evening this Trenton Board of Education is now open would you please um stand for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all roll call Yolanda Lopez present Joel truart Jean buoy present Addie Daniels Lane present Austin Edwards present Denise Johnson present Sasa Manana present Jeanie weum present Larry trailer present we have a quarum we also have present our student board member she's not okay thank thank you the New Jersey Sunshine Law the New Jersey public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public B public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted on on the rules of this act the Trenton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting by publicizing the date time and place therefore posted on the web page the times and the start Ledger formal action will take place at this meeting our mission statement all students will graduate with a vision for their future motivated to learn continually and prepared to succeed in their choice of college or career may I please have a motion to adopt today's agenda so moved second um sorry I need to give me one second we have a couple of amendments here teaching and learning no there's something El resources resources teaching Lear okay I ask to move the agenda with the following amendments to the teaching and learning we have a resolution to approve a dissertation in Human Resources we have um additional Creations new hires transfers contractual entitlements and sampen appointments and an amendment to the executive agenda adding the matter of board grievance number 05 to 23-10 032 now so moved second roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Jean buoy yes Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes jeie wum Addie Daniels Lane yes yes Sasa mat yes Larry trailer yes motion passed at this time I'm going to have our superintendent present to us our um uh our students our Superstars Superstars yes so uh just want to welcome [Applause] everyone just want to welcome everyone to this spring evening or spring week uh supposed to be warm and what a a great treat to have our young people in front of us performing this evening tonight you get to hear from The Talented hedg pth Williams uh band and choir uh and I'm just going to share a little bit of information and I'll let them take off so we're so excited to hear them this evening and uh Miss Hill did we have art oh we do have the art uh so I can make sure that I call attention to the arch um Beth Williams Intermediate Schools presentation will celebrate Black History Month uh and commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to desegregate Junior High School Number Two The Band will perform my girl led by Mr Danny Hall and the choir will sing an original song his light still shines honoring Dr Martin Luther King written by Les by Dr Dr Lena Yuri the art display depicts students interpretations of the hedgpeth and Williams story it was created under the direction of Miss Colleen yesman who exposed students to various art mediums and gen genres without further Ado I present to you the hpth Williams team band and crew [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] this good evening to Trenton's Board of Education members our superintendent Mr Earl our principal Miss hill our vice principal Mr Green our teachers our vice principal wait our teachers and parents from hedgepath Williams Middle School of the Arts we greet and honor you all we're going to sing a tribute to Dr to Dr Martin Luther King Jr called his light still shines that was written by our Music Teacher Dr Yuri accompanying us on keyboard will be Mr Hall our instrumental music [Applause] teacher although Dr Keen is no longer with us his dream of freedom and equality for all of us still lives and his life still signes [Music] if there are any empty seats those that are standing would you please take those empty seats thank you right Mr Mosley let us know when we're good to go are we good to go good evening welcome back uh thank you again to our students from hedgpeth Williams um we're so excited to start to Spring off that way and look forward to so much more from our young people this evening we have uh two presid presentations uh we have an Ethics presentation that we would like to share with the board uh Miss Maryann Freedman from NJ school boards will provide our ethics presentation today so come on up oh okay good evening everybody thank you so much for having me they say in the entertainment field Never follow children oh well it's great to be here I used to have I am your field service representative for Mercer County I used to have Mercer County from 2011 to 2014 and I'm very grateful to have you back again so without further Ado I'm going to start off this is about ethics for school board members and so our disclaimer is really about if you have any con any kind of um questions about conflicts of interest or things that might be legal or unlegal to do for as board members you can speak with me you can speak with one of our Attorneys at njba or you can speak to your board attorney so this is not a legal presentation this is an Ethics presentation from a field service perspective and a board member perspective so is it okay if I turn this way okay there we go okay so Public Service really is a core value that that you are elected to serve and that hope will provide you with a lot of reward um my nine years on my board of local Board of Education um was not always fun it was hard it was difficult at some points in time but it was also very rewarding so I want to thank you for everything that you're doing for your students your staff and your community so the school ethics Act was developed in 1991 by the legislature and it was essential that the conduct of board members and board officials and school officials en enveloped the trust and evoke the trust and confidence of the people and then nine years later they came up with um ways that you can avoid conduct that might Mis lead to mistrust and um lack of Confidence from the um from the public so the school ethics act established the school ethics commission or the SEC for tonight's purposes the SEC is the school ethics commission and not the um Securities Exchange Commission um prohibited acts will Pro will tell you about the conflicts of interest that you may have mandatory training requirements for board members and I'll go over those in a few minutes the code of ethics which was developed nine years after the Act was established and then disclosure statements so anybody who is new to the board this year as of January will have already completed those personal financial um disclosure statements and then anybody who's been on the board from last year you will need to do those by April 30th of this year so who's accountable the conflicts of interest and the disclosure statements pertain to all school officials and you are school officials as board members so board members and Charter School trustees are School Board officials professional njsba staff and officers we have to complete all of this information as well they apply to us and then administrators anybody who holds a certificate that allows them to either make recommendations to appoint staff or acquisition of property and services and then the code of ethics and mandatory training applies to school board members and charter school board members only so who enforces the act the SEC is made up of nine people they are appoin these by the governor there are nine total two school board members five school non-school officials and two School administrators and they make up the nine members that are appointed by the governor for a three-year term not more than five can be from any one political party so it's meant to be really bipartisan and the's jurisdiction is there are two things that they can do they can look at advisory opinions and advisory opinions are um only available to um be written by school officials and that's about something that hasn't happened yet but you think may happen so for instance when I got onto my board of education way back when dinosaurs roam the Earth one of the other women who ran at the same time came to the board after we were sworn in and said we had April elections at the time and said my husband is thinking of running for Our Town Council would there be any conflicts of interest if he is elected so we asked for an advisory opinion and we got back from the SEC a very nice letter that talked about the thing if he was elected the things that she would not be able to participate in if he participated in them from a Township committee perspective and those things were any shared service that we might do with the Town Council any land that we might try and acquire from the township and then remember when you had April elections back in those days when there were November election no November elections you had to take your if your budget failed in the vote you had to go to your Town Council and ask them to hold you kind of in in the place that you were so if we were if we had to do that she would not be able to go to the Town Council and speak to them if her husband was going to be part of body that created the decision as to whether we would lose money or maintain our budget so that's something that's only done on a proposed level you don't it hasn't happened yet and then ethics complaints are acts of complaints that anyone can file anyone can file an Ethics complaint against a board member and these are things that have they feel have happened acts that have already happened so something that has already taken place and the SEC has let us know that in any given year on an average on a yearly average there are about 85 ethics complaints that are filed and about 35 advisory opinions that are filed so if you see something from the SEC and it has a c in front of the numbers the sequence of numbers it's a complaint if there's an a it's an advisory opinion that they um adjudicate it on so what training is mandatory as you all know anybody who was just sworn in in January as a new board member needs to take governance one Within 90 days that's new it HP it occurred with April elections last year but it just started for um November elections for this year for people who were sworn in in January and new board member orientation gives people the skills that the state feels are um are necessary for them to become a good board member so it talks about board governance it talks about cusac it talks about HIV harassment intimidation and bullying the superintendent's evaluation the open public meeting meetings Act and the code of ethics then in year two of a three-year term board members need to go and take governance to which is about finance and labor labor relations by the end of year three you would need to take governance three which is about student achievement any reelected year so any fourth year any reelected year after your first term you would take governance for and that's about legal updates and jsba is the official organization that is designed to has been um charged with providing all of the training for board members and we do that through in-person training live virtual training and a self-paced online training and I understand that everybody is in good stead and in good good um good stad in terms of their their training so the other piece to the the um the ethics act are the disclosure statements and they're personal financial and relative disclosure statements so anybody who is new would have had to have completed those by January 30th within 30 days of their starting their service then anybody who's returning so all of you who are returning board members you'll need to complete those by April 30th and then the penalties that are provided by the SEC or that are put into effect by the SEC are um preliminary decisions and then they go to the commissioner for formal approval so what they can do is they can ask the commissioner for a reprimand and that's a rebuke by the commissioner that what somebody did should not have happened a censure is a formal dispro disapproval by the commissioner and that needs to be read at a board meeting Open Session and there's a resolution that needs to be read States who the board member was and what their violation was suspension will bar somebody from engaging in any board activity for a certain period of time and it's a designated period of time that they decide and then remove removal is immediate termination so all of those things are proposed by the SEC and then they go to the the commissioner of education for final approval so I'm going to go through the code of ethics pretty quickly um the first one is there there are 10 the first one is I'll up hold and enforce all laws rules and regulations of the State Board of Ed and court orders pertaining to schools desired changes shall be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures the standards that you see below are what you would have to prove as evidence if you were accusing somebody of violating tenant a okay so for each tenant of the code of ethics the standards change the second is I'll make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and we'll seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability race Creed sex or social standing so again the standards are what you would have to use as evidence to prove that somebody violated that tenant the third is confined my board action to policymaking planning and appraisal and will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them and this is your main respon one of your main responsibilities is to be a policy-making body those policies will usually come to you with the recommendation of the superintendent do you use Strauss Esme do you use us okay so you'll get recommendations from Strauss Esme I really encourage you to look at those recommendations that they make and any revisions that they propose to you because it's often that you have to fill in blanks as to who's going to be responsible for pieces of that policy and what I found even on when I was on my board is that sometimes um we would just blanketly approve the policy and we were told very quickly that no you have to make sure that you're inserting who's responsible for all of these things okay D is to carry out my responsibility not to ADM Minister but together with my for fellow board members to see that the schools are well run this is about not micromanaging the district okay going through the chain of command which I'll go through in a little bit and really to make sure that you are permitting your superintendent who is your one employee of the board the one person that you employ is administering to the schools okay so you're up in the balcony looking down over all of Trenton and making decisions as to what's in the best interest of all of the in Trenton based on the recommendations of the superintendent e is I'll recognize that Authority rests with the Board of Education and make no personal promises or take any private action that may compromise the board so this is really important also you really need to stay as bipartisan as you can as non-political as you can and look at what's in the best interest of all of the students here and follow the and you can approve or you can you can yay or nay a recommendation from the superintendent but you really need to take into strong consideration what the recommendation is from the superintendent okay and also make no personal promises so if somebody calls you and asks you to handle their transportation problem or another problem you need to refer them back to the chain of command and then let the superintendent probably in the board president know that Mrs fredman called she was not happy with the transportation that her daughter has I'm using myself as an example and I let her then I let that um Mrs fredman know what the chain of command was and the chain of command is in place to get the situation resolved in the most expedient way okay because if somebody goes right to the superintendent or if a board member tries to take that issue on it elongates the problem it doesn't satisfactorily resolve it in any short period of time it takes even longer I'll refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest par partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends this is really important also you need to make sure that you're staying nonpartisan that you're doing what's in the best interest of all of the students here in Trenton this is a big one I'll hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would need needlessly injure individuals or the schools and in all other matters I'll provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members in interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its school this is that situation where I always say remember the the commercials what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas from several years ago what happens in executive has to stay in executive session okay it doesn't get broadcasted out to anybody if somebody can't attend that particular executive session because they have a conflict it doesn't mean that board members call them on their way home and say this is what you missed the the conflicts of interest have been developed and identified as protections for the