##VIDEO ID:_KicOCPvndo## the December 19 2024 meeting of the wood sship Board of Education will please come to order roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson here Mr Muhammad here Mr sadonna here Mr treaser here Mr Le here Mr Harris here Mr secretary is required by the Sunshine Law please read the notice of meanings pleas thank you Mr Harris 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 emailed to the home News Tribune The Star Ledger and the municipal clerk's office posted in Ross Street School number 11 and the Board of Education administration building also published on the school district website thank you Mr wolferman Miss Anderson please read the closed session statement thank you Mr President in compliance with the Sunshine Law the board must go into Clos session in order to discuss subjects Exempted from the public portion of our meeting the discussions to be held in Clos session will be regarding Personnel matters and the board will receive attorney client advice any information regarding the closed session discussion will be released to the public when the reasons for discussing these matters in closed sessions no longer exist I have a motion by Miss Anderson do I have a second okay motion by Miss Anderson seconded by Mr tree waser all in favor I I any opposed saying none carried the board will retire to close session we'll be out as soon as possible thank you very much please rise for the salute to the flag and a moment of silence this evening when we do our moments of Silence I would ask that you would keep uh Abundant Life Christian Church uh in your uh thoughts of prayers they uh obviously on Monday there was school shooting with a teacher killed a student killed and six students uh wounded in the process let's keep them in our thoughts and prayers thank you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the unit States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under godible liti for all do I have a motion or reconvene so motion okay do I have a second okay have a motion by Mr Tree waser seconded by Mr Sedana Mr Sedana all in favor I any opposed carried roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson here M bouran here Mr Mohammad here Mr sadonna here Mr treaser here Mr valz here Mr Harris here will someone make a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting so motion okay do I have a second second okay are there any additions or corrections I have a motion by Mr tree Washer seconded by Miss Bordan all in favor I any opposed hearing none gar thank you Mr secretary please stay for the record any notices of bids or proposals received by the board thank you Mr President on December 17th 2024 ifb 25-15 for student transportation services special needs also on December 17th 2024 ifb 25-16 for student transportation Serv Services homelessness okay thank you Mr werman Dr mamino please introduce our student representative Justin Lee from woodbr high school thank you Mr Harris Justin is a senior at wri high school who holds a 4.18 GPA and is ranked third out of 427 students he is a member of the National Honor Society and has made the Honor rooll every semester in his high school career Justin is the co-president of the Chinese Honor Society and is a member of many other clubs including interact ecology Club and letters for Rose in addition to his school involvement Justin has accumulated many community service hours spending in his spending his spare time at the local library Justin has applied to an impressive list of colleges including MIT Princeton Yale and Dartmouth just to name a few he's looking forward to the possibility of double majoring in computer science and computer engineering in college we can't wait to see what the future holds for Justin Justin thank you for being here with us this evening thank you um at school number one on December 3rd to the 6th Elementary School conferences took place the art Club chess club ukulele club and inals meet every uh every week on December 10th and 11th the PTO held a holiday shop classroom Christmas parties were provided by the PTO uh on Wednesday was College wear day the holidays around the world was held there was a battle in a band aids collection lastly holiday spirit week events took place such as Monday Matt about played where Plano or played Tuesday tacky Tuesday wear your ugly sweater Wednesday don't be at Grinch spread kindness wear green or Grinch gear on Grinch day Thursday was the night before where your holiday PJs Friday festive wear wear a hote hat or a headband at school of four and five on November 15th grade 4 had a I2 assembly on November 26th grade 1 held a balloons Over Broadway parade on November 26th a grand falloon assembly took place on November 27th there was a schoolwide bingo on November 3rd to the 6th M School conferences took place on December 9th to the 13th the PTO hosted a holiday shop on December 12th the PT held cookies with Santa on December 17th was the school winter choir concert on December 18th was the school was the winter choir concert lastly grades 1 to three visited the library at school number nine on November 11th the Visual and Performing Arts Department hosted did a fall Funday for students students and teachers competed in minute to minute games in trivia the week of November 9th uh 18th through 22nd the school n Community celebrated American Education week student council organized the food drive for we feed Woodbridge and donated over 100 bags of Thanksgiving food items student council and the school n choir visited the Meno Park Veterans Home where students made race for the veterans and the chorus performed holiday songs the week of December 3rd to the 6th the Scholastic Book Fair was held the week of December 16th to the 19th a holiday shop was held lastly on December 10th the Winter chus concert was held at Woodbridge Middle School at school number 11 the fourth grade participated in the ROC assembly on November 19th celebrated American Education week with many schools wide activities thanking our teachers and staff members continue their Dei Spar sidekick initiative with our November and December celebrations our NS program collected food for the St James Food Bank second grade students participated in our annual balloon parade on November 27th chorus performed their holiday concert on December 10th and performed at Woodbridge mall on December 11th and her final performance occurred at the community center on December 13th the ASI Department hosted a family night on December 9th the PTO hosted their annual holiday movie night with Santa on December 11th the Scholastic Book Fair occurred the week on December 2nd the holiday shop occurred the week week of December 9th The Faculty hosted parent teacher conferences from December 3rd to December 6th at school number 19 celebrated American Education week with many schoolwide activities thinking our teachers and staff members students dressed as their future career and parents came into school to share their Career Information with the students on November 26th our pbsis hosted an honorable breakfast for all fourth and fifth grade students who made the first marking perer honor rooll our fourth graders participated in the district's cyber bullying assembly on November 19th classes visited the fors library and took out