##VIDEO ID:7ibl56wjHac## good evening everyone I would like to welcome you to our Tuesday September 10th 2024 Board of Education meeting we are calling the meeting to order and it is 7 p.m and if everyone could please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance a reading of meeting notice 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 the public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of the act the Verona board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the Star Ledger posted with the township of Verona and the Verona Education Association postings of this meeting have been set forth the time location and agenda were posted at the Verona Board of Education Office and on the Verona Public Schools district website copies of tonight agenda of tonight's agenda and resolutions have been made available to the public via the Board of Education website Mr Cruz if you could please call attendance pres Mrs farar here Mrs uh brael here Mrs prisco here Mr Boon here we have we have Quorum thank you thank you moving on to our agenda I need a motion please to approve our minutes from our August 27th 2024 meeting motion by Mr Waka seconded by Mr Boon are there any discussions on routine matters Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr W yes yes M uh Mrs FAL yes Mrs Farrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mrs Boon yes motion carries thank you moving on um this evening we have um Jean clear she is our um board rep from New Jersey school boards she's here to do our presentation on our self evaluation that we took thank you for being here so it's a pleasure to be with you tonight I am Jean clear from New Jersey SCH school boards I am the uh newly assigned field service representative that will work with you and your board um I know you uh we very well served by Charlene Peterson who is still with school boards um she is um assigned to some other districts and special projects as a senior field service representative but I'm sure you'll be path crossing paths with her again she sends her regards um I would like for the benefit of the public to just know that um it while it is not required ired for a board to do their self- evaluation it is really considered a best practice and it really um goes towards assuring the public that you take your role as uh under governance very seriously um and I want to commend you for achieving a master board certification this past year that's a reflection of all of your hard work and um focus on continual growth so over the summer you did complete your board uh self-evaluation and I'll just your summary is in front of you and we can just go over that so there are uh nine indicators and it they consist of planning policy student achievement Finance board operations board performance board and superintendent relationship board and staff relationship and the board and Community relationship uh this is all marked on a four scale 40 scale and planning came in at 3.6 policy at 3.7 and the board has for the benefit of the public who may be listening has evaluated themselves under these C categories and looked looking at these indicators um student achievement with uh the board ranked itself at 3.7 Finance 3.9 board operations 3.8 board performance 3 8 board relationship 3.9 board staff 3.6 and board and Community relationships 3.5 with a total average of 3.7 out of 40 scale okay so the survey uh I'm sorry the um evaluation was completed by four of the five members and the average score as we said was 3.7 with a range of 3.5 on board community relations to um 3.9 for both finance and board superintendent relationships I apologize there's an error on your paperwork so we we're going to just take a look at what that means so broken out over the different um ratings there are 57 indicators total of 228 for the for board members that completed it 166 commenda bles came in representing 73% of the total and um good rankings were 59 representing 26% of of the total um with only one not observed um adequate and unsatisfactory uh really were statistically insignificant so under you came in just under 100% so as we go down this by category we're just going to look at um the board is a high functioning board um and we want to just look at where you're at um the glow we like to call it and then look at opportunities for future growth to continue that on that continuous um path of achievement so under planning um a glow something you should be proud of as as a board is that the board uh reports that you you feel you're and there was agreement on this that you're working collaboratively to set and meet the goals of the district a recent strategic plan included opportunities for stakeholder input with the community members and is used as a guide um for the board to move forward the board is focused on meeting and setting actionable goals which is very important um such as the master board certification which you have achieved this past year so a grow area would be um that there was a comment on there that the board indicated that maybe more frequent review and progress monitoring of board goals would be helpful um not uncommon where boards set goals with all good intent and the year gets very very busy so if there's not a schedule of when you're reporting out or holding yourselves accountable sometimes it just gets a little bit lost in the shuffle so sometimes having um dates of reporting out that you hold yourself to can can help keep everybody's focus on task um it's recommended that dates are set and uh shared to assist with maintaining the focus so under policy um a glow area is that the board reports that it's working on updating the policy manual and members are familiar iing themselves with policies so as a policymaking body which the board is it's good to see that um everyone seems very committed engaged and informed about the need for policy review and for referring to policies um to support decision- making as a board so uh just point of fact as as you probably do know that New Jersey school boards does offer a service to um review your policies if you have any questions we are a source for you um it's included in your dues so I would encourage you to take advantage of that if I can assist in any way I will do that but we have a department that handles that for you moving on to student achievement