##VIDEO ID:Jl7KLKm_4LM## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for 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 you turn it on and you'll see it okay oh okay I could hold it from like this length I think it's pretty loud from here anyway yeah good I think so okay and then there's thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e all w e okay um so you welcome music in this time to start off with um but we got to get the meeting just started and then we'll go back to something that sounds a heck of a lot better than than me um all right so can I yeah can I get a second for that thanks um all right notice is hereby given of the regular meeting of the Board of Education in the town of Westfield in the county of Union New Jersey at 700 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday December 17th 2024 in cafeteria B of Westfield High School 550 Dorian Road Westfield New Jersey purpose of the meeting is to transact the regular business of the board to transact any other business to come before the board this is to advise the general public and to instruct it to be recorded in the minutes that in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act the Westfield school board on Thursday December 12th 2024 calls to be posted at the office of the Board of Education located at 302 Elm Street Westfield New Jersey and deliver to the Westfield leader The Star Ledger the Westfield Library Town Clerk of Westfield tap into Westfield n patch.com a meeting notice setting forth the time date and location of this meeting Patty quick roll call please rob Bono here Kent diamonds here Brendan gallagan here Charles jinus here Leila melli sonel Patel here Kristen Sonic schmeltz here Julie Steinberg here Mary wickens here okay we're going to do a quick flag salute that I will start and then back to the fun stuff okay now back to the good stuff um hello welcome to everyone we have a full house today and reason to celebrate uh tonight both uh before we turn to the celebration of our amazing fall athletic teams we're thrilled to have members of the westfi high school Corral who have started this meeting for us provide a musical performance for the holiday season under the skilled leadership of director of choirs John brazowski um let's go to it Fe our heart Jo my heart is I the of glor go that we that we were there that we Ang we were there all we were there is actually grouping of two H pieces together this is and fore for for so for Jus Christ is B he show me the way chist christm Christ is born yes Jesus Christ is born yes Jesus Christ is home and this is f the snow's coming down I'm watch lots of people around baby please come home the church BS in town bringing inside for full of happy sounds baby please come home they're singing de the but it's not like Christmas at all I remember when you were here and all the fun we had last year pretty lights on the you should be here with me baby please come home they're singing de but it's not like Christmas at all I remember when you were here and all the fun we had last year if there was a way I hold back this here but it's Christmas Day please please please please please please please baby please go baby please go home baby please go home baby please go awesome e all right one more round of applause thank you guys much appreciated all right all right one uh one last thanks to the uh to our singers and uh to to Mr brazowski that was absolutely fantastic um we're now going to move to our athletic recognitions and we're going to start with uh girl soccer um I know you guys have another another place to go afterwards so we'll get started um we're going to begin tonight with our girl soccer team who are group four state champions oh come on this is the program's fourth State title and it's first since 2021 I know you're moving on to town hall to be recognized there as well so I will leave it to your coach to share some words about your exciting season uh but first we'll call you up as I call your name in alphabetical order please come up to receive a certificate of recognition from Dr Gonzalez and proceed onto the stage to await a photograph uh Sophia bosio come on you got practice oh she got practice okay uh Emily kigan see what we got I think some are at practice I understand so but everybody gets a name uh Victoria corkran Olivia D Gregorio Marin fer Lauren Fury Aaron hazard Andy janod uh Phoebe clag hang on I I know I skipped one named Ava Jina sorry Mary Lane Molly mcder Georgia melli practice uh Brooke Morrison Maya there Katherine Olivera Nina Rodriguez Amy Rollins Callie Schmidt Olivia thoron audre Toth and Ashley yenan also practice uh also want congratulations to coach Chris Carson come on up coach Bernie Cy coach Katie wor Heimer and head coach Alex Schmidt oh coach SMI when you're ready the flooor is yours thank you thank you all right um I'm make this quick uh so the team finished 21 uh watch on conference champions Union County tournament champions North 2 group four sectional Champions and state champions so they got all four um so as you said so 88 889 2021 2024 uh so four state championships in 40 years in about 40 years um the team finished fifth in the state um and in a couple polls they finished 10th nationally uh so this is the fourth consecutive year that the Union County Team of the Year and this is third out of the four last four years that we had the Union County Player of the Year as well um so all stats which we love uh but i''d be remiss if I'm just going to say a little bit about our team uh so the roster featured mix of talent we had two freshman seven sophomores seven Juniors and five seniors and the senior class four which are here if you guys just step forward really fast Lauren Fury Brook Morrison Olivia Thorton Captain Zaron Hazard and audre totes uh the five seniors uh as we always talk about we talk about leaders but the five seniors set the tone for us um they LED not by being the lest in the room but by truly understanding what the team and the individuals needed and when they needed it most uh their ability to listen to know the right tone when they spoke to choose the words wisely uh allowed them connect with their teammates in a meaningful way uh I hope other senior athletes in the room but I hope all the coaches can say in this room as well uh as proudly as our coaching staff as coach worth armmer and I uh that watching these seniors the four that are here and Audra grow into leaders was truly transformational for us not just this year but they're path through without the entire program uh their maturity leadership inspired their teammates to perform their best best uh in creating this unified culture and no team uh wins a championship let alone four championships without tremendous leadership so the entire team to the five seniors we thank you for a tremendous year e e all right uh next up is our girls tennis team who captured go ahead oh yeah Tennessee uh who captured the north 2 group four sectional title before we hear some of the accolades from coach Jordan please come forward as I call your name alphabetically to receive a certificate and proceed onto the stage for a photograph uh first is Alexa block mahika D Natalie debowski Ava Holtzman Haley Khan Emily gosi Anna Lux singer Jalissa meleski Julia O'Brien Abby pisara justella writtenhouse Lauren rosac Kaden stanik and Bianca vuna also please come up coach Brook Stites and head coach Samantha Jordan and Coach Jordan when you're ready you can make a few remarks at the podium hi everyone I uh well those were two tough acts to follow um but you know we are here and I'm so proud to be uh we were here two years ago as sectional winners and um it's nice to be back here again we had a very successful season we were 12 and seven we were third in the county our second doubles um were County Champions and um of course we have these this um wonderful award uh I'd also like to thank um all the girls for the hard work and all of their families as you can see we're not a very big team but we are one strong family and that's due to the girls and to their families and um I'd also like to thank coach stit she did a phenomenal job with JV and uh Jim dorno thank you so much for your support thank you you come for e uh also capturing the north Group North 2 group four sectional title is our girls volleyball team uh we look forward to hearing a few highlights of your season from coach Toro but first please come up as your names are called in alphabetical order and move on to the stage uh Karina kopoulos meline Cohen Cara Degan Amelia dangler Kelsey dicks sopia just I Ava gaspart Faith Gorski Audrey who Julia janicek Grace Moore Vicky Mory Sabrina Muer Neva Patel Audrey stack and Lillian wood also like to invite up coach Megan monden coach Ed sagio and head coach Beverly Toro coach the podium is yours