##VIDEO ID:LkiyBbo0p7w## e e e e e e e e e e e know how to M's mic on no problem ready all right good evening everyone we're going to get started with the Pledge of Allegiance please rise I pledge Ali to the the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liberty Justice thank you okay roll call please Mrs Harold Mr Pico Mr Valley Mr Ardo here Mr ynam here Mr muscatello here M Shari here we have a qu thank you sunshine law this is to advise the general public and to instruct that it be recorded in the minutes that in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act Stan hope Board of Education located at 24 Valley Road Stan Hope New Jersey has caused this notice to be posted at the office of the Stan hope Board of Education mailed to the the New Jersey Herald the municipal clerk of the burough of Stan hope the Stan hope post office and posted at the Valley Road school and on the Stan hope Public Schools website setting forth the time date and location of the meeting the stanh Hope School District in partnership with the community commits to provide a quality comprehensive education for all Learners with equal emphasis on academic excellence and citizenship through values respect and service our vision is to inspire and cultivate a community of innovative curious compassionate globally minded Learners equipped with knowledge problemsolving skills and the ability to persevere to make a positive impact on society and shape a better future okay uh an executive session will be held tonight for the purpose of student confidentiality formal action may be taken and with that we are moving to presentations right away so okay I'm going to actually move over to the podium grab my surprise underneath so welcome everybody tonight I really appreciate you being here um for those of you who most of you I'm sure are here for honorable recognition uh it's actually a really great night to be at our board because we're going to honor a couple very special community volunteers uh who have served time on our Board of Education um and uh are are gracefully stepping away uh the very first person that I'd like to thank uh has served a full term here on our board uh and has done so uh with great enthusiasm um Mr Tom Valley thank you so much this is your last meeting with us if you don't mind coming on up the board has a token appreciation appreciate it thank you guys thank you I uh I prepared a statement for uh our next board member that we want to recognize and uh I decided last minute to not read it um this is my 11th school year here in Stan hope um Mr Gil moscatello uh has been here supporting me supporting our staff our Administration and our teachers for my entire tenure here uh he's actually served on the board for 15 years um for those of you who don't understand it's a volunteer position uh that honestly doesn't get a whole lot of credit um he's been a part of some of the most significant decisions that have helped shape our school as it is right now now uh he's been a part of some of the most significant um actionable items that this uh school district has uh seen in in many years we've sold a building we've passed a referendum we've done more projects than I want to even think about at this point over the last just few years alone uh serving for at least 10 years as the board's president uh and offering such distinguished and proud leadership um I'd like to recognize Mr Gil moscatello come on [Applause] up [Applause] um thank you the board didn't get anything for you to go home with you're going to leave your legacy here though as the board tonight will vote to rename our stem La the moscatello center for [Applause] Innovation any other family wants to come up and take some pictures you're welcome [Applause] to it's uh it's an honor that is well deserved um and I for one am very proud to have the moscatello name um hanging in the halls of Valley rad school and for those of you who don't know he's actually on the wall of fame at westm Central as an administrator his thank you [Applause] that is my plan that's my CH okay I'll have Alicia hand is that okay I just need to say a few words after that um I'll take that off your hand I I have to say it was uh I spent 41 years in education and the last couple years I was on the board here and uh I have to say being on the board here was one of the most enjoyable things I ever entered into on a volunteer basis um I think Steve is right I think we accomplished an incredible amount of things over the last 15 years um I'm not going to go through a laundry list of items but when I first came on the board some of you may not have been here but the the district was in turmoil we were losing students to other District districts we we were just not in a good place uh we made some hard decisions as board and the one thing that I found was the most significant and it comes from my training as an educator you win with people and you need the right administrators that's once you get the right people in place everything else Falls in and it wasn't long after we hired Tim he hired Tim ninski he hired Steve and you could see the changes happening automatically because they're good administrators along with that that doesn't happen unless you have great board members I was fortunate for 15 years and 10 years as president I cannot say there was one board member we had here who wasn't interested in kids first education and a community support around our school every single one without fail came with that nobody had an act to grind and when everybody's pulling the rope in the same direction you can get an awful lot done so my thanks to you as a board and all members that were here and I thank the community for your support over the 15 years and again I thank you uh it's my Italian in me anyway I thank you very much uh for your time and support for this thank you [Applause] all right Mr D come on up second presentation and the reason most of you are here tonight is to uh recognize our hardworking students uh for their academic achievements in the first marking period Circle um achieving honor rooll in our Middle School means that these students achieved all A's and B's for the marking period um high honor role which I'll recognize after I read my first group of names are the students