001and we'll continue on with our agenda. The next item is the pledge of allegiance. So, if everyone will please stand. [Music] Okay, this evening we have a very special presentation. But before we get started, I'll announce the next two presentations. On April 28th, we will be um there will be the final budget presentation for its school year 2024 uh excuse me, 2025 2026. And then on June 9th will be a board retreat that will include uh New Jersey school boards coming back to provide us with a goals recap for this year as well as a board self-evaluation and goal setting for next year. Uh and that will start at 6 pm. So but tonight we have the special a special presentation from the none other Charlene uh Peterson from New Jersey Schoolboards. Okay, good. Okay.
002So, I just want to thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight and um wanted to commend the board and let you know that you are the first district in Morris County to have started on the superintendent evaluation process. So, you guys are good, organized, and um you know, starting on that process. So, just wanted to commend you for that. Um, you know, and as the board continues his commitment to training and part of what, you know, we're going to talk about tonight is just looking at ethics and not so much going through the code of ethics and everything, but just kind of updating the board on uh some new guidance that's come out just so that you have access to the the latest information. So, while I have the full presentation here, the
003you know, the intent is um it has links to all the cases and things. so that you can go back on your own time then if you wanted to to look at anything more than that. So I'm just going to hopefully Is this No, right here. It's not going right here. There you go. Oh, hold on. I'll get you. You want to just advance it for me then? Yeah, that's fine. Okay. One second. Let me get in there. [Music] It's like giving me the business name. Okay, no problem. because it's in the Google Meet. Yeah, I think it's because it's in the Google [Music] Meet again. [Music] Do you want the hard copy? Sure. If we not I can speak from that if that's easier. We are going to work through our technical difficulties, but
004the board has the slides and we can also publish the slides on the website in the future. So, okay, great. So, then I'm just going to go ahead then and continue through the presentation like you said until we get this worked out. So, just really wanted to start as we talk about ethics kind of, you know, recognizing that as board members that we really need to um think about ourselves. You a lot of times we talk about that the time that we spend as board members and talk about ourselves as volunteers, but really recognizing that yes, even though we do spend the time, what makes us different is that we're elected public officials. And with that comes responsibility. And so the school ethics act kind of drives that responsibility of saying that you have to
005hold the respect and the confidence of the people that elected you. Um, and that you have to avoid conduct that would be oh, there we go. in violation of the public's trust. And then you're even held to a higher standard of saying even if you've done nothing wrong, but it would create a justifiable impression that that's the standard then that you are held accountable to as a board member. And it's something that we are accountable to all of the time in everything that we do. So, you know, I at one point had a board member say, you know, sometimes I feel like I have a hand tied behind my back. And I said, 'Well, you know, in a way you do, but that's part of the responsibility of being an elected public official and maintaining
006that confidence of the public. So, just, you know, as we talk about ethics, um, you know, just want to talk about it from the perspective of, um, you know, not anything punitive, but talking about it as really kind of a guide, right? And saying that we want to serve our community. We want to do the best that we can for them. So appreciate having some standards to help guide that work. And then that the the school ethics commission says that you know we should consider their guidance to be the minimum expectations that we would hold ourselves to and that we would have higher standards than that for ourselves. Okay. Um so we're just going to kind of go these are the the different components of the code of ethics. Some apply to um just board
007members only like the code of ethics and the mandatory training. And then the other provisions, the prohibited acts and the disclosure statements also um apply to some administrators and uh then those administrators are listed where the asterisk is there. Okay. Um so in terms of um who oversees it then if you can just go ahead and advance to the next one. Yeah, it's I'm not I apologize. Okay. Um, so who oversees it then is the the school ethics commission. So they are a nine-member um board appointed by the governor for a three-year term. Um, and it's supposed to be made up of two school administrators, two board members, and five non-school officials. So one of the things that has happened for most of the year um is that there has been and both board seats
008have been vacant and one of the school administrator seats has been vacant. So for all of 2024 and now into 2025 um they've only had say six people with five of them being non-school officials. Um and we'll look at in a minute why that becomes relevant. Um so if you want to go ahead. So the next one just kind of talks about the disclosure statements and just you know recognizing that um as a public officials we need to identify um any financial and relative um you know relationships that we have. For a brand new board member it's 30 days after um you know after you've been elected and for returning school officials it's by April 30th. Okay. So in terms of mandatory training, you know, one of the things that we know as board members
009is that we are the only elected public officials in the state who have mandatory training requirements. So just kind of wanted to speak to the fact that some of the it has changed um in terms of what's um the content in the mandatory training. So we know that governance one, the new board member orientation changed last year to the requirement that instead of having a full year to complete the training. Um you know the state had said that we really need to do all that we can to get new board members up to speed as quickly as possible. So have um you know changed that window to the first 90 days right from the t from the date you're elected or appointed. Um and then governance too. So then you take that in your second
010year and one of the things that changed is the addition of policy as being part of governance too. It was always just finance and then the labor relations piece was part of it and we were finding that so many board members had questions about policy that that now then is included as part of governance 2. Um governance three was always student achievement. Um but the content has been changed and updated and then the labor piece was moved there then and then governance 4 is something that you need to take every time you are reelected in the year following your reelection. So it doesn't matter you know someone said I've been on my board 20 years do I really need to do that and the answer to that question is yes um that it is you
