Reader

they are ready to go out in this world I want you to know it has been a pleasure having your children in our high school tonight is about honoring and recognizing their accomplishments and accolades I am very extremely honored and privileged to stand here today as principal viewing high school at this year's senior scholarship and awards night which is a culmination of the four years of high school to recognize the academic accomplishments of these students each student has worked tremendously hard to be here tonight overcoming obstacles and persevering in their specific areas you spent 18 years waiting for this moment to be here you did an amazing job raising these young men and women so parents and grandparents sit back enjoy this evening and Rel us in your child's Limelight as we begin our program now I would like to bring up Mrs Ellen Scott to get us started with the first award [Applause] hi I'm ellan Scott and I am here to present the Joshua Scott Citizenship Award this is not an award about achievement scholastically or athletically it is recognition of an individual who has extremely fine character um I have to thank the athletic department though for doing the job for me of getting nominations and votes to determine which person that is so thank you athletic department so back in 1990 when Joshua was taken from us he was in ninth grade and at that point n9th grade was still at Fisher and I don't know if there's anybody else in the room as old as I am remembers an English teacher at fiser a lovely woman named Geneva Williams so she was a a wonderful teacher but Joshua had her and he was not in love with English so they kind of buted heads all year long and it was it was hard on both of them so now was finally the end of the year and Josh comes home from school and typical parent question I say well you know what did you do in school today and he said oh well I helped Mrs Williams uh you know collecting all of her books and putting them away for the summer and I thought what so I actually blurred it out I said why did she choose you because I knew that they had kind of you know loost horns a number of times and he looked at me with that look that only a a child can give a parent which kind of says oh po mom that right and he said well she chose me because she knows she can trust me that is a very telling comment and when Josh was St and only a few days after that we had so much Outreach from the community teachers and coaches who had worked with Josh and the one thing that they all said one way or another was the regret that they had never told him what an extraordinary individual he was because he was trustworthy he was kind he was so many fine things so we decided Well that's you know that's a shame that we don't do that so we decided to bring on the annual award presentation which is given to someone that everyone who knows this person thinks they these qualities as well sorry about that folks there used to be right outside the auditorium a big plaque that had all the words and it had 33 years worth of recipients names and it was like visiting the loveliest families in uing and people that on many fine great things um so this year I am inviting an individual to join that group and I am presenting the Citizenship Award to Nathaniel [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Manon hello this is yours this is a way of us putting him and everyone who knows him every teacher everybody that this is an exceptional person and you should look forward the best so we wish you the best and we know you'll get the best [Applause] good evening everyone even my name is Marcus Cole um I'm from the Universal Display corporation uh so every year my company uh we present a scholarship it's called our fed scholarship and it's presented to a student who exemplifies all of the key things that make a great stem Advocate potential researcher future scientist um as well as someone that is actually going to use their talents and pursue a career in stem um I remember being in high school and not really knowing what I wanted to do who I was and this particular individual uh is none of those things they according to everyone who knows them and has provided recommendations for them they know exactly who they are what they want to do and where they fit into this world and they know how to try things and fail and try again and succeed and really find out what makes them special and what makes them valuable to this world um I EDC the kind of the three main pillars when it comes to research and developing Innovative science we really value innovation vision and reality having that Innovation to look forward and out beyond the things that you can see right in front of you having that Vision to actually take that Innovation and turn it into something real and obviously creating that Innovation into some kind of reality um the this person's particular essay really stuck out to me mainly with the last uh sentence in this essay they and I'm paraphrasing obviously but they said we can't just think or act critically as scientists when we are going to innovate and go out into the world and add new things we need to think critically and think sustainably so that what we're doing is not going to tarnish our environment and actually provide value for longevity and not for shortterm game um so with that I would like to present this year's um f Le 2024 award and the uh total amount of $20,000 to Nicholas benedet good evening congratulations to the class of 2024 my name is Rick DeFalco um awarding the scholarship has become one of the highlights of my year it reminds me that we all have the ability to positively impact the lives of those around us in so many different ways this scholarship was born from the idea that simple acts of kindness can help improve another's life and it is dedicated to helping you understand just how important you are and how much we count on you to carry on this tradition 36 years ago I had the immense pleasure of meeting and starting a friendship with Ralph do Ralph was a very private individual he worked as an engineer and he enjoyed computers photography and music he was extremely bright and possessed a cutting wit Ralph was one of those individuals that always seemed to be standing on the outside looking in never fully comfortable in his own skin and certainly never receiving the appreciation his talents truly deserve Ralph helped teach me to look past the faan of a person to take the time to really know someone and see all they have to offer he helped me to understand that friendship requires effort and that trust must be earned not merely expected Ralph showed us how sad it is but a life has lost too soon and potential has left unrealized I lost my friend of cancer in November of 2007 since its Inception the Ralph Doge Memorial Scholarship has provided over $1 million in schol Ral scholarship Works to help support those individuals that we feel have the potential to truth make a difference to let them know that they are appreciated and that we believe in them and what they can accomplish to let them know we have faith that they in turn will one day carry the spirit forward it is our utmost pleasure to award the 15th annual Ralph doers Memorial scholarships to follow students to help help them start their meetings Andrea tetela [Applause] excuse us we have so many scholarships up here that we are um obtaining those as we speak so I will call all of the names of the students and then um we will we will make sure you get those scholarships um for $33,000 Maybelline sers I'm sorry students when when I call your name you can just come on up to the podium Destiny rickets for [Music] [Applause] $2,000 David hernand andz for [Music] $2,000 Kira Johnson for $2,000 Lauren Nelson for $2,000 Courtney wnel for $2,000 excuse me for $1,000 car Carmela Gerald for $1,000 and Toma Willie for $1,000 have Fai in you young bues Inspire those around you to continue to make us proud [Applause] we would now like to call up the ying High School class of 1962 to present the next scholarship [Applause] good evening my name is Susan Shyer Westerberg and I was the class of 1962 and it's a little note about our graduating class we couldn't graduate from mewing high school we had to graduate from Trenton State College because it rained for 3 days before before we could get our graduation diplomas and then later I did graduate from Trenton State College it is with great pleasure that I speak with you this evening as the EHS class of 62 scholarship Committee chairwoman in May of 2023 on a regularly scheduled Zoom meeting to 30 members I suggested to the regular attendees that we develop a one-time only scholarship to a 2024 EHS graduate pursuing a higher level of education at a trade school Community College or 4-year graduate degree Zoom meetings were initiated by one of our fellow graduates during Co and we've been meeting once a month by Zoom ever since that our class had funds in an account for future reunions and we had a wonderful 50th reunion but no one volunteered to organize our 60th so there this there this money sat in an account doing nothing so at the May 2023 Zoom meeting I suggested the scholarship naturally all agreed and wanted me to be chairwoman I selected four classmates to serve on this committee we asked for donations to add to the account and by November of 2023 we had a total of $7,000 the committee decided on two $3500 scholarships and an application was developed and sent to the guidance director and to the principal I was in contact with Miss Tony Stewart guidance department secretary who dispensed 22 applications to seniors who sought our application and she was very instrumental on pushing these students to get their applications in by the deadline and she helped them to forward them to me by email and she's to be to be commended by these St we received 13 completed applications my committee met via zoom on May 7th with the challenge of selecting two recipients because the quality of essays the students leadership community service their transcripts acceptance letters and recommendations we had difficulty selecting only two recipients who are Daniel Armstrong and [Applause] to please stay up here at that point two members wanted to be added to the account and we asked our classmates for additional donations at that point we collected $4500 more and we decided to select three more recipients they are Madison Hill Thomas Davidson and Nicholas Benedetti they will all receive $1,500 scholarships than [Applause] hi I'm uh Carl rner from The uing Kanas club and uh on behalf of the unicist I want to congratulate all of the award winners tonight and also all of the other Ying High School seniors on their upcoming graduation I know it's an exciting time moving into a new phase of your lives uh I'd like to congratulate all the teachers School staff parents and families for the hard work uh to help the seniors get to this point in their lives Kanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving World um improving the world one child and one community at a time today we stand with more than 550,000 members including key clubs such as the one at Ying high school and uh other Kanis family organizations such as Circle K uh for college students the uing Kuan awards are in the areas of leadership Scholastic Improvement scholarship and volunteerism each year viewing onest Awards uh the leadership and citizenship Awards to two members of the Ying High School senior class who demonstrate outstanding leadership and citizenship this year's recipients are um Amira Brown Mullin and Chaz hen Chaz hen [Music] the next award is the Bruce White Memorial most improved award it it's for students who have shown the most Improvement during their time at U High School the scholarship is named after Bruce White who for many years was an educator he served many years as a member of the U of the uing Board of Education and had been the driving force behind the projects that the uing quanis uh do in in the uing uh School System including our scholarship program this year's recipients are uh amyra Carter Parton p and Christopher Yu these are5 $500 Awards uh next are the uing uh kanes Ying Foundation scholarships uh Foundation scholarships started about 30 years ago since its Inception the foundation's awarded approximately $130,000 to about 140 students uing uh Foundation scholarships are open to all Ying High seniors who reside or I should say all high school students who reside in Ying so not just the Ying High School uh so tonight we're going to announce all of the Ying High School winners uh the recipients um for $1,000 uh is ma uh Madison Hill [Applause] um and for $500 is Daniel Armstrong $500 to Thomas Davison and $500 to Isabelle hman finally um the George a barell Memorial Scholarship is awarded uh for scholarship and service to a member of the Ying High School Key Club uh this this year's uh recipient for ,000 is Alan Truss we're going to try and get a picture okay thank you very much congratul good evening we welcome you tonight we're from the epep organization my name is ly low I am the vice president and this is my wonderful president miss Roman KH want give you a little background in our EP he public education Foundation is an independent nonprofit citizens organization dedicated to providing Innovative educational experiences for students and the community of Y Township epep continues its tradition of providing grants to Yu public schools for Innovative educational programs we were established in 1995 as an independent not for-profit citizens organization whose mission is to mobilize Community Support concern commitment and resources to help improve the quality of Education in y Township EPF provides grants to the Y public schools for Innovative educational programs through fundraising and corporate and institutional sponsorship the grants recognize the need for Innovative educational opportunities in a variety of areas and the creativity of our Educators and meeting these needs this year we are so excited to be able to give out 11 scholar sh this year we are truly truly grateful for the Credit Union of New Jersey for sponsoring us with two scholarship we thank you very very much so tonight my first scholarship recipient is Dea Reed leadership scholarship $1,000 [Applause] academic Excellence scholarship to Jerel Rasheed Allen [Applause] Shala Collins committee service leadership scholarship $1 academic Excellence scholarship Madison Taylor Hill janelis sedino academic accent scholarship spons by the of New Jersey $1,000 leadership scholarship Nicholas Anthony benad Selena de academic e scholarship Ryan SKS the Vincent J SC athle leadership scholarship $1000 and Allan William chass the wayall personal scholarship $1 the next two scholarships I'm going to present in loving memory of my U father Raman Khan who was a civil engineer in value education as being and my phone died no as being the basic Foundation to continued success in life he supported individuals here in the states and abroad I hope to continue his legacy by presenting the next two scholarships today so ran Aon St academic scholarship goes to Thomas John Davis and the next one goes to Daniel laru Armstrong [Music] than good evening everyone my name is Dr dony Johnson and I will be presenting with my sore Patricia Reed Trenton alumni chapter of Dela Incorporated the Trenton alumni chapter of delus reward Incorporated was charted on September 16th 1952 in Trenton New Jersey Jersey by 11 trell blazing charter members Norma gabir Bingham Gloria Edmonds Carter Ernestine Doggins Louise Overton Granger Audrey Lee Harvey cider Grace Mahoney Dorothy vau Palmer Lenny Marie Pickins Elizabeth Smith Taylor Ellen Logan Williams and Edna W the trenum chap Del stus reor Incorporated serves the needs of Trenton Yu Hamilton Princeton East Windsor and West Windsor Lawrence Pennington and Hopewell New Jersey our membership includes over 160 women of diverse backgrounds who work in private and public entities throughout New Jersey we are Educators administrators business Executives politicians journalists attorneys judges doctors Etc in addition to being active in the sority our members are active in national and local organizations such as the NAACP United Negro College Fund PTA Urban League National Council of negro women Christian Ministries and Girl Scouts of USA and more our members strive to truly exemplify positive female role models for the Next Generation over the years we have raised thousands of dollars to fund our scholarship program which provides Merit Scholarships and book awards for deserving students other successful programs sponsored by trit alumni chapter include the Dr Betty shabaz Delta Academy Delta gems and Delta Enrichment Academy and our annual International Day of Service whose primary focus is on the prevention and education of HIV and AIDS for its efforts the chapter has received numerous honors and commendations for New Jersey from New Jersey's Governors members of Congress Mayors and other prominent figures in the community for their steadfast commitment to service at this time Miss Reed will go over our candidate good evening again um before I uh ask the students to come up I'd like to say to tr uh sorority each year Awards four merit awards this year three of those Awards came from you and high school so coun and staff is to be commended uh as I call your name would you please come up receiving the Sandra e Bishop Mar award is jayen [Applause] green jayen this award is in the amount of [Applause] $5,000 our next merit award goes to Morgan calber Morgan Morgan is receiving the Dorothy Palmer merit award again your award is in the amount of $5,000 [Applause] and our last award goes to uh Daniel [Applause] [Music] Armstrong Daniel you are receiving the Veronica Taylor Merit book award uh congratulations to you and your award is also in the amount of $5,000 thank good evening even my name is Jeff suers I'm representing the Omega SciFi fraternity Delta Upsilon chapter of the greater Trenton area first and formost I just want to acknowledge the Y School Board the administration as well as the teachers and most importantly the parents for their commitment their guidance and the direction and providing a class group for 2024 all right so you need to give your parents G and teachers a hand please our fraternity was founded on the campus of Howard University 19 191 you thank you I also attended Howard University class of 1980 I also attended y High School class in 1976 each year I come here and I'm extremely proud to present to the scholars and those who are endeavoring and pursuing higher education their Awards this evening we have two Awards in which we Pres uh first and foremost uh we have an award for Mr gerl [Applause] Allen in addition to that Mr Daniel [Music] Armstrong $1,500 all right I just want to say one thing about the model of our fraternity friendship is essential to the soul make new friends keep your old summer like silver summer like gold good night good evening all congratulations um graduates 2024 it's congratulations on your the scholarship recipients and congratulations parents um and congratulations staff what a wonderful staff as a former guidance counsel I know the work that it requires to put this kind of pro awesome program together but it's always a blessing for me U to be involved my name is Randy Morrison and I'm from the Kappa alide Fraternity in corporate and we are um a fraternity that started in 1911 at the University of Indiana and uh this is I want to St you this is our 45th year of reading these scholarships and we just want to say thank you this is the most wonderful program we have throughout the years always a pleasure um assisting students and their Endeavors because we know the sky limit because we can see from what has happened and those who receive scholarships and all our young people their places they going to go that they going to be opening new avenues for for us all and our world will be changing because of them and we thank them this year recipients for um we have as was mentioned we have five scholarships three of our recipients have come from Ying High first I say this is our uh the Jerry Yuri and Daryl Washington book award scholarship which we started a few years ago after their untimely passing and their families helped us with uh through our foundation and this the basic criteria along with good AC um grades and and GPA and and awesome um uh essay was at the first generation student and this year's specific is going to be gell [Music] alen and as you mentioned that it's for $1,000 [Applause] and our next two are our academic achievement scholarships and they are named after our Wesley neas and James Floyd um former brothers who actually started our Trin alumni chapter back in 1949 and those these scholarships were named after these young men and they are in the amount of $3,000 and this year recipients are Daniel Armstrong and Troy [Applause] Davis these your are doing their thing like there [Applause] and I just want to thank them and you all for the opportunity for the captains to participate in this program God bless [Applause] we bought the big check good evening class of 2024 parents faculty and staff my name is Doyle sadel and good evening everyone my name is John gamble now because we know the program could not include more lines in it and we're going to stay within our 3 minutes zet Lambda Education Foundation is affiliated with Alpha fi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and it's Trenton chapter Zeta a Lambda and just as a note alpha alpha fraternity was founded December the 4th 1906 at Carell University in itha New York the first Intercollegiate black Greek organization thank you whoever was we have two presentations tonight and we add like others two of three uh scholarships we're presenting were earned by students here at Yu High School is Dylan Robert's mama here come on up here for a minute please man and we still within these three minutes we were told Dylan had another obligation tonight but we bought the big check Mom right in the amount of $1,000 has Zan [Applause] Roberts brother gamble good evening I will be a minute again this scholarship process that we had um in terms of the application and Essay um looking at transcripts and we will say that this young young man as evident by what we've already seen exceeded our expectations so I think we know who the recipient is of our scholarship come up Daniel long Daniel was he schons for the amount of [Applause] $2,000 Mr one more please we appreciate [Applause] you we told him he gets a real check he can't spend this one in addition we understand that the Brinks truck is going be outside the building later this evening [Applause] d uh good evening everyone good evening um my name is Francis O'Brien and I am the good citizen chair for the general Mercer chapter of the D and I have with me tonight our Regent Katherine medich who is also carrying our prizes so um I have the very great honor to present the Good Citizen Award to the Ying High School senior who has demonstrated the qualities of dependability service leadership and patriotism to a very outstanding degree and truly as she says in her prizewinning essay she sets the example she is the change she wants to see so congratulations to the Ying High School D good citizen Naomi Ty Esther okay well she'll receive her award we will make sure she re okay and we did increase our financial award so there's envelopes in that [Applause] good evening my name is Vinnie Ferrara um uh buildings and grounds right here at Ying um I'm behalf of the New Jersey Association of designated persons I would like to present this award to a young woman who exemplifies dedication compassion and academic Excellence as she embarks on her journey into the challenging profession of nursing at Townson university university is with greate pleasure pride and admiration that we recognize her as the recipient of this well-deserved scholarship given to a student pursuing further education in the environmental field of health and safety please join me in congratulating our scholarship winner and future nurse Isabelle [Applause] [Music] H it is my pleasure as vice president of the Mercer County chapter of the New Jersey school buildings and grounds associ assciation to award two recipients with scholarships these awards are presented to two students who will be graduating this year from vocational school they have both excelled academically and have shown an extraordinary commitment to their educational and career goals as well as their active participation in school activities I wish them continued success in all their future endeavors please join me in congratulating congratulating Amir ladimer and yanuk Jo [Applause] have a good night good evening everyone my name is Carl Vetti and I'm the president of the uing township Democratic Club and joining me this evening is our uing Township Council vice president councilwoman Jennifer Keys Maloney first and foremost we want to congratulate each and every one of our honores this evening we join you and your families your teachers your administrators and celebrating your tremendous achievements and we wish you nothing but the best as you proceed to graduation and into this next exciting phase of your lives personally it's a great honor as a former member of the Board of Education and also as a proud member of the Ying High School class of 2009 to continue to see the best and brightest of what the U public schools have to offer and yes it just recently hit me that it's the 15th anniversary of my own graduation so I'm feeling a a certain type of way that's five not five zks so for the past 10 years the Y Township Democratic Club has made it one of our annual goals to award a scholarship to a graduating Ying High School senior this award is given in memory of the late former Vice chair of the uing township Democratic committee Miss Angela TOS Angela was an attorney a scholar a civil rights activist engaged in the Arts and most of all a public servant each year we seek to honor a student that is well-rounded and represents the values that Angela stood for this year we have the pleasure of honoring a student who is not only successful in the classroom but has represented youing with style and grace as a stellar student athlete we wish her the best as she continues her academic and athletic career next year at St Joseph's University this year's Angela Tois Memorial Scholarship goes to Ryan stes good evening and thank you very much for having us my name is Suzanne borgas and I met Debbie marks Lake right across the straight on Felino field in the Dirk mountains when we were about four or five years old and we became lifelong friends we're both Ying High grads and we I'm so grateful to be here to honor her tonight it's my great it's my great pleasure to also have Debbie's nieces here to present tonight Lany and Olivia pno we're here to present the Debbie marks Lake foundation scholarship also known as Debbie's dreams Debbie was one of the finest student athletes that merer County ever produced she was a three sport student athlete for y High School she excelled in soccer B basketball and softball she was a member of the uan High School National Honor Society and attended laal University on a soccer scholarship where she graduated Magna kumade Debbie sadly passed away in 2015 after a very hard fought battle with cancer but along the way and still to this day she reminds us all to love laugh always tell the truth and most importantly be thankful this $2,500 scholarship is presented to a Ying High School female student athlete who demonstrates the same qualities as Debbie with regard to academic leadership and athletic achievements the student selected this year is an outstanding Yu High School senior and one of the hardest working and dedicated student athletes in the area she was named the CBC coaches player of the year is a gorade Player of the Year nominee a McDonald's All-American nominee and closed out her high school basketball career with 1,610 points and more than 800 [Music] our and your teammates many of which she played with since middle school leave behind a girls basketball Legacy that Debbie would be so proud of at yinghai and that will always be remembered she loves graphic design and hopes to pursue a career in the visual arts while playing division one women's basketball at the University of Michigan we can't wait to watch this young leader continue to grow both on and off the court Debbie would be so proud of the accomplishments of this very special young lady the 2024 recipient of the Debbie Mark scholarship is tala [Applause] [Music] hi everybody hi hi I'm s Cy aka Mr D uh I am the art teacher one of the art teachers here and you and I um I'm here to represent the U Township Ed Association which takes great pride in working simultaneously with parents the Board of Education and the UN Community this $750 award is presented to students who transition flawlessly between academics career building clubs and communal activities throughout their time with us each student has exemplified the very essence of leadership dedication and compassion their involvement in various aspects of school Life Community programs has left the lasting Mark demonstrating a commitment of Excellence that is truly commendable it is my honor to announce this year's three recip minuts of the ETA scholarship this student dominated the courts here at yinghai as a captain of the team she was an integral part in leading our girls basketball team to multiple championships she was a captain of The Varsity chering squad and a member of Spring Track off the court she was an invested member of the National Honor Society and the unified program she gives back to the community as a volunteer for the uing tree lighting ceremony a coach and scorekeeper for the community Ying wck basketball league and a summer camp counselor next fall she's looking forward to attending Fairley Dickinson majoring in Communications Miss JY Johnson this next student was incredibly involved in the larger EHS Community as a member of the Key Club the world cultures and Spanish club a peer leader and a dance captain for the School Musical as well as a four-year varsity cheerleader and a captain of the squad she is volunteered their time with unified Field Days freshman orientation class of 2024 concessions uh ensuring the success of our activities Beyond her school day she volunteers with the Prospect Heights Fire department the hope well Valley food pantry and the Special Olympics Mrs Madison Hill will make her Mark and state of the [Music] psychology this this next student was unable to be here today uh she has graced the Halls viewing high with a friendly smile Pleasant demeanor she was a member of the Key Club and Spring Track while also working through her high school years she volunteered her time with class of 2024 concession sales helping raise money for our class functions she will be attending Mercer County Community College this fall while her major is currently Undeclared she is thinking of pursuing a business major with a minor in marketing while attending Mercer she also plans to obtain her realtor's license to create her real estate empow so when you're looking to sell by you can give Jordan lewitz a call rations to all good evening my name is Barbara Brean and I'm here representing you Covenant Presbyterian Church you Covenant Presbyterian Church containing our commitment to you our community are pleased to present two $2,000 scholarships to students who will be attending the Community College this year's recipients of the scholarships for Jennifer yum de Roa and Abdullah denin Jennifer will be attending Merc County Community College with plans to study radiology and Abdula will be attending again attending Merc County Community College with plans to study accounting we applaud them with their dedication their determination to continue their education and we wish them success and their Endeavors con [Music] good evening my name is Rebecca Urban I'm president of the Yung Township historic preservation society and standing next to me is Don CS Jr we're here to present the Violet cops Memorial Scholarship over the years I have attended this Awards program with Donald Cox senior who was married to Violet Cox for 44 years he had always asked for someone else to read the description of his wife because it was still difficult for him years after her death to talk about her this past year Donald Coop died at the age of 90 on October 22nd 23 so I would like to share something about Don's dad to be able to have you understand why it was so significant for him to do something for his life Don's accomplishments were numerous he was a lieutenant in the US Army a travel industry entrepreneur selected for who's who in America and outstanding young men in America he taught history and World culturist classes at Trenton high school he was very active in the Ying kuas club and Ying Knights of Columbus later in life he helped co- found the Ying adult school and was a member of the Ying Township Council The Violet cops Memorial Scholarship was established by him and family through donations made by friends and relatives upon her death 24 years ago the money collected was sufficient to provide an ongoing scholarship in her name Violet Cox had been a teacher throughout her life as well including at Fisk Lanning and Fisher schools in uing she belonged to many historical organizations throughout New Jersey and was instrument establishing the victoriia museum and the state historic district both in Trenton she also served as an elected member of the Y Township governing body and served for many years as president of the Y Township historic preservation Society Violet established the Y Township historic preservation commission and helped to put many sites in youing on the state excuse me on the local registry in honor of violet Cox we are presenting today a $500 scholarship to a student who has indicated a strong interest in the further study of history we're very pleased to present the Violet cops award to Aba white we are very proud of her accomplishments and wish her well in her college career congratulations to our [Applause] hi there I'm uh John guz I'm not John F I'm John R um for probably the last close to 35 years this has been the John F guz Memorial Scholarship U fortunately we lost mom this year and so it's now the John F and Barbara Anda Memorial Scholarship now before we get into the scholarship um I'd like and I'm another uh 76 guy so I'd like you guys to give the teachers and your parents a hand having having raised kids myself and being the rap scallion that I was um yeah you guys did a good job with these kids um Mom and Dad both believe in education dad started his career here in Yan High School in 1953 we recently found his first contract and he got a whopping $2,000 as his full salary for being a science teacher and also a football coach um he finished up his career in 1989 as assistant superintendent of schools um Mom also was an educator they met at what is now Rowan back in those days it was Glassboro State Teachers College um if you look back one of the previous scholarships was the Gilmore J Fisher Memorial Scholarship I'm probably I'm betting I'm the only person here who's ever met Gilmore J fer he was a uh oh uh we we got some folks here I forgot about you 62 guys um yeah he was he was a great guy um I met him in Arizona after uh he had retired obviously fiser Elementary in junior high school was named after Mr fiser he was he was just a great guy well back to Mom and Dad um they both were deep into the education in this community uh they were also very deep in community service specifically in the kuas club I just found dad's uh lifetime membership card to kuas he was a member from 53 until his passing in ' 89 and when he passed mom joined the club and she was a member for 35 years um she was also the leader uh from the Kanas Club of the Key Club here at yhai for many years um so they uh did a lot and um with that um I'm going to introduce my sister who is uh the 5 year this year she's not the one five she's five I think she looks pretty good for that uh she's uh Pat my sister Pat har pant uh class of 74 hello everyone I'm so happy for all of you and congratulations I know you put in loads of work to get here everybody should be proud thanks to everybody involved I know there a whole load of people from school people parents and new yourselves so congratulations so uh I am going to announce the first recipient of the scholarship and these are in ,000 Juliana Medina and we understand our second recipient unfortunately couldn't be here but the school will give her this award Naomi [Music] Glover thank you very much We Now call Mrs Uma Brewster for Spencer Savings Bank is Mrs Brewster here okay no problem I will present this award I'm very proud to present this award scholarship tonight to a very deserving student for over 20 years Spencer Savings Bank has been awarding scholarships to students in supporting education for a brighter tomorrow to date the bank has awarded almost $600,000 in scholarships to local students tonight we are honored to award shaune [Music] bigs with a $11,000 college scholarship congratulations Shae on all of your hard work and academic achievements reach for the stars and Spencer Savings Bank quickly wants to tell us to stop by and visit us at Spencer Savings Bank we'd love to connect with you more and tell you about all the wonderful ways we can service your banking needs congratulations again and have a wonderful night we'd like to call up Mr Dave Beaver for the William antile Elementary School parent teacher organization [Applause] scholarship good evening everybody uh every year the uh anti ele uh parent teacher organization presents two $1,000 scholarships to two students who had the wonderful academic luck of attending what is strictly the best grade school in Ying catch me outside if you don't like that so this year our uh our two awards are going to sha and a g and this is you the best success in the future uh and we hope that you will continue to inspire the much smaller students that I interact with every day to achieve the heights that you graduates are achieving this year congratulations good evening hi hello and how do you do so congratulations to all of tonight's winners um definitely job well done I feel like I've watched so many of them grow up full disclosure I'm the parent of one of the seniors on the stage so I'm a little emotional right now so forgive me my name is Terence Stokes I am one of the seven County Commissioners here in merca County and each year we take we award a scholarship to an in to one student from each of the public high schools in Mera County who will be attending Mera County Community College this year we're P proud to present guell Allen with a $3,200 scholarship Mery County Community [Applause] College I put a big round of applause for all our presenters and all our organizations for all these wonderful scholarships acknowledging the accomplishments of the class of 2024 thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts we really appreciate it and I know the kids will as soon as they get the first tuition bill in August um I'm here to present the lore Elementary School alumni scholarship award to a you to a lore graduate who continues to walk the walk of Lord Unity program living our Unity words of responsibility appreciation respect and kindness as a child at lur school this student learned important lessons about appreciating diverse cultures and perspectives and collaborating with others their journey to academic success started at lore school and continues today while a student while a student at Ying High School this person has earned the principal's honor role recognition since 2021 as well as an AP scholar award from the college board for their performance in AP Human Geography AP US History one and two AP environmental science AP Computer Science and AP English Literature and composition beyond the classroom the student is an active member of the Ying High School Community they have participated in the drama club the international thesbian Society Key Club and was a Blue Devil player all four four years here at Ying High School they've been a part of the environmental Club culinary Club jazz band Master singers for their section leader robotics Club rotary interact club and this year they added peer leadership peer tutoring the technology Student Association and the National Honor Society to their resume as a member of St Luke's youth group this student Volunteers in thec local suit kitchen they participate in community performances as a member of the Trenton Children's Choir assists with events such as the Watershed institution volunteer and helps with children's events at the Fredericksburg Library the student finally remembers his class trip to Camp Ernie so do I and while there the lessons he learned about teamwork developing social skills and collaborating with friends and classmates I'd like to think it's an experience it's the experience at Camp Bernie and not the hikes he's taken with his grandfather since he was a little kid that influenced his passion for protecting natural environment environment for future Generations this student is looking forward to the fall where he will be studying Forestry at the University of main his hope is to develop a future in forestry that will allow him to combat climate change and preserve our forest for generations to come this year's lore School alumni scholarship is awarded to Alan chel [Music] hello everyone my name is Cindy Hutchinson and this is Dennis zalis and we are the advisers for the uing high robotics team um every year Well since 2011 this award was begun uh because one of our founding Johnson and Johnson mentors Mentor passed away from pancreatic cancer in October 2010 so since then we've been given out a $11,000 scholarship in his memory um I first I'd like to congratulate all the uh students and graduates of Ying High um so we honor this student today uh let us also acknowledge the mentors teachers and family members who have supported and guided them a leader is shaped not just by their achievements but by the community that believes in their potential it is with great pride and immense pleasure to present the Richard Prospero Memorial Scholarship to a remarkable individual o Glenn toal a Bren is part of our technical team he was co- captain and robot operator for this year's competition when he first started on the team he never thought that he would be the positions that he is today in the world of Robotics Precision creativity and teamwork are Paramount these are not just technical skills they are life skills o Glenn has embodied these principles taking on challenges with resilience and guiding his peers with a steady hand and an Innovative mind being part of the robotics team has been a trans formative experience for a blend not only has he learned valuable engineering skills such as operating a lathe and Mill but he has also learned the importance of effective communication and teamwork working on the robotics team has taught him the value of empowering others to achieve the common goal of building a robot through countless hours of Designing building and building and building I'm talking about the swerve modules um and testing the robot he saw firsthand the power of collaboration and cooperation most importantly being part of the robotics team has helped him gain confidence in himself and and his abilities he has pushed himself out of his comfort zone taking on new challenges and grown as a leader Glenn I have this to say continue to dream big continue to push boundaries and let your leadership lift the way for others light the way for others your journey is just beginning and we are excited to see the incredible impact you will make on this world congratulations and thank you for inspiring us [Applause] all hi my name is Roman khong and I'm here to present r l night scholarship U my son was on the robotics team and he really enjoyed his time there and we decided to give back to the team he could not be here but he wrote a little thing for me I'm going to read it to you my time on first team 2016 proved to be an inflection point in my life my active engagement exposed me to phenomenal new Concepts and the experiences I had laid the foundation for my character today I sincerely hope that my continued support will allow other young students to find their footing their identity their aspirations for the future and through this scholarship I aim to guide one individual to the Apex of their formative Years first of many I hope proud to give to Morgan T you hello my name is Laura and I am here on behalf of you and Girls Softball Association for 40 Seasons now our program has provided players with positive experiences encouraged good sportsmanship and help to develop individual skills and teamwork needed both in softball and life we've been very blessed to see incredible players return Season after season to watch these players go on to accomplish great things throughout their college careers and Beyond this season we are fortunate enough to be able to offer two $1,000 scholarships to two players who have been a part of our Organization for many years they have remained a part of our organization whether playing or assisting at the fields we are grateful for all of the years you have spent with egsa and the positive impact you have left on younger generations of players whom look up to you both Amira Brown McMullen started softball Journey back in 2015 beginning as many did as a recreational sport a sport she never saw herself playing she showed determination passion and Rose to the challenges of balancing school teams and extracurricular activities and a heavy school schedule even playing after a pandemic which held its own set of challenges Amir who is also an accomplished dancer and very active in her surrounded Community is an inspiration to many young girls in our program who can see what a dream is and to have the confidence and hard work to get it Amir we at egsa are proud to have you of all you've overcome and the joy you have found with sful and cannot wait to watch your continued success at Clark Atlanta University this [Music] year Courtney Lil has been a part of our program since T and it's spent many years on our Ying Edge travel program she has been a delight to coach and an inspiration to her teammates for her positive atlook and true brick on the field Courtney found companionship and a love of traveling to new places amongst many other things during her tenure with us one of the most important things she has learned is how to recognize mistakes are not a failure but opportunities to reflect and redeem yourself something she will be able to use as she continues her journey she has remained a part of our EGS community and often comes back to assist during tournaments or help the younger generation find the Love of the Game Courtney we are grateful for all the years you have spent with our organization and we wish you success at Eastern University [Applause] good evening everyone first congratulations to all of the award recipients that are up on stage and those that could not be with us here tonight also this is a testament to all of the parents Guardians family members that are out in the audience that have supported all of the graduating seniors up until this point so please Round of Applause for all of the my name is Holly Ritter I'm the president of Y United Soccer Association this is the vice president toyra Ambrose I was on this stage some years ago as a Ying High graduate as well born and raised here in ying and now am using this opportunity to give back to our community as a lot of our students on the stage are as well the the individual that was chosen for the UN United Soccer Association scholarship has helped with our kickers program which is our youngest players of four and five years old by organizing and leading the practice sessions activities and mini games with great enthusiasm this individual has consistently volunteered as a coach for the past four years with professionalism diligence and gentle patience for the EA players the past two soccer season this individual was one of the two volunteers that took our kickers program under his wings made it their own and continued EA's curriculum and mentality this individual has greatly assisted EA in continuing our mission and focus on empowering teaching and guiding our local youth by serving as a role model sorry this individual has been a huge help to our program obviously the EA board is happy to recognize this individual with $1,000 scholarships we will definitely miss you Tommy buer good evening everyone congratulations to the class of 2024 my name is Tara Butler and I serve as director of community engagement for The Smith Family Foundation New Jersey our mission is to empower our community cultivate leaders and transform lines our core values sewing the seed of Education we believe that all Trentonian and mercy County residents have the right to be educated using higher education as a springboard citizens will have the ability to increase home ownership and have an economic stimulus in the city we attest that higher education is the normal Next Step our goal is with an emphasis on College and increased career vocational awareness as well as promoting lifelong learning adult citizens fostering sustainability cultivation We Are multi-year funders Who understand that philanthropy is a partnership as funders we seek to balance the power dynamics of nonprofits churches and philanthropy to best meet the needs of the Community we are serving we Empower our partners by providing leadership development capacity building and governance training to increase the propability of the success and sustainability of their programming and or congregation changing lives transformation we know that funding Education and Training our partners can expand their reach and effectivess effectiveness of their programming thus far Transforming Our Lives in our City and our community I'm proud to present the two scholarships um and before I present them for with The Smith Family Foundation we do not just present money scholarships and say see you later we follow them for the whole four years of their college education making sure that we're providing them resources making sure that we're checking up on them our director of uh I am the change Miss Sharice York and her absence she travels no matter where the UN University or college is she travels to to make sure to meet with them to meet with their um advisers to make sure that they are you know because when you leave away when when you leave school right high school and you're going into college we already know that it's a different atmosphere so I am proud to present the Charlotte Williams scholarship of in the amount of $2500 to Daniel Armstrong and I'm really proud to present this because his dad is my frat brother conratulations the next book award is for Alan chce in the amount of $500 and I hope to see both of you tomorrow evening is Right congratulations again good evening my name is Shela Jarrett I am one of the principes here at uan high school this evening I'm presenting the uing township administrators and supervisors Association scholarship in the amount of $500 this award is going to an EHS student who attended uh Ying public schools from kidney Garden through 12th grade and who intends to pursue a major and career in education this is re recipient is Connor [Music] Greg Conor Greg has been a dedicated student athlete both the wrestling and baseball teams at EHS as well as a hardworking senior experience student working at the Pennington market and this fall Conor plans to attend tcj and pursue a major in education me again the what's my name Foundation is in honor of Samantha Josephson who graduated from Robinsville High School in 2015 Samantha was a young lady that lit up a room when she walked in she made everyone feel important and special Samantha was kidnapped in murdered when she got into a car that was impersonating in Uber at the University of South Carol in last week we had the opportunity to hear from Mr Miss Josephson and it was not a sound in the auditorium they shared their story of Samantha and um it was important for them to let our seniors know about ride share safety the foundation was formed to educate the world on rer safety it uses her nickname Sammy stop before you get into a car please review the safety features ask before you get into a car ask the driver what's my name match match the license plate and model before getting into the car inform share your ride details with a friend or loved one doing these four steps could easily save your life for someone that you care about on behalf of Marcy and Seymour Josephson and the what's my name Foundation we are honored to award this scholarship to Gaz [Applause] Daniel good evening it is my privilege to present the second annual Follow My Lead scholarship award in memory of Blake woski two years ago Blake was third grade student at the lur school who passed away suddenly in August 2022 to honor and celebrate Blake and the amazing young man he was the weski family has started this scholarship in his honor this year's recipient of the follow my lead scholarship was a lore school student and is currently an active member of the Ying High School Community she will be attending Caldwell University in majoring in education she's currently the president of the k club excuse me clay Club at uing High School in her free time she enjoys art and music it is with great pride that I present the second annual Follow My Lead scholarship award to Destiny rickets [Applause] good evening my name is Lisa lean and I am one of the assistant principles at Union High School we are very proud to present the Catherine T reading scholarship award to Ryan Stokes Ryan your dedication throughout your years in new high school's Community is inspiring we know that moving forward you will continue to soar to new heights and we wish you nothing but the best on your continued Journey [Applause] the Carol a Allen Memorial Scholarship is a grant of $500 to be used towards College expenses awarded to a student who will pursue a career in elementary education Carol was a dedicated teacher in the uing public school system having taught in Elementary grades at lore and antile schools before her retirement she was devoted to her students and was recognized in who's who among teachers in America Governor's teacher of the year and bold Teacher of the Year this year's recipient is Lauren Nelson Lauren will attend Liberty University where she will major in music education during her time at Yu High School Lauren was a member of drama club Master singers Bella the EHS Musical and coffee for the soul and participated on the softball and swim teams congratulations Lauren Lauren is unable to join us tonight we will accept this award on her behalf the Blackford scholarship was established in 1994 by Peggy Blackford in honor of her parents Kirby and gay Peggy is a graduate of uing high school and is retired from United States Foreign Service Kirby was a local businessman and served as mayor and member of the Ying Township governing body gay was a longtime member of the Yi Township Board of Education The Scholar is intended to a80 student who has demonstrated Community involvement and who will continue that tradition this is a scholarship grent of $1,000 per year for up to four years payable one half in August and one half in January to be used toward the expense of college education this scholarship is available for four years upon subsequent application and submission of a transcript demonstrating at least a c plus cumulative average the first recipient is Valeria Valaria will be attending the University of South Carolina Center where she will major in Psychology and play for the softball team while at y High School Valaria was a m of bridge to employment and the Varsity softball team congratulations the second recipient is Lydia green Lydia will be attending rers University Camden and majoring in nursing while at Yu High School Lydia was an avid member of our bridge to Employment Program congratulations Lydia and Valeria theing High School faculty fund Foundation scholarship is awarded to graduating members of the senior class who have shown Improvement in the areas of academics and citizenship funds for this scholarship are raised by bi-weekly jeans days for staff and other faculty fundraisers this year's recipients will receive 20 50 to assist in their postgraduation Endeavors congratulations to Andy Moran Gonzalez Lan Madison Slaughter and Jaden sh Jaden is not here but will make sure he gets his word the next scholarship honors Tracy Taylor who graduated from Ying High School in 1985 she unfortunately passed away after her sophomore year so their organization aims to select current Ying high school students who honor the spirit of Tracy it is my pleasure to announced that the two recipients for this year's Tracy D Taylor Memorial Scholarship are Morgan Talbert and Michelle Hopkins as as previously mentioned Morgan Talbert will be attending the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and majoring in animal science in their prev veterinary program and Michelle Hopkins will be attending Rowan University next fall and majoring in Psychology congratulations to you both next the west Trenton Garden Club is generously awarding three scholarships for our uing high school students I am proud to announce that the three recipients are Nicholas Benedetti Alan CH and jayen [Applause] Greer congratulations [Applause] good evening everyone I know you're looking at your score cards now this is number 37 um hey my name is Mike van Wagner I'm delighted to be up on this stage uh and as a proud graduate of parway antile Fisher uing High Now quickly you might be wondering what do you mean anti and Fisher well I was part of that interesting experiment that created a middle school at antile for two years so sixth and seventh went to anti and then eighth and nth went to Fisher I don't know how long that lasted but uh so I've got all four and uh proud about it um it's an honor to be here tonight to present the Lloyd Snider award uh on June 7th 1941 a young man from levitown Pennsylvania was stationed at Pearl Harbor he ended up in the water uh fortunately he was okay he was rescued um and as it turns out his his position by the way was musician's mate in the Navy imagine that a position musician's mate he had a French horn that he thought was lost in the sinking of the boat but they salvaged it it was never playable again but he kept it for the rest of his life well roll forward to 1953 or 57 Lloyd Snyder was hired here at Ying high school as the instrumental as the music teacher to start a music program here at y High School which was relatively new at that time the school and he built a fantastic program here band Orchestra Jazz the marching band um and uh he had a career that lasted 26 years through 1983 uh the band room is named in his honor now uh a few years after he passed my older brothers my twin older brothers who were part of lyd Snider's programs here decided to start a fund in his honor uh the Lloyd Snider fund the goal of which would be each year to donate an instrument a brand new instrument to the band in his honor and that instrument would be endowed in the name of a senior selected by the music director at that time so it's it's it's my pleasure tonight to let you know that Lauren Nelson is this year's recipient and I know Lauren couldn't be here and I know you've heard a little bit about her a very accomplished uh young woman um she played the flute so it'll be a flute that will be forever in Mr Price's uh band room and he has shared with me that uh this is a leadership award so uh through her career starting go she started in elementary school which is also was part of what Lloyd Snider felt was important from fourth grade it's important to have the opportunity for students to play an instrument for free um and Lauren started at an early age continued with it brought her passion and enthusiasm and Leadership through Fisher and then here to Ying High School uh where that helped many other students along the way so again congratulations to Lauren Nelson and to all of [Applause] our good evening my name is Kelly hammer and I am here as a representative of the Ying High School sunf fund Foundation our organization is made up of teachers and staff members uh who work uh very tirelessly to support other co-workers and um staffers in times of great celebration and also in terms of great need uh anybody who has met our principal uh Ed knows quite quickly uh that he operates always from a focus of family uh student co-workers admin faculty community members he sees everybody as part of his own and so this past spring when he lost his father we wanted to come up with a way that would honor both him and his father's Legacy Ed shil Senor spent his life as an auto worker at the jam plant in Lyon New Jersey he spent his time in the paint department spraying Cadillacs doing touchup body work and when we asked Ed to talk about his father to describe him in three ways he said first dedicated to family second resilient and finally determined to succeed so what we've done this year is we have created a Memorial Scholarship to honor his father and we are choosing to give it to students who are pursuing vocational education or who moving directly into the workforce this year our recipient uh is a senior who at a very young age according to him at the age of nine already knew that he wanted to dedicate himself to being a barber um he actually said he kind of created a bald spot the first time he cut his hair and he knew that was it he was ready to go um for us uh we want to celebrate that passion that dedication um and that love that people find for their vocations uh by honoring this senior um he is uh pursuing a field that requires you to be very dedicated it requires a lot of training a lot of talent and we very much see The Echoes of Ed's father in The Pursuit that our senior will uh go after so our recipient this year he actually cannot be here because he is working uh but I would like you to please help me celebrate the first recipient of the Edward chimal Memorial Scholarship and that is Amir ladimer at this time I would like to welcome Mr schme to present the salutatorian and valedictorian thank youbody close the book okay salutatorian is an academic title given to the second highest ranking graduate of the entire graduating class this honor is based on grade point average and the number of credits taken out of 260 seniors at Ying High School this student is number two which is quite an accomplishment this year saluted tooran has a GPA of 4.69 it's pretty high I am proud to announce the salutatorian for the class of 20 24 Liam Ty Liam will be attending the Honors College at Ruckers University in New Brunswick and will be majoring in computer science let's give Liam a big round of applause I'm going to ask Liam to remain standing as we honor our valid dictorian valid Victorian is an academic title given to the student with the highest ranking among their graduating class this honor is based on GPA and the number of credits taken out of 260 seniors at euwing high school the student is number one the students uh this year's valid victorium has a grade point average of 4.82 pretty high as well this valorian is Nicholas [Applause] Ben our Val our valedictorian of the class of 2424 Nicholas Benedetti plans on attending the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and will major in Environmental Studies I am very proud of these two young men and all their accomplishments so let's give them a big round of [Music] applause at this time the district supervisors and the EHS teachers will recognize our students with Department Awards our first presenter is Mr Jason price from our music department right good evening everyone my name is Jason price I am the band director here at y High seniors hi congratulations very exciting um the first award that I have is our department award for band uh the band Department award goes to a student that exemplifies hard work dedication and passion to their musicianship and our Ensemble it is my pleasure to recognize Dakota Woods as this year's band Dakota has been a member of the band programing Ying since fourth grade playing clarinet throughout her musical experience here Dakota has always proven herself to be passionate about learning performing music and also able to dodge the sometimes Rogue flying of time sorry um Dakota's commitment to her musical abilities and her bandmates and our program makes her the perfect candidate for this award and proud to have had the opportunity to be a part of her musical Journey here at DHS for me and the rest of the band thank you for your hard work dedication Dakota and [Applause] congratulations right going stay right here next next word I have is the Seer Fidelis award for musical Excellence The Seer Fidelis award for musical Excellence is presented to a student who displays traits that the Marine Corps considers essential to being a good leader that includes endurance knowledge unselfishness dependability enthusiasm and loyalty award recipients are not necessarily the most outstanding musicians but rather a student whose leadership qualities have contributed to the success of the band program and is presented by the United States Marines youth Foundation Incorporated and the Marine Corps League in recognition of diligence dedication and musical Excellence as a performing high school bandman and soloist I can confidently and proudly say that this year's recipient has demonstrated all of the qualities listed above as well as demonstrated a high level of musicianship and has used their abilities to lead by example and with passion I am honored to present this year's Seer Fidelis award for musical Excellence to Mr Michael fon Michael will be attending Westchester University this fall and where he will continue where he will major in music performance with a focus in percussion and I'm very excited about that being a percussionist and going to Westchester myself so Michael here you go thank you uh good evening again uh social studies oh I'm Kelly Hammer I teach social studies at the high school I don't think I said that last time but I am here tonight uh to also present our department award social studies is an Ever evolving uh field of study that provides students with opportunities to develop informed and reason thinking skills help them become really creative decision makers and more importantly action takers tonight our department recognizes a student who really has truly fully formed uh and become committed to the idea of studying the social sciences and has really for us and for all the teachers in the department demonstrated a profound understanding of her role as an active citizen in the larger Community this student has taken many of our social studies electives including student voices in action she leads our Civics program she's member of peer leadership she's taken AP human Geo sociology have in class right now and our human behavior of course she truly understands the importance of applying the lessons of social studies courses to the betterment of society and plans to continue on her path at the George Washington University and while she cannot be here tonight we would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate her for the work that she's done through our department through our courses and we really wish her the best of luck and we are incredibly excited about where her next PATH takes her in terms of her activ citizen rate congratulations please to Naomi Glover good evening again I have about four Department Awards Tatiana pedler is most deserving of the business education department award throughout her 4 years at EHS Tatiana has participated in three business related courses accounting one business organization and management and principles of marketing her grades of each course exemplify her hard work and dedic ation to being the best student she can be as a department hi taana as a department we your business teachers are proud to honor Tatiana this evening and wish her the very best of luck and continued success next year Tatiana will be attending K University and majoring in accounting while a student in EHS Tatiana was active in the black student Alliance and part of the bridge to Employment Program congratulations [Applause] family and consumer science this is from Mr John kinsky or as the students know Mr K uh he's also doing the the Delicacies for tonight so please be sure to get your cupcake your canoli as well as your water it is with great pleasure and honor that I nominate Alan chow to receive the culinary arts family to the sence with great success Alan has completed the culinary program here at y High School it is Allen's confidence and respect for others that help build a professional atmosphere in our classroom Allen's many other accomplishments include president of the EHS culinary Club EHS jazan work in the EHS musical as well as many other EHS activities as Alan moves on to the university of main for the next exciting chapter of his life life studying forestry I'm hopeful that he will reflect back on his time at you high school and our culinary classes in closing Allan completes each day with a quick visit and a gracious thank you Mr K see you tomorrow congratulations Alan and best of luck catch you cooking in the woods John cinsky Mr K [Music] French the next award is given to the student excelling in her studies in French Maybelline sers has been a dedicated student of French throughout her High School career her enthusiasm and love of the language have been evident through her performance in class and of her course her unmatched duing straight congratulations mayine you are a great representative of the French students here at Ying High School orchestra the orchestr award goes to a senior that has demonstrated exemplary performance of instrumental music within the stringed instrument family I am honored to present this award to Ashley gone through her time at EHS Ashley has been the very active participant in our Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra ensemble in class she has been a role model for the underclassman through her playing but also her positive attitude and growth mindset she has also participated in several performances outside of required School performances including performing with the 2023 and 2024 cjmea High School honors Orchestra Mr M TR I know that Ashley has had a positive influence and presence in my class everywhere else she involved I admire that she always seeks to improve and is willing to help those around her to do the same congratulations Ashley on everything have achieved so far and we all look forward to seeing all the great things you do after you [Applause] graduate good evening everyone my name is s graa and I'm the district supervisor of English language arts and ESL tonight it's my honor to present the English Department award to Frank romanel Frank's dedication and passion for the English language have been evident throughout his academic journey in English one and English 2 honors Frank stood out as an insightful and intuitive student his contributions to class discussions not only enriched the learning environment but also enabled his peers to collaboratively explore new ideas and reach profound conclusions Frank's resilience and positivity during virtual hybrid and inperson classes were a joy to witness and refreshing reminder to his classmates of the joys of learning furthermore Frank's influence extends beyond the classroom his teachers and peers consistently Look to Him for his detail oriented committed and Brilliant approach to education in drama class he stepped out of his comfort zone to not only write scripts but also direct and perform them embodying kindness and promoting a promoting a culture of inquiry and collaboration his mature connections to literature and current events as well as his compassion for the class Community have been truly impressive in addition to excelling in four years of honors English Frank has also undertaken English electives such as journalism drama through literature creative writing and communicating beyond the screen Frank your hard work and dedication have set a high standard for all students and we're excited to see all of the incredible things you will achieve you will achieve as a journalism major at tcmj congratulations tonight I'm also presenting the award for um English as the second language it's a pleasure that I present the ESL Department award to Veronica mingz since her arrival from Columbia Veronica has demonstrated remarkable progress in her English language skills her commitment to learning and her persistent efforts in all her classes have not only impressed her teachers but also set a commendable example for her peers Veronica's Journey has been one of dedication and resilience reflecting her strong determination to succeed in mastering a new language and culture moreover Veronica's proactive approach to her education is truly inspiring she consistently maintains strong communication with her teachers ensuring she understands her coursework and actively seeks feedback for improvement her hard work and diligence are evidence in her academic achievements Veronica we celebrate your accomplishments and look forward to seeing all of the future successes that your efforts will surely bring and I'll accept cold hard devoid of Joy some people feel this way when they think of mathematics but there couldn't be more mistaken math opens the universe us it has a beauty that has allowed us to go into space see into the subatomic world and provided Al algorithms that the police can use to clock your speed well maybe that one is not such a great use but seriously the life we enjoy today especially in today's digital world is here and works because of mathematics today's math Award winner sees that he PL to pursue this world of math as he moves on to Ruckers New Brunswick Honors College majoring in computer science over the years he's oppressed our math faculty when asked to describ them they told me he's dedicated and respectful displays an innate curiosity and desire to learn has an analytical mind capable of great levels of distraction and generalization he will always find where a pattern develops or design an efficient algorithm to solve a problem he's a caring student who often Fe volunteers to share his knowledge and help his classmates it is with great pleasure I present this year's senior mathematics award to Liam to [Music] 125 years ago scientists were talking about how they figured everything out they just had a few details to fill in then a man came and realized that what we know about speed and time it's relative people could travel through time at different rates we discovered that an object can actually be in two places at the same time so we delved into the quantum world world and relativity and thought once again we know pretty much everything there is to know about the universe but we took some measurements to figure out which of two possible fates for the universe were in our future and by taking those measurements we discovered that what we thought we knew made up 100% of the universe only made up about 5% that 95% of the universe and the world around us we can't see we see its effect but it's made of something we don't know we're delving into that making Headway but today there's so much that we do not know about the universe and that we're starting to discover and find it's on inspiring but it raises questions for our society like never before and along with Intrepid explorers pursuing science to discover the secrets of our universe we also need informed leaders to use science to understand it and make good choices today science Award winner plans to work in both these areas he'll be attending University of nth North Carolina and Chapel Hill for Environmental Studies and political science now this the part where I usually take pieces of what my teachers tell me and describe the student but there were two that I felt they couldn't break up the first is from one of his classroom teachers who describes him as an absolute rock star in AP biology he put the pro in procaryotic the might in mitosis and was truly EX cellit in just about every way imaginable I have no doubt he will succeed in wherever he puts his mind to accomplish it and then I had another one that actually was from one of my teachers but not one of his classroom teachers who knew him outside the classroom and he wants to know that he was made a huge impact on him as the activities they put together have not only brought together the students but the entire Y Community I am lucky to have met him and wish him the best in his future endeavors it is with great pleasure I present this year's senior science award to Nicholas benedet good evening and I'm the health and phys supervisor and athletic director for the union public school districts um we are almost to the end so please stay with us here I have the honor of recognizing the top female and male in health and fizzed um I'm going to break the mold a little bit can I call Shannon Larry up to the stage please so Shannon Larry is my top female in health and fizzed this year she has excelled academically receiving health and PE grades of 95 and above her entire High School career she has demonstrated exceptional dedication to both her academic studies and her passion for physical activity and wellness Shannon Shannon's enthusiasm and commitment will have a lasting impact on the health and well-being of those around her and on behalf of the UN High School we present this award congratulations [Music] Shannon and then now for the male Award winner for PE and this gentleman has been up and back and forth on the stage already tonight so can we have Daniel Armstrong [Applause] please again Daniel has exhib exibited a profound commitment to promoting health and physical activity through his academic achievements leadership roles and sports involvement Daniel has earned grades of 97 and higher in health and PE throughout his high school years as well as being part of the varsity boy soccer team Daniel's commitment to promoting Healthy Lifestyles and inspiring others to lead active lives is truly commendable and I can truly hope that my kids grow up to be something piece of you right there again congrats Danny good luck [Music] thank [Music] you and piggybank piggybacking on Mr kaminskas Awards I'm pleased to announce the United States Marine Corps distinguished athlete Awards um our distinguished male athlete is Colin Elam and our distinguished um female athlete is tala [Applause] Tas I have the privilege of presenting the Spanish award tonight we have the opportunity to celebrate an amazing human being a res young woman who knew that Spanish for honors was not going to be easy but took it anyway she needed to be strong and work hard to finish a challenging class with the determination of a warrior kaziah Daniels you are excellent example of your values your respectful kind honest and a gen leader your willingness to help others and do well is contagious you will shine like the sun in every project and your goal and goal you put your mind to because you are academically ambitious and your drive will take you far keep up the good work and have lots of fun in [Applause] between Dr Papadopoulos nominated ran Mentor for the technology Awards Ryan Mentor is truly an exceptional student who has excelled in all of his technology and stem classes including engineering design with 3D printing graphic design one robotics one and Robotics 2 his dedication creativity and problem solving skills have not gone unnoticed by his peers and and teachers Ryan's outstanding performance in this year's technology Student Association promotional design and Technology bow say that 10 times fast is a testament to his talent and hard work he serves as a role model for his classmates inspiring them with his passion for Learning and Innovative thinking congratulations Ryan we are so proud of you and wish you all the best in your future endeavors [Applause] I'm back so before I got here and did this for the first time this was a speech but don't worry everybody wants to leave I'm going to condense that real quick so I'm here to represent the visual arts art is more than lines on a paper color on a canvas shapes M from play or graduation requirement that every student is forced to complete it is powerful medium through which we express our deepest emotions intellectually challenge societal norms and provoke thought when asked by my department supervisor who would like to present this I jumped at the opportunity uh I was overjoyed with excitement and also overwhelmed with sadness this student and I have become family uh literally I taught her big sister from sixth grade through her senior year I worked with her mother daily calling her every day to say hello and now with this senior graduating you and Halls will be handling free Isabelle handin come on up Isabelle artistic Journey not only in trust our community but encouraged young artists of tomorrow she's a well-rounded artist with Ceramics art two art three drawing and painting she was so good she skipped our one her artwork has been entered in the Mercer County teen Arts Festival for the last three years years advancing to the state level two years in a row for both 2D and 3D Works um she has an unwavering commitment a Relentless pursuit of creativity and her drive to constantly improve her craft inspires all uh as a new adventure begins and you embark on your next chapter I think of your boundless potential fills me with hope kiddo so Isabelle hanin thank you I'm [Applause] bye [Applause] H good evening everyone and don't worry we have made it to the end my name is Alex Minter I am the director ctor of choirs here at Ying High School the vocal music department award is given to a student who has displayed the qualities of dedication leadership growth and musical achievement this year I am honored to present this award to a four-year member of our Coral program chorus council president Alia Dio now as she knows I could go on for hours talking about her um but for the sake of everybody here and holding back tears I'm going to keep it nice and short as I said alayia has been a four-year member of our Coral program here at y High School surviving the covid Endeavor of concert choir was no small feat a member of the pop Acappella group Master singers as well as the Yu High School Corral our top level mixed Ensemble here at y High School she was also an inaugural member of Bella y High School's award-winning and Premier soprano Al Ensemble and if that wasn't enough she also serves as the president of qu's council which helps me oversee the day-to-day choir activities and social events that happen outside of the building one might describe her and as she's already heard this as bossy a little needy and sometimes demanding but what they really mean is that she is assertive she is determined and goal oriented determined to help cultivate and grow a program of high quality music making here in high school Alasia has been dedicated to the growth of our choirs both musically and socially creating a space where all kinds of students can Thrive she has led this program to new heights and has set a precedent for the future of this program's growth and achievement she has grown not only into an incredible young human being but also an incredible and dedicated musician while the entire program will always feel the weight of your loss we know that you are going on to achieve incredible things we you know that you will do us proud just make me one promise and never stop [Applause] sing as we close tonight's program we would like to congratulate all of the students here tonight along with their parents and Guardians who have offered support throughout their their child's years of schooling we have programs for you with this year's Awards recipients um or rather a list of the award recipients uh available as you exit the Ying High School auditorium please help me thank all our presenters for their time tonight as well as uh all of the generous organizations who honored our worthy students [Music] we as a school community and District appreciate everything you do for our students lastly we would like to thank the people who did a lot of the work behind the scenes to make this night successful Mr Jason price for providing our lovely musical Prelude the you the uing High School culinary arts program and teacher Mr John kobinski for our delicious treats for everyone to enjoy at the conclusion of the program the Ying high school scholarship committee uh for all of their diligent efforts in selecting Ying High School's worthy recipients the uing high school support staff Mrs Deb Beck Mrs Ellen Everett Mrs Tony Stewart for attending to every detail youing and our counseling team lest I forget um also for attending to every detail the Ying High School custodial staff and Mr Mike KN for always presenting Ying High School in its best light and finally the Ying Public Schools buildings and grounds department for always maintaining our Outdoors so impeccably congratulations to all our scholarship winners and honores safe travels home to everyone and have a good [Applause] night e

