001good evening the meeting of the Monro Township Board of Education will come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance oops I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God God indivisible liy and justice for justice for all may we have a roll call Mr Gorski colano here Mr Chella he's present right he was all across the street okay Miss antelis here Mr Braverman yes Mr calman here Mr Klein here Mr Larry here Mr Masters here Mr tesler here Mrs Fon here Madam board president you have the Forum thank you in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law the mono Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having
002the date time and place thereof posted June 15 2012 one at all schools two home News Tribune three cranberry press and four filed with the clerk of the municipality since it looks like we have a really packed agenda this evening we will try to get through this as quickly as possible so we will be going to number five of present presentation of the Monroe Education Foundation grants and I will turn this over to Mr Ira tesler who is the president of the Monroe Education Foundation Michael uh Mr TRL is here yes so noted good good evening everybody I'll stand here so everybody can see me um one of the other hats I wear besides being on the board of Edis I'm president of the Monroe Education Foundation and the Monroe Ed Foundation is a nonprofit
003group in town we raise money but uh for the school district by various fundraisers that we hold uh during the year and uh for a Shameless plug we have our G golf outing coming up on July 10th if anybody's interested in playing golf uh sponsoring a hole t- hole t- sign whatever uh please check out our website at www Monro EDF foundation.org if you'd like to join and help out the foundation all you have to do is show up at a meeting the calendar is also up on our website um when we raise the money every year we each spring we um send out applications to all the teachers in the district for Grants uh each teacher can if they choose to do so can apply for a $2,000 Grant and uh depending upon our
004budget we meet and decide uh who gets the grants and this is our fun night tonight we get to give away money and to keep this brief we'll just start off by awarding the grants uh the first one is get on your green for Applegarth elementary school that's awarded to Cindy Hills Rich Hills Mr V principal of Applegarth and Bonnie Burke supervisor and Karen oconnell congratulations you're welcome is this the only one okay the next one is um moo Township Middle School serving up success uh Crystal graany Patricia Van Gordon Doug glass marcker and that's it [Applause] congratulations thank you next one Barkley Brook School uncovering the my mysteries of our galaxy second grade shooting for the stars and that goes to Christian Miller and Patricia [Applause] Dinsmore next one is out of this world
005Discovery scientific inquiry of our solar system for mil Lake school and that goes to Dennis Quinn Denise Quinn I've had a long day at work I totally apologize and Tamir Lopez and Melissa Fletcher and Karen Karen breski thank you and Brooke creger thank you thank [Music] you the next one circus around circus around the world for Barkley Brook Elementary School for Aon Mahoney principal here you are congratulations and we have five also for Barkley Brook Elementary School Penguins on Parade Sarah Richards Denise of Danielle P pesi Thank you Lisa McHugh no I just pronounce that one Ashley Pepe and Katherine Roso and that's it and uh this is part of the agenda but on behalf the Monroe Township uh Education Foundation I'd like to uh present the check for $924 to the board of ed
006W thank you I think Mr Gorski will appreciate that check as will Dr Hamilton I also want to recognize Miss amen Tellis because she is the treasurer of the Monro Education Foundation and the Monro Education Foundation is an excellent organization that has supported the Board of Education in supporting us with grants and funding so we they do an excellent job and any help that you can give them will be much [Music] appreciated so at this time we have a lot of recognition to um give our give our district so we will start with the support staff and go into the retirees I'm going to ask Dr Hamilton to help with uh giving out some of the um that we have uh each year we recognize staff members who are identified by their peers as worthy
007of recognition for the teacher of the year and support staff person of the year uh we did the teacher of the year earlier in the year and this time we are going to recognize our support staff uh for the year soon as I figure out how Jeff sorted them okay the resolution reads whereas the Board of Education in the township of Monroe County of middlex state of New Jersey has been apprised of the following person's name be it resolved by the Board of Education Township of Monroe County of middlex in the state of New Jersey that the said Board of Education hereby wishes to acknowledge the support person of the year and the board's appreciation for her services and whereas it is desire to express appreciation for her years of faithful service now therefore be
008it resolved by the Board of Education of the township of Monro that it does hereby Express his warm appreciation and heartfelt thanks for the dedicated and faithful service and the performance of her duties as principal secretary and that of with and of the Integrity with which she continues to carry out her responsibilities be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of this board of education and that a copy of it be given to Barbara lonac pass unanimously by the Township Board of Education [Music] the next resolution is presented to the support staff of the year for oak tree School Rosen [Applause] ventro and for Woodland School Margaret nesby [Applause] you're very welcome congratulations for Barkley Brook School Kimberly [Applause] Martini she's not here this evening and I know
009Debbie van Lou is not here for the high school rob you want to take this for Debbie good I'll take it and this is the principal [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] secretary for Brookside Kim Walker [Applause] [Music] okay our next area of recognition will be for our retirees and the resolution reads whereas the Board of Education of the town of Monroe County of middle SEC state of New Jersey has been apprised of the retirement of James kersner teacher of Health PE in Monroe Township High School be it resolved by the Board of Education Township of Monroe County of middle sex in the state of New Jersey that the said Board of Education wishes to acknowledge its appreciation for the services rendered to the students and citizens of Monroe Township whereas it is desired to express recognition
010for the many years of faithful service now therefore be it resolved by the Board of Education of the township of Monroe that it does hereby express its warm appreciation and heartfelt thanks for the dedicated and faithful service in the performance of his duties and of the Integrity with which he carried out the responsibilities and regrets the loss of such a respected employee be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the Board of Education and that a copy be given to set employee passed unanimously by the township of Monroe Board of Education at its regular meeting on June 20th and this ass signed by the board president Kathy kapano and board secretary Mike Gorski is Jim here Jim is not here okay John Vin VIN owski teacher of
011social studies Monro Township Middle [Applause] [Music] [Applause] School Patricia Lovick power professional at Oak Tree School Sandra Klein power professional from Monroe Township Middle [Music] [Applause] School Rosemary Benjamin teacher of Italian Monroe Township High [Applause] School and last but not least Diana basma basian teacher of science Monroe Township High School [Applause] and that concludes our recognition portion for our support staff and our retirees oh you want to do Jonathan okay next on the list is the student representative recognition for the Board of Education and I'll let our board president do that no he asked to keep his name Tagged so Jonathan would you like to come up here certificate of appreciation presented to Mr Jonathan Kim and sincere appreciation for your your dedicated service to the students and schools of Monroe Township while serving as
