##VIDEO ID:gyq3AElZ2kQ## good evening everyone the executive session of the Wayne Board of Education regular meeting of August 22nd 2024 was convened in the conference room of the Wayne Board of education5 driveway New Jersey statement of compliance setting forth date time and location was read in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act in the rooll call was taken the meeting was recessed this time I ask you to please stand for the flag salute followed by a Moment of Silence congratul to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty justice for all thank you everyone please be seated at this time the board is going we're going to we have to go back into executive session for one Personnel item um we should only be about 15 minutes at the most um so I'll take a motion to go into exact motion Mrs Roso Mr favor we're exact we we'll be back in about 15 minutes thank you I'm so sorry e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e huh e thank you everyone I apologize Dr tobac superintendent report we don't have one no well over there we'll move in so good evening everybody this is a great time of the year for all Educators and board members we're very excited about the start of the new school year I want to take a moment to thank all of our 12 month employees who have worked so hard over the past few months to make sure that our schools are organized fully supplied well mained attained and ready for the return of students on September 3rd and 4th I'm sorry return of staff on September 3rd and 4th and then on September 5th which is the first day of school for students the agenda for this board meeting tonight is largely focused on Staffing and other actions related to the start of the new school year as you can see the central office and the human resources department in particular has all been very busy with numerous new hires I know there are a number of reports coming out of the committee work from tonight and so rather than duplicate those reports I'll just move on to a few other topics that are very important to the board to the administration and the Community First of all enrollment and class size is something we've been monitoring closely all summer at this point we are not over the class siiz guidelines that have been in place for many years in two cases we moved ahead with hiring new teachers at Tunis for grade three and ryal Carter also grade three we were able to shift existing staff when enrollments decreased in other areas to add a second grade section at Lafayette and a kindergarten section at JFK as of today we continue to monitor Fallon second grade lafayette's fourth grade and Tunis fourth grade however at this time none have met the recommended maximum class sizes this week was very busy week in the school system we held first of all our annual new employee orientation on Wednesday and also today we welcomed approximately 75 new employees into the district I'd like to thank Mr pavlac who represented the Board of Education and welcoming our new employees along with Mr Sardi who welcome employees on behalf of the Wayne education Association the new employee orientation is comprehensive and provides our new employees everything they need to have a great start for their employment in our school system and also a special thank to Mrs Clark and all of her team from the HR department the administrative retreat was also held this week on Tuesday and Wednesday August 21st and 22nd there were two very productive days highlighted by a workshop offered by the office of civil rights our administrators received training about a variety of civil rights issues with a focus on obligations of schools to balance the right to free speech while protecting students from bullying bias incidents and bias crimes the administration is now taking the next step and providing TurnKey training to our instructional staff at the schools so now we're going to move on to the NJ GPA report the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment also known as NJ GPA is a mandatory test for all public high school students it includes content aligned with the New Jersey student learning standards in English language arts arts Algebra 1 and geometry so at this time I'd like to ask Mrs rman to deliver the required report for the Board of Education and the community thank you um tomorrow there'll be a full report online you'll be able to see the presentation this is the first year that we've ever been required to report out which is why um we're sharing this out this evening um as Dr toak shared the NJ the NJ GPA um measures the extent to which students are graduation ready in English language arts and Mathematics um and it's based on 10th grade standards the mathematics component assesses student graduation Readiness based on Algebra 1 and geometry standards and all of our students take the same math test whether they're in the special needs program or in AP Calculus um it's required to be administered to students in grade 11 as part of um the graduation assessment requirements that were adopted by the State Board of Education in 2021 a minimum score of 725 is required for each component Ela and Mathematics uh and this was adopted by the State Board of Education in the spring of 20123 students who do not achieve the score can use Alternatives such as the SAT the PSAT act or a complete portfolio unlike the njla where there are five outcome categories the NJ GPA only as two um either your graduation ready or not it's important to keep in mind that with this system students can miss a cut off for passing by a single question we had 34 students scored within two points of passing and this included about 25 students or about 4% of our test takers in math um just some broad Strokes to highlight uh we the Wayne schools outperformed the rest of the state which is great news the cohort of ninth grade students um who had about a 60% passing rate on the njsla when they were in grade nine was the cohort that was tested in 11th grade and um we had a 90% passing rate um with these Juniors and that's an indicator of our recovery efforts since the pandemic we've made great strides um you we were unable to make the same comparison for math because there are different tests uh I just also wanted to point out that um in ela all of our student demographics had a passing rate of over 83% and um there was very small differences by group and you have to consider the fact that we have students with special needs um and we have students with who are taking APA courses uh you can view the full presentation tomorrow morning uh it'll be on the website thank you okay then just to wrap things up um for fall Athletics the fall teams at each High School are preparing for another memorable chapter in Wayne Valley and Wayne Hills athletic history all of our student athletes and coaches are looking forward to an excellent and competitive season and for the Hib report there are no hibs to report thank you Mr Moffett revision to the agenda please yes we have a few tonight under M Human Resources M3 approv of District staff will revise number 44 uh first name is y AI last name is t a l oou Stan titled to read part-time professional uh on M3 again number 49 again approval of District staff I'll read the first name m i l l i c n t last name is s t y l i a n o u salary should read $ 27,2 28 we will be removing from M3 approval of District staff we'll be removing number 24 Christina Zimmerman z m m e r m a n longterm replacement for occupational therapist Lafayette under school resource legal we'll be adding a few tonight uh q1 which is an approval of employment separation agreement and release and irrevocable letter of resignation uh Rec recommend um sorry the resolution reads as follows resolve that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent hereby approves the employment separation agreement and release an irrevocable letter of resignation in the matter of employee ID number 9330 dated August August 22 2024 as attached by reference and further authorizes the board president and secretary to execute same on behalf of the board the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps required by the terms of settlement to further Implement same we'll be adding Q2 approval of settlement agreement and release that reads as follows resolve that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent hereby approves a settlement agreement and release in the matter of student ID number 331 628 3968 o a docket number EDS 10898 d223 n agency reference number 20 23- 3518 n as attached by reference and further authorizes the board president and secretary to execute same on behalf of the board the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps required by the terms of the settlement to further Implement same adding Q3 approval of settlement agreement and general lease that reads resolve that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of superintendent hereby approves a settlement agreement and release in the matter of student ID number 58753 57481 as attached by reference and further authorizes the board president and secretary to execute same on behalf of the board the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps required by the terms of settlement to further Implement same we're adding Q4 approval of settlement and agreement and general release resolve that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of superintendent hereby approves a settlement agreement and release in the matter of student ID number 756 8501 1865 as attached by reference and further authorizes the board president and secretary to execute the same on behalf of the board the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps required by the terms of the settlement to further Implement same and finally Q5 approval of him hi determination and that reads as follows resolve that the board affirm the superintendent's decision on Hib case number 176 back 2023-2024 following an appeal as required by njsa 18a colon 37-15 parentheses B parentheses 6 parentheses e that includes the changes to tonight's agenda thank you at this time I'll will open the meeting for public comment on agenda items only this portion of the meeting is open to Citizens for comments on agenda items only residents are asked to State their name address and subject matter comments may be limited to three minutes per person members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or student the board Bears no responsibility for comments made by the public comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to by the board other comments may be responded to tonight or at a subsequent meeting under old business do I have a moover move Mr Gano Mrs W anyone from the public wishing to speak on an agenda item seeing no one move the close second Mr bber Mr jordano we'll move on to committee reports start to my right all right I got a big one here a lot of stuff happened over the summer uh in facilities uh we met today it was myself Mr badell Mr pav Miss Tibbits Mr rain Mr skitzki and Mr mfet uh as you understand from the summertime lots of things had to get done over the summer and prep ation for the fall I was asked to uh bring some of these up before I say any of that I want to uh send a tip of the hat to the custodial and maintenance departments uh for getting these buildings ready they do a fantastic job and uh they don't go unrecognized and unnoticed so thank you for the work you guys have done here um I'll go in the order that the meeting went in which started with Transportation uh lots of stuff happened in transportation the uh Department of Education has released new Aid training requirements uh we are in discussion with them we had some uh new drivers uh this past spring we're finished up we want to find out for them will those uh trainings have to be added on to or moved on for those um we are very confident in the training the drivers have and uh we're in uh discussions with rolling out a training schedule so that they're all properly trained and we'll be able to handle those situations with our children going to school uh root pickup was scheduled for August 21st and 22nd uh also very important this coming Monday the 26th drivers will be doing Drive runs around the district so if you see a bus zipping around there's nobody inside of it understand these are the uh drivers practicing so that uh the first couple days of school which are always confusing the begin with they're a little less confusing and we'll get those children there safe and on time um we had to increase a new route for pay County Tech we at 4 we are now at 5 because we have even more people uh heading on to uh P County Tech I believe the numbers at about 175 uh students are heading over there so we have to uh get them from all over the town and bring them in it's like a normal bus route because they're scattered uh throughout the town so we're in the process of planning and finalizing that I'm glad they're ahead of that one um there will be a return to work meeting for the drivers on September 3rd at the Wayne palal again the purpose