001Good evening. Welcome to the Camden City School District Board of Education's November 25th, 2025 advisory board meeting. It is 5:39 p.m. The meeting is now called to order. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. America nation The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or act upon. In accordance with the provisions of the act, the Camden City School District Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published on January 10th, 2025 and posted on the district website at www.camdensityschools.org, published in the board's designated online media outlet newspaper, the Courier Post, and mailed to all persons, if any, who have requested said notice.
002Please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and will be broadcast on the district's YouTube channel at a future date. Roll call, please. >> Janette Alvarez, >> present. >> Gabriel Kamacho, >> present. >> Derek Galashaw, >> present. >> Wanda Garcia, >> present. Cameron Hudson, Danielle Jackson, Karen Merrick, >> Nam D. Nelson >> present. >> Maria Perez. Um meeting has started. We will now swear in our student representative from Cam High School and that is Sai Hicks. Sai Okay. Thank you. Oh, how about that? I was turning it off. Okay. Uh, I, Sai Hicks, >> I, Sai Hicks, >> affirm that I will support the Constitution >> affirm that I will support the Constitution >> and the laws of the United States >> and the Constitution >> and the laws of the state of New
003Jersey. in the laws of your >> and will to the best of my judgment >> skill and ability >> truthfully faithfully >> truthfully >> diligently and impartially >> diligently >> perform the duties >> of the office of student board representative >> of the office of student board representative >> to the Camden City School District School District >> advisory Board of Education. >> Congratulations. Welcome aboard. [applause] We'll do a roll call of the student representatives. Okay. Uh Elijah, no. Isiah Mosika. Okay. The ordinate Jordan Campbell and Elijah Vargas, Sai Hicks, >> uh Jaden We have our alternate for brown. I'm sorry. So, now we'll have our student rep uh share out. Huh? I'm sorry. Okay. Hello. Um I would like to say uh two um concerns that we have heard from our students and one of
004them was was the khaki pants stresses students out as they require frequent washing. Students who menrate are facing additional stress as they're more likely to have visible stains in khaki pants than in black. The khaki pants show dirt. Students are sharing that they are missing school because they're unable to wash their visible dirty clothes. A problem much less likely to happen with black pants. In disclosure that about the uniform it is discussed that if students can afford expensive clothes shoes I mean then they can afford uniforms. If parents can buy expensive goods for Christmas then they can afford uniform clothes. in the height of the hundreds for a school district that claims to put families first to to dictate and assume how many how money how money is spent many maybe a person saved to
005afford their hoodies or sneakers. Maybe it it was the total of love or maybe they want wanted to purchase that item. We're not in the place where we can say how people should spend their money and make if then statements about households money spent. Also assuming that every family has Christmas gift to to give continues the overall Christian doctorate that is that this district operates with that is one of the concerns that our student has said and there are more about as well. Since September 5th until now, there has been no daily reproduction of like tampons or pads even though there were installed this school year. There have been no at all any placement or anything put in. And also for the soaps in the campus bathrooms for two weeks straight, there have been no
006refills. So my question is how can we help provide alternate options for like hoodie like for black pants like any alternate and how can we provide for the bathroom as far as soap but also very importantly pads and tampons that need to be provided for female students since there have not been any refills since it has been installed. I'll answer your question, but we'll move to our next student. >> Um, >> Adriana. >> Yeah, I'm Adriana from Brim. Um, first I just want to mention some good things that are going on in our school. Today we had our annual pageant. um our 27th year we had um alumni from um past classes and it brought the school together because we've been having we've been struggling very bad with like getting our school community together and
007having all like students participating in everything. But we kind of brought it really together and it worked out well. as well as we did our um annual food gathering for Thanksgiving for NHS and we um distribute the food today and all of the goods and cans and everything was brought in from students and then the other things I would like to mention [snorts] one is about class meetings. We have our class meetings um at the last Friday of every month in the mornings but um they didn't say they didn't have any students voice in in that option. They did a um an election or like what class advisors where they wanted the meeting to be. But for the senior class and the junior class, we're not in our meetings because we have programs in the
008mornings. So we have EMT, pharmacy tech, we have our row inpatient care. So students were voicing that it should be better to have it in the afternoon after lunch or last class of the day, last 20 minutes, last 20 minutes, whatever. [snorts] Um, another thing we wanted to mention as like a student body is that for our gym classes, we don't get enough. Like we have long classes, but it still feels like we're not getting exactly our what our class time requires because other students from other classes and other schools are coming into our gym classes and then we wait 30 minutes almost 40 minutes basically our entire class time having security try to kick them out and everything. That's just like one thing that as a student body that it's a complaint and a
009lot of people have mentioned it. And then the last thing I would like to just touch on a little bit is um about the wrestling team and what's going on with wrestling and their coach. Um I just wanted to um kind of [snorts] mention coach Weismer and give like my advocate for him because I feel like it was kind of um it it was like kind of like a harsh rash decision and he's been building that team for ages. He had when I was a freshman, I do not wrestle. I do track and I threw on the other side. This year, I would not even have been able to beat have the half of the gym because they have that many students now. They started with like three when I was a freshman. Now they
010have like 26 and that was all because of Wismer. And um he's a very good coach, teacher, and and like his he's very the when he coaches, he like puts his time and energy and everything in it. even on injury, he still plays. So that's all I have to say. >> Thank you. I will respond. >> Jaden, creative arts. >> Hello, I am Jaden from Creative Arts. One thing I would like to say is that our lunch we have to walk all the way around from where the side of Brim and it gets really packed between Brim and Creative Arts trying to come out and I understand the reasoning of why we have to go around. But even with that rule in place, security guards still cannot keep other schools from coming in our lunch.
