##VIDEO ID:h5CgTqiPQLc## e I'm good good evening everyone I would like to welcome you to the September 24th 2024 Board of Education meeting we are calling the meeting to order at 7:03 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 should we start over Okay 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 the provision of the act the Verona board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published in the Star Ledger HST posted with the township of Verona and the Verona Education Association postings of this meeting setting 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'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 Mr Walker yes Mrs brazal yes Mrs Ferrar Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes we have Quorum thank you thank you moving on to our agenda on to routine matters I need a motion oh wait not on there yeah never mind I need a motion to approve our minutes from our September 10th 2024 meeting motion byov I'll second motion by Mrs Ferrara seconded by Mr Boon any discussions Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr WKA yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs Farrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you thank you now moving on to our superintendent report by Miss Diane DJ zeppy good evening uh my report this evening um is around our year two strategic plan goals and our and which also includes our academic goals so I'm going to share my screen nope hang on a second my apologies so I know it's really small on the on the um screen for the board um but these can be found um at strategic plan website or link on our website and it would be strategic plan year 2 so this these are the goals um that are updated each year we made a decision when we've completed the strategic planning process that creating five years worth of goals is unrealistic and would require a lot of editing so uh instead we're doing Year bye the goal areas stay the same so for goal area one improving student outcomes or uh improving student achievement the overarching goals are the same the goal statement is the same just the activities that were um are are being updated each year so our academic goals um are outlined in a separate document because that we go by grade level and school so um I will quickly go through this so if we look at our academic goals um for grade three and the way this is organized is that um I look at grades three and four in our each Elementary School and we break out English language arts and math and this is really B based on um uh multiple forms of data uh including njsla from 2024 although we did go back uh Dr Miller and the principales and I went back and looked at even 2023 and um 2022 before that we didn't have um uh a couple years because of the pandemic um but so before that it goes back to 2019 and in all honesty it's really not worth comparing back to 2019 so much has changed since then the test is not the same it was parked now it's njsla uh so really just comparing um Apples to Apples here so if we look at the way this is organized and I promise I'm not going to go through every grade level I'm just giving you an opportunity to see how it's organized and how we came up with some of these percentages so because grade three at Brookdale is only one section there's only 22 students it's um a 4% desired Improvement doesn't seem like there's a lot but that's a good number of students that would be moving into to the next um uh proficiency area so um with the njsla there are five proficiency levels um and there is um not meeting grade levels um um I'm sorry approaching meeting and exceeding so uh we're we're what we're reporting so for grade three in 2024 77% of our students met or exceeded grade level standards on the English language arts um njsla since grade 2 doesn't take njsla all we can compare is that in that cohort on the map test which has a prediction correlation to njsla 82% of those students um are predicted to be able to meet or exceed grade level standards so looking at um all we have for grade three so in this case we're comparing grade three to grade three because while map is predictive it's not 100% so we use it to help us determine but if we at 4% here we're looking at pushing grade three students to 81% meeting or exceeding grade level standards I'm sorry um and for grade four um 82% of our students last year on grade four met or exceeded grade level standards and 77% of grade three so in this case we're looking at that cohort not the grade level because these kids that were 82% meeting or exceeding are now in grade five so if we looked at the grade three students that did well last year um we're looking at increasing that to 84% same thing with math we're looking at um and we can't do a cohort comparison in grade three because we really don't have apples and apples um but we can for grade four so for grade four 59% of our third grade ERS we're uh meeting or exceeding grade level standards in uh grade four math grade three math and looking at moving 6% of those to get us to 65% um and that's the way we work across um Forest Avenue School same uh ideology same methodology ATN Brown and you'll notice that for the second year in a row we're actually looking at individual grade levels and individual students which is why percentage increase are different from school to school because we're looking at how do we how do we improve how do we meet kids where they are and move those kids into the next proficiency level Landing Avenue again uh at white horn we have grades five through eight and uh grade eight for uh not for English language arts but for math this is tricky so let me explain how we did math here um grade seven is a mix of accelerated math and non- accelerated math so I think they call it above and and on grade level here so you have grade seven on grade level and grade seven above grade level so this percentage is a mix of those two grade levels in grade eight the students that were above grade level most of them don't take grade8 uh math they take algebra one so we can't do necessarily a cohort in this case so we are comparing out the grade eight to grade eight if if if I'm not making sense ask me because I will explain um for the high school we are looking