011know it's required and so it's legal update so the content is different every time. Okay. Um so you know so I when we um talked earlier just a few minutes ago about the school ethics commission only having the the six people for this past year. So how that um became relevant is um so one of the things that the school ethics commission can do is to consider advisory opinions. And so what that means is if you as a school official are not sure if something would be a violation, you can ask the school ethics commission for an opinion. So the important part is that it has to be before it's happened like it's that anticipated um future conduct um within the same district. Um and so like if the school um if the school ethics
012commission thinks that the rest of us would benefit from that um they take out all the identifi identifying information. It takes six of them to vote yes then to go ahead and make that public so that the rest of us can learn from it. So we went all of 2024 without any advisory opinions being made public even though we could see that they were ruling on them. and and then all of a sudden in December there was like 14 of them that got made public. So we're guessing that that was probably the first time that they had six people um at their meeting all year to be able to to vote yes to that. So you know if we think about you know an advisory opinion kind you know a good example is you know
013there was a board that had a high school senior on their board that got elected to the board. So here 18 still in high school and on the board. So before the person even got seated, their fellow board members were like, "Well, what happens if we're going to talk about his teachers or his friends or, you know, other classes that he's in and so they had had a whole series of kind of questions or, you know, advice that they wanted from the school ethics commission. And so, you know, they ruled on it that we would not treat this student any differently than we would treat any of you. Whatever would be a conflict for any of you would also be a conflict, you know, for this student. It would not be any different. But just
014kind of an example of how it can be helpful to have an advisory opinion ahead of time. And so, you know, so now the school ethics commission has said that before you would file something that we want you to first check the ones that we made public and make sure that there's not advice already out there, you know, for you to consider recognizing every case is unique, but at least it provides you some general guidance. So, um, so these are all of those advisory opinions that, um, came out in December. So, I'm not going to go through all of them. I'm just going to go through a couple of them. So, I'm going to go through the second one, um, where it talks about participating in negotiations if you have an aunt employed in the
015district who's not a member of the local union. So it used to be until this one that you were conflicted only if you had a relative that was in a same or similar statewide bargaining unit. So now this advice essentially came back and said even though your relative was not in the in the union um that their their benefits and their perks and their contract a lot of times is based on what the union has negotiated for you know other parties in the district and you're benefiting from that or your aunt has some kind of a relationship from that. So then this was the first time then that said kind of that the union contract was the foundation for this non-unit contract. So that then would now pose a conflict um for you as a
016board member. Um also wanted to draw your attention to the last one here um on this page where it talks about two board members who um decided to open up an ice cream store in town. Um so um the kind of the question was like the PTO came to them um and wanted them to do some kind of a special fundraiser and so again asked for an advisory opinion and the school ethics commission essentially said that if they were to um participate in this special fundraiser that that would be a benefit or could potentially be a benefit to the the ice cream store. It could bring more people into the district. they were going to advertise like through the schools and so again all of that could potentially be a benefit. Um so said that
017they would you know that they would consider that to be a violation. Said if you were to instead just maybe take out a page in an ad book where anybody could um take out a page then that would be fine um because you're getting no you know no greater benefit than anyone else who would choose to do that. And then they also asked, well, what happens if we want to hire any students to work in the store? And again said that you couldn't treat those students any differently and that if there was an issue that came before the board related to those students um that you would, you know, have to recuse yourself and not be able to participate in it. Okay, if you can advance. Um then on on the next page here, then
018the one that it's kind of the the second to last one. So there was a board member who um before they got on the board worked in the district um and turned out that the superintendent let them go. So this board member now once they got on the board then continued to carry a grudge um kind of making it their mission to get rid of the superintendent. Um had a petition that went around and then actually even put up a billboard in town um to get rid of the superintendent. So this was the first time then that while I have heard of attorneys giving this advice of the school ethics commission essentially saying that this person would not be able to evaluate the superintendent that because of this overt kind of evaluation of the superintendent
019in public. They truly could not be impartial and they truly you know could not be objective in their evaluation of the superintendent. So essentially saying that if they were to participate it would be you know damaging that public trust. So you know so just kind of guidance then for us to consider. Okay. So in addition to advisory opinions the um the school ethics commission can also rule on complaints. So while only a school official can ask for an advisory opinion anyone who thinks that a violation has taken place can file a complaint. So kind of the kind of the the lens that the school ethics commission looks at is like not what do you think, not what do I think, but kind of what what circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that the
020act has been violated. So that's kind of the lens then that that they look through. Um so you know there's four levels of penalties. The least restrictive is reprimand center is more formal where a resolution is read both at the state board meeting but then it's also read at your board meeting and then any of those places in your open public meetings act notice where you you know where you identify where you've posted all your notices it would be there as well. Um you can be suspended it's usually in 30 60-day increments and you can be removed from the board. Um so these are the the code of ethics itself. Um, and so you know, they apply to board members only. Like I said, you typically did you go through these at your reorg meeting.
