CNTS BOE Mtg 11.19.25

001Yeah, she'll be here. We're going to start. Um, okay. Good evening, everybody. I'd like to call to order uh for the meeting of the board of education, November 19th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom of the administration building at 70 Connor Road, Cold Snack, New Jersey. Uh, Mr. Morasco, can I please have a roll call? >> My microphone is on. Mrs. Hammer >> here. >> Mrs. Horowitz >> here. >> Mr. Or >> here. >> Mrs. Ramirez. >> Mr. Retta. >> Yes. >> Present. Mr. Scales >> here. >> Mr. Scarpa. >> Mrs. Vali >> here. >> Mr. Walsh >> here. I have a quum. >> Great. Thank you. Pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 231, this meeting has been duly advertised in the Asbury Park Press in a schedule of meetings dated January

00216, 2025, March 4th, 2025, notice of which has been filed with the deputy clerk for the Coeneck Township and the requirements of posting of notices have been met. If we can rise for the flag salute and stand for the national anthem. Thank you. >> I aliance to the of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nationy and justice for Okay. Um, we are going to get started. Um, I'd like to get a motion to move u u move the minutes uh from October 7th. Uh, the two meetings from October 7th and one on October 15th. I'm sorry. Can we recognize Mrs. Ramirez? Uh, she just arrived. motion. >> Second. >> Anybody have any questions or comments on uh those minutes? >> Okay, seeing none, if I could get a

003roll call. >> Yes. On the uh minutes. Mrs. Cameron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Horowitz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rico. >> Yes. >> Seeing Mrs. Ramirez is here. Mrs. Yes, for the um October 7th uh committee of whole meeting minutes and yes for the October 15th regular meeting minutes but I was remote for the October 7th meeting. So I was not present for the executive session. Therefore I need to abain. >> Thank you Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scarpa. I'm take that back. Mrs. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Thank you. The motion did carry. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. We are going to move right into uh we have a very special presentation this evening. Uh we are honoring several students who did a fantastic job with

004a perfect score uh on the NJSLA testing which is a remarkable uh achievement. So this board uh wants to give your full attention to Dr. Garvey as she presents these awards to our fine students tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you President Vulp, members of the board of education and friends and family who have come here this evening. Tonight we have the absolute privilege of recognizing an exceptional group of 11 outstanding learners from the Colts Neck Township Schools who earned perfect scores on the 2025 spring NJSLA assessment. Let's give them a round of applause for do that. [applause] Achieving a perfect score is an extraordinary accomplishment. It means that a student has demonstrated the highest possible level of mastery on a demanding standards aligned assessment designed to measure deep understanding, critical thinking, and readiness for future

005academic challenges. To appreciate the magnitude of this achievement is important to understand what these assessments entail. In English language arts, the ELA assessment measures a student's ability to read and comprehend a range of grade appropriate texts, synthesize ideas, and write effectively when using and analyzing resources. In mathematics, the mathematics assessments evaluate students competencies in major and supporting grade level content, mathematical reasoning, and the ability to model and solve realworld problems. Some students enrolled in specific high school math courses like algebra or geometry may even take the corresponding high school assessment in place of their grade level test. To earn a perfect score across these rigorous components is a reflection not only of exceptional academic ability but but of perseverance, curiosity and a commitment to excellence. So without further ado, I would love to recognize our

006students who earned our perfect scores. So we have some who are actually have moved on to their high schools and are coming back to celebrate their accomplishments in eighth grade with us. So first I would like to bring up we will do our ELA perfect score achievers. Um so first now a ninth grader uh who earned a perfect score of an 850 on eighth grade ELA, Miss Kayla Burkner. [applause] >> [applause] >> Also in eighth grade, now a ninth grader grader, Miss Solana Colmer. [applause] also in ninth grade, but in eighth grade, Victoria Franco Hernandez, who isn't with us tonight. [applause] Also eighth grade, now a ninth grader, Autumn Reinick, who is not with us tonight. [applause] current uh current eighth grader but in seventh grade who also couldn't be here with us tonight. Miss

007Sophia Buchet [applause] in sixth grade now seventh grader. Zachary Dunn [applause] now eighth grader but in seventh grade perfect score in ELA. Daniel Shapiro, [applause] firsttime test takers now in fourth grade who earned perfect scores in four in third grade. Charlotte L. Dotti, [applause] another third grader, firsttime test taker, now in fourth grade, Gabriella Kix [applause] and fourth uh in fourth grade, ELA, who Now, fifth grader Kyle Nicholson. [applause] Okay, moving on to our mathematics. We had two mathematics students, both middle schoolers, who earned perfect scores in mathematics. Um, seventh grader, you heard this name before, now in eighth grade, seventh grade math, pre-alggebra, Sophia Buché, who could not be here with us. [applause] Also not able to be here with us this evening, but so worthy of recognition, uh, eighth ninth, sorry, eighth grader

008in seventh grade who completed advanced algebra and took the high school algebra assessment, Mr. Daniel Shapiro. [applause] To our 11 honores, whether you're here with us tonight or listening from home, we are so proud of you. Your achievement brings pride to our schools, your families, and the entire Colts Neck community. You remind us what can be accomplished through hard work, perseverance, and a love of learning. Congratulations to each of you on this remarkable, remarkable accomplishment. Thank you. [applause] >> Uh thank you. I just want to reiterate um and echo the same sentiments as Dr. Garbay. We are extremely proud of you. You make our district shine. Um and I just want to point out our principles are here today too. Um uh Mr. Osman and Dr. uh Riby uh they work so hard in leading

009um both of our campuses and we appreciate all your dedication you give to our kids. This is the moment we live for in this district. So for you know I want to express our sentiment from the board that we appreciate you uh very much and thank you for all that you do. Um, [applause] >> uh, yes, sure. We're going to, um, go in right into our, uh, student liaison. I'd like everybody to stay for that. It won't be too long and then we will go into a recess and those of you that want to leave, uh, at that time, you may do so. Um, so do you want to start with Mrs. or >> yeah, whoever would like to go up first. These are our stu just for the public who has doesn't normally attend

010our meetings. We put in um a student liaison program last year and um we Yeah, come on up. Yep. Um you could put the um mic on. And uh these young ladies are student liaison in our district. And what they do is they report out uh what goes on and certain ideas that they bring forth to the board. We listen and then we try to uh help them achieve uh you know their initiatives. So if you want to start you may do so. >> Hello. I am an eighth grader in the Cedar Drive. I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Rigby and Dr. Gary on Monday to discuss my ideas regarding the destruction of computers. I shared my ideas of having a midyear computer check-in. During the meeting, we came up with the idea

011of having Mr. Tuscono visit each of the 24 home rooms to check over each computer. We will still need to check in with him about this though. We also came with the idea of emailing the parents about this situation. At this time, two students have already been fined. >> Wow, that's excellent. We appreciate the uh the report back. I know that uh just for the public, you know, we facing in our district, we have, you know, computers that cost about $300 and a lot of times, you know, we do get students that, you know, tend to destroy their computers in some fashion. And um you know, Kira brought it up at a meeting uh with me and Dr. about how we can combat this to save money for our district, preserve our technology, and uh

012she's doing a fantastic job uh representing the student body and seeing how we could improve in this particular uh aspect. So, thank you so much for your time, and hopefully we [snorts] will not be spending $30,000. That's what it costs our district, $30,000 to repair broken or vandalized computers. So with this initiative uh thanks to Kira's motivation uh to save money for a district where we could use those funds elsewhere. So we are so proud of you for bringing this forth to the board. Thank you so much. EXCEPTIONAL [applause] you're up next. >> Good evening everyone. I'm back with uh two new ideas for you guys tonight. First up, I was being told by a lot of students that there should be a time where students and staff can get snacks in the school, not

013during lunchtime. You see, a lot of people stay after school and some don't have a snack to eat, which makes people very hungry in the afternoon. That results in kids taking their peers unwanted snacks. Having the school store or some way to be able to buy more food will be a benefit to all. There will be all sorts of food like chips or healthy options like carrot and celery sticks. And we would be sure to include some snacks for students that have allergies. But you may be wondering, why can't they just bring an extra snack from home? Well, some students don't have enough snacks to bring an extra one or will eat them all at lunch. And some may not be able to buy a snack in the lunchroom for later in the day. There

014is one more concern. We cannot sell this food during the lunch during lunch periods when the cafeteria is open. However, we can make sure that the that all food outside of the cafeteria is off is off limits for the day. And then after school, students that are staying for an activity can go and grab a bag of chips or a packet of celery sticks or any snack that their heart desires. Um that way that we're not selling food during the time when the cafeteria is open. Another uh I or another concern that I have is um about the music department. Every year we have our advanced choir Colt and Jasbine poinsetta fundraiser. The funds that each student makes goes towards their final payment for the for the trip to Hershey Park. The more money the

015students make, the less their parents have to pay. There is however a large population of students who cannot sell poinsettas due to the fact that they don't hang up wreaths or poinsettas due to them being more related to Christmas. That means that they can't sell them and they don't make any money that goes towards their trip fund. So, I propose that there can be a poinsetta fundraiser and maybe another fundraiser for like chocolate or cookies or anything that the other students that can partake in the poinsetta and wreath fundraiser can sell, meaning that there would be two fundraisers. I understand that having two fundraisers would be harder to manage, but I also or sorry uh sorry, but I find it to be I find it that um some students feel left out because they can't

016sell anything like uh like my family my family is Jewish and we don't buy poinsettas because they don't because we don't celebrate the holiday. And although there are blue and gold wreaths, they still coincide with Christmas, we can come up with another fundraiser to help the other population of students fund raise for their trip that they can partake in. Chocolate, cookies, anything you name it. The possibilities are endless. But the main goal for this is to make sure that everyone feels included. I know a lot of students who can't partake in this fundraiser and I feel that they need to be um I feel that they need to be recognized and that there's another fundraiser that they can do. Uh I just want to say uh congratulations to everybody that got a perfect score on