011There has been many times where other schools have been coming and playing around, running around. So, it's kind of pointless in a way that we can't come straight in through our side of the door. And once we come out, there's just a bunch of crowded people and it takes longer for us to get out of the lunchroom and teachers are complaining about being late for class because we only have 20 minutes left after we come from lunch. Also, another thing I would like to touch on is funding for other majors besides a particular major. other all of our majors are really limited. Dance has been promised shoes, jazz shoes, and yet we have yet to receive anything. Um, a lot of the other majors are not allowed. We don't really go out as much as
012band does. We don't get as much funding as much as that major does. I also feel like we should push creative writing. They do not have a teacher and they also just do essays all of the time. I feel like they should be writing plays for our school. They should be directing things instead of just writing essays which they do in class every day. Um also a lack of soap in the dispensaries. We that is a big big issue. Every time I go to wash my hands, there is no soap in the dispensaries. And also, the water is really, it's burning hot. And it also has a bit of an odor, an odor. >> And the water sometimes it comes out brown. And so most of the students go to different classes to get um
013hand sanitizer because we can't clean our hands properly in the bathrooms. Um my last thing that I would like to touch up on is uniforms. I'm not saying that we should completely bring back black uniforms, but to completely wear one color throughout the nine months we are in school, it's kind of insane. I feel like we should have even if it's not black, we should have an alternate darker uniform because who going to tell these young girls that their cycle stains are normal? Who that the boys in this school that their sweat doesn't mean they're dirty and they're stinky and that they don't wash up ever and get judged. We have such light uniform and we do so much activity in creative arts that it shows in our light uniforms. Plus, we kept white shirts
014which all of the schools had. So either way, you can't really tell us apart cuz we all still wear white. So I feel like even if it's not black, we should have some alternate darker color so that when our cycles are happening or when it is time for gym, those things don't show and we're not judged by other people. Thank you. >> Okay, I will answer Camden High School. Sai, I'm sorry. >> Hello. Greetings everyone. So, my name is Sai and I don't think I have much to say in regards to Camden High. However, I do want to say this. Last year, I spoke to you guys at a board meeting when Miss McComes was the superintendent [clears throat] and I mentioned how last year that Camden High has always had the last lunch in
015all my what four years now of attending Camden High lunch high school and I just wanted and last year they told us that they would see about possibly moving us up because we have the last lunch and that wouldn't be an issue. However, as of late, I've come to realize that not only do they cut our lunch a lot shorter than everyone else's, they cut it what, maybe an additional 5 minutes. And that doesn't even matter because the half the food is already gone. So, we get to lunch at 1:00. If you go up there 1:30, maybe 1:20, 1:20, 1:30, the food is gone. They take the food away. And okay, some could say that you should be heading straight up to lunch immediately after class. However, for some of us, we have other activities
016like me and my other board rep. We have what? We have student body president meeting. We have student body meetings. And so sometimes we go up to the lunchroom a little late and if we go up there, there's not even food. Sometimes like I lie to you not, the other day I was starving and I went up to lunch and there was no food up there. I grabbed like two apples, two apple sauces and they taste they tasted like fish, strangely enough. I couldn't tell you why, so I had to throw it away. My whole point is I think that Camden High's lunch, maybe not this year since it's already we're already into the year, but possibly next year, we should see about getting them moved up. I don't think it's fair that for the
017last four years, we've had the last lunch. Did you guys know that every Wednesday or someday during the week, we have a we have wing day? We didn't even I found that out last year during a board meeting that we had wing day and we had had it the last three years and nobody knew. I walked around school for a week asking everyone around, "Did you guys know we have a specific day where they service just wings and no one knew because we had ran out of food by the time it was time for us to eat. And I think that's absolutely bogus." Um, so outside of the lunch, which I think we should definitely look at, definitely, right? Um, I think we should also look into funding for extracurriculars and other programs in the
018school. That's all. Oh, wait. I just wanted to shout out Miss Buffalo. Okay. She's a lovely lady and I think she's doing amazing so far. And so are you, Dr. Co. So are you. So are you. And you guys are, too, obviously. Okay, I think I'm done. Okay, bye bye. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um, good afternoon. My name is Elijah Vargas and um I'm a senior at East Side High School. Uh, it's a couple of things I want to uh bring up today. I want to bring up the um the air conditioning in our school. Uh some students saying that the rooms be really really hot in there and the AC barely work and they said that last time it was really really hot in the um the classroom and uh from what
019we heard um a student almost passed out from that and that's from that. Um, and I was wondering if we could bring co-op to our school cuz you know, we have a couple of students that work. It's a it's a few of Well, I say it's a lot of us. That's a lot of us that work and you never know what people going through. So, yeah, we really need that co-op in our school. Also, um, I want to talk about the kitchen. Students are asking when will the be eating from the kitchen. Well, not eating in the kitchen, but the the um the staff that start cooking in the kitchen and the cafeteria when we start, you from there. And students asked if we could start bringing up field trips this year more cuz last
020year we really didn't had a lot to do. We barely got out. So as for that you Okay. Uh thank you students for such uh being so articulate, respectful and as always amazing. Thank you for your questions. I don't you I don't answer the public questions but I have to answer the students questions. uh right here. Um so number one, I'll move through this very quickly. Uh we were talking about the bathrooms. I will deal with facilities, talk to them about why there's no soap in the bathroom. So they installed some things for the tampons and things like that and why they aren't uh supplied. So we'll talk to I guess our uh nurse Wickers about that. The head of nursing. I know that all the school nurses receive things like that and they should
021be readily accessible for you guys. So, I'll find out about that. Also, um we uh we talked a little about khaki pants and why they aren't can't wear why you can't wear black. So, I would say you could wear black pants, but I would have to talk to your building leaders, but you still should wear your uniform colors at some in the top. So, what we were really asking from the very beginning, and you guys know, you see people on the news and everything with the all black and the people in the hallways. You guys aren't the ones in the hallways like that, but you know what I'm talking about. the ones who have on all black, then they put the sc the cap on with the all black covering up and you see their
022eyes walking around the hall like they're trying to intimidate someone. So, we don't want that. We want to be able to check people and let them know we're that's unacceptable. But no, we don't want you young ladies or or young men. If you want to wear a pair of black pants, jeans, khakis or uh black khakis even, you should be able to as long as you wear the uniform shirt on the top. Okay. Uh but I will talk to your leaders about that. I will talk to about funding and you know I'm was principal principal of creative arts. So we always struggle with that. We always struggle with the funding. We do have a new creative writing teacher. Jaden, you need to go on and introduce yourself to her. Her name is Ebony Williams, and
023she came on board, I guess, last month. And she is really amazing. I've talked to her. I saw her today when I went over to the campus. So, I want you to go in and introduce yourself to her. Okay. Um, and I think she has some amazing things that she's going to be doing with you guys. Um, now the brown water. Can we find out about that? And why the water smells? You said the water smells. Can we find out about why that's happening? Lunch. Now, we've had clear discussions about lunch and Camden High. So, there was a discussion about changing Camden High's lunchtime. Well, we said no, but we don't want you to have to to go without. If it's wing day, you should have plenty of wings when you come in there as
024a last lunch, if not more. You when it's pizza, which you all love that pizza. I know you do. You should you should have plenty of pizza. It should not run out. There is absolutely no reason because it's the last lunch that you don't get everything else the other lunches get get. That's not That's unacceptable. So I I know we have food, Miss Brown who represent, but that is unacceptable and I don't want you to come back here next month telling me that's the same condition. But if it is, I need to know. But again, that's unacceptable. I made a promise last year when we did those schedules. The last lunch gets everything else the other two lunches get. And now I'm finding out that it's the same thing. That's not good. Um, so we