um an area the glow area the board reports that student achievement is a standard focus of the board's work the board supports District educational goals and requires regular updates and data from the administration for both accountability and to ensure PR progress that is the work of the board and the board um seemed pretty uh you know in agreement that that is happening with regularity the board members acknowledged the receipt of data and feedback um through assessments but um indicated that they may benefit from more training so that they can have a deeper understanding of some of the data and to allow for um additional questions that they may have that would be educated based on that training looking next at Finance which was um a high score of 3.9 uh shared with board and superintendent relationship the glow reported is that the board reports feeling very well informed by Administration and is committed to supporting the work um in this area to support District goals there is a concern regarding the anticipated growth of the district and how those needs will be met not uncommon we're hearing that across the board in most districts that we're going into um a grow area would be that the board expressed the desire to gain a better understanding of upcoming budget challenges um recognizing that it is a tight budget so that's just an area of growth and and focus going forward um if we move on to board operations uh the board reports a high level of respect preparation and collaboration while working together there is a commitment to continuous learning and growth as both a board and as individuals a positive climate of trust um has been established and supports positive interactions with each other with the administration and staff which allows for the focus to remain on the issues that serve the students of the district a grow area for this to go forward is just having accomplished the recognition of the master uh board certification training can be planned for attainment of the Carol El Lon um Master board certification to do that the Board needs to uh complete 10 more board credits uh before May of 2026 student achievement um is of course always a a focus but that's spec specifically spelled out in that uh certification but it you can also bring in other training any other training that you feel would help to um support the board and future governance anything you may just want to feel more educated on um so we can you know there's a list in the back that I that I shared with each of you so anything that you may be interested in that isn't on the list can also we can have a discussion to accommodate um board performance the board reports that there's a shared commitment to attendance and preparation for uh meetings proper questioning to support oversight uh maintaining the required confidentiality under the code of ethics and proper interactions with the public so you hold yourselves to to a high standard um to maintain uh the professionalism that's required of the board a grow area would just be to continue to work on identifying different ways to communicate with the public regarding um perhaps topical issues that come up during the year and uh also to perhaps share with the public um the actual functioning of the board we often assume that the public is aware how a meeting is set up and and it's not really Robert's Rules of Order really aren't every on everybody's coffee table so sometimes providing information in multiple ways um on your agenda or on your website can uh support that and you can refer people to that when there's a question of why you're operating in a certain way um next we have the board superintendent relationship which again was a high score of 3.9 um the board reports a very strong working relationship with the superintendent and acknowledges that there's a shared commitment to review revise and Implement policy procedures and best practice IES in the district uh an area for development um development and support of members as they experience new topics um could be a focus for both individual growth and continued positive development of the board um boards are uh very regularly challenged with new topics that are coming up regularly whether it's um what to do with your cell phones or you know anything as schools open so um those discussions are important to have and you know any resources we could provide for you we're happy to do that so board staff relationships the the board uh values collaboration with Administration to best support staff in their efforts towards student safety and success the work of revision and implementation of policy establishing clear job roles and responsibilities and fair accountability standards have been a priority to ensure that staff are in the best position for success um we do know the research shows that good governance um high functioning boards um help direct have a direct positive impact on student achievement and part of that is um by the impact it has on the staff in the building that's closest to the students um continued commitment to clear and fair engagement between the administration and staff is supported by the board as you are um will allow for fair accountability which will positively support student achievement and outcomes um we all want to know that we're being evaluated um trusted you know to the work that we do um so those interactions to continue positively as as you have been doing um we'll just grow that um and finally we have under the section the board Community relationships uh the board reports that the community is very supportive of the school district and events and continues to explore ways to increase positive engagement with the community the board participates in many events themselves including cultural and student centered ones um a grow area might be uh to explore proactive ways to address topics that concern the community in informal settings um we recognize that people aren't always comfortable to come into a board meeting um uh or it might not be the right um place for certain discussions to happen so um providing opportunities for the public to come out and also to see the celebrations of all of the Great accomplishments that you have going on in your District um whether at a board meeting to celebrate the accomplishments of students or staff um things like that can