ADVISORY BOARD MEETING - SEPTEMBER 2025

001Good evening. Welcome to the Camden City School District Board of Education's September 23rd, 2025 advisory board meeting. It is 5:31 p.m. The meeting is now called to order. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 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.camitychools.org, published in the board's designated online media outlet newspaper, the Courier Post, and mailed to all persons if any who have qu requested said notice. Please

002be advised that this meeting is being recorded and will be broadcast on the district's YouTube channel at a future date. Roll call, please. >> Galaw, >> present. present. >> Thank Thank you. At this time, I'd like to ask all board members to please transition to the floor for the superintendence report. Good afternoon everyone. Happy Hispanic Heritage Month and welcome to our September board meeting. We are excited to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month which began which began September 15th and ends on October 15th. This is a time to honor and recognize the rich culture, contributions, and achievements of our Hispanic staff, students, and families. I look f forward to sharing with you all the things that have happened in the school district since our last meeting and to bring you highlights as we prepare

003to welcome our students as we welcome our students back to the 2026 school year. So this should be our agenda up there. I can't quite see it, but as with all board members tonight, as with all board meetings, tonight we are going to focus on some key topics to highlight during the September meeting. And you can see the outline of the topics. Our first presenter tonight, our director of guidance, testing, and scheduling, Dr. Dali. going to ask her to come up and present the New Jersey GPA results for spring 2024. I'm here to present the NJGPA results from the spring 2025 administration. Uh, next slide, please. Um, statute requires that the state graduation proficiency assessment be administered to all 11th grade students and any 12th grade students that have not previously tested. The NJGPA is

004designed to measure the extent to which students are graduation ready in ELA and mathematics. Graduation readiness is reported separately for each content component. The ELA component is aligned with grade 10 standards. The math component is aligned to algebra 1 and geometry um algebra 1 and geometry standards. Next slide. Students who take but do not meet the required score of a 725 on each component of the assessment will have the opportunity to receive additional support and may take the following steps. They may retake the ELA and/or math components of the NJGPA in the following summer or fall. Meet a designated cut score from the menu of substitute comp uh competency test or pathways. There's an asterisk there because currently the state board is going to a vote in October to approve the second pathways. Second pathways

005have included PSAT, SAT, um a variety of different tests uh to take in lie of NJGPA. Uh currently there is no second pathway until this body meets and they make a determination. So we are actively waiting uh to see what the outcome of that is and then they also for a third pathway uh may complete a portfolio appeal. Next slide. So what you're seeing here are our um number of students tested. So for ELA grade 11 in the spring, we tested 380 students for ELA and 382 for mathematics. We had some 12th grade students that took the assessment in the spring. The majority of these students were either from out of state, they had moved in from other countries, and they needed to sit the NJGPA to be eligible for one of the other pathways

006to graduate. So we had 20 12th graders take the ELA and 21 take math. Our participation rates so valid scores and eligible scores. Um so out of 380 out of 385 we had 98% of the students take. For math we had 382 out of 384 or 99.5%. And for 12th grade 20 out of 20 and 21 out of 21. So there's usually a little bit more uh pressure when it's senior year and you're trying to graduate. So they usually show up and do well. Next slide. Okay. This slide compares the percentage of district graduation ready students by the way of NJ GPA with the state average. Additionally, this slide includes the percentages of students graduation ready in 2024. In 2025, 4450% of our students tested students met the required score of a 725 in ELA.

007Um, and 10.67% met the minimum scale score in mathematics. The district had an increase of 10.20% in ELA um from 24 to 25. And we also as a district had an increase in 2.37 in math from 24 to 25. Next slide. This slide is showing the ELA component information for each high school in the district. Um you'll see the number of valid scores. That's the number of students that took the assessment for each of our high schools. Um then you will see how well those students performed on average minus uh measured by the scaled score and then the school's average scores are then compared to the district's overall average score. So you can see each school is performing above below or about the same as the district average. So those are the ELA. Next slide.

008Same situation but this is the math slide. So you can see each of the high schools, the valid number of scores, the scaled score, and then the district uh scaled scores. Next slide. So we're going to talk uh briefly about the ELA subgroup information. Next slide, please. So subgroups. Um this chart is broken down by ethnicity of our students that took the NJGPA in spring of 2025. Um, that top line that's grayed out, that is the state information. So, I include that on this first so everyone can see how many students are actually taking this assessment throughout the state, how many um what the average scaled score is, and who's graduation ready and who is not. For a district, we had 400 valid scores in ELA. Um, we had an average scale score of 714.

009We have 222 students that were considered not graduation ready, but 178 that were considered graduation ready. Below you will see the breakdown of ethnicities that represent the students that took the assessment in the spring. Next slide, please. This next ELA subgroup is uh inclusive of socioeconomic status, students with learning differences, and multilingual learners. Um again, you will see the district total numbers across the top. The next grouping is economically disadvantaged. Um in the district, uh of the 400 students that tested in ELA, 303 are considered economically disadvantaged. um students with disabilities or 504. There were 42 students that were tested and we had 89 multilingual learners take the ELA um assessment in the spring for NJGPA. Next slide, please. And this final chart for the subgroups for ELA is our gender breakdown. Again, in ELA,

010we had 400 valid test scores. We had 189 females, 211 males. Um the majority of our females uh obviously did very well and 107 of that 189 are considered graduation ready in ELA. Our male students um of the 21171 um were considered graduation ready. Next slide. So this next group of information is the mathematics subgroup. Next slide please. This is breaking down just like we did for the ELA section except for this is for math. So you will see our ethnicity breakdowns in addition to the um state counts. And as you'll see we had in math um 403 valid scores. Um, in many cases, sometimes if students um are taking the assessment or some of our multilingual learners are allowed a one-year pass on the ELA portion if they are newcomers um and it's their

011first time in the US taking assessment. So, sometimes our math uh counts tend to be a little higher. Um, and you can see all the breakdown from that based off ethnicity. Next slide, please. And again, this is the math for socioeconomic status, learning differences, and multilingual learners. Um, for math, um, our numbers are not obviously as high as our ELA have been doing. Um, our economically, um, disadvantaged student count is 304. Our students with disabilities learning differences or 504s was 43. And our multilingual learners, there were 90 that tested. And then you can see down the graduation ready column uh the corresponding numbers from those totals that were considered ready for graduation. Next slide please. This is the gender grouping for math. Um out of the 403 students 191 were female, 212 were male, 21

012of the females were graduation ready and 22 of the males were graduation ready in math. Next slide, please. Um, so some notable achievements. Uh, we increased our graduation ready rates by more than 10% in ELA and more than 2% in math between 24 and 25. We increased the district-wide ELA average scaled scores by six points compared to the spring of 2024. We also increased the district-wide math average scaled scores by three points compared to the spring of 2024. Um the district had an overall port uh overall performance growth when compared to the year prior. Um and some of the information uh could be slightly skewed because last uh the 24 year we had almost double the number of students that sat the assessment in the spring of 2024. and that was only because um they

013were unable to sit the assessment in the summer of 24 and the fall of 24. So those numbers look much higher. However, we were trying to capture two different grade spans for assessment uh so they could have the uh their graduation ready or potentially other pathways. Um, as we do this and keep moving on, we all know that the new assessment is coming. The NJ GPA adaptive will begin in this spring of 26. So, we'll have to look at how the scores are compared and contrast it um in the future because it's two completely different assessments. They're same name, but one will go off of how a student answers like our old MAP testing did compared to the traditional NJGPA. Next slide. And that is all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Dali. And

014we look forward to a a vast increase in our literacy and math scores next year. Well, this year. Well, next year. The spring. Um due to our math and literacy push, we're going we are really really doubling down. We have some consultants working with our district. So I'm excited uh about our students achievement that they what they will achieve uh in the spring. So I'm very very excited about that. So I want everyone in this room to get excited too when this report comes up here. ne when Dr. Dali comes up here next year with her report. So at this time I'm going to ask Mrs. Rancha Dickerson and Mr. Stan White from We Can Do This with a little help from our friends to do a presentation on the Camden High athletic field. Testing,

