##VIDEO ID:j2dMtysVqD8## for oh s e sure e e e I might be TR e may I have a motion to come back into regular session from executive session can I have a second discussion Mrs capiola I have a motion on the floor to comeback from executive from executive session into regular session moved by Miss marn Williams and seconded by Miss Elsie KY Mankey roll call please miss carbel uh Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Macky Mr M yes Mr NASA yes Mrs Scott haen Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you may I have a may I have a motion to approve the following minutes may I have a motion to approve the following minutes so moved thank you may I have a second May any discussion Mrs capiola have a motion on the floor moved by Mr Ronnie mcdal seconded by Miss Elsie KY macki roll call please M caranel Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Mackey Mr McDowell yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much next we have our Communications that are reflected on our our Personnel agenda I am moving on to comments from the public on resolutions that will be voted on tonight and I will start with Mrs Susan lipstein thank you Susan lipstein 2569 Jackson Avenue I have a question if you want to pull out your agendas about F12 f13 F14 and F5 I see that we are accepting aid from the Department of Education for two schools one of which is the United Academy of Union I don't know where the United Academy of Union is located I don't know anything about that school there's nothing on a website that explains where that school is or how many children are in that school and um if it's not if it's operating as a school so I have a question about how we can approve aid for a school that there's no information about so I would ask that the board table that until they provide information about about that school itself and that's my question or my comment because I can't find any such School located thank you thank you so much for your comment I have Erica nulan please we cannot we cannot um I have a comment on item E7 approved update of the school calendar um as somebody who celebrates rashash Shana I was Gravely concerned that the school got it wrong by uh giving the day off on the wrong day however as a community member with young children I am concerned about the school adding an additional day off less than three weeks before that day to allow parents time for um child care to arrange child care and an additional school day off within the school day calendar we have uh Monday October 14th off for staff development if it's essential that we give the third off why not use the fourth for staff development and then not extend the school year and not give additional days off that parents need to find child care for and pay for child care for during the school year here I also have questions on um items p uh uh p12 the job description is for the confidential administrative assistant to the assistant superintendent it doesn't indicate which Super which assistant superintendent this is for um and I'd also like to advocate for job descriptions including salary ranges New York state passed a law for salary ranges for equity and pay I think it would behoove the school district to provide salary ranges so that um constituents can know how much we're what kinds of ranges we have for positions out and also can ensure Fair pay for the members of the district thank you thank you so much for your comment so a lot of the comments or questions that were just just asked legally cannot be answered because there is attorney client privilege at the moment so there we cannot answer not that we do not want to that's all I can say thank you so we're going to move on from there next we will have the education student discipline committee uh chair Mr Cohan to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight and that's a decision that I made no one else thank you oh I'm sorry we I'm so sorry sorry student superintendent report good evening everyone thank you uh Madam president um so we're we're going to get into uh uh most of uh you know a lot of the things I'm going to be speaking about tonight is the opening of school uh overall um you know it was very successful had a lot of uh people highlight some of the things we were doing um we were like we mentioned uh earlier we were working uh with the local police trying to uh make sure students are staying safe drop off and pick up um and we're going to highlight a lot of those things tonight uh but I really wanted to highlight uh where we started with our professional development so we were able to bring all our uh um people that were in on uh 94 um to get together and kind of discuss some of the things that are very important to right now uh within our district as far as um you know again impacting uh uh some of the things we see uh proficiency attendance and stuff like that so so uh the staff in the district were asked three questions here are some of the feed some of the feedback that we've received how can we Foster a sense of belonging Community to increase engagement uh and investment addressing language barriers creating more open communication with families making physical buildings more welcoming creating incentive programs creating more family and Community involvement opportunities providing uh social opportunities for staff to build community so one of the the things they dove into and and discussed um and again I think it was like one of the first times we all were able to uh collaborate on some important topics and the voice of all the staff uh you know they they could were had the opportunity to uh provide uh their their beliefs and feedback so what systematic changes can be made to improve student academic performance and as you see there there that's some of the uh stuff that uh were highlights of of the uh different groups that are reported back increase interdisciplinary teaching ensure curriculum is relevant and reflects the life skills and real world concerns especially CTE programs making physical buildings more welcoming provide more opportunities for collaboration expand mental health and counseling opportunities strengthen our RTI and IR s program we've spoken about RTI is is creating schedules that allow more opportunity to not let our students fall behind but give them the intervention they need right there uh irrs we went through uh all last year uh with Dr Fergus to create a districtwide inrs uh program that we're all going to follow and Dr Rodriguez later as uh we start rolling this out all the schools uh again bring consistency um we'll share along the way some some uh of that create parent education programs invest in upgrading facilities again something we're looking to to do within our district uh we spoke last week about a lot of the facility upgrades um and you know we're going to continue to do that and do it right uh providing a positive School culture relocate funding for staff and academic programs reallocate what contribution what contributes to absenteeism as we spoke about too our absentee rate our chronic absenteeism is not good it's another thing we have to address and positively impact these are some of the things that came out family responsibilities and perception on the importance of Education parents are unaware of chronic absences there's a lack of Engagement bullying mental health challenges is uh one of the things the board helped approve is our own mental health program I think this is definitely going to impact uh you know the the students that need that during the day that higher level counseling lack of consequences for chronic absenteeism um frequent teacher absenteeism May contribute to student absenteeism again if the child's comeing the class doesn't really feel engaged or want to uh enthusiastic about being there it's going to be harder for that child to sit through and learn we got to build those relationships we spoke about that too is making sure the teachers are connecting with the students in relationships how do we positively impact attendance well regular check-in with families even when absences are excused to find out what's going on how can we help you know sometimes maybe the parents don't aren't aware or don't realize the impact uh so reach out more help families overcome attendance barriers uh again it's collaborating it's working with parents uh to find out what's going on and what what can we do to help get your child to school some children wake up and say they don't want to go to school we got to figure out why what's the root cause of that increase extracurriculars and incentives positive reinforcement uh we're going to make sure all our schools have a uh a positive reinforcement system um a lot of them use pbsis we we have to put incentives in place for children uh to again set goals and strive for that structured consequences make connections with non-english-speaking families that's something we were speaking with especially our new supervisor of ESL World Language and bilingual um making sure that the parents of non-english speaking also feel part and it's just making sure they they know what's going on and sending things out so they uh if they don't speak English they they also uh are getting the messages um I'm going to ask as we move forward Dr Rodriguez to always highlight what's going on in the schools this is this month he's going to highlight Hispanic Heritage Month and German Heritage mon good evening everyone