was very positive and enthusiastic about that that program and then North hunter in theer organization also had their production it was called the production within the production play on um and again kids did a great job with the roles and they put on excellent performances and now I'm looking forward to the um unified program that'll be coming up in December we also had just to add on we've heard a lot about the elf costume so I won't go into that but more details on the actual event um there were there were almost 50 members of the UniFi program from Voris high school that participated in this year's dash and splash by either running the 5K or jumping into freezing ocean is there anyone that ran to 5K or everyone decided to jump into cold water there were Runners too okay bunch of Runners excellent um you know their excitement and commitment to this fundraiser earn them a spot on live TV which uh the board I was able to share that with but on channel 2 news there was a um was a weather newscaster I believe that was there doing a live event on the um just on a dash Splash and somebody had mentioned oh you know B's high school they always have a big contingent here and so he went over and interviewed the student leaders and um the administrators it was great to have the whole group shot and good to see that on live TV actually um the Tim Fredericks who's our consultant that we have working with us he he was texting me that morning and was like hey I just saw your VAR students on live TV so it was interesting that people were all overw seeing that um and then uh they did raise uh just over $133,000 uh for Special Olympics um they were also the highest team participation in the state with almost 50 splashers running into the ocean and two of War Zone Keith KJ style Jr and Annie traa were recognized for raising the most funds in the state so there's a lot more information on our website but congratulations to all their students and to Mr Peterson on that event uh North hunon did host their fall blood drive today um we're able to go up there as some of you know North has a long tradition of being named the highest donating school on the East Coast so not New Jersey not New York New Jersey like the entire East Coast for high schools they are the largest um donor uh for New Jersey New York Blood Services um and um so today uh the number of donors have actually been down since 2017 is what I what I was told but they had a Resurgence this year they had 455 signups for um to pre-sign up for blood drives and that doesn't include Walkins uh which they also welcome so hopefully they'll get closer to that 500 unit in a day um goal that Steve D Lorenzo has had for quite a while he hit 496 at one point he told me so he was four shy one year so he's he can get that um hopefully tomorrow I'll get notice that he got that um but Steve was also recognized by New York Blood Services New New York New Jersey Blood Services uh for reaching 20,000 cumulative units of blood in all the years he has been organizing the blood drives at North so that is a tremendous amount of help for people that need it and um again kudos to North and the National Honor Society who runs those blood drives um they do a great job with it uh again as Shiva mentioned for the first first time this year both schools came together I didn't realize that they had run the leadership conference last year just at North but this was the first inaugural North H and B's Leadership Summit and I'm going to encourage that that continues to happen uh for both schools and I think it was great we got to stop in and see some of the activities that were going on I mean just to give you a quick idea you know some of the activities did was um communicating through conflict um Peacekeeper activities um there was a um final Reflections uh minute to minute blind taste test um they had to pick the correct flavors of their candy that were being passed around there just some you know cool fun events and a way for these student leaders to get together and really show their leadership um as a group and with each other so we're going to encourage as many intra um School District events as we can uh and again North held their annual Friendship Day uh today or no I'm sorry on Friday um this is just to give everyone an idea this is a schoolwide event where students are formed in teams with students from our special educ programs in a larger student body the teams then compete through a series of challenges that they accomplish at different stations throughout the gyms and theater area it's always a great day that highlights just how inclusive our student body is uh this year was of course dedicated to Sophia DET toris and her Shining Light foundation and they presented with a check for $33,000 that they raised for the for them through the event um so just a huge thank you to all the students staff members uh Dr katol for making all this happen but in particular DEA Maron who is one of our special education teachers and our interact um adviser and Dina puts in countless hours to make this happen it is not an easy event and um but it went off that a hitch and it seemed like everybody had a great time right so so thank you for all of that um so that was the exciting stuff I have two more things um have our report on harassment intimidation and bullying we have four being reported to the board this month uh total three were founded one was unfounded and then we will need a motion second motion and second to confirm the determination on the hip incident reported on the at the October 15 2024 board meeting Beth second Dan uh all in favor I I any opposed abstain three abion abstain four let me just make sure I have and abstain from Christina C Kim and Cynthia cyia it okay okay and then the monthly reports are there for your um review as well I do want to take some you have any is there any questions on other reports because I before we go on to Glenn's part no I I I wasn't sure you were going to mention anything about um like how you're reporting something just making sure how like that the numbers and everything that we we discussed a little bit it's got a policy okay all right I think it's great that's why okay so U if there's nothing else uh we we did notice today I would normally turn this over to glendow for the school board president report but realized that 8.2 of his report he is recognizing himself and John so um I asked T to you know help me with this as the vice president board but I'll let you present the actual award to him but I I just want to say before Tara says anything that um you know Glenn's been on the board for 3 years and two months he was actually appointed in October of 21 for vacancy and then was duly elected that November and served a three-year term uh last year as board president and um I would like to thank you publicly for everything you've done for the board for the community um it has been a pleasure working with you and you wouldn't missed and now on to Bo president uh so as a result of the nov 5th 2024 elections uh we have the re-election of Dan Spanton and Tera hence uh Dan for Clinton Township Leon bro and Tara for Lebanon and hybridge so congratulations to Dan and Tara and we have two new board members uh we have Angela and Fuso um Deanie if I pronounce her name right apologies uh replacing John and Richard lordy replacing myself for Union Township so congratulations to all four board members or board members elect I should say uh our uh the there's two meetings in January there's the re reorganization board meeting where members are sworn in and uh new board President and Vice President selected that's January 7th at uh 6:00 p.m. here and then the regular board meeting is January 28th uh at 7 p.m. here so two board meetings in January uh so board members so I guess first my I'm myself since I have the floor so I want to personally thank the board um the administration including rich B act Katie blue Rich Braun and Jeff Bender our principles Ron Greg certainly our wonderful staff and John kamno and his team for three enlightening years I me everything in life is a learning and growth experience and serving on this board has been no exception I also want to thank the community for entrusting me with this position for the past three years uh I mostly want to thank our students I have commented many times to members of our board to Rich Katie Jeff Ron and Greg uh how impressed I am with the many accomplishments of our students um I will say um I I think I was most impressed in putting aside all the book discussions we had hundreds of students stand before us and and I I told you many times our students came before us and and spoke with poise with confidence and professionalism right and literally in front of hundreds of students and and and parents um and clearly I told you right if there's any if there's any attestment to how great our schools are it it was really that event right that