who achieve Straight A's um I feel like every time we do this I have a a larger stack of papers to hand out um and it's definitely not because our expectations are limited or lessened uh our students are rising to the challenge um our parents are supporting them as well as they ever have um um you know one thing I'm proud of there's lots of things that I'm proud of in this school uh but one thing that that I want to recognize is of every single District in Sussex County we are one of three that do not need to complete a corrective action plan for student attendance this year and that's because kids are coming to school because they want to come to school and because our Community Values education and when you're in school you can have thick stacks of Honor rooll uh recognition um to hand out a board meeting so thank you all thank you for braving this ugly weather that we have uh so students when you hear your name please come on up Miss dialo will uh give you your certificate please pause for a moment in case your parents Guardians family want to take a quick picture smile big and again congratulations and thank you for being here uh so first I'd like to bring up Violet blly Churchwell Brook [Applause] B that's yours Nathan [Applause] sampa Ava Dominguez [Applause] [Music] Malia Fernandez Leah Gonzalez [Applause] Diaz Gregory Hansen Levi [Applause] [Applause] hattenbach Rosalie Lama Kamal [Applause] Nelson Madison shavo Julia volani [Applause] Alysia green Violet [Applause] hanusek Juliet Hines Katherine [Applause] Lang Olivia yo [Applause] [Applause] Abigail [Applause] Andrews Aiden [Applause] Bruner Amy deselen [Applause] Claire [Applause] Frank Jack Gada Morgan kopic Kylie McDonald [Applause] Tabitha Mueller Caitlyn ' Conor Cena OS Emily Perry Joshua Perry Kathleen Pano Angelina robbles [Applause] chess Roth Lucas Sanders oina Twan Ava vaugh [Applause] Sienna zapar that's just our honor rooll next up is our high honor rooll students that achieve Straight A's for the marking period uh Amaya ARA Aro Cruz [Applause] Donna o [Applause] alas Dan bitez Leah buck [Applause] alesandro de [Applause] Martino Deon milanovic [Applause] Faith [Applause] Anderson John banini Jacob Campbell [Applause] Kylie [Applause] Hoffman s Morales [Applause] [Music] Hannah [Applause] Sharin Scarlet Stanfield [Applause] and Bren [Applause] lights thank you all right in a moment Mrs uh sharpstein is going to bring us into executive session uh we anticipate this to be about 30 minutes for anybody who's interested and willing to stay and listen to the rest of our business uh for those of you who are on your way out thank you again for being here uh congrats to your kids and thanks for your continued support have a good night just [Applause] okay coming with us we're not done not done not done all right can I have a motion for executive please second thank you uh be it resolved that the stano Board of Education adopts the following resolution whereas the open public meetings act chapter 231 of 1975 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances and whereas the Stan hope board of education is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist now therefore be it resolved that the Stan hope Board of Education County of Sussex and state of New Jersey that a closed session of this board of education where the public shall be excluded will be held at this time for the purpose of student confidentiality be it further resolved that the action of the board with regard to the above entitled matter shall be disclosed to the public at a later date and to the extent that the same is not prejudicial to the interests of the parties involved and would not result in a possible invasion of their right to privacy uh Voice vote please all in favor any n Nays extensions okay executive session all right we're going to head over to the stem lab the MOs MOS e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] thank you good very well okay can I have a motion to reenter public session motion second second thank you voice vote all in favor all hi hi nose d y that brings us back to you superintendent report all right I got a short one today which is nice I think it's the shortest I've ever had um so for HIV suspension um we just uh discussed we had one confirmed HIV since our last meeting uh and one student served one day of in school suspension uh we had our Winter concert last Thursday uh which was also very well attended um our students perform per Med wonderfully uh we had uh first and second grade uh that performed and they sang we had our chorus we had our fifth grade band we had our full band and we had a special guest conductor uh laaia green came in for the last song and did a wonderful job um congrats to the students thank you for the to the parents for coming out and supporting the program uh and thank you to Mr bar our Music Teacher band instructor choir director uh for all of his hard work um and in preparing the students and uh uh facilitating the event um and the last item I have is just a congratulations to uh Mrs Morrison for uh being nominated and voted as our Governor's educator of the Year our teacher of the year award for this year uh and our guidance counselor uh Miss Capa uh for winning the ed Service professional uh of the Year award um both of these individuals uh will be recognized at a a special luncheon in May at perona farms um and uh we're just very appreciative of of all of their hard work and expertise in supporting our kids and supporting our parents that okay uh Personnel curriculum School climate and culture all you my yep um I think the biggest thing we discussed is a submission from uh I'm allowed to share that right regards retirement I'm sorry I'm not used to yes it's on the agenda yeah uh the biggest thing we discussed was uh Kathy yonai uh will be retiring in July which will leave Steve missing an arm but in saying that and a leg um so that that was the B biggest takeaway uh that was really it it was a really really short meeting uh we also had one resignation I believe and that was it okay questions all right business services okay first we uh Steve went over the election results and uh congratulations Avery I saw her here congratulations uh she was one je I the car was the second um and there were uh 