001Good evening everyone. I want to thank you all for being here tonight. I do apologize um on behalf of all of us at the table here for taking a little longer than expected to get you in here. Um we uh started our meeting with an executive session that will be continuing on after the end of the meeting. Um so again, thank you all for being here. Um tonight's one of those nice nights as a board member where we get to recognize um our student athletes, our spring allstars, our music, our theater honors. So we get to see what it's all about tonight and that's always a great place for the board to be. So um without further ado, I will hand the floor over to Dr. Briefly who has a little defense for recognition. >>
002Good evening everybody. I'm actually just going to turn it right over to Mr. Spray who I think is going to start uh with some middle school awards. First of all, thanks for the opportunity tonight to recognize some of our students in the middle school. Um, I have three three students to recognize tonight. Uh, two of them are here. One of them I don't see yet, but I'm going to introduce them anyway. Uh, the first student I'm going to introduce um won a art contest. Every year, transportation part of Joan Cineki sends us an email about a possibility of um our students entering an art contest. They have to they have to create a post or a picture. Um they draw it themselves, color it, paint whatever they want to on on how um important it
003is to be safe while transportation on a bus, right? So um this student actually she won um first place in all of Burlington County for middle school. Super super talented um artist. Some of the stuff she does is amazing and um she's going to be in high school next year. She's got such a bright future. Really proud of her. She's really embarrassed right now. I love it. All right. But Kayla Marquetti uh this this next uh student who's who's here tonight is uh is a tenor. Uh you should hear this young man sing. Uh he he's he's really amazing. and our uh music department went to the music in the parks a couple weeks ago. He won uh the middle school overall vocalist award. Um he's also an eighth grader. He's going to be in
004high school next year. So, he's a super kid and and not just in music, but in in academics and athletics, a really good soccer player. Um and he's going to do really great things uh when he gets to high school next year. And he's over here. His name's Timone Bulis. I try to get him to sing. Uh, and our last one is um is a trombone player who's also an eighth grader um with with a really bright future for high school. He's not here tonight. He's not the same now. Um he was he was named music in the parks middle school overall jazz soloist for the trombone and his name is Owen Likener. So I'll give this to him. Thank you. Now, Mrs. Penta, the high school principal is on deck. >> All right. Thank
005you. Thank you for having me. Um, congratulations to all of our student recipients being recognized tonight. We would like to thank the parents and guardians um who helped them get here because without them, they would not be able to receive these achievements. Um, we're going to start with our spring um arts awards. We have members of our cappies, our thespian society who are being recognized for their contributions to um for the spring musical. So, first we'd like to welcome Atlas Planet Forstrom. And when I call your name, you're going to take your certificate and then stay up here the whole time. >> Bin Bower. Riley Evans, Gabriella Cooia. >> Thank you, >> Ren Magi. Pphanie Borsk, Joshua Moore, Adam Pard, Nora Chestnut, Alexander Maruji, Sika Brena, Leah Isel, Cade Sutton, and Ansley Magy. Congratulations everybody.
006Congratulations. >> All right, next we're going to move on to our spring sports allstars. We're going to start with our softball team led by coach Nicole Olirri. All right, we'd like to recognize our students for the first team Liberty Division. Katie Kovac, Joanna Moralda, and Alyssa Fzen. And our second team in the Liberty Division, Brianna Gallo, Sierra Knight for a second, Gabby, and Gabby. getting. >> All right, next we will move on to our baseball team led by coach Gary Sarno. All right, we would like to recognize our student athletes for their um for being selected for the first team Patriot Division, Andrew Forster and Chris Hill. Patriot Division, Nate Williams, Evan Pajabatada, and Wyatt Steckley. Thank you very much. >> Next, we will move on to girls track. Our girls track team is coached
007by coach Brian Wheeler. Um, we're going to recognize our students for their individual um, selections for these specific teams. We have coach Conway here to uh, represent our coaching coaching track team, our general So, first we'd like to recognize Carly Victor for being selected for first team for discus and shot. Next, we have Jana Flynn for second team Javelin. Next, we'd like to recognize Oral Lua Adami for second team shotut. and Danica Duca for second team 400 meter. >> You should just stand up there. >> I know. I should just look over here for my mom. And next we'll recognize our boys track and field team under the uh direction of coach Mch. We'd like to bring up John Ryder who was selected for the second team javelin and Lucas Clama second team for the
008800 meter. And we would last like to recognize our boys golf team under the direction of coach Frank Rubio who was unable to join us tonight. Um the boys golf team did finish third place as a team in the BCSL Open. would like to recognize um Ronic Gil for being first team and also uh receiving third place as an individual in the BCS LO standshine for also being recognized for first team. and Austin Mole for being recognized for the second team. Congratulations. Once again, we'd like to congratulate all of our students who are recognized tonight for both the middle school and the high school. And uh extend our thank you to the parents and guardians and everybody who supports them so that you know they can give to our school community. Thank you all very
009much. Have a great day. I'm scared. I saw how You're enamored with the dog. It's her is his sweet. >> He's patrolling. >> Patrolling. >> Yeah, he's the only dog here in the middle school. >> Stop it. >> You can sit over here so we can find >> You could. >> I know. I just have to look. He knows I have the snacks on. He likes lollipops, too. We learned that at book fair, >> right? >> Thank you everyone for uh sticking around. We appreciate your uh your attention. >> It's always a good event to see our um athletes, >> um students, theaters, arts, crowd night. Um we do not have any unfinished business under agenda item H. So we will move on to agenda item I which is the consent agenda. Actually I am