is to make sure that they're running nice and smooth and that the first couple of days which are always hectic are a little less hectic by uh excellent preparation uh moving on from there to buildings uh we had hurricane and tropical storm Debbie uh blessed us a couple of weeks ago with lots of rain and lots of water um Wayne Hills has become an issue that it floods almost every time there's a large storm or significant amounts of water the water table has risen over the years uh and the piping is becoming an issue uh we get water in the cafeteria in certain hallways every time it rains heavily we were hoping to get that uh mitigated with uh part of a referendum but we have now moved on from that and we're looking at ways to uh try to mitigate that situation there was a Boe waterline breakage uh by the data center the same time the storm came we thought it was the storm it was actually the additional uh uh additional pipe breaking on top of that actually it was a blessing for us because we were there to mitigate that immediately there was no significant damage um uh AP tur Hune and tuna day roof in-house patching uh is begun to prevent any further uh leaks but this is patching an old roof again we need a new roof on that one so we're going to have to come up with a way of finding the money to strip the old Roofing off and put a new one on many of the buildings need this but we are targeting the one ones that needed it the most so we have been informed that by September those uh will be sealed so there will be no uh rain coming in while classes are going on um for the school opening again this goes into all of the uh custodians and maintenance people uh all buildings had the floors stripped and waxed we had actually wait until last week in a couple of buildings because the police were doing training uh in those buildings for their own preparation for the safety of our students so once they were done we're able to get into that and make sure uh that the uh floors are stripped and waxed painting and repairs have been made as needed uh all light bulbs and ballast have been changed uh the classrooms have been cleaned from top to bottom athletic fields prepared for season openers we'll talk about the fields uh in a later part of this report uh we began a districtwide process to prepare for NJ cusac which is State monitoring facility which visits Us in Spring of 2025 where all classrooms and all parts of the building have to be under state code uh we have uh and another part of this uh we are looking at uh making changes to policy and regulation 7510 which is the use of facilities uh Inside by people outside the district uh we want to make sure that the uh fields are safe and are clean for our students and we're looking into making some changes uh because of that uh another big project is pness uh building skin roof and window replacement work has commenced on the roof expected to be watertight before school starts uh new flooring on the top hallway stair Landings anded two of the classrooms we have new furniture for one of the rooms on the first floor created a single occupancy bathroom for staff in the hallway of the first floor we'll continue to create one on the second floor we're installing prek height toilets and sinks upstairs in one of the rooms all the rooms that have kindergarteners are required by law to have a bathroom in the room so we're addressing that one again we're bringing lot of people in here uh we have to address those issues uh over at the data center uh working on our generator we're waiting to schedule a switch power over to psng uh facilities Department asked me to publicly say that psng has been extremely helpful and has been very very generous with their uh their timelines and working with us and we thank them for that uh in the board office we're working on a new security vestibule uh creation of a new break room conference room on the lower level which can be used for purposes in case of emergencies uh James founds restroom almost complete the staff bathroom will be ready for school they're only up to a punch list fix fixing some stuff on that over in the rod Grant area our Rod Grant programs a money that comes in from the state the Wayne Hills High School chimney is awaiting delivery of materials work is expected to be conducted once school commences after school hours the ryerson's uh security vestibule like many other ones were putting them in or they're are done this one is scheduled to be completed by August 26th uh another good news one a notd for Mr Moffet here um one of our SDA grants we received a sponse from the NJ dooe they're starting to review and requested additional information and clarifications I'm told that's good news that they're actually paying attention something we sent down so that may help us out uh with some of the much needed money that's been coming in here um we have an expansion coming so we are looking at leasing options uh we're keeping a close eye on enrollment and uh modifying classes for dual or multiple use uh quite frankly we've got a lot of people coming in and we're rapidly running out of room and we don't have a huge amount of money to make uh allocations to try and uh work on this addition uh I was informed that as of today uh there's an additional 45 preschool students have been enrolled in we have to bust those children over to pness it's becoming a very popular program program and it's much in demand and it was also asked to let everybody know that bus passes will be issued on the 26th of August and that is the facilities meeting sir thank you Mr bakis thank you the finance committee met yesterday at 5:00 pm virtually it was attended by board members Mrs WK Mr Faber Mr pavlac myself and administrators Mr Moffett and Mrs litig we went over the July 9th 20124 minutes there were no questions on the minutes we went through the agenda items the check register the 2024 2025 contracts that are on the agenda uh you will notice um mentioned the the withdrawal the social media lawsuit is on the agenda um also uh new school physic is a notable uh contract on the agenda we went through uh the tuition rates for out of District students we also um acknowledge two donations made to JFK School from uh the wa and the PTO also um looked at some Transportation contracts uh about some additional student placements and athletic and field and uh U agreement with the North Region uh Education Services we also have on the agenda that the finance committee is recommending a letter uh for ex Aid this is the state aid for Extraordinary special ed Aid that we will be sending um about the necessity of of fully financing fully funding um to uh our state representatives so potential future actions we've had uh the NJ dooe applications uh for the second round of Rod grants that's been on the agenda for a while uh the administrators finally received an email that they are reviewing the prek projects uh also we will be uh receiving a recommendation from the facilities committee about uh policy 7510 the uh Food Service management uh wanted to give an update on our new food service the transition has been work working out well um the administrators meet on a regular basis uh they make sure that the cleaning schedule is is set up uh they're working on the menus and they're not posted yet so keep a look out uh on your respective uh School menus uh the business office has been very busy um working on the uh operating budget um the Auditors were in yesterday um uh the the team here is is prepared for for the Auditors to come come in and and get moving on that they'll be back on September 9th for two weeks um they're they're set for gasby compliance um they've they've done it and and they're ready um let's see here um they're waiting on uh closing um uh for the pcia lease uh they're waiting for a legal opinion and for the 2024 2025 uh District budget uh the supplies are here for all the classrooms so uh all the schools are are set with with their supplies uh we also looked at um the future uh 2025 2026 District budget uh next year's budget um enrollment looks like it'll be an issue with all the developments coming in and having an impact as uh the facilities committee mentioned um we're exploring um uh any leasing impact uh we want to um accept an idea Grant tonight also a $225,000 grant by NJ cic for Hills uh for a digital online program uh uh also the um the change in in pness we had to rebid as as was mentioned in in a meeting in the past and uh let's see we're also expecting uh you know keeping an eye on the health benefits so thank you Mrs regoso all right real quick the education committee met today it was myself Wendy LeAndre Donna rman uh Matt jordano we re we review the NJ dooe required curriculum updates and all curriculum will be on the district website so please check we had a discussion about Middle School cell phone usage as per the district policy policy 5516 so stay tuned and that's pretty much it thank you anyone else I missed okay do I have a mover for the agenda I move Mr Judo Mr Paul any discussion on agenda items Mr pakus yeah I'd like to to have a brief disc discussion on uh policy 0164 about remote participation given that it's 2024 I think we need some verbiage or or some language in there to to give discretion on remote participation um I know it's the first reading no second oh first reading yes the first reading right so sorry um okay I don't if anyone else wants has any opinions on that remot participation any other comments Mr favor I think that as a general rule it's something that it's it's you know as if there's a need it should be potentially available um if there's some type of um extenuating circumstance then there may be a reason for it it's not you know meant to be something that's used all the time so I think that there should be Provisions for you know something you know again an extenda circumstance if there's inclement weather don't we have to have an executive meeting because there's some major situation going on you know but I don't think it's something that we could say every meeting should be attended virtually I don't think that that's an acceptable use of the process okay anyone else Mrs wch uh I just think that sometimes um when you open up the policies and I know we had it since Co but before covid there was uh no remote meetings uh it poses more implications on the district than the administration to you know like we can't do a remote policy here in this building and it also has some consideration regard regarding confidentiality which we say uh are you know protected when we're in the executive session so I would like the board to keep in mind those kind of considerations as well if anyone has any suggestions um send them to Mrs Roso and the policy committee will uh review them before the next reading before the second reading any other discussion seeing none roll call Mr ma Mr Faber yes Mr gardano yes Mrs leandry yes Mr Paul yes Mrs rialo yes Mrs WK yes Mr Pacos abstain on n.2 which is the policy we just discussed and yes on everything else and Mr pavlac yes motion carries um congratulations to Mrs Coleman in the back of the room our new principal at AP welcome um we have a few retirements tonight so I'll start to my left Nadia kangan Nadia kangan has been a paraprofessional for Wayne Township Public Schools for 18 years during her tenure she has served in the capacity of a one toone shared and classroom paraprofessional she has worked in the high schools and most recently at the middle school level Miss kangan has always worked collaboratively with staff she is dedicated to her job and always puts students first she treats everyone with kindness and respect Miss kangan was instrumental in promoting student Independence while recognizing individual strengths and interests she is patient and hardworking thank you for your commitment to to education as a PR professional you will be missed Wayne Township Public School wishes you good luck in future endeavors enjoy retirement with your family and friends Mrs regosa okay uh with great pleasure I'm reading about Elizabeth Jackson after 5 years of dedicated service Miss Liz Jackson is retiring from her position as clerical assistant at panak and Ryerson Elementary School since joining the school in 2019 Liz has has been a kind welcoming individual greeting students parents and staff each day her commitment to the school Community has made an integral part of each School Su success throughout her tenure Liz has worn many hats Beyond her official row her organizational skills and attention to detail have kept the school running smoothly even on the busiest of days her colleagues will miss her kindness sharing of sweets and snacks in the main office and warm conversation Li impact EXT extends Beyond her daily responsibilities she has been instrumental in organizing numerous school events from promotion ceremonies to new class rosters her knowledge and connections with the community have been invaluable resources for new staff members and families as Liz embarks on this new chapter of her life the entire Wayne Township School District Community