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2% um yes and um the rest are either no or some students are worried that they would snitch but um that's all we have for today thank you for your time and we're also here and support the teachers as well thank you so much is uh did we find Maya Maya yes uh love B I want to say bab it's B there's similar topics for not pronouncing your name correctly go ahead and introduce yourself um hello and good evening my name is Maya laab and this is my partner manoda sorry my name is Maya laab and this is my partner manoda and we are soon to be graduates from Cypress high school and as we approach another graduation we wanted to bring to your attention how upset students are regarding the elimination of graduation sashes and courts I wanted to take the opinion of those of you in the audience would you be which one stands out more this pen or these sashes and courts s [Applause] and high school graduation is the first real milestone in a student educational journey and it is probably the first ceremony they are attending and celebrating which should be celebrated in a proper manner Sasha and cords have been a tradition in graduation since the 14th century taking away these traditional accessories really takes away the rewarding and special experience of graduation the district took away this tradition without contacting any students or parents of this change pins do not emphasize the accomplishments of students many students take AP and honors classes as well as attending clubs and achieving many more accomplishments to be able to display their hard work for their loved ones instead of the cords and sashes they receive pin that are disappointingly small and do not show off the dedication of the students we understand that not everybody can afford the cords and sashes but it is not fair for those who earn them and can afford them my partner and I created a survey for staff and students to take and we were able to reach almost 400 people so why this change why now we seniors object and would like to return to having the option of sessions and chords in our graduation thank you right so what I am told is that there's about a 50-second delay so I'd like to get uh the students up kind of standing in line from the from the other room can I have Gabriela ail Aila Andrew Campuzano and Miguel Calderon Miguel Calderon Andrew kusano Gabriela Aila or Aila welcome thank you good evening parents community members Board of Trustees and my fellow peers my name is Gabi Aila a current senior at Anaheim high school as we move forward to have our voices heard us students stand in agreement to advocate for the return of the sashes sashes are a reaffirm affirmation of our values our traditions and our identity it is a decaration to the world that we refuse to be defined by anything less than our hard work that we demand recognition for our achievements and that we will not settle for anything less than greatness if we want to see student rates in attendance involvement academics increase let them see that their work is valued and worthy of something better than a pin if action if action is not taken a rapid decrease in student participation in academics will happen we call upon the district to bring this time honored this time honored tradition so we may wear it proudly as we step out into the world ready to conquer new challenges and seize New Opportunities it Bears witness to the late nights spent looking over textbooks the early mornings and late evenings dedicated to extracurricular Pursuits and a myriad of sacrifices made in pursuit of Excellence it is a reminder that our individual accomplishments are intertwined with the collective tapestry of our graduating class a tapestry rich in diversity resilience and unwavering resolve based on previous events history highlights the fact that an educational institution is only as effective as the people on the school will permit that is why we stand here representing every student in the auhsd district demanding change thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you Andrew let's go Andrew Miguel oh good parents community members Board of Trustees and my fellow peers my name is Andrew kusano I am a current city of Anaheim commissioner and I am a student recognition and teacher Advocate a few months ago I was up before this dis advocating for student recognitions achievements work and sashes I am proud of the work that we have done the endorsements we have received and I still urge the board to reconsider this decision I am here in support not only of our sashes and stalls but of our ahsd teachers and say that I strongly oppose the RFS and I stand with our ahsd teachers and urge you to please reconsider this this action it has come to my attention that some of the people working in this very office have fallen astray from the schools and their interests I have not met a single student who has demonstrated an interest in pins various programs are still Distributing and receiving these sashes because we refuse to end this tradition and it has honored us and rewarded us for our work I want to commend the students at catella for their work and defend their rights to walk out and protest of these proceedings in support of my teachers I have this to say having been in this boardroom various times and always looking at these various CTE Pathways that are posted up around these walls they are shown off well those programs would not be possible without the dedication and commitment our teachers have to our school communities the cab seal of excellence and our dual Language Academy painted at Anaheim High School very quickly once again would not be possible without our [Applause] teachers Additionally the countless coaches and mentors across our schools that are constantly bringing championships and victories I want to thank you what we need to do instead of getting rid of these teachers is to expand various programs that are already in our schools a possible option is creating more CVA courses and expanding AP classes and other classes additionally we can stop the accept to spending on digital platforms one of my teachers put it MinGa and E Cadence are not a necessity we can use free digital platforms like Google classroom and spending instead of spending this money ladies and Gentlemen please refra and then being removed as a teacher just to be laid off what if we were to remove more seats on this board or in this office I don't think you guys would like that we need to fight for our teachers please help us thank you everyone ladies and gentlemen I appreciate your enthusiasm but they're on a time so let's try not to interrupt their speaks okay U Miguel Calderone okay uh Pearl [Applause] T and up next Halen win that's all right we'll wait for you let me know when it starts okay like this I'm G test this hello okay there were many messages I've seen around the schools from students parents and teachers about this issue this was one of the many that stuck out to me I feel like they aren't giving teachers enough of a chance especially the younger teachers teachers have and teachers have and are giving us a chance to flourish why are we not giving them this chance teachers have given us a chance in various ways through teacher recommendations contribution to events meetings sports clubs counseling mentoring and much more they are creating what I call the domino effect with enough energy they will touch our lives and move us forward one at a time one at a time these teachers have set aside individualized attention towards us I had a history teacher and if it weren't for her I would have learned the simple yet effective way of learning through flashcards and effective questioning my English teacher has taught me ways to express myself and if it weren't for her I wouldn't be able to speak up about this issue our teachers have given us a chance do you all remember when you were all students these teachers have helped us build up to where you are today do you remember what a teacher has done for you or encourage you to serve in our district don't forget where you came from what encourage you to serve in our district don't forget where you came from how would your teacher feel that an educational environment like ours is doing this to our teachers you were all students like just like us how would you feel if one of your favorite teachers were to be laid off how different would your path be I don't get why we are laying off teachers I do understand that it has something to do with the decrease in attendance and the loss in funds and the budget but if you think about it would laying off teachers be good in this situation people come to school to learn and and if we lay off teachers there there would not only be a loss in subjects but clubs Sports organizations Etc we wouldn't have the necessary resources different indid individuals to learn and some may think well why should I enroll if they don't have something for me they wouldn't enroll and they would already have more loss of funds for the current teachers if you push teachers away the Domino will fall backward in education we should be moving forward students wouldn't be able to achieve their go ahead keep going wouldn't be able to achieve their goals without teachers recommendation this includes scholarships scholarships jobs and programs that further our development even exist with without a club adviser Sports another Spa another space that demonstrates teamwork and the importance of Improvement teachers have opened our eyes to unlimited opportunities we cannot be unlimited to you if you limit us haly win and up next Dian [Applause] win good evening Board of Trustees parents and students my name is Haley nen a junior at Oxford Academy students have come out here today because we are upset with the lack of compassion extended towards our teachers in this massive layoff we understand that the district is facing declining enrollment and attendance we understand that considering those statistics the budget has to be dialed in but we don't understand why this has to come off the backs of teachers alone the district emphasizes the five C's yet students feel that this decision to lay off over a hundred teachers while leaving all other sectors untouched shows no compassion La of transparency regarding skipping criteria and layoff Logistics shows no communication at Oxford Academy seven teachers were notified that they could lose their job if every one of those teachers were let go that's half of the English Department gone 25% of the math 25% of the social sciences Department gone at Cyprus 23 teachers received a layoff note noce this layoff threatens the community the schools these are senior teachers that have had experience for years in these schools who know the culture who understand the environment and to swap them out so easily as the most convenient solution hurts students and hurts schools we are not asking for no teachers to be laid off we are concerned that ahs's solution to reeling in the budget affects teachers alone with no other consider with no consideration to other areas in the budget that we could proportionally cut instead we ask for a compromise be it retirement incentives or or cutting back programs and materials rather than cutting back Pro rather than cutting back over a 100 of a with impactful Educators and we we emphasize that you must preserve as many teachers livelihoods as possible preserving the ones that serve the students more than anyone else thank [Applause] Youk you up next after die is Ashley 10 hello everyone first I just want to say thank you to everyone who showed up today to show support to our teachers I also want to thank the district admins and the Board of Trustees for letting us voice our concerns about the matter we want you to understand that teachers go be and beyond the call of duty every day for all students here's a collection of firsthand experiences to help you see how important it is to keep as many a teacher in our district as possible an alumni from catella my English teacher offered to pay my Chromebook fee after it got taken away in my car being repoed so that I could graduate my econ teacher sponsored me in a talent show and was like a father figure to me my math teacher made sure I always fed I was always fed and was so so kind my Spanish teacher got me out of debt and paid for my AP exam Al alumni from Anaheim in 2013 I was on the verge of wanting to commit suicide it was in January around the same time a teacher had passed away in the same break my stepmom passed away and my biological dad became abusive again my biot teer at the time did not know I was going through all of that and took the time out of her day to talk to me before she started the class because of her and the conversation I sought to see a therapist and finally gained the courage to speak up about the s in the physical abuse I was going through I have never told her that because of her I am where I am today and I haven't had a chance to thank her because she made an impact in my life I am proud I am a proud product of the ahsd and I am currently working at Dale Junior High while I am in the middle of working on my teaching credential program at Cy Long Beach I hope to one day be as good as teacher like my biot teer who genuinely showed that she cares about all of her students I have to have the privilege of having so many amazing teacher through education and because of all of them I want to be a teacher from Oxford my teacher has been great in helping advise the black student union on our campus and really keeping this club alive because of a small black population at my school the club has had a difficult time occurring in enough membership to remain a club during this past year where the club was reinstated our teacher has put in her own time energy and money to keep the club running through the many activities we decided to implement this year on our on our new board from Kennedy my history teacher is often sick and forced to miss school a lot however even when she's really tired and frail she still come to school to teach us she's the teacher that makes me laugh the most and her humor super relatable to us most of all she's the only teacher that I've had who was willingly to teach us real life skills to open our eyes to all the Civics and Justice in our society she prepared us for all real world and is a realest teacher I know with that I want to thank you to all the teacher that have made an impact on our students thank you for sharing the time with us in the classroom we will always be forever in debt with your compassion and to the Board of Trustees I hope you find the stories of these individuals memorable enough to save our teachers before robbing another students experience from these teachers thank you and next up Jade Juan good evening my name is Ashley Chen as someone who's been quite involved in campus to hear the teacher layoff dishearten me addressing the contract with the Anaheim secondary Teachers Association the board should promote class sizes within the best interest of the students concerned however cutting the teachers will inevitably cause an increase in the classroom sizes these large classroom sizes are not ideal to work in especially when classes can only accommodate enough seats for a certain number of students teachers will be overwhelmed and have a hard time providing enough student enough attention for each student's needs and as for the students they will be disengaged if their teacher fails to take control of the classroom's attention which will ultimately harm the students education this leads on to my question as to why the layoff is only regarding the teachers and not the faculty as a whole additionally I want to ask some further questions what are the other Alternatives that the board have come up with to reduce the budget in the past and why have those methods failed to lead that led to the layoffs we see in other districts they have yet to have a mass layoff more or less a layoff targeted only to teachers how will the board continue to allocate their budget into ensuring that the teachers are not at risk once more who will be the one benefiting at the end of the day thank you U next up lukman Muhammad oh sorry hi I'm Jade H and I'm a junior um and currently I go to Cypress high school and in my years of high school I've gone to two different ones currently attending Cypress high school and I previously went to Magnolia and at Magnolia my English teacher taught me how to embrace my identity and encouraged my writing of topics I was passionate about she prioritized my safety even outside of school and constantly made my time in her class comfortable and my history teacher at Cypress high school has made my learning more enjoyable it's made me so engaged that I look forward to learning because I've built a true connection with my teacher I've never truly left with a teacher before them in expressing that I hope it becomes clear that teachers all throughout ahsd have been a necessity to the growth of students while I do agree that something needs to change especially taking into account the decreasing enrollment rate and the decreasing attendance rate the narrowed focus on laying off our teachers will directly affect the students teachers are the building blocks of our education and knowing that cuts are not being distributed within other employment positions at ahsd is genuinely dis in learning that we might be losing the teachers that we love is devastating and the students will feel it if we are to lose the teachers that have changed so many of our lives and I know for a fact that this is a sentiment all of my fellow students here today [Applause] feel welcome good morning board superintendent matsuda and the audience my name is Lucan Muhammad and I'm senior from Oxford Academy for sever several years it has been this dist District's mission to educate students on the importance of utilizing the five C's today I hope the board may be able to practice the fifth SE compassion for both our students and teachers that contribute to fostering a healthy learning environment within aohd a group of a students have gathered here today to request that we keep our teachers I and every other student here would not have had the courage to be in front of you if it weren't for the incredible mentorship and coaching that the teachers you plan to lay off have demonstrated the mass layoffs of teachers will only hurt the student staff relationship within our school communities the maintenance of this relationship is vital for pushing students to attend it and stay in school affecting this could cause an increase in chronic absence rates and will not attract students from outside District boundaries despite us students being fairly young we've gone through enough schooling to understand a basic math equation no Educators equals no education the pro the programs and advancements in artificial intelligence that aohd offers cannot replace the unfathomable work amount of work our teachers do so our number one priority should be maintaining the security of the jobs of our teachers today I ask why our teachers why could the most essential resource to the education of the students within our district why attack the very root of the successes of our community why boast about the pride of the programs we offer and the facilities we are constructing if we can't help to keep the teachers that provide the most benefits to our students why should we bear the burden of but why should they bear the budget the burden of our budgeting problems why cut the only resources we have we have that has a personal effect on students this decision goes against several of the ideas mentioned within the aohd core values so today I ask is aohd education working for students or is it the other way around thank you let's have uh Kylie I'm going to call first name so it can be quicker Kylie Emily AIA and then Valentina welcome uh yeah thanks for having me I appreciate it uh I'm a senior from Cypress High School um great to be standing in front of you all uh I'm not going to lie to you like half of that budget talk went right over my head um but I'm not really here to listen to that I'm here because I believe that when people are in need you help them um especially when they've been there for you and and even if they haven't you should still step up to bat for people who need it um it's one of the things that the teachers at Cyprus have have taught me um because when I joined the chess club the advisor sat down with me and taught me my first opening move um he started my love for chess my old history teacher sits in his room every day with me listens to my problems and he was actually the first teacher that I confided about confided in about my my depression and it really helped me recover um I've been out of therapy for basically a year now and I'm feeling significantly better um what I'm trying to say and not so many words is that these people have always loved me have always supported me have always stuck up for me when I needed it even when I didn't know how to stand up for myself um they taught me that I'm a person who was Worthy of love and care and support and I'm just so tired of them seeing tired of seeing them being taken advantage of and beaten down by the people in their lives they do not deserve this over 100 of them being laid off that's absolutely ridiculous is this a way to to repay them for all of the the work all of the love that they've put into these students lives because I don't think so you know what I'm stepping up for them and you have a higher responsibility than me do you not 17 years old speaking at this board meeting taking time out of my day what's your excuse thank you [Music] [Applause] K welcome am I looking at Emily AIA and Valentina welcome good evening our names are AA Jabar Valentina Morales and Emily Rizzo we are seventh graders at syamore Junior High and the reason we stand in front of you today is because of a Stephanie farfan or to us miss farfan it has come to our attention that there will be teacher cuts and we are here to convince you to let us keep our amazing teacher Miss farfan is our seventh grade da math honors teacher da stands for dual Language Academy something that makes Miss F fun so special is that there has not been a single day where Miss F fan is not greeting us outside the door with the biggest smile on her face when we walked into Miss Fan's room on the first day of school she was extremely welcoming and we all knew that her class was going to be a safe and fun learning environment not only has she made learning fun and enjoyable but she has also encouraged us to try our best and push ourselves something that I really personally found special about her was that she took the time to learn my name my name is typically harder to pronounce and most teachers take a good week or so to uh learn my name but after the first day of school Miss Fon got it down which I thought was very thoughtful for her Miss vodan provides help for her class before and after school if you don't understand a certain topic She'll always do her best to make sure that you get it whether it's helping during independent class time staying after school just just so she could do a one-on-one learning session or doing it before class starts Miss fatan is always willing to open up her classroom and stay after school so so students can have a fun place to hang out and catch up on homework she truly makes all of us feel cared about whenever when her presence and in less than one year she has showed true compassion and genuine care and interest in us not just as students but as people we know that cuts are being made based off seniority but her impact and contribution to syamore Junior High School the da program and my peers ATA we're here to ask you to save her job and let her keep her spot at Sycamore Junior High School and in the Dual Language Academy it would be a shame for other students to not be able to be a part of her class and they would be missing out on all the amazing things that she has to offer um sorry um I also spoke to my dad about the tough choices that us board members have to make and I personally wish that the board and the union would have made a choice to give lower pay raises to teachers so that way you could save more teachers such as Miss F fan who are investing in us and in our future I hope that both sides will think about this next time that you have have to make such a tough decision we also brought with us a lot of letters from her students that could not make it here today but they also think that Miss Fon should keep her spot in Sycamore Junior High School thank you and I hope you have a good [Applause] night Sarah and Yara and Sophia and Emma was the first one Sarah Sarah Emma Sophia oh any yeah anyone can come up welcome good evening I want to first thank everyone here tonight for being engag and not only the teachers among us today but for taking a part in my future for the record my name is Sarah alud I am in the 10th grade I'm here to help represent my fellow classmates at Cypress High School I am a child of two first generation immigrants from Syria as a child I was never able ble to receive help for school due to our language barrier so I relied heav on everything the school provided I relied on those teachers to be passionate on what they were teaching I relied on those teachers who made a difference in my education help guide me to a path that engaged me to ask questions and learn about the world around me a which is D loves to push the resources they provide in within the district but are blinded by the fact that not all students are the same the district blindly ignores how students have the power to feel comfortable around teachers as it is a profound connection one cannot share with the counselor a student just needs to relief that a teacher sees a future in them not just 55 minutes till a class rotates and ends up leaving the student to overpow projects amongst themselves that they too can earn validation or worse believe a student isn't capable to learn like other students because they aren't smart enough I've seen many my friends spiral over a bad grade and 90% of the time it's because they didn't make an effort to check up on the student to see if they really understand but who can blame the teacher they have to try and engage 40 students in the span of five days a week over and over on an endless cycle the CTA also known as the California teacher Association has their set maximum class sizes due to the California Education Code for any board members wanting to follow along I'm referring to sections 41376 and 41378 where grade levels from kindergarten to 8th grade have set class sizes only problem is after 8th grade it is decided and deemed to the district what class sizes are acceptable for those still following along this section was made in 1964 making this code 60 years old only thing is our culum chain become more difficult our population Rises we need teachers who are here to impact our students lives make it better not cut back on teachers because it's mandated by the state a isz needs to push smaller classes and more teachers as Studies have proven it is one of the most effective ways for students to learn as as Harvard Princeton Yale you name it they've all back these studies so today I'm not asking but stating a which is D to stop the selective staff cut because it won't benefit anyone but cause a plummet and hope for for students because if our teachers can't maintain a job due to those yearly cuts that appear out of the blue then what makes our futures any more stable thank [Applause] you welcome hello my name is Emma Ortiz I'm a senior at anahim high school today I'm speaking on the issues surrounding that of teacher layoffs and sashes teacher layoffs result in higher cost for each additional teacher notified teachers already are very low funded in both their subjects and personally at each School within the ahsd district by laying off these teachers you not only take away from students education from teachers survival but also from our education within the community that many parents have fought for students to have today all the dedication these teachers have put into this district is being wasted on the matter of sashes I believe that since the district members aren't in current student position PA they cannot understand the impact they have on students by removing the sashes from schools I myself have worked so hard my entire life and as well as have teachers globally to Showcase accolades of My Success by revoking sashes and replacing them with pins as an alternative for our schools my work has gone to waste same can be said for all of the students witnessing this event today I have worked restlessly for my academics and all of that has gone to waste unless we are to enact the change students are asking for you to enact as a resident of Anaheim I would like to see Anaheim prosper and grow with the times but because of these issues discussed today I do not see that change happening anytime soon this has gotten into the breaking point for some residents leading to the major decline in population and Anaheim due to either residents moving or for other unforeseen events such as these issues today looking at all of this information side by side I can understand why res residents are looking towards other cities in California for residency I urge every single board member to enact a change students have voiced out about today if we do not change I can guarantee to this the board that they will see a decline in students attendance and academics as a whole thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today thank you Emma Sophia or Yara Sophia or Yara is the last one who's the next person Sophia or Yara I'm doing first names I speak okay welcome hello thank you so much um let's see can I okay hello okay thank you all right um hello everyone hello board members hello audience students parents everyone that came here to listen thank you so much for this opportunity to speak I am a student at catella high school and I am also a first generation student my name is Yara Sanchez I am currently a junior I am a member of intermediate dance as well as J to see a member of various clubs too a few maybe a few days ago maybe last week we had a walk out to protest pins and and The Disappearance of sashes I saw how powerful and how United us students were under a cause and then I heard about this the teacher reduction and I knew that I would be here not only just for students but for teachers as well the school school is my second home teachers and all my friends and all the students are my second family I think I've spent more time at school than anywhere else I will not be here without my teachers I owe them so much I owe them most of what I am today the opportunities I have right now and the person that I am I owe to my teachers I thank them so much I thank all teachers here and all counselors that are listening thank you so much for all the effort you have put and all the passion you put into your work I owe so much to my teachers and I could not imagine how school would look like how my life would look like without them and if I had any if there's any reduction in staff I have a bigger class size no I could not succeed as much as I did today I think the board so much for listening I thank all of you here that are in support of teachers without teachers our schools are nothing teachers are the heart of our schools and I really hope you board members consider my words as well as the words of others that have come here to speak on behalf of them thank you so [Applause] much okay um hi my name is m I'm a sophomore iella and I want to protest for or say some words for Pence because um as well as Yara I also did um I was at the protest at say saying some words um I did see many people say that they didn't want any pins and that we have done so much so many hours so much effort we have been to sweat and tears anxiety um so much that we think that we should get some courts and be proud of what and show what we have done for many hours because school like y said is like our second home um we have literally done so much not just us but also teachers um and I think from a personal background um my parents came from another state coming over here um saying that we want the best for you and I want to show them how much I have done and show them but not just but not just by pins Accords thanks Sophia welcome good afternoon ladies and gentlemen um today I'm here to talk about the shortest of staff and teachers I am from sore junior high school and I'm here to support all of my teachers and [Applause] staff I owe a lot of thanks to all my teachers that are supporting me and I want to thank Miss L Boles and Miss wakabayashi for for being my math and science teacher they are really showing me a lot this year Miss Miss B is showing me how to do slopes and all the fractions and Miss Wabi showing me about all the dinosaur in sections and about space that helped it l um sorry if any other teachers are here from Sycamore my bad thank you everyone for the support that has been here today and thank you for your [Applause] time so I just want to say thank you so much to our students who came here we know it's not easy to get up here and speak in front of a crowd to get up on the day is um this is very uh heartfelt and emotional uh for you and we heard you and we are listening and taking notes um and uh if you ever uh you know want to sit down with any of the board members or cabinet um I understand that cabinet members have been meeting with uh students and uh we we really appreciate hearing um your words of truth and your Insight um it helps us uh be better at our jobs and uh we thank you for coming forward thank you okay moving on to reports of the associations uh Mr [Applause] Morgan so just to clarify right before you start the time five minutes right you all right so it's okay wow how about those students I haven't started yet haven't started yet getting ready getting ready all right good evening board president Randall tro Board of Trustees superintendent mana and cabinet tonight my Association reports is about the district's proposed budget reduction plan which directs the elimination of 110 teachers that's right 110 full-time teachers that's almost 10% so what does the loss of 110 teachers mean 2third of our current students will not have another class with at least one of their current teachers this is a tremendous loss to our students in response to the needs and the asks of our community our teachers have created many new and inventive course offerings added to this the districtwide move to SII model for special education it's no longer uncommon for teachers to have three four sometimes five unique class preps losing 110 teachers will only amplify that a teacher cannot effectively prepare for so many classes teachers will be unable to differentiate instructions for their students and provide Behavior or social emotional support it will severely impact the quality of our students learning conditions I have seen teachers and their students in this boardroom sharing amazing achievements standing here with their families smiling and taking pictures losing 10% of our teachers will guarantee that many of these student opportunities will disappear it will be impossible for the remaining teachers to take on these roles and above and beyond they're already overflowing plates a teacher shared a recent story with me from a student who spoke at at elcap stakeholder meeting the student shared that it takes a long time to get help because their teacher has so many students to help every day in so many different ways cutting 110 teachers will further decrease the opportunities for students to receive individualize attention from their teachers teachers realize that we're facing a significant decline in enrollment on the face of it cutting 110 teachers indicates a state of emergency when it comes to our fisical well-being is it how is it no other district is closing is close to cutting 10% of their teachers we've done our research only two Elementary districts are cutting a combined total of 23 teachers letting so many teachers go seems like we're heading off a financial cliff if this is the case why are no other employees targeted for layoffs no District administrators no side administrators counselors social workers psychologists District or site classified staff now I am not advocating to lay off these other employees but something doesn't seem right about a plan that only directs the laying off of 110 teachers who are the only employees in our districts that spend their entire work day in the classroom with students as I said before we understand declining enrollment we are projected to lose 1300 students next year definitely not good news but that law should equate to about 45 teachers not 110 last year the clear direction of elcap was to reduce class size and support staff ratios almost $12 million was spent on these reductions with 4.5 of it spent on non-teachers not a single individual from this group other than teachers have been designated for layoff the decision to cut 110 teachers flies in the face of what our community has been asking for through the lcap process the district's budget reduction plan led to a notice of reduction in force for 195 permanent status teachers think about that 195 in some cases reaching back to 20 years of service I can't even imagine what the next few months are going to be like for these teachers as they hope and pray that their layoff notice will be rescinded almost one out of five of our permanent status teachers will be trying to conduct business as usual while working under a cloud of anxiety uncertainty and fear their careers access to healthare means by which they support themselves and their families are on the line and how this layoff process was rolled out definitely does not reflect the fifth C compassion I want to finish my Association report on the topic of class size there is a belief out there that class size doesn't matter as a 24e veteran of teaching Junior High history I can tell you class size Matters the teacher sitting here in this boardroom will strongly attest to the fact that class size Matters I ask you to genuinely engage our teachers our students and their families and meaningful discussions about class size I can't imagine saying to our students in their families that their authentic lived experiences are completely based on a false premise why are you saying to our school Community I understand what you're saying but we know better I applaud our joint efforts to build community schools in Anaheim key to this transformational strategy is that we listen we see and we acknowledge the unique assets and experiences of those we strive to serve I now ask you to listen to our school Community furthermore it is unconscionable that teachers should be asked to forego a raise or even a cost of living increase to fund reasonable class [Applause] size there could be additional information or impending decisions that I'm not aware of that might mitigate the loss of 110 teachers if so I'm happy to engage in those conversations however if this is the budget reduction plan in its entirety or in its majority then I see foresee additional conversations not just with me and not just with the AA leaders in this boardroom tonight I appreciate you listening and I encourage you to heed the community's call to action in the coming months thank you [Applause] Dr sasai I like saying that Dr leai good even evening Madame President Randall tryo Board of Trustees superintendent matsuda executive cabinet students parents and school Community joining us in person and online we appreciate the opportunity to dress you today as we navigate through these challenging times together is important for us to acknowledge the concerns that we have all noted from the recent notices of reductions in forc to the fiscal responsibility we must uphold in the life of declining student enrollment despite these obstacles I stand before you with optimism and a firm belief in our ability to overcome I want to take a moment to celebrate the success of our students during the winter sports season and congratulate Western and Savannah for their CIF State runs in our Junior highs we wrapped up a wonderful season in sports and we want to encourage students to continue to participate and get involved in extracurricular activities at their home site I also want to highlight the beautiful International Day events throughout the month of February the girls engineering day cave student teacher and staff presentation and a huge shout out to our the following schools for their California distinguished School recognition Cyprus Kennedy Lexington Oxford and magoya high schools I also want to thank Our Community Partners and organizations for in for sponsoring the incredible AI Summit the summit was not only a testament to our dedication to Innovation but also a demonstration of our capacity to adapt and thrive in changing Landscapes our students teachers and staff sign shined as they shared their practices in and out of the classroom events like these remind us of our potential for growth and the endless possibilities that lie ahead as we move forward we are grateful that at the heart of our institution is a commitment to our people to our students our staff and the community we serve let's let's continue to work together hand inand keeping our focus on our mission and the better future we create for all those we serve thank you for your unwavering dedication and commitment to our institution Together We will rise above these challenges and build a better tomorrow thank you thank [Applause] you uh did any other Association wish to speak today okay Heather Heather hutner csca welcome thank you for having me um members of the board cabinet Board of Trustees um and superintendent and parents students many employees um I just want to start with saying uh we definitely sympathize with our Asa compatriots um although I have a few hundred instructional assistants that would probably um not agree that you are the only ones who spend all your time in the classroom so um but uh we would just like to say that we would like to thank and recognize all of the classified uh members under CSA and for what they do for our students and the district while we have way too many different positions for us to mention specific especially when there's this many speakers um we do want to talk about a couple in specifically um our Prof pair of professionals our specialized academic instructional assistants who help our special education students in the classroom and all of our specialized instructional assistance Behavior Support special uh special abilities adult transition medically fragile vision impaired deaf and heart appearing who not only help in classrooms but also help care for our students basic needs including feeding toileting and specialized procedures our campus safety AIDS who monitor the campuses including bathrooms Gates and are critical to both the prevention deescalation and management of violence on our campuses these are not only some of the most important roles on our campuses they are also some of the lowest paying and the hardest working we're thankful for the heart uh the increas training that the district has provided for the campus safety positions this year and we are hopeful that additional training will continue to be offered for both them and for our par Professionals for safety we also want to continue to recognize all the continued hard work of our school's office staff The Office Clerks secretaries and Senior administrative assistants despite declining enrollment the daily tasks asked of our site office staff have increased efforts for for increased parent and student engagement result in increased phone calls and office traffic while we lost our community Liaisons we kept all of their duties the district has been able to introduce many wonderful programs for students but many of those require additional purchase orders requisition forms parent phone calls interpretations scheduling Etc and those are all done by the continuing existing staff the school board policy on school clerical Personnel allotment was last updated in 1993 and it hasn't been followed in years because it's from 1993 um I know HR classified is currently doing their first ever uh study comparing Staffing levels for school office sites so we just like hope that when they complete that that the board will take that information and revise the policy so that we will have an actual consistent logical formula that that will be used to determine the number of clerical staff that are assigned to the sites I thank the board for your time we hope that everything in the future continues to go okay is there any other Association that uh wishes to speak okay um we inadvertently uh missed a student uh Haley soell would you please come up good evening to everyone here today today I am here standing on behalf of my students my fellow peers and the teachers who have brought me up and fostered my love of learning I have been a student in the ahsd and Anaheim District since I was in kindergarten in my time with ahsd anahim Union High School District I have been given so many opportunities but among them I've also been given teachers who care and have fostered my love of learning in and outside of the classroom some of the most amazing teachers I have had have taken the time to explain and go into depth about what they are teaching before and after school as well as always answering all of my questions I can't imagine not being able to go back and visit as a student I can tell each and every one of you that the teachers you have hired have always given us care and have always gone the extra mile most of these teachers are coaches in sports and are advisers in clubs if these teachers are not there yes there is a possibility that someone else could pick up that club but the probability is low because a lot of teachers already advise other clubs this directly affects all of us as students and will affect the students coming into our district my sister is in fifth grade and I can't imagine when she gets to Junior High not being able to have the teachers who poured into me so much not being able to be there to do the same for her not to mention if we have less teachers then there will be bigger classes which means that teachers will not have time to advise clubs or coach sports or stay after school when a student has a question or needs help because they will have to use all that time grading due to the large class size as a student in the global language Leadership Academy I can tell you that our teachers do the best they can and take the time to get to know their students I can't imagine if the seventh graders now who have gotten to know the teachers for Science History and Spanish and are expecting to have them the same teacher next year come back to a different person one of the reasons a lot of GL seventh graders are not worried for their eighth grade year is because because they have already established a set relationship with that teacher I say this confidently because that was me I'd like you all to look at all the students who have come here to represent their teachers and all the teachers who have come here they are the ones who make the programs possible all we ask is that you hear us out and take our opinions and how this will directly affect us into consideration thank you for your [Applause] time do we have anyone from PTA here to speak okay moving on to public comments Open Session items and I I just like to say opportunities for public comments occur at the beginning of each agenda item and at this time for items not on the agenda persons wishing to address the board trustees should complete a speaker request form um I have them here uh and sub minute each speaker is limited to the maximum of three minutes I think tonight or are we going to keep it to two no I think it's still three you still be three different topics all right um and uh board members cannot immediately respond to public comments as stated on the speaker form first up is Lee Garcia welcome Lee thank you can't see okay I'm speaking here tonight because I can no longer stay silent in 2018 my daughter and the Kennedy girls water polo team were interviewed by the police at Kennedy High School she soon became a Jane do in the criminal case against her 40-some year-old water po coach who's now serving 18 years in prison the coach was able to get into the kennedy pool wearing only a speedo where he sexually assaulted my daughter and three other students he slapped my daughter across the face and kicked her in the chest repeatedly in the kennedy pool as a way to teach her to toughen up he told her he then made her do it back to him he also sent her disturbing text messages from the kennedy pool deck how could this have possibly happened at one of our schools you all ask well I'll tell you how two years prior in 2016 another pened coach was arrested for sexually assaulting students soon after the district let the head coach and the principal go promising to hire a new water polo coach as soon as possible instead of immediately securing a new water polo coach Mr matsuda wrote a letter of recommendation for the same principal who police say failed to report sexual misconduct allegations to law enforcement or Child Protective Services as mandated by California law the principal told a detective that he was aware of allegations against the coach more than a year before the coaches arrest but did not investigate those allegations the district let the whole school year and summer go by without hiring a new water polo coach so the players had no coach and no summer program as they were promised finally in August they hired a coach but did not hire any assistant coaches so this new coach had unfettered access to players as he got in the kennedy pool to abuse them in the light of everything that has happened to these students at Kennedy High School and the failure of Mr matsuda all along the way I'm here tonight to ask this board to fire Mr matsuda do not let him just quietly retire fire him now if you can't or won't then please resign yourselves you are the very board who continued to give him raises and renew his contract even after this information of him writing the letter of recommendation came out in 2019 how do you guys sleep at night the Safety and Security of students in the Anaheim Union High School District should be your top priority fire matsuda now and give his ridiculous bloated salary to all of these teachers out [Applause] here uh next up Blanca VI Vias Ortiz Miss Ortiz Matt rapone the timer ready I can go oh I'm okay I'm m Ripon uh I'm a teacher at Anaheim High School I've been there for 24 years teaching English and I've taught AVID for 18 years alongside of that uh ever since starting my career in the year 2000 I've embraced technology in the classroom to use as a tool to assist teaching and to uh teach students on how to use that tool I'm here to talk about action item 10.14 in our agenda today where you'll be asked to approve uh the district to pay pay $450,000 to EC Cadence to experiment with an AI tool that is uh designed to be an electronic tutor uh to help students with their assignments I want to share some notes uh to help you decide to postpone that approval I want us to wait until there is uh published data on the efficiency of this type of tool I want to wait until there is published research uh U publish published information on the cost and revenue of this tool before we make a decision the action item does mention that we are going to share Revenue with EC Cadence and at Solutions Group LLC I would like to see more better projections on that I think we need to wait until there's confirmation from the auhsd teachers and by parents as well I have an email printed right here from a parent saying she is very concerned with AI leading her son in certain assignments I want us to wait until a ahsd stops paying for Google work workspace for education I say that because we should not pay into two lmss at the same time we we currently have a subscription to uh Google workspace for Education which includes Google Classroom we have just been denied access to it teachers so we pay $150,000 a year for that uh it's lower with the enroll lower enrollment it's $125,000 a year it's a lot cheaper than $450,000 a year and it would take eight years with under that cost to reach a million dollars I say that because that's a it's a long time to reach a million dollars after looking all the numbers that Nancy shared with us with all the Millions millions and millions well that's a long time to reach 1 million right and it would take 16 years to reach $2 million it's really not that much money and the tools that Google offers are non-biased and they are very effective I I request that the district pilot other lmss before leading into another contract with e Cadence we have our contract with Ekans to expire uh in January of 25 so it now now is the time to start shopping and piloting other lmss Google Classroom canvas Etc thank [Applause] you Germaine hello board hello Administration teachers students I really want to recognize the students and the teachers who are in the Next Room over because they are out here in force to support um both their sashes and also our teaching staff um my name is Jermaine num manchow I'm a parent and a Community member and a um sorry I need to speak louder uh parent Community member homeowner here in Anaheim and I he um I was looking at the agenda for this meeting today and saw quite a few M us that we're going to be signing that have to do with AI um that has to do with our research and our grants um things that are supporting our school system um but I'm really moved today by our teachers and the issues here as a homeowner and a resident when we had our facilities gentlemen talking about how great our facilities look and how that's going to keep up our enrollment in our district and I will tell you as a as a homeowner a resident Community member a parent it is not the facility that make my school it is our teachers with the reduction in class sizes or the increasing in class sizes it affects our state standards we are now at below 20% for math in the Anaheim proper schools okay so if you take out Oxford and you take out Cyprus and Kennedy we are now below 20% for math how are we going to prepare our students our kids for those future jobs the jobs in AI the jobs in science the mo on 10.15 is about commuter science uh education we need our teachers to be able to teach these kids and that's the way we're going to continue to get people like me to put my kid in Anaheim High School school district schools if we have class sizes that are too large we're just I'm not going to send my kid to a school that's so large that the class sizes are unattainable that our teachers have no way of connecting with our kids this is this is a community issue our families in Anaheim in Cyprus in bua park we are the customer of this district and we really need you guys to focus on what we need as community members as what's going to be best for our our families our communities it's these teachers please look at other ways to try to cut costs I understand it but if we continue to cut our teachers we will lose more students the the previous speaker is is ready Miss Ortiz on good evening my name is Blanca Vias Ortiz I am a parent to four children one who just graduated from catella with the $14,000 scholarship offer from cvu two of them currently attending catella a junior who just became VP for katella's ASB for the next school year 2024 2025 a freshman who made second Team all league in cross country for the varsity team and all because they had or have great teachers and mentors and I currently have an incoming seventh grader whose transfer to South Junior High was denied today today I came in person to file an appeal and instead I was told I couldn't file the appeal I repeated myself to your transfer deaths personnel and was told to instead file complaint next door I asked who I could speak to above her and was told to instead remove my two children from your current high school catella high school and make them go to anahim Anaheim High School make them leave their friends behind make them leave their relationships built with their teachers who they have learned to trust and have pushed them to their fullest potential this isn't an option not for our family what I want you to understand is the fact that as a parent I have already established a relationship or relationships with teachers at catella high school I am hoping to join katella's PTSA tomorrow during our coffee chat with the principal and this week I learned some of cella's Educators receive slips some of them being current teachers of my children and some of them being past teachers who have helped and their and their guidance and their education I was not supposed to be here tonight speaking to the board but the teacher layoff is the reason I'm here I ask that you please go back and look at the transfers that were denied I also ask that you also go back and look at the budget it's letting go of Anaheim UniFi High School District the only option you have is there nowhere else where the budget cuts can be made please don't forget that at one point in your life a teacher helped got value and your education please don't limit my child as to where she can learn the best thank you Dr 6on and then next up uh after Dr sigon Guadalupe basave thank you for your time uh I graduated high school 1997 gas was a125 and we thought that was massively too high that was a long time ago and two weeks ago I gave Miss Weaver a phone call who was that that was my high school teacher who helped change the trajectory of my life I'm sure that District had a great board and and leaders but I called none of them last week my school had a great pool and a great Marquee I did not go visit those because they shaped my life Miss Weaver shaped my life to the point where 27 years later I gave her a call what made her so great she was there she taught curriculum with a passion she opened her classroom up during lunchtime she was a club advisor she was there she helped me process college and career path when sophomore Evan had his heart broken by Lisa Nava that teacher was there 20 years from now none of these students are going to contact any of you as great as you might be at your jobs they are not going to contact AI they are going to contact their teachers unless you Rift them tomorrow here's the reality is this move would not only negatively impact current teachers that are great what message are you going to send current students who have the seed of passion of being the Next Generation teachers why in the world would they pursue teaching when they are about to witness a district cast off 110 teachers they're going to have zero confidence in education as the occupation this is a moment of time for all of you to step into the destiny that you gave an oath to to sit here Nintendo had a huge Fallout a couple years ago Wii U it was a terrible system their CEO said we're not cutting anybody me as the leader is going to take a self-imposed 50% salary reduction and then every board member self-imposed a 20% salary reduction because they said the morale of our company will be done if we cut the people who are doing the actual in the world [Applause] work thank you yeah good afternoon everyone that is here I have a daughter that is in grade eight in School South and I'm I am here to support the kids or the ones that are doing really good in school and they are just taking the recognition away from them and they are putting being put to the level like the others that are just basically doing the the same yeah I was seeing there one of the daa um meetings with Mr masura and what he mentioned that one of the reasons why uh there are low in in the graduations if because uh the residence is expensive and yeah and and it's low in the quality and also the increasing of chatter schools for so I think it should be a a Four Element and that should be that the kids should be getting incentives like uh in if you go to a chatter school they get like six medals believe me they're making a big effort and and they're not getting and you guys are taking away all these recognition [Applause] and that is why she would encourage you to reflect on this because as a parent uh she would think that if she's not given anything for graduation then she would move her child to a charter school hey David Morgan please welcome good evening first uh I want to congratulate all of the students who came and spoke today so eloquently and so [Applause] strongly in the notes that I prepared and in listening to these folks I have two children in Anaheim Union and all I'm seeing is balancing budgets on the back of a teachers and you're going to increase class sizes and create a self-fulfilling prophecy you talk about uh shrinking enrollment so you lose 10% of your teacher base it gets out in the public what students are going to want to come out here it's going to decline so you're going to continue to cut it on the backs of teachers and you have all these beautiful buildings and you have no teachers to teach in them and no students to occupy them there'll be great monuments to this board you know in closing I was going to challenge this board to look to itself to look to the money that it's the pay increases that it's received but I saw in the agenda today that uh Mr matsuda is up for a 4.5% pay increase it's on the agenda folks look it up so you mean to tell me that in the same meeting where you're going to potentially riff 110 teachers you're going to increase the superintendent pay by 4 and a half% I'm sorry you make charter schools look better every day have a magical [Applause] evening Julie zipic I probably not pronouncing this correctly zip zip I apologize hello good good evening um the original reason I came tonight was to speak for a growing group of my friends and neighbors Who currently have children enrolled in this District we wanted to voice our concerns pertaining to teacher cuts the consideration of laying off teachers directly impacts the quality of education and support our students receive since my three uh kids should be faling into this District in a few years I felt it was important to support the the parents and teachers in this dis in in this effort as I was doing my research pertaining to your decision to lay off teachers I became aware of the rapidly declining enrollment and alarming low test scores I was alarmed and saddened how significantly below average the scores in reading math and science are in this District per California dashboard Anaheim unions perform performance reaches far below average orange rating declin Five Points in ela two points in math and 2% El progress so the natural solution you thought of to combat your your declining test scores was to lay off more teachers and social justice and stay woke courses we all understand the importance of putting our students first is disheartening to see decisions being made at the district level the recent things that have been prioritize over the actual well-being and academic success of our students is unbelievable the cons the consideration of laying off teachers directly impacts the quality of education and support our students receive furthermore the current lack of supervision on campus and on and already large class sizes has led to concerning behaviors such as drug use in the bathrooms and PDA among students in the classrooms these issues are only exaggerated ated when there is insufficient support and guidance available to our students the decline in test scor indicates that the current methods may not be as effective as we hoped we should all understand the importance of putting our students first so it is disheartening to see the decisions and priorities being made at the district level to put our students first we need teachers my three kids still have a few years before they go into this district and I'm trying to be proactive by speaking tonight in hopes you PRI prioritize academics um with over a hundred teachers jobs on the line I was scanning over the the um bulletin for tonight and if you I invite you to turn to page 20 action item action item 9.30 like that last gentleman mentioned of 4.5 Rays they're asking for superintendent and um assistant super superintendent okay thank you Sparks Wendy Sparks that item was was ped oh uh prior to the board meeting that item was just pulled so I just want to let you know that item was pulled this wait mine 9 three I she was speaking about previously right okay all right good evening a few years ago I attended and spoke at a school board meeting and listened to a presentation of an interim budget report I remember hearing that the district was anticipating declining enrollment when I left that meeting I felt confident that the district had a plan for this decrease and would plan accordingly to do what was best for kids in the upcoming years I am here again to speak as a parent of a Cypress High School student athlete I am not sure you are aware but Cypress High School football coach uh Rick Feldman a former Orange County Register coach of the year who has attracted many players to Anaheim Union High School has received a riff notice I heard International students virtualy but what about Athletics has the district thought about how much of an impact Athletics can increase or decrease enrollment I know the board has to make tough choices but I ask why is it always teachers who take the biggest cuts the people who have um who we've heard who have the most daily interaction with students the one as you've heard today have had the most impact on our students I had Mo multiple Goosebump moments today listening to the student speakers they're these students are a testament to the hardworking dedicated students of ahsd these budget numbers are all projected but in the meantime teachers have to deal with these drastic Cuts how many teachers and students will Au hsd lose because of this I thought the district was trying to attract students I ask you to please consider other options we can do better than this surrounding districts are all experiencing declining enrollments but have made different choices a student in the Overflow room made a sign that says at best my teachers do all they can for me please do all you can for them thank you [Applause] all right that ended all of our uh speaker public comments moving on to items of business Educational Services 9.1 School sponsored student organizations and Daniela you get to vote with with us on this one this is an action item I need a motion move to approve second okay moved and seconded all in favor I I all right thank you resolutions 9.2 resolution number 2023 sl24 db-12 adjustments to income and expenditures general fund resolution number 2023 sl24 db-1 3 adjustments to income and expenditures various funds and the 2023-24 second interim report action item move to approve second any questions or comments roll call vote Mr O'Neal hi Miss Smith hi Miss Guerrero hi and I vote I 9.3 resolution number 2023 sl24 db-14 establish the special reserve for capital outlay projects fund number 4042 action item move to approve second move the second questions or comments on this item okay seeing none this is a roll call vote Mr O'Neal hi Miss Smith I Miss Guerrero I and I vote I 9.4 resolution number 2023 sl24 f-07 approval of notices of exemption for the Western High School site improvements project action item so moved second roll call vote uh any questions or comments on this seeing none Mr O'Neal hi Miss Smith hi Miss Guerrero hi and I vote I 9.3 resolution number 2023 sl24 df- Z8 approval of notice of exemption for the Western High School gems modern modernization project action item so move second second okay this is a roll call vote any questions or comments on this item Mr O'Neal hi Miss Smith I Miss Guerrero hi I vote I 96 resolution number 2023 24- f-09 approval of notice of exemption for the Magnolia High School Agro science Community Center project action item move to approve second moved in second in any questions or comments on this item all right uh roll call vote Mr O'Neal I miss Smith I Miss Guerrero I and I vote I item 9.7 resolution number 2023 sl24 d-19 autism awareness month so moved second okay moved and seconded um the adoption of this resolution just want to read a little a little bit about this 2023 24- e-9 for Autism Awareness Month recognizes April as Autism Awareness Month time to focus attention on those with Autism and Related pervasive developmental disorders it also provides an opportunity to inform parents Guardians and communities of the efforts of the district that the district is making to support Autism Awareness Mr O'Neal I miss Smith hi Miss Guerrero hi and I vote I 9.8 resolution number 2023 sl24 d-20 Caesar Chavez Day action item so moved second okay moved and seconded uh the adoption of this resolution honors Caesar Chavis for his many achievements and contributions to our nation it also provides an opportunity to inform parents and community that of the communities of the efforts that the district is making to support Caesar traveis day today and every day action item U Mr O'Neal hi Miss Smith hi Miss Guerrero hi and I vote I 9.9 resolution number 2023 sl24 d-21 National child abuse prision month action item second okay moved and seconded um this some background information on this National Child Abuse Prevention month is acknowledged in the United States each year during during the month of April by acknowledging the need for public education and Community Services to help prevent child abuse and neglect many groups hope to reduce the impact to Children and Families facing child abuse and this is an action item Mr O'Neal hi Miss Smith I Miss Guerrero I and I vote I 9.10 resolution number 2023 24- e-22 Arab American heritage AG month action item so moved second moved and seconded this um herit this Arab American Heritage Month celebrates the contributions of Arab Americans to the United States and celebrates this group's Heritage and culture action item Mr O'Neal I miss Smith I Miss Guerrero I and I vote I moving on to item 9.10 resolution number 2023 3/24 D- hr-3 certificated reduction en Force this is an action item so moved second moved and seconded um would the board like to uh ask any more questions or have anything else to say about this item uh I don't have questions but I do have comments okay um so I I just want to thank everyone that came out tonight um all of our public spe speakers especially our students um you know tonight's decision is not an easy one uh ahead of the board uh but we do have an obligation uh to maintain a physically responsible budget and address the economic challenges ahead of us and that did include last year um a consolidation plan of one of our schools and we are in a decline enrollment uh it's a serious and growing problem um that needs to be addressed that's over more than over 3,000 students in the years to come and um but I do also share your frustration in the process and the notifying of re reduction en force and uh we are obligated to over notify and um also follow the Cal this this is the code set by the state of California code um that mandates um that these get sent out um but I do know that we are still waiting the governor May revise um and we uh are still ahead of some of the retire upcoming retirements so um we hope it can be in a better place in the budget but right now um this is where we stand yeah and I have to dit What U Mr Guerero just said it's a difficult decision to make we've had to make these decisions before uh in the past and unfortunately we'll probably have to make some decisions like this in the future this does not come easy uh uh we appreciate the students coming forward on any subject matter to express their feelings it is uh important for us to hear what they have to say we do listen to what they have to say um and we take it to heart uh so what is being done tonight is not easy the numbers you have heard I know are going to be mitigated we are at the uh by law we have to make decisions by March 15th that's that's not our decision to make we have to do it and in order to get to where we're going we have to what we don't like to say but we have to over riff knowing full well that we will be reducing that in the future I can't guarantee where it will be but we know that it will be below where we're at now so um I reluctantly will agree when I came out tonight I spoke to Daniela and I made the comment to her that I remember America coming out of the second world war as a a grammar school kid I remember my brother serving when I was 10 years old in Korea my husband went to Vietnam and I can tell you from where I'm sitting here in front of you I don't ever remember as painless painful time as we are living through today the difficulties of running school districts is nothing like it was when I went on this board years ago and I detest this my one of the most beloved people in my entire life was my stepmother she taught kindergarten and she was an angel and I have teachers in my family and as Mr U O'Neal said we have to make these decisions but I am going to tell you I am going to do everything I can within my limited power on the school board to make sure it's as fair and Equitable as it can be and I thank people that teach in our schools the other day we had a meeting and I said the public doesn't have a wit of understanding of what you deal with in schools today it's mindboggling and I leave these meetings at times and I'm just choked so I'm going to go along with this but I want you to know I will be speaking behind and do what I can to make don't boo so um we we we're people too and we we understand that it's um an economic thing it has nothing to do with the hard work of each and every one of you we know your students love you this is as my colleague said one of the hardest things that we have to face if we do not face this we do not have a school district we can't rent a school district on negative funds what I understand and I'm I'm sorry if some of you did not get the information until tonight um we've been looking at this for several years knowing the next year this is going to be this is going to be the Year this is going to be the tough year and then we got the Esser funds and we're like yes we can save we can save it we don't have we're pushing it we're kicking the can um and this is the time and if we don't do it now and we don't really take a hard stab at what we're what we're looking at what we're facing I'm sorry you know it's really tough and we don't take this lightly cabinet doesn't take this lightly they lose sleep over this yes they do they've been answering phone calls we all have been answering phone calls and trying to explain to students because they were given partial information and I'm a little disappointed that that they aren't given the full information of really what's transpiring here because in in knowing in knowing the whole story you can understand it you may not like it but you can understand it and well what I do know is that we have been talking about it and what I do know is I don't believe any other school district has a superintendent and the assistant superintendent of Finance come out to each and every site and I don't want to debate I don't want to have a back and forth but I do know they did come out and they made themselves available this is tough this is tough for all of us and a loss of 30 three 3,500 students in just this time frame we have to be responsible and we cannot spend onetime monies on ongoing ongoing funds so we all know how you would run your home your own budgets at home and you would be fiscally responsible so we understand and we we feel you and we we this is tough so moving on moving on to the vote and this is a roll call vote Mr O'Neal very reluctantly I miss Smith sadly I Miss Guerrero reluctantly I and I as well I moving on 9.12 resolution number 2023 sl24 dbot d04 Madam president can we hold off for a moment please yes why don't we take maybe a two minute break I can speak to you out here and how much L whatever much's make that go so do they them why you guys mik oh and Marie 30 was up pulled who asked you to pull it the one in the back democracy democ Democratic process item 9.12 resolution number 2023 sl24 dbot t-04 compensation for board meeting action item so moved second okay Mr O'Neal I miss Smith I abstain Miss Guerrero I and I vote I 9.13 agreement Transportation friends of montor greenhouse school action item move second any questions or comments on this item okay seeing none all in favor I I I 9.14 contract waxi Enterprises LLC and envoice solutions company action item so moved second moved and seconded any questions or comments all in favor I 915 agreement wart Inc in I Inc all right action item so move moved uh seconded any questions or comments on this okay moving on um all in favor I I I I 9.16 home to school transportation reimbursement plan action item so moved second any questions or comments on this okay all in favor I 917 agreement the after agency action item so moved second moved and seconded all in favor I I 918 agreement Thomas Phillips action item slow moved second okay moved and seconded all in favor I 9.19 agreement Simon Silva action item slow moved second moved and seconded all in favor I had a quick question yes um I just wanted I know this is a new uh parent leadership academy that will be districtwide if I'm correct um how would that promotion work across for our parents so if approved the family and Community agent specialist along with our community school coordinators will work with our site Administration to promote this event with parents and against about two corts of 60 parents districtwide uh and they'll do it with the Simon Silva um is a part of the module this spring thank you yeah just as an FYI um I think it was six years ago when we had a parent leadership conference that was here in the leom room he was one of the keynote speakers and was really popular p so that's one of the reasons why we're bringing them back brought them back all right okay all in favor I I 912 contract independent vision therapy evaluation Dr Beth Ballinger action item slow moved second uh questions all in favor I 91 9.21 agreement well Street Psychological Group Inc DBA well Family action item so move second second okay all in favor I 9.22 memorandum of understanding Jose Mendes and Elizabeth Van Esquire PhD University of California Irvine action item so moved second can you um just give a quick little description of what this is going to do for us yes prip Miss see this is oh this is with um uh Katie chers yeah so so they're going to be doing some work with uh I think in regards to math and it's our partnership with UC Irvine so I think it's one of the things that they came to us uh because of the work that we've been doing they want to connect uh and do some work where they're doing teacher interviews or um looking at eable classroom experiences that connects to math uh so they're also going to be doing some professional learning with our teachers as a part of the research that UCI has been doing and so Katie chowers our curriculum specialist has been working closely with them and is going to be bringing this to our district and again they they received the grant you see so that's where there's no cost so it doesn't affect our budget but so they came to us yes they wanted to work with us it's really cool all right uh all in favor hi hi hi Human Resources 9.23 initial contract proposal ahsd to Mid Managers Association this is an information item 9.24 public hearing initial contract proposal ahsd to Mid Managers Association MMA and is uh does anyone wish to speak on this item scared Miss Guerrera with my okay seeing none moving on 9.25 initial contract proposal MMA to ahsd information item 9.26 public hearing initial contract proposal MMA to ahsd anyone wishing to speak okay 9.

in K3 see Miss Ibrahim one of my favorite teachers to purchase ticket okay now on to sports we would like to congratulate members on um of our bowling team for their accomplishments this season Sarah zeil uh First Team all County finished first place in the county in 33r in the state First Team all League Jamal Martinez in the honorable mention for All County and a honorable mention for all League Sam zel first place all County and First Team all league and delz razar for honorable mention honorable menchion All County and second Team all League Ryan Pierce also has um um honorable mention for All County in honorable mention for all league and for flag football we are about to start our third girls flag flag football season over 80 girls has registered to try out so please come and share them M at their first scrimmage on March 16th at 11:00 a.m.