books on November 26 classes participated in Thanksgiving feasts and activities the holiday bazaar will be held on December 9th to 11th the week of December 16th the school will participate in holiday spirit days Santa will visit on December 20th for class parties the Mad Science Program for our fifth graders just started on December 18th the Winter concert was held at fors Middle School at school number 25 on October 21st to January 9th grades 1 to2 Title One extended day program provides small group instructions in math and Ela celebrated Native American Heritage throughout November on November 13th and 20th grade five Title One participated in family math nights on November 18th and 25th grade three Title 1 participated in family stem nights on November 12th grade three had a field trip to Von Don's Country Farm on November 13th World kindness day was celebrated on November 20th great four had an IR Tech assembly on November 25th student council ran a Thanksgiving food drive to help restock the St James Food Pantry on December 2nd and 3rd a mobile dentist provided services to 50 of our students on December 5th and 12th Jefferson and Darius therapy dog visited on December 9th and 11th kindergarten Title 1 participated in family literacy nights on December 16th and 18th grade one Title One participated in F literacy nights on December 9th and 13th the students participated with the fors fire prevention trailer on December 10th and 13th the PTO hosted a winter holiday shopie on December 10th and 17th grade three students attended the after school math science program on December 12 grade for chorus attended winter showcase at wridge Center on December 16th was the Winter band and chorus concert on December 18th was the student council uh had a ugly sweater fashion show winter spirit week was held this week December 16th to the 20th at school number 28 prek Thanksgiving Day Parade featured our six full day prek classes and 3:00 a.m. and 300 p.m. halfday prek classes Santa visited on December 19th with a book and a stuffed animal for each of our 430 students Mau Joo School participated in the first ever seaw War tree lighting with councilwoman MC Olive on December 4th the fifth grade Matthew Jacob choir sang at the event and members of the National Honor Society introduced the dignitaries on December 26 there was a i technology assembly for fourth grade students a holiday shop was held from December 10th to the 12th W High School National Honor Society visited for the day in our self-contained autism classes to read read a book and complete a craft M Jacob School breakfast with Santa at the wolveridge Elks more than 300 members of the community participated Matthew Jacob School winter concert was held on December 17th at Woodbridge Middle School holiday spirit week was held this week December 16th to the 20th at aveno Middle School celebrated Native American her month during the month of November collaborated with the local food banks to conduct a Thanksgiving food drive girls and boys basketball season started on November 14th avow middle school held a literacy night for for families to participate in activities related to language arts on November 14th the junior National aror Society conducted our annual Ruby Bridges walk where students learned about the importance of the Civil Rights activist and her experience during the desegregation of schools in itself on November 14th the sixth grade social studies students attended a trip in to MTH Battlefield celebrated American Education week the week of November 18th in ela classes students research various colleges and a t-shirts that contain information and facts about the colleges in social studies students research the foundation of the public education system in the United States in science classes students research careers in The Sciences in math classes students created maths everywhere posters to be hung around the school on November 19th the sixth grade students attended assembly that focused on the environment and the role we play in taking care of the Earth on November 20th avano Middle School hosted our annual book Buffet families and a few staff members gathered to have a meal together and discuss the book they have been reading on November 26th Evan middle school My Sister's Keeper Club attended an event at Ruckers University that focused on women's studies and empowerment conducted our annual holiday door decorating contest during the month of December at Fords Middle School on December 10th 21 students attended a trip to the valhallen ESP Sports training facility which provided them with the opportunity to learn about technology and the functionalities in the gaming World developing life skills through organization perseverance self- advocacy self-regulation time management responsible decision-making digital citizenship and social emotional learning all while doing something that many already enjoy and in gaming there will be a second opportunity for students to learn in January the choir and band performance was a success it was a packed room more than ever before to view the band choir show shers and the wonderful artwork in a funf evening including special guest Santa on Wednesday December 11th for's midle School celebrated the hour of cod students viewed an introductory video and then had the opportunity to practice what they have learned using coding in a fun engaging way with Frozen as the theme learning the basics of coding the foundation of computer science on Friday December 13th the fors mill school choir performed at the annual holiday Extravaganza at wrid Community Center the week of December 16th to 20th will be a Dei sponsor Spirit Week each day students and faculty will build community by actively participating in the daily activities ending the week with donuts and hot chocolate there was an honorable breakfast held on Thursday December 12th celebrating the hard work of all of our students the boys basketball team had an undefeated regular season and will be held uh and will be in the championship game on Tuesday December 17th at Colonia High School at 7:30 p.m. at Woodbridge Middle School on November 14th Woodbridge Middle School held a Thanksgiving dinner on November 18th the boys and girls basketball season started on November 18th to the 22nd the American Education week faculty spoke to students about the education system where they discussed the role of Education in America and the role of the forest mid School building in Woodbridge Township on November 20th it was College Weare Wednesday for all faculty and students on December 5th to the 12th the Woodbridge Middle School food drive to benefit we feed Woodbridge was held on December 9th through the 12th the Woodbridge Middle School Book Fair took place lastly on December 12th was the Woodbridge Middle School winter concert and finally Woodbridge high school on November 15th students attended a leadership conference hosted by King University's Holocaust Resource Center King no speaker at the conference was nadaba Mandela grandson of Nelsa Mandela seniors angelise Benny M Tyler Bower and lyanna Lucas received the Joe Prescott human humanitarian award from the Holocaust resource Center's diversity Council on global education and citizenship on November 19th the Hispanic culture Club black student union and