be very helpful so we move on to uh the summary of major challenges identified by the board um concerns that you have facing the district um and these are not any ranked order just to be clear it was just a list um under Administration that then needs be continued support and Clarity of administrative roles and responsibilities for efficient operations so when everybody is very clear everything moves much more uh smoothly um and that benefits everyone um building security and aging facilities uh the budget of course is is a concern um retaining and hiring of Highly qualified teachers population growth in the community and uh CTE providing alternate Pathways for students success postgraduation um besides uh College Planning um summary of suggested areas of additional focus and training that the board had noted uh were under policy and procedural procedural implementation and accountability um sometimes the policy is in place but the the regulations of how that actually appears in the district on a day today which is of course the superintendent's purview um but to make sure that things are aligned and clear for everyone um effectively communicating with the community uh crisis communication planning and public engagement which has come up a couple of times overall you report um a very involved supportive Community um these are times that uh can be trying when certain things pop up and people show up at meetings and we want those interactions to be as positive as they can be for everyone involved so um sometimes just TR shooting different ways of putting information out so people are walking in feeling a little calmer to maybe be open to listening um to the information that's available um and that is really the summary of your uh of your evaluation we do have next just a quick look at the charts um the charts reflect the work that we just went over but it's kind of a visual that's nice to have um the first one is um to me less interest it's interesting but less interesting I think that if you go to the second one where you're looking at board to individual so you're comparing the blue is the is how you ranked your board and yellow is how you ranked yourself as an individual and interestingly um there are many categories where you have uh first of all across the board the rankings are are pretty uniform suggesting that there's agreement that the board is uh doing very well and functioning at a high efficient level um but also that there are different categories where um you're putting the functioning of the board slightly ahead of how you're even rating yourself which is an indicator that you're open to educating yourself more expanding your knowledge base um but everything is across the board um in a in a pretty uh high place so that's that's good news um and if you look at the last page the current year versus the price year when you did this um the gray is 2023 and the green is 2024 and it's very nice to see um positive growth in all categories so the board has definitely been um working very hard to uh move forward in governance and is reporting the the benefits of that so so that's uh all for your hard efforts it's good to see and your community can feel um pleased to know of the commitment that this board has uh for ongoing learning education um and taking the time to really be self-reflective and evaluative which is really important we ask um we ask that of our students um and it's important that we hold ourselves to a certain standard as well in the back you'll also have just for reflection some topics that might be of interest to you um I will um also share that uh for those going to Workshop the agenda uh is posted so all of the classes are there if you want to get started looking at things that you may want to um pursue when you're down there we look forward to seeing you um and if you have any questions please i' be happy to answer them thank you so much Jean for coming out and for the report um Mr Waka is going to be one of the presenters at uh School boards this year so oh congratulations Mr Waka that's we will all be attending we are actually a full board all of us will be attending this the second year in a row that the entire board will be at school boards so it's I think it's a great they're great sessions it's great to all to be together um yeah and just um I'm not sure in the moment who may need to take any mandatory training to meet requirements the only thing to keep in mind is um I don't believe it affects this board is that uh mandatory the governance one won't be held at Workshop this year year Just for future reference just because it's outside the 90 days now that that's been imposed um and there are some changes to uh go two and three so the topics will look a little different and we think that that will help to serve um board members as well uh that was handled actually uh by our senior field THS uh shene Peterson being one of them so um I think you'll find that interesting and also we will we will discuss as a board as um our topics for the next training I know and I had spoke on the phone um about certain ideas that we were talking about so we'll discuss it and come up with some dates that we can get together for our next I was going to say that it would be um helpful even if you want to if you as a board can agree on dates if you send them to me we can always fill in the category as we get a little closer but just get onto the calendar would be helpful great okay wonderful thank you so much for coming good luck with the school year I do have I'm sorry Mr Walk you go ahead oh just so we talked about the evaluation was the the one board member that did not fill it out and I didn't fill it out last year or the year before that and I won't fill it out in the next three years that I'm on the board um and it has nothing to do with you obviously um I I just think it's it's it's an it's not my ideal uh I'm much more interested in evaluating our superintendent who we we hired and we're very happy with and evaluating her um but thank you for the the plug Pam uh on Tuesday of the convention at uh 11 o'clock in room 404 that's the place to be so get there early you must get there early uh also as may I ask your topic oh yeah it's effective collaboration between school districts and law enforcement be a hit but there's another there's another one like