001Welcome to the Camden City School District Board of Education's October 28th, 2025 advisory board meeting. It is 5:32 p.m. The meeting is now called to order. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. The New Jersey public open 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 interest is dis 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 October 20th, 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
002said notice. Please 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. >> Board member Gabriel Kamacho, >> board member Derek Galashaw. Board member Wanda Garcia, >> board member Cameron Hudson, >> present. Board member Danielle Jackson, board member Karen Merik, board member Maria Perez, board vice president Janette Alvarez, >> present. >> Board President Namdi Nelson, >> present. >> We have a quorum. At this time, we ask that the following students please stand when you hear your name called. from Big Picture Learning Academy, Asia Moika, Jordan Campbell from Bin Medical Arts High School, William Man, Adriana Bruce from Camden High School, Sai Hicks, Hamza Thomas from Creative Arts High School, Jaden Craig from Eastside High School, Elijah Vargas and Hill Marie Santos,
003I will meet you down at the podium so that we can swear in our new student board representatives. Ready? Please rate your raise your right hand and repeat after me. Be sure to state your name. I state your name. Affirm that I will support the Constitution and laws of the United States >> and the Constitution and laws of the state of New Jersey and will to the best of my judgment, skill and ability, truthfully, faithfully, diligently and impartially perform the duties of the office of student board representative to the Camden City School District Advisory Board of Education. Congratulations [applause] >> [applause] >> At this time, I'll do your first roll call. When you hear your name, please say present or here, Asia Moika, William Man, Sai Hicks, Jaden Craig, and Elijah Vargas. Thank you so
004much. I'm sorry. Are you a um what's your name? >> Jordan Campbell. Are you an alternate or um Okay, I apologize. So um so we're all roll called in. You may have a seat. Okay. Okay, thank you. I would like to congrat student board reps. I know you the what some of the best and brightest of your class, your students uh your fellow classmates selected you to represent them. So, I'm very proud of you and I know your school, your principal, everyone and your families are very proud of you. So, if you'd like to stand up at this time to make remarks or ask a question, we'd invite you to do that if you'd like. I know I'm putting you on the spot, but I know you guys can do it if you if you
005want to. No pressure. Um, I'm Adriana Bruce from Brim. Um, I just wanted to say that, um, I'm an athlete as well as William Man, and that's why he couldn't make it today. And, um, that me and him will probably go back and forth. We probably won't even be here together. Sometimes we might not make it. And that's just what I wanted to say. [applause] Uh hello, I'm Hamza Thomas from Camden High School and unfortunately Saiia Hicks wasn't able to make it. She thought that the board meeting started at 6:00, but it started at 5:30. So yes. Would would anyone else like to make any comments? Again, thank you for serving as uh board reps this year. We appreciate you. Now we will transition to the superintendent's presentation. At this time I'm going to ask
006all board members to transition to the um audience. Thank you. these uh presentations if you didn't sign up to speak. So, the first thing I'd like to talk a little about is an alternative program. And we've been talking about a an alternative behavioral program for a very long time in our district. We had Camelot at one time and we cons constantly are trying to work with our students who were having behavioral issues. So we thought about a program no let me first say nothing is perfect and each thing that we do it will be trial and error. So we have a couple of things in the works. This is one of them. We will try to find the best fit for our students who are having difficulty fitting in the normal everyday school educational environment
007because as all of you know we have to protect all of our students. those students who come to school every day and do the right thing and those students who need a little extra help to do the right thing. But we need to find ways to ensure that all of our students are successful. We don't want to write off any students. And when we see that a student has walked the halls so much during a school year that they have zero credits, we know we have to address it. We can't just say, "Okay, let's keep moving." Then that means we failed that child. So we are going and I always say we because it's a team effort. It's not just one person. We are going to do everything because people say, "Oh, you can't save
008everyone." Well, I say we're going to try. We are certainly wrong. So, here we go with one thing. So, today I'd like to talk about an alternative education program that we want to incorporate into our already existing night school. So the purpose is to provide a structured, supportive, alternative educational environment for students who meet tier three and tier 4 in our code of conduct consistently meeting tier three and tier four. So that means that may be a student who is constantly cutting class. That may mean a student who has cursed a teacher out, hit someone, constantly fighting. And I know some of you have seen the videos and things. That's what kids do. Everything that happens, we want to video it. But we can't have staff members getting hurt. uh security. They aren't supposed to
009restrain students because when they're trying to restrain a student, the student could get hurt and then who's liable. So sometimes they have to, but they put themselves at a liability too is to address. We can't address every fight because we know those things will happen. But we know if students are constantly engaged in that behavior, what are we doing to address it? And we don't want to continuously suspend students for 10 days because that >> will die as we all >> so we want to maintain academic continu because we know how important behavioral support, mental health support is for our students. So we want to and being able to reintegrate those students back into the regular school population. So again, we're talking about students with chronic infractions who need individualized learning environments. We need supports
010that supports our district goals of equity and safety. It has to enhance engagement which will help to reduce schoolwide disruptions. So again, the students who are eligible for this program are students with continuous tier three and tier 4 infractions that will be reviewed by administration, counselors, behavior specialists, and parents. Final approment will be approval by the superintendent. And as we know, and I'm I'm going to just be really frank here in a conversation with everyone in the room. We can't force a student to go to this program. All we can do is try to rationalize with the parent about why they need to be in that program and look at the students infractions. Look at their grades. Are you really is your child really getting anything out of coming to school at every day other
011than just to be social? So we know that some people some parents won't agree but we have another plan and I'll introduce that next month but this is the first part of the plan. So the location for this particular program will be the Camden High campus night school and we have a seasoned administrator who runs night school. I don't know if Mr. Jenkins is still in the room but Mr. Jenkins runs night school. Yes, Mr. Jenkins stand up. Mr. Jenkins, can we have Mr. Jenkins stand so everybody can see Mr. Jenkins? He knows what it takes. He's run a high school for many many years. He's run a big picture learning academy which really is a school that de original premise dealing with students who can't fit into the regular school mode. So he has