our students can stand up there and do that and I I frankly that was probably the most amazing thing I I I witnessed but again thank thank you again to all of you but more importantly I want to give a special thank you to John mik uh John was elected to the Board of Education in 2013 he has served for 12 years he has finally decided to retire from the board of education at least for now uh John has been instrumental in guiding our schools over these past years having strong knowledge base and facilities and finance John has played significant roles in our first and second referendums in Improvement to both football fields to updates through our security systems the Polytech Expansion Project multiple contract negotiations has gotten through the pandemic years and you just to name a few John has not always had the popular opinion but more importantly those opinions encourage open discussion before decisions were made Tron is truly leaving behind a large void on this board with his extensive experiences thoughtful insights and rational oversight site truly on behalf of this and past Boards of Education John I want to thank you uh for your many years of volunteering service to our students to our staff to our Administration and community so I guess at this point I should probably turn over to you that was my next comment Johnson I don't have prepared comments uh uh quite as eloquent as Glen but no uh it's been a pleasure to serve on this board for uh to represent dukesbury Califon um just continue the Legacy that uh you started with my grandfather he was on the original board back in 1952 when this school was built uh my father's civic-minded so uh I've been involved with other things so uh it was a natural step I was asked to consider running for a spot on the on the board uh here we are three superintendents later countless uh principles later two business administrators later and many many uh terrific board members later it's been a pleasure uh representing um you know the town but most importantly being advocate for the students um who have been coming along making sure that uh they get the same quality of Education that I received from Vorhees back graduating in 1989 um and you know I look forward to watching this board perform good things into the future so thank you very much uh so moving on to public comment during this portion of the meeting the public is invited to address the Board of Education with comments you are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to state your name Municipality of residents group affiliation if applicable and direct your comments to the school board president while all comments will be considered by the Board of Education and a response may be forthcoming if in when appropriate individual school board members may not respond to the speakers at the time of their appearance the public comment period will be a maximum of 30 minutes in length unless there are unusual circumstances you'll be allocated 3 minutes to speak and no one will be permitted to speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard please keep your comments respectful and non defamatory and maintain the level of decorum appropriate for a public meeting with student where students may be present and in the audience any comments Greetings oh I WR my name since I'm the only one can I speak for 30 minutes all right policy 75 uh Dan Kleinman um I'm from safe libraries what was that safe libraries an organization out of chadam New Jersey okay uh uh policy number 751 is there a timer that I'm supposed to is there um like a visual timer all right um 7510 use of uh school facilities um I I bring up this issue on the use of school facilities because Martha Hixon has tweeted that she will be appearing here with a librarian named Amanda Jones and will be speaking here during the executive session while you are in executive session if she has not applied for uh permissions paid the fees done the insurance done the forms got the custodial staff ready and everything like that put in deposit $100 then she may not speak here I just want to let you know that uh the American Library Association has allowed uh these two people Martha Hixon and uh Amanda Jones to represent Librarians Nationwide on the issue of um uh children reading having access to inappropriate books and schools we know in New Jersey there's a a law 2C 34-3 about obscenity somehow you people all approve that book with the obscenity in it and uh and I filed a an Ethics complaint against you for having done that as you know we stop the clock for a moment sir I'm going to interrupt you and we're holding your time so I'm not on your time um but I I want to caution you that ethics matters are confidential I believe that the school ethics commission uh advised you of that uh so ethics matters are confidential we're going to honor your right to speak uh but I want to caution you in that regard I also want caution you that any statements which might be uh considered defamatory individuals have individual rights so I'm I'm just addressing your last comment and we're going to start the clock uh where we left off all right so since uh Martha has said she's going to have this meeting here uh I would just ask that you keep the camera on during the executive session and perhaps drained on the audience or wherever she is um if you don't follow this policy then uh the Martha meeting is going to be illegal on the school grounds if you haven't previously followed it you know I know I well whatever if you um I would advise um no I'm going to leave that out because of you I'll leave that out because of you I just want to make sure that you're following the policy here even if some people show up and decide to put on a meeting during your meeting if they haven't previously come to you and gotten the proper permission under 7510 now that I'm telling you ahead of time you'll know this so that you can stop ahead of time if needed or I'll have to take action accordingly thank you very much Mr yours uh hi my name is Doug Eaton and uh thanks Council for your what you just said I wish that was mentioned four years ago so you know that was brought up four years ago and and would would um would have help things out much more with all this book Banning um good evening um I'll make this brief um I have been coming to these board meetings for about three years now maybe maybe more um thank you Mr farbes and Mr mik for your service to the community I appreciate it thank you to the mainstream members of the board for your service to the First Amendment and speaking of service Mr Kleinman you've been serve sir sir sir comments have to be directed to the presid Mr kimman will be served thank you what the was that okay anyone else for public comment good evening I'm Amy Barrett from hybridge on behalf of the north Hunter and Vorhees intellectual Freedom Fighters I'd like to thank Mr far banish for his service to the board over the past 11 months he has been a voice of reason and moderation amid conflict both in the audience and among members of the board he has also made a point of encouraging students to speak at board meetings his loss in the recent election is a loss for the board and the north Hunter and Vorhees Community I'd also like to thank extend thanks to Mr melik for his many years of service especially leading the finance and Facilities committee and I support the board's choice of Dr burx as superintendent as a way of maintaining continuity for students and staff last month the board was criticized during public comments for being under the shadow of an Ethics complaint which was mentioned again tonight I know you can't address this in public but since the person who filed the complaint post post post it on social media all right stop the clock and I'm going to give you the same caution okay okay may I talk about the person who posted it ma'am we're not going to bridge your first amendment speech rights but I want to caution you as well that if you say something that is defamatory the individual of whom you're speaking may have rights against you okay thank you going to start the clock then I'm simply going to say in my opinion the members of this board behave ethically and following the district process for reconsidering a book and the spous complaint should not be considered a black mark against them thank you for listening Haren ninger longtime resident of hybrid New Jersey I have three things to say first Mr Mr President I want to thank you for your calm respectful leadership of this board during very contentious times it must have been difficult for you to maintain your composure amidst all the ranker second and this is addressed to both returning and incoming uh members of this board please do not engage in ego trips or attention-seeking behaviors that divert this board's time attention and energy away from the task at hand it is your Collective responsibility to ensure not only