at uh a cohort Improvement so we're looking at 59% of our grade 8 students performed at meeting or exceeding grade level standards while they were in grade eight they are now ninth graders we'd like to see an improvement to 70% and for Algebra 1 uh this is where we saw a big jump last uh with last year uh we went um we improved by 14% in in Algebra 1 last year it was a huge jump uh our teachers were working in a professional Learning Community they were looking at individual student scores they were looking at areas where students were performing well areas where they weren't they really tailored the curriculum and differentiated for kids and we were able to move 14% into the next um um uh proficiency level so we're looking to repeat that and um for geometry uh we are also now again we're not doing a cohort move here because um this these are two different groups groups of kids these are not um grade n geometry are kids that came out of algebra in eth grade and grade A algebra are kids that came out of alge out of pre-algebra so um we're looking to improve by 20% and get 67% of our oh this shouldn't say grade four I'm sorry I'll fix that so that is um our academic goals so our strategic other strategic goals are really I'm not going to go through them U they're probably um similar to what we did last year like we're providing foundations training to grade three teachers um we're continuing to expand online platforms for um for professional development uh we are um moving into a districtwide instructional model we trained our principes and supervisors last year our teachers are receiving training on the 27th and ongoing we are looking to collect and uh review and provide feedback on lesson planning using a new template um that aligns uh with the new instructional model we are looking to uh continue to incorporate professional learning communities at all levels uh to get that really strong um cohort vision of where are our kids now and how do we move them into the next proficiency level and just even our own standards improve their their outcomes um we are still doing intensive standards review we were just talking in the hallway Mrs uh ferar and I and Mrs brazelle and I that for English language arts these standards are new to everybody so um this would be new standards for English language arts in grades um K through 12 and the math standards are revised science have not been revised but the science standards are difficult standards they just are in just in general um and social studies are new last year so they're still um uh and we know health and PE are relatively new actually I'm sorry social studies were new in 2020 with the health and physical education and World languages so um we've been working with those standards for for four years now well three years actually because they rolled them out a year after so just continue um with math interventions uh the uh the win program at the middle school um we are implementing I ready uh with students in academic support with our special our students with uh with IEPs um which is another support that will um address some deficiencies there we are continuing to develop a common schedule across all schools in the elementary world and uh we are we expanded uh and adapted the map growth assessments at the high school um we changed up the test that the students take that's more applicable to uh our our curriculum and then we we have 21st Century College ready standards so we are continuing with the gifted and talented program um changing uh providing different opportunities in the library curriculum um continuing with conflict resolution and peer mediation um continuing with advisory at the middle school um continuing to push for new dual enrollment um opportunities at the high school we have a lot of advanced placement opportunities dual enrollment opportunities are equally uh beneficial to students because it's a rigorous environment that is not necessarily the AP money maker I mean money maker for AP not for us um expanding option two at the high school continuing senior Capstone year two with the lldd program and year two with our counsel College and Career Counseling Center uh with regard to Social and emotional learning We are continuing um to utilize Care Plus NJ uh we actually are getting a new counselor at the high school um we will be um going through the school climate initiative um and and I know that there's Mr Waka has brought up some concern with that that's the climate survey you didn't love it see I listen to you um but it is the it is the Baseline data that we have um so we um are implementing um the positivity Pro positivity project at hbw and at the elementary schools through the counseling um office the school counseling office at both schools uh we are continuing to work on uh on creating an environment of diversity Equity uh inclusion and belonging um we have some student training happening on the 27th and um election day which is November 5 and with teachers as well um social justice 101 I think is what they're doing first and then they'll be working with our kids as well I think they're going to do a parent night I have to get M uh Dr Miller to um uh elaborate on that the next education committee and then community and school relationships I'm very excited um to unveil our new District website which is going a little more slowly than we thought getting it up and running but we don't want to just bring all everything that's on our current website onto the new website because then it's just going to be the same website with a different look um so it's a little slowo um we we do continue to improve our current website um removing outdated information and updating um our calendars keeping our news up to date and continuing to C encourage our students to um volunteer for civic engagement um we have not decided what parenty uh we're going to be offering this year but we will continue to offer Parent Academy as well that is my report for this evening I I'm sorry go ahead thank you go ahead Mike go I I have a couple of questions and and maybe a comment um first of all comment in no particular order the I I really can't say enough good things about the dual enrollment not only does it guide away from you know the