##VIDEO ID:0I3Ne9FRwBI## e e e e e e e I Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all you want to do it now yeah okay okay we're going to swear in our new student board member kalista tabra barelli C this is it so I'll read it just repeat after me okay all right so I state your name I Kalisto ter barelli do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to to the same and to the governments established in the United States and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state and this state under the authority of the people so help me God under the authority of the people so help me God I state your name again I kalissa tarelli do solemnly swear or affirm that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law do solemnly swear or affirm that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of of a board of education for the office of member of a board of education and not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs1 19 4-1 am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs19 4-1 am not disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 I'm not disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God and that I will and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations congratulations go next bring your phone pictures happen pict there you go just for your information we also had the swearing in of our new school board member um Jim alpino um we did this earlier when we first opened up because his family couldn't be here for this session so we swarmm in when we first opened up so congratulations to Jim and good luck okay we're going to begin with our support staff of the year for 23 24 presentations make sure to give a shout out to Angel in the corner Angel givea W our awesome president so this is this is a very good day uh members of the board Community um very exciting we have several um support staff of the year to recognize finally and um we're going to start off with the elementary support staff of the year I'm going to pass it over to miss G who is going to start and Then followed by Miss L Rubio thank you everyone I am so excited to be here to present Mrs Anne Lang come on up an now I promised to be very brief because she doesn't like the attention but when I first went to Wedgewood last year an was one of the first people I met and I'm going to tell you a story about an one of the very first conversations I had with Ann was looking for data I went down to the reading specialist and I asked for when students moved in how many students started in kindergarten how many pre-registered all kinds of basic data that a new principal would need and's response was and she's looking at me like she doesn't remember this how would you like it would you like it on a chart would you like it organized by birth date Sho size favorite color and I'm slightly exaggerating because she didn't do shoe size but everything else not only did I leave there with the one piece of paper I needed I had charts and graphs from years of historical data because she is wedgewood's historian she has been there and I can tell you I know the school colors because an told me what they were everybody's thinking it's blue and it's white it's red and white correct yes not to be mistaken it is red and white also she has every t-shirt herself every PTO t-shirt every school t-shirt every one of them and it's it's tradition that at the end of the year she wears a different Wedgewood t-shirt to school to remember all of those wonderful years she is the one who knows all the secrets so if you need something about Wedgewood and's got it not only does she know the secrets she knows every person she can tell you about everybody their families their friends their likes she is so important to Wedgewood that I I didn't allow her to retire she has to stay until I do so she's not leaving until after I do greed she's a little contrary at times too but Ann is truly embodies everything that Wedgewood represents so I'm very proud to have an represent Wedgewood as Sports staff of the year and I get to present you with your very first certificate congratulations thank you I told everybody we might need a bigger venue Birches is in the house good evening Dr Hibbs Board of Education staff teachers and community commity members we're gathered here today for one of the reasons to honor Mrs Karen Moore who has been a dedicated member of the Buras staff for 24 years affectionately known as miss Karen and Mia Moray I heard she's not only a devoted wife of 38 years by the way but also a mother of two daughters and a grandmother of three Mrs Moore has been an integral part of our multiple disabled staff for over two decades despite her humble nature Mrs Moore consistently deflects attention from herself choosing instead to celebrate and Elevate the accomplishments of her many students her love for Disney is symbolic of her magical and nurturing presence with our students and in talking to staff the number of students miss Karen is positively impact is over in she exudes calming and steady influence within our school community and is respected by all of our faculty due to her kind and uplifting nature Karen Moore is all heart it brings me pure joy to acknowledge and celebrate our Washington Township support staff of the Year from our burch's elementary Mrs Karen Moore it's now my pleasure to introduce Miss egy who is going to PR uh present the Middle School support staff members of the Year both from Bunker Hill good evening um we do have two from Bunker Hill Middle School our first is Anna Marie Dei if she would like to come on up I personally have known Anna Marie since I was 5 years old we I played soccer with her daughter um but she started in Washington Township Public School District in 1997 at Birches if I'm correct yes so she is a longtime health assistant at Bunker Hill Middle School but she began um Anna began her career um as a cafeteria assistant at the elementary level at Birches shortly after she became a health assistant and has been serving in the capacity ever since Mrs Dei Works hand inand with Mrs Kean our school nurse she's incredibly knowledgeable in that capacity and handles the various nuances of the clinics to support Mrs Keane Mrs AI is loved by everyone whom she encounters she has a special heart for the students in specialized programs and she strives to attend all events for the staff and students she's um kind of our staff photographer I would say always making sure she has photos of us um making pancakes with the officers so um we're so proud to have you anamarie so congratulations next we have Stacy Yates if she can come on up I've only known you for past year but I have to say the most lasting impression I have is your people choice the word you had Joelle right and the way that she spoke about Joelle um brought tears to your eyes but to the whole entire crowd so that just shows how special Stacy is um she's a true professional every sense of the word word she has served in almost every capacity as an assistant at Bunker Hill Middle School most not notably she has spent over a decade as one of the most relied upon instructional assistance in one of the classes that serve students with multiple disabilities Mrs Yates understands proper behavioral interventions with perfection and remains calm in difficult situations Mrs Yates is a true role model Confidant and REM remarkable person who gives of herself fully and truly Embraces what it means to be a Bunker Hill Bulldog there is nothing Mrs Yates would want to do for a child she loves the Bulldogs as if they're her own children and is a profound advocate for each of them we're incredibly fortunate to have you congratulations um is Mr Anderson here there you are Mr Anderson Mr Anderson is now going to present uh present the high school support staff member of the year I was actually I was wondering this is perfect play Kev I was wondering who was going to take the picture I saw Kevin taking all the pictures but it is with such great wths pride that I have the honor to introduce and to congratulate Mr Kevin linstead as our educational support person of the year the contributions that Mr linstead makes to our high school and to our district are extremely valued and very appreciated Kevin is a Powerhouse behind the scenes at every successful High School event to make sure that every show every presentation every meeting has sight sound and aesthetic appeal Kevin is in charge of recording and live streaming each and every Board of Education meeting he's doing it right now while he's up here it's set up very beautifully and I know it's running at home as we speak to say that Kevin is part of the backbone of this District would be an understatement quite frankly Kevin Works tirelessly all year round for the many events and activities that take place all within the school district Kevin is one of those individuals who always gets the job done thoroughly efficiently and effectively when it comes to managing our schools audiovisual needs in our classrooms Kevin always finds a way to provide assistance to the staff all the time no questions asked immediately everything from maintaining inventory to making sure that staff has what it needs to successfully teach Kevin is always prepared and he's always ready to go supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts Casey klano who's here as well says that Kevin is there behind the curtain we call him the man behind the curtain for every for every vpa event whatever we need his response is always sure no problem we are grateful for all that he does to make us look and sound good on the stage no job is too big or too small for Kevin he is part of the Mastermind team that ensures that our annual graduation ceremony is as beautiful as it is Time After Time Kevin is also very responsive and handl so much that goes on behind the scenes when I think of Kevin's work ethic I think of the opening faculty meeting that I had this year do you remember when the microphone kept going out it was like we're we're making all those noises before I could even blink Kevin came out of nowhere out of thin air I say and had another microphone in my hand ready to continue and we were able to continue with our work that's what Kevin does he makes sure that that we have what we need in order to to accomplish what we're out what we're looking to accomplish Kevin never misses a beat he's precise and he cares we are so very blessed to have Kevin lindstad on our team at the high school and in the district so join me and congratulating this man for an outstanding honor oh take this back to work thank you Mr Anderson I believe um Miss redro is not here today she is um being honored as our food service support staff of the year she I believe she's at the high school now she was formerly at Bunker Hill so I'd like to give her a round of applause even though she could have make and I believe um Miss Watkins miss Connie Watkins who's a bus driver um is not here today unless I'm mistaken but um she is our transportation bus driver support staff of the year so please give her a round of applause as well and now I'd like to introduce Mr Walter who's also going to introduce one of my other friends Mr Stewart good evening everyone um I'm proud to be here tonight to recognize two of our hardworking dedicated support staff members Mr Craig Stewart is our custodian of the Year cig has been a custodian in the district for approximately 10 years all Bunker Hill nicknamed the squirrel don't know why but he has nicknamed the squirrel Craig has become not only my go-to night ship custodian but also a mentor to all of our newer custodians whether it's a phone call about an issue that occurred at night in the building or that Bunker Hill is running low and supplies Craig's attention to detail is second to none his section that he cleans is spotless and trust me I have the emails from all the teachers to back up that claim he is truly a bulldog Craig has finally done something that he's been talking about for years he's going to retire October 31st will be Craig's last day working yeah big round of applause Craig's last day is working with us on October 31st Halloween um it's an odd day but that's it's okay so on behalf of myself you wouldn't give me off that is true no that is true we had too many people off um on behalf of myself the operation staff the entire Bunker Hill Bulldog family I want to congratulate you on a job well done and congratulations on your retirement do it I got take my glass off all right thank you go yep okay and Mr Richie Davis come on up Mr Richie Davis is our maintenance worker of the Year Richie's been working as a maintenance mechanic in the district for over 38 years and I've had the pleasure of knowing him for 32 of those years if you have turned on a light switch plugged in something into an outlet or had a TV put up in your classroom or even in this boardroom it was probably Richie um I truly believe that along with our other District custodian Mr Gary Brown that we have the best duo in South Jersey when it comes to electrical issues Richie's dedication Richie's dedication not only his profession but it to the district is second to none if you have a question about something has happened in the district or something has been stored for the past 38 years this is the man to talk to he knows where all the bodies are buried and where all the secrets are this award is long overdue so on on behalf of myself and the entire operations team I want to congratulate you Richie and you truly make this District a brighter place so congratulations hey Mike one sec Jeff that was awesome um you're hired for whatever we do you're announcing you're mcing um you know I'm G do something a little different I want you to give Jeff a big hand as well Jeff has single-handedly kept us on the rails for months for buildings and grounds so give him a please huge round of applause um now we have secretaries of the year and first I'd like to introduce my friend Miss petki from Chestnut Ridge Middle School good evening everyone congratulations to everyone we're celebrating tonight at this time I'd like to give a huge shout out and congratulations to Mrs Michelle Bui our Chestnut Ridge Middle School and secondary Secretary of the Year Mrs bie has been at Chestnut Ridge the last 25 years she started as library assistant in Chestnut Ridge Middle School in 2001 and at the start of 2005 and 2006 school year she moved to a full-time 10-month attendance secretary and then moved on to her current position as the counseling secretary which she's done for the past 10 years below are the ways that Mrs bchi was described in the letters that were given to us for