017the NJSLA. Huge achievement. Congratulations. [applause] That's all I have for you today. Thank you. Have a great night, everybody. [applause] >> Um, Mrs. Mrs. Dina, I just want to ask a question if I may. Um, if you could just um bring me up to speed. So, for the Hershey trip, there was no prior fundraiser for the students. Correct. Is that what I got? Or or there was and you're just looking to incorporate this new idea? Yes. Okay. >> Okay. I I just want to make sure that's what I heard. Okay. Great. That's that's a great idea that you're incorporating different aspects, different people who have observed different holidays and to include them in this. So, I thought that was an exceptional idea. So, we certainly would love to revisit this. Um, you know, and and

018I know the class trip is until May, right? So, we have a lot of time to think about it. But I think it's a fantastic idea and I think we should, you know, we can move forward and I'm sure with the help of Dr. Riby, we can establish something where we can get, you know, sell, uh, you know, appropriate stuff for different people in our district. So, thank you so much for bringing it forth. >> Yeah. >> Um, I love this idea of an additional fundraiser. And I did want to ask too, I do believe um, that there are like Chipotle fundraisers as well. >> So, like out fundraisers, >> I believe we may doing another fundraiser like that, but I'm not fully sure. But that's not um I was sorry I'm blanking. Um >>

019it's okay. >> But uh I was thinking to do like another separate or not separate fundraiser, but a co-undraiser for the students so that way they can like practice like public speaking skills and like good salesmanship and like sell other things. Not just poet make sure I was right about the chipotle as well and um adding what we already did. Thank you. >> Does anybody on the board have any questions for our two liaison for either initiative? >> Okay, great. Um thank you very much, Mrs. Dina. Um I just wanted [applause] um while I have the attention of uh those families that are here with your children, we will be sending out uh you know a survey or a questionnaire about who would like to uh be liaison for this coming year. So keep this

020in mind if your children would like to join our liaison our current leaison uh Dr. Garve Bay will be putting out that um questionnaire or volunteer form and we're looking forward to get a total of nine board leaons. So, nine of us and corresponding nine student liaison. So, keep that in mind. Spread the word. We're looking to uh recruit some uh new faces on our liaison board. And thank you very much, ladies. Excellent job. Thank you. Yep. At this time, we're going to take five minutes. If those families would like to leave, they could do so at this time. If you want to join uh the rest of the meeting, you're welcome to do so, but we're going to take a quick fivem minute recess. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Uh, hold on guys. If anybody

021wants pictures, you can do so now. You could ask. We could do pictures. How are you? for me. Absolutely. I wanted to I understand. >> That was excellent. It wasn't so of school. something closer to hotel in stone every year to be able to do this. Now >> I tell you with my family on audience. >> That's okay. That's all right. Thank you for clearing that fantast. Okay, go ahead. Check on. Okay, we're going to be starting in about um one minute. Okay, we're all good to start everybody. All right, we're going to resume at this time. Uh we are going to take a look. We have several communic actually quite a few communications. Um, if anybody wants to take a quick look at that, you're welcome to do so. I just want to make

022a comment on the communications. Uh, there's a considerable amount of them. I made a commitment when I became president to answer every communication that came through this district. Um, I will certainly be doing that. I do not think I'm going to make the 24hour um time frame that I committed in January. Um, but I am going to do my best and if I need be, I will tap part of this board to help me respond to some of these communications to make sure that everybody's voice was heard. Uh, moving on. We're going to go right into my president's report. Okay. All right. Good evening, everybody. Once again, our district has been incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks, and I'd like to take a moment to highlight some of the meaningful events and accomplishments

023happening across our schools. On November 11th, I had the honor of speaking at the Veterans Day community event at CDMS and welcoming our veterans. Mrs. Camera and Mr. Scarpa joined me along with many members of our community. Uh CDMS did a fantastic job organizing a thought a thoughtful and heartfelt ceremony. Thank you to Dr. Garbe, Dr. Wigby, our administration staff, and especially our students who did a phenomenal job expressing their gratitude to the men and women who serve in our military. So, thank you very much. As we discussed at our last meeting, the board is extremely proud that all three of our district campuses have achieved Purple Star School status. This is an exceptional honor that recognizes our commitment to supporting military connected students and families. I want to once again thank our administration and

024staff who work tirelessly to put our military families first. Mrs. Cameron and I were thrilled to see Dr. Garay and her team recognized for this fantastic significant achievement. So, thank you for all that you do. Right. Earlier today, I had the pleasure of attending our first Tunnel to Towers assembly at Cedar Drive Middle School. With the board's full support and the help of Dr. Garbe, we have successfully incorporated the Tunnel to Towers curriculum into our district. We are honored. We were honored to welcome our guest Anthony Reinhardt, the speaker who shared his powerful firsthand account of the tragic events of September 11th and the heroic efforts of everyday men and women, including the police and fire departments of New York City. It was profoundly moving assembly and I'm confident that this program will continue in

025our district for many years to come. I want to shout out a special thanks to the Tunnel to Towers organization for all that they do and for Mr. Reinhardt for sharing his ex uh experience with our kids. I also like to thank um uh Anthony Buffaloano. He is a resident of Colts Neck. He serves on the board to Tunnel to Towers uh and he does an exceptional job donating his time raising money for the families uh affected by that horrific tragedy. Uh, so thank you. As discussed at our last cow meeting, our bus arm camera program initiative by Mr. Walsh has so far been a huge success. I've reached out to Mayor Bus respectfully requesting that revenue generated from our initiative be reimbursed back to the district, specifically the estimated $14,000 to purchase the cameras.

026I would also like to see some continued revenue put back into our district for future safety and security measures. I am currently awaiting uh her response. Uh I'll report back once I receive that. Lastly, we will be opening back our advocacy and government relations ad hoc committee. Uh I'm excited that uh we'll be revisiting that and uh I will expand on that later during my advocacy report. Uh that concludes my president's report for this week. Uh we are going to move right into the board liaison reports. Uh we're going to start with Mrs. Haritz with the parent advisory committee. >> Yep. No problem. We held two successful pack meetings focused on student use of the district issued devices. Uh Dr. Garvey reiterated that this remains an important u parent concern and highlighted the district's commitment

027to transparency and balanced technology use as reflected in our district goals. She also noted that teacher perspective will be incorporated uh into this ongoing work. Um parents received a high level overview during this uh both sessions about the district cyber security and content filtering measures um with documentation provided by Mr. Petrillo. Dr. Garay also announced plans to pilot a parent app which offers families greater insight and control into uh device activity. We will also have more information and details as that continues to be finalized. Additionally, uh to strengthen communication, the district will launch um a pack questions and concern form for families as well as collect teacher input for classroom device use which uh we'll be able to share at future meetings. >> Great. Uh thank you so much. You could roll right into the

028PTO if you don't mind. >> Yep. So, yesterday was a color run. Um it looked like a great event and I just want to thank the PTO and everyone involved for making it uh such a success. Um the elementary school store will be November 24th and 25th. Um the school spirit holiday popup shop closes tomorrow. So make sure you get your orders in. Um the Shake Shack donation day is going to be November 25th from 11 to 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the location in in Eatentown. Um, Frosty's holiday shop is Saturday, December 6th. Uh, the PTO's general meeting will be December 10th at 9:30 in the admin building. And last but not least, the eighth grade breakfast will be Tuesday, December 23rd. >> Great. A lot of good things coming up. Thank you.

029>> Anybody have any questions, comments? Okay. All right. Moving right into the Colts Township school newsletter. Uh, Mrs. Camera. Our next newsletter will be distributed before winter break. Um it's going to feature um today's tunnel for towers assembly as well as this Thursday's veteran. >> Great. Excellent. Looking forward to seeing that addition. Uh the Colts Township School Arts, Sports, and Extra Extracurricular Activities. Mr. Agnetta is um participating virtual, so he will do his report. >> Yes. Uh just that the uh the rec basketball for uh preK to 8th grade is uh the sign up is still going on through the Colts next sports foundation. Unfortunately, early bird uh sign up has now passed. Um so sign up now for uh each child is $245 for the season. Um the season starts Saturday, December 13th. Uh

030so if you're interested in having your child or they're interested in playing, please uh sign up for that. go to team snap to sign up or go to um cosmetic sportsfoundation.com for more information and um also tonight is the cosports foundation um board members uh their their votes uh their election the election uh so I just wanted to say thanks to all who put their hat in the ring uh to be involved in the co sports foundation and congratulations to everyone who will will be winning and we look forward to a very successful 2026. Thank you. Great. Uh, thank you, Mr. Regnet. I appreciate the update. Moving uh, back to Mrs. Camera for the Cold Township uh, committee. >> Okay. The most recent township committee meeting was held on Wednesday, November 12th, which I listened

031to via live stream. Um, the pack meeting opened with a moment of silence in memory of veteran Andrew Latano, who served in in the United States Army. Um, he was a man of deep faith. Um, a devoted parishioner at St. Mary's Church, an active community volunteer, and a longtime member of Neck Lions Club. His work helped bring rail trails and sensory playgrounds to local parks, reflecting his lifelong commitment to inclusion and service and service. Um, Councilman Rosetta, Councilman Biola, and Mayor Bus reminded residents that all agendas and resolutions are posted on the township web. And they highlighted resolution 2025-190 urging the New Jersey state legislature to defeat S4736. So, what is S4736? So, it's a bill introduced in the New Jersey state legislature. Uh the main purpose it would allow certain properties owned by religious

032or nonprofit or nonprofit organizations um for example churches or tax exempt organizations to be converted into inclusionary developments with affordable housing units. So under the bill these conversions would become a permitted use meaning that the municipal zoning the land use board would have to allow them if they meet certain requirements. So the bill is seen by the Colts committee as preempting local zoning control because it limits the ability of towns to say no to such conversions if they meet the bill's criteria. So the resolution um 2025-19 why it really matters. Um the township's asking the state legislation legislator to defeat the bill. Um the township is saying we do not want the state to pass this bill because it would limit our local control over zoning and decisions and the resolution expresses a position that

033local municipal zoning laws should not be overridden by statewide mandates in this way. So S4736 is the bill. The resolution is 2025-190, the local stance opposing it. So um what they're asking for residents to do um is to consider writing to Senator Gal, our assembly woman opposing the bill. Um, I personally support the resolution because if the bill is passed, it's going to affect traffic, school capacity, infrastructure, neighborhood character, etc. Um, then the board of ed got a round of applause. Um, they um, very nicely, Councilman congratulated all of us. Um, our our three township schools being the Purple Star Schools. Um, he also recognized the successful installation of school bus cameras under M Mr. Walsh's leadership. Um, we already have 10 violations. The penalty is $250 and five points. So, it's a deterrent, but