very similar at the same time which is weird but um but ours is going to be the cooler one um and then as far as you know with with the with the trainings I I I definitely like you know we let's let's be honest we're forced to be part of school boards right uh but the school boards does offer you know value so I I'd like to be able to use them as provider for services but you know they're not necessarily the only game in town so I think we should also explore that as well thank you and thank you yes of course um just two questions for me um is there any value to compare results with samplings from uh like districts around the state that's an interesting it's it's an interesting question I I think that it may be hard to do in practice actually um I think that there are so many nuances of issues before board some themes we're seeing for sure um but I I think that um frankly not all boards are taking the time to do it and it is a conversation starter for you as a board to have and to give yourself an opportunity of what what you need to to um be a better uh better suited to to what you want to learn so that you can support the work um I'm sure there's value in it I can go back and kind of get some thoughts about how that may look for one or two possible but frankly the the information in it is really geared towards you as a board so um there what there might be benefi in is actually you know giving some thought to if there are other categories that you're not seeing on this that you think would be important to you as a board board to um take a look at um that's something that maybe we can look at modifying so you know it might speak to something that you're not seeing is being captured here but that you may want to capture that would be good feedback for us to have and um relating to feedback particularly from uh key stakeholders in our school administration not maybe necessarily the superintendent um but from Top administrators is there any value into having an anonymous survey of what they see from the board um just to better take the temperature yeah Mr if I could I hate to jump in but like our evaluation happens in election day that's our evaluation I I I just our job is to evaluate her and that's the I'm speaking just from my opinion that's the only uh the opinions are collectively that we get to assign her scores that's what the community elects to do well I was looking yeah and I don't disagree with that point I think I was looking at it through the lens of maybe some of our top administrators don't necessarily live in districts so they don't have that vote and just I'm looking at it as more of a pulse survey than necessarily an evaluation um but just to see to to hear um what is top of Mind of them even though I know we're in very good uh relationship with our superintendent but just a just another opportunity for them to feel like that they are being heard if I may um that is actually done by some districts run um very often through the superintendent's office to do um kind of even a climate survey and some of the questions that could be on there may pertain to um the board right but also how they feel about some other areas so that is just information and you can take that information and have that feedback to go forward with um I would say um respectfully disagree that when uh the board is clearly their main focus is to hire and evaluate the superintendent um but it does send a message and it does serve a purpose to to be and we can disagree that's totally fine it we do find that boards that take the time to evaluate themselves are being a little bit more thoughtful about the governance that they're doing a little bit more tuned into um the community's will and concerning themselves with the feedback right so um that's subjective though how do you how do you measure more thought or how do you measure more concerned like that that's my that's part of the problem there's a lot of parts of the problem that I I just philosophically disagree with um but I'm not sure I just trust on face value that research is true okay well um you might want to look up the Iowa Lighthouse study but um that yeah boards believe that students are going to achieve and that's the most important thing to have I wrote the Iowa stud down here right okay but you heard me though yep AB so yes so that's what um that's what makes the world go around is that there is a variety of opinions and that you are I'm not trying to change your mind we as New Jersey school boards do find that when we have the opportunity to support boards in that way to be self-reflective that also um that can change the Dynamics actually and and I know that you enjoy um a strong relationship with your superintendent but it can help to maintain good strong relationships with Administration with the superintendent um because you're taking the time to kind of evaluate where am I even from an educational point of view what what areas of those nine different areas do I feel most comfortable and that some people may have a strength towards um the finances or you might be on the policy committee and not really feel that comfortable with the reporting that you're receiving from you know B finances but you may um benefit by that so it helps us to direct how we can best support the board the only administrators I I'm gonna work with her are the superintendent and the ba like I I I don't have a relationship with any other administrators in Verona and uh quite frankly I think that's the exact right way to to do it to your point is that yes the superintendent runs the daily operations of the district right so a board hires the superintendent and the superintendent is tasked with running the daily operation so we are in total agreement on that um I think that this is not meant to get into the evaluation of individual staff everybody outside of the superintendent works for the board everybody else on the district works for the superintendent and um the board plays a role in making sure that there are fair evaluative measures in place but it's really the work of the superintendent as the chief executive of the school district to maintain that so um I hope that that's hopeful fair enough Fair okay all right thank you again for coming here I'll be in touch team thank you moving on to our agenda we have our superintendent Report with Miss