##VIDEO ID:9ZYSElL3DSQ## good evening the October 16 2024 meeting of the wher sship Board of Education will please come to order roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson here miss bouran here Mr deletro here Miss Perez here Mr M here Mr treaser here Mr valz here Mr Harris here Mr secretary as required by the Sunshine Law please re read the notice of meetings thank you Mr President the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted as follows on January 25th 2024 and July 26th 2024 email to the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and the municipal clerk's office posted in rth Street School number 11 and the Board of Education administration building also published on the school district website thank you m wolferman Miss Bordan please read the closed session statement please thank you Mr President in compliance with the Sunshine Law the board must go into close session in order to discuss subjects Exempted from the public portion of our meeting the discussions to be be held in close session will will be regarding Personnel matters and the board will receive client uh attorney client advice in addition there will be a discussion regarding a student matter any information regarding the closed session closed session discussion will be released to the public when the reasons for discussing those matters in close session no longer exist thank you Miss Bordan I have a motion by Miss Bordan do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Miss Bordan seconded by Miss Perez all in favor I any opposed carried the board retires to close session will be out as soon as possible thank you please rise for a salute to the flag in a moment of silence pledge allegiance to the flag flag States do I have a motion to reconvene so motion do I have a second second I have a motion by Mr treer seconded by Mr Dela ficho all in favor I any opposed carried roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson here miss Bordan here Mr deletro here M Perez here Mr Mohammad here Mr treaser here Mr valz here Mr Harris here will someone make a motion to approve the benit of the previous meetings motion second good okay do I have a second I heard heard it already any additions or Corrections saying none all right I have a motion by Mr Val seconded by Mr delap Petro all in favor I any opposed carried very good Mr secretary please stay for the record any notices of bids or excuse me bids or proposals received by the board thank you Mr President there were no bids or proposals received excellent thank you Dr Masano please introduce our student representative Sophia grao from Colonial High School hey Mr haris Sophia grao is a senior at Colonia High School where she serves as student council president Sophia is also a member of various honor societies including National Honor Society muaa science Honor Society rppa and Spanish Honor Society in addition Sophia serves as captain of the varsity varsity cheerleading team and has been a team member all four years because she is an athlete and role model Sophia was chosen as a member of Woodbridge Township's Heroes and Cool Kids program for high school students Mentor middle school students lastly she's also a member of the township Society for the prevention of teen suicide Sophia was inducted into the international thespian Society at the conclusion of her freshman year and is currently holding her second executive board position of vice president after serving as secretary the previous year Sophia has performed in every production since the fall of her freshman year playing such roles as Stacy and Bar Mitzvah boy ancestor in The Adams Family Mrs White in clue on stage mayor Matilda Hyde in All Shook Up Leanne and puffs and little red in in Into the Woods Sophia is currently playing her most difficult role yet Jillian in two Gillian on her 37th birthday which opens on November 15th she's a dedicated member of our theater program here at Colony High School in addition in addition to the school plays and musicals she also spent part of her Summer performing in Beauty and the Beast at middle sex County's play in the park in her spare time Sophia volunteers her time at her Grammar School St John viani school as a junior cheerleading coach and then as assistant to their yearly drama Productions I do want to add one thing it is not on this um and I will address this with uh the wrestling coach of Colonia High School at a later time but she has also been a four-year stat keeper for the varsity wrestling program uh which takes a lot of time and patience um especially considering uh the traveling they do and the schedule they keep so I will certainly speak with the coach sco um and the athletic director as well um and we do thank you for all the things you do thank you for joining us tonight thank you Dr mamino members of Colt president Harris and members of the board of education for inviting me here this evening I'm going to get started at school 1 on September 30th the Mad Science Program kicked off the grade five D program started on October 3rd October 7th through 11th the entire School recognized the week of respect and inclusion with various themed days the literacy lunch brunch for grade 5 was held on October 8th and grades three and four participated in a minding your own assembly on the same day on October 10th the fam family math program started for grade three also on October 10th the Woodbridge High School Spanish Honor Society visited in order of Hispanic Heritage Month yesterday was wear pink for breast cancer awareness month tomorrow there will be a fire week assembly and on October 8 18th grade 5 will participate in a vaping presentation at schools 4 and five October was the start of grade 1 through three monthly Library visits on October 1st the grade five dare program kicked off and