##VIDEO ID:SLiEC2N0wnE## you know what I mean SC SC and here's the original right than okay this ch for light like to call the order the January 23rd meeting the RO Miss baring Miss Bard m b here M bro herei here mrani here M here M Williams Mr here for pres I ask you please rise for the pl Allegiance Al to flag of the United States of America andice right executive session report uh we want your personnel hit suspension and detention and our legal status report no additions to the agenda this evening I'm going to move over to the superintendent report Dr M recognizing that we have an audience tonight and understanding that you are here for a reason we are going to just slightly restructure the format of our meeting usually we have two sessions of public comments um one in the beginning of the meeting and one at the end of the meeting for 15 minutes um and since you are here for us to listen we are going to have those public comments combined in the beginning of the meeting and um Mr sylvestro is just going to lay down the the way that will be organized for us sure thank you Dr M thank you Mr President um sure some of you are regular Z board meetings a lot of you probably first time uh coming to one of these meetings I'm just going to spend a couple minutes talking about how public comment works at a Board of Education meeting so uh first and foremost it is public comment it is not public Q&A there's a statement in the agenda that the board president usually reads as we go to uh start the public comment period that explains that a little bit more uh public comment is an opportunity for the board to hear from you as the public uh it is not a town hall question and answer kind of session the board will not be responding to questions so if you come to the mic and you have your 3 minutes time for speaking and you have a question you're staring at the board waiting for a response you're not to one um just let you know that that's the process uh the board is as Dr Mast said combining the two public comment periods usually there are 15 minutes each that's total for each public comment period into one so that we can have everyone uh all at once not have to wait till the end of the meeting which is usually when non-agenda items are spoken about uh in terms of the topics for uh public comment it is public comment uh it is open to anyone we do ask that uh people who have comments on the agenda be allowed to speak first so you have something that is actually on the fiscal agenda uh for voting tonight that you uh come up to the like first to speak uh and that's because you know these are items that the board is voting on that if you have a comment about those items the board would want to hear that before before voting um again normally we reserve comments on matters that aren't on the agenda until the end of the meeting we are moving that up uh if you are unable to speak today because of the 30 minute time limit or if you feel that you can't get everything you need to say in 3 minutes uh or just at the end of the meeting you go home tonight and you think of something that you wanted to say but didn't have the chance to uh the board does check their emails um that that in terms of comments uh at the board meeting this is not the only way to reach the board uh again the Board of Education uh I'm not going to give a whole lesson as to their limits and of their Authority but they're not going to be uh personally writing back or personally responding to this meeting they're ethically not allowed to uh in terms of topics for tonight um again comments uh from the public are one thing the board is legally prohibited from engaging on a number of items student matters Personnel items in terms of personnel I'm sure that a lot of you are here uh about a Personnel issue um there's a teacher that works for the district who uh was given notice that there might be discussion regarding her employment she has waved for her legal right to have that discussion happen in executive session um Katha a teacher in the district has uh exercised her legal right to compel any discussion about her employment in open uh but to the extent that any of you based on things that shared on social media things you've heard about you know third fourth hand uh are here tonight to talk about um missar having been were to be suspended from school or to that is facing termination uh that I'm sorry that you've been misinformed uh thisara has not been suspended there's nothing on the agenda tonight to suspend terminate or otherwise disciplined on the agenda tonight there's going to be no discussion from the board about any such action against missa tonight so to the extent that that is you know here either for or against those actions those actions are not pending before this board of education um not you know you can still say whatever comment you you came to say but to the extent you were under the belief that soara has been suspended or is facing suspension or is facing termination that is not true uh in terms of uh proceeding against we'll move ahead with the rest of the agenda uh after the 30 minutes uh uh for public comment have ended uh we will take a brief recess just so those of you who came here just for the public comments you don't have to feel like you need to stay you are all certainly welcome to stay uh for the rest of the board meeting it is a public meeting uh but we're going to have the public comment right up front and then after that the board's just going to move ahead with its regular business uh Dr M I think I covered everything yes thank you all right so in accordance with Scott F family public bylaw 0164 and 0165 this meeting will be open for 30 minutes for public comments maximum 3 minutes per speaker speakers addressing superintendent items board functions and other board business will be heard first if time remains speakers May address other matters speakers when you come to the m please State your full name in the town in which you reside please note board used the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to Citizen concerns but not to debate issues are enter into a question and answer session or a cross-examination between the public and the individual member be aware that not all issues brought before the board will be resolved that evening boards May respond to public comment by seeking additional information by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent order designate with that uh Mr sylvestro I will now open the first and only public comment section for 30 minutes so if you have a comment please come to the microphone state your name and the time which res Brad Herman Scotch claims today marks the 9th anniversary of my grandmother's death she was a secular Jew to the point that she thought that as long as she served Ham on matah and didn't use bread that she would still be keeping kosha Passover as secular as she was one thing I can tell you is that she would be Beyond aall and on the 9th anniversary of her death I am standing here at a Board of Education meeting to discuss anti-Semitism exhibited by a faculty member of the school that her youngest grandchild is attending as a district it appears that only some races religion and ethnicities are protected and recognized in the Dei initiatives they were mostly crickets during Asian and Jewish American Heritage Month back in May both apply to my children my 12-year-old daughter has been mocked for being Jewish and was told that she better not wear a yam to school or else and she has also been called anti-asian slurs such as ching chong by multiple peers what here are we in I went to school in the 1980s and that was a term used then more commentary by the Evergreen teacher has been spewed since the last time that the board was made aware two of which are here we go again I'm getting threats Zionist will use any tactics possible to silence and I'm more in the action phase apparently sent the alert out about the Israeli I not a typo by the way terrorists coming to Westfield proudly organized counter I know there is some literature posted around claims that she only warned her neighbors about the IDF Soldier coming to town she didn't warn she alerted it's there for all to see that is a significant difference this teacher has a right to her opinion and has a right to express her opinion she crosses the line when she tracks parents and supports those who suggest taking screenshots of parents names and tracking other parents I also want to call to your attention that section 3230 of the district policy item one states that teaching staff members are advised to refrain from conduct associations and offens of speech that a given publicity would tend to have an adverse or harmful effect upon pupils or the school Community outright condemning and maligning 90% of the Jewish population which is the percentage of the Jewish population that are zionists and boasting about organizing a protest in a synagogue that many from our community attend would indeed have an adverse or harmful effect upon pupils or the school Community even if you want to continue to make excuses for the incitement of a potentially thank goodness it wasn't violent protest at a synagogue please note that