the saffron Alliance hosted a friendsgiving p for over 100 students on November 20th thege youth enjoy science club hosted a many health and career fair event on November 21st students attended the Malcolm Bernard HBCU college fair where over 80% of attendees received on-site admissions over $80,000 in onside scholarships were also offered to wridge high school students at the fair on December 6th students in the africanamerican studies classes and black student union clubs attended field trip to the New York museum of art on September 10th woodrige High School class of 2024 and current y student abdur Raman adoha presented published research to the Woodbridge Youth andjoy Science Club excellent thank you right thank you Justin for your very detailed report uh tonight you're welcome to stay for the rest of the board meeting however if you have homework or as you had alluded to you have college applications you needed to complete you're you're welcome to to excuse yourself thank you for the invitation all right thank you very much and uh just want to recognize in the back there Mr Osborne principal at woodrige high school thank you for being here all right we're going to move on Dr masino please stay for the record the superintendent reports for the month of November 2024 thank you Mr Harris I presented the board the following reports for the month of November the register of Statistics the report of the fire drills student suspensions for the elementary level student suspensions for the secondary level bomb threat reports and the monthly report of the attendance officers good thank you Dr maso uh for the open public uh session here the Wilber 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 at this Board of Education meeting members of the public are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of those whose rights may be impacted 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 along with the specific agenda item and item number you wish to discuss as per regulation 1100 D 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 one of the agenda items this evening please come to the podium at the conclusion of the meeting we'll have an open uh session uh if you're unfamiliar and new to the meetings this evening okay seeing none at the moment we will move on to the superintendent's agenda Dr mamino do you have any recommendations yes Mr President I have 14 items to present to the board this evening thank you Dr maso do I have a motion for the superintendent's agenda okay I thank you do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr treat waser seconded by Mr Sedana are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr Muhammad uh I will abstain on item number two in my name and item number 14 in the name of ruers and yes on all the others Mr Sedana I abstain on item number two in my name and yes and all others Mr treaser I uh also abstain on item number two in the name of Jonathan treaser yes on all other items Mr valz yes and Mr Harris yes Mr President yes I I may have to abstain on item number two as well okay all right did you uh oh you know what I'm sorry I thought it was it probably would have been noted uh sometimes I okay all right well better to be safe Sor thank you Mr wolman you're all set with Miss Ban's vote Yes okay great thank you we're moving on to communication policy and planning agenda Mr sadana thank you Mr President the communication policy and planning committee on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools presents the following five items I move for the adoption of the forgoing okay thank you I should have called Mr Muhammad I apologize I don't know why I said the one name but uh I have a motion by Mr sedan do I have a second second okay motion by Mr Sedana seconded by Miss bouran are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary M Anderson yes M Bordan yes Mr mohamd yes Mr sad yes Mr yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes back to you Mr Sedana for curriculum extracurricular activities and Technology agenda thank you Mr President the curriculum extracurricular activities and Technology committee on the recommend ation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction present the following 16 items I move for the adoption of the forgoing excellent thank you very much I have a motion by Mr Sedana do I have a second second okay a motion by m s Mr Sedana seconded by Mr tree Blaser any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss Bordan yes Mr Mohammad yes Mr Sedana yes Mr tree bler yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes Mr wolferman before we get to the finance and insurance agenda is there anything you would like to report this evening yes thank you Mr President on December 9th 2024 the Woodbridge Township School District received a report on the examination of the Carl D Perkins audit for the project period of July 1 2019 to June 30th 2020 this report was emailed to the entire board as well as the superintendent and the business administrator the findings of the audit were discussed during the finance and insurance committee held on December 17th 2024 in response the appropriate staff members have discussed corrective actions to be taken and will formalize an appropriate plan to be implemented immediately any additional board discussion may be introduced at this time thank you Mr werman are there any comments or questions from the board on the audit seeing none we'll move on to finance and insurance agenda Mr trew thank you Mr President finance and insurance committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretaries presents the following seven items I move for the adoption of the foregoing I have a motion by Mr stre West or do I have a second second okay I have a motion by Mr Tre wer seconded by Miss banne are there any comments or questions from the board seeing none again roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss Bordan yes Mr Mohammad yes Mr Sedana yes Mr treaser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes uh Miss Perez is not here this evening so buildings and grounds Mr valz could you take yes yes thank you Mr President the building and grounds committee on recommendation of superintendent of schools and business administrator board secretary present the following six items and I move for the adoption of for on okay motion by Mr valz do I have a second second okay motion by Mr valz seconded by Mr Tre boster any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr Mohammad yes Mr Sana yes Mr tree baser yes Mr valz yes Mr Harris yes we're going to dining and transportation Mr muhamad I owe you one thank you Mr President the dining and transportation committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the business administrator board secretary presents the following four I'm sorry the following five items I move for the adoption of the for excellent I have a motion by Mr Muhammad do I have a second second okay motion by Mr uh Muhammad seconded by Miss Bordan are there any comments or questions from the board saying none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes M bouran yes Mr Mohammad yes Mr Sedana yes Mr tree baser yes Mr valz yes Mr hars yes Personnel agenda back to you Mr valz thank you Mr President the Personnel committee on recommendation of the