on the same day the mad science program starts Woodbridge High School Spanish Honor Society visits for Hispanic Heritage Month took place on October 2nd there was a grade 5 vaping assembly on October 4th from October 7th to October 11th the school held a Spirit Week for the week of respect and inclusion October 8th was picture day there was a fire week assembly on October 10th the truck the truck or treat will take place on October 18th and the Halloween parade will be on October 31st at school 20 Claremont Spirit day was on September 20th with the start of the cougar compliments positive behavior program on September 27th the first annual Claremont Avenue Family Carnival night was hosted by The Claremont P for their school's character education acknowledgement the month of October is respect October 3rd was picture day from October 7th to 11th the school celebrated the week of respect and inclusion on October 9th the colonial fire department provided presentations for fire prevention month there was a vaping presentation for the fifth grade students on October 16th a grand falloons assembly will take pa place on October 17th the Scholastic book fair will take place on October 22nd and 23rd there will be a pink out day for breast cancer awareness month on October 23rd as well the Claremont Avenue PTO will host a Halloween parade and trunk Retreat on October 25th and on October 31st during Harvest Fest students will participate in Steam activities science technology engineering art and music at school 21 there were Eagle Pride assemblies on friendship for Friday held September 13th and October 4th the Scholastic Book Fair took place from October 7th to the 9th the from October 7th to 11th the school celebrated the week of respect and inclusion with various spirit days there was a grand falloon assembly on October 11th the school will continue to celebrate school safety week which started on October 15th and will run until October 21st there will be a new crosswalk ribbon cutting this Friday October 18th a trunk treat sponsored by the PTO will take place on October 28th grade three will take a trip to turtleback zoo on October 29th and lastly on October 31st there will be a Halloween parade and parties at school 22 on SE September 20th they had their first Spirit day of the school year students had a flag raising and a wathon in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness on October 2nd the grand falloons delivered their entertaining recycle and litter earth science presentation to students from October 7th through 11th students participated in a week of inclusion and respect that included daily inclusion and respect centered themes and activities also from October 7th through 11th students recognized Fire Prevention Week culminating with an assembly led by Fire Marshall students even got to explore a real fire truck at school 23 students celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month from o from September 15th to October 15th the Mad Science Program started in October from October 7th to the 11th the school participated in a week of respect and inclusion Fire Prevention Day took place on October 8th on October 10th students were able to visit a mobile dentist there was a Fall Festival on October 15th tomorrow on October 17th there will be an ABC parade students will partake in a vaping assembly on October 22nd the Halloween parade will take place on October 31st and lastly there will be a Diwali celebration on November 1st at school 24 they celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th everyone is encouraged to wear pink on Fridays for the month of October the week of respect was celebrated from October 7th to 11th School awareness week is set to start on October 21st and is running until October 25th October 23rd is scheduled for a trunk Retreat and on October 31st there will be a Halloween parade at school 27 Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations ran from September 15 to October 15th there was a lion Color Run on October 5th students participated in the week of respect and week of inclusion with a spirit week from October 7th to 11th the Scholastic Book Fair started on October 15th and will run until October 17th on October 17th there will be a grade five vaping assembly October 21st to October 25th is designated as school violence Awareness Week there will be a school picture day on October 25th as well as a trunk or treat event on October 30th the colonial fire department will visit and on October 31st the students will participate in the Halloween parade at avanel middle school students celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th the 7th to the 11th of October they celebrated the the week of respect and inclusion on October 11th a guidance night was hosted where parents were invited to meet the guidance counselors and learn more about Genesis Parent Portal Hib laws social emotional learning and the dangers of substance abuse 8th grade students attended an assembly on the dangers of vaping on October 12th student violence awareness or School violence awareness week will be from October 21st to October 25th there will be a Halloween dance on October 24th clubs and after school activities have started with 20 clubs that students can sign up for and lastly during the month of October the baseball and softball teams concluded their season and the baseball team qualified for the playoffs at Colonial Middle School um they had an outstanding beginning to their 2024 to 2025 school year with their school goals of developing a positive learning environment and preparing all students for Success at the high school level and being beyond the school received a digital school star for excellence in educational technology there are currently one of only 63 schools in New Jersey to receive