021I know sometimes boards do do that. So I wasn't going to go through them individually, but I just wanted you to see kind of the difference between the top is the tenant of the board, you know, of the code of ethics. But then the bottom is the standard. So let's say if someone were to you know say that I think Charlene violated you know letter A of the the code of ethics then below then would be they would have to provide evidence and then the standard would be that evidence then that the school ethics commission would consider then to identify then whether a violation took place or not. So, a lot of times like we would read these cases and it would look like the person did something terrible, but whoever filed the the case
022didn't provide the evidence that matched against the standards that the school ethics commission is using to consider whether a violation had taken place or not. So, I'm going to go ahead and just kind of scroll through these. And again, this is just kind of, you know, identifying that this is our role. You know, like we're the state's boots on the ground in the first one and this one. It helps determine the fact that the lens that the board looks at situations through is what impacts every single student in the Dville school district. That people can come to you with a particular, you know, a concern about a grade, a situation, and you have to take that step back and say, sitting on this side of the board table, the lens I look through is how
023does this impact every single student in the Denver school district because that's who I'm responsible for. Okay. Um the next one then just kind of the state is now identifying our role and saying okay board this is your lane your policym planning and appraisal and saying that you know we also have to consult those who will be affected by them. So that's typically why we have two readings on a policy. The first reading puts it out there and then before the second reading then anyone can come back to you and say okay board just so you know this is how this policy impacts me. Right. Okay. Um, so the next one is kind of New Jersey school board's mantra, right? That we don't run the schools, but but together with our fellow board members, we
024make sure they're well-run and and again, importantly, together with my fellow board members, right? Recognizing the value in the work that we do as a team. Next one talks about the fact that as individuals, we are each responsible for the board and that we can't take independent action that can compromise the board. This one talks about not surrendering our independent judgment that regardless, you know, what promises you made, regardless, you know, how you got on the board or what commitments you made, once you get on the board, then you go back to that what's best for all students, right? That's that's what you're making decisions for. Okay. The next one is what holds us accountable to confidentiality. We know that that we are a public body. We do our work in public, but the state
025has identified nine different reasons that we can go into executive session and this is what holds us accountable um to to keeping that information. And you know, and sometimes we don't really realize kind of the extent of the information that we have access to. Um, you know, there was a case a couple years ago where a board member had shared something about a student issue like kind of at the dinner table and the next thing you know someone in the family was posting something on social media about the situation about the student. Um, and so you don't really realize the impact in the and the harm that you can do um by not keeping confidential the information that you have as a board member. The other thing that's in here too is that, you know,
026the school ethics commission said that because, you know, the board gets so much information that it would be reasonable for someone to believe that if you as a board member say something about the school district, then it must be true, right? Based on the information that you have. So, this is what holds us accountable um to making sure that we provide accurate information. The next one makes it clear that from the board's perspective, we don't hire and we don't fire, right? That we just approve or disapprove the recommendation of of this the superintendent. And then this one um holds us accountable to supporting and protecting school personnel and the proper performance of their duties. And this has become more of an issue with social media. Um, you know, a couple years ago there was a
027case with a board member that had a blog and for whatever reason, one of his favorite subjects was one of the teachers and was blogging like, "I don't know why we pay her this much. I don't know why we ever gave her tenure." Like just continued to say things like that. And, you know, finally the teacher had had enough. And filed ethics charges against the board members. So, just recognizing that it's not only while you're sitting here at the board table that you're accountable, but it's all the time. Like I said, everything that you do, the last one here talks about the fact that from the board's perspective, you know, that we are the the court of last resort, right? That that we can't get involved in situations until after failure of an administrative solution.
028So, you know, so there are times when people may approach you and with a situation and hope that you can fix it, right? Or sometimes people even come to your board meetings with the hope that they're coming here for a resolution without realizing that the school ethics commission prevents the board from being able to um you know carry out that resolution because you haven't gone through the chain of command. So it has to you know so this is what holds us accountable. So, we know then that we can um that we know that chain of command. And the way that we can best help someone is by not to fix it or um but to help them understand what the chain of command is and who the person is that would be closest to the
029situation to assist them and that that's how we can help someone and that this is what holds us accountable to doing that. Okay. Um, so this one is um one of the a newly released case like it literally just came out last month. So I just added this and I know there's an extra page in there. I was telling her I put my notes in there and didn't delete it. So you guys have two pages. So I just had her delete the page that has my notes on it. Um but this is a case you know I had said that only um you know just an individual can file um ethics charges. the only body that can't is the board as a body. So in this case, a board thought then that they would get
030around that by just appointing they had decided that they had had enough with one of their board members. And so as a group they had a discussion at their board table and decided to appoint one of the the board members to be the individual um to to file the ethics case. and then also agreed then that the board attorney would represent her in this case um for you know for for no charge to her that it would just be the the work of the board attorney. So that the school ethics commission then said okay you know we said that it has to be only any person can file a complaint. Joe said in this situation the board member that filed the charges um and so the letters in parentheses so that when you go back
031like those are the letters then of the tenants that they violated. So the first one like without the 0.1 those are the conflicts of interest or the prohibited act. We haven't got to those yet but essentially saying that the free legal representation was a privilege and a financial benefit not available to any other member of the public. it was a special advantage to her as a board member and then to the rest of the board said that voting on these actions at the board table was outside their role of policym planning and appraisal. Um it said that they turn their personal motives into a board matter that compromised the board because the board now had legal bills and said that they use their position for personal gain of the free legal representation. So as much
032as their intent was to file ethics charges against another member, right, it ended up coming back on onto the rest of them. So but just kind of making that point of saying when we say only an individual and why the board as a body can't, you know, what happened when a board tried to to get around that. Um okay. Um so in this case and again I'm not going to go through all of these but in the first one here here's a situation where um a um one more a board member had felt um that a teacher had came to would come to the board meetings and speak at the microphone as a member of the public and had an opinion about you know that that differed from from what this board member and um
033so the board member ended up calling the princ the building principal said that they were a board member and said then that felt like this staff member that was coming um was I think this was I don't know if this was on the page before thing and said that the staff member that was coming um was attacking them. So again um that said that the member acted beyond their duties um and had the potential to compromise the board. um in this one that's up here. Um if you want to go ahead then to to the next one. Um so in this case there was a situation where um there was a disciplinary matter um with with a teacher um I don't know if that's in the next one I think. Go to the next one.
