001All right. Good evening. Can I have a motion to reopen to public session? Motion. Motion by Trustee Pringle. Can I have a second? Second. Second by Trustee Stein. All those in favor say I. I. I. Anyone opposed? Okay, we are back. Open to the public. Be it resolved that the Hackinac Board of Education approves the special meeting minutes of May 12th, regular meeting minutes of May 14th, executive meeting minutes of April 24th, June 5th special meeting minutes, and June 11th special meeting minutes. Can I have a motion to a motion to approve the minutes, please? Motion. Motion by Trustee Gilmore. Can I have a second? Second by trustee Arm Hamsa. Miss Aasha, can you please do a roll call? Miss Alustin Balaputra. Yes. Miss Emmerza. Yes. Mr. Carol, yes. Miss Gilmore, yes. Mr. Martin, yes.
002Miss Pringle, yes. Miss Harris, yes. Mr. Stein. Abstain from the 24th, but say yes to everything else. Thank you. Mr. Aasha, are we good? Did the motion pass? I apologize. Motion motion passes. Okay, excellent. Thank you. Okay, so good evening everyone. Um, thank you for waiting for us um this evening and thank you for being here and joining us also online. I do have a statement that I would like to read to you all. On Thursday, June 12th, at approximately 4 pm, in a meeting attended by Trustee Armsta, Trustee Martin and I informed Dr. Thomas McBride Jr. that he was being placed on suspension from his position as superintendent of Hackinack Public Schools. This action was taken after multiple conversations with our New Jersey School Boards Association regional representative individual consultation with all non-conlicted board
003trustees over the course of several days, the board's completion and review of the statutoily mandmandated CSA evaluation and several consultations with legal counsel who thoroughly reviewed the terms of the superintendent's employment contract and the laws of New Jersey. While I understand there may be questions, I must emphasize that state law prohibits me from publicly discussing the reasons behind this decision. However, I can share that all non-conlicted board of education trustees unanimously supported this course of action. The meeting with Dr. McBride was brief and conducted professionally and in alignment with long-standing district president and best practices in accordance with protocol. He was asked to return all district issue items including his keys, cell phone, and laptop. This is the procedure when any district employee is placed on suspension. He was also given the opportunity to collect
004any personal belongings he wished to take. Dr. McBride stated that he had already packed his items in advance. This meeting was conducted at 400 p.m. Most students and staff had left the buildings. Yet, in an effort to further preserve his privacy and avoid any undue disruption to the district operations, I offered him the option to arrange a time through legal counsel for him to return at a later date to vacate his personal items from his office. Dr. McBride chose to remove his belongings from the premises at that time. Following the meeting, I convened with assistant superintendent Miss O Partment Parchment, Assistant Superintendent Miss Marx, and acting business administrator, board secretary, Miss Aastra, in the presence of our board attorney. With the unanimous support of the board of education, I asked Miss Oats Parchment to assume
005the role of acting superintendent for the time being, which she accepted. Soon after, Miss Oats Parchment, Miss Markx, Trustee Hamsa, Trustee Martin, and myself met with the district principles, and the ECDC administrator to provide an update. The meeting was productive, unified with all administrators, expressing their full support and readiness to guide the district forward during this transition. The following morning at approximately 8:15 a.m., Miss Oats Parchment and I met with central office staff to inform them of the situation and to answer any questions they had. The board of education recognizes that this situation may create uncertainty, but we want to assure you that the day-to-day operations of our schools will continue without interruption. Our central office and build building level teams are working diligently to ensure seamless operations and maintain the high standards our community
006expects and our students and families deserve. Our primary focus remains unchanged providing excellence in education for every student in our district. With just few days remaining in the academic year, I encourage all staff members to continue their outstanding work. Your dedication and professionalism are what make Hackinac public schools successful and your students need your continued commitment to finish this year strong. I do want to address the false narratives that have been spread. Suggestions that decisions made by this board are racially motivated are not only baseless, they are deeply irresponsible and divisive. These claims demonstrate a disregard for truth and in some cases reflect what can only be seen as a deliberate and harmful intent to seow distrust within our community. Let me be clear, this board is composed of people who reflect the diversity and
007values of Hackinack in many ways, racially, ethnically, religiously, and more. The loudest and most offensive accusations have come from former board members who know how personal matters are handled and know what can and cannot be discussed personally. But instead of using whatever platform they believe they still have to support the district, they have instead chosen to traffic in innuendos, rumors, gossip, and social media posts for their own personal agenda and satisfaction. They speak without facts. One has to wonder why would people who quit this board and voluntarily gave up on being a voice for our students suddenly be so loud about matters they know nothing about? Why would they mislead the public this way? They should know better. But unfortunately, they have continued to center themselves in the matters of our district instead of centering
008the best interests of our students, staff, and community. The trustees sitting up here took an oath and we are dedicated volunteer public servants who are responsible for the oversight of this district. We have deep roots in this community and are committed to this work because we love this city. Hackinase Public Schools takes pride in being one of the most diverse districts in the county, reflected not just in our student body, but in our educators, support staff, administrators, and leadership. Now, let me take a moment to recognize an extraordinary woman, a phenomenal instructional and community leader whose passion for education and public service is undeniable. She is strategydriven, collaborative, and deeply committed to the success of every student. And she has been for decades. She has served as a teacher, department supervisor, principal, and assistant superintendent.
009She is a true testament to the education one can obtain in our schools. As she was born and raised in Hackinack, a true homegrown success story. Her accomplishments are vast and her community involvement is deeply rooted. With that being said, it is with immense pride and honor that I make a motion to approve A1. Therefore, be it resolved that the Hackasack Board of Education approves Andrea Oats Parchment as acting superintendent effective immediately June 18, 2025 pursuant to a written contract to be agreed upon by the board and Miss Parchment and to be approved by the Executive County Superintendent. Can I have a second motion? I will be more than happy to second that motion. Okay. Second by Trusty Signs. Miss Adaptra, can you please do a roll call? Yes, Miss Gilmore. Yes, Mr. Martin. All
010extain. Miss Pringle, yes. Miss Harris, yes. Mr. Stein, absolutely. Yes. Motion passes. Congratulations. Congratulations, Miss Andrea Oart. [Music] We are excited for your leadership and are confident in the future of our district under your guidance. Congratulations again. Um, at this time uh, unless Miss Parchman, did you want to say a few words now or or later? I will say them. Um, first we were going to do the presentation of the HIV, but if you wanted to say something now, it's it's up to you. I will be short. I don't So, thank you. I I'm just extremely humbled um by the reception um how well I was received. And all I have to say is for such a time as this, I'm appointed to this position to serve our community, to serve our children. If anyone
011knows me, I continue to say that Hack and Sack can be a model district. My calling is to ensure that our kids receive what they need to have prosperity in life. I am here to collaborate with every one of you. I don't come with perfection. I have some wrinkles, but we're all willing to work together because we're here for the children and we're also here to support all of our staff and the community. We can only move ahead united and um I thank you for your confidence in me and I look forward to serving. I will roll up my sleeves and do what I can and hope that I can get some days seven hours of sleep. Thank you. Okay, so on to our agenda which is the presentation of the official harassment, intimidation, and
012bullying. Uh thank you. I promise to be very brief. Um, so each year the state of New Jersey requires all schools within all school districts uh to conduct a self assessment regarding harassment, intimidation, and bullying for the previous school year. The 2023 2024 school year reports were presented to the board of education on October 31st, 2024. They were approved and certified. The grades were then submitted to the state. The state approved the board the scores and they were posted to the district website as required by law. Today's presentation is to just verify to the board and to our district that those scores are posted on the district website. You can anyone can find these scores from 2023 2024 as well as the archived scores on the district site. So, you just need to go into
013the district website, go into the four families dropdown, the anti-bullying HIV resources, and on the left column, you'll see the anti-bullying grades and district reports. So, that is all I need to present this evening. Thank you very much. Okay, thank you so much. On to our superintendent report. That'll be Miss Andrea Oats Parchment. I also want to to say before I begin that I will appreciate all of your prayers as I move forward in this capacity. Um, thank you. Thank you. So, first I want to acknowledge our student representative, Chenica Thomas. She served with us for this entire year. She is not here this evening. I would also like to acknowledge our seal of biiteracy recipients and our debate club who placed in a countywide competition. Finally, to the students who provided that beautiful rendition
014of old hacken sack, our alma mater, I want to thank them. And on to so many things that have happened during the month of May, I do have a bulleted list. And continuing this month, we had the privilege of participating in many events since our last board of education meeting. Field days, tricky trays, spring concerts, coral dance, instrumental music, wellness day at the high school, awards dinners for performing arts banquet recognitions, the Spanish honor society induction, multicultural performances at Hackinack Middle School, Earth Day at Hiller School, Bergen County Lunchon recognition for our teachers of the year and ESP. Pete, a community health fair at Fairmount, a spelling bee at Parker, senior scholarship night where thousands of dollars were awarded to our students. We also enjoyed the art show at the high school, a Jackson Avenue
015school talent show, top 20 recognition dinner, high school dance showcase, moving up ceremonies at our ECDC early childhood development center and all of our elementary schools, teacher and staff retirement dinner. And I'm sure that I've omitted something and I apologize in advance if there's any oversight and our seal of biiteracy parent breakfast, our multilingual parent engagement events. And upcoming, we look forward to tomorrow the middle school graduation and our athletic sports banquet tomorrow. uh our high school graduation Monday and summer multilingual parent engagement events throughout our summer and finally a summer and what I want to call aura aura and aura reset rejuvenate and relax. We're looking forward to that. And on that note, I want to thank each and every one of you, the entire village, uh your comments, your input. We welcome it
016all whether we agree or disagree because we need all of you. This is the village. uh our teachers and our pareducators, all of our retirees for this school year, custodians, lunch assistants, administrative assistants, other office supports there, the business office, our school leaders and district leaders, our parents, our community members, our board of education, and all of the other partners who have helped to create the best environment, the best learning environment for our students and for all of us. So I say to you, have a blessed summer and we look forward to a new school year. I often use the ship analogy. We are going to sail forward into 2025 2026 because as comets we are strong and we rise above every situation and will there be some bumps? Oh no, some waves, right? Will
017there be some waves? Um but we will get through this and we will move forward because our children and our families are in our hands. And to that I will continue with the superintendent's report. So our enrollment is 5,290 students as of June 12th. And you will see it broken down by school. Uh residency reports. Um, for the month of May, we had five cases received, one residency verified, inhome visits verified, um, no removals. And on to our harassment, intimidation, and bullying report, we have seven cases that were founded, and you can see the breakdown by school. We have 12 cases that were unfounded for a total of 19 cases presented. We have seven pending and we have five that were there was a preliminary determination of not HIV. And that ends my report. All
018right. Thank you so much. So, we're on to public comments. Public participation shall be governed by the following rules. One, if in person, a participant must sign the sign-in sheet and be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his or her name, municipality of residence, and group affiliation if applicable. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes. 3 minutes duration during the public session. Three, all statements, questions or inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer and any questions or inquiries directed by a participant to another board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such statement, question or inquiry shall be addressed by the presiding officer on behalf of the board or by the individual board member. And four, all
019board and/or superintendent responses to questions or inquiries shall be held until the end of public participation. Um, at this time, public comments is now open. If there is anybody here in person that would like to speak. Sure. Sure. Come on up. You have three minutes. Okay. My name is Andrew Mian. I live in Hackinack. I am a former board member um in 2023. So, I wanted to address the board because I disagree with the suspension of Superintendent McBride. We supported him. We unanimously uh including you, President Harris, voted him voted him in as the best person for the job. All of a sudden, you changed. Um, I don't know what happened, but I think that there's a power play. I'm accusing something devious happened. So, Andrea Parchman, you have family that work in the district.