individual board members then for the board and then for the district it's not a punishment so if you have a family member an immediate family member or relative who works in the district those conflicts are to protect you from being accused of doing something that would be favorable in the favor of your family member or relative next I'll vote to appoint the best qualified person available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer so as I said you have a right to say yay or nay to a vote and a recommendation from the superintendent but you really need to take into strong consideration what he's proposing and what he's recommending to you he has the educational background the experience and the certification to make those recommendations and they come from where he feels what are in the best interest of all of your students I'll support and protect School personnel and proper performance of their of their duties this is about making sure that if you're out on the ball field or you're at the basketball courts or wherever you are at the soccer field that if somebody's talking about a a parent is talking about a staff member you're not engaging in that conversation okay because you can easily be accused of not supporting District Personnel in the proper performance of their duties and then last I'll refer all complaints to the chief chief administrative officer and act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution so this is where that chain of command comes in so the chain of command really has been developed it to be able to handle issues in the most expedient way so you need to know from a parent perspective and Community perspective what the chain of command is for folks and then for staff it's usually outlined in their negotiated agreement okay so for issues that are brought to you by parents or community members or staff this is not soliciting those issues or those problems by going into the schools and saying so how's that new math program that we just approved or how's that new science program what do you think of this or that if you have to go into the schools to pick up your child do so be pleasant be cordial to the staff but you don't want to be asking questions so you're not soliciting and then you're going to ref refer the member to the lowest level in the chain so say it was a transportation issue you would refer them back to the bus driver then to the transportation coordinator then to perhaps the principal of their school maybe to an assistant superintendent and then to the superintendent and then if the superintendent is unable to resolve that problem it would come to the board of education so you are literally the court of last resort okay and then as I said after you've done that you've referred P the um folks through the chain of command you let the superintendent probably the board pres CC the board president so she's aware also and that lets them know that you've done your due diligence in providing that information to the public okay some cases that were related to the code of ethics I'm going to send you this PowerPoint tonight so you'll be able to go through and you can click on any of those see the c98 D21 that was a complaint so that's where that c comes in and then it's always followed by four numbers two numbers a dash and then two more numbers the the last two numbers are the year that it came that it was adjudicated by the the school ethics commission so all of these had a violation of e nor take any private action that may compromise the board the first one was a board member copied and pasted information from a board email that contained non-public information and sent it out to forward it it to school officials okay they revealed board's intercommunication that had potential to compromise the board the information was considered confidential as the board hadn't yet voted on the contents and so the SEC recommended a repand that has not been decided yet by the commissioner when we um developed this program another one was a member sent an email from a district account to a known political entity misrepresenting the intent of a rally at the district they were using board using the board email gave the impression that the statements were on behalf of the board so that was considered a violation and a repr command and then you can see some of these other ones I'm not going to go through them all for you because I'm going to trust you to read them when you get them and again you can click on that those links and you'll be able to see what the full decision was some other cases um a member accused the superintendent of changing a graduation date due to a personal conflict the same member a secretary of a local organization was told by the principal that the chorus wouldn't be able to perform in an annual event so they texted the chus teacher to question why so this was a violation that put the chorus teacher in um in an uncomfortable situation and was tand amount actually to an investigation being done by the board member to find out why the coral concert was cancelled okay um there's a bunch of other ones in here that again I'm going to let you read through these so prohibited acts these are acts that can cause a conflict of interest you need to recuse yourself if there's a benefit to you as a school official or to your immediate family due to any business interest position to secure unwarranted privileges advantages or employment Financial implo impairment involvement that may impair your objectivity service or employment that may Prejudice your independent judgment gift favor or Etc offered with intent to influence and then financial gain and in any of the conflicts you would not the board member would not be able to participate in the discussion or in the vote and if you go into executive session the board member would have to stay out for that part of the discussion okay and then would not be able to vote when they came out so this is about conflict and recusal so a lot of times board members have been abstaining from decisions when they are really in conflict and a if you have a conflict of interest so you have an immediate family member or relative who's working in the district you would want to recuse yourself that's an alert that you have a conflict of interest an exstension is when you don't feel you have enough information to make a decision okay so use an exstension if you don't feel you have enough info and use a recusal if you have a conflict of interest relationship definitions you probably remember those of you who are on the bed board for a while that immediate family member was one thing and a relative was a very short list of people that list has grown to include just about everybody but the kitchen sank okay okay so an immediate family member is a spouse civil union domestic partner or dependent child residing in the same household and a relative is all of those other things so it's civil domestic partner parent child sibling Aunt uncle niece nephew grandparent grandchild son daughter-in-law stepparent stepchild step brother step sister and the list goes on okay so if you have any of those folks that are related to you that are working in the district you want to let your board attorney know who they are and what that relationship is so that they can make sure that they're helping to protect you because as you know most of the time when you're voting on a Personnel item it may be a person the person's number okay you're not going to know who the number is and if it's a student it's also a number so for instance when I was on my board my daughter had Mono and she was out for gonna be out for a couple of months and so she needed to have homeschooling I walked into the building and there was was a homeschooling with a student number I didn't know that that was my daughter so the ba came over to me and the board attorney came over as I was walking in and said by the way this particular motion you need to recuse yourself from because that's Eva so you can't you can't um app you know approve a motion or deny a motion on somebody Who You're related to okay this is a list that I think you have at your table already I think Miss Howard gave those put those out for everybody who's board member that's only part of the list the list is a full 8 and a half by 11 it'll tell you pretty much everything you want to know this just came out last year and we have applauded this from the SEC because it's made things a little bit clearer so you have that list in your in your packet so for hiring and Personnel if once you're elected to the board and you've been sworn in the board the superintendent and the board cannot hire a family member or a relative that is is related to you as a board member okay so this is really important because as you know if you have daughters they may get married and have a different last name than you so those things are all pretty important and that's why most applications in school districts now ask are you related to any any board member that's Seated on the board okay so they wouldn't be able to hire unless there's an exception okay if it's a really difficult position to hire for the superintendent can then go to the executive county superintendent and ask them to wave that that has been done in certain circumstances okay but that's also a process um if the relative already works in the district and the administrator and they're a relative of the administrator the administrator cannot supervise them or make any Personnel recommendations or any salary recommendations anything like that over somebody that they're that is their relative and a board member can't take part if you have a family member or relative take part in anybody in the chain of supervision above your family member so if they're a teacher that means the principal most likely an assistant principal a principal perhaps a supervisor going up to assistant superintendent and up to an including the superintendent okay so you wouldn't be able to participate in anyone in the chain of supervision above your family member or relative and then a board member wouldn't be able to take if you have a family member or relative it working in the district you wouldn't be able to take part in a superintendent search or go to cont or approve a contract to go with a search consultant if if and when the superintendent was leaving okay in terms of collective bargaining if the if the you are have a spouse a dependent child or a child that's not a dependent or a relative that works in the district you're not going to be able to participate in negotiations nor vote to ratify the contract if it's yourself that works in another District so working out of District means in another school district your spouse or a dependent child you wouldn't be able to participate in negotiations but you may be able to ratify the contract as long as you yourself your spouse or your child or relative are not leaders in that Association in that other District okay so if they sit at the negotiations table and it's your spouse or a Jew you would not be able to participate even to ratify the contract but if they're not they're a staff member they have nothing to do with the Union activity of being at the negotiations table for that particular District you would probably be able to ratify and if it's a child that's not a dependent or a relative that works in another District again boring any other conflicts you probably can participate in negotiations and in ratifying the contract so other possible conflicts of are if the person or relative is not in the unit but their terms of employment are linked to the unit and that's what often happens with a family member or relative who's working in another District if you're all under the njaa umbrella then your terms of of the contract are are linked if you're supervised by employees in the unit or if immediate family has that heightened Union involvement that I just spoke about also back in two thou back in 2008 or nine I believe it was the SEC said that anybody who was running for a board who was endorsed by the Union by the Teachers Association of that District they would not be able to participate in negotiations for their first year now it's being done on a case-by Case basis so if there's not um been any Financial involvement the association hasn't given you money towards your your campaign um you may be able to participate so those would all be done on an advisory opinion type of basis okay these are some of the advisory opinions I or cases that were related to prohibitive acts so you see the a those are all advisory opinions the C was a complaint and those you'll be able to read about as I send you all this information impact on committee assignments this is very new um this came out probably last fall a board president is has a child who is an assistant um instructional assistant in the district and several board members brought charges against her for saying that she was violating the code of ethics because she had appointed chair people and as the president you know you appoint chair people of your committees and you can also appoint the committee members so they said that there was a conflict of interest this SEC found that if the board president has a family member or relative working in the district they may not choose the chair or members and or Serv on any committee that remotely touches or directly relates to their family member's employment including but not limited to Personnel negotiations instructional and finance committees this was a big big big change okay then in another case a board member's spouse was a 10-month employee in the technology department so it wasn't the board president or a vice president but they were F they were told that they couldn't be involved in any committees that remotely touch upon or directly relate to their spouse's employment including without limitation Personnel negotiations and or finance committee so this came about and has really restricted what family me people board members who have family members or relatives working in the district can participate in um these were impacts on Executive session a member attended the executive session discussion on candidates to fill a v Bo board vacancy seat and her husband had applied no can't do that okay board president attended multiple discussions on a matter involving their spouse other board members were unaware that the spouse was related to the board member and so there was a censure on all of those okay because and in both of those the um the board attorney had said they had asked the board attorney if they could attend the board attorney had said yes and the SEC said you should have enough common sense to know that with all of these conflicts of interest that you're taught about in you know new board member orientation and everything else and in getting your ethics training that you wouldn't be able to do that okay volunteering in the schools you are all people who deeply care about your community and your staff and the parents in your in your school district and so most of you probably came from a volunteer position within the schools right so if you would like to participate in something Vol in a volunteer aspect in the school district we ask the asks you to take a look at how much involvement you would have in the schools would somebody be able to think that you are um really embedded in the school in the workings of the school district okay so if it's a class parent or read Across America or something like that as long as you're not going to be perceived as being embedded in the school District if it's read Across America it's one time not a problem okay just send the the superintendent a quick email Mrs so and so asked me or Mr so and so asked me to Comm in for R Across America I'll be in this school from this particular time on that day I promise you I'm not sick this is from having had laryngitis for two weeks in October and we're all trying to figure out why this persists but I'm usually good for about 15 minutes and then I start to go downhill but I'm really not sick um so you want to look at the degree of involvement that you would have class parents we find that some class parents in some school in some elementary schools in the same district may ask a class parent to come in once a month another school in that same district may say I'd like my the teachers may say I'd like my class parent in three times a week three times a week would be a problem okay according to the SEC one time a month is not a problem you also want to look at whether you're going to be in mes in the building or embedded in the building you want to make sure that you're not handling money so if you're in the PTO or the PTA don't count money don't handle money don't collect money don't take money to the bank okay don't go to deposit money don't touch the money it's for your it's really for your benefit that you're not touching any money because it's an absolute way and this is how board members have been accused of stealing or misplacing money so you just don't want to have anything to do with that and then when I first got on the board um back in 1999 I'm pretty sure board members could be coaches in the school volunteer coaches in the school district you can't do that any longer okay so no