[Music] and to the [Music] [Music] [Music] for our [Music] okay we're going to continue um the public session we were just uh over in recognition for governor educator of the year and um now we're moving into the instructional updates PTA honors good evening um for most of you you know who I am but I'm suzan epad Borland and the president of the scotch PL family PTA Council and I serve as the primary liaison between our schools and PT and the Administration office January a lot of people don't realize it but January is the annual School Board recognition month in New Jersey a time to raise public awareness of the roles and responsibilities of local Boards of Education I want to Express gratitude to our board members for their volunteer efforts New Jersey local Boards of Education play an essential role in students lives board members oversee 580 School Districts which in turn are operate 2,500 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 educ education here in Scots food we're fortunate to have a board that acts as advocates for our children students collaborates 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 on behalf of the PTA Council and SPF PTA local chapters we extend our thanks for your dedication and we like to present you each with a small token of our appreciation we have gift cards from our local businesses for each of you I'll leave them with Robin and they're all personalized thank you you thank [Applause] you okay thank you so much you know how much we appreciate all you do so thank you so much thank you uh on on to um reports so executive session report we talked about Personnel Hib suspension detention and we had a legal status update no additions to the agenda and I'm going to move over to our superintendent report Dr Mast thank you so tonight just thinking about how the district is a microcosm of the country and certainly impacted by world events I I have a statement that I'd like to make the scotch PLS family community is home to students staff and families of many ethnicities and backgrounds including families with cultural ties to both Palestine and Israel first and foremost I offer my deepest sympathies to the families who lost loved ones on October 7th or have lost loved ones in Gaza since then I cannot fathom the grief and fear you must be feeling every day and please know that the district is here for you this global conflict has come complex and has been eliciting strong emotions within our schools and communities I have spoken with families who are afraid to send their children to our schools and others who are deeply concerned by a novel at the center of Staff professional development session others are concerned that we are censoring or Banning books this is not true however we are building a pathway to have discussions around any given text on a positive and productive platform I have listened carefully and want to reiterate that our schools are safe supportive places for all students to learn and grow everyone belongs here in Scotch Plains Fanwood and we do not tolerate bullying or acts of hate when emotions are highly charged every interaction can seem magnified and every word can be analyzed this is all understandable words are very important so is the meaning behind them our messages of inclusion at Scotch Plains Fanwood are powerful because they reflect our actions we have a strong history with our community built on the actions we demonstrate showing compassion building relationships and helping anyone who is in need as we continue to navigate this troubling time I implore each of you to focus on positive actions spreading kindness understanding and empathy in our classrooms hallways and even school board meetings we may not be able to end the conflict in the Middle East or even change the minds of our neighbors but we can collectively grieve and show compassion for each other once we do that we can also begin to have an open dialogue that is where our power lies and where our words can have the most impact our school administration and Board of Education are leading this effort I have met with the ministerium that includes clud the religious leaders from the community and have had one-on-one conversations with dozens of community members our wellness and Equity Committee of the board also met to begin forming a plan for how to have these conversations in a way that bolsters our commitment to welcoming and embracing all students I look forward to sharing details at future board meetings before closing I would like to ask Dr McGary to read a portion of the district's statement of belief and purpose the statement was created two years ago by staff and administrators as part of the district's annual goals and a larger strategic plan it feels especially relevant in these times Dr McGary we believe that all students have a right to learn in Equitable and inclusive classrooms that Foster a sense of belonging Equitable and inclusive classrooms are places where each student's identity is affirmed through the physical environment interactions and relationships among students and teachers the curriculum resources and materials and methods of instruction in Equitable and inclusive classrooms ample mirrors and windows are provided for all students so that they can learn about themselves and others celebrate the ways that diversity contributes to our society and Forge connections based on the universal needs and desires of all human beings in creating and fostering Equitable and inclusive classrooms we recognize that social cultural and historical factors influence the extent to which specific student identities have been made invisible have been disparaged or have been denied so remember everyone is welcome here in Scotch Plains Family Public Schools will continue to do everything possible to spread that message and to protect the safe inclusive environment that together with our community we demonstrate a shared commitment thank you thank you Dr M uh business administrator report Mr Jones thank you uh I'm going to talk about the referendum and some of the items that we're going to vote on tonight um talk about up front and I want have to cover them later uh first thing is enrollment uh up another six this months we're up 140 students from last year um and that's from stable enrollment from basically two 2000s all the way until now uh this the first major jump uh in 20 years um and with that um we are looking at a referendum uh I would encourage everybody to go to our website uh and then there's quick links and then building a future ready SPF and on that website it gives updates and a timeline of where we're at in terms of looking at uh potential plans for a referendum uh and on that on the website it gives you uh the results of the survey that we took for the community um and in addition gives the timeline so on that timeline there's a series of bullet points uh and we're there's we're basically between bullet point 2 bullet point 3 uh which is uh finalizing the project list and submitting the projects um so I just want to have a couple updates tonight on those projects um so I'll go to the agenda couple agenda items so one of the things we have we're approving tonight um is a major amendment to a long-range facility plan so is requirement by the state by that every 5 years the district under goes a uh full analysis of the district to look at potential projects we'll be looking at in the future um and we've undertook that work and this submission is uh a full release now it doesn't mean we're going to do every single project uh all at once but it doesn't mean that this is sort of a a goals you know from 5 years ago um we did a significant amount of work from the previous long range facility plan but not