012great expertise in that area. Um so what we wanted to do Monday through Thursday from 5 to 8:00 p.m. they go to night school and on Friday they work um remotely uh with egeneuity. Um the parents would have to provide uh transportation to the school because as you know at that time around 4:00 the other all the other runs are going on. So parents would have to get the student to the campus. We do would have a district bus take the student home at 8:00 p.m. Students would not be allowed on the Kim the high or east side campus during the regular school day or any other school property during the regular school day. Um they would be assigned during the evening a home instruction teacher to come over and work with them individually. We
013would use egeneuity. The program will be individual. It will be paced and monitored. We will have regular communication with our families. We would develop a personalized behavioral support plan working with Miss Nefessa Wiggins. Miss Wiggins, would you please stand up so everyone could see Miss Wiggins? And we have um Miss Henson was on some please stand up and Dr. Thompson who was on the team working with us. Believe Mr. Brian Greg who's in the back working with equity and engagement. We have a whole team of folks who are going to support these students so that they can graduate and be prayerfully successful. So we will review their progress every four weeks but they will be getting calls every day, every morning making sure that they are doing what they need to be doing in the
014morning during the day. And we do want to add a job component to this and we'll be working with Mr. Levy's department to see how we can make some of that happen for those students so that they will even though they're on eenuity during the school day. We want them to have something else. So it is not necessarily a punishment but a positive learning uh model for our students. So, we're looking at attendance, behavior, academics, and recommendations. We will have transition meetings with our families, with the principles, and continued support after students return to their schools. So, I think I talked a little bit about the staffing structure. Uh, we'll have home visits. We're going to ask Miss Wiggins to help us with um some of those mobile units who would even go out to
015the house and work with the parents and the students if the parents say yes because we can't force anything on anyone. Um, so I kind of listed the principal, the alternative program, director of alternative programs, the teachers, home instruction staff, the counselor, behavior specialist, mental health specialists, um, equity engagement team, daily attendance checks, monitor student engagement, make home visits, security would be involved. Yes. And I didn't mention our security team. They've been in our meetings. Thank you. They will be a big part of what we do. Our solution center team and our transportation team. So, I think I already talked about that. Um, success means that our students are engaged. They're able to go back to their schools after about 60 days. And we will see hope prayerfully again see growth uh what we anticipate
016to be our outcomes. reduced behavioral inter disruptions, improved academic engagement, strengthened family accountability, and higher ontime graduation graduation rates because we know when our students go to uh to summer school for four or six weeks, they're not getting what they're supposed to be getting during that time. It's just not enough time. So the board, we did meet with our board members about this program. Everyone was in full support. We appreciate our board members for their support and um we look forward to coming back to you maybe July um and letting you know how it's going. So and I just wanted the next thing just to talk a little about our behavioral mental health support plan. And Miss Wiggins would be a huge part of this and her team because I always whoever I speak to
017about discipline always say mental health is very important. Talking to our students, working with our students who are dealing with a lot every day. Um, we need to get it not in their heads, but have those conversations to find out what's the underlying reason. Number one, why you might be so angry when you come into school. Number two, why you need to walk the halls all day and why you don't think going to class is important. And then we need to talk to the parents, working with them, because sometimes we get parents, I don't know what else to do. I'm done. So, how do we support the whole the whole child? So, I can just briefly go through some of these areas. Um, restorative growth, family part, part partnership, and I've gone through some of
018that and I've talked about like the next slide. I'm just going to quickly go through here. Talk about social emotional circles, positive reinforcement. And I think with a lot of our students, if we can get them job placement during the school day, that will really help them also. Uh mentorship, try to bring some of those things in. Individual counseling. Um and we put in here mindful Mondays, talk time Tuesdays, and quarterly wellness nights for students and their families, not just um the students. individual uhized academic recovery plans, attend attendance intervention specialists, and again we go back to how do we integrate our students back into the normal school population so that they'll become positive positive role models in their schools. So there will be home visits. I mentioned that and some other supports deescalation and
019crisis intervention. Just go down some of the things that we're going to go through and I won't read all of that. If they need credit recovery, we'll deal with that through egeneuity. So that's some of what we would like to do. Okay. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So at this time I'd like to introduce Dr. Dwali. Good evening everyone. So tonight I'm going to present the NJSLA scores from the spring of 2025. Go to the next slide. So the NJSLA consists of ELA, math, and science. Grades three through high school are tested um for ELA and math. And then grades 5, 8, and 11 for the science. Next slide. These are the performance levels that are recognized by the NJSLA. So level one means they did not yet meet the expectations. Level two means they
020partially met them. three, they're approaching, four, they've met, and five, they've exceeded. So, four and five are passing scores for NJSLA. Next one. This sheet here, what you're looking at is our scores for each grade. So, you'll see the grade level going down the left hand side. Um, you'll see level one, 2024. Next to it, level one for 2025. So these are the comparison scores between 2024 and 2025 per grade level. Um so all of this uh you know goes across and on the far right side you're seeing the changes in levels 1 2 and three from 24 to 25. And as you can see for our 3r through 7th grade uh the numbers decreased in levels 1 2 and three and then they increased into the passing section for levels four and five. At
021the bottom, you're going to see our eighth and ninth graders. We saw an increase of levels one, two, and three, and a decrease coming out of levels four, and five. Go to the next one. This is that first slide was ELA. This one is mathematics. So, the same kind of setup. Grade levels going down the lefth hand side. You're going to see 24 and 25 for each level. And then you're seeing the changes um from level 1, 2, and three. Again, we saw decreases across the board at the lower levels, an increase into four and five uh into the 2025 school year. Go to the next one. This is the science. Um as you can see, fifth, 8th, and 11th are tested. Uh we did go down um for fifth and 11th uh in levels
0221, two, and three. Um we did go up slightly uh in level 1, 2, and three for 8th grade. And then you can see the corresponding uh increase or decrease for levels four and five. Well, um just as an FYI, this is the statemandated template. So my apologies if it's not like, you know, pretty and really interesting. So this is what they uh require us to do. So next up is our student counts. So you will see the grade level and you will see how many students tested in 2024 with a total at the bottom and then how many students tested in 2025 and the difference for each grade between the two testing years. So you'll see some grade levels increased, some decreased. Uh some of the things that I can point out uh we