020You cannot negotiate contracts because your family members will benefit from those contracts. You, President Harris, have a relationship with Cassim Gains. Kazine Gains supported her campaign. So he is now mayor elect. So all of this stuff is a conflict of interest. You need to also recluse yourself from negotiations. Kenneth Martin, you're the ex-husband of Andrea Parchment. you cannot be part of the negotiations as well as it might benefit your ex-wife who you do have a relationship I believe uh with her. So with all of these different relationships, you are not permitted to be part of the negotiations. So these are matters of ethics. You took an oath of office, I believe, President Harris. That's what you said, that you would be abide by some of the rules of the of the um code of ethics,
021one of which no one will receive financial advantage over another. The board attorney, he also works for this city as he sits on the board, which poses a conflict of interest and he should know better. Um, I'm not even sure he if he even has qualifications to be a board attorney. He he goes into executive sessions which he might give to the mayor elect who is also the president of the teachers union. There is no balance of power. So if you feel that your taxes are not going to go up because of this imbalance, property taxes go up because of teacher salaries. There is going to be no checks and balance of power. Ethics should be the primary goal of this board and they should submit an advisory opinion to the school ethics commission to
022determine whether or not it is ethical. The board attorney should be doing it. Oh, that's right. He's not even an education attorney. Thank you for your time. So I will be submitting something just to let you know your time is up. Anybody else? Good evening everyone. My name is Albania Martinez Bohos. Um I am Fairmont PT president but today I am speaking as a parent. I'm a resident of Hackinzac. So I stand here before you tonight as a concerned parent, concerned about the direction our district is heading right now. Things feel clouded. There are there are too many inconsistencies, too many disruptions, and frankly, too many unanswered questions. This environment is not healthy for our children, and it certainly isn't beneficial for their education or their future. There have been sudden changes with no explanation.
023We are left to fill in the blanks, to make assumptions and that only creates more confusion and mistrust. We as parents, as stakeholders, deserve transparency. We deserve to understand the reasons behind the decisions that are being made that directly affect our children. Right now, this district feels chaotic. It's hard to make sense of it all. And I know I'm not alone in this feeling. Tonight, the only sensible decision that was made was putting um appointing Miss Parchman as our next superintendent. I believe she has the common sense, the vision, and the commitment to do right by our children. Please, for the sake of our kids, for the sake of our community, be transparent. Let's move forward with leadership that puts students first. And on a side note as a recommendation, we are parents and we
024are here to express our opinion and we want to be involved in our children's education going into public into uh executive meetings at 8 uh 7:00 and then coming out at 8 or 9:00 is not is not fair to us parents because we have children at home that needs to be put to to bed. We have things to do. So I I I would I suggest that out of consideration for our time, you do public speak public comments before and then you go into your meetings and and take as many long as you want, but be fair and be considerate of our time. Thank you very much. Good evening. My name is Sylvia Hughes. I live at 395 to Wolf Place in Hackinack. I'm 84 years old. It took a lot of effort to come
025out tonight because I haven't done this in a while. Um, but I thought it was important. I've been a resident of Hackinack for over 60, approximately 60 years. I've watched my children, my grandchildren, now great grandchildren grow up in the Hackinack school system. And I've watched some of you grow up in the Hackinack school system. And I'm very proud of your efforts. And I expect great things for all of you. for our children. It is my understanding, this is what I'm I'm concerned about, the the word retaliation I've heard so much this week. And it is my understanding that Dr. Thomas McBride, our currently suspended superintendent of schools, has recommended Mr. Annabelle Galliano to be the principal of Nelly K. Parker School. I find it odd that this recommendation is being considered if we have
026valid reasons for terminating or suspending Dr. McBride. Another concern is the fact that Dr. Jolly Galliano was demoted from the position of middle school principal to a vice principal position at the Parker School. Has the current board reviewed the performance evaluations for Mr. Galliano as he served for vice principal at Parker School. I am also concerned about the number of parental complaints filed against Mr. Galliano in the past six months. There was a staff letter of complaints submitted to Dr. McBride from the Parker staff. What is the status of that complaint? Has anyone questioned the interview committee regarding their scores and recommendation for a new principle which was submitted to Dr. McBride. Finally, Mr. Galliano should not be allowed to harass staff at Nell. Parker school. That's why many of them are not here tonight
027and many of them will not speak. threaten staff with transfer or make them feel they have no alternative except to seek employment elsewhere. This is not acceptable and I am requesting a review of each of my concerns and we cannot tolerate retaliation in our government as a nation. We should not tolerate it in our school system because if we say we care about children, we have to cons be concerned about everyone that touches that child's life. And that's why I'm here tonight and I hope you're listening and I hope that you're concerned about our teachers. We don't want to lose good teachers. We don't want to lose good staff members. And we don't want parents to feel like they have no voice in the system. Thank you. Good evening. Uh my name is Nikesha Fulmore.
028I'm a Hackinack resident. Tonight I stand as a parent who has seen the progress our district has made and now I stand to see the regression. I can't quite understand how a principal such as Mr. Bortang, whose performance as an administrator reflects the outstanding respect and admiration of students and parents alike. If the elected members here tonight stand on the platform that you put students first, then the nonrehire of Mr. Batten does not make sense. If you took a moment to see how he works tirelessly for our students, I have seen personally without hesitation, he has stopped to help a teacher who maybe had a student who has a discipline issue and stays with that student until the discipline issue is resolved. or just to see a parent confide in him about problems they are
029having either in school or at home knowing he will listen and try to find a solution. Isn't this what we look for in our administrators? Parents want answers and we deserve answers. Come September, there will be a lot of confusion, frustration, and apprehension of who we can trust to have our children's best interest at heart. Thank you. My name is Dan Kersh and um I'm a Hackinack resident and a former board of education member and past president and I'm going to share with you some of the lovely things that happened to me tonight. I got to meet Mrs. Hughes and Miss Manning and discovered that I ran track with their your ex-husband and your friend cousin many years ago, class of 1960. Um, so uh, so that that alone made it worthwhile coming out tonight.