AP Cash Cow if you will but it's also a huge savings for families and it's a huge way M um to get a jump ahead I see numerous students tell anecdotally how they're starting their freshman year of college pretty much with foot in a door of being a sophomore because of some of the taking the advantage of these programs so strongly encourage parents if they haven't to really investigate these opportunities it is asking a lot of our students but I think it's in an environment that they are put into succeed so I really appreciate the fact that we are pursuing these um more focused yeah and I have to say we have um our Senior English is a dual enrollment and we only get about 10% of our parents that that opt to um purchase the credits so it it's really inexpensive and uh yeah you just got to sell that better yeah once you're looking at yeah what you do is put a college I mean if there's a way we can put a college cost calculator so if you take that super class at say um Syracuse how much are you would you be paying if you go to Syracuse as a freshman um that's one way to get parents to pay attention hopefully um a question and I I don't want to be overtly critical here because I I probably misunderstood something you said on the uh on the math performances the elementary school um the numbers we're we're definitely seeking areas of improvement um that are realistic my question is how concerned well two two questions off of this how concerned should we be that that some of these percentages are quite on the low side and then also I I do see some disparities like for example Brookdale grade two is all the way up at 95% relative to the third graders who are at 59% um and and like I said I might have misunderstood the way you you framed this no what grade two is a map assessment so that's slightly different than the actual njsla so we use it as a predictor to predict how students are going to do on njsla and un certain grade levels it's pretty spot-on and in certain grades it's really not so um it it's um we We Can't customize our map assessments they come that's the way they are um if our curriculum May not go in the same sequence and and that we see happen so let's say uh for grade three um the map assessment that the students take in the fall winter and spring may be better aligned to our curriculum versus grade four it may be out of sequence the kids ultimately by the end of the year will show a a big Improvement but they may not at this is um last year's spring so I'm I'm not sure with with this particular one and I'm new to map so map is um is a still learning what a RIT score is and how it's how it's graded but in grade four that's actual njsla so it's not map so 95 in grade two in grade three that was actual 59% um uh performed at meeting or exceeding grade level standards with regard to your concerns at some of the lower scores yes you should be concerned I'm concerned um uh we are district factor I grouping and and um in some areas we measure out with the state and in some areas we measure out above the state we should be above the state it is only one test right let's put it out there it's one test it is a test that we can kind of estimate how well we're doing compare it's the only thing we can to compare the schools around us or schools that we uh think we should be comparing to um I I I do think for the most part there's anecdotally there are reasons um our curriculum may not be aligned um we've not done done a lot of uh triangulation of our curriculum to um the those items on the state test scores I can tell you last year um we did that we had a professional development small professional development sessions across the year with our um uh ELA teachers where we looked at here is our evidence our an Evidence statements from the state so this is at each question that was asked where we were relative to the state what are those question look like giving teachers sample questions to see what are we what are we missing and we improved in every single grade level so I I think it's just it's a a misalignment our teachers are great teachers right yeah it's not that and our students are are good kids and the parents are supportive parents the disconnect here is what is missing and I think it's just alignment of our curriculum does that does that come down to uh uh well I just jumped out of the SL deck um the I think it was at the fourth grade level I noticed a significant difference between on on the njsla from Brookdale grade four math to a little bit or decent bit lower on Forest to a big drop when you get to Brown and I'm wondering is that just an anomaly that we're seeing kind of back to that missile line no I think what it is and and this is that was a great question I'm glad I can speak to that um Brown has a much greater population of students that have that's where our LSS program is our our our more um significantly challenged students with disabilities and that's also where our ESL population is okay so if you're an elementary student and you are um a multilanguage learner you're a brown so there is reasons why the scores there are slightly lower um I will say that brown um was one of the only schools this year year that hit the big building goal of improvement last year it was really uh wonderful I'm done thank you so first I'm so happy to see aggregated data in there and we're making some goal so thank you for that it's really important um so I have kind of two questions one I want to just make sure that I understood you said that we're using the I ready Benchmark for IEP students in the middle school that just in the middle school I I believe you know what let me before I answer that let me check with Mrs koher okay I know they entered it into the middle school um part of the Strategic plan whether we're using it across the district I I think it is just so is that so what we'll kind of find out is if that I'm wondering if that is just for a pop like a a population of students if it's something um and also if it's the I ready Benchmark assessment that we're using because I know they have a lot of different programs um and really what my my original question was kind of just going back to map so um I do know that M the map assessments the reading passages in them are