##VIDEO ID:d4YSZmHanbo## 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 we're gonna open the work session of October 10th uh 2024 I have a call to order please uh roll call please Mr slam Miss Aon here miss Brock Mr smaga Mr cantino here Mr Krauss here miss pet here Dr Ross here Mr Sweeney here Mr Zimmerman we have a quum right is recommended that the board enter into close session for the purposes of discussions legal personnel and suit matters may I have a motion please so moved moved by Mr cantino second second second by Dr Ross all in favor all oppos okay we're going to close session for 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 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay it's recommended that the board return to the public session I have a motion please sove move by Mr cantino second miss pelet all in favor I we are back in public session may have a roll call please Mr slam Miss Ahern here miss Brock Mr Saga here Mr cantino here Mr Krauss here miss pellet here Dr Ross here Mr Sweeny here Mr Zimmerman we have a quum okay uh will you please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you uh may I have a 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 interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with provisions of the ACT burn and Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published and adequate notice has been provided and nous this meeting has been properly posted in accordance with the New Jersey open public meeting law uh just a quick note the next public meeting will be next Thursday which is October 17th thank you and we are fortunate that we are having a presentation tonight about the preschool expansion Aid that was just uh we just got notification that we are getting congratulations and do we need to move V okay okay you know it's never good yeah me too right thank you everyone can you hear me on the mic okay so I just came to talk a little bit about the preschool expansion Aid that we were recently awarded by the state uh so just to start off a quick overview this is free full day okay uh it's a free full day preschool for three and four year-old children residing in Bur uh we have confirmed that the program start date will be December 16th of this year and for eligibility just like with many of the grade levels uh for kindergarten children must turn three years old on or before October 1st 2024 to be eligible for the full day preschool program uh just some details our school hours will be 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. uh currently our curriculum is tools of the mind which is a state approved curriculum uh this presentation will be put online as well at vtsd.com so that you can actually click this PowerPoint presentation uh that gives you a little more insight into the tools of the Mind curriculum and the basis of it and uh pretty much the the thoughts behind the curriculum for the children uh just so you know this funding does require the program to be a full day program so halfday options will not be available so we're going from a current halfday preschool AM and PM to a full day program uh registration we opened registration yesterday we sent out an announcement uh to the the parents in the community uh the deadline for this registration will be November 1st then what we are going to do is every person who registers will be assigned a number for the lottery and the public Lottery will take place on November 14th at the Board of Education work session and the lottery will determine student placement within the program once that Lottery takes place here's some important dates uh the 15th the next day we will reach out to all the parents whose students were admitted to the program based on the lottery uh once those parents are notified they will have a week next uh the next date November 22nd is the deadline for families to accept or decline a spot and request transportation for the program another part of this program is does fund Transportation uh for this year for the students uh going to school and back home uh there'll be more information coming out about that as we get the bus route set from our transportation department so parents and Guardians for transportation may drop off their student sill uh at Walnut Ridge uh early or pick them up late for before care and after care we are uh having palal come in to Walnut Ridge in the school and they'll be doing before care or after care there uh if parents and Guardians do not transport uh students to school they will be transported by large buses with seat belts uh the transportation request forms are available now during the registration process and just so you know there will be group bus stops and they may be different than the stop for the older students in your neighborhood a little more detail about the before and after CARE program it's available in Walnut Ridge School through the palal uh morning care will be from 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. and afternoon care will be right at the end of the school day at 3:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. and just as a note the palal is a separate entity and they are not affiliated with Vernon Township School District Mr gag is is that tuition free as well no that is tuition based that would be through the palal it's completely separate but they will be offering before and after care at Walnut Ridge School uh just some information about the preschool expansion a funding this is recurring state funded program it is not a one-time Grant I know you know when you look around a lot of people are saying it's a grant but it is reoccurring competitive State funding that we were awarded so now we will get this each year uh this will have no impact on burning taxes and all the funding for the teachers and expenses in the program were built into the application when we applied and it will be covered by the state funded program uh again here is additional information that you'll be able to clink once we post it on the website but it is a link to our original registration letter and there is a frequently asked questions document that we put together that answers a majority of the questions that uh we saw come through on the registration process but please by all means if you have any more questions reach out and between myself and other members of the uh central office team will be able to answer that's it that's all any board member have any questions do you want to go first I got a lot you yeah I have one go ahead goad all right thank you um I just had a question about the teachers course so that so teach all the teachers are GNA be paid for through the grants correct current teachers now are they pro-rated so so yes so we through the grant or through the funding the state aid funding we would get the whole Year's amount of funding so uh any teachers who are teaching J Ed that are currently teachers in our district their salaries would be paid for through this gr through the state aid funding from the beginning from the beginning of the year yes yep yes sir U parents who are now paying tuition that just now stops yes the tuition stops and they'll be reimbursed for any tuition they've paid so far awesome thank you and students who are enrolled now um in the preschool now they stay right yes any student who's currently enrolled will stay in the program uh they cannot be displaced you said that tuition stops right now yes the program is not effective until December correct but the state will give us the funding for the entire school year okay is it you said it's going to be full day only is it it's half day now are the kids who are going half day have to go full day right now all of the students in our Genet program or half day they're either AM or PM so all of them will convert to full day uh but I did send a letter out to the families that are currently enrolled in the school and said that if they don't wish for that to happen to call then we can discuss it but the program does demand a full day okay are they able to pick their child up early every day if they unfortunately no they'd have to come full day okay and when do they need to decide by the parents that are already in the program I I would say it would be the same uh deadline of November 22nd so that if there are spots that would be available uh we could go and offer to the next people in the lottery since other towns already have this in place how how long do does funding go on for like do we know a set number of years or there's no years set to it it's state funding so it's included in our annual state funding that we get uh the only difference is each year