publicly and privately making threats against parents also clearly would have a harmful effect upon pupils or the school Community these threats were serious there were parents whose names were posted trapped lawyers got involved and there were police reports filed this is clearly a harmful effect upon schools or the school Community thank you hi my my name is deorah blue Scot Plains and uh not going to speak per se about the issue I think most of the people are here for Mike a little bit closer to sure um I just wanted to put a little context on what's happening tonight I um I'm a I'm an attorney I do research and writing for ngu haate uh we send a lot of those click and send letters that you receive in large quantities um and I deal with anti-Semitism and and terrorism which is kind of related in some respects almost 7 days a week that's my full-time job is I do it at night I do it on the weekends and I want to just put a few things in context um I'm here because I read in first part I read about online there were there were a bunch of groups that were being promoted by two different groups that I've researched and written about one of them is care c a r and the other one is teaching while Muslim I've researched both of those written several letters um and I just want to give you some background about what's going on in context care is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood um I would appreciate difference and respect care is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood they were created at what was called the Philadelphia meeting in 1993 when care Hamas an IAP one of the IND almost indited co-conspirators in the holyland uh Terror Finance trial and that was the day that care was created they have since uh resumed over the years the United States disavowed any connection to care uh shortly after uh 107 when the when the chair of uh care made anti-semitic remarks at a national uh conference the FBI also uh distan itself many years ago from care teaching Muslim I also had the opportunity unfortunately to write about and research as well and they also promoted um uh people to come here tonight and uh that was started by a Perth anoy uh social studies teacher who I think is still working in the school district and um she or her company her organization is a supposed educational institution and they promote propaganda demonizing delegitimizing Israel and Jews you can go on their website TW wm.org and you can see for yourself it's all right there um I want to just talk about free speech I I write about research Free Speech a lot free speech is an absolute there's a balance and and for sure under the law and in your policies there's a balancing when it harasses discriminates or disrupts and so it's it's not absolute and what's been happening and what I tend to write about is that the free speech is used is being used as a pretext proales prop Palestinian advocacy is being used under the guise of free speech will you take a harder look Miss L that is that is your three minutes if you have other thoughts you'd like to share EMA take it hi um I'm here in support of cath Sor can you please state your name in the town in which you reside please sure my name is Carrie and I'm from Maplewood New Jersey I'm here in suppor of Cathy ogara first of all it does not appear that your district has followed protocols for a fair and transparent investigation if you had you would be upholding her Free Speech rights and applauding her moral fortitude for being concerned about a soldier who participated in genocide was in our area to speak and to justify that genocide Kathy is exactly the type of teacher and community we require in these times and one I would want for my children genocide is wrong there is no justification for it multiple respected human folks let her speak multiple respected human rights Orcs International courts and top genocide in holoc scholar have said what is happening I pause your time here go home folks folks down folks if you if you interrupt the speakers number one we're going to be here a lot longer number two we will ask you to be removed we will ask you to be removed please do not interrupt the speakers I'm going to restart your clock okay feel free to continue start it again I paused it folks everybody listen please this is the public quum if you're not going to follow the rules you're going to be asked to leave everyone has a right to speak that's at the mic this is a public comment section if you're going to be disrupted you're going to be asked to remove from the auditorium please respect the speakers thank you genocide is wrong there is no justification for it multiple respected human rights orgs International courts top genocide and Holocaust Scholars has said what is happening in Gaza is a genocide we can also see it with our own eyes the devastation and horror there's been a system systematic obliteration of the school system Healthcare and infrastructure in Gaza half the population of Gaza is under the age of 18 students in Gaza have had no access to school for 15 months 85% of the schools have been damaged all 12 universities have been bombed genocide is not a Jewish value and speaking out against genocide and apartheid of the Palestinian people is not anti-semitic Zionism is not Judaism in fact most zionists in the US are Christian by far and their support look it up kofy by their support and is based on bringing about Armageddon and the second coming of Christ this type of extremist ideology is is exactly why we have separation of church and state if you wondered what you would have done during slavery the Civil Rights Movement you are doing it right now please don't be reactionary to rumors of people seeking to silence Pro Palestine voices they do this to frighten people into compliance because they have absolutely no moral leg to stand on mostly Incorrect and false again only the people the mic please thank you good evening my ising harassing everybody on this line I really appreciate you to stand here this the person right here absolutely just say just say Okay um good evening my name is Beth Lewis and I a res I'm a resident of Scotch Plains and a proud parent of two children in the district with my youngest attending Evergreen Elementary since moving here in 2020 my husband and I have been deeply impressed by the dedication kindness and professionalism of the teaching staff and administration Beyond academic Excellence the Educators in our district have significantly contributed to the confidence and self self-esteem of our children which we are truly grateful for this is my first time attending a Board of Education meeting and it's not easy to be here tonight I feel compelled to raise significant concerns about an educator in our district Kathy ogera and her public conduct regarding sensitive topics first I want to be clear this is not about judging anyone's personal beliefs I respect differing viewpoints and value constructive Dialogue on sensitive issues however miss oar's public statements have been inflammatory leaden with vitriol and in the opinion of many bordering on hate speech as a community we must hold Educators to the highest standards of professionalism especially in their interactions with students and their broader community on November 21st 2023 at a Westfield Board of Education meeting miss oara recounted a conversation she had with a ninth grade student who asked why genocides other than the Holocaust are not covered in the curriculum rather than providing an objective or constructive response Miss oara admitted on camera to sharing her pral beliefs with that student she stated that she responded I don't know in a and then in a hostile tone continued to assert that she had been wrong to believe the term never again appli to everyone rather than to single group her remarks not only reflected her personal biases but also disparaged the curriculum implying that it prioritizes Jewish history at the expense of other groups which fostered a divisive and harmful narrative this raises serious concerns about the appropriateness of sharing personal and controversial views with impressional impressionable students Educators have a duty to create an unbiased respectful learning environment and this admission shows a breach of that responsibility further thore Miss Oar went on to question how a militant group of parents have influenced the curriculum specifically referencing the Holocaust Education was this group she referenced made up of Jewish parents such a statement feels targeted and entirely inappropriate she also implied that Holocaust Education in the schools is inaccurate by stating that her daughter who now or then attended Boston University was now learning the true history the true history this cast down on her support for the current curriculum and disrespectfully undermines the lived experiences and historical truths of many in our community at the December 19th 2023 meeting Miss oara made further remarks about the Middle East conf conflict concluding her statements with I've read that from The River To The Sea Miss I'm sorry that that is your time if you'd like to send the rest of your statement to the board yes I CH hello good evening my name is