volunteer coaching for a school district Club sport or activity you want to advise the superintendent of what you're doing when you're doing it how long you're going to be there and then you also want to make sure you're refraining from any kind of board discussion or voting with whoever it is that you're with okay and always be cognizant of the acts so in terms of voting we really want you to be able to vote on the recommendations of the superintendent taking them into strong consideration ask questions about those if you have them but you we're not suggesting by any stretch that you just rubber stamp anything you have the ability to vote yay or nay okay it just can't be for arbitrary or capricious reasons social media this is the bane of everybody's existence today okay be very very careful I'm grateful that got I I got off of my board just the social media was moving in so you want to make sure that if you say something on social media that's about the school or the district that somebody can't perceive you as speaking for the board or having the authority to speak for the board so there's a disclaimer that I'm going to show you but even the disclaimer doesn't give you a get out of jail free pass okay because it thank you um so you have to be concerned about the content of what's in the post okay not so much whether you've used the proper disclaimer if you say and there is a disclaimer that you'll see in a second but if you use any kind of a disclaimer that says I'm not I'm a board member but I'm speaking on my own own personal behalf I'm not speaking as an author as I've not been given Authority by this board to speak for them nor am I speaking for the board nor does my opinion necessarily reflect that of the board okay you're probably okay but again if that content gives somebody the impression that you are speaking for the board that's where the problems come in so another situation was a board member asked if as a private citizen it would violate the ACT if they answered operational questions about the the district on Facebook operational belongs to the superintendent the superintendent is the district spokesperson okay you have that in your policy the board president is your spokesperson for the board so this person really shouldn't be talking about making you know doing an FAQ or giving information on operational issues of the district they don't represent the board they're not the board president so you want to make sure that as a board member you're directing people towards the district website to the district for that information about things that are going on in the district okay we want everybody to go to the board and to the district website so that they can get that information or the district social media accounts okay this is your disclaimer the following statements are made in my capacity as a private citizen and not in my capacity as a board member these statements are ALS so not representative of the board or its individual members and solely represent my own personal opinions so Q&A if you use a disclaimer does that automatically protect you from being in violation no because the content of what you say the SEC may say that the average person in your community would not be able to discern that you were not speaking for the Board of Education what could cause me to be in violation the content okay the content of your post your blog your podcast whatever if I don't use the disclaimer does that mean that I'm automatically in violation no it's based on the content and the perception matter and then do I need to use the exact disclaimer no you don't but we do recommend that you use that disclaimer okay other social media guidance once you're elected to the board it's no longer appropriate to use your campaign chain your campaign page okay so put that on pause pause or inactivate that until you're running again for the board because if you're using that as a as a campaign page and now you're elected people are going to feel that you are speaking as a board member and why would they not okay then if you have a social media account that indicates that you are a board member that is suggested that you do not have that either okay you can have a Maryann if I was on the Trenton Board I could have a Maryann Freedman Facebook page I could have a Maran fredman Instagram account but I'm not talking about board business in any of those areas and I don't identify myself as a board in those areas so I might be talking about a book club that I'm in or about a crafting club or a quilting club that I'm in but not about board um board business liking or sharing a post the mere liking or sharing of a post does not indicate that you support that but the SEC advises you to really think about how it's going to be perceived okay and then use of divisive language board members should always refrain from inappropriate Communications that have no place in the educational setting okay and remember your public does decide by their voting now they vote now on your positions so they will decide who they feel are the appropriate people to sit at this table okay just about done not [Applause] bad I know for you guys this is really probably terribly boring and I am sorry um points to consider njsba recommends that you keep a list of board members who have family members or relatives that are working in the district and have a conflict and review that on a regular basis consult with your board attorney on any areas that you may feel may be a conflict of interest for you and continue to check Schoolboard notes board members may not deliberately disregard or ignore the ethical standards they're required by law to uphold and enforce when board members do so it not only threatens the Integrity of the board but also unnecessarily compromises District personnel and subverts the Very purpose for which board members are elected namely to serve the needs of the school district and its students okay some resources for you I'm going to be sending this to you tonight soon as I get home and do you have any questions does the board have any questions any questions from the from the board members I I have one if you're conflicted is can you do like a blanket recusal of anything to do with that school you would you would really need that would put your ba in a difficult position because they would have to be able to be sure that they're recognizing everything it's really better for you as an individual to recuse yourself from the things that you need to recuse from and be mindful of about um groupings you know if you if somebody makes a motion for a through z or something within a certain area you really have to make sure because there have been ethics um decisions on that where a board member said that they voted on the the grouping and not didn't realize that their family member was in that grouping okay so you have to really pay attention to any groupings any things that are grouped together okay but it's it's really up to the board member to make that that recusal okay okay I apologize just to piggy piggyback off what jeie said if the items if there are items that are grouped and there is one particular item to which you're connected as a board member you would specify that particular item okay you have to recuse yourself from that you would specify from that but I also want to say that you know a lot of times board members have have kids in the district okay so if you have kids in the high school and the recommendation comes to the board and your your student is in the band and the recommendation comes to the board that we're going to to buy purchase all new band uniforms for the band you don't have to recuse yourself from that because you're not just buying a uniform for your child you're buying uniforms for all of the band students okay field trips those kinds of things those kinds of things as long as it's not for your individual student um you don't have to recuse yourself from those things because it's for all of the students in that particular group okay okay and I just one uh last question you uh I see that there's a like a a codifier it's a dependent child is what I saw on the screen uh so if you are fostering a child that you're not related to that would be a question I would ask your board attorney I think they might be considered a dependent child because you are caring for them okay and they are dependent upon you to care for them yes but I would check with your board attorney just to make sure okay thank you thank you any other questions okay I thank you very very much for your time and attention I thank you all for your patience and I will see you in April and thank you I just want to let the public know that this um presentation is a mandated yearly presentation every February we will have one of our New Jersey school boards representative presenting on ethics and I thank you and it will be me yes yes and we'll see you in April and we will be going over the um School self evaluation for the board something that we've not done in in the past with the public in in at least in the public meeting our monthly public meetings so we look forward to having you there and we look forward to having the public here also so they can understand a little bit more of the work that we do and how we do it perfect so thank you okay thank you good night everybody we will continue with our second presentation um many of you are aware that um couple of months ago I guess January early January we received our results uh uh for lead testing at two sites and uh mcnight uh elementary school did not have uh LED or LED above normal levels on its site however Grant was found to have it in multiple places uh for uncovered surfaces grass the dirt and anywhere around that area so we've had multiple meetings with the staff uh been in and out of the school um we've had two Community opportunities staff uh parents uh and then Community uh we wanted to bring this opportunity to the board so that we can share the information about how we got here what we do now uh talk a little bit about testing going forward uh and and all of the above so two of the representatives I think Joel and Joel Petty and John Bick they're here with us and have been with us um we plan to have a long relationship with them until we get this resolved but they're going to share information about this process so we appreciate you guys sharing and joining us this evening thank you superintendent uh thank you board for having us here tonight my name is Joel Petty I'm a remedial project manager uh for the Environmental Protection Agency uh I'm in the remedial program uh I'm going to speak on the uh site history a little bit and the difference between um our remedial and removal programs and then John Bick is going to come up and he's going to talk about um all the sampling that was done at the school um what's being what's being done now um and he is an on-seam coordinator for the removal program so EPA began it investigation in East Trenton with the LH Mitchell site um LH Mitchell was a lead solder facility it uh operated on clag Avenue uh near Mulberry Street uh the site was referred to EPA by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2018 and our in uh our soil sampling investigation began soon after that uh we conducted soil sampling in 2018 in 2019 uh which involved soil sampling and residential yards nearby the facility uh what we found was that three quarters of the samples we collected had led above epa's removal management level which at the uh time was 400 parts per million for Residential Properties uh but has since been lowered to 200 parts per million and those are the same levels that we um that we use uh when looking at a school uh the removal management levels also called rmls they're risk-based concentrations for contaminants uh such as lead they they are used to support the decision for EPA to undertake a removal action a result above the rml does not necessarily indicate an adverse Health effect um EPA needs to find a link between any contamination that we find and the facility being investigated facility that we were investigating the LH Mitchell site so we were unable to take an action at the time um we began look at different sources of contamination um when we discovered that LH Mitchell was not the source um what we found was that the pottery industry was a very large industry that operated throughout East TR and um and used lead in their manufacturing so Ceramics manufacturing was a predominant industry in East Trenton for more than 70 years uh there were about 80 locations uh throughout the city that were identified from some historic maps about half of which were very large scale operations and about 30 of these locations were located in or around East Trenton um about 30 of them that may have impacted the Residential Properties the industry uh began really around the 1850s and grew steadily until its peak in the 1920s and began a decline afterwards and Lead was commonly used in glazes uh lead poisoning has been documented in Pottery workers and Airborne releases from the industry have been uh documented in uh uh scientific journal uh studies um the Department of Environmental Protection referred the historic potteries industry to us um following us not being able to take an action with in regards to LH Mitchell that was referred to us for investigation in January of 2020 uh we conducted an attribution study throughout East Trenton um from 2020 through 2023 um an attribution study what it what it was is it involved EPA looking at different characteristics of the lead contamination to see if it was related to the lead that would have been used at the potteries so we sampled 38 properties for the attribution study and what we found was um ceramic materials from the potteries are present in residential soils within each Trenton at varying frequencies and we established a relationship between the soils at the Residential Properties and soils um from nearby potteries and we also um established a relationship between the ceramic material that was found on the Residential Properties and the um and the soils that they were found in so um we ruled out sources that EPA is unable to respond to those are mainly gasoline and paint we have um with our rules and regulations and the law that we must follow we are precluded from um responding to certain um certain types of lead and that would mainly be lead based paint and um and gasoline and we do have another program that works on lead-based paint but they do not work on um exterior or environmental contamination from the lead based pain so the um the conclusion from this study was that the lead contamination found in East is from both Airborne releases and Phil from the uh from the potteries so our um we have two programs um well the super fund um also called the um cira or the long name the comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability act it's a program administered by the EPA in cooperation with our state and local uh tribal governments and it enables EPA to clean up contaminated sites or Force parties responsible for the contamination to either perform the cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA lead cleanup work so we have two subprograms that study and address polluted sites we have our removal program which is what John Works in and that's for short-term responses to mitigate the most immediate threats to People's Health or the environment and we have the remedial program which is what I work in and that's for complex sites needing long-term response um that are placed on the national priorities list which is also called the npl uh the national priorities list is the list of sites of the highest priority among the known releases of hazardous substances throughout the United States um in order for remedial actions to occur on a site it must first qualify for and be placed on the npl um for sites in the remedial program EPA often involves employs the removal program to take immediate action um removal actions can also occur independently if a site is not listed on the npl removal actions can last days to several years while remedial actions often involve years of study and cleanup um and the historic Pottery site is being considered for both removal and remedial actions the removal program is taking an interm action at the grant Intermediate School um the removal program is also reviewing data to see if interm actions are appropriate at um res residential and recreational properties throughout East Trenton and right now our pre- remedial program is evaluating the data we've collected over the past few months to determine if the site will qualify um for placement on the national priorities list um if it does qualify for the um placement on the national priorities list that's when the remedial program will begin to take a more long-term action um and now John's going to come up and discuss our um the current activities and what's been um what's been being done at Grant thanks SCH I'm gonna stand this way if that's all right um so yeah it's interesting the super fund law is a really unique Federal Regulation where um it's Unique from other laws because it's action-based meaning when we find a threat EPA has the authority to respond to that threat um but there is a process and