wishes her the very very best her kindness professionalism and support will be missed we thank her for her years of service and the lasting impact she has made on students families and colleagues Mrs lamandre Luigi conord after 20 plus years of dedicated service to Wayne Township Public Schools we bid a heartfelt farewell to Luigi coni our assistant maintenance supervisor Luigi has been a part of our maintenance team bringing expertise and commitment during Luigi's tenure heed served in multiple supervisory roles within the facilities Department including a nighttime custodial supervisor before transitioning to the maintenance department Luigi is dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of our District's students and staff when the covid-19 pandemic started all throughout the pandemic Luigi was an asset to maintaining a health healthful environment and keeping up to date with protocols and procedures ensuring all standards and guidelines were continuously met as Luigi embarks on this well-deserved retirement we extend our deepest gratitude for his remarkable contributions and wish him all the best in his new Endeavors may this next chapter be filled with joy relaxation and fulfillment congratulations Luigi and thank you so much for everything Mr Jud thank you James parda Jam's entire teaching career has been dedicated to the Wayne School District since you entered the profession in 1991 won as a student teacher most of his 30 plus years have been at Skyler kfax among his many accomplishments have been that he was highlighted in The Herald news for his instructional lesson on the attack on Pearl Harbor and again in The Herald news for his instructional lesson regarding the 2008 presidential election Jim was chosen by P County to be a judge for the P County teacher of the year and he was chosen by the state of New Jersey to be a judge for the New Jersey high school student of the year Jim was in who who America America in education three times during his tenure Jim taught gifted and talented for grades seven and 8 concluding with the 2223 curriculum school year Jim Co wrote grade 8 Us 2 curriculum and grade 8 world history one curriculum Jim taught High School senior AP US History 2 as well Jim wrote the scope and sequence for the High School Sociology course he also wrote the departmental sociology High School midterm and final exams during his time at the high school School Jim was a mentor to many students and practicum teachers Jim created the PTO sponsored clubs Arrangement that District still uses today from the creation of clubs Jim created and ran the board games Club starting at the George Washington School and concluded March 2020 at Skylar kfax in 2023 Jim created and ran the state of New Jersey's only genealogy DNA Club at Scarlet kfax Jim chaperon the first George Washington Middle School trip to Washington DC and additional trips to Washington DC he assisted at graduation ceremonies over the years in closing Jim as a true love of history as a students that is recognized and appreciated by colleagues students and parents there have been many kudos to gyms over the many years that are unqualified over the years Jim has had many welcome visits from graduating students taught many s many the same family students and taught multiple Generations Jim received many handwritten notes from students and their parents and appreciation of his efforts his camaraderie positivity and knowledge of not only history but of many subject matters will be greatly missed Mrs winch it is my pleasure to read retirement for Susan Vil it's with mixed emotions that we announce Susan Vil's retirement in June 2024 Susan has been an invaluable site lead providing exceptional care and nurturing to our children her dedication and passion have not only made a significant impact on the lives of countless children but also their families who have trusted her children her with their children Susan's presence warmth and commitment to Excellence have left an undeniable mark on our program she will greatly be missed by everyone at Wayne Community programs the children she has cared for and their families over a decade she worked as an early start lead sight lead at Lafayette JFK and finally pacn during her time with before an Aftercare program she was always a pleasure to talk to extremely agreeable to open to ideas to make program more entertaining furthermore she was a fine leader because of her ability to Foster collaborative environment recognized the strength of the of her team and caregivers and demonstrate kindness and patience she was reliable but by showing up each morning to fulfill her responsibility even during the icy delayed openings please join us in thanking Susan for her years of dedicated service and wishing her a happy and fulfilling retirement we hope she has more time to make precious memories with her family and are grateful that Susan has graciously offered to remain in touch showing her continued commitment to the community thank you so much and finally uh I have the honor of reading the retirement of Donna Richman it's with a mix of gratitude and Bittersweet emotion we announce the retirement of our esteemed assistant superintendent Donna rman who has dedicated 21 years to the students and families served by the Wayne public schools during her time in our schools she has held several roles she has worked her way up to the career ladder starting in Wayne in 2004 as an elementary teacher then in 2008 as a gifted and talented teacher she entered the administrative ranks in 2013 when she became an assistant principal then AP Elementary principal she moved on to serve as director of Elementary education and finally as assistant superintendent for the past seven years throughout Donna's long and distinguished 10 year she's been a pillar of leadership guiding our schools with a deep commitment to educational excellence and the well-being of every student she's a model of kindness and empathy while also being focused and goal oriented she played a critical role in implementing numerous initiatives that have had a longlasting impact on the community including full day kindergarten the kindergarten rap program the renovation of pregnant School the introduction of canvas learning management system numerous curriculum revisions nationally recognized professional development programs and Technology Innovations Donna is an exception exceptional Problem Solver and comes up with outstanding solutions to many daily issues she faces with her team of Administrators whom she has complet who she completely supervises many people may not realize that Donna is also an excellent negotiator you can always count on her to maximize every P taxpayer dollar negotiating the best possible deal for the different purchases and contracts of service salespeople fear fear her because they know deep discounts are always her expectations Donna has been a mentor a colleague and a friend to many within our district she has a magical way of making each individual feel valued and supports everyone with genuine care she always has time to give sensible advice to others advancing in their careers her vision passion and unwavering dedication have set a high standard for all of us and she will be deeply missed as Donna embarks on her new chapter we wish her all the best in the retirement may be filled with joy relaxation and the pursuit of new passions and increased quality time with her family her husband Mark her daughters Jessica and Sophie and her beloved dog Mason though she is retiring the Legacy she leaves behind will continue to inspire us for years to come even though she will no longer be working in the school system she regularly advises everyone that she'll always only be a phone call away and always willing to help and support our schools and any way she can congratulations on your retirement Mrs rman um on a personal note I've been on this board my tenure has been long and Mrs rman and I met this when I first got on the board we were talking about the illustrious everyday math program that I was not keen on um but I saw her I've seen I've personally seen her grown through all these positions every one of them and always done has done a remarkable job and you know we hear the cliche all the time of kids first it's not a cliche with her it is her life of putting kids first and everything we do we just look at the numbers tonight with the pandemic recovery that's on her that was Donna and that was an endless task and there's people in this audience who were Educators and they all know where we came from and it's hard to get back to where you were um I can tell you in my continued educations in getting my EDS I would always you know have long conversations with Donna about educational theories and practices and what's better and what wasn't and it was always a great conversation and I took many things away when I wrote my final thesis from what uh Donna told me so Mrs ricean you're always welcome here and thank you so much we appreciate you all right this portion of the meeting is open to Citizens for comment on any topic residents are asked to State their name address and sub matter comments may be limited to 5 minutes per person members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or a student the board Bears no responsibility for comments made by the public comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to tonight by the board other comments may be responded to tonight or at a subsequent meeting under old business do I have a mover move Mr Gano Mrs regoso anyone from the public wishing to speak senil the Sawyer Black Oak Ridge Road and Wayne I've been reading about you guys in the news um Isis is not a terror group what do they do B do they have a barn building Club um then I continued reading and I came across a story I'm sorry I have laryngitis uh a story where that was reminiscent of my daughter's seventh grade class where a little girl thought that my daughter was after her boyfriend okay then I continued reading down the page and I find out that there's someone can't sit next to someone else and there's more foolishness but what brought me out here tonight is as a taxpayer I want to know how much we're paying in lawyers for all of this and I do want an answer because I believe that as a fiduciary responsibility you guys have to me and others like me especially seniors like me and I'm going to go home now I'm not feeling well but I will continue watching because I'm sure you don't have the answer for me tonight but I do want an answer how much this is costing the taxpayers of way and lawyers okay I do want an answer thank you thank you I want to address my name is Paul Weiner um 12 Little Pond Road I want to address the sh okay hear you I want to address the sale of the property on Valley Road you sold it you're potentially selling it for a million dollar that is the assess valuation the equalization rate would indicate that the value of the property is over $2 million in addition it is 10 acres and forgetting about anything else at the present moment that would it's zoned R15 which would indicate 10 15 houses uh which would indicate a value of 50 60,000 a lot which is woefully below the fair value of lots and Wayne I communicated with uh Mr pavlock um he tells me that this property is wetlands and it's it would be limited to fall Lots therefore the cost for each lot would be 250,000 plus substantial amount of improvements necessary because it's Wetlands that doesn't sound right to me that sounds much much too high so I question whether four Lots I also am concerned that you approve this sale in a in a um not in an open meeting where a lot of these questions would be asked are there any conditions to the sale in other words do they need approval to do something um are there any other sales that you are planning I.E say the property behind the Fallon school um are there any properties that you're not using I don't want to see what happened when you sold the Wayne Valley Junior High School for for $3 million it's a while ago and then less than a year later it got sold for 6 million I want to make sure that there is no nefarious um relationship between anybody on this board or the school with respect to the people that are going to develop this property I thank you thank you sir good evening um board president vice president board members and administration uh my name is Wasim abido I live on ratzer Road in Wayne um I'm here today this evening to speak about um some of the issues that have come up within the Wayne Public School Systems particularly involving the Muslim Community in town um and you know these issues can range from on the generous end to vendor failures um to a more serious end of curriculum issues vendor failures being the issue that we saw with the uh images and information relate to our students in the yearbook this year um the curriculum issues possibly the Skylar cax questions that our community was very upset about and we can talk about more detail when we have uh the time to get into that or even worse than those two um the limiting and