42 votes for rying and I'm not sure what characters were there if Mickey Mouse was in on that you know but there were 42 writings um I think it was you pardon I think it was you no no that's how I started with a ran that's actually a ran my first year um next uh was the calendar for 25 um they were waiting for the release of the budget calendar I checked with Steve that still hasn't come out so that calendar is not fully developed yet and that goes down to number four on our Cal on our agenda was the drafted budget calendar obvious obiously they can't do that until they get the state aid figures and uh dates from the state um on your agenda tonight we talked about the sidebar with Paris that pulled uh that get substitute duties during the day uh we discussed that we've discussed that at a previous meeting also uh about that sidebar um science lab re Renovations going forward I'm sorry I skipped one the underground storage tank um looking for approv at this meeting and uh that's funded through the referendum and a cost of about uh 79,000 and the work to be completed over the summer which should not interfere with schools or anything like that so there were some issues with how much sidewalk would be needed and stuff like that but that's we'll find out once it's out of the ground uh the the science lab Renovations um again approved this December and looking for work to start soon uh the summer and um everything's in place except for one quote on a on a water spet installation yeah so just an update on that that's going to just be we have enough money in allowances where they're not they didn't issue us a different quote they'll just pull money from there it shouldn't be a significant amount of money okay uh just to to to bring running water outside uh to support the garden and the pond and anything else that we're looking to do in the courtyard next was a possible Music Room renovation which will include a buildout for private instruction and that's an interior buildout we're not there's no plan to change the footprint of the building and uh add some uh music store musical instrument storage and some general storage inside that room um from what I understand it's uh uh needed very much needed in in there um and door hardware and updates um I'm tying those two together because those are coming out of capital outlay uh from our um own funds and um as part of that capital outlay budget and they're looking to complete with the right quotes in 2025 right if I just kind of add to that a little bit because it's been a topic of conversation for some time the the door project um we have uh we did have the doors quoted um I asked them to to quote us with an upgraded um security door handle um um the door handle has a push button lock on the inside of the door uh the purpose of that would allow for greater ease for teachers to lock the door in case of an emergency um whereas the door then doesn't have to stay locked all of the time like it does right now currently our door our practice is for the doors to stay locked we have a magnet that covers the the latch so that in case of an emergency they don't have to fiddle with keys they can just move the magnet up close the door and and were locked um this would alleviate that the inside of the door also has um when the door is locked it says locked when it's unlocked it says unlocked so you know everybody on the inside would know Gil brought up a very uh valid point and questions at our last uh committee meeting uh about the the the safety and um how common it is to use this type of of door in a classroom citing concerns of a teach te potentially getting locked out of the classroom by a student right which could be very possible I did speak to uh uh the contractor at CNM doors he said that these doors are are lately very commonly installed in classrooms or as classroom handles um obviously that concern is there uh but teachers would have to be aware a don't leave your leave your classroom if there's no other adults in the classroom and B you should still have your key on you at all times which is a current practice that we have um the other change which I think also alleviates that issue is currently every single door is is um keyed for a specific key so teacher in room one can't unlock room two right and vice versa um it's it's more common that there's a single uh key for teachers in general that can open any teacher door uh it would not only alleviate a lot of head headaches on our end when we distribute keys to substitutes in the morning but if a teacher if teacher in room one gets locked out teacher in room two can then support them and unlock the door for them as opposed to then having to get an administrator or somebody from the office to unlock the door um so I feel pretty comfortable after speaking with CNM do uh that this although that there are concerns those the concerns of the current structure that we have would outweigh the the safer alternative um so the quote that we already got also includes um the security film on the Windows uh so that it's it's more challenging for somebody to break the windows and access uh the room through there um and the only reason we don't have the quote on the agenda for tonight is because I'm still awaiting an additional security feature we want to get prices for a keyless entry uh where you can use your swipe card just like you uh get into the building um my guess is that that's probably going to be cost prohibitive but i' I'd rather get the quoteny uh and then the other option would be a punch uh a keypad so that again you don't need your key necessarily you could just punch in a code and open the door um everything will though have a a key function where if you forgot your code if you got your swipe you can still get into the to the classroom with a a regular key so so right now the quote is currently at about $300,000 which is right in the neighborhood of of kind of what I expect um I don't know what those other features will be but once we have them we'll bring them to the board before uh a decision and recommendation um is made Gil mentioned that we're looking to to use capital reserve funds um our capital reserve is very very healthy right now um so to me it would make sense to draw that down for these projects and we I I