030Um, I have a couple of things to say. One of which is that I have no intention of discussing the situation with the now uh, on administrative leave or whatever he is superintendent. Um, I do want to say that um I do have a Hackinack High School education, class of 1960, so I can count and I can read and I know that we had a couple of elections and you guys all won and there was a new um city council that was elected and many of you including the and the council ran on a promise of change and move things along for the better. So get on with it and do what you need to do and know that you have the support of a lot of people when you when you're doing that. And
031I'm going to quote the um the father of a current board member um Walter Carroll who I served with and who in my opinion no disrespect to the rest of you is the best board member the city of Hackinack ever had and probably ever will have because as he was fond of pointing out and he meant it. He was there for the kids for all of the kids and made sure that we were always there for all of the kids. And so you have my support, you have our support. And I would re be remiss if I did not single out this oats parchment. Andrea and I first met in 19 Well, whatever. when we both ran for school board on opposing slates and we each won. I got a two-year term, she got a
032one-year term. I've known her for the longest time. And I have the highest regard for her, for her abilities, for her dedication, for her skills, for her intelligence, for her caring, and for the heart of Hackinack that beats deep within her. And I know that we are in good hands, Andrea, with you at the helm. Go for it. Good evening everyone. Reverend Carolyn Davis. I'm here tonight. Um, I just want to clarify a few things here. Um, I don't like falsehoods. And there was a rumor out about how uh the work group handled the situation back in September 28th. I want to show the difference between how this was handled. September 28th, 2023. Um, we had an official here, a principal of a school that was having some issues in her school. Being that we
033supported her and being that she's been in this community for a long time, we as a work group, we did not post anything on Facebook. We went to the board of ed and we spoke out. We we never said anything negative. In fact, that night we thanked the board president Victory. We thank the board members at that time for all the they had given us starting the I work for starting it. So we did not in any way make that public. We felt that something came it was a rumor. It was a rumor but even Paul heard rumors he went to find out what it was about. So I just want to clarify that because we did it differently. We did it the way we think it should be done. Go to the board of
034ed meeting. The worker petitioned also for more black and brown administrators years ago as our school is very diverse but had become more brown black. The only thing I want to say tonight yes we still stand for that. We still stand for that because we believe that's what our students need. Very important for the black and brown students. I don't know anything about the other teachers who are involved in this. Um I have met Mr. bride. We've always talked respectfully to each other and I've had no issues. But I will say this, I believe the way this was handled was totally unprofessional and detrimental. Not just to him, not just to the other teachers, but to the community, to the staff, to the staff, and to the students especially. This should never have been made
035a public issue. The Sunshine Law is there for a reason to protect people's privacy. And I don't even care even if somebody said make it public. As a professional and as board members, it should have never been done. We don't need people from California knowing what's happening in Hackinack. This is our issue and it makes it bad for them. I feel bad for those people who are involved because it was put out in the public. Should have never been done that way. I know if I have an issue on my job, I don't want everybody else talking about it. I want to come to the people I need to come to privately and discuss it. So, I'm very distressed about this. I just want to say this is a very distressful situation for everyone involved,
036but we voted for this board for a reason. I'm sorry the time is up. Congratulations and congratulations, Miss Parchman. Thank you. Deborah Keeling Gettis Hackinac. In 2019, the work group came before the board of education and presented data showing a lack of minority teachers and the fact that the teaching staff did not reflect the demographics of the student population. The board and administration listened and began to hire more staff and and administration that reflected the student population, black, Latino, Asian, etc. This was under the presidency of Mr. Lance Powell and continued through Mr. uh Scott Vickery. Nevertheless, there have been some hires that everyone did not agree with, but we had trust in the board and the administration that they were doing their due diligence. Some hires worked out, some didn't. We need to give
037this board that same trust. Nobody wants to see our first black superintendent suspended or any of the other staff fired. But do you really think that there is some nefarious reason behind these actions? I do not think that this board that is 99% minority has taken these actions lightly. But unfortunately and legally they cannot discuss personal issues. So at this time we must trust their decisions. I know that this isn't easy for them to do. After all, I would assume that they would want to give their reasons for their actions to avoid the bullets and daggers being thrown at them tonight. But they can't. So all they can do is stand strong with their decisions, and we must trust. Now, even though they cannot divulge information, the affected staff can request that their case be
038discussed publicly. So maybe those who are in touch with the superintendent and the rest should encourage them to request a public hearing so all of this gaslighting can end last. In 2015, I was elected to serve on the city council to fill a two-year term that was vacated. I was no longer an ally of that council and didn't try to be. I wanted everyone to know that I was there to serve the people, not for personal gains. I was the dissenting voice and didn't flinch, didn't run, didn't quit. It wasn't easy or fun sometimes. Mr. Vickery and Miss Cordderero Alton, you should have served out your term. You should not have quit. If things were so bad, you should have stayed on the board. You should have been the the dissenting voice on the board
039than rather on Facebook. This is not throwing any shade to you, but if you were really about the kids, you should have stayed. Anyone else from the public? My name is Marggo Cooper of Hackinack. I should be used to microphones. After being a performer, I should know about microphones. Okay. Myself and many of the homeowners are disappointed to say the least regarding the ratings of the high school and the middle school of Hackinack. The ratings for both of these schools is located at the bottom of the school system. I'm not familiar with education here in Hackinac. I unfortunately do not have any children in the system, but I can read diagrams and so forth. There seems to be something terribly wrong. It's embarrassing when I see the position of these two schools in Hackinack. We
040have excellent young people here in town. They want to learn. They want to strive. They have to because of the times we are now living in. And I just don't understand why these two schools are rated so low in the scheme of things. I also understand that we have charter schools in Hackinasac. How much money from our tax dollars are donated to charter schools? I have not personally seen seen any documentation. I worked in media for many many years. I believe in documentations. Show me the papers. Show me the numbers. Do not give me percentages. So therefore, I figure this board should have the info that I'm looking for. And I hope I don't have to wait till this time next year. It doesn't take that long. If you can't find it, contact me. I
041will research it for myself. But I shouldn't have to do that as a taxpayer. And as far as the superintendent is concerned, if it goes to court, who will pay? We homeowners, our taxes will go up. We live in very difficult times. So, you need to reconsider. I don't know what you're going to reconsider, but think upon it. Thank you. Good evening. Joanna Kaj, former board trustee, Hackin Sack alumni, and community member. I see some folks have brought them their tinfoil hats today. Um, but I'm going to stick to things that are factual and verifiable. To be from Hackinack is to hear people who don't know Hackinack talk badly about Hackinack. It is a pass in the past few days we have seen a lot of people who clearly don't know Hackinack and clearly don't
042care about Hackinack just talk about Hackinack and in the pro process they have used an administrative personnel change to fan the flames of vision to further their own personal agendas. The same people who protected and defended a racist bigot who sat on this board of education are the same people who suddenly claimed to care about equity and justice. The same people who attacked educators and staff who have long who have disparaged long-standing members of this community are claiming they care about our schools. The same people who removed public comment section from this board and then deleted board meetings off of YouTube are now claiming they care about transparency. Please, this is so manipulative and so manufactured. Let's all take a breath and consider this source. They are weaponizing the comment section to use you for
043their own motives. The fact is that these people hate Hackinack and what we stand for. What we saw tonight is what Hackinack is. We stand by our own. That's what we do. And if you don't like that, then you don't know Hackinack. But they're too cowardly to say what they actually think about our town and say it proudly. So instead, they want to make up fake controversy to divide us. Don't believe everything you read online. Check your sources. And if they claim to care about comm our community while also attacking everything about it, run the other way. Thank you. Victor resident. Are you kidding with that? Are you kidding me? What kind of crap is that? Because somebody questioned something with this board. So now it's a it's what a a group of people hiding
044in the shadows talking about you guys. You don't know about the hackers people. I don't care about the damn foolishness that goes on here. All I care about the children. So for you to come up here with that crap when I know things that you said that never was true because you never presented any evidence that it's true. So please don't come up here with that foolishness. Um, where are we going with this board? Where are we going? Are we going to make progress? Are we going to have these back and forth conversations about nothing? The children deserve better. We deserve better as a community. I'm not originally from Hackis Egg, but I give it a lot about hackers. I give a damn about hackers. So, let's stop this unnecessary conversation about, you know, blue
045and gold and this and that and and stick with the children. That's what's important. What happened 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years ago, it doesn't matter. That's in the past. We looking for the future. So, I don't want to hear about no old time hacking sack and this and that. Well, you don't give a damn about the kids. Move forward. Have vision. Don't worry about what happened 30 years ago. Thank you. My name is Vicky Farhey. I have lived in Hackinack for over 60 years. I am a graduate of the class of 73. My children are graduates of the class of 2006. They have both done beautifully in their selected careers because of the education that they received from the Hackinack public schools as did I from the education I received. I have chosen to
046stay in Hackinack beyond my children's adulthood and moving out of state. I have chosen to be involved in the school system as a volunteer because I believe in the children of Hackinac. I compliment the board. I am also a past board member for a brief f period of time. But I know what it's like to be on the board of education. I'm also a past PTA president, past PTA council president, yada yada yada. I know what it's like to sit up there and get everybody yelling at you and saying all these magical um theor theatrical comments. You're doing a good job and you're making a wise choice. There were decisions that had to be made that to many people who have been active in the school system for a really long time could see from
047a distance that these decisions were eventually going to have to be made. I sat in a meeting a year ago at PE president President's Council and said to myself, there are some problems here that need to be addressed. It's going to take time for them to get to it. So, I commend you for taking the time to figure it out. I commend you for being willing to take tough decisions. I commend you for appointing Andrea Oat Parchment. I have known her for many, many years. She was both of my son's English teacher. She was a fabulous teacher. I also know the amazing work she did bringing more money to our prek education program. I know that quite intimately from a very dear friend of mine who raved about her as she was running the prek
048our way program and talking about the professionalism and excellence of Andrea. So I compliment you for the work that you're doing. And yes, Walter Carol is a legend. He is a legend. He is the person everyone looked up to on how to do right by the community on how to do right in any place you were involved. And so congratulations for having such an amazing father and please send him my best. And I just want to tell you, there are always going to be people who like the sound of their voice and they like to make it loud and they like to make them bombastic and that's just life and you have to roll with it because you are elected officials who have to deal with this stuff and sometimes it's annoying. But look around
049this room, there are more people clapping for you than against you. And that says a lot that we stayed this late. Thank you. Anybody from the public? Sure. Pardon me. Thank you very much. Uh, good evening everybody. My name is Tony Jackson. Uh, I'm a father of a student in the Hackinack schools. I'm also a teacher uh, in Hackinack. Just a couple of things. Um, one, I want to thank you for addressing the misrepresentation, the many fallacies, the attempts to sew division within the community through social media posts that somehow both claimed and denied racial discrimination at the same time. Um, thank you for doing so tactfully, respectfully, and with uh, as was appropriate factual information to share. And I really appreciate this as a father and a teacher because it models appropriate discourse as
050many people are talking about the students. That's what they need to see. So, thank you very much for that. U for the community and the students. Um and then a couple of things. Um as a teacher, uh can we please look at revising the elementary school report card? Um it is it is overly overwhelming. It is is difficult and impractical for the teachers to fill out. Um it also as a parent is difficult to understand. Um and I know that we have conversations about it as teachers um as parents as well. So I would appreciate it if that could be something um just to give another look at. Um also more horizontal collaboration between the schools. It's something that was brought up multiple times in uh in meetings with the superintendent with several of us
051teachers. uh but we have yet to really substantively bring that to fruition. So I would very much appreciate if that could be a part of the discussion. Um additionally, um I and I want to just mention this. I'm I'm proud of this. Um uh it's kind of embarrassing to be the the one to say it. Um but the uh NEA Today magazine came into my classroom um and they did a story on hiphop and how it's being used in the classroom. and the the article has just gone live. So, um I'll I'll share it to you however I can. I I can send a link. Um but it's something I was really really proud of because um Miss Whitaker uh when she brought me on, one of the things that I I always loved and
052that she appreciated was using hiphop pedigogy as a part of my practice. And so to see that get recognition within Nelly K. Parker's school um meant a lot. So, it'll also the article will be out in the physical copy of the magazine in August. Um, so I want to I know she would pat me on the back for that. So, I wanted to um to mention that as well. Um I I never have this much time remaining. own sense. Um I and I I I just want to say that I as again as a dad and as a staff member based on my experiences as both in the community and in the schools, I trust that the decisions that you made were for the best of the community and for the students. And I want
053to celebrate as we talk about racial discrimination. I want to celebrate the first black woman in the position of acting superintendent of the Hackin Sack Schools, Miss Parchment. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Michelle Tvarz Hackinac resident. I am also a PTA vice president, been PTA presidents forever and president of the PTA president's council. And I just would like to say I don't always agree with everything. Everybody has their own opinions, but no matter what I do, I always trust in the board. And although I didn't bleed blue and gold, my parents did. My parents grew up in this community. My children grew up in this community. They've stayed in this community. So, I am proudly going to say my kids bleed blue and gold and I'm okay with it. Thank you. Good evening,
054Timothy Hoffman Hackinac. I'm a proud lifelong Hackinac resident and a graduate of Hackinac High School, class of 2012. um and also a former board of education member who sat in one way or another behind that table for eight years. And so in know in from that experience I know the difficult position that you're all in um in a time like this where personnel items can't be discussed um and and there's speculation that can run rampant when that occurs. I appreciate the difficult situation that you're in and appreciate your cander uh and the statement that Miss Harris read at the beginning of the meeting and despite the obvious choppy waters uh that the district's obviously in at the moment the district is in great hands with my former principal Miss Oats Park. We are we wish
055you nothing but the best and we know that your calm level-headed approach to leadership will propel us forward throughout this moment. the choppy waters will calm down and we're all in this together. Comets always rise up and work together to get through the difficulties that are there. Um, and we work together with everybody who's part of this community. Doesn't matter if you're a lifelong resident or somebody who's moved in. That's Hackinac. We come together. We protect our own as Joanna said, but we work together to get through the difficulties that are there. And so with all of you here, I'm confident we'll get through it. So, thank you all and we wish you the best. Hi everyone. Congratulations, Miss Parchment. Um, so I know, sorry. State your name, please. Rama Chalapa. I'm a Hackinide parent.
