okay so okay e one e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e are asleep let's try it one more time good evening everyone good evening oh that's much better how's everyone okay all right we'll we we'll take that I'll take that welcome to the wiso Township Board of education's regular meeting today is Wednesday April 24th 2024 public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and Associates in a notice dated January 5th 2024 adequate and electronic notice of this public meeting has been provided specifying the time place and manner in which this meeting is being conducted it was advertised in The Courier Post posted in all schools the administration office the municipal building the library the Buble center Edgewood acres elmtown and the wiso Township Post Offices and this is our mission St statement the mission of the wiso Township School District a large diverse and growing Community is to educate all students to become independent lifelong Learners critical thinkers caring and confident members of their Community The District in partnership with the community and in a climate of cooperation and mutual respect will provide an academic environment which values excellence and diversity encourages our students to to strive for personal excellence and assist them in acquiring the knowledge the skills and the attitudes necessary to contribute positively to a rapidly changing World roll call please Mr asq Miss dreaden Miss Martin present Miss Nez present Miss Peterson present Mr Shaw present Miss Thomas Miss Thomas again is going to be joining us to WebEx do did she [Music] respond uh Mr Thomas present Miss pittz present uh we have a quorum thank you Miss Chico can we stand for the slute Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the of the United States Amer repic for which it stands one nation under God liy jice for r [Music] number f thank you Mr ESU and as soon as our students oh I say you returned they return your your mic okay moving now board members page two Awards and presentations Dr potit yes good evening Madame President members of the board and Community we do have a presentation scheduled for this evening uh at this time I would like to call the principal Miss McBride mik to introduce her staff and students Mrs McBride little technical sport [Music] needed d how about him all right good evening everyone Dr Dr car M pitz and the entire board Mr Davis and school families on behalf of school two I would like to introduce to you some of our fantastic school to students tonight our talented school to students will present a heartfelt poem focusing on autism as we recognize and celebrate Autism Awareness Month and poetry month this poem beautifully expresses understanding compassion inclusivity showcasing our students talents and unique perspectives in addition members of our second grade course will be performing two uplifting songs the first which is Diamond it symbolizes our Shining Light on autism spreading awareness and acceptance throughout our community the second song School two rocks embodies our school spirit celebrating our students diverse strengths and achievements we're so proud of our students their creativity their dedication to raising Awareness on autism performance tonight performances tonight are a testament to the hard work dedication of our U staff members Miss pcel Miss simple and Mr McKay who have worked hard with the students to prepare once again we extend our heartfelt warmest welcome and thank all of you for joining us in celebration of Autism Awareness Month and poetry month introducing our school to students good evening everyone my name is Caleb zodwa tonight we want to share with you a special poem about autism and the importance of embracing differences it's not autism is a new famous SE the word our poem sign on autism in a world of colors we all shine bright but some see the world and a different lights autism a journey with its own pace a beautiful Spectrum a unique [Laughter] Embrace autism brings a heightened sensitivity to the world our poem highlights this aspect sounds sounds and light a sensory Delight can sometimes become overwhelming causing a fright but in this world of sensitivity we learn to navigate love and creativity autis autism comes with a unique strength that deserves celebration with focus and passions talents on F Music Arts and stories on to autism GS like stars in the night eluminate the world with de Shining Light our poem our poem emphasizes the importance of inclusion and understanding let's Embrace each other hand in hand in a world where empathy takes a stand with kindness and patience we'll pave the way for a world where acceptance blooms every day remember our differences make us beautifully unique together we can build a more inclusive Society let's celebrate diversity and spread love and [Applause] understanding thank you for listening to a poem about autism let's continue to create a world where everyone feels valued and embraced [Applause] first [Music] see [Music] of [Music] and TR [Music] Beau I [Music] [Music] beautiful [Music] [Music] I down [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] together we [Music] [Music] it's [Music] my [Music] uh Miss McBride could you cut back to the mic for a minute please parents just just don't leave just yet just yet if you could give us just a minute one of the things that I wanted to uh especially make mention of was the first group Miss mcar they're all school to students and that the first group was that first grade okay uh I hope the parents realize preschool all the way to third grade I hope we realize how resourceful that first group was even though our technical kind of slipped up a little they didn't miss a beat and I hope you notice that so I'd like to give them a special Applause for that they so those are the kinds of students that certainly uh we're hoping will grow into um adults that are just as resourceful so thank you Miss McBride and thank you to this teacher who is over here giving his signals the way that the coaches and the do it you know that that was great that was great thank you [Applause] moving live right along board member continuing with our agenda correspondence Miss Chico would there be any correspondence at this time uh yes madame president there will be uh there is uh one piece of Correspondence Miss Chico hold on for just one minute let's let uh let the parents who are going going to clear out clear out okay Miss Chico correspondence uh yes uh there was there is one piece of Correspondence Madam president and it's an email um dated April 18th um from Suzanne abdil the executive County Business you m is your mic yeah it's on hello I'll see if I can do this um yes there's a piece of Correspondence an email um dated April 18th um to uh my myself and Mrs Bole um from suzan abdill She's the executive County Business official um she's informing us that our District's uh 2425 budget has been approved oh good okay thank you any more correspondence the second that concludes correspondence okay thank you board members at this time I'm asking for a motion to approve our meeting minutes from our Board of education's regular meeting which was held March 27th um 2024 both open and close session is there a motion motion to approve our Wednesday March 27th 2024 open uh regular meeting open and Clos session moveed by Mr Shaw second by Mr ASU any further comments or questions hearing n roll call please Mr asq M drein yes Miss Martin yes Miss NZ abstain Miss Peterson yes Mr Shaw yes Miss Thomas Mr Thomas yes Miss Pitts yes motion is carried thank you misso U just a reminder board members with when we're going to the roll call and we get to Miss Kelly Thomas Say it'll be a little delayed uh because of course she's calling in at this time board members we're going to um go through our board committee reports starting with our athletic committee Mr Thomas with your B and Report out of our athletic committee at this time absolutely unfortunately we didn't have a full body a meeting due to conflicts of interest busy schedules but keeping in tune with the committee's goal of athletic achievement and the sa the emotional social learning and other things that are going on we wanted to give a report because our students keep achieving despite all the efforts first I want to talk about the Woodburry relays the boys and the girls together first time in 20 years won the Woodburry relays as a team which is a great feat so let me give you some highlights the 4 by one 100 meter relay finals first place boys four 4 by 110 shuttle hurdle relay second place boys 4 by2 200 meter relay finals fifth place boys 4X 400 meter relay finals first place boys Sprint medley relay finals first place boys 4 by8 100 meter relay finals second place boys distant Melly relay seventh place and a new Woodberry Championship but it doesn't end there the week before that it was the Briston relays that both boys and girls track team came out Victorious and let me give you some highlights for that Dominic Bassie first place chucka AJ Bloom fourth place boys 4X 100 meter relay first place boys 4 by10 shuttle hurdle relays third place boys 4x200 meter relay first place boys 800 met Sprint Relay finals second place boys javelin finals boys 4 by 800 meter relay fourth place and a new Briston Championship so let's talk about academic athletic achievement miss my Aya Broner student of the month athlete of the month one of the fastest sophomore girls in the country and is student of the month academic so let me give you some highlights on the girl the winow girls track team per home the Woodburry relay title these ladies kept the composure tan handled the load we put on them in amazing fashion they went from race to race jump to jump with Grace and literally left it all on the track and in the sand they entered each race with a positive mindset and work their butts off we had the fastest time of the day in the 4x1 4X 800 at 9.45 and in the 4x4 3.51 and also won the Sprint medley in the school record fashion of four minutes and N seconds they also played second in the shuttle hurdles 4 by one and the 4 by two they did the darn thing M Brana was named MVP in the field athlet by winning both long jump and triple jump and it doesn't doesn't in there School 6 has started their social and emotional learning intermural pilot program at school 6 we have 25 to 30 students on Tuesdays and Thursdays grades 4th to 6 it's a new PCT program and I heard it's doing well and that concludes oh one more thing let's not forget our band also competed last week and came second and we can include them as the athletic committee as cornerstones of our districts and we all need a Cornerstone to hold up the building and that concludes my report Mr Thomas that was a pretty comprehensive report on the accomplishments of our students but coming out of your athletic committee is there a recommendation are there any recommendations from your committee to the board just to continue