Dian jeppe good evening thank you Jean chief executive wow uh I just wanted to um say that to start off that we open schools with a great start um it's always you you know the summer comes at the same time every year summer is a very very busy time in the board office it went very quickly this year uh while the end of August beginning of September also comes at the same time every year this year it didn't feel like it was the same time it really came quickly but we were ready for it um and while I don't want to take any of uh Jack's um uh you know report I know he will be reporting the student rep reports on you know Athletics and stuff I do need to say Friday night's home opener was very special for me you tell us why our home opener this year we were able to um uh play against Kenan Public Schools Kenan high school and uh we won in a fantastic contest Verona we had a great football game great excellent cheer presentation and as always our marching band uh and acted both as a pep band during uh the game and they did a a very small portion of their uh their newest um uh choreography and they were excellent so uh very happy to see that and that's all the only shine I'm going to take from you jack um I do want to point out I I did get some questions about the cell phone policy committee um I have every intention of putting that out it's just we're we're in the process of every night this week either here or at back to school night um as soon as we open schools officially and get everybody oriented and all of that done I will put that out I mean our our procedures currently are that cell phones are not allowed in the schools I think this this idea of having a board policy is really more about bringing it to the Forefront and addressing it um across the board with buyin from everybody so having said that I did um I do want to visit uh just one small piece of it because I did have some people reach out to me uh after the tragic events at appalache uh High School um in wer Georgia uh and about the importance of cell phones and I want to say that's not accurate as a matter of fact reports coming out of that school district are reporting that um when students get on their cell phones like as a parent I would want my son to tell me they were okay I totally understand that Vibe as a parent but when students are on their cell phones texting they are not fully engaged in any safety directions they're getting from school administration from First Responders um just in terms of um when parents get texts from their kids during an emergency whether it's an some kind of a intruder on a school campus a g whatever it is and parents come to the district now that campus was huge right our campus is not our some of our smaller schools I'm thinking about Brook dead I'm thinking about if parents flooded those areas First Responders are not getting through so there's really good reasons for students not to have cell phones during emergencies even though our heartstrings say we want to know our kids are okay um they impede they could impede a public safety response as I said um uh and sometimes it accelerates the spread of misinformation and um not having kids on their cell phones can sometimes interrupt rumor control so there's lots of good reasons and this is put out by every safety school safety organization out there that says that's when kids should not be on their cell phones uh just wanted to have that conversation publicly uh because I think one of the main reasons that we reported last week uh last month I'm sorry um that uh for those parents that didn't support um a no cell phone in school or during I don't want to say in school no cell phones during class policy uh had to do with their students safety and well-being okay um we also discussed at our last meeting uh the uh hbw office space uh dilemma that we have so uh we discussed that we had a need for our fifth grade counselor to have appropriate counseling space uh to um uh um work with her case load and it was proposed that Mr Lancaster be moved out of the counseling Suite so that Mrs Ramirez can be allowed to take that space converting that Wing to primarily School counseling um I mentioned that Mr Lancaster uh does assign consequences that's part discipline is part of his role as assistant principal and it isn't a best practice to be assigning discipline in an area that's designed for counseling um so we decided that we were going to be looking at multiple spaces to see where we could find for a Mr Lancaster uh to be able to do his job uh effectively as well as um get him out of the counseling suite and find a space for our counselor to work with our students so that was the hard part finding adequate space for Mr Lancaster we had looked at I think seven or eight different spaces and um uh last month uh staff and community members expressed concerns about the potential use of space from the existing Media Center to accommodate his office space the space proposed um by the director of facilities um in the media center would not we mentioned that several times would not have been ined on any space currently used by students uh board members Mrs Farrar Mrs Bella and Mrs prisco toured with um Mr Lancaster and Mr galber that space and I believe you're in agreement that that would not have been a space that would be removed from student use having said that it's unfortunate that um people came out because of a misinformation campaign and they were not informed but having said all of that talking to Mr bugly ter about his long-term plans for revamping some of the poorly designed spaces that we currently have at hbw in the first floor main office building it would be my recommendation to foro the cost of putting an office in the media center um simply because it would be a temporary fix and I think it's expensive temporary fix so uh we we are going forward with one of the other locations and Hope hopefully in the revamping of the main office in the next few years we can move Mr Lancaster back down into that space and utilize um a redesigned main office so uh we're going to be um reconfiguring the timeout room on the second floor which is actually a decent spot for Mr Lancaster because it happens to be right by the boy bathroom that has a lot of shenanigans happening in there so he can kind of keep an eye one eye on the boys bathroom