056Um, though my son is going to be graduating tomorrow and moving on to high school. I do care about this community. I've been I've chosen to be here for a very long time because of its diversity. So I know you cannot discuss the personal matters but I am shocked that miss uh Mr. Sass's contract has not been renewed. Um I thought he was a wonderful principal and uh he supported the kids. He was inspiring and he made time and effort for the kids at the school, outside of the school, everywhere. So um and also I thought that you know diversity part of diversity is to get outsiders perspectives into the community and to see someone coming from outside with with such skills uh being let go is sort of disappointing. So I just wanted to
057mention that. Thank you. Cassine Gaines Hackinac. Um, for those who are watching at home, I just want to acknowledge Mr. Mi who referenced me earlier. I believe he's from what would like to be thought of as the serious board of education. the people that were calling out, the people that were a little bit hysterical early on, I'm glad to see that they are all still here because the cameras have left and I thought that they might have quit on this meeting like they quit on the board of education over the course of the last six months. So, I I just wanted to uh take a moment and just acknowledge because someone mentioned this idea of the blue and gold and and that being sort of a hysterical thing to talk about, but that's a thing
058that's really only being talked about in a porative sense from former members of the board of education, which is sort of odd to me that you can have people that move here from out of state be elected to the Hackinack board of education by the citizens of Hackinac, be immediately sworn in as vice president 15 minutes after being sworn in, serve two terms as vice president and president, and then be so indignant as to think Hackinack didn't roll out the red carpet to you. There is something very bizarre about that. There is something very bizarre about someone who in December of 2024, as people are worried about the impact of new administrations on this community, is sitting at home toiling over an PowerPoint presentation making a naughty and nice list like Santa Claus over staff
059members that he thinks are worthy of good comments and bad comments. And it's not lost on me that the late great homegrown Lillian Whitaker unfortunately failed to make his list of good people here in Hackinack. That's a shame to me. We have no problem with outsiders here. We're a receiving district. We take Rochelle Park. We take South Hackinack. And unfortunately, it's that board of education that let Maywood go. And so I really think that there's a lot of yap, as the kids would say, coming from this wing of the audience here, but that's the only thing they're ever good at. They're better on Facebook than they are on the deis. And so I just want to close with one last thing. The best moment I have ever had as a teacher was this time last
060year where I was in the auditorium for graduation duty and I was not happy about it and it was incredibly hot and Selso King had the kids in the stands and he was telling them about how important it is to be a Comet and when you leave here you have a responsibility to come back and serve this community that It's okay to want to be a Bitcoin millionaire, but it's better to come back and contribute. The kids were silent and they heard like so many of us have. The time is up. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody? Anyone else from the public? Going once. Going twice. So, good evening everyone. Marlene Somerville, president and CEO of the Coalition for Educational Excellent. I am the guardian of three individuals inside of the school district. My niece is
061in the high school, my nephew's in the middle school, and my youngest is at Fairmont School. I'm not sure what's going on. don't really matter that much. I am not on Facebook. I do not do social media posts. I don't read any of the stuff. So any implications that are made about people posting on that side of the audience was ridiculous. Mr. Gains, you are the mayor elect. You will be serving everybody in the city. That whole entire tirade doesn't do you any justice. You need to do better. You are the mayor elect. You will be governing everybody regardless of their opinion about you. Whatever they said, whatever they did, you need to let it roll off your back and just let it go. It wasn't necessary. Now, as it comes to the board, the
062board is entitled to make whatever decision the board decides that they want to. And I don't think anybody in this room is questioning the decision that the board made. But nobody is entitled to make no one is entitled to tear somebody's career down that they have spent their lifelong building. And that is what the process did. The process humiliated people. The process embarrassed people. It wasn't necessary. If you wanted the superintendent to go a conversation and then figure out how we're going to work it out for his contract to close out and for him to leave the district, that would have been what you did. What just happened to I don't think I spoke when anybody else spoke, right? I sat over there. Okay, let's let's refrain from talking to the public. So again, what
063just happened to Mr. Galliano? While everybody is entitled to their opinion again, Miss O Parchment before I backtrack, congratulations, Miss Parchman would have been make an appointment. She is now the acting superintendent. You go into the office and you have but we have this thing about when the mic is open that everybody comes to the mic and think that it is a okay to tear people down. We should not do that. We are better than that. our kids are watching at home and it has to be some point in this district, in this community when enough is enough. We need to do better as adults. We should not be doing this. We don't come here to tear each other down. We don't come here to argue big things. We don't come here to talk about
064people's characters, people's behavior. If you have a problem, there's a process. There's resources. There is a protocol that you follow. And it would be nice if all of us at some point in time tone down the rhetoric, tone down the vitriol and then do that, make an appointment and go and do that. But it it it is not okay. These people spent their time building up their career. And for them to be able right to be this is this is how if they go for another job and you Google this is how they're left. That's not good. It's not good. It's not a good representation of hackinac. Thank you. We have to protect our children. Anybody else from the public? Going once. Going twice. Okay. No more um public comments from in person. Now, let's
065check in line. Okay. Go ahead. Can you hear me? Hello. Hello. Hi. Good evening. My name is Fran Kolo. I'm a Hackinack resident. I am a Hackinack middle school world language instructor. I have been instructing in the district for 29 years. I have lived in Hackinack for 54 years of my life. And I'm a graduate of Hackinack High School, class of 1989. First of all, I would love to congratulate the students who received the seal of biiteracy this evening. Such great news. And congratulations to the instructors as well. Congratulations. Yay, Miss Parchment. I have very fond memories of Andrea working with her in the middle school. She is very dedicated and a caring leader and person, and I wish her the very best because she is the very best. I would like to share that
066I'm currently very pleased to instruct Spanish at the middle school level. Our team has made a lot of progress in terms of how world language is presented to our students. We currently instruct classes daily and for semesters. Our survey data has allowed our instructors to reflect on the progress that has been made at the middle school level. students have shared very positive feedback. Additionally, our world language teams feels very supported and heard. Mrs. Monloa, Dr. Whiting, and Mrs. Espanol all have been receptive to our world language team's advocacy. We appreciate this and we look forward to the future of our program. Finally, I would like to mention that our middle school requires a consistent leadership model. Over the years, I have seen many changes in administrators at the middle school. It would be very helpful
067to have consistency at the middle school level. There are too many changes and this can be very confusing to children especially at this stage of development. Thank you very much for hearing me. Anybody else online? Okay, go ahead. Hello. Yes, we can hear you. Great. How are you? Good, thanks. Excellent. My name is Reverend Robert Kohl's Jr. How are you? I am a 36-year resident of Hackinack. I have two children which have came up through Hackinack. My son Christopher Kohl's, my daughter Christina Kohl's. I'm glad to be here today. I want to first give congratulation to Andrea. Congratulations on your new position. Uh I do have somewhat against you guys for uh some recent uh things that have gone on in the with respect to my daughter. Um uh I don't want to get involved
068with that right now. We'll talk about that later, but I I do have some concerns about some things going on in the community with respect to the board. Um, and I just want to know uh hopefully you guys are going to address some of those issues in the near future and um make sure that uh in the in the near future we um can get some things together with respect to how we're going to move forward with respect to the school board. I mean, we've had a lot of changes and I am just I don't know. It just seems like we don't know the direction that we need to be heading. And um there's been a lot of things going on that we just don't seem to be understanding. We don't seem to be together
069and we just need to be able to come together and and find direction for our children because I'm really concerned. Um hopefully you guys have a plan. uh we don't seem to know what it is, but maybe you guys know already and uh you have some means of communicating that to us to give us some kind of a uh a a a hope for what the future might hold for us. Uh hopefully you guys can put it together and communicate it to us and uh give us some uh some sort of a um a a a hope that we can move forward on. Uh we'll be praying for you guys. Andrea, I hope to see you soon. I hope to be uh find myself at some of the future meetings. I plan to be there.