superintendent of schools and the assistant superintendent for human resources present the following 41 items and I move for the adoption of the for goinging excellent Mr valz I have a motion by Mr valz do I have a second second okay motion by Mr valz seconded by Miss Anderson any comments or questions from the board seeing none roll call Mr secretary Miss Anderson yes Miss bouran yes Mr mohammd yes Mr sedon yes Mr treaser I will be abstaining on the name Linda treer and item 22 yes on all other items Mr valz Excuse me yes and Mr Harris yes Mr Bush do they have any legal recommendations for us don't this time thank you very much do I have any old business that should be brought before the attention of the board anybody yeah I None any new business seeing none there as well all right I I want to just to add some some comments um first off uh last month I uh I missed the meeting due to a family obligation it was it was my own I was just getting back from my honeymoon and the plane was delayed getting in so I want to thank uh Miss bouran for serving in my place uh it was a fastest meeting so it I probably May uh so thank you very much to to you all for uh your uh you know allowing me to be allowing me to Miss B um in recent years the president has concluded with a yearly recap uh but I will do that uh next month along uh with inclusion my monthly uh Corner newspaper uh column that presidents have done uh yearly I I want to address up the G same thing I started today's meeting with the moment of silence each December I think back to the month before I was sworn into the board seat into my board seat uh which was 12 years ago because it was the month that the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took place only a little more than a 2 and 1 half hour drive from where we sit in this building that Day 26 students teachers and a principal were murdered this week's shooting marked the 83rd school shooting this year surpassing last year's record and the most since school shootings began being tracked 2008 when reading about this very incident I read the comments of Barbara weers she's the director of Elementary and school relations for Abundant Life Christian School uh which is located in Madison Wisconsin if you missed it in the news where Monday's shooting took place she marked she remarked that her students were quote unquote clearly scared uh but she was remarked she I apologize I might not goofed on on the writing here but she remarked how her students were well trained in active shooting drills and handled themselves brilliantly while I commend the students faculty and staff for how they handled this nightmarish uh moment as well as their their preparedness um but as a society we we got a lot of work to do if we are satisfied that our students are proficient in active shooting shooter drills uh finally I want to com uh I want to comment on a Facebook thread uh on one of our Woodbridge mom's groups from several months back I I noted it uh and you took a screenshot of it uh because I one day thought it it might come in handy unfortunately uh for those unfamiliar there's there's at least two Woodridge moms groups there's the Woodridge moms and there's the colonial moms Facebook groups where parents actively ask each other questions about raising kids age appropriateness of a movie or a theme park where to host a birthday party things about a school function Etc I can't say enough about its utility and how many parents so willingly help other parents it's you know it's Facebook and social media and some of those they they have their pitfalls but this is actually one of those things where where Facebook is providing something that that never existed before a community for parents to to speak with one another in in real time uh a mother at the time again this is a couple months ago posted anonymously asking how other moms or parents felt about the safety of our schools another parent responded asking for greater specifics what what do you mean by safety of the wood sship schools the mother who posed the question clarified that she was considering homeschooling her 5-year-old rather than send her child to kindergarten because she was afraid of all the past school shootings happening in our country I was crushed as anyone who read it any person with a heart uh particularly I would imagine anyone of our school board members or administrators who pour their heart and soul into the safety of of our students uh apparently we live in a world in which parents some maybe maybe more than others are afraid to send their children to school fortunately a friendly and respectful pylon ensued Township parents commented that they do feel safe excuse me they appreciate the full-time security guards dedicated to each School the Woodridge police officers who routinely Patrol the exteriors and the other layers of security before during and after school to all the parents students jeez I don't know why I struggle sometimes at these December meetings uh to all the parents students staff I hope you all know that this board and administration will continue to prioritize your safety and we pledge to constantly reassess our preparedness with our law enforcement Partners on behalf of the board I wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season a Merry Christmas a happy Hanukkah a happy Happ Quanza and a Happy New Year I just wanted to add those those thoughts uh based on the events this week so thank you any comments from the rest of the board on their new business thank you uh we will kick it over to our normal uh opportunity for the public to speak on any matter we will now open the meeting for public comment if you wish to say something please come to the microphone provide your name in the section of the Township in which you reside for the record again members of the public are requested to express Express themselves in a civil manner with due respect to dignity and privacy of those whose rights may be impacted please limit your comments to no more than 5 minutes in accordance with a reg with regulation 1100d no response will be given until you have fully completed your comments so as not to interrupt your five minute opportunity to speak so if you uh I see we have many speakers tonight if you want to form a line uh and come up to the microphone again your name in the section of the township which you reside or if you reside outside of town uh please provide that town to us as well thank you thank you president Harris I don't know if she's on I guess Paul lond uh hopel section of town I just have two words I have a lot of articles that I would wish I could share but with five minutes I want to be selective uh I just want you know you know my heart after two years of coming here um there's a lot of issues as a teacher as a human being as a resident I'm concerned with I just want to reiterate that I still believe that the transgender policy is cruel uh confusing children uh about something as fundamental as their sex is cruel children are are trying to make sense of the world and they're being told that gender or sex is a choice and I think it it's insulting to say that that a woman woman and the essence of a woman and The Feminine Mystique is is attained by uh castrating a male or or female and and uh and doing mutilating surgeries on them I