all of it of course because it's a fairly large list um so this sort of sets the Baseline for the the projects that we've were going to select for for potential referendum those projects were um a summation of community input from the survey from focus groups uh with community members from uh surveys of students from meetings with students meetings with staff at all the schools uh as well as Administration um and uh school board members so significant undertaking that's taken place over the past few months to come up with a list that's uh comprehensive um additionally we have uh we have we we've secured an option agreement to um potentially to hold a building uh 330 South AV in in Fanwood uh to hold the building to not sell it um until a public vote a potential vote would be done uh in September so uh what that means is there not going to sell it as we do more research we we're still in the middle of finalizing what the if we did purchase it what would it look like how many classrooms and such and what students would be there so we're still that work is still ongoing um and we are um working through the different options uh internally um in addition we are uh on the agenda is some due diligence work that we're doing uh for that building uh and that's uh you know in terms of environmental testing and such in addition there's a you know we're doing a traffic study around that building just to make sure um whatever work we would do would be uh work well with the neighboring The Neighbors in that area um in addition we're approving um our Architects to start uh working on paperwork to submit projects to the state so the way it will work will be will uh before we we will submit projects to the state uh for a potential referendum and this uh resolution will or this um yeah the resolution will uh approve that work to to begin to begin the paperwork because it is a pretty laborous process in terms of compliance and and getting all the documents together um so work is ongoing um it's been exciting and keeping us busy and looking forward to it thank you Mr Jones uh board president announcement the New Jersey open public meeting law is enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act Scotch SP family board of education has caused notice to this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted at the Board of Education offices located at 512 Cedar Street scotch Plains New Jersey such notice was also provided and written notice written notice forwarded to Union County Hawk The Star Ledger of the township cler of Scotch Plains the bur cerer Fanwood any the annual notice of regular scheduled meetings as adopted May 9th 2023 I'd like to now move over to our student representation student Representatives reports so I will pass it over to you two awesome so the first thing that I wanted to talk about was the model un so our model un Club went to Hershey Lodge at the beginning of the month and we did really great great um we passed a lot of resolutions we debated and I think we did we got a premier delegation so that was an awesome award to get and another along with that our Deca Club went to Deca regionals and spfs did really well so yeah we also had a very um Sports filled month on January 6 the PTA hosted the first Super Sport Saturday which was a really great success and a lot of the community enjoyed it and I know the PTA is looking forward to planning more in the future our girls basketball team beat Westfield for the second time this season and we also hosted the first ever girls wrestling quad at the high school and girls wrestling is becoming a lot more popular at the high school which is great yeah and then to finish it up uh our Barcelona exchange trip just got back this Sunday I was a part of it and I had an amazing experience I'm so like it's it's blown me away I really like it was just amazing um so we had our Exchange program with sappa which is a school in Barcelona there are 20 students from Scotch Plains that went on the trip from the 10th to the 21st so we spent 11 days there we went to bar we were in Barcelona we toured we went to Madrid we had food we saw like his the history museums we really did everything and um it was an amazing experience we had such so many great opportunities to learn and engage in the culture and the environment and just to really get a feel of what a different country is like and it was honestly amazing I could go on and on for about it but I'm gonna cut it there but yeah so I think it was amazing and that is all we have great thank you okay we're going to move uh to our first public comment section accordance with scotch's public fet school bylaw 0164 0165 the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments maximum 3 minutes per speaker speakers addressing the superintendent business functions and other board business will be heard first if time remains speakers May address other matters speakers please State your full name in the town in which you reside please note boards use the public comment period is an opportunity to listen to Citizen concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and the individual members 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 or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his or her designate yeah Mr President if I may sure yeah before we go into uh public comment I just wanted to I see we have a lot of folks here tonight um some frequent flyers and some who uh are new faces just so I can kind of elaborate on the statement you just made about the process um you know when you come up for public comment Again State your your full name and the town which you reside um I'm the timekeeper for the evening so I will be keeping a timer if you start to hear an alarm go off uh that's not somebody in the audience being rude that's your three minutes are up um just try to finish up your comments um as those of you who have come here before know I don't shout you down but you know we do try to wrap you up and move you on because so other people can speak uh and if you have any questions you're certainly allowed to pose questions to the board I will uh let you know uh a little secret that I've uh given for many years which is I advise my clients not to respond to comments as it says in the the the statement from the school boards the the board typically doesn't respond to questions so if you stand up there and ask a question you're waiting for an answer all it's happening is your time is ticking by the purpose of public comment period for board meetings is so the board can hear your concerns and your comments not to engage as as the Schoolboard statement says a cross- examination or back and forth so just something to keep in mind you have three minutes uh uh just um uh the time is yours while you're up there so thank you thank you Mr President sure so I will will uh open up the first public comment section so if you have a public comment please come to the mic state your name and the town in which you reside good evening everyone my name is Nancy shahadi and I am from Fanwood um good evening everybody Dr mass and members of the school board tonight I want to take some time to address the letter that Dr Mass set on January second regarding the postponement of the elected public development session that sought to feature the book Mornings in Janine I felt that this book was a way to Foster dialogue about the plight of the Palestinian people as a Palestinian American with children in the district I was extremely disheartened to see that it had been postponed over the past few months since the start of the crisis overseas Dr MTI sent many emails highlighting the struggles of the Jewish Community which was sincere and heartfelt and appropriate I