##VIDEO ID:avlgcCLNMYw## e notice is hereby given of the regular meeting of the Board of Education of the town of Westfield in the county of Union New Jersey at 6 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday October 15 2024 in cafeteria B of Westfield High School 550 Dorian Road Westfield New Jersey the board will move immediately into private session to discuss matters Rend confidential by state and federal law including harassment intimidation and bullying incidents the public portion of the meeting will resume at 7:00 p.m. the purpose of the meeting is to transact the regular business of the board and to transact any other business to come properly before the board this is to advise the general public and to instruct that it 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 October 10th 2024 calls to be posted at the office of the Board of Education located at 302 Elm Street Westfield New Jersey and delivered to the Westfield leader The Star Ledger the Westfield Library Town Clerk of Westfield tap into Westfield and patch.com a meeting notice setting forth the time date and location of this meeting Patty may we have a roll call please rob bonao here Kent diamonds Brendan gallagan here Charles jelus here Leila melli here sonel Patel here Kristen Sonic schmeltz here Julie Steinberg here Mary wickens uh son would you lead us in a flag Sal please uh request the board approve the following resolution uh resolve that the Board of Education move into private session for the purpose of discussing matters rendered confidential by state and federal law including harassment intimidation and bullying incidents and be it further resolved that any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential and the results of the discussion will be made public as soon as practicable may I have a second please second sonal I'll do a Voice vote all in favor I any opposed any extensions we are in executive session 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 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 all right the board is uh now back in session uh we'll start with some announcements uh CJ do you have yes uh congratulations to the following Westfield High School students who have been recognized for their exceptional ademic promise as commended students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship program and please forgive uh any mispronunciation Kevin Degan Benjamin Duan Tristan fer Michael fiser Anna lexer Jake parz Ethan sers Anan Shaw Neil shastri Owen way Wy Whitlock RI sorry Riley Whitlock and Calvin Woodruff thanks Julie do you have an announcement oh um yes Westfield Public Schools will be closed on Thursday November 7th and Friday November 8th for Teacher professional days consistent with the njaa convention additionally all students will have an early dismissal on Tuesday November 5th and Wednesday November 6th as all staff members meet for professional development sessions Lea any announcements for you no Kent yes the district remains committed to recognizing and raising awareness of the diversity in our school Community while National Hispanic Heritage Month ends today there are quite a few cultural historical and religious observances in October these include the Jewish High holidays of rash Shana and yam kapor disability history and awareness month Italian American Heritage Month German American heritage day and indous people day we look forward to continuing to honor our school Community throughout the year as we celebrate the rich diversity that strengthens and unites us all Brendan nothing Kristen good evening the district is piloting a new safety Initiative for concerts and performances at our high school and intermediate schools all attendees will now need a ticket to enter these events this online ticket in system will allow the district to one better manage crowd sizes two improve entry and exit processes and three create a safer environment for everyone for your convenience tickets can be reserved ahead of time for the entire Academic Year at wpvp A.B book ticks.com while this ticketing requirement won't be implemented at the elementary schools this year all elementary string concerts held at the intermediate schools along with the All City concert in June will will require a ticket please visit the news section of the district and school websites for more information thank you sonel the next regular public meeting of the Board of Education will be on Tuesday November 19th in cafeteria B at Westfield High School beginning at 7:00 p.m. the meeting will be live streamed via the district YouTube channel which viewers can access on the board tab on the district website the complete agenda will be available on Friday November 15th also on the board tab thanks everyone uh we're now going to move to two recognitions um we're going to start with actually these are these are two folks who um should be familiar to the board um I think at this point we may want to get you guys seats up here um because uh because of all the the great stuff that you're doing so we'll start with the National Merit semi-finalist uh on behalf of the entire Board of Education I'm pleased to welcome Westfield High School 12th grader Garrett G and his family tonight Garrett has been named a 2005 I'm sorry 2025 National Merit semifinalist he's among a nationwide pool of about 16,000 semi-finalists who represent less than 1% of us High School seniors as a National Merit semi-finalist Garrett has the opportunity to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships that will be offered next spring Garrett please come forward to accept a certificate of recognition from Dr Gonzalez and join us on the stage for a photograph have uh next recognition is for the boys track and field coach of the year uh also here tonight is coach chrisa felsky who is no stranger to our board meetings as coach of the boys cross country and track and field teams he and his Runners have come before us many times to be recognized for their amazing Seasons tonight we honor coach telski for a second National recognition of his leadership and performance during the 23 24 school year he was selected by the US track and field and cross country coaches association as the 2024 boys high school track and field coach of the year for New Jersey state-by-state winners were selected based on their teams performances throughout the 2024 outdoor track and field season this prestigious recognition follows coach Tel's selection last Fall by the Association as the Cross Country Coach of the Year coach telski please come up to accept your award and to make a few remarks before joining us on stage for a photograph um thank you uh thank you so much for taking the time to uh to recognize this um it feels really weird to be here without the kids here it's it yeah um coach without athletes isn't this is strange um but um I I think uh before um before I forget and I actually did write this in my phone because there are a number of people that that contributed to our success over the course of of of all of the seasons you know whether whether um you know our mission is always to develop kids and wherever that leads is where it leads and sometimes that leads to to external successes like championships and things like that um but in in our book as long as as long as kids are are living up to our our standards of conduct commitment effort and teamwork um and they're moving forward in the sport um we're doing our job the right way um and um I would I absolutely want to to recognize um my coaching staff uh cuz one person just cannot coach this board of track field there's just too many things going on in too many different places uh with too many different events and and types of types of athletes uh so I want to recognize Eric Anderson Matt enzel Maran bck Jack Campbell Ricardo Johnson Sam Haymon Don McDonald and John Preston um without uh these incredibly talented gifted Educators they're Educators um teaching kids um all of the all of the the technical aspects of sport but really the the human aspects of sport too um and uh you know they're they're they're just they're just wonderful people to work with every day they're terrific with the kids um and you know now a lot of those kids who were part of our program last year they've graduated and we stay in touch with kids when they move on and uh it's it's always great to talk to them you know another you know a month two months into their Collegiate careers and and they're well and they're they're prepared from from this place they're prepared they're prepared academically they're prepared intellectually they're they're prepared socially and emotionally for the challenge es of fitting in a new place sometimes with a new team um sometimes not or just all the changes that go on in a kid's life from the time they graduate here in June to to now uh and so to to hear great things from them that they're they're still doing great things whether they be track and field related or not um doesn't really matter um but um and and without without fail whenever we talk to alums who come back they say I am prepared because I'm a graduate Westville High School and and uh and so that's something that all of us uh at all levels of of of what we do here uh the administration board teachers coaches uh everybody um all doing the same uh work to to accomplish that mission so thank you our our parents that that work with these kids they do a wonderful job they let us do our job which is great uh and so we've we're we've got these kids you know and their development over their years and the success what they do when they're when they're when they're out of here I think is Testament to what we do here so thank you very much [Applause] my guesses will be seeing coach again December January we're figuring with the with with athletes um next we'll move to the report by District administrational turn over to Dr Gonzalez so this evening uh we'll have two reports one will include uh brief comments by myself and then following will be our annual assessment uh report which will be provided by Dr Bolton and members of our administrative team Liz delandro Liz Riley and Tom Patterson um to get started I I do want to uh offer some remarks with a theme that is consistent with the month of October being um when as a state all school districts are recognizing um School violence awareness week as well as uh the week of respect um and as part of our ongoing commitment to fostering a safe and supportive learning environment each School within our district has completed the annual uh anti-bullying Bill of Rights self assessment which is required by the uh New Jersey Department of Education this assessment evaluates eight core elements including Hib programs staff training and procedures and reporting procedures our schools have diligently worked on um establishing anti-bullying initiatives and ensure that effective staff training all take place with the goal of preventing and addressing harassment intimidation and bullying the 2023 2024 self assessment highlights both the success uh of our schools as well as areas for continued Improvement reflecting our dedication to maintaining a positive School climate once the Board of Education approves the submission this evening we will send our self assessment ratings to the New Jersey Department of Education for their review uh the state may adjust these ratings Based on data and issue a final grade in the spring which will be posted on both the state and District websites these grades will serve as a guide in further strengthening our Hib program a full report of our district scores can be found in the attachment for Item B under the governance section of tonight's agenda in alignment with our anti-bullying efforts our schools actively participated in the week of respect held from October 7th through the 11th this initiative engaged students staff and the community in a series of activities that promoted respect safety and healthy habits schools like Lincoln hosted assemblies such as Touch a Truck and Incorporated car strong lessons while McKinley and Jefferson facilitated daily resp respect themed lessons and engaging activities like the first grade reading of Giraffes Can't Dance Washington school collaborated with the librarian for respect theme reading and Franklin adopted the theme I belong you belong and we belong to encourage inclusivity and empathy Roosevelt Edison and the high school contributed to in their own creative approaches including sidewalk chalk activities and anti-bullying tables talks finally in case you missed our recent District newsletter I'd like to share the message that encapsulates our work during the week of