her nominations this is what your Razorback family thinks about you she is a true gem that is irreplaceable she is kind empathetic hardworking and most importantly loves all of our students Mrs bchi is great at what she does technologically personally socially and academically Michelle makes and succeeds at every effort to connect and care for every student that enters the doors of the counseling office she is selfless and will go out of her way to do anything for anyone in our building she truly embodies the characteristics and attributes of Township pride and all of the values of our school and finally another comment Mrs bchi goes above and beyond every day in her role as Chestnut Ridge Middle School's counseling secretary she is professional firm friendly strong and maintains a calm environment in the counseling office for her staff and students she always makes sure the counseling office is exactly sorry exactly the place it needs to be for our staff and our students Michelle you always give 110% every day you come early you stay late every day and we love you and we're just so proud of you congratulations Miss pety thank you for taking my paper um I'd like to introduce um Miss Barry who's gonna introduce Miss werick Miss Barry I'm sorry F bear I had to clarify it's F alberry okay that's okay I was going to announce you if you didn't come over I was gonna make sure I said it it is with the utmost and immense Panther Pride that I introduced Orchard Valley Middle School's Secretary of the Year our main office secretary Miss Janine werick I'm absolutely privileged to stand here tonight and honor someone whose contributions go above and beyond her title in fact her real title could be anything from chaos coordinator to inspirational leader to therapist to customer service representative but I think the most appropriate is superhero every day she does far more than manage paperwork schedules and phone calls she brings calm to the storm helps us navigate the unexpected and does it all with Grace and a smile whether it's checking staff absences during her morning workout juggling a dozen tasks at once offering a kind word of encouragement or making sure everything runs like clockwork she is the glue that holds OV together but her impact reaches far beyond the main office at Orchard Valley she is the heart and soul of our School the person who leads with compassion supports everyone without hesitation and inspires us all to be our best while ensuring everyone feels supported and valued she takes great care of every team member in our school whether it's convincing Joe and I to eat and to eat healthier sending out inspirational messages to the staff or figuring out the best way to create the new spreadsheet her role might be secretary on paper but in reality she is our backbone our problem solver our Rock and our real life superhero it's impossible to imagine Orchard Valley without her so please join me in giving her one more round of applause to the true superhero of Orchard Valley Middle School got to take a picture let's have one awesome word Round of Applause for all of our support staff of the year okay so we have we have two more presentations um would you guys like to roll through or take a quick sec what do you guys want to do quick sec all right quick sec it is there we go yeah I'm like rer let's do it they said Quick Sack it's all good yeah it was good manow my okay e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay we have a few other um presentations eag yeah so let's let's go let's go the incredible Eagle Scout presentation give a hand good evening everyone I'm Julie hop on the principal at Whitman and it is my pleasure to introduce uh Shiraz meta uh he is um a former Whitman student and now at the high school and he's pursuing his Eagle Scout and um I met him in August and I have been so impressed with his dedication and his hard work to make this project a reality so I'm going to turn the floor over to you thank you very much I'm sh meta and I'm presenting an idea for an outdoor Reading area and US map at women Elementary School oh so I'm currently a freshman at Washington high school and I went to Whitman from 2016 to 2020 I'm currently a life Scout in Scouts BSA and I'm working to reach Eagle rank in order to reach Eagle rank I need to do an eagle scout service project this is a leadership project that helps a nonprofit organization and includes fundraising this is how I got to an Eagle project at women Elementary School my project will include a US painted map on the blacktop and an outdoor Reading area in the courtyard why the US map I have always loved traveling in the world since I started traveling with my family at a young age I also realized that the blacktop is relatively underutilized for learning purposes that's why I want to share my love for geography in the world and provide a platform for Learning and fun during recess this is the area of the black top that I will be painting my map it's between those uh Hopscotch places and in the middle of that so that's where we'll be painting it so as you see it was in in that area of the courtyard now a satellite image and some of the specifications are it's around 27 by 16 ft we're going to need 5 gallons of exterior acrylic latex paint which is green pink orange yellow and blue a US map stencil and washable chalk these are some of the prices for the different things we will use this US map stencil around 175 exterior paint 40 to 80 paint rollers at 50 and just chalk at five this brings the total approximate cost of the US painted map to $630 why the reading area the second part of my project is an outdoor Reading area and I realized that the courtyard has the potential to create an amazing space for students and teachers this along with teacher and principal suggestions created the idea of an outdoor Reading area these are some of the pictures of the courtyard right now and we are going to be doing it in that area right there there is currently a memorial for Jeffrey mozer a previous hogis sell recipient and that tree was removed because it was dead we are going to be planting a new tree and also doing some renovations to make it beautiful and increase the space so these are the things in my outdoor Reading area we will have four convertible benches 24 5G buckets and Lids 24 seat cushions an outdoor storage area and two mulch Gardens so this is the layout of the outdoor Reading area it's going to be in that corner of the courtyard are there in the frame and so I enlarge it over here so the walkway is highlighted in red the building in gray purple is where the outdoor storage area is going to be blue is going to be the benches black is going to be the mulched area and oranges are places where students can sit and do their work and stuff so we have gotten four benches which will convert into two tables this can be used as either one and they are easily maneuverable like that it has durable and weather resistant material and those are some of the specifications on screen so my original idea with the seats was that during independent reading time or group reading time students could take this seat or bucket and could go around in the courtyard under teacher supervision and be on their own so this can make them be able to read better and also have a quieter and more controlled environment I guess and we also with principal and teacher suggestions came up with the idea that buckets could be used to carry the materials they will need for class so that you can take them around sit on them and then read or do other work so these are around 12 in in diameter and 15 in height light stackable and we're going to get 24 of these 5 gallon buckets with handles we're also going to get Lids which fit with the 5 gallon bucket so that they are able to sit now as you may think sitting on buckets may not be the most comfortable thing so that's why we're gonna get 24 of these colorful cushions at around 12 Ines in diameter and one in height these are flexible easy to clean and can be can fit all right on top of that bucket this all stuff will fit in the outdoor storage area as seen before in the map and the layout it was the purple thing in the nook and cranny of that courtyard it's around 30 in in depth 56 in width and 44 in height it's waterproof has double doors and latches and a metal gas Rod to prevent injuries this can make sure the roof cannot fall on anybody's fingers and every everybody is safe finally we are going to have the mulch Gardens as shown before in that picture we have one area where a tree used to be as a memor Memorial to Jeffrey Moser and another tree which is growing right now we are going to create these mulch Gardens like that picture over there which is going to have a radius of 3 feet for two trees and we're going to have edging stones and flowers native to New Jersey this is the design for the edging stones that we will use it's around 160 edging stones to go around each tree twice at around a an 18t or 20 ft um circumference at around $660 per Stone so in order to create these mulch Gardens we have to do a five-step process we have to dig 2 in put 2 in of dense graded aggregate which will be donated level with sand which will also be donated place the edging Stones place the live flowers and then place the mulch that brings our cost to when you add everything up around $2,690 this includes the benches cushions outdoor storage area edging stones and other materials oh when you add that all up including Refreshments for workday like pizza water and other treats for volunteers in I think that against some labor laws if you don't feed them so yeah you got to get on that touche my man touche good man for free so that brings our total cost to around $3,500 and as I said before we're not getting this from you we're getting this through fundraising so I have created an a flyer that says what I will be doing and my story and we're also going to have social media friends and family and donations from certain organizations to help us raise all this money so this is a rough timeline of when I will I have started my project and when you can expect it to be completed so since the beginning of the year to around now I've developed and created ideas with the principals and teachers at Whitman then right here today I'm at the Board of Education meeting and seeking approval to continue in the late fall I will then go to the Garden State Council of Scouts BSA and seek approval from them then I can start fundraising and getting the money I need then in the spring work will start and shovels will go into the ground and then finally I will work on the paperwork and finally completing my ego project do you have any questions for me yes I'm councilman Bennett and I was your Bo leader and you do a great job thank you you really do a good job you're a great kid and you're going to be successful in this and I got some bus going to be able to help you okay thank you thank you very much and I hope I got one so there's a map there's seats there's benches there's cushions there's buckets there's a tree at least one there's mulch there's edging stones and flowers that that's it I'm kidding that's awesome that's awesome um you are going to see this young man on Shark Tank sometime give him a hand I'm really proud um to have him be a product of Whitman and um can't wait to see what you do in the future and for us so we have a certificate that we want to present thank you very much great job very much thanks Kev yeah great job TR that was awesome one more one more one more pick for Mom think we have one last incredible accomplishment uh what there two oh no two I lied you're right uh let's H summer theater first okay summer theater here we go just because they have tests y we have tests test okay okay first I'm going to read the certificate that will be awarded to um Mr Stefan and the kids that participated in the summer theater program um everyone knows theater is important to me and I'm excited to do this for my son who is horrified um I think the best part is my mom's like you have to pick Andrew up from this like white board of ed building I was like where I am she's like yeah and I'm like are you here but anyway okay the certificate reads certificate of appreciation the Washington Township Board of Education proudly presents this certificate to in recognition of your outstanding dedication and invaluable contributions as a volunteer at summer Theater Camp your passion and commitment have made a lasting impact on our students and the success of the camp thank you for helping to inspire creativity and Foster a love for the Arts presented on September 24th 2024 signed by Dr Hibbs our superintendent and Ralph Ross our Board of Education president okay I'm out okay Mr stefen Jessica kellaher I'm name so I apologize okay Andrea cardamone James Connor Annabelle corigliano dotus dtis dotus John doas Andrew Deo this is great um Alexa Howley howy Violet marrian I think is ill so thoughts for her Judah n bandian did I get that right give Round of Applause Franchesca Pavone okay Ava Stalone you're coming oh there she is Ava Sonia Tesco Joshua Wakeman and Martina Weaver and EV when is the play November 14 14th 15th and 16th Harry Potter cured child I don't want to get it wrong it's G to be awesome I know it Mr Stefan thank you for all that you did that looked amazing thank you for bringing you know people in to talk to our our students about you know all the all the things that are great for vpa thank you great job guys good luck on the test now we have one left last but certainly not least we want to celebrate an amazing accomplishment in first in math you want H H you want to present that good evening I'd like to bring up first and foremost Miss Janice Chen so now I get to really brag Mr menay couldn't be here tonight but he gave me something he wanteded to make sure I read so in case you to know first to math is an online math program that the students at wedge would completely Embrace especially this Chen right here our students take pride in producing math learning different skills and competing for both school-based and National recognition this evening we're here to recognize the amazing first and Math achievements of former Wedgewood fifth grade student and current sixth grade student at Chestnut Ridge Janice Chen during the 23 24 school year Janice became a first and Math Grand Champion during their very first week of school by earning more than 10,000 stickers and just to put that in perspective out of 500 students we may have 110 Grand Champions by the end of the year Janice did in the first week as the school year continued so did her enthusiasm when you think about Sports