waited patiently for communication that also recog recognize the suffering of the Palestinian people but no such communication ever came instead I received an in an email that a book about Palestine is being postponed and what seemed like an active effort to silence Palestinian voices now I thought that our community would be open to conversations like this um but it seems like we may be diminishing Palestinian voices allowing misinformation and hate to Prevail I believe attempts to cancel speech amongst people with different views is what has caused much of the divisiveness that plagues our nation today I'm concerned about the message that we're sending to our children Palestinian Middle Eastern children of color what are we saying we're saying that there's no representation here for you that your existence is a a threat and it was heartbreakingly clear when I read that message that Palestinians are not worthy of understanding or discussion or humanization I'm not certain how familiar the board is tonight with what is happening in the Palestinian territory territories that that that are located inside of Israel I don't know if you've seen the bodies of children with missing limbs or the burnt and charred faces from the white phosphorous gas that has been routinely Unleashed on a civilian population or perhaps maybe you have heard of the mothers who are giving birth without anesthesia or the babies that have suffocated the NICU because an air strike hit the hospital and cut off the oxygen supply all of this and more is well documented by organizations like the World Health Organization Doctors Without Borders the UN and most recently the international court of justice so as you can see Dr MK why your diminishing of the Palestinian suffering while postponing the personal development like rubbing salt in the wound lastly I want to make a note that there was some sort of implication that Palestinians had anything to do with the swasa graffiti in the Terell Middle School there have been incidences of racist graffiti within the schools in the past so why are we now talking about it in the same breath as Palestinians Dr Mass I urge you to follow up follow up with your communication and your emails and stating and acknowledging the concerns that are raised here tonight and I want to end with this in one of your December emails you expressed something truly profound and uplifting you said and I quote to our Jewish students staff and families you are valued loved and welcomed in our schools now if we can all feel the same love and the same sense of belonging thank you thank [Applause] you hi good evening uh my name is Dr fiso Shaw I'm a in Scotch Plains and I also have a timer so I'm going to stop hopefully shter than three minutes I applaud you for your statement I appreciate that and I don't expect the board of education for the board to solve any conflicts my issue is as a parent the process is I think inherently flaud because the process allows in this case but in the future as well for any other issues whether it's race whether it's gender whether it's any type of discrimination it allows any member of a community to potentially impede your ability your staff's ability to learn about other cultures and that's my concern my my concern this is not a religious issue for me this is not a religious issue we have you know like I was very surprised that a religious member of the community had to be consulted about that I could understand if it's an you know ethnic type of thing Indians or pakistanis or anything like that you know I'm from Kashmir they're fighting over both of us but for us specifically this is a book about Palestinians is in the West Bank it has nothing to do with God it has nothing to do with October 7th and so this is just an ethnographic study of these people and it's fictitious now I understand I very much understand if the com if the author made some comments which were you know not supportive in general or maybe derogatory and I understand that and so that book we okay that's fine but my concern is that this process can can and often might be repeated in the future and that's where I have an issue as a parent I have no problems with staff whatever you guys want to do go for it you're doing a great job you guys did a great job during Co and I'm not here to complain about this but what I'm my concern is that um I don't think the process is articulated well enough and I think there's a lot of it just allows the squeakiest wheel to get to get too much noise in this regard and as you might have seen with what's going on in ruers there's a lot bigger fish to fry where student J I know student invoices for justice in Palestine literally had to go and fight the university to get back and be put on the thing this is like the 50s and 60s so my concern is I think as a parent and just as somebody who takes care of people from all different cultures and is that I just need a cleaner cleaner understanding in sorry in the future of so this doesn't happen because then I don't want people to come and say well you know your book is offensive your both talking about racism or talking about the Jim Crow era is offensive I don't want people to talk say that okay women suffrage issues is offensive to men it's just an open Pandora's Box where we can't even discuss anything at this point and staff development so thank you for time I appreciate it thank you hi good evening my name is Dr hna sha I am from Scotch Plains um my family and I moved here um almost a decade ago and the reason that we moved here was because of the diversity of the community and the reputation of the school district um we had the thinking that the children would be taught not just great academics but that um they would be confident learn how learn to develop that confidence in being who they are being themselves um but the last few months have been tough and disheartening due to um how the district chose to handle the current political crisis um I practice as um an adult but also Child and Adolescent psychiatrist um I can't tell you the number of Arab and Muslim Students or you know children that I see who not just in this district there are plenty in this District my children included um who feel that their voices are being silenced so what how are they being taught to be themselves how are they being taught that confidence to be critical thinkers what what's what's happening um you know they fear you know they they they feel as if their experiences and their grief don't matter um they fear that if they speak they will meet with the same fate that happened to that young boy in Illinois shortly after um this uh Crisis began so seeing how the situation has been handled I'm quite disappointed um in the district and that not making all the children feel safe or to be their true selves the postponement of this professional development gives that message that you know there's no inclusivity we do appreciate and we do thank you for your powerful statement that was made this evening Dr Mast um I think moving forward we would like to see that implemented and have more opportunities um for there to be inclusivity um for our children thank you thank you I am Brad Herman I'm from Scotch Plains tonight I will read you some quotes posted by a teacher from Evergreen Elementary School and I'll use abbreviations and call the individual teacher so from V to teacher so it says teacher if someone can't condemn the atrocities Hamas committed on October 7th then they are indeed supporting terrorists teacher replies V oh is that the new definition of terrorist supporters from my perspective the carpet bombing of Gaza by Israel constitutes genocidal ethnic cleansing of Palestinians for the Survivor struggling