to 4:00 a.m. 6 days a week at a.m. or something like that so job placement uh we need to come back in to finish the program but we're super excited he's got a job and he's out uh making money he's trying to bring his whole family up from Hai that's his goal so our next student is Carmen Hull she was a graduate in 2223 um some of you may recognize her she went to Jennings County high school so I'll let tell her success story I car hos dropped out of JS County High School in 2002 I had a positive experience until I got pregnant at 16 years old I then dropped out and went to adult education from 2002 to 2005 at that time with two small children it was hard to be successful and focused on school I did not complete my high school W HS at that time I returned to J County Education GCC in Center in November 20 22 I had been a full-time mom and disabled I wanted to have more inkom so I decided to get a high school diploma and then go to college I really like the JC I like being able to work on my own pace and just be able to go over things I did not remember from high school I studied at JC for about a month on my math before I went to take my H C test I did very well on my test and passed on my first triart Carmen worked so hard and spent countless hours outside of class studying on her hsse she attended class three hours a week and the rest she did on her own at home remarked her teacher did it for her my time at JCC well impacted my teacher because now I'm in college at Post University getting my degree in hum serves I plan to spend about five and a half years in college and go on to become an addiction counsel meet Mye Booker I now only have two and a half years of college left and I work parttime at Casey's Jennifer go ahead and read ter ter know showed us I also forgot to mention Carmen was at um our location that we had out at CSL at the clubhouse she was one of the first graduates that we had from out there so terana Wilson couldn't be here go ahead and read her success story I tyana Wilson dropped out of Penfield Senior High School in Battle Creek Michigan in February 2011 my house school experience was negative I did not have enough help and guidance at school or at home in school I was off bully I have been living on my own since I was 17 years old I went to an adult education center in Michigan to get my GED I passed three out of the four of the G but never finished I moved around a lot due to my own I moved a lot on my own due to severe life struggles in hardship raising my newborn baby I was the most motivated students I had that was a quote from me um my experience at JCC was wonderful and they allowed me to start right where I left off in 2020 getting my diploma was a lifelong goal and they helped me to accomplish this they also worked with me to build a better resume and and encourage me to back for a certification training I am now working at the Lowe's store in Columbus I hope to come back to JCC in the future to attain my Microsoft Office certification or go on to college I want to become a professional photographer and own my own Studio One day so terana actually took some of the test multiple times but now um because of total transcript we're allow GED scores all the way back to um 2014 so they can have a combination GD scores task or highet pass I got my business card real quick while I finish talking let you guys get on but um it used to be you had to pass either like your high set test or your task test or the GED test now the states in an intemp to take down their barriers you can combine portions of those tests as long as you meet the qualifying scores from the individual companies and that's how we're able to get terana uh her diploma so we're always trying to reduce barriers for our adults and um get them on but yeah thank you guys very much we appreciate it thank you dessie I know uh Carmen slipped out if you if you all see if not I'll try to catch her at Casey's um I can imagine how difficult it is right to stand up and read that in front of a group like this and um I think um her doing that speaks a lot about her her dedication um her understanding how important this is and so you all before I do just um please communicate how proud We Are I know she had a couple Littles with her um and um they were able to see her do that in front of us that's so very important so um thank you all for sharing the three stories um not just Carmen right everyone all three of them the work you do is extremely important we appreciate you all as well thank you thank so now we'll okay move on um to Old business um we have several policies um for approval that are on the list for second reading so these are um for approvals um we are going to pull out to Neola policy 5200 that is the attendance one we'll vote on that one separate the other group as listed on the agenda will'll take as a group if that's okay with everybody so I'll entertain a motion to approve those policies as written I have a motion by Cheryl do I have a second second by Pat any discussion all those in favor 70 so next we'll entertain a motion for Neola policy 5200 that's the attendance policy do I have a motion to accept that policy as written so I have a motion by Pat do I have a second I have a second by Mary Lynn any discussion yeah just to comment I'm against it and but that doesn't mean our superintendent and our staff and our board except I I like working a little fast and uh getting people's attention I want our students to come to school when they're supposed to be on time listen to the bus driver listen to their teachers and listen to their principls and administrating people there that's all I want and if they don't do that then that that's their life that they're picking and what one thing that I'm I vote against on this is that if you missed 10 unexcused days 10 unexcused days that's two weeks of school you're out of and it policy says it may the principal may give it to the uh Bureau of Motor Vehicles to be suspended and I believe it should be sh you missed 10 days unexcused uh excuses you're going to lose your license but that's my opin these people are working on the same thing and I guarantee you something will be done but that's my opinion I just like to add that in whole I agree with most of it but I do have a problem with portion that says that we can't uh necessar report to the BMV we don't have to rather so I'd like to see that changed so as it's written I can't support it either okay any other discussion okay so we have a ad we have a motion by Pat we have a second by Mary ly um we are voting on the policy as it's written for the second reading um so all of those in favor five and all of those oppos two so the policy passes as written 5 to two next we'll go down under programs we have several um there's been no changes since um you were given them and they all are matching the new meal policies ask you take those as a group okay that's okay so we'll vote on all three of those as a group The Elementary Middle School we've been talking about it forever um we got we uh the book that we had chosen textbook we had chosen is actually on the approved curriculum list that came out at the end of May so I'm asking for approval for ready Indiana mathematics for K through a we'll entertain a motion um to approve so Move Motion by Pat do I have a second second second by Cheryl any [Music] discussion we did have Community involvement and looking at the m yes Community involvement um staff survey staff input normal process great I just like to point that out our community always um likes to um kind of know where we are with textbooks and and what we're teaching the kids I think it's always good that we um offer and request Community input so I appreciate you all doing that any other discussion all those in favor seven yes it's a standard resolution in June it's to uh authorized treasure the jius count School Corporation to transfer from Ed to Ops the way I've got it written is 1.5 million from Ed to Ops in June and another 1.5 in December for cash flow purposes and this is to reimburse op fund for expenses that are not allowed not allocated to student instruction and learning under the 2023 budget year I entertain a motion to approve I have a motion by mayor ly I have second second second by Travis any discussion all those in favor 70 down under property yes next up we've got a little presentation that uh we're going to be showing hopefully the public can see it if they're logged in it is the uh work that's being done at the high school for the um CTE project this start this work started before school was even out we was able to move some things around and get started on about a month ago so I thought it' be good to give this public be able to see it so the first slide is going to show the transportation area and what you'll see on the left side is where the new paint booth will be they've got that cleared out that used to be the old welding area and the second part of it this picture on the right shows the garage door to be able to move things in and out of welding because there's another garage door you don't see in this that goes to the outside so it's a way to transfer things in and out uh very nicely second slide this is the new welding area what you're looking at is the main wall that was that wall did not exist there a month ago and you're seeing the different outlets for the different stations that are going to be there and above you see the exhaust hoods that'll be dropped down per welding station to be able to pull the uh smoke and stuff out of there so it you know just to get it exhausted out of the out of there next up is a construction manufacturing area so this this is the old this is the old shop area I believe is what it would be but you'll notice on the right side on the left side picture it's basically the same we don't need a garage door here but there's a nice nice opening to be able to do the same thing to be able to get things in and out of advanced man that they may need and the right side shows the new opening into the classroom area so students won't have to go out in the hall to get into the classroom they'll be able to go right from the classroom into the Hands-On area next up is culinary arts this room that you're looking at here used to be the um home area I believe back in the day that was that was sewing sewing yes sewing well sewing's home so you've got you've got the picture on the left is where they're digging up the floor to run the new piping for the culinary arts area picture and that's you got the same situation happening on the right so big time work being done in this area next up shows the pantry and the ca the cafe that's going to be for the entrepreneurial CTE leg of this and same situation there they're basically opened up that wall slightly I believe where the on the left no that wall already was there so that's just getting water into the cafeteria into the cafe area and then the right side picture shows in the future like a month from now when we do this again there's most likely going to be the counter there for the cafe used to be the little living room this used yeah this used to be a the yeah all right this is doors that are added for the health science area and the cafe based on the left side's the cafe right sides the health science this is to be able to close off the area that's got a bathroom it's got the the laundry area so when they're teaching that kind of stuff won't be a distraction and the cafe door there is so in the event that there's you know have some sort of an event there they'll be able to not have to be out in the hallway where students are be able to use a bathroom in the regular area there I believe there's one more this the health science room so this used to be the old kitchen area or the cooking cooking I guess class would it would be called and this is where we will have you see they're putting walls up this is where you're going to have the beds and and mannequins that for the uh what Health Sciences Health Science CNA yes for the CNA certification area what this will be so I think that's the last one isn't it yeah so the reason we're showing that is because the public hadn't had a chance to really see much of that we talk about a lot of things but them able to see it so we're trying to make that to where it's a little more visible we'll do another presentation like this in a month from now when we have our next meeting in July and you should you'll see a lot of progress between that and now any questions all right um nothing under operations so we'll go down under new business Neola policiy just presenting a first reading on our wellness policy we have to annually reapo that and so if you have any questions reach out but no significant changes that so next we'll go down under um professional staff recommendations recommendations so um excited to have several recommendations this evening um first we have Macy Gray for Hayden elementary teacher then John Kelly jchs science teacher and Mike McBride jchs English teacher and Mike MC McBride as jchs Varsity Boys Basketball coach asking for approval for those new positions so move I have a motion by Pat a very excited motion by Pat second by Earl any discussion all those in favor that's a unanimous 70 and I think we have we have yes of that you have guest and so we ask people to introduce who's with them and say hello to us and then walk around and Shake everybody's hand it's it's the thing we do and we love to get to meet so Mike if you'd start introduce who you brought with you and say hell I've got my wife Noel with me um I guess I'll Stand and I had a few notes put together I don't want to be long but uh certainly want to thank the school board and uh Mrs Johnson Mr Roller Mr Stevens uh for this opportunity I know I'm excited about it um I want to also thank Josh L Rob Kent for the things they've done over the last several years to get the program where it is right now um very excited about you know the future and what we can accomplish uh with the team uh couple of things about about us as a family and me personally I've always said I try to live by three things faith family and basketball sometimes not in that order necessarily but um you know with with regards to Faith if if we live by faith I always feel like we're right in the place where we need to be at the right time and I feel like this is definitely the situation for me uh as far as family goes uh my kids weren't able to be here I've got twin daughters that are 17 they both had to work this evening and weren't able to make it but uh Noel and I will be celebrating our 30th Anniversary this summer so we're excited about that um you know in that 30 years of time we've really only seen each other for about 10 [Music] years and of course for for the 30th Anniversary her goal was always wanting to go to Hawai and I figured I would just do one better and bring her to Jenny County but looking forward to work with everyone and I'm excited about the opportunity now is it true your daughters are six seven I certainly wish they've been great and they're excited for me as well so Macy don't worry back there you don't have to have a speech no actually very exced forward to me the [Laughter] to nice to meet Macy and welcome to Hayden you want share who you brought with you this evening um I'm actually here with my sister-in-law and her husband Tiffany thir and Chris thirst um I'm married to Tiffany's brother and I was not able to bring my husband or my children today but I'll tell you a little bit about them my husband is Tyler gray and my children are three girls Molly stie and London and Molly's four s's two and London is six months old um so on top of that I'm starting at a new school and on top of that we're also building a home in Seymour right down the road from Hayden Elementary so um we have a lot going on this summer and I'm super excited to get it all going well welcome we're so excited to have you join us thank you hi congratulations thank you well thank you uh both of you for coming and being present it's always good to um see a face be able to put a face with a name that's on the agenda um really look forward to hearing the great things that you all will be doing in your perspective R so um welcome to an amazing team really um so next we'll go down under support staff we have several recommendations um I'm asking for approv for Scott alorn summer school bus driver effective 528 2024 Scott for eight hours Scott alorn 6 hours summer school bus driver effective 610 of 24 Tanya Johnson jcsc bus a um effective 614 Victoria Lane jcms Cheerleading Coach effective 614 Carter leak jchs head girls Cross Country Coach effective 614 Andrew mcken jcsc summer transportation turn effective 64 Dina Monday summer school bus driver effective 528 to um 67 Bryce Neely jchs volunteer assistant girls golf coach effective um 614 Cynthia Phelps um summer school bus driver effective 528 Cynthia that was for eight hours Cynthia Phelps 6 hours um summer school bus driver effective 610 Donna Smith um summer school bus driver effective 528 Ariana Spalding jcms custodian second shift effective 614 Ken Kenneth Spencer jcsc volunteer girls coach effective 614 we entertain a motion to approve all of those recommendations as read motion by ear we have a second second by Travis any discussion all those in favor seven next we have couple that we've pulled out separate so we'll go back to the support staff recommendation and I'm also asking for approval of Matt Matt Walker jcms assistant football coach effective 614 entertain a motion to approve I have a motion by Pat second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor 70 and one last one Joel pedit um Hayden Elementary Sumer custodian intern um effective 6424 I have a motion to I have a motion by maryn do I have a second second second by Pat any discussion all of those in favor six and Dev I will abstain since that's my son can't keep his room clean but yall hire I'm not sure about that very much enjoyed it so far so very thankful for that so next we're down under finances we have some donations I'm gonna have pictures of Hayden rooms next meeting just for I'll have to remind him tell him about that all right seriously no I've got donations so approval to accept the following donations is TE Creek Baptist Church 31850 to Graham Creek student meal program Jenny's Church of Christ $200 to the high school Panther Pantry James County Community Foundation 150 classroom Grant to Rebecca Sergeant art supplies at nve nvic $250 Grant to Emmy Douglas third grade class at nve and Honda blackb giving fund $20 to the Jennings County School Corporation food program will entertain a motion to approve those donations as read I have a motion by Travis do I have a second second second by Cheryl any discussion all those in favor 70 next we have another resolution for yes this is a standard resolution for any meetings that are Beyond two weeks so resolution authorizing treasure Deputy Treasure of the school corporation to make payments of claims without board action prior to the July 11th 2024 meeting and to allow the treasur deputy treasur to make transfers of Appropriations within Ed Ops and Debt Service funds to Major to balance major counts I have a motion by Chelsea do I have a second second second by Pat any discussion all those in favor 70 um nothing under property so now we'll move down under operations we have a couple of items yes asking for approval for a second annual mscat Duck Derby race last year the girls basketball team was very successful in um our their event and they followed all of the rules that they needed to with charitable fundraising um in a very good way and raised enough money they even donated back to the Hope food program for other students so they're looking to do that event again a second year and quite excited about it so asking for approval entertain a motion to approve May Lind we have a second second second by Travis any discussion all those in favor seven now an authorization to fill positions yes asking authorization for the superintendent to fill positions without board action prior to our next meeting of July 11th and busy hiring season I have a motion to approve no motion by Pat do I have a second second by Earl any discussion all those in favor seven of um next um down under relations we have a couple ofus I'm asking for approval forou between Ohio Valley opportunities Head Start and JC um SC this is just our annual um approval for communication between us and the Head Start have a motion to approve solute motion by Cheryl do I have a second second second by maryn any discussion all those in favor 7 and then the next asking for an approval of anou with the boys and girls club they'd like to apply for a 21st century Community Grant um with us as a partner and provide free programming for students so asking for that approval entertain a motion motion by Earl do I have a second second by Chelsea any discussion all those in favor 70 which brings us really down to other I don't have any other nothing no birthdays to announce well there is a birthday day de Johnson has a birthday we we won't ask how old you are de old enough so a very happy birthday yes happy Birthday Dad thank you otherwise it will entertain it what's that men too even though he's already see Chris good luck on this position go or do we have to make him go around I think we'll save him okay you you're always welcome to come up and check AR you um hearing that no nothing under other will entertain emotion to a j motion by P do I have a second second by Chelsea all those in favor 7 meeting

members of the board and attendance president Linda Chavez pres vice president Andres Kino clerk MF pres member cordinator alera present member Andrea Flores Shelton members of administration interim superintendent Dr alazon pres okay see that we have Quorum we're going to start on items 102 discussion and or modification of the agenda the board may change the order of business including but not limited to an announcement that an agenda item will be considered out of order that consideration of an item has been withdrawn postponed rescheduled or removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion and possible action uh truste uh vice president so uh truste conto vice president trusty Cana has asked to move um give me the item item three it 3.01 to move it right after 1.022 uh any other trustees want to move another item okay um so Madam president you need a second yes I'll second that uh motion uh trusty fam seconds all in favor raise your hand okay uh the majority 5 z um so then we will move item 301 to after 102 so we will now do 301 uh and Dr alasan I'm sorry but there's this little bug that's fly around the M um Dr Alan um can you please take item 301 yes thank you president um this is a special presentation um uh recognizing our students for the my literacy attainment and they will be getting an awards recognition tonight and um joining me in this opening um will be a member uh s Lera and um I'd like to give a brief explanation of this uh particular uh student recognition which we're all very proud of and um I'll turn it over to um trusta Letta after me so the Seal of biliteracy um is the goal towards which dual immersion uh education aims and this is awarded in recognition of students um who have achieved Proficiency in two or more languages when graduating for high from high school so at our district Fifth and eighth grade um students who have achieved proficiency and met the requirements in both languages received the biliteracy um attainment award and so ad students from adante one and two dual Language Academy um participate in the Dual um emerging program that prepares them for the process of bilingualism and so this award indicates that the student is on path toward earning the California state seal of biliteracy upon High School graduation and so trusta thank you um and it was an honor to be at the graduations both adente one Adan 2 for the eighth graders receiving this and it is an honor to be here tonight to recognize you and I'll be saying it in Spanish thank you and so thank you um and uh Dr Bickford if we will do us the honors of um awarding our students yeah so it is my honor to be recognizing those Fifth and eighth graders tonight so I'm going to read first the Adelante 1 fifth grade students who have received the biliteracy attainment award first up etty Alvarado Nat Natalia Amita gabri yeah we we're gonna ask him just to come up over here and then thank you Natalia Amer gabrielas abigil bsta Leonardo VZ Melanie Chavez jiah Chico Elizabeth Lan Flores Evan gindo Andre Garcia Mary gz Adrian Gonzalez anel Gonzalez Marcus hog Mato Lopez josas Lopez Marco Mora Aaron [Music] OA Michelle y Ramirez donica Sanchez AEL sandal AOS and kir with gardo um so I recognize some of them weren't here today we're GNA see some of that it's obviously summer and we also have a group of eighth graders in a bit who are in DC right now so congratulations to these guys though on their attainment and yeah did we get a picture all right Follow the Leader and we're going to go on to our eighth graders who got to make it here I'm going to read all the eighth grade names knowing that we are missing some of the kiddos but congratulations to them all Isabella Anaya Camila AO Aras Eileen artiaga mayena Thiago Casto Jonah De Santos ing Flores Anthony Fus Dana Gomez SOA Gonzalez Unice marel Ariana Marie darene Marcado Vanessa Nava David poo Samuel Ray gra Rivera Exel Rubio Johanna Torres Johanna via Robos Ariana via NOA and Caitlyn Williams congratulations on your guys's attainment all right and now we have our Adelante do fifth graders so yti ASO kamacho Isabella C ju Carlos guado the Mia Aron M Alexa C hobo Ethan cenusa cost Luis Flores Tamil i julana himz c Adrian maio caranza Sophia Martinez Naomi aroso Ortiz and DEA Vasquez Amador right [Music] picture all right thank you atente 2 Traders and now for our eighth graders from adante do one mon Gerald Montenegro I'm sorry Montenegro no agular Carla Figaroa Rodriguez Adriel Garcia Jared iar Ariana Mendes Perez Alexis Reyes L Beth via Gomez Adriana karez Kevin Rodriguez America Ramirez all right congratulations to all of them if you didn't notice there was a massive amount of students who are read off this year we more than doubled our numbers for the attainment so I just want to shout out the amazing work our dimy are doing congratulations guys congratulations all the students from adante 1 and two students and B to see attainment uh we will be moving on to 2011 Madam president uh aren't we supposed to at least have some public comment on item 3.01 and comments from members of the board on item 3.01 sure um is there any comments for item 301 from the public okay moving on to the oh go ahead no this is for the special presentation that just happened right now sure I I I could start yelling okay um is there any way to turn on my mic more Miss Mel miss m um MJ can you go check her the mic the microphone please um in the meantime we're going to ask the boards for their comments on the presentation please uh any board member want to comment uh I see trusty fam and then uh vice president uh kto is next okay so I'll just you know uh I think that it's a I want to congratulate our adalante one and two Fifth and eighth graders on achieving the sea biliteracy award I want to uh you know you all work hard for it uh I think this shows that uh your committed to putting in the effort uh the acquisition of language foreign language skills is something that will serve you uh very far and wide uh even after You' graduated from Alam Rock and I have uh nothing but the bet you know uh I'm uh confident that all of them all of our biliteracy seal winners uh will do well in the years ahead uh so congrat you know I want to congratulate the fifth graders uh on uh their achievement I wish them a happy summer and I want congratulate the eighth graders on their award and uh to build bid them a special show uh fwn farewell and congratulations on graduation from Alam mock thank you so much uh just um VI president k please yeah know congratulations to all the children who earned their seal by literacy um know it requires significant amount of effort and so thank you for the work that you've done you represented Al cognitive benefits I was mentioning that um you know there's a lot of effort that have been put forth by the parents uh so the children can go ahead and succeed that it's not in brain that uh bilingual uh capabilities are very very beneficial there you know cognitive benefits to Children Learning multiple languages and we tend to be outliers in the rest of the world where uh the United States tends to be one of the few that's you do have uh that many people speaking multiple languages uh you go to Switzerland for example and if you don't speak four languages you're you're you're um not necessarily marketable uh as much as others who speak more languages so congratulations y oh trust thank you um as a bilingual person you know I remember my mom when I was little teachers would tell her you know don't have her Lear uh both languages it's going to confuse her you know put her in just English English just English and um I'm so glad my mom fought against that and uh you know at home she would be like Spanish only um so and I know that somebody's translating for us so um I I'm going to do it in English to save time as well but um you know for me this uh Foundation you know of not just language but the culture um has really been an anchor um that has allowed me to you know go many places um and you know of course careers that I've been able to have just because of the language that that I have um and connections to community that's sometimes otherwise if I did not know the language I would not have the the connection um and just like I talked to the students after graduation um I love the uh mascot that one has you know and it's that right like the K has the the wings and with both Wings you can fly in many places and like that you know um go that can go back forth side to side up and down you know each one of us right and and it doesn't have to be Spanish and English we're just talking about that here but when we can understand communities um and we're able to do that we can connect in many ways and flying whatever way is needed in the moment so um congratulations to the students congratulations to the parents fic and I look forward to see see all the amazing things that they will continue to do the eighth graders coming back uh to share um and then the fifth graders continuing in our district so thank you again parents for trusting them in our schools any more further board comments okay um and um what I just said in Spanish was uh thank you to all the parents for being here for their children and always um being and supporting them in everything that they do and they're the number one teachers they were their first teachers and there will be their teachers throughout life and I thank them very much for all of the work that they're doing because uh we're just here as partners and um and I just thank them for today so um the seeing that there's no more comments uh um did anybody from the public want to comment I'm giving them one more opportunity okay thank you we're going to move on to public comments on item3 uh the welome an explanation audience man pres one point excuse me 1.03 okay welcome and explanation to the auor thank you you're right um on 1.03 any person may address the board on any item on the meeting agenda excuse me I'm a little bit nervous because I'm not used to be in front of the camera and I probably never will be so thank you for bearing with me and that's not on the agenda that's just my personal view okay so persons who wish to speak on an item on the agenda will have an opportunity to do so when the agenda item is introduced and present during this meeting this is a limit of two minutes for each speaker the board has the right to limit total public comment on any agenda item to no more than 20 minutes persons who wish to speak to the board of about any matter within the jurisdiction of the district but not on this agenda will have an opportunity to do so during item 2011 on this agenda as stated below uh public members who wish to address the board on1 um allow Miss Carlos Capal to provide a quick explanation to the audience in Spanish uh yes and uh this is Mr Carlos trolly thank you thank you and just to um highlight that we have uh inperson interpretation for those members who would like interpretation service in [Music] Spanish for [Music] thank you mad presid okay thank you Mr TR uh item 2011 public members who wish to address the board on matters on not on the agenda requests address the board provides members of the public an opportunity to speak about any matter under the jurisdiction of the district but not on this agenda if the sub subject you wish to discuss is already on this agenda please provide your comment when that item is called during the meeting those who wish to speak on and within the jurisdiction of the brown act prevents the board from discussing any items not on this published agenda but the board May refer to staff for followup any formal written requests that are brought before the board at this time there is a limit of two minutes for each speaker the board has the right to limit total public comment on any agenda no more than 20 minutes written matters may be placed on future agenda so um do we have our first speaker okay so before you start one second so right now it's uh 5:53 and so we're going to be allowing uh 20 minutes for public speakers so we can do two minutes uh or we can do one minute so if we have a lot of speakers so um um it seems like we'll allow the two minutes for now thank you good evening my S is here I'd like to uh bring to attention to the board um two issues uh that I've experienced recently um one has to do with the yearbook stien that was written into the cpsa and um I was told by director geline that it was not in cpsa um anymore uh to my understanding if something's going to be taken out of cpsa should be voted on I I verify today it is listed um I was to receive a stien for yearbook um instead I was asked to be paid hourly um but not the full uh amount that was originally written in sypsa on the second item um at adalante we have a um history of taking gown deposits when I went to return the Gown deposits um there were there were six of them missing for an amount of $240 I asked PTA to take out of the PTA fundraising that I do for my classroom to give the money back to the students because they did not want them to uh leave for the summer without their deposits please the money was found can you please just give it back to the PTA line item so that I can um use that money next year for um my students um uh I have also on um my time sheet was rejected for the hours that I did on promotion ceremony um I would like to provide all of you with documents everything that I did uh for the promotion ceremony uh to the point where the admin uh just basically came in and read read my script um also being denied to uh be paid for the shaoning that I did of the uh eighth grade dance I don't think this is fair and I also don't think that it's fair that I should have to wait till didine comes back from Spain um please if we could take care of this right away so that I could begin uh enjoying my summer and I again I do all of this for the children not for the extended duty but if I perform work I do feel that I should be compensated for the time that I did outside of my regular contract day thank you one quick question can I have your name again please adante one thank you so much and who can I leave this with uh basically everything thank you we'll pass them out thank you your book looks amazing too yes it does next speaker please thank you I'll pass this on and close session trustees and Dr almasan as you may already know for the past nine years Alpha public schools has provided free programs to parents and community members through our parent Learning Center recently we Revisited the mission our Center to ensure that our work continues to be aligned with the needs and aspirations of our community to do so we gather input from all stakeholders program participants parents and teachers and this process yield to a new mission that will guide or work moving forward given your or authorizers we wanted to ensure that we share the new mission statement with you our new mission is to provide families with educational career and wellness programs to Champion their agency in the community we partner with Alpha schools to offer and promote programs aligned with the needs of our community thank you for your time trustees and have a good evening thank you what evening congratulations to the new um officers of the midterm elections my name is Veronica Talton performing arts teacher George middle and R Elementary Jun is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States have you seen the Jun flag it was created by Bost Faith whose design concept is a reflection of the juneth slogan a New Freedom a new people a new star what about the colors the burst around the star represents a Nova or a new star while the curve which is the border between the red and blue section signifies New Horizons red white and blue demonstrate that the enslaved Americans and their descendants are all Americans on June 19th 1865 Union Soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger reached galvaston Texas with an executive order which read the people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States that all slaves are free take note that this announcement came two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation the Journey of African-Americans in the United States and in this district has been characterized by pain suffering and and Injustice over 400 years later African-Americans are still fighting for change today I stand here proudly as an African-American employee in this district and I ask the uh Board of Trustees and give honor to uh Dr amazan our interim superintendent to continue to support the black lives matter and school resolution which was adopted under the tenure of board pres board president Karina ER laa at that time in 2020 thank you so much uh my name is David Williams I am the wrestling coach over at adalante 1 uh and something that has come up with and I just heard it I I wasn't going to say anything but I just heard that we have Personnel that aren't able to uh get compensation for work that they've done in a reasonable Manner and I know I haven't received anything in five years I've been doing it for five years I think I received one payment once but that was it okay I don't do it for that and so far as I know I think our our girls wrestling team won the first uh County championship for uh Alam Rock for a team this year and yet we still have issues trying to get singlets and all kinds of other stuff I would ask that the board try to do I know there's been stuff in the past that has caused you to have to put pump the braks on financials but I would ask that the board find a way to help you know slim that that that process down so that people who are I'm doing it for the love of the kids and watching the smiles on their faces and the tears of joy when they won that's what I do it for if I get something I'm sa great but we have a lot of people that work in the district that are volunteering or doing other things and if they are promised something we should really cut the fat to try to get to getting them their compensation faster and so they don't have to go through 18 different ways of trying to get things done so I I think mine's back up again but Lord knows what's going to happen but I don't do it for that okay just ask the board if you could make that happen thank you thank you good evening trustees my name is um my daughter sit is a a l of this District uh most of the children in my Ryan neighborhood attend schools in this District um and that is why I'm here tonight uh I've been processing uh the unconscionable actions that were taken here during this the quote unquote special meeting that took place last Friday on uh June the 7th um thinking more and more about uh the importance of us reminding you at every one of these meetings uh that we are watching your actions um your motions uh your resolutions um it's on behalf of the children that live in this District the families that live in this district and the staff who serve the children of this District each and every bo uh there was a vot of no confidence um that was brought to the table um in regards to both uh former president GL fla and um former clerk uh Andrea Flores Shelton um based on their vote on a on a on a previous decision that was made by this board um the motion that was on the on the table at that time uh was made by now president Linda Chavez and it was seconded by andrino now or continuing to be vice president to have that be the justification uh for those actions that we' taken against your fellow trustees is unethical to hear truste Farm not only say those words here that that was the basis for his vote of no confidence but to also see and hear that narrative portrayed in the med is unacceptable I'm here this evening to cast my vote of no confidence with trusty kto trusty Chavez and trusty Fam thank you hi good evening my name is Stacy Benedict I'm a parent at adante 1 um tonight my son received an award and he is on the director's list I have three students currently at adalante I have been a parent at adalante since 2009 I'm an adoptive parent a foster parent and a social worker for CPS adantes has been a supportive uh School for my children's education and I believe we need to keep it at TK through a school adalante is a community it is a safe place for our children is ESP special because the younger children look up to the older children the last day of school the eighth graders walked around to say goodbye and the TK and the Kinder students were out there cheering them on as a social worker I go and conduct investigations at larger middle schools and I don't want that for my children I don't want them to be at a larger Middle School I choose avalante for a reason I don't want my children exposed to what's out there at bigger larger middle schools um my children are adalante on an interdistrict transfer I choose adalante I can only imagine many parents like myself would not put our children in a brand new school if you combined adalante one and two into a middle school I would take my son to an established middle school and leave the district why change a school that works that produces well educated and well-rounded students where the teachers have their own children enrolled in the school and that as a high rate of parent parent involvement adalante has brought a positive Spotlight to the district winning Messa tournaments we just heard wrestling tournaments um the kopita it has been the building block to students graduating from prestigious colleges and it's known for their parent involvement changing adalante would be detrimental to the district thank you I press start [Music] Middle School [Music] so just really really uh briefly again I second what Stacy said uh we are in a K8 school that's what we why we brought our students not just for the dual immersion aspect but we also brought our students in for the ka8 experience for us it goes beyond uh the sense of bilingualism that we want our students to inherit and and develop we also want that strong sense of community that we develop with families and with our students in growing nine years together so please keep our schools K8 thank you thank you any any more speakers seeing that there's none uh we can move on to board comments uh item 4.1 teamers Teamsters uh do I see any Teamsters in the room uh they give their regards they can you speak into the mic they give their regards they will not be here tonight okay so uh I that passed but um I mean I'm speaking in English oh I I just moved on um but if seeing that there's a little bit more time I'll allow you okay go ahead and and uh I don't know if you were here to hear that everybody has two minutes oh I don't need two okay thank you thank you I know you have a lot to get through all right um just want to come in introduce myself to some of you my name is Tamara alvado and I'm a longtime Community member um I've done some work here in the neighborhood might need the two minutes um but I wanted to come and express myself um and say How Deeply disappointed I am that this group of three has put somebody in a leadership position and this one because our court said that she was inspired to R because of all the jet happening in schools and I think that's a shame that you would put a person like that in this leadership position this school district strives to be inclusive I thought so I do think that this is something for the community and for this board to consider again my name is H Al thank you thank you so we will be moving on to 402 California School Employees Association csca anybody speaker thank you there she comes good evening superintendent Dr ramazan interim superintendent board president Linda Chavez and board members um my name is Sharon Fontaine president CCA and I I feel like I'm a little behind since I didn't make it last month but when your birthday falls on board meeting day and you have grandkids the grandkids kind of won but I I wanted to say congratulations to all the employees of the year and to the teacher of the year it's it's a honor they very much deserved and I also wanted to mention congratulations to the retirees I know that's a little later on the agenda but I don't know if they'll still be here by that time so congratulations to the retirees that are being mentioned tonight and the certificated and classified I'm with you and I get very nervous in front of people um and moving on a little bit I I have had the opportunity to read the presentations that are coming later on from Mr CA Chang for the budget and for the lcap and all of that I reviewed it and um I understand it and I know that this board has some really really really tough decisions coming up up and I know when you decide to consolidate schools or close schools it always affects a lot of the classified employees because you know we don't need two admins at one site so that affects us and I do look forward to working with the district I know Mr Cho is not here with him collaboratively regarding all the the bumping layoffs and so forth that comes and hopefully we won't have too many and um whatever the decisions are being made just just so you know we I have been getting calls from people out in my members that have already mentioned schools that they've heard and I think when they hear hypothetical they take it as that's what's happening and I've explained to them that there's been no decisions on schools that not even been a conversation yet that will come later down the road so just you know if you hear I am letting our members know that not to hypothetically say anything to anybody but we'll let them know and the board will let them know when decisions have been made okay thank you I don't want to take up too much time but thank you thank you for your comments and clarification um the next uh area Alam Educators Association Miss Sandra rera members of the board Dr Amazon and members of the community I want to start by congratulating all my colleagues the School District employees and community members and students on a great 2324 school year and while we can celebrate the end of the year it has not been one without its challenges the biggest disappointment was the inability to come to an agreement with area to settle our contract we'd made significant progress since March however talks had come to a halt due to the differences of price priorities area will be interested in seeing what the UN audited actuals in September say about the district's Financial State I was unable to attend the special board meeting on Friday however I did get the opportunity to watch it on YouTube one thing that I would like to point out is that we need to make sure that the community understands process I know that for myself stepping in into this role learning Robert's Rules and all of the things that come along with it were very challenging but when a special board meeting is called it's called by either the president of the board or three members agree to meet with 24hour notice required I believe all of those criteria were checked it was hard for me not to be here to attend it was I had family from out of town and was the one night that seven eight nine if you count the two kids we're up to almost 10 could actually get together for one night to celebrate my son's upcoming 19th birthday but conflicts sometimes happen with schedules to see community members trying to compare calling of the special board meeting to the past three is showing that the community as well as ourselves need to make sure that the education of how special board meetings and board meetings are called is laid out so that everybody can be on the same page because a trustee asks and two others agree it does not mean that they called the meeting and it was very hard to sit there and try to listen and watch publicly as the members started attacking each other we're better than this it has I had people who I work with at my other job who live in Loi Mantia Modesto calling me with the news report it's embarrassing to walk into a space after seeing that I understand that things need to be done but not doing it in a way trying to make it seem like something was not transparent if somebody asked asks for a board meeting you have a board meeting sometimes things are said that not everybody agrees with and that's why we have the open public forum I find it very difficult to think that we are going back to the way we were I want us to move forward together I want us to move forward so that everybody is on the same page but I want it to be something that I'm proud to say that I'm the president of area for the alumrock Educators Association I want it to be something where I look and I can get people from other districts highly qualified educated teachers to want to come to alumrock with the new story that happened last Friday that's not going to happen if we need to set aside a Saturday so that we can have a community event or a Community Forum so that we can educate what happens at board meetings how special board meetings are handled then we need to do so but to assume that nothing was transparent when 24 hours notice was given things were posted that just makes us all look bad so moving forward let's try to do better thank you um moving to item 405 interim superintendent Miss Dr Al m i missed one I didn't see her so I just moved on um the alrock administrators Association AA I didn't see anybody so I just moved on to the interim so um Dr amasan can you go next please yes um thank you board president um just want to do a quick thank you to our alrock community um our administrators our teachers staff and students for another successful year as well and um congratulations to our um eighth grade students who were promoted last week and on their way to high school so uh lots to celebrate and um I will uh hold my comments for our retirees um later on in the in the agenda so thank you uh moving on to 406 Board of Trustees Communications and comments um trusty laor Shelton please thank you President Chavez and congratulations on your new post um first I just want to say uh what um a great year it was and I appreciate um that this board uh that appointed me last so not this past February but the February before so this was the first full school year um I just want to say um congratulations for everyone making it to the Finish Line um and I apologize um that I was unable to make any of the promotion um ceremonies last week I did have a scheduled vacation um celebrating uh 50th birthdays and so I was out of town from Tuesday to Saturday so that was um but I did that so that I could make the budget subcommittee and I could be back for the regular um meeting so um but congratulations to all of our eighth graders to our faculty to the staff um on um being able to have a great year and um appreciate you all and I hope you all have a wonderful summer um we have important issues really important issues to discuss here and so um the fact that I miss the special board meeting which um I believe everyone has a right to call a special board meeting um for special reasons and so I found it um perplexing confusing and in the end um disappointing in the beginning um it seemed okay um folks want to move the superintendent recruitment along okay um want to call a special meeting because we don't want to wait six days to the regular meeting to approve the contract okay um and then it turned into having an organizational meeting in the middle of the year um and amending bylaws and waving second readings and that's when um the perplexed part comes as to um it's more than special it's there's something that needs to happen there's something that three members want to get done outside of regular um scheduled proceedings so it begs questions why why why now why at the end of promotions week at the end of the school year um and so I been looking forward to those answers to only hear um my colleague who I had just had uh a nice walk through uh Ranch of the PUO golf course at first te through parent University um my colleague trusty fam and I had had um I think really nice direct healthy conversations um and then only to be disparaged by him um for a vote that I took along with three of my other colleagues but only two of us were disparaged well the other two were put into leadership positions um so it begs the question why why um I believe in healthy dialogue I believe in hard conversations so I asked myself why did you all put me here I thought you chose me uh because we knew we had hard decisions to make and um we knew we had a a history um of what I thought were with some of you shared values and respect and dign but to have my name called out when I couldn't even defend myself that was disappointing perplexing and puzzling um so I look forward to understanding why beyond what was stated and um I understand politics behind the scenes I've been mansplained I've been um had a lot of things explained to me that I know really well but I'm not here for the politics and maybe that's part of the problem I'm here to do right by these kids I'm here here to do right by what I thought was a district that wanted to remain in the hands of local control but I don't know I don't know if that's what this board wants um so look [Music] forward to understanding how we can be consistent with our values by who we choose to lead us by what we say with our words and with our actions and I look forward to focusing on important is issues like filling a superintendent role with real Community engagement which can't be done on a speedy FASTT trck it needs to be done authentically with real engagement and I'm not worried about elections I'm not worried about politics I'm worried about putting leadership in for this district for the stability for a year that's going to be very very hard and for years to come we've my vote and I will discuss we I've been told once we take a vote we need to stand behind it whether we disagree with it or not that was the midnight vote on the superintendent being fired I've been told stay the course we voted together as a board to only be turned around and chastised for taking a 4 to one vote to do a terrible thing to close nine schools but why did we decide to do that to get to the budget number nobody wants to close nine schools nobody wants to close four schools but we have a fiscal responsibility on March 14th this board voted 5 to zero and we passed a resolution committing to fiscal solv so then we did the hard thing the next month so CL I I really don't it doesn't matter about the titles to me what matters is what I thought was last year was a year um under both then president fam we didn't have too many hard decisions to make so maybe that's why um we were sympatico with each other and I thought under President Etta who had a really hard job this year I thought she did phenomenally by carrying out the role of this board whether she voted for or against something she carried out the will of this board at midnight and at other junctures so I appreciate your leadership I appreciate you um holding the fort down on Friday when I could not speak on my behalf and um I look forward to us focusing on important issues together thank you any other try comments uh seeing none no okay well first of all thank you madam president I first I I want to start with our kids first you know we had had a g you know wrapping up the year had a great uh visit at McCullum Elementary painter Vietnamese dual language immersion shepher middle Russo mckinty I always like to have an opportunity to send off the shepherd Trojans uh you know uh I trusty Quintero and I and interim superintendent alazon had a great time I had an opportunity to read to the kids to check in with the principles about you know the great things that are were happening in the schools and uh you know I got to see uh you know uh some of our retiring teachers teach their last classes before they write off into the sunset I'll Reserve those comments for uh you know when we get to the retirees uh also great time at the alen Rock Jazz fundraiser concert always proud to do my part to help fundraise for our uh jazz band Dr alazon was there and trusty Chavez were there thank you and I always appreciate the fact that uh Mr Nicolosi the Jazz Band founding director always you know uh gave me an opportunity to sort of uh provide opening remarks the opening monologue and I'm always happy to be part of an act to raise money for our uh jazz band uh celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year uh you know I wanted to make a little note because I did hear uh congratulations to the adantes girls wrestling on winning the county Championship that's quite an achievement that makes them the number one girls wrestling team in the county and as we know at the middle school level uh the the big game is the county Championship so I'm proud of what is it our our CRA or hummingbirds in English for winning taking home the county t title uh I also had a great time providing a a little uh graduation speech at the Joseph George Middle School graduation and I also want to congratulate all our eighth grade graduates uh Shephard middle Cola middle Renaissance of Matson Renaissance of Fisher Shephard uh adalante one and two hubard and let's see here yeah that uh those are our eighth grade you know congratulations to our eighth graders and I know that uh they will do well wherever they go uh you know later on this month H you know I'm doing my part to help stren you know do my own part to strengthen enrollment uh you know on June 21st I'll be meeting with trusty Von leay at the East Side unan High School District and the uh founder of the Moon Festival to help plan uh painter appearance at this you know at the upcoming Moon Festival in September at y bua High School it's one of the highest profiles event of our Vietnamese dual language immersion program and I've been uh honored since my time under the board and always uh lending a helping hand with uh their annual appearance at Moon Festival since the return of in-person events so you know I'm you know glad that uh Dr alazon and the uh teachers of uh pter will you know and myself will be welcoming trusty vlay and the Moon Festival organizing committee to the district's office on uh you know one week from Friday um you know uh you know so on that note lots of things going on lots of great things going on for our kids and you know and do you know uh original ideas to boost enrollment moment and bring more kids to alen rock but you know I wanted to address some uh comments made by my colleague trusty Flor Shelton there and part of it will uh for foreshadow what what remarks I have to say on this budget now uh it's you know uh I personally like uh you trusty Flo SH now we had a great time at uh Rancher Del weblo Golf Course uh I think uh you know uh at you know I guess despite our per you know our differences on opinion I I do think that you you know I like you but I think that you know I'm just one person on this one trustee on this board and each trustee has their own interpretation of how they view their mandate now uh it yes I did vote against the uh comprehensive budget solution passed by this board uh and I do so for for good reason uh I understand that there is declining enrollment I am not going to deny that that's evident in in our enrollment numbers however there's a difference between a a smart enroll a smart consolidation and and uh was it uh out you know unnecessary unnecessary triple amputation and I you know but I will just uh preface it with this so I have here in my hand a second inum budget which you know based on Mr Chen's numbers and I'm going to just read off the uh the the projected colas for uh the 2425 and the 2526 school year so uh the budgetary assumptions that were made uh at the time of the budget uh at the time of the adoption of the budget solution plan was that we were figuring on a 0.76% increase in D Cola for uh the upcoming school year and a 2.73% increase in the cola for uh the 2526 school year however in the budget that is presented today uh for 2425 instead of a 0.76% cola uh the district is the state is providing the district a 1.07% increase in the cola uh and in 2526 a 2.

resp respectfully submitted from Dr I me excuse me Mr Ross thank you commissioner sarez any questions Commissioners yes commissioner brunak thank you Mr President is there initial with the what are the um issues with the current dress code in its current form or is this is this are they looking to change it or something or something of that nature Mr Brun if you don't mind Mr go right ahead in in general some concerns came to us through our district collaborative team about the Elementary dress code specifically however when we looked at the policy to address specifically the Elementary dress code our policy has the code separated from K through 8 and then 9 through 12 so one of the things we definitely want to do is we want to parse out Elementary and separate it from middle school because Middle School is following the high school policy um and just we want to make it a little more General we don't want to be in the in the business of policing dress um but we want to make sure we get everybody's input so that's what we're in the process of and commissioner brunak a lot of the terminology that was that in the current code is very outdated it describes articles of clothing that you can't purchase any longer even so it needs a little updating question thank you president P I have a question B um yes last year we were supposed to also form an ad hoc team of parents and stakeholders about the dress code is that going to also be included in this process we we did do that last year Mr basser just to address one specific issue that we had at the middle of school remember we had those students that came to the board meeting we did fix that issue um we are getting parental feedback as part of this round also staff feedback administrators and students thank you thank you any other questions okay thank you commissioner Suarez 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 Andor 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 comments 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 and when appropriate the board asks 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 responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no no responsibility 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 could we start with two people in the waiting room earlier they seem to have dropped off so I don't see anyone in the virtual waiting at this point motion to close pres Paris second motion to close by commissioner NOA Mia I'm sorry and uh seconded by commissioner brunak uh would anyone here like to step up to the podium I would thank you it's all yours just give me one second certainly certainly take your time sorry about that good okay hello uh Dr razi uh president Paris hi members of the board my name is Jeffrey Goldfarb I'm one of your substitute teachers actually and uh I started as a sub last year about halfway through the year uh but this has been my first year when I started last year as I'm sure you're all aware I was an employee of the Clifton uh I'm not sure it was the Board of Education of the district itself but as you know I'm no longer an employee of the uh Clifton District I'm an employee of Kelly Services okay so uh my name's Jeff Goldfarb I'm a retired person the kids call me Mr G uh and primarily I've been in school 8 this year although I've been in Christopher Columbus a little bit and a smattering of the other elementary schools uh I'm a retired person I was 30 years in business um and I want to say the kids here are great I love absolutely love the Clifton School District the teachers are great tonight we honored ironically some of the best teachers some of the best students the Paras that we have especially at my school which school 8 fantastic our our principal our administrators fantastic our security staff fantastic Food Service the people who come in and deliver things all fantastic do you want to know why everyone who works their cares right we all care we care a lot we work hard we're very dedicated but things are changing a little bit and I really think it's important that the members of this board and the parents and the teachers and everybody who's here be made aware of it okay so uh tomorrow's fifth grade graduation in the elementary school we've been practicing we're ready districtwide and it's almost summer so I shouldn't be all fired up okay the kids know Miss G is pretty mellow okay uh I took this job in the first place because in business I used to get a little fired up but I I've been relaxed I've been very calm since I've been a substitute teacher because I really enjoy teaching and I I'm a very effective teacher as well and I'm here because of our best teachers so that's me okay and I told you about my old boss Clifton who I really liked I want you to hear a little about my new boss Kelly Education Service they don't only Run Clifton by the way they run a lot of the neighboring districts as well and it's a new contract here all right I wish our law students stayed because in a contract there's obligations on both sides which you I'm sure you're aware and I don't think Kelly is living up to their obligations when I I wrote things but when I when I became a substitute for you guys there was a process all right I there's a background check all that I think Kelly does that but there were board meetings like there are tonight there were uh you know monthly board meetings I was made to come before the board I had face-to-face interviews and I was chosen because I'm a good good teacher I came across well since we've had Kelly come in there's all these new faces and I don't know what their screening process is and I wouldn't be asking except half of them are lousy there's some really good ones but half of them are lousy they're lazy they're not energetic all right they don't get involved with our kids our special ed kids they sit there some of them were falling asleep the other day this is this is our school we can't have that so you know and I'm not saying get rid of them but you wonder what happened and I only have a minute left I have these problems okay so I investigated it I called Kelly can you explain to me what's your screening process how do you go about choosing the people who are going to be in our schools our Paras and our subs they would not respond to me no one took the time is there anyone here from Kelly tonight by the way of course there isn't because I told them I would be here I I I thought maybe they would want to say something to there's no one here they don't care they don't care right so they should either change or we should get out of this okay and I hate to bring everyone down because it was such a great night we have we have graduation at school 8 tomorrow we've been practicing s it's going to be wonderful and I'm going to be there okay and I thank everybody for their time thank you very much thank you thank you is there anyone else who'd like to speak this evening would you like would you like to respond don't respond to public com no okay we we'll let the board good evening um this has been a dramatic week in Clifton it seems like we've had uh crisis after crisis after crisis after issue after issue after issue um tonight I'm here to speak about the issue that's burning down my Facebook page Clifton citizens concerns um this is the uh Street Fair Bounce House fundraiser School four of which we're we're approaching 200 comments which is unbelievable well I mean it makes my engagement look great but I really don't care but people are are are really fired up um I see that there are more fundraisers planned by this group at school 11 and school 3 which I I don't really understand because I always thought it was an Unwritten rule that we only raised funds for our school at our school and we didn't kind of poach other parents but um that's something you can discuss later um from what I learned by looking out all the paperwork and all the forms and everything else that's going around um I don't know what the rules are and it looks like they followed most of them um although there seems to be some missing signatures here and there that's up for you to decide so therefore the problem is with your procedure for approving these things okay you see we the people of Clifton elected you to be the Guardians of our children's future and it is your responsibility to ensure that the monies that we pay in taxes go towards the school system and are used wisely and benefit the children and only the children and not anyone else I mean we're not here to raise funds for other nonprofits we are a nonprofit okay no one should be making a buck on our kids this event to me is problematic so may I suggest we work on the process of obtaining permission to use school facilities especially for free now we offer them for free to fundraising groups especially for our students but these things aren't free to us taxpayers who are charged for items such as trash disposal maintenance custodial time security Staffing among other cost which we don't mind cuz it's for our kids as a just as a side note if you're at home watching if you are not a school group you're a dance studio you get charged a fee okay we rent out our schools on weekend for masses and and religious services and ethnic schools okay but if we're raising funds for our students you correct discard the fee so may I suggest that for anyone wishing to use the facilities that we Institute these items and if they're already instituted maybe we need a checklist the organization wishing to use a school facility should have to provide a nonprofit status and an EIN number this is exceptionally easy to do you do not need a lawyer sorry okay I just did this two weeks ago for the Lauren Murphy Scholarship fund I was shocked how easy it was what was getting that 503 501c3 was more difficult but I was still able to do it okay and once you have this okay once you have this then the business office when they submit the paperwork can go online with the state and check and make sure that the organization is in compliance and if they're not in compliance meaning they're not submitting reports they're showing too much profit whatever then you say no the organization wishing to use the school facility should provide a certificate of insurance for up to the event for up to X dollar and you pick whatever number you know 3 million 9 million 1 million a dollar whatever okay and this this certificate should be placed on files so that anyone can see it so we don't have all this back and forth through they have insurance do they not have insurance we can just all see it and last fall I tried to hold a candidates debate in the fall for the uh Council and I did not have a certificate of insurance so I was unable to hold the event but it seems that there's questions on all the different certificates of insurance so we need to make sure that's that's there oh and please note that 501c 3 by IRS rules cannot use monies earned donated or otherwise collected by the agency to purchase insurance okay if the group has an HSA or PTA or something that the Clifton public school is covering under your own umbrella of insurance then the Clifton public school should receive a financial report after the event because you are contributing to it and of all All the Monies that are collected and disbursed these groups can't be independent but yet be placed under the CPS umbrella placing the entire community at risk third the city of Clifton needs permits I don't know what happened over the years when my kids were at school too and we had a trunk or treat at night besides getting an okay and from the board of said we had to go to City Hall and get a permit for use at night I I don't know when that stopped but you still need a permit okay and that should be on file once again for everyone to see it that should be presented to the business office two weeks before the event so that it can continue um the organization wishing to use the school facility should be in charge of all money collected and distributed no third sh party should be handling School funds the organization should have a treasur and a President Who sign all documents along with proof of a bank account all the profits raised should be going to the children after paying the vendors vendor contracts should be submitted two weeks prior to the event and kept on file for old school fund Raiders and become part of the public record please note that New Jersey nonprofits and 501 c3s both have language said that the trustees of said organizations as well as their registered agents cannot make substantial profit on event or fundraising I would hope that our rules would be that they can make no profit at all all proceeds should go to the children and that any work by D par oh my God that's allow is a labor of love to make their children's School a better place by putting these SCA guards in place we can ensure our taxes are used for the enrichment of our children and not the enrichment of individuals thank you well good evening negotiations are done woohoo so the skill of negotiations for those that may not know involve strategic planning and effective communication to achieve favorable outcomes the key components for negotiations are the following preparation of our team our team has been professionally trained through njaa to understand the needs and priorities of our members and gathered data to support our case which included salaries working conditions and benefits setting goals we clearly defined what our aims were to achieve in negotiations through through input from the membership that attended our meetings to design our proposals research we analyze the district's Financial Health policies previous negotiation outcomes and what has transpired here in Pay County communication through our district collaboration we developed clear concise messaging to convey our position and rationale after our meetings the the team opened up lines of communication with members and kept them apprised bargaining the team wants to thank the superintendent the Board of Ed negotiation team Mark tabakin that ground rules were not necessary due to the professionalism from both sides during negotiations making concessions strategically and finding common ground has created a mult a mult mutually beneficial situation conflict resolution the team was prepared to handle disagreements and stalemates through discussion and the presentation of additional research never through a motion signing the memorandum of agreement the team working with the Board of Ed team ensured that agreements were documented clearly and thoroughly with follow-up actions and timelines specified success ful negotiation requires a balance of assertiveness and empathy aiming for solutions that meet the needs of both teachers and Paris and the educational institution as president I want to thank CA negotiation team for their tireless tireless work many planned meetings responding to texts and emails spur of the moment meetings in order to get the work completed I must commend the guidance of our field rep Melanie lemy and Sasha wolf for their patience and expertise the Clifton EA extends its sincere thanks to our superintendent Dr Danny Roberto the Board of Ed secretary ahed shahada the Board of Ed negotiation team Joe sayano Richard Mahia and Mark brunak for their collaboration understanding and professionalism during negotiations your efforts are deeply appreciated and vital to our shared commitment to Excellence and education for the students their families and our community thank you [Applause] again thank you is there anyone else who'd like to speak this evening all right motion to close the public session motion motion by commissioner Mahia second second second by Dr Danny uh moving on to adoption of minutes from the May 23rd 20 uh 2024 meeting motion to adopt the minutes anyone motion seconder Suarez second in by commission M here uh roll call Mr sh M there any discussion first sorry okay real C Mr Shan M bassford yes Mr Brak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mia yes Santiago yes siano yes Suarez yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes motion carries okay next up Dr Robert toy thank you uh Mr Paris good evening Commissioners members of the community um faculty staff students it's so nice honoring all of the students that we honor tonight and the staff members it really um just really make you know it's makes me fulfilled and reminds me of the reason why we do this in the first place I'm really looking forward though to our change in um in board meeting schedule next year where we're going to um have three scheduled board meetings where we were going to do all recognitions that's going to be you know I think we'll really be on a high after those nights and then those other board meetings will be about business so I think it'll make us a little more efficient too in in the workplace because I'm I'm about ready to go home now and we haven't even touched the agenda so um I think that's really great uh Mr Lama I want to Echo all of the sentiments that you said regarding negotiations um despite you know a pretty major hiccup of of of the mo MOA being voted down um I don't know of any other District where where an Mo MOA would have been put back together renegotiated and voted and and and hopefully ratified tonight by this board um so quickly uh and that's because of the nature of our collaboration um and this Board of Ed valuing the ca staff um so I think it was a it's a win-win for everybody and if you can have a win-win negotiations that's the way to be um I'd like to congratulate our seniors who are at prom tonight I usually like to stop by and it's nice to just see the kids all dressed up but I hope they're having a a a wonderful time um and I hope that they're being safe um next week is graduation um folks Jan um January June 20th at 3 p.m.