will be the showings and more information can be found at Clon High School website um on Instagram page so please follow them at Clifton High School drama that is c l i f t nsor drama or email um Lisa POI with any questions um the cast crew Orchestra and directors look forward to seeing you at the show and I can say I usually do stage crew for the shows but it's always a very very good time so please if you guys are free just make sure to come out spread the word um but yes that's it for today thank you very much thank you Jada for keeping us up to date and uh special congratulations to the mock trial team on their uh Victory we'll move to uh student our student recognition Awards um first start with the Freshman Mr The Freshman commissioner mAh believe yes thank you so our freshman student of the month is going to be Andres Willam Marin our freshman grade student of the month has been in band since elementary school when he picked up his first alto saxophone when he's not in the band room he enjoys learning about the history in the classroom and plans on doing spring outdoor track this year Andres thanks his parents for all his support and raising him to be the person he is today with his parents and his strong work ethic he is Bound for success in the next three years here at CHS certificate of achievement this recognition is certified to Andes on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education and administration for CHS freshman St in the month March 2024 [Applause] congratulations see you see s congratulations that was freshman there you go up next is a a certificate of achievement for Jenna Jenna alur our sophomore student of the month is Jenna alur her favorite subject in school is history as she loves to learn about politics and our government she is on the mock trial team in competing in the mock trial World Championships this summer she has competed at Harvard Princeton and Yale and hopes to go on to win States this year Jenna is also on the varsity volleyball team which she has been on since the eighth grade outside of school she trains in Taekwondo and is a second degree black belt her influential and inspiring people include Dr McCoy and her family who are always there to support her at work and home let's please applaud for Jenner on the tour [Applause] con [Applause] Junior you got who's a junior it is my privilege to talk about the 11th grade student of the month Nicholas doctor our Junior student of the month is Nicholas doctor Nicholas is a varsity wrestler and is in the athletic Training Club he enjoys learning about history and the relations between events in the past he has really enjoyed Mr Rogers history class for two years now and it has reinforced his dream to become a history teacher Nicholas had to overcome a painful miniscus tear during his freshman year but he has learned from this process in difficult time along with Mr Rogers and his parents who have always supported him in achieving his goals he is right on track to successfully become a history teacher and coaching wrestling after college Nicholas I have a certificate of achievement for you up [Applause] here [Applause] see here thank thanks my little corner here so our senior student of the month is Mariana kada Moya Mariana is in Varsity swimming National Honor Society National Society of High School Scholars and is the vice president of global mentoring program and girls who code Club one of the most challenging experiences was immigrating from costaa and learning English from scratch when she arrived at CHS adapting to the American culture and educational system would not have been possible without the help of her friends and teachers like Mrs stag and Mr Stewart Mariana sister is also someone who inspires her to do her best and succeed marana's aspirations include studying computer science with a focus on cyber security and becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college congratulations [Applause] Marana okay we'll make sure that gets to her we will make sure she gets this stud employes of start good evening I have the uh pleasure of reading Diane gito I was asking Mr uh superintendent Robi how to pronounce the name because I sometimes the names are difficult but I want to make sure that it was correct so G uh Diane gero 10-month secretary at cila s uh the Clifton Early Learning educa Academy Diane guito is a team player she always takes the time to lend a hand whether it is to be uh to assist a parent support a teacher or help a student no request is too big or too small from the first day spear opened Diane continued to be an intrical part of the spear Community Diane demonstrates kindness and respect to everyone she meets Diane listens with compassion and responds with care whether it's a question asked to her she is always and has an answer to give and get the information for you in a timely manner now not only does she do the role of a secretary but uh she does much much more she serves as our tech guide helps keep teachers on track with the duties and she is also the chair of our Sunshine committee at sealer spear she knows all the students and the parents and assists them with arrival and dismissal every day she is always consistent positive and kind is Diane here Diane this clack is uh presented to Diane greo for outstanding service dedication and commitment to the Clifton public school learning community congratulations Diane to come up hide back there is there any other staff let's take one with the family then we'll ask the St to come up okay behind come on Mr Frank Mr Frank make sure Mr Frank's [Applause] here thank you Mr President Middle School level Gwen air Sanchez World Language teacher Gwen is always present in the hallway engaging with students and teachers her attitude and engaging personality have such a positive effect on CCMS students and staff Gwen is always in contact with the fourth to sixth grade teams to monitor their students progress it is a very Challen it is very challenging juggling all four teams she makes sure she communicates with the team leaders and her students Gwen will will let them know if she is calling a parent about a concern and we ask for any feedback about specific students as well as being so focused on her Student Success is also she is also a great colleague Gwen is always willing to help her colleagues translate when speaking with a parent she never says no she always finds a way to help for evening conferences this past February Gwen created a schedule of her availability to translate for the sixth grade teams her evening was filled with helping her co- workers Gwen is a tremendous asset to our community congratulations [Applause] Gwen I just wanted to say I'm so so grateful for this I just wanted to say really quickly I'm so so grateful for this award I really was not expecting it at all and I feel so blessed I really do to have worked in Clifton this is my 23rd year in Clifton I know I started when I was five um so I'm so so blessed to work with the amazing people that I work with at Christopher Columbus I worked 15 years as an elementary school teacher and I loved that job and it was a little scary coming to the middle school but I'm so happy that I have I have an amazing Community there my Administration is amazing I have the best department the World Language Department I'm so so happy our supervisor is amazing and K through 12 we have the best best teachers and I just want to thank everybody really from the bottom of my heart thank you so [Applause] muche Way Family any staff here come up for the second picture please we'll do a family one first another staff picture princip here Mr vice principal mning [Applause] uh next for uh High School is Joseph Finley mathematics teacher Joe Joe Finley has been a long-standing member of the CHS staff and has always put the best interest of his students as his number one priority Joe holds extra help and tutors lessons for his students on a near daily basis encouraging students with his passion and help beyond the mere length of a class period Joe is always positive during parent teacher meetings he's always treating parents with respect and is able to find something positive to say about the most difficult situ students always ready to assist a fellow staff member with dedication and understanding he embodies the best in what a teacher should be his tireless effort are an example for students to commit themselves to their growth and responsibility while also serving as a reminder for staff that passion is at the heart of our craft Joe come up we have a certificate for you [Applause] here I'm sorry let's correct sorry Joe feely Feely conratulations I don't I don't believe we have any committee presentations at this point we're going to go right to uh our budget hearing presentations on our preliminary budget folks there are no more um recognition tonight for staff or students we will not be insulted if you leave but if you want to stay for my exhilarating budget presentation you're also more than welcome to do that too board members have to St oh my goodness e which microphone are we using good evening board Commissioners members of The Cliff one Clifton Community faculty staff students uh those watching at home the annual budget is one of the most important decisions if not the most important decision the board of education is responsible for each year now I want to be clear the the budget is a Board of Education decision it's one of the things that really falls under the perfu of the board however a board would be irresponsible to not listen to the administration uh when crafting a budget for the next school year that has never happened here in Clifton um the board is always willing to listen to the needs of the faculty um and staff and the administration having said that it's important to know that as an elected official ladies and gentlemen you represent the students and the staff and the taxpayer and that's a very very important role that you play it's it doesn't go on notice that New Jersey is the highest taxed state in the entire country and part of the reason for that is our overr Reliance on property taxes to fund education tonight you are not voting on a budget I want to be clear tonight the administration is going to present to you what we believe are the needs of the district and you're voting to authorize the administration to send the budget to the county superintendent for approval the final budget presentation and vote will not take place till our May board meeting so in an effort to see where we are today where we want to go we have to take a look back and see how we got here and so I want to begin tonight with a brief history of State funding for schools in New Jersey take it back to maybe the elementary school maybe Middle School the first time you heard of this document called the United States Constitution which is the outline of our government in the United States and the founding fathers who wrote the Constitution were smart enough to include a little known Amendment called the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution and I say little known because you've all heard of the Bill of Rights and you've heard people talk about my first amendment rights to freedom of speech you may have heard from watching TV police dramas I plead the fifth which is the Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate but nobody ever talks about the poor lonely 10th Amendment but it's extremely important and why is it important in this discussion of school funding because ladies and gentlemen believe it or not the word education the word school does not exist in the United States Constitution but the 10th Amendment says and I'll read it verbatim the powers not get delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states or reserved to the states respectively or to the people in simple terms basically when they created this document they said you know what we're not going to be able to include everything and in case we kind of maybe forget something important like education or anything we don't mention in this document is going to be left up to each individual State hence the reason why schools in every state in the United States are funded primarily through their state legislatures primarily through through the state constitutions and in New Jersey with a heavy overreliance on property taxes the New Jersey state constitution has a education clause which calls for a thorough and efficient education thorough and efficient anybody know what that means nobody does nobody really knows what it means which is why a debate over what equals a thorough and efficient education has been raging on for years and the ability to fund schools so that school districts can provide a thorough and efficient education is a constant struggle because what you believe is thorough and efficient may be different from what I believe it may be different from what our parents believe so once again in New Jersey the primary funding source for school districts are property taxes however in the 1970s the Supreme Court in New Jersey ruled that the poorer districts in our state did not have the tax base to properly fund schools and they told the state legislature you have to fix it so the state of New Jersey the legislature one of the things they did was create an income tax to help aid School District's budgets and just to give you an idea of the entire New Jersey state budget 40% of the entire New Jersey state budget goes to education almost half of the entire budget goes to fund the schools in New Jersey not only did the Supreme Court tell the legislature to fix it they said that to the legislature you have to ensure that you provide an equal educational opportunity for all students regardless of where they live and so the state's goal up until about was parody between rich and poor districts parody means equal the state wanted each town to treat students equally and by trying to equalize this has actually caused more problems because you cannot provide an equal education a student who grows up in poverty needs more than a student who comes from more affluent parents a district that is primarily full of students who who come from a lower socioeconomic background will need more Aid than a than a district of students whose parents come from a higher socioeconomic background not my rule I didn't create that that's life and so what what this idea of parody resulted in was decades of fighting between who gets how much money and this town is getting more money than this town and it's not fair and how do you determine what's fair so finally in 2008 the state of New Jersey the legislature passed the school funding Reform Act and this law was intended to fix the inequities in the state funding formula in doing so the philosophy of the state also changed where we went away from the idea of creating parity or equality amongst districts to the idea of adequacy that the state should provide adequate funding and the definition of adequacy means equal to the needs of the district so some districts need more money than others and that's where the idea of an adequacy budget came about and in New Jersey what that looks like is the Money Follows the student on October 15th every year ladies and gentlemen it's a magic number for for superintendents and school districts October 15th is the day we count up all of our students and we use that number to apply for state aid through something called the Assa which is the application for state school aid the application for state school aid is how the adequacy budget is determined factors such as elll poverty level and special education are figured into the formula so don't ask me how but the state of New Jersey has come up with a number for an a a regular average Elementary student the state says it costs $1 11,9 to educate that student so for every regular education Elementary student in the Clifton public schools to give them adequately what they need it's $ 11,9 according to the state and then you add in other factors like if a student is elll which we now call uh ml or multi L uh multi- language Learners or if a student has a disability and is classified as special education that factors in and it costs more money to educate that student so on October 15th we fill out this application we say how many students we have how many of them are multi language Learners how many of them are special education and based on that number the sum of that number is the district's adequacy budget so far so good you take all the kids 11,000 kids in Clifton each of those students is worth or excuse me not worth that's the wrong wrong word each of those students it costs a certain amount of money to educate that student you add up all those numbers and that's the budget the state says is what you need what we need to adequately educate our students then the state calculates how much the district can afford through property taxes and that's known as your local fair share the difference between those two numbers is the amount of state aid that a district gets my mark you've changed so dramatically so the idea behind the school funding Reform Act and the uh the the the law that was passed in 2008 was that it it would be a fairer funding formula that it would provide students with provide districts with the amount of money that they need based on different factors which we know should be accounted for when educating a child however when they did the calculations in 2008 the the bill didn't pass because over 180 districts of the 600 or so districts in New Jersey about 180 of them would lose age would lose money and so the legislators from those areas obviously voted no so in an effort to get this funding Reform Act passed the state came up with some idea called hold harmless Aid also known as excuse me also known as um adjustment Aid so the 180 districts that would have lost aid the state gave them the money that the formula called for plus a the aid that they would have lost they kept getting that and they kept getting that every year until 2018 all the while a district like Clifton which historically was underfunded did not get the aid the formula was not fully funded why because all of the districts that had to get hold hold armless Aid the money went to them and you'll see a chart later on that it shows this more um more clearly so in 2018 the formula changed again in uh a law called S2 and what S2 did was it did two things it eliminated hold harmless Aid so those districts that were getting the extra money no more but not all at once a little bit each year until this year where the formula is supposed to be funded exactly how it was created and the other thing it did was it increased Aid to the underfunded districts like Clifton which is why when I show you the chart starting in 2018 you'll see that Clifton started getting additional state aid each year while other districts who were overfunded for many many years started losing Aid and they're the ones who are all crying foul about their losing aid but they had been overfunded for many many years so they were able to hire a a whole bunch of teachers a whole bunch of principes and administrators and all the people that they probably could have done without but they had the money so why not spend it but a district like Clifton and many others had to go without so the state aid formula to bring us up to adequacy is also built on the assumption that the Local District would raise the tax levy 2% each year by raising the tax levy 2% each year that gives you your local fair share the amount of money that the state says the Clifton taxpayers should be paying and now after this year's state aid increase the state formula is fully funded that means after this year we will not be getting additional state aid but we will be getting the aid that the formula calls for based on 11,000 students and based on all those other categories I mentioned earlier but the problem ladies and gentlemen is we are below our fair share because of multiple budgets with 0% increases so we will never be caught up to where we should be because of those 0% ta tax increases and I will tell you that that I understand the reason why previous boards did that finally in 2018 the district was getting additional money that it was due and and owed and so the the the board members at that time the board at that time felt well hey we should give the taxpayers a break and I get it but now it's come home to roost are there any questions about anything I've said so far cuz that's the history and that's how we got to where we are today anybody have any questions about that before I move on thank you Miss Warz I it's a difficult thing I you know to and not everyone understands it so I want to make sure we're all on the same page so that we can have fruitful discussions this is a number you'll hear repeated several times tonight I'm just going to say it and then you'll hear Mr sha talk about it later but this is um to keep everything we have today to maintain what we have now next year this is our this is our increase for next year okay so remember that number and then remember this those of you who own a house you know this already but each year you get a tax bill and that tax bill um in every city or town in the state state of New Jersey is divided into three parts there's Municipal Taxes that's your city taxes there's County taxes that goes to the county for the services the county provides and then there is the school tax which in every single town and city in the state of New Jersey it doesn't matter what town you look at it's always the biggest piece of the pie always schools are always the biggest piece of the pie however as you can see on this chart and the next one might be even clearer it's uh just numbers since 2016 Clifton has been hovering at about 46 to 40% um 46 to 47% of a taxpayers bill meaning the portion of your tax bill that goes to the school has been about 46 to 47 % again bigger than Municipal bigger than County but so is every other town but if you look closely that percentage is significantly lower than both the county and state average meaning we spend less on our schools than most districts in the entire state of New Jersey and that Gap guys it's not a small Gap it's millions of dollars it's millions of dollars and so that's where you get the idea that the state says we are not fulfilling our local fair share here's that same information in number form right the left column is the percentage of when you get your tax bill that's the percentage that goes to the schools lower than than the average in Baya County every year and lower than the state average what does that mean that means that the the Clifton Board of Education historically has been very conservative in regards to budgets has been very respectful of the taxpayers and even with being underfunded all those years years even all the underfunding we're doing pretty good as a district academically socially extracurricularly made that word up could you imagine had we gotten the funding that we were supposed to get every year since 2008 we're talking about $500 million and I know Mr brunak remembers that number because every now and then he texts me he's like hey how do we get our 500 million back so we talked tonight A little about an increase in in our percentage we're only talking about an increase in our percentage of the pi so you see 2022 47.4% and here's an interesting number guys remember last year we raised the tax levies anybody remember how much good net 2.4% but what happened to our share of the piie from the year previous look at 2022 our percentage look at 2023 what happened to our share anybody I'll decreased even though we raised taxes we raised the tax levy are part of the Pi still went down and then here's some other um oh no I'm sorry the next slide has some other uh towns that I could just show you what what they're doing um so this is the proposed tax levy um as the board knows and I'm not sure if the public knows but we are permitted each year to raise the tax levy up to 2% in fact that's what the state expects the state expects us to raise the tax 2% however in years where we don't raise taxes and we do anything other 2% the amount that we uh do not raise the bud uh tax levy under 2% is known as banked cap it's like you could put it away for a rainy day and so this year we have the ability to raise the tax levy 2% and we also have 2% of Bank cap from previous years where we did not raise tax taxes so we could raise the tax levy 4% and if we did that's what um the pi would look like so the percentage of the pi would only let go back only go up to 48.5% which compared to other towns now and we cannot compare ourselves to Patterson and posic because they their budgets are not relying on property taxes they get millions and millions of state aid several of the board Commissioners and administrators texted me last night an article about the city of pic getting a brand new $328 million High School completely funded by the school Development Authority which is a state [Music] agency $328 million just because here you go we can't do that we don't get that so it's not fair to compare us to pic and Patterson but you want to look at what other towns their breakdown Wayne they're at 55 we're at with a 4% increase we're at 48.5 Wayne 55% West Milford 58% Bloomingdale 55.9% Hawthorne 55.7% Pompton Lakes 56.7% Ringwood 59.1% these are all towns in our County and so as I mentioned earlier we'll never get back to where we should be one because of the underfunding from the state and two because of the multiple years as you can see on this graph of below 2% increases you'll see just the last two years that we raised the tax levy we were working with budgets now that that didn't increase we were trying to do the same thing with the same amount of money while dealing with more students while dealing with different needs and really guys the only thing that kind of kept us afloat the past couple years was the infusion of federal Esser funds because of the pandemic well guess what those are no more so I'm not trying to paint a dire situation we're good we are good but our kids have been short changed for a long time our district has been short changed for a long time and there are things that other districts have that we don't have because we didn't get the funding we deserved and because we didn't at least go to 2% even 1% had we gone to 1% each of those years that were zero that's a few extra million dollars that we would have for our students millions of dollars we're talking about and this is where the state says we are the state says that our recommended tax adequacy is 169 million that's the amount of money we should be getting in property taxes according to the state that's our fair share if we raise our tax levy 4% we're only at 153 million that's 15 million below where the state says we should be so I I guess the point is well I don't want to raise anybody's taxes I pay taxes too I don't pay taxes in Clifton but I pay taxes and I respect the board's uh regard for the taxpayers But ultimately at the end of the day I'm going to look out for kids and I'm going to look out for staff and right now based on our tax levy we're 15 mil below where the state says we should be so the administration's asking the board to raise the tax levy 2% and to use our bank cap and finally not to beat a dead horse but that's what that $510 million looks like the maroon color is the amount of Aid we got from the state the pink if you notice the pink starts getting bigger in 2018 that's the passage of S2 and then it goes the pink gets bigger every year which is why in those years the board did 0% tax levy increases until we are where we are in 2023 with additional pink but there will be no more pink and the red is what we're calling missing money it's it's the money that if the formula had been fully funded All Those Years and we're only going back to 2013 if we went back to 2008 it wouldn't fit on the page it wouldn't look right and the point would get um that the point wouldn't be so clear but that red is the money we should have had guys and I can't even imagine what this District would look like if we had that money so at this time I'm going to turn it over to assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Janina cevich to talk about what the budget priorities are for next year and our needs Janina thank you when question Dr robertto yes sir if we don't use that 2% Bank cap can we use it next year that's a very good question Mr Paris that 2% Bank cap will expire this year so that 2% we don't use it now we lose it forever and how much money is that Mr shahada 2.68 million 2.68 million that we would lose forever thank you for asking that question Dr yes sir did you say the current New Jersey state budget is around the around 50% for Education now too about 40% the current state not just in 1976 but to this day about 40% it might be probably more now thank you you're very welcome I'm happy to answer any other questions uh folks but I'm not going anywhere I'm going to sit right here actually I'm going to sit in my chair so I could to see Janina thank you Robert thank you Dr Rober toy Commissioners Dr Robert toy clearly presented how we got to where we are what I'd like to talk about today are where we need to go from here of our nearly 11,000 students 56% of them speak any one of 62 different language languages at home over 2,300 of them have an IEP and receive some form of special education services ranging from speech to fully inclusive classrooms with wraparound supports we have over 1270 multilingual Learners children learning the English language and then we have our general education population that especially since the pandemic has increasing needs in remediation of literacy skills of math skills and tremendous social emotional needs students requiring counseling School phobias communication concerns that may not rise to the level of special education this budget's instructional priorities focus in on our general education student needs as well as these specialized populations the first section of priorities we're looking at instructional support these growing specialized populations and increasingly complex needs that our students have require increases in special education this budget includes a social worker behaviorists counsel more full and part-time paraprofessionals bilingual and ESL support staff as well as general education intervention teachers and reading specialists in order to support our teachers our schools our students they need help working together we are asking for some more programmatic support additional instructional coaches to support our teaching staff so they can can best help our students and administrative intern and assistant principles and one more special education supervisor for that growing population from an instructional classroom perspective we're looking at additional special education classroom teachers as well as resource room and inclusion teachers I mentioned that we have 2300 students in special education at this time as of today there are still 152 students waiting to be tested by our child study team to see if they need additional supports we have bilingual and ESL teachers included in this budget our multilingual Learners have doubled and that continues to grow we'd recently this week had an education and special education committee meeting at that meeting I said that we had had students on Monday of this week by Tuesday of this week our multilingual Learners increased to 1278 and as of a few minutes before the school day closed the cue of new registrants who need to be tested for English language support services is now 22 more students and that's just increases that took place this week we're also asking for some high school elective teachers and our preschool program continues to grow although luckily the preschool program does come with its own pot of money but that funding from the state the peeg funding covers most of but not all of our preschool needs and it definitely does not address the space needs we have so I think I've painted a picture of our increasingly complex student needs all of these specialized populations in addition to there being more of these students special education bilingual ESL and preschool are all subject to class siiz limits based on various forms of legislation Ida guides how big a special education self-contained or inclusion class can be bilingual code guides how many students should be in a bilingual or ESL classroom especially for newcomers who are level one or level two English speakers and preschool Aid is Guided by early childhood guidance that limits preschool classrooms to 15 students for a teacher and paraprofessional all of these smaller classes require in most cases fullsize classrooms and that's something that's at a premium right now with the pre the special education increases at this time we're almost out of seats we have limited seats available in all of our self-contained classes yet there are still 152 kids who have to be tested that potentially could be up to if all of those students needed Services could be up to 15 more classrooms we think it's more like 3 to eight we need have increases for therapeutic supports and there's crossover much more crossover than ever before between special education ESL and general education we have more and more of our English language language Learners who are coming in needing additional supports in addition to counseling but also instructional differentiation in the form of an IEP in special education I just shared with you that exponential growth in ESL just over two years ago we only had about 652 English language learner multilingual Learners as I just shared with you that number has more than doubled and just this week alone is seeing a spike and for preschool expansion same thing more space needs we get the funding from the state but guess what like all funding it comes with strings attached the strings attached to preschool funding are that we must continually show growth to what they call the preschool Universe right now we are serving about 65 60% of our preschool Universe in order to get to 90 that's about just around over a thousand kids to get to 90% of our preschool Universe we're going to need 24 more classrooms there are no classrooms every single classroom space in our elementary schools is at capacity there's one little pocket where two classes will condense for next year and those have already been earmarked for special education self-contained spaces We are continuing to explore space the middle schools are bursting at the seams and the high school does not have available classrooms certain periods of the day so as we explore space options we are looking at non-public schools we are looking at Partnerships we're looking at leases we already have multiple partners ships for both special education and preschools with local organizations and of course we are currently leasing some buildings and looking at leasing others there is a lease component that is also included in this budget in order to address some of these space needs which group or what grade span will get those needs that will depend on the greatest need in this coming year but the needs are many we're not doing poorly we're not but we do need to continue to support the needs of all of our students thank you I'm going to turn this over to our assistant superintendent for business Mr shahada I got the title wrong right all right good evening Commissioners so this year we were awarded an additional 8.5 $5 million in state aid and this is how the state is telling us we need to allocate that money roughly $5.5 million for special education just under a million dollar for security and slightly over $2 million for Equalization Aid Equalization Aid basically is just for the growing enrollment so the total Aid that we received from the state y year is just shy of $99 million and here is an exhaustive list of how that money is being spent oh excuse me this picture was designed to illustrate the hole we have to dig out of walking into fiscal year 25 we are obligated to pay north of $13 million before we can even think of any discretionary spending which would include special projects or any expansion of programs now here in his in his exhaustive list of how that $8 million is being spent between salary and benefits it's a total of $9 million Charter School an increase of $3.4 million pcti $612,000 add of District private schools $92,000 contracted transportation $620,000 and County Special Services and state facilities $234,000 now I've taken the liberty of creating a list of what the tax impact would be from a 1 to a 6% increase however based on this budget presentation I've highlighted the 4% as you can see based on the average assessed Home in Clifton the 4% increase would be slightly over slightly under $17 per month or slightly over $200 per year year now this is what the 4% and the additional Aid gets us it allows us to meet all of our contractual obligations in addition the 23 24 2% has been strategically placed in this budget and allows us to fund Pope Paul for the next seven years with just this Mount alone also it is important to know what Dr Robert Mr Shad I'm sorry to interrupt can we just go back to Pope Paul because Janita mentioned the case for space you're mentioning Pope Paul I want to be clear that the Comm Commissioners understand that we're talking that about that as extra space um the 2% that covers Poole what does that tell me what that means the 2% is the $2.9 million that we got out of the 4% last year so the rent roughly is about $2.8 million with about 2% increasing every year so with that amount that we have put into the budget for Pope Paul it can fund it for seven years before we have to ask the taxpayers or the board for additional funds to continue the lease so as Dr Robert toy mentioned earlier it's also important to note that we have $20 million in expiring ARP eser grants this year so with our recent state aid notice indicating the flat trajectory and the anticipated Sunset of the saffra formula next year it is extremely unlikely that we will receive any additional funding until the governor in a new legislature imp excuse me Implement a new formula however we can easily be on the short end of the stick like many of our neighboring districts when the state is calculating how much Aid to give to a district it's comprised of a multitude of factors one of the main components is whether or not the district asked the local taxpayers for an increase the state's rationale is very simple if they don't need money from their local municipality they don't need money from the state ultimately we believe this budget allows us to build a strong foundation for years to come and helps combat any uncertainties with state aid now here's just a recap of the budget needs state aid increase the local fair share fixed cost to maintain the budget security requirements bilingual ESL enrollment explosion special education increases preschool growth and the need for space teacher and Par professional retention expiring Bank cap expiring federal grants and the prevention of Staff Cuts in the future thank you all Mr sh to thank you very very much well done I'd want to go back to to Pope Paul um space is one of our biggest issues and for those of you who don't know Pope Paul um was a high school for many many years in in in Clifton it is um while I think there might be a small program there now we have been in negotiations with them for for a while and we are very close to securing that building uh Miss kusevic can describe to you a little bit more about that building and and what it looks like and what it um what it can do for us as a district Janina yes Pope Paul has approximately 28 full-size classrooms and a total of 33 usable classrooms as well as a full gym cafeteria small Auditorium um and additional um Office Space in comparison to our current middle schools um this is smaller than Christopher and Woodrow um woodro does have 44 classroom uh usable team classrooms 60 rooms with small spaces uh Christopher has 47 full-size team classrooms about 54 with smaller spaces um but this could be nearly the size of so pop Paul would could Garner us a minimum of 28 full size and a total of 33 additional classroom spaces thank you Miss kusich and I want to be uh very transparent with the board um from the administration's perspective there are many uses for that building um we did a um a brainstorming session about six weeks ago um my executive team and I and we came up with no less than 19 different uses for the building um I don't want to get into that tonight but rest assured uh when the eyes are dotted and tees are crossed and we secure that building um what we're going to do is we're going to come to the board with what we believe are the top three uh uses for that building and of course then we're going to need your input um on what would be uh best suited but there's no doubt that we need that space we need that building and if you haven't seen it it's a it's a the building is in really good shape there's a a big piece of property there too there's uh there's athletic fields in the back and there's also a separate building uh which I believe hosted the um the the the diasis I always have trouble with that word the diasis offices so there can be uh and so there's other uses for for that um for that too so it's uh I'm very happy that that it became available I'm very happy that we're close to getting it it's just making the final decision of what we're going to do with it is going to be a collaborative decision that we make together so um I'm happy now to open it up to any questions from the Commissioners for myself Mr Shahar or Miss kusevic okay anyone question a couple of questions so just want to make sure I have this right Miss kusevic um so we have roughly now maybe with the people in the queue the students in the queue potential students 1300 multi- language Learners roughly right and then you said we have 3,000 roughly uh students with an IEP so like a third of the District of is that correct 2,300 with about potentially 15 00 more so just under like 25 20 22 to 3% okay and thank you and then um so in the last two years our multi-level uh multilanguage Learners doubled roughly um any just like high level uh number of of the increase of IEP students maybe year-over year is that so year-over-year you can't really do that because the students graduate students come back in but over the last let's say 10 years we've gone from about 1,600 to 2300 okay and um so we have the MLL students who may or may not have an IEP and vice versa and I assume there's a maybe some small percent that are both have both and are both right okay thanks um and then my other question is the uh saffra formula sunsetting um do is there some talk or or or an estimate of when they will have the new formula the state I being told it will not be touched by Governor Murphy it will be touched by who whomever the next Governor may be okay um thank you and then um I think my final question was okay so so the numbers here that you provided us thank you very much and um listen I just have to give you all Kudos you do a tremendous job year-over-year Comm communicating providing the background and sharing with the public clearly what the needs are and where we are right you be back um and so the the number here of 4% uh equates to 202 in the average uh property owner increase that's the dollars that they would see correct okay so this chart here has you know multiple percents which is great just to be clear that whoever's looking at that that annual would be the bottom line number increase to your property tax correct I just want to be clear because it is complicated it is based on the assessed value of the home correct right so that's if you're have an average Home in Clifton that $22 is what you'll see right now there is a calculator is that still on our website uh Mr sh so what what we are going to do is we're going to put we'll put a calculator on our website and we'll send something so that you can put in your um you actually put in your address and doesn't it give you the assessed value you would have to put in the assessed value of your home and it does the calculations on the background to tell you what your actual dollar amount increase will be and the assessed value can be found on your tax bill Mr Chad correct yep thank you thank you Mr Santiago anyone else any other questions commission Mahia I did have a question for um Dr cuch lovik um I know there have been stories of some other districts that it's been really hard to obtain bilingual ESL teachers when it comes to students who come from Russian and German um and I know right here you did include Ukrainian Turkish Spanish Arabic how easy will it be for us to obtain those um teachers with the proper credentials and to ensure that it's not via online instruction because I know a couple weeks ago we did have some students tell us that there are online instructions going on and I just feel when it comes to ESL and bilingual teachers we would need this in the classroom rather than online so it will be very difficult um so far we have been lucky we have been able to either find the bilingual staff that we need or we have grown our own we do turn to the community the current Ukrainian teacher that we have is one of the parents from our program uh we have been very lucky and able to in order to find people from our commity Community to fill these roles um our top languages in Clifton are Spanish followed by Arabic and the growing populations that need support would be Ukrainian and Turkish we do still have a large number of Polish speakers but we don't they don't need English language uh Services those these are these are families that are now generational here um it will be a challenge and while we would seriously intend to limit um and prevent any kind of online instruction um unfortunately that is a stop Gap filler while we try to grow our own continue to seek other opportunities work with the colleges work with um have Partnerships with the universities to perhaps we have a teacher who might be certified in in something else but they have a language skill to do the alternate route with them or support them through that college program we have um contracted with Kelly Services to be able to increase our number of substitutes to provide coverages while we're seeking out new staff um we're basically trying everything we can but this is not a pretty picture we had a team of people at two different major job fairs this week we had someone go down to Kane we had a group going down to Kane University and we had a group going down to up to William Patterson they left the group that went to cane walked away with a total of after a full day there would you like to guess how many resumés we GA we gathered at cane three three whole resumés after a day of recruiting I was going to say good guest D and at um William Patterson we came away with seven the education programs in our country are not putting out enough teachers to fill the current vacancies much less the vacancies coming in the next few years so I'm sorry for the long answer we will do are we are doing everything we possibly can so far knock on I guess for Micah we will we've been lucky we've had to use very very minimal number of class sections um in an online format but I have to say the one class section that is still left um has been extremely successful because that virtual staff member has integrated themselves so well into the community that they've even been recommending students of the month Janita that's long but well needed answer thank you for that I want to reiterate one more time to the commissioner that we have time that we have time we have until May the May board meeting to make a final decision tonight you are authorizing us to send the budget to the county superintendent for approval we could put zero we could put 25% now it doesn't matter they look at it to make sure that it's balanced and that it's formatted correctly then they just give it a a generic approval so that we could have our budget hearing in May so we decide tonight to send it with 4% that can change very easily um in in May when we formally submit the budget just wanted to clarify that again any other questions from Commissioners yes commissioner here so the reason I asked that is because I did know that in the legislator there was a bill to prevent online curriculum I'm not sure whatever happened with it if it's still lost if the vote was still going to be happening um but I that's something that I am afraid of I'm afraid that they get rid of that and then we have no options and then like you said it is very hard to fill in an ESL Certification um and with that said we would probably have to find find someone sponsor them to get and ESL sir and then um as the growing population of Ukrainian students and Turkish students keeps growing and growing we're going to have to make anou and again that would cost us a lot more money um I'm not sure if we would sponsor them at that point or if we would obligate them to go out on their own and get their own ESL startt um but that was just one of the things that quickly popped into my head um another question I did have in terms of the special education um I do know we are requesting more um services for them but I did want to quickly touch base on the service for semi I know we are enrolled in that where we charge the Medicaid how does that work in terms of the budget so for those who don't know Mr sh I'm going to ask you to give the number so maybe while I'm talking unless you have it right there uh semi is special education medic Medicare initiative Medicade Medicade sorry thank you that's a very different thing and it allows the district to be reimbursed for certain services for our special education students we do need parents to sign off on that and over the past several years um we've gotten our percentage of reimbursement up um to receive a a lot more because we were working harder to get those parental uh parental approvals parental signatures so I don't mean to put you on the spot of it but do you have that number in that big booklet somewhere I do I just need a moment to find it and correct me if I'm wrong that number um can only be used for special education or does it go to the general fund it go to the general fund however we try to infuse it back into the special education department so we'll get we'll we'll we'll get that number I I put them on the spot but we'll get that number for you any other question yes commissioner canola yeah um so first of all I want to thank you for for a very detailed explanation I mean I think anybody at home following now understands the full scope of everything that took place in the history um I know Clifton was a part of it because in 2018 we were the ones that were able to remove that formula and put S2 in place and that's the whole reason why we're starting to get this funding and uh a lot of signatures for that Mr yeah and and historically the reason why was because they were counting let's say Jersey City for instance let's just use one um had at the time five ,000 students but now had less students it didn't matter they would continue to get that Aid in perpetuity unless we made some sort of change so um I'm glad that swung in our Direction but as you mentioned that now comes to an end and so does all the Esser funding and so do all this other additional funding and and these counselors that we that we had here um so that downfall and looking at Pages um 11 and 12 here so you mention that 13,00 number is million 13 $3,950 number is the increased cost and then you mentioned if we do go to a 4% million is what we get so essentially it's just a wash right that's including pop Paul which is not in the current budget but that would include po which is a need anyway that we know 100% uh what I don't see here though is inflation and I know that everyone is talking over the past 3 years about how how things have inflated greatly um and that's another piece to this that I don't know how that's going to affect our the things in capital reserve or any of our projects in facilities or or anything even with the referendum right now which is going to increase um so that also worries me especially since we're not going to be receiving any new Aid unless something changes which we know will like likely not happen um so that's a a concern for me uh but the special needs positions that are put in here would that now allow us to service more special needs students in in District and not have to send them out then resulting in some sort of a savings um I'm going to ask Janina do you know that are the positions the special education positions um would it help keep more students in District save money that way also anytime we keep a student in District it saves money at the same time right now we are running out of spaces and there are some students who need to go out of districts because their needs are so complex that it would cost us much more money or we just don't have the services available for those students so there are some students coming up in this next year or two that we may be able to serve as but we can't because we don't have the room I wouldn't put it that way um the space so far we've been able to be creative and find the spaces by planning for additional space we should be able to keep students in provided that we have enough teaching staff to provide those classrooms because those classrooms do have limits on how many students can be in a self-contained class but an ie is very individualized so each time the child study team assesses a student we don't know at the outset will that child need a self-contained classroom which might have a very small class size will that child go to a resource room and then general education and just be one of the other kids in their regular education class will that child be in an inclusion classroom with two teachers so that um that's very fluid students come in needing more services and then slowly wean off Services others need increasing amounts of service so I can't exactly say it's that we we are we're going to there are kids that we can't service because of space we're not at that point yet we're trying to not get to that point and up to now again knock on for Mica we've been lucky enough to be creative enough and we do have waivers for what are called by the county substandard spaces we do have some classrooms that by the physical number of kids in that class it's exceeding what looks like is allowable but by adding an additional teacher or an additional parah you you're allowed to make those accommodations so we do use make use of every flexibility so that we're not excluding kids or putting kids into more expensive um and possibly unnecessary out of District placements you know we're we're our child study teams they're fully independent from us we don't make dollar and Cent decisions about the kids and Janina you you said it but I want to reiterate we're not there yet but what what good planning does is prevents us from ever being in that situation and that's what a budget is planning for the future and our anticipated needs now one other thing that I know was mentioned and I want to say like the previous or maybe the one before Clifton Merchant magazine they were talking about how there are many different like condos going up and many different buildings you know taking place I know the one up the street for me on pulson AV there is going to be like a 300 unit um is any of that sort of fig figured into here where if we have X amount of students where they would go yeah Mr kova do you remember when that project was proposed we were told that there wouldn't be any additional students I don't know how I don't how they figure that out but uh there will be no procreation allowed in those apartments um so you know with that now doing a thorough um demographic projection which would which which we can do which we would probably need to hire a consulting firm that that that does that specializes that and they can kind of predict housing patterns and Trends um we're anticipating more students but not significantly uh more depending you know depending if but there could be more development you know we we don't know okay there's more development Dr there is this continual development that's more and more um you know multif family type of development uh you know being erected so it it might actually be a wise investment for us to consider um ladies and gentlemen of of hiring a demographic firm to do that study they do like a 20-year projection kind of thing Dr Rob I did find the semi number sorry about that uh the revised revenue for this year that we received was $4,350 the projected revenue for next year is $4 53,9 that's great and in addition just piggy back off what you said I already reached out to some contacts um from other Bas throughout the state to see if they can give us a demographic study gentleman who can assist us with that or lady I I had another question about sorry you're right m I have a question are you done Joe one more question when we when we found students that had um we had been paying for to go either at a district or whatnot I know it takes like a year or two to for that to hit our budget would that would some of those be hitting in this budget too and where would they be I I don't have th those numbers Mr shad and I don't want to put you on the spot again I think what Mr Keno was referring to correct me if I'm wrong um when we project like PCT TI and they give us a bill we pay for students and then we find out those students aren't coming and we get a refund uh my my phone is on do not disturb guys I don't know what's going on um I apologize for that when do we get that refunded does it come once a year or how does that work for Charter Schools it is every three years for pcti it is every two years so is that in this budget Mr the refund we did receive a refund last year that was in the budget we have not received one as of now for pcti or Charters commissioner bass thank you president uh Paris you gave us a chart in the back of the the thing it said 02 and four this is a wish list this is nothing in concrete correct correct these are the needs that the administration felt um are needed to operate I I have to be very careful about how I wear this but I want to try to cuz somebody asked me today currently you are negotiating with certain bargaining units in the district if we pass the preliminary bu budget we send it off what if said bargaining units negotiate and it's higher than the percentage that we are going to ask for for the levy how do we how do we justify the balance do we say we decide miraculously tonight we the wand with 4% but maybe one of the bargaining units goes over that amount per year how do you make up that difference um is there there cuts to be made you have to take you know cuz you know you only have so much in your buckets right how do you balance the bucket that's my one question Mrs bassford you explain what you how you said it is beautifully explained there's only so many buckets so we can raise the tax levy 2% maybe 4% % this year because we have Bank cap so if somebody's getting a more than a 4% raise next year the money's got to come from somewhere where does it come from in a negotiation there would have to be a give back on something else in past negotiations there would be uh there was a give back on the um on the health waiver so the money that was saved there was utilized towards salaries so if there's going to be something that's more than what we raise the tax levy that money will have to come from some other negot something that we negotiate could it come from student services could it come from uh Athletics it could it come from anything in the district that we fund money for when the board is negotiating and let me be clear it's the board that negotiates with the associations corre the administration gives our expertise there's no way I would recommend to the board anything higher than that if we if we couldn't have the money and I would say to Mr shahada do we have this money and he would tell me yes or no and I would never make a recommendation to the negotiations committee to say yes to anything more that than than we know we have okay so um one of the other things I I wanted that uh just tell you Mr Kenova we can budget all we want we could wave our magic wands and our crystal balls and all my magic things that I do on on the download but if you have a couple of special needs students that come into the district and they have needs because it's their unique needs right an IP is called individual education program that can blow our whole budgeting Pro uh you know thought pattern right out the window okay today we could have everything fine and then next year we get five students that need to go out to an out a district placement that cost $500,000 a year plus busing they need a nurse and they need an eight on the bus with them right out the window so it's it's that's a that's a guesstimate and and then it's cular because we have people that go out and then we save that money but then we have more people coming in what I've noticed where I'm I've traveled is with covid the need for special education services has tripled or quadrupled in many multiple towns because of the lack of Education that children got what happened with some people got sick and things like that so that was one thing but that's not a it's not a it's not a a constant I know you're a techy guy so you have to have everything you have to everything level so I wanted to try to explain it to you the best I could I have people asking me will positions be cut if we go to a bargaining unit and say we don't agree and we go to impass we go to a mediator and they Grant these units a lot more percentage than we want to give them will it will there be positions that we have to cut that's what I'm I'm I'm concerned with under the current budget under what we're proposing and I want to be very transparent because I don't mess with people's jobs I don't want anybody to be afraid there are no plans to cut any positions even if you do not give us the 4% we don't anticipate any positions going away sure okay so Clifton is overbuilding that's what they're doing okay um I was against all of these things from the very beginning I was interviewed in an article and I told them it's something me and the council disagree with all the time they are putting in 80% of those units on paulon are going to be one bedrooms 20% are going to be two bedrooms that's why they say no oh there's not going to be any kids living in there I I have studio apartments with two children living in there you can't judge that nobody's inspecting these all the time I think that's going to be a big problem I think the um tax assessment although a lot of work went into it I think it's low um houses in Clifton are selling for record high numbers and I mean record high um house just sold a week two weeks ago $2 million house just went on a market today $3 million um 900 800 700 those are the averages right now that people are getting for houses it might be on the market for 500,000 it's going to sell for 700,000 it's an insane Market uh because people are desperate and they're over paying and that's going to hurt us in the long run and that's going to hurt this in the long run um I think everything was explained unbelievably well I really appreciate the breakdown from everybody uh the only thing that's concerning is the you know um the tax involvement and then it's just it's not just us it's the sewer it's the city it's everything that's going up and the only thing not going up is people's pay exactly and Mr s can I ask you a question in your profession Prof experience as a realtor I'm speaking selfishly now because I want 4% what's the first thing people ask you really about the the the town like what do they want to know well I mean that's the thing too even you know come back to when I was running nobody ever said don't raise taxes if you get in that wasn't something that was said to me because I think people want the best interest for the kids in the community and honestly what are you raising taxes for special education and Early childood Learning which are the two things that I said this is what I'm in for um and I see the need for it I mean the numbers in special education are are drastic um so schools right people want to know about the schools um but then again you people want to know about the traffic and that's something that uh where it's going to get even worse with all the overbuilding um and then another thing that worries me is the overcrowding with the overbuilding but that's uh something for another day um so that's the only thing that worries me is the property value values are going through the I'm looking at them right now they're just through the roof as we speak um has there been any discussion at the city level of a reassessment of properties currently happening as we speak oh an official reassessment oh yeah oh it is okay I didn't realize that and if you're not there to open the door they're just going to leave a note and assume that you upgraded or assume that everything's the same it's going to go 5050 when do they anticipate that being done that's going to be hard they don't that's going to be very hard cuz they have to assess every house in Clifton the last time they did it was you know even before that most houses1 thank you in the 90 was the last time it was reassess number that's on the number that's on the city's tax assessor website from where I got the average assess home from was from 2010 and that is just published every year so I'm assuming this went up but I don't know I'm not this is the last time okay so the last time they actually went into people's houses and to actually look at the upgrades that was in then like early '90s that's the big problem we're having right now so if you put in new floors or a new kitchen or a new bathroom guess what your value went up your assessment went up which since the 90s I think most people did I know that date because it was one year before I bought my house in Clifton and the tax assessor came in looked at my house and tacked on another 1,500 $5,000 to my assessment which had just been assessed a year before so I asked logically what how can that be I didn't haven't done anything just put some paint on the walls and the answer was well was your assessment total full market value what you paid for it I said no said well you can go up to your full market value if you like so I said thank you I don't think I'll appeal that um but that that's how I no it's in my mind it's back back in 1991 was the last full assessment of the Town that's 30 over 30 years ago trust me I promise I will never question you on dates that's one thing I know you have can I make a request that we open the floor to public just on the budget we can certainly a motion okay let me let me just uh read my stick here uh this portion of the meeting is open to the residents and non-residents of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to and or directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District residents and non-residents are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to State their names addresses and subject matter ments are limited to 5 minutes per person issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if in when appropriate the board asked that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be resp responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board bearss no responsibility nor nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments so with that I will open the floor to public recognition should there be anybody anybody would like to speak do we have an online today Mr sha we do but there is nobody here just me then I motion to close motion to close by second mission Mia second by Mr Bak going once twice three times for public recognition Mr ragdale thank you Elias ragdale um I do have a question I know at least the city does this are we able to see where things are going from the budget we have now um like the city for example when they when they do their whole proposing thing they show like what departments are getting what so I know we saw the tax that's being proposed and where that money would go sort of but can we see where the rest of the budget's going to go as well like student services Athletics whatever that may be I don't know if that's public information I assume it is um but is that usually given out how does that worked as well that is after the final budget when everything is set in stone the userfriendly budget is posted 48 hours after the vote on our website under the business office tab okay so you can see the previous one now okay yeah you could see all the budgets there and you can also just typee in New Jersey userfriendly Budget on Google and it'll give you every municipality broken down by county from 2023 to about 2010 and does that include what's being propos like next year's budget how much is going to Athletics for next year how much that's how much proposed for that does like is that accessible that is not accessible yeah because it's not official not decided okay thank you okay trying not to um thank you for having Donna Potch Clifton uh thanks for having this now so I can get home and watch the State of the Union um Chloe's watching it right now at a a watching party with the senator yes so um a few things uh one when you talk about pop Paul you're talking about Pope John Paul school or Paul 6 Paul Paul well it's the same building so Paul 6 okay I I just think if you I want to be yeah I just want to be clear that's the mean it's the one next to I want to be clear too M Pap because I'm not sure uh on Valley Road correct right next to St Phillips Okay so us who have been here forever it's we we call it Paul 6 Paul 6 yeah and then then it turned into a grammar school which was Pope John Paul and you are you also looking at the diois center there the school and the diois center yes oh okay okay so because I said I think I know like the oldtimers like me are going to be confused because we think of that building is Paul six so when it was a high school it was Paul six Paul six yes um I really came to talk about two things that w Really School related sorry um one is luren Murphy Scholarship fund we are uh collecting funds um to award a scholarship to a senior who's going to major in social work and we're just reminding the public that we are taking contributions you can mail them the checks are made out to the Lauren Murphy Scholarship fund um you can mail them to my house at 57 Delwood Road in Clifton um 07013 um we have our first event coming up on March 23rd it's at JK reality we're going to be having a reception it's going to be pictures with the Easter Bunny and we're going to be there's going to be plenty of food because Joe always provides plenty of food um please come please come ready to consume sugar um and I I hope to see a large amount of the community there um March 20 3rd so it's a day before Palm Sunday great day it'll be Easter Bunny you can get your pictures tap r your camera um and the other thing is we have some little free little pantries going up in town we have three of them we've been haggling a little over their location but we got that hammered out today um and I'd like to thank everyone who volunteered spots because I think we could put up about a 100 pantries now in town um but we are looking for groups to sponsor and I'd like to to thank the board for sponsoring one month for the food pantry and some of the schools have uh contacted me also about uh sponsoring but if anyone else in town would like to sponsor a p Pantry or any group we would love to see um some more participation uh we also have for those who are interested a pantry that's just for dog or cat or I guess lizard or or frog or whatever fish food whatever pet you have um because 's a large need for pet food um without providing pet food people will um be giving up their pets which is of course another problem which you know about space problems very mer um and otherwise just everyone thank you so much and good luck with your budget thank you Miss B thank you anyone else wish to speak seeing no one a motion to close motion to close motion to close by second by commissioner Santiago um Mr Paris are we still going to continue the discussion about the budget are there any other is there any other uh questions or discussion we can so I just wanted to briefly mention to the public that there is a quote by a famous philosopher that everything always catches up to you no matter what and I think this is evident in what we see here today I'll just read some of the previous boards their numbers that they had the first just going back to .98 0 0 0 2 and four along with the state's failure to fully provide us the funds that we need we clearly see that today that is evident that not just that we need to play a catchup game but it's in dire need you know when it comes to like you mentioned before jobs everyone wants to keep their job and I remember during one of these years that's when many of my former teachers did lose their jobs um looking back that was a horrible thing to witness um I'm there at my locker and then one of my teachers comes out of the bathroom crying and that was a horrible thing to see as a 16-year-old um and you know I I I get the reasoning why previous boards wanted to do a 0% for so long and refus used to go even that 2% that we needed to stay afloat and I get it I understand money but now we're just trying to play catchup now we're just trying to play catch up and I know we need that 4% um at least just to keep up with what is going on in this economy so I just wanted to briefly tell that to our community members out there that it's in dire need as well as the fact that like I said now we're just playing catchup we're never going to be able to fully fulfill that catchup number that we need and it's a shame and for me not speaking for anyone else I would blame the state and I would blame previous boards their members for not being responsible so thank you thank you commission Mahia anyone else like to comment yes commissioner SWS thank you I just I want to reiterate the Gratitude and appreciation for the thorough explanation um I reached out to uh Mr shahada earlier this week so I can get a real full understanding of our budget and um it really helped I I appreciate everyone's communication thorough explanation um I'm someone who is a processor and I need to process information and um this was really well not only well articulated but in a in it's a tangible way to understand where we're going and I agree we absolutely need the 4% um but so I just want to say um thank you because it really helps me understand and I hope those at home uh could understand the dire deed as well thank you thank you anyone else all right we'll move on to board committee reports I'm sorry Mr President we're going to have plenty of time in the future to discuss the budget before we vote on it right yes we don't for for this evening's preliminary budget vote thank you but no me ask you're asking if we have more discussion right about about prior to the actual vote there will be plenty more discussions potentially correct to May or prior to us voting preliminary this evening thank you that's my question to you Mr yeah yeah yeah yeah I I just hear a lot tonight it's it's I you know when I hear commissioner Mahia and I hear you know um commissioner Suarez it sounds like we're voting for the actual budget tonight so I just want to make sure the public is clear this this is what we got to send to the county by law yes we are voting on a preliminary budget thank you that is not the final budget final budget will be coming at our May meeting and there will be opportunity at the May meeting also to discuss that and for that matter at the April meeting thank you Mr President yes I'm sorry about this I forgot to mention this um another question going back to the semi to the semi are parents often left with trying to foot the bill by themselves or no just want to get that clear no right no okay all right thank you all right we're going to move on to committee reports and if we can start if uh Municipal Alliance commission shano are you ready to provide our minutes I believe so so the municipal Alliance met on February 22nd board members who attended were myself Mr Santiago Miss Danny and president Paris Administration was Mr Jenaro Mr shahada and from the city we had the city manager Mr volano councilman Cog councilwoman Pino and councilwoman sadra Kula meeting started at 6:05 p.m. ended 50 minutes later at 6:55 p.m.

in the Clifton stadium and lastly um please come and come out to our spring production of Hello Dolly tickets can be purchased with cash at the door and Advance on their website Friday March 8th Saturday March 9th at 700 p.m. and March 10th at 1 p.m.

uh first thing we did was an overview uh we introduced ourselves um I outlined the committee structure and purpose to guarantee the safety of our students and their Journeys to and from school uh that we then went right into school safety crossing guard safety around the schools we learned all crossing guard positions have been filled that's prompting the city to explore the addition of substitute crossing guards uh concerns have Arisen regarding Brighton Road particularly during designated drop off and pickup times due to parking congestion um we are actively brainstorming solutions to enhance the safety of the students in the area which one of those was increased police enforcement uh Mr J Aro took the lead on traffic safety due to his extensive knowledge and eloquently addressed all issues and concerns brought by the committee uh very happy he was there for that traffic management was the next thing we discussed around the busiest schools which is another safety concern um lack of student utilization of designated Crossing areas administrative measures have been taken such as updating the bus routes for Clifton High to minimize traffic through specific zones um however due to the proximity of certain buildings the large student population options are very limited the city recommended heightened enforcement around seal a and the installation of electronic speed signs which are looking into uh pedestrian crossing lights similar to the one on Allwood at the end of Clifton a were discussed for cila A and B and they were determined and practical at Clifton High due to just the volume of students um City stated they are shortened on traffic officers however the city manager expressed his eagerness to help us find other Solutions in the meantime to keep parent informed we suggested sending out messages regarding increased enforcement near schools uh city manager will be drafting a letter and that'll be sent out by the assistant superintendant uh we then discussed the status of safe route to schools approved projects currently in the queue and the update on grants reveals ongoing efforts to address issues while ensuring compliance with safety standards joint meeting with the Boe is scheduled to finalize details we followed up on the road construction which is the last meeting that was had and we emphasized the importance of informing the us about construction and school zones to help parents plan alternative routes also discussed pilot programs uh those are numbering between six and seven Citywide there's a suggestion to implement a cost sharing model for any new pilots to offset per pupil expenses and we also decided that we need to meet more regularly so the next meeting is actually scheduled here on March 28th thank you commissioner siano any questions question for yes yeah the the pilot programs that were mentioned are those specific programs that that were brought up do we know what they are they did not we did we asked if there were any Pilots currently that were residential that would have contribute to students in the area and that we were told there weren't any currently that were that were residential okay so this is the potential to going forward okay we're particularly curi ious about the poent Avenue project if that was a pilot or not and that that is not okay any other questions okay um commissioner Mahia could you please uh read the minutes for our student liaison committee last meeting so the Clifton High School leison committee the meetings were dated for February 27 2024 time from 11: a.m.