010realizing I made an error earlier but I skipped right over the public form for agenda items only. So I apologize for that. We will uh go to public >> now agenda item I consent agenda with 12 items for motion to open. Thank you, Miss Man. >> Second. >> And thank you, Miss for the second. Any questions or discussion on agenda item I 1 through 12? >> Seeing no questions, Miss Henry, please call for >> Miss Jens. >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. >> Miss man, >> yes. >> Miss McCarthy, >> yes. >> Miss, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> We do not have three reports under J. So we move on to agenda item K, the superintendent report with um three items. Ask for a motion to open. >> Thank you,
011Miss Gl second. >> Second, Miss Thank you. Any questions or discussion? Superintendent seeing the full board. >> Mr. Jens, >> yes. >> M. Yes. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Dr. Bell, I understand you have a uh presentation for us this evening. So, the floor is here, sir. Okay. Hear me? Nothing. Good. So, thank you all for being here tonight. I just wanted to take a moment. >> Oh, thanks. >> So, I wanted to just take a moment and sort of address the board and address the public. I've been here since January. Spent a lot of time going around the building. Spent a lot of time talking to teachers. Spent a lot of time looking at data. spent a lot of time having meetings trying to get
012a full perspective of sort of where we are, right? Where is Bordontown currently? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? And I think one of the things that everybody who works here and who's been around me for a little while realizes that one of the things that drives my decision making is really is what is the data saying about us? What is the data saying that we need to do? So, at our board retreat, uh, we spend a great deal of time as a as a group talking about the data and talking about how that data can potentially be driving some of the future decisions that we have to make. And, you know, we thought it would be a good idea to bring some of that to the public so that
013the public has an idea of where we are and sort of where we see things going in the future. So, if you'll bear with me for a few minutes, I'll take you through um some pretty powerful stuff. >> Thank you. >> So, what what I really want to do is show you what our data tells us about our schools, what are our strengths, what are the things we should we should be celebrating and what are the gaps that we have to own as a school district, what specific changes those numbers are asking us to make for students. So we want to celebrate celebrate strengths honestly accept our gaps and then talk about how we act on what the data is asking us to do. So the good news is momentum is building elementary K to
014five our standardized test scores are above the state average in both the LA and math. That's good news. Our attendance among is amongst the strongest in New Jersey. All three of our buildings are clear on ESSA, which means there's no action required. If your state testing scores go below a certain level, and if your chronic absenteeism goes above a certain level level, the state of the Department of Education could put you in what's called status where they would come in come in and build a program to observe and to monitor specific schools based on those things. We don't have any schools in status. Middle school for the first time has crossed above the state average in literacy. Math is up for a third consecutive year and discipline incidents are near zero at the middle school.
015In addition, absenteeism is down at the middle school. High school, the graduation rate is 94.3% which is above the state average. Chronic absenteeism is at 1.8%. Chronic absentism in New Jersey is defined as 18 or more unexcused absences. So, it's 10% of the school year. SAT, math and reading, writing literacy are both above the state average. So literacy is a strength, but at the same time it's something that we have to keep our eye on. While our proficiency levels on state tests are showing that we're doing well, 25% of our students currently are reading below grade level. What that does is as reading strength declines, comprehension comprehension strength declines which impacts students at the secondary level. The middle school, if Joe Sprag was still here, I would be telling them how wonderful Joe Sprag is
016because Joe Sprag and the middle school have been doing miraculous things. In a in one year, they have increased literacy by 15 points. In one year, They've increased math by 6.1 points. In one year, they've dropped their chronic absenteeism by 2 and a half points and they've reduced their incidence essentially to nothing. What Joe Sprag and the middle school staff is doing is working. And that's good news. Kudos to the middle school. Here's some high school strengths. graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, SAT scores, and our AP exam pass rate. 87% of the students who take an AP exam here pass it. So, what does that mean? It means our students show up, our students graduate, and they perform on college exams. All good news. Here's some gaps. These are things that we really have to take
017a hard look at and we have to focus on. BLA proficiency level at the high school is 37.4%. That's an improvement over last year when it was 34%. While we met our ESSA target, we are still well below the state average, which is 53%. That is our single most important academic priority. Currently, at the high school, we offer 14 AP courses. The state average is 20. AP participation here is 27%. The state average is 36%. The only reason it is down is because we don't offer enough AP classes. We need to expand our offerings because when our students take AP classes and when they take AP tests they they are successful. So access not ability is the gap and we can control access. Okay. Fouryear college enrollment is 57%. That's five bel 5 5% below
018the state average. If you combine four-year college enrollment with two-year college enrollment, it's at 79%. The state average is 81%. We have to own those gaps. So then when we look, let's hone in and move away from state averages and let's look at where we land among our peers. So Burlington County high schools, New Jersey Department of Education does a rating every year. It's on a one to 100 scale and it takes into account standardized test scores, absenteeism, AP, SAT, all of those things and it builds a rating. So this is Burlington County. We sit at 10. Our rating is 47.37. And then you can see who else in Burlington County is doing different. I'm not going to say better. I'm going to say different. Okay. So this is proficiency level of the counter. If
019you look at the left and you move to the right, left to right are the top 10 in the county. And then I just put Bordon Town next to it. Okay. So that's the top 10 proficiency rates in the county. And then that's where we are. The columns in black are math. The columns in gold are literacy. That's the data. So the question we have to ask oursel is not do we like what we are currently doing. The question we actually have to ask is this is what we are doing producing the results for all students that they deserve. That's a hard question. It's a hard question for me as a superintendent. It's a hard question for the board. It's a hard question for the community. Hard question for teachers. Hard question for parents. But