012a student board member of the Monroe Township Board Board of Education from 2010 to 2012 this is for you I just have a couple things to um mention about Jonathan Jonathan will be attending the Berkeley College of Music he will be majoring in vocal performance and music engineering he also told me he assured me that someday we will be watching him in a musical performance on Broadway we look forward to that we could say that's a Monroe student while he was in in uh the high school he participated in the student council FBLA FCA NHS trim Society Honor Society the drama club as an international thesbian Society so we wish you continued best luck in college and we hope that you come back to visit us often appreciate it thank you [Applause] [Music] next right
013okay at this time we'll go to our student board members reports [Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen senior picnic was held June 6th senior prom was June 8th ACT Testing took place at the high school on June 9th and the marking period for ended June 13th okay and um the final exams were June 14th through June 19th the final exam makeups will be June 20th through the 21st and the senior class of 2012 will be graduating at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton New Jersey on Friday June 22nd and um if you just allow me I just like to thank um the board for um just just the the experience that you guys have allowed me to to have these past couple of years and um just thank you for being so so lenient
014and understanding at times and um throughout my life uh as I progress and I give back to my community um whether it is through my music or any other any other practice I'll definitely keep in mind to follow by your example so I appreciate it thank you very much [Music] [Applause] okay thank you Jonathan and you you I know you have to leave because you have to participate so please go ahead it's senior week we have a lot to do uh number nine on the agenda student presentation dare to dream I'm going to hand this over to Dr Hamilton thank you I received a request from a staff member and I'll ask her to come and uh introduce introduce our students who will present this evening but I'd like to uh present to the board
015Erica Freedman who is a teacher here in our district and she will introduce our students the D to dream student leadership conference is a conference that's held in several locations throughout the state of New Jersey sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Education Office of special education programs and each year our students since I've been taking them since 2005 have participated as at the conference as either keynote speakers and this year uh was no different we had keynote speakers too from Monroe Township as well as all 15 students that attended the conference also conducted and facilitated a breakout session called what is your work personality um each of the 15 students took aart the conference is a student is run by students a conference for students run by students for students with disabilities but what
016I prefer to say it is a conference for students with capabilities uh the students um have been very fortunate from by Administration and the Board of Education here each year to get approval to go to the conference and I do appreciate that and they have benefited from the participation all our students that go have demonstrated um exemplary self- advocacy skills and Leadership skills and the two students that are here tonight as Keynotes um I'd like to first present to you Samantha michler Who uh has inspired me in the four years that she has been here and I hope that her her speech tonight will also inspire you and then after Samantha we will have uh Daron Patel hold it yeah okay um thank you Mrs fredman as most parents do mine taught me what words
017were and were not appropriate among the list of words never to say was a certain four-letter word which most of us use in our daily vocabulary you are all probably thinking of every four-letter profane word in the dictionary but the word that I'm talking about is can't my parents told us that if we said we could not do something we were admitting defeat before we really tried if I ever said that I could not do something after only trying it once or twice my parents made me try it again the omission of the word can't from my vocabulary helps me to achieve as much as I have turning no you can't into yes you can my story began like most before I can even remember remember every like every new parent mine had high expectations
018for me when I was a baby however those expectations were temporarily diminished when they were told I had assist on my brain I was also diagnosed with optic atrophy and uh caused by a weakness of the optic nerve as if that weren't enough I also developed nagus an involuntary movement of the eyes during my Early Childhood Milestones that almost every child achieves easily took me much longer for instance riding a bike my dad worked with me for countless hours it was difficult and frustrating my mom thought that I might be more independent if I used a special bike one with three wheels instead of two yes I ride a giant tricycle but the bik keeps in Balance so I can focus on watching where I'm going my greatest Milestone was learning to accept help something
019I had only achieved during my freshman year of high school throughout my education I have had personal AIDS and element school they helped me through lunch recess and gym class in middle school and high school they helped me navigate the halls and manage my visual aids in the fourth grade my teacher helped me read notes from the overhead projector by using my monocular comfortably later I decided to use my Clos circuit television for tests and important assignments I also use a computer equipped with zoom text to enlarge the screen in seventh grade I signed up to join the cross country team my father trained with me throughout the summer to push a little harder even if I felt I couldn't now that I am a senior on the track team I hear myself using those
020same encouraging words with my peers that my father used with me I have been a member of The Varsity cross country team all four years of high school and have also been a member of the track team for both winter and spring for justice long I have been able to run with a visual impairment because I have had guide runners or people who run alongside with me to help point out things such as sticks trees or even other people that I might miss due to my lack of peripheral vision during my years of high school I have participated in many activities while maintaining a 3.65 GPA and a rank of 97 in my class of 383 I have participated in the National and Spanish honor societies and the mixed and women's courses I also enrolled
021in the senior option program at Mid Lake elementary school I have been participating in the teaching mentorship program at mil Lake an elementary school in my town that I had attended the program truly tested my self- advocacy skills my teacher was planning on putting me in a different School across town from where I wanted to work I told her that I knew the mil Lake Building inside and out and that in the event of an emergency I would be find finding someone to go to speaking up allowed me to go to m Lake as for my plans for the future my aspirations are endless I plan to attend Ryder University in the fall with a major of education and a minor in Spanish now that my time at Monro Township High School is coming to
022an end there are several people without whom I might not be standing here today first I would like to thank my family for helping me achieve my goals I would also like to thank my guidance counselor Miss Udell my caseworker Mrs McGee My Aid Mrs sigas and also a special thanks to the commission for the Blind and all my teachers at Monro town to high school finally thank you Dr Hamilton and the monor Township Board of Education for allowing me to speak here tonight and for the education I have received here in Monroe if there was one lesson I could leave you with today it would be to never say can't turn dreams into goals after all a dream means nothing unless you strive to achieve it excellent [Applause] [Music] okay and now Daron Patel
023thank you Miss Reedman good evening my name is Daran Patel I will be graduating from mono Township High School in two days I have a language and learning dis ability and this has been a bit of a challenge to deal with I usually don't like speaking in ront of people really I don't um but it's like your parents always say you got to face your fear sooner or later when I was born I had a early language delay this was caused by constant ear infections when I was a baby by the time I was three I had bilateral tubes placed in my ears think about how about that hurts because of this situation I attended a preschool handicapped program then half a day kindergarten and half a day pre-ir my stuttering was first brought to