silencing of student expression in their environments of happiness and joy like um uh graduation day and um I'm we're here I'm here to make an ask and sometimes the ask gets lost in the message and to avoid that I'm going to dive right into the ask and make very clearly what the expectation is from our community to those who are elected to represent our town that we live in and are an integral part of and that ask is simple that ask is that our students feel safe and represented in their spaces of Education in the C in the sorry I'm from Clifton but I live in Wayne now in the Wayne Public School System it looks like our children's re our children address your comments to the chair okay individuals thank you to to you okay sounds good thank you for that um it looks like our children receiving their entitled representation and feeling of security to be respected for who they are and nurtured to grow in self-confidence in an environment where who they are is respected and given that that that due esteem so when we talk about these various issues that have a that have you know come up in the uh Wayne school system my question to the board at this point is what is being done to address these issues because what I'm hearing from the administration and when I say Administration I mean the representives of the district that large what I'm hearing is oh well it's issue X the issue is not with us it's issue B the issue is not with us but clearly there's a systemic issue where we need leadership from the executive body of the school board to assess where our Partnerships are first and foremost with vendors um and with I guess State bodies that be that set curriculum right advocating on our behalf when you're down in New Jersey um uh Gatherings of Administrators across the state and those things are being discussed so I find myself asking are these issues being taken seriously primarily because I don't hear him being addressed from the deis As a matter that is serious that is being heard number one number two we are not receiving responses our community has reached out we've done our part and now we're here in front of the board to say where is our response whether that be to the parents at large sending emails collectively or it be Representatives organizations who represent our community like care who doesn't get a response for a meeting for weeks on end this silence the absence of discussion and communication needs to end we need to hear back and we as a community need a say in how the reflection of our community looks back at us how when po policies and issues are discussed and addressed that our voices and our asks are being heard because right now we're not seeing responses right now we're not seeing engagement right now we're seeing demonization otherizing and making people on the outside and I say that we're asking for an honest and genuine effort not just uh um words but action indeed and so that is our ask to be respected to be taken seriously and for our kids unequivocally to receive the entitled Safety and Security in their classrooms where their identities and who they are at home is respected and not otherized and for that I thank you and uh have a good evening thank you sir anyone else from the public wish need to speak hello uh sorry can you pull the microphone down so we can hear you thank you hello is this okay awesome hello my name is no I'm from Webster drive right here in Wayne New Jersey in the 177 year old town of Wayne yeah that's how old Wayne is I guess also unlike the last guy I did spend my whole year from elementary to high school right in Wayne so there you go I think you can expect another toic I'm going to talk about that's been said before me and probably after which I'll continue to say just to emphasize that this is what's on our mind I'm talking about the yearbook and the question from the exam I understand you you issued an apology over the seventh grade test question which while everyone had H everyone at the time that was focusing on the sorry every everyone on the time was focusing on the question probably internalized it maybe not everyone got the the apology unless they were expecting it from you guys it only makes me wonder if there was a teacher that had some type of intention when they were manipulating the question to put it that way not accusing or anything just putting that out there nonetheless the effects have that it it did have been obvious and actions need to be taken it would be a shame to know that if if our board members maybe one of them were being influenced maybe like a foreign pack especially APAC the American Israeli public affairs committee I know some people may want to scream Hamas on the top of their lungs how else are they going to justify the murder of 10,000 children I thought the school boards were supposed to teach students not murder them and while some if we could this is a public comment portion at a Board of Education meeting our public policy's very clear about dealing with educational issues and school matters right uh this is not a forum for political comments and I just want to caution any of the uh speakers this evening that there are other fors to do political discussion this is for school board matter yeah I understand this was more on the topic of the school board but my bad while Sam may want these events buried you can know for sure that uh events like this are on the back of my head and many others and we will we will see what the Board of Education in Wayne will take moving forward I hope you understand this thank you thank you anyone from anyone else from the public wishing to speak good evening sir good evening uh Abdul zani lenberg Lane and Wayne Uh I wasn't intending on speaking but no one else is speaking um let me ask you a question if a student gets 20% on his final grade would he fail that class yes he would it would be a big failure I took the time to email you a month ago over a month ago with a very heartfelt email about my own child and his and her experience I got two responses from 10 of you two the people that are up there that are supposed to be taking care of our children making sure that they're brought up in a good school system two of you that's 20% 20% you as a board have failed us if I was to use that as an assessment 20% of you responded I came to the US in 1990 speaking zero English I went to school system where they did everything for me the reason why I am where I am today is because because of those great teachers great principles that took care of me and where I am today is because of them none of them are Arabic none of them are Muslim 3 years after coming into the US I graduated the elementary school as a top student why because I had fantastic teachers fantastic administrations in high school I was one of the top students and I wasn't wasn't intending on speaking but I want to share my experience because you are failing us I want to share the great experience I had by the time I graduated high school I was a three-time national champion I represented the US on the world championship team because of great teachers great Administration great coaches great teammates that made my experience in that school system the best experience I moved from Basin Ridge to here because of the school system 3 years later I'm doubting if that was the right decision or not you are failing us 20% response that was shocking to me I emailed my uh students uh principal 2 and a half months later zero response she failed I need you to consider your response we're not hearing from you we don't exist to you that is the feeling from all of us whether you would like to acknowledge it or not it exists you talked about an individual that's a that's a great Problem Solver that individual if you're talking to her with tell you the first thing to do when you solve problems is to make the problem visible you are hiding the problems you will not solve those problems you want to solve the problems see us acknowledge that we exist acknowledge that those problems are real for us and for our kids with that thank you thank you anyone else from the public wishing to speak sorry thank you uh my name is Musa anaji address 570 Broad Street I'm here on behalf of K New Jersey the council you have been weighing I do not okay you can tell us where you live yeah 570 Broad Street new work thank you yes I'm here on behalf of K New Jersey the ccil on American Islamic relations um I'm going to keep it short the last three speakers address the same topic that I'm here for [Music] um um first off I just want to start by saying that we appreciate the apology that was sent regarding the seven grade test question back in June um but that apology is nowhere near enough in fact that's all their Community received um it was an apology but there was no clear path of actions to rectify the issues um aside from the 7 grade test question there was a couple of other incidents such as the yearbook um the photo and the Yearbook incident in the description and these incidents coupled with a number of other incidents that were not mentioned tonight um underline the issues that require your immediate and intentional actions we've addressed the issues but I want to present a few solutions that I would suggest to the board um instead of just dumping the issues on you and waiting for a response from you we would like to be proactive and present some suggestions to the board uh first providing specialized training focusing on how to stop anti-muslim behavior and ensure that these trainings come from organizations that don't have any political interests in protecting one group of students over the other such as the Ado and their dangerous discrimination towards Muslims and Palestinian students secondly conducting a curriculum review to ensure that the curriculum is culturally inclusive but most importantly engag in in open dialogue with the Muslim Community there's been multiple expressions of a lack of communication from the board and administration with the community with asides of a public apology that was sent out um care has reached out um to the board I've personally shared an email with the board outlining a specif a letter that outlines the specific suggestions and actions that the board can take upon if they wish but also a call for a meeting a requesting a meeting with the board uh other community members have sent emails the last speaker mentioned that he received a 20% response which is greater than what most community members receive um in Communications so I just want to take this opportunity to also follow up on the email myself and the community that have then and the emails the community have sent out um that again there's a letter included in the email that outlines a detailed uh course of action for the community uh for the board to consider and also take this opportunity to to and request an in-person meeting with the board um again I'm here on behalf of K New Jersey uh if if you are not a way Council on American Islamic relations is the largest civil rights advocacy organization in the country and one of the large New Jersey is one of the largest chapters that we have we're here representing the community we have no interest in having this meeting for our own benefit but for your benefit and the community's benefit um so I hope to hear back from you and thank you thank you good evening good evening sir my name is ABD Rahman jwi I live in Wayne pancake Hol drive and uh first of all I want to thank everyone for their contribution to the Academic Year and uh special salute to our teachers it's becoming harder than ever to be a teacher nowadays and as a community we want to send a message to the teachers that we are here to support you and partner with you and be there for you we want the best teachers to stay in the district and we want to be a part of the solution and that happens through partnership between the community and the schools and we are the Muslims in Wayne are here to help and support we feel under represented as far as I know there hasn't been representation of Muslims in the board but hopefully one day that will change but there's no question there's a overwhelming frustration really overwhelming frustration amongst the students the parents the whole community and a concern of not being heed and lots of us are here today because of that emails not being responded to why tell us what's the reason if I am sending an email and it's read and you're not responded to it what's the reason there has to be something going on and especially when it's becomes a phenomenon I mean are we invisible that's the question our community is asking and I really I'm not here to criticize I'm here to offer our partnership and to start a communication I know everybody's busy but there's lots of things happening and the only solution is to start dialogues and I'm really glad there was a training on civil rights that's wonderful I always admire Dr topac leadership and this is something we need to emphasize but we need to know more about that training who conducted that training there lots of organization out there some of