and and uh hopefully reduce some of the um the stuff that happens in there so um it would be my recommendation to the board that we retrofit the timeout room um as a temporary solution until we can re re uh fit the main office to include a conference room and office space other office spaces okay back to school nights tomorrow night we have landing and that's a change Landing was supposed to be um uh the week of the 19th I believe uh or the week of the 17th I'm sorry um it is tomorrow night at 6:30 FN Brown on the 12th we have Forest Avenue on the 17th hbw on the 19th Brookdale on the 25th and uh the high school on the 26th all starting at 6:30 um we uh look forward to welcoming our parents to those schools it's always a fun night our uh building academic goals will be reported on September at the September 24th meeting principles are actively working on developing those currently and I am going to share my screen can I do that are you ready okay because we have the ssds annual report short I promise so each year uh by anually I have to report on the student safety data system uh which looks at things like suspensions and um substance uh substances HIV fighting and other uh altercations that we have to report and violence and vandalism that we have to report to um the state of New Jersey I report after the first reporting period which runs from July 1 through December 31st and this is uh both the report of the second reporting period which goes from um January 1st through June 30th as well as an overview of the entire year so uh for reporting period two Verona High School had 20 total incidents five uh alleged Hib which means they were investigated as Hib but not confirmed as Hib and four that were investigated and confirmed uh to have violated the Hib uh policy and uh law we also have a category that was first uh first time reported on last year um this is a preliminary determination uh which was alleged to be an Hib um an active HIV and then so what our principles have the ability to do within our policy is um if they assume that all of the facts as stated are true if it still doesn't if it doesn't meet the burden of Hib law they don't investigate it as HIV so that's what preliminary determination so we had five uh five reports of Hib that even if 100% of what was said was true it still doesn't meet the the legal definition of Hib they were probably uh all in uh investigated as code of conduct violations there were two uh fights at the high school no other incidents leading to removal of a student and what that tends to be is if we have a student that is um insubordinate and winds up being suspended that would be in that category uh we didn't have any violence or vandalism in the second reporting period at the high school and we had four students that were um confirmed or confirmed either through um having a substance on their person testing positive for a substance or refusing to be tested so if you're a refusal that's an automatic positive so had two of those at white horn we had 16 total incidents uh three alleged HIV three confirmed or um that were not initiated five uh physical altercations um no students room removed for other incidents and one um incident of violence no substance abuse and then the elementaries uh we had no uh incidents at all at Landing Avenue School uh we had three incidents of restraint um and not seclusion restraint is when we have students we have to report on students with um dis a student with disability when we have to restrain them um we have to and this is a a safe restraint so we had three incidents of of safe restraint Atlant standing Avenue for the end of the year data so this includes uh what I reported in reporting period one there were 41 total incidents at Verona High School 33 total incidents at at uh white horn and um no incidents at Brookdale FNB uh we had two alleged hibs at Forest Avenue and one more restraint uh at Landing Avenue so that is the ssds NW report and Reporting Period 2 report for 2023 24 any questions I don't have any questions on that report but thank you I just want to um touch upon the hbw library um when we tour it the next day when we went in um Mr velle and Mrs farar and I um I left we I think all left there even more shocked because everything that was spoken that night at the meeting was all for false information so no books were getting removed this space was tangential to anywh it was very very upsetting um false information the hysteria that came out from that which for the start of school was not what we really wanted um so I'm very disappointed that that's how it all happened and that's all I have to say I I was mostly for the students who were concerned that it was going to be taken away from them but but also when we went in I I in fact noticed yeah I in fact noticed there is a tremendous amount of space that seems to be completely wasted I was shocked to see those tables it could be reconfigured it could be reconfigured there could be such it was so I actually walked away thinking wow I'm surprised that this isn't all use even if for a gallery on the walls I mean it's such a nice open wall and it's just tables and I mean if eventually spacewise right when we have to make more classrooms for the students that are going to be coming into District we may need to make some space from the media center so you know I understand people are upset but we're not going to take anything away from the children that's for sure and I and I do think also and you know this is for all of us right change is inevitable and as we grow as a district and as um we have greater needs there's going to be change that's going to happen I don't know right now what it is but I do know that it's coming right this is not only in Verona this is across the state it's across the country um so I think also as a community we have to recognize that it is coming that we are going to do the best that we can as a board um I believe m jeppi is and as a community to embrace the change and do the best that we can with what we have um and to protect our children in that process so that they're not worried that any type of Change is Going to so greatly impact them when in fact it may not it's just a shift I mean to follow that up and at least try to put an additional positive note on it too is I I I applaud um the response that everybody