very heavy I've seen personally um you know almost a full page of a reading for a second grade student which is really difficult for them to do um so sometimes when we see those discrepancies I think between map and njsla it is simply because the passage is they're lost before they get halfway through and that's very common for a second grade reader third grade and on um but map is given from second to third grade in Reading someone told me that second grade it could be read to them and in third grade it it's they have to read it they have to read it themselves yes so there is the option to listen and then obviously though if a student has an IP they can hear it but yes at some points that that is the case but even I know for like a fifth grade math assessment the the passages are incredibly I've been shocked to see how long they are with that being said my question was how what does our contract with map look like right now and is this something that we can take a look at to see if perhaps there's a better Benchmark assessment that we can use um I think you know in light of the fact that we're using aggregated data that we're starting to have the evalu you know the new evaluation system that we're we're unpacking standards I feel like we're beginning to do a lot of this really good work where you know where we see the needle move and and while um I like map I think that there are some other programs out there that really pinpoint skills that really allow teachers and they're and they're a lot more teacher friendly really map can be kind of difficult it's clunky um for teachers to use so I'm just wondering if we could take a look at that contract when it's up and then if we can maybe I think it's an annual contract okay yeah and then if we are using I ready anywhere if maybe because again like now I'm wondering if we're pilot like if maybe we're just testing in in a group and if maybe we can look into something like an I ready there there are a couple different ones but again um they offer more in I think you know the data that we're able to pull and oftentimes they offer more in um like resources for students for interventions and then my other question was um you know looking at those math scores again I know that we switched to a new math program in the elementary school I want to say maybe four or five years ago I think it was a Singapore Math ma yes it was Singapore Math and is this something that we feel you know do we have enough data or are we looking at the data to say okay this program is or is not working and possibly we're gonna look at a shift or we not like have we where are we in that I really I am am too new here to make that jump because they did roll it out during the pandemic where training teachers and it was a very difficult roll out and I understand like why they made that decision but the reality of it is is nobody was paying attention during the pandemic because we were dealing with the pandemic things right and we had kids in hybrid and some kids were at home and we all know what happened we were all there we lived it right but um I wouldn't I would uh say the real training um has begun since the pandemic ended and this is a different way of thinking about teaching mathematics yeah right so um and unfortunately because of our budget situation we lost our math coach um to the one Rift position position last year um and Mrs jario was making strides in a lot of helping other teachers and that was a shame but we really have a a budget crunch yeah yeah so um and it's not I just want to be clear it's not that I'm saying I don't know the program to say that we should or should not it's not that at all it's just more of you know if we're looking at benchmark assessments if we're looking at the data and kind of like just I think we need more time with this particular math program before we make a decision because of when it was rolled out but I will tell you it is um based in best practice when you're talking about teaching kids mathematics you want to start you want to follow concrete representational abstract and when you start teaching an algorithm you're starting with abstract and so that's old-fashioned math you teach a student this is the algorithm that you're going to use plug the numbers in and solve they can memorize that yeah but they don't really understand the concepts behind it so I Singapore Math Everyday Math Lots there's lots of programs out there that do things like this it really is a best practice in theory it's just a matter of how well we support our teachers with their understanding of how to roll it out right and also if we if we are like if we're looking at a new Benchmark system we're able to get that like very targeted data for teachers that's where interventions can start to happen in small group and yeah and I don't even know what map cost us because we were already well into map but I will tell you that program that I was just talking about that we used was purchased it's no longer grass was and run by teachers it was purchased by Pearson so it's probably more expensive than it was when we used it Pearson the the big animal hey enough for college books for those guys I have a question sure um we've been here for a little while now and we have a new member sitting at our board so when are we gonna be introduced to this awesome student rep that I want to learn about well we were going to introduce him when it's now well yes I can't wait okay well then I think that's the last question I didn't want to hear about anymore dck it's not Jack oh that's not jackan I apologize man yeah they're on order you wan to than introduce want well should we just skip we'll Skip and we'll go over to so we're gonna go yeah I'm done I was done a few minutes ago our new student rep I would like to introduce Ryan go um thank you for being here thank you congratulations and we look forward to working with you and if you would like to give out your report feel free okay good afternoon uh with the school year ramping up as we approach October there are a multiple a multitude of things that are Have and Have Been and are going on at the high school uh on Tuesday September 17th the club where students learned about the various clubs offered at VHS was immensely