001text me if you're not a but I want to add your number good evening the meeting of the Monro Township Board of Education will come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Justice for for all may we please have a roll call Mr Gorski Mrs kapano here Mr Chella here miss antelis Mr Braverman here Mr calman here Mr Klein here Mr Larry here Mr Masters here Mr tesler here Mrs Ferron here Madame board president you have a quarum 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
002published by having the date time and place thereof posted May 25th 2012 one at all schools two home News Tribune three cranberry press and four filed with the clerk of the municipality um um seeing no student board members here yeah um before we continue with our meeting I um have a very sad announcement to make um many of you have been attending our meetings for quite a while and have um heard Mr Klein talk about his wife and the problems that she's been going through in the hospitalizations and the difficult time that he and his family have and it's with very deep sadness um that I tell tell everyone that his wife Linda passed away about 2 and 1 half 3 weeks ago for cancer and I'm sure all of us um wish his family
003and himself the very best in the coming days and and years mark thank you he this time Mr tesler thank you um at this time I would like to uh make a close session resolution be it resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monroe hereby moves to go into close session in accordance with Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 njsa 10 col 4-6 through 10 col 4-21 to discuss the following subjects oak tree principal interviews the discussion conducted in closed session can be disclosed to the public at such time the matters have been resolved is there a second by Mr Klein all in favor I opposed then we will go into um Clos session um we added the closed session to our agenda because we have uh will
004be conducting oak tree principal interviews we did not want our interviewees to have to sit through our home meeting so we decided to add a closed session at the beginning we will also have a closed session at the end of the meeting so at this time the board will go into close session to conduct interviews I guess we there good evening again at this time the board will convene into public session um we will go to number six on the agenda the public forign anyone from the public wishing to speak to the agenda please come to the microphone and state your name and address for the record okay seeing no one we will go to the approval of the minutes for public meeting of March 1st 2012 motion and second second Mr Chella Mr Klein
005any comments or questions all in favor I opposed abstentions approval of the minutes for the close session of March 1st 2012 second Mr Chella Mr Masters all in favor I I opposed Mr you're opposing or abstaining the Clos session for March 1st uh minutes no I'm sorry you uh you have you covered the the minutes of the open meeting of March 1st yes I just did uh I'd like to put in a correction okay uh in the public forum there at the paragraph down at the bottom there is a great confusion what page would it be that we're on page 66 they talk about the middle sex County Academy uh the only middle sex County Academy we have in Middle sex county is operated by the middle sex Regional Educational Service Commission and this is
006for people who are in Desperate Straits they make one more mistake and they go to your artville I mean we have sent people up to Middle sex County Academy for doing dumb things like pulling alarms and bomb threats and other things like that these people who are talking about middle sex County Academy really are talking about the middle sex County vocational technical school and the subordinate part of it which is the scientific engineering and Mathematics Academy which is on the campus of middle sex County College and they have put the title middle sex County Academy on it which is wrong and we need to get that as a matter of record Mr L that's corrected to the middle sex County Technical School fine vocational technical school vocational technical school it's really I mean if you
007take a look at the scores is phenomenal I mean they turn out absolutely you know they got five stars after I me I see Jeff Gorman smiling so noted okay so the Clos session for March 1st 2012 all in favor I opposed extensions uh approval of the minutes for the public meeting of March 22nd 202 12 some moved Mr kleene second Mr tesler all in favor I I opposed extensions Mr Mr um Braverman is abstaining the approval of the minutes for the closed session of March 22nd 2012 some Mr Klein Mr Chella all in favor I opposed abstentions Mr Braverman the approval of the minutes for the special public meeting of April 23rd 2012 it's almost second Mr cherella Mr Mr um ly I I seconded okay all in favor I opposed extensions the approval
008of the minutes for the public meeting of April 25th 2012 Mr Chella Mr Masters all in favor I opposed abstentions and the last one is the approval of the minutes for the closed session of April 25th 2012 Mr cherella second Mr Masters all in favor I opposed abstentions then we have passed all the minutes and we will go to the superintendent's report Dr Hamilton good thank you um I don't know if you've had a chance to read your your email today but we did receive the air sampling report rep from Dr Lynch today in reference to Applegarth Applegarth elementary school and I won't read the entire report but I'll just share with you uh a quick summary uh attached please find the laboratory results from the May 23rd 2012 indoor air quality monitoring and air