070Uh I am a bit concerned about some of the events that have occurred uh recently. Uh we'll talk privately about those. Um good to see young Carol. I've been on some coaching uh assignments with his father. Good to see Kenny. I know you. Andrea, we have family uh me members uh together and I know that perhaps I'll see you in the future at some of those events. Uh we'll talk more about some of the concerns I have privately, but uh our community needs some togetherness and we haven't seen it uh recently. So hopefully you guys will be able to address that and uh get some things pulled together that we haven't seen recently. All right, my time is up, so I'm gonna get off. Good. Good evening. Um, my name is Taylor Vaughn and I've
071been a Hackinack resident of 30 years and a graduate of 2020. Um, I had the honor of having Miss Parchment as my principal in middle school and I witnessed her relate to children on another level that you can't explain. You have to be there to witness. I've seen her boots to the ground and I have the honor to see her work day and night and climb ladders. She deserves this position and I trust her in her and I trust in the board. And I just want to say congratulations Good evening. My name is Bridget. Uh, wish I could be there in person. Unfortunately, I'm at work. But I would like to say congratulations to Andrea on your position. Hope you will do well and you will consider the children because that's what it's truly all
072about. I've heard other people speak about community and inclusion and not being about it. But the ticket that ran for that board wrote, how could I say it? Uh they ran on a ticket of transparency and transparent they have not been. We the community deserve transparency. We deserve it because our taxpaying dollars are the ones that support this district as well as someone about social media. I'm not on Facebook. I'm not on what's happening. But there are keyboard warriors. But when someone calls, I will respond. But attacking me is not going to be what you should do vindictive. I am not. I am true to who I am when I have stood in front of that board on many occasions and most people are not. But now all of a sudden transparency comes into play
073and now they want to be vocal. Don't hide. I have given myself to the community and I will continue to do just that the same whether it's city or the school board. Thank you and everyone have a wonderful night. Hi, can you hear me? Sorry, can you hear me? Yes, you can. Okay, perfect. Sorry. Uh, this is Hi Silverstein. Uh, we're on Clinton Place in Hackinack. Uh, most of you know me as, uh, Josh Cohen's wife. Um, we have a child who's currently in the school system and another who will be starting in a few years. Um, first of all, I would like to congratulate uh the newly appointed board member uh who was appointed tonight uh as well as the new acting superintendent. Uh we're really looking forward to seeing the great work that
074you both will do with our children and our community. Uh we know some of the current board members outside of your roles as board members. Uh, I trust your decision-making abilities and I believe that you all have our children's best interests at heart. Uh, I understand that you can't discuss the reasons behind personnel issues and changes. Uh, and I'm not asking for that at all. Uh, as a parent, however, seeing people in multiple leadership positions have their contracts not renewed, it feels unsettling. Uh that combined with the very negative rhetoric rhetoric that was taking place on social media can make a parent feel pretty worried. Uh I was on the community relations board that was created by the board of ed for several years. Uh and the recurring theme in our meetings was the need
075for better communication and family engagement. Uh I think the events of the last few days would have been the perfect opportunity to support that need uh by getting ahead of the opposing narrative and the spread of any misinformation. Uh by being proactive and providing correct information. uh by telling parents what your action plan is, what you plan to do, rather than having us worry for days uh until the meeting tonight to get a better understanding of what's going on. Even just like a simple statement would have been wonderful. Uh, I think also being proactive by providing transparent communication will help all of you be able to focus on the things that are important and the work that you're here to do rather than spending a meeting having to do damage control. It will also help
076us parents be able to support all of you in all of the ways that we can and want to do for you. We want you to succeed and we want what's best for our children. Thank you. Thank you. Um at this time we need to extend the meeting past 10:00. Can I have a motion to extend our meeting past 10? Motion offer. Okay. Uh motion by trustee Carol, second by trustee Stein. All those in favor say I. Anyone opposed? Thank you. Okay. We can continue with our line. Is there anyone else online? They're having trouble getting on. Okay. Good evening. My name is Robin Kohl's. I'm a former member uh of this board of trustees. And I'm sorry. Could you could you start over again? I guess you were muted. Can you start off by
077stating your name? Rob Robin Kohl's. Thank you. A former member of this board. And um I came on I've been listening and one of the reasons I wanted to come on tonight is because one of the things that I see that we're struggling a great deal with is respect. We all have an opinion and we see things possibly differently, but it is important and imperative that we respect one another. There's an awful lot of talking that's going on in our community and it is disheartening and it is creating um an atmosphere where we have too many things going on. But I think that when we stand up, whether you disagree with me or you agree with me, respect is important. I have seen people turn and and we're expressing ourselves. That's not the way to
078do that because even if you think differently than I do, please respect me and I will respect you. That does cause cause concern for me because we have these uh group of trustees or board. they're in front of us and they need our support and if they don't there is a way that we should speak to them at the end of the day. Oh yes, it is the children because that's where it should start and the behavior of us as their parents and grandparents or whatever teachers is very important that we set an example for them. And so I didn't get on to to speak against anybody, but I did get on to say in general that we need to be kind and respectful even if we disagree because when you point one finger, just
079remember there are three pointing back at you. And we don't want to do that. We want facts. I heard someone use the words facts. And we need to go and we need to find out what's going on. and be careful who you stand up for because everything that glitters is not gold. Thank you so much for your time this evening and I will also be praying for this board and our community. Good evening. Can you guys hear me? Yes. Okay. Hi, my name is Jessica Cruz. I'm a Hackinack alumni, parent, teacher, community member. Um, I just wanted to first congratulate Miss Parchment on her appointment as the new assist acting superintendent or superintendent. Um, congratulations and I just wanted to echo what she said at the beginning of the meeting, which was reflecting on all
080the amazing things that have happened uh and all the celebrations of the students at the various schools. Um, I think there's a lot of energy in this room and I'm not going to pick a side, but I think that we need to continue to celebrate those things and put all of our resources and our energy together for the best um for the kids because that's why we're all here, whether we're a parent, a teacher, a community member, an administrator. I think we have a lot of amazing staff and community members that can when coming together can continue to make Hackinack, you know, one of the best districts in Jersey. And I will volunteer every ounce of my time to make that happen. And I hope that those who have that energy on any side can
081put their differences aside and come together for the kids so we can make Hackinack the best that it is. And that's all I want to say. Thank you. Hi, good evening. Can you hear me? Yes. Hi, my name is Anna Garcia, Hackinack resident. I want to congratulate everyone who's sitting up there. Um, we are supporting you guys and hopefully you will take our kids best interest and make decisions that will make their school experience much better. I would like I have two children who are currently uh attending Hackinack schools and I don't know when this came about but I would like for the board to please consider removing the aspect that schools now have to submit a budget a year in advance. That is ridiculous. You don't know what kids are going to be doing,
082what they need. And no teacher, no school administrator should have to plan a year in advance for anything. And I say this to be specific with when when kids are representing the school, whether it's in a sporting event or academically, planning a year in advance is impossible. I also ask the board since we've had all these hires within the last two years that if there is money, please let's spend it on the kids. So if kids are traveling representing the school, travels should be covered, hotels should be covered, and food should be covered for the kids. No kid should be traveling out of state representing their schools and have no money to eat. That happened to several kids that I know throughout this past year. So I am asking when you guys meet, please let's
083consider our children as they represent our schools in other states. Please let's not give our administrators, our teachers at the school such a hard time that they have to submit a budget a year in advance. It's not feasible. It's not viable. We are expecting many great things from this board. and we're hoping that none of you disappoint us. Thank you. Have a good evening. Good evening. My name is Elaine Williamson. I'm a retired educator from the Hackinack public school system. I am returning from Arizona after 18 years of living there back to my home of Hackinack. I brought my two grandchildren to continue a great education that they should receive in Hackinack. I want to commend Andrea on her appointment. I know there will be great things happening in Hackinack. Beautiful things, wonderful things. Thank
084you. Hello. Hello. How you doing? My name is James Irwin. Uh, I was actually catching the bus here and uh I saw the fireworks in Johnson Park. I'm like, "Wow, there's fireworks in the park and there's fireworks over here at the school." I'mma be 100% honest. I don't know what's going on. I did a get a phone call. I've lived in this town for over 25 years. You can say that I'm a part of the population of Hackin Sack that lives in this town uh that did not go here. There's tons of apartments. There's over 52,000 54,000 residents here. And there's a group of people that live here that are not as blue and gold as other folks. I along the way have heard a lot of people make comments. I think it's disingenuous for
085folks to one disparage the history of the the blue and gold, the history of this town, the people that have come before them, whether they have lived here or not. I think that's disrespectful. Whoever lives in this town has a piece of this town. And whether you've lived here 50 years, 70 years, or 2 years, you're part of this town. I wish that more people would be a part of the fabric and the voting and the political structure in this town. There's also been a lot of disrespectful talk. You know, politics is tribal. Whoever you like, that's who you're going to speak for. Whoever you don't like or have a relationship with, you can easily speak against them. I think that's wrong. I don't know what the gentleman did or didn't do who holds the
086position right now that y'all just uh rescended. Um, but I think that, you know, my pastor was a moderator for the the state of New Jersey. And when he had a meeting for a new pastor, if the elders agreed that this was the person and he presented a vision, then you got to roll with that person. I'm from Englewood, New Jersey. We've been through dozens of superintendent. Superintendent come in, they bring in their people, they bring in who they comfortable with. Just like if somebody was from Hackinack, they're gonna be with people that are from Hackinack and and and do what's best for them. Whoever you picked is who you picked. Congratulations to uh the young lady that has the position now in the acting position. I would just say the same fate that they
087did to this gentleman can be done to to you. So just be mindful. I'm not being disrespectful. I'm here to represent folks of color because I know how this town has have issues and the disorganization of this town for many years and thank you Okay, thank you. Okay, at this time public comments are are now over. Um onto our committee reports and resolutions. We are going to move to personnel which our chairperson is trustee. Thank you so very much, President. Um before we begin, I just want to make a motion to table item Q2 uh which is um job description for uh ABA part-time PARA. So is there anyone to second that motion? I'll second that motion. Okay. Okay. So, we have a motion to table item Q2 and we have a motion from Trusty
088Arm Hemsa, a second by Trusty Martin. Any discussion? A second. It was trust trusty Gilmore. I'm sorry. It was a second by Trusty Martin. Okay. Um, you should have a roll. Okay. So, can we have a roll call vote for the table item Q2? Miss Abasha, can you do a roll call, please? Miss Alustin Balutra, yes. Miss Amar Hamza, yes. Mr. Carl, I recuse myself. Miss Gilmore, yes. Mr. Martin, yes. Miss Pringle, yes. Miss Harris, yes. Mr. Stein, yes. Motion passes. Okay. Excellent. All right. Okay. Uh, thank you so much. So then I would like to offer to everyone items A1 through FF with the exception of Q2 and also uh item A which we already voted on. Thank you. Okay. So we have a motion from Trusty Emmers. Can I have a second? A
089second. Okay. Second by Trustee Pringle. Um, Miss Astra, can you please do a roll call? Miss Alustin Balutra. Yes to all. Abstaining from B8. Miss Emmer Hamza. Yes to all. Mr. Carol. Yes to all and recuse myself from A, C2, C3, C4, C5, U1 and X. Miss Gilmore, yes to all. Mr. Martin, yes to all. Miss Pringle, yes to all. Miss Harris, yes to all. Mr. Stein. Yes. To motion passes. Okay. Thank you. Miss Oats Parchment, did you want to say something? Yes. I wanted to acknowledge the appointment of uh Dr. Galana as the principal of Parker School or principal elect want to congratulate you. Although I was not a part of the interview process, um I still want to um support the recommendation that was made and be here to support you in your
090new leadership role. Uh welcome and I look forward to working with you. Thank you. Uh on to policy. Our chair for policy is Trusty Pringle. Um good evening. Uh for policy um we just have uh B1. Upon recommendation of the superintendent approves the first reading of the following policies and regulations P1 1320 duties of school business administrator board secretary and that's it for policies. Thank you. All right. So we have a motion from Trusty Pringle. Can I have a second? I'll second. Second by Trusty Armsta. Miss Astra, can you please do a roll call? Miss Alustin Balutra. Yes. Miss Emma Hamza. Yes, Mr. Carol. Yes, Miss Gilmore. Yes, Mr. Martin. Yes, Miss Pringle. Yes, Miss Harris. Yes, Mr. Stein. Yes. Motion passes. Great. Moving on to curriculum and that is again the chair is Trusty
091Pringle. Um for curriculum this evening, um I just want to highlight C56. Um, if you notice, um, it's back on the agenda this month. Um, we basically wanted to just let you guys know that, uh, for the RISE program that the children are doing an excellent job. That's it for curriculum. Okay. Thank you, Trusty Pringle. Uh, Trusty Pringle. Motion. Can I have a second? A second. I can second myself. Oh, a second. Second by Trusty Gilmore. Uh, Miss Agastra, please do a roll call. Miss Alston Valiputra, yes to all. I must recuse myself from C9. Miss Amar Hamza, yes to all. Mr. Carol, yes. Miss Gilmore, yes to all. Mr. Martin, yes to all. Miss Pringle, yes to all. Miss Harris, I need to recuse myself from C9 and C20. And yes to all. Mr.