them with an agenda so more transparency would help but again let's start with a positive note um we are here to help to partner with you and to do the best we can do to create the best school district in the state that's our goal all of us that's what we want freedom of speech lots of discussion about freedom of speech for students and I'm not an expert but as far as I know Tinker versus de Moes the the Supreme Court ruling has stated clearly that students do not do not lose their freedom of speech at schools but but legal Parts aside what's wrong with a student saying free Palestine what's wrong with a student saying support Ukraine or help Sudan don't we want our students to be involved with World issues isn't that the the perfect student who's following the news but those are not any students those are students many of them had relatives lost their lives in Gaza recently and you know there are more than 200 victims vitim in Gaza who have relatives in Wayne so when a student comes out and says free Palestine he is or she is genuinely expressing something that's very dear to them let's not suppress that I think that's healthy we should really thank those students and encourage them and uh if it's offend someone then I think it says more about the offended person than the student herself we should all be respectful and I thank you again and hope our POS is here thank you sir anyone else from the public wishing to speak Bianca shaniki Wayne New Jersey I have never come up to speak before this is the first time I'm coming up to speak we all live in the United States of America our families have come from somewhere I am Italian and polish my husband is Syrian our families have come when they came came we all learned to get along there was no um special treatment there was no whatever we all figured it out and here we are today let's remember we live in the United States of America we are all here thank you thank you anyone else from the public wishing to speak good evening Don roomi uh Hamburg Turnpike um we're actually here today I'm here to read one of the endless emails that went out to you that you did not respond to so I just want to go on the record yes some of you did respond to our emails but the majority of you those of you who bragged in the last session about caring about the community and wanting to answer every single email nobody received a response from you just in case you haven't picked up on it we have been sharing your responses we have groups that are monitoring you we have groups that are responding we're sharing information about everything you're giving us so for the two of you who responded thank you so much for responding for those of you whose children play with Muslim children grow up in the community with Muslim children interact with Muslims this is what we look like but we're just going to go ahead and discuss the emails we're here we're here today because many in our Muslim Community have expressed frustration over the lack of response to the majority of our emails um while board members and central office staff insist that they address concerns from the community promptly this is completely untrue as you can hear from everybody behind me this has led a led us to a clear conclusion we don't matter we're not your constituents we're not the right color we're not the right people would respond if it mattered right we're not the people people you care about right so we're here today to read our email out loud to you since we speak English since we're fluent we're educated we can have a dialogue we are deeply offended by the recent post from the yearbook company it is amazing that you were able to cower and hide behind them and not respond yourselves especially in discussion for the central staff central office staff not a single response that was direct to our offense there was investig ations but you did not discuss the post with us you didn't say we completely understand why you're upset we're investigating we don't care about you and even after you investigated silence you went ahead and had the yearbook company protect you and you posted something it took people 20 minutes to find where you posted it you had to go onto Skyler kfa's website find School info scroll all the way down to letters and notices then find the yearbook post all I do is sit on the website and it took me 10 minutes to find it myself but that's okay if we were a community that mattered you would have sent out an email and had a public statement about the lives that matter to you we fully get it we don't matter many parents called me asking them asking to guide them we didn't ask you for a sticker we have stickers at home that's not what we said we said we want to discuss the fact that you have administrator you have yearbook committees you have central office staff and not a single one of you was remotely culturally competent enough to recognize that this post that completely erased Palestinian suffrage relabeled the picture to basically describe it as an event that was only affecting the people in Israel none of you were culturally competent enough to recognize that this post was offensive no one stopped it from being posted we did not hire or vote for the yearbook committee you decided to hire these PE the company I'm sorry that was you we told you we want you to stop working with this company not send us a letter to tell us here's a sticker or even more offensively if you don't like the yearbook bring it back that yearbook went out to over 800 students so there are 800 families that are now harboring anti-muslim anti- Palestinian and anti-arab sentiments that basically depict us merely and passing as victims or terrorists last month there was a conversation around the Palestinian Flags during graduation and boy were you supportive to that for many of us this flag is a symbol of joy and cultural Pride but none of you asked us what it represents to us right you went ahead and listen to other people about what our flag means to us we're very concerned about your reactions and Promises last month because none of you consulted our students or our community on why we were waving our flag flags and what the flag symbolizes to us not everybody is from the United States some of us are American American Palestinian some of us are American Irish some of us are from different countries and we get it message received we're all we live in the United States of America but we are not going to erase our identities this is a district that pretends to be diverse and pretends to care about diversity why can't kids fly any flag but the US flag would you like us to take off our hijab too do they inconvenience you would you like us to take away any symbol that represents our identities the Palestinian flag is flown during Joy during sadness and during every single event not just by Palestinians watch every soccer game throughout the Middle East I get it time I know we're at a district we're at a district that claims to respect diversity and instead of saying only American flags can please wrap up why can't everybody bring their flag it's because of your implicit biases you were very quick to remove everybody else's flag we have receipts to prove that you do not care ma'am thank you your time's done okay thank you anyone else from the public wishing to speak mayor aad 62 Point View Parkway my name is Miriam and when my name was called on the graduation day at Wayne Hills High School I pulled out a palace Stein flag for my left sleeve you would have thought from the reaction of the Zionist that I had pulled out a gun but I'm not here to talk about the reactions I'm here to talk about the graduation and why I did what I did what if median didn't go to way Hills High School let's say instead medium was born inza she grew up just as any other resen child did closed off by the world and isolated in an open air prison medium attended elmazi School wait no sorry it was bombed on October 17th okay let's try that again she attended Usama bin Zade school oh no not that either it was bombed on November 3rd maybe alur School mayam excuse no it was bom on November 4th yep I said before that this is a Board of Education meeting and we speak about school matters and educational matters uh any political comments there are really other forms to do that and this is not the appropriate Place ma'am ma'am we also if we have disorderly I'm going to you that's why the police are here once again excuse me sir there's no dialogue we're going to have theorum go ahead ma'am it's a sum of 564 schools in counting if you don't want to hear exactly because you're too afraid the only thing that separates me and the Medan that lives in GZA is chance and if my attentions in June weren't enough it said a high school degree means nothing to me when put alongside the genocide because if me and medum stood next to each other in the next 5 years are we talking about a school matter here yes this is pertaining to my point stop please please we can't have this cross dialogue back and forth everyone has the right to be heard all right but there's limits and we have to stay within the rules and I don't think anybody disagrees about that last so this way ma'am I'm not having a ma'am the last time please go ahead but please stay in the parameters of the school of graduation thank you this acknowledgement humbled me beyond measure inold the background noise and the Zionist complaints the unfair rule that our freedom of expression would be stripped because the day I pulled out the flag on the graduation day it was an American medium standing before the crowd it was Palestinian [Music] medium who am I to collect a degree while the Meda collects her mother's limbs that's all I have to say thank you good evening my name is Samar suuki I live on 171 Elder Avenue I wasn't going to come up and speak but I I felt I had to the reason that girl brought up this about Gaza because that's what the post on in the yearbook was about we wouldn't have talked about it if that post was on the [Applause] yearbook and plus the lady from last time like she said she did call us terrorists and she did bring up Hamas and she did bring up the Palestinian flag and he nobody said anything to her so why did we why why can't we say what we want or what we can say and she could say whatever she wants why is that we pay taxes we do our thing we are a good Community why can't we say what we need to say why do we have to be shut up while the other people have can say whatever they want thank you very [Applause] much anyone else from the public wishing to speak seeing no one I move to close Mr fa Mrs Wich any old business new business Dr Tobak any comments I'm just an acknowledging um some of the comments made tonight I would just like to U mention that um so the Board of Ed operates in a manner where ultimately and this was communicated to care and some other groups that wrote to us they meet periodically and they do not communicate as individuals if you're writing to the board ultimately the board has has the right to discuss things and to have their own position so during executive session tonight the board had within its packet the letter the board had a discussion and ultimately the board will have to determine how it will respond but it did have a discussion and acknowledged the receipt of your letter and they they had a discussion in executive session okay so but the board cannot unless there's consensus represent itself as a board without at least at least half of the board members saying okay we agree to this so there has to be consensus for the board to communicate so the expectation that the board would communicate almost immediately or back and forth on a on a regular basis is unrealistic for any Board of Education because ultimately they have the right to meet in this particular case some of the board members requested that they have a right to meet to to discuss these issues and then they have the right to respond so I just want to clarify a little bit about maybe maybe there's some misunderstandings about the communication and when that happens but the board you said they do they meet they have a schedule they meet at those times at those times they discuss board business outside of those times they generally don't and um so that was the other thing and one of the gentlemen who came up asked about the Civil Rights training and the organization that conducted that training okay the the answer is the office of civil rights in New Jersey so they they're the ones that conducted that training tring and that training was um it it covered a lot of things but the district also does training from an organization that we use called safe schools that's really our insurance and they offer training to our staff that's required um some of it is bullying recognition some of it is Diversity Awareness for the past few years and also fostering belonging in K to2 so that's something that the staff members undergo on an annual basis um then in let me see what else here um that's for the that's for the response um just going through here the property sale you want to