this honor CMS continues to celebrate anti-bullying and respect and inclusion with a variety of schoolwide activities for Hispanic Heritage Month they hosted an eighth grade event which celebrated culture and food sampling the Colonia cup located in their front lobby is open for business not only is this a fully functioning takeout coffee shop that provides special education students with life skills involved in running a small business but the coffee is great the CMS sports teams are focused on demonstrating hard work and outstanding sportsmanship this fall season their community service Club LED schoolwide participation in a clothing drive for to benefit local families in need our PBIS program and committee has used Patriot points to reinforce the expectations of our three Rs responsibility respect and Readiness the student council continues to coordinate schoolwide spirit activities including recent efforts to support breast cancer awareness the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program starts with CMS students with high school mentors and their Sidekicks program allowed to select students to Mentor their elementary students the Friday's friends program pairs special needs and general education students as buddies each week the Buddies spend time together on various activities the PTO has coordinated for special events for students including the upcoming sixth grade Halloween dance and the gardening club has used the award-winning sustainability Courtyard to help Implement green initiatives and at Colonia High School the fall play to Jillian on her 37th birthday will be performed on November 15th at 7:00 p.m. and November 16th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. get your tickets we hope to see you there 60 CHS Patriot ambassadors welcomed the 260 plus new students at CHS new student orientation on August 27th CHS will team up with Island Middle School for Mammoth University's the Central Jersey Consortium for excellence and Equity CHS cheer and dance completed their second Youth Clinic and performances at the varsity football game on September 27 their program raised $175 to be donated to the Eric lr's partner the Christopher and Donar Foundation 41 CHS science research students took a trip to the College of New Jersey in Ying New Jersey to take a tour of their various science facilities and Labs as well as to attend the undergraduate science research poster session 37 CHS science research students attended a research trip to Sandy Hook New Jersey while there the students worked with Scientists from the njc grant Consortium to understand the ecosystem of this barrier Peninsula better the English Honor Society will be inducting 22 members into their Honor Society on October 22nd and finally the Dei Council donated $2,400 to the Garden State equality education fund thank you for this opportunity for me to be a part of this event Board of Education meeting Sophia I've never done this before I have a question for you on the front page you had talked about October 18 a crosswalk ribbon cutting what what school was that I missed it oh you you got it huh she just came here to read don't make her work yes 21 21 21 School 21 all right cool excellent the answer you're off the hook well thank you Sophia for the very detailed report tonight you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting if you'd like but if you have homework appreciate it I do have homework okay you got home have a good night everyone all right uh thank you to your family for joining us and Mr Sher principal coloni high school thank you for being here as always excellent all right thank you again Sophia Dr mamino please stay for the record the superintendent's reports for the month of September 2024 thank you Mr President I present the following reports of the board the register of Statistics the report of fire drills student suspension report for elementary student suspension report for secondary Bond threat reports and the month to report of the attendance officers all right excellent thank you the wooders Township Board of Education welcomes and encourages active productive and respectful participation by members of the public and seeks to protect the First Amendment rights of those who engage in the exercise of free speech members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of those whose legals rights may be impacted the public portion is now invited to speak excuse me the public is now invited to speak regarding the agendas being presented this evening when you come to the microphone please provide your name and the section of the Township in which you reside Ong with the specific agenda item you wish to discuss as per regulation 1100d comments must be limited to no more than 5 minutes no response will be given until you have completed your opportunity to speak anyone wishing to speak on any agenda item tonight than what an agenda item hi Mr Lind hi president Harris yes hi how are you um Personnel I guess we come into play here right uh yes I would okay uh I understand that a recent hire of Vice President over at Woodbridge High School was terminated for controversial posts and I was wondering if that there was any basis for that and if so why wasn't that picked up before he got hired right well it's it's a personal item I I can't get into details but uh as you wasn't terminated okay oh yeah I I I apologize I I missed that that aspect of the uh agenda item uh that individual is on the agenda this evening as a as item number three if you want to take a look at that uh we we take we've heard those same allegations and we are investigating okay Dr masino or um oh jez Kaitlyn anything to add to that that I missed or need to be corrected okay just that we are not uh permitted to comment on Personnel matters generally and so we're not