that every student in this District receives a thorough and efficient education but also that they receive the best education that our tax dollars can provide finally many of us are here tonight to show that we support the rights needs and aspirations of all North hun and Vorhees students including students who learn differently students of color and students who do not identify or who are not perceived as cisgendered heterosexuals all our students deserve to be seen heard and respected I thank you very much for the comments you made about the students who turned out during the book Banning controversy to speak their mind with such confidence and W so articulately all our students should feel that they are valued members of this our community I hope hope that they will continue to be and we will be here board meeting after board meeting watching what you do and listening to what you say thank you hi I'm Lea Zangle from Union Township I don't have anything prepared but I wanted to um say thank you to our outgoing board members John my goodness 12 years I I knew you have been here for a while but bless you that is a huge commitment to our community and our students and thank you very much for it and um and Glenn I also want to just publicly thank you for uh what's already been said your Cal reason leadership your investment and commitment to our students and community and your perspective um to seriously consider all the issues and questions that come before the board and um I feel very grateful to have had you in this position um while my students have been here and as as a Union Township resident um proud to say that you are you have been representing Us in Union Township so I want to thank you um to the board uh as a whole that voted to hire our new superintendent I also want to say thank you very much um I know you got the nitty-gritty of a local search um that occurred recently and seemed much more more extensive than ours um I want to acknowledge that that outcome was the same as this one right and um and I thank you um those who supported that decision for um what you've saved us in time and energy and expense in a search project um and also what you have provided our students in terms of continuity and expertise and knowledge um of this district and um just being ready to move forward and best serve them so thank you I just want to say I just didn't oh my name is Steven pan if Township I just want to say that um I used to be just a regular parent and we took in me and my wife my wife and I we took in a foreign exchange student and that compelled me to see what was going on in the school and the very first meeting I turned on was just some crazy meeting where some liberal mob thought it was okay to come and intimidate this uh this board this very board that sits in front of me and when I seen that I was enraged and I felt compelled to come here and these people that say that we're going to you know maintain order and we're going to watch you this is and this should not happen thank you I'll be here every meeting please stop swearing I'm sorry please I'm sorry I'll every meeting to watch you sorry I got problems we're here for the kids and you guys W making a political agenda we got problems oh gum sorry uh good evening my name is Guy Citron I just had a I guess political question um since we're talking about that we have a president elect Donald Trump who had sorry sir pleas direct sir please direct your comments to the board president oh sorry thank you thought I heard something and this president-elect has said many times on the campaign trail that um and I think a lot of his cabinet selection as well have repeated it that uh eliminating the Department of Education is a a major priority and if I'm not mistaken I think North hunon receives quite a lot of federal money from the Department of Education through a couple things like for example Title One designation um because we do have a lot lot of students whose families are uh considered low income and they need extra support I also believe it helps offset the costs of special education because children with special needs as you know um have different costs associated with their education and furthermore I think teachers get some benefits towards certifications to advance themselves in their teaching careers and uh I think we're all aware that there is a teacher shortage Nationwide so that one's pretty serious so my question is how much are we receiving because I did some stuff online and you know I come to these meetings very regularly I know Mrs blue has done incredible you know budget breakdowns and um the only thing online uh is from our previous superintendent uh Mr Bender which essentially just says you know we will let you know how much federal dollars we receive upon request so I'm asking Here and Now how much money does North Hunter and Vorhees get from the Department of Education and are we concerned if president-elect Trump's promise to take that money away comes true thank you for your time and president far banish you've done an excellent job sir thank you any else okay thank you uh so I need to call for motion second to adopt curriculum proposals agenda items 10 1 through 10 four sorry so Beth you'll give a read out of what these are right yeah can I do that now yeah want me do that now before we do a vote and people have questions sure so um the curriculum committee met on uh November 20th and everyone was in attendance um and um as president farbes mentioned we had four curriculum proposals that discussed at the meeting uh the first was to um move to an AP pre-cal class um up from the honors pre-calculus class to allow students to earn the AP waiting for the course um the other one another one was the um the um ml English class which would allow students who were learning English as part of the english's second language class to combine um an English class so that they can then take an additional class to a combin combines the two ESL as well as English into a single class and then would allow for another class on their schedules uh the addition of an algebra 3 CP class which would provide an option for um seniors to take an additional math class that is um a kind of a natural progression from taking algebra to CP and prior to that geometry CP um so they can take an additional math class um in their fourth year if that's something that they want to continue with going into to to school uh and then finally a Latin four honors class um because the College Board is proposing a change to AP Latin course that would make it difficult for our students to uh participate in that class because we don't um I'm sorry the sending districts don't offer a Latin class in the middle schools um so this would allow for students to continue on and take a Latin class um uh into into their fourth year and and still get the benefit of of of a higher level force uh and so the committee is supporting the proposals and that is what is up our motion right now do you want me to continue with the curriculum agenda or why don't we stop with those we can do after so people have questions on those I was just going to we also have riches here too so um on the ml the ml English it it noted that North hunon uh it would be offered to at North hunon High School Boris would be coming here correct so it would be a set I guess guess a set schedule because you have a drop and roll schedule how's that going to work how does that work the students that need those services will attend North H they'll just be bust here yeah okay um and I had a two what's happening now okay I just had two other question how um math classes now how many classes um you have to take it for three years yes so so you're implementing so the AP I'm I'm correct me if I'm wrong we're adding the honors pre-cal class because the AP class has become so honors pre-cal right now Rich jump in at any time if you want uh it's my understanding that um basically follows the AP curriculum right now anyway so as an honors course now we're turning this into an AP getting it approved by the College Board as an AP course so students can essentially take the course take the AP exam to get the AP credit or they could take it not take the exam and it'll still have honors waiting in the essentially what it is now but it's turning it into AP course and get it approved okay and we did talk about I remember last couple through the past years we talked about is there any way we can offset those costs for students because there's kids that take AP yeah I agree with you I mean my my daughter took AP it was everything and it's expensive to do all those exams um is there any I mean is there something we as a board could be looking at to offset costs even if it's just one you know I think something to visit to to revisit I mean I there's a lot of kids that just can't afford that and they don't take it I agree isn't isn't it the case that a percentage of that