##VIDEO ID:RJlQQoaHLyo## proper notice of this open meeting was provided in the notice of January 4th 2024 second notice was posted at the entrance of the Board of Education offices mailed to the Nutley Township Clerk sent to tap into Nutley advertised in Nutley 20224 and posted on the district website but everybody please stand for the flag salute allegiance to the flag the United States of America and to Republic for which it stands one nation and justice for all thank you uh R call Mr Deo Mr balamo here Mr raglia here Mrs danek Martin here Dr deia here Mr fragels Mr kazinski here Mrs Quirk here Mr Scotty here Mr fro here any correspondence no correspondence okay Mr B are we going to have presentations uh thank you I'd like to invite the board down to theorum seats uh for three presentations Ian can you please put down the screen e I got it we're good thank you Dennis uh good evening everyone um Welcome to our September board meeting uh at this meeting we have three presentations uh scheduled uh two are compliance-based and one is a very generous donation to support our students um during this uh this evening we will present to you our spring testing cycle data per compliance dictates as well as our uh last year hip grades self assessment hip grades uh first um so I want to thank you for coming tonight and I want to draw your attention to the presentation um this would be um we present our spring testing cycle data um the state has three mechanisms uh for reporting um data uh this is one of them we get our we get our scores uh in August uh we will compile them in 100% Stacks to look for year-to-year growth we'll present that publicly this presentation uh parents should expect to receive their individual score reports mailed home to their homes that should come during the first week of October and that would complete uh the cycle these scores are also used in our school performance reports as well as the calculate msps for teachers and other things of that nature as well as in the qack process for instruction and program uh next slide so I'd like to say understanding of these uh this data is just one part of the cycle uh for continuous Improvement uh we uh take the data we look at it we look at it all different ways from a 30,000 foot lens to an individual lens uh the state issues evid statement reports which I'm sure we'll reference throughout this presentation they help us understand how our students are doing based on standard um compared to the state and other schools in our district uh it's this is one mechanism we have for understanding progress for students uh it is um Again State testing data we also have a battery of diagnostic internal Common Assessment data when used together when used with discipline attendance behavioral data it starts painting a picture of our students and our progress all this data comes to us and helps us understand how we could better our schools and our program uh for continuous student Improvement um so this is part of a cycle um of curriculum instruction ass assessment and reflection uh we will be reflecting on this data as department and building meetings move forward um to get this data into our data warehouse performance matters adds another layer of analysis which uh we're happy to use in District um so uh I'm going to turn this over to Mrs solo who's going to present out the Elementary uh data shortly but I just want to remind the public and the people at home um that every uh spring there's a window of opportunity for our students to take um various Ela and math assessments uh in grades uh four uh three through um High uh middle school and then in high school they take the osra the ELA 9 and we're transitioning over the GPA there's also a battery of science Assessments in grades 58 and 11 we present data and we also have our AP testing data to show you the numbers of tests taken of that nature uh but there are five scoring um levels per the state one two three four five um the idea is to have um students meet or exceed expectations level four and five yellow would be approaching expectations partial meeting expectations would be the orange and does not meet the expectations uh that's level one um so as you move forward in this presentation it will be colorcoded to show you Trends over time year here in these five different areas thank you so just to Mr B I'll start by just giving some background information of the graphs we're looking at here these are 100% stacked columns so you'll see the uh different performance levels in different colors here this is grade three Ela first that we'll go back and do math so we're g to start with Ela grade three here you'll also see along the bottom the years the past three years um of testing data is important to note that um this is the first time in a while that we've had three consecutive years of data since preco right because we went two years where there was that gap of information so now we're getting back to a place where we can look year over year three years in a row and what you'll see here is all the way to the left the state scores New Jersey I know it's a little difficult to read next to it is the district nutly and then five of our schools so I'll go piece by piece and Slide by slide so the ELA and jsla which is the English language arts consists of selected response and open response questions that are accompanied by reading passages so here you'll see the district scores above the state average for students meeting at exceeding standards and they score right at or maybe slightly Below in meeting exceeding from the previous year if you get the blue and the green combined is what we're talking about and or say meeting or exceeding or combining that and that's um a common measure that the state uses as well next slide here you'll see the district scored above um State averages for students meeting and exceeding standards again um with a slight dip here from our previous year in meeting and exceeding still a state but you'll see a slight dip there can you go back for one second again I'm sorry so when we see a dip like this uh we ask ourselves some questions I think it's important I'll use one for an example to kind of walk you through what the next steps look like so we ask ourselves did the state see a dip overall right and when we look all the way to the left we see the state was pretty much where they were the previous year so then we ask oursel question about the student population that took the assessment and how that population may have been different than the previous years right each class coming up we refer to as their own cohort so some cohort just based on the makeup of the students well over time and some may struggle and we see Trends with that as well the third thing that we look at that's really actionable is something called evidence statements which the state releases that gives more information than a simple raw score students evidence statements actually show all of the standards that were assessed um and how students did on specific standards so instead of just looking at a raw score and saying that our students um um maybe a lower percentage met or exceeded expectations we can actually drill down to the evidence statements and when I did that for this specifically um it looked like there were questions around informational texturing and evidence-based short response questions so this is really helpful data and actionable data for our teachers because we can look back in our Ela curriculum we can look at our non-fiction units and we can see how we're preparing students and if there's something we might be able to do differently okay next slide so here you'll see the district scored above the state average for students meeting or exceeding standards and increase the percentage of students meeting or seeding grade level standards as well here for fifth grade I will say this was data set for us fifth grade last year departmentalized it was a big initiative in District and we were excited um to see how that translated into njsla Data I also wanted to just celebrate here under Spring Garden you'll see 95% of students meeting or exceeding standards there um the second the third column the third grouping of columns from the left there with with that long green so you'll see the exceeding and the meeting um to equal 95% so definitely something to celebrate there and again if you look at this year's data meeting and exceeding we increased and look at the exceeding category which is the blue right so we're finding that's departmental uh departmentalization approach can really help you know push some of our students to the next level as well in sixth grade ELA again there was an increase in students meeting or exceeding expectations um and specifically there was a decrease in students um not meeting expectations which is what we want to see right we want to see an increase in the blue and the green but we want to see a decrease in the yellow and