going to be going into any specifics um but uh certainly to the extent that uh there's some information that the board has received the district is looking into it and investigating and that's all we can really say at this time um and I believe there is an agenda item that speaks for itself that's correct right is that suspended with pay I guess would be the the standard approach when that is the standard uh required by law yes of course thank you thank you yes sir if you could just state your name and uh address for the record or just Town my name is MOS I'm from uh Port Reading thank you and I would like to pick you back off of that because uh I know a lot of teachers were interviewed for vice principal in the in Woodbridge High School they were overlooked for an outside person which is this person where he came from nobody knows but looking at what I've seen online personally it's disgusting so how nobody did an investigation in this person before he was hired I'm very very upset about that my kids going to these schools and we're making these decisions it's the statements he made about going after people putting bounties out on people and other statements against is Israel and promoting Hamas it's disgusting I saw it personally this is in third hand uh not happy with it not happy that all the people in town we have a a huge Township plenty of people to pick from somehow this guy gets in not not following not really sure why he goes under this name mopesi and he has an alter Evo I guess disgusting uh I I'm not happy with the decision that was made to hire this person and I really think you guys need to do better sorry thank you for your comments seeing no others wishing to speak uh on the agenda items Dr masso would you please provide an overview of the graduation profile class of 2023 2024 school year please absolutely Mr haris uh so in response to the graduation report um 99% of our students in the senior class graduated which is excellent U it's a 1% increase from last year three4 of those students will go on to two or four your colleges um and we had 16 students enlist in the military so we will continue to strive for you know 100% graduation rate and and we seem to be keep getting closer so it's a it's a good report to deliver all right great all right thank you very much next up Dr maso not off the hook just yet Dr maso please provide an overview of the annual district report of violence and vandalism for 2023 2024 school year thank you Mr Harris um if you take a look at the report um all but one category saw saw a decrease um our Hib allegations and confirmed uh were substantially down uh I attribute a lot of that to the the efforts uh that the the board has been supportive of in terms of putting extra counselors uh sack coordinators in the middle schools um I think the security officers have been a wonderful addition so uh you know we'll continue to strive to see the numbers in each category go down on a year-to-year basis but we are uh we are pleased with the progress obviously never satisfied but we are happy with the progress and we'll continue to strive accordingly thank you thank you very much and just one more time superintendent reports do you have any recommendations for us my superintendent's agenda I have 17 items to present to the board Mr haris yes thank you very much make a motion thank you do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr Tre waser seconded by Miss Anderson are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr delro yes Mr Mohamad yes M Perez yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes I apologize I'll T afterwards thank you very much communication policy and planning agenda Mr Muhammad Mr President the communication policy and planning committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools presents the following eight recommendations I move for the adoption of the forging okay thank you second okay do uh I have a motion by Mr Muhammad do I have a second yes motion by Mr Muhammad seconded by Mr CH waser are there any comments or questions from the board apologize we were just having a chat there about some items seeing no comments from anybody roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes curriculum extracurricular activities and technology that would be Mr I apologize Mr traser covering for Mr Sedana thank you Mr Harris the curriculum and extracurricular activities and Technology committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction presents the following nine items I move for the adoption of the foregoing thank you very much Mr Tre waser but before you know I'll ask for a second first and then then we'll have Mr Pino deliver his two uh presentations do I have a second second okay motion by Mr Tree waser seconded by Mr delap picho before we go to that roll call vote Mr pasino I believe you have two presentations for us this evening I do thank you Mr President tonight's nsla presentation is made up of score reports for the 2023 2024 spring njsla students were tested in grades 3 through n in both Ela and math and the report contains a district analysis in section one a demographic analysis in section two and intervention strategies in section three what's important for parents to understand is those intervention strategies are both the tools and services provided by the school district to supplement their students instruction in an effort to ensure they are on or at least demonstrating growth towards grade level indicators like the njsls I would encourage our families to discuss any concerns with their classroom teacher who will be able to provide your family a more tailored approach and understanding of the tools being provided approximately three weeks ago we sent the letter home to parents for the students who took these tests the letter contained