001Good evening everyone. At this time I would like to call to order the July 30th, 2025 Hamilton Township Board of Education meeting. This meeting is being held in compliance with the Sunshine Mall having been advertised in the press of Atlantic City and notices posted at the township folks office, Mazeand Post Office, Misba Post Office, Atlantic County Library, as well as the schools of the district. This meeting is being recorded. At this time we will have our close of office and Mirks. Okay, come on up. Raise your right hand. Okay, ready so people can see you there. Okay, repeat after me. I state your name. I, Ashley and Nurse, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution >> of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >>
002and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the state and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the state and to the governments established and to the governments established in the United States and the state in the United States and and the state under the authority of the people are people. >> So help me God. >> I state your name. >> I nurse >> do solemnly swear >> that I I possess the qualifications prescribed by law that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law >> for the office of a member of the board of educations >> for the office of the board of education >> and am not disqualified as a voter. may not disqualify as a >> pursuant to law, >>
003nor disqualified >> due to conviction of a crime or offense due to the conviction of a crime or offense >> listed in law listed in law. >> And that I will faithfully >> and partially and justly >> impartially and justly >> perform all the duties of that office >> according to the best of my ability. So help me God. >> according to the best of my ability. So help me. Congratulations. Come to Thank you. officially welcomed Mirks. And at this time, can we please have roll call? >> Mrs. Banker >> here. >> Mrs. Bachelor >> here. >> Dr. Serena >> here. >> Mrs. Dur >> here. >> Mrs. Jackson. >> Dr. Lou >> here. >> Mrs. Brown >> here. >> Mr. Rogers. >> Mrs. Bar >> here. >> At this time, can I please have
004a motion to convene into executive session? So move. Second. resolve. All in favor? Okay. All in favor? >> I oppose. Resolve that pursuant to section 7 and 8 of the open public meetings act the public shall be excluded from a portion of the meeting involving discussion of legal matters, attorney client privilege, personnel matter, and HIV. Be it further resolved that the discussion of such subject matter in executive session can be disclosed to the public when formal action is taken on such subject matter or at any other appropriate time. Be it further resolved, the board may take action on items discussed in executive session. Now therefore, be it resolved, the board will be in executive session for approximately 30 minutes. >> Good evening everyone. Can I please have a motion to close executive session and reconvene
005in public session? >> Motion. Motion by Miss Perto. >> Second by Dr. Srio. All in favor? I oppose. Thank you. This meeting is being held in compliance with the Sunshine Law having been advertised in the press of Atlantic City and notices posted at the township clerk's office, Miz Laneing Post Office, Misba post office, Atlanta County Library as well as the schools of the district. This meeting is being recorded. There are two opportunities to address the members of the board. board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents as long as remarks are not personal or discouraged. The public comment portion of the meeting allows the board to listen to community members and to hear their opinions on school policy and operations. The first public portion is reserved for persons wishing to speak about agenda items
006only. The second opportunity following action items is when residents may address the board on any school related issue. Each speaker is asked to limit their comments to three minutes and you are not permitted to yield your time to another. The public comment portion of the meeting during both sessions will not exceed 30 minutes. Upon being recognized, persons wishing to speak should stand and identify themselves by name and address. Will we please stand for the flag seat to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Music] Please take a moment of silence for reflection. [Music] Thank you. At this time, we will have our student safety data presentation. Period. to do that time. >> Good evening everyone.