Jane and I am from Scotch Plains I last spoke to the board in June about my concerns for the safety and inclusion of Jewish families in this District I came here because my emails were ignored and unfortunately I'm standing here again because with the same frustrations don't take pictures of Me no and no meaningful followup from the district perhaps the superintendent and board thinks these concerns are isolate isolated to me but I assure you they are not we the Jewish families of this district will not stand by as incidents of anti-Semitism go unaddressed we see what's happening in schools and we refuse to let this community become a statistic Sly New Jersey has already seen the third largest rise in anti-semitic incidents Nationwide as a member of the hbad community I've seen and felt these fears firsthand some of you may be aware that an incident occurred agitators disrupted a private event at a habad house a place of worship where children from our community were present this protest was not about dialogue or expressing a difference of opinion it was a deliberate attempt to intimidate and create fear in a sacred space imagine if I or my children had been there imagine if you or your children were fear there were there the fear that Jewish parents feel when we are left to wonder if our visible Jewish identity a name a piece of jewelry will make us a Target in this community we cannot ignore how acts like this undermine our ability to feel feel safe the district has a duty to ensure that every child regardless of their background feels safe and supported yet when I raise these concerns my emails are met with silence over and over again how can I trust this district will take meaningful steps to protect my children when there is no acknowledgement no communication and no visible action to address anti-Semitism in our schools and Community this is not about individual employees or isolated incidents it's about creating a culture where anti-Semitism is actively recognized and condemned I've brought up numerous incidents in the past a school presentation where Israel was crossed off a map swap sers appearing in schools and a divisive book for teachers to read I met with you Dr M and left very hopeful that things would change but not a thing has this the districts in action sends a me sends a message whether intentional or not that anti-Semitism is not a priority for you guys I'm here to tell you that it must become one Jewish families in this District deserve to feel safe and respected not just in words but in your actions on behalf of SBS Jewish families I must also say the district's email response to reason events were disappointing while I understand the need to respect diverse perspectives there is a clear line between free expression and actions designed to imidate intimidate and insight fear that line was crossed when a peaceful pro-israel event was disrupted by a counter protest clearly intended to create chaos and fear in the house of worship this is not just about one event it's about the broader environment their children are growing up in as parents it's our job to protect them outside of school it is your job to ensure the safety inside the school this includes addressing anti-Semitism within our community so I'm asking on the record for a meeting and a response to my emails because it's been a year I want to see clear policies and actions from the district that address anti-Semitism head-on let me be clear this is not about political opinions or beliefs this is about safety inclusion and the basic human rights to feel secure in our schools in our place of your yes hi my name is an uh I've been a resident of Scotch Plains for 12 years um so I have two daughters and a school system um my daughter when she was in second grade she had we call her Miss oera Kathy um and so my daughter we we moved from another town and the standards in got PLS were a little bit higher um I mean my daughter was a great student but she struggled with reading and um so miss oera was assigned to her to help her with reading do you know that Miss oera I mean I'm so I love her like she took my daughter and literally made her a reader made her to love like really helped her to love reading now my daughter is a senior and my daughter got into Emerson College in Boston like I'm so proud of that girl and you know many parents don't know they know it's the elementary teachers now I'm here and I I'm in a group I'm in a group called if not now Central Jersey and Jewish voice voice for peace in Central Jersey and so I'm in solidarity with the Jewish Community but I'm anti-zionist and there are many anti-zionist Jewish people out there so now I'd like to say that I come from a background of Christian Zionism that's how I was raised um I didn't know I was a Zionist until after October 7th my eyes have been open I woke up and you know not everybody's like okay with that but we have to respect others opinions and understand that you can be a good educator you can be a great nurse I'm a nurse I work in an agency that if they fired me for my personal views like all my all my patients like I go into like the buildings the Jewish buildings that are in um like all over the place like um I have so many Jewish patients I have Holocaust patients that were in a holocaust and they're like late '90s they respect me if they and and they're used to me like if I got fired that would affect them so what I'm trying to say I don't know you know I heard the testimonies but when I think of Miss ogera if this is her personal thing okay and she's done this on the side and it's outside of school that's her freedom of speech she should not be fired over that I know you said she's not going to be but whatever you know suspended vilified she's being vilified I know everybody's talking back there and say she's not but she's being vilified I heard it you guys did vilify her you know maybe you have different opinions you know but like when you call her anti-semite we're not anti-semites when we're standing up against a genocide maybe you don't believe it's a genocide but it's been actually documented there's been Jewish like people in Israel that have documented this and I really believe you guys need to look that up okay that's facts so my view is focused on mogera we love her okay and I'm here to stand up for her okay I have that personal experience with my daughter man that is your time thank you man I live in Elizabeth so when I first met Miss oara we were actually at the uh Westfield Board of Education meeting meeting that was referenced earlier and in that meeting I approached where she was because she was basically in a surrounded with a bunch of zionists who were vilifying her who were bullying her just a lady there sir please again please do not call out from the public you pause it all right so again the zionists that always love yapping and calling out they were they're the same types of people that were there too all she did is denounced genocide and often times when she talks about it she states that she has no problem with Judaism she has no problem with Jews the issue is with people who support Zion people who support genocide people like the ones on my left who actively support the murders of over 200,000 Palestinians which is still going on today it's still going on right now and and we're here talking about a teacher who is against it this is ridiculous now keep keep in mind keep sir sir this is inappropriate sit down respect your people's time speaking why you speaking about I'll speak my stand just listen what he's saying I am listening you're not you folks calling out people for yelling by yelling from the public is not helping the matters so please just focus and allow the people at the microphone to speak great so I I I'll continue these genocide supporters love calling out and love trying to bully someone who is against the murder of Palestinians what does this mean this means that they're full of racists we're not against a teacher who's calling out genocide we should be Against Racism and calling it out here now keep in mind keep in mind when uh the ADL which is supposed to be for uh Jewish safety you have Elon Musk a proud Zionist by the way show a na uh put the Nazi salute what happens nothing nothing right they they deny it because he is a Zionist and they are more aligned with Nazism than they want us to believe and Miss oera is on the right side of History she's morally right and she's a great role model for all the students and when I met her she was standing there alone steadfast against a cesspool of racism and bullying that's it hi you hear me I'm rabbiosi resident Scotch Plains proud resident my synagogue the kaban and Scotch Plains serves the local Jewish Comm the local community I'm honored and privileged to have a child in the Scotch Plains school system and very appreciative of the services you provide for her us Americans were blessed with the Constitution and Bill of Rights that protects every individual and highlights our nation's deep respect for the value of every single life Hamas designated by US state department as a terrorist organization has a charter that explicitly calls for the killing of every Jew in Israel this ideology