034most importantly, we care about student safety. Um, there was an update on affordable housing, which I will let Rob talk more about. Um, Councilwoman, um, Sue Fitzpatrick talked about the Cedar Drive Middle School Veterans Day event. And, um, We want to thank the women's club for donating all the food as well as their time. Um, Councilman Fitzpatrick also noted on efforts to preserve farmland and open space, including submitting applications for funding to purchase additional land. Um, committee mano thanked the fire police and EMT personnel and told us about an upcoming ebike safety initiative that it will be done by Chief Devito. amilies on rules and safe riding practices. So, um I already requested that the electrical bike bicycle safety poster be added to our website and um Dr. Garbe will be reaching out to him

035and hopefully we'll have some you know safety assemblies as well. Um also the Colts police and the Colts PBA are excited to participate in the Central State Healthcare Foundation MO for November. Um, so they are sporting beards for fundraising to raise awareness for men's cancer programs and research at center states. There's a link on the on Facebook to donate um to their campaign. So please like the Colts Neck Township Police Department. Um the residents are invited to upcoming events including the historic preservation event at Montro School on December 7th featuring Santa, music, and food. And then also um that same weekend on December 6th and 7th uh the Colt Volunteer Fire Department presents Breakfast with Santa. So I'll remind the community as we go on. Um Mayor Rush shared that the oldest distiller distillery in

036the United States is creating a museum and tasting room upon approvals. And um the last thing is Colt recently delivered 500 pounds of food. Naval Weapons Station Earl and residents are encouraged to continue contributing. Um, please drop off any food items um by December 8th at the Colts Neck General Store. This is sponsored by DTAR, Daughters of the American Revolution. And really, the the meeting ended after many questions and comments largely focused on affordable housing. Residents are strongly encouraged to listen to the discussion via live stream. I'm just picking a few things. There's a lot more. Um, and the township committee is seeking residents interested in serving on local committees. If you're interested, you can complete the citizen leadership form on the township website. Their next meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 10th at

0377 p.m. >> Great. That was a lot. Um, just to take note, um, to the board, I u requested Dr. Garay put that little sub bullet point, the Colts uh, 250th anniversary committee report. Phyllis is going to be the liaison to that and instead of making uh like an actual liaison position since it's only going to be a short while we're going to just continually put it underneath that bullet point. So if you want to continue with that report. >> Okay. So the cult township 250th celebration committee met on November 6th and I wanted to share an update on the upcoming events and opportunities for our school to be involved. So the committee it was purposely um made of different town professionals the recreation director um someone from the Colts neck historical society the colneck

038business association the women's club the senior club um and a resident even who's involved in revolutionary war reenactments just you know just to really get a a great perspective um the first township event is going to be February 1 that's that's our kickoff um February sorry event one is February 22 2026. So it's happy birthday George Washington dinner. It's going to be at the Colts neck in. It's a sit down dinner with George Washington. There's going to be a reenactor. Music Applejacks cocktails and more. It's going to be $100 per person. It's open to the public. Um the next event is not till May 6, but it does involve the school. That's the only reason why I'm mentioning it mentioning it now. It's the CNBA, the business association, the sponsored barn tour. So, they are

039requesting approximately five school buses. They're thinking about 40 adults per bus. Um, the numbers are to be determined. I already drafted a follow-up email to start working out the logistics and timing and hopefully the district will be able to accommodate and also hopefully um financially benefit. So, um Dr. Garbe um is kind of waiting for me to get answers to certain questions and then we'll be moving forward. Um, miscellaneous. The town plans to purchase 1776 flags and I would love the board to join that order so we can have these flags around all three school buildings. Great. Um, and then the committee would love to include our schools in the township celebration. And one suggestion is for our students to create a 2027 commemorative calendar for Colts neck recreation. So they work on it in

0402026 and then it would be published for 2027. Um with each grade taking one month and designing a page around a patriotic theme. So approximately one winner per grade along with a cover and back cover again to be completed in 2026. So some ideas would be you know artwork or poetry about American history freedom our neck community um artwork dealing some of our historic neck landmarks photos of students participating in patriotic activities. So, um, that's where we are and then during our C meeting I'll talk about some other ideas, but that's that's a good starting point for today. >> Great. Yeah, that's definitely a lot. >> Just as a question, we we'll be talking about this in the district level as well. Um, is the township committee going to be putting forth a contest like

041the information to parents? Are they looking for us to design it? >> You know what? We just started talking about it. I'll get more information the next time. This is actually being done through the uh Department of Recreation, the um calendar. Oh, and the last thing is sorry, one more thing. Um Mammoth County Library Programs has a um a guide for free educational events and activities connected to the America's 250th. And we will also be putting the link on the school website and across all our social media platforms. Again, these programs offer great learning opportunities for our students. And our next meeting is uh December 4th. Excellent. Anybody want to comment or uh questions about anything? Phil. >> Okay. Um we are going to move right into the Colts Township Planning Board and subcommittee. Um

042Mr. Scales and Mr. Walsh, whoever would want to take that. >> Cool. >> Um yes, so busy week um with the planning board. I think uh most residents were aware of a uh erroneous text message that came out um that was it was intended to stir um issues within the town uh versus the township committee because there's a number of different um developments that are are going up. uh what occurred was the exact opposite which I think it what it did is it it actually informed both parties of what the proposals of affordable housing and overdevelopment was versus what we've been told by um the town but it was a very successful meeting as you attested to there was a lot accomplished during that meeting um however um I updated our um board of education

043housing impact fact sheet. We now have version three that's posted on our website. Just wanted to um alert some pretty alarming numbers if if you will let me indulge. Um so the what the text message spoke about was a development um called the Wellspring development. This is a potential of 700 um units. 700 units. The next one was uh Dutch Lane and Boundary Road. a proposal of 250 units. So if we apply the same math towards the Lavana Square fact sheet that I had provided, what this will cause is a total over district capacity of 129 130 students. So as I've I've spoken before and been pretty adamant since I came on the board. current enrollment um I don't have the updated numbers for this year but I believe about 2016 if that sounds still

044familiar right now max capacity at our schools are 1302 what that capacity would um entail is the reconfiguration and uprooting our students and our teachers by changing the classrooms right and that's only at 1302 this with this new developments that if there is shovel in the ground we will be at 1431, again 130 over. So, what I would recommend um to our board and what I'm recommending to our our town council is to declare a preemptive uh school capacity condition. Um this is a declaration of we cannot take on this amount of students without a substantial financial injection into our town. More importantly, we cannot take on the safety for our students. And more importantly, I encourage our union, our local union and the NJA, which are very, very adamant about their advocacy for affordable

045housing and developments. What I would encourage them is to take a page out of the book in Middletown, New Jersey in 2002, which I've been very vocal about. My freshman year in 1998, my teachers went on strike because of over capacity of our schools. I lost my freshman year in 2002. There was again overcapacity at our schools in Middletown and we couldn't fit our students. So, we had to have uh we had to have a essentially a trailer come in. We had a bubble come in. Our teachers went on strike again. I lost my senior year education. So, I cannot stress this enough that the state has imposed these restrictions that our town is doing as best as they possibly can because we do have to conform to the law. But what I ask from

046an advocacy standpoint is of course we will conform to the law. We do what we're told. will challenge as much as we can, but we need everyone within Colts Neck because our way of life and the way that we educate our students will change dramatically and we will have trailers all over the school property and children will be going in and out and erroneous safety concerns. So again, I'll leave it at that for the public to look. Again, go directly onto our website and look at the um ad hoc affordable housing. It's called I'll give you the exact name. It's this the Colts Board of Education housing impact fact sheet volume three. Click on affordable housing and you will see all the district stats the most up-to-date that we know from the town. So that

047is the end of my report. I'll take any questions that anyone has. >> Um anybody have any? >> Yeah, I just like to add the tax impact in this town. It's going to be incredible. 30 students possibly 34,000 a significant tax increase for all our residents forced imposed by our state. This is ridiculous. Really is forced housing the community we all worked hard to move to for quality of life. I'm not against the people that move in. I'm not the force imposition forced housing in our beautiful town of Coulson is absurd horrendous for mandate of housing. You go down 537 horrendous love on it. It's an eyesore financial impact. We as a board of education regardless have to educate these kids, give them the best education we have. We can that's our responsibility. So it's

048nothing against the kids that come here. But I move to this town for a reason. open spaces, you know, beautiful roads, horse farms being ruined, taken away from us. I looked into suing the state, the first district in the state of New Jersey to sue. Got a legal opinion today. President, >> yes, I I was going to actually do that during my advocacy, but I could not I was uh at the school today, so I could not take the lawyer's phone call. So, I appointed Mr. Walsh to speak with our legal counsel on uh my request to find out what legal um uh you know recourse we can take. So if you want to report out that's absolutely fine. >> We can't. There's no case because we're still have obligations of round three. Now we're

049in round four. Our town I believe Rob has 130 credits left in round three. >> 138. So here we are. We still haven't satisfied round three. Trying to figure out what we're going to do in the town, where it's going to be built, what kind of housing, and now we have round four. So, our township committee really has to have the planning, the foresight be proactive and looking identify areas in the town. What type of housing does our town want? We all had a couple big meetings with planning board. Senior citizen housing, senior citizen I want to stay in town. Um, military housing for veterans with disabilities, group housing for uh autist autistic children, which we do have a lot of uh children in our school district. The town really's got to really have a

050a plan, a master plan to get this round four finished in 10 years. We have up until 2035 to to do this instead of going back and forth with different fractions at different committes, township committee, the GOP fractured all over the place. I think the town really needs to come together and work together to come up with a really good plan of satisfying the affordable housing, but best suits our township. So, >> okay. >> I looked into the lawsuit and basically, you know, at that end >> I'm sad to hear that, but um we're not going to give up. So, we're going to keep trying whatever we can. So, uh I appreciate you reporting >> brought up lot of fighting back and forth committee actually is trying to do the best they can with affordable