007I'm Scott Seryako, supervisor of assessment data and accountability. Um, I was told to be brief, so this will be brief. This is the 2004 2005, we call it the SSDS, student safety data system, uh, report. it um basically are required to report to the board of education every year on uh different uh number of harassments, vandalism, um a whole bunch of different things that you'll see in years. We do this every year usually in July. So, uh this just goes through Oh, by the way, this this PowerPoint is now on the board agenda. If you'd like to see it, it's there. You can ask me questions about it. Um and also the curriculum committee has already heard the more in-depth one of this. Uh so they know everything about it. Um so uh incidents that
008are counted here, violence, vandalism, weapons offenses, substance offenses, harassment, intimidation, bullying, and other incidents that are leading removal. Um restraint and seclusion that was added a few years ago. That's in there now. Um and then trainings and programs that we have for HIB that were uh kind of to support anti-bullying efforts and the uh just uh we do have a HIP grade system that you'll you'll see but we report on in October. This is different from that. We do a self assessment of how we're doing with HIP and excuse me and we turn that into the the county and then the state. Okay. Okay. So, what I did was in here, in case you want to be able to look at them, I went back a few years and you'll see the incidents that we
009had over the years. So, these are just tables with that data in there um over the years. Here's our here's this year's or last year, but the one we're reporting on now. And the good stuff is the uh the graph here. So, you can see total incidents. This is just adding up the whole district and all the incidents of the district. We are still going down. If you've seen this presentation in previous years, we have been going down over the years. Um, and we went down again this year. Those are total incidents by year. This is um the the blue is Shainer, which is right at the bottom. Um, obviously there's not a lot at Shainer. Uh, it you know, you can't even spend anyone at that age level. Uh, H is the red. You
010can see they went down from last year. and then Davies is the yellow. Um so each school is also going down in in um in total in safety. So some some different things that we do to promote safety, mental health, and some of these I'm sure you've you've heard of. Um we're always doing new things as well. Uh we do have hipster, an online reporting form that when when someone does think there is a hip, you can go in there, fill that out. does everything and asks everything that we're supposed to do. And then we go through the motions of who needs to investigate it, investigating it, figuring out if it's a HIP or not. And then after that, we report all that to the board. That's all through um an online system now, which
011is great. We have our our annual report card, like I said before. And then the stuff that we do, the week of respect activities, violence and vandalism week, we have uh mentor programs, the challenge day, um and different guest speakers. uh this year. Um some of that will continue and some new stuff will come around too. Uh immediate investigation for all hibs. We adhere to everything like I said before the district policy and the state guidelines. And then we do give the required professional development to teachers. Um we have these every year. The HIPP ones are 2 hours every 5 years. If you're new, you do get the HIT training right away. Um but we keep track of that every year. Um, see that? That's it. Is that good? >> Good. >> So, if you
012do want to contact me, I'm um 6102. Someone just asked me that. Um, is my extension and you can always uh email me if you have any questions about this. Like I said, this is on the board agenda and you can just click on it and look through it if you'd like. Thank you, sir. Questions? Do you have any are there any questions? >> Any questions for board members? >> Thank you. And at this time, we'll turn it over to Dr. Zto for superintendent. Thank you, Mrs. Bar. Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for being here tonight as we round out another productive summer in Hamilton Township Schools. I want to begin by recognizing the incredible work happening across the district these past few weeks. Um, first, I'd like to talk about our Agents for
013Change program, which will wrap up tomorrow. And once again, it's proven to be a powerful experience for our students who benefit from creative instruction, academic support, and a strong sense of belonging. A special thank you to Ian Brown and Scott Sioka for their leadership, and to Rachel Piper and Amanda Fortune for building what we truly felt like was a small school within a school. This program continues to grow because of the heart and effort behind it, and I couldn't be more proud. Across our building, summer work is in full swing. I want to acknowledge the remarkable work of our buildings and grounds team, our custodial staff, and our technology department. Much of what gets done to prepare for September happens when the halls are quiet, and I see the dedication every day. Thank you to
014Ian Nelson and our director of buildings and grounds and Val Thomas, our supervisor of custodians for their leadership and steady hand during one of the busiest times of the year. Our extended school year program is also wrapping up, and I want to extend a sincere thanks to the teachers and support staff who help make it a success. Your commitment ensures that students with specialized needs continues to grow and even during the summer months and that work is deeply appreciated. Looking ahead, I want to share an exciting update. Beginning this year, Parents Square will be our main communication platform for all district and school messaging. Parents and guardians are encouraged to begin downloading the app as we prepare to send out our updates and orientation events, school schedules, and our opening of school celebrations. We'll be
015sharing more information in the coming weeks to help everyone make a smooth transition. Finally, I want to offer a warm welcome to all of our new hires who I see some tonight. We're thrilled to have you join the Hamilton Tatcha family and we look forward to supporting you as you begin this journey with us. Thank you to our board of education for your continued support and thank you to our families and community members. We believe in the work we're doing together. It's going to be a great year. For your review, please see the registration, the enrollment, and just a couple of dates to remember. Uh, Tuesday, August 5th is the national night out. Uh, it is going to be from 6:00 to 9:00 at Lake Vipy Park East. Wednesday, August 20th will be our next