will be the showings and more information can be found at Clon High School website um on Instagram page so please follow them at Clifton High School drama that is c l i f t nsor drama or email um Lisa POI with any questions um the cast crew Orchestra and directors look forward to seeing you at the show and I can say I usually do stage crew for the shows but it's always a very very good time so please if you guys are free just make sure to come out spread the word um but yes that's it for today thank you very much thank you Jada for keeping us up to date and uh special congratulations to the mock trial team on their uh Victory we'll move to uh student our student recognition Awards um first start with the Freshman Mr The Freshman commissioner mAh believe yes thank you so our freshman student of the month is going to be Andres Willam Marin our freshman grade student of the month has been in band since elementary school when he picked up his first alto saxophone when he's not in the band room he enjoys learning about the history in the classroom and plans on doing spring outdoor track this year Andres thanks his parents for all his support and raising him to be the person he is today with his parents and his strong work ethic he is Bound for success in the next three years here at CHS certificate of achievement this recognition is certified to Andes on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education and administration for CHS freshman St in the month March 2024 [Applause] congratulations see you see s congratulations that was freshman there you go up next is a a certificate of achievement for Jenna Jenna alur our sophomore student of the month is Jenna alur her favorite subject in school is history as she loves to learn about politics and our government she is on the mock trial team in competing in the mock trial World Championships this summer she has competed at Harvard Princeton and Yale and hopes to go on to win States this year Jenna is also on the varsity volleyball team which she has been on since the eighth grade outside of school she trains in Taekwondo and is a second degree black belt her influential and inspiring people include Dr McCoy and her family who are always there to support her at work and home let's please applaud for Jenner on the tour [Applause] con [Applause] Junior you got who's a junior it is my privilege to talk about the 11th grade student of the month Nicholas doctor our Junior student of the month is Nicholas doctor Nicholas is a varsity wrestler and is in the athletic Training Club he enjoys learning about history and the relations between events in the past he has really enjoyed Mr Rogers history class for two years now and it has reinforced his dream to become a history teacher Nicholas had to overcome a painful miniscus tear during his freshman year but he has learned from this process in difficult time along with Mr Rogers and his parents who have always supported him in achieving his goals he is right on track to successfully become a history teacher and coaching wrestling after college Nicholas I have a certificate of achievement for you up [Applause] here [Applause] see here thank thanks my little corner here so our senior student of the month is Mariana kada Moya Mariana is in Varsity swimming National Honor Society National Society of High School Scholars and is the vice president of global mentoring program and girls who code Club one of the most challenging experiences was immigrating from costaa and learning English from scratch when she arrived at CHS adapting to the American culture and educational system would not have been possible without the help of her friends and teachers like Mrs stag and Mr Stewart Mariana sister is also someone who inspires her to do her best and succeed marana's aspirations include studying computer science with a focus on cyber security and becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college congratulations [Applause] Marana okay we'll make sure that gets to her we will make sure she gets this stud employes of start good evening I have the uh pleasure of reading Diane gito I was asking Mr uh superintendent Robi how to pronounce the name because I sometimes the names are difficult but I want to make sure that it was correct so G uh Diane gero 10-month secretary at cila s uh the Clifton Early Learning educa Academy Diane guito is a team player she always takes the time to lend a hand whether it is to be uh to assist a parent support a teacher or help a student no request is too big or too small from the first day spear opened Diane continued to be an intrical part of the spear Community Diane demonstrates kindness and respect to everyone she meets Diane listens with compassion and responds with care whether it's a question asked to her she is always and has an answer to give and get the information for you in a timely manner now not only does she do the role of a secretary but uh she does much much more she serves as our tech guide helps keep teachers on track with the duties and she is also the chair of our Sunshine committee at sealer spear she knows all the students and the parents and assists them with arrival and dismissal every day she is always consistent positive and kind is Diane here Diane this clack is uh presented to Diane greo for outstanding service dedication and commitment to the Clifton public school learning community congratulations Diane to come up hide back there is there any other staff let's take one with the family then we'll ask the St to come up okay behind come on Mr Frank Mr Frank make sure Mr Frank's [Applause] here thank you Mr President Middle School level Gwen air Sanchez World Language teacher Gwen is always present in the hallway engaging with students and teachers her attitude and engaging personality have such a positive effect on CCMS students and staff Gwen is always in contact with the fourth to sixth grade teams to monitor their students progress it is a very Challen it is very challenging juggling all four teams she makes sure she communicates with the team leaders and her students Gwen will will let them know if she is calling a parent about a concern and we ask for any feedback about specific students as well as being so focused on her Student Success is also she is also a great colleague Gwen is always willing to help her colleagues translate when speaking with a parent she never says no she always finds a way to help for evening conferences this past February Gwen created a schedule of her availability to translate for the sixth grade teams her evening was filled with helping her co- workers Gwen is a tremendous asset to our community congratulations [Applause] Gwen I just wanted to say I'm so so grateful for this I just wanted to say really quickly I'm so so grateful for this award I really was not expecting it at all and I feel so blessed I really do to have worked in Clifton this is my 23rd year in Clifton I know I started when I was five um so I'm so so blessed to work with the amazing people that I work with at Christopher Columbus I worked 15 years as an elementary school teacher and I loved that job and it was a little scary coming to the middle school but I'm so happy that I have I have an amazing Community there my Administration is amazing I have the best department the World Language Department I'm so so happy our supervisor is amazing and K through 12 we have the best best teachers and I just want to thank everybody really from the bottom of my heart thank you so [Applause] muche Way Family any staff here come up for the second picture please we'll do a family one first another staff picture princip here Mr vice principal mning [Applause] uh next for uh High School is Joseph Finley mathematics teacher Joe Joe Finley has been a long-standing member of the CHS staff and has always put the best interest of his students as his number one priority Joe holds extra help and tutors lessons for his students on a near daily basis encouraging students with his passion and help beyond the mere length of a class period Joe is always positive during parent teacher meetings he's always treating parents with respect and is able to find something positive to say about the most difficult situ students always ready to assist a fellow staff member with dedication and understanding he embodies the best in what a teacher should be his tireless effort are an example for students to commit themselves to their growth and responsibility while also serving as a reminder for staff that passion is at the heart of our craft Joe come up we have a certificate for you [Applause] here I'm sorry let's correct sorry Joe feely Feely conratulations I don't I don't believe we have any committee presentations at this point we're going to go right to uh our budget hearing presentations on our preliminary budget folks there are no more um recognition tonight for staff or students we will not be insulted if you leave but if you want to stay for my exhilarating budget presentation you're also more than welcome to do that too board members have to St oh my goodness e which microphone are we using good evening board Commissioners members of The Cliff one Clifton Community faculty staff students uh those watching at home the annual budget is one of the most important decisions if not the most important decision the board of education is responsible for each year now I want to be clear the the budget is a Board of Education decision it's one of the things that really falls under the perfu of the board however a board would be irresponsible to not listen to the administration uh when crafting a budget for the next school year that has never happened here in Clifton um the board is always willing to listen to the needs of the faculty um and staff and the administration having said that it's important to know that as an elected official ladies and gentlemen you represent the students and the staff and the taxpayer and that's a very very important role that you play it's it doesn't go on notice that New Jersey is the highest taxed state in the entire country and part of the reason for that is our overr Reliance on property taxes to fund education tonight you are not voting on a budget I want to be clear tonight the administration is going to present to you what we believe are the needs of the district and you're voting to authorize the administration to send the budget to the county superintendent for approval the final budget presentation and vote will not take place till our May board meeting so in an effort to see where we are today where we want to go we have to take a look back and see how we got here and so I want to begin tonight with a brief history of State funding for schools in New Jersey take it back to maybe the elementary school maybe Middle School the first time you heard of this document called the United States Constitution which is the outline of our government in the United States and the founding fathers who wrote the Constitution were smart enough to include a little known Amendment called the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution and I say little known because you've all heard of the Bill of Rights and you've heard people talk about my first amendment rights to freedom of speech you may have heard from watching TV police dramas I plead the fifth which is the Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate but nobody ever talks about the poor lonely 10th Amendment but it's extremely important and why is it important in this discussion of school funding because ladies and gentlemen believe it or not the word education the word school does not exist in the United States Constitution but the 10th Amendment says and I'll read it verbatim the powers not get delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states or reserved to the states respectively or to the people in simple terms basically when they created this document they said you know what we're not going to be able to include everything and in case we kind of maybe forget something important like education or anything we don't mention in this document is going to be left up to each individual State hence the reason why schools in every state in the United States are funded primarily through their state legislatures primarily through through the state constitutions and in New Jersey with a heavy overreliance on property taxes the New Jersey state constitution has a education clause which calls for a thorough and efficient education thorough and efficient anybody know what that means nobody does nobody really knows what it means which is why a debate over what equals a thorough and efficient education has been raging on for years and the ability to fund schools so that school districts can provide a thorough and efficient education is a constant struggle because what you believe is thorough and efficient may be different from what I believe it may be different from what our parents believe so once again in New Jersey the primary funding source for school districts are property taxes however in the 1970s the Supreme Court in New Jersey ruled that the poorer districts in our state did not have the tax base to properly fund schools and they told the state legislature you have to fix it so the state of New Jersey the legislature one of the things they did was create an income tax to help aid School District's budgets and just to give you an idea of the entire New Jersey state budget 40% of the entire New Jersey state budget goes to education almost half of the entire budget goes to fund the schools in New Jersey not only did the Supreme Court tell the legislature to fix it they said that to the legislature you have to ensure that you provide an equal educational opportunity for all students regardless of where they live and so the state's goal up until about was parody between rich and poor districts parody means equal the state wanted each town to treat students equally and by trying to equalize this has actually caused more problems because you cannot provide an equal education a student who grows up in poverty needs more than a student who comes from more affluent parents a district that is primarily full of students who who come from a lower socioeconomic background will need more Aid than a than a district of students whose parents come from a higher socioeconomic background not my rule I didn't create that that's life and so what what this idea of parody resulted in was decades of fighting between who gets how much money and this town is getting more money than this town and it's not fair and how do you determine what's fair so finally in 2008 the state of New Jersey the legislature passed the school funding Reform Act and this law was intended to fix the inequities in the state funding formula in doing so the philosophy of the state also changed where we went away from the idea of creating parity or equality amongst districts to the idea of adequacy that the state should provide adequate funding and the definition of adequacy means equal to the needs of the district so some districts need more money than others and that's where the idea of an adequacy budget came about and in New Jersey what that looks like is the Money Follows the student on October 15th every year ladies and gentlemen it's a magic number for for superintendents and school districts October 15th is the day we count up all of our students and we use that number to apply for state aid through something called the Assa which is the application for state school aid the application for state school aid is how the adequacy budget is determined factors such as elll poverty level and special education are figured into the formula so don't ask me how but the state of New Jersey has come up with a number for an a a regular average Elementary student the state says it costs $1 11,9 to educate that student so for every regular education Elementary student in the Clifton public schools to give them adequately what they need it's $ 11,9 according to the state and then you add in other factors like if a student is elll which we now call uh ml or multi L uh multi- language Learners or if a student has a disability and is classified as special education that factors in and it costs more money to educate that student so on October 15th we fill out this application we say how many students we have how many of them are multi language Learners how many of them are special education and based on that number the sum of that number is the district's adequacy budget so far so good you take all the kids 11,000 kids in Clifton each of those students is worth or excuse me not worth that's the wrong wrong word each of those students it costs a certain amount of money to educate that student you add up all those numbers and that's the budget the state says is what you need what we need to adequately educate our students then the state calculates how much the district can afford through property taxes and that's known as your local fair share the difference between those two numbers is the amount of state aid that a district gets my mark you've changed so dramatically so the idea behind the school funding Reform Act and the uh the the the law that was passed in 2008 was that it it would be a fairer funding formula that it would provide students with provide districts with the amount of money that they need based on different factors which we know should be accounted for when educating a child however when they did the calculations in 2008 the the bill didn't pass because over 180 districts of the 600 or so districts in New Jersey about 180 of them would lose age would lose money and so the legislators from those areas obviously voted no so in an effort to get this funding Reform Act passed the state came up with some idea called hold harmless Aid also known as excuse me also known as um adjustment Aid so the 180 districts that would have lost aid the state gave them the money that the formula called for plus a the aid that they would have lost they kept getting that and they kept getting that every year until 2018 all the while a district like Clifton which historically was underfunded did not get the aid the formula was not fully funded why because all of the districts that had to get hold hold armless Aid the money went to them and you'll see a chart later on that it shows this more um more clearly so in 2018 the formula changed again in uh a law called S2 and what S2 did was it did two things it eliminated hold harmless Aid so those districts that were getting the extra money no more but not all at once a little bit each year until this year where the formula is supposed to be funded exactly how it was created and the other thing it did was it increased Aid to the underfunded districts like Clifton which is why when I show you the chart starting in 2018 you'll see that Clifton started getting additional state aid each year while other districts who were overfunded for many many years started losing Aid and they're the ones who are all crying foul about their losing aid but they had been overfunded for many many years so they were able to hire a a whole bunch of teachers a whole bunch of principes and administrators and all the people that they probably could have done without but they had the money so why not spend it but a district like Clifton and many others had to go without so the state aid formula to bring us up to adequacy is also built on the assumption that the Local District would raise the tax levy 2% each year by raising the tax levy 2% each year that gives you your local fair share the amount of money that the state says the Clifton taxpayers should be paying and now after this year's state aid increase the state formula is fully funded that means after this year we will not be getting additional state aid but we will be getting the aid that the formula calls for based on 11,000 students and based on all those other categories I mentioned earlier but the problem ladies and gentlemen is we are below our fair share because of multiple budgets with 0% increases so we will never be caught up to where we should be because of those 0% ta tax increases and I will tell you that that I understand the reason why previous boards did that finally in 2018 the district was getting additional money that it was due and and owed and so the the the board members at that time the board at that time felt well hey we should give the taxpayers a break and I get it but now it's come home to roost are there any questions about anything I've said so far cuz that's the history and that's how we got to where we are today anybody have any questions about that before I move on thank you Miss Warz I it's a difficult thing I you know to and not everyone understands it so I want to make sure we're all on the same page so that we can have fruitful discussions this is a number you'll hear repeated several times tonight I'm just going to say it and then you'll hear Mr sha talk about it later but this is um to keep everything we have today to maintain what we have now next year this is our this is our increase for next year okay so remember that number and then remember this those of you who own a house you know this already but each year you get a tax bill and that tax bill um in every city or town in the state state of New Jersey is divided into three parts there's Municipal Taxes that's your city taxes there's County taxes that goes to the county for the services the county provides and then there is the school tax which in every single town and city in the state of New Jersey it doesn't matter what town you look at it's always the biggest piece of the pie always schools are always the biggest piece of the pie however as you can see on this chart and the next one might be even clearer it's uh just numbers since 2016 Clifton has been hovering at about 46 to 40% um 46 to 47% of a taxpayers bill meaning the portion of your tax bill that goes to the school has been about 46 to 47 % again bigger than Municipal bigger than County but so is every other town but if you look closely that percentage is significantly lower than both the county and state average meaning we spend less on our schools than most districts in the entire state of New Jersey and that Gap guys it's not a small Gap it's millions of dollars it's millions of dollars and so that's where you get the idea that the state says we are not fulfilling our local fair share here's that same information in number form right the left column is the percentage of when you get your tax bill that's the percentage that goes to the schools lower than than the average in Baya County every year and lower than the state average what does that mean that means that the the Clifton Board of Education historically has been very conservative in regards to budgets has been very respectful of the taxpayers and even with being underfunded all those years years even all the underfunding we're doing pretty good as a district academically socially extracurricularly made that word up could you imagine had we gotten the funding that we were supposed to get every year since 2008 we're talking about $500 million and I know Mr brunak remembers that number because every now and then he texts me he's like hey how do we get our 500 million back so we talked tonight A little about an increase in in our percentage we're only talking about an increase in our percentage of the pi so you see 2022 47.4% and here's an interesting number guys remember last year we raised the tax levies anybody remember how much good net 2.4% but what happened to our share of the piie from the year previous look at 2022 our percentage look at 2023 what happened to our share anybody I'll decreased even though we raised taxes we raised the tax levy are part of the Pi still went down and then here's some other um oh no I'm sorry the next slide has some other uh towns that I could just show you what what they're doing um so this is the proposed tax levy um as the board knows and I'm not sure if the public knows but we are permitted each year to raise the tax levy up to 2% in fact that's what the state expects the state expects us to raise the tax 2% however in years where we don't raise taxes and we do anything other 2% the amount that we uh do not raise the bud uh tax levy under 2% is known as banked cap it's like you could put it away for a rainy day and so this year we have the ability to raise the tax levy 2% and we also have 2% of Bank cap from previous years where we did not raise tax taxes so we could raise the tax levy 4% and if we did that's what um the pi would look like so the percentage of the pi would only let go back only go up to 48.5% which compared to other towns now and we cannot compare ourselves to Patterson and posic because they their budgets are not relying on property taxes they get millions and millions of state aid several of the board Commissioners and administrators texted me last night an article about the city of pic getting a brand new $328 million High School completely funded by the school Development Authority which is a state [Music] agency $328 million just because here you go we can't do that we don't get that so it's not fair to compare us to pic and Patterson but you want to look at what other towns their breakdown Wayne they're at 55 we're at with a 4% increase we're at 48.5 Wayne 55% West Milford 58% Bloomingdale 55.9% Hawthorne 55.7% Pompton Lakes 56.7% Ringwood 59.1% these are all towns in our County and so as I mentioned earlier we'll never get back to where we should be one because of the underfunding from the state and two because of the multiple years as you can see on this graph of below 2% increases you'll see just the last two years that we raised the tax levy we were working with budgets now that that didn't increase we were trying to do the same thing with the same amount of money while dealing with more students while dealing with different needs and really guys the only thing that kind of kept us afloat the past couple years was the infusion of federal Esser funds because of the pandemic well guess what those are no more so I'm not trying to paint a dire situation we're good we are good but our kids have been short changed for a long time our district has been short changed for a long time and there are things that other districts have that we don't have because we didn't get the funding we deserved and because we didn't at least go to 2% even 1% had we gone to 1% each of those years that were zero that's a few extra million dollars that we would have for our students millions of dollars we're talking about and this is where the state says we are the state says that our recommended tax adequacy is 169 million that's the amount of money we should be getting in property taxes according to the state that's our fair share if we raise our tax levy 4% we're only at 153 million that's 15 million below where the state says we should be so I I guess the point is well I don't want to raise anybody's taxes I pay taxes too I don't pay taxes in Clifton but I pay taxes and I respect the board's uh regard for the taxpayers But ultimately at the end of the day I'm going to look out for kids and I'm going to look out for staff and right now based on our tax levy we're 15 mil below where the state says we should be so the administration's asking the board to raise the tax levy 2% and to use our bank cap and finally not to beat a dead horse but that's what that $510 million looks like the maroon color is the amount of Aid we got from the state the pink if you notice the pink starts getting bigger in 2018 that's the passage of S2 and then it goes the pink gets bigger every year which is why in those years the board did 0% tax levy increases until we are where we are in 2023 with additional pink but there will be no more pink and the red is what we're calling missing money it's it's the money that if the formula had been fully funded All Those Years and we're only going back to 2013 if we went back to 2008 it wouldn't fit on the page it wouldn't look right and the point would get um that the point wouldn't be so clear but that red is the money we should have had guys and I can't even imagine what this District would look like if we had that money so at this time I'm going to turn it over to assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Janina cevich to talk about what the budget priorities are for next year and our needs Janina thank you when question Dr robertto yes sir if we don't use that 2% Bank cap can we use it next year that's a very good question Mr Paris that 2% Bank cap will expire this year so that 2% we don't use it now we lose it forever and how much money is that Mr shahada 2.68 million 2.68 million that we would lose forever thank you for asking that question Dr yes sir did you say the current New Jersey state budget is around the around 50% for Education now too about 40% the current state not just in 1976 but to this day about 40% it might be probably more now thank you you're very welcome I'm happy to answer any other questions uh folks but I'm not going anywhere I'm going to sit right here actually I'm going to sit in my chair so I could to see Janina thank you Robert thank you Dr Rober toy Commissioners Dr Robert toy clearly presented how we got to where we are what I'd like to talk about today are where we need to go from here of our nearly 11,000 students 56% of them speak any one of 62 different language languages at home over 2,300 of them have an IEP and receive some form of special education services ranging from speech to fully inclusive classrooms with wraparound supports we have over 1270 multilingual Learners children learning the English language and then we have our general education population that especially since the pandemic has increasing needs in remediation of literacy skills of math skills and tremendous social emotional needs students requiring counseling School phobias communication concerns that may not rise to the level of special education this budget's instructional priorities focus in on our general education student needs as well as these specialized populations the first section of priorities we're looking at instructional support these growing specialized populations and increasingly complex needs that our students have require increases in special education this budget includes a social worker behaviorists counsel more full and part-time paraprofessionals bilingual and ESL support staff as well as general education intervention teachers and reading specialists in order to support our teachers our schools our students they need help working together we are asking for some more programmatic support additional instructional coaches to support our teaching staff so they can can best help our students and administrative intern and assistant principles and one more special education supervisor for that growing population from an instructional classroom perspective we're looking at additional special education classroom teachers as well as resource room and inclusion teachers I mentioned that we have 2300 students in special education at this time as of today there are still 152 students waiting to be tested by our child study team to see if they need additional supports we have bilingual and ESL teachers included in this budget our multilingual Learners have doubled and that continues to grow we'd recently this week had an education and special education committee meeting at that meeting I said that we had had students on Monday of this week by Tuesday of this week our multilingual Learners increased to 1278 and as of a few minutes before the school day closed the cue of new registrants who need to be tested for English language support services is now 22 more students and that's just increases that took place this week we're also asking for some high school elective teachers and our preschool program continues to grow although luckily the preschool program does come with its own pot of money but that funding from the state the peeg funding covers most of but not all of our preschool needs and it definitely does not address the space needs we have so I think I've painted a picture of our increasingly complex student needs all of these specialized populations in addition to there being more of these students special education bilingual ESL and preschool are all subject to class siiz limits based on various forms of legislation Ida guides how big a special education self-contained or inclusion class can be bilingual code guides how many students should be in a bilingual or ESL classroom especially for newcomers who are level one or level two English speakers and preschool Aid is Guided by early childhood guidance that limits preschool classrooms to 15 students for a teacher and paraprofessional all of these smaller classes require in most cases fullsize classrooms and that's something that's at a premium right now with the pre the special education increases at this time we're almost out of seats we have limited seats available in all of our self-contained classes yet there are still 152 kids who have to be tested that potentially could be up to if all of those students needed Services could be up to 15 more classrooms we think it's more like 3 to eight we need have increases for therapeutic supports and there's crossover much more crossover than ever before between special education ESL and general education we have more and more of our English language language Learners who are coming in needing additional supports in addition to counseling but also instructional differentiation in the form of an IEP in special education I just shared with you that exponential growth in ESL just over two years ago we only had about 652 English language learner multilingual Learners as I just shared with you that number has more than doubled and just this week alone is seeing a spike and for preschool expansion same thing more space needs we get the funding from the state but guess what like all funding it comes with strings attached the strings attached to preschool funding are that we must continually show growth to what they call the preschool Universe right now we are serving about 65 60% of our preschool Universe in order to get to 90 that's about just around over a thousand kids to get to 90% of our preschool Universe we're going to need 24 more classrooms there are no classrooms every single classroom space in our elementary schools is at capacity there's one little pocket where two classes will condense for next year and those have already been earmarked for special education self-contained spaces We are continuing to explore space the middle schools are bursting at the seams and the high school does not have available classrooms certain periods of the day so as we explore space options we are looking at non-public schools we are looking at Partnerships we're looking at leases we already have multiple partners ships for both special education and preschools with local organizations and of course we are currently leasing some buildings and looking at leasing others there is a lease component that is also included in this budget in order to address some of these space needs which group or what grade span will get those needs that will depend on the greatest need in this coming year but the needs are many we're not doing poorly we're not but we do need to continue to support the needs of all of our students thank you I'm going to turn this over to our assistant superintendent for business Mr shahada I got the title wrong right all right good evening Commissioners so this year we were awarded an additional 8.5 $5 million in state aid and this is how the state is telling us we need to allocate that money roughly $5.5 million for special education just under a million dollar for security and slightly over $2 million for Equalization Aid Equalization Aid basically is just for the growing enrollment so the total Aid that we received from the state y year is just shy of $99 million and here is an exhaustive list of how that money is being spent oh excuse me this picture was designed to illustrate the hole we have to dig out of walking into fiscal year 25 we are obligated to pay north of $13 million before we can even think of any discretionary spending which would include special projects or any expansion of programs now here in his in his exhaustive list of how that $8 million is being spent between salary and benefits it's a total of $9 million Charter School an increase of $3.4 million pcti $612,000 add of District private schools $92,000 contracted transportation $620,000 and County Special Services and state facilities $234,000 now I've taken the liberty of creating a list of what the tax impact would be from a 1 to a 6% increase however based on this budget presentation I've highlighted the 4% as you can see based on the average assessed Home in Clifton the 4% increase would be slightly over slightly under $17 per month or slightly over $200 per year year now this is what the 4% and the additional Aid gets us it allows us to meet all of our contractual obligations in addition the 23 24 2% has been strategically placed in this budget and allows us to fund Pope Paul for the next seven years with just this Mount alone also it is important to know what Dr Robert Mr Shad I'm sorry to interrupt can we just go back to Pope Paul because Janita mentioned the case for space you're mentioning Pope Paul I want to be clear that the Comm Commissioners understand that we're talking that about that as extra space um the 2% that covers Poole what does that tell me what that means the 2% is the $2.9 million that we got out of the 4% last year so the rent roughly is about $2.8 million with about 2% increasing every year so with that amount that we have put into the budget for Pope Paul it can fund it for seven years before we have to ask the taxpayers or the board for additional funds to continue the lease so as Dr Robert toy mentioned earlier it's also important to note that we have $20 million in expiring ARP eser grants this year so with our recent state aid notice indicating the flat trajectory and the anticipated Sunset of the saffra formula next year it is extremely unlikely that we will receive any additional funding until the governor in a new legislature imp excuse me Implement a new formula however we can easily be on the short end of the stick like many of our neighboring districts when the state is calculating how much Aid to give to a district it's comprised of a multitude of factors one of the main components is whether or not the district asked the local taxpayers for an increase the state's rationale is very simple if they don't need money from their local municipality they don't need money from the state ultimately we believe this budget allows us to build a strong foundation for years to come and helps combat any uncertainties with state aid now here's just a recap of the budget needs state aid increase the local fair share fixed cost to maintain the budget security requirements bilingual ESL enrollment explosion special education increases preschool growth and the need for space teacher and Par professional retention expiring Bank cap expiring federal grants and the prevention of Staff Cuts in the future thank you all Mr sh to thank you very very much well done I'd want to go back to to Pope Paul um space is one of our biggest issues and for those of you who don't know Pope Paul um was a high school for many many years in in in Clifton it is um while I think there might be a small program there now we have been in negotiations with them for for a while and we are very close to securing that building uh Miss kusevic can describe to you a little bit more about that building and and what it looks like and what it um what it can do for us as a district Janina yes Pope Paul has approximately 28 full-size classrooms and a total of 33 usable classrooms as well as a full gym cafeteria small Auditorium um and additional um Office Space in comparison to our current middle schools um this is smaller than Christopher and Woodrow um woodro does have 44 classroom uh usable team classrooms 60 rooms with small spaces uh Christopher has 47 full-size team classrooms about 54 with smaller spaces um but this could be nearly the size of so pop Paul would could Garner us a minimum of 28 full size and a total of 33 additional classroom spaces thank you Miss kusich and I want to be uh very transparent with the board um from the administration's perspective there are many uses for that building um we did a um a brainstorming session about six weeks ago um my executive team and I and we came up with no less than 19 different uses for the building um I don't want to get into that tonight but rest assured uh when the eyes are dotted and tees are crossed and we secure that building um what we're going to do is we're going to come to the board with what we believe are the top three uh uses for that building and of course then we're going to need your input um on what would be uh best suited but there's no doubt that we need that space we need that building and if you haven't seen it it's a it's a the building is in really good shape there's a a big piece of property there too there's uh there's athletic fields in the back and there's also a separate building uh which I believe hosted the um the the the diasis I always have trouble with that word the diasis offices so there can be uh and so there's other uses for for that um for that too so it's uh I'm very happy that that it became available I'm very happy that we're close to getting it it's just making the final decision of what we're going to do with it is going to be a collaborative decision that we make together so um I'm happy now to open it up to any questions from the Commissioners for myself Mr Shahar or Miss kusevic okay anyone question a couple of questions so just want to make sure I have this right Miss kusevic um so we have roughly now maybe with the people in the queue the students in the queue potential students 1300 multi- language Learners roughly right and then you said we have 3,000 roughly uh students with an IEP so like a third of the District of is that correct 2,300 with about potentially 15 00 more so just under like 25 20 22 to 3% okay and thank you and then um so in the last two years our multi-level uh multilanguage Learners doubled roughly um any just like high level uh number of of the increase of IEP students maybe year-over year is that so year-over-year you can't really do that because the students graduate students come back in but over the last let's say 10 years we've gone from about 1,600 to 2300 okay and um so we have the MLL students who may or may not have an IEP and vice versa and I assume there's a maybe some small percent that are both have both and are both right okay thanks um and then my other question is the uh saffra formula sunsetting um do is there some talk or or or an estimate of when they will have the new formula the state I being told it will not be touched by Governor Murphy it will be touched by who whomever the next Governor may be okay um thank you and then um I think my final question was okay so so the numbers here that you provided us thank you very much and um listen I just have to give you all Kudos you do a tremendous job year-over-year Comm communicating providing the background and sharing with the public clearly what the needs are and where we are right you be back um and so the the number here of 4% uh equates to 202 in the average uh property owner increase that's the dollars that they would see correct okay so this chart here has you know multiple percents which is great just to be clear that whoever's looking at that that annual would be the bottom line number increase to your property tax correct I just want to be clear because it is complicated it is based on the assessed value of the home correct right so that's if you're have an average Home in Clifton that $22 is what you'll see right now there is a calculator is that still on our website uh Mr sh so what what we are going to do is we're going to put we'll put a calculator on our website and we'll send something so that you can put in your um you actually put in your address and doesn't it give you the assessed value you would have to put in the assessed value of your home and it does the calculations on the background to tell you what your actual dollar amount increase will be and the assessed value can be found on your tax bill Mr Chad correct yep thank you thank you Mr Santiago anyone else any other questions commission Mahia I did have a question for um Dr cuch lovik um I know there have been stories of some other districts that it's been really hard to obtain bilingual ESL teachers when it comes to students who come from Russian and German um and I know right here you did include Ukrainian Turkish Spanish Arabic how easy will it be for us to obtain those um teachers with the proper credentials and to ensure that it's not via online instruction because I know a couple weeks ago we did have some students tell us that there are online instructions going on and I just feel when it comes to ESL and bilingual teachers we would need this in the classroom rather than online so it will be very difficult um so far we have been lucky we have been able to either find the bilingual staff that we need or we have grown our own we do turn to the community the current Ukrainian teacher that we have is one of the parents from our program uh we have been very lucky and able to in order to find people from our commity Community to fill these roles um our top languages in Clifton are Spanish followed by Arabic and the growing populations that need support would be Ukrainian and Turkish we do still have a large number of Polish speakers but we don't they don't need English language uh Services those these are these are families that are now generational here um it will be a challenge and while we would seriously intend to limit um and prevent any kind of online instruction um unfortunately that is a stop Gap filler while we try to grow our own continue to seek other opportunities work with the colleges work with um have Partnerships with the universities to perhaps we have a teacher who might be certified in in something else but they have a language skill to do the alternate route with them or support them through that college program we have um contracted with Kelly Services to be able to increase our number of substitutes to provide coverages while we're seeking out new staff um we're basically trying everything we can but this is not a pretty picture we had a team of people at two different major job fairs this week we had someone go down to Kane we had a group going down to Kane University and we had a group going down to up to William Patterson they left the group that went to cane walked away with a total of after a full day there would you like to guess how many resumés we GA we gathered at cane three three whole resumés after a day of recruiting I was going to say good guest D and at um William Patterson we came away with seven the education programs in our country are not putting out enough teachers to fill the current vacancies much less the vacancies coming in the next few years so I'm sorry for the long answer we will do are we are doing everything we possibly can so far knock on I guess for Micah we will we've been lucky we've had to use very very minimal number of class sections um in an online format but I have to say the one class section that is still left um has been extremely successful because that virtual staff member has integrated themselves so well into the community that they've even been recommending students of the month Janita that's long but well needed answer thank you for that I want to reiterate one more time to the commissioner that we have time that we have time we have until May the May board meeting to make a final decision tonight you are authorizing us to send the budget to the county superintendent for approval we could put zero we could put 25% now it doesn't matter they look at it to make sure that it's balanced and that it's formatted correctly then they just give it a a generic approval so that we could have our budget hearing in May so we decide tonight to send it with 4% that can change very easily um in in May when we formally submit the budget just wanted to clarify that again any other questions from Commissioners yes commissioner here so the reason I asked that is because I did know that in the legislator there was a bill to prevent online curriculum I'm not sure whatever happened with it if it's still lost if the vote was still going to be happening um but I that's something that I am afraid of I'm afraid that they get rid of that and then we have no options and then like you said it is very hard to fill in an ESL Certification um and with that said we would probably have to find find someone sponsor them to get and ESL sir and then um as the growing population of Ukrainian students and Turkish students keeps growing and growing we're going to have to make anou and again that would cost us a lot more money um I'm not sure if we would sponsor them at that point or if we would obligate them to go out on their own and get their own ESL startt um but that was just one of the things that quickly popped into my head um another question I did have in terms of the special education um I do know we are requesting more um services for them but I did want to quickly touch base on the service for semi I know we are enrolled in that where we charge the Medicaid how does that work in terms of the budget so for those who don't know Mr sh I'm going to ask you to give the number so maybe while I'm talking unless you have it right there uh semi is special education medic Medicare initiative Medicade Medicade sorry thank you that's a very different thing and it allows the district to be reimbursed for certain services for our special education students we do need parents to sign off on that and over the past several years um we've gotten our percentage of reimbursement up um to receive a a lot more because we were working harder to get those parental uh parental approvals parental signatures so I don't mean to put you on the spot of it but do you have that number in that big booklet somewhere I do I just need a moment to find it and correct me if I'm wrong that number um can only be used for special education or does it go to the general fund it go to the general fund however we try to infuse it back into the special education department so we'll get we'll we'll we'll get that number I I put them on the spot but we'll get that number for you any other question yes commissioner canola yeah um so first of all I want to thank you for for a very detailed explanation I mean I think anybody at home following now understands the full scope of everything that took place in the history um I know Clifton was a part of it because in 2018 we were the ones that were able to remove that formula and put S2 in place and that's the whole reason why we're starting to get this funding and uh a lot of signatures for that Mr yeah and and historically the reason why was because they were counting let's say Jersey City for instance let's just use one um had at the time five ,000 students but now had less students it didn't matter they would continue to get that Aid in perpetuity unless we made some sort of change so um I'm glad that swung in our Direction but as you mentioned that now comes to an end and so does all the Esser funding and so do all this other additional funding and and these counselors that we that we had here um so that downfall and looking at Pages um 11 and 12 here so you mention that 13,00 number is million 13 $3,950 number is the increased cost and then you mentioned if we do go to a 4% million is what we get so essentially it's just a wash right that's including pop Paul which is not in the current budget but that would include po which is a need anyway that we know 100% uh what I don't see here though is inflation and I know that everyone is talking over the past 3 years about how how things have inflated greatly um and that's another piece to this that I don't know how that's going to affect our the things in capital reserve or any of our projects in facilities or or anything even with the referendum right now which is going to increase um so that also worries me especially since we're not going to be receiving any new Aid unless something changes which we know will like likely not happen um so that's a a concern for me uh but the special needs positions that are put in here would that now allow us to service more special needs students in in District and not have to send them out then resulting in some sort of a savings um I'm going to ask Janina do you know that are the positions the special education positions um would it help keep more students in District save money that way also anytime we keep a student in District it saves money at the same time right now we are running out of spaces and there are some students who need to go out of districts because their needs are so complex that it would cost us much more money or we just don't have the services available for those students so there are some students coming up in this next year or two that we may be able to serve as but we can't because we don't have the room I wouldn't put it that way um the space so far we've been able to be creative and find the spaces by planning for additional space we should be able to keep students in provided that we have enough teaching staff to provide those classrooms because those classrooms do have limits on how many students can be in a self-contained class but an ie is very individualized so each time the child study team assesses a student we don't know at the outset will that child need a self-contained classroom which might have a very small class size will that child go to a resource room and then general education and just be one of the other kids in their regular education class will that child be in an inclusion classroom with two teachers so that um that's very fluid students come in needing more services and then slowly wean off Services others need increasing amounts of service so I can't exactly say it's that we we are we're going to there are kids that we can't service because of space we're not at that point yet we're trying to not get to that point and up to now again knock on for Mica we've been lucky enough to be creative enough and we do have waivers for what are called by the county substandard spaces we do have some classrooms that by the physical number of kids in that class it's exceeding what looks like is allowable but by adding an additional teacher or an additional parah you you're allowed to make those accommodations so we do use make use of every flexibility so that we're not excluding kids or putting kids into more expensive um and possibly unnecessary out of District placements you know we're we're our child study teams they're fully independent from us we don't make dollar and Cent decisions about the kids and Janina you you said it but I want to reiterate we're not there yet but what what good planning does is prevents us from ever being in that situation and that's what a budget is planning for the future and our anticipated needs now one other thing that I know was mentioned and I want to say like the previous or maybe the one before Clifton Merchant magazine they were talking about how there are many different like condos going up and many different buildings you know taking place I know the one up the street for me on pulson AV there is going to be like a 300 unit um is any of that sort of fig figured into here where if we have X amount of students where they would go yeah Mr kova do you remember when that project was proposed we were told that there wouldn't be any additional students I don't know how I don't how they figure that out but uh there will be no procreation allowed in those apartments um so you know with that now doing a thorough um demographic projection which would which which we can do which we would probably need to hire a consulting firm that that that does that specializes that and they can kind of predict housing patterns and Trends um we're anticipating more students but not significantly uh more depending you know depending if but there could be more development you know we we don't know okay there's more development Dr there is this continual development that's more and more um you know multif family type of development uh you know being erected so it it might actually be a wise investment for us to consider um ladies and gentlemen of of hiring a demographic firm to do that study they do like a 20-year projection kind of thing Dr Rob I did find the semi number sorry about that uh the revised revenue for this year that we received was $4,350 the projected revenue for next year is $4 53,9 that's great and in addition just piggy back off what you said I already reached out to some contacts um from other Bas throughout the state to see if they can give us a demographic study gentleman who can assist us with that or lady I I had another question about sorry you're right m I have a question are you done Joe one more question when we when we found students that had um we had been paying for to go either at a district or whatnot I know it takes like a year or two to for that to hit our budget would that would some of those be hitting in this budget too and where would they be I I don't have th those numbers Mr shad and I don't want to put you on the spot again I think what Mr Keno was referring to correct me if I'm wrong um when we project like PCT TI and they give us a bill we pay for students and then we find out those students aren't coming and we get a refund uh my my phone is on do not disturb guys I don't know what's going on um I apologize for that when do we get that refunded does it come once a year or how does that work for Charter Schools it is every three years for pcti it is every two years so is that in this budget Mr the refund we did receive a refund last year that was in the budget we have not received one as of now for pcti or Charters commissioner bass thank you president uh Paris you gave us a chart in the back of the the thing it said 02 and four this is a wish list this is nothing in concrete correct correct these are the needs that the administration felt um are needed to operate I I have to be very careful about how I wear this but I want to try to cuz somebody asked me today currently you are negotiating with certain bargaining units in the district if we pass the preliminary bu budget we send it off what if said bargaining units negotiate and it's higher than the percentage that we are going to ask for for the levy how do we how do we justify the balance do we say we decide miraculously tonight we the wand with 4% but maybe one of the bargaining units goes over that amount per year how do you make up that difference um is there there cuts to be made you have to take you know cuz you know you only have so much in your buckets right how do you balance the bucket that's my one question Mrs bassford you explain what you how you said it is beautifully explained there's only so many buckets so we can raise the tax levy 2% maybe 4% % this year because we have Bank cap so if somebody's getting a more than a 4% raise next year the money's got to come from somewhere where does it come from in a negotiation there would have to be a give back on something else in past negotiations there would be uh there was a give back on the um on the health waiver so the money that was saved there was utilized towards salaries so if there's going to be something that's more than what we raise the tax levy that money will have to come from some other negot something that we negotiate could it come from student services could it come from uh Athletics it could it come from anything in the district that we fund money for when the board is negotiating and let me be clear it's the board that negotiates with the associations corre the administration gives our expertise there's no way I would recommend to the board anything higher than that if we if we couldn't have the money and I would say to Mr shahada do we have this money and he would tell me yes or no and I would never make a recommendation to the negotiations committee to say yes to anything more that than than we know we have okay so um one of the other things I I wanted that uh just tell you Mr Kenova we can budget all we want we could wave our magic wands and our crystal balls and all my magic things that I do on on the download but if you have a couple of special needs students that come into the district and they have needs because it's their unique needs right an IP is called individual education program that can blow our whole budgeting Pro uh you know thought pattern right out the window okay today we could have everything fine and then next year we get five students that need to go out to an out a district placement that cost $500,000 a year plus busing they need a nurse and they need an eight on the bus with them right out the window so it's it's that's a that's a guesstimate and and then it's cular because we have people that go out and then we save that money but then we have more people coming in what I've noticed where I'm I've traveled is with covid the need for special education services has tripled or quadrupled in many multiple towns because of the lack of Education that children got what happened with some people got sick and things like that so that was one thing but that's not a it's not a it's not a a constant I know you're a techy guy so you have to have everything you have to everything level so I wanted to try to explain it to you the best I could I have people asking me will positions be cut if we go to a bargaining unit and say we don't agree and we go to impass we go to a mediator and they Grant these units a lot more percentage than we want to give them will it will there be positions that we have to cut that's what I'm I'm I'm concerned with under the current budget under what we're proposing and I want to be very transparent because I don't mess with people's jobs I don't want anybody to be afraid there are no plans to cut any positions even if you do not give us the 4% we don't anticipate any positions going away sure okay so Clifton is overbuilding that's what they're doing okay um I was against all of these things from the very beginning I was interviewed in an article and I told them it's something me and the council disagree with all the time they are putting in 80% of those units on paulon are going to be one bedrooms 20% are going to be two bedrooms that's why they say no oh there's not going to be any kids living in there I I have studio apartments with two children living in there you can't judge that nobody's inspecting these all the time I think that's going to be a big problem I think the um tax assessment although a lot of work went into it I think it's low um houses in Clifton are selling for record high numbers and I mean record high um house just sold a week two weeks ago $2 million house just went on a market today $3 million um 900 800 700 those are the averages right now that people are getting for houses it might be on the market for 500,000 it's going to sell for 700,000 it's an insane Market uh because people are desperate and they're over paying and that's going to hurt us in the long run and that's going to hurt this in the long run um I think everything was explained unbelievably well I really appreciate the breakdown from everybody uh the only thing that's concerning is the you know um the tax involvement and then it's just it's not just us it's the sewer it's the city it's everything that's going up and the only thing not going up is people's pay exactly and Mr s can I ask you a question in your profession Prof experience as a realtor I'm speaking selfishly now because I want 4% what's the first thing people ask you really about the the the town like what do they want to know well I mean that's the thing too even you know come back to when I was running nobody ever said don't raise taxes if you get in that wasn't something that was said to me because I think people want the best interest for the kids in the community and honestly what are you raising taxes for special education and Early childood Learning which are the two things that I said this is what I'm in for um and I see the need for it I mean the numbers in special education are are drastic um so schools right people want to know about the schools um but then again you people want to know about the traffic and that's something that uh where it's going to get even worse with all the overbuilding um and then another thing that worries me is the overcrowding with the overbuilding but that's uh something for another day um so that's the only thing that worries me is the property value values are going through the I'm looking at them right now they're just through the roof as we speak um has there been any discussion at the city level of a reassessment of properties currently happening as we speak oh an official reassessment oh yeah oh it is okay I didn't realize that and if you're not there to open the door they're just going to leave a note and assume that you upgraded or assume that everything's the same it's going to go 5050 when do they anticipate that being done that's going to be hard they don't that's going to be very hard cuz they have to assess every house in Clifton the last time they did it was you know even before that most houses1 thank you in the 90 was the last time it was reassess number that's on the number that's on the city's tax assessor website from where I got the average assess home from was from 2010 and that is just published every year so I'm assuming this went up but I don't know I'm not this is the last time okay so the last time they actually went into people's houses and to actually look at the upgrades that was in then like early '90s that's the big problem we're having right now so if you put in new floors or a new kitchen or a new bathroom guess what your value went up your assessment went up which since the 90s I think most people did I know that date because it was one year before I bought my house in Clifton and the tax assessor came in looked at my house and tacked on another 1,500 $5,000 to my assessment which had just been assessed a year before so I asked logically what how can that be I didn't haven't done anything just put some paint on the walls and the answer was well was your assessment total full market value what you paid for it I said no said well you can go up to your full market value if you like so I said thank you I don't think I'll appeal that um but that that's how I no it's in my mind it's back back in 1991 was the last full assessment of the Town that's 30 over 30 years ago trust me I promise I will never question you on dates that's one thing I know you have can I make a request that we open the floor to public just on the budget we can certainly a motion okay let me let me just uh read my stick here uh this portion of the meeting is open to the residents and non-residents of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to and or directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District residents and non-residents are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to State their names addresses and subject matter ments are limited to 5 minutes per person issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if in when appropriate the board asked that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be resp responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board bearss no responsibility nor nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments so with that I will open the floor to public recognition should there be anybody anybody would like to speak do we have an online today Mr sha we do but there is nobody here just me then I motion to close motion to close by second mission Mia second by Mr Bak going once twice three times for public recognition Mr ragdale thank you Elias ragdale um I do have a question I know at least the city does this are we able to see where things are going from the budget we have now um like the city for example when they when they do their whole proposing thing they show like what departments are getting what so I know we saw the tax that's being proposed and where that money would go sort of but can we see where the rest of the budget's going to go as well like student services Athletics whatever that may be I don't know if that's public information I assume it is um but is that usually given out how does that worked as well that is after the final budget when everything is set in stone the userfriendly budget is posted 48 hours after the vote on our website under the business office tab okay so you can see the previous one now okay yeah you could see all the budgets there and you can also just typee in New Jersey userfriendly Budget on Google and it'll give you every municipality broken down by county from 2023 to about 2010 and does that include what's being propos like next year's budget how much is going to Athletics for next year how much that's how much proposed for that does like is that accessible that is not accessible yeah because it's not official not decided okay thank you okay trying not to um thank you for having Donna Potch Clifton uh thanks for having this now so I can get home and watch the State of the Union um Chloe's watching it right now at a a watching party with the senator yes so um a few things uh one when you talk about pop Paul you're talking about Pope John Paul school or Paul 6 Paul Paul well it's the same building so Paul 6 okay I I just think if you I want to be yeah I just want to be clear that's the mean it's the one next to I want to be clear too M Pap because I'm not sure uh on Valley Road correct right next to St Phillips Okay so us who have been here forever it's we we call it Paul 6 Paul 6 yeah and then then it turned into a grammar school which was Pope John Paul and you are you also looking at the diois center there the school and the diois center yes oh okay okay so because I said I think I know like the oldtimers like me are going to be confused because we think of that building is Paul six so when it was a high school it was Paul six Paul six yes um I really came to talk about two things that w Really School related sorry um one is luren Murphy Scholarship fund we are uh collecting funds um to award a scholarship to a senior who's going to major in social work and we're just reminding the public that we are taking contributions you can mail them the checks are made out to the Lauren Murphy Scholarship fund um you can mail them to my house at 57 Delwood Road in Clifton um 07013 um we have our first event coming up on March 23rd it's at JK reality we're going to be having a reception it's going to be pictures with the Easter Bunny and we're going to be there's going to be plenty of food because Joe always provides plenty of food um please come please come ready to consume sugar um and I I hope to see a large amount of the community there um March 20 3rd so it's a day before Palm Sunday great day it'll be Easter Bunny you can get your pictures tap r your camera um and the other thing is we have some little free little pantries going up in town we have three of them we've been haggling a little over their location but we got that hammered out today um and I'd like to thank everyone who volunteered spots because I think we could put up about a 100 pantries now in town um but we are looking for groups to sponsor and I'd like to to thank the board for sponsoring one month for the food pantry and some of the schools have uh contacted me also about uh sponsoring but if anyone else in town would like to sponsor a p Pantry or any group we would love to see um some more participation uh we also have for those who are interested a pantry that's just for dog or cat or I guess lizard or or frog or whatever fish food whatever pet you have um because 's a large need for pet food um without providing pet food people will um be giving up their pets which is of course another problem which you know about space problems very mer um and otherwise just everyone thank you so much and good luck with your budget thank you Miss B thank you anyone else wish to speak seeing no one a motion to close motion to close motion to close by second by commissioner Santiago um Mr Paris are we still going to continue the discussion about the budget are there any other is there any other uh questions or discussion we can so I just wanted to briefly mention to the public that there is a quote by a famous philosopher that everything always catches up to you no matter what and I think this is evident in what we see here today I'll just read some of the previous boards their numbers that they had the first just going back to .98 0 0 0 2 and four along with the state's failure to fully provide us the funds that we need we clearly see that today that is evident that not just that we need to play a catchup game but it's in dire need you know when it comes to like you mentioned before jobs everyone wants to keep their job and I remember during one of these years that's when many of my former teachers did lose their jobs um looking back that was a horrible thing to witness um I'm there at my locker and then one of my teachers comes out of the bathroom crying and that was a horrible thing to see as a 16-year-old um and you know I I I get the reasoning why previous boards wanted to do a 0% for so long and refus used to go even that 2% that we needed to stay afloat and I get it I understand money but now we're just trying to play catchup now we're just trying to play catch up and I know we need that 4% um at least just to keep up with what is going on in this economy so I just wanted to briefly tell that to our community members out there that it's in dire need as well as the fact that like I said now we're just playing catchup we're never going to be able to fully fulfill that catchup number that we need and it's a shame and for me not speaking for anyone else I would blame the state and I would blame previous boards their members for not being responsible so thank you thank you commission Mahia anyone else like to comment yes commissioner SWS thank you I just I want to reiterate the Gratitude and appreciation for the thorough explanation um I reached out to uh Mr shahada earlier this week so I can get a real full understanding of our budget and um it really helped I I appreciate everyone's communication thorough explanation um I'm someone who is a processor and I need to process information and um this was really well not only well articulated but in a in it's a tangible way to understand where we're going and I agree we absolutely need the 4% um but so I just want to say um thank you because it really helps me understand and I hope those at home uh could understand the dire deed as well thank you thank you anyone else all right we'll move on to board committee reports I'm sorry Mr President we're going to have plenty of time in the future to discuss the budget before we vote on it right yes we don't for for this evening's preliminary budget vote thank you but no me ask you're asking if we have more discussion right about about prior to the actual vote there will be plenty more discussions potentially correct to May or prior to us voting preliminary this evening thank you that's my question to you Mr yeah yeah yeah yeah I I just hear a lot tonight it's it's I you know when I hear commissioner Mahia and I hear you know um commissioner Suarez it sounds like we're voting for the actual budget tonight so I just want to make sure the public is clear this this is what we got to send to the county by law yes we are voting on a preliminary budget thank you that is not the final budget final budget will be coming at our May meeting and there will be opportunity at the May meeting also to discuss that and for that matter at the April meeting thank you Mr President yes I'm sorry about this I forgot to mention this um another question going back to the semi to the semi are parents often left with trying to foot the bill by themselves or no just want to get that clear no right no okay all right thank you all right we're going to move on to committee reports and if we can start if uh Municipal Alliance commission shano are you ready to provide our minutes I believe so so the municipal Alliance met on February 22nd board members who attended were myself Mr Santiago Miss Danny and president Paris Administration was Mr Jenaro Mr shahada and from the city we had the city manager Mr volano councilman Cog councilwoman Pino and councilwoman sadra Kula meeting started at 6:05 p.m. ended 50 minutes later at 6:55 p.m.

up until 12 P 12 1220 p.m. and there this was located at the JFK Auditorium in clipon high school some of the attendees included president Alan Paris commissioner Judith bassford commissioner Richard Mahia myself um commissioner tan Suarez assistant super superintendent of business Amed shahada um CHS principal ahed hamda um vice principal Chris Keegan and re Ibraham which is one of our teachers some of the students um I don't want to really name the students names is that okay all right um but we did have a bunch of students at our committee meeting those names will not be named right now um so it began with Mr hamda giving us a brief introduction with the board members um as well as students introducing themselves students shared things that are going on well in school um gym class is incorporating games um of more variety there's less fights due security Personnel increase bathrooms are cleaner and more efficient lines move faster due to to them due to the help from security along with this with this security has helped mov a lot of movement around the halls and traffic flow um the school feels a lot cleaner um students seem more organized safety new alarm systems are being um are more alerting students of the month posters athlete of the month stated a bit earlier to recognize the winter athletes um excuse me Mr hamda Mr Keegan started the day by greeting students enthusiastically at the door um review of last meeting's issues one of them included the homework policy um current homework is being assigned during long weekends and long breaks uh Miss bassford says that the um the board is reviewing this policy Mr hamda says he will bring it up with supervisors hopefully some shift away from assignment homework um being due immediately Upon returning from breaks Miss bassford pointing out how veteran teachers may be accustomed to previous work culture but they are addressing it with all teachers Mr hamda also brings up the cell phone issue and the addiction to the devices um one of the questions we did ask is do cell phones um do the cell phone Cubbies help the students some students share that it is up to the students to have willpower and not have their phone taken away from the teacher this helps with building self-discipline other students feel like the Cubbies really help with minimizing distractions a student shares how it helps to have phones during lockdowns um president Paris points out how students should not be able to use their phone during lockdowns to prevent the spread of misin misinformation parents will always be notified with important information Miss bassford pointed out how this can create Panic amongst parents and cause them to prevent law enforcement from doing their jobs as parents come to school to pick up their kids um students did bring up how Chromebooks can be distracting as well and Mr Honda pointed out that homework um Chromebooks are less distractive Mr Keegan also informed the students that Chromebooks are being tracked by Administration on what they search up and how they search it up uh Mr hamda also informed the students that there would be a committee made up of teachers and students to create a uniform cell phone policy uh that would be implemented in schools not just the high school um commissioner Suarez also asked the students what are the benefits of having having cell phones on your person uh many of the students agree that there are very little benefits is more of a convenience uh one of the students presented the issue of how difficult it can be to be to return to school after a medical procedure and then Mr hamda did address that that a list of required documents is available and the guidance counselors can assist with this issue another student brought up delayed openings emails that don't inform students of bus times um but Mr shahada did point out that every time it is simply shifted 90 minutes um whether it's the delay of opening Miss bassford also pointed out that it is on our district calendar and Mr Keegan informs students that during delayed opening the attendance policy is amended unless students enter school at unreasonable times and they are marked as cut rather than tardy uh another student asked why buses leave so early at the at dismissal time it's difficult to get the students from the bus from the largest point of school and this can be extended Mr Keegan did agree that times may be short but buses run on a tight schedule um Administration will notify gym teachers to dismiss students a little bit earlier so they can get to their bus on on Time Mr shahada pointed out that 56 buses are currently running on any given day and delaying the buses could have a significant impact on our elementary students um another student asked why the attendance policy doesn't get adjusted when absent due to sporting tournaments Mr Keegan says that sporting events take away from the allowed 16 absences only specific events are excused from those 16 the student also argue that these sporting events are required for college appeal and admission students are currently excused for college visits and commissioner swarz did agree and inform students that the policy will be reviewed and will place it on the next board agenda another student brought up the issue that the hockey doesn't the hockey team doesn't get enough equipment in contract to other sports like football um but Mr ham pointed out the point of how there may be barriers to students to pursue hockey which is an expensive sport at the end of the day um the student also pointed out that soccer play lers fundrais for a lot of the expenses that they do have and president Paris acknowledges that this concern and he will bring it up to the board for us to look at Miss basser did ask Mr Shada the budget details for All Sports which we did receive um and then I also brushed upon booster clubs that could be an option to cover some of the expenses as they have for some of the things that the soccer team uses um another student did bring up the issue of pass availability and how it can take time to wait for a student to return with a plastic haul pass pass um Mr Hamza says that you are allowed to ask your teacher for a pink pass in case of emergencies if you want to use the bathroom um another student brought up that many second and third floor BL bathrooms are closed which puts a load on the first floor bathrooms Mr Honda says that the lunch peers have a scarcity of teachers available to man the bathrooms many teachers have lunch SL lunch duties during those periods um and then another student did ask if there is any other way to adjust this since student are usually given the choice of entering um vital instruction in class or sacrificing comfort in terms of using the bathroom or staying in class uh Mr ham did inform the students of a new system being implemented to recruit and keep the substitute teachers which may alleviate some of the bathroom lines that we did go over our during our last board meeting um these bathrooms included Central Rings which will be opening up soon possibly it was supposed to be March 1st um not sure we have a quick update on that yet another thing would be imagine math a student did point out what is the point of having imagine math um students have been known to hack the system by purposely getting questions wrong in order to get easier questions on this um another thing is that math problems don't relate to some of the class content that is being taught and then miss bassard also brought up that this will be mentioned in our education/ special education committee um and finally quarterly Mr Honda notify students that there are now quarterly committees to help with this process and then we had our closing remarks by President Paris um thank you again to Mr Keegan for the minutes thank you commission Mahia very detailed minutes aren't they commissioner who yes very uh moving moving on to question oh I'm sorry questions from anyone I'm sorry was so thorough I can't imagine there question uh regarding regarding imagine math um I I got a couple of messages from some parents in recently uh saying something similar to this effect that some of the math problems do not relate to to the current um coursework so question is if the if the student is struggling in math in that respective section are they going to you know do they do imagine math as part of the as part of to get ready for for these tests or do they do it for extra credit or anything of that nature that's my concern because if the kids already struggling at math their issue is the parents the kids already struggling at math in their respective lesson and then they're told to do something in aagag of math that they they haven't even been taught yet then they're really going to struggle so I I don't know if this does occur but two separate parents told me that now I saw this on the committee report so I want to know if Dr Roberto or Miss cevich could respond to this so I make sure I get these parents Mr BR I I am aware of this issue this actually came up the other day uh when I was meeting with my student ambassadors um but Janina was able to clarify some things for me I'm going to ask M cevich to also uh clarify that for for us need please so imagine math um there are multiple Pathways within imagin math and it's used for different purposes at different grade spans the njsla SLS pathway is a pathway that helps prepare students for the standards that they're going to experience on their standardized tests in grades 3 through 8 the njsla test or in grades in the high school for Algebra 1 Algebra 2 and geometry students are sometimes programmed a pathway to most of the time it is to remediate and because the program is adaptive when a student M makes errors the program will adjust to support that students's learning and will then go back and keep moving them forward this idea of gaming the system yes there are kids who will just answer incorrectly so they get an easier pathway if that pathway is only reduced by one or two grade levels you're actually still practicing the same standard the kids might think it's easier but they're still getting the practice on that standard and it's not really gaming the system they might think that it's easier but they're still getting the same practice on the techniques and strategies to solve that type of problem even though it seems easier however if a child really games the system and goes dropping down lower and lower and lower and goes many many grade levels below the supervisors and teachers do review the report and they are supposed to be intervening to have that child then retake that pathway but that's usually for the the much rarer instances where they really just go wrong on everything to forcefully drop themselves you know by five six seven grade levels so a slight decrease is still providing support and instruction why are the pathways different from what they're learning so if you're assigned to a remediation pathway it will probably be starting off with what you are learning but may then deviate to the areas that you're missing so it will be two different math lessons but math is what's called recursive it builds on itself there also may be the times where you're seeing materials that are new or unfamiliar so if you're in the njsla prep pathway you might see questions that you haven't gotten to to yet and the system is kind of testing you to see are you able to answer this do you need to go back to something else so you may see things that are different there are again there are multiple Pathways that can be programmed teachers can create individualized Pathways for students based on their needs if your child is really struggling where they feel that they cannot answer and they're getting so many questions that they can't handle the parent really should reach out to the teacher because we can work with the student either to change a pathway adjust a pathway but also our teachers look at how much time is spent on the program and if a child is really struggling and you've exceeded you know 10 15 minutes and you're really struggling with questions just stop you don't need to finish it you stop you go talk to the teacher and we work with the teacher to get a pathway that will help support the child more or perhaps they'll adjust put them in a different Center during the school day or give them additional support to help them be successful the point is not to frustrate students it's not to fail students but it is to provide remediation as well as challenge for students thank you Mr Paris um so first of all I love this committee because I feel like like this student is our client right and when we're getting feedback from them we really know what's going on um but they mentioned about receiving notifications on school delays is it possible I think we use Blackboard connect right inside of there because we use it at the college too you could segregate into groups is it possible that we just allow them to enroll as a student group and we just disseminate information about like what was the complaint Mr kova that they didn't so on a on a delayed opening so let's say I'm I'm assuming you're you're a high school students here were referring to so let's say the mom and dad leave early 6:00 to go to work the the kid is 16 so that's fine they wake up in the morning they don't really know the situation they think it's 30 minutes after the 45 they don't really know they walk to school or whatever but if if they get a notification that says delayed opening your time is time for the high school is BL whatever it is I think one easy solution is they all have an email address we could include them in the email notification that goes out but are they checking email in the morning I'm thinking if they want to know are they looking for a phone call well that'll give me text message right like like parents get um I was thinking text cuz that's how students commun let me talk to M Mr Rose is our Blackboard expert on that let me talk to and come up with some ideas I'm sure there it definitely can be done I mean ask them it's it's not up to me it's just an idea ask them and see what they want really they um and then um we mentioned the bathrooms how they're not being used but didn't we just spend all this money to renovate the bathrooms I don't understand why they wouldn't use the bathrooms is there an issue with the bathrooms sorry I missed where's your bathroom I missed um Mr hamda told us it's a staffing issue he needs coverage to cover the bathrooms so especially during lunch is the biggest issue they have to rotate the staff around because don't forget the kids are going to lunch so the teachers and so is the staff so that's why we have a staffing issue so um we would you know we have to talk to a finance about figure out maybe we need to get some additional staff to cover actually um a discussion I guess years ago there used to be these people called bathroom monitors that was their sole uh so job and I don't know what they got paid I don't know what what the deal was with that but um you know I'm sure the teachers in L of having a duty I don't mean duty duty but their Duty bathroom Duty sorry um I think they would be very happy if somebody else had the their job was to be the bathroom monitor right I'm sorry a little loopy tonight I'm sure the finance committee can come up with something creative but um but do you guys remember when we had those positions yes I Absol it was just that that was just their job these dudes stood in the boy in the men's room or the boys room or whatever and I'm like outside at a table right no they were actually in there because a lot of dudes came in like they would smoke they would a lot of kids would smoke inside the inside the bathrooms spr Min little cologne way but this is not only an issue at the high school some of the middle schools are suffering too as well and that's a concern of Mone many of the residents so I think uh it has to go to finance to look at it because uh you know some some of our students have medical issues that they have to they they have to frequently visit the bathroom and some of our staff as well so it's you know you stand online and you don't want to be embarrassed if you have an accident but we we really need to look at this it's not not and as it is as it is I think 5 minutes before the Bell Rings during the walking and then 5 minutes after the Bell Rings is like you can't go to the bathroom at all on top of that right right yeah so that just adds complication to the issue but your body doesn't your body doesn't wait for bells I know I don't yeah let me see if we can find an administrative solution if not I we may be adding bathroom monitors to to the budget you're going to need that 4% guys so you you had or I I still I still have one more anyway we'll get back to you um the other one I had was and it didn't come up on on this report but CCMS they start at like 7:30 and they have the last period of lunch is 1:15 by the time they actually get lunch and eat it is 130 so you're talking about 6 hour period I'd be curious to know at your next meeting if you ask how do how how do they feel about that like are they getting hungry are they getting like like um you know on a low before they get into the ca cuz I know I've heard from feedback from students that uh that is happening and and snacks aren't really allowed we don't have like a like a snack sort of policy for for eating in classrooms and um I don't know it was just brought up so I don't know if maybe you could bring that back to the committee I know you said Middle School ours is just the high school at at the moment oh uhhuh but if we could expand it to the middle school that great the idea was to hopefully expand it um middle school students certainly need you know have a voice and would would appreciate you know lending that voice to us and they're certainly capable of telling us how they feel awesome so we can do that absolutely I got a question anyone else yeah yes so I really loved this part the phone Cubbies because that's a great idea so that's an optional thing so you have the option to put your phone away or keep it with you during class is that correct but um many of them mention it's my understanding it's a um that some some of the teachers are doing it and and some it's like a a pilot right program J right so at the middle schools um that's already being done where they put their back they put their uh phone in their backpack and the backpack goes at the front or safe corner of the room at the high school it is a pilot program and it is being done in some classrooms other classrooms had previously had rules such as that for either Cubbies or boxes um but it was not 100% of the building so this is piloting the move in that direction okay and uh once again like uh Mr kova said it's a great committee having the students having the Commissioners talk um another thing that came up lockdowns right so listen we're going into lockdown if a kid has low blood sugar and he passes out we're in lockdown right because we got to get that kid medical attention what is the repercussion if a kid goes on social media and says we're in a lockdown is there any thing stopping them from doing that to panicking the public having all the parents drive to the school in a lockdown not supposed to use your phone they're not supposed to be in not supposed to but let's say what if if they're in their safe corner and the teacher monitoring them it's going to be difficult for them to be on their phone in the event it does happen I would have a major problem with that I don't know if we have something specifically in the code of conduct to address that um but I think at the very least a conversation with that student explaining why that was a bad decision would be warranted um you know discipline is discipline but really we want them to learn from that that mistake that's a that would be terrible so that might be something worth implementing don't tweet out well not that anybody tweets anymore I'm sorry nobody tweets um don't put on Facebook Instagram Tik Tock wherever you are now that hey lockdown inciting a panic that's that's it other than than that good notes um yes we did we did address that with the students uh we all kind of gave them personal stories my story was that we had some kind of when my daughter was in high school so don't forget she graduated 2008 they had an anthrax scare at the high school and um little before uh Twitter little before you know Tik Tok it was Facebook and Myspace was very popular and it went viral and there were parents actually running to the school to grab their kids and they somebody tried to pull the kid out of a window of one of the lowest levels so I talked to the students about that's what I meant about how it causes a p Panic we as board members and the uh the public needs to know that um when they're in a lockdown it's the teacher in the room that regulates what they're doing most of them respect the policy and the uh code of conduct but we we try to tell the students that we're in in the room that it could cause a panic when you're tweeting out to your parents we get the all clear signal right when it's over but we have to maybe Shore that up a little bit with the communication to the parents it's just like the school around the school safety type of issue it's the PSA that comes from us that may be more helpful what we expect of the students and maybe what we expect of the parents goes back to you know Mr Mom you're doing it wrong remember the movie you know when the guy was pulling up the wrong way at dro and pick up you're doing it ROM I think the message has to come from us so we could tell the students Judy I know that movie but there are people on this de that were not alive when that movie was out I know it it was about a father that got laid off and he became a mom at the school greatest movie ever and he became the crossing monitor of the school and somebody came in wrong and he said you're doing it wrong but his message was that it was everybody's responsibility to educate the community so you you know maybe we have to go back to making letting some of the kids do some PSAs getting it out on 77 or 40 in the morning yeah I I will tell you this in my experience um as a teacher as a when we first started practicing security drills and things like that um as a principle in emergency situations our kids are at their best honestly in in true emergencies our kids never fail to impress me with um um their behavior you know sometimes if they know it's a drill you might have a knucklehead or two make do something stupid but but in general when it's a when it's a legitimate emergency um the kids always rise to the occasion that's been my experience all right moving on to uh technology and residency and security commissioner Santiago please thank you president Paris so The Residency security and Technology committee meeting took place on Tuesday February 15th and began at 50:1 p.m in attendance from administration were Mr Jenaro Mr doctor miss zenola Mr Mountain uh Board of Ed Commissioners and attendance were commissioner Kenova commissioner siano and president Paris Mr doctor discussed the residency investigations which have recently occurred it has resulted in Clifton Public Schools no longer paying for 16 char school students and two pcti students for a savings of $278,000 so since this was the first meeting of this year maybe a quick refresher um so and you guys keep me honest as usual so St uh Clifton students uh meaning students who live in Clifton who go and attend a charter school or pcti we fund provide funds for those students to those schools correct and transportation and transportation as well thank you so um so these students live in Clifton and during their time at these schools at some point they move they move out of Clifton and don't inform pcti nothing against pcti not coming for them just it is what it is and the charter schools and they don't inform them and it looks like the schools perhaps they don't look at whether the students still lives in Clifton or not so we continue to pay this and our Administration uh couple of years back now at this point um started doing their own investigations and so we continue to do that and we find that yeah there are students who no longer live in Clifton and still say they do or did say that and uh we're still funding these students so in addition to that three Clifton students were found not to live in Clifton and they transferred back to districts they reside in for a savings of $4 9,500 so since July 1st through residency investigations the district has saved $722,500 um real dollars back to us and um I'm glad we're continuing to do this kind of year-to-date count I ask Mr doctor to please do that and it's just good to see that number increasing um every meeting so thank you guys for your efforts that's amazing so Mr Dr discuss mailings and advertising will uh be going out to inform parents uh the registration is opened as of February 21 Mrs zenola discussed clarifying the language in the weapons policy 8467 to prohibit firearms possession on property even if legal without approval of the superintendent the use of Clifton High School as an evacuation site was also discussed for the boys and girls club after school hours had concluded missola also mentioned the call cost which would be incurred by Rec Department if security was required at all events this topic will have further discussion at Future meeting it was also explained that the security drill of the month was completed by all schools finally student pedestrian safety was discussed and the information will be shared with students in the near future president Paris shared child-friendly information provided by the Clifton times which will be reviewed for possible use again related to uh student pedestrian safety Mr Jenaro discussed country countywide meeting on March 14th where reunification plans will be discussed these are building based and district-wide plans which will incorporate the resources of other districts as well as pic County Commissioner kovera inquired as to some specific safety opportunities with our building entrances additional information will be obtained along with various opportunities to cover the cost findings will be brought back to the next committee meeting Mr Mountain updated the committee on various various security projects including the referendum he also explained updates to our Network which will be accomplished in the near future including Wan conversion and core Network equipment upgrades Mr Mountain also updated the committee on Chrome the Chromebook refresh schedule and discussed some network issues which are occurring throughout the district finally the functionality of board docs was discussed and the need for some specific notification adjustments moving forward the meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

uh first thing we did was an overview uh we introduced ourselves um I outlined the committee structure and purpose to guarantee the safety of our students and their Journeys to and from school uh that we then went right into school safety crossing guard safety around the schools we learned all crossing guard positions have been filled that's prompting the city to explore the addition of substitute crossing guards uh concerns have Arisen regarding Brighton Road particularly during designated drop off and pickup times due to parking congestion um we are actively brainstorming solutions to enhance the safety of the students in the area which one of those was increased police enforcement uh Mr J Aro took the lead on traffic safety due to his extensive knowledge and eloquently addressed all issues and concerns brought by the committee uh very happy he was there for that traffic management was the next thing we discussed around the busiest schools which is another safety concern um lack of student utilization of designated Crossing areas administrative measures have been taken such as updating the bus routes for Clifton High to minimize traffic through specific zones um however due to the proximity of certain buildings the large student population options are very limited the city recommended heightened enforcement around seal a and the installation of electronic speed signs which are looking into uh pedestrian crossing lights similar to the one on Allwood at the end of Clifton a were discussed for cila A and B and they were determined and practical at Clifton High due to just the volume of students um City stated they are shortened on traffic officers however the city manager expressed his eagerness to help us find other Solutions in the meantime to keep parent informed we suggested sending out messages regarding increased enforcement near schools uh city manager will be drafting a letter and that'll be sent out by the assistant superintendant uh we then discussed the status of safe route to schools approved projects currently in the queue and the update on grants reveals ongoing efforts to address issues while ensuring compliance with safety standards joint meeting with the Boe is scheduled to finalize details we followed up on the road construction which is the last meeting that was had and we emphasized the importance of informing the us about construction and school zones to help parents plan alternative routes also discussed pilot programs uh those are numbering between six and seven Citywide there's a suggestion to implement a cost sharing model for any new pilots to offset per pupil expenses and we also decided that we need to meet more regularly so the next meeting is actually scheduled here on March 28th thank you commissioner siano any questions question for yes yeah the the pilot programs that were mentioned are those specific programs that that were brought up do we know what they are they did not we did we asked if there were any Pilots currently that were residential that would have contribute to students in the area and that we were told there weren't any currently that were that were residential okay so this is the potential to going forward okay we're particularly curi ious about the poent Avenue project if that was a pilot or not and that that is not okay any other questions okay um commissioner Mahia could you please uh read the minutes for our student liaison committee last meeting so the Clifton High School leison committee the meetings were dated for February 27 2024 time from 11: a.m.