to live Israel's steps are acts of terrorism he replies teacher whatever your opinion of how Israel is conducting the war my statement above stands teacher replies V yep Israel has morphed into a terrorist state but perhaps from 1948 onward it always was in another post teacher writes V I am proudly not Zionist I do not believe in Israel's right to exist I believe in the Jewish right to exist and Thrive particularly here in America where I have a say I do not believe in their mythical biblical claim to Palestine no more than I believe I have a right to live in Palestine because my savior was born there she forgets her savior was a Jew born there in another reply where the uh V is saying that it's not acceptable for one of our public officials to act like this teacher replies V then it may be past time to publicly condemn the atrocities Israel has committed against Palestinians not doing so all these years is exactly what makes you beyond islamophobic you believe in the Israel aparti State's right to exist but not the Palestinian right to exist these are your and it's a play on the word fascist rasist views but you have clung to them for so long you can't see your support of the genocide of a people for what it is recently teacher writes today Rucker students for justice in Palestine reinstated the question to my mind was why are they suspended in the first place and now she goes and blames Dove Ben Shimon CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Metro West New Jersey the largest Jewish philanthropy in New Jersey took issue this time with Palestinian students or in Dub's words Mass apologists voicing solidarity and concern for human rights in Gaza how dare they care so much about the land their parents were chased from Dove raised his dough by sewing so nice little Trope there Discord wherever he goes New Jersey students pay the price another post where she blamed Dove Ben Shimon for the cancelling of the or the postponement of the professional development so CEO of whiy based Jewish Federation in Metro West has become very involved in determining what books are permissible for local students and even teachers to read he lobbied aggressively to protect 20 impressionable SPF teachers from becoming corrupted by reading Mornings in jenin FKA the scar of David by Susan abawa perlex PD that got my attention sorry dub guess what this SPF teacher is reading next anyway I know it's we're running out of time here but suffice it to say it is one thing to be highly critical of Israel be against the policies regarding Gaza since 2007 a lot lot of us are when Hamas violently wrestled control away from the Palestinian Authority be against settler violence in the West Bank dislike the lack of peace in the region and be concerned about Palestinian rights and the well-being of innocent civilians that is not anti-Semitism I want to be very clear about that here in the US we are critical about what our own country is doing at times it is quite another thing though to outright say that Israel has no right to exist that is anti-Semitism Israel is the only Jewish State saying that Israel has no right to exist is the same thing as saying that the Jewish people do not have a right to a Homeland um moreover just to mention 25% of the Israeli population are Arab Muslim and have the same rights as the Jews in Israel moreover I have one child left at Evergreen and he is a preschooler with an IEP I hope he never needs this teacher Services if he should need these teacher services I don't want her anywhere near him uh he has a Jewish first name and I don't want her anywhere close to him thank you thank [Music] you John Denning Scotch Plains on October 7th terrorist from Hamas not Palestinians not Muslims but Hamas terrorists fired thousands of Rockets from the territory under their control into Israel targeting and killing civilians they crossed from the Gaza Strip and attacked Israeli civilians and acted on orders to commit atrocities against civilians including women and children they abducted civilians and they are still held captive some of them this Slaughter was proportionately 15 times worse than the United States 9/11 Upon returning to Gaza they held their own people captive with the goal of maximizing their casualties among their own innocent civilian population augmenting this Slaughter yet strangely these events have touched off a wave of anti-israel protest and anti-Semitism around the world including in the walls of our own schools how does this come about the stated Reason by many is that they view the Jews as the oppressor class and the Palestinians as the victim class thus they believe that actions against all Jews are Justified even thousands of miles away to people unrelated to the conflict because they're guilt is the product of their rapes and their religion if this sounds dangerous it is if it sounds familiar in this room you would also be correct this is the core of the critical race theory that the district imported when they hired Dr ji lest we forget her denial of the humanity of millions of Georgians and when Dr Mass pared her by declaring a man's bad behavior was an expression of his race and religion without ever meeting him or knowing if the story was true I share this example to show how easily it can happen to the best of us and how this policy feeds division this district is again importing this idea of division and impressor and victim in the form of a book club where the administration deliberately picked a book and an author that share this philosophy I will use the book's original title the scar of David a direct attack upon the Jewish people and the symbol of their religion this would not be tolerated for anyone else it shows the author's true intent this is in contrast to the district's portrayal of this book as delving into Universal themes of shared humanity and love you need only look at the author's Facebook page to see their true feelings feelings that the district wants to hide she says Terrible Things even going so far as to call the huus attacks on international shipping including us ships as a legitimate and moral form of protest of what's going on to be clear anti-semitism anti-christianity anti-muslim and anti- any other group positions are poison this poison is manufactured from critical race Theory it does not build peace or understanding as a parent I know you don't feed your children poison you don't take the poison and sugarcoated you don't take the poison and dilute it you keep it out of your house and you keep its ingredients out of your house so I ask each board member individually Will you part company with this dangerous guilt by Association identity dogma and Will you part company with this author under the rules established and voted on by eight of you this board is required to respond to questions that are asked at it at this public meeting so I eagerly wait your reply and I'm sure the public does and if you would like I can read you the portion of the policy Mr Denning your time are you finished with your comment sir well I'm wondering if the board is going to meet their obligations under their policy would you to read it sir I explicitly addressed this before public comment the board will not be responding to questions this is not a question and answer uh you've made your statement may I read the policy to you no so your time has already expired thank you well I'll come back later and read it do how much time we have hi my name is Dina M hi Brahim I live in Scotch blains I want to start by thanking Dr mes for acknowledging Gaza today as a child I grew up in Scotch Plains I came here when I was 9 years old I spoke zero English and ever since I went to old schools here graduated from the high school