023do know um moving forward when we get to another section of math I will talk more about that. But for ELA, these were our total counts of students that were tested between the two school years. Next, so here is the math version of this. Um, as you can see, we'll have eighth grade listed. Um, eighth grade, the students participated in either an eighth grade math class or an algebra 1 math class. So the eighth grade um has the asterk because it is not the full um picture for the entire eighth grade population because the algebra 1 students are split from the rest of the eighth graders. Um even though they're still in the same building and they're taking classes, we have to uh report this information separately. Um and as you can see, we have
024the algebra 1, the geometry, and algebra 2. Those numbers are decreasing for geometry and algebra 2 because the DOE has become um more strict on the fact that really all they want are the students taking the algebra 1 assessment as freshman or eighth graders. Um and then if they took algebra 1 and eighth grade, we should be testing them for geometry, not algebra 1 again when they get to the high school. The algebra 2 should actually be our smallest population because that should only be students that have entered into the district from either out of state or they are newcomers and they are then sitting our assessment. So if they took an algebra 1 and a geometry in another state or another country, we are required by law to give them the algebra 2 test
025because the math courses and these math tests actually go towards the federal high school math graduation requirement. And that is something we document for all of our seniors each year to make sure that they've met that federal high school math requirement. Next, here's our science students. Couple decreases and increase. Now, this uh ELA score comparison. So, you're going to see on the next slide um for ELA. Can you have the next one for me, Sheena, please? There we go. So, you're going to see the levels. So, if they scored level one in 2024, you'll see that district in the light blue. Then next to it, you're going to see the state comparison of what the overall state scores were for level one in 2024. And so on with 2025, you'll see our district and you'll
026see the 2025 state scores for these levels. So levels one and two, again, those are the students that have not quite yet met the standard and you can see the variation between each year. And pretty much this is um just a more uh detailed approach to the first couple slides that were shown in the beginning. Um you can go to the next one and these are all ELA for right now. Um and then you're going to start seeing level three and level four. So what I did was for level four when we begin to see the passing uh requirements, I highlighted them in that gold highlight. So you'll start seeing where our statistics are and our percentages are for ELA with um level four and higher. Go to the next slide please. And this will
027show you the level five. Again, these are all ELA and you can see the comparison between our district in 24 and 25 and the district the state comparison from 24 and 25. Next, these next uh group of slides are all ELA and they are um going to compare grade and school level data. So, what you're seeing here is each school going down the left and the number that is next to them is the number of tests that were scored. So, we potentially could have had more students that tested or maybe they didn't complete testing so they were unable to be scored. But you can see the student count. Uh you will see their level one scores, level two, level three, level four, five. And then you will also see uh the percentage of students for
028that school in third grade ELA that met the passing score. So that's all the gold highlighted where the students have met levels four and five. Okay. And this is third grade ELA. Next, next slide, please. This is fourth grade ELA. If it has an NA, it means they do not have that grade level at that school. Um, so they would uh it would not be applicable for them. Okay, next slide. This is grade five and again the different schools and our students or percentage that scored uh passing. Next, this is sixth grade ELA scores. Okay, the next one. Here is seventh grade. Next. Here's eighth grade. Next. My apologies. The header on this is incorrect, but it is ELA grade 9. So, my apologies that it says the math algebra 1. And again, this is
029all of our ninth grade uh scores and their schools and the number of students. uh that receive scores. Go to the next slide, please. So now we're going to do the same thing but for math for each grade. Uh so you can go to the next slide, please. So one of the things I mentioned earlier that I wanted to kind of um describe is the grade 8 data. Obviously um some took eighth grade math, others took algebra 1. So it doesn't represent the entire eighth grade performance as a whole. the algebra 1, two, and geometry. All students in grades on 11 and 12 were not included. The state does that intentionally because they are not in they do not want them sitting the test because then it skews the data. Um so that's why you'll
030see that the 11th and 12th graders even if they sat those assessments, they are not included in our data. Um and all of our percentages may not uh meet 100 because the state uh requires us to round. Um and also we've come away from you know everybody like I said before with the math we're trying to come away from the algebra 2 um from doing that test as much. So here you will see the level one and level two and we go back because we're going to compare 24 to 25 and you're also going to compare the district to state stats again. Next slide. These are our level three and four students. So here comes the gold highlight again to start showing the level four in the different grades compared to state data. Next slide
031please. And then here is level five students in these areas. These are all the math the grade level and school comparisons. So here is third grade math and again same thing you can see all their level ones 2 3 four five and then the combination of levels four and five for the overall percent uh per grade level per school passing uh NJSLA I think it skipped four but it's okay you're back one yeah there's there's fourth grade and then you go to fifth grade or sixth grade, seventh, eighth. Um, what you're seeing listed at Cooper's Point, um, anytime data has to be suppressed, that is from the state, meaning that there was less than 10 students that tested. So, to protect their privacy, they do not report that data publicly. So if they were less
032than 10 students, the data is suppressed. So you'll see that and we document that when it occurs and again the NAS are because they do not have that grade level. Next slide. Here's 8th grade algebra 1. The next one, please. Here is algebra 1 at the high schools. And you'll see each high school listed with the number of scored uh student test and our number of passing in levels four and five. Next, geometry. We have another one where the data has been suppressed, but again, it's comparing the high schools for geometry. Next, and this one, they pretty much suppressed all the data with the exception of Camden High um because they had a much larger uh number of students that sat this exam. Um this is due to the fact that many of the students
033had either missed the algebra 1 or geometry assessments. Um and some of the high mobility also uh you know make sure that we have these students take that test to meet the federal high school math requirement. Next. So now we're moving into the science information. Go to the next slide. So for science, level one, two, and then levels three and four are considered passing for science. So a little different than the ELA and math. Next. So here you will see the grades, the state and district comparisons from 24 to 25 in levels one and two. Go to the next slide. Here are levels three and four. And again, the highlighted uh information is the passing scores and percentages and go to the next slide, please. And then we do the same thing where we compare
