he actually had to take the oath of office um to be on the honorary national. It's really really cool. um along with about five other um folks. And so that was really really um important and and talking about the leadership, the students totally led that. And so what an honor for Scott to be um nominated by students and and then inducted. um also with RO the uh celebration of success and that's their big event where they honor um students and it's um uh the the teachers nominate the students and then um Brian and I interviewed them um and it was very very difficult to choose uh out of all of the students you wanted them all to win um and but they also have uh sponsors that that give out uh scholarships to the students so those uh that were nominated uh get awarded and then they have their top tier.
And another one said, "When I am reading on my own and I don't know a word, I use salabication." Many of the students who struggle with reading have mastered the art of avoidance and hiding in plain sight in the classroom. They work hard at avoiding work, avoiding being called on, and avoiding being noticed throughout the day. None of these habits can happen when working in a small group and reading intervention. When students are in intervention, they work in small groups based on their needs. Students are not just improving their reading skills, but their self-confidence is growing as well. Teachers in the classroom are not able to work with a small group of students five days a week for 50 minutes to close the gap of where students are with their reading and where they need to be. I would like to invite any board member to come and see our program.
So that's my recommendation being one of the old-timers on the board and not knowing much but I know a little bit. Thank you, Commissioner Bastard. And I did have one final one. Um I know many people are talking about this. I got a few calls about it um just today and it was basically asking about the spring break lunch. I know you already stated it last time. If you could give a quick refresher, but I think the most the thing that people are having an issue with now is the fact that it'd be going to the warming shelter. Um so there are some people who are saying, "Well, why are we doing this? How come the city is not doing that?" Um if you can briefly explain it again. Sure. So we have uh prioritized children having lunch with the district crow collaborative team. We have implemented lunches on every single day of school including half days.
Um and thank you trustees. Uh we were very well represented at the event. I appreciate that. also with uh RO flew to Sacramento um and we uh advocated the entire day um with our legislators um and that's why um you know this um activism is so important um with our teachers and um any one of us going to Sacramento um Sacramento is what 70% new uh legislators and so they really don't understand yet the um the educational um system and and budgets and so anytime that we have a chance to go and talk to them in person um is very important. Um Dana had um superintendent has a really good strategy um the grown-ups um go in and we welcome and we say thank you because we thank the educator the legislators for supporting Prop 98. We go in and we tell them all the value of that and then we let the kids talk.
Everything we do is aligned with the science of reading. It is a systematic program with direct instruction and students are receiving instant feed feedback. I understand that our school district is struggling financially at this time, but I urge you not to terminate programs that are directly impacting students and helping students with skills they need to be successful in school and life. John Hadtie's famous quote is know thy impact. We are definitely seeing the impact in reading intervention and having our own students um is having on our own students with our datadriven intervention program. Again, I ask you to reconsider the vote last week and to keep two reading intervention teachers in each of the elementary schools. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Brenda. Jennifer Taylor. [Applause] Good evening, superintendent, board members, staff, and colleagues. First, I want to thank you for allowing me to speak tonight.
Uh Dr. Roberts, Miss Gus Levage, Mr. myself wanted to pilot having lunch over spring break for the five or six days or however long that is because in rare but prevalent circumstances this is the only meal our children get. So we're going to have them set up I believe it's at 17 and Columbus uh from certain hours I don't know off the top of my head where they can come pick up a meal and go home. There's going to be a verification process to ensure that they are Clifton Public School students. Um, we also partnered with the health department because the food that we are making is prepackaged food. If there's anything in excess, we will donate it to the Clifton Health Department to the warming center and they can help the unhoused population. Uh, it's going to be a handful of meals a day.
Um the students uh ambassadors came with us and everyone was um thoroughly impressed by the students and you know we're only allotted you know 15 20 minutes. They all really wanted to hear from the kids um perspective the student perspective and they were all impressed. So I think it was a huge success um letting the students really um give their testimonials. Um uh last night also was uh the Gassulpa uh CAC awards which is the um community advisory committee. Um it's a group of parents that um are uh representing each one of the schools uh districts in the SULPA. So there's Anaheim, Centrolia, Cypress, Los Al, uh Magnolia, and Savannah. And we had five of our uh employees recognized last night. Um uh Luis uh Cordoba, Melissa Naen, um Marne Nuin, Gail, um I'm sorry, I'm going to blow her name. I love her dearly.