the orange the light the lighter are there and a decrease in the red so when you see that when you see the green and the blue increasing and you see the bottom decreasing that's a good sign overall Washington school for this specific data set we had half the grade level exceeding or meeting expectations and Washington and and Radcliffe had 90% of students meeting or exceeding that's a huge celebration so if you look there at Radcliffe and wash you'll see their green bars there going all the way down to 10% so that's 90% of students meeting or exceeding and only that bottom 10 that were partially or approaching or not meeting I'm going to hand over the presentation to Kent to talk about middle school high school Ela and then I'll be back to discuss math so in seventh grade U we saw a little retraction in blue and green from the previous year uh we are still greater than uh State data coming in as we uh see any in any District when you shift buildings from sixr to 7 there's typically a change in data sets as students learn routines different teaching practices and different approaches in eth grade though you can see we slightly grew both blue and green um and red is going down as well so when we look at this from 30,000 feet from from um looking from far away it looks like we're moving in the right direction in seventh and eighth grade again um to the point um just to recap some of the data Janine was sharing in third and fourth grade um we saw varying data sets of retraction and growth um what we want to see as we go up grade levels is continuous growth as our curriculum spirals on it itself from year to year and our routine should be consistent as students age through our system very similar Ela curriculum uh as we progress in ninth grade um the high school data is um becoming more and more skewed as time goes on as students um will take one assessment then movees the GPA it's becoming graduation assessment uh in New Jersey it's shifted probably three or four times in my tenure and it's going to um shift to the NJ GPA as time goes on so students uh will take varing assessments which will end in a graduation assessment in GPA and that data we'll share with you um toward the end of this presentation we're going to move to math thank you so we'll go backwards again now we'll start with grade three specifically at the math njsla so here again you'll see the state the district and our five elementary schools the district is the second from the right and that purple box is this year's District data which I'm I'm referencing so here you'll see the district scored above State average for students in meeting their exceeding expectations um and you'll also see here an increase if you look at something like Washington specifically right if you look at their blue section um for exceeding expectations that pretty much more than doubled since the previous year and if you look at their red for Washington big decrease in the percentage of students not meeting expectations so that's the kind of thing that we want to see we want to see look at Lincoln they next to the district and you'll see last year's red and then at this year's red right we're decreasing um that that population of students not meing expectations which is really important to us again with grade four here you'll see the district scored above the average in meeting or exceeding expectations but there is a slight decrease um in students meeting or exceeding expectations from the previous year so again we looked at some evidence statements and data dive there we're also looking at that cohort of students um but we're looking specifically in numbers and operation in base 10 and numbers and operation fractions as areas that we want to look at in our curriculum to see you know are we meeting the standards completely um are we covering it too late in the year as far as where our pacing guide and where the testing Window Falls so just it's it's a good starting point for conversation as well fifth grade math uh you'll the district scored above State average here and above the previous years again grade five departmentalized um allowing for more dedicated time for our content Area Teachers so they could really focus on one or two content areas um and really Master their Craft um in a little bit more of a deliberate way so we're seeing that pay off with an increase in students exceeding an increase in students meeting and a decrease in students not meeting or partially meeting all good things for grade six Math you'll see again steady growth in meeting an exceeding grade level expectations um far above the state average here again um I will recognize here Washington's growth if you look there their blue section from last year and this year a jump and look at their green section there a nice increase in meeting and exceeding combined and I will pass the presentation over to Mr B to talk a little bit about science first Math and Science but in from sixth to seventh grade is where the district starts tracking math students as many districts do um so leaving sixth grade students will take assessments and qualify for algebra um if they so choose that's usually about 25 students get placed in an algebra class um and those students will be taken out of grade seven math data and Incorporated in the algebra one assessment data uh so this data uh the pool starts shrinking as you go up in math um but you can see some growth um as we go from last year to this year I can you go to eth grade so in eighth grade um we have another 75 students qualify for Algebra 1 and the 25 students that were in Algebra 1 now take geometry in eth grade um so we start shifting um this pool starts shrinking a little more uh so you have about 200 students in this pool and um or 200 uh about 175 to 200 students and you'll see continuous grow definitely more the state um and we want to see at least um growth moving forward as well uh when you go to albur 1 the next slide um this would include uh two schools high school as well as John H Walker Middle School um this includes the students either in seventh grade or in uh 8th grade uh in John walk high school student State College at various grade level levels most take it as freshmen uh but it can move up through the different grade levels they'll sit for the osra one assessment uh following that so you'll see a little retraction from John H Walker Middle School that sample size is about 75 to 100 students um and then you'll see nly high school that simple size is about 100 students that continuously take algebra one students are phasing out of algebra one high school to take the NJ GPA that also impacts this data and we'll present the uh graduation assessment data at the end of this presentation I'm going to keep going with science uh so in science uh science shifts uh to four grade bands in science I'm not I'm still not sure why the state does that but they move from five bands to four bands and um it's a they also shifted uh a year ago from testing grade six to grade five uh so we moved uh where we're testing we've also moved um the bands how we report out uh you can see this was an area of focus for us for last from last year uh you can see some growth there which is we're very happy to see the green and the blue moving from grade five from 22 23 to 23 and 24 um so we do show um our curriculum our scope and sequence starting line with the assessment I know we put a lot of time and effort into designing questions like they see on the assessment as well as um teaching the curriculum of Fidelity in these areas um as we move through um in eth grade in uh you can see similar testing results as we had the previous years still slightly higher uh than the state scores and the same in 11th grade um you see a little bit of growth there all of our science data grow uh went up slightly uh more so in fifth grade than in 8th grade and 11th grade Ian can you move on to the NJ GPA so now the state gives graduation uh assessments um where you have uh students that are ready and not ready to graduate from high school New Jersey uh the blue indicates students that are ready and the red not ready um as you can see we grew slightly in percentages um from last year to this year at n High School uh and we are um about 25 percentage points better than the state in this area and in ela um you can see we're at about 90% students are ready to graduate um when they sit for this assessment uh which and the state has grown tremendously in this area as well over time which allows you to believe um either the cut score has changed or the test has been recalibrated or more more districts are following the curriculum very closely to the standards we do have a slide for AP data um just to track how this is going at this is a a common set of data we're looking at for a couple reasons it's an indicator of success in college for our students it's also an indicator uh for some of the the ranking systems and many people are interested