to support our athletic environment just to pay attention on how smart these kids are and how they are the jewel of our district okay thank you moving now citizens advisory committee Miss Maron yes you have a report Miss Claude good evening good evening Excuse Me Miss GL can you speaking to your mic because we're not hearing too well it's not coming through too well yes [Music] good evening the windo Township School District citizens advisory committee meeting minutes for April the 15 2024 the monthly meeting of the citizens advisory committee was held on Thursday April the 15th 2024 beginning at 7:05 p.m. in attendance were Wanda GLA mag Hogan jennif FAS Christy ronzulli Marcy thomaso Greg wake absent were f f krooks and rosemary Hoffman representing the Board of Education was Rita Martin the first order of discussion was to thank the board for its voting to send the proposed changes to the cell phone policy back to the policy committee the members also wanted to note that the B bandor has been replaced and we like to thank you it was also noted that during the recent play the roof leaked into the closet housing costumes which caused damage the water also flowed across the hallway into the auditorium this leak had been reported before this incident members suggested that the contents of the closet and other areas affected as a result of the leak be reled loated to a safer place until the maintenance is repaired of the roof it was also suggested that some of the costumes and props may need cleaning due to mold and mildew from the water damage issues and that the cost be not put on the the drama Department a recommendation to the Board of Education was adopted asking the Board of Education to Res revise the board policy number 8651 one Community use of Transportation in parenthesis M first the CAC is recommending that the nonprofit organizations be allowed to use school buses second we recommend that the nonprofit organizations use be State be the same stated in the current policy which would limit the use by the location of the program last we are recommending that all groups should be able to have access to the bus on weekends and during summer vacation time a copy of our recommendation is attached to the minutes and I will read after the conclusion of the minutes discussion on one-onone technology was discussed at length surveys from the local districts show how the use of one-onone technology has improv student achievement and testing on reg the testing and regular day-to-day instruction but also includes the increas increased parental involvement as an added bonus to having students have a Chromebook or similar device at home and at school the recommendation was previously made by the CAC at a previous meeting and we would like to know if there's any updates from the board of education on any kind of discussion regarding one-on-one technology as per Dr potit it is up to the Board of Education other other matters that we discussed High School morning announcement should be more welcoming not negative and repe repetitive every day and effort to retain our staff in a very competitive market the suggestion of bonuses to staff who have been ex um exemplary be made High School Lobby has a harassment and buling Dropbox hanging in the wall it does not promote the positive image we are attempting to make on our visitors the next one is ESS workers are substitutes and schools not teaching what is expected of them pre K registration timelines and filing have been confusing to some parents because some schools were still attempting applications accepting applications and others weren't because they were full better communication with parents on why the applications were not accepted was suggested and we also suggested that the parents that were in question um go ahead and continue to register their children just in case at the end of the um before the beginning of the school year there's a possibility opening may happen and the child still will be called to be able to um get into the school Dr poti did did try to um communicate effectively in regards to the limited space on the preschool and we also made sure that was a note with the CAC during our meeting that the communication was out there however some parents just didn't receive that memo and now I would like to read the recommendation to from the citizens Advisory Board regarding the community of Transportation in parentheses M the citizens advisory committee is making the recommendation to the Board of Education that they consider revising policy number 8651 Community use of transportation and parenthesis M to include the Township's nonprofit organizations and the permitted uses of the school district's transportation we also recommend that the revision allow for nonprofit organizations used limited by location of this program last we recommend that the board consider allowing transportation to be used on weekends and summer vacation time when it would be would not interfere with school programs and we are also aware that under with its recommendation that if any nonprofit organization is to be granted to use the public the school transportation that they would be required to have the appropriate insurances that will cover it and it possibly could be a charge or not a charge to the nonprofit organizations that con clud the minutes for the CAC are there any questions for us uh Miss claw just a few questions now exactly how many out of this report how many recommendations are you submitting to the board today we're just re we're submitting a new recommendation which is the policy for 8621 for the school public transation today the last we've already submitted the recommendation when we spoke on asking for one-on-one technology we originally asked for it to be in this the September uh 24th school year for it to be for middle school and high school students if the funding was limited but we would like it to go from K through 12 and I had did research as some of the board members requested me to do and I reached out to five different schools and the surrounding areas and those superintendents were graciously enough to respond to me and they gave me some very positive feedback in regards to how one-on-one technology especially with the teacher shortage that we have have Across the Nation that is very essential is it's an essential tool that helps them to help our children to continue to learn even if they're absent if the educator is absent that's a way for them to communicate to the substitute teachers and it's also another way that they can gauge whether or not students what level they're on in the classroom where they can have a little bit more oneon-one with the students so I ask if you all need any of the investigation research that I have can provide it for you um I don't have it with me tonight but I can provide it to the board but I do ask the board that you all look into that recommendation to get one-on-one technology in our schools because we shouldn't be one of the largest districts in our community in the surrounding areas and one of the only schools who don't have it and there is plenty of ways where we can control the cost in regards to one of the questions that came to me was uh or statements was after the pandemic a a lot of the Chromebooks did not return and if they were returned they were broken well that's why we put policies in place before those Chromebooks are issued out to the students and the parents and the students have to agree on it and if there's a damaged computer it comes back with a charge and then you can assess on how you want to allow whether the student gets their report card at the end of the year or how so be it whatever the policy May state but many of the schools have found it to be coste effective as a great learning tool and it is helping their students to be more engaged no matter what their social economic background is every child is learning and no kid is being left behind through the educational system but not being able to read write or be computer literate by the time they get out of high school Miss Miss claw that uh recommendation at 101 technology certainly um would warrant more discussion and so actually that discussion would take place uh with our superintendent and so um AB absolutely we will um he I'm sure that he's going to consider that um what I'd like to do miss glaude is to at some point um before our next board meeting uh if not before our next boarding board meeting for your next CAC meeting when is your next CAC meeting it's always the first Thursday of every month okay the first Thursday of every month I'm going to uh ask uh have a conversation with Dr potit uh with regards to that particular recommendation so so that we as a board can take a look at that and consider that and get his input input on that to cons to find out if indeed that's a recommendation that we could consider and and be able to determine the benefits now that's that recommendation now the one for tonight you said was um policy 8651 8651 and policy 8651 has to do with Community Transportation no it has to do with the school transportation the school the bus the school bus yes exactly and so therefore your your recommendation is based um is based on what and what open it up to the nonprofit organizations in our community that offer different activities for the children throughout the summer and throughout the year as long as it does not interfere with the school normal day of operations now uh Miss Claude one of the things that we have to consider with regards to that recommendation is the way in which the policy 8651 and it is a mandated policy from the state which means absolutely we have to follow that the recommendations that's coming from the CAC certain parts of that recommendation are counter to the policy one in particular there's a um a portion of that policy that reads no Transportation will be supplied for weekends holidays summer vacation time or for the purpose of attendance political activities the board reserves the right to refuse or cancel any Community Transportation in the interest of the educational program or the efficient operation of the district so we cannot uh looking at your recommendation um that you allow transportation to be used on weekends and summer vacation time but according to the policy we can't what we ask what we ask is um at anytime when any recommendations are made and presented to the board is that an answer doesn't come back immediately to us because we do know that you have to sit around and you have to discuss it especially in your policy committees and if the answer is still no and that's your answer after it's been discussed and after all the litigations have been looked upon and made sure that it is actual um that it cannot be done of course we would accept it but to just be given a blanket no right when the recommendation was just made we find that to be unfair when it has not been discussed with your committee but miss GLA I'm not