020it's a question that has to be asked. So what is the data telling us? It's telling us that we have to make literacy the through line. It's telling us that we have to support students in their classrooms more efficiently and more effectively. It's telling us that we have to find creative ways to open the door to more opportunity for our students. It's telling us that we may have to redesign the day to make that possible. None of the above fits inside of the traditional scheduling framework and the structure of the day as it currently sits. We are maxed out at 14 AP classes because of the structure data is telling us two important things. is we need to build a more inclusive model K to 12 where we can provide more support to students in
021their classrooms and we need to think about redesigning our time. We need to create a schedule engineer to create co-eing opportunities in our classroom, protect literacy time and open courses, course access in the future for our students. Because when we give our students access, they perform and they perform excellent. What redesigning our time should really unlock for us inclusion opportunities in core blocks across the district. More opportunities at the middle and high school for different classes, protected time for literacy at every elementary school, and stronger systemic supports at all levels. These are the things that we're focused on right now. These are the things we're trying to accomplish in the work that we're doing. I've seen I see Jody Glenn here and she'll tell you. We're meeting on this all of the time. We're talking
022about these things and trying to find ways to do it. What redesigning our time should look like. Hotel classrooms services in the right setting and staffing it to succeed. Okay. Students who need help get it where they learn best alongside their peers in every classroom. what redesigning our time should do. It should protect literacy time, expand course access at the high school, we should have inclusion sections, general education teacher and special education teacher teaching together. At the high school, we should expand sections. We should offer more courses. We should increase AP access as we're moving into the future. Those are the things that we have to do. We should enhance safety and security during the school day. Okay, these are things that have to happen. I'll give you an example. Every morning at the high
023school, the doors open for students at 7:10. From 7:106, the students are in the building with three people, two vice principles and a principal. There are 700 students at the high school. There are three adults in the school at that time. That's a safety issue. That's a scheduling issue. Start time for teachers issue. 700 students, three adults. Luckily, we've never had a situation, but if we did have a situation, we would have three adults to escort 700 students off site, manage a critical incident. We have to change what we're doing to better secure our students, to better secure our buildings. At the middle school, currently students get science or social studies. can't have both running at the same time. We can do that inside of a changed schedule. Currently at the middle school, we don't
024have inclusion setting. We don't have teacher and special ed teacher teaching together. We can do that in a redesign schedule. Right now, humanities, the time for humanities specials is 40 31 41 minutes, excuse me, at the middle school. We can expand that. We can make that time longer. Right? At the elementary, all of the research on reading clearly says a few things. And I've said this before, but I'll say it again. If a student is not reading on grade level by the time they leave grade three, they will never ever ever be a grade level reader. So when they get to seventh grade and we give them a seventh grade text and they read on a fifth grade level, they cannot access the information. We have to fix that. We have to build a schedule
025that unifies the literacy block that makes the literacy block is uninterrupted to make sure that we can provide as much support as we can inside of those literacy blocks, especially preK to three. Because all of the research in the world tells us that if we do that and we get as many kids as we can reading by the time they leave grade three, they will always be grade level readers. Okay, we have to do that. The elementary level, we don't have inclusion sections where a general ed teacher and a special ed teacher are teaching together. We don't have that. We need that. We have to have that. We will have that. Additional supports built in in all KF5 classrooms. Academic interventionists, additional aid support where appropriate, a schedule that's built to allow kids to move
026on the LRE continuum without having to change classes. We can do that in the future. We will do that in the future. How do we make sure no students slip through? We're going to strengthen instruction for every student. All right. We're going to give targeted assistance by our teachers in our classrooms based on data. We are going to collect real time data on our students. And we are going to meet and discuss what that data is telling us specifically about our students. Where are their strengths? Where are their weaknesses? What interventions need to be done? And how long should those interventions be given? And how are we going to assess those interventions to determine whether or not they are meeting with success? And when they are meeting with success, what are we going to do
027next? We're going to give intensive individualized support driven by student performance. All students, all students progress monitor and instruction modified based on those findings. That's what we have to do. But to do that effectively and efficiently for all the teachers who are in the room, let me tell you, you have to have the structural foundation to do it. Teachers can't and don't design the schedule. Teachers teach in the schedule that is designed for them. Administration designs schedule. Administration designs the framework. We have to empower our teachers with a framework that allows them to do the things that they are trained and equipped to do and then work with teachers on the data that will drive their instruction. We can and should do that because I believe if we do that K to 12, graduation rates
028will go up, literacy performance will go up, math performance will go up, AP participation will go up, we will offer more AP exams, SAT scores will go up because that's what data tells us. So, here's a hot topic that's been discussed. It's been discussed in the public. It's been discussed by teachers. At the high school, they call it study hall. In the middle school, they call it AE, academic enrichment. I think it's important that we talk about facts. Okay. What that is is this. It's a non-eing supervisory period. instruction during it in any form is voluntary and cannot be required as built and as currently utilized. That data shows it does not provide intervention and support to our students because if it was providing intervention and support for our students, our students wouldn't be performing