when you're ready on behalf of the Westfield High School volleyball team we appreciate being honored tonight by the Board of Education we are particularly proud of our season's achievements because there were times this season when we were challenged um this is why I don't do this with the phone when we were challenged and didn't always end up on the winning side of the stick through perseverance hard work and belief we found our way we also work work through an extremely difficult situation when our brother Brandon jlot and our biggest fan passed away we had to find inner strength to continue and somehow we did I swear he was blowing some balls over the net to guide us to win the state semifinal and earn the right to go to the state finals those were tough times and we all learned a lot from that and worked through it together our culture has been created over many years of dedication of our athletes and our coaches and this season was a sectional three repeat and for that we are very proud thank you girls for believing in the process and thank you coaches for giving your time and energy to this program and you have made it what it is today specifically coaches JV coach and top technician Ed sagio volunteer coach Patty Oslo freshman coach David tulo eighth grade coach Chrissy cabales and volunteer coach Megan monden Megan was by my side this whole season and made a world of difference giving the girls a view from experience thank you to our coaches and we say goodbye to our seniors as they pass the torch to the underclassmen seniors if you'll step forward when I call your name Maddie Cohen Tri captains Sabrina Mueller Kira degnan and Katie kopoulos thank you girls for a great season and I look forward to next year already e all right well uh boys cross country is here tonight as sectional Champions as well I also want to acknowledge the team went on to place fourth at the meet of Champions which combines every private and public school across New Jersey into One race we're glad to be able to recognize you tonight and to hear more from coach deeli again we'll call each of you up an alphabetical order to receive your certificate and move on to the stage uh first Christian bonap Ryan Daly Alex Doros Nikos Doros Jack Hill Caleb Stockman Brody toriello and Cole Varner also want to invite up coach Mueller and head coach Christa felski coach telki you know the drill i h thank you so much for taking the time to recognize uh all of our athletes tonight um this really like every everything that we've seen is a is a community effort between the the athletes the coaches the administration Community uh really like it's just everybody throwing their contributions in and and these results um come from people who commit to to long-term growth and that's what but that's what these guys have done uh over the year um you know this was a year that that we had a lot of question marks coming in um we had uh we graduated a number of kids who kind of hogged the varsity spots for a really long time and uh you only get seven Varsity spots on a cross country team and six of them last year were seniors um so uh we were fortunate that we had some really strong senior leadership this year uh Ryan Jack and cold uh and Caleb did a tremendous job uh leading these guys um even when they themselves had had a lot to learn they they did a terrific job of of of instructing themselves and and one another um and there's only there's seven guys up here uh we had we had 84 guys on the cross country team this year so this is um this isn't just an act of leadership within this small group it's it's we had I think 24 ninth graders which was one of the biggest freshman groups we've ever had uh and they needed a lot of instruction too uh most of our kids don't come with any experience in this point so um so they have a lot to learn uh and with just me and and Kyle meller uh to instruct it really does fall on the shoulders of these guys to to bring them along and show them what it takes and and directly instruct them but also model you know what it takes to to work hard on a really long timeline and um and and get results like these uh and not everything went our way uh these guys well they we want the county championship for the first time in a long time it's been like five or six years since we won counties um winning the sectional was a little nerve-wracking because we went in with only six guys instead of seven and uh and we called up Nikos to to run in that race and and and the guys did a terrific job pulling that that Victory out um we had a setback at the group four Championship we didn't do as well as we hoped to in that race but they rallied uh really well to finish fourth at the at the state me Champions which is something that nobody would have picked uh Westfield team to do at the beginning of the season but um they were they were well-led they worked hard they believed in themselves they weren't phased by by setbacks uh and they have a lot to be proud of uh and the beauty of what we do is we don't have to wait a year to get back at it where're already going at it getting ready for the winter so uh thank you so much spe all right uh to introduce our final athlete to be recognized and thank you for your patience I will quote from a December 16th report by highy Sports she is the first ever female Blue Devil to win the individual State sectional Championship she individually qualified for the meet of Champions in 2024 she was the Rookie of the Year in 2024 she competed at the New Balance Nationals for the spring medley relay breaking the Westfield High School record senior Anna kyes is etched into Westfield High School history so let me welcome and congratulate Anna kyes a girls cross country north 2 group four sectional Champion please come forward to accept your certificate and move on to the stage for a photograph coaches bino and barardi please come forward as well and I invite coach barardi to say a few words here okay thank you so I'm stepping in so forgive me um but Anna and I actually have some history too um and she's a pretty special person in my life um when she was at ele in the elementary school tamak was where I teach I told her she should run and then when she finally did come out I just looked at her and she went oh cuz I could say I told you so and I'm glad that you did and I know you enjoyed your experience and she's going to continue this in college can I share she's going to be running a buck now um so sorry I didn't have permission I want to ask sure um but she was our number one number one Runner all season um she ran In 1855 on the Greystone course at the sectional meet which is very impressive um so I wish her all the best and she earned it she works very hard and she's an awesome awesome teammate to the rest of the girls on the team she really is so congratulations you e e all right well that was fantastic uh now it's our turn um we'll start with uh announcements um CJ do you have announcement sure congratulations to the following students for being accepted into the all Eastern honor are choirs students are chosen based on their scores from their respective All State choirs the all Eastern choirs consist of students from the southernmost state of Marland all the way up to Maine our Westfield High School Coral musicians will perform with this prestigious Choir in Hartford Connecticut at the end of April mixed chorus Charlotte catrino Garrett GA Olivia Marino treble chorus Hannah Forbes Caitlyn delandro Nadia Rigo additionally 20 High 20 Westfield High School vocalists have been accepted into the 2025 Region 2 chorus congratulations to the following students and to Coral director John brazowski these students will perform in Monro Township at the end of January treble chorus Emily Bailey Nikita bot Valentina chuchi Olivia Marino Luella mck Mia sacko Mia also plays third in Soprano 2 apologies Mia if I mispronounced Leah tety mix chorus Charlotte cotrino Mark D'Angelo Kelsey dicks Parker Ebert Hannah Forbes Hannah play second in Soprano 2 Ella Harts Owen ing Kira lenser Kira received fifth place in Alto 2 Tom moshier Mia Mia nuto uh nuo uh Kieran Patel Kirin received fifth place in in base one Nadia Rigo Nadia play second in Alto 2 and finally Emily tatori again apologies if I mispronounced Julie yeah three Westfield High School students have been recognized with the lift well you climb award this award honors the late Westfield High School principal Dr Derek Nelson who once said we have an obligation to our fellow human beings that if we are in a position to help someone you do it lift as you climb congratulations to 12th grader Ethan sers and 11th graders Khloe Martin and Jose Flores Rodriguez for this important recognition Lea congratulations to Westfield High School 12th grader Sophia basaldua apologies if that's not said correctly who is