part of that process um is multiple steps So currently you know Joel and I have been working in East Tren specifically over the past couple months to conduct an integrated assessment basically data Gathering and that assessment uh has consisted of soil standpoint so over the past three or four months we've visited over 900 homes in East Trenton knocking on doors telling people about lead contamination and how to protect themselves but then also offering Free Soil sampling for any property owner who's been interested um so today we sampled over 125 homes in East Trenton uh three parks and two schools uh Darley mcnight and Grant intermediate um so right now over the next several weeks and months we're going to be taking action at Grant intermediate and then we're also going to be delivering results to residential property owners in East Trenton and po potentially taking action at their properties as well um throughout this whole process Community engagement has been very important to us we've worked with a lot of local groups like The East Tren collaborative um spoken at the school to to faculty directly we had an availability session a public meeting and we're going to continue to do that um as often as you folks would like or as often as the residents would like um to keep everybody up to date on our actions and what we're planning for next steps oops so here's a figure this shows the area of East Trenton that we've been working in again this is just a small segment of Trenton but this has been our study area um to do this assessment so the two things to see on this photo are the green dots which are the historic Pottery manufacturing locations that operated 100 years ago now there's no Pottery manufacturing going on there right now um but some of the original structures still do exist and then the yellow dots are all the properties that we've sampled as part of this investigation and then you can see the two schools that we also sampled so this photo on the left here is another aerial photograph specifically of the grant intermediate property um um to describe how we did our assessment there so we broke the property down into 16 different areas or quadrants so that we could assess each quadrant uh separately because some of the quadrants are very high use meaning kids are out there every day during recess and gym class um and then there's areas that are low use they're just landscaped areas next to sidewalk so we wanted to collect samples from each one of those areas to assess them separately um so we collected our samples at varying depth meaning we collected a sample right at the surface that people would be most uh encounter and then every six inches below that so we have a sample from the surface all the way down to two feet and that way we can see the distribution or potential distribution of lead throughout the entire entire soil surface um and what we found is that the highest concentrations of lead were at the surface within the top six inches so when we look at what the analytical data means like Joel said we compare it to the removal management level or the rml and that's a screening level that EPA uses to make determinations whether or not we need to take an action to protect Public Health um so we use that number but then we also use the use and who's using that yard to make that determination so in this case at Grant um when we look at the soil samples all across the property at the surface we had a concentration of over 300 parts per million which is above our rml of 200 parts per million and then when we single out just the high use areas meaning the around the playground and the athletic fields the concentrations were a little bit lower but we were still um at 224 parts per million which is above our threshold um also incidentally we sampled the G there's some garden beds that's uh highlighted by quadrant number 15 um that we know the school uses for a gardening program and the soil in those areas were much lower uh and well below our rml of uh 200 parts per million that concentration was only about 92 so the big uh question that I know everybody is wondering is you know really what do these numbers mean um because like Joel said just because there's a number that's above the rml doesn't mean there's an immediate um or acute Health threat um in this case for lead is a contaminant um to to relate the exposure or potential exposure to the health threat you have to look at all the exposure factors um and so there's many of there's many EXP factors to take into consideration including the concentration meaning how much lead is in the soil the duration so how often is the person interacting with that soil the age of the person and then the pathway and for lead there's two specific exposure Pathways ingestion and inhalation ingestion means eating the soil and then it um the lead on the soil gets absorbed through your stomach um and inhalation which can occur in dry and Dusty conditions when soil is resuspended in air and then you breathe it in um in this case um for lead the most susceptible population um is children because they're rapidly growing their brains are growing and they're much smaller than adults um and the most dangerous pathway for children is the ingestion pathway they put their hands in the dirt they put toys in the dirt and then they put their hands in their mouth um so in order to kind of evaluate the health effects of lead exposure EPA uses these blood lead models which basically uses all those exposure factors and then can calculate a prediction of what the blood lead level would be for the person being exposed now in the case of Grant um we use these models and we determine that uh based on the information uh adults and most kids who use a property at Grant we would not expect any significant health effects from the concentrations in soil at Grant but when we use the most conservative parameters so kids who are less than six exposure every day year round there is then a scenario where there could be a health risk and that's why we decided to take an immediate interim action and recommend to the school that they close access to all these areas um that have exposed soil so as you know um the areas are fenced off um and they'll remain closed uh to public use as EPA works with the school district and the city to determine a path forward in order to reopen those areas so right now um epe will not be planning any soil excavation or removal of soil at the school property um we can consider that at a later date but right now the priority is to install protective measures in the form of a cap um so there's several different options that EPA is developing um that we're going to propose to the school district based on each area now the priority we know is the athletic fields the kids right now have indoor recess they have to get back outside so that's the first area that we're going to focus on um the athletic field is very big the playground area is very big um so there's multiple options that we can do including a soil and sod cap which is several inches six to eight inches of soil with fresh grass on top of that or an artificial turf option um as we develop those options we're going to propose them to the school district um in the immediate um EPA is going to come out this week and replace some of the fencing the orange fencing that's been up with something that's a little bit more sturdy and more permanent as we develop those options so next steps um like I said we'll be working at Grant intermediate immediately um we're going to continue evaluating the data in all of East Trenton uh and delivering those results to homeowners and then potentially uh doing more actions at the Residential Properties we'll continue to stay engage with all the stakeholders um and if there's any additional residents in East Trent who would like their yard sampled will be available to schedule that as well and and over the next year um we will be addressing some properties that have high concentrations of lead in E shenon we're going to be using all the data that we've collected over the past several months to evaluate the site as a whole for the national priorities listing and then if it is eligible we're going to propose it um through the process which would then lead to a public comment period Then further down the line if this if the site is listed on the national priorities list Joel and the remedial program will come back and do much more sampling to determine the full extent of lead contamination um and he would look at other areas of Trenton as well where there was potteries who operated and then once he and the remedial program decide on a long-term cleanup strategy that will be documented in a document called the record of decision so here's a a brief segment of the site team who's been working on site Joel and I our contact information is there we have a QR code and our public facing website that has all our documents and we post our updates there so uh please take a picture of that um and don't hesitate to reach out to me or Joel Anytime by email text or uh call and any any questions that we can address for you at the moment yes so can I yes so I have I think I have two so what's the factor that determines when the uh npl occurs I just wrote I had a question marks yeah so there's a lot of factors that occur to that I don't know Joel if you want to speak to that but sure yeah so um when a when EPA finds um a a wide enough area that's contaminated we would consider it for the national priorities list so what we what we've been doing the last few months is collecting samples at many Residential Properties throughout East Trenton and there's there's a whole scoring process that goes on so we have to um there's a certain number of residents that would need to be impacted and then a certain levels of lead that you would have to find so we're taking a look at all that data as it comes in um and and that's what when it will be determined at that okay and then the second the next question is um so you mentioned about REM I'm going to use the term remediation I hope it's okay where you're going to bring in some soil and put it on top of the soil and then put some sad or something on top of that and so is there an expectation around when that will occur um we're working on that with our contractors now we have a contractor who's been out on the site um I'm hoping within the next several weeks but it depends on the vendor availability um and and really their schedule um but we are pushing as quickly as possible for that okay all right thanks okay so yes so I have a question relative to that so what what resources do you have available because I know currently the um orange fencing that was put up was actually done by the district so what resources do do you bring to bear in terms of the situation to to help to expedite this so we have an emergency uh contractor that we have who's considered our prime contractor um and so they're going to be responding this week and putting up more fencing and then the next steps like the soil cap or the artificial turf cap or mulch you know whatever we decide with the school district will be completed by our contractors EPA contractors and is there a timetable for that not right now um we're going to be putting f up more heavy duty temporary fence this week and then the next steps will be as quickly as we can um but I don't have a specific schedule for you at the moment okay so that's something that we would really be interested in because if it was urgent that we identify these sites it's even more urgent that we address whatever is going on there so the timetable that you know takes us through June as opposed to 2025 is something that we're looking for no it's on the order of magnitude of weeks because you know we EPA recognizes how critical those athletic fields and playgrounds are um unfortunately you know the Contracting the procurement takes a little bit of time but we are looking to get it done you know on a magnitude of weeks not not Years or or months okay okay good answer and as soon as we do have a schedule we we can definitely update you thank you okay I have a couple questions um the two quadrants that showed the high levels that were actually over 400 which is the D's level um would you say cars running back in the 70s that those two lights would have had an impact on those two specific areas the lead and the gasoline you're speaking from lead and gasoline talk about the attribution does it hang on that long that it so it could be that's why those two spots are High um absolutely automobile exhaust could be adding to it um the the the way this school was um constructed in the um in the 1930s right 1930s um there was an old there was a school here originally and a lot of that was demolished before the new school was built we do think that um it seems to line up with where the school was that impact from the potteries as well would have potentially impacted those areas a little a little more it is hard to say with any certainty exactly what in that quadrant you know caused that you know there could be a lead pain influence there could be Leed gasoline and of course we believe the potteries overall contributed the most my other question is if you bring in everything that's brought in to encapsulate has to be tested as well so if we opted for the sod instead of the ter are we going to have a choice in which one we get yeah we're going to discuss you know the pros and cons of of those options um but yes everything will be tested the soil we will be tested this the soil that's in in the sod will be tested and then if we bring in mulch or different product like that that would be tested as well that has to be tested well tested a certain frequency based on how much we bring in okay and we would you know provide those results to you thank you all right I just have one question so so the recommendation is to bring in sad or artificial turf to cap off the affected areas um so why is it why is the decision to cap it off as opposed to removing the contaminated soil and replacing it with right now it's uh considered a temporary or an interm action meaning yeah meaning we can come out and we can do it as quickly as possible like Joel was speaking to the two pro programs and there's a lot of nuance in the way that EPA is set up in the way that the program is built okay um but in order to do something immediately that can protect Public Health it would be the cap and then the long-term cleanup eventually could be the removal of the soil okay all right I have a question um you said that in the next few weeks you're going to continue on doing the Community Education piece could you talk a little bit about how long you plan to be engaged in the community educating the community how many more workshops you plan to have sure I mean we've been in the community uh well I mean Joel has been here for a while you know back looking at the LH Mitchell but for this phase of the work for the integrated assessment we started at the end of October um and we've been knocking on doors pretty much through January or so every day trying to really speak to every resident of East Trenton um we've talked to about 65% or so there still is a portion of people that we did not speak to um on a one-on-one level um but we have you know attended many of the meetings that the collaborative has had or ledf free New Jersey in order to kind of spread the word of what we're doing um right now we don't have any additional public meetings set up or scheduled um but we can set up those as needed you know um because we're not you know we're not going anywhere and and just to add to that the um the East Trenton collaborative is going to be having like monthly tabling events and they also have um they also have Community meetings that are set up kind of monthly and we typically attend those as often as we can so those will continue on as well I have another question well um you guys are focused on East Trenton that was the only part of the city where these p factories were what about all the tile and no the the um there were about 30 of the locations that we've identified in and around East Trenton there were about 80 locations throughout the city so right now we're focused on East Trenton because that was um the where we initially started sampling and where the referral was so first we really had to see whether there was that link between the lead contamination and the potteries um so the the next focus is to to to get started on taking some action in East Trenton um and as the sites being considered for the remedial program the remedial program would be the ones that would look um that that would look at other areas of the city and that would be if and when it's listed um if it's not listed then we'll be able to have some other conversations about what the removal program might be able to might be able to do but we don't have any dates yet for for when we'd be looking at other areas of train okay I wanted to follow up on some of the comments with that my colleagues made about timeline um so I heard you saying in the next couple weeks and that you would start with the recreation areas with the fields do you think you you can commit to by April at least the fields will be completed because our kids really need to