giving you a blanket no what I'm giving you is a reply and as I just I'm giving you a reply not the only one I'm giv Miss GL I'm giving you a reply and if you allow us as a board to come back to you once we uh the policy committee takes a look at this and as as a matter of fact the policy committee will be meeting tomorrow but I want I want you to be clear that this is not a blanket no however Miss CLA you have to understand that once the CAC uh presents a recommendation it's only common courtesy that we reply and that's all that I was doing I appreciate that okay thank you any other recommendations well I do have I do I do want to apologize on one of the on our minutes I did skip over something very important and I do apologize um to the parents who submitted this to us recent testing was also discussed um it was brought to the group's attention that the testing locations were very different some students tested in the quiet library while other students were taking their test in the cafeteria on uncomfortable chairs and the noise of the cafeteria workers as they prepared lunch it was the consensus of the group that the disparity of locations does not provide equal testing environment for the students and so all the CAC asked is that this be looked into um to make sure that every child who takes these tests have a fair playing Ground a fair educational ground and a fair ground in order to be able to concentrate to take these tests and maybe that will help with our state exam numbers as well because we as a CAC know that we don't have stupid children in our school we have highly intelligent children in our school unfortunately the state exam is not reflecting the highly intelligent children that are leaving out of Winslow Township and we want to make sure that our children are granted all accesses to be able to be given the opportunity to give our school district the numbers that our school district rightfully um it deserves of and our children deserve so if we can have someone look into the um the place and make sure that all of the students have equally um um sound secure environments productive and producive environments when they're taking the test and not put in places where there's noise and distraction um that was brought to us by our parents okay that's reasonable and thank you for that I'm sure Dr potit will uh check into that yes okay yes and we appreciate you for listening thank you would there be a report out of our education committee uh M Mrs pitch before you go any further just just a follow up to one um issue that was raised wiso Township has been one on-one in technology since Co so we've always had one-on-one technology that's not the issue I think when I responded during the budget hearing I made it clear that um the decision that the board would have to make is whether or not the young people can take that technology home not that it wasn't available um as you recall as you recall at the budget hearing I made it very clear that Winslow Township School District has been one-on-one in technology since 2019 or whenever the covid was because at that time we were required to make sure that all students had access to technology we provided that and we provided Hotspots for those who did not have uh internet access that is not the issue for the district the issue at hand is whether or not the board will allow young people to take those uh computers home on a daily basis meaning one be assigned to each student so that they can take it home on a daily basis so that's the question before the board not the availability of technology is whether or not they'll be able to take it home on a daily basis thank you Dr poti moving now with there be a report out of our marketing committee Madam president you had skipped over education and there is no report at this time thank you m Peterson sorry for that moving now to our marketing committee will there be a report out of our marketing committee yes I do have a report okay okay Dr Dale Dr Dale uh we do have order we do have order in our meetings and we do not it is not in the best interest of anyone to shout out from a seated position and if you cannot hear um we we we're going to make sure that we're speaking into the mics so that everyone can hear um to sit and and just shout from your seat is is as you will I'm sure you well know it's not proper procedure so we understand if you can't hear we're going to do our best to make sure that you that you can hear us okay all right okay Miss Nez okay I think the mic is on now your mic is on yes All right uh the marketing you have a very soft voice I'm sorry I don't want to bring out my mom Voice tonight okay your mom yeah bring out your mom voice yes uh the marketing committee met on March 25th 2024 the meeting began at 5:30 present were myself Mr Thomas Mr Shaw and Mr Dion Davis from the administration uh topics discussed um The District budget concerns and marketing these meetings to the public the alumni Wall of Fame the next chat with a board member needing to be scheduled um there was some discussion regarding whether we will have that inperson or virtual and the location of that meeting discussion regarding a possible campaign by the board to make the community aware of the aware of the role and responsibility of the board uh there was some discussion regarding the lack of a district calendar of events for all schools and it would be helpful to know which schools were performing at upcoming board meetings to further publicize that uh there was discussion on the role of the marketing committee now that the pr task are being handled a possible movement to a community liaison committee a discussion on how the board can work to Market our schools utilizing school events our staff Administration and board in a partnership uh question as to the status of the district having a spot in the township newsletter suggestion of the board putting out its own newsletter uh discussion as to the direction and participation of members of the marketing committee uh we were set to next meet on April 17th uh I noted that we canceled uh due to needing to present these suggestions and recommendations to the board and there only being one meeting in April due to Spring Break um so the two things that I think require board discussion are the next chat with a board member which we are due to hold um as well as the the role of the marketing committee which we can discuss now or during new business if the board deems it appropriate no well actually since we're coming out with the uh doing the board reports Miss nees those two um that you've mentioned can be discussed now would there be any other item on your list of discussions topics discussions that you would want to recommend other than those two yes just just pleased to to have a districtwide calendar just when we were thinking about when to schedule the next chat with a board member it's it's very difficult when we don't know which events are going on at which schools uh the calendars on our website don't always show far enough ahead into the future and you know we don't want to have a conflict of interest and have parents have to choose which uh event to come out to so let's take a look Madam president I do have a question if I may or you want me to delay it again no Mr Thomas this is we're discussing in in the matter of the budget hearing that I believe is on May 1 what other mechanisms are we marketing to make sure that stakeholders and the community are a part of this budget hearing um it's I believe it's a 130 million $39 million hearing that they need to be in so what efforts are we taking to make sure that every stakeholder every nonprofit every citizen every Community every parent is aware of this hearing Dr poti well at this point uh Mr Thomas we are going to follow our normal procedures for adver advertising board meetings I will be doing a robo call uh to all of the parents within the district now as far as uh those individuals outside of the district um we don't have that type of connectivity so I'm not sure how we going to reach out to those individuals uh do you have any recommendations do I think we should at least send a letter to all our faith-based organizations all our nonprofits that may not be parents so therefore they wouldn't receive the roal call all our committee men all our Township leaders to inform them of such a magnificent process because I was in a meeting the other day and this is a concern not as a concern in a negative way I just feel that the stakeholders and our community whether they are parents or not if they're applicable to taxpaying or if they living in W townships at least be given the opportunity to participate in this in this great event of the task of uh passing a budget Dr PO is there any additional U no um I think step if if Mr Thomas is going to provide us with that contact information we'll be more than happy to use it some of those individuals we already have contact to but at this point um if he can provide us with that information we'll be more than happy to secure it so therefore now we're talking about our hearing which takes place May 1st which uh if I've read the calendar correctly that's next Wednesday which is exactly one week from today yes now it was already advertised uh in The Courier Post as we normally do it's in The Courier Post yes so The Courier Post is a widely disseminated publication yes but that was April 26 was it uh yes the um advertised budget is going to be published in the newspaper on um April Chico can you speak trying to um so the adverti budget for the 2425 um school year is going to be advertised in The Courier Post on um Friday April 26th okay okay so it's going into the Courier Post yes we're using all of our particular Outlets Mr um Mr Thomas would you want to add anything further to that will it be posted also on the website our fa our Facebook page and uh once again the rooc calls will be found and I'll be getting a list together and uh send it out uh tomorrow that we make sure that we do all we can to inform every residen in this Township of such an event so M Tom Mr Thomas the list that you're getting you're going to give that over to Dr potit or I'm going to share with everybody as I always do no no okay now I need for you to explain you're going to share with everybody what does that mean exactly everyone inside the board Community will will see the attachment that I sent off attachment and of the list of the list and it's going to be and what mechanism are you going to use is as please explain that what me mechanism use by that I mean what what way what what is the way in which you're going to disseminate the list that you have understand that that okay I'll make plain clear the list that you have are you going to turn that list over to the administration so that the administration can take steps to make sure that that information goes out to any groups that we may be missing that is correct that's what I'll do thank you uh Mrs pitch because it's