092Stein. Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. On to finance. And the chair for finance is Trusty Martin. I apologize. It's trusty Stein. Yes. I'm offering uh D1 through D37. I'll second. Okay. So, motion by trusty Stein, second by Trusty Amrahamsa, Miss Agashra, roll call, please. Miss Alustin Baliputra, yes to all. Miss Emmerza, yes to all. Mr. Carol, yes. Miss Gilmore, yes. Mr. Martin, yes to all. Miss Pringle, yes to all. Miss Harris, yes to all. Mr. Stein, yes to all. Motion passes. Thank you. on to building buildings and crowns. And now this is a chair where Trusty Martin is. Okay. Um it's pretty much standard, but um I would first like to uh thank uh Mr. Juan Police uh better known as Pablo, director of the building and grounds. Also Ali Hijack, project manager. You are
093you are as good as the women and men that you lead. Just to name two departments, the maintenance department and the uh custodian department throughout the district. Just look around all school grounds. The landscape is well manicured. Also setting up throughout the year to get ready for special events, all sports program and much much more. As I report every month meeting this month, they save the district approximately $182,000 doing doing the work themselves. The board do appreciate all the hard work that you do for our kids, staff, and school district. Thank you both and your staff for a job well done. Um I will um also just um in the future by September um those two gentlemen have um new projects coming out um and you'll hear more about that in the with the girls
094locker room and I'm sure they're going to do a presentation for you. Uh so they doing good things and uh you'll be very proud of uh the work that they doing on their own without hiring outside contractors. I uh also would like to take the time to thank um uh Harry Ruts, the uh school safety coordinator. Thank you for the hard work, late calls in the middle of the night and upgrading our security in all our buildings. This will be the last meeting with us because we will be going because he will be going to another district. So with that said, we wish you well and good luck in your endeavors. Um I now I would like to uh motion E1 through E27. Second. Okay. Thank you. So motion from Trusty Martin, second by Trustee
095Carol. Miss Astra, roll call, please. Miss Alustin Balaputra. Yes. Miss Amar Hamza. Yes. Mr. Carol, yes. Miss Gilmore, yes. Mr. Martin, yes. Miss Pringle, yes. Miss Harris, yes. Yes. That wasn't on mic, I'm sorry. Yes, Mr. Stein. Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. On to community relations and the chair is Trusty Gilmore. Hi, good evening. Um, we last met on July 12th. Um we had a great meeting and leaving that meeting we had anticipated on being um fully participating in the upcoming Junth celebration on the 22nd in Carver Park. But after speaking to President Harris and um we decided that for full transparency of the full board that we will get the full board's alignment before we do any communitywide events. Um, however, I still plan to be um at the celebration and talking to the
096community about um our big event which we're planning is uh November 1st is a community health fair um that will focus on um CPR, mental wellness, health and focusing on um um emphasis on student and family resources. So, we are really excited about that and we we hope that you'll come out and support us. Um, and in addition, uh, we also want to, uh, create, uh, social media platforms on Instagram and Facebook to highlight our events that we plan and to engage with the community. Uh, we also, um, plan to have a a town hall so we can hear from you. um because the purpose of the community relations committee is to hear from the community and to engage with the community. Um so we hope to see you all on uh the 22nd. Thank
097you. Thank you. Um any board members members have any questions, concerns, comments about what Trusty Gilmore just said? Nope. Okay. Moving on. We don't have other committees. We don't have new business. Uh we're moving on to our second public comments. And this public comments, individuals may address the board on agenda and school matters of community interest for one minute. Is there anyone in the public that would like to speak? Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. Is there a mic? Sorry. Let me just make sure we start. Hold. I'm sorry. Do you have the the mic is not on? Wait, hold on. Sing tested. I want to make I want to make sure you get your minute. Hold on. Let's It's on. Okay. In the previous uh session, I had some questions and I was wondering if they're
098going to be answered at some point. if I can get some answers to those concerns. That was when I asked about the interview process. I asked this the whole situation with Mr. Galliano because I am concerned about teachers and I am concerned about our students and I want that I'd like to know if that's going to be pursued if someone's going to uh follow up on that or if I'm going to get an an answer. We'll have our Are you Are you done? I don't want to take away from your Oh, no. Okay. Yes. Yeah. Uh the board is prohibited from speaking publicly on personnel matters. I can tell you there is a personnel subcommittee. Uh three or three or four members of this board is on and they take that role very seriously and
099diligently and that is how the process uh plays itself out. The personnel committee meets with either the superintendent or the HR representative to discuss all these concerns and then after that committee they the central office brings the recommendations that you see today on on the paper. But they're not going to speak about the actual process publicly. Oh, any I'm not talking about publicly. I'm talking about if I can get a response personally. I I believe I just responded to your question. No, you said publicly. No. Well, publicly means to to a member of the public. Okay. So, as a as a member of the as a member of the community, you're saying that none of my concerns will be addressed. I can't get a reply that that I'm just reiterating. Is that what your staff
100telling me? If your concern is about a a specific employee concerned about many employees, not one employee, I was a volunteer. Understand? And Hackinack at the park of school. So it's not just something that I'm pulling straws. I I understand. Yes. The no member of this board can discuss a personal matter with any member of the public. I'm sorry. Okay. Thank you very much for your assistance and your information. It uh uh President Harris just reminded me that I think part of your question was how the actual process happens as from like the interview process to the hiring process that I that if it's just a general process question uh the sup the superintendent's office can address if if you want to contact her. Thank you. Member of community as a grandparent as a parent
101and I just want answers. That's all as most of us do. There's no reason for me at my age to be out this time of night unless I'm genuinely concerned. Thank you. Anybody else from the public? Going once. Going twice. Okay. Anyone online? Thank you. Hello, my name is Tracy Pisca. I am a parent, an alumni, a teacher, and a community member. Um, I do have a just a general community concern about supplies. Um, over the past couple years and since I've started teaching, we've been expecting parents to pay for more and more school supplies. And I was wondering if there's a way to increase the school supplies budget so that we can provide tissues in classrooms, more notebooks, folders, pencils. Right now, even elementary school teachers are getting one $175 per classroom. And it's
102really not enough to provide everything that's needed for the entire school year. and parents are taking on the brunt of it, which I don't think is fair. Um, our pre-K classes and some of our special ed classes need gloves to handle food and change soil children and some of them are buying those with their own money. So, if we can look into just more school supply budget and providing classrooms with required supplies would be much appreciated. Anyone else? Okay. All right. At this time, public comments is closed. Um, I do just want to go back. I there were some public comments. Uh, people did have questions that I just want to make sure that we just refer to it and look into it. Uh, somebody did mention about documents of money that goes to charter
103schools. If the business office can look into that and if they could give us that information. Thank you. Also, another question was asked about the difficulty of understanding the elementary report cards. If we couldn't look into that, Miss Parchment, thank you. Another question was the school budget. Why is it that we need to submit a school budget a year in advance? Miss O Parchman, are you able to answer that at this moment? How come a year in advance of the parent administrators do develop a budget um every year and it's required as per NJ DOE law, but it's not a year in advance. Um, so I would really like to get more details from the parent. Okay. Thank you. Um, uh, Anna Garcia if I knew what school to which she was referring, but I
104need to know who what school. Okay. Thank you. I believe our board attorney has something to add. Oh, yeah. I would just add that the uh the bud the budget process is governed by New Jersey statute. So any time on any time frames that are imposed upon are imposed by the legislature and our our board and the uh business office are really tied to those time frames. Thank you. So now we are moving on to board comments. start all the way down at the end and then Miss Austin Bellucher. Good evening everyone. Um I I want to say that I appreciate the comments from the public regardless of the content. And while I may not agree with everyone's approach, I believe that people everyone we're focused on what we want and need for our community,
105especially the children of this community. Um would I uh want some of the approach to be different? Yes. Um I work in a school so I get yelled at by people a lot. It's this is a new experience to do it for free, but okay. You know, I survived it. I'm still standing. Um I want to commend my fellow board members. Um I want to say to Mr. Jones, welcome. I appreciate your bravery. Um I want to say to Mrs. parchment. How exciting I think this is. I've known her for a very long time. Like all the way back to Youth on the Move. I've known her as a as a mentor in my life as a as a child or teen. Then she was my official mentor as a new teacher and she's been
106my unofficial mentor as an administrator. So this is particularly exciting for me. Um I would also like to thank Linda. Um at our last meeting we talked about some transparency issues and she has done an amazing job to course correct immediately. Um the someone raised the issue about how much money we spending on charter schools. The bill's list last time wasn't necessarily available for the public. Today it is. and those figures about which how much money we're spending on charter schools in that bill's list for people to see right now. So, we are moving in a direction and it may not be readily apparent to the public as of right now, but I want to point out that's something I can point to right now to say that has changed in just a month. And
107I want to commend Miss Aastra for all that she has done to help us in that effort and I appreciate you for that. To just want to shout out two events that I attended since last meeting. I attended the performing arts banquet. Um, as a child of a performing arts teacher in this district, I have seen firsthand where we've come, how far we've come. That party was in my mom's classroom with Lisa McVicker and some fried chicken and Big Ziti that I had to help drop off, you know. And now we've gone to a banking facility with AP choir and multiple drama classes and multiple chorus classes and multiple instrumental classes and students that being honored as all county this and all county jazz and just the number of students that are majoring in college