Seasons how long a football season is and a basketball season is first to math is a 10-month season and she never once wavered in her enthusiasm to continue for 10 months working work on First in Math you have it takes determination and perseverance to continue to not only Excel at your math skills but these goals are set above grade level so she's G through her grade level and then above and beyond by the end of the school year Janice earned 100,000 stickers she solved more than 300,000 math problems she finished her Elementary School career as the number one first math student at Wedgewood the number one first and math student in Washington Township the number one first and Math student in the state of New Jersey and the number two first amount student in the entire nation stand Janice Al also became only the third student in the 20-y year history of first and Math to reach 100,000 stickers in a school year and she's the very first female student to do so Wedgewood school is honored Wedgewood school is honored to recognize Janice Chan for amazing accomplishments using the first Toth online program she's doing us proud all of us congratulations great job pictures coming you got smile yep come on Mrs Ryan impressive thank you big round of applause for such an amazing accomplishment yeah Mr Ross to make a comment yeah go ahead okay um I just like to make a comment uh Janice that we're proud of you as well as all the students in Washington Township who participate in first and Math and the teachers that encour encouraged them uh this spring it was very possible that we were going to lose first and Math and many students came out and parents wrote and people spoke about it I want to thank Mrs Gerber for her efforts in bringing the program to us and um Dr Nathan in trying to make sure that we can have this program back in our schools and to uh Dr Hibbs uh in his efforts so fortunately we have first the math in all our schools and we know that our kids really really it's a culture here and and and many kids participate and thanks to Mr renzy Wedgwood school and what he does uh we're very proud of all of you and Janice you're right up there thank you yeah we're GNA it's we're going to go to the consent agenda if anybody wants to leave now is the time so speak now orever hold your Fe thank you okay okay moving on uh discussion items any discussion items school and community relations nope no sir nothing nope correspondence nothing at this time approval of the minutes for August 2024 and September 5 uh 2024 you have a motion so move second all in favor I I opposed thank you any old business old business committee reports uh women that's some old business uh Dr Hibbs were were you able to um I had written to you about the health benefits with uh flu shots and being able to I just wonder if you had a chance to find anything out about that yeah I think I'm going to speak intelligently here Sean drive me left or right um so there's an issue with how things are being coded by pharmacies so um the question came about I think it's Minute Clinic and our flu shots so uh we're sending out information about how to ensure they are properly processed and I think Mr Sweeney is working on a flu shot day in Township yeah so yeah Dr HS everything you said was accurate there um Brown and Brown our provider is working to put together some information for our employees in regards to um kind of guiding thees in the right direction to make sure the uh flu shots um are being covered um and we are in the process of exploring know Logistics of hosting a flue shot clinic here um in the near future for for employees as well I'm I'm just wondering too um if there were any employees that had to put money out of pocket because they were told it was denied will they get reimbursed Sean yeah there you go okay thank you any other old business okay committee reports negotiations Mrs Baker I know we're in the process of meeting with the princip principals and and supervisors we're just in the beginning beginning of that process right now we had one meeting policy Mr shirano yes sir thank you Mr President uh we discussed in our committee meeting where uh myself president Ross and Mrs Baker were present director Sweeny and director diso on September 9th 2024 at 4:30 p.m. uh we discussed the field trip destinations that are currently on the agenda for Bush Gardens we discussed policy 3160 policy 4160 both physical examinations for certified and non-certified staff policy 5337 service animals policy 8420 emergency CR um emergency and crisis situations discussion only uh some of the other items uh that we discussed uh that are only up for discussion no policies at this point in time where Oprah requests payment policy and soliciting vendors and political contributions uh as well as the organizational chart so uh that is uh it's all for my minutes Mr President thank you thank you questions can I also add that I I mentioned about negotiations we also had a Personnel committee meeting this month however um it started around 4:30 but it ended about 4:40 so we never had a meeting I just want to public know that thank instructional Affairs just some question on the policy um I thought I'd bring it up here rather than we get to vote on it I I did have a question on the um service animal policy um there it talks about a trainer right that the the animal could have a trainer uh my one question there was should we have something in the policy that says if the trainer has not already been background checked that they would go through a background check and like if there was ever a situation where the trainer wasn't already a School employee that was background check we just want to make sure that that person would be background checked before they're near children I think that's fair I think I responded to you Scott I'm not sure who I responded to definitely a fair it's definitely a fair request if the trainer who in this scenario very probably random or remote scenario is not a School employee they should be background checked to the extent they're going to be regular regularly around students that's a fair point Sean could you work with uh Mr s and tighten that up you okay with that yes sir any other questions discussion structional Affairs yeah my other question just was uh and I wasn't there as week I I couldn't make the earlier time um that policy regarding the political contributions where did where did we end up on that or did you guys still discussing it yeah I can speak to it so we're still discussing it um there's two Supreme Court cases uh for political contributions at the federal level that allow organizations nonprofit organizations corporations to donate political contributions so I think that we need to be careful uh because some of those rulings so two rulings specifically uh Buckley V valo Supreme Court ruling and citizens united Supreme Court ruling speak to political donations companies and organizations rights and that being tied to their First Amendment right to free speech so I want to I want to tread a little bit lightly last time I tried to implement something that had to do with uh you know time limits on speaking uh you know there was there was some little bit of outcry from the public so I got to tread lightly there thank you we can we uh to answer your question it's still in discussion is that is that something that um the solicitor you're going to have the solicitor we in all court cases or absolutely U so I didn't bring them up to him but I will absolutely at the next committee meeting U hopefully someone from your firm is there we can discuss it you can talk to me before the committee meeting as well that makes it easier obviously yes sir we'll do thank you any other discussion Scott no no I'm good instructural Affairs Mr Blom uh I'm gonna I'm going to take this one Ralph so um I attended instructional Affairs and uh just it was an awesome meeting we covered a lot in a short amount of time uh we talked about uh the 2024 2025 professional development plan also talked about the district mentoring plan these are all items that we're going to be voting on this evening we talked about the Eagle Scout project which was absolutely amazing I think everyone will agree tonight that we saw it live uh Dr Nathan shared the proposed Eagle Scout project it's awesome um a majority of the time we talked a lot about the Dual credit courses at the high school and for those of you that don't know we have now over 50 dual credit courses which is amazing um for those that want to review them and Miss Grimaldi I'm going to turn this over to you in a second to expand on it but there's um links to the Dual credit courses are under the counseling tab on our website so if you're looking for them um if you're planning courses out for your child It's a Wonderful way for them to earn college credit it's under the counseling tab on the website um Miss gal I'm gonna turn over to you to comment on this thanks Mrs Chella so um just to let everyone know um we have a partnership with four colleges so first is cican college and uh we have about 50 courses offered um we uh either um offer uh weighted those are for like weighted courses honors courses um AP courses and also College Prep courses so it's was a great variety of courses uh so we hope that you do take advantage of it we do share that information with families during the scheduling advisement time we have it on our website I even post uh information to explain the difference between advanced placement and dual credit so that way families understand we in addition to that we have Stockton University um with about six courses that are approved uh for dual credit uh we also have rcsj which course is approved and then we just have a new partnership with uh New Jersey City University for a course for Roc so we have close to probably about 70 courses of dual credit uh you don't have to attend that College in order for it to um count for you you do get a a a a transcript from the college but the courses really um are very inexpensive um Stockton University is usually about maybe $3 $400 um C county rcsj is a $150 so you're really it's a cost Savings in the long run uh students can graduate with you know 24 30 credits depending on uh what courses they're taking and how they're taking advantage of it so we would highly recommend it as a matter of fact families should have received the stock in University uh information for those students in that class I want to thank um all the teachers and the supervisors for working with me to really enhance the program and uh make it one of the largest for the region especially for camon County College we're the largest High School courses that are offered so we're really proud of that little fun fact but um yeah so thank you and please take advantage awesome thank you um and finally Dr Nathan shared that theems are growing um in addition you were going to be doing a full Academy experience with plans for induction student portfolios student conferencing and personalized Pathways um also that obviously includes field trips which enhances the academy experience um there's some on the agenda tonight um with regards to adjudication and it's just a phenomenal experience for our students to further enhance their Academy experiences um we have just some stats 2022 to 2023 we had 75 Academy students in 2324 we had 119 Academy students and in 2425 we have over 250 Academy students so that's an amazing accomplishment and um exactly what we all wanted to see right them grow so um that's it thanks Dr Ethan for pulling this together it was a great meeting thank you business committee Mr Al Liberty yep thank you uh so we didn't have a business a formal business committee meeting this month uh just due to various conflicts uh so we ended up doing is uh President and Vice President so Mr Ross and myself had a phone call with um the ba and Dr Hibbs just to go through any of the items and updates so that we could report out here and items that need to be voted on uh what we went through we discussed um the energy audit update uh with that basically uh we at the stage where we're going to be going up for RFP at that point so what we have to do with that is going out for RFP the whole thing gets put out to bid uh we discussed um whether we would use our engineer in that process which we thought would be a good idea just because we're talking about lots of complex um modifications that could be made to buildings and a lot of knowledge that needs to be had there and uh we also talk through that we have to do an audit as part of this so it's not like our regular Financial State audit it's an audit uh basically of the process that takes place that and verifies that the costs and the savings will actually generate you know the anticipated savings because uh we're going to get a lot of that back so that auto will play take place but the all the costs are embedded into the proposal and we are hoping to get great things a lot of savings out of this so I'm know Dr hibs or J want to add anything to that yeah I'll add I'll add at least one quick thing um so that investment grade audit is a mandatory part of the um Energy savings Improvement plan so essentially to boil down uh they look at our energy tell us how to save it and they give us money for projects so we're hoping for millions in projects it's not going to be money where they hand us they literally only do projects but but we're hoping to do a lot of things uh HVAC uh Stadium lights will be included in this we made sure of it going to LED everywhere in the entire district is is just really just an amazing thing uh that investment grade audit though full transparency is the only only item in the whole audit that will cost the board any money but you can't proceed without it because it's a standalone audit that ensures that the first AUD audit that you had from New Jersey clean energy is is matches up with with what they think you're going to save uh by law all of these have to be cash positive so they can't be in the negative so they have to be uh they have there's a rigorous process to entertain that so the next step is the RFP and then we will then find out uh how many millions we'll be able to put into projects which is going to be an incredible thing yeah uh not only incredible I think it's a a great thing that was done very creative that's going to enable us to uh help with the upkeep of our buildings which uh otherwise we' might struggle to do financially absolutely and also at the same time having a positive effect on the environment so really pleased at this is moving forward uh we also talked through some purchasing items uh we talked about purchasing bid for