selected among 50 students Nationwide to have artwork featured in the college board's 2024 AP Art and Design exhibit the exhibit is a digital presentation of exceptional student creativity Sophia's work was chosen from over 880,000 submitted art portfolios Mary seven Westfield High School instrumentalists will perform with Region 2 Band and orchestras in early January having been selected following rigorous auditions congratulations to the following students along with band directors Chris Vitali and Gabe batit and Orchestra director Craig Stanton Anna aelio for OBO region band and Orchestra Ethan Co violin region Orchestra Nathan debol trumpet region band and Orchestra Christian bapan French horn region band Lucas shaant French horn region band Briana crispino French horn region region band Liliana Lincoln clarinet region band Kent thank you as winter is upon us the district wants to remind the school community of its inclement weather procedures available under the district information on the district website in the event of emergency closures or changes the district will notify all staff and families via text voice call and email updates also will be posted on district and school websites and District social media channels please familiarize yourself with these inclement weather School closure procedures so that we can all stay informed and stay safe this winter happy snow Brandon yep online registration for the 2025 26 school year is now available for kindergarten and grade 1 students please visit the student registration portal on the district website to access all the information and forms needed to secure registration for needed for a secure registration process you don't have an incoming kindergarten or first grader please help spread the word to friends and families and neighbors throughout Westfield Kristen the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Association of Westfield is accepting submissions of original work from elementary and Intermediate School students for its annual essay poetry art contest this year's theme is Building Bridges to the Beloved Community for entry details please refer to the elementary and intermediate guidelines posted on the what's new in our schools portal on the district website and included in the principal Friday newsletters the the deadline to submit entries to your school's main office is Thursday January 9th thank you sonel all Westfield Public Schools will be closed for winter break from Monday December 23rd through Wednesday January 1st additionally all schools will have an early dismissal this Friday December 20th we look forward to welcoming students and staff back on Thursday January 2nd and wish everyone a health healthy and happy holiday season and lastly the next regular public meeting of the Board of Education will be on Tuesday January 21st in cafeteria B at Westfield High School beginning at 7:00 p.m. the meeting will be live stream via the district YouTube channel which viewers can access on the board tab on the district website the complete agenda will be available excuse me on Friday January 17th also on the board tab uh and with announcements finished we'll move on to report by District administration Dr Gonzalez thank you uh given all the student celebr ations and recognitions this evening and the important uh board conversation that's going to take place uh regarding school start and end times later on in the agenda I will keep my uh remarks brief as my gift to everyone uh to begin I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday uh season filled with joy rest and meaningful time spent with friends and loved ones uh looking ahead 2025 promises to be an exciting and critical year for the future of the Westfield Public School District in our community Guided by our strategic plan we will continue to build on the strong Foundation already in place and Advance the programs and initiatives currently in Motion in addition in the months ahead we will present a referendum to our community one that will significantly enhance our schools by providing students with the educational space and opportunities they need and deserve while ensuring the exceptional quality of Education that defines Westfield there's much more to come we do our part uh we will do our part to keep our community informed through regular updates and presentations at board meetings each month starting in January and leading up to the April 2025 vote all we ask is that you stay engaged ask questions and most importantly vote in April till then I wish everyone a marry Christmas a happy Hanukkah a joyous K Quanza and a Happy New Year and to all those who observe other special traditions and celebrations May our holidays be filled with peace love and happiness seasons greetings and blessings to all that concludes my report thank you Dr Gonzalez uh we'll move right then to the high school student representative report James good evening heading into winter break Westfield High School has been full of excitement the cas and crew of the mad woman of shao had a very successful three nights and have already started preparation for their spring musical Additionally the no place for hate committee held their annual seat at the table event lots of great recipes and fun stories were shared at this event also the choir band and Orchestra departments also had their winter concerts the SGA partnered with the Westfield EMS Squad to hold a blood drive at whs dozens of students and staff participated along with many residents um in Westfield lastly SGA held a very successful pep rally this year with lots of participation from students and staff and we look forward to hosting our game show event in January thank you and happy holidays excellent next move to the report by uh board committees uh curriculum instruction and programs Kristen the sub committee convened on Monday December 2nd the meeting included a program presentation by Dei coordinator an Anna Munos and discussions on feedback regarding proposed schedule changes and recommendations for the course designations for certain course designations at Westfield High School Anna M Munos um Dei coordinator provided an overview of her work to support goal three of the district's strategic plan to increase diversity equity and inclusivity across the academic and extracurricular programs her presentation available on the district website under Spotlight for Education highlighted several initiatives in professional development efforts some of those highlighted initiatives include establishing a cons consistent approach acknowledging cultural and religious holidays through morning announcements read alouds Blue Devil TV segments and districtwide slideshows this ensures all schools recognize observances in a coherent and unified manner providing administrator and teacher training on culturally responsive education practices with tailored sessions for departments and for new staff upcoming professional development sessions will focus on supporting multilingual Learners through de initiatives collaborating with other with both the district Dei advisory and Dei steering committees to gather feedback and also share resources and working to reduce the disparities in academic achievement discipline and incidents of harassment among student subgroups Mrs Munos looks forward to the meaningful work that lies ahead as she continues to realize the objectives of goal 3 in the Strategic plan the committee also discussed feedback from community members and teachers regarding Dr Bolton's recent presentation on the proposed high school and intermediate schedule changes Dr Bolton provided updates on the district's efforts to address traffic implications including collaborating with the school administrators to develop a clearer procedure for student drop off and pickup at Westfield High School and partnering with the Westfield's Police Department to explore recommendations for improving traffic flow during the peak hours lastly the committee discussed plans to designate certain High School elective courses as honors level this change would apply to third-year electives that require a threeyear course sequence such as journalism 3 and corers which have two years of prerequisites any approved changes will be reflected in the upcoming program of studies thank you may I add something um just really quickly in the season of things um as the most recent member of the board I just wanted to say thank you I am a member of the curriculum committee I want to thank you rob for putting me on the curriculum committee I want to thank sonel and Kristen for your co-chairing Kristen in particular I'd like to thank you for mentoring me throughout this process um Kent um I know that you're the alternate but because of scheduling reasons you're there 50% of the time um to cover for other members and so