be able to go outside um is that a commitment that you can make or no not at this time I mean unfortunately it's really dependent on the contractors and the subcontractors and their schedule um you know initial conversations with them is that you know they have the ability to do this work very quickly it's just a matter of being able to get them funded and get them out there um so right now I can't say by April but that's definitely what what I'm shooting for you know personally because I understand how hard it is you know for the kids but then also for the staff um having the kids inside I mean that that's definitely not lost on us it's just we're you know we're trying to get the process moved along as quickly as possible POS so the funding you guys are paying for this correct correct yes so um you talked a little bit about my colleague who had asked about you know covering it versus taking out and you the the dirt and you said that that might be considered at some later time I just wanted to hear what the possibility is is that right now uh you do the removal and um again all of a sudden to years down the road kind of like happened this time that you guys showed up and said this site is contaminated that you guys might show up again and say no now we've really got to go in and remove all of this is that a possibility does that happen I mean I think it's important that we understand what the ramifications could be down the road for us yeah just just so I make sure we understand your question so you mean we would do an interim action now so we would cover you said it was an interim action yes and then down the road we would potentially come back and remove the soil that's what you're asking yes that definitely is an option and that you know that does happen because as we move through the superf fund process the removal program can have a component to do something immediately to protect public health and then as the site um and properties move through the process like the remedial process there's a longterm cleanup option that's available to remove all that contaminated but is this school going to go through that remedial process or are we staying with just the interim we're going to go through the longterm with this yeah I don't want to speak for Joel and the remedial program because we're you know we're not there yet but that's all the work that we're doing is in the neighborhood of East Trenton and the school is is part of that one property part of the 128 or so that we sampled that's going to be evaluated for the remedial process okay I don't know sorry yeah no thank you um just to add to that so um we can't be predecisional in in what we say about you know a site listing and whether it will qualify for the remedial so that that's kind of where where we have to be a little um you know careful with with what we say will be done in the future but um but we need to be prepared that is a possibility for us absolutely and it and it is certainly a possibility because what John is going to be doing with the removal program is only considered a temporary action if the site does not qualify the removal program will continue to evaluate at that point um if it qualifies that's when the remedial program will begin it and once the temporary actions are put into place the removal program will monitor those actions for the the life of those actions so it won't be that the removal program would do a temporary action and then walk away it's really to get something started while the site is um you know considered for this and I assume at that point you guys will also be involved in in that cleanup and funding that cleanup if it's if it's necessary necessary absolutely yep okay thank you so I just have one additional question and my question is in terms of the testing of individuals who've been um at that site for a long period of time what role do you have in terms of making sure that uh the the folks get tested so or the children or the staff yeah so EPA doesn't um we don't do any um you know blood testing um it's not really it's considered more of a a health test so we rely on our health departments and we um you know we're partnered with our um our federal Partners which is the agency for to toxic substances and disease registry atsdr they're um with the CDC and they um they're working with the state and the local health and I know they are um they're trying to implement um blood Le testing for the students that um that are at the school but I have not heard of any specific date that that will be available yet and they're going to make everyone aware that once they test them that the parents have to open their homes to testing as well because don't they have to look at all the exposure I yeah I I I don't want to speak for like whether they will have to but I know that if a if a child does test high for you know has elevated blood level they do um they do typically go out to the homes and do an inspection of the homes because if with blood Le testing that would only be able to tell if the child was exposed not it came from so um you know we wouldn't know whether that exposure happened at the school happened at home or somewhere else and with um you know the lead and soil contamination that's not just at the school we know it is a problem in East Trenton um there's also lead based paint um inside homes and we also have um to the the lead service line issues that I know the the water department has been working on doing a replacement so there's a lot of different sources of lead in the community in keeping with Miss Montano's first question [Music] um since you cannot commit to doing the work sooner than later if we as a board were to remediate by putting s over the play areas would you reimburse us for that if we did the job no typically EP doesn't have a mechanism for that um but the owner of the property you know can do whatever remediation they want I mean that's right but since since you did say that it is something that EPA would pay for and we do need a done as soon as possible um and you can't when I say you I'm not speaking of you personally but you can't commit if we were able to find the funds to do it now why um would there be a possibility of EPA reimbursing us for the work that they are going to be doing you know I can't speak to the financial reasons why I don't know the exact mechanism but you know I know that's not that's not available for us to give you guys a check or a reimbursement for work that that you do when you say us you are sure that EPA would not be able to do so is there someone that we could ask HRA I could I could definitely ask the question for you and I could get back to you wonderful thank you any other questions oh just one um you mentioned about on your chart of the neighborhood you showed yellow dots for homes that um were also tested for Le contamination I think maybe Genie may have addressed this question when I was out for a second um but what me what things are you what strategies are you using to inform and provide educational support um and potential remediation for those particular homes of families that are attending our schools in the district that's the first part of the question the second part is um you didn't mention too much about D mcnight so there must not have been any he did no nothing so we're good there that's perfect that's excellent so address P if you can address the first question thank you um so a kind of multifaceted approach so when we talk to people first to tell them about what EPA is doing in the neighborhood we provided them with information just about General lead exposure for all the multiple sources that Joel had mentioned but then specifically about how to protect them from lead in soil the mitigation efforts that they can take just so that they could be aware because we didn't have results instantly so in the event that your kids and your pets are using the soil you should do these things as a proactive approach um so that's kind of the message that we had throughout the whole Community number one and then as we get the results back um like we did for the Board of Education the mayor's office is we're going to deliver those results to the residents um so we'll provide the actual analytical data tables that exp that explains the concentrations of lead in their soil and then a figure that shows where we collected the soil samples and then a description of what EPA is going to do about it um and that you know we have a a phased approach based on that and it's based on risk meaning you know those exposure factors that I mentioned are there kids there are there young kids there do they use the yard how do they use those the yard so there's you know a a kind of a gradient of approach of what EPA is going to do based on each specific property long is that as short of a turn as it would be three four weeks or is this a longer turn on getting that done for the remediation at those homes be a similar approach where if we do need to take an action because there's a high-risk population there we would do a temporary cover um depending on the specific yard and then longer term that property would be re-evaluated by the remedial program for a long-term cleanup down the future if the site is listed okay thank you so much we appreciate your time no problem so just a a few quick updates and we'll move right along here um as most of you know we've had snow this year uh and I know many of you have been excited by the number of emails I get regarding closing on those days so uh also what that means though is when you don't have or can't build as many into your schedule because we have we recognize many holidays and different things in a calendar uh that you may have to make those up so we had one built in and we have used three emergency closing days which means we need to make up two uh at this time and so I've tried to hold off and at least get to March feels good to be warm but we know March can bring surprises so uh at this time I just wanted to alert like the First Alert that uh I'm looking at the end of the year I say I it's a we and typically we come in with two or three choices we get uh Association leaders and many constituents in our district to try to figure out what works best for everyone so we're looking at uh adding the two days at the end of the year the 24th and 25th uh at this time uh if we don't do that then we go backwards or forward in the north people say forward and I go backwards to May and into April potentially uh in to other areas of break time so we're going to do our best right now to rest there hopefully snow days snow doesn't come although we love snow um so the other thing to know about that is that it does impact graduation so we have graduation planned on the 21st and the 22nd believe so there's a Friday and a Saturday um and based on what I'm receiving from the county right now you must complete the 180 days before you can uh provide diplomas uh and so we must uh uh work with that and I would imagine all the school districts are going through the same thing because I know other districts that didn't have any built in so we're working with that um right now um and we will be uh letting you know soon so just wanted to put that out there for now we haven't made a final decision but I wanted you to be aware that there are two currently two days that we potentially uh will have to make up and uh if it goes longer it could be more so um the other thing is I see uh our families and um here tonight for public participation as I read about translation services and we certainly appreciate uh them bringing that concern to the board uh right now we don't got Spanish translation uh as the sign says uh but we need it uh and we have been working I'm working with several board members here we did explore with uh I think Latino Spirit we had about six months of Spanish translation and the board decided that we should look at other avenues to try to make sure that the the translation is clear uh and that we wanted to explore other options um Madame Sasa shared with me an option uh just Friday I think Thursday or Friday or was it this weekend and we discussed it today so please know that we are working ding diligently and have have every expectation that we have translation services in the district not only that we had the opportunity with the EPA presenting last Thursday to see how they do it it was really impressive so I ask their information about the equipment they use and the opportunity to be able to walk into the meeting and participate fully in the meeting in the native language uh we have French Creole we have to consider Spanish and other languages so as we go through this process we're considering all of that so it's our goal to be in that space uh very soon um on Wednesday we have our sixth in the series of community conversations this one is around technology and Innovation if you've been in our schools or you have children in schools or many of you work in the schools uh there's a lot of good work going on around how to use the technology for Education get the device you have fun with it you're able to communicate with the rest of the world and go all over the place with games and we want you to be educated about how to get educated using it so um tomorrow uh Wednesday uh Miss uh Mrs Reyes and team myself and others will be uh at Jefferson Intermediate School at 6 PM I think don't quote me on that it is on the website um 6 pm and we'll be talking about the vision and goals of using technology and innovation in the district where we are right now then she's going to engage you in some of the things that our students are engaged in um using Apple products and then some of the other areas so that you get to feel and see it as a parent or as a teacher if you don't have it in your school yet but we're moving through our setting uh the other exciting thing is that we have you know I'm asking the board um I've requested the opportunity to kind of reimagine the current daylight Twilight High School uh we know that daylight Twilight is a comprehensive High School however having the stigma or the label of being an alternative school can impact how the public sees it so uh I'm asking the board to uh look at policy uh and hopefully we're able uh to start rebranding in name we we want to look at the name and the offerings and the course offerings so we anticipate you know many of you know because we had a presentation for Miss Williams several months ago around uh about our career center there so we're really excited about that space We Believe those Services of course they'll be offered to all students in the district um but those Services could be offered to the community Workforce Service Workforce Development writing your resume addressing for Success connecting to Employers in the area and throughout uh Central Jersey and North Jersey and all over New Jersey um but just as we have done in that that current setting and other High School settings we do want to build a small learning community model around this uh particularly focused on work Force development and business so stay tuned to that uh be aware that that's coming our way and that we'll be looking at the name the space and everything about it uh we want that to be a high functioning High School continue to do the work that we're already doing so we're very excited about this opportunity and look forward to the work ahead that's all I have Madame President thank you at this time I'm going to ask our board committee chairs to please give their reports start starting on my right hand side with um Gerald youve been picking me first the last couple of meetings I tell you you me go you want me go to Jean might VP so all right God bless you thank you um so I'll just first report um board members on the policy we met uh Thursday February 15th as a committee with myself Yolanda and Denise and our general counsil Mr Ro uh really looking at our committee goals for the year 2024 uh circling back to use of facilities policy which we received information on and we'll look at that at our next next uh policy committee meeting which is uh the third Thursday of uh of March uh we also looked at a status update on our Strauss ese policy review uh so Mr Ro is working on that with Strauss Esa to determine what that review will look like we also had a recommendation to look at New Jersey school boards as a possible review from the Jersey school boards Association um as well as sh Esme and decid as a committee which one would be the best we also looked at uh we're approving our regulations superintendent is working on regulations with his team along with our general Council that's forthcoming uh to the board to approve in the first reading we changed our policy around regulations not requiring a second reading like policies are but regulations being responsibility superintendent we did want the board to have an opportunity to see them and approve them similar to as a superintendent makes recommendations to the board um in other matters uh on the agenda we will also um let's see I think I think that was pretty much all we did anything else that you guys can remember from the policy committee does that pretty much cover it okay all right thank you so our next meeting is the third Thursday of of of March uh in the