respect and the upcoming School violence Awareness Week it reiterates our Firm Stance against hate discrimination and violence as we continue to promote a culture of respect and safety in all of our schools so this is the message that was included in in our most recent newsletter as we enter the month of October our schools will observe the week of respect and school violence awareness week which are critical opportunities to focus on building positive and inclusive School environments consistent with the mission of our district these observances remind us of the importance of promoting kindness inclusion and respect for all members of our school Community our district is unwavering in its commitment to fostering climate a climate where every student staff member and family SE feel safe valued and respected We Stand firmly against all forms of hatred and bigotry including anti-Semitism islamophobia racism anti- lgbtqia plus bias and any forms any other forms of discrimination acts of intolerance and hate whether subtle or overt tear at the very fabric of our school community and we will not tolerate them anyone found committing such acts will be subject to consequences under our student code of conduct and may be referred to law enforcement when appropriate it is our Collective responsibility to ensure that prejudice and hate have no place in our schools we are dedicated to creating a culture where empathy respect and inclusion are not just ideals but daily practices that Define who we are as a school Community as we focus on respect anti-bullying and antiviolence during these important weeks I want to highlight some of the resources and support systems that we have in place anti-bullying programs and policies we adhere to the New Jersey anti-bullying Bill of Rights which mandates that we actively prevent and address harassment intimidation bullying in our schools our anti-bullying Specialists and counselors are available to assist students in navigating conflicts and promoting positive relationships families can find more information about our District's anti-bullying policies including how to report an incident on our district website there you will also find contact information for our District's anti-bullying coordinator and the school anti-bullying Specialists as well as instructions on the reporting process counseling and support services our schools offer comprehensive counseling and support services to support students emotional and mental well-being our counselors who also serve as the anti-bullying specialist play a critical role in guiding students through conflicts and addressing addressing incidents of bullying and providing a safe space for students to express their concerns they work closely with students to build resilience manage stress and promote positive relationship if you believe your child could benefit from these services or if you need support regarding a bullying incidents we encourage you to reach out to our counseling team who are dedicated to ensuring a safe and supportive environment for every student in the world of inclusive educational programs throughout the school year we continue to offer programs that emphasize the importance of respect tolerance and acceptance of all individuals regardless of their differences and these programs are designed to promote understanding and empathy among our students and then last but certainly not least are the efforts that we include in our curriculum and instruction work with our teachers our district is deeply committed to providing teachers and counselors with the resources and strategies needed to address such topics as respect and inclusion and diversity in an open and unbiased manner through ongoing professional development and access to comprehensive instructional materials we ensure that educators are equipped to Foster critical discussions and promote empathy and understanding among students around complex t uh topics when they arise these efforts are designed to create classrooms where all perspectives are valued and students learn the importance of respect for differences by empowering Educators these tools with these tools we strive to cultivate an environment where every student can feel seen heard and respected as we move forward in the weeks and months and year ahead I encourage all members of our school Community students parents teachers and staff to join us in our efforts to build an environment where respect is a Cornerstone of our interactions by working together we can ensure that our schools remain a place of learning growth and safety for everyone let us continue to support one another in creating a district where everyone feels they belong that concludes my report this evening at this time I'd like to invite Dr Bolton up to uh deliver the second presentation this evening evening everyone oh I forgot my clicker thank you so much for allowing us to um satisfy this state mandated requirement of reporting our and jsla and DM scores to you um and when I say us I do mean us I'm I'm so happy that I have the experts with me today um who will Who you'll you'll see how much work they do with these scores um we have um Miss Liz riy who is our K12 subject supervisor for language arts we have Miss Liz delandro who is our K12 subject supervisor for Computer Science and Mathematics and we have Mr Tom Patterson who is our Science and Technology education slash acting Westfield High School principal it's many hats he's wearing right now he's going to be interpreting the science course for us so just to get started a little bit um I'll be providing a a general highlevel quantitative overview and then the supervisors will come and provide more of a in-depth qualitative analysis of the scores and what they mean for us so this um I'll start with the njsla New Jersey student learning assessments um we student students are assessed each year in language arts in grades 3-9 in mathematics in grades 3 through 8 and then Algebra 1 geometry and Algebra 2 they are also assessed in science in grades 5 8 and 11 so if you remember last uh two months ago I reported on the NJ GPA scores those are students in grade 11 so they students in grade 11 often get the the triple whammy of SATs NJ GPA and science NJ SLA and then also students take the dynamic learning Maps uh assessment that those are that is reserved for students with IEPs who have some of the most significant intellectual disabilities in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 when these scores are reported to parents parents receive an individual student report that is a report that is typically mailed home this past year we've joined the 21st century as a school district and we have stopped putting uh stamps on envelopes and we have now uploaded these individual student reports into Genesis so parents are able to log into their Genesis um profile click on an assessments Tab and then see a pdf version of the individual student report these student reports are chalk full of information for parents they have um student performance levels which I'll explain in the second there are student scale scores ranging from 650 to 850 there are are state district and school average performance measures and there are subsections of the main subject areas so sub subcategories of performance that are reported um there's also a passcode for parents to access the online uh database where their historical data of their students individual score reports are um are our housed so njsla performance levels there are five performance levels in English language arts and math and wouldn't you know it there's not five performance levels in science so um Mr patteron Mr Patterson will go into depth on why that is so the performance levels range from level one not meeting grade level expectations to all the way to level four and five meeting and exceeding grade level expectations once we look at our aggregate scores which we'll do in a second we do break down our scores into subgroups and subgroups that are reported um some of the subgroups that exist in our school district and they the percentage of students in those subgroups are reported here we have subgroups with economically disadvantaged students with disabilities multilingual Learners our white students Hispanic students black African-American and Asian you'll notice that some of these um subgroups do have an asteris net to them and that's essentially um we are we we must um suppress data that represents an N under 10 so in a grade level if there are students who in a particular subgroup who don't meet that threshold of having 10 or more students then we do not report on that data so some of these subgroups you may look at some of the charts um and tables in this in this presentation and notice that there are subgroups that are not represented and that is because their um their subgroup is so so small and for confidentiality and statistical uh anomalies that result of such a small end um we suppress that data so this first table is our English language arts aggregate performance and as you'll see um this is by grade level Westfield is represented in blue the state averages are represented in Black our average scale scores and then you'll see this is by grade level across the rows there's representation of average scale scores and then each level of performance as we discussed earlier and then the final column is the um the sum of the level four and five those students who met or exceeded expectations as you'll see in aggregate uh Westfield continues to do extremely well on the njsla performance um especially compared to State averages both in scale score and in Combined levels of fours and fives this is language arts and then this is a a table a couple things about this about about this chart actually there is um there was a question at last year's meeting when we presented this data about how do we do in response to how are we performing after covid um and it was a good question so thanks to aubre aubre is our um a partnership that the district has engaged in with a um a data warehousing company where we're able to centralize all of our data student data into one space so it's it's enabling us to have student data from njsla scores to other assessments that we conduct in the district right at our fingertips and allows us to combine data points and triangulate data points um so it's been exceedingly helpful in both not only providing these data visualizations but also in giving us some some more efficient and effective tools to analyze data so Au provided us with this chart um and you'll see in this chart just as in the all the other charts the blue is exceeded expectations the green is met expectations yellow is approached expectations orange partially met and red did not meet expectations or did not yet meet expectations so this is you'll see 2018 2019 on the top and then covid and then we resume Assessments in 2122 so you'll see incrementally as we're rebounding from Co from Co our scores are continuing to gain and are very close if not almost identical to where we were preo and this is again language arts um English language arts subscores I'll go quickly through these subgroup scores these are um again this this presentation will be posted on the website for anyone who wants to go into depth into any of these subgroup scores um this is Hispanic Asian subgroup in language art black and African-American o hold up hold up white subgroup economically disadvantaged you'll notice this subgroup is only two grade levels reported because of the small n size in every other grade special education scores and students with 504s so again Ela comparisons from year to year are important so this is a table that just describes how where each grade level is doing in comparison to the grade level prior to it so it gives us a a comparison of of between group comparison it also gives us a sense as we analyze these scores of whether it's a a particular grade level or if there's something potentially if we see patterns of assessment scores at a particular grade level that we see are consistently challenging it might be um the content of the test at that grade level that we could analyze so this chart will show again um combined levels fours and fives who've met or exceeded expectations and then percent change from the 2023 group at that grade level to the 2024 group of students at that grade level so in addition to uh presenting these scores publicly and and organizing them into a board presentation and and a nice slide deck to put onto a website we actually utilize these scores in um in real ways and and meaningful ways to enhance our teaching practice our administrators our supervisors our principles our teachers meet