and scotch in my home ever since when I grew up and became a mom I brought my two girls to live here because that's what I wanted them to grow up to have a great experience as I did as a child growing up here but today I'm disappointed because as a with a middle eastern background I feel our voices are not being heard with the email sent previously regarding the event that took place on October 7th you only supported the Jewish Community which is appreciated but not once have you mentioned Gaza and the children dying there every single day also canceling the special uh professional development the and it with the event that took place in the middle school had nothing to do with Palin we want to know why you reach CH the Jewish Community regarding the book if he had a problem with the author why did we not choose a different author instead does religion have to do anything with learning about Palestine we ask you Dr mes to send a statement addressing how in the previous emails you only chose to be on one side thank you thank you more time or that's we're at 15 minutes yes okay so there's another public portion coming up towards the end of the meeting unless you you want to do one more we can keep it open you can come up we'll keep it open good evening Mr Jones Dr mass and the members of the Board of Education we are here to share our concerns about the just your name Scott Plains and I knew that I had it the to we are here to share our concerns about the current structure of the JV ice hockey program on our Scotch Plains Fanwood High School website under Athletics there is a junior varsity freshman philosophy published for the benefit of parents and athletes ingrained in it various messages about the philosophy of Sports at this level the philosophy leads with the following sentence sub Varsity Athletics are an integral part of the success of the varsity program I will stop there and say that myself along with many other hockey parents couldn't agree more to the Board of Education members an email was sent on December 19 to the attention of Mr Miller Mr Jones and Dr Mass on behalf of hockey family signed by 15 those families the email requests the following considerations to be included in the budget for the 2425 school year a dedicated JV hockey coach to instruct and Lead these athletes at a more age appropriate level for their safety and refinement a more robust season of more than three or four games to allow the team to work together build cohesion and take themselves to the next level as we are to understand this current School Year's budget saw a reduction of the JV hockey program our our understanding that aside from competing in priorities One driver was the low number in the sport this will not be the scenario for the upcoming future ready to walk on the program next year is at least 10 season freshman hockey athletes that on average have been playing for at least six years they are ready to call themselves Raiders we are asking for you to receive them as Raiders appropriate for their level on the current varsity team there is one graduating senior depending on who earns the spots on Varsity next year the majority of these incoming students will compete on the JV team for the district they are ready and excited to compete as Raiders they need a dedicated coach to work with them and build the cohesion of a team that will be ready to fill future Varsity spots but they need a dedicated coach to bring them to the varsity level safely safety in hockey as in any sport is important New Jersey high school hockey is one of the most physical sports rivaling that of tackle football the speed is faster and the surface play it on is smaller with a Le less forgiving surrounding this is a collision sport many of the participants will be introduced to the more physical side of hockey for many hitting is relatively new it would be irresponsible for us as an institution of learning to put our younger and physically less developed student body on the ice without proper instruction on how to deliver and take a hit with the unavoidable size differences between a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old the results could be devastating and cause long-term effects for both parties of the play because our district has has had had historically no low numbers of athletes playing ice hockey our district has had to put those students on the bench at the varsity level a robust JV program that has a dedicated coach in a competitive season will allow athletes newer to the sport to participate safely and learn not only the sport but how to read the ice and prepare to protect themselves we believe a JB coach can take the time to properly identify areas of Correction and safety instruct the players on how to avoid highspeed collisions and what to do in those situations a newer a varsity coach does not have the time to lead their varsity team and instruct new athletes on how to play a JB coach can teach protect and Advance these athletes to the next level even Mr Miller stressed the importance of age appropriate competition and the physical stature of athletes between 18 and 14 when he spoke with the eighth grade parents at the high school on January 17th thank you thank you Brian Murphy from Scotch PL going pick up where she left off additionally given the expense the players are responsible to cover this year the cost of ice time per player was $890 the players deserve the individual attention a JV coach would provide and a greater number of competitive games to play so you know $890 got you practice and four games EXC me hockey is supposed to be a fun activity after all we need to develop a focused JV program the varsity coaches are already pulled in too many directions we need to focus on the younger athletes it is no surprise that High School athletics are under attack from Club programs in private School recruitment it is our fear that if we do not have a JV coach in place this will exacerbate the issue and cause even more students to not participate in our high school program pushing them further out of our community we still have the time to prepare for next year and we urge you to add the JV coaching position to the program ladies and gentlemen these athletes do not have a Friday night light they do not have the benefit of students leaving school in mass and going to their field to watch the game after school in fact their ice time typically starts at 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. on school nights but they do deserve uh as much as uh attention as our other athletes let them be proud to be a Raider at the JV level let them know their spot that is seen as a niche ma uh Niche sport matters give them a dedicated coach and an increased program with more games to allow them to grow into the competitive team that their talent allows again the junior varsity freshman philosophy posted on the athletic website States teams that have a subv varsity level are encouraged to create situations that allow for all the students to have game experience throughout the season again we completely agree these athletes need to play competitive at their level in order to build up their talent so that the Varity coach can uh receive a seasoned cohesive group members of the Board of Education we the hockey families of Scotch Plains Fanwood are as are asking that you vote to pass the 2425 school year budget that comes before you and ensure that there's a line item for athletics to reinstate the JV coach and the enhancement of more robust season thank you so much for your time thank you okay I'm going to close the first public portion um there is another one um towards the end of the meeting moving on to additional reports letters to the board uh