025are I I commit to working on that. Uh, lunch shouldn't be cut short. I don't know why. Why the applesauce taste You said it tasted like what? I don't know. So, we need to find out about that applesauce. And then I It's funny. It's not funny, but that's not good. So, we need I'm glad you're bringing these things up. We need to know. Um, and I'm glad you're advocating for Coach Weiss. There's behind that I I can't discuss. Um, I heard you guys in there today. I wanted to come in, but I could not. Congratulations. I'm glad Brim did that. Glad you are doing some things together. air conditioning, but I asked our facilities folks to find out about that. I an email earlier, maybe a month ago, air conditioning at ESA, but I thought
026that was corrected. We do have a program, Mr. Levy is up up there with co-op. Um, we had a couple teachers trained. They went through a training session about uh co-op. So, we're going to have that for you guys. Okay. Um, did I miss anything else? Did I answer your questions? >> Oh, the kitchen. Yes, I think there are things still they still need to get inspection. So, that's what's going on with the east side. H >> the health inspection. Hopefully that it'll be soon. And I know they the canopy. So when you guys when there's not good when the you're not getting wet when you're walking from the building for lunch. Yes. Said. Okay. Hi again. This isn't I don't know if this is anything that you guys can not necessarily fix but see
027about looking into. So I'm a firm believer in like school spirit, right? And I just feel like like last year we barely had any pep rallies and this year our listen our football team has made it very far and I just want to say congratulations to the coaches and trainer Jazz and everyone else that's involved and Mr. Jenkins our new athletic director, right? But I just feel like as a school there's a lot of separation and there's a disconnect between all the schools and I think no matter how you look at it, we're all in the same building and we should all get along. I only know Adriana because of Georgia State and that should Yeah. And that shouldn't be the case. I think that maybe we should look into like finding ways to integrate
028us all together because I mean I'll see students from Brimmer BPLA and I'm looking at them like they're aliens and they're looking at me like we're aliens and we've gone to the same school for 4 years and unless you do sports or happen to be in the same program then there's you don't really interact with everyone and I think that as a school and as a district you guys should really push for that conction. connection because I think it starts it starts from home. Yes. But school definitely does definitely does help and so I think we should look into finding ways where we can all connect such as pet rallies. We love a good pep rally. >> I agree. And sometimes the coaches don't want the pep rally. So we'll we'll see what we can
029do to bring everyone together. Maybe some type of holiday dance or something. Right. Okay. I commit to helping out with that. Okay. So, I know I've said like many concerns, but I also want to talk about the quality of the food. So last year, I think I think it was either my sophomore or my junior year, I found a paper in my wings on the bottom of my wings. And when I was eating one of the sausages, it was pink inside. And my dad's a chef, so I don't eat certain foods that are not cooked properly because of what he have taught me. And also I have another thing with the pacing of things cuz sometimes there are long lines just to get a slice of one pizza, just one. And there will be at
030least someone standing there and they think everyone's waiting for the same thing, but there's food sitting there where we all are either wanting that or the pizza where I this happened. All the things I'm talking about have happened to me. And I don't think there is a need for us to be standing in a long line waiting. And also with us, we can't leave the cafeteria without with food. So it's like we have to stand there and wait. And if we want to leave, we have to get a pass, which normally I do get a have a pass. So, I get a pass from 12 plus cuz then that's where I eat majority of the time because I don't like eating in the lunchroom because of how hot it gets and how stuffy it does
031get because some kids don't wear deodorant. No offense to those kids, but that's what I'm saying. And also portion sizes. There's this there I would like to say sometimes I do make my own like lunches like loaded fries if I need to if I don't like this or anything. I got one scoop of just chili because I couldn't get anything else cuz I didn't like the other thing just that and they just gave it to me and no it wasn't enough. So, what I'm going to commit to is bringing all of you together, including our East Side family. So, our campus and East Side together with the food service staff, so that our students can really tell you what they'd like to see in their cafeteria and talk about especially the Cam High lunch. So,
032and how maybe to make it better. So, that's what we're going to commit to. Okay. >> I'm sorry. This is like my third time speaking. Can we please bring back the salad bar, please? >> So, see, okay. They want a salad bar. So, that's what we're going to do. We're going to sit down when we come back from Thanksgiving break. It'll be during that week. I commit to you to that. and we will sit down and have a conversation with food service and I will talk to your school leaders about the um pants and um again about a pep rally. See if the coach wants that. The coach may not want it again, but we could still have some type of pep rally. It could be an academic pep rally. So, uh we'll do that
033and I and I'll talk to your leaders about that. Yes, Jaden. Um, if it's can we implement seasoning packets? I understand why we don't put them in the food because some children may be allergic, but if we put them on the side like we do with everything else, the condiments and stuff like that, people know what they are and are not allergic to. So, sometimes the food is not correctly seasoned, at least for personal taste. So, and they have the seasonings cuz I asked and they were like, "Oh, yeah, you can have it, but we're not really allowed to give it often times, but I feel like it should be available to everyone at least where the condiments are." So, let me just say it is your school, right? You you it is your school
034and we want you to lead your school, take ownership of your school. It's your cafeteria. So, you're going to meet with the staff, talk about the things that you feel would make it better for you, and you will represent your schools. Okay. All right. Thank you. Are there any board members that have anything for our student reps? >> Thank you, board. I do want to welcome and congratulate um I'm sorry, not congratulate welcome uh Miss Hicks back to the board. Um I also want to congratulate I do want to congratulate all of you for being so articulate and for voicing your um concerns. Um thank you for being an advocate for your school. >> Any other board members? So thank you again for uh advocating. Um, I'll be following up with uh our superintendent who
035I'm sure will be addressing um all of the things that was shared today. So, thank you. >> And Elijah, I will talk to your school leaders about the field trips. So, at this time, I'd like to ask all board members to transition to the floor for the superintendent report. That's ready. Okay. So, the first thing I'd like to do is to present our lighting the path to excellence award. We will do this every month and this month we would like to recognize Miss Cynthia Adams Buffalo Camden High School [applause] and Miss Latin Bradley Camden High School. I mean Camden [applause] campus. Next slide. We are going to have a presentation for from our fabulous Davis school staff. At this time, our amazing Davis school staff. Woo. [applause] It's got some energy for them. They work
036hard. >> Yes, they do. >> Good evening, everyone. >> Good evening. >> Um, we um at Davis believe in representing our teachers and staff because it's them. It's not us. Um, I'm a school leader as y'all all probably know or have seen. You are kind of guest. Um, just saying, but we um believe in supporting our staff to the best of our abilities. So each year we nominate staff from our building as exemplary educators from the state of New Jersey. Um out of 120 educators in the entire state of New Jersey, three of our teachers representing um Davis are getting this award as exemplary educators. [applause] Um so Mrs. Grafon was able to come tonight, Mr. Fidala, one of our fizzed teachers, Mrs. Rafon [applause] ELA and Miss Dana Henson who is a special needs
037teacher at Davis um are receiving this award. So they get a letter from the state, they get a nice certificate from the state and they get an award. [applause] So Mrs. Graphone, we'd like to thank you for all that you do at Davis and it's the best school. Yes, I said it. Um in my personal opinion, it's just my opinion. What do I know? But it's the best place to work. >> Thank you. [applause] [applause] Watch the camera. >> Thank you. [applause] Thank you, Miss Montigue, for the amazing work that you do at Davis School. [applause] And congratulations to our staff members who won the those awards. At this time, I'm going to ask Mr. Levy to come up and talk about our CTE programs and maybe he'll mention a little bit about that co-op
038program that we are implementing. [applause] Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> Um, tonight I wanted to kind of talk to you guys about some of the programs we offer with CTE or career technical education. Um, we've been meeting with our middle school students and going over all the opportunities we have within the district. And one of the things um we noticed was there was a disconnect with the understanding of what CTE is one and the difference between all the city schools and what we offer in district. Um so um first of all career and technical education is a pathway. Students are choosing a major before they get to college. So it's not an elective. Okay? You'll see a lot of schools within the city offering say, "Hey, we have an elective. We have a