so across the district we're going to make sure that we honor uh various um months during the year the first one is Hispanic Heritage Month that does begin on Sunday began on Sunday forgive me and ends on the 15th of October so we are just at the very beginning of uh celebrating this month and when we celebrate not only Hispanic Heritage Month but German heritage month we highlight uh people places things from both Hispanic backgrounds and also uh German backgrounds as well so it does not mean that we stop celebrating other cultures and it's only these two it's just we tend to highlight during these months uh some of the events that we're having announcements made in buildings highlighting people of Hispanic and German descent who have made an impact including the German and Spanish honor societies we're going to have opportunities for students to listen to Hispanic music and wear cultural attire as well as instructional lessons on Hispanic figures and German figures in society inclusion of read alouds that feature Hispanic authors and characters as well as German authors and characters studies and projects of Salvador di Pablo Picasso fredao as well as decorating hallways offices and entryways again this is the uh beginning of the month of Hispanic Heritage Month and German heritage month but these are just a few items that we will be highlighting thank you thank you Ro Mr Rodriguez or Dr Rodriguez and as we move forward you're going to hear from uh Miss McKenzie as well as uh Dr Rodriguez um and they'll share things that uh they're leading within our district um so this is one of the things that Dr Rodriguez will share moving forward um just a little glimpse of uh the first day of school for students and staff like I said had a lot of uh positive feedback um exciting time students returning to our schools I just wanted to share some some photos with you guys uh with the community um but overall I thought it was a a great day uh welcoming the the kids and the Stu and the staff back um so at Battle Hill I wanted to highlight this overall they did a great program again a lot of people uh shared some nice things about it there was an article and tap into there's a link there but um they had it was actually Mr Hoy he had his dad come back to share um firsthand some things about 911 that he experienced so uh opening of schools that the uh first day with the teachers we were lucky to have uh Patel Robertson uh she's the secretary treasur of the nja she did a phenomenal job opening us up and sharing with our our school uh staff um had uh just a great perspective uh many years in education uh she has been in uh and just really uh had it relate to opening up and I really appreciated her spending her time with us uh when she also has a lot going on with her District um you also see uh Manny figorito this is the second year we invited the mayor to come in and speak to our school Community we talked about it it is so important to have a relationship uh uh with the town and and working with each other collaboratively uh and and Mr uh figorito was was nice enough to come and join us as well as Miss shared some of her thoughts um you know people always want different things in the district so I think it's important and one of the things that we're going to work on and Miss is is gonna uh you know set up meetings where people can ask questions because a lot of times they just think Miss doesn't want to get them everything they want or they need but we have to stay within budget and um you know uh so that's another thing we we talk about um providing opportunity and allowing people to hear from different uh as well as more individuals leaders throughout our district that's what we're really trying to hit home on just like I uh you know Dr Rodriguez talked about the different things going on in the months the uh principles their newsletters and stuff like that will also highlight those things our our president every year also uh shares um a great message to motivate our staff uh to uh and thank you madam president uh for coming and and sharing uh and I just wanted to uh uh one of the things I put there is that culture will drive our great great results culture will drive everything and the reason why is this is what some of the stuff we talked about um hitting in on uh culture is a very big thing that we got to work on um if people do not want to come to work the produ the the the benefits are not going to be there for the students that they're not going to grow academically as they as much as they can uh we need everyone to come students and staff to an environment that they're excited about coming to so we talked about that um we mentioned that you know we're looking in the future to do a referendum we're going to attack chronic uh absenteeism uh we would like to have a Labor Management collaborative come to our district we're working on a realignment right now so the longer arrows are the ones that we're really kind of working on this year the shorter ones we're going to continue on but we already started last year uh we went through the irrs like I said we're dealing with literacy and student proficiency we're going to continue always on safety our kids need to be feel safe in school and we're going to continue to update our curriculum um but as you see it's a lot of things but I really hit in on proficiency chronic absenteeism and and culture I think it's very important we we have to get everyone working together uh and and on the same bus uh together for the best interest of our district and and we really are highlighting it's all about you our new new teacher orientation I think we had 80 plus um I'll show you two things one I think almost every new teacher new staff and our welcome it was a two-day orientation for our staff but then the second thing which we've done now for many years is our bus um tour so we end the the two days of new teacher orientation and everyone gets on a bus we're up to two buses and we go around Union because it's very important and the teachers always come back and say that was the best part of the orientation it's not just about driving straight to your building it's about knowing all of Union so to going down by cane to other areas of of voxa and that we have uh multif family houses and that some of our kids might be coming to your class and they might not have eaten they might not have had a parent home maybe their both parents were working we can't just assume a child's coming and not participating or not or or misbehaving we got to find out why and our our community is so uh there's so many different needs that when that's the important thing about building a relationship ship to getting to know your kids getting to know the ones that you know have there are issues going on at home and then how can we help what team can we put together knowing this so and I know in the past some of our nurses have known that so when a child shows up to school they know they didn't eat because they already had that conversation so what do they do they already have food available for the child to make sure they're eating before they're starting their day things are happening but we need to always keep going with it and making sure we're building relationships to know all the students needs and uh and meeting them and getting a team together to make sure that's happening um this like I said we we talked about the first day with that staff development uh a lot of positive feedback from our staff felt part of it some of them said it's the first time we ever asked everyone their what their thoughts are on some some important issues uh and they said can we do this more so that says a lot if we could do it more in the future um and it was led by our administrators so thank you to our school administrators but all the classes I was in it was de definitely very collaborative uh and you heard some good questions and and got some good feedback and we're going to use that data moving forward that was just highlighting some of it um little a really quick update we progressed a little bit since the last time I updated on re-registration we still have ways to go uh but we're still gonna uh keep moving forward the one thing I want to highlight is in in kindergarten pre kindergarten we had 131 new students to our district so kids that probably went to out of District not our our school district uh centers pre centers or our pre program but 131 I thought that stood out to me so moving forward Dr Rodriguez is going to report on our our monthly hibs but um there was nothing sorry Dr was nothing to report this month uh which is a good thing um for the first couple weeks of school we haven't had anything reported uh just a general reminder there is a a second of two general election special elections that is tomorrow uh very low turnout the first one uh there'll be a very low turnout this one we did meet with all the principles to kind of uh put together a game plan um uh you know within the buildings but um just wanted to make sure I highlight that as well and madam president that concludes my presentation tonight thank you thank you so much is there any commentary from the board for for Dr vanesta No okay thank you next we will have the education student discipline committee chair Mr Cohan to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight thank you madam president um the education student discipline committee makes the following recommendations upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools uh resolutions E1 through E7 uh E1 was reported at last week's meeting it was a report of Hib through that date e1a is the report through today as Dr benest just had on the screen and there's no vote required on that so I move resolutions e22 through E7 uh but before before we vote I'd like to just uh through you ask Dr benacquista if he could share the uh the thumbnail of the changes to the school calendar as Incorporated in E7 absolutely so um again just uh I did mention it uh last week uh the way the school calendar is uh created is it's a committee um it's the leadership u in the different says coll be collaborative with your unions um and we do collaborate with the leadership of the associations so we got back together again got back together again and um and some to a board meeting as well as internally uh the together so what we did is we talked and spoke and collaborated about the um the concerns as well as other concerns that were brought up after the calendar was created and so we ended up addressing all the ones that were brought forth at one point um and with that is uh yes the third now uh we are recognizing and uh having off um for rashash Shana um and then the uh 23rd uh with the committee the first time we were doing it we were in that third week of June and we ended up giving a half day on that Monday before Christmas because we were trying to stay out of that last week of June um so what we did is we brought that up spoke about it and um and decided to as a as a group as a to uh give it off uh then we had a push back midterms a little bit um to now make it where it was in the middle of the year uh we also had uh community and some staff come to us last year about why we choose to celebrate and uh recognize the way New Jersey does it is they celebrate juneth on the third Friday of uh federally it's on the 19th so the committee talked about that and decided to put it on the 19th that was just um and uh at the end of the year for high school um so again it was the committee coming together to talk about several matters that I recommending to the board thank you I have just could you CL confirm who was a part of this committee that came together and made this decision in terms of finalization of the calendar dates so the leadership of the UTA which is Miss Shannon Mr danzo the leadership of the administrators Association which is Miss Lorenzo and Mr clar as well as but now that Dr Rodriguez and Marissa mckenzi are officially here they were also part of it which the first time around last year uh they weren't able to be part of it okay and again we'll continue to um collaborate the other thing that we're doing is because there's now it seems like over the last few years so many days that were have been added to the count we're going to get a committee together to talk about um does our school Community want to keep doing it this way right do we want to recognize it in other ways and be open but uh some school districts are doing that where because it's getting to be a point where it's so many days and we don't want anyone to feel like we didn't recognize them okay so in the coming school year is to have more Community input on these decisions yeah and then bring that input to the districtwide committee okay to then create a calendar to recommend to this board okay thanks just a reminder you didn't get a second that was my fault because I jumped to Dr B I'm reminding Madam president that I jumped to you quickly and she didn't get a chance to get a second to the motion I did make the motion may I have a second discussion great so there's a motion on the floor moved by Mr Michael Cohen and second in by Miss Elsie KY macki uh roll call please miss capol miss kerbel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Macky Mr McDow yes Mr nasta yes Mrs yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you next we will have the fiscal and planning committee chair Miss carbonel to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight good evening everyone upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the fiscal and planning committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration it should be noted that F7 was approved during the work session last week and f166 is for informational purposes only therefore tonight excluding those two we are voting on F1 through f17 second can we get clarification on United Academy um so according to it is it a school in District is it a school out of district is it preschool how is associated with us okay so I guess what I will say in response and piggyback on what Miss Santana referen earlier um this matter is still pending negotiations of a lease okay uh between the district um and the potential tenant so it would still be protected under the attorney client privilege um I will note that there was an OP request for a copy of the leas from a member of the public um the district is still within its time to respond to that op request however um the request will likely be denied as the document is not finalized as of yet so we're still in the deliberative process and subject to the attorney plan for thank you Madam president can we merely identify the entity does that violate the privilege that's so can we identify who the united united Academy so United Academy is a current state approved school right now that's in Union it's uh located I believe it's 501 Green Lane they're currently a school recognized by the state of New Jersey in our district with that is why they're on our resolution because any of the nonpublic we have to give certain it's a formula but when we receive uh funding from the state we have to also uh fund the in some aspect these nonpublic um the F the the funding comes through us to make sure all the uh laws and regulations that purchasing and stuff like that are making sure it's followed so clar to clarify for the P for the benefit of the public these are pass through funds only there are no Local Union taxpayer funds being expended and it's it's pursuant to statute correct yes thank you any further discussion seeing none this motion has been properly moved by Miss carbonel and seconded by Miss maryn Williams uh can I have a roll call please miss capiola miss carbonel Madame President I did have one question I'm Sor I apologize asked for I got caught up in Mr Cohen's um V sorry I'm having a poor night tonight on fb9 Franklin Elementary School to raise funds for the schoolwide field trip I think we inquired about was it a specific grade level entire school okay the New York next um Franklin um the the field trip that they're going on is supposed to happen in May it's a fundraiser they're going to M evil times and the great is from the second to the fourth grade and I believe that is uh forwarded to you guys on Friday thank you sorry any other discussion this motion has been properly moved by Miss carbonel and seconded by Miss Mary Lan Williams uh roll call please miss capiola miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Mackey Mr McDow yes Mr Nas yes Mrs Scott Heen yes Mrs Williams on Miss Santana yes thank you next we will have grievance and negotiation um Committee Member Miss carbonel to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration L1 approve settlement agreement approved settlement agreement between employee 99000 former employee 8897 um in the township of Union Board of Education in accordance with the non-public information available to the board members is there a second second any discussion any discussion this motion has probably been moved by Miss carbonel and seconded by Kimberly Scott Hayden can I have a roll call please miss capol m caranel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs K Mackey Mr McDowell yes Mr NASA yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you next we will have the operation uh committee chair Miss Scott Hayden to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight good evening upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the operation committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration 01 approve annual integrated Pest Management notice and 02 approve revised organization chart thank you is there a second second thank you so much any discussion any discussion thank you so much so this motion has probably been moved by Miss Kimberly Scott Scott Hayden and seconded by Mr Greg NASA can I have a roll call please miss capol miss carbel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs kante macki Mr McDow yes Mr NASA yes Mrs Scott heeden yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much next we will have the Personnel Committee Member Miss Elsie KY Macky to present the following resolutions upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools this Personnel committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration for the board's consideration p1a um through p14 p1a was approved at September 10 2024 work session um so presenting all of those is there second thank you any discussion any discussion no this motion has proberly been moved by Miss Elie KY macki and seconded by Miss Kimberly Scott Hayden can I have a roll call please miss Capo Miss caranel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs con Mackey Mr McDowell yes Mr nasta yes Mrs scoten Mrs Williams yes Miss an yes thank you so much next we will have the PO policy committee chair Miss Williams to present the following