the boilers you know maintaining those uh we also talked through the tuition rates um there software that calculates out what that amount will be we also have the ability to modify that if needed throughout the year um and then we did talk about the bleacher project that's finished and just to remind everybody that bleacher project and we had a lot of discussion in the business committee before that went forward um two of the business committee Mee uh members myself and Mr Tomac when he was on here met with the administration the engineers uh the um uh ad athletic director about why it needed to be done the current state of them and how by doing it now we're able to salvage large portions of that uh structure which uh ended up costing us Less in the long run um and it looks great um there's still a few things that need to be done to finish it out as far as like some cosmetic work um fixing a little bit of the concrete with the way the path would go and now we have back entrances to the bleachers that are also ADA Compliant so came out came out really good yep they were not ADA Compliant before the only ramp would have the only ramp sorry would have been on the left hand side on the small bleachers now they're now we have them everywhere and they're actually called vomitories I know it sounds weird but that's what they're called when you come up from behind so it's uh and I think we put it to a test right out of the gate I think we had 2700 people at the the first football game so put them right to a test there you go I was going to avoid the term vomitory but you brought it uh and then uh we also talked about the arbac update that that's fully cleared um talked to to that cleaning process and how it was fortunate we were able to make that timing work so it was had very little to no impact on the Academic Year and then finally we discussed the uh budget task force um just to remind everybody that it's moving forward we're going to have our first meeting on Monday uh so everybody that's on that task force been notified uh they've gotten the ground rules uh for that for that meeting um we've been working on a kickoff deck that will have for that and uh we're looking forward to uh moving that process forward to you know hopefully get some good input from the public on potential ways that we can identify cost savings and also reduce cost and uh maybe generate some Revenue to help us out with uh the budget and that is it thank you Scott any other old business okay we have a a motion to open up to the public or G agenda items only second all in favor second do we have any yellow cards I have two oo wow um I just have two questions about uh security um one of them I don't know if it's a policy so to say I don't really know technical terms that's why I'm not like on the board uhhuh uhuh whats broken on this door nothing like that um no um so one of it is um when the incident happened at Bunker I'm curious to know who makes the decisions about lockdown in the school um I know we have a new director of security and I was pretty pleased to hear who it was he's fantastic um he's great at his job but is it a policy about lockdown or who who decides this um I know the call went in the police at 8 o00 my kid was still able to get off the bus on into school grounds um so I know that you know how it played out it was very quick um but it never went on into lockdown and I I just curious to know why the buses were still able to come to school and my kid was able to get into school when all this was playing out um so I don't know if that is something that has to be looked at and how lockdowns work or activated I'm not sure the other piece of it is during this conversation I had asked if there was a specific protocol or how it works with um special ed classes whether it's the MD class the autism class the BD class and the response was there is none um that it's the same protocol across the board um and it didn't really sit well with me and the other second half of the response on that is that it's left up to the teachers to do this job um which they are the professionals and I understand that and you know but in cases of classrooms where most of the kids don't speak have ambulatory issues can't follow simple command that's a lot to put on a teacher without another specific protocol for these specialized classes um so I don't know if as a board there is something that you guys can look at to and I'm not asking again for specific protocol or how that works cuz I understand there's confidential things but even just to look at it as to why there is no separate safety protocol in the case of an emergency for special ed regard uh instead of jened that they should not be the same thing there has to be a separation a separate plan for kids that or and teachers that need help in these situations um so I don't really need like an answer I guess I just wanted to make it known that this was the information I was given and I'm not thrilled with it and if it's something that can be looked into I'm teachers staff students parents I know we would all really appreciate it um so thanks yeah thank hi Nicole how are you um okay so I I definitely so the whole nun versus on a teacher I don't think that's 100% accurate so I'm going to connect you to both an nette and Christina to talk about that cuz I know that we have specific even child level uh plans for individual kids so while we don't ever talk about security stuff in public it's just a horrible practice to do I want you to connect so you can get those answers for sure okay okay ter Sher hello good evening everyone um I would like to say that I've been coming to these meetings for a while now and this one was a really great one it was nice to celebrate all the wins so hopefully everyone has a a good feeling tonight um I want to bring up some things I've brought up at past meetings around the curriculum for um media studies and computers and stem in our elementary schools uh thank you Dr Ethan I was able to review the media studies curriculum these are clearly very highly regulated documents so I did my best to interpret them um based on my reading um I think they're uh very complicated I'm not sure what class dedication how that translates into time but based on my review of the curriculum it seems that the time spent on stem focused information is about a third of what it was last year so at the elementary level if they were getting about 24 hours of instruction on technology this year they're going to go down to about seven that's just you know percentages based on what I was able to understand on what was posted um this is very concerning I think that we need to engage um as many students as possible in stem as early as possible so that we are not widening the gap of who is interested in participating in these kinds of activities um I'm hoping that we can better understand I didn't see any curriculum changes or revisions in science to sort of take up for any of the gaps um left by how we address the computer and Library curriculum so if there's been any updates or if we can better understand if we're just having fewer hours dedicated to technology at the elementary level that would be great um the second point I want to bring up again especially as the business tax Force gets going on the budget for next year I think that transportation for preschool is essential it's important component to make sure we're addressing the population of children that don't have access to Early Education I would imagine that um parents who can drop their kids off and go get to work after 9:00 and leave work before 3:00 is probably not addressing the key folks that we're trying to engage in education um before they get to kindergarten so I know that there's budget concerns and how do we pay for that um I would ask the board to consider that as well as the lottery system we should be looking at incomes of who are invited to participate and possibly F add tuition for folks who have certain income levels so that's all I have for tonight but thanks thank you Mr lugarini yeah Mr Sano I heard you mentioned um policies and one in particular about um political contribution tions so I'm assuming that you were referring to contributions that come from law firms uh engineering firms uh Insurance Brokers just name a few and um I assume that the conundrum is you know the right or the rights of the companies and profession profs to give money to whomever they like for political contributions but the funny thing is when you're talk about the Board of Education it's not supposed to be political that's that to me is the catch so to speak and it's been that catch with me for over 40 years that I've been in the school system I think Mrs Baker could attest to that we've had many conversations about the politics of Washington Township and how she used to condemn them but uh I think if board members receive money either directly from these professionals or through soft money where the professionals give it to a pack of some sort named uh you know betterment for Washington Township let's say and then that money gets funneled to candidates like yourself and Mr Ross and we get uh signs across Washington Township with your names on it uh with schools first we get um those Robo calls on the phone which cost a lot of money we get glossies with your picture telling us how wonderful you are uh that's soft money I think if a company gives to a pack that ultimately gives thousands of dollars to board members MERS okay that should be reported that should be reported and the heck with the First Amendment rights all right because what is happening to our school system and I'm sure Dr Hibbs and everyone on this board of education would agree that when they set up the parameters for Boards of education and residents and Board of Education uh contributions um they were thinking more of along lines of not being in a political uh circus okay that's why you don't see towns like haddenfield or Washington Township or Williams toown you don't see any of the Suburban communities even though they are political come out with signs that say Sano and Ross democrats for the opportun crats okay you don't see those signs they're not supported directly by um political parties because people don't want it because it ruins the school system so if you're receiving money from these um packs or directly from these comp uh these professionals or whatever it should be reported and we've already seen the ill effects of it here in Washington Township over the last seven eight years of uh this school system being politicized to the point where it's a political whouse okay and it has cost us because our ranking despite all those people who want to keep things the same is now down at the bottom third in state of New Jersey and based on our demographics it shouldn't be and it's all not totally contributable to to the politics of Washington T there's other factors but we got to clean up this money and I would urge all residents if they get a robo call that cost thousands of dollar and signs all over the place he signs all over the place and commercials and glossies you better not vote for those candidates cuz they're in somebody's HIIT pocket thank you Joe tarelli hi I just have a question for clarification because I know as much about politics as I know about Polo so um if I'm a business owner in Washington Township if I donated to a candidate you know uh Joe Mo sorry for the Joe Mo's out there um and I happen to be a republican is that a political donation because it's coming from my business and I happen to be a Republican or are we only talking about you know people that are in the political race donating to the board I just need clarification because again Polo politics so that's it thank you answer know I have your card we'll get back to you what I said I have your card we'll get back to you with the attorney will okay anything else for the public okay see none I do I do believe just say um I believe as far as I remember for elac anything over 300 $ no matter who donates I think it's anything over $300 singular or an aggregate meaning like together has to be reported and I that's the rule so I don't think it's you know political or not you know that's how it work political or not for the for the for for like um reporting yes it doesn't matter thank you I okay a motion to close to the public so moved second have a second second second all in favor I okay moving on uh report of the superintendent items number one and two so move second discussion roll call Mrs Bloom yes Mrs chillo yes Miss Deo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano yes Mr Ross Yes instructional Affairs Miss I think you miss I question I I wasn't too sure when you said earlier if you wanted to be part of it or not this session I know but so I just need clarification on that from the last time I'm not clear on what you're asking Mr Arpino oh no he he has the opportunity to abstain from voting okay but he's still you still call his name in the roll call okay thank he's still absolutely it okay so um Mr Arpino okay will I will Mrs Baker yes right you're good yeah verification sorry he's in Friday yeah okay sorry about that okay yeah we're good policy or no okay instructural Affairs did I just say instructural Affairs items number 1 to four so moved second discussion roll call Mrs Chilla yes Mr Mayo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serano yes Mr Arpino obain Mrs Baker yes Mrs blue yes Mr Ross yes so that went smoother you killed it you policy have a motion for items number one to three so move second discussion no just to make sure are all on the same page so the K3 on the service animals that's going to uh se's going to update that to reflect yeah so it'll be approved tonight as a first read as long as okay with that and then what'll happen is it's not final so it doesn't do anything so it has to come to a final when it comes to a final uh Sean and Mr Sano will work together to put the language in for the Handler to make sure they're background checked so we'll see that in a second reading 100% okay perfect thanks yep Sean you got that just policy I'll do roll call just did policy for Deo voting on policy Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano yes mrpo policy Mrs Baker next Mrs Bloom yes Miss Chilla yes Mr Ross Yes student activities approve uh items number one to six of a motion sub move second discussion roll call Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serano yes Mr Arpino abstain Mrs Baker yes Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chilla yes Miss too yes Mr Ross Yes Human Resources motion uh to approve Human Resources items 1 to six item 8 item 