welcome to the regular meeting today is Wednesday 2024 Associates and the notice j24 and 18 2024 time place and man conducted it was advertised in the CER post posted in all schools the administration office the municipal building our mission the mission of Township School District a large diverse Community is to educate all students to become independent lifelong leers critical thinkers and caring and competent members of their Community The District in partnership with the community and in the climate of cooperation and mutual respect will provide an academic environment which values excellence and diversity encourages to strive for personal excellence and assist them in acquiring the knowledge skills and attitudes necessary to contribute positively to a rapidly changing World GR please will be absent this evening thank M Mr Thomas Miss Thomas will join us by phone and I'm to ask I know we do have a Del okay okay she's not in there Thomas here thank thank can we now stand the Pledge of [Music] Allegiance 20234 District goals student achievement continue to implement best practices for delivering instruction to students uing all available appropriate instructional model this shall include a develop plans to increase the graduation rate B decreas chronic absenteeism C increased Adventure scores in fourth grade fourth gradea scores B accountability for all district and stakeholders two increase parent caregiver engagement and education by a provide opportunities for two-way communication with District stakeholders B implement the culture climate survey and number three Market our strength and achievements to all stakeholders to increase capacity for greater parent caregiver Community Support by a work with the communications Consortium B continue with our public relations marketing plan C continue to work with the various advisory committees in the district and D focus on refining our communication methods and messages to better Market our school district thank you moving yes mad however that to make time for those of you not know by now course on our website that our own Coach Brown has been named Track Association [Applause] girls ladies and gentlemen Co Us number of years and she has been very very sucessful as a result of the performances young ladies in various years um this year she was UND in all major as well as minor um we would like to acknowledge the fact that her team was undefeated year title P relay phel area Championship Olympic conference County Championship South Jersey and also State um more for Co and I let her correct me if I'm wrong I know that at least 90% or more young ladies over the past 10 or more years participated tra graduate from high school course go on to college and graduate degree over 90% of her young leadies every one of them and I think that speaks for itself the three sen that have this year are also going on keep with that I know higher but I just want to be uh safely in my percentages particular however I as coach come maybe just to thece ladies that you brought with you so you know have done and as Coach Brown goes also like girls completed their historic season with one of the greatest hist they which I've seen YouTu proudly uh in the 1600 relay running a 3444 [Applause] MERS of our team so uh Coach Brown just share a few the highlights with us and again congratulations thank you I just want to thank the board and um the committee the community I'm sorry for acknowledging the young ladies and all the work that they put through this year um it's a blessing to be able to be a part of this journey with them because these young ladies work hard and not often are they recognized because sometimes they do get overshadow so this year having been um being recognized for all the hard work and that they put through is an honor um with us today we have Olivia aaro who isore Olia is one of ours even at her young she is a phal opponent she was named to the team all state in the 200 Dash um have chantina Walker who is she b a little bit this year but she got her together come back during our section time and is one of our scoring people that helped us secure that win and then we have um is also and we have who is one of the best jumpers I'm want to say the best Jumper in the state because there's no one above her in each of her events she's also a at the seven and she was top at the and she also Triple J everybody breaking records by 147 the best so and she team very young seni years but what and what we have still is amazing this Talent this is my assistant our assistant coaches Mr Greg and Aaron so he has a job out there with both sexes up there and then Coach is my back along we all what you know congrat conratulations young ladies um you can have but if you don't have it just it just does you gotta know you got know particular comp I know coach is excellent demon for a number you cannot it's just like teaching you cannot so again [Applause] ladies and gentlemen we also as our men track coach uh to come today also because they have been some tremendous accomplishments boy track deal had Slipped Away a little bit and under coach uh C because he has brought us back to respectability as far as concerned um no I did not bring any okay that's read some of for Coach again it's important uh track Spring Track Team the can County championships they won the Olympic so this is and was excellent and some accomplishments conrat [Music] all sub coaching the relationship that coach cusers have with these young men and Coach Brown have go beyond you gotta have academically emotion they have I like app good evening everyone say thank you guys for the recognition been here since 2017 honestly it's probably coach 2002 it's probably one of the first times that uh the Board of Education war w recognized hard work that you know our program is doing I really really appreciate this from the bottom of my thank you um I started in 201 and we lost conference in 20 2018 we've had five confence championships since 2018 ob20 we have won four consecutive championships over the course of six years J probably one of the bests in the state ofth in 41 years no ever 100 200 400 and also aw7 really really to come out and see them compete love you guys Community has been very grate to be since I've been here really appreciate it so thank you guys thewhere um forun come up my colleagues you know um you can't talk includ I just District I try thank you all you just thank you do congratulations at this time pres we will move forward with our presentation as you know we invited uh Miss Lori Perlo our public information officer uh for the district she is coming before us today and share with you her findings focus groups that were are you there okay we can get now oh yes wonderful good evening everyone it's a pleasure of here tonight um I am going to be providing an update of all of the communication planning work actually that we did um starting from back in Fall excuse me okay so I wanted to be able to provide an overview of all of the communication planning work that we did um just this week we wrapped up uh the initial draft of the communication plan that I think was important the other steps that were taken before we got to this point so back in the fall the first step that we took was that we reviewed the district or school's newsletters that are posted on the website we also reviewed the existing social media um and the website itself we looked at the district site and we looked at two School sites um we also conducted in March a series of focus groups um which I will get into and then of course I'm going to also share some highlights from the draft communication plan so that you can be familiar with that so when we did the first step which