e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay we're going to call the July 25th ver Township Board of Education meeting to order may we have a roll call please Miss Ahern here miss Brock here Mr smacka here Mr cantino Mr Krauss here miss pallet here Dr Ross here Mr Sweeney here Mr Zimmerman here we have a qu okay is recommended that the board enter into close session for the purposes of discussing legal personnel and student matters have a motion please so mo mo move by Mr CR seconded by Mr Zimmerman all in favor please signify by saying I I I oppos motion carries we are in closed session and we will go through the other e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay it is recommended that the board return to open session I have a motion so moved move by Mr Zimmerman second second second by Miss ahar sorry all in favor I we are in Open Session Mr slam may have a roll call please Miss Ahern here miss Brock here Mr saglia here Mr cantino Mr Krauss here miss pellet here Dr Ross here Mr Sweeney here Mr Zimmerman here we have a quum would you please join me and and stand and Pledge of Allegiance the United States of America to the for it stands Nation indivisible jice for thank you Mr slam reading of the meeting notices please the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests discussed or acted upon in accordance with provisions of the ACT Vernon Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published an adequate notice has been provided and notice that this meeting has been properly posted in accordance with the New Jersey open public meeting law uh just a quick note the next combined work session public meeting will be held on Thursday August 22nd 2024 thank you item G presentation we are having a presentation by Mr Gastro and Dr Shep regarding NJ GPA spring scores and NJ access the floor is yours thank you great all right thank you everyone uh so we recently received our results for the njpa and the New Jersey access So within 60 days we have to present that to the public that is what we will be doing today uh the first few slides slides here are uh just an overview of what the NJ GPA is it's basically the new graduation requirement assessment that is given to all grade 11 students at the high school level uh and the results report as the students are graduation ready or they are not yet graduation ready yeah and Ela is based on grade 10 content or skill-based mathematics is based on both Algebra 1 and geometry so it's more sequential content based uh this is just a little background of when we received the initial cut scores because they had changed uh over the course of the history of this exam um and these are just some alternatives for students who may not meet the minimum required score on the English or the math portion of the njtpa uh we usually give them an opportunity to retake the NJ GPA uh in the summer or fall the following year and uh if they still are not able to meet a designated cut scor for the NJ GPA we have alternative uh substitute competency tests such as the acup Placer or the PSAT uh they will have their own respective cut scores um it's interesting to note when they first came out with 725 as the cut score the state tried to put it at 750 there was a big push back because of that so when they lured it to 725 they felt it was a little more attainable for most of our students but but they do realize uh New Jersey is actually one of only eight states that require some type of assessment for graduation and that's why they put in alternative assessments because they realize that some students have a challenge in this type of assessment so that's why they're you know New Jersey actually rolled out some other opportunities as well and in that same vein uh for some students who may take the alternate assessments and still not have success there is a portfolio appeal process that the students can go through to uh get graduation ready status and that is basically going through with a teacher uh an alternative assessment where they are sitting there going through a portfolio of work and demonstrating that they are competent in the various areas they need to be for Math and English they're then submitted to the state the state reviews them and gets back to us to let us know whether or not the student passed their appeal and this is really interesting to know too it's for all students yes special ed as well as your general ed students all right so for this spring uh we had 237 students take the assessment uh in English and in math and out of uh the 237 English students 89% were graduation ready uh as compared to the state average which was 82% and for math 55% were graduation ready which met the state average of 55% as well and and on the bottom there is just all the results together it comes out to about 72% of our district students are graduation ready and 68% average at the state level uh this is that same information just broken out into paragraphs uh this is that same information but with student numbers sometimes percentages uh you know are a little misleading so this is the actual number of students who were consider graduation ready in math and English and the related percentage uh as a comparison we also took last year's njtpa scores so last year in English we had 74% graduation ready this year we had 89% in math we had 54% ready last year this year we have 55% uh but again I want to stress that these are two different cohorts of children so these were the juniors in 2023 74% of them were uh graduation ready for English the juniors in 2024 89% so it's two literal different groups of kids so just take that as you will uh these are the breakdowns that uh we're required to share from the state uh this is uh the same information but it's broken down by race uh so I know it's very hard to see up here uh but it's literally just broken down by Rays for English for Math and by the number of students who were not graduation ready and the corresponding percentage and then the number of students who are graduation ready and the corresponding percentage the reason for this data I think which is really important when we start to tease the data we want to see if there's any population that we need to really support so it's not for an analysis of you know who's doing what it's more for us to see is there an area of opportunity that we can support in any one area to make sure we have Equitable practices within our curriculum and then our CL and as you can see like there's there's Equity across the board yes sorry can you just go back to yep absolutely want to process it what does it say is that not ready red and green is yes not ready is not yet ready is uh red and green is graduation ready and I think it's all the way right is that's the total total yes and what makes it Equity across the board well we want to make sure that all pop like we have more green than red as far as across the board if we saw more red than green like if we saw more of one particular cohort was not as prepared as another then we really want to take a step back with what happening here yeah do you have that data by number of student because uh yes right okay so how many okay uh any any subgroup that had less than 10 students the numbers are suppressed okay uh just because there's a risk of identifying students okay and I'll share this whole presentation out too it'll be on the website so that everyone can look through it uh the next subgroup that uh we break it down by is gender you're going to see that in general but nothing that really is a distinct markable number is that the females tend to do better actually in testing both in ela and math but there's nothing to say that that's really indicative and here's that same breakdown uh just as a barart uh the next subgroup we're breaking it down by is program uh the programs are free and reduced lunch Section 504 El which is now MLL our English language Learners uh special ed General Ed and then the final is all the students together again any population that was less than 10 was suppressed to uh protect student identity what is Section 504 Section 504 is a accommodation plan that students can get uh for various reasons medical issues things of that nature okay thanks yeah and this is that same uh information just in a chart so I think the thing that's going to really pop out to everybody it's the first time you're seeing more red than Green in one of the categories and that's our special education category so when you think about the accommodations that are made on the njpa the one thing that they can get is a reader or they could get extended time but what the state realizes is that not every student can perform at that level on that that type of assessment and that's why you have the portfolio rev and the important thing to note also is that while accommodations are given for our our special ed students the all the content is still still on grade level so there's accommodations to help with accessibility but all the content is still at that level right and that is the NJ GPA portion of of our presentation we'll now be moving on to NJ access uh and I realized that in the past we've covered a little bit about what access is but I I want to give a little information and background of what the access test is uh so the NJ access is an annual assessment we give to all of our uh multilingual Learners in New Jersey so we have a cohort of students who are in our district who may have come from a background where they had little to no English and these students are entered into our ESL program throughout the district and every spring they take an assessment where they are evaluated in four different domains listening speaking reading and writing uh they are assessed in those areas and then the goal is really to find out how are the students doing where can we support them more uh and hopefully to eventually graduate them to the point where they're able to be in the classroom on their own without these supports uh some key features here are uh it aligns with the weda standards weda is the worldclass instructional design and assessment standards uh New Jersey is a part of that Consortium that's why we give it uh and it's uh a combination of multiple choice and Performance Based tasks so as you can imagine for the speaking portion the students are actually speaking into a Chromebook it's being recorded and then it's evaluated by someone at the state level uh the benefits of this is it really does help our ESL teachers and our general Ed teachers identify areas of strength and opportunities for growth for our students uh we're hoping to support them and eventually give them targeted interventions that will help them succeed to be independent on their now this data is a little bit tricky because we have so few students there are many areas where we have less than 10 uh so this is a breakdown by grade level as you can see there are very few grade levels that have more than 10 students so the data is very very sparse uh just to go over what you're looking at here there are five levels actually six levels of the weda assessment entering would be someone who came in who had absolutely no English proficiency and as you go up each level there are indicators uh to indicate whether that student is gaining English prici proficiency so they started entering and would move forth to eventually being proficient on their own to graduate from the elll program they'd have to score a 4.5 which is right in that expanding level uh if they don't score 4.5 they are not eligible to be uh exited we have many many students who right who are right at 4 4.2 4.3 and until they hit that threshold they cannot be exited uh so you'll see once I go to the bar charts there's a you'll see almost a bell curve where a lot of our students are right there in the middle and uh there's some that are past that point and many that are still working towards that point I think it's impressive that we're at 69 that number has grown tremendously tremendously over the past couple years but here's our distributions by achievement level so uh entering is that light yellow then orange is emerging developing is that light green expanding is the lighter green then bridging is a heavy green and reaching is that dark bluish green these are broken down by Elementary grades middle school high school and that final group is our entire District when they reached a 4.5 did it go into monolingual class then they no so right now all of ours are inclusion classes they're not nobody wants to graduate out of this did they go into monolingual class they never leave it they never leave it oh no no so they're always our program is a uh high-intensity uh English instruction so they'll get pulled for some classes but others our English our ESL teachers will push in and then their English teachers are trained in sheltered English instruction so that during English class they're getting support as well so they're basically getting two periods of ESL and at the high school they're also getting a regular English class on top of that so they're getting three