015testing, one, two, three. Want to talk first? >> Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> Hello everyone. And normally we address the board and say good evening and all but sitting here with the community. This is a presentation of Cam High athletic field. This presentation I want everybody to know is 10 years old. Then we updating it so you don't think the field looks like it looked 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I wouldn't send my worst enemy to that field. I won't say too much. I'll leave my comments later, but I think we need to look at the film first. So, we're going to show a film that was um done by the committee, the ad hoc committee for we can do this with a little help from our friends. Just raise your hand if you're

016part of that committee inside the room. I know some folks have come out tonight and we thank them cuz these were the people who were the trailblazers that started the donation process of us getting the field to where it is now. So, if you've never been down to the Camden High School athletic complex, you should go take a visit. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful complex. Beautiful purple and gold um terrain on the ground. Uh it's state of the art down there, but we are missing some things. We'll get into how we what happened and how we were able to raise those funds first and then where we're going now. >> Hey, listen, man. So many people tried to do everything to divide y'all. >> So many people try to do everything to stop y'all from

017being the champion. So many people, okay, from adults in the school, from people in the community, okay, but guess what? You never wavered, man. You never wavered. Some of you guys went back and got your brothers that was ineligible and they became eligible. This team right here was united for a reason, and it was for only one reason, and that's to be conference championship. When we walk off this field tomorrow, we going to be a champion. Y'all understand that? We will be a champion. Y'all understand that? >> Let's bring it up on three, baby. >> One team, one family. One team. >> One team, one family. This how we started. This how we going to end. See it like you mean it. 1 2 3. >> Every year before the turkey game, the Camden High

018School football players have a ceremony at their field. >> My little brother. It's a tradition that goes back many years in which the graduating seniors pass the torch of responsibility on to their fellow underassmen. >> Everything I know, bro. >> For the seniors, it's their final home game before going off to college and the last chance to spend precious time with teammates they've played with for the past four years. For the rest, it's a time to receive the responsibility of upholding the values and traditions of a football program that stems back to the 1960s when the team was known then as the Purple Avalanche. >> I love you. Stay focused. Stay positive. All right. >> As meaningful as the ceremony has been, the only challenge is it's conducted in the dark. [Music] Over the years,

019the Camden High School football field has deteriorated. The weather and lack of funding has taken its toll on the facilities that represents a school that sits in the heart of Camden. The lights are only one aspect that needs to be addressed. The bleachers, bathroom, and concession stands along with the degradation of the field have made the entire facilities a sore eye amongst the city and sports community. As a result, Camden High School alumnist Dan White brought together an ad hoc committee led by Joyce Miller and was charged with the task to get funding to rebuild the school's athletic field. My name is Joyce Miller and I'm the chairperson of the we can do this with a little help from our friends ad hoc committee for the board of education of Camden City, New Jersey. We

020formed this organization to assist the board of education with the reconstruction of the Canon High School athletic field. I don't know if you know, but Kenan High's athletic field is in disarray. There's no way the students of Camden High School can function properly in those conditions. We formed this committee to help the board of education change the condition of that building. The bathrooms are unusable. The locker rooms are not functioning. The students feel that the the the building is the worst place they've ever been. They can't even have invited guests that they play against to come into the building. That when people come to the school, they have to change on the bus. And that's disgraceful. That's something that should never happen at any school in the United States of America. >> For 3 months,

021the committee met and created subcommittees for addressing various items such as the deed of the land, the financial structure, and getting grant applications completed to name a few. The committee also listened to presentations on the type of field they could have installed >> uh for a situation such as yours for your football field. We would go through a design process with your coaches and your in your school and uh come up with a you know a wish list. What would they like to see on the field? Football um high school football as well as youth football with school logo endzone lettering etc. And then we would custom manufacture that product specifically for the school. The committee was also presented with fundraising ideas. >> Cookie dough card. The cookie dough is they're $15. There's 48 pieces

022in the cookie dough. Just tell the product first. There's 48 pieces in the in the cookie dough. Um $15. The teams get approximately 50% of those. Okay. Most everything is approximately 50%. >> At one of the recent meetings, an architect brought in a proposed rendering of the building. >> So the architect talked about it. I basically say well this area can be used as a study area as a gym area as a weight area and so forth. Now the other thing here this was the existing building on the next page the A one somebody want to see what the existing building was like. This is the uh the drawing of it to the dimensions. This is actually as it exists now. The committee is an amazing group of people that are either from Camden or

023connected in some way to the dream of getting the Panthers the best possible facilities. The committee has had to work through their issues, but they've done so with the spirit of getting the most for their students. >> And I see where you have adopted the slogan and certainly will give a shout out to President Obama because it also is reflective of we can do this and yes, we can. So, it's all a mindset. It's all in projecting what we want to do and where we're heading as a city and it's also about working together and collaboration. >> These young people are exceptional and they deserve the best and I want to do something. I wanted to um either sports medicine or I was going to be a psychology and come back and work in in

024the city and in the school. >> While they do play sports on the field, it's the timehonored traditions that help to mold their characters. >> My name is Chavevel Johnson. I'm a senior here at Kend High School. play been playing four years. Basically ceremony we just did is the last senior walk is basically the passing of the torch cuz like what wherever encouragement you had to give the underassman in the upcoming seniors you just let them know there is a certain mystique by having these ceremonies in the dark. But just imagine how much more effective they can be when fellow athletes can actually see the smiles and tears of joy on each other's faces as some head off to college and eventually become alumni. And as others continue the legacy established in the school and

025on the field. [Music] I got you. I got you. All right. So, let's give a hand to that ad hoc committee for the work that they did to bring um the information to the community. We won't be before you long. So, here are some slides where we are currently. things that have happened to the field. One is the field itself is totally restored. It has a beautiful turf. Purple and gold is there. Uh it looks beautiful. It's something our athletes can't be proud of to have people come as visiting teams to be a part of the Canada High School field. On top of that, we were able to uh with support with the district to be able to get the bleachers done. So, we have new bleachers on both sides and this comfortable seating where

026the community can come and enjoy the athletic games. Um, we were able to also get a ticket booth put up and I want to shout out the grounds and the um the grounds department u Mr. Beth and his whole team there cuz they were really critical and making sure these things were happening. I want to give them their flowers. Um, and then we were also able to get a U speakers booth or announcement booth done and get it, you know, heated cuz for years it was very cold in there, but we got some heat in there. And now we have a state of the art, you know, announcers booth as well as you should see in every school. Um, but here's the thing that we're asking for right now. We had to tear down the

027fieldhouse. The fieldhouse was the oldest thing that was left on in the in the complex and the fieldhouse was deplorable. you saw the pictures that were that was there about how nasty the toilets and the the facilities were. So, it was important that we got those torn down so that we can be able to show our students that we wouldn't try to put you in a situation where you have to look at poverty all the time. What was happening was our students in the beginning of this didn't have a place to change. Our athletes were going to the field, didn't have anywhere to change, anywhere to wash themselves, anywhere to, you know, uh keep themselves up to par for the games. So, we were able to get trailers. So currently there's trailers on the field

028for our visiting team and our football team to be able to change their clothes and be able to have access to shelter for games and practices and things like that. But this is important to say that these trailers have been up for over I say about 3 or 4 years and we have not been able to get a fieldhouse um built back up for the Camden High School sports complex. So, this is where the next phase of this program is, is for us to raise this $5 million to be able to do a couple restoration things. One would be the fieldhouse. I just want to say and and I appreciate Dr. Broxson, our superintendent, and also the board member for giving us space to say this is this is not a dig on a district.