when we're building our budget there is a separate component for this just so that we can say how many classrooms will have if we want to add classrooms they take that into account to give us more funding um and things of that nature and we can reallocate where you know the funds are needed so if we're adding more classrooms we'll need teachers to those classrooms uh you know we won't need the amount of teachers we need this year so it just allows you to adjust the allocations appropriately for the needs of the preschool and how much was the funding for this year that we were you guys received uh 2.82 million wow um is it a use it or lose it thing like if we don't use it on this program we have to uh well we did go through and we you know this was a projection so any money that we end up not spending this year because it was a projection say something's come in a little lower I we'll just roll over to next year to use okay and the number of students we have enrolled now in preschool is is what it's approximately 100 it's just under 100 and how many spots will we have available just over a 100 uhuh okay and then next year do we anticipate growing it uh yeah our our goal is to every year increase the size of the program a little bit within five years the state wants you to meet your what they call your Universe number and uh right now uh our universe number is around 397 students okay uh so each year we'll grow a little bit towards that um but your Universe number does also change based on the demographics of the area and enrollment in your higher grades okay and do we have Partnerships with um providers in town yes currently uh we we do have tentative Partnerships with uh Discovery years and growing and knowing academy uh we are still waiting here from the state to make sure everything has been approved and going through but we have been working with those two organizations to place a district classroom in each of those uh daycare settings okay and did we have multiple options for the curriculum or was tools of the Mind dictated by the state so there are several state approved curricula um but tools of the mind is one that we have been using for uh as long as I can remember uh at the preschool yes quite quite some time uh so as as such we we we kept that program and uh now the District programs that are also in Discovery years and growing and knowing Academy will also adop that same curriculum so they will have the same curriculum uh they'll have a certified P3 teacher in that in those classrooms and our instructional coaches will also service those teachers and does the number you gave me of the number of spots available includes the spots in those two partners yes yes we should have a little over a hundred with with both uh spots as well new spots yes top of it so total will be at 200 okay yeah plus studor so we have 100 currently enrolled we will have 100 additional spot and it's only 100 currently enrolled for a half day right okay gotcha great all right is there a schedule though or will you guys be releasing that soon like just what the day is gonna look like especially for those that are going from half day to full day absolutely we're working on that there will be a mandatory nap time uh and everything Associated will have you know areas for the students to sleep for nap time uh but we will release an official schedule later in the week we we just got notied on Friday so we're working diligently to get the information out to the community quickly get registration open and now our next step is to work out a schedule um how many new teachers are we going to be hiring uh will be approximately 14 teachers do we hire the teachers at the uh participating uh they take care of that yeah so at our Partnerships uh they will hire the teachers there but it is a requirement that they have their New Jersey state certification and will we be supervising them yes yes they will be under our supervision um and we'll also be supporting them to make sure they have what they need and that they're able to you know instructionally uh get what needs to be through to the children and those Partnerships are they exclusively doing this then or do they have will they also have other oh they'll still continue their programs in their other rooms but there's a dedicated classroom just for rning Township School District okay will these teachers be members of the vtea and get benefits and health benefits and all that're they're technically employed by the the provider so they're not employed by buron Township School District they the provider will get funding through us for the children they have in their program so they won't be members of the Union no no they are they are employees of the provider okay the teachers that are being hired in house will be yes 14 te the ones working in our building yes will be for the prol but the ones working at the two oh the other two schools at the partner SCH okay but the ones working in our school are going to be mity Union yes yes yes the 14 and Walnut Ridge school will be members of vtea the one at Discovery years and the one at growing and knowing are right they are employees of those those uh partners and then will their health benefit I'm sorry will their health benefits be paid through the state Grant or through or tax dos so the the Walnut Ridge school that those will be paid through the uh State funding okay and then the partners partners do whatever they do yeah they do what they do okay thank you and so this is ongoing funding not a grant right yes but at some point if the state were to dial back what they as they have done to us in the past with other education funding their contribution how will we as a district handle that I mean that's something we could look at at that time uh right now you know I can't predict what state funding would be uh you know six years ago I wouldn't anticipate you know a reduction of $10 million in state funding uh but you know I'm confident with 100 I think it's 153 school districts that have the preschool expansion aid but then the totally cut the program would be uh a B deal so I don't think it would be politically Savvy yeah so um who who approved the partners was that us or was that state so we reached out uh to all of the area um dayc carees and preschools and uh norwescap actually helped with all they reached out to a bunch of the providers just to see who had interest in in participating and uh you know as long as they had their license they were eligible to partner with us uh so Discovery years and growing and knowing are the two that got back to us and wanted a partner and it ended up perfect because they're right in town uh so for now we we started with those two but we'll continue reaching out to Partners in the area and you know if uh after this year once the program is up and running other partners are interested we're definitely open to accepting them in and we pay them per per child per student yes correct okay and you said you said before I think you said we were going to be reviewing progress and you're going to be helping out oh yeah yeah okay absolutely and then uh transportation is paid for you said in your presentation paid for this year right is transportation paid for in the following years so we will have transportation every year for the it's requirement so we will have it so through the state funding you're allowed to pay for it the very first year um but then after that uh the second year you are not allowed to use it through the state funding but the state funding is also paying things that offset costs for us so would are would those students be then going onto our normal school routes then no no uh next year I mean I can't anticipate next year but from what I understand we have had one transportation meeting So Far So based on that very brief uh meeting with our transportation coordinator because of the way the routes are running in the times with the tiers going from the high school early all the way down to Cedar Mountain later in the day uh to add another tier wouldn't really be conducive uh for the students and you know for to have preschool students on a bus for a longer period of time we were just trying to avoid it so by having these separate routes it allows the quickest way possible for the students to get on the bus safely and get back to W that rich we transport them to the partners as well yes yes so if they were attending discover years they would be bust to discover your yes and then just one last question the second the if if people didn't don't accept it by the 20th I think you said right M um is there a second lottery or are we going to pick everyone