029at 37% in literacy or 41% in math. So, let's do the math. If I'm a middle school student or I'm a high school student and I have study hall, >> your classes are >> So, let's let's talk about the math. If you have a student that's in the middle school or a student that's in the high school and they have an AE period or they have a study hall, let me let you in on a secret. It's every student, every student every day has a study hall. Every student every day has an AE period. It's about 40 minutes. So let's do the math. 40 minutes a day, five days a week, that's 200 minutes a week. And that's 40 weeks out of the school year. So 200 minutes times 40 weeks. And then let's divide
030that by seven. A seven hour day. So 20 days, 20 days of time is either in a study hall or in an AE. That's from sixth grade to graduation. 20 days a year times six years is 120 days in an AE period or a study. I don't know whether or not that's the most efficient use of time for our students. Do some of our students use it efficiently? Of course they do. Some of our students use it to do their homework. Some of our students use it to go and ask a teacher questions, but all of our students don't. And it's clear that our students who need the most intervention and the most assistance are not getting it in AE or study hall. In fact, at the high school, your study hall could you could
031be with a teacher you don't have for 40 minutes to death. We have to rethink this. We have to. Okay. So, yes. Are there discussions about AE and study hall? There are because that's the data. All right. 20 days, 37%. 20 days, 37%. We have to fix that. I think that this is something very important because I've received emails and concerns and I get it. I respect but I think it's important to understand the facts. We passed a budget. That budget fully funded all of the arts programs, band, music, chorus, strings, all of them. Every dollar. Not one penny was taken from it. Not one penny was reallocated from it. Fully fun. No staff were impacted. In fact, in many of the designs that we're talking about for schedule change, instructional minutes for the arts
032will go up. Because right now you get 41 minutes. Next year you could get more than that. Our actions definitely speak louder than words. Our focus has been on expanding opportunities for students, not reducing it. In the last five months alone, we have added a girls golf team, which the district never had. We've also entered into a co-op swimming agreement, boys and girls, with Northern Burlington, which the district never had. Our actions are clear. We are seeking to expand opportunities for our students, and we will continue to do that. Ensemble rehearsal time. That is when the whole band comes together or the whole course comes together. That happens during study hall or it happens during AE. So during study hall or AE while every other student is in study hall or every other student is
033in AE the band and or the chorus come together for whole group practice. If we redesign that time we have to redesign when ensemble will be. We will do so in a in a manner that is consistent with our priorities. And our priority is simple. Making sure that no student is denied any opportunity to participate in any one of our programs. Band, music, art, theater. Our goals are not to reduce. Our goals are to expand. So the road ahead where we are going where we are right now is a start starting point. Where we are going is our choice for our students. We must choose growth. Growth is hard. Change is hard. Doing different is hard. But the indicators are telling us that we have to start doing some things differently. So that's the data.
034That's the state of our schools. Here's what I will say and I think that this is the most important part. The really hard part of change for school organizations. We have we need committed teachers. We need committed counselors. We need committed administrators. We need a committed work. That's the hard And we have it. Teachers are great, working hard every day, doing everything they can for students. Administrators are great, working hard every day, doing everything they can for students. Counselors are great, working hard every day, doing everything they can for students in the structure that has been designed for them to do it. we have to as a group start thinking about redesigning the structure so that we can redesign the experience for our students. So that is our focus as we move through the summer
035is to see what it can and will look like and once those decisions have been finalized we will share with the community all of the information. thought it was important tonight to explain to the community what the data is that's driving our conversations and driving our decision. Thank you for your time. >> So I will say thank you Dr. for a very informative um presentation. Um like Dr. Al alluded to, we um we had an opportunity to see um a version of this at our board retreat which I'll speak to more um during board comment at the end. Um but I will open the floor to the board if there's any questions regarding the uh presentation we just saw. I haven't seen no questions. I will let Dr. uh tell us what he has. >>
036Shut up. You know how not a tech. So, as we approach uh the close of a a school year here, I would like to just take a moment to reflect on my first six months here uh as superintendent at the Btown Regional School District. Um I want to express my sincere gratitude to the students. Um the families, the staff, the community, uh for the warm welcome that you've extended me since I've arrived. Over the past months, I've had the opportunity to visit classrooms, attend school events, meet with parents and community members, and learn more about what makes Morton town a special place. The pride that exists throughout this community is evident and I'm thankful the for the trust and the partnership that have been shown to me during my quick transition. I would also like
037to thank the administrators, teachers, support staff and the district employees for their continued collaboration and commitment to our students throughout this year. uh we have engaged in meaningful work focused on strengthening our programs and expanding opportunities for our students and at the same time planning initiatives that will enhance the educational experience here in Borntown for years to come and many of those teachers are sitting in this room tonight. Change and growth requires dedication, flexibility and teamwork and I am grateful for the professionalism and student centered mindset that our staff bring to this work each and every day. To the board, I thank you for your leadership, guidance, and unwavering support. Your commitment to serve the students, staff, and families of this district have been instrumental, and as we continue to move important initiatives forward, I