was reviewing some of the existing Communications there was this is just obviously some some highlights of the review there more exact information shared but for the purposes of this presentation in time just share a few things um so the first observation with regard to newsletters is that what we were looking for them on each School site some were very easy to find and some were a little bit more challenging and some we could not find at all um so that was just a bit of of feedback um so obviously streamlining that process making sure that there's set schedule set process set tools for each school to use so that um it's easier for stakeholders to receive and then also find newsletters that they are uh looking for on the district website um in terms of Facebook one of the observations is obviously there's a nice mix of content there's a very strong following wonderful engagement but there's always more that we can do when it comes to social media really the opportunities are endless um and so we made some recommendations there in terms of for one adding the social media feed to the district's website because sometimes it somebody's not familiar not finding it on their own organically through social media but they're visiting the website often it's another way to drive people to social media Pages um would love to see more photos some more videos things like that um again these are just recommendations based on the review and then of course in terms of the website um we looked at the district site we looked at two School sites um and most importantly and I I don't think this is news to anyone but the site itself is out of date I that the district is in the process of revamping and replacing the website so that's the good news we didn't need a communication plan uh to be able to take those steps that's already in process so in terms of the focus groups we conducted approximately seven of them most of them were in person a couple of them were virtual well attended wonderful participation in all of them um we held focus groups with employees we broke them down by different stakeholder groups within uh employee groups so we had the administrative team certificated we had non-certificated um we had a parent group we had two student groups which were quite impressive then of course the group for um board memb and focus groups are always very um valuable because you get to talk directly with stakeholders um and ask them questions and get their feedback which is very constructive and very helpful this process so the chart that you see here again is really just Top Line highlights of what came out of the focus streets there were a lot of common themes and those common themes are essentially what helped me to create and develop the goals for the communication action plan so across all of the groups we saw some there were conversations in feedback about culture there's wonderful culture here but there's some inconsistencies and there's definitely ways that we can enhance and improve culture um as it relates to communication um district and school perception concerns were heard throughout each group and that really what what I heard from participants in the focus group is that they care deeply about this District they care deeply about the students the students said that they know how much the teachers care about them but outside of the school they worry and fear that others who aren't directly involved in the school district may have negative perceptions and that's very frustrating um and so um I don't want to digress too much at this point but hopefully many of you saw or all of you saw the story that was in the Philadelphia Inquirer just about 10 days ago about um shaheim Muhammad who's a student at the high school um was the subject of the student produced documentary um when I heard about this Dr Caro and Mr imram his teacher um I was so moved by his story and by the of students um that I had reached out to an education reporter M ber you probably read her work and when I shared the documentary and the story about shahe and his class she too said I get on the story and she came out um she did an interview with SH and some of his classmates and if you haven't seen it search for it a copy copy of but um it is a wonderful story and something that everybody can be proud of so that's what we need more of that's why I'm here and that's why we're working together um also a desire for up communication practices and channels and tools was something that came out of a lot of the focus groups and the website is one example but there's other ways that we can um make sure that we're communicating with the most current tools um so that we can make sure that the communications that we're sending out are actually being received um properly so about the communication plan um so you're not going to see the plan in its entirety or we would be here all night um not the best use of everyone's time but I want to give you just some Topline information about the plan I'm going to show the goals and some of the key objectives for each of the goals to give you some flavor uh of what's in the plan so there are three main goals to the plan um all of the goals objective and action steps that are included are recommendations and they recommendations that were based on the feedback from the focus groups and also from best practices in school Communications I've worked in school Communications for more than a dozen years I've worked with close to 30 different school districts throughout the state um so I see a lot um and I'm able to take those experiences of best practices and Sh them here in Winslow the key to any plan including the communication action plan is the implementation um it's a lengthy plan um it is not a plan that could be implemented in its entirety in a short period of time my estimation usually is anywhere from one to three years and that is because it's usually a matter of resources Financial Resources but also sta capacity um and that's something that is obviously critical to the implementation um most of the items are things that can be um divided up spread you know between buildings administrators individuals but um it definitely takes time to get to a place where we can implement the plan in its entirety um I always recommend that the plan ised annually so we can take a look at what has been accomplish and sometimes things change priorities new ideas come up um and so the communication plan is that would be a fluid document year and accordingly and obviously saying the communications Consortium that I am connected with is always here and available should the district choose to continue to work together so let's get into the plan a little bit um r one I'll it for you just so you can hear it in entirety so the go one is to gradually transform school districts communication culture to proot Student Success and stakeholder Satisfaction by fostering collaborative parent and environment sound good yes um so the key objectives here these the three ke objectives under this you're not anything here um but the first one is to start with internal Communications so what we know in this world not just in public education but in the private sector too is that you've got to start from the inside and then go out right so when employees are informed and that's a general practice if youve got used to share we go from the inside out we let our employees know and then we let the public know so the first objective is to focus on internal communication practices the second is is to enhance communication with students I have to say my colleague led the focus group for the high school students I led the group for the middle school students it's the second Middle School FOC