029I believe that we've all been working together, but as you saw with that ad hoc committee, it requires us to do just a little more work to get this done. So, our children are currently in trailers, small, skinny trailers that have chairs in them. They barely have foot lockers. I want to shout out Pastor Amir Khan for donating services to get foot lockers put inside those trailers. Um, currently, Pastor Con, raise your hand. It's important for people to know that that was a donation that you gave. But what we don't have is stability in those trailers. we don't have access to get what we need for our students to feel like when they come to this complex they have state-of-the-art access to the things they need. Another side of it is this is the embarrassing

030side y'all is that our visiting team has to go on trails as well. So when our children go out of our district to go to other school complexes and compete, they get to see field houses and locker rooms and all those kind of things. But when we come to our hometown in our own city, we have to go to trailers. So our goal right now as a part is this next phase. What we can do is just with a little help from our friends is to apply for a green acres grant. And with the district support and the city of canvas support, we should be able to raise some of that funding to be able to get the fieldhouse restored. The fieldhouse needs some work. The track needs work so we can be able to

031have what is it? Seven lanes. Seven. Seven lanes to be able to be in competition. We can't compete. Is it eight? Eight lanes. Eight lanes for us to be able to compete across the the the the state because we don't have a competitive track. and then also to get the um the parking lot restored. So, we have done a lot of great work to make this happen, but this plea is to the community to let folks know to spread the word about why we need to support our children. And it's not one-sided as East Side High doesn't have and Camden High does have is more so of as a community, what do we want to leave our students with? We want them to keep coming home and saying, "Well, when we go to Winsow, when

032we go to this school, we feel so comfortable when we come home, we feel as though we don't have what we need." So, we thank the district for saying yes to working with us for the green acres grant. We thank the city of Camdom for saying yes. We presented with them about two weeks ago for the same exact thing. But now it's time for us as a community to stand behind this project. If you have not been to the complex, you need to go down there and see exactly how it looks, how it pours in energy. What's down there at that complex is school spirit and city spirit. when you see people coming, you see alumni coming, you see elders coming, you see so many people coming and the children are there in a so

033safe environment. I want to shout out the sec our our security team cuz they're on board and they're there supporting every time making it happen. The last thing I'll add and Mr. White, we we can close here. The last thing I'll add is that yes, we invited press to make the story become bigger, but what's most important about this presentation is that we understand that our children need to see us standing up for them in this way. It's shameful and it hurts when our children have to feel like this is normal for us. This is what we got to get used to. We got to get used to seeing trailers, no type of, you know, um, concession stands, none of those things. when we leave our city, we get all these things. So, it's a

034plea to our community, to those who are lovers of the purple and gold, for those who understand what it takes to really build a student athlete, that we get behind this process and support this project. So, we're presenting to the school board as a a moment for us to say that everyone knows the backstory and everyone now currently knows where we're going. And the last thing I say is about those lights. Even though football players might say that's part of the that's part of the culture, you know. We we get we get we get fired up about being in the dark. We don't play football in the dark, y'all. We need lights. And we currently do have great lights down there where it illuminates. And we also got a scoreboard. Thanks to Mr. White again.

035I just want to love on Mr. White, Dr. Broson, for one second. He has made so many phone calls to make this happen. So, we really have a we didn't even have a school board over a I keep saying it wrong. A scoreboard over many years. So we have really done a lot of work but this is showing that we can do it for football. We can do it for marching band, we can do it for volleyball, we can do it for basketball, we can do it for every sport so our children can feel like in the classroom I can focus on my academics and when I get to the field I can be the star that I am. So thank y'all for the opportunity to present. If you have any questions, please contact Mr.

036White and I'll give them the last words. I just want to keep this slide up so everyone will know. The first slide is where the toilets are now. The middle slide is the boys toilets. Let me give you a little brief history. The toilets were so bad that we had to lock them up that our kids were not allowed to go in them. This was for years. Then they had the bright idea to bring portaots. Well, then I don't know the Lord steps in my life so many times. I was always an active participant in special ed. Some people say I'm special, but that's okay. But I was there with him. Could you imagine a kid in a wheelchair trying to get into a portaot? That's when I said, "Enough's enough. We got to do

037something." That middle slide with that ticket booth, we ain't have a ticket booth. We had a table and chair and it rained. When it rained, we somebody would bring a tent. That's just history. That booth there where the broadcasters were, that was the home of the pigeons. Pigeons. People still went up there and broadcast. Why we knock the fieldhouse down and I want to thank Bethea and the district is because every time I went to visit the fieldhouse, you saw the little creatures. And when I saw the little creatures, I ran like crazy. I don't like mice. Well, then somebody had the wise idea to store grass seeds in that storage area. When we open up to show to some visitors that could had money, I would say there was a thousand mice in there.

038I said, "Oh, no. Enough's enough." I went to the state health department and had the state health department condemn it a best mole mice infantic and our present superintendent and I'll give him shout outs was Payon Paymont had a nerve to stand there at that booth and share with the problem. Thank you Mr. White. You did a great job. I'll leave it there. >> So, thank you again, Dr. Brackenson. Thank you all to our school board members for allowing us to present and again the way that we can move forward with this because there's there's pain in this process too in this project that you've watched something deteriorate for so many years and we have to rebuild it. But I believe the spirit of good in Camden that we can rebuild this to to a

039place that can be state-of-the-art arts that everyone in a city could use. It can bring money into the school district and money into the city if we allow this complex to be exactly what it needs to be. So, thank you all for your time and Dr. Roxson, I'll pass it back to you. I thank you very much, Mrs. uh Dickerson and Mr. White for your advocacy and everyone who is uh part of friends. We can we can do this with a little help from our friends. Thank you very much and thank you for your advocacy. And I'd like to thank Pastor Khan when he saw that we needed lockers. I think in the next hour or two hours or something, they had lockers for the uh field at Camden High. And I would like to

040to say I know it's not where everyone wants it to be and I have to say facilities, our former superintendent, Mrs. makums that they work that and that's why we're where we are today with the east side field as well as Camden High's field. They look great. I know their things. I know they need a sound booth for East Side. They haven't been able to play a home game there yet, but they will. and Cam the when you go on those fields the um just everything the scoreboard every it looks great I've been out there haven't been on east side yet because they haven't been able to play yet but Friday night lights we have it right here in uh Camden so it's it's it's coming along we still have a ways to go so

041we know that when community the district and friends from outside the community come in to help out, you can get a whole lot done. So, I just want to say thank you who for everyone who had a part in in helping to get these things moving forward. And I know it's taken a long time, Mr. White, pushing pushing pushing constantly. So, we thank you again. Thank you. >> So, now now one of my favorite parts, I'd like to share some of our district highlights. And this month we have some amazing highlights to share with you. So we had our welcome back convocation. I'd like to thank everyone because everyone played a key part especially Sheena, Miss Holmes, everybody. I just I can't name everyone but really played a key part here at 500 a.m. in

042the morning to make sure things were set up. The vision was that it was a a kind of a party. I went to a H.B.CU, Virginia State University. So, I wanted that feel when people came into the room to start the school year out. So, I hope you had a little of that uh feel when you walked into the room, the teachers and up there dancing and everything. I I don't know how many hits. Miss Yura probably knows that one of the videos. I don't I think it was a teacher from Davis. >> Yes, it was. >> Awesome. Right. Okay. It was amazing and and great feeling just the energy, the love in the room and I hope that will emanate for the entire school year for people just to feel good about where they

043work and that we appreciate them. So that was the back welcome back convocation. Uh first day of school highlights. We started out at Yorkship, but we went to every school in the district. But unfortunately, we got held up at one school. So, I didn't I missed going to HB Wilson, Rise, and Cream, but I hit I said I was going to hit every school. That was my goal, but I missed three. But it was an exciting first day of school, and I think we had a just a great opening. I I felt it was great. I felt the energy. I felt the positivity. I saw all the people. We wanted everyone, every school to have a cheerleading squad of community and teachers welcoming the students. So, I saw a lot of that on Facebook. Uh

044when I went into the schools, instruction was already taking place. And that's what you want. You want the students to know we're ready to go when you walk in the door. So, very excited about that. Uh our teach Camden ceremony was absolutely inspirational and um to see the pair of professionals who finish this program and will be teachers in our district top rate. A great program. [Applause] I'd like to thank Dawn Thomas and her entire team for putting that together. Teresa Ree and again our former superintendent Mrs. Mcomes and for spearheading that making that happen for our paraprofessionals. Awesome job. Um I was honored to be there to watch everyone get their certificates and um it's just great. Wish everyone could have been at that program. You you should have been there. So now, um,

045one thing that I'm excited about, what we will start next month, and just be on the lookout for it, we will have our superintendent spotlight where we are going to be spotlighting every school, a staff member, and a student from every school every month. Uh, well, while I'm here. So, and I'm excited to do that because I think we need to recognize the our amazing staff and our amazing students and to every day show that we appreciate what you do because we know it's not easy. So, I'm very very excited about that. So now I'm going to ask all of our board members to transition and our executive staff to transition back to the stage. Did I miss a slide? Oh, right. We're going to talk about retirees once President Nelson gets back up here.