timely yes it is we only have Thursday um so if he has Mr Thomas have email addresses uh that sort of thing because if you go if you do by mail uh chances are it won't get there in a timely manner so if you have an email address uh for those entities we'll be more than happy to make sure they receive it through email yes I will but but as I stated this this is hasn't has not been the first request I've been talking about this for a while but you will get that tomorrow in an email fashion to make sure that our stakeholders our community residents and our parents are aware of this event thank you Mr Thomas I just want to make sure that we all understand that this is an annual event it has it always happens we must have a hearing for our budget there not anything out of the ordinary it's not anything extraordinary every single District does it in the entire State we must have a hearing and as we have in the past we have U made sure that we comply with the state requirements Miss Miss Nez yes moving to the other two recommendations um I'm kind of still fleshing it out a little bit uh quite simply you know since reorganization and trying to kind of move the needle in the direction of the marketing committee uh the committee has floundered a little bit um I had the opportunity to speak to another board member from another District during my governance three training um and they have a community liaison committee as opposed to a marketing committee and I'm still in contact with her seeing it's how they you know run that committee but I think it would align more appropriately with uh District goal number three and marketing now that we do have a PR person who's handling website social media that regard um I feel like moving the marketing committee towards you know like what we've been doing with the chat with a board member a bridge to board community and having that direct line of communication with stakeholders might be a more productive function for the marketing committee to continue in okay it sounds like something that might uh produce some positive results yes and then as far as next chat with a board member um you know again I'm it's the end of the year I know it's very hard to pick a date to schedule that with all of the other events going on um at our last chat with a board member some community members you know suggested maybe we should have that out in the community as opposed to you know the administration building or here at the middle school and you know moving the chat out somewhere more centrally located or again we can try virtual again we did that I believe the first first chat of the school year wasn't well attended um our in-person ones have actually been better attended but again I will leave that up to the board and see who's available and and how we feel on making that happen or if we push it to the summer after all of the uh end of your activities are finished I think with the first step before that next chat Miss neis would be to to uh to set a date because at this point we don't have a date yeah that's where we kind of ran into some difficulty because again not knowing when things were scheduled in all of our schools I didn't want to pick because I think our last chat with a board member there was two other events going on in the district um so it's it's kind of hard so maybe Dr potit you can assist me in some master calendar to see when would be the best date to schedule that so we're not competing with you know other events going on it's worth a try but when you have a district just large and you have eight buildings and you um some things are or bound to to overlap that's inevitable but hopefully um with some careful scheduling and planning uh we can make sure that we U get done what we have to to make sure that comes through especially to chat with the board members would that is there anything else Miss NE no that was all okay thank you moving now to the operations committee Madam president m madame president not at this time thank you Mr moving now to our policy committee our report from the policy committee is as follows um the policy committee met uh on April 11th 2024 members in attendance uh was Dr potit Board member Miss uh Neves board member Mr Shaw board member Mr ascu Mr Dion Davis Human Resources excuse me director and myself items discuss board policy 5516 which of course is the use of electronic devices basically is better known as the cell phone policy the committee reviewed concerns noted at the last few board meetings and modified the existing policy a recommendation is being made to change the disciplinary action as follows the first and second offense the electronic device must be given to the principal or the assistant principal and the parent will be notified to pick up the devices refusal to give the device to the administrator for parent pickup will result in an automatic one day out of school suspension now moving on to a third offense if there's a third time the electronic device then must be given to the principal or the assistant principal and the parent will be notified to pick up the device refusal to give the device to the administrator for parent pickup will result in an automatic one day out of school suspension a third offense will also result in a one- day out of school suspension the loss of privilege privileged to use their cell phone on school premises for the remainder of the school year and the student will lose the privilege of participation in extracurricular activities such as prom Athletics and graduation and I think uh it's important to note that as as a district we don't want you we don't want our students cell phones but we do want the students to abide by the policy which is created in order to make sure that classroom instruction with the teachers can take place uh in in a in a normal fashion moving on we also discussed policy board policy number 7510 use of school facilities the committee sought clarification regarding the specific concerns with this noted policy the recommendation was a follow-up discussion with the full board and the board solicitor for direction the following board policies and regulations were reviewed for revisions and recommended for first reading at this evening's April 24th 24 board meeting policies number 1140 policies number 1523 policy number 1530 policy number 1550 policy number 3211 policy number 5570 policy number 5750 policy number 5755 policy number 584 1 and policy number 5842 most of those policies had a very minor changes some of it was just of the wording at the conclusion of this meeting Miss neeves asked if we could review the gifted and talented policy and process for admission uh at our next policy meeting the next policy meeting is scheduled for Thursday tomorrow April 25th 2024 at 4:30 p.m. V p.m via Zoom so board members as far as the um the recommendations out of the policy committee are there any questions or comments before we move for this to be the first reading questions comments okay all right hearing nun so we will consider that this these um this policy specifically policy 5516 is the first reading okay all right now board members before we move from our policy our committee reports I think it's important especially because there's been some hiccups with regards to Pol to committee meetings and perhaps it has um it came about as a result of us only having one um board meeting this month of April but I'm asking each of the chairs and that's Mr Thomas Miss Martin who's an uh administrative advisor Miss Peterson miss neeves um Miss dren to submit to miss Chico your schedule that is when does your board when does your committee meet what what time what is your schedule for instance I can tell Miss Chico tonight that the policy committee meets every fourth Thursday of the month we meet at 4:30 it will either be in person or um Zoom so I'm going to move now to Mr Mr Thomas Mr Thomas when is your regularly scheduled athletic committee meet we meet the first Tuesday of the last board meeting of the month the first Tuesday the the Tuesday before the last board meeting of the month okay so since the last board meeting of the month is us usually the 4th Wednesday so you meet the 4th Tuesday Mr Thomas if it falls on that that's when we meet okay and at what time 2 pm Zoom okay the education Miss Chico did you uh get that oh yes I yes I did the education committee Miss Peterson meet at four o' via Zoom our webx not zoom uh the SEC uh third Tuesday of each month similar to last year uh Miss NZ the marketing committee uh we meet the third Wednesday of every month at 6 PM via Zoom negotiations committee uh we meet [Music] at as uh in conjunction with the wtea and the wtaa uh we do match of schedules and there could be three in a row and then at the moment we have we'll have none until the contracts inspires right they're they're very sporadic right but the business office is a part of that team as well as the HR department um Dr Caro uh three board members and myself thank you Mr M uh all righty thank you Mr long operations committee yes yes we meet every um Tuesday um before the last meeting of the month and our time is at 5:30 okay so you also meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month yes okay as well does the athletic committee okay and at what time M Jen 5:30 on WebEx okay thank you and I think I've stated the schedule for when the policy committee meets I see that our student rep was not able to um she's not present today that's present all right board members moving forward with our agenda I'm on page three I'm asking at this time for a motion to approve the superintendent's report as it appears at the top of Page Three and continues through to the top of page eight is there a motion motion to approve the superintendence report move by Mr Shaw second by Mr ascu any further comments or questions hearing none roll call please Mr asq yes M Ren yes Miss Martin yes Miss Nez yes Miss Peterson yes Mr Shaw yes Miss Thomas Mr Thomas yes Miss pittz yes motion is carried thank you moving now board members I'm at the middle of page eight I'm asking for a motion to approve the business administrative board secretary's report as it begins at the middle of page eight and continues through to the bottom of page 27 is there a motion motion to approve the board secretary's report second move by page 27 no hold it okay I have a page hold on you have some person did I I'm sorry I skipped um let me repeat that I'm sorry I gathered too many pages the business administrator board secretary's report let me restate that as it begins at the middle of page eight and continues through to the top of page [Music] 13 is there a motion motion to approve the business business administrator board secretary's report moved by Mr Shaw second by Mr ASU any further comments or questions hearing none roll call please Mr ASU yes M Ren yes Miss Martin yes Miss nvz yes Miss Peterson yes Mr Shaw yes Miss Thomas Mr Thomas yes Miss Pitts yes motion is carried thank you moving