034There there was a disciplinary matter with a teacher. And so there was a board member who had been on the year on the board for over 15 years and said that this teacher was you know also a friend of the board member. And so this teach this teacher could not come. I guess the board was going to have a hearing and the teacher couldn't come. So the board member drove to the teacher's house, picked up some kind of a letter or a speech that the teacher wanted to have read at this hearing. Um came to the hearing. It was an executive session. told the business administrator to make copies for everyone but the superintendent and then continued and then read whatever this statement was and advocated on behalf of the staff member whose whose version
035differed from from that as as the superintendent. So you can see the list of the long list of things then that was considered um to be a violation. the board member was suspended and you know said that they used their position to secure privilege or advantage for a friend or employee acted beyond their duties as a board member and overstepped into the day-to-day administration of the district and usurp the superintendent's authority. So again just kind of you know here this person thought they were doing a you know what in their mind I'm not sure how thought they were doing a favor but you can see how that went outside of their role. The other thing that I forgot to mention too in the one that we looked at before where the board, you know, filed
036the ethics charges that initially the the penalty that was recommended um was the the reprimand which is just like a hand slap and the school ethics commission is like uh-uh like you did this in public so now we're going to change your penalty to the center so that it can be read in public and your penalty can be in public. Um so again um you know recognizing that that the school ethics commissioner when it comes to penalties makes a recommendation then it's up to the commissioner of education to make the final determination. Okay, if you want to just go ahead to the next one. So this is something that we started kind of um advising boards of last year and it really was talking about the difference between a recusal and an abstension and kind
037of the difference meaning that if you are a board member that has a conflict and have a reason that you can't vote. In the past it was common to just say well I'm abstaining on this matter but if you think about it I can abstain for no reason. I can abstain because I wasn't here at the last meeting. I can abstain because I don't feel like I have enough information. There's a lot of reasons why I can abstain. And that should be distinguished between the fact that if I'm not voting on something, it's because I can't because I have a legal conflict and that the the records, you know, the minute should reflect the fact that I'm not voting because of my legal conflict. So that in those in that instance you would say that
038I'm recusing myself from this issue. So then that so then that legal conflict then is um documented. Okay. So the next one here then talks about those prohibited acts. So we talked about that the code of ethics is just being for board members only. Prohibited acts also applies to um you know those some administrators as well. And these are times then when we would need to recuse oursel and it's essentially if there's a benefit to you as a school official or to your immediate family and we'll look at what that means in just a minute and it's because you have some kind of a business interest. There's some kind of a privilege or advantage, some kind of a financial involvement. And you know, one of the things that's important is in letter B, as much
039as we're going to see in just a minute kind of what you know, how the state defines, you know, your relative or your um immediate family member, it also uses the term others and said if someone is getting a benefit or an advantage as a result of you being on the board, but it doesn't necessarily fall into that definition. What's more important is that benefit or advantage. So then we will utilize this term other. So okay um so it's you know said that it's it's again comes down to getting a benefit either direct or indirect and so just kind of wanted to show the example in a case that um came out last year. Um there was someone who was acting as the superintendent and you know typically the the the resolutions that the board
040votes on at the meeting say upon recommendation of the superintendent, right? So in this case there were 160 people on a list of names um to be substitutes and it turned out that this acting superintendent son was one of the 160 names. Person said like I didn't even know that their name was on here. didn't even realize it, but someone filed ethics charges and they were found guilty essentially saying that um you know that the superintendent should have recused herself that that um you know could have used her position to secure employment for her son and that the son received some kind of a financial benefit so it can be considered to reasonably you know impair her objectivity. So that's kind of the level or you know when when we say that we're held accountable
041to high standards, you know, this is just a situation of what that could look like. Um so here's a situation. Um we'll go ahead and I can go skip through those. So these are just other situations of benefits. So if you just want to go ahead. Um, so these are the the definitions from the state then of your immediate family member and they changed them a couple years ago so that they match your nepotism policy so that the definitions are now the same. Um, so an immediate family members, you know, a spouse, partner or dependent child residing in the same household. And then a relative is a bigger broader definition that has almost, you know, kind of everyone that would be one step away from you. You know, I think we said the only one
042missing on here is cousin, but there have been instances then where people have been found guilty again because of that term other for a benefit that was um provided to their cousin. So why that becomes important is um when it comes to hiring that you can't hire a relative of the board member or the superintendent and if you get on the board or get hired in the district and the relative already works in the district then from the administrator's standpoint you can't exercise any authority over your relative from the board's perspective you can't take part in any employment matters concerning the superintendent or any supervisors in the chain of command between your relative and the superintendent and if the board, you know, were in a situation where it had to do a superintendent search, you
043would not be able to take part in any of it whatsoever. So, and you know, and they even kind of, you know, said like you can't pick the search firm, you can't pick the ad, like really made it specific of, you know, how much you have to remove yourself from the process. Okay. So this one then then also then talks about the impact on negotiations. And so because of that advisory opinion that we looked at earlier of now saying that the relative doesn't necessarily have to be in the same or similar statewide union but because they work in the district we now then would add that to be a potential conflict. So if you have a relative and that bigger broader definition of anyone who works in the district then we know then that you
