##VIDEO ID:5SKcjrUURY0## we get into committee reports just want to make a couple comments uh one uh Happy Veterans Day I know it's a day late but again I want to thank all the veterans uh who certainly made it possible for us to be here in this great democracy that we call the United States of America I also uh just quick comment uh we haven't met since we've been at the school board some of us were at the school board meeting which I thought was excellent very productive Tim I want to thank you you gave me a list of all our vendors and I made it a uh priority to stop at every one of their booths the S so uh that was good also uh we had the opportunity to uh hear uh comments from the interim uh Commissioner of Education who highlighted that Governor Murphy's plan and emphasis this year was literacy which I was shocked and I guess happy to hear cuz when I went to school a half a century ago I guess that wasn't the uh plan and now I know why I was labeled functionally illiterate because I guess literacy was not a priority back then but now it is so that's great so we're happy to hear that and hopefully the students can move forward and now I know why I guess the teachers did not back me because my platform was accountability and not literacy so I guess I missed the mark with that said let's move into committee reports education Mr Morrison thank you thank you Mr President um the education committee met uh last week on November 5th uh the first item that we talked about was the ninth grade math Lunch Bunch uh as we had discussed last year Mr delesio explained that there was a change in the sequence of nth grade CP level math students geometry CP Algebra 1 and then Algebra 2 implemented this year as an additional instuctional time called Lunch Bunch for nth grade students where they get additional instruction in problem Sol problem areas during lunch uh on one out of four days in the schedule there's a dedicated teacher for the program who works with the students to provide targeted instruction to address the gaps in learning the students also receive instruction in the use of the DMO calculators protractors and I EXL uh they're looking to gauge the effectiveness of the sequence shift and lunch punch through data over the next several years uh and I think it's important to understand that this is not uh like it's not a study hall or a free study time that it's actually directed uh instructional time uh to support those students uh we then had a discussion about the AP sequencing update for English uh particularly as it relates to the writing lab Mr Quia provided an update on our revised AP English sequence with run which runs in 10th and 11th grade instead of 11th and 12th grade uh the new AP the new I'm sorry the new English AP sequencing last year due to the transition both for both our 10th and 11th graders they were taking the AP language and comp exam uh the average score for each grade level only differentiated by 0.1% uh in addition in anticipation of phasing out AP English for our 12th grade graders we revised the 12th grade English curriculum a couple years ago to comprise one semester of expository writing and one semester of selected English seminar topics Mr aquavia also shared that we have uh reintroduced our writing lab which was closed a few years ago due to the minimal use by students it's been reopened as a Writing Center where teachers can send students during class to meet with an on duty English teacher to get feedback about their writing uh we also got an update from the October professional development uh programs uh Miss Carl reviewed the October professional learning day with the committee she shared the schedule of the day and provided an in-depth review of each session the sessions evolved from feedback of previous p sessions from teachers in their interest for future sessions the morning sessions followed up with the departmental uh followed up on the departmental initiatives introduced at our September PD days the afternoon sessions were special interest topics as well as the opportunity for the staff to build your own professional learning uh lastly we discussed the Design Lab planning for uh 25 26 courses as well as our uh Design Lab coordinator uh Dr JW explained that uh Peter ponzio was selected to be the Design Lab coordinator I believe is on the agenda tonight for our approval uh this was discussed at the recent uh Personnel committee um we will be working on curriculum for two introductory level design courses to be offered next year one will be our existing intro to engineering course and the second will be a a new non-engineering focused design course when the eighth grade counselors meet with our counselors in December uh here uh we will provide a tour of the new space and an overview of our plans for our design program Pathways we're also working on plans to showcase the space during various events 8th grade parents night as well as to host an open house in addition we're planning on moving existing classes into the Design Lab for the SE the for the second semester of this year um as we've discussed here at the board table the committee suggested uh getting the word out to the to the community on the Innovations and opportunities that have been created for our students not only with the Design Lab but all the construction that's gone on over the last several years uh and we suggested