know it is the season for for other topics perhaps but I I'm not going to let go of this one until you folks consider strongly resending that policy um I got to imagine no one here if if the transgenderism did not become part of the Psyche on on the radar which I think it really came up strongly during the the lockdowns the co lockdowns would any of you had considered putting forth a policy locally to address that issue it only became an issue during the lockdown during the emotional stress in fact it's you could call it a transmicable increase among boys and a 4,000% increase among young ladies it's called problematizing puberty and it's also criminalizing Parenthood you're letting a child preemptively decide whether they want to share something as as significant as a crisis in identity and you'll let the child socially transition you'll let a boy use the girls room if he so chooses and if the girl's uncomfortable one of the lawyers in in Mr Bush's firm said that the girl would just have to maybe use the nurse's room that they'd be the ones to be inconvenienced I think it's cruel to impose a policy of Dei which has been discredited it's been in fashion for a long time there was a movement called black lives matter that was that proved to be a racket now do black lives matter of course I I want to get a t-shirt at the peak of that I I heard people arguing black lives matter no all lives matter well they're both correct I want to have a t-shirt that said of course they do now we're we're here in in a time where we had a a black president where we had students even in my day knew who Frederick Douglas was and Frederick Douglas is proof in in my view that we we were post-racial when I was growing up why why are they bringing that back and saying that one group of students are victims and the other group of students are oppressors putting people into those baskets it takes away from the dignity and worth of every individual listen you you can't judge people by their their a affinity group you can't judge people you can't say that because I my parents immigrated here from Europe that we are oppressors and now they're demanding reparations from people who never uh held slaves to people who never were slaves there's no sense in this last thing I'll say is I am excited about a new day in America they call it morning in America a new Administration willing to to uh abolish the Department of Education and I've brought this up before all the the school Community decision should be made as locally as possible who knows better the school Community than the parents of Woodbridge than the Board of Ed members why should all these dictates come from on high from the Department of Education as a cabinet level position the njaa I went to the the teachers convention for the second time in my career and besides the the uh drag queens which I don't see at all why they should be at an NGA Teachers Conference there was a cutout of Sean Spiller because the NG the local dues of of the Woodbridge Township and all the local uh Boards of Ed go to the State and it becomes a slush fund for for a Democrat politics tends to ruin everything it certainly ruins people I assume you're all loving people you're going to be you know you have family around you this time of year but I also assume that there's a side of you that's a political animal where you actually are going along getting going along to get along yeah it cannot stand I will be continuing to come back speaking on these issues I've never been been invited to speak behind closed doors so this is my only option right now and I have plenty of Articles if you guys would be willing to read them a lot yeah thank you thank you thank you and have a happy holidays and happy New Year Mr L anyone else wishing to speak this evening welcome hi my name is Jen tenelli I'm from Woodbridge proper and this is my husband Jim hi um my twins attend Woodbridge Middle School and were enrolled in Miss Washington's honors English class it all started at open house when we were told by Miss Washington that she didn't want to teach our students she begged pleaded and cried but here I am from then proce she proceeded to call students stupid tell them her job was to introduce a topic and their job was to teach it to themselves excuse me one second I just want to pause your time for one second to give you amount of your time um I you can speak at whatever topic you want I just want to warn um warn you I'm not your attorney I'm the attorney for the board but that anything that you say up there could potentially is being recorded and could be used by the individual to to claim some sort of civil action def I'm not going to say very much it's just going to be enough and if that's what happens I'm okay with that and I again I'm not judging what you're saying I just want to make sure that you're aware of that and I'll be okay you could resume your time Sor I had just flagged it I heard an employees name wanted to just yeah okay you please want to make sure we're we're not liable for anything I understand I I just sure and perh we could even speak offline if it's it sounds like it's a particular well I've spoken to Dr mamino okay okay um and it's gone nowhere okay so I was hoping to let it all go but it's still going on okay all right understood um I and I really simplified I apologize now I lost myself I apologize um no it's okay she tells children not to B B her because she's too busy grading taking video ins services for Tech that's required by the school district and other issues I became more involved when she began bullying my son who has a 504 and requires extra time due to dyslexia she went as far as telling him you do not deserve special privileges I contact the principal and superintendent for help I was told a investigation would occur I was told I'm not 100% on on target with what's been occurring and your son can come to me for help anytime he needs that's all that was done I finally removed my son from honors English he has never gotten less than an a with dyslexia I am extremely proud of my son who is here and that was a very hard decision as a mother to take away a privilege of being an honor student but I took it away and let his twin sister stay and let him be different even though he's worked so hard from then the teacher's abuse continues just today as she's done this many times she told the kids they would have a test on The Giver it's a two-day long test the first day is questions the second day is essays today was supposed to be the essay but because there was a presentation by the children my daughter's a cheerleader so she had a presentation she decided to give them a different test that they didn't study for this typically results in half the class getting 50s D's FS um I know she has a history of getting in trouble in this town and she was actually suspended for 6 months with pay but no credit for her time increments I thought you should know this because as a local business owner speech therapist I encourage all my special needs parents to come to the schools and ask for help for their children and now I know why they don't I don't understand why a teacher like this continues to teach or not teach whatever you'd like to call it um that's all I have to say it's just a very sad day as a a speech pathologist to see children