evening at 5:30 which which is the let's see the 21st I believe 21st to the third Thursday in the month of March that'll be our next our next uh policy meeting uh in terms of uh family and Community engagement and school support we met on the February 13th at 8: a for about 40 minutes it was with Yolanda and Denise I think that might have been a snow day um so we didn't have participation from Administration but I know what they were there in spirit working on things in the district uh getting things uh handled but we did talk about um profiles and stories about and reference to our alumni I know that's something that the superintendent in the Alanda board president is working on school school achievement as well as Morgan and we're looking at we'll get more information about what that looks like um and share with our with our with the board as well as with the community I was really excited about the Community Partnership presentation we did last board meting with Isles um in terms of the community School model I think that's an awesome and great opportunity for us to hear in the community to hear from our Community Partners in our board meetings uh so I look forward to we look forward to to hearing more about future presentations from Community uh Community Partners uh as we as we move forward so we did we did discuss that uh discuss that as well uh we also discussed uh calendar planning of school events um that are coming up in all the schools maybe a combined calendar of some sort I know that sometimes that's very difficult with all the schools we have in our district 21 plus schools in our district and coordinating and compiling that data somewhat sometimes seems insurmountable we're looking to come up with a plan where we can receive information about all the events that are happening in the various schools that as board members and Community we can ALS we can attend uh those meetings those public events um a as board members in those particular uh particular schools and so we'll Circle back with you Mr Mr Mr Mr Earl around those questions that we have and those uh opportunities and ideas that we have we also terms of things we want to discuss in the future uh around our community conversations that you mentioned about coming on Wednesday on our technology and Communications uh with Evette Ray I think that's going to be an exciting time for us at uh Jefferson inmediate so we invite all of you guys to come out and be a part of that in the community and share your thoughts and opinion and get information from you but we want to get also find out about in terms of data around who's attending our community conversation how that data is being compiled getting demographic information around for example who's coming are they you know school from their Community are they from the school and so forth I know we've been compiling data at our community conversations sign in sheets and things of that nature but want to make sure that we begin to look at and digest and understand who's coming and participating uh in our community conf conversation that's something that's future uh topics of discussion we like discuss with the superintendent and his team as we move as we move forward but I want to share just one quick additional thing about Community conversation about things that are coming up I know you know about the one that's coming uh to Wednesday uh Wednesday evening at Jefferson School but it's around our fiveyear strategic plan implementation really want the community to come and share ideas uh get questions answered learn about our district initiatives uh meet District administrator s board members and staff in those particular schools in that particular area of of our goals around our 5year strategic plan being involved with the child's education it's so very important that you come out uh get involved with your child's education these are opportunities to do so so again Community conversation technology and Communications February 28th as superintendent mentioned bilingual education March 20th at hbth Williams special education April 17th at Ellis Auditorium right here then we have a goal three and four on May 15th at Tanga so we there's a lot of opportunities to participate get involved with the impation of a fiveyear plan um ask questions meet us get together with us share your ideas and it's an opportunity also to interact and engage with administrators board members and School staff much different than a board meeting a board meeting we cannot really necessarily interact back and forth with you but in that environment is less stringent for us as um as board members we can dialogue with you and have communication with you of course with the administration and School staff at the school as well where we're having that particular um topic or goal idea uh implementation that we're discussing um at that time so I really want to thank you for your time and listening to U my report God bless you thank you thank you Londa Aon thank you uh with the HR committee we met uh last week last Wednesday um and it's usually about the uh kind of the same Spiel I give uh month by month of different positions that we have open with the district right and different positions and uh attracting as many people into the district as possible um and it's the same here on this report but uh one thing I did want to highlight right um uh and I I fell off a little bit right you know I got a I got a six-month-old at the house so I got to forgive me that certain things fall through the crack but I try to make it a point to publish all of the uh openings as they come available on my Facebook page right you know engage the community that way um not fully popular only got like five likes on it but uh one thing that I I really was encouraged by was the fact that it at least was shared like 3040 times like going into this school board meeting today and that was published earlier today so that just proves that there's an appetite there's a desire there's a lot of people who are interested in being a part of the great work that we're doing here so please you know give me more than five likes but make sure that you guys share uh all the open positions and all the great work that we're doing and that you can be a part of here in the district okay first of all I'd like to thank Dwayne and his crew for um getting the fencing up at Grant as quickly as they did um we found out at 3:00 in the afternoon and by the next morning everything was shut down so I appreciate the time he spent doing that um facilities met on February 21st um the first thing I have is an update on the demolition of uh junior 1 in MLK the advertisement for the bid has hit the newspapers on the 20th of the month month um pre-bid walkthroughs are being conducted through tomorrow and the bid period uh will last four weeks ending on March 19th um the notice to proceed will be and the contract will be awarded on the 15th of April and we're looking to start demo um May 1st and it's going to take approximately uh two months to get that demo leveled and cleaned up for the next step of the school um also going on we have uh the wrapping up the HV AC upgrade at hedgepath Williams uh installation of window units is 85% complete uh 80% of the electrical work is finished and the proposed completion date on that is April 15th of 2024 um as far as n9th grade academy goes um they had to do utility work for the new trailers that they're installing um that is 60% complete um and the pro proposed completion date of that project is also my 1 to get those units up and running um we had the EPA thing on Grant school so you're all brought up to date on that and that's the end of it and the next meeting will be the third Wednesday of March thank you is that me okay um so good afternoon I'm just sharing from the um curriculum committee uh the curriculum committee um met on the um 22nd which was um last Thursday to review the teaching and learning agenda um some of the highlights from that particular meeting uh we were very happy to see the uh updates and inclusion of the um course catalog for um middle school and also for um High School uh in addition we saw continued Partnerships with the College of New Jersey and a continued focus on social emotional learning academic supports for students and also um professional uh learning experiences there was also a discussion about um grants in general and specifically um Workforce Development grants that could benefit our students as some of our students look forward to alternative to um uh to college after um High School um we were very excited about the number of student trips that were um listed on the agenda for approval um extending learning outside of the classroom is extremely important and the the trips were were varied in terms of to theaters museums amusement parks aquariums colleges and universities um the zoo bowling alleys and just about any place under the Sun so very excited to um see that um taking place we also had an update from uh special service in terms of the planning of the um extended school year program it's in the um planning stages however it's designated so far to be a four-week program um and in fact um looking to solidify the uh site for this particular summer I believe it has been PJ hill for the last few years and looking to see if perhaps that can um continue um also um special services is um looking to um establish uh Special Services is looking to establish sites for specific programs and services so that our children can remain um closer to home for their school year um placement um in addition to that we talked about sections being added to the high school course catalog so that students with specific um classifications can take uh specialized courses with the appropriate um instructors so we talked about that and we also talked about the continued need to add Staffing in the area of um special education um we know that we're doing the best that we can in terms of um servicing all of our students in the areas of need but again additional Staffing is um always um needed um additionally we had a um a discussion about refocusing um daylight Twilight um high school as a comprehensive high school with a specific focus on a um small learning Comm um community and um the current name would then have to be reflective of what type of community that would be and so there was consideration and discussion about um what would the new purpose of um daylight High School daylight Twilight High School be uh what would the new purpose what would the function what learning commit what what Learning Community would actually be housed there and um renaming it according to this new function was also part of that particular discussion so that's the report from curriculum committee can you hear me yeah okay um so we met on the 21st uh we reviewed the secretary's report Treasures report uh staff travel and the bill list um and lastly the transfers and there was uh grant funding draw Downs were about $1 million for December we also um were made aware that the principles have submitted their 2025 budgets electronically on the second and presentations with the uh principles started uh on the 20th and ended on the 23rd and then lastly I think um I think this whole discussion around daylight Twilight is critically important when you think about historically um children were prepared to go to college but the significant majority of students in urban communities do not go to immediately go to college and so in addition to V vocational training there are Career Technical education courses and so if you just Google um if you Google for the skills that employers most desire you those skills that could possibly be taught that could possibly be taught in daylight Twilight and it creates the opportunities for our children to be prepared once they um once they leave high school and so I'm we're really excited about that I'm I'm very excited about it because in my day job um I focus on Workforce Development and so there's a lot of opportunity for our children so that's a wrap nope the best part yeah donations so um this is a revised um donation from PC Richards um $1,200 for Grant intermediate schools um book Smiles 500 books to visual Performing Arts Theater Trenton Central High School Elise McGrath a vehicle Trenton Central High School stem and so that the children can learn how to repair Vehicles no one nobody thinking they got a Cadillac or a Mercedes or something over there um The Smith Family Foundation $1,000 for the Trenton High School Marching Band Danielle punon um $100 for the Trenton High School Communications SLC and Polo capero $200 for um Trenton High School Communications SLC and thank you all for your generosity um to our children so just shortly after the uh presentation from the EPA I wanted to make sure I recognize uh the table at the back that's the green healthy homes initiative uh I think they joined us at one of our other functions we appreciate having you that's an opportunity if you want more information they're providing to anyone interested about um I'll just read the quick one liner it's dedicated to addressing the social and EM the social determinants of health and the advancement of racial and Health Equity through the creation of health healthy safe energy efficient homes uh so if you get a chance and want more information I know they're passing it around uh don't hesitate uh to check in thank you moving on to Old business um moving on to whole business for the board meeting of January 22 2024 we had one concern from tiia Duncan uh a member who worked in the summer for 20 plus hours still did not have it still did not receive her payment she thought it would be on on the agenda for last month and the matter was not placed on the agenda for payment she stated the program's revision for the grant or job the member worked for is on the agenda but not the individual so that person cannot get paid in response the member's name is on the HR board agenda for approval tonight after approval the member will be paid according to the board approv time sheet scheduled and moving on to public participation the Trenton Public School District welcomes the attendance and comments from all the members of the public at its meetings this public comment period is your time to be heard on any school or School District issue that a member of the public may feel is of concern to the residents of the school district each person who signed up to comment will have five minutes you will will be notified when your 5 minutes are up you cannot yield your time to another person when it is your turn to speak please address all your comments to the board president please conduct yourself in a respectful and courteous manner for anyone whose comments or actions either harass intimidate or threaten the safety of any person we will provide you with a warning or immediately end your common time also if you curse use vulgar language or make personal attacks we will provide you with a warning or and your comment time comments that adhere to these guidelines will not be interrupted if you have any questions please ask your questions during your five minute comment period after the public comment period is closed the board superintendent or designate will address your questions to the extent provided by the law we also ask that members of the public not interrupt the speaker during their public comments I would like to add that when we get to the four minute Mark I will remind you that you have one minute left first person we have uh Miss grela pachuka Garcia from Nev Miss pachuka Garcia hello good evening board Comm members my name is Gela pachuka Garcia I'm here to present now a concern such she happy news right now um I am presented lion American legal Defense Education fund or love this for short we are a community based organizations you were making comments earlier about having uh community members be more here present and one of them right now one we offer many many services to the public but I'm mainly here to talk about futuro which is a college prep program it is completely free it is a two-year uh uh program designed for for 11 and 12th graders it's also designed for first second generation immigrant students regardless of the origin background or language we welcome anybody from TR public high schools whether it's public private or Charter Schools to apply for the program so if anybody knows um anyone who may benefit for this program please let them know I do have some flyers U to pass around if anybody needs them um aside from futuro we offer manual Services we have immigration Legal Services we offer adult education programs So for anybody who wants to learn English after work anybody who wants to complete their GED after work or sometimes in the morning depending on the schedules we also offer the services and they're mostly completely free as well um so it's just something wonderful at your doers uh touching based on many youth not truly wanted to go directly to college right after high school graduation one of the main factors is not just because they don't want to it's because they don't have the resources they don't have the support they don't have the knowledge I myself a first generation um college student second generation immigrant so took me 10 