we're hoping the more exposure the better so I'm sorry you said that we have a 69 number is is an increase so that means kids are moving into District okay so we don't we don't know how long we've had those kids in our programs to know whether they're being correct so we have a lot of students who have come in so some of the students you see that that are entering may have just come in May uh or over this this uh this past um time where they were still able to test uh so some of them uh could have just come in uh in the same range we had some students who came in qualified but once they took the access this spring they they graduated they were able to just pick up enough where it was fine so this test doesn't doesn't have a way of showing how much they've improved over the course of the or how long they been no not I have that information per student uh but I can't just because it'll identify who the what's interesting too like academically we have students this past year who come in and they have not had a formalized academic instruction for multiple years and they're coming in so they might not have been in school for one two possibly three years we're putting them in on grade level because that's a state mandate and not only are they learning the language but they're trying to catch up with the grade level so it's it's very challenging for some of them yes um and now this data is the same thing we did for njpa we break it down by subgroup so this is a breakdown by race uh this again is a little sparse because of the low numbers um but you do have some in there and I did I was able to break this into a bar chart where you kind of have a better view uh these are pretty much the two races that had enough students to graph uh so you can see we still have somewhat of a bell curve with our Hispanic population uh and with our white population uh it's more of a a line an increasing line so uh this is the subgroup by gender breakdown and this is broken into uh grade bands of elementary school middle school and high school and then the fourth is all grades for the district really see we have a lot in Elementary yes two of our population is elementary and lastly this is by uh program again free and reduced lunch Section 504 special ed and then all students and we only had enough students in preing reduced lunch to actually grb and that is it any questions I have a question yes this program works for any language speaking kid a kid speaks tagalag or a kid speaks Japanese or whatever yes doesn't matter any anyone who is not proficient in English Okay correct and we have a lot ious spread of language I'm sure the acronym was changed from ell to MLL yes multilanguage so you said some things are recorded right so is there um do you get a feedback that like maybe the students talking too low and they can't understand it yeah so they automatically lose credit on that question right right I would assume but do you guys sometimes we get that back in time where we can assess that student on that question again um so for instance we'll submit um and we have a very wide window uh for the testing area so if the teacher realizes that it it didn't work they can resubmit that question and work it out um but there are cases where sometimes they can't we try and make sure they have their headsets on and they're really there the a lot of the teachers do it one-on-one with the students so that they can really you know enunciate but that is something that happens unfortunately and then so is there any kind of tracking that uh like how fast for I guess this would be more internal tracking than than what you know the state's doing but how fast we're moving people through this or do we and it probably be more like by grade level because you don't know where the person entered but are we seeing if somebody entered in seventh grade are we seeing like their progression is out of you know uh proficient level four by by um 10th grade or are we seeing them like taking all the way to you know of high school it it really depends on the student right now because we do have such a small population we are actually tracking per student okay um so you know some of our students we've had in for three four years um you know we're seeing growth but they still haven't hit that threshold um but they were coming from you know the very beginning where they spoke no English and no English is spoken at home so the other issue with that is they're not getting that reinforcement at home and then you can imagine over the summer there's a pretty significant regression um so uh some of the kids though we see they come they'll they'll do a year maybe two and they're graduating but no matter what if a student exits the program we monitor them for two years to make sure that their grades are still they're maintaining grades they're not having any struggles in any areas and if they are having struggles we we go we talk to the teachers to make sure all right is it because now they've hit a grade level where there is a language barrier again or is it just something else going on are you finding certain languages are more harder to tr you know cross over to English then it is and if we focus on those languages differently than than we would um all of them are are taught uh so it really doesn't matter what language they speak at home the emphasis on is on learning English so a lot of our ESL teachers use the multi-sensory uh English instruction to help them a lot of the Wilson programming uh fundations things of that nature because they really are learning the phonetics and and everything from scratch again so uh they really try to emphasize speaking English and it's a full immersion um you know we are we do have the benefit where some of our Spanish speaking students some of our ESL teachers do speak Spanish um but we do have a lot of other languages like Tagalog polish where we we don't have anyone in District that can speak that so there really is just an emphasis on learning English and speaking English so it's the same approach but just like you would do when you're teaching teaching English to any student you're analyzing where their deficits where do they need more support uh so there is that kind of data collection and then you know targeted intervention on those areas but it's not so much by language as by student need we also have the tech support like the the iPads are really helpful that they convert them to whatever languages it is they speak so for us the first thing really is showing them how to use the technology and showing them how to ask the right questions so that they can get the help and support they need and the tricky part with the iPad too is you want that as a support but at a certain point you have to start pulling that back too so it doesn't become a Reliance where I don't need to learn English I have an I I have one more question do how do you fig your grade level if a kid comes in from country that had no formal education say he's 12 years old and he went to second grade only I mean how do you put him in a grade level age just by age huh yeah we can't we can't hold them back due to a language barrier no I understand that but I mean you can test them in their language let's say and they only have a second grade education and that's what we've done so in that case um they they get classified um we do testing in their like you said in their native language there's more than a level discrepancy standard deviation and they eventually get classified but in those cases if there isn't a learning disability right or a lack of exposure rather they usually will catch up quickly right and and they're able to be Declassified okay um but we have had that a few as you can imagine yeah so we're seeing this for the first time you guys have sat with it a little bit this data from both of them um what what what is it telling you what are you if you have any takeaways from it anything you are going to focus on next year um I mean right now our we we've had more students exit in the past two years than we have in the whole history of the program uh so we're moving in the right direction our big thing now is uh with our numbers getting higher and higher uh trying to work on scheduling that will work for our students best um you know we don't want to pull students out of English to teach them English want more English so we were able to you know at at Rolling Hills and other buildings have certain periods that are their win periods where they're not missing their actual academic subjects and they're able to get support uh so that's that's been our biggest challenges finding a time to work with the students in those small groups where they're not going to fall farther behind by missing content which is that's an intervention that's always the struggle um so that and then think right now we are looking at a more formal program um to find better interventions to support larger numbers of students you know right now we've had we've been lucky where we have three or four students in a grade level with a teacher they can sit oneon-one with them and really drill home the English uh content but as your groups get bigger and the amount of students increases we need to find programs that can address that uh we don't have that benefit of being able to sit one-on-one with every student in every grade level um so that's what we're looking at now and the same question for the NJ um I I found it really interesting when we look at the ELA versus the map because the one thing that would like strike you is like why did the ELA increase so much and what happened with the map there's there's a couple reasons for this number one Ela is skill-based number two Ela is taught multidisiplinary across the board in multiple subjects so they're getting multiple Avenues of exposure on a repeated basis so now after covid a big stress has been critical thinking you're getting that in your history classes you're getting that your elected you're getting that in science so they're hitting on that multiple times I can speak specifically for science with you know in grade 10 you're looking for argumentative data and making arguments and analyzing critical tests that's something the ELA really focuses on well you do that in social studies you do that in science so they're getting multiple Avenues of exposure the math is on algebra and geometry these are two different types of math that are combined into one test and they're also sequential so that was the thing that I was like okay we're with this state as far as where we should be but that's not good enough for us we want to be way above them so what are we looking at whenever you're going to look at something like that there's there's three things that always stand out to me and then I always like to add a couple other them we want to look at curriculum alignment we want to look at professional development we also want to look at intervention supports then for me I'm also interested in the type of Assessments we're doing in the classroom to prepare them for that type of test and I'm also looking for the community involvement as far as how families perceive these tests and what family support is being given to students the week of the test you be an nsla be mgpa whatever it is and and that can be quite different depending on the household in so when you look at curriculum when we're thinking about what prepares them for the NJ GPA we analyze the data with the njpa and we found that we wanted to see what students weren't performing particularly well obviously you saw the special ed number was not what what we would like to see so that's one thing we noticed we also noticed that with the njpa the students that didn't perform well were students that happen to be in our CP algebra course well it sort of makes sense because if you're in CP algebra that's your college prep algebra you're not in advanced algebra you're not in the honors Algebra 2 trck so what does that mean for that line it means we have to put more emphasis on what's happening in the CP level courses we also track those kids because those kids if they struggle in algebra and then they go on to struggle in geometry what are they taking their junior year the Year of the ngj GPA are they they going on into algebra 2cp or they going on into college math college math is a foundational program that is me to prepare them for College and Career and it also has all the key things that are necessary for the njpa I think what we've been doing is we sort of naturally push kids towards the algebra 2 piece because it just seems like you know but we really missed an opportunity with the college math so what we did one of the things that was uh proposed and agreed for this summer we've been working on the college math curriculum this Tuesday today Friday we had two of the three teachers that are teaching college math one the special ed teacher and one the regular ed teacher they came in we looked at the alignment of college math with the NJ GPA as well as the um standards that are addressed in algebra and geometry looked at career Readiness