any questions thank you thank you commissioner Santiago um we'll move to Athletics committee commissioner bassard please thank you um the athletic committee met on February 28th president was Dr Lucy Danny uh commissioner Suarez uh president Paris myself from Administration it was Dr ratazzi um Mr Mark Jero Mr ahed Shahara Mr Tom malany uh Mr Thomas Coto and Miss Nicole butell the the meeting started at 2:30 in the afternoon and ended at 3:15 the items of discussion was the team doctors um continuity of care the doctors of Academy Orthopedics broke away from nji a few years ago we were happy with the services provided by the doctors who broke off from noji and we continue to refer to them now that they are at the Academy nji has only has two doctors working for them while Academy has several we continue to receive positive feedback from our Athletics and their parents after they were treated by Academy Administration expect expressed that there would be no cost difference between the two practices the board excluding myself uh just for um uh transparency purposes a family member of mine was operated and recovered from one of the doctors so I abstained from the conversation so I wouldn't be in conflict and I will abstain on the on the agenda item as well was uh anous to move forward with the academy Orthopedics they asked um Mr shahad if uh to place it on the agenda for a full vote to send the separation letter to nji this is really exciting and uh commissioner sarez and I were excited about this we're adding an a female strength coach uh Administration expressed the need for adding a female strength coach we uh currently have one male strength coach four sessions fall winter spring summer and coach includ s football strength coach spring and summer we made a huge push to get our athletes in wait the wait room but the number of female athletes is much lower than the males adding a female coach would boost participation from the female athletes the committee was in favor of adding a female coach um uh py strength and conditioning 6:00 a.m.

up until 12 P 12 1220 p.m. and there this was located at the JFK Auditorium in clipon high school some of the attendees included president Alan Paris commissioner Judith bassford commissioner Richard Mahia myself um commissioner tan Suarez assistant super superintendent of business Amed shahada um CHS principal ahed hamda um vice principal Chris Keegan and re Ibraham which is one of our teachers some of the students um I don't want to really name the students names is that okay all right um but we did have a bunch of students at our committee meeting those names will not be named right now um so it began with Mr hamda giving us a brief introduction with the board members um as well as students introducing themselves students shared things that are going on well in school um gym class is incorporating games um of more variety there's less fights due security Personnel increase bathrooms are cleaner and more efficient lines move faster due to to them due to the help from security along with this with this security has helped mov a lot of movement around the halls and traffic flow um the school feels a lot cleaner um students seem more organized safety new alarm systems are being um are more alerting students of the month posters athlete of the month stated a bit earlier to recognize the winter athletes um excuse me Mr hamda Mr Keegan started the day by greeting students enthusiastically at the door um review of last meeting's issues one of them included the homework policy um current homework is being assigned during long weekends and long breaks uh Miss bassford says that the um the board is reviewing this policy Mr hamda says he will bring it up with supervisors hopefully some shift away from assignment homework um being due immediately Upon returning from breaks Miss bassford pointing out how veteran teachers may be accustomed to previous work culture but they are addressing it with all teachers Mr hamda also brings up the cell phone issue and the addiction to the devices um one of the questions we did ask is do cell phones um do the cell phone Cubbies help the students some students share that it is up to the students to have willpower and not have their phone taken away from the teacher this helps with building self-discipline other students feel like the Cubbies really help with minimizing distractions a student shares how it helps to have phones during lockdowns um president Paris points out how students should not be able to use their phone during lockdowns to prevent the spread of misin misinformation parents will always be notified with important information Miss bassford pointed out how this can create Panic amongst parents and cause them to prevent law enforcement from doing their jobs as parents come to school to pick up their kids um students did bring up how Chromebooks can be distracting as well and Mr Honda pointed out that homework um Chromebooks are less distractive Mr Keegan also informed the students that Chromebooks are being tracked by Administration on what they search up and how they search it up uh Mr hamda also informed the students that there would be a committee made up of teachers and students to create a uniform cell phone policy uh that would be implemented in schools not just the high school um commissioner Suarez also asked the students what are the benefits of having having cell phones on your person uh many of the students agree that there are very little benefits is more of a convenience uh one of the students presented the issue of how difficult it can be to be to return to school after a medical procedure and then Mr hamda did address that that a list of required documents is available and the guidance counselors can assist with this issue another student brought up delayed openings emails that don't inform students of bus times um but Mr shahada did point out that every time it is simply shifted 90 minutes um whether it's the delay of opening Miss bassford also pointed out that it is on our district calendar and Mr Keegan informs students that during delayed opening the attendance policy is amended unless students enter school at unreasonable times and they are marked as cut rather than tardy uh another student asked why buses leave so early at the at dismissal time it's difficult to get the students from the bus from the largest point of school and this can be extended Mr Keegan did agree that times may be short but buses run on a tight schedule um Administration will notify gym teachers to dismiss students a little bit earlier so they can get to their bus on on Time Mr shahada pointed out that 56 buses are currently running on any given day and delaying the buses could have a significant impact on our elementary students um another student asked why the attendance policy doesn't get adjusted when absent due to sporting tournaments Mr Keegan says that sporting events take away from the allowed 16 absences only specific events are excused from those 16 the student also argue that these sporting events are required for college appeal and admission students are currently excused for college visits and commissioner swarz did agree and inform students that the policy will be reviewed and will place it on the next board agenda another student brought up the issue that the hockey doesn't the hockey team doesn't get enough equipment in contract to other sports like football um but Mr ham pointed out the point of how there may be barriers to students to pursue hockey which is an expensive sport at the end of the day um the student also pointed out that soccer play lers fundrais for a lot of the expenses that they do have and president Paris acknowledges that this concern and he will bring it up to the board for us to look at Miss basser did ask Mr Shada the budget details for All Sports which we did receive um and then I also brushed upon booster clubs that could be an option to cover some of the expenses as they have for some of the things that the soccer team uses um another student did bring up the issue of pass availability and how it can take time to wait for a student to return with a plastic haul pass pass um Mr Hamza says that you are allowed to ask your teacher for a pink pass in case of emergencies if you want to use the bathroom um another student brought up that many second and third floor BL bathrooms are closed which puts a load on the first floor bathrooms Mr Honda says that the lunch peers have a scarcity of teachers available to man the bathrooms many teachers have lunch SL lunch duties during those periods um and then another student did ask if there is any other way to adjust this since student are usually given the choice of entering um vital instruction in class or sacrificing comfort in terms of using the bathroom or staying in class uh Mr ham did inform the students of a new system being implemented to recruit and keep the substitute teachers which may alleviate some of the bathroom lines that we did go over our during our last board meeting um these bathrooms included Central Rings which will be opening up soon possibly it was supposed to be March 1st um not sure we have a quick update on that yet another thing would be imagine math a student did point out what is the point of having imagine math um students have been known to hack the system by purposely getting questions wrong in order to get easier questions on this um another thing is that math problems don't relate to some of the class content that is being taught and then miss bassard also brought up that this will be mentioned in our education/ special education committee um and finally quarterly Mr Honda notify students that there are now quarterly committees to help with this process and then we had our closing remarks by President Paris um thank you again to Mr Keegan for the minutes thank you commission Mahia very detailed minutes aren't they commissioner who yes very uh moving moving on to question oh I'm sorry questions from anyone I'm sorry was so thorough I can't imagine there question uh regarding regarding imagine math um I I got a couple of messages from some parents in recently uh saying something similar to this effect that some of the math problems do not relate to to the current um coursework so question is if the if the student is struggling in math in that respective section are they going to you know do they do imagine math as part of the as part of to get ready for for these tests or do they do it for extra credit or anything of that nature that's my concern because if the kids already struggling at math their issue is the parents the kids already struggling at math in their respective lesson and then they're told to do something in aagag of math that they they haven't even been taught yet then they're really going to struggle so I I don't know if this does occur but two separate parents told me that now I saw this on the committee report so I want to know if Dr Roberto or Miss cevich could respond to this so I make sure I get these parents Mr BR I I am aware of this issue this actually came up the other day uh when I was meeting with my student ambassadors um but Janina was able to clarify some things for me I'm going to ask M cevich to also uh clarify that for for us need please so imagine math um there are multiple Pathways within imagin math and it's used for different purposes at different grade spans the njsla SLS pathway is a pathway that helps prepare students for the standards that they're going to experience on their standardized tests in grades 3 through 8 the njsla test or in grades in the high school for Algebra 1 Algebra 2 and geometry students are sometimes programmed a pathway to most of the time it is to remediate and because the program is adaptive when a student M makes errors the program will adjust to support that students's learning and will then go back and keep moving them forward this idea of gaming the system yes there are kids who will just answer incorrectly so they get an easier pathway if that pathway is only reduced by one or two grade levels you're actually still practicing the same standard the kids might think it's easier but they're still getting the practice on that standard and it's not really gaming the system they might think that it's easier but they're still getting the same practice on the techniques and strategies to solve that type of problem even though it seems easier however if a child really games the system and goes dropping down lower and lower and lower and goes many many grade levels below the supervisors and teachers do review the report and they are supposed to be intervening to have that child then retake that pathway but that's usually for the the much rarer instances where they really just go wrong on everything to forcefully drop themselves you know by five six seven grade levels so a slight decrease is still providing support and instruction why are the pathways different from what they're learning so if you're assigned to a remediation pathway it will probably be starting off with what you are learning but may then deviate to the areas that you're missing so it will be two different math lessons but math is what's called recursive it builds on itself there also may be the times where you're seeing materials that are new or unfamiliar so if you're in the njsla prep pathway you might see questions that you haven't gotten to to yet and the system is kind of testing you to see are you able to answer this do you need to go back to something else so you may see things that are different there are again there are multiple Pathways that can be programmed teachers can create individualized Pathways for students based on their needs if your child is really struggling where they feel that they cannot answer and they're getting so many questions that they can't handle the parent really should reach out to the teacher because we can work with the student either to change a pathway adjust a pathway but also our teachers look at how much time is spent on the program and if a child is really struggling and you've exceeded you know 10 15 minutes and you're really struggling with questions just stop you don't need to finish it you stop you go talk to the teacher and we work with the teacher to get a pathway that will help support the child more or perhaps they'll adjust put them in a different Center during the school day or give them additional support to help them be successful the point is not to frustrate students it's not to fail students but it is to provide remediation as well as challenge for students thank you Mr Paris um so first of all I love this committee because I feel like like this student is our client right and when we're getting feedback from them we really know what's going on um but they mentioned about receiving notifications on school delays is it possible I think we use Blackboard connect right inside of there because we use it at the college too you could segregate into groups is it possible that we just allow them to enroll as a student group and we just disseminate information about like what was the complaint Mr kova that they didn't so on a on a delayed opening so let's say I'm I'm assuming you're you're a high school students here were referring to so let's say the mom and dad leave early 6:00 to go to work the the kid is 16 so that's fine they wake up in the morning they don't really know the situation they think it's 30 minutes after the 45 they don't really know they walk to school or whatever but if if they get a notification that says delayed opening your time is time for the high school is BL whatever it is I think one easy solution is they all have an email address we could include them in the email notification that goes out but are they checking email in the morning I'm thinking if they want to know are they looking for a phone call well that'll give me text message right like like parents get um I was thinking text cuz that's how students commun let me talk to M Mr Rose is our Blackboard expert on that let me talk to and come up with some ideas I'm sure there it definitely can be done I mean ask them it's it's not up to me it's just an idea ask them and see what they want really they um and then um we mentioned the bathrooms how they're not being used but didn't we just spend all this money to renovate the bathrooms I don't understand why they wouldn't use the bathrooms is there an issue with the bathrooms sorry I missed where's your bathroom I missed um Mr hamda told us it's a staffing issue he needs coverage to cover the bathrooms so especially during lunch is the biggest issue they have to rotate the staff around because don't forget the kids are going to lunch so the teachers and so is the staff so that's why we have a staffing issue so um we would you know we have to talk to a finance about figure out maybe we need to get some additional staff to cover actually um a discussion I guess years ago there used to be these people called bathroom monitors that was their sole uh so job and I don't know what they got paid I don't know what what the deal was with that but um you know I'm sure the teachers in L of having a duty I don't mean duty duty but their Duty bathroom Duty sorry um I think they would be very happy if somebody else had the their job was to be the bathroom monitor right I'm sorry a little loopy tonight I'm sure the finance committee can come up with something creative but um but do you guys remember when we had those positions yes I Absol it was just that that was just their job these dudes stood in the boy in the men's room or the boys room or whatever and I'm like outside at a table right no they were actually in there because a lot of dudes came in like they would smoke they would a lot of kids would smoke inside the inside the bathrooms spr Min little cologne way but this is not only an issue at the high school some of the middle schools are suffering too as well and that's a concern of Mone many of the residents so I think uh it has to go to finance to look at it because uh you know some some of our students have medical issues that they have to they they have to frequently visit the bathroom and some of our staff as well so it's you know you stand online and you don't want to be embarrassed if you have an accident but we we really need to look at this it's not not and as it is as it is I think 5 minutes before the Bell Rings during the walking and then 5 minutes after the Bell Rings is like you can't go to the bathroom at all on top of that right right yeah so that just adds complication to the issue but your body doesn't your body doesn't wait for bells I know I don't yeah let me see if we can find an administrative solution if not I we may be adding bathroom monitors to to the budget you're going to need that 4% guys so you you had or I I still I still have one more anyway we'll get back to you um the other one I had was and it didn't come up on on this report but CCMS they start at like 7:30 and they have the last period of lunch is 1:15 by the time they actually get lunch and eat it is 130 so you're talking about 6 hour period I'd be curious to know at your next meeting if you ask how do how how do they feel about that like are they getting hungry are they getting like like um you know on a low before they get into the ca cuz I know I've heard from feedback from students that uh that is happening and and snacks aren't really allowed we don't have like a like a snack sort of policy for for eating in classrooms and um I don't know it was just brought up so I don't know if maybe you could bring that back to the committee I know you said Middle School ours is just the high school at at the moment oh uhhuh but if we could expand it to the middle school that great the idea was to hopefully expand it um middle school students certainly need you know have a voice and would would appreciate you know lending that voice to us and they're certainly capable of telling us how they feel awesome so we can do that absolutely I got a question anyone else yeah yes so I really loved this part the phone Cubbies because that's a great idea so that's an optional thing so you have the option to put your phone away or keep it with you during class is that correct but um many of them mention it's my understanding it's a um that some some of the teachers are doing it and and some it's like a a pilot right program J right so at the middle schools um that's already being done where they put their back they put their uh phone in their backpack and the backpack goes at the front or safe corner of the room at the high school it is a pilot program and it is being done in some classrooms other classrooms had previously had rules such as that for either Cubbies or boxes um but it was not 100% of the building so this is piloting the move in that direction okay and uh once again like uh Mr kova said it's a great committee having the students having the Commissioners talk um another thing that came up lockdowns right so listen we're going into lockdown if a kid has low blood sugar and he passes out we're in lockdown right because we got to get that kid medical attention what is the repercussion if a kid goes on social media and says we're in a lockdown is there any thing stopping them from doing that to panicking the public having all the parents drive to the school in a lockdown not supposed to use your phone they're not supposed to be in not supposed to but let's say what if if they're in their safe corner and the teacher monitoring them it's going to be difficult for them to be on their phone in the event it does happen I would have a major problem with that I don't know if we have something specifically in the code of conduct to address that um but I think at the very least a conversation with that student explaining why that was a bad decision would be warranted um you know discipline is discipline but really we want them to learn from that that mistake that's a that would be terrible so that might be something worth implementing don't tweet out well not that anybody tweets anymore I'm sorry nobody tweets um don't put on Facebook Instagram Tik Tock wherever you are now that hey lockdown inciting a panic that's that's it other than than that good notes um yes we did we did address that with the students uh we all kind of gave them personal stories my story was that we had some kind of when my daughter was in high school so don't forget she graduated 2008 they had an anthrax scare at the high school and um little before uh Twitter little before you know Tik Tok it was Facebook and Myspace was very popular and it went viral and there were parents actually running to the school to grab their kids and they somebody tried to pull the kid out of a window of one of the lowest levels so I talked to the students about that's what I meant about how it causes a p Panic we as board members and the uh the public needs to know that um when they're in a lockdown it's the teacher in the room that regulates what they're doing most of them respect the policy and the uh code of conduct but we we try to tell the students that we're in in the room that it could cause a panic when you're tweeting out to your parents we get the all clear signal right when it's over but we have to maybe Shore that up a little bit with the communication to the parents it's just like the school around the school safety type of issue it's the PSA that comes from us that may be more helpful what we expect of the students and maybe what we expect of the parents goes back to you know Mr Mom you're doing it wrong remember the movie you know when the guy was pulling up the wrong way at dro and pick up you're doing it ROM I think the message has to come from us so we could tell the students Judy I know that movie but there are people on this de that were not alive when that movie was out I know it it was about a father that got laid off and he became a mom at the school greatest movie ever and he became the crossing monitor of the school and somebody came in wrong and he said you're doing it wrong but his message was that it was everybody's responsibility to educate the community so you you know maybe we have to go back to making letting some of the kids do some PSAs getting it out on 77 or 40 in the morning yeah I I will tell you this in my experience um as a teacher as a when we first started practicing security drills and things like that um as a principle in emergency situations our kids are at their best honestly in in true emergencies our kids never fail to impress me with um um their behavior you know sometimes if they know it's a drill you might have a knucklehead or two make do something stupid but but in general when it's a when it's a legitimate emergency um the kids always rise to the occasion that's been my experience all right moving on to uh technology and residency and security commissioner Santiago please thank you president Paris so The Residency security and Technology committee meeting took place on Tuesday February 15th and began at 50:1 p.m in attendance from administration were Mr Jenaro Mr doctor miss zenola Mr Mountain uh Board of Ed Commissioners and attendance were commissioner Kenova commissioner siano and president Paris Mr doctor discussed the residency investigations which have recently occurred it has resulted in Clifton Public Schools no longer paying for 16 char school students and two pcti students for a savings of $278,000 so since this was the first meeting of this year maybe a quick refresher um so and you guys keep me honest as usual so St uh Clifton students uh meaning students who live in Clifton who go and attend a charter school or pcti we fund provide funds for those students to those schools correct and transportation and transportation as well thank you so um so these students live in Clifton and during their time at these schools at some point they move they move out of Clifton and don't inform pcti nothing against pcti not coming for them just it is what it is and the charter schools and they don't inform them and it looks like the schools perhaps they don't look at whether the students still lives in Clifton or not so we continue to pay this and our Administration uh couple of years back now at this point um started doing their own investigations and so we continue to do that and we find that yeah there are students who no longer live in Clifton and still say they do or did say that and uh we're still funding these students so in addition to that three Clifton students were found not to live in Clifton and they transferred back to districts they reside in for a savings of $4 9,500 so since July 1st through residency investigations the district has saved $722,500 um real dollars back to us and um I'm glad we're continuing to do this kind of year-to-date count I ask Mr doctor to please do that and it's just good to see that number increasing um every meeting so thank you guys for your efforts that's amazing so Mr Dr discuss mailings and advertising will uh be going out to inform parents uh the registration is opened as of February 21 Mrs zenola discussed clarifying the language in the weapons policy 8467 to prohibit firearms possession on property even if legal without approval of the superintendent the use of Clifton High School as an evacuation site was also discussed for the boys and girls club after school hours had concluded missola also mentioned the call cost which would be incurred by Rec Department if security was required at all events this topic will have further discussion at Future meeting it was also explained that the security drill of the month was completed by all schools finally student pedestrian safety was discussed and the information will be shared with students in the near future president Paris shared child-friendly information provided by the Clifton times which will be reviewed for possible use again related to uh student pedestrian safety Mr Jenaro discussed country countywide meeting on March 14th where reunification plans will be discussed these are building based and district-wide plans which will incorporate the resources of other districts as well as pic County Commissioner kovera inquired as to some specific safety opportunities with our building entrances additional information will be obtained along with various opportunities to cover the cost findings will be brought back to the next committee meeting Mr Mountain updated the committee on various various security projects including the referendum he also explained updates to our Network which will be accomplished in the near future including Wan conversion and core Network equipment upgrades Mr Mountain also updated the committee on Chrome the Chromebook refresh schedule and discussed some network issues which are occurring throughout the district finally the functionality of board docs was discussed and the need for some specific notification adjustments moving forward the meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

to 7: a.m. last spring the girls flag football program trained in the morning from 6:00 a.m. attendance was great in recent year as Al of Athletic program has been successful in order to improve on this success the athletic director recommends engaging the prey speed school three a mornings a week 6:00 to 7 a.m.

any questions thank you thank you commissioner Santiago um we'll move to Athletics committee commissioner bassard please thank you um the athletic committee met on February 28th president was Dr Lucy Danny uh commissioner Suarez uh president Paris myself from Administration it was Dr ratazzi um Mr Mark Jero Mr ahed Shahara Mr Tom malany uh Mr Thomas Coto and Miss Nicole butell the the meeting started at 2:30 in the afternoon and ended at 3:15 the items of discussion was the team doctors um continuity of care the doctors of Academy Orthopedics broke away from nji a few years ago we were happy with the services provided by the doctors who broke off from noji and we continue to refer to them now that they are at the Academy nji has only has two doctors working for them while Academy has several we continue to receive positive feedback from our Athletics and their parents after they were treated by Academy Administration expect expressed that there would be no cost difference between the two practices the board excluding myself uh just for um uh transparency purposes a family member of mine was operated and recovered from one of the doctors so I abstained from the conversation so I wouldn't be in conflict and I will abstain on the on the agenda item as well was uh anous to move forward with the academy Orthopedics they asked um Mr shahad if uh to place it on the agenda for a full vote to send the separation letter to nji this is really exciting and uh commissioner sarez and I were excited about this we're adding an a female strength coach uh Administration expressed the need for adding a female strength coach we uh currently have one male strength coach four sessions fall winter spring summer and coach includ s football strength coach spring and summer we made a huge push to get our athletes in wait the wait room but the number of female athletes is much lower than the males adding a female coach would boost participation from the female athletes the committee was in favor of adding a female coach um uh py strength and conditioning 6:00 a.m.

bill pesi is widely known as The Godfather of speed I'm waiting for someone to come out with a music and a department coaches and administration of uh firmly believes that engaging in pry speed school would help to get our program over the top the committee was in favor of this pilot program uh but uh see if there is another funding source in the future the committee uh asked for a survey which went out uh to see the level uh of interest that there was and it was overwhelming I think it was 150 students did uh comment that they were in favor of it um the committee discussed funding sports teams a claim was made that funding is inequitable at the liaison committee we brought it back uh however after uh reviewing the budget the funding is Equitable it was a long discussion on that as well amongst all sports Mr Malay told the committee That Uniforms are purchased on a rotating three-year basis any questions yes commission here um So based off the team doctors basically what just happened is the one we were using before ran out of having enough doctors and the new one that we have now just has more no they separated they separating they started their a new practice the new new I'm sorry forget to that uh the new um firm or practice has more Physicians that that we can use so it would help the students get in quicker and be seen faster so just to make sure there was nothing wrong with the other one that we were using before correct no there's nothing wrong but a lot of the talent is what left right and the coaches and athletic directors uh preferred the services of the the ones that left um there was no cost difference at all to us on that and uh so we went with the recommendation of the coaches and and their satisfaction with the service so far okay um and in terms of the speed training is this this just for girls flag football no or for everybody everybody it's for all students yeah and it's uh the the athletic director was really excited about this because he said that uh no other school in northern Jersey off is this and and we requested something else that we could use it as a promotion that what we're giving you know when we do an open house that we have this new new Advantage for our students but he feels that with the professionalism of paresi the students will uh gain knowledge themselves on how to care for themselves when they're when they're performing in athletic events and that there'll be less injuries that well as well because it's it comes with a conditioning and training thing as well okay that's that's awesome if we could publicize that that'd be great yeah Mr Paris if I could expand on that um you know we talk about pcti all the time and no one here has an issue with a student going to pcti for a vocational education in fact I would encourage it but we're now even having to compete with pcti when they're recruiting our own athletes they're recruiting athletes out of our high school so any little thing that we can do to show uh even our student athletes said hey this is something the board is doing for you above and beyond and nobody else is going to do this uh the priesty uh name is that that God father thing it's true and the fact that the board is providing this service for perhaps up to 150 student athletes unprecedented and just incredible and the the the kids are so enthusiastic about it they're not happy about the time because they think they got to do it like 6:00 in the morning right um but uh it's just another thing that you know it's this this competition now is even incl that take our best our top students and now our student athletes too it's just it's unbelievable and they don't have to worry about a 4% budget they seem to have an unlimited budget it's it's amazing it's just we did agree that we would it was a pilot and that we would see how it works out and then we will survey I guess the clientele again Joe and see if they're that happy with it and then we'll we'll either expand or we'll as a board we'll make the collective decision what we want to do where we want to go with it it was uh they seem to be happy because like Tanya uh suggested a survey and it went out and he said it came back like boom so question president Paris so um I was going to ask that so it is a pilot program um just uh to see if there's another funding source in the future can somebody explain or expound on that um we was we were we have a grant provider um this is something new to to our district we don't know if the grant there's grants out there for this CU we've never used a service like this we ask for that um we we just maybe there's a company that wants to sponsor it uh something like that there's a lot we have a lot of generous so we'll look into if there are alternative sources of funding yeah because we we we don't want to take away from what we're giving to our students now we want to increase it and what if what if it does get popular that we have to increase it because we have such a need uh a population that all of a sudden explodes we have to be able to fund that so this is uh $118,000 now for 3 months right what if we decide to expand it for longer months it's going to be more money and we didn't budget that in the budget I forgot what you had said you said there's money for this but we have to think about the future right so so it's three months the rest of this school year apparently right and then so as we're evaluating this just curious to find out um you know you know obviously how many students take advantage it's open to everyone but how many do take advantage what are those sports that seem to be taking advantage just all of that right to evaluate after this yeah we we need a post survey sure um but also to the cost aspect of it we did discuss that and uh felt also that if we if we retain two student athletes in our district um that more than pays for the program but how would know if we retain two student athletes well that would be that might be hard to know um but we could ask that in the survey excuse me Mr uh uh president Paris um through you to the superintendent I'm sure data is going to be collected on this um from like how many which various sorts Sports the the ages of the students the the you know and also we can collect the data because if they don't leave Clifton we'll know that we're you know because some of the kids are saying you know I'm thinking about going here I'm going there if they stay then we know because because the coaches know who want wants to go so we can we can find out yeah it's very it's very early a lot of things to evaluate maybe ultimately even have our teams gotten better right thank you well that that was the original um rationale that Athletics brought to us on that this will take our teams to the next level the speed training is needed across virtually all all sports that's right I'm With You Got Run faster than the other team okay any other questions yes yeah so so on that metrics um if we already know which students we pay for to go to pcti we would then know which students left us to go for to pcti right and if you know which bucket they're in the athletic bucket I guess you could already you would already have that data even previous years know if the student if the students left um to go to pcti you wouldn't know if they went to other schools but you would know for pcti we wouldn't know if leaving eighth grade they chose pcti for well no you would because you pay them no but we wouldn't know the reason correct academics that's true that's true intervie although I bet you some of the coaches will you know especially if they know they have an eighth grader coming up who's who's has known athletic ability that they're being recruited um the coaches might know but listen that that was a that was a side thing that came that wasn't even thought of until the committee meeting and uh but it's a nice little side thing right uh we ALS there was something else that wasn't on here we also discussed about feeder teams and uh the only feeder team that we don't have is hockey it's virtually impossible to have a feeder team for hockey that was the other thing cuz the hockey was a big discussion on liaison team and most of the cost is equipment and ice time ice time is huge Allan 50k first wow so the other the other question I had was around the strength coaches are this is it going to so we have two weight rooms we have one in the high school and we have the new one we built at Columbus is this for both of those is this for like how do they schedule that with these coaches it's my understanding Mr kova that when the the newer weight room opens um that it'll be utilized for that for that weight room both correct male and female yeah so what happens with the high school weight room then um that's still going to be used for fizzed that's still going to be used for some of the sports that that practice there but when we when you see this state-of-the-art wait room everybody's going to want to be using that one it's it's amazing which by the way I don't know if there's an update in facilities did we do facilities yet not yet we're trying to get to well there'll be be that was Mr paris's Nice way say let's go guys let's go all right moving on to uh that was good thank you policy minutes from commissioner Suarez thank you president Paris um the policy committee met on February 5th 15th and the committee began at 4:06 p.m. in attendance was President Paris uh myself commissioner Suarez commissioner Mahia commission and commissioner Santiago present from the administration were Mr Jenaro uh Miss cus Janina please forgive me I'm working on this cich and Mr shahada uh board attorney Margaret Miller was also present the committee discussed the student represented proposal regarding homework policy 233 Zer based on student input a homework policy survey regarding assigning homework over winter break and religious holidays when school is closed was created this survey was shared several times via text and email with 12,690 stakeholders 1,796 responses were received from 946 parents 615 students and 221 teachers the responses from all three groups agreed that if homework were assigned over winter break or during a religious holiday when school is closed the homework should not be due immediately afterwards time should be given to complete this homework if it is assigned over three time frames bullet four on the policy states the number frequency and degree of difficulty of homework assignment should be based on the ability and needs of student and take into account other activities that make a legitimate claim on the student's time it is recommended that the policy statement to quote take into account other activities that make a legitimate claim on the student time and quote addresses this concerned concern and that after teacher focus groups meet the regulation associated with policy 2330 may be adjusted to reflect this clarification more explicitly the committee then discussed policy 8462 reporting potentially missing or Abus children and the application of this policy to board Commissioners the board Council stated the following based on New Jersey statutes and New Jersey Code it is recommended board members report suspected child abuse if they have reasonable belief that a child has been subjected to such child abuse when such conduct is witnessed at a school related event njsa 9680 imposes a universal obligation to anyone having reasonable calls to believe that a child has been subjected to child abuse to report it to dcpn Via telephone or other methods and the failure to report it is a disorderly person offense under the New Jersey statutes njsa 9681 States the following any person having reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to child abuse including sexual abuse or acts of child abuse shall report the same immediately to the vision of child protection and permanency by telephone or otherwise such reports where possible shall contain the names and addresses of the child and his parent guardian or other person having custody and control of the child and if known the child's age the nature and possible extent of the child's injuries abuse or maltreatment including any evidence of previous injuries abuse or maltreatment and any other information that the person believes may be helpful with respect to the child abuse and the identity of the perpetrator Council recommended alerting policy to Encompass what a volunteer actually is Council believes that a Boe member is certainly a volunteer additionally this is not limited to Board of Education events rather any event taking place on Board of Education property Commissioners then spoke about NJ Bill 2421 freedom to read act in committee and when is an appropriate time to speak about it Commissioners believed waiting until the passage of the bill would be best the meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.

to 7: a.m. last spring the girls flag football program trained in the morning from 6:00 a.m. attendance was great in recent year as Al of Athletic program has been successful in order to improve on this success the athletic director recommends engaging the prey speed school three a mornings a week 6:00 to 7 a.m.

the minutes were recorded by Mr shahada thank you any yes commissioner brunak thank you Mr President was the current law for the obscenity for persons under 18 discussed regard prior to uh discussing Bill 2421 no it was not well the entire po thank you the entire point of me bringing it up to new business at the last meeting was to let everybody know there's currently a law in place for the obscenity for persons under 18 discuss so I'm humbly requesting this committee I I thought that would be part of it but it obviously wasn't I'm humbly asking this committee to put it back onto the agenda and let the board know if they believe there's anything wrong with the current law that's on the books commissioner bnia can you please clarify I just want to write it down so I understand this this the Senate bill 2421 is basically an addendum to the current law for obscenity for the persons under 18 discussed yes M B I'm going to direct my comments to the president which I'm supposed to through you to the attorney is it our role as board members to interpret law and give an opinion or are we supposed to set policy that we're mandated to set I'm just curious cuz I always because I always thought that as a rol board member we get the policy from the state and then we have to implement it through to the district but are we going to interpret law now I don't know how to answer that um you're you know you you make policies whether what's the committee to do I'm confused right I mean not interpreted law you know that that's obviously we're here to assist you in that but your your job is to follow the law and inact policies whether they're mandated or discretionary that that comply with the law yes commissioner BR thank you Mr President so this is about policy in new business at the last meeting I discussed the introduction of Senate Bill 2421 why was it put on the agenda for this for this meeting then if if that's the case it's not a law that was passed there is law so maybe maybe I'm asking the wrong question I apologize if I am do we have polic a policy and or policies in place regarding the current law for obscenity for persons under 18 that's a good question thank you I believe uh if you don't mind I believe it would be covered under the code of conduct that's where you would first find the policy but this is in committee it's they haven't put it in place yet so it's being discussed down in the state house you have a couple options Mr brunc you can bring it back to policy they can discuss it bring their finding to the board we can't interpret it but we can send you can either um say that you're for it or you're against it in a letter to the to the the Senate right we can we can send a letter of of support or um denial is we've done that before Danny haven't we done that before we sent things down pass resolutions and sent the resolution right right that that's on me I'm sorry wish BR thank you so would that last question would this go through the legislative committee or through the policy committee um I believe the reason the policy committee made the statement it did there is because it is it is not currently law right it is proposed law so under that definition I think it would go under legislation because it's pending legislation right so that's the PO policy committee basically said it's really not time for us to act on this or react to this since it is not yet law um and we're not creating State policy right we make we make our policies um so and I thought initially we were going to direct it towards um legislation since that's really and then legislation can craft a a resolution which the board can vote on decide whether or not it's something we want to uh send down a trend thank you thank you everybody um Mr BC I sit on the uh um I just got a letter from New Jersey school boards they put me on 7 so I thought I was getting kicked off the legis committee because uh 34 was moved but I will be meeting we we're meeting Saturday virtually I will bring this up and ask uh for Mr um pushman he is the legislative person director down in school boards and ask him if you want to reach out to him to talk to him about the policy that would be a way for you to go he's very knowledgeable Jonathan pushman thank you so so basically I just I just want my colleagues to know I I want the general public just to know the types of bills that they are they have been introducing well I'm going to ask you for more information and let him ask give us the new so so my main issue is what I want to know from basically the commit you know whoever whoever tried to submit this in the committee this bill is there something wrong with the language as currently constituted for the current law on the books that I I just referenced two or three times obset for persons under 18 can you are there issues can you do me a big favor can you send me an email and I will address it Saturday when I'm in thank you very much I will thank you president Paris may I yes so being on the policy I think maybe there was um so we were discussing the bill which is not a law right the bill freedom to read act and maybe that was Lost in Translation but since it's a bill we discussed as mentioned that a bill can change 10 different ways ways may never even be passed as law so we all just figured why enter into a discussion about a proposed bill that may or may not come to fruition now if you're talking about this bill is an amendment to a law and that's what you wanted to us to look up then that was maybe I don't want to speak for everybody but that's not what we were doing we were looking at this bill and said why you know start any kind of go down that road if it's not even a law or potentially close to a law that was the thinking and and the obscenity definition I didn't I didn't realize that's already law I I took took the Assumption because it was with that proposed bill it was also a proposal that wasn't something yeah I I I suppose I wasn't clear at the last meeting but there currently is so that's that's what I was exactly trying to explain while you know W with new business at the last meeting that the amount of money that's spent on these bills they throw they throw into commit is is absolutely outrageous that that was basically my point if there's existing law that already does a great job to protect our kids and shield them from from these types of things if it ain't broke don't why you know why fix it that's all I'm asking you know that's essentially what I wanted why I brought it up to new business because I just found out about it prior to the last meeting yes commission so I did have a few questions um one of them was relating back to the administrators findings on the homework policy did any of this go back to our student representative that ask the question was were the findings ever sent to no okay could we have that sent to him please um that was still in Mr Ham's hands okay um he has the results of that survey um and he is he was from the last meeting he is taking action as as far as implementing whatever changes we decided basically our policy over already supported many of the suggestions that came from the student the ason committee and that implementation obviously has to go through Administration and faculty and and that's what Mr HDA would definitely I was just asking because I thought we made a promise to keep him updated on the things that were going that were going to be going on with the homework policy um the second question is going to be um I love the fact that can I mention your name sure that allias came up to us and um recommended this policy to the policy committee to the entire board I love the fact that he's so involved within our school district and I love the fact that there are many students that are also involved I want to know if it's possible and policy to probably explore something similar in the Middle School realm as well I know we did have last year a meeting in policy where we did invite some of the middle school students to speak about um at that time it was the dressing policy U what they wanted to do what they wanted to see in terms terms of um what the they could wear to school um and many of them are very cognitive and they're very aware of what's happening within their specific Circle was in Middle School I wanted to know if there's a possibility to maybe find something to see if we could set up something maybe similar to what we have as our student representative from the high school maybe having something like a student rep from the Middle School especially because we are going to start implementing I'm sorry um implementing something for the Judiciary Committee and uh student liaison in the middle school so we can do something very similar that' be very greatly appreciated yeah thank you anyone else can we thank you commissioner Suarez I almost forgot where we started um commissioner Brak please Finance thank you Mr President finance committee met on March 5th 2024 those in attendance were commissioner Santiago commissioner Mahia president Paris and myself as well from the admin Administration Dr Rober toi Mr jenero Mr shahada and Mr Uchi number one iMac health insurance overview iMac Representatives attended the meeting and discussed 20 the 2425 premium increase as of now health insurance is slated to go up almost 15% approximately $4.5 million due to increasing costs coupled with the ailments of employees and dependents iMac will continue to try and negotiate renewal price with the insurance carrier the issue here is that the policy year hasn't finished yet so that's why negotiations are continuously ongoing current year projections from last year are approximately $33 million we are averaging 2% higher than what was budgeted claims are up approximately 21% fixed costs such as administrative and stop loss stop loss coverages are running as projected claim Spikes have been Statewide due to preventative care not taking place during the lockdowns pandemic lockdowns and now are catching up that is their belief here some of the increases driving the renewal increase some of the big numbers I will be going over is the impatient paid per member increase of approximately 96% total days of care 119% uh maternity days over 150 50% newborn days over 240% increase so congrats to all the parent uh to all the parents for having all the babies thus far this policy year it's absolutely wonderful these kids may have had the next person who cures cancer being born so congratulations to all the parents and the families uh of all the new births uh it comes at a Costa absolutely nothing is free preliminary budget review Administration in-depth review preliminary budget with the committee and administrate expressed the needs of the district and outlined how the new Revenue was allocated Administration also highlighted the increase in fixed costs that would be outlined during today's meeting for the entire board these costs are contractual or state manded obligations that must be fulfilled does anybody have any questions y yes commiss can um so I emailed Mr shado who gave me some information and and if you could share it with the board later just so they have it too for U The increased percentage in the utilization year-over-year um and if you look at this in the year 20 to 21 we had a utilization of 93.4% and the increase was 12 here we're lower we're at 92.2 I realized in the year isn't done yet but they're already at 13.2 so I feel like that's a high increase already um so I would definitely push back and see if we could get that lowered um I don't know how many does this go to this goes till June right July to June they run these numbers yeah we're not we're not done yet this is only year to date numbers correct so we'll get a final premium year we have they have to give us a final number 60 days prior for to implement the plan okay yes so I just keep an eye on this and if you could send that to to them so yeah um it's a good good idea to to just take a look at this and get an idea of where the numbers landed so you know about where we should be okay any other questions okay moving on I'm GNA give commissioner brunjak a break and ask commissioner Kenova to do facilities uh facilities met March 5th uh Mr Brun was president Mr siano myself Mr Paris Administration Dr Rober toi um Mr shahada Mr M lado uh guest attended were Mr oo and Mr Watkins meeting start time was 3:30 meeting end time it's not on here but I think it was like an hour um items of discussion referendum update epic gave an overview of what is taking place thus far in the referendum and what is taking place throughout the rest of the year wood Wilson Auditorium de demolition has commenced as of now the auditorium is set to be turned back over to the school in September so just in time for the start of school uh PS was at the waight room yesterday and cut the power so the electricians can in install the needed panels once completed PSG will be back to energize the panel following that Air Balance needs to take place and then could be turned off over to the board of ed for usage Transformers were for 13 were delivered still awaiting switch gears to be delivered in tiean connections package two air balancing is started the package should be completed by the spring in its entirety uh b& updates the administration gave the update of projects taking place throughout the district painting on our painting beautification update date School five was completed painting in the basement concrete floors and Fresh coat on the walls School two the following rooms received a Fresh coat of paint the nurses office three classrooms media center and hallway walls on the first and second floor School four is scheduled to begin this week on the second floor classrooms and beginning coordinating with the school principal stage curtain Replacements School 9 is scheduled for replacement this summer with a new flame proof curtains for their multi-purpose room uh burglar alarm system at the stadium we've ordered a new burglar fire alarm system for the waight room and restroom rooms parking lot potholes the potholes repair project has been projected to begin next week after the weather breaks school has been identified as are has been identified by our maintenance department cila a wooder Wilson and 16 signage for curbing your dog when slow down slowdown signs are being placed districtwide as the deterrent School 3 gutters were discussed maintenance is checking why they overflow capital reserve items Administration expressed the needs to use the capital reserve in the 2425 school year for the following items Stadium locker room locker room is outdated and due to the upgrade weight room and bathrooms in the stadium is best to complete the project with the locker room renovation stadium bleachers this was explored more than 5 years ago however due to the deterioration of bleach of the bleacher it's now leaking into the newly renovated bathrooms which will ultimately ruin it in time School 14 walkway between the trailers and buildings student and staff must walk through the elements to enter the building for the restroom and lunch gym installing a catwalker or something of that sort will allow students to get to not get wet for bit opening L3 CHS music Suite 229 big opening took place in um uh February 29th in the board of bed conference room the bids were as follows L3 was the lowest bidder at $420,500 the CHS music Suite lowest bidder was 1,734 1999 five use of facilities bright and Asylum last year the board rented this CHS parking lot out to brighten Asylum during the September to November the event was a massive success and administration did not receive any complaints and and would love to assist the community with allowing them to rent the parking lot again committee was in favor of allowing them to use it main Memorial Park Administration spoke with Debbie Oliver from the City recreation department and she was asking about main Memorial Park located behind the stadium the board owns a piece of of it and has been leasing it to the city since 84 the city currently does all the upkeep and maintenance of the field Debbie and the city are applying for Green Acres grants through the state and need the land owners permission to receive the Grant and to move forward seven short film shooting in the parking lot co- producers of the NYU Advanced thesis short film me and you are seeking permission to use school parking lot for a tie for a late night shoot the film features a 12 to 14-year-old main character in a simple driving scene with her mom the crew is a a small comprising of two actors and they plan to shoot from 6:00 p.m.

bill pesi is widely known as The Godfather of speed I'm waiting for someone to come out with a music and a department coaches and administration of uh firmly believes that engaging in pry speed school would help to get our program over the top the committee was in favor of this pilot program uh but uh see if there is another funding source in the future the committee uh asked for a survey which went out uh to see the level uh of interest that there was and it was overwhelming I think it was 150 students did uh comment that they were in favor of it um the committee discussed funding sports teams a claim was made that funding is inequitable at the liaison committee we brought it back uh however after uh reviewing the budget the funding is Equitable it was a long discussion on that as well amongst all sports Mr Malay told the committee That Uniforms are purchased on a rotating three-year basis any questions yes commission here um So based off the team doctors basically what just happened is the one we were using before ran out of having enough doctors and the new one that we have now just has more no they separated they separating they started their a new practice the new new I'm sorry forget to that uh the new um firm or practice has more Physicians that that we can use so it would help the students get in quicker and be seen faster so just to make sure there was nothing wrong with the other one that we were using before correct no there's nothing wrong but a lot of the talent is what left right and the coaches and athletic directors uh preferred the services of the the ones that left um there was no cost difference at all to us on that and uh so we went with the recommendation of the coaches and and their satisfaction with the service so far okay um and in terms of the speed training is this this just for girls flag football no or for everybody everybody it's for all students yeah and it's uh the the athletic director was really excited about this because he said that uh no other school in northern Jersey off is this and and we requested something else that we could use it as a promotion that what we're giving you know when we do an open house that we have this new new Advantage for our students but he feels that with the professionalism of paresi the students will uh gain knowledge themselves on how to care for themselves when they're when they're performing in athletic events and that there'll be less injuries that well as well because it's it comes with a conditioning and training thing as well okay that's that's awesome if we could publicize that that'd be great yeah Mr Paris if I could expand on that um you know we talk about pcti all the time and no one here has an issue with a student going to pcti for a vocational education in fact I would encourage it but we're now even having to compete with pcti when they're recruiting our own athletes they're recruiting athletes out of our high school so any little thing that we can do to show uh even our student athletes said hey this is something the board is doing for you above and beyond and nobody else is going to do this uh the priesty uh name is that that God father thing it's true and the fact that the board is providing this service for perhaps up to 150 student athletes unprecedented and just incredible and the the the kids are so enthusiastic about it they're not happy about the time because they think they got to do it like 6:00 in the morning right um but uh it's just another thing that you know it's this this competition now is even incl that take our best our top students and now our student athletes too it's just it's unbelievable and they don't have to worry about a 4% budget they seem to have an unlimited budget it's it's amazing it's just we did agree that we would it was a pilot and that we would see how it works out and then we will survey I guess the clientele again Joe and see if they're that happy with it and then we'll we'll either expand or we'll as a board we'll make the collective decision what we want to do where we want to go with it it was uh they seem to be happy because like Tanya uh suggested a survey and it went out and he said it came back like boom so question president Paris so um I was going to ask that so it is a pilot program um just uh to see if there's another funding source in the future can somebody explain or expound on that um we was we were we have a grant provider um this is something new to to our district we don't know if the grant there's grants out there for this CU we've never used a service like this we ask for that um we we just maybe there's a company that wants to sponsor it uh something like that there's a lot we have a lot of generous so we'll look into if there are alternative sources of funding yeah because we we we don't want to take away from what we're giving to our students now we want to increase it and what if what if it does get popular that we have to increase it because we have such a need uh a population that all of a sudden explodes we have to be able to fund that so this is uh $118,000 now for 3 months right what if we decide to expand it for longer months it's going to be more money and we didn't budget that in the budget I forgot what you had said you said there's money for this but we have to think about the future right so so it's three months the rest of this school year apparently right and then so as we're evaluating this just curious to find out um you know you know obviously how many students take advantage it's open to everyone but how many do take advantage what are those sports that seem to be taking advantage just all of that right to evaluate after this yeah we we need a post survey sure um but also to the cost aspect of it we did discuss that and uh felt also that if we if we retain two student athletes in our district um that more than pays for the program but how would know if we retain two student athletes well that would be that might be hard to know um but we could ask that in the survey excuse me Mr uh uh president Paris um through you to the superintendent I'm sure data is going to be collected on this um from like how many which various sorts Sports the the ages of the students the the you know and also we can collect the data because if they don't leave Clifton we'll know that we're you know because some of the kids are saying you know I'm thinking about going here I'm going there if they stay then we know because because the coaches know who want wants to go so we can we can find out yeah it's very it's very early a lot of things to evaluate maybe ultimately even have our teams gotten better right thank you well that that was the original um rationale that Athletics brought to us on that this will take our teams to the next level the speed training is needed across virtually all all sports that's right I'm With You Got Run faster than the other team okay any other questions yes yeah so so on that metrics um if we already know which students we pay for to go to pcti we would then know which students left us to go for to pcti right and if you know which bucket they're in the athletic bucket I guess you could already you would already have that data even previous years know if the student if the students left um to go to pcti you wouldn't know if they went to other schools but you would know for pcti we wouldn't know if leaving eighth grade they chose pcti for well no you would because you pay them no but we wouldn't know the reason correct academics that's true that's true intervie although I bet you some of the coaches will you know especially if they know they have an eighth grader coming up who's who's has known athletic ability that they're being recruited um the coaches might know but listen that that was a that was a side thing that came that wasn't even thought of until the committee meeting and uh but it's a nice little side thing right uh we ALS there was something else that wasn't on here we also discussed about feeder teams and uh the only feeder team that we don't have is hockey it's virtually impossible to have a feeder team for hockey that was the other thing cuz the hockey was a big discussion on liaison team and most of the cost is equipment and ice time ice time is huge Allan 50k first wow so the other the other question I had was around the strength coaches are this is it going to so we have two weight rooms we have one in the high school and we have the new one we built at Columbus is this for both of those is this for like how do they schedule that with these coaches it's my understanding Mr kova that when the the newer weight room opens um that it'll be utilized for that for that weight room both correct male and female yeah so what happens with the high school weight room then um that's still going to be used for fizzed that's still going to be used for some of the sports that that practice there but when we when you see this state-of-the-art wait room everybody's going to want to be using that one it's it's amazing which by the way I don't know if there's an update in facilities did we do facilities yet not yet we're trying to get to well there'll be be that was Mr paris's Nice way say let's go guys let's go all right moving on to uh that was good thank you policy minutes from commissioner Suarez thank you president Paris um the policy committee met on February 5th 15th and the committee began at 4:06 p.m. in attendance was President Paris uh myself commissioner Suarez commissioner Mahia commission and commissioner Santiago present from the administration were Mr Jenaro uh Miss cus Janina please forgive me I'm working on this cich and Mr shahada uh board attorney Margaret Miller was also present the committee discussed the student represented proposal regarding homework policy 233 Zer based on student input a homework policy survey regarding assigning homework over winter break and religious holidays when school is closed was created this survey was shared several times via text and email with 12,690 stakeholders 1,796 responses were received from 946 parents 615 students and 221 teachers the responses from all three groups agreed that if homework were assigned over winter break or during a religious holiday when school is closed the homework should not be due immediately afterwards time should be given to complete this homework if it is assigned over three time frames bullet four on the policy states the number frequency and degree of difficulty of homework assignment should be based on the ability and needs of student and take into account other activities that make a legitimate claim on the student's time it is recommended that the policy statement to quote take into account other activities that make a legitimate claim on the student time and quote addresses this concerned concern and that after teacher focus groups meet the regulation associated with policy 2330 may be adjusted to reflect this clarification more explicitly the committee then discussed policy 8462 reporting potentially missing or Abus children and the application of this policy to board Commissioners the board Council stated the following based on New Jersey statutes and New Jersey Code it is recommended board members report suspected child abuse if they have reasonable belief that a child has been subjected to such child abuse when such conduct is witnessed at a school related event njsa 9680 imposes a universal obligation to anyone having reasonable calls to believe that a child has been subjected to child abuse to report it to dcpn Via telephone or other methods and the failure to report it is a disorderly person offense under the New Jersey statutes njsa 9681 States the following any person having reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to child abuse including sexual abuse or acts of child abuse shall report the same immediately to the vision of child protection and permanency by telephone or otherwise such reports where possible shall contain the names and addresses of the child and his parent guardian or other person having custody and control of the child and if known the child's age the nature and possible extent of the child's injuries abuse or maltreatment including any evidence of previous injuries abuse or maltreatment and any other information that the person believes may be helpful with respect to the child abuse and the identity of the perpetrator Council recommended alerting policy to Encompass what a volunteer actually is Council believes that a Boe member is certainly a volunteer additionally this is not limited to Board of Education events rather any event taking place on Board of Education property Commissioners then spoke about NJ Bill 2421 freedom to read act in committee and when is an appropriate time to speak about it Commissioners believed waiting until the passage of the bill would be best the meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.