money goes back to the schools and the AP programs I thought a small percentage what is $9 $9 out of that cost go back to school how much does the AP and then if you're and then if you're a senior and you're taking um the college credit as well you're taking the AP and you're taking um the college we had to pay for that as well exactly and we all did that most of us because if they didn't pass the AP exam with a four or five they still have the college credit so it's a lot for these kids and it's I think it's important and I think it also brings in opportunity for more students to participate in at that level um two two questions yes one AP pre-calculus is there really that much of a demand in college for where they're giving that honoring that credit I mean like you don't see AP geometry you know because you get into college you're talking about Cal calculus and you know that makes sense because that's a a class that you know where a lot of Engineers and other people in the math world uh start so I guess I know I'm a little surprised to see that there's an NE it's not AP uh pre-calculus uh that that many schools are actually honoring that and that gets me to my second question is that's the whole point of offering AP classes that so so the kids then can get credits college credits so that's a cost savings for the families so before we go handing money out I mean that's the that's in my mind that's the driving Focus I know I enjoy that AP credit that so I didn't have to take a you know a fourth class as a senior in college I was able to throw that AP credit out there and have a you know an easier time so you know before we start going crazy uh just reimbursing you know that's they're they're they're they're benefiting from that investment I guess as a it is a wise investment because I know I'm benefiting from it right now um but the schol is there a scholarship program offered by the CL like rbcc or seatan Hall that gives the college credits that we that I don't know if there's a to offset that way um or a scholarship program for the AP exam for concurrent enrollment I don't know if there's any scholarship programs but I do know if somebody shows need you know we we have um let them take exemp we pay for exemp for someone who doesn't need could funds I don't know if this is even can funds be used from the educational Association from we have a um that would be up to the Educational Foundation yeah I don't know the other thing too is so just because I've been going through it my son we went and looked at the schools that he's applying to and whether the AP credits would apply for this because he's taking a bunch of them this year and a lot of the schools don't take them for some of the classes that we offer so yes I agree with you there's definitely a benefit on some of them like the math and and and those kinds of classes but some of the other ones like psychology and government are not being accepted when they go into some go and apply to some of these schools so I I I just think that that it's a shame to penalize students that are intelligent and you know have worked really hard because they can't afford to take some of these these exams it's just I I I think it's SCH some type of scholarship program even if it's for I'm just saying let's explore it I'm not saying it's the way to go or not the way to go it's it's something to explore it's our students and you you have these programs and I think this is great that uh richb is bringing these forth yeah you know opportunities for everyone and it is a lot you have students you I'm sure you have a minimum there's not a ton but there's students that take three four AP classes and then they're taking the college credit as well I I know my daughter did it so we were fortunate enough she was able to to to afford that but there are students that it's a struggle and they say I'm not taking the exam the educational fund um or the group Association that's parent driven correct and community yeah so wonder I sat on it before I on the board because if they're mission statement and they do fundraising maybe that would be something I don't know how act are they still active I don't know I haven't heard anything from the found I mean occasionally I see something come across as a grant but I haven't heard much from them yeah they still have some money that're spending at North hun donation on tonight's agenda yeah do we have one I didn't even see that North hunon is still active I don't know is is I don't leaving it's as active as it used to be but I think still active Bor I don't know Ron has anybody been working with the Education Foundation at Bor I haven't had any interest from parents in a couple years yeah but North is still active and they're again they're still giving us money for Grants is Dina Mar still working with the foundation step back be monthly um again there's a grant on your agenda to approve tonight for a CNC machine um and they run through a grant process so if it it would be something they be as a grant if that was the case a grant that would fund a scholarship for just exploratory I mean I think we should look at it oh yeah I think the other part of that like having taught AP you know the the AP is a business um and certainly they have expanded their program offerings similarly colleges are businesses and they have increasingly not accepted more and more APS also because they realize that's a loss for them I think you know there is obviously navigation to happen there because to John's point it is a benefit whether you're applying uh in some cases you're being award wed Credit in other cases maybe if you're not being giving credit you're getting Advanced standing and moving into elective level courses um I believe we we do assist students who have Financial need I believe there is an Avenue for them uh also I believe we don't require students to sit for the exam for the AP waiting that would benefit their GK and their application process so I understand students you know might have to make some decisions there whether they're taking the exam or or just taking the course um and increasingly as we've seen the dual enrollment has often been a more reliable indicator of college credit and I know we have a number of instances where those courses are available and some of them mimic the AP uh and sometimes that's the decision going for the dual enrollment versus the AP um I wish there were an easy answer in navigating all of that but it's it's a tricky landscape for kids and parents for sure I was going to ask the student reps what do you guys hear about the AP exams what it from fellow students um do you or what do you guys hear feedback about the AP exams and the course credit and how does that come across to the kids all right so I would say that personally like what I've heard from AP exams is um they're hard um sometimes they're really not worth the money um lot of colleges don't really take many um APS so uh I talked about with a lot of my friends is what's the point of taking the AP and and uh like taking the AP paying for the exam taking uh sitting for the exam and then trying to get the credit but then all of that for it the college to not take it so that's so I mean personally for me I'm not only taking like myp exams I'm still taking it to for my GPA waiting but I'm not taking any exams because like um it's money out of me and my family's pocket to um for like a for the col to not take it yeah for me I only take my AP exams and I know a lot of people do the same if it's more of like an English or a math or a science where it's more widely accepted but those other classes I know for like there's like some AP like art independent studies that people are doing or like AP Psychology a lot of schools don't take that so people will just take it just because to have it on your transcript for applying that's such a boost in your application process for your GPA and just for your rigor of your course curriculum and then taking the test really isn't always necessary just because it is the money spent and especially if it's not something that's going to help you gain college credit in the future it's not worth it now if it is something that's going to gain college credit it's 100% I think it's a good investment just because the price for the AP test is a lot less than the price to take that credit in college but that really only applies to those AP tests that are those core classes for colleges do we do we have a list from counseling department or some data of what colleges the typical colleges that I was just going to ask like the Penn State rers I think it's a much more it's a much more complex question that it depends on what program what school you're getting entered into what college what number you got on the exam yes and and then what you get on the exam so a lot of variables that go into that sure of course and certain schools I believe a lot of them don't even take it I don't