is not abstract tragically acted on this intent on October 7th 2023 in a horrific attack the charter further explicitly calls for the annihilation of all Jewish people their intention is to kill me every Jew in this room every Jew in the school district every Jew is zip code and every Jew across the entire world God forbid do we want a teacher who supports Hamas someone who espouses the values of humas teaching our children do you do we want those evil values taught our kids however it's much worse than that this individual rallied fellow Hamas supporters not merely to demonstrate outside a local synagogue but to go inside disrupt the event and intimidate and Bully those attending that's criminal they don't belong in our school system they don't belong teaching our kids they don't belong teaching my daughter to my fellow local Jewish residents the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sarah Rebecca Rachel and Leah remember this those who have risen against us throughout history we have a long 3300 3300 year history now lie in the dust bin of History yet we remain strong we remain resilient we remain proud is yeah if you could St your name and address count of town would you ride through his ey please good evening my name is Jessica and I reside in Scotch Plains thank you I come to you tonight as a concerned parent of our community after hearing about the recent stage protest at the habad center of Westfield I was of course alarmed to later find out that a District staff member took credit for organizing this protest and praise these protesters as Brave individuals all over social media I became increasingly concerned and curious to the safety protocols in place and what our school director district is doing to ensure that all children feel safe and supported within their school environment which is their right I absolutely believe in freedom of speech and that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs I might not agree with them and they might not agree with mine but that's what we're entitled to now where I struggle is when it comes to promoting these beliefs against a particular group of people publicly all over social media when a staff member is posting anti-zionist posts on multiple Facebook pages to me that is hate speech to be clear a key distinction between anti-zionism and anti-Semitism is criticizing a specific policy or action verse a country's right to exist and a people's group to self determination stripping that right from Jews singled out from all other people in the world is anti-Semitic when you choose to pursue certain career paths there are codes of conduct that must be adhered to as a teacher myself I know my Facebook page is very private and particularly important when you're job is shaping young impressionable Minds I want to be clear here today that my goal of speaking up is not for anyone to be fired for their opinion although I might very strongly disagree with it my purpose is to understand what you as the Board of Education the superintendent and the school district are doing to ensure that these views are kept out of our classroom and off outlets on social media media that can be viewed publicly by both parents and students what are you doing to keep our children safe hello um my name is Katherine I'm from Berkeley Heights New Jersey um I am a member of of um an organization called the anti-zionist minion we are a Jewish organization that speaks out against Israel we believe that Israel is not Judaism Israel is not Jews Zionism is not Judaism the suppression of pro Palestinian voices does not protect Jews um speaking out against genocide does not harm Jews and speaking out against genocide is not anti-Semitism thank you good evening my name is Nancy and I'm from Fanwood it's been exhausting just being here um I'm so tired of the just the divisiveness and the anger and the frustration that our community has shown and even though as a Palestinian I'm suffering on a daily basis because I'm watching on my screens while my cousins aunts and uncles are being buried alive I have to come here and defend myself I have to come here and defend myself that we deserve not to be killed indiscriminately and we have to defend ourselves and tell everybody that hey yeah it is a genocide guys cuz I'm seeing it and I'm talking to my family overseas so I just want to say that I'm here as a Palestinian but I'm also here as a representative of a growing Community visible here tonight that has been silenced defamed harassed and marginalized for the past 15 months I'm here to voice our Collective pain disappointment but Hope For Justice the recent actions taking taken against Miss ogera has shown us a stark reminder of the injustices we face within our own institutions Miss ogera has been unfairly criminalized for advocating on a behalf of people who has endured what many are calling a genocide and you can fact check me anybody here can do that by conservative estimates 55,000 Palestinian lives have been taken 16,000 750 of those are children including 1,300 infants and toddlers under the age of two fact check me everybody who's talking behind me you guys know how to fact check children in Gazza now have the highest rates of amputations in history Oxfam reveal more that more women and children have been killed by Israeli military in the past year than in any other conflict the last two decades I mean that's staggering numbers UNICEF has declared GZA the most dangerous place in the world for children and so when Miss oera is objecting to this it's a direct response to these atrocities she's simply speaking out against the violence the human rights violations and the devastating impact on children and nothing more this attack is an attack on all of us it deepens the wounds of trauma and the devastation that our community has endured over the past 15 months we're facing an unimaginable level of suffer in one that is exasperated by the fact that the voices of zionists are always prioritized over those of Palestinians over 15 months Miss oera has been villainized facing Relentless opposition dis defamation harassment and threats to her livelihood and instead of upholding the principles of free speech I believe that the board has chosen to retaliate against her sorry that's your time if you have more to say you to the to the public with the 30 minute time limit we are not going to be able to finish the line of speakers however uh consulted with the board of President the line as it stands now so don't feel like you need to get up and rush because I see who's the last in line we are going to get to everybody in that is currently in line which will put us past the 30-minute timeline we agreed on but we're going to finish this line so everyone who's standing now uh can have the chance to speak um so if you haven't gotten in line I'm sorry but as I said earlier uh if you think of something with you later that you want to you can email the board we're going to finish the line everybody with a still the 3-minute cap uh and then we're going to proceed with the rest of the meeting thank you hi my name is fman I'm from Clark um I just wanted to ask just say that you know there are a multitude of students in your schools both Jewish and non-jewish and I want to ask you if you have a Palestinian student in your schools how do you think they're going to feel when the board or or the administration takes these kinds of actions against a teacher who's speaking out on their behalf in their private life it doesn't make them feel safe it doesn't make them feel seen I went to school in Union County I grew up here I was born here and the dehumanization is not something we're unaware of it's something we experience on a daily basis I've been through Medical School I've gone through all that and I've experienced it on a DA as a Palestinian and I think that when we look at these actions that we're taking we have to look at how it's going to affect all parties and it's not right to tell students that if they talk about their grief about people they've lost or that what's going on in their country people dying on a daily basis children utees you know that we have family that are dying on a daily basis and we have to experience that grief and in school school should be a safe place for everybody not just for you know Jewish children but Muslim children Palestinian children all children and it needs to be a safe space and if we're going to they're targeting people's political beliefs and their agendas so someone's a trump supporter or you know a Biden supporter and we say oh well they're Trump supporters that's hate speech they can't come to school we don't Target people why is it when it's the Palestinian issue now we we're targeting people I think it's not right freedom of speech is a constitutional right and there should be no um you know BAS shouldn't matter what your political belief is as long as you're not harming anybody and being an anti-zionist is not harmful you don't wish death upon anybody you just want rights for all including Palestinians thank you good evening my name is Diane I'm from Garwood I'm I'm going to try to talk off the paper because wow uh this is not something I'm used to doing um and