034the grade levels and the schools. Move the next one. So, here are all the schools uh for science grade five and their scores uh percentages and levels. Next. please. >> Here is grade eight science and then you have the 11th grade science. Save the next one please. So some notable achievements um we increased participation. So, we have higher test participation rates in all content areas compared to the spring of 2024. Um, which is pretty significant in a statistic way because we actually had less students uh overall, but we had more students testing and getting actual um tests scored. Uh we've improved our proficiency levels, a decrease in the percentage of students scoring at levels one and two in ELA and math. We also had notable gains in proficiency at grades four, six, and in algebra
0351. Growth in science, we had improvement in the percentage of students reaching proficient levels three and four in grades five and eight. And some school level highlights. Several schools demonstrated um double-digit growth in ELA and math proficiency, which is really good to, you know, share because sometimes it's not always the best data that we see. Um but it's always good when the schools and the students are making progress. You know the next one please. So some intervention strategies. Um a lot of this already occurs in the district. So you know we have data days and all different kind of things that we review. So reviewing all of the data and analysis. Um the only thing that's going to be slightly tricky is that now we have switched testing platforms. So we are no longer using
036Pearson which was using a normed referenced um criteria and we have officially moved over to Cambium that will utilize a adaptive uh format. So that's criterion referenced. So we're going to have to see how this goes because we just started uh we did pilots yesterday. So we started today at the high schools officially taking the field testing. Um, so the data may look different and we may not be able to compare and contrast because it's two separate test platforms. So just give everyone a heads up on that. Um, so the academic support that we offer and uh more curriculum alignment again it may be a little more difficult. Although Cambium is going to align with New Jersey student learning standards, there's always a different process within the testing. Go to the next one, please. um
037our PLC's our staff meet, they talk about their data, um they collaborate, uh work on best practices and interventions, instructional coaching. I know we have um uh is it Dr. Davenport has been in and who was our other one? Miss Love. Yeah. So, we have some um specialists that are coming in from the universities that have been working to help with our um ELA and math data um trying to engage and motivate students. This is something that's done on a regular basis and offering any type of extended learning opportunities. So any afterchool programming, enrichment that we offer through the summer, all different things to try to um limit uh any kind of learning loss. Next one, please. So I know DTLR has been working on this for quite a while. So their strategic um hiring,
038they are recruiting um and retaining teachers and going all over. They are working with the universities. They're trying to find pipelines where we can get people directly. We have our paras that are going through programs to become certified. So, we are pulling out all the stops. Um, and we are not the only district where this is a concern. It is happening nationwide. We are officially in a teacher shortage in the United States. Um, and some will even say globally. Um, we've also been, uh, you know, we have some long-term subs, but we've been working to really fill those positions, and I feel like DTLR has done a wonderful job in trying to get us to that level and trying to limit our long-term subs. Next, um, we're targeting, uh, support for staffing stability. So, again,
039that's your paras and any any pipelines that we can work on. And then just making sure that our instructional um continuity measures are in place uh to help and make sure that the pacing guides and everything is seamless throughout the different grade levels and also um if we do have subs that we have quality work and lesson plans prepared for the students next. All right, that's it. That's all I have for you tonight. Thank you very much. Now to the great part of our meeting, our district highlights. Like to thank Mrs. Rancher Dickerson for bringing the Universal Soul Circus to our school district. I think our students had an amazing time. They came to the campus and really did their thing for our students. I missed it, but I heard it was great. Thank you
040for that great opportunity. And I'd like to just take time. I know the work that principles do. We appreciate you. We thank you for all you do every day. [applause] And at this time, I'm going to ask all of our board members and our central office staff to transition back to the stage. We also have Karen Sanino, elementary, 24 years and 10 months. take this opportunity to say thank you for your service. >> We don't have any committee reports for this month. All right, we will now turn to 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
041to comment will have three minutes. You will be notified when your 3 minutes are up and you cannot yield your time to another person. When it is your turn to speak, please state your name and address for the record and please address all of your comments to the state district superintendent or myself. 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 3 minutes, the microphone will be silenced and your comments will have concluded. We ask that you 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
042it 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 or 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 disorderly person when that person prevents or disrupts a meeting with an act that obstructs or interferes with a meeting. We may call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. And finally, we may wave any of
043the rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the board meeting. It looks like we have seven speakers tonight and up first is Miss Tiana Brown and then Carol Shores. She said to give her a second. Do I begin now or she said give her a second? Okay. Thank >> Are we good? >> As soon as it starts going. >> Okay. Good evening. My name is Tiana Brown, parent of Preston Brown Jr., who is currently a freshman at East Side High. Um, I'm here on behalf of my child and other like-minded parents of East Side that share similar concerns that I do. A few of our concerns I'll touch on tonight are just the basic needs of the football team not being met this season as well as
044limited resources at East Side. Um, prior to the school year starting, I well made sure I was well versed on the website of what the district plans to do while um, the construction is happening and kids being displaced. However, um within the temporary locker room there, as of until as of last week, there was no running water, no lights, no working toilets, no working shower, no washer dryer, no wait room access. Now, on the state website, um it was told to us that things would still be business as usual. Students would have access to this to them. Um and unfortunately, this put them at a great deficit. We've had injuries this season that could have been prevented had they been able to have access to the weight room as their peers and counterparts have. Um,
045also the coaches have put up a separate plan that they've addressed um to the district and for whatever reason, I don't know where the communication um fell short. Our kids still did not have access to a wait room. Um, also there were a few home games that had to be played at Camden High, which isn't a problem. However, these games were played at what 85 degree weather and our students were told that they did not have access to the locker rooms. They had to sit out in the sun instead of rejuvenating and getting ready for another half of the game. Um whereas the opposing team was offered the temporary locker rooms um to utilize during that time. That's also something that we just found unacceptable. Um at Eastside there is no library. Um, I worked