024attention when I was 5 years old when I reached Elementary School I received speech and language therapy and continue with it all throughout third grade I first realized I had a problem in the fourth grade when I moved to Monroe Township that was that that was when my anxiety really started to emerge at the time I was in three resource classes and three mainstream classes math was fine but reading and language were areas of weakness for me I had difficulty putting my ideas into sentences and paragraphs social studies and science and health were an even bigger issue I would sit in front of the room and most of the time I didn't really understand what was going on I would go into shutdown mode and stare off into the distance I and in result I
025did not do any of my homework that was assigned and therefore my grades dropped toward the end of the year my inclass support teacher had a conference with my parents and told them that because of the extent of my learning disability I would do better in smaller classes for next year I moved to all resource classes in the fifth grade and my grades improved tremendously that was the extra help that I needed for my education a lot has changed since then I've gone from all resource classes to only one language arts is still the number one weakness I have but I took a big step this year I decided to go into a mainstream language arts class I was nervous but I went in there with an open mind and a positive attitude boy did
026I struggle the first marking period I got a 76 it hit me hard because I usually don't get sees on my report card but that didn't stop me from working harder in the second marking period I got an 82 I was happy and I felt like me again unfortunately that was shortlived until the third marking period I got a 69 I was angry frustrated and miserable I confronted one of my teachers but they didn't care what I had to say after a long talk with my parents all they told me all they told me all I could do was to move on I got over it I'm proud to say that my fourth Mark and perod grade is an ' 89 another big step I took was try out some college classes as part of
027the High School Scholars Program I took sociology and Criminal Justice at middlex County College I knew it wasn't going to be easy once again I was right on my sociology midterm I got a 45 luckily my professor provided lots of extra credit so I got my grade up to at least a c I ended up getting an A minus in that class that next year I took criminal justice this time I knew what was expected of me on the midterm I got a 68 it was better than my last exam the Professor did provide extra credit in that class as well my grade in the class was a c i could not have gone this far without the help of my friends and and my family I would just like to say thank you to
028my parents and grandparents for guiding me and pushing me to do the best of my ability I would like to thank my friends for being by my side and simply just saying you're going to be fine you're a smart person next I would like to thank Mrs jod Rubenstein and Sharon ab and Mrs Jaron abaker thank to thank you to Mrs jod Rubenstein for being my tutor teacher and a friend all throughout elementary and middle school thank you I mean lastly thank you to Mr Sharon abaker my case manager for keeping me on my feet and encouraging me and for and encouraging me to make those big steps in my education I cannot wait to attend middlex County College for the 2012 2013 year thank you [Applause] congratulations to both of you these are two
029success stories in what we are we have coming out of Monroe and we're very proud of you and we hope that you will continue on and um be very successful and uh we're we're happy that um you're product of Monroe Township because this is what we do we educate kids and um I think we have a staff and a a district that's second to none and you're proof of that so thank you and continued good luck and [Music] success okay at this time number 10 on the agenda is the new iPad refreshment initiative and I think I will hand this over to Dr Gorman I have no Refreshments okay um I guess Mr calman Mr lar you'd like me to recap um where we were and where we're going okay so uh the on June
03012th there was a um a finance and a curriculum committee meeting and it was um in response to year two of the iPad initiative what happens next um primarily with the with the iPad 2os based on um on the year Lessons Learned so we reviewed the curriculum committee meeting um from June 8th and the Board of Education meeting that I presented at on June 8th um we talked about the Lessons Learned there um we talked about how on Pace we are with current digital technology and the park assessment system which is a new online assessment that'll replace um the hespa and the NJ ASK in the future and tablets um and the iPads aren't accept usage for every kid to be taking these Assessments in the year 2014 and 2015 um and then we talked
031about what the next uh steps are that were presented to the Board of Education last year as um a way to sustain the initiative um so the best um there were two basic options one was to uh sell some of the iPads that we currently have and um and then to or possibly enter into a lease purchase to get the newest and the best for the students and to get the most value out of uh the iPad 2os um one of the uh pitfalls of selling is that the board of education is not an authorized reseller of equipment um we would be uh looking at some tax evasion problems if we became a reseller of iPad so we we're not a store um we're a public um Board of Education so that's not our business
032um and then it might be choppy in the management of setting prices uh expectations out to Consumers the whole nine yards so we um the presentation that I presented to the board was based on the best option for year two um so the best option was presented on school districts which L based on evidence and data of large technology um lease purchases deployments of big initiatives and the majority of them are done on a lease purchase manner uh and that way the Board of Education commits Monies to digital technology um and then each year we're making a lease purchase um towards um possibly refreshing so tonight there is um two motions in front of you that was approved by both the finance and the curriculum committee one would be to sell the existing iPad 2os
033to the highest bidder and one would be to enter into a lease purchase a three-year lease purchase which would cost the Board of Education nothing um next year but it would be in subsequent budgets each year um to refresh the existing batch and enter into the new iPads for all the students next year three driving reasons number one with the onset of digital textbooks the new iPad is 32 gigs versus 16 gigs and we've had some um some discussion on whether that we would Maxim max out of um memory or not and we're not really sure um but that was one part of the present ation the other part was um the cost of breakages and so with the new Apple Care Plus program with the new iPad it's a um you get two free
034Replacements uh for $49 as opposed to where we were the with the Apple Care Now which cost $269 per breakage so we feel that the Apple Care Plus would lend toward significant Savings in managing the devices as we move back the committee's asked for um more account ability um and to set goals for breakages and more um evidence of usage by all students and and staff members in the building um as we enter into a onetoone learning initiative into year two the point was made that this first year was a year of exploration and that we only had um the kids only had the iPads actually for about six months um so in that year of exploration we're now ready to enter into phase two um the other the last reason is um the sustainability
035of the initiative so it's estimated that if we waited another year to enter a lease purchase the current value of the iPad 2os would Reduce by close to $200,000 so right now um we our best guesses are that we could get about $480,000 for the one batch um a year from now if I if we come back a year from now and ask they um based on um historical um case SC scarios they're estimating that it would reduce down to about $223,000 um the subsequent year so the recommendation would be to refresh this year there always there were also some comments made that um if we refresh this year we would not refresh next year and we would look for a two-year piece before we consider that doing that again so those are the a
036summary of um of the two meetings a lot of discussion and talk um and then there was consensus among um there was a majority consensus among both committees to um pass those adoptions which I believe Mike has in um in the board minutes and uh Mr lry yeah I'd like to make two comments uh first uh Dr Hamilton addressed uh sub those issues at the uh Middle School graduation ceremony move moving up ceremony and he emphasized the need for responsibility by the students and that they would be using it you know for the full four years so I think some of the problems may be addressed and uh it will require discipline and I think the Apple uh Care Plus program will help us in that matter and the other thing is and you know