10 to 15 item 17 to 39 and item 41 to 51 that moved second discussion roll call want retire retire yes yes we got a few retirees we already heard about a few of them we got a couple more all right uh Frank appello is retiring after 29 years we got a lot so want to hold your plus to the end no it's great they all deserve their all their Applause Jill Graham A World Language teacher at the high school School 17 years we got Terry Katz elementary teacher at TJ 33 years all right Francis Libby thei technology education teacher at obms 27 years got Ann Mar glio assistant High School data specialist uh 27 years all right Kristen Smith art teacher at the high school 30 years we all heard about the great things of Craig Stewart uh retiring after 10 years and edth Edith Ferrero teacher assistant gtec 7 years that's a total of 180 years 180 wow I think that's a record literally it's a lot okay roll call Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano no to 48 yes to the rest Mr Arpino obain from everything except re M Baker um number 38 no due to budget uh concerns not not enough information number 48 no guide placement budget information number 49 abstain not enough information number 50 abstain not enough information and number 51 abstain not enough information and yes to the rest Mrs Bloom yes Miss Chilla yes Miss de Mayo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Ross yes can I take a sec um so I want to introduce uh two awesome people um first off I Joan Henry is our own and we have for those you who don't know Joan is your current special ed supervisor uh working under both and Christina and has done a wonderful job right a great job secondly I have P side who's coming to us part of our team welcome and then thank you for being a thank thanks everybody finan and Facilities motion for items number 1 to 22 moved second discussion see none hearing none roll call Mr Serrano yes Mr Arpino Mrs Baker yes Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chilla yes Mr Mayo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay stain on number 20 yes to the rest Mr Ross yes special education motion for items number 1 to 11 I moved discussion roll call Mr Arpino yes Mrs Baker yes Mrs Bloom yes Miss Chilla yes M too yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano yes Mr Ross Yes negotiations nothing at this time new business yeah I have some go ahead Scott okay all right uh first thing um I'd like to make a motion to amend policy 0155 which is the policy about committees attendance um I'd like to amend that policy to replace item number seven on that policy to read as follows committee meetings shall be closed except that members of The Board District employees contractors and or the public May attend upon invitation of the committee invitation should only be extended to current employees Personnel currently contracted by the district or individuals who can provide valuable input or V benefit to the business of the committee the committee may agree to invite current employees or District contracted Resources by a simple majority vote of the committee however any invitation to an individual who is not an who is not a district employee or contractor must be approved by a majority vote of the full Board of Education at no point May confidential information be discussed when members of the public are present whenever a quorum of the board is to attend a committee meeting that meeting must be announced and open according to the Sunshine Law U that clarification I think clarifies a couple things one reminds people that if public are invited to a committee meeting we can't discuss confidential information secondly it uh is designed to put a protection that if we are if the committee wants topling somebody that we're already contracted with the committee could vote to do that themselves my personal worry is when we invite Outsiders and I mean Outsiders somebody that's not contractually under a contractual relationship with the district we're bringing those people into a committee meeting the full board should have knowledge of that and approve it because I think that could open us up to potential risk so that's the motion shouldn't that go to the policy committee first I think this one's so important and needs to be clarified I drafted it myself it was hoping to push it out to uh the board tonight for consideration uh otherwise last time I went to the policy committee I think no it wasn't with you Steve but just in general I think it takes months and months to get that done um just just for clarification uh what I'm sorry what uh what bullet was that on the policy number six that you said number seven oh number seven yeah it's number seven it's the same wording I think probably the proper thing to do would be the Motions on the table somebody would have to second second yeah and then have a discussion I'll second the motion discussion yeah are we seconding a first read that is that is our policy why are we going straight to an amendment if we haven't gone through first read or second read we through the we have to go through first and second read would have to go it's not a new policy it's an amendment to a policy but the reason I'm suggesting it just to answer your question I think that it's an ambiguous policy that leavs the district open to potential liability and um should be clarified as soon as possible that's why I drafted this amendment and why I'm motioning for it tonight seem pretty straight forward I can send the language to Lori as well any discussion more discussion got first and a second well a copy of it I'm just wondering if you know we're going to amend it maybe a friendly Amendment along with that that the um that the committee if they if the committee feels that we should have uh our solicitor there at the committee meeting that we would be able to do that what the policy say well that's why I suggested to go to the policy committee and then bring it back I agree I think she should go back to the policy committee adoped tonight let me just pulling up your policy that's relevant to this 0131 it states bylaws policies and may be adopted and revised at any meeting of the board provided the proposed what's that oh sorry provided the proposed adoption or revision has been approved by the board at a previous meeting of the board in other words it would have to be approved tonight and adopted at a second meeting okay could we have a copy of it could we maybe wait until the next meeting because I'd like to look at the two before voting I just sent it to Lori it's one paragraph So I think um if if you want to take if I think because it takes two meetings to get it approved if you could just take a quick look at it the only things I changed and you can take a quick look and AR commity look as well was um the adding the so so your suggestion we circumvent the policy committee which is what we usually do yes I only because of the expedient nature of this I think it and just doing it this way it's going to take us two meetings so we're not going to have this enacted until the middle of November end of November right so we go through policy committee policy committee got to meet in November they got to draft it they got to send it through we have to have a first reading then a second reading you're looking at maybe the end of December if we're lucky last time I went through policy committee I think it took 5 to 6 months before the change ever got approved okay well that's deviation from what we did we got a first and we got a second any other lot from the way we usually do things tonight so let's go for another one any other discussion L um can make Lor's going to make copies okay um by by us going for an amendment to this policy is there any blowback legally from us carrying forward this amendment to be adopted at the next meeting or that's what your policy requires okay so there wouldn't be any blowback that would be the procedure based on your bylaws and policies can you just State what it would be again so we would approve the amendment and then we would have to adopt it so you still would have a chance to vote no next week on the right according to 0131 it's almost like a policies may be adopted and revised at any meeting of the board provided that the proposed adoption or revision has been approved by the board at a previous meeting of the board so it would have to be it wouldn't be adopted until the next meeting if there was a vote to approve it tonight okay obviously if it's not approved tonight then you're not worrying about adopting it at the next meeting so there' be another vote next meeting for the adoption only if it's approved tonight if it's approved yeah only if it's approved otherwise nothing to vote on yeah thank you and I guess yeah it's really just to I mean I wouldn't want anyone that was just a person in my committee meeting everybody knowing so I don't see any har in it my my two concerns again were just we want to invite somebody that's under contractual relationship with the town I think we're covered right there's contractual um protocol between us and that individual for confidentiality Etc right even though confidentiality confidential information cannot be discussed the other you know the other thing was just putting that clarification in there that confidential information can't be discussed so you're going to invite somebody that's not under contract with the district an employee or a contractor the full board should approve that I mean that's the procedure I followed for this whole business committee task force cuz I thought that's the the policy read in the first place you know I didn't want to be seen as the business committee or any individual member of the business committee obligating the board right we as individual members can't obligate the board so I think that this amendment protects all the board as well as the individual members any other discussion okay roll call is it everybody everybody have a chance to review it anybody need more time I think could just give one minute just to like RW I mean there's nothing illegal about the proposed language I think uh just a clarification you have uh a contractor must must be approved by a majority vote of the full Board of Education I don't know if it's we have to put the specifics like this in there but how is that vote taking place right do we have to do it like if you want to bring I don't know Mr B into a meeting whatever right and is it that you have to then the board meeting prior we have to get a majority vote is it something already that we have to do up here on the day I assume correct so yeah there's no you know precedent for this that but but yes if you're looking to bring someone into a meeting they'd have to be approved based on this wording that's got created by a majority of the board at the prior board meeting okay no you would that would have to be a vote done publicly B again based on the language that Scott presented okay this is not statutory this is not contractual this is your own policy right but if you wanted to bring the engineer you the conflict attorney um Kevin you know a boil Kevin Murphy's the contractor that works on the boilers right that are under contract anybody that's got a contract with the with the district we don't need appr the the committee can bring that in it's just somebody that's not in a contractual arrangement with this District the board would approve um you know maybe if we're going to make this kind of change where we're going to ask the full board for their you know blessing so to speak why not have it in the policy that if this situation would occur we meet as a full board for that committee and we can do that some we can meet as a committee or we can meet as a full Board of the committee as long as it's advertised as a regular meeting yes change so so if someone want so if someone wants to bring somebody that's not Within These parameters and it has to go to the full board that when that happens if the full board says says yes or no that it's it's a committee of the it's it's a full Committee of full a committee of the full board so I don't think it would have to be a committee of the full board and you always would have the option of making it a committee of the full board so let's just take the business committee one right the business committee Task Force One so we discussed on the business committee that we wanted to have members of the public involved with these additional meetings so we took it to the full board for approval and blessing so that it wouldn't just be the business committee obligating the the board the board didn't feel that it had to become a committee of the whole and that everybody needed to attend it but the board had knowledge of it and we all agreed as a board that it was the right thing to do that we approved that action if I think Connie if we had brought that forward and the board said oh you know what we should make that a committee at a whole there would be no policy change required for the board at that time to motion to say we should make that a committee of the whole like would I be corre correct with that Ari yes if I'm understanding you correctly yes you would be correct with that I you could have a committee of the whole at any time that's purposely legal um I think you might be completely you two might be arguing separate things but to your point Connie it would be legal for the board to do that um Scott point it's not in this policy so and it wouldn't need to be in a policy if you wanted to do a committee the whole two separate issues am yes for the policy I think it's necessary for us to push it through I think that like we shouldn't go to committee meetings and have surprises I think if the full board is aware of if we have guests that are being invited in I think that we should run it past the full board so they're aware I to it I don't see there's a negative any other discussion roll call I have a question okay is that going on now like I'm trying to follow is you obviously want to you get this done is it happening now where this is occurring yes okay any other questions yeah so just to clarify we're take taking a vote on the amendment that you just suggested amending the policy to your uh draft that you just wrote correct is that how we is that how this vote's going to go if you vote Yes you're voting to adopt yes correct I just want clarification the motion is no you're voting to approve Scott amended policy which is an amendment to subsection subsection 7 of policy 0155 you're not voting you're not voting to adopt until next meeting okay if you vote to approve now okay so we're voting to approve right okay yep and then next meeting