046with my son's uh, English teacher and we worked with a pro organization called Book Smiles to get their her classroom funded. That's just one classroom. There are other students that do not have this um, same access to diversity and books. Um, again, just unacceptable. Want to see how the district plans to address that. As well as no PTA or liaison to help support um, a PTA at Eastside. I mean, I know that I'm not the only parent that's willing to step up and kind of organize something, but I mean, it's so important if we can't advocate for our, you know, our children who's going to. So, I'm hoping that, you know, you guys can address these concerns so we can work towards this as a partnership because it's a shame that our kids were at
047a deficit this season. Thank you. And just a reminder for all of our speakers, uh, please allow Dr. Co to respond within 24 to 48 hours. So, she'll either call or send an email. So, just just to let you all know. Um, up next is Miss Shores and then Mr. Walters. >> Good evening. I'm Carol Shores. I actually am just coming to reiterate what Miss Brown said. We didn't think we would get it done in three minutes. All of the things that she has listed are of grave concern. And I myself am a ca Camden native. Camden High, class of 98. And I do know that Cam there's always been a difference between Camd High and Will's uh East Side. Um however, you know, it these things are just unacceptable. I'm not going to beat
048the horse. I think Miss Brown actually said it very eloquently and very plain. We are not here to accuse anyone, but just some things that were promised that was not fulfilled. Um, and I I really want to wheel in on the injuries that could have been prevented just from lifting. Right. So now we had some seniors who had to sit out, some seniors and even juniors where some recruits were coming to see them and they did not have the opportunity to I guess showcase what they want because the end goal is for all of our student athletes is to attend college, right? And any scholarship, any opportunity for more funding is definitely needed and welcomed. So I just wanted to reiterate that and I'm actually going to be done before my time because she hit
049all of the points. Thank you, >> Mr. Walters, and then Miss Adams, >> Kevin Waters. Uh, how long has the district been complying over the 65% threshold, which triggers the chronically underperformance statistic? That's the rate which underlies the annual school report card for state takeover. If the district is now in alignment, why is this district still under state monitoring and what needs to have that removed? So, what is the desire to have Congressman Norcross make recommendations to redesign the preschool program in Camden? He is not a supporter of traditional public education in Camden. It's clear he likes his name on stuff in Camden to act like Donald Norcross that I mean Donald Trump. But the district brain trust is well suited to continue structuring its preschool initiatives without his help. The preschool program is heads
050and tails above needing his suggestions. This board needs to have courage. courage to bypass him on his attempt to take over education in Camden. He is not king of Camden. So don't make him one or give him the idea that he can be one. If Camden continues to bend at his knee, it is complicit. This school board, however, needs to have the courage to avoid Norcross like the plague. There are other politicians to look for to look at. The college acceptance day is a wonderful event in recent years to probably you know hype and be more and you know talk about our young kids in the college and other areas to further their education. What else is the district willing to do to shine a spotlight on the after college successes our graduates achieve? A
051plethora of graduates have their doctorates, masters, and even work at colleges as chancellors. That story needs to be fostered on a larger scale. What is a fear about making sure confused parents understand that charter schools are not outpacing traditional public schools in the city of Camden? I don't know who the new superan is going to be, but the one that we have here, now that's a mega nonsense that charters try to say that they're better than us because they are simply not. They are simply not. Don't give them the leeway to think that they are. So, promote what we have and what we do good as a school district. And again, you ought to be an activist school board. Even though some of you may be um advisory, I think some of you are elected,
052but the elected portion needs to be more activist and not auxiliary in nature. So hopefully that courage will come through with this particular school board. Thank you very much, >> Miss Adams and then Miss Dickerson. >> Good evening. I'd like to reference the New Jersey kindergarten implementation guidelines from the New Jersey State Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Education, page 38. According to the American Education Research Association, small classes have the greatest impact when experienced in early grades. Given the nature and needs of kindergarten children, it is optimal that a teacher assistant work alongside the teacher in any kindergarten classroom. NJAC6A32 admin New Jersey administrative code states classes of no more than 21 children with full-time teacher and full-time teacher assistant in school districts with 40% or more at risk students as defined in
053PL 2007 C260 chapter 13 programs practices to support student achievement. Page eight states in subchapter 3 under programs and services for students in high need school districts, school districts in which 40% or more of the students are at risk as defined in PL 2007 C260 shall maintain all existing full day kindergarten programs with the teacher's aid for each classroom. Class sizes for kindergarten classrooms shall not exceed 21 students. Now, since I was here at the last board meeting when I came and spoke to ask for help in placing our kindergarten paras who many have been now reassigned as one ons back in the kindergarten classroom. I see I received a lovely letter thanking me and assuring me that things were being examined and I really appreciated that. It was a really great FUIA. The interesting
054thing happened a few days after I spoke where in my class in our school a classroom was shut down, a kindergarten classroom. This resulted in me receiving six more students again with no help. This was very interesting to me because on October 15th the that is the usual deadline where the assa report time frame takes in which takes all consideration of students coming from charter. Since then, I've received three more students again with no help. I stand today to let you know that the law and the code stand. It not only stands, but our students deserve to have their needs met and ha deserve to have kindergarten Paris in the classroom. Our prek classrooms with four-year-olds have full-time day Paris every day. and kindergarten students are four years old too and need extra support as
055well. Thank you more stickerson and then Miss Luke Good evening. Hi everybody. Rancha Dickerson Camden parent and student union. So I was here last month and we were at Camden High and I was talking about the school district being on life support and now we're going through organ failure. I got to see what's going on here. The state has sabotaged Camden City public schools detrimentally and our schools are suffering and more importantly our children are suffering. And if y'all don't hear this clear, if y'all don't hear it clear, if we don't start doing something that's out of the box, this district is going to fail completely. So send a message to everyone that we are on Oregon failure right now. Our students don't deserve that. I have a problem with flowing flow and an analytics.