037I was talking to Dr Gorman about this uh at the moving up ceremony uh we have an interesting race shaping up between uh Microsoft and Apple on the whole issue of tablets so it'll be a watchful waiting period and see how things shake out but uh I I have been involved in similar programs when I was working for Western Electric and uh it's like riding a tiger and you give it your best shot and sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong but let's give it our best shot and I think we had some rather forceful discussion in both committees and uh I I highly recommend that we go with what is being proposed okay Mr Klein oh yeah sure I just want to get a couple of things clear um when we had the um
038curriculum meeting and the finance meeting or at least the finance meeting I was part of um we would told that I guess it was Apple was going to buy it back at 40% of what it cost us a year ago that's not correct information okay well that's what I understood and now you're stating that uh it's going to be open for bids to see who wants to buy it correct so in other words they're going to be buying roughly 2,000 units exactly 2,000 units exactly 2,000 units without knowing what we're going to get for it it's obsolete so why would somebody want to buy it and if they buy it they want steal it so maybe you're saying 40% at the meeting maybe you get 10% um Mr Clin the um Apple had um suggested
039um some vendors that are in the business so we had had discussions not in any way shape of soliciting but those are the ones that they had recommended so they had contacted us to give us a general estimate of the value of the I well they also told us or expressed um what this unit would do prior to us adopting it and it seems that most of what they said it would do it doesn't do not those companies they're They Se no I'm talking about the unit itself um you mentioned the apple plus two free Replacements so am my understanding that we get two free Replacements on two units of the 2,000 no each unit so um this unit for example comes with Apple Care Plus right if it breaks in any way shape or
040form um it cost $49 and it gets replaced for free no shipping card that's going to be on all the units it's not just limited every unit no shipping charges um and um no other expenses in any way shape or form so it's just simple replace once if it happens again replace twice then onus goes on the student and the family well we also spoke at least uh one of the committee uh meetings um one of the members made a suggestion of having the parents purchase them the freshman year of school and this way the student will take care of it the parents will be responsible and when the student graduates he takes it with him have we thought about doing that that was a discussion that you brought up at the committee uh Mr
041Glon this is not my bias I'm just presenting um the best solution that was that through research to the board of education and the onetoone initiative was a commitment to that environment um and we said 3 to five years to see if it would improve student achievement um and that was a onetoone learning environment initiative that was um generated by the board of education so that's where we are um if it changes then that's obviously up to the board of educ now what what really really concerns me is the fact if the unit we purchased a year ago is already well out of date and obsolete what's going to happen the year after next and we're committing to another two years yeah and again I'm not an expert in in the field um some things
042happened this year in January that was um unexpected uh Apple basically became took over the textbook industry uh in a lot of ways or not took over but but they got involved in it so it was a redefinition of digital textbooks and um that was came out of nowhere um on January 19th um I actually remember um talking to our our sales representative and asking him what was going on and he said I don't know they wouldn't even tell me um and that happened I think in Manhattan on January 19th so there were some unexpected things that happened this year um I'll tell you the other piece that that um has really happened there's been a rampid um influx of getting these devices in public schools everywhere throughout the United States um and worldwide and
043I have lots of evidence and data so um so what was and what is now um you know I I don't know if it's luck or timing but I'll just tell you that the new unit they I think we'll be fine um but that's just my opinion so I'm again I don't I'm not an exp and the last thing I just want to bring up is the fact of um if it is approved are they going to put these units in the resource resource resource rooms well every every student in Monroe every every student in the high school has one um I know that last at the last board meeting Mr Rell was here and told spoke about um some of the kids in the middle school and the special needs classes um having access
044to them the both committees the second committee talked about expansion into the lower grades in possibly 3 to five years but we um the general consensus was let's get it right at the high school before we just Mass go out there and keep on spreading it um so we needed a little bit more time to see uh the poignancy of it I will tell you also we um we success successfully um collected the iPads from the kids today um how many of you guys in the audience returned your iPads today all right are you guys the rest of you guys seniors all right so seniors are tomorrow um so we we collected um successfully and I was part of the collection went very very smooth iPads were in really good shape from what I saw
045from at least a batch that I that I collected from the kids they returned the iPad the case the charger and um and it went I think as smooth as as can be so I did want to um give a little kudos to um Mr Washington and Mr Goodall and the team here at the high school well the reason why I brought that up on the resource rooms is any articles that I have read and I'm talking about SBA njaa and the normal newspapers that the the uh best successes with the iPad with a special ed classrooms and many schools that adopted iPads only adopted them for special ed so um that's all I have to say about the matter Mr L um because the iPads were acquired using the uh funds uh from the
046referendum that put a lot of constraints around a lot of the business decisions I mean we have if we want to dispose of them they have to go through a public auction it's not uh any other kind of commercial Arrangement which is awkward but we work our way through and then we're talking how do we go forward and how do we manage the technology and that is the tricky task and as I said I've had experience from this when I worked for Western Electric and uh it takes a great deal of thought I think Jeff uh Gorman and his crew are doing a good job but hey no one is perfect and I think in particular the speech that uh Dr Hamilton gave this afternoon to the students put things in the right frame of
047reference hey this is your tool this is what you're going to learn from and you're responsible for it and I think that will set the stage for uh probably better performance anyone else on the board okay seeing none we will go to our next item which is the public forum anyone in the public that wishes to speak on the agenda please come to the microphone and state your name and address for the record since we have so many people here tonight we're going to adhere to our three minute time limit Mr Gorski has a timer that will go off after 3 minutes and then we ask you to please only come up once and on each subject so if uh public forum is open if anybody wishes to speak hello my name is Fallon Regan
048um my address is tver Road monor Township New Jersey we the Monro Township class of 2012 respectfully request that Julian denmore be allowed to participate in our high school graduation we understand the responsibility of consequences of one bad decision we ask that it is it will not Define her after a lifetime of good decisions we submit this petition as a sign of support to our fellow classmate who has excelled in mon tonship school system as a student friend athlete and volunteer thank you as an 18-year-old young adult entering the World After High School we realize life is not always fair but we also realize life is not black and white either this is not missing a football game a cheerleading competition or the class picnic this is a 12-year commitment to her academic life graduation