evered and I was blown away by stud and interest in communication I truly truly was the first few minutes were a little uncomfortable they didn't know me they didn't really know why I was there guard it it um but after a few minutes they understood this G be instructive two-way dialogue they really opened up and I was blown away the level of interest in communication the way they communicate with their teachers the way they communicate with their building leaders um it was really um it was wonderful actually to see and so that's why I sure that that was objective and the second objective for reason um we're all here and so everything we do obol around them um but that's why that was the seconded and then of course the third is Communications with parents and caregivers um I'm a parent I two teenagers that are in high school I've been through years and years ofing communication events you know the good news the bad news from the teachers so this is always an area that you find um I wouldn't say that there were any huge gaps in parent communication but there were certainly opportunities for improvement um and so when it comes to that particular objective it's not necessarily need to add anything or do anything that's significantly different than what's being done but over all take a look at what we are doing make sure that it's consistent and it's effective and efficient and that the information we're trying to convey to parents is in fact being received moving on to go two um this particular goal is about a more positive session so I spoke earlier about um the theme that came through focus group where students employees and parents very connected um a lot of loyalty to the school district but they worri about outside perspective feeling very different so there were important so the first one obviously to highlight student and staff success stories right so the Shing story that I shared with you while while ago again a perfect example that story wasn't just about sh though it was also about his teacher and that really had come across him read the story and just being there for the day that students were interviewed the teacher was interviewed um Mr Ingram is a really special care to those students and he a very special place in their life and that really came across very quickly during the interview and I think it was important um you know that we continue to highlight the as well as students as we move forward um I have some great ideas for next year because I think that whole program is really cool fting and I want everybody to know that um anyway so that's first C chapter the second and I know some print a little bit Ure transparency accountability and trust this is always an area that every school distri this is not specific to winow this is something that every school district can and should work toward I know that the district a lot of communications and a lot of work in area already there's always more that we can do last thing is promote the mission Miss values initiative I loved hearing the statement being read at start of this even these are things that we can build into other Communications as well not just at the board level but at the building level and the students because when we know what our mission is know what our Val reminded of It kind of Keeps Us Center finally goal three is to enhance engagement and improve information accessibility by systemically mod channels and methods allak highly relevant interactive communication tailor to their preferen needs technological capability there's a lot in that um terms of objectives here and there there are few more the plan these are the three most important the first is to assess and modernize commun channels and methods and again as I said earlier I know that the website is something that's being talked about and looked at and will be replaced that's probably the most important step that the district can take right now um but there's other channels that we use for communication that can also be looked at and assessed make sure that they're ADA Compliant that they translate easily into other languages so that again everybody needs to receive this information is able to in their language goes without saying irrelevant communication of course we want to sure that we in a Time Manner and then monitoring communication Effectiveness if we're utilizing and those tools aren't working for us then we should not use those tools that's the quick shot of uh the third objective there that's what that one means so we're using social media we've got strong analytics we want to build on that if we're using a newsletter tool and we get three readers that stay on the newsletter for 30 seconds we got look at that that needs Improvement just as an example um so this wraps up the goals um I'm happy to questions from the board if you have any question we have the school I think a lot particular focus groups are a lot of things that we had discussion from other individuals only confirm must be done in order to improve our I want to and us I has process so thank youn for your presentation app and given what youday for our Athletics and our our track which is more going on a national level how do we expound on that and make sure that we we're exposing that to who needs to know about that success moving forward great question um that's a great question um and actually um through the focus groups some of the feedback that we heard was that the community knows a lot about the athletic success but they don't necessarily know about other things which was interesting um and what I know in my role is that newspapers in particular which are the ones that we're trying to reach right television station the Philadelphia prir post that's who we want to convey all of the good news to um they have built in departments for athletics so I've read great stories about wi Athletics teams but one of the things that came across in the focus group is we don't know about the Arts we don't know about other things so my goal and my role in all of this is to make sure that we have balance so that we know about the wonderful outcomes of the letics teams but that we also know about the Arts student achievement and everything else to balance out and and try to get that right of content and good news out um so I hope I answered your question um but it's really best example is really what story is information was shared with me I asked some questions we had a couple of phone calls and then I said you know what this Tri to the level of reaching theph Inquirer I had a pretty good gauge at this point um in my career knowing what person an interest in so when something is unique and different than another school district um that's usually when they pay attention a little bit more sometimes we've got and actually direct um we ended up having channel six come out that day um during that event which was a fabulous event for students M you ALS Shar with the community your recommendation that story sure so in terms of so what I would love to see um it moved me and everyone that I shared the documentary with was just blown away in fact I didn't even share this with you but I work with a alternative program in North Jersey and um I shared the documentary with a couple of the teachers that I was working with there on a different event and they were so impressed and away that they shared a have a chance to tell you that um but I have some great ideas for next year I would love to see some sort of a preview or showing little red carpet event where we can show the documentary public come in and see it invite the media in maybe do a little Q&A with the students who are involved um because I was impressed by the students who were involved with the