regularly to analyze these scores in the beginning of the year they meet in their faculty meetings and grade level meetings and plc's and department meetings where they they look at different reports that are provided by Pearson who is the company that provides us with the njsla some of the reports um that are more actionable are things like this evidence statement analysis which you've seen in previous presentations this provides us with again this is a Criterion based assessment so it is aligned to the New Jersey student learning standards so this is an example of where um we're able to look at identified standards it's hard to see on this this table but those little numbers on the bottom are the standards and then the district's performance is represented through a Green Dot and the state performance is represented through a a blue square and we're able to see our relative performance on that standard against the state average so in areas where we're where we see and this is just a sample of one but where in areas where we do see that the state average and our performance are getting closer that's where we do a deep dive into that particular standard and then compare it to other assessments that we're taking whether they're curriculum based assessments that teachers are delivering or uh screening assessments like I ready um which we're we're implementing this year for the first time that's giving us realtime data to compare to these standards so again this is just another example of actionable steps that we're able to take with this data with our teachers to improve instructional next steps our our supervisors are also busy as soon as these scores come out I I mean honestly before I even log into Pearson Liz Liz and Tom have already analyzed all the scores I don't know how they do it but it's immediate and they produce things like this tables that demonstrate to us what the areas of strengths strengths are in a particular grade level areas of focus and recommended action steps for teachers to take and this is the type of thing that they bring into those grade level meetings or those department meetings for their teachers so the the teachers aren't um spending time in addition to doing their their teaching and their planning to analyze scores the the analysis is done with them but also for them by the the subject supervisors and this is an excellent place for me to hand the presentation over to our language arts supervisor Liz Riley who's going to give you a little bit more of a qualitative view at the English language art sores that we just reviewed Hi how are you um so every year I come up here and I start and I say we're going to dive in and we're going to look and every year I say we have to be really proud of ourselves and once again I think that's where we need to start when I dive into this data I'm looking at where are we the least above the state like it's a it's an interesting place to be so I just want to start with Elementary a little bit um you can all read the screen so I'm not going to say it's what's on the screen but what I want to tell you is a little bit about what's behind the numbers that we go first of all I am not the numbers person Liz is the numbers person but as I dive and as I look at different things it's really really interesting because what Matt showed you earlier was year toe how we perform but one of the things that I do is I look at our cohorts and what that means is I look at the current fifth graders and I see how' they do in fourth grade how'd they do in third grade how are they progressing that cohort cuz we can compare year to year but you know there's certain grade levels that are super big there's certain grade levels that are super small so we're we're comparing not that we're comparing apples and oranges but we're comparing different things right the current fourth grade right now who took third grade last year their scores improved by 75% the current fifth grade from third to fourth grade improved 8.8% and from fourth to fifth grade improved 4.3% so that's over 12% that they or 133% if I can add correctly that they have improved from third to fifth grade that's what we're looking for are our students growing and they are and they're doing really really well where are they growing they're doing their writing is phenomenal at the elementary level they do a lot of it they have a 90 minutes to 120 Minutes remember that in elementary school for ELA it's wonderful it's amazing everything is literature Rich it's great where they're working is analyzing text structures and comparing and contrasting Dr Bolton put up the evidence statements what he didn't mention was that they go by level of complexity and difficulty so on the left side are the most difficult the right side become less difficult those items are the most difficult ones so those are the ones that they are working working on those are the ground level building blocks of what they will be doing later on so when we look at Tech structures the questions that they're asking is why would an author choose to write this section as a compare and contrast as opposed to a problem and solution there are a lot going on in that question for third graders fourth graders and fifth graders so they're doing great but that's the area that we're continuing to work on in fact two years ago that was a sgo for a third grade cohort at one of the elementary schools um I ready is our fourth and fifth grade Universal screening tool that we implemented this year as well as Dibbles in grades K through three so all of those supports and learning how that data is going to inform our instruction how that data is going to identify students who need additional support are all built in so I think that we're the elementary numbers are really really exciting I think the Stu the staff works really really hard on those and then we've got good things good data to continue working on especially curriculum wise moving on to oh I got to go down moving on to the Intermediate School the Intermediate School we always we have this conversation every year where our sixth grade students we see a dip in the numbers and we all and automatically that look like when that chart went up if you notice sixth grade was was minus5 it's there we recognize that there's a lot of things that go into play with regards to the change in schedule and routine from a fifth grade student to a sixth grade student doesn't mean that we don't have work to do this year was really really interesting when I broke down the data we are consistently above the state average in Reading as we always are the difference was in our writing this year so we know that and that's what sixth grade teachers and I are going to look at more on demand chances for students to just write not longer pieces that are revised because it's a different type of writing it is a standard one of the standards that has been in our njsls for years is various types of writing so we just have to be more intentional about what we're doing and we know that but when I look at the cohorts once they enter intermediate school and then go through sixth seventh and eighth we continue to see that Improvement every year they continue to do better so that once again is really promising in the sense of once they acclimate to intermediate school and the difference because Intermediate School moves to 40ish minutes remember that number I said for elementary 90 to 120 it's a shift it's a shift in the amount of time that we spend in instruction so um we have that the other um element that I couldn't have planned better if I tried and I could have tried but the brand new interventionists that we all approved that the budget voted for that the public voted for their goal during the month of September was to create a diagnostic writing assessment to be able to identify students with specific needs they didn't know those numbers yet so we have people in place that we need to identify students who have who needs support so that's exciting that we have that because two years ago we didn't so that that's um really really wonderful I ready will give us great information but I ready is reading only so knowing that there's that discrepancy in those numbers it's great to know that they're working on that high school I mean how can we not be happy with 82% I mean like it's just it's it's amazing it really is outstanding to look at that many students and and and see that number and and not be bolstered by the fact that these kids who live through covid and everything like that they're showing that they can demonstrate the skills and that they have them but our work isn't done every ninth grade student took I ready this year teachers are centering conversations around data I just had a conversation it's teacher and I dove three specific kids what do you think what did we do we pulled up past njsla scores we took a look is there something that we're seeing a pattern of not all these conversations are starting and without that data those conversations don't happen so it's really really wonderful and then that's what we're working on we're continuing to identify the areas for high school thank you whoever moved that for me thank you um but once again we're going to continue giving them the writing chances we're going to continue to familiarize themselves with the text format and the question types they know that but there's um technology enhanced questions they call them where they have to click and drag they need the two parts and everything like that we don't they know it by then but if there's any students who are either new to the district or from another state or something like that we just have to remember that I ready will help with that because I ready mimics a lot of those questions they did really really well with the beginning of the year I ready so um I'm excited I'm excited to have the work that we have to do because I think it's good tangible actionable items and I I think that the teachers deserve a lot of credit for where we are and and where we're um where we're going because it's exciting so thank you all very very much okay so let's head into everyone's favorite math um I'll go quickly because I know you really just want to hear from the supervisors um so mathematics comparisons again same chart as for language arts westfields in blue average scale score uh percentage of students by level performance and then the combined meeting and exceeding expectations again what you'll see by grade level grade by grade is Westfield's performance both in scale score and in performance level well above the state average particularly in the levels in fours and fives and then this is where the breakout is for algebra algebra 2 and geometry and it is important to note just to go back a little bit that eighth grade is where there's a little bit of a separation there's a separation between eighth graders that take math 8 and then eth graders who are taking Algebra 1 so that has to be factored into the the scores that are being reported again same Trend strong performance in mathematics um again similar um similar chart from the uh English language arts performance this is 2018 then covid then 2022 2122 22 23 and 23 24 and you know this is another really great illustration of the the work that's been done by teachers and administrators in this District to bring students back from a really significant um event that did have a a a damaging effect on their academic performance and now you can see that we are almost identical to where we were pre-co and then subgroup performance this again this is where I would recommend to folks to to go on to the website and look at this chart because it is very hard to see especially when it's broken down by um by year this is Algebra 1 Algebra 2 and geometry by year and again you can just see similar performance Trends these are subgroup performances and this is where you're going to see a lot of a lot of bars because it does break down into not only grides 3 through eight but also algebra algebra 2 and uh geometry so it does you probably this is one of those things that you want to view on a on a computer instead of on a a uh a screen Asian performance in math Algebra 1 and geometry and again same same deal with the suppression of numbers um if there's a a subgroup that has an N under 10 in a particular grade or a particular course they won't be represented in this this chart black and African-American white for out grades 3 through n Al one and geometry special education performance and students with 504 same chart between groups comparison from year to year difference between 23 group and 24 group for average scale score and um levels of four and five met or exceeded