with special needs who work so hard be removed from an honors class and for my daughter who also works hard who is not special needs that she stays up till 5: in the morning studying for tests to never get them the next day and to get a different test and get a c a d or an F it's very sad and if I need to be taken to court and sued for that I think it's wonderful that somebody hears me I have copies of the letters for the Board of Ed thank you if you can leave them thank you thank you and I'm going to excuse myself thank you thank you anybody else would like to speak this evening please come to the podium me set my timer so I know you don't have to say your timer sir we got you on here we got you on here you you'll hear it go off oh well I want to know countdown anyway Anthony Mar I live in Edison I've been here roughly three times before to speak on the transgender policy 51 45.7 I am not here to speak about that today God says there's a time for everything and a time for every activity under Heaven this is Christmas time and while I truly oppose that policy I'm here tonight to bless each and every member of the the board by name forgive me for mispronouncing your names sir nazan Muhammad may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you may the Christ of Christmas be real to you not just now but always okay sir yes I I appreciate that you're you can pause your time for a second I appreciate that you want to bless everyone and we appreciate I really prefer that you not go Name by name here and bless each person we could take your blessings we'll receive them but this is a this is a public school district if you want to talk about what it is that you want to talk about that's fine but we prefer you not to not go through a specific prayer for each board member it's your prerogative but it doesn't I would like to do that I would am I permitted to continue you're permitted to continue thank you Mr Sedana may you know Jesus Christ is a in a personal way may he be the the Lord of your life Mr valz I pray that you will come to know the one who is the way the truth and the life Jesus Christ Mr traser I pray favor and blessing upon you may he bless you both Now and Forever Mr Harris the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you you the Lord turn his face to you you peace these these blessings I'm doing because I know you guys have a tough tough job thank you who doesn't need God's blessing upon Him Miss bordon May you come to know the love of God our Father through his son Jesus Christ may he be your guide forever and ever M Anderson may the Lord Jesus Christ reign in your heart and the hearts of your family members family members and may his wisdom permeate your life now I see that Mr Del petro and uh Miss Perez are not here I still want to pray a blessing over them perhaps they will see the meeting a recording of it Mr deletro May the Light of Christ rest in your heart and in your mind to where it overflows in Joy now and forever Miss Perez you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ by living according to his word may you know truly love him and serve serve him U it's an honor to come here as I said who doesn't need God's blessing in his his or her life so I pray pray blessing upon you next January I will be back opposing this transgender policy God bless all of you may have a wonderful New Year and wonder wonderful Christmas thank you Merry Christmas yes sir president Harris members of the board my name is George schne I live in the island section of town I am here tonight to speak to you as the coordinator of the Woodridge Township veterans Alliance and I would like to speak about the veterans and Schools project just to give you a little background uh in the spring of this year I was called by the mayor I was told that John Everhart was retiring and moving out of state so he could be with his grandchildren and he told me that I was taking over as the coordinator wasn't given a choice but that was fine uh and so my first major job was to work on the veterans and Schools project in the summer I sent an email to Dr mamino and introduced myself and asked him if we could sit down and have a meeting because uh to be quite Frank I didn't know what I needed to do M Dr masino facilitated the meeting he set it around my schedule because I'm required to be in Trenton three days a week because I'm the agent for the disabled American veterans for the state set up a meeting with himself uh Mr poino and uh Miss Deb Johnny Roy I can't tell you how thrilled I was at the way I was accepted and brought in by these people by these professionals um their patience with me learning a new position uh goes without saying uh we put the we put the program together and I think it went off very well uh and my assignment was to go to schools four and five and schools 23 and speak with the third fourth and fifth graders I met with uh Miss panko at school 4 and five the principal and Dr zga over at school 23 and I have some observations that I was so impressed by in the beginning when you were talking about people coming up and you talked about respect and respect is taught in the home but it's also nurtured in the schools what I saw in these schools between these students and these Educators was a respect for each other the respect of the teacher for the student and the student for the teacher but not only for the position but you could see the respect of people for people and that respect is not taught that respect is earned and in listening to these children talk to their questions um their observations it's obvious that these educators are not teaching tests they're teaching life lessons and I can tell you from the bottom of my heart as a taxpayer in this Township to put it in layman's term I'm getting a hell of a bang for the bucket for my money and I'm very proud to say that I am a product of the wber township education system I went through school here my whole life I'm a graduate of colonial High School some would say some would come luckily uh I but because of my education in this Township I then went on to earn my degree in mathematics from the University of Alabama roll tide under the GI bill but Dr mamino Mr Pino I applaud you and your staff and I thank you for everything you've done and I thank you for my time thank you uh George we'd love to have you at every Schoolboard meeting that was awesome that was that was a nice pep talk and and thank you for your service and and to the the other veterans who joined you for for that that uh that day I believe that was the Friday before November break thank you very much do we have anyone else wishing to speak this evening hi my name is Geral Mago uh from Dolores Turco Foundation thank you for the opportunity to speak and I'd like to thank our veteran uh and all veterans for your service to our nation um I spoke last time about truth and this is again with regard to the uh transgender policies and the sexualization of children today I'd like to talk about wisdom because we want our students to be wise to be able to choose between right and wrong between good and evil and um there's a a a verse that says my people perish for want of knowledge in the Bible and our kids are dying for lack of knowledge some from severe depression and suicide in 20023 the Surgeon General issued the