to 2: a.m. driving at 5 mil hour on repeated route they assure that nothing explicit will occur will occur and won't be any identif any identifiable School logos or trademarks visible the filmmakers have insurance covering the location in the vehicle are willing to provide the necessary documentation for approval they begin they believed the location near Lexington Diner is ideal for their film which explores mother daughter relationships the board was not in favor number eight New Jersey unified law enforcement FC this group requested the use of the HS soccer field soccer fields however after much deliberation by the committee it was unanimously agreed that they are not permitted to use the field due to issues encountered with the groups and years prior thank you commissioner Canova any questions commiss here um yes I have a question when I have a few questions I don't know we want to go back i' say one then someone ask us to ter but one of them was with um in terms of w Wilston the auditorium being demolished and being built all the way in September do we have everything set on how are we going to replace like the concerts um and where we house the students persp special events do we have everything in place already Mr Shad can answer that no so they just finished their last concert uh I believe they do have one more in the spring but I I'm pretty sure Mr Jer has worked out something where they're going to use the high school in addition for large scale events uh they have the two gyms and the cafeteria so Mr Jagger and his team have come up with a I would like to say foolproof plan of how to accommodate all in any situation okay so will this dramatically affect the students who are there throughout now cuz I know most of it is going to be done during the summer and then maybe briefly during September is anything going to affect largely from now up until June no okay all right thank you yes commissioner Suarez thank you president pz um I was just curious about the decision to not approve the short film shooting um just for some rationale please I believe it was timing it it would interfere with uh the start of school time even though they started very early in the morning so we didn't want to have that happening at the same time that buses are coming and going and staff starting to come and Mr Paris I remember also with the referendum because they when the students are students are out that's when the referendum takes place and that whole area is filled up with different trucks and different heavy material moving in and we didn't want that liability it was it was timing and Logistics it wasn't the actual activity that we had an objection to thank you any other question yes commissioner here oh commissioner Santiago thank you president Paris couple questions so one the um the wait room um psng was at the weit room etc etc what's the status of the weit room when will that potentially be ready so psng was out two days ago they cut the power our people took out the panel they went back in put the panel in and then they re-energized it this yesterday so all said and done we expecting another two weeks so we can just tie in all the connections that we need to do balance the air and just do any final touch-ups before we do a ribbon cutting okay so I would probably over two weeks I would say two weeks but don't hold me to it okay that's that's the estimate thank you um capital reserve items so the bleacher stadium bleachers have needed work for a long time um concrete missing rebar visible if I'm not mistaken it's just been in yes we need that a long time ago so now um due to that deterioration water's leaking into our newly renovated bathrooms which look really good if you ever been in there um and so um just if you can you know um just share a little bit more about what you guys discussed um about the bleachers and potential TR my good um so we talked a little bit about the like you said the bleachers and and the rebar and how they would reinforce it um and there was some sort of uh a coding they would put on as well when they were done there was epoxy there was there was also a separate discussion about how much is it just to do redo the bleachers in general because uh this one came in around like 2.5 million I think it was and um it's just a question of how much is everything else like instead of just fixing this he he said the life expectancy was like 10 maybe 15 years but if you put in new bleachers how what's that life expectancy and what's the cost so we don't have that information yet but that's sort of the conversation and how we interpreted where to go with this thank you thank you very much um go ahead you going say I was going to say at this point the estimate we have is the architect's estimate it would still have to go out on bid okay so we don't know what the final cost is but that's the Architects estimate right now okay great um and then main Memorial Park so yes we do own the par right behind where the foret the name of the road is that goes right behind the stadium and all that right so um looks like they are looking to apply for a Green Acres Grant for land that we own not for nothing um is there a grant that we can look into or what was the discussion around that I mean listen there must have been some arrangement they they maintain right the they landscape the property I get it we I went back in the archives we lease this property to them for like a dollar in 1980 uh the deal was we can take it back at any point in time with the 30-day written notice the city has full rights to it they maintain it they ensure that everything we have in we're indemnified if anything were to take place uh for this grant the city reached out to Green Acres looking to I gave Dr Robert toosy the plans this morning I reviewed them everything seemed copesthetic so they're just trying to they just need the land permission to get access to that what what would they get from this grant what is what is it going to be used for ETC um I don't know offand I can get you that information she did fax it to me this morning okay thanks last one I promise um I had uh in the past asked about if we could pilot and this may have been discussed um opening the track to the public the track at the stadium there in a pilot it could be on a weekend for a couple of hours whatever it is just to try um does anybody know the the result of those conversations or what happened there if something that is feasible to try or not or can we look into that again in this meeting that didn't come up I love the idea you go to Brookdale Park and there's many people running the track and using the soccer field in the middle and everything and so of right even there other school districts that open it up but there's a bunch of re things right we have a custodian or do we need a security I mean just putting it out there um is that something we can revisit I don't have a problem with it whatsoever I would like to just bring it to facilities committee one more time just to think about those things maybe like do we need a custodian like hours it'll be open let's so let's make sure it's on the next facili agenda and let's make a decision on this because I know Mr Santiago has asked previously and I don't want to um leave it hanging out there I love the idea of someone has to be there open it close it right at the very least someone has to be there pretty much the whole time right there's a cost involved and we don't want it vandalized and we don't want people leaving crash and all of that so it's just just to preliminarily discuss president Paris yes facilities and finance cuz if we have to discuss money because uh with not only custodian you're going to need a security guard okay anyone else yes yes um so I did want to bring back something that um I've been told several times and I did bring up before the sandbags that were using to prevent the water from leaking into many of our schools um including School 16 which is brand um I like to say brand new because of the flood that happened unfortunately um and at school 5 especially because we have a brand new gym there and I do know there's been a lot of parents saying that the when it rains unfortunately sometimes the rain just does sleep through and then it goes right into the brand new gy they also I believe they use for their cafeteria um what can we do to help solve this I know other schools have this issue along with 12 16 17 and W Wilson and a note we briefly mentioned and talked about the leaks that are happening up in the stadium but what can we do for things that are happening within the classrooms how can we help deter that I will tell you that Mr Shad can speak more specifically to this but we have a really good plan in place now from the last storm that was coming and we didn't KN going for Micah have any issues with the last storm or last night either which was which was pretty bad so me do you want to speak a little bit about the that plan we put in place correct so our buildings and ground seems phenomenal they got these they found these um sandbags that are like a pound and then once they're hit with water they expand like 17 ft and they can go around different areas so we've been placing them around there uh school 12 specifically is in a massive flood zone so we put a whole bunch of those and we built like a canopy funneling the water down to the road so you know knock on for Mica um we have not had any leakage into the building so this is something that we Monitor and we meet weekly about and especially in an event of like heavy rain or heavy snow where we know there's going to be leakage and then my final question is something that's probably on all our minds right now is how can we also get the same Aid that Pake got I know for many of us is well hey they got a brand new high school I know we are in dire need of also having not just a high school just another school to help our our students our population that is growing immensely so what can we do to help you know maybe apply to something similar where we could deter those costs from us and from the taxpayers and have someone like they did um I'll let Mr shahada explain some of the finances too but in brief pic is one of the 30 or so previously called Abbot districts which were the poorest districts in the state of New Jersey um that through the previous funding formula when the state was trying to equalize uh School District funding poured tons of money into these districts um realized it didn't work but still to this day even though the term Abbot doesn't exist it's still one of those distri districts that receive receives state aid um we will barring something significant happening we will not be in that position unless the demographics of our of our district change dramatically um but Amed I know you have something to say about that correct so just for for reference and Clarity they received $328 million for uh a new high school they received for two years in a row Z doar in an increase in state aid while Pine received 54 million uh and to get to that formerly known as Abbott level it is all driven by the the demographics of the town and the free and reduced lunch application you have to be north of I believe 70% and we're more than that yeah so we're only at 52.4 I believe last time I checked so we're you know thank God ways away from that but there was used to be something called AB Abbot Rim money that used to come out and we were one of the Abbott Rim districts and we used to get extra funding that way so may get money from the Governor he uh the $75 million in SDA Grant that's divied up amongst all the districts in the state I think this year we received $268,000 that we're doing just odd job projects that we couldn't we couldn't fit into the budget so we do get some of that Rim money so I did want I did wanted to ask that because there were several people from the community who were asking me and telling me that former board members told them it was because we didn't want to give into classifying ourselves as something we are not um I just want to make sure if that's clear is that something we do negate to no I'm not sure I understand uh the question the the question that arose this the statement that arose erroneously so was that we we don't want to be one of these districts because there's some stigma attached to it and that's why we are not one but not not that our numbers don't make it if if um I I would dress like a ballerina and do a dance in public to get $328 million in in in state aid so I'm not concerned about any type of stigma or anything uh like that it's really based on the demographics of the Town based on things that we don't uh have control over um we are what we are right we are what we are you there's always been that rumor about Clifton didn't want to be something Mr Maha uh commissioner Mia um it it's we we are fortunate enough that our demographics is what it is and that our um our free and reduced lunch is lower because that means that our our children are getting fed at home and and we're lucky that we have people that have that money in their thing but if it changes then we will become it I I don't see that in the for uh the future but Dr roazzi I think we just came up with a new fundraiser the ballerina maybe we can make some money and get a school so that's it thank you thank you believe it or not there's still one more commission there's still one more committee report um I'll read it because I got to read fast okay um education and special education committee minutes uh president were Dr Lucy Danny our chair uh commissioner bassford commissioner Suarez and commissioner NOA uh Administration was Dr Robert toy Miss kusevic um Mr Jenaro uh Mr shahada and uh uh Miss hemp hemp our supervisor of special services and uh Diana Sula who's an intern uh we discussed the th the therapy dog initiative was discussed expansion of that program Mr jagaro shared the enormous Success With The District's first therapy dog chewy um he's primarily driven the program through individual and small group therapeutic interventions in conjunction with our counseling department uh as well as providing whole class and school-based and evening and weekend event visits and support of District programs um he presented two ways the district could expand the program both of which have been budgeted for in this coming budget the requests for the support for the program far exceed the current capacity with just one chewy uh board members president indicated that the administration can best determine which process Ed to be most effective in schools action was informational uh New Jersey Department of Education accountability status was provided by Miss Kus levich she shared that the department of Ed uh has updated its federally driven account profiles accountability is based on 40 categories for students on the njsla state assessments students are counted in all socioeconomic demographic categories for performance and participation in language arts and Mathematics as well as chronic absenteeism and graduation rate previous previously there were two levels of accountability now there are three comprehensive support and Improvement additional targeted support and Improvement and targeted support Improvement the most basic level is targeted support Improvement which can be entered or exited each year and based on only one area more information will be forthcoming about Clifton school 12 and Clifton High School in this new yearly measurement level special education update and program growth uh was provided by Miss uh and Miss cage began by discussing increases in referrals and increasingly complex needs of students referred to special education she shared that nearly all special education classroom sections were at or near allowable capacity currently 152 students are awaiting the child study team testing it's anticipated the district will need between three and eight additional self-contain classes in September Miss Hemphill then provided the following updates about the special services department uh bounce out the stigma Camp will be running again this summer details are to follow the extended school year will run from July 1st through August 13th special education parent advisory group meeting was held on February 28th with few parents and attendant and all the supervisors of special services an overview of special services department was given apparent interest survey was provided to parents and will be sent to parents of students with IEPs the next meeting uh meeting will be May 29th a discussion ensued on how to increase uh uh the uh commit the meeting's attendance Miss Hempel explained we use Peach jar and teachers who are in constant communication with parents share it with parents case managers share it and it is also posted on our website Etc it was recommended pamphlets be distributed to parents at meetings so they feel they have a support group and that the information is shared in the special service department email signatures the district has increased project unify event opportunities for middle and high school students there will be a basketball game which already was oh no coming up sorry on on March 12th with project unify basketball students from woodro and uh CHS we started recruiting for staff for next year via job fair social media if you know anyone looking for special education position please have them fill out an application on applet Trak that's our uh that's our application for jobs on on uh on our website many Clifton Mustang staff supported the Special Olympics at the Polar Plunge at Seaside on February 24th and they raised a great deal of money for this for Special Olympics um an elll program update and growth was provided by Miss kusich who shared more information about our programs for multilingual Learners with specific focus on the evergoing numbers she reviewed the continued growth and unprecedented increase in the number of Ells from 650 2 in October to 1,270 now that was October of 2021 to 1,270 on Monday of this week with eight new arrivals by Tuesday of this week and another 22 in the queue to be tested for ESL Services as of today in addition the district has to provide follow-up to support to 209 recently exited students who still require support the complexity of student needs keeps growing uh ml students continue to register on a weekly basis uh preschool program update and growth Miss kusich updated the committee About Preschool expansion the state uh Peg funds requir that the district continue to add classrooms to meet the full Universe of three and four-year-old students we currently have 65 preschool classrooms growing to 76 in the coming year with PEG funds in order to meet even 90% of our universe we will need 20 at least 24 uh more classrooms our public schools are at capacity the district continues to explore Partnerships in additional space uh next topic was budget and instructional staffing needs uh prek to 12 instructional needs for the 2024 25 budget or really highlighted in Need for specialized staff and space bilingual and ESL programs for elll ML students special education and preschool are all growing and all have class Siz capacity limits yet still require full-size classrooms general education students need additional intervention counseling support and services the current budget reflects increases in these interconnected areas teachers intervention Specialists par professionals administrative support and counseling social work and behaviorist service providers additional space through building leases continues to be explored and is included in this budget meeting ended at 7:50 any question missing we did this have a discussion on the students yes I apologize I just sent um an update um when I submitted these I had forgotten to include the four curriculum guides that were addressed which is a new AP Physics new women's studies new senior seminar new current events and I also addressed the imagin math however that's the same response that I gave to the question of the um of of commissioner uh brunak I just wanted know thank you here so the special education parent advisory group um is this available for all parents to join or is it only select few that are able to join I believe it's open to all parents open all parents I attended the meeting okay um I second you need to increase participation but it is open to all and all our staff was there that's something I want to bring up if we could maybe publicize that a little bit more cuz a lot of parents seem to not know about it um I did have um an encounter with was someone over at ShopRite which didn't Express this that there should be a parent advisory group or there should be a separate special education committee and I think maybe some of them just don't know that we do have this committee so is it possible for us to publicize it a little bit more that it is available yeah one one discussion um we had when I was at the cpag meeting not at our committee meeting um was to perhaps offer it in different languages um and that might encourage some parents to attend one of the issues why I'm sorry I'm sorry one of the issues with cpag is that the state regulation in chapter 14 only speaks to the fact that you have to have a committee they don't set any detailed parameters on how the committee has to be formed who has to attend how many meetings you have it's very very very vague I mean it's just you have to have a committee there are towns that have very involveed committee they're almost like an HSA they do fundraising for the special education department so what will park has an outstanding CPAC uh Community um I know we did have other members on it but there was some distension in the ranks and there was some miscommunication and we lost a couple really good members out of that Community um don't want to be involved anymore and I'm really a shame but my issue is that it's during the day when most of our families are working you know we have we have people in that um demographic that have two or three jobs because they're just trying to make ends meet to keep food on the table and the roof over their heads so I I think it's 6:00 last meeting started at 6:30 okay but well well what I was familiar with it was during the day but I I think it's just getting it out there it it's just you know maybe we need to hire a plane or something you know for with a banner I don't I don't know but um we have to we have to do better job at getting people involved we we did discuss this in Link at the committee so so so maybe I just want to share that I don't know that it's for lack of of trying I mean there are emails that go out there are phone calls that go out there are text messages that go out we have the teachers personally inviting parents to the meeting look we're a district of 11,000 students and if not for the people who came to our board meeting tonight to be recognized look who's here and I love you all for being here that's our friend from um Board of Education member of Jersey City how are you sir so I I don't want want to say it's for lack of people don't know about it you know what I mean I'm not saying we can't maybe do something different or better job but I think I think the word is out there well something has to I think uh we have to try some other means to will get him out Joe I didn't mean to cut you off I apologize well that that's a topic we'll put back to the uh the education committee to explore okay anything else can we okay moving on then uh We've did we did public recognition we need to adopt some minutes uh to save a little time I'll put 13 and 14 which are adoption of minutes February 8th and March 2nd together looking for a motion to approve second uh commissioner bassford and seconded by commissioner roll Mr sh Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Kenova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago yes Mr siano yes M Suarez yes president Paris yes motion carries uh Dr robtoy no report tonight Mr Paris okay I will save my comments to the end as well um I don't have any unfinished business listed and anybody yes Mr run yeah regarding Senate Bill 2421 one more time they tabled it last month the Senate education committee they tabled it last month my understanding is they're bringing it back up next um March 14th that's my that's what I was told I forgot who's who who hit me up committee members of this committee are uh chair chair uh Vin gopel Vice chair Shirley Turner other members of the committee are Senator Kristen curado Senator Owen Henry and Senator Angela mcnight thank you thank you commissioner brunak anyone else unfinished business okay moving on uh an expression of condolence um I will read it whereas on February 29th 2024 the community noted with sorrow the passing of Robert sep setino and whereas Mr sepentina had served the Clifton Board of Education and the children of Clifton faithfully and conscientiously for 42 years until his retirement in July of 2006 Mr sepano was a public school teacher who also taught the gifted and talented students he was honored as an outstanding teacher by the governor of New Jersey and received his Commendation of Excellence at prin Princeton University Mr setino was also the owner director teacher and choreographer at the Nikki Simon School of Dance in Pake park for 47 years I'm sure that was Nikki Simon I'm sorry uh now therefore be it resolved that this resolution be forwarded to his bere family to serve as an expression of the great Regard in which Mr setino was held by the Board of Education the Administration Employees and pupils of the Clifton public schools and be a further resolve that the contents of this resolution be noted in their entirety in the official minutes of the Clifton Board of education for future generations to pursue to peruse dated March 7th uh next month or this is it this month is women's History Month would anyone like to read our Proclamation for women's History Month commissioner swar thank you whereas American women of every race class and ethnic background have made historical contributions to the growth and strength of the nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways whereas American women have played and continued to play a critical economic cultural and social role in every sphere of our nation's Life by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working in and outside of the home whereas American women have played a unique role throughout our history by providing the majority of the nation's volunteer labor labor force and have been particularly important in the establishment of early charitable philanthropic and cultural institutions in this country whereas a celebration of women's progress and contributions to this country since its founding this year's theme is women who advocate for Equity diversity and inclusion we acknowledge the vital role that solidarity and intersectionality must play in our fight for a better future therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education honors the contributions that women have made throughout history and commit to support efforts to improve opportunities for women and declared March as National Women's history month thank you commissioner Suarez okay we're looking for h a motion to uh approve items under B education Administration items number one through 15 motion to approve please motion motion by second commissioner siano second by commissioner brunak roll call Mr shot please miss bassford yes and I'm abstaining on B9 I'm In conflict that is a family orthopedic doctor that I used to Mr brunak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Santiago yes but I believe I have to abstain on B 11 is that not correct yes yes thank you abstain b11 Mr sio yes Miss Suarez yes president Paris yes abstaining on uh item 11 motion carries okay next section is Personnel um looking for a motion to approve items one through 28 motion I'm sorry 27 motion by commissioner Suarez second second by commissioner Mahia roll call Mr Shah Miss bassford yes and I abstain on U my name only and c21 yes to the rest Mr brunak yes Mr Kenova yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Santiago yes Mr siano yes Miss Suarez yes president Paris uh yes OB standing on myself on item 21 please motion carries next looking for a motion to approve under finance and Facilities items number one through 21 motion motion by commissioner bassford second second by commissioner Kenova roll call please miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Canova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago yes Mr siano yes abstaining on F12 F20 permit 5098 cuz the council that I'm on the early childhood education runs that and F21 voucher 109 935 Tomahawk promotions because I do have a business relationship with him thank you Miss Suarez yes president Paris yes motion carries board member comments I gotta remember who I started with I think we start with uh Mr I'll I'll go I'll go it's fine he's got he's got a lot of paper I'll go commission sure um thank you to my friend Lorenzo for coming uh Lorenzo is one of my Island Miss for toys people we've become friends for a long time right Lorenzo thank you for coming to watch our meetings um thank you for all speakers that are coming out I want to thank Administration um and the Ba's office for an outstanding presentation on the budget it was very understandable to the lay people in the community um and um I know that you guys are very open open door policy if anybody has further detailed questions they can approach and ask um to the public for being very uh patient with us for getting this all together I appreciate you um to the schools uh 25 uh 14 17 8 and 16 thank you for inviting me for read Across America I had a blast I did something today I read um One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and the teacher had an Adaptive device that when I read the book it made sound effects after certain keywords and it picked on my voice it was the best experience I have ever had because we had a ball in the classroom the kids were laughing I was laughing so thank you to administration of School 17 for allowing me that opportunity to experience what our kids get to do every day I really had a good time our schools are in clean perfect condition I got to visit a lot of places and I am just excited about seeing the conditions of the Building compared to other districts that I go in I used to go into or so thank you um in honor of my Heritage this is a a blessing may there always be work for you to uh for your hands to do may your purse always hold a coin or two May the sun always shine on the window pane May a rainbow be certain to follow each Reign May the hand of a friend always be near and may God fill your heart with gladness and cheer happy St Patrick's Day and happy St Joseph's Day to my friends that are Italian thank you CHR bord are you ready commissioner brunak or would you like more time thank you Mr President first and foremost I want to give uh prayers up to commissioner siano's wife whom had a a procedure earlier this week I I pray for her speedy recovery Ramadan Mubarak to our students and staff as well as the greater Clifton Community happy St Patrick's Day to all those who celebrate big shout out to the cast and crew at woodro Wilson Middle School for a spectacular production of The Adams Family and everyone from the administration and staff who helped make it happen finally a big shout out to Mara huig director uh Timothy Hayward who who I used to see at at some jazz clubs um absolutely wonderful he's he was the conductor at this a at this uh musical uh Cinderella and they did a good job breaking it down I went there with my son and uh again once again shout out to all the cast and crew and the staff and the admin that helped make it happen it was absolutely fantastic thank you very much everybody for your time and God bless America have a good night everybody thank you no comments tonight thank you Mia um I just want to say congratulations to our M trial team on such a high honor for winning and for going so so far um as well have a blessed Ramadan to all those who celebrate um congratulations to all of our winter student athletes along with our students of the months and employees of the months um I also like to thank all the schools who invited me to go out and read I had a blast and I also like to thank um Giants quarterback Daniel Jones for coming and visiting and reading over at school 12 we were in my old classroom which was very nostalgic and very qu I don't know how to say the word I forget but it was very surprising I walk in I'm like hey this is the same room I used to be in when I was in third grade so that was very that was very surprising right um also shout out to CCMS and willo Wilson uh Middle School on their musicals and plays this year um this Friday Saturday I believe is going to be the CHS they'll be holding there so I hope to see many of you there um and I also want to express that um in terms of the budget um that's a failure on the state and that's a failure on previous boards um it's unbelievable um the things that they make us try to do now try to play catchup um and I still can't believe they did that to us um but besides that thank you very much thank commissioner Mia commissioner Santiago thank you president Paris um congratulations to all of our students and our um employee Award winners um uh particularly want to point out Mariana kasadya who I read was senior student of the month um who as she put it uh learned English from scratch when she arrived at Clifton High School and she is on Varsity swimming National Honor Society National Society of High School honors girls who code Global so I just wanted to point this out as one very small example of a multilanguage learner we discussed a lot today and that's a testament to two teachers that she she pointed out but also our Administration and the resources that we provide as part of this budget um you know this is a product of all of that so um continued luck to uh Mariana happy St Patrick's Day to everybody celebrating Happy Ramadan sorry I couldn't go to the fenus lighting I was here um and um happy uh tomorrow is international women's day so happy International Women's Day to all of our our commissioners our staff um our administrators um you know International women's day is celebrating the social economic cultural and political achievements of women so so thank you all to to all of you for everything you do um go out and see Hello Dolly starting tomorrow at Clifton High School and through the weekend finally on the budget I just wanted to say listen um you know it's a preliminary budget right we have until May to to discuss and hash this out you know what we're charged with is um providing the best education uh at a cost that the city can afford that's what we are charged with um as uh board Commissioners and so we're going to continue to keep that in mind and um work on it through May thank you so much good night commissioner Siana thank you very much um happy women's History Month to everyone uh to all observing I would like to say happy fasting in Ramadan Mubarak congrats to all the employees and students of the month truly assets to our community uh you just gave out a little Irish blessing so I have one that I wasn't going to say but I always say it and I love it it's May your home always be too small to hold all your friends I absolutely love that I think it's the best one suits me uh thank you for the student update it's really vital that we stay informed um I'm going to hope to say this right congrats to sa Salah for being the first in school history to score a th000 rebounds and also scoring a th000 points amazing feat also to the CHS cheer team athletes and coaches back-to-back state championships I had an opportunity to attend the Cinderella youth Edition play what an amazing job by everyone involved in that I really did enjoy the show thank you to all the participants of the municipal Alliance it was really a great meeting and I see a lot of Hope coming out of that room um so School five I got to go to read Across America I read to a fourth grade grade class and I wish I could have done more I was invited to more but I had Family Matters and bringing up Family Matters I really want to thank the Commissioners that texted me and called me what every day twice a day and the administration for constantly checking on my wife um that meant a lot um that's a lot of love coming out of this room I appreciate it she's doing well still in the hospital hopefully we'll be home uh sometime soon and other than that I hope everybody has an amazing night thank you commissioner Suarez yes thank you um I've been on the board for three months so far so I just wanted to just kind of give an update to the community and um and and just I'm I'm one who reflects and I reflect a lot I Journal write every day um and when in these three months I had District tours um I had a 3-day training um that's a mandator training that we all must go to for those at home um board Retreats with one with together here um I had the pleasure of reading at several schools for read Across America this week I saw Cinderella the those children were wonderful so wonderful the um and I just want to express how proud I am to be a part of this clipon community um being a part of this team um at the district or rather at the Board of Education Retreat that um all people from all all over New Jersey need to go to uh I just want to let those who may not know Clifton is doing relatively well when we see um other districts and I I was really able to have perspective of of where we are and um gain appreciation for that and um you know I just it's been a real privilege I want everyone to know I do not take this position lightly I do not take anything for granted and it's a true privilege to be in front of those beautiful children reading to them seeing their smiles it's a true privilege to see the Educators we have in this District especially those um who've been here for years and decades uh our children are really in great hands because of your expertise the administration um who create beautiful School cultures I've been in schools for many years and I say this as an educator and not as a board member you can get a feeling of a school when you walk in um and every single time I've walked into a school and I you know there's an aist there I'm a board remember right so I I understand how they may um view me differently but um I don't see a pretense I see authenticity I see children happy I see teachers um really being able to do their jobs with Integrity um I see administrators who Truly Deeply care about our children here in Clifton and I'm really grateful to be a part of that so I just really wanted to share uh with the community where I've been for these past three months um and where we are as a team and I'm grateful for that um on then and that's all I have to say about that and then I also want to say happy National School social worker week as a previous School social worker uh their work is difficult and is often a thanless job so happy National School social worker uh week and for all our school social workers thank you for the work that you do um for those who observe Ramadan may peace be with you and happy women's history month thank you have a good night everyone thank you uh I just want to extend my thanks this week to all the media Specialists and staff and teachers that welcomed us for read Across America I had the privilege of reading at school 58 17 14 16 2 and n and the biggest privilege of all I was able to read to my uh granddaughter's kindergarten class and it was just wonderful um uh everybody mentioned the play at CCMS Cinderella was fantastic play fantastic pit Orchestra but I also just want to mention something that hasn't been yet the student artists uh that were on display in the building were absolutely marvelous and I just wanted to uh to thank those students and uh and the staff for for displaying those um congratulations to our Mustang Ben who obtained first place in the crew of Rex parade down in New Orleans uh at marra time um and a giant thanks to all of all of you here my fellow Commissioners on the board for your time at our board Retreat last week and even more so uh just for your professionalism the way you interact with each other um you just left me speechless and I I I really appreciate the time you gave up and the public should know that this board gave up four hours on their Saturday uh for really self-improvement self-development and uh I thank them for that um some dates coming up to Mark uh March 14th the Boys and Girls Club is having a great Futures Gala fundraiser uh that's a Thursday that's at the valley Regency at 6m uh on March 11th the Pake County School Board Association is honoring uh the unsung heroes of Bay County uh that's at 5:30 at on March 10th at Muhammad Ali School number 23 on Dayton Avenue in Pake and uh our high school will be represented there with the winner uh on March 20th the All City band concert is at CHS if you've never been to one you should get there it is a wonderful display of all that is instrumental music in Clifton and to follow that up the following week on March 27th is All City band uh All City strings also at CHS where you can see our wonderful Strings program in action from elemente through High School uh and as Mr Mahia mentioned don't forget the High School Musical this weekend it's Friday Saturday and Sunday it's Hello Dolly and a u happy Ramadan celebration um to everyone who celebrates this month thank you thank you thank you um new business is next anyone with new business Mr B uh thank you Mr President I just want to let my colleagues on this board know and uh to the administration and to to the public while we bust our tails off over here this board and this Ba's office and this Administration to get funding for our districts I want to let everybody know what the legislature in Trenton does they submitted these past these two bills over the past couple of weeks number eight uh the assembly submitted this bill a 2252 it appropriates $9 million to establish a New Jersey covid-19 vaccine Outreach commission another one uh Senate Bill 1970 permits minors 13 years of age to consent to behavioral healthc care services that's all I got Mr President thank you thank you Mr Brak anyone else M Mia um I did want to see about expanding the the middle school that I briefly mentioned during policy um as well as having their student liaison committee um if we can get that done by next meeting that'd be great um as well as helping um former student representative to the Board of Education from the Middle School see if we can get that done between the next meeting that' be great as well thank you okay we work with Dr Roberto on that we can schle something for a middle school meeting anyone else yes commissioner Suarez thank you um if we can put on the policy committee for next time we meet um our recess policy for our children in K or prek through 5 um just to discuss what it looks like to miss recess time and um and just explore that policy to make sure our children are their play time okay thank you we'll get that on the agenda president Paris yes sir I just wanted to say thank you for the board retreat I wanted to say that in the comments um it was very valuable and it was a great idea and I look forward to more and it was great also just to be with my colleagues here kind of in a different context so thank you for that well since we're doing new business uh commissioner siano suggested to me if you remember the njsba rep had a variety of programs some were very short topics meaning like an hour or so uh commissioner Shan made a a suggestion maybe we could incorporate them into another meeting knock out three or four of those at a time um if the if the board is is willing um we need at least seven of nine people that participate in order to work towards our certified board status um in addition to our superintendent that's the the requirement so you'll be getting uh some polling information beond that okay you're going to give us information months good I I can do it earlier like we when we discussed it at the board retreat that we would do it a 6:00 meeting as long as I have advanced notice I can get move my schedule around I just you know I I need to post April something or other I got stuff going on so just okay well I'll send out a a a memo and take a little survey for time that works for everybody maybe we do it in the evening some evening for three or four hours we'll see we'll see but I think that's a good idea rather than kind of peac mealing it and our meetings are already so long to add another hour to them for the I think might be better to combine some things Mr President the Administration has to be there as well right for these things uh superintendent has to be there that's the only mandate is seven of the nine seven of nine member board and superintendent thank you and can I make a suggestion that we work on uh the goals and the stre the the mission statement because those were the two things that I think we wanted to to hit first right uh we have uh think strategic plan is it or and yes and and also a um that was relatively short I said superintendent um evaluation process review okay um next we we do have an executive session hopefully it won't take much long we're going to say how long 30 minutes 30 minutes we're going to say 30 minutes for executive session um so I need a uh oh we'll discuss um Personnel matters uh and and legal matters action may or may not be taken um motion to Executive moot hearing no agreements all in favor all right see in half hour e here yeah now I'm everywhere Mark Frank always be motion to approve session motion Sor motion second miss bassford Mr brunak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Santiago yes Mr siano yes Miss [Music] Suarez president Paris yes motion carries motion toour motion second second have a great night night

the minutes were recorded by Mr shahada thank you any yes commissioner brunak thank you Mr President was the current law for the obscenity for persons under 18 discussed regard prior to uh discussing Bill 2421 no it was not well the entire po thank you the entire point of me bringing it up to new business at the last meeting was to let everybody know there's currently a law in place for the obscenity for persons under 18 discuss so I'm humbly requesting this committee I I thought that would be part of it but it obviously wasn't I'm humbly asking this committee to put it back onto the agenda and let the board know if they believe there's anything wrong with the current law that's on the books commissioner bnia can you please clarify I just want to write it down so I understand this this the Senate bill 2421 is basically an addendum to the current law for obscenity for the persons under 18 discussed yes M B I'm going to direct my comments to the president which I'm supposed to through you to the attorney is it our role as board members to interpret law and give an opinion or are we supposed to set policy that we're mandated to set I'm just curious cuz I always because I always thought that as a rol board member we get the policy from the state and then we have to implement it through to the district but are we going to interpret law now I don't know how to answer that um you're you know you you make policies whether what's the committee to do I'm confused right I mean not interpreted law you know that that's obviously we're here to assist you in that but your your job is to follow the law and inact policies whether they're mandated or discretionary that that comply with the law yes commissioner BR thank you Mr President so this is about policy in new business at the last meeting I discussed the introduction of Senate Bill 2421 why was it put on the agenda for this for this meeting then if if that's the case it's not a law that was passed there is law so maybe maybe I'm asking the wrong question I apologize if I am do we have polic a policy and or policies in place regarding the current law for obscenity for persons under 18 that's a good question thank you I believe uh if you don't mind I believe it would be covered under the code of conduct that's where you would first find the policy but this is in committee it's they haven't put it in place yet so it's being discussed down in the state house you have a couple options Mr brunc you can bring it back to policy they can discuss it bring their finding to the board we can't interpret it but we can send you can either um say that you're for it or you're against it in a letter to the to the the Senate right we can we can send a letter of of support or um denial is we've done that before Danny haven't we done that before we sent things down pass resolutions and sent the resolution right right that that's on me I'm sorry wish BR thank you so would that last question would this go through the legislative committee or through the policy committee um I believe the reason the policy committee made the statement it did there is because it is it is not currently law right it is proposed law so under that definition I think it would go under legislation because it's pending legislation right so that's the PO policy committee basically said it's really not time for us to act on this or react to this since it is not yet law um and we're not creating State policy right we make we make our policies um so and I thought initially we were going to direct it towards um legislation since that's really and then legislation can craft a a resolution which the board can vote on decide whether or not it's something we want to uh send down a trend thank you thank you everybody um Mr BC I sit on the uh um I just got a letter from New Jersey school boards they put me on 7 so I thought I was getting kicked off the legis committee because uh 34 was moved but I will be meeting we we're meeting Saturday virtually I will bring this up and ask uh for Mr um pushman he is the legislative person director down in school boards and ask him if you want to reach out to him to talk to him about the policy that would be a way for you to go he's very knowledgeable Jonathan pushman thank you so so basically I just I just want my colleagues to know I I want the general public just to know the types of bills that they are they have been introducing well I'm going to ask you for more information and let him ask give us the new so so my main issue is what I want to know from basically the commit you know whoever whoever tried to submit this in the committee this bill is there something wrong with the language as currently constituted for the current law on the books that I I just referenced two or three times obset for persons under 18 can you are there issues can you do me a big favor can you send me an email and I will address it Saturday when I'm in thank you very much I will thank you president Paris may I yes so being on the policy I think maybe there was um so we were discussing the bill which is not a law right the bill freedom to read act and maybe that was Lost in Translation but since it's a bill we discussed as mentioned that a bill can change 10 different ways ways may never even be passed as law so we all just figured why enter into a discussion about a proposed bill that may or may not come to fruition now if you're talking about this bill is an amendment to a law and that's what you wanted to us to look up then that was maybe I don't want to speak for everybody but that's not what we were doing we were looking at this bill and said why you know start any kind of go down that road if it's not even a law or potentially close to a law that was the thinking and and the obscenity definition I didn't I didn't realize that's already law I I took took the Assumption because it was with that proposed bill it was also a proposal that wasn't something yeah I I I suppose I wasn't clear at the last meeting but there currently is so that's that's what I was exactly trying to explain while you know W with new business at the last meeting that the amount of money that's spent on these bills they throw they throw into commit is is absolutely outrageous that that was basically my point if there's existing law that already does a great job to protect our kids and shield them from from these types of things if it ain't broke don't why you know why fix it that's all I'm asking you know that's essentially what I wanted why I brought it up to new business because I just found out about it prior to the last meeting yes commission so I did have a few questions um one of them was relating back to the administrators findings on the homework policy did any of this go back to our student representative that ask the question was were the findings ever sent to no okay could we have that sent to him please um that was still in Mr Ham's hands okay um he has the results of that survey um and he is he was from the last meeting he is taking action as as far as implementing whatever changes we decided basically our policy over already supported many of the suggestions that came from the student the ason committee and that implementation obviously has to go through Administration and faculty and and that's what Mr HDA would definitely I was just asking because I thought we made a promise to keep him updated on the things that were going that were going to be going on with the homework policy um the second question is going to be um I love the fact that can I mention your name sure that allias came up to us and um recommended this policy to the policy committee to the entire board I love the fact that he's so involved within our school district and I love the fact that there are many students that are also involved I want to know if it's possible and policy to probably explore something similar in the Middle School realm as well I know we did have last year a meeting in policy where we did invite some of the middle school students to speak about um at that time it was the dressing policy U what they wanted to do what they wanted to see in terms terms of um what the they could wear to school um and many of them are very cognitive and they're very aware of what's happening within their specific Circle was in Middle School I wanted to know if there's a possibility to maybe find something to see if we could set up something maybe similar to what we have as our student representative from the high school maybe having something like a student rep from the Middle School especially because we are going to start implementing I'm sorry um implementing something for the Judiciary Committee and uh student liaison in the middle school so we can do something very similar that' be very greatly appreciated yeah thank you anyone else can we thank you commissioner Suarez I almost forgot where we started um commissioner Brak please Finance thank you Mr President finance committee met on March 5th 2024 those in attendance were commissioner Santiago commissioner Mahia president Paris and myself as well from the admin Administration Dr Rober toi Mr jenero Mr shahada and Mr Uchi number one iMac health insurance overview iMac Representatives attended the meeting and discussed 20 the 2425 premium increase as of now health insurance is slated to go up almost 15% approximately $4.5 million due to increasing costs coupled with the ailments of employees and dependents iMac will continue to try and negotiate renewal price with the insurance carrier the issue here is that the policy year hasn't finished yet so that's why negotiations are continuously ongoing current year projections from last year are approximately $33 million we are averaging 2% higher than what was budgeted claims are up approximately 21% fixed costs such as administrative and stop loss stop loss coverages are running as projected claim Spikes have been Statewide due to preventative care not taking place during the lockdowns pandemic lockdowns and now are catching up that is their belief here some of the increases driving the renewal increase some of the big numbers I will be going over is the impatient paid per member increase of approximately 96% total days of care 119% uh maternity days over 150 50% newborn days over 240% increase so congrats to all the parent uh to all the parents for having all the babies thus far this policy year it's absolutely wonderful these kids may have had the next person who cures cancer being born so congratulations to all the parents and the families uh of all the new births uh it comes at a Costa absolutely nothing is free preliminary budget review Administration in-depth review preliminary budget with the committee and administrate expressed the needs of the district and outlined how the new Revenue was allocated Administration also highlighted the increase in fixed costs that would be outlined during today's meeting for the entire board these costs are contractual or state manded obligations that must be fulfilled does anybody have any questions y yes commiss can um so I emailed Mr shado who gave me some information and and if you could share it with the board later just so they have it too for U The increased percentage in the utilization year-over-year um and if you look at this in the year 20 to 21 we had a utilization of 93.4% and the increase was 12 here we're lower we're at 92.2 I realized in the year isn't done yet but they're already at 13.2 so I feel like that's a high increase already um so I would definitely push back and see if we could get that lowered um I don't know how many does this go to this goes till June right July to June they run these numbers yeah we're not we're not done yet this is only year to date numbers correct so we'll get a final premium year we have they have to give us a final number 60 days prior for to implement the plan okay yes so I just keep an eye on this and if you could send that to to them so yeah um it's a good good idea to to just take a look at this and get an idea of where the numbers landed so you know about where we should be okay any other questions okay moving on I'm GNA give commissioner brunjak a break and ask commissioner Kenova to do facilities uh facilities met March 5th uh Mr Brun was president Mr siano myself Mr Paris Administration Dr Rober toi um Mr shahada Mr M lado uh guest attended were Mr oo and Mr Watkins meeting start time was 3:30 meeting end time it's not on here but I think it was like an hour um items of discussion referendum update epic gave an overview of what is taking place thus far in the referendum and what is taking place throughout the rest of the year wood Wilson Auditorium de demolition has commenced as of now the auditorium is set to be turned back over to the school in September so just in time for the start of school uh PS was at the waight room yesterday and cut the power so the electricians can in install the needed panels once completed PSG will be back to energize the panel following that Air Balance needs to take place and then could be turned off over to the board of ed for usage Transformers were for 13 were delivered still awaiting switch gears to be delivered in tiean connections package two air balancing is started the package should be completed by the spring in its entirety uh b& updates the administration gave the update of projects taking place throughout the district painting on our painting beautification update date School five was completed painting in the basement concrete floors and Fresh coat on the walls School two the following rooms received a Fresh coat of paint the nurses office three classrooms media center and hallway walls on the first and second floor School four is scheduled to begin this week on the second floor classrooms and beginning coordinating with the school principal stage curtain Replacements School 9 is scheduled for replacement this summer with a new flame proof curtains for their multi-purpose room uh burglar alarm system at the stadium we've ordered a new burglar fire alarm system for the waight room and restroom rooms parking lot potholes the potholes repair project has been projected to begin next week after the weather breaks school has been identified as are has been identified by our maintenance department cila a wooder Wilson and 16 signage for curbing your dog when slow down slowdown signs are being placed districtwide as the deterrent School 3 gutters were discussed maintenance is checking why they overflow capital reserve items Administration expressed the needs to use the capital reserve in the 2425 school year for the following items Stadium locker room locker room is outdated and due to the upgrade weight room and bathrooms in the stadium is best to complete the project with the locker room renovation stadium bleachers this was explored more than 5 years ago however due to the deterioration of bleach of the bleacher it's now leaking into the newly renovated bathrooms which will ultimately ruin it in time School 14 walkway between the trailers and buildings student and staff must walk through the elements to enter the building for the restroom and lunch gym installing a catwalker or something of that sort will allow students to get to not get wet for bit opening L3 CHS music Suite 229 big opening took place in um uh February 29th in the board of bed conference room the bids were as follows L3 was the lowest bidder at $420,500 the CHS music Suite lowest bidder was 1,734 1999 five use of facilities bright and Asylum last year the board rented this CHS parking lot out to brighten Asylum during the September to November the event was a massive success and administration did not receive any complaints and and would love to assist the community with allowing them to rent the parking lot again committee was in favor of allowing them to use it main Memorial Park Administration spoke with Debbie Oliver from the City recreation department and she was asking about main Memorial Park located behind the stadium the board owns a piece of of it and has been leasing it to the city since 84 the city currently does all the upkeep and maintenance of the field Debbie and the city are applying for Green Acres grants through the state and need the land owners permission to receive the Grant and to move forward seven short film shooting in the parking lot co- producers of the NYU Advanced thesis short film me and you are seeking permission to use school parking lot for a tie for a late night shoot the film features a 12 to 14-year-old main character in a simple driving scene with her mom the crew is a a small comprising of two actors and they plan to shoot from 6:00 p.m.

on the dot that can happen um let's take a f minute break and then we'll come back and close out okay all right see you guys e all right so while we're waiting for everyone to come back Joe would you like to give us uh an update uh from staff again apologies if there's background noise I think there's music playing we can't yeah you're you're totally good Perfect all right um so yeah just just a couple is things um so one just let folks know because I know we talked about a couple times but uh we have an approved contract to Begin work with um stantech on geothermal advisory Services um for contexts for people who weren't um or haven't heard about this before this is going to include work to help um us and some of our partners here in Ann Arbor um first by answering questions regarding like the installation of geothermal um and just kind of being on you know on demand to help answer those questions as they come up for both us our partners um in the permitting process as well as conduct a feasibility study on uh District geothermal here in Ann Arbor uh pending the results of that broader feasibility study which we'll again just be kind of looking at overall where could this be possible um they'll they'll go from there and do more in-depth feasibility studies on up to three locations that are deemed viable from that so exciting stuff as we're moving forward and looking at um geothermal here in an arbor um additionally just a general is as always call for solar eyes uh which for those not familiar is our community bulk by solar program um for residents here in an arbor as well as Wasau County uh we have a couple groups that are currently running and a couple that are getting ready to start here in the next um month or so so if you are anyone you know is interested in learning more about solar and coming uh together to bulk purchase solar realizing significant Financial savings um feel free to have them contact me at jng a2gov.org or go to a2gov.org solar uh to learn more and join a group um additionally I know this is uh near and dear to many here um but heard the home energy reading disclosure uh has officially gone live as of today um our uh our city of an arbor home energy score assessors have been performing home energy scores uh I started uh last week on some of those that were getting prepared um as well as um continuing throughout this week and from here on out ongoing uh in support of this ordinance so really exciting to see that come to fruition and exciting to see all of U all the results that come with it um additionally a couple updates on things to be looking out for um another one that I know we've talked about previously and have um discussed a couple different iterations uh the home energy advisor which again some people might have previously remembered as uh called the um you know energy cge but called the home energy adviser will be launching on April 1st of 2024 so just um you know less than a month again that'll be a program where um people within um can reach out and learn more about um their energy Journey getting an energy assessment and learning how they can help um get on their path to zero to help decarbonize their home helping out with um you know Finding contractors getting bids evaluating bids all that kind of stuff as they go throughout their Journey um and lastly just to kind of Mark on your calendar uh be bringing back for our our third annual time uh the home electri home electrification Expo will be taking place on um Friday August 2nd from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the farmers market um for those who haven't attended that in the past um basically it's a an opportunity for uh folks to come on out meet with contractors installers um across all different um aspects of the home electrification process to learn more get hands-on experience see what stuff looks like as well as just start um you know figuring out again how you can continue throughout your journey or get started on your journey and just get a better sense of how all that together so that's all for me fantastic Joe just one question on solar rise is there something like a a deadline or some kind of upcoming date that people should know about or should they just contact you or yep uh we we offer it on a rolling basis um so you know as like I said right now we have we have two scheduled that are coming up um so you know people can hop in there but um you know we're always um consistently adding new groups um as we go okay um so you know if if right now doesn't work for you or you know you you can always join in a group at a you know a later time doesn't mean or you know if you contact right now and be like I'm interested but then decide eh not right now you're still on the list you'll get notifications when new groups form um so always feel free to hop in at any point okay great all right so we're going to move to uh report from our working group if they do care to share there could also be no news would be fine I share Heart Mike you want to go ahead sure um so uh our uh work group on uh transitioning from gas buildings uh met in person um in early February uh let's see um our attendees were Larry Schmidt and Ken Garber um so it was a small crew just the four of us um but we had a nice conversation a lot of it centering around the city administrator's recommendations around uh incentives and um just kind of some feedback on that um potential ways to improve upon it um you know some questions folks had um and so in particular I think uh one of the next steps you know we were thinking is that maybe it would make it sense to have a conversation about that in this space at some point in the future um but didn't want to get ahead of the process um let's see there was some discussion about benchmarking as well um and you know where the the city stands on that um as kind of an opportunity to build upon as we think about you know electrifying or uh making requirements of buildings or anything of that nature um Vice chair harp uh any other thoughts stuff I'm missing stuff I got wrong no I think I mean I think that that about campur yeah the there was the question about the dashboard dashboard inv venturing of of of building and Commercial um uh energy consumption and also um I think it it served as sort of a first first cut to of also trying to identify a variety of of options that were available and and to try to start aligning them um and prioritizing them and having a sense of of what might be potentially put forward next also um as a as a draft say resolution for example so far that's where we're at though sorry yeah great that's that's great thanks for working on that um all right uh updates from the environmental commission commissioner msky can you share with us sure U maybe I'll address what was going to be the second Point first and that is the Environmental commission actually at the request of the two Council Liaisons asked uh were asked to weigh was asked to weigh in on the memo that was just um referenced the city administrator's um memo on beneficial electrification that was uh put out in January and that was considered in in the last meeting so I think it definitely would be appropriate for this commission to do so um as to what the timing is what we can probably what the best timing is we can probably get direction from our Council the aison I don't know if there's any um imminent action on that but the environmental uh commission was always already provided that memo and uh spent some time in the last meeting um reviewing that And discussing it um the other main issue that we covered in the last meeting was an update from staff on the status of the solid waste Resource Management plan this is a plan that the city puts out um covering five years um the last plan um was to replace a plan that expired at the end of 2017 um it wasn't approved until uh very early in 2020 and um it's running it ran until 20123 so that would 2018 to 2023 um and work has yet to begin on a new plan so we got an update on the status of all the actions basically there's a number of actions that have been implemented there's several that have yet to be worked on and implemented so staff's recommendation is to continue to work on those work on a new plan is unlikely to commence until next year um and the last process took almost two and a half years so it'll be interesting to see um how that goes forward um this is a recommendation to our Council the aison that they consider whether that's appropriate or not because we're starting to get um if you will snowballing delays and um since we know that uh circular economy and waste related issues have an impact on climate and energy issues um I have some concern that we're starting to see these delays but that was discussed those points were raised um so um at least now you know the the the council the aison for both both groups are aware of what the situation is and um if anybody wants more information on that you can check legistar or watch the video or contact me thank you great thanks for the okay we'll move to our update from Council council member breaks do you have anything to share tonight um I think the it was already referenced in public comment the the budget presentation um and I think that's just a big piece for for anybody interested um this is for folks just so you know this is the biannual um we have a biannual budget so this is the year where we typically don't make huge changes to the to the budget that would be next year and so um but there are a number of things underway um that we need to consider um so there's that um I appreciate um commissioner mki bringing up the um incentives uh memo I think that's something that I'll work with staff to have uh brought in the next meeting um there's definitely a desire to try to move um some recommendations forward um with a recogn recognition that they will not be perfect but we should be we can make uh we could we should improve on where we're at um and you know even if we're taking um smaller steps that's better than taking those steps so um I don't want we'll discuss it more maybe next month great sounds like we might have two resolutions to discuss next month okay so we uh are there any more comments on uh on these updates uh okay I not seen any so we'll move to our by the way that wouldn't be necessarily a resolution it's just a discussion of a memo um and give provide feedback to the aison about the memo so it's would be one just resolution from what we talked about with the seu and then discussion of the more of a direct feedback okay thanks John yep you're welcome great okay so this is our final comment a final opportunity for public comment and folks may speak for up to three minutes so if you're watching on CTN please call Triple 8 78899 or 877 85352 47 yes commiss Garcia um I was just curious about the resolution um supporting the advancement of the sustainable energy utility is that something that was actually going to be like presented presented to us tonight or just um I I didn't know if that was part of good point uh yeah so I was my plan was I guess kind of what you saw was to talk about the um the kind of broader context of what all goes into it and I think ultimately the resolution is is kind of simple u in terms of the resolve Clauses and it kind of follows directly from um the staff um memo recommendations so um that was my plan then we can kind of look at it in more detail I was hoping that folks would kind of review it on their own and and bring comments to the next meeting people keep switching around sorry I was looking at your face um yeah bring comments to the next meeting so that we could um kind of discuss it in more detail there has it been set uh published or sent to us I was just looking at the links on it's it's posted on legistar if you click the link it's under the text section it's not in attachment it's in the text okay thank you because I was just there trying to I was trying to get at it but to see it yeah that can get tricky sometimes okay if you don't mind I'll share my screen just so you can see how that works once I get to the correct place sorry two seconds um yeah and just as for in I know L star is not the simplest thing for uh anyone including myself um yeah so either when you come directly like from the agenda or you go on legistar and you look at this section or this this meeting um you know you can go and you can see the resolution here you click on the file um it's the the text is here um similarly if you're coming from the um the agenda itself again if you click on the um the link there the file it goes right to this text section where where it is placed so if you weren't able to find it apologies I know legar and all of its links are um again not the simplest um so no worries at all but that that's where you can find it yeah so it might default sorry just to chime in it might default to the history tab as opposed to the text that's what I had seen and I was not clicking on the text so sorry thank you very much great okay any other comments before we move the B comment oh okay yes I thought there might be one go ahead are we taking uh suggestions for the next agenda or what was uh oh yeah that's um happening after we do the after I'll wait till then yeah great all right so as I was saying uh please enter the meeting ID once you call the number uh the ID is 956 871-8787 this information is also displayed in the meeting agenda and the video feed and City staff will select callers that have raise their hand using the last three digits of your phone number to electronically raise your hand to speak please press star n on your phone and you will hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak and when doing so please move to a quiet area and mute any background sound so that we may hear you and also state your name and address before you begin your comments Joe do we have anyone on the line nope no calls at this time and I think we had enough time there that we are good to move forward okay fantastic all right so items for next agenda commissioner M you have something on your mind uh yes um I was hoping that um either in the next meeting or uh a meeting relatively soon we would be able to get a status update on the what's I guess called wheeler solar Park solar project or the landfill solar project um the city got um $5 million from the state Council appropriated $90,000 to relook at the situation it would be great if we could get just a brief update on that um we don't get need to get an update until the study is done but once the study is done it would be great to to hear um what what the status of that might be and the other thing it doesn't have to be AG gendi it could be something that addressed um tonight or in the next meeting um according to Bible we have 15 Commissioners um we've had 13 Commissioners for um well basically since the end of April last year and I brought this up before we have two vacancies and I'm a little surprised they haven't been filled yet that's you know almost 10 or 11 months now that uh those are have been known to be to be vacant and I was wondering what the intention is of the commission leadership and Council the aison that generally look at the applications and decide whether or not to forward uh nominations for those openings so you can address that now or in the next meeting that's fine yeah I think I have to get back with the group um I yeah I think that'll be the best way to do it and we can come with a more cohesive plan right any other ideas for items for the next agenda okay great all right well then if we have no more comments uh we'll move to adjournment so it's currently 7:30 p.m.