038appreciate your partnership. I would also like to take a moment to welcome hopefully Mrs. This is Nikima Stewart who is here tonight to the Bordontown Regional School District who I am recommended to be the next principal of the Peter Mutual Early Learning Center. Miss Stewart brings significant experience in early childhood education and school leadership. Most most recently serving as the principal of an early childhood learning center and supervisor of student services in Logan Township. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to high high quality early learning, inclusive educational practices, family engagement, and supporting the developmental needs of our youngest learners. We look forward to welcoming her to our team. >> I would also like to take a brief moment to recognize the class of 2026. To our graduating seniors, congratulations on reaching this
039milestone. Your hard work, perseverance, and accomplishments have brought you to this moment, and we are incredibly proud of you. Finally, while the school year may be coming to a close, the work this district does not stop and students leave for summer break. Our schools and our offices remain active throughout the summer months as we continue planning, preparing, and improving facilities, supporting student needs, and advancing initiatives that will position us different for the 26 27 school year. Summer is an important season for us. Thank you again for your continued support and I wish everyone a safe, enjoyable and welldeserved summer. >> Thank you very much. Any questions? Seeing that we will move on to agenda item which is curriculum items. >> So second >> second I think I heard you first. Oh yes. >> Um >>
040any questions or discussion the curriculum? >> Please. >> Yes. >> Miss >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Next on agenda is agenda item N. with 26 items. I ask for a motion open. >> So move. >> Thank you man. Second party again. Thank you. Um questions or discussion on M1 through 26. >> Just want to say I'm excited to see all these uh jobs being filled. >> Full disclosure, the credit goes to the administrators. They have been working tirelessly to uh to to make all of the appointments. I do want to say that I I do c I know it's that time of year where everything's happening at schools, very busy, but to the administrators who have been involved in in this hiring process over the last
041couple of weeks, I think it's I think the hard work put in now is going to pay off for our students in the future because we got those things out early. We got a very deep crowd of candidates for all of our positions and I think we're going to be well positioned in the 26 27 school. That's awesome. >> And welcome Miss Stewart, too. >> It's nice to see you in the back. I thought you were a parent. That's >> it. No further questions or discussions. >> Mr. D. >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. M. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. Mr. River. >> Yes. >> Miss. Yes, this is >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> To make the official introduction now, >> please do. Okay, it's official
042now. The vote has happened. Good evening, President Chinowski, members of the board of education, Dr. Alabello. As Dr. Alabello stated, my name is Mina Stewart, and I'm truly honored and excited to be the next principal of Peter Mush Early Learning Center. Um, I believe early childhood education lays the foundation your child's lifelong success. And I am deeply passionate about creating learning environments where children feel safe, supported, challenged, and excited to learn. Throughout my career, I have been committed to building strong relationships with students, staff, and families. And I believe the best schools are built through collaboration, trust, and the shared commitment to our youngest learners. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and look forward to partnering with the Peter Melo staff, families, and the greater Borgtown community as we continue to build something special
043together. So, thank you again for your trust and your confidence and I look forward to getting started. Thank you very much for being here tonight. We look forward to uh a lot of great things uh for the upcoming years. Thank you. Okay. Uh that brings us to agenda item N finance 22 items. So I'll ask you >> second >> and a second from Miss. Thank you. Um questions or discussion on N 1 through 22. >> I had a question on number 15. I'm just wondering is it normal for us to get charged delivery services for the food program? Like is that I don't know why I've never noticed that before. I'm sure it was there, but it caught me off guard. Yes, it is. Uh, it's a commodity delivery, so usually you have to have
044um right now the don is like local farms and things like that. So, the state requires that we have those type of items in our nutritional program. So before it was all used to have them say provide the same services. >> Okay. >> Um power school. So I see we're reoping that again. Will that work with square? >> Yes. In fact there's a plugin uh for parent square. So when we do the rollover in P school for parents wearing parent connect it will automatically roster from powers school and it updates every night. So if you register three days into the school year, the fourth, the next day, you will be >> seeing no further questions. >> Mr. Jens, >> yes. >> Miss, >> yes. questions. >> Thank you. >> We do not have anything in
045O policy. So I will move on to the second public comment. It's okay. We have two individuals signed up. Is anybody interested in speaking that has not signed up? Okay. Um, so you will be our third speaker. Is there anyone else that plans to speak? I just need to know for a time limit. Okay. Seeing three speakers, we will have five minute time limit. And the first speaker is Miss Don. >> Good evening. Don Road. Um, so as most of you know, I am the person that has the dog. You guys have been outstandingly wonderful to approve him. So I wanted to bring him here to you guys. This is gets approved every time. Um, and some of you guys had the pleasure of meeting him. Um, if you have not, he is here. Um,
046but I also came to let you guys know that we're currently in six schools. Two of them are in this township. And I have to tell you with my experience, um, you guys need to be proud because you are probably, I don't care what the data stat says, you are probably one of the best districts that I've had the privilege of coming to. And the reason I say that is as a school board, I know it's a very difficult job you guys have and I thank you for that. But it takes a village to raise these kids and that's what they have. You know, you guys are so supportive. The superintendent are supportive. The administration is supportive. The teachers are phenomenal. You know, when I come into the high school, when I come into the