producing a video of all the in all the Innovations uh with students actively working in the spaces as well as providing some openhouse opportunities uh for the general public to come in and see the facilities um then uh Dr J mentioned that an update on college applications would be provided to us at future meetings and asked for any suggestions for additional topics uh that was the extent of our meeting uh any committee members have anything else to add all right thank you yeah um Personnel committee met on November 4th at 3:30 p.m. presid were Heather tror Michael bernberg Susan obber Tim sty myself and Dr jet um first item was uh discussed was about the Design Lab coordinator position a candidate was selected for the Design Lab coordinator position one of our engineering teachers Peter ponzio the committee discussed putting this on the November 12th agenda as an action item instead of for discussion with action on November 26th in order to better coincide with the timing of the opening of our Design Lab an update on leave Replacements within the district um was given to the Personnel committee speech and debate club and computer science club previously were volunteer clubs during prior Board of Education dis discussion the board decided to fund these clubs and they are on the agenda this evening and a preview of the Personnel items for November was reviewed and discussed Carol operations the operations committee met on November 6th in attendance were Michael bernberg Bill marich Bob Morrison Heather trur Elizabeth JWT Tim sty Chris Bick and myself Chris and Tim brought us up to date on the construction projects The Design Lab contractors are working on the flooring lighting and painting with the project proceeding on schedule we expect furniture delivery next week which is this week actually the committee recommends approv uh the committee recommends approval of the Design Lab coordinator which has been reported on both committee reports before so I skip past the rest of that the chiller replacement was scheduled to start uh the next day November 7th and equipment was expected to be on site to remove all units from the courtyard Tim has met with the architect and uh there's plan to proceed with to uh the plans to move sack to the former Health office space they also reviewed the cost savings derived from the solar panels the committee um reviewed some unabridged unabridged isn't that funny unbudgeted large purchases which are on the horizon and Tim advised that at this time in the budget year we can recommend that we allocate funding for the following projects from Surplus uh replacement of the projector in the pack replace the stadium sound system replace the Press boxes on the baseball and soft full Fields see the 22 20 20 23 and 24 audit is near completion and we can expect Mr viny to make his presentation to the board within a month there is a need to review uh and renew contracts with the attorneys and Auditors next year Michael asked if there was potential for Savings in this area and Bob discussed the benefits of having a schedule including CL which will help the board make better determinations Tim reported about a meeting with the the athletic director wrestling coach booster club president to determine the division of expenses for the wrestling qualifiers for the state tournament the EXP the expenses for the tournament will likely increase with the addition of a women's team also the booster club is requesting the board increase their contribution allowing qualifiers to stay an additional night due to the early morning weighin uh the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 amm that is did it any questionsly 7 AM and so they have to be out of here at 4 in the morning practically and if you oh me speak into the thing um wrestling is a very intense Sport and having youngsters be up that early and then expect to wrestle is a bit of a hardship on um when only the top 16 in the state get there in any given weight so there's no one down no one has an easy ride once you get to Atlantic City and wrestling so that's that's for the board to decide though that vote is coming up okay Strate strategic plan so that uh this now I'm having a difficult time pronouncing it the strategic planning committee uh met on October 28th and in attendance was myself Michael bernberg Lisa dagio Bob Morrison Janine Potter Liz jitt and Tim sty uh so our strategic P plan ends this year and we would normally probably by this time have chosen a consultant to help us through the strategic planning process um but we decided that we would push it out a bit the selection of a um consultant um so that we can use the the data from the feasibility study with a regionalization committee um to help us it wouldn't make sense to to start this process now and then in um the spring get the results of the feasibility study so we're working backwards from a May 2025 um approval date of a consultant and so probably I think and we said sometime after the beginning of the new year we would send out um an RFP and then begin interviewing consultants and so forth uh the consultant will work with the administration and the board over the summer to plan for fall implementation of the planning process um we are anticipating an approval of our strategic plan goals will be next November December December November December 2025 um we will add uh because