039state approved program of study." What that means is we are federally funded. We met the requirements with the curriculum, the certifications, and the standards. It's not one class, it's a pathway. So by the time the kids get out, they're getting out certified with college credits and they can walk out into a job into college, into trade school, any pathway they want. That is not the case with a lot of other programs. And what we want to try to do with this is dispel um some myths about what CTE is and where it's going forward, what we're doing in the district. So, um, so in 2019 to kind of give you overview where we were and potentially why there's some disconnect between what we offer and and what CTE is. Um, we only had one state
040approved program. Um, what that means is we lost all funding. We no longer had viable pathways. A lot of equipment was outdated. The curric there was no curriculum. Um so since then we now have 15 approved programs of study. [applause] Um no other school within the city offers a program of study and that's that's a very key thing because we are audited by the state. We have to maintain curriculum to a standard of what the industry expects. Um and our teachers have to be certified in that pathway. So if you're learning automotive, that teacher is a mechanic. If you're learning allied health, we have a medical doctor teaching it. Engineering is an engineer. Our engineering teacher graduated Camden High is an electrical engineer. So there's a difference between we're going to have an elective in
041engineering where maybe they'll have a science teacher. Nothing wrong with that. This is we're aligned to the local colleges and industry. the kids get out ready to walk into a job in advanced manufacturing our engineering. Next slide. So again, I went over this. We're NJ DOE and de facto were federally approved. Um they're multi-year program. So it's a sequential course. They go typically they take four years of courses in that pathway. Um there's a blend of academic soft skills. We all know we worked in industry. It's not just knowing what to do. uh if I'm a if I'm going to flabotist, I'm taking blood, it's good that I know the hard technical skill, but I also have to be able to work with the patient. I also have to be able to follow directions and
042speak um in a professional manner. So, we teach all that within our um pathways and also everything we do or her curriculum. Um Miss Pratty, my colleague, and I are constantly redoing the curriculum because we're meeting with local industries at the state and federal level. So many of our programs, which you'll see, we're not we did not come up with them randomly. Our pathways aren't random. They're based on the local needs and we constantly shift based on the job market. Um, so right here is an overview and this is where we we can I want families in the community to understand the difference with what we're offering. So that's a continuum of what we call work-based learning. Um, in elementary school they talk about career awareness. This is a cop. This is a firefighter. Uh,
043this is a doctor, nurse. Um, as they get a little bit older in middle school and the beginning years of high school, we talk about career exploration or exposures to what is available in the industry. Okay, we have a lot of job shadowing. We may have industry professionals come in and speak to the kids. Um, again, this is to expose them to, you know, the health field. They all know doctor, nurse, but they don't always know like a patient care tech. They don't always know a medical assistant. They don't always uh know what a pharmacy tech does and how that relates to moving up and upskilling. We have some students here that are in those programs. Um so we we those beginning steps are talk exploring that. This is where our schools differ. We have
044the career preparation and career training piece. So when you come into our programs, the beginning of the courses is really just exploratory. Then we get into hard skill sets and again they're focusing on how do I get that industry certification that's going to allow me if I choose to step out into the workforce. Now I want to be careful. I don't want to this is not just saying kids that don't want to go to college go to CTE. That's not what CTE is. It's a pathway. If you choose to go straight to work, that's fine. There's multiple exit and entry points into the job market. If you choose to go for a four-year degree, you're prepared for that, too. Um, and we'll go in and how we do both. Um, and career training is that
045end piece like our patient care techs or pharmacy techs. They're actually learn they're actually preparing for that certification. They're getting training in that certification. So, by the end of the year, they should be all certified and walking out into those professions. They'll be doing internships at Cooper Hospital. Uh our P our pharmacy tech kids are about to do that in about another month and a half. So they are actually in the pharmacy and if you go to Cooper Hospital in the pharmacy today, we have about eight students that are currently working there. So we talked about the academic rigor. Um this is not an elective. This is a vocational training program. Whether you choose to go to college, straight at career, it is it is not your average elective. Okay. Uh the technical skills you
046see in the picture there, those are kids at uh virtual hospital training for their EMT program. Um it's very hands-on. Once they get to their senior year, they're going to be going out in the field and training in a professional environment. All right. And then the certifications, you see that picture? I volunteered to let one of our students draw blood. Um, and I I still brag about it today. It was the best the the the best time I had getting my blood drawn. I barely felt it. She she was more nervous than me and I barely felt it. That talks to you about what our students can do. All right. And we're also setting up some new programs with that. I'll talk briefly. Um, one of the other things we all know the district graduation
047rate, but what many don't know is our CTE programs have a 95% graduation rate. [applause] So, and we may ask why. Well, you have a mentor for four years. If I go into engineering, I have that teacher for four years following me and teaching me that why. Why am I learning algebra? Why am I learning geometry? Why do I need physics and all that stuff? Well, you know it because this is what you're going to do in industry. So, it it it gives students that why. And this is following national trends. Nationally, there's about a 95% graduation rate for all CTE students. Um, and I want to talk more about the college credits because I I missed that. Most people remember CT as the old shop classes. that was what most of us went to
048high school and and understood what CTE was. That is not the case anymore. We do have that. But every profession or major you can think of has a CTE program attached. In fact, some of the top schools in the country when you look at they might call them magnet schools, but they're CTE programs. So, they could be in any type of pathway. And I'll talk about what we we offer. So, here is a list of what we currently offer. Uh, they are all state approved programs of study. Um, in each one of these, and I'm not going to go over the whole list, but I'll I'll pick out a few. Um, they offer college credits. So, for example, we recently got a theater program approved for, uh, college credits through Stockton University. If you do
049early college and theater together, plus some you we mapped it out for the students, you could graduate with 52 college credits at no cost to the student um by the time you graduate high school. Just know that you're considered a junior in college at 60 credits. So, we offer this now and that is the case with every pathway, every student. And I know we'll get some schools telling our kids, "Come in, you can earn an associate. Come in, you can earn that." We have teachers in district who have their students at those schools who have yet to take it because it's highly selective. Every student in our district, we focus on equity, um, can take these dual credit courses. There is no reason why every student in our district can't at least graduate with 15
050college credits. That's their first semester down. So, and this is all free. We don't pay a penny. Any money we get in is through the grant writing we do and we're able to cover all this. There's no cost to the kids. [applause] Um you can go to the next slide. This is just quickly showing that's the theater program at Eastside. We just recently got that proof of Perkins funding for next year. Um and it if you take early college and theater, you can graduate up to 52 college credits. Excellent. Also something we just got state approved. We were working for years cosmetology at both Camden High and East Side. It is now a state board approved program of study. So what that means is we are no different than Empire Beauty School. Kids can go
051here, earn their thousand hours and can graduate, sit for the state boards [applause] with this. If let's say there's a there's other programs that are offered in the city, they are not full certifications. Your hour the hours don't count towards the certification. If you went to them and didn't go to this and you wanted to be a cosmetologist or a barber, you would have to pay anywhere between$10 to $25,000 once you graduate. Again, this is free for our students. [applause] And just talking about our business entrepreneurship, we have three credits. We have now worked it out so that if you do early college and business entrepreneurship, you can graduate with roughly 40 credits. They're also last year, that's a picture of it. They we started the ABA bank teller certification. The our kids this summer,