can I have a I'm calling this meeting to order and can I have a roll call please Madam Secretary sure uh Mr alre here Mr gagos here Mrs rup is here Mr swales here miss site stumbris here Dr Hall here president Brown here I ask that we stand to be led by the Pledge of Allegiance by board member Mr gyos followed by our mission statement by Dr Hall Eric Eric I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all in our mission statement is to empower each student to positively impact the world for a bright new future thank you both Dr Hall and Mr gigos all right I would like need a motion to open up I would like a motion to open up the public hearing on the closing of Moy Educational Center so moved moved by Jamie second second by Nelson roll call please secretary if there's no questions any questions Miss site sters I Mr swales I Mrs rup is and I Mr gigos I Mr alre I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion Carri do we have any public okay Jason's going to speak and I want to say this is the last of our of three public hearings on this issue correct president Brown okay um yes this is our third public hearing to address any uh any public comments uh desired to be made in regards to the closing of the mon Educational Center formerly uh currently known as MEC um and can do so either via in-person or written submission so um open up the time open up the floor for any public comment at this time sir my name is uh Pastor David Collins and um thank you guys for having this meeting tonight uh that closing did come as quite a surprise but I'm just hoping that that would be something that would uh replace it uh that would bring the kids some activities and uh we'd love to be a part of that uh here again I'm Pastor David Collins and we work with the children we uh fight clothing in security we in fact we U have partnered with you guys in your upcoming resource Fair uh for clothing for the children and those are type of things that we would love to see and help be a part of to keep some good things going in our community for our children thank you thank you Pastor Collins and I want to say didn't meet you before several months ago and I owe you something I owe you a call everything okay so thank you thank you really appreciate you chiming in on this issue thank you Pastor commin Miss Highline was anything submitted electronically thank you okay if there's no further comments public comments on this matter at hand I would like a motion to close public hearing on closing of Moy Educational Center so moved by Alan second second by secretary gr roll call please if there's no further questions Mr GEOS I Mr swales I miss site stumbris I Mr alre I miss rup is and I Dr Hall I president br I motion Carri I like a motion to open a public hearing on the school holiday waiver so moved by Alex second second by Jamie any questions or concerns all right go ahead Mrs ferkins yes good evening everyone um we will talk about the uh waiver to have uh the holiday for uh Lincoln's birthday I'm not sure if everyone is aware but for Illinois schools Lincoln's birthday is a public holiday and if we want to be in session on his birthday uh we are required to have a public hearing so I will share our school calendar that we've worked with um with both of our our memberships and administration um and then um take any comments for uh the public hearing so again um Illinois schools require that if we are going to be in session um on Lincoln's birthday uh that we receive a waver and so we work with our uh membership and each year um on an annual basis we'll decide if we will be in session or um off um for for uh his his birthday uh when we are in school on his birthday we do have to acknowledge uh that it is his birthday and have activities around it so the school calendar for the upcoming 2425 that we will be recommending next week for the board to approve will include um I want to uh first start off by thanking the committee members that serve this year there are many voices that go into making sure um that every uh entity receives what they need from ELC to Elementary to the Middle School to the high school uh and so each year we come together for uh one or this year several meetings to discuss what that should look like for our upcoming school year uh when we are out of construction we hope to have a two-year calendar uh but again we want to uh certainly thank all of the members for their input uh when we take into consideration again we look at that the high school is on semesters our other schools are on trimesters we have construction professional development days uh we will be putting back in since post pandemic our uh new higher orientation days will go three days for our staff um ELC will have a separate calendar uh our Middle School um in high school our our ninth graders start a couple of days before our 10th and 12th graders uh as well as our Ken gardeners come in a few days later uh we have Institute days uh we need to take into consideration to finish the semester for our high school students who may be transferring in or out that that is done uh before the winter break we have to take into consideration again um our my P program at the middle school in the days and hours of uh curriculum that must get in uh as well as our graduation dates for both our uh middle school and high school students and so we have our um regular schedule holidays that we um normally have which would be Labor Day indigenous people's day um the 4th of July Election Day this year is uh in uh school calendar um that we will have that day off uh Veterans Day Thanksgiving holiday um the winter break New Year's uh Martin Luther King's day and as you can see in the blue is Lincoln's Birthday so we will be in session is what we're asking and this traditionally has been what we've done as a district we will be in session on um February 12th uh but we will have uh I don't see that on here we will have a President's day off I believe yes February 17th we will have off for President's Day uh which is um not a Federal holiday but it is a day that we do ask um that we will have off we have palas day um and the Friday before uh our spring break and then we have uh Memorial Day uh we again take into the Fe feedback that we've received over the years that our parents ask that when we do school Improvement days that we consider having the days be consistent uh what has come from our staff is that uh we don't make it the same day every year so the students that are in specials let's say art um that have art or music on a Monday that every Monday that they're missing um and so we Chang that out every year uh and we use a combination of days again um the isby holiday uh requirement that we have is that uh we honor President Lincoln on his um birthday and that we had to post that we're asking to be in session um and have a waiver uh at the discretion of the calendar committee which we will decide on an annual basis and that we've uh handled all of our protocol in the newspaper and then notifying um both of our memberships uh we will do some additional work around this year's calendar um with communicating to our families and making sure that parents are aware if a student is um in a failing status uh we have an October records day and parent teacher conference this year which is again different than um we have been for the last several years our spring break is in March um and then um we've gone down to one parent teacher conference uh and uh have instituted another Institute day for professional development in January uh we are doing a back instead of doing a back to school night and curriculum night um we are now having um one night the first full week of school um for our families to come in and and meet and greet their teachers uh and then we have removed the spring uh conferences again for this year's proposed calendar uh we are asking to be in attendance on uh Lincoln's uh birthday and then we've published um kind of our notification dates of when we've let the public know about that any questions that we have so far the only one I have is is it what's the goal of eliminating Lincoln's birthday making day just another day off the end of the year or another uh professional development day for Lincoln's birthday so we've always attended as a district we've always attended on his day but the law requires that we come to the board and ask for that waiver so this is the first time that um you know you know better you do better so now we know and so now we're asking okay Clarity sa but there's not another day that we have to make up the the calendar committee has asked that we have President's Day next year February 17th 2025 off okay yes so you have February 25th off next year February 17th off we will take uh President's Day were you taken both no we're not taking Lincoln you taken before no we've always been a session on Lincoln's birthday we just never asked for permission so we're asking for permission yes ma'am Weir can you explain a little bit behind the removal of the spring conference yes so um and I can share at some uh point about the data um our uh conference days have gone down our numbers have gone down since uh inventions of like parents being able to read report cards on Skyward immediate attention um the communication that they've had with their their families that constant technology and um communication and to gain an Institute day for professional development um for staff um we've swapped one for um the other so that we can have um that time in um in session for professional development so how do how would that impact a student who is getting a new teacher that semester and if their parent parents want because they haven't had that opportunity in a fall conference and I would say for us it is about communication because we've used teachers are constantly now have our log and um Administration works with the the teachers to make sure that we're constantly in communication with our families um both for students who are doing well and also for um students who may be struggling okay well a couple of slides back you mentioned that ELC has its own calendar yes so um it's still the the same calendar but their events change because um they have half day sessions and they have by because of the grants they have to bring in and um have so many uh paring events so their calendar just differs a little bit it's the exact same dates same attendance dat same attendance dat days um but because of the half day schedules um some of their days are put in for uh paring events and collaboration with our families okay other questions going back to the state the state holiday so yes so Lincoln birthday is a state holiday correct so how how do we line up with other school districts by attending class on a state holiday what's all closed on that day is it State facilities what do we get and pick and choose from my understanding it is um it's only the public schools that are closed most schools are in session and we have historically as at least as long as I can remember um and I don't know Mrs brag or some other people may be able to help me if we've ever been out on Lincoln's holiday so we are probably one or few public schools to your knowledge that attend class on that day school is open most most do most do oh okay we've just never publicly asked for the waiver to be in session okay it's assumed that the other school districts did yes they do have they you'll see on their um school calendars as we look at other school calendars as we're creating ours it'll say waved and so what that means is that they've gone to their board and to the public and said um we've asked to be in session on that day and you can pick any holiday and do the same thing right if you're so true yeah we could um uh from um some of the other holidays we could come and ask for a waiver um but historically um the uh district has wanted to you know honor you know Veterans Day or MLK's day and not wave those holidays so we did not come to the board and ask for those waivers for those holidays is it an automatic thing once you apply for the waiver that you will get it yes so we never have to come back for Lincoln's birthday but if the committee wanted to come back and say we didn't want any of those other holidays some of them we do have to come and ask a waiver for so this is the one time show yes we never have to the committee will um as we meet as a committee will decide I mean I'm not saying that you know the following year we want to be out on Lincoln's birthday again that's a committee decision it's a year year on yes here on in okay okay all right thank you anybody any other further questions Mrs Highline did we get any questions from the public okay I think the biggest part of the confusion here was we're always in session on Lincoln's birthday so what are what are we asking for the waiver for now and again we want to make sure that that we're doing things correctly okay yeah no it's okay let go be nice yes so um when we go to publish when we go to publish on our isby calendar we would be declined if we didn't um ask for this in the public so thank you isby yeah and I I apologize we had a motion in a second and then you said any questions and Miss Perkins was like so excited to get up there that I that we never did the roll call I don't know if I could just put us all down as an ie or do I have we do the roll call right yeah I it was just it was just to to open the public hearing we did the the motion and the second and then he's had any questions and she was ready to rip and yeah I thought I could do this all over again first of all I saw I saw public comments first and I said oh she got up there before public comments so I missed that too as well but good cat just such exciting stuff yeah I I think I think for the record yeah for the record then you can do it all over again Mr Al hi Mr gyos hi Mr rupis and I Mr swales hi Miss s stus hi Dr Hall hi president Brown I motion Carri for the second time no all right good all right so that's it you can repeat yourself again all right well it's it's on the calend it's on the agenda again but I don't think I need to talk again okay all righty I need a motion to close public hearing on the school holiday so moved by Alex like it second by Dr Hall any questions if not roll call please Madam Secretary all right Mr gigos hi Miss rup is and I Mr swales hi Mr Al hi Miss site stum hi Dr Hall hi president Brown hi motion Carri we have any public comments in general anything Bron Cheryl I saw one I thought here all right Mary brags and and the topic is which I love congratul ations I love congratulations too good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board and administration and our public guests I wanted to take a moment my name is Mary brag president of the Creet mon Education Association and I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate our Special Olympics athletes who our team in the Special Olympics high school basketball tournament um made uh first place um gold medalists and they are state champions so kudos to them we also had uh two of our individuals um place in the skills basketball tournament um that same weekend so we want to congratulate our athletes and our coaches Michelle gardo Michelle calron and Tyler Gunther and then we also have our cre Moni Middle School band that has a first place designation at contest and will be going to state so we want to congratulate all of those musicians and uh Tyler Gunther under his direction for getting that accomplishment and qualifying for state and I can't tell you how many years that has been since that has occurred so very proud I know it's been 12 years for our Special Olympics basketball team to be State uh champions so kudos to all of our students and uh coaches on their hard work thank you thank you thank you Mary absolutely it's very commendable and Dr kogan I don't know I know we kind of gave a special moment maybe that was for a different reason for our high school state championship in track I know we kind of missed the opportunity or whatever I'm sorry where we're going to acknowledge them at the April board meeting okay good yeah April committee the whole we've got several we have a group of accomplishments for for that day yeah okay thank you I knew you was a one step ahead of me thank you can you hear me mam secretary I'm a little little Whispering okay don't sound like my loud voice let me move up a little bit testing testing thank you all right do we have any board updates and thank you again Mary for those comments I just wanted to oh go ahead um I was just going to say I attended the First Responders meeting this morning um and uh the main topic was that um as you all know the valve units are going to go live in the high school they're going to be installed on March 19th and 20th and they'll go into use on Monday the 25th the full week before spring break so um anyway so that's good news that I think it'll be good to have a week before spring break and then if we need to adjust any kind of you know procedure or protocol um they'll have the opportunity to do that um and then I asked Robin um or Dr Cara maybe you can at one of our April meetings give an update how it's working so okay yeah so um and then the other the only other thing that came out in the meeting this morning was um some plans and Dr kagin is maybe you can elaborate but the to use uh MEC as a training site do some some uh Public Safety Training there that would be with our First Responders so often times we used to do it in the dome right and the old high school since those facilities are no longer here um our First Responders would like a an opportunity before um you know the district releases that to uh do some training there so yeah they were looking to coordinate that with um any summer work we're we're using it right now for storage um while we're getting a lot of the construction and uh cleaning down in the rest of the district so um we'll work around that okay let make sure the training is not no no they were excited excited to be able to do something here in East will you know among kind of coordinate among all the first responder units instead of having to go over to Lincoln Way North MH so yeah we don't want anyway so that's great that they can do that so that's all I have maybe some guidelines um I was going to say we had this past weekend the jrtc ball it was really in um Mr Brown cut a rug but I I cut a rug yeah in my seat no it was really nice well put together um we were able to go last year as well um the LA the last couple years from what I've seen um pretty really good really nice yeah very impressed very impressed with those kids and Dr Kishi just said it's the difference with these kids with Tuxedos and Suits on they look like grown-ups right so old yeah so very very good I'm so proud of the junior RC program and the leadership and just fabulous job and there was there was that's was my first time I think a couple board members went last year was great MH we kind of shared shared the wealth with Bloom is that bloom High School yes Bloom high school yeah so it was the 20th year the 20th year wow I missed the last 19 for for their group as well really very good okay any other board updates uh Jamie and Alex I need to get with you guys we need to see what's needed for you guys to be on track to obtain your master board position okay so we don't want too much time going by before you take the next Le the necessary courses and whatever so I need I'll get with you guys offline to talk about that okay yeah so this this year is going by really fast but we want you guys to be on track to get your master position board membership uh board member position so Dr kogin Le could present you guys a plant somewhere down the road it's a beautiful thing to have I'm still waiting on mine it's been 16 years or 15 years or whatever okay so I might join you with a class at two okay that's all I have on you Dr kogan from administrative updates yes I've got several and I think some people have already shared some of the good ones I've got a couple left um at your desk uh I wanted to just highlight this mon brochure as you know mo is working on celebrating their 150 years this is going to be uh presented out into the community on May 11th but what I wanted you to notice is take a look at the artwork in here this is all done from our moon students AES so they submitted all their artwork and so has all been put together in this so I wanted to make sure that uh we highlighted this um for you to take a look at so that was kind of fun that they had that opportunity wow Prett nice uh the next thing on my uh list today is something I'm really excited to share this evening um with us today we have two of our high school seniors that are here uh with their families and they have a very special recognition very prestigious they are scholarship recipients of what we call the Golden Apple so let me tell you a little bit about what the golden apple is um these students participate in a rigorous interview process um for this scholarship the golden app Apple scholarship program in Illinois is a teacher preparation and teacher assistance program for high school seniors and freshman and sophomore Illinois college students who have the determination and drive to be effective teachers in Illinois so we're really excited about that we prepare um aspiring teachers for immediate and Lasting success in the most challenging teaching environments so the scholarships Scholars receive up to $23,000 total in financial assistance for college extensive classroom teaching experience academic social and emotional support job placement assistance but we already know that they're going to come back here so we're going to help them with that and mentoring from our award-winning teaching faculty so anyway I'd like uh to have Casey Berkeley stand she will be she will be attending the University of Illinois at Urbana champagne coming up this uh fall so keep standing and our other young man over here is Joshua malberg would you stand please he will be attending the Illinois State University in Normal Illinois and as we had said both of them have said that they have intentions on returning here and we definitely will have jobs for you when you get back you're hir you're hired already right now so we're really proud of you this is just an amazing thing that you've accomplished and we look forward to the next next four years to having you back here on this other side of the uh the street we'd like to take a couple pictures so um and then we'd also like the families to come up so we can grab a couple pictures um Miss Perkins is going to be the honor um where would you like them to stand up come up the I can tell you all about that you if I had three kids go there okay are we taking pictures with them that's probably a good idea we'll do some of themselves we'll have yeah we'll do a couple with just them and then we'll do the whole board wait what and we'll have these on our website and then don't go too far we get you in a minute everyone else y I'm on up yes br [Applause] yeah one thing I know about the ufi stay off Green Street you'll be okay okay going on to the next item discussion of 20245 Board of Education meeting dates yeah we want to table we're going to table 12 Alpha 2 for later date uh this is a calendar items uh every year we take a look at the calendar for the next year to look at the board dates um generally we try to look to make sure it's not around certain holidays and um and sometimes certain days uh are interfere with sometime so anyway that's what this calendar is for and Mr Brown I think you said you wanted to table it so we had some more time to take a look at that okay guys go with that just kind of hold on off on yeah from what it's worth I'd be open to it okay just having one meeting in July again so or not or not that's a whole another topic I'll be bringing to you guys okay yeah we have two well not to have a committee of the whole is last year we had this past summer we had one yes this past last year and we just came in to approve the bills and that worked okay MH so and there was a couple years we had none that worked better all right is it so next it business I guess we've got some heavy business items yeah you doc Mr okasinski is going to be taking this okay I'm sorry good evening again um let me get my agend first order of business under uh business is to discuss the approval of a resolution declaring the intent to sell to issue bonds an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $35 million uh these will be alternative revenue bonds to improved sites of and alter repair equipped school buildings and Facilities including renovations to Creek mon High School athletic facilities and creep Moni middle school with additional classrooms in addition a discussion take place regarding holding a Bina public hearing which stands for bond issue notification act that notice the notice of such intention will be published per law um for 30 days after uh set approval if the approval happens so um we'd be looking to have the binding hearing I believe April 23rd would be the uh board meeting to act on that if the resolution is approved on the 19th of March um there any questions regarding the resolution um we've heard a lot of about the um high school and the facilities can you talk a little bit more about the middle school classroom situations and what's going on there yeah we're looking to uh add additional classroom uh classrooms to the Middle School um that is to do address capacity issues that we currently are facing for the staff as in attached to the building or um we're going to be giving an update to the board a thorough update to the board finishing talking with the administra right now and so I think Mr Brown wanted us to a comprehensive okay everything included in that time and so we'll be able to get a little more specific okay and I will say also want the board to know that you know as best as we could we're going to try to do these projects in parallel we're a little bit ahead of the game because of the planning and the design of the football complex and all of that so there's still work in progress with the middle schools and just how many we need and how we're going to go about constructing these but we're but this money right here consists of both projects okay and then they're guaranteed to complete the middle school with this we that's what the same time I don't know about the same there's no guarantee in that no we we guarante we don't even have the study yet we guarantee to have this money for both projects okay and we're not going to let it fly off the radar the middle school I promise you that correct it's not going to fly off the radar no so it's just right now we just are hit of the game with the complex because of the design and all of that so the scope is even though MoneyWise proba is more but we just that much more hit of the game with making that happen correct I guess I guess I'm just asking for clarification like with this money once the study and everything is completed the the the the Middle School whatever it needs will and it is defied will be done and guaranteed along with whatever yeah it and like it may not happen before the complex okay but this money this money right here is allocated for both projects correct we are going to get those rooms with this money so when we go to sell the revenue bonds and all of that that I just kind of want to make sure that's that's clearly defined somewhere and I haven't really seen as much that way so I guess that's why I'm concerned guess public for the purpose of this money for the purpose of these bonds these revenue bonds you're going to state is to do these projects right correct that's why we uh we actually receed that that holds us account for that reason perfect and the clarity you're looking for is just to make sure that we actually doing something in the Middle School it's not about a time frame right correct that like as long as this money that we're doing is done for both like that's cool and we know just so you're aware before we can do anything like that it has to be spelled out yeah so meaning meaning it we couldn't that's the idea of when we did the first uh time we did that two three years ago okay we had to spell that out and make sure that if we're saying we're going to do something for when we did uh tala CSK ELC uh Bal moral and cre sorry I had to think back for a second um we had to spell that out to make sure that that actually so when you vote on that that's what that money is going to be allocated for we're not the finance department will not be able to take that money and really do anything else with it which which is good so that'll give you the idea when you're voting for that that that's what it's going to be for okay for sure like you said hopefully we have more of a concrete plan when Dr cogin is report out in a in a month or so a couple months the consultant was not available till May okay and that's fine I just wanted some clarification making sure it's all gonna I think I think the bigger issue because you're voting on it right yeah yeah yeah I think I think part of your issue though too is that Middle School's been an open issue for as long as I've been on the board let's make sure we resolve it once and for all absolutely okay so so that was a conversation I've had with Dr kagon the biggest thing here is when we did the middle school edition before and I'm going to say it publicly it was awful it was a nightmare between the school board and the construction company and the architect it was terrible so if we're going to do something there and I've made it very clear to to Dr kice that we're going to make sure it's done correctly so I want to make sure and it's good you know again you're voting on not this week but next week you're going to vote on that so definitely ask the questions that that concern you because that that's exact in the past we want to make sure that when we're voting on you know when you're voting that that's what it's there that's what it's for I just want to make sure that the students educational space needs will be met and we're making sure that the middle school has what it needs properly and based on that thing before like we can guarantee that happens out of this funds yeah all right cool we are so but Jason next week what we're going to approve is just our we're just declaring the intent to do correct we're not voting to issue the bonds we may not even do that until Jan December Jan we were thinking January or February of 2025 so this is just to kind of get the process rolling correct and this um this resolution and also the results of the biner hearing stay on record for three years so we don't have to revisit this again and uh Mrs SC zus just to reassure you that it is specifically spelled out in a resolution um along with the amount uh for the intention to address the classroom issue at the middle school no and I do understand it's just that we had seen so much of like and gotten packets before on the high the football and like the stadium and athletic complex which is great I just wanted to make sure we were going to make sure you'll see those as well yeah you're the best those would be forthcoming that that's all I was thank you you're welcome yeah so I'm not sure if you finish I I did want to comment on one of the items here when we when we go to and I don't know how far we are with creating this pickle ball courts the pickle ball I just heard there's a lot of nuisance with these courts and we got to be strategic where these courts are being placed right because of the noise uh president Brown I think you jump into point two um I thought you was on point point four so no I was really just still waiting for any more questions on point one but I'll be glad to address no go ahead go ahead don't let me stop you but that's you know speak on that okay oh no I was just wondering if there's any other further questions regarding the resolution with the intent to sell the bonds okay thank you so that'll be on a uh regular board meeting for next week right yes sir all righty item number two under business discussion discussion to accept and approve a letter of intent to award the project of creep Moni High School renovations to burn and Jones Construction to include a new multiports stadium new baseball and softball fields a practice field renovate tennis courts create pickle ball courts and new asphalt to all existing asfa at the high school in the parking lots this was part of the short-term facility plan presented by Mr serma on February 13th and uh it's also part of old business that was res revised uh for the February 20th meeting um any questions regarding so what is a letter of intent do the letter of intent locks in our prices um at a maximum of 7% increase and then it also allows them to uh begin the design phase and start working on the project um now because we need to do that to meet our deadline of constructing the football stadium so do we do we approv money to pay them for the design phase at this point or does that come later no that would be the letter of intent there's a amount for Burns and Jones the design fee is I think roughly 3% yeah 300 and some thousand L yeah it's in the letter of intent okay and after we pay that we do then own the bloom prints and the design in the event that we don't you know decide to move forward with the project but this allows them to begin the process kind of secure the the the job start scheduling all the all the necessary uh contractors and subcontractors they need to do and uh yeah just helps us out with our time frame to meet our goal okay and when we come to the point of the general contractor I I I think we need some verbiage to state that we will seek local contractors best we could so if you can talk with with Ken or the powers to be behind Clos doors and say you know we need to put some verbage in there we did that to previous contracts you know to the general contractor to try to hire locals best they could I don't want to put a number but I think we owe that to the community absolutely and I completely agreement with you regarding that okay okay now the pickle ball yes sir okay do you have are you taking that into consideration you have people that live close here and again never played the game I heard it's very popular but I've seen on the news about how the sturing neck game can be in certain communities in proximity to people homes um the existing existing uh tennis courts will uh not all of them but um I believe there's two sets of tennis courts one of those sets will be dedicated for pickle ball so that's the location that it's at at the high school I would say do some type of analysis on that though what what what's the issue I'm just noise but it's a lot of people like older people PL making like I don't know like I I mean I'm just saying no it's no I'm saying that's a popular game yeah and playing I don't know if you're going to be lights people going to be playing at at night you have neighbors here whatever I'm just saying buyers beware people it's been all on the news about the noise and noise and more than one session on the news okay I don't know anything about the game but just the noise it's a popular game everybody likes to play it and people it all I think it'll all Dem matter on where they're located that's my because if they're if they're on Sangamon where the old tennis courts were yeah people are going to hear it no but if they're if they're in the existing location where they're at if I had to guess that's 700 to 1,000 ft away so but you're right if it's on Sangamon it might we ow that to you know if it's to you know what if I was I I will show some empathy just saying hey let's consider that hey we're going to place these is it going to affect do some analysis with that I don't well the the location that we have identified is the one Mr swales stated it's it's behind the high school so it's well away from any residential area okay but still you know factor that in in your study just Factor it in sir shouldn't take nothing you know how is it how will it impact noise how many DBS or whatever you know decibel sounds I mean even with come with Transformers we have certain sounds we could put out with the Illinois Commerce Commission if we exceed that we we we violate the noise level from that point so uh homeowners taxpayers could probably if it's a noise level that we exceed they can probably go to some government entity and say hey they're violating the noise level just go check it out okay absolutely I'm not trying to solve anything now but that's just something I ask you to uh check out for yeah we'll definitely look into it okay and I never played it but I will be looking to play this okay and uh so this says here the uh new asphalt to all existing asphalt uh that's talking about the parking lot correct yeah yeah any piece of asphalt entire parking lot of the high school the uh area in which the food truck are currently located for the old you know the current football stadium where the concession stand used to be in addition it also includes the parking lot uh on Sangamon the old existing parking lot there so okay the goal is to make that that uh you know the sports facility a very nice it's worded facility it's worded weird it's worded weird but that that's like uh it's going to be brand new right we're not doing like patchwor no no no I believe Patchwork is what was done I think what he's trying to say is it just should have been we're replacing all the assall it's just weirded it's worded wrong right no problem it's weird right well as Miss Perkins said now that I know better I'll do better Mr gyo so I'll be glad to take care of that for you in the future okay anything else no any other questions regarding item number two just say again and uh go ahead P up number three I'm sorry okay uh item number three under the business discussion discussion to accept and approve a letter of intent to award the project of the Creet Monon High School athletic building to Bear construction that would be the concession stand to coincide with the football field and the baseball field and the softball field so um yeah to be U north of the football field per the plans so this bur Burns and Jones Construction in Bear construction are they in Partnership no these are two different companies correct and we did not have to bid out Burns and Joan construction through some co-op some entity that K was able to go through they pretty much did the bidding so is that the same with bear construction did we have to bid that out or no no it's uh similar as Burns and Jones in fact both companies are members of the tip Cooperative got it a tips I'm sorry tips Cooperative okay I don't know exactly what tips stands for but I can get back to you on that also if you like I I'll save that for you for the next time okay okay okay all right so that's that's answer my question any questions guys I just do we know has burn Jones and bear construction have they worked together on projects before I don't think so no know don't not necessary uh I think it'd be a great experience to be honest with you um kind of similar what I'm going through right now with RL Soho working on elementaries and then CCC at the additions you know it will take some collaboration between the two companies because it's very close in proximity but right I'm faithful and I'm fully confident that they'll be able to work together it's been nothing but a good experience from the beginning working with both of them in terms of getting documents and plans designs meeting deadlines and things along those lines okay okay and I just reiterate you know if you can share that with the construction companies to seek local contractors if all possible absolutely okay absolutely any further questions thank you Jason if no other questions thank you Board of Education thank you doc thanks Jason Dr melan chenko will be presenting our um retention attraction and retention retention PL so but first I have a surprise for you yes and I want to share this with you uh we are about to debut the new cm2 oneu teacher recruitment video this is the greatest School District that I've ever been in I just feel like I belong here I really feel that in this District we're making an [Music] impact the way I would describe cre is very diverse you have people of all different walks of life all different talents all different FOC cabs all different personalities all in one big Melting Pot and everything kind of finds this way of working together in tandem they think of it as like the three C's in the D so culture climate and community and then diversity all of that together is here and if you want to be it a district that makes it a priority this is where you need to be it's about the key it's learning and when they leave our classrooms preparing them for everyday life to be successful as a teacher you want your vice principal your principal you want your division leader to support you and give you the things that you need to succeed and that's what I feel here I have a really heavy hand in the curriculum and if there's something that I want to change or alter then you it is a team decision as long as I'm teaching the materials that we've decided are going to be the curriculum I can teach them any way that I need to in order for it to work for me and my students we have things like Flex Friday where the teacher will pull you out of your specials class just to give you some extra time to review over things or to make stuff up I feel like it makes me really comfortable talking to them because it gets the teacher to know more about you and what you're interested in so it can make learning easier for you [Music] the kids here are very conscious about their education the curricula is prodigious there's just so many courses offered I never been in a school where the technology was so Advanced this is a great District especially for beginning teachers because you have some autonomy here and you are able able to really figure out who you are as a teacher a teacher that comes to our district will be thoroughly supported in every way they will not be left behind you have to look at the name it's cm21 you and that you for Unity really means something I feel like a part of the family not just a teacher you're appreciate it I love what I do come to the cm21 you I think You' like it I think you would [Music] all right I would just probably do an edit of including board members they tried to add me but I cost too much oh we couldn't meet your uh Green Room demands you know well we got to let Alex Alex uh what do you think uh I saw my kid in there so yeah yeah so we you know we made sure all the kids were able to be in our video same thing with the teachers and um you know it turned out really well um you know it most of the footage is at the high school and the middle school but we had the elementaries represented by Dr Canon some of the pictures in there um so the the videographers the company that we utilize for this only had so much time probably changed the date the year up there the fiscal year or school year maybe cuz that's like now right do you want to oh this is next this is the presentation I'm about to go into oh I'm missing something sorry Mr Runner is very he's he's like Chop Chop here all right so yeah so uh what we'll do with that video we'll display it on the website all of our job postings we've already been utilizing it at job fairs to show to perspective candidates um so we're in the thick of it we've got um we hope to have a couple more candidates for the Personnel report for new hires for next school year and we've got a bunch of offers and things happening right now to get all of our vacancies filled up for next year so kind of going into what do we do for folks that are are here already and with um teacher retention so I wanted to share this graph this is our retention rate of our district versus the state the state being in the red line and then our district is in the blue line so as you can see we're trending a little bit below the state average in teacher retention but what we can see is our rate has improved in the last five years and last year we were just under a 2% difference between the state um the state does have a consistently higher average and a less than 90% rate in HR is typically a good measure of a good retention rate is about 90% so we're close we were at 88.5 last year with the state being at 90.2 so we're hoping to continue to close that Gap uh moving forward so this is some information that was shared with me about what we've heard from staff in the past um regarding some concerns that might have led to people leaving so we've got the last kind of three years of information there and things that we've done to address some of those uh situations with 2122 we started transitioning again back from uh remote learning back into full-time learning so the concerns might not have been as great then they kind of picked up in 2223 and especially then what we've added in in 2223 going into this school year um and then in this current school year we've added the diversions program and the Family Outreach specialist so what we've heard this year again is issues concerning around teacher workload um some health insurance cons concerns around premiums and coverage and then pay in some instances mainly being at the high school so so some of the things that we're doing to combat some of these things are around the teacher workload we've through the teacher vacancy Grant have provided interested teachers that want to take on uh elll endorsement or bilingual endorsements we've provided the opportunity uh through Governor State University for those teachers to go take the coursework to get those endorsements to better support those the students that are in our elll programs and also the classroom teachers um so we're using teacher vacancy Grant funds to do that as well as books and testing fees that the state requires people to do for those endorsements we launched this year a new employee assistance program perspectives it's available 247 365 live online app text um they have counselors we've utilized counselors on site numerous times this year with uh different crises um from our uh High School situation that we had earlier this school year with our false alarm um to staff members unexpectedly passing away we've had support here on site from perspectives um they provide telea Health they also provide inperson options they also provide followup if they if they're expertise if someone needs the expertise beyond what they can provide they will put people in contact with uh additional providers um their resources are vast it's not just around mental health it could be around I need some I need to figure out how do I set up a will there's uh resources there financial assistance healthy eating all all kinds of good stuff is within the employee assistance program we also launched uh biometric Health screenings this year um so people can get to know their numbers and share them with their doctors um we actually through this experience had one person that was contacted by a nurse because of their numbers who then went for follow-up testing and found out that they did have some pretty serious medical stuff going on unbeknownst to them and that was caught because the person participated in our biometric health screening so we had 92 uh 92 employees participate um this fall um we hope to increase that number through our work with the insurance committee and future with the uh with our new broker we've been really aggressive in recruiting guest teachers so again to reduce that teacher workload of being pulled away from their plan time where they're really working to plan lessons or analyze data for their students so we've increased our guest teacher pool by 30% we've increased our Cadre teachers by 70% and our guest teacher assistants by 25% we've created the new SWAT teams for the office of teaching and learning and special education to again relieve classroom teachers to have the opportunity to meet and discuss plans discuss data and figure out ways to better service our students and then last if you recall last month we approved our new insurance broker Gallagher um we we are we met with them about two weeks ago to kind of get our ball rolling on getting underwriting going um they're in a thick of underwriting for our new premiums they're looking to develop uh premiums around our current plans and then we offer many solutions to either increase benefits or reduce cost to our employees so we're excited to work with them just because also they have those all of those um supplemental service you know the Identity Theft Protection the uh rebate through the wellness program and all of that good work that we're looking to hit the ground running with them very soon this year also we launched uh employee climate Employee Engagement surveys through Satchel pulse so uh the surveys are given to all of our staff about six weeks apart um where they're it's not the same question it's the first survey was a little longer than a six weeks after that it's a condensed version it really is just trying to get a feel for uh what's happening in everybody's building all of our principles have been trained on how to pull their reports and they're actively responding to some of the concerns that are coming up um you'll also I'll go into a couple other things that we're seeing on a more District level um and how we're responding to that and this is one of them is recognition on a global level we're seeing our employees would like to have more opportunities to be recognized for the hard work that they're doing so we're in the process of launching an employee recognition platform through nectar um what nectar is is instant non-spot recognition there's also Awards and challenges that go along with that but the the real uh core of what nectar will do is all of our managers administrators all of our staff are assern assigned a certain number of points per month and as we're acknowledging each other for the work that we do we issue hey uh great job on your lesson today the kids were really engaged and we offer a certain number of points those points can then be cashed in for a number of things swag uh with our district logo on it uh gift cards they could be taken out for um you know if somebody's little low on funds and is they can take it out as cash and help pay you know day-to-day things they can also give their points to somebody say you know I really want to make sure I acknowledge this person so that's something that we're looking to get going by next month uh we're just building out all of our different rewards and challenges and getting our staff uploaded in there you can also use your points to buy things directly from Amazon too which is which is pretty cool so you don't have to go through and figure out how you're going to do that and then we've also built a partnership this year with the cre Park District um in January we started uh offering yoga and taichi classes for our staff for them to take advantage of of those at the in park district rate for anyone that was interested kind of moving forward uh one thing that my team is looking at is building a more comprehensive Wellness Plan for the district um especially with the opportunities that we have with our our new broker we're going to be looking at putting together a wellness team and wellness Warriors at each building to kind of help Champion um Wellness at each building um we're hoping that it's going to increase participation in several of our Wellness efforts like the the park district offerings like the biometric screenings and then help build some consistency across the district in terms of what we're doing for everybody as Wellness is concerned um and then again with our new broker we do have rebate opportunities depending on how things shake out with our Wellness efforts too so that would be a nice win for us to kind of get some money back from our our insurance premiums too that's takes me to the end any questions about anything yeah so for the uh employee uh like recognition program and stuff like that yeah um it's not [Applause] adding uh stuff that the teacher has to to it it no we're not adding like hey you have to give out your points you have to go find somebody and recognize somebody no it's going to be completely up to any any employee that if you don't have if you you know you're just going through dayto day and everything's copae great but if somebody really goes and steps out above and beyond and you want to recognize them then it's you know log into nectar you could do it through the website you there's also an app that's available so it's super quick and then give them some recognition through there uh so not only teachers uh but like admin admin would be uh involved with that too yes absolutely okay yeah um because just what I didn't want to do is is add more stuff that takes them away from teaching you know right no no it's one of those things and it doesn't even have to be on the spot so if it's at the end of the day and you're you know somebody's reflecting on their day like man you know somebody really helped me you know earlier this morning and I want to make sure I give them the recognition they have the opportunity to go back and do that okay y Eric going back to that the graph you had the slide I just yeah so I I guess I'm surprised even on a state average basis that you know the teacher shortage has exacerbated over time MH but yet the retention is going up I would think there would be more opportunities given teacher shortage for people to hop to a you know a different it certainly School District certainly is um a couple of things that I think could have contributed to why we don't see that is certainly covid people didn't want to jump ship um and also with some of the ten tenure Law changes how people could have been granted accelerated tenure or tenure portability people might have you know just not wanted to jeopardize or or they might have gotten year early and have said okay I'm this is where I'm going to be okay I think I saw in the news this morning that there's is it in front of the legislature to offer um student teachers to get paid yes that's already in in law that we we can offer student teachers to be paid yes okay that's great y any other questions I like the recognition portion I really do because it's been proven you know people get recognized they feel better about themselves they do better jobs and that can even just kind of go along with just I know we're not talking about the students but just the fact that I read that students grades have substantially turned around just for the mere fact that they were recognized and they were given Awards and things of that nature so I think that's a that's really a plus just the recognition and the awards and things of that nature so agreed agreed and with you know locally it's nobody is doing something like the platform that we're about to embark on so we'll be Pioneers yes good job good job okay thank you thanks sir all right Doc is your last one here teaching and learning yeah anything for teaching learn any additional stuff for the calendar 2024 2025 good with that good do we have uh do we have the uh summary of like summer school um do we is that available yet uh today the summer school positions were posted so they did go out um this afternoon for positions from our coordinator to teachers to um tutors and teacher assistant so that was posted today so we know what the calendar looks like the dates and stuff like that for summer school yes that that is that's in the the posting for our staff we have not reached out to to our families yet um but we're in the the process of building what that capacity looks like okay cuz I I I I remember looking at other schools in the in the area and they uh have their uh summer school and actually next year's calendar like already set and waiting uh to to yes so normally um we would publish our uh school calendar usually it's published in February but we made quite a few changes and it took a couple of extra meetings this year so we're publishing in March um but we've been working with our local communities in terms of like Creek Park um District to make sure that they had those dates as they publish their summer dates um and then summer school is usually published by us in April um and so we've started um publishing um in March yeah because April's it's it's pretty late to yes so we we've pushed it back a little bit and started in March and so perhaps um you know we have to again look at our funding sources of you know how we're going to fun our Esser funds are drying up and so um you know we had to do some Blended funds and find a way to to make sure that we're able to offer at least at minimum what we've been able to do in the past okay other calendar questions okay thank you thank you thank youc back going to all right do we have any old business if not do we have any new business hearing none we do have a reason to go into close session and that is for the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees can I have a motion to go and close session for those reasons given so moved move by Nelson second I'll second second by Jamie roll call please okay Mr swales I miss sters I Mr Al I Mr gigos I miss rup is and I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry and we will be in close session for about 30 minutes and we will not be taking any further action after that so thank you public for joining us that conclude our meeting for today other than closed session thank you have a good day

so I just wanted to double check that that was correct well the group the group that we picked was high KN but then that's broken down into three separate subcategories yeah it oh okay so I thought the high needs was like the overall category and then there were three subcategories underneath it yeah yeah it that is okay because I think the three subcategories said that they were all around 20% absenteeism and then like the summary at the end for the high needs it said it was like 30% or something so I just I wasn't sure if I misread the sentence or if it needs to be updated what page Lisa um page two yeah I know it's on the second oh are you talking about the the paragraph about the high needs at the end yeah High needs um it's specifically that sentence that says the overall percentage of chronic absenteeism that one because I think that's what the entire it is for the whole instead of breaking it down into separate categories yeah I can take a look at it again categories in high needs other than the three that are broken out no so the high needs is like an overarching for the you know English Learners students with disabilities and then the umom right so all of those were like 20% and then in that high need section it said 30% so like like an average of 20% you know would be 20% so every child every child fits into one of these categories there's not like an other bucket that's not listed here well there's an all students but then there's High needs and then under high needs there's three categories but under high needs are there students that don't fall into one of these three English Learners students with disabilities or low income that would account for the that would account for the additional percentage because I'm guessing you pulled this number off desie yes I did yeah and I don't have the numbers in front of me but sometimes um like that high needs because some students fall into both categories and so sometimes that changes the percentages without having those numbers right in front of you that might be an explanation of why those averages aren't compenent yeah that's true you can fall under one yeah and that changes sort of like the proportion right I'm wondering if that's a possibility yeah you're right because I did get to get this data right yeah yeah just to add because a student could be an English language learner so it's like additive so it's like additive yeah it's weighted okay it could be it could be waited okay well that would explain it I'm projecting a Poss right because they tying these out to desie I think that's fine my second possibility is the sentence says here with a rate of 31.2% chronically absent more than 10% or more so within each other categories that's a subcategory of the categories does that sense of that of that 20% 31.2% of that percentage of that group maybe had 10% yeah it's just not clear way right there it's not it's not in general I know we have this here I read it all I understand some not all of it we just get the elevator pitch for this because it is it looks like it is costing about $29,000 sure so I can explain so basically they um desie reaches out to us and says you know we'd like you to write this report every three years and they provide us with data and they asked you to take a look at it and figure out which group is is most in needed support and so we had to pick the highs because when we compare the data to the all students and for the reasons I listed that's where we saw um some differences in numbers with you know the absen and then they provide with a whole list of um evidence-based programs and they please pick three or four of these that would fit to what you're doing in your District to help make improvements with these numbers over the next three years and so we picked three of them that we felt were tied into what we we're working on um so one of them had to do with you know um increased opportunities for planning time another one had to do with increasing and improving professional development and then the other one was about adding Pathways for students so that allowed me to talk about what we're doing with fortive graduate and our new internship program and the job CHR we talked about um you know the fact that John and I are sharing this role so that's helped us develop more opportunities for professional development of our staff we talked about how look looking at that study for the half days um to see if that would be helpful for us and we've also um talked about um the scheduling committee that we have at Tonto where we're looking to incorporate more tier two um interventions and also um common planning time the funds that they actually and then the state does they give you a template and they ask you to write it in this manner and in this order and they ask for those figures so that was an estimate of what we we generally spend have spent over the last two years already and so that's just a projection of what will continue to spend on this okay so that's just the breakdown in our current budget it's not a request for additional F no it's already in there John did you want to add to that at all no okay I just want to make sure okay because John Sally and John worked on this together so they all levels all right anything else on that before we vote okay so Sally we need to approve this report correct yeah I have to have it approved before I um sub okay so can I please have a motion to approve the student opportunities act plan as written Mar and Julie any discussion all in favor any abstain all right I'm an i as well thank you that passes all right so um let's do the uh Tahanto Middle School and High School course of study next so last time we had that was a first read um does anyone have any questions about those classes I have one question it's question about electives um at the Middle High School how often do they change just seems like it's the same and if they don't why um they they change based on um people's certification and com you know you know their knowledge base that would be important um you don't want people teaching collectives that they don't necessarily have you know content that um and it really has been on you know kind of scheduling and you know who's available to teach certain electives so there's availability and that um and planning time so when you teach a new course I know that I've taught a lot of new courses and the planning time is pretty extensive so I think that so combination of all of those and resources um so four things so um you know content knowledge planning time scheduling um and you know then Financial Resources if you're if you have a new elected depending on what that is it may require different resources or you know additional resources and so we can't necessarily say hey even if somebody was really excited about teaching something different the first question is like would you mean and can do we have the budget for that so so all of that kind of goes into the this thank you okay anyone else I had a question about um the the new financial literacy requirements does a course here listed that it it satisfies that need it's Human Geography how just from the description here it wasn't clear how that right so when you go into the fin financial literacy standards um and you can and so the Human Geography talks about like gross national product right you know for you know of different countries and so it it looks at kind of the economics there's portions of the curriculum that look at the economics of where people live and so it satisfies that portion of it so not not every course will satisfy all portions of it but it does satisfy that portion looking at kind of the economics of human geography then the only there's red and yellow highlight throughout the document what is this the final document or what are those that that was um so I was I had um been you know told that that you know to identify what would be changing so the red things are going to be taken out and the yellow items are the things that were changing like some there might have been some wording or some clarification so that was and then once it's approved so it would be easier for you to all look at so you would see what was being taken out or you would see what was changing and then once it would was approved then all the highlighted would be you know taken out so the red is being taken out and the yellow is being so on page 12 where it talks about the courses at Danto are being divided into you're removing four levels and you're adding three level removing the word four and adding the word three which means they're divided into three levels but then it goes on to explain four different levels yeah page 12 of the high school so all like so St all standard curriculum um is identified is um in the three different levels advanced placement honors or College Prep um The Life School the life skills is um not um part of the general education curriculum so that was counted as four before and now you're only counting it as three um yes and was youology limited just number of teachers or the um so the ecology you wild yourself that was going to be a high school elective taught by a middle school teacher and in the teacher that was teaching it their team didn't have enough electives for the Middle School themselves actual students so that we just couldn't support it with that do you have a lot of teachers that cross over and teach middle and high school um we have three teachers currently that are well three content teachers um but all of our um all the elective teachers teach both interesting okay okay any other questions on that program of study who who is this for are we going to be sending it out to families and I believe they send it out that's how they choose their classes right Julie time or review it every single year no that's this that's the um this the course this is the course of study so um it will be posted on the website and so that the students can review okay so when the kids pick their classes they have a document to go to with their parents or caregivers that explains what their requirements are and what the class description is so they know what they're selecting yeah okay and what's required too for graduation so you can start tracking from freshman year yeah there were just some typos in there also so I don't know I mean how we want it to moving forward it would be super helpful if you could email those ahead of time so they can fix them before the meeting and then we don't have to hold off a vote for well that's what I'm wondering so when we're reviewing these I mean can I make suggested edits in the document or I don't know how it's sent I don't have access to the school it's actually PD I wouldn't do that no you can't you have to send an email with a list of the things you found Ian there's a lot it's not a Google form it's a PDF and a and a word form yeah yeah so unless you you could always you could always download a copy and then kind of highlight the parts too and send it then yeah SC it and then yeah send it back and just we'll send it through Carol and she can have whoever she wants Julie and I are very impressed by your editing prowess really you're good like net it's awesome so why don't we do this if they're just typos why don't we approve the document as written and then Lisa can uh with the update to fix the typos and then you can just email them to um so we don't have to go through every typo in the yeah guys think that's okay we I mean we even make a motion to approve them with typo yeah that's what I said yeah yeah yeah yeah and then she can send the typos to Lisa and Lisa can just update it before she posts on the website does that work for everybody yes okay so could all right was there any other discussion besides the typos or any other things people want okay all right thank you that's great so um could I please have a motion to approve the Danto Middle School and High School course of study with as currently written under the impression that Mrs squero will update the document for any typos before it's posted onto the website so moved thank you laori and Julie any more discussion on that all in favor I I'm all right any opposed no all right I'm an i as well that motion passes all right last but not least the calendar I might have been distracted by a cookie did you do the consent yeah thank you for reminding me though did sorry Nicole did I do the consent agenda no you did oh that's Cindy and her cookies no we're gonna be out of here in five minutes we're just gonna bang out this calendar both all right the calendar so um Carol did you want to say anything on this topic we had this as a first read last time I I want everyone to say how they feel about the calendar we had it as a first read last time uh the gist of it for anyone that wasn't you know paying full attention last time is this year we've added or Carol has added in she's worked with the union and they've they want to do a bunch of um PD days as half days so we've added half they want some continuous PD throughout the year so we have half days and the issue that I think some of the members on the committee have heard is from parents is uh people are wondering about child care for these half days and I think Jess to your point that was the communication from uh Adam Wilbur was uh requesting um information on if Child Care would be provided on these half days 10 half days there's 10 half days on this on the proposed calendar did you want more about do you want to speak to ad yeah sure I mean the long short of his email was some screenshots some Facebook conversation that the the proposed calendar had 10 and a half days which is challenging for parents because half days generally aren't working half days um so you generally have to take the whole day off um and so it's concerned for people that work um to find child care so um he was saying that he thought that child care should be included in this um was voting is that y yeah yeah no for sure yeah no I I understand that I do understand it yes Carol go ahead you can speak to that I do want to just open the discussion up by just saying saying a few things about this calendar you know when we came on board um it was always expressed to me to try to make changes for the betterment of our our school district so we are trying new things I spoke about that last our last meeting about the celebration of learning and we're going to see how that works this is something that I don't think has been entertained in my time to try to do these half days but as we try to show to you last last time we were here there are a number of districts that are really strong exemplary districts who do do this approach as a matter of practice and as and have been doing this for many years it's just ingrained in the culture I feel like this year we're always trying to make changes and changes really hard to do and I and I respect that but I I feel like if we don't when I don't even make an effort then then shame on us um I I do think that the admin team has been working diligently and looking at this calendar I think that it was supported by the teachers not because it gives us anything special or anything to get away with the day we're trying to look at professional development over a longer extended period of time so it's more meaningful so that groups teams and departments and vertical teaming can occur um and it build on itself in ways that we can't do when we have full days not saying that those aren't valuable but this is this is Meaningful to making the kind of changes that that the committee has asked us to try to make in terms of student achievement and just looking at those pockets of students in need we can't get to that in a consistent and meaningful and and committed way when we're having a PD in in September and then another one in November and then another want you know it it doesn't happen that way um we're looking again like I said for something different something to improve that's really totally the purest reason we're doing this I will say yes I think it is going to be a hardship for for some parents as as Jessica brought up and emails you've gotten or feelings you might have about this but I would say that I look at this is we're in partnership with parents I don't want this to be an adversarial issue I want this to I ask the parents step back and say you know all right we're going to work together to see if this is going to work to see if we are making improvements do we have to keep it year after year after this absolutely not if we're finding this is ineffective and I think that speaks to what we have to provide to the school committee then then we can make changes to this but we don't know until we try and so I guess I would ask those parents you know we're trying to put some things in place um to make make it easier on families who may be working um we would run we still will have our after school after school like we usually do I don't know if you want me to mention we do have some offers here to do a buffer in between there and that's only beginning with this possibility and it's only March and we're going you know until next year to plan this out um and to ask groups to plan this out more thoroughly I I guess that's you know I know it's hard on the families my primary responsibility and that of my administrators and my teachers as our children um and if we can do this well and give our children a better chance to learn that that's surely what I'm looking to do with this opportunity so um I'll leave that open any other questions yeah cars I have several questions one about your measurement uh tracks but like J said like like a lot of parents said I don't know if people understand just how interruptive this schedule is there isn't a period of time here in the schedule except for the beginning of September all the way until May where there is more than two weeks back toback of actual full weeks of school every other day every other week There's a half day holiday an early release on a Friday before a vacation starts you've got holidays in here that aren't even holidays the day after Thanksgiving is not a holiday I know it's traditionally no school but surely there's some sort of Middle Ground on the number of half days nobody's discounting the idea that teachers need professional development everybody knows teachers need professional development they want it but there's got to be some Middle Ground here there's no consistency here every other week is a different schedule and you know maybe most kids in our district most parents will be able to figure it out but we just talked about high needs kids where 30% of the district is loow income or economically challenged kids what does that mean I I meant to ask you how do you define that my guess is you probably would find that those folks are going to be the hardest hit with having to take time off from work missing shifts if they're paid hourly not salary I mean that's a hardship on them and then you know talking about an after school program I think you absolutely have to have an after school program for this no matter what you do how you run it but I don't think parents should be charged for that I think it needs to be part of just what the school does but even then having an after school program for the period of the early release through the end of the regular school day you still got Transportation issues to figure out because these parents you know kids go on a bus the bus ride might be 30 minutes 45 minutes that's that buffer of time that some parents might need to get through traffic to get home to make sure that someone's home for the kids and it's probably more disruptive for the younger kids but even the older kids I mean all this time out of the classroom we talk about John talks about all the time don't go on your vacations during school time your kid needs to be in the classroom and now we're taking kids out of the classroom so yes the tradeoff is okay teachers are doing some professional development they're going to learn better ways to help those kids that's great so now tell me how you're going to measure that and prove that this actually worked versus the the regular thing that we would normally do to close those gaps that you talk about in your letter I think there's two I think there's two pieces in here that you're talking about Mike so one is this child care matter and that sounds like a large part of what you've just shared the second piece is how we're going to measure that I think we do already have measures in place we watch year after year the mcast presentations about closing those gaps with our high need students it may affect their parents who are working but this may also be a way to benefit those students by getting more specific targeted professional development for teachers so they can address the issues of so are you going to be able to show us next year with your AMS web scores and then the year after that with your mcast scores because we did half apds scores improve this much more than they would have otherwise are you gonna be able to do that I'd like to try I think I think we should have that and I think that's the point I made before if we don't try and if we can't show one trial over yeah Carol said that try yeah show any kind of grow specifics like okay yeah we we increased you know scores improved x% well did they improve X perc because of PD half days or did they improve X percent just because they improved well it's hard to measure that whatever else but she I know it's hard to measure that's the point I mean so it's hard to measure that but she's saying though there are districts doing this they're having great success with it all right so let's talk about that what is the specific success that they're having I think that they're test scores are stronger I think they're higher and lower because of this so our test scores will be stronger and if they're not we'll go back to the old way well we're not really showing much growth in the way we've been doing things and I think these hard to measure against these people because they they did this for a long time already so they the growth that they've shown is over a long period of time well these are the types of questions you know parents you're asking parents to take 10 days off of work through the year for this well no she's not because if she's putting in a place for for child care she's not asking parents to take time off if that's a big if Julie well I think that's I mean I sit on the rec committee we've said in Berlin what about has agreed as well all right we have that so both R is gonna provide programing fill that Gap you you can execute anything if you plan correctly right so this is far enough in advance I think that the rec committees with the help of students possibly because every week of the school year there's something going on except for I think two periods of time I'm curious like in terms of like saying a half PD is like a half day and then a full PD is like a full not hours like six hours like TimeWise how is the 10 half days and then a couple full days compared to the hours that we have on our calendar this year sorry is there more time I what she's asking no she basically add time the full day PD is and cut them two halves right so equivalent time should be equivalent time right including the lunches yeah for more continuous half days I can check more frequently because I think is it contracted the amount of PD time I don't know for sure I can't even remember as the state inquire I don't know I mean I think it makes sense like you said teachers want to collaborate I remember speaking to teachers in the elementary school what do you need we need more time with our professionals to collaborate to work together so here's a way to make that happen with other districts that are doing it with the great success rate with your Rec programs that are willing to step in and help I see your point about low income and high needs um and I know there's not you know there's not a group organization that would ever turn a kid away for if they can't no I know that I don't think we should be asking parent if we're doing an after school thing parents shouldn't be ask to pay for that it should be part of what the school pays for whoever whoever runs it however it's run because it's most like like toono kids maybe working under the rep department is that yeah I mean I would say that students should be paid for yeah what they do um they should whoever runs the program should get paid it should not be by the individual parents it should be by the school you someone earlier mentioned I think even in Carol's letter maybe a fee was mentioned at some point maybe I'm reading that wrong but regardless there shouldn't be a fee involved if that's Cas so if there's 10 days and there's four hours that's 40 hours and if we have volunteers it's not gonna be a huge thing hit on why why should parents have to pay for don't have me add anything else right seven days it's only seven half days it's only seven the three hour they half days before well that's yes that was my next suggestion John we need to de December half day I mean that's five days before so well no I think all right so we have a half day before Thanksgiving we have a half day before Christmas and we've got a half day for the last day you keep your half day on the last day can you imagine the kids being there all day last day of school Carol what Carol what if you did instead of having completely closed down the day after Thanksgiving that's not a holiday why not do a full PD day that day oh families go away though I that would be yeah that's a contractual that's is it a contractual thing that's yeah I mean it's all right well look I'm looking for I'm looking for ideas we're in Academia though this is not Corp America as we have learned multiple times in our discussions I'd like to ask a question sorry go ahead L and then after La I'm sorry it's okay go I was gonna ask when you have these professional developments does the district get together like do the does does BMS get together with bees oh absolutely because what I'm thinking is you know mik kept saying one district one district one District if you have all of these half days that's opportunities for the fourth grade at BMS and the fourth grade at bees to get together and Co plan together which I think is your intent Bey beyond that too it's also the opportunity and I think we've heard that in the presentations it's opportunities for the Middle School teachers to get together with the elementary teachers and the different content areas and the high school to get together with the Middle School it's hard enough now for the I mean the high school and Le see you can correct me if I'm wrong to even get together with their own departments um and they certainly have a heart almost impossible to get together with the middle school so there's that it's the idea of the vertical articulation that we have to make sure that we're the curriculum is is following a certain pattern and pathway and that and then talking about assessments that we're giving assessments and being able to learn to use that data as it kids come up through the grade levels there I could go on I mean this is just that's just a part of the kind of things you're doing or bringing in training um I know for example you know talked about the I the new IEP process for special education that's not just a oneandone training it goes over a long periods of time to do that well we we've been doing things okay I just want to try to do it better I guess that's what I'm trying to look at what ways to do it this is one way of one the best way we could come up with right now I I'm not sure what else we could go back to the regular way and just have those full TDS but so are you committing to the after school program there will be an after school program on all early release dates I don't think it's my commitment Mike I think it's a commitment of it sounds like the the um well no no no it has to be a commitment from the school that if the rec for whatever reason can't do it on a particular day that it will will still be done covering make it happen I trust you thank you okay but that's we know how things go a whole year and a half that's right that's a that's the best we can do right now I mean I just yeah and I think if we put so I just crunched a couple num like for for 15 adults to be paid $30 an hour for the number of hours you would need for coverage assuming you do four hours of coverage after a half day it would be like 2,000 bucks so that's can add that in the budget what yeah you probably get a donation for that what NY my only concern is a lot of Staff worked after school program so are they going to be in PD no the after no no rack programs got for the half days if rack programs came in and they got to Hanto teenagers or whatever they got found somebody to run programming where their babies and we paid the people but we didn't charge the parents it would cost about $2,000 to add it into the budget so it was free care but you're still paying the people that are running the program yes you're talking about students what you're talking about students well if you're paying 30 bucks an hour you probably can get people better than I don't know hour I'm saying $2,000 not sure have to pay $30 an hour but I'm saying even if you pay $30 an hour we're looking at less than $2,000 so to add it into the budget it would be to find the that that was actually I wanted to connect to what Nancy was saying is I think that there's a concern we're such a small school district and we have a limited number of staff so of all of our staff are in the professional development um sessions we really would be relying on yeah but that would be R that's after after school the regular after school program build the district yeah R could build R could if R wanted to pay the people that they have working these programs and then build the district back and the district could just pay for it and they don't even have to charge parents it could be like free programming on the seven and half days John's right there's only seven ones before Thanksgiving everyone's going to want to go home the kids aren't kids I don't know how much learning gets done on those days I mean I know my kids are like the day before Christmas break and then the last day of school so it's s half days if you have a 4our program on each of those reasonable to ask parents to pay it adds out well at the end of day I don't think the school should pay for kids after school care I don't think well we're taking these half days away from that it's just um small fee yeah probably be a very nominal fee just to pay the students right well students the right students the right people to to do this I mean you gota sure you'll have adults there too of course we know how to do yeah you're not going to have just students but you probably I don't care how much you're paying whatever I just I'm say I think the school should should come from the school budget in my opinion the parents should pay if their children are being one the parents pay a lot it'll be fine unless more next year yeah it's a very nomal it'll be a nomal fee to pay the students that are working that's how it works right so the school will take care of it and they'll have their PD and the parents will still be able to stay at work through a normal yeah I love all that I'm just questioning the school paying for it I I would support that I think the parents that's my recommendation it's going to be so nominal either way I don't think we should worry about it so but yeah go y it would have to come from a revolving account it can't come from like the general budget just so right because it's an after school thing FS just so everyone knows that's F if you do this yeah talk again we're talking like a couple thousand dollars on 20s something million dollar budget right so all right so we ready oh yeah Lisa just so I had an idea when I was reviewing all of this that would get rid of the half day problem that would there would be great you know professional development time and it would eliminate the problem of school going too late you know in June but I'm sure there's a problem with like it's so obvious what if you did all of the PD that first that last week in August so the students will get to start after Labor Day all the PD would be done and it would be a nice focused kind of retreat you know PD and then we wouldn't have to have the half days wouldn't delay the school year right the teachers want to implement stuff in the meet back and and so that's why the half days are spread all the way out that would be great if we had like a a program that we wanted to bring in on something I don't know like school safety and we said okay we're going to spend four days in this training go and then we don't see them for the rest of the year that it's ineffective and it goes against what the Desi Department of Ed wants us to be able to do with our staff which is provide meaningful professional development over time and that's how we learn that's how we we learn like we have children we learn but we go out we teach they practice they come back they use the information they go they learn again they go back out again that's the concept it's just like the classroom that's what we do so it be like yeah I'll just leave it at that okay I knew I knew there was probably a good reason for yeah well it's a nice idea and and it has been done in districts in the past districts who talked about FR years ago front loading all of their let's put all the trainings we do we try to do that as much as possible all already with the mandated trainings C how many man what are the mandated trainings between you and Janelle that you that we have to do with the staff right we're doing at least that many front up front in the beginning of the year where the teachers are trying to do that the first two days of school mandated by the state and desie that we have to get done so many of so that takes up that time as well you know that so Carol I'm I'm just looking at we start off school with three days a partial week then the next week is a partial week then we have two full weeks then another partial week a full week a partial week a partial week a partial week a full week let's hypothetically you have all these partial three and four day school weeks kids learning is interrupted the time in the classroom's interrupted there's no consistency they can't get into a schedule they can't form a habit say just hypothetically one of their teachers is uh take some personal time on these days you've got a substitute in there that's a further Interruption to their schedule a further Interruption to the learning then you've got more partial weeks I mean one you know one teacher being out for a few personal days in a row for whatever reason in the classrooms interrupted for maybe three four five weeks how like this seems I don't know I I hear you're saying this is a good idea for person professional development but the other side of it is it seems like it could cause as many problems as you're trying to solve I guess I want to go back Mike I'm trying to take notes as as you're talking the mention about not getting into a schedule an instructional schedule it would seem to me that the students are getting into more of a schedule because they're in school more least let me correct it and say inconsistent schedule because You' got you know five day week a three- day week a 4 day week a three and a half day week a four and a half day week then a five day week it's an inconsistent schedule I guess I should have said in in consistent terms it's not full days correct it's not full full full weeks yeah I'm not sure that that would be inconsistent as much for the children as it is the adults honestly kids the kids will at least be in school right many more days so that they do have at least that half day instruction I'm not sure what you mentioning about the down the um the potential interruptions and the substitutes I've just said in a hypothetical situation let's say a teacher is out for three days in a row for whatever reason that week is now interrupted because a substitute comes in they do their best they they're qualified people but it's not the regular teacher so there is a disruption to the classroom it's not the person that the students are familiar with all that and then the next week it's another half day and then it's a four week you know it could be several weeks before they get back into a consistent school routine consistent meeting every day they in school fulltime I think isn't a consistent school routine like waking up getting your backpack ready I'm talking about little kids having lies going to school sitting on the rug reading math science yeah which is then interrupted by a half day and then holiday shorter day of that it's still a consistent routine for the kid um is it Carol you mentioned you mentioned other districts do the same thing like half half days it just looking at the menu but look at the calendar like having two in one month just seems a lot and so I'm curious if those other districts have a similar number Carol what we what we pulled Jessica I just wanted to tell you is these these districts also at least some of them from the list Sally had put together have additional half days for days before holidays as well we just didn't include that in because it was not relevant to the topic of professional development we only wanted to show that but they have even more in some cases saw list of the like that before an after Labor date was there another list that had I I put that in there there's an after date that was a separate kind of discussion or point that was brought up by a school Committee Member as a consideration but I didn't I thought that was going to be the ACT the topic tonight and not this so I was trying to just bring that make like put that in there in case that was brought up so we could look at it out of respect for the person who brought that up but I yeah Carol I brought that up but I was instructed by a very certain someone not to push for a post Labor Day schedule for the start of two particular students so I'm not bringing that up I just want this I'm just recommending this one I just I wanted to say like we're talking about inconsistencies and I noticed that with the exception of the November conference all of the professional development days fall on a Wednesday and if I am correct doesn't act in boxboro which has tremendous scores don't they always have a half day on Wednesdays they they do and we talk that was one of the topics and I would just add the principles please feel free to chime in because you were we've all talked about these things a joint effort the when Wednesday was initially a concern brought forward by some of the representatives of the bbaa but what we realized for example Tanto is they were rotating schedule so it's not the Wednesday doesn't always last time you said this last time because of their schedule right and then the elementary schools can rearrange specials on those days so it's not hitting at the same time it just is more consistent for the schools and for even for the family like knowing it's on Wednesdays for example so that was something we were keeping in mind that's a fairly affluent district and and just looking at the the the other one about the the Labor Day one if you look at the districts that start after Labor Day they are also pretty affluent um so the thoughts of like Hing a nanny or Child Care would be less significant than a economically diverse District that we are I mean I have a friend that works in active and they you know it's a really great School District um and not you know from a teacher perspective I'm I think that's a valid point good um you know because they're able to talk to each other but it as a working parent I mean I'm privileged enough to work half time but my long day is on Wednesday so you know the first time I saw this schedule just from my own perspective I was like you know like that's a lot and I can't even work half a day like um so that would be a full day but I am also again C enough to have a spouse and and an extended family that lives in the area that can help but that's not the story so it's just difficult from a parent perspective to see two PD days in one month I think we just have to pick a lane like yeah are we doing this because we're concerned about our children's education are we doing this because we need which is our T which which is one of the T with or we need to pick a lane here right are we challenging this because um it's it's going to be a detriment or a help to our kids education or is it because we can't find child care and parents have no I just think it's in I I think it doesn't consider those real challenges that parents have so if there's a plan in place child so say Child Care is not an option I mean is not problem not a problem then why are we if it's not a problem it's not a problem meaning is then are we is this acceptable to have a half day so the teachers can collaborate together because multiple I agree Julie because multiple points have been brought up so is the issue the child care or is the issue inconsistency in the schedule or is the issue so and I think we kind of have to move forward because we're kind of beating a dead horse here so this is the calendar proposed and approved by the union Carol and the principles this is what they support this is what they want so do we want them to go back and take another pass at this or do we want to accept this because we're throwing out lots of ideas here and they're all good and they're all valid but if if we want to pursue to Julie's point a certain idea then it needs to go back it needs to get amended and it needs to come back for us or if we're we like okay these are things that we take into consideration for next year we try this out we see how it goes child care I think that's a that's a Dead Issue wreck is gonna take care of it we're gonna see how that goes again could it be a disaster yep could it be an awesome thing and the kids love it and tons of kids want to do the half day thing absolutely so the teachers might love it yeah so so I think the question right now is I want to vote are you guys ready to vote on this or is there any other points so what it matter before and after Labor Day is off the table now is that oh I don't know about that I have no opinion on that matter that's right you said I think once the calendar is published whatever is voted upon I think if I think it would be good for the public to know that these considerations have been taken into account that discussions are being held with the rec departments in both towns to provide child care after school uh the reason why we're doing these half days is so our Educators can work on very specific issues and meet again and be able to teach your children dynamically and hopefully end up with higher success for them whether that you know whatever you know aims with or not I aims with but I think I think a caveat needs to be given or blur needs to given when this calendar is published oh I totally agree maybe in your um newsletter and I would also I would assure you the thing I can assure you is that the principles will work with the rec committee and and do what they need to do to provide the the location to provide what the needs yeah car to further address the point I agree with everything Jess said you're going to need to communicate a concrete idea or goal as we are going to accomplish we hope to accomplish XYZ and it might take more than one year to measure it might take two years to measure it but after two years you you must have a measurement of something which you state today and we or whoever the committee is at the time needs to be able to look at that and just like you showed us like there are other districts that do this currently that are higher R than us like I assume active is higher than us or something so I think having those links embedded within what you're say is important so people that have to look at data you know and maybe studies that show like more frequent PD days show better teacher satisfaction which we would like to do too I so it is in Finland tell them Carol like where where I went to study these things and things they dosek yeah but I but I I do I do know that the admin team has makes that commitment to make sure that this goes really well they already have the ideas of what they want to do and would do if they were given that time to work with their but Carol it's not just you know the descriptive flowery language of we hope to to accomplish better communication it's you hope to accomplish better communication because you've eliminated XYZ number of errors or issues or improv scores by X percent it's not just we you know have a better understanding of how our kids learn now so we're going to continue to Foster you know all that flowery language that we often see too much of it needs to be concrete specific data driven like my my goals color I mean I'm not calling but I know and and a lot of the language to M I would have to say and I don't know if that was directed at me per se but I'm just going to say it's because I because in this field when people don't understand the language that we speak I have to articulate it and clarify and communicate it even more than if I have to call up John or Cindy or s parents and taxpayers don't understand you know we improved XYZ communication they understand our district is ranked X points higher our students scored X points higher our students got into better colleges and universities our students earn x% more income when they graduate from here than they do our competitors that's what taxpayers and parents understand it's not oh yes we have a much more congenial working relationship that's great it's needed and it's fantastic but it it doesn't show a return for what they're giving up here well I think maybe I mean that's like 10 20 year goals like you're showing through college and income and stuff but I think if like maybe through teacher surveys like satisfaction also teacher retention staff retention might be shown through that like how many something yeah something concrete some numbers that you can show this worked out and improved something measurably yeah I could I could do I could do one of my goals on that I don't I don't think it necessarily has to be one of your goals I think it needs be attached to this idea of a schedule like this it's going to have to be in two years from now you're not yeah yeah one year you're not even going to have mcast results right but yeah you'll have as web you'll have can I just ask a question how many more half days do we have in this proposed calendar than normal seven and a half how seven and a half more no so there's seven and half days in this calendar and this current year is this the current year one no what was how many half days do we have this year four five but you said P Time s p half days there's 10 half days equivalent time equivalent PD but what happened is they took a full day and broke it into two half more half days half same amount same amount but I guess I'm just wondering so we want like this hard data you know to show that we had an improvement but I'm just wondering do you think it's possible to do that with just an increase in a couple you know like three half days a year you know what I'm saying well if it's not then what's the point of doing it anyway yeah I just I think it'll be really hard to tease that out I think it'll be hard to I agree with you I'm not so sure you can measure maybe you're saying you're doing this you can measure Improvement you pick metrics this is going to be a fractional Improvement if you want like a drastic improvement that you can report of you need a half day every single Wednesday every single Wednesday that's right I said every single wedes day I mean I remember Ace coming and saying that we want that's consistent that's consistent that's not inconsistent it's not inconsistent and I think that would be like every single week they'd have a new thing you got have a new speaker here you could have but your point that's an affluent districts are doing that they have money to fund that PD they have money to people have money the taxpayers like go y that's fine I have my nanny or whatever so I don't know that that applies here but I agree it's going to be fractional improvements so it's easing into maybe doing something down the road in 10 years maybe one fin question and then we got there will there be a nurse on S that goes to professional development or is that nurse in the building Works a normal day there will be yeah the nurses will be in the building okay they work a normal day the nurses are part of the teacher contract so they are um participating in all of the PD sessions so they would be there if there was an emergency on AB okay if if the child needs like somebody fell and cracked their head open yeah something like that oh yeah medicine yeah and then all the more reason to have a float nurse then you pay you know you might need to have you probably to yeah that's valid okay all right so anything else about this calendar we're gonna vote all right can I please have a motion to approve the current calendar for the fiscal or for the 2024 2025 school year yes so L and Julie any more discussion any more voting on the pre- Labor Day one yeah yeah yeah so run that was the first read last time okay Megan are we specifically motioning to do this in conjunction with the after school program well what happens if something happens in the rec program yeah that's the problem work out okay then put it in the motion do you want it in I don't think we can do that you're bringing another to right yeah two separate we can't do that conversation you have to trust your girl Julie Lee she's in charge with that your girl motion something on the W committee from Boon when there's no one you just assured us that it's Tak care in writing but we're not gonna put that in a motion we can't do that I say we trust Julie we know her we know where she lives feel I feel like the rec departments are invested in providing for the towns I feel like it's a no-brain ear where they've already had these discussions because what if like they find out they can't start on the September one but they're going to start in October we can't go and change the calendar at that point in time or what if we don't find out that they can't do it until August like we gonna do vote on another calendar at that point I think we just we just gotta this is like you got to just put a Hail Mary up and hope this works out I trust no no it's not a h Mar there there are discussions and plans that are in yes I trust Julie so have to I should say we have to trust jie on this one Eric and and the director Eric for Boon wreck and then we decide if you want to add after school and after the PD day to extend the day there's all different things that they can talk about but we're going to trust as a matter of fact who we're really going to trust is Carol to work with the administrators and follow that out all right so the motion's on the table as is we're not adding in the all right any more discussion right all in favor I any opposed I'm opposed okay I'm an i as well that motion passes all right one last thing we have our budget Forum on March 19th I hope all the parents listening to this meeting please come out have your voice heard um I had a few people ask about information for the budget forum and I think that's G uh probably later this week or early next week we'll try to relas release that out to the public it'll be on our website the presentation that Nancy is going to give next Tuesday it's one week from today so maybe we should aim to get that out there by Friday afternoon my goal is Friday okay we day Thursday like kindergarten numbers too like I'm just thinking in terms of Oh you mean for the new kindergarten the numbers like class numbers you mentioned you mean for the new kindergarten yeah think is that in your presentation it wasn't enrollments in there enrollment yeah yeah but not the new kindergarten coming in I'm sure the principal it's an approximation but it's it's in ny's okay yeah that's what I thought okay it's on that page with the enrollment because they're still registering they are still register reg okay that's right yeah yeah but we have an estimate yeah are there any things updates or notes that we should be thinking about before then um feedback from towns or anything yeah there is but I don't we're not get into it now too much we have a we're um is there another subte meeting we're not going to be able to do a subcommittee meeting this week but we I'm planning on like a two to three hour discussion so we'll have ample time to discuss and then Nancy will fix everything so we'll have our final number right here and we'll vote on that but the information should be by Friday it should be on it should be in the drive it should be on the website so if there's questions ahead of time you can send them in same thing for the public if they have questions they can't make it to the meeting send them in in if you want to come and speak it would be greatly appreciated um and we're still working with the towns things looking good bad trending up down the towns have both said that there's limitations um yeah Berlin I'm not sure that it's tied to an override I think it's just limitations that their fincom would like us where their fincom would like us to be Boon I think there's limitations uh into their Levy capacity but I I'm still I just emailed the town accountant and she said she's still working on the numbers so I think we're still working on that but hopefully that's going to be ironed out this week yes there have been limitations set by the towns though absolutely okay any yes yeah the only other thing I just wanted to mention in case you're getting questions about school choice um we're talking about that tomorrow also an admin meeting that comes out that will be in April so in case you're you're hearing from parents the April meeting out of the district that are interested um it's April okay right we present those numbers to the committee okay we didn't forget thank you all right so could I please have a motion oh is there anything else anyone want to say all right could I please have a motion to adour the meeting soone second than LA and Julie all in favor hi all right I'm as well thank you