take them some subject matter teachers will tell the students right away what what colleges typically don't take it so they have an idea it's probably easier for the students who are applying to colleges now to look at the schools my daughter my daughter is applying now and obviously when they're applying they're checking that out they're asking those questions in the department they are but by that point they're enrolled AP courses and then they want to see that riger continue if you took all AP courses up till junior year and it stopped in your senior year that doesn't look good for a college e they want to see that you're continuing that riger is what so they they they don't want to see that you took your AP courses up to junior year and then stopped taking AP courses and just sour La so it's a can I we are separating right the whether we offer the class from whether they take the test right right so the The Proposal is to offer an AP class whether it's worth any credit when you get to college is perhaps because it's pre-cal that's one reason it might not be or for any other reason but we still would I me I'm supportive of having the opportunity there for people to take that class and have it's on their transcript yeah um but challenging and showing rigor whether they take the exam or not it's challenging and it's you know it depicts a picture of their High School career so whether they decide to take the test or not that's an individual preference I just to sh's comment I can tell you from my daughter right who's applying now the the colleges are looking at right the curriculum in general and that is certainly being given in all and the high school the rers looking at the class itself not beyond the credit so yeah true and I think rich brought up the point that the honors calculus as it's happening now is being taught by the calculus AP teachers in many cases and for all intents and purposes except in name only um they are trying to deliver it I guess it would be interesting to see that as it becomes an AP course the students will have access to the AP classroom and the AP dashboard and the practice things that go along with that um I'd be curious to see if once instituted do we see a payoff in AP Calculus success in other words that kind of alignment do you see a higher degree of success when kids are on the a calculus because as it's been noted here um colleges increasingly want a four or a five on that test as opposed to a three that's definitely data will track so and I have one more question sorry um the Latin I just curious I mean has it ever been talked about in you know in the at the round table with the sing districts of offering Latin through I mean Latin having Latin you know in in those court for formidable years it's helpful it rolls over into your language and and context and I just we talk about um at Round Table a lot about um just them being able to find Spanish teachers for their U Middle Schools are we struggling I op that is very difficult and you know for a Latin program it's again it's difficult for us to find Latin teachers sometimes um we're very fortunate with the ones that we have so uh and to find those at the middle school it would be difficult I would think districts will be T yeah you have to be a district of almost this size to even have a l grou yes it is interesting Kim I know when I was on board at CPS they experimented uh with some of the language the online language programs and were affording students the opportunity to choose and interestingly my son chose La I was kind of surprised at the time he just did it for the one year and then he he moved on um but where our K8 certainly wouldn't be able to sta it I mean that might be an interesting conversation for Round Table uh whether it's as enrichment or something else whether those kinds of those programs whether they have time the schedule or the ability to to offer more diverse linguistic experiences to kids before they get experimented with doing online versions of Spanish I think I obviously it's a long time ago I don't know then they switch back to teachers I don't obvious know the current extent well I think fundamentally the kids enjoy a teacher more than any online program and and certainly not suggesting that the online program would be a replacement I was thinking more just in terms of enrichment I know a lot of the ades we'll have wi periods and things like that where kids can explore things that's probably about the only space where schools could do it but then I don't know what the price point is it's just interesting to hear when you when the kids go up to college and then they say in contexual they're looking at the years of Latin they had and how uh you know it assisted them my daughter my son I don't know maybe I agree I agree Latin my daughter both daughters took four years of it I never took it but both my daughters took it and can't have benefited greatly from it especially if you're a journalism Communications major news media medical medical they're you all using those and I just buy them yeah right right so I know just putting it out there I think my only comment is just make sure you you try to get a heads up to the eighth grade students that if they're going into Latin they may not be on an AP trajectory for versus French or German or something else but that's probably the biggest problem that these kids are coming in eighth grade how are they achieving an AP status in French German any other language because we only have four years to offer it so how is it that it's only four years the Latin is only honors and not AP but we're still only teaching French for four years do we have French program or AP French or German either so it's only honors and the only one is Spanish CU you come in in Span because they teach Spanish occasion we'll get somebody coming in who knows French as a native language or something like that but other than that it's just Spanish right okay thanks Rich and we have great teachers for the Latin teachers are fantastic are very fortunate yes all right any more questions on that or all right so we need a roll call vote on 101 to 104 M hagna yes Mr cman yes Miss Gallow yes M yes M K yes Mr mcac yes Mr M yes M Rees yes Miss seleno yes Mr Spanton yes Miss viat yes and Mr Fish yes thank you okay Beth the rest of curriculum so uh so we also talked about um as part of the the monthly reports um the the number of students that were leaving to uh for homeschooling um but you know in general what we found is that um it may be that when students are homeschooled until 8th grade and then they come to the high school and then in some instances they may switch back to homeschooling so um while it wasn't um a significant number we have seen uh those numbers uh across the board at each different each of the different months uh there was also uh discussion around the new the nursing plan that is that um was on the agenda and uh talked about the fact that there are more CPR certified staff members at North Boris a lot of that was tied to the fact that um the gy all the gym teachers have to be certified in CPR coaches coaches sorry coaches uh and it's a bigger program at nor person or so that there is a little bit of a difference there um and then finally the um the school calendar is up again for uh approval when we approved it at the last meeting an extra day was included so now we're going to be removing that extra day and we'll be approving it again at this meeting um we also talked about PSAT results uh we had asked um Rich to to provide us with some information as a comparison to the njsla presentation uh and um the numbers you know were were really they were good but what we're finding and what was kind of noticeable is that the students know that if they don't don't do well on the um the uh NJ GPA the Prof proficiency test to graduate um they know that they can use the PSAT as a mechanism for graduation so they really tend to work a little bit harder to perform better on the PSAT than they do on some of the other standardized tests so we'll be looking at the 2024 PSAT results which we should have gotten fairly soon so we'll probably review them during the January curriculum meeting uh finally we had actually it wasn't finally we had discussion about AI because it is a standing item we talked a bit about um whether we've seen any kind of increases in plagiarism or inappropriate use of AI in schools we will note the fact that we used AI to um to do a transcription of our meeting which was very helpful for purposes in the minutes uh so that was good but um we're not aware of any um such increases um but um we're going to really I think the thought was to start teaching and educating the students more about um ethical AIU so where it's okay to use it and when it's not um so that the students better understand um the consequence of using it in appropriate way uh and then finally uh we talked about the um the half