in a couple different data sets uh so we're looking at the number of students that took at least one AP test in 2122 was 189 to 205 to 248 uh students um the number of AP tests taken so one student could take multiple AP exams uh that number went from 349 to 384 to now 495 that's that's a significant data set right there um this means more of our students are have access to more AP classes and are taking advantage of that access either through our schedule or through different mechanisms may also mean that we're starting to prepare students better for the AP program as they age up they feel more comfortable taking multiple AP uh courses um and then the ultimate indicator was how many students score a three or better that's usually uh the standard uh for college credit acceptance uh 107 of course this is screwed by how many tests are taken how many students take the test 117 153 193 so we're seeing more production uh in these three key areas which is important for us as a district did you want to talk about weer so the weda assessment um is the access assessment also known as it measures the L's or multilingual multilingual Learners ability to understand and produce um English used within School settings so there's four sections of this assessment there's a listening a reading a speaking and a writing and access does meet the federal requirements um under every child succeeds act for monitoring so this data may look familiar you did did see it on the performance reports when we presented a few months ago um but here you can just look and see over time the number of students who are being tested in our L population continues to grow so we're at 154 now for 2024 um and then next to it you'll see the students who scored a 4.5 or above um and then percentage of students who scored that so you'll see the good news is that we continue to diversify and we continue to have students coming with um experiences in other language um and just depending on where their language proficiency is that given Year and that cohort that's added to the group you may see less students scoring that 4.5 but that just may mean they need more time in our ESL program thank you so that concludes our data uh presentation this is a uh compliance-based presentation every district has present by October 31st uh we typically do this October doing it in September um in hopes that we can get our individual student reports out sooner uh the goal of this data is to ask questions to to reflect on our curriculum and the programs we're offering and to uh make sure we're looking at the best ways to support students so this is a constant cycle and we're now at the cycle where we'll be asking a lot of questions in District and looking at the wise the house cohort data and different pieces like that um I do want to turn this over to another um mandatory reporting portion in our Hib assessments or annual self assessments I want to thank Miss Len solo as she sits for presenting thank you so much for putting this together in the presentation and um our work has just begun to break this down but we do appreciate um presenting out um this is um our school self assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act um so this also is being done a month earlier in hopes that we could um move other things along and talk through things so next slide please uh so each year and the period of the Year July 1st to June 30th so this would be last year's cycle uh we need to uh each building needs to do a self assessment in eight critical areas uh with a rubric by obtaining documentation and making files they then rate themselves zero through three based on how they did that indicator the scores are uh compiled submitted to the state presented a board resolution submitted to the state um as we move forward to make sure we're meeting the the characteristics of the anti-bulling Bill of right so Zer through three and we must maintain sufficient documentation in District to support these findings so just to walk through the indicators um one indicator is that we have hip programs approaches or other initiatives designed we have um the national bullying month coming up we have the week of respect coming up we have a lot of things coming up right now in October for this um we have a training um on on the Boe on a h policy and procedures not only uh to our staff staff members but to everyone involved in our community uh we have other instructional programs and staff training programs Suicide Prevention uh anti-bullying Specialists provided time to talk to their relative buildings regarding uh these things next slide curriculum instruction so embedded within our curriculum instruction we have lessons involved with bullying harassment intimidation uh that spans all of our programs uh we have Personnel uh we have an anti-bulling specialist who appoint appointed um we have time to meet throughout the year we have a districtwide person appointed uh we have an instant Reporting System both an nously on our website as well as internally uh that's core element number six number seven we have a thorough procedure we use hipster and we meet regularly to talk about our procedure and how that works and also reporting we have ways that reports are taken uh they're processed through the Board of Education with communication uh to the Department of Education that requires ssds reports to be submitted annually and certified annually so following this the different building based teams uh collect the documentation and they submit scores um in all of the eight um categories uh based on how many points are awarded different indicators have different amounts there's different Max values from one to eight uh the total you can get is up to a 78 uh Lincoln School 75 rackliff School 77 Spring Garden School 78 Washington School 75 Yano School 74 Middle School 75 and Nutley High School is 78 and following this Public Presentation and me reading of the anti-bullying scores uh we will submit to the doe uh that we went through this process shared this with the board share this with the public and we will post it on our website for more people to see the last box is we're doing now I want to thank you for uh listening through our self assessment hip reporting we will report out the nature of the Hib incidents and October for the last cycle and go through our mandatory reporting for those areas as well um I do want to shift to a different type of presentation and you can shut that off thank you you can just leave that down you can put it up in a bit um but I want to shift the conversation just a little bit we have so many great things happening in District even through the challenges we faced in the spring and uh one of the things that we're very excited about is just the community support we're starting to receive uh we're starting to receive people reaching out to us for support we're starting to receive um information uh different types of materials as well as monies for programs uh proponent Bank reached out um uh probably about a month ago in late August and they're part they're filing for a grant they've included many community- based organizations but one of um one of the things Arlene D'Angelo uh mentioned who's with us today and I'll bring her up in a minute is uh funds to support an initiative um that we M mutually agreed upon uh that initiative was orts um something we've gone through a couple different things in District to support and uh we're very happy that proponent Bank made a sizable donation to Nutley public schools to support a growing need and club for our students at the high school so you know I went to the ribbon cutting it was great to have a new they have a new Branch over by on Kingsland Avenue Great facility I want to bring you up just say a couple words and and to talk about uh the the donation you're making thank you so much [Applause] ear hi good evening everyone um so as Mr Beno said I am Arlene D'Angelo I'm with proponent Federal Credit Union and when proponent applied for the grant funds through the federal home loan Bank of New York um we were able to get $50,000 which we dispersed back into the community into a lot of nonprofit organizations and as a result of that I really thought of the nutly public schools how else can we put this back into the community and why not the children and something that you know we can help support and start up so I'm so honored that we're able to partner and and give $10,000 to support the EA sports program so um that's something that I'm really excited about I'm really hoping that the students who are part of that program really enjoy it and um you know make the most of it um but aside of that I don't know if many of you know but proponent Federal Credit Union has been in the community for over 50 years and we're right here in Nutley we've been here for a very long time serving the community and various financial services that we offer so um as all of you here are part