056Commissioner Damer came down to Camden and promoted the idea of having an assessment done on our schools. Commissioner Damer has not come to camp to talk about the $91 billion deficit that we've had since June of 2025. We have a problem with that, y'all. That's these are questions we need to be asking right now. How could you come down and offer flow analytics to assess our schools? Does that mean we're going to have some more school closures to make the budget make make sense? What does it mean? flow analyst was here before and they shut down our schools. You got to watch the money. The commissioner had the audacity to come down here to talk about something but never address the $91 million deficit that we're in right now. Have problem with that. I also
057want to talk about QC. Thank you, brother uh Waters for bringing it up. Instruction program. We're at 65%. We got to be 80% or higher to be compliant. The issue is is that if we don't get compliant, we'll stay under state control. State control looks like state intervention. State intervention look like failing camping public schools. We have to focus on asking the right questions, writing the right letters, and pushing our school board advisory members, and also our active superintendent who's doing the best that she can as a triage nurse in the ER. The last thing I want to talk about is um the early childhood with KIP. I refuse to allow KIP or any Renaissance school to come in here and steal our students once again. And we haven't even gotten the results from a
05810 years assessment of how Renaissance schools are doing. Have we gotten that results? Has been 10 years that we had Renaissance schools. And we have not gotten a result of how good or how bad the schools are doing. Yet, we're going to have the powers that be stand in front of a stage and say we're coming for early childhood education. You know, they're going to vacuum all of our students out this district and they will be left with nothing. I'm telling y'all, this ain't right. And it's been a very hard fight, but we're not done. So, Dr. Box, I know you can't answer all these questions, but we got a real problem on our hands and we need to speak to Commissioner Damer immediately. We know we have the state down here, but it's a
059state sabotage. They have sabotage Kevin Public Schools and they're willing to sell us for 30 pieces of silver. Miss Luke and then Miss Pellet. Good evening, Karen Burelli Luke, Brim Medical Arts High School. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm concerned about student enrollment in our traditional public schools. Us that are in the magnet schools and understand the importance of enrollment and have always had a had to recruit students. Right now, every school needs to pull out all the whistles and bells and get our students to attend our schools. Our livelihoods depend on this, but more importantly, the future of our students depend on us. This new preschool initiative concerns me. Key enrollment grades are preschool and 9th grade. Again, this initiative concerns me. Last uh month I had spoken to you Dr. Co about
060um the board minutes being available so that we can see it. It's still you know it wasn't up so that we can you know address items from the board minutes. So that's usually what the you know community gets to speak on. Um on the staff, um was there staff for the alternate ed program? Has that already been in place or how was that put in place? And is there a bilingual component for that um program? Um we all need to keep lines of communication open and include everyone that can contribute. Um, let's utilize our people because again that's all we have right now and and it's us and we we have the best of the best right here. We just have to utilize what's here. Thank you. Good evening. I normally print out, so please
061bear with me as I um bring some things to the board's attention. I am a teacher at East Side High School. My name is Victoria Hat. Um, we moved into our swing space and I think we made it look too easy and now the push back has come and we're don't seem to be receiving any support. When our children leave the building to go to physical education, they have to take a nurse with them and they have Hold on, stick a pin in that one. But they have to take security. We're running currently with like eight security guards. Someone's out ill. We had a little dust up at school. Some other people are out now. Our children cannot leave the building for fizz. We need to remedy that as soon as possible. I know it's
062tough to get um substitutes for security. Since you only have five for the whole district, perhaps we need to open up that window a little bit to include more people. We also need more security because we have a lot of pits and eight really is just not cutting it. Quite frankly, neither is nine. We used to have 12. It would be nice to add more security back in. Um, our coach's salary was supposed to come from a fund that doesn't seem to be available anymore. And, uh, he needs to be paid the football coach, school-based youth services. A lot of our students have IEPs and the IEPs say they are supposed to have counseling and you remove school-based youth services and so therefore counseling is limited pretty much to the two counselors, guidance counselors that
063we have on staff who are also doing their jobs. Uh we are spread just way too thin with the cutbacks that were made. Um I'm going to have to switch screens for one second if that's all right with you. I think I'm doing okay. Give me excuse me. >> There are supposed to be a canopy when our children leave the building to go into the lunch space. There is no canopy. Haven't had really bad weather yet, but I would hate to see the day that they come through there. Um without that canopy there. Also um we were supposed to be getting another nurse, a second nurse. Could you please expedite that concern for us? We we definitely need one operation support, family operation uh operation mandate and building management. We need that kind of help
064also. I mean all these things were taken away because of the budget cuts but we have to do better. The HVAC system across the classrooms is in urgent need of repair on the third floor. An alarm system needs to be repaired. um nutrition services. Our children cannot eat in the brand new kitchen that you put outside, excuse me, cafeteria. It needs an inspection. Somebody knows an inspector. Please get them to come down and they can facilitate all of that. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right, that concludes our speakers for tonight. I'll turn it back over to you, Dr. Co. I will now turn the meeting over to President Nelson for comments from the advisory board. >> Thank you, Superintendent. At this time, are there any board members who have any comments?