first government advisory epidemic on loneliness and isolation calling it an urgent public issue and the report concluded that church attendance contributes to better mental health and physical health and a decline in church attendance may be leading to the widespread health issues that America's experiencing and if individuals especially kids don't believe in something they'll fall for anything but Faith wisdom and love will help them to flourish make good choices and become the amazing people that they are created to be young people people are living in a culture of chaos confusion and violence they're desperate for a message of Hope and the truth is mankind will only know peace when it turns with trust to God's mercy and God's Mercy is to love the unlovable to forgive the unforgivable and all have access to his Mercy especially the most hardened sinner um again like to talk about wisdom as the fear of a lord but the fear is to fear offending the Lord out of love and obedience and from this disposition um we can become human vessels with hearts with God Spirit of wisdom understanding and counsel and that's what I urge you to do today to be open to that wisdom uh and recognizing the good that God has blessed our nation beginning with those who put their faith and trust in him from the signers of the Declaration of Independence the framers of her Constitution and the men and women who gave their ultimate sacrifice to defend our founding principles of freedom and freedom not to do whatever we feel like but to do what we ought to do and ultimately respect our creator who is the source of all good and our inalienable rights of life liberty and pursuit of happiness are not man-made they're god-given to maintain Liberty a nation must maintain certain principles one is the only basis for sound government is just human relationships of and just relationships is a natural law a free people cannot ser survive the Republic Constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong and without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained um and as this relates to the sexualization and transition of children these are these policies are inconsistent with natural law and violate God's law the fact that more than half of the states in our country and entire nations around the world as well as medical societies are rejecting condemning and banning these procedures for children should give some pause to question the Integrity of such policies and the Prudence of choosing to follow them the message the American people sent to our public servants on November 5th was loud and clear do not mess with our freedom of speech do not mess with our freedom of religion and do not mess with our kids and anyone who believes it's okay to sexualize children and lie to them about their God god-given biological sex will find themselves on the wrong side of history but those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who lead many to righteousness shall be like stars forever and that's a quote from the Bible whoever listens to these words and acts on them will be W will be like the wise man who built his house on Rock the rain fell the floods came the winds blew and buffeted the house but it did not collapse because it has been set on solidly on Rock so may God give you the wisdom to know his will the willingness to accept it and the courage to carry it out and God bless you and I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy Hanukkah to you and your families thank you very much good evening everyone my name is Jim Vargas and I live in in Mammoth Beach 55 Ocean Avenue um my whole background is Corporate a lot of things went on I never expected to be in front of school boards in the last two years something happened back in my home my previous home in in uh Flemington where uh a member my Parish was physically attacked and then later on one of the another member had was was fired for his beliefs and so I got involved since that point in time I've been in front of probably that board 20 times probably other 30 boards I've testified in the state school board I've been in front of Congress I've been in front of legislators what I've seen is that this country is built into a rur where the individual was important the S family was Sanctified and decisions were mess made at a local at a by local policy that is what exists here in the school board unfortunately our government in this state and Across the Nation many ways believes that uh the individual is subject to the skate the uh family is second to the skate and decisions are best made by experts at a high level and I'd like to share with you some of the thoughts I had and the observations I had as I went through both in front of Congress in front of the state legislature first on Mental Health we know it's a great problem here and these school districts especially yours are doing great things to help our children this Congress put a law that removed the used to be that you had to be over 16 to ask for to ask for mental health in the school the reason Congress reduced that to 14 in a case since there's 12.1 million people in our school system that removed the decision from about 200,000 parents I've been at boards and at three times there are people talked about the health system every one of them said one of the system factors that that ensures success is participation app parent but yet our government keeps elimi it and when I challenged them at the testimonial board they just said no more people do it and if they're good kids they'll go anyway which really isn't true the second thing the transgender implementation paral notification gender identity okay the law came out that said every student you know has to be accept their gender and pronoun and stuff like that that's a law you have to you have to you have to address that but also said you don't have to inform the parent again going back to the point where a parent should be involved in in their children's lives so what we ask here is where you should put into a policy that you will always notify the parent and involve the parent you may have that some do many don't but without this what what people are doing is going around are going around the parents need additionally there are there are teachers that participate in in supporting students so a student leave the house as Joe go to the house change go to the school as Jane come back change and go home as Joe the parents never do it I can tell you four or five parents that have been through this have a policy that's that teachers cannot do this and make it painful if they don't um sex education it's been talked about before when you look at it it's what's being taught today is that sex is good it's your sex from when you're born to when you die uh any sex is okay even in U it's a lot of the training that goes on there's a thing called a maze which is a major training program and it talks about things like mansturbation you can do that 10 times a day it talks about uh pornography and says it doesn't do any damage it's okay just don't take it seriously yet we know we know that pornography is addictive and it just actually changes brain pattern so we're getting things that's being funded by Planned Parenthood and Maze is being chipped out of the University of uh Ruckers over here so the thing