resolutions we don't have any um policies upon recommendation of superintendent of schools final reading was approved at the September 10th work session for regulation 2464 gifted and talented students so we don't have anything else thank you so much it was wonderful to hear your voice Miss Marilyn Williams next we are moving on to residency uh committee I will have Miss Kimberly Scot right you're on the committee committee member she will present the following resolutions superintend of schools The Residency committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration R1 which is the report of students voluntarily transferred to District of residents um again this is for informational purposes only no vote required um you have the student in front of you number 34882 and then again for informational purposes only no vote required there is no students have been removed and students voluntarily transfer as of the um beginning of the 2024 25 school year thank you so much I appreciate that um next we will have Mr Ronnie McDon to present the following resolutions for the technology committee thank you madam president upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the technology committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration T1 is to approve recycling of equipment in accordance with the information available to each board member those were uh two dozen Dale monitors thank you so much is there a second second any discussion this motion has been properly moved by Mr Ronnie mcdal and seconded by Miss Mary Ln Williams can I have a roll call please miss capol m caranel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs k macki Mr McDow yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes may I have a motion to approve the Bill's list so moved thank you is there a second thank you so much any discussion this motion has been properly moved by Mr Michael Cohan and seconded by Elie kti macki can I have a roll call please Mrs capol M caranel yes Mr Coan yes Mrs k macki Mr McDow yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott Eden Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much um and next we will move into um unfinished business and um how about this uh before we we I I open it up to the floor what I would like to say is that I um I have received a letter as uh president of the board for one of our um board members that will be um uh short of a miracle on SE September 20th uh stepping down from the board um it hurts me too much to wait till the next board meeting when she's not here uh to make the announcement and have every give everybody the ability to say something so I will say that um uh as of September 20th Miss Mary ly Williams will be stepping um down from the board and I will open it up uh to the floor before I say anything uh so that everybody could say wonderful things be honest that's all I ass I'll go first thank you so to Marilyn Williams I would like to say um thank you for the things that you taught me as a board member coming here brand new thank you for your um selfless time that you have given to this community and to this board as a whole there's a lot of work and time that goes into it behind the scenes and it's also very thankless so I want to be the first to say um thank you I also want to say I do appreciate everything that you bring to the table often sometimes s a little bit quiet but I do I did recognize and I do know that when you do speak it's because you have something to say you don't just talk to be heard or just to be talking you talk because there is something that bothers you or something that is of importance to you you put your voice in a room and into that space and I appreciate that I'm pretty sure my colleagues all feel the same way you will be missed um you're not far so we know how to find you and um I did promise you some scallops so I'll bring you your scallops and you can make me some chocolate but I do want to say thank you so much for your time served here on the board with us thank you thank you thank you I'd like so to Miss Williams maryn or ml as I call you um you had me at hello I think you know there was a time when I was considered that parent I'm still that parent um but I would go to board meetings and I would be very vocal about things as it pertains to special education and things going on in the district and it was always back then a culture of us against them um and you and I we we made eye contact UM and we both shared just a connection you know in terms of our passion and why you were a board member and why I was the infamous Mrs Mackey and that parent um coming at these meetings and and really going very hard um at you and everyone along the lines um but you and I just connected and we remember we saw each other and we were like BJs at BJs I think in and and we I'm like you looked at me I looked at you and I'm like we we just clict and then we both I was like you can talk to me um and you were like I love who I love and I was like me too um and so your compassion who you are um you know with the spard Beyond um and sharing the journey as a child with disability and really moving forward um I appreciate your compassion I appreciate you um not judging me and understanding where I was coming from and really when I was having those moments with the board at the time um being that voice that you know hey this is a team thing um so thank you for that and thank you for years of coming Lord knows what you dealt with um we all know it's not easy and now being on this side I think I've had to apologize to you a million in one times um but understanding that we're all in it for collectively the greater good um and you're gone but not gone so thank you for nine n years seven eight years eight eight next year be n thank you for eight years ml good luck Madam president uh I don't want to be redundant and repeat some of the things that my former colleagues have said I'll just endorse uh everything that both Miss KY Macky and M Kim uh Miss Scott Hayden have said but I want to thank you Miss uh Miss claims for both your mentorship your uh your thoughtful contributions but more importantly your leadership uh I was able to serve under you as the chair of the policy committee this year but I recall your time as board president and I viewed it as a time of stability and calm and I think that's something that we've all benefited from so thank you thank you for your service um I would also like to uh just thank Mrs Marilyn Williams for the time that she's been on this board and and the commitment that she's made and I know that uh that through the years we have been on on opposite sides of of the election ticket but at no time did I doubt her commitment to the children of Union uh and she has uh I think carried that throughout her term here on the board uh so I would just like to say thank you for the years and the commitment because I know that it is a sacrifice um and uh uh I'm surprised this evening uh I guess I'm the last to know because I did not know uh you were uh leaving the board but once again thank you for your time and uh your commitment and uh everything that you've done to our board and for our children will be honored thank you Mary ly no Michael cig you go go ahead go ahead you go then I'll go Mary Lyn I just um from the bottom of my heart want to say thank you it's been many years uh where we've been up here together and I just feel like you've always been someone that supports this district and and for the best interest of the district fighting for things that you know will be good for our students um me personally I very thankful to have you for so many years and I'm GNA miss you um and I wish you the best and just uh you know I I really appreciate everything you did for me thank you thank you um first off I I i' have to say that you're going to be sorely missed on this board 100% uh you and I have known each other outside of for quite a while I still haven't gotten those I'll make them for you uh you were you were definitely one of the people I was most excited uh to to work with when I first came onto the board and you were also probably the biggest person that I wanted to gravitate to like to you know listen to everything and try to soak in as much as you know about this uh you were one of the you know Elder States women on the board you know just because of the time youve put into uh like I said you were going to be you're really going to be missed uh By Me personally I know by the rest of the board and you know I wish you the best of luck moving forward so Marilyn you gonna have to bear with me I have a message from a good friend of yours and colleague um Miss Mani who is out of state right now but she wanted this to be read okay um I want to thank Miss Williams for her years of dedication hard work and love for our district she was the best running mate and board member and friend we definitely complimented each other and worked as a team from day one I will miss you I wish you the very best but I know we have many more years to enjoy this friendship I am eternally grateful for our friendship and it has been the best part of my time on the board you know I have to follow that um I've always said that an educator is not someone that necessarily Goes to School gets a certification all of us are Educators in some way or another and you were my teacher you've become my friend you have been my colleague and I am very very grateful to you um we ran