years to get attend my bachelor's degree however all of that has made me want me be so proud to be part of this program and offer not just my resources but commun resources as well um for other aspiring um career all right thank you that's PR much it appreciate it thank you very much next we have Sandra darling Miss Sandra darling Miss Janice Williams good evening Janice Williams speaking as an individual and a city taxpayer before you start the clock Jane i' just like to take a point of personal privilege and thank uh business administrator Jane Howard and superintendent Earl and board president Yolanda Lopez and board members for the advocacy working making sure that my colleagues at daylight Twilight got the parking that we so desperately needed so again thank you I know the city was fighting us tooth and nail but that was a fight that I was not going to give up on while I was at daylight Twilight unfortunately I retired before it came fruition but I feel that I was a central intrical part of making that come about and I don't care if the mayor doesn't speak to me forever and a day anymore we got what our teachers deserve because teachers should not have to pay to educate children so thank you board for your diligence in that area and again I want to uh also say that I was glad that I was able to lay the foundation for the work that's being done at to Daylight Twilight High School we're moving in the direct Direction and the city and the and the students deserve the opportunity to learn in an environment that's considered a comprehensive high school and bringing small learning communities into that facility to make it happen so thank you again Bor for the work in that area now you can start my five minutes uh Miss Howard good evening board members col colleagues and members of our community I stand before you today not just as a retired teacher but as someone who has been in the trenches fighting the good fight alongside each of you we all know the old saying your word is your bond is a simple truth that we live by every day whether it's promising to help a neighbor or standing up for what's right honesty and integrity are what we are all about now when it comes to those who work for our schools especially those who make big decisions we expect them to live by these principles too it's just not knowing the rules it's about being someone who can work well with others someone who gets things done and sticks to their promises but I've got to say I'm not sure that's what we're getting from our current general counsel James Ro and it seems like superintendent Earl and others aren't keeping a close enough eye on whether he's really doing his job no one is monitoring the efficacy of his work or the work ethic I worked with a lot of District board attorneys over the years Tom Summers Paul memore you named them for 43 years I worked with all of them most of them knew how to get the job done right and on time based on the facts and what was fair based on board policies contractual language and the law not on who you like or the title that you have but lately I've heard from too many people about Mr Ro dragging his feet missing deadlines and not living up to his end of the bargain and it's not just for me saying this others have come before you at this mic speaking about the same issue also take a recent situation for example I was involved in a level three grievance which I represented a teacher regarding contractual and District policy violations and we're still waiting on decision that should have been made months ago Mr R said he was working on it running around trying to secure the signatures of the board's grieving committee to be placed on the agenda for approval well I guess Mr R is still running around trying to secure the signatures of that board members perhaps he's done it tonight because he knows that I was coming here to speak about this particular issue but since the board's grievance committee is assembled here this evening Perhaps Perhaps your general counsel can secure those signatures so it can be placed on the board agenda for approval and a decision can be rendered uh we've been waiting since October 4th it is now February 25th thank you it is not just about the delays though it's about the fairness and doing what's right recently two months after the board decision was made Mr Ro told me if we hadn't heard back from him it probably meant things didn't go our way well Mr Ro that's not how it's supposed to work his job is to make sure everyone's playing by the rules and that our Agreements are respected because of my experience as a past griev chair for 13 years in my advocacy in this work I am well established in the rules that govern this work since when does the Board of Education simply ignored Grievous decisions for 13 years I have always received a written decision but he too caught up on his own words too comfortable to be bothered by doing his job that's a problem for all of us the board level grievance was held October 4th and we are still waiting so who is at fault for the lack of compliance with the board's decision not being rendered is it the board grievance committee is it superintendent Earl whose designate is general counsel Ro or Mr Ro himself further we would not be asking these questions had Mr Ro rendered a complete level two decision that address the entire grievance so here's the big question for tonight if James role really helping our schools and our kids or is he letting us down we need individuals in these roles who are going to stand up for what's right who are going to fight for our district Mission students in our community with everything they've got that's not what we're talking about and that's what we deserve so let's make sure we hold on to those principles thank you make Mr Ro account accountable for rendering decisions in a timely manner thank you and have a good [Applause] evening next is Mrs Laura MAA here oh there she is good evening um La in Le MOA I live in 528 Lon Avenue good evening ladies and gentlemen of Trenton Board education today I have come to support Miss jaran who has come to give a suggestion with respect to the meetings of the board education we know very well that many parents uh because their status as head holes cannot attend meetings they must work work others because they do not know English as a language that is why I support the idea of subtitling the meetings of in Spanish which will benefit many parents including Haitians that speak Spanish as well I know she has to go first than me but something was wrong with her application but her idea I supp and we need um more Spanish translations for our Spanish speaking people that do not speak English another suggestion is if you can offer Spanish translation services in the meetings some parents comes over here and do not have anyone to translate for them and sometimes they have to leave because they don't find anyone second one I suggest last year to make a hline for the students that are been bullying or assaulted or assaulted and or other either other other issues in and out of the school I know the assault continue out of the school and many students and parents do not say anything they prefer to quiet because they I scare a hotline for those students and parents will be great not only for assaulted other issues even depression um I said finally but it's now finally we are we are fighting against disease and pets mice and roaches around schools specifically sidewalks around around the schools specifically sidewalks accumulate a lot of garbage see the possibility of at least once a week cing around I said that because I live close to head P Williams and it's been one week the sidewalk is disgusting and not even that thinking all the pieces of glass that are around the sidewalks and children are around too it's danger personal I fall down and hurt my knee with a a glass and I'm thinking in children's too hearing EPA presentation a concern to me a lot I'm not a negative person I'm very positive and like to give ideas if I'm not wrong I heard that Trenton is in the National Emergency consider it all the lead that we are around and only lead other materials and uh federal department suggest they said they suggest to federal department help but what about our local Department that is messy I give you an idea get get back in the because our local Department not even director Health Department we have it we need to work together and find the right health for our childrens our schools and I have another idea that I going to send it to Mr um er about translations in Spanish that came to me right away ER this night but and the last one many childrens um are in the are in in the house having class Sam 30 seconds okay Samar C school close one school is open you can switch this gr school for that building too is another idea that maybe you can consider and have the children's in the school Easter in the house good night thank [Applause] you Mrs Jang superintendent board president ladies and gentlemen of the board education for years while de Maron Kio have stood before you as a tireless advocate for the Latino Community within within our city he has seen the struggles and aspiration of our people firsthand particularly within our Public Schools today I address you with a plea for equity and inclusion everyone in this room talks about Equity inclusion for getting the 64% of this public school district as it stands our board Education meeting are conducted solidly in English and broadcasted in the same language yet let me remind you that 64 of the parents within our school are Latinos these families deserve Equitable access to the vital information disseminated during this meetings I want to take a moment to highlight the efforts of someone who understood this need deeply wifredo Ortiz before his retirement Ortiz champion and initiated broadcast of these meetings in Spanish his dedication ensur that Spanish speaking families were informed and included in that decision making process that impact their children education however since his departure it pains me to say that his hard work seems to have been cast aside it's been one and a half years and still our Spanish speaking families are left waiting in the shadows lacking the same level of information and engagement that their English speaking conser Parts enjoy this desperate desper sorry that's one of the reasons we need a translator in here it's not it's not just an oversight it's a profound Injustice and I repeat ladies and gentlemen of the board it is a truly profound Injustice when you talk about inclusion education is the Cornerstone Cornerstone of opportunity and denying access to crucial information in a language our family families understand is T Mount to deny them that opportunity we cannot ignore the fact that language barriers are significant obstacle to meaningful engagement in our educational system by neglecting to provide essential information in Spanish we are effectively shutting the door on the voices and concerns of the majority of parents within our schools it's time for action it's time for our board education to reaffirm its commitment to equity and inclusivity inclusivity by restating broadcast of our meetings in Spanish the public schools in cden are coming are doing it the public schools in vient are doing it our Latino families deserve to be informed heard and respected just like any other member of our community let's honor the legacy of with fre Ortiz by continuing his work and ensuring you have one minute left that every family regardless of language spoken has equal access to the information the shapes the children's future um as you may see I have um it brings me bad moments standing up here um I know I still have a a few seconds by now um I would like to address The Bullying to schools and this is for Doc uh Mr Terren STS any complaint of a harassment threats cber bullying should be investigated by school official officials even if it's not race color gender sexual orientation disability and disability and only make a decision if it is bullying or conflict after a proper investigation I really would like to see that um it says that only takes one person to make a change and I really want to do that so I will you will see me every single um meetings I mess up thank you thank [Applause] you at this time I only have the first name Vanessa from the New Beginnings House program Vanessa next Miss CIA Duncan good evening superintendent Earl president morero Lopez board members and members of the Trenton Community I initially planed to speak on an entirely different topic this evening but because of some rather shocking information I had to entirely revamp my entire speech it may come as a surprise to many of you as well as the members of the Trenton Education Association but I am making this following announce with a somber spirit and humility in my heart I'm just kidding laugh I am happy to report that the Trenton Education Association and the Trenton Board of Education have a tentative memorandum of agreement that was signed at 527 p.m. today well that's what get for making us uh sit through those two and a half hours of presentations um anyway I would like to take this time to say thank you and give my heartfelt gratitude to Mr James R Mr James Earl Dr John genden and our respective negotiations teams for their tireless efforts in keeping the lines of communication open so that we could settle on a contract that is not only fair and Equitable but is also reflective of our shared values and aspiration through constructive dialogue and mutual respect and even when we thought we weren't going to get the job done at the last mediation session I can say our team and Mr Ro uh made sure that we stayed until we got a final resolution so kudos to them on [Applause] [Music] that the Trenton Education Association will be planning our ratification meeting in the coming weeks to share the details of the agreement with our members and we are confident that the board will ratify on their end at the March meeting at we move forward let us remain steadfast in our commitment to uphold the principles of fairness transparency and collaboration thank you so much and have a wonderful [Applause] evening don't leave don't stay stay with us where are you going but you're adults you're adults yes well we still have two other quickly quietly please can we please have Miss Cheryl Snider from the East Trenton collaborative and lefree New Jersey organization come up Miss Snider uh yeah there she [Music] goes hello good evening boy cherelle Snider Community organizer excuse me and resident in East Trenton neighborhood so there's three points I just wanted to make we all know that EPA has been here and they talked about the lead and the soil well I'm here to just talk about three points testing eliminating lead exposure and access to healthc care so we need to know it's universal law in the state of New Jersey that our children be tested for lead exposure at the ages of one and two when covid came into play all of that stopped so our children are not being tested and we would like to know with the health department when do they expect to start testing for children with elevated blood Le levels [Applause] so the exposure um to eliminate the exposure to lead we have to do more with the housing stock that we have our housing is pre-1978 homes where we know we have chipping peeling paint and we let our landlords these landlords put our mothers and their babies in these places that exposure need to stop we need to fix that another exposure that's the lead in the paint another exposure that this lead gets into our children's bodies is through the water we need to change these lead service lines we started in 2018 the money ran out the the and the work stopped but in the meantime we have these lead service lines that are corroding and either made of lead or galvanized pipes and as that water is entering our homes and our children are going to the water fountain I mean the water foret or mothers going to the foret to put water into their baby bottles for their formula and if those lines are old which most of them are and they're corroding there's pieces of lead chippen to that water as they turn it on you fill up that baby bottle now that mother takes that baby bottle goes right into the baby's mouth so the baby's ingesting it now where not doing testing at one and two we don't catch it we know that those acute excuse me I got candy those acute levels um those are high the health department can detect those they can find up but I want you to know that those chronic low lead levels they accumulate and as they accumulate they do such uh tremendous damage on our children it messes on their behavior it messes with their Bel with their learning they can't sit still it's even um has some correlation to um oh I don't I don't want to blank uh autism autism and ADHD and if we're not catching it fast we don't know so and then it's the let in the paint the let in the water then we have the lead and the soil which we are experiencing right now with grand Elementary School how many other schools are having this lead in The Soil so remember we got to catch it early and I know our children's are it's an intermediate but we need before the age of five this lead is doing damage