051housing. I think the whole again the town needs to have come together the board of eding board work together as a whole and s what's the best outcome for around final thoughts, Mr. Scales. >> Okay. Uh, thank you. All right. Moving into uh the Colnneck Township seniors. Um, Mr. Walsh, you could continue with that. >> Just want to wish the seniors a happy Thanksgiving and merry Christmas. We're going to extend invitations for chorus and band. We have events in at the school. They're open open invitation for all the seniors out there to come and listen to our kids sing and we have a great band. So again, doctor, I guess put that on the website. >> Please extend an invitation to our president, Mr. Chabel, that our seniors are welcome on our campus to enjoy

052our kids performances. >> Um, if you like, Mr. Walsh, I know there are meeting every Wednesday. I could go in person and uh put out uh like an agenda for them. If if you want to reach out to Mr. Chabel, I certainly don't mind stopping in on the Wednesday. >> Okay. >> Perfect. All right. Uh moving on, we're going to go to the Naval Weapons Station Earl. Uh our relon Mrs. Ramirez. >> Um so no, uh formal updates. We touched on the uh purple star schools. Um so I just wanted to um thank Ida for our naval weapon station leaison for uh putting out the applications. Um it's such an honor. Um I know the whole board has already shared their sentiments. Um but I wanted to make sure that I did as well. Um

053again like I said no other updates. I think you touched on everything um already that went on uh since last meeting. So that's all. >> Okay. Uh great. Thank you. Moving into my state and county school boards associ um representative. Uh we only have one thing. Uh the New Jersey school boards is doing their meeting December 2nd, 6 p.m. at Howell Middle School North. Uh it will cover the three Rs. Uh training uh the roles, responsibilities, and resources if anybody wants to attend. Uh registration is now open via your emails. Um moving on, we added tonight the advocacy and government relations ad hoc committee. If everybody remembers uh um I was doing this about a year ago. I figured we would open it up uh since some things have uh arose since then. Um Mrs.

054Ramirez had and you can you know chime in anytime you want with this. Um Mrs. Ramirez had reached out to me uh probably about a week or so in regards to the um Department of Health's proposed amendments, repeals, and new rules to the vaccination requirements in New Jersey. Uh we discussed it um about um her drafting a position statement for our board. I told her um you know uh I gave her absolutely my support to do it. She drafted a position statement. She put it out to the full board. Uh we had ample time to review it. Uh we basically uh voted an anonymously unanimously to um put forth and make the deadline of I think it was November 14th. Um Dr. helped us submit that position statement. Uh during our action items, I'm going

055to have uh Mrs. Ramirez read the position statement for the public. Uh and I just want to let you know we thank you for advocating for this particular uh item. I think it's very important uh that we um hold our ground on uh our beliefs with this particular these particular changes. I also um requested that Dr. Arab submitted to uh uh Robert uh F. Kennedy, the Department of Health, uh the New Jersey Department of Health along with several other uh other legislators. Uh so, thank you so much for all the time. I know that was uh that took quite a uh quite a number of hours to put through for us. So, thank you so much. Um I want to go back uh to Mr. Walsh. I want to thank Mr. Walsh for initiating um

056and expediting our brand new bus stop arm cameras. As I've repeated several times, we are pleased to hear uh this groundbreaking um this is brown groundbreaking for our district. Uh we're also the first that I know of in Mammoth County uh to uh you know bring this to fruition and our entire fleet of buses are fully equipped now. Um so I basically was talking to Dr. Garvey about this. I'd like to take this uh you know initiative even further. uh we wanted to start uh you know communications with our legislators to try to bring this um you know um to the floor to get it passed as a law in our state. It's it's so important to have these tools that help save you know children's lives and um make the public aware that passing

057a red bus stop arm camera is illegal and you will be charged and now we have the tools to catch people in our district doing it. Um, I'm almost to the point where I want to actually take the video of people running our red light cameras and post it to our website. Um, so, uh, you know, I think maybe as we get more, um, citations on it, I think I'm going to vote to do that. I think people need to be shamed. It's disgusting that people, um, blow through red light cameras on a school bus. Uh those of you who weren't here at the last meeting, um officer uh Tameo uh gave us a presentation. Um he showed us a couple of uh fractions that were caught on camera. This person in a um what

058was the car? Tesla. Yeah, Tesla. and uh you see the child walking right out into the street and the car goes blows right past inches away from this child that goes to this school. It was a it was a disgrace. It was sickening to see actually and they they really need to be shamed. It's just disgusting uh to be honest with you. Um so I want to work with Dr. Garabay to you know um bring this forth um you know to our representatives and see where where it can go. Um so I'm hoping we support from the board uh so we can move forward with that. All right. So that concludes my uh advocacy report. We are going to give the floor to our superintendent Dr. Garvey for her uh weekly report. Thank you. >>

059Thank you. You may have a hear some repetitive things that are said, but as this is our first RAM, this is the first time I get to speak about it as a superintendent and be boast and be very proud of of all the work that's done here. So, first I just want to say congratulations and much thanks and appreciation to our teachers, um, our students. The NJSLA field test has ended. Um, so we get a couple a little bit of a break and then we start up again in the spring. But much thanks to Dr. Reynolds, her team, Mr. Petrillo, the admins, our testing coordinators, the school counselors, and most especially our students who showed up and really did their best in what they're doing. We appreciate their time and efforts for this. Um I

060also uh worked with uh showed uh President Vulpi that the blue ribbon school program is actually going to continue at the state level. They made an announcement and they had nominees from the spring of last year. So it is going to be continuing at the state level which is good news. That's an uh part of the goal that we will continue to be working for towards. Um I just also want to point out that under action item number four tonight to be a recommendation for approval for an amended 2526 school calendar. This was based on feedback that we had talked about regarding spring conferences and especially through the parent advisory this was brought up and then bringing it to the administration and teachers and asking questions. Uh the change on the calendar is to make

061February 25th that Wednesday a full day of regular day of school. So the only half day with evening count with afternoon and evening conferences will be the Thursday the 26th followed by the half day contractual half day for staff on the 27th. Okay. So that's what that part is. and then going on. So, as we we said uh on Tuesday, November 11th, our community came together to honor Veterans Day in a manner that reflects both the traditional and historical significance of this important national observ observ observance, excuse me. Veterans Day has grown into a day dedicated to honoring all American veterans, past and present, who have served our nation with courage, commitment, and sacrifice. Our schools approached this commemoration with an intentional focus on teaching students not only what we honor, but why we honor

062it. Tomorrow, students and staff at Crest and CRPS will come together for a joint schoolwide meeting for a very special Veterans Day program designed specifically for our younger learners to experience the meaning of Veterans Day and all who we celebrate and honor. I want to extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to our our staff, administration, teachers who put much effort in preparing lessons and special events to commemorate Veterans Day. Our music department support these events with patriotic performances. Students speeches uh students at the middle school write letters uh to our local veterans, their student art work, and symbolic gestures of appreciation. I am very proud of how our staff and students approach this observance with respect, sincerity, and a commitment to honoring veterans in a way that is both educational and heartfelt. Our efforts reflect

063the district's dedication to fostering civic awareness, historical understanding, and gratitude for all of who have served our country. Thank you to our teachers. Thank you to our board for allowing us to support these initiatives. And most importantly, thank you to our veterans for making Veterans Day recognition meaningful and coming to our schools to help support our students learning for this most memorable day. Purple Star School designations. I am incredibly proud to announce again for the manyth time and I won't get tired of doing it that Cedar Drive Middle School, Connor Road Elementary School, and Connor Road Primary School have each been officially designated as Purple Star Schools by the New Jersey Department of Education. This prestigious recognition is a testament of our district's steadfast commitment to supporting the unique needs of military connected students and

064their families. It's been a few years in the making. We learned about it and we are very proud of it. The Purple Star designation is awarded to schools that demonstrate exceptional dedication to creating welcoming, responsive, and inclusive environments for children whose parents or guardians serve in the armed forces. To earn this honor, schools must meet rigorous criteria, including establishing a dedicated military point of contact, providing transition supports for incoming and outgoing military connected students, and engaging in schoolwide activities and trainings that promote understanding and appreciation of military service. This recognition signifies far more than a checklist of things that we just do. It reflects our district's values. It affirms that our schools prioritize stability, compassion, and continue and continuity for students who may experience frequent trans transitions, extended separations from loved ones or other challenges

065connected to military life. It shows that we honor the sacrifices of our service members, not only through ceremonies, but through daily actions that ensure their childrens feel seen, supported, and valued. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the staff, administrator, students, and families of all three schools whose dedication made this made this achievement possible. I am especially grateful to Mrs. Ida West Jones, our naval weapon station uh school liaison, Dr. Erica Reynolds, Mr. Jerry Mercer, Miss Mary Milano, Dr. Colin Riby, Mr. James Osman, and Mrs. Trisha Bar for the time and effort they contributed to the extensive application for each school. I would also like to thank our school counselors, Mrs. Helms, Mrs. Rouseo, Mrs. Wrigleman and Mrs. Groinger as well as our teachers and support staff who really are the true leaders in supporting our

066military connected students and families each and every day in their classrooms. The Couls Township School District is deeply proud to stand among the New Jersey Purple School Star Schools and we remain committed to serving military families with dignity and the care they deserve. I take a little pause there. [laughter] I also want to congratulate I know Mrs. Haritz mentioned our color run. It was so much fun. And it was our first uh turkey color run and we had about 350 people who signed up and showed up to run. Uh students, community members, uh parents and it was a lot of fun. Uh uh very colorful and [laughter] and uh but we want I certainly want to thank Mrs. Amato and Mrs. Ventries for organizing such a fun afternoon with our PTO and our district wellness

067community uh uh committee for partnering together uh for such a great event for our children and and for our community. really was a lot of fun. Um, that being said, I just want to conclude my superintendent report noting that next week is Thanksgiving and as a school community, um, we it's a time for family, friends, loved ones to gather and to be grateful and to be present with them. We all get swept up in the busyiness of the holiday and preparing and cleaning and all the things that happen, the invitations, who's coming, who's not coming, who's bringing what, who's not bringing what. remember the spirit of it, which is gratitude and thanks and appreciation. And as the superintendent of schools, I want to extend my sincerest uh happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of