065for Vice President Alvarez. >> Thank you, Board Press. Um, I would like to begin by um congratulating all the the student reps. Thank you for stepping up to the plate. Um, it speaks volumes about yourself and your leadership and for speaking um on behalf of your schools. I also would like to congratulate and thank all the principles. Thank you for all that you do day in and day out to ensure that our students and the schools are are doing well. So, thank you and have a great evening. Thank you, Vice President Alvarez, uh, board member Kamacho. >> Uh, thank you. Uh, first of all, I wanted to thank our student reps. You, you are the eyes, ears, and most importantly, the voice of your peers. You are the boots on the ground, and I look
066forward to your input. I also would like to say in reference to the alternative program, I want to take this moment to express my support for this pilot program. It represents exactly the kind of forward thinking and the out-of-the-box approach that we need to help our students who are facing challenges. Too often when young people struggle, the system gives up on them. But this affords them the opposite. It creates a pathway back, a bridge to reconnect students to learning opportunities and hope. This program shows willing to be innovated, collaborate, and to lead with compassion. It's not a punishment, but it's about progress. is about understanding that success doesn't always follow a straight line and that our role as a community is to help guide our students back on track, not close the door on them.
067I believe this pilot has the potential to change lives. It sets a model for how we can reach, support, and re-engage with every student in the Kansas City School District. I support this effort and look forward to seeing it grow and for it to succeed. >> Thank you, board member Kamacho. Any other board members? Board member Jackson. >> Good evening everyone. Um, thank you all for coming out. I appreciate everyone who had public comment. Uh, first starting with Miss Brown. Um, in case anyone has never heard me speak before, I kind of like to recap what it is that you got up here and said just so that I understand and I'm processing it correctly so I can help you get some results. Um, so Miss Brown, your child goes to East Side, correct? and
068your concerns were about the football team, um the temporary locker rooms, um no water, no lights, no showers, no washers, no dryers, um no weight room access, which is called uh caused unnecessary um conso well unnecessary, I'm sorry, injuries for our students that could have been remedyed had they had access to what was promised to them. Correct. Um, also I saw that you said that when they played at CHS 85 degree weather, they didn't have access to however the opposing team was able to use our locker rooms. Thanks so much. Um, also no library, no books. Book Smiles has sponsored just one classroom. Correct. We'll remedy that. Um, no PTA, no liaison, nothing. We'll remedy that. >> Thank you, Miss Shores. I appreciate you coming and giving your support and also reiterating so I won't
069even have to go back through that spiel again. We'll remedy those things. Um, Mr. Waters, thank you for coming and sharing. I took notes. I don't believe he's here anymore, so that's fine. Um, Miss Adams, early childhood education, you had concerns about that. the kindergarten classrooms. Um the state regulations, I see that they aren't here, but 21 kids to a class, one full-time teacher, one full-time teacher's assistant is what's supposed to be had. Um Miss Dickerson, thank you as always. Thank you. Um like you said, our district is on life of organ failure and so um kudos again to our sitting superintendent. Uh we appreciate the work that she's doing and um we champion her. So, we thank you so much for sharing that as well, Miss Luke. Um, you had concerns about student enrollment,
070the preschool initiative. You had concerns about that. Um, the board minutes not being up. You had concerns about that as well. Um, D program, you were wondering if it had already been staffed, if they're looking for additional staff or anything like that. And also, as you always say, a seat at the table. You want to be heard. Um, there are people who are capable in the district. You guys want to put your your your thoughts forward. So, thank you for that. Um, Miss Plet, I believe her name Palot. Thank you so much. Miss Palot, um, you had issues or concerns about the east side swing space. Um, there was a lot of push back and no support for things that were promised as well. Um, your PE class has to go out daily, but they
071have to take security with them. There are only eight officers. You guys used to have 12. Um, you would like that back to that number. Um the coach's salary, he needs to be paid. Absolutely. IEPs, prevalent cuts. Um no schoolbased youth services. There are only two guidance counselors. Um you guys are stretched thick at the school bus. Um there's supposed to be a kid to be from lunch schools. I said that nurses needed the Hback repair on the third floor, the kitchen needs to be inspected as well. Also, you'd like those services to be rendered that used to be rendered by the FOCC's if I gather that correctly. Um, so thank you all. I heard you. I took the notes. Um, and hopefully our superintendent, she usually takes about 24 hours to a response soon.
072Um, our student reps, although I wasn't here earlier, I'm so proud to have you guys with us. I look forward to a wonderful year and all of your feedback. Please tell us whatever it whatever it is. We are open ears. We are here for you because this is ultimately about you. So your voice matters here. It it matters everywhere, but it especially matters here. This is your district. You have equity in it. It's yours. Okay? We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. So, thank you all. Um, and that concludes my comments for this evening. Thank you, board member Jackson. Any other board members? Board member Garcia. >> Good evening everyone. Thanks everyone for coming out tonight. And again, I would like to congratulate our students, our beautiful students tonight. And also in reference
073to I want to congratulate the interimm superintendent in reference to our pilot program. I think it's a great idea and like I guess like board member Kamacho has stated it's not a punishment. It's something that moving forward we would like to see more so that our students do not fail. So we want to see all of our students graduate and become doctors presidents all kinds of u to be so they can be a success in life. Like I said students are always first. they're our first priority and I want to make sure and continue to keep up in the process and the pro and so that to keep up with the uh information to make sure that the process is taken so that they can um education and become a president of the United States
074one day. So I just like to thank the super and her staff bringing in the success for our students first. Thank you. >> Thank you board member Garcia. Any other board members? Board member Hudson. >> Uh good evening everybody. Just want to thank everybody for coming out. Um also I uh agree with my um uh my colleagues you know cong congratulating uh the student reps um this such an amazing opportunity uh and also I think uh like my focus really is you know on that state level you know we are on life support [music] um and as much as we love that you bring your concerns here because we definitely need to uh know them uh we need to go to the state you know we need to take this to the state and I
075think Ron, you had us set up an advocacy day before, right? I think we need to do something like that again. And um you know, we need answers from the state. So that's that's really what uh I had to say. Thank you. Have a good night. >> Thank you, board member. Any other board members? >> All right. A few things at this time. So I want to thank uh so echo uh my colleagues and congratulations um to our student reps. Um thank you. Uh I want to thank the superintendent and our administration and all staff members for excellent work serving our students, staff and community uh with limited resources. Um I think so far the start of the year with what we've been working with um has been as well as can be um and