and we totally realigned the curriculum and now we're putting assessments and and we're we're building out the curriculum for that course and this is a for 11th grade yes yes I take that so then what would they take in their senior they could take I would love for them to take statistics but they could also take algebra too yeah we also then were looking at the math eight culum because that's where algebra really gets started so this past spring we have the math um teachers from grade8 really do an analysis of the nsla stores and we looked at where we were we decided to put another level of algebra in because we were offering algebra 8 as well as an algebra ACP advanced class we broke it down now into a foundations of algebra algebra 8 and the advanced class this this is to really help those kids that were struggling from the Geto so we have another layer of support to prepare them for high school algebra to give those foundational skills I'm sorry what are those three called again the foundations of algebra this is new for the fall okay algebra 8 and then we have the algebra ACP and then what do each of those lead to in ninth grade in ninth grade you would have the Alor ACP going on into geometry honors or geometry AC depending on the scores yeah um the foundations of algebra as well as the algebra a would go on into algebra AC or algebra C depending on what okay but we're hoping that Foundation really helps for that algebra CP level that we're we're finding as indicative of struggles on the Eng so you're looking at the curriculum professional development um thank you for the Advent of coaches because coaching is really going to help across the board with that long-term integrated professional development for our teachers it's also going going to help with the resource where coach can commit and give give feedback I mean I can be there too but now you have another layer that's going to be very helpful interventions we're putting in place with the tier one tier two and tier three quite often we talk about that at the elementary levels but that's something now we're looking to spearhead at the high school as well when you're looking at assessments uh during cpts we're looking to really analyze our assessments the past few years we've been working on differentiation but if you don't look at the assessments to collect the data to know how to different differentiate we're almost putting the car before the horse so now we want to go back and look at the assessments use the data from assessments to go back and retach where needed so that's sort of like a Going Back to Basics approach and then the community support talking about testing you know there's there's the segment of our community it's very Pro test they want the data they want to see the numbers we're excited about it and there are families that are concerned about the number of tests the number about the state assessments and they question the validity them understandably so getting everybody on board um would be really really helpful with that I think nich also could talk about how many kids he seen come into some of these tests and not really just sort of Click through it and close the Chromebooks in 15 minutes so we want to get away from that and really sort of pump them up and have them you know buy into the do families also look to opt out of this like is it they can because you don't at least sit with the NG n kgpa you are not able to take one of the the second or third CS they have to at least six where are these tests scheduled I'm sorry what they're in the spring NJ GPA is in the spring uh but the other assessments can be at any time the acup Placer we gave one right before the end of the school year um and we're planning on doing another one this fall the fall we're also going to give an extra round of the NJ GPA for students who didn't pass the spring and who didn't pass the acup Placer uh PSATs are in the fall um and uh there's also a cut score on sats n n yes and this is only the third year of NJ GPA second year where the scores count yes and only New Jersey is using this assessment yes so when we have a 50% 55% average for New Jersey where does New Jersey rank amongst other schools in the nation well we're first I think are third or fourth I think we're fourth we're four we just fell the fourth and and and why why are we that strong because of our math scores when you when you read the that as well so we're g we're given an assessment where 55% of the kids are passing in the city of New Jersey we have very strong Nationwide math scores so I just wanted to make that point as well well I just want say what with that though I'm sorry Russ but and and I appreciate everything you guys are doing because it's actually you took away half of my questions because I'm like okay you're doing the work you guys this is this is I think everyone wants to see in the community is what you just said and and you guys have done a great job with that but I mean I have to say 54% to 55% and the scary part about this is you're saying the CP level so CP level to me in my understanding is College Prep right so we're have college we have kids that want to go to college who don't understand it and and and what what is that in in when they get they're not not forget the fact that they don't pass the test to leave our high school if they can't they're only getting 50% here how are they doing in college Charlie that's a New Jersey state NJ GPA test where 55% of the you know that's you go to you go to standardized National test you're talking about a different type of a a data analysis so like New Jersey is like one of the top schools in the in the in the nation and 55% of their kids are passing the New Jersey NJ GPA test I would love for you to I would love to share out some sample copies of what this test looks like it is not like the hspt it's it's not like the G the gapa test or hesp test of all this this assessment has become harder and harder over the years I still want to show more growth than what we showed but at the same point don't say 45% of the kids are failing based on a on a on a New Jersey state math test 45% of our kids cannot pass the assessment as written by the the state that's why the state has put in place other things for those students who may not particularly test well who I mean remember they're talking two or three years back where they took those courses and if they're there's some students that by the time they get to high school have already decided everybody's heard this I'm not good it m that is pain mind like breaks my heart right we're trying to change that from the Geto chaos right we're trying to get that whole thing to Shi by you know some of the new programs we're putting in place but I I agree with what you know they're like hey % well what kind of test are we giving to our students that only 55% of our kids are passing that's another issue and I'm talking Statewide so what is on that assessment how are we assessing I I think it really gets to the heart of what a true assessment is and is it is it a valid and fair assessment and when you start talking to I I was I met with some superintendents and some directors of curriculum on Tuesday night and everybody is saying the same thing from qac and how qac is graded all the way to the stat assessments like what's our goal here our goal is to collect the data and see where we need the support it's not to judge and or rank it's to see where our students need help and I think we're seeing that our a certain population they need more support but if we're giving them a test on grade level and they're not on grade level for for some of their special needs I have a hard time saying that's completely yeah I I totally agree and and again I don't want to take away from anything you guys are doing because you absolutely are doing the right thing if if you're you put it together something this summer to go over the CP program that's that's excellent that's what you're you you did the data for that's why you're looking at it and it really shows that it's not just a a graph that you threw up on the board for us you actually have there's meaning behind it and and I really appreciate it um but you know like I want to see it's going to take time right you're putting a CP program together it's not we're not going to see better scores next year you know maybe hopefully we do better right we're maybe we're 58% right right but you're not going to see a huge jump it's going to take time for that but how does our new math program that we started in the young grade how because that actually seems more focused on fixing this problem than some of the traditional ways that we've done it because they're teaching and and and see what it Smiles you guys kind of agree what I'm saying but thing I think I've learned in this position is that that kind of changed takes time and I'm used to be able to shut my door and fix it and this type of global change or big big change will take time but the most important thing are the teachers standing in front of our students and what we can do to support them to help them support our students and the resources we give them and that's really where we're going to put our Focus or we've been putting our Focus but Focus oh I just have one more question um is is it special ed is that in District and out of District or only out out in District uh this would be both I believe any any students who are technically on our roster that took the NJ GPA so did do you guys distinguish if the places that we are sending are not up to par as where we would be um we do yes but in this report it would everyone's lumped together yes but um you know we can suggest things and and look to support but usually if a student's in an out of District placement um njpa is in a a very high priority uh in that area unfortunately I'm listening and am I inferring correctly that your impression of the test is that it's very challenging and that more of our students are actually prepared for college than 55% but that the test is e either the way that it's designed or the way the students take it or and I know we can't do that with every test score and be like well it's probably not exactly what it says but is is that what I'm inferring from when you're talking about how the test is this very you know like this is the Statewide issue that right I mean if you're giving you know you're you're in your classroom you're giving you know local assessments all the time you're giving Benchmark testing the the kids are showing proficiency on those and then you get you get a state test where only 55% of your students are passing okay in the entire state where are you looking well of course you're going to look at your curriculum like we said we're going to adjust but also you're looking at your test right what are the highest uh you know Miss questions what's the Frequency with which kids are are missing you know these selections what types of questions depth of Knowledge Questions are they missing uh you know if they're way off you know I'd be looking at my assessment if I was giving that as a teacher does the state give you that information no yeah I know very very difficult drill down the data to the extent that I personally would like they get they give us more than they used to definitely yeah the they give us more with the type one type two type three levels of questions so we can get a little bit more out of that and they give us example questions but they don't tell us exactly the questions that they miss right science is a hot mess there's lot of push back with culum across across the state right now with the science test because they're multi- Pages too so you'll have a question on one page they have to click to ATT tab see one graph they have to click to attab czy seen and the kids are just like what the heck right person if you had a paper test where they could see everything at one time right you know part of it's that Tech piece where the rigor of the actual assessment itself causes some kids to just shut down because if they don't have skin in the game it's a little challenging sometimes but I I definitely think like the feedback from our students when when they're talking about their exit Serv is yeah um what percentage of our students go on to college yeah I'd have to look up I don't have that off the top of my head is in the 50s though 50 something for foure colleges uh last time I last time I looked it was around that I'd have to look for this year but yeah fouryear College it's usually around that do we do anything to to uh check on try to find out later how they did in college like any kind of you know uh surveys to our former students to see did they make it through were they did they feel prepared when they actually I believe we do but we don't get a tremendous response you can imagine that's unfortunate yeah I think there may be a component in navian we we could potentially use for that um but I'm just familiarizing myself with the nitty-gritties in there uh so uh I'll look into that further with Nick yeah but uh you know I mean you'd have