successful there was a great amount of Interest among students in pursuing activities new and old and a lot of engaged discussions between Club representatives and the rest of the student body I know for me personally as an active member of many clubs and an officer in a few I saw an incredible amount of signups and a great amount of new of new members across the board on Friday September 24th student council elections occurred and voting was conducted with respective grade officers and the student executive board members being elected along with a plethora of non-officer student Representatives it was great to see the amount of participation and effort especially in the underclassman that was put into campaigning and speeches uh the student council was looking to support Childhood Cancer Awareness in the high school on September 30th by setting up donations and encouraging students to wear yellow college visits have started up and upper classmen have been intending such meetings to prepare for college and to learn the inner workings of a specific School its majors social life classes and expectations Athletics wise SP Sports have still been going strong despite minor hiccups with success occurring at the home football game against New York cigi Academy a win in boy soccer against New York Central and a victory for the girls tennis team in counties and many more I'm definitely looking forward to continue to see what Verona can accomplish athletically and more and more senior nights are to come through the end of this month and into October in the world of Performing Arts this past Saturday The Rona High School Marching Band the marching verun and white took third place in competition at Roxberry high school with the competitive debut of the show one with the universe with more to come further down the season and production of the VHS fall drama The Odyssey has begun this week as well and lastly this week on the 26 we are looking forward to having back to school night uh I just want to thank everyone for being welcoming and I'm looking forward to having a great school year and I and I hope I can step into the shoes and live up to the legacy of all myam predecessors Jack and Reese thank you that's all well if tonight was any uh indication thumbs up well am and since uh Mr Waka was so rude not to ask uh can you you tell us uh what what grade you're in and what you mentioned all the clubs that you're in but what's your favorite or among your favorite yeah I don't want to put you too too much on this okay uh so my name is uh Ryan G I am currently in the class of 2026 which is the junior class and honestly there's so much I do which I can't really pick so boy this is a budding politician isn't it well what's what's scary for me is that my son's in the same grade as yours and I didn't know any of the things that's going on in the high school that you just told me so I don't know what that says about me or him but uh thank you and and now welcome and um feel freee to reach out to Pam and myself obviously anyone on the board and and if you wanted to join any of our um committees I know Rees got involved in some of the Committees no pressure to feel that you must because it's an extra meeting every few weeks but but you know if you have a burning desire to be part of the policy committee or something reach out I'm sure we can make it happen well you're giving them the easy one thank you thank you Ryan for your report it was very thorough and thank you for joining us we're happy to have you anyone else have any questions or comments for Ryan go moving on to our business administration administrator Report with Mr Cruz yes thank you uh good evening I appreciate the opportunity uh again to provide an a brief update uh in finance um please report that uh we've received the July secretary treasures and transfer report on this agenda and they're all in agreement uh next week uh the board office was going to continue to collaborate with our Auditors for the fiscal year 2024 review process we anticipate that the completed report will be uh ready to be presented to the board at the December board meeting um I'm also would like to uh at this time encourage families um that qualify for free lunch to to uh continue applying we did uh uh process uh quite a few um applications on the past few weeks uh I just want to make sure that especially with Elementary Schools starting uh their launches in October um Middle School and High School uh started uh lunch uh day one um and I I know that uh we just want to capture as much as possible um and even though the deadline is uh September 30th um as uh stated previously in our communication um if there's any hardship situations that those those we will actually asset as we go on throughout the year uh that concludes my report for tonight thank you I just had one question for Mr Cruz uh with respect to the um um lunch program um how are we communicating that to the families to take advantage that's part one and the second part of that is is there any opportunity partnership with our friends at the town to also help them identify um folks that might qualify yes uh so I'm glad you asked that Mr baboon um so uh We've uh send communication via uh parent Square um also there's been uh the backpack notices that uh families um receive uh by all the uh uh schools in the welcome back packets uh in addition to that we do have a great relationship with uh the community center uh Mary fra um at the community CER or she's uh the point there uh for any families that are in a um situation of need um the community center is a great resource because they have also um access and information to um other resources uh not just in Verona but throughout the the actual County itself uh and and even though we are not able to uh exchange information um but at least of families do know they they receive a letter from us once they are approved uh but I believe Mary farell she also lets them know to ensure that that they actually apply uh for the free launch app um um program here um in Verona and uh just to clarify uh we do not participate in the National School L uh free lunch um program the national school lunch program um is a federal program that sponsors uh free lunch for all