eight emails were received by the public and were sent to the appropriate administrator and now we're going to move to committee reports anybody have committee reports M Williams thank you uh the wellness and Equity committee met on Monday at 6: p.m. and as Dr Mast stated we are um reviewing framework for making the district a better place where we all belong and we are reviewing the calendar um and just to reiterate what she said there is a shared commitment for an open dialogue in a collaborative manner that Fosters a sense of belonging and the committee is um passionate and committed to working on that um we had a nice discussion came up with a lot of ideas and our next meeting is February 8th 2024 that concludes my report thank you Miss Williams any questions for Miss Williams other committee reports Ser okay uh thank you Mr Murray the curriculum committee met on January 16th we discussed four items the first um was YouTube on student devices Dr dumes from netting ham came to speak on behalf of Elementary and Middle School administrators um that the administrators requested that students not have complete access to YouTube on their student devices um and cited research that that we've discussed before that kids having access to social media in younger and younger grades um research Bears out negative the negative impact of that and um so right now there are uh social media platforms like Tik Tok Instagram and others are restricted on school devices um sometimes YouTube is used for instruction um but YouTube will now be banned from uh student devices however teachers will still be able to like embed instructional videos and educational things um in a different way so that students won't have unfettered access to the YouTube app and I believe parents uh staff was made aware of that and parents um the community will be getting a letter so that they will be notified of that I believe tomorrow okay uh okay the second thing we discussed was governor Murphy's uh new resolution designating January as Muslim heritage month in New Jersey um and talking about that the legislator legislature in New Jersey has a commitment to recognizing the importance of Many religious and cultural Traditions um and so the social studies department has created curriculum connections that aim to connect this initiative to course proficiencies at various levels and developed essential questions from units of study for each grade um that instructors can access um offering different lessons that can be taught during Muslim Heritage Month um some connections are more direct than others but uh they're trying to connect um these lessons to to Big Ideas and Concepts that students have already learned or will be learning more about throughout the year not just in January uh some curricular connections include music art inventions and cultural contributions from the Muslim Community for teachers to review with students uh the committee also discussed um Holocaust studies and integrating it into Middle School courses uh that is another um uh mandate from the legislature um and the social studies department is examining where the Holocaust is taught currently in the curriculum and how to expand it into other grades throughout the Middle School school um and again to tie into discussions on human rights in in its European and Global units um study will will include also looking at various symbols um and tying it into discussions on on hate speech um and religious persecution throughout history and the last thing that we discussed we've been discussing over the period of months that the high impact tutoring competitive Grant Dr McGary updated us that over 75 staff members have offered to service tutors um this is a grant that was awarded to Scotch Plains Fanwood and um it was initially for um it's supposed to be for grades three and four the grant was put out there for um but we're going to be able to utilize the grant funds for grades three and four in English language arts um and math and then I think also um grades 5 through eight as well um and we are going to use the second map test in the winter to determine which students will receive supplementary tutoring um and again looking at other data to help us identify students who might be vulnerable and could benefit from tutoring through that Grant and our next meeting is February 13th and that's it thank you mrani any questions from Mr arani okay other committee reports M BR have a fin finance committee report we met on January 16th um some of this is a duplicate of what Mr Jones have said but uh we did a referendum update um we discussed the long range facilities plan it's a 5-year major Amendment we received a complete list of the projects identified through questionnaires architect findings grounds and building department and building principal requests some of these projects will be funded with the bond referendum and some with the capital reserve uh we reviewed an aerial level draft concept for 300 330 South Avenue we reviewed at high level the overall cost of the purchase renovation and expansion of 330 South Avenue there are still few studies to complete such as water sewer tra and traffic before the final figures can be formulated um we reviewed the timeline review uh plan September 2024 vote with March 2024 final plan submitted to the state the state then has 90 days to review we had an initial budget discussion enrollment Healthcare transportation technology costs um we discussed those costs Healthcare expected to increase 20% looking to decrease that with some negotiating Transportation currently on budget but we may need to add a bus route due to increasing enrollment and looking to hire a bus driver and the ESS funding is um going to expire um we we are we were going to have an audit report tonight but it's getting postponed to next month um and so we we can talk about that at that time um we discussed the resolutions um that are on the agenda tonight the referendum items the capital reserve the free and reduced lunch balance forgiveness that's um that has to do with um there's there's open balances for students that put in their free and reduced lunch uh paperwork late so we have to forgive those balances so that's what that's about esus remediation civil settlement agreement and the HR consultant and our next meeting is February 12th thank you Miss bro any questions for Miss bro any other committee reports okay thank you all uh enrollment report Mr Jones already commented on that earlier and uh we'll move over to superintendent motions number one is the I'm asking the board to approve out of District placements two I'm asking the board to approve the field trip requests three for the board to approve the seven hip cases discussed on December 21st and four I asked the board to approve the memorandum of agreement between between the district and law enforcement officials and five I'm asking the board to approve the revised calendar for this school year um which is really asking how we are um using uh any emergency days if we don't need them all for snow um the the College Board published their their um testing calendar after we published our calendar and there was a conflict with makeup days for AP testing so we just adjusted that um on the calendar we would um have off the Tuesday of Memorial Day weekend should we have um any excess emergency days rather than um the the Friday before because that Friday before is a makeup day so and do we we have a motion to approve so moved Miss Boward do we have a second second Miss Winkler any comments or questions all those in favor I opposed Mo carries on to Personnel I'm asking the board to approve the superintendent's recommendations for personnel that we discussed in exec this