I am here tonight to answer a question that a member of the board asked concerning workplace violence. I was shocked and saddened that it was even asked, but here is what I would like to see done. First, hold parents accountable. Make them come to school every time their student is causing trouble. Have them sit with their student in class. I'm talking about the students that are constantly in the office or running around campus. The students that say, "I can do whatever I want." And the sad fact is they are proven right. Next, make parents pay for the damages done by their students such as broken windows and broken Chromebooks. I think that the contract they signed at the start of the school should be enforced. Finally, send school police to get parents that do not answer the school's calls or when parents say they can't come because they don't have a car.
I believe I sent you guys the email about we when we were feeding children during Ramadan. I think it was 20 meals a day if that. So it's it's not going to be an absorbent cost and and quite frankly that people are making this an issue. I I believe it's it's ridiculous and I'm wasting my time even commenting on it. I think feeding children, feeding people who with lesser means is a noble thing that this board has decided to do and you know join the administration in on this. Uh people are going to talk regardless. So I hope that answered your question, but I can't speak to as to what the city is doing. I have no no answer for that one. Um Mr. Shahada, I one second. Um those meals aren't the warming center if it's nice out won't be open. Anat collects everything and he goes he knows where the unhoused are and he goes and does outreach with the food.
She's a a hope aid. Um Raqqatare um and Lisa Wright. all were recognized last night at the um Gaselpo Awards. Um Stema Palooa was uh another wonderful success. Um and I also um among all of the um uh the good times that we have there and seeing all the wonderful things that um AUHSD is doing, I was really pleased to see both of my worlds uh connected with um the 500 students that came from um Anaheim. uh elementary. Um I saw them um go getting onto the bus. They were all excited. Um they almost didn't want to leave. Um they they they had some things that they hadn't seen yet. So, you know, maybe they'll come back next year on their own. Um I think is a very very strategic and smart idea to bring the fifth graders. Fifth graders are still um you know, they're not they're not that too cool for the room yet.
These are just a few suggestions that to the questions, what do you want us to do about it? We want guidance to know what we can do. Thank you, [Applause] Shane. All right. A little bit. Yeah. Uh, I want to end um this with a bit of positivity um by sharing a bit about the wonderful young humans and the Granite Hills High School Chamber Singers in regards to their Carnegie Hall trip that we took before spring break. Um, and the once in a-lifetime opportunities I got to take a part of. um due no small part to all the offices at the district level between accounting and risk management everywhere in between all the work they put in the um the allowance of the trip by a supportive principal um Adam Powell our executive cabinet our board members some of which even offered suggestions on places to eat we appreciate while the students um had opportunities to do things that they wouldn't have got to do on their own um such as like singing the national anthem in front of the Statue of Liberty singing a beautiful song of hope in the center of Grand Central Station.
It's really a beautiful thing. So, I I know they're looking for sweatpants that are in great condition. If anybody has anything, bring them over to the health department. There's a list that they need of stuff and they really could use our help. If you cleaning out your closet and you got a lot of you lost a lot of weight and you got a lot of sweatpants, bring them over. They need them. They're they're in dire need of things. So, reach out to the health department. And just one more thing, Miss Bass, Mr. Mia, um we're not doing any of the drop off. Uh Nate is Mr. Beagle's number two. He's going to come pick it up from the location he's working with, Pmponian, and they are going to pick up the food and do everything. We have nothing. The food is already made. Instead of it being tossed in the garbage, let's be kind.
um where the sixth graders I think um kind of had that that attitude, but they were um they were all enchanted. They were all excited and the Western link um crew uh link crew uh did an amazing job taking those students. Um they were all very patient. They all had smiles on their faces when I went to talk to them uh afterwards and I asked them honestly, were the kids really really um uh good for you? were they really attentive and listening and they all said yes 100%. So I think that was a great success and thank you to everyone. I know that's just a it's a huge wedding uh you know um all the celebrations combined into one to put together. Um there is talk about maybe changing locations. Um I think there's that's the buzz that I'm hearing. um because I think um uh parking might have been an issue.