047middle school, it is a warm, welcoming environment. The teachers have a rapport with the students that it's lifong. Um, and it's one of those things that I can thoroughly say that it actually sucks that I don't mind paying taxes. Um, but I will say be proud because I can't speak enough volumes on both schools that we're in. I'm sure the other schools are good. We just don't have any. Um, but the middle school, the teachers are so good. if you have not had the chance to witness it, like you would be shocked. And I always tell people it's similar to me with my therapy. I tell people what we do, but I think it's when they actually see it in action is when they actually go, "Wow, you've done a lot." Or, "Wow, I didn't
048know that that's what you do." So, I do implore you guys like check out some of the teachers because I think, you know, you guys hear the good stuff, but you seeing that they are phenomenal. And I have to one of those districts where I don't care what the kids say. Like they're going to I I can totally see the 12th graders crying. Like I have kids that are in ninth grade now that have actually told me like Mr. Riddle for example, he's he's he's a good teacher. He's just very hard on the kids that they don't understand. But I've seen the ninth graders go I really miss him. He was a great teacher, you know. So you're seeing this coming back, you know, for and that speaks volumes because Just like you said, as
049the superintendent, I have firmly been a pro advocate that if you don't catch these kids by third grade for reading, liking reading, or even just wanting to read, they're done. They're done. After third grade, they're done. And that's why we started the reading program and it kind of morphed into everything. But I brought them tonight, like I said, to thank you guys for all your hard work and approving those. And I look forward to it coming back on agenda in July. But this is the big guy that you guys >> hired. He has a very rapport with >> and sometimes I think the teachers >> Yeah. >> the only dog that has his own personal baseball card with sats and everything. >> Got stickers, too. Let me tell you, we got stickers, too. We got
050the circle on order. >> Yeah. No, like I said, I just wanted to come up here and thank you guys for your hard work and, you know, to give a kudos shout out to not only the middle school, but high school. I mean, those teachers that have made a difference. And coming from somebody that I've had my share growing up of bad teachers and good teachers, it means a lot. And I see the heart these teachers have and I will, you know, continue to do what we do and hopefully, you know, relationship. I don't have anything else. Uh, next person on the list is Mr. Har. >> Oh, I numbered them. >> Thank you. Hello. Good evening. So, my name is Tara McKeen. Um, I just wanted to say he left already, but in the
051district and to you, Alto Alto. Um, welcome to the district. I want to say thank you for your presentation tonight. I believe everywhere that you said and I'm glad that you're data driven. Um, I'm also the one that had emailed back in May. I'm not sure if it went to your spam folder or not, but I want to tell you that having previously participating in participated in the Bordontown strategic plan back in 2022. Um, one of the things highlighted on page 48 was the secret stories and you're talking about the data and I'm so excited that you guys saw the data because it'll it'll confirm what I'm saying. So the high school students that are at 37% proficiency, a couple years ago, they were the seventh grade students that were 37% proficiency or whatever. So
052what you're saying is correct. And and what I'm saying is I used to teach special ed. I've taught prek through 21 years of age. I taught the transition program over at Lawrence High School. Um I've also taught most of my career at kindergarten through fifth grade. And what you're saying is correct. kindergarten through third grade, you're reading, you're learning how to read. By third grade, you're reading to learn. If you don't know how to read by third grade, you do far be fall behind. Now, one thing that Horton Town has that what I can see from the the curriculum is you have the reading and writing workshop. Now, I've also taught reading and writing workshop, but I also taught the daily five with the cafe strategies, which is comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded uh expand
053vocabulary. Now, that's all great. What's missing is the phonics piece. The secret stories boarding town has units of study for the phonics with the Lucy Caulkins. I'm telling you that's not gonna that's not going to get you the fast results that you want. Okay. Um, so I really I noticed your um in in your uh what was it the your I guess it was the publication that you said every dollar that we get and every dollar that we spend is essentially a representative representation of the public trust. It's the taxpayer dollars that we're spending and that your belief is that the decisions have to be data driven and I really appreciate that. That's why I wrote this in here and that you do have to be f fiscally responsible and to be focused on the
054students. So, following the secret stories is the definition of putting children first. Um, it would be securing a massive return on investment. Um, and like I said, I'm an 18-year veteran special ed teacher. I know firsthand that the pneummonic based tools give struggling readers and early learners the fast, effortless logic checks that they need to unlock reading. It bridges the gaps that leave children behind. In fact, while I was working in the inclusion classroom in Willingboro, okay, Willingboro is a lot um they're lower proficiency than Bordontown. Okay, I had a student in first grade. I was the inclusion teacher. My general ed teacher had taught the daily five with the cafe strategies. We implemented the secret stories. It's not a program. It's a plugin. This is teachers are probably burnt out. They this it's real
055easy. This is a buffet style of the whole phonics code is on the board. Okay. So, differentiated instruction as well. So if a student needs u because they want to write a story about a mouse, they know that ou makes the al sound owl sound or a and u or a and w they have a huge crush on each other and they say a you give them the story. You're unlocking the reading code with the science with with a brain in mind. We have to do this. It's on our strategic plan. We're going into year four and I don't want to wait any longer. And as you can see the data from three years ago that the 37% proficiency they're being carried over into the high school and it's because they don't have the phonics
056piece. So um and also if you do this prek through I said fifth grade originally but sixth grade you're you have a one board tongue plan. You have common language. You're talking about response to intervention but tier one tier two tier three it doesn't matter. It's going to go what you were saying was exactly what I've been trying to say for the past three years. So, I'm so happy that you're here. I feel like you have the vision that you need. So, I just want to say thank you. And if you need any more, I would be happy to sit with you and discuss further. So, thank you for your time. >> I'm always willing to discuss. >> Did you get my email or did it go to spam? >> I'm going to assume it