at first we're going to pick everyone so anyone who registers will get a number and we get a a spot in line a place in line yes thank you uh so that if people decide not to go with this program uh we can go to the next person in line and that would carry out through the year so if somebody let's say in a month decides that they don't want their trial doing full day yes somebody else can come in then afterwards right we could reach out to them as long as they were eligible where they were 3 years old by October 1st this year they they would be eligible for that spot do we know what the transportation costs will be yet uh not yet we just found out Friday so now we have to go out to get the routes bid and figure all that out what are the other costs that we will other savings that will offset those costs so so for instance I don't know Ray if you want to speak to that a little bit uh Mr G one one more question uh the transportation to and fund the other uh daycare facilities that's only during the school hours right not before and after correct so if you were putting your student on the bus to go to school at 9:30 a.m. whenever the bus gets their bus stop it would bring them directly to Discovery years or growing and knowing before the 9:30 a.m. start and then at the end of the day at Discovery years are growing and knowing they would get on the bus at 3:30 to go back to the bus stop yeah Transportation want to be provided to foreign afare programs yeah but the question I asked was what cost savings are going to offset for the add so essentially uh there are a lot of things that you're allowed to offset so portions of people's salaries that work on it um so a portion of my salary a portion of um any so there's financial position positions that can be offset a portion of it based on the time that you spend uh our for example our director transportation will be spending time on routs so portion of their salary and benefits um director of facilities is spending a lot of time to get the building ready but going forward will also be spending time to maintain the building and supervise and make sure it's being cleaned as well so a portion of that um portion of I believe some curriculum positions uh nursing uh there I think the nurse is actually being offset completely uh souring benefits um security salaries and benefits um secretary salary and benefits so kind you're kind of getting the idea you know so um and then things like utilities um obviously supplies for the classrooms will be funded um things like that that's probably too extensive for what you're looking so no I just want to sense of it thank you the busing is is that included in the expansion Aid the busing or are we paying for the busing for the first year it's included so the second year the U transportation is not included okay so basically at that point we'd have to look at what can be funded to offset that expence yeah with the goal being zero impa no I was following along I just wanted to make sure I had it correct in my head thank you we're gonna have a are they reiding lunches uh yes so uh we still have to have our again we just found out but but there will there will be lunches uh we have to have a meeting uh with our food service provider uh to figure out the logistics of that so and is that paid for Revival the lunches are not uh so it would be like a regular food service program uh where the the students would pay for their meals unless they qualify for free reduce lunch okay um though uh one of the things we're looking at through fund 60 which is our food service fund is doing work to the W Ridge kitchen because that has not been used quite while is there any money for like AIDS on the bus since these are such little guys uh we were discussing that uh the like I said we had one transportation meeting so far um and we wanted to you know prioritize getting out kids and things of that nature but we did discuss Aids on the bus uh you know as something we were looking at and that would be provided by the bus company if if we did do that um so but definitely something we're discussing okay do you get the sense that most parents will drive their children's I'm not sure honestly I think at this point it's kind of 5050 some people are are able to put the students on the bus and and they'll be able to do that uh others you know because they're going into work early they're going to drop the students off at before care right and then have them go to school um so you know the thing about having the full day program is it opens it up to a lot of people who couldn't previously come because of the half name program you know if you're working a full day there was no way to pick up halfway through the day or drop off halfway through the day so these parents or families are still going to have to get into work by the time they have to get to work so that's why we thought it was very important to have the before and after care so if I have a child in the preschool program now and I have a another one coming up who's eligible can I am I automatically in or no the second child will be put through the lottery okay yeah so it's got to be fair we're going to use regular buses right we're not they're not like Vans or right as of right now it's it's regular buses but we're going to look at Transportation numbers just to make sure so for the younger kids on a regular school bus they don't need car seats right they just we'd have to use the regular bus belts that are in the seats correct okay and what if a parent wanted to bring one of the car seat in in that is that would that be allowed because then also you have to store that somewhere right I don't believe that would be allowed but I don't want to speak out of turn that's something we have to look into but just off the cuff I'd say that probably would not be allowed like just because the bus company would have to make sure it was a certain type of safety device yes you know just relability on their part it probably wouldn't latch like it probably wouldn't attach the way you have to attach it every day because they use it for multiple runs the buses it's not like it's a designated bus so we would but but they will have they will have safety belts at least on yes they'll have safety belts definitely yes they'll be checked yes and we're talking about you know all the ins and outs of that and even having some some practice nights where the parents who who end up coming in the lottery can come to Walnut Ridge school after work and we'll have a couple buses there they can bring their students on the bus have the kids can practice buckling and unbuckling get a feel through the bus so that they're not intimidated by it so that everyone's familiar with it prior to school starting December 16th we're currently in Old students are they going to be able to maintain their teacher um in or will you guys at least try your best effort to we will try our best effort but I I can't guarantee that because right now every teacher has two classes right they have am and a PM so with that uh they're going to be be adding a second teacher to that group so ultimately some of the students will not have their same current teacher now and if you're currently enrolled for this year are you guaranteed a spot for next year yes once you're enrolled you can't be displaced because of the program so you're in there and then from my perspective I just if you guys could quantify the savings for the taxpayers besides this being a huge win overall which thank you for your hard work and diligence I think it would be important to share with the public just what kind of savings that this plays for taxpayers in our budget right since um this seems to be a win-win for everybody all around sure sure and that'll take a little bit like I said we're still hiring we're still bidding bus routes but I know you know Mr slam as as information's coming in we're we're getting it into our books and and trying to quantify that so what's a a monthly Child Care outside of g i I have no idea my kids older what do people pay for preschool now it's for right now for the Happ it's 400 a month and then that so that alone for the tax payers a burn $400 at least that much because full day most of most of the private uh you're going to be paying more than that but they're also in all fairness they're full day they're not right right is the start date so how many school days are they going to get before it's winter break so that's the upon getting not notification you have Start calendar days not I see I see so because of that that puts us to December 17th from the day we're given notice um so that's a Tuesday we figured