is the whole sex education thing is can be put up to be that's a view of of religion in a sense of of at least Norms how you should act it differ from Minds it differ from many people it's an essence of really inflicting um a religion on our students and it shouldn't be so the thing you can do about it is there's an opt out policy you I know you you haven't people do it change that to an op in make it a positive thing where I want to be part of this thing if I wanted to let them do it but don't force people to do to get into it um how am I doing on time J okay the thing about saying is that what you are here is you're the line to defense for us you are the ones that represent parents and I'm telling you what I see both at the government when I see into the schools what I see at the even the State Board of Education is a force of a view of the world that believes that the that the government is is should be enforced and that children should be managed by the government your rule here your role here is protect us and I really really would pray for that so thank you for your time uh and I'll send you my notes thank you thank you anyone else wishing to speak this evening um johnari wbit good evening everybody well for Less four years lots of us especially you people over here qualify what you do job was and I believe if you listen a lot of things you had to do or you was told to do you probably didn't agree with most of it but you did it because but the g j before said your job is to teach the kids cuz they in your hands once they leave their parents you shouldn't be listening to top politician or anybody else listen to their parents that's your fruit that's your success to skits never mind a politician that collected disected they throw office he going to be gone he going to forget but those kids are going to remember you forever you might be a mentor to somebody you don't even know one day you say just good morning to some child they need a help and it's going to preach it the more than somebody give you anything but as you know for Less 4 years I'm here a long time in this country I think the country is so divided among the people against our neighbors against the children we never had a police in schools I don't say you don't have to have them why are the kids fighting why the parents fighting because somebody from the top tells them that should be like this should be like that should be like that we find our LEL as a people we are humans we find out what's best for the community for best for our future we can't leave somebody but get get to any kind of office I don't it's religion or political we cannot go on like we did I think you're going to see it in a beginning probably next year I believe there will be less pressure to tell you people how to teach what to do what not to do because all of you I don't see all teachers but you on School Board you went to do this profession that's we did to do that's so we want from you take care of those kids anything else let the religion take their own course let the politician take their own course that's not your job don't let them dictate to you because that was wrong and I've seen it for many times you got who you answering but you got into so and so and so no you got a position you got elected by the people and you can do if they they don't like it tell goodbye but again it's a it's a great great great country why do we experiment something no other country in the world experient that if you are top why would you do something that just a for hell let's do something different if it works don't break it we have a good people we get our neighbors get together especially when wood we see what's things like being changed but kids that's all we want for you and to the parents if the parents need help they're going to come to you don't let the kids be afraid to ask you for help don't let the parents be afraid to ask for help that's what we want from you and I know you can do it God bless you I know most of you for a long time there was hting I know what going on but again last 4 years it's over and I think we got a new beginning that's why I look at it and you want to get this pressure like I said before that somebody's going to tell you dictate you you got to do this and that no said no I was elected by the people I'm working for the people and I of course them even get paid you got good principal you got good teachers they're proud they love you and let's do it but do not do not cave into any kind of pressure from the Top If there any type pressure to the top you can go to the higher because anybody I GRE have been Comm this country we had Wars all people H big deal they l a soldier but once when the students uprise they overthrow the governments you don't worry about the old people you don't people to V for you but students the colleges the school schs if the kids are not successful if they're not happy they would Rebel and then we got a problem only way it's not going to be they're going to Rebel because if they're United if you make him fight against each other I know like I said blue blue states red States that's where we start the problem so our job is to keep those young people in power to love each other they're proud Americans and be enough for everybody so that's what we going to have to do and I know you can do it but again what press is behind you and God bless you all happy Hanukkah merry Christmas happy New Year and we'll see you next year congratulations have a good night anyone else wish to speak this evening Char can I just say one thing sure absolutely so I hate to say this but at one point I agreed with Mr lond somebody said to me black lives matter and I said all lives matter and somebody sent me something that clarified it and I realized that we couldn't be more diametrically opposed and what it goes like this is if my wife comes to me in obvious pain and asks do you love me and I answer her I love everyone would be truthful but also hurtful and cruel in the moment if a coworker comes to me upset and says my father just died and I respond every parent dies would be truthful but cruel in the moment so when a friend speaks up in a time of obvious pain and HT her and says black lives matter and my response is all lives matter is truthful however it's cruel and hurtful in the moment thank you thank you Mr Tre waser to uh to finish on a on a a a happy note relative to the season of giving with the holiday season I know Dr maso joined mayor McCormack and other Township officials here at school 11 earlier this afternoon uh Amazon uh who's one of the largest employers in woodrige Township with over 1,800 employees donated uh 70 winter jackets to to the woodrige township students at Dr Mato thank you for representing us so I just want to give a a special shout out recognition to Amazon so thank you very much to Amazon it's employees who uh who provided those jackets to us thank you very much if I see no other comments from the board so motion may I entertain a motion to adjourn some motion okay I heard from Mr tree waser do I have a second second all right motion by Mr Tree bler seconded by miss foran all in favor any opposed carried this meeting is Jour we will see you on Thursday January the 2nd for our reorganization meeting at 6 PM right here in the gym thank you have a good night