046Thank you. I call Miss Holmes my big dime. She always keeps me protected and in check. So, thank you. Weren't the Eagles amazing Sunday? I'm sorry I had to add that in there. I had to get off script for a second. I'm sorry if you're not an Eagles fan. At this time, I would like to turn it over to board member Perez to announce our retirees. And tonight, we would like to say thank you to Miss Michelle Flack for 32 years and 4 months of dedicated service. Thank you. [Applause] All right, looks like it's time for our public comment portion. Uh, 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

047the state district superintendent. Each person who signed up to comment will have three minutes. You will be notified when your time is 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 either myself or the state district superintendent. Please be courteous to your fellow community members and keep your comments with 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

048terminate 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, 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. Finally, we we may call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of

049the meeting. And we can wave any of the rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the board meeting. All right, looks like tonight we have 16 people signed up to speak and our first one is Stephanie Heeney and then Karen Belli Luke Yes. Testing. Yep. >> I'm Stephanie Heene from Collingswood, New Jersey. I've been a proud Camden City um educator for eight years. Um but as much as I would love to continue to be proud of my role, it has become a struggle to maintain that feeling in light of recent changes. I'm here because I'm deeply concerned and frankly alarmed by the decision to remove full-time aids from our kindergarten classrooms this year. Whoever okayed that final decision to remove the Paris from our rooms has clearly

050never stepped foot in a kindergarten classroom. Let me be clear. This decision is not just inconvenient. It is harmful. Our youngest students, many of whom are just beginning their educational journey, are not getting the support they are legally entitled to and desperately need. As you know, New Jersey law mandates full-time aids in kindergarten classrooms. This isn't a suggestion. It's a requirement. But more importantly, it's based on what research and best practice tells us that young children, especially those in high needs districts like ours, require more hands-on support, not less. We serve a population where many enter school with limited early learning experiences, language barriers, and trauma. These students need more adult support, not fewer adults in the room. Without an aid, I am expected to simultaneously manage instruction, behavior, safety, bathroom needs, tantrums, and transitions

051for a handful of 5-year-olds. It is simply not possible to do all of this well, let alone provide meaningful individualized instruction. Let me give you a real example. Just last week, while working one-on-one with a student who needs significant academic intervention, another child had a toileting accident. I had to choose. Do I leave the first child who is finally engaged or let the other child sit in discomfort? These are choices no teacher should ever have to make. And no child should be put in that position. This isn't about inconvenience. It's about equity, safety, and instructional integrity. Removing Paris, strips our students of their right to a quality education and puts them at risk. It also places an unsustainable burden on teachers, leading to burnout and high turnover, especially in already hard to staff schools like

052ours. I urge you to reconsider this decision. Reassigning aids away from kindergarten is short-sighted and in direct conflict with what's best for our kids. Our children deserve better. They deserve the support, the attention, and the resources that the law promises them. and that we as educators are morally obligated to provide. Thank you. [Applause] >> All right, Miss Luke and then Natasha Hatcher. Thank you. >> Like old times. Thank you, Miss Holmes. Uh Karen Belli Luke, Dr. Charles Brim Medical Arts High School. So, I'm old school um magnet school for over 20 plus years. We had to wear many hats and because of the let go of many staff, we need to recognize those that can and work collectively to hopefully address the needs of staff, students, parents, and community. I would like to also add

053that a heads up to the PE staff when auxiliary gym is being used. It affects all of us. Right now, we have six classes, three schools to juggle in the two uh work areas. Our lesson plans have to be in on Thursday and we need to modify and adjust and hopefully leadership understands. It also impacts staff for parking and a heads up to the staff in the at the campus would be also appreciated. Um the board minutes was not on the site and point of the meeting tonight is and us speaking is to address concerns on the minutes. If minutes are posted after the meeting, how can we address anything or know that we have any concerns? Dr. Co, thank you for email responses to concerns addressed at board meetings. However, not all concerns warrant

054speaking out at board meetings. I have emailed you on other concerns. Not sure if you read them or did I receive an acknowledgement that you did. Um, communication. Communication is key. involve all that are impacted. Some get it. Kudos to Shereé Perry who did not hesitate to reach out for questions regarding PE and health for home instruction. Um, it was also brought to my attention where some leadership is not speaking professionally to staff. Um, and it was very concerning. Keep in mind, just because I'm saying it was brought to me does not necessarily mean it's brim exclusively. People bring things to me um, from other buildings. Um it was also um brought to my concern about schedules not being looked at where some buildings have vacancies and others have light schedules especially in the area

055of special population. Um kudos to Dr. Co Brockington. It is evident that leadership is trying and that there are some improvements. Um we are getting there and I want to thank you for that. [Applause] Natasha Hatcher, Clayton, New Jersey. Um, I've served the district for 24 years. I left last year, August of 24. I submitted some paperwork to the state for certification. The application was 117204. It was returned back to Fish. There were several things that I needed to complete. However, the board the the school district needed to verify my employment. I submitted the application again on 62125 and as of today's date, the board Camden City still has not verified my employment. So, my question is, who is the individual responsible for verifying employment in the district? What is a reasonable time to expect

056the district to submit verification of my employment to the state? Up next is Miss Dickerson and then Janette Adams. >> You want you want to ask? >> Okay. Good afternoon. Good evening everybody. Ron Dickerson, um parent and executive director of Camden Parent and Student Union. I need them lights. I can't see my notes. So, I want to make it very clear. The district is struggling right now, y'all. And I want to make this very, very clear. If you're not tracking what's happening, you got to look at it as medicine. The district is on life support. We have received vacancies. We we've been given a plan that's not conducive to where we are. And honestly, we should have never opened up our schools. If we don't have support staff, if we don't have the things we

057need in our schools, how can we expect our children to flourish? There's no way. And this is not I want to I'm addressing the board and the superintendent and everybody, but I want us to use our common sense right here, and I'll go brief. So, just imagine if we lost all of our support staff. If the phone rings inside the office and a clerk calls out sick and a secretary calls out sick, who's going to answer the phones? Y'all got to think about how bad it is inside of our schools. It's really bad in a sense of we're sharing three nurses inside of one school. Like one nurse is covering three schools. We have to look at this and and this is what I want to make it clear. The state is on do not

058resuscitate. They won't give Dr. Brockinson the power to do what can be done in her interim time to resuscitate the district. And now we struggle. So for all the people who are coming in with anger and issues, take it to the state because Dr. Brochinson to me has figured out some answers. She's talked to her board. She's trying to build a stronger cabinet that understands the problem because the problems were here before Dr. Boxin got to the seat. She inherited she inherited a pile of you know what. And remember, she did not have to choose to be the superintendent. She put her hat in the in in the conversation to help to help Camden City School District. I know you're all like, "Oh, Rona, you and Dr. Broxson this tight." You're darn right I'm tight

059with somebody that got some sense. You know why? Because she's moving this district in a direction that we haven't seen it before. You can feel the culture change inside the school district. With just her being in office for how many days? It's been only 70 days. 70 days, y'all. Y'all do the math. 70 days. She's been here since July 1st. I might be a little off. Sorry. but 70-ish days. It hasn't been that long. So, I'm pleading to our board members, advisory board members, to the staff that's a part of this district, to the people who can hear our voices, take this conversation to the state cuz they are on do not resuscitate for Camden Public Schools. We are in a situation where we we are looking at our our our school districts and state

060of life support and they're about to pull the plug by way of this next appointed superintendent. we to band together and make sure that we're screaming from the mountain tops if we're not included in the process of the next superintendent. Our students will not be attending these schools cuz I'll be darn if I let my children fail because of somebody trying to fail us. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Janette Adams. I'm a resident here in Camden County and I am a kindergarten teacher. It resonated with me when someone said we can do this with a little help from our friends. Today I'm here imploring the board and the friends to help kindergarten. We need help. Our paras are being taken from us and our children are being affected in the most negative

061ways. I have taught kindergarten for 34 years. I've been teacher of the year and nominee and teacher of the year for the district. So I feel like I have a little stake in kindergarten. I have serviced schools in East Camden, North Camden, South Camden. I've been a part of this community and I'm the sixth generation of service to this community. My former father-in-law founded a church, St. Paul Baptist Church in South Camden. So, I'm invested in Camden and our students. I stand to get in some good trouble. As John Lewis would say, I advocate for my students. The power of power is important. They play an intricral part in our K team. They collaborate. My para comes to my house on the weekends and we plan together. We rip out roll books. We we zoom