016board of education meeting here in the cafeteria at Davies. Executive starts at 5:15 and the regular board meeting starts at 5:45. This concludes my superintendent report. Thank you. >> Thank you. At this time, we will open public comment on tonight's agenda items. There are two opportunities to address the members of the board. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents as long as remarks are not personal or discourteous. Public comment portion of the meeting allows the board to listen to community members and hear their opinions on school policy and operations. Seeing none, we'll close public comment and open board member comments. Are there any board members who would like to speak? >> Okay, Dr. Serena. >> I want to thank Dr. Zitto for all that he's done for this district. It's it's amazing
017the turnaround. The teachers have been wonderful all through the years and I'm I I am surprised over and over again at all the hard work and the love that they showed to the kids. Um, also want to thank Mr. Nelson, Ian Nelson, because all the work that got done this this summer is amazing. I don't even know how we got it done, but um the schools are just get and span and getting ready for the kids to come in and start the new school year. And um I also want to bring out Agents of Change if I can. It was uh I've heard stories. I haven't had an opportunity to get out there, but it was a a wonderful success. Tomorrow's the lunchon, and I wish that I could be there, but I have to
018work. So, um, but I will say that uh bringing these programs in, really watching our kids grow and become like more mature is amazing to me. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Sha. Any other board members? Okay, just to piggy back off of Dr. Serena, the agents for change. Thank you to all the staff. Um, the kids get breakfast and lunch and everyone's here with activities and lessons and water slides and all the things. Um, the counselors got to it's a really cool experience because our middle school kids get to be counselors for our younger students and become their little role models. Um, and they got to visit Stockton. So now they're like able to look to, you know, what might be coming down the pike for them as well. So thank you to
019everyone. I know it's a lot of hard work to pull something like that off, but um and then the work in the summer, which is not always the best part of a teacher's summer, you know. Um but thank you to everybody and looking forward to tomorrow's end of summer barbecue with that and all of the projects. Like Dr. Christino said it it is always amazing what can be done in just two short months but thank you because I know it doesn't happen in just normal work hours either. We realize all of the um the time that everybody puts in during the summer. So thank you for that. All right. At this time, I would like can I please have a motion to approve the minutes for regular and executive session beginning June 25th, 2025 and
020the minutes of the board retreat of July 16th, 2025. Motion by Dr. second by Miss Fredo. Comments or questions? Roll call, please. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Patrick, >> yes. >> Chris Reno, >> yes. >> Mrs. [Music] abstain. >> Dr. La >> abstain. >> Meta. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Clark. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. At this time, Miss Bachelor, will you please give the um personnel policy committee report? Yes, the personnel policy met or the personnel and policy committee met Tuesday, August 12th virtually at 6:15 p.m. Following agenda, um members of the board who were on the call were Nancy Bar and myself, Dr. Zto from Hamilton's Township School District, and Mrs. Lzinski from the director of human resources, Hamilton Township School District. the agenda items that we've discussed for the
021board of education goals, all handbooks for the district, the attendance policy for families, attendance expectations for teachers, staff members of the month, substitute guide, and mentoring and new teacher plans. And can I have a motion to approve um agenda items 10.2 to 10.14? >> Motion. Motion by Miss Pto. >> Second by Dr. Sino. Any comments or questions? Okay. Stephen Boho. >> Mrs. Anchor. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bachelor. >> Yes. >> Dr. Serino. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Dirks. >> Dr. La. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Brennan. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Bar. >> Yes. Thank you. I know we have some new hires here this evening. [Music] >> Oh, there's a second. >> There she is. We can meet some of our new [Music] to see all of you. going first. Welcome everybody. Happy summer. We have
022some new dragons joining us um up here at the lair. So, uh some staff members who I'd like to introduce you to for the first time as dragons. So, when they said everything's approved, that's it. You're good. So, they can take a deep breath. Um so, I have Caitlyn Leupus. She's our new STEM teacher. Brian Summershu. He's our seventh grade science teacher [Applause] return. And Britney Aier is our health teacher for our sixth through 8th grade. She's also excited to get them on board and get started. And welcome. Congratulations. It's so great when people come back to this um here and then here you are back. We also have a few other people to recognize me. We have Rachel Ficken is coming on board as a paraprofessional. Julia Lenise is going to be a long-term
023substitute teacher at the high school this year. Stefania Martinez is here along with her husband and she is going to be a world language teacher at the high school this year. I want to miss it. And last but not least, we are really excited to have a new administrator on our team, Samantha Wilson, who's been one of our schools colleges. So, for me, it's wonderful to have her on the admin team and also wonderful not to have her on the child study team. Um, but we're so excited because she's going to be a huge addition to this team and really we're excited about that. So, did I miss anybody? I don't want to miss anyone. Thank you so much. Um, if you guys, Mrs. I think I saw Mr. Kowalsski here, right? Did he pop
024in or did he take off? >> If you guys could just get a couple of screenshots, we can get some the new teaching staff put together so we can send it out to the staff. That'd be wonderful. >> Sure. >> Congratulations everyone. I really am welcoming. It was really nice to get to meet so many of you and see how many of you are Hamilton uh beginners that are coming back to us. And I'm excited. So, we got students, uh, children in our district. It's just nice to see everybody coming back our way. So, thank you so much. [Music] >> Congratulations again. [Music] >> All right. At this time, Dr. Sereno, Finance and Operations. Okay. The Finance and Operations Committee met on Tuesday, July, No, that's today. Um, thanks. I appreciate that. Tuesday, July 22nd.