108and the performing arts and to see where Lisa McVicker and Miss Thank you Platty and I I want mess it up. Miss Platty and Mr. Gains to to see where our performing arts has come and the importance that we place on the arts. We've always been an artistic community. We've always been a place that values the arts, but the academic achievement in the arts has changed and grown so much. And um I was touched by that. I was wish my mom could have seen just where this was going. you know, she said, "Lisa McVicker is going to take this somewhere." And then Matt came and the that value and the ability to articulate from the lower grades. They're doing great things at the elementary level in in in music and performing arts education. And that's
109a huge difference to what I experienced as a as a child. Like I was forced to be in the play. Thanks, Mr. Stein, for making the sets. Appreciate you. Um, but what we're doing now is so far beyond what I experienced. And in that same vein of things that I wish I could have experienced as a child growing up, I wanted to play little league football really bad. And my dad was against it. He said, "I don't know what health what that could do to your health as an as an adult female." So, he was definitely not on board with it. But last night I attended the girls flag football dinner and I didn't know that many young ladies played football and all the achievements and the scholarships and where this program is going. I
110want to commend Mr. Whiting, Dr. Edwards, the head coach, I think um coach Klyurn, the whole staff, they have a whole support team around them and something that is a club. It's not yet NJSIA sport. And God help us when it becomes a sport because then our track team is going to be missing some people. But what's possible for women in sports in this town? We've always been in had a great history of athletics for men and for women, but this is a whole new frontier and I'm just so appreciative that to see kids get opportunities of all the opportunities I had growing up in this town and I had so many and I'm so appreciative of my childhood and how what I was able to experience but to see students get things beyond that
111to see every parent wants to see their kid have something that they didn't had as a member of this community to get to see students have something that I didn't have. That is an important part of being in this role as a trustee and to to have a front row seat to that and I'm very grateful. So, I just want to thank the district and all that they're doing on behalf of of our students and all the amazing things that are happening. Thank you. Trusty Gilmore. Good evening everyone. Thank you for staying for such a long meeting. Um, first of all, I want to congratulate Andrea. Um, I'm super happy that you have accepted uh the acting superintendent role. Um, a real fun fact, Andrea was my substitute seventh grade English teacher. She always used
112to substitute for Miss Cruz. Um but on a serious note um as a trustee um as a a comet a lifelong Hackinack resident as a taxpayer every decision that we make affects me as well. So I take that very seriously. Um and I want to thank you for your trust in this board um to do the right thing. Um welcome to our newly inducted uh trustee Mike. Uh, congratulations. Um, and while we may not be able to discuss the personnel matters in detail, we hear your concerns and we remain committed to transparency, accountability, and returning stability to this district that I love so much. And lastly, um, thank you again for your time and your engagement. Get home safe and good night. Trusty Pringle. I hate this part. [Music] All right, people. Good evening, everyone.
113Thank you everyone for coming out, voicing your opinions, um, voicing your concerns, right, wrong or indifferent. Um, I too want to congratulate Andrea Um, I think you're going to do amazing. Your heart is in everything you do. I always admire you since I got on this board and it's I'm proud to just see where you are right now up here with us. Mike, congratulations. Um, I can't wait to see all the amazing things that you are going to contribute to um, our board. Um, I also attended um the girls flag football dinner last night and I just have to say that this is the second year these girls are doing amazing. I am so so so very proud of them. I believe it's uh three or four seniors. So, they're going to be leaving us.
114Um, they passed down the torch to a couple of girls last night and my daughter was one that got a varsity letter. Um, thank you to all the coaches um during flag football. It was new for me for this flag football thing, but my daughter and everyone else had it showed in the way that they played. Um, they did make it to the finals. Although they didn't win, they did make it to to the finals. Um, that's usually more than I usually say at this time of the night. I really appreciate all the support from everyone. The only thing that I could say is trust the process. Thank you for y'all support. Good night. Okay, Trustee Carol, excuse me. Um, want to thank everybody for coming out tonight. We're still here. It's late, so I'm
115gonna try to be very quick. Um, congratulations to acting superintendent Andrea Oats Parchment. Um, I want to thank the administration, staff, and and um, everyone for uh, another year in the books. Um, I would also like to thank um our superintendent, Miss Parchment, and Miss Marks and the central office for pulling together during this time um and continuing to run the district. They're doing a fabulous job in such short notice. Um to Harry, our safety coordinator, um he'll be leaving us. sorry to see that. We've worked together closely with um the school and the police department and he will definitely be missed. So, I wish him good luck. Um thank you to the chorus for um the alma mater. Um let's see. I'm all over the place here, but I'm trying to keep it short.
116Trust me, I'm ready to go home. I want to um I wanna Oh, I want to congratulate the class of 2025. Um, it's time for a new chapter in their lives. Um, but trust me, as you get older, you're going to cherish these years, especially your high school years, the friends, the uh memories, the experiences, good and bad, take them with you. Um, and for the the students who are going away to college, I know it may be a little scary, but you will make new friends, new memories. And um I wish all the all the uh graduates good luck whatever path you choose and remember you are blue and gold, you are a comet and you will soar. I want to thank everyone who came out tonight. Um, we do hear your concerns and
117I just want you guys to know we are privy to more information than you guys get. So, just keep that in mind. And although we don't always agree on this panel, at the end of the day, the decisions that are made are going to be for the best of the district, the kids, and the community. So, um, like Trusty Pringle said, trust the process and we are here for all of you. Um, again, congratulations to the class of 2025. And um there were there were a couple comments about my uh my dad here tonight. Um Walter Carol. It was uh it was humbling and just uh shoes to fill. I was just going to say, yeah, they're very big shoes to fill, but he's instilled in me a lot of those good qualities and traits
118that I um intend to carry on on this board as long as I'm on this board. So, believe in this board and believe in me. Thank you. Good night. Thank you, Trusty Martin. Okay. Um, first I'd like to um I want to thank uh first I want to congratulate Andrea um for taking that position as um acting superintendent. This board know that you would do a good job. You would do uh to the best of your ability and then some. um no matter what job you take, you're always in the last one to leave and the first one to arrive. And uh so we have faith in you. We looking forward to working with you and um we'll see you uh uh at meetings and on this panel. We also want to um I also
119want to um congratulate uh Mr. Jones. Uh we're looking forward for you sitting up in here on this uh day is with us uh and um helping us move the ball into um the next uh another uh direction and a good direction and and um we're going to be doing well together. Um I just uh la at our last meeting I would like to make a correction. I said, "Fairmouth students went to Trenton and met with Senator Gordon Johnson at the steakhouse uh in Trenton and Trenton at the state house for the day. Actually, it was Nelly K. Parker students and their teacher, Miss Michelle Dudley. It was a day of learning all about the legislators and the process of the history of the building. We want to thank you, Miss Dougley, for a job
120well done, for your service, and for always being there for our kids. Keep up the good work, and we'll be watching you for more good things that you do. Um, let's see here. Congratulations uh to the um to the students for receiving the New Jersey Seal Bilinguy um award. Um we are very proud of you and um we sure that your parents are as well. Thank you again to our course director and her students for coming out and um leading the uh school alamada song for us. Uh we does we do that uh twice a year and uh we find that that's um important. Why? because uh it bring back morale in the school. Um it's something that the students can look forward to. Not only that they do it, I believe they still do
121it every Friday in school. That's what they did when I were there. And I hope that tradition carry on. And um we like to show them that we also as adults still uh believe in our um automata because blue and gold will stand forever. And also I would like to uh thank our student rep of she had done a fabulous job and and staying up late and juggling her schedule around and and homework and etc. Um we wish you well in college and um and in life and keep up the good work. We we're looking for great things from you as you carry on the Comet symbol. Congratulations to all our retirees in the district. Thank you for your service and we wish you the best and whatever you do. And just think you don't
122when you wake up you don't have to walk into a school building anymore cuz you know we know you will be still thinking about that and still have that in your system until it wear out. And uh Mr. Jackson, please send us that link on uh hip hop in school. That's something that this board would definitely would like to uh see and um and we'll give you our our feedback on what we think of it. Uh let's see here. All right. Um yeah, to the community from day one of taking uh my seat on this day is I had always asked for you to come out leave your homes and speak out and tell us your concerns without a hesitation. Uh we here for you. We will listen. And I guess it worked. Everybody came
123out and I will continue on uh encourage you to come out. As I said, the um every meeting, no matter if it's good or bad, we're here to listen. and please continue on coming out. I think that's more very important to listen to our uh community because you advocate for the uh students because the students can't advocate for themselves. So, we appreciate you and uh we appreciate everyone staying uh this long as you have thus far. And I also want to uh thank our uh IT team. You guys are the greatest the long hours, the Yeah, I was still with my hand. Yeah. The long hours you put in, the uh smiles on your faces. Uh it it doesn't go on unnoticed. So, uh continue on doing the good work. We do appreciate you. Don't