044are out completely of negotiations. You can't be part of the negotiating team and you cannot vote on the contract. If you or a member of your immediate family work in another district somewhere um then you are not able to participate um until the board is done negotiating until they're completely done. So you can't be on the negotiations team, you can't be um present when the you know team gets updates to the rest of the board. But once they're completely done and it's time to vote, you know, the memorandum agreement's done, the salary guides are done, then you're able to participate. Kind of saying it's too late to change the outcome, right? Um and then in a bigger broader definition of a relative, like almost everyone has a relative somewhere in New Jersey, right, that works
045in a school district. So essentially saying that you are free to participate both on the negotiations team and also vote. Um and it would be absent any other conflict would be the only thing that could preclude that and would say considered that if your relative had heightened union involvement perhaps that would be an issue. Um also in some districts where the board members might receive endorsements and financial contributions from um the bargaining unit they have to sit out of negotiations for at least a year. Okay. So this is the first time um that we have seen um two cases come out. One was an advisory opinion and one was a case about um board members who had a relative that worked in the district. And this is the first time we saw guidance that it
046impacted what committees they can serve on. It's like we thought before you might just have to step out if the committee was talking about something like here's a situation where as a board you would typically um have the president be the one to assign committees. In this case, their president um was president's child was an instructional assistant and they said, "Nope, you can't um assign committees and you can't serve on any committees that would um touch on your relatives." And they said like personnel, negotiations, instruction, finance, like there's not much left after that, right? But said you pretty much had to sit out of all of those. Um, and then this one just kind of talks about the fact that um, last year there were two cases where board members were found guilty going into
047executive session and it turned out in both cases they had had permission from the board attorney um, but said that it still didn't absolve you from um, from being found in violation. Um, in one of the cases last year, a board had a vacant seat. Um, and so the board was interviewing people to to fill the vacancy and then they went into executive session to discuss it and one of them was a board member's husband. So here the board member went into executive session where the board was talking about people that included her husband and said it, you know, kind of made it difficult for the board to have an open and honest conversation, right? And if that was a member of the public, they wouldn't be able to come into executive session to be
048part of that situation. So saying when you have a conflict, you have no more rights than any other member of the public. So said, you know, that the school ethics commission would take the advice of council into consideration, you could still found be found guilty, but you might get a lesser penalty. Um this one just kind of talks about volunteering and the advice that we get about volunteering in the school and just said you know the importance of you know what's your connection or involvement with staff and students how you know what's your frequency or level of interaction in this in the schools and then what's your authority to give and receive directions and orders um from staff and students and you know kind of like compares it to um again those tenants of the
049code of ethics and saying, you know, if we're supposed to confine our board action to policym, planning, and appraisal. If you're in the schools a lot, it's more than that. If you're giving and receiving orders, you could be considered administering the schools. And then you know if you start to develop these relationships um you could be blurring that line between colleague and kind of you sitting at the board table when perhaps you know you might have to vote on their contract or be participating in negotiations and that could um cause a challenge. So, just kind of wanted to talk about a case down here on the bottom where there was a situation where someone was um the volunteer football coach and then the board had a vacancy and the board appointed this person to the
050board seat was during football season. There was still a month left. So, the person's like, "Okay, I'm just going to finish off my coaching duties, you know, and then it'll all be over and and that's that." Well, someone filed ethics charges against him. And so essentially kind of what the Scloth Commission said is you can volunteer to be like the coach of a wreck team or you know because they have their own bylaws, they have their own budget, they have their own money. Um but to be a volunteer coach for the school's team then would be considered a violation. It's too much time spent with the students and staff and goes back to that taking and receiving orders. So in this case, because it was only a month, they said, "Yeah, you're guilty, but they
051didn't impose any kind of a penalty." So um and then the last part of this is just looking at social media. And so just kind of that term that the school ethics commission has been using a lot is nexus. Is there a nexus between what you're posting and your role or relationship on the board? and kind of essentially saying that content matters. Um, so and here's an example of kind of that nexus where it said a board member discussed without a disclaimer and we'll talk about that in just a minute about a policy she moved to abolish indicated it was reviewed by the board attorney and opposed by four board members. So there's clearly a nexus. So even if she was posting on her own personal page, there's still a nexus to the her work
052as a board member. Um versus in this other example, a board member shared a campaign image of three people running for the board without any further comment. So saying in that case there wouldn't be that nexus. So, you know, saying you don't lose your first amendment rights, but yet you have to do it with, you know, we talked about the fact that you're accountable to the code of ethics and 24/7. So, this is, you know, kind of an example of that. I mean, I was in a board not that long ago doing this and one of the board members, I guess the town is putting a McDonald's in town and she's like, I'm like, I'm not for this McDonald's and I'm posting things like, can I still be doing that? And I'm like, well, that
053has nothing to do with, you know, your your work at the board table that you don't lose your your rights as an individual, but again, it goes back to that content and what's that nexus or connection to your work on the board. Okay. So, here is, you know, the the school ethics commission said, you know, that you can use a disclaimer um that if you are going to post something that helps identify that you're speaking in your own capacity, that it's me. I'm not speaking on behalf of the board and I'm not authorized to speak on behalf of the board. But again saying that you can't hide behind it that you can't just use the disclaimer and then say or do whatever you want. So um so in this case kind of essentially saying that