057went to spam because I usually reply pretty soon. >> Okay. So, >> I brought the email so I'll give it to you. >> Please do. Your turn, sir. >> I will say if you're a student, please just state your name to attend. >> Yeah, I'm not a student. I apologize. I missed the uh board when I was coming in. >> Not a problem. >> Okay. Sure. >> So, my name is Cory Brit. I live at 8 here in town. Uh wasn't obvious by my attire. Obviously, I Scott M troop 15 here in Boontown. So I just I have a letter written from our scout trooper from the scouting community in Mortontown again kind of coming back to address the issue of the scouting regalia graduate awards at graduation. Uh so the letter just reads, "We,
058the underside members of the Bordon County scouting community, declare our exceptional disappointment in the retroactive decision to disallow the scouting honor boards of graduation, especially given the fact this uh new decision is not in line with historic school precedent, and it ostracizes a long and distinct history of scouting in Gordon. Uh whereas Scouting America and the Girl Scouts of America are together two of the oldest and largest youth organizations in America, as well as two of the only congressionally chartered organizations available for youth participation. And seeing that both organizations each have well over a century of documented history of service and community impact, especially here in Mortontown, we respectfully request the reconsideration of the decision to not allow the scouting related reports during graduation. Specifically seeing is how troop 13 has just surpassed a century
059of scouting service in Bordontown this past December and that the several local Girl Scout troops have decades of history in their own right. The decision to negate and neglect the fact that over semantics that neither organization is technically a school run activity feels incredibly misguided. These scouts have dedicated significant amounts of time, effort and focus to these activities both in scouting as well as a numerous school sponsored extracurriculars. Many of them also participated in them there is no significant difference. and they deserve to be recognized for both. Not to mention the fact that the projects of several of these scouts in particular underwent to earn their distinguish awards have directly impacted the school districts and the schools themselves. Moreover, while the scouting troops that reside in Mortontown may not be school sponsored or school run
060activities, as I said, to try and argue that they're not inherently linked with the school system would again be incorrect. There's a long history of scouting service and projects specifically benefiting the Bordon County schools especially such as the seniors Dylan ticket booth and car's worth the change fashion efforts. In addition to that, our scouting history is even showcased in the schools itself. The original charter for Cub Scout Pack 65 sits in a trophy case in the entryway school right across the street from us and it's been proudly displayed there for some 40 years since the early 1980s. The scout troops have met at done service for and are a fundamental part of the school and our community for as long as many in the community can remember. Separating that fact would simply be rewriting history
061similar to the claim previously made by the district that no scouts had ever worn these awards at graduation before in the first place. So we make these statements and recognize in good faith the ability of the district to take these facts into consideration and the possibility of resering reversing this decision not just for this year but for all the years to come and for the future scouts will be affected by it. We ask that you take pride in recognizing these scouts and students knowing that less than 2% of all Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout and similarly under 5% of eligible Girl Scouts earn their gold award which accounts for less than.3% of the American population at large and despite that fact we have seven graduating Eagle Scouts in the senior class and
062one graduating gold recipient who is the first of her kind in Mortontown in over five years and together they make up approximately 4% combined amount of senior class as you can see that is signed by several members. We have all eight families of the senior scouts who are affected by this decision as well as 12 additional uh families almost all of whom have had Eagle Scouts or other scouts who have graduated from the board. >> Thank you very much for your time. Seeing no further public comment. >> Just a couple things and I know the list I gave you is long. I did not intend to read it. >> I know. Sorry. I I know in the past few uh legislative updates that I provided, I kind of handpicked the certain ones I felt were
063relevant to our district. And as I thought about it, felt um inappropriate for me to try to decide what I feel are the best and most informative ones for the district. So what this is is to the best of my ability and I have no background in this. This is surely truly just me trying to understand uh this is every current bill um and the status of where it is that touches on education in any way. I tried to make it a little more user friendly. So, it's broken out by um you know, school funding, facilities, referendum, transportation, staffing, governance, ethics, curriculum. Um it's got a section for stuff that's recently been signed into law. Um and then some, not many, but there are a few federal education updates. Um I still have my what
064I call my board the town priority watch list. Those are the ones that I I feel are the ones that may have the the most impact to us if they pass. Um, one did pass and so I left that on there. We need to make sure that we are following the compliance with um the mercury mercury flooring and testing for vapors. I I haven't read the C specifically, but I know that we're going to be required to make sure that our floor coatings are not giving off certain levels of smell. Um, so this is just for your your fun viewing pleasure. Um, >> reading. >> Yeah, light reading just to try to, you know, get an understanding of it. And then if there are things that interest you and that you feel should be elevated
065and you would like me to add to my stay on top of it list, I'm happy to do so. I don't plan on doing this level of a list every month because it's a lot of work. But what I did want to do is give the other board members the opportunity to say, "Well, that sounds interesting. Can you add that to your updates each month?" So, please feel free to offer me feedback on any that you think would be beneficial for me to keep in our regular monthly legislative update that I provide to you guys. And the second thing, um, June 24th, NJSBA is hosting one of their free webinars. I try to bring the ones to the board that I think are important. Uh, they're having a webinar on special education. Um, it's a