we would start Monday so the students will have Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and then Friday is a half day before winter break okay so they get a little practice run little practice week and then you know get to go home cry all over again and start all over again January yes anybody have anything else good work on for now now thank you very much thank you for all that work you I appreciate it I just want to say I have to thank you know all the central office staff that got the Oodles of data for it and all of our Preschool teachers were involved in writing the grant because they are the feet on the ground and uh you know from the nurse to every teacher in the classroom helped write this so uh again I said Grant just but it's state funding so thank you for everyone for all your help it really was a team effort on it thank you Mr that was a lot of work from my ad administrative standpoint from the uh preschool staff um from the from the custodial maintenance workers yeah part of this line so that we could qualify for it over the summer as well so it was it was it was a team effort across a district our maintenance and tech department over the they had to reconfigure they were very busy so everyone it was a full District effort it was thank you thank you next item is public comment so we're going to open up the meeting to public comment and uh please address uh please identify yourself in the municipality that you live in and then if you have any comments address them to me and if we can answer them we will try if not we'll get back to you um so meeting is I don't need a motion can just open is open meeting is open to the public if anybody would like to come say something agenda items agenda agenda items only yes and you'll have five minutes nobody's in in the audience would like to say anything we'll check with online do not have any okay Mr gag as did a nice job so no questions good okay we're gonna move on to item F review of the public meeting agenda all the board members get a chance to look at the agenda for next week we are having a guest eventfully and another presentation by Mr gag asro that's gonna be an exciting one it's gonna be the good one and Dr shef of course anybody have anything all right well then without any questions or comments we'll move on to next item all right G1 informational items the harassment intimidation and bullying random drug testing and school safety reports are an attachment ws1 one B the enrollment report is an attachment WS2 number two recommendations it is recommended that the board approve the minutes of the revised closed work session meeting from June 13 2024 letter B it is recommended that the board approve the following faculty staff appointments assignment changes Etc in the following chart I'll give you a little bit time to look that over I want to note that line 24 it says uh Cedar Mountain Primary School it should be GL Meadow Line 24 on page five should be GL Meadow instead of C primary scho there it addendum as well right theendum on line 29 it says $666 66 it should be $666 67 L9 that's that whole math problem of what is 0.9 repeating that's right that's right um I do have a question wait wait we'll have to get a motion oh that's right I'm sorry no I bring all right those are the only recommendations right I have a motion there two c in them as well the six periods move okay moved by uh Miss Miss pellet any may have a second second second by Mr cantino questions or comments Please Mr cantino sorry okay um how come the mentoring fees are different I noticed one is 500 one is like you said 666 67 the other one's 333 33 that's split isn't it want is split 29 and 30 are split yes but then there's one that I see on the main um section I think it might be that's 500 that's a certain number of weeks as well oh it's the amount of time okay okay thank you yes Char yeah this is all the teachers on here for Walnut Ridge this is all coming out of the school preschool funding will when we get the money yet any any teachers added for the Pea program on here will be funded by the paa Mony it gets a little tricky because sometimes students are or teachers may be bumped from one position to another okay I just so then The Replacements will not be if if you take a teacher from the from position right there's there'sa funded students and there's non-pa students it's a little tricky based on the needs and the certificate certificate certification of the teachers of what group of students they'll be teaching okay oh say that again please depending on the group of students that teachers are teaching they need certain certifications so some of the pre some of the teaching is paid for by pea and some is mandated uh preschool teaching that that's funded by the district mandated teaching people that go here full time now would would probably be mandated right yes did that answer your question Charles yeah and and I just had one more question um why did the dates for six period go back a week they were they say because I'm just making sure this I'm reading this correct this is we were changing uh this is guess you're denim um we have from the the 10 107 and it's going to 9th 27 I I'd have to get back there on that there were so many different moves throughout the year as as teachers uh left and came in okay it it was it's replacing something else but it was we didn't start it class early at a certain point we had six periods and then and then we would a teacher would would resign and then in order to make the schedule work with six periods that there six periods that have changed so things got quite tricky I can get back to you on why those dayses have changed okay okay yeah that good any other questions comments okay may I have a roll call though please Mr slam Mr smaga yes Mr cantino yes Mr Cross yes Miss pellet yes Dr Ross yes Mr Sweeney yes Miss Ahern yes motion carries thank you item H Mr slam uh recommendations uh letter a is recommended the board approv North Eastern interior Services LLC to construct a security vesal for wart Ridge preschool Through The Hunton County Educational Services Cooperative uh in the amount of $99,000 letter B uh sent as noted below so these are students being sent out of District letter C is recommended the board approv of change order numbers es 917 9.01 dcn 2.1 and Es 91792 dcn 2.2 for the window replacement projects at Glen mdow Middle School in the amount of $177,000 that is related to the SDA um project where we receive a portion of the funding through the school Dev Development Authority uh letter D as recommended the board approve proposed districtwide comprehensive facility study and long range facility Plan update for Vernon Township School District Board of Education in accordance with our 2425 architect record Services contract us AA project number 20241 124 letter e is recommended the board approve USA Architects as the arch record and their contract for Professional Services uh letter F it is recommended the board approve the agreement with Empower 360 division of Ag Parts education pilot cbook repair and inventory management software at no cost to the district okay I have a motion so moved moved by Mr cantino second second by miss pet uh comments questions um I do have um people are raising their hands all over Mr cantino you're first um two things first I want to hear more about the um Chromebook repair uh program because I'm wondering how much money that can save us and just some details on that and secondly can you speak a little bit about the security vest built at Walnut Ridge because isn't there already a security vesle or maybe move things around so I'll start with the software so right now that's uh free for the district it's a pilot we have another software that we're currently using that we pay for um so the hope is that we basically the only thing they're requesting of us for this is our feedback as they develop their software um so the hope is that as they develop the software they take our feedback this could be a new solution for us which would be less expensive than what we're currently using now when it says repair in its software I'm assuming it doesn't fix anything physically wrong with the Chromebooks it's more if the student downloads a virus or something so so it's repair in terms of it helps us uh inventory what the repairs will be and then what parts will be needed and then ordering those parts oh okay yes that makes sense it's kind of like a ticking system for ID they can help track other Chromebooks as they're repairing where they are in terms of their status you know are Parts ordered where are they coming you know so um and and