qualifying students uh if we did we would be reimbursed uh right now the the board actually sponsors or um the the cost of the free lunch uh so it's a little over $800 a year uh for a student lunch and um that's something that the board covers for every single student that qualifies um uh in the past our numbers has hovered around about 20 1% of our student population about 25 students um out of the entire population and that's kind of been the number it's been ticking up uh but I haven't seen it um go by past the uh the 30 number um so probably in the next meeting I'll give an update on on where we are with um free lunches or we have do an RFP for and so the question is um uh the RFP we we do have U this is our final year uh with our food lunch provider pomptonian we are going to go out for an RFP in the spring uh and then part of that process is also for us to make a decision on whether not to participate in the national school lunch um going forward um based on the the ACT increases and and where we see that number trending thank you thank you Jorge moving on to we don't have any committee reports this evening buildings and ground oh you did meet yeah we met last week oh okay sorry okay I didn't see it on here go ahead so we uh we did have a buildings and grounds uh everything is uh in progress um uh we are putting up the maximum occupancy rating signs along the uh Verona High Press Box which uh also encouraging or asking uh no hanging out or standing on along the stairs there so when you're are at various games please heed those cautions um and then um uh continuing to monitor uh various uh warranty areas uh for the multi multi-purpose room and the office area uh in Lanning as well as uh the music room in hbw um one one thing that did come up uh during our conversation was our uh buildings and grounds crew with uh ahead of particularly at the beginning of uh various Sports Seasons is to proactively monitor the uh the grounds um we did have some concerns from some folks at the tennis match where uh some of the prickle bushes were coming out a little too far where people were trying to watch the tennis matches uh we discussed this and um it's a resource issue um and we we have discussed some ways that the uh that the team will continue to be a little more proactive going forward on such issues and that's pretty much our highlights at this time question I don't want to put anyone on the spot but when we signed the agreement with the town to do they were going to do the lawn service and some other they don't okay but we've taken that the Mowing and and the other things off the plate of maintenance guys so it just seems like if we've taken away some stuff right that that did we add a maintenance person too I think we did we add a maintenance person recently in the last three years we add one maintenance maybe so so we added a a plumber um and then so uh uh we have one uh HVAC technician who actually became the assistant so he's technically still the HVAC technician for the district so he's he's still doing HVAC 80% of his time and and then doing the assistant work about 20% of the time and just just one thing that a couple people had mentioned to me the sign out front it seems like every other week There's a different panel that's going out or there a different is there somehow we can so I believe there yeah they reached out to the company that uh handles that and and it is a an issue that we we won't be able to do it in in housee so the the vendor is going to have to come out so I I'll have an update yeah yeah thank you fa thank you thank you Miss Vela I mean that's been one of my my pet peeves is the buildings grounds of what they look like our buildings when you pull up to them should look fantastic and I know Mr Cruz you've been seeing my emails and going to publicly say it I've been quite disappointed with some of our way of our buildings outside have been looking for sporting events everyone knows when the start of school is everyone knows when our sporting events start there should not be weeds there should not be weeds growing through the bleachers there should not be garbage under the bleachers it just should not happen here in Verona so they I I understand they're going to try and get like some kind of a protocol together but that should have been that should be doesn't have it you just walk the buildings those buildings should be walked daily the flags I drove by the flags every school building before Labor Day and FN Brown was shredding and Brookdale was ripped that I went and bought one for Brookdale so these things need to be looked at constantly we have to take pride in our exterior and interior of our buildings so yeah so the emails that I also saw you send they they got my attention um and yeah I I agree with you and I also think that you know you I know mistakes might happen sometimes but you know when the board president wants to do an X meeting or a y meeting that's something that you know we're we really got to insist happens U and I'm sure it will next time um but it definitely got our attention bam thank you thank you for the report Mr Boone moving on to public comments on any agenda action items if anyone has anything to speak on that we are voting on please come to the podium and just state your name and you have three minutes seeing none we're going to move on to our discussion and new business old business I have I have two things um the first is just a question so it's a it's not a question where I know the answer to it's a question where I don't um it seems like there I see that we're putting together a cell phone policy like a committee where you know people can either volunteer or Express their interested getting and which is a good thing um but then you just toose with that with you know I get a whole lot of emails from the school saying here's a new change of our cell phone policy here's a new change of our cell phone policy here's a new interpretation and I guess my question is if if if we're soliciting people and saying hey come make uh come help us make this new policy that we're going to present to the board and and and suggested regulations within why are we doing all these measures now when they could very well change based on whatever