I'm actually extremely uncomfortable at the hate that I have been hearing as I've been in this line so I'm going to go off my paper and I'm just going to say I'm here to support Kathy ogara I've gotten to know her over the past year because I I have seen her solidarity with Palestinians and speaking truth to power in a time where as I'm just hearing right now I mean the the ugliness and the pain and the hurt that is being I'm just I'm I'm baffled um and I think what we need and what the last two speakers did a really good job of is saying we need healing we need caring understand I'm Israel hi sorry this is all very very new to me but I can tell you that Kathy oara has a Caring Heart I believe that everything I have seen in the past years is simply one peace and justice for the Palestinians that she has come in contact with and her daytoday life we should be raising voices up like Kathy oara um you know I'm just going to try to skim through what I wrote I hear people being just and then he sat in front of off the hook off the handle when they hear the word war crimes and genocide well let me tell you Amnesty International they have a great report dated December 5th they have concluded that Israel is committing genocide and war crimes this is a 296 page report read it if you don't believe it read it and then come back here next meeting and show us how it is wrong that we stand here opposed to genocide and war crimes Human Rights Watch which is actually quite Neo liberal of an entity they're not radical Human Rights Watch has a 154 page report dated November 14th of 2020 24 they have also made clear findings of war crimes and crimes against humanity Humanity please read the reports um this is the first time I've had to experience what I have heard and felt this evening so I'm I'm I'm sorry but I'm just going to end with the that is your time okay thank you for your time just trying to figure out I'm on a whole different topic I don't know if I should allow this group to finish and then get back to our referendum Anthony Bal New Jersey I attended the last session and I appreciate every one of you really spending the time and energy with the back and forth that was phenomenal and and I do recall a couple conversations one gentleman was a little agitated and and went into a discussion saying we didn't negotiate and the response was we did get a viable uh appraisal and that's what we utilized to negotiate He also mentioned about the landlord and it was the same landlord that we're actually leasing space from on South Avenue and I do know there was another gentleman was actually you saying could we release ourselves from from that opportunity to move individuals being at the board of ed into the new school if it comes about seeing that there is still a big fraction of Voters out there going back and forth possibly is there an opportunity for us Mr Jones to go to the landlord and say if this initiative were to pass can we get release at some date in the nearer future to bring the Board of Education out of this building into the new new school building and see if we can negotiate some sort of release if it is in fact the same landlord is the the the seller of as well as the building because obviously a $10.5 million benefit to him versus an annual lease and that was my only thing because I figured if we could bring that to the taxpayers we could get past the referendum failing possibly for a second time and we just want to find the common ground and it seemed like people were looking at the lease situation as another little sticky Point saying well we're releasing one property now we're going to buy another property over here and I thought this was maybe some common ground we could just find and throw out there before Tuesday that people could say look we are looking into this we're going to try to negotiate we're going to try to find the benefit for everybody here and if we do acquire the new school we'll try to bridge that that was the only thing that's why I just wanted to bring to the table I do apologize for for stepping into this but I do have to say something I do EO the comments that I did hear here I have to be honest living in Fanwood for now my wife was born and raised uh since what then she's 1970 and her family's been here for at least 40 years before that I was born and raised in botin I am shocked appalled in some ways this is America I've had 40 relatives fighting our Wars 40 40 veterans in my families I I can't believe I'm standing here it it's appalling from both sides I've heard nasy comments of stuff that I just I can't believe it's America really and that I need to have an officer armed standing next to me let's all look in the mirror Mr your time thank good evening Jordy from Elizabeth I'm a member of the Democratic Socialist of America and I want to take a moment to express my support for Cathy as she's going through a very difficult time as she is threatened and violated from her rights to express her constitutional right by the First Amendment which as a United States citizen we must serve protect and defend that Constitution that was part of our nation to express the right to speak and a right to speak out against the atrocities of an apar state that unfortunately exists it is a shame as a watermalon myself a country that was deprived and destroyed by the United States by supporting a dictator that committed genocide to indigenous people with the help of 300 Israeli advisors and it's literally legit you got to look it up and when I look back to genocide whether it be from Wala and even the Holocaust even Palestine right now it exist is see we're seeing in front of our eyes our taxpayer dollars are being used to bomb Palestinians and killing them and we're also seeing our cic Jews being concerned about their lives some people even threaten to warn these people we'd rather die than to go to war and this is what I'm concerned about these people the people behind me there are people who just want to defend the the horrifying Israeli government who's committing these atrocious actions many of which with their US Dollars and defending their heinous actions all while suppressing the voices who are already being in right in history and speaking truth to power what Kathy is doing is speaking truth to power what Kathy is doing is her right what Kathy is doing is supporting the people and having empathy for these people yet she doesn't deserve it her PE her students love her remember that she deserves to continue her job until she retires but we need to keep fighting and defending her but also respect her right to express the criticism of a foreign Nation who goes against the will and the and the human condemnation of Palestinian people genocide exists in Palestine it has always been for decades it has happened in Veranda it has happened in years of generations from Jews who were prosecuted in the Holocaust to indigenous peoples in America we cannot ignore it we must learn it in history and we can never repeat it ever again thank you and please remember we must support each other thank you uh my name is Musa Naji from Newark um first and foremost I just want to thank the board and their administrators because um this is one of the few districts that recognizes e which is the Islamic holiday and actually gives the attention to Muslim parents students and teachers to be able to celebrate their Islamic holiday and raise awareness to the community of the presence of the Muslim Community here with that being said it is really upsetting that we have to come here to defend mogera rather than come here to honor and celebrate mogera for her commitment for her service to this district for the past several years uh but instead we are here to defend her against baseless accusations we are here to have to remind the community of Her First Amendment right that she is exercising we are here to have to remind the community that the board shouldn't have to waste their time and resources on conducting investigations just to appease the community of what they believe to be wrong we should be using our resources and time to ensure that the students in this District continue to receive the best education they can receive with that being said I am also Al here on behalf of K New Jersey at C air a council on American Islamic relations and I really hope the person that mentioned care is still here cuz uh just to set it straight care is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization it is the the nation's largest organization and most trusted organization to protect the Muslim American Community but due to that person's uh islamophobia we are the Muslim Brotherhood instead of recognizing the work that this organization has done for the past three decades we are just the Muslim Brotherhood we are associated with Hamas and we are not a civil rights organization but I here to set it straight that we are this country's most trusted civil rights organization for a Muslim Community we have continuously protected the Muslim Community and Americans alike when it comes to protecting the the civil rights of all all Americans and today we are protecting the right of Miss Kathy so on behalf of K New Jersey and everybody here I want to