of nutly you either live here or work here um you're eligible you know if you want to you know receive some consultation know a little bit more about us um I'm happy to you know tell you a little bit more um at another time um so I can leave my information with M Mr Bena and um he can share that with all of you but thank you so [Applause] much um so Arlene brought a check um and when she told me of this news um you know we had a couple different things we it was needs based so you know for our students in our programs where's the need one of one of the things that's growing um and I was part of a conversation with mayor Kelly who's here tonight and Aon Bagley our our library media specialist from both the middle school and the high school um they were looking for this opportunity as they see the need in the community and they're bringing it forward with the starting of a club so I want to invite mayor Kelly and Aaron up to uh the podium just to say a couple words about Esports initiatives you're working through and what we're actually doing with this money so thank you so much so hang on just a second we'll get a picture you okay hi everyone my name is Aaron baglia I am currently the library media specialist at uh John H Walker Middle School and uh Nutley High School um so on behalf of the Nutley board of education I am thrilled to welcome you all and express our heartfelt gratitude to proponent bank for their incredibly generous donation of $10,000 this contribution will directly support the launch of our District's very first Esports program a program that will provide our students with new opportunities to develop teamwork leadership and strategic thinking in an exciting and evolving field Esports is more than just a game it's a way to engage students in a growing industry while fostering skills that will serve them well in school and Beyond thanks to proponent Banks partnership we can offer this Initiative Program and continue to create an environment where students Thrive thank you again to proponent for your commitment to our students and the future of Education in Nutley we look forward to the success this program will bring and we are proud to have you as part of this journey in addition I'd like to take a moment to thank the Nutley Board of Commissioners and extend a warm welcome to Mayor John Kelly who is with us this evening we are grateful for their ongoing partnership with the Nutley board of ed on Saturday September 20th Nutley hosted its first ever Esports day sponsored by mayor gelly and Department of Public fairs and health in collaboration with nle school sorry this is just very dear to me we were thrilled to welcome over 60 community members to our newly renovated library media center at the high school where they participated in a friendly competition featuring Nintendo Super Smash BRS Gamers of all ages showcase their skills and several participants took home prizes I want to personally thank Mary Kelly and Meredith blank for their support in making this events event such a success as well as the dedicated student stud who volunteer countless hours setting up and running the day's activities thanks to the generous donation from proponent bank and the continued support of Board of Commissioners this is just the beginning we're excited to announce plans to launch an eorts Club at a school with these funds helping to establish and grow the program and lastly to all my fellow Gamers get your friends and controllers ready it's time to show what you've got thank you [Applause] let's do this um so this is just yet another program that the schools offer that I wish I had when I was uh growing up some of you may know some of you may not know but uh before I went to law school before I became mayor uh I ended I was in the video game industry I made video games uh and this was a program that was not available to me uh video games is a multi-billion dollar industry and kids especially those who participate in orts they can earn six s figure dollar paychecks uh so this is an incredible opportunity for our kids to gain valuable tools that they'll they'll use to hopefully earn an earn a living and myself and the entire Board of Commissioners I I can't do what I do without their support so this is something that's uh supported by the entire Board of Commissioners here in Nutley and we want to thank proponent for for the donation to make make their Mark here in Nutley and hopefully uh Nutley is an a destination for Esports and Esports competitors thank you [Applause] know [Laughter] after you sir okay moving on can I uh get a motion for approval of the minutes motion all in favor anyone opposed okay Mr Bena can we uh have your superintendent report please uh yes sir Mr President I'm happy to report that the 2425 school year began smoothly across all of our schools students return eager to learn and staff were well prepared in return to school this year we continue to prioritize health safety and wellbeing of our students in staff ensuring that everyone Begins the year in a safe and welcoming environment SE several of our schools have already hosted successful back to school nights actually all of them have providing an opportunity for parents and Guardians to meet teachers learn about curriculum and hear about goals for the year here's a brief overview of the back to school nights that we have had so far not the high school held there is on Thursday September 26th this event was well attended with parents expressing enthusiasm about the school year ahead the High School staff a tremendous job of welcoming families and providing valuable information about expectations student support systems and extracurricular opportunities John H Walker Middle School back to school night took place on Wednesday September 25th parents were engaged and appreciated the efforts of the middle school team teams in outlining the academic expectations for the year especially as we continue to focus on bridging and any learning gaps from the previous years our elementary schools had back to school nights at all district uh across the district including our preschool Annex at St Paul's um with teachers uh sharing classroom goals introducing themselves to parents and reinforcing the critical role of parent teacher Partnerships in fostering student access I would like to thank our principles two of them are here Mr Dennis Williams Mr Joe Materia our teachers I see many of them here from yanov from the high school uh if I missed any I'm sorry um and uh our support staff and I see some support staff here as well uh for their hard work and preparation that goes into making these evenings a success uh while the star of the school year has been positive overall I must also address some challenges that we are currently facing uh with the business office assessing the sustainability of the of this budget and future budgets we have had to make a difficult decision to pause our 101 Chromebook initiative in the fourth grade this year fourth grade students will share building based Chromebooks during the day in the classroom I would like to thank the principes and teachers at our elementary schools for effectively managing a schedule to ensure that students have access to technology resources in the classroom during the day I would also like to thank many of our PTO that have agreed to increase our building based devices by donating Chromebook carts in a similar way the district has analyzed its Transportation costs and has decided to pause band travel to a away football games we analyze the invitations we received from away schools as well as Competition schedule ual and in District busing needs and expenses we will continue to provide a robust musical experience for our students including performances at home games and special events I want to thank our band directors students and parents for their understandings as we navigate the situation I appreciate the ongoing conversation regarding calculations of GPA and requirements for the Honor Society over the past month I met with current and former students to bring their conversations to the board we agree that transparency and calculation is important and look to incorporate this as we develop our next program of studies the counseling department at nley high school has completed scheduling changes that have accommodated the vast majority of the requests from study halls to a class on tonight's agenda I would like to note a couple of resolutions uh first with mayor Kelly still here and the rest of the Commissioners support a shared service agreement between the Boe and boc for our District's mental health clinician and Psychiatric Services these professionals providing valuable support for our students in staff and staff in crisis in partnering with the township these professionals will be available to the township and expanded School Community for mental health related programming and support thank you Board of Commissioners and