93% increase in Thea and in 2627 a 3.08% increase and a 2728 uh increase of 3.3% so in the sense uh yes though there is still a deficit because of declining enrollment uh the increase in significant increase in Cola is shrinking the deficit and what does that mean that means that uh based upon the current numbers I don't see a re you know reason to engage in fle amputation when uh what's it hitch Clippers will do right uh the you know it's a combination of increased State funding and I conceed and as much as I hate to admit it uh you know uh I I you know I prefer to close as few schools as possible I prefer to preserve as many teachers as possible I prefer to preserve as many school secretaries cafeteria Cooks custodians to the extent possible uh you know and in in the worst of covid they gave it there all for our district and you know H you know as a member of this board uh the collective governing body of the district I do feel a duty uh to those who have served this District to protect as many of them as possible and also to ensure that our kids have as many facilities as possible and the budget Solutions plan you know which we will get to later in the agenda uh we're prepared to close three out of five of our Middle School sites uh that potentially for examp just facilities wise that's two you know that's at least two Verizon learning Labs that our children will be deprived of and will never be replaced uh again uh is this what we want uh do we want to close nine schools where we can possibly close fewer schools and you know and let me put it in Stark terms uh there are you know I I do a head count every time I I visit the schools and I estimate that there are about 20 teachers per school right so we close nine schools uh you know that's 180 teachers that will be laid off that's at least nine secretaries uh another nine custodians uh nine health aids and in fact you know it's it's actually right here in today's in's budget presentation uh you know the plan is for uh Staffing reduction December 24 or January 2025 uh is this what we want you know at the end of the day is this what we want a bad deal for Alan rock or a deal that saves as many of our schools and as many of our staff as possible uh I mean it's it's right here for everyone to see I'm not hiding it it's a it's right there at arusd.org just click on the uh board current you know the board the board agenda or list of current board agenda and you know this this should be available as a PDF for all to see so I think you know uh we're going to you know I look forward to hearing the concerns of uh the budget concerns of the people and I certainly hope that we have a healthy healthy discussion uh but I think the you know I'm I'm just going to put it in Stark terms uh they want to you know I think there's a possibility to save more of our schools not close more schools to keep more teachers not mass firing so I think at the end of the day uh this choice is something that that ultimately the people of Al Rock will have to choose H you know this November I mean we can either have more for our kids or less for our kids we can we can have a smart consolidation that protects our kids protects our families protects our teachers protects our classified staff or we can do triple utation and you know as I've said uh engage in the you know worst real estate deal and you know in this District in my lifetime at the end of the day you know each trustee is going to interpret uh their mandate as they see fit I'm not going to you know uh tell my colleagues how to do their job but uh when there's an you know if there's an opportunity to express uh no confidence I will certainly do so so again the question is save our schools or close more schools keep more teachers teers or fire more teachers uh you know so with that I view the rest of my time thank you trust thank you first of all I want to congratulate all of our graduates who are promoting to high school as I mentioned when I was able to address them um at their graduations you know indigenous ways this age is very special it's a coming for our youth and so um you know it's so and uh you know it's a Time of growth um so congratulations and parents as well um who have gotten them to this point in their life and I look forward to hearing about all the amazing things that will happen in high school and Beyond um and also I want to congratulate all of our students who ended the school year last week um you know it was kind of an Abrupt an but uh you know I want to take the time to um congratulate each student who worked hard every day every night homework weekends um to pass you know know their grades whatever grade that was um to then get to the next grade and we look forward to hearing once you return of all the amazing things you got to do during the summer um and congratulations to the teachers staff principles who did an amazing job you know at our schools I know it's not easy um I I I have I have an idea because I worked at a school for seven years um but I'm not a teacher and I'm not a you know a director um but I I I know that it's hard work so through the labor of love and not because you make a lot of money otherwise you would be doing something else um so thank you and that I will continue to you know push our staff and and our directors to find the money you know to um ensure that we are giving the raises that we all deserve um and you know that also doing my job responsibly to hold that fiscal responsibility so we continue to have a district and schools for the next 5 10 100 years to come um so thank you again and I also wanted to privately thank judge loo and um Matson and we have principal here for the amazing work I know our judge took the time to pick Al and uh started withon to take one of our students to hiking trips um to get out of this you know the community every day um were able to go to Al Park um I was able to join them on some of the hikes and most recently on May 29th we to go to the ocean um and it was beautiful to hear you know how some students was their first time and only the second time and both of those times were related to activities through alok so these are things that we are doing here in our district and I want to congratulate thank you again I you to make this happen in Judes Bento and our volunteers um that labor of love of really um doing this out of you know the kindness of of of our heart to ensure that our St students have the best um educational experience here our mon um so thank you for that um and then I want to thank um Miss ton for the um juneth and um I just uh I will follow up with our staff about being uh uh Jun resolution in our next J um so I look forward to working with our staff to make that happen um and God I like it you know just can I say after Friday but uh other than to focus on the truth and that's all we can do uh I was elected by you know many of you to be here and sure that I do um an ethical uh honest um job and um so many other things and I'm doing my best uh but you know again just to clear any misinformation that's provided to the public um and you know the reason for why the lack of confidence in regards to a vote of uh closing down schools as I said then it's a hard decision one of us wants to do it um and it's something that unless there's uh resolutions that I haven't heard of or solutions that you know some magic that's happening that I can't wait to hear because you know maybe it's just something I haven't heard yet um it's something we have to do unfortunately to ensure again that we have a district for the next 5 10 20 years from now um and maintain you know Financial um stability um beyond the times I'm on this board ensure that our children have schools to go to that are public and that are um the best uh for them and so you know again given the the reasons that I was taken off the presidency role and that's you know it doesn't matter I will continue to you know do my job from a trustee um but again you know the fact that um that was a reason for the lack of confidence and then um I had to go back and and review that that meeting and to that the motion is made by now president Linda Chavez and the second was made by vice president kto and um it just doesn't make sense to me so I think more of the reason to just keep an eye on us like I said on Friday make sure that we're all doing our job make sure that what we say matches with our actions um on the Das and off the Das uh because we are the leadership of our students you know and um we are you know what we do here we are Role Models whether we want to or not and so um that's the reason why media is called and we have nothing to worry about then we shouldn't worried about having media coverage um um so I look forward again to coming back as that you know board that we once were not always seeing eye to eye but having a a respectful relationship to move this District forward because this is when we needed the most to be respect for I agree a th% um to work forward um make sure that you know nothing Ines how happening closed doors so that is happening look forward to getting back to business and getting back to focusing on resolutions and solutions um to maybe not have to close schools again maybe there's uh a solution that I just have not heard yet and I look forward to hearing from trusty fam um maybe you know in the future but as of now I that I was a part of a decision made on May 21st with my four of us made a vote and um one of us can't just come and say we want to go in a different direction or if that's happening that's a problem and we need to understand that so I look forward to you know I don't know always agree but again forward together um and you I look forward that many of us get recommended for any votes that we take than um I really appreciated the opportunity to take uh to for the side visits that we were able to um conduct uh throughout the last month it was uh both it was very heartening to see the great work that our teachers are doing um the kids the we happen to stop by um shepher no painter as the children were getting their B literacy certificates for our Vietnamese dual language ersion uh School very very proud of the work that we've done there um also very proud of the fact that I was able to introduce that idea and bring it forward and to see it actually happening kids being awarded on stage it's like all right cool there's an idea and um it's actually coming to fruition um and uh and so very very excited to see the the great things that are taking place throughout our district also concerning though is um as we go along it gives us an opportunity to really see what's taking place get a pulse of what's taking place and so to see that many kids on a northern boundary U moving off to another District after the fifth grade is very concerning so I think it warrants uh investigating that determining what um what we can do to ensure that those children stay within El loock schools um and don't leave I think it was like a third of the class was saying we're going to uh to a neighboring District after fifth grade and so um it's important to really really dive in deep and find out what's going on how we can go ahead and keep those children uh in our district um the graduations are always incredibly exciting uh I find that to be very very rewarding part of being on the school board um obviously the tough decisions have to be made um but uh one of the perks I find is to go to our promotion ceremonies and be able to uh uh enjoy uh the the the just the vibe that you get the positive vibe that you get from everybody who's there is excited um you can only do that as a board member unless you have kids unless you're just a stranger hanging out at promotion ceremonies and and so in this case I'm I'm very very uh appreciative of the fact that I'm able to participate with the parents to uh talk to the kids uh and brief remarks that we provide and you shake those couple hundred hands um I got sick after um but that that tends to Happ happen because you're you're dealing with a lot of folks and so um but um but it's great and uh also you know to sit there uh stand at the ceremonies and then think that some of the schools might not be there is very um you know it makes you kind of sad it makes it very sad uh um and so um it's it's also something that you have to factor in if you're going through these very exciting times um heard some of the concerns that were raised during the comments regarding the uh staff doing uh things um and not getting remuneration i t i I do that myself as an educator and so I want I as one want to ask staff uh uh the administration to look into that and ensure that everything is being done accordance to our district policies um I know it's I know what it is to go out there and invest a significant amount of time and expect that you're going to get the proper remuneration that was agreed upon and that um it'd be done in a timely manner um I haven't had problems in in my educational institution and so I I hope that that's not the case here um as we move forward um and so I I I I also I'm I'm hearing the concerns are raised regarding School consolidation some of the sites I um I will make further comments when we get to the budget uh uh presentation but I think it's important to make sure that we begin that dialogue right away way immediately so that people have a venue to express their concerns and so they can inform the board um and so that we can be informed as to what it is that we need to do to ensure that we are um taking these very very difficult decisions and doing them with uh the most public input that we can have um while at the same time doing it in in experient fashion so that we aren't um leaving people hanging right now we have these concerns that are being raised people are stressing out because not sure if it's their site um I think that people need to know uh through whatever uh meetings we're going to put together as well as uh moving forward on this action sooner rather than later not letting it hang out an entire year so that people are stressing out trying to figure out if it's going to be their site parents teachers uh staff uh everybody and so I think that um I I'll I'll I'll include I'll elaborate more in my comments as we get to the presentation but I just wanted to make sure that we uh we I'm I'm I'm hearing the concerns and I'm factoring that into what I'm thinking with regard to these big decisions and so um I it's it's been a very difficult time um that we've had I um I acknowledge the the the the the the concerns that have been raised uh here uh through the public uh for my colleagues um I I completely understand their uh and acknowledge their their their feelings um however we're all elected here to make decisions we make decisions based on our um our our thoughts our comments our I mean our beliefs and so therefore I'm I'm going to go ahead and I'm G I made my decision I'm going to stick by it um I acknowledge that it's a difficult time I've been lambasted and attacked on social media by certain individuals and you know it is what it is this is what you do when you sign up it's part of the job um and so I just I'm grateful for the fact that we can engage in in this discussion even if it's difficult if it's it's tough and we can do so by talking by having these conversations even on social media people uh attacking me and making whatever comments they want to make by all means um I take a look to folks on on South of the Border where 36 people died uh trying to engage in the Democratic process just by going out there and running we have a good thing going on here where we can uh you know have a very robust discussion that's very difficult that uh we don't agree on um but at the end of the day know that we are going to move forward and make sure that the district continues uh uh continues to survive to be here for generations to come and so that's my focus uh my focus is to ensure that our children have a district here that is there that um is there that ensures that they that they get a quality and dignified education as we move forward uh we don't have the luxury of saying goodbye and sending children back to their District we are it and so it's important that we continue to move forward and allow our our our um um our district to he uh as we move forward comments um I'd like to thank uh both El Diaz and David Williams for coming up and stepping up to the board and uh letting us know about the renumeration process that's going on uh unfortunately sometimes uh if things don't get taken care of we hear from it here I I hope that uh Alan Rock does better and that I'll be passing these out later to the board members to uh review it um and also uh if you have any questions you can always get back to me uh email me at my uh email address or Dr rasan or HR um also it was um really nice going to see all the sites and I did see that uh the painter children and Shepherd were working really hard on their um project that they had gotten a grant for hopefully we can um expedite their little uh gardening by putting in the sprinklers and I hope uh to mention that a little bit more to other board members uh and also bring that up in the next agenda and it is really nice to go to all the promotion ceremonies when my uh agenda allows it um and I think I've probably been the one board member that have been to almost every Jazz fundraiser for about 40 years except for the covid years um I couldn't make those two but uh I want to thank Mr Nicolosi for always sticking with our kids it's not easy to be here in Alam Rock for 50 years as he has been but he's always been for the kid kids promoting the education of the kids and um that's why everybody loves them so much there because um he brings back alumni from alumrock who has been there for for the kids they not only were here as students playing but they come back and they help the whole program and I think that that says a lot about the alumni of alumrock and maybe we could tap a little bit more into that uh and I thank you all for being here and your comments and I am listening and so and I want to thank all the staff and especially Mr C at this time with the budget um that he has to do basically this him and his staff and Dr alasan all the work that has to go and be presented to the board members in order for us to make this a smoother transition of the closing of the schools no schools have been named yet um but we would like to or excuse me um I would like to see it move a little faster so that the families can have time uh to do what they need to do in their adjustments um and hopefully we keep all of alen rock students here because there's a lot of great teachers here a lot of great staff and they're always welcome thank you so I'm going to be moving on to the next item um the public hearing I'm open the public hearing at 6:55 pm for for the local control and accountabilities plan other words known as the alcap Dr alasan can you take that sure um I'd like to ask the director of state and federal programs Senor Garcia to present this uh agenda item thank you it's the Ala 501 is she is she the she's not the public hearing I think I said 501 oh I apologize [Laughter] problem um Can Do we have any public comments on the public hearing uh seeing one comment you want to stand up and and make your comment before the president no no let's just hear the one comment real quick and then I mean excuse me she has her two minutes and then we'll start in with the public hearing Just sh not necessarily yeah okay she wants to wait she wants to wait I'm I'm taking public comment right now so um if if you don't want to uh do it right now then I guess you're just waving uh you're right so um Miss Sandra can president can I ask a question sure uh just I'm confused so are we still on 501 or are we on 50 501 uh and Dr Aman went to 502 but uh I I said that we're on 501 okay so you were calling public comment for public hearing and then we're going to go into the staff presentation up 502 next that's the order yes okay I I'm just clarifying and then we'll have um public comment after that got it thank you mandra okay good evening um board president um Chavez um interim superintendent Dr Alazan um Community um here this evening uh director state federal programs to present to you information on our um new um three-year lcap the draft of it um and included in the presentation will be some information on the annual update for this uh current elcap um some in information on the budget overview for parents and then information on plans for the new um elcat so the first few sides are just some reminders I won't spend a lot of time on them but just some um reminders of of um the adoption requirements and these the following uh is to hold at least one public hearing to solicit recommendations and comments from the public at the same meeting hold a public hearing required for the Alia budget and budget overview for parents and then at a subsequent meeting um we will bring the um uh 20 24 for a 2025 lcap for adoption along with the annual update report the lcap federal addendum and the budget overview prep parent sorry that's my pH this is a reminder of the timeline I've shared it already of um how we um go about developing the elap for the school year um I've also shared this um slide about the different differentiated assistance um for our district and the areas um that will be addressed in the elap um through our actions and services this is a a slide on information on the Outreach and involvement of our educational partners and um we have had a similar Outreach as in past years um with the addition of an official student advisory committee this year um which um has met a few times and that will be ongoing in future years as well so I'm going to go jump into the annual outcomes and this is pretty much a report on this year's outc cap and the metrics and um some information on on how we did on those metrics um this year we had four this P the past three years we've had four goals in our out cap um the first goal was uh to provide a rigorous Innovative and well-rounded instructional program that prepares students for College and Career Readiness and excellence in the 21st century and the following other metrics that we had in this lcap um and the first few are for professional development and um how those were how many participants we had in those and um our goal was to have 75% of Staff participate and this past year we had 60% and 60% of Staff um um responding favorably to the professional development that was offered to them um for our um assessments um we did have our fastbridge um uh benchmark assessments and our esbc results to re report on uh for this school year and as we've stated in other board meetings reports um we do know that this is an area of growth for us um and um this year uh as you see there in fastbridge we had an overall um 32% of students honor above grade level for Math and Ela um and all for special um on students with disabilities 8% on reading language arts and 133% on math um and then in our esack results um our goal was by the end of the three-year Al cap to be at a yellow performance level um we ended this Square on an orange um so that is the um information on those metrics um and then for other um metrics in this goal um if those that have that little square on it on your presentation it's a star but here it's came up as a little um rectangle or box um the area is with the little box in it those are the ones that we did um meet the desired outcome um completely and the others uh we're working towards um still meeting the goal um ice station is a is a an assessment or Benchmark that assesses the um the progress of our um dual immersion students um and um 21% of the second graders scored at or above a three in Spanish language arts we did meet the 100% of students having the device um assigned to them um the the kindergarten observation form we have been tracking our students that are attending uh TK and T4 um to see if there's a difference between the students that attend TK and T4 and those that do not attend TK T4 and and um we did have um uh 39% of our lowrisk second grade students that are on track in reading and so um if you you'll see in the the other report that that is higher than students that do not attend T4 and TK in our district um all of our students have access to their instructional materials we have 94% of our teachers are fully credentialed um and then our foster youth support this year um 100% of our foster youth received some type of additional support or or resource whether it was tutoring or um just school supplies uh counseling support um uh intervention support um those types of uh Transportation those types of things that we offer to them okay so then I'm going to go into goal two goal two was our goal that um was around English learners um making annual progress so that they can be English proficient um and then in this um goal our LP which is uh the lpac growth metrics 40.9% of our English Learners are making progress which um is is a great number um we did reclassify 264 students I believe that's a record high um number of students reclassified so we're doing really good in that area and we want to continue to reclassify English Learners um and then students as you saw earlier meeting the pathway to Sil by literacy we um blew it out of the park this year with um a a more than 10% our goal was to increase by 10% and um we had 38 students in fifth grade across both um schools and 34 in e8th grade which is um the highest number we've ever had um for um professional development for specifically for E uh 46% of our teachers participated in ELD uh PD and 53 53% of the respondents responded favorably on the uh PD surveys um and then the progress on the ESC um uh we do have some work to do for our English Learners um that um on the ESC results one thing I do want to say about that a reminder is that El's could be students that just arrived to the United States and don't have any English to students who have been an English learner for five years so there's a broad range of students that are in that category um so it's really hard to um disaggregate you know who are the students that um you know um are needing the the progress okay goal three goal three three uh in this year's outc cap was to provide an inclusive and caring Community where students and families feel safe welcomed and supported um utilizing a multi-tier system of support um in this area dealt a lot with uh School culture and climate um uh chronic absenteeism engagement um making sure that students are in school suspensions expulsions and um those types of things um so we did increase great news we did increase our daily attendance attendance percentage um this school year um back in 2122 which was the first year we came back from the P pandemic um we had gone down to 89.1% um daily attendance and we're back up to 95.95% is up which I think um will is makes me hopeful that our chronic absenteeism rate will continue to to drop um California dashboard um 1.7% suspension rate which is 133 students um this school year um and um our goal was to decrease suspensions by 10% I believe we're still at are about the same as we were last year so um hoping to see that number drop a little um participation information for school climate program we have uh 19 out of 21 of our schools currently implementing some a school climate program um and we're working towards 100% of schools having a school climate program in place at their schools family climate surveys 92% of our families uh believe our schools are safe um when it comes to our students um 63% of Elementary 62% of middle school and I'm going to share a little more data in a few minutes um that's still an area um that we're working on it hasn't changed um too much maybe a little bit and but um feeling a strong sense of belonging has improved um a little bit as well 74% especially in the elementary 74% of Elementary and 59% of Middle School surveyed uh fi strong sense of belonging at school our rate of chronic absentees and we've talked a lot about that in past meetings that is an area that we will be working on we have been working on with differentiated assistant and our differentiated assistance team and um we have started we just I got an email today from one of our principles celebrating that she was looking at her endof year results for chronic absenteeism and they had gone down like 7.8% or something so very hopeful that what we've put in place is going to start seeing this number come down um our facilities inspection tool which is the the facilities rating tool that we have has 100% of our schools at an overall rating of good um and then we have a less than 1% um middle school dropout rate baa students um take a survey at the end of the school year to um share their um um in their um response to questions on how the vapa programs um support their well-being and we have some really good um feedback from our students in the vapa programs 86.6% responded that they always or almost always enjoy their arts program 71% uh responded that they helped build their self-confidence 76.8 um their art programs uh help them build positive relationships and 73% responded that their art programs um help them stay more positive during the school days so definitely um support for um what we're doing with our vapa programs um student support logs these are done by our wonderful counselors who um do a lot of work to keep track of who they're serving and uh what type of um support they're giving our students students um and um 88% of our um students which is 6,611 students were supported by our counseling staff this year um I think that really um shows the amount of support that's needed by our students out there um but also uh the impact that our counselors have daily on our um on our students um in this area 94% of those students which comes out to 6,256 students are um are high need students Foster youth um uh English Learners and low-income students all right and the last goal for this year was the uh goal four Foster relationships with stakeholders to promote a positive and collaborative environment um and um this I would say moving into next year definitely needs to be an area that we need to really re-engage and and think of new ways to bring parents back into our um our schools and get them participating more on a regular basis at schools uh we had our goal was to have 90% or higher uh attendance at our parent participation events and we look at two of them the back to school night in openhouse and we had 53% at back to school and 46% and that is a drop from the previous years um attendance at school site Council meetings uh 64% of our schools met a minimum of five times the requirement is for every school to meet a minimum of five times so we will need to make sure that that happens next year um our deak and our delac as well you know we we do have the steady um group of parents that attend every month other than that you know we had parents that would attend one meeting and then would an attend to and that just not regular attendance so we need to um figure out a way to to make it more accessible for parents to attend and and be here with us um those that did attend I think um you know had um a really good experience and um you know they had great feedback every every meeting we had eight meetings this year um but we do need to increase that that number overall we need to make sure that we're bringing our parents back and involving them in meaningful ways uh parent University and at both parent universi is always very um um uh popular and we had 59 parents 598 parents attend parent University in October and 556 um at Grano Del PUO um in in the spring and then um again the attendance um sheets for the School site parents attending District events um our goal is to have every school have at least 15 parents at our district events seven of those seven of our 22 schools um were able to get 15 parents or more all right so that's the that's the annual um outcomes for this um based on the metric and then we went into A needs assessment um with um various stakeholders like I said we had our forums we had our input sessions we had um meetings with our Union groups we had um input sessions at the sites with our management team uh with our students and um and then a district level team here and um these are some of the trends and findings that um came up and it's very small you're going to be able to see it you all have your packet I did want to just talk about those highlighted ones because those are the ones that come up very regularly in the input um so the first question asked was what actions and services have provided essential support towards meeting these lcap goals and um you know these these were repeated over and over the the counselors the parents Square people love parent Square they they really do they think it's a great tool for communicating um um the enrichment programs music programs Sports programs summer programs a lot of uh positive um feedback uh regarding the tosa interventions that happened this school year at the schools uh commun lisons um the behavior specialist support that we had this year for our general Ed um students and then a lot of support for the SE curriculums the CIS and the son to grow that are happening in our schools um how can we maximize or improve on these current programs um a lot of communication around a lot of information around communication with parents and needing to really strengthen that communication that um it's not just sending a parent Square message out but really trying to engage with parents and helping them understand um what is happening in our district what's happening at our schools and getting them involved in their children's academics and their behavior um in a way that's um more two-way uh communication uh incentives for parents to volunteer um a lot of conversation about that and like if you had more incentives you know maybe parents would attend if you had food um if you were able to offer food if you're able to offer some type of incentive for parents to attend that there may be more involvement um students also mention that um offer more language opportunities for students there's a lot of interest recently for expanding on more than what we offer in our dual language programs but seeing how we can offer more language programs in other schools maybe not dual immersion but clubs or after school programs um that are language based um the focus on reading intervention and support is something that people would like to see maximized and then restorative practices is always one that that comes up and then what additional actions and services should we consider in the new plan a lot around embracing student culture and family um like Multicultural activities but also um uh just understanding of different cultures and um really being able to expand uh into celebrating more than what we do now in terms of students um backgrounds um and understanding of them um a lot of um conversation around newcomer Center and how we um uh support the influx of newcomers that we're having in our district um working on absenteeism I think the word has gotten out that that is an area of importance and and that did come up a lot in our forums um plan more for family activities ESL classes for parents cool day kinder uh came up quite a bit and then our mtss framework and training um and then this this is the student input from their input session um so um a lot of um similar time types of topics they want to see more electives they always talk about having more elective um more opportunity to do things other than academic um they um talked about having Rosetta Stone for students to learn languages um that may be something that um we could try more programs for students in special ed more ELD classes competitions to engage our multilanguage Learners um and then in engagement they also talked a lot about getting the families involved in um to celebrate together and and be involved in sports activities and um Multicultural events um more translation and interpretation needed for their parents in different languages um and multiple locations for parent University they talked about um it being difficult sometimes for parents to get to other schools okay overall these are the survey results and uh we did really well this year this spring um then we had the highest number of parents involved in the survey 3,225 and um staff um was a little down from fall but up from last spring and then the student surveys um were at 4,065 students 82% of the students in third through e8th grade Che the survey so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on on the survey data you have it there and I'm sure you've looked at it um the one I I will just go to the um safety and the um school connectedness because I know that's one that we've talked about for a few years now um because in in these we support for academic learning students staff and parents all um feel that that we're we do encourage students to work hard and push them for high standards um and high expectations uh in terms of safety um we still continue to see the lower numbers um for students and when we ask the question how safe you feel in school 69% for elementary and 58% for Middle School um and then uh questions for staff I I pulled out the ones on student behavior um and 55% of Staff um responded that the student behavior is disruptive um 55% responded favorable to that and lack of respect of Staff by students 78% responded favorably to that um and then in terms of parents parents um uh in elementary 93% um I'm sorry this is overall my child is safe on school grounds 93% responded favorably and then around the neighborhood 89% so definitely an area we need to continue to look at and um do a deeper dive and figure out um what we can do to continue to support that area school connectedness we did see an increase in elementary a three a three point increase um for the question do you feel close to people at school and um and the Middle School stayed about the same at 62% um good news for staff you know staff does it this school is a supportive and inviting inviting place for staff to work 91% said yes and this school promotes trust and collegiality among staff 89% said yes and that was up from last time um by two points and then parents feel welcomed and um in their schools um and their staff welcomes their suggestions okay I'm almost done promise it's just a lot to to go over in in one presentation budget overview for parents so what I'm going to point out here is just that um overall our lcff funds are 108 million um of that 26 million is required to be in the lcap for um uh support for our high students our English Learners our foster Youth and our um uh socioeconomically disadvantaged students but we know that in our district that is a majority of our students so a lot of the support that we have in our alap is for um all our students um and then of course a few that are just for those students um that's what I wanted to share on this slide and then that um this is um a chart that shows what is um budgeted in um total budget general fund expenditures and then total total budget EXP managers in the elap and the difference it's about $9 million is for um some of the local um uh budgets and other um restricted budgets that aren't included in the alcap and also um the stirs um on behalf that's in there as well other than that everything else is in the AL sorry and then this is we're always required to show so um what our budget expenditures um were for this current year um that were in the alup were 31,48 7,983 and we actually spent 3,472 uh 507 and the difference is in the time that we um run these numbers the school year is not over so there are a lot of like P um invoices that aren't paid there are um Extended Duty that's not paid so it's not completely that we didn't spend all the money but there's still a lot of things that are still being paid until June 30th but this has to be presented beforehand and then also some contracts that didn't happen uh for one reason or another in um a few vacancies that we had during the school year okay so in terms of the new Al cap draft um this is what's required in it which I think we all know already um we have three goals uh that we're focusing on for this new school year um the first is around conditions of learning and making sure that students have everything they need um in school to um be educated whether it's facilities or it's um their teachers or their materials or um you know everything they need to I'm going to show you in a few minutes um but it's around conditions of learning and then the second one and I already shared these goals with you um the the second one is about really creating and implementing that mtss that we've talked about um we've wor done a lot of work as an instructional Services team to um put one um together and to really uh develop it we're still in the process of it but it's looking really good and we felt that we needed to put it in the lcap so that we would hold ourselves accountable to really um implementing the the tier um tier tier two and tier three supports um that our students need um in support of their academic behavioral and social emotional support and then goal three is similar to go four in last year's but um in not just engaging parents but making sure that our students are engaged making sure our staff's engaged and making sure that our parents are engaged so goal three will be all around engagement for all um all the stakeholders in our district all the people in our district and then go four is a required goal for schools that receive additional funding which is uh for what they call Equity multiplier funding and the only school um that qualified for that funding is Caesar Chavez and that was around attendance daily attendance for their um their students and chronically absent students okay those are the the goals so overall considerations is um we are going to we've included many of the items that we have found to be successful and that are necessary to make sure we continue for our students things that parents and everyone that we've talked to um during our input sessions have said are important um we will continue in this new outc cap but the ones in yellow I want to point out um we've done a little more um um work on making sure that they're intentionally in the actions in the elap and that's around ethnic studies that's around dual language programs in goal two is the seal development the behavior support and then in goal three the family engagement um family events Multicultural events um to bring more families and and help people feel um that their culture and their um backgrounds are being appreciated and celebrated so I'm not going to go over this because I just shared with you um what but in goal one it looks more like the expansion of the upk um past kindergarten so it's like the alignment from PK all the way through third grade and um actions and services to make sure that that's um strong and that that happens implementation of ethnic studies plan and then um uh looking at the new biliteracy pathway opportunities and seeing how we can expand on that uh further than the the three um immersion schools goal two again is around mtss and making sure that those tier two and tier three supports are are implemented and that we have a plan for how we will make sure that kids get those supports when they need it and and in the way that they need it goal three um the additions will be the diversity identity and cultural responsiveness and then um more of student showcases and cultural celebrations and that's my presentation um next steps are um hopefully Al cap adoption on on June 27th after um we make any you know um little revisions that need to be made or we're still looking through it to see if there are any typos and things like that and anything that the County Office of Ed needs us to make sure that's included but it's not going to change any of the essential components of the ALF and then we need to submit it to um the County Office of Ed for approval by July 1st okay thank you you and thank you for listening for so long but it's a lot thank you Miss Sandra uh now we will take public comment on 502 and then after that we will take trustee comment so if there's no public comment um Dr joh the son M Bell could you please um timer on please it's for public comment I know give me a second because I I have to um stop the participating sharing thank you good evening members of the board my name is Ela Gonzalez I am a Community member I am okay now she's starting it a parent of um two students here in Alan Brock and um I just want to say thank you to uh Miss Sandra Garcia for the amazing work that you've been doing since you took over uh on the elcap on parent engagement Community engagement youth engagement and actually listening to the parents and Community when we say what can work to make sure our kids educ tion can improve from bringing eor studies to now have a youth comittee and in writing in an lcap it's amazing so I just want to give a great shout out to all the amazing work that has been happening that has affected my kid my son it is a special air um he's autistic and this year next year next school year because of all the support and all the help of all the programs that happening is actually moving full time to regular classes something I never thought I see and we'll prepare him for high school I just say thank you for the programs thank you for the support thank you for showing cultural acceptance to our kids every day and we see writing and this is something I want to be proud every single day when I say my kids come to Al Brock so please continue working listening to your staff listening to the community because we want to be part of this let's continue moving forward thank you thank you good evening Veronica ton foring teacher I just want to thank you again miss Garcia for the work that you do for AAP and specifically your support of the 1619 Cloud this year um I want to speak uh specifically to goal three culture and cl in my district you've heard about absenteeism suspensions um I'm wondering about the clate programs that were um exping at the school sites because I am an African-American teacher that does not feel safe at all the school sites that I work and students of mine who also do not feel safe and I've been sounding the alarm for several years now I the racial Equity committee at this district for three years and so um to address the things that were coming against African-American students and Educators we are faced and subjected to racial slows regularly on the campus and dispar treatment from other staff members to the point this year where formal complaints had to be filed the staff members and and those of us those who are colleagues do not know how to address it Education Code 233 says that our schools must be free from discriminatory attitudes practices and acts of hate violence this must be addressed and students should not be leaving District because they do not feel safe in alen rock I want to also add since we want to have Multicultural events and things to support black people but we have organizations and I've said this before Santa Clara County Alliance of black Educators African-American Community Service Agency the black teacher project the NAACP many of these resources are there and it's not being utilized if we know better President Chavez uh vice president K we must do better so I'm asking you because relationships matter to bring in back people and those that do know blacks and bring them in thank you very much thank you any more public comment Sandra if you have questions okay um so seeing no more public comment we'll move on to the comments of the board uh anybody uh trusty favorite um thank you so much um it's so much data it's so much work and it's so Illuminating um and I make I might make some comments um and then maybe just take sort of Q&A offline because of timing and then I'll end with one specific question um so The Chronic absenteeism of 22% um if you're saying that we're heading in the right direction or some schools are heading in the right direction um just want to make sure that we're diving into figuring out what works and how do we how do we share that how do we scale that how do we under you know um and you know who specifically is it working for right and I'm sure you're doing that I just want to make sure that it's not just some little gem at one school and that that's something I'm sure you're doing communities of learning around you okay um I want to you um you're calling out newcomers which I think may be for the first time this year um I don't know if it's been in past lcaps um we have had actions for newcomers but I what I was saying was because of the influx of more newcomers that we're going to have to look at something to more to support okay so I just want to um make a connection that we at the city with my um day job had on um we have been doing more interventions with newcomers from middle school to high school we've activated the alrock Youth Center trying to really and we're we just did a presentation to the Youth Empowerment Alliance on sort of the data um you know whether it's newcomers that are accompanied or unaccompanied miners um we are serving a lot of Colombian kids Nicaraguan kids and Salvadorian so we'd love to sort of collaborate we're collaborating with the high schools and um so would just love to connect you with the team on that and um last two things it's something I've talked about with interim superintendent Dr almazon but I want to say it here because I do believe that we need a policy and I hope it comes you know from the administration um related to the to the anti-blackness that is being um felt and experienced by both um students and staff I believe we need a no 's no B's policy it's something that um I've seen in um other community centers and other communities we've been um talking about it again in in my in my work um but it is such a it's these words are have been normalized whether it's through uh popular music and whatnot and we are um in IND so we have to disrupt the normalization of it somehow and I've talked with Dr almazon about how okay we don't want it to then turn into some punitive thing that then we end up with a whole bunch of suspensions but how do we have this conversation how do we start this conversation sooner rather than later so it's um about disrupting anti-blackness it's about disrupting misogyny it's about disrupting all these things that um we need to start with our kids in our facility so would love to figure out how to get that done and then the last thing this is more of the question I [Music] saw many slides ago um 39 39% of um our lowrisk second graders can't I don't can't even read my own notes at this point but we have sort of a goal or an outcome that 50% of our second graders would be reading proficiently or meeting proficiency um and yet our lower second graders are only at 39% rating proficiency so I just want to talk about um I understand the to say we have 16 we're only going to have 10 returning and there's sort of this discussion about prioritizing them um at the lower grade so that we hit third grade proficiency but I'm also um concerned and I know with limited resources you can only do so much but how are we um I hope we don't we're not leaving behind our middle school students that we've been trying to hit proficiency so then they can get to high school and meet a through G requirements so I know that's a challenge because of the fiscal restraints um but I'm a little I don't know I'm concerned one that our outcome is 50% of our second graders are meeting proficiency so it's always but we're at 39% so maybe 50% is attainable we want to get there but I would love to keep having a conversation about how are we intervening so that are and again I know it's test scores and they don't mean a whole lot but they but they do it when we move on to high school and Beyond so um again I'll just I'll leave it at that and hope that we can continue have a conversation thank you thank you excuse me we had a quick the recording stopped is the recording on stop right now yeah okay should we stop until we're sure it's recording I want to make sure everything is recorded no because it wasn't it said it wasn't recorded sorry about that I didn't want to go like this time out you were on the rooll okay um any other trusty comments I'll say something so first of all thank you Sandra and uh state and federal for putting this together and it again and we always need the the good yearly annual picture uh but I you know just a you know maybe it's a question for administration because I you know always concerned if students and staff are feeling unsafe and it's like I you know just just for clarification how are these you know if a student or a staff makes a complaint uh you know or a report regarding safety you know how is it being handled does you know does the administration have a answer to that I mean the the mental picture in my or I should say the bureaucratic picture in my mind is you know student tells teacher or principal principal takes down report and of course look into the matter and then adders the matter in the you know Prof you know professional you know uh using professional discretion so I'm just sort of concerned that there you know we have an issue of brought you know before this board about you know students and staff feeling unsafe and it's sort of like what you know is this being first of all is it being reported reported you know in a manner that we you know so that you know the schools side Administration and the district office actually have a you know uh way to you know can address it appropriately yes trusty found there there is a process and you articulated it well that um Whenever there is an issue brought uh at the site level it is the responsibility of the site Administration to investigate if it is elevated to the district level we work with the sites and the staff as well as the families to come to a resolution as quickly as possible but sometimes there are cases that are more complex than others and so um when it is complex we we uh definitely take um you know uh the utmost uh care and attention um because some of these things uh may be very sensitive as well um and we take everything into consideration and um we take every situation seriously thank you for president TR um I have a couple questions but um before that I just want to add to that that if um after the investigation is done if the person wants to appeal then that is also possible to bring it to the board um so another layer of holding people um our staff and Community accountable um on gold three first of all thank you so much Sandra for your hard work you know this is just what we see on paper so I can only imagine all the work uh behind so thank you for your work and um thank you to all the staff too because I know it's not just you it's a lot of Staff time that um is making this work um including you know as one of the board members who championed ethnic studies and Once Upon a Time was just a resolution on paper to really see it in action you know that that's what it's about you know um it's great that we pass these resolutions um but what's even better is when the work is actually happening so thank you and everyone else that's involved with every piece um of of all that's been reported on today and um I know that I asked this question in one in my one-on-one um so I'm just GNA ask it here um which is kind of I I had the similar question to others but um for goal three and I'll just highlight this one um on California dashboard attendance data suspension and exposion rate um we're still at zero for explosions Y and you know looking forward to keeping at that rate forever um and then the 1.7 133 of students have been suspended at least once during the 23 24 school year um and then the desired outcome was to discre decrease suspens suspensions by 10% and maintain an explosion at zero um focusing on the suspensions I guess for me did we decrease or increase is that yeah I said that verbally I should have included in there and I didn't but we St that the same it it has not decreased or increased it's about the same as it was previous year okay um that's helpful and then on the just moving forward on the um the Panorama and the survey results um you know there there's many areas that we're doing well um and that we increased whether it was student staff or parents um and I think you know especially in in the numbers where we're doing well I'm just wondering you know at least a focus I think sometimes we focus on how to do better and that's great but like to really focus on those that are strongly disagree and um disagree or strongly disagree you know how do we like focus on that like bottom um to to bring it up more and so I look forward to you know focusing on those um those numbers and those staff and those students and parents um and you know just like uh trusty FL Shelton mentioned I look forward to maybe seeing some of their specific examples um I know this was just a presentation and you did amazing but I'd love to see what some of those um comments were to understand understand that better um to continue to raise our numbers you know we have a lot of work to do um and you know I look forward to continuing to be a part of that process um and then just overall um for me you know again the community engagement is important um which is how I started to even be involved here and got here um and when I see the youth you know when you talked about that uh new advisory Council that really gets me excited that really gets me like uh just you know wanting to hear more about it and so um I also want to you know thank the staff for working hard uh with them and uh you know we were able to go to Sacramento in May uh with Dave Cortez and um meet with leaders out there and meet Tony Thurman you know have them ask questions and just build that relationship um so I look forward to more of that you know and it was great to also be with them meeting here making decisions on behalf of the students so thank you for that and I just wanted to highlight that as well and I look forward to hearing more uh but thank you again and the rest of the staff working hard TR okay um moving on to um the next uh public hearing I'm GNA be opening I'm I'm gonna close all of them after 504 okay I'm gonna do it all at one okay um moving on to the public hearing 503 I'm opening it up at 7:49 uh uh dran can you ask Mr F oh Mr is there huh sure why not so are we now on 502 uh no we're on excuse me 503 I mean 503 sorry we3 so you know if there you know should take you know first take public comment on you know 503 first before moving on to 504 if there are any Madam president um sure uh is there any public comment on 503 I I I think maybe it might be better to do the comments after the p uh they speak and so I am GNA take public comment but after okay okay thank you so Mr COA can you continue please yeah for president can I say something uh let's talk let's let him and then okay I I but it's in regards to the public and um Community speaking sure uh like I said before is it any different what I said that we're gonna have him speak and then we'll take public comment and then I would just like to put on the record that as a trustee for me it's important to hear public comment on the item before moving on to another item yeah M president they are separate items so you know it's a I I think it's necessary to take public comment at 503 and then if there's other public comment at 504 we can take it then but for for those who might not want to wait at till 504 you know to give the public an opportunity that3 I think I'm just uh what I'm trying to uh have them listen to it first but if you guys prefer public comment ahead of time and and so that that way that the they can't have P they can't ask their questions but it's it's okay we'll take public comment now um uh before Mr Co is that is that all right with the board and that's for 503 right that's for 503 thank you so we're going to be taking public comment on 503 right now so seeing that there's none then we're going to go into U Mr Co thank you thank you and uh good evening board president members of the board and Dr Alazan um tonight we'll be presenting the um 24 25 fisal year proposed budget um and to start with sorry my is not working thank you when you ask the public comment that's just opening the public here we're still going to be doing public comment presentation correct yes okay that's why I wanted to do it after the presentation but others were saying we should do before but to me uh it probably would be best for everybody to hear then take public comment but I was asked to take public comment before and what the heck I'll take it twice as long as we get the public comment input I'm fine if we do it one way or the other and I'm you know lean more towards let's get the public comment before or after if necessary thank you Mr C sorry no problem thank you board president okay so start off with um you know we'll cover some of the agenda topics which are the key assumptions that we're using to uh develop the budget for next year and also the multi-year projection um which uh will be next and then uh as part of the requirement to the budget we do have to do the statement Reserve which shows um the amount over the 3% and what the district's put on that um and then we'll discuss next steps timeline timeline okay so the first uh uh assumption we're using is the enrollment um you may recall that we did a demographic study back in 2022 um and those numbers are tracking really well um so for example for the current year um the the demographic study showed that we were going to have uh 7,376 kid um when we did our Census count um in this past October we were at 7,41 so uh we're a little bit higher than that the demographic study uh showed but uh since we tracking well we're continuing to use um this projection um going forward so Mr CH could you repeat that did you say 7,41 that is correct thank okay so on the um on the revenue side we'll start with the lcff um calculation um for this we're for fiscal year 2425 um we're using um the col of 1.07 um and also the methodology of using the three p aear uh uh average Ada um for 2526 again um the three p year average Ada and the Cod for that year is 2.9 and then for year 627 um same methodology for the three prear Ada average um and the cola for that year is 3.08 um other state revenue includes um the Asus program this is money we get to operate um or after school program uh we get about $3 and5 million next year um ARS music um Grant um this is a new funding ongoing funding that was just approved back in 2022 um the budget reflects about $1.26 million um in the next fiscal year um elop uh is the grant that we're getting to operate are before um after school summer school intercession program uh for that Grant uh we're project to receive um about $1 million um and then for lottery there's two components there's the unrestricted Lottery uh which we're projecting to receive about 13 million and then the restricted Lottery to the tune of about 538 th000 um special ed uh base Grant um That Base Grant uh is going to be 896 89 for Ada and we'll talk a little more about special ed uh funding um later in the presentation um based on that uh on the base Grant um the district is projecting to receive um approximately $6.3 million for special a program and then uh the two biggest Chunk in our local revenue is partial tax um we're projecting to receive about $4 and a half million dollar each year um and then for lease Revenue um approximately $2.7 million each year so this just shows the calculation um and lcf enement uh for the next three years so in 2425 uh we're projecting to receive um a little over uh $18.5 million um in lcf funding um moving over to year 2526 uh we're projecting to receive about $15.8 million and then year 2627 um we working to receive about 1 107.7 um the anomally in in 26 27 um because you'll see a slight uptick in terms of the increase of um LC of f dollars even though we're still projecting declining enrollment and the reason for that is um you may recall that uh aptitude uh was comped to a Traditional School um as of this year and so by using the three PRI year average um when we're able to do that it counts towards the district's Ada and as we able to use the the ada4 aptitude to span it over a 3year period it lessen the declining enrollment and 88 so that's why you'll see an uptick in years 26 27 but as you go into 2728 uh you'll see a decline in lcf dollars on the expenditure side um this slide shows the um comprehensive leg budget solution plans that the uh board adopted on May 21st um as you you can see there's various components um starting with the fiscal year 2425 um one of the components is not filling vacancies and shifting cost to other funds um that savings came to about $893,000 um there's also some identified Savings in the outc cap um in terms of savings in Staffing and Savings in contracts um for Staffing it's about 644,000 and then for contracts 677000 and then in year 26 I'm sorry 2526 um there was an component that showed that there's a reduction of 15 FTE um to the tune of about $1.7 million in savings and then the big part of the comprehensive budget solution plan is the school consolidation option um and on the May 21st board meeting the board uh adopted the option that included six Elementary and six Middle School um that would generate a savings of about $10 million um at that same board meeting theard also provided uh wanted to keep some flexibility um to keep it an alternative option open uh which included six Elementary uh to middle school and converting one additional Middle School into a dual immersion program um as you can see on this plan um the savings that it would generate is about $8.6 million so there's about $1.3 million um difference between the two options okay and then in year 2627 um due to declining en rollment uh we also incorporating um 10 certificated uh reductions um in certificated of tees to align with declining enrollment and then uh assuming that we go with the consolidation plan um having less schools gives the districts the ability to efficiently load the classes better um and in that case we're reducing projecting to reduce about uh nine certificated FTE um to the tune of about $1.35 million other assumptions for the for the board's consideration um negotiations um have not been settled for year 2425 and this is for all units um the Cal rate um for year 2425 is 27.05.2012 2425 uh also through year 26 27 all three years remains at uh 19.1 um there's a natural increase in the step and column um that's built in for all three years um there's a requirement for the districts to contribute 3% um to our uh routine maintenance program um over year and then uh increase contribution for special ed um in the special ed program in all three years um I want to spend a little time talking or just going over um the special a program just to give the board some additional information at this point um so this is the overview of the special ed program um on top of the slides um you see that on the the top box uh shows how um the district is generating funding for specialed so there's essentially two formulas that we use the first one is based on um assembly B Bill 606 um it's a pretty straightforward um calculation it takes the highest of the three-year um uh Ada for the districts and multiply that for uh multiply that by the base rate which uh for this year is 887 uh and and 40 cents So based on that it would generate about $6.8 million um just a side note here that's $6.8 million does not go to the district directly the stha um is the administration Administration the those dollars um they keep those dollars uh um to pay for uh the cost that the County Office of Education um is serving um the students of in the special La program so we'll get into that a little more um later um the other component of lcff funding or a special ed funding is lcff um So currently um The District's uh enrollment in terms of students that are in special day class um is a 26 6 students that we are currently serving um at the county of offet um they're serving 69 students um that belongs to our district um and so just based on that enrollment um LP above dollars we're projecting to receive about $43 million so in total funding um for both formula uh the district is projected to receive a little over $1 million um to fund our special program um again for uh just on the expenditure side um there 69 students that uh the county office serving on our behalf um the the cost for that is about 7.4 uh million dollar so when I talked about um the ab 602 uh formula where we generate that funding and is being administered by the SBA they keep that money to off to pay for the cost of the students that they're serving on our behalf and so at the end of the year um based on what we generate on that funding and what are actually cost us we either get some money back if the cost is lower than what we generate or we send them some excess cost which is some additional money to um the cellus to pay for the students that they're serving on our behalf so in this case um in this year we're showing that um you know we generated about 6.8 um but the cost is about 7.4 so there's a delt of about $600,000 that uh we need to send to the county off the b or the Sela and just some additional information um students with I in this districts um the latest count uh was 1,32 um compared to the total enrollment which is 7,684 at the time that this data was taken which is about a month ago uh just based on that number uh student students with ID IEP compared to total population is about 177% okay now in terms of the uh special education budget um here I want to share the historical data and also um next year uh budget and also um the two subsequent year um the one thing I want to point out here um and I just Ted about that in terms of um the excess cost that we need to send to the Sala to serve our students it's highlighted in that row right there um you'll see in the current year Well actually let's go back to 2122 um you know at that point um it only cost us about $110,000 in year 2223 uh we actually Reed money from the county um in the current year we're projecting to send about 759 th000 um to the Sala to um to cover the cost that the County Office of that are serving our student um and then as you move into year 2425 um that $759,000 increase to a little under or close to 2 million do um so special ed is taking kind of hit on both side um our programs that we're running on our own um you know those cost increases every year and on top of that um you know the the cost that uh is related to the county programs um we'll see an increase in that from year to year as well so all that is comp a uh Financial impact on our district okay so um based on the Assumption and the special ed um programs that we have um this is uh the um multi-year proection for the unrestricted program I mean unrestricted general fund and this slide right here is based on uh the board's action on May 21st um to consolidate um six Elementary and three middle schools and then all those other components that uh were built in in terms of not building vacancies um cost shifting to other funds um and additional FTE reduction So based on that for next year we're projecting to begin the year with a reserve of about 47.6 million um total revenue of about $ 81.5 million um total expenditure of 101.1 million uh with a projected deficit of about 19.5 um to bring the projected ending fund balance to $28 million approximately $28 million um at the end of next year um that ending fund balance will carry over to year 2526 um in that year we're projecting to receive um about $ 78.8 million in um in total funding um and then 89.7 in total expenditures uh with a a deficit of about 10.8 bringing um the ending or the fund balance to about $17.2 million um at the end of FIS schal year 2526 and then in year 2627 starting the year with a little over $17 million in reserve um we projecting to receive about 80.4 million in total revenue um 88.7 in total expenditures uh with a structural deficit of about $8.3 million um to to lead the districts with about $ 8.9 uh million do in Reserve at the end of fiscal year 2627 um the one thing I want to call to your attention for year 2627 um is the line item for uh The Sur pressent deficit um as you can see there we're still with this plan and all these consolidation uh we're still projecting a structural deficit of about 8.3 um even though we're we're projecting to end the year with about 8.9 as we move into fiscal year 2728 that 8.9 will be depleted due to our structural deficit and you may recall I think I talked about this um previously that our reserve requirement is 3% and the 3% is usually between $4 and $5 million depending on the total um expenditure of the general fund so if you take a look at what our projected uning fund balances um that only covers the structural deficit um in order for us to make the 3% requirement we would need to make $4.5 million in reduction in year 2728 to be able to meet a 3% requirement I'm taking the comments after public this is a um this is a different version or a version number two of the unrestricted uh General front multi-year projection and this is based on the alternative which is which includes the consolidation plan of six Elementary to middle school and converting one additional Middle School into an immersion program um as you can see you know most of the assumptions stay the same but we're adding that $1.3 million of savings that we didn't or of expenditures that we didn't save and so that will impact the scho year 2526 and 2627 um and based on this one on this version you'll see that the deficit the stru deficit grows to about 9.6 which only leaves the districts with about $6.1 million in ending fund balance as a fiscal year um 267 and then as we move into 27 28 there will be a bigger um Gap to fill in order to meet the arment okay on the restricted general fund um for the multi-year projection um again the restricted fund includes you know our special ed program our uh uh rep program um the elop and all those other categorical programs that we have so for this one um in year 2425 um the district is projecting to receive about 66.4 million uh in total revenue with a total expenditure of about the same we always assume that we're going to spend all of our restricted dollars in the years that we save I mean that we received them um and then so in year 2 526 um again total revenue of about 65.5 and total expenditure of 65.5 um and then year 2627 the total total program is about 65.4 um both revenue and expenditure um as I mentioned in the beginning of the presentation we do have to disclose um the amount over the 3% and what uh the plan for that um amount over the 3% and so for years 24 25 um as we're projecting to end the year with about $2.1 million um the 3% requirement is about $5 million which leaves a balance of 23 uh million in the amount over the 3% and so uh with the structural deficit that we're projecting um that amount would be used to mitigate uh the structural deficit that we're seeing in our budget in year 2526 as we're projecting to end that year uh with about $17 million in ending fund balance uh the 3% requirement is 4.6 million uh which leaves a balance of about 12.5 um again that is to mitigate um the structural deficit that we and then lastly in year 2627 um the ending fund balance for that year is about 8.9 um the total the 3% requirement is 4.6 which leaves a balance of about 4.3 um which will be used to mitigate the um structural deficit um that we're rejecting with that um just some key timelines um and uh next steps for us um again tonight is the public hearing uh we're still waiting on the state to enact a budget um we have about two days left three days left um you know the state the legislators have come to an agreement um the governor hasn't signed off on it so we're eagerly waiting for the outcome of that um at the next board meeting on June 27th we're going to be asking the board toop the the the budget um that night and then with regards to the timeline for for school consolidation um as was said earlier we want to start that immediately in July um and the time frame for that is between July and November to engage in community to identify criteria to get all their input and feedback um and then by November of next year or this year um we're hoping to be able to bring a recommendation uh to be to be a to identify um the names of the schools that would be Consolidated um and to start in the fiscal year 25 26 um and then once assuming that the board approved um that recommendation uh from December through January um we'll be bringing a resolution for the board again for the consolidation and the staff reduction and then from February through June of next year um you know this is the time that we'll be working with our with our staff with all the Logistics in terms of um you know identifi or notifying our parents and giving them options on um schools that they that they would like to choose from so with that i' be happy to take any questions thank you um can we take public comment first and then we'll go to the Board of Trustees uh is there any public comment good evening Sandra AA alamro Educators Association president I just wanted to as I was looking over the slides bring to the attention we know that difficult decisions are going to have to be made and we know that transparency to the community is of the utmost importance when we're looking on page seven at the expenditures and we're looking at page six of the expenditures when we consolidate schools we're not losing children when we're consolidating schools the kids that are at this school site are going to be moving to this school site and they're still going to need teachers we're going to need full-time health aids we're going to need those people so I consider the verbiage on this report to be a fear tactic because of the fact that we're saying a reduction of 15 FTE a reduction of 10 certificated employees makes makes it sound like we are going to be issuing layoffs and I understand that that isn't the case for all of the units and the bargaining units and I apologize to those who will be losing and having to do layoffs but by using the terms of reduction of certificated employees you're not taking into account the normal attrition through the year this year we have 35 certificated teachers that have either resigned or retired so all that means is that if this was the case then next year you'd only be hiring 25 teachers we aren't redu doing a reduction of force of those teachers so when we present things to the community when we have these Community forums I want to make it very clear and apparent that the community isn't going to be losing the the teachers that they've grown to know and love that we are moving with the students and that we are still going to be here to support them in their new environments any further comments from the public Victor good evening um Victor Vasquez SOS so you know have we seen um we all live through a really hard time economically we we know that our families are also displaced through this economic situation and housing crisis and we see with the report and we know that the governments are not increasing their funding formulas to address this economic reality um despite not having the a number of students we still have a greater need and the cost of business is still going up and so I think there's a real missed opportunity there I know that the Flor is working on Immediate Solutions that you're discussing today that we might not like right we're discussing medium-term Solutions I'm sure there's a long-term solution too that you're looking at and a few years ago prior to the pandemic SOS worked really hard in a campaign to try to increase the funding in our communities it was called prop 15 it was designed to increase uh funding for school districts and generate billions of dollars back in return we fought the hardest that we could and unfortunately this measure did not pass um so for whatever was worth soos can continue to offer to work with the school district and school districts and families to see what we can do on a long-term level let's go to let's go figure this out there's other districts that are really also struggling that really will benefit from increasing the amount of dollars of Educational Systems again and while it might seem like a really difficult solution we know that it's possible we've seen the school district rally around ballot measures and bonds to get the community to do that I know that this school district and other ones if we unify them we can figure out the strategy to also address this long-term problem that's not going to go away unless we increase the amount of dollars or increase the amount of students and so I just want to offer that as an organization in this community that that's something that we can offer and do and work with you and all the districts of fig out what is a long-term plan to increase funding for schools thank you any more public comment um good evening my name is chaman fony and I'm an arud parent and Resident U my child will be my eldest child will be a seventh grader this coming school year and I will say that thanks to our school sit's incredible teachers and strong and active Community we've had an incredible experience thus far um one that defies the negative stereotypes and the media that often surrounds AR USD um I will have a teer coming in this year and while it pains me that she might not have the same experience because of these proposed changes I do encourage you all to stay bold and thoughtful and intentional in these changes because the slow drip is very disconcerning to families it doesn't give us stability it makes us unsure year over year and I think it also limits our ability to think about Bolder Solutions traditional schools charter schools and private schools are all experiencing budget cuts and declining enrollment and so rather than you know putting each other against each other one school campus against each other the unions versus families the board versus administrators I think we need to seek solutions that are structural to public education that commits public education highquality public education to all of our children irregardless of what school you're at and so again while I know that my own kids might be affected by that I'm here as a partner to figure that out because we can't keep doing the same things we've been doing year after year any more public comment [Music] res I just want to say partly by a lot of the comments that have been given about hoping for the future and so I want to give a shout out to Community Schools which include shared decision making and before all of this happened there were designated sites that were determined to be Community Schools and we are community so it is my hope that the family members staff administrators and all of the people who care about Alan Block and make the decisions that will be best for all of the folks in the community just wanted to say that thank you uh one more my name is Marisa Rosales gasa and I am someone who went online and saw the B meeting I want to also what these women just said it's about the students and the community and looking and watching that video was really hard I am someone who when I started school we speak a lot of English and I speak what I want to say and I speak up for what I want to say when I saw the video I said I my M Obama said when we go in and because when saw and we saw her go through the process she did it very Bly and that's what should be doing that so I tell you as a person who is now a mother who is someone who is going to go back into the classroom I'm looking around walk to and I'm thinking wow and I've seen the past I've seen what wonderful days are happening Sandra's you know Sandra Garcia look at that you you see theal and hourl is Rich with students like don't speak a word of English and now I'm looking for a cck company and I would like to bring my knowledge ofic sence I our students from our communities to positions where they should be but ask you to really consider what happened next week because you know what the eyes there's a lot of eyes on you a lot of eyes on you and I am trying to be diplomatic about this but I am mad mad as someone who has daughters of their own who would like to see a change and like to stop seeing I don't what plac that happened last week that was embarrassing and very frustrating as someone who is not even part of this school district but maybe as a teacher because you know what so I you because you know what you Rose when when you anyone else for public comment seeing no more I'm going to ask for the um oh go ahead one more good evening once again um it's a tough time relatives uh it's a really really tough time I'm just looking Across the Nation when we look um at at budgets um let's see on federal deficit currently 1.6 trillion right uh on a state level new reported a shortfall of 56 56 billion over the next two years the county is facing a shortfall of 250 million and the city of San Jose 52 million it's not just right here you know in our district we we need to come together and we need to be able to we put you all in these positions we elect you into these positions because we trust that you'll do your very best on behalf of the students the families the staff and our community I continue to hear microaggressions at these tables uh threatening about the upcoming election right in November if you want to say are you're going to vote to have more schools Le because you can't just say things like that that things that you can't promise obviously we had faith in several of you were are voted for you for example men you for example trusty ketto have faith in you and so when you look to to to threaten the committee around who they vote for in November because we know two of the trustees that are sitting at this table are coming up for election it's not okay it's unethical it's not okay we're listening let's pay attention while says what's on the agenda right here beyond that just last week I heard somebody say I hope we don't have to go back to running each other over with our cars at this table on record trusty can who said that I hope we don't have to go back to that I don't know if that's another threat or not but that's how I took it so I asked you once again relatives please focus on why you're here we're all in crisis right here in the East Side in particular particular we're in crisis and we need you to be the best thank you mam president I hope order and um the topic wasn't even it wasn't even appropriate to topic and my words are being mischaracterized by this gentleman who's uh continuing to harass me with false accusations that that he's mischaracterizing what I said I that I don't want to go back to that so I just want to make sure Madame President that I clarified that uh those words that he's putting into my mouth are are false um and so it's it's unfortunate that it's a constant uh barrage of attacks by a gentleman who won't TR be transparent himself so just wanted to make sure that the public was clear that that was NOS were not my words thank you and I'm going to ask that the the Corum stay respectful of everybody um and so if there's no further comment I will uh have the trustees make their comments uh vice president kto uh Mr Chen uh you had mentioned in page seven that uh we're gonna wind up facing 2627 year 2627 uh and give me a second let me get to that page page um we have an ending fund balance of8 million bucks we're going to wind up we're in a deficit of8 million 8.3 million um I'm I'm I'm just what as a finance person we're already moving forward with the very deep cuts and we've made a decision all right half of our schools already and we're facing this situation even with that Where Do We Begin or where does a district in terms of from your experience where do we go from there then because like we have to we shut down every school and we're not going to have students going to be in worst situation so I'm not trying to I'm not pining on you I'm just like trying to understand how where do we go from there after we've already made these this very big tough decision yes so um you know as as we were working on this comprehensive budget solution plan um you know we we went through a process of involving every department and we looked at everything we looked at everything we looked at contracts we looked at positions we looked at programs um we looked at how many school we can close um and so we brought this recommendation to the board um to be able to um show the county office that in the over a three-year period that we're going to be solvent um right now um as we move into year 2728 starting at you know the ending of next year we're going to have to do that all that again um we're going to have to look at programs we look at at additional Staffing um and so every Rock's going to be turned um so in it's not going to be an easy process or easy solution but it's going to be a very thorough one that we've gone through over the last you know three months or so um to come back to the board um by the end of next year um to be able to provide another recommendation for the board to consider if if I recall around 2012 when I first joined the board we were facing some very dire economic issues I don't think you were here at that time I think it was pre before your time yes yes I joined the district in 2015 yeah so we took an approach of leaving just enough to grow programs back and so I would hope that rather because the initial proposal was hey let's just a flat cut it's gonna suck but it's the easiest I would hope that as we get proposals back that we take that surgical approach and leave enough back to try to grow programs back once that the times get better because these are Cycles I have every expectation at some point in time things will get better and so those are just my thoughts as one board member that I would hope that we bring back this we take this surgical approach to leave enough back to to grow things back um yeah I I'll my other questions are regarding the process so people have numbers questions it's probably more appropriate now I'll get to my questions afterward okay um and trusty fam okay uh you mentioned earlier and I want to start with the numbers since it's you know the board's job to grow you over in the numbers uh you mentioned in your presentation that the uh enrollment was 741 am I correct that's right okay but then you know uh the enrollment report presented in the board book is 7636 so please explain the discrepancy of 200 35 students yes so as I mentioned we do our Census count back in October and that's the count that we report to cpad in order to remain consistency um our districts have had I mean the trend of having really low enrollment at the beginning of the year and then you know students starts coming back to the districts and so um this year was particularly High um in terms of students coming back to the district um but that's been a trend you know year overy year but in terms of when we report out enrollment from one year to another we use a consensus date so that those numbers stay consistent with the data point that we're using so that it doesn't vary okay I mean because I was just concerned because you know uh using using the figure of uh 14,810 for 23 24 you know the the difference of 235 students is 3 47 million so that's a you know that's a significant chunk of change so I kind of wanted to get that accounted for uh you know now I kind of you know went over this you know in my you know uh during my general board member comments but it's sort of like uh you know when when when the uh budget Savings Plan was adopted uh on the 21st of May we were using the budget assumptions in the second interim budget am I correct yes that is correct okay so so we so at the time the 2425 you know again you know just to remind the audience you know some of these Sol short-term Solutions is in in the budget boook so I mean I so I wanted to start with that uh okay so uh a 0.76% cola in 2425 and a 2.73% cola in 2526 but now we have a 1.07 cola in 2425 a 2.93% cola in 2526 3.08% Cola in 2627 and 3.3% projected colon 2728 now I understand the 2728 you know those are projection but it uh it seems as if the um the Cola is a you know somewhat larger than uh what we had initially built a budget savings uh plan on am I you know is that not true I mean a 1.0 you know a 1.07 you know is significantly better than 0.76 I mean it is a it's a discrepancy of a you know around 30% uh so it's sort of like my my take on it is you know there there's some narrowing of the deficit a as you presented based upon you know uh the the uh Cola uh the cola projections and then the other thing I wanted I you know wanted to highlight is that it seems as if we're the kelper employer rate contribution is uh less than what what was uh projected so if we use the second interim uh we projected a cal her employer rate of 26.68% I mean no uh 27.8% in 2425 and 28.5% in 2526 but now the it looks like there's some relief in the calers employer rate at 27.05.2012 6 first of all um uh is the state can first qu you know would be is the state providing some relief in the calers uh employer contribution yes there seems to be a slight reduction but that's not Material in terms of saving that goes towards any savings plan well I mean but you multiply by you know by you know couple you know a few hundred classified employees we have on staff that's you know you know that's you know uh a slightly larger Cola a slightly smaller cers employer rate it's it it you know again I'm not I'm cons you know I understand we've got you know we've got declining enrollment we got a deficit but this deficit is shrinking in the in the 2425 but you know budget as presented Visa the 2324 second interim here so uh you know what I'm seeing in is that you know there's some shortterm you know there's some further short-term savings Solutions in this budget with you know with an increased Cola and a lower helpers employe rate and I think you know if I may say you know uh when you know when business services uh per you know uh did we not consider you know uh some Revenue gaining measures for example uh with the consolidation of schools have we you know did was there thought given to preparing some of some of the schools for uh you know to rent them out in some in some capacity so as to generate generate a ring stream and then we could use some of that Revenue to uh to again mitigate mitigate declining enrollment and also reduce the uh what is it as you say the structural deficit there can you yeah did you can you know did you know did business did you consider you know some you know the possibility of leasing schools as part of you know a you know budget savings plan I mean it looks like all you know all cuts and no you know no extra money coming in there yeah I mean that's that's that's been that's part of the consideration um but if you look at the timeline and the um you know budget solution plan the consolidation of school um doesn't take place in year 25 26 so you know um you know I mean as we've experienced in the past it takes us at least a year or too to be able to get um those who are interested in leasing um our facilities to generate any lease Revenue um in addition to that um you know we we we can't superficially buil in any projected lease Revenue until things are materializing um if we put that in a budget we have our colleagues at the County office that will call us out um and so as we're projecting and we're building our budget we have to be realistic with the assumption that the state gives us with the assumption that we have locally um because you know there's a check and balance and the county office will have to verify all those factors that goes into the budget well then I guess would it be I mean maybe to ask the you know ask the administration to you know consider a draft you know draft plan for you know uh leasing of you know either short or medium- term or even long you know lease of uh unused school campuses and you know maybe you know uh maybe a a some sort of you know Revenue model to be you know presented for the board to consider I mean not not part of this overall budget but something for you know as a planning tool for the board going you know going forward so that we have sort of a road map of you know what to expect you know uh if and when the board decides to uh lease uh unused school campuses and after Amazon did you get this already know okay wonderful oh okay well I guess you know I mean again that's you know that's part of the you know but as I said you know uh there's a short-term solution and of course there's a medium-term solution and again I you know and I I W to before that I want to end with uh you know I want to thank Mr Vasquez for uh you know offering his Su suggestion about work you know working with Community organizations about a longer term solution for the budget ills that a us and I you know look forward to hearing more from you know Mr Vasquez about you know what we can do to you know uh fix the funding inequities that affects districts like Alam rock thank you yes okay UST let's see I have several questions and I think first um point of clarifications um earlier it was said that 180 teachers I think were said and and staff would lose their jobs and then I heard uh in public comment 15 or 10 positions um can you remind us uh CA uh in that consolidation process what happens with staff I know that you outlined the different options how many staff um but typically I mean my guess is that there's a ratio that we need for students and staff so naturally we will not lose all the staff if we're talking particularly with teachers um you know assuming that we're um keeping the number of students that we're serving those teachers would just be moving to the schools that are still operating um there is a reduction in FTE in total FTE to align with the client enrollment um but you know Miss uh Rivera is correct we're not we haven't had to do any layoffs uh we have enough attrition every year to be able to absorb the reduction in FTE to line with our declining enrollment um so um in terms of teachers uh you know they'll be following the students to wherever they're going um there are reductions when uh in Staffing when it comes to um the support staff so if you're closing a school or consolidating a school you're losing a principal if there's a vice principal um you're losing a vice principal an office admin an off assistant a health assistant um there custodians that work that works there um so those support staff um there is a reduction towards but in terms of um teachers that uh um that will be with the district um we'll still need you know a number of districts based on whatever enrollment we're we're to to serve thank you um and what are the health benefits increases is that I don't know if there's an line item but um do you have an amount for that for year um in terms of total health benefits um I don't have it off the top of my head um but you know typically if we're talking about you know health insurance um that's between 3 to 5% each year um the the the benefits that um are really impacting the districts are there stirs and purs right uh 27 uh uh percent uh that the employee has to contribute so let's just say an employee makes $100,000 $27,000 is coming out of the district's um contribution to pay that the position um and then for stirs it's 19 thank you and I know that uh we we keep mentioning um on at this meeting Cola can you just tell us what that means yes so stand for actually La Cola uh cost of living adjustment and this is the percentage that the state provide to all school districts that are that are using lcff uh as their funding formula um to increase funding in order to try to stay you know consistent with whatever inflation is going on thank you um the yes and so the cola uh you know prior to um the May revise uh it was at 76 and so it did go up to uh 1.07 which is an increase of 31 %.