we would vote to for okay first read for any other discussion all right roll call Mrs Baker AB Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chilla yes M Deo yes Mr Li Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Serrano no Mr Arpino yes Mr Ross no because I think it should go through the committee first okay I have a motion to any other business I have a motion I have okay um I'd like to make a motion to uh basically formulate a policy so this would be to the motion will be from the board to allow us to ask Ari for input on how to formulate a policy that would basically prevent one board member from asking for all the resumés for every candidate that applied for a job uh without the full board approval so basically you could ask for the the the resume of the candidate approved but if you wanted all let's say there were 32 resumés and you wanted Administration to put put them all um to basically require full board approval for that do so the motion would be not to make that policy but to ask Ari for input on it uh because I'm not sure of the legalities of it um but uh I think it's a topic that needs to be looked into make a motion on that second it I'll second discussion can you tell me again what we're voting on yeah sorry it wasn't so eloquent and and voice this one it's basically uh all right here's the situation um with hires right we had Terry Lewis from school boards we've had other Council suggest that me board members shouldn't necessarily be seeing every resume of all of the candidate pool that that you can't do anything with it right if you don't like number one you can't say want number three or number five that's not within our bounds and there's also confidentiality concerns right you've got all these people that submitted resumés and they may not want their former employer to know about it it's also there's confidential information on it so the more those are spread the more potential liability is about confidential information leing out plus we need the administration to be working on addressing the numerous issues that we need address right we got budget issues and we want to try and remove our standing and uh we want to get more kids to proficient you know uh in all the subject matters having them sit there and printing out resumés and aligning time for everybody to come in and look at them uh takes up their valuable time so I'm basically looking for a way that one board member can't request and obligate Administration to take up all that time and effort to do that that if you wanted to look at all of the resumés the full board would approve that so that that's basically what I'm asking Ari to look into because I'm not sure if it's legal or not but I think it's something that needs to be addressed I think um just real quick question for Ari um do we I don't know if it's policy or if it's understood by the board so you'll have to I'm not sure what it is but I believe that no one board member can make a request that would require an exorbitant amount of time that requires an approval anyway so I don't know let me finish I don't know if that's policy or just something that we've talked about overall because to your point Scott if we're printing if we're doing let's just say 32 resumés and Dr Hibbs you can comment and make sure that I'm correct yep that's hours of time because when you go into the system and you pull an application you can't just say I'm just going to cherry pick and pull the resume you have to pull everything into the system individually so we're not talking as simple as like click a button this is the job I want to print out all of the resume there's it's a lot to go in and out to do all that and then you have to take that information technically you have to black out and redact all of that information because you really shouldn't have that information out there if you really want to keep candidates confidential so Dr hibs am I correct that's the process or am I wrong it could be yeah you are you are correct so uh this happened today and it took us better part of how many hours Sean how I can see your figures about three hours to redact because personally I I don't think that any I think the expectation is that if someone applies for a job that their name isn't out there to be seen you know if they're the finalists I totally understand that piece um but so for me it's a non-starter I I think that no matter where we land however you land we're going to redact because I don't want people's names out there I think that's really important if they apply for a job no one should know that that's that's personal information um but yeah it took it took better part of 3 hours to redact 32 rumes and again I feel like a parrot I said this before um I don't see the purpose I mean as far as a resume you know you're applying for a job chances are you're going to have the certification that you need like that's and we don't know what a principal or a superintendent is actually looking for the resume is a Nuance this big of hiring somebody so to me that just doesn't I'm not sure what someone be looking for because we don't know what correct the staff is looking for resume is just a teeny piece of the puzzle I mean as far as my experience is so there there's two separate issues here it's a board member's right to access the information versus the amount of time that it takes for the administration to pull that information right that's what I think I hear everybody saying we've already talked in executive session about my interpretation of the law and I don't think that a lot of you agree with it which is fine but that's you know there's two parts of this Scott if we want to put this into I I I think what Scott wants to put into policy and I don't want to speak for you is the process for a board member to review something right not their right to review it so I think process is part of it I think uh and maybe it's a staged process where you could have the summary of hey there were 32 candidates that apply right and we screened 32 we brought 10 in for a second interview and we picked three for final interviews and all that right that's kind of stage one or stage one stage two of getting all the resumés I know that was your interpretation of that law that you can't stop the board member from getting it they have a legal right to that information I guess what I'm looking for is uh another look of that is maybe it's not they have a legal right to it but does Administration have to provide it right the board member could always vote no right and if all the board members vote no it's not getting through so where is that line between one board member could tie the administration up all day long doing administrative tasks and not running the school it how is that not one person obligating the board and I guess there's what's allowed you should do I think there's a difference there too I just don't understand what I mean it's what I do for a living and I wouldn't be able to go through 30 resumes and pick the best person for you know fra Berry's building you know I don't know and it's what I do so I just don't understand why someone would want them I don't think it would be I just don't get it yeah and I totally get it's complicated especially with that legal interpretation I guess my request would be that the board approves you just looking into it to see if there's a way we could create a process or create some type of checkpoint that could somehow hinder or discourage an individual board member from doing that if it wasn't appropriate full board's like yeah this is a controversial one we want to see all the resumes right like let's vote on it as a board but yeah it's like every time would it help Ari if if um there's is there Statue with this there's some information that you shared interpretation of it's really an interpretation of case law is what you would have there's no statute that can call okay okay so it's an interpretation right so where do we go if we want to try to um see what's being suggested here is accurate well if you and I don't think you need to prove a motion to do this I'm happy to pull the cases and whatever else I have and let you guys read them yourself if you want to do it that way I I'm happy to work with Scott if you approve it to talk about what is permissible and what is not permissible in policy um the complicated part is getting by the threshold issue of what some of us might feel allows a board member to review that and what others might feel doesn't allow a board member to review that hard to create a policy when everybody can't agree on what's allowed and what's not I'll go back to what Ralph that it you know this obviously looks like something that should be in the policy committee perhaps where you would come to a policy committee and talk to talk to the committee or give the full board all these different things that you would find I think it it should go it shouldn't just go with with a particular board member you should go with one of the Committees so just a real quick question um uh if it doesn't get through the policy committee then what happens to it does it just die on the vine well it would if it goes that route right so the policy committee is you Connie Mr Serano Mr Ross and Scott so the problem is is when we have Committees of different um I'm going to say Dynamics this sounds all wonderful to put it in the committee but HR Personnel is me it's you it's Mr Serrano and Mr Ross so when we have committees like that and we say let's just put it in committee the reason why I'm assuming Scott that you're saying this so we can vote as a board is because it doesn't happen it doesn't get past that committee right if the majority of the committee doesn't want to put that through it doesn't make it well you bring up you bring up a good point to just go to the Comm as a board we don't have to have committees we can just we don't we don't have to have you're correct and I like back in the day I guess when was this I feel like it was 25 years ago but I think it was only one I had asked do we want to have a committee of the whole or how do we want to do that and everyone wanted to have separate committees if we have to go on that direction we may have to because currently right now it is a roadblock if somebody feels passionate and wants to weigh in we don't have that ability to do that well I I definitely think that's something we ought to talk about you know if if if you're feeling that way or other people are feeling that way I think let's listen we we have to come out a couple nights a week for these committees I mean a month you know during during the month and if if if you're if you feel and others feel that there's roadblocks then let's do a away with the Committees not all school boards have committees they they they they work as a as a full board and I agree with you let's work as a full board let's do away with the Committees let's consider that there's another option too I think there's ethical considerations here as well the other option you could do is do an advisory opinion and simply ask the school ethics commission is this acceptable and there's no harm no foul in that there's no one that would get in trouble um it would just you simply write WR or you would just write your concern write a request to the advis to the uh SEC for an advisory opinion y uh it's not complicated it probably will take several months to get a response but it's certainly an option but you'd have an that would be something the board would have to approve though to do so so why don't we why don't we do that that way we have a you know a definitive answer from the authorities so to speak yeah that sounds like a good idea okay I think I think my thought was too when you're talking 31 is there some way that we could have that be the top five the top you so it's not 31 because theoretically you're not going to pick number 31 probably a board member is not going to be interested in that but they might want to see the top three or the top five that were in yeah and then that way that would really cut down the time yeah but I guess but I still don't know why I'm stuck on this I don't understand why any of us would want to see resum I don't get it in my point of view it's it's a real Fair ask to say hey who who are the second round people that at least you could narrow down you can't you can't tell us that we could or could not or should or should not have brought people back I I think what you'll find consistently through New Jersey school boards is that they don't really like fishing Expeditions looking at all 32 I don't understand what the what the end result would be but if you really want the answer the ethics advisory would be something you write down is this okay and they will come back to you and they provide an answer but I think AR's correct I think you need board action to do that so I like that TI to P I think that's a great compromise that brought forth maybe we could just agree to that we don't need a policy but we just have an agreement amongst the board like hey if you want to see the RS limit it to to five or 10 or something like that I thought we just talked about we're going to we're going to pass it on to get a determination I we'd have to do a motion for that I'm saying I'm going to do that too but I'm also saying probably going to take several months to get an advisory opinion back I'm just saying like if we get agreed you know you want to see resumes maybe you ask for the top five or top 10 instead of 30 right I'll say this I don't know if anybody's ever done the process but I did it I did it today and I think you all would have found it very interesting that just just let me leave it at that it's a work it's it's it's worth I spent about close to two hours is well worth an eye opener I would encourage you to do it sometime I'm okay again I don't know what if we really know what we're looking for so I still don't don't get this I think whe whether it's 325 or 10 it still comes back to the why why are we looking what are we looking for and Dr I think you do a fantastic job when we have candidates that are going to be an agenda to be approved um for some what I would consider nonstandard positions you give a ton of information on those c um you know in terms of what the process was that led us into that c so there's a a lot of detail and time of goes into even that memo that goes out prior to meeting um much more than you need find in a resume about so people are being well informed to to make a decision yes for sure thanks Sean okay um so I'd like to make that motion that we pursue looking into an advisory opinion around that I guess all right could you help formulate