can't I can't guarantee what we're going to have in future years but we now have a long history over several years of finishing the year with a with a surplus which would then allow us to take a lot of that Surplus money and then redistribute it back to capital reserve I don't feel comfortable at this point adding to our currently healthy capital reserve without drawing it down it allows us to do these one-time projects without over straining our yearly budget sorry I didn't mean so no that's great can I ask a question on that um first off excellent thank you that sounds like great news to me um is there a master key of course administrators facilities just like we do now would have a master key that can access any lock in the building we have a lock box as a facility that where it's accessed by the police and fire and a copy of that would be in there for emergency services excellent and then with the the push mechanism is it like a lever where it locks that way or is it an electronic button that goes uh you mean like the Locking button on the it's it's it's just like it's similar to what you would see like in somebody's home right it's just got the the regular push button on the handle to lock it and if and if you turn the handle it'll un from the inside it'll unlock it's self-explanatory great news thank you yeah there was just one one last item and that was the resignation there was a business office that was Kim Campa uh we hired her three years ago two years ago almost three years ago three years ago she uh she took a full-time position in another school district yep we uh we already started interview process we had second interviews today with two candidates um Carissa Dan and I uh interviewed them um both very very strong candidates they could not be more opposite for what they potentially could bring to our district uh and to be quite honest with you I think all three of us are very torn in the direction that we want to go but we do plan to reconvene over a nice holiday lunch tomorrow and hopefully decide who we want to uh offer a position to the all right questions comments all right just thanks for all the work on that especially the security Y and that is then with you Tom policy Communications sure so we had a a brief policy and Communications meeting no uh formal updates or first readings this evening there's just been some informal discussion in in education world and jsba as far as potential changes to or recommended changes to Student Records policies nothing has formalized at this point uh just some discussion as to whether or not not there might be some discussion if that is uh the case policy committee will be picking up with it in the new year um and at that point more would be communicated to the board but really no updates to speak of from the the policy committee I saying we can provide a brief update on that in that our attorney dit o Pine in our policy is what it should be and what it needs to be even going forward so no recommended like language change in terms of Student Records so we're in good shape there we did receive a nice thick policy alert though yesterday okay um don't I don't know if it'll with the holidays if it'll be reviewed in time for our committee of the whole in January I will try but if not then we'll review it in February okay there's nothing pressing uh Gil oh questions for Tom uh sus at Services um again I'm leaving that board also so um I I I feel they're in great shape the enrollment is strong their uh project search is strong um fully staffed uh right now we are um looking to expand a little bit the building next door I think I told you uh Road Leaf left it they're looking to rent it the problem is it's just a little too big you know what I mean we we could use probably three or four classrooms they may have eight or 10 classrooms so it's you know can you afford that or not and they're looking at the possibility to be able to rent it but be able to sublease out those other other areas maybe to companies or businesses or something else so they're they're looking to uh to expand a little bit there um all as well there our our ba is new and uh he's just got his hands full at this time we're just finishing up negotiations we're in the middle of his first audit you know it's those kinds of things are just collapsing in on him so it's it's pretty hard time up there for him but he's he's getting it all done so uh we're happy about that and um that's been a great run also up there that's a great place a great resource for for the county and uh uh Andrew Rano the superintendent up there is very proactive around and uh uh is on top of a lot of things I think she helped provide some help for us with the prek right for um people and and some experience there anybody else questions thank you all right so so um for me board president report a couple of things one I wanted to highlight I went to the New Jersey school board's uh County meeting uh on December 2nd somewhere around there uh and the center for prevention and counseling presented specifically on Sussex County um drug and alcohol use and what is happening and what kids are and are not doing and how they're getting access and what they're using and just some interesting points to highlight um 67% of adolescence who drink will drink before Who start drinking before the age of 15 will tral LED drugs and this is purely Sussex County data that they're they're using um they highlighted the fact that um alcohol manufacturers in particular are selling to kids for example there's a product on the market now called Sunny D with vodka so kids see it it's Sunny D if it's in the refrigerator if they don't even know that it's alcoholic possibly when they're drinking it I have a picture of it here but I'll pass that around but it's it's actually like looks like a Sunny Delight case yeah so um and then what I really found interesting was um apparently weed is stronger which is part of what the issue is um they said in the before 1990s um weed was about 2% concentrate uh and then it was went up to 4% during the 90s when Edibles came out and now they are growing cannabis flowers that are 30% concentrate and concentrating them even more up to 95% potency in the products that are being marketed so that's part of what the uh extreme