Um, a majority of the students, their favorite part of the trip was the um nine hours of learning and rehearsing and practicing leading up to their performance. Imagine like students actually appreciating the educational aspect about a field trip. Crazy. Um, speaking of educational, one of the things I wanted to share was um, as those of you who have seen the videos I sent out um, of the performances, it's a mass choir. students from across the nation um had uh had to go ahead and qualify to be part of this mass choir. One of the schools never learned one of the songs and uh that we were performing and our students took it upon themselves to go ahead and train their fellow students in learning the notes, learning the movements, getting them prepared in three days for a song that they had never seen before. and just it was it warmed my heart to see our own students just taking that leadership role and saying, you know, we're going to go ahead and make sure you guys feel prepared.
Yeah, Mr. Sh, I think that's the important part. If we don't donate it, that food's going in the garbage. So, Mr. President, I just have a question. So, I think you're talking about a financial side of it. Isn't it true that if a student is free of reduced lunch that the lunch will be free anyway? No. So we tried to talk with the department of agriculture because school is not in session. It is not legal. So there is a cost on those specific days. Okay. On those specific days. So we are we negotiated something with Pontonian where it's going to be at cost of what they buy the food in bulk. So it's literally pennies but not on half days. Those are not in half days. Half days school's in session. Free is free. Reduce is reduced. Paid is paid. Yeah. and and and this board did approve a uh um not a referendum a um something to go down to the NJSBA regarding uh resolution.
Uh so uh we'll we'll we'll we'll discuss that later. Um after that um I was privileged also to um listen in uh to a lead meeting. Um this is my second one and uh man uh I think that this is a program that we should I think we should be marketing because um you guys really go um uh in depth into those um hard um those hard hard hard things that we don't want to talk about that leaders have to um uh engage in. Um, but I think that um going through this is a is a huge success for our district, a huge success for um the teachers that go through that program and they just really get um a quality quality education from that. um and also attended the soap box speeches and um opening house at Lexington and um culminating with Anna Piery's um building uh dedication of her room that she taught in for a number of years room 701.
I was so so grateful for those kids to go ahead just have that be an aspect about them. Um to that end, um these same wonderful kids that um that I've been talking about, you'll get a chance one more time to see them before most of them graduate um at our final concert um which everyone is invited to. Um it's going to be spectacular one. It's uh called Oh, the Places You'll Go where all the songs are locations, cities, states, and uh and it's going to go end with a large uh senior song that um many of you will see when we have graduation um later on in in May. But uh I just want to thank everyone for the opportunity you gave these kids. This is something not only they won't ever forget, but something that'll they'll carry with them for the rest of their life.
Yeah. Resolution regarding free lunch as it is in a whole for for the entire you know New Jersey. So I mean as a whole I think we all support it. Okay. Any Yeah. President Paris sort of on topic but ve very important. Miss Kusvage, I'm sorry. I'm going to need you real quick. So, in the presentation, there's a slide that says Clifton Public Schools economically disadvantaged, right? And it's talking about the schools. There's a slide earlier that says Clifton poverty percentage, right? And so that slide, Clifton poverty percentage is about the population, not specifically about schools, right? That's just the city population, right? And percent, right? Yes. poverty is that's based on the census data of the entire city whereas the other slide is based on free and reduced lunch by school by students enrolled in those schools. Thank you. So uh just for this topic I suggest again a great reason why we have you guys doing this presentation.
Thank you. Thank you. I had the opportunity to attend my second masters in government's course uh with CSBA. had the opportunity to attend the open house for Sycammer Junior High School and N&M High School. Attended the insurance committee meeting uh both in March and April. I also joined the AUHSD soap box finals. Um I attended High School's musical, the Hello Girls, which is wonderfully done. I also joined uh Dale Junior High School for their 10th anniversary of girls engineering day and just want to give a shout out to our partners uh for consistently supporting our students in engineering. I also attended the small business development center student presentation at Anime High School. Also joined my colleague colleagues for the PTA Garden of Things administrators dinner. Just want to give a shout out to our parents and administrators that attended that. It was during spring break.
And thank you guys for giving them that opportunity. I can't believe I didn't tell you. The concert is on Friday 6:30. It is um May the 16th if I'm not mistaken. Yes, that is a Friday. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We have no public hearings, no special meetings, discussion items. Uh it's recommended the board of trustees discuss take action on the following items. Item one, approve the updated Alpha Valley Unified School District governance handbook.