talk about Mr I'll address that okay right we'll we'll handle that um and ultimately the goal of the district is always for all students to feel safe and respected in their education um setting so that is something the district Works towards every day um so the district addresses all these issues for all students thank you board member comments Mr pakas welcome everyone um I want to particularly welcome all the 75 new staff members we have uh for the district and I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer I want to address a few items here I take this District's fiduciary responsibility to the highest level uh I find it insulting and offensive when everyone when anyone um you know talks about something that's not on the up and up I could I could assure you and I I I know the president's going to cover uh the the you know sale of uh the shinman property um but but I I find it insulting and offensive um when I hear that it wasn't done on the up and up um and as many of you know the value of something is the price that somebody's willing to pay so um you know for someone to come up with you know their own valuations you know um you know there's there's appraisals there's there's other ways anyone can value anything any way they want but you know ultimately the price that's paid that's the price of of an item um I believe I'm part of the 20% that replied to uh our Muslim Community and the Palestinian Community um I believe my emails were probably shared they're public you know uh they're in the Wayne schools um my Wayne School's address um but I did receive one really nasty the email so I wanted to just bring that up so there's always one person that messes things up you know so the dialogue was good but you know always has to be one person um you know graduation is a privilege and there's a decorum for graduation um you know you follow the rules we don't allow you know there's there's some districts I know in Connecticut where you know you can paint the college you might be attending it you know on your cap and wear your cab and and you can flip your cap or you can take a picture um you know we don't allow that here and you know if we allowed everyone to to bring a flag it would look like a parade so I think if you want to go to graduation it's your choice it's a privilege to go to graduation you know follow the rules if you want to bring your your flag you want to bring a Yankee flag you want to bring the Greek flag the Cy flag whatever you want we can make arrangements or accommodations for you to go to the principal's office and pick up your diploma and you could wear whatever you want and bring whatever you want I think so I think I would recommend you know something like that um um you know I I feel bad you know that that some people you know were offended I I do not like hearing accusations of you know racism you know people not being the right color you know I grew up in Queens I mean that's that's the United Nations right there so and I see wayne is actually having a demographic that's that's you know something that I'm used to in Queens I've been I've been in Wayne 16 years and you know it's changed um so what our job here and what we recognize is children learn in safe environments in respected environments and that's what we try to do the teachers feel comfortable the pr principles feel comfortable and safe and respecting environment so I think we take that to the to the ultimate um ultimate level we you know we try to accommodate everybody I think one one of the important things is you know as a leader you need to listen so we're listening we're all listening here I know that in my belief I think the Administration has been speaking with uh care and uh other um uh Muslim organizations for the last 3 years at least so um that's that's what I I know I've been on this board for almost three years so I'm here to listen I know my emails have have been out there you know I've reached out to people so um I think I've I've covered uh a good amount here so um I'll pass it on let somebody else speak anyone else Mrs regoso so I think I'm offended but I think I'm really hurt and I'll tell you why um my son Josh his best friend Allah they met in Wayne when they were in preschool and my son Josh just got married last week and he and his family came to the wedding and I see him I see you how could you say that to me that's so unfair so unfair my parents came to this country they didn't speak English um we were polish if you watched Argie bunker we were constantly uh labeled as dumb Pollocks do you remember those days that's what I grew up with so I hear you and I see you and I know what that's like cuz I felt it I've been bullied too and I get it but please understand give us a chance we meet once a month and we're not allowed to Talk Amongst each other but when we're here uh on the way home we talk about this the issues that you guys are feeling and what's students are feeling it breaks my heart when I see a kid come up here and cry because he's getting bullied for whatever reason uh religion or or or the way he looks or or the way he thinks this is not the United States of America the children are supposed to be freethinkers and we as parents that's our job I raised seven kids not to show uh hatred I was at a wedding last week I was uh sending pictures to Don there were 700 Palestinians I never saw saw anything like it in my whole life they came in the groom was like the king and then this beautiful princess came in and then and then uh they told me that I have to sit on this side not this side I said well why can't I sit on that side I said because this is our custom you sit over here and I sat with a bunch of beautiful women and we talked and we laughed so please don't say I don't see you because I do see you and my job as a board member is to keep the kids safe that's my job and I promise you on the way home from this meeting today I'm going to call Kea Jabar in Fairfield my Muslim friend that I work with that I sit here with every day and I say to myself Kea what are we doing wrong why are our parents so unhappy and she sits or she takes me to Basha in Patterson sometimes to sit and talk and explain to me how people feel but remember we're here for every child but we don't want you to be unhappy we want you to help us explain to the children that kindness is the most important thing in our classrooms kindness compassion understand what someone else is going through this is what life is about and that's your job as parents for your children we don't want anyone to hate each other we don't want to hear these kind of stories about uh who's in someone's face or personal space or a child can't go to school because she can't think because she's so upset no schools are safe places that's what we do they're supposed to go to school and say hey what are you eating for lunch or uh what' you do yesterday or uh you you're visiting your grandmother this weekend like fun things they're not supposed to think about ugly things that that that cross their minds they're supposed to be happy kids are supposed to be happy and that's how they flourish and that's how they do well in school and don't think we don't hear you we do but we meet once a month and we sit and we try to figure out the best thing for all the little students really so please don't say we don't see you cuz that really hurts my feelings because that's not true so as we start school this year I urge the the parents of our community to talk to your students and stress the importance of kindness because that falls under everything it does please and um as far as the emails go we do hear you and we do discuss them and I will be calling my friend Kea in Fairfield on the way home and asking what I did wrong this time and that's all I have to say have a wonderful school year and our job is to keep your kids safe and we do Mr fa so one point that she made that's very important is that we have to balance everything across all the different students that go to our schools we have people that are Jewish we have people that are Muslim we have people that are Catholic we have people that are Hindi so we have all these different groups of people unfortunately there was an event last year that split very divisively two groups of people that we represent I don't have a dog in that fight but I'm very upset by the loss of life no matter where it is so what we have is we have two groups of people that are very important to our district to our community that are now at Polar Opposites more so than ever before and what one side feels is okay the other side doesn't what the other side feels is okay the other side doesn't so we are left with trying to balance the situation where we have these students sharing space classrooms buildings activities every single day trying to make them feel comfortable in an environment that I can't fathom myself because I've never had to live through something like that the closest thing that I've ever lived through I mean I can't even find a comparison because there really is no ongoing conflict in my lifetime that I've had to live through but what you have to understand is that nothing we do in this situation for either side is going to be enough until this conflict somehow gets resolved we are going to be in the middle of this trying to make students feel comfortable feel safe and secure when we had screaming matches breaking out in our Board of Education meeting amongst adults so if our adults are arguing and fighting because they feel so passionately about this issue how do we expect our children not to carry that into our schools how do we expect that the feelings that the parents are living with every day not to spill over in the way those children interact with each other so how do you create a safe space in school when they're they're feeling the anxiety of their parents at home and they're bringing that anxiety into the school you say what's the harm in having a flag well for one side one flag is a symbol of hate speech for the other side their flag is a symbol a hate speech and what happens when they come together and both sides are waving their Flags everybody's arguing in fighting so what's the simplest solution stop everybody from bringing Flags because we can't mediate the fights we're not referees that's the choice that we have to live with what you know when we talk about you know people make a big deal over these avatars and oh well what's the harm in us being able to do it because your side is pissed when the other side puts something up that you don't like so we're listening to the complaints coming when we see one student puts one thing up on their side and then we're getting the same complaint from the other side what's the solution everybody uses the same Avatar that has to be the way that we have to deal with these because there is no winning option the choice that we had originally laid out was to give a limit you could choose from say five or 10 different avatars that wasn't acceptable because everybody wants the freedom and they want to feel comfortable that they they should be able to do what they want to do but then they want to hide behind oh well they shouldn't be able to do that because that's the other side they shouldn't be able to wear that shirt they shouldn't be ble to wear wave that flag so how do you go into these situations where you pick a side because we're not here to pick a side we're here to represent everyone because I'm not on a side no I'm really not as much as you think you are you know you to say that I'm not respond to the email no I won't respond to your email and I'll tell you why because one I don't speak for the board I can't give you an answer to your question because I am not allowed to speak for the board and as a person I'm not going to respond to you and know I'm not going to respond ma'am ma'am please if I am going to respond and my emails are going to be spread all over the place and they're going to be put up on social media and they're going to be misconstrued I'm not play in that game because I'm not here to pick sides ask everybody else I don't respond to most emails because I am not speaking for the board it is not a personal thing I take my ethics very seriously and I am not going to backslide by saying something that is not appropriate or is misconstrued that I am not being compassionate but I hate what's going on in this town right now because it's always something we're here to get the kids educated that's our job get them to learn let them have careers help them become better citizens we're dealing with all this stuff and it's taking away from all the other issues that we have so please you know what you want to help us start at home tell your kids to be compassionate to other people tell them when they go into school and you see somebody who has a different perspective or a different belief respect it if everybody did that and everybody told their children to do that then we wouldn't have the problems we have because everybody would be doing it and that's what we need we need to get back to we are all a community