066quick review and what's new. Um, so Caitlyn Fletcher from the SBA legal department, who she's been fantastic. I I really enjoy watching her. Um, she does some a lot of things for the NJSBA and she's easy to listen to. Um, she's going to be hosting this. It's going to be an overview of special ed law, um, and updates that are currently going on in this area. It's going to highlight current data regarding special education costs, um, and the legal basis for these costs. Um, so it' be good for board members who want to understand more about special ed legal proceedings. Um, it's going to outline the dispute process and recently issued directives regarding settlement agreements. Um, it also is going to address new laws that specifically have special education components. Uh, so again, it's on
067June 24th at 10:00 a.m. I highly recommend if you're a able to get free watch to register. They usually will put them up for you after the fact that you can watch. You don't get your board member academy credit if you won't watch it live. Um, and for those of us who are just determined to have a lifetime supply of credits, you know, that's not acceptable. So, try to make it if you can, but it it does let you have the opportunity to ask questions and and clarity that you don't get on the on the review. Um, but I also understand that some people are working at 10 a.m. on weekday and cannot stop to watch it live. But that's all I had. Thank you. um so you've heard board retreat mentioned a couple times
068and just and all of us understand what that is. But um just so the communities are aware what the board retreat was was on a um on a Saturday all uh nine of us volunteered from 10 of our time till about 5:00 pm of our time um to get together and check off several different boxes. So, we started with some statemandated training. The the state of New Jersey um has a whole school of requirements for board members are actually the there's a statistic out there that board members are the highest trained political officials um in the state of New Jersey. Um that is factual based on what the uh NJSBA would tell. So, um, as a volunteer position. So, one of the things we did, so the retreat was here in the, uh, in the
069library on a beautiful sunny Saturday. Uh, >> so beautiful that day. >> Took a moment to look out the window and appreciate the beautiful weather while we sat in here all day. >> We should that would have helped. But um on top of um checking off some required state training um regarding board member conduct, we also received an amazing state of the district report from Dr. Alella. Not all of the information is great to hear, but you have to know where you're starting in order to make progress. And that and that's what we certainly accomplished. Um it was it was so compelling to us sharing here tonight. Um so thank you again for that. Um we to a time of training with the assistance of with the assistance of NJSBA on how we will be
070setting our both our district goals and our board goals moving forward. Um, so just I I had received a couple questions from a few people about, well, what is a retreat? And um, I think one person actually asked, well, well, where did you go? Did you go somewhere fun like the polka dots? No, we went to the library in the high school. So, not exactly. Uh, >> why almost the same? >> Maybe next year. >> A good time was had by all. Um, we did do a lot of uh a lot of bonding while learning some really good things that are going to help us. Um the other thing that that does is that positions the board to potentially become certified. So um anybody who's been around knows that um our highest qualified single board
071member here would definitely be miss who is a uh who is definitely a so there's three levels of personal certification within NJSBA. There is entry level um then which is a certified new board member then there's a certified board member and then there's a master board member. I know she's a certified board member. And congratulations on recently becoming a master board member, which is the highest personal. >> Yes, girl. >> So, all of those credits, it's well over a hundred have done something for you. Um, but and this information is both for the public, but also for the board. Um, what I did hear back from Mr. Wright was that we are, I want to say, seven credits away from being a certified board. If we check off those seven credits between >> the whole
072board >> that's all the workshop. >> Um so if we would like to pursue being a certified board um doing three more um training sessions, not full day retreats, just three more training sessions. Um and then doing another retreat before June 30th would qualify us to be a certified board. So yes, >> before June between now and June 30th of next year. Three more >> we're good. But >> so I I know if Miss Pap and I get excited about that. If the rescue bar, we should definitely talk about it because three onehour trainings and then another retreat which I know we want to do next June, next May or June is anyway. something in person like you can come out here and do that with us. >> Yes. Yes. >> Does it require training
073from >> It does because it's their it's their credits that they that they issue to us. So that was super exciting. I I know when we said our one of our board goals is to pursue being board certified and I thought that was going to be a two to three year process. So a year that we can pull off in a year. Um just food for thought. Um, one of the things that that will also be coming out soon now that we're through a lot of our other statutory requirements, thank you for all your help doing those is the board self. If we're going to get into goal writing season um in the late summer, early fall, um the board self is a tool that's needed for that. We've all been through these months. So,
074watch your emails over the summer for me. Um, let's see. Um, I think I covered everything. I apologize if I missed something. Um, for the members of the audience, the board did exit out of an executive session to come into this public session. Um, which we still have more business to cover in executive session after this. Um, I am required to tell you that there is likely one action coming out of our executive session that that will be held public. So, um, if you would like to wait so you can witness the closing of the meeting in that one potential action, you are more than welcome to, but we don't know how long. So, any further comments, >> I wanted to say something. >> Um, I just wanted to say thank you to M. Um,
075I was also part of the strategic planning and um, once I joined the board as a mom of second grader going into third grade next year. I did identify um some gaps. Um so I'm super happy that you brought this up and Dr. is right on target with working on this. So thank you. Thank you. Uh seeing no further comment, I will ask for a motion for a five minute recess after which we will come back to go back. Heaven.