production as well not just shahim and his story but the students who got to know their own here in a different way and then have to produce the documentary about him I mean it's remarkable it's REM it moved me um it has moved me I'm a parent I work in Communications I have two teenagers of my own sure they watch the video too um so there there's just that's the kind of work that we everyone about yes sorry I that yeah so I um have been involved with a New Jersey school public relations Association the national school PR Association I'm actually on their board the New Jersey chapter has um an awards competition every year one of the categories is meia relations so when I spoke to Dr earlier this week I had asked for his permission to submit that story for an award no promises have no idea what else will be in the contest but um I think it has great potential to be a winning story great for the district Mr I Dr you were coming I said I was going to pick your braen a little bit um and I think a lot of what you presented today will kind of hopefully L itself to one of the issues we have in the district one of our district goals was increase in parent engagement um and Dr great job putting on a lot of parent events this year and what we have found is not necessarily participation in those events across the board so I kind of wanted to pick your brain as to how we could tweak our approach a little bit to to kind of increase that yeah so that is an issue so many school districts and so it becomes challenging especially if you're hosting you know a parent University work anything any event that requires time and effort to plan of all of them um and don't get people in the room so some things that um some school districts are doing is they're recording the events and they're having them available online so that parents can move back to them um that's just one um looking at the time of day um the day of the week um keeping in mind that parents have you know different work schedules and different obligations um making sure that if you're doing something in the evening or even really at any time um that if you can make babysitting available that's another way because see Child Care can be an issue so there's a lot of different factors but it helps if we get feedback on the events and sometimes we can and sometimes we can't but as long as we can offer things in different ways but having something at a minimum you know available on demand on the website and through social media and through a newsletter making sure that everybody knows it's there at least seable can go back to it um if they can't be there in person but we see this in so many communities um I think it was one of the blessings of Co was that a lot of times we get no participation virtually in events and it isn't always necessary to have it in person so just a few things to think about there Russell B and you said it's going to take about three years for this program really see the results of some that you put in the program am I correct um just to clarify it could take up to the plan the results you see right away have with some of the coverage that received in the news already one of the maor problems I see speaking very last 15 years in District coach and come out our my was one why don't we put why don't we put money budget for public relations I not allow public relations now if you noce the track team we got three Coes people like me can speak to the kids that me to have and we need more people to speak to the Arts science English History if we don't do that and spend some money on public relations co the track team coach Brown and Coach CER they night Day After School academic center and so forth if we get that and I think you can elaborate I think a tremendous d i could agree um it's what I do it's um what I advocate for being able to offer School Communication Service allows have a fullo to have something level of service that has proven to be successful umly that's discuss of theard um with regards toity regulations I think you're probably referring to there's certainly um ways to work within the RS don't compromise The District in any way um and it listen it's my wish that every school district in new yor had a fulltime Pio it's just not realistic um but is it the district work towards absolutely and and they are um but that takes time and planning so thank you thank you are there any other questions I have a question has any of the other District used um College interns in um that's a great question none of the districts that I work with use them um but some do as you know and I've worked with college interns in the past in their positions um there's first of all a few things somebody has to manage them there isn't always time for that um I think if the intern have a specific role working with an employee or a consultant I think it can work if it is an intern only I think that could become an issue unless they had a very specific task a lot of times we work with sensitive information um and there's privacy issues and things like that um so I think there's certainly a place for student intern in the area of communications um in fact Rowan has one of the only School Communications um certificates so yeah I know well yes yes so and they actually the New Jersey Nur gets a scholarship every year in school [Music] PR I don't know who this questions should go to but I know we're working towards upgraded website that was list as part of our goals do we know a time frame or like is there information about obviously that can't happen overnight thaton oh perfect okay sounds great yes I was listening to you concerning the fact that U you said that inur are not readily available no I didn't that's I don't I didn't mean that sometimes when we have manage that so there is to work and essentially and overse them I wouldn't want on their own but we don't have to at this time so I'm I think it could work um also in science and math why can't we have people coming in in the area of Science and Math of these people who work in industry or other facets of Science and Math and encourage students to enter into professions and they would normally come in cont there are many many professions today that are out there in science and math that didn't exist even 10 years ago why can't we have these people coming into the school system into the math and science classes so we actually spoke about this with regards to community engagement and that actually one of my recommendations um as a way to engage the community Dr and Dr that this is something district is already doing they have speakers um and there are other OPP to engage with business professionals yes but again it I think the original question was had an intern with I think the initial conversation how do we get the good news out regarding all of are performance of students then Peters followed up suggest of interns and Mrs per explained frosen cons and then it followed up with having people come in speak two totally different because we do have people in but this was about getting the news out and all of the department and so miss but we have some ideas I I just wanted to add my memory with regard to a student intern involved in Communications um I have some colleagues who are pios um what in particular one is in a high school district and they actually trained students um to handle the same language so it's certainly I don't think it's something the is ready to do right now um but I definitely think it's something that we could consider down the road and it's something that has worked well ask question St question so public information it's also obviously a lot of times there's a negative relations right so public information officer is a critical