049is the final celebration she has worked so hard to achieve a criminal being charged with a first offense often gets probation there was no malice intended she didn't steal cheat or hurt anyone but herself we ask you to do the right thing and let her walk thank you for your time and consideration thank [Applause] you do anyone else from the public wish to speak hello Denise Quinn three Evergreen terrorist Monroe also a teacher here in District and really like it here but I do want to speak up about one thing I want you to keep in mind and this goes to what um uh Mr kleene kleene had said I have three children at the high school right now my one daughter's going to graduate that'll leave two here um it may not seem like
050a lot to ask parents to pay for things but with three children multipli by three I had trouble with the deposits on the iPads this year um as a single mom struggling everything multipli by three is a lot of money so when you make the decisions about the deposits and maybe you're thinking about it for one child remember that some of us have more than one and it really is a burden sometimes so just keep that in mind thank you thank you is there anyone else from the public Lara Li Bros gets five Scott Drive um I have a question about the iPads um cuz I was here when you presented it a while ago about um the new iPads what is the are you going to come back in six months or eight months
051and then present again because I don't know that the town is going to support every year constantly buying and selling of iPads and I know you're not in the business of buying and selling but you made a um a decision I guess you're going to sell 2,000 iPads how many iPads were purchased 2,000 2,000 were purchased and you have 2,000 to sell okay and the benefit because I did look at the agenda and I did look online what is the benefit of the new iPad versus the old iPad I know it's 4G and I know it's got better Retina Display but what else is the you know because it's going to be a t now this one is not in the referendum so this will be taxpayers will see an increase this is a general
052this is a commitment to the general budget for digital technology so three main three main driving reasons um twice as much memory um the Apple Care protection um piece which we based on breakages would um yield a significant savings and that to sust sustain it and put it in the general budget for each year um and more so if not now next year um we want it to be on the front end because estimates are is that they will depreciate significantly in the next year if we get through this year or next year we've basically made 2third of the payments on the first batch so then the board has the um right to say this worked this didn't work there's a new tablet out there whatever it might be um also I think I mentioned
053in my presentation that there was a um um um a movement that we don't do this every year um but that the circumstances and part of the lessons learned because um we didn't start out in a lease purchase that's that's the modality that's the main way but because of the referendum we had to purchase um and that was the opportunity so now we're trying to get it towards the way the initiative was presented to the board last year and its intent which is to start entering in a lease purchase so there is sustainability to the initiative and the kids get the the best and and the newest no I I understand that um I I just don't know that we're going to have the town support purchasing not even a year later eight you know
054eight months later 2,000 more um and then um I guess my next quick question about the iPads are when we were told initially about the $50 or $49 deposit it was for the iPad the case and the I I know my daughter put a heart on her case and I got a bill for $35 and I said I called up and I asked if I could get it back because I might be able to clean it before I pay $35 and they said well we're getting new ones next year so I guess my question is if we're puring new ones why are we charging and I spoke to the tech department why are we charging taxpayers if we're not going to use them anyway and um you know again I'm I figured out if if
055it's a year old even if we get the new ones the cases still should be in pretty good condition why are we purchasing $70,000 worth of iPad cases we're not we're not okay so that was a mistake then we're not um the kids through orientation were told repeatedly that on not to damage the cases drawn put on sckers the whole yard and clearly delineated that of the cost what's happened is that um in the case um through natural use it phrase um the company will take them back and replace it for no charge okay so it's they're not the town isn't purchasing new ones no now my next question then is can we get back the ones from if my why would I pay $35 now and then next year shouldn't she get back the
056same case she used this year well we're going to take that case and we're going to give back to the company and hopefully get a new one for it but hers is damaged she defaced it so it's on it so would but it's not natural damage so there's accidental there's just usage damage so the $50 fee the insurance fee covered that no the insurance fee um covered one replacement during the year okay so she hasn't used that then that should be able to be used no not for the case for the actual a was that clarifi to all parents during the meeting all in the acceptable use policy and the paperwork that was sent home to you in the beginning of the year and on our website thank you anyone else from the public good
057evening my name is Doug poy for tamarak Road uh when I saw the uh the resolution to sell the 2000 iPads I I I just want to tell you as a member of the public I was shocked uh how much did we pay for those iPads out of referendum money 1.36 1.1.36 now I would think that resolution money would be spent on things of a more permanent nature that's right and it would strike me based on the comments that I have heard this evening that uh with all all due respect uh that possibly the board rushed into something and you're you're now backpedaling to get into a different way of uh keeping up with the tech technology and uh as Mr lry mentioned uh Microsoft is coming out with its own tablet and from what
058I've seen in a recent article there's a very nice keyboard capability with that tablet and yet we're going to for this coming fall purchase more apples that we're then going to be stuck with for two years uh so all I'm not raising a question I am just basically saying as a member of the public I do not believe that a wise decision was made to use referendum money to purchase 2,000 iPads which six months later you have now decided are no longer uh valid they're no longer reliable in terms of being up to par uh I would have thought that that would have been looked at prior to this uh but I do have a couple of questions uh on the agenda you're talking about the cost of membership well you're talking about uh the
059membership in the njsiaa which I am familiar with and I know practically every High School belongs to that but you do not in that resolution indicate what the cost of that membership is and I think that the public would appreciate knowing what the cost of that membership is likewise uh in item F under the business administrators report F1 uh we talk about the cost of pay you talk about pay serve uh I think the public would appreciate knowing the approx imate total cost on an annual basis for that service uh from my understanding of that is it it uh it's the processing of the payroll checks uh also uh in F3 uh you talk about approving the use of uh police for some of the functions I know all high schools do that but once
060again I think the public would appreciate knowing the estimated total cost for police services for the district uh so those are my questions and that's my comment uh and I do thank you for your time you're welcome I'm gonna give this to Mr Gorski assistance under his report okay uh Mr P certainly F1 for pay serve Inc uh you're correct pay serve Inc is a payroll processor and what they do is crunch the uh payroll data from that's compiled inhouse and prepare paychecks prepare the direct deposit transfers prepare the quarterly tax returns federal state Pennsylvania and prepare the W2s at year end um the annual budgeted amount for pacer is in the vicinity of $25,000 and um they have never exceeded what we have budgeted the increase here I believe is 2 cents per check