I feel like you're really a member of the committee and um I just want to say what a pleasure it is working with you and how much I really not only enjoy how you comport yourself but also the interdisciplinary skills that you bring so that when you look at things you don't only look at things through the eyes of the curriculum and as an experienced board member but the financial perspective I think that's just extremely valuable and I've learned a lot from it and finally I just want to say to both Dr Bolton and Dr Weissman I've worked with both of you for over a decade in so many different contexts both personally as well as an advocate for the schools but working with you at this level has just elevated my respect for you and I just wanted to say thank you to you both for everything you do for the district and for allowing me to participate in this way and for helping me learn um and I wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday season thank you thanks I almost don't want to follow that um that's very nice um so we'll move to in in the worst transition possible we'll move to a we'll move to a report by the finance and Facilities chair Brendan Julie you said it we're good move on so the finance and Facilities committee met on Friday uh had I don't know 20 things on our agenda to go through uh starting with the 2526 budget uh just looking at projections uh health insurance costs are trending within budget uh much closer to our budget numbers than previous years uh this a good thing but we are continuing to monitor them and our broker is working on projections for the 25 26 year for our health and dental benefits um we talked a little bit about capital reserve and maintenance reserves uh the January budget me or the January meeting will be devoted to the audit and budget presentation so I'm not going to go too far into this but we are going to be able to put uh several million dollars into our maintenance and capital res Reserve accounts uh leaving us with 5.7 million in capital reserves after the 2425 school year projects uh these are projects that this money allows us to do all the small things throughout the year without having to go out and ask the voters for additional money every time um talking about the school year uh the school election in April uh there is no official date on when that the election will be uh if we follow last year's calendar it'll be April 15th uh with a filing deadline for candidates in February 25th uh but it it's possible the commissioner of Education may move that back a week because it conflicts with Passover meaning the election would be April 22nd we should hopefully have a final date on that sometime in January uh if not it's going to get real tight uh and we are looking at as we build the budget what cap adjustments will be afforded by the state as state health benefits if climbed about 15% this year uh we're not looking for anywhere close to that but we do expect some some leeway with budgeting uh because health benefits have gone up Statewide uh when it comes to the referendum um also scheduled for the April election uh right now we're in a holding pattern we can't really do much until the state approves the product uh the projects uh we submitted them back in September and we can't do anything until the state approves those projects and allocates what Aid they'll give us towards those projects projects uh we're proceeding like we we will get approvals on those because there's no reason why we wouldn't but we can't do anything or put them on the ballot until we get approval from the state uh when it comes then we moved on to Roosevelt uh when it comes to the facade the decorative gfrc panels are being installed as we speak weather permitting uh the first phase of the roof was repaired and the warranty company has recertified it so uh roof is back in commission there uh when it comes to the Fab Lab in room 123 most of those projects are done there's some small cosmetic things like permanent lighting uh that will happen during school breaks uh but people are moving in and those spaces are being used next uh talked about the Franklin playground project uh they're waiting on two pieces of of equipment to finish their installation uh the porn Play Rubber surface was installed and uh buildings and grounds will be purchasing mulch to fill in areas around the new equipment that were not included in that uh purchase order has been issued uh for the path at Franklin which would be handicap accessible path they get from the school level School playground level down to the school level right now it's just one set of stairs next we had a nice long discussion about uh the operating procedures for getting Chromebook repairs done uh whether a student damages it or it just becomes inoperable uh we work we work with the device shop in town to do all of our repairs and we uh kicked around various oper ways to cover those repairs as well as uh help ensure that parents aren't caught off guard by the sudden loss or damage to a Chromebook uh we have have we finished have we finalized that or is it still in the SOP for this year is finalized okay yeah that was attached yeah so for this year parents will still be re like paying for the cost of the repair right but for next year there's a couple different options that are kicking around to offset that uh whether it's a fee at the beginning of the year or uh an insurance policy that might be made available and then as we'll see later uh there's uh potential move or not potential moves now uh changes to the high school schedule starting for next year and what the impacts of that will be to finance the facilities uh we have to renegotiate a contract with our cafeteria vendor due to the change in how lunch will be done here and busing will obviously be a problem because busing is always a problem and then our uh our next meeting is initial January so that was about it I know there's a lot on there and the notes are in the uh the board portal any questions all right excellent thank you uh report by policies personnel and governance I think Lea so the PPG committee met on Thursday December 5th from 3:45 to 5:15 um also in attendance um was Mary wickins Charles jinus and Dr Gonzalez and Dr Greer the first item we discussed was the Westfield High School principal coverage plan we reviewed the plan to appoint bill logren as interim principal at Westfield High School which will be effective January 2nd 2025 the next steps in this transition include tonight the board will vote on Mr Logan's appointment tomorrow December 18th an onsite meet and greet will take place at Westfield High School to introduce Mr logren to the staff in the school community on December 19th central office will hold a transition planning meeting Mr Logan's official start date will be January 2nd the committee then reviewed the athletic substance abuse policy previous guidelines that were posted on the Westfield athletics web page have been removed and replaced with policy and regulation 5600 which focuses on the student code of conduct the committee is currently reviewing the existing chart of discipline to ensure the consequences for athletics and extracurricular participation are are clearly communicated Additionally the committee is looking at protocols and resources from other districts to inform the development of a new Athletics handbook as part of this conversation we also discuss the spectator code of conduct policy which all members schools of the njsiaa must adopt for the 2025 2026 school year this new requirement is in response to Rising concerns about inappropriate spectator Behavior at in Scholastic events Union County schools are exploring a shared approach to ensure consistency across the region the committee is waiting updates from Strauss Esme which will include the release of policy 9163 specific to spectator conduct while no action is required at this time the conversation will continue during the annual review of the student code of conduct in the spring the committee also briefly discussed harassment intimidation and bullying Hib and the role of the Board of Education this topic may require additional discussion in future meetings the final item on the agenda was a correction to the school day schedule for the remainder of the current school year the document currently lists as in an incorrect early dismissal time for a full day prek and kindergarten classes the listed time is 8:30 to 12:30 but the correct time is 8:50 to 1:00 the committee supports placing this revision on tonight's agenda for approval the next meeting of the policy personnel and governance committee will take place on Thursday January 9th from 3:45 to 5:15 this concludes the report thank you I have a question could you please um describe the scope of what was discussed relating to hi sure did you read the