then I think the second question was security ask uh so uh we mentioned earlier um that you know our custodial and maintenance staff had uh you know a lot of work additional work not the only a lot of additional work on top of a lot of work they already do over the summer uh so we had to flip the entire building of walnart Ridge um the reason we had to do that is because part of the paa is that there are requirements for the sizes of classrooms um so you need to a minimum of 700 square feet in order to apply for a waiver uh so that's not even the the requirement you have to get a 700 square feet for just the waiver to meet the spacing requirement uh so as part of that we had to flip the school uh which means that students are no longer accessing the building um through if you're standing looking at oneid the original V that you're talking about you're no longer accessing the building through there so the main access will be which I believe was one of the original mean access points of that building um that'll be changed to there so that's where the security V will go it's also going to make uh an ADA Compliant ramp there as well because right now it's a step yeah is it going to be done in time for the opening so right the biggest holdup will be the ordering of things like doors because we don't have control over that if it's not done in time we do have a backup plan uh that's actually currently being used for the entrance into the building okay so cross but I can't guarantee the the doors will get here in time okay and the backup plan is uh they C requirements for Safety and Security okay Mr Kraft I have a question concerning the uh the districtwide comprehensive facility study they're giving us a rate fee are actually $59,800 to do it right Y and it seems reasonable but but then at the end of this there's all kinds of rate schedules are those in addition to the 59,2 like for instance principal in charge gets $195 an hour associate director gets 175 bucks an hour the only way would be if I if we were to ask them to do something that would not be included in their proposal so I don't anticipate that happening um right now what we're looking at is a full assessment in terms of envelope inclusive of a roof survey um and then also uh look at all of our um major systems okay and it and all right so that's just going to be the 592 yeah that's the dist that's for the lrfp right yep so it's two parts so it's facility wide assessment and then they build that into an update long range facility plan which is actually a state uh document you access through State software which you need a very specific computer with a very specific version of Internet Explorer to get to they drive me crazy with that yes uh but it did come in under budget so thank you and I can attach the entrance is being changed to the same place the entrance was in the 1970s when I when I when you went yes right Charles uh I just had a question about the inventory program because it is no cost to the district but there is like right AC cost Because unless we have an MDM pushing down the software it's still got to be loaded on every Chromebook right so do we have a cost for what the projected cost what it might cost next year because if we have we put an inventory program on all Chromebooks this year we like it we don't like it we we invested a lot of time into inventorying everything we're going to have to do it all over again next year and it may be now that now we're kind of quest if we want to stay with this person you know so it would be nice to know up front if you know if we're going to invest time into it that we would know what is going to cost us somewhat next year so so I can confirm but my understanding is that it's not software that would be downloaded onto each Chromebook but would rather be used centrally by it internally in it as they're receiving Chromebooks that need repairs to log them into that system know whether the basically track whether the parts are word things like that so I don't my understanding is it's not going to go in each individual Chromebook and that it's more of a central uh like essentially it Department software or do we have I guess do we have something that inventory as our our Chromebooks as well because we we do and it has a lot of understand is it has a lot of features that we don't currently use so the hope would be that if we if this works for us it's a more simplified solution that would cost less and once we do have to start paying for it and then we would switch okay and we can move over um staff laptops computers anything else yeah because yeah my my understanding is it's just it's being used by it and not going on to kind of like a ticketing system like you're logging the the computers and the the the Chromebooks into that system as they're coming to it for repairs yeah I'll double check just to make sure because I committed itely a little bit outside my area of expertise but based on my conversation that's my understanding I don't one time where using spice works and that is free so we use spice works and there's another program on top of that okay um then that one has a cost associate with I don't remember off the top of my head right now but my understanding is that if this were to work out we would move away from both of those and go to the the one solution okay M so for the security vest fu is that going to be through the pre funding as well is that going to be covered through that program so that is getting pulled out of our capital reserve so the one thing with paa is they don't allow you to use it for construction projects closest they allow us to use it for would be essentially the installation of the correct size toilets and the correct size sinks and then so for D um so reference an agreement from February of 2022 are we improving upon that or is that was just what was set in place a while ago and they they're just updating the agreement in a sense regardless of what happened in that time we will be updating that uh revising getting it from a new company okay yeah so in 2122 there was a fa wide assessment done by the prior architect of record okay um before my time when I came and looked at it seemed like there were definitely some major things that were missing okay um so whenever a facility white assessment's done the the second step after that's done is the long range facility plan is updated so at that point there was probably a major update to long range facility plan so what happens is you submit the update and the state has to approve the update so what'll be happens is we'll get a new facility wi assessment uh more comprehensive uh we're going to be working very closely with them to make sure that it's essentially meant to be a planning document so it lets you know estimated costs it lets you know estimated um remaining life on systems so you can plan out and bu wise and know hey this is our priority right now this is critical um this is something that we need to look at maybe in the next three you know one to three years this that's not exactly how it's gonna be broken out but just as an example right so it'll be a guide going forward um and is there any reason that we're not considering Security Services building life cycle costs or energy studies um or are we considering this elsewhere outside of the scope so right now we're doing the esip so we have a uh local government educ uh we have two different energy audits happening and they're starting to finish up we'll have more thesea probably uh next month there'll be a resolution related to that um but essentially um there's a a government uh free audit that is required to be done and there's also an investment grade audit by Honeywell that is also required to be done and then what about like the building like just because it seems like things or is that already kind of comprehensive of above that we don't need that um just because it seems like some things have been deteriorating just making sure that we're looking at the whole totality versus just bits and pieces of things yeah they'll they'll be looking at everything okay yeah so anything envelope anything uh in terms of major systems on the interior as well and then also you know things like uh parking lots outside lighting you know so there will be you know security features related to the buildings included okay and then so I think they'll we're saving about 10,800 based off of the other budget of 70k yeah we budgeted about 70,000 and then are we and then this excess of funds is that that's going to be going towards like the fire doors or things that we want over budget on right yes so what will happen is with um so