009sampling from mold and other dust uh matter conducted at Applegarth the purpose of this sampling was to determine if airborne and dust concentrations were within normal range given the current construction and renovation activities occurring at the school and the conclusions essentially say that based on this report it is my opinion within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty that the air quality was normal given the construction activities occurring at the school during sampling Fresh Air Supply was normal no elevated carbon monoxide was detected Etc he does recommend uh that after construction and after the um work on the gym floor that the test be repeated but I did email the full report to you um again if you haven't had a chance to read your email it is in your email result and the water results
010are forthcoming thank you Mike um Mr ventrella is also recommending that we postpone the student orientation for Apple Garf there's a delay in the furniture delivery as soon as we get a confirmation on that delivery and the setup a new date will be set um having said that moving on to the superintendent's um Personnel report Madam board Pres president and members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that Personnel items a through BB be approved by roll call vote Mr Chella second second by Mr Tesla is there any comments or questions for Dr Hamilton Mr Master just a slight comment a um again just because I'm OCD uh it's Mr Theodore ma that was under error I just don't want that making it way into a plaque or something good catch
011thank you oh look at that and he will be very much missed at Oak Tre thank you anyone else I read that 17 seeing no one we will have a roll call Mr Gorski Mr Braverman yes Mr Chella yes Mrs Fon yes Mr calman yes Mr Klein yes Mr lirry yes Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes Mrs kapano Madame board president Personnel items eight through Double B passes thank you um adding another Personnel item um for your consideration that should be recorded as CC it is recommended by the superintendent that Patricia denmore be approved as the principal of Oak Tree Elementary School at an annual salary of $18,600 effective July 1 2012 through June 30th second Mr Chella Mr Tesla any comments or questions on this um motion Mr kleene just would like to congratulate
012Patricia she she hasn't been appointed yet Mr CL oh okay you should anyway forget it I rest my case okay micone you want well we could have a roll call first let's have a roll call okay we'll have a roll call roll call Mr Gorski Mr Braverman no Mr cherella yes Mr calman no Mr Klein yes Mr liry you're still holding that Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes Mrs colano yes madame board president motion to letter CC passes thank you Mr Klein would you like to speak now okay but now I forgot what I was going to say um I know the um the whole process in finding um a principal for oak tree was very difficult for the main committee and also for the candidates and uh after last night I don't know how
013many times those candidates were interviewed and had to go through the same thing all the time uh Patricia always had a smile she was always very positive and what I like mostly about her is that she's a go-getter and uh doesn't let MOS grow under her feet and I'm very very happy to vote for her and wish her a lot of luck and I know that she'll do a great job for our district Patrice um unfortunately by law I'm not allowed to vote on this um decision as uh oak tree is not in the realm of my voting power but I would personally support Patty binmore 100% in this position as a uh professional dedicated um insightful just go-getting type of Personality that I think the parents and the staff should be very confident that
014they have a wonderful leader in place anyone else Mr Tesla just real quick I'll be brief I'd like to congratulate you Patty I wish you all the best anyone else then I'd also like to extend my my congratulations to Patty we go back a long ways and I know that you're going to do absolutely wonderful things for oak tree um it's difficult to follow in Mr ventrello footsteps so I wish you a lot of luck and um extend our best wishes for much success in your in your [Applause] [Music] future now go to the board action items moving on to board action items Madam board president members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that board action items a through H be approved by roll call vote Mr cherella second second
015by Mr Masters are there any comments or questions for the superintendent Mr Klein just that there's no report here on uh violation student violations did we go through a month with no violations no that uh that'll be reported on the June 20th meeting okay I figured it was too good to be true anyone else roll call Mr Gorski Mr Braverman yes Mr Chella yes Mrs Ferron yes Mr calman Mr Klein yes Mr Larry yes Mr Masters yes Mr tesler yes Mrs kapano yes madame board president board action items a through H passes that concludes the superintendent's report okay at this this time we will go to the business administrator's Report with Mr Gorski thank you Madame board president and members of the Monro Township Board of Education it is recommended that board action items a
016through L be approved by consent roll call please note that with there were two items F erroneously typed into the report please identify the second f as an l second second so who who Mr tiella Mr tesler sorry any comments or questions for Mr Gorski he seeing none we'll have a roll call Mr Braverman yes Mr cherella yes Mrs Fon yes Mr calman yes Mr Klein yes Mr lry yes Mr Masters yes on all but F f8 or F if you can't break it out I have to recuse myself on f8 and recusing on on the first F first F primary F that's F very good so noted thank you Mr tesler yes Mrs kapano Madame board president board action items eight through L passes thank you and that concludes your report yes ma'am okay