had the fact that we we looked in to um seeking Alternatives um and and and the focus on that but um the community showed to me um despite the fact that it was misinformation that they deeply care about about and I want to applaud that's who we are absolutely as a community and I want to give them you know there were some courageous young students that spoke and I want to really make sure we yeah recognize the the passion even you know even if it's just us talking amongst ourselves people deeply and and to be clear I encourage that I I don't think decision should ever be made in a vacuum I think that it's really important to hear all perspectives all ideas all all of that but really more what I'm saying is just that as a community we have to recognize too that change is going to come so we have to also kind of take that into consideration as well um but I encourage that and I just want to just speak up a little bit um I think that the five of us sometimes disagree on things that's inevitable um but I will say I think the one thing that all not the one thing one of the things that we all agree upon is that books belong in a library no one would ever do anything that would intentionally remove books from a library no I mean yes but you know but even if even looking at this there is if we had to take away those shelves there are plenty other places to move books moving books is not removing books and I think we can say that over over again um you know one of the things when I went to look was like can we really move these books to other spots are there real and yes there were there there were plenty of space to move these books that that we were talking about potentially moving um to another location within the same Library um you know like I said I think the five of us can wholeheartedly agree that books belong in libraries and students have access to them um and that's really it one other thing before we move on I W to commend superintendent D JPI also on the welcome uh school email uh it had a notion and I'm I'm calling this out uh just to make sure that everybody in our community is aware of it and didn't Overlook it among the Deluge of emails um there in that email was something talking about uh safe homes in terms of how to uh how parents how families should would uh teach gun safety in their homes if they choose to have a gun how to secure those guns um information on uh the dangers of guns in the home relative to Suicide situations and just how to be a safe home uh if you choose to have a weapon um and I really encourage everybody to look at that email again and uh take a special look at that uh section it's very important that you do so I'll actually link that welcome back web page to our homepage um because it is it's important information this was the second year we put it out as a welcome in my welcome back package because when uh Governor Murphy signed the Carry Conceal law um uh in New Jersey there was a rapid Spike of applications for con Carri conceal so we know there's a a a decent number of families that have guns in the home just securing them I mean this is not an anti-gun statement it's just let's know how to secure our guns so our kids don't get a hold of them thank you moving on to our committee reports uh we only had oh student I'm sorry sorry Jack I didn't mean to our student representative report from Mr Jack Ladson all right so with the start of the school year there was obviously a lot going on here um on Monday September 2nd which was the night before school started the senior class met in the parking lot for senior car painting the event was a huge success and then the next morning we we all woke up early and headed to Eagle Rock reservation for the sunrise um last week most of the Fall Sports started up we're off to a good start this season and I'm looking forward to continue going to games in fact we have four teams who are going into the season with undefeated records thus far both football and boy soccer are 2-0 and girls soccer and field hockey are 3 and0 um some sports senior nights are also coming up soon girls tennis senior night is tomorrow and most of the other sports senior nights will be at the end of the month and in the beginning of October this morning the fresh and sophomores who are currently enrolled in Algebra 1 and geometry took map testing next week on Tuesday September 17th there will be a club Fair taking place on the upper field of the high school for new students to learn about the various clubs we offer at VHS and then the last thing I have is that campaigns for student council elections have begun speeches and voting will be occurring next Friday September 20th so that means that at the September 24th board meeting there will be a new student representative here um it's been a pleasure and I want to thank you all for being so welcoming thank you Jack so much thank you Jack I love the morning Sunrise it was the only thing that could get my kids up out of bed early yeah that's a great that's really great and thank you for reporting out on to Athletics because that's what we're moving on to right now did anyone have any questions for Jack I just wanted uh maybe to add to Jack's thing tomorrow morning at hbw uh will be the 9911 memorial memorial um and I know the HB W students come out for that and uh our students musicians perform as well that's excellent yeah that's at 8:45 tomorrow so moving on thank you Mr Boon on that um moving on to our Athletics committee Mr Waco would you want would you like me to you don't even have to ask anymore thank you thank you um so basically basic uh Jack talked about all our sports that started up and Mrs DJ zeppy spoke about the football game and we have our girls freshman volleyball team um started so that's new um they had their first game today so looking forward to watching those girls our let's see our full Leadership Summit took place on August 27th it was mostly Juniors and seniors that attended there were 19 students um held at s uh West Essex High School David Tyree um was the guest speaker did I get that right Mr Waka right although we were we were questioning that you didn't know who D David Tyree was but we established we're both Jets fans so it's okay I didn't hear the name properly but I know who he is so um let's see and let's that's it I think um there really wasn't