that motion what would the motion be just that we uh uh to approve the board attorney to send a request to the SEC for an advisory opinion on this issue now I'm not sure of your own agreement as to what the issue is but I'll let you formulate that great great great point I I think I heard two issues right one is the whole resumés and that just may be one example of an owner's request but my guess is the more specific you are with the advisory opinion the more likely you are to get a good answer so I I would say let's focus on the resume one first and say um you know the issue would be is the board allowed to limit the number of resumés that an individual board member could request right isn't the first issue not to skip over that isn't the first issue though is the a board member entitled to request and access resumes of all applicants isn't that what everyone is has been going back and forth on I think there's a difference between are they entitled to and does it have to be complied with right like I could say I'm entitled to see all those resumees I want to see them right and Dr H be like I don't have time for that right now you can vote no if you want right and I use that as my reason for voting no I agree there's a difference but I I don't AG I I think there's still a divide on this board over what a board member is entitled to so I do agree there's a difference but I don't know how you get I mean if you're sending away for an advisory opinion wouldn't you want that first answer can you formulate The Advisory opinion in two things like a is the uh yes what are the entitled to him and B is there a way for the full board to limit the individual requests of a single board member to not create an undue burden on so they might not answer the second question because that's not in ethic issue the first question is an ethical issue you know if a board is it unethical for a board member to review the resumés of all applicants for a particular position right that's an that is a direct question to the SEC that concerns the ethical conduct of a board member the board's right to limit something that is legally allowed is a separate issue that's really what I think you were asking me to look into but what I was suggesting what I I don't know that there's a position from this board as that it's legal or it's not legal we're still stuck that right so looking into the second part is somewhat pointless until we get past the first part I think there's two different pieces to this right the legal right of the board member and then the rights of the board as a whole right to me those are two separate things right you got a a board members all legally allowed to do certain things right but also no one board members allowed to obligate the board right so is does the board have a right to restrict in some way yeah but what I'm saying is that portion doesn't necessarily need to go to the SEC okay okay I feel like a legal opinion so so AR you'll work with Scott to formulate something to send sure okay and I don't think you need to vote on that if that's what you want me to do everybody okay with that there's no motion motion okay we don't need a motion for you to do that no while we doing the advisory opinion or am I just working with Scott on the second advisory if we're doing the advis opinion and I'm working with Scott you make the motion on the advisory opinion and then I will work with Scott towards his second request to see if that motion yeah so to be clear though that the motion is going to be I think correct me if I'm wrong that you know the board hereby approves the attorney to submit a request to the SEC for an advisory opinion as to whether or not a board member has the right to review uh resumés of all applicants for a particular position you know when when that POS I think that it also needs to be mentioned when that position or when the board member is being asked to vote on a particular candidate for that position yeah that's that's important I think that's the critical part of it right there if you're being asked to vote what I think all right I I think that's going to be yes right they're going to say there's a that they have a right to riew well but that was what I agree that's the position I took but I've been told numerous times that that's not accurate so just I don't agree with it because we have something from Terry Lewis that said that it's an overreach by a board member I don't Define overreach I haven't had a chance to talk to her but to me there's conflicting opinions on it I I agree and that's why I'm saying we should ask for the advisory opinion I think we should do the ad still ask the advisory opinion yeah okay and then separately I I don't want to be accused of acting on my own and obligating to board like does anybody have an objection to Ari also investigating the um legality of like limits on the number of well don't you think once we get an answer to the first one then we can work on what we think it should look like in our district yeah so I think we know it's allowed but I just don't think it's appropriate or necessary like you know what I mean like I wouldn't be surprised if they came I guess it's allowed but I don't understand the purpose I don't you know what me I think we're looking at two different things is allowed and is it appropriate you know it's or should it happen cuz I don't know what's the purpose kind of thing the purpose is that you're going to have to vote on something I understand but seeing other people isn't going to help you so just a real quick historically when this has happened in the past I'm just saying years ago when this type of issue came up where if there was one or two board members that wanted something that took more time than usual the administration would just bring it to the full board and say are you guys cool with me doing this yes or now that's the way it was handled in the past I don't know if we want to go in that direction or not but I'm just letting you know that's what was that was the way it was handled years ago R would you consider is this is this technically part of like the what would be the personnel file probably yes so this is what it says on school boards can a board member review a personnel file when there is a recommendation before the board a board member may ask to see person personel information if there is an imminent board action to be taken the request needs to go through the CSA who should provide specific information relevant to the decision that will be before sorry thank you be before the board the district should take should Place restrictions on the time and place of review of the documents to ensure that confidentiality is not breached and limited to truly pertinent documents such as an evaluation or letter the state has warned against board members going on fishing Expeditions confidential confidentiality of personnel documents must be ured so I I think it's an interesting question that whether or not them all so I mean you could read that probably one of a a bunch of ways the point is there's still a disagreement on whether or not it's allowed I think that's what the advisory opinion is for unless anyone disagrees with that I I think we still need that we need all so so so so I'll make the motion make the motion so make a motion that the board approve the board attorney to uh so so I don't have to go back and forth on email 20 times I'm going to say exactly what I think the motion should be and if you guys approve it I would just send it out okay right yeah so uh the board hereby approves the board attorney to submit a request to the SEC are you actually typing this story that would be helpful okay yeah goe um seeking an advisory opinion as to whether or not a board member when asked to approve a candidate for a position of employment is permitted to review the resumés of all candidates for that position in the candidate pool of all candidates candidates for that position in the candidate pool however you want to word it if you want to read that back so everyone could hear it okay this is what I typed f as fast as I could the board hereby approves the board attorney to submit a request to the SEC seeking an advisory opinion as to whether or not a board member when asked to approve a candidate for a position of employment is permitted to review the resumés of all candidates in the candidate pool for that position I'm fine with that I I don't know if that was everyone else's interpretation of what this is are you able to text that or email that to me yes okay so that would need a second right yes I second it all right can we have a roll call any more discussion first roll call Mrs Bloom yes Mrs Chella yes Mr Mayo Mr Liberty yes Mr Lindsay yes Mr Sano Advisory Board yes yes sir yes Mr Arpino yes Mrs Baker yes Mr Ross yes yes okay moving right along uh Tom bolaro did you open you open the public I'm sorry thank you have a motion open to the public so moved second all in favor I post thank you okay uh just my advice I've hired thousands probably over a thousand people I tell HR I want to interview five people for this job they send me the five best candidates you know why because I trust them to do their job the board has one person to hire he's sitting right there let him do his job leave him alone support him let him fail or succeed on his own Merit stay out of it I don't want to see the resumes it it's ridiculous um point of last week or last meeting when I came up about the old insurance contract that was very disappointing got a little more information and I saw that our then attorney not the gentleman sitting up here now but our then attorney looked at their The Proposal which was rated the worst among uh the grades from our internal folks and said there were material defects also said that the person did not have the company did not have a license Dr hibs is it normal that we could hire somebody when our attorney says that there's material defects and that they don't have a license that's that question um additionally as you know coming here and seeing all the kids here today and seeing somebody new sworn in you're kind of reminded why you guys are all here um and I think a big part of that is forgotten we're here for the kids or no you're here for the kids I'm here for the public but you're here for the kids you're here to do the right thing you're here to set an example and there's a lot that goes into sitting in that chair you have to check a lot of boxes it's a lot harder to get in that chair than it is to get in the board president's chair um Mr Ros youve you've disappointed you you've played favorites you play favorites with the board you seem to only talk to a couple of them you stack your committees to where it's all your base um Mr Li Liberty made a recommendation that Mr Lindsay sit on the business committee you completely ignored him in that meeting a strong leader will put their people in a position and then let them do their job you just overreached didn't let him do his job put Mrs Baker on the committee and stacked it again with your base a good committee function will have diversity across the Committees can you please reconsider what you did and let Mr Li Li Liberty do his job the business committee have the people he wants on the committee because he knows what he needs to do um stop stacking the Committees you have an agenda and it's so transparent to everybody here you got to stop um you know I talked about the new student here there are things that a board member has to do it's not hard you have to file your election paperwork and you have to a code of ethics to abide by there's really no accountability to that though if you don't file your stuff I could go to elect and file something and it would probably take three or four years same thing with ethics so I have stuff I've love you've been talking about a lot of policy and I would love for somebody to discuss this and you guys can have my paperwork here if you want but the first one I have here is no person who has not followed the law and appropriately made the necessary filings with the New Jersey election law enforcement commission may be elected to the position of president or vice president this is asking the board to hold the board accountable if you don't follow the law I'm sorry Mr R you shouldn't be sitting in that chair you've ignored every request to say hey who funded your campaign you've done nothing okay it doesn't matter who gave it to you you have to report it it's the law but there's no accountability there so you can sit there so I'm asking this board to do that um same thing with chair of a committee if you don't do the right thing you can't be it also if you have a pending ethics case you can't be sitting in that chair again that's nobody up here but I'm just trying to look ahead and say we want to set an example for our kids so I'm going to ask somebody to bring this up as a motion and again if anybody wants my paper I got four of them here you can have it and again this is about right and wrong let's do the right thing okay how do we if you if you disagree with what I just said I would ask you to think about the kids here and say why is it okay for somebody who has not followed the law to be sitting in the president seat it makes no sense to me so I'll ask does anybody want my piece of paper here that has what I've written down in four motions thank I would love to see some discussion he was I would love to see some discussion thank you okay Mr Ross can I make a comment uh for the solicitor uh I thought back around January when we had the reorganization there was an issue that came up from the public about uh you know this filing reports and all and as I recall I thought and correct me if I'm wrong that you said the proper place is not at the board but with filing it with the elect so that was Adam my partner that said that okay but that is in accurate I believe I mean obviously I don't have Verbatim what he said but that is the gist of what he said yes okay thank you all right just to to clarify that though um it is New Jersey law that every candidate has to file those forms correct correct and is that what Mr balero suggested of a policy whereby could the could this board create a policy that says oh you can't elect somebody as board president that didn't file their file their elect paperwork is that even something that a board could do like would we have the power to do that likely not without having any time to look into the issue likely not but I I could certainly look into that as well if you would like remember board board members do not have the ability to police other board members that that's one thing that you know there always