017this time we will go to the board president's report and I just have a few items um first the tonight was the annual National Honor Society induction ceremony which took place at the high school performing arts center earlier this evening um usually the board members have the opportunity to attend that and obviously we were't able to tonight with this meeting scheduled so we'd like to congratulate all of the inductees and wish them well um I we've spoken many times about the E for New Jersey Grant this year so on Thursday of this week we will have our last uh district deac meeting and we will be discussing the successes maybe the failures of the grants and how well we did and how we can move forward from here and our K12 supervisor of Grants and
018testing recently participated in a panel discussion with the different pilot districts on the E E4 NJ Grant to compare and discuss different experiences and how it worked in other districts and how it compares to ours so we look forward to seeing how it's going to work next year when will that the presentation be made and can board members attend um I think it's it's already been made I think she I think it was um I know it was uh I don't remember what date but she participated in already okay so we will be getting um an update probably from her on Wednesday at the uh district dpack meeting okay fine thank you and lastly um we had a really great opportunity recently at Woodland School May 22nd there was a flag presentation and I I
019just wanted to read um the the about the presentation we had a Dr Morris M OSS he's a cardiothoracic surgeon from Howell New Jersey who recently served with the 628th forward surgical team in Ogar Province Afghanistan and on behalf of the soldiers of that surgical team he came to Woodland School to present the American flag an American flag that was flown in honor of the students of Woodland School who graciously lifted their hearts when they sent gifts throughout the school year to those soldiers in the forward surgical team um he also had his brother who was an Iraqi veteran to the meeting with him uh the students donated many items during the year they collected a lot of things during the school year sent it over to the soldiers in Afghanistan um they sent approximately
02016 boxes of candies cookies movies DVDs toiletries blankets books Etc a lot of different things and uh at the end of the presentation they had the opportunity um for the students to ask questions um they did present an American flag it was beautiful framed it will be hanging in Woodland School and they also presented the students and the staff with a framed picture of the 600 and 28th forward surgical team to the um to the staff and the students to show their appreciation for what this what the students have done for them during the year and it was a very moving ceremony and there were a lot of Tears it was it was just very very wonderful moving opportunity Mr ly in view of the fact that the principal is a reservist in the Marine
021Corps I think that probably were the Marines rather than soldiers that were in that combat that's what I have soldiers so okay well they're soldiers of the sea okay um at this time we will go to committee reports is there any board member that has a committee that they would like to report on okay seeing I'll say this that Mr lry on last week at the you know on a Friday they came out the State Department of Education with the whole new uh set of uh report cards and they jiggered the books again they it's like going to football and you know you think you're getting towards the the 80 yard line they just move the go post another 20 yards down the post so Mike gorsky and I going to have some fun lucky
022Mike luy Mike um is there any other business by any member of new business from members of the first I'm WR something down okay we'll go to Mr Klein earlier in the meeting I couldn't I couldn't say anything it was quite hard but um both myself and my family were very touched by the condolences and the the visitation by many people from this District including some of the parents and and uh I appreciate it and it's something I'd like to forget about the death but the friendship and the caring is just it's not something that I expected and I deeply deeply appreciate it and so did my family and thank you [Music] all Mr Masters a couple weeks ago I went to the uh School board's delegate assembly uh I'll keep it quick it's real
023exciting um a couple honestly a couple of the recommendations that were discussed and passed were um they they're limiting the um the amount of meetings they have in a given year um they're moving from six uh to I believe three um they nominate a new board new set of officers uh they're they're suggesting newer language for charter schools and um that they should basically be held accountable for the same standards that um non-charter School are um uh there was a resolution about denying enrollment in any school based on any kind of standardized test which I also relates to the Charter School issue um and they were they're going to propose moving the um School Board petitioning uh towards September September October instead of where they are now um that's about it okay Mr ly who
024is your uh state senator Dr Hamilton uh where I live yeah Mendes Mendes yes okay I thought it was a lady uh who used to be a broadcaster in Philadelphia yeah but anyway she has proposed that the uh harassment intimidation and other characteristics be applied to teachers this is going to be interesting and I'm watching with great Glee anyone else okay this time we will go to um 13 close session resolution be it resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monroe hereby moves to go into closed session in accordance with Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 njsa 10 col 4-6 through 10 colum 4-21 to discuss the following subjects Personnel discussion related to the superintendency evaluations student matters harassment intimidation and bullying incidents 124 125 126 the discussion