notes yes but since we don't give those notes to the public I just want to make sure we're clear and that I'm clear because it I'm honestly very confused and um I just want to make make sure we're all transparent in our efforts sure so um if there were concerns about um something that was in the Hib um discussion um as per the Board of Ed handbook it should have been addressed prior that's fine I'm just making sure that we're on the record right because there are some things that um cannot be discussed outside of committee um this is something that can be discussed outside of committee though but I just want to clarify that that's the reason why the portal exists was there anything that could not be discussed outside of committee I don't think so regarding Hib was there anything discussed outside of there my understanding that the only thing that was discussed in committee was relating to a legal inquiry that Dr Gonzalez made on behalf of board member is that correct no oh well for was there anything discussed that cannot about Hib that cannot be shared here in the report so could you just describe it um I would actually disagree because the in in the uh committee report we did cite the um the legal artifact that our attorney shared with us which is protected under attorney client privilege so I I would not be comfortable uh disclosing that but it is available for the Board review in the portal yeah no sure I understand I don't understand I don't understand the question well I guess I am a bit concerned because we don't share with the public attendance or agenda as part of the BOE agenda and we don't share the notes and the minutes and I understand why not and you know that's gone back and forth and that's fine but it does seem like this what was in the notes as I understand them or how we are allowed to vote or not vote in terms of exstension or um whether or not we're allowed to print or not print um the Hib reports and I'm just trying to make sure I understand that because that does have an effect and I kind of don't understand why that would be considered to be attorney client privilege well I can answer the um the printing out of the the hi reports because that was a concern that I had that is confidential information and my concern is that it's printed out and it could be left somewhere and um in that was my specific concern that had nothing to do with um anything other than that there are children um or staff members and it is H is a private matter and material should not be printed out in my opinion but apparently there's nothing to say that it can be right although of course according to the handbook you're supposed to approach the only person who actually prints that which is me but you know the reason why the reason why I do that though just to be clear I don't because second I think I think before we what I'm getting is a dispute on board procedure that I don't know that I want to have a discussion more than a dispute about procedure I think we have um I'm going to suggest I think we need a a process to um do this because I just want to call point of order thank you right now I'm going I'm going to suggest that we take this just back within the committee discussion before before it gets too far let's let's discuss it on the committee end and then we can report back on that I think that's a a better for for that I think that the committee is part of the problem great that's noted well um and is there a possibility to have like an executive committee where we can have a larger discussion you know without so along along those lines I have a question so what I'm hearing is that Julie has some concerns and she would like them to be shared with the public so can we do a hi training with Isabelle like a public training can we do a board training again on Hib we clearly need it but can we do it in public or no is that a possibility well it doesn't matter what the training says clearly well I'm just asking if we can do that is that something we can do I think all right why don't we send that back to committee we we rais a point of order I think we're we're set on that let's take it back to committee let's see if we can come up with a discussion on this and and work on it from there all right okay um the committee reports through we will recognize the public on agenda action items only uh during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda action items only uh these are the items if you've reviewed the agenda listed on the board agenda and they are colored red blue green purple and yellow in those sections uh there will be time afterward to talk uh have public discussion on items that are not part of the agenda that'll be at a second public comment uh once board businesses through uh the board requests that individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record the specific action items they are commenting on and ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or designate not to individual members or staff the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals and speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident that matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker St will be limited to 3 minutes in duration all right um I have to do a report it's okay yeah okay so my apologies there I did miss one report so let's start with this seeing no public comment on this round I will close public comment we will add in the ad hoc committee report sorry about that and then move to board action okay thank you Rob on November 20th the referendum Communications ad hoc committee convened virtually from 4: to 5:00 p.m. board members Mary wickens and Kristen Sonic schmeltz and myself met with administrators Dr Raymond Gonzalez and Mariam McAn the meeting focused on evaluating and providing feedback on the district's refer referendum communication efforts including our work with Laura Bishop Communications and the community communic Communications advisory committee the committee reviewed the draft Communications plan presented by LBC emphasizing its fluid nature to adapt to both emerging needs and opportunities the plan outlined key Milestones including collecting research and resources in November establishing the campaign's foundation in December launching the informational campaign in January accelerating Communication in February focusing on voter preparation in March and driving voter turnout in April Additionally the group reviewed various communication tools and materials that will support the campaign these include a centralized budget and referendum information portal print materials such as business cards mailers flyers and posters and digital content including social media posts and videos draft logos and key messages developed by LBC were also discussed with feedback provided to ensure they align with the district's branding plan and resonate with the Community the next meeting is scheduled tomorrow virtually at 400 p.m. future discussions will focus on stakeholder engagement opportunities such as involving Athletics and Visual and Performing Arts groups and exploring ideas like hosting more coffee with the superintendent events thank you thank you all right let's uh move through some of the agenda items please we'll start with the minutes I make a motion to approve the November 19th 202 4 regular board meeting minutes we have a second second second uh we'll do this by Voice vote all in favor any opposed and extensions that passes uh we'll now move to uh the governance action item sonel I'd like to move item a under the governance section of tonight's agenda is there a second thank you ch all right no comment no comment Rob bonao yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles delus uh just just given the complexity of these issues you know and the confusion spawned by them I'm going to uh respectfully vote no on all the hips Leila melli oh sorry yes and I abstained from number nine sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg no Mary wickens yes all right that carries uh Personnel is that Lila or Mary I'm not sure which is yep I'd like to move items a to V under the Personnel section of tonight's agenda is there a second you didn't even let me ask Kent Kent thank you okay any any discussion great Patty Rob bonio uh yes I'm abstaining from item I Kent diamonds no yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes leam melli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes okay now to financing facilities Kent hi I'd like to move items a through Q under the uh Finance section of tonight's agenda before I do if I ask I'd like to highlight some donations we've received uh the Westville Coalition for the Arts donated $1,800 to fund a master class presented by Craig ston Stanton and they also o donated $500 to fund a high school Workshop presented by