information relevant to accessing a detailed breakdown of their child's score report um should the families have any questions I would encourage them to contact the guidance department and their respective schools um again if they're having accessing uh difficulty accessing those scores item number two on the agenda is the um Dynamic learning Maps the Dynam Dynamic learning Maps is an alternative assessment designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities it aligns with academic standards and focuses on measuring not the Knowledge and Skills of those students in subjects like English language arts and math assessments typically taken by students in our special education programs who meet specific eligibility criteria provides a way to evaluate their learning progress and a more accessible format compared to our standard assessments the assessments administered one to one um with their classroom teacher excellent before we move to a vote any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll callot Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr T waser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes finance and insurance agenda Mr treer thank you Mr President finance and insurance committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary presents the following nine items I move for the adoption of the forgo thank you Mr Tre waser I have a motion by Mr tree waser do I have a second second okay motion by Mr Tre waser seconded by Miss Anderson any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Miss Perez yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes buildings and grounds Miss Perez thank you Mr President the buildings and grounds committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary present the following one item I move for the adoption of the foregoing excellent I have a motion by Miss Perez do I have a second second okay motion by Miss Perez seconded by Mr delap Petro any comments or questions from the board okay I'm just uh just a couple notes here just want to throw out a couple thank yous and recognitions thanks to the buildings ground staff along with our dining services uh uh management for getting open the Woodbridge High School kitchen I understand from the public there's some frustration as well as the students was some frustration about the delays there that that was all tied in with construction and supplies and inspections and things of that nature sometime sometimes things just take longer than than expected but we're we're happy that the kitchen is open and operational once again and uh we hope you have a good school year with that and uh some some minor things need to be addressed but uh they will be addressed in due time we apologize for any inconvenience caused and finally as we had seen on online from from comments from from some parents regarding portion sizes quality control regarding some of the dining Mr wolferman and the uh Dining Services management team they're on top of that making sure our food service vendor pump tonian addresses those issues so want to thank the public for letting us know your concerns and we address that oh that was dining uh that was buildings and grounds but it's still related it's still related okay uh Roco Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr delro yes Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr tree Blaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes Rollo oh geez wow manam my game is off today what is going on all right we're moving on dining and transportation agenda Miss per thank you Mr President the dining and transportation committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary present the following six items I move for the adoption of the forging all right thank you Mr Perez I have a motion by m Perez do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Miss BR seconded by miss bouran any comments or questions from the board none roll call Mr secretary M Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes Miss Perez yes Mr treer yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes personel agenda Mr deler thank you Mr President the Personnel committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for human resources presents the 40 following 45 items I move for the adoption to foregoing second thank you all right I have a motion by Mr Del Peter do I have a second Mr Tre waser motion by Mr uh Mr Del P second by Mr tree waser any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr deletro yes Mr Mohammad yes M Perez yes Mr treaser I will be abstaining in the name Linda Tre waser on item 23 yes on all other items Mr vales yes Mr Harris yes is there any old business that should be brought before the attention of the board thing none any new business anybody well I know I have a couple or I think just just the one I just wanted to congratulate Dr mamino and Miss Anderson on their induction into the Hall of Fame just thought they deserved a little recognition it's quite an accom all right congratulations to you both thank you appreciate that you're welcome since they didn't give you a chance to give a speech would you like to do it now either way thank you the three-hour dinner wasn't wasn't enough uh anybody else wishing to say anything before I jump in just got one thing yes Mr delach on October 21st um at cin paints at 372 NE bronic Avenue they're going to be doing their car show uh with the trunk Retreat this year so if anybody's wants to bring their kids down uh the more than welcome okay thanks Frank what date was that again October 21st it's Monday excellent it starts 5:30 all right very good all right new Bruns Avenue and fors all right anybody else through the chair oh oh yes all right thank you Mr President i' just like to remind our families that the PSAT and sat details were