062all the time. Now it's Microsoft Teams, but we do that. These children are in need because they transition from prek to K. They still can't hold a pencil. Some still have toileting as shoes. Some can't hold scissors. They are presented with a laptop that they don't even half of them never seen in their life and they need that power to help them because they're used to touch screens yet they're expected to do standardized tests like McLass and I ready on these laptops. So we definitely need the support to help them in centers so they can understand how to do it. Our powers are very good at reinforcing academic skills with our students and helping them with the emotional needs and separation that they feel when they leave their parents at the door. Bringing back Paris

063just makes sense and it simply is the right thing to do. Putting our students first as we have on all of our banners is an integral part of who we are. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it's a mandate. Chapter 13, programs and practices to support student achievement on page eight discusses that programs and services for students in high poverty must have a parah. It's also seen in the New Jersey kindergarten implementation guideline on page 38 where it states that all right. I'm sorry, your time's up. >> Thank you. Kindly, please help us. Next up is Lewis Carabalo and then Barbara Kascarello. >> Hello, my name is Louisis Caribelloo and I have a proposition about a vending machine. My vendor machine will serve as a win-win for the school community, providing

064convenience to staff and students while directly funding experiences that enrich student life. By tying the revenue to events like prom, we create a tangible incentives that keep students engaged and supportive of the initiative. There will be healthy options and locations. The location would be the security office where there will be minimal complications. This vendor machine is more than just a convenience. It's a win-win. It serves our students and stabs every day while also fueling the very experience that divine our school spirit. That's the kind of innovation that brings lasting value. And also my vending machine will be also a big help cuz today in lunch we ran out of school. We ran out of food today. We didn't have no food for like 20 minutes while the other schools ate. >> So, I feel like

065my vending machine would be a big help for the school, community, and staff. Thank you so much. Good evening everyone. My name is Barbara Kascarello. I'm a 37year resident of Camden City and a former school board member. Um, you know, I'm short. I'm a little What did I do here? I messed that up. >> It's okay. Tighten me up. There you go. >> Thank you. Um when I received a um text from um Mr. White. I knew I should come to be supportive because anything and everything Stan White is involved in in this district is important and everything he does, he does with an open heart and with a sincere commitment to this community. So I urge everyone to support the um development of the athletic field as he proposed financially and otherwise. Um I

066also wanted to uh speak on the presentation by I'm sorry I've forgotten her name. The woman who made the presentation on the results what what was her name? Dr. Yes. Is she here? Good. Because I have some questions for her. Um, she talked about the uh 68 students with disabilities. How do you define disability? >> Is she here? >> She's here, but we don't answer immediately on the spot. You can speak for three minutes and we'll take down notes and someone will get back to you. when will they get back to me? >> In uh 24 to 48 hours. >> Okay. Um so that's one question. The other question is um she indicated that graduation rates had increased 10% in one group and 2% in another. Can we know why? What did we do right

067that made them increase? H. >> All right. >> Pardon me. >> This is not the old board. You can't They can't answer those. Oh my god. We've regressed. Uh, could you tell me where we are on the agenda? Because I'm lost. Can you answer that question at least? >> Public portion. >> Pardon me. >> Public portion. Public comment. It's not on here. Where do you mean? Doesn't say public portion anywhere. >> It should be on page two of your agenda. >> Eight should be where? on page two of your agenda. >> Yeah, but we didn't hear committee reports, meeting minutes, finance and operations, line item transfers, bill list. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] So, it looks like we're on number eight on page one of the agenda that you should have. So, now we're on number eight,

068public comment. >> Yep. There were no committee reports. >> There were no committee reports this month. That's correct. >> All right. Our next speaker is Jack Ruiz and then Kevin Walters. Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Jack Ruiz, Camden County, um 601 Cooper Street. I serve as the recruiter and navigator for the educational opportunity fund at Camden County College. In this role, my mission is simple. To open doors for Camden students, not just after high school, but during high school. Through our early college access program, students can graduate with both their high school diploma and associates degree in hand, 17 and 18 years old. That's not a dream. That's something that we can make real together. I also want to acknowledge the numbers that were just shared with us. With 75.7% of Camden students

069identified as economically disadvantaged, so says your testing stats. We can't ignore what that means. The barriers are real, but so are the opportunities when the right supports are in place. That's exactly what UF is built to provide. Advising, tutoring, workshops, and resources that make sure students don't just enter college, but thrive in it. And our work doesn't stop with students. In collaboration with Camden County College's adult basic skills programs, we're also able to help parents earn their GED or equivalent. That means we're creating a full family service where parents and children can walk the path of education side by side, building stronger households and stronger communities together. I want UF to be a household name here in Camden. When families think about what comes after high school, I want them to know that college isn't

070just possible. It's waiting for them with people who actually believe in their success. So tonight, I'm asking for your partnership. Let's work together. Let's work with the school counselors, school social workers, program leaders, and make sure that Camden to make sure Camden's young people and their families see these opportunities early and seize them fully. Because every Camden family we guide into education is another future teacher, nurse, business owner, civic leader, rooted right here in the city. And that's how we can build stronger Camden together. I know this will work. I know for a fact it'll work because I'm from Camden. I went to Davis. I went to East Middle. I went to Wilson. Sorry, guys. Um, I am a Camden County graduate. I'm in Ruckers full-time. I work two jobs. I try to make it

071work the best way I can. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. But I've had mentors. I have some of them with me. Our director of EOF, Dr. Yolanda Whitby, and my mentor, Dr. Robert Hammond. And they help pull me through. They help guide me. And they help keep me straight. But they also put this program exactly where it needs to be. Right in the middle of Camden, right on this this platform, speaking with you guys, and we try to make it happen. College is possible. We're beautiful. We're Camden. We're Camden strong. We can be a beacon of education. We can be somebody that got through it, not because we had to, but because we chose to. Thank you. [Applause] >> All right. Uh good evening everyone. Uh the um festivities for the

072opening I saw there were great on um on uh YouTube. I believe they were they were great. But here's my first observation. There's a gentleman who's working for the district who has multiple roles and I understand he has um several responsibilities in the district. As capable as I'm sure he is, he is not Superman. and he has a role to oversee facilities and I think he's also maybe the acting ad or for some part of it. The possibility of making a mistake is possible and I'm not anticipating that he is going to make a mistake. I would be disingenuous however if I did not mention the possibility. Juggling multiple roles for any individual allows for the expectation that they can handle the roles. I I'm I'm sure they can. However, they will be totally responsible

073for any optic that appears to be a failure. I feel that expecting this gentleman to be flawless is unfair or even close to that. But a district that is currently navigating a $91 million deficit is consistent with the many shortcomings it has experienced due to the optics of mismanagement over the years. Again, well maybe not again, but expecting sanity to be infused into insanity is operational dysfunction. There was going to be a disconnect eventually and but eventually reality should insist upon itself. Also, my second observation, you have a fly roar advertisement going around on the district's website, Facebook page for parents enroll their students to the district. Here goes a district ignoring reality again. What is the purpose of using one Camden? One Camden anywhere in that ad. This is a charter school network facilitator

074and it's designed to replace traditional public schools and take district resources. Play the dis playing in the district's face is purposeful. I am often dismayed by how the district wants their respect but continues to operate in an operating fog. It's as if cutting off the district nose to check if there is a pulse defies that behavior itself. But that defies that the behavior is self-destructive. I am also aware the cafeteria at East Side is not fully operational. They should be able to have a fully operational cafeteria. I have been informed that there are some things that are going on there, but they should have a fully operational cafeteria. It is also known that there is a Mrs. you know Mr. Dr. to be the code who's up for superintendent. Why? Why? Because she should be

075the superintendent. We know there's a role. If she wants the role, if she wants the role, the state is still in control. We also realize that the board is advisory. The superintendent is also advisory. Whomever is chosen will not have autonomy anyway. The role is the the role is not chosen by the role should be chosen by the community. The superintendent role has also been ceremonial kind of in the past. At best, until the school board is elected by the community as well as the superintendent, the role is considered lame duck. Thank you. [Applause] >> Is Stan White still here? >> No. Okay. Laura Black. Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Laura Black. I am from Soul, New Jersey. Um, for the past 26 years, I have worked for the school Camden City School