to our children we know that our children they have be behavior problems and they have learning problems but if we can get them tested and find out if they haven't even been exposed to Le then we can get them the help that they need so they don't wind up going to the system wind up getting an IEP sent somewhere else and the next thing last place I don't want our children are in the jail cell so we have to do something about that and the last Point um access to healthc care poverty runs deep out here in the East TR on in Trenton there's there's a there's pockets of poverty and then when mommies get to one doctor and doctor tell them oh you got to go to another doctor it's hard for them to get to where they need to go we need access for our children to have clinics our mobile clinics if we need to do bring them in and make testing and access to healthc care available so I yield my time thank you hi Genie thank you so much we appreciate your time here um next Darren Green but he's left right okay and lastly Miss Nikki Baker Nikki Baker from the New York um sorry New Jersey work environment Council healthy schools now New Jersey she's not here okay thank you in that caseing the period for public comments at this time I'm going to have our board members um make any comments that they may have any comments or reactions this is the time uh it's while you're while you're doing that just real quick I really wanted to thank the superintendent for meeting with me today to talk about the need for these uh translation services um Yolanda and I have been talking about this for a long time and I know it's on your radar screen superintendent I'm very grateful for that and the research that will be done in order to make this um accessible to our famili so I want to thank you okay so yeah so so um I think that this this meeting itself um it was long but very in informative and I really think that our new uh New Jersey school boards Association representative right she was very thorough um and it was easy to listen to but the last point is I'm not sure of what sister Cheryl's ask is of us about the health care um for for folks in the city so if we could you know I'm try to get in touch with her but that's what Henry J Austin which has been around for 65 years was founded to do and and you don't have to have um sister Cheryl oh I'm just I can't do that yeah I'm sorry but anyway there there is service around and folks just need to be made aware that they are there for people who who need who need support so that was ni yes we'll have someone reach out to her all right great thanks okay something oh yes so just just a comment uh certainly I'd like to again acknowledge um hedge pth Williams um students and faculty for a great musical performance to see so many children with so many different talents and sing um incorporating movement and song and and in um playing of the instruments just awesome right and these are fourth fifth and sixth graders correct I mean just uh yeah just just awesome and also again as you said this was a very informative meeting um the ethics training because there are some things that are new and so certainly I was very very appreciative of being able to hear some of those new points finer points in terms of the ethics presentation and certainly glad that we did make the announcement about the agreement between the tea and the um Board of Education I think that's very important and even though she scared me in terms of what she was about to say um um you know these are very interesting times and I was like oh no we've lost somebody else right so again um just want to say a very informative meeting a long one but again I think that some of the points that were made and I'm glad that we are um actively pursuing the translation piece because that is important right we do need to be able to communicate with our families and so again whatever we need to do to make that happen I'm certainly the board is supportive of that so those are my comments thank you thank you Austin oh okay he wants to go last so okay no I just I just when um I got of course I I got some word about from the community that we'd have some representation here and I wasn't sure what that what that really meant um but when Tia came up and shared that great news I was in awe um that's I think that's one of the first times toia that that has ever happened um where you celebrated with us together as a team with both uh negotiation committees and all the work that goes into getting that done specifically here in Trenton anywhere for that matter but Trenton specifically because it's this somewhat challenging but I'm so thrilled that we got to this point and we're in a good place uh put the superintendent in a good place for how he moves the district forward and that's as a board how we move the district forward so kudos to everyone involved in that process and God God Be The Glory thank you so much for getting this work done for of Ved committee negotiations committing board president Yolanda Lopez uh great work my sister great great great job great job as board president appreciate you there um just a couple more Community announcements one uh our Parent Connect um they having a using Power School to prepare parent teacher conferences Tuesday February 27th that's tomorrow here in here in this um in Angie Ellis Auditorium I just want to share share that out any boans want want to come out and meet with them parents or and whatnot but it's for parents using Power School through the family community engagement department and then they're also are having Erica Jones was was one of our uh community members on our face committee last year and she still is involved with us but she's took taken a leadership role as a parent leader uh at the high school in the parent support group they've been meeting since December 14th January 9th January 23rd February 6 February 20th is gaining momentum there again that's through the family community engagement Department through Parent Connect parent Inc parents Inc is one of the partners and I had a chance to speak to Erica she said things are going really really well it's building Steam and parents are starting to come out um and she's looking forward to continue to lead th those group meetings with the parents and they're able to get um a questions answered um and and challenges resolved before they get to a a higher higher level of of where they they uh sometimes don't don't need to go uh also just real quick the trio Upward Bound after school program at Trenton highs doing great work with tcj Bonners I had a chance to Stacy Russell Denton is um the lead over that re trio program and I had a chance to to go to an event um At Mercer County Community College at James Kerney campus uh Dan our executive uh County Executive was there Dan Benson and Lucy Waters as well as valina rold Jackson and other people Richard Levy financial advisor Ty Ty Robinson and uh Trenton police detective Tama Summers um and others were there um sharing with the with the students and I also uh shared the impact report from Upward Bound because they helped many of our students and I shared with many of our board members this is a great one-page report on the impact that Trio is having for our students in in the district and this is uh goes uh great testimony to the superintendent the great work that he's doing and in the principal of the high school and other uh other schools within the district but they have a have schol program at the high school they're doing great work with with our students and so I just wanted to share that information with the board to let the board know about the great work that's happening in our district through leadership of our superintendent and the support team uh within the administration building and in the schools so just want to share the information with the board thank you any other comments I have a question yes what time is the Hedge paath Williams thing Thursday 10 Wednesday Wednesday starts uh their several events but it starts at 10:00 10:00 a.m. they have the marker ceremony out in front of the building at 11 it's a student and uh presentation performance and then at 12: it's the lunch in okay and then it ends I think ends two yes okay thank you Wednesday 28 Wednesday 28 take yeah so so yeah sent those who responded to me so I have the names right but you did I'm say I believe that he sent you guys an email oh yes yeah I sent it an email yeah the detail that information in your emails okay I'll be there okay resp anybody respond well yeah okay I'm going with you guys have to respond on the email okay yes yeah so I just wanted to acknowledge I know we didn't do it when everyone was here but uh certainly don't want the opportunity to pass because we can officially put it on at another meeting but uh we did lose uh someone I thought that's where Miss Duncan might be going uh earlier but um Eric tell me one more time so Eric Eric Hill um uh and I know him as Eric and he's a tall man like me at uh Jefferson custodian passed away um several days ago and so our hearts are heavy he was the lifeblood of that opening that school and being a uh just a supporter of all the kids and if you read some of what they wrote about him being their mentor and being able to go to him it's just awesome testimony to the work being done around our district but we will miss Eric and I just wanted to share that with everyone here tonight and in the public thank you and it just goes to uh oh it just goes to show that even if you are quote unquote even even and there and I say that in quotes a custodian you have such an impact on our children it doesn't matter what it is that you do in the school if you are in the school you have the potential poal to be a great influence over the lives of our children so um our heartfelt condolences to the family and at the same time thank you to all those who are not highlighted as working with the children and truly do work with the children so thank you um uh building off of uh the conversation about the uh hedge paath Williams um event that's happening on Wednesday I would be remiss and derelict in my duties if I didn't highlight the fact that this is indeed Black History Month all right no applause for that all right cool I'm it's been 80 years since that decision uh that Monumental decision yep 80 yeah that's what I said okay no um anyway um one thing I just wanted to highlight is uh black history that was made specifically here in Trenton um I know we do a lot of work specifically you know um you talking about college readiness and career Readiness and I specifically wore this this Howard University you know crew neck right to shout out uh black history here being made every day you [Laughter] know but some of the historical figures that uh uh give me inspiration right uh Dr Henry J Austin who was a proud Howard graduate as well uh clearly the hedg paath and the Williams family Ike Williams uh Dr Reverend Howard J uh Woodson uh who went to Cheney and morouse uh Darlene I guess you did too Darlene mcnight Dr C uh Crosby copelan who went to Grambling University Dr Jack Washington who was an institution uh teacher here Janine Stubblefield uh even to uh historical figures like David dkin another Howard graduate there's a trend that's going on here and even though he went to Hampton University you know mayor Doug Palmer the other H all right but um it's really just we have a Dar of talent here right in Trenton uh you know not just our black community obviously our Latino Community as well uh I know there's going to be a celebration at Cooper at the end of the month um but wanted to take a moment and really just celebrate uh the history that we have not just nationally but specifically in our backyard in our hometown if there are no other comments or questions we will move on and um open up the table for any discussion or questions that you may have on our consent agenda any questions or comments on the consent agenda great job on those course catalog great job on the course cataloges yes for next year 25 yeah okay then may I please have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved second roll call Yolanda Lopez yes jald yes Jean buy yes Denise Johnson um I'm going to recuse myself from the matter involving Trenton free public library and say yes to the remaining uh what do you call them activities or recommendations so atin Edwards yes jeie weam I'm going to recuse myself from anything to do with Grant school and yes Edie Daniels Lane yes s mat yes Barby trailer yes I need to make a correction on the minutes from no no don't pass it yet no no I need I need to um amend my yes vote with a stipulation or I wanted to reflect that I should not have voted on the matter of the Trenton Housing Authority option agreement I've been I've been recusing myself and uh from that those um conversations because there's a possible um conflict so it's not possible no not this but does right I need right because it concerns the minutes and so I need that change to occur so my guest from last uh board meeting should be a recusal now whereas the open public meetings act oh no no why do we have new business after this actually you know what I'm I have a new business and it was listed after the executive session but I'm going to move it up so before we go into EXE executive session I did want to um request a motion to have the facilities committee initiate the process of the renaming of the daylight Twilight high school so that it would best reflect one the fact that it is a comprehensive High School not an alternative high school and two that it it um best reflect the new function of the school as a small learning community for business professionals and ent ent entrepreneurship so um if I could please have a motion so moved I'll be second and a half if there are any questions this is the time to ask the questions before we ask before this may not supposed to we just had our train just like if I heard I get my clarified one one of the things just one quick thing I think may help may help may help us as we as we vote on um the motion to change the name um could we also add that facilities committee take action at this point to that would be my next um after this okay after the PO yeah after the motion passes okay oh got you I understood roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart Jean buoy yes Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes Jeanie weam yes Addie Daniels Lane Sasa man yes Larry trailer yes motion pass next as president policy says that I can name and not ad hoc committee for the naming of the high school and I propose that we leave that to the facilities committee because we're not going to be naming this school after anyone so uh facilities you're in charge of this okay I got it the process we've been there yeah facilities is why the policy you're good you're GNA we're just going to follow the policy policy 7250 yeah regulation y y we'll just we'll follow the we'll follow the policy in the guidelines as big as it is as is you don't need any extra no just appoint just appoint the facility work no would okay I I understand I thought I would have to motion to suspend it for this event but as we looked at the policy itself it was not necessary and so that's why we're doing it this way okay um then we are ready to move on to Executive session whereas the open public meetings act codified as njsa paragraph 10 colon 4-6 permiss exclusion of the public from a meeting under certain circumstances and whereas the Trenton Board of Education is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist indicated as follows any material considered confidential by federal law state statute or Court rule any pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations to which the board is or may become a party to and any matter fing within the attorney CL uh client privilege to the extent that confidentiality is required to preserve the attorney client relationship and allow the attorney to exercise his ethical duties as a lawyer namely on matters captioned as invoices negotiations update um mm versus Trenton Board of Ed TL versus Trenton border ofed LC versus Trenton border ofed distribution of property and and board grievance number 05- 23-10 d0 32 now therefore be it resolved by the Trenton Board of Education County of Mercer state of New Jersey that an executive session will be held on February 26 2024 for the statutorily permissible purposes indicated in this resolution be it further resolve that action may be taken by the board when it reconvenes an open session be it finally resolved that the minutes of the executive session with regard to the above subject matter shall be disclose to the public at a later date and to the extent that the same is not prejudicial to the interest of the parties involved no longer adverse to the public interest or does not endanger any individual's right to privacy motion may I have a motion to go into executive session second who here move Denise God roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Jean Buie yes Denise Johnson Austin Edwards yes jeie wam yes Addie Daniels Lane yes Sasa mat yes Larry trailer yes motion passed adjourn to Executive session that's what don't tell me they said once you do this you cannot you should not be going