054it helps clarify the capacity in which you're speaking and again goes back to that what would a reasonable member of the public would they perceive that you are speaking in your official capacity. Um, so just always again kind of looking at at that content. And then in this one here talks about the fact that most people when they run for the board may have a campaign website, campaign Facebook page and saying that once you get on the board, you can't have any kind of an account that identifies you as a board member. Like you can't have a face, you know, say a website that's you as a board of education member. you can have your own personal account, but you know, just kind of making that difference. Okay. And then just kind of want to,
055you know, kind of sum it up of again recognizing, you know, the importance and kind of the value of serving on the board and just, you know, that we really have to, you know, kind of take pride in the fact that that this really is a valuable service to our community and kind of hold ourselves, you know, accountable to that and saying that it, you know, says that this is one of the most important kinds of volunteerism in which an individual can engage. So just recognizing, you know, the the value in that work that you do. So that was pretty much all that I had to go through and didn't know if you had any questions or anything else about it. Thank you so much. Um I actually will start off uh the questions with
056a question about re-election and social media. Uh so let's say you are going out for re-election and you want to sort of be out there answer questions like where is there a line that you might cross in terms of uh the ethics here. So I mean and that's the hard part too that you know when someone said I feel like that I have that hand tied behind my back right because someone else who's not a board member can pretty much say whatever they want. So it's saying that you can if you think about you just have to stay within kind of the tenants of the code of ethics like you couldn't make a promise to something that would be independent action that the rest of your board hasn't seen or agreed with. You couldn't you
057know like talk about like I think in in a few years ago there was a case that a board member and part of their re-election was like bashing the budget. Well, that in ended up having negative implications on the district. So there you took that independent action that compromised the board. So you have, you know, you have some freedom and flexibility to be a candidate and to campaign and do things, but you have to make sure that you're doing it within the confines of the code of ethics. Thank you. Any other board members with questions? Thanks, Charlene. always appreciate the uh update and I think it's always good reminders for our board. I think we are very lucky that we rarely have these questions that come up specific but um but I one of the
058challenges I always find is that these change over time. So for instance at one point being a PTA president for instance was there going back a while ago was that that was not appropriate to be on the border. there was a opinion or advisory on that now it is. So I think what is your advice on some of those challenging intricate details that may change over time. So and and like you say and that is a challenge because you know one of the things that the school ethics commissions will say is that not knowing is not an excuse right so kind of holding you accountable to um you know to knowing so you know they like I said post the advisory opinions have made them you know in public and so one of the things
059they did a year or two ago now instead of just the numbers so now they put descriptions next to them so that if you were looking for an advisor ory opinion on a particular subject. They now have what those descriptions are. Um, you know, the New Jersey school boards puts out schoolboard notes every Wednesday. So, if there are any new opinions or advisories, it, you know, is on there and then just, you know, continuing to check with your board attorney or your field service rep or, you know, anyone that that can help you if you're not sure. So, thank you. And, uh, Mr. Capello has offered if they need a board member on the commission that he would uh happily sit on the commission. He's excited about it. Thank you, Mike, for speaking for me.
060Actually, I did actually have a question about that, Charlene. Um, out of curiosity, could you give us some some context on why that why those vacancies are there? They're they're all appointed by the governor, right? Like I mean, is there is there is people people not volunteer stepping up or is there or is there another reason, do you think? We don't know. Oh, I mean, as far as we know, like cuz even if you look on the website of the terms of the people that are on there, a lot of their terms have expired and they're still there. So, we don't know if it's because an election is approaching and maybe this governor is waiting for the next one to make the appointments. You know, we're not really sure just because, you know, as much
061as you joke about there, there have been people who have said, I want to be on this and and I would like to serve on this. how do I do it and have not seen then these seats get filled. So as far as I know it's volunteer. Yeah. So well thank you. I appreciate it again the up I appreciate the update. Uh this is all really super useful information. So thank you. Great. Thank you so much everyone. It is my pleasure. it has if I don't get the chance to see you again before I retire. I am I'm coming to the the May Morris County meeting. So hope that I'll be able to see you there. They told me I didn't have to pay for my dinner. So I thought that was All right. So
062before Charlene uh leaves or Miss Peterson leaves. Uh it it it she it is public knowledge now that uh Miss Peterson is retiring and um she has been for the district as well as me personally a huge asset and a resource. So the district has put together a small gift for you a parting gift. Uh it is a plaque and I'm going to take this opportunity to read this. Um, this plaque is presented to Charlene Peterson with deepest appreciation for years for your years of dedicated service, guidance, and unwavering commitment to the Denver Board of Education as a New Jersey school board's association senior field service representative. Your expertise, leadership, and passion for the education have made a lasting impact on our schools, our students, and our community. Thank you for your invaluable contributions and
063for always putting the best interests of the children first. With gratitude, Dendel Board of Education, thank you so much. That is so nice of all of you. Thank you so much. We were able to squeeze all of that up. Can we get you to in front of the dead? All I know is I'm not coming for the goal setting meeting this year because that's going to be forever without [Music] Thank you so much everyone. Thank you. Thank you. This is such a nice surprise. Yeah. Thank you. I'm so so touched. Thank you everyone. That was so kind of you. Thank you. Guys are good at keeping secrets. Yeah. I don't have to worry about confidentiality with this book, right? Bye. Thank you. Good night, Charlene. Okay. Well, um that presentation was fantastic. It was very