a difficult conversation with boards but it's you know the only organization that could police a board is the SEC uh I'm not saying that what Mr bdar baldasaro gave you is is not legally permissible but I would definitely need to look into that and consider it you can share a copy me if you want AB I'll give you just okayl okay yeah so I got a question oh Sor no goad Mr um I see here there's two different it seems to be two different entities School ethics commission sorry School ethics commission and the office of administrative law judge for determination uh are those two separate things those are two separate enties if you have a pending School ethics charge and you they find no nothing was done the SEC is out of it correct and two separate so the person totally different jurisdiction totally different subject matters before them okay so the office so so things In fairness oh okay he's talking about elect and office of okay all right so if yeah so he's correcting that the O yes that judge will hear the matter ultimately yes I'm sorry I totally misunderstood what I'm saying is school ethics commission yes you have a if you have a finding that exonerate person the person follow the component and still go and say I want second review I want a second opinion I'm going to take this out once the matter is dismissed it's done okay it doesn't keep going on what ends up happening what ends up happening is that if there's an accusation and sadly I know all about this about accusations um so I went through three years of of nonsense but you can write down whatever you want about an official and if what could be proven true if if if it if it could be proven true it will essentially flow through to the office of administrative law some things may get dismissed um along the way but in the end the school at this commission will eventually be out of it and then it will transfer completely to the O I want to take a second and respond um I uh there's there's a lot of great Parts about what we do and I think that uh everybody would agree tonight was amazing right tonight amazing and we did so much that was great for kids but we also get Meed down in a lot of things that are not about what's best for kids and that needs to change um and I'll say personally that you know one of the things I constantly try to do with my life is to try to always refocus and ensure that I'm doing what's best and great example was this week I got up I brushed my teeth on Monday and I'm like I have to get to at least two buildings today and then my day ends up going sideways a lot um as you can as you can see by being here uh but unilaterally no matter what I do um I'm focused on what's best for kids I'm focused on trying to ensure that we all together can make Washington Township the very best school district in the state if not if not the nation to answer to answer Tom's questions um is it normal I think I had it right is it normal to hire someone with material defects or not having a license that answer is just 100 100% no and I'm gonna I'm going to take five minutes and I'm GNA make sure that my conscience is clear as a superintendent because I'm always going to have integrity and you know it's okay if if people don't appreciate that but I I stand on that 100% so we thanks s we um we had a lot of opa requests uh coming in that that focused all all on the approval of IC as our insurance broker and when these came in and they came in Fast and Furious I asked a lot of questions Janine sometimes tells me to get out of her office not really but kind of you know and asks you know I ask a lot of questions and I I didn't like what I found and there's there's there's a lot of things that are that are eyebrow raising um so first off whenever you do anart RFP there's always a rating sheet so we have rating sheets for every RFP and what ends up happening is that they look like this and then what happens is that the administration rank orders things so for every RFP this should tie right back to the criteria so in the case of the insurance broker back in 2021 when you look at who inevitably got approved the person that got approved which was IC was a 16 and a 15 out of 40 they were the last dead last dead last so to answer your question is that normal that is the opposite of normal I've actually I've actually never seen that at all coupled with the fact that you to answer your question um was there a license no there was definitely not a license but the list of defects and all of this now is uh attorney client privileges waved references were not from public school districts the partner firm was not identified there was no description of the staff or team that was available there was no resumés of experience the the individual's banking license expired in March of that year no educational background the second piece that was massively concerning and massively concerning aside from the fact that inevitably what ended up happening is we put on someone who was ranked dead last is that there was a there was a legal analysis done here and I'm I'm going to read you the last part of this while I'm not making any recommendation to the board on the financial aspects and ultimate selection of the health benefits consultant the current defects in the IC proposal are considerable so what ended up happening then was is that the then board president Julie kmle directed Janine to remove things from an agenda that happened you can find the agenda you can see that it was 100% deleted then it was read in at a board meeting and there's emails that went out to the committee at that time that did not inform everybody of the fact that the rating sheets were dead last or that there was a legal email that cautioned the caution flag was up and then what ended up happening is that it was read in to an agenda that person was then approved and then immediately that person ended up costing the Board of Education I think it was $400,000 J about $400,000 so as your superintendent um I took this information and I've spoken to actually two lawyers that are not sitting at this Das and I also relayed this information to the office of public integrity and accountability because quite frankly I'm I'm I'm massively concerned about this entire process and how that ever could have happened here is just mindboggling to me and I think it's a great testimony to what we have to do and what we have to ensure moving forward never ever ever occurs here and I will never let that happen here without coming in and explaining but I am I have brought this to the board and board members it was received differently um and quite frankly my head hits the pillow with integrity and this was not okay and I did what I needed to do so there's your answer Mr B no not normal other wcra hi my name is Heather wickcraft um congratulations Mr orino on your appointment um I also wanted to I talked to some already but on October 24th at the Washington Township senior center from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. I know there's already the League of Women Voters meet the candidate but this will be more of a round T discussion it's more relaxed but I wanted to make sure Mr Arpino Mr Serano and Mr Lindsay as well as the other candidates have all received their invitations as well as surveys that I sent out um probably for the last 9 10 years almost every election that there was we've sent out different surveys and whether or not the candidates can come or people can attend um their answers are still provided either in digital or paper form so everybody's voices are heard but that's all thank you thank you just um thank thank you heather just real quick on that thank you heather um so for the board if Mr Arpino Mr Serano Mr Lindsay if you guys are going to attend I just want to make sure that we don't have two additional board members there CU that would be a quorum so just if we can communicate ourselves if someone wanted to go and it sounds like Heather it's an open meeting like if we wanted to go we just have to be where like careful because we already have three of you there so two additional people can't join if one other person just communicates amongst ourselves if somebody wanted to go only one of us could go just want to make sure that we're aware correct just wanted to make sure for the board if someone wanted to go and you know listen we just can't have two people from the board additionally thank you for that Mr uh Dr HS I'm um glad to that you went over that last uh bit of information clarified some of the rumors that were out there um so before I get into that what I just watched for probably close to an hour was a bunch of inside baseball about nonsense that a a minor point that Mr Li Liberty wants to bring up or high pass that you you know regarding ethics basically what it comes down to took a discussion for over a half hour and push back by Mr sanum by Mrs Baker all right Mrs Blom I didn't hear how you voted so I I I couldn't understand whether he said yes or no uh but uh it's all political nonsense so then we get to the main story and the main story is that Mrs kmle was the Board of Education president she had a scheme to get the uh a new superintendent who was her girlfriend friend you know best friend uh as the new superintendent before Joe bandorf even said he was going to resign okay I read that in public she wrote it she denied writing it then she lied and said I did nothing wrong really I don't know it seems to me that we're facing an Ethics charge related to it which the district is paying for by the way in terms of her lawyers all right uh uh on top of that we get this insurance broker who I believe is the uh not back then but today is the co-chair of the Democrat political party locally uh that party has been highly suspect of being more involved in Schoolboard elections undermining the Integrity of this District than the Republican party and that's hard for me to say especially since I'm a Democrat but I'm a real one Sano um on top of that Mrs kmle uh then puts forth this insurance broker whose name is milm I believe was connected to this company and now he's under indictment in relation to other matters and his involvment uh undermining the public trust and then we find out from Dr hibs here that he uh his insurance firm or IC was not the most qualified and that Mrs kmle pushed it through under the noses of her board members and then we ended up um losing $400,000 on top of that and Mr RPO uh you've made a lot of comments about teachers not bleachers you know I don't know what that means but uh that $400,000 could have gone a long way don't you think right that we were putting towards h a scam and this woman has the audacity to run for the Board of Education again and people like you Mr Sano and Mr Ross and Mrs Baker join her in her little uh Communications with at the Pagel shop or whatever as you plot and scheme the uh further undermining of this District all right that's what's happened here it's overtly political it's always been political no one's going to argue that I could site 20 years ago I can go back to you Ral when Tom Fleming who was a vice principal at orcher Valley at the time had a uh application on his Destiny threw it down in front of me and Eli maslov and it had a little sticky note on it and he says look at this and it had sticky note said Mrs Baker you're aware of this too and it said hire but can't fire he says we get these all the time from Central Administration under Dr Terrell at the time where we are told hire but can fire hire but can't fire all right that's what's going on in this district for many many years but it's never been to the extent it is now all right and about this campaign Finance I think you want to start telling her the public where you got your money Ral for this last election all right and so so uh the same would apply to you Mr Sano always a tough act to follow Ron um I had a question about the discussion of resume and board members being able to look at RS that was a very lengthy conversation so if I I missed the answer to this um I hope what you're voting on is not taking away the right for a board member to pull resumés um I heard what Dr Hib said about um not fishing and it sounded like that was for employees current employees but when you have candidates applying for a job um and this is something I previously mentioned at a board meeting and also um had wrote an email about if there's a candidate that applies and doesn't even get a second interview that is way over qualified for the job and it's brought to the board you should be able to I feel her I'm I'm ready you should be able to pull those reses because if there's 30 resumés and the person that's really qualified for the job didn't get the job there should be a reason why um but nobody would know that because the person that's hiring them makes that call and we should be able to trust them that they are making the right decision but now twice just this year I know two people that are qualified that did not get a job two of them didn't get a second interview and I know that the special head department is out of compliance there's no reason that these two individuals should not have gotten hired they were overqualified by education by experience and by certifications if the board of education is able to pull those resumés if it ended up being that they were the ones qualified for the job over the person that was hired that's a problem or if nobody was hired and that job sat open and a kid is affected that's a problem so we should be able to trust the person that's doing that that doesn't happen all the time in this District so you guys are who we come to next I don't want to see your rights get taken away when parents have to have somewhere to go that's not that person um because again it's happened twice already and both of these people our kids would have benefited from the schools would have benefited from they didn't deserve to not work here because of a Personal Agenda or whatever it was but there should be a way that you guys could look into that so I hope what you're voting on is not taking away that right from yourselves for those specific purposes so that's just my take on that I'm going to go now thanks you like you kind of like before I was saying why why do we need that's a why if it's just because I want to that's a different story I don't if that makes sense if there's a reason and there's a why that's one thing if it's just because I want to look because I want to look I don't think i' like superintendent because I never do that's not but when okay have a motion close to the public it's m moved second all in favor I okay uh motion to adjourn move second all in favor I e e