052we had about 22 kids earn their bank teller certification. So they can go work in any financial institution as a bank teller. From there, they can move up. Um they're also working starting this year the office professional communications and certifications. Um again this is just a glimpse of some of our programs. You can go to the next and so to to go over kind of what it you know so we understand because a lot of our students when we talk to middle schools had no clue. They really had no clue. we see I've had students come to me, parents sending them other places and asking why didn't I know that. So that's a failure on my part not being out in the community more and letting you guys know of the opportunities. Um most CTE
053courses offer at least 15 credits when paired with the other dual credit opportunities. And we're creating a map that we're handing out to the families um in the next few weeks that the families can use to map out with their guidance counselors how to take advantage of this. Um, every student in the district has access to this. So, if you're asking when you're thinking about high schools, start asking, "Is my kid going to walk out with industry recognized certification?" Not just a certification. Can they walk to Cooper with this certification, get a job? Um, also ask, if you're saying, "I'm going to be able to get college credits, can I see my schedule now before they enter? Can I see where I can earn it? Is there any stipulations to this?" There's none. You get
054in a CT program, just take it. Um, and our programs, again, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. They're getting out and getting jobs. Okay, we're getting calls and we're we're expanding. The new high school will have welding, advanced manufacturing, machinist, marine biology, fire, EMT. All right. Um, we're we're we're building programs not because I decided it's a good idea or somebody because this is what industry is telling us. They're saying, "We need welders. We're paying them $60 an hour starting off after their apprenticeship." Um, they need these people. We can't get enough. We need machinists to bring them back manufacturing. You hear about AI? AI is not taking over a welding position. AI is not taking over a machinist position. AI is still not taking over a high level engineer. So, our
055pathways are constantly shifting to make sure our kids are ready for uh career or beyond. Okay, thank you guys. [applause] At this time, we'll have Miss Arthia Brown come up to discuss access to meals. Good. Good evening everyone. My name is Arthia Brown and I'm joined with members of my team here, Miss Emma Thurman and Miss Fatima Shakir. Uh Selena Cumington went to speak to one of our student board reps, so hopefully she'll join us in a little bit. So first, um I just want to tell you a little bit about Go Green. Um in Camden's sustainability journey, it reflects the district's growth, resilience, and commitment to doing what's right for our community and our environment. Our partnership with Go Green has helped us turn good intentions into meaningful action from studentled recycling programs to
056greener kitchens and cafeteria practices. And I just want to just shout them out and I really appreciate this team. They've been here with me since 2009, I believe. And so I'm really incredibly grateful to them. We're excited to continue educating students about sustainability and giving them a voice in shaping greener schools. This work is about community, pride, [music] and shared responsibility. And in every classroom, cafeteria, and office plays a part. Environmental stewardship is not only about protecting resources, but also about creating a healthier, more vibrant Camden environment. Just a little bit about school meals and I'm glad that this was an opportunity for me to speak today. We have already received a commitment from Witson's Culinary and I'd like for the Woodson's team to stand up if you don't mind. This is our Woodson's executive
057team and Keith Walker here is our regional district manager who is here every single day. It's not normal for a regional district manager to be in a school district. However, Camden um as we have been implementing additional programming and resources, we've required for our regional district manager to join us. Witson's has already made a commitment to implementing seasoning stations in our schools and they're already on our way. So, we're really looking forward to supporting our students and ensuring that we're meeting their expectations, but I'd like to extend a great big thank you to the Witson's team for their support and I appreciate all that you do. Also, we have a student roundt meeting. It happens every third Monday. So, I invite the student board reps as we've already invited them to join us to ensure
058that we're hearing from them. But not just them. They'll they're given an opportunity to meet with our student ambassadors. They're also given an opportunity to meet with our Camden Youth Advisory Council. So, our Camden Youth Advisory Council specifically supports the school nutrition program and they support us with menu development and just connecting us with our students. So, I'm happy that we have a student youth advisory council that supports school nutrition specifically, but we'd like for our school student board reps to join our Camden Youth Advisory Council and our student ambassadors in ensuring that we're meeting the expectations and the intentions of all of our students. As we move forward through the winter the school year and into the winter months, we want to remind our Camden City School District community to take full advantage of
059free and accessible meal resources available to all of our children. As you all know, our program is state and federally funded. And as you are aware, we have been hit with many, many, many challenges with school nutrition and on all levels of the Department of Agriculture. So when we have resources available to us, it's important for us to take full advantage of them. Breakfast meals are served daily from breakfast before the bell, after the bell, and we have a second chance breakfast served through 10:00 a.m. So, none of our students, none of our students should go hungry or be hungry as they start their school day. We have traditional breakfast and lunch served daily, Saturday brunch free to all students, youth 18 years of age and younger, afterchool dinner meals, and school closure meals available
060to all of our Camden High School campus students and around our city. We also offer adult meals at $5. If you're in need of just a little something extra, we have a school pantry. We have school pantries all around our district which is operationalized by Wholesome Riches through the Food Bank of South Jersey. Don't forget to join us on our monthly complimentary farmers market which we just had at the Early Childhood Development Center and we host them every third Wednesday of the month. Our Camden School nutrition team is powered and our farmers market is powered by the Camden City School District and Full Futures, which is our Mills collective of partners. So, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to the Alliance for Healthier Generation, American and New Jersey, American Water, the Campbell Company
061Foundation, Food Bank of South Jersey, Food Corps, Grow Row, the Common Market, Wellness in the Schools, and of course, Woodson's Culinary, and our New Jersey farmers. I'd like to extend a special thank you to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. We would not be able to do school closure meals. We would not be having dinner or a Saturday brunch program if it wasn't for them. And I also like to thank the Campbell Place Foundation for ensuring that we have our resources available to support our community because that's how we fund our farmers market. I look forward to seeing you all at Saturday brunch. I'm there just about every Saturday and we're there from 10:30 to 12:30. We will be at Saturday brunch this Saturday after the Thanksgiving holiday at the Camden High campus. So, please
062support us. Support our farm to school activities from garden cleanups to our hydroponics gardens which we're we're growing over at the resource center and learn more by just following us on social media at Camden Essen or stop by our table at the uh end of the hallway. I'd like to just say thank you for your love and your support and just remember that we're not just neighbors. We're the Camden community and as a Camden community, we have to stick together to support the members of our community and our community includes all of you and everyone that supports us. So, I thank you for your time. I am thank thankful for my team and Superintendent Dr. Co. And you know, I look forward to seeing our students at our student roundt so that we can learn
063more and make sure that we're meeting their expectations. Oh, and we don't have wing day. So, I'm not sure where that came up. No wing day in Camden. So, thank you. >> Tell you about wing. [applause] >> It's another program. >> I think I know what she meant. That's what I Okay. >> Yeah. Thank you. I'm going [laughter] to eat >> cuz those kids they love those wings and the pizza. >> So I think I know exactly what she meant when she was saying wing day. But I will explain it and but I I won't take the more of the meeting time up to explain. >> Okay. So now my favorite part we'll talk a little about our district highlights. So, Colon Kaepernick STEM grant at uh Cooper's Point, we're so proud of them for
064receiving that grant. [applause] Okay. And I'd like to talk a little bit about our amazing facilities team. They got together and provided turkey uh meals for Thanksgiving for I I think I don't know how many families is probably written in here and I'm just trying to talk off the top of my head. 30 families. Thank you. Thank you facilities team [applause] um for doing that amazing work and ma and really making a difference. And it was great to go up to Newark uh New Jersey last week uh to talk about vi nonviolence and um what I spoke about that day with no more empty dusk and we had students from east side and creative arts who joined us um going up there to Newark. There were so many state troopers uh other law enforcement officials.