um right now 3 p.m. pending in pending weather pending um right now those looking like a pretty big Heatwave next week so we may look at some adjustments but if anything is change that'll be communicated to everyone uh I just want to remind the board that U my oldest daughter Alexandra is graduating high school same day same time as Clifton High School so I can't believe it but I'm going to be missing the Clifton High School graduation but it's for a very very good reason I can't believe that my my first born is graduating high school does that mean I'm getting getting old getting there right um but it's very exciting she just had her prom last week too which was uh pretty amazing had the honor um on Tuesday night of attending the Clifton High School scholarship night and proud every year to give out scholarships from this uh superintendent scholarship fund uh in memory of my parents uh we were blessed this year through our fundraising efforts and the efforts of our chairperson Miss Jen algeri to give out $3,500 on Tuesday night to students um as part of that contribution there was a big donation from the Clifton Education Association philanthropic fund so I want to publicly thank the Clifton Education Association for a $10,000 donation to the superintendent scholarship [Applause] fund and I also want to publicly thank again uh Deanna farcus for a $2,000 uh donation from the mental health awareness um walk de in in a time where listen mental health has always been important but in a time where it's really at the Forefront instead of talking about it you did something about it so I want to congratulate you on putting together such a an amazing event um it looked to be extremely successful um and I think next year will probably be even bigger and better and uh and hopefully I'll be able to attend because I can use the exercise and I can use the mental health um you know it's good for the mental health right getting out there and exercising so thank you um one for doing that for our community and thank you for the donation [Applause] I think that's all I got I talk more or should I thank you uh Mr President that's all I have tonight thank you Dr Rober toy we're going to do a little um juggling here this evening we have some staff um that are going to want to make some comments after we get through our Personnel section so I'm going to ask our commissioners if we could take a look at that that next and move to uh section c personnel and we'll be looking to approve items number one through 45 1 through 44 1 through 44 so I'm looking for a motion to approve motion motion by commissioner brunak second by commissioner Kenova any discussion seeing none real call Mr shahada M bord yes Mr brunak yes Mr Canova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago yes I have to abstain on p7 36 3742 missano yes Miss Suarez yes abstain on P38 vice president Danny yes president Paris yes abstain on seven 27 36 37 and 42 please motion carries thank you um I would like to thank the the Board of Education upon my recommendation tonight uh we have uh two new special education supervisors who are appointed um I would actually like to ask our director of special education Miss Rolo to uh introduce them and and uh talk a little bit about what their duties are good evening everyone thank you so much for this opportunity our team is growing as you know because I sit in lots of committee meetings talking about the need for more special ed classes and supplies and all that stuff and you've all been so generous to us so thank you for that so tonight we are introducing one new supervisor position which is Karen Pon she is our district behaviorist right now Karen comes with a wealth of knowledge about behavior and you know from all my meetings we really need her so we're really excited to expand our team with Karen um she's right now districtwide but very helpful in the middle school so they're really sad to see her go but now she'll oversee the behaviorist um the autism classes so we're going to step up our game with that so thank you for that and then we have oh Kristen I'm like looking over there this is Kristen Chucky she is a speech and language therapist who recently was transferred to a new position because um we knew that we had bigger things in store for her so she was recently moved to the preschool teams she found her home at School 14 and I pulled her out of there and she willingly went and learned a lot in the last couple of months so she is our new related service coordinator um some Paras she will not take them all there's way too many of them um what else a bunch of other stuff so she'll she's a a welcome addition and she'll help us with our our overflow so now we have um Amanda hemple actually from the high school here we have our our big support team B abrao from middle school nonpublic semi Linda Chavez element and then Sylvia Rose Amelia our preschool so that that rounds up our team we have six of us well six of them now thank you very much they want to come say something they've been patiently waiting thank you very much ladies and gentlemen members of the board administrators and colleagues I stand before you today with profound gratitude and a Heart full of excitement first and foremost I wish to express my deepest appreciation to the board and administration for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity as well as supervisors and colleagues who have supported me and guided me throughout my career it's truly an honor to serve our district in this capacity and I'm eager to contribute to the Advance advancement of our students and our community from the beginning of my career I have been drawn to the field of special education it's a calling that resonates deeply with me and over the years it has been both my privilege and my joy to work alongside students with diverse cap abilities backgrounds and challenges every day I have witnessed the transformative power of education and I am steadfast in my belief that every student regardless of their circumstances deserves the opportunity to thrive and succeed I pledge to uphold the highest standards of professionalism integrity and dedication I am committed to ensuring that our students receive the support resources and advocacy they need to reach their full potential every decision I make will be guided by the commitment to the best interest of our students and our district as a whole I understand the weight of the responsibility placed upon me and I embrace it wholeheartedly I will work every day to Foster collaboration Innovation and inclusivity within our special services department and I will strive to cultivate an environment where every student feels valued respected and empowered to excel I'm genuinely excited about the opportunity to get to know and work with each and every one of you together we have the power to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our students and in the future of our district I'm grateful for the trust you have placed in me and I'm confident that together as a team we will achieve great things thank [Applause] you well that's a tough act glad I'm on her team right mine's a little shorter but 10 years ago I walked into the front doors of school 14 a newly graduated speech language therapist unsure of where my future may lead me although I didn't go very far I'm certainly not the same person I was then special education is part of who I am as a professional but also as a parent although today I officially become a supervisor of special education today is not about me it's about supporting the needs of the students families and staff of our one Clifton Community I gladly accept the challenge to continue to ensure that every student is provided with academic opportunities to support their physical emotional and social potential every child is a learner every child is great at something and every child makes a difference and my plan is to work together with everyone here to make a difference too so thank [Music] you thank you both and congratulations um so getting back on to the agenda track would be next would be unfinished business Mr President yes commiss BR thank you over the past few months I've been discussing assembly bill number a 3446 and Senate bill number s 2421 these bills introduced by extremists in our state legislator legislature exclude Librarians and teachers from the current abenity law on the books which make it a third deegree felony to knowing KN L provide explicit and obscene materials to children not only that but a 3446 will hold ordinary C citizens financially responsible when publicly objecting to extremist actions of librarians and teaching staff for providing these materials even though there are already existing laws for criminal harassment of another individual on Thursday June 6 2024 the education committee met to vote on assembly bill number a34 4 46 members of the public attended some of whom brought large posters of pages of some of the books in question and the New Jersey State Police who provide security for the committee meetings ordered these citizens to remove their posters deeming them inappropriate those in favor of this bill made no substantive argument as to how this bill helped student more academically psychologically helped students achieve greatness or showed any any type of data whatsoever that these books which are typically restricted in public school districts due to their explicit material because of the current obset law increasing school school children achievement you can listen to the hearing yourself on New Jersey's website not on social media due to the language used from excerpts of some of these books that were read aloud to all you Liars out there who spread your misinformation including those who have commented here before with your dishonesty and deception and may continue to spread your big lies in the future none of these books are banned every major retailer has these books in question and in fact one of these retailers has a table dedicated to quote unquote ban books and they state that in quotes since just by the sheer fact that they have they have a stand committed to these books they are flat outlying that these books are banned more that all of these books in question are available at the Clifton main Memorial Library in the book which I have copied Pages out of right here it vividly describes a father raping his unconsenting daughter and it doesn't happen once in this book it happens three times why would anyone write fiction about this why would anyone publish this I don't know and I don't know how this publication is going to increase student achievement in Clifton Public Schools as if we didn't have a great Administration and staff we had recognition for a bunch of talent staff great students and we have a bunch of students that are attending this September Ivy League schools D1 D2 D3 and listing in the military all kind trade schools all kinds of prestigious colleges and their University and distri districts are still trying to cover from learning losses from the co lockdowns back in the day and this is what our legislature is discussing and two of the members of our own legislative district 27 voted yes on moving this out of committee even after we discussed our concerns within our committee with them until enough citizens reach out to our legislature and denounce their actions of those persons voting these out of committee submitting these types of bills will continue to be introduced into the legislator legislature this concludes my statement on unfinished business thank you Mr President thank you commissioner Brak anyone else okay uh moving on to commemorating commemorating uh juneth uh commissioner Suarez please thank you president Paris whereas juneth also known as emancipation day Freedom Day or juneth Independence Day is a significant day in afri excuse me in American history commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans and whereas juneth serves as a powerful reminder of the struggles for freedom and justice as well as the achievements and contributions of African-Americans throughout our nation's history and whereas the Clifton Board of Education recognizes the importance of educating our community about the historical significance of jth and promoting values of equity inclusivity and respect for all cultures and histories and whereas the observance of juneth offers an opportunity for Reflection Learning and growth fostering a greater understanding and appreciation for the diversity that strength strens our community now therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education hereby recognizes June 19th as juneth and encourages all schools within the district to commemorate this day with appropriate educational activities events and discussions that honor the significance of the historic day and be it further resolved that the Clifton Board of Education supports the inclusion of June juneth in the school curriculum to ensure that students understand the importance of this day in the context of American history and the ongoing pursuit of equality and justice for all and be it further resolved that the Clifton Board of Education reaffirms its commitment to fostering an inclusive educational environment that respects and celebrates the diverse backgrounds and experiences of all students staff and community members adopted this 13th of June 2024 by the clipton Board of Education thank you commissioner as far as um June is pride month and commissioner siano will read our pride month resolution thank you president Baris whereas the Clifton Board of Education welcomes and encourages diversity and inclusion within our community and whereas celebrating pride month raises awareness and provides support and advocacy for the lgbtq plus community and is an opportunity to become educated engage in dialogue strengthen alliances and build on understanding and whereas while there has been remarkable progress towards acceptance and equality members of the lgbtq plus Community continue to face discrimination intolerance and hate and whereas we must commit to supporting and accepting lgbtq plus individuals in in particular our youth who compared to their peers are far more likely to experience violence and bullying at school to suffer from depression to struggle with substance abuse and to have attempted suicide and whereas we must remain Vigilant in detering oppression and discrimination against people on the basis of sex gender identity or expression or sexual orientation and whereas by protecting the rights of every individual we enhance and strengthen the value of everyone throughout our entire society and whereas we affirm our support for lgbtq plus residents in our community and stand with them to protect their civil rights and their ability to live openly equally and without fear and now therefore be it resolved by the Clifton Board of Education that the board recognizes and supports the month of June 2024 as lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer questioning and plus pride month and we urge all residents to celebrate and build a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance during this month and every month thank you commissioner sio um it's also men's health month and commissioner Brun Shack please read the resolution thank you Mr President whereas 2024 marks the 30th year year of men's health month and whereas despite advances in medical technology and research men continue to live an average of 5 years less than women with Native American and African-American having the lowest life expectancy and whereas educating the public and health care providers about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and early detection of male health problems will result in reducing rates of mortality from disease and where as men who are educated about the value that preventative health can play in prolonging their lifespan and their role as productive family members will be more likely to participate in health screenings and whereas fathers who maintain a healthy lifestyle are role models for their children and have happier healthier children and whereas New Jersey's men's health month will focus on a broad range of men's health issues including heart disease Mental Health diabetes and prostate testicular and colon cancer and whereas by recognizing men's health month the students staff and residents of the district are encouraged to increase the importance of a healthier lifestyle regular exercise and medical checkups now therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Public Schools Board of Education proclaims the month of June as men's health month thank you commissioner brunak okay be looking to um approve under B education Administration items number one through 13 motion motion to BR bassford seconded by Dr Danny any discussion we'll call Mr sh M bassford yes Mr brunak yes everything except e810 no on 2260 yes on everything else thank you Mr kova yes Mr Mia yes M Santiago yes siano yes M Warz yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes motion carries okay we've done C Personnel already so next up is the finance facilities uh motion to approve items one through 20 1 motion second uh president I would like to pull um F20 and have a separate vote and discussion on permit number 5165 and 5166 okay so there's a motion to pull those anyone second second they need to be an executive session or can it be Public public this does not concern any legal Personnel student staff matters so it is public content anyone second any motion to pull okay hearing none it will I have a question yes so if we pull it when does it get discussed in executive and public separate in public can I com certainly shot uh for discussion for F20 for 5165 and 66 we don't need to pull it we can just discuss the whole and separate discussion and a separate vote I did I asked for two things so separate vote on that as well two items we can have a discussion about just F in general and hone in on F20 but we can pull out F20 and vote on that separate perfect if I just need a motion in a second please motion okay so a motion to pull out s20 as a separate item to for discussion and voting so that was Miss bassford and Suarez right miss bford m okay thank you okay so uh we're going to roll call on everything from in uh I need roll motion oh that's right sorry roll call on motion Mr Shad Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago no missano yes Miss Suarez yes vice president Danny yes president Paris no motion carries okay so we're back to looking at def Finance facilities uh and looking for a motion to approve items one through 21 excluding item 20 motion motion by commissioner bassford second by commissioner Mahia any discussion roll call Mr shahada Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago yes missano yes abstaining on F21 Tomah Hawk promotions Miss Warz yes abstaining on F21 vice president Danny yes president Paris yes okay so we're back to um F20 uh discussion I guess at this motion motion to uh approve F20 use of facilities motion motion by commissioner NOA second by commissioner brunak oh Mr Mia I'm sorry uh discussion okay can I go yes thank you so it's been a long week for many of us that have gotten uh information and contacted by people in the community about these two um events I'm going to vote know on these two events and I'm going to give you the facts why this is not personal this is business fact the person that has put the application into this for this for this application sat with both Lucy and I for years on policy fact person know knew this policy knew the contents of the policy knew what they had to do fact persons who are many time on the constitution of the state of New Jersey to uphold the laws and the regulations of this organization the Board of Education cannot interfere with an ongoing or HSA I know that also well because I grew up in the HSA World fact we are not allowed to ask for financial information from those organizations it's a downright fact they run separately but they give us they give us the things and for our children that we can't afford to give them field trips assemblies staff appreciation things like that they give us all kinds of things like that so that's why they're separate we can't get involved in their mix they can't get involved in ours I have issue I need to a question and I don't know if anybody can answer this was school 3 and school 11 actually asked if they wanted to co-partner with this group for the fundraiser I I know one was not I can't speak for the other growing up in an HSA background we never stepped on anybody else's Turf we never stepped in anybody else's background if when wo Wilson wanted to do the carnival they went to C CCMS and we did it cojolya all week about the principal signature you're telling me it's not needed but when we grew up in the HSA world we could not even submit a facility usage form to this building until we had the blessing of the principal of that building fact because the principal knows the demographic makeup of that student body and the neighborhood if that usage is going to be good for that school that's a fact I don't know when it changed I'm not I'm not pointing any fingers on that or anybody in this room I have serious concerns where the proceeds are going somebody emailed me a copy of the 501c3 from the the actual applicant and they're not a member in good they're not in good standing with the IRS they mean they've been revoked because they haven't filed the 990s period that to me is troubling to me this is a slap in the face to the many that have gone before and doing it I I just I just don't understand it's it's it just doesn't make sense that school 3 and school 11 now have to compete with another school coming on their Turf for fundraiser that and I'm surprised we haven't heard from those presidents maybe Monday at the meeting I don't know if that's going to happen there were numerous texts and calls prior to the event from all of us I'm sure people got it so so did I last fall there was a bingo event tell that the school clearly on Facebook um I think Tik Tok I'm not a Tik Tok person but somebody sent me the stills of it there was a uh emblems and and things and it was sponsored by a political organization we have a policy on that we have a policy on signage if you sponsor a signage so I could say I had a company and I wanted to sponsor your event Tanya and I we had an event that has to go to the business office for proof I don't know if that's happened but there was a political organization last um September I believe it was it was a bingo night fact there was an event in April that had political signage up on the building it was a Sunday I got sent I sent it to them you know that's what I'm doing I'm you know busy on a Sunday running around for my son and doing things and I get it sent to me the usage form has to be changed there's some things that questioning I'm going to bring it to policy I did bring my concerns to policy I don't know if they were addressed I talked to Tanya he said you wanted to bring it into discussion which is fine there's a co-sponsorship online to this event to these two events but they're nowhere on the usage form why if if everything is supposed to be on the level why not disclose it so we can all see it I I I have issue with that I have issue with who's paying for the water who's paying for the electric who's paying for the cleanup um our teacher parent teacher organizations do wonderful things for our kids the efforts enhance the education of this District many work really long hard hours to do this this is no way against anything but the process here so that's my concerns I'd like to address them I am going to vote no for this I don't think it's and it's it's an appropriate application if not there is nothing to hide then why wasn't this information disclosed it's funny because the co-sponsor is a valid 501c3 but the applicant is revoked according to the information that I printed out from the IRS website as of today it's right here if anybody would like to see it that's it that's all I have to say thank you you thank you Mr President throughout this entire uh issue my perception is that it it has kind of interrupted the day-to-day operations of of the district and if my my perception is also it feels like Dr Rober toy and Mr shahada have spent countless hours on this issue or whatever so I I want to thank the two of you and all the other Administration and staff for all the stuff how transparent you have been during this process what I haven't seen thus far is a solution to I haven't seen unless somebody did I please correct me if I'm wrong somebody pledged to donate to the to that HSA or anything like that you know if you're doing these big gang bust what appears to be gang Buster events or whatever right it sounds like they they need to do some fundraising or whatever so I don't look at all the posts online or anything so I don't know if people have suggested on ways on how for this HSA to fund raise but at the end of the today my perception is when I when I see these facility usage forms is that they're trying to fund raise at least something for the HSA that that's what my perception is so that's what I have to say Thank you Mr President um thank you commissioner BR I have something yes Dr Danny um could Administration speak to anything that Miss bassford said or you know I lived it breed it slipped it so I drafted something very brief first Jud I miss bass want to say I love you with all my heart we have uh grown closer over this past week dealing with this but I just want to say and I've been talking to the board very frequently that hsas are third party entities I said that no 100% I understand I just want the public to know because I've been Fielding phone calls left and right I've spoken to them more than I've spoken to my mother uh we have no jurisdictional authority over them nor can we impede on how they choose to run their operation it was agreed upon last meeting if any HSA violates our policy it will be dealt with on a case-by Case basis for this specific scenario on June 15th at school 4 the event hasn't even taken place yet so for me to comment on speculative scenarios would be wrong in addition everything that I have seen thus far is in alignment with our policy and just to continue with this I personally review all Certificate of Insurance nothing gets put on the agenda without me seeing it everything no signature is needed on the form it says date approved by principal that is done by my staff accountant who runs it by me he calls the principal and ensures that the building is vacant and um we will be revamping these usage forms and I will continue to monitor this to the best of my ability um this is a full-time job on top of the other seven full-time jobs I have so I'm trying to juggle this as best I can I understand that um one scenario can cause a whirlwind and and get my office in a in a flurry of um work and and chaos but we will do a better job in monitoring this and we will revamp the form at the the request of the board all I'm speaking about the event for June 29th and June 13th I'm not talking about the weekend that's coming up that was already approved I'm speaking about the ones that are on the agenda that's what I'm speaking about because to me with you sent me the copy of the usage forms I have them in digitally if anybody wants to see them on my laptop um there is not a co-sponsorship on that form and I can't disclose what we were told today in an email but according to what that email said this is not a proper application correct and and just to to go back to that we are in the trust business I believe what people tell me on the form I don't know that person a is renting out the facility is going to you know sublet it to BC d and e i i i can't police all of that I have 24 buildings in this District that I oversee and every one of them is used on a daily basis outside of regular instruction so for my office to know exactly what is taking place in every building for every usage for every day of the week and we run 365 days a year it is impossible that is not something that my office can do nor is it something that we would want to even attempt to take on I I have to ask this question being that is in public has this group been told not to do any political fundraising or political activity from the last two events that it has happened um I don't know if I'm we're allowed to discuss that in public but there was a concern and pre previous councel was supposed to handle it and they never did so I'm asking that question now we have I sent the letter personally uh I know Maggie sent the letter personally and this hasn't even passed yet so you have my word in conjunction with the permit if this does go through they will get policy 7510 everybody yep they will get 6163 and they will get 3233 I will handle it if you would like me to I I'm not directing you to do anything I I don't speak as your U um well I have I'm not speaking for my the board I'm I have really legitimate concerns here I'm a I'm a HSA Warrior I grew up in elementary school middle school and high school I took a lot of Guff because of the PTSA years ago I know these rules and I know the parents that I grew up with through the system are outraged because they've been calling me saying how can you let this happen you let one school go on another school there was a quote online and it was brilliant why is this HSA taking these fundraisers on the road I have a problem if they want a fund raise say at school in in short it's in line with our policy you don't have if the bo board would like to change that policy the administration will enforce it the administration will always enforce the policy as is and do our best to ensure the policy is followed if the board would like to change that policy we will happily enforce a change but that has to come from a majority of the board wait I have a question wait is um to what Miss for was saying to Administration through you Mr President do you is School 4 sharing the proceeds with school 3 and school 11 no they are not and and just for clarification anybody can rent any building does it is it customary probably not I haven't yeah I mean we're talking about customs and I'm talking about policy if the school for HSA want want to use the high school they would put in a use of facilities request and you would say yes so my concern is that this has become not really about facilities that this has become very political on social media in town and my concern is that we're allowing outside political influences to influence our policies and at the end of the to day when I'm going to make a decision is is this event going to be make kids happy is it going to be good for kids we have kids in bounce houses and the community is it good for the community I don't know nor would we ever have any idea of knowing where the where money goes we would never know that we wouldn't know that for any organization we wouldn't know that for the American um uh Cancer Society that use our facilities we don't know where that money's going and to to for for us to expect Administration board members to to dig that deep into this it's simply it just seems to me that this has become a very political hot button issue because of who it is and that's why I'm concerned about I'm sorry I beg to differ with you that person was actually sitting on power for several years with myself and Miss Danny for years know the policy manual inside and out just like we did the other the other thing that I have to say is it's not political I answer to a higher cause than this board I answer to the HSA mom Warriors they can beat you down in a in in about a jack rabbit second they're not happy because it's an Unwritten honor to stay on your own turf and stay in your own lane correct it's going on the road and to me it's somebody causing themselves to start a business I'm sorry that's what I see and I'm just telling the people I don't answer you people I answer to them and and that may be you and you may be right I have no idea but if you want if the board wishes to have that changed change the policy and we will enforce that so you would have to change the policy to say that an HSA can only use the building of the school where it's an HSA my question was the co-sponsorship on the form I'll go back to it from the very beginning according to the document you have that paper I have it you want to see it I just want to see it okay I got to pull my computer up I'll email it to you okay okay that that's my issue sorry okay uh any other Commissioners would like to make a comment who haven't so far to date I would M um I know last year we did discuss something very similar um in terms of our facilties forms and from my reculation and based off the minutes we concluded that nothing needed to change only some specific things here and there which I believe have changed um and it was because of a similar event from a similar I like to say based off observation the same exact not entity but same exact person um I want to pck it back off what um Dr Danny said um it's more so looking like it's political influence um just based off my observation I don't feel comfortable I speaking for myself I doubt any of my other fellow members feel comfortable specifically targeting individuals individual groups nonprofits from not being able to use our facilities I know this happened last year in terms of the the parking lot um and again it's happening once again because of the the different schools I definitely understand you know trying to stay on your own turf um I understand that 100% But at the end of the day I it's not about making your own personal interest I believe I believe they're trying to actually do something that's great you know if I was a kid I'm excited for a bouncy house I'm excited for ice screen shops I'm excited to go get food um and I understand you know people are bringing to concerns about an entry fee um and about all those types of things but the way I see it if I go to a carnival um yeah it's free to enter but then if I want to buy food I got to pay if I want unfortunately I'm a little bit too old for it now but if I want to go on a bouncy house I got to pay the $25 fee and that's just one time if I want to get the bracelet I'm paying $50 and if I want to stay there for the week I'm paying the $150 bracelet to actually go and use the bouncy house each and every day and as many times as I want um so I definitely see all types of issues but like I said before I do not feel comfortable um specifically going after a specific entity more so because the Greater Community doesn't like a specific person um and I hope that is in line with my fellow members here on this board um I'm young I don't want to get in trouble of the law none of us want to get in trouble with the law um the ne the last thing we want is for us to end up on headlines like other places have where their board members are prosecuted or put in jail are put in handcuffs um just even I believe speaking about it can put all of us at risk um in terms of I know commissioner siano mentioned before we wanted to do an oversight on pto's um that's something that was discussed last year as well within our booster club committees um but ultimately we decided not to pursue with it I do know that there are several Boards of educations that use a similar system um where they collect all the money into one single entity and then whenever that money needs to be distributed it's distributed by SOS from those PTO organizations the only differ is is there's no oversight from the Board of Education all I know is that the Board of Education uses this uh specific specific um system to see how much each HSA and booster club has for example let's say um the golf team which we don't have anymore has 10,000 and then in total all hsas and booster clubs have a total of $50 million it tells you step bystep how much each has but it doesn't give you a precise indication on what each individual item is is being used to purchase you know pools staff lunches and all this like it was mentioned before hsas have they do a lot they do a lot of things that we can't personally do because we honestly we don't have the money for it I know we always talk about money money is the biggest issue in this world it's the biggest issue in life it's money and I know trying to fundraise that money for hsas it's difficult and I believe what they're trying to do is make an event that would probably bring in more than what a regular event would be for example I don't know too much about Bingo but I'm I'm not I'm not going to be attending you know a bingo event because for me it's it's it's long you know there's people who are very competitive and they'll beat me right to in about 10 minutes um but for example like a little Carnival sure I'll go to a carnival um I'll go to you know a play and something like that but I believe these are opportunities for them to actually make a little bit more money than what they're used to and that's all I have to say Mr President thank you way okay anyone else that we haven't heard from yes commissioner siano I'll be quick um so yeah I guess I listen I'm still new to this so when I learned that I've never been part of an HSA because I don't have children so why would they let me on it a little weird right be a little weird so to me and it's like Tony Lona ringing in my ears the governing body should look at the checks and balances and my understanding before any of this went and thank you so much Mr shahada because we were on the phone a lot because I did get a lot of calls um but it's my own fault because my phone number's everywhere so I'm very easily reachable and so were you so thank you very much um and I brought everything to your attention and you handled it um and so now I know listen we don't manage it we don't know where the money's going it's a private entity it's a private thing so I also work with nonprofits a lot of them that's what's getting me with these two specific things so the nonprofits that I work with are exactly that they're nonprofits they don't make a profit anything that they make they pay themselves back for their labor and everything but then boom all the money goes to the school or wherever they're doing it that's what's throwing me off I'm still learning about this stuff on these two things right here uh 5165 5166 I'm just going to abstain from it the other ones I'm going to vote on but put that down because I don't know enough about what's going on the nonprofit thing is throwing me off that not knowing enough about hsas the email I got today so that's where I'm going to stand on this okay thank you commissioner any else president just a point of clarification um so uh a school HSA because I Al also am learning commissioner at SI so I definitely hear you on that um you you know if a school HSA school for in this example is using another facility for a funding event is that just in poor taste but not necessarily a policy correct okay um and then if we would make that a policy then that would then restrict schools going forward to use other facilities um that they may need as a result of someone's poor taste in in in a moment is that right and and specifically this would impact our elementary schools because we do have three you know two wood Dr Columbus and the high school that have great access great parking and they use them for car washes they use them for whatever else they got going on so then it would inhibit them from being able to do something good for their school because of a restrictive policy that the board may want to impose which we will totally do I I'm not losing sleep over this so whatever you guys want to do just let me know we'll do it thank you Mr because I I I you know I I hear your concerns and I understand them but um to put that into policy going forward then I just see an opportunity missed from many other hsas that are following the rules of thumb that are not written in stone um but just understanding you know a working relationship between schools so I just wanted Clarity on that thank you very much thank you commissioner Suarez Mr President commissioner Cano um so I don't see the the whole Turf War being an issue right here we talk about one Clifton we talk about everyone wants to be a part of one thing not you know segmented or or siloed and I got I've gone to a few events where they're all at the high school right now because all and all the other auditoriums are doing work right so it makes sense that if you're looking for a space and the space is available that you take that space and if you're looking to fundraise especially for enriching students lives then you know I'm all for that the question that was brought up I don't know if it's via email or or through these these posts or whatnot but the question that was brought up that I still don't have the answer to Is when looking at the policy we say permissions to use a facilities shall be granted only to persons and organizations that agree to the terms of policy and regulations 7510 so this is 7510 I'm referring to um and the one line that that people have been pointing out is the use of facilities will not be granted for the advantage of any political activity or any private social function so the question at hand is really just a yes no are any of the Affiliates here a uh political activity or any private social function that that is benefiting from this event and if the answer is yes then then that's against our policy if the answer is no then we move forward I think it's as simple as that based on the information we have it falls under number five Community organizations formed for charitable Civic social or educational purposes so it does fall in alignment with our policy which is why it was approved by me to make it to the facilities agenda because people were pointing out that this is this has some website and on the website it has information on you know things being tied to other organizations and other things so that's all check that's fine it seemed legit to me I actually had the council look into it as well and he said it was fine okay uh president Paris yeah sorry if I'm sorry I'm not if you're not if you're done are you done commissioner kov thank you so quick question on that commissioner kovo brought up private I just want to be clear that private means I'll I'll say for-profit p when we use that word Prof private I just want to clarify that and be clear for myself and be clear for the public on that form when we say private are we talking about for-profit entities correct so in the line of succession of the way we figure out if multiple people want the use facility at the same time number seven is private groups and organization so if you know the 76ers want to rent out our gym for whatever reason they're obviously a for-profit company they can but if our kids need it first they get first Pickins at it so we do not discriminate if it's a nonprofit or for-profit we just have a list of succession that must be followed by my office but just to just for Clarity on that U but if it's the uh nonprofit for Joe Canova the Board of Ed commissioner we're not granting that correct no that is strictly political that's what okay I just want to be sure and that's not this case correct to my knowledge and uh based on conversation with Council no Mr shot I did have um based off that I don't think you could even make a nonprofit if you were to put that you're a political entity I I see it like for example if I was a Senator and I was a part of a huge Law Firm um and I wanted to partner up with for example Clifton public schools and have a big event at the main gym I would pay for that because I am a private entity I'm an LLC that's making money um but I'm also going to be donating that money to the public schools at the very end but it I don't think it would make a difference because even though if I was like a state senator or a senator I'm still a lawyer at the end of the day and I have my own law firm and I want to donate but when you are a nonprofit the way I see it and the way it's written it goes back into the labor like Mr Sian was saying before um no money is ever made it just goes back into paying off whoever you are hiring whoever you're using for example if you work for a university and you're paying to that tuition in reality the schools never make tuition because they're paying off the professors they're paying off the contracts the bids that they have the rfps um and in reality the money that they do have left over is saved for their scholarship funds and are put into um into stocks that way they could raise that money to give out more scholarships at the end of the day so they really don't make any money at all and I see the concerns that Mr siano had and I was just thinking of it because I used to work for a nonprofit I work for a nonprofit now that's the way things work and have always worked and like I mentioned before if I wanted to make something like you said a Richie Mia be commissioner nonprofit they would never give me that never because you can't be a political organizer um and be a 501c3 I it would fall underneath something completely different um but that would probably have more oversight um I know the trustees would be a little bit different and you would have to be audited a certain amount of times I know that from experience um but besides that I see no issue um if we could have the motion to vote on it um we've spent motions out there we have discussion to stop Yes okay so I'm going to ask the question again why isn't the co-sponsor on the form because according to what we were told today everything has to be on there the co-sponsorship points to another organization that it says that that organization is a subsidiary which is a political organization people have been posting it all over Facebook people have been posting the the proceeds on our form says it goes to one organization not two why is that not on the form I would like those answers before I actually vote Miss bassford this is something you and I have spoke about at length um we were not ever this is really a rare occurrence you know so for example we had that CA be family fund day yesterday and there was 500 booths and tables and co-sponsors there I I I understand what you're going to say we don't need to to get all of them we need to do deep diving online from the person that's putting it out there that there's a co-sponsor I understand that Miss bassford but to my knowledge when I Reed this information I am not playing Inspector Gadget trying to figure out where everything is I I take it at face value until an issue arises and Council this discussion is what the constituent complely because come November elections have consequences completely understand what happened last year I am not being combative whatsoever I just want to let you know what my office does and we spoke to council today you received the email I have already submitted the forms to him where they are going to be revamped and we will put everything I will ask for their blood type if you would like whatever you guys want me to do I will do it just give me the direction please that's all I ask you guys throw out these Grand ideas and then we try to figure out ourselves point us in the right direction and we'll make it happen it's very simple that's that's a policy question I I think it's time to call the question okay call the question I I'm ready to vote okay Mr H Shad please roll call on oh we are voting on finance facilities item 20 bassford yeah I'm going to vote Yes to everything except for I have to put my glasses on because I can't see 5165 5166 I have obligation to the taxpayers and the constituents of Clifton to do the right thing I heard your voices you have questions I have questions this application is not thorough it's it's not complete according to the email we got today it's invalid Mr brunak yes Mr Kenova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago yes it does not violate our policy these two as is Mr siano yes with my abstentions which I already mentioned yes sir Miss Suarez yes I agree it does not it's in line with the policy as it stands right now Vice president Danny yes according to the policy it it that's what you know it it doesn't violate it president Paris yes motion carries okay that brings us to board member comments I believe and if I am correct we should be starting with let me check my notes quickly [Music] um commissioner Kenova you started last time correct yes so we're up to commissioner Mahia please um I like thank everyone who came up today especially our mock trial team um a little bit biased there you know I was a part of mock trial as well we made it as far but not as far as they have um they did an ultimate and great job congratulations to Mr Mr Vander on all his accomplishments and the great group of students who made it so far um like it was mentioned before a lot of those former students have attended Great Schools um I'm still in contact with many of my former members a lot of them are actually doing their law degree now um and a lot of them went to great a league schools uh we heard before one of our students will be attending NYU and I hope to see her succeed tremendously as former members have in the past um with that I also want to congratulate all the students today who are at prom um it's a Once in a-lifetime event for those who only attend one time um but I hope you guys enjoy your time over there um please remember wear a seat belt um don't do anything you wouldn't want to do to risk yourself in your life uh with that said congratulations to all the graduates who will be graduating this year um I wish you all the best no matter where you go and with that that's the end of my comments president Paris thank you commissioner thank you president Paris um congratulations to all of our uh employee Award winners our student Award winners um happy pride month to all of our students parents Community celebrating Happy juneth um was that Scholastic uh the the scholarship night as well and it was great we had roughly 80 students receive roughly 100 $1,000 I believe in Awards so you know from time to time you you you see or hear negative comments about our district and you know we have kids the mock trial today Yale Harvard Georgetown and that's every year so let the haters hate and let our students continue to win and our staff continue to win do amazing things um I hope everybody's having a great safe night at prom we look forward to I look forward to seeing you at graduation please be safe and get their safe um a lot of things happen around this week and so um I just want to shout out one one uh senior I mean all of you guys are awesome and I wish you the best but uh Eric Cespedes who is a senior who had uh he had a Clifton Times article and had some um obstacles and challenges and he stuck with it and he came up with the phrase of my all and uh turned that into a whole movement there at C in high and he's got t-shirts and everybody's buying them and so just um you know that's a skill that you know that's going to serve him well but I think that will serve all of our students while moving forward there's going to be challenges there going to be struggles that's all part of it just stick with it um and then I heard one thing uh recently I quickly wanted to share too in terms of graduation and our and our graduating students um you know at this time a lot of times our students are talking about or thinking about what major do I want to study in or um what I want to what do I want to do with my life and I saw a quote that was um a career is not a life the essential question is who do you want to be not just what you want to be but who do you want to be the kind of person you want to be um and so you know I'm I'm somebody who likes to give back and you know give of whatever I can hopefully that makes a difference and it led me to this position right and so if I was looking for a career or money I wouldn't have came here because we're not getting paid for this role right but it fits my purpose and it fits what I want to do I think um that just resonated with me so a career is not a life so think about the kind of person you want to be good luck good night thank you president Paris uh first and foremost I want to extend my condolences to the Grabowski family for the loss of Valerie uh they're in my thoughts and prayers during this time I hope everyone can join me in celebrating pride month you should always Embrace who you are and stand against any judgment pride month is exactly that be proud it's also men's health month uh perfect reminder for all the men out there even the stubborn ones like me uh schedule your Wellness checks keep up with them regularly my father had uh prostate cancer and luckily they caught it super early but by the time they got the prostate out it was riddled with cancer I mean it just spreads go get your checks do your testing uh congratulations to the students and employees of the month also juneth uh I encourage everybody if you don't know why that's about you know look up the history in Galveston Texas uh special shout out to the mock trial team for their outstanding performance uh I want to acknowledge the pbsis students honor tonight and a massive congratulations to anarie Sheridan for being named 2023 New Jersey exemplary educator your dedication and commitment are invaluable to our district H it was an honor to be with all of you to be recognized uh with the board as a certified board U I'm really proud of our Collective dedication it really does reflect our commitments as a team uh recently attended the athletic senior dinner it was great seeing our athletes celebrated uh I also had the pleasure of participating in volunteering in two family fund days power a one and CA B the Highlight was the dunk tank and we all paid for our time in the dunk tank it was a one-time thing I can't say i' do it again but it was a thrill um Mark Jenaro Amed shahada Judy bassford Alan Paris thanks for joining me in it um the kids were really happy I didn't think we were going to go under that much I'm going be honest with you I respected once or twice but they were just hitting that button and we we really did pay for it um attended the scholarship night and that was really great seeing our students um get their scholarships best of luck to them uh woodro Wilson Honor Society induction ceremony was a privilege uh the proud reactions of the family and friends is always so memorable uh I'm looking forward to the upcoming ceremonies at the CHS graduation it's my first time participating Mark you and me man sunscreen on that head because it's going to be hot and you know I'll bring some extra because you and me need it more than anybody else I'm going to close by wishing all the students and the staff I hope you're having well the students I hope you're having a great prom um have a great summer fulfilling summer and just do good things thank you thank you president Paris um it's the end of the school year and um I've had a few as a parent have uh you know and as a person who's experienced school for a long time but as a parent I've had lots of Junes and and memories from thinking through September through June and this is my first in the school year as a commissioner and I'm extremely grateful to share that with Clifton um thank you to all the teachers who support our students every single day from September it's really through from all year round but you know you hit the ground running at September and here we are in June um and so so many times it's just a whirlwind of memories of thought thoughts of emotions that range from Elation to anger you know as an educator I get it and thank you thank you for being there for all of our students thank you to administrators um Who oversee those teachers and making sure everything works every single day um thank you to the students who show up to school and uh make me proud to be here in Clifton I love celebrating students uh I love seeing kids happy um it's just something that warms my heart and I'm really grateful to to be here and I look forward to many other Junes and celebrating uh the end of school year so thank you all to who make this District work thank you so much have a great night everyone yes thank you um to answer the one email that we got about the smell test no it doesn't according to this commissioner there you go to the people that reached out to me if something happens find them I'm off duty this weekend please I'm off duty it's a it's a big day in my family I'm doing a lot of things around my house and it's Father's Day on on Saturday a Sunday so call the other people and bother them about the idiosyncrasies of an event that goes on I'm off duty I tried to the HSA Warriors that are texting me now I'm sorry you know the you know the deal you know what we went through you know everything we've done as a group to bring what we had to forward talk to them not me I hear I heard you I heard your voice I heard the concerns I saw the things on Facebook people were calling me people were emailing me people were texting me I heard you I looked into it thank you Mr brunak for telling me great research I didn't have to research it I just hit one thing and I found it okay it was easy it was there right in front of me I know what I know and I do what I do because you people drop it in in my lap all the time I don't know why you just do drop it in my lap maybe it's cuz you trust me that I'll open my mouth till I no longer sit in that seat this seat I will open my mouth when I'm on the other side of the de I will open my mouth probably be even worse because I know where all the things ly now just the way it goes okay Mr goar thank you for your concerns and bringing them to us I hope it uh somebody will address that thank you to Donna powi Clifton concerns thank you laori lman um I just want to uh talk about the drunk driving reenactment I want to this is for me myself and I I don't represent the board when I say this I want to thank the group that sponsors it clipp in against substance abuse the event was held on 63 I want to thank the streeters that get up in front of an audience and talk about the day their two children died from a drunk driving reenactment I want to thank the first respond Clifton PD Clifton fire department I would like to thank shook I'd like to thank the health department the CHS Administration is impeccable everything's down to a tea and I'd like to thank the students that are brave enough to do that and probably get teas for the rest of the day because they were in that and they put themselves out there so thank you very much and to the group you're small But Mighty you do great things keep going because hopefully tonight that message about the prom and about getting a ride home even if you you know you don't want a ride home call somebody call somebody call them they'll come pick you up we all come pick you up remember just just be responsible so thank you good night happy graduation see you on the field hopefully I can see the people that I know to take pictures for their parents right up in front and close I'll try my best it's not easy because it moves really quick but I'll do my best to help you out good night God bless you and have a safe summer thank you Mr President want to dedicate this meeting to our wonderful graduates for next Thursday this is my message to all of our wonderful graduates I want to congratulate you on your well-deserved success I'm asking you to remember this achievement anytime you face doubts in the future congrats on graduating and for all your achievements that you have done the world needs your unique skills and talents and I hope you go forth and make a difference your attendance on June 20th is a testament to your hard work and dedication cheers to among the hardest working students I know it was hard for me to believe back in the day can you believe it you've made it to the end of this chapter and the beginning of something new well done and my best wishes for continued success and all the exciting things yet to come in all your lives thank you for your time and God bless America have a good night everybody all right good evening uh just want to congratulate all the award winners and people who are recognized tonight um there's five days left to graduation we're here this is it this is what you you've uh done all year to get here um I hope you have a fun and safe time at prom tonight um same with goes with graduation and and especially after graduation be careful be safe um Mr Garb thank you for for your concerns this this is the third or fourth time I've heard some not that specifically but but something with that service so uh it is something I think we should take a look into um and the one congratulations that nobody brought up but I saw on Facebook today is congratulations to Mr Paris on 42 years I don't know that I would be here at this meeting tonight but uh um and just everyone else have a great summer and thank you good night yes congratulations on uh your uh your years in happy anniversary really an achievement I enjoyed looking at the two of you in your younger years um uh condolences to the Grabowski family um congratulations to all the award recipients this evening seniors I hope you're having a great time at the prom this year I guess because of the meeting we couldn't get to the prom but in the past as Commissioners we went to the prom it was very enjoyable it's great to see the students having so much fun congratulations to the 23 24 graduating class I unfortunately will not be able to attend as that is my district where I work paramis their graduation and I'm contracted to work that evening so um I unfortunately will not be there but I'll be with you there in spirit as that is a big day for graduating seniors uh Happy Father's Day to all the dads Happy Father's Day Dad happy 4th of July um May everyone here have a nice Fourth of July and to all the Clifton School District employees even if you are working in the summer I hope that you do have have um a opportunity to at least have some downtime and to breathe and to enjoy and to have fun and thank you for all that you do for the children and for the students just stay safe and enjoy the summer thank you well everyone else is pretty much said it all at this point um I just want to congratulate our graduates and especially their parents and their families and the loved ones who've gotten them uh to this point in their lives which is a major Benchmark sure I understand um and also all the all the instructional staff but as well all the support staff uh the drivers that get them to school and the folks that get them fed and the counselors and the custodians who keep it all working um it's a team effort and uh it's a Time welld deserved for some of them it's a welld deserved rest because uh they'll have a couple of months off uh for the for others it's still business as usual for a couple months um and just one uh public uh announcement uh the city fireworks are going to be on July 6th that's a Saturday it's at Clifton Stadium they start at uh dusk um but events start uh around 6:30 or so inside the stadium and I believe there's some events around surrounding it also during the day so if you have a chance it's a great event and it's uh very reasonable I think the fireworks are $3 or $5 to get it $3 yeah it's really a bargain okay um new business anyone I have it yes commissioner bassford I um make a motion I know I'm not going to get a second on this any I got to do it I make a motion permit 5135 from the May 2nd building it's the event on 615 okay motion to pull anyone second can can you repeat it I make a motion to pull uh permit 5135 due to the fact that the application is invalid and not uh according to policy uh it's uh dated it was in our fa May 2nd meeting 2024 it's for the event on Saturday June une 6 June 15th out of respect our motion the facility usage form out of respect I'll second it so commiss commissioner bassford uh motion by commissioner bassford to pull that permit did you second yeah Mr commissioner he second any discussion yes presis that is for this Saturday's event is that what we're talking about um we may have received uh at the time that was all according to policy as well right according to policy at that time okay thanks okay anyone else commissioner hold on so so it's not clear to me what was that policy at that time and what is out of policy now policy is the same it's the same so so then I don't I don't follow we got information in accordance with our policy based on the information we had at the time that was on the application so yes it was it is and was in alignment with our policy which hasn't changed since it is currently in our yes sir okay anyone else yeah I have something but according to the letter the email that we received it's not in line it's with the guidance we received there should have been co-sponsor on that form we don't have that on our form currently oh sorry so how do you I just I don't understand why somebody can put a sponsorship put a put a form in and then go online and brag about the fact is that they have co-sponsorship and the proceeds are being split 50/50 wouldn't you if you if you put that out there and you put it in the business office when you go back to the business office hey I made a mistake I got to add somebody back in where's the transparency that's what I'm saying I listen I know where it's going to fail I don't care I just made the motion you're welcome okay but to clarify that there is no listing on the form asking for a co-sponsor no it says where the proceeds go the person is acknowledging it on active social media why didn't they change the form why didn't they make an amendment to their form that it's a 50/50 split I have an issue with that with the proceeds can can I see that form that's the form I I look to see that email of no but I'm saying the email that you said you were going to s I requested it in the email from Mr shahada myself no but where they're saying the co-sponsor on what you're saying on Facebook because I don't like live on you want me to go through my phone and send it the all yeah I I do I want to see it Mr Paris I just want to mention we did go over the same situation last year in policy and we came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be beneficial for nonprofits um I just wanted to mention that again because it kind of looks like we're just going back in circles and circles and circles and it'll probably happen next year and the year after that because of the same if not a different organization okay Mr shot do you have something to add or can we call the question okay I thought you were were you looking for something you I'm trying to find that one one application so take your time you got it I sent it to her Mr President so just to clarify so there's a motion to pull this permit right which we had approved at the last meeting thank you I have a question for clarification that if we were to to pull the permit does that mean they cannot have the event on Saturday although all these plans are in place they can not have the event okay thank you yeah Miss bassford is correct um it just says School four which at the time said School four so you know we don't we don't know what we don't know until things come to light so it is the bird the board excuse me perview to resend this permit and if the board chooses to do so I will contact the party directly uh with our attorney so I just say at this point let's vote see how it goes call question okay so uh please help me frame this question because I don't remember what a moot it's a motion it's a motion what was the number again it's a motion to resend the May 2nd um 5135 use of facilities 5135 May 2 motion to resend um what we had approved last meeting yes okay please call it Miss bassford yes Mr brunak no Mr Kenova obain Mr Mahia no Mr Santiago no M siano same thing with the other two I'm going to abstain from this m rarez I honestly I'm I'm feeling confused because what what was out of compliance now I guess that's what I need Clarity on Just for for clarification purposes nothing was out of compliance our attorney said that it is best practice to include all sponsors or where proceeds are going which is information that we got today after Miss basford spoke to the attorney yesterday and so there is nothing that is out of comply to at our policy it is just best practice moving forward to have them so they haven't done anything wrong in alignment with the policy right okay um and voting Yes means where Yes means yes so no my vote is no vice president Danny I abstain president Paris no motion does not carry okay any other new business okay we will be adjourning to uh executive session and we will be discussing Personnel issues uh some uh contract issues um action will be taken Mr President it she'll take us about oh oh we need a yes go ahead five minute recess is okay yes but a motion to motion commissioner commissioner he is second okay e e e we got to take roll coal again okay we are back from executive session uh Mr Shad could take roll call please motion a motion to return from executive second second seconded by Mr Mia made by Mr roll call Mr shahada M bassford here Mr brunak here Mr kova here Mr Mia here Mr Santiago here missano here M Warz here vice president Danny here president Paris here we're all here okay so um a motion looking for a motion to to approve under executive session ex uh one motion through second she got one motion by kusher bass I believe oh no I didn't who did I hear stillz I can't tell still doesn't want to give you credit and commission miia um any discussion roll call please Mr shahada Sir M bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Kenova yes Mr Mia yes Santiago yes on ex12 yes missano yes Marez yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes abstain on 12 motion carries it motion to adjourn motion motion second thank you guys thank you have a good evening night great night e e

um I just want to make that clear um you know there there is an increase it's very slight and it's a very immaterial in terms of bringing in significant um Revenue in order to absorb some of these um structure that that we're we're facing thank you and I just think it's important to understand the cost of living and where we live that just keeps getting more expensive on a daily basis and doesn't necessarily mean that that's more money in our uh budget so thank you for clarifying that um and I had some of the others but think overall you know I'm I'm very concerned when we're telling uh one board member is telling staff to you know do Leasing and stuff like that but I look forward you know to being um at least for me like I want to switch that and really hear that solution um there and the possibilities um so I'm excited I I'm trying to focus on the solution there um and as you know previous board president um I know County uh leadership actually had some ideas um and so I'm no longer both president but I will continue to follow up and see what maybe some of those Partnerships can look like for our community here um and so that that's not just somebody that's coming in and benefiting from these buildings but that it's a partnership and a leasing that not only financially you know can help us but can also help our community um you know and and continuing to serve uh those here um so I look for to having those conversations I'm excited um I would never you know direct staff to do something but I think as a board you know um one of the many things that I look forward to bringing us back uh to moving forward with Solutions um in this very um tough tough time and then I think lastly I'm going to ask you C and I think I asked you at the last meeting about the Santa Clara County Office of Education the letter that you and I received um along with admin and that I forwarded to staff um and I reforwarded to Linda because um she had missed the initial one can you remind us just a summary of what that letter that was sent to us by the Santa Clara County Office of Education uh our superintendent Dewan what that letter was um pretty much letting us know and directing us to do yes so um the letter pertaining to the second interal report um effectively um change our uh budget certification from positive to to qualified based on the County's preview of uh the current year budget and also what it looks like in the multi-year projection um their concern was the structural deficit that we're projecting at that point was about 20 close to $21 million starting next year um and this is where they came in and and uh required the districts to put together a um budget stabilization plan or the what we call the bu comprehensive solution um in order to be able to present to um to the county office ofed that over a 3 year period we would be able to meet the 3% uh requirement as prescribed by the state um and that we're showing a solvent budget for that year and so um that letter was back in April um it was a very short timeline for us to come with this plan but fortunately we were able to do that um by the you know May 9th when we presented all the option and the board took action on May 21st um and so the Next Step would be you know whatever plan um the board approves to go with um at the June 27th board meeting that will be sent over to the county office for their review um and then they'll be checking all the factors that we'll be using to develop uh only not only next year's plan but also uh what we're including and factoring in the multi-year projection to verify that those numbers are correct thank you and um you know thank you for also working hard making sure that we T took care of all those steps um and can you just remind us that what would have happened if we did not take those steps so um there there would have been many steps that the county offs can take um the first step was you know the county did assign a fiscal expert who was present at I believe that the May 21st board meeting um and shared kind of those perspective on the County's behalf um so you know based on the action that the board took on May 21st um I think that was one steps to U making our budget correct or you know um correcting some of that um mitigating some of that structural deficit um so now it's really based on you know how we proceed with our budget and what's going to be adopted uh on June 27th um if the county office has a finding that you know um whatever plan is adopted and sent over to the county that is not sufficient um then they can take additional steping uh in terms of um intervention they can assign a continue with the fiscal expert or um you know they'll go through a process whether they they're going to approve our or not based on you know what we present to them and then there's different steps that they can take in order to um to provice support to the district um or to intervene um so that um you know we're able to stay solvent thank you I think just the last question because I know I mean one of the main things too is how do we keep enrollment right um going up and um keeping our students here would full full day Kinder increase our Ada we have the belief that it would I mean we've seen you know it it benefits a lot of districts surrounding us okay thank you uh trusty Sheldon is next I'm sorry we were talking trusty I'm um I wanted to um thank you H I know you and your staff have been working very hard and doing the alternative um numbers um and then preparing um for the budget committee um some additional information um that I requested and I really appreciate you um adding it to the president presentation um again maybe it's because I'm new but I feel like alarm Bells just go off um related to um the structural inequities around special education funding to think one again I do think this is beyond Alam Rock and want to thank Community for being so um thoughtful and mindful um of that this is bigger than us right and that we have partners and that we should be banding together with whether it's Eide Alliance or all the all the people that um realize how devastating this is um on all communities frankly in California but in um communities like ours so to think that our special ed um population is 177% but the cost associated with it is 40% of our unrestricted budget is just like we should be like screaming this from the mountaintops in terms of you know save our ship right and so I um I know it's not new I know there's always been um special ed has always been underfunded but it it connects us back to when Tony brings us contract after contract we're like w wow that's a lot wow and and the need that we have um the growing need the the important need we have to to um meet this growing um population in our community um so I'd like to and I know this is just for information I know we're voting on the budget um on June 27th but just have a a little bit of conversation about you know what is our role in you know whether it's the president of the board on behalf of um of the board or the superintendent in term and I know the previous superintendent was trying to fight this fight at the s in terms of trying to to write this um whether it was the Ada or the fact that we have to pay them back right um it it just kind of blows my mind and I'm clearly not an expert but I sense that there's something that we could do about this so I'd like to understand um you know have a conversation with us about what can the board do to go to the County Office of Ed and um maybe not fix the Sala issue this year but really prioritize this is something that we are advocating for the second thing would be you know uh obviously the the state budget is in flux right now but what are we doing this year and next year trying to figure out how um again special Le is um right sized and I know prop 98 is what it is and we you know special EDS within that but trying to figure out what our state um leg lators can do for us I know we had tried to work through elop flexibility and that didn't go anywhere but how can we make this um our advocacy priority again banding together with other districts like minded districts and then the third thing is um you know is there a conversation about checking in on feasibility to increase the parcel tax because again I um putting it on the on our you know just getting taxpayers involved getting the state involved getting the county involved again I don't know about the feasibility or viability of of these things but um you know again this sort of nickel and diming at the margins isn't going to get us to the the major structural issues that we're going to face so um and even the parcel tax right it's like what is it right now four what is it four million a year four and a half right so it's um and Sala you know 600 but you know I'm just to look for bigger chunks um and again trying to make sure that we all have a message that we are collectively sending to people so because I feel right now we do not have a strategy we don't have a message or narrative so would love for this you know that we start this conversation and we all get on the same page about what what we need for the long long haul thank you thank you anyone uh trusty pres um thank you for not using the word encroachment I hate that word it's a horrible derogatory term that I'm glad has gone out of fashion I hope that no people don't continue to use it but um yeah it's it's a very breath taking to see or just to see that onethird of it onethird of our budget is goes into um some of our most vulnerable that rightly deserve the education that they received um and um thank you for the comments because it did remind me of of of the information I received which is very concerning um and obviously I'm not an expert but I I was informed that there used to be a deal where the County Office of v um acknowledged the fact that the districts in the eastern part of the valley were less affluent and that we got uh different treatment for that and so we were able to realize or expend Less on our on our um on our special education and so um yeah I think is very much warranted to if we're going to be talking about Equity uh at the County Office of Education then let's be real about it and say hey there's a poorest District in the county here that isn't the most expensive place to live in the whole freaking world uh let's acknowledge that and figure out how we can help them meet the needs of an Ever growing uh special education population I was at uh at a school boards Association com uh meeting where Dr danan actually was making a presentation about the the math increase in Latino kids who are uh special ed and are are becoming a huge proportion of special ed kids or huge huge percentage of special AED kids we have to be a high Latino district and that should be acknowledged that we are facing these difficult circumstances so um I my uh I wanted to talk about uh with regard to the process um and uh the arrow number number message uh the fourth arrow down I think that the July to November time frame would not necessarily be um healthy for the district because we would wind up being stringing everybody along um if we could then maybe we we could have take an entire year I don't think it's good for us to to drag it along and let people you be stressing out for an entire for for all the way up until November I think that we need to take robust action and start the process in July as been as has been mentioned go out there send out postcards to everybody because the concern is that people are out that they're not uh that they're not um available because it's a summer but um that if we reach out to everyone let them know that we are beginning this process go sign up for future uh meetings uh in some sort of email or whatever I'm I'm sure that we can figure it out and um and then start the process of holding uh a a multiple meetings where we've already informed everybody via a postcard of some sort every household has no excuse and I think this needs to be the entire District um because everybody's going to be impacted um and then uh and then and then go through uh July August U mid August uh families are coming back kids are coming back September and then by late September have already an idea because we've gone through multiple meetings over the course of those months I get it it's a lot of work but this is a big decision and to leave it off until November I don't think it's healthy for the district I think it's um leaving everybody just stressing out we we should have a pretty clear indication and we should spend those early um uh possibly the July meetings really understanding what it is that um we need to do for example the questions on around what our options are what are we going to do with half of the district bacon are we going to turn uh the building into I swords like we've seen with um s UniFi I believe they're sitting on two sites that are being vandalized and we don't want to replicate that so if I I probably want to dedicate a big chunk of that as to what what the options are and if we uh wind up having sites already selected by September uh and it's part of a very robust Community input process and dialogue then um we could begin the process of of seeing what our options are and start reaching out to folks so we don't wind up with 10 sites that are sitting out there and we don't know what we can do with them so those are my thoughts I'm I'm I'm looking to uh shrink those those dates while at the same time continuing to have like I'm thinking two meetings in July two meetings in um in in in August two meetings in September and then towards the end of that already have an idea because we've been we've been having a lot of dialogue a lot of input we've been informed and uh that people would know sort of have a sense as to what's GNA happen so those are my thoughts um I would hope that uh I understand this is not for Action um but um I'm I'm looking for anybody else's comments so we can get a a sens as to what the desire is and then Administration would be able to be proactive rather than wait till the 27th uh to start compiling addresses and setting up a postcard things of that sort so those are my thoughts um I just had a meeting with um Dr alasan and Mr CA and uh I too was um voicing my opinion on uh doing the process not faster but sooner and and so that we can also give our parents uh enough time to to uh make their decisions and also make their arrangements for uh um bringing their child to uh maybe the same site or maybe a site a little bit down the road but I I believe that um we also need to be doing this a little bit faster um but with more thought in doing it just because we're doing faster doesn't mean that we're not going to be thoughtful and considerate of everything we have to review everything uh at each stage and to have two meetings in July and two in August and two September that sounds okay with me but we would have to the district would have to pull the board and see if that's okay with everybody uh Gordina thank you and I just want to respond I know uh vice president Kinto asked for our thoughts on that um and I have several thought thoughts part of it is I it's important that parents have sufficient time to prepare um and I also think that by September is is too fast uh personally you know I was that family and my mom sitting here in the audience uh hi mom um well we would take off to Mexico for months because that's the only time that we could do that and my mom can finally see her mom and her dad and me be with my uncles and my aunts so I believe that there might be many families that might not be able to participate um during that time again you know lack of of community engagement so um I understand you know kind of how this is being presented and that families should have more time to prepare however in the way this is being done just doesn't feel good to my gut and so I would you know I I was feeling good about this November date because that still gives family November December January March April May six months to prepare which I think is is I mean sufficient there's never enough time to prepare for something like like that I'll just say that ahead of time but to do it by September what is a rush and then I hear leasing of of um buildings why are we rushing and I get it we need to come up with Solutions but I don't at least I don't know of any possible person putting down a check and saying I'm ready to lease your site so I'm just wondering you know if if yeah where that's coming from but I look forward I look forward to having these discussions more and in public and you know in a transparent way where we can better um you know make sure that our budget you know looks better and that also Community engagement is at the Forefront um and so personally I don't think September um is an appropriate date to really engage our families when we say we're going to engage all families and maybe October but September I think is too soon that's just my thoughts uh trusty fam's next know I mean you know I'll say you know uh first of all I wanted to clarify I only did not mean to give direction to staff I only asked staff to to you know uh do some research and bring back you know a you know a howto guide the board you know all of us are going to make that final decision if and when that time comes but you know part of you know we you know we want to be able to make the best use of you know all these unused School sites if and when it does happen I mean I share you know I don't you know I don't want another moxa building where we where it's been sitting out there for 10 years or 10 you know more than 10 years and you know uh roof caving in broken windows and yes it is you know uh you know where it is uh I think condemned if it isn't already condemned uh I I'm you know uh I'm inclined to agree with trusty quo with that you know but this you know the the sooner we we engage the community the better because at the end of the day it's their you know it's their school it's their property they you know that's what you know and I think that there's the meetings in August and the meeting you know and the meetings in September do you know to catch to give parents and families and voters the opportunity to make their voice heard if they haven't you know they're unable to make it to the July meeting I mean I mean you know in all transparency I can't you know I mean my preference would be to call a referendum but you know that's not on the table but uh I think that uh you know the sooner the sooner parents are notified the sooner families are notified you know the better and to give them time to weigh their decision I mean weigh their options and make a decision and let me say one little thing before you start um and in July we're GNA have another budget meeting I think it's uh Tuesday July 23rd um budget committee yeah budget committee okay go ahead thank you um I am um mindful of as a public servant July is like you just finish the school year you just close the budget you it's time for a little little bit of a break right just um so I'm this is me working for a this is me thinking about a council that's run us raged so I'm thinking of the same things um for staff and I am a also a big believer in this board's Focus um is actually on hiring a superintendent um and what that Community engagement process looks like and I think we have to assess the capacity of this district and I think the timelines that I just heard um that support my thoughts around the strong analysis that so that we can go I I was hopeful that we could have really good analysis so that when we do community engagement there's it's not just people saying all these things that we're also able to say this is the data we have this is the why this is you know whether it's the very um strong argument I've heard and I agree with about holding quadrants and so there's needs to be some rationale versus just let's have meetings let's just have a lot of meetings um because I I I'm not sure that all of that leads us to um creting certainty and calmness because if I was a parent and I was told in October here are the schools I'd be out of here by January so I feel like we would be that timeline for me feels like we're saying you know hit the road and I'm so I I'm I'm not understanding the why I think personally it's superintendent search and allowing us the superintendent who whoever that is to have some ownership over this plan because if this superintendent's going to be with us for the Long Haul there has to be some ownership and we have to attract a superintendent that has some ownership versus we got it all figured out and here welcome to a hot mess I just don't um so I think it's superintendent search I think it's us getting our contract regulations really tight so that when we go into potential lease and reuse convers ations there's that this is how it this is how it works instead of willy-nilly um so I'm looking forward to some that the administration can come back and if if this group wants a a stronger timeline that's clear so that our community knows what to expect and when that's what I would be very interested in um and again I think this soon fast I can't I'm not hearing how fast has any benefits um and if there's some people that are feeling uncertain I I totally understand that but we will be creating chaos and I think an exodus if we lean schools um in September vice president GTO since I made the comments andot responses I'd like to clarify sure there's no alterate motive the fact of the matter is that I assume that with more time knowing certainty for example the um the Solar projects are all inol correct solar projects are on hold until we identify sites that'll still be there for the projects to move forward those solar projects will supposed we're supposed to be realizing savings correct that's why we're doing and so those are savings that we're not realizing because everything's on hold and tell anybody know we have an advisory County Office of Education and we are being told that you are going to be taken over if you don't take action I I believe that we can take action we can be thoughtful uh this is a big decision and the at the end of the day it's gonna you're going to be walking us through this as to what we do and so I have full confidence that you'll be able to be prepared to develop a timeline that works within those months um that that I've identified and we still be able to have input we have zoom so people are on the other side of the plan would be able to uh engage and and participate learn about what's going on I honestly think that stringing people along up until November is is not good and the idea here is well let's let's leave you with uncertainty so you stick around honestly we should be straight up with the public uh with our teachers with everybody here this is what's going to happen and you can go ahead and make the decisions that you feel are as for yourself for your family and and there's no ulterior Mo I don't need I don't I want to I want to make sure that that's clear I understand that there's a lot of uh difficulties we've been through and so there's a lot of mistrust from myself and from others toward it's fine let's let's be clear about that but um there's the idea here is to make sure that we are we're moving at a a pace that's steady that's and that provides certainty to folks sooner rather later so to not streng I'm I can I can yeld to I can go sure trust I think you know because again I've been there for my mom when I was little and I feel like I'm doing it now for me it's important to always advocate for those that maybe sometimes don't speak up for different reasons um and you know I hear that people across the world can join by Zoom my abito Ranch pavon in Mexico has no access to zoom and actually no phone lines so I think I mean I I agree again with the you know idea of our families should know sooner than later what's going to happen to their children in the future I just caution us with the urgency of by September I mean maybe even a month would be um you know better but again you know part of my voice here on this SE is my community that I represent and so um you know I would feel good about October you know maybe naming schools um but September just seems too soon our first day of school is August can somebody remind me August 13th August 13th so that doesn't even give I mean allow I don't know not even a month depending on when on September we want to have that um but October would feel better um it's still you know uh sooner than I was planning for in this November date but September is definitely way too soon thank you uh truste excuse me Dr alasan and then trusty fam and then trusty Sheldon and then vice president uh K thank you board president um I just wanted to say thank you to um the board and U offering these different perspectives that you you know um our public does need to hear and I do want to offer another perspective to think about um as as this conversation develops not only just tonight but moving forward um and and I do understand again and hear the different the different viewpoints what I want to offer too is this process um is difficult and I want to I want to add the human aspect to this um the human aspect to this uh touches a lot of folks not just our students but also our staff our parents and our community at large um even our external um stakeholders who may not have um kids in our schools but they are in our neighborhoods right so this is a very emotional process um that's mycl hat coming in um and behind every plan behind every action and decisions that we make there's people behind them and so I just wanted to bring that aspect of it I hear the sense of urgency I hear um the sense of we need to come up with ideas for Revenue we need to come up with ideas to you know solvency it's at the Forefront I totally understand but I don't want us to also forget about the human aspect to this process because it is going to be very difficult thank you uh trust um before you go truste B and then it was trusty Sheldon and then it was vice president ginto and then we've had a lot of discussion and then I'm going to close out because I'm looking at the time right now and remember board our our time is um a little bit limited because we do have a policy that until 10:30 so I'm going to ask uh for no more comments after this and then I will close the hearing thank you okay I'll just say you know I get it this this process you know brings out a lot of emotions and we have different different perspective and you know uh this board meeting has looked more like an episode of Mama's Family than I you know I would care to think uh but I didn't want it to Circle back there was one point that trusty Flor Shelton made about Sela which I think you know all of us can agree with is that we we do need to get a better deal from the county for you know County Office of Education and one thing came to mind was that uh um our our representative on the County Board of Education is myona Asel Berta who uh served as a special education teacher uh in alen rock and of course but whom I I campaigned with in in the last cycle on the campaign Trail so I think you know I I'll willingly offer you know uh my services due to the you know the closer political relationship that I have with uh County trustee B you know County Board president Abel Berta and you know see what you know what we can what we can collaborate on to see that you know districts like alen rock get our get a fairer share uh from the county office of Ed on uh special education uh just yep just one comment too about um thinking about how the existing um whether it's parent University or the open houses how once the school year begins how there's existing Community engagement opportunities for the um consolidation input and so wanting to leverage those right those are natural places um outside of you know versus when everyone's not thinking about or school or they're trying to give themselves a little bit of reprieve and rest um or Sumer school that is but so we just again wanted to think about more voices using our existing Community engagement that we do in the fall thanks um vice president kto so uh presid I intended U bring forward form over at the next meeting where we adopt a calendar that um go through July to September as part of this process and so I would suggest that you cond exra up see where it is staff could get a sense as to where where what they should be preparing for we definitely don't want to show up to the 27 unprepared if we're looking at any any more any in July through September uh calendar and as opposed to in July through November calendar thank you okay um so uh we will now uh be closing the under item 501 public hearing uh local control and accountability plan elcap at 9:21 and also uh item number 503 public hearing uh proposed 2024 2025 budget adoption I will be closing uh 503 item at 9:22 p.m.

uh moving on to uh 601 adoption resolution I have a motion to move approval and by uh vice president ginto and a second by truste fam uh this is for the adoption resolution 61- 2324 order of election specifications of the election order and consolidation request I ask do I have a motion to adopt the resolution I got those and we will take uh public comment if if there is any uh seeing none I would take trustees comments uh no comments except for Sheldon yeah I would say that the um the document just needs to be updated given um president and clerk changes so I would approve it I I'll support it with those changes okay so um do the the maker of the motion and the second uh will you adopt it with the edits or uh on the approval of the positions of of of the trustees and the president um we'll take a vote is um yeah I I will accept the amendment okay and I'll yes I okay so now we'll vote all in favor raise your hand uh opposed uh 5 Z motion passes 602 uh do I have approve approval for resolution 234 approve of truste fam motions to approve uh do I have a second uh trustee excuse me vice president uh kto seconds the motion or and the motion is for the resolution of celebrating the 247th anniversary of the creation of the flag of the United States and expressing support for the Pledge of Allegiance um um yes uh go ahead uh vice president kto and I will take public comment at this time uh seeing none I will anybody okay I will uh uh ask for the br's comment and um vice president Getta was first and anybody else I'll take action yeah um I went ahead and F forward this resolution to U recognize the 247th anniversity of the creation of the FL United States I um I understand that in Progressive circles it seems like uncool and I I think that it's it doesn't make any sense um I think that we've given our symbols to uh other groups that are are choosing to do what they want with it sometimes stormy capital of that sort and I think it's important for us take them back to make sure that they're everybody's patriotic symbols um in addition uh I also included the cled of Allegiance I think that it's part of political socialization in the in the resolution I called it Civic socialization I know people get scared the term politics freaks people out um but the proper term is political socialization and um I think it's important to continue on this tradition I acknowledge that um we have a lot of problems our history is replete with a bunch of nasty stuff we have some of our Founders Thomas Jefferson who have nasty views about African-Americans in particular and he was very open about it uh wrote about it and um uh however I do believe that um we've g a long way even though chsky acknowledges that uh we are way far off from where we started those individuals are no longer here I think that the flag now represents the collective efforts of our society to move forward the collective efforts of people who BL civil rights leaders who who are beaten down and hurt uh in order to get us to where we're at and so I think it's important for us to take back those symbols from uh folks who WRA themselves around the flag and say it's only us it's only us nobody else um and so that's the reason why I brought because I think for us to to make sure that we start U in that yeah there's very very difficult history very nasty parts of our history a bunch of folks who got together in a room and we're all slave owners and writing about people being equal and stuff that sort we moveed but however I also want to make sure that we acknowledge we've made significant strides and we always have to continue to work towards uh um making this a more perfect union so um that's that was my intention of bringing this forward uh addition I would like to I would request that uh Administration send a copy of the resolution to every site so that they are aware that um the expectation if approved the expectation that the Pledge of Allegiance will be uh every day out sites and of course is California law so those are thank you uh trusty eraa and then anybody else okay thank you and I will be supporting this um the only thing I'll add as a indigenous WEA we CH women on this uh di is um is that I think it's important to always talk the truth and you know when that flag was placed here um it was on Stolen land and acknowledging the indigenous people that were here before that flag was placed um is important to acknowledge um but again I mean you all you know I stand and I do the Pledge of Allegiance and I live here and I'm grateful um for my home here uh so but that that would just be important to acknowledge out loud thank you and sorry sorry one last thing and that um also on the backs of many uh black and brown folks trust okay you know I'll say I I'll be supporting this resolution as well and I think that uh you know as a historian by by education uh I get it uh uh the The History of the United States is a uh complex story with many twists and turns sometimes not good sometimes very good what is it the the old saying sometimes we take three steps forward and two steps backward and of course as we've seen here you know uh you know you know we we've all sort of it's you know shown you know good deal this Unity but I think that you know on the whole I think it's important to you know uh the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance are the thing you know the ties that bind us right it's the aspirational goals out you know he pluris un out of many one you know uh what is it the go you know uh to the Republic for which it stands one nation un you know under Liberty with I mean under god with liberty and justice for all and I'm just quoting quoting the the latter half of the pledge no you know not to you know I apologize if there were people of other religious faiths out there but those are aspirations that bind us and I think that it's important that our you know our kids uh you know uh was it have you know goals you know goals that you know uh we are after all one Community right we all have to live on the same Planet so you know with that I offer my support for this resolution okay I was real happy to see the resolution especially since my family goes back generations of Defending um the flag and so I appreciate everything and the sacrifice that they made um as well as the sacrifice that their families made um and I would always like to honor that and to me it should be in every classroom and resided in every classroom like the law says um thank you very much for bringing this to the board and uh I think we're going to now vote on it because it's 9:30 and I would like to keep this meeting moving forward all in yes we did all in favor of passing the uh the resolution raise your hands five in favor zero NOS uh moving on to 603 restructure the workforce housing committee to allow all matters related to housing in the alen Rock Union School District to follow under the jurisdiction of the newly renamed housing committee do I have a motion second second by uh trusty fam uh do we have any public comment on this um item 603 seeing no public comment I will move to the trustees comments trustee Sheldon um um so I'm trying to um I think our committee in terms of like the budget committee and other committees there's some written some things written down about the scope um so I would be interested in um deferring this until something comes back that shows its scope um so that's my um I'm not in support of moving forward with it until I understand the scope and there's a written objective um and what all falls under the housing committee okay um vice president kto I put forward the item because the chair of the workforce housing committee we had the workforce housing committee it's already in place uh and um we are looking at other issues other like affordable housing and the the sites that have been identified um and so rather than going out there and creating a different committee for every single item the idea here was just to consolidate for that reason so we don't um have any bylaws or any sort of like uh uh scope or anything like that for Workforce housing um at at this point I'm I'm uh I'm not necessarily inclined to hold off I think that it just makes sense to have this committee deal with housing issues rather than just focus on Workforce housing and then we continue it's already established um it has a good representation between different folks in the community and so um I'm comfortable moving forward with just simply removing the workforce out is calling the housing committee and all we all matter okay I'm going to take one more trustees comment and then we're going to vote on it uh trusty Sheldon thank you um my understanding is when the it the bond went to the voters and specifically called out um Workforce housing and so that does give the scope for the workforce housing committee so um you know things that I've brought up like the concern for our homeless families um that are Alan Rock students and families um you know those are the kind of things that I would like to see addressed in the housing committee and if that's not something that's within the scope um and it's just you know affordable housing or things that are outside of the the bond again I'm um I'm trying to get sense of purpose trying to get focus and trying to understand you know are these the type of things that um reflect all of the needs um because of affordable housing some of our families can't even afford affordable housing so we're not talking Eli if we're not talking truly things that are students experiencing homelessness need um then I don't think it's a robust scope so that's why I was just asking to see it written down okay um I was GNA okay I'm going to give a vice president and then and then me and I'm going to ask you to concise your messages go ahead just the language here is all matters related to housing and's pretty broad yes so I to go ahead and be able to discuss everything related to house whether it's a yeah um and just hearing all you know all the comments um as one of the chairs of the workforce current Workforce housing committee um definitely going to make sure that you know those things and you know I know that we know that our numbers have doubled between December to now of our unhoused students so I don't see us not you know making sure that our students are first you know the ones that are benefiting from any housing on any one of our school campuses will be what I I'm going to you know be advocating as a chair with my um fellow peer vice president GTO okay so now I'm gonna take my comment and then we're going to go for a vote um to me when you put Workforce housing in front of housing committee that kind of uh limits the scope of what you're going to do just like what was being done in the budget committee um there was certain parameters that were trying to be placed but at the same time you got to look at the whole budget so I didn't appreciate the parameters but because we have to look at everything so this to me if you remove the workforce housing that means that you can uh probably have more peripheral vision when you're looking at everything and so I will be supporting this item and I'm now going to ask for the vote um all in in favor of the restructure the workforce housing committee raise your hand okay 5 Z motion passes um now looking at 604 update on RFP for affordable housing developers this is information only board president pres there is no update at this time okay that's good and I'm the one who requested this so this can be eliminated as as long as the housing committee has regular report backs to the um full board okay thank you so moving on to 605 appeal of withdrawal of consent to be on school campus penal code section 626.