we looked at the 2019 RFP so um to make changes to the 2024 25 RFP um we're going to add to the scope of services for the C consultant to include two public board presentations one at the beginning of the process and one at the culmination of the process uh we're going to talk about uh the need for board retreats facilitated by the consultant um and there was a suggestion that we look at something like thought exchange or a similar Community engagement platform as a feedback tool for the process um actually one one thing that uh was included in the report is that we um we could remove the from the scope of services that um developing our results dashboard because the last time around um we used our own it team to do it but I don't know that that was necessarily decided thought that was something no we didn't we tried to use the dashboard and now Andy right there um developed a much better piece for our website so we were saying we don't need that okay I realize that that's why we did it the last time I didn't really get that impression from our meeting this this time we definitely weren't going to did go with the dashboard last time and we'd haven't used it so that's why we were saying we don't no I realize that so I I'm just saying sorry what what I'm trying to say is I didn't realize that we made that decision at that meeting that we just had for the next one oh I didn't but so it's something we'll we could talk about I didn't I wasn't under the impression that we had made the decision for our new strategic plan we definitely didn't use it the last time around well we attempted to and it was not user friendly so oh I just thought when we brought it up nobody expressed that they wanted it I didn't so maybe I miss interpreted that canly discuss it we talked about the last time we didn't necessarily talk about going forward okay so it's something again we can any questions anybody else want to add anything no I just think before we make a decision we would want to you know have an understanding of what it took for us to do it internally um you know versus the the expense the significant expense that the Consultants were charging to to create it I me I think that we may uh we may be able to do it internally the technology is you know significantly different today than it was before in being able to embed those kind of things into the website so I mean I would be open to having us do it internally uh at the same time I'd also want to be concerned I I don't want to make sure that we're not uh unduly burdening internal staff you know I think that's what I think I'm confused does everyone realize we changed to doing it internally we abandoned the dashboard that they had because they sold it to us but then didn't it was up to us to maintain it and it wasn't easy to utilize like it didn't interface with anything that we had so that so it didn't so so we transitioned to using one ourselves so if we want to look at outside ones again we can now I I there's only two of us I think who were even part of the board when we went through this process the last time probably so um so my memory was that it was a disappointment to us that we went with a consultant thinking we were going to get this workable Pro uh product that we didn't end up getting and had to develop internally so maybe we won't even ask that on our RFP this time but I didn't feel we had really addressed that at the meeting yeah they sold us vaporware basically big promises no capability I sent lots of comments too feedback of how they can make better but they didn't take any of them but I I I do think with I do think with this type of information and the dashboarding technology that's out there that it may be more beneficial if we work collaboratively particularly with our internal it team to design you know what it is that we want to have visible to the public and so that it can be updated so the public can keep hold us accountable for the things that we're saying that we're going to do within that strategic plan so I'm all for keeping it internal as long as we're not overburdening our folks internal we can and I know for some of the things that like the Retreats that we want to kind of talk about if we want that to be in the RFP I think last time we had some things that were kind of options that we had what we absolutely wanted and then other things that you know wouldn't make or break it so they didn't affect us accepting it or denying it but we could decide based on their pricing if wanted to consider those additional pieces so this could even be one of those if we want to see what they have to offer in terms of a a some kind of data metrics dashboard um and if they propose Retreats and we can decide if we want to take them up on that so that way it's not an absolute part of the right proposal but things that the board can decide later on I think we can do it that way right Tim right yeah so that way we don't have to decide or commit to that right now when we're issuing it but I I I do think having some publicly available for accountability is critical agre oh we talked about that didn't we Sor thought it Oh I thought you R we have to have an RFP for uh for the guidance part or whatever uh and I know we're working backwards from the date so was that discussed about get yes we have that in our notes what what I'm thinking we'll do if the board you know is in agreement