076District. For the past 10 years, I have been teaching kindergarten. And this has really been one of the toughest starts to a school year that I've ever experienced. Having to share well first I want to say I'm here as a voice for my students because they are the ones that are really suffering having to share a parah creates instability and chaos each day my other K partner and our parah are wondering will we get support today will a sub be able to help to help us out um the parah who works extremely hard is stretched very thin she has to go between my room in the other classroom. It's not fair for the students that their teachers have to decide, as Miss Heene said, if they are going to log help them log in on

077their computer or help them find their page at their literacy center. The students in kindergarten eat in our classrooms that has the room that has the parah has the stability. In my room, we are waiting for a sub to come. And when the sub does come, I have to explain the procedures and the routines of what we are trying to establish, which is we all know is very important in the during the school year. Instead of preparing, I spend a majority of my time explaining to the sub, you know, the procedures, what the kids need, and it's really been it's been a struggle. A question that we have is why have the bilingual classrooms been able to keep their full day parah where we've had to now share one. So hopefully we can get some

078answers and that you can see that we are really here. This is tough for me to come up and speak but I'm speaking from my heart. As I stated I've been here for 26 years. I've been in many schools over the years. Landing Square, Whittier, Sharp that have been closed and condemned, but I felt that I needed to speak for my students because they aren't able to speak for themselves. So, I hope you can hear us and that we can have some changes and we can get our paras back. And I do want to say that we know it's not a building or a principal thing. It's from the higher up. The principles are trying to do what they can. So, we just really need help from the people downtown that can make the changes.

079Thank you. And we all stood together because we are a team. We wish we could have more people here, but we came to support each other and our students. Thank you. Up next is Robert H and then Jose Delgado. Is Robert here? I apologize. I can't read your handwriting for your last name. >> Hammond. >> Not here. All right, then. Jose. Uh, good evening. My name is Jose Delgado. Um, first of all, I want to make very quick. Um, I want to thank uh the superintendent for the two meetings we've had dealing with the English language learners. I'm still waiting for the third meeting. I know that you know that we have just scratched the surface to begin to understand what the needs are, let alone to begin to um hammer out a plan to

080how to address them. uh had other things to say, but the teachers that just came and spoke inspired me in a way I haven't been inspired in a long time. They took a lot of courage to come here and speak to you. It doesn't matter that the advisory board basically just sits there, does nothing, and doesn't respond. And that's the impression that everybody gets. You can get upset with me, but that's the impression based on your actions, not on your words. You're a do nothing group of people that know better, are intelligent, and yet you don't do what you're supposed to do publicly. A teacher gets up and starts telling you about what the children are going through. 3 minutes, sit down. Miss Kascarello who spoke she looked a little confused and asked questions because

081when there was a real board of education people used to come and ask questions and board members or administrators would answer the question because we figured if one person has a question 10 other people may have the same question but your lack of respect of that those teachers to come up here to talk to you about the needs of the students and your response is digging ling and Dean, sit down. You got to start acting like you're part of this community. You got to understand and show respect to these people, especially the teachers. The teachers are the most important thing in this school district. The Camden School District is run by the state of New Jersey, not by the superintendent, the current one or the future one. It's run by the state of New Jersey.

082You were just told that the state of New Jersey is violating the administrative code by by in one instance no power professionals. It is required by the administrative code. Did any of you get up asked a question? Any further question, a follow-up question? You didn't ask any questions. You just sat there. Now you're going to tell me, "Oh, after the meeting we're going to talk to the superintendent. After the meeting we're No, you do it now." That's how you show leadership. Believe it or not, people still have have an idea that you represent them. They they're clinging on the idea that the advisory board really intends to do good. They're hard-headed. They can't seem to get it through their heads that the way you act now is the way you've been acting for years. And

083I love a lot of you, but together you nothing for this school district. Thank you, Terry Wilson. >> Hello, I'm Tariq Wilson, by the way. All right. Uh, first I want to talk about the issue at Camden High. Um, at lunch we ran out of food and really every day a lot of people want pizza. You got to wait there 10 minutes at a time to get more pizza and sometimes you don't get your lunch until 5 minutes before uh lunch ends. Also, uh there's an organization problem. Um, when we get to school, they tell us the way they'll roll out Chromebooks. Each teacher will get a certain amount of Chromebooks for all their classes, but then they hand out the Chromebooks to each student. Now, the teachers are saying, "Oh, they're going to change

084it and give us and give the teachers Chromebooks for each of their classes." But how they going to do that when they ran out of Chromebooks to give students anyway? uh that also um if I'm correct with the statistics earlier uh 55.5% of high school students are not graduation ready in English and 89.33 are not uh graduation ready in math. That's alarming. Uh that was a good quote. do nothing people. Uh I might be young, but I'm not blind. Obviously, people do nothing. A superintendent's a nice lady. Uh but uh I'll end with this. People are fighting for local control of the school district. When you have people who are voted in, who do nothing and then what do you say? You say, "Oh, well, we do a lot of stuff in the background." Well,

085it's not showing. Uh, the problem with the school district, the people of Camden vote you guys in. You vote for the state legislatores. You vote for the city council. And the problem with the deficit, it all goes back to the people of Camden voting the way they do in the election process. So, I ask you this. If you don't like what you see here, maybe you should vote differently. [Applause] Miss Miller. Okay. Keith Walker. Keith Walker, Camden. Uh, the first thing I want to say is what's going on with the lights, you know. Oh, anyway, uh, Dr. Brockington. Um, please excuse me everybody, but we finally have a superintendent who's for the children and about the children. And you know, you have my support. Um 55% of our high school students are ready for graduation.

086Uh it's proficient in English and ready for graduation. Uh or 55% are not. So that means half more than half are not. Roughly 90% of our high school seniors are not proficient in math to graduate. This is unacceptable. Um and I I didn't know I would still be speaking to an advisory board. I mean, many years ago, I told my colleagues when I was teaching, uh, what was coming. I'm not precient. Perhaps I am, but where we're at now is what I predicted more than 20 years ago. And it's sad. Um, you know, our students are very, uh, they excel in athletics. Um, our parents are involved when our children are very small in football and basketball. And our parents need to be equally involved when our children are very small in math and English

087and reading and things of that nature. And that aspect, you know, the parental aspect is out of your hands. But what you can do even as an advisory board as powerless as you are, you know, you can apply some pressure to the elected officials. Okay? Because they need to they need to be concerned about the parents out here and about our children. The best academic aid for our children. The best recreational aid for our children is that our parents are gainfully employed. We have a very high unemployment rate in the city of Camden. Parents aren't focusing. Yeah. You know, hierarchy of needs, food, shelter, clothing. Okay. So, if the parents are gainfully employed, they can satisfy those and now they can spend time with the children, things that are important. I taught second graders and

088guess what? At the end of the school year, I taught them algebraic equations, exponencies, and linear equations, and they ate it up. Our children are talented. They're intelligent. Okay? Math is the simplest subject you'll ever have. You know, I would ask my students, my second grade students, what's 2 plus two? Oh, that's four, Mr. Walker. Five years from now, what's 2 plus two? It's four, Mr. Walker never changes. It's absolute. Okay. English changes. English is one of the hardest languages next to Chinese to learn. Okay. We need to invest make sure that our our elected officials invest in our community and in our families. And as Tariq said, you know, well, >> I'm sorry your time's up. >> Let me Okay, I understand. But let me say this. If you any place, you show me

089a place where anything goes and I'll show you a place where eventually everything goes. Cam is at the eventually point. It's been there a long time. >> All right. Thank you. Our final speaker is Jason R. Is Jason still here? Good evening everyone. My name is Jason Rodriguez. I'm one of the former FOCC's who was let go this past year. Um I have three points that I want to hit on. Last spring, one of my colleagues asked the district what would be the plan for student and family support. We have yet to receive a formal one. Um but that former one has been our colleagues calling us. Most of the FOCC's have been working for free. Um supporting our families and supporting our students. Um and not only the FOCC's, a lot of our deans,

090our paras and other people have been supporting the district free of charge when we shouldn't have to. Um but that's where our hearts are. Sorry. Um, my second point is when you go on the district website, most of the school state, contact your family operations coordinator. Still, um, the newly dubbed Family Solution Center is unfair to the two people, the two amazing people running it cuz it they shouldn't have to run 16 schools for situations. Um, and our parents are used to getting solutions in the moment. Um, so it's unfair for them to wait 24 to 48 hours for a solution. Um, the last point I have is our clerks. They are being overworked and they are really tired at this time. The FOC job description was originally six pages when I applied. Um, upon

091union ratification, it was only four. Um, the the clerks now have to split those roles. Um, and most of them are of womenly age. I think I said that correctly. Um, and it's something that is unfair to them and it shouldn't be done. Um, the clerks are stretched thin. They're going home at all types of hours of the night. Um, and it's really affecting their mental health. So, my main question is, what can the district do to support them so they don't burn out? Most schools have two clerks. Um, some have one because some have issues or have to call off or have medical issues. Um, so a lot of the things that our families are seeing are unanswered questions. Um, and they need the support. Thank you for your time. [Applause] That concludes that.