it's fund 12 it's Capital outlay um those projects are usually a combination of either withdrawals from capital reserve uh or the budget process um revenue from the from the budget process so as you get to the end of the year if there are any funds remaining um and you're GNA have over and under on your different projects um but as long as they're in your L range facility plan and they've uh been improving the budget process or the resolution you can shift the funds from the projects for any that are over and under and then at the end of the year you would take the remaining funds and redeposit it back in the capital reserve which then later could go towards other projects through either the budget process or a board resolution withdrawing funds gotcha and then last one is just on E what exactly is is that one for umove us Architects or the architect of record so basically they were approved as architect record already but this is just the uh the agreement um when we approved them initially uh they hadn't produced the agreement to us yet they were just being approved at this architect record so this is their actual architect record agreement good question I have one more question concerning letter c um why are we are we adding 177,000 to the Glen Meadow Middle School window project why is the change order I forgot I we talked about it I think in financial you forg so this was initially bid actually before the SE application came out they went through the bid process um I believe there was issues with the vendor and the award was cancelled then SDA uh applications came out which allows a to to get basically up to 40% of the project funded uh through the New Jersey school Development Authority um the district was approved for that uh but because now they have to go back out the bid again now they need to go back they need to update essentially all their projections all the bid documents and go through the bid process again so that's what this change order is related to okay thank you that was about two years ago yeah yeah I remember okay forget they getting done thank you Mr SL roll call please Mr samaga yes Mr Cino yes Mr Krauss yes Miss pellet yes Dr Ross yes Mr Sweeney yes Miss Ahern yes motion carries item I public comment on any non-agenda items or or items we've already discussed uh please limit your time to five minutes just make make sure you identify yourself and address any questions to me and we'll try to get them answered anybody in the audience would like to come up for public Veron good evening um I'm quite curious really I'm trying to control myself I heard a story today from a friend of mine of whose child first grader just a little little child was pulled out of her classroom brought to the office and interrogated about why she was absent so much in kindergarten this is just PL foot and when I heard that the parents were curious when I heard this I was like what on Earth why would they do that why wouldn't they call the parents to say why was your kid absent so much in kindgarten and with all the illnesses going around I don't know why that's such a big deal but to pull the child out of her classroom wondering what wrong did she do she has to report to the office and talk to people that she probably doesn't even know who they are because I've been in that position when I was very young and I know exactly what that little girl felt like and I said why would you why would you do that to a little child who has no idea being a second year in school and first grader to go to to be uh questioned interrogated like she did something wrong where's my mother where's my father why are you asking what do I know is that a policy to to question kids why were they absent because there was a notice that did go around to all the parents but they didn't confer with the parents first they pulled the child out and I think that is totally wrong the traumatized the child there was a um notice that when as part of the districtwide initiative to improve attendance and remediate chronic AP aptis apium I will be meeting with a small group of students who Miss 10% or more of school days during the 2324 school year it goes on and on and the purpose of this small group is to attempt to identify any factors cont contributing to absences that may be school related for which we will provide support Andor interventions issues such as peer Rel peer Rel peer relations difficulties learning or any pro problem like and it goes on today I have met with your child and you may hear at home that he or she visited Miss Green she's the counselor I suppose I encourage dialogue with your child regarding this meeting why didn't they why didn't they approach parents first to say is there a problem can we help why do you have to go to a child you know they have a program like that at the school okay um is that all you have no I I don't know is this I will'll answer those questions at the end of the meeting okay okay and but if is there anything else you want no I'm just upset about it because I mean to take a little child out of first grade and make her feel like she's done something wrong my parents did something wrong you know or be interrogated it's just uh infuriating that you would uh such takeaway innocence of a child at school to make her feel that she's done something wrong and thank you okay thank you later anybody else hi good evening good evening how's everybody good how are you you you have to yeah okay I'm just being polite my name is Brian Fisher I live in Highland Lakes I have two children who attend the uh the schools here in so I had a question and a statement so the question I've seen that uh Mr Krauss Miss Ross Miss Brock who's not here have been made statements that they restored after school buses my two boys go to Glen Meadow and they told me there are no way up the school buses so I was hoping you could give me the schedule I guess my boys are misinformed and also uh Mr Sweeney at the end of the last meeting you suggested possibly ending access by internet uh or public comment by internet for meetings and uh Miss pellet I think you suggested that that's something that should come from the policy committee and me personally I think it's a bad idea I think there's a lot of people in the community uh people with disabilities uh seniors who rely on the internet for access to these meetings but I wanted to know was my opinion a minority opinion or did other people feel the same way so I put out a couple of surveys on a couple of different Facebook sites and I just wanted to let you guys know so you can make an informed decision I got about 200 votes and 87% of the respondents were against ending access by internet thank you that's very very nice of you to do that for usk there's no uh I might give you a little there's no feedback one way or another at this point in time yeah but like I said it's informative thank you appreciate that uh with regards to the late busing do you want to take care of that right right now I believe did did I answer your email that you sent to me was was that I remember you asked about the lay buses and I replied uh that we we have uh we had the late buses restored at the high school and they're not at the middle school right yeah you said it was the high school only but then the statements that the after school buses have been restored are still out there so I thought maybe you were misinformed my kids were misinformed no in Prior board meetings we made it very clear that it was the high school okay so we haven't restored at the high SCH we have what the other schools we have we never had we we had a few in my in my response I believe I said a lot of the activities at Glen meow are tiered at different times so some activities are are are leaving at different times during the day so to get a late bus that answer no the answer I gave you was it you know no they haven't been restored because a lot of the activities a lot of activities that GL are tiered at different times it would be difficult to have a bus just for those students all thank you just find a lot of sort of misleading statements that could be otherwise clear right if you're going to say you restored after school bues why not say we restored after school bues for the high school okay why make it seem like it's a blanket thing when it's not all right thank you anybody else okay we're going to open it to online um we have Jesse paladini Mrs paladini good evening how are you um this was not one of my questions but I will just kind of piggyback on Brian Fischer's statement I too saw the uh the boast by John Krauss Melissa Brock and Carolyn Ross that they restored the after school