with what was tentatively talked about is then Tim can create a draft for everyone to look at and that'll have the dates in there so then we can and the Strategic plan committee can come back together to look at the revised draft you know and then share that with the full board that's what God bless you yeah and the whole idea behind the timing was uh to get the RFP out so that we could start getting proposals back and while while those are coming in then the regionalization study report report should be coming out so that when we hire you know a consultant the report will be public and then we can build on it yeah we're not it's not we're waiting for one to start the other we're going to we all we the discussion was to to run it uh parallel anything else on that okay before we go to public comment Dr JT has her own comment to make I I just wanted to um sh share with everyone a little heads up for our next board meeting so last year's softball team uh was the state champion uh they were they won the state the njsi state championship but because it was so late in the spring we weren't able to acknowledge them at a board meeting it's a certainly obviously a pretty good deal uh so we did invite them to our next board meeting we picked the next one hoping that um perhaps some of last year's seniors might be home to come back for it yeah so what we're going to do is um because of course there's not only one event that night there's a banquet that night that some students are going to so I talked to Michael about this we're going to we don't have to read advertise anything the board meeting will still start at 700 but at 6:45 we'll have a brief reception with some you know cookies and and treats ahead of time and then at 7 we'll open the meeting honor them then they can go and we'll go into Clos session so if you're able to come at 6:45 um there you know we did get a great response from the parents I think we have almost 30 between the parents and the students for the next meeting so I'll send an email reminder out but just so everyone knows now um so that we can actually acknowledge them because that was a pretty great accomplishment so the coach Brian figorito will be here um who then be heading to the girl soccer banquet that same night and then uh and we'll have a number of the athletes so that'll be a nice thing to acknowledge because we we didn't want to um neglect that just because it was you know at the end of the year after our our season of board meetings and the school year was over so anyway that's it great thank you okay the F this is the first opportunity for a public comment note the first public public comment period will be limited to agenda items only for this meeting the second public comment period will be open for any topic all comments are limited to five minutes do we have any public comments this evening seeing none I close the first session of public comments uh we move on to four discussion items a future action items any discussion there shall we move into action items then uh Mr President I'd like to move items A1 through A4 comments discussion R call Mr Mr maio Mr Gall yes Miss Lee Mr Morrison yes Miss obber yes M Potter yes rasa yes M chour yes and Mr Burber yes motions Carri Mr President I'd like to move items A5 through A7 any com second sorry any comments on that okay roll call Mr St Mr magio Mr Gall yes Lee Morrison yes obber yes pra yes trur yes and Mr B yes car Mr President I'd like to move items C1 through C12 comments All call Mr St Mr Ma scall yes Lee Morrison yes sober yes Potter Yesa yes chour yes and Mr yes motions carry Mr President I'd like to move items D1 through D5 second any comments yes on on D4 I just want to highlight that the board accepts with gratitude a donation of $25,000 from Danny Wen to be used used for the Dr Thomas Dey Memorial Scholarship fund that's incredibly generous and we certainly ensure that uh Dr Gan the gans's uh Legacy will be remembered every year uh for a really long time so that's just incredibly generous and our sincere thanks to uh Danny Wen for such a contribution absolutely I think we're all in agreement any other comments roll call Mr St Mr maio Gall yes Lee Mr Morrison yes Mr sober yes poter yes rasa yes trur yes and Mr bber yes motions Carri Mr President I'd like to move items D6 and D7 second any comments roll call please Mr maio Gall yes Lee Mr Morrison yes sober yes CA yes jur yes and Mr bber yes motions carry this is now the second opportunity for public comment again second public comment period it's open for any comments and please all comments limited to five minutes do we have any comments seeing none we move into other business Mr Morrison did you have something you wanted to discuss uh yes um as the board members know and as we've discussed before the um you know we've been working to try to make sure that the U the rates that we are paying our teachers for uh the various uh clubs and activities uh that they volunteer for or are paid for uh are competitive with our surrounding communities um as part of that I know that there's been some discussion uh in trying try to get uh the unit allocations increased particularly for some of those positions that uh clearly are undercompensated for the amount of time and the number of students that they're working on I know that there's been some sort of discussion going back and forth with the