mayor Kelly for your continuu support and partnering in ways to reach our students on donations I would like to thank proponent bank for their Outreach and support um for the growing eorts program at n high school as well as the Washington school PTO uh for Their donation of Scholastic materials um I would like to um share uh Finance resolution number 25 uh there is a typo it should be Ida funds Finance resolution 25 refers to South bgen jointure Paris those Paris um we we uh partner with South ban joint Shire for Paris for eii program there are six Paras for continued support in our emotional regul regulatory classes finally I would like to uh note the resolution for the approval of three administrators and I'd like to welcome Ashley Barnes new VP of Nutley High [Applause] School Christina Giga a former student and the new VP at John Walker Middle School and Jennifer Lambert our new K12 math supervisor each of these candidates went through a rigorous process that involved multiple rounds of panel interviews I would like to thank the panels that dedicated their time and effort much of which was after hours to ensure Nutley has the best candidates from the different application pools as we transition into fall the district is looking forward to several seasonal events and activities that help Foster school spirit and Community engagement not the high school's fall Sports season is off to an exciting start our student athletes have been working hard and I encourage everyone to come out and support the teams uh fall clubs and extracurriculars are ramping up offering students a variety of opportunities to get involved in activities that enrich their educational experience Nutley high school held a club Fair on Friday September 20th there are many opportunities for our students here in Nutley as we move deeper into this season we are preparing for the traditional fall celebrations such as our districtwide Halloween festivities which are always a highlight for our students especially in our elementary schools we continue to prioritize the mental health and well-being of our students our guidance counselor student support teams and director of student support interventions are actively working to ensure that students have access to the resources they need we're also in the process of planning several initiatives for October which is National bullying prevention month to promote kindness acceptance and inclusion across our schools the week of respect is October 7 through 11 throughout the district there are many lessons and events planned for this time including group sessions offered throughout the district surrounding respect and managing difficult conversations as well as daily reminders of how to operate in a respectful Community our high school will also host a spirit week which will lead up to the welcoming of our alumni back to District at our annual 2024 homecoming day on October 12th school violence awareness week is October 21st through 25th and we appreciate and look forward to partner ING with Lieutenant detective Padilla for programming at our secondary level finally New Jersey Boards of Education must invite a student representative to sit with the board at regularly scheduled meetings the role of the student representative at a board meeting uh is to serve as lay on between the student body and the board I would like to welcome our student representative for 2425 om pagle to the board meeting seated over here home is our student council president as well as a track athlete in District an AP student and he has an interest in finance um and he is a student in our dual enrollment business spreadsheet application C course with Caldwell University home is looking to attend business school after his time here at Nutley and we welcome him for the school year one second home I'm not finished then Mike goes then you go don't worry you plent uh looking ahead as we settle into the school year our district remains committed to providing a high quality education for all of our students we will continue to review and assess our instructional programs and work collaborative with staff and families to address any challenges that arise thank you everyone for your hard work and dedication to making the start of the year a success I look forward to a productive and positive school year ahead that is my report thank you Mr President thank you Mr [Music] B uh next is uh our board secretary report Mr Dita thank you all right thank you uh I just want to highlight excuse me one of the um resolutions that we have on for approval for tonight's meeting um where the board will be approving our um insurance broker Services um but I just want to give everybody a summary of the steps that were taken in the selection process uh a request for proposal uh was advertised in the new paper um and all of the proposals were also sent to all of the vendors that are members of the New Jersey Association of school business officials um that are in the CATE category of insurance broker um and after that was done uh eight companies uh submitted proposals uh from across the state and from that the full board interviewed um four companies in the first round uh in the second round um we n did down to three companies and they presented um uh PowerPoint presentations on um how they would handle things in the future um and after hearing all of the uh presentations um uh iMac is being recommended tonight um for appointment um so I just wanted to um clarify even though the resolution says that um they're being appointed as um an extraordinary unsatisfiable service without competitive bidding uh there was a um a competitive process it was just done through the the um the proposal process proc um and the board did have um you know a very um rigorous um uh selection process by by meeting with them uh so I just wanted to clarify that and uh we are also extending uh our Professional Services through the end of the calendar year um and we are in the process of sending out um um requests for proposals for those as well um so over the next couple months we'll be approving um those uh Services uh thank you um Mr Dita I just think we need to just um add that our state monitor Janette makus was also involved in that process of uh of reviewing the RFP involved in uh all aspects of it as well yes correct okay Mr BDA I'm sorry is that correct pronounce okay um our student uh representative welcome uh good evening everybody uh my name is is omag doll and um I'm the student council president and uh I just wanted to talk about kind of the things we've been implementing into the school year so far so it starts with our logo me Mr Williams and the rest of the officers developed so we believe that um Unity empowerment and uh repes representation are like the key points of our school and um the best way to like establish that and make everybody feel represented is through having student council meetings and um just having a scho uh school student body body feel heard so starting next week we are trying to push for a Raider Fest um sports activities maybe Esports depending on student interest to um get everybody's input into it uh additionally we're going to be working with um a couple other clubs for the week of respect um that goes into October uh we also had AP scholar awards given out to many of our students um as Mr Bia previously stated um oo October 12th on uh next Saturday is also the homecoming game additionally for seniors there are senior college application panels to assist with the um process uh financial aids scholarships all that also on the um September October 22nd there will be a board of election training for the student um assistants working with the election uh that's it thank you thank you Mr BDA uh you're welcome to stay with us uh but if you you know you feel like you need to go don't feel obligated but thank you um our committee reports uh Miss stek Martin can you please uh take academic yes Mr President the academic committee met on September 25th uh Miss Zulo joined the committee to discuss the annual spring softball uh trip to Florida Miss Lambert who joined the board who was on the board agenda for approval for for the position for k through2 math supervisor join the committee to discuss her experience and her vision for the k through2 math program Mr B Miss Lo conso reviewed the data presentation on the District spring njsla scores and the AP data Mr B re reviewed the academic calendar including no homework weekends which can be found on the district's website Miss loens solo shared the information on I ready and ILX EXL sorry learning platform forms these online platforms will allow for individualized instruction for students based on their specific needs it will also provide data to support teachers in planning for small group instruction Mr B shared the update on the district's plans for student onetoone devices he also shared information on honor societies currently offered at