to 7:00 there'll be Awards in the pack and a dinner to follow students can bring two people along with them and late buses are going to be provided we had state champion and Regional competition first is elardo melano became a state champion to the 300 meter race representing glts congratulations elizardo then we had Maro Al menar poano qualified for and competed in the girls New England wrestling competition last weekend in Providence Ro Island our glts cheerleaders qualified for regionals and went to States um they completed competed at Wester State University and they had awesome performances they even scored their own highest score of the season um here are some of the boys and girls basketball that qualified for the MIAA tournament we're now holding the preseason um spring training so the house of athletes is back to train with students the goal of this two-e program is to help others reach their Peak Performance by increasing their speed power and Mobility they also gain they also help students gain skills in mindfulness and nutrition with help of the from the house of athletes a strong and confident foundation will be set for the spring 20124 season um we had skills USA the skills USA District competition will be held on Thursday March 14th here at glts approximately 118 reggies will test to qualify to compete in the skills USA state competition in their career areas scheduled for late April greater Lawrence text continued support allows for a safe environment where students can learn and be themselves the gtsg GSA Club sent out an email regarding a tragic death of a student next Benedict in Oklahoma they had bullying during their time in high school and rgsa wanted to shed light on that and also recognize the support that the school has shown lgbtq plus students after giving some background on the tragic death students acknowledge the efforts made at glts um in an email it said with that being said we would like to thank all of the staff here at greater Lawrence for their continuous support of the lgbtq plus students in their classes as previously mentioned mention the world is a scary place for queer people for many students in many places going to school is terrifying but for others going to school is a safe place where individuals feel like they can be their authentic selves at glts lgbtq plus students of all backgrounds have a safe place we have a place where our identities are valued where our feelings are heard and where we are treated as equals to our peers we have access access to resources like counselors and Wind Block programs we also have single stall bathrooms that allow students of all gender identities to use the bathroom in a way that is safest for them with all that you have given us we want to show our gratitude and appreciation for the ongoing support we receive daily we want you to know that none of this goes unnoticed and even the other schools have pointed out how incredibly supportive our school Community is there are also some um quotes um sent in by some students um thanking our staff um for their constant support um we have chess club chess club has had a great start they have had six to eight regular attendees as well as appearances from the school resource officer and carpentry teacher they have taken part in many focused and fun matches and hope to continue this for the rest of the school year please see these awesome matches in the photos rehearsals for the talent show are still going on on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the pack they're opening on their they're working on their opening number now it will be held on 32224 and it should be a great time for everyone involved Memorial Hall library is hosting its annual teen poetry contest do I have to okay today during lunches NHS held a St Patrick's Day fundraiser students were able to support NHS while also showing their spirit for this the holiday um and also another news the induction ceremony for NHS will be held on April I think it's supposed to say 9th um this also took place um during the free book event and some senior updates prom um will be held on Monday June 3rd at Castleton in wiam New Hampshire the theme is starry night um and the class trip is um on Thursday May 30th to Six [Music] Flags superlative winners we would like to update you on the 2024 superlatives these are not all of the winners but we wanted to be able to see some we have winners in topics like best celebrity look like best dressed Best excuses and best eyes we also have winners in topics like best friends best hair best laugh and best sense of humor lastly we hope some have some winners in Best Taste Of Music most changed since freshman year cutest couple and music most um sorry most artistic you can find all of the winners on a slideshow around the school and was also emailed to all students all right that concludes our presentation thank you all for your time and attention thank you very very much thank you well done uh the minutes of February 13th we need a motion to approve them please motion to approve second discussion Mr Jones yes Mr Mahia yes Mr tbox Mr M Gerald yes Miss dla Mr Hayden yes uh Mr distano isn't here but miss Martel is here to do the uh uh cash balance report please yep I have a cash balance report as of January 31st 2024 we had an opening account balance on December 31st of 2023 of 3,356 36 plus deposits in January of $546,000 plus a transfer in of a million plus payroll on January 4th of 1 million 91650 and10 payroll on January 18th of 1,130 46.79 we had a warrant on January 9th of 786,000 , 76164 and a warrant on January 23rd of 1,299 18276 giving us a book balance on January 31st of $594,000 18 with a corresponding bank balance of $99,100 31st 2023 of 6,956 584 the year-to-date interest on that account is $236,700 33240 we had a transfer um actually there was interest of $ 32,45 2017 and a transfer to the concentration account of a million do so the mmt mmdt balance on January 31st is 6,174 37757 with the total operating cash balance 6,768 66475 thank you can I get a motion to approve the cash balance report is presented and any uh discussion please miss dla yes Mr Jones yes Mr Mahia yes Mr tbox yes Miss Fitzgerald yes Mr hayem yes we have uh informational packet on the uh cash Reconciliation Report packet on the revolving fund and a packet on the budget report Miss Martel is up again to uh request to revote the uh 2024 budget so in your handout out you have um the supporting documents in fiscal year 2023 we didn't need our net School spending by 1,139 527 which is well below the 5% range that's allowed by Massachusetts law um so we need to revote our fiscal year 24 budget to include that shortfall recation can I get a second please any discussion Please Mr T Mr Hayden yes M fitgerald yes M Mr Jones yes Mr M yes M Martel you're up again with the approve the budget transfers we have one journal entry that I did in two entries but it was just to cover a shortfall for mileage reimbursement for our Co-op teacher and the total was um was 6 $620 we need a vote on that please second any discussion Miss Fitzgerald yes Miss dla yes Mr Jones Mr Jones yes Mr hayam yes I'm sorry Mr toox yes you missed me yes set donations I see none Communications uh there's a grant uh clean energy jobs for 1.2 1.25 million and that was in the Eagle tribute 217 I think this is the second time we had this is this a different article this is just an article that was in the uh eag Tribune Boston Globe regarding the grant that we received uh that I went over with you the last School uh school committee meeting just wanted you to see the article and uh superintendent goals we have a packet Mr you want to speak on it yes [Applause] so so um you have my uh this year's goals and you packet we never covered it earlier in the year uh with Leo leaving and everything going on so I did want to uh go over them with you uh at this time uh I have two goals here in uh other um areas that um that I've been working on in terms of n school initiatives for 2020 23 24 um so I'll go through them and if you have any questions happy to take any questions and then um if the committee has any other goals they would like me to pursue happy to uh include that as well and uh over the next couple of uh until we are April if there's something that you would like to present at the April meeting open to that as well if you want to add any other goals that are uh you feel as so you would like me to pursue uh that would be uh a conversation we could have as well at our next meeting so go one is align to standard 31a uh element 11a family community engag this is the uh is the uh standard that's in the department of Ed's uh standards uh documentation uh is to promotes the learning and growth of all students and success of all staff through effective Partnerships with Community organizations and other stakeholders that support the mission of the school and the district so goal one is I will improve and increase Community engagement I will accomplish it through a monthly newsletter to a monthly newsletter to all program advisers and superintendent and uh accomplish a uh superintendent workshop for CTE staff on developing and implementing strategies for expanding program advisory membership uh increased membership engagement will be measured through attendance at bi-week by-ear meetings and follow- off responses to ongoing communication regarding curriculum development process for each shop um so I I think that uh it's critically important to have as many advisory members as possible engaged in our uh advisory uh program for CTE uh as they are the uh experts that provide us with the knowledge and uh understanding of where the industry is going the kinds of equipment that we need and uh in reviewing the data of our advisory committees I believe that that we needed to do uh some improvement in that area both in in the quality of our uh of uh the ensuring that we have the best meetings and the constant communication trying to increase the communications we have with them uh I thought was uh some an area in which is critically important for us uh they are the uh heart and soul and leaders of where the industry uh it's what kind of skills what kind of knowledge students need to have to be successful upon graduation along with also our teachers uh experience and knowledge uh but of course uh teachers tend at maybe in the in in the educational field for 10 years and don't participate in the industry as much as your uh advisory leaders so their expertise and uh knowledge is critical for our success uh so the um focus indicators uh will establish ongoing relationships with Community organizations Community uh members businesses individually or through District initiatives and Partnerships engages them to maximize their contribution to school Effectiveness uh next bullet is to engage with businesses in a way that is culturally responsive and collaborative to ensure that all companies are welcome and can contribute to the CTE program learning environment so part of the goal is to um get more com uh minority uh leaders and and corporations involved in our uh advisory committee members as well uh so the action is uh the parent and business new newsletter CTE update curriculum shop projects quarterly uh recognition of long-term service of advisory members at our advisory meetings uh so for the first time this year at our advisory meeting uh we recognized long members who've been with us 10 years plus uh an opportunity for them to uh demonstrate that commitment they have to us by awarding them a plaque that they can uh uh display in their uh place of business um uh continue serving on State and Community organizations Chamber of Commerce Lawrence Partnerships Mass hire the whb uh mas masc and uh maava and those are monthly meetings that I attend um these organizations T tend to have our industry and uh leaders uh business and industry leaders that are both on the um board of directors as well as uh over uh uh membership at large um then uh District init initiatives and Partnerships through advisory committees and Co-op employers as scheduled on our school calendar the uh expect outcome increase program advisory membership and Industry Partnerships involvement to strengthen relationships between all glts staff resulting in continued communication with faculty regarding progress towards recommendations made at bi-weekly meetings I will attend the CT coordinator's monthly meeting to survey progress on the increased Communications with advisory members and the results of improved relationship that's go one go one are there any uh question questions uh committee would like to ask regarding the scal goal two is aligned with standard One D uh comma 1A curriculum it ensures that all teachers Implement and adapt practical and rigorous standard-based units of instruction as needed consisting consisting of well structured lessons and projects with measurable practical in theory skills and knowledge uh goal to is by June 20 2025 there will be an increase in CTE curriculum projects that measure students success and reaching Proficiency in all strands aligned to the project uh I will comp accomplish this by developing delivering two professional development workshop for administrators and teachers providing staff professional development time to include the ability to measure all framework strands within each Pro uh shop project that students perform um so one of uh work that I've believed in a long time with regards to uh vocational uh curriculum and Frameworks is that all projects should measure and assess uh all the strands that are included within the project which includes which can include the academic strands the workforce uh uh measures of uh buil working as team uh um projects by being able to measure the success of that uh and any other strands that fall within the projects uh often uh we have for years we've built our projects around uh strand 2 which is specifically the technical strand um but I think the increase of uh measuring and building um instruction around the actual um other strands at the time projects are being completed is critically important so that's work that I uh will uh participate in helping uh our ad our CT administrators uh develop and Implement over the next two years uh the focus indicator ensures curriculum and instructional materials are high quality standard align rigorous and culturally responsive and sustainable sustaining for students especially black L Latin Latino Asian indigenous and uh multiracial students Provide support to all Educators and teams to adapt as needed and Implement standards based units comprising well structured lessons so that students can learn the Knowledge and Skills to find in state standards local curricula and frequently providing feedback as necessary um actions uh developing assessment workshops to do to deliver during professional development for administrators and teachers May June and September of 2024 um uh work with administrative staff in assessing staff progress regarding updates to the curriculum standing item on administrative instructural meeting agendas uh starting after May um and the expected outcome there will be an increase in CTE curriculum projects that measure students success in reaching proficiency and all strands aligned to the project this will be measured by analyzing all curric uh throughout the school year um and then uh next bullet is student superintendent will report progress on goals at the end of the fourth quarter and uh I have in so as far as uh goal two um I uh decided to engage in uh more curriculum work um as my expertise as a curriculum director for years uh as assistant superintendent and curriculum director thought my uh I would work more closely with the administrative team to ensure that we get the curriculum aligned with our strands at a higher level uh so um any questions on this goal okay uh other superintendent initiatives for school year 2023 24 is to work with the director of facilities to develop a 5-year Capital plan which we uh actually completed today and we'll submit to the committee uh at a later um meeting school committee meeting uh complete FAA and DSC approval process for the aviation program uh pursue the purchase of the Els building and Airport Hangar work towards completing the following Capital Improvement projects field Barn Aviation building 1 and two Airport hanger Landscape Horticulture Barn phase four field completion uh complete renovation of new classroom space uh tennis court lighting hiring and mentoring of assistant superintendent and to increase a diverse advisory committee membership any questions for the superintendent before we move on petition through is it close the purchase off campus oh so you mean for the um um I guess I don't understand what the question is yeah to to buy the property off campus we needed the okay yes did it go through and that hasn't been completed yet no you're talking about the legislation next yes yes yet the legislation on the home rule legislation yes that uh I called uh uh uh representative Moran um the end of last week and tried to reach out to him before the meeting to find out where it sits and uh he hasn't returned my call yet so I'm not sure where we are in that process but I will continue to try to reach them tomorrow and I can email everybody once I get a sense of where we're at with the in the process thank you you're welcome uh the superintendent will update a district committee on the equipment and infrastructure Grant in the amount of $750,000 so you have in there uh document that uh outlines the uh award that we recently received for $750,000 from the Clean Energy Center uh this was submitted way back in Janu January Susan sometime in January this award will uh allow us to uh velop new techn uh work with the students to develop new uh programming in our curriculum uh around uh green energy and sustainable energy um in different areas of technology in our HVAC program uh as well as our electrical program and plumbing program uh which will be built around such projects as uh our solar projects and um go thermal we're putting in as a result of this grant are able to put in a geothermal system for one of our buildings which is about a $275,000 investment for the school uh and also allow us to start training our students on how to uh for the implementation and the installation of uh of this type of a system the geothermal systems uh as well as uh the increase uh technology with um solar systems so we're grateful for the hard work that uh Su Amano and Rich Gonzalez uh provided a lot of the expertise in working with Susan on this particular Grant uh and the quality of the uh pre uh the uh the proposal was really outstanding so it was very competitive and we we were fortunate to get this Grant That'll allow us to continue to work around sustainable energy uh for the near future yes uh superintendent l boy will update the district committee on the Andover board meeting where we presented the Expansion Project so I did meet before the Andover uh selectman um couple weeks ago to go over our plans to to um purchase the uh Lawrence Hangar and its impact on the aviation program and what it meant to the school and also trying to get support from them in terms of purchasing the Elks and what the intent and purpose and use of that uh building would be uh I've got a very fa favorable uh response from them uh and uh and they have asked me to present to the finance board uh as well and then uh we'll be presenting we'll also be presenting at the at the town meeting as well um that uh is one of the steps in uh preparing for the town meeting uh so the process of obtaining a bond uh uh requires first the committee's uh vote which you made that you uh did last Friday uh and then from there now we have submitted um a uh warant article uh to go on town meeting in Andover and North Andover um and I have also contacted met with us mayor of Lawrence to get his support on the bond and uh he also uh we have uh we will be on the city Lawrence city council's next uh meeting agenda I submitted that to the city clerk today so they need to approve the Bond as well they're meeting on the 19th uh to hear the request for the bond and then the following meeting a week later they will vote on whether to approve the bond um the bond is uh about is $4 million and it's broken up with each Community uh having a different assessment based on how many students are in the school so in the case of Lawrence approximately 70% of the students students are from Lawrence so Lawrence would be uh assessed for 2.8 million over 10 years uh so that I outlined all that in uh the communication I had uh documentation I sent over to the uh city um today uh city clerk today um so mathuin I am meeting with the mayor of Methuen on Thursday it was supposed to be last last week and then Monday uh but now we've he's we've moved the meeting to Thursday and have reached out to the city clerk in methan to set up a meeting to get on the agenda for the next uh methan city council meeting as well uh so that'll uh take care of Methuen mathuin uh has about 25% of the student population a little bit under so their assessment would be about a million doar uh which is uh $100 a year for the next 10 years so that's what we're looking for in that particular Community North Andover um we submitted the uh when we submitted the warrant uh there we got a call from them today and uh they would like me uh to meet with the um town uh uh Board of uh Selectmen again I've met with them but they'd like me to meet with them again to give them a little more detail on the bond itself and uh the um which we are trying to schedule that now and that's pretty much the process for the bond once each of the communities approves it uh then we can uh apply for the bond for a bond which will work with our our Treasurer uh Mr DFO and in that process and with our uh Finance director Melissa will be a uh strong part of that helping us make the right decision for the uh best uh rates we can get that covers the bond uh how about the update on the legislation bill for purchasing of the building so the purchasing of the building uh at this point here um have met with the board of directors for the Elks a couple times uh we H we have we hire but we are we have a a um real estate agent commercial agent out looking for property for us through the um South Lawrence area particularly in this area here for the last four weeks I spoke to him again today hasn't had any luck in finding anything yet um so the Elks won't finalize a deal until they know they have another place to go so that'll be one of our biggest challenges I spoke to a gentleman um who owns a lot of property and Lawrence actually owns uh bought the old Cinema property um Juan I'm trying to remember his name first name is Juan I serve on the massire board with him so I've built a relationship with him so I called him today to see if he would be interested in carving out a little piece of that land that he could sell to the Elks and uh um he what he wanted to do was build a building and have them lease it instead I said no no they don't want to do that they want to own their own building so what he's going to do is uh meet with his brother and uh look at the possibility that possibility I told him I explained to him he's a very Community oriented person so I explained to them how much it would mean to K the kids of Lawrence and the community in terms of 300 more students being a medical center what that would mean to the medical uh profession and the and the citizens of the city so I try to make him feel like and he's really good you know to the community I know he is so I was trying to reach his heart and see if I could get him to uh consider selling a piece of the land but in the end he said he'll call me back so it was better than just saying no uh so that would be a great spot because it's still in St Lawrence it's close to the highway and it has a lot of parking space as well so I'm hoping um that works out so if that doesn't work out then uh we'll we'll do what we can we got to find something so because it's so important that's part of without that we can't move forward okay so that's where we're at with that okay Miss Susan Amano director of Grants Workforce Development we'll update the district committee on Workforce Development so for those who don't know Susan suano who's our uh director of Grants and Workforce Development has been doing this job for six years now Susan almost oh four years feels like you've been here forever uh so not nice yeah we did what Susan came from us from Mass higher uh and um so I knew well of how her work and uh how professional how skilled she was but I have to say in four years she's been with us she's done just an amazing job of car bringing us from no Workforce Development programs to probably one of the top schools in the Commonwealth with regards to Workforce Development and the impact has on the citizens and the people she's been uh and she oversees the after dark program as well uh does countless uh projects day after day and um one of our topnotch administrators who has such a tremendous commitment to the to the school to the citizens of the city another Community leader I believe in uh what the work that she does so I'm fortunate to have her and has uh made a huge difference uh not only at glts but in the community and in the Workforce Development community so thanks for that Susan I asked her if she would give us a little bit of update on her work because I don't think the committee gets a chance to really hear uh the uh the the things that she's involved in and the efforts that she Mak today today that are benefiting uh our students and uh the citizens and the community itself thank you so much Sean for that introduction that was very overly generous I appreciate it um but I am very glad to be here today to give everyone an update on the Workforce Development work that we do here at glts and I think that we first want to talk about the why why are we even doing this we know we're a public high school and we do a great job at that but the reason is because we have this tremendous facility and these wonderful teachers and we want to create access and so creating access to high demand occupations on lucrative career Pathways in critical Industries for the diverse communities of the Mary ma Valley and so when we say diverse communities we especially are directing our Workforce Development programs to unemployed and underemployed um English language Learners and all kinds of newcomers um people who have been underrepresented in the past in these technical fields and so I think it's important to realize as well that you know our day school is has a steady flow of dollars from public education support from public education but it's true um Workforce Development is something that needs to be supported with grants and so we are very um it's a wonderful thing that in Massachusetts there are a lot of Grant programs available and so I wanted you to see what that what's out there we get grants from the Commonwealth Corporation they have two main um kinds of Grants Career Technical initiative and Workforce competitiveness trust fund we have both of those grants and and they that's in health care and in the trades and then Advanced manufacturing we get grants from Northeast Advanced manufacturing Consortium Namy and mass higher marac Valley Workforce board and then recently we've been pursuing grants from the mass clean energy center and from the Mary Mac Valley renewal fund um for clean energy careers and preparing people for a clean energy economy and so you can see that our annual budget in Workforce Development went from about half a million in 2022 this year we're at about a million and then we're anticipating for 25 and 26 that we'll have a budget of about 1.2 million each year and you know when you think about it it's that our goal really is to build the workforce um in our area and so we offer about 14 trainings a year classes about 12 to 15 students in each class and like I said we have funds to get us through to about 2026 but there's many more opportunities um for us to keep applying for additional grants so our CTI that's the Career Technical initiative grants you can see that those that Grant supports us for classes in the summer in the fall and in the winter in our construction trades and in Auto technology welding and and autoc collision um then we also just started our first of three medical assistant trainings that we're going to do um that will help our students become certified medical assistants we are just now recruiting and hiring for a solar installer Technical Training um we work with groundwork Lawrence in that particular training and then as I mentioned we do a lot of work in Advanced manufacturing and right now we are operating an esol enhanced Advanced manufacturing training for English language Learners and there again we have funding this is our first cohort we've done two in the past we were Rec contracted to do three more with the workforce board and you know the thing is you might wonder when you think of evening classes and Workforce Development you might say you know this is continuing education short-term classes personal enrichment but I just want to emphasize that Workforce Development all of our work is to prepare people to go to work it's not personal enrichment um it's not just dabbling in something it's actually preparing in every way to help people to go to work and at the same time you know when you think of glts our work our core work is Technical Training and yet to be successful in Workforce Development it has to be much broader and that's why when you look at the different components of our programs you can see they're very comprehensive of course we do the Technical Training but then we do job Readiness skill building that's like resumés interview skills career exploration because a lot of times students can't see how broad their their trades could be you know they might see a very small picture of what it could mean to be a handyman without seeing you know you could be part of the union and make a tremendous living and then job coaching and support services are very important as well to make sure that people are able to persist in training and finish and lastly job placement and retention services are crucial to make sure that people get into jobs and then they stay in the jobs um and so we also want to mention that we do have the after dark program because again what we're looking for here is to create access to Technical Training so as you all know the after dark program is for our Comprehensive High School students those who maybe wanted to come to glts but didn't have the opportunity so now we do partner with Lawrence High School Andover High School North Andover Methuen and Phoenix Academy um and we right now have about 112 students who are in six different shops next year we anticipate we'll have3 32 students um and then you know we'll evaluate and see if we want to continue to GR row and um this program is probably has an annual budget of about 700,000 right now and this is paid for by um our comprehensive schools that support their students and also a grant that we get from Desi and we also do have an apprenticeship program in electrical and plumbing and this is a tuition-based program because uh we want to make sure that there's a training pipeline not just to start in an introductory level class but that members of our community who are already in the trades have a chance to move up and become licensed so we do offer a 4year 600 hour electrical program and a 4year 450 hour plumbing program and that budget is about 100,000 a year again that's private pay they they the students are supporting that and I think it's been important to understand you know sometimes it seems like um Workforce Development well you know how big a staff would you even need for that and so I think it's important to recognize that right now there are three of us who are full-time employees and we have two part-time employees we have um we will have three open positions right now they're not posted one is is posted but that we need three more full-time positions to do all the work that we do well and we also oversee about 40 teachers and Par professionals who do all the work in the classes every day and the other thing is it's important to recognize that Workforce Development is actually helping um bring Innovation to our day school when John was talking before about the equipment Grant we were eligible for that Grant because of a Workforce Development grant that we got um to train in solar energy and building maintenance technician HVAC so that we were eligible to apply for the grant to bring in the equipment for our school to benefit everyone and as well we just received that million dooll Grant that's for um clean energy career awareness which will be for our adults after dark and day students as well as the $600,000 um internship program that really for the trades we'll call a wage reimbursement program um for clean energy employers who hire our day after dark or evening students um for three months we will pay the wage and the the extra 100,000 is there because we do have to hire someone to manage that program it's a lot to get set up but it it will be so important for all of our students because in for our day after dark and evening you know our goal is employment so in general I just wanted to give you this overview of what we do so that you can see that even though what we're doing here at glts is the Technical Training and all the other components helping people go to work but our impact is really much larger we are looking to build Pathways to economic stability we're looking to drive economic competitiveness for our businesses and also in the long run creating a much more vital community so thank you for giving me this opportunity today to tell you about what we do and I appreciate your support there we go first of all thank you for the report this was great I certainly have been following Along on this but I did have a couple of questions um the first one being how do we identify or recruit the for the after do program in particular I understand the that are coming from the high schools but in the actual training of the underserved that we are focusing on how do you recruit them I see things on Facebook and social media from um the workforce board the groundwork Lawrence I've seen things from whia that they had received grants and they were advertising it so how do we get that group of people in here so for our Workforce Development for our adults actually we've made a decision that we for almost all of our grants all our programs we are not going to be the recruiter we do some Outreach but we partner with local organizations so the thing is our main partner is mass hire Mary Mc Valley Career Center um and so they do the part which is the recruitment the assessment um and then the enrollment and then the students come over here for us to ask a few more questions do a Corey check and give the final okay to for all the students who come in thank you and then you know for the after dark the thing is that we go out and do presentations at the different high schools for the for our high school program um and also Word of Mouth you know I think that that first year or so it was really hard to get students in but now you know the applications come rolling in because students refer other students one more thing I thank you for hoping to get all this money in so that the job can get done thank you very much yeah the money's available we go after it any other questions Susan thank you oh I'm sorry John I I just want a couple of comments so one of the things that's a real challenge is getting teachers for the evening programs and Sue does a terrific job like sometimes it's really hard to find someone to do the job she calls other schools companies she does a terrific job in filling that Gap and you know a lot of them are our own instructors but that doesn't even come close to filling the needs of all the different positions we could offer more even more training the thing that holds us back is finding instructors to to run the programs that's our biggest challenge in our Workforce Development uh work um but Susan does a terrific job because without that we can't run these programs and so uh that's I think one of the hardest things of the job is to to do that kind of work I mean it's hard enough during the day never mind trying to get night so we've strategized on that and trying to figure out ways to to recruit so we're we're starting to do some work around visiting some of the people that Susan's hiring will be visiting companies to talk about not only do they need Workforce Development training so we can do uh Partnerships with specific companies but also talking about do we can we have the opportunity to talk to their employees about working after hour because they're the they they have the expertise that we're looking for to train our after our evening program uh students so we've been engaging in doing some of that work as well so um I think it's terrific work one of the things one of the things that we do well that we've been doing well is uh placing students who complete the program so it makes no sense to bring in and train people if there's no job after so one of my commitments and Susan understands as well because we have a lot of conversations about this and a lot of strategizing on this is that don't want to run programs for 15 people and then say well we we trained you but sorry there's no work so it's critical critically important that we have an understanding of where the jobs are before we start the programs because we want to make sure we can put them to work and so um that's the job of uh the uh Career Center typically but because they weren't finding the kind of placements that we thought was important we took on that row ourselves and we use some of our money to hire somebody uh because of the work that we've done uh the comp uh uh Commonwealth Corporation has put out a specific grant that now allows us to hire somebody to do that work for us we met with them and told them the problems we were having with placing and so we said we want to do it ourselves which isn't something they typically fund so then uh after meeting with us and convincing them it was the right way to go also the argument was if we can get out there and recruit the jobs we can also build new relationships for our day program as well as our no night program so we have more industry people who understand what we do and what we are can accomplish but also we get to see better get into the these companies and see what is is the work they're doing we want to know deeply know what is the skills they want so we can make sure we train for the skills that they want so that's helped that uh that work in that relationship and so um because of the way Susan's commitment to making sure we have these jobs uh it was recognized by Commonwealth Corporation he put out a grant so that other schools could also do that so uh it just just kind of uh wanted you to realize the kind of commitment that um we have towards Workforce Development and we know how important it is to our community to try to help find jobs so Susan at the end of when they finish a 300H hour program Susan does a like a graduation they have a party and she always invites me to the party to say some words so I go and I and I and they bring their F and everything and the hardest thing I have about when I talk to the the graduates is I have a hard time not crying because when you see the families and it really changes lives it's really hard not to really feel that and that's the kind of work we do right and that's a picture right up there of last week we were over at HRI brother boiler works with our welding class we're hoping that a number will get a job over there thanks Susan that's all thank you Susan thank you very much with that introduction I thought John was going to say you were running for an office I'm just over here doing my job uh building uh construction project updates from the superintendent on hanger one hanger two portic culture and a cafeteria okay so the uh Hangar One building which is the one that's being uh went out to bid uh we got the bid for the subcontractors today came in about where we expected so how it gets done is you put out a bid and you have subcontractors who going to do uh the electrical the plumbing those parts of it separate from the general contractor and the subcontractors uh bids came in at about 2.7 million I think it's about where we expected it now the general contractor will then bid his part of the job and we expect that to come in somewhere about 2.3 million the general contractor then hires all the subcontractors who were selected uh and he adds that to his bid so we get a final bid of so general contractor is responsible for the subcontractor's work and hiring them and all that but the uh process is that they have to bid and we have to select them and then they get turned over to the general contractor who uses specific subcontractors for the project so that we will get the general contractors uh bid next Tuesday and then the process will be finally done and then once we award it we can actually get started on the project so that building was expected to come in at about $5 million we hope to start uh the work on that building the beginning of April and uh we've got we've got a as part of the uh uh the expectation of the project is uh is a five minut five month Pro we expect to do it in about five month which is a little aggressive um but um we think we have a little bit of leeway in uh Sesser 3 we applied for an extension in time to spend that free money because that's some of the money we're using on that particular project so if we can get that uh that would help take off the pressure in terms of getting the building done in that time frame but we're waiting to hear from that anyways hanger two uh uh building or uh building that we're building as uh another part of the uh project requirement I mean the FAA requirement to ensure that we have enough square footage for the program the building that has if you uh look to the right of the garages out there we've started construction of that building the students have been working on that our own staff been working on that so the walls and the trusses are up uh ready to start the roof uh and some of the in the uh all the underground for Plumbing's been done uh so once we put the roof on we can pour the concrete floor and really go to town with all the Mechanicals finish that up that's a hopeful uh completion dat of early May to have that building uh be able to be occupied the Horticultural landscape building which is over by the greenhouse we started that this week framing that this week uh so the students are that's totally the students project so they're doing the carpentry the plumbing the not the plumbing but the electrical the HVAC uh that's where the geothermal systems going in so it'll be a geothermal system that will be used to heat that building and and uh as part of the uh com we have to sub out we got an engineer to do the uh geothermal engineering and a company that will oversee the project but they will work with the students in order to build the Geo system so the kids can learn how to do that that's part of the contract uh language to ensure the students and then that'll be a a working go system for us to continue to train students in hbac on the installation of GE systems um which is very expensive but it's new tech technology that uh we expect to uh start to Skyrock in in in the future because of the uh efficiency and the cost to operate that type of system so those and then the cafeteria all the equipment finally came in so we can now start to install the kitchen equipment that's been hold up down there so we will start installing that uh equipment uh very soon well we've actually already started but um we haven't gone to town on it really really uh which we will do in a couple weeks once we get our uh the uh we're going to have the students and some of the professional working together to to put the kitchen together both plumbing and uh HVAC is putting hva students HVAC students are putting in the walk-in refrigerators and freezers that are going to be utilized in that space um so that project we hope to have that done by the end of the school year and be ready for use next year that's it thank you admissions report Mr Lavoy so the admissions report I'm going to we're going to have our uh assistant uh superintendent do the admissions report who's been uh director of guidance who who has been overseeing the admission process this year uh I asked her if she would do the report so you could uh uh get a chance to hear her so Brenda all right thank you so this is an exciting week we um are planning on sending out our first round of admissions decisions and acceptances this week um targeting Friday afternoon March 15 um so this year we have seen an increase in applications so our priority deadline is February 1st but we'll continue to accept applications through June 1st um I don't believe you have last year's numbers in the the packet but um and there's been even a little bit of an update in the numbers since last week we continue to process applications and complete them as we can so as of today we have 1447 complete applications um 1410 are complete pending meaning we have everything that we need they're scored and they're ready to um to receive their decision um so this right now this is an increase of 139 applications over last year um what's been really exciting is to see um some increases in a couple of our communities so for let's see uh for Andover last year we had 24 applications as of this time and this year we have 29 um Lawrence went from 961 to 1,59 methu andette was actually almost exactly the same so 283 to 282 just down one and north and over that was the biggest change so last year there were 29 applications at this time and this year we have 54 so um this was actually the first year that North Andover when we visited the middle school they had us speak with all of the students and not just students who said that they were interested in advance so that obviously had a huge impact on our applications this this year I don't know if you have the transfer applications in your packet as well um so as of this date we have 154 applications for the class of 2027 which would be next year's 10th graders and we have 50 1 applications for the class of 2026 so our Junior so I anticipate very uh few openings for sophomores and Junior transfers next year so it's nice following up uh these reports about access with after dark and the adult programs and expansion um when you see the numbers like this and how many students will be weight listed so any questions please uh the toal appli you have all the all all the information you need in order to process them it's that's not all the applications total do you know what the total amount of students that applied this year is so we we take out of this number we remove um any duplicate applications applications that were just started and not fully submitted um out of District applicants um um but I believe the last report that I received on Monday it was over 1,600 it might have been like 1680 um so when you take out some of those extraneous applications you know we're we're still looking at well over 1500 so what happens to applications like that where we don't have all the information we need do we contact the schools how do we handle that yeah so um and that's part of the reason why we uh do wait until the middle of March to send out our decision so we try to make sure that any application that's submitted by the February 1st deadline that we try to get all of the records so that they will be um scored and uh they receive a decision in the first round so um we continue to reach out to the middle schools in some cases we're just waiting for them to send us you know additional documents sometimes they'll forget to upload something um sometimes we're looking for discipline reports we might notice that there's a suspension on an attendance record but they didn't provide the discipline report um we also have a lot of stud students who are newcomers um so there are a number of situations where students came from another country um it might have been either at the beginning of this year as in e8th grade or the end of the seventh grade and we have limited um documentation so we we reach out we have Betsy Gomez who works in the office she's our Equitable access liaison and she actually works with the families and she'll even reach out to the schools in the other countries to try to get whatever records we can um because reducing the number of incomplete applications especially for somebody coming from um another country and they don't they don't have access to those records we don't want to keep those as incomplete applications um so we try whatever we can to um to get all of the documentation and then ultimately there are some applications that will score um say if it is somebody coming from another country they have the transcript maybe not a discipline record maybe not the uh the attendance um so we try to complete them as much as possible thank you anybody else Mr Tom B if the student's accepted and then decides to not attend how does that play out in the start of school in septe you know getting other kids to fill the void right so we send out our decisions uh we use an online application portal now it's called go to CTE and when we send out the decisions we initially send them out through an email and right in the email it gives them the option of accepting um the offer and they say that they're coming or they can decline so some students we know they apply to multiple schools they might be going to um a private school or Lawrence High methu and high so um right there they have the opportunity to um say that they're not coming and we fill all of the spots um we have a target number I believe this year it will be 485 and we continue to accept students as the openings become available and that H happens throughout the summer and we'll do that even into um into September if we have openings um so they they get their acceptance through email not a letter in the mail just so initially it's the email uh because of the online portal and then we follow that up with a letter with additional information about enrolling and this year we're actually um doing an online enrollment as well so in the past it's been all paper um which is you know more time consuming easier to to miss things so um it's it's a an online enrollment system that goes through X2 which is our student information system so um families will be able to go in create an account they fill out all the information and then they can upload documents as well so we're hoping that that will help to streamline the the enrollment process this year and we're talking about on our accepted students day in May having um computers and stations set up where we can support the families with that online um enrollment process uh next up is the principles report Miss Linsky please good evening it's tough following uh following all these great reports tonight um I just want to share um some updates um we have um including staff professional learning uh some safe office data a digital Wellness opportunity presentation for our students I want to share a little bit about our literacy AF 1707 book giveaway Early College Planning Grant and um what happened today of course all the freshmen um half of them started their freshman career area selection today um so I wanted to share uh last month on the 14th um it was uh one of our professional learning opportunities that um it was great because it was run by staff it was run by um administrators teachers instructional coaches they were all sessions that um people put together so they were also it was great to have in-house presenters um and um it's just one of the many stops that um we had and so it was probably we received it was well received by staff and um it was great to see some in-house presentations I also want to share just a data point from our safe office um we were looking uh the semester 1 at the end of semester one we were looking at our suspension rate and um so from last year to this year um the the rates for our referrals to the positive alternative to school suspension program um that's what you've heard before P that pass program that has been reduced and also our out of school suspension has been reduced this year um and that is again with an additional I believe 80 something students um one other data point that um was great to see is that um our suspensions for special education students have been significantly reduced and that's really um you know that's something that we were kind of looking at and I will say it's been a great collaboration between the guidance Department the safe office as well as the Special Education team really working together um so we also have been looking at this because last year with the district support um we put to and the superintendent we had um we added two additional positions and one of them is to have um a dedicated Freshman Academy team leader that kind of works with the freshman and works with um the assistant principal and the dean and we also have an adjustment counselor that's kind of assigned to that space um so we believe that these enhancements really um you know kind of attributed to the decrease and so we're going to keep monitoring this data um but I did want to share it because um I think it's pretty remarkable um right now that we are a knock on wood of course that we're looking at um less students suspended um we're really trying to keep kids in school and also that the there was a decrease in one of our special populations so um I believe we shared with the committee we got a cell phone policy Grant like a cell phone Grant at the beginning of the year and part of that Grant was we used for um purchasing equipment to store cell phones but part of it when we wrote the grant was around education so we're excited that on April 4th um we're partnering with Boston children it's called digital Wellness lab and it's through Boston Children's Hospital in Harvard Medical School and the whole idea is to really um kind of educate and have dialogue around positive relationship with technology so we have a presenter coming out and um all of the grades will have an assembly on that we're also looking to partner with the digital Wellness lab um in conjunction with this day to send out some resources to families and the community as well CU it's such an important um topic so today we had um kind of a book giveaway which is better than a book sale um local 1707 partnered with AF mass and they provided every student with GL glts the opportunity to get a free book of their choice um the AFT president Beth Kos came um and um toured the school with the super intendent and we had students that were able to choose from eight different titles and the titles were great the titles um were selected by some of our grade 10 English teachers um grade level very high interest um culturally responsible um responsive and it was um just a great day there were volunteer teachers that worked the table um and um as you can see there were happy faces giving away books so that's always a good way we're looking to see how we can um use this book giveaway and somehow tie it possibly into our summer reading or maybe independent reading here I'm also excited to share that um we were awarded um The Early College Planning Grant this is something that we spoke about um this year in terms of trying to work to expand access to um some early college classes um so we were awarded the 50 $50,000 we got the maximum Grant um um and we're looking to partner with Northern Essex and potentially other community colleges or other partners um so this is really kind of the first step and the grant will be used to kind of explore student interests work with teachers counselors and families to kind of determine what's best and we're really excited because we have the opportunity here not only to provide um early college classes um on the academic side but look for Partnerships um in the career areas um and and especially where Northern Essex is right here in Lawrence and does a lot of medical we're really excited for this opportunity and so really this is a planning Grant so it's really kind of um uh an opportunity for us to kind of take a step back and look at what our needs are and then um should we choose to go forward the next step would be to apply for Early College designation and so we would do that the following year and today I saw a lot of nervous freshmen um I saw a couple walking around taking deep breaths with their teachers um it was um half of the students um the students that were in shop today made their shop selection um and so the next group of students will make their shop selection on Tuesday March 19th and then um it's a Friday notification kind of like the admissions but Friday March 22nd the Freshman students will be notified um via email about their shop placement um we then have a series of days that they're they stay in shop and have special programming until students are actually placed so April 1st all of our freshman will um start in their permanent shops and then um we are following up with a parent career night on Thursday May 2nd and that's a night for parents and Guardians to come in and um meet their students shop teacher and learn a little bit more now that the students have been selected in the shop um so it's a very exciting time um so this year just so you know a little bit of our process um the students will rank all eight career areas that they explored um so they'll be ranking them one through eight um one being their first choice eight being their last and then um we have them enter their first second and third career areas um from the Google form so we kind of have them kind of do a worksheet first to kind of prepare and then they actually entered into our Aspen workflow um so there's a placement formula and um students will be placed into their first choice ranking uh um by overall Rank and then um we just go through it's filled so um it's exciting time and um we'll we'll have some updates on that um so I think um you all know we mentioned it but I just also want to remind the committee that we are um undergoing our department of Ed comprehensive review this week um yesterday it started with some virtual interviews um they're on uh the team is on site for the rest of the week they were out doing observations of classrooms today that will continue tomorrow um and Thursday um followed by some focus groups with students staff and I believe there's a um there was a family group last night so we're excited um to kind of you know have the results of that and see how we can use that to um always continues to improve thank you any questions for the principal Mr M yeah um it says here uh school committee focus group have those members been selected for this review three we're going to have which I was to okay okay we're actually looking for three volunteers your M on oh which I was going to me mention it this good thing you brought it up remind me we need three school committee members willing to uh talk to the focus group that are going to be here on Thursday I mean yeah Thursday at 4:30 I think it yeah and it's via zoom and it's going to be via Zoom so they will give you a link and so if we had four members who were interested in speaking to them so okay so Marilyn Bill and okay and miss Mia what time is that it's uh 4: I think it's 4:30 just send out an email yes so I'll send you out the information email with the link we'll send that out to you tomorrow morning okay y thank you thank you any other questions so just out of interest and you might not know this but uh some of the titles I was interested in some of the titles of the books they picked up can't he I didn't hear you I was interested in some of the titles of the book books that they picked out the kids picked out I'll actually share this presentation out with you all electronically because you can link and it has all the titles in a brief description so um there there's something for everyone there so I'll share that out thank you uh reports of the committee there are none I'm sorry now I just wanted to make a comment that we've had great reports here tonight and it feels good and there's some really good stuff in here and is a good report out night old bu business there was none new business uh Mr M requested some time to discuss District committee regular meetings I'm sorry Marin I didn't know where this would fit in but I just wanted to make a comment I had mentioned earlier John wasn't here when I said it that I um made a trip down to the pool my old stomping ground and um I noticed that there was a new mat right at the initial entrance which was beautiful but then the floor was kind of bare and the tile had been taken up so I went into the pool and the coach in there said oh if you want to see what's really going on and I want to comment on how fabulous it looks in the landing the space between the two gyms the big gym the small gym the stairs that go down that whole floor has been replaced with gigantic tiles I think they're the wrong color cuz they're kind of red and blue and they should be orange and black but they look fabulous it looks so I don't know just it was a wow factor and I this is my pitch right here I'm hoping that same thing is going to be done in that area when you first walk into the pool lobby is that going to happen yes that's we had the we picked up the rest of the tile today actually so they're coming in this week to finish it looks awesome set now Mr M new business please uh thank you I requested um for the district committee to discuss uh our regular meetings based on if I'm not wrong the school Charter we we're supposed to be meeting the second and fourth Tuesday or has that changed that changed last year that Chang okay there there is a new there is a new schedule out and it's on a trial basis and I believe we'll take care of it during reorganization okay if it's going to stay permanent okay so when is that reorganization I'm sorry when is that April 1 okay okay okay um actually I'll ask uh Su to send out a schedule if you haven't gotten one there is a schedule out okay all right thank you anybody else yes sure well while we're mentioning April 1st is our reor meeting for selection of uh committee officers so did we want to select the time and for that particular meeting you that's a special meeting we have I don't think it's been uh I I think the chair would have to call that yeah right I'll have to look at the school calendar keep away from certain dates right yeah we have to have it on the 1 we have to have it on we have to have it on the 1st unless it falls on a weekend other than that it's got to fall on it's got to be on April 1st um Monday that's a Monday so it has to be on that Monday and uh what particular time you if you want to keep it at 6 o' or you want to do it earlier or keep it six keep six o'clock time whatever the committee prefers be okay for everybody o' okay April 1st 6 o' Sue will send out Su will send out the uh invite and do the uh posting and everything for it table matters table matters Mr Lavoy I think you wanted to uh do you want to address the faculty dress code or did you want to remove that uh I'd like to remove it until next year I uh being so close to the end of the year I don't think it's the appropriate time to make a change in address code but between now and the end of the school year we'll uh come up with a new plan so that we can present it at the start of the next school year so you make a motion what's the motion to remove the um from the table postpone or just remove from the table remove it for now remove it from the table oh so we would remove it from table matters we'd put a vote on that and then we' vote to remove the item from the agenda going to remove it and if he wants to bring it back he can bring it back at a later date okay good y can I have a motion second any discussion Please Mr tbox yes Miss Fitzgerald yes Miss dla Mr Jones yes Mr Mahia no Mr hayam yes Personnel consideration report uh this also had a couple updates I told you there were three new ones on the bottom uh resignations Miss Fatima Alam programming instructor of effective June 30th Miss Denise Rosa child care assistant effective March 28th leaves of absence there's none retirements there's none appointments Miss Brenda Richardson assistant superintendent who was effective February 26th in job postings there were six of them I'd like to do three at a time before we call a vote uh Club advisors girls flag football the advisor coach will Coach flag football in a new Flag Football League supported by the New England Patriots the league begins in April and ends in June there are two games one night a week and there'll be 102 practices a week practices a week should be two practi it should be two practices a week two practices a week you can change that uh two coaches 1625 each this is a new position and there's a flyer uh physics teacher per teacher's contract effective date April 2024 it's a new position Matt teacher uh per teachers's contract effective date 2024 it's a new position academic teacher and job descriptions are attached can I have a motion to vote on those three please motion to approve second yes but I want to okay now's a good time okay discuss when I read about the flag football I said wow I wish when I was in high school had head girls flag football my only concern is it is a club and it's something new and I'm thinking that a real lot of girls would want to participate and my only concern is that it would impact the Varsity Sports that we now have for our girls so um Can is this the kind of thing where they can do both um is this under Mia I understand the partnership with the Patriots I went online I looked it up but um I I I guess I'm just concerned with the few varsity girls sports that we do have in the spring that they are not negatively impacted um hopefully there's room for all but has that been discussed or looked at Mr so the the program will be after the regular Sports so it's not going to impact the regular Sports so it will start I think 6:30 or 7 under and know if it gets dark we'll they'll play Under The Lights thank you anybody else bless Mr Mahia yes Mr tbox yes Miss Fitzgerald yes Miss dla yes Mr Jones yes Mr hadam yes uh the next three social studies teacher heard to teacher contract effective date April 2024 it's a new position Ela teacher per teacher's contract effective date 2024 new position Saturday attendance recovery tutor reporting to the administrative Dean and assistant principle of safe responsibilities include tutoring students who are endangering with students uh supporting them I'm sorry enrolled in the attendance recovery program on Saturday starting 41 and engaging with students supporting them in their academic work per local 1707 contract contract Grant funded 4124 615 24 2 to 3 tutors 8:00 a.m.

and we will be doing textbook updates and Mr DM I believe is scheduled to be there for us as well okay so we'll get our technology meeting in great anything else no any questions from Mrs Hayes Communications Mrs Jordan um yes so we met on February 27th uh we went over we also had we had another meeting right after that oh that was the last one sorry that's the last meeting um we went over our newsletter that was just published we have um upcoming newsletter which print date will be April 5th it's going to be a combo with the town on like a budget Edition really great um and then our next meeting is March 25th at 1 p.m.