064informative and that should also count towards our board certification uh which is a goal to try to become uh reertified. Uh the next item on the agenda is superintendent comments. Dr. 14. Okay, let's see. We have um a little update on our anxious generation. So, we had two sessions. We have another one coming up next week on the 2nd. We've had over 140 130 to 140 people involved either in person or virtually. I did put out a uh a a survey for people to help us with some questions for the panel which will be on April 22nd and um so we're we're pretty uh pretty happy with the turnout so far and um and there's been some great conversations going on. Um you'll see some changes on the agenda because we have um actually de
065Maris is going to have to speak to one. There are some ch a couple changes for um some personnel issues. Um reminder, our board me in April are not like they don't follow the normal pattern. We have April 7 and April 28. You have a calendar invite already. And reminder, all executive sessions will be at 7 going forward until further notice. Um how is uh Dr. Grip presentation at the May 12th board meeting? Um it we don't we don't have to do it that early. You you'll have it probably something like a month or so in advance, but it's the only board meeting that's really available until we'd have to look either at the summer or in the fall. May 12th. I told Dr. Grip I would get back to him on May 12th, but
066he was available that day. I gave him all of our board meetings that were applicable and he said that one worked. Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of nods. Yeah, it's uh it's a it would be virt he would do it virtually. Okay. Okay. So, I'll I'll let Dr. Grip know that May 12th will be the uh day. All right. Great. And that's it for superintendent comments. Thank you, Dr. Fort. Assistant superintendent comments. Dr. Couls, just some reminders uh that our sixth grade parent orientation is May 7th at 6:30 at Valley View. And an update for kindergarten registration. We're sitting at 1:49. That is 70 at Lake View, 65 at Riverview, and 14 currently sitting in the flex zone. Uh we have started the eighth grade blues and beyond. It started and it will run through
067April 11th. I don't have the date of the performance yet, but I will let the board know because I know that some people like to attend. This concludes assistant superintendent report. Thank you, Dr. Kles. Business administrative comments. Mrs. Gowski, I have two comments. The first one is uh recently we received notice that the Lake View school has to go into the uh national school breakfast program because we exceeded the 10% threshold with uh free and reduced students. Uh we do have to implement this program by next school year 2526. Uh I am submitting a waiver letter just hopefully they will wave it but I'm sure it might not be um applicable to to Denville because our numbers keep in increasing. So, we'll keep you updated. And my next comment is uh we are really excited
068about Mr. Anderson and Mr. Capello. They will be included in the Morris County School Board Association like uh Charlene just mentioned before. they'll be honored as board members who um cross Morris County who are celebrating significant significant milestones as those who have received certification through the New Jersey School Board Association. Anybody who would like to attend uh this annual spring celebration. It will be held on May 7th, 2025 at the Mount Olive High School in Flanders. You can register yourselves uh through the New Jersey school board website or you can contact me and I can register and you all invited. Congratulations. Thank you. Um actually if you don't mind could we rewind to the uh breakfast uh mention? So could you give us a little more background on what that would entail? uh you know
069you what the program looks like and and what we would be required to do. If you know we are require uh for the new for the national school lunch and breakfast we will be required to go out to bit again this coming year to include both lunch and breakfast. The breakfast has uh different components. Uh there's three components to the breakfast. It could be the milk, the fruit and the grain. uh and it can be either grab and go, it could be after the bell ring in the classrooms or in the cafeteria. So, we do have some options to work with and of course with the vendor as well. Uh since we have to go out to bit depending who's the vendor is and we will have to implement that and send notices to the
070parents over the summertime. And why do you want to file a waiver? We're not quite ready yet. So uh as much as we would like to provide breakfast, we will have to implement the notifications and the menus and how uh we will address that. We will have to hire new personnel to deliver those breakfasts, especially if it's after the bail hours. And and what do we imagine the additional cost would be depending on the bids? Is there like a range or typically anywhere between $2 and $5 a breakfast? Okay, great. Thank you, Miss Koski. You're welcome. All right, it is 9:04. We will now open it up for public questions or comments. Seeing no one in the chambers and no one online, we'll close it at 9:04 p.m. Old business action to be taken. Before
071we mo go with the resolution for a motion, I would like to motion or get a motion to table uh B4. HIV VVV 242506. I'd like to make a motion to table B4. Okay, Mr. Cass. Thank you. Um, roll call, please. Dr. Moore, yes. Mrs. Aelis, yes. Miss Asterino, yes. Mr. Cass, yes. Mr. Angus, yes. Mr. Capello, yes. Mr. Kim, yes. So, we have now tabled the uh education reports before and let's proceed with all business action to be taken. Miss Sidellis, can you walk us through that, please? Sure, absolutely. Um, so I move the following resolutions under old business for approval. Uh, a the uh following reports from February 2025, the treasurer of school monies and the board secretary reports, the education reports 1, 2, 3, and five. And the minutes from February 10th
072and February 24th. Second. Thank you. Questions or comments? Roll call, please. Dr. Moore, yes. Misselis, yes. Miss Asterino, yes. Mr. Cass, yes. Mr. Anderson, yes. Mr. Capello, yes. Mr. Kim, yes. Under new business action to be taken. Mr. Capella, can you walk us through personnel? I'd be happy to. Uh if there are no objections under personnel I would like to move items one through 13 as a block but I call out under item one we are striking item V uh Kennedy Jeffrey that item is being struck completely and um item X we are adding uh Ray Black at 4951 per day and we are changing the dates of the for the extra period every day. Uh it's going to be from 4:22 to 51625 instead of what is there which is 3:24 to 422. I'll
073second. Thank you. Does anyone need that repeated or clarification on the modifications? Any questions or comments regarding this section? uh only can we uh retro retroactively take out number five uh for the public that is the acceptance of Dr. Forte's retirement and his retirement letter effective July 1st just in uh all all honesty um and and I appreciate Mr. Capella is saying that um I think uh I want to thank Dr. Forte for giving the board a uh a significant amount of time to make sure that we've got a proper adjustment and change over to uh to a new leader for the uh district and just thank him for his uh many many years of dedicated service to um this school district. Um but obviously he will be missed but we've got a long time