recommendation is made by this policy committee which has not even been formed yet because it's very likely that all these new rules and new interpretations of rules emails were getting like next year they could all be remoted because now we're gon to do something different and it kind of loses credibility so it help me understand that please uh yeah I can try um because our current our current procedures and I want to call it a policy because I couldn't find it in board policy was that each school um laid out their own cell phone Rule and um although Mr cogdal um didn't know that we're working on this policy committee he opted to enact uh his own um rule with the understanding that change uh going forward he is uh really gung-ho about it and uh it's been a little bit of a rough start for the high school if if I guess gung-ho is is is a subjective word but is it possible that the so gungho were it we wouldn't want an administrator to start enacting regulations that our policies don't enforce or or support so is there we don't have a policy currently but there's got to be an electronic devices policy somewhere it but it's not about cell phone use it's about it there's a bunch of it's mentioned in a bunch of different policies but nothing that specifically talks about student cell phone Youth and that's kind of uneasy too because now we're we're saying here's here's what we're looking to do now but we have no like the policies our shield and once we don't have that now we're we're we're kind of running up pill here on this and it's I think it puts a district in a at best a precarious and very difficult position to win speak to Mr cogdal tomorrow thank you yeah and my next question I was going to do it during when we get to the B but there might be something I'm missing here so I wanted to bring it up so in B6 um we're talking about the instructional empowerment Marzano evaluation thing and and I know that I think it was like 10 years ago where every District had to pick one of the big four ones or make your own um and back then it was very common to see $10,000 trainings because it was new to everybody so let's make sure we get everyone trained but now cac's just saying us you you show documentation that you got people trained and and and that's become in in a whole lot of places here's an email with the evaluation model if if if sign off or if if you don't sign off to you know make an appointment with your supervisor to talk about the evaluation that you're going to be made you know be given and and it's it it's it's a free way to to to kind of organize that this $1,000 price tech if if if if if is it every year we doing 10 what so what is it I looking am I looking at here this is a new model this is new to everybody here so we elected oh so we're doing it brand new we're not doing the the thing we've done no the thing we've done had 60 indicators it was unten untenable and very old and outdated this now my my point is is removed because it makes perfect sense and that's it thank you thank you anyone else have anything they would like to discuss I have a few things but if anyone wants to go you have something Denise okay so um was it last weekend already or two weekends ago when uh you and Mrs Pommery were in the cornhole tournament for Verona strong they were played great they did great they won their first match play but they did better by far um so thank you for for joining that and at that event it was you know raise money for mallerie mallerie's arm me which um they were there to speak um at the event and I believe they are going to be coming to our schools uh yes um mallerie's army uh will be um speaking to our students at hpw in the high school great that's wonderful um today I evening as well there's no date yet for that yeah no I have yeah be in school year yes hopefully perfect um today I went to we were invited to the ribbon cutting of at the community garden by hbw so I attended that um it was a very nice event got to tour the the area so thank you to Carol Thomas and all everyone on that committee um for everything they've done there I just told them they're not taking any more space away from our our track um and let's see I just wanted to mie's Army and tonight is senior night for boy soccer they were playing when I I went out there for senior night they were losing one- nothing so hopefully they came back to beat Cedar Grove that's all I have anyone else ready thank you moving on do we have anything for correspondence moving on we are going to go into our resolutions I need a motion please to approve our Personnel resolutions A1 through A8 moved moved by Mr Waka seconded by by Mrs Rella are there any discussion Mr if you could please call roll Mr wer yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs Farah yes Mrs Pisco yes and Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you thank you moving on to our education I need a motion to approve resolutions B1 through B8 motion by I'll move Mr Boon seconded by I'll second Mrs fer are there any discussions Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr Waka yes Mrs verzal yes Mrs farar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boom yes motion carries thank you thank you moving on to our Athletics co-curricular I need a motion to approve resolution C1 to C2 motion by Mr WKA seconded by Mrs Rella any discussion I love that there's a yo-yo Club can I just say the students that went to Mr galbert actually had a slide deck presentation about why they need this yo-yo Club it was adorable so this was organic idea oh yeah this came from the kids oh wonderful where did they get that idea from they've been doing yo-yos for a couple years and they want to have a formal Club it's adorable ah that is that's great Mr Cruz if you could please Co roll yes uh Mr Waka yes Mrs verzella yes Mrs farar Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you thank you there are none for facilities moving on to our finance resolutions I need a motion to approve resolutions E1 through E6 motion by I'll move it s Pella seconded by I'll second Mr Boone any discussions uh just for e five I think that's actually in the wrong portion I I would have put that under governance but that's just and policy or is that or did that