expectations so you see again similar Trend variability from grade to grade um where certain grades are demonstrating growth compared to the previous year where others may not and as Liz just commented in language arts this is where we dive in and see is it a particular cohort or is it a grade level situation with a transition or what are the variables that are contributing to the performance and and I will turn it over now to Liz delandra how many lizes can we throw in a room who love math that's our mission for the night so good evening everyone um I will try to give you a little glossy overview of math because I know if I went into the quadratic equation some of you would cringe and others would be thrilled at this moment so here we go um in terms of how we analyze it it's very similar to what Miss Riley does in the ELA Department um we're looking at the same type of thing where we're looking at the tiniest of spaces of where we are compared to the state and then the ones where we're way above so that's our big comparison so in terms of Elementary our assessments revealed strength and comparing reasoning with fraction equivalents and solving multi-step number stories with all four operations that last one is consistent with what we did last year so we're maintaining where we're going it's still standing out because of where it was was in the level of complexity within the questions we are also having a great deal of success in justifying results through reasoning particularly when number lines are involved in the question so that goes to speak to a lot of what you will see students at the elementary doing in their modeling components of class last year our number stories involved with fractions and mixed numbers required a lot of additional support that particular standard did not reveal itself as neither a strength nor a weakness so we're right in the middle in that so we have improved in terms of where our weaknesses are now it is in terms of a contextual content or prompting is missing from the question so a much more abstract question is where our students were struggling whereas if it was a practical application they hopped right on it although we've seen the progress with our reasoning and modeling we continue to provide students with opportunities for peer collaboration in fact in January we added a supplemental program the exemplars program to our fourth and fifth grades as an opportunity to expand modeling reasoning and peer collaboration within the classroom and that becomes a major Focus um for K through 12 programming we really want to leverage these opportunities for students to have collaborative experiences because by talking about math they get more and more comfortable with it in addition the I ready screening tool being implemented is going to allow teachers to identify and and address prerequisite skills ensuring that the students are prepared at that moment for grade level content and in the final moment we have the achieve program that's also being continuously used to help support students that may be weak in math moving on to the intermediate we are this particular slide is only speaking to the students who took math 6 math 7 and math 8 we'll talk about algebra when we talk about the high school um notably our seventh grade students be in our leveling process that is where we separate between math 7 and pre-algebra so even though they're taking two different courses they actually still take the same math 7even tests as soon as we go to 8th grade our students could take an algebra if they are taking algebra they have to take the high school algebra test so that's what Matt was speaking to where there's going to be a little difference in how the reporting comes through so to give you some perspective on it last year 44% of our eighth graders took the grade eight assessment while 56% of our students took the algebra 1 or the geometry assessment our results indicated that there were strengths in rational numbers with equations and inequalities this actually built on our strengths from the prior year which were focused more on the computations we also had strengths in proportional reasoning with linear models and in our data analysis which had not popped up last year every year the test may or may not have the same standards focused so in this particular particular case in seventh grade we had nine new standards being assessed on our version of the attests so when folks ask is it the same standards year after year no we're covering them all and we see where we land in terms of areas that we need to improve our students demonstrated some issues when identifying and correcting flawed reasoning as well as understanding Transformations involving angles they were great if it was a solid figure um these are both different from last year last year our areas of weakness were in equivalent fractions and scientific notation so neither of those appeared in our weaknesses so fast Improvement to support students at the Intermediate School we have the math interventionists that were brought back last year these teachers are allowing our students to receive pullout support as well as pushin models within our classes the I ready platform is being brought in for all middle school grades and that will also help to identify prerequisite skills for teachers to address in addition the Math teachers have been focusing on tier one instructional techniques to help support students through differentiation collaboration and vocabulary support moving on to the high school this particular data set included students in grades 7 through 9 for the algebra 1 assessment 38% of the test takers were actually ninth graders while 62% were in sth or eighth grade for the geometry assessment 94% were ninth graders and 6% were eighth graders among the ninth graders 43% took Algebra 1 53% took geometry and 4% took Algebra 2 so that's why when we report this is a little gray area because you're also talking as Liz spoke about earlier at the elementary we have 60 Minute blocks for math at the middle school you have a 40 minute period and at the high school you have a 43 minute period so there's a lot of variability going on as we go through this our results showed strengths in reasoning with linear exponential and quadratic functions that is a repeat of the prior year so we can maintain that applying geometric reasoning within the coordinate plane and analyzing systems of inequalities those relatively are being maintained as we go year to year however the areas that need Improvement have changed slightly this particular year it was with analyzing the graphical effects when a parent function is presented as well as identifying the three-dimensional object that is generated by spinning a two-dimensional object so a lot of the visualization components are challenged there last year our particular weakness was in completing the square so we've gone to a totally different aspect of mathematics a continued strength of our high school math program is the emphasis on student collaboration as we had mentioned earlier whether working together on practice problems or using reasoning and modeling to solve real world issues students frequently collaborate refine justify and communicate their thinking additionally incorporating release test items into our instruction is helping students get familiar with the assessments they're going to be taking both for the state as well for college outside of the classroom students have access to the workshop classes which is a second class A student can elect to take and can be recommended it is small group and uh targeted instruction with a math teacher in addition we have the math resource center that is open during all launch periods for students to drop in to get assistance in their stuff or make up assessments or clear up homework questions anything like that and including the ninth graders it's actually only Algebra 1 students at the high school that are taking the I ready so that's a little different than Ela where it's every ninth grader just because of how the test is structured so the overall takeaways would be that our focus on on reasoning and modeling particularly in grades 3 through 8 had has yielded consistent improvements in our test results as we recover from the pandemics impact an example are fifth grade students so last year I told you about them as fourth graders and I told you they were about 26 points percentage points above the state in modeling and reasoning those same group of kids now as fifth graders scored 30 percentage points higher in reasoning and 46 percentage points above in modeling so those two CL clusters represent the more challenging questions that a student will receive on the assessment last year our math 8 students you may have noticed they are our weakest group when you look at it from a numbers point but remember we're structuring the classes differently at that point most of those students got targeted instruction based on what we were seeing that particular group of students increased by 8% so we are seeing growth with those particular kids and we aim to build on that success by continuing to use what i is demonstrating to us overall the passing rates for grades 3 through 8 are 29% Point higher than the state average and grades 3 through 5 and Algebra 1 are at or above pre-pandemic levels so we're narrowing the field of where those gaps remain thank you a lot of numbers um we're going to head into science so science is is really interesting in that it's it's it's only assess in grades 58 and 11 um the the um proficiency levels are different they're levels 1 2 3 and four instead of on a five point five level scale um so and you'll also notice that our perform performance numbers look quite a bit different in science as well so it's and Tom will speak to this but when you look at the it's the it is directly related to the complexity of the assessment the types of questions that are being asked um are incredibly challenging and not just to Westfield students to all students because if you look at the relative comparison between level three and four meeting or or um I'm sorry proficient or Advanced proficient on this assessment in each of our grades compared to the state average the the difference between the state average in our performance is even higher than it is in ela and math so again relative comparisons are important when you're looking at the complexity of an assessment and making judgments about Performance Based on those those performance indicators so it's important to consider when looking at these numbers because it's very easy to look at these these charts and said well this is the year-to-year comparison again for Science and I mean it's I don't think you could find something more consistent um so consistent performance since prior to the pandemic and then returning from the pandemic but when you look at subgroup performances it's proba it's very easy to say why do we have so many kids that are not meeting expectations or partially meeting expectations and again it is a direct relation Direct direct result of the complexity of the test that not only impacts our students but all students across the state this is Hispanic Asian subgroup black and African-American white subgroup special education 504 and I will now turn it over to Tom P Patterson who can explain a little bit about how those questions are so complex how we holding up everybody how you doing James you okay okay ready for some quadratic complexities and leile groupings and okay so thank you state Science assessment presents some unique challenges in evaluating student performance uh as B mentioned the VAR and non-standard question formats are are pretty confusing especially when you have multiple part and multi select questions and a bigger portion of that is that you get one little part wrong you lose all credit which is an interesting side note uh so you got small mistakes translating into big problems and across the state we address this is a you know this is an issue additionally there's there's a significant lack of transparency in the data so it makes it difficult to track the data from year to year it's probably contributing to the consistency in our in our scoring uh but seeing what we see uh we know where to address students and support them and it's really in the compa question types and making sure that they're good with those but basically increasing the Proficiency in the ngss three-dimensional classroom practices which James you're fluent in that right excellent excellent so the next oh it's down see I messed it up Sor there we go so when looking at the grade band results um they're consistent with our with our instructional