to get their new emails too because they pH out their emails we have to incentivize it right right to give them like a little venmo yeah yeah careful [Laughter] now within the counseling department to reach out to students that graduated and they were trying to put an Alumni network together um but then I know hit and the don't guid like everything separated so I don't know what happened to recently there was a panel of alumni that came back after their freshman year and that was recent yeah um right that was like within the last two years I think so within the last year yeah I guess that was maybe part of that you don't get their their schedules right you finding out what college they're going to and that's where that's the last you don't self-reported sometimes too yeah and we've we've had a shift because economics of of I think larger amounts of students going to uh community colleges as well to make it more affordable thank you very much thank you great job thank you yeah thank you okay uh I need some guidance here on H item H is this where you take over uh yes okay I right Mr slam can you provide some inside here uh so since uh the contract is technically being changed uh midterm based off the way that that was negotiated I can't hear you based off the way that uh the contract is put together superintend contct put together uh in District um we're technically making a change since there uh is a change this year and were're required to have a public hearing uh so basically the floor would be open for anyone in the public to comment on the superintendent contract for the 2425 school year okay so open the meeting I have a motion to open the meeting to the public so moved concerning superintendent's contract for the 24 25 school year yeah so we don't need a res we don't need a resolution for we we can just open it up okay right anybody from the public anybody online Nick um somebody just joined it but they do not have their hand raised so I would imagine no okay public participation is closed nice job right thank you good great so there moving on to item I which is public particip ipation on any item on the agenda and any student who would like to comment please uh public be reminded that please identify yourself and mention the municipalities that you're from the meeting is open to the public for agenda items and student matters student issues okay anybody online no okay item J president report there's no president report at this time we have had three meetings this month already I'm sure you've heard enough from me can I ask the president question are we not doing committee reports that's correct we are not doing committee reports disappoint committee reports have been in the past during work sessions I know but this is a combined this is not oh it's not a combined we did the work session the last oh because did the special work session okay so I missed my committee report so we discussed that earlier with this is slam and was not aware no it's okay no we would like to have our committee reports part of the public session the regular public meeting okay so in August which is a combined work session and public meeting we will have committee reports and then going forward my plan is to have our committee reports at at the public meeting okay not at the work session because in the month that we have our public meeting is towards the end of the month and our committee meetings are usually earlier in the month so that all of our committee meetings that will be meeting that month will have their committees meeting and being able to put together you know an intelligent report okay I mean I have no objection to that thank all going to miss out on my wonderful committee report because I won be here in August because I'm moving my child well maybe you can uh designate a yes I will definitely somebody to provide words of wisd giv I can hear you item okay I'm sorry you guys are all out of order no I'm kidding Charles could we eliminate the work session then if we're not going to be discussing well that's the eventual goal okay yeah once you have a Bo of committees right you just have a public meeting right the eventual goal will be to have the committee's meeting and not have work session that makes sense that's what we but we have to do things slowly so that people don't get you know one step at a time into it into it so good thank you Charles for bringing that very good you know very very important Mr slam item K oh is that that's mine all right um approval of the minutes as listed uh the work session closed session of June 13th the regular work session of June 13th the closed public meeting of June 20th as well as the public session meeting of June 20th you have a motion please so moved moved by Mrs zerman second second second by Mr Krauss all in favor do we need let's have a roll call vote Miss aern yes Miss Brock yes Mr slea yes Mr Krauss yes Miss Pet yes Dr Ross Yes abstain where noted Mr Sweeney yes Mr zerman yes motion carries okay item L Mr Rogers uh informational matters and reports a lot of people say are you enjoying your summer you have a lot of time off we're we're very busy at the board office and in our summer program so I want to tell everyone we're up to in our summer programs below is a list of programs being offered this summer in our schools at Cedar Mountain Primary School we have the extended school year program that runs from July 1st to July 26 this Friday is our last day uh we've had a great success with that in Glen meow Middle School the 21st uh cclc summer learning program uh July 8th through August 1st is running it as well it's an excellent program uh for your students and it's offered all year long as well during the school year correct um for after school um act activities and and different events so uh please if you have a sixth through eth grade student uh please consider enrolling uh in the cclc program at Vernon Township High School we had a summer credit retrieval program that ran from 624 to 712 we had 29 students make up 37 courses that they were awarded credit for that they did not have success with during the year all AC all these classes were in academics were in science math history and English this allows the students to stay on Pace with their uh with their projected uh course schedule and they don't have to change their schedules and that they they been able to have be remediated in areas to show a level of success in those areas uh in that summer program it's been a very successful program for us uh I think all the kids that graduated nobody was denied graduation for failure for any state assessment that you just heard about earlier they've all made uh they've they achieved the pathways so nobody was held back because I've heard that before that our kids aren achieving success they all graduated and achieved through one of the pathways um special thanks uh We've also partnered with the palal who's holding their summer camp at roling Hills Primary School from 6:24 to 8:16 and a special thanks to all our amazing staff who making your summer programming happening for students we also have a lot of Summer Staff coming in for summer hours uh you I just talked to two of them this morning who were working on the uh college math curriculum I talked with others who are working on uh rubrics for standards based report cards there's a lot going on this Summer that that uh people don't know about and I want to thank our our staff and administrators for the time that they put in to to prepare to make improvements for next year as well because I I do believe in the growth mindset um Board of Education Office moving uh we're preparing to submit our paa uh the maintenance and custodial staff have been busy switching offices in classroom at wner Bridge school to create more space in the preschool classes as of now the board of aded offices have been moved to the former Walnut Ridge side of the building with the exceptions of benefits and transportation the offices of special services will move be moved to lsbury hollow later this summer but as esy ends at Cedar Mountain this Friday in weeks to come we'll be moving those preschool classes back into the other side of the building where we have larger class sizes which is advantageous us filling at the paa which we're uh we're very uh excited about what's paa again uh preschool expansion Aid and we're pleased to announce that the Vernon Township High School students and district artics for the summer months there RWS being displayed at both the board office and municipal building if you're at either one of the buildings please look first through nwork the following certified staff members are recognized for receiv receiving tenure in the month of July and August Mr Vincent gagliasso will receive tenure on 818 2024 and Dr jly Shep will receive tenure on July 2nd 2024 we did not make it make it a requirement from the give them to give the presentation tonight to receive the tenure congratulations yeah congratulations uh recommendations again we filled a lot of positions and uh made sure and again the AIDS usually move around based on our needs it's recommended that the board approve the following uh faculty staff appointments Etc in the table below letter B it is recommended that the board approv professional development travel conferences conventions and workshops that complies with the provisions of the New Jersey statutes annotated njsa 18a 11-12 for the v s School District employees listed in the in the table below letter C it is recommended that a board approv the following staff for summer case management for additional three days letter D it is recommended that the board approve for the following staff member for summer CST meetings at a rate of $40 per meeting letter e it is recommended that the board approve the following staff for summer Wilson training letter F it is recommended that the board approve the following position positions for the 2024 2024 cclc program effective 95224 through 731 2025 and letter G it is recommended that the board approve the following position for the 2024-25 CCL program and all to be paid with 21st century Community Learning Center Grant funds effective 95224 through 630 2025 um thank you for those who were instrumental in us uh uh securing that Grant letter H it is recommended that the board approve the harassment intimidation and bullying s school safety and random drug tast testing reports letter I it is recommended that the board approve adopting the Vernon Township School District policy manual and this is just a general yearly adoption of the manual for the 20124 2025 school year letter J it is recommended that the board approve all certified teachers for bedside tutoring as needed for the 2024-25 school year letter K it is recommended that the board authorizes superintendent to extend offers of employment for the 20242 school year via letter of intent throwing July and August to such candidates as a superintendent deems worthy of employment upon such terms as a superintendent deems advisable consistent with applicable Collective negotiations agreements and subject to ratification at a later date from the board letter L it is recommended that the board approved the mckin vento Lea General intent to collaborate between burn and Township School District and Bergen County Special Services for the 2024-25 school year funding for this program comes from the New Jersey Department of Education letter M it has recommended the board approve the emergency virtual remote instruction plan for the 20 2425 school year attachment a letter N it is recommended that the board approve the law enforcement uh against drug lead programs for the 2024-25 school year which will Encompass instructions for grades five and seven by the Vernon tach Police Department letter O it is recommended that the board approve the memorandum of understanding for live streaming video between the Vernon Township Police Department and a Vernon Township Public School District for the 2024-25 school year attachment Bay letter P it is recommended that the board approve the memorandum of agreement between the Vernon Township Police Department and the Vernon Township Public School District for the 2024-25 school year attachment c letter Q it is recommended that the board approve establishing an emotional regulation impairment ER class at Lansbury hollow school for the 20242 school year letter r is recommended that the board approve establishing an emotional regulation impairment ER class at Glo Middle School for the 20242 school year letter s it is recommended that a board approve establishing an Autism class at glal middle school for the 2024-25 school year letter T it is recommended that the board approve establishing an Autism class at ver Township High School for the 20242 school year I have some other recommendations in the uh addendum um please make sure you see addendum page one recommendation there are two appointments two Corrections and a rended appointment all right may have that in the form of a motion please move move by Mr saglia seconded second second by Miss