buses and I'm not going to address Mr Fisher point but I am going to say so you are boasting that you restored approximately $100,000 in after school buses for the high school at the same time you raised our taxes by $4 million and 99.65% no response necessary I just don't think that's something to boast about but here's what I want to ask you um when I was researching the Inova mat program because I um I work with curriculum every day and when I was researching it I happened to come upon many many endorsements and promotional articles for NOA mat by Dr h CH and these articles were posted online long before the Vernon School District purchased and began using Inova mat so my question is did Dr Shep or any other District employee get compensated by Anova mat or any of its Affiliates for those endorsements just a simple yes or no will suffice I could can't answer that question I don't know the answer okay anybody know it it just seems unusual that you would have district teachers and administrators endorsing something and promoting something long before Vernon schools used them and she called it a win-win program and she talked about how happy teachers were with it and that has not been my understanding through teachers and parents but um I'm just wondering how she could have done these endorsements for a program and I don't know if anyone else did I don't know if Mr gagliostro did or anybody else I don't know and Mr gag gastro was there in your audience so he could probably answer that but I'm just wondering if anyone was compensated for those endorsements before the Vernon Board of Education approved this $456,000 program I do know we piloted the program the year before well you had an app no no we piloted the program we had teachers piloting the program the year before in classrooms Mr Sweeney according to the contract and the memorandum of understanding that you have with an noat the pilot was in the 2324 school year and the 2425 school year that's in your memorandum of understanding yeah we had the we had the pilot before that Mrs paladine we had the pilot program in 2223 you had an app my point is I had a teacher teaching this the subject in 2223 okay this is my time so let me finish please I'm answering your question okay thank you I appreciate it I will leave it with this my point is you did not purchase the program until the 2324 school year I have the minutes I have the agendas I have the payment um documentation what I'm saying is whatever you did prior to 2324 you had not purchased the program the purchase was done after the fact so it's a very simple question were they compensated for their endorsements as I answered a question okay if nobody knows the answer to that tonight and Mr gagi asro doesn't know the answer to that put it in the form of an Oprah okay thank you you're welcome anybody else we have Barb moner this is moner hi good evening can you hear me okay yes hi I apologize for my voice it's uh something that's going around I would just like to address the questions about an novam mat we did pilot the program prior to purchasing it it was run in classrooms from uh kindergarten up through I know third grade I believe there were pilot programs in fourth and fifth that were limited I can't speak directly to that because I was not involved it was not simply an app um I can tell you from personal experience from working with those teachers in their classroom that in second grade the teachers who piloted the program used Nova mat on a daily basis they did number labs they did Adventures they used the manipulatives they were provided with all of the materials um I can tell you that I was not compensated and there were a lot of benefits to the program additionally we met with representatives from the company we were asked for input we uh spoke at length on benefits pros and cons and that the program was given a thorough going over prior to it being recommended uh for the district and that um it was not simply an app even in the grades where State Testing took place the teachers were implementing lessons the adventures and not just simply putting children on the computer app you are not able to do the app until you have taught those lessons we check them off as we go um my students in my class now are only getting things that we have taught so therefore if we would have just thrown children onto an app they would not have found any success because the program is um amazingly different um I can speak to the first grade level it is extremely age appropriate it is handson it is self-discovery it lends itself to many different levels of learning many different types of learning and um I think that you should really be more informed before you make blanket statements about a program that we're using um I not going to address the questions about being reimbursed or or anything to that nature I can tell you that I gave up a lot of my personal time to look and work on this program and that's only thing that I'm going to say about that um and thank you for uh all the hard work that's being done for preschool and everything anything else thank you Mrs mcha anybody else Jesse paladini raise your hand again Mrs paladini hi um thank you um Miss munshower for that information but you did not address what I specifically asked regardless of what you used what you had when you used it you had not approved or paid for this program until after the endorsements and the promotional articles so my question was very simple I wasn't making a judgment call on the program I'm not teaching in the district that's not up to me to make that judgment call so thank you for all of that additional information miss munshower my simple question was did any District employee get compensated for all of those promotionals and indorsements that are all over the Internet for the Innova map program before the district approved it and purchased it end of my question I will um contact Mr slam for a definitive answer to that tomorrow thank you again anybody else we have uh George n George n Nan yes correct good evening good even good how are I have a uh good I have a procedural question uh I believe you're in the uh public in the second public comments of the night is that is that correct okay uh I believe that uh the public only gets one time to comment why was the previous afford it to two times I'm sorry there I didn't see that there were anybody else anybody else had comments and we had not uh spent a lot of time in public comments and I felt it was okay to let the person speak um okay yeah because uh I know that Rober Rules of Order dictate that uh you uh you only allow the public one time for public comments so I was very confused uh you are correct that is absolutely correct I I ered I'm sorry okay okay yeah because especially considering the individual who commented uh I I especially found that of question so okay thank you very much for the clarification and have a good night you too thank you anybody else we have um Peg Dy Mrs Dy Hello I'm Mrs we can now can you hear me yes we can okay thank you sorry I just wanted to congratulate uh the uh board on the hard work of doing the Grant application and improving our preschool program for our youth in town thank you I'm very very proud to say that you're working hard and you're turning the board around from where it was a few years ago it's good to see keep up the good work everybody's doing a great job well thank you thank you thank you unfortunately we can't take credit for that it's the administration and staff that have done done the hard work right anybody else we just have a second uh second time caller so we we're going to I'm not going to address it okay nobody else has their hand raised okay um we're gonna close the meeting to the public and then item J open board member Forum any board members have something yeah I um I have just a couple things um one is that um I believe Mr fiser suggested that I I asked for the policy committee to possibly um end the public comments remote public comments that wasn't actually what I what I said I am against ending public comments um remote public comments I just believe in everybody having an opportunity to access our meetings and to participate in them from home um but I did say that the if if we were going to explore a policy change it should happen at the policy committee level first and then be brought to the board to make a decision so that was my position on that um regarding the comments about um you know I'm not going to be here next week and I did want to say that um chronic absenteeism is a is a big issue in our district and in all districts right now across the country