076keeping the morale um up. So thank you um to our leadership. Thank you, superintendent and administration for develop developing um an alternative option for our students that are in need of extra support. We support this plan understanding it's a pilot program and we'll be here to support uh however needed. Thank you to the community for planning active role to serve our students. It was good seeing new foot lockers for our foot football team as well as the ongoing advocacy. um and just the inclusivity um that I think is very important. Shout out to East Side High alumni for working on finding different ways to support students and increasing more participation. Uh I would also like to thank Roger Dickerson uh for bringing the Universal Soul Circus. Um board members uh last week attended the New
077Jersey school boards um to participate in mandated trainings as well as choice workshops to continue educating ourselves and being able to provide the best supports. It was a 4-day training Monday through Thursday uh to so shout out to those board members for uh participating um taking off work and um just continuing to educate ourselves um to be more supports The board also um was able to attend a CA CE meeting just to be included in the process of serving our staff members. So, shout out to CA. Um see you back there, President Bam. Um continue to uh you know, collectively work together and uh support our district. Thank you. parents um again uh my board members uh fellow board members spoke about you know obviously some of the concerns um wait room and all those
078things everything was heard so we work closely with the superintendent um as well as our administration I also want to say that you know the staff respond quickly um I have several conversations um with uh principal uh well I'm sorry uh Mr. Jenkins um on different things as they arise um and he gets back um very efficiently whether that's something pertaining to the wrestling team um whether that's the um you know something at East Side High in reference to the trailers um whatever it is that that takes place um I just want to let everybody know you know these things are being discussed um and the responses um come back promptly even though we may not have answers um there's always something that's being worked on um so I just want to you know give
079thanks um to that feedback as well as stay on top of it um and these things are a priority. Uh I heard Ron say several things and I also heard um board members respond. Um so you know we are in a a tough situation. Um there have been several conversations had in reference to um our deficits, our $91 million deficit and whatever other deficits. Um I've spoken to the superintendent um conversations with um commissioner's office and representatives and and also you know just recently um had a conversation that was brief um with the commissioner um and you know I'll share you know my asks was that you know our superintendent um have the ability to to make some decisions um so that um she a she is um empowered. Um it it is a difficult
080um space to be in um when you're not able to implement much. Um so again, you know, we appreciate our continued leadership. We appreciate everybody's continued leadership and um please continue to share. Um these conversations are happening, taking place. Um and I appreciate the board members for sharing more. Again, it's not that work isn't being done, but when we know um what needs to be heard and we hear um community members voices um you know, it makes things a lot easier and uh we appreciate um the reciprocated communication. So, thank you everyone. And I turn it back over to our superintendent. I'd just like to take a moment uh every month we're going to be recognizing some of our staff members and this is our lighting the pathway to excellence award and I always talk
081about lighting the path or stay in the light be the light for our students. So I'd like to award this to Dr. Crystal Breedlove uh Mr. Carl Young, Mr. Willie Wck, Mr. Brian Hill, Mr. Raphael Shields and Miss Michelle Butler. So, we'll be doing these every month. [applause] >> I'm going to turn this back over to our board president. >> I apologize. One other thing. Um, just want to respond to uh Mr. Waters, who I think is is not here. Thank you for your continued advocacy. I just want you to know all board members have a voice and it is a voice that's used. We can continue to conversate and communicate if you have other ideas on how we can do some things differently. Um and I'm not sure about anybody else. Um but I
082know I don't have to take orders from any politician or anybody period. So thank you. Please know that I take all of the question the comments that our the public made our parents who came in today take you very seriously. I will be answering all of your questions. Some of them have already been answered just in a little waiting pattern. So, I wanted you to know that, but I will be uh getting back to you by email by tomorrow or the next day or everyone. So, at this time, we're going to continue with our agenda. We will have our assistant business administrator, Dr. Cwell, highlight the October board agenda items. Thank you, Superintendent. I present the following board agenda items to you for approval. September 23rd, 2025 meeting minutes in section 10. Finance and operation
083items in section 11. Contract items in section 12. Grant board items in section 13. Legal board item in section 14. Stipen items in section 15. Staff travel requests in section 16. State district superintendent office in section 17. Student field trip item requests in section 18, talent and labor relations report in section 19, teaching and learning report in section 20. Non-public schools report in section 21. And lastly, various individual school items listed in sections 22 to 37, please. And before I read the next part of the agenda, I will say that we I guess we'll have to go old school with the board report. I thought it would be posted. It has. It was not. So, next meeting we will have printed copies. We will have quite a few when you enter the door just in
084case we can't get it posted on time. Again, I just wanted to let everyone know. So, in accordance with the powers vested in me, >> I'm sorry, superintendent. Just uh quickly in reference to our budget, um do we still have uh a budget freeze? And if so, do we have an idea of how long that may be? >> Yes, we have a a budget freeze. uh the NJ DOE and our business administrator and other officials within the district are still reviewing the budget, looking at our staffing, looking at if there were errors made last year. So, we are in a freeze. Yes, we are. Many activities will not take place until the New Jersey Department of Education tells us you can now spend. And I appreciate everyone's patience, but we really do need patience because
085it will it is painful. It is painful to watch field trips be rejected and other activities that our students want to engage, but due to the budget constraints, we are in a freeze. >> Thank you, superintendent, for that response. In accordance with p with the powers vested in me as the acting state district superintendent according to NJSA18A 7A through35. I hereby approve the October 2025 board agenda items. If nothing more, assistant business administrator, please call for a mo motion to adjourn the meeting. >> May I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion by Mrs. Garcia. May I have a second? >> Second. Oh, excuse me. Um, second by President Nelson. All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Seeing none, meeting is adjourned.