together and the experience the wisdom that you and Nancy showed me and the care humbled is is something that I will always treasure um I know past this time our friendship will continue and I speak as a professional to you and giving you your your roses but on the humanistic level what I am honored by and knowing you and getting to know you and having you in my life is your courage your honesty in your resolve so thank you sister thank you so maryn Williams I started out as a parent in one of those chairs and we for many many times were on opposite ends of a lot of opinions and over and over again I think we've taught each other uh just like many have already said I got on this board and kind of didn't know where to who to follow where to follow and I kind of was have always been like coach put me in put me in coach I want to go up there I want to go up there and over and over um with honesty you looked at me and you said Chaz you're not ready you're not ready yet right and under your leadership we stumbled we fell we walked we ran then we fell some more and I I thank you for making me level up consistently get out here practice do it right and and and work together no matter what is on the other side I will miss you maryn Williams I invite you back a million times more I'm up this year I might be in the public next in a few months myself and I promise you I you I will save you a seat you are s you will be sorely missed thank you for your years of dedication and thank you we'll miss you thank you I thought I was going to just be able to slink at of you here you almost did but I just couldn't did but this the last eight years have been absolutely amazing um not just for the district but on a personal level because I never imagined in my entire life that I would be sitting on a board of education um working for our children on behalf of our children and the first couple years were not easy you know there were times where I'm like you know what this is free time I'm not getting paid for this I don't need this but it wasn't really about me it was about our kids and some of the people that I thought were making me want to quit are right here advocating for our children and we got it right like this is the best board we have had and I'm not going to cry I am not but it does break my heart that I have to leave now because this is what we've all wanted for so long for so long with the community being engaged and people on the board actually working together even if we don't agree we're not nasty we're not mean we don't call each other names and I remember when I sat in that seat I said that so I'm kind of you know happy that we established that and that we are here now so I won't be a stranger um I will be around I love each and every one of you even you Ronnie and even you Elsie and even you jasty so I am gonna miss you guys a lot I'm not gonna cry um in my downtime I will be making Chocolat so I may make a little chocolate visit you never know um and and it's been an honor serving on this board it really has and thank you all for all your kind words okay so now I'll open it up to unfinished business yes Mr Cohan so um I think I perhaps was a little bit remiss uh when I gave my education committee report not sharing with the board some other issues that were not part of the resolutions but I'd like to report to the board that uh I want to thank Dr benaquista for for his uh foresight in at having the curriculum and instruction leadership team invite the education committee to meet with them and review some systems that they have begun to use for curriculum development in the district uh I was very encouraged to see the the U the Phil philosophical underpinnings of their approach and the fact that they they understand the importance of collaboration uh which follows some of the Contemporary research regarding curriculum development uh they acknowledge some of the potential challenges moving ahead uh but they're committed to trying to work with the staff to resolve those and I think that and I also want to thank uh Dr benacquista and the leadership of the district for having the foresight to to conduct those focus groups with the staff on the opening uh professional learning day because I think that we are better off when we understand the Insight of the people that are closest to what's going on with kids and I would just say that from my perspective and I've said this to the the leader the curriculum instruction leadership team and to Dr B that I think it's very important for us not just to listen but to respond and take action on on the relevant things that they have shared with with the leadership and that we can act on and I think our role as the board is to make sure that we're supportive and make sure that we create the policy environment uh and provide the support needed when things are recommended To Us by Dr B and then finally I just want to say from my perspective I came in with some great concerns about the recent past of our district and how we were making progress I was excited to find that we had new leadership in Dr benaquista and I think it's clear based upon what he reports to us each month and the the slide at the end where he shared his vision for growth and learning in the district I think we're on the right path and I I pledge my support to sustain that progress because I think we're going to get where we need to be thank you thank you I'm not sure if it's unfinished okay all right thank you um stole some of my thunder I wanted to to thank you and your team for being responsive in terms of that calendar CH the calar calendar changes I'm sorry and revising that calendar immediately um and I can't believe there were 81 new teacher at it wow but um yeah welcome to all those new staff members and we hope that you have an amazing school year but I will disagree with you even though we had is jumped to two buses I'm hoping that it's just a bicycle tour where there's only one PE person that we have to replace in the future so um and I will also be remiss if I didn't say thank you to you uh Dr Rodriguez Miss McKenzie and the rest of the staff I know it took everyone involved for the opening of schools um we do do read the emails and everyone things are going to happen this is an organization that where there's people involved um but it's nice to see when all of you are following up with the concerns and trying to be problem solvers not only for our students but also for the staff as well as the parents so thank you thank you m yes please so I'm not sure business unfinished business but um we're really moving ahead with the realignment of the district um we have come together um and assigned committees subcommittees um for realignment I want to say thank you to all the community members who have signed up um because we are one and we are community and and Community involvement parent involvement Guardian guardianship involv is important um and with these subcommittees we have um selected chairs for each of them um emails will be going out I believe Friday um to all interested parties in terms of which Community Committee committees that are going to be assigned we also have opened it up to get more input we have some areas where um we you know haven't had any input uh primarily special education um we don't have anybody you know and so you know the more input the more communication the more talking things through the better for this project because it is about all of us coming together um to decide how we go about this um so email goes out on Friday we welcome more people tell your you know community members tell other parents um um so yes it the emails are um Dr Bena do we have like a general or isna directly to me and my co-chair Monty McDow in terms of how right now fin ini ofte meeting met last week and once we confirm all the dates this week okay committee chair will make that letters are going all out together they don't think one committee got notified one didn't absolutely and in terms of more people coming on board are they directing it to Swani and myself or are we do we have a general it'll be link people what committe they wanted to be out so it'll be community be sent out again okay and you are than welcome to join as as you're on a committee still join another one right the more the better um you know and multiple committees you know gives input from different perspectives with each of the respective um areas with this process um and I know that we we normally have it online on our web page so definitely the union our school website um will have it but again we encourage everyone to really join on on board um so that we all have a collective voice in this process um an input is needed and I am going to plug special education there was nobody um and so please join us um as we take this initiative I'm sorry so so notification will go out to everyone that everyone that put in for a committee was is on that committee there's one committee that has like almost that's huge that so I don't think that like we'll probably do chair maybe right and then like what district person like so like if uh one person is on fiscal committee chair and then obviously you uh the ba is that that's what we'll do but I I think it would be too cumbersome to to we'll discuss it and and kind of as a as a yeah can we come back to committee and can we come back see if uh that's something we want to push out there were I think more than more than 80 80 people