days and notifications to parents ahead of time so that they can be reminded that there is a half day and that um and also to communicate to parents um about what this the staff is doing during the professional development on those half days where there's professional development being offered um which we we really liked that idea and uh we also talked about aspects of special education in the district including um students at IEPs and the percentage of students with 504 plans um and uh you know generally the the type of uh the proficiency rate of those students um as they continue to matriculate through the the schools and um I think that was it questions I mean breny you've made a comment I still think is a good one at some point trying to holistically take all of these test scores and look at them right I know we look at them as they come out which is good but at some point during the year I still think it's a good idea to try to look at them holistically to get a overall gauge I think like we said before some of these tests um maybe whether important or misleading right when we look at them together maybe we get a better picture so I just I do think that's an idea to maybe look at next year for planning that and part of what I was um thinking there too was that if those presentations could be part of the meetings as opposed to just in committee um it just gives the a bigger audience to kind of see those metrics where our kids are being quite successful AP sat sat the other thing I just wanted to note was um the fact that there was a excellent program that uh Rich told us about that took place um on Veterans Day at the schools um and that's the kind of communication that would be great for us to have with parents so that they know some of the activities that are happening on days when they may have otherwise expected students to be home from school but if they're in school and we're we're we're we have activities that are tied to particular holiday or um observance of something I think that it's it's really positive for parents and the community to know that that's Tak place too good okay so I need to call for motion second to approve a agenda items 111 to 114 so moved D second Beth any other questions okay all in favor I any opposed any extensions no no okay so moved Kim policy um yes policy met on November 18th um everyone was in attendance unfortunately sorry Glen was in a meeting um we talked about uh we went over school suspension data or monthly reports um Rich uh project shared data um that the schools are tracking uh regarding the types of discipline and also the types of suspensions um we discussed how a student who receives an ISS and an OSS for a single infraction counts as two which I think we didn't all of us did not know so I think we're thinking big numbers um we are going uh the we're going to look at the feasibility of adding the amount of monthly CU suspension uh days to the monthly report it would just be another metric um the data is already being utilized by Administration to monitor suspension Trends and actions in both schools um we discussed the rampant use of Vapes that was a uh someone had brought that up uh the usage and some strategies to offset that or um that we can employ to prevent their use um Administration will look into how Vape sensors work in the bathrooms because that was a question because we as parents don't really know that um and uh the eff and uh the uh efficiency how it can be approved um Administration will continue to collect detailed suspension data and to ensure accurate application of the code of conduct and keep us update of that um and the second item was njsba policy manual verion update um uh Rich met with njsba November 6 for an update uh njba policy uh Department um has had some emerging issues they were busy with after workshop and so forth so it kind of slowed uh they're working diligently to complete your the policy manual um they said they hope to have it completed by the new year if not before fingers crossed um they are are they have worked on sections 1,000 2,000 3,000 6,000 7,000 and 9,000 there and they're pretty much completed they're they're different than they they're not the numbers are not going to be the same they are currently working on the last two sections uh 45,000 um let's see due to the overlapping subjects covered by stess ese manual both of those sections are approximately halfway completed so we'll see in addition um they have been proof reading as they've been going along so to save time and steps for us um and they will be in contact with Rich and they hope to have a meeting for mid December anything else to update no that's pretty much where we're at um oh and last business other business we did uh someone brought up the issue of form 338 for Hib uh we just uh WR went into depth explaining it um to had like track reported cases and you went through the steps of reporting forms on our website and you can go on to the website and see those and the use of hipster to track cases and finally the reporting and appeal process for parents and and board members so it is sound you can go see that on the website is that it policy questions when our when our um policy manual is complet what's what's the next step do we you're saying that we meet with njsba do we meet as a board is it is it populated into our no they're going through they're going through all the man the the policies you know um transferring because they're they're not identical to ours right right they should be hopefully finished by January and then at that point we will have to take the the whole policy and adopt and go through them that's the discussion we've been having that how we're going to implement correct that's what I have a question about what we are we meeting everybody or policy committee or so we'll have a separate meeting probably to go over well we we'd have to accept we have to accept we we have two options the way um school board says presented it to me um and this will be up to the policy committee that will be seated um in 2025 um on how they want to proceed uh one option is to um as a board accept the policy as school boards is presenting it to us based on their expertise and their knowledge and what they say they should do and they completely review then we go through that over a few months to look at specific policies might U be relevant to just our district to determine whether or not the language is sufficient enough or we want to change some things we want to tweak some things and then change policy as need be from there that's option a option b is as a committee review that manual section by section before we adopt it as a board once the board Fe once the policy committee feels like the language is appropriate in that because they've reviewed it then present it to the board for adoption um so again that's going to be discussion we'll have in January and once we have the new policy manual with the new policy committee and decide what direction they want to go and then don't make a bre so what exactly happens just based on the con based on um this the language around the overlap with stra as M do they have I guess I was under the assumption they that njsba would just give us policy so I guess what they do is they do a cross comparison against what our current policies are is that what they do in in most cases they're giving us their language for that policy okay so and in a lot of situations it's three or four policies that stra Esme might have that um School boards has condensed into one policy that addresses all of those okay so the policy manual will be a lot shorter a lot more succinct um you know but there are policies that are specific to just our district right for instance like who gets to attend Northern boes Clinton Glen Garden things like that are very specific to our district and they have to go through and find all those specific items to make sure that they are getting the language correct that makes sense so the question is kind of we suspect there might be some editing I mean there's always the the one of the jobs of the board is to continually look at the policy and refine as you know so that's an Ever it's an evering process but you when once you're going to adopt it like you know pull one out and put the new one in you can't have it half and half or you know a little bit of this and a little bit of that so if we adopt it right out of the shoot then whatever it says is our policy right and and if there's some you know we don't have any reason to believe I don't have any reason to believe there's something like egregiously out of whack with our way we want to run the district but if there is it's our policy until we address at the next meeting or whatever so we're still you know Kim Kim is good you know committee look well I guess actually it's whoever the policy reor happens then we have the new policy committee you kind of edited and then adopt