068the board members as well as the members of of the Coulseneck community. Enjoy your families and be well. That concludes my superintendent report. >> Great. Thank you for those kind words, Dr. Bar. Okay, we are going to move on. Um we have a couple of information items listed here. Um everybody wants to take uh notice uh one and two of the information items. Once you have uh reviewed that, we are going to open up the um floor to public comment. At this time, if you'd like to make a public comment, please come up to the podium. You can state your name and address for the record. Uh Dr. Yarve is going to fix the podium for us. Great. Thank you. If anybody would like to come up and speak at this time, they're more than

069welcome to do so. >> Oh, yeah. Whoever Yeah, you could form a line. Whatever. Whatever works. If you want to form an orderly line, that's fine. Yep, that's on. As long as the >> Yeah, it's on. >> Yeah. I just need a name and address for the record. Valentina Mendes, Marorrow, New Jersey. Is that okay? >> Okay. Uh, good evening. My name is Val Mendes. I'm here as a parent and not in any board capacity that I sit on. Um, a parent who cares deeply about transparency, partnership, and the well-being of our children. I want to express my strong support for the parental bill of rights uh being considered tonight. What I appreciate most about this is what is being presented is that it's not about politics. It's about restoring trust, strengthening communication, ensuring that

070parents and schools work together. Each section of this bill matters, and I'd like to briefly explain why. First, curriculum transparency. Knowing what our children are learning is the foundation of a healthy parent school relationship. Parents shouldn't be surprised by content in a classroom, especially in today's world where sensitive and complex topics arise. Transparency empowers parents to have meaningful conversations at home, support learning, and feel confident that what's happening in school aligns with family values. When schools are open about curriculum, parents feel included rather than shut out, and that builds trust. Second, access to records and information. We are responsible for our children's education and well-being legally, morally, and emotionally. Having clear, uncomplicated access to academic records, health logs, counseling information, and important school decisions ensures parents can make informed choices. No parent should ever have

071to chase answers about their own child. This guarantees that parents and guardians remain fully involved and fully aware. Third is for notification and consent for health or service changes. This is one of the most important pieces because nothing matters more than a child's physical, emotional, mental well-being. Parents must be notified promptly when there is a health concern, when interventions are being considered, or when a child expresses something significant about their identity or personal needs. Schools are partners, not replacements for parents. This section reinforces that communication must be honest, timely, and complete. Fourth, the right to opt out. Families come from different backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems, and that diversity is part of what makes a community strong. Giving parents the right to opt out of certain instruction, surveys, or content simply respects those differences. It

072prevents children from being forced into materials that conflict with sincerely held beliefs and ensures families retain the ability to guide their child's moral and developmental path. Mobile son fifth, safety and orderly learning environment. Every parent deserves to send their child to school with the confidence that the environment is secure. When threats, bullying, or safety incidents occur, parents must be notified immediately and transparently. This builds accountability on all sides. Six, for privacy and protection of personal data. In a world where technology is everywhere and student data is constantly being collected, parents need reassurance that their child's information is safe. This section ensures that data won't be shared, sold, or mishandled and that parents remain firmly in control of what is collected. That is a basic expectation in 2025 and this delivers it. And seventh, the right

073to be heard. This is about partnership. Parents should never feel like spectators in their own children's education. This guarantees opportunities for parents to speak, ask questions, visit the school, and participate meaningfully in the educational process. It promotes collaboration, communication, and accountability, which is exactly what strong school districts are built on. So, taken together, these rights create a clear and respectful framework that protects children, empowers families, and strengthens the bond between home and school. And I want to thank this board for bringing this forward and for recognizing that when parents and schools work together, children thrive. And I strongly encourage you to continue leading by example. Thank you, Mrs. Lend. I appreciate your comments. >> Hi, how are you? >> Hi there. Good evening. Um, my name is Lucas Benrique. I'm from Middle Sex County. Um,

074I'm here in a professional capacity as a licensed associate counselor and a nationally certified counselor. It is my ethical responsibility as a therapist to provide testimony where I see the potential for harm. I am here to speak against the parental bill of rights, which would operate in direct opposition of policy 5756. 5756 was created to protect young people by preventing forced outing. Outing students without their consent is psychologically damaging, is discrimination, and is illegal in New Jersey. I implore you to recognize that as a body, it is your responsibility to protect every student and reinforce the rights protected by law. The Trevor Project found in 2024 that 40% of unhoused LGBTQ youth reported that they were kicked out or abandoned due to LGBTQ identity. 35% of youth who were who are who were currently homeless

075reported attempting death by suicide in the last year. I ask that tonight you follow the law and by doing so protect the safety of the children who see their schools as a safe place to begin to become themselves. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your respectful comments. We appreciate them. >> Hi, good evening. My name is Sean Highland. I'm from the New Jersey Family Policy Center in Warren, New Jersey. I'm here today on behalf of the hundreds of constituents that we have in Colts neck and thousands of constituents in Mammoth County to say thank you for considering this common sense policy. Thank you for recognizing that the parents in Colts neck genuinely want what's best for their children and that school policies should reflect that reality. Parents are not only taxpayers, they

076are the primary stakeholders in public education. They nurture, protect and guide their children every day. and they deserve transparency. Let me be clear. Parents are not the problem. It is deeply offensive to suggest that moms and dads should have no right to what curriculum is being taught and no right to access student records and no right to be notified of health related decisions and no right to opt out of intrusive surveys. It is both unethical and dangerous to advocate for that extreme position. Yet sadly some do. And I will add that your parental rights policy does not create rights. It simply recognizes and organizes the rights already protected under existing federal law. Keeping secrets from parents violates the family educational rights and privacy act. The protection of pupil rights amendment. and your policy only complements

077the federal protections at the local level and aligns with HR5 in the House of Representatives that passed in 2023 and many other similar bills right now in Trenton sponsored in our state legislature. And finally, let us consider this. 77% of New Jersey adults believe parents should be fully informed what's happening at school. That's not a fringe position. It's a mainstream conviction. And that's why no one runs for school board and no one runs for higher office saying they want to keep seekers from parents because everyone knows that's wrong. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Hello, I'm Dr. Brian Calfman. I live at 1538 Asbury Avenue, Asbury Park, members of the board and concerned citizens and parents. I'm a psychologist from Asbury Park with as with expertise in adolescent development and human sexuality.

078I direct the New Jerseybased national nonprofit Rainbow Quest. We initially focused on simply providing re activity resources for advisors of school gender and sexualities alliances. Our mission expanded beyond helping students connect respectfully with one another. We also aim to educate about historical and cross-cultural heroes who advanced humankind, LGBTQ plus role models. We rarely learn about these heroes, sexual orientation or gender identities in school. But every election cycle, we can't avoid being bombarded with angry, ignorant rhetoric that portrays LGBT plus community members as inferior, deviant, and less deserving of respect and love than their gender conforming peers. The same public figures who aggressively spread this narrative simultaneously demand that these topics be excluded from schools. This leaves the public with a one-sided negative perception of our gender diverse youth. Tonight, you advocate to inform parents when

079their child shows indicators of questioning or expressing their gender or sex in ways that challenge the last century's scientific facts. Consider for a moment that the same outdated science once asserted that normal women had no natural interest in sex and that those who did required medical treatment or involuntary commitment. They espoused women did not have any capacity for sexual pleasure at all. Let that sink in for a second before you continue to repeat what my generation was taught. That there were only two sexes and two genders. We have all learned a great deal since then, and now we know better. Our Rainbow Quest resources are no longer limited to Gay Straight Alliance meetings. We've earned the distinction of being a featured favorite for social and emotional learning by the donor's shoes organization. School districts determined

080to address bullying and student suicide have been ordering our materials for use by teachers in their classrooms. In the five years that Rainbow Quest resources have been in use nationwide, we have received not a single complaint from any parent or teacher, not even Moms for Liberty. Some districts adopt our resources for legal protection against lawsuits arising from a failure to protect all students, while others do so because they believe it better to have academic rather than emotional discussions about who gay people are and their positive contributions to the world. This is not grooming. It is assuring queer students that they um deserve respect, that they are not as deviant or doomed to despair as some would have them believe. The lively classroom discussions that follow can give your students the confidence to trust you, their

081parents, educators, and friends to have the important conversations that promote safe and cohesive communities when they are ready. Many in my generation wished we could have had been honest with our parents about our sex and gender issues. Instead, we were forced into share marriages, deep, dark closets or graves or compelled to live in the shadows and fringes of society. This is not congruent with what I read your mission statement to be about having successful healthy students. Post-pandemic restriction or reductions rather in our collective social and emotional learning skills. and another obstacle to students being outed to their parents before these skills and facts are processed. Advancing this timeline before anyone is prepared could leave the indelible stain of blood on your hands. You can always choose to introduce additional conversations and lessons. But you cannot

082undo the physical and emotional trauma that results from ignorance. It's time to consider what is truly best for your students, not what is most comfortable, expedient, or convenient for parents and administrators who should know better. But how can you know better if you are unwilling to do your homework and learn? I strongly encourage this board um and concerned parents to use one of our Rainbow Quest resources and then revisit these issues. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments, sir. Hi everyone, good evening. Um, my name is Caroline Monahan and I am here with Garden State Equality in protest of the Parents Bill of Rights. As a New Jersey educator and Mammoth County resident, I care deeply about this proposed policy and it's why I'm here speaking despite my extreme fear of public speaking and

083being here right now. Um, so I'm 24 and I grew up in Middletown and I have been in education for most of my working life. I was the coach of Sam's Beach Club swim team and I have run a swim lesson business every summer since high school. You might know it. It's called Sam Swim. Um, if you do, hello. Um, and I am familiar with the Colts Neck area because I have many clients in this town. When I was a student at St. James Elementary School in Redbank, a group of parents advocated and succeeded in removing our sexual health education from our school's curriculum. So, I never knew about sexual health and I didn't even know what my period was when I got it. And this signal to us that sexual health education was something

084taboo for our age. And it therefore became something political. And the older boys on my bus offered my best friend and I $20 to bring them the American Girl doll puberty book. um which only became desirable when the removal of our education taught us that bodies and their changes, processes, diversity, and appearances were not neutral. The absence of sexual health education in my school only served to sexualize and polit politicize these topics and especially my body as a young girl. By allowing parents to opt their students out of sexuality and sexual health education, it signals to the entire student body that these topics are polarizing. It does not have to be this way. Furthermore, as a current fifth grade science educator in the plane planefield school district and as a local swim teacher, it deeply