signed up or I think a total nine or 10 committees and some of them signed up for more more than one committee and I I think before we make the uh the list public I think we need to get feedback from those people they want their name to be public but uh um it's it's quite I think a a large undertaking and we are getting as many people in the community involved as possible because uh it's it's in it's critical that we have input from the community when we go about making these changes to our school district that certain affect our children any other um unfinished is just to follow up to the realignment discussion yes sir just to share that as as we discussed as a committee the beginning of this work and I want to just kind of reiterate what both Mr mdal and Miss kcki said The more voices we have the better absolutely because we need to consider all those perspectives before we come together with a final plan and a final decision that'll be placed before this board and there are going to be a lot of very difficult conversations um to be to realign The District in in the way that was conceptualized in the previous effort uh in 2018 or whatever it was that we had the previous report 2019 uh will require some logistical moves and some tough decisions that will make some people unhappy uh but we're going to be hoping to explain the the justification for all of that as carefully as we can among all the different committees uh and you know despite the the nuts and bolts that will be required by some of the Committees probably the one that's most important is the one that Mr mcdal and I serve on he he will chair which is community engagement you know we're GNA it's going to involve I think us reaching out to uh neighborhood associations and and going out to the various schools and meeting with people where they are so that they can hear what's being discussed and we can hear back from them any other unfinished business no great so I'd like to um comment a little bit so uh welcome back uh to everyone parents students because as a parent I'm I'm happy the kids are back to school um and I want to thank uh the leadership from Dr benaquista down to the assistant superintendant Dr Rodriguez and Miss uh Marissa McKenzie uh um I started in the school district as a parent in 2012 and never have I ever been more confident um uh to to know a that things are going like uh my Madame vice president said things are going to happen but under this leadership I knew that they could handle it I didn't have to helicopter I didn't have to worry um too much uh I just was was ready and our team was was ready from the the letter from transportation and everything that's that that's happened after that I I had complete confidence in this leadership I thank you for that um I did want to say that I have put out um uh off office hours for the board of ed for for myself um I put I have a job that I get paid so I work in the city um so I'm opening it up as much as possible if anybody does have um hours like you want to meet with me and it's it's not within that time frame please just email me I'll see what I can do um to get here so that we can meet it it can be over the phone I prefer face to face because I think that that's where the connection is really made um open houses so we have 10 open houses uh the the month of September I have committed to be at almost every single one um because I it's been a while since I've been in every school and that's just me I miss our schools I was so so happy to be at Livingston I was so so happy um to be at Connecticut Farms and yesterday was Washington and if you know me Washington is home to me I cried a lot of Tears cuz my babies aren't there anymore but it was just so great to see how we have evolved as a district and are really getting um things in place um we we've made the commitment um as for open houses we will have one admin either um be it doc Dr benaquista Miss McKenzie or Dr Rodriguez um attending and if not the liazon for the school I will also be there just so that everybody could um see see the connection how it's not just at building level um so so great great things um in that way and the next thing oh and I did want to give a plug um I promised I would so when I was at Livingston uh although my daughter wanted to pull me out by my left arm I I stayed in an extra 43 minutes I'm so sorry because I talked my ear off with the Livingston Garden Club I uh admire and thank um the ladies uh Michelle I hope I get the names right Michelle Zada Erica nulan and uh y help me with the last name Williams Cole yes um they've done great things at the at Livingston um they let me know that my black thumb could still grow in the outside they invited me back um and just had learned a lot about what's happening at the building level in Livingston playground things like that as a district we are reaching out and helping our uh Livingston and the children in Livingston to have that needed Greenery and also uh working towards a better playground for all that go to Livingston I wanted to thank them and um and us also you know participate and see how how we can work together collaboratively that's really the way that it's always going to work so I checked off my boxes I'm not sure if it was new or unfinished but open house welcome back my office hours and thank you to the Livingston Garden Club you guys didn't send me uh a a summary so that I could read but if you send it to me I promise I'll read it next um next next meeting just so that we can see kind of where the grant money and all everything that you told me in my 43 minutes while I was out there and I um will go back to my roots and PTA PTA PTA if you do not belong to a PTA please belong to a PTA if you can afford to be a member of all 10 please do I think that that's the way um that was how I started I PTA my way all the way up to New Jersey state diversity inclusion chair I even got a trip to nins out of it um great time recruited a lot of parents um and uh please support our PT consistently over and over and um yeah that that's my that's my shme for the day and if anybody has any new business after all that we said yes yes on Sunday um Sunday was the first day of Hispanic heritage and I was able to attend an event and I I need to give a shout out to the home foundation and the Frasier family um for putting together a very special event um to kick off Hispanic heritage um in attendance um were a number of dignitaries including Senator cryan mayor figorito assemblywoman keano who was honored that night councilman Carlos Torres the UTA leadership and of course the ceg uh a a couple of SE Peg members I just want to say thank you it was very very special and it was nice to see that the individuals celebrated that night and recognized came from different Industries one in the fire department right here in Union um our one of our very own staff members Carlos esel um one of our graduates that now is an entrepreneur and owns his own Barbershop and assembly woman kiano and I just want to say if I can imagine it I can become it and I am very happy to see that the school district is going to address Hispanic Heritage Month but I hope it doesn't stop at the Arts Freda Callo Salvador Del which I love their artwork but we have a lot of his Hispanic students in the district and I would love for them to learn about individuals in The Sciences in mathematics and in other facets of our illustrious Industries here at home in the United States um so that they can strive to be those individuals so I can't wait to learn about some of the activities that the district is putting together and don't get me wrong there's not a Mera song that is played that I don't dance okay or Bachata but nonetheless my father was an engineer and he taught us a lot of mathematics so we can be so many things and I hope that we explore all those areas during this month similarly for the G German hispan um History Month that commences in October thank you any other new business any other new business wonderful I will move on to comments from the public and we can start with Susan lipstein Susan lipstein 2569 Jackson Avenue I sent the board a whole list of questions um you probably didn't get them till maybe uh Sunday night and I'm not going to go over them all because they're not going to answer them but please take a look at them these are real concerns that I have about uh what's going on um M Mr Taylor had talked about and so please take a look um and and take this into consideration when you're doing your negotiations it's really important I also would like to ask that I wish Miss Williams luck on whatever you end up doing from here but now that there is an opening on the board I guess you will be doing interviews and I would like to ask that that's advertised a little more on social media than um when there was an opening before and also in the spirit of transparency and collaboration to um open up those interviews to the public they can be opened up to the public they have been opened up to the public before and I think it's only fair for the public to see who's who's coming on and getting the full information and watching them be interviewed um I'm going to give you a break and not talk about libraries tonight I spent a half an hour with Miss Santana lobbying and talking and I think I've given her a lot of information that I hope gets shared with the rest of the board and um I also would would like to ask I know offices have moved to the