or adopt and then edit okay sounds good other questions okay John Finance right thanks um yes we had a uh short meeting everybody was there on the 18th uh with exception of Tara um the first item of business we had to disc disc regarding the um Ba's um office and um I guess in January you'll see um we have an interm uh ba who's who's been uh well working towards an interm ba to replace Katie when she's out um and then also some other another uh opening in in that office so no I no action on tonight's uh meeting but we were discussing it at our committee meeting then um essentially it was just after that it was just all agenda review um you'll see on here um the stem Grant is being reapproved based upon updated hour hourly rates based upon our new uh contract with the teachers um then you see some close outs um on um remaining capital projects uh some of them from the referendum this is a money that's uh left over that'll be returned to the budget uh also we're joining a u a co-op purchasing Co-op out of Belleville um second river purchasing Cooperative uh and then a um Amy Flex will be replacing our health e Equity uh as a district FSA provider that's flexible spending accounts so uh we're making that change uh as well and other than that we have all just the basic monthly reports uh that we spoke about very brief meeting any questions okay I have sorry okay I have a question about the Vorhees booster club's corporate sponsorship did they actually get a Microsoft xox xox sponsorship I had the same question um it is somebody who works for Microsoft they made the donation and wanted that logo as the Banner so I don't know what the relationship is or but it's it's somebody works Microsoft to just have a little concern about using third party representation like that without absolutely knowing that it's been authorized by the company we'll look into that before it goes up okay do you want to mention 13.2 well I just I just wanted to mention 13.2 is um appointing uh Forum consultant to do our strategic plan I think that is going to be um you know a really important part of this school year um and I want to make sure that everyone knows you know we we we did our due diligence with looking at all the um places that put that replied to our RFQ um so that we um had all the information them foram did a fabulous job in the examples they gave us they are all retired School administrators um conducting the plan I believe the principal of the company will actually be working on ours um so I think we're going to get a lot of expertise and a lot of um direction from that so I think it'll be a good process I was just curious about the uh the donation of the CNC machine is that um donated to a specific program like where do we have CNC machines on it's in our teched program but Greg do you want to speak specifically to where that's going to be at yeah it's in our Tech program in the stem lab in room 126 Mr McKinnon and Mell we use that as part of their program there yeah they applied for the grant through the Education Foundation and Foundation approved it awesome other questions would you be able to tell us where school boards fell in 13.2 when you were looking for yeah options yes um absolutely so school boards uh while they they they did put a proposal in they have two options of what they that they offer one is called the 3D model which is sort of a shortened version of the strategic planning process that's what we did last time since we have lapsed the year from that um I I didn't want to use that version uh their next full version was very competitive with what for am offers um the difference with 4M is they gave us really good examples of the plans that they have done in the past uh so we're very impressed with what the product that they already showed it they that they would do for us and number two I thought it was important to have somebody with school administrative experience um conducting that plan um and developing that for us because they understand the inner working of the school Community people that you know are all going to be part of this plan so okay thanks Rich do you do you remember what other schools they have participated with well the plan that they gave us for him that they gave us as an example was from the pacon okay and it was very comprehensive okay yeah I've mentioned before right I know you're Jin do try to get the sending districts with with size right but mean Mr Lord going ATT test to unions going to go through potential massive yeah massive size increase that's going to probably affect your five plan so yeah the demograph demographer is currently collecting data from us um and our Senate districts and is working on that demographic report we hope to have that information prior to the beginning of strategic planning so we can use that to determine some of our goals moving forward when do they project that to be what's an ETA on that I haven't had an update um but I they were plan their original proposal was four to 6 weeks and so six weeks brings us to the beginning of January so before the end of the school year but again since the holidays are right in there it's probably going to be the beginning of January that's what I'm expecting when you when regarding the I'm Consulting when anytime any kind of RP goes out or any kind of information goes out for bidding uncertain things like that kind of a silly question but like do you do you do they give you references of other districts that they worked with and yeah that's all part of it um you know and again this was um Tim Fredericks who's the consultant that we hired to work with us um he really LED this um and he did his due diligence gave me his recommendations I looked at everything to make sure that I concurred with what he was recommending and um I agree he that he felt like was going to be the best place to go good so we need a call for motion and second to approve agenda items 131 to 1316 second and yes all in favor any extensions any no I will approve the everything but 13.8 so we now is that a or an Obion to no thank you oh um community relations and student affairs we didn't meet this month but we do have um the 14.1 that we need to vote on tonight and it's our standard um approval for overnight trips and on this 14.1 we've got the vor's cheerleading going to Orlando the vor's wrestling going to the tournament in Atlantic City and the B Ski Club on a ski trip to Battleboro Vermont and uh the processes were all followed for these um overnights and um in the past we usually recommend to approve them I just have a is North will get later they were already approved we did that okay and are we do the kids get um at least for those days do they get is it excused absence and or Andor and with work how do are they losing classroom time how does that they do lose classroom time if they're not here for school um they are expected to make that up just like any other um athlete or anybody that misses school for a school event um you know it's an excused absence for us um you know the state doesn't recognize it as an excused absence so it's you know when it comes to our state data yeah that's shall okay but and with the exception I do want to say um North does not do an overnight ski trip so that you didn't approve that but you already approved the cheerleading and the wrestling other questions okay so a call for motion second to approve agenda item 14.1 for the overnight field trips je uh Nicole sorry all in favor any extensions any NOS okay delegate reports ter uh not yet um our delegate assembly is December 7th so um and the it'll be in the new year or at the infamous January for meeting Kim so we have upcoming uh just to let everyone know um there was there was an attendance and I'm going to send it to everybody um it was mastering board operations and parliamentary procedure um and I it's great for on boarding uh 11:27 which is tomorrow Tomorrow there's a fall legislative update and there's been new updates they just had it at the um Hudson County meeting it's at 10:00 a.m. and then December 9th say at County uh school board meeting they're um it's harnessing the power of public relations social media and Tech um and Marin smagala had done done one and did a podcast so you might be interested in that it was good um December 10th Union County SBA meeting taking a deeper dive into the budget process and development and then I know these go into January just to put on your schedules January 27th Somerset Hudson uh County meeting what you need to know about the board secretary's report and then January 30th that is our hun County um uh ba meeting SBA meeting and it's strategies for Budget management advocacy and Funding Solutions so Katie should be yay yay and um the on the legislative they're fabulous to take um and when we have updates to any of our policies they school boards will bring it forth so we know right away when we're looking at our policy what changes and