4 and board policy and admin regulation I think I'm going to let Mr Ro take this one I can go ahead and you introduce him please yeah um board president um this is a a request a request to appeal a um consent to be on campus by a parent who's exercising their appeal uh rights under administrative regulation 35 uh 15.2 and we do have um the interim director of student services uh Jesus araho here to um present to the board the uh District's um perspective on this particular appeal and then um I'm not sure if the parent is here but they would have a uh they would have an an opportunity as well to um State their appeal s good evening my name is I currently serve as the interim director of student services good evening board President Chavez trustees and interim superintendent Dr Alazan I wanted to provide some information to the board regarding a stay way order that I issued on May 14th 2024 the parent the pant is a parent of a of a student in our district on May 2nd the school princip informed the parent of an incident at school involving his child the parent requested to view the surveillance footage of the incident multiple times even after the principal replied that the incident was not captured by any of the school surveillance cameras on May 13th during the morning portion of the school day the parent and another family member went to the school site to review surveillance footage in the principal's office after the parent expressed that the Prem must have additional cameras cameras which had captured additional footage if the incident his child was involved in the principal and assistant principal escorted the parent and family member around the campus to view the old uh the other cameras on the premises and that available cameras would not have captured the incident the panel became irate and made accusations against the other students the principal replied that he could not confirm this as the allegations were not included in the student statement at the time of the incident the parent called the principal a liar and accused the principal of breaking the law principal didn't think the parent and family member stated that he would go to his office and that they needed them to both exit the school premises according to the board policy and admin regulation 1250 visitors and Outsiders a school principal May revoke an individual's presence on school campus if their presence would disrupt school activities the parent raised his voice at the principal and stated that the principal couldn't make him leave to which the principal replied that he would if he needed have the assistant principal call the police the parent moved close to the principal and pointed his finger in the principal's face while stating that he is a taxpayer so the principal can make him leave and continue to do so even after the principal stepped away and asked that the parent remove his finger from his face principal then asked the assistant principal to call the police shortly after the parent and family member the the family member intervened and pulled the parents arm away from the principal's face as he was escorted to the parking lot parents shouted that he was on his way to the district office to get the Principal fired and that the principal would see what happens principal then inquired what par by by the threat and informed the parent that the principal felt written by his statement parent yelled that he would call the police uh before the parents and family departed from the school campus School staff contacted sjpd and officers arrived later in the day to take a report principal notified student services of the incident via phone on May 13th and the principal and assistant principal and office staff members uh provided written statements of the incident on May 15th parents Behavior disrupted and interfered with peaceful conduct of the school when he shouted threatened and invaded the principal's personal space making the principal feel unsafe her board policy and administrative regulation 35 15.2 disruptions a design of the superintendent May remove any individual whose presence disrupts or threatens School operations or the safety of anyone on on District property on May 14th District notified parent via email that the consent for parent to enter the school property was withdrawn due to his disrupted behavior and parent was prohibited from entering School premises for 14 school days their education code sections 44810 and 44811 parent appealed that's that suspension on May 31st the district granted the parents appeal of the stay letter to correct the number of days from 14 school days to 14 calendar days and denied the parents Appeal on other on all other issues student services maintains that the Stateway order was both proper and necessary to ensure the safety of staff and students thank you Mr Aro um at this time i' I'd like to um invite the parent um who has brought this appeal to the podium at this time to State their case is the parent in the room no okay parent is not in the room parent is not in the room so we're going to move on to we're gonna give him um Mr yeah we can move make a motion there should be a a an action to either sustain I'm sorry to either Grant the appeal or deny deny the appeal thank you um do I have a motion to first grant the appeal let's put it this way to First deny the appeal do I have a motion approval okay approve motion by trusty fam second by motion by trusty Flor [Laughter] oh sorry I know no you didn't let me finish trusty fam's friend trusty Sheldon um and second by BP k um glad I got that one right okay um any public comment seeing that there none we're going to move to vote uh all in favor of denying the uh the parent um raise your hand 5 Z denied moving on to moving on to 606 approve resolution number 68 2324 enacting a reduction of the board stifen to 240 um do I have a motion to approve to approve second okay I have a motion to approve by truste fam second by truste Corina era loera and um any public comment on the item uh seeing that there's none any trustee com on the item trust defense I'll just make one quick comment you know since I brought you know this item to uh for the consideration of my colleagues but you know uh this is a acknowledgment that you know times are hard and uh you know we all have to make sacrifices and uh even though the stip end isn't much you know the board you know we have to set an example uh and so pursuant to in pursuant to the uh you know Education Code section 35210 and in recognition that our enrollment is below $10,000 you know I you know asked my colleagues to you know to uh approve a reduction of our s in from $400 monthly to $240 monthly okay I'm going to go and then I'll have trusty Sheldon and then trusty uh I was really happy to see this on the um agenda and so that the audience knows so that the the board gets $400 a month stien and so now we are I hope uh going to vote on getting only $240 a month as a monthly stien and so uh I will let trustee Sheldon talk and then next uh the next trustee thank you thank you than you uh president and thank you uh trust fam for bringing this forward I had made comments a couple months ago about the board needing to feel um some pain and sacrifices um in reviewing the uh bylaw 9250 that over is the overview of re remuneration yes remuneration reimbursement and other benefits um it does also state that board members are not required to accept payment for the meetings um attended so um I will be um starting in July I will not be accepting the $240 stipended um and the bylaw also has um it talks about board members maybe issued District issued credit cards um I would be interested in um uh so I may be bringing something back that um prohibits board members from having District issu credit cards and as well as um Health and Welfare benefits looking into um the fact that about $6,000 is spent annually on health and Weare benefits and seeing if there can be some um sacrifices made there as well I'll be supporting the motion trusty thank you um actually uh trusty PL Shulton took the words right out of my mouth so for me infective immediately if you can uh please um not be providing a stien to me um in any amount um and I will also be supporting I mean this motion today as it's um here but personally if you can um effective immediately stop sending me the typen thank you com any further comments uh vice president kto I just want to thank my colleague for bringing this forward um appreciate the fact that uh that it's happening and so um I um I will not be um saying to to just to stop the siphon I think that it's um it's a privilege to serve um I think that um we should be cognizant of the fact that this system has been established to have citizens beond boards so that we can make decisions based upon um uh what we're going through what we observe and I wouldn't want to start a trend of saying well only if you're retired or if you're independently wealthy um to some that that this typon may be helpful uh to be able to uh um uh make up for the time that they're not pursuing other other things that they're doing that they could be they could they could have been doing so um I'm not going to say no to it uh due to the fact that I'm very much proud of the fact that I earn every every penny that I uh that I get in terms of a St and um but I'm I'm cognizant that some of my colleagues are in a financial position to say no to it and so good for them I just wouldn't want to discourage any um potential folks who might be considering joining the board by saying like they have to say no or they they have it has to be this decision because they've observed it I want to make sure that we continue the tradition of supporting citizen legislators that are being part of the process not because they are independently wealthy or they have the means to just say no to the the small amount of remuneration they do receive in the formal Ty and so I I'm privileged to be here I also I'm honored to be able to earn every last penny that I do get uh in in the form of $240 a month statement so thank you for that okay I'm going to take the vote now all in favor raise your hands of um 5 Z thank you very much oh Madam president if we take public comment on yes I did there was none okay very well thank you for thank you for the remind it's 10 it's almost 10 sometimes it's a blur yeah so um approval renewal of contract for legal service of rean and Roberts motion to approve okay motion by trustee and when theity if I can ask a question okay second a second by truste fam and um uh go ahead I just wanted to make sure that the contract was um read and reviewed by our staff um for this item I know there was a transition during that time and then I wasn't you know uh in the process of uh putting these items on the agenda so I just wanted to make sure that our were able to look at it before we did okay we did great thank you okay and I'll be taking public comment any public comment uh seeing none we'll move on to the vote um all in favor of approving 607 approve renewal of contract of legal services with Rehan and Roberts please raise your hand all 5 Z motion approved uh moving on to bond contracts over $100,000 um 6.08 was on the amended agenda oh that's right it's not here in the paper I mean in the board book but let me go to 608 and somewhere around all these paperwork okay so we had an addition last minute to for 608 so we'll read that off right now um approval of implementation of board docs as the Board of Trustees documentation management system for agendas and board packet preparation and publication minutes and archives do I have a motion move approval uh second okay uh we have a motion and a second uh any public comment on this item uh seeing no public comment any trusty comment just quickly I put it on the agenda and I just in my short time as clerk um I just kind of uh want found out and wanted to highlight um for full awareness by the community um that there's a um there's a platform called bardocks that alen rock was using sort of a smaller subscription will now be using the Fuller subscription and it will be making more efficient use for um board members to have access to documents um I just want to link it to consent item 11.01 where there's a slew of minutes um and that is coming about the reason why minutes weren't coming more quickly is because um sort of the process and sort of the effectiveness and the content of the minutes um I'm hoping that through approval of this the board do um system that voting minutes everything will be a more efficient process there will probably be some training needed for all of us um but hoping that it's effective for all of us in the long run so thank you there's more thank you uh so now I'm going to move for uh the vote after truste fam or can we okay I I mean vote first and then athlete I no no I'm taking your comments and then after that we're voting yeah okay I just wanted to you know uh check to make sure uh you know going forward even though we're adopting you know board docs I just wanted to ask the administration if you know uh board books will still be available upon request for the public you know for those who would prefer to read or might not have a good internet connection or something like that can have that Avail okay on request yes yes thank you okay all in favor uh of the motion please raise your hand uh 5 motion approved on 608 uh going to 701 uh move approval for 701 of construction services for site at Millard McCullum Elementary school for two new play stres YooHoo uh any public comment on this uh go ahead good evening superintendent Amazon President Chavez and trustees my name is Dr Jennifer an and I'm the executive director of special education at the Santa Clara County Office of Education I'm here on behalf of my organization to off for gratitude to elmrock Union School District its Partnership of the orthopedic impairment program at McCollum Elementary School we currently have 27 elementary students from eight school districts which include five students from alen Rock the majority of the children in the program use a wheelchair for Mobility purposes the staff and Leadership at McCullum Elementary have created a space of welcoming and belonging for all students and for that we are truly thankful the playground project projects that are on the agenda this evening are the result of a collaborative effort in which the district ensured the new play spases will be accessible and fun for all we want to draw attention to the fact that Alam rock is setting a shining example of inclusive practices and we are proud to partner together thank you for all that you do for our students and best wishes for sunny days and Swift construction so the playground can open in time for the new school year seeing no more further comment I will move for the vote um uh comments from the board I didn't see them yeah I I'll just you gotta hey you gotta go fast man okay let's go okay quick uh well I'm glad this is on the agenda and I want to say Miss linsky's third grade class will be very happy the next time they uh have me over for Kitty Meet the Press you know it's the big one thing that the the kids have been asking for at MC colum and I'm glad that you know we have an opportunity to finally provide uh you know the the Tigers a uh the column Tigers an uh an answer in the affirmative so I'll be voting for this okay um so I'm just going to make a quick comment and I love that they're going to get the two new play structures and I would like to see this as soon as possible Lindell as well later all in all in favor of the motion raise your hand on 5 Z okay motion passes and quick point of order uh Madam president seeing that it's 9:58 I'd like to move for an extension of the board meeting to midnight thank you uh do I have a second second do yes doesn't moving into midnight trigger something yeah it problems 1159 1159 I in my Mo change my motion and is are you the 59 seconds okay and I'll accept that let's see all in favor of moving the time to 11:59 and that many seconds uh raise your hand okay approved so let's move on to uh approve 702 move to second okay uh I have a motion in a second do I have any public comment uh seeing no public comment um uh we are going to move questions excuse me we're going to move since we have no public comment to the trustees comments please keep them brief um first uhera trustee and then the next trustee is no okay just you long overdue let's do it okay long overdue just do it okay that's it thank you we have buildings trusty Chavez I want clarification on who made the motion in who second it was really fast okay the motion was made by um vice president vice president kto and the second was made by truste Corina loera thank you Mar thank you all in favor raise your hands uh 5 z uh 702 passes moving on to 703 move to approve uh move to approve uh I have the motion made by trustee uh Corina loera second by VP ginto the to approve the amendment number one for project number eight h back project at adante 2 Academy any public comment seeing none any uh trustee comment you know and it'll it'll be the same for you know the next two items but uh you know this was something that you know I was committed to when I was on the bond committee which was you know that the get the bonds through the finance agback for our kids I remember the uh Mercury News AR and our kids were saying you know we're melting and I'm glad that we're finally in a position to say be able to tell them you're not going to be melting next year so on that note I'll be voting for this and the next two items thank you thank you okay uh one uh trusty Corina Lera is next as a of one of those students that was melting at that time adant too um you know again long overdue and I'm glad we're taking care of this so uh same thing for the next two items okay seeing no more further board comments uh let's go to the vote all in favor raise your hands 5 Zer motion passes 704 uh can I can I ask if we can um move 704 and 705 together uh let's do them separate let's keep it let's keep it simple H back at uh so I have a a motion from tust who made the second me okay trusty floor okay um any public comment seeing none any trustee comment seeing none uh let's vote on to uh whether we approve 704 all in favor raise your hand uh 5 Z motion passes going moving on to 705 move to approve uh motion by uh trustee second and second second another trust okay motion was done by uh trustee Corina loera second was done by trusty Flores Sheldon um and so do we have any public comment on item 705 seeing that there's none do we have any Public Trustee comment on 705 seeing that there's none I'm going to move for the vote all in favor raise your hand 5 Z motion passes 706 uh I have a motion and a second motion by uh vice president GTO second by truste Sheldon um would you like Laura Sheldon or do you want me to be Tongue Tied more or Just sh Shon Shelton Shel it's not a d I know so sh my husband like so it is so is sh okay okay sh okay all in favor of the motion from trusty oh wait a minute public comment I already took public comment 106 706 look look at I can barely get these names no this is a this is on 705 not 706 okay I already asked for public comment and then I went to truste comment so any comments seeing none let's vote all in favor of motion 705 please raise your hand thank you very much 5 Z excuse me trusty Chavez but you had already um U heard 705 because I have trusty deera made a motion second by trusty FL 706 um resolution number 57 2324 authorizing the issuance and sale of General obligation bonds 2016 election series B in the principal amount of of not to exceed $40 million and approving official notice of sale official statement and other related documents and official actions did we that's the one that we took out public comment uh did we take public comment we don't have to take public comment but we moved now okay public comment seeing none moving on um uh any uh comments from the board seeing one from trusty fam yes you know uh I I know I'm in support of this item however you know um the S the sale bonds does require uh you know oversight from the citizens Bond oversight committee so you know uh two-part question first part uh to to Mr Chang is do we have a a number sufficient for Quorum on the bond committee at present Yes we finally do and a thank you for that um we plan on having a meeting in July um and then you know have the committee start again and then hopefully by the end of August to be able to share out some of these that are happening in this in uh second question I I I did see uh the district share on its social media site applications for you know uh uh for uh applicants to join uh the oversight committee so uh are we still recruiting for are there are there open seats on the Bron committee that are district is recruiting for so the the flyer that you just see recently it's for our partial tax committee oh okay right but but we're always recruiting for the bond oversight committee as well because we can have as many as we want okay very well thank you so in the wording on page three um I think it needs to reflect or uh that it say interim superintendent um can I get uh will you approve with that edit uh truste uh the the maker of the motion was uh VP Gino uh Could you um also put that in there so to reflect the interim superintendent not c not superintendent so it'll be clear and concise and if the super represent yes so uh if for to be the edit of interim superintendent I would go ahead and accept um superintendent or in superintendent yes okay that way you can cover well the second person the I accept Okay thank you very much so all in favor of accepting the edits uh raise your hand so 5 Z we're accepting the edit so now we're voting on the uh resolution itself um to be clear marivel uh the motion was made by VP Kinto for the second time with the edit uh and the second of Person of the motion was truste Shelton and so on 706 we are now going to be voting uh all in favor please raise your hands uh 5 Z thank you board uh moving on to instructional Services Board discussion Andor action the board may take on any item in the section unless is it is designated for information only item 801 I have a motion by truste vice president Quintero and the second by second uh truste Corina era loera uh do I have any public comment uh seeing none let's move on to trustee comments seeing none uh let's vote on item 801 uh to to approve California Department of Education expenditure quarter 3 report um trusty fam are you voting yes yes okay five to zero motion passes unanimously thank you at 10 o'clock the mind is U blur um so on the next item under Human Resources board discussion and interaction uh item 901 resignations that's for information only so we will move on to uh 902 approve resolution number 64 2324 recognition of classified retirees do I have a motion move to approve second okay so I have a motion from trusty era loera and I have a second from trusty chelton and so uh I will ask for public comment at this point the seeing none I will ask for um trustee comments seeing none you know except for you know trusty fam go ahead yes I want to you know take this opportunity to recognize our uh classified employee staff staff retirees whether they be uh school secretary health assistant uh cafeteria cook uh her professional Community liazon uh uh maintenance worker bus driver and a handyman or other any other classified staff employee job description I haven't can uh you know whether it's keeping the lights on or uh sometimes being that uh you know that person that uh you know that uh the person that a child can come to who sometimes isn't a teacher and solves all the M uh little problems in in the schools I want to thank you for your service however long it was and I uh thank you for serving the Alam Rock Union ele school district and uh wish you all the best in the next chapter of your life thank you thank you um Corina era and then trusty uh Shelton it will be next after her thank you um as a daughter of a bus driver who's in the audience um you know and uh I was able to show up to the classified r 's event um and congratulate them in person but I want to also take the time here on the dis um to thank them for their service uh you know many of them were here their entire career and um just to add to what trusty fam already mentioned you know many of them just by the smile they gave when the child walked in through the bus um you know by keeping our schools clean by the um additional support that our teachers felt you know um in class uh knowing that um all of the staff that make up a school you know were there um I just want to thank them for their service and uh for doing a a amazing job and for being with us especially those that were with us their entire career for so many years um and I wish them a healthy retirement where they're able to do all the things they dreamed of um and enjoy them for a very very long time thank you try Sheldon I just um you've all said amazing beautiful things that I won't repeat I just wanted to um call out the par Educators for special education who we have found are very hard to uh replace and a special shout out to Diane zepa who um I know personally and um I think we're all going to miss her greatly and wish all of them a wonderful retirement juste um uh thank you to all our class out for your dedication to alrock and helping us keep our district moving forward uh thank you all you'll be missed and Dr alasan wants to talk as well go ahead thank you um to our classified staff uh as well um we celebrate your accomplishments and uh wish you all the best in this next chapter okay uh seeing no more comments I will now take a vote all in favor uh 5 Z it motion passes unanimously next one is item is 903 approve resolution 63 motion to approve um I have a motion by uh trusty fam second by VP Kinto uh do we have any public comment seeing none do we have any uh trusty comments uh I will first take trusty Flores Shelton and then I will take trusty fam then I would take trusta and then I will take Dr alasan anyone else okay go so um you know the teachers that are on this list I'm sure are um gems and are again going to be hard to um replace I um want to thank them for their service and wish them um all the the happiness in their uh years of rest and the second chapter of their life um I want to give a special shout out to Barbara um who we are going to miss greatly in all your years um from the Joseph George days and Beyond um you've put your Mark um on this district and you will be greatly missed and you deserve a lot of rest and relaxation and I wish you all the best and I'll end it there thank you trusty I think it was fam and then it was you and then it was Dr on the oh uh you know first well uh to to the teachers who are retiring uh no more red pens and papers to grade that you know we're you're definitely going to be missed in the classroom I think that was it I know that you you know Lord knows how many kids uh you know kids lives you've made a difference in and you know uh was it they are better off you know you made them better off at the end of the day than when when they started so thank you very much for teaching in sometimes the most challenging of school districts and uh I want to say uh two thing uh three things first to assistant superintendent Campbell we're going to miss you thank you so much for your long and distinguished career you know one of my friends at Independence High School who had a child at Renaissance at Matson and also a child at San Antonio you know she said she remembered you at then Mayfair Caesar shavez Elementary you were a special education teacher then and you you know did the whole uh you know started the whole vaa thing at uh Joseph George middle school and you ended up at the district office and I always remember you put you put together that that uh that beautiful 90th anniversary display that was my big big idea when I got start you know started on this board you know the summer of I wanted to ring in my idea was to celebrate the delayed 90th anniversary and sort of bring in the return of in-person school on a positive note so I thank you for that uh you know uh I wish you all the best in your retirement and I hope you're going to enjoy it in Canada it's a beautiful country a country in which I uh what do it have a nice nice coin collection from so I hope we'll take that up in in retirement as well so thank you so much and happy trails to you Barbara uh I got to see Miss ARD at uh M colum in the last round of school visits and she was teaching her kids the the Hawaiian the Hawai forac be from the Hawaiian graduation song because the fifth graders were being promoted and because Miss Amar was being pro uh uh retiring too she had her graduation ceremony alongside with them so uh thank you Miss ambard for uh teaching in alumrock your kids perform admirably and uh she's retiring to Paradise so uh I wish her well out there in Hawaii and to Mr Andrews at George the longtime math teacher who teaches you know our integrated math one and uh you know the equivalent of algebra one now uh thank you also for you know taking on you know one of uh algebra is a notoriously difficult subject to teach at the in the middle school you know it's the highest level math class at the middle school level right and uh it takes a lot of support to do it right so uh special thank you to Mr Andrews for you know on his 17-year career who I got a chance to congratulate at the Joseph George uh graduation so uh you know with that thank you so much to all our retiring teachers we're going to miss you uh best best of luck in your next chapter of your lives and who knows we might see you back here as a substitute at $300 a day tra yeah uh congratulations I was able to also join uh the certificated retirees at their celebration here a couple weeks ago um but you know want to take the time here to recognize your work um I don't I'm not going to mention all the things that have already me been said but I will add that um we'll definitely miss the experience the mentoring the coaching uh because we know that that leaves also with you we're like you know we can somehow capture all that you know we would but um we know that uh you have not just done your job but also along the ways brought all of those staff with you you um that you've supervised that you've supported um and you know we've seen it and I thank you for also sticking with us for so long you know and through so many things and I know that um and Barbara you know to my right here speaking to you you know our um co-workers become our family and I know that uh you know with all um life happens right and you know our families go through things and um naturally you know just the supports and so um through all that you know I know that um you your the bonds got stronger and uh now it's time to take care of you and um all the other retirees may you uh have that time to do that selfcare that you so deserve um to yeah you never know maybe continuing coaching and supporting um our staff uh and because you do have a lot of experience to share so thank you again drasa thank you board president uh congratulations to our certificated uh retirees um and I wish you all a a joy filled and fulfilling and welld deserve time and relaxation filled with new adventures and um I too would like to say my express my gratitude to uh Barb Campbell for her 39 years of service and dedication to this District um I don't know what we're uh you know going to do without you because we have such a wealth of knowledge experience um that you've even taught me um in my in my new role and for that I can't thank you enough so happy your time I just want to thank all the teachers uh for their commitment to elmrock and for students spend a significant amount of time uh with their teachers and uh it is a very much a um a passion that folks have to have in order has SP that that that much time with Bunch kids unless you're relate to them um and so thank you all for that I I had fond memories of folks who um were my instructors and went above and beyond to lend their support and so appreciate that and assistant superintendent camell thank you for your commitment 39 years this lifetime and uh and I know that youve made a huge impact on on Al rock thank you for that I just wrap it up um thank you all for everything that you did and the students um how many lives you touched and for all you're doing now um and if you guys ever get bored and want to come back even part-time you know for all you can do in the future everybody will be here with uh Open Arms um but thank you all so much um and moving on uh I'm going to ask for the vote okay uh all in favor raise your hands 5- Z motion approve appr thank you all okay moving on to contracts over $100,000 board discussion and action the board may take action on any item in this section unless it is designated for information only uh so 10:01 uh I have a motion do I have a second second uh second by truste uh fam and motion by BPO uh do I have any public comment seeing no public uh except for one one uh seeing no public comment we will move on to trustees comments any comments uh seeing none uh all in favor raise your hand it's three uh in favor and zero Nos and two absent so two not voting men pres they were here absent uh break because they're not here but they're here yeah but just absent okay so motion was approved on 10:01 um so moving on to 102 motion by trust uh BP Gino do I have a second second by fam uh any public comment seeing no public comment any trustee comment seeing no trustee comment uh let's vote on 102 all in favor to approve uh three three uh vote in favor motion passes to here but absent okay now moving on to item 10:3 approve the maximum Healthcare Services contract for 2024 2025 this contract will provide four ctif five analyst bcba and behavior technicians par of professionals to assist elar teachers and students in the classroom submitted by special education $1,500 do I have a motion, president I know it I know okay I have a motion by VP kto do I have a second second by uh truste fam uh do I have any public comments ments seeing no public comment do I have any trustee comment seeing no trustee comment let's move to approve 103 item all in favor raise your hand uh 4 z uh motion passes one uh no uh abstentions or Nos and one uh absent so uh moving on to 10:4 approve the inv visioners Asus contract I have a motion by BPO I have a by trustee fam do I have any uh public comment seeing none do I have any uh trustee comment seeing none uh I will move for the vote uh 10:4 approve the en visioners Aces contract uh for uh submitted by state and federal $853,000 uh motion approved unanimously moving on to 105 approve the little Hero's contract for 2025 five this contract will provide Youth Development programs for up to 15 elementary schools in alen rock to support the enrichment student learning submitted by state and federal for $40,000 per site and that's per site so I have a motion by VPO I have a second by uh trustee fam and so I will move for public comment seeing no public comment do I have any trustees comments seeing no trustees comment uh let's take the vote on 10:05 move for approval on the vote all in favor raise your hand five Z motion passes unanimously now moving on to 1006 approve the thing together acis contract for 2024 uh I have a motion by trusty uh Corina loera I have a second by truste Sheldon uh do I let me see uh let me finish reading it um this is to approve the think together Asis contract for 2024 2025 this contract will provide during and after support for homework assistance in science technology artmath enrichment nutrition submitted by state and federal for 1,640 642 do I have public comment any seeing no public comment uh do I have any board comment seeing no board comments uh let's vote on to approve 1006 all in favor raise your hand so it is 5 Z motion passes unanimously okay years amount of 4,489 26 thank you uh so we have a motion by uh VP GTO we have a second by uh trusty Corina loera and so I will take public comment seeing no public comment as I will take uh trustee comment seeing no trustee comment I will move for the vote all in favor to vote for uh the approval of 107 please raise your hands that's five z uh motions approved unanimously item 108 second okay so I have a motion by uh vice president kto I have a second by truste ginaa loera and I will read it out a move for the approval of the YMCA Silicon Valley Aces contract for 2024 2025 this contract will provide after school Services during the 2024 school year submitted by state and federal for 914 I will ask for public comment seeing none I will ask for trustee comment seeing none I will move for the vote vote for 10:08 all in favor raise your hands uh 5 Z motion passes unanimously 10:9 move to approve second okay I have a motion by trusty Corina loera I have a second by truste fam and I will read out uh 109 to approve the finalist hosting service contract for 2024 202 5 S this contract will provide a platform to maintain and publish our website for the district and school sit submitted by Technology support services in the amount of $3,355 uh do I have any public comment seeing none do I have any trustees comment seeing none let's do the vote on 109 to approve all in favor raise your hand 5 Z motion passes unanimously on the consent calendar move to approve Okay so we are going to pull 11:01 to approve the the rest of the cons calendar okay so uh Corina era loera move to approve the 1102 1103 1104 115 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 yeah but I I just like the 11 I'm joking man have you ever run an auction hey let's put it this way been in so many auctions you not did you ever hear this guy actually I'm kind of slow but now on because I want to be out of here by 11 you guys so I will take first uh did I get a second on the motion to approve the all the Els can I get a second second by uh VP kto uh is who I heard first and the motion was by Corina loera so we will first uh take public comment seeing none oh you have one okay you're you're you're you're messing up my role no not really go ahead Mr Victor thank you for coming um so yes are you know digging into the the books right and I want to just thank you for your support of 1114 I believe um you know as an organization and as a board we're really proud that um this school district is was one of the few in the state to Institute ethnic studies for K through e8th grade students um I think at the time was the second only in the state you all made history and that the research that dat was quoted that that elevates students not only uh attendance but grows reduces uh the risk of dropping out but also improves academic achievement between white and non-white students and most importantly it creates a more inclusive space and I would say also a space for us to heal um there's a lot of uh hate that could be integrated living in this society and such hate is reproduced onto others and when hear um our students saying that you know in families and staff that they don't feel safe because of who they are um it's not just a issue of bad uh students being bad but it's an issue of us also trying to heal our communities and so I'm glad to see Freedom s media um working with the school district to address issues of antiblackness and in the process as well it's really important that we listen to that community and the solutions and also because he is San Jose San Jose residents who grew up in this community and so we're we're thankful for your support and your openminded being open-minded to how ethnic studies and learn about your culture and your pride could also be healing but also academically uh an academic tool has been a tool for me that's how I trans my life to working for the community but also to be a continuous um person that's trying to Lear and heal and support not only my community but others so thank you for your support thank you for your comments um seeing no more public comment I will move to the trustees any comments uh seeing none I will move for the vote uh this is to approve 1102 through 11:15 all in favor raise your hand uh 5 uh approv unanimously I and since uh you pulled the item 1101 please speak on that now yeah um there's a bunch of minutes here that are covering a lot of really heavy meetings and I get it they have to be approved however um I'm concerned um and that there's a lot of um Miss there's a bunch of meetings here where there significant things took place and they need to be spot on so um I would be more comfortable if we held them off to the 27 and had uh Council uh go over them and make sure that everything that needs to be in those minutes is there um I know that it's a departure in the past we used to have like word for word minutes and they really long and they had everything now these minutes are changing and they're basically action minutes where all the words are now being removed and there is a there's a very small somebody spoke or something like that um and I get that and I I'll be I'm supportive with that I just want to make sure that we're clear with the public G in fact they're looking at previous minutes and they see all kinds of details they show up to these they're going to be like what's going on that that we be clear about that we are but I would be more comfortable moving these on moving these uh to the 27th and making sure that um Council has a chance to take a look at the language uh especially for those heavy meetings um that need to be really really spot on so that we can be protected from any legal okay that's my request okay so this is what I'm hearing um that you're requesting to bring them back to uh the board meeting on June 20 move them to the June 27th meeting and so in in that request do I have a motion motion to table the item until the June 27th meeting okay so but was to make sure that council with with the directive that LE uh District Council reviewed a minutes and and and clarify you know uh where items need to be uh recorded okay do I have a second second uh uh okay so let me take public comment any public comment seeing none um do I have any board comment before we take the vote uh seeing none okay all in favor of the motion that was made to table uh the board meeting minutes and then having the uh Council review and look at uh raise your hand so five Z motion passes okay so now we are going to close session uh so I will let Dr alasan make the announcement on the closed session items Clos session items 12.03 conference with legal councel and anticipated litigation 12.04 conference with legal council um existing litigation um 12.05 conference with legal council again uh existing litigation on those cases indicated there um 12.06 conference with with labor negotiators and employee organization area 12.07 conference with labor negotiators employee organizations CA 12.08 conference with labor negotiators employee organization Teamsters 12.09 Public Public Employee dis discipline dismissal release non- reelection and 12.10 public employ employee appointment employment uh title director of same cedal programs Madam President we have a 10 minute reset yes I was just going to say uh so right now it's 10:35 uh everybody if you can please be in your seats at 10:45 in the uh board in in the trusty boardroom thank you uh we will be back in Open Session approximately in an hour after that so 11:45 11:45 Okay so e e e little brain you guys stuck around huh Brian he was really popular principal you better get ready it's be hours I keep this up Consul yeah he really well still lives on oh okay so we're back from Co session at 11:33 dr's going to read out thank you there is one item to report out from close session which is item 12 uh one Z on a motion by um truste Andrea Flores Shelton seconded by truste cor Corina era Lera by unanimous vote the board approved the employment of Dr Kyla Snider Jimenez as a director of state and federal and there are no more items to report out from close session uh and so I'm adjourning the meeting at 11:34 uh before I do that the next meeting is going to be June 27 2024 and if anybody wants to send any um items uh that could be emailed later thank you

for e for e e [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Le good morning and thank you all so much for being here I am so very proud of this group this morning and I am here to present the principal award the principal Spirit award goes to the member of the eth grade who demonstrates exceptional enthusiasm positivity and school spirit the recipient impacts peers and teachers through their enthusiastic participation in school events like middle school spirit weeks their positive attitude and support of others through little acts of kindness this year we have two recipients so I'm gonna I would like to speak about each one and then we can have a round of applause for both of the recipients the first recipient is analie alakar outside of school analie analie is a caring individual involved in Bible study and babysitting while in school she's an active member of the middle school student council pause club and Junior National Honor Society her peers share analie always helps other students whether it's loaning Chromebook Chargers or a pencil during class analie is very kind and makes everyone around her feel welcome an will be attending toono next year Dylan Lee is our second outside of school Dylan is an Active Athlete participating in football basketball soccer and fishing while in school he has been a valuable member of the football team basketball team and middle school student council Dylan has maintained excellence in his academics achieving honor role throughout Middle School his peers share Dylan is always energetic and excited for the day during spirit week he always goes out all out even when others don't participate Dylan participates in student counsel and always makes sure to bring extra things for Spirit Week just in case someone forgets at the school dances he's also very energetic and helps everyone get hyped to have a good time Dylan will be attending toono next year as well and I can truly say that it is young people rising into school high school such as analie and Dylan that help Inspire other students and create a Tonto culture of unity and pride so I'd like to invite anal and Dylan up to receive [Applause] and at this time I would like to present the project 351 ambassadors award this award is given to the following students for exemplary service values of kindness compassion humility and gratitude our kapor and Savannah [Applause] Christensen the next award that will be presented presented is effort across the curriculum the Danto 8th grade team would like to recognize a student for the sustained and consistent effort in all four core classes science math social studies and English this student has demonstrated dedication to their Studies by always doing their best work actively participating in class discussions and activities putting much thought an effort into their homework assignments and maintaining a positive attitude towards learning and this award goes to [Applause] Skyler and at this time I would like to invite Miss Leandra to the [Applause] Podium this sec is going yeah so we have several awards for different subject areas and then we also have some awards for the highest Middle School average so we have two recipients of the highest Middle School average and the first goes to anzel verica [Applause] and the second recipient of the highest Middle School average is Paige [Applause] [Music] Gordon we have several academic awards for different subject areas some teachers have um given the award based on the the highest average or the highest score in the class some have also given effort Awards and we also have awards for some of our um Specialists so the first award is an art award and that goes to Jaden [Applause] ainson our next award is for ELA lab and that goes to Thomas Christensen [Applause] our next award is for French and that goes to saie [Applause] Lewis our next award is a Spanish award and that goes to Enzo Pinta [Applause] our next award is a chorus award and the chorus award goes to Savannah [Applause] Christian we have a couple recipients of the Jazz award the Jazz Band award and the first one is Lily Turnquist and the next one for jazz band is Zachary Chapman we have a concert band award and that goes to Isaac ringer we have a couple of physical education Awards and the first one goes to Kus Amin our next physical education award goes to Payton [Music] Bowie our health award goes to Colin brassette our award for computer science goes to arov kapor our reward for technology goes to Skyler AR we have a couple of awards for Science and the first one is the highest average in science and that goes to Savannah Christian our next award in science is for science effort and that goes to Sophie [Music] we have a forensic science award and that goes to Sarah Joseph we have a couple of awards for social studies the first one is for the highest average in social studies and that goes to Paige Gordon there must have been a tie for that average is another highest average in social studies Satie [Applause] [Music] Lewis an effort award for social studies goes to laury Ryan [Applause] we have an award for our Civics in action class and that goes to Leah Joseph we have a couple of awards for English the first one is for the highest average in English and that goes to anzel Vera the English effort award goes to Avery [Applause] genten our award for horiculture goes to Owen Bratton [Applause] we have some awards for Algebra 1 the highest average in Algebra 1 goes to arav [Music] [Applause] kapor the effort award for Algebra 1 is Isaac ringer [Applause] the highest average in pre-algebra goes to Savannah Christensen and the effort award for pre-algebra goes to Leah [Applause] Joseph at this time I would like to go ahead in call up a couple of our eighth grade teachers to present some special awards for writing and Mathematics the Janice M Andrews writing award is given in honor in memory of Janice M Andrews whose 20year career at tono included roles as an English teacher special ed teacher and a guidance counselor the Janice M Andrews writing award is presented annually to the eth grader who consistently demonstrated exceptional writing skills in the areas of idea development Clarity in organization sentence structure grammar usage and mechanics this year's award is presented to anel Bara it's my pleasure every year to present the Christopher hatch's Second Memorial math award in addition to the excellent academic achievement this year's recipient also demonstrated a daily tenacity and perseverance they continually strive for excellence and it will come as no surprise to the Winter's classmates when I invite back to the podium RF [Applause] Kor I would like to call back to the podium now miss aquera and Mr picarello for the presentation of the certificates [Applause] good morning everybody uh middle schools not easy and I just want to take a minute to recognize these guys for working really hard to get here today and thank you all for being here today to to celebrate with them because this is an achievement so just want to thank you all for being here this is a great um turnout for these guys [Applause] Jacob [Music] Alberts Annalie [Applause] alentar Aiden Alexander [Applause] bar [Applause] Amin Skyler Arthur Jaden Atkinson jasine [Applause] [Music] Aela Avery May bman [Applause] anel [Applause] Bera Alexander [Music] [Applause] vanilla Ben for pton Bowie Olivia boin cobber William [Applause] Bradford Kaye [Music] Brock Owen [Music] Bratton Colin [Applause] brassette Maria kavante Zachary [Applause] [Music] chapmanan charre Cassidy sh Thomas [Applause] christens Savannah Christensen [Applause] I Christian dza Rogan [Applause] Decker Matthew [Applause] DeSantis Samantha Dexter Malcolm toat Hol Toby eelan bronwin [Applause] [Music] xtram Emily fler Natalia Fran [Applause] Enrique Gabriel forment Avery [Applause] jender Stella [Applause] Joe Paige Gordon Elizabeth Harden rain Henry Grace jolio an [Music] [Applause] jagan M [Music] Jason Emily Jenny Lea [Applause] Joseph Sarah Joseph AR [Applause] Cur Dylan Lee Dean Leber stie Lewis Aiden McDonald Julia [Applause] Marini Zach [Applause] machinski Grace mcfarley alen Miller Damen Morrison Chris [Applause] meller Alicia novaro giovana Rodriguez NZ [Applause] sahasra [Applause] paala Enzo Pinto William [Applause] plin Nathan [Applause] Quirk Maximillian repos [Applause] Isaac ringer Jaden Asher Solon Rodriguez Ken Ross Laur Le [Applause] Ryan Connor schwar Dylan [Applause] schwar Patrick Shen Richard Smith Gavin stead Sophie St Judy [Applause] Tang James Turner Lily [Applause] Turnquist Angelina Yuba [Applause] Matthew [Applause] betet Mila [Applause] verini Jack Walton Tessa wheeler [Applause] Williamson Delaney [Applause] Wright please join me in congratulating the CL oh [Applause] [Music] hey hey [Music] y [Music] [Applause] [Music]