much it was a very short agenda so good luck to all our sports teams we have over 300 students involved in our Sports programs so good luck to to all of them on a great season that's a lot and then moving on to public comments on agenda action items only if there's anyone from the public that would like to speak on something we will be voting on please come to the podium must state your name and you have three minutes seeing none moving on to this discussion items and oh Mr Rock are you going to the podium okay um new business old business is there anything that anyone needs to report out on new business old business I just um I attended today the hbw it was the um honoral High honoral ceremony for the current sixth graders um last year's fifth graders so tomorrow there's some Monday oh okay Thursday okay so congratulations um it was nice to see all the kids getting the awards and I think Mr Boon spoke about the 911 ceremony tomorrow at 8:45 at Town Hall anyone else no are there any correspondents all right moving on to our resolutions I need a motion please to approve resolution Personnel resolutions A1 through A8 so moved motion by Mr Waka seconded by is eight or 10 I see 10 I see 10 you see 10 of mine that she didn't change it here okay she didn't see it here okay sorry no I just wanted to make thank you A1 through A10 motion by Mr Waka seconded by Mrs bellaa are there any discussions seeing none Mr Cruz if you could please call Ro Mr wer yes Mrs relle yes Mrs Ferrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boom yes motion carries thank you moving on to our education resolutions I need a motion please to approve resolutions B1 through B4 some motion by Mrs Ferrera seconded by Mrs Vella any discussions I just have a question on B3 uh do we have an estimate on the as needed um for the school year this is use um I can it uh swing uh who else do we use for uh I'm sorry so we have swing and then also we have um uh I believe it's uh um I I'm throwing a blank too it'll always be as Vanguard isn't no not Vanguard won't it always be as needed because we can't anticipate what the needs are of the kids right we have no idea what the as need is but we have three agencies this is just an additional agency I I guess maybe the better way for me to ask the question is in years past what you know what is the need and do we project from that um we have had a much larger need over the past two years I can't speak to Prior my my starting here our need is um at at its lowest point now for for agency um Paris uh because we have hired you noticed in the past two board meetings we've hired a significant number of par professionals um that are working for Verona schools versus um an agency um but we we as I reported last month we are not fully staffed with Paris and um I don't know how many you might know how many um so the other uh the other providers stepping Stepping Stones right thank you even with these we're we're still not going to it'll make it'll help a little bit but they they don't even have people but half the time right right Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr wer yes Mrs Rosella Mrs Farrar yes Mrs Pisco yes Mr Boom yes motion carries thank you moving on to our athletic and co-curriculars resolution I need a motion please to approve resolutions C1 through C3 motion by I'll move it Mrs rala seconded by I'll second Mr Boon are there any discussions um yeah I just I'm sorry to keep tripping on uh some of the minutia here on C1 uh can we describe I'm not arguing against by any stretch uh but what do we mean by saying the board is not charged so this is coming out from parent contributions is that how I'm to re pay to play it's pay to play yeah they're they're raising money and paying um uh to reimburse the board for expenses incurred for the cost of the coach and uh any other expenses that the freshman team needs Mr Cruz if you could please call I just have one sorry about the um the stien positions in the co-curricular we are definitely keeping track of how many kids are involved in club when these clubs are meeting as a matter of fact Mr Cogdill today at least at the high school I have to check with Mr galber put every Club into Genesis and Genesis will be they'll be keeping track of attendance and meetings in Genesis that is cool thank you thank you thank you Mr Cruz if you could please call roll sure for resolution C1 to C3 uh Miss Waka yeah Mrs fral yes m M Farrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you there's no resolutions on for facilities moving on to our finance resolutions I need a motion please to approve resolutions E1 through E2 some motion by Mr Boone seconded by second Mrs Ferrara are there any discussions seeing none Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr wer yes Mrs rzza yes Mrs uh Mrs farar yes Mrs Pisco yes Mr Boom yes motion carries thank you moving on to our governance and policies I need a motion please to approve resolution F1 motion by Mrs rosala seconded by I'll second seconded by Mr Boone are there any questions seeing none Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr wer yes Mrs FAL yes Mrs farar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion cares thank you moving on to our public participation portion of the meeting anyone from the public wishing to speak on any matter please approach the podium once recognized you must State your first and last name for the record you have three minutes to address the board there will no be C no cross dialogue during this public portion if there is a question that can be answered only the superintendent board attorney or board president will respond and we'll do so at the end of the comments you will be granted one time to speak and there's a total time of 1 hour for public participation again please note there will be no back and forth and we request that you please ref remain respectful thank you anyone from the public wishing to come up seeing none thank you moving on to I need a motion to adjourn our meeting motion by Mr Waka seconded by I'll second Mrs Ferrara all in favor I I um our next board meeting will be held uh next t uh Tuesday September 24th beginning at confidential at 6m public session at 7M in the Verona School Learning comments all in favor oh we do that we did that all right we're adjourning it is 8:01 pm. have a great night