and vital role in any public entity or private entity frankly um government uses them and school districts use them too but we need more school districts if to use them thank you m thank you and thank you for the opportunity will [Applause] so board members wonderful I would just like to remind that um certainly in August when we will be having our Retreat this ABS will be ret moving thank you mtion to approve the meeting board of education our regular meeting Wednesday June 5th 2024 Open session is there a motion motion to approve the minutes of our regular meeting Wednesday June 5th Open Session second Miss Martin move by Miss there any further comments or questions just to know mam president that um there is a change noted in the uh body of the agenda yes approval of these minutes will include a correction to item number 16 secretary's report to change the account from number 60 to account number 61 again to change from account 60 to account 61 and that is to change asend so would there be any further questions or comments hearing unrd Miss Martin miss m Peterson yes Miss Thomas has she joined us yet I see phone she she did yes she Mr Thomas thank you moving reports with but I do not have St thank you moving now Cen advis yes M Martin yes give everyone citizen advisory committee meeting June 6 2024 meeting began 7:05 on Thursday June 6 2024 in the administration building here in attendance were F crook McKenzie Jennifer moss and Marcy Thomas Rosary Hoffman Chris andek and our boardly Martin was present the old business was very um communication between parents and school which IP very nicely the presentation this evening there are three old business suggestions that keep recurring one was suggest letter be sent home with bus assignments about student suggested behaviors with the driver and other students as a reminder in conjunction with um the bus schedules that go out to help with those situations the availability for parents to visit School potentially prior to the beginning of the year like a family day and um a recurring old business that's come up is the welcome packet to all the brand new District parents to a particular scho this second order of with cell phone policy just a brief discussion about the outcome um of the suggestion to expunge those forly suspended under a policy um prior and then number three was discussion was held on the recent suggestion to the board that more Community Services come available to help students of PL M be utilized by the board that was in particular with some of the community organizations that had offered to give free resources to the district new business was um a discussion that was tabled and is going to be brought up in the a guest meeting about restored practices and some of the other local districts that are having much success with those um situations and with those practices so the CAC wanted to continue that conversation after all this meeting the second order of new business was comprehensive review what was the outcome when was it complete we saw part of that today with the communications review um process this evening and then three was upcoming events were announced by the group including juneth Father's Day hookout on June 29th at the bug dupal Senior Center and discussion around CAC being present um as a community group at those and concludes the reports to the report looking at the old business um specifically number one you care to comment on that um what just there was discussion around sometimes is not up to our expectations as a district and so potentially we always send out our noce with their bus assignment on it at the beginning of the year so potentially there could be a quick paragraph in there just about what the district's expectation is so that it's level set with writing in that way when right we do address and Mrs know so um hi so are you um referring to when a student has a bad behavior on the bus no so you're talking about PRI prior to so we can um but we that yeah just need to absolutely thank you Avil um we know that's logistically a difficult thing so I put that only [Music] C people on vacation administrative we had so I'm not however most new particular already made to the school um prior to scho so you're talking about someone just having I'm not really and build try to say yes we do it tomorrow or we can work that out now um obviously takes planning and I not uh giv any type but it's a consider there a lot of the people oh did you resp because any of the parents who come to register students here if they request the building it's always granted the only issue is that they just can't show up and they need to call schedule to make sure that the administration is here that the building is need or that we don't have other programs in place at the so it has never been an issue but if you are referring to establishing just a family dat I think that's what dril say is a real challenge we've always granted the opportun to to yeah doing the Reg when I know that this exist up to dat it it and so we even modify that to includ those things that are important for parents to know so for example um the expectations conduct key policies need to be here cell policy code hi policies we try to do that in a little snipp it so that it would be a quick read for parents so all of the principles created kind of a little small one page two page informational so it may not be in the same format talking about but information is provided front so they know about your at school and key things that they should be aware of stting the schools so if you have a particular School in mind where there seems to be a concern if you share that with me in a better position to address Absolutely I'll let the committee know that thank you thank youte julyn thank you moving to no report at this time had been set to meet today prior to the board meeting in person but I was the only person available from the marketing committee so we're hoping to resched okay thank you m operations commer met on Tuesday June 25th 2024 at 5:30 p.m. and attendance were missread committee chair also attendance was Miss Co and Miss Chico the following items were discussed one 2021 to 2022 Capital project status security alarm at the high school and middle school we receive the final pay application for the project has been closed School six main office hbac placement that's the account the project remains open two current capital projects circulation pump at the school one two three and four and the Middle School the vendors has purchased supplies as been cited the preconstruction meeting has been scheduled for Monday July the 1st 2024 the Middle School facade repair and painting the preconstruction meeting is held Tuesday June the 25th 2024 work is scheduled to begin on Wednesday June the 26 2024 High School hbac upgrade the balance of the fundings will be available as of July the 1st 2024 we will rally to final get will rally to finally get this project out of the gate School 6 HBC hbac upgrade documents repair required to be submitted to the SDA for the grant approval are on the agenda before after school projects Dr Mills shared that the summer campers are having a great time for the long range facilities plan lrfp has received approval from the state five 24 2024 to 25 budget projects were reviewed the hbac system at school five reach track replacement school one through four placement J hall at the high school hn High School athletics roof replacement Administrative Building six six Architects toest for a proposal RFP for these Services was reissued open on June the 12 2024 two vendors respond land Associates and EI Associates interview will be sched the meeting at29 the next meeting ised thank you Mr J I actually