really um and here we have over 20% of our students who are absent more than 18 days a year um so we did form an ad hoc committee to explore chronic absenteeism and part of the solutions that um we're exploring for that or we're working on and I'm actually you know really excited because a lot of our administrators really did make a lot of efforts and some of the things they did were uh more robust communication before the school year started signage and school buildings Flyers um distribution of attendance success plans for parents and they did some parent surveys and a lot of reach outs to students and families I can't speak to what the comment that was made earlier about the uh the child in first grade but I do know that um that our district is looking at talking to families about concerns that they have and reasons that they're struggling kid to get kids to school so the idea was to find out what the problems were so that we could make a proactive effort to help um solve them so if a family was for example missing the bus um repeatedly and the student was was unable to get to school we were going to try to explore ways that we could help with that if there was difficulty for whatever reason um it was meant to be a helpful thing and not a criticism as far as you know of students obviously I mean that was the goal and the goal is to get kids in schools because we can't teach them or our our Educators can't teach students when they're not in the building so I just wanted to say that because I'm not going to be here to give my committee report next week um and I was going to ask Sean yeah sure to help me out with that I have minutes I I shared with you already and I'm also not going to be here for the curriculum report so I will be designating somebody to give that as well so that was uh just something I wanted to point thank you okay anybody else um I just wanted to say I am so so so excited about the preschool expansion Aid that is so awesome that we are going to have all day prek and I know for a lot of Working Families in Vernon this is a game changer and I just want to shout out our staff and our Administration for the hard work that they did year after year applying for this grant we've been hearing about it for so long not Grant expansion Aid shouldn't be using that term Aid I'm just I'm so ecstatic that we can finally offer this so uh Charles thank you um just had a quick comment too about that absenteeism I'm not I'm not don't want to I think it's it's an Administration thing to handle um to look into it if they need to um but what what I would like to do is what I would like to know are we monitoring effectiveness of the programs we have multiple um different ways we're going out approaching this this year and I want to make sure we're doing the most appropriate way uh that's effective and not only effective we're getting the the word of course it the students but also the message out to um the parents because maybe in this case it wasn't it wasn't heard by by the public as effective and I know as a board member I don't think we always effectively talk to the community as a whole um so that's that's all I want to say just if we could just follow up and make sure that what we're doing in place because we you got everyone has great intentions and the this program what we're doing could really set our put our district district Above the Rest right because it's it's a Statewide problem it's a Countrywide problem we can really do real good things so we could just make sure me we're just hoping that the kids will be in school more frequently so that they can learn more yeah and I work at home so I want my kids at school we monitoring it though yeah it's ongoing one one of the things we did was the first 12 days of school all of the administrators tracked um the number of absences uh that we had in the different buildings and um and and we're going to have another meeting and look at the first marking period and absences and and what worked and what didn't and there's idea sharing going on it's it's actually really um the meeting was very productive and and we've got some great things happening and we're just really excited about John John mentioned gave us a little sample in our policy meeting last week so he he gave us he gave us so I just want to make sure we're we're doing it and we get back to the board maybe next time we meet is after the first Mark comp per we're going to assess how many kids are absent and how programs are working at that point and there have been parent surveys too to ask why you know what what the struggles are and what the reasons are and so that we can again look for solutions that help families Mr SM and next week you get to prove every single school's corrective action plan for chronic absenteeism and read through their plan on what what they're what they're doing to uh to address this issue in their schools all right great and then um tennis courts beautiful my only problem was I came down to the tennis courts they were a lot better I mean the beginning of the year was was like a different school but I thought I was in sparter because they're all blue so I don't know why we picked that color but it was nice I don't know it was left over paint but PID for it and I know was basically you know wasn't re redoing the whole entire thing we did it most coste effective way we can get it done um but I don't think you can really tell they look almost like brand new sports and the kids are the kids look like they really enjoy to be proud to be they got to play on courts instead of the ones that they were at previously so good job with that they're beautiful courts but I just want to comment that if we painted the lines yellow we would have some trouble with the tennis balls so okay got I just want to provide a little bit of reason and then uh and one one last shout out to everyone for the great job with the PA paa right get it right that was I'm I think it's great for the district great for the parents it's great for it's all around it's gonna be perfect for us yeah so good job everyone I know everyone put a lot of hard working hours into it so good job two years too yeah finally getting through I'm I'm excited to see what are addressing chronic absenteeism cell phone usage um talking about uh a lot of other different things that we have here the preschool what impact it'll have on education at Vernon and the investment we're making at education especially with PA where it's a minimal investment uh through State money to to improve education and and achievement of our students so I'd like to thank everyone involved with that and that's across teachers employees staff members community members uh thank you um I'm I'm excited about the what we're doing in Veron you're going to hear some more about test scores next week work anybody else have anything I have two things I'm sorry I attended on October 1st I attended the NJ sba's fall labor Summit and it was at the headquarters in Trenton which was a nice ride it was beautiful day so I went down to Trenton and a lot of presentations about case law that's going on all the services that New Jersey school boards can provide to us uh in terms of looking at uh salary guides and looking at uh contracts and so forth and they have a lot of data that we can use when we do our negotiations down the road with the vtea and the vtaa you can rely on their resources for all kinds of data also I attended the csex county school boards associations meeting later that night it was quite a day and it was all about guiding principles the board's role in policy and it turns out anybody can make a policy recommendation but the policy committee is where it it either stalls or gets gets you know legs so to speak pressure here from I've seen so far you guys are doing a great job so please continue to do what you're doing everybody enjoys I think and making a difference like it you know it's some things I know you guys started earlier uh with the overwhelming number of policies we had approv in the beginning of the year but also njsba has a policy man service where you could send your whole manual down there and they could you know provide all kinds of suggestions on updating it uh making is more you know to today make sure all the policies are up to dat is that more than what stra do compliment it's complimentary okay it's different than what St okay but yeah so just can yeah I'm hoping something we have something down at the conference too yeah there might be something to look so that's all I had anybody else and motion to adjer so moved moved by Mr cantino second second by Mr KRA all in favor I I we are