this isn't just a Muslim Community or a Catholic Community or a Jew Community it is the Wayne Community and that's what everybody needs to be part of so start being part of the bigger community and maybe then we can all get past something and figure out how to coexist together because we are all here for the same reason we all picked it this place because the schools are good because we want the best for our children so we all have a shared Mission how we get there is going to be different but it shouldn't have to be this hard for us to all get along thank you Mrs lamandre where to begin at the last meeting we had a conversation in this same exact room about very similar situations and everybody here on the board is sensitive to what is going on in this Town what has been going on for weeks and for months for people who approach the podium and then return to their seats and shake their heads no and incite this feeling of doubt in your community and continue to disregard the responses I will tell you this that I have tried to respond to every single email many of you don't understand the function of the Board of Education and sitting up here on the de and what it means it's such a serious position and there are so many restrictions we can't have conversations amongst ourselves we can't respond to certain things there are just things that are not we're not able to do we work on policies here to make sure each of our children every student in Wayne in this District gets a great education we support teachers we support counselors we support the administration we support one another we support families and people have no problem approaching the deis pointing the finger and how dare you and you fall so far short we don't fall short we go home we think about this stuff we have kids I'm a grandmother my grandson lives in this town but I also know something from the way I was brought up my father's family immigrated here from Syria my father told me a story of when he was a young boy and his father told him Joey we are now in the United States of America and yes we will never forget our history we will never forget our heritage but we are in America the land of opportunity I am not saying that you have to forget about who you are where you came from but we are not your community is not responsible to validate who you are we are responsible to respect one another and as far as the flag goes I agree 100% with the overall consensus up here when you graduate from an American educational institution in the United States of America there can only be the American flag I am sorry you all have a home you all drive a car you all have have clothing you can have your freedom of speech and expression where you are when there are rules implemented at a graduation that are made very clear before the graduation and you share the hallways of individuals with different Faith or different religious backgrounds or different heritages where whatever and then you disrespect those rules because you want to express something or you want to fly or like Miriam like you said wh out the Palestinian flag you know what that flag has been waving since 1900s I understand the Palestinian flag but I also understand the sensitive nature and the culture of what was going on on that field back in June at Wayne Hills High School and respectfully and without big Tre and humbly say that that was disrespectful to your peers and you can say whatever you want to say in the news it reported the same thing going on in several different scho school districts right some people said the Palestinian flag was out some people said the Jewish flag was out and what happened on the ball field when it was done injury fighting anger because it is such a serious Hot Topic it is such a sensitive situation and it is terribly sad terribly terribly sad and we sit up here and you guys act like we don't even have a soul that's amazing to me you don't even know me and you can video from back there and you can do whatever you want to do it means nothing to me because you don't respect me and you don't respect my colleagues so that's all I say about that but if you want to come here with a an attitude of like hey let's work on this let's fix this let's talk about amendable ways to get there from point A to point B okay but don't sit here and come in here with this huge I'm not going to even say a chip I'm going to say a boulder on your back and dump it here it is not our fault okay the other thing I want to say on a different note so that's over with for now Donna rman I just want to thank you on behalf of the school board for every single bit of work that you have done I know I didn't know before sitting on the board what's involved but every single situation that occurs in this town everything from everything we've heard from everything we've heard in the the past falls into that corner over there and so I want to thank you for what you've what you've done for us for the way you've guided and cared for we've really cared for the kids and I can even say sitting in education um committee tonight you know thinking about different things there's always a backup plan to make sure kids get what they need here in this town and that's the remarkable thing about being here we are a very div diverse Community we're a huge School District that is no joke huge but people care and if you if you if you don't think they care then perhaps you should really sit down and do some self-examination and if you still come up with the fact that people don't care then you send an email with your name to my email address on the way in school board and we can talk thank you so much I appreciate every single person who came up to the to the podium to speak You're courageous and I respect you regardless of what a few people think I respect you and I appreciate you thank you Mr J okay thank you first I want to do this I want to get my name up here so any recording get the full spelling of the name there just make sure we got that one well I was considerably more upset 5 minutes ago than I am now because I want to salute the my fellow board members for pretty much saying what I've been thinking but uh I want to answer a couple of things PE PE behind the little green the little green curtain there that The Wizard of Oz hides behind here um to the gentlemen who uh want to know why only 20% of us responded to the 20% I would say you're nuts why in the world are you writing back to these people why because I just saw some said let me quote uh we monitor respond and disseminate your responses that sounds very ominous also a turn for you know interpretation all I do is sit on the website and monitor that's scary if somebody comes with a question and I make the mistake of wording something wrong saying something wrong I've just handed a bunch of very angry people what they perceive as an even more Angry bit of fuel and then you're coming to me and I'm going to try to solve the problem but you're not listening to the problem to be solved you're looking to vent over something that I said to you as a board member every person on this board should say and I've said in a couple of emails I shouldn't say it from for now on I promise I will do this I'm going to say thank you very much I've taken your information and I've disseminated to the proper authorities and that's that gentleman over there that's the job that we have it's not to give the opinion of me it's not to give the opinion of somebody I heard as my nextdoor neighbor or my friend I represent an entire District of people teachers students parents not just one small group I'll go as far as to say there are friends out here in this so by saying there was no way I got friends I have friends out here right now I'm not going to point them out but I have friends out here and not because they're Palestinian or because they're Muslim because they're good people I associate myself with good people good people come and say let's try and solve this problem let's try to figure this out now I know you're angry but I can't control that anger for you I can't put that anger away if I could every single person reach in their magic bag and spray pix spray pixie dust on you make you feel better I do it heartbeat but everybody in this room is treated with dignity and Respect by Me by not giving you the little bit of oh everything's going to be good don't worry about it we're going to take care of those nasty people on the other side everybody here is equal everybody in this District deserves the same courtesy the same dignity and the same respect and from the quote unquote other side I've received the exact same message I've been called islamophobic and I've been called anti-semitic in the same paragraph I don't know how I manage that one but boy I know I know people call me wishy-washy politically cuz I go down the middle but boy I didn't think I cross the geopolitical bounds on that why am I politically wishy-washy why am I being disparaged on both sides because I treat everybody down the middle you are equal you deserve the respect I'm going to give you the respect and nothing more why because it doesn't solve the problem and the only I see right now is right now a lot of angry parents I was here four or five months ago when we were giving out awards for honor students great night I love seeing those kids the 4.0 and who's going to what university and who got what scholarship and let me tell you something there were Palestinians and there were Jews sitting side by side I watched them some kid go what'd you get what reward what was the scholar congratulations hugging and shaking them they didn't have skin color they didn't have religion they had I'm a way night and I succeeded and you did too and congratulations I feel great for you and those are the people that I represent and what every person on here represents and the tight rope that that executive committee has to do on a daily basis to make sure they don't say something that causes somebody to want to start a riot over some words so no I'm not going to respond to emails other than we've got you we've got your message we're going to pass it on to the proper authorities because it's not my place to do so I'm an educational professional I just retired after 32 years of teaching I know lots about education I don't know about geopolitics I sat here and talked for 10 minutes about facilities and how we got a ton of kids coming in and not enough money right now to make sure that they have the best education they possibly can how are we going to fix it and I'm watching people over there like Donna who's getting ready to retire who's forgotten more about education than I'll ever remember we're going to miss her and we're going to lose her trying to help resolve those problems while this circus goes on and yes ladies and gentlemen it's become a circus onethird we had to leave and go to Executive why because we still had to deal with the circus we had 65 pages of issues we had to look at 65 because of everything that's going on right now so the answer you all yeah we're taking it real serious thank you all very much good luck in September to our students have a good evening right you know I I do believe that everybody in this room has the right to celebrate their culture and their Heritage uh but a graduation is is a place to celebrate academic achievement right um after graduation that's the time to celebrate your culture and your heritage um everybody there is there for the same reason and should be celebrating for that same reason um I feel like a lot of what's being thought here is that we're picking out individual groups um but it's as a whole right rules are as a whole because everybody needs to to respect everybody um our school should be a safe place I heard a couple people say about safety it should be a safe place for everybody though it shouldn't be a place for political activism everybody has a freedom of speech uh but do it outside of school right celebrate protest do whatever you want to do um school is for learning um I do want to address the the yearbook thing because unfortunately half the crew left now so you know some of the people have things to say aren't here um but I heard it said that the it was it only addressed the loss of Jewish life and didn't address the Palestinian loss and I've read through this thing multiple times and the last paragraph says humanitarian agencies worldwide pleaded for a ceasefire and aid for civilians after a month of assaults on Gaza resulted in Palestinian deaths so IT addresses both the deaths of Palestinians and the death of Jews and then talks about Hamas so I'm kind of confused on what the the issue is with this post it wasn't isolated in the in the yearbook it was part of a several page yearin review of what had gone on in the world um so I I'm confused on what the offensive piece is of this because it lays out the facts of what happened um and and I don't I don't see where the the leaving out of the Palestinian deaths is because it's clearly written in there um I think there's a lot of looking for reasons to start a fight right