092>> So, usually I don't respond to our speakers when they come up the public portion. I say I will respond in 24 to 48 hours. But today, I'm compelled to respond. I will respond in writing also. But I have to say that one of the reasons I said yes, I've been in this district. I'll give my a my age now. 40 almost 40 years. Started teaching at uh Camden High School as an English teacher. Was a supervisor at central office, became a principal downtown again for a little bit, back as principal. And when I was asked to step in as acting superintendent, I was asked to take other positions before to come back downtown and I would always say no. I said I don't want to work at central office just to be very honest.

093But when I was asked this time, I knew there was an assignment for me and I was compelled. I was I had to say yes. And the and one of the reasons I said yes is because I thought that I could be instrumental in bringing positions back. And unfortunately our teachers left who were here and I sat out there. Okay. So you can relay the message but I'm going to put this in writing. I was in the audience when there was a board meeting about all the cuts and some of the FOCC's came up and talked about their jobs and I watched President Nelson say clearly that as a board they didn't know the cuts were that were being made and again I have to say as an advisory board and a state superintendent this

094is a stateun district and I watched Rancha Dickerson take a group of students up to the state in June, I believe, and there weren't very many people with her. There weren't very many people to go up to the state board of education to talk about the hundreds of jobs that were lost. And I'm not blaming anyone for that because that's a difficult difficult thing to do to go to the state and begin to talk about the job that you just lost because of a reduction in force. Those paraprofessionals were part of the reduction in force. So again, I say I thought and always look at the bright side. Yes, I'm saying yes. I'm sure there's something I can do to get some of these jobs back because I know as a as and that's why

095I mentioned the years that I've been in this district the support that our students need especially and people keep going back to that but it's the truth after co our students mental health the supports that everyone needs in the schools the FOCC's the climate and culture when you say this you come up. I know. I know the pain. I watch each school on this campus only has one clerk. So, if the clerk is out and the LE is out, who's answering the phones? And I am the acting superintendent, but I am speaking to you in a very truthful, transparent manner. It's not easy, but our students and I know we'll say we have to do what we have to do, but right now they're not those people are not coming back today. Hopefully something will

096change because we know changes can happen where maybe money will come, maybe the in the the state will say yes, we will allow you to bring x amount of people back and you can talk about state statues and all of that, why we need these people back, but when you speak, there has to be a united front. It cannot just be a Rancha Dickerson with a busload of students going up to Trenton to speak to what has happened. So yes, it the cuts are unfortunate. We're suffering in the schools. I know you are. It pains me. It pains me to watch you come up and talk about what's going in on in your kindergart in your kindergarten classrooms and not being able to help you. But I want you to remember we are a stateun

097school district. This is an advisory board. They take their work seriously. And it's a shame when people say, "Oh, they just like are just people that sit there. They have committees. They meet. They want to make a difference." But until you get local control back, the board doesn't have a a vote like that. And until we get our curriculum, our test scores did go up, but again, they have to go up a whole lot more in reference to QAC. So, we passed that in our curriculum part of QAC. So, that's a key area. So, my focus when I started is math and literacy. I thought again that I could bring some people back, but I can only do what I can do. So, right now, we have a strong push and a strong focus on

098math and literacy. What I do ask is that our parents get together when your children come home, working with them, making sure that they're doing their assignments and working as hard as they can. It's about the community. It's about our staff and what we used to do. We used to have parent volunteers who would come in and answer those phones. We We don't necessarily want to go back to the old days, but right now maybe we need to until we can get this fixed. But we have to do everything we can as a school community, as a community at large to support our schools in the sit in the situation that we are in today because I had to come to the realization it's not going to change right now. Now maybe when another person

099is sitting in this seat, maybe it will and maybe it won't because the numbers are still dropping in our district. So until we become a united front about what we need to do to address the deficiencies in our school, we can come up and and and speak at this microphone, which you should and you have every right to. But there are other places you need to speak at a microphone and put in writing what you're saying today. And I what I'm saying here I'm going to put in writing back to you within 24 to 48 hours. But there are other places where you need to make sure your voices are heard. [Applause] [Music] So I will now turn the meeting over to our president for comments from the advisory board. >> Thank you superintendent. Uh

100thank you for your words. Thank you for your leadership. uh to you and all the staff members. Uh we know it's not a time that's easy. Um especially with so many cuts. So we thank you to those that are wearing many more hats that they may not choose to wear. Um especially those that are wearing more hats and don't get compensated for it either. So everybody that's stepping up to do the job to serve our students under the conditions that we're in, we appreciate it. Again, thank you to all those that come up and share and give feedback. Yes, we are elected officials. Um, so we did sign up for this job. Um, a lot of times people are very opinion opinionated and they have the right to do so. Um, you know, I heard

101Mr. Delgato speak about the board and you know how the board um I don't want to you know uh mess up the words but useless just up here um you know not serving a purpose. So I say to the board members thank you for all that you do. Um, I'll take a minute and share because, you know, sometimes some of the things that people do, they think you should do something different. And as previous board members, we also should know that we didn't get here yesterday. And it had to be those that came before us that helped get us here. But we're not pointing fingers, right? We're trying to figure out how to get out of the position, how to do something different, how to learn. Um, and we also take time and listen and

102have meetings, right? and and take the feedback and make the calls to those that's recommended that may not get back to us when we call them. Whether that's for guidance, you know, whether that's, you know, for uh uh workshops or, you know, the in, you know, uh uh the New Jersey School Boards Association. Again, let's let's make it clear that we do things and we listen as well. So, I want to go over because I heard community say that they don't hear enough from the board. Um, so, so I want to take a minute and go over some things so that we don't miss out on things. First, I want to start by saying I want to take a moment and acknowledge one of our board members, Cameron Hudson, whose father passed away. We send

103our prayers to you and your family. If we could take a moment of silence for Cameron. Thank you, Rona Dickerson, Stan White, and all those that help with we can do this together. We appreciate your advocacy and collective efforts to serve our students and community. Thank you again to all of our staff members for all the hard work, commitment, dedication, and consistency to serving our students and community. I would like to thank the board members for joining the superintendent and her administration on the first day of school. Thank you for traveling uh to all the schools that we were able to um to welcome our students and our staff members back. Thank you to all the board members that participated in the welcome back convocation. We also appreciate, you know, your support. Um thank you

104superintendent and to your staff um for putting it together. I also feel like um it was a great opport opportunity to build morale. I met with East Side High alumni to discuss ways to further support East Side High and make sure the lines of communication remain open and we could share resources. Thank you to the alumni. Thank you to the superintendent. Thank you, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Shanklin for your participation. Um, this was a request by alumni to make sure things are fair across the board. I think was an opportunity to have open lines of communication to find out some things that we didn't know, but also to be able to share feedback from what's working in one place maybe that we can use over at another place. So that'll be a meeting that continues and

105takes place every other month with alumni as well as the district staff and a school board member representative. Board members had an opportunity to meet with the superintendent to discuss the adjust adjustments and how the school year has started with the loss of some of our staff members that held key positions. some budget concerns and continue conversations on how we effectively move forward. We want to make sure it's on record that we are all in full support of having all the needed staff member staff supports for our students. So again, since this wasn't said publicly either, and at the time it couldn't be said publicly because it was confidential information, all school board members met and supported bringing back key support staff. So all board members were in support when those discussions were taking place.