Brock uh discussions I have a question can you explain K to me um yes our next board meeting is at the end of August and there are several positions that we have not filled yet and in in years past last year you allowed me to extend an offer of employment to people while the board is not in in session in order to secure their employment so that they could begin the school year okay I have a question in uh item a under recommendations there's something called a treap dollar sign advisor what's Tre dollar uh traps is the uh traps is the entrepreneurial program that we have at we had in the past at Glen Meadow that a lot of people had come to the board and expressed that uh sorry miss the first Board of it's an entrepreneur program an entrepreneur program yeah remember where they sell a lot of goods and services and they go through the whole uh process a lot of the parents came to us uh La throughout the year last year and were concerned about losing that and that was one of the one of the clubs that we brought back to to establish a very successful program that the parents and and students uh missed it is a nice program resp I'm glad we're bringing it back um let letter N um can you is that is that something we do every year the law enforcement against against drug programs uh yes it used to be uh there there should be there oh okay yeah I remember do we have anything like that for families too I mean this looks like it's for students but do anything for parents I would have to talk to the different uh we've had we've had discussions over the summer with a different administrators about uh support and providing uh training for families uh if if we did something we we would want to advertise a little bit more like we've had we've had great sessions on cell phones before and cell phone usage and how to how a block absence and and that sort and sometimes like there's seven people in the crowd and you know but we we would we would probably talk about adding some more training possibilities for parents I know we did the nurtured heart last year at uh at Rolling Hills um we offer some Outreach at uh at uh Glen Meadow as well Cedar Mountain has all types of programs that run after school as well but I think in our committee meetings I think we could Target specific uh wants and desires for training of the parents and maybe uh talk about make offering some of those as well okay yeah we learned at our last committee meeting that if you offer food people come that's true that's true you Fe Brock uh just a quick clarification for me um on let J C that her DM rate is the daily rate and not the rate for three days in total right correct go thank you have a question about letter M I'm sorry Charles the emergency virtual remote instruction plan is that a state mandated to now because yes I really don't want to talk about that but yes it's a state mandate all right yeah no I understand but I mean is it in case of a snow day we would do that no all right well only in the case of a pandemic or something I'm sorry I'll spit my hand and spin around it's okay yes Charles I just have so that's like disaster econ right it's not there because we're not allowed to do that right have virtual classes right now the best type of instruction is live instruction for our students yeah 100% yeah um I just want to claric clarification on a um you have a lot a lot of substitute teachers that that means they're just going they're they're able to be on the list to become a substitute we're not uh they're not covering for somebody out correct okay and then um these at Wilson trainings be and E these are in addition to the Wilson trainings that we covered last well one one is replacing okay and the other one is the one who's actually giving the training we thought that originally that they were subsidized through a different program and uh we know we wanted to make sure that they got paid for giving delivering the training to our to the other teachers okay so that's that is okay I was I I took that question away because I was like that's a silly question but I guess not a silly question is and thank you for that teacher for providing that training yeah that's great I'm glad you guys are doing more of the Wilson um and uh f is that a new position data Specialist or is this a replacement or is this you have to renew it every year or something every year every year and that's for the cclc cover CC oh right right and then that was all I had thank you for item I for the policy manual are there any changes from last year or there you'll you'll see you'll see soon there there are there are frequent updates based on Law changes and that's why we've developed a a policy committee that I think Charles may we talk about at a certain point uh like the next batch is over 20 policies that need to be updated that we're all looking at one by one with a with an overview of why they need to be changed and also we talked about that in our ad hocs as well the policies that we're just appr I asked for a copy for everybody the two manuals is about this thing wonderful but no we know I was being I told him no no you have access online that's what we're approving it's a technicality but we're looking at policy committee is looking at a lot of new policies and also looking at some old policies yeah so I'm really looking forward to you know seeing like Jen I was disappointed without my report today but but yeah great Mr zerman this is um question or just a note with the tenure date and I fully support both tenure but one is for July 2nd of 2024 shouldn't we be approving that before well you're not approving approving it it's informational matters okay just asking yeah okay anybody El a roll call vote please miss Ahern yes Miss Brock yes Mr sagia yes Mr Krauss yes Miss pallet yes Dr Ross yes Mr Sweeny yes Mr Zimmerman yes motion carries okay item M business administrator item one uh discussion informational items letter A use of Bings and grounds as noted below letter B field trips as noted below number two recommendations is recommended that the board approve the following Financial reports list of checks number 9299 through 93092 for June 2024 the amount of $351,900 33 that's attachment F1 and list of checks number 9309 sorry 93093 through 93216 for July 2024 that's 1, 41666 78 it's attachment f1a list of hand checks for June 2024 an amount of 4,838 two22 that's attachment F2 transfers for June 2024 that's attachment F3 purchase orders for June 2024 in amount of 1 $1 35,283 that's Dash F4 approval of the board seor and treasures reports as noted below that's attachment F5 and F6 letter C is recommended the board approved Transportation as listed below we have quoted routes quoted trips letter D and letter D is actually going to uh also have some additional information on the addendum just want to note that uh right now uh so this is for scent students uh whereas the special services department has determined that individual students require a special education placement based on their individual needs and whereas special services department has determined that services are needed and will continue until June 30 2025 and whereas the special service department has determined that school service listed below as the most appropriate placement therefore be it resolved the burn Township Board of Education approves the contracts as listed below and again um there are additional contracts listed on the addendum letter e is recommended the board approve the disposition of the following items is there either obsolete or indust repair as noted below letter F is recommended the board approve the list of addition SL letion to the fixed asset list that's attachment F7 letter G is recommended the board approve the employment contract for Russell Rogers superintendent of schools for the 2024 2025 school year with an annual salary of $3,940 that is attachment f8 letter H is recommended the board approve the submission of the application to apply and acceptance of funds for the 2425 Esa grants in the following amounts and refuse the funds for title three as noted below uh letter I it's recommended that the board approve and accept the 2425 application funds for the Ida consolidate Grant as noted below letter J is recommended the board approve submission of the preschool expansion aid application for the 2425 school year and then on the addendum we have letter k whereas the Vernon Township Board of Education wishes to enter into a release of real property reconstruction operation and maintenance of a wireless telecommunications facility on property located at 699 route 517 517 ver New Jersey of Bernie New Jersey 07462 and identified as block 308 lot two on the municipal tax map and whereas the burning Township Board of Education received four bid responses on July 11th 2024 for The Bu identifi lease of real property and whereas the bid with the highest rent submitted by Diamond Towers 5 LLC contains a material defect as did not comply with the bid specifications and whereas the bid submission with the highest rent that had no material defects was submitted by Wireless Edge Towers LLC therefore be it resolved that board the board rejects the bid submitted by Diamond Towers 5 LLC for failing to comply with the bid specifications and therefore be it farther resolved that the Vernon Township Board of Education Awards a lease of real property owned by the Vernon Township Board education for the construction operation and maintenance of a wireless telecommunication facility on property located at 699 517 Veron New Jersey 07462 and identified as block 308 lot two on the municipal tax map to wireless Edge Towers 2 LC in the rent amount of $ 52,54 a year plus 50% of collocated rent excellent good job may I have a motion please moved moved by Mr zimman seconded by Miss pellet discussion yeah I have a question why are weing the title three funds thank yes uh so okay go ahead uh so it's a smaller amount of money uh I forget the exact threshold but essentially it would require us to join a Consortium of other uh districts um and Mr G probably has some more information on than I do if if I missed anything you want chip in that am of oh okay thank you byebye I just Charles uh I just had a question about the the buses the quarter routs so it says uh you have a a basis of adjustment so this is we're we're getting we should be charged the two 200 like for the first one we should be charged $22 $18 right per route per time and if there's an additional like construction they have to go out of the way that's when we get charged it's not $218 plus the entire mileage of the route is it yeah so it would be U the adjustment would be if we made changes to the route if we made okay and that's the same thing with overtime it's like get stuck in traffic on the next page um they would get overtime but it's not a normal circumstances we're only gonna pay 650 655 right yeah exactly yep um can you also um I know we're submitting the preschool expansion aid application um can you speak to a little bit about the timeline of that and what it means for the public because I get a lot of questions about it um I have Jay since you're here um Mr you come to the mic please you really want set 10 uh so the uh preschool expansion Aid was released and the new application date is uh somewhere around August 14th we're hoping to have our grant written by the end of next week that way we can submit it for a review to Ruckers they'll give us feedback and then we will submit it officially in the state why ruers uh they are contracted by the state to assist districts got uh once the the aid proposal is released then the state uh Department of Education can't speak with anyone who is potentially apply and do you have any sense of um when it might when you might hear back or it's just open-ended it's open-ended they told us early September um so then we would once we get notice of funding we'd have to start working implementing the program within 75 days of notice that's why the classrooms have been switched with the offices at w that's why I asked the question because I didn't get to get my committee report and I want early September early September could be up to the 14th right yes it could well with the state of Chang sometimes too and we're also gonna have the county superintendent look over it as well with the state it could be up to like December maybe it's early September everybody crash your fingers um anybody else okay uh roll call Mr SL Miss Brock yes Mr saglia yes Mr Krauss yes Miss pellet yes Dr Ross yes Mr Sweeney yes abstain item G Mr Zin sorry Miss aern yes motion carries thank you all right moving on to item n public participation the meeting is now open to the public for any item of concern and please identify yourself in the section of or the municipality that you're from nobody in the public anybody online no no raising hands okay all right so going to close the meeting to the public and move on to item o Open board member Forum before we get into an item that I have anybody have any other items that they would like to discuss Mr Krauss I would just like