issues are there um overall though they had a little good news in that drug use overall in the county does seem to be down for Sussex County youths um but they they get about 22 new cases every week reported uh up to the Center for counseling and prevention so it was a very interesting presentation um definitely some things I didn't think that I would hear uh and there is policy in place um under 18a uh the school has policy that directs teachers administrators and staff on what to do if there is suspected drug use um you know I checked we all have the policy in place so they just outlined what the policy was and then um there is some legislation that might be going through that might change Health standards and uh you know an overdose prevention act that might come out so we'll see what happens in the legislative session in 2025 so I encourage everyone if you can ever get to the county meetings they do present some pretty good topics um and on that there will be a call for officers for the county uh coming out between January and March if anybody is interested in county office Pres president vice president for legislation and vice president for County activities which is the people who set these agendas for what the county talks about um that will be coming up um quick update on regionalization there's been no changes just so we all know nothing has moved yet there we still have the Grant application in our possession um there is a desire by all four boards we uh met with and spoke with Rowan University which is an Institute of Higher Learning which can do the feasibility study Keen University can also do the study so there's a desire to meet with Keen before we finalize the Grant application and make sure that all four boards agree with who we're going to select as the vendor to do the feasibility study so uh right now those meetings haven't been scheduled we're waiting to hear back from Kean and then we'll move forward from there uh on the regionalization Grant application so and then nothing happens until we actually are awarded the grant hopefully so there's still some time on the process there but the Grant application is still not submitted until we can sit down and talk to Keen as well okay um and then the only other thing I will ask we will have our reorganization meeting on January 7th for those of you returning to the board and new board members uh so please put some thought into if you want to be president vice president what committees you would want to be on in the new year so that we can have all of that uh upfront and ready for discussions in January questions comments is it going to be six o'clock or 7 o'clock we're starting at yes starting early yeah you got to keep on reminding me you know how I get it 6 o'cl January 7th okay no questions that brings us to public session number one no okay all right so hearing no public we will move on travel and workshop reports uh questions or comments on those no all right uh can I have a motion please for minutes no moves second all right and this will be a Voice vote any discussion or questions okay all in favor say I I yes NOS abstentions clear administrative action items one through three can I have a motion please this comes in there's a fourth item I'll this out as you do your thing you don't mind passing that down it's fine yes y uh so I'll just read it very quickly so upon recommendation superintendent motion to approve the following administrative action item be it resolved stanh hope Board of Education hereby formerly names classroom number two as the moscatello center for innovation in recognition of the dedication and over 15 years of service of Gil moscatello to the Stan Hope School District effective immediately so that is our additional item number four questions or comments thank you you'll have to abstain can V for himself here I'm okay can I have a roll call vote please yeah we did the motion in a second right got that did we do I thought I'll grab it I don't think so I no I stopped you because I wanted stop me okay can I have a motion please thank [Music] you all right so Mrs Harold yes Mr Pico yes Mr Valley yes Mr vardo yes Mr Yak yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharpstein motions C thank you thank you very much wonderful honor okay education one through three can I have a motion please motion go ahead thank you motion a second second all right we got school trips basketball team tournaments and student handbook for eligibility for sports could just speak to that briefly uh so we're looking or I'm I'm recommending we make a slight revision to the student handbook to recog recognize and memorialize a practice that we've had in place now for several years the the main reason I wanted to make sure that we memorialize it is a to make it more clear for students for staff and for parents but also knowing that the board has interest in reviewing that handbook that's that code of conduct in its totality so I feel as though it's important for it to really reflect what's what the practices actually are right now so that when it's reviewed we can have those discussions uh so it was just one small section for student eligibility that outlines uh if a student um is is uh is failing classes uh they for that time become academically ineligible until they can then um improve their grade and demonstrate that they are then eligible again it's not a standall if you fail a marking like high schools right if you are below a certain GPA or if you fail a class you're out for the season um we are we've actively been taking the approach that are well you can't anticipate if you're if you're failing but if you demonstrate the ability to improve your grade and show us that you're willing to put the time and effort in then you're your suspension your probation will be lifted and then you'll be able to participate again questions okay hearing none roll call vote please Mrs heral yes Mr Pico yes Mr Valley yes Mr vardo yes Mr yam yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharpstein yes motions carry person action items can I have a motion please moved second please second thank you uh items 1 through 7 item one delegating Authority for hiring to Mr Higman right let's see during the period December 19th next available meeting yes