was that where we had it before I think we it there because it's a finance okay but just okay but just to explain for those who weren't part of this we sent our initial resolution to njsba they sent us back with a couple corrections I like the term form over function um in terms of these Corrections so they have been made the substance of the policy is the same it's exactly the same there was just some like the only language that they wanted was resolve that this res the last line in the resolution resolved that this resolution be placed on the agenda for consideration at the December 7th 2024 delegate assembly that's the only thing that was missing right yeah so they just again form of substance do we know how many district excuse me do we know how many districts are you um adopting this stance just ask we're presenting it no but I mean no but gonna no so we're gonna so the way that this will work is we'll present it to the delegate assembly so there'll be a delegate representative from throughout the state yeah from each district so there's 599 school districts plus charter schools and I think approved special ed schools probably also have delate there somewhere if it gets put on on the agenda for the meeting will'll be able to present it and then the delegates will vote on it at which time it can then go and move okay I misunderstood the direction and the flow of yeah and then it it becomes part of the big packet of stuff that the NG njsba then advocates for um in this at the state level or hoping hopefully we're hoping changes on how the pilot funds are allocated so that's really it thank you Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr wer so I'm gonna ask we just for me personally to vote separately for E5 uh against the consent and um I I appreciate everything um the fellow board members have done to Advocate this and philosophically 100% I believe that iot should be shared I just don't have the faith that the njsba has has the the care nor the will to to fight for this to the the level that we want them to uh so for that reason I'm going to vote no but I it's it's it's it's total respect for all the work you guys have put in so you're voting no just on E5 E5 no everything else okay uh Mrs brazel yes Mrs Farrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon uh I'm sorry just for clarity we're voting here on the whole slate on on everything okay yes um motion carries thank you thank you and we don't have anything for governance and policy so now moving on to our public comments I don't have my little speech but if anyone at the would like to come to the podium please just state your name and you will have three minutes hi Laura siligato um I just have a quick question um in the July 2nd meeting um Miss fura brought up the possibility of the board exploring um an RFP or hiring a consulting firm or forming some sort of of um committee to evaluate the district's Safety and Security practices and identify needs and areas um of improvement um I want to just thank you first of all for bringing that to the table I think it's a really um proactive idea that um as a parent who has a lot of um Safety and Security concerns um I appreciate that that was being brought up um but there haven't been any further public comments um in any of the meetings from that time so just wondering if there's any updates um if there's been any discussions yes among the board that you can share um and just so I spoke with director Gail who is uh the DOR director of School Safety and Security um at the Department of Education he also works for Homeland Security um and he advised um that private Consultants probably aren't the way to go but that they are going to come up and do an audit for us oh okay so and I also wanted to speak I should have done this earlier but I got caught up in our scores and our our goals um we did reach out and have a h presentation by syrx which is the company that got all the Press after appalachi school shooting with the lanyard um unfortunately I don't know how school districts afford that it would be for for us to implement a $50,000 installation and $50,000 a year to uh maintain it uh which is a our our uh Raptor program which is our visitor maintenance a visitor um uh management our lent program which is our panic button that we do have and every every teacher has the ability to call lock down or to hit the panic button um not a lanyard but they all have access to it and uh share 911 which is our uh management uh Communications with uh the police cost us about 16,000 $166,000 a year and part of that is shared with the ver police but um uh Mr balage our a chief technology officer did meet with a a different company uh Alcatel Alcatel that has a similar product that we are investigating as well that's really great to know thank you for sharing that you're welcome the followup I I think too um at that same meeting we talked about the the having like the tabletop exercises so maybe before our next meeting if we can meet as a security committee to kind of talk through that a little bit so interestingly um I had a conversation today uh with one of our teachers who is also um our mayor um and he is uh the liaison for the OEM okay and uh he actually offered to set up a tabletop um uh for um our school administrators okay um as because that's what he does in his role so he's very comfortable with that and crg the folks that did our mapping uh our school mapping also are going to come out and do a tabletop so would we is that is that happening in a time period that we would wait for that to happen first and then and then come together as a security committee or oh we should probably come together as a security okay great thank you you could also turn key the highlights of my presentation school boards gonna be there taking notes in the front that's all I'm saying thank you Miss solato for your comments does anyone else like to come up hi closing confidential um I mean closing our moving on to our agenda I need a motion to adjourn motion by Mrs Rella seconded by all in favor thank you our next public meeting will be on Tuesday October 15 2024 confidential session at 6 and public session at 700 p.m. in the learning Commons um and that is it it is 802 and we are joury