now board members I am now at the middle of page 13 for I'm asking for a motion to approve the Personnel report that begins at the middle of page 13 and that continues through to the bottom of page seven 27 is there motion motion to approve the Personnel report second motion moved by Mr Shaw second by Mr asq any further comments or questions hearing none roll call please Mr asq yes M drein yes Miss Martin yes Miss Nez yes Miss Peterson yes Mr Shaw yes Miss Thomas Mr Thomas yes Miss pittz yes motion is carried thank you moving now board members top of page 28 we're moving to our addendum and that's that nice pink sheet that we usually get in our folder and I feel certain that we've had an opportunity to read through it so therefore I am going to ask for a motion to approve the business administrator board secretary's report as it appears on our addendum beginning on page one and continuing through to page four is there a motion motion to approve the business administrator board secretary's report as it appears on the addendum second you moved by Mr Shaw second by Mr ASU any comments or questions hearing none roll call please Mr asq yes Miss drean yes Miss Martin yes Miss Neves yes Miss Peterson yes Mr Shaw yes Miss Thomas Mr Thomas yes Miss pittz yes motion is carried thank you Miss Chico moving now to the open public records act request Miss Chico uh yes um the Ws Township Board of Ed responded to um a few op requests that done between March 22nd 2024 and April 18th 2024 the first one was um requested from Miss Christy Renzulli and she wanted the 2324 discipline numbers reports from September 20 2023 through sorry this Christy Renzulli requested the 2324 discipline numbers from report from September 2023 through February 2024 for wzo Township High School they went the number number of sanctions given in monthly breakout to include category and severity of discipline and um and also number of sanctions by month served um of those that were given um this uh request was denied the information requested does not exist in the form requested um Steven Van o of the New Jersey labor Shield LLC requested bid documents for um for A1 Construction Services for rebid Middle School facade restoration that was approved um t uh TSA Hilton of the New Jersey Department of La labor and Workforce Development requested information on Alper Enterprise Inc for the 2122 2122 school year and that included contractual agreements applications of payment submitted certified payrolls that were submitted for the project bid documents purchase orders and copies of certified payrolls um contractual agreements did not exist neither did the bid documents but everything was approved and submitted lastly um TSA Hilton also um requested re U records related to the commercial Contracting LLC from 2020 from 2020 the entire year for Winslow Township High School requested signed copies of any purchase orders any purchase orders that are part of a master agreement copies of all invoices copies of certified payrolls copies of bid documents copies of prevailing wage determin ation application payments and Manpower reports um so um half of the items did not exist and we couldn't get them but we did give them purchase orders invoices uh certified payrolls and copies of payment applications that they were um uh they were in um because they were sub of um Dandrea and that concludes the Oprah request okay thank you m ch president yes Mr when when you see that a contract doesn't exist documents don't exist I want to emphasize that these are subcontractors um these there are Bid documents that exist and were supplied as requested but for the prime contractor the general contractor so to speak so um it's not the school is not what we call legally impr privity of contract with the subcontractors although it's the uh Our contractors's obligation to ensure that they're complying with the laws and submitting the appropriate information to us um so what we we do get some information from the subs particularly like um whe they're complying with the prevailing wage act things of that nature things that by law they required to supply us but we would never have the documents for a subcontractor because they don't bid with us they might submit a proposal to the general um and again uh there wouldn't be any POs to the subcontractor because we pay the general contractor and they pay their sub so I they're not abnormal denials I just want to make sure that that's clear thank you Mr long thank you very much moving now board members to um informational items Dr potit yes Madam president members of the board and Community I have several information items for this evening um as you well know on an annual basis during Memorial Day um our Township committee have a Memorial Day Service uh mayor law sent us correspondence wanted to know whether or not the windso Township school board will be participating uh this year uh for the uh placing of the wreath we've participated in the past it's that time again and uh mayor Lawrence would like to know will the school district have a reef to place this year U Madam president uh you normally have a representation so at this time if you wanted to take care of that tonight if not at some point let me know so we can uh contact Mrs Lawrence and let them know whether or not we are participating and if we are who those individuals will be well in the interest of um Saving Time Dr po we can resolve that or we can answer that um because we do have a board member who happens to be our only veteran on the board that's Mr Shaw and he has done that uh very well in the past and Mr Shaw I don't want to assume uh but I taking this opportunity to ask you if you will also do that again I will be there anyway so okay thank you Mrs Shaw so we can let the mayor know that Mr Shaw do we still have our Ruth our our re yes we do oh we do you have it Miss Martin I have possession oh you have possession of it okay so Dr po you canist is Mr Char the only one who be partip no I will be attendant also no um board members a n let Dr know because most of us do ATT 10 Dr po Miss Miss Peterson I will be there Mr Thomas absolutely Miss NZ I'm not sure at this time Miss dreaden I'll be there Mr ASU I'm not sure okay and Miss Kelly Miss um Miss Kelly Thomas okay so you can um now you have seven yes okay uh just for your information that is Monday May 27th at 10:00 a.m. uh at the war memorial on the wio uh Township municipal complex all right um my next information item the windso Township Police Department and the Candon County prosecutor's office will be sponsoring a game night Friday April 26th from 5: to 8:00 pm at our school number four in the gymnasium this will give um all of our residents particularly our young people an opportunity to meet and greet the windso Township Police Department and the Canyon County uh prosecutor's office Personnel um in a game atmosphere feere and give everyone an opportunity uh to get a better understanding of what the police do in our community and a nonthreatening way and they're asking everyone to come out uh to participate in all the games they had it's considered a fun night and so Dr po you said that's Friday that is Friday April 26 the day after tomorrow right this Friday it's this Friday coming as a matter of fact Madam president you approved it tonight uh in our agenda all right the time again 5: to 8 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and it's at school 4 at school number four okay Madame President members of the board you should find in your folders this evening from Strauss Esme they are having their annual educational policy and school law seminar Friday May 31st from 8:00 a to 2: PM uh at the Brookdale Community College um normally we have some board members uh participate on a regular basis that information is made available to you this evening uh you must register by May 15 uh so if any of you are going to attend I would ask that you reach out to Mrs Chico at your earliest convenience all right um my last piece of information Madame President as um we had shared earlier um well last week we had an opportunity to meet with assemblyman uh Cody Miller uh at his office um Cody Miller made it very clear that he wanted to meet with us he wanted to hear from school districts and the areas in which he represent uh he had asked us if we had any concerns in reference to education um for the upcoming school year and any other educational concern in general um as you recall I did share with him that Staffing is a major concern in our school district as well as across the state particularly in areas of special education science mathematics and World Language uh I also shared with him that teacher certification continues to be a challenge in the state of New Jersey uh we are aware and appreciate the steps uh that that the governor and the commissioner have made to uh make teacher certification more applicable to those individuals interested in becoming teachers however the other challenge is the number of young people in the pipeline to become teachers um is not plentiful and uh the projection in the broadcast is if that doesn't change within the immediate future within the next 10 15 years uh the state of education and the possibility of having teachers is going to be in a very very uh difficult situation um I also shared with him as you recall special education uh the cost of special education in general as well as the cost of outer District placement of those students the rising cost of Transportation uh was another topic we discussed of course fuel cost uh the cost of contracted services for those uh bus uh the Commission in which we uh contract a lot of our services out for those young people out of District that cost continues to rise uh the school funding formula as you recall we had a brief discussion about the school funding formula and how districts receive their state aid um as you all recall uh Mrs U excuse me Mrs pittz Mrs Peterson and Mr Thomas um were members of that group that represented win Township School District uh assembly men uh Miller excuse me appear to be very very knowledgeable of those issues that are uh hampering education um he said he would like to continue to have these discussions with us and he also made it a promise to us that he will also continue to address these issues uh down in Trenton on behalf of the Winds Township School District and all of the school districts in which he represent in District 4 uh Madam president that concludes my information items for this evening thank you thank you Dr po board members any questions or comments for um Dr poti all right moving now to our old business would there be any old Business board members that you would care to discuss at this time hearing none but I would like to say I would like to remind us board members that do have a responsibility annually to submit a financial statement um and as you know that financial statement has to be in by April 30th which is next Tuesday the ramifications