e good evening everyone it's currently 603 and my name is Claire McKenna I'm the chair of the in aror energy commission and as chair and calling this meeting to order I'm participating today from an Arbor Michigan uh welcome to the March installment of the uh 2024 electronic meeting of the energy commission we'll conduct this meeting uh like inperson meetings so Commissioners during roll call please indicate your location and please remain on camera just as you would during in-person meetings and please mute as well public comment will be via telephone only tonight to speak during any of the public comment opportunities please call one of the following to toll-free numbers 87 7 853 5247 orle 8788 0099 or enter the meeting ID number 956 8718 7876 on your phone this information is also available on the published agenda in the Public Notices section of the city website and on the broadcast of this meeting on CTN Channel 16 and AT&T channel 99 and online of course at a2gov.org /watch CN Joe would you please read us the land acknowledgement yep and just letting you all know I'm calling in I'm at a conference in Rochester Minnesota I have semi- spotty Wi-Fi and there is entirely possible there's background noise so apologies for any technical difficulties or for that um for the land acknowledgement I acknowledge that the land the city of an arbor occupies is the ancestral traditional and contemporary lands of anash shab including Odawa oju and badmi and W peoples I further acknowledge that our city stands like almost all property in the United States on lands obtained generally in unconscionable ways from indigenous peoples The Taking of this land was formalized by the Treaty of Detroit in 1807 knowing where we live work study and recreate does not change the past but a thorough understanding of the ongoing consequences of this past can Empower us in our work to create a future that supports human flourishing and justice for all individuals thanks so much Joe and can you please uh call the rooll yep like I said I'm uh just state where you were at as you were calling in um commissioner berwitz president from my home in an arbor council member Briggs here in an arbor commissioner koven Garcia present from Ann arber commissioner Hans see in um Vice chair harp president from my home in an arbor uh commissioner 11 here uh Anan Harbor chair McKenna resident Harbor commissioner mki here from my home in an Harbor uh commissioner overpeck not seeing as mentioned council member de will be unable to make it and mentioned commissioner cender will be a little late and commissioner Smith will also be on aable to make it tonight um commissioner zlan my con is kind of spotty gotta see you didn't here though so all right uh Cher you got a quum back to you okay thanks so we'll move to approval of the agenda tonight uh do I have a motion to approve the agenda as posted Vice chair harp and second and commissioner mki thank you um please raise your hand if you want to propose any changes on tonight we have some nice uh discussion points lined up for us okay seeing No Hands raised all those in favor of approving proving the agenda is posted U please raise your hand and say I I okay seeing um a unanimous vote the agenda is approved and so we'll move to approval of the minutes uh is there a motion to approve the minutes as posted a second Vice chair harp and um commissioner kovin Garcia thank you so much um any changes tonight uh proposed changes to the minutes on flick okay seeing No Hands raised all those in favor of approving the minutes tonight is posted um please raise your hand and say I I I okay and another unanimous outcome and so the minutes are approved tonight that means we will advance to public input um this is the first opportunity for the public to speak for up to three minutes if you're watching on CTN as mentioned earlier please call 78899 or 87 7 853 5247 with the meeting ID 956 8718 7876 this m information is also displayed on the meeting agenda and the video feed on CTN um City staff will select callers that have raised their hand and using the last three digits of your phone number to electronically raise your hand to indicate your desire to speak please press star n on your phone and you will hear an automated announcement that the host is allowing you to speak and when you're doing so please move to a quiet area and mute any background sounds and please again state your name and address at the beginning of your comments Joe do we have anyone on the line do um we're gonna have caller ending in 228 hello can you hear me yes we can awesome hi everyone my name is Greg Woodring I'm the president of an arbor for Public Power and I live at 1012 West Cross I'm just calling in to say that we were very excited to see last night that the uh proposed budget for 2024 includes uh a million dollars side for a phase two feasibility study uh we and an arbor for Public Power uh fully support what we interpret to be the intention behind the uh staff recommendations which is to move forward with the seu uh and then continue to pursue the meu in parallel uh the seu is fantastic means for us to kickart a municipal utility with a us to expand the amount of solar IND distribute generation within the city of Ann Arbor while we are going through the process of acquiring DTS assets and so we're very supportive of this um path forward and we hope that we can uh be a asset to the city in uh bringing this Vision to fruition and we hope that uh as we move forward we'll go forward with that vision in mind that well we are continue to investigate uh municipalization and going through the various hurdles of it that will to try to pursue uh 100% Renewable Power through the seu uh as quickly as we can so thank you very much um and I look forward to a good discussion tonight thank you thank you um we also have caller ending in 245 hello can you hear me yes we can uh hello my name is Kathleen Murphy and I live at 3:15 Linda Vista Street in an arbor and I'm um speaking tonight as did Greg wooding for an arbor for Public Power which is Seeking a municipal electric utility or an meu to replace DTE and um we want to see the seu and the meu the sustainable energy utility and the municipal electric utility move forward in parallel and that means that um we like the language in the resolution supporting the advancement of the anab sustainable energy utility could uh to be inclusive of a mun or M Municipal electric utility in the future um so thus I'm asking that the language be included in the resolution you're putting forward tonight thank you very much thank you um I have no further callers okay thanks so now we'll move to a discussion of uh the resolution that was pointed to in um the last couple of notices from the public that we had um I think we'll we'll bring Missy up to uh to discuss staff recommendations and um I'd love to hear Missy thanks for joining us I'm so excited to hear what you have to say tonight and I know that will be fruitful discussion so go ahead and take the floor thanks chair McKenna and thanks everyone for allowing me to join you tonight uh little frazzled left my computer at the office so like running in hot uh apologies and I also want to do a special thanks to commissioner mki because he sent some great questions in advance which helps me also think about framing so thanks so much for that so what we uh wanted to bring forward for you today was one to make sure that you knew about staff's recommendations that came out of our energy options report and I'm happy to go back uh a little bit and talk about what that was how we got there where we are today just to kind of level set and ground because I recognize not everyone is living this every minute of the day okay and then uh one of the recommendations we're asking for the energy commission to consider a resolution in support of if you indeed as a body are in support of so we could bring that forward to city council for their consideration good to keep going chair McKenna okay yeah go ahead excellent uh so as folks probably recollect we have a very ambitious goal of 100% renewable electricity powering our entire community community and that is part of a20 it's part of our uh 2030 plan and strategy but it also was actually adopted by Council separately so it's even more kind of reinforced as a goal that we're aspiring towards and so in the Arc of my time at the city we've done many analyses to figure out how exactly does that look that's that's pretty that's pretty aggressive and uh staff had come up with some recommendations and some Pathways and it became time to also bring in some industry experts to help us chart path for what that could look like evaluating multiple different options so that report was commissioned oh gosh I don't have a sense of time anymore after the pandemic but two years ago uh about and uh they it was Five Lakes Energy with a team of folks won that award and last fall they shared a draft report with us looking at multiple different options and Pathways now they really were only focusing on that one goal 100% renewable energy right that that is the charge that we have from city council right now that is the goal and objective now there are pros and cons of lots of different approaches that we could consider so they they looked at the different options through the lens of our energy criteria and princip principles which this body helped adopt and and move forward to city council for formal city-wide adoption so they evaluated lots of different Pathways they did some economic analyses of those Pathways and in the end they came out with a a series of analyses and I would say soft recommendations uh their job wasn't necessarily to to recommend a path forward but it was to inform our path forward uh just a few weeks ago they finalized their recommendations and I want to be transparent nothing substantive in the report changed it was formatting I caught some typos but they needed to get it Final in design so if you go to a website today you're going to see the final version of that report the analysis is not different what is though is when we wrote Our RFP we asked to understand Pathways to achieve 100% renewable electricity and we had some sub questions and their report didn't answer all of the sub questions things like the best way to do demand management programs or estimates for things like undergrounding and so when they were finalizing the report I had them do an addendum to make sure they hit all of the requirements of the RFP that's also on the website that's a shorter document where you can take a look a part of that analysis was also costing out what a phase 2 study would look like what they thought a reliability study would look like if we were to investigate in that and a best guess estimate of what legal costs would look like if we were to pursue formal municipalization so you'll see numbers in there uh it is also where the million dollars estimate came from about the cost of the study because we had them do industry research on what it would actually take to do a phase two study which is as you heard the callers talk about uh this kind of interest and and the administrator is considering it is not in the budget yet because his budget isn't done but he is like that is in the ecosystem system of what's being considered a phase two is really an appraisal right it's an offer that you have to be prepared to make to buy set assets so it's a very very specific type of assessment that has to happen so all of this is to say this report comes out and the report uh finds that there may be many reasons to pursue formal municipalization and a taking through conation of DT's assets but it is unlikely to hit our 2030 goal and given that doesn't mean you close that door but means if your 2030 goal is the only policy objective you have which it is you need to lean into other strategies immediately and those other strategies don't close again future options you want to leave doors open but if if that's what you're aiming for you got to act now and so they recommend that we uh lean into the sustainable energy utility they recommend that we pursue a virtual power purchase agreement possibly some wrecks and we start as soon as possible because we anything that we do to be new and additional and it takes time right to site to build to construct to bring to Market so we got that report in late fall and then staff obviously uh were processing we then got the models about two months later so just want to pause for a second let you know we all got the report at the same time you got the report I got it about 24 hours before you at the report but we we got that simultaneously the models though took much longer and they're very complex and so it took us a lot of time to walk through those models to be trained on them to understand the assumptions in those models and they were even uh complex enough y'all I may not be the smartest person in the entire world but I don't run a utility either and I needed help right to to figure out exactly how valid some of the assumptions were like the cost of resilience the value of resilience on the system what are other utilities doing right now to price a battery how are they using it for demand management purposes these are really important industry defining questions that are happening right now and people are seeking answer on so Brian steglitz and I made the decision to hire a third party that actually works with utilities doing ratemaking to test the model and they are actively doing that right now we got some preliminary uh discussions with them last week showing they they think the model is sound there's some tweaking that's going to happen the reason I'm sharing that is because the model for this sustainable energy utility in particular was an economic model because we knew the technology was possible right but we needed to know that the economics worked and what we have found out from all of these analyses and again we'll share the final report from strategen is the firm that we're working with as soon as we get it about the like an external validation of this model is not going to surprise any of you solar works solar will come in cheaper per unit of production than what people pay today that makes complete and total sense because solar has a Payback right it it's it if you don't have solar we talk about it might take 11 years or 13 years but the asset is warrantied for 25 however at the scale we'd be talking about we're talking about a 30-year asset with the maintenance that we'd be doing in the performance so that works what we're trying to understand is what's the price of a battery and how do you provide the holistic value associated with that so that's what we're trying to uncover right now and that's where I can't tell you that it inherently is cheaper than what you pay today because what you pay today doesn't have resilience associated with it right so there's an additional price and that's what we're trying to unpack at the moment so this is more than you probably wanted and I'm happy to go into as much depth as folks are interested the point of this is after doing all of these analyses Brian and I sat down with a group of stakeholders and we we thought through what does this mean what are we going to recommend right we need to take action somewhere and what do we see as the space and so what you've got before you in your packet is a memo that we prepared for Milton and co-developed with him that he then sent to city council for their consideration just as kind of an FYI and that memo explicitly recommends three actions it recommends that we put the sustainable energy utility forward to a vote of the people and I'm going to pause I don't actually think nor does anyone think that's required but we want to do it and here's a few reasons why one I think it's good practice this is a big policy decision and we should know that the public wants us to move that forward at least From staff's perspective number two if someone hated this perhaps a utility they will try to Sue and if you have the vote of the people it's clearly allowed so I still think we'd win I'm not a lawyer I can tell you many people everyone thinks that we would win but it could slow it down and we don't want to go slow we don't have time to go slow so get the work done on the front end so you can go fast right the third it gives us a chance to do really deep education and Outreach to understand what appetite for the SE looks like let me remind you the proposed sustainable energy utility is optional right you don't have to be a participant in it so it's an optin that renewable generation system that is why staff are recommending Bring It Forward give us the time to really engage stakeholders and understand it also will help us with a a roll out if we know we have high demand and we're talking about unveiling in the first year 50 megawatts that's a really different project than five megawatts right it helps us figure out how to price it how to scale it up the kind of contracts we need to have so we're recommending one we go to a vote of the people we are recommending continuing to pursue grant funding to help with the second phase of the seu which is the interconnectivity right neighbors connected to the same system sharing power uh that is not what we've modeled so far in detail and the analyses I've told you about so we continue to work with we we have a team uh we actually met today folks like Schneider Electric University of Michigan we've got peacon Street we've got really great folks who are helping us design the system to grow to what we we know as phase two it's not really micro grids but that's the term people are most familiar with uh a micro grid feeds back to the grid these wouldn't and and so it's we haven't come up with a cute name if anyone has a cute name please let us know we're trying to figure out how we Define this distinctly so reviewers aren't confused so that's uh proposal number two and then proposal three is that we actually put out an RFP to start getting bids to build brand new Renewables in Michigan that would be for the city of an arbor and we would contract through the mechanism that we have which is a virtual power purchase agreement uh does not preclude eventually being a power purchase agreement if we do become an meu but it is what we can only legally do today in that vehicle those are our formal recommendations and in a minute uh you'll see a resolution before you to consider the first which is supporting going to a vote of the people to to see if there is appetite for the seu in addition we do present other considerations for Council I want to sort of go with reiterating something I've said a few times already the only policy direction that we have is 100% renewable energy by 2030 right if Council finds other reasons and objectives to pursue traditional municipalization then we recommend steps to take that but because we do not believe formal municipalization is possible with 100% renewable energy by 2030 we are not providing a recommendation on it right so we are staying silent on that particular element again because the policy objectiv staff have been asked to implement is 100% renewable electric by great so if you read this memo in the other considerations you will see the ask of if we decide for other reasons many other reasons that we want to pursue municipalization we say we think they need to be staggered I think it would be very confusing to go to a vote of the people on two utilities right so let's start with an optional supplemental let's get it and see if there's even appetite for that and if there is we can be doing a phase two study and we can be talking about kind of rolling and growing that into something else like a full municipalization effort and we walk through kind of other steps there so I'm going to stop because I see John's hand and I see blank faces on the screen which means you're confused so John thank you process-wise is it okay that uh I I ask a question right now yeah let's let's move into it at least for my benefit and I forgotten admittedly what uh resolution was it that Council passed explicitly calling for 100% renewable energy by 2030 the 82 plan see if I can find it in the background John pardon me I'll see if I can find it in the background because the a20 plan um as was mentioned in my memo assumes CCA and it would and and the Assumption on the timeline is that 100% renewable energy would be achieved through CCA by 20 the end of 2027 and so I know that there's the guidelines and principles that were passed was it in that resolution or was there a separate other resolution calling for 100% renewable energy by 2030 yeah let me see if I can pull it up but let me take you you opened a lot of really good points for clarification so I I it may take me a minute I may have to come back because I'll do that behind the scenes a20 the the seven strategies of a20 one of them is powering the entire Community with 100% renewable energy and if you've heard me talk about that the strategies are are like the pillars they're the sort of unmovable parts of the plan whereas the actions change and evolve so one it's clearly an a20 and it been adopted as formal policy in that space and I'll see the other one in a second the other thing I wanted to name is U thank you for naming CCA Community solar landfill solar those are projects that are still in a20 and we're still working on right so just because we would pursue a sustainable energy utility uh or if we pursue formal municipalization does not mean we're not doing those other things uh I've I've talked about this before one of the concerns I have around traditional municipalization is transferability to other places if we do CCA and we get that passed it's it's fixed for the state right I'm not going to let that go but we also are very very serious in our office about hitting our 2030 goals so that means we have contingencies like we're working on four or five things which some of them won't work right we're going to lose some of those we may have some duplication or options for how we achieve if we're successful in a few of the other irons but I just wanted to reiterate CCA isn't dead we've got a draft of the legislation we're just waiting on the Strategic moment for one of our representatives to introduce it I I applaud that approach so that's the ramble kind of backstory I do want to name a question I saw from commissioner mki was uh in November as you probably know I hope you know the state the governor signed very aggressive energy legislation right so now our utilities are required to hit 50% Renewables in the electric grid by 2030 and 100% by 2040 that is wonderful however five lakes contract was done so the report does not mirror that finding what we did do is a a kind of quick post Hawk uh analysis with them and an seu is still going to be relevant and and I just wanted to name for many reasons one we still have a gap that has to get closed so if we were just thinking about renewable energy that that's an important play also we know from surveying that we did that the pain points for our residents are reliability and resilience and so even getting 100% Renewables onto the big Electric System isn't going to solve for reliability and resilience whereas the seu can actually help solve for that in in our local community so I I think it's it's a great moment to be doing this work and you're right like we may actually overproduce Renewables but I would rather be on that side and leaning into the resilience reliability function as opposed to on the the back side I want to share a couple of things um I totally agree with that I actually think that the state legislation makes the seu more powerful I mean certainly like so much more can be done if the Gap is smaller in that way um meaning you know just half of the energy by 2030 and also being in a position to have invested at this point um in the kind of infrastructure which is quite Cutting Edge I wanted to ask Miss ask a question about um you know FK order 2222 and like and just talk a little bit about framing some of the um federal regulations that will be coming out that will kind of enable this um but I also just wanted to share a point of process um for the commission and for folks listening so this is going to be in terms of the resolution and what we're considering here here today um this will be our first review of it so you know we're hearing about it everyone received it in advance of course but you know it's it's nice to have the discussion here together um so any questions that you may not get answered tonight um we can continue in contact with OSI and um and and and uh talk more about it and and kind of get those questions answered and we'll have another review on on our next meeting on 49 um and at that point we can um make a decision on on whether or not to move it forward that's kind of where we stand in the discussion today and so for folks who are um you know have tons of questions um and you know can't even formulate them or something like that um just just know rest assured that there's um more time to review this um I'm going to ask a couple of questions and then we can keep things going yeah so um Missy can you share a little bit about um I guess I'll I'll tie it to this uh kind of concept of interconnectivity that you mentioned for the phase two plan of the seu the idea that it's not exactly a micro grid but um there are going to be uh let's say um resources like solar and batteries um you know within people's homes that can be connected to each other of course that has implications like good implications for resiliency um my question is uh how are you thinking about um with your Consultants kind of like planning for the future like how are some of these future uh Federal Regulations um that um govern like wholesale sales of electricity like will be created through this um this plan um you know maybe leaving out some of the like overly technical things just like how are you conceiving of thinking about um future planning knowing that this space is so Cutting Edge and that um really in a lot of ways I I see this as anticipating um the implementation of some upcoming um big news um kind of for um for distributed energy resources or you know renewable energy resources in this country so just share a little bit about that yeah thanks for the question I think it's worthwhile to kind of reframe that a sustainable energy utility would be supplemental which means it's not the load serving entity and by not being the load serving entity we are not tied barred to the federal regulations that are coming out that you're referencing and so that's actually one of the benefits uh in terms of the design of the seu now it could grow and if it did grow into full you know traditional municipalization through condemnation it would it would have to be in compliance right now though the design elements that that's from an seu perspective of deploying deer and storage and let me also say it's not just those two we would want authorization to do geothermal for heating and cooling explicit if we're going to go to a vote of the people we're going to ask for everything the utility could possibly do so we're going to ask for electric uh we're going to ask for heating and cooling through uh thermal and all of this has to be you know carbon neutral sources we're going to ask for authorization to do efficiency work so we can offer those kinds of programs as well as onv financing so we sidestep the question but if you want to tell everyone what it is the regulations that's great I know enough about them to mess it up yeah yeah um I mean I'm also a student of this um but I'll say that uh it's like H I'm actually in a energy Law class right now so just imagine me over at the law school like what am I doing here um everyone knows I'm not a lawyer but but um yeah so Fork order 2222 was just passed recently um and uh F who's going to remember what it stands for federal ener electricity regul Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Energy Regulatory committee okay so they make the rules for how the utilities um operate and ultimately um uh kind of operate wholesale sales of electricity and especially Interstate sales of electricity and um so this new order allows for U the aggregation or like the packaging right like combining multiple smaller resources of the kinds of um distributed energy resources like solar and batteries that we're talking about here um and while normally um these kinds of resources let's say would come down to the level of someone with solar on their house right now the kind of rules that that govern that are ultimately our utilities rules so and that that's governed by the state so the the utility or the state sets the rules and the and the utility has to um this is the Michigan Public Service Commission can can say h how much of a portion of um the overall load is allowed to be accommodated with with solar and so that actually limits what individual homeowners let's say can do uh with solar but if we think about what Fork order 2222 does it allows for the wholesale for the bundling of these distributed resources to onto the wholesale Market market so it actually Sid steps the specific state laws which a lot of folks think actually limit the amount of of solar we can have in our homes and businesses um and so it's really promising in the sense that um you know if you could have larger entities and they could be these um you know let's say solar companies or developers that that are kind of you guys are proposing to perhaps work with um and uh and and you know an arbor itself could could package these resources all across the city and and sell them into the wholesale Market um with should actually be a really great way to um you know uh extend the uh the buildability of them like it makes give makes them have a better price overall so it kind of lower lowers the cost of energy sorry I'm rambling a little bit but I'm trying to piece it all together um so it lowers the cost of these of these systems across the board which is really uh going to be a benefit to an arbor um but the kind of catch right now is that Michigan um the state of Michigan doesn't have to comply quite yet so it's kind of like a five-year timeline let's say before the state of Michigan would have to comply with this uh Federal rule um so there's this kind of gray area where you know the rules have to be written for how that kind of um operation is going to work and so um I I was kind of seeing like this this interconnectivity in phase two as like a way to kind of um work with the kind of future promise of those coming regulations so that that's what I had in mind um sorry if I've just broken my own rules of jargoning I always try to say let's not jargon too much but I would offer that as we've excuse me most of our fundraising as I mentioned is focused on phase two because phase one works without it and and honestly the IRA the direct pay provision meaning governments are now eligible for the 30% rebate is gamechanging for these kinds of Economics right it it just helps that pencil even more but we have been in conversations with folks like the regional transmission entity for phase two to say can we Leap Frog and just feed into the transmission system now it's unlikely that we would aggregate at a high enough level to really be competitive in that space but with the FK order that's where that has come into beginning conversations to think about let me be clear think about we're not yet there like having those we're starting that even sounds way too more robust we know the people to talk to and we've had coffee with them so that's about as far as we've got cool yeah commiss mki uh another question read relateded to that does that then enable an aror potentially to Sid step what we would be able to do under CCA be because we be allowed to aggregate TBD well only for the utility I think what because otherwise individuals would have to contribute I need to investigate more I like the way that you're thinking though and becoming a utility and an seu is a municipal utility gives us different Vantage in the landscape than if we tried to do it individual residents kind of bidding into the system as a single ENT I need to investigate a generally I agree I I think that that there is uh the opportunity for more leeway from what again I consider a pretty restrictive State policy on what's allowed um for distributed solar yeah commissioner Zan yeah I want to say uh thank you Missy and the rest of staff for working on this um I did want to clarify a little bit the timeline you were talking about for pursuing an seu and a potential phase two feasibility study for municipalization is could you clarify the timeline on that are we like staggering are we trying to do like the seu first and then phase two study or can we do a phase two study while pursuing an seu yeah thanks for the question so let's focus on one and then we'll add the other one in because I think right now we we need to pull them apart it's very confusing uh to to talk about that you you all might be capable of holding that but my neighbor isn't right like this is this is a lot to to think through so on the seu side our recommendation is to go to a vote of the people in November because it's a presidential year because we'll have high turnout because we'll have greater representation and so that's the the resolution that's before you today to do that if it's authorized we we go right instantly uh to the point where I have reserved in my budget a staff position that I'm not going to fill so that if the voters do vote for this I can put it towards having someone come in and help support the seu implementation right and if it fails then I get my staff person back and we move on right but I think I want I want to make sure we could support it if it goes in terms of the municipalization study as you saw in the memo staff are saying agnostic on that particular topic given the policy agenda so uh what needs to happen is we have to identify funding and that is the conversation that's happening right now as the administrator is working on his budget and you heard someone recommend or mentioned last night there was a a council work session in which more more ideas were presented than are fundable right so the administrator has to take all of that and Council has to kind of weigh in and figure out what EX exactly is going to move forward that will be presented the administrator's budget in the second meeting in April at that point that's his recommendation of what he he thinks we should be investing in Council will then consider that and they will vot vote in in May to adopt the budget so I can't do anything until there's money to do a thing right so I have to wait for the next several months and see what happens if funding is allocated and committed for the phase two we would launch I would do an RFP so I wouldn't wait for an seu I would go with a phase two but it's a different process right because it requires funding upfront to do a study versus going to a vote of the people they're they're just they're different sequencing did so the answer is yes they can happen together but not today right like I need I need a time period to get authorization yeah that makes sense thank you yeah and also candidly a phase to study will take time it will take time right like and you want it to uh I I mentioned this before but I'm just going to lean into it a phase two study is truly about costing right and if you have read the financial report or the the technical analysis from Five Lakes you'll understand that there are two different variables that go into the price of our system a phase two study can only help answer one of them and that is the value of the assets right so think poles wires substations Transformers uh we actually recommend not buying some of the equipment because it serves more than just the city of an arbor and so if we bought it we'd have to buy a replacement for DTE why would I give them the new equipment we would buy the new equipment right and like keep it ourselves let them have the old equipment so we we'd have to get a refined and the the phase two would be a refinement of the value of those assets boots on the ground looking at everything right because that's what you say judge will pay for but that's only one piece the second piece is the value of the franchise what we're taking what they're they're losing by not being able to serve us anymore you will perhaps recollect our franchise has been ruled repeatedly by the courts as in perpetuity no one has ever litigated an imp perpetuity franchise some people will point to a case that that they didn't finish there is no judgment there is no idea what the cost of that franchise is we use different methodologies to give a range of what they could be but that will be uncertain the only way that number is defined is when the judge tells us what it is okay so I just want to be clear a phase two study is not going to come in and say the system is worth X it's going to say the system is worth X to Y with that uncertainty variable being the value of the franchise the value of the taking of those assets so I'm just naming everyone's going to be stupid frustrated when the study comes back out and it doesn't give us an actual number we're all going to be frustrated and I think that's really important and I need if this is where we lean in we need to name that we need to talk about that and make sure because otherwise candidly otherwise it looks like bad governance you spend a million dollars for a study that can't give you an actual number but it is giving us a number just for a portion of what we'd have to move forward with and then if uh after the study if it were deemed you had some um in the memo um we'd want to go to a vote of the people go to a right but if it were deemed to to lower cost it also says in the memo that is staff's recommendation not to if if what we find is it is almost impossible to have an meu and not have cheaper rates staff are not recommending at that point moving forward there could be other reasons again council could do it but we are not going to lean into energy poverty you know like I I just can't do that to to uh have folks pay more yes correct um but what I wanted to say there was uh once you have the value of the the physical infrastructure and the range for the taking at that point that combination of what you know and the uncertainty will be the cost that will have to be paid um to buy the system that's right which will then yeah still and so we would at that point the proposal from staff is if we get to that point and we see we see light right and we want want to go for whatever whatever the reason is it's more affordable it aligns with where the public wants to it doesn't matter we want to go to a vote of the people just like we want to go with the seu to make sure the public wants to pursue this right at that point because that's saying you agree to making an offer of X and starting the litig the litigation process that's our recommendation that's really really helpful I don't know if I've really heard it broken down quite like that before so thank you for doing that um does anyone else have questions yes AER harp thank you that this is great um and thank you for the presentation and the discussion um just thinking just as a small point in thinking about the resolution language itself I I it's it's an open question in my mind about whether or not it's useful to include the community um survey um results in that in that in some of one of the whereas Clauses for example in terms of um uh resilience and reliability in that as well um and cost which were all three identified as sort of some of the priorities um and secondly just I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what then the next steps or the process might be for um for bringing this to a vote and sort of what the ballot language how how you might get to the ballot language and sort of what those educ educational materials might consist of for example you just pointed out distinguishing between seu and meu is going to be a a piece of that and and a big piece as well so sort of clarifying those distinctions might be I'm just sort of wondering about how we get there yeah great question so the the process almost it is very likely that staff will bring a resolution to council to consider this right uh because it's a staff recommendation your guest is Charming and I love your guest uh so we will start working on ballot language that reflects some like a descriptor of what the seu is and the authorization what is it we need to be authorized to do right it's uh I'm I'm don't take these words because I need to we need to do the work but it's not just create it's own operate maintain right like there are very specific words when you're creating a utility that have to be very intentionally defined you have to follow the rules for ballot language and timing so that process uh will happen it will give authorization to do but not requirement to do right so it allows us to start it but doesn't mean we have to offer it to everyone right however we need to phase this that's an operational question that has to be determined so we would be working on the ballot language uh assuming that goes to council and well if they kill it they say no we're done right like that's I'm I'm moving on to read debates or whatever else is next in the list uh but if if it were to move forward I have already started thinking about what a Community Education campaign looks like as soon as it gets put forward and and passes Council if it does there's no activism there's no lobbying it is facts right and so my job becomes making sure people know the facts I would want everyone that's audacious but I would want 90% of the people walking into Vote or voting at home to have information about what this is so they can make an informed Choice whatever that choice is I just want informed voters so we would execute on a strategy we would develop a strategy and we would execute on that strategy to make sure voters had information about what this is and what this is not we would not I I mean I don't think there's any utility at at this moment in leaning into it's not an meu or it's this right because it could be many things like it's just what this is right this is a supplemental utility focused on providing 100% renewable energy and resilience features that is optional right an optin service are we authorized to create that and execute Renewable Energy Systems geothermal systems Etc something like that and we would be coming back to you all right with that strategy and asking for your help and getting the word out again very factual like this is what it is this is what it is not thank you all right other questions before we thank Missy for her [Music] time yeah commissioner resc you go ahead uh there's one other point in the memo that you brought up um but I don't know if it's going to be addressed in the resolution and in the activities over the next couple of months and that is um there's it's something to the effect that uh begin the process to enter into vppa to fill the Gap to allow the city to achieve the 100% renewable energy goals set by Council um would that be um covered in the resolution or in the ballot um language and um I have a immediate a follow-up question after you address that yeah it certainly wouldn't be in the ballot language because the ballot is only authorizing creation of of the utility it could be in the resolution though if if this body collectively said we want to lean into the three recommendations absolutely I picked the first because from our standpoint it's really time sensitive right that if we're going to go in November I need to start doing education yesterday and so knowing if this body supports that helps me do a work plan uh but if you also support the idea of putting an RFP out to get new Renewables and getting those bids I would certainly welcome it but it is it is distinct enough in my mind because the city would pay for it as opposed to the voters authorizing creation of the utility one is just like a contract mechanism that the city undertakes um the other the other point is I um I guess more a point than a question although you can address it respond to it as if it was a question um and that is uh in my memo that you mentioned earlier and I only copied uh um staff and um commissioner or chair McKenna and and uh Vice chair harp um and that was um the report the that um we've been all referencing um later in the report talks about the cost of vppa and wxs and I want to make sure that I understand it correctly um and not only me but others um and it gives three scenarios uh and the cost of those in Alone um could range between 10 and 15.5 million and my understanding is those don't go away in 2031 or two or three or whatever so they go on and there's no indication of what the cost of those might be and I also recognize that the Gap if you will that they're making up is um elastic call it that depending on um how um the the legislation is is implemented and how quickly the utilities meet the targets that are um met in those um um in the in in the legislation it also will depend to some degree on whether or not the city Meats Targets in the a20 plan so the one could be faster the other could be slower Etc um from from that point of view it seems to me I'm just speaking out loud now that everybody respond to it including you Missy is that it makes sense that we include something in the resolution about um um vppa about Rex about um um virtual power um reduction um what is it called um aggregation I guess it is um or agreements I it's it seems to me all of those really should be studied um because the cost implications are really significant and as you say this is not something that you just say okay we're going to do it and you buy them you know next week so um I'll just leave that for your comment and anybody else that wants to comment on that thanks I really appreciate that especially because our approach is not to close any door and so if the commission were to say uh as a body we support exploring all of these things and finding the best kind of most economical to round out that that actually would be delightful uh if that's something that you're collectively interested in the other thing we know is the best way to understand pricing is to put something out and actually get real projects the energy Market has I mean the swings in the last two years have been astronomical you know really low pricing to a Department of Commerce investigation and doubling of pricing we're now seeing things sort of fall but supply chain issues are still a problem with certain types of equipment labor has fundamentally changed in terms of the price of Labor and so it's just such a volatile Market Market that I think the way I viewed those numbers for five lakes were here's kind of an estimate you need to go to the market and see what it can build the other thing I would say is in another area of our work as you've heard us talk about before is we intervene in cases all the time and one of the things we were successful in in an intervention was getting agreement that if Ann Arbor wanted to DT would have to build 400 megawatts of Renewables in Michigan for us and I would want to see if competitive bid what I mean by that is I'd want to go and have the whole Marketplace bid and DT also bid but if DT was the Builder and we stayed and we didn't do full municipalization what I kind of love about that particular scenario if that's the future we go is I can phase it down and it rolls into their other portfolio right so it's an arbor until they get to the 50% match well I need less right and the seu is chipping away but they still need it so it goes into their IRP into their foundational generation right so we're sort of not only helping ourselves hit a goal we're helping the entire system transition to more Renewables in the fact that's the plus where we say DTE plus plus SCU plus vppa it's what what might be DTE do in terms of its plus right yeah it's a y'all if there was an easy way to do this it would have been done that's all I'll say that's cool commissioner 11 uh yeah thanks uh for bringing up this discussion um just kind of thinking out loud I don't have my thoughts fully formed on this but as as I understand it we're not required to do this vote is that right yeah that's right this was a point of of a lot of conversation amongst us we we see the benefit of a vote and because it's a really big policy decision I think From staff's perspective we want to make sure the public is is interested in it okay yeah and and I and I get that and I guess my concern is if we ultimately want to do another vote for full municipalization and even if we don't do that um there's been a lot of talk of full municipalization I'm concerned that we're going to I mean yes we're going to do Outreach we're going to explain what we're doing but I do have a lot of concerned that voters are going to go and they're not necessarily going to know what they're voting for that there might be confusion as to whether they say they want to maybe they think if we do this then we can't do F mization and I know that's not the case and we all know that you know we're gonna continue on two tracks I just I do have a concern that it's going to create confusion and may be counterproductive to do this vote um and and it is an optional thing we're not requiring anybody to get their power through the sciu I mean it is it's certainly a big investment and I just wonder if that's something that is better left for us to advise and Council to do a vote on then I mean day yeah still kind of you know going back and forth but anyway right and this body will have to decide I will tell you Steph are not going to change our recommendation that let's roleplay worst case scenario well it's not even wor a scenario that DT hates it we form it we don't go to vote of the people they don't like it they take us to court and now we're we're spending years just proving of course we could do this right you have a vote of the people it is clear you have authorization that's thrown out right so it doesn't stop us it doesn't delay us or slow the process right and from my advantage we got to go right like I I got to start implementing something and so if the public wants it let's run moreover if we do authorize a phase two study that is going to take time so we are not asking people I mean I hope to God we are not asking people to do two utilities on the same ballot that's that's a terrible scenario I think everything fails in that scenario right that's just confusing so our recommendation is you go this November ask for the seu and if the phase two stud is ongoing you let that play out and then we go to the voters with whatever comes out of it if it's you from staff's Advantage if it proves that it could be more economical take it to the voters then then you have actual utility that's already been started if it passes and we say we want to grow this into right like I think you can make a narrative that's pretty clean again to me a terrible scenario is you're trying to put two utilities on the ballot and people like I don't know what this is that scares me commissioner Ken Garcia do you have a question yes thank you what a great discussion um and um my I have two questions they're very targeted um and uh the first one is just following up on uh commissioner loven's question and your response Missy um uh it it I I'm clearly missed this but what's the assum there's an assumption here here that a popular vote accepting and and um uh affirming the creation of an seu somehow legally has it so that the utility cannot cannot counter it how does that work that's my first question okay you can clearly tell the lights went out at City Hall uh so I think your question was why that counters or gives authorization to a vote yeah so it is very well established in Michigan law over and over and over and over and over and up and down and sideways that a vote of the people authorizing creation of a utility is a that is all you need to create a utility right and so because this is a supplemental it's not a total taking we're we don't think it's needed right it's opt in we're not taking over but if someone came and said you can't do that a vote of the people well yes we can the Constitution it's been reaffirmed in the court of course we can the people told us we can you have no standing so it removes even if we would win it we would lose time in a fight if someone wanted to fight us and we don't want to lose time so our approach is do more on the front end to go faster on the back end okay all right that makes sense to me my other question um has to do with the vpppa and am I incorrect to assume that the amount of uh new renewable energy that would be uh you know um not before contracted but um um bid for is the amount to offset only the city's electric usage like the city's Municipal electric usage no it would be the whole community so it would be we would assume the fif this is where the fif the state policy really matters if they're going to hit 50% electric by 2030 and we assume that we're going to hit 20% through the the SE that means we're at 70% so we've got a 30% Delta so we would commission 30% for the whole Community whatever that is with a phase down as other things grow in the system so no it's not just for municipal operations we no Garcia we're ripping this Band-Aid we're ripping it how would that like how would that feed in I mean it would come in through D through our through the DTE Grid or how does that work good question so because it's a virtual power purchase agreement it goes into the grid wherever it exists right and so it just feeds in and the electrons go wherever they're demanded they don't get piped directly to an arbor uh they they just feed DT's Grid or whoever owns the Grid at that time and we get all of the credit for it though because it's all our generation it's just not necessarily flowing well nothing is flowing into City Hall at the moment uh but it's not flowing into necessarily our homes and businesses okay so it's basically like we're like earmarking the the city would be earmarking its consumption of electricity as being sourced through this that's right and it's not a wreck in that same standpoint because we created it right like it was built for us it is ours in that sense and if we ever did fully municipes then it becomes a power purchase agreement then it gets shipped to us although honestly it's the exact same mechanisms because it's not like the electrons just stay on the lines they go where they're needed right but it's when we become the load serving entity we get to claim that that that's part of our load that feeds into the system okay all right thank you that was it yeah just because we're geeking out on where the power where the generation would be um is it in would you propose to produce it in Michigan or in the myo the the regional transmission area I love this so I thought a lot about it and our energy criteria and principles help guide how we would site this so we would lean into Michigan if not economically viable you can uh bid into energy Justice communities right places where we'd actually be displacing a dirty fuel source with something that's better and creating good paying local jobs in that space so candidly I would entertain I would even entertain West Virginia if we couldn't hit the first few markers because West Virginia Is So Cal dependent that any new Renewables in there are displacing fossil generation versus Kansas has an astronomical amount of wind you know that's just not that's not the play we'd be making so I'd prefer in michig again but if we could do the criter the energy Criterion principles is how we'd evaluate proposals that come in but then it'll also be evaluated on costs because anyone that's going to be bidding is going to be bidding comp depending on how how much it cost them to produce but additionality is not optional right so someone could say like you could just kick X off the system and have all of this that's not that's not the play here right it has to be new and where can we get new that's cost effective and hits as many of the other criteria interesting I see I see okay fascinating we have to have a whole master class on that um if you need help with education let me know we need help with education so this is great uh commissioner mki real quick Missy there's probably half of the people on the commission that weren't around when we passed the principles and Criterion and may not be aware of them you know one one as you said is additionality um speed um there's six allog together three and three um can you remind uh Commissioners as well as those listening in what those are yes thank you for the question too and now you're GNA make me pull them up fast yeah okay so additionality is one of the non-optional elements that we have we've got reducing greenhouse gas emissions right that's obviously the framework and then grounded in equity and Justice are the three I think we those are the criteria the principles then then and the principles can be in ttention with each other right so that's part of the reason they're sort of in this other category cost effective right uh location with local and local sort of is a bubble that scales out right like as you go we've got speed yeah which matters scalable and transferable so whatever methodology we use we want others to use okay right that's right resilience ah okay good good so help remind me as well thanks and me too okay thank you I think we'll wrap it up there um so yeah we have so much food for thought and like I mentioned we will continue to discuss and uh revisit this again next month um soy sorry the lights turned out I know it was seven um 7 P p.m.

and as chair I declare this meeting adjourned thank you so much for your time tonight and um thank you to everyone who's listening on CN byebye great thanks so much night thanks e

e testing testing one two three testing one two three e for e good evening everyone we are about to start our committee as a whole meeting for Creek mon School District 2011 today is Tuesday March 12th 20 24 6:30 p.m.

he knew was be a team approach all right give me one second I just get my little script so I know it's say beginning thank you lii still read your script I have to pull it up because is it you have to remember to say all yes all right okay you tell me when we're on now okay all right guys we're on we're live all right good evening I would like to call this meeting of the burlin Regional school committee to order just a reminder that this meeting is being recorded your image and or voice may be broadcast please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag the United States of America to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice okay public comment Christina did you w to speak sure all right do you want to come in the middle or are you more comfortable over there whatever whatever it's up to you it's better to be in the middle so yep if you want to be HT and the microphone yeah where are the mics uh here's one there's one right there just because I Al so maybe should she stand here she stands standing in the center will pick her up it'll pick her voice up is it like taking me stands stand right here between Carol sorry all right um so I know I'm supposed to uh have three minutes um I typed all this up to be mindful everyone's time um so my my name is Christina MOS uh some of you know me uh for those who don't I have four children in the district I have three at bees currently and I have one at T Hunter prek uh I'm also the treasurer for the BTO and I've had a full-time job in finance for about 14 years um I came here tonight um to ask the school committee not to scale back on any of our nursing support as part of the continued efforts um that you guys are going to have to go through for budget cuts uh my goal tonight is to bring awareness of the current medical support needs of our school district and to Advocate that we should start having conversations about how we can add more support in the future um as I understand it that's the school committee's job to find out what the schools need and what our students e to make sure that happens um my priority as a parent is to ensure the health and safety for my children uh while attending school first and foremost and then their overall academic experience um I think you'll find most parents would agree with that statement um the school budget should mirror those same priorities by making sure that we are asking for the appropriate level of funding to ensure that we have enough medical support to keep our kids safe and healthy uh in the last um school committee meeting I've been watching all the meetings and the town budgets and everything um from what I can tell uh just the contractual nurse uh sorry contractual teacher salary increases and then the added increase of special education transportation is is really almost over the budget that the town is is offering this year and I know there are a lot of options but um that's going to mean that you guys are going to have to make some really tough choices this year um I'm here to say that we we can't take those cuts from our nursing staff um you know the state doesn't require a nurse to be in school which was a huge shock for me um as a parent I had no idea until I started researching this um and often districts will look to cut those areas that are not State mandated um we also had with covid came grants and we got extra nursing staff and we really relied on that um and even when Co went away uh we still had the medical support needs in the school um so if we're is from what I have heard we had to cut back our floating nurse this year and they had to beg and plead to sort of keep her on for a couple hours a week um and that was funded by a grant which is no longer available so to in a budget situation that would look like an increase to nursing staff which is tough when you guys are having to make these cuts um I've spoken to our lead nurse I talk to her every day we have uh very busy Health offices at the schools um and they're struggling to support all the needs we have uh just to give you an example last week at bees she saw over a hundred students come through her office and in total so far this year they've seen about 2400 um on a daily basis students are coming in to receive medications they come in because they got hurt uh there's behavioral issues the social social and emotional needs um students come in to receive daily Medical Treatments and in some cases they're monitored throughout the entire day um on top of seeing kids in their office nurses also have to follow documented medical plans with students who have needs they track absences they make phone calls to parents they speak to nurses and doctors about treatment decisions they do mandated reporting configure schedules find sub nurses organize field trips so they're they're not just seeing students but they also have a whole another another set of responsibilities um when we don't have adequate Staffing levels the potential for you know medication errors escalates uh that means not doing a treatment correctly or giving the child the incorrect medicine uh it means less time checking in with students that might need additional monitoring it means nurses have to spend time outside of their working hours to fill paperwork and reports um you know student safety becomes compromised in all those situations we don't want there to be a situation where student ends up getting hurt or Worse um it would be devastating for families and it would potentially lead to legal consequences for the district um we know these needs exist and we need to commit our budgets to staff them properly and uh on a personal note uh 2023 was a tough year for my family we found out that my son Wyatt who's in fifth grade has Type 1 diabetes um the first year for adolescence is a very tough and volatile time um diabetes specifically in children and Young children um is a very serious illness uh they're particular risk when they're at school um and it requires constant monitoring and often a level of medical knowledge that most Educators and school administrators just don't have um just a typical day for him I speak with the nurse every day over email to tell her what he's eating uh the nurse monitors his blood sugar all day long based on where his sugar is the nurse may have to go and intervene and give medication he has to have insulin before his lunch before his snacks and they're often communicating multiple times a day between Educators parents and doctors on how to treat his highs or lows that's just for one child and to give you an example there will be seven diabetic children at the high school next year or at Tanto in total that is a that gives me a lot of anxiety as a parent um just knowing what he needs and what those other kids are going to need and not to mention all the things that I just mentioned on top of it uh so in closing I would say it's probably reasonable that parents think there's at least one medically trained professional on property at their child school at minimum every day um but parents with children on health plans like myself we have the added anxiety of you know just wondering if our child's going to get the care they need uh parents deserve to feel confident that when they send their children off to school they'll be safe and healthy um we don't want to force parents to have to consider sending their child out of District because we can't find the budget to provide the proper medical staff and monitor their care thank you thank you thank you very much for sharing that and your personal experience as well all right any other public comments are you here no all right does anyone have any Communications yeah Megan I have to bring up the one we received earlier last week y so I received communication from a parent Carol we talked about this about a survey that would out to Tonto students asking them about their sexual orientation can you tell us why that was done yeah um I will let uh Lisa speak a little bit more to it but I can speak to it first by just telling you I was unaware that the survey went out we typically I guess I don't get asked if that's okay this was a survey that went out as part of a um Civics project in the high school students um explore a topic of Interest related to Civics um uh Civic action and that individual sent that out as survey to collect information so that's what it was about um as I shared with you and the um some of the members of the school committee who who reflected on that with me we did put steps in place to improve that situation since that time so I was grateful that we did get your information about that um I think that we didn't necessarily have parameters in place but I feel like that we do now I don't know if you want Lisa to continue with that I mean there's more to add so is this something students sent out on their own or this was approved by teachers or by Lisa no it was approved by it was approved by a teacher so with the is that even legal to send a survey out to minor children and ask about their sexual orientation uh no it's um not um illegal um and it wasn't it was um they don't they didn't have to as a survey they didn't have to participate but you're saying it's it's legal to ask minor children their sexual orientation in a survey without talking to their parents I don't think it's illegal but I would want to I can certainly look that up that wasn't the question that when you had emailed me about it that I no but it's a concern I mean it's a sensitive subject right especially for a sixth grader yeah right a survey sent out whether there's a description on it or not I'm sure there's some sort of pressure they might feel to answer that so what was done with the answers were they recorded were they Anonymous are they on a list somewhere what's happening with this list does this not open the district up to incredible risk of claims in the future now that you know you know a student answered one way or another that student turns out you know maybe they don't like a grade they got all of a sudden now there's a claim well I got that grade because I answered a certain way about my sexual orientation it just seems like it opens up so many unintended but negative and risky consequence that if a student just sent it out I could understand the mistake but with an adult being involved it seems pretty bad to me yeah and I respect your opinion and that of the school committee who has talked to me about that as well so we're trying to make every effort to make for parameters in place around the these types of things so that surveys like that are developmentally appropriate for the ages that they like you said most importantly that they are legal I would want to definitely check into that that wasn't a question that came up in that email but I would certainly consider it so I appreciate suggesting especially if I if you're sending out to a senior they're 18 or something that's fine but what are you in sixth grade 11 10 12 yeah yeah you know sexual orientation is a protected class we don't ask those questions specifically because it's a protected class because you don't want to be seen as making a decision based on that answer and now the entire district is or at least the the middle high school is open to that risk yeah the best I would tell you now Mike is what I shared in my email to all of you that I I've looked into that I've discussed that with Lisa and with the other administrators and she has talked to the teachers all of the staff about that and what was appropriate and I can certainly follow up with more information on that so to follow up with that Carol it kind of leads some of the particular questions on that survey would make someone who maybe doesn't know the school very well wonder if there is an issue because one of the specific questions was are you were you ever discriminated against because of your orientation are you aware of discrimination against or is there a case against a teacher or an office that makes you think when some when a student is asking that question you know students probably know a lot more about what goes on in the school than we do it makes you wonder if there are multiple cases if there is discrimination I remember earlier this year we talked about you know the teachers union got upset when I as the chair of the school committee suggested I would even ask you as a superintendent to look into cases of discrimination you know I I don't understand what the the fascination is with these these groups these boxes of you know we told we're told this year regarding that that kids in this District have various levels of privilege when it comes to their skin color now we hear that they're being asked about their sexual orientation it's being suggested that there are multiple cases of discrimination going on through this survey I just don't understand the fascination of the schools with these race groups and these sexual orientation designations of these students as sexualizing children I don't understand the fascination with it I don't even understand how that could possibly be part of a class project to be curious about students sexual orientation I I just don't understand how that could possibly come up as a subject in a high school class so thank you yeah oh are you are you okay with that yeah go ahead Lisa yeah if you want to kind of explain the I don't think so just before sorry before you go Jessica and Lisa were not on the email I think that you're yep so do you want to give a 30 second background a parent reach parent reached out asking about a survey that was sent to ol of Danto some of the questions on there asked about the students are you a member of the LGBT community basically what's your sexual orientation other questions around that about have you ever been discriminated against that are you aware of any discrimination cases around others or your own orientation so um I reached out to Carol but that it's such an egregious act that I think it needs to be discussed it would be interesting to hear the context of the situation yeah um so um it is required by the state of Massachusetts for students to be come involved with um pacifics Action Project it's a part of the um you know the a Desy requirement for graduation um they do iic projects in 8th grade and they do them um spanning from their junior to senior um year in high school and most of them are they're they're issues that they're personally um interested in um so they they're not they're not told what you know what particular area that they have to you know research or it's a particular area that they're particularly interested and passionate about so they kind you know they um come up with um you know a project and part of the project is I you know coming up with research and you know so if a particular student was interested to understand maybe this was something that they personally had felt but didn't know if anybody else had um had come in you know had had the same experiences and so I think that's the context of this particular survey was like you know the question was you know do you identify and how do you experienc this now that's the that's the data Gathering um piece of it and then they could you know move forward you know depending on you know what their topic is or what they feel as though they wanted um you know to you know maybe it was to have you know um you know bath I I I don't know but I'm saying like what could come out of something like that you know um you know bathrooms like that tends to be you know a topic you know a privacy topic you know that those are the types of things um and so the um that you know the teacher reviews all surveys um surveys are used extensively um throughout the high school um for to gather information to understand I mean one just went out um by the student council with a list of days for Spirit Week like you know which Spirit Week do which spirit days do you want and they'll take the top five you know they have a list of 10 so they'll do that um so with the Civic Action project and I and and I did speak um you know immediately with the parent um that I guess they contacted you early on or sometime of the week ear on Friday I spoke to the parent um at 7:14 on Monday morning and you know within you know 15 seconds I was able to give him context and able to give him an understanding and then immediately address the situation with the teacher I spoke to the um I you know spoke to the teacher I spoke to the student I had that survey um locked down so it could no longer be answered um and it you know redistributed only to high school students um and I think that you know so we had a long discussion about that and then with a group of teachers that normally produce Sur or their students produce surveys because we do surveys with with exibition um different topics and then you know having a conversation around you know every Sur should really have you know some kind of context at the beginning of it and understanding you know you know what the survey um is with the purpose of the survey why it's being used you know what class and then you know is anonymous and this particular survey was they weren't um you know I checked the settings they weren't collecting any of the um the emails so and you can have all those settings on Google forms so there's all there's a variety of different settings that um and I've made lots of Google forms myself so you can have you know those settings in place and I had checked um all of those with the student and with the teacher and So within you know less than eight hour period I'd say a six hour period of time I was able to you know put all that in place and immediately called the parent I actually called him several times in between and finally was able to get in touch um with him and he was um you know very grateful um that I had acted so quickly and um you know he felt comfortable with how it was handled and the steps that I had put in place and you know I sent the following day I had sent out you know um followup emails and protocol and I had an additional conversation today um to answer anybody's questions about like when and how surveys are being used so I think oftentimes we at the particularly at the high school level many of these topics are very they're they're topics that are often well discussed among you know a lot of different groups just kind of topics that are discussed in you know many areas whether many in the humani class so I think there there was no like and I I feel like it was brought to everybody's attention that it might not be developmentally appropriate they're like uh you know and I think it was just making sure that people were aware and we had the conversation and understanding that any you know particularly with sixth and seventh grade that um surveys shouldn't be blanketly put out but they they should get special permission for that yeah I mean Lisa I can understand a Civics project around this topic I'm sure there's a lot of things you could do with that naturally locally if kids want to talk about it themselves if they have these conversations that's their choice that's fine I think I don't know who thought it was a good idea to send a survey of to the entire Community asking this question that seems like the dumbest thing I could ever think of as an adult to do just to be one with you and I would say my I sh you know as I said to you I think in the email I do I did share that I was very shocked surprised about what what I was reading that night and handled it the next day I I do agree with you I think that there's sensitive topics and I think there's certainly developmentally appropriate ages to have these kinds of discussions have the conversation I think education has to happen before that happens because one of the things I I could imagine receiving that as a child who had not even had any frame of reference to that is I don't even know what to do with it like what do I do with this so so we learn from these and I apologize for that sort of opens up this idea now that based on these questions is there a problem with this in Tanto is there a problem with discrimination based on someone's sexual orientation as the survey suggests yeah it sounds like there is I I don't know the survey suggesting or simply asking to see if there is I don't think the survey's questions are insinuating that there's a problem that I don't think directly either I would agree with you on that Lisa but the idea that a a student thought to come up with this question what does the student know that you don't know did they ask on the survey specifically discrimination at Tahanto or just in general uh are you aware of any cases against teachers or the office I think is the way it was working well it's not a huge t to the imagination with that meetings were we're questioning whether diversity Equity inclusion is an important topic within the schools so yeah it's no doubt that it's an important topic within the schools if you want to have a discussion about what it means on a national level what it means civically politics being kind to your neighbor that's one thing but if I sat here and went around and asked everyone at this table what's your sexual orientation and you answer and I keep track of it so to protect Hippa is very important so the fact that the settings were reviewed and future surveys will have that looked at and being asked is a little inappropriate of an 11year old I I remember when the DARE officer came in and had us do a little survey who' drank if who've done drugs within class and that was all Anonymous so I think current day these are people's realities and there was a survey that was found out earlier saying how safe people felt which I think was very important given the political climate that is everything is polarized speaking of that survey there also was a question do you feel that you're getting attention from teachers when you're struggling and the answer was no so why is it because of the way they responded to this survey that maybe we don't want to help someone who answered a certain way or or reacted a certain way you can't know you can't know for sure having conversations around these topics isn't an issue but giving kids the idea that you're requiring them to tell you what you are oh not that these are completely optional I just want to make it does an 11-year-old realize that when they get a survey from the school say answer the survey that most of the surveys aren't answered by the sixth graders I would say that good they do know that it's optional okay because I mean you know I I just yeah I just think unfortunate poor thing all the way around but that being said I think I think we have to do a better job of of putting parameters around this absolutely and that we we've addressed it and that's why we address swiftly and I did with the admin team and Lisa did what she needed to do as far as this goes I don't anticipate this happening so as far as a from a legal standpoint it is legal to send these surveys out to ask these questions I bet I don't know on this I will check want to check on it yeah all right we'll reach out to Kim on that so the only thing I'd add to that is we did get the second assistant principal for the high school so I think that and I know it's going to be a process but to Mike's Point there's going to be things that are appropriate for grades 9 through 12 and things that are appropriate for an 11 or 12 yearold um that may not have gone through puberty yet so they don't know what sexual orientation they are so I think that um it's a process and just hearing that it sounds like you guys are trying to work towards that direction but I think we need to maybe see more of a divide in that building like the survey May again I don't know the legality we need to look into that may or may not have been appropriate for a high school level maybe not appropriate at school I'm thinking I don't know um but absolutely definitely not appropriate would you ask a job applicant that question well that's how I think about I think about every Anonymous so I think it's not relevant to the Congress rightous period yeah some of the I mean I'm looking at it right now so it does specifically say it references the office at Tanto um can you forward that to the rest of the committee uh yeah I only have screenshots of the survey so if Lisa or Carol wanted to send the survey out that would be great yeah and and Lisa and I actually have that on the agenda for tomorrow as part of our admin meeting with the with the uh High School Middle High School administrators because there is more I want to find out and I think Mike get really had to do what I was looking at was policy policy around communication and the use of of emails of right it doesn't specifically State anything about surveys but that's something that I think we need to consider any kind of communication that goes out from the schools um how how does that apply to our students sta just as much as this was mostly staff that it addressed but I think that in this world of electronical electronic communication we also have to take into consideration that the students are corresponding with one another and that they do that in a safe and respectful and legal manner so this is something else now we're going we're I would also be interested to see what the survey Anonymous answers would be because I think the atmosphere that we create at the schools is very important that kids do feel safe if they are identifying in different ways no matter what group they might identify see I'm going to disagree with you on that Jess I don't think we should have access to these answers I don't think we want to know these answers is it not enough to just treat everybody kind are we treating students when they come to do a Dei presentation with respect how did you know any of their orientations or backgrounds or anything before you said Dei was a waste of time in your own life I don't need to know anyone's orientation and background to know that it's we to that's right we should be respectful of anyone and everyone but we weren't in that nor was the committee respected nor was the committee respected when the question that the chair of the committee at the time asked of the administration for that meeting was ignored I understand but there were students at that meeting and it sets tones within the district well that's the problem there were students at the meeting in a sensitive topic and if they can't handle the sensitive discussions we have yeah all right so we got to we got to Veer back onto topic so under thank you for bring in the communication will forward that along a parent had sent an email I saw that Mike reached out to Carol I'm sorry I didn't realize we were going to talk about it tonight or else I would AFF it to the other people not on the email so I apologize for that and I will do that see can that in the future be put within parent Communications or emails with yeah we usually have a folder for parent communication it wasn't written uh that was a non-verbal communication Mike can send an email to Carol and I was cced on it so that's how I knew about it okay nice to know meetings yeah um there was another communication Adam about a Facebook conversation about the calendar so I don't know if that should be brought up now or during the discussion the calendar I am hoping to discuss the calendar last but that was another yes yep I did see that email yeah Carol you were not on that email so um it was about after school Pro adding after school program so we can talk let's talk about that when we talk about the calendar but thank you any other Communications okay could I please have a motion to approve the consent agenda so Lori and Julie all in favor I'm an i as well that motion passes okay so we have three items to vote on tonight we're going to go one by one we're going to discuss and then we'll do the vote I'm going to save the calendar for last um I think first we'll do the approval of the student opportunities act plan this was a first read last time Sally gave us some information um it was in the last time did anybody have any questions or discussion on that before we vote I have a question about sure Lisa all right hold on let me just peek what I wrote down here I'm G open it up myself okay so it's in the February oh I just think that there might have been a number issue in there it said that um The Chronic absenteeism was like 20% for the three subcategories but then like in the summary of it it said it was like 30 something per.