thank you for your commitment to this community and I appreciate what you have done in raising awareness and ensuring that your kids become the best versions of themselves and continue to receive the education they deserve thank you before you you to start if I can just ma' at the end of the line uh when I first announced earlier that we were going to take nobody else besides who was already standing up the the um woman in front of you with the green Palestine sweatshir was the last person in line so we are just going to take two more comments and then we're going to end public comment today I did announce this earlier that that the line wasn't we going to have anybody else jump into the line I understand and and as with I I understand yeah we're just going to move ahead with the public comment as as was announced during the meeting okay thank you we're going to move ahead with the I've expressed the position of the bo was the board we only one combin right we we combined the public comment as was announced at the start of the meeting as is the board's right the board does not legally have to have two public comments it was amended it was announced we've been going for quite a while over an hour now on public comment uh and and this is how the board the meeting is being held today again if you want to email the board uh but it's been uh the case that we've held this line we've now expended even the time that we allocated for public comment today well over that time to I understand ma'am again if you could we're only going to take the two more comments and then we're going to end public comment for tonight thank you I understand sorry Miss for the delay okay my name is hine from Union this is an important issue for all people of New Jersey uh it's important to have respect and protect our freedom of speech I'm from Gaza and my children are from Gaza I have two young babies at home that I took time away from so that I can come here because of how important this issue is and watching my family be murdered throughout these very long more than a year hearing that they were bringing an IDF soldier who committed these heinous acts in Westfield and seeing Kathy speak up against that on her personal account she should not be penalized for that or investigated for that she should actually be rewarded for speaking up for Humanity we should she's an educator who cares for her students and Humanity itself she has the right to her iion especially when she's speaking against a person who has committed vile acts against innocent people in Gaza this is a Justice to humanity and I would really appreciate it if you guys would look at it as a human perspective I don't condone the killing of any Jewish people and I don't condone the killing of any Palestinian or Muslim people and that's how it should be for everyone we're all Americans at the end of the day and it shouldn't matter where you're from but at the end of the day it's always when it's a Palestinian issue it becomes an act of anti- anti-Semitism Palestinians are semites we're from the same area we are also semites and so you're saying that we're anti-semitic for that that makes no sense you have to look up what a Semite is in order to understand what anti-Semitism truly is it's not only for the Jewish people it's also for the Palestinian people it's for that area and so she wasn't being anti-semitic she was actually supporting the other semites that are in that area and so being anti Zionist is not being anti-semitic or anti-jewish wish thank you my name is ftin and I am from Clark um you know where there are protests counter-protests are bound to follow so standing up for work against war crimes doesn't always equate to being anti- any religion when a child of Holocaust Survivors stood up at that same meeting that was talked about he was booed by the very own people from his same religion he was made to look like he was a little person speaking about something so so irrelevant yet the people who say they understand what genocide is they understand what murder and killing is when a person from their own Community speaks up they could do nothing but boo him and silence him what does that say about the intent of these peaceful meetings inviting a soldier who actively served in a military whose leaders have arrest warrants on them for war crimes just says the most the Outburst from the group on the left as well as the red hearring of the educator being anti-semitic because she supported the the preservation of Palestinian life is a clear indicated attempt to silence Palestinian narratives that has been a long long effort in this country however that ends today you know other people were also censored during World War II people who spoke up against the Holocaust were censored people in Germany and across Europe who spoke up against the killing of innocent Jewish people were also censored nothing is different today censorship at the expense of human life serves no one any good Jewish and Muslim like all human life is important speaking up to protect the Dignity of that very human life should never be a problem for you or anyone in this room or in this country if this educator was in my district and had enough empathy and courage to speak up against an oppressed population despite the anger and the hate I'd be proud thank you so so that concludes our public comment section we're going to pause for 5 minute recess for those who would like to stay stay if anybody would like to leave may leave as well thank you much power build right every whole big walk out my need gu I think church church I just wanted to listen should yeah yeah absolutely you got to see what they have to say see thank you very much thank you no yeah know day okay we're going to move on to superintendent report Dr M thank you Mr Murray and birthday boy here having a memorable birthday evening it's good good to see everybody come out for my birthday tonight I appreciate that everybody was happy with no cakes so everybody left I get it I get it so you know B based on all all of our our residents and our our community members of New Jersey who who came out tonight just to emphasize it's our role as school administrators and board members to ensure we provide a safe inclusive nonpartisan classroom environment and learning experience for all of our students there are several ways we've worked to ensure that's a goal we are achieving including ongoing teacher training feedback and evaluation our school amam moer reminds us all to here belong I'm grateful that so many of us care so passionately and want to help us to live up to the standards of all to here belong but that also means all not just those with whom I agree a board of education can't solve a geopolitical conflict that has been ongoing for a very long time and complex the board and I care deeply and always advocate for peace safety and empathy for for all of our families and all of our students our primary concern is always the students of scotch planes on CA so moving to um the next important topic I want to remind everyone that the outcoming referendum referendum vote is Tuesday January 28th from 3 to 8 the item the items included in the vote are significant to the Future of the district and the continued success of our students please remember to vote next Tuesday that's my report thank you Dr Mass Mr Jones business administrator report uh so we're working on the budget of course is a very busy season for us and getting ready for referendum vote and uh we keep costs as low as possible so if there's any time we can renegotiate any agreements that we have or move move things around to bring cost down uh we will we will do that um on the agenda I just want to mention one thing on the agenda tonight um we we had our bid results come in for the Evergreen so at Evergreen you know we we added classrooms there but we need to replace uh we put new windows in there and it came under came in um under our budget which is great and that project can be paid by state Grant um and so uh we'll have an additional $150,000 um that will reach out to the state and uh will most likely put towards a roof project for that space so uh good news good news on that front that's it thank you Mr Jones all right board president announcement the New Jersey open public meeting law is enacted to ensure the right of public have Advance noce 7 to attend the meetings of the public bodies of which any business in affecting their interest or discuss or is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act of SC board of education has CAU it's a notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place there posted the Board of Education offices located 313 South Avenue in Fanwood New Jersey such notice was also provided in written notice form to the UN County Hawk Star Ledger the T CL Scotch Plains the bur CL of Fanwood the annual notice of regular scheduled meetings as adopted April 25th 2024 and revised August 27th 2024 that I will pass it over to our student board representatives for their reports hi I'm Grace so now we're approaching the second semester the third Mar period is starting soon this coming February okay um so now as we're approaching the second semester um with the third