065It was a faith-based uh many faithbased uh people represented. Um it was just amazing to sit in that basilica and see how many people were in that room talking about nonviolence and the importance of keeping our students safe. So, I was very proud to be part of that, to represent the Camden City School District and overall Camden City and have our students represent our city and our school district in such a beautiful, positive manner. Um, wish everyone could have been there with us. [applause] Okay, at this time I will ask um our board members to transition back to the stage. I would like to congratulate our retirees. Kathleen Akroyd, kindergarten teacher for 33 years and 10 months. Caroline Allen, special education teacher, 9 years and three months. Dawn Bailey, special education par profofessional, 36 years
066and 4 months. Mildred Johnson, elementary teacher, 7 years, 9.5 months. An Kavanaaugh, health teacher, 35 years, and four months. Maria Martinez Lithol, bilingual teacher, 33 years and four months, and Carla Sinclair, clerk for 31 years and 3 months. I just want to thank you for all that you do for our students and congratulate you. All right. Now, time for the public comment portion. The Camden City School District welcomes the attendance and comments from all members of the public at its meetings. This public comment period is your time to present your comments to the board and the state district superintendent. Each person who signed up tonight will have three minutes. You will be notified when your three minutes are up and you cannot yield your time to another person. When it is your turn to speak,
067please state your name and address for the record. And please address your comments to either myself or the state district superintendent. Please be courteous to your fellow community members and keep your comments within the time allotted so that everyone has the opportunity to speak. At the end of the three minutes, the microphone will be silenced and your comments will have concluded. Please conduct yourself in a respectful manner. The First Amendment is not absolute and the board can prohibit language that is inappropriate in accordance with board policy 1121. We may interrupt, warn or terminate your statement, question or inquiry when it is too lengthy. If a member of the public speaks about a staff member, interruption may be necessary to caution the speaker of the danger of slander. For anyone whose comments or actions harass, intimidate,
068or threaten the safety of any person, we will provide you with a warning or immediately end your comment time. We may request any person to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum. We may request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a of a disorderly person. when that person prevents or disrupts a meeting with an act that that obstructs or interferes with a meeting. We may call for a recess or an adjourment to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. And finally, we may wave any of the rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the board meeting. And just a reminder, uh superintendent uh co will provide responses within 24 to
06948 hours. Um, so let's see. Our first speaker is Miss Pam Clark and then Miss Karen Belli Luke. Hello. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. Good evening everyone. Pamela Clark, 1501 Little Glaster Road, Blackwood, New Jersey, but I am the president of the Cam Education Association. I just have five questions that I need answered. I don't know if the superintendent can answer them. I don't know who can answer them, but I'm just going to ask these five. I will email you, superintendent, these five questions. Um, number one, how is the budget determined for staffing across the district? Where is the 7 million from the overpayment to the from the charter school and renaissance schools currently being used? What is the district's true and current financial status? Does a reserve um contingency plan or fund um for our
070contract does it exist? And what positions are currently not current I mean what positions are not currently accounted for under the PCR? That's all the questions I have. Dr. Rockinson, I'll email you and you can pass them on to Kevin Demer, the state superintendent. Up next is Miss Luke and then Jordan Campbell. Good evening, Karen Belli Luke, Brim Medical Arts High School. So, as Adriana said, today was a long day. It was the 27th homecoming pageant that we celebrated. It was amazing. It was really nice to be in that room of energy. Um, it was the first time this year that we've been together for something like that. So, it was really nice at this time of year. Um, I will concur that there's a lack of soap. Um, I've been working with Zuma in
071all the student bathrooms. So, um, that's something that we need to work on. It's I think there's a a shortage. Um I also will agree um there is an issue with um the gymnasium and the interruption of instruction. However, administration at the campus um we sat down with all the fizzed teachers and we were laying out a plan and um Dr. Co, I know that you're working with that as well. So it's not um we're not there yet, but I'm sure that we're going to get there. We we're moving in the right direction. Um and suggestion um elementary in me but the dark pants an alternative could be navy pants rather than black pants. Just a thought. Um there's an issue if you use the conduct tab in Genesis and this is something all the
072staff throughout the campus is um highlighting that as in one building alone not to spotlight who it is there's several hundred writeups on the conduct tab with no consequences or write up like so I don't know if students are doing behaviors and not getting consequences, they're going to keep repeating those behaviors. So, if there's something that we can do to improve that, I think the staff um will be better served. Um not sure um what happened with the student lounge that we used to coin it, but um it returned to a lobby overnight and it's totally amazing. It has a nicer clean look. We as staff really like that. Um, I find it really hard to believe that East Side has not had that kitchen inspected yet. I mean, I was there for a whole
073year and saw it sitting there and I can't believe it still is not being utilized. And I know the impact that it has on the mobility of the students in eating and I I I can feel Elijah's pain when he was speaking. Um, so Damen was sitting next to me and Adriana and we heard um the students talking about the pep rallies, but there's another thing that we did a couple of years ago um with Brim. We we called it actually it started at Davis when I was at Davis grade level Olympics and everybody liked it. So, we were thinking if we can implement not just grade level but campuswide Olympics, you know, like there's obstacle course and shootouts and um different events that we do, but we can actually do it against the four
074schools that maybe we can do that. So, it's like something that they can work at. So, that's it. >> Is Jordan Campbell still here? She was Tiana Brown and after Miss Brown will be Damian. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Tiana Brown. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak again this month. I'm here because many of the concerns I raised alongside with others from East Side remain unressed and the lack of progress is now directly impacting the safety, dignity, and daily experience of our children. First, the wait room facility continues to be in an unacceptable condition. I raised these concerns last month with the expectation that action would be taken. Unfortunately, there has been no noticeable improvement. Our children deserve access to a safe, functional space for athletics. As it
075stands, the wait room does not meet the standards of a school that prioritizes health, safety, and student growth. I'm asking for a clear timeline and plan for bringing this facility up to an appropriate standard. Second, I must address the ongoing issue with the outside cafeteria trailer that Miss Palat and others tonight have brought up. The inside kitchen trailer, I've been told, is not up to code. And because of this, students must carry both their breakfast and lunch from the inside of the main building to the outside trail. No protective covering whatsoever. When it rains, they're forced to travel back and forth through the bad weather with no awning or safe passage. Our children should not have to navigate unsafe and uncomfortable conditions just to eat a meal. This is a matter of basic human dignity.