for not doing that would be that uh we would be disciplined and in some cases removed from the board so please uh make sure because though that financial statement was sent to us by the Admin board administrator I believe check your email Fe February 1st yes it was sent to us February 1st so please please uh we only have until Tuesday to make sure that we complete that financial statement uh all right moving also I I want to remind us along with the financial statement board members that we do have our board self- evaluation which again is also an annual annual um activity that we must uh make sure that we do as well as um the super attendance evaluation which we need to be taking a look at njsba does uh send us a template in order to follow that is to be done by uh June um June 30th continuing uh with um any additional old business it has to do uh with just to remind us we need to our board members decide whether or not we're going to continue to stagger our board meetings as you know because of the audio problems uh was mentioned before how uh it can be difficult in in this cafeteria and we decided that we would do one meeting in the High School auditorium and then another meeting the second meeting here in the cafeteria what we need to know going forward because right now we're coming to the end of the school year and we probably won't be going back to the auditorium um for the next um two months really uh this is April May and June so we need to know board members I need to hear from you whether or not how are we going to continue the um the location of our board meetings comments Madam president suggestions Miss Martin yes um you said that we will not be able to go to the high school for the next two months no what I'm saying is that it's not likely that we'll be going and and looking at the um the schedule of our upcoming board meetings for the next two months I believe they're all are scheduled for here no no we still meet our first meeting at the administration building and the second meeting is here is here or the high school so you have to decide whether or not you want to come to the middle school or the high school if you want to change the venue to the high school we have to know because you have to advertise in advance that we're changing the venue so at this point the reason we're back here one we were only supposed to do it a couple times just to try it out to see if it worked two um if you were going to go back to the high school then I need to know so that Mrs Chico can do the adverse advertising of change of venues so that we can do it in advance comments board members what do we what is your pleas did we receive any different feedback from being here compared to the high school or the board of offices I have not received any directly to me uh I know at one point it came up at one of our meetings and there were some individuals in the community uh who expressed one way or the other but at this point um it's your call um you're the ones who are uh presenting the of course and whether or not you feel that it's a better location as opposed to here uh it's your decision to make I'd like to make a comment on that if I can okay Mr Thomas given you know this this past uh week we had a Team Summit where we listened to the students and the parents and what I got from it not saying that everybody got this but what I got from it does social climate the culture and the atmosphere matters so if we want to build for the future sometimes we have to do something a little uncomfortable now in order to be built up for what's coming down the road in my opinion the atmosphere of the gym is conducive to where we heading where the kids would like to be and where the parents preferring to come so if I just want to go on record saying that it was a great experience being in a high school and I believe that's where where're at some point that's where we'll be wait you now are you saying you said the gym and or the high school the auditorium at the high school okay so you okay Mr T anybody else I would suggest the auditorium at the high school any other comments Madam president um I don't suggest the uh auditorium at the high school um I feel that when I was up there it was really hard to uh listen from the person down at the other end what they were saying um it was really hard to hear and you hear much better here in the middle school as well as the uh Municipal build um the rec The Bu building I think that the two building that we are using before the auditorium is much better I I like know I don't but he has an opinion but I can't hear I like but you can't hear you cannot hear members on the far side I love the atmosphere it's certainly much better than this Mr ask you I tend to agree um it's very difficult to hear my fellow members on stage being in high school I to have it okay Miss nees we haven't heard from you yet uh from what I've heard from the community members uh the High School auditorium is better for sound and as long as board members are speaking into the microphones it picks up better at home for those who are streaming so my vote is for the High School auditorium so my thought is uh congruent with Mr ASU and the reason why I thought this location allows for a more social emotional connection with our audience um on stage yes it was difficult but then I felt I was further removed and I couldn't provide that social emotional uh connection okay so uh and Miss Miss Kelly Miss Kelly Thomas we do have a delay but I know she's uh um the discussion is uh I need to know um your opinion with regards to the location of our board meetings uh the auditorium versus the cafeteria okay so okay just just for clarification purposes I'm going to ask for a roll call and I'm going to I'm going to do the roll call I'm going to ask board members the question is with regards to um our having our board meetings the first one cafeteria the second one cafeteria just say cafeteria okay so all right so I'm asking as we go down if uh you would just um let us know whether you would prefer to have the meetings in the auditorium simply say High School auditorium or middle school cafeteria that's quick and easy enough right so Mr asku I'm going to ask again your pref prence middle school caer middle school miss dreaden your preference Middle School cafeteria Miss Martin your preference High School auditorium Miss nees your preference High School Miss Peterson your preference Middle School Mr Shaw your preference High School auditorium Miss Thomas already stated her hers was the Middle School Mr Thomas your preference hi School my preference would be the middle school so of uh looking at for the middle school we have one two three four five we have five for the middle school for the high school one two 3 4 so the majority of the board um has decided to have the meetings remain at the Middle School Miss Chico did you get that M yes okay I got that and further explanation is needed we'll do that all right going back to um old business I believe that um we talked about um oh I'm moving out to new business board board members um even though we're about three months out I want us to begin to take a look at our date for our Retreat our board r Treat which is always held in August on a Saturday in August there's five I believe there's five Saturdays this year so if um you could begin to think about that and uh give me your preferences because again and I'm this is for the sake of any new members The Retreat is something that we are required to do every year uh it's is very informal uh it's also of course done in public and uh it's done usually on a Saturday and it we usually go from um 9:00 in the morning until 1 and at that particular Retreat we talk about the upcoming goals we review them board goals District goals um we assess them uh we have Miss Terry Lewis our um New Jersey school board representative who comes in and conducts it okay so just kind of think about it it will again be held in August on a Saturday in August well m fit I need to let you know now because I Dr po yes I I will not be available um the week of August 5th through the 10th August okay so that's the is that the first Saturday in August no that's the second Saturday but the uh that's a short week it's the 1 2 third Thursday Friday Saturday but the week I'm not available would be um so the Saturday you would not be available would be August 5th 10th August 10th right okay all right thank you Dr po one of um I would just end by making some comments and Mr um Mr Thomas did uh mention it and I thought hopefully that Mr Shropshire would say but he's not with and make some comments statements about the Team Summit which was the first one that we've had it was held this past Saturday here here in the cafeteria and several board members uh assisted participated and um it was a funfill day it was a day that allowed board members also to hear from students to talk to students and parents and of the board members who attended would you have any comments about the day itself I think Mr Thomas did yeah I I have another comment about that okay Mr Thomas I'd like to give kudos to to uh Kelly Thomas because she was the pioneer of that event she had a vision she worked the vision she put her time her effort into the vision and the vision came to pass and like I say when when we needed something she was there it was it was a she need to be commended for the work and the vision that she had for the Advent to make sure that we achieved and I believe our students and our parents achieved from the work of Miss Kelly Thomas thank you Mr Thomas but again Mr Thomas um giving all Kudos um to miss Thomas Miss Kelly Thomas he's absolutely right uh it was um her brain child but Mr Thomas also is uh humble uh he's not really mentioning his part uh he was a real spark on Saturday uh he came out like now I don't know the names of these rappers give me a break on that but he was dressed like a rapper that's a that's all I have to say he was a cool guy um and it went it went it went well so any any other oh M Mr Shaw um Mrs Pitts um on Saturday um the township has a bunch of things going on um from 10: to 12 a.m. 12:00 am to 12: PM um they have a career fair at the bud dubel Center where a a whole variety of things uh employers And Trades will be there for I Dr potite for our seniors if they're not interested in going to college this would be a great thing for them to do even maybe our Juniors I'll be there representing the Carpenters Union um so if they're interested to stop on by that'd be a great thing and then right after that over at school number six from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m um the young entrepreneur Expo will be going on so I would highly suggest from the career fair go right on over to the young entrepreneurs Expo it's going to be a action-packed day on Saturday and I will be moving on over to between both of them so you know I already told my son he's going to Bo so Mr sh that's this weekend yes this