to congratulate and thank Mr Rogers Mr slam Mr Van Kirk Mr lasso for all this summer work that's being done around here Ray knows it's like 30 4 35 different maintenance items and things teachers being hired I mean it's Insanity what's going on in the last month or so so many positive and and Progressive things going on in the district and I just wanted to recognize you and say thank you thank you for your support and that's that's what that's what growth looks like so thank you anybody else are you all ready for the next item board goals who oh and just when you thought it was time to back so Dr Ross and I were put our heads together briefly on a beautiful weekday in the in Highland Lakes and put together a draft of broad ongoing BTSD goals as well as District goals and Bee goals it's a draft um I hope that you've had a chance to look them over and rip them apart and provide feedback oh yes I see everybody has wonderful let someone else go first I think the other thing to note is that there really aren't even drafts for a lot of our district goals yet there's some drafts really for our Board of Ed goals um so yeah definitely a jumping off point but nicely organized now yes so they can be uh you know fine-tuned or ripped part or um I'm sorry you couldn't open I'm sorry there's a problem with the link I'm getting the error Toole oh yeah I downloaded it so you were able to open it yeah I could open it yeah I did are you logged in through your vtsd account in Google I was using my private laptop but yeah I was logged in I think I was using the public Wi-Fi here instead of the I could get technical but I don't think anybody care if I said it it's not telling you it's not a secure a link so it's giving you an error that's not private it could be anyone with a link I can open it on this so it must be the I'm wondering if it's the wi this is connected to private access points at Rolling Hills are being updated true one other maybe a point of contact next is that if you'll recall like two months ago we hold on uh Mr Sweeney printed out all of these goals for us and this was the last time we talked about this as a group and we liked what was here pretty much and when we looked at those again on this draft we're calling them Broad and ongoing goals because they really aren't specific and measurable for any particular year but they create like our buckets of safety student achievement finance and Communications and efficiency and then each year we could have specific goals under each of those buckets that would be measurable so just to offer the continuity of our conversation that's sort of it was a five-page uh spreadsheet I guess the first page was the broad and ongoing BTSD goals with as Dr Ros said safety student achievement finance and Communications and efficiency and then the four pages behind that were the caption was safety student achievement finance and uh Communications and efficiency so for example for finance I mean it's pretty you know solid our board goal would be to have regularly scheduled finance committee meetings have a you know broad calendar where we show the dates for you know for the entire County which is one of our goals and uh how does that translate to a district absolutely sorry so I'm going to put in something which were started the process but to reaffirm it is student achievement and safety is the Banning of the cells cell phones at the high school and Glenn Meadow for sure goal so your yeah your goal would have to be that would be to study yeah that that would be up to the district to we can't I don't think we that would that we can make a policy but you can't you can't put that on as a goal I mean it could be our goal but the goal would be we haven't even studied it the goal would be to encourage student achievement by examining we haven't had got committee to talk about it but the committee would probably feel more confident if the board wanted that as a mechanism to improve student achievement and improve safety it would have to be something like um determine uh best practice or or an approach to uh techn use of cell phones you know it would have to be look at it and then the district would then decide this is what we found to be the answer would be you know a change poliy are looking at it so August regards to the student achievement it says the Boe goal establish two ad hoc committees to improve student engagement and achievement right so I do think there should be a district goal that's something like what Jen is suggesting and then the how we do that might end up Ray being something like well that's do related to restricting cell phone use to cut right to the chase but I guess we gotta do it this way we can do it this way I mean in a way we have to get the feedback from the administration from the staff from the principles that that's the recommendation it could fall under policy if we made it a policy we want the recommendation first right you're have you have the result like that's what that's what that's what we're GNA I'm looking to present on that next sport meeting too oh okay so he he's gonna present that and said this is what I did to get your your achievement to achieve your goal our goal which is to enrich you know to achieve better student achievement and well-being by addressing the use of phones I like how you streamline everything it's very good why do it one second we can make it a year meetings right because it just gets lost in the conversation eventually takes longer what about a district goal of reducing absenteeism by a specific number percentage 5% whatever whatever well we don't even know what our absenteeism is yes we we do I don't know we do you got the I don't have it I don't but we could that putting a number to reducing absenteeism um we we could try different things but it's a goal we don't me okay it's a goal that might not be specific policy I mean we can't keep saying we don't know what it is when it's been sent around I just said it once tonight I does mean I keep saying I don't remember saying that I didn't know what the f&t isn't rate was okay well the last time it came up at the last at the meeting before the last meeting another person said maybe it wasn't you that we didn't have that data and we do have the data so um and it's significant so so reducing it is a reasonable goal I think would that be a student achievement goal I would think I would think it would be student absolutely absolutely yeah okay so it's something like reduce absenteeism and then we're gonna figure out specific percentage or something that would be the district so the Boe goals as I just read establish two aout committees to improve student engagement and achievement cell phone policy that's not the the goal is and excess absenteeism okay well I would like to see a goal that isn't just establish a committee it's reduce absentees but one is the be super District goal right so the district goal District we don't have any District goal yet for student achievement so it would be reduce absenteeism by some appropriate percentage that would be more of a superintendent goal I think though right yeah so the board goal should be top level kind of what you're looking to accomplish yeah for stct goal you're saying you said we're not just looking to accomplish uh setting up a committee we're looking to accomplish reducing absenteeism so that would be a board goal and then the district goal I don't know would be follow from that right the district goal would be reducing fente the board goal okay I'm sorry I set it back yes that's right is that wrong are you are we on the wrong page about that I I would love let's have absentee committee meet and talk about the the what's been done the struggles and and the the the uh I agree with trying to address it and and making our best efforts to to to make it better okay but without certain things in in in place right I don't see being achievable it's it's it's hard I've had these discussions with every single one of my administrators across all the buildings um I don't know how you're gon to make that uh an issue in a prek through 12 school when you're talking about when you're talking about absenteeism with prek one two it's a completely different situation than you're talking about absenteeism at high school and a whole different situation and a whole different uh Viewpoint from from parents in the community as well I think it would be dangerous to put a metric on it that might not be achievable but to say that it's a goal to reduce it that doesn't you know that give specific number yeah that should be a goal like we can't just say oh we can't do it so let's not make it a goal like that well no I I I want to address it but I don't want to like if if you're given a percentage um I think there are only three there are only three schools in the entire Sussex County that did not have to be put on a c for chronic absenteeism what about something like uh address and take steps to reduce absenteeism Implement oh yeah yes and I I think you're going to get even more specifics when you meet with that committee as well it's because the principles have some great ideas that like rist but like a percentage is kind of tough right that might be ambitious right now so what did you say k um address and take steps to reduce that's a district go that's what I think and I did read Kelly's uh report again trying to distinguish between these different types of goals I think that's a district goal that we set as a board the diff the distinction between our board goals is our board goals have to do with our own um organization and work as a board but the district goals we do set as a board with your help right Charles were you going to say something about that absenteeism I was just I mean like what what Joe said originally with with the board but I see how you're saying now how it connect because it's the this what our board is saying we want in improved student achievement and then we decide as a district one of the things that maybe we should tackle is that and then now Russ will come back and say well this is how I'm going to do it right I think that's right and and I already have an I like that's a lot easier to Target because we're starting to have data come in or I'm going to look for areas of opportunity where we need to show growth and I'll share those specific targets with you and that's because if you look at our student achievement goal the bucket is Drive student achievement and academic success across the wide range of needs within our student population to ensure the growth and development of the whole child so it's very broad it wouldn't accomplish what I think we're all trying to accomplish which is something specific to work on th this specific upcoming year in to support that and so that's why we're drilling down into a so that is the broad broad District goal right it's like our like our student achievement category so then the address and take steps to reduce excess absentees is our board goal is our district goal so under that bucket because if we don't have anything more specific than that then every year essentially we could just say student achievement we're GNA Drive student achievement and access what I just read right which we are and the district goal in my in my opinion that's I mean it's a standing District goal right every it makes it our lives a lot easier if they stay consistent then each year we have board goals where we can but the goals are only supposed to be about our processes in organization right I'm that's right my second time go so board goal so when I first got on the board is more development I'll use a fancy educational word development as a group to work more cohesive and get more educated because you know I'm still on my first term and I'm one of the oldest serving board members so we have a lot of new people we have an election so the learning curve for Bard ofet is tremendous it's not like any other board I've been on so the board development I believe is the correct word should stress more development as a group and individually I'll shut up before I get in trouble no I think but that's in an area where we talked about communication and efficiency and we have Boe goals like develop a master schedule for all board committee meetings improve function of our committees work toward functioning as a true Board of committees with full committee reports we organize our committees and continuously evaluate the prence of that but we did put something in about our own education didn't we K yeah there's a under Finance there's participate in board training with respect to the monthly Finance report okay but that's not what Ray said well no that but to me it's everything it could Finance is one thing everything that's Falls underneath us which is everything like as a group we should know more about everything than we know now not to anybody but just a fact it's I'm guilty of it myself but as a group we should know more about everything then we do and that's education development however you want so yeah attending additional trainings would be a so I'll