for welcome everybody uh my name is Walt Kowski and if you're a regular viewer bevcam uh you'll recognize me as the host of the longtime bevcam series Northshore Journal but enough about that we're here today in Bev Cam's brand new Studio B auxiliary Studio on cabat street and uh today happens also to be the day that Beverly has its annual artsfest and uh we've got some people we're going to be interviewing some of the sponsors we're going to be interviewing some of the uh uh the artists uh to give you a feel of what's going on here at artsfest and what better way to start off uh I have with me the executive director of Beverly main streets Ain Truax and she has brought a guest also uh John Andrews welcome folks thank you for having us so uh Erin I'll start with you um uh how long this is I understand what the what the 21st annual so tell us a little bit about the B of the Beverly Arts Fest and how long it's been going on and kind of about how many booths you have and just kind of give us a an aerial view of what's going on absolutely yes so we are in our 21st year artsfest Beverly is produced by Beverly main streets we're a nonprofit based here in Beverly Massachusetts where we promote downtown Beverly we really support the economic Vitality of our downtown and celebrate the arts and culture that this city has to offer so artsfest is a fantastic way to do that in our first year we're fortunate to have 150 vendors today we'll be uh running the show from 10 to 4 um of those 150 vendors those were selected out of 250 applicants so really really excited to have so many folks that were interested in joining us uh we have a variety of activities so not only is there going to be art for sale but there's great kids activities engagement opportunities and a lot of our sponsors are going to be here providing uh services so it's just it's going to be a great time weather's looking great it's a really wonderful opportunity to celebrate arts and Beverly and for those folks who might need a little snack to perk them up tell us about you've got some uh some food uh wagons some U food carts uh yeah so we are on cabitt street so we have a lot of great restaurants that you can support some restaurants are also going to be vending as well and then if folks aren't based in downtown they're also in a food court so we have Joe's on a roll we have saw from solvia Kitchen on ranol street they will actually be vending uh just off of cabitt street so variety of options I know the castle is serving up milkshakes which is probably great for the weather that we have today uh we have delines just a variety of really really great vendors so there really is something for everyone very good and I'd like to remind our viewers if you've just tuned in that we're here at the Bev Cam's brand new studio at 161 is that the address three three sorry three 261 oh I'll get it right uh 261 uh cabat Street in downtown Beverly uh and we are uh we're simoc casting and we are also live on bcams two of be B Cam's three channels and now we don't want to leave John there by himself twiddling his thumbs so eron introduce John and tell us what his affiliation here is with uh with the artsfest in Beverly Main Street sure absolutely so Beverly main streets is really fortunate to be members of the creative Collective which is a really really great business that together creatives across the NorthShore they produce a lot of events themselves as well but John really has a a strong purview and pulse on what's happening in the Arts community so was really excited to have John join us and share a bit because he knows a lot of these vendors and again his business is just a really great connector for our artistic Community right very good so tell us a little bit about creative Collective John sure um so our organization was built to be a support system for creative and non-traditional businesses um and we also have a really strong passion for Community Building Place Making Place keeping and events like the festival this Festival we had our Festival in Salem last weekend um the critical importance of what this means to the downtown to the economy the critical role that organizations like Beverly main streets and other main streets play in the downtowns we want to Foster and support as much as we possibly can can we've built a significant Following over the years so we're able to really amplify the messaging you know incentivize people to want to come out and shop all these local creators and makers you know some people don't don't remember the fact that just because they don't have a storefront these are still our neighbors these are still the people that go to our coffee shops and Shop locally themselves so really fostering that cycle of of Community Development economic devel velopment plac making and making people really feel like you know we're back completely we're Gathering completely and community building and Community gathering around arts and culture really seems to be the path to Healing so all of that seems to be really in line with the mission of Beverly Main Street well wonderfully said yeah now you you said nontraditional uh businesses Define that for what would be a non-traditional business so unfortunately some folks that are leaning heavier into the Arts category um the world doesn't treat them like traditional businesses so you know maybe the guy that makes fake raccoon Tales something like that that you would see at a festival like this but you know traditional thinking people aren't like oh that's part of our small business Community we think everyone can be part of the small business Community like that these people pay taxes they show up they shop locally they have kids in schools so we try to really bring a little bit of equity into the not your typical downtown business but they're still part of that ecosystem so would they be like no brick and mortar or would some of them a lot of them don't I mean I know that there's some folks out here vending today that have both but there's a lot of folks out there that this is the hustle this is what they do and for some of them this is not their full-time business they may do this you know have a to and you know they paint at night right up in the French painter up in the Garrett right right and part of what what we want is if you want to be that full-time business if you want to give up yeah that N9 to-5 we try to find a path to make that happen yeah so more opportunities more connections small business grant small business support all that kind of stuff now you're how big a net do you throw John what by that I mean how how far a field do you go from Beverly like how many communities do you serve um we have our our primary focus is Beverly Lynn Salem and PE but I have members all over the state um because a lot of you know what Co did for us is it showed that you could have a lot of meetings and give a lot of support and you don't need to be in person and because of the great work that the local organizations do there is a wealth of opportunities on the NorthShore so just because someone's from Lawrence doesn't mean they can't make a ton of money by doing the festival Serv circuit in the summer coming into Salem in the fall so our our net pretty much extends we have some members in marac Valley we have some members up in hail we have some New Hampshire members but I would say 85% of our membership is p Sal Lin and Beverly and you'll see that really reflected in this Arts vest today you're not going to see a bunch of vendors that are just Beverly based we really did cast a wide net we've been fortunate enough to bring folks from out of the area in so again when you look at the vendors that we've brought in there's a variety of different categories but we were really intentional in making sure that what you're finding is unique uh there's different offerings it's not necessarily something you're going to see at every other festival we really work hard to ensure that we're bringing new folks in yeah I was curious uh your selection process you said you had about 250 applications but only chose 150 so what what do you base what Criterion do you use yeah so we have an artsfest jury that gathers and so we are still fine tuning and we're always updating and constantly evolving but we really look for diversity in our artists we consider categories so if someone if is doing something similar to someone else we we base it off of that so we're not 150 jewelry makers or you know 200 shirt makers so we do it according to various categories and then uh another piece is just making sure that folks are established and are able to set up their vendor station so we want to make it as as painless as possible in terms of of participating so there's a a variety of factors but again we use a a jury with residents um local business owners and others to to help make those selections so um constantly evolving and improving that process right now has have you ever done a count of how many uh uh patrons uh come through does anybody kind of I know you don't stand there with a little clicker but do you estimate how big a crowd you get we get over 4,000 people and we're we're pretty confident with the weather the way that it is we've seen the Arts Fest last week in Salem festivals continue to Trend in the direction of larger and larger so we anticipate this is going to be our largest to date we have a lot of really great engagement activities I know we were talking about it before we went on the air we have our our first year doing our Wellness Hub so a mental Wellness Hub in partnership with mental makeover uh that's a really great opportunity for folks that might be a little overwhelmed with the size and scale of a festival they can go and um have a safe space where they can relax use um some some activities to help sort of regulate their emotions so we really tried to come up with activities that were very intentional uh and again drive a bigger crowd yeah now how did that come about were there incidences that that caused you to think we got to do something about these in can you yeah so we're really fortunate to have received funding from Mass cultural Council through a universal participation Grant and when you look at trying to make spaces more Equitable there's a lot of intentionality around physical spaces and impairments that might impede someone from being able to move freely which is completely understandable and really valuable but when you look at it from a perspective of someone that might have impairments whether it be mentally or social emotionally there wasn't a lot of intentionality in making sure that folks could feel comfortable so this is the first um opportunity for us to do that we just really saw it as a great way to partner with mental makeover they're in our school systems they do a lot of really great work it's a great organization uh and we just really wanted to constantly think if someone is coming are we creating the most welcoming space possible and we felt like that was a very easy opportunity to partner highlight a great nonprofit and again just meet people where they're at so it is the first year it's a little bit of trial and error but we're pretty confident that it's going to be well received and hopefully we can continue to do it in the future wonderful and overall of course uh uh I've been coming to these since 2003 I think bevcam has been uh uh doing this broadcasting from here since 2003 so we have practically as long as you've been here but uh but overall it is a very uh family fun oriented uh you know dogs are allowed on a leash of course yes yes one last question for John John where do you get your funding where do you get your money is this a member based organiz we're we're we're member based and we also do um a bunch of projects right so things that fit in that category of that intersection for us um one project we did in Beverly a couple years ago is we work with the city of Beverly to help them do The Artisan residence program that popped up at the old Kean yeah okay yeah so when there's a certain situation that needs a little bit of like how did those two worlds how did the municipal world and the arts and culture World kind of talk together um how do we help that make that happen great um so it's a little of both right well folks thank you for stopping by I enjoyed our our little chat we've got other folks we want to talk to a little bit about and I've had eron X who is the executive director of Beverly main streets who puts this whole Arts Fest on thank you yes and I'll offer just one more a quick thank you to our Visionary sponsor Endicott who helps make that possible through a monetary donation we are a nonprofit organization so folks would like to contribute again entirely free to participate we're members of the mass cultural council card to culture program so we keep our programs free we do that as a nonprofit through donations so if folks would like to give they can do so on our website or at our station today very good very good and John John Andrews thank you very much for coming by and chatting with us I don't have the same type of pitch because that was impressive I will say if if you're a business in in the arts and culture space and you're looking for some support we can help very good so I'm looking over at the floor director uh and uh we're g to uh we're going to say goodbye to you folks thank you for stopping by and uh as um I just like to remind our viewers that um we're here at uh be Cam's brand new studio on cabat street and of course the excitement today is not only the opening of the studio but it also coincides with uh Beverly's Annual Arts Fest and we're going to be we've just had the executive director of Beverly main streets who is the uh main sponsor uh and producer of this organization of this of this artsfest uh and we'll be having some of the vendors come by and I just to remind you that we are broadcast casting live on Bev Cam's two of Bev Cam's channels and streaming as well and now I'd like to introduce my next guest and let me see you are let me guess uh Judy I am you are Judy yes Judy welcome Judy George yes Judy George and you are can you move your seat up a little bit you want to try to be as close to the microphone as you as you can and um Judy has a has a uh a booth here obviously and your booth is called what my booth is Judy George art Judy George art and I have to say Judy that I did a little bit of research and I I saw your website and I I am just taken with your your paintings you do you do paintings and they're very to me very evocative and they really they're not uh they're not like a picture photograph you you kind of put a mood into the into the pictures uh and that that's that's a a tough thing to do you you you I and you're selftaught I understand mostly yeah mostly selftaught but did you go to art school before so I went to monzerat before it was here when it was moner used to be Behind the norer Music Theater okay um and then I've studied with a lot of local artists over the years but I never formally went and got an art degree yeah and and has this been uh how long have you been doing Judy George Artistry so this is my formally my actually uh 11th year 11th year um yeah I've always worked in art in some way shape or form but this is my 11th year since I began the business formally uhhuh now you uh do you have a a a space outside your studio though you do your or you do it like in the basement in the Attic or in your living room or do you do most of your art so most of 100% is done in my home but my home used to be shops in the front and a house in the back okay and um when my husband and I got married the front was like a dining room and a kids' room and now it's gone back to um shop space and a space where I do lessons and I actually paint in the do my paint and formal work in the way back where my guinea pigs live oh really now i i al you mentioned something uh else you mentioned that you Al also do workshops and classes now is this for any age group or primarily for children or what's what's your clientele for that so I do um my regular classes are geared probably more for like 14 and up um those are my Reg regular classes however I do camps for younger kids uh about 10 and up um I can take younger children if they're super interested in art but um much younger than that and I think that they're not interested in what I'm doing but I um I also do things like paint nights and I do um something new I'm starting which is selfcare and it's for people um anyone that wants to try art just to relax but it's also I've worked in special education for something years okay um so I'd like to bring in a lot of people uh um maybe on the Spectrum or where they're not comfortable in other places where they can come in and we can work together not so much lesson as just a safe creative space yeah and and and it's amazing that uh um the the interplay of the mind with art or something more I would say I I don't want to use spiritual in that I I want to use it in a sense that that it works your body your your your body as well as your like like you have uh you have service dogs and you have comfort dogs that go into hospitals and I've heard stories about someone who has been uh not said a word for six months and and they put a little puppy a little service dog therapy dog and I do that therapy dog yes and and I know that we had uh my wife and I had a therapy she's passed away since then the therapy dog not my wife uh and uh and uh she used to go around to the Hospitals and Clinics and things like that and and uh it's it's amazing how I bring my dog to a lot of different places but one of the places is dver High School where I'm just retiring from this week um but he goes in and you can see the kids change like they'll you'll I'll see him in classes and their faces are down and they're and they'll see him in the hallway and they go there's peanut and it's the same with the staff you see the like it's like flipping a switch and I bring them to a lot of places like nursing homes um and what a difference between the the uh people the residents and the staff yes and you know because uh animals are so non-judgmental and what you see is what you yeah you don't have to worry about a about some ulterior motive when a dog is waving his uh tail and and and putting his paws up you know that that's that's real genuine it's genuine yeah now do you uh typically U uh attend a different kinds of fairs like the the the Beverly Arts Fest is that part of how you promote yourself I do some but I do mostly uh holidays I don't do it a lot in the summer just because I I don't outside is so tough with the weather and you don't know what the weather's going to be like so I do indoor um fairs mostly I'd say November December some in October um and I do artsfest because it's Beverly and it's artsfest and do you live in Beverly yep all my life yeah oh right now when you when you do these workshops and these classes how many how many people normally would you get in a class um I have had like if the ones I do at my house I've had up to six but I don't like that many I like to keep it between two and four because I can do individual instruction I don't work in a um I don't have a syllabus today we're going to do this and this I like to work with I start everybody off um one way which is basically looking at how they do a still life and that only tells me where they are and where we need to go and then I can work each individually so that way I don't have to try to gear every lesson for everybody I'm very much in the um individualized mode I think that's my special ed background right well when when you when you do with that creative stuff you can't regiment that it's not like an assembly line like building a car it's it's so individual you got to meet them where they're at and you got to encourage them where they're at yeah yeah very good very good so uh we took you away from your booth Y and so so uh Judy George yep thank you very much for for coming by and talking with us and we'll let you go back to your booth Duty and I'm going to stop by before because I thank you very much I'm sure that your paintings look a lot better in person than they do on on your website I was very impressed with your with your thank you very much nice to meet you so it was Judy George who has a uh a booth at the Beverly uh artsfest and just to remind our viewers we are uh broadcasting on two of Bev Cam's channels and we are also uh streaming live uh with this podcast from Beverly Bev cams brand new Studio B Studio Annex what what do you call this uh uh Liz what is is this bevcam downtown bevcam downtown is the official yeah I see Rob Chapman the executive director nodding at me this is called bevcam downtown and it's a wonderful beautiful space I wish we would have done it under my command but kudos to you well and I have now with me you are she's I'm just here for emotional support okay I'm Eva from emc2 crft emc2 could you move up a little bit so you're a bit close closer to the to the microphone yeah so EMC craft and and your name again is Eva Eva and what's your last name Cooper Eva Cooper okay so uh and you are mallerie her mallerie okay mallerie and so tell us uh uh about EMC uh 2 or emc2 crafts yeah it's not EMC squared right well you can say even yeah you know you know you EMC squ is a very very famous equation don't you okay so was that on purpose you did that all right okay just lots of people say it wrong so we kind of go with either one yeah okay great yeah my initials are Eva Michelle Cooper so that makes EMC too oh wow so and then my business is the second one so it creates the square wow I I I yeah you are so precocious that that is unbelievable yeah that that's that's that's wonderful so what what tell us a little bit bit give us a snapshot of what what you're about uh and how how you started this up now how old are you I'm 14 14 okay so tell us how EMC squared uh uh came about so it started last August where I started creating slime because I have OCD and I started pulling out my hair due to large amounts of stress and I also have ADHD so that slime was my way of fidgeting and I wanted to share that with other people and then I moved to more more crafty things so it started off as emc2 slime and then it moved to emc2 crafts so I crochet now which is my part of dealing with my ocv and I sell it to other people who you know they might need like slime to stop doing whatever they need to do like with pulling their hair maybe picking at their skin so it's usually all helping with neurod Divergent people and then I started selling crochet because that's what helped me yeah so instead of pulling their hair they crochet right that that energy is going into something creative right yeah that's exactly why I started doing I have to tell you that my mother was a fantastic crocheter and and she she was uh she did needle work she was a what do you call those people that do um bordering cross stitching well she she she would do um what do you call it when you when you do altering she worked in a in a well anyway but she could she could upholster a couch that's how that's how good she could with the piping and everything that's amazing yeah so and now how long have you been doing this Eva I only started in January for my crocheting but last August I started up with slime I've always been looking into like Arts since like I was very little I've been doing craft bears for about that long yeah um we did we my parents are authors and I'm also an author so we went to a bunch of Book Fairs book signings and that really started up with me wanting to do craft fairs yeah so then I started doing the crocheting stuff that January which is also my birth month and so I started doing that and now we're here wow now you say your parents are artists what kind of art do they do um I'm sorry art art authors go ahead I do like fantasy I haven't made a book in a while but my parents do sci-fi oh mallerie also does mostly sci-fi my parents do romance okay and what do you do um I have one children's book when I when I made when I was around like and my parents you got a late start didn't you yeah yeah my parents had it Illustrated and written into a children's book and then I have a short um chapter novel where it's um a fantasy book and it's very similar to Percy Jackson CU that's what I really liked when I was that age and I haven't written a sequel yet but maybe one day yeah you know they have a program at at the at the library uh called Monday mornings at the library and uh I I know I know the folks that run the bevcam has been over there uh a lot uh and maybe maybe they could have you on as a as an author and talk about how you other bols now you have something here uh maybe you could hold just hold it up right here so the camera can get that now tell us what this is this is a looks like a giant uh strawberry is that what that is it is a giant and and you knit this whole thing I crocheted it I'm sorry it's crochetting okay I I have to so what's the difference between knitting and crocheting um there are multiple differences crocheting is same with loops but they're connected from the bottom and to the side so you do it in this motion but with knitting you also do with two needles and there's a reason why it's very different from knitting one of those reasons is that a machine cannot crochet but it can knit oh all crochet items you see are you know handmade and if you see them in the store either they're fake crochet or said they had someone crochet it wow I'm more comfortable with eal mc² than crocheting I me my goodness this so complicated but uh that's that's absolutely wonderful and uh this is probably your first time here at the Beverly Arts Fest this is our first time now you live in Beverly um we live in Danver in Danver oh just right next door right next door right so what would you what would you say to other uh uh other youngsters in your age group about if they have a creative impulse or creative Bend H how is it how how best to uh to uh uh get that going and get that in motion what would you what would you advise them there are a lot of places where you can find cheap stuff that you can probably buy with your own money so go thrifting and don't let anybody tell you that it is not a job it will become one if you spend enough time on it in work but it will not become a job immediately you have to work with it and have a lot of time with it and it will create this thing that's long lasting there's so many people on YouTube for so inspiring who've had their business for years and they're now just hitting the peak so you really have to wait and just keep going with your craft and not get disappointed with anything that you're getting yeah yeah and and of course there's no right or wrong in art is there because it's so so individual and it comes really from the heart and and from your your creative Spirit doesn't it yeah there's there's like no way that this a machine could make this so that makes it even more personal that somebody had to handcraft this and now you have their handcrafted work yeah and and now how much would you be selling this for um it's $20 $20 I have a $200 giant strawberry that's like half the size of me really and what's what's inside here like foam or something um it's polyfill and I use yarn scraps to try to reduce my yarn waste cuz whenever you create a crochet project there's going to be so many scraps of yarn so you can just reuse it into stuffing this is wonderful you know what I'm going to buy this from you I'm going to surprise my wife cuz she loves strawberries okay so just put so so put it aside or I'll I'll you can put it there and I'll I'll give you $20 okay is that is that a deal yes that is I hope I have $20 you can always come by and pay with card we have card let's see you you take credit card no let's see what this is what is this that is a 20 okay that so there made a sale with you sale on air okay sale on air very good no I'm very very impressed uh Eva is it Eva yeah it is Eva Eva so I'm very very impressed and you have siblings uh no I'm an only child you're you're an only child okay well uh Eva thank you very much for for coming by I'm I'm very impressed uh with you and I'm I'm sure that you uh you have the ability to inspire uh folks to to continue doing that and you have your you have your uh Comfort person with you and that that's that's because you you're uh if you do things by yourself you get a little bit uh yeah so so this person helps to Anchor you I hope you're not nervous of me are you no okay you seem very nice I seem very well that's I haven't gotten a compliment I had in a long time well again thank you very much uh thank you for coming by and good luck to you uh at the at Beverly artsfest thank you thank you thanks for having us okay bye bye well that was uh that was very enlightening and I think that's uh that's kind of a lesson not only for young people uh but for everybody who has a creative uh creative bent uh explore it because uh as we said there's no right and there's no wrong it's such an individual uh thing art is uh and I like to uh remind our viewers that we are here in Bev Cam's uh Studio on uh 261 I got it right that time right two 261 Cabbage Street this is Beverly downtown did I get that right okay I got to learn this is brand new brand new uh facility uh just opened and I think this is this is the initial is this the initial day that we've been doing this yeah all right rob you want to come down and sit down like talking to you off camera yeah so uh for those of you who don't know uh this is Rob Chapman and Rob is the executive director of bevcam and I want to congratulate you on on putting this uh together uh and we tried to do it under my regime but we we just didn't have the money to do something like this but this location so so tell us how this came about and uh and uh what we're looking at here it's a it's a huge space a beautiful space is from the beginning when I first took over for you when I took as on the executive director job uh the board has been talking about we want to U expand operations we want to get downtown on cabitt so you know we've been looking for a year and a half and then one day I got a call from Liz who's our community engagement manager and said the place next to delines is opening up and I'm like that vitamin store the new leaf and they're she's like yeah I said that's a nice spot right there on the corner of cabat you know that's really where a lot of the activity on cabat happens right so and with right everything we've been wanting was you know enough square footage uh some window space so we could let people know that we're here uh so I I came in and kind of grabbed it that day yeah did you really it was pretty we were pretty aggressive carpm right you don't want you know I even brought him some money and said you know here's my Earnest I got $635 we're serious we want to be in here yeah uh so yeah we uh they let us know they were very the landlords very excited that it was a community based nonprofit that was going to be coming in so yeah uh that was really kind of I think helped in our favor as opposed to another store or something like that so um we're you know um nonprofit that wants to serve the community so they really kind of like that uh so we got it we got the lease we signed it and we spent most of the winter uh renovating it uh you know you know it was a a lot of work had to be done into it to kind of and we're still doing some we're getting the new windows next week yeah uh the sign is coming soon so all right and you even moved your office down here to show the commitment to the area right well you know I felt kind of um hidden back there at the school I wanted to get my face out there let people know if they wanted to talk to the executive director they could just stop at any right here they can just walk through the door yeah so I thought it was really kind of nice so you know we thought about you know we do still have the operations at the high school so staff we have out there Chris and Michelle are out there generally uh and we thought about where the best place to put Rob and others so right right now now for those people who don't know now beev cam has four channels now we do we got we gained a high defition channel right right so that's something that's something relatively new we we we struggled I know we struggled for years and years to try to get that into our contract our agreement yeah you know every other channel you watch is highdefinition so we're sort of the last people that are yeah and when people turn that in or turn you're showing your age showing my age it's clicked it's like this now yeah so uh so tell us about that the high def channel so you're picking and choosing certain progr yeah so it's not you know typically the three channels the standard definitions we are are sort of separated between public education and government right uh so we were like what are we going to do with the the high defition channel so we wanted to really kind of showcase you know there's stuff that's really kind of prime footage or uh content you know we're talking about the the the football games the high school games and sports uh the municipal meetings if you're ever trying to watch a municipal meeting and they're showing a PowerPoint presentation and you try to read that on the standard definition but when you're at high definition you see everything all the tiny numbers so you kind of know what the city's planning and stuff like that so we look at things that really sort of that are local that is produced at bevcam that are really deserve sort of that high definition stuff like that so uh you know we pick and choose from what we have at at bevcam and and sort of put it on you know one point I started calling it bevcam prime or something like that but we just call the HD channel yeah and uh now you're you're you are a membership organization we are yeah so people can uh and I know that the rates are are are uh I would say ridiculously low I mean for what you get as as a as a member of bevcam you get so much you get the ability to to produce programming you get training you don't have to pay for any materials it it's really it's it's like a no-brainer it's a pretty good deal you know we have for you know training we now have these edit Suites down here at this location Studio we have the the big Studio at the high school we have we're planning on a smaller Studio here in this space um all sorts of things equipment that can be signed out uh um it's really just a uh all for you know a pretty nominal uh fee as a m which hasn't changed in 20 years we're looking at changing that but maybe increasing those rates but it's still a pretty good deal I think and I didn't I didn't realize that until you just said it you've got editing Suites over there I didn't I didn't know You' have yeah now if somebody wants to come in here uh and um they should just consider it that that if they're bevcam member they can do anything here that they can do in the main Studio but now if they want to do something like a podcast like this they just they just call in and reserve space how would that work yeah exactly it would just be like you know I'm I'm thinking I want can I schedule the the podcasting Studio down at 261 MH um for this time and if it's free we say yeah if we make sure we have staff here to help you with the setting up the technical stuff and and go ahead and start talking yeah and I know that the students at the high school are doing more and more of this kind of stuff uh we hardly uh you know I mean going back even five years three years ago there was you know nothing like this but I think I think the the co lockdown and uh and uh you know the the uh virtual working virtually and so forth and uh that's really changed a lot of lot of way people do business and communicate especially right so you're able to to do that kind of stuff a different there's been a shift a noticeable shift in how people do stuff so yeah very good well I I my congratulations are in order I I me I I know what it takes uh because I've been in your seat so I have to congratulate you on a job very well done uh Rob and you've got a great great crew uh my old friend Chris Harvey back here doing the technical directing he's he's one of the best absolutely no it's been we've had a big shift in in staff at Beth cam too so you know we've been able to hire Liz as our community engagement manager we've now brought on Amanda who's our education uh manager so that's a lot of the work that she's been doing that you talked about with the students yeah um so uh and then Michelle's our content manager she's the one who does all the scheduling for the channels right right uh they're they're great crew to work with so I'm glad to be here well I want to I want to do a shout out to Liz who's who's on the other side of the cameras there taking pictures but uh but she's great to work with and uh she communicates very well and uh she does a great job making sure that the visibility oh look at that she's blowing me kisses so very good well Rob thank you very much and congratulations this is a wonderful operation all right am I leaving stage and you're going to close it or we closing well I'm looking for a signal from Liz should I close out close out okay all right rob you can I guess you can sit here all right well uh ladies and gentlemen uh thank you for for watching uh my name is Walt Kowski uh the regular host of Northshore Journal which uh has been running on Bev Camp since 2004 so uh yeah 20 years uh and uh I'm very pleased and honored to be here to kick off the brand new uh uh Beverly on Broadway no Beverly downtown I'll get it right bevcam downtown uh and uh we we are we're going to be doing this uh all day today right Liz nod your head yeah so there'll be some other folks coming and sitting in this chair uh doing some podcasting so uh for right now I'd like to sign off and say thank you for watching uh and keep watching bevcam [Music] Siri play that one song Diego sent me okay oh how to do that with apple intelligence it's AI that gets you on your Apple products iPhone iPad Mac with built-in privacy and you can make your own Emoji yeah make your own Emoji make your new profile pick with image playground pull up a photo by describing it or clean up an otherwise very cute pick you can make a movie your life plus a description plus your camera rooll equals sweet memories wa Siri when's Mom's flight landing oh where are we eating after ah how do I share a password what if I forget all this stuff just ask Apple intelligence can tldr your long messages and highlights the important ones it can just find stuff deep in your phone like your driver's license number come [Music] Wix gives you the power of AI to build the website you need with full business functionality and a design tailored just for you customize every element of your website and watch your vision come to life in minutes control everything from the biggest tasks to the finest details personalized optimized ready to go live [Music] Old Spice party I hold Matt fin [Music] welcome back to the Beverly Arts Fest here at bevcam downtown our brand new location right next door to delines and across from uh paper Asylum we're right down the street from monserat yeah we're like in the middle of everything it's so fantastic come on down to the artsfest or if not you can continue watching us on TV and YouTube We're uh currently streaming live on Channel 8 HD channel 1073 and on Bev Cam's YouTube and if you happen to miss this this is the recording welcome from the past to the Future my name is Lizzy Fury and uh I am here with some very lovely ladies um why don't why don't we start with you Beth this is Beth yes go ahead go ahead good I'm Beth price Morgan and I'm the career design studio director at monserat and also a writer and illustrator and I think that's the basics that we're going to start with what oh of what of what okay yes yes yes so um I do write and illustrate picture books but my big thing right now is young adult fantasy novels so for the young adult age group group focus on fantasy and I'm also illustrating it so my current project is a novel called the breathing Stone lit and it's fantastic it's really fun it's great and then we have Betsy go ahead yeah I'm Betsy Eller I am the author of my dog is not a scientist which is a debut that came out last year picture book I also write novels and um I I work at Endicott so we got the two Beverly colleges are two of the Beverly colleges covered here and um yeah I don't know I have published independently uh Anthology two years ago yes and I think that's me yeah in a nutshell and uh as I said I'm Liz Fury if you didn't notice yes we are all Elizabeth's we'll talk a little bit more about that later and uh the other thing we all have in common is that we're all uh picturebook artists illustrat uh uh authors illustrators um so in addition to being the communic wow the community engagement manager at Beth cam I'm also the immediate past president of the graphic artist skills and have worked with many a independent uh independently published uh children's author um so uh many of them who are local to the norshore area uh so we are going to be talking about picture books a lot um but in addition to that we're also going to be talking about like how you start your first major professional creative project what it's like being a creative professional um especially as an independent and the different types of publishing options that people tend to look at and or or go through in order to publish their very first ever big professional creative project be that a picture book that they wrote themselves or that they are uh wanting to work on with somebody else or any of those things um so yeah like where do we want to start here well maybe the reason why we got together to talk about this in the first place that's a we all sat together at delin which is the restaurant next door one day because we had a common problem this podcast is not sponsored by Dophin we just really love her we had a common problem and that's this sense of whenever we mention that we write or illustrate or both picture books everyone comes to us with like oh yes I have a book and it's ready to go um at monat's career Department I get a lot of calls from people saying I just finished my first picture book an hour ago and can I get a monzerat student to illustrate it please it's always an hour ago an hour ago yes just recently did this thing I'm really excited it's going to be a bestseller and I just need an illustrator to work with me for free on this project um and maybe a student would do that since they're just starting their career too and so there's a couple things wrong with that question if you've been that person don't worry this is not a shame and blame game but we this is a educate and get you going to the next step I I think it because it was defin like at book events people would come up and ask me like okay I'm ready to go like I'm traditionally published how do I get traditionally published Scholastic wants my book like I can want this out next year and I was just like in a very positive way I'm like this is more than a five minute conversation and so I think we were all kind of sharing that so we were trying to capture some answers and some jumping off points which is more than an hour conversation too but like at least we can get you guys started and yes um so that that is a really good starting point um because like while while I was being like a full-time freelance illustrator and I was working a lot with um uh independently published authors like just like with the student situation I would get a lot of requests where it's like I'm willing to pay a great price of $50 a page um which is very little money um in order to to do this thing that I have a great idea for and um again we really really want to stress this is no shade all of us have been there we've all like had that enthusiasm on our first project and been like this is what I think um how do I take the next step and then who do I reach out to and this is who I think I should reach out to so what we want to do here is really kind of like slow the rooll a little bit um and uh and you know just like talk about some of those first questions you should be asking yourself as a creative like as the author as someone who wants to have their book made into a real thing um rather than just an idea you know what are some of the initial questions that you have to ask yourself um and I I know that one of the things we were really uh talking a lot about was just like why do you want to do this project um you know what is what is your motivation but like what are your goals goals for the project I think I think and I think this question actually relates to all creatives and you know here we're in this amazing Arts Fest I think this is a question that really needs to be asked by painters photographers poets everyone because I know you know for me it's been a a journey of ups and downs over the years and I think that was the best advice I ever got was like really really sit down and think about what you're doing this for like do you want a memory for your grandchildren do you want for me I when I ask myself question what I came back to was I really I love the creative Community we have an amazing creative community on the NorthShore and so being part of that being part of a writing Community gets gets me back to it um you know if you really want to be famous like a global household name that's a different set of goals um and you can totally work towards that but it's really like focusing in on what you do it for is it just something that like needs to come out of you and you want to create it um so I think like asking that question for any artist is really critical cuzz that's like the load stone that will keep you of like the ballast in the ship that will keep you going um during the journey which is definitely a tumultuous one absolutely and it's okay if that why changes over time for sure um I know I was in first grade when I decided I wanted to write and illustrate picture books you too um I not a lot of people know who this is now but back in the 80s 90s um Stephen Kellogg was a really big name in picture books he wrot wrote books like Paul bunan like he was doing ret retellings of like American folktales and also he had this book called The Pinkerton series about an enormous great dane that would get into all sorts of trouble anyway he came to my first grade class and he read books and then he had time talking individually to every single kid while he signed our books and this is formative for me our teacher said like if you are too scared to talk to this person if you're too nervous um just Pat him on the shoulder so I just went in there I was like and he was like zoom and like all this creative energy and power sucked from stepen kog into me and I was like yes this is my moment this is this is my destiny Spiderman Spider bik that's what I that was it that was it and you know what picture book pow sounds so much better than radiation like it sounds a lot better healthier for sure it really is it was like creative power yeah um immense creative cosmic power um so yeah so that was formative moment and so from then on I was like oh this is my thing I'm going to be writing and illustrating picture books and then like my why was like well I'm going to be the youngest published picture book author and illustrator because I've decided when I'm seven to do this I'm clearly on on a role here yes yes and you know so then I turned nine and I was like oh no I I think there's other 9-year-olds have already been published and they turned 13 I'm like oh no there's other 13y right that went out the window real fast yeah yeah so there was that was an unhealthy why like it was a like I in our defense they didn't have self-publishing that was nearly as easy back then that's true all right so we were at a little bit of a disadvantage I want like tag onto that I feel like we can all maybe share that great story but I know for me like I I went to college for creative writing to undergrad and I um right afterwards I I teamed up with I also studied theater design so that's like my background so I wrote a lot of plays and I ended up writing a musical that got picked up by a dramatic publishing company so that's and it got and I honestly because I I know in college most colleges really emphasize um literary writing and so I was like really trying to be literary and like that like my novels weren't really getting anywhere and then this play happened and it was just fun and it's a family musical it's an adaptation of um a little princess so it was just fun and I loved it and so I was like I'm just going to write what's fun and so you know like over the years I've written picture books I've written novels and it's just like I write what's fun and I know for a long time I was trying to write this awardwinning the Great American novel and it was not fun and I could never finish and you could tell it wasn't fun and honestly I wrote my picture book in like three drafts which is unheard of um and and and most of my other picture books are like 30 drafts cuz there it's a lot harder to write a picture book than you think and we could talk about that but but like um yeah like I wrote it in one and I think the reason that it was the first one to get picked up traditional by a traditional publisher is that you can feel the fun in it like because I had fun writing it yeah and that's what a lot of um editors and art directors will say is like um if if the artist is struggling with the work you can tell like if you're having a tough time creating the work other people can tell and you know it's not that you shouldn't create things when you're um having a tough time that's actually really important to do um but you know it's it it just speaks so much more when you are able to let go of some of those maybe you've got expectations on yourself maybe you've got like other pressures that you're putting into it and able to just like understand what the core reason for doing this is um I was just like I was so caught up in your in your origin story your origin story it's an origin it is it is it's like then the heroes training con commence you know um but like I I feel like this is such a connecting experience with people who want to create something major and and I guess like by Major I mean something something that's major to them something that's major in in terms of like the amount of power and energy and and creativity that takes to make not necessarily talking about its impact right because like you could have a global impact you could have a really really local impact you could have just one person as an impact and that like it it could still be a major work that doesn't like change um yeah oh can I show another story yes AB like my favorite story of like probably my whole writing life so my book my dog is not a scientist it came out last year like I said and you know it's a like ye whoo press which is my publisher they're like kind of um smallish midsize like they're not you know we're not Scholastic they're not um you know I don't know one of the other ones so I'm totally drawing a blank on all the other Publishers when you get in front of a camera the big five this happens we we know what it is you guys know who they are so you know I wasn't expecting it to be like a household name and but it was still really good I had a good turnout a good reception especially locally obviously cuz that's where my biggest reach is um and I had lots of people say like oh I loved it this and that when it was you know nice but then you go to book events some are well attended some are not as well attended which is hard but still fun because you can connect one onone and I remember I did an event and it was a pretty well attended one but there was this little boy and his grandmother said it my book was his favorite book and he had he had that look they're like he's like and he's like following me like I like I was like this is great like I am famous to one person and that's all I need for the rest of my life I mean hopefully future other things but at this moment my life is now complete I have one Super Fan the first time like I I I published uh one of my first books um uh which was uh the Enchanted Island preschool um by uh oh my God I am blanking on every name right now I am so sorry um but it was AAL local author um and so I worked with a local author we self-published it and um it was published during the pandemic um which as you can imagine um you know there's challenges there um but my neighbor um texted me and was like oh I bought a couple copies and your book is my nephew's favorite they ask for it every night a so cute and I was like I just like that meant so much to me I love that sometimes sometimes you just have that effect on one person and um but like you know the the amount of energy that went into making that book like and I didn't even write it like you did like you wrote yours and and the the illustrations for mine took nine months I think that project was nine months to get it published um and which is quick by the way yes yeah for so self-published books tend to go faster than traditionally published books and we can kind of get into the um the uh you know the nuances between those two branching paths um but yes just for the illustrations nine months and then to have like that be the impact like made it so worth it um and you know like I definitely had these visions of grandeur at one point in my career was like I'm going to be the most famous illustrator in this universe just you know I was a little humble just this universe like all the planet um uh but I never really thought about what that meant like what that means like how I I what what does it mean to be that famous like in what circles like to who um and kind of like as I was going through my career trying to like navigate that industry and understand who I am as a professional artist and what sort of projects I want to work on um uh that that goal kind of changed for me to be like no I want to be really influential to the people who pick up my work and that's that's what means the most to be that's my goal I want whatever I make to be really influential to the people who pick it up absolutely even if it's just one person yeah yeah I think that's a really that's a really a good way to focus cuz if you're focused like you can't control in any inde artistic Endeavor you can't control how it's received you can't control um Beth is agented I am unagented and I'm unagented and uh Liz is unagented I've been traditionally published you know even though I don't have an agent which is pretty unheard of um it just I've met the right person at the right time so I think it but like you can't control that so it's you know we can talk we haven't talked about querying querying is the process of sending your work out to agents um I know people and or editors and like if you you can send out 10 and get picked up you can send out 300 and never get picked up and and you don't have control out of how they receive you um so you have to that becomes very demoralizing and most of the time it's never your fault whether or not you get rejected right it's like it's like it's not that this isn't right for me it's not right for me right now yeah I have two novels that I've um been sending out and they both of them very consistently got you know requests for full and like there's a whole process that we can't get into all the nuances but they like get through a whole bunch of steps with a whole bunch of people and then they're always like this is fantastic but it's not what the market wants right now and I'm like how what like I can't control the market and I don't have a crystal ball so um yeah I feel like I don't at this stage I don't get to moralized when I told you I published that play and I got performed a few times but I was very young and I was like I am now going to be famous and I'm going to sit back and wait for the fame and I didn't know anything about the business of writing and like marketing myself and so that was a hard lesson and then I got so demoralized I didn't write for oh like 10 years wow I mean I I was always writing but it was just like not sending I have like a drawer I now have enough stuff from that 10 years to like write for the rest of my life but but yeah I had I wasn't writing really because I got so dejected cuz my load Stone wasn't quite in the right place so I feel now I'm like I don't care if nobody wants it I'll self-publish it it's fine yeah it's recalibrating absolutely and I think it's really important to remember too this is my like career design studio director coming on like go back to that why and come up with a mission for your life that is consistent across everything you do right so one of my mission statements just one of them is being a midwife of other people's dreams and my own right so like helping creativity be born right and I can do that as an author and with a book that's published or not published like I can join critique groups with my unpublished work and help other people's creative dreams get born right I can do it as a Creative Design Studio director as I help art students figure out how to get jobs and as a published author I'll also be able to do that with whatever I do for my author platform right so it's really important to kind of go into that place in yourself and be like this is my consistent Mission and even if I'm not agented even if I'm not published yet like I can still be doing this thing and succeeding in my creative life without getting someone else's yes you know you be your own yes the the Liz the Liz RZ is very strong so Beth and I know each other because we were critique partners and so I think you mentioned that word and I know because this is sort of like introductory level we should talk about that talk about what a crique critique groups honestly for me is absolutely the most essential thing and again I said my my my ballast is that I love the creative community and I just always want to be a part of it even if nobody ever bought another thing I wrote um so I love my critique group and Beth and I wanted a different critique group but we became friends because we would critique every month and get together and like formed that relationship and it is it's like just sharing works with each other is like refreshing so at least you aren't just writing quietly in like your room and nobody ever sees it it's like a very least I'm like my joy like what keeps me every month is like I know I have my novel writing picture book and like I'm going to submit 15 pages to them at least so like eight people are going to read 15 pages every month and if nothing else I've done that you know you're accountabil buddies you're accountabil buyable for lack of a better reference um but oh my god when I first uh so my my like switch into being a full-time artist was uh like basically my uh just like a little backstory my husband like sat me down at one point and he was like we're never going to be this financially stable ever again if you wanted to try going solo now would be the time to do it that is so kind and and I looked at him and I was just like why would you tell me something so scary this is horrifying and then like 24 hours later I was like let's do this um so I quit my job and and became a full-time freelance illustrator right before a pandemic somehow it was okay that's amazing yeah I got my I got my first major job right at like after the pandemic it started because I guess when that happened like everyone was like I've been wanting to write a picture book for ages now I can focus on it um that's true uh so like the fact that I was able to give power to them and you know do something cool for myself what was I talking about I was saying I was saying critique groups yes one of the first things I knew that I needed was a crit group um you know coming from art college which is not necessary but like that's where I started um and so I knew I needed that but like didn't really know where to obtain one I didn't know anybody in the area and like being able to find like first thing I did was look for trade associations um so that's how we all ended up like meeting through the scbwi um and uh as well as me joining The Guild but like um one thing I didn't understand about crit groups before I joined one was that it's not just a support group for your art and your work but it's also a support group for like all of the trials and tribulations of trying to get the work done and and going through that rejection and going through um you know the the down times and the art block and like uh the impostor syndrome and how much do I charge for this how do I negotiate for this how do I uh how do I do any of this um but everyone's kind of like in that General same situation maybe there are different points in their career but you're all focusing on that thing it's so easy for professional no for any artist to just work in a silo all the time and not realize how like isolating it can be well I think that ties with two things first we should I just want to I'm going to Define terms I'm the I'm the dictionary for the book but the scbwi is the Society of children's book writers and illustrators it's we're all members it's really like if you're interested in writing picture books to young adult like you should check them out and the GU is the graphic artist Guild which is the trade Association for the business side of being a creative yeah because I think like so if we're talking about how to get started in the industry one of the first things that you really need to do is learn about the industry because there's two HS to the creative arts whatever art you do there's like the creating the work and then there's the business of being a writer or an artist or an illustrator um and so you know most of us get into it for the one but you have to do the other one or no one's going to see your work and so these guilds are like a great way to learn about it it learns like what is the market looking for like what and we this is is some of the stuff um that we get asked a lot which is you know people come up and say that they have a picture book it's 2,000 words well like for and I again I'm going to speak more from the traditional publishing side they won't look at it if it's over like 500 750 is an extremely long picture book so if your if your picture book is 2,000 words you need to find a critique group and find a way to shrink it down or maybe it becomes a middle grade book or an early reader or something like that so that if when you start to like learn about the industry you'll be like oh no this idea was good but it's not a picture book it's actually like a I have picture books at home from when I was a kid that are 2,000 words long yes and they will also say that if when you send it out you usually send it with like titles like my book is like this and like this and they say they need to be less than 5 years old because they need you need to know what the Market's looking for now so yes Dr Seuss is extremely long but I'm going to actually say as a parent like when my son would pick Dr Seuss for bedtime I was like oh it's so long I I literally skip Pages yeah I did too like I love this book but like when you read it 25 times you like enough already so like I get where they're saying that the market needs something short and that's why it is so hard to write picture book because you're trying to write something 500 Words that has a lovable character an emotional Arc some kind of a plot with conflict well written it has to be unique idea like it has to have all the stuff that a novel would have but in 500 Words so that's when I said that it's like I write both and sometimes picture books are harder they are so hard yeah so you know these are all the challenges but this is I loved learning it and like honing the craft so that sounds like overwhelming like when you have this idea but you can get there you know you get there with your critique group you get there with like taking classes online and learning about the industry um and that can it's probably good Segway so like if you are interested in traditional publishing all of those bullet points I just listed you will have to meet or you will not get looked at like it's not even you put it in your query letter if your query letter says your book has 12200 words they won't look at it you know so if that is not for you and you know when you determine what your goal is um obviously with traditional publishing it opens some doors you have more opportunities to go into like public schools and stuff like that but if your goal if you weigh that those things in the balance and the work that you're trying to create you know doesn't fall in those then definitely uh independent publishing self-publishing is an option and I know you can speak to it from finding an illustrator you can speak to it from doing it like what don't you start absolutely what your question is what do I start when how do you start if you if you have a book are you asking like if she has a book or someone has a book and they want to find an illustrator um so so like what are what are like when somebody calls you yes with an idea what are what's some of your basic advice for them absolutely no just to get them started so good well usually I'll just usually when someone comes to me and they say I have a book and I need an illustrator I asked them well would you like to be traditionally or self-published and usually people hear those words and they have no idea even what that means right so then I'll be like well with self-publishing you are putting the money up front to get your book published right so that means that you need to have between 5 to 10,000 probably set aside to get this book off the ground um at least I'm like 5,000 would be a very very cheaply done book um so like you need to have like a nest egg or a plan to raise money for it um one of the two crowdfunding um you would have to choose like okay it's cheaper if you just do like an online version um it's more money if you want to actually hold the book in your hands later and depending on how many copies you want to produce so that's one way but you have 100% creative control over that project right you can decide that book is done and you there's no gatekeeper besides your finances to get that book out into the world right so you could even be like I just want to make that book for my grandkids and do 20 copies and I'm going to be happy and it's like that is a doable project for sure right now if you're not an artist you still need to pay your illustrator and that is a good portion of money and um I feel like Liz is going to be the best person to talk about that um but that's on the self-publishing side but then on the traditional publishing side you're basically saying okay I want my book out in the world to a larger audience I want a team of people helping me so I want the marketing team I want like you know editors I want this whole group of people and I'm not going to have to put money up front but you know what you are going to have to work very hard to understand the market do your research and get yeses from multiple people along the way before your book will see the light of day yeah it takes a lot longer I think it's definitely um you know you said you had a book come out in 9 months um mine was actually very fast for a picture and it was like 18 months um I know a lot of people with with traditionally publish books coming out where it's like 3 years 5 years and that's that's from being agented that's not like from you know when they wrote it that's like that's just how long it took because it can take two years for like a publisher to find the right illustrator and stuff definitely I'm going to look straight to the camera if you want to be traditionally published and you are not able to do both the writing and the illustrating traditional Publishers do not want you to come to them with an illustrated book they want to pick their own illustrator people in the I know if it's traditional publishing they want their own illustrator which is a very interesting experience I have to say a lot of people bulk at that I and I feel like when you write a book you always see like the illustrations the way the picture books that you loved as a kid were so I had this Vision in my head of very sort of like waterc colory illustrations and then I got my illustrations and they not like I was like I was a little bit like and then like and then I read it and I read it with the child and I'm I'm like no these are the perfect ones they're much more like Richard scary like even more colorful my book because it teaches the scientific method it's a little on the long side yeah and so I can still read it to four-year-olds because they don't necessarily get all the big words and stuff but the illustrations are like there's like Easter eggs I'll just be like when I start my book events I'm like everybody find the bird on every page and there's like lots of stuff and the publisher absolutely knew the right look for the book which I didn't so it gave me new appreciation for that Synergy and that's definitely something something with traditional publishing which you'd actually get If you hired an illustrator also that um they bring another part to it and you have to kind of trust that process to like yeah that it's going to come together and my editor CU my publisher actually publishes they always publish other books in China and the US so there were certain things that they're like that sentence and that like or that Dynamic isn't going to play as well around globally and I was like oh okay you know so it was it's an interesting process to work with that but you have to be willing to work with that like I think a lot of people I've heard stories of that want it the way they want it and that is not how it works in traditional publishing the publisher is going to want it the way they want it which is usually good you never even meet your illustrator in traditional publishing L she's in Spain I'm like I am here my publisher is in California and she lives in Spain my lives in Spain so like going back to the uh independent side of things um and and talking about cost especially like so yes can you get the book done fairly quickly not in time for Christmas but fairly quickly next Christmas give give me a year if you want it to for Christmas but like uh but you know much faster than traditionally published book one of the reasons that that happens is because like one of the things that's happening on the traditional side is all of the marketing strategy and you know like looking at translations and looking at like making like getting all those Partnerships together for where the book is going to be put and the supply chains and printing in bulk and all of this stuff when you're doing it on the independent side um you're in charge of all of that so the illustrations may only take nine months but the marketing you can get into public schools you can get into Barnes & Noble you can get into all of those local bookstores and and all of the the bigger bookstores you just have to do the leg work um so you know it's you know going to Book Fairs and and arts festivals and uh doing the networking and going to yeah it's Just Energy on your side it's a um uh Sweat Equity is a good word for it yeah so I will also just add on to that um I do want to dispel the myth that like you don't have to do a lot of work when you're traditionally published and I'm not just saying that I'm not just saying that because I no no no no I know what you're saying and that's absolutely right but it's mostly the marketing side because I do think that like there's there is like a misconception that like once you have a traditionally published book that again like I thought in my 20s I sit back and wait for the fame to come to me and that is not how it works so unless you are um Stephen King or James Patterson you're not going to have full-time people marketing your book you still have to do the leg work it's still expected of you and in fact again like talking the hard facts but like not everyone but a lot of mostly agents less so Publishers but agents when they look at people they will consider like how what their social media presence is not that you have a million followers but just that you're posting that you know how to do it when the time comes for me that's like the hardest but that's when I need my load Stone because I hate social media but like it's the job and it allows me to like get my book out to more people so I just have to find ways to do it in a way that's less draining like this this is not draining cuz this is a fun CH but you know I think it's like that is still going to be part of the job whether you're traditionally published or not I've actually because I have um the Anthology which was uh independently published and the picture book and like I did about the same amount of marketing work for each and I I probably made the same amount of money because like I get a much smaller percentage I sold a lot more picture books but I more of it goes to publisher which is like the Anthology I sold this all comes to me so like and I that's not I'm not the only person who will say that is that in terms of like actual the amount of hours you put in marketing for the return which is why I try not to think about my writing in terms of how much money I make that's a really good way to depress yourself absolutely you really want to like think do it because you're getting something out of it Beyond just the money because you know let's say you get a really you're traditionally published and you get a big Advance yeah $100,000 what you're rolling in it you can quit your job no because here's why not because that $100,000 needs to be spread out over the multiple years of the publication and the writing and so forth and $100,000 split over four years or five years is not a lot like so unless you know for a fact that you're going to be getting that 100K how many times in a row which you know doesn't happen it it's not going to be enough to sustain your life so you do need creative people you need a good day job one that helps with your creative life hopefully you know one that like you can pour stuff into it go home and then focus on your creative work we I feel like I feel like that's something cuz my so again I said I studied theater and writing I don't know why it was really funny I like my an undergrad my masters was in uh theater design and my my backup plan my uh like second degree or whatever was in um my major sorry was theater side and my other major was writing and I was like doubling down on the like safe jobs so then you know I ended up going back for my masters in interior design because it was like I wish someone in college would have been like you need to actually have a viable way to make money and still be creative and still like make space for your creative life because now it's great I'm actually I'm an interior designer for Endicott College so I'm kind of creative by day but like the other half of my brain and then I have it's a pretty good life balance I can write and I think yeah yeah and the the independent side of publishing is pretty similar in terms of the writing uh I'm sorry in terms of the the cost and the amount of money that you're getting in return um uh on average somebody who P publishes a book on say Amazon's uh KDP um previously create space uh independent publishing which is one of the most popular ways to self-publish um they sell maybe a th000 books maybe on average um and you're you're getting like a a percentage of the um like the price that people are paying when you're like getting paid for that so you're not getting like if you're selling your book for $23 you're not getting the full $23 you're getting like uh 30% maybe or 15% or whatever it is that you've set um and so a lot of a lot of people like think oh I have a lot more control over my finances if I do independent publishing but that's not necessarily true to depending on how much leg work you're going to put into it um so I often times the conversation that I'm having with people who are looking to self-publish it's like okay how much are you willing to invest and and do you care about making back that investment um this goes back to the loadstone this goes back to your goals is this a labor of love project that you just you really need to get this out into the world you want it to be around for your grandkids you want it to um to just exist in which case like that's really important to know you don't need to worry about whether or not this is going to make a profit or break even at all but if you are planning on breaking even or making a profit um you just have to have a plan in place you need to know like what you're going to do with the book afterwards and like how are you know think about that like when you're writing it too like how how are you gearing this um uh you know maybe you're you're not going to be sharing most of the time you're not going to be sharing your profits with the illustrator because in self-published scenarios you're usually playing a paying a flat fee to your illustrator there royalties um uh CU really no one no one's got time to like to to track their illustrator after the project is done and have to pay royalties that's that shouldn't be your job the illustrator doesn't want to deal with that it's fine just do do that flat Fe yeah leave that to the publishers publishing you do so like yes so when you publish a books I think I think if you um are traditionally published with a novel you get 10% typically it's like standard and like with a picture book you get five because five is for the illustrator five so just brass TX that's what you're getting back so 5% is not very much but I think um let talk about happier things too I feel like we're giving a lot of a lot of brass taex but I do want to say one one thing um which we didn't quite say we kind of skirted it which was um the cost which again I'm not an illustrator but I know um I know we talked about how much the books cost and just talking about illustration you guys can definitely talk to that I'm just going to throw in one statistic because the other Illustrated thing that we haven't really talked about um is graphic novels and I know there's a lot of market for it and um just for anyone interested in graphic novels I will say that I was talking to um kensaw who illustrates the graphic novels for the babysitters club she's also a Beverly resident and um I know she mentioned that one of her graphic novels took three years to illustrate so when we're talking about you know the cost of illustrators if you're thinking of graphic novel project asking someone to work on something for 3 years is a lot I actually had a publisher interested in a graphic novel series I wrote the script for and they're like we can't like illustrators won't commit to a graphic novel that they don't want to so if you can go and find one that really is excited about your project and ready to sign on and it was a book in series they like for the rest of their life to write the story then come back to us that was like the one exception to the don't bring your own illustrator yeah they cuz it's such a time commitment absolutely so so like one of the one of the best ways that you can kind of like prep yourself for what a picture book or graphic novel might cost to self-publish um other than buying like the graphic artist guilds pricing and ethical guidelines handbook which um is a great uh purchase but is really more useful for visual artists so if you're just an author um maybe that's not the book that you want to purchase but like maybe your illustrator might want to because it it has uh some empirical evidence about like you know the scale of what uh just uh projects can cost across the country um but I I think a really like just kind of like easy back of the napkin kind of uh way of figuring it out is think about like how long this project is going to take 9 months 3 years whatever what would somebody need in order to live on for that time you're you're talking about being more or less their primary client for a year so if you would pay like if somebody would normally get paid what like $330,000 uh for to to do like part-time work or whatever for a year maybe that's the cost of your book right and you know like when you're thinking about what's the cost per page which I really don't recommend I really recommend doing like like the the flat fee sort of structure um just because scope creep is a thing um which is where the project tends to get bigger and or things change and to account for all of that it's just more professional I think uh to to you know like figure all of that out oh this is really brast hacks I'm sorry but like I just get into it but like um you know I I have had people I have had people ask me like oh is $50 a page like you know reasonable price or I have $3,000 to do a picture book um and $3,000 is a lot of money to an author I totally understand that is a large chunk of change especially for something that they're like I really want this to happen and I've never done this before and this is what I've been able to pull together it can feel like a lot of money but when you're thinking about hiring somebody who is going to be able to help you out with um uh making your book like translate through another dimension talking about being able to have it marketable um you know they're uh they're likely going to be having to negotiate some copyrights in there um which we really don't have to get into this discussion that's really brast tax but um uh and uh and and and the fact that they're not going to be getting royalties on this book they don't get any of that profit sharing um think about how much somebody should get paid for any other type of job that would take that long you know you're talking six to eight hours uh per day or or per page uh no probably way more than that actually six to eight hours to do the finished work after all SK after all the sketches and everything else um all of the communication time most of the time isn't even taken up by just doing the drawing it's just it's through communication and trying to figure out what the right Vibe is and and what you know how to deal how to communicate properly with the client and and making sure all of those priorities are taken into consideration and then you get to do the drawings um so that's all that's going into that price it's not just the cost of a few hours of work in order to get a pretty picture illustration is not just a pretty picture it tells a story it's Dynamic there's a lot more going on in there yeah which I think it's definitely we should also mention like I know cuz I know like AI graphics and stuff like that like you know that's like a whole thing and I'm going to like I'm like just address the elephant in the room but like just like oh we are addressing that elephant AI is amazing and but like you don't get that it's an amazing to you don't get that Synergy you don't get that back and forth that aristic process you don't own it that's you don't own it you can't sell it so I think you know there's a lot and and there's way more that we can cover in this hour but I think um yeah I think too that if you work with an illustrator maybe and especially when you have that load Stone and maybe you're doing something just for like your family like your local community or something you want for yourself or something the great thing about um self-publishing or independently publishing is that you don't have to have a traditional format so maybe um it's you know three pages and they're Illustrated or maybe you can work with an artist to help you use your own family photos or something or like use your own creativity like go online and play with canva and come up with something and you know it doesn't have to be like it could be a frame story like there's you like you if you have a story to tell and I think like a lot all of us have a story in us and you it's dying to come out like don't let all this facts get you down I think like when we said like from we came to this topic it's like so many people come and they see this one path for their work and not everybody's story that they need to tell it belongs on that traditional path like we can there's so many paths and I think you know thinking about it that way is like really noral like book rout like it doesn't have to be a hard cover book for it to be a legit like very valid real valuable product um and making a poster out of your story or a framed thing or like you know a couple of illustrations that you can give to your children like those are amazing ways of making your story special and or even having it marketable without it being in that Normal book format like you can you can be more creative than that and you can maybe even find a format for your work that fits it better than a regular book like I I feel like a lot of people think that if it doesn't look like a hard cover book that was traditionally published then it's not valuable yeah that is so not true yes and you know this is just one podcast right we've touched on so many different things in this we've talked about like what to pay an illustrator what to like we we brush cost right we brushed on query letters and public traditional publishing and all these things okay so this is not like necessarily the one and done thing like if you're interested in this this is your call to like if we didn't explain something clearly or at all to go like oh I probably need to research that um put on your Hermione Granger hat and go to the library go to the bookstore start talking with people if you know anybody in your life who's written Illustrated books and have them out there just start asking questions and then join some of these professional organizations who can really get you started you can you can reach out to us too because we're we're we're setting up a class so like you know let us know if you want to like we can uh we're probably going to do with the Beverly library and like just like get people in go into this stuff break it down more slowly in a more organized way and like teach teach a more higher level class but definitely connect to the scbwi and some of these other organizations look it up online and actually too like because I always again people come up they ask these questions I feel like I Crush their dreams it is not the crushing of your dreams it's just that this is maybe the start of a journey not like like I've written this and then I will do this and then it'll get published and all that like I have actually loved over the last however many years like learning about the industry and like trying like I said I wrote like a graphic novel and then I wrote some picture books and I write novels and I'm like oh it's fun and I'm like I got feedback a year ago from an agent about a middle-grade horror novel I have and I was like I hate this book I'm never everyone hates it and then like I looked at it again a couple months ago and I was like oh God that was genius and I understood and I just felt like growth as like a writer and I was like that's it I'm like that was so smart I just wasn't ready at that point to hear it and it's like that Journey it's like just loving that journey and I keep getting better we keep getting better I think if there's one takeaway that we want people to have from this conversation it's use these use these facts to just like open your mind to the possibilities of your project and what it is that you want to make just like be curious uh be persistant and and be courageous and like all of these things like anything that feels overwhelming or scary or whatever like all of that kind of melts away if you're just willing to do those things um yeah like it we really don't want it to be discouraging right like one of my favorite things is for people anybody strangers to come up to me and ask how do I make a picture book I will sit down with them I will give them a half hour an hour of my time any anytime I'm asked that because it's one of my favorite questions to answer I want like one of one of the things in my load stone is like my goal is to make uh the industry better for the people who come after me coming into the industry right like that's why I do my volunteer work with a graphic artist Guild and whatnot it's um let's let's make this industry better for those those people who are coming in after me so like don't don't be discouraged ask questions like be curious and be brave yeah be be a just a little a little bit Brave I mean persistence really is the key in the industry if you have something that a story that you feel like is worth telling and you want it to get out there into the world yeah just keep working on it I think that so um I do have an agent right now um but I the book that we're working on sending to Publishers right now I came up with the idea for it in 2008 okay this is a much longer Journey than most people take with the book by the way um but I just wanted to share that like it it's not a shame to have a longer Journey than most if you are enjoying it and learning along the way so like you know it came up with the idea it took me a long time to write it because I'd written one other novel but this is kind of like the first novel that I was trying to put together with an actual story structure rather than just short stories kind of sewed sewn together you know and it so it took me years to do it and I rewrote it a bunch of times after one critique round another critique round and then in 2018 I queried it for the first time I got some interest but no offers and they gave me reasons so they went back to the drawing board and I revised it again and I queried in 2022 a little bit into January of 23 to to over 200 agents and this is my like if I don't get a yes on this thing I'm done with this book because I've worked on it for so long and sometimes you have to say that like you sometimes you have to just basically be like okay I've worked on this thing for so long that if it's not right for the world like I have other stories in me let's focus on some other things too move the elf over and put this on the shelf right exactly so I started working on some picture books to cleanse my palette of this you know novel that I been working on for so long and um I sent out the picture book query to just like about five agents it wasn't a very long it was not the hundreds that I had sented it out to before um after not getting any offers um on those and um that's when I heard back from my agent and she had liked the picture book idea but had gone to my website and seen that I had this novel was more interested in that asked me to send that in too so long story short there was a revision in there there was almost a year like now that we're finally talking about it maybe a year after I sent that initial packet in to her um and we're now sending it out to Publishers maybe a year later but it was a big process and I needed to be patient and persistent and but to be honest that year where I've been like working with on a revision for this agents and like getting our submission packet ready to go on publication went by so fast because I had already developed this like sense of patience and understanding that it's a journey and that I have multiple things going on that's taking my creative attention so it didn't feel heavy or too long waiting it just felt like no publishing is slow creative life is slow and I'm in it to enjoy the journey and and let's just see and you know what I got a lot of congratulations I I announced it formally just yesterday that I was working with an agent online so yeah y so like all of like my family and friends online are like oh my goodness I can't wait to hold your book in my hands and I'm like so earli that that can happen a couple years exactly I'm like minimum you have two years um and that's would be if it happened very fast um and so you know it will be some more time lots more waiting but you know that's that's part of the journey and you can do it not wa absolutely working marke we talk about traditional and um independent but there's always like hybrid too so like like I said I have some novels that I like they weren't right for the market at the time so I can sit on them and wait and see if the market turns around or where I at like now at least like one of them cuz I have a couple and I'm like there's one I'm like I just wanted out in the world I love this book I just want it out I know there's like people will read it I don't care if like it touches 10 people and it is true that traditional Publishers will not typically publish a book that's already been done but at least it's out there and I'm like I have other books in me I actually have other books already written but like even if not like just you know if you don't if it doesn't find its home then just like put it out there write the next thing or you know picture books like the good thing about picture books is they're short so like they don't tend to take 10 years to to write sometimes they do sometimes they do sometimes you don't find the way to fix them but like you can just write more you know so just like do it's all the different paast like you can look at it in all different ways there's no like one way I feel like we could talk about this forever um but maybe maybe we don't need to [Laughter] today um I would uh I would say like what are give us like a final takeaway from each of us uh just to kind of like wrap up the conversation let's start with you Beth yeah um I feel like the main thing that I want to say is like don't let all of these barriers that we've talked about be the things that keeps you from starting the process of your creative life and your creative journey I think it's helpful to have the reality but don't turn that reality as like a weapon against yourself to keep you from starting um I'd say find that piece in it that brings you Joy and follow that joy and work your hardest make friends and use those friendships to like make your journey go on and move forward yeah yeah and for you that stole my ideas um no she plagiarized my journey I was I was I was like in my head I was like find your joy oh she said that and then I was like find your people oh she said that too yes obviously like I think those are the two biggest ones but um yeah like find like it is like I if I can't have those two I'll say find small things and big things so I um have had some life stuff going on but I used to do this like monthly author profile of local authors I'm going to be starting that up again cuz I miss it so much cuz it's like it was something I could give back and like I knew that at least I would have one thing coming out like every month and you know uh my friend Susanna she does like an online Journal that's like 500 500 words no 100 words it's called five minutes sorry numbers but um you know and it's like a short and like I can just write one of those every once in a while like I like you have to have small Joys and big joys especially if you write novels and it if you're in trying on a traditional publishing route it's going to take a while so like find those little moments too and celebr celebrate all of them like never diminish yourself like I think it's very hard sometimes to not be like oh well it's just like a 100w piece like no you got a 100 word piece and it's really good and you know or whatever like I I'm here today I'm going to celebrate that like celebrate everything like don't diminish yourself like find your joy and then celebrate all the steps on the way yeah I would say um decide what success means to you and and and keep that like recognize that it can change uh be flexible but like have have have your reason for uh for persevering it like you're you're going to have hard times you're going to have those moments where everything seems insurmountable you're going to have I mean goodness depression is almost an occupational hazard for artists like like um so like there's just there are going to be those times where you have really hard stuff to overcome so find find what success means to you find that thing that you're going to keep striving for because it means so much to you that you're going to persevere anyway um and and and stay flexible absolutely yeah and know it's a craft so write one book and then write another and then write another and the right another and keep writing my my first novel that no one wanted I now read it and I was like yeah yeah that was the training wheels one yeah mine too oh man mine was a Sailor Moon fan fiction at least you finished your fan fiction I read a lot of Star Wars unfinished fan fiction long as it brought you toy so good uh Beth Betsy thank you so much for being here today in our lovely new space at the Beverly Arts Festival how can they find us after o um so look to the north star and why don't why don't why don't you say your contact information uh we we won't have up on the screen because we weren't really that well prepared that's okay but but you can rewatch this recording later on Beth's YouTube absolutely so um you can find me on social media at Beth price Morgan or at my website Beth pric morgan.com um yes I have an equally easy to find name which is Betsy Eller and all my social media is Betsy Eller so you can look that up and if that is does not stick in your memory my my book is my dog is not a scientist which is a little more memorable name if you Google that you will find me and definitely reach out with questions like we all said we love supporting the artistic community and we love talking to people who are starting the journey and uh I am uh parlay at Lizzy byd design.com that's Lizzy with an ie not a y um and you can find me on Instagram at Lizzy bydesign so uh yeah thank you so much for being here and thank you for watching uh come by sometime and see the new space and I don't know like you know get on the microphones yourself what are you waiting for stop being stop being so like worried about everything be brave and everyone just like be brave oh my God amazing but yeah thank you so much this has been awesome I think that's a wrap thank you [Music] in [Music] for [Music] for [Music] e for [Music] he [Music] for [Music] e [Music] hello hello hi I'm Kaye Blandon uh I'm from do Delaware and uh I'm a junior here at monserat studying animation or going to be sorry not a junior anymore a senior at this point hello I am Brianna Costa and I am also upcoming senior in martialart college I am from Rhode Island and my majoring is animation yeah uh today we're just going to be asking each other questions mainly about our like college experience as um art students um personally like how we've dealt with certain situations and other things we've come up with a couple questions for each other um I'll go first um did you have any an experience before coming to college for me definitely a no I have definitely touched a little bit with procreate on my iPad but that was during high school and my senior year and we just had to make a full-on capsule little film it was literally a one minute animation and it wasn't the best it really wasn't but overall I think uh monster definitely helped me out yeah with improving my animation skills in general how about you um I really only I I barely did anything it was like I dabbled in a couple little uh shorter animations um but other than that I really didn't know very much about it or take any classes about it I didn't know much about digital art until my like halfway through um my time at high school and even and then um I kind of stayed more traditional until my senior year oh yeah that's interesting how since you're transfer how how was your experience with monster so far yeah um personally I like it here um better than where I was I started off at Delaware College of Art and Design which as of this year is no longer an institution um and then I got my associates there and then I came here to monserat it's been a little bit different um I was very close to home obviously at Delware college ofart and design about 45 minutes to an hour so it's very different getting used to being here about being about six hours away um but I do enjoy it up here I like the area like Beverly uh it's just interesting the one thing I would say I miss is my friends that I've made uh have made a lot of good memories with people at dad so that's good um kind glad that you're having a really good experience with monster even though I was there since freshman year to now becoming a senior a lot things has changed especially since Co hit for firstman year now we have more of in-person contexts cuz now there's icon and there's now a lot of events now for with within Beverly and Beverly such a nice nice place at I really love Beverly um I would say why did you choose to go to moner I have a very specific story behind my story of how I came here so I was interested to hear about what yours was I defitely apped for a few but the one thing that definitely caught my eye for mon is their scholarship little program that they have cuz they literally just give me the most out of the other colleges that I play to and for me as a a poor poor family of five literally that was like oh that's like that's a good offer it's it's like uh for scholarship having a good amount of taking off and everything it really helped me a lot especially for student loans so what about you what's your experience me it was kind of a it almost like fate I um decads was only a twoyear school you only could get your Associates so I was looking for somewhere where I could go finish my um bachelors's and it just so happened to be that more College of Art which is in Philadelphia um has a portfolio day where there's a bunch of schools from Ringling to um Cal Arts I believe is also goes schools all over the country come to there um and I just kind of went you go from Booth to booth and they look at your portfolio um and I just so happened to walk by Monera and saw that they had no one there and I looked on Dad's old website and saw that there was they took all of my credits they had agreement with them so I kind of just went over and they looked at my portfolio really liked it and then my mom and I decided to come up for a tour and then we kind of just decided that this was going to be the place for me I didn't feel like going in a city again um so we came up here loved it and I've been up here for a year now yeah that's good oh I don't have another question oh jeez hold on give me a moment oh I can I can so steal this one um what event in college that's like really memorable For You especially within like moner oh specifically at moner yeah or defitely well specifically at Mona there there's um we had some fun trips at decad but specifically at monserat um so [Music] far I had I'm trying to think of all the stuff that we've done this year I icon was fun no my icon is great but um here my little ad for our Film Festival that we do oh yeah of course Mash mash yes I was one of the I was the producer for Mash this year if you don't know what Mash is Mash is our basically yearly monserat Film Festival um and we have student current students in alumni can apply and we show films at the cabbit it's free admission for people who come um and I it was funny that was also kind of our um the person who kind of took over for the seniors this year uh I was in a class with him and I was his producer for a film that we like a short film we did for one of our classes and he enjoyed working with me so much he pulled me into mash and said you're doing this now essentially so um it's a lot of fun I love the people I worked with there um um looking forward to next year we have some big plans um but I don't know if you're going to take anything away from this is come to mash please come to mash next year don't have a date yet uh we'll be at the cabin but um and come to Icon too icon's fun um but please come to mash please come to mash yeah I adore Mash it's especially even though I didn't go to it freshman to sophomore year maybe because I was definitely shy and like MH I just didn't want to go cuz I thought it was way too long and I was like I we I had other plans but it it was so good especially for seeing everyone's work like film work and animation and like that's so neat seeing everything in a big screen it's so good like that's I lit really love mash and like the postes and everything for event that I can think of for monat I'll say the Art Market we had an art Market uh collabing with the cab event and it was really fun I really liked like getting yourself as a monster student to able to sell your work and having a bunch of friends of ours with side by side and just Sly each other's work and just like it just gives everyone Joy it's like oh look at this someone wants my art someone wants those sticker keychains and everything it's I really love that that was so so yeah um do you have a favorite class and do you have a least favorite class that you've taken so far uh throughout your college experience because I can definitely think of a least favorite for me um favorite's kind of hard because I've had a lot of interesting classes I've taken over the year that is true like moner I had really really good classes that I quite liked the classes I don't like there's two of them I I don't know like life drawing I just didn't like charcoal so I just wasn't a big fan but for uh the first animation class that I had I believe other people had uh we just it was just awful I know it was just weird how it just played out for me I think was because since I was beginning into animation I think I stressed myself way too much out for Adobe anime but overall I think As I Grew as an artist I was like okay I'm going to handle this I'm I'm enjoying this now get in touch with it which I do I would say one class I do like a lot which is After Effects um just post production class so helpful and it's so good I love that class I was really nervous when I got into that class but then earlier on I was like oh my God I love this and I want to keep moving forward with this and it's so helpful especially for animation and compositing everything how about you I'll start with a couple of fav faes cuz my least favorite is a story um my I would say one of my favorites has been I really enjoyed my digital puppets class which you were in as well um but that might just be because of our professor we love Hannah umn we all love digital puppets I really liked um I I forgetting we did a lot of like uh it was with junga it's technically animation too here I took a previe different animation 2 class at my previous college uh but this one focused a lot on like a paper puppet animation and stop motion and just like traditional media and that was a lot of fun to kind of do and go like step away from a computer for a bit and do something with your hands um my least favorite class I took at delar College of er design and it was a film history class um not saying the content of the class is film history is very interesting it's very important to animation and to film to like anything and it's very ve is very very interesting um it was the professor that made it very interesting um I won't go into specific stories but it was a long day it was a long class we had it from like 9:45 till like 1230 and then we came back from 1:30 till like 4:20 it was long and in the morning we watched films and it was very hard to stay awake um and we had textbook chapters we had to read or not even just chapters it could have be multiple Chapters at some point um but it was very long and we were never told what was going to be on our like tests that were to make sure we read the chapter and in the end the tests were five questions and it was like so much content you had to memorize to the point where I would spend like at least s s or eight hours a week just reading a textbook and writing stuff down um I would recommend taking a film history class just not one where you learn from a book you know yeah no that's that's totally fair yes I have a question so like what would you say to yourself as it like your younger self or to like younger on audience what what do you give like tips of um I say it's like a someone who's younger and interested like if you're in let's say you're in high school um and you're thinking about taking art as a career um I would prioritize a lot of networking even like within your high school um and I would stay in touch with as many people as you can you never know who's going to be um who could be your cooworker record one day especially in the animation field um and I would recommend like I know a lot of our parents are kind of they question it and they worry like if this is a good choice for you if you should go into this and I would really like I would encourage you having a a deeper conversation with them if they're open to it um I mean you don't always have to go to I know we're college students animation is one of those fields where it's pretty prevalent where like a college degree is very important for animators uh but for some um degrees you might not necessarily need one um you know talk to your parents and see what's like logistical for you um or look into there's other ways you can learn like residencies and um just like internship programming uh just anything that can get you more it's networking again art is a lot of networking especially even animation where there's it's big Community if you have connections you're going to find a job um yeah again networking that that would be my biggest like advice to anybody anyone who's interested in in the Arts in general that's a really good TP like just networking and like being social just like having connections with other people or even be cam cuz there's a lot of things you can do with here but like yeah just really really social with your audience and be friends with anyone at least like you never know who you're going to be working withy in the future and then they can give you great connections and of course like for skill-wise and everything there's a lot of things out there now like YouTube and everything that has great advice to improve your animation and your artwork that you can like take that in cuz that's how I drew too cuz that for me in high school and middle school that's how I started drawing when I do animation so like having those things to give you support and like keep you going it really like pumps you up to be like yeah okay I can really really do this like even with the pen and paper you can just make an little animation with like a flip book I'd say that's been one of the hardest projects you've had to execute but was really rewarding in the end like even though it was really hard and it took a lot of effort you really liked the outcome I would say the project that we were into with um animation group projects with um the big group of other animators that was like a lot of fun uh obviously it was defitely hard cuz I was definitely helping out with After Effects and also with some parts of animation and then there was Al a little bit of maybe a little bit of miscommunication probably but overall it was like it was tough especially with After Effects and I was also still learning it and I was also still in the the same class during the same semester so it was like bunny heads with me like do I know this how is this going to look good but yeah I'll say that class cuz like during the end of it all just like seeing everything all together it turned out great like I think everyone who did that project was it was for phenomenal it was so good yeah how about you um there are a lot of projects that I put a lot of work into where I'm kind of just not satisfied with the end but one of the ones that I was satisfied with I would say is my uh paper puppet animation that I did um it was a during a stressful time here and I was able to execute it after some like persevering um but it's it was a lot of fun and I would do something like that again uh just making like a little something so delicate um like a paper puppet and making an animation with it I just it was really enjoyable um especially when you when you're in animation a lot of the focus can be on digital work uh and I I enjoy stepping away from the computer from time to time to doing some traditional stuff and that class provided a good way like example of something I could possibly do in the future that wouldn't be me sitting at the computer 24/7 even though I really do enjoy like the digital work and digital stuff um it's just nice to get a break from it yeah I can go do we keep on going yeah okay um I'd say your most memorable college experience oh it doesn't have to be a class it doesn't have to be anything specifically like something that has happened here that has been really memorable and fun and something that you'll kind of hold dear to you for the rest of your life I know for sure it's going to be liter my first week of getting into college I was a nervous wreck but overall just uh being social I was definitely a shy kid I was just like I don't know hello hi but it was really nice to like especially that first week of rotation just getting to know even the um 's they were so friendly and they were like oh yeah let's come on let's go and then of course with like the little pink fight thing happening it was a lot of fun that was definitely memorable because I was definitely nervous but then within that like short little week it you mean the confidence to be like all right I'm going to start making some friends here let's let let's poke around let's see that's it's definitely memorable and I plus that's how I met a good couple of friends of mine also that really close to and during that time so yeah it's really good yeah I um I would say some of my most memorable experiences were from my previous college um I the people that I met there I think I'll be friends with for the rest of my life and I still keep in touch with them to this day uh and it's like a we would uh come together meet in our uh my friend Colleen and Kayla's room and we would sit and we would play games and watch movies I learned a lot of different card I learned how to play poker in that room I learned how to play spoons I learned how to play taco cat goat cheese pizza which is a lot of fun and would make me so mad um and then I saw a lot of movies for the first time in that room um some good movies some bad movies um and we just had a lot of fun in there and I miss it I miss them um but I don't regret coming here either so um I'll hopefully be able to see them this Summer if not we'll we still keep in touch so yeah that's tell it's like a a a CO collection of a bunch of different things that happened um um just with the same people you know yeah I think I don't I think that's a big thing about college too especially in our college is the people that you meet um and the people who are you you're going to know for the rest of your life and I think that's a big thing with a bunch of like you know in high school still um I still talk to some of my high school friends I having that sense of community is very important to me so yeah it's to it's good definitely stay in touch and don't free afid just stay in touch even when you're graduating from high school just keep in touch like just say hey how's it going how's how's it going you want to hang just stay connected cuz that's really important like us human beings really do need that and plus as an artist you can get inspiration from your uh people that's around you then gives you satisfaction to keep on going yeah I think that's all the questions I had um yeah I am also s so I'm all good so it's been our experience as art school kids so far one more year left um and we'll see how that goes but thank you for listening yes thank you have a good rest of your day guys yeah [Music] face [Music] in [Music] for [Music] now [Music] welcome home beautiful beautiful discover computers now have primary control of critical vehicle [Music] functions Discovery Houston [Music] beautiful beautiful [Music] for [Music] oh my gosh welcome to this very special episode of on air we're live oh my goodness during uh artsfest so we're a lot of fun in this downtown location downtown downtown location downtown location downtown and the movie we did for this episode was the strangers released in 2008 yep yep let's let's let's go around what are your first thoughts on this oh mine yeah personally I loved it cuz I saw when I was very young I think honestly the acting could be a lot better it was very awkward at times but I think it's a pretty good movie I thought the acting was actually the best part about this movie or one of the best parts about this I I didn't really have a problem with the acting but yeah we can get into that guess I I felt like the acting was a little weak but yeah like like on like I didn't like the what was his name Jack yeah there was James James he was very awkward at times I felt like I didn't love him I think that was probably like a little intentional cuz it's like they've like he's just been rejected so like they're going to be a little awkward with each other oh yeah I felt like that part was good um but but I think the best actor is definitely Mike he he was great oh Glenn Howton yeah I thought it was guy in the sack but no it was it was definitely Mike because he his reaction to the car was like oh dang it he's like oh my God that's that's the most normal reaction what what what a big V just came through my windsh what that's like that's the exact reaction you would like have in real life like never speaking no I'm kidding I intentionally didn't say that a microphone I have one in front of me you leaned into his microphone it's like don't tell anyone I'm away from my microphone guys look I'm not going to say a bad one into my microphone but I'm going to say it no yeah no my microphone only picks up my voice we they only pick up our voices obvious it's that oh yeah of course um but uh what was your favorite part of the movie um I don't know about favorite part or like a part you like at least yeah I don't know it was H I think the ending was probably like the last scene my favorite part was when it was over I like the movie um but no I think I even I don't know what it meant but I feel like the ending was cool at least like the kids walking into the house and then I like how had the ending at the beginning I like I actually I don't really like that cuz it's feels a little cliche just be like end on like a jump that's my problem with the whole movie but I'll get into that if you were like like basically about to die you and someone like reached out to grab you you wouldn't be like yeah that was I didn't I hated that F I like when it felt cheap I was thinking more about like the part where they take the pamphlet yeah no that was a good part I don't know what it meant really the pamphlet was for like um it was like some like yeah it's no I know but then like the kids walking the house and stuff well cuz they're going around door too handing out the pamphlets oh I like the PO when it shows like the whole living destroy they only have three of them why would you you can't go around handing out pamphlets if you have three pamphlets we found the biggest PL in the Str mie you're aive so I like the part when it shows the kid um and James is dead on the floor and he's just staring K funny like at the beginning of the movie talking to the kid on the phone was like crying he was like there's everywhere I'm freaking out these kids were not freaking out he was literally looking at James like no I was talking was I was like if I walked into a house and I saw thatd be like oh my God not I'd be like oh my God but um I'd be more like the phone call in the beginning of the movie but um yeah see yeah I watched this movie yesterday with my dad and I did not like it it I did not enjoy it it's fine but it's just not that good the characters are so stupid that's my whole the entire time I was like I was begging I was like please just go back to James he's smarter than Christen like please he's smarter than Christ really he he was he was like about to go out and he told her to stay in the house that they both knew that the strangers could go were was when she was talking to the girl that literally had the knife and she's like um he's going to kill you when she has the knife and then she grabs like a and then he immediately gets like thrown into the house like he's like oh I had a comment about something at the start I like when the guy in the MK that she steps out of the room and she he like throws her into the wall very irrelevant no that's okay go ahead yeah I I constantly found myself being like don't go out into the Hall you know she goes into the hall and you just her into the wall and she starts like touching the wall on way um I thought it was a she like like when w when uh James walks into the room to find Kristen after the the guy had like just been there like at the very beginning and she's freaking out I feel like he takes it pretty well she's like there's people in the house and he's like Kristen there's no one here I feel like he was but then like once he's like the very first thing that indicated someone was actually there he like Snapped like into like uh I don't know man mode I was going to say defense mode man you're about to make me ENT man mode that sounds like some like weird commercial with like Axe Body Spray or something I'm I'm going to man out how it feels to drive for F50 the man man would be my supero name if I'm going man man no but um I feel like if like U Mike Glenn howerton's character had just said like when walking down the hall he said hello James it's me Mike or something he could have not he said hello before he entered the house which makes like no sense I would have been like where are you at dude wait yeah I would have been freaking out like where's my friend so when Kenzie and I were watching the movie together um uh the the part where James James shoots Mike um he goes we were Kenzie paused it and was like the the SackMan was probably going to be like dude that I had that kill dude you stole my Kill from me like that was we were we were joking constantly throughout when we were watching it it was really funny yeah that makes sense I remember the car crash scene where one of the girls drives the car right into them and cack because because um because she gets the car again after they get out well no that's just to make sure that the car is destroyed so they but then later they end up setting the car on fire any yeah no that was his that was I think that was the friend's car like M oh right but um so they make sure no there are no cars but um uh but what was it I was going to say uh the the the the car the when they ramm the truck into their car uh Kenzie was like the sack man's going to be like dude that was my car you're going to break my car man that was my Toyota dude that was my wck you wrecked my trck Toyota how are we supposed to drive but like he's not saying anything so he's just like I know that's what I'm he's probably like oh oh my gosh he like takes the ax he's just stares at the car like with the ax just like how are we going to leave guys we're in a bit of a pickle guys we're going to have to Uber our way out of here now we're stuck oh how the tables have turned now the strangers are stuck that's funny also another the the other thing about like that I didn't like is when the man in the sack is following him how do you not realize there's a guy with an axe follow they had the music on so it was like really loud so they can't hear the footsteps still I would have felt like hey something feels off while I'm walking he was also halfway turned like this so I don't know how oh yeah no I feel like if I'm turned like this like you could see some yeah yeah cuz especially movie does Bend logic quite a bit I like little the logic doesn't sense because I in the driveway when Mike looks away the girl's just gone and I was like what what is she Michael Myers yeah we were literally that like eight times keny and I we were talking when when she was standing outside the window and they were looking I saidas the window and they turn away and they turn back and she's gone Kenzie was like What if she when they turned back she was still running away I thinking about the best shot of the entire movie was the one when she was in the kitchen then he just come I made I went back like twice to be watch you were I think before that point you you were you weren't really watching the movie with me I wasn't even in the movie yeah you were doing something else but after that scene happened you were like hold on wait I need to go back and watch that scene again and we had we we had to like pause the movie I had to write down where we left off so she could go back and rewatch it I uh um I okay um I like how um before you really like The Strangers Like make it apparent that they're there um it's mostly like close-ups and stuff and then after you realize that oh oh no there's like people like in the house it starts being more wide shots and like it kind of makes you think that there's going to be something behind them I do like that because they're all like when Mike went into the house for example you could see doll face pop up like a little bit like if you look closely you can see them like in the wide shots at times and I do like that because it's like they're everywhere yeah I think the movie looks good to me my issue is mainly that it's you can't really see anything yeah cliche yeah at one point uh no my dad like uh the girl like Kristen was like in the barn and it was like really dark and my dad was like this is a dark movie and I was like yeah I can't see anything yeah no I was I was thinking that like the dark scenes are very dark in both ways I think I don't yeah no he wasn't he wasn't saying like dark he was saying this is like a dark and a and you're making a joke but I I understand their point is like they're under uh like like they're in a dark area so it's obviously going to like realistically it's going to be dark but like you still want your audience to be able to see like when when that happened I had to turn up the brightness on my computer mine was all way I couldn't see it no after after uh I made my kill joke get it killer um my dad was like well you can still see uh you can still see the girl and I was like yeah the outline of her I can't see anything else when she knocked on the door I know this was intentional but when she knocked on the door literally um my entire screen was black except like a sliver of her face on the side like I think it it's just a problem with my computer when I watched it but it was so like I couldn't see anything but then in the very beginning the tra traffic lights give off so much light that their entire face is red and GRE real traffic lights do not do that wire they so bright that is not how that works in movies a lot also I I know a very cool fact what are you going to say it I know a very cool fact oh what is it okay so you know you know how they say is tomara home yeah that's how they find out if they're home or not and then they kill them yeah I found that out like halfway wa what huh you know how okay so you know how the girl knocked on the door twice and said is tomorrow home yeah that's how they find out if the people at home because if we remember the ending the girl Christian says why are you doing this and one of them responds because you were home they only what does that even mean they only kill people if they're home like it doesn't matter yeah because if they're not home then there's no one to yeah that's the whole point so everybody everybody listening don't stay home no reason you were afraid of that the like the the director was like uh I I read I read a whole article about it when I was trying to find out where I could watch it before Kenzie uh got home but it was um uh it was like there was three main Inspirations there was like two like real like yeah Charles Manson like that and then it was just like direct guy own experience of like someone knocked on the door asking for someone that wasn't there to see if there's anyone home going to rob houses on that street so that scared the guy and so he made use that to like Inspire cuz it's like it's like random like real life kind of I do like how um James like says something like when they're like um Christian's like um why are they doing this and James is like it doesn't matter don't worry about that that's like kind of like the whole movie like like it matter no reason there's like no way and like even even later she's still like focused on the why but it does there is no why if I'm being hunted down I don't care why they're hunting me down dude yeah I I feel like that's the Le actually I found it funny when the girl said because you were home and the guy in the back looked at he was like he was like what did you just say but some odd and then I was and then I paused it and I was joking around with Mike and I was like he probably thought they owed him money or something he was we were like no I was like I was like why would you tell them that you know why would you say why would you tell them that I I also do like cuz I also watch the new one which is even worse than this one and no offense I don't know how I haven't seen any of the other I don't you like this one I do but it it's still a bad movie but um so the the new one that just came out the strangers chapter one it's also very bad why am I not in on the secrets that are happening uh wait did we did we say something anyway back to what I was saying um yeah so chapter one was bad but I miss in um because they for some odd reason the killers in the um new one have like beanies on and stuff which I'm not personally a fan of because I like that you can see that seeing the hair feels more realistic because in the new one they just have like beanies and it doesn't feel like realistic enough and also I don't like that I love in this one that they take off their mask so they can see their faces at the end because we don't see their faces they never show I mean the act the people characters do I watched a I watched a kill count on this and then and um you can see glimpses like I like that's like the final moment where you realize there really is no hope because the strangers are like they don't care that they that's what I like about it yeah and then like at the very end when she was crawling to grab Mike's phone he just walked over grabbed the phone and left her to like bleed out like that I loved that because it just shows how like kind of Twisted an evil like they're not there to kill them they're there to just torture them I mean they were there to kill they they they definitely definitely was to kill them but they like tortured them like it wasn't very good that is what they did that's what I did like it it wasn't like a fast Lasher film it was like more intense and the scenes were more like like I I one scene that I wanted to mention like when she was changing the um like taking out the uh smoke alarm and she put it down like she left it on the floor and there were multiple shots of it just on the floor and I was like what what's the signic that's going to come back in some way I was like they would do that I was kind of disappointed that it didn't like help the people in any like help no it was just to show that they were they were in that house like like that like we already knew they were in the house well it's it's to like reveal to her that they that they were in the house yeah also I just also remembered something you know like when the guy slams her into the wall and drags her away and then it's morning how come she was back in her dress they put her in her dress CH they changed her they changed her for what I feel like you could have guessed that I did not you could it's not a very hard you literally asked that while we were watching get it I still K you it's not a very literally went wait how did she change outfits and I literally went K they changed her they changed her Kenzie and she was like huh that was it she completely they they woke her up and was like you can change your outfit we'll let you but she was like okay thanks okay thank you I need to look good but but then you got to come back and tie yourself to the chair I all I my I had a question about um like why uh like when she was talking to one of the girls in the thing uh the one of the girls was like picking up the the wedding ring case and like looking at it I like why I don't know like I understand you like I I didn't get that I know but like she was already wearing the ring wasn't she or did she leave it I think she probably might have taken it off yeah I I thought she had been wearing it pretty sure in um in uh the scene where they're like torturing them and about to kill them she's like wearing the ring but I'm I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure it was on the wrong hand I think it yeah you're supposed to put it on your left hand yeah but it was on her right hand and I noticed that the killers are The Killers put it on and but before they kill him they're like oh wait a minute wrong that's better switch it that's better I think it'd be really funny maybe was to taunt her like like oh you rejected this guy oh you can't get married cuz we're going to kill you oh you can't get mared should have gotten married stupid stupid and that's why you get married that's why you get married that's why you don't go home at night yeah yeah stay at a hotel and get married Mar yeah nothing bad happens in a hotel shining refence also can I say at one point um James was uh talking about um how he had never gone hunting with his dad but then he shot Mike directly in the face know I feel like that takes a little more than like hey I don't even know how to shoot this thing oops head shot yeah I feel like that like that's like like like he had to get the perfect spin like the way they did I I remember Michael like jumped actually was quite funny wait which one when they shot him you got so scared because you were like you I was like no it's a Michael not another one they're all gone they're going extin no I'm kidding they're an endangered spe an endangered spe guys save all the Michaels save the Michaels save the Michaels um get that printed on a T-shirt oh yeah I'm going to get that printed also another thing that made me very mad was when they kept splitting up and then also when she says go in the house she starts she sits on the porch and just starts crying like girl you're not safe out there and then she breaks her ankle and it was I don't know how she did that like I was looking away when she did that so I just looked back and she was just like like no I was watching the entire time she tripped and fell and then she screamed out in pain and I was like what did you trip on you didn't even show what she tripped on she's she just so clumsy at the start when the before um what's his face is there James she's like she runs to the room and then she yells like go away or something I'm like why would you give oh sorry man oh oh you don't want me to kill you okay I'll I'll I'll come back I know was like that I didn't she starts talking to the girl with a knife pointed at her and she's like my my boyfriend's going to kill you and then she grabs a butter knut they'll know where you are I don't think it was it was pretty short um James was like got caught by the other guys and um they were like dragging him on the floor and he he was like run run and run and then she runs into the room and she's pounding on the window and she yells let me out like you're giving away your location are you stupid hey how about you like grab the lamp something she had a knife in her hand and she didn't even bother trying to break the window with it like I know it wouldn't have done anything but like it's still trying she's like wait they're not here and then goes out in the hall like I would not go out in that hallway but she's she's pounding on the window yells let me out at the top of her lungs and I know she's upset but like come on girl use trying to flush myself down the to the window's not open I don't know and then um and then and then James yells and she yells uh then she yells back Jamie like like again you're yelling giving away like she's really stupid throughout this whole entire movie both she even try to unlock the window I'll be I don't know I feel like all the characters were really question did she try to unlock the window at all or did she just she didn't she just started pounding on the window let open but like this is try this is now a Christian hate podcast she's stupid yeah we we don't really like CHR this we don't review movies anymore we just talk about how what did you say I didn't hear Christian hate podcast yeah cuz we hate her sure huh huh well my mom's name is Kristen so get any here dang it I no oh I messed up what what dude all of my all of the notes I wrote for this movie was because um Michael doesn't do very well with scary movies um he was SC I could tell um so I was very stressed throughout the entire movie but um um but uh but but so so I wrote things like like what is no I'm looking at my notes Theo um I wrote I wrote I wrote something at one point like um where was it not her getting not her just appearing stop and then but but I never specify who I'm talking about in the notes it's literally just like stop what is he doing or how did he get there you know like it's very like unspecific about what I'm talking about and I have no clue what any of these notes mean also this was like I I had watched um not watched I had just taken uh melatonin to go to bed as well so I was like half asleep throughout the entire movie so all of my so like well autocorrect fixed most of the things that I wrote there's still something like um like uh wait uh there was one it's like the ni I was oh my God yeah yeah yeah um make life in the oven not hering stop not her wait a pesing what does a pesing mean I tried to write aing oh dude me when I a pesing out of nowhere I think the character literally ping right now me too dude they just could have been a lot more smarter with this like when the guy was chopping down the drawer James picked up a chair and just threw it at the door yeah that was funny oh no they're breaking in oh no I my main issue with this movie is that I feel like it just it's just kind of there I feel like there's not much that's like super special about it cuz costume design is like cool but it's not like like super insane or like even that memorable it's like a bag over the head and a doll's mask I thought the bag over the head was funny it It's it's cool but I feel like it doesn't like I've seen it before and other stuff all like so much of the cool stuff it's just a very basic like yeah concept I guess that's another issue I feel like the the the the concept had like a good idea going and if they had worked on it a little longer and like had like um done some more like interesting and like uh it just feels like very other than like how like other than the Strang it's pretty straightforward read the I've seen all I've read something about it I really like the idea of the fact that the killers aren't doing this for a reason like that's a nice I like that concept I think it's like like like in scream when they're like we like oh she wants a motive never mind I've actually I've read something uh you Tak as I just said I'll repeat it again cuz no one was listening I've read something in a scream at the end of scream when they're like oh she wants a motive well it's scary when there's not a motive loves to oh yeah but this is on a scream podcast we did that already yeah we already did that I know but I'm connecting the two movies why do you have a problem with me talking about scream so much you're like this isn't we're not doing scream we're everyone knows when you're talking about one movie you're not allowed to talk about any other movie every other movie is bad thought we went over this Theo yeah come on sorry yeah yeah you got to take that mask off but that is I was going to say put it on that's the issue hide that face hide that yeah there you go um girl like a mustache mask helps me bring up this point but I feel like other slasher films they have something to it that makes it recognizable like uh Freddy Krueger's uh sweat sweater or his hands his claws Jason Ro's mask U Michael Myers's costume Michael and literally I'm not even kidding first off to get a sack over the head you just go get some potatoes and then cut it up and then those doll mats just just look like they just went to Spirit Halloween like prior to killing them and just Spirit Halloween trip dude we should do that dude that's that's a great idea we go to they were so unprepared to the point the guy had with the axe used their own AE I'm so smart like they literally just I'm not even kidding I feel like they just go door to door to find out if someone's home seen three movies with a sack head killer now yeah Fear Street uh Friday the 13th Part Two and this movie anyway it's just the unprepared we're should wrap this wrong oh yeah what your final ratings of the movie final ratings um I'm going to start for this one actually um I'll probably give it like a I'd say like a three out of five it wasn't I didn't hate the movie I don't think it's it's not my favorite whatsoever um uh it was a pretty like it it it got me you know it did its job for me personally cuz I'm a little wimp uh but so I was stressed throughout the whole thing some of the jump scares were kind of good that scared me what did he do he tapped me on the shoulder just like the go on the car went oh yeah uh but yeah so for me it did its job uh but it's not like the greatest mindblowing thing ever so a three out of five from me uh Theo you're next 2 and half out of five very middle of the road didn't really do anything to surprise me so you could that's the issue I feel like I could predict anything I I kept making jokes so I thought it was like very funny can ask Michael about them toward you that's why I wanted to originally watch the movie with you because I knew I was going to get scared and not be able to see every time there was a jump scare I st like laughing yeah I couldn't go to sleep yet I had to join the call and hang out with someone real quick all right yeah I was going to say two and a half too I'm going to give it 3.5 a little more just because of the jokes I made cuz they were funny at the time like the only good part about this movie was me the only good part was when I watched it because I'm awesome all right fine four 4.5 uh four guys I'm a better now that I thought about I thought about it I made this movie the best 5.5 out of five watch the best is the real experience anyway watching it with me was the Delight I'm the real movie okay okay okay okay guys the real movie was the friends we made movie yep maybe the movies movie movie movie wo okay we're doing we're doing Back to the Future yeah love that movie wow wow wow wow you got on no more clapping oh the poor people on the street oh I forgot about them you must think there's like an earthquake going on wo that noise we're going we're going to we're going to go now cuz we want to enjoy Arts Fest you enjoy it too you enjoy it go to Art Fest everybody yay love Artest there's still couple hours yeah something like that an hour go enjoy artfest have a great day see everybody at stop by say hope be out there in a minute yeah we're going to be loose no they're setting us free me [Music] out we still I don't know when itop going [Music] one [Music] hi hi and welcome back to the Beverly Arts Fest I'm Liz de Fury I'm the community engagement manager at bevcam and if you've been watching throughout the day we've had vendors come in for interviews we've had kids from the cabet we've had monserat students we've had children's book illustrators and authors podcasting all day so we've been streaming since 10: a.m.