106Unfortunately, we didn't have the power, just like the superintendent, to bring the school staff back. This was a conversation that took place prior to our present superintendent, Dr. Brockington being here with our previous superintendent, uh, Superintendent Mcomes, who also didn't have the ability to bring the staff members back. But I want to go on record again saying that all staff, all schoolboard members met and chose the option to utilize the funds to bring key staff members back. Thank you to Principal Ruiz, Miss Wiggins for your continued leadership and having board members participate in Fathers Bringing your kids to school day. Yesterday they had over 70 fathers present. Can we give Can we give them a round of applause? We had over 70 fathers present showing up for their students bringing their kids back to school.

107So, shout out to the leadership and and I know they weren't the only school, but that's where we were present. Thank you for the consistency cuz this didn't just start this school year. And again, thank you school board members again for being present. And again, we signed up for this job, but school board members who do not get paid to do what they do on a day day-to-day basis and also don't just show up at schoolboard meetings. Thanks to board members for participating in the anti-bully task force kickoff that took place yesterday at the Camden High campus. I think it was an excellent opportunity to initiate to to bring forth this initiative and kick it off and especially while bullying is such a uh important topic right now showing a united front between the city,

108the school district, the community saying that we will not stand for bullying here in Camden City. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um it was a great uh opportunity um and it was a great turnout. Superintendent. Um, one question. I know, uh, someone came up today and and spoke about the lunch. I know we had a brief conversation about it, but whenever you get an opportunity, if we can get a update. >> Okay. Thank you. So, I'll just finish it. I know Miss Brown will give an update, but just wanted to, you know, ask about the the lunch, running out of lunch, um, and then, you know, the school choices. Um so normally I would um you know ask my board members to go first but you know I wanted to um just speak

109on a few things and right now I will again open it up to any school board members um that you know have anything to say >> if Gosh one second >> are there any Yeah with it. >> Okay. Okay. Miss Brown, thank you. >> So, first of all, thank you for the opportunity and I want to extend a great thank you to Tariq and Lewis for being strong advocates for their students and their peers. I think that it's important that we understand advocacy in our school district, not just amongst our adults, but also amongst our students. One of the programs that we have in our district is called a student ambassador program and it's used to support students with learning more about advocacy. I extend an invite to both Tariq and Lewis to come in

110apply to be one of our student ambassadors so that they can be continue advocacy for school meals. Everyone knows that I am a resident or have been a prior resident of the Camden City School District of the Camden City area and I have been here for 32 years now. I've seen the school mills program when it was it the way it was before and to where it is now. I want you guys to know that you can come to me at any time at any time, day or night. I've given all of my my personal cell, my work cell. Um, everyone knows how to get in contact with me. When something is going wrong in your school, you need to come and let us know right away because if something is happening to you, that

111means it's happening to somebody else. And we take pride in our school meals in Camden. We're an awardwinning school program. You're not going to see school food like this anywhere in New Jersey. Nowhere. And I can put my stamp on that because I've been everywhere to see it. So, I want you to know that we feel very strongly and we're passionate about the meals that we serve you. Last year, we had complications and what we did was we changed out the staff. So, we have a new staff here at the Camden High campus to support our students and we have new processes and systems in place to make sure that these things don't happen. And if they happen, then they should be fixed right away. I want you to know that we have production records

112and we have documentation to support all school meals and it's open and available to anyone. We're a state and federal program. So, we're required to provide meals the way that we do, but we go over and above to make sure that our students are supported, to make sure that our students are set set up for success each and every day. So if you have to wait in line for 20 minutes, I'm telling you it's a good reason. That reason could have been quality of meals. So maybe in that moment, and I spoke to the manager just tonight, maybe in that moment, the food that was served wasn't quality and she wanted to make sure that you had the best on the line. don't know why it would have taken 20 minutes, but I challenge you

113to come and work with me to see how this works and so that you can share and advocate and continue to advocate not just for the students of Camden City, but for all students everywhere because everyone deserves a meal and that meal should be good. It should be tasty. It should be healthy. It should be nutritious. And the one thing that we're doing in this city is advocating for our teachers and our professionals and our FOCC's. I remember when we had lunch aids and I remember when they went. So I understand that as a resident, a student, a staff member for 32 years. I want everyone to know that I live and breathe the school nutrition program. So when something goes wrong, you can best believe that we're going to get on top of it.

114So before you leave, come talk to me. Let's talk about what changes you'd like to see. And I invite you to continue in advocacy and work with us as we continue to improve meals everywhere. Okay, any questions? >> No problem. >> So thank you, Miss Brown. Thank you for that that feedback. And just so every everyone is clear, you know, when we do ask questions, you know, sometimes it can be a misunderstanding. Um we we just want to make sure things are heard. You know, we don't want people to feel like they they ever um did something wrong. Um unless we actually know what took place. Um you know, we are a team. Um you know, and I think how we have conversation may be different than the next. But I'll close out with this

115as I pass it over to the school board members. You know, let's be mindful of, you know, kicking people. Um, I haven't seen perfection yet. So, you know, if you can't look in the mirror and think that you're perfect, you know, let's let's be mindful how we expect others to be perfect. And the more you kick the kick a person and the more down they feel, I don't know how much help they can actually give. So, board members, are there any board members that would like to say anything at this time? Board member Kamacho. >> Yes. I just wanted to take this opportunity to uh to thank Dr. Brochington and yourself, President Nelson, uh for your leadership. I mean, one takeaway I got from today, which I think is something that's a huge step from

116us moving forward, is the word you use, a united front. Um we're going to need this united front to support our children, to support the community, and it's going to be done through being positive, not through negativity. It's going to be finding ways to work together, not from division. It's going to us to function as a district advisory board, as a community. Success is only going to be attained when we work collectively and lower the noise and reset what our purpose here is for. It's our children, our staff, our community, and it's with a united front. So, I want to thank you for that. >> Thank you, board member Kamacho. And I just want to say I I appreciate you expressing yourself um both um in the public as well as in the private. Um

117so you know continue to speak up. Thank you. Any other board members? Board member Perez. Um, as already has been mentioned, I really do want to say thank you to all the teachers um for their hard work, their dedication um and for being here today because that that speaks volume. And you know, with everything that's going on in the world right now, you know, sometimes I feel like the whole world has taken a step backwards and we're back in the 65s struggling to stay alive. Um, but it's the unity. We got to stay together. And as President Nami Nelson said, you know, when you talk about what we can and cannot do, you're separating us and putting a I team. And to my knowledge, there is no eye in team. Um, like everyone else, everyone

118here has to have a job outside of this um facility. And yet we find the time to come here to spend as much time as we can doing what we can for our children, for our teachers and their families. Um all along doing it for ourselves as well. So um we we c we can't sit here and separate ourselves any more than the government is already trying to do for us. We have to stay together. We have to move forward and thank you for everything that everyone does. Thank you, board member Perez. Any other board members have anything they would like to share? So, if there are no other comments at this time, I'll turn it over to back over to our superintendent. So, we turn it over to our business administrator. >> Thank you.

119Um this evening's agenda includes uh recommendations for approval of a good number of board actions for the month of September. And these include uh approval of minutes for July and August board of education meetings, financial reports for the month of August, a listing of bill payments for the month of September, um an updated purchasing manual for the new fiscal year 2026, appointment of various um professional services including attorneys and a district purchasing agent. uh authorization to participate in various shared services and cooperative purchasing arrangements. a good number of uh contracts for various services and tuition contracts as well as a report from the Department of Talent and Labor which um which lists appointments, recalls, separations, some retiree and sick and vacation payouts as well as approval of um personnel contract and also uh listing of

120stipens for grade level and chairperson. persons and safe haven as well as some extra work and various field trips, fundra fundraisers and travel requests. Um if there's um let me see. So I will put it to the superintendent to request a motion to approve. >> I'm sorry. Yes. A motion to approve. >> You want me? >> Um, is there a motion to approve the the board actions? >> Yes. Okay. And a second? >> I. >> Okay. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion approved. And is there a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion to adjurnn. Yes. So, yes. In accordance with powers vested in the state district superintendent according to NJSA 18A 7A through 35. I hereby approve all September 2025 board agenda items. If nothing more, board secretary, please call for a motion

121to adjourn the meeting. And is there a motion to >> motion to adjourn?