085concerns me that parents are asserting a right to know the identities of teachers like me. My identity as a bisexual person has nothing to do with how I interact with students in the classroom or swimmers in the pool. If the issue is queer people being teachers and faculty, then the issue is homophobia and that has no place in New Jersey's public school system. I also take issue with the overreaching nature of what parents are constituting as their rights. I believe that parents should be concerned with where their child is going to the bathroom in school if they were if they are learning how to be potty trained, not if they're in high school. This is a gross infringement on students privacy. And if you suspect that your child is going to a bathroom that differs

086from what you might suspect or expect or if you're just curious about where they're going to the bathroom, um I would say just talk to them. Um in high school, I told my parents everything and my mom's here today. She is very politically different than me. Um, so I can confirm that talking works and I do not think that it is a right for parents to use school records in supplement of these types of conversations. In the end, parents will never be able to prevent their child from going up and making choices for themselves. school is a place where students should be able to develop values that might contradict with their parents whether um and yeah and I also just wanted to say that queer students and trans students and teachers like me will always

087exist. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Thank you. >> Uh Lissa Garcia, Middle Sex County. >> Thank you. >> And community organizer with Garden State Equality. Uh but so this testimony was written and is given on the behalf of Lauren Alrech, our senior director of advocacy and organizing at Garden State Equality. Uh good evening members of the Colts Neck Board of Education. It is unfortunate that we find ourselves here again at a Colts Neck Board of Education meeting with the need to speak up for your LGBTQ students, their parents, and your school staff. The last time that we were here, we were speaking about a proposed policy that would include the potential to out students against their will. Uh, and then again about the removal of a policy designed to help school staff

088comply with the law against discrimination. Several months ago, when I wrote to you that we had received word of your proposed parents bill of rights policy, policy committee chairman Robert Scales responded that since I had not seen the policy, it was dishonest for me to register a complaint about it. Except that I am keenly aware of the movement associated with the disingenuously named Parents Bill of Rights. I knew what it would say due to my professional experience and knowledge. And that coupled with the fact that I field regularly occurring calls from families in your district who are concerned by your board's actions, which is an unusual occurrence for community members from a specific school district to regularly reach out to us about your board's words, your board's votes, and what your board members post on

089social media about the tone and the climate that has been created for LGBTQ students in your schools by these words and actions. I've seen the policy now and it was verbatim, the same as the other policies introduced across the country by white rightwing extremists. Mr. Scales has confirmed in writing that this board understands that it is illegal to disclose a student's gender or identity against their will and that the law stands. New Jersey's law against discrimination. New Jersey schools also have a legal obligation to provide inclusive curriculum, a law which also still stands. The proposed policy acknowledges that schools must follow New Jersey state law. So why introduce a policy that skirts the edges of laws that cannot be broken without penalty and creates gray areas for school staff who know the law but may

090feel pressured by the introduction of this policy by what is essentially their governing body to adhere to this. It begs the question, what is the endgame here? What is the message if if that Colts neck is trying to send to LGBTQ students and the school staff who serve them? Parents have always had rights that has not changed nor been altered. And LGBTQ students have the right to be safe and supported at school so that they can focus on learning and just being kids. So just because you can introduce a policy like this and you can um because the law still stands absolutely does not mean you should. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Hi, my name is Mary Cosalino. I'm from Freehold, New Jersey. Um I know that your job is not an easy

091one. I know that we all want active and engaged parents in our communities, in our schools, and in our homes. Not every home is the same. Not every student is protected. It's your job as a board to support and foster the education of the minors that you are entrusted with. I think we all need to take a second and think about that. When we do something like the parents bill of rights, which for the most part reiterates the law, we open a window where those folks who have other agendas, who want to force out kids, who want to push families in directions that they are not in right now, get to occupy that space. And our kids hear it. They may not be at this meeting, although there are a couple here. Kudos to you

092guys, by the way. Um, but they hear it. They hear the rhetoric. They hear the tone. They see the social media posts. We can do better as adults. We really can. >> Thank you for your comments. >> We're going to close public comment after this young lady um there just to make the public aware that'll be the last speaker. Thank you. Good evening. Allison Denoya for Westminster Drive, Colts Neck. Hello all. Um, I would like to address some concerns regarding the recent discussions surrounding the parents bill of rights and the direction in which our board is currently focused. While I recognize that this document, which was rewritten with legal counsel and Dr. Garbay's guidance seems well-intentioned and in compliance with legal standards. I believe that the time and resources spent on creating a new document

093could have been better utilized elsewhere. The discussion held on November 5th raised an important issue regarding parental rights to opt their children out of specific lessons such as those related to LGBTQ plus topics. However, this discussion does not align with the current legal framework and guidelines governing such matters. As I understand it, the current state and federal laws do not provide for blanket opt- out provisions on these topics, and the questions raised by Mr. Reignetta reflect a misunderstanding of these legal standards. This is a key example of where our focus on legal compliance and proper implementation of existing policies must take precedence. The parents bill of rights as it stands may not be necessary may not be necessary given the existing policies and legal frameworks already in place. Rather than creating new documents, I would

094urge the board to prioritize the work that truly needs to be done, such as transferring policies from Strauss Esme to the district's school boards and ensuring that parents can easily find information they are looking for. We should be focused on the work of the board, which includes maintaining clarity, transparency, and efficiency in our existing policies rather than micromanaging individual aspects of the district administration. I respectfully request that the board refrain from any unnecessary duplication of efforts and instead focus on updating and streamlining existing documents and policies to better serve our students, parents, and staff. Ensuring clarity and accessibility in our policies should be the primary goal rather than creating new frameworks that may not add value. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. >> Good evening. Uh, thank you for all of you. Um,

095I know your job is not an easy one. My name is Sue Henderson. I'm actually a resident of Asbury Park, but I'm the co-chair of an organization called Glisten. Uh, but I'm also an educator of 39 years. I had had it 39 years right after CO. Uh, but I don't stop and the job is too important especially for our LGBTQ plus students. I was a guidance counselor for 39 years and I know because I sat in that office that parents had a bill of rights that parents could come in and meet with me at any time and I could give them records fura medical records what are they studying what are they not studying sometimes they even came and sat in classes we don't encourage it but sometimes that happened but here's where the problem

096lies that a lot of states New Jersey and Florida, I can't even relate the two of us together, are carrying this to the extreme where they want to out students. And I sat at the Middletown South meeting where they went through and they voted on this and they were part of a civil lawsuit. And to me, they appealed and to me the only ones getting anything out of this are the lawyers because it's a lot a lot of money. We need to protect our students. I'm going to just tell you two stories of my experience why I'm so passionate about this one. My first couple years at Ocean Township High School, I had a student come to me. He was gay. He was kicked out of his house. He had nowhere to live. A majority

097of that happens. Not everyone has a safe home. I loved hearing parents here talking about how they're here for their students, but as a professional and as a guidance counselor, you would already know that your student is gay because they would feel comfortable and they would already be out to you. And if they're hiding it, then there's a problem because your home is not safe. I had to find him a place to finish high school. Second story didn't end up so well. We had a young lady who was gay, but culturally her her her home and her culture did not accept it. Her school was her only safe place. She even brought her prom date who was another girl. She felt safe. Went to Brookdale for one year. Again, her family wasn't safe. Her home

098wasn't safe. She jumped in front of a train and killed herself. The suicide rate is off the roof. And if you install something like that, you will show your students in your district you you do not support them. Don't go down that road and spend lawyer fee. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> Hi, my name is Jacqueline Sophia London. I live in Keyport, New Jersey. Um, I'm honestly terrified of public speaking. My heart is pounding right now. Um, but I think I owe it to the students, the children, and the younger generations to say something today. Um, I lived in fear my entire life of coming out as transgender. It wasn't until the age of 35 that I finally had the courage to do it after multiple suicide attempts, including shooting myself.

099It is the younger generation and their bravery to come out and be themselves and to see people in schools and their peers accepting them. That's what gave me the courage to come out and be myself. I heard you mention Mr. Shabelle earlier. I grew up with him. I grew up with his family. They were a second family to me. His father was the closest thing I had to a father. I worked in their businesses, all of them. Even then, I would never in a million years have come out and told them that I was transgender. I owe it to these kids now to fight because it is amazing that they had the support in these schools, from their teachers, from their guidance counselors, and from their peers to be themselves. and to take that away

100from them. I know that all of you parents think that your kids come out to you and they would tell you what's going on, but if they really felt comfortable, they would. But the problem is so many don't. And by take by supporting this Bill of Rights, you're taking something away from them. You're going to be hurting them. I I mean, I don't I don't know what else to say. I mean, like I said, I'm so afraid of public speaking. I don't want to be out here. It's cold out. I want to be at home, but I owe it to them. And you owe it to them. You need to take care of their mental health. Because if it wasn't for them and the support that they had that encouraged me to come out and

101be my true self, I probably wouldn't even be here right now. Please do not pass this bill of rights. you owe it to them. And like I said, you parents, I know that you think you're doing something for your kids. I could not imagine the things that I went through as a kid were nothing like if my parents came out here and tried to publicly speak and tried to say no, this isn't right. You you are giving them a message that it is not safe to come out to them, to come out to you. This is not right. And I urge all of you not to pass this. We don't need kids in graves. We need kids graduating from your schools. I know you care about the kids. You're just looking at it all wrong.