and we're getting down to the end of the day thank you so much for sticking with us or if you're watching the recording thank you for uh thank you for watching from the future today we've got um another wonderful vendor here from The Beverly Arts Festival Heidi would you like to introduce yourself hi I'm Heidi Bissell I'm a bevu resident and I have been doing the Arts Fest for many years and it is just one of the best festivals around and it is today has been one of the best festivals that I've ever attended it is the weather is great whole of Beverly and surrounding communities must be here because it is p there's so many people lots of dogs which are always my favorite kinds of people um and yeah so uh you've brought a couple bits of your art here and i' I've been a big fan because I've been living in Beverly since 2020 and obviously there were a couple of years there where the Arts Fest wasn't happening but um when I got to go to my first Arts Fest your art really stood out to me um so do you want to talk a little bit about what kind of art you make so sure so I started out I don't know how many years ago 30 years ago and I've always been creative I've always been a maker and um I used to make for my 29 grand um nieces and nephews 20 I'm sorry 29 yes at the time there's more now but I used to make them up um see things like towels with their names and all beach themed things and then people said to me how do you should start selling that and I went okay I'll give it a try so it's it's evolved over the past so many years and now I'm um been going with mostly Seaglass and seashells and um but then again it's invol evolved um to beach resin yeah and and this is a fairly like new sort of uh Trend within um within like the Mak space uh how did you get into starting to do resin well I I saw it online and um the chuder boards really caught my eye so I do a lot of different chuder boards and then I just said hm I wonder if we can get this on a glass so I experimented and things didn't work out but I kept at it and and this is what came about and I am so thrilled and they're one of my best sellers and and I wholesale them a lot and the bport um Hotel carries my line as well as the candles they have them in their dining room and so you went from not being sure if you should sell your work to having some pretty major uh Supply deals what what has this journey been like for you as as an entrepreneur as a creative professional who you know like yeah what has that been like it's it's really been exciting it's very hum have people love your things and I'll tell you it's it just is very humbling and um so I'm retired now from The Beverly school system for about 5 years so I did it part-time for a lot for many many years but now that I'm retired I've I've gone full-time and really spread out and that's how the wholesaling and things like that so I wholesale to like North Carolina oh wow Maine New Hampshire all kinds of different places so and and then I play with my grandkids in in between so do you still make them gifts I I do I do make them and those are keepsakes those are those are really special that you like handmade gifts like that for them it is unique and you know you're not going to find these on Amazon or anything like that which makes it that much more heartfelt you know to the recipient so um yeah I love what I do I lived in I've lived in Beverly since I was six right at the beach I I was going to ask where does the beach inspiration the passion there come from y I grew up on Ocean Street and I was at D Street beach and Independence Park almost my whole life and Lynch Park and um so that's where it came from oh very cool so what has your day been like today like uh well like I said this fair is amazing today I I can't even tell you how amazing I mean the weather's cooperating it's not too hot it's not you know people aren't at the beach and and coming later everybody is here today yeah and I truly have almost sold out my whole entire that's really impressive it's yes and my my granddaughter and daughter are Manning my tent right now but um I have some fairs later in the summer so yeah I was going to ask I'm going to be really busy yes yes I'll be at um the Manchester um Essex by the Sea and then I do the Beverly High School one in the fall and um how do you prepare for shows like this uh like clearly these are all handmade so what's like the amount of time or like where do you work uh it just it feels like it's something that would take up a lot of space to make these things what does your process sort of look like when you're getting ready for a show you know you're going to be selling large quantities of stuff so right now we all my resin is done in my basement because it does take up a lot of time you have a big basement I do have a big basement I can only imagine and um is it a finished basement or is it I'm on the other side so we've cleared it all you know everything is set up around and then I have all my equipment in the middle because it takes these um a a good day so I'll get these going in the morning say and then I'll go do my my Seaglass and um other pictures because I can't touch anything for a good 24 hours gotcha and any of my resin pieces they have to sit so you kind of have to know when to get things going and um and then I go upstairs online as well I do I have a Shopify account and um I'm on Facebook and Instagram and um but word of mouth has really um been big for me and I have a lot of repeat customers and I just when they come to visit it's just so exciting it's says I have your pieces or I have that and um I've been teaching a Seaglass class in claer really and um they called me um from the uh soer free library and asked me if I would teach so I I've taught a couple of classes the last one I I taught somebody said I have that and then somebody else went well I have that piece and I have that piece too and it was like oh my goodness you know it just it's kind of surreal actually really is so yeah like are there parts of it that like you couldn't imagine yourself doing or there parts of it where you're like no I I thought I could do this but I just needed I didn't know how well I didn't think that I would be able to go to someplace and bring a piece and say would you like to carry this in your store you know I mean that takes a lot of guts and you know sometimes they would say when we'll think about it other times it's like yes we would like to do that you know and yes there are some NOS in there too just like you know things don't always work out the way you want them to a lot of courage to do that so that's where it was like put yourself out there in that way putting myself out there yeah and uh and that was hard for me because I'm pretty quiet or I think I'm pretty quiet but then I don't know I just you just do it I just find myself and it's easier the more you do it the easier it gets so and I just love it all that's a really good that's like just kind of a really good piece of advice for like anybody who might be thinking about right I don't know making their passion into something bigger and when I do my Facebook lives you know it's like talking and they said just do it doesn't matter just be you you can Mumble through it or you don't have to be perfect because not everybody's not perfect it's you so thank you so much for sharing this with us thank you so much for having me do you want to tell people once again who you are so I'm I'm Heidi Bissell I live here in Beverly I um my name is designs by Heidi b/ Coastal creations and uh you can find me on Facebook Instagram Pinterest um Shopify and um and you can actually call me and come to my house and um get you can see her basement well I'm not quite sure I'm ready to show you my basement but I do have a little showroom that that people call me and say this Heidi I need a gift can I come over like absolutely so thank you so much thank you so much for having me we've had uh we've had art uh art Spenders coming in just all day and it's been really a treat to speak with uh speak with these creative professionals and just hearing all of the different stories about how they've gone from starting a passion into making it a reality uh has has really been a treat I hope if if you missed the morning session of uh of uh the Walt kosmowski was interviewing the artists uh earlier today then please go back to the recording and see that I think we've got another guest coming up um I I I believe is is quite a special guest and uh oh and she's in bright Sunshine yellow hello I'm Liz I'm Ally nice to meet you Ally and who did you bring with you today who is this I um I crochet for the thing and I made a giant potato for the craft fair he is the most adorable potate ever thank you for bringing him in to show um so you want to tell us a little bit about your company um so my I started my business about less than a year ago and this would be my second uh craft fair that I go done and how's it going so far really good I'm almost sold out really how how did you prepare for your craft show like did you did you make a lot of the same thing a lot of stuff I don't just like a lot of like a lot of different stuff and and you're almost sold out that's incredible um and just to be clear uh your company's name is hookline in ginger which is adorable um and how did you get into like this is this is huge first off I'm super impressed with just like the the texture and the quality and just like you guys can see this is this is like a little potate um how did you get into crocheting um at my Camp I learned from one of my like leaders there and then I really liked it so I started making these yeah yeah um did you start off with like such big yarn or like with like kind of like smaller yarn like this size and about how long does it take you to make a creature about like an hourish for one of this size or like a little thing or it depends on like what I'm making and if I took my ADHD meds I didn't I also have ADHD hey yeah um uh I'm really impressed that you have the patience to to crochet in this does it really like does it help you focus or yeah um do you do other things while you're things while I'm crocheting like what like watching TV or just like calling on my friends so it's just like a something for your hands to do while you're doing other things yeah that's really awesome as as a fellow ADHD yeah I know the feeling well where you're trying to focus and then to have that that thing you can be doing um what sort of things have you really enjoyed making um I made like seals like Shubert the seal yeah were you were were you inspired by Schubert or do you just just like seals I was inspired by shoeer oh cool yeah um what sort of things do you think have been the most pop your most popular definitely sht definitely shert yeah are there uh patterns that you're really hoping to try out um making like turtles oh and is that I feel like that would be a complicated design how how are you envisioning that like putting that together I would just find a pattern and just try to follow it as closely as I can okay and um do you do you feel that like you have to practice something a lot or um it is it has it been like tell me a little bit about like how you've been learning how to get do better at this um I learn well I was at my camp for four weeks so I had like a lot of like kind of one-on-one time with my like leader so I got like the basics pretty like fast so then when I got um home we like a kit to make like circles so I could make stuff like this instead of just like squares you make it out of circles yeah like it starts in a circle and then just goes you know round oh okay how do you keep track of like when you need to start uh bringing it down or bringing it back in there's like little Stitch markers the like hold like this is like the first Stitch of whatever round oh cool okay um have are you thinking about expanding the kinds of stuff that you do or how many festivals you do like are fun with the festivals yeah how did you like that's got to be a scary thing to like just start to put your work out there and see if people will like it yeah well we started like on like social media and people started liking it so we did like a winter craft fair to start than this one so you did winter first yeah how long did it take you to make everything you needed for this Festival uh I started after the winter festival which was like in December so about like 6 months of making it so when do you think your next Festival is going to be uh the I'm probably going to like try to get into the high school like Beverly High School one and that one's in November November Okay so your hands are going to be really busy between now and then yeah that's that's really cool just like your your diligence for that um what inspired you to to try and you know turn this into a business I know you said that people were liking it on social media well my friends like when I was make I was making stuff at school cuz I just um was bored a lot of the times my friend suggested I should start selling them and so I did and now I'm here what was your reaction when they first suggested that you should sell them I thought they were just joking yeah yeah but then the a lot of other people keep like suggesting I should sell them so then I started selling them where did you start first I mean uh you said that you went to a um a winter Fair uh was that your first time ever uh selling them yeah and how many how many like things did you bring did were you working for 6 months before you did that one like probably a little bit less like four but it was also a smaller one like a lot smaller than this and uh you felt that uh people just bought up all your stuff they really liked it they did how do you feel like having another it sounds like this is another successful show for you yeah it is how does that feel really good does it make you want to do it again yeah um you think you're going to be able to make more things for next time or looking at about the same probably a little bit more do the big things uh are they more popular or the little ones um well I had like very little small chickens that I was making into earrings and keyin which you made earrings yeah that's really small yeah oh wow which will really popular if be like how do you stuff really little ones uh use like a very like small amount of like the stuffing I forget what it's called and you just put a very small amount of in it okay what inspired you to make earrings out of crocheted little chickens my friend um she always wears like crazy earrings and she used said asked if I could make her earrings so I found like like a small pattern and I G gave it to her and or I made it and gave it to her and she suggested I should start selling them I do oh so it all started with a gift yeah that's really sweet yeah do you like to make things as gifts a lot yeah okay cool uh well thank you so much is there anything else you'd like to share with us no all right uh why don't you introduce yourself one more time so people know who you are and where to find you I'm Ally and I um own the business of hookline and ginger and where can people find your stuff other than at the Fair Instagram that's okay thank you so much for joining us today I really appreciate it thank you that was Ally she's uh her little potato is wonderful I'm going to have to stop by the booth before the end of the show um I think up next we've got Ed La plant and uh I'm very excited to here about what he's got going on we've been talking to vendors all day and we're continuing to juu right up until four o'clock welcome hi I'm Liz hello Liz thank you foret you and am I am I saying your last name correctly La plant yeah la plant La plant would be the traditional the plants that I assume you make your products out of well we utilize a lot of uh essential oils and natural um yeah natural plants natur natural um products you know Mother Mother Nature is our original medicine cabinet so that's true uh do you want to um say exactly what your company is and what you guys make yeah so our company is called one Earth body care and uh we make natural sustainable uh body care products so for example things that are going to that we feel are going to move the needle or have the potential to move in the needle in terms of um you know what's available uh from a sustainability standpoint are really going Beyond sustainability to think about you know sustainability really means to do no more harm right but we all know that we're in this in this uh tricky place and time and we need to we feel like you know we need to be looking beyond that and looking at at how can we take steps to be regenerative and do more than just Do no harm but um you know begin the repair process and so um you know so we're so we're we're trying to make uh products that are going to perform really well as well as anything else that you can get on the market but do it without the the harmful negative consequences of um you know for example Transportation costs and plastic packaging and things like that you really look right down into like the supply chain and everything not just what what what what uh ingredients are we using yeah um so I I have an idea of what maybe inspired you to do this but can you tell me a little bit about like the the story behind how you decided that this is what you wanted to make and and how you wanted to go about doing it what inspired all of that where does this passion come from yeah okay so um in full disclosure you know my I my wife and partner is an environmental scientist and Annie alter and there's a there's a lot of detail on our website about sort of the those uh stories that that sparked her initial interest um but uh you know when we got together um and we organized one Earth body care in 2017 um you know she was she's always been a maker and always been the kind of person that wakes up in the middle of the night worried that we're not doing enough to help the environment to help protect the planet to help folks you know uh realize that there are other options you know so for example our shampoo bars right most shampoos that we've been buying all of our lives are 80% water and the 20% that's not water um often times has harmful chemicals has parabens and silicon that build up on our hair things that benefit the manufacturer but we don't want in our bodies we don't want polluting our planet and you know scaling up in ways that are destroying the rainforest so when we decided to make shampoo bars um we we realized we could you know we could make a concentrated bar that would last as long as 24 ounces save tons of Transportation costs save tons of plastic and and and give people an option that would would perform really well for them they don't have to pay more for it they don't have to compromise and they can you know they can uh and get uh you know invest in in the products that they're using and the things that we're doing in our daily routine in a way that's going to be more regenerative and more sustainable that's wonderful um is the Beverly Arts Fest I I assume one of many festivals that you do throughout the year uh what is your primary way of like getting your product out there good question yeah so um we are we do a lot of shows like the Beverly Arts Festival we do like so examp for example uh Annie is in the doing the quiche uh Balloon Fest the 3-day Fest right now this weekend so we have two kits and we go in different directions on many you know weekends during the season but we are also talk about efficiency yeah that's great but we're also you know trying to grow our business on our website onear bodycare dcom all of our products are available um for purchase online and we can ship to you wherever wherever you're at um we have some nice uh you know economically minded um programs like our recurring um subscription program where you can choose your frequency and save 10% on your purchase order by making it a recurring uh purchase and so so anyway three channels our primary channel is shows we're growing our website and then we're also looking for um for retailers Retail Partners who would carry our store so we don't have have we we don't have a retail uh store of our own we have a commercial yeah we have a commercial interested um I'm really interested in what sort of challenges you faced in being able to make these products and considering the whole supply chain that that ends up with these products what sort of challenges did you face in developing all of that and I I'm I'm really impressed with your uh your ab ility to to succeed in that sense so um would you like to speak a little to that um so the question is what sort of challenges have we had in sourcing our products you know sustainably how did you overcome those yeah um well uh we've done a lot of research um we have partnered with um other groups to help in the past um uh we uh we utilize um well we've been working for the last year or so with a um with a a marketing consultant who has really helped us um you know to put us in contact with some a wider range of suppliers um but really it's been you know the the magic is has been in the fact that you know my partner an is a a sort of of a meticulous researcher and a meticulous you know scientific formulator and she's able to she's able to dig in and just really absorb and find a lot of information quickly and and um you know help find good sources for for ingredients I know that takes a lot of work that's a lot of hours reading the science and the W and the white pages and you know to to the white papers to know you know what are the what are the some of the better practices that can be utilized for um you know for formulating and sourcing very cool how has the show been for you so far oh it's been lovely yeah they've had a great response um we found a lot of folks who um have uh you know they were aware of us and they they learned on our website that we were going to be here and they came you know they came and part to see us and and we've met a lot of new folks too so oh good um so you feel like word of mouth has been a really strong uh push for uh returning customers and yeah word of mouth and then you know social media as well you know a lot of folks you know read the the directives and the the communications coming out from groups like yours as well as you know searching you know we get a lot of uh traffic that comes to our website just from our direct search and and they you know they wind up on our website and then they'll come and look at our event Tab and find out where we're going to be okay and uh what's one of your favorite products that you make well let's see um we have you know I saved the tough questions for the end yeah tough ones um you know I talked about the shampoo and the conditioner bars they are uh they are really popular and I think you know Rel to the traditional liquid products they really are um you know exponentially more beneficial both to our bodies and our extended bodies you know our mother earth yeah and the and the kindness that they that they uh are able to produce um you know right now seasonally our our um our natural bug repellent is really popular we have a natural called bite me not that um provides longlasting 3 plus hour protection from mosquitoes and black flies and you know but with doing it without uh using a de or any kind of a harmful chemical packaged in a glass bottle so it's reusable and or you know recyclable thank you so much this has been really informative thank you so much for joining us to do you want to uh once again tell everyone who you you are and and your company just to remind them well thank you again for providing this opportunity Liz it's been a pleasure to visit with you I'm edela plant with one Earth body care come see us on Facebook or Instagram or at our website onear bodyc care.com thank you so much have a great rest of your show okay you too uh so we've heard from we've heard from uh young women who are just starting their very first ever entrepreneurial adventures with crochet and we've seen Seaglass and uh allnatural body care and we're going to have our final guest for the day we're wrapping up the Arts Fest I want to welcome in uh Daphne vantine and um look at you are all summer thanks you are just the epitome of summer thank you thank you I know we had kind of a a rough jump between winter and spring so like this is just like exactly the vibe that we need to end the day thank you I was not paid to be here by the way but no all of my compliments come free good good good um why don't you introduce yourself tell people who you are and what you do yes where should I look Left Right Center sure thing why don't you look right there to talk audience perfect perfect um my name is Daphne vantine um owner of Daphne Ray creative and I am a painter um I use gouache paint to create original paintings I also dabble with some colored pencil and marker too so kind of a mixed media approach I'm here today selling Originals prints greeting cards that's pretty much it um but yeah I've been lifelong artist and I have been selling my work for about two years and so far today has been my best Market I've ever done in two years so really high on life I'm so happy to hear that I know like um being in the original art uh sphere of of like doing shows can be really tough because people don't often times don't know who you are um or or you know like uh it's just like a brand new introduction almost every time yeah how long have you been doing markets like this about two years yeah so like 2022 um I have had like other um artistic side hustles in the past so I have dabbled a bit but I've been doing this seriously for 2 years um and I quit my corporate job in August to pursue this professionally congratulations to you thank you that's scary I've done that that's scary I was like the joke maybe I'm just in denial but I mean it wasn't actually scary at all for me cuz I think cuz I just like so well it takes it does and that's incredible congratulations that's incred in thank you thank you um so what are some of your biggest Inspirations for the works that you do especially some of the things that people will be seeing here today yes so my subject matter is pretty like wide reaching I haven't found or like narrowed into like one specific thing which I think is okay because I think it's fine to have some variety in your work but um I try I mean I say like from the most like mundane or like magnificent things that I come across in life whether that's like being at a market or being at a you know farmers market or being in a beautiful location so you will see some landscapes in my work also some like very kind of like spot drawings I don't even know what to call them but just more like studies in a way um my bestselling print is actually a colored pencil illustration of a carton of strawberries so that was just from a farmers market in Maine that I went to and snapped a photo of it um on the landscape side of things I um have a Switzerland collection from a recent trip of mine so like kind of all over the math but all vibrant do you um do you work mostly from photos or do you do like life drawing like you're you're in the place you're in a market and you're just like yep here we go um not like not anything like serious like I do like you know at when it's maybe a slower day at a market you know sketching something but um most of it's from photos because I have a very distinct like like setup that I need you know I needed like the right level that process look like so I just work out of my house currently um so you know I'll take my photos out in the world whether on my travels or just on everyday life and I have an album in my phone of just all things that have inspired me and I call that my like reference photo album and then whenever I'm kind of feeling in the mood I'll sit down in my home studio um which is also my fiance's closet basically and um we work with what we got you know yeah we do we do um but I then just paint or illustrate things so yeah that's pretty much the process uh what is your like what is your week look like in terms of like the amount of hours that you spend throughout the week creating for for markets like this yeah well it's been a little harder this summer just because I have packed such a schedule I have like maybe 15 or 17 markets this summer so oh wow since I'm doing this full-time now I have so much more time to really like schedule out summer and fall so don't have as much time to create right now but I do try to get in a few hours a week um during the winter though that's like all I'm doing is just is yeah I was wondering like so you spend most of the winter planning and then the summer is when uh you're spending most of the time uh selling yeah I mean this is really the first time that I'm doing it like first like season that I'm really dedicating to it since I was working last summer and so this winter it was more about like education I took some online courses to kind of brushing up my skills and expand those skills and then yeah now it's just like execution just living for like one week in advance just trying to get through like the next weekend um a lot of preparation went into today so I'm really happy about that um but yeah I think come come fall things will settle and I'll have the opportunity to paint and start to take the stuff I was inspired by this summer and put it into my work what inspired you to take the jump to doing this full-time oh um corporate burnout and um I was in in sales so and honestly I was really like good at my job but um I was just hm that's a good question I think it was just like kind of the unbearables of like my situation that I was in and I could see how not following my dream and not doing what I really wanted to do was affecting my mental health so it was really you know kind of accepting that it wasn't the right path anymore how long have you wanted to be a painter um well I've always wanted to be an artist my entire life um I never the correct answer but yeah I mean I I didn't like take it seriously I didn't think that it was actually um even possible um and now that I've like had such great feedback and I've met so many amazing people even even you all who are giving me this opportunity it's like okay there definitely there is a path if you just like keep putting in the time so yeah what gave you the indication that this could be a viable path for you actually um I'll give a shout out to my friend Paige who actually has a podcast and she's an artist um Paige lindsy design her podcast is called Pages pod and it actually like changed my life entirely um listening to a lot of female artists went on the podcast talking about their stories and how they had had left similar career paths or they had left nursing or being a teacher just really across the gamut um and left to pursue art and so I was hearing all these stories of people who sounded so much like me and had such a similar experience and I'm like wait all these people are saying exactly the things I've been telling myself so if they can do it I can probably do it to yeah I had a very similar experience I was in marketing and quit my job in 2018 to be a full-time freelance illustrator and did that for five years amazing um so yeah I I would like from my experience your story is actually pretty common within the Arts um but as I said like a lot of people don't know the courage to take that jump um and it I'm really I'm really glad that it's like working out so well you you're putting in the hard work to make it work out for you yeah um definitely because it definitely like takes that consistent effort in order to to make to be successful with it yeah yeah you got to put in the time like everything I've noticed like everything that I've done so far like you know when I first got into this I thought like I'm only going to make it if I go go viral on social media I'm just going to have to get lucky and like most recently I found out that's like not true at all like the stuff that we actually do and the things that we as humans put in like we get out way more than we get out from make those opportunities so can't rely on really anyone but ourselves and I've like definitely been realizing that this summer and I'm proud of that um so what has been one of your like best memories from the past year on this journey ooh um probably like the first couple weeks after I quit my job it was just like this really weird feeling of like what's next which did kind of come with a little bit of impostor syndrome and a little bit of fear but it's an occupational hazard yeah right get it out of the way but I do remember just like going out to I since I had so much time on my hands I was like I need to just like get out and do things that I have haven't been able to do because I've just been locked up all day on Zoom calls I used to enjoy the summer so I just would take myself on like little field trips I would call it and I would take myself out to Farms or like go to pick flowers or something and I got so much inspiration from that and that's what's partially got me painting the straw or dry the strawberries and now that's my best seller so it's like just being able to take the time to go out and do little fun things just for yourself um and in those first few weeks that's all I could think of doing so and I have seen your Botho um and I do feel like the joy comes out in the work and and that's like definitely so you say that you've got like a lot of varied things that you draw and do and paint um but it feels like that is one of the through lines which is like things that bring you Joy and then that translates ex through it yeah exactly and one of my friends also shout out to Laurel Greenfield she has taught me she's a painter herself and she's really talked about like you have to really tell your story through your art and that's why like I everything I create like has a story behind it it's not just like a pretty picture I took it's something that I really enjoyed and like is seared into my memory so yeah uh do you have any advice for people who are thinking about uh you know following their passion but maybe are scared to take that leap yes my advice is that like everything is temporary um even if you only do that side hustle or you take that leap for a temporary amount of time it's just that it's just a short amount of time you know there there may be a time in my life when I don't want to do what I'm doing now and that's like totally fine um I think about like my parents and you know people who are much older than me they've lived so many years and I'm I'm sure they might look back and when they're 30 and be like oh yeah there was those six months that I was not doing well and whatever it's it's over but when you're living it it can feel so long and and scary so yeah everything's temporary and it'll you'll get through it this two Shall Pass exactly exactly MH um that's really inspiring that's really inspiring so where other than at markets can people find your work MH so you can find my work at Daphne rayc creative.com that's d a p h NE R AE that's my middle name and then the word creative um my Instagram handle is that as well and I think that's pretty much it wonderful thank you so much for being here really appreciate you coming out I know it's tough to leave your booth behind for a few minutes but um uh whatever you've got left at the booth sell it y we're going to do that if you guys are at the store are if you guys are listening to us out on the street right now um go to Daphne's uh booth and buy the rest of her stuff yes it's going quick um uh yeah thank you so much we really appre thank you everyone uh that is going to wrap up Bev Cam's all day podcast and coverage of the Beverly artsfest thank you so much for staying with us if you've been watching this entire uh stream um you get like some sort of VIP badge or something like going from 10 to 4 um but if not we're going to have all of these recordings on our YouTube page go to bevcam on YouTube you can also watch us on Channel 8 in HD channel 1073 um and uh yeah thank you everyone for all of your support in making this downtown space a reality we are here at 261 cabat Street Bev Cam's New downtown location our satellite location we're still at the high school don't worry don't worry we're still there and have a great rest of your day [Music] thank you [Music] m [Music]

e e e the new board of Consolidated High School District 125 will now come to order the secretary proen oh great um I got it woron here venos here TI No here W here so here we have a Corum chair will entertain nominations for board I nominate Amy second we need a second we don't we have a nomination for the vice president is I I'd like to nominate Steve Frost okay Steve Frost is our newly elected vice president and are there any nominations for the office of secretary I nominate Terry moon for secretary thank you okay Terry moons is the duly elected Secretary of the could someone I need someone to do the motion to move that the regular meeting date of the Board of Education be established is the third Monday of each month at 7 pm in the boardroom with the exception of January 2025 and February 2025 so moved second any discussion just want to to note that those are January and February fall uh around the uh holidays which are on the third Monday of that month every once in a while we have other changes that pop up throughout the year but for the most part for 99% Serv this speak okay all right so all in favor I I Clos the motion having received a majority of the votes cast is adopted um then we can the committee assignments are in here as well the haven't changed from last year are there any visitor statements relating to this meeting no executive session no executive session is needed can I have a motion to adjourn the organizational meeting so second all in favor I I opposed we are adjourned from the organization H okay could you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alleg to the flag the United States of America and to the for it stands Nation God indivisible withy and justice for all Terry could you please the r work yet Frost no here bosf here s here gon here moons here Tire well we're five of us tonight all right Don will be back you just had to run out okay um okay well thank you everyone for for hanging in there for that um C thank you awesome hi everyone uh super great to be back today uh setting it's their final meeting of the year but um also have some very exciting stuff to share with you all today um first up uh it's been an awesome you know presenting for the last year or so um really really good time but obviously I'm going to college this fall and so have to pass it off to you're leaving us I could arrange for a mistake yes please good but I'm super excited to um you know share rajin as the uh next year student body representative so rajin you want share share a little bit more about yourself yeah so I'm rajin sakat I'm a rising senior um I'm very excited to take on this role from Kos K has done an amazing job um and I look forward to continuing to give you guys great presentations about the student body I know I've met some of you in various committees um I'm heavily involved in student leadership and student agency and I'm really excited to serve the Stevenson community in this new role so very excited awesome so one of the big updates from last time is prom organized by the junior class board just some quick pictures is always a wonderful event put on hi Stevenson senior attendance at the event uh these are some pictures that I found my friends over here uh but yeah it was it was an awesome event uh the only complaint I heard was like music but I mean that's always a complaint but you know overall it was it was a very very nice event to be at uh next up is freshman Wellness day uh this is an event organized by The Freshman Mentor program for current freshman uh in the middle of April um just kind of like relax reconnect and unwind before we hit the finals AP season of the school year um and a lot of events organized R do you want to share a little bit more about what you know about freshman want to St yeah so this is uh something that we've been organizing for many years which was kind of redesigning what freshman Wellness day was like for our freshman um so we started off with like a fun little trivia activity that got the Freshman excited to be there um and then they had guided active movement lessons where they were with their act with their with their advisories um not sitting the whole time actively moving in fun engaging community building activities which they seem to really enjoy so that was fun yeah and I'm at from P tomorrow's last day advisory very upsetting time but I know I know they're often great stuff um the next up thing is senior Sunrise uh once again a senior staple event has been super fun to kind of see where everyone's off to um they had this like little like map thing where you could like place where you're going around the country and so it was just super nice food was provided pictures were taken and it was a sad event to to be at but also exciting to see where everyone's off to uh and then last Friday was Spring Fling uh our team was actually a second round exit so we didn't we didn't we made it past the first round we actually beat this team over here but um it it was it was a good time for sure lots of food music uh they had like spike ball net set up for us to play play with and that was awesome and I couldn't get pictures for the senior grad night but that happened on Saturday night at Six Flags um like I never heard of this experience but it was like literally from 11:00 p.m.

been like parp it appr at yes saw I saw that High yes is disc so happy to be here I can just tell you the process was so enjoyable I got to hang out with some of your students and of your staff administ team and this is AAL so I justes so my dad came in for Father's Day this is Mark so he wanted to come with me and I thought that would be great idea so we're just excited you got a backgr UC particularly art very close to my heart but counsel and everything just it all think you're we're really excited cont yes disc SCH ad to but I I was very impressed with this glad got app EXC yes than Fe REM um I want to thank everybody who came out to was really great to see every AC sence

to 4 a.m. um it was it was very unique there was like a ton of other high schools there and um lots of Stevens and kids that were there it was super fun to be like riding roller coasters it was fun yeah some other stuff that we've been up to so Kaa Club organized its annual s factor event uh that proceeds went to supporting entrepreneurs from emerging economies uh it was super nice to be there and kind of celebrate some of our awesome singers um over here we have our NHS and Bernie's book Bank Drive which is almost coming to an end we had our anti-racism and inclusivity week organized by fire uh and they had presentations from different clubs across Stevenson to present on how their work and their mission intersects with equity and inclusion and it's part of Kaa club we also presented on how our work at Kaa is helping Advance economic and like Financial equity for entrepreneurs in these countries and then our Green Team organized its annual Earth week um and they actually partnered with chemistry Club to create vegan soap so that was a cool cool creation invention that they're working on to advance sustainability and then also our fbl team held um a service event to support billah har for kids a local organization dedicated to empowering homelessness and at risk your children so um just some other cool stuff that our clubs are working on um some more stuff we had our annual polish culture celebration night Assa and sassa held its holy event and then our student council was recognized with the National Association of student councils gold Council of Excellence so a nice award for them to have and then also we had our video game club organized their annual end of the year events as well and so these are some of the winners from that in terms of academics we had our Spanish National Honor Society graduation and induction ceremony over here um we had our FCA which attended the FCCLA state competition in Springfield among 700 other students um and then over here we have our annual tedex event that was organized by the tedex like chapter at senson so they had about I think seven different speakers speak about different issues that they were passionate about um so that was cool to see as well over here we had our Latin club participate in their caman competition they took second place at State and and then um yeah our Science Olympiad Club participated at University of Illinois and you know one another bit to National so as always they're rocking as well and then in terms of Arts we had our onea which is our annual performance parts that are done by theater classes we had day of dance where different dance groups perform throughout the day and I know some English classes took their students down as well to watch uh so that was super cool we had over here our um end of the year like Consortium concerts and not Consortium sorry end of the year band Orchestra and Choir concerts um so that it's also just good to kind of celebrate and wrap up the end of the year with some of these performances and then up here we had the um best we had the NSC art show in which many Stevenson kids won like best art piece at Liberty eville High School so that was also pretty exciting as well and then lastly in terms of Athletics um all our athletic teams are wrapping up their season strong um we have over here our bass fishing team that which one back to back second place we had our um intramural foota group do any does any of you guys know what foota is yeah okay I you want expl I've never sure um it's played in a basketball siiz court um in L of a regular soccer ball it's a smaller ball that's weighted so it doesn't balance as much and the main difference between soccer and fota is it's really tight spaces and a lot of technique is needed so anybody who's like a professional soccer player usually Place Fooda first to hold their skills yeah I mean I I personally didn't know that i' had to do some research before put it's cool that Stevenson offers that and then over here we had our Allied for Allied soccer tournament and at the bottom and a pickle ball Club was a new club this year uh they've been super successful as you can see membership has really grown and so that's also some very exciting stuff they had their final um tournament uh at the end of end of April so yeah and lastly like I was saying like our orchestra band and Choir concerts at their final shows and performances are music production showcase AP exams are all done final experiences over the next two days um some other stuff that we've had is like Earth week anti-racism week prom week your appreciation week um and then some other stuff that has happened recently with springling senior grad night upcoming is a vote party on Thursday and graduation on Friday so as a senior we're loving it like it's really really fun uh good times and thank you so much for you know obviously creating that experience for us um but yeah that said I think just like one more slide just wanted to say thank you so much for such a wonderful and incredible year um you guys do so much for the student body and we really couldn't have the experience that we do without you so thank you so much and I have no doubt rajin will do spectacular job next year little something for you you just stick around for one second sure yeah do we have any visitor statements tonight okay then let's get on to the Ambassador Awards yes okay so tonight uh we have which I I'm assuming why everybody's here uh we have uh because I doubt that it's anything to do with our seal coating bit uh sorry SE um but um but our events I mean that's exciting too but I mean totally yeah but this is why be there too this is why everybody's here our ambassador awards are very special it's the uh highest recognition that we give as a school uh to our students who are succeeding at the highest levels and we have a whole host of uh students that we're going to have the opportunity to recognize tonight I'm going to let Troy uh kind of serve as the master Mones if you will and cash is first right so uh our first award every year um we recognize the great work that you do and keeping us informed including uh the Board of Ed and the PPA so cash you want to come forward get everybody around do we got Jamie close yep make sure you get a picture for us all right you KCK her out all right Applause thank you [Applause] J see you Friday see you on graduation I'm going to all right so um we have a lot of groups to celebrate so if you can just stick with us we will um uh make sure the parents you all get to come in and take your pictures when that time comes we are going to start with um a group of our teachers so each year uh the state of Illinois allows us to recognize Ste uh teachers in a way it's called the those who Excel uh program and so we have um about 10 different teachers um and and Sport staff members that were fac uh and faculty that were nominated this year so let's bring them up first of all uh our Educational Service personnel award goes to Debbie markwart come on [Applause] for and Debbie if you could just stay off to the side you get your [Music] picture and next up our student support Personnel Katie Bennett thank you for everything you you want join each year we get an opportunity to recognize an early educator someone in the first five years of their career we are pleased today to recognize math teacher Kristen Co also we get to we get to nominate one teacher in the space of outstanding teacher this year um our teacher was also selected as the outstanding teacher in the far north region of the state of Illinois from our Spanish Department Sam figarola and last but not least a group of people that are near and dear to many of the folks in this building we have the opportunity to celebrate a team a team of folks who work together to really make Stevenson a better place and this year we are celebrating with our little Patriots team so if I could bring you all up we call big round of applause to everybody so with us we have Haley Larson FAA Kaminski Brenda Thomas Hill and Eileen schopen thank you very much we'll get a picture with all of [Laughter] you right so let's do a picture with your that group awesome two three perfect and now can we get everybody in so we'll do all the recipients so we'll get you guys to come over you four we'll go like this one you guys go that just like teer [Music] you want me to lay down just do this his head in the corner okay ready one two okay perfect all right congratulations thank you very much everybody so now we have the opportunity to recognize many of the students from around the building for some of their great work so uh the first group today is the Illinois Council of teachers of math Maddox state championship team yep we're waiting we're waiting all right so we have a fair number of people are we ready to go we got them all up there all right so first up Angela guo Aria G Jonathan he Angela hoe Audrey [Music] [Applause] Hong k sorry thank so Kona Leu right come on forward yep [Applause] thank tanav [Applause] Rella wa wa wait this is the money shot you gota wait from Kevin Shen Aaron Tac Jiggy woo Richard Shu Mark [Applause] Yang uh now we have Eric Zang Ethan Zang and Michelle Zang and then we get to celebrate with our coaches so if I can get all the coaches who are here we have Eric Anderson Brad dur Paul k Christen Co and Anna Rankin come on [Applause] inry I don't know that we've ever had a faculty get two in one night conratulations that's really cool all right so we're gonna do this we're GNA get the whole team here in the middle we're going to have you group up and then we're just going to give parents and everybody a few minutes to take your shots so everybody sort of spread out here in the middle there we go got everybody yep have your I let moms and dads congratulations next up we'll get these guys out here Sean and Mark are you guys still alive out there we're still doing good all right next up is the host of state champions the yep so if you're a host of state champion parent come on in get a good spot for your picture love it tell us what host is what is host asking Health occupation something Association Student Association student student right students of America all right are we ready to go yes isan V chadri yay come on all right get that picture David G Naomi George there she [Applause] goat congratulations pujja Jane soani Jan [Applause] Jaden Kim an [Applause] Krishan thank you pra Kumari Matthew Lee and seiku modali diir [Applause] vavi uh Navar Arya poor Helen Shen H shya Roy tany uh sha arti fot AIC verie conratulations Stephanie woo and our coaches tonight we have Jill Litman with us I see her come on in Jill and Ross p a baby congratulations where he should be okay awesome all right now we're going to do same thing we're going to make a group so you guys could you might have to do two rows to make a good picturee two all right one last round of applause for amazing host of gr congratulations we next up get them out thanks parents we appreciate it thank you very much [Music] congratulations all right the next group today is the business Professionals of America state champions and we have one amazing winner today Abby ma con Abby was coached by coach Browski coach Ford and Coach kimer who are not here they really really excited they are really really excited they coaching today so they that's right one last round of applause for ab and next up is the aces state championship Aces state championship Timothy bu wait what is St for what is aces um so we do multiple choice tests in stem stem subjects academic Challenge and Engineering Sciences thank you not just another pretty face he just walks in answers I love I love this all right so Timothy's not here Evelyn Shan picture here got it Aaron Dan Jonathan he Ruben uh Luchi Max Leu job Max every I get one vendant rathy Orlando uh sir two got that's why we stopped making them out of glass prai uh ver Bahu nope Vash wad wad wani picture here one two Kevin yang Eric Zang Ethan Zang they weren't here the last time they won either they I already read their names and Coach Deb warma all right we're gonna get a picture of the team Applause conratulations yeah congratulations crowd thank you very much we're going to have you come out parents for ccla we'll switch them out Sean I'll get [Laughter] [Music] him oh family Ander [Music] you're fine all right everybody need where you need to be keep coming in we can just squeeze on off all right so FCCLA Sean what does FCCLA stand for family [Music] consumer I'll let the team of experts we got it there it is all right so so uh we've got a big a big group here we're really proud of their work these are state champions from the FCCLA work so we're going to start off with Greg Abshire congratulations Greg kyy [Applause] Collins hujja Jane [Applause] Shani [Applause] Kar Sophia kellac congratulations Marley Lewis Amia mahab [Applause] sham asne Patel Bethany Pall sonachi sing [Applause] Olympia Yan and this amazing team we'll get this picture and this amazing team is coached by coach Morgan boff and Melinda P come on up coaches [Applause] just squeeze in a little [Music] tighter get that photo you got to move around get what you [Music] need yeah we need make sure we block out Dr Tel oh you're fine and you think that has to be all the state championships that they've won as a school in the last month but we've got more there's still more to go so one last round of applause for FCCLA congratulations to all of you the next group that we're bringing in is the Science Olympiad state champions so thank you parents parents for in and out we appreciate [Music] it you're very welcome all right so if you are parents for Science Olympiad come on in Science Olympiad I think we need a bigger boat got flooded all right are we settled in okay first up Andrea gualdron congratulations Angela guo Jeremy [Applause] leay that picture Jeffrey Lou [Applause] Sher meta reishi Mohan quick picture Lucas [Music] Neu that was funny uh she bnie [Applause] Saran Caleb song got it Angela Wang and this amazing team is coached by Ryan Kora Kim lubecki uh an m and Gordon Wood please come on in do all right so if we can get you guys a swing over in the middle so that the pictures are like just important people in the front there you go [Applause] [Music] we got everybody besid pule right got it all right one last group to recognize today um this year um we were lucky enough to have a great group of folks working in our journalism group this is an ihsa activity so from the ihsa these are our journalism state champions so we're g to start off with uh Jennifer Hong Fiona Jin [Applause] Elizabeth Yuan and this team is coached by and taught by our amazing Dean Bradshaw big round for Dean all right you want a team photo you are the team thank you for being here thank you so much congratulations congratulations all right so Troy we can bring y so if we can bring um everybody else in now that's out I assume you're all here to talk um we have some amazing student success stories that we would like to celebrate take this they should stay stay they're going to we're just going to open up some awes totally thank you so much awes see you [Music] Friday see four months yeah excited to do this thank you nice meeting you all all right and we also on this night um celebrate uh with Ambassador Awards what we describe as our Student Success story Awards and so tonight I'm going to introduce Sarah Bowen our director of student Ser student services to tell us a little bit about the awards and then maybe introduce some of our uh student support student services members who are going to introduce their students awesome thank you so much Dr Tel um board members it's fabulous to be in front of you again we really appreciate you taking the time to acknowledge our special students and their unique Journeys we have three special um students to celebrate tonight we're going to start with Akil dhy um a yeah right round of applause I think what makes these students so special is that they really do embody when I think of our portrait of a graduate these are students who really have overcome um obstacles and challenges in their lives they've really demonstrated grit and resilience in amazing and inspirational ways um and other another piece of um their stories that I think is special is that they are really open to and seeking out the resources and supports that exist at Stevenson which have contributed to their success so excited for you to hear a little bit more we'll start with Akil as I mentioned Mr and Mrs dordy ail's parents are here joining us tonight thank you so much for being here and we're also excited to have a variety I think it speaks to um akil's um he's in demand I mean he's quite a popular student here in stevington look at the crowd okay we have um Janet sushinsky ail social worker that's here tonight um Miss evany Diaz who works in our green Student Services office and is a a regular greeter of aille Amy Grove who I know is here there she is ail's counselor Miss Pearson who I believe is ail's math teacher is that correct um sponsor for BSU that too okay thank you so much and then I feel like there might have been another did I miss somebody I think you're good okay awesome and then I think Mrs Grove you're GNA share a little bit about ail's Journey all right take it away um in my 30 years of working in education I've encountered many students but ail Dy stands out as exceptional it is an honor and a privilege for me to Share ail's story tonight and why he was chosen as one of the student success stories I cross passed with theil four years ago when I became his counselor at Stevenson High School our journey began during ail's freshman year as he transferred from an international school in Ethiopia despite the challenges posed by virtual Zoom meetings and later inperson appointments I can attest to the remarkable growth and development I have witnessed nille nille started in our guided study program for support to help him adjust with the transition from the International High School to Stevenson since aille was adopted at the age of eight there have been gaps in his education and the adoptive parents have gone over and aond above to support ail I told myself was a cry you're doing good got this um I'd like to share an essay that ail wrote for um their college application that I think gives a great description of what you've overcome how do we and this is all in ail's words how do we value single human life humans often contemplate what they are worth in a literal sense for me I thought I knew at 8 years old I been sold for 2 I was born in a violent sprawling Dynamic capital of the Dominican Republic of the Congo until I was three I lived in a SW Village that does not exist on any map my family included my mother my older sister Ruth my brother Gideon and occasionally my dad we Liv lived as happily as we could until my mother's death it was my siblings who told me she died with me in her arms my face was the last thing that she saw as she breed her last breath that same night Gideon dug her grave while Ruth dressed her the next day we moved in with another of my dad's three wives and six half siblings I had never known though this was unsettling losing my mother was heartbreaking my stepmother took care of me well enough but she did not love me how could I blame her she lived and in a mud hut with six kids to feed dressed and raised now she had three more who were not hers my father was of little help most of my meager his meager paycheck went to booze with only the leftovers coming home our newly merged family was divided by age the oldest children went to school my younger stepbrother and I learned how to fish and bake bread and the youngest went into town to help my step mother sell the goods none of this met the basic needs a hard decision was had to be made my father sold each wife's young child to traffickers well the youngest who were able to walk it turns out babies can be can be hard for trafficking mainly because they cry and need diapers my half sister and half brother and I were chosen to save our family I will never know how much that cost for them but I went for $2,000 at the time I did not know I was being traed but there were signs in hindsight being driven for hours under cover Darkness forced to lie down in the back of a pickup truck going from Village to Village without being seen like no longer existed eventually we arrived at an orphanage there I was promised that I would get to see my family again but that never happened about a year later a white lady came to pick me up and she began my new life at first I hated my adopted family for weeks at time I screamed yelled to go back to my real family however um as my life became more distant my grief and anger lingered for years my adopted parents are teachers at International School as such we have lived in Singapore Dubai Ethiopia and here in the United States those were ail's words and they're very powerful and I couldn't have said it any better myself but what I can say when you were a freshman in high school you received support for guided study to help you with time management that was not your problem at all you needed support in math we soon found out that time management was fine we looked into support eventually found out through the help of ail's mom you are dyslexic through a 504 plan hard work and determination keil has been a very successful student at Stevenson notably aille was placed in our accelerated program which included Advanced English math science courses to say that ail exceeded in these high level courses would be an understatement it is a statement to his character and dedication that they not only serve thrived but also embraced the rigorous academic Journey Akil will graduate from Stevenson High School completing eight advanced placement courses two honors classes and seven accelerated courses demonstrating his Readiness for the academic challenge of college in addition to his academic achievements Akil is a nationally ranked rugby player who plans to play in college the commitment and time management skills he has exemp in balance in rugby schedules to academic responsibilities is truly impressive ail has also been an active member of our black student union for the past three years serving as the club secretary for two years and currently holding the position of director of communication talk really fny all right I have no doubt that ail will excel in any academic extracurricular Endeavor he chooses to pursue his W determination commitment to his studies and active participation in our community shows the commitment I'm excited to share that AIA will attend Brown University and play rugby next fall a appe takes nothing for granted and represents the portrait of a graduate we want to develop it student it is my honor to introduce you [Applause] so ail asked me to share um just thank you so much for giving Akil this opportunity and um challenge in life right and you you took it on and to all the staff that's been a support to aille you're forever grateful [Applause] where's Jamie Jamie sorry thanks thank you so thank you W congratulations again aille um our second uh amazing Student Success story is Nancy Noah and I'm looking for there she is um so Nancy um has been a part of our goals program which we are so uh blessed to have because because it allows us to support students in in unique and different ways and allowed us to help Nancy progress through her education while taking care of a lot of things that she had to do at home including caring for younger siblings and jobs and things like that um Nancy I'm actually G to ask for your assistance can you introduce your family members that are here with you tonight sure um this is my mom and this is my nanew Jordan and my mom's name I didn't mention her name was Nancy as well I would name that this is my oldest sister Tanya and then this is my second oldest sister awesome and then we have joining you from um student services Christina Foss who's worked with Nancy as her social worker for all these years and then Mrs kpe relle kpe Right here um who is our um most amazing goals program counselor all right Nancy I you want to share some words about your story right I will turn it over to you you do that good evening I'm honored to stand before you as I accept this award this is not only a milestone in my academic Journey but also a humbling reflection of the hardships I persevered through and the impactful people in my life who have supported and guided me throughout this journey I would like to start off by expressing my sincerest gratitude to my teacher M scrip for always being motivational and encouraging Mrs kpe truly goes above and beyond to see his students succeed Mrs kpe from showing genuine support to finding ways to provide any tools needed to keep going I'm extremely appreciative of my student services team Miss Lee Mr damry Miss F and Mrs k for granting me the opportunity to earn my diploma through the goals program and giving me an extended chance to cross the finish line to my mom I wouldn't be where I am today without you thank you for your endless love and support and belief in my potential you inspire me to pursue my goals by teaching me to never give up and showing me you can achieve anything you put your mind to after reflecting on my time here as a student I recognized that this journey has been filled with many obstacles there was moments of feeling doubt and defeat but I took the hardships as a learning experience this award is a symbol of the hard work and dedication it said for me to get here this award is more than just an acknowledgement of academic achievement it represents the commitment perseverance and restless nights I have learned in this experience that any goal is attainable through true passion because it is such a great feeling when you accomplish something that you work so hard to achieve moving forward this accomplishment strengthens my devotion for success and inspires me to further challenge my abilities to gravitate toward even Higher Goals ultimately I once again am extremely thankful and proud to be receiving this award this is a moment I will always cherish and reflect on as I continue on in my pursuit of success [Applause] [Music] congratulations Dancy um and last we have Micah Anders uh so Micah I'll do the same thing I saw your beautiful mother do you have other humans here that are with you from your family so that's my twin brother J this is my girlfriend Natalie and this is my dad Brian thank you all for joining us um michah also has uh Jen shabon his mentor teacher um joining us tonight and Jen are you gonna be sharing a little bit of py and I P oh combo combo okay and then Patty Martin um Micah's counselor will talk with us a little bit about his journey too and again I'm so grateful for the support of the mentor program that's another fabulous intervention that we had that just allows us to meet the um social emotional needs of students and help support them in their Journey thank you all right I'd like to open with the following excerpt that is taken directly from Micah's college essay in which he references a formative experience as a camp counselor after cleaning up the campsite we grabbed our packs and lined up to start an 8 mile hike ahead of us we stared at the fork in the road debating which way to go when two hikers emerged before us we them which way should we go they replied the path to the right has amazing views but it's 2 miles longer I chimed in first to say let's do it my group liked the idea and off we went to the right the reader then learns what a challenging turbulent path that turned out to be it would require a search and rescue mission for the campers but the group persevered and became stronger because of it Micah's Journey at Stevenson might remind him of his summer camp counselor experience sometimes he decided to take the path that presented its fair share of obstacles this may have included practicing his conflict resolution skills with some of his teachers and navigating the fork in the road where he needed decide if he was going to attend class or it required him to believe in himself and Trust his sense of direction sometimes it felt like M could chose to take the longer more challenging path however he has grown learned a lot along the way and can now enjoy the amazing views of his future working with Micah and watching him grow and evolve through his time at Stevenson has been a joy sophomore year Micah would best be described as confidently ambivalent that both academic motivation and an intrinsic desire to form connections with adults which is why we knew Mentor would be the perfect place for him when he first joined the class he was quiet he didn't see himself as someone at who was good at school but now he considers himself a leader who initiates group conversations and mentors others he advocates for himself and he takes pride in his academics he plans to attend the University of Arizona in the fall where he will study business we'd like to close by once again using some of Micah's wise words from his college essay reflecting now makes me realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel even through setbacks and de Feats I was learning to step up and take charge when those skills were required being there for others and making important decisions while keeping a calm composure will undoubted me undoubtedly help me on my correct path for my future congratulations Micah has also um prepared a little something for you all hello my name is mAh throughout my journey at Stevenson I've grown into a person who was a confident leader role model and overall a kind man I did face a lot of challenges throughout my time at Stevenson for example I never really saw eye to eye with my teachers I didn't trust that teachers cared for all their students and that really won me over until I was switched into Mrs shone's class for the first time I was experiencing a teacher who knew how to approach me differently from other teachers who just teach at first it was a struggle trying to to change my opinion on school teachers work and rules but after weeks in shon's class I used her class as a time to let out my steam I remember coming coming into class sophomore year extremely angry thinking my teachers were being unfair being able to come into class and talk to who I call my therapist has changed my perspective on how to handle these types of situations after months and years of being able to express my emotions to a person I trust I look forward to going to Fourth period knowing I can get an adult's opinion before I react on my own Mrs Shone never treated me differently she's always helped me she has always gone above and beyond too many times for me she knows all about my school issues my personal issues and issues with my friends and I never once have felt judged the only feeling I ever got was I want to help in the most impactful way I can't say how thank I am thankful I am for you to be my teacher I truly believe I would not have won this award without Mrs Shone guiding me through my challenging [Applause] thank you all right so stay up there we're going to get all three of you up Amy you should stay okay get all three of you up here for a group photo got all right one last huge round of applause congratulations everyone [Applause] yeah so um I promise you this was the best part of the meeting uh and it all goes downhill from here so thank you all for being here you are welcome to stay uh but there are treats on the way out if you're interested so congratulations thank you [Music] like that how we follow all top won make you cry you're not supposed to all those down all I I gotta get off sorry you're right all right so um next item uh on our agenda that was amazing um is our curriculum team presentation um and uh typically we' let our director introduce their team so Jackie you'd like to introduce your folks so the I'm very pleased to introduce our family consumer science team um we have a wide range of experience on this team we have Jamie Courtney Christina Morgan and Melinda who cover family consumer science uh we have three Pathways we have our design I know we have design we have have our culinary pathway and our um human growth pathway which all of them have different experiences with and I think you'll really enjoy they worked really hard on it so enjoy all right hello everybody it's been so amazing to see the things that have already gone on tonight so thank you for having us here like Jackie said um we are the family and consumer science team my name is Jamie reman and I'm the team leader of the family and consumer science team and Jackie already introduced us so that was what I was going to do she already covered that for me so we are good we can skip over um so like said I'm Morgan I'm going to talk a little bit about our courses that we offer so we have three Pathways our design one we have a bunch of different ones in there we have our business of fashion and design um our clothing and design one and then clothing and design two uh clothing and design two can be taken multiple times for honors credits and dual credits um then we have interior design in our develop vment pathway we have our human growth and development teaching young children one and then teaching young children two uh TYC 2 can also be taken multiple times both at the honors level and a dual credit is offered um and then we have our life by Design and then in our culinary pathway we have three classes food and nutrition uh which is offered through freshmen through seniors our food preparation for sophomores through seniors and then students once they take food prep they able to take Gourmet Foods which is offered to sophomores through seniors as well I'm Christina Ericson nice to see you all um so we're here to talk about um how we um kind of focus on social and emotional development in our classroom and as FCS teachers um social emotional development has always been just a core value of what we do before it was cool before it was like the thing everybody was doing we were doing it every day in our classrooms um so one of the things that we did as a team a few years ago is we kind of created a mission statement we wanted to create a set of statements that kind of would apply to all of our different courses to help us guide our teaching practices the different things that we do in our classroom and our interactions with our students both curricularly and also um co-curricular um so some of the things we focus on are having a supportive culturally responsive and uh our focus on building relationships and Community um we want to always focus on designing curriculum that reinforc connections to a variety of academic subjects and making sure students can apply what they're learning throughout the building in our classrooms um focusing on individual experiences and on providing Global perspectives implementing technology to stay consistent with teaching learning and current events and Trends um focusing on promoting social emotional cognitive and healthy physical development through healthy sustainable Wellness practices um helping students develop skills that enhance their lives today and in the future and then developing connections like I said between those different content areas and also those Prof those professional career possibilities and as we were kind of preparing um for this presentation we sat down and we we've always really value the student voice survey data we think it is really important I want to know how students feel in my classroom um and yes it's great to see that growth it's always great to see those really high numbers but when you look at these high numbers you're like okay what could we do better what can we improve on even if it's just a little bit to make our students um have an even better uh experience in our classroom and one of the things that uh our lowest area what we noticed um last spring was in classroom belonging um so our classroom belonging was at 76% and then um then and then in the fall after we implemented this project our classer belonging went up to 87% um and so that is an 11% increase which was our greatest increase um across that data and um when we broke down that classroom belonging um question um we kind of looked at where you know where do we see where could we see some improvement and so we really kind of found that how well do people in your class understand you as a person and then how much do you matter to others in this class we're two areas that we really felt like we could create something to help students understand each other better as people and so we created um a new project um and just a little bit of an idea about the the makeup of our student group um we had 163 students um and we actually have an equal percentage of males and females in the course um you can see our um breakdowns of our grade levels students with flags and then um just how culturally diverse our classes all are so we really get a real cross-section of Stevenson students and so so yeah so we like like Christina mentioned we're going to show you guys the project that we created and implemented this semester we started with really making sure that our project aligned with the portrait of a graduate um and also the visions and values of Stevenson High School so we wanted students to feel that commitment to themselves to each other and learn about each other in the classroom and also to learning so you're going to see as we show you the project how they were able to do all of those things and we also really focused on the equity access and inclusive vision and values where students feel recognized as individuals we're creating a safe and inclusive space where all of our students really understand each other and appreciate each other um establishing High academic and behavioral expectations and providing students with support to help them meet and exceed expectations on the project all right so I am one of the teachers on the food prep team so I'm going to tell you a little bit about what that project actually looked like um when we first implemented it during this school year so our main goal overall as Jamie was saying is to connect it to the vision and values um and so really what we wanted our students to be able to do is to explore their own identity but then also um learn a little bit more about the peers that are in their classroom setting with them so basically what we did was we had them spend some class time brainstorming we introduced this project um we showed some teacher examples and then we gave them an opportunity and essentially what the project was um was students were instructed to pick a recipe that they felt best represented who they are so that might be something that is culturally relevant to them um it could be just like a family staple and we do have some examples to share with you so you can kind of see what students were um thinking as they designed their own recipe that then became a part of our classroom cookbook um so this picture on the right hand side there shows you just a slide that we had project projected in the classroom um for students to help them brainstorm the process we also sent an email home to parents which you'll see um for them to help guide the conversation at home as well and then we had students actually present their recipes to all of the peers in the classroom and before we did that we created these Collective commitments um and we really wanted to do that because we wanted the classroom setting to be one um that encouraged that safety and encouraged students to feel comfortable with the that classroom setting um when they're talking to their peers about something that could be um fairly personal so like Courtney said we did send out an email to reach out to our families just letting them know this project what was it was all about um so this is kind of something we all did but here is my email that I sent out to my fourth period students and it's just again explaining what the project is how we want them to take a moment sit down with their family members and just kind of have that conversation what is this dish what is this recipe what's this meal that represents you represent your family that we can share to the class um and so that's our top one there the bottom one is a response that we actually received back from a parent um this parent said thank you so much for reaching out and providing such a creative project for fourth period food prep I appreciate your efforts in finding ways to connect with the students on a more personal level and exploring different cultures through food I'm excited to hear more about the project and support Sarah's participation in it it's a great opportunity for her to Showcase a recipe that's meaningful to her I will have a conversation with her tonight to brainstorm some ideas that truly represent who she is I also encourage her to document the process so something else we kind of said too is they can take some pictures of their families of them cooking the meal too and put it into their cookbook project that they'll show to us so it was really kind of nice to get this feedback from family members and parents knowing that they're on board they really like this project as well so in the classroom when students had an opportunity to actually put all of this into the project in the cookbook format um we did provide them with the template and we said you know feel free to follow this but if you wanted to get creative and use a different template you're welcome to um but this was the one that we gave to them so you could see on the far left hand side that screenshot that would be just like your basic recipe so that's where students were typing in their ingredients um their directions and including a finished product of what the dish looks like at the end um and then that second page is really we that social emotional piece comes in where students were asked to write about why they chose the dish um what it means to them encouraging others to try the dish as well and then pictures of either and they had a wide variety of options for what they could include in terms of pictures but why um or pictures of their family with the dish um any cultural photos that they wanted to include any other Traditions that they have in their home um or just other foods that their family likes to eat um and then on the far right hand side was just um to kind of show the students that was one that I provided in class as an example so um and I even showed them a super super simple basic recipe it was just oatmeal banana pancakes uh but I have a 2-year-old at home so I told my students I said at this stage in life it's really hard to sit down and buy a bunch of ingredients and have time to prep all of those ingredients so my recipe is super simple and basic and something that you can freeze and heat up later um so yours doesn't have to be anything crazy it just represents either like who you are um or what is the best representation of your family so here we just have two slides here um this first one just shows two examples so you can kind of see what the students were able to produce from this project so on the leftand side you can see um a New Orleans jambalaya um and then we loved how this student actually Incorporated some pictures in there of their family um you can see them sitting down at the table eating together and then a picture of the finished dish both from the internet as well as when they made it at home um and then on the right hand side This was um a student who you know the recipe doesn't necessarily have to have a cultural tie um so this student is is not Italian um but just something that her and her family do together is they have the pizza and movie night and they do it every single week on Fridays um which she talks about in her description and she had really adorable pictures on there of her um as a young child since this is a tradition that they have had for years together um so just two other examples here to show you all um and then we actually created we pulled together some of the student recipes and we created cookbooks for all of you just so that you could kind of see what finished product looks like um so we will hand those out at the very end um but just two other examples here so you can see like the actual recipe as well as student explanations about why they chose these dishes and on this slide we have two of our food Prep students strual and and Alexis showcasing the recipes and for one of the projects we did I chose the pepper chicken as my recipe and pepper chicken has few main ingredients which just chicken lemon garlic and some turmeric and salt and chees one of the ways to make pepper chicken is you marinate the chicken with lemon garlic and the chili and turmeric and then after 30 minutes I'll show you cook in the walk you can eat this food with uh rice flat bread or any other type it's a very flexible food and I like I chose this because um I want others to experience the flavors as I did Chate thank you my name is Alexa stren and for my dish I chose evil skers which is a poish delight so some basic ingredients we have sugar baking soda salt and some eggs um but you do have to separate the egg yolk from the egg whites and Y and then for I chose this because it reminds me a lot of my childhood my grandma I have like four girl cousins and we used to wake up super early in the morning to make these you can make them more Savory with some like lemon curd in the center or you can do more like the sweet route with um chocolate as well and that's a photo of my family and I so yeah I think it's the perfect taste and so the project didn't end there towards the end of the semester We Had Each period vote for a recipe to make during a special cookbook lab so here's an example for my second hour featuring J chicken Kahari which is a spicy and flavorful Pakistani dish uh my favorite part about his recipe project is that whenever he States whenever my mom makes it I go crazy so his classmates went crazy as well for the day they all enjoyed it and it was a great experience um exposing them to new flavors new dishes um and also new culinary techniques um and it also gave them a little taste of what Gourmet Foods is like with our International Cuisines unit as well and then for all of our classes at the end of the semester we like to give our students a survey to give us feedback or course suggestions so for food prep we wanted to highlight The cookbook project so here are some of their responses and one of their students goes I enjoy the cookbook project as I was able to learn more about the different cultural Foods this project helped me feel more connected to the class and my peers because I learned about their cultural backgrounds and their personal connections to the distss that they chose um and some of the these are obviously um topics and things that we try and pull through into all of our other courses as well um helping students make those connections with each other um so just two other examples that we do in our other classes at our interior design class I have students um go around their homes and we T we have a whole lesson on um how your culture and your values affect what you put in your home and so they had to go home and take a picture of something in their house that kind of represents their family and their cultural beliefs so here and then they send me the picture we put it in a slideshow and then they present it to the class and so this student brought in a Ukrainian Saint book um that was passed down it's on their mantle and so he said it's displayed in their home and their family room um it is really interesting you hear these students kind of then have those extended conversations about a lot of these different things without the teacher kind of guiding them to do so um in our teaching young children of course um the students when they create lessons for the children always encouraged to kind of bring in their own um identities um on the left there's a student who was doing a talked about um like Indian Bindy and um then um there's another book that a student was reading about it's an Italian um kind of holiday old buas like the Christmas witch they did a little lesson on that and then not only in our our courses but also our co-curricular um areas clubs that we have um this year for our fashion show that was in April um I actually partnered with the anti-racism and inclusivity week um one of the um the fashion show always supports charity and this year we supported a charity um that supports diversity within the fashion industry um in FCCLA which we heard about tonight from our wonderful students um they have the opportunity to compete in FCS related events and often times students with will um uh make those cultural connections within your presentations and then our cultural Cuisine club we also partner very often with other clubs um to help the students learn about um different cultures Le about different foods how to cook those different foods and eat those different foods in a variety of different settings so we really try and bring all of these different things together within all of our different um experiences that students can have um throughout the building um so thank you so much we do have a copy of our class Cod book home super excited about the jum apparently if he's not in there we'll make sure we give that to you um do you guys have any questions for us thank you is it easy for students to kind of share their backgrounds in their story you have to pull it out is it are they open sometimes on the students I think to it has a big impact on when you do it in the semester all all semester courses and so when you do things right the very beginning it can be a little hard so we usually we try and wait like a you know a couple weeks to kind of get them doing different activities throughout the beginning of the class period to kind of get to know each other a little bit I think then they have are a little bit more open about presenting about themselves great idea you know this it was amazing there is one thing that would have made it a little bit for examples yeah I'm just saying like it was good but next time next time we'll be back thank you guys so much shate this you take any make any of those recipes you need to tag us right post on their socials about 6 the last was pretty impressed with this was the kid version [Music] they it's awesome it's cool it's cool all right so um the the all right moving right along um tonight we are bringing forward our letters of intent for your approval we had a chance to look at those last month um these are our recommendations for um curriculum proposals that would come in the fall um for the 2526 uh school year again uh as I said last month um the administrative team team has vetted these uh we feel good about taking these to The Next Step which is giving teams some time over the summer to kind of flush these out and then we'll have an opportunity um at this level uh and a first reading and a second reading to um dive into them again we'll also discuss at The Retreat um Troy and Mark a little bit more deeply the science um suggestions that are coming forward so tonight we're presenting to you our 2526 curriculum letters of 10 um for the 25 26 school year sorry could I get a motion to approve so second any questions for Mark and again you'll have more opportunities to dive into this more deeply this just gives our teams the green light to think through it more deeply over the summer so does that align with the summer curriculum that we're doing next so no no okay but it does allow so if there's significant changes that we're recommending for it's like the summer curriculum is then based some of it is based on the year before the changes that you approved last year okay so it's getting ready for this it's summer curriculum them as a year behind this is just a little ahead but ultimately they tie together just not these two don't tie together directly correct make sense yes so so it looks like we're offering AP courses for the next summer right are we going to offer like AP courses in the summer time summer yeah no that's a different not summer that's different that's not summer course okay yeah okay I'm wondering you're you're one step ahead of us yeah oh okay sorry I all right I this letters this letters of intent right okay okay whenever you're ready any other questions all right Terry could you close sure no I Ben ysf i s i gon I moons I Ty I frost Carri six to zero okay the next item is um our letters you went the other way I went backwards um the next no it's uh the next item is approval of our summer curriculum projects um each summer um gez for as long as I've been here um we have provided teachers with the opportunity to um dig into some summer curriculum work um focus specifically on our goals projects and initiatives um and these projects are approved by their director um ultimately by Mark and Troy um and they're just projects that we feel like are worthy of the opportunity for Teacher teams to dig a little bit deeper into the summer um and get ready for the following school year so not every team um does a summer curriculum project but many teams do um and it provides a little bit of a push um toward uh the beginning of the school year so um the projects this year we're bringing forward uh for your approval and um very briefly Mark um the projects are similar to how they've been in the past they're aligned to our gpis and the budget specifically is in line with where we have been in the past as well correct even even better so could I get a motion to approve the summer curriculum project proposal soov second any other questions from is this the teams are working on this together throughout the summer or is it mostly team leaders correct correct yeah the expectation is that these are team based uh collaborations okay if if you're a team of one like I was world religions it might be so it be but for the most part the expectation is it's a team project any other questions Terry would you please sure Vose hi so hi gorson hi w i Ty hi Ross no I Carri six to nothing okay and then uh we have three first readings one is the uh student guide book uh that we'll be bringing back to you uh to you in June for your approval if you recall uh every year you approve uh changes to the student guide book um Troy um leads kind of a process out with Eric Ramos the Deans a parent group um taking a look at the guy book and then um making any recommendations um for the following year at this point um a lot of the changes are just mostly smiy Troy yeah there's not really anything substantive that we're recommending um to the student guidebook it's worked well for us past couple years so we'll bring that if you have any questions before June let me know but we'll bring a final uh guide book to you then uh also in June we'll have uh um board policy updates um so that'll be coming to you and so in the meantime you can see all the work that um Pia put into getting that ready for you if you have any questions feel free to give us a buzz uh and then uh we are also going to be bringing um the final school calendar for the 23 24 school year this year um there were no modifications that we had to make to the calendar for yeah crazy snow day remote day any weird flooding anything like that um weird flooding isn't funny no okay sorry um so okay [Music] sorry we need a lot more boxes of tissues sorry couldn't resist okay so those are the three first readings we'll bring to you um in June uh Personnel items uh you can see in the uh report um we will not need an exec s and those will be on the consent we will not need an executive session following the meeting um and that takes us to the business section and the first item let me get there is approval of the treasurers Bond and required by School code um each year the district is required to purchas a Treasures Bond um and based on the 23 AFR and audit Financial reports um the bond cost is $1,000 per $1 million of fund balance so tonight we are recommending the board approved purchase of a Treasures bond in the amount of $20 million for sha P Carney at a cost not to exceed $20,000 can I get a motion please so move second any questions on this this is kind of standard practice every year it and just as a reminder Sean we know where you live I mean is Sean good for it we know his address we know where heia oh are here coron hi moons I tyer hi no hi Ben ysph hi here six to nothing okay similarly uh and as Sean said actually even more importantly every two years the board must appoint a treasurer of the district since uh July 1st 2016 Sean has been serving as a district Treasurer it's time to move forward with his reappointment um the state also requests that the district identify who is serving as the csbo for every District um so tonight we're recommending Shan for that role as well so uh we're recommending that uh the Board of Education appoints Shan Carney as the treasurer and isbe identified csbo for adies Stevenson High School District 125 for a two-year term beginning July 1 2024 could I get a motion please so Mo second any questions Terry could you please call sure gon [Laughter] oh was that an ey for a maybe no it's an ey is he's holding out for negotiations is there an is there isn't Moon's I tyer I an no i benos i s i car is six to nothing okay in the moment we have all been waiting for the seal coding bid Sean bring it home so uh every year uh in an effort to maintain the useful life of our uh Trail our parking lots and other uh surfaces that are in fact um asphalt uh we uh go ahead and seal coat um all of those areas um and this year I I had a team of people that helped me one of which is here Sam benck um so she um helped along with um Mar Vargis um put together the bid um the bid that we did with uh 96 had expired um so we asked our feeder schools if they're interested in bidding with us again 102 and 103 took us up on it 96 did not [Music] um it's okay um and so at the end of the day uh we did get two uh bids and the results that you see there are for all three years per year just in case anybody is a little nervous um but the winning bid um was in fact uh new line Paving services and a a bid of $223,300 even so we are recommending that the Board of Education approve a three-year agreement with new line Paving services to provide seal coding services at a cost not to exceed $223,300 as presented could I please get a motion so was that Gary it was I'll second it just to get things moving and Sean just to be clear so the reason why we do this almost every year and then every other year because generally speaking we have so much asphalt if we didn't do this yeah it it extends use we end up millions of dollars so to replace you know to dig up and and replace of parking lots probably in this you know depending on this which parking lot anywhere from several hundred thousand to over a million dollars this does maintain the useful life of it um and it's something we do every year the scheduling is a little difficult because we need two days uh Without Rain and without activity at Stevenson so good luck thanks we figure it out yeah actually is very ex is this part the vhack is done too vck is also done correct are they giving us better price yeah so we we go um we go out every five years so we can go three years and then usually extend it twice for one year um so the current contract has gone through its useful life and that's why we have to do it all over again this is just to be clear standard maintenance standard correct not any different than somebody seal C their driveway with buckets of tar from Home Depot I love that we just made Sean the treasurer and we didn't ask him any questions and we've asked him four questions all right it's all good any other questions Terry could you please sure hi tyer hi no hi bosf hi so I coron I Carri six to nothing okay okay music bid so music bid um also uh tends to happen um annually we take a look at the inventory that we have for the students um as you recall we have quite a few students in our music programs requires lots of instruments um and the uh John and his team with the fine arts department um had do a good job of creating an inventory with its useful life and then we only replace those um item items that are at their end of useful life or in fact become damaged um so this year um they were looking to replace approximately $770,000 of um instruments um and after the bids came back um we were able to um drop that um amount significantly to just about $40,000 those were the items that were bid on we did have a couple of instruments that weren't bid on um and so um those will just get to be awarded to whoever can actually make the instruments um but tonight uh we did have several biders and what's beautiful about the bid that we put together is that uh it's not an all or nothing we can pick the lowest bidder for every instrument um and put together which is why you see multiple vendors listed here um so tonight we are recommending that the Board of Education award the music instrument bid to quinland and Fabish at a cost not to exceed 8,974 Washington music at a cost not to exceed 13,5 $ 55655 and music and arts at a cost not to exceed $1,771 72 for a total cost not to exceed $ 39,2 4867 do I have a motion to approve so move any questions yeah does this um include maintenance or is that a different animal different animal these are all instruments that are Way Beyond their useful life or effect or damaged no but when we purchase the new instruments from these vend does this include maintenance for the the newly purchased inst it does not it does not like a warranty type of a thing where there's annual service sure or just if they need like tuneups or whatever no we we do that on a oneoff and the a lot of times our um teachers can assist with that depending on the instrument and what needs to be done again is this part of the Fine Arts it's part of the budget part of the budget correct we're doing it now because it goes into next year's budget yeah any other questions so how about for the first vendor um per what is called Perfection music the the first you have four correct so first lender oh on the bid results let me pull that up they not chargeing anything correct yeah so they they didn't bid on that particular instrument they don't know how to bid on that okay okay so they gave up their B correct got it I thought I going to give us some musical instrument for free listen let's find some of those yeah I'd be happy to work with that that's easy okay good question thank you yeah they just weren't the low they have okay sure T hi no hi penos hi s hi coron hi I car six to nothing okay and then um Sean we have a series of first readings that we'll invite the board to um follow up with if we have any questions the hall house Detention Center mou this is something that comes up um reg every year regularly um we serve as the um Financial agent um for the Detention Center budget transfers um approval of the administrative 9unit celer pools will be in June um an RFP for Event Photography services is um that we're going to be bringing in June correct do we do we need that yes yeah we'll bring forward that more the mid meting for you um there's a couple items for consent and then um 2023 finalized tax extension information um you'll follow up with Steve on that okay because I know he usually has questions around that it's just the what we actually received or going to receive excuse me yeah um and it's just to clarify it's 2023 taxes but that is our fiscal year4 budget yeah 20 25 budget 2425 is for the 2425 school year right the 25 budget and I apologize I meant Steve J's questions about the next item which is the uh review of the tax appeal process correct from Robin schwar so just give us a quick hit on that um this is um typically larger organizations are appealing their um their EAP over $100,000 when they want to reduce it by more than that we get notified we um we ask our attorneys to get involved so um basically they end up saving um the smaller taxpayers in our district um from having to carry the burden from larger corporations reducing their taxes so money well good right consent all right can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda so move second who did the first me Ronnie Ronnie thank you you please no i benos i s i Corson hi moons I Ty I we're approved it okay uh and then just some items uh in the report there some um kudos to Kim Chambers who wrote an article for um the Illinois Association of regional superintendents of schools around the uh national teacher shortage so that was interesting you have a link to that and some student profiles from Jamie and her team so thank you Jamie for putting those together um and I think P help that uh you can see some pictures from our senior Awards night Troy any uh this just a great night yeah we we've really shifted it from being calling kids up over and over again we give a couple of speeches Bill Fritz who's retiring crushed it had a great speech and Ida deab and then uh they go out and they're able to meet the folks that gave them the award and really spend time with them talk to their families I think it's a more personal event than listening to kids get called us for an hour and a half so I hope people appreciate it but think the kids like it and then just a reminder August 2nd and 3 for um our Retreat and then um you can see other important dates uh on that list uh tomorrow um we have a meeting here for administrative team review Terry has a menu going around um all sign it very important decision made there it's you y um and then Friday of course is graduation so tomorrow night we'll give you uh robe the robes that we have and then for those who are interested next Tuesday we have three students that we'd like to provide in uh what we call kind of an alternate uh graduation for students who will be um participating in state competitions next Friday so um I think Terry's been there in the past and Amy and I do usually go I can't go this time so some is free and available it's it's nice it'll be next It's usually the Tuesday after Memorial Day around 8:30ish breakfast we'll start at 9: and nice there might be a few more if we still have a couple teams out there playing so right now it's at 3 3 and then our June board meeting and then no meeting in July so we'll see you at the retreat in August so all right that's it for tonight okay do I have a motion no no that's it motion to so moved second all in favor