marking period coming um this soon this starting February um I'd like to talk about the mod conference that just recently happened um we had a three-day conference at Hershey Lodge where mod is basically where students engage in intense debates resolution writing and collaborated together to address World issues um um students interested in debate enjoyed engaging in discussion and we won many awards as well Premier country was given to Liam Kendall and Lucy uh fos outstanding Government research award was given to Emily Clark and Premier first year delegate went to Leah janato and Premier delegate went to Gabby serani she was also elected and is now serving her position as official World Health Organization committee officer um not only that we did have the Italian exchange trip happen at our school so a group of students from Italy visited SPF for the past like two-ish weeks um they traveled to New York Saw s planes downtown um and it's always a pleasure to see other students from different countries across the world and learn more about their cultures here as they visit the high school so SPF students were very happy um to greet these exchange students and they're excited to go on exchange to Italy later this year going off of that we had the pops band concert last night at the high school which is the Winter concert for all of our bands and it was a really great concert um our Deca and FBA clubs at the high school competed recently at their regionals and we had around 50 students in each Club Advanced to the state level competition which happens this March in Atlantic City this past January 11 was super sport Saturday which is a newer event um but it's a really great event at bringing the community together and we had our boys and girls varsity basketball teams play on super sports Saturday as well as many clinics held by SPF teams and lastly I asked my sister who's a second grader at Kohl's what her favorite thing of the past week was and she said the snowflake social that took place at Kohl's on Tuesday night was her favorite part of the week so I just wanted to share that thank you thank you both for your updates all great we will now move to instructional updates and recognitions I believe we have the PTA president here thanks M for sharing that super sport Saturday and for this uh snow uh Cole's uh snowflake social and they're very excited about that but I'm here good evening everyone my name isan new Orland this is much easier and I'm the president of the Scots family PTA Council and I serve as the primary liaison between our school's PTA and the administrative offices January is the annual School Board recognition month in New Jersey it's a time to raise public awareness of the roles and responsibilities of local Boards of Education New Jersey's local Boards of Education play an essential role in in students lives board members overseed 580 School District which in turn operate 2500 public schools and provide Educational Services to nearly 1.4 million children they set the policies for schools and make important decisions affecting curriculum financing and Staffing in 2010 the SPF PTA Council initiated the tradition of honoring our board of education for their countless hours of dedication to serving our community and contributing significantly to our children's education here in SPF we're fortunate to have a board that acts as advocates for our students collaborating with parents teachers and school administrators for the betterment of public education they strive to provide resources for all students making a positive impact and for that we are truly grateful furthermore over the past 5 years serving on the council I've had the privilege of getting to know the board members not not just on a professional level but on a personal level I've come to truly appreciate their dedication and hard work especially as fellow volunteers like them I understand the commitment it takes to give time to the community their efforts aren't always easy but their willingness to contribute is commendable on behalf of the PTA Council and Scotch PL family ptas we extend our thanks and I'm going to present you all I'll give it to Robin I have a small small token of appreciation thank you all thank you okay thank you Sue and the DTA and thank you very much perfect timing okay um moving on to additional reports letters to the board so um prior to the agenda being set we had received 23 emails from the public um and they were sent to the appropriate administrator I would imagine post the agenda being set we have a lot more we'll move to committee reports committee reports sorry the curriculum committee met on January 14th the first agenda item discussed was um was CAC um CAC um qac is an um an an audit of the district um and it's under review by the Department of Education and they're amending how points are awarded uh beginning this July qac occurs every is it every three years every three years okay um all right the second agenda item discussed was a policy review um I know Miss Winkler is going to give a policy report but one policy that came to the attention of the curriculum committee is um the need for a policy on the acceptable use of AI in the district you know we've been considering such a policy for a little while um and it we we are a policy will be developed um and will obviously be a brand new policy and um you know we really have to to um adopt one so there are some samples some templates um and we have to really figure out what would work for our district using those as a starting off point and a committee will be formed within the district to develop such a policy okay another agenda item discussed was of the upcoming Middle School High School parent workshop on building healthy digital habits uh this is going to occur on February 6th um I think a letter did go out from Dr dumes and Dr Hines about this Workshop um and it's in conjunction with the PTA and okay couple more agenda items um the district occasionally is um part of research proposals and we've reported out on those before so a research proposal from a doctoral student at ruers um has come about and this is about Civics education in New Jersey school districts uh a case study so our district is going to be uh featured in this research study exploring how administrators support uh Civics education and how teachers enact Civics education um in seventh grade so here at sorry at Terell and the last agenda item was about climate Literacy for community resilience and there's a possibility of the district applying for a grant through the Department of Education um for teaching climate change um that would be up to $30,000 and second and fifth graders would engage in work that would help make pollinator Gardens and help them understand climate change um and those were the agenda items discussed and the next meeting is on February 11th thank you Mr any questions from Mr any other committee reports okay seeing n we will move to enrollment report so we received the enrollment report um in our report packet superintendent items curriculum and Personnel I guess we'll block all so there are no out of District placements this time um we are going to approve the nine hit cases discussed in the December 19th exec session three which were found to be hit we have um two field trip requests the memorandum of agreement the University of Delaware memorandum agreement which is actually a very exciting progress I'd like to thank Dr mcgui for his work on that because it's really helping us towards our our strategic planning goals and six there is an equivalency application that also has to do I believe with the qap application seven we're adopting the 12mon employee calendar and that's it do personel and I'll keep going to Personnel that we approve the Personnel agenda that we discuss an exective evening we have a motion M wiler do we have a second M Williams second any comments or questions Mr Jones can you please call the role M Bor yes Miss Brody yes Dr Cole Kowski yes Miss serani yes Miss Williams yes M wiar yes Mr M yes motion carries all right business items Mr Jones number one staff training number two related services for special education students number three is the green windows that I mentioned um number four is a sale of outdated equipment um five is a special education senl agreement um we discuss number six is fire drills seven Financial reports eight disbursement listings and nine are payment of bills do we have a motion to approve the business functions any comments or questions from Mr Jones seeing none all those in favor I opposed motion carries m wickler board policies so the policy committee met on January 8th policy committee met on January 8th uh we discussed a number of policies the first Bunch that I'll I'll mention um were all revisions based on changes to the uniform State memorandum of agreement between education and law enforcement officials policy 5512 harassment in intimidation and um was revised to include parental notification requirements and procedural guidance when a district must cuse a hi investigation to allow law enforcement to complete their investigation um these changes are based on the Moa and are mandated policy 5533 and the corresponding