what would be mandatory so those are always good ones they just won't have the delegate updates no this month but you will in January yep so good questions I'm not sure if I missed it but next um Wednesday is also hun County School Board Association at JP case another one training so yeah and there's a couple AI ones on there coming up in another County you might be interested they were different topics yeah the one that's local I know jpk next Wednesday I think right yeah okay Personnel we met on the 20th and we discussed the Personnel agenda perfect I love I need a call for motion and second to adopt resolution 11 12624 two for executive session to discuss matters falling under category 7even and 8 as reflected in the attached resolution the board expects to be an executive session for approximately 1 hour and upon return to two public session action will be taken first seconda all in favor in executive session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e call for a motion and a second to reconvene public session sorry okay all in favor I any opposed any extensions we're back in public session okay so I am going to call for a motion to approve agenda items 191 to 193 and to include handen carries 194 and 19.5 19.1 is item p112 624 the Personnel agenda from November 26 2024 19.2 is to approve executive session minutes from October 15 2024 19.3 is to approve executive session minutes from October 28th 2024 19.4 is to approve a settlement agreement as discussed in executive session this evening and 19.5 is as follows the board hereby again adopts ratifies and affirms the employment contract between the board and Dr Richard burjack approving Dr burs as the superintendent of schools as approved by the executive county superintendent for the period November 20 2024 through June 30th 2028 so I need a call for motion in a second to approve those items sove okay I need a roll call vote Miss kagam so yes for 19.1 through 19.4 and we're repeating so 19.5 would be a no vote me okay H Mr Chapman yes um yes to 19.1 29.54 no to 19.5 Miss hin yes Miss kran yes Mr MAAC yes to all Mr mik yes to all Miss Reyes yes to all except 19.5 would be no missel um abstain 19.2 19.3 and 19.4 yes and 19.5 no the exstension was for 1922 yes no for 19.5 yes on the others yes correct okay thank you got it Mr Spanton yes M yes to all Mr far banish uh yes to all of them okay motion carries an all okay uh old new business I have old business general question we discussed in um about Vorhees about the Wi-Fi and we discussed this a couple times I did get um um a message from a constituent that I guess there was an issue at bores where the kids were kind of like not the lock down but they were put into into a gym situation because there was an issue going on within the school and I guess one of the kids was upset and text the parent and um there was no um connection and student was very upset talking about cell service or Wi-Fi well that's a good question I don't know I think it was I was told WiFi okay that was that was the word given to me so I don't know there's not great cell reception up there like I was just there for the um the market on Saturday and my daughter trying couldn't get a call in so maybe it was if there's no sell re reception you would think that the Wi-Fi would pick up a call or a text message and it was it yeah I don't think um students personal cell phones are allowed to connect to our Wi-Fi so that's the issue if there's not cell service then they they wouldn't have service right so I guess that was the question there isn't the greatest self-service in that school compared maybe to North and I guess there there was a issue by a parent was upset because the kid could not say hey we're in lockdown we don't know what's going on type de I'll um follow the G all right thank you sorry G and I just have two things um is there any way I I just posing I know we watched the band the band it's getting smaller but that it was great to see that North and B's in the parade and it it's really a great program what about strings there's a lot of kids that do strings we have an orra do we have a strings teacher or it's just one teacher who no no no we have a a teacher who specifically conducts the orchestra I can't speak for bores but at North the Strings program and there is a teacher that specifically teaches the orchestra cuz that's fabulous we I don't believe I don't believe they have it at B and I think it's number does both yeah he does okay he does okay that's fabulous that boy ISS they have the event introductory guitar class so fresh learn how to play guitar they do not have strength so um that's huge Clinton Township Township has it the other and it's hard because they have to go private yeah and then you know or they're not doing it and they pick it up to pick it up in high school is difficult yes yeah so all of them don't have Str um and then the I forgot to mention December 4th is our is the H 100 in County SBA meeting it's 6:00 um it's it's 6:45 virtual and it's Bridging the Gap professional development and curriculum so I don't know if there was people that wanted to do that you might want to go see done so I've been reaching it right so one of our goal of board objectives of the year was to do board Norms so I been emailing with Patty Reese and because our Calendar's tight um and if we don't do it sooner we're going to be in middle of next year so do you all have a preference she her dates are filling up in January so I would suggest you pick the second meeting in January or the first meeting in February I'll keep copying you if you want but if you don't start talking to her you're going to be into like late spring so my suggestion is I will keep conversing with her to get a date but what date do you want would it be at the January board meeting I don't think she can do the 6th because I suspect I'm gathering she's full she it sounds like maybe she can do the second meting in January the 27th yes is that what it is yeah I think so 28th I'd say the sooner the better would everybody else yeah I mean I can suggest to her the six but I don't think she's gonna I don't it's actually seventh yet seventh sorry that's a bit overwhelming for all yeah that's fine so then I will tell her full meeting and especially if we if we end up adding yeah okay so I will tell her the 6 is there preference on time 6:30 you mean the 28 28 I'm sorry funniest time um the 28th at 6:30 at 6 so half hour prior to the meting half hour prior sure I think okay if a half hour is all it takes right as I said they usually want an hour for something like that but we can we can check which time she needs and yeah based on how much time she needs either an hour or 45 all right so I'm I'll keep copy you guys right but I'll tell her the second meeting date in January starting at 600 unless she thinks she only need 30 minutes okay probably from like 10: to 11:00 p.m. before yeah we're all here so all right perfect so I think you'll we'll lose otherwise and be late spring okay anything else I did just want to see if there was an opportunity I know uh Dan Christina and myself were able to attend school boards um at Future meetings maybe where we can share a little bit of some of the sessions we went to and some of the things that might inform or help us some of the strategic planning that would be great um the only thing I want to mention I didn't want to um correct CH when he was here but um the north hunon music program is the first concert is on December 5th and the second concert is on December 12th so just they haven't had the first one yet okay oh did he say they was yeah he said they just had I think they had that um UT L really successful at the Friendship Day B hasn't picked up on that no but again each school has their own things that have evolved over years Friendship Day became a huge thing at north um Boris has other things that are just as huge but yeah that water plunge they don't do it North I don't see Greg jum dressing up as a as an elf to jump into the water I saw heard over the last two years about students not being aware seems to have corrected itself and there's a huge surge for everything together in of separating it that was that's so great to see I also liked the integration day that they had it the leader yeah well no they meet with the Freshman to see how it's going yes yeah yeah um be something great to also do at North or right if they're not doing something do they still do that with the eighth graders too they go down to the schools and talk and take field questions and so forth again bores has a um specific club that focuses just on um ninth grade transition um North does it through their peer leaders um but they don't have a specific CL they still do it yes good all right call for motion and second to adjourn so moved second Dan all in favor I opposed no exensions we are adjourned Happy Thanksgiving Happy Thanksgiving Happy Thanksgiving there you go