practices at the elementary level the students excel in the relationships and patterns to focus on getting students good at observational skills uh while we also support their emerging inquiry and argumentation skills at the Intermediate School that where we want to see the strengths are in the modeling and argumentation so now they can create models and they can really support their their evidence and we shift the focus towards the end to really focusing on the data I get to e8th grade preparing them for high school and and comprehending that data and at the high school level uh the students perform well in the data analysis and communication a lot largely attributed to the you know the work that they're doing in mathematics and so the work there in the later grades pivots to the complexity of the inquiring and modeling abilities so there you go um I'm going to take this note to say more importantly something that I think actually matters uh and represents the Science Education here in Westfield on a side note today I attended the New Jersey science convention where we had five of our Intermediate School teachers present four workshops on the instructional practices that they develop and use along with their opsed curriculum Foundation material which happens to be adopted by the state as their model curriculum uh these presentations were nothing short of exceptional and that's not my words even though I agree um the feedback we receive from everyone including the state science coordinator Mike Hines runs all of science across the state and supervisors from other districts who are quite literally jealous of what we are doing here in Westfield and who we have doing it uh wasn't just positive it was a clear recognition of how Westfield works hard on developing highquality Science Education our teachers are doing extraordinary work that results in our district continuing to be viewed as a leader in Science Education I am very proud to work with these people that's all I have thank you thanks Tom okay so we're going to wrap up um the last part is dynamic learning maps that the dynamic learning Maps is an assessment that is only administered to a very small group of students in our district um and the end is so small that we don't report out on the the um the details of the the scores but um it is reserved for students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 that have some of the most significant intellectual disabilities um it is a it is an assessment that is computer-based and in in many situations students are guided over the course of multiple days but one-on-one individually with a teacher as they take part in these test slits um where they demonstrate performance on What's called the alternative academic achievement standards which are they are content aligned standards they're aligned with New Jersey student Lear learning standards but are um significantly different different in their their depth their breadth and their complexity um so next steps and and Tom Liz and Liz have really outlined all of these next steps so I don't really have to say much more than we are really excited about not only our current performance but our opportunities for growth and we're also extremely excited about that opportunity for growth because now that we have the people and the resources in place and the tools in place such as our data analytics solution Au we have I ready which is our screening tools that is going to give us immediate not months later but immediate um data assessment data that's aligned to New Jersey student learning standards that we can then triangulate against curriculum embedded assessments and standardized assessments um just provide us with a very very clear road map of taking actionable steps and building instructional strategies to address areas of need and points of emphasis that we've identified today uh particularly as it as it pertains to certain subgroups of students and that is our presentation on the uh New Jersey student learning assessments and DM questions yes thank you all for presenting um uh for I I have two questions but um I do want to say this is the first time sitting in this seat where I can say that I've always felt that Westfield um offers a caliber of Education that is is unparallel to to what I've seen in professionally and personally in other districts um but now that I have a child in college it's a very different perspective um because she's not a math kid sorry not none of my kids are um and she was petrified about having to take um math in college and she's texting me and she's like no I mean it's okay and I mean I'm pretty prepared for statistics okay and her roommate who's I mean brilliant is not used to the amount of reading and she's like I don't know it's like nothing compared to Westfield And I said Okay so just to tell you from a parent perspective I think they realize it once they leave what quality of Education they get so thank you um my two questions are number one is do the parents get I ready scores sent home to them so that's a that's a great question it's a question that we've been interacting with for the past two months since we've adopted I ready so the answer is yes parents will get I ready scores just not right now okay and the reason being that so our students we are rolling out I ready the beginning of September first day of school we train teachers in hi everyone welcome back this is I ready and they received part one of the how do I administer this assessment what is it and then just yesterday they received part two so all teachers that are involved in I from grades four through nine received a second training from IR consultants in okay we've administered the assessment what do I do with it what's the data tell me how how do I access the reports what how do I interpret these scores so prior to sending reports home to parents we have to have teachers that can answer the questions that parents will absolutely likely ask so um the plan is more than likely to send home reports one to reference reports during Elementary School parent teacher conferences but then also to send home reports after the second Administration so with there's three screening times and there there will be a second one in the winter and we'll send home reports then okay um and then my my second question was uh just in terms of the addressing concerns in the math area um so all of the things that that you pointed out and spoke about make sense but I'm just wondering what's different than what we've been doing before um especially for we have um skilled interventionists who are working with at risk for but but for for children who are kind of consistently below expectations not meeting expectations what are we doing differently to they're not taking two classes they're not taking that extra Workshop like is there something that we're adding in in that area so I I mean Liz could probably is probably wants to stand up behind me right now but I'm going to say um we're focusing on building the capacity of our teachers first that's that's our fundamental focus is enhancing and you've heard us say this last year which is improving tier one instruction right so first identifying through having the tools that which we did not have um so having the screening data data at the ready to identify the students who need the support and then having those tools be able to pinpoint the precisely what standards they're struggling in so that we could Target it more appropriately and more immediately so and then the next part of that is and building the capacity teachers because the next question is thanks so much I have this data what do I do so what do I do with a small group when they've demonstrated a need so that's all part of professional development that's and that's what we're working on um so that's the focus of professional development and and after just today I I summarized all of the reflections from our professional development um session full day PD from yesterday and that's what teachers are thirsty for saying this is great I love the data I'm so happy to have it now let's talk let's talk teaching strategies so that's that's all all of our next step is building the teaching strategies like when I'm in a small group with the students who I identified who need a small group what should I be doing so and that's Liz delandro and I just had a conversation about that today planning next steps hi um first of all um I agree with the original statement to look at the positive and I think everybody should be very proud of these numbers um I also would like to e go um which I seem to not have a choice about um Leila's comments um and uh I found that out too when my kid went to college and my kid is a math kid and a math major and they were more than ready to take that on and um I'm very grateful to the math department that being said um on page 33 I do want to I just have a general question I I see for Algebra 2 there was decline 4.2 and for geometry 15.6 really should have gone in the other order because it's first geometry and then Algebra 2 um and I I also understand that the testing cycle is different for science but one thing that does occur to me is that while you can't necessarily correlate these data points I'm just wondering if it's sort of natural looking at the science numbers as well I'm just wondering if there's anything that you could get out of this that shows whether or not those dips in those particular mathematical areas are affecting the kids as they move on to the next level of math required say in chemistry or in physics or in in other um core mathematical classes that do have a a strong mathematical component to them and so I was just wondering whether or not that's something that's been discussed and uh whether or not you could share that with us sure did you want to so um we we did discuss this number um and I will say before Liz says anything it is abant it's um not there isn't a consistent pattern of declines to that degree in in Algebra 2 uh what one thing I just want to point out before Liz says something you can't really draw correlations between the math scores and the science scores because the nature of the Science assessment uh they're not the these questions are not complex in terms of mathematical abilities and you can see that if you use the practice test and you might say other things about the nature of the questions but so that like that is a very difficult correlation to draw but one thing I can give you as anecdotal data from the chemistry and physics teachers in the high school department and they have not seen any significant changes for the worst in a student's mathematical abilities so I I like changes in the test scores uh if it bore out I they trust me they would tell me quickly and I haven't heard that to give you a little bit perspective on the math scores when you look at Algebra 2 it is a group of students that is very small compared to our population as a whole so that number gets SED very quickly when you're only when you're talking about possibly less than 20 students in the entire School taking that test one doing poorly makes that number vasolate huge so I would not focus on the algebra 2 scores just because of how our Dynamic lays out Geometry though that's a core component of our student population the score that we actually have now is almost at P pre-pandemic level so it vacillates every year depending on who is taking it we are more concerned on what are the standards versus the actual number because that some standards in Geometry if a kid doesn't necessarily master that we can remediate but it's not a massive priority because of the subsequent courses that they'll be taking geometry and algebra Collide when they get to pre-cal so we have another year to kind of circulate back to some of those skills and embed them within our curriculum so we're not necessarily seeing that those results are causing us a problem as we go but every year you're going to see a little bit of fluctuation with those three courses just because of population any other questions I've got one for you okay um you know your question last year was the are we showing improvement with the on the things that we need to show Improvement on and that was the the answer was the different standards so when we dive into the the questions we're seeing lot of variability in standards especially the more complex standards so now I got a lot more pressure that was was that going to be your question good right all right um so let me try to let me try to live up so yes but but thank you for for that um so my question is actually how we're going to get some of this information to parents and how we can help the great