Ricardo gorg so thank you to the westf School of Arts that brings a school year donations toal to date drum R pleas of $ 65,66 66 may I have a second thank you Mary you're welcome any discussion BBY Rob bonao yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Lila Mel yes sonol Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wikin yes okay next to policy items is that Leila um sorry I'd like to move items a through b under the policy portion of the um agenda tonight do I have a second Don any discussion Patty Rob bonio yes Kent Diamond yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus no to A3 and A4 yes to the rest Leila Morelli yes sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic meltz yes Julie Steinberg no to A2 A3 and uh B1 yes to the rest Mary wickens yes all right now to curriculum instruction and programs Kristen I'd like to move items a through C under the curriculum section of tonight's agenda A is for two field trips one at Wilson and one at Edison B is for three student interns at Westfield High School Franklin and Jefferson and C is for the acceptance of a grant to support comprehensive literacy intervention programs um can I have a second sonal discussion Patty Rob bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes son yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens yes all right I will call the board's attention to the notes for the record uh there is no unfinished business on the agenda but we do have one item of uh new business for discussion uh which is a uh a deliberation by the full Board of the 2526 school start and end time options um to just introduce this uh quickly the uh as we know there's been uh some discussions about the schedule uh for next year both in the high school and the Intermediate School uh Dr Bolton had a presentation on some of the changes that were being discussed I think it was at our last meeting uh the board's function in all of this is to uh not so much get into you know lengths of periods and things of that nature those are uh generally things for administration to plan out and some of them are things that are negotiated you know as part of the collective bargaining agreement with the teachers but our primary responsibility with this is approving school start and end time options um so we've asked Dr Bolton to uh to come by and present some of the options that were discussed a bit in the curriculum uh committee uh and we thought given uh given the importance of this that it would be a positive to have a full board discussion uh at this time there's no action to be taken no vote uh what we'll do is we'll have Dr Bolton present some of the options uh those were distributed to the board prior to the meeting uh then obviously the board can uh we we'll just you we run a basic discussion on the options primary function of that is really to get Dr Bolton some feedback and the curriculum committee some feedback on uh you know the path that we're taking any next steps any adjustments that might uh that might be worthwhile um so we'll uh I guess we'll start with Dr Bolton and uh we'll move around with any comments the board might have evening everyone thank you for having me uh back to present something to you for four months in a row I appreciate it thank you uh so this is as uh Rob introduced this is our discussion about start and end times um I I'm interested to hear your thoughts and opinions and and to bring them back to the sub committee a couple of things um there is a handout I printed it for everyone that handout includes um the proposed so first page is proposed start and end times and all I've done is given you a couple of options to discuss and each each one of those options is um inclusive of each level of schooling so that's the high school the intermediate schools the elementary schools and Lincoln's uh schedule I'll talk briefly about Lincoln too in in within each level you'll see option A and option b for the regular school day start and end times you will see early dismissal option A and option b and uh delayed openings for each level um then that's the first page of that sheet is the proposed for next year the next page is what the current is I think it was I thought it was important for everybody to have in front of them what the current schedules are and just for level comparison and then the third sheet is a just a matrix that I put together for everyone that does a comparison between the different options in terms of number of minutes of difference so you see the current numbers of minutes um that are that are um split between let's say the start time at the Intermediate School versus the start time at the high school currently um and then you'll see the proposals in option a option b and then I even did um at at Kristen's request I did an a combined like hybrid option what if we did option A for one and option b for another so that's not off the table so just to kind of give you some before I get into into depth into the chart um just to give you some ground rules to to level set um things that we need to consider uh as as a board what you need to consider is that this is u a requirement setting start and end times is in alignment with policy 8220 um that has to be done annually uh that's board's responsibility so that that vote would happen at the January meeting as Rob said this was just a general discussion about this this important process um couple of logistical things you'll see that there's a Time next to each schedule that's there is a student the amount of time that students are in school during that portion of the schedule and then the teacher workday so teacher workday is not something that we can really play with that is part of the negotiated agreement and determined by the the negotiations between the board and the the Westfield Education Association so that that workday is pretty set um corresponding options as I brought up so so in in the design of this these options it was designed as like level a or option A would would correspond to option A like the high schools option A would correspond to the intermediate and the elementary school option A and option B's would correspond however when you start to mix and match some things we might find some some room or avenues that might create a more effective solution um I I think we need to consider um so early dismissals one of the things that was done with the early dismissal times um for the the 4-Hour sessions um those are that by board policy and in Administrative Code we're required to have an early dismissal half day that is 4 hours exclusive of lunch so that's why you see the high school schedule next year will not have a lunch block during a half day so they'll have a 4-Hour session they'll come in and four hours later the kids will leave the Intermediate School however the way the schedule is set up between the three grades they do have a lunch period built into that schedule so that's why you'll see the intermediate school schedule is 4 hours and 25 minutes um delayed opening times some of the things that we work to resolve in these new schedules and and these start and end times is um right now it's really hard to even broadcast we have to broadcast exact times for for early um for delayed openings so you'll see as as you watch the news on on a a poor weather day something will flash across the bottom and it'll say 90 day 90-minute delayed opening for a certain District Westfield's unable to do that because our times are all over the place for uh delayed opening so what we tried to do was really organize that so there's a standard 90-minute delay on all levels um same thing with the early dismissal days too for some odd reason the previous schedules had early dismissal days would change the start times of the school day which doesn't make a whole lot of sense so we worked to fix that um Lincoln School schedule was really left untouched in especially in terms of start and end times um it's a it's a pretty convoluted schedule where there was a lot of time and thought put into that schedule um just considering that it is a separate building for our our our Central kindergarten and preschool schools so we do have to consider families that have to get to other buildings in that and that's something that we should consider at all levels when looking at these options um time in between start and end times um is is definitely a factor that has to be considered traffic is obviously an option in in the evaluation of all these start and end times and District transportation is also something that has to be a variable that's considered um next year the district is purchasing two of its own buses um um given a available options and the discussion that Happ happens tonight the possibility exists to maximize these buses to operate at multiple levels any bus questions I'm going to