give you an example when we first on the board I assume Jen was there we had somebody come in school boards and we did that Saturday morning and we were marching around and all sorts of stuff it was so fun so team building right it was team but we also at the at the convention is the best place but there are other things to do that I've been to that you learn about education because I've said this before the finance section nobody runs finances like the board of head you'd be broken homeless in six months if you try to apply it to the real world but it works with everything I mean there's a lot going on that you gotta should know something about everything to make a decision I mean they change the initials to every program every six months that alone is like a task in itself so I just feel as a group we're new we need more development okay all right I think uh what I'm hearing I got the hook I you got the hook you did get the hook I I appreciate your input as a matter of fact I'm thinking that maybe we should sit down and do some more work well maybe I think this is good under Communications and efficiency our fourth bucket we could have a fourth board goal there that is additional pursue additional training opportunities for the board yeah sounds good okay um can we move back up to safety for a second and can we just get to through that first for do additional training opportunities as a board and that's how we measure ourselves right it's how like if we we're going to measure that we actually did training throughout the year or do we okay is it right with school boards there's new board member Master something there like different levels of it whatever Blackville essentially yes essentially yes so I don't think we're close to that something like you know have 50% on the board achieve to the next level five points or something like that so for the for the board goal um say say for the board goal you could have like different levels to it right you could have your top level of what your goal is and then more specific of what you want to accomplish so if you're goal was um farther understanding of District finances and financial reports your sub level could be um you know uh attend a certain number of trainings right that could be like your measurable area to know whether you met that goal or not something like that where' you come up with that goal Ray where did Ray come up with that goal exactly May no R said it a few minutes Finance go yeah okay anybody else have anything yeah are we I mean are we going through these in any kind of order or we're just like no seems like kind of willy-nilly we can we I think okay I thought we should start at the top with safety and just talk about we started already okay let's do it let's do it all right let's start again Jen go ahead okay uh so in safety I know all of our stuff here is finance building and ground but you know we also want to keep our students safe like physically safe and one of the things that we've had a lot of problems with our um like nicotine use and and drug use and and things like that so I thought maybe we could include address and take steps to ensure that our schools are free of drug drug use drugs drugs I guess and violence and offer a safe environment conducive to learning and that would be a district goal right I think so a board go District goal yeah some of the monitoring of the projects will probably be more distri goals too okay okay it could be in both right can't can it be I see what you're saying Ray so right now I have we have Finance building and grounds committee monitors the progress of ongoing projects as a board goal but it's in some ways a step to monitor a district goal because it doesn't have to do particularly with our actions as a board like our efficiency as a board and our organization yeah because it's more of a it's more of a district goal so could be um it's basically the district reporting out to the committee on that but it's not really a Bo goal because the district has to report out to the committee on the progress of the projects so it could be something with the frequency of the reportings right that could be maybe a goal right um for the meeting schedule of the committee right that could be more of a more goal um or if there's a certain um format that that the committee wants to take place in different than what we're doing now that could be a change to the committee which is a board goal okay that was a little tangent but Jen can you say your proposed District goal again yeah I just actually found um another version of it that someone else um is using so I'll read that too you guys can tell me which one would be better address issues interfering with the strong learning environment including chronic absenteeism nicotine vaping and marijuana use that's I guess I must have stolen that from somebody so I don't remember who that sounds like a perfect goal Boe goal we had like cyber security that cell phone usage could be under that too under cyber security yeah how did it it said address issues issues interfering with a strong learning environment cell phone now I'm adding cell phone usage I maybe like you do I examples uh cell phone usage chronic absenteeism nicotine Vape usage marijuana use and cyber security I also like what you said before too about violence though like the violence I put violence in there this is a district well I'm gonna Boe Boe no would be District would be District we can't control that right right we would do that through the formation of adoc committees to study the cell phones or yeah oh we could address it yeah the district would be able to address it maybe the first one would be more like the board goal the one that I had before which I now can't too many windows open um board goals would have would be things like how we are going to here address and take sorry no yeah that's okay address and take steps to ensure that schools are free of drugs violence and offer a safe environment to learning is that more like a foral is that something we have right the district I think in a district goal you're talking about students yeah right in a board goal you start talking about us as a group it's a good way to look at yeah that Mak help about a board goal to make better board goals a board goal to make better board goals yeah really let me read from our in charge of that committee Char let me read from the school boards Association everyone owns the district goals they're collaboratively set by the board and the CSA the board supplies what and the resources necessary for their attainment the CSA supplies the how and is responsible for their completion board goals are set by the board to improve process tasks owned by the board they are evaluated in conjunction with the board self- evaluation so these have to do with our processes and our procedures owned by us these are those questions that we asked about like when Kelly was here that we asked about we answered about ourselves like we feel we're unorganized or know things like the master schedule yes things like getting rid of the work session and having yes the Committees oh yeah and things like condensing the that would be under board goals that's right so what you just said is a district goal it's a district yeah so we'd have to find sub goals or related goals for the board right with respect to her goal if she just that makes a lot more sense thank you so we need to go back to the drawing board well just some of the board like Ray said some of our board goals under safety are veering a little bit into District goals I think though it makes sense why we were thinking of them that way because we were thinking of how our committees could support best support that District goal and so thinking about how to structure our committees and any goals we have around that would be a board goal so it's not back to the drawing board entirely I think you guys made a lot of progress It's been a really good sh did a lot made amaz it was all Mr Sweeney so that would don't be blaming me that would be safety how does everyone feel about that with Jen just proposed I I like that I like it perfect it's a little um we did originally talk about uh absenteeism under student achievement but I don't think it I don't think it's worth getting hung up on which bucket lives in I obvious them overlap they're just going to overlap yeah um I can't paste it in because I'm not live and it's yeah is your Internet working you can't get it here right yeah um okay did you write it down or so kind of and you know which one it is I think if I yeah give you what this looks like then you'll know what I'm saying under safety or was it under student achievement address issues interfering with with student achievement and then IE oh that would be one way and that's that's true um it's like address safety issues interfering with student achievement so it makes sense that it could be both it's under both buckets right yeah yeah so this is what I I just said address issues it could be saf yeah yeah I'm I'm just saying safety to say I think it does fit under both were there any other safety or student achievement goals that anybody thought of they want toit everything now that we have decided how we are doing mine are all too specific I think though could we do for student achievements like increase test scores whether that's like you guys doing the interventionist and right I think I can get very I I'll get very specific when I look at the data and have meetings with administ Administration and interventionists and coaches as to where we want to address a large part of our efforts to show to show growth okay we did that last year too and I think we're going to see next next month hopefully we'll report out on that thata and then if we're bringing back the buses right like aside from student achievement on the flip side right like just having them have a w rounded background right of spores and extracurriculars right right robust yeah we had pretty but we had we had I think we had some of the highest participation last last year even I think you know leaving the co years behind and and having opportunities for all these things a lot of people jump into that was this may even increase it more we had some great Great accomplishments throughout uh clubs activities and sports as well throughout the throughout I think without the buses I don't say this because I know people aren't goingon to be happy but you lost the restrictions of having it Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday I know my kids they were able to have it on I think even Saturday they did some training and stuff and because the buses weren't there you weren't restricted to those days that the buses were available so it was actually better yeah but just like our fall Sports start well before school starts and and our late buses so like you know I think there's football games in in August I think this yeares SC no I think there's actually I'd have to check the schedule but I I saw some a great amount they might be scrimmages but quite amount it's happening earlier and the pr races uh I think a lot of kids right right after graduation the sports are beginning practices already and there aren't buses in in in the in the summer for the fall as well so I had a goal around that it was ensure support for a range of sports and activities to serve a broad set of interests among our student body I like that good to type it in yeah and then I had another one that um was about the learning loss but I don't know if it's uh identify solutions to address learning loss poor test results and other indications that students aren't adequately prepared for college and careers say that again please identify solutions to address learning loss SL poor test results and other indications that students aren't adequately prepared for college and careers well didn't the the administration do do that tonight for on the result of those tests identify Solutions yes they did but we would still have it as a goal and then they would they would have to do that I'm thinking that we don't get the okay you're right we wouldn't identify Solutions we would say something else Provide support support for those yeah yeah provide those recommendations were those uh opportunities where students can do better I don't know yeah I like I said I I wrote These before we had this conversation about what the nuances were so they're a little B off so think we could fold that I didn't you'd have to repeat it but it's folded into increasing test scores or it's related to increasing test scores it's just a it's just a tweak on that yeah or detail on that because it'd be good not to have too many um goals so that we can really try to achieve the ones we have yeah no it's just a different iteration of that one so the one we have this one okay just mentioned it because that was one say so right now for student achievement we have something around Pro to show that I paid attention academic there's there's no need to do that tonight academic achievement and um the supporting the after school before school