regulation for student smoking um have been revised to include the requirement that school districts report the use or seizure of an electronic smoking device to law enforcement when school officials have reasonable suspicion that the device contains a controlled dangerous substance or cannabis uh these changes based on changes to the mo MOA are also mandated policy 7441 and um I should say regulation 7441 on electronic surveillance in school buildings and on school grounds policy and regulation were revised to indicate that the district will enter a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement providing them access to activate our video surveillance equipment and be live streaming video during an emergency situation uh these changes are based on changes to the mo MOA and are also mandated policy 9320 and its corresponding regulation cooperation with law enforcement agencies um have been revised to include Handle With Care protocols that designate the principal of each school as the point of conduct for receiving the point of contact for receiving this information from law enforcement the Handle With Care requires law enforcement to notify the district when a student Witnesses something traumatic outside of the school environment regulation 9230 was also revised to include the wording or other drugs since cannabis is no longer considered a controlled dangerous substance but it is still illegal for miners the Handle With Care revisions based on changes to the mo MOA are mandated and the or other drugs revision is recommended um so all of those were based on the memorandum of understanding with law enforcement the rest of these policies are more along the lines of our regular policy revisions policy 5111 eligibility of Resident nonresident students uh was updated to reflect revisions to the um to the state statutes the policy was updated uh to reflect our existing practice of not allowing non-resident students to enroll in our schools and these changes are mandated policy 5460 High School graduation was updated in accordance with public law to include the new graduation requirement for classes 25 classes of 2025 2026 and 2027 to complete and submit uh financial aid application to receive a diploma the revisions also include that students may be exempt from this requirement by submitting a waiver form to the district this policy was also updated to remove mention of the class requirements for 2018 2019 in 2020 21 and 22 um and these changes are mandated policy 5516 and its corresponding regulation on use of electronic devices um this the existing policy prohibits a student or School staff member from being video or audio recorded or audio or video recording others without the consent of the students's parent or the school staff member revisions to the policy and the new regulation include wording limiting or prohibiting the use of electronic communication devices including but not limited to cell phones earbuds smart watches Etc during the school day references to pagers have been removed and these re revisions are recommended policy 5710 student grievance has been revised to give more details regarding the student grievance process and these are also recommended changes policy 9163 spectator code of conduct for in inter Scholastic events is um this policy uh this is a new policy to address a new requirement that's come down to us from the New Jersey state inter Scholastic Athletics Association it's indicated that member schools must adopt a policy that requires immediate removal of a person from the event and school premises for violating the policy minimum disciplinary measures including suspension of person from attending future inter Scholastic events for violating the policy a required educational component for violators parent acknowledgement of receipt of a copy of the policy and conduct provisions of the policy to be posted at all venues hosting competition to the extent possible uh the required policy shall also include an appeal process njsia is also requiring a District's policy to include increased disciplinary actions for multiple violations in a defined period of time and as a district member of njsiaa these changes are mandated um then there were three other policies that we started revie um that you'll hear more about you heard a little bit uh in Stephanie's report from curriculum policy 2365 acceptable use of generative artificial intelligence um one of them is policy 571 on academic Integrity this policy was previously entitled plagiarism um and policy 8500 on Food Services um these are three policies that uh we're still still working out the details with Administration parties and at this time I would like to move that we approve for first reading uh policy and regulation changes noted above thank you m we have a second any comments or questions on any of the policies for the first reading seeing none all those in favor I opposed motion carries board minutes do we have a motion to approve the December 19th 2024 public board meeting minutes as well as the January 7th 2025 reorganization meeting minutes have a second second Amy and Amy thank you any comments or questions all those in favor opposed extensions motion carries new board business a on reports I just hello just a a quick note from um regarding cpad the special education parent advisory grp group um their next meeting is next week January 27th um at the high school at 700 p.m. and it's actually an opportunity to visit the new life skills room which I personally am very excited to see um and that's it thank you Mr Mor any other leaz reports okay uh board resolution motion for Resolutions do we have a motion to adopt the black hisory month resolution move mler do we have a second Williams and give it to Miss Williams I heard you first so um any comments or questions okay uh all those in favor opposed motion carries does any okay the second is the uh January being School Board recognition month do we have a motion to adopt the resolution for M Williams we have a second thank you any comments all those in favor opposed motion carries we have to we shall move on to upcoming schedule meetings we have have uh January or February 20th rather is the next public meeting in the media center March 13th is the next meeting after that and we will move to the good of the order does anyone have anything they'd like to speak about on the good of the order sure thank you Mr Murray I just want to acknowledge that this past Monday was um Martin Luther King day so in Scotch Plains in Fanwood um was the Martin Luther King Day of Service and um um I want to acknowledge our high school choir who came and sang so beautifully on a day that was a day off from school they gave their time and it was just an inspiring performance and I want to thank Mr Mallette our Fine Arts supervisor who stepped in at the last minute to conduct the choir um and especially because the weather was was so bad so I thank all of them for coming out and giving a passionate performance yes that's right and the BSU also um five students from the BSU um got up and spoke individually on um Dr Martin Luther King's writings and what they meant to them um so I want to thank them as well and April chestang their advisor who who came as well it was just a wonderful event thank you Mr any any other um I just wanted to congratulate uh the PTA again for a very successful Super Sports Saturday that um I had the opportunity to visit and just see the excitement um wish everyone I think this is the first year that we have off for happy Lunar New Year next week is that correct so I want to wish everyone happy Lunar New Year and happy birthday to anyone else want give the order last night I was at the concert with Dr McGary it was really excellent congratulations to all involved in that thank you Dr M um for those who didn't know I want to thank the entire board for singing Happy Birthday to me an executive session so there's that um for those who haven't heard Dr mcar saying we'll try to get in the saying something at a board meeting sometime soon um and then I just want to thank Community um as well as the both townships um obviously as you know we have the upcoming referendum next week which we're hopeful um that you know we've taken the feedback from the first referendum um we're hopeful that the community is supportive of it both townships have been extremely supportive um and have worked collaboratively with the district in this next round in this last round and the community has been you know really supportive uh hopefully everybody got their questions they need answered hopefully we can you know move forward and really have a really really nice um place for our students to grow and continue to prosper within the district by allowing the additional space so I just want to thank everybody for that and I know Miss Bara is not here so I'll do the traditional please be careful a drop off it's really dangerous out there um and then anybody else have anything else for the good of the order before we make a motion to adjourn do we have a motion to adjourn that would be everybody do we have a second we have a second for Miss Williams all those in favor opposed we adjourned thank you everybody