evening so m b do have a second second M BR any comments or questions okay Mr Jones please call the rooll Miss barve here Miss Bower uh yes Mrs borov here miss Brody yes Miss arani yes Miss Williams yes Miss Winkler yes Mr Murray yes motion carries on to board business uh Mr Jones your items y so one and two will push to February auditor was not able to make it tonight uh staff training is number three number four related service special ed students uh number five is um to help us in our search for a high school principal number six is uh what Miss Brody talked about free and reduced lunch uh balance forgiveness uh number seven library book disposal number eight is some um remediation of some known asbestos in a custodial closet uh number nine reading recovery training program 10 uh civil settlement agreement talked about um in executive session uh same with number 11 special ed settlement agreements discussed in executive session number 12 is approving our vendor for our um uh our bus repairs and this is on here because our our buses are reaching midlife and we really haven't had many repairs over the past few years and so they're starting to uh ramp up now in terms of repairs um and so uh at the end of last year and then again this year we've seen um uh some need for repairs that have started to pop up and we expect to continue uh 13 is um technical accounting so we approved this capital reserve release in the last fiscal year um so uh we need to approve it again because it wasn't spent at the end of last fiscal year we need to reapproved uh this year um but it was previously approved no additional money or anything like that uh 14 I discuss that's the the long range facility plan 15 is the uh option to purchase real estate agreement I discussed 16 due diligence for that building I discussed 17 is uh approving the project submissions for referendum paperwork which I previously discussed 18 additional due diligence including the traffic study and then uh 19 Fire and Security drills standard reports 1920 21 22 our standard reports uh every month 20 is financial reports 21 is dispersements and 22 is our payment of bills a motion so moved uh second second any comments or questions from Mr Jones on any of the items that we went through seeing none all those in favor I opposed motion carries moving on to approval of minutes we have a motion to approve the December 21 2023 public board meeting minutes as well as the January 4th annual organization minutes Miss Winkler do we have a second second miss borof the Ames very nice do we have any comments or questions on those minutes seeing none all those approved sorry all those in favor I opposed motion carries new board business do we have any new board business no new board business Le on reports Miss Bower um I just wanted to mention that the Garden State Coalition of schools uh met last week uh we had a very interesting presentation on AI um I think we all learned a lot realized we had a lot more to learn but uh it was excellent um and uh as usual uh there were also reports on uh various bills uh many were passed during the lame duck and uh one that um I'm sure the board has seen in their emails uh is related to uh the uh require reement new requirement that High School seniors have to um sign off or their parents sign off on submitting the FASA in order to graduate so I'm sure there'll be information coming out about that process and how that's happening here in Scotch Plains so it's another um topown requirement that's um probably unnecessary but well meant graduation requirement that's non-instructional right yes yes has nothing to do with their uh performance and studies so that's the unfortunate part um anyway it was um a good meeting and our next meeting is uh the middle of March thank you any questions from Miss Bard borov cpeg I got a cpeg update um um so cpag kicked off 2024 with their first meeting on January 8th um and we we had and drus correct me if I'm missing anything out here but um it was a really good discussion sort of just establishing what's going on in the various schools in the district we went over some of the training that takes place over the summer um with our staff um as it relates to special services um specifically um as it relates to dyslexia training um some programs walk a day in my shoes um so really the the point of cpeg again is for parents um of children who have are have um an i AP or 504k to help provide information and share with each other so this meeting was really about sharing resources um it was brought up and I I have been myself very impressed with but someone did mention how our teachers have become so creative um with their spaces in the schools but mostly appreciation for the flexible seating that we have um so that was an interesting thing um I know the department of say special services is as well as CAC representation trying to be present at orientations at um transitioning uh events for high school orientations the summer um so again uh anyway the next meeting is in this room on the I the first Monday I think it's the 7th but I will double the first Monday of the month the fifth four the fifth thank you that's it that's my thank you Miss B any other reports none workshops Workshop reports not a workshop report but I just wanted um we're supposed to request and I think the leadership conference request that Miss Winkler and I made was included in the staff um um portion that we reported earlier so um just so people know okay anyone else okay uh we have two resolutions for one for the month of January which is Schoolboard recognition month and one for Black History Month which is February anybody want to move the two resolutions almost serani Miss Winkler seconded do we have any comments or questions on any on these two resolutions okay all those in favor I motion carries we are now in our second public comment section in accordance with Scott's Public School byw 01641 0165 the meetings will be open for 15 minutes for public comment maximum 3 minutes per speaker speakers addressing superintendent items business function other board business will be heard first if time remains speakers May address other items speakers please State your full name and the town in which you reside please note board ches a public common period is an opportunity to listen to Citizen concerns but not to debate issues or entered into question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and the individual members 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 or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his her designate so I will now open up the second and final public comment section for 15 minutes so if you have a comment please come up state your name and the town in which you reside hello how are you guys thank you Dr Mass thank you board members so my English English is my second language we have a family that came as just I'm sorry just just state your name please in the town apologize sorry no problem Scotch thank you and also speak in the mic a little bit for all the people making public Comics uh some people who are live yeah lift it up people who are watching live couldn't hear some of the public comments thank you y uh again thank you Dr Mass thank you board members and thank you Dr mass for your powerful statement this is exactly where we're looking for from you know what we're trying to accomplish here is uh these kind of uh statements uh again this we came to this country as refugees from Iraq 15 years ago uh escaping the war and this country quickly became our home for our for my myself my wife and my kids we are raising our kids in here in this town that welcomed us uh with the Open Arms uh I just have two comments please uh uh