yeah that's the main reason for that is that we if we identify and have an acceptance for the business office position I'd like to be able to bring them in before our January meeting uh and we are still looking for one power professional at this time okay and then you see items two and three there are our res ation and our retirement yeah I we already spoke a little bit about Miss sampa um I just wanted to take a moment to uh to point out number two uh retirement of Kathy yonai after serving what will be uh more than 12 years in our district uh she is the ultimate behind the scenes um Powerhouse of of our school there's so much that that happens because of her uh and she's going to be such a significant loss um her she's such a team player that she resigned from her position 6 months before she had to uh so that we would have the opportunity to effectively recruit for the position and train so that she's not leaving me specifically or anybody else high and dry so um I it's been an honor and a privilege to work with Kathy I'm excited to have six more months in working with her uh she'll definitely be missed and um yeah just wanted to make sure that we brought that to attention other questions question or comments okay we plan on continuing the veterans uh appreciation ceremony right probably my top source of of anxiety um with her not being here uh she's now done it for like 11 12 years in a row um but yes that's we feel strongly that that's something we want to continue I just can't guarantee that the first year without her will will be the same but we'll do our best we'll do our best consultant possibly possible roll call vote please Mrs Harold yes Mr Pico yes Mrs Mr Valley yes Mr vardo yes Mr yagnam yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharpstein motions Business Services 1 through 13 can I have a motion please motion second please second thank you moment to look them over discussion questions comments number 13 there is a big one science classrooms okay a roll call vote please Mrs heral yes Mr Pico Mr Valley Mr vardo Mr yagnam Mr muscatello Mrs sharpstein motions Carri okay anybody have any new business they'd like to bring up for the board this isn't really new business I just want to remind Gil take your name tag home I'm not allowed to I'm I think you are right you can we'll figure it out thank you any other new business old business I have some old business um some time ago I had brought up to the board uh some potential usage for the property that we own I mentioned the idea of figuring out a fundraiser of some sorts for some type of nature walk or 5K event to Showcase this opportunity that we have here as a district which I think is really awesome so uh I've come up with uh two-fold project that I'm calling uh Chargers path project Chargers path one of which is a fundraiser that I would work with the HSA with and why I'm bringing this up to the board is because we would need your permission uh to to use the property uh as well as um you know just potentially help out with some of the logistics uh behind it so I'd like to touch on that first as I sat in a meeting with the HSA last night and I brought it to their attention and everyone was really excited about it I filled did a lot of questions um so basically how it works is I mapped out a five K route uh that would start right here at Valley Road School unfortunately due to some restrictions we would be needing to use stanh hope burrow and lenp Valley's property as well to get to the access of the trails that we currently have there um I don't think that'll be a issue or hurdle for us um I think they'd be more than happy to let us do that uh I have the map here of the route which I'm going to pass out to you guys to see uh but it's definitely something I feel um strongly about in terms of being able to engage the community get a lot of participation raise some money for HSA and also bring more awareness to this awesome opportunity that we have here right in our backyard um so that's kind of phase one with the fundraiser and I'll pass these out and we'll talk and ask questions uh phase two project Chargers path uh again is um something that I think is more longterm and I feel really passionate about and that's creating entrances of trails from our property onto Bard ofed property and continuing a trail system within that property so we don't need to go through Stan hope we don't need to go through lenpy uh we could have our own system of trails right here um and why I think that's super important uh for a couple reasons um being outdoors is not only good for you physically it's good for you mentally and when thinking about our students and everything that they're dealing with in this you know time with social media and everything having access to Safe Outdoors is is is something I feel really strong and passionate about so just not to keep you here long Gil but just to throw some stats at you um the CDC in 2023 stated that four and 10 students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and in 2023 two and 10 or about 20% of students seriously considered attempting suicide so when we talk about the mental health of our students um and we talk about ways that we can try to improve that within the district and what we're doing as a board having access to um some safe outdoor spaces is really beneficial for a few reasons uh it's proven that being outdoors can help reduce stress and anxiety can reprove improve your mood it can lower risk of depression can improve your concentration if you tie exercise into that you have the release of endorphins the possibilities are endless and it's actually something being done to help these kids and to give them new ways to uh experience something they may not traditionally do at home or on their own time um so we talked about the possibility of doing the fundraiser that gets engagement it gets the community involved um but by blazing new trails and getting permission from the board to do that we can leave directly from our school and and walk into property that we own that we can grow and create and develop with the school um we can have and obviously down the road there's lots of fun things we can do to create an educational experience for these students uh to help them be active outdoors in