e e e stuff in their phone put e 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 liberty and justice for all just like to read a quck statement if I may Dr Hayes Mr capano the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of this act the Cliffside Park Board of B school's notice of this meeting to be published by having the daytime in place there are posted in the office of the bur clerk burough Library bur Rec Department the office of the Board of Ed and the offices of school numbers 3456 and the high school on July 11 2020 24 and notices were forwarded to reporters of the record July 11 2024 this is an official meeting Mr capano Dr hazes like to take the role if I may Mrs Abu here Mr capano here Mrs Fredo here Mr Gara here Mr Nadu here Dr pontano here Mr ranc Court Mr Russo mrakia is here and Mr yanui here is here Dr Hayes Mr capan welcome everybody to um our C Park Board of Education meeting and I'll ask for the superintendent's report well Mr capano as you know June is a very very busy time of the year you are simultaneously trying to close out one school year and get ready and do all of your homework to open up the 2425 school year simultaneously and as of tonight I have to publicly thank this board of education our administrative staff Mr Alano for all of his assistance and as I stated to you in our work session um in front of you on tonight's Personnel resolutions I'm asking you to ratify three therapists three teacher aids eight new teachers five new substitute teachers an intern and all of our co-curricular positions for next year um as of tonight we have seven vacancies for the 2425 school year but we've successfully filled approximately 10 others so uh again I thank all of my professional staff for their help and dedication to this task I thank the board of education for their support and again thanks to Mr Alano for all assistance as these folks get on boarded um there are of the 42 Personnel resolutions uh when I finish my report I'm going to ask Dr Pantano to please read resolution number 42 into the record but before we do that please know there are five policy and procedure resolutions three of which were hip cases since the last reporting period of the three hip cases uh two were confirmed one was alleged and of the two confirmed counseling was provided parents were notified and then the two two confirmed disciplinary action did occur um if Mr capano and Dr Pantano are good with that uh I would like you again to consider reading resolution 42 into the record Dr Hayes indicated resolution number 42 is a special resolution and it's only fitting that Dr Pano uh reads this resolution uh she implemented that a representative from uh the high school come and be part of this board of education and I know sometimes uh uh this Board of Education Works tremendously hard and we take a lot of input uh uh from uh teachers administrators students Etc and I know uh Irene's been a great advocate for the high school and uh I was real happy to to work with her in the the last uh year so I'm going to turn it over to Dr K thank you yes sirene has been a wonderful advocate for the high school and she also represents her school in this District well so I'm very proud to read this resolution honoring cud representative Irene ROP his service on the Cliffside Park Board of Education whereas Irene ropos has served with distinction on the Cliffside Park Board of Education and whereas through her leadership the Cliffside Park Board of Education has gained fresh insights into student concerns student priorities what is on the mind of young people in the community and whereas she has further contributed to the community by serving as a spokesperson sharing the student perspective at board meetings and whereas Irene ropos exemplary commitment to fellow students and the school district has promoted clear communication between the Board District administration and the student body and whereas Irene ropos has maintained a professional decorum at board meetings shown respect to board members and strive to learn the proper etiquette of serving on a school board and whereas she has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the education of all students without neglecting her own responsibility to strive for success in the classroom now therefore be it resolved that the Cliffside Park Board of Education recognizes Irene ropos dedication and commitment to advancing educational opportunity and open communication between the Board District administrators and the student body and be it further resolved that the members of the Cliffside Park Board of Education extend their sincere appreciation to Irene ropos for her dedicated service on the Cliffside Park Board of Education and being further resolved that the members of the Cliffside Park Board of Education extend their best wishes to Ed gra for all her future endeavors so on beh of the Board of Education and you know I have a special place in my heart for you I know you since your five in recognition of outstanding leadership to our very first student representative on the board of education Irene ropos for exemp dedication integrity and Service as a student representative your commitment to our school Community has made a lasting impact you have forever made your place in the history of of Cliffside Park as the president of the senior class and as the very first representative to this board of education thank you for your exceptional leadership and inspiring your peers to strive for excellence with gratitude the Cliffside Park Board of Education this is my fourth time crying today I'm so thank you everyone we were very lucky to have you as our first representative I thank all of you so much good luck to you thank you we're all going to see you tomorrow night anything else Dr ha that's it for me Mr compo thank you so uh before we vote on the consent agenda we'd like to go into committee reports um I know um anybody has committee reports uh from the negotiations I that we have several negotiations going on and I'd like to say that I think we're making progress in all areas we may even have uh some some uh finalization for our next meeting thank you uh everybody knows building and grounds and and and Jud you know it's tremendously busy we're starting as you know we're putting a nice small audition on uh the high school uh gymnasium entrance it's going to look phenomenal we're going to have renderings up uh uh in the school soon uh we received them the other day a lot of great work and a lot of hard work from the the administration from Lou Dr H and the Board of Education uh so it's it's going be a great addition to the school district a lot of summer projects tremendous projects going on uh it's it's it's all in motion as soon as the school finishes tomorrow by the end of the week early Monday you're going to see a lot of construction going around districtwide as you know this board of education always always takes uh uh their buildings uh quality and how they look uh seriously so there's a lot of good things and I'm proud to say that uh when everyone comes back in September they're going to see some key differences um any other uh committees Athletics anything I know it's just a busy summer uh and uh we're ready to move forward and start the new school year July 1st uh Lou I'll turn it over for your report yeah okay thank you Mr capan uh to Dr this point we are simultaneously closing the New Year closing the old year 2324 opening the New Year 2425 as Mr capano said a lot going on rtus gym Lobby projects drainage projects water mediation projects replacement of floors bathrooms uh I think we have 36 right now total projects going on for the summer of 20124 so it's going to be a busy busy summer um just want to point folks to a couple of resolutions utions resolution 72 73 75 and 76 that's 72 73 75 and 76 page 22 let give you the page numbers 22 yeah there you go okay when to get to that Okay resolution 72 it's a essentially as you know capital reserve we use for all these to fund much of the projects that we're going to be doing in summer of 2024 it's part of our Surplus allocation each year we any component of that capital reserve that we will not use we have to do a resolution and that rolls into the following year so that's what that resolution is there the next resolution resolution 73 is correlated to resolution 72 essentially it allows us to put in additional capital reserve once our 2324 audit is completed in October so essentially resolution 73 is a generic up to allows us really to put in any dollar amount that we that we deem sufficient in regard to allocating our new surplus that comes from our 2324 School Year udit resolution 75 every 3 years we must do water drinking water lead testing in all drinking water Outlets that's every three years this must be completed between July 1st of this year and June 30th 2025 that's within the window of the 2425 school year we are using our Hera consultant environmental logic to do the water sampling and to do the analysis and create the reports uh that's why we are awarding them this Professional Services contract we got the verbage from environmental logic and our auditor in regard to appointing them even though they are a current contractor and they've been awarded the aara consultant services this is a separate award for the professional service contract specific to the uh drinking water lead Outlet testing and Reporting and sampling this will start July 2nd it's going to run approximately three days there a whole bunch of different specifications water it has to be turned on has to be turned off has to be off for a certain amount of period has to be on for a certain amount of period has to be cold water has to be hot water all the specs Zer is going to work directly with environmental logic to make sure we get this done over 3-day period and then within two to three weeks we get the results and those results must be posted to the website and we must have a remediation plan for any results that are over the threshold and the threshold will be U identified uh once the sampling and the reporting is completed and that like I said should be towards the end of July so we're well within the range of completing it on time we'll keep the board and the public um posted resolution 76 is a resolution every three years we have to essentially it's a Consortium forming self- Insurance pools the board of New Jersey schools Insurance Group is essentially a Consortium of all the school districts and each and every year we have to do a resolution in regard to a board Insurance trust for the purpose of forming Self Insurance pools from the New Jersey schools Insurance Group essentially it's Consortium for all the school district provide insurance coverage and Risk Management Services for all its members that's pretty much it Mr capano thank you any questions on the consent agenda moving uh forward any questions or comments from the publico anybody here okay can we please have someone moot make a motion to approve uh our agenda for this evening I'll make a motion uh that was M I heard Mr Russo's voice and I heard and then from Mr Garcia Mr Gara okay so that's a number one roll call yes I'll do that and Mr Russo number two okay I'll take a vote I may Mrs Abu yes Mr capano yes Mrs Fredo yes Mr garciaa yes Mr nreu yes Dr pontano yes Mr Russo yes teraka yes Mr Yi yes so move thank you so please note members of the board that tomorrow at 10:00 uh at the middle school graduation on the high school field and then at 6:00 the uh High School graduation on the high school field it's going to be warm we going to make the best of it and uh we look forward to uh sending off uh great uh class of 20124 um anything else motion to adjourn I'll make that motion toj thank you Mr

to adopt tonight's agenda there you go you first I will okay you got me Tong TI now I will a motion to adopt the tonight's agenda I will thank you second all in favor I uh call to the public do we have any cards to evening so there are no uh public comment cards however is there anyone that wants to speak on any anything that is not on the agenda this evening addresses perfect moving right along to item sixa is our public hearing regarding our proposed budget we do need a motion to open the public hearing I move that we open the public hearing and a second I will second and all in favor I Mr Livingston great M president board um this this public hearing then is an introduction you can call it a first first review first uh first look at our proposed budget for next year the way the legislature has these set up if we propose numbers tonight and the board approves them that's called an approved proposed budget uh and then by July 15th which I believe the meeting will be held July 8th second Monday in July will have a meeting to adopt those numbers and the numbers that we adopt then can't exceed the numbers that we put in tonight so it's a preliminary look at next year's operating budget with all the other funds involved and I'd like to just do a a quick summary uh the budget we've got prepared to to propose tonight is $1,350,000 for the operating fund uh 1.1 million for the capital fund there's lots of variables within that um we we don't know for sure how many students are going to be driving these budget figures I used the last count we had as of May of 2024 which was 2,170 students that's cor where we left the current year that's going to be my assumption it could significantly significantly change it could be higher than that or lower than that uh so that number is an unknown our student count we don't know that basically till the end of March after a 100th day and then the state looks at all of our student counts and they say these ones the word is uh past Integrity they were here long enough with enough documentation to say they were at Chino Valley District the state now waits till the last day for our 100 day it's about February 24th 25th they wait till that last yeah this is the count I'm anticipating that's going to be at least what it was last year the amount per student that we get in our operating fund is really close to 5 ,000 but the legislature hasn't approved that new amount it's called the base level amount unless I'll talk about that in my report they have actually was $531 is what the number was then that's just the 2% when I when I did this last week to get it into the board agenda they havn't approved it so correct so they just took the 4,900 chains that they had this year added 2% to it so that's step one but at least it's 2% higher so that 2% then on top of that base level amount equals almost 300,000 to the budget so if our our student count stays the same 2170 and we get that extra 296,000 then our budget will rise from m350 to 19,6 40 if the student counts the same if it goes down or up then that's the second variable so we don't know our student count yet we're just anticipating the same as last year we do now we can count on that and we can get that at the July meeting we still have to use these same numbers for the July meeting so in October we'll come back to you and we'll know but our base level is amount per student the 2% more than the 4900 but we still won't know the student count until March of 2025 another variable that we've brought in you can look at page seven if you have a copy of the budget we're bringing in from Capital because we've given over a million dollar last years from our operating fund to our Capital fund we're bringing 350,000 back to m&o and then of course the variable is what do we have that we're not spending in the current year the 23 24 year that would be the fourth grade but we're able ble to bring in to the next year last year we brought in a Mil 64,000 I'm estimating that that'll be really close to the 2425 carryover in from the current year another just over 1.1 million so you put all that together and it equal the1 19 million 350,000 for next year operating budget Capital down from 2.4 million to 1.1 million Capital down from the 23 year of 2.6 million down to uh 2.3 million this year down to 1.1 million next year for Capital but that's that's where we're at with capital so one really strong fund is classroom site fund that's the one we've been able to use for some teacher salaries and the projections are still quite Rosy even though there's concern uh that the the base level for years and years for that per pupil was never higher than $272 per student and that's based on sales tax revenue Etc but this year it's still over $700 so we're able to do transferring if you will some teacher cost to that fund that's that fund is still based on a pretty strong pretty robust economy so that's really all I have for the public hearing if uh we have comment discussion that's great I I do hope you approve that proposed budget that we'll bring it back to you with to adopt is there anyone that wishes to speak on the uh budget this evening during our public hearing seeing none I will take a motion to close our public hearing your turn have a motion to close the public hearing fantastic in a second second all in favor I I moving along to item 7A is our superintendance report it says the May report but it's actually June so um please forgive me there um talking about the budget we um the legislative update the legislative session ended this weekend they did pass the state budget I think they're still waiting on the governor's signature for some of those bills but they're uh they should be signed in the next few days um some of the things that really impacted the district the one good thing whoop whoop is the aggregate aggregate expenditure limit waiver was passed thank so we won't have to deal with any of that Shenanigans going on in January February so that's a really good thing um it's not a permanent solution that's why one year pass correct it's this is what they seem to do is in the current legislative session they the last two years have passed something for the next budget so it's not a permanent solution because that would have to go to the voters as a solution but at least it gets us through one more year without having to worry about it um one thing that was interesting I thought that um something that we do is we issue contracts um usually before spring break every year in March we're now not allowed to do that until after March 15 um I don't know what the thinking of that is maybe um people are trying to tie up staff too early but um it's likely going to mean instead of doing a board meeting before spring break it's probably going to have to happen after spring break for those um for those contract unfortunately it does give more time we don't know who leaves until a lot of times contracts go out and so that's going to shrink the hiring season which is unfortunate we've um we've had a really good we've had a really good um or we will have a really good pool of new staff coming in um almost all of them if not all of them are certified which isn't always the case um and so we're really lucky this year hopefully that'll continue but that just means less time to hire people really um small increases to additional assistance in M as as Mr Livingston spoke about and for um Miss Brandy the Kinder assessment tool is no longer required so that was officially voted on which was going to be a nightmare trying to get the the using their tool to assess these kindergarteners in the time in a timing fash timely fashion it just wasn't really practical so um we can kind of use our own tool which seems to be effective and um we can keep moving forward that way so that's kind of the the kind of the big things that impact the district for the most part U there were a couple things I don't know what happened what what the result was but that um The increased additional assistance and also there's a um basically a free and reded lunch um factor in there they were thinking about making those only one one year and they'd have to approve them every year instead of a permanent solution so that that may have happened but um for the most part it was really a quiet legislative session um compared to some of the others um that we've had not a whole lot of stuff that we were concerned with since January I guess is when it started so um not too bad um questions about that [Music] uh the HVAC installation I was over at Territorial and they have all the ceilings tore out in the gym and and the uh B building which is the one right in front where the preschool is so that was exciting they were working on installing the ducting the sheet metal ducting it seems to be going along fairly steadily we have a hard deadline we got to get that done end of July for the beginning of school to start because there's nowhere to put those kiddos so um that's kind of the the plan right now and uh but it seems to be going along fairly quickly um once they're done with that then hopefully they'll move back to Heritage and finish the Heritage um office I know uh Miss Caitlyn is in a portable right now along with her um assistant principal scheduler and her administrative assistant so they're hoping to get back into their building which there's no ceiling right now and we're working with sfb to get that taken care of so that's kind of where we're at now the are um it's it's going to be a SLO to try to get through this we're trying to um get portables for the schools which is proving to be difficult and some other things so um we we are moving forward so that's a good thing other stuff going on in over the summer um at Heritage it's exciting news there's the the wood shop expansion and so we're um we have a patio outside the work the wood shop now we're just going to closing that so we can have more kids in in during our Woods classes which always has a waiting list so that's um good news at Del Rio we have um and we're doing that project by the way our staff is is is doing that expansion and there's going to be a storage area also for for wood objects at Del Rio a contractors working on the quote weatherization which means painting although there's some block work that has to be repaired as well just um some water damage that happened that they're working on and then um at Heritage and territorial we are getting a new floor in our cafeteria new flooring in our cafeteria that's going to be paid for by sfb um actually the the weatherization project is being paid for by sfb as well um we had a um a county health inspector come in and just suggest that we do that um prior to his next next um inspection and we were um able to use that information to get it paid for by the state in order to replace that flooring what was wrong with with the current floor job they have to be a continuous floor and they're just old and there's cuts and some other things in there this just breaks right and you can't with that flooring you can't really just patch it because then it creates other openings the issue is they don't want places for moisture to collect and for for gross stuff to to grow and impact food and things like that well they have to take out the existing floors or just be on top no no this is like a sheet flooring so it'll take out the sheet flooring make sure that the uh the slab underneath is dry and then reinstall one continuous sheet floor in there and part of it is we've had a lot of equipment move in and out so there's been some damage due to that and some other and just I can't remember the last time we've done it it's been a long time so it's it was due and um so we again were able to get it paid for by the state so we're moving forward that that's nice yes because it's it's incredible how expensive how what John do you remember what the the cost to do those two projects were 37 and 22 59 $60,000 to change the flooring in those two kitchens we do get a bonus each one is about 3,000 less if they don't have to put in a moisture barrier per se but if they do then it's 6,000 more so we it could come in a little bit less yeah contractor said we may have to put in a moisture barrier here that's really good that's the that's the issue moisture getting into the sub I guess you don't want to go cheap on something like that either well we wanted the last right because you know we again we haven't done it for years we don't want to do it while any of us are here be honest let the next the next Administration take care of it um so that's kind of what's going on at the schools right now other than the normal uh maintenance and cleaning that takes place want to invite you on the 27th at noon we have our end of year celebration uh Dr Moody hopefully I have to talk to him to confirm but hopefully he's doing Smash Burgers um over here behind or at the high school in the quad area and he brings his gonna bring his black stone he said and make smash murgers we'll have potato salad everything else just an opportunity for all the 12-month employees to get together and celebrate the end of the school year so that's that is on on the 27th noon at Chino Valley high school and if you flip it over um we finally received our sedexo contract today this is something that will allow us to continue our relationship with sedexo uh it has to be reviewed by the Department of Education which has I assume it's been submitted to our our liaison at the ad so they can review it hopefully it'll just take a few days to get that done it was one page one and a half pages in length it's not a hefty document so um but it needs to be board approved and we can't do it tonight and it has to be done before the end of the month so what does that mean it means a special board meeting uh Miss Marsha can't can't be here next week she's going on vacation Mr Fogle is on vacation next week um M Mortenson said she can do it at 2 o'cl on Wednesday I'm hoping that you are both available 2 o'clock on Wednesday I am not but Cindy said she will be here and we'll run the meeting and we're talking about it could be virtual so you don't even have to be in the room if you don't want to we're talking yeah 15 minutes max to to to get us together Wednesday Wednesday we may do that6 yeah I'm good two o' 2 p.m.

[Applause] congratulations good come hang out right here we'll take a group picture at the end so if everybody just hangs out here sparse shop congratulations t b [Applause] sing is that this is that it for fpla and that's it for fpla oh group chat getry all right congratulations team congratulations have a good summer we can we ask oh ask any questions guys umit we have a question can you can you tell us about the competition tell us what it was like like what about it what categ so basically I did presentation for business ethics I did a case study so they gave us like a prompt and we had 20 minutes to plan and then on the spot give a seven minute like pros and cons speech about it w i I did like a test for networking infrastructure like a written test I did a case study as well so similar as far like 7 Minute uh like a 20 minute preparation time and 7 Minute presentation how many schools are at the competition a [Laughter] lot okay yeah and how many of you are graduating seniors just one and your plans for next year I'm going to Purdue good point so we'll see the rest of you back here next year all right well congratulations [Applause] congrat or you can stay and wait till they off we have one other award recipient for future Business Leaders show up congratulations is this your family yeah okay well let's we'll do the picture okay I got it thank you you guys want to take one of them we'll get them to you okay thank you very nice and next up we'd like to recognize our uh science reach state champion Amara priven [Applause] got so what what is science reach oh sorry um I'm their sponsor um Christina paly Pat junor conratulations thank you zo you good and you tell us about what you did so in sence Sp what we do is we pick something to research a topic that interests us and then we complete a science for project about that topic so the topic that I picked was autism and microb data so in my project I use machine learning to see if autism be predicted in an individual based on their gut sequences and I also found biomarkers for that with my project very nice you graduating senior no I'm actually going to be a sophomore this all so I'm graduating well we see you the next three years yes we're very lucky to have her another question so what's the difference between reach science you said science fair is there a difference between the science fair that can science reach reach is the club that uh we don't just do the science fair but that's the state organization the Illinois Junior Academy of Science um but we all our students complete a research project for that but we also go to other symposia and other um poster sessions and other competitions where the students showcase uh their research their experiments sometimes it's also design so thank you it's very exciting congratulations congratulations congratulations and we'd like to share with you that the Environ won state champions as well unfortunately there aren't anyone here to receive the award and then we've got the girls water polo state champions I mean these are some Superstars like honestly I don't know if you've been following girls water polo and Stevenson but we've got a couple of wonderful coaches here too um and they've just I don't know this program is just it's their 172nd state championship I don't know what to say about this anyway we'll just sort of go in alphabetical order I'm gonna name off the entire team Sophia [Applause] Burger conratulations Caroline boff [Applause] Sophia Brown Jullian Carson Addison danne Victoria dunan Angelica Fisher Shalom furlet Nora Greenspan Mia Gus Nova Emily Headley Natalie Cooper and Elsa true shave kiss right congratulations got um Claire Mau and aroi Ma is [Applause] here this way oh okay I can do it again perfect [Applause] seta [Applause] shul Scot over that way there we go okay good and Erica white is [Applause] here perfect and then the inimitable Coach Jeff wymer thank you okay gotcha well okay so is a threee as why you turned around a little bit the board might have a couple questions for it we have a lot of graduating seniors just me well there are others but there are others and where are you going next year I'm going to college to where College very nice in California playing water pool for them yeah all right my daughter went to college California it's hard to get her back place to go to school and you got to be careful on that to eat the uh hlac in the they have the there was the um what is where they have all the Shakespeare all the Shakespeare and garden there yeah the Shakespeare and garden they all the plants and all Shakespeare's plays there so are you girls all coming back next year to be on the team yes I didn't know about interesting congratulations you guys this is impressive how many so what is the four stat six six and since 2015 since 2015 and we've been in the uh top three for the last 11 years all right it's impressive so what is there why are you guys so good is there something what is it that that what's the secret sauce Jeff it's the water something in the water it's something in the water it's also uh the support we get truly so and we have all as we all know some incredible uh student athletes that are just phenomenal well congratulations have a fantastic summer well done exactly a lot of good than you guys we appreciate it appreciate you thanks have a nice peaceful evening now Wendy Jason okay um moving right along that was it's always fun Ambassador Awards um we um also have approval of our 20 2025 student guide book it was shared uh last month as a first reading tonight is coming to you for your approval um so I'll talk after you okay could I get a motion please so move second what was that a frost on a frost gon gon second so uh um just so that you know uh pia has worked with um uh I was going to say Mr Ramos's team now it's Dr Ros and um for the most part as you'll see if you skim through this they're mostly um just minor edits and words smithing there's nothing sign no significant changes but it goes through a process of the Deans uh Eric Troy and a parent group as well taking a look at it each year as required by State Statute okay any any other questions on the all right Terry could you please call no I uh gorson hi moons I frost hi carries okay and then we are also sharing with you for your approval tonight after our first reading last month of Bo policy updates um if you were to click on the worksheet and policies you may recall that um there were a handful that we had shared that um p and I thought that we should review and just draw your attention to um one being around um new citations in school code around discrimination harassment on the basis of rais color national origin the fund balance update that uh Sean had shared last month um bullying policy Communications to and from the board and then everything else was mostly word smithing and updating to um new legislation um but Sean did you want to speak to it all the fund balance recommendation yeah so the recommendation stems from um a change in the practice uh from using uh a cash basis policy to into a cruel based policy um and at the recommendation of our Auditors um that we to ensure that we are following our own board policy that we would adopt that um so the Auditors now have a proper U language to basically guide our fund balance and whether or not we're following that policy or not and if you remember the previous fund balance was this kind of 40% 40% but it was really kind of built off of our old accounting method and no one knows exactly what the state's really asking for so this one Sean work the attorney's on it just makes more sense correct so so it it actually is now the modified equal balance is supposed to be at least 10% correct or at least the average of 10% for 3 years correct and then again everything else word smithing um nothing that you need to look at unless you need something to put yourself to sleep at night that and some n all right could I please get a motion so move me second from gon down there G he's holding out second okay any other questions on this we did we talked about this I mean we've been talking about the major policy change for a while ready okay gon I moons I frost I no I carries okay and as we do every summer uh in June just submitting the um final 2023 24 school calendar to ISB no changes no modifications you'll see a Personnel report um that has a host of um uh resignations and retirements and hirings and things like that um that's all in the Personnel report we will not need an executive session following the meeting as we had one before the meeting and that takes us to the business section Sean authorized notice of publication for adoption of the 2425 budget yep so as we just reviewed in our finance committee today um we are at that point in the cycle where we need to display the budget for 30 days before uh before holding a public hearing on it and then the board taking action uh so tonight um we are asking the board for two recommendations um one is to put that uh tenative uh 2425 Budget on display uh starting on June 28th of 2024 and then the second would be to um recommend commend that the board set the public hearing um for August 19th which would be our August board meeting all right so can I get a motion to put the tenative 20242 Budget on display for public viewing on June 28th 2024 so moved second got it any questions for Sean we just come out of talking about this but okay Terry could you please gon I wound I frost I no I carries second item I have for tonight is um a hold on sorry hold on than so could I now get a motion to set a public hearing for August 19th 20124 so moved Second Great boy there's tag team down there could you please pull any questions no could you please pull the board gorson hi moons I I no I carries okay you guys are just that efficient that I assumed you had taken care of that already um the next item though is uh the detention center that is um within the boundaries of both Stevens High School but also um one of our feeders District 103 um every year um we fill out grants um from the state of Illinois that allows money to come to both um District 103 and Stevenson we uh funnel that money to the regional Office of Education that then works with the Detention Center to in fact educate the children that are detained there um this is not uh spending of any of our local tax dollars this is simply money that we receive from a grant um that we uh work with the Detention Center on applying for and the office of uh Regional Office of Education to apply um for that so that they can fund and educate the children um the juveniles that are in the Detention Center so tonight we are recommending that the Board of Education approve um the memor of understanding um as we've been presented can I please get a motion so second any I'm curious um I know that the board book points out that it's worked well and we're continuing it how many kids do we typically have in in this yeah so there's uh anywhere from 16 uh to 17 there at any given point in time um on average is what they have uh continually tell us we go there for one meeting every year and then every once in a while we'll go through Tours and it's it's a lot of online learning um as well as learning with um some of the adults and supports that they have there to really try to get the students on the correct path okay thank you why doesn't the state just send the money to the regional Office of Education it's not how it works I that would be logical sorry bigger conversation I guess but yeah might it might make sense as an accounting for the state if they want we're trying to keep track of the districts and what they're spending in the district so there might be some kind of administrative thing yeah maybe any okay any other questions for Sean okay Terry could you please call moons I frost uh no I gorson I okay car's budget transfer Sean yeah so um every year um you know the uh the budget is created adopted and it's a spending plan for the year there are times where we do need to move money um some money is around from One Fund to the other fund that is um an allowed under school code um so this year just like in previous years um you can see the transfers uh that have been presented before you so we are asking that the Board of Education approve the budget transfers as presented could I please get a motion so move second any questions you know we were talking about this at the at the finance meeting it actually I just want to make the point it actually makes sense that we're doing the transfers because if there's too much money that's being accumulated in a fund this is a a method for reducing the amount of the fund and putting it into a different fund where the where the monies are needed correct and so it does make it it does make sense and there are times where emergency spending comes up we have to we have a break in the water M and we need to fix the water M while we have money for that something else broke and so we're actually saying okay we're not going to spend this money we're going to spend it on this instead yeah absolutely yeah okay thank you I thought I read in one of the ad read or the is the updates about um is there a change to this law making it so every so perhaps coming down every so often you can only so you can only transfer from fun certain funds to other funds and that gets up for Renewal um every 3 years so maybe perhaps that was in one of the Ed R newsletters yeah perhaps they're looking at it or something potentially typically the transfers between your operating funds and whether they want to classify one of them as an operating fund okay right Terry could you please oh sure Frost hi no hi gorson hi wounds I okay before we have some content agenda items we have um recommendation for approval of the 2425 administrative and non-union salary pools we discussed this uh in the finance committee meeting um overall the administrative salary pool is recommending a 6.5% increase due to the additional FTE for next year otherwise it would be an increase with CPI at 3.5 correct and then Sean a um decrease in our end staff uh salary pool of 2.4 2.45% and we're bringing that to you tonight for your approval could I please get a motion so moved second any other questions we did talk just talk about this okay Cherry could you please pull Frost I no I gorson hi moons I carries okay and then you have a series of items for consent including the destruction of close session audio visual recordings the release of executive session audio recordings release of EX your session minutes um and approval of Consolidated District plan is um a not every year sh yeah but is it every year it it makes the we have to do it so they changed the grant system so now we have to do it every year okay makes the grants easier got it and then approval of um July 2024 expenditures as part of consent because you may recall uh we don't have a July board meeting although we do have some committee meetings that will make note to you some fire requests and that takes us to consent okay could I please get a motion to Pro to approve the consent agenda so move oh no I gorson I moons I frost approved okay and then lastly tonight just a couple um things to make note of I'm going to send out an email to the board regarding um a meeting that we're looking to have on July 15th regarding matters related to security so I'll get that email out to the board and to Shan um and Wendy July 15th 10 to 2ish um and I'll make sure Troy and Ramos are there as well um again discussing matters of security and then speaking of Ramos I know we mentioned it last month but Kudos again to uh Dr Ramos on completing his Doctorate um so we're excited for him um we have our board retreat coming up on August 2nd and 3D I'm looking forward to seeing everybody there um you'll see an early tenative um item C list of committee dates so Pia and Sean and Wendy and I sat down to look at those we think that they're pretty good um but you know always subject to change um so feel free to print that out put it on the fridge um some student profiles there and out of school suspensions and that is it for me for tonight cricket and ihsa Cricket is not an ihsa sport it's a club and the threshold for becoming a ihsa sports pretty high so I don't know if that'll happen in the near future but we have an amazing group of kids who really enjoy it so yeah it's cool with the with the US success recently in cricket too might okay could I get a motion to adour so move second all in favor all hi we are a joury

e e e enough about Tri which I all right Julie would you mind calling the rooll of course not Cara Casten here Ken Dawson here Christ espanosa here Cheryl Fuller here Jenny hagstrom here and Don Runner here thank you all right having a quorum let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance 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 all right so first order business is approval of minutes uh can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve the minutes of the May 20th 20124 business meeting the June 3rd 2024 Workshop meeting with action items and the June 3rd 2024 closed meeting so moved second Chris moves Ken seconds thank you very much Chris Espinosa hi Ken Dawson I charl fuller hi Jenny hagstrom I Cara Caston hi and Don Runner I motion carries um Julie do you have any visitors no sir okay Hank I'll turn it over to you for item five all right some of this is new and some of this is reviewed uh first uh is the first draft of the year end goal summary uh this was shared with the board last week via email uh it's in your board packet uh this is kind of the kind of like how we do policy right this is your first chance to take a look at it ask any questions you might have about it right now then it'll come back on July 15th uh to the board to take action and approve that document and then that goes on the website as uh our artifact for the year of the work that we accomplished so I'll take any questions or comments that anybody might have or we can come back next month as well and you can always reach out in between right if there was something anything at top of mind at this point all right here heing none we'll be back next month with that uh in a final version reach out if you have anything between now and then uh last board meeting uh we talked about how we're looking at the Strategic plan differently with two indicators and measures this work will replace kind of that document that you see this year next year you'll get updates throughout the year and then at the end we'll give you a summary based on those indicators and measures uh coming to you this week are uh two the last two to look at uh the first one is an equitable and supportive environment uh I shared with the board uh this document as well as some of the draft work that we're looking at doing over the course of the year we'll be finalizing that uh at the beginning of July but for uh this one there are two measures and indicators uh the first is connected to uh the portion of the expectation of school and Community connections and you can see uh this really relies on a couple of different pieces uh this one's this indicator and measur is a little different than the other ones you saw that were pretty much a single indicator and measure and a single monitoring team that is looking at it that's what the one next to it expected Behavior looks like so if you look at this there's really for school Community Connections three things that we're looking at one is relationship mapping this is an activity we're working on in the buildings which will look at that either how students identify trusted people as trusted adults in the building or adults that identify like I've got these kids or maybe a combination of the two and what we're really looking for is students that either aren't identifying uh any adults as trusted adults in the building or not being identified as adults uh as being like in their group of kids that they're specifically looking out for right um so that'll be a data set that we'll GA start Gathering and look at next year we haven't done that in the past another thing that we've been working on getting our arms around is participation in co-curriculars uh and determining attendance and how how of how involved you need to be to be considered involved in that activity like sports is pretty easy but when we get into activities like how many events do you really need to show up to to say that you're part of German club right and so we're working on defining that and then that data will come to the board uh in the past the data we've brought you is have they really registered and and said that they're part of that group but we're looking to get a little more around the idea of you're involved with that group finally for families we're looking at climate survey we are evaluating a couple of different tools to move from the five Essentials into a different climate survey one that's aimed more to high school setting you the five Essentials that we've given in the past it started out as being State mandated is really aimed at a smaller Elementary setting um so we're out evaluating tools that might be more appropriate for our district so that's kind of work that's going on this summer and into the start of the next school year you can see when we plan on kind of reporting this stuff back out to the board uh this set of data will start showing up second semester of the next school year because there's this one's a little further behind in the data identification and Analysis piece and you can see which uh administrators are responsible for monitoring that data uh through the next year so any questions on school Community connections all right uh this we'll come back next couple of meetings and approve this in August so you still have time if you have questions or suggestions to reach out the next column is a little more straightforward expected Behavior this this looks at students uh we want to have zero or at the most one discipline referral for a bcode these are more severe kind of incidents um and then anybody who receives a bcode is going through a path program likely uh unless it's so severe that we're moving on to a higher level of consequences uh and then we don't want to see any student that goes through our path program repeat that behavior so we're monitoring number of students with B codes and recidivism around those codes as well that is data we already have and already gather Scott's done a lot of work this year with the path program looking at this so in the fall we'll be prepared to bring you kind of that first set of data based on this previous school year as our first Baseline that we'll look to continually improve over time questions on that one all right then moving over to another one of our domains uh this is increased student engagement in postsecondary planning uh the first one is the four-year plan which is really spelled out in our strategic plan uh our students generally do engage in a four-year planning process uh while they're with us but the key change is uh through law this new framework called Pace framework showed up just kind of before the pandemic schools started to adopt it and work it into their programming we have as well but now we've finalized that pace framework for District 99 and have worked on making sure that it fits into our curriculum that you've heard of like during access and those kinds of pieces so really uh it's making sure that our four-year plan moving forward every student has one of them and it connects directly to the PACE framework um so that's in development as we just finalize the pace framework and as we roll into next year we'll start tracking that um Capstone experiences the board has received uh a report on Capstone experiences uh each year Gina provides that and looks at it uh but that report each year looks for the previous year the number of students in all grade levels that are engaged in a Capstone experience what this one looks at is by graduation we want every student to have engaged in a cap at least one Capstone experience over their four-year career so it's a similar kind of lens that we're looking at it but we're instead of looking at like in that past year how many kids were doing this what we want to see is every student have one of those Capstone experiences over their four-year career so you can see how that Capstone experience and the four-year planning overlap with one another as we talk to college admissions counselors that Capstone experience especially in an area that a student is looking at pursuing After High School is essential to have in their High School career so as students come in in n9th grade we want to build that for your plan and start to like identify what are what are some Capstone experiences AP courses dual credit tcd those kinds of things that you might be targeting over your four-year career and then as we have those conversations each year or throughout the year with students we're revisiting that making sure they're on track to get to that experience or engaging in that is that going to be a big shift like from getting everyone over the four years like where do you any sense of where we are we haven't really looked at just 12th graders to see we know that every year it's about what a third of our more over almost 40% 40% of our students on a yearly basis are engaged in it but this is just ensuring that every kid gets one of those right and we got to make sure that it's appropriate for you can imagine a student in our life skills program heading to t99 that Capstone experience may look different than a different student in a different type of program right so this is really looking at it through the lens of each individual student are they getting that experience that they need to prepare them for postsecondary planning one other question do you typically do these later in high school even if you plan as a freshman like are they typically junior senior they there's more opportunities junior senior year especially because a lot of the Capstone uh courses are ones that are at the end of a sequence of courses right so you've been engaged in that topic for three or four years to get to that top level inside of it so um but that's what the team's going to look at this summer is really making sure we've defined kind of what that exactly what that list of experiences are but then we also need kind of an onramp for individual students based on their experience the other thing is the data set we're going to bring to you or students that have been with us all four years right for this Capstone experience because it's kind of tough if a student shows up senior year to try to figure out how to make that work right so we're going to look at students that were with us for the duration of their High School career that had an entire 4-year plan so they had that whole time to to work through it so we'll start giving you updates of how many seniors meet this but you're really looking four years from now for the students that were engaged in the foure planning with an eye on a Capstone experience by that time we should be coming to you with every single one of our students has had that happen because we'll be intentional about that from the beginning where our students now it's kind of just I think I think a lot of our kids do and we'll look at it and see where we are as a baseline but I would say within three or four years we should see every student uh getting that met other questions on this one so it would be something you'd look at I guess end of their junior year correct to ensure that they've they've if they're registering for something that they're I think it's going to be a conversation each of the four years if there because some of these you need to be on a pathway to get there right so this will become a common conversation point in the counseling department probably in our access classrooms as they're setting up uh for that and counselors are coming in and delivering uh content and curriculum in those settings and this will become more of our common language so even if you're you know in your science class and your teachers like well if you're interested in going in the S the Capstone thing you should be looking at is right and it becomes more of the common venacular in the district so a little bit more putting putting the onus on the students a little bit I think it's just all wrapping around that whole planning experience with the counselor and the student and the family as we're talking about what direction is the student heading in like uh if a student is heading towards the Armed Forces like ASVAB and getting through you know as many of the core courses with as high of grades as possible is going to give you your best placement when you move into the Armed Forces so if that's the direction a student is thinking of going in we should be talking about okay we got to get you prepared for the ASVAB that's what you need to do here's the courses and then what area of the armed forces are you thinking of going into because then we want to get you that Capstone course that gets you place the highest as you make that transition if you're going into a college experience what's the major you're thinking of if you're going into a work experience how do we get you that work experience that internship that kind of experience before you leave us so you're ready to make that transition and I know it applies across the different kinds of postsecondary plans but is it as equally like do you hear from is it as equally important and shown to be an indicator across everything or there are some where it's yeah it's there's a few things we know from the College and Career Readiness standards that indicate postsecondary success a very high likelihood that you will be successful after you leave high school a lot of these Capstone experiences like AP and dual credit higher level math courses transition math courses or English courses are all in those check boxes and a if a student's getting multiples of those it the okay predictor the predictor is even greater so this all aligns with those State College and Career Readiness standards that we're also monitoring separately from this so the two will work together with one another I miss anything there J it's good any other questions all right uh these will be back all four kind of in an overview single page document in July for you to look at and then look to approve those at our workshop with this as an action item the first meeting in August okay uh Jim K's final Swan Swan Song reports here for the board uh before he rides off into the sunset and retires here in a week uh I'll turn it over to Jim all right uh you would think I would have something spectacular for you like a new building or something no U I've got uh cleaning supplies filters rock salt and copy paper yourself Best For Last I'll make it as interesting as I can so both purchasing these are yearly bids we do this on a yearly basis and uh I actually developed this program years ago uh when the schools were kind of purchasing all different items and we wanted to do both uh similar to each school and we're going green and all that good stuff and we wanted to condense and use similar products so if if uh custodians were working at either building familiar with the proct and how to use it uh so that it's worked out great and I hope it continues because the beauty of this is we put our uh specifications together to the product that we want which is specific to what we like and works for our buildings and then we uh send it out to all these biders and as you'll see we each year it's getting better we have bers from different states now uh we put it on this uh digital platform building connect and it goes out everywhere so we're even expanding so these these biders that are putting numbers in are really crunching and as you see we're we're saving money and that's the intent and we're doing better with less product uh cleaning our buildings so this is for the 2425 uh fiscal year and we we reviewed the bids and there were 16 vendors that put in and a like I said we've got Wisconsin New York uh California so many uh different states uh are low biders actually 15 out of the 16 one something uh from the bids so we're excited about that as well uh our numbers came in under budget so we're happy with that so tonight we're going to ask you to approve an award for the 15 vendors uh in an urate amount of 153,00 $165.9 any questions for J all right now now for your favorite one of all the closer again this is uh a yearly bid we go out each year and throughout the years we've we've reduced copying machines we've done a great job in The Last Five Years on less printers in our buildings uh being more um areas where we can go and get the print instead of having single use printers for uh many of the offices and areas that's worked out great um this year we're seeing a big reduction because last year I think we over ordered and we used less this year so we have a surplus of supplies in our two buildings um so as you'll see the number is very low for this year uh we had six biders uh three were awarded some kind of bid color people are white and uh this year also is last year if you remember bids came in high and then I did not accept the bids and then I went off the state bid so each year as I did last year I cross reference just to make sure because the bid was so low for for white paper I'm like wow it can't be any lower than the state bid but it was so uh we're taking it uh that was Staples so this year the we have three biders that are being awarded in the total amount for the three vendors is $1 16,32 a65 and that's what we're asking you to approve tonight and just for reference when I got here in 2017 this was $60,000 a year so or more we've been up to almost 100 it's great news I didn't see Dunder Mifflin on here he might have tried to slide that one by you in his last report all right any questions for Jim Jim just a general comment uh you were integral in the master facility project and you were you're a gentleman you're a hard worker you're a great communicator you will be sorely missed and uh I really enjoyed our friendship over the years so thanks for all of your hard work for the district thank you very much it's been a pleasure working for District 99 and I've told Hank Hank's been supportive of everything that I do and the board has been supportive so all this stuff would not have happened all these beautiful buildings and areas for our kids would not happen without your support so I thank you it's a great District it's been a pleasure working here and there's cake at the end to celebrate J so don't run away without cake and shaking Jim's hand thank you Jim I guess that means you have to stay for the whole meeting yes all right Infinite Campus has been a project that we've been working on led by Travis for the whole year as we've shared with the board progress through this about this throughout the year uh it is a tool that needs to be replaced uh support for it is dwindling each almost day by day uh so uh Travis's letter process in selecting Infinite Campus is our next student information system this is the system that handles it's the brains of the district right this is attendance this is grading this is scheduling everything that we do here in the district uh really ties back to this so we're really excited to bring in Infinite Campus as that new tool it's kind of a two-year process this next year is the migration over and then the year after that would be implementation so and there'd be some crossover of that over the course of the Year I miss anything there Travis no go ahead I just want to say it's ending in 2030 but we're starting to migration now yes so we'll be done with echool after this next school year so we're not waiting until 2030 we wanted to take a proactive approach again because their support and uh actually updates all of those things were not up to par so we were we were falling behind in what we were able to offer uh not only our our teachers but our students and our parents as far as the use of our student information system oh oh so are they going EOL in 2030 as far as the system or we are okay no the whole system the system is going so they're DED the the parent company that owns them is dedicating fewer and fewer resources to it so we want to we want to get off the ship before it sinks yeah it makes sense they're no longer going to support it basically any upgrades or any features or such okay I got it and uh the the action item today is to not exceed 165 trais has reduced it already below that so he's still working with the company to get us our lowest and best possible price uh but that will definitely be under and we'll inform the board of where we end up at below that uh that is already at 165 significantly less than what we pay each year for our current product that is is not as good as this one so um that's great any other questions all right that's an action item later this evening facility usage and rentals uh following the last board meeting we shared some updated information with the board uh Travis is going to just take a second to redefine some of the data that was asked for here uh a bunch of other information has been shared with you outside of this meeting as well y so this is just uh breaking it down by invoices in the number of rentals so as you can see uh 110 total invoices throughout this school year the 23 24 that resulted when you look at in its entirety 675 rentals so you can see the breakdown with uh our class B being our highest at at more than 50% of that the total revenue um so this is not this is just Revenue not our expenses anything along those lines uh you can see it's just over $128,000 and the model that you proposed puts us within 5,000 of correct correct well that's 128 total revenue not minus expenses is what you say right correct okay that's the revenue side not not taking into account any of the the expenses for on the Personnel side that we're we're paying for for any of our uh upkeep of facilities anything along those lines and tonight we're being asked to approve your recommendation as to the rental rates correct and then but we've also sort of agreed that we're going to revisit some of the underlying policies correct okay Y and if if we do revisit the policy and that has an impact on how we look at the rate schedule would we just relook at the rate schedule correct okay yep yeah so this is the intermediate fix if you will so that we can expand and to um the the week night rentals uh it allows us to change that that fee structure from B Toc to be 200% um instead of the 150% that it is right now um making sure that before anything happens they have to show um their proof of insurance those different components so everything related to that but yes we're going to follow up and again the nice thing it's a living breathing document right it's it's based off of board approvals so we can make changes to it at any point in time so we already have that meeting scheduled for July 16th to take a look at everything that's in there and start discussing with policy committee about any potential changes or areas that we'd like to look at then we can go back and forth policy committee and the board until we get this kind of massaged into the direction that the board for it so tonight is just those those top kind of four bullets is what's in that document the revenue includes what costs come with a rental in terms of security clean up setup those What charges are those immediate costs are built into what the charges are yeah but it's not the cost at all that that's not like our net that that is strictly the revenue that is okay that is from that okay so there's not a ton of net revenue from rentals once you once you take all the Personnel pieces and those kinds of things and it's also very difficult for us to sort out truly what our expenses are um because it depends on the employee that picks up that assignment and what their rate of pay is and is their overtime and all of the all of those moving pieces make it really hard to say like what were our costs for that so uh that's one of the pieces we're trying to better understand as we head into the policy committee and try to make more sense out of this um our goal is always to come close to break even on the Personnel costs right and then for your group b you make a little bit of money on your facilities for your group C you make a little bit more yeah that may be a little bit harder to do too because if you start to put in cost like uh lights you know electricity well it is electricity but heat Heating and Cooling and M those things running water yep wear and tear on all your facilities your parking lots everything else your your surfaces yeah that all uh and then you know it's like turning your house into an Airbnb there there's a lot of costs right or you know letting somebody borrow your car same type of thing right there's M the cost you might charge just for mileage but then there's all of the other pieces that go with it so we'll dig in more with the policy committee and and see what comes of that but in the meantime we'd like to make those changes tonight under the action items which uh make those things happen that's in the consent agenda I think right I believe so yeah okay which would take effect November 1 is that right for for if there's any the rental window right is that next rental window but if there were any rentals that are made now that have not already been then those would be after this meeting those would be in and new rentals immediately after tonight correct all right uh Commercial Insurance renewals I gave you a write up about this uh in the board packet this is the big key takeaway uh insurance claims mostly related to pretty much four lawsuits have significantly increased over the last 10 years and then of course inflation insurance is an area that's being hit heavily by inflationary uh costs so we have four areas in which our insurance is going up drastically uh overall then our insurance that we're asking you to approve tonight is that total of 1, 128,50 uh 22% from last year uh if there are any questions I will turn it over to jeree to answer those all right so that is up as an action item this evening um and hopefully those lawsuits will ens soon and this will start turning the other direction uh next one is review of student uh handbook we have no recommended changes in the policy portion of that document uh so nothing in the discipline code nothing in the activities or athletic handbook uh so uh no changes coming to you so we're just renewing the handbook as approved from last year as approved from last year yep uh and that once the board does that we have the board do that because it then officially serves as board policy where if we ever end up in a legal situation regarding either of these documents then were were covered questions on that one all right and then my last one is uh foyer requests uh we receive them we fill them and they are all posted on our website if you search for employer requests you can find them okay item number six to the consent agenda before the board votes on the consent agenda is there any agenda item a board member would like to pull out of the consent agenda for further discussion hearing none can I get a motion for the Board of Education to approve the consent agenda as presented which includes a Personnel report appointment certified transfer of position classified B Personnel report retirement classified resignation classified C Personnel report request to resend irrevocable intent to retire denial of request classified D May Treasures report and may Financial Pages e Commercial Insurance renewals f resolution continuing appointment of School treasurer G Treasurer shy bonds for 2024 2025 H approval of administrative regulation 8.20 ar1 facility rental fees and 8.20 ar2 regulations and general conditions for use of District 99 facilities so moved so Chris M 10 seconds thank you very much Chris J Spinoza hi Ken Dawson hi cherl Fuller I Jenny hagstrom I Cara Caston I and Don Runner I motion carries item number seven recommendations for Action um item a can I get a motion for the Board of Education to approve Award of contract for custodial maintenance grounds and filter supplies for 2024 2025 to the noted vendors in the aggregate amount of $3,165 198 so move second Jenny moves Chris second thank you Jenny hagstrom I Chris renosa I sh Fuller hi Cara Caston hi and Ken Dawson hi and Don Runner hi motion carries you Item B can I get a motion for the Board of Education to approve an award of contract to the vendors noted for copy or paper for fiscal year 2024 2025 in the aggregate amount of $1,328 65 so moved second Cara moves Jenny seconds thank you cara Caston I Jenny hagstrom I Ken Dawson I CHR Espinosa hi charl Fuller hi and Don Runner hi motion carries item C can I get a motion for the Board of Education to approve the administration enter into to approve the administration to enter into a contract with Infinite Campus for the purchase of a student information system in an amount not to exceed $165,000 so moved second Cara moves Chris seconds thank you cara Caston I Chris jpoa I charal fuller I Jenny hagstrom I Ken Dawson hi and Don rener I motion carries item D motion can I get a motion for the Board of Education to reapproved parent handbook including discipline code and the athletic activities handbook as presented so moved second K moves Jenny seconds thank you Ken Dawson hi Jenny hagstrom I Cara Caston hi Chris Spinosa hi charl Fuller I and Don rner hi motion carries Hank uh old business um old bussiness is the second reading and approval of policies these came to you last month uh were discussed with the policy committee and then forwarded to the entire board uh since then we have not received any questions or concerns or revisions uh in any of these so we recommend that the board take action and approve these policies as presented tonight or will that be no that's tonight tonight okay um I didn't write on there sorry that's okay um so how do you want me to ask for a motion do you want me to ask for a motion for approval of all of the policies do you want presented presented as presented yep thank you motion for the board the motion is for the board to approve the policies as present them then can I get a motion for the board of educa or from the Board of Education to approve the policies as presented so moved second Ken moves Chris seconds thank you Ken Dawson hi Chris ranoa hi charal Fuller hi Jenny hagstrom I Cara Caston I and Don rener I motion carries any new business no new business J no visitors no visitors uh Jenny can we get a report on lend S I don't have anything new to report no the legislative session ended the budget finally did like two in the morning one night few compromises between the governor and and the legislative body as to where to end up with that a little bit more in special ed Transportation hopefully when it all shakes out we'll see um but it's pretty much pretty close to what was presented earlier in the year and then um I think I'm asking for an update from Chris now is that correct for sasset yep okay any update from sasset uh yeah we had a governing board meeting uh two two weeks ago I think um to um they we did we did not uh we have a special board meeting coming up or a special governing board meeting coming up on the 26th or the 25th um to get a reading of the budget because they had not finalized it as of that meeting uh cuz the are you on the we finalized last week so I attended both the finance committee meeting and the uh the board meeting for the board of directors okay and uh overall our costs are going down because of the cost structure that they're building um and I I think for the first time in a long time they have a very wellth thought out comprehensive plan it's easy for all the member districts to understand and Chris will get a chance to vote on that and see it at the next at his next meeting next week yep yeah the 26th at 6:30 and then we have uh the regular scheduled governing board meeting on August 7th I believe yeah um to actually approve because there's like the first reading and there's like be on 30 days uh so we'll approve it on the on August 7th but that's about it thanks Chris uh Terry not being here tonight I'm going to skip a report on the foundation um Ken anything to update on I ASB not really we have the uh conference in November 22nd through the 24th so that will be coming and our requests are in for hotels so we'll see where we end up hopefully back at the Fairmont and soon as courses and sessions are available that'll be exciting to sign up and we'll go as Savvy veterans this year to us rookies know how to navigate it a little better looking forward to it this week in preliminary notes is the workshops yeah so we'll have the workshops for you this week and then uh locally remember uh Terry is part of iasb and dup page and they sent out a survey to rank the topics you'd like to see at those two sessions next year so make sure that you fill out that survey okay now are we going to add another announcement section for Charelle and the Comm comme that she's joining going forward we only in the past have had that person report back if there's something of significance that impacts us okay and how often will that committee meet do we know I've sent the name so she should get an email from them but I've sent them your information yeah I thought it was once a month so okay we talked about it yeah all right well I'll just keep it on my uh we can add it there perspective if anything possible yeah and if if nothing she can just say we didn't meet yep yeah and if you it may be helpful if you do that way I'll know see it okay I got to talk about okay I yeah we can add it as one of our standing uh Communications all right item number 12 upcoming board meetings our next board meeting will be here July 15th at 6:30 p.m.

the fact that it was Defensive I raised my uh uh you know red flag up there right away so I'm not I don't know that you wouldn't do this sort of thing okay I'm really concerned about that the taxpayers you know are are OD of voice absolutely out of voice this law is so wrong in all levels that uh you know there'll just be a Revolt out here if you try to push something through no no question because you know and then if you the home I understand the Builders Association didn't know about that as well until recently and they're like well uh do we uh do we want to build here not whatever they're kind of looking at things so if you drive Builders out too by because of laws like this you won't even need a school anyway so anyway um I wish I wrote more stuff down I was just so busy I apologize but you know I see that in order for the community to have value okay and the property values go up and have a you know reasonable tax base they want to have a good school district so a good school district is right at the top of the list that doesn't mean a new building it means keeping and retaining good teachers okay that your product is teaching your tools are the teachers when I see and hear the teachers are leaving why is that is it the pay is it they're unhappy I don't know I hear that but that needs to be addressed in order to Main maintain the community and the value of the people are paying for I don't know if that makes a lot of sense but tried to get this house I wish I wrote this oh I apologize again so um and then I don't know I guess you have I wish I could talk after you know this public comment stuff is right at the beginning so I do see you have a thing about um RSP update here so I'd like to be able to comment it after I heard about it but I don't know what going what you're going to say so um you know I'm obviously concerned about that too but basically I just like people to or the board to to take a look at and say like ginger had just read people aren't in favor of this you just don't get to say we want your money because we deem it necessary people should have a voice okay people should really have a voice and I know this form doesn't really give much a voice either I talk and you goes okay fine whatever I don't know how much really SS in I don't get any feedback okay thanks [Applause] thanks Mike uh next up Warren Ling hi everyone um I live on RAM road which is in the district of 301 um when we sold the property at a loss that bothered me and I know I'm sure you have reasons for that um and I don't know what those reasons were but I would like more transparency um I know we had we had troubles getting mailers out to people I don't think mailers were sent to every taxpayer I think it's important that you give us what a plan on what's going to happen um what is the board what is RSP going to do are we going to see the whole report are you going to post it on your website um just some things I want answered um I was told that you don't have to get bids for any buildings and you can stick with one um vendor or contractor um why do we have to do that why not get bids give us maybe we'll get a better deal maybe we'll get more for our money maybe we'll get this big extravagant school that has all these options for a little bit less anything's anything less is going to be better for us all um maybe in the focus group get a larger cross-section of people and that goes back to the communication thing maybe post some signs up on Plato and 47 and Burlington 47 some people don't get the internet older older seniors they're not into working on the web so you know if you put up a sign send a little flyer I think it' all help and get us all on board instead of uh one or two months before the election and springing it on your your plan um see I'd like um for you not to blame the previous School Board I I noticed there's a lot of finger point well we weren't there back then well now you got to solve the problem because they're no longer here we got to do the best we can uh take responsibility I'm concerned about HP 4582 like the other gentlemen and ladies talked about um how is that going to affect us what's going to happen what are you going to do with that power um then I just was driving by Lily Lake and I saw this huge diesel generator sitting out the front why do you have that there um and then the teacher turnover uh why is that um do you have an exit interview do you talk to the teacher and ask why she's leaving or he um you know is it like he said is it pay is it management is it environment I mean I think it's probably a good environment to work out in this in the country like we are um and another thing is we don't have any businesses that support the school district all we have is maybe one or two gas stations and that's it uh if you look at schools like Lake Zurich or uh Stevenson in Lincolnshire they probably have maybe a dozen two dozen gas stations that support them they have industrial they have recreational they have commercial we don't have that it's all on our backs so I need you need to consider us too but I'm not against um in investing in the schools I just want us to all work as a team thank you thanks won Katherine Coffman hi after attending the meeting about the referendum for a new high school I was curious about how a survey was found and used for the population and the growth in our school district when I when I question that my nephew Warren suggested I look up the United States Census Bureau and it actually shows that information for our district so I would like to know what the plan is to get an official um record of what our growth is projected to be and so that we can help make decisions based on that I too am concerned about the recent law passed in Springfield um our tax payers in this District carry a heavy burden I'm a former education person and I'm planed I'm proud to do that but I also know that at some point you can't bleed a turn up dry thank you thanks Katherine and last is Ryan Asher good evening ladies and gentlemen of the board my name is Ryan Asher I've lived in this district for nine years in the overall Western elen area for 18 years I have four children in the district this coming school year I'm going to have four children sprouted across four schools PV pkms CMS and CHS lucky me um I wanted to speak to this board and our community tonight and really do one the most important thing we as parents like to do to you all and which is thank you for the hard work you put in to support my children in their education the decisions you make are difficult and I understand that you have but I really do respect the effort you put in the work you put in to a volunteer job that you were elected to do so thank you for that um I've been watching closely the last nine years with all these decisions you've had to make as a board whether it's a Fieldhouse Co issues or now or now the focus on increasing the space we have in order to properly educate our children with every overall board decision you have all made there's one thing that's clearing my mind I support the board's decisions and will always support the way the board goes as a group um I I know the members of this board keep the most important thing at the top of their mind when they make these decisions it's very simple my children and all of your children and all of your children they keep those at the top of their mind with every decision they make and that's important that's why I elected you all to do that when an issue is at hand there certainly been times I don't agree with the decision that you're all going however I can still disagree but I will ultimately support the group's decision I will always find the positive in this situation and focus on that positive to help me understand why the group went the way they went as we come to receive the findings of RSP I look forward to hearing those results I expect our board to review those results and make it decision on the next steps of our district whatever the B whatever the overall board's decision is I'm going to support that whether the referendum is to build a high school a middle school or an elementary school I think the most important thing is that in November when the most people turn out to go to an election during a presidential election we get the most people in our district to come and help us make this decision that you all decide to put in front of them 70% turnout in a presidential election is the entire Community well about as much as we can get um I know the let me make sure I didn't miss something I know that the best decision will have been reached to support the goal of increasing the space we have in order to provide our children with the highest level and quality education they deserve so thank you so much for your time week in and week out thank you that's right thank you next we're move on action reports a motion second required to discuss and approve the consent agenda second in your board packet you have the board financial report revenues and expenditures um for May are included revenues are at 59.