061above last year's rate which uh in my opinion was conservatively negotiated in the board's best interest so um I I made the recommendation um the the police department that's on an as-needed basis um I would have actually have to check that annual figure off hand because I don't have it committed to memory but I could say it's certainly in the vicinity of of $7,500 or less and uh it's an invaluable security service that they provide and we work very collaboratively with the township on that shared service agreement with the with them for the services and where was the first item you required where is that in the agenda uh it's item j under board action Mr PR I'm going to look at my backup information and see if that that amount is included in there
062I'll be able to either get that answer to you shortly or I'll have to get back to you on it he is there any anyone else from the public can I just say something before we move okay okay um seeing no one for the public forum we close public forum now Mr CH I just want to I have to get something off my chest here because I'm I was shocked by this and I must have missed it Mr McHugh are you you're you've uh you've had all my children here in your class they love you and uh you're a wonderful teacher and I I'm I'm shocked you're retiring you're not retiring I stand corrected I stand corrected I thought that was a letter to I just asked everybody they told me well then I'm I'm
063sorry but I wanted to I wanted to talk you out of it because I still I thought I thought for sure you're going to have I have one more coming through and then I thought for sure that maybe my kids did something to cause this I'm hang around all right thank you thank you then that's it that's all I have that's how rumors spread right I sorry Ken okay so now that we've closed public forum and Ken's gotten that out of his system and Miss McHugh is going to stay um we'll go to number 12 on the agenda close session resolution be it resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monroe hereby moves to go into Clos session in accordance with Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws 1975 njsa 10
064col 4-6 through 10 col 4-20 21 to discuss the following subjects Personnel Board interviews for child care director head teacher Personnel involving non-affiliated staff appointments and salaries for the 2012 2013 school year receiving attorney advice with respect to these matters the discussion conducted in closed session can be disclosed to the public at such time as the matters have been resolved motion and a second Mr Klein Mr Mi Mr um yes Mr cman whoa It's a senior moment yeah I'm getting older I have a birthday coming up soon um all in favor I opposed abstentions see if you can find he at this time the board will go into close session at this time the board will reconvene into public session and go to the superintendent Report with Dr Hamilton okay thank you my report tonight
065includes the second part of our annual HIV reporting um as required at the public meeting the law requires that the superintendent report to the board all acts of violence vandalism harassment intimidation and bullying which occurred since the previous reporting period the report which you received as an attachment and copies have been made available for the public uh indicates the number of reports the nature of those those reports the names of those who investigated the reports the type or discipline imposed and any other training provided that report also includes the data broken down by school um so there's a motion uh in my report asking you to just uh approve that again as required uh you'll also see in in the superintendent's report the enrollment data we have approximately 220 students more this year than we
066did the same period last year Mr Gorski and I have begun the process of looking at the future implications of this this current enrollment Trend and also I sent out an alert message uh to her parents asking them to send a letter to Senator Greenstein regarding the proposed changes to the school funding formula if you have not had a chance to uh do so please go to our website and click on fight for funding um it is very time sensitive I also share with the board a a letter I sent directly um a little different than the generic letter um also included in your report are the um enrollment numbers for those youngsters that are placed out of District the number of the dates and number of fire drill and lockdown drills as required by
067by law and that moves me into the Personnel report so moving to the Personnel report Madame board president and members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that Personnel items a through tt be approved by roll call vote what TT Double T TT so move um miss anelis Mr Chella any comments or questions for Dr Hamilton through what seeing none we'll have a roll call Mr Gorski Mr calman yes to all items no on Double O Sharon BS so noted Mr clein no uh yes on everything um no on double Zer or double O Sharon bigs Mr Larry yes to all items except in O line4 Sharon bigs Mr Masters yes to all I'll abstain on a all abstain on the whole thing you're abstaining on the entire Personnel report no
068o oh abstain on O So [Music] noted Mr tesler yes on everything that staying on Mrs Fon uh yes on everything uh no on Double O Sharon bigs miss an Tellis yes on all items and Rec excuse myself on items e e PP and TT please repeat that e e e e e like eeko double e p like Papa double p and t like Tom uh Double T So noted thank you Mr Braverman yes on all items except on Double O uh the administrative assistant is no Mr Chella yes Mrs kapano yes on all items except double O Sharon BS Madam board president motion passes with the exception of item 0 Sharon BS thank you I'd like to read into the record Personnel action item uyu as follows it is recommended by the superintendent of
069schools that Sharon Jensen be improved as the program director head teacher for the Monroe employee Child Care Academy at a salary of 4 $6,000 effective July 1 2012 through June 30th 2013 and that the salary and that the superintendent and the business administrative board secretary be authorized to implement this action of the board second Mr cherella Mr Masters comments questions then we'll have roll call Mr calman Mr Klein yes Mr Larry yes Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes Mrs Fon uh I abstain as it doesn't pertain to me so noted Miss antelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr Chella yes Mrs kapano yes madame board president motion to appoint Sharon Jensen passes I'm moving on to board action items Madame board president members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that action
070board action items a through n be approved by roll call vote can is that board action yes Mo second Mr Kaufman Mr Kaufman and second by Mr Masters any comments or questions for this Mr Braverman I have a question on F the um leading for learning Grant we're going to receive $20,000 is that correct yes and then we're going to pay we're we're receiving $21,000 and then we're paying $666 a year for3 years each for three years and then we're paying for all their travel EXP expenses which is going to come to $1,550 each year for the first two years the third year $3,900 plus travel expenses and some other things when do we get the Brooklyn Bridge I frequently get something on my email that says I'm here in South Africa and for only
071$2,000 I'll send you 68 million to deposit for me sounds like one of those deals it's it's just a great thing we're going to get $21,000 and it's going to cost us about 35 it's nuts it's it's a matching Grant um we have we're not matching it we paying a heck of a lot more than 20,000 $21,000 so for that one I'll be voting no Mr Klein something I really don't understand is I've been here is there's always some sort of initiative to improve the teaching whether it's Avid whether it's something like this we have excellent supervisors of the subjects that should be drawing up the curriculum we have excellent teachers who should be teaching it why do we keep going after all these other programs why don't we just let the teachers teach they
072have good leadership in the upper whether it be the superintendent or the assistant superintendent you got excellent curriculum supervisors that are surely capable of writing curriculum to be taught and let the teachers teach it worked for so many years and why all of a sudden every time we turn around we're looking for it's either a learning this or it's the Avid or it's another program let the teachers teach draw a curricul and let them teach well this is how they got to be excellent because this is a coaching Grant that's designed for the superintendent the principles and the supervisors so this is not a teacher-driven initiative this is to provide a coaching model for those folks that you just referenced and how they get to be experts is by ongoing professional development and this is