didn't considering difficulty that was great thank you with regards to our policy committeee to me tomorrow Thursday the 27th um 4M and all members have been notified of that moving now board me at the top of Page Three I'm asking for a motion to approve the superintendent report that begins at the top of Page Three and then continue through to the bottom of page eight to approve super report it appears PES second Mar coms question M Mr Thomas our vice president indicated that he had questions regarding item corre whenever whenever it's for address yes question on I don't see it being a post session item so can question yes [Music] um they also it's information a department they whatever get now the 15% what did that allocate toes M so it's all the money goes into pram so let's say Phi May particular to direct those money to Phil excuse me no it is sports outreach program it does not include thank you any further comments questions hearing yes Miss yes Miss yes Miss Thomas thank you Mr th Thomas yes and motion thank you moving noward members at the top of page n this administrative secretary report before I a motion on that report before I ask motion on that report been the correction so M approve the business administrative board secretary report as it begins at the top of page n and continues through to the bottom page 22 is there a motion motion to approve the business administrator secretary as it appears on pages 9 through 22 second Mar by by Martin any further comments or questions I had several okay page and it number page 13 item number 14 uh the professional development materials for mathematics um any your question uh for which grade levels is that for so so I believe and then page number 15 a bid for Diagnostic assessment um is that the Ral already or are we looking at a different program it is on and it question is does that replace ready that's not the cas no rep ready to continue on yes hold on uh page 19 number 36 [Music] these it up to of Grant about okay and the requirements for that Grant um in the grant requirements itself listed the that we prepare and I was consulted by Mrs Bo on this these three separate resolutions we did it actually found we what actually did it back in 2014 yeah um so Mrs Bo and I discussed it these are the three resolutions that we need to include our grand application okay so does that mean that the project will be able to move forward this summer or is it going to push it back because we had because of timing andil equipment the construction hopefully we have to get project and then we can sometime start the start so in terms of parents other as soon as they walk out clean so that it's ready for the next day and there have been times where I to cry because I think never make next summer we are hoping Mrs we've been trying to get air conditioning for those buildings for second floors quite some time as you know we been and that'll make my children happy Okay saw a little confused thank you for clarifying any further questions yes okay you said page 12 page mention out in the audience what we are doing it's right there thank you oops thanks Miss Peterson for reminding I forgotten to mark that one on my um so educational networks who we're going to award the contract too that's who's currently our website um Builder yes I just had a little and Dr C I appreciate you sending over the the RFP with all of our specs on it um I just had a little bit of pause because I noticed a discrepancy between a lot of the bids right so just one of those you know you get what you pay for well at this through the process we realiz that the webite thatly a lot more to offer but of course so we however more into which had lot more to offer Us in that process uh we found uh is probably one process because it's about clearing out everything we had in place and start new at this point necessarily have to do so but we can't continue to broaden prove have had an additional cost we felt was probably the most expedient uh to done and IED M yes M Mark yes m m pet yes Miss Thomas thank you m Thomas motion hasard me moving now to our personel report before I call for a motion on that report I draw your attention to page 26 number 11 with the heading 2024 Academy we just want to add another account to that particular item so as you can see it account number 204-210 you want to add to that this particular account title two and the account number is 20 d274 d2000 -10 all right okay so therefore I'm ask motion to Personnel report as it appears on page 23 continuing to the end of page 26 with the addition to item number 11 Madam 24 it'll show any further questions on that questions or comments okay hear we have a motion to approve the personel report beginning on page 23 going 26 with this thank you to oura [Music] so I sign Lang okay moving right along agenda we're now at and I'm asking for motion to approve the business administrative board secretary report as on agenda it begins with page one on our agenda and as you can see I'm ready to Contin through to the top of page seven motion to approve the admin secretary report on our agend as it begins on page one and go the middle of page seven second thank you motion to approve the person report as beginning middle of p and Contin the bottom page [Music] thank you thank you one um request from Miss shind she requested that's it thank you moving now in reference in the not [Music] at least particular July 1 as that this C am time in order to have that one it will at least the and discussion [Music] there and I think maybe not you're only cannot man was a until start so you can't P that the current and if we have aod Wednesday by yeah we can we can have to have the for just that in order all the requ through the andess okay the7 okay we hav we to the responses tomorrow push so until the so to the 17 so Bo M do we have questions um do we need clarification Madam president what type of discipline are we talking about the building maintenance thank you any any other questions I just when you he6 that is however July appears to be best time because at that point we need all theorder to so we're ask before I ask motion so that we can make a decision on this any F question is fation okay hearing therefore I need to know I'd like to to entertain a motion that for the month of July that we have just one meeting and that would be July 17 same time same time same time same pleas yes okay motion to have a meeting on July 17 7M in the administration building second Miss Martin move by all in favor voice all in favor published the July 17 thank thank you page seven item 24 after counseling with Mr Thomas he would to reflect his as an abstention which in my opinion would be entirely I apologize for yes okay okay thank you [Music] old you would like to discuss at this time um I don't know that um I would want to absolutely discuss this but as we know juneth took place last Saturday and um was very very hot day but I would just like to thank the students who volunteered stepped up and volunteered not knowing exactly what we wanted them to do not really knowing how long we want them to be out there but they did and they came through Aces so I I just think it's important to at least call out their names uh as you know we had thought that a masc to go around to Mas um costume out and I took a good look at that costume that costume was heavier than so therefore uh Mr Thomas uh generously donated uh one of our W people's t-shirts so that the young lady um volunteer the for that time B so her name was and as sheing senior so I just want to publicly thank her along with the other students that came out who happened to be part of our national H Society uh that was Sandra uh second was Rihanna Divine uh