emailed home recently by your school's respective High School um that date should be coming up it's in about a week October 23rd like to remind all our students to charge their devices before they come into school that day make sure you have a fully charged device um and should you have any Tech concerns you should report that prior to the testing Day to your school's testing team yeah thank you all right thank you Mr P great great plug there and make sure not only do you charge your laptop but you also charge your own batteries make sure you get a good night's sleep and a good breakfast a healthy nutritious breakfast Miss Perez oh me yes thank you Mr President uh the Woodbridge Township counseling departments will sponsor a financial aid Workshop for the benefit of our district students this Workshop will be taking place on Wednesday October 23rd at 6 p.m. at the Woodbridge High School auditorium anyone with questions is encouraged to call Woodbridge High School counseling department and for any other information this is also on our website thank you excellent thank you Miss Perez Miss ban Mr President thank you I I just have a couple of announcements um the Woodbridge Elks um is having a chicken parm dinner that benefits the special children's committee they use that those funds to uh do activities with the uh special needs children of our district you're all invited to come is $25 a person I think there might be a slight discount for the children um it's October 19th from 6:30 to 11: any questions contact Trish at te V ni K comcast.net um that's October 19th from 6:30 to 11: um also uh I'd like to thank thank uh Darth Vorhees for hosting and monitoring the president's Council PTO uh on October 9th I want to thank mayor McCormick and Dr mamino as well as president Harris for giving us such great updates on the district um and also October Sunday October 30th is ctober Fest I think it's a makeup for um National National Night Out that got uh rained out so um our Police Department is putting on on a ctober Fest that will have food live music and games on October 30th at the community center from 3:00 to 6: oh I'm sorry that's at Parker press my bad Parker press usually it's at the community center yeah so I encourage everybody to go out and have a great time yep Miss B oh yes go ahead Mr just one more thing just poping my mind uh two nights ago um one of our uh employees at JFK had a devastating fire um L they lost everything um they're doing U uh fundraisers uh if you look in the uh Colony area I know Debbie Mian uh uh just posted one but if you want to help the families uh there was two houses that burnt and uh they lost everything so you know donations or you know whatever you could help them out with would be greatly appreciated thank you for that plug Frank there are I'm sorry just to piggy back on that there are gold fund needs set up um in case you couldn't make it to the fundraisers excellent thank you anybody else on this side uh yeah thank you Mr President uh the police department is currently seeking applicants for crossing guards school crossing guard positions uh you can apply on the uh Township website um it's a great part-time job and anybody's interested please visit that website and uh the description and everything is there and the training is supplied by the police department thank you thank you Mr phos anybody else on this side all right just a couple items uh with that cover Fest that Miss bouran had mentioned I'm going to do a uh a board table again similar to the St James Street Fair that we did so if anyone member of the public is is intimidated by coming to a meeting in a microphone you could see some of the board members at the ctober Fest again that's October 20 at Parker press from 3:00 to 6: p.m. and then just two small items for me just thank you to the administration uh first to Mr Ali uh you had brought up in our uh Equity commission meeting uh this past week about the cultural celebration survey that you received robust responses on we had a parent come to the meeting back in the spring saying asking us as a board and an Administration to consider some of the religious holidays or cultural holidays that uh many people in this community as a diverse Community celebrate you know if we would keep in mind or at least be knowledgeable when scheduling uh different programming or after school events if we would be mindful so Mr Ali and his team put together a survey to seek feedback from the community what what holidays do they celebrate at home we've received robust information and I know we'll put that that to good use and that that's what could come out of Board of Education meetings parents telling us uh how uh you know how they'd like to see their school district run so thank you m Le for making that happen and then finally as I was listening to the student rep she was talking in in multiple times about um programming at the school level about the dangers of vaping vaping is those electronic cigarettes that uh you know sometimes are flavored and our our young people have an interest in and you be very har harmful to their health I know the township had an event today uh same time as as our board meeting so I want to thank the administration whether that's um the curriculum uh office or or the School nurses uh whomever put that together just want to thank you for educating our young people on the dangers of vaping so thank you very much to Dr massino you and your team uh with that that concludes my remarks anybody else before we move on to the public portion saying none all right read my script here we will now open the meeting for a comment if you wish to say something please come to the microphone provide your name and the section of the Township in which you reside for the record again members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect the dignity and privacy of those legal rights may be impacted please limit your comments to no more than 5 minutes in accordance with regulation 1100d no response will be given until you have fully completed all of your comments so it's not to interrupt your 5-minute opportunity to speak have anything to say please please come to us at the microphone pauland hon yes um there's some controversial policies there's no doubt about it and uh I've been bringing them up for two years now the only reason I bring it up policy 5756 yet again is yet another district has rescinded the policy finding that it's no longer mandatory Edison Township did overturn policy 5756 which is student or child centered gives them the ability on their say so to say my parents will kill me if they find out don't tell them that I want to socially transition and I want you to to actively lie to my parents how it gets by furpa law I don't know I I've been standing on on the morality of confusing children about their gender I mean we know that puberty can be confused but most people and they find that well over 60% I've seen upward statistics of 80% of young adults figure it out they may not feel like the other boys feel like the other girls but sure enough that endocrine system kicks in and they they they make that transition successfully now you're pushing it all the way down to second grade giving gender is a choice it's wrong I think many of you know that I think my question is do you agree with that policy do you think letting the child make those kinds of of decisions with the parents not being in the loop is a right thing to do and I think the two of you that are running for reelection you should be very bold and if you believe in it stand for it if you don't believe in it and it's just for to to get more money from the state well that's that's between you and your conscience that's number one number two there's a policy that's that's uh p and I i' I'd like to get your take on it it's called the freedom to read act which is really basically protecting the American Library Association to put pornography on the shelves and make it available in schools and in the public library there are apps like grinder which is basically allows children to find out how to hook up and there's prostitution on grinder and it's making it so that there's no legal consequence for making that kind of material available how that gets by with the obscenity laws in New Jersey I have no idea maybe our our esteemed attorney can fill us in on that and I yield all right thank you Mr lond so as I have St stated at previous meetings we've talked about policy 5756 uh in our policy and planning committee one just just so you know we don't have a policy 5756 it's a it's a different numic but we we understand when you're going with it as we have talked with Council and the administration the law requires us to follow effectively what the policy mandates the policy that we have adopted as have the majority of school districts provides a layman's terms guide for our schools in which to follow if we were to repeal it our Law Firm would still get the same questions that the policy inuat and and helps address on a day-to-day basis so the law still stays on the books if we again if we were to repeal it the law still stays on the books and we still have to follow it however we would be calling the attorney's office every time we had a question about it so it provides us guidance and our committee and I support them on this doesn't want to repeal the policy Ed parents on something as consequential and lifechanging is transitioning okay that's what you're saying and you're saying it's mandatory I'm sorry I apologize you're your your public portion is is up but I I think I caught part of that as I was as I clarication thank um as as we have talked with Mr Bush and he walked us through basically all the the case law you know this was last winter he walked us through this whole process and when when a child is struggling or what or questioning or what what have when they speak with their school counselor the number one thing that Mr Bush informed us uh and Caitlyn's subbing in for him this evening as as you could see uh so I'm I'm I'm leaning towards you here um was that the school counselors the number one thing they tried to do is facilitate conversations with parents number two I and I've always wanted to say this candidly if you're a good parent which I suspect most parents are if your child is transitioning or questioning just see it you know it every parent I know knows their kids better than everybody else so the idea that we're withholding information for parents is is a little far-fetched and and ludicrous I was once a child I am not a parent but I was once a child and my parents they they knew things well before they were happy why did they need the verbiage then in in the policy that that uh it was student centered and and that they could keep it from the parents if they knew that most parents are good and gracious about receiving that information why they even have to mandate it because it was to protect the students in the instances where we believe that child's uh safety is is is endangered I and I apologize I I have to be consistent with the rules about the the back and forth and the timing and I I I hope you respect that and finally about the the policy pending and in Trenton the freedom to read act which passed the assembly and it's now waiting a consideration in the Senate that establishes a a policy by which libraries School libraries public libraries would follow relative to a member of the public wishing for a book to be banned within that particular Library Library it would set up a process by which a library committee would review said book for its appropriateness and so on