102Please don't pass this. >> Thank you for your comment. [applause] >> We'll take one more. Did anybody else want to speak? I I don't want to cut anybody off, but I I wanted to limit >> It's okay. Just two more. Okay. After you two, like I said, I've made a commitment that I would always listen to the public. Um but I also have nine board members that worry about their time as well. >> I'll try and keep um >> my name is Aldo Vuno. I live in Mammoth County, uh Malber. Um I've been following your board pretty closely. um you know everything you guys have been doing and I I gotta be honest it's you know from a resident coming from a resident in a neighboring town I'm a little bit impressed and a little

103bit jealous that I don't have the same thing going on like where I live. I, you know, I can understand everyone that came up here to speak tonight and their concerns and I don't think, you know, I don't see a parental bill of rights as any way to harm a kid. All it like it's all you're doing is reinforcing like the rights that parents have over their children, not students. that's their, you know, like we keep talking about students, but there's a difference between a teacher and their student and a parent and their child. Like at the end of the day, you know, I'm going to be with my kids for their whole life. And when they have an issue, I'm going to have to be the one that helps them through it. You know,

104whatever. You know, they go and they confide in their seventh grade teacher and then they're not going to find the parents don't find out about it. Like, it just doesn't make sense. Like, you know, we're talking about young kids here. We're a K through. I think you guys are too. >> This is a K through eight district, >> right? You know, so we're talking about kids up to 12 years old, 13 years old. Like if it was college, I could understand. But for kids that age, like parents got to be involved. They can't help them if they if they don't know. So I just want to commend you guys. >> All right, last speaker, Danielle Bommo, Marorrow, New Jersey. Um I'm not here on behalf of any board that I sit on. Um, just as

105an individual, um, I wanted to offer a little bit of a different perspective tonight. I'm actually a parent of three young children that will eventually be in Colts neck high school, um, with the children that are in Colts neck schools right now. Um, I don't see the parental bill of rights as a policy, uh, but instead an organization of already existing policies, um, that will exacerbate and allow parents to be more involved in their children's education. I think that's a really beautiful thing. Um I think directing parents uh to how they can be a part of and walk alongside of administrators, teachers, staff, and the board of education um is a tool that all of our all parents um of K38 children would find invaluable. Um I get a lot of parents uh you know

106just through different organizations that I'm on asking how do I get involved? How do I know what how do you know what your kids are learning? How do you know who to talk to? And having it all in one place and directing parents that this is where you can find it is really a just creative um and very very useful um idea and I really wanted to just say thank you um for appointing parents to being involved in their children's education um and I look forward to the day where my children can go to school with the children of Colt Snack um and those involved parents I think they're going to do great things together so thank you Uh thank you for your comment. Um I just want to let the public know that um

107all of us have heard all of you. Um and we understand it's difficult to speak in front of a crowd when you're not familiar with u the district. Um but we we did hear you and uh I respect all of your viewpoints. Uh at this time we're going to close uh public comment. Um we are going to start our action items this evening. Uh, I'd like to get a motion to move action items one through eight. 1 through eight. >> Motion. >> Second. >> On these action items, um, anybody have any questions, comments, concerns? Uh, Mr. Walsh. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. Okay. I thought you were putting your mic. Okay. All right. If nobody has any uh questions or concerns, I'll take a roll call. >> Mr. Mayor, something. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I

108didn't see you. >> No, that's right. Um, was I >> Oh, yes. I'm sorry. >> Okay. >> I am so sorry. Thank you for um calling that to my attention. Okay. Number five under the action items here. This is our position statement that I spoke during my advocacy report um on the vaccine, the new proposed changes. Um since Mrs. Ramirez took the time and um uh to draft this, I'd like to give her the floor to present it to the district. >> Thank Thank you. Um, and I just wanted to um update before I go ahead and read this uh resolution that um as of today there was no um updates to these proposed changes. So um nothing has been uh put in place as of right now. So hopefully that means they're heeding many

109public comments that came through um as of last week and uh perhaps uh considering some changes or not moving forward with it. But um >> great, that's good to hear. I did not know that. Thank you. >> Yes. Um, [clears throat] but in an effort to be proactive and not reactive as a district, um, it is my honor to go ahead and read this. So, this is a resolution submitted to the New Jersey Department of Health's proposed amendments, repeals, and the new rules at NJAC 8:57. And be it resolved that the Colts Neck Township Board of Education approved the following resolution. Whereas the Colts Neck Township Board of Education acknowledges the recent proposed amendments to NJAC by the New Jersey Department of Health, which seek to expand the state's authority over vaccination requirements, reporting, and

110data collection. And whereas while these amendments currently focus on private educational institutions and child care centers, the board recognizes that such regulatory changes have the potential to influence future policy affecting all New Jersey families, including those in public schools. And whereas among the proposed provisions are measures that would permit private schools and child care centers to deny religious exemptions to vaccination, expand access to and require the reporting of private health information by educational institutions and non-medical personnel with penalties for non-compliance and grant the commissioner of health unilateral authority to suspend religious exemptions during declared emergencies. And whereas the Colts Neeneck Township Board of Education believes that these proposed changes, particularly those affecting religious exemptions and the collection and sharing of personal health data, raise significant concerns about their consistency with existing New Jersey law. And

111whereas under NJSA261A-9.1, students are permitted exemp exemptions from immunization requirements when such exemptions are based on bonafide religious beliefs. and the proposed amendments appear to conflict with these long-standing statutory protections which safeguard religious liberty and parental rights. Whereas the board is equally concerned about provisions that would expand the reporting and accessibility of student health information as granting broad access to sensitive medical data, particularly to individuals outside the medical field possess potential risks to privacy, data security, and the trust between schools and families. Whereas families must have the confidence that their children's personal information will be handled responsibly, lawfully, and with respect for confidentiality. And whereas portions of the proposed language remain vague and open to interpretation, creating uncertainty for schools, families, and administrators, and introducing the risk of inconsistent implementation or potential infringement on individual

112rights. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Colts Neck Township Board of Education respectfully requests that the New Jersey Department of Health reconsider advancing these proposed amendments in their current form. And be it further resolved that the board urges the Department of Health to provide greater greater clarity, transparency, and justification for the necessity and scope of these proposed changes before moving forward. Be it further resolved that the board encourages the department of health to work collaboratively with local boards of education, parents, and community stakeholders to ensure that any future regulations, balance public health objectives with the constitutional rights, religious freedoms, and privacy protections of New Jersey families. And be it finally resolved that the Colts Neck Township Board of Education reaffirms its commitment to protecting the rights of all families in its community and upholding

113the right of parents to make health decisions for their children consistent with their faith, conscience, and medical guidance. The board will continue to advocate vigorously to ensure that religious freedoms, privacy, and informed consent remain protected should these or similar provisions be extended to the public school system. Excellent. Mrs. Ramirez, I appreciate all the work put into that and this board fully uh supports this position statement. At this time, I'd like to get a roll call for those action items 1 through eight. >> Yes, you may. Mrs. Cameron, >> yes, >> Mrs. Horowitz. >> Yes, >> Mr. Ro. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Retta, >> yes. >> Mr. Scales, >> yes. Yes, >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Motion carried. >> Great. Uh, thank you. Moving on to buildings and

114ground safety and security. I need a motion. Oh, I'm sorry. There's nothing under there. We're going to move right into curriculum. Sorry about that. I need a motion to move items one through four under uh curriculum. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. Uh, does anybody have any questions or comments on those particular items? All right, seeing none, let's get a roll call for that >> curriculum and instruction items one through four. Mrs. Cameron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Harowitz, >> yes. >> Mr. Ro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rugetta, >> yes. >> Mr. Scales, >> yes. >> Mrs. Buly, >> yes. >> Mr. Walsh, >> yes. >> The motion carried. >> Uh, great. Uh, thank you. Moving on to finance. I need a motion to move items one through three. One through

115three. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Uh, can I get a roll call? Any questions or comments? >> One one question on >> I'm sorry, Mr. >> Number two. First service financial report. I've uh because I can see what my child gets on a daily basis. Um, it looks like there was a 20 to 25% increase in food prices year-over-year. Could we just provide a little bit more clarity on that if that was included in the contract with them? >> Yeah, then we I think we approved the contract in August. It was either late July or August. Um we can certainly I can include that what that contract was uh in my update this week so that we can revisit and look at it. >> Yeah, please. Thank you. >> Of course. >> All right. Great.

116Anybody else? I'm sorry. I just wanted to point out um you see under uh item number three withdrawal from impact aid. Um I know that Mr. Barasco as our layison for the communications for the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools has been sending out some notifications regarding advocacy uh for maintaining that uh and we our district benefits greatly from impact aid um provided through the federal government as well as the the state part of it as well. So, as as I know that we've had conversations and we've added the advocacy back up. Um I think you know Morasco, myself of finance committee, we'd like to have maybe some conversations about continuing to advocate at our district level um for you know the funds that come in to help support our school district in such a

117significant manner. >> Okay, sure. Let's do it. We'll move forward. >> Uh all right. If anybody else uh anybody else Okay. Let's take a roll call on those uh four uh those three items. >> Finance items one through three. Mrs. Cameron, >> yes. >> Mrs. Harowitz, >> yes. >> Mr. Rico, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Vulpi? >> Yes. >> Mr. Walsh? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Um, I need a motion to move um under policy one item. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any questions or comments on this uh particular item? >> Um, we want to recognize Mr. Regetta. >> Uh, yeah. Um, I just like to thank everyone for coming out and um talking. uh speaking today,

118everyone in town, especially those who came from out of town. Uh but I would just like to reiterate um for those uh the uh uh notification uh that uh in regards to 5756 uh that was repealed uh a few years ago by previous already previous uh um iteration of this board. Uh eight members, city members weren't on the board at the time. Uh and so that portion of of this and many other portions are already current current policy or includes 5756 was already repealed policy. So just want to inform everybody about that before uh we have this vote. So thank you. >> Great. Um anybody else? >> Yes. I just want to repeat something that I said uh last month when we passed this for a first uh read and that is um I think

119if you've been paying attention, you've been coming to any of our meetings, you know I was critical and and analyzed a lot of what was originally drafted in this parental bill of rights. And I think I said then I appreciate the time that was put into this. The council was legal on this and so uh in its current form on a substance level this is really the same exact policy in the bill of rights form that we put forth last year where four of the members that are currently on this board weren't even part of and I believe it unanimously passed for a first read. It wasn't until the current board that's coming uh that came on in January of this year uh came in they wanted to um take it off the table and

120it did not pass for a second read was tabled and then just never brought back up um for discussion and in its place I think that this is what um was drafted um instead. So again on a substance level this is the same thing and we didn't have the public coming out then there wasn't you know um any concern then parents had an opportunity that policy was put out parents knew it was in that for months and months and months um they were able to talk about it I believe it was also in the um um uh oh my gosh the PAC as well um and it was reviewed then and there was no issue with it that was brought to the board um nor did we have any emails sent to the board or

121anything So um again on a purely substance there there might be some nuances with language here and there and I know language is very important. However on a substance legal level this is really the same thing. Um I think that's very important to understand when we're looking at this from a lens. Um for anyone that didn't hear last time I said that >> um I appreciate you um bringing that to the public's attention. Um, anybody else? Um, I'd like to make a statement about this, um, uh, and have it on record. Uh, tonight with the adoption of the Cold Neck Bill of Rights, this board makes our position unmistakably clear. Parental rights will remain at the forefront of every decision we make. Parents are the primary authority in their children's education. And this district will

122never sideline that role. Every child in Colts neck will be protected, respected, and treated equally without exception. And we will not permit any sexual content, ideology, or identity to take priority over the rights of our families or the educational mission of our schools. No group's sexuality will override the values or rights of others. Period. This board stands firm, united, and unwavering. Our commitment to academic excellence, child safety, and parental authority is absolute, and we will defend these principles without hesitation. I'd like to get a roll call on policy uh the adoption of the uh Coloss Board of Education's Bill of Rights. >> Yes. Do you have a first and second? So with that, Mrs. Cameron? >> Yes. And thank you to Rob for drafting that. >> Mrs. Harowitz, >> yes. >> Mr. Rico, >> yes.