073another vehicle to do that and this information isn't new this has been presented in at least two maybe three board confidentials um outlining um this this grant anyone else seeing no one we'll have a roll call oh um Mr M sorry I didn't mean would we be sending them even if they didn't get the grant say it again would we be sending them uh roll call roll call for board action items a through n Mr cman yes Mr Klein everything except F no on F so noted Mr Larry uh just give me a second passing I'll I'll when I Mr Masters oh yes yeah you want Mr tesler yes Mrs Fon yes Mrs antelis yes Mr Braverman oh yes on everything except F no Mr cherella yes Mrs kapano yes back to Mr ly everything
074but F so noted Madame board president board action items a through n passes thank you that concludes the superintendent's report okay then we will go to the business administrator report Mr borski you have a long one this time yes ma'am Madame board president and members of the Monroe Township Board of Education it is recommended that board action items a through LL be approved by consent roll call is there a motion in a second I'll make the motion I'll second Mr Klein Mr Le any comments or questions for Mr Gorski seeing none we'll have a roll call Mr calman yes Mr Klein yes on everything except KK so noted Mr liry uh yes Mr master ERS yes Mr tesler yes M Fon yes Miss antelis yes Mr Braverman yes Mr Chella yes Mrs Kap Pano yes
075Mame board president board action items a through LL passes thank you that concludes my report okay thank you um I had to read that whole resolution now no it was all distributed to the board it's all included in the report okay okay go to a board president's report and mine's going to be very short because it's it's been a long night um in regard to committees there's been some concern from members of the public that they can't find our committee's um agendas on the website and it's important that anybody who has a committee meeting set up to please let um Mr gorsky's secretary Joyce Sweeney know because she's the one that gets the information on the website if she doesn't know it won't be able to we won't be able to put it on the
076website so anytime there's a committee set up even if it's um like uh I don't know Mr caufman if you have yours on a regular basis every month she still has to know that so just you have to tell her to post it or does the generator of my curriculum agenda no it's up to the committee chair all right can you give it to her every committee meeting to just let Joyce know so that if the public is looking for buildings and ground so they know what time it is and what date it is and this way they'll be able to attend Madam board president may make a suggestion um rather than to place that Burton on committee chairs that information is always very easily accessible because it's in the confidential we could just add
077a step in the protocol to have that information emailed to Mr gor's office okay and it's just the not the whole confidential but just okay exactly just a meeting schedule that's in there every week okay not a problem so that concludes my report um committee reports are there any committees that need to report out today Mr Kaufman I'll be brief we talked a little about the iPad initiative that we're going to move forward with another item we talked about um as fans of board of bed meetings here was was a few board me meetings ago some students that came and to talk about some scheduling questions and AP classes and Rob Goodall uh is here this evening to talk to uh some of these items special yes I do I like to you know I
078didn't see any f it out that Outsource you know it's big hello good evening um in response to the students feeling that they did not have enough access to rigorous courses uh mainly AP courses during their four years at the high school we made a couple of programmatic changes to the program of studies um we have offered as a pilot this year a advanced calcul AB BC class that will run uh daily a and b day for 10 credits to students identified on recommendation for the teacher um after the committee meeting I met with those identified students and they are reporting out to their guidance counselors if they wanted to switch into uh this course selection in addition um we discussed the potential with the eighth grade students who are signed up for AP biology
079when they enter uh the high school next year if they were interested in taking a placement test during the summer administered by our AP teachers um to determine if they could wave their requirement of honors bio before they take AP Bio uh many many students are interested in this we will be sending out a letter next week inviting them uh to those days so they can take that assessment uh it should be noted that the the students in order to gain this waiver must pass this assessment we would not want to put students who are not quite prepared uh to take AP biology in a place where they uh you know could potentially be in a a bad spot for them so they would continue to take honors biology uh but there's been a good
080response to that in doing so by allowing kids to take AP biology for their requirement during the course of their time over the next four years that would allow them some extra course selections which the other students from a couple of months ago uh were asking about so I think this is a good response to their concerns and we're implementing this uh gradually uh we'll see how it goes and potentially down the line uh we could be doing this with other courses such as AP Chemistry and AP Physics this would allow them more access to AP classes so it's a nice compromise I think making sure our kids are successful and putting them in the right place to be successful and hopefully Chang of command will be taught well I think lesson learned on that
081any questions for Mr Goodall none great thank you any other any other committee reports we discussed uh Mr lry the uh iPad situation uh that covered in great detail so uh he he did a go a good job and I'll just shut up okay we'll go to number 17 is there any business by any member of the Board of Education that needs to be discussed Miss uh Miss Patrice um I just I know this is insignificant but it I brought it up once before at the end of the um out of District placement it says both the Monroe student and jamesb student have graduated but attend JFK um for transitional services Jamesburg pays for all out of District placements and they're the kids are under the um assumption when they get to Monroe they're Monroe
082Township High School students so I don't know why the um separation is made and I know I did ask Mike and he didn't know because I guess Wayne had been doing it Mike but my son Brian who does attend JFK was reading the um agenda because he had a a personal reason for coming tonight and he wanted to know who the Jamesburg student was since he goes to Monroe Township High School or he graduated from Monroe and he is the JFK student so just again even for the record if we could not differentiate even for Brian's sake who considers himself a Monro T TI student but I just don't think it's necessary we pay so it's not as if you're clarifying the payment schedule and they do consider themselves Monroe Township High School students when
083they come up here um residing in Jamesburg but a Monroe Township student so just for the record yes I agree and and 100% your accurate Jamesburg has always paid for all of those out of District tuition cost they're not even invoiced to Monroe they go directly to Jamesburg more just for his peace of mind okay anyone else hey seeing no one will go to number 18 close session be it resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monroe hereby moves to go into Clos session in accordance with Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 NJ sa 10 col 4-6 through 10 col 4-21 to discuss the following subjects student matter student number 70266 student matters harassment intimidation and bullying number 124 through 131 Personnel further discussion on the superintendent evaluation
084matter and receiving well receiving attorney advice um the superintendent evaluation the discussion conducted in close session can be discussed disclosed to the public at such time as the matters have been resolved I need a motion in a second motion motion Mr tesler Mr ly all in favor I opposed abstentions and the board will move into close session again action at this time the board will reconvene into public session and we will go to the public forum anyone in the audience who would like to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record and we will still stick to our 3 minutes at here two our 3 minutes good evening Lara Lio SK five Scott Drive um just a real quick thing I um appeared in front of the board 11