076Additionally, the school is short staffed with security guards and there is a need for at least one dean of students to help address behavioral concerns that arise daily. Having a dean of students in the high school allows a dedicated leader to manage behavioral concerns, intervene in conflicts, and support teachers and students when issues arise. This gap is felt every day, and it is contributing to preventable disruptions and stress across the building. Finally, there is an ongoing HVAC issue affecting classrooms throughout the building, creating an unhealthy learning environment for both students and staff. In addition, the malfunctioning alarm system on the third floor poses a serious safety concern that cannot wait. These repairs are not optional, but essential to maintaining a safe, functional, and legally compliant facility. I am respectfully requesting that they be prioritized without
077further delay. Members of the board, I'm not only asking you to acknowledge these concerns, but to address them with a clear plan and timeline for resolution. We cannot continue to bring up the same issues month after month with little to no progress. Our children deserve better. Our educators deserve better. And our community deserves better. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to seeing these concerns prioritized and resolved. [applause] All right, up next is Damian Irizari and then Jose Delgado. Hello, my name is Damian Rosari, alumni of Brim Medical Arts High School. Uh, first I want to say congratulations to the student board of reps as I was one for three years in a row. And they actually touched the point that I was going to talk about today is school spirit. A lot
078of students um still contact me even though I'm in college to still share their concerns. Um, and one thing is that they feel like school is more of a jail now and ver um without it actually being a school. they don't have any opportunities to uh engage with each other. They don't have any opportunities to have fun. I think what we failed to realize, especially during this time of the district going through um all of its um experiences, is that we was focused so much more on academics, academics, academics. But what truly made high school high school was the experiences that we was able to have with each other and the fun experiences outside of the academic um classroom in the academic areas. Uh there has been no pep rallies in two years in a
079row cuz it was no pep rallies my senior year either. Uh we used to have pep rallies for the turkey game. Obviously we're not having one as today. Well, tomorrow will be the last day of school. And of course Dr. Co, you brought up that it may maybe be the coach's um decision, but I think educators fail to realize that we're at the end your interest doesn't really matter. One of our models is putting students first. So that's exactly what you should be doing because this is your role. You should be putting students first. Um going into school spirit, I would say um there has been some issues with the cheerleading team um being recognized. We of course never been felt like we was recognized in the past as much. Um but it gotten better
080um throughout the years and especially now the cheerleaders of the team that I volunteer coaching with are sharing concerns that it's a possibility or maybe a guarantee that they won't be able to perform stomp and shake cheerleading in the basketball season, which I'm genuinely confused about. Um because at the end of the day, that's erasing black culture. as erasing our culture regardless of what it is. And before I received my full ride to Colombia, I received two full rides to H.B.CU's because of the work that I perform basketball season and football season from other stomp and shake collegiate cheerleading teams. So, I'm genuinely confused uh chair the things that we do on the um basketball court isn't just a go a joke. It's just not just a game. We are suess we are putting these
081students to college success at the end of the day. And as well at the end of the day there are sometimes when we reserve spaces and those spaces are occupied with other sports and it it said it basically puts to our face that oh cheerleading doesn't matter when cheerleading does matter because cheerleading has been this one sport that we excel in and people come to the games for the cheerleaders. So, thank you [applause] >> Mr. Delgado and then Rochelle Doners. >> Uh, good afternoon. I wasn't going to come to the meeting, but then I realized that today may be Dr. Co's last meeting and I wanted to publicly acknowledge um how much I appreciated um her meeting with me concerning the issues of English language learners in the school district. You're the um only person
082sitting on the stage that I know of that expressed and acted on her interest. In the city of Camden, as you know, Dr. Co, we have lots of people that care about the children, but when it comes to doing something, they're few and far between. I've come to that conclusion. Uh you were a great listener. I knew you knew that the children English language learners were not getting their just dues. But I hope the information that I gave to you enlarge your understanding deepened your understanding of how important and how horribly those children are being treated beginning at three years old all the way to high school. The school district is wholly wholly not meeting their their needs in any way, shape, manner, or form. The effective needs of all of the children in our
083school district are not being met. Forget about the academics. You get to the academics through the affect meeting effective needs of students. But in like all great tragedies, certain groups suffer the most. And that's why I talk about the English language learners. They're at the bottom of the heap. They're invisible. Many times they're ignored. People use the word support. We support them while the law says you're supposed to educate them. I also wanted to so again thank you for for listening and you're one of the few people that did that and I really appreciate that. I also want to speak to the individuals that spoke about East Side High School. As you know, a year or two ago, I came to this to these meetings saying that uh the school was not appropriate for a
084high school. The superintendent said, "Oh, it's a great school. We're going to make it go." And I kept pointing out the advisory board remained silent, at least publicly. I'm sure that they're going to say behind the scenes we were, you know, doing our thing, but publicly where it counted, they did not say a thing. even when I brought information. So if you're coming here to try to get help at East Side High School, you're barking up the wrong tree. You got to go to the state. So the fights that are occurring at East Side, the staff, the security guards that are now on light duty because of an altercation that occurred, the altercations that are happening here in this school is a symptom of a school system that is not doing well. And it's not
085necessarily anything that we are doing or not doing. It's an external and internal problem. The students are and the teachers, let's not forget the teachers are not having the resources that they need. They don't need the leadership. When you go back to Camden Hive, I know you I don't sit in your office. They don't need an administrator. They need an educator in the school. At that school, you've got to be seen in the hallways. People have to teachers have to be in the classroom not knowing when you're going to show up. That's the way to get that school back. Thank you. >> Up next is Rochelle. Is Rochelle here? >> Good evening madam pres madame uh president the advisory board. My name is Roshelle Doners and I'm the head custodian at Yorkship School. I'm here
086to advocate for our custodial staff for the simple fact because like everyone has been saying we need to put our students first and to put our students first they need to come into a clean facilities. If they don't come into a clean building as far as to learn or to be taught then that also puts an effect on them. We are well short staffed with custodials. My building has three people two people at night. If one person's out, then that's one person to clean that whole building. A male and a female. We need our subs back. Our subs was taken away from us. For what reason? I don't know. But the subs were also the cream inside the cookie. When we had the custodians, then we have the subs in the middle to help take
087away the places I mean to to clean the the spots that um needs to be cleaned. I have one section in my school that does not get cleaned on a daily basis because that person's out on medical leave and we don't know when he's coming back. If we had a sub there, the sub will be able to take care of that spot. Our subs are very important to us. They're only six. They're only here for 6 hours. So, it's not that they're putting out a whole lot, but at this point, our schools cannot be done the way they need to be done or what the expectations that the district is looking for because we're very short staff and custodial staff. And if we had our subs, everything will work together. So, I just ask that
088you guys look at that again to bring our subs back to help us keep our students first and putting our students first so that they can come into a clean building, go inside of a clean bathroom. Soaps can be put inside the bathroom because we have someone to always do it. But without our subs, there's nothing we can do. Thank you, Solo Roman. And then Tim Little. Good evening everybody. I'm Sal Roman. I'm the C CWA president for Local 1040. Um to go on what you were saying, I tell you the truth, the reason why those kids are fighting and getting away with it cuz we got nobody up top to hold them responsible for what they do. They destroy the building. We take the blame. We can't fix it because we don't have no
089money to fix it. Now, going off what Rochelle said, she's right. Cooper's Point has one person in the morning. one person, that's it. She's trying to clean the outside, do lunches, move water, all of that. She can't do it on her own. From time to time, we have to stop just to go to help her. She's stressed. She calls me almost every night talking about it, and it's unfair to her. If we had subs, they will be there. You have a vet school, another school where the head custodian, she's there by herself. She's got to clean the third floor, the second floor, the first floor. Now, mind you, each floor eats breakfast, lunch in their classrooms. She also has the outside annex. She don't get no help until her afternoon guy pops in. So, she
090can't do her outside. She can't do what she's supposed to do because she has to clean the building of all the trash. And by the time she gets all done all the trash, now you got lunchtime coming up. We got too many buildings that don't have people. You have cattle school that's missing two people. You have all types of school. You got dully. Deliy's missing a person and they're trying to clean and they're getting screamed at because they're not doing the job. And I got to say this, I don't give Mr. P a lot of credit. But I know he's trying his hardest to get us this money. So this is not his fault. This is the district's fault. mismanaging money, doing whatever y'all doing with it, but you're not helping us. If children come
091first, cleanliness comes first. We are supposed to have a level two cleaning status that we don't have cuz we don't have the people. We supposed to have had our positions backfilled. That was the promise of the last administration. None of the people were backfilled. We have custodians last year that retired, no positions were filled. So when it comes to the cleanliness, that's not our fault. That's not facilities fault that the cleanliness is not being cleaned in the buildings. That's the district's fault for not supplying us the people we need to clean. Thank you very much for listening. I appreciate it. Good evening, board. Uh, I'm Timothy Little. I reside 1151 Magnolia A. Uh, I'm a parent to two students that go to HB Wilson. Uh, I'm here today to ask the board, um, if you
092want more parent involvement in the district and you want parent volunteers to do this, do that with the pack team, but then you have a principal and a vice principal at the school that's stopping you from that. I'm going to give you an example. I coached last year, the girls basketball team. First year in school history they ever went to the uh playoffs, second round playoffs to be exact. Now this year, I'm getting told that I can't coach. Oh, the board isn't allowing uh parent volunteers. This is from the principal. She's calling me on a Saturday night, 7:00 last Saturday to tell me this. I go into the school, I feel like I'm getting harassed every time I walk into the school. Oh, Mr. Little, what are you doing here? I have kids that go
093here. Dr. Breov, the vice principal, she came out last last Tuesday. My son was going on a trip. Oh, I hope you're not here to talk to the basketball team. I'm walking my son down the hall to a walk-in trip. That's concerning to me. And as much as I've done for that school being the president the last four years of the pack team to be told, "Oh, I'm running it now. You're not the president with no vote." Last time I checked, the last president that got kicked out of office, it was by votes, right or wrong. So now I'm being told I can't do this. There's no breakfast with Santa. I dressed up as Santa last year. Took time out of my busy schedule. Gave back to the kids along with my pack committee. Gave
094back money out of my own pocket. I had donations. Money out of my own pocket. Now this year there's none of that. There's there's nothing for the kids. Everything is being used for the staff. Uh Miss Jess, she started bodega. Now that has to be used for the staff. When is it going to be the kids are a priority? That's my question. When are the kids going to be a priority? Yeah, we can talk about academics. Y'all don't know how many lives I didn't saved by coaching last year. I did a summer program with the basketball team, the boys basketball team. They're coming up to me every time they see me in the building. Coach, you're not coaching this year. I don't think I want to play. That's that's hurting. I care about the kids.