025Um, present were Harry Rogers and myself, Dr. Zto, Mr. V, and Ian Nelson. We talked about uh the board of education uh goals that Dr. O kind of walked us through updates and and um keeping us informed. The summer projects update, which I talked about earlier, amazing work. Uh the Duberson update, the IDA and ESSA update, and the QPA bid threshold uh was increased to 53K. With that, could I get a motion to approve uh 11.1 through 11.2? two >> motion. Motion by Miss Pto. >> Second second by Miss Anchor. Comments or questions on 111 through 1120. >> Miss Anchor. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bachelor. >> Yes. >> Dr. Serena. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Dirks. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jackson. >> Dr. Lock. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Per. >> Yes. and Mrs. Clark. >> Yes.
026>> Thank you, Dr. Sino. Dr. La, curriculum. >> Yes. >> Um the curriculum committee met on July 22nd. Um agenda items included the board of education goals, district goals, the retention procedures and grading, and the DB's new waking man program. Um and I at this time I want a motion to move items 12.2 to 12.7. >> Second. Motion by Dr. Hoff, second by Miss Bachelor. Comments or questions? >> Mrs. Anker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Bachelor, >> yes. >> Dr. Serena, >> yes. >> Mrs. Durst, >> yes. >> Dr. La Hawk, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ba, >> yes. >> And Mrs. Bar, >> yes. Thank you, Dr. Lock. At this time, we will open old business. Are there any board members who would like to come in or discuss any old business? Okay, see none new
027business. Are there any board members that would like to introduce a new item to be discussed? Okay, seeing none, we will reopen public comment. We'll receive comments from the public in accordance with the board policy on participation at board meetings. >> Calm down. [Music] Hi everybody. I'm Amanda Fortune and I'm Rachel Fiper. We are the lead teachers for the Agents for Change summer program. I know some of you and we have had an amazing summer. Um sorry I just have some dirt from our Play-Doh making with Mr. K today. Our slime all over my dress. But we're good. We're good. Um we had a great summer yesterday. Our field day was phenomenal. And every other day has been amazing. Our kids have grown leaps and bounds in 20 days. So our academic portion which was
028learning multiplication or addition and practicing our facts. You will see that there is so much growth in those areas. Reading our students were working all on word reading and they did like author studies phenomenal. They all grew in all the grade levels. Our fourth and fifth graders worked on summer reading projects. So our children moving over to the middle school have their middle school project ready to go. And our younger friends have been working on their reading logs. So if you need extra papers, we have them. And they are working on their summer reading as well. And they all just had a phenomenal job today. Mr. K and our students made some thank you cards that we will give to Mr. Dr. Zeta for you guys. And thank you for all of your support. We
029hope to see everyone tomorrow at our end of summer barbecue celebration awards ceremony. There will be some singing. Mr. Levine, that'll be you on you. and I like to do some singing together. Um, we got to say sing a little goodbye song this morning while you were walking down the hallway. Um, you know, so we're just constantly having a great time. We are so excited for next summer. We have all of our ideas already tracking on our brains and we hope you can continue to support us and love us and our students just had the best summer ever. I think one of them told us yesterday that this was like the best summer they ever had. So that's great for 20 days, right? Okay, I talked really fast. Did I miss anything? >> Okay, thank
030you. And I'm going to go [Music] Samantha Wilson. I'm the new supervisor of pupil services and guidance. Just wanted to say thank you um to the board and to Dr. Zto for this opportunity. Very excited to work with our wonderful admin team and step into this role. Thank you. Any other public comments? Come on down. All right. Can I please have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion by Dr. Serena, second by Miss Pto. All in favor? I opposed. Thank you everyone.