third St was Marcos Marcus and the four student came out with Debbie mercy and I think it's important to know that while these are all high school students we did have one Middle School who came out and she volunteered through us and she just happened to be daughter and that was and so we want to thank her too so again uh was very impressive to have these young folks come out not knowing what they had but they they came out and so here again that shows scho spirit and any other old business discussed at this time hearing business new business yes Madam we all know you know I didn't know this ceremony was be for a department tonight grateful that we are acknowledging that Department as you well know we've been trying to ignite and restore the wall of fame and I just have a statement that I like to read in preparation of trying to get that back on track ladies and gentlemen it's a privilege to speak for you today on a topic that should lie at the heart of our institutions values missions the harmonious ination of academics Athletics as we important that athleticism is not just a phys Pursuit but a Cornerstone of a welled in athletics there is education our students learn valuable lessons that extend far beyond through Sports they learn import teamwork discipline person abili and resilience they understand goals work hard to and to both Victory and defeat with Grace and dignity these are in any Endeavor that they choose TOS we must immortalize our achievements to every opportunity we get for if we don't who will recognizing and crating our successes not only honor those Excel also inspires to Greatness our achievement seres as to the dedication and hard work of our students coaches and staff they are M remind us what is possible when we can combine passion effort we must not not to acheve instead you must seek out every OPP to excel to push our Lim and to reach New Height whether it's in the classroom or on the field we must excellence and determination our wall ofay of glories but a living of our ongoing each year we must induct a new class celebrate distinguish themselves to the exceptional accomplishment in conclud let us embrace the between academics and Athletics let us recognize that each compliment enhances the other creating well-round individual prepared to face challenges of the future let us celebrate our achievements big and small sure that our Legacy Excellence is passed down to Future Generations together we can build a brighter stronger and more sex Community thank you thank you [Laughter] mov yes sure the wnow to Board of Education highly values the in of citizens and making the important decisions that affect the children of our community we also believe in the right of citizens to observe board meetings to ensure that all of our citizens have the opportunity to attend school board meetings in off comment and to ensure that the Board District we ask follow the public comment the board secretary will recognize those individuals in the audience who wish to make com we'd ask that you respect the following procedures one all members of the public attending school board meetings must treat each other and the respect two please take your name and town of residents three please limit your comments to four minutes four submit your questions in the event running to answer them to the Board of Education with your name address and telephone number you be contacted your questions will be answered in a reasonable time and lastly individuals offer comment not permitted to personal on any District Board member Tes thank you thank you Rob hello my name is Rob Johnson I'm from Berlin L all my life Edwood I um in my early years you know I was on started with the track team and um just with um freshman year and all of a sudden Thomas won the team also and then all of a sudden we had a guy come in Dennis MIT when Dennis Mitchell came you know Mr B's track teams were always legendary and always already said there already the greatest teams in W but when Dennis Mitchell came we went to a whole different level I'm asking the board if we can name the track at the senior high school after Dennis M his successes this weekend were epic and to to see three runners 109 you know women Runners under 109 it's I mean he's being talked about right now all over the world right now he is the preferred coach coach in this country and I'm just asking the board it's time it's time to put his name on that track okay Mr this according to our policy um you have come before us and put that request uh we would just ask that you put it in writing okay put it in writing to our ba again according to our policy uh if we could have that a week from today a week from today a week from today and which would be what July 3 right yeah and so therefore once we that as a board move on that and um take that come back the next step is to submit that because we need actually to be a to was who has all sorry I'm going to write hello Mr Thomas I just wanted to follow up you said with the you know um recognize achiev and the Excellence within extracurricular activity and academic achievement at the school and I would like to if we do bring that back I would hope that we would also consider expanding that the same way that we do the lower elementary schools with the Arts programs as well and not only but do that with some other High um achieving extracurricular activities as well so that was my thank you anyone in the waiting not at this time to comments second M pit I um Mrs pitz typically uh as you know in and around the middle of May Mr Davis will send out nonrenal and there's an opportunity for individuals who have not achieved tenure on our sta who have been advised by letter not red um to ask for two things has taken the reasons why not renewed and an opportunity to appear before the board and give com typically when someone makes that request we provide them with a right stones and those uh who may be familiar I'll repeat it again there's a case uh in which uh an individual by the name of CH was involved and it's basically taking on the name of its own as to what means but it's the district providing under law when anyone's rights may be affected um the opportunity to appear before the board and have that done with representation from either legal council or the union representative whatever the case may be and to have that neither closed session or open the majority of times we sit here we see that that occurs in executive session Clos session so we would normally go into that process at at right now um the the individual who uh has been sent that right was also uh receive a non-renew is here this evening and ask that that be heard no so what does that mean little unusual request but request I have several times in other locations so entitled we refer to as Donald he and a Donald hearing is member of our staff who is not renewed um is entitled to appear before the Board of Education where they can attempt to convince the board members to offer Reemployment and not accept recommendation from both the principal and the superintendent for her termination which is essentially with our renewal notice do so in this instance um the individual has request that be held in open so in a second be calling them forward and asking them uh whatever it is they want to try and convince the board like I frequently do in close session this would be your opportunity to convince the board um that you should have been renewed and that you seek a a reversal of the determination of the administration that does not preclude in any way the board's ability to go into executive session for the purposes of deliberating And discussing the matter so we can afford the individual opportunity to air may exist