124think nobody don't. This board does. Thanks again. Uh I think that uh that's it. That's all I have. Thank you, Trusty Hamsa. Thank you so much. Um, first I just want to thank everyone again for joining us tonight. Um, we really do appreciate you taking your time to come out. Um, all of the comments that you made, the frustrations that you've raised, concerns, um, and your appreciation. We we do appreciate that and take that into consideration. I also want to take the time to thank our president, President Mory Harris, for her ongoing leadership. Um, she has been working around the clock um with our current team at central office. I want to also take the time to thank um my fellow trustees for their hard work and professionalism. Um, and a huge thank you and
125congratulations goes to acting superintendent Andrea Oats Parchment um, for taking on this role and providing the district with the steadfast leadership that we need during this period of transition. Um, also a special thank you to Assistant Superintendent Rosemary Marks for her work and support. Um, and uh, I do um, just want to reiterate that it is an honor to serve on this board. uh one that I and I think the rest of of my colleagues don't take lightly. Um our commitment as trustees remains first and foremost to our students and ensuring that they receive excellence in education across the district. Um additionally as trustees we are responsible for providing financial oversight of the district, ensuring our resources are used effectively, ethically and in alignment with all state and federal laws. I want to thank the
126current central office team for their hard work, especially um as was pointed out uh Linda Aastra for all of her hard work. Um and I know that she's been doing a lot um these past few weeks. Uh despite recent events, um this is also a time of celebration uh for our students, celebrating their academic achievements, their athletic achievements, um their artistic achievements. We've had so many wonderful celebrations, the arts banquet, the top 20, our scholarship awards presentations, tomorrow's athletic banquet. Um, and uh we really want to celebrate the future that lays ahead uh for our students. Um, a congratulations to the students who achieved the New Jersey Seal of Biiteracy and demonstrated proficiency in English and at least one other language. Um, as someone who grew up in a multil- language household, I know and
127appreciate the hard work that goes into that achievement. And a huge thank you and congratulations to our world language department for their hard work and encouraging our students in in their achievements. Um, and also congratulations to all of our students across the district, those who are moving up, those who are graduating um, at the middle school tomorrow. Uh, and our seniors, our class of 2025 who will be graduating next week. Um, another special thank you to Miss Platty and the choir that that gave us a great presentation, a great performance this evening. Um, and again, uh, special congratulations to our newly appointed board member, Mike Jones. We look forward to working with you and hope that you don't change your mind after tonight's long meeting. Um, and, uh, also to echo um, Kenny's comments, uh,
128wishing Harry Ruiz um, all the best um, in the future and we thank him for his service. Um, June is also pride month and um, definitely want to wish everyone a very happy pride. Um, and uh, lastly, um, I do want to say, you know, it is a shame that that some people, including some former board members, are spending time dividing the community, um, insinuating that it's somehow wrong to feel pride um, in our school community, pride as comets. Um even though I didn't grow up here in Hackinack, one of the things that has always made me love our community uh was this sense of pride and I have always felt welcomed um as a member of the Comet family. Um and very last thing that I want to say since his name was invoked
129throughout the evening, I do want to officially congratulate Kasim Gaines um a member of our Hackinack Public Schools community uh for uh his victory in the election and and congratulations to the entire uh newly elected city council members. Um we look forward to the opportunity to work together with the city council. Um, and we look forward to the celebration that's going to take place here in the auditorium on uh July 1st. Um, so thank you again uh to everyone for coming out. Thank you again for all your comments and have a great night. I I believe Trusty Martin. Uh just one more thing. And uh I want to wish everybody a a happy Junth and uh please uh endure to the uh festivities uh coming up at Carbler Park on Sunday. Thank you. Thank you.
130Okay, Vice President Stein. Wow. Uh thank you. Thank you to all my board members. Uh when you get to be next to last, there's hardly anything left to say. Um but I do want to I have known uh Andrea for many years. Not as long as others in the auditorium, but many years. I've seen you as a board member. I've seen you grow up in our system as a teacher, as a principal, as an administrator, and um tonight is a pinnacle for you and for the community at large. Um, couple of things I want to say also is to Miss Marx and to Miss Parchment, um, they have taken the reigns into their hands, um, and really have guided this community, this school community forward over the last week or so. And uh I want
131to commend both of you for taking on that whole role. Um as was said earlier um we had witnessed so far this week or the past few weeks the performing arts dinner. Um Miss McVicker, Ms. Platty and Mr. Gaines are the three key players in that. I have to tell you, Mrs. Vicker a few years back started a TriAM. What is Triam? I'm glad you asked. Triam is a uh honor national honor society for instrumental and singing performers. We have had many of our students, they just don't come to class for an hour for a quick A. they actually come for advanced courses uh to work hard to get that A. Um many of them as we saw at the banquet will be going on and in the top 20 dinner um going on to
132other colleges uh in technology for music, musical instruction and so on and so forth. So, uh, what I when I was here a few years back, uh, I took an easy A in playing the French horn, but it has advanced since then. Um, to our students and, um, on June 4th, there was the scholarship night. You're in the auditorium. There were hundreds of thousands of dollars given out to our student, our senior students to go on to higher education. If you're familiar with what the costs of colleges are today, every dollar is worth whatever they get. problem is many students it's that old sayage that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. There are so many scholarships available to our students. They just don't want to take the time
133to fill out a really simple application that takes less than a half an hour to our varsity letter winners. And I have to tell you, we run the full gamut. Uh last night was the spring sports uh night. We have so many of our athletes who made first, second, all sports teams in Bergen County. Bergen County happens to be one of the toughest divisions in the state. to earn placements in first, second, and third place and honorable mention. Um, it's terrific what the gamut that our students have achieved. Um, and what we will see from our students in the future. Uh, Mike, I have to tell you, you have to be a good boy serving on this board. There's a lady here in front by the name of Vita Story who's been here longer probably
134than I have and she gives out little goodie bags at each meeting. So, you better be on her good side. But congratulations. We look forward to working with you. And on that, thank you all and those who left for coming out tonight. I did and I'm sure my board members, my fellow board members appreciate your comments, good or bad, because we do take them to heart. The ultimate is our students. So, thank you, Madame President. Thank you. Uh I'll try to be as quick as possible. Um so, as we know, June is a wonderful yet chaotic month. It is a month of celebration, a month of where we are ending and transitioning into the next level of education for many students. Um, as a world language teacher, I definitely want to shout out the seal
135of biiteracy students. It is such a huge accomplishment. It is very difficult to be actually recognized by the state of New Jersey to be fluent in two languages, not just knowing a few words. This is pure fluency in English and in the other language. Um, as a world language teacher, that is the test that they took. It's one of the exams that we have to take as well. Very difficult, which is why we are on a shortage of world language teachers. So hopefully these students take that opportunity and use it to their advantage for whatever job that they want to do in the future. Um, congratulations to them. Uh, Mike Jones, congratulations and welcome. We look forward. I have the official date. July 23rd for your appointment. Oh, that's wonderful. I love it. It was
136meant to be. So, July 23rd is the day of your official appointment, pending background check, and all the fun stuff that you have to do. Um, but we look forward and welcome. Hopefully, none of this uh got you a little nervous. Don't worry, it doesn't happen that often. Uh to the graduates, um it is an exciting time. Be excited, be ready. The doors of opportunity are endless. And always remember that Hackinack is your home. And the doors will always be open here. If you ever want to come back, if you like to serve, if you would like to be a teacher, administrator, whatever it is you want to do, come back. The doors are always open. Um, also shout out again to the students, to the staff who are inputting grades at the last minute,
137trying to pack up uh classrooms. Um, students who probably don't bring pencils anymore. I have that issue right now. Nobody wants to work. Um, good luck. Stay strong. Stay focused. It is a very exciting time for everyone. But I hope you use the summer to recuperate, to do something different. Try not to go into your computers and plan for the following year. Take a good two, three weeks off. Do something that is completely not school related. Um, you deserve it. Students, you deserve it as well. Try a new hobby. Enjoy your summer. Andrea Oats Parchment, congratulations once again. As you know, I am a huge fan of yours. As I always um like to tell Andrea, we like to have little private conversations and I tell her how amazing she is and how much of
138an inspiration she is. So, congratulations and I look forward to working with you. Um, thank you to Rosemary Marx and all of central staff, to Lendita Agastra and everyone else for their wonderful work and they did not skip a beat. When I tell you if I could have recorded how things just went and how everyone just went to work and nobody stopped. It looked like a machine that probably should have looked like that before. But needless to say, I am very happy. I am very confident that we have the district in good hands. Thank you so much. And last but not least, thank you to the community for coming out, for your support. Even if you didn't speak, and if you did speak, thank you so much for coming out. We see you. We hear
139you. Good or bad, we're taking notes. And I said this before on my very first time coming here um as president. The mission is to stay focused. We are at a time where people are being divided through false narratives and we need to remain focused. The focus is our children. The focus is our community and to continue to give you that information when we get it. I wish everyone a very good night, a good summer if we don't see you. Thank you so much for hanging in there. Um, can I have a motion to close? Motion by Trustee Carol. Can I have a second? Second by Trustee Pringle. All those in favor say I. Anyone opposed? Yes. Okay. Meeting closed at 11:07. Thank you so much. Have a good night.