work that our teachers are doing right so I I know when I look at some of the things that my kids are doing depending on the grade level I go from I know this stuff I can't believe I remember this stuff I know enough to be very dangerous to whatever it is you guys are trying to teach my children and go ask your mom so I'm trying to figure out how best to take the data that you're getting whether it's I ready whether it's this and translate it into the things that or the way that I can help my kids right so you know if you're going to if you know I don't want to just read to my son and you know and just say okay let's just read the sentences together but if I can translate that I ready data to say well listen while you're reading to your son ask him these questions because this may be where he's a little weaker I don't want to bore him to death right you know if I'm trying to help my kid with math it may help the same thing like all right you know work these set of problems with you know with them those sort of things so I know you're trying to get the teachers in a position to to analyze this data but and well it's great that the parents are going to see it I don't have the level of depth of knowledge and certain education that you guys have to translate this into something usable what I do need is to say listen you know here's how you can help your kid right like we're noticing this so do more of that in a you know in a in a smaller bite situation yeah and I think that's absolutely at the elementary level that's definitely where parent teacher conferences come in and having teachers who are data literate and and are going through this professional development Series right now of understanding how to use the data how to analyze the the data that's being provided to them from the tools that we're bringing on board so then they can bring the sheet of paper the score report with them to those conferences and say so listen let me break this down for you I'm not just going to read it to you I'm going to tell you this is what it's telling this is what I'm taking from this and this is what I think we need to focus on so having teachers that understand the score reports through the interpretation of the the supervisors and then being able to share that information with parents that's the primary point of contact for parents right so when a parent has a question they're going to call their their child's teacher so and and in many of these situations that's what we advocate for parents to do which is if you have a question reach out to the teacher the teacher will interpret what's going on within the score score report for you I think it's great I'm going to suggest taking that even a step further that as you're as you're putting together you know responses to it put together if you can small programs for parents to work with right like so I'll sit at the conference I'll listen to what you have to say and you'll say okay here is a packet of information right that you can work through with your kid that's going to attack this standard or this life skill or this this whatever it may be so that we can work right through it together we can be on the same page as as as the faculty you know because I I don't want to tell my kid to do something one way just because I may have get gotten it that way and then I'm completely undoing all the work that you're trying to do with with my kid completely inadvertently so I I would take that as a suggestion too is if you know get it right up there but you know if if we've got something that we can work on together and communicate down the road hey I went through question two with my kid and he's missing it right you we at least are speaking the same language I guess is where I'm going with that great any other questions okay thank you thank you all so much for coming out um you know our our supervisors spend very very long days here um and they're now they've now spent a nice long night here so thank you all so much for coming out and uh and reporting to us and sharing all this wonderful work that you're doing uh anything else Dr Gonzalez before I move okay great um so let's move on now to board committee reports we'll start with the curriculum instruction and programming committee Kristen oh my gosh I totally skipped you James my apologies see they put it at they squeezed it at the top of the agenda and I missed it all right sorry about that let's go with let's go with James sorry about that good evening the past few weeks have been very eventful at Westfield High School since our last board meeting whhs held a successful back to school night over 70 clubs participated in club day Club day and the casting crew of The Fall play the mad woman of shalot have been hard at work rehearsing for their opening night on November 14th the month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and our and our school has several events planned to raise awareness and fundrais for the cause last Friday the student government Association held the annual student versus staff volleyball game and raised up $1,000 to help fight breast cancer through through the organization Pathways yesterday the high school volleyball program held their annual pink out fundraiser and game as well the next big events coming up in November include the home homecoming dance followed by spirit week and pep rally these events are ones that students really look forward to the annual homecoming dance will be held Friday November 1st and is for all Juniors and seniors if students would like to bring an outside guest they must pick up a form from the guidance office fill it out and return it back back there pep rally will be held Wednesday November 27th with more details to follow as we get closer to the date and receive input from the student body to help improve the event thank you thank you James I even highlighted it and I still missed it darn okay now we're good um now we'll move to the board committee reports uh s Kristen please the special services Pro um program presentation reported wait a minute sorry okay yeah okay um so SB um just this past week and the Special Services Program presentation reported on the Continuum of the program and the services that are provided to the students in the district the presentation also provided insights into recent initiatives including the new er MD programs and the intermediate I feel like I'm oh yeah am I okay I feel like I'm missing a page hold on one second is that right am I missing I feel like I'm missing the beginning sorry why am I having trouble do you want a different commity to go and yeah why don't you do that you yeah so we will we will pause that briefly I'm missing a page oh I got it sorry yeah it didn't make sense sorry I got it okay okay the October meeting meeting of the Sip committee took place on October 7th the meeting began with a presentation of the district's special education program which was delivered by the assistant superintendent of poil services is Dr Michael Weisman the supervisor of secondary student Support Services Alex Lindon and the supervisor of Elementary Support Services Katie nesat the three administrators provided a broad overview of the general goals Scopes scope and growth of the district's special education program the Westfield Public Schools K through2 student Support Services Program provides a Continuum of supports for students with disabilities ensuring they reach their fullest potential programs at the Early Childhood Elementary intermediate and high school levels which address various physical social behavioral and cogn cognitive disabilities that impact our students the Special Services Program presentation reported on the Continuum of the program and the services that are provided to the students in the district the presentation also provided insights into the recent initiatives including the new ER and MD programs at the the intermediate schools additional supervisory support within the department and the targeted professional development that is being provided to the child study team special education teachers and the regular education teachers Dr Weissman Mrs Lyon and Miss nesat concluded their presentation highlighting future plans for the Department which involve expanding literacy programs co- teing strategies the introduction of the autism ABA program enhanced transition services and a Unified sports program these these efforts reflect the district's commitment to providing all students with the programs and services they need to reach their fullest potential in addition to the Special Services Program presentation the Sip committee reviewed revisions to the policies 5350 Suicide Prevention and 2200 curriculum content which are on tonight's agenda for their first reading policy 5350 is a mandate policy changes to this policy reflect new requirements for suicide prevention training for all staff updated reporting requirements for staff to warn and protect when a student is believed to be in danger of self harm and update procedures for information within the policy to be shared with staff annually policy 2200 curriculum content was an update to remove redundant references to the New Jersey student learning standards that are covered in Greater depth than other board policies the committee had the opportunity to preview Dr Bolton's njsla presentation and targeted questions that was presented tonight and finally the district reviewed a draft of the district Dei position statement that was crafted by The District's Dei steering and Dei Community advisory committees the draft Dei position statement outlines the district's definition of Dei as it per pertains to our school district as well as the district's Collective commitments to ensure that students and adults find a sense of connection and belonging while learning and working within our schools our next meeting is scheduled for November 11th thank you I know thank you Chris any questions on the report can I just add oh my goodness this is just not so great um if I stand back is that better at all less less uh loud um I just wanted to say that um that was an excellent summary um there were several things that I heard in the curriculum committee that um I was really pleased to hear and I just want to confirm I heard them correctly um uh first of all um I Now understand that for the most part all curriculum for sped is embedded in the curriculum for all the core subjects across the board and then of obviously there's individualized instruction for each student and therefore the curriculum needs to reflect that um and will with the exception of curriculum like life skills which is uh unique to sped and is forthcoming um that's just one example I'm sure that there's others and I was uh happy to see the commitment to that and that that's something that's very present um I also wanted to say how pleased I was about bringing in Dr Mark Faber into the district um and creating a contract with him and I think that that's going to be a significant Improvement and want to complement the District on the foresight to retain somebody like that and the third thing that I heard um and I just want to confirm this because I I'd heard mixed things is that the MD and the ER students at the intermediate schools and I'm assuming that later on at the high schools um can take any of the given music electives such as band chorus or orchestra if they wish um and I thought that was all really good news and I want to compliment Dr oisan and Dr Bolton for working so carefully together to make sure that all sides of the coin are reflective for the uh special education Community thank you uh next we'll have a report from finance and Facilities Brandon yep uh finance and Facilities committee met on Friday morning uh we talked about whole bunch of issues and I'll give you the highlights uh we started by reviewing the 2425 budget and the plan for the 2526 budget uh health benefits were high for the month of August but our broker has reviewed them and believes it was just staff taking care of visits and non-emergent surgeries before the school year starts this happens every year and it's not really anything we worry about but we do watch it every year he anticipates our Healthcare cost to drop now that school is back in session we're still monitoring health benefits right now and the projections still have us in the green for the year uh in item G on the agenda tonight you'll see that we've completed work out of our maintenance Reserve account including repairs and upgrades that were required by the fire department inspections that we have to do every year uh and you'll also see a maintenance with maintenance Reserve withdrawal for uh budg boiler repairs at