weekend the 20 is it a job fair it's a career fair for um there's all kinds of different thing uh employers and uh careers that are going to be there right it's being built as a job fair if you've seen the posters around town yeah career fair and um Mr Watkins is for promoting the uh young entrepreneurs so that it's going to be an amazing thing that's going to happen this weekend and I believe they're both Township events yeah they're both Township events okay any any other further yes Madam president I do I want to I want to State this for the record Mr Thomas M uh I attended a uh stakeholders meeting last night there was somewhere from about 75 to 100 people in there and the school board came up and the issue of accountability was was was brought up about our school and the accountability of the board and accountability of the staff of our board so I'm asking that I'm allowed a few minutes in executive session to discuss some of their concerns and some of my disc my my concerns as well just to see if we can we can work this out and see if we can do better in in in in the position of accountability now Mr Thomas unless it's something that's confidential any discussions that we have as a board we must have in public okay well I I'll read what I have okay good based on the statement now M Mr Thomas if I could ask a question or two this was a meeting could you tell me where where it was held it was a Township committee meeting oh was a Township committee meeting yes with the governing body right and about 75 to 100 stakeholder residents was involved they were there to discuss another issue but on public comments we had several people to come up and talk about the accountability of the board okay and okay I did respond but I want to also make you aware of their concerns and some of the concerns I have as well okay good so I prepared a little statement just bear with me based on the board based on the statement the board is not responsible for running the district but we are responsible for making sure the district runs and how do we do that by asking questions it has been my short experience that asking questions can make people feel uncomfortable therefore that answer you may receive is scripted I have gotten comments like why are you asking that that is not my responsibility we do not have that or that is something we don't do on one occasion me myself I had to make an opal request on multiple occasions I do not get an answer we we don't recall you asking for that there are some of the comments that I've received the stakeholders discussions on accountability are not just conversation they are crucial to ensuring the district's operation and introducing new ideas for student achievement some people call it psychological safety that is when no question is wrong no question is judged and every question is listened to I know that I've asked for several things on September 9th 2024 I asked about the budget for the booster club second I continually ask about sponsorship and a template letter that will help again donations through local businesses and contribution last month I asked about new addition initiatives and learning and was told we was and was told we brought new textbooks and we wouldn't be able to validate the process for five years the progress for five years I just recently asked for the budget report for the band I could go on but these are some of the concerns that we have about accountability if our only mechanism is to ask questions but yet we're not comfortable when the questions are asked it has been um it has been the particular concern of this board that any question there is no such thing as a question that need not be answered there is no such thing as a question that is not important however questions will be answered it may not be the answer that the questioner may want but we should understand that as a board and as a District we work collaboratively we work collaboratively and if there are some hurdles if there are some misunderstandings that um especially in communication then we need to address it and and um Mr Thomas some of those um question statements no not some all of them can be actually addressed and answered and so Bo I'm asking you know we've heard what Mr Thomas said now because I was concerned because he started out by saying I thought that the whole Township committee meeting was about us but that's not the case as I understand but there were some statements about the Schoolboard and I would my my first response would be that uh those who have those concerns and they certainly are legitimate if they they would come out and address the board with them now we are trying uh very hard and we've done I think a um a fairly good job in reaching out to the community uh so far this school year we have not had what we have had in the past and that is a uh Schoolboard um Township town meeting uh we haven't had that this school year but again if folks have concerns and accountability certainly would be a concern accountability is the right hand and the left hand is responsibility if they would come to the board and if perhaps they're not comfortable and speaking in public there's nine of us all of our locations um are available to the public then you can always come to any one of us and speak your concern because to speak to one of us is to speak to all of us because no decisions come out of fear come out of one person this is a board of education one person alone is just one person alone the majority rules there's a reason why there's nine of us on this board and there's a reason why our governing body is also composed of nine individuals because we need to get a cross-section we need to be able to address the concerns of everyone so I thank you for bringing that to us Mr Thomas and board members I'd like to hear if you have any comments at this time Madame President I do have some Miss Peters comments Miss Peterson I thought I projected loud enough so everyone could hear me I uh do have some comments as it relates to education and I think anyone can come to the education committee long as we keep the numbers down to four but with education you have to try certain things and you do an assessment before an assessment afterwards I share with Mr Thomas that in looking at our school demographics which we all know that is almost 25% uh special needs and some of the other things and we might be a Transit population so you have to look at all the factors that makes education flourish and I do believe even though those that have special needs can flourish I've been in education for the past 46 years and I'm prek through uh college so it's called prek to 20 and I think when you look at it when they say textbooks you don't just renew the textbooks every year but you have a um a long range plan a fiveyear plan just like with the assessments now if you go back to the Department of Education with those that are in education they know that how many assessment tests have we had different ones have we had over the past 10 years Mr Dale you probably can say quite well how many have we had so each time you look at it they're striving to try to get a one that's fairer and more Equitable for everyone and that's a task in itself so I think you know when you say stakeholders you have to know who's working with them and who's answering the questions Saturday was the perfect opportunity for me and I did refer three of our students that are here at the middle school because we had a conversation a long conversation on their career goals and what did they see and one said I want to be a psychologist I said I smiled at her and I gave her some resources then her mom came that's that one on-one that's that social emotional learning so that you say oh you want to be a psych do you know what it entails and it was the best opportunity those young ladies did not leave until their mother came up and then she started talking and so we were here in the lobby for a while so I think you know sometimes people need to know and flush it out I applaud those that are having the um different workshops each of our school um least School four all of them over the time that I've been on the board have had different career expose so that they start early that's upper elementary but it starts early and so we look at the different opportunities that our students have and I think that's something that's really a great incentive for our students to say I want to do this I want to do I'm very proud of it because I say I work at Rowan and our SGA president is also a proud Winslow I know that there's some that our first africanamerican engineering student Winslow and she made us proud so when I start looking at all the females that are going into engineering have come from Winslow so we're doing something right so you have to look at the assessment and you cannot assess someone's ability over just one year period because we grow each year we should be growing even as adults I grow every year thank you Miss Pederson and I just want to pick up on the word assessment and say was just one sentence with regards to the Team Summit I want everyone to know that the Team Summit was just not an event that happened and you won't hear anything more we will then assess that Teen Summit to find out exactly what did we learn from it and how did it help so there will be a report coming out when the Team Summit just as a point of information and can I go back we did have a discussion with the uh members of Town Council and we should there was supposed to be a follow-up meeting with a few of us to talk about futuristic things now we did do that under the former May and we did have a Township leison group and that was under Mr uh the honorable Barry right we did do that so I think sometimes we have to look at what we have any other comments for regards to what Mr Thomas reported out to us no other comments board members thank you Mr long can proceed to public comments certainly a public comment wns challenge Board of Education highly values the of citizens in making the important decisions that affect the children of our community we also believe in the rights of citizens to observe board meetings to ensure that all of our citizens have the opportunity to attend Schoolboard meetings and offer comment and to ensure that the board can conduct the important business of the district we ask that the speakers follow the guidelines for making public coms the word secretary will recognize those individuals in the audience who wish to make public comment and we'd ask that you kindly respect the following procedures one all members of the public attending school board meetings must treat each other and the board with respect two State your full name and address three please limit your comments to four minutes four in the event you're unable to answer your question submit your question with along with your name address the telephone number where you can be contacted and your questions will be answered within a reasonable