Social Security office is that correct Mr benaquista that people are working there from that the board has moved and maybe you can put a list of where people are so in case someone needs to find them they know where they are not just on email but physically and I also was not sure if we were paying rent or not for that facility but um maybe someone can get back to me on that and that's it thank you thank you so much Erica Erica nuland thank you um first I apologize for not sending the um sum I did drop the ball on that and I will get that out um I wanted to recognize there are a lot of parents involved in that so I just wanted to very quickly recognize Christina Del Haven who's here Isabelle jio Ayanna April Sanders Fiona riera uh Rosa ran sorry Rosa M Dixon and Vanessa DTE are also involved in that committee so we have a large group of parents at Livingston working really hard to get our kids outside in the dirt um connecting with nature growing food um all of those great things um I I I'm not going to give you a break on libraries um I just want to briefly shout out how important Librarians are for a love of reading a love of learning and a love of students own um sense of self and identity I think Librarians can really do a lot to put the right books in struggling kids hands and change lives um so I urge the district to instate uh certified library and media specialists in every single school as full-time faculty members our students at Livingston are only going to the library every other week um we need to get grade level free reading books into their hands every single week That's essential um in June Dr benaquista promised parents that he would facilitate open public meetings between himself and parents and also the curriculum team um and parents uh that did not um he had promised that before the July board meeting that didn't come to fruition um I urg the board and Dr vanista and Dr Jose Rodriguez to create those meetings and those spaces for parents to learn about the curriculum um have their questions answered learn about the process and really have an open facilitated um communication between the community the parents and the Board of Education in the district um and then I want to just shout out um a mechanism for electronic meeting attendance I think it would be great if we can bring back zoom and allow parents not only to watch on TV but comment electronically for those who don't have childcare at home aren't able to come out in the meetings to facilitate broader Community involvement um finally I urge you to open the calendar committee to the community um I think we have a lot of input from the community the calendar is one of the most important things for families with young children um when there isn't school it's expensive um and so I think having the perspective of parents would be really important for uh forming the calendar um so thank you so much thank you so much for for that comment what I will say um and I'm not debating this I'm just stating a fact here if there is a comment that someone wants to make and they cannot get here um you can always email it in and it will be read into the record I'm not debating yes and but I am letting you know that if there's a comment that wants to be made you can always email it in before the meeting obviously and it will be read at the meeting um at that time to the board secretary uh Yolanda  thank you so much Michelle Z um thanks for coming out to Livingston Elementary School open house I really appreciate that and acknowledging is this on can you hear me okay okay I don't think this is on hello okay sorry sorry sorry sorry uh I just wanted to acknowledge that thanks for coming out for Livingston Elementary School uh pursuing the acknowledgement of the Livingston Eagles Garden there is many uh parents involved in that uh there was also um four grants that we've gotten for the uh Livingston school that uh agenda that Grant has been on this one we continue to try to get more grants and Al also the outdoor expansion so which is a bigger Endeavor and tens of thousands possibly hundreds of thousands dollars that grants it's not just a PTA fundraiser event in that um I'm still going to keep talking about the Librarians at the elementary schools this is very near and dear to me um as a parent that works and two parents that work uh this community has dual income families and it's really important that uh we have full-time certified Librarians at the schools uh I know for particular my child that's uh Livingston they're only meeting once this month and that's their exposure to the library right now um I actually was brought to Tears by Mrs Myers right there um when Dr benaquista had talked about the students that are coming to school that um are missing breakfast or you don't know what's going on at home and this is why it's so important to have full-time Librarians because parents can't always take their child to the library moreover that Librarians are teachers they're not CL clerks they have a curriculum to follow um New Jersey had also passed a law where um it's legislation s588 uh that requires K through 12 instructions of information literacy under the implementation implementation of New Jersey student learning standards this is where it's so important to have Librarians uh at all the elementary schools and middle schools and high schools fulltime um we talked about like not burning out teachers uh that librarian now is divided in between two elementary schools uh I had spoken to last week about the the computer teacher that's at the fifth grade level and she had 600 students that now that librarian has like close to a thousand students that you're placing upon that librarian that's being divide up uh if you don't want teacher burnout and high turnover then I highly suggest that you support your teachers support your families and um you know again uh these students were heavily affected by covid and as we've seen in the past uh the with the standardized testings that the elementary schools students were affected the most they need a lot more resources not less so I will be advocating I do expect full-time students full-time Librarians to be and I also um excuse me your time has inspired thanks you can finish your thought I would also I'd also really like for you guys to make a budget for the Librarians um I don't really want to hear Librarians having to go through grants to get libraries for their schools as a taxpayer and seeing my taxes go up I want a budget that the Librarians agree with with the Board of Ed or how it goes that there's money devoted to books for our libraries at the schools thank you so much thank you Miss soleno soeno 340 wheel drive um uh with schol starting IP meetings are going to start happening soon for student in Union High School at the at the high school with reference to transitioning email have been sent regarding to concerns about receiving information from the of vocational and rehabilitation services uh uh from uh Department spe special services um but when families are told that only if a special need Student is planning to go to trade school or Source um they should contact this agency uh but this is not accurate uh even if the student decide to go to college they can still receive services and it's very important for the Department of special services uh within the district to inform the families that there are services for uh from freshman year uh to from freshman to senior year um I know this uh information firsthand since my son loss having these Services um the department of special services uh needs to extend more um on this information um I'm pretty sure they might be overwhelmed with a lot lot of cases within the district uh but at the same time students are missing out um for uh this helpful Services uh special services meet with the agency meaning the division um uh of uh vocational reabilitation Services twice a year uh and is it is important that special services receive the resources and I mean the department of f Services receive the resources and support they need in order to get uh to better support the case managers uh so when IEP is revised this is presented to the parents and students so uh the more there's more effective decisions um um the services are like work Readiness summer internship for special uh student with special um special needs within the high school um it goes from 14 to 21 but they can receive um services from from this agency uh I spoke directly with um uh the person in charge of Union High School um in County um and my son lost that and I really don't want to see other students missing out on this um I feel like sometimes uh IPS are Rush not all the time but they are and then of course they have to give us all that information and they throw at us parents information that should be expanded because how can we ask or look into Services if we don't know or we don't understand not everybody has time to go to webinar and and and and listen and learn sometimes there are during the day I have gone to countless webinars um excuse me could you finish that last thought okay your time has expired okay so I just I I wish there would be a committee or something that can actually look into this because it would be good for the students thank you so can you just uh Dr Rodriguez before he leaves tonight just share I want to make sure I have the information that you're stating about the agency thank you thank you so much matop good