nature and to introduce these kids to that experience it's done wonders for me it's done wonders for my family uh and it's something I feel really strongly about um as a district as a community I mean it's a competitive mope having this property for us to utilize for ourselves we can create value for our district and our community we can want people to move here and see what we're doing um you know we can really be very in Innovative in using this property to our advantage so um I feel strongly about it I would really like to continue talks with the board uh I'm happy to answer any questions about either one of the phases tonight obviously there's a lot that goes into it um there's not a tremendous amount of resources because I would take on a lot of the responsibility of doing most of this and I don't really need much other than permission in everyone's you know sense of camaraderie behind it so to speak but uh I'm going to pass out the maps of the 5K route so that you guys can see them Carmen if you wouldn't mind just passing these down here for me [Music] okay and then I'll just highlight real quickly it's a one and a half mile Loop that we would do twice I think that should be it so if we go to there's only two pages I was going to print out all these slides for everyone but I think I ran out of Pap I just saw your email as we sat down tonight no sweat at all um so the race would start in the corner of the parking lot by the little School uh by the little playground over there where there's that direct access to the Wood Trail system right there which really unique about this race is that it's almost entirely on Trails other than the pave path that connects lenp to um you know Valley Road school over here in this side of Stan hope it's technical it's challenging and it's super fun um the idea would be we could have a 5K race but also a nature walk so that it's very inclusive to people who don't want to run it who don't want to do that but they just want to come out and see what we have get out in nature and support the HSA um so it's a really good opportunity to do that this Loop uh is about 1.53 miles you add the start and doing the loop twice we're right out of 5K it works out perfectly um the start and finish again would be in the corner parking lot over by the small playground over there and uh it's a lot of fun and there's a really really big awesome Hill in the back uh that makes the climb worthwhile when you get to the top so uh it's just something I think you guys should consider and again happy to answer any questions are there going to be any markings on all these turns I will Mark the entire course we'll Blaze the trails uh I for a little background Carmen I spend an entire year working with race directors in Sussex County I put on 5K events I've put on 100 kilometer events over 60 miles I have marked the course I have breaken I've broken down the courses I know what goes into these events I've put them on I've done them so this is relatively very easy to do I asked that question because I was looking at the map when I got to the one at one turn I'd go around and not go straight and up and around I would mark it so you wouldn't get lost not that I'm capable of just an overhead of of of what being used okay first off thank you so much for all the research so far that's gone into it and I love the visual because that really helps me see what it is had I I don't know if you've looked into it yet or not I'm just curious the impact from liability standpoint um as far as like does our current insurance cover got forbid if somebody got hurt or because I'd be that person i' be the follow over and get hurt person how it works outside of this in the private sector is uh you know you need to obtain an event permit of a special event Insurance permit so to speak when talking with the HSA they were going to contact their provider and see what they need to you know make sure that it's conducive for this as it would fall under their insurance I'm happy to work with our board's attorney to to just cross our tees and Dot our eyes to make sure that we are fully covered to to host events like this um my recommendation was to work closely with the HSA because we know that they have a their their insurance right uh and they could most directly benefit from fundraising events like this so with all of those pieces together I see no reason why we couldn't support this this effort um and to be honest with you I love the idea so much I I would like to even consider other opportunities that possibly bringing other organizations in to utilize our property to run events like this right there's no reason for it just to benefit us should be able to benefit the the broader Community I know a handful of race directors that would love to be able to pay to use the space the other question I would add to that is I know some of that is designated wetlands and I don't know if we are allowed to do certain things on that land so we need to figure that out as well and I don't know who owns that decision right um but we know part of the business is designated wetlands and its protected space sure so I don't know about the human impact there either so we talked about looping in uh Brian mcney at the Town um again involving our our attorney I'm sure that they uh will have their you know architect uh probably take a look at it there's definitely work involved oh without a doubt to that there's lots of parks that have wetlands in them where they have Trails over them so who do we talk to how do we do it I know it's possible but yeah I think it's going to be an ongoing conversation especially creating trails to gain access from here right just you use that term several times Trails so what we're looking at here is going to be a trail is going to be obvious that that's a running path cindered or it's just it's just going to be marked through the woods and you get from point everything you see here is is already there it's a trail I don't need to blaze any of this I just need to Mark the course so uh everything I'm not creating any of this this is already there uh and it's it will be marked so any race you're going to have arrows you're going to have Flags you're going to have tape it's it's just like any other course you could imagine used