now um I think we should be looking for Solutions not to fight um you know we have a lot of different culture in our community um everybody's got to respect each other and find ways to live together and not look for reasons to start a fight with somebody that's all I got yeah hi uh I too came here from another country when I was 18 years old and didn't speak English I to know what it's like to keep my culture and there are certain things that we do um around holidays and you know I I I can sympathize and understand that but in my home my my friends who and my son is actually right there he has friends from many different um places they're welcome in my home and we make no difference so it breaks my heart to see um this aggression and hostility and it actually happened earlier today somebody uh was targeting somebody else and that happened in this room and how I I could not not say anything how are we accepting it because this is what we teach our children we want to teach kindness I agree with everybody who's been speaking here I mean every single person here teach kindness first you teach it in your home I teach it to my children my my little guy who is 10 years old has friends from all over to we take him on our boat you know I mean we welcome people if you're kind to us we will be kind to you I love all different kinds of food share your food with me I mean we can come together in so many ways find those ways stop pushing people apart forget all yes I mean it's it's hard what's going on in the Middle East we're not going to fix it but we can fix it here okay so that's I will um say to to that I hope that we can come together because it it is not fun to listen to the stories makes everyone sad and I don't want my kids to grow up in the community where he has to worry well can I talk to this one or that one no we talk to everybody okay so on another matter I wanted to address something separately and uh many of you maybe not may be familiar with an article public published and tapped into in July 2024 about this board and some of the inner workings so I wanted to clarify some things first there was no basis for the allegations made by Mr and Mrs batteri second these unfounded claims um caused the district subsequent time and money spent on legal advice on how to deal with those various situation so I actually when Mr President or board president has the figures ready I would like the public and the board to know how much have we spent because you know being fiscally responsible is one of our priorities and um uh that that's definitely having someone creating issues that we have to seek legal advice for it's really not fiscally responsible so I wanted to call that out this is really the reason why I decided not to run for a reelection because I don't want there to be a reason that I may be a cause of costing the district more money um so I just wanted to address it and uh hopefully everybody had a great summer and is ready for a great school year and I hope we can work together um I'll finish up this evening it's been a long night been a lot of back and forth I have to tell you in my tenure on this board in my tenure on this board I've been accused of a lot of things uh people have made a lot of comments about myself my family you name it I've never been so heartbroken as I was tonight to get told that I don't care I don't care about a people I don't care about a family children I care I dedicated 35 years on the police department in this town hired every one of these people standing here I've seen every nationality you can imagine and I treated everyone with the up most of respect because I treat people the way I want people to treat me and for people to get up here in grandstand and tell me you don't care I do care I teach in high school probably onethird of my class if not half is Muslim and it's great because I have a mix of nationalities in my class we do this little thing called Socratic seminars in my class and you know what we do we talk about stuff like this we talk about it to each other and you know what that's how you stop the festering and the hatred and everything else you know in today's world we fall into the Trap of listening only to respond but but not listening to listen and this is what in two weeks I'll talk to my seniors about on their first day about listening to listen not to respond we have to strive to listen to each other a little bit more with Open Hearts and open minds and seek to understand perspectives and differences yes we all have differences I cannot change what is happening in the world and I wish it wasn't happening and I said it back in October we all want one thing we want peace that's what we want you know in in CL in one of my college classes I talk about the seven Steven CO's Seven Habits of Highly affected people and we need to be proactive and take responsibility for our part of the situation all I see is everybody wants to point fingers it's it's him it's her it's this it's that and as I always told my kids when you point the finger at somebody else remember the three fingers pointing back at you let's begin with the end in mind focusing on the safe School environment and yes that is the utmost importance somebody who spent 35 years in law enforcement if I couldn't make that statement I shouldn't be sitting here we need to seek the first is to understand than to be understood got to have open and honest dialogue and willing to have open and honest dialogue may I have been neglectful in not answering everyone's email yes I did I am had some personal issues that I was dealing with and I didn't get to everyone's email like I wanted to and I apologize for that but I also got responses to emails where I asked the people what what are you looking for and the answer I get fix it well if I can't understand what you're asking me to fix I can't fix it we have we have a culture of respect and inclusive inclusivity in our schools and that's what it should be that's where we strive to be better yeah we do need to move forward and and I'll make and I'll put this out there tonight in September towards the end of September beginning of October I will hold a community Round Table I will more than welcome sir come on in you I'm sorry sir I don't know your your last name yes sir yes I invite you I invite the other gentleman in I invite anybody who wants to come in to have a constructive conversation not to make accusations and accuse because if we make accusations and accuse each other of everything we're not going to solve anything we're going no place so I put that out I I will work to make sure that happens we're all in it together no matter who we are what we are we're here together we need to work it out but we tend to take in one incident and judge everybody in the school district by that in by that one incident or two incidents whatever I can't respond to some of your emails when you ask me what happened to the teacher I can't answer that and no everybody says oh you're hiding behind the legal curtain other people have rights too so I can't answer everything thing and I have to tell you I'm willing to listen I'm always willing to listen and I'll come together with you to listen and I commit to working collaboratively with everybody it was said at I don't know if it was the last meeting uh that was July I think it was said in September there was a rabbi and a and a and another man up here sitting together and after the meeting they said to me we got a lot of work to do together yeah we do and let's work together on it and we'll come together and we'll solve we'll solve we'll get to a common ground between us can we solve the issue totally not because we need parents to help us too on all the whole District I don't care who you are we need parents to take responsibility and help their kids understand things as an educator I learned one thing from my professor Dr Katz don't remember many professors I've ever had always remember Dr Catz he said it is not your job to go out and tell kids what to think it's your job to present both sides of an issue and help guide them not telling them what to think and I've always remember that in my classes when I teach now and we will I I promise everybody will have that meeting um lastly I want to address the land issue which if you read the article in the record was funny the author of the article he reaches out to all of us all the time all of a sudden he couldn't find anybody to speak to I called two people they didn't answer the phone okay well how about you call everybody else who you have their cell phone number to the board of education's fiduciary responsibility I take it seriously because we got a big problem coming budget-wise and not just Wayne a lot of other school districts in this state next year are going to have issues right the question of selling the property and everybody says oh 9.9 Acres you may have two acres at tops that's buildable on so do you really when you look at it nine acres maybe I can build on two that means Seven Acres I have to buy pay taxes on and can't use for anything because it's all Wetlands delineated on the maps we had all the studies done with the and everything else before we put the property out there to make it more valuable the most you're going to get on that site is probably four houses at best so to say that oh it's valued at this amount yes it is valued at this amount here's the appraisal report public record $950,000 is what it was appraised at we put it out as required by law and we've had numerous legal reviews of what we did we had approval from the Department of Education to sell the property because they won't let you sell something you're not going to let you sell the property for 10 grand if it's worth a million dollars they're not going to let you do that so there's numerous review processes that's involved here we got a fair market value we let me back up we went out to bid as required by law we put it out to bid we had no biders respond at that point the district by law is allowed to go out and put engage with the broker to sell the property the board put out an RFP for Brokers we had response to the RFP for service and we basically contracted with a real estate firm they came in they did they did comprehensive values of other properties like it in the town which there aren't many because most of the Lots you see the lot there's a lot on Route 46 two lots on Route 46 that are like 192 Acres that are all buildable yeah you're going to get top dollar for that lot it's on a highway and it's all buildable you can Mr Paka is to my left that's what he does for a living he looked at it he looked at the prices but we got to understand that the property's unique characteristics significantly impacted the price we have the appraisal the sale price was offered we got an offer of a million dollars for it it's property that we cannot use it's property we offered the township of Wayne for what to if they wanted to use their Green Acre their I'm sorry their open space money to purchase and keep it green they declined we approached the county to see if we could apply for the money which we couldn't so we looked at it we were also concerned about the what could go there in the impact of the residents that are there now so the other question that came up is the timing of it it's been on the we've been talking about this for boards for the last 101 15 years and to say Sir that it was done behind closed doors no every contract was voted on at an open public meeting that the public had 100% accessibility to come and make any comments they want so that is not and you can back check me go right to our go look at our board agendas it's been spoken about where we had attorneys in I don't care what's in the newspaper sir all right that's the record who didn't want to comment talk about transparency I'll tell you flat out nobody on this board has any idea who this build who this person is who purchased property none none as long as that's true I don't have a 100% sir 100% true and I'll tell you my ethical values I would never let that happen all right um again the sale had to go through numerous steps Mr gard's office Time After Time had were revisions to the contract and so forth and again the property is not sold yet it's contingent upon the Builder as you said getting his approvals because if the Builder doesn't get his approvals deals off so then he needs so I can't I'll talk to you after the meeting okay all right so and again you know I've had other comments oh what are you going to do for the money with the money next year we're going to need the money because when you're looking at class sizes now next year is coming fast and oh and besides anybody drive up Valley Road Extension those apartments are going to be filling up the schools next year okay so with that I ask everybody let's pray together let's have peace together let's work together that's what it's about and we can do that as a community Wayne is really great about coming together let's do that all right can have a motion to ajour motion second what and be what Mr fav Mr M thank you everyone