the high school and the process for reviewing criteria for those programs Miss Lo cons solo shared plans in place for the professional learning half day on October 11th sessions for staff will include I ready k through3 i EXL Common Assessment revisions njsla evidence statement analysis Handle With Care and school avoidance refusal strategies Miss Lo cons solo shared information on the health app out letter that was emailed to all parents the first week of school as it is each year the letter explains to parents the procedure for opting out of instruction on specific Health Topics in accordance with District policy Mr B provided a special education update Miss loans solo revealed field trips and PD requests Mr bana provided an update on personnel and legal matters and our next academic committee meeting is scheduled for October 17th thank you thank you Miss danek Martin uh Mr kazinski Administration yes sir Mr President thank you very much uh Administration committee made on September 19th uh Mr B reviewed the Hib reports that were currently um lated for first reading Mr B discussed concerns brought forward regarding the academic calendar Mr Bard provided an overview of the njsla spring score presentation which we saw tonight Mr B highlighted resolutions for the September 30th board agenda Mr B discussed the changes to job descriptions Mr B also discussed Personnel matters our next scheduled meeting is October 24th thank you Mr gazinski Mr bagle of Finance uh thank you Mr President uh the finance committee met on September 20th in that meeting uh Miss makus uh updated the committee as to the status of our 2324 audit um we got some initial findings um which were largely in line with our expectations uh thankfully this audit is and information is coming to us much earlier than it did last year we expect to have a formal sitdown with our Auditors within the next several weeks Mr ban Miss make us reviewed board resolutions uh for the September board meeting we'd like to thank the administration for providing the uh the agenda and resolutions to the board far in advance uh it helps the Board uh understand what the topics are going to be and bring up and discuss key items ahead of the meeting um we discussed several facility projects um including but not limited to Lincoln School auditorium uh and several other items associated with some of our other buildings and the expansion of the prek program uh the committee discussed key financial items um some of which have already been mentioned including the Chromebooks travel and a few other initiatives that we would like to see the district start eorts as being one of them uh Mrs Bas and Mr Bane had discussed several Personnel items uh and uh uh our next board meeting is not currently scheduled but we should be meeting within the next two weeks thank you Mr Bag Mr Scotty policy yes Mr President the policy committee met on Tuesday September 24th at 6m the committee was provided with policies to review prior to the meeting the committee reviewed and discussed 63 policies from The District's policy book in areas of program teaching staff members support staff students finances property operations and Community after discussion the committee moved 63 policies to First reading the meeting adjourned and the next meeting of the policy committee is to be determined during this month thank you Mr Scotty we now come to that portion of our meeting where we allow members of the public to address the board in this section we allow questions or comments on reports resolutions and all School related matters our board regulations number 0167 a lot 20 minutes for these communications each person shall be limited to three minutes and we ask that you try to stay within this requirement speakers may speak more than once only after all others wishing to speak on a topic have been heard all statements will be directed to me as a chairperson and no one may address board members individually please be reminded that if your statement is too lengthy abusive obscene irrelevant or redundant your participation may be terminate it please remember to state your name and address each and every time you address the board does anyone have any questions yeah you could come up just state your name and address please hi good evening my name is Carla CIO I live at 499 Center Street um so my son is in kindergarten at Radcliffe so this is a new experience for me um and we went to back to school night and I guess one of the most important things that was brought to my attention as a Radcliff parent was that Mrs Alfaro the um school counselor is now being split between Radcliffe and Spring Garden and um it's a little Con well it's very concerning because you know when we were speaking with her and when we heard her talk she said she's focusing you know a lot of her time on hibs which obviously from my understanding that is part of her job but as a a new parent coming in you know I'm looking at the situation and I'm like so wait a minute she's kind of going back and forth each school's only getting 50% of her and she's focusing more on hibs and in my mind right away I think well they might have more hibs because she's potentially not in Radcliffe full-time or in Spring Garden full-time she's not you know there to maybe do and I don't know what her program is you know I'm guessing like does she do like you know behavior training like I know she's gone into the kindergarten once or twice to talk about you know like I guess keeping your hands to yourself like things that you would have to teach kindergarteners but in my mind I'm thinking that is such an important resource and keeping the kids safe is the number one priority right in front of Education obviously and I feel like we need to do something to get her back at Radcliff full-time like what can we do as the community to get Spring Garden someone full-time and to get Radcliffe Mrs Alfaro back can you help us with that yeah okay Mr B I I want to thank you for your feedback I I couldn't agree with you more in many of the statements that you made I think our counseling resources are um vital uh to our to our students to our buildings how they operate unfortunately um investigating she's the anti bowling specialist and you know we had to when we looked at where we were in the budget system stainability all the Staffing we've added over the past couple years we kind of had the scale back to several years ago and several years ago we split counselors the number counselors were um not the same as they were last year for example uh we are constantly looking at ways to make our budget sustainable to refocus funds to the available resources we need this is definitely an area you brought up an area which we're highlighting as well um and just know that if resources are needed um in an acute fashion at one of our buildings districtwide we will move resources they need to be to support any of our students at any time so is there anything that can be done as far as resources and again I'm just kind of there's so much talk out there on social media and you hear different people say different things and as I was reading some old articles and looking at some of the past budgets I was looking at the money that was spent on the parking lot next to the junior high and it was like $328,000 in a year the years before a budget and said to myself well wasn't that wasn't that supposed to be for a referendum to extend the junior high but it was bought by the boc before the referendum passed so in my mind and again like I'm speaking just off the cuff out of my head why can't we sell the property and use that money for the children because there's so many different things I'm hearing out there that were this was canceled that was canceled there's not enough this like the other day my son came home and like most of his lunch wasn't eaten and I'm like is anyone watching the kindergarteners and then I ran into someone else that was like oh well there's less people in the lunchroom and I'm like why do we have so much less resources and I feel like we could be doing more as a community and I know most of you have kids or grandkids in the school system why are we not considering you know what we don't we don't need that parking lot like I get it it was supposed to be FR an extension it didn't work out is the school going to extend in the future nobody knows but right now we need money for these kids that's the priority you know and I've I graduated here my parents did my family's been here forever and it's heartbreaking to see so many resources like being taken away or cut why can't we just sell the property so the the the parking lot are you referring to that's the one that's on Franklin Avenue yeah next to the junior high yeah so that was not purchased by the Board of Education that was purchased by the Board of Commissioners and and although it's the same Township it's two separate entities um uh but but as as Mr B said even if