immediately look at Patty Ramos to answer so next step is I I I'm happy to to walk everybody through just to give you a lay of the land of the the charts and then open it up for discussion and then accept any feedback that you have um that we can bring back to se so so again looking at this first page you'll see option A of the regular school day for the high school is start time is 7:55 the end time is 249 student option b would be moving that back 10 minutes so that would just be an an end time a start time at 7:45 and an end time at 2 2 um 239 there's a typo there it's six both of those are 6 hours and 54 minutes um I'll just go through the regular days Intermediate School start and end time s option A the proposed option A is a start time of 8:15 and the end time of 250 and the end time the option b is 825 with an end time of 3 p.m. so you can see how that corresponds option b at the high school pushes the day earlier for high school and moves the day later for the Intermediate School getting us more distance in between the star times um and the end times same thing at the elementary schools it's just pushing it forward a couple of minutes to get us a little bit more separation um if you look at so the other thing that that needs to be considered too is that these start times these are not these are not drop off times start time is considered the time in which students will start in their be sitting down in their period one class so this is different than drop off times and the district is also working on other considerations and which were mentioned um working with the police partnering with the police to determine better traffic um working with administrators to determine better drop off and pickup situations also some of the discussion Dr Gonzalez and Patty and I have had are even creating an open school space early in the morning where we could serve a breakfast to students starting at 7:00 a.m. so that kids that want to get dropped off early and just have a quiet study could come to the cafeteria or the media center and um that would reduce the number of students dropped off too at the high school so um at during those peak hours so again start times are are students in seats during period one not drop off times so if you if you look at that Matrix on that third page you'll see that the the first two boxes are the the current the next two boxes are the proposed option a option b and then a hybrid option C um option A/B so in option A for start times you would have 20 minutes in between drop off or start time for Westfield High School and the intermediate schools you would only have one minute between end times option b Westfield High School and the intermediate schools would have 40 minutes difference in Star times and they would have 21 minute difference in end times so look at looking at the option A and option b option yeah so in option A if you look at the proposed start times the difference between the intermediate schools and Westfield High School for start time would be 20 minutes for option a at the end time there was there would be a one minute difference propos start times for option b between the intermediate school and high school that would get you 40 minutes by pushing the high school back earlier and pushing the Intermediate School start time later so that's a 40-minute difference in the morning for start and a 21 minute difference at at the end um if you were to look at like a hybrid of option A so let's say the high school continues to open at 755 which is an option A but the intermediate schools start with option b you would have a 30 minute difference between the high school and the intermediate schools for start time and you would have an 11 minute difference at the end of the day and and just understand the the the end of the day times um there's only so much room you have to end the school day there's only so many minutes that you're going to vary in between the end of the school day um so you know 11 minutes is is and and the other thing is as we've observed as we've done observations of entry and dismissal at the high school and the intermediate schools um entry is definitely more chaotic than dismissal students are staying at the school they're participating in sports and not leaving at the end of the day they're meeting with teachers they're staying for clubs they're they're just hanging out at the school uh after dismissal so the there is a much more spread out amount of time for the mass Exodus of the building than there is for entry into the building yes do we know what percentage of the current High School leaves at 245 versus 2 yes so again it's a it's a really rough estimate in terms of what's theoretical versus actual because like I just said there's a lot of kids that stay um theoretically though it's about a little less than 30% 245 correct oh so most kids get out of most kids start most kids choose the early start but that doesn't necessarily mean that they have off ninth period correct well right yes if if they're doing a n period di actually actually leave at 24 we don't know it it would be really hard to say how many how many students are exiting the building at 245 I was just trying to get a sense cuz right now it's only a two-minute difference if if you're focused on looking at the end of the day yeah so currently the current end times if you looking at the the end of period N9 at the high school and the end of the the intermediate school schedule is two minute difference right so please discuss all right um I think probably the best way to do it is we just kind of head around the table if you've got feedback that you feel like sharing perfectly fine if not I mean this will be discussed I assume in the next SI meeting correct feedback it's definitely on the agenda for the next SI meeting so certainly bring out whatever might be coming to mind now if things don't come to mind right away There's an opportunity you know through the co-chairs to to share feedback with that as well so um I don't know if CJ want to take a take the first crack at it no I I just wanted to thank you for all the efforts undertaken here it's pretty impressive the uh the complexity involved and and you've navigated it really well so I just wanted to thank you for you and the whole team that's been working on this it's been you know this is incredible but there's a um there's a a website called a Time duration calculator and it's right as a favorite on bookmarked on my homepage I want everybody to share in my it sounds like a great stocking stuffer yes um I thank you too and we'll discuss it in sip I I I'm sure this has been a very exhausting effort on your part um and um thank you and the entire team Lea um yes thank you I know this is this is a lot even when you were asked to split the days and the ab schedule um that's a lot um is there any sense that um there's a preference from the staff kind of across the board about option A or option b and I know you can't make everybody happy all the time and I know that's not the goal it's really about like what's best for the students but is there any sense that like option b seems more similar to the timing now is there is there a sense that there's a preference for that I so I I can't tell you that we've surveyed the staff with all of these options I I can tell you that there are definitely concerns about change right and there are concerns about what was once early and is now going to be later um I think in especially and and that's my my biggest concern right now is is also staff but also student understanding that I think that and I and and James may be the perfect person to ask is just the the level of understanding that students have of if you start later in the day you will end later in the day and I don't think I don't know that that really sinks in until you live the schedule and getting out later is is going to be different for a lot of kids especially athletes and kids involved in in club and activities after school so if you were asking Jim DeSaro he would say we should choose the earlier start option son um just to that point I actually as one of the things that we were looking to do with the schedule change was having uh recognizing that kids need a later start time for more sleep and so I was preferential I was looking preferentially at option A for that reason well it's not a huge amount of time it seems to make a difference that it would provide some extra time in the morning regardless of then what happens on the back end so it's going to be one or the other but that was one of the goals we were looking for Kristen I Echo exactly what sonel said so my my uh preference for those exact reasons is option a um and then option b for intermediate and Elementary just to create more time in the morning for traffic Bron uh we have a once in a generation chance