the more clear it will be that it's a path yeah the reason the reason for that question is that if it's if this going to this is obvious this is a running path for do we have any responsibilities when it's not an event well no uh I mean I'm not quite sure I wouldn't think it would be any different than somebody coming to our campus to use the playground that's why I'm asking the question I mean somebody walks up from the the you know High Point they use the swings they use our playground you know it's no the same level of insurance that we would have there would be the same level of insurance that we have here right as long as it's insured it should be fine you and I was going to say people are already using it no yeah so it's the the liability is already there and to share some insight U number one great you're your passion and excitement for this gets me excited even thinking about it because the possibilities even with things like Girls on the Run go figure it's a 5k that's that's what they're running cross country opportun cross country opportunities we used to run that back in lenti I used to run track we used to run back in those woods I used to walk to school from the condos same Trails the trails are there yep there's really not a lot to do but the markings will really help I just have one I'm a paranoid person when it comes to Nature and I just want to throw it on your radar are there I never seen any bears back there I grew up in this town I've never seen a bear back there I used to walk to school every day uh do we know if there's any bears but they're everywhere that's okay they don't just stay back there down by my house they they go all all over stand they've probably been in your your your backyard you haven't oh I see them they've eaten my garbage plenty of times uh the reason why I bring that up if there's maybe things along the trail whether if it's horn or maast I could be set up for people to grab once again I'm one of those paranoid dads that always think about what if is there's be any type of research on to see what they do in those situations like going to a state park they're going to have your board how you can be prepared uh I don't know from a liability standpoint if we should have mace on a tree um see I wouldn't but uh they will but maybe having some sort of sign on how to protect yourself what to do if you encounter same principles apply I think for this so many trails throughout our state that so many people aren't even aware of that people are using on a daily basis right so this is not a New Concept you know this is I I've run a lot of trails around here and I I trust your experience Jud miles and especially back here um definitely want to meet with Mr mcney with me taking the boundary maps that you sent I feel confident we are not on the property that butts up to our um ours I feel like we are on here um again this does utilize Stan hope burrow and lenpy so we'll need their permission as well which I don't think we'll have an issue um but moving forward if we did want to create Trails I was going to spend some time making a map of what that would look like from our property that I'll present to you guys at a further date just one last question from our property line to here I have a general sense it's like down the hill over that way how much distance would need to be cleared out just ballparking not as much as you think so I had an idea of doing two locations so you mentioned walking from the condos up on that pave path we can put an entrance and then right next to the playground that youth playground we can put an entrance and surprisingly there's quite a few Trail that connect and meet in this Central Area I would say probably 40 yards in so it's not too far but it would require decent amount of work to get that connection there um I was back there for about four hours a couple weeks ago um mapped it out and you know I feel confident that be able to do it no problem again focus on the wetlands get permission what does it look like uh but you know be a cool Central space that's close to school to be able to have access to y great great thank you very good so two lap two laps would be 3K so you would do two laps and then finish it would be a five Kil correct it's challenging so uh you're going to get about over 420t of elevation at the end of the race which for 5K is a lot of elevation um you know anytime you're over 100 feet a mile it's it's fun that one on so it's a hike I mean the idea to have a hike too so people could just go and walk nice and you look up yeah so the school would be on your right there's a nice Lake over there that you know I think it's all kind of joined together it's a great idea yeah exciting any other old business um one quick thing I know when we last met last board meeting you had no interest in student leas on to the board of ed uh I it's not that I have no interest no I didn't mean you I meant the students had no interest I have not to be quite honest with you I have not put it out to the rest of the middle school it's on my to-do list it's been on my to-do list ever since it's been a pretty wild month which I have to say it's the first wild month we've had this school year um so you know riding into the break I still have every intention to reach out and even if it's just for part of the Year getting one of our sixth or seventh graders who are interested some experience um I'd still like to do that uh but I have not yet put it out to to the sixth and seventh grade well and even if they could start in January and run it through December because if it's a sixth or seventh grader they'll be here so that would be great okay anything else public session number two all right hearing none can I have a motion for adjournment motion second all right Voice vote please all in favor any anybody say no no extensions all right just a brief thank you to all of you you been a pleasure serving with you some of you for many years some of you just for a short period of time but I meant what I said uh over the 15 years every board member that sat at this table has come with one thing eyes ideas like Matt's got here of improvements for what we do and uh no act to grind that's what's what is best for the kids what's best for our communities and it seems work well