Washington School the boiler was having issues and that needed to be repaired before winter uh today is the day that we use for attendance for budgeting purposes uh so once we have that finalized Patty will send out budget allocations to the schools for next year uh we'll also once again have them create separate lists into needs and wants that might not fit into the budgets and we'll review what we can do this year um next uh Patty and her staff are building their first budget in the Genesis software this year it's a new purchase for the district uh and they had their first training session on Monday on to everybody's favorite the Roosevelt facade um there's been an ongoing dispute between our lead contractor and one of their subcontractors and it's resulted in a whole bunch of legal fil back and forth and unfortunately the district is caught in the middle of it and it's holding up the project on Friday the suprior court dismissed those the first round of those filings allowing the project to proceed for now uh those same individuals are also part of a Department of Labor investigation and the do is conducting a full investigation but I want to emphasize the district is not a party to that in any way next the uh Roosevelt fat lab and room 123 these were some small Renovations we did over the summer to some spaces that were being underutilized at Roosevelt uh the Fab Lab opened on September 9th uh some some work still needs to be completed but the room is safe for students to work in uh the ceiling and permanent lighting will be delivered by the end of the or the middle of the month and will be installed during teachers convention to minimize disruption to students uh sink and eye watch stations will be installed by the end of the month along with ventilation uh the tile flooring was installed and I'm told that it looks fabulous uh pegboards for tools and whiteboards have been installed and completed and new equipment will be installed this week uh for room 123 uh staff are in the sack office and the otpt rooms and Furniture has been ordered to create cubicles and conference areas for the child study team that will moving over to that space yeah next we talked about our fields and various projects going on there uh softball B sorry uh work will begin shortly on replacing the Varsity softball batting cages the company met with sha MacArthur and Jim dno on site and they the decision was made to use extra Turf that was left over from klor uh as the flooring for the batting cages and a rock base will be installed on the perimeter this will make maintenance easier um the planed Rehabilitation work on the varsity baseball field will start once fall ball is completed at the end of the month we also discussed our new field maintenance plan and the a bulk order of 2,000 lb of grass seed was recently delivered to the district uh the ground team will begin overseeding this week and uh as fall Sports complete uh will also are it and Seed further uh right now cleats are helping us aate the fields uh on the prioritized areas lastly as a test project we purchased Turf blankets to try and address the worst areas of the field behind Edison and based on our experience we have this winter we hope to expand that to other areas behind Edison along with other District Fields next we moved over to playgrounds uh Jefferson playground equipment will be delivered next week and the installers hope to have it installed by the end of October the PTO is still fundraising for a por and play surface uh and they have a vendor coming out to measure and get an accurate quote the district is committed to installing a small pave path from the current walkway to connect to the porm play uh PTO is repainting fencing and the basketball court uh at Franklin the playground equipment is T intendedly scheduled to be delivered in mid October and Patty and Sean will meet with ad ventor to Prior delivery to make sure that everything's in place uh we're also going to be installing an ADA walkway to connect the playground to the school main level and our Architects redrew plans the original plan we had came in way over budget uh onto the refence referendum uh all projects and the amended longrange facility plan have been submitted to the state and the town for review and we'll keep you guys posted every month if there are any updates we also met with Laura Bishop Communications to begin the development of our communication plan regarding the roll out of the referendum and uh marketing we need to do before the vote uh We've also began very preliminary discussions with the town about the possible allocation of future future pilot funds towards the referendum those talks are ongoing and there's been no real progress in any One Direction there um but also with with the town uh Patty met with Jim day to go over shareed Services uh the district will begin having our trucks maintained by the town at their Town garage for whatever work we can't do by ourselves uh we'll pay for parts and labor but the the town is working out a very nice deal for us and as of January 1st the town will begin maintaining Roosevelt's Fields uh they're taking it over cuz they already have to maintain Clark Park and it makes the most sense for them uh to just keep continue with mowing uh Jim dno is evaluating back stops and bleachers in at Roosevelt and in general and we'll meet with Patty and Jim to disc discuss the possibility of sharing the cost or replacing those items at Roosevelt uh look for a shared resolution memorializing that cooperation on the November agenda and that is it excellent to discussion there all right let's move on to policies personnel and governance Lea too much the PPG committee met on October 10th [Music] um in terms of personnel we began by reviewing school counselor job descriptions We examined both the elementary school counselor and secondary school counselor job descriptions and we had a thorough discussion and determined that both documents accurately reflect the responsibilities and expectations for these critical positions we are recommending tonight that both job descriptions be approved we also received an update on emergent hiring giving the Press giving the pressing needs of these hires motions related to emerging positions have also been placed on the agenda for this meeting uh there the committee reviewed two policies scheduled for tonight's agenda the first policy discussed was policy 0 170 which is uh virtual board meetings which is recommended for repeal since the law that allowed for these virtual meetings has expired we also examined um policy 2132 School District objectives which has been updated to align with the district's current strategic plan both policies were thoroughly reviewed and the committee recommends that they be placed on the agenda for approval in terms of governance the committee reviewed a proposed resolution against all forms of hate and discrimination emphasizing the importance of promoting respect inclusivity and awareness within our schools this resolution is especially significant as we observe the week of respect and school violence Awareness Week the committee strongly supports this resolution and recommends that it be presented um at uh tonight's meeting for a board approval we also discussed the board self AAL valuation process and the setting of board goals after reviewing the relevant bylaw and processes the committee recommends starting the self- evaluation process in January of 2025 which will provide ample time to establish meaningful board goals for the upcoming year finally we address legislative issues impacting the district um given the many external challenges school face schools face the committee discussed the need to gather feedback from all board committees on issues that may require legislative action our plan is to synthesize this information into a position paper that we will present to our local legislators advocating for the necessary changes that's all I have for our report and our next meeting is scheduled for November 14th 2024 any questions say um I just want wanted to say that I oh my goodness oh maybe it's is that better yeah okay um I just wanted to say this because I I do intend to vote for the resolution this evening but I was particularly saddened by the discovery of another swastika this school year a parent found it at the back to school night at tacis and apparently older graffiti in a district classroom and honestly sometimes I worry that these hateful symptoms symbols of anti-Semitism are so prolific and common in our district that staff and students don't even notice them sometimes the week of respect commenced on October 7th coinciding with the anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack that has caused so Much Death and destruction globally and has single-handedly triggered the greatest uptick of anti-Semitism in my lifetime it's not enough sometimes to do what everyone else is doing or to use others as your yard stick it's been said that there's no such thing as a small act and just small people and in that regard I'm hoping that I'm voting tonight to approve this resolution while remaining Resolute in my hope that we can all become upstanders and working Unity create to create respect through words and through actions thank you all right um let's move on to recognizing the public um on agenda action items only during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address Board of Education on agenda action items only these are the items Mark 10 to 14 on tonight's agenda as a courtesy please allow current students and staff of Westfield public schools to speak first 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 design not to individual 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 the 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 seeing no comment I will close the first public comment uh and move move to some agenda action items uh first uh I'd like to make a motion to for the board to approve the minutes of the September 17th 2024 regular board meeting do I have a second second Julie uh we can this pra by Voice vote all in favor any opposed any extensions that carries okay we'll now move to the governance section of the agenda sonel please I'd like to move items a a through C under the governance section of tonight's agenda and I'd also like to read the resolution uh for item C I'd like to the board to approve the following resolution standing firmly against all forms of hatred and discrimination and recognizing the importance of the week of respect and school violence Awareness Week whereas the Board of Education of westfi public schools stands firmly against all forms of hatred bigotry and discrimination including but not limited to anti-semitism islamophobia racism anti- lgbtqia plus bias and any other form of intolerance or Prejudice and whereas acts of hatred intolerance and bigotry have no place in our schools and violate the principles of equality dignity and respect that are fundamental to a just and inclusive society and whereas the board of education is committed to fostering a safe inclusive and respectful learning environment for all students staff and families and will not tolerate any Act actions that undermine these values and whereas the state of New Jersey designates the first full week in October as the week of respect and the third week of October a school violence awareness week which serves as important opportunities to promote respect character education and safe School environments and whereas Westfield Public Schools joins in observing the week of respect October 7th through 14th and school violence Awareness Week October 21st to the 25th to emphasize the importance of respect tolerance and inclusion as Central values of our school community and whereas the district upholds the New Jersey anti-bullying Bill of Rights ensuring the active prevention and prompt addressing of harassment intimidation and bullying through policies and resources aimed at fostering a positive School climate and now therefore it be a resolve that the Board of Education of Westville Public Schools reaffirms its unwavering stance against all forms of hatred bigotry and discrimination and will continue to take decisive action to prevent and address such Behavior avior within our schools and be it further resolved that the board recognizes the critical importance of the week of respect and school violence awareness week as essential components in promoting a culture of kindness inclusion and respect where diversity is celebrated as a strength and be it further resolved that the board calls upon all students staff and families to unite in creating a school environment where respect empathy