the idea that what what you said that you know this is like the pornography industry trying to push porn into Library that's just ludicrous I mean one we're not the library board two we're a school district we're you know one I don't think we have any libraries remaining in our schools unfortunately due to space considerations and then the changing uh nature of of media everything being largely multimedia we would not allow pornography in our schools you if you have concerns about libraries School libraries you're talking to the right people today but the Woodbridge public library or any other Library you want to take it up with them so that I want to just just close the case there so thank you for being here anybody else yes come on D you're next my name is Gerald uh Mago and I'm represent the Dolores Turco Foundation I did send a letter to everyone on the um board firstly thank you for the opportunity to speak with you I commend you on uh um some of the high quality of Education you have here particularly in math um but I do uh have concerns regarding the um uh the 5756 and the sexualization of children in the schools um I I'm hoping you did get a chance to to read I wrote so I don't have to repeat uh some of the things but I just want to point out um the 5756 uh defies it is um in complete violation of the laws it defies science it defies the law it's unconstitutional unscientific um and is motivated by interest other than compassion I did send you a very long um uh I guess uh summary of the laws and uh why it does violate the law and 5756 um while there are parents there are laws in effect for parents that are are abusive but this is is assuming that um there are parents that all parents um would the state's not going to come to the school board's uh Aid financially when they're sued by parents who are harmed uh by these these policies um they it's a violation of the 14th Amendment and um it's violation of freedom of speech freedom of religion I will bring you up if you did if you did get to read my letter I'll just bring you up to date with some of the cases a Virginia school district recently paid 575,000 to settle a lawsuit brought on by a Christian teacher who was fired for not using a refusing to use pronouns of trans identified students um and he was defended by a the alliance defending Freedom who are now have a group that are uh formed an organization to protect teachers also in California um the California District paid 360,000 in settlement to a teacher who was also fired uh for refusing to comply with these transgender policies some very disturbing news uh came out this week uh covered the horrific truth that 14,000 miners in the US have undergone gender transition treatments and surgeries in the past 5 years and that's generated 120 million for doctors and hospitals children are being used as pawns and it starts as the social transition using pronouns um but they are most likely when it starts socially to be driven into a medical experiment that strips some of their health their future and their innocence um 5 5,700 have undergone irreversible surgeries and 8,500 have been prescribed Des red puberty blockers or cross- sex hormones um that are also irreversible um these the these policies are driven by ideologies and greed um bottom line I think if you did read my last letter you can see that uh some of the promoters of these policies are billionaires uh like the owner of the Hyatt Hotel um you have also the um Warren Buffett who are uh these are uh population control Advocates uh you also have the pharmaceutical industry um as well and um in addition I I wanted to point out a few things about there's a correlation between the sexualization of children in schools and the increase in mental illness I'm sure you're aware that 60% according to CDC 60% of American female students experience persistent sadness and hopelessness and 30% serly consider attempting suicide um and one in five experienc sexual violence also the CDC found that high school students who had no sexual contact were far less likely to feel sad hopeless seriously considered suicide or be victims of force sex in addition you have STDs that has emerged as a national epidemic with 20 million new cases each year and half are 15 to 24 year olds so we have to be very concerned about sexualizing children in the schools um our our foundation is to protect children from abuse neglect and exploitation and children are very vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation and while we have wonderful teachers in the schools we do need to point out and I do want to point out and this is in relation to the um right to read uh bill that um according to the US Department of Education investigated misconduct in the classroom because 10% of students experience sexual misconduct and there's 40 million survivors of sexual child abuse in America today so this is a serious problem that needs to be contended with and I I know you're a wonderful board you do some great work in terms of Education particularly in the area of math uh it's time to begin to look at how we're harming our children and the mental illness as a result of sexual Iz in them in the schools thank you for the opportunity to address the board I will leave you my um testimony that I gave before the Senate I will read leave you um that I hope everyone gets a copy of what's considered perfectly normal for 10-year-olds and I do hope that you get a chance to look at it thank you and God bless thank you for sharing your comments anybody else wishing to speak this evening okay well seeing none the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn second okay motion by myself seconded by Miss Bordan all in favor I uh any opposed carried meeting is adjourned we'll see everybody November 21 that's a Thursday thank you thank