we were to sell that piece of property and and bring in some money it has to be sustainable so if there was an influx of money that would allow us to do something this year it would have to be sustainable so that you can continue to have that year after year and that's kind of the challenge right so even if we had an influx of of extra money and allowed us to do some of the things that that a lot of the residents want us to do it's not sustainable because those funds would not be there next year right so we would be doing the same thing next year that occurred you know last year so that's the challenge because there's a lot of resources right for all different things in the district it's not just one particular thing so uh the budget has to be sustainable and that's the challenge no I and I definitely understand that part of it because I went to our first PTO meeting that's one of the things that Mr bagle had mentioned was the sustainability so in in my mind like okay what what can that money do it can do something you know what I'm saying so I feel like it's better than nothing it's better than not having the money so maybe take a small program and say okay we can this is sustainable this little piece or these two teachers are sustainable for three years it's better than like not having the money you know it's just something to think about yeah no apprciate it's for the kids it's not you know I mean absolutely and we thank you for your comments we appreciate what what you're saying and and that your care for the you know for the school district um it's you know that when it comes to finances um budgets have to be sustainable and that's that's a challenge um also that piece of property was purchased with the um it's it's with with the goal of at some point in the future being able to expand the Middle School having a possibly A fifth or sixth grade uh middle school as well uh incl inclusive with the seventh and eighth so it was you know years ago that was uh discussions that were had and and the purpose of that was so that someone a developer didn't come along purchase that property put mixed use build a mixed use building right next to the school and then at some point when a future board I know we've tried in in in the past years to um to to pass SU referend um but but at some point some board is going to be able to have that property to be able to expand the middle school so it's challenging on a lot of different levels but we do appreciate you coming up and and and giving us your concerns thank you I appreciate it thank you does anyone else have any comments hi good evening everyone I'm Denise blue 136 Center Street um I just had a couple of questions there's been a lot of talk about transparency from the time when our fiscal trouble started at the beginning of the year until now um when we received our back to school um letter um from Mr B there there was a selection in here a sentence that said at the secondary level all of our electives Athletics and extracurricular offerings are available to students um I do know for a fact that there were electives eliminated so I'm wondering I mean I know for a fact that the theater electives were eliminated um hearing talk of others that I cannot speak to myself I'm just wondering how he can put in a letter nothing's everything's the same when clearly it's not I I think the nature of that the exact electives aren't have not been offered we're obviously downsize staff and available section are lower um every year du an enrollment we have some electives that run some do not um so having said that um some of our electives most of our I believe there's four electives that I'm aware of that are not running due to Staffing the rest are running okay and I think you like briefly very briefly touched on this earlier and I missed what it was that you said about um electives and study halls because that was going to be one of my questions um my son had put down six solid classes financial literacy being one of them required to graduate um which from what I'm hearing now there was space in all along but it was instead was dumped in a study hall as a lot of other students were is that what you were speaking on yeah yes um over the course of the summer I believe um there were many students placed in the study halls um when they picked classes those classes were not available to them as we returned in September um and our guys department they did not work over the summer due to financial reasons uh they were able to work and process many of the secondary requests students had especially freshman or students coming into our building um to get them into classes out out of study holes and I believe that has occurred yes um the information I have is that the vast majority of requests have been we've worked through to find students of class yes so and it obviously worked out positively for us I was just wondering if that was something that was going to continue no I I think every year uh we have um students enter study halls I think um when we went out to look at the rotating drop schedule we went to some of the high performing districts in the area we found that about half the student body took study halls that was a part of uh a normal operation of our rotating drop schedule I think we had slightly more than this this year obviously we did have some electives that didn't run and we had some staffing things we had to go through some class sizes went up slightly but overall they're still in pretty good shape I would say um and I do think that the primary choice was not available to many incoming freshman or even sophomores but um and that was compounded by the fact that our guidance Department uh we were not able to fund their work over the summer which is not a good thing something we did not want to do um but when they returned working with Mrs girkin were're able to honor many of their quests and help parents and students get to the classes that they need to get to um so can I can I project if this will happen again next year I do think um we have to build a sustainable Staffing we have to look at all aspects of our schedule and the the pluses and minuses of running a rotating drop schedule and we have to take a look at um where to Best Offer electives and classes to support most of our students needs okay um something totally unrelated to that um just a quick question um the offices that are being rented um for the Board of Education above um Valley National Bank um I understand our um the district is paying over $177,000 a month for that is that roughly correct do you know I believe that's roughly correct yes yes okay so um just doing the math in my head that's the equivalent of four first year teachers or eight par professionals um have you looked into the possibility of something more affordable yes I have I mean I I I think along with the counseling conversation sustainability of that space you know having the hindsight now now based on when we were moving that that space was originally occupied to open up preschool classes that are funded by the state so at that time um understanding where we were um I understand why we did that having that now to your point uh the district is exploring opportunities to relocate or to move um out of that area I I realize it could be difficult to get out of a lease but I would think with the state now kind of in control we're on the same page with what you're talking about okay yeah that's those were my questions thank you so much you're welcome thank you anyone else have any questions hi good evening my name is Mrs Sarah Marshall 261 Franklin a um what happened with one Nutley what happened to one Nutley but it's still you know it still exists we we still have a relationship with our Board of Commissioners um you could see it's witnessed tonight by some of the uh you know the uh the things that we're doing with them and where are you guys like plan what is the plan for when nly because I haven't heard about it in a long time I'm sorry I didn't hear you do that I haven't heard about it in a long time so I just wondered what was the plan for that like what is the initiative or the collaboration well we're always looking to find ways to collaborate that was tonight's a perfect example with the two of the uh items that were on the on the agenda um but again the last you know the last six months have been very challenging so there was a lot of things that the district had have uh had to work through uh but we have we have an excellent relationship with the Board of Commissioners uh we communicate as often as we can we always look to see if there's ways that we can work together uh tonight is you know I said the two the two um items that are on the agenda are are clear that we're still you know working closely together okay um also just piggybacking off of the other two ladies who spoke um I'm here out of a commitment to one of the lunch Personnel at the school I promised that I would