095I will be Listen, I run three successful companies. I take time out of my busy schedule to go up there. I implemented a recess program with the boys going out there playing football had a couple of fathers come that got stopped. Why? Why? And there's no every time I ask why is no valid reason as to why. So now I'm coming here to ask if you want parent volunteers to be in the district and volunteer at their school and you have a parent like me that's active in my child's life. I don't miss a meeting. I don't miss nothing. Now I'm being told I can't do this or I can't do that. Thank you. [applause] All right, that concludes our public comment portion and I'll turn it back over to Dr. Co. I feel like
096I need to answer one question because the those parents came parents came last month from East Side. We did order the equipment for the wait room. It just takes time. It doesn't come overnight because we have to go through a purchase order process, but it was ordered. I believe facilities is supposed to be in the room fixing that room up getting it ready for the students. I don't know maybe you need to go if you can go by there see for yourself it's not ready at all. Okay. So that's what I was told. Okay. So our facilities director is in the room. He hears what you're saying. But we did order the equipment and the school administration does know that we did order the equipment. A as soon as we had that meeting, you were
097here. We got on it and I will respond to the other questions in an email, but Damian, um, I know you're going back to school, so but I will respond. Okay. I'll say one more thing and then turn it over to our board president. Please remember there was a 90 we were told last year there was a $91 million deficit. When you talk about backfilling positions, you talk about positions that were cut, those positions no longer exist. There was there's less money in our budget. We lost over I think 2,000 students to the Renaissance schools and charter schools this year. So that's less money for the district, less money for subs, less money for absolutely everything. And no, we don't want our our custodial staff to suffer. We don't want our students to suffer. We
098don't want soap uh dispensers not filled. None of that. Or people overworked. But we have to understand what what happened last year. There are people who who lost their job. There are people sitting on unemployment right now looking at Thanksgiving barely making it because they don't have a job and they don't have health benefits. So, I'm not, you know, reprimanding anybody in this room, but I need everyone to remember what transpired last year and what transpired last year has a direct result on what's going on this year. When we talk about culture and climate, people in the schools, they were all cut. FOCC's, they were all cut. They're not here. And our kids are suffering. mental health professionals in the school, they're not here. And how did that happen? So, we need to and I
099want you to bring out your concerns and we want people to we I want to be always transparent, but I need people to remember what happened. That's why we're here today. At this time, I'd like to turn it over to our board president, Nelson. >> Thank you, Superintendent. At this time, are there any board members that have any comments? If there aren't any board members, I have a few things. Um, so some board member concerns. Um, just to echo uh what our superintendent um has said and and this has been mentioned. Um, the job losses is a concern for the board members. I've had the opportunity to speak to our superintendent um as well as the assistant commissioner about our budget um where we stand um again still awaiting responses as uh things are being
100looked into that's beyond our superintendent's control. Um things that our superintendent um would like to move forward with but is not able to. Those are questions and conversations that we have um that has been had with the assistant uh commissioner who in turn communicates with the commissioner. Um we have ongoing conversations about staffing issues. Um sat in a meeting about all the staffing concerns um where we're short um what we're doing about it and um you know I want to say our superintendent is working um hard to uh try to figure those things out. Um the board appreciates all the staff for all the hard work. Um it is challenging and is very difficult um to sit here and just listen. Um we are waiting to find out what our actual deficit is. Um because
101on top of the $91 million deficit um if that number is accurate, we don't know. Um but there has also been u more of a deficit that was identified which is why there's a budget freeze at this present time. Um, so again, uh, as the board, um, when it appears that the board isn't outspoken or is quiet, um, we will do a better job making sure the conversations that we have with the superintendent, with the staff is also shared during our school board meeting. Um, because we don't ever want anybody to feel like their voice isn't being heard. Um, this isn't a board that just sits up here um and does nothing. Um, so I do apologize um if there's a lot of things that aren't seen. Um, but we will do a better job
102at being transparent and making sure that these conversations are had um in the public. Uh, again, we appreciate all our student reps. um you know, we'll follow up um with superintendent who I know will address um some of these things as well. Um there's also some concerns and complaints that was expressed um and some information um may be misinformation. Um so I know that our superintendent um will follow up with that through her emails um and again we can touch bases. Um again, we don't want you to feel like anything is uh unheard or not important. Um because our students are very important. Um from the weight room um to the cheerleading squad um to everything that has been mentioned. Um so again uh myself, the other board members um will follow up. Again, thank
103you um for your time. Thank you for coming out and um expressing yourself. And also parents, we do want parents to be involved. I know our superintendent will be following up. Don't want to speak about any specific situations without knowing the details, but we want as many people as possible to be involved. So, thank you. And I'll turn it back over to our superintendent. >> At this time, we will have our board secretary highlight the November board agenda items. On the board agenda for this evening is um approval for a number of items including the financial reports for the month of October, uh a list of bills to be paid in November, the minutes of the October board meeting, HIB recommendation, various contracts, grant actions, student field trips, and personnel actions including employ appointments, separations,
104leave, stipens, and other compensation. And let's see. So at um let me see. I would ask the superintendent for ordance. >> Thank you. >> In accordance with the powers vested in me as the acting state district superintendent according to NJS NJSA 18A 7A through35. I hereby approve the November 2025 board agenda items. If nothing more, board secretary, please call a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion >> and a second. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I I >> Oops. Any opposed? No.