evening I wanted to thank the Miss Elsie and my next door I think it's Mr Coen um for you trying to elucidate the question that was put before us I think we're all looking for transparency we're all looking to work with each other we're all trying to do better for our kids I think that's the idea of the board of AD that's the idea of the schools and on my part it's the idea of coming here and spending this time here with you which I thank you because you don't get paid for this uh but it's the interest of our kids that should be ahead of everything else uh Mrs Williams thank you for your service um we've never had anything going on because I got a call from your Camp police itical campaign for the board of EDS saying that you were going to lower my taxes when I know that that's not true so I never uh with me you can people can talk bad about you people can do whatever they want until it's with me I have nothing against you then you pe your people called me to say that you were going to lower my taxes and I know that's not a reality so from that day on I said forget it I don't think they're there for the kids they're there to lower taxes of somebody which is not me so thank you for your service but I think that was of the service that your campaign did on my on to me personally okay it's it's not you know General um that's it I hope that you we can continue to work for our kids because I think that's the general idea uh if you're looking into changing something uh my boys will be out of the high school soon but they do say that high school should start later not earlier because they're older they like to stay in bed later and they're not productive in the morning and the schools have been like this since forever and it's not working you should know it's not working so somebody should change something that's my kids perspective thank you so much Yasha Yasha love hi um Yesa love 1176 Carlton Terrace um also a former Union High graduate class of 95 um fortunado anyone else um my daughter's uh prek Hannah calwell and on June 18th um the last week of school we had the highest heat index of the year it was 101 on record um I went to pick up my daughter and um the teacher said um the kids weren't doing that well that day because it was sweltering in the class they had no AC um I walked my daughter from the class to the car in the parking lot and she didn't wasn't her perky self and um by the time I got out of the parking lot she was sleep in the back seat which I thought was strange but I didn't know any better and I thought maybe she was tired um I got her home and carried her uh into the house and put her on the couch and something told me to stay close by and within an hour she rolled off the couch convulsing with her eyes rolled in back of the head um paramedics came and um it was a heat induced seizure um I did reach out to Dr benaquista the next day via email and about a week later I heard back and we spoke at length and um you know I know that um he he promised that um something will be done about the air conditioning in the school um also um that a fiber four plan will be instilled for her um I'm very saddened to find out that now she started in kindergarten at at Hanah well none of that has been in put in place and I'm quite disappointed in that and um they have uh four and five year olds uh in school during high heat heat index with no AC and not notifying parents is very upsetting to me and um so I just want to follow up on um what the situation is with the air conditioner Hanah cwell thanks thank you so much for your comment Miss love and moving forward please always come here talk I do not I don't I want everybody you want to go on camera we want here but um before it gets here I wish June 18th you would have sent it to all of us include us all so that we can also um follow up okay thank you so much next I have uh ASA the Silva Sila 707 ever green Parkway thank you uh since I wasn't born and raised in this country I learned learned that there's only five continents in the world and in America we say there are seven continents uh also I've just heard that about Pablo Picasso and Salvador in Hispanic I thought since they're Spanish and since I think Salvador lived a lot of years in France are they considered Hispanic also or they Europeans and is that it could be for you uh is it's really a question excellent question that was part of the presentation so that's why I used them but you are in fact correct they are of European descent however over the last few years Spaniard have been also celebrated during Hispanic heritage but they are not necessarily Latinos or his they're Latin but not Latin that's yeah okay so that was my question because like being prised in different areas so when my kids came home and said about the seven continents you're absolutely right and I'm like what so everywhere in Europe we say it's five continents so you guys added two more so that's it thank you so much and Margaret Shannon good evening and Margaret Shannon 2591 spru Street and UTA president I want to thank everyone involved for a smooth opening of schools this year I will second Dr benoist's comments about the inspiring keynote speaker on September 3D P Robertson she is the nja secretary treasurer and the UTA was uh very pleased to be able to bring her here to uh Union there are over 600 districts and only three officers in nja so for her to come speak to us it was a great opportunity for us and she did if you listen she shared many gems of wisdom um for everybody teachers parents children and administrators so I thought she did a great job and as for my friend Marilyn Williams wow you will be missed so missed um I first became UT President in 2009 I've been around for quite a while and it has taken every single one of these past years to fully appreciate the board that we have in front of us today uh there were many UPS many Downs um but marynn you've always been to friends and I appreciate you so good luck in the future thank you so much Kathleen Bruns Meyers hello everybody Kathleen Bruns Meers Livingston Elementary school during the day careford at night I have notes this time I want to say the beginning of the year has been great for everybody that I've run into it's been exhausting exciting exhilarating all at the same time it was great to be at the staff meetings this year when they opened up and we talked about a lot of things it was great because it was um not building wide it was alphabetical order wide so I was with people from the smallest up to the high school so that was interesting and the thing that I am happy about the most is one of the comments that was made actually several comments that were made is when the questions were posed to us what can we do to do this we all kind of said we can't do anything the people who can do something will they hear this will it go on so to have it there and have it presented tonight Bravo wonderful and I look forward to it to keep going and to keep moving on and not just talk about it and I can't wait to say I know we don't want things to go fast because sometimes what's good isn't fast you need to move slowly so but we need to keep it going in the right direction so thank you to that um I want to say in regards to the realignment committees um I was a part of um the last committee with the planning committee where Jill Hall and her subcommittee I think marielen tro um had a lot to do with it and I would like to give kudos to them because they did a lot of work that I'm sure you guys are going off of um so I hope that their voices are also going to be heard a lot um and Ms Williams I've been coming here a lot of years and I feel like you've been coming here a lot of years too um but I just want to say it's been great to see you popping in to Livingston when I've seen you at Livingston school because I believe we are your school for now um we will always be your school so you can always pop in um and I know again like what many people said we always don't all agree with each other but we handle things properly we're educating the students and the children so you have always seem to maintain highest respect and regard for your behavior so as a parent as a staff member as a taxpayer previously I appreciate that and I want to thank you and more to the speaking that I want to say is I will never forget you last year coming here and being brave enough to speak about mental health awareness to everyone and I will take that with me forever I actually bought two T-shirts the night I went home on Amazon and have been wearing them since then to keep everybody looking at it and thinking about it I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers throughout the years as they go by and you are always invited to pop in you know where to find me and if you need a booster dose of little kids you definitely know where to find me so please come in anytime that goes for anybody on the board if you ever need a boost of some fun friends I've got them thank you all thank you so much are there any comments from the public that I have not called thank you so much I will be moving on to a motion for adjournment so move second second thank you so we have a motion on the floor Miss Capo moved by Mr Michael Cohan seconded by Miss Mary ly Williams yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs k macki Mr McDow yes Mr nasta yes Mrs Scott heeden Mrs Williams no kidding yes Miss Santana yes that's it this meeting is a jours