and understanding are practiced daily ensuring that our schools remain places where every individual feel safe valued and supported can I have a second thank you Kent any discussion the only thing I want to I want to just add to to what Julie said the board doesn't do these very often uh resolutions like this and I'm very proud that the board policy committee I know Dr Gonzalez assisted with a lot of the drafting uh came up with this and is able to make a statement here you know one of the things that I think causes people concerned when when acts of hate happen is the level of fear that comes out of it am I safe going to my school am I supported going to my school um and a resolution like this reaffirms yes we have the policies but it reaffirms that we have the policies in place um and it's a beginning uh and it reaffirms that the best way to get past these issues is by coming together on them um respect is how we get past all this stuff there there's just no other way around it so I I'm I'm happy to have it I'm happy we did it it's it's certainly a first step and I'm looking forward to taking the next um with uh with this group here in this board and I want to thank you all for for supporting it Rob bachio yes Kent Diamond yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus uh abstain to a and yes to b and c Leila Morelli yes sonal Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg abstain from a and yes to b and c Mary wickens all right those carry uh next we'll move to Personnel uh Lila sure um I would like to move items a through S on tonight's Personnel section of the agenda Kent Dr Gonzalez do you have any comments I do thank you uh this is a retirement comment for Linda steel uh who has announced her retirement after 18 years of dedicated service to the school district Linda steel has dedicated 18 years to nurturing the educational journey of countless kindergarten students fostering a deep love of learning and supporting their growth known for her Innovative teaching methods Mrs steel integrates Hands-On learning activities with uh Hands-On learning with activities that enhance critical thinking creating a dynamic and nurturing classroom environment where everyone feels valued as a role model within the school Community she has mentored new teachers collaborated effectively with staff and helped to cultivate a positive supportive School culture a recognized champion of early childhood education Mrs steel has been a vocal advocate for literacy and age appropriate social emotional development enhancing the educational experience for the district's youngest Learners beloved for her warm and caring nature Mrs steel has left an indelible mark on students families and the community ensuring that her Legacy will be cherished for many years to come we wish Linda all the best for a happy and healthy retirement any discussion P Rob bachio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Lea melli yes sonal Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens uh next we'll move the finance and Facilities portion of the agenda Ken thank you I'd like to move items a to L under the finance section and I'd like to highlight item I Kane University Holocaust Resource Center has donated $539 and4 for the classes of Westfield High School social studies teacher Kim lean for supplies and educational material for Holocaust commemorations thank you to Kane University uh that brings our year-to dat total donations to $48,990 well done any questions comments I think we need a second first right okay second thank you Brendon Brendan okay now we're good Rob bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes Sono Patel yes Kristen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens all right next we'll move to the policy section of the agenda Lela you're up again I'd like to move items a through C under the policy section of tonight's agenda sorry there a second oh Kristen there you go change it up any discussion all right move to vote Rob bonio yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Leila melli yes sonel Patel yes Christen Sonic schmeltz yes Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens uh next curriculum instructions and programs Kristen I'd like to move um items a through C under the Sip agenda tonight uh a asks the board to approve a field trip B is for an art student teacher split between Franklin and the high school and C is the approval of the 2425 nursing plan um can I get a second Leila any discussion okay we can vote Rob bonao yes Kent diamonds yes Brendan gallagan yes Charles jinus yes Lea melli sonel Patel yes Kristen Sonic schz Julie Steinberg yes Mary wickens all right I'd like to uh acknowledge the notes for the record for the board uh there was no unfinished or new business presented to the board for the agenda so we will move on now to Liaison reports if anyone has any uh CJ we'll start there uh this is for the ucba uh on October 9 I had the privilege to attend the Union County School boards Association County meeting along with members of of this board and uh other school boards around Union County we had a robust agenda to work through including presentations led by the NJ School boards Association and the Union County Executive superintendent topics included a discussion of the significant levels of chronic absenteeism in many NJ schools and the corrective action plans to be required in response to this issue as well as a fairly involved breakdown of the funding formulas used by the state to disperse Equalization Aid to address various calculated shortfalls in school budgets around the state speakers at the event noted there as we have indeed tonight as well there is indeed a place for school board member advocacy with the county and the state and attending to this latter issue May indeed prove one of those areas where we need to conduct further review and consideration of the formula and consideration of whether to advocate for uh either further clarifications or change we ended the evening with our keynote address building board relationships and mutual trust presented by the NG njsba field service representative Gene cley the presentation imparted a high level overview of developing effective int School Board working relationships through several uh uh um defined strategies as always it was an excellent and informative evening thank you um Julie um I was unable to go to the Union County U meeting I apologize is uh is russes sh evening but I did attend the Wilson uh PTO which was fantastic a couple of things that I just wanted to mention there were a lot of questions about the referendum and how it affected them I we myself um the uh principal Marsh everyone did their best to answer them but um tremendous amounts of questions about how it's going to affect the school very thoughtful um the second thing I wanted to mention is there was an excellent presentation given by their librarian about what they're doing for um Online safety acceptable use of devices Etc and uh I was very impressed with how creative and thoughtful she tries to meet the kids at their level so instead of just lecturing about Online safety which is so much fun she's actually getting into Roblox with them she's getting into Minecraft with them she's getting into you know introductions to AI with them in a way that is is Meaningful and constructive not just this is what it is and draining on and uh even with coding um she and I even discussed um the uh first robotics Lego League afterwards and um I just thought it was an excellent example of how one school is doing a really good job to creatively address those goals and needs um for the for the district and I just wanted to mention that the second thing that happened at Wilson is on October 8th there was the Hib session which was fantastic um I thought that that was one of the best it was it was a it was attended by I'd say 10 15 parents um I was there Rob was there Dr Gonzalez was there um I got good feedback during it and afterwards and I would really recommend that we do more sessions like that and maybe even try to figure out a way to share with people who can't be in physical attendance because uh I thought that everybody was very respectful understanding that this is these are the rules it's a very imperfect difficult space and we're all trying to do right thing for the kids for the schools for the parents for the teachers um so kudos to the guidance Department um for such a a well done presentation thank you Lea did you have aort I'm reporting for Mary she likes to give me lots of things to do I hope she's watching um so Jefferson PTO had their first in-person meeting since covid on September 26th um they went over the referendum and plans especially specific to Jefferson and answered questions the PTO has ordered their new playground equipment generously donated is not English I didn't write it $100,000 by the PTC so the PTC generously donated and so now Jefferson is ordering their um new playground equipment which is very excited um they also received $220,000 from the Westfield Ed fund to make the playground more inclusive and are currently in the process of fundraising $50,000 to update the flooring of the playground they're back to school picnic which is always a really fun time is this Friday from 5: to 7:00 you don't have to be part of the Jefferson Community to enjoy it okay on October 7th um the Westfield Recreation committee [Music] um met and um events that are scheduled are Thursday October 17th so this Thursday um lifelong Westfield is having its annual Senior Services Fair where more than 30 local organizations will be on hand to share information about Services for Seniors as well as volunteer opportunities and social activities doors open at 9 :0 and coffees coffee and bagels will be served and this takes place in St Helen's Church gymnasium on raway Avenue uh Saturday October 26th at 3:30 from 3:30 to 5:30 uh walk the trail through Brightwood Park and enjoy the jack' lantern scattered through the woods each family can partake in the Halloween scavenger hunt decorate bags at the picnic tables and then trunk Retreat for candy please come in costume registrate pre-registration is required um I believe that should be on the um the recreation website um October 27th at 12:00 p.m. to 2: p.m. at mindowaskin Park the Westfield police department and trick-or treat event and parade is being held um that's on WPD nj.org and Senior transportation is now available Mondays through Thursdays from 9 to 3: appointments are required very exciting um and inclusive programs for children and teenss with special needs including yoga Sports and arts and crafts um are available the rec on the rec department website uh for brochure programs and to register and those are those are Mary's reports nextcell any other leaz reports um I will briefly State I attended the meeting of the high school uh ptso uh it's very similar theme uh discussion largely about referendum about various events going on at the schools uh James generally reports there as well so I don't have to repeat uh repeat what he said over there he's he does a great job summarizing um but certainly reach out to the high school ptso if you have questions about any kind of programming going on um I do want to mention that uh Fallon bisone and our counseling director also typically attends those meetings um and I want to Echo Julie's comments about the programming that the counseling department does uh they have a um they have a session coming up also on the 17th so we can kind of compete with the rec commission I guess a little bit um on College preparedness uh it's geared toward Juniors uh but sophomores and freshman parents are also invited if you want to get a preview of the process again that'll be on the that'll be on the 17th I think 7 o'clock check the uh counseling website for more information on that um and I agree the U they put together fantastic programming and definitely worth the time um with that uh it's time to recognize public for uh the second public comment uh during this portion of the meeting members of the public are invited to address the board of education on any topic um given the crowd that we have here I'm going to uh simply state that the same rules for the P first public comment apply to the second public comment and open the floor and subsequently close the floor and thank everyone for being here uh may I have a motion to adjourn please so move do I have a second well if we got if you have if you have new business yes okay you got it all right we're good we're good it's all right so we did motion to adjourn approved yes yes all right all in favor yes any opposed any extensions excellent we are adjourned e