074until then. So a lot of work to be done but appreciate the uh the extended amount of time that was solely due to his um firm belief of uh ensuring it's a smooth transition. Thank you. Okay, since there are no further comments or questions, roll call, please. Dr. Moore, yes. Misselis, yes. Miss Asterino, yes. Mr. Cass, yes. Mr. Anderson, yes. Mr. Capello, yes. Mr. Kim, yes. Under instruction and program, Dr. Moore, can you walk us through that, please? Yeah. I'd like to move uh for approval the following resolutions under instruction and program. Under number one is the list of uh the attached list of field trips. Under item number two is the Eyes of the Wild in-house field trip at Lake View. Item number three is the Bash the Trash residency which is a program
075uh featuring u instruments made out of recycled and repurposed materials. Uh item number four is uh having a beekeeper from Honey Creek Farm uh come to do a presentation at Riverview. And item number five is to approve the extended school year ESY program that runs over the summer. I'll second. Thank you. Questions or comments? Roll call, please. Dr. Moore, yes. Mr. Delos, yes. Miss Eterino, yes. Mr. Cass, yes. Mr. Anderson, yes. Mr. Capello, yes. Mr. Kim, yes. Under governance, I'll go ahead and motion that we approve the list of policies found in the agenda uh for second reading and adoption. Second. Thank you. Questions or comments? I uh actually I just wanted to ask a question I guess related to what um Mrs. Grosski raised earlier about the food services policy. I mean, is are
076we going to be coming back to that? Is that is there there going to be an issue with that um that we're going to have to make a revision to? Do we know or is that something? As of right now, there's no revision to the policy itself. Uh because it does mention breakfast, but if there is, we'll have to bring it back. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Capella, for that question. Seeing no further questions or comments, roll call, please. Dr. Moore, yes. Mr. Delis, yes. Miss Asterino, yes. Mr. Cass, yes. Mr. Anderson, yes. Mr. Capello, yes. Mr. Kim, yes. Under finance, Mr. Anderson, if you will. Sure. If there are no objections, I'd like to move under D, finance item number one, which includes our checklist. Item number two is the board to approve
077the donation of $1,000 from the HPACKON Elks Club. Item number three is for the board to approve the shared services agreement and addendum for the bidding purchase program between the Dville Board of Education and the Educational Services Commission of Morris County for the 2025 2026 school year in the amount of $6,484. And finally, item number four is that the board approve the agreement with Kid Therapy LLC to provide feeding therapy evaluation at a cost not to exceed $535 for student mentioned in the agenda. I'll check them. Thank you. Questions or comments? Roll call, please. Dr. Moore, yes. Miss Sigelis, yes. Miss Estino, yes. Mr. Cass, yes. Mr. Anderson. Yes. Mr. Capello. Yes. Mr. Kim. Yes. Uh I did want to uh thank the Hakkong Elks Club for that generous donation. So uh moving on to
078operations, Mr. Cass, if you will. Under transportation, we have four items for the board to approve. Item 1.1 is to approve the attached list of field trips to transport the summer plus trips 2025 for the demo recreation department at a cost of $85 per hour. 1.2 is to approve the joint transportation agreement with the educational services commission of Morris County for the 2025 2026 school year. 1.3 I'm asking the board to approve the attached 2526 resolution for participation in the coordinating transportation with Hunter County Educational Services Commission to transport special education non-public and public school students to specific destinations. 1.4 is to approve the Lewis Dri to be trained as a school bus driver by the devil board of education transportation department. Moving on to building and grounds 2.1. I'm asking the board to approve
079the attached quote from Valley Cooling LLC to repair the heating system at the Riverview School Gym Office in the amount of $9,550. This will be paid from maintenance reserve. Item 2.2 is to approve the attached quote from DNL Paving to repair the damage and collapsed storm drain at Lake View School lower parking lot in the amount of $4,200. that also will be paid from maintenance reserve. Second. Thank you. Questions or comments? Uh, Demer, I actually have a good uh question. I'm glad to see that we have another potential school bus driver. Um, do we ever foresee us getting rid of some of the contracted routes? Not presently because we have lost uh at least three bus driver recently. So we are just replenishing the drivers that we have lost. So we're always behind the eightball.
080Correct. Okay. Thank you. Roll call, please. Dr. Moore. Yes. Miss Sidelis. Yes. Miss Eststerino. Yes. Mr. Cass. Yes. Mr. Anderson? Yes. Mr. Capello? Yes. Mr. Kim? Yes. Okay. We are at the point of the agenda where we discuss for the good of the cause committee reports, correspondence, discussion items, and any anything else gerine to the district. I do have one quick announcement from the Dville Education Foundation. They have a um a spring fundraiser coming up at XGolf on May 17th. You can find information on their uh website uh which is denvilleedu.org. Um, and you can buy tickets on there. It's uh EdXolf. You don't have to golf to actually come to it. They're going to have a DJ food. Uh, so it should be a good night out for anybody interested. Uh, I wanted the
081board members to be aware that we'll have committees coming up in the first week of April. Um, I also wanted to echo uh Mr. Anderson's comments during the agenda. Um, I Dr. Dr. Forte, I really appreciate you giving us um a lot of time. I believe it's 18 months for us to um um try to find a replacement and um yeah, it's uh I I was wondering why you've been so uh easy to work with this year now. So, and then you spring the retirement letter on us. So, no, I'm only kidding, of course, but uh I really uh um congratulate you on your decision and I look uh and um we'll uh it'll be an interesting 18 months to uh uh for you for you to help us find a replacement. So, thank you.
082Thank you. I appreciate it. How are these four Friday folder board highlights? uh district calendar revisions for 2425, New Jersey school board's ethics presentation in recognition of Charlene Peterson's retirement after several years of service to the Denver Board of Education and Mr. Capello and Mr. Anderson recognized for 10 years of service in the Denver Board of Ed. How's that? Sounds great. 10 years plus another 10 years more hopefully. Thanks. I needed that. All right, we'll move on the agenda to uh open it up for public comment at 9:16 p.m. Uh seeing no one in the chambers and no one online, we'll close it at 9:6 p.m. Uh I would like to request another executive session. So, Miss Astrino, can you walk us through that, please? Sure. Um, I move to convene an executive session in
083accordance with section 8 of the open public meetings act. The purpose of this closed session will be to discuss negotiations, legal, security, and personnel issues. Minutes of this session will be made available to the public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists. I'll second. Thank you. All in favor? I. Any nays? Abstensions? Uh before we go to executive, I will make an announcement to the public that we will be adjourning after this meeting. So there will be no further voting. So uh we are now in executive at 9:17 p.m. Thank you everyone.