union and I'm just not sure if there's been any further update on that and if so what that is so since we brought it up at Ed Council um we I have not gotten any update um so I don't know if they um intend on reconsidering but we're hopeful thank you um I just want to congratulate Katherine Lee on an incredible uh Board of Elections win in last election day couple last Tuesday I guess um and also uh I to go back to some of the general comments um we still have to talk about the traffic patterns in the front now that we put signs up we've actually codified or enforced really bad traffic patterns that need to be changed to correct ones at some point um so we do need to talk about that the other thing too is we need to have a real discussion I believe maybe maybe we don't but I believe we do about the start time on school every morning at 5:15 my kids get up it's too early it's just too early I understand that when you're an adult and you're 25 and you're starting work and you got to get up at 5:15 to get into the city yeah you know you got to do that but at 14 and 13 to begin with and then moving on to teenage years it is just way too early and we just have to have a serious discussion about is this affecting our grades or test scores how the kids operate during the school maybe it doesn't but I mean as a parent I think it does and um I I think we just need to have an honest discussion of what that costs the school in terms of where our grades could be where our test scores could be where our efforts are um so I just think that that's a something that the Board needs to reconsider and I don't believe for a second that that's a short conversation um that being said it needs to start I believe and I think we tried to do this a couple years ago and maybe we try it again um I just you know and I realize it's busing and a bunch of other things but we we did bring that up as part of the regionalization piece so we're hoping to get some information with the transportation study that will help with that conversation so but I and and I would add on to that I don't think that there's I don't know that you'd find much disagreement on this board for a desire to move the star times to be later um and I as as far as you know research and studies we don't need more research and studies on this uh there's plenty of research there's plenty of studies that show the the demonstrable impact that having a later start time for our high school seniors uh and the positive impact that it has our uh just recently our neighbor to the north of us uh Basking Ridge uh they just went to that type of later start time for their high school I know that um the the folks down in Bridgewater have been talking about it as well this is a conversation that's going on not only in across the state but across this country it's the right thing to do we've just got to find a way through and we're certainly trying to address it through regionalization study um but I don't think that should be the only Avenue and I think at some point in time we may just have to say that if we want to do this we are going to have to stand up our own transportation system and not worry about coordinating with everyone else um that's not that's not my preference I would wish that folks would cooperate with this kind of discussion but if they're not we have to do what's in the best interest of our students and if starting the school later is going to benefit them significantly from a variety of metrics not only grades but mental health issues and other type of opportunities then we should absolutely take take the opportunity U to figure out how we can get from here to that point I guess it goes under the category of where there's a will there's a way I think it's time to just make that will happen and move forward somehow and if it costs more then we go to the taxpayers and say this is our recommendations and it's going to cost cost more but it should yield results um anyway those are my comments thank you good points and Su I'm not mistaken you also won election did you not run I but you still won and if and if I'm not mistaken I believe Mr Gall also won yes congratulations no you did but you did you chose not to and again just to Echo Bob's point I don't think there's much resistance on the board to changing to start time my understanding has been it's always been a logistic issue and just like everyone said and no reason to beat the dead horse but there may be a time where just rip the Band-Aid off and just do it and we move on and everyone else either follows or they don't then that's that's their problem but we got to just like you said at some point we really have to do what's right for our specific District because we try to do what's right for the entire School District you know we have four schools that we really deal with and the preference is to do what's right for everybody but there may come a time where we just have to really focus on our own and and given the amount of time that Mr sty has been spending on Transportation issues not only for our district but for also watchong I'm sure that he would enjoy having oversight of our own transportation system I have a transportation coordinator there she's so you're ready to go accept this charge great okay uh anyone else have anything I'll entertain a motion to adjourn so all those in favor we are adjourned thank you everybody