time frame and lastly individuals offering citizen comment are not permitted to make personal attacks on any District employee board member other testifier or member of the public thank you Mr long board members I'm asking for a motion to approve our moving into public comment motion to approve opening into public comments second motion move by Mr Shaw second by Mr ASU all in favor any Nays Miss Chico Steven Deo good evening good evening Dr Deo 104 Rose Court Sicklerville uh I do want to reiterate again the sound concerns um for those of you that that have been speaking into the microphones it is very much appreciated as was mentioned there is a live stream of these meetings it is very difficult to hear so I just again want to reiterate it is very important that the taxpayers hear us clearly so please use those microphon phones um I'd like to expand upon Mr Thomas's astute comments uh specifically that I have been here addressing the board about taxpayers concerns going on two years however tonight I B witness to the approval of the superintendent report including the suspension report which is on page eight listed as exhibit xb2 the community's concerns over violent acts and this is part of the suspension report I will not read it all but including unsafe conduct sexual harassment fighting insubordination during emergency situations willful destruction of school property reckless endangerment use and abuse of drugs physical assault and disrespect towards staff just to name a few the these are the reasons why people like myself withdraw their students their children from these schools this is the reason why so many staff resign from these schools this is why we have the largest Choice participation program rate is because people are removing their children due to an unsafe violent culture within the schools I shared last month that my therapeutic learning model has been doing wonders for students in Camden it gives them a reason to come to school each day where we build them up and it is linked to the literature of my doctoral dissertation on social and emotional learning so I completely understand your poignant comments ma'am however I am concerned that the culture and climate in these schools is not conducive to teaching and learning Just One Look at this superintendent report specifically on the out of school suspensions not just the number of them but again please look at the violent nature of these offenses I appreciate every one of you taking your time to review the cell phone policy as it relates to electronics this certainly shows that you are more than committed to support supporting the community and hearing their concerns I simply ask that you provide the same scrutiny to these violent acts that continue to be reported each month in the superintendent report but since September of this school year continue to increase at an alarming rate since the integration of my therapeutic learning model in Camden we have not seen these type of suspension reports this District as Miss Peterson shared has so many great things to be proud of every month that I come here I hear about wonderful events for the students extracurricular activities Mr Thomas's poignant comments about the Athletics and supports within the town but we can't continue to allow this unsafe environment for our children thank you for your time Debbie Murphy what was the first name Miss Chico Debbie Debbie oh Debbie Debbie [Music] sorry good evening good evening I'm Debbie Murphy and and I would like to thank you guys for your reconsideration of the cell phone policy I do have one question what is the timeline for parents who work all day who can't just come to the school and pick up their phone because there's no time to that's that's your question yeah and well that's an easy one that's an easy one Dr po can answer that and and and it won't interfere with your four minutes Dr po yes uh the building principal will make it uh at the convenient of the parent they'll just make arrangements for that to happen Okay and then um as a member of the marching man I would like to invite you guys to see the marching man and the guard at our chapters competition it is this Sunday at Eastern the marching man goes on at 1:22 and the guard goes on at 522 and it is one of our biggest competitions and we would just like to see some board support okay um Miss Murphy you said um the marching band comes on at 1:22 PM okay and then at 522 and then our guard has their own show so they're on at 522 okay and that's at Eastern yes okay and it's on Sunday the 28th April 28th yes okay thank you for your time have a good night thank you Sabrina Smith good evening my name is Sabrina Smith I live at 15 Lon Court cville New Jersey I actually have a high school senior that is walking this year and I also have now a repeating sixth grader and my youngest who is autistic goes to school to school to does awesome with that program I received a phone call from my sister I received the phone call from my sister on Friday her daughter is a senior as well apparently because my daughter has finished her school program I'm trying to figure out why the high school's bathrooms are locked down quite a few students wound up having to walk out of school on Friday because staff wouldn't let them use the bathroom one of the young ladies is pregnant and the nurse wouldn't even let her use the bathroom and then turned those students are suspended those seniors cannot walk for graduation so I need that investigated also I'm getting word that there are roaches and there are mice running around the high school so an an exterminator needs to be sent out to to remedy this situation thank you for your time that's all I have to say for tonight Miss Chico uh yes I'm sorry um Leticia harista good good evening everyone good evening good evening um I did want to just Comm in Mr Dale thank you because you touched on a lot of the stuff that I was going to talk about um and just a piggy back off of that just in February there were over 80 high school students suspended for use of electronic devices uh my son was one of those students but the kids on this list all got two days my son ended up with four same suspension but that's okay um I'm glad y'all did take into consideration change in the policy um I do have a few things that I wanted to discuss I I will have to save them for the next meeting um my first one is that I do notice the last few meetings I've been to majority of all your fundraisers and programs are targeted towards the elementary school what about the high school and the middle school students they matter they matter they are a future as well half of the high school students don't even know how to write in cursive but y'all are starting a um pilot Seal program that's only only accommodated up to sixth grade what about the middle school students what about the high school students what about the kids that are getting ready to come out of school and still have to grow up and be adults they should be offered the same opportunities then also um I'mma cut it off with this one and I'll save the rest for later um I also heard something about the special education um I have a student that has an IEP and he's receiving the bare minimum of services that he's supposed to get under an IEP but y'all have the budget and funds for special education so I need to know why that is not he's not being accommodated as he's supposed to be I'll put that in writing but that's all I have to say thank you Dr can you just speak through the fact that the fund rais is not anything that we do yeah Miss is it Miss Harriston okay since you really didn't use up all of your for for minutes Dr poti can respond to um a couple of your comments all right well the fundraisers fundraisers are at the discretion of the building principal the teachers the HSA um there is no limit as to where they can have their fundraisers who can have them so if you have a very active HSA at the lower elementary or upper elementary schools that's where you're going to see a lot of the fundraisers there are fundraisers at the high school uh particularly for the seniors during Project Graduation but there's no limit there's no one saying that the high school student cannot do them as well as the middle school so it's at the discretion of the staff the students the HSA of those schools is unlimited so there's no sanction that says well it can only happen at one level in middle school and high school you can't do it that's not the case all right um theal program primarily at the upper elementary school at this point is targeting soccer as you know um inter Scholastic Athletics are at the middle school and the high school this was just an opportunity because the Upper Elementary School of course as you know do not have any athletic programs and in most cases they don't this was an opportunity spearheaded by Mr Thomas to give these young people an opportunity not not only to have a sport during this season but during that sport uh athletic or activity time given them an opportunity to have some other growing activities to address some of the social emotional so that's why we targeted the Upper Elementary School in an athletic slcl way because Athletics are not provided at that level high school and middle school had multiple athletic programs so that was the reason okay thank you z um Miss Chico uh that concludes the people who signed up here um is anyone in the waiting room is there anyone in technicians anyone no one in the waiting room yes no no okay therefore at this time board members I'm asking for motion to adjourn public comments to adjourn public comments moved by Mr Shaw second by Mr ASU all in favor thank you Mr long [Music] session Mr long we have three Ms there three M yes if you go to the executive session sheet you'll see that we have one legal matter one Personnel matter and one policy matter policy oh yes we have three matters board members yeah do in accordance to the requirements of the open public meetings act will be adjourning in executive session on April 24 2024 9:05 p.m. and accordance with the requirements uh of the open public meetings act will be uh entering into matters number eight uh matters involving employment and suspensions of employment as well as number seven uh matters regarding litigation and uh matters following within the attorney client prop uh Dr do you have any um understanding approximately how long we'd be we shouldn't be more than 30 minutes at the most I'll say 30 minutes in duration and motion okay thank you Mr long board members at this time I'm asking for a motion to approve our moving into executive session motion to move to an executive session moved by Mr Shaw second by Mr asq roll call please Mr asq yes M dreaden yes Miss Martin yes Miss Nez yes Miss Peterson yes Mr Shaw yes Miss Thomas she may have moved on Thomas she may be she may uh Mr Thomas yes Miss pittz yes motion is carried thank you at this point board members we are joury into executive session