come so I'm here I know that their hours have been cut and it's very hard for me to see um you know speaking of Hib speaking of you know 177,000 for rent um to see people that have raised my children and I have multiple like from 21 down to four I've been through the high school into the preschool program with my children here aging people who we've depended on as pillars in our school schools to raise our children essentially being pushed out and good-natured parents stepping up to volunteer in those spaces essentially eliminating their positions that's very hard as a community member and a mother and just please reflect on that thank you thank you anyone else have any questions or comments hi I'm Angela Mion um art teacher at the high school also a parent of a second grader and a fourth grader at Washington school and I just want to say I am absolutely thrilled that my fourth grader doesn't get a Pro book so thank you um and also I want I also want to just give a shout out to the specials teachers at Washington school that make my kids days so much better so they're doing a great job thank you they are thank you so much for your feedback thank you any other questions or comments okay hi my name is I mar1 Edis Avenue uh I have a kid in a fourth grade and related to the Chromebooks issue basically last year we finished the ctif grate and we were under pression everybody get going to get Chromebook this year once year started we didn't have any heads up there not going to be any Chromebooks so this part would be nice in the future to have inre the heads up of that such a change and the second part of my question basically why can't we bring our own Chromebook to the school basically I believe some people some parents going to be able to buy it it's not like but that is and and thank you thank you that is something that the uh district is looking at with the administration um as far as being able to bring your own device to school there there are some challenges that we have to overcome when it comes to that um there it's it's things that we just have to work with it Department uh for instance you know when somebody brings their device to school right you can't control exactly what's on that device so um you know though we can control the network but we can't control if somebody has something saved on a hard drive or you know something on that on that device so there are challenges which we're we're looking at and that is something that we uh we'd like to offer it uh maybe at the upper levels you know 9 through 12 to to uh to see if they could uh you know bring want to bring in their own device which would allow then to repurpose some of those other Chromebooks and and bring them down to the elementary schools so yeah yeah I totally understand that uh there security issues and basically what my older kid she brings Chromebook to home it's not an issue she can install whatever she wants it's like it's a Chromebook we definitely can discuss some requirements from a IT department of school like if they say like this model this model go in buite I believe many of parents would agree to buy them uh we can at Le just ask parents if they want to buy and see how many parents going to be able to provide their own device so we can actually see uh if school can like like is in class can be able to work on homebooks completely because right now few homebooks on the class and I don't believe my first first grade kid going to be able to effectively log into device during the class log out of the device with your own account uh it's not something which going to be working properly right now I just wanted to praise it cons because like I understand teacher is going to be spending a whole bunch of time just to try like organize all kids working on the same devices and in fourth grade it's not gonna work it's just my opinion yes no thank you for that thank you Mr B is there anything you'd like to add no I want to thank you for uh for your feedback I I think um you know the the moving forward the budget this something definitely we you know as our business office came online our state monitor came into play and impacted the decision to pause so I I I do thank you for that feedbook and and I appreciate your willingness to say maybe we could look at this a different way and I think this board is I know conversations have started locally and we appreciate all the ideas being presented tonight thank you so much thank you anyone else wishing to come up okay seeing none could I have a motion to close the public uh comment portion all in favor anyone opposed okay um Miss danek Martin uh academic yes Mr President I'd like to move academic resolutions one through three as written second any discussion roll call Mr balamo yes Mr baglia yes this Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty Mr farell yes Mr gazinski Administration yes Mr President I move resolutions one through five second any discussion roll call Mr balamo yes Mr baglia yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr fararo yes Mr pagle of Finance Mr President I'd like to move resolutions 1 through 28 as written second any discussion um Mr President quick comment just to uh extend uh my gratitude towards the generosity of the community uh specifically item 11 where we have proponent bank and also the PTO at Washington School donating uh to the district um we could all complain about the situation and we are all on board with the complaint department believe me but to actually take action against what we're act we're up against I think is a noble and charitable event that I I do appreciate the community's response I really appreciate the teachers response the uh administrator's response and the parents response to adversity and that's what this is about and the charity that is involved in this is noble and I want to just extend a great Deb of gratitude to and I I have the feeling more is coming and I I really think that's what makes this community special so that's it thank you Mr dilia yes absolutely we thank everyone for all their hard hard work and efforts and for the community coming together um Mr okay roll call any oh well I'm sorry any other discussion okay roll call Mr balamo yes Mr baglia yes Mrs danek Martin yes Dr deia yes with exception to take not part number 13 Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr Faro yes Mr Scotty policy please resolution one is written second any discussion roll call Mr balamo yes Mr baglia yes Mrs Dan Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty yes Mr fararo yes Mr D you take Personnel Please Mr President I'd like to move Personnel items one and two s i SE any discussion roll call Mr balamo yes Mr baglia yes M Dan Martin yes Dr deia yes Mr kazinski yes Mrs Quirk yes Mr Scotty Mr feraro yes any old business to come before the board um I guess it's old business now but um mayor Kelly want to thank you again you and the Board of Commissioners for obviously the um relationship with uh with the board board of education here and uh your willingness the Board of Commissioners to to be there to assist us so and thank you for all your efforts tonight with uh your department and uh the Board of Commissioners uh any any uh new business to come before the board Mr President can we person welome administra yes you can I I've been um on the board for many years and most of you know it's always a pleasure to see friends family friends people that have worked hard in the district people that I've known all their tenure on the board on the district to move up through the system and come on as our vice president of Middle School my only upsetting point is that my grandson just left the middle school so he's going to miss your talents but uh Dennis has them now has both of them now so I'm sure he'll take care but I'm I'm so happy that that you're moving up with us to the other new ladies you've got some big work ahead of you um filling the math position lean Martin is going to be missed but I'm sure you'll fill her spot and with the uh vice principal at the high school God bless you looking forward to working with you thank you thank you Mr kazinski you uh you're feeling better which we're all happy about I am feeling better yes and and yes thank you uh welcome aboard and uh we look forward to working together and uh all the good things that you're going to do for our district thank you um whereas the Board of Education will be discussing matters exempt from public discussion pursuing to njsa 10 call 4-12 now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education recess to close executive session at this time to discuss Personnel be further resolved that the results of the discussion will be made public by inclusion on the agenda of a subsequent meeting of the Board of Education or when the reasons for discussing such matters in closed session no longer exist can I get a motion to adjourn into executive session thank you everyone we got we got a