085business days ago making a request I still haven't gotten a formal um answer to my two requests one to allow my daughter to do senior option and one to do a remedial program for the summer um Brooke didn't break any laws she didn't violate any school policies all she did was not do as well on a math test as we would have liked um asking again to have something to find out why it's taking so long to respond um I know that one of the questions about senior option was if it was a law we found out it is not I did a little due diligence on my own I'm going to read the response from the New Jersey Department of Ed um and then I'm going to ask you can keep it as a
086um your own copy I gave I supplied it to Dr Hamilton yesterday um it was from Veronica orsy which is the hesper coordinator from the office of Assessments New Jersey Department of Ed I spoke to her on the phone as well she said anyone can call her if they have a question Dear Mrs gets as per your email request for information that appears below there is neither a law nor an administrative code that restricts participation in senior option here's thank you thank you um graduation when do you think I'm going to get a response I know um I don't understand if if there's no law and there's no policy and there not one written word in any uh monra Township form whether it be a pamphlet or a policy or a handbook or curriculum guide
087anywhere does it say you have to pass the hespa um to do seen your option hi Mr skats I um I talked to Mr Gall before he left and he said that if you'll get reach out to him next Tuesday he said he'll work with you and um and you could get some of the due diligence that you're looking for um I don't know what the answer is um per se but I know that it was a positive conversation that I had with him about connecting with you based off of the information that you gave okay um just a quick question because I didn't you know I've already gone that route with Mr Goodall and I appeared in front of the Board of Education asking the board um and Dr Hamilton so I understand that
088I will meet with him and he told me that he would be more than happy he's he's been very um Cooperative about meeting with me but I didn't ask him I came to the board because I've already gone that route and we didn't get anywhere and he said it was a state law and I'm telling you now we know from the Department of edits not right in light of that information that you gave us okay thank you then we're going to put it back in in the building principal's hands and then go from there but that's in light of what you gave us today not having the so he'll make the decision um he'll collaborate with me and we'll connect with you and anything I do is with Dr Hamilton as well excuse me a
089lead that's that's okay is that is that the correct I'm just curious if if someone makes a request to the board of ed is that the policy that goes back to the building principal I don't have an answer cuz I can tell you the policy reads 10 days I should have gotten a response if it's at the building principal's level if it's at the board then you have some extra time but I requested 11 days ago the board and I'm not trying to be disrespectful but what is the correct policy if I'm making a request to the board does it go back to the building principal it would go back to we would tell Dr Hamilton and he would go to the person that needs to give you the answers because the board doesn't have
090that answer uh the board can't tell you um he he will tell you or get back to you he's not here right now um he I do believe he he he told you that he needed do right so he asked you for a couple of days right Mr good all asked me for a couple of days Mr Dr Hamilton wanted to do due diligence so I don't know exactly I'm just asking what that means so that means he's going to do a thorough job of getting you the right information that you need to move forward okay so I'll ask one more question when do you think I'll hear from talk to Mr Goodall next week that he told me Tuesday okay anyone else from the public Jennifer hijack 12C work Court um I'm sorry to
091take your time so late at night but I've waited this long so I'm going to say what's on my mind um I'm going to ask the board why is it that you've done such a good job of letting the public know when you change the date on a calendar V uh connect Ed calls emails paper copies the word is not out about the cut in busing I was at my son's Woodland band concert and no one after the concert knew about it people were gathering around me to get the information today A letter came home from the band person letting the public know that there is no zero period busing today me my neighbors are very upset some of them because they've just paid for the rental agreement for their instruments and they're now wanting
092to contact the company to get their money back because they had no idea that there wasn't going to be zero period busing even though I've been saying it to them for a while I don't know why they haven't heard it um in my other comment is directly to Dr Hamilton on May 5th I emailed him a hopefully a solution or an option to give these parents working parents especially for the after school cut up busing a payto Stay option I know we had said pay to participate didn't work pay to ride was a was a legal issue um I was kind of upset that I never even got a response back from Dr Hamilton I was hoping that you know I I I also copied Mr Gorski and Mr um cman because he said you
093know think out of the box I'm trying to help you help us um work together isn't that what the Board of Ed the public are supposed to do I mean I don't know did you not get that email it didn't bounce back to me honestly I I have a pretty good reputation with returning emails and phone calls I don't recall that email so I apologize for that I have a copy with me I will hand that to you directly but I'm surprised because I copied a couple people too Mr Gorski um Miss hijack I I have specific recollection of discussing this with you at a public forum and advising you that the pay to participate busing recommendation that you made was strongly discouraging right right right no I agree with that that's why I I
094came up with I'm I'm I'm shocked because I didn't usually when my email doesn't go through I get a bounceback saying like it undeliverable but I didn't get that so it was answer and answer then you know excuse me she's got the floor excuse me okay I will clarify I'm not asking about pay to ride anymore I'm saying a pay to Stay option to let the kids go to a study hall or a library and stay until a working parent can come get them I'm sorry that you never got this letter I was under the assumption you did I do have a paper hard copy here and I will hand it to you in two seconds okay and then hopefully somebody can answer my question I'm just trying to come up with something to offer
095these parents because in September when word gets out that there is no busing I'm worried that there's going to be chaos and there's no options for us uh with regard to the communication we have had numerous budget meetings we had finance committee meetings we had a budget steering committee uh three different ones I recall three different paper articles all discussing the cuts it was a front page article in the newspaper okay but but nothing hard copied directly to the parents like there is when you make the change of the calendar I mean that's what I'm saying the I mean I would say change in a calendar is less important than this this is a major issue okay we'll look into it I'll get you that copy is there anyone else from the public that wishes
096to speak okay let me close public session and see if you really want to speak maybe not um seeing no one we will close the public forum Mr Klein did you wish to speak please I okay um Jim Jim from the home news uh I'd like you to note that this District was forced by the New Jersey Department of Education to cut zero period busing and after school busing by the state and I want you to understand that the state only gives us $300 a student when Oldbridge which is an FG District receives over $5,000 a student why should these parents parents and these students be kept from doing band doing clubs or or whatever is involved in zero period before school starts and what goes on after school they call us what what do
097we call we're over adequacy because we provide this these kids are entitled to it yet the state doesn't want to do anything about it so that's something I would love to see a print thank you very much right on Mark okay seeing no one in the public forum which is closed our next scheduled public Board of Education meeting will be Wednesday July 25th 2012 7:00 p.m. at the high school motion to adjourn Mr Kaufman Mr Klein all in favor exensions the meeting is added good night everybody