programs Sports speak now or forever hold your piece how are you feeling Russ these are all these are all goals that we have as as an administration every year which is finding the specific and letting you know why we're addressing these issues and and what we're doing to help support it and I like the idea like some of it is and find ways to help support it rather than oh make sure chronic absenteeism was below 10 per. if I had the if I had the answer to that I'd be going Nationwide right now you all you have to do is Google chronic absenteeism and it and and trying to address it I think working together on some ad hoc commits we'll be able to find some uh some ways to approach and address it and and to measure to see if we've had success in certain things and it's going to be a continued it's going to be a continued goal throughout the next five years I'm sure of it to to increase our attendance because with with better attendance you have better test schools like I said where's the best place to learn in person yeah we not disagreeing we team I'm I'm on your team too yeah that's great no you just want to tell us if anything we say is like you're like no that's not yeah I have before and will again yes Finance does anyone have any particular I just want the one for their safety uh you Mr smag had commented about whether there's a way to incorporate some of those goals right now that under Bard goals that kind of seem more like District goals so you could probably put something on the lines of um farther knowledge of the current status of District projects or something like that that could be a board goal and the district goal could be you know more specific okay so the board goal basically the board wants to be more up to date on the status of District projects and we talked about that I think the last couple board meetings is making sure that we achieve those projects or if we didn't what other project we a did we achieve instead of that to keep us on track um to fix a lot of those issues that we need to fix in the next couple years well the number three in that is the uh over see the posos remediation project that's still that's an old goal actually that was a board goal it's almost done but we continue until it's actually done right uh yeah um it's again it's kind of like on that middle line between whether it's a Bor goal or a district goal because uh the administration will be overseeing the project and then reporting out the status of the project to the board yeah so it's it's almost that's why I tried to wrap all three of those into um you know farther understanding of the current status of District project I saying okay you want be more General yeah exactly um and then the way to do that would be through committees and Reporting out to the the administration reporting out to the board whether it be a certain amount of times or you know and part of it could even go to um changing uh the committee reports to the public session right because that's increasing communication uh to the full board from the committee and also to the public on the status of what's happening in the Committees so I guess this would are we still going through uh step by step so we're still in safety right oh or we jump oh no yeah no we can yeah I I almost thought we had moved on but I see what you mean we sort of talked about we talked about student achievement a bit there withes and but yes is there more safety idea no that's the thing I I'm G to wait if you're not one I'm not skipping around I no I think we're good any safety okay so um the last bucket was was that Communications yeah oh okay wait so then did anyone have any finan you want to go through specific goals around Finance no I had one that said um explore revenue revenue enhancing opportunities is that that's not the right format again right though isn't that more one of your goals it's like a race slam go slam goal already accomplished a couple of those but right like monitor like would our Speed Monitor re maybe what Ray Zimmerman was talking about before like getting the training and understanding how to read and interpret those reports that are sent to us like something like that yeah I had asked r that just put this put us on the agenda for one of these meetings yes and we could we could deliver a training yeah because we I mean he goes over these reports F1 through F5 every every month we really know what these things are I read them and I try but you know right right but like to hear from them you know the m and do we need this are these things that every board looks at every month I don't think so not all of them yeah differs from District to District I think that's good our finance like broad goal is exercise fiscal responsibility in order to optimize the district's limited resources towards student safety and achievement while continuing to pursue additional sources of revenue um so what I'm hearing is sort of a focus on that additional sources of revenue piece this year as a district goal well we achieved one with the Celltech yeah so the the only issue with that is there are limited things we can do um and limited opportunities the cell tower happened because we were approached about the possibility of a cell tower right but it's unlikely that we'd be able to do say like a second cell tower somewhere else right um there are some things we can look at you know advertising around the sports Fields right um but start running out of you know potential areas for Revenue just because we're so limited with what we can do well Paving projects shared services I think we you know that more like savings yeah savings rather than Revenue but if you don't like the wording of seeking out Revenue saving projects maybe you could change the wording to just being open-minded to or I don't know you know just open to the possibilities when they do approach like maybe that would be instead of pursuing right instead of pursuing you could just be you know open to opportunities as they I don't know something like that maybe you don't want to you know I don't know how you we could tweak that I don't know how you show that you're achieving that we'd have to work on it yeah it makes sense to me that we might be good on finance because we are trying to optimize limited resources that's what we're trying to do with Finance all the time in lots of different ways yes yeah and that falls and uh that falls under that and our board goals are a lot about better understanding that work so that we can responsibly you know respond to the right decision yeah all right last one is Communications and efficiency um the broad description of that is continue to improve board Effectiveness and Communications that will promote working collaboratively and efficiently in an atmosphere of mutual trust cander and results driven accountability so we do have some this is what Ry was saying pursue additional training opportunities reorganize our committees these are our board goals um improve the function of our Committees of our committee and work toward functioning as a board of committee with full committee reports which would be the single meeting public meeting with the committee meetings and maybe we can have uh njsba come and do some training know sure what team building new is a new board really well good the policies refine our policies I mean we're doing we're oh that's it gives us an gives us a goal too you could put we're sitting there at make them better too better us our board policies yeah we've already we got that committee we know we're gonna have at least 20 some updated suck I mean the board the board the board uh the the early the zero the 100 level right is 00 1,00 yeah yours is a whole different level there us well actually they're yours Charles yeah all right so we will go back and you know massage what we have yes one last thing on communication though like similar to how principles do their monthly reports and I know you do it basically in our public forum but maybe frequent updates to the public of good things that are happening in the school like that's maybe not going through them you know what I mean like it's would be more of an elaboration of basically what you're saying I tried to do that with the superintendent uh report I think what I'm looking to do in talking to Nancy is putting the links to the the principal blogs they're quite they're quite extensive if if you you're yes that's a great idea to put like yours on and Link it up right so that way everybody who's at that school can see also what your message is as well do those get pushed out or they just live in their spots you have to go to them you have to go right alerts on the you can when the principal blogsite does that for us and we also send them out to all of our fames using okay you know what with that though I'm I don't know if this is a little selfish but maybe we can whole stuff that we give out in the board to maybe increase attendance at the board meetings so if you're given the first news of some like very important you know stuff that's if it's critical actually set and out but if it's like something we could be proud of or happy it'd be nice we're the news show you know and you come up and watch us and you see what's happening and then you can go get more detail later on I would like to get that out as soon as possible but I think there's like highlights and I'll tell you what if you if you want to highlight people bring them in celebrate them I would be more than willing and and uh excited about doing that I know we did that a couple times this year we will continue to celebrate uh great successes at the schools but I would there is so much good going on at all at all the schools the perfect example to hold back is tough would be to building and grounds list of 34 items can you give a press release of that not press send that out to the districts well I I had mentioned to to Ray maybe uh Ray and Joey and Kirk can give a presentation in September that would be good for and they could say what they did on their summer vacation yeah listen I'm I'm a big person like after you've accomplish something then we share it out and show them but until then it's just it's just a okay this is what we're gonna do we already put that up and we show people we're going to do but I would love to okay this month we accomplish this have some pictures show them we did show them the great things that we've we've changed in the district and uh show how the kids in their environment in in a in a happier safer environment I understand what Charles is saying but I think our audience may be a lot different from what the principal's audiences are and so they may we we may be saying it for the second time or third time but our audience is hearing it for the first time I think right I got you yeah so maybe we can still do that okay could we also have a goal around what were saying before that you have these great events and and no one shows up like something where we're like our goal is to boost participation in District events like math night and I don't know what I think a lot a lot I think we need to talk to the principles because a lot of the events are well attended yeah and the ones that are sometimes some the ones that aren't are the one-offs where we try to do something I think we have to figure out if they if they weren't well attended why weren't they well attended and what we can do to get more of the Comm but when when I'm going to these events at the schools they're they're jammed some of them are jamed right and then others though aren't I don't see I didn't see many low attended events attended for like the um oh the parent college night stuff I think we had quite a few of those though we have one on the we approved a free a night in September for college nights yeah that we had one packed and the other one was empty I don't know okay or not empty I shouldn't say it just was it could be been more people we'll talk to our director of guidance no I'm saying I don't think there's anything not being done but maybe there's something you know maybe there's another way to reach people or I don't know what that could be I was just wondering if that should be we try to reexamine each event and why it was like we have those discussions it's just there's less people to have those discussions with so the follow-up end of it would be nice uh with some of the people there with a lot we lack some of the administ to follow up with with some of those situations yeah no I I only brought up because in charge of that too right now oh so the plan is that I plan plan is to meet Dr Russ again and go over this when I send it out when we send it out it'll be much more refined and we'll talk about it at the next meeting great okay it seems like we're all a little tired maybe it's just me and right [Laughter] very chipper he's ready anybody have anything else in open board member Forum a motion to adjourn so moov zimman Mr Krauss all in favor we are ajour I thought we had another close session are we done another Clos session I thought I thought said you okay I'm good without it