again uh you know as other members of of the community stated that we were a little disappointed that we haven't had any communication regarding uh what is happening in Gaza despite the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis and immense number of innocent lives lost we all live in this community and it would be the right thing for our kids to learn about each other and the difficulties that we are all facing uh the the other thing the other point I have is we would like the school to reconsider the decision regarding the PD uh Are We Now Banning books in public schools that adults were interested in Reading uh just because some local religious leaders consider them controversial uh these are my not thank you so much thank you you Gary Morris andwood um I wanted to bring another library book to your attention it's called oric and CRA a novel by Margaret Atwood the following description of this book uh is actually on the library link website so this is on our website Jimmy perhaps the last living human unaltered by science struggles for survival in a postapocalyptic world as he tries to make sense of how everything went wrong mourning the loss of his beloved orex a girl he met through a kitty porn website and that's that's in our school Kitty porn uh on another another uh site this was the description the two friends first encountered orx on the net she was the 8-year-old star of a pedophilic film on a site called Hot Tots now again I think you know we're talking about banning books and things like this is not Banning books this is just keeping things appropriate for kids um if you want to have a uh professional development maybe read this book and have the teachers determine is this proper reading material for the kids in the school so now I have some really good news um the Fanwood Library the public library has now become a book Sanctuary so you can send an adult book that's for adults send it over to the the library put it in the adult section now parents have control over what their kids can see simple simple thing to do when it when it comes to a a controversial book like that and like I said it it's clearly an adult book um when it comes when it comes to this uh the issue with the um uh this professional development book again I think I think we got to be more proactive in what books we put in the library what books we're deciding to use for professional development we actually have resources here you could access for maybe a more appropriate book that maybe bring uh a a message that that that they would appreciate that's not as controversial an author and I know somebody said um uh about uh artists like well you got to separate the art from the artist well that's that's kind of true but when you when you get right down to it if if it was a book about trees and flowers but it's a the controversial statements she makes are directly related to what's in in the book and and so that's that's where it it you lose the trust when you see public State controversial statements like that that's where you lose it and and it I could be completely wrong and the book might be great but I won't read that book and I don't want my tax money going for a book where somebody's making those kind of statements and speaking of separating art from an artist look at Hunter Biden how is his art sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars you can't separate the art all the time from the art artist it probably should be like 10 15 bucks it's finger painting thank you Mr [Music] Morris John Dennings batch Plains I am used to the policies of this District being ignored the frequencies which they were ignored when I asked for them to be enforced to protect my children is leading cause why my children are no longer attending schools in this District because I felt so unsafe with them here this is the policy that I was referencing before all not some all statements questions inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer Mr Murray and any questions inquiries directed by a participant to another board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such question or inquiry shall be addressed by the presiding officer or on behalf of the board by the individual board member this is your policy there is nowhere in this that it allows you to Simply ignore questions brought to you by the public the words any and all they teach you not to put those in legal documents eight of you voted for this 2019 you have a hard job it takes courage you guys were elected you should have the courage to stand up in this meeting and say it is inappropriate to bring a book in here that was entitled the scar of David we can see its intent we can find a better book that highlights the plight of the Palestinian people without creating Division and you should have the courage to tell your superintendent and assistant superintendent that they need to do their job better that's your job is to make our schools better and and safer and I beg of you to have the courage to say that tonight so again I ask is it appropriate to bring this book and these ideas and this author into the district or can we do better that is my question to the board as per this policy you're supposed to respond as the presiding officer I'm choosing that we're not addressing thank you for your comment thank you for your courage any other public comments seeing none I will close this portion we will move on to upcoming meetings we have our regular meeting February 22nd 8:00 p.m. in this building and Thursday March 21st is the following meeting on 800m in this building I'll now move to the good of the order does anybody have anything for the good of the order I'd like to sorry I'd like to congratulate the PTA um Sue I know that um I I I was blown away by by Super Saturday Super Sports Saturday we had the family out I saw so many faces the the students the youth it was perfect I hope that you are all extremely proud proud of yourselves and the work that you did and thank you for thank you that the high school had their Pops concert last night and it was really wonderful just watching all the bands perform I watched it online but or watched clips of it too but it was really good so whatever I saw live was good too any other other good to the order yes sure I want to mention that uh we recently had our Martin Luther King Day of Service which went really really well it was a a wonderful Community event I want to thank Stephanie because she was on the planning committee for that um of course I thank all the people on the planning committee but you happen to be the one who's here um I also want to congratulate Dr mass as she won the Martin Luther King Day of Service award this year congratulations to Youk anyone Miss bow I wanted to uh recognize one of our teachers Ryan McKenna who was chosen for a uh summer uh Fullbright uh trip to South Korea this coming summer he'll be a Fullbright scholar uh along with some other teachers from New Jersey and he's the one who recently um uh hosted the um and helped plan the exchange with the South Korean School uh that took place in the fall and he um is uh during the course of the 3 weeks weeks that he'll be in South Korea uh it happens they will be visiting that school so that's very exciting so proud of him very any other good of the order oh and guys be careful out there at drop off I'm actually interested in uh hearing more about Barcelona at some point so maybe we'll we'll have to have a a follow-up session on that because it sounded like it was a good trip anyone else go to the order no do we have a motion to adjourn so move M wners second Miss Williams any comments or questions all those in favor I oppos motion carries we're adjourned thank you everybody