123>> Mrs. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Retta, >> yes. >> Mr. Scales, >> yes. >> Mrs. 100% yes. >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Thank you. The motion carried. >> Okay. Moving on to transportation. Can I get a motion to move the one item under transportation? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? Seeing none, I'll take a roll call. >> Mrs. Cameron. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Harowitz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ro. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ramirez. Yes, >> Mr. Reignetta. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes, >> Mr. Scarp. >> I'm sorry, Mrs. Walty. >> Yes. >> Pardon me? >> It's okay, >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> Thank you. The motion carried. >> All right. Uh, great. Under personnel, uh, I need an a motion to move Wh this is quite lengthy

124here. Uh, one through Thank you. 1 through 14. Um, if we could have a motion to move those. Motion. >> Second. Can I have a roll call? Oh, any questions? Sorry, I know that's quite lengthy. Anybody? >> Okay. Roll call. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Haritz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ro. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ramirez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Retta. >> I'm going to recuse for 12456. And yes to all the rest. >> Thank you. Great, >> Mr. Scales. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Vulpi. >> Yes, >> Mr. Walsh. >> Yes. >> The motion carried. >> Okay, great. Uh, that finalizes our action items. Uh, we're going to move on to our second public comment uh from uh the audience. If anybody would like to make any uh last minute comments, you could get up,

125state your name and address for the record at this time. Good evening. Uh Mallerie Rearen, 165 Lair Road. Um the the very first board meeting that I ever attended. I want to say it was like four years ago. Um Miss Fulby, you were there. You spoke. You were the only person. It was an empty room and I think it was just you and I sitting on the audience and you came up and spoke. You were to be honest you ripped into the that board. You were I think really upset about um I think there might have been a teacher with a sign or a flag something in their classroom um that you felt was representing a political agenda in our school system. >> I I actually remember exactly this point. And uh as it was

126my first board meeting, I was I had no idea what to expect and I thought, "Wow, she's really upset." Um and you you spoke about a political agenda in the school system and how disappointed you were with that. And I feel like over the past four years, however many years it's been, we've just traded one political agenda for a different one. And I don't feel like that has served our community to the fullest. I volunteer at PTO events. I serve on our historic preservation committee in town. I come to the pack meetings. My daughter's in Girl Scouts. My son plays sports. Mr. Rico, you could actually pay attention while I'm speaking. Thank you. >> I'm listening. >> Okay. >> I know what you're saying about your school. >> Yeah, I'm listening 100%. >> Okay. >>

127And intent. >> Okay. It's just a little rude when you're talking and laughing while a constituent, a taxpaying constituent is here. I've heard you say that you guys prefer to hear opinions from residents. That's who matters the most. And I am a resident. >> Very good. >> Um I'm at all these events, these places. And I don't ever hear parents asking for a bill of rights. I don't that's not a concern. I hear parents that love the new safety features on the school buses. I hear parents that want their kids to buy fewer cookies in the cafeteria. I hear kids that um or I hear parents that that are worried about their kids test scores. Maybe there was learning loss during COVID or um you know I think the science scores are still down uh

128even from what they were before CO or I think that might be an ongoing issue um overall and I really think that you guys because you are of one pretty united mindset and you can pass things unanimously like you have a really good opportunity to make great changes in this school on the issues that I hear about and that I know do matter to other parents. Um, and it's not it's not the Bill of Rights. I am tired of seeing Cold Snack Township in the Asbury Park Press. I'm tired of seeing email blasts from both sides of the aisle asking for people to come here and speak or asking people to write in. Like, that's not what I want Colts Neck to be known for. We have a fantastic school system and I as a

129resident I want changes to test scores and school safety like maintaining school safety and the best food in the lunchrooms and the use of technology. I know that's what parents care about. That's that's not political and those are what most parents would love to see. Thank you for your time. >> Uh would you mind if I address you? >> No, I don't mind at all. Um, first of all, I I actually um enjoy uh our conversations when we're, you know, off of the day as I see at social functions. I I think you're a great mom. Uh, I appreciate you always participating uh in our board and I know how much you care about your your kids and the kids of this district. Um, I just want to clarify back to that that meeting that

130you spoke of. Uh, you know, just to make it clear for the public why I was so angry. Um, and I understand, you know, the whole thing referring to political agendas. Um, the reason why is I I was upset. Um, and I remember that meeting like yesterday. Um, there was a teacher in our district that was um, sporting a Black Lives Matter uh, fist in an art room classroom here. And I was highly insulted knowing that my daughter um who is a daughter of a my husband Kevin Walsh, a 27year police veteran in this district, would have to go to school and see something like that from an organization that in my opinion is a highly criminal and disgusting organization who put out a narrative against our police officers all over this country. So my

131anger was well intended and I believed well received by this community. Um so I I do understand you know me going against that political agenda but I feel that the bill of rights here for parents is no comparison. Us nine board members you know and you know most of us by now coming all the time that we love our kids so much. I mean I don't even want to get emotional. I love my kids so much and um I I refuse to have anybody tell me how to raise my daughter. And uh I don't want anybody in this district to have to feel that um you know uh LGBT communities uh whether I respect them have the right to come in our district and tell us um how to govern. I I won't stand for

132it. And um like I said, you know, I just wanted to clarify um all that to you. Um and um you know, make my my voice heard on that particular item. But I do appreciate you always getting up and speaking. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Um All right. Anybody else have any comments? All right. Um seeing none, I'm going to uh clo close public comment. Um let me just see. Um yeah, I want to speak one more. I just have a couple of other things to because I am who I am and I I don't let things go easily. Um, Garden State Equality uh put out a letter which you know I wind up in my hands and I want to read you the letter that they put out to the community

133or to people around the state to try to garnish um support or people to come here and bully this um this board um when making decisions that affect um our community. And this is what they wrote. LGBTQ plus students in Coulseneck need your support at a board of education meeting on Wednesday, November 19th. The board intends to adopt policies which would signal to queer and trans youth that the Colts Neck School District is not safe for them. Nor is it a place where students can learn about LGBTQ plus people's contributions to history and culture. After being thwarted in their attempts to implement forced outing policies, this is the next tactic in anti-equality activist playbook to erase LGBTQ people in history from schools. This makes showing up at this meeting even more important because we know

134safe schools save lives. I completely take offense to this because the person who wrote this, her name being Lauren Elrech, she should be ashamed of herself. She doesn't even know. She didn't even clearly read what this um policy is. It's basically a policy that brings all of the current policy that we that were passed by previous boards into one easy document to read. Um, the fact that she's trying to garnish people from around the state to pin nine of these board members as cruel, evil people is just disgusting to me and she needs to be called out. This district is a predominantly conservative district and all nine of us represent the majority views in this town. And those majority views basically are they want academic excellence over anything. They want the safety of our kids

135over everything. Sexuality does not play a big role in schools, nor should it. I do not send my kid to this school to see what sexuality people are and whose sexuality supersedes the next child. I just don't agree with it. And I just want to make sure that the next time Lauren Alrech solicits people to come to this district, she says, "See me face to face and not be a coward." That's number one. Number two, Mike Gotsman. He says, "Resist right-wing extremism in public schools." Okay, this gentleman played a big role in infiltrating the Marbor school board. And if anybody's following the Marbor school board, it's a complete shitow over there. They should be embarrassed about their conduct, what's going on in that district. And this man actually had a big role in flipping that

136board. And now look at what that district looks like. It's disgusting. He needs to be called out. If he see if he's making statements, resist right-wing extremism. If keeping parents in the heart of our kids' education is right-wing extremism, I wear that title proudly. I'm just going to leave it at that. Lastly, our Mammoth County Board of Commissioners are known Golden Hanland have the nerve to represent themselves as conservative people in Mammoth County. They funded Garden State Equality $175,000 so this organization can come into our district and browbeat us over how we run our board. They should be ashamed of themselves. Coulseneck probably donates a lot of money to those people to run on a conservative ticket. And I plead with the public next time they make donations to the Sha Golden crew to get

137their head examined and realize they're not conservatives. That'll be my final comment. We're going to move into executive session. It will be about 10 minutes. Live streaming will be terminated. There will no action will be taken. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mrs. Cameron. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. >> No, it's okay. Are we Are we >> Please. Yeah. Go ahead. >> Um, so there's a lot in social media focusing on the Freehold Regional High School District about a situation involving students who posted openly anti-Semitic and violent messages and were then transferred to other schools including Coltneck High School. Um, I do not know if there are other disciplines in place. I do believe our community deserves answers and safeguards. So, tomorrow, November 20th, there is a board of education meeting at 7 PM at

138Coltneck High School. Um, the board will be moving into executive session. So, really the public portion begins at 8. And I just encourage residents, um, it's all over social media, find out the facts, let's find out what's going on, and let's get involved. >> Great. Thank you for those, uh, comments. Anybody else have new business? No. No. Nobody else? Okay. I'm not going to repeat myself. We're going to move into executive session if I could get a motion to do that at this time. >> Great. Thank you for all uh who attended. >> Motion carried.