publicly but that does not take away from Bo's to Wi the CL session and deliber on the issue or discuss the issue as to how each board member feel about the request that's being made then uh if the a decision made or sense made by that is not be motion overturn and no action needed to the extent that the ints to Administration and her decision to non renew and the individual will be again offered that's something that to do affirmatively and overturning specifically by resolution after executive in overturning the decision of the administration and um award that individual uh his or her job back so we've been through this process closed but it's going to be a hybrid tonight for the reasons I express does anyone have any questions before we begin yes Miss no Oh I thought you said you had questions no problem um m come forward come over there so we hear you with your representatives we need as much time as you need this is not a five minute portion thing I'm limiting you to five minutes but uh if you identify yourself and I'm assuming that rece receip and same Reas so you have that you know what the so to the extent that you would to respond to that goes into deliberations and make your pitch to the board you have the floor good evening good evening my name is Kathy Mandan I am from Westampton New Jersey I am a kindergarten teacher but I've been assigned by the New Jersey Education Association to support our member um Miss Margaret Hogan in her Thon hearing as you heard it's a PL of process so I here to support her she did prepare documents and I if I may put them on the table to share them with you um and then I will turn the Flor over to k if you have an extra not it's okay thank you than you thank you good evening my name is Hogan and I have beened as secretary at the high school over this past SCH year I came to work for this after spending a year as a board member running the parent group of the nonprofit at one school school six in over the past year I've had the pleasure of working with many different Educators and support staff at Township High School I was excited to see the school and people who ran the school that our son would be attend I have been a multifaceted asset the Township High School by utilizing my extensive education management experience and skills learned as a small business owner for the of 14 years during the first eight months of my employment I have not had the single disciplinary infraction from any administrator and have gone above and beyond anything that has been me during my time at Township High School imagine my surprise I returned from spring break on a disciplinary letter in my mailbox as a result of a meeting that I had asked for from our building principal because he stated that he had an open door policy I am hopeful that the Board of Education will review my correspondent documents that I've spent hours putting together and take note that the current situation stem from an initial meeting that led to continued issues with only one administrator I'd like to bring your attention to the timeline event timeline of event which is the second page of your large page packet of documents that just gives you a brief 17 um Step timeline of event that only started to occur on March as you can see from the timeline of events there is no other instances of disciplinary issue um aside from one administrator mentioned document I would also like to draw your attention to the initial letterin letter that I received which is exhibit B dated March 26 this initial letter is filled with incorrect information and that is why I felt like I needed to come here and explain more in detail the particular instances that contributed to why I received this disciplinary letter I took the time if you look on the back of that letter I play I provided a twage rebuttal letter dated April 10th explaining nine different points that were not correct in that initial letter Not only was I met with I was being told that I was being disrespectful and that I was being unprofessional by providing documentation to support actual truthful information as you can see for eight entire months prior to this March meeting there was no there was no give me one second sorry everything that I've done being the secretary of the high school has been purpose I have engaged with staff members I've engaged with administrators parents community volunteers the list is one and on um in the second packet that I provided to you the smaller packet there are five individual letters from different members Community two of them being current curent teaching staff High School two being secretarial and the third being an actual parent Community was two special need students in our high school who was dealt with me on multiple multiple occasions as you can tell from their words I care deeply about my job and the students and Stat in wler school district if I did not I would not have taken the time to put together the document that you see before you I have been in active member in our Township community for years since I moved here in 2019 I have spent countless countless hours volunteering my time to the families and students of the WSET Township School District so I hope that the board will take everything that I have presented to you here tonight in consideration I hoping that after reviewing this information the Board of Education will reconsider my non and perhaps maybe consider a transfer instead as I know that that has done in our district multiple multiple times before however I have been I have loved the time I've had at the high school and the impact that I've been able to have and the help that I've been able to provide our parents and our students which has been pretty vast across the past year and being able to actually take away from some of the workload of our administrators because I've been able to handle some of the problems that they would have given to the administrators that's all I have thank you for listening and hearing anything you like add any further information thank you we have received your pack information is your June 264 letter together one package supporting letters as well as a that has a timeline outline and several exibits through to the end um and I received them board has acknowledged receiving them and the board will take that into consideration I appreciate you coming forward and absolutely no problem doing this open and appreciate your remarks thank you madam president with that it would be appropriate for the board I know ites have but believe two items um move into executive session so may thank you in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act uh the wind Township Board of Education will move into executive session on June 26 2024 at approximately 9 o' of the nine exceptions which permit us to enter into executive session we will be entering in under item eight any matter involving employment appointment termination of employment terms or conditions of employment evaluation of performance promotion discipline Etc uh the specific items to be discussed is deliberations relating to the donalson hearing which is I've explained we have a right the board is right to do as well as I understand superintendent evaluations I would note the Dr uh has been appropriately riced uh by May via email which he is accepted I would anticipate that we will be an executive session um perhaps 60 Minutes the thank you members to approve our moving session motion to go into executive session second Martin by by Martin roll call please m m Martin yes Miss Thomas Mr Thomas yes motion timeon I apologize forr M would you ask M Thomas whether she would go participating Clos whether call Miss Thomas would you like to yes we get thank session