to fix some traffic on raway Avenue uh really there's only two groups the high school and Lincoln that have parents Crossing through the circle for drop off and pickup and maximizing the time between them is probably pref it's preferable in my mind uh finding a way to make it so that at least that's dragged out as far as possible it is going to change Sports schedules practice schedules are going to start a little bit later they're going to they're going to run later games may have to get pushed back a little bit it's not the end of the world uh most of the time it's still dark at six o'clock so things really aren't going to change it's the beginning of the spring season and the end of The Fall season where we'll have to figure things out uh but we've done temporary lights in the past when we have teams playing at the state championship level for the fall sport so it's it it's not something we haven't done before it's something we can solve we're talking about four minutes it's not going be an issue it's only 4 minutes it's 4 minutes 249 versus 245 absolutely no issues I was looking at the element at the I was looking at the 3:00 and 3 3:20 dismissal um yeah so no issues there uh the the big change will be uh groups that are used to having that last period to start making their transition to way structure that with a rotating BL Ken I just want to make sure I'm reading this correctly I I missed this last meeting so the high school day is now 6 hours 54 minutes from 6 hours 27 minutes so we're extending in the day right correct I read that for so lunch is longer right so yeah okay just want to make sure um I also I Echo having more buffer between the the end days to alleviate traffic between Edison and the high school mhm and that kind of thing um for safety reasons there was a friend that bur outside Edison last week during one of the concerts M Mary I'll look I'll look directly at you Matt um um I after reading it over I do like Kristen's suggestion of a for the high school and B for the others to give more time um in the morning the a the afternoon even when there was 2 minutes it was still doable having had to pick somebody up at the high school and then the other student just has to wait and there's plenty of awnings if it's not great weather to just wait until you get there so yeah definitely thank you for putting that all together the colors make it work that's so I was I obviously was going to copy and color for for all of you thank you so is the season James I don't know if you want to jump in board part of the board so board discussion it is but all good all right that's fine perfect well look you got the as Dr Bolton said he got the experience so look I oh sure go song so I'm sorry if I missed this because when we originally got this information it was um a for the high school B like all the way through a or all the way through b but so we can do yeah I mean I I think it's something we have to consider consider because there could be some well and that's and and again I think we have to include Patty and and Lisa Moroso in the next phase of this conversation which is does this impact Transportation especially I mean Patty's been planning for over a year to purchase these buses and really make it a more efficient system for us in terms of transporting students so that has to be a variable that's considered as well and that that'll be discussed in sep so just a a couple things to I think wrap up um I just just throw my two cents in I'm I'm very much for you know later start times and more space between where we can get them if it's efficient um I really did like the discussion or at least the thought process about having the school open earlier in the morning I think that's also a traffic mitigation Factor um I know if I ever drop my kids off I see a line of folks um just kind of sitting in the cars parked um which idling is not something we were supposed to do so um but um for a number of different reasons um including it's not particularly legal but I understand why that probably happens right because there's only a limit amount of parking spaces there's only a limited amount of spots in the lot so you want to get there in an early enough time um and I think one of the ways to solve the sitting in the car idling problem is to give somebody someplace to go rather especially during the winter months where where you know the other option is being a little cold so um certainly if we can you know consider that as a as a possibility as well it' be helpful um and again just to close out I just want to make sure everyone understands this is a a feedback session more than anything else as Dr Bolton said there are a lot of other considerations to talk about about busing about finances um the the positive of this schedule I think uh has also been that what's been formed has been formed with ongoing discussions with our students with our teachers as well um so again I'm sure we'll we'll ask for another rounds of feedback as well on that but uh again I just think having the discussion here to help the committee was uh was very helpful so thank you very much great I think you're good maybe for we'll we'll have to come up with something for January for you we'll see what we can do you got you got a streak going so um so next item on the agenda is liaison reports yes I know Julie has one I think yes so um last time I mentioned that um as a a board member on uccec and R aison that we were considering purchasing um 53 Cardinal Drive that is the lindbur building um all the way over near Route 22 and um I I'm excited and very surprised that they moved like lightning and we put in a purchase and sale for $7.25 million for the property um obviously there's a lot of things that need to happen very quickly but again they're moving very fast on this so it would represent a huge win for the board for UCC um for Union County and obvious obiously for the town of Westfield as this property will immediately have a new tenant um just of interest um they're obviously still going to be determining how they'll allocate this space but in terms of what I'm seeing I just see a lot of really fascinating parallels and things I think that we can you know benefit from and I I've shared some of this with with Dr Gonzalez um and and ROM um but they are going to be first and foremost housing um and consolidating administrators and staff um which will you know give them some of the benefits that we ourselves are trying to accomplish with our own initiatives um so I see parallel efforts in in play here and then students as well um which will result in both cost and educational efficiencies it's also an office building so especially for special needs students a lot of the small spaces that we ourselves have built into our plan um are already in play because of the natural structure of the building and uh I think that that was uh fascinating for me I was very impressed with how quickly such a small team with such limited resources worked quickly and efficiently on this and I'm very hopeful and optimistic for them and for our County so hopefully more to come in January after our next meeting that's great thank you any other leaz on reports all right uh then we'll move to our second public comment session uh during this portion of the meeting members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any topic as a courtesy allow current students and staff of the Westville public schools to speak first excuse me the board requests that individuals sign in and state their name Municipality of residents and group affiliation if applicable for the record and ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or designate not to individual board members or staff the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident that matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration all right going once all right we will uh close public comment Dr Gonzalez I just while we're in the public comment uh portion I did want to use the opportunity um to formally recognize and welcome Bill lochran uh who's joining us this evening uh earlier in the agenda he was approved as the uh acting principal of Westfield High School uh and this evening as the board uh approved his appointment uh he will be joining the uh Community tomorrow as he's introduced to the staff and students uh and then working with the administration at the school and and District level over the next two days to get uh acclimated to the to his new surroundings uh before assuming the responsibility on Janu January 2nd so I just wanted to acknowledge his presence and thank him for for joining our team we're looking forward to him welcome uh so with that I think now I will close public comment uh and ask for a motion to adjourn uh sonal motion second Kristen all in favor any opposed any extensions we are adjourned