025conducted in Clos session can be disclosed to the public at such time as the matters have been resolved um motion Mr Chella second second by Mr kleene all in favor I opposed abstentions and with all our apologies because we don't usually normally have have uh two closed sessions in one evening um the board will now convene into closed session okay at this time we will go back into public session we were at the public forum anyone wishing to speak please come to the microphone and state your name and address for the record and we apologize for the lateness of the time good evening hi Lara GS Lara libros gets five Scott Drive Monro Township um I actually have two statements one from my daughter who I sent home long ago so I don't know if
026um there's time at the end for me to come back and just read her statement or have someone else do it for her um I'd appreciate it I'm here speaking before the board because my daughter bretts a student with a 3.5 GPA a student who should have been identified as at risk since the sixth grade has failed her High School proficiency test in mathematics I have asked the school system for additional support for her on numerous occasions especially during this school year I have about 20 emails if anyone would like to needs to see them at some point I have met with the assistant principal the principal the assistant superintendent the super super intendent and one of the four different guidance counselors that she has had in her three years in Monro Township High School
027but nothing really has been done no genuine strategies have been offered except that I should continue to pay for a tutor and my daughter should continue to go to CAC which is offer every day after school for an hour even though my daughter worked hard throughout her High School career and achieved a very good GPA how has she been able to earn a bees her whole entire life and be so ill equipped to pass a standardized test it is very evident that she struggles with math it has been evident since the sixth grade when she scored a 178 on the njs 6 she has been on the bubble since then scoring a 200 on the njs 7 and a 204 on the njs 8 is there no one in this entire District who is monitoring
028the students who are on the bubble like my daughter I don't know that anyone has monitored her academic growth once you hit 200 she has passed or been proficient perhaps if she hadn't had a different guidance counselor each year she's had four guidance counselors in three years perhaps if her name did not begin with the letter G she would have had a consistent guidance counselor and maybe someone would have picked up on this or someone would have he heard my please the school board all of you have approved policy you have approved curriculums on your District website I just want to read just to make sure we're clear because I've done this same speech when I met with the assistant superintendent and superintendent your goal your vision statement state that you're going to provide early
029interventions for all students who are at risk for not reaching their full potential and every meeting this year I have asked what interventions have we done what have we done to help this child I'm asking now once again for help there is a lot of blame including my own there's lots of blame that we can push around I can go back every year I can tell you details I can show you emails but at this point can I finish my request do you have a lot more to go no not really I'm almost done I'm just going to give my two I have two requests okay once again my these are my two requests the test because she has failed she scored a 198 one question off she is um she has to take the
030test on October 2nd that is when it's given next for juniors who did not pass if you go into the calendar and you figure out she has about six sessions with her math teacher in this senior Essentials mathematics for children who have been who did not pass the test and it's her I understand she didn't pass but we need to do something and what I'm requesting of the district is that we form some remedial class over the summer to Target the kids that have come up short and maybe even if it's an hour a week with the teacher or two hours a week because right now the way I'm looking at the schedule she'll have six or seven sessions with her math teacher on that senior's essential to get them prepared for the October 2nd
031test I don't think that's enough she's failed already I don't know how many did fail it's not my business I'm talking about my own but I don't think and I will plan on paying a tutor over the summer but I think that we have to be accountable as well and maybe come up with a remedial class to help these kids that have not passed and what is your other question the other request is that we do not penalize her for failing the HPA by taking away senior option not senior opt out senior option my daughter has a applied to for senior option to volunteer at Academy learning it was told to me today that it is a state law it is not he Dr Hamilton would you like to respond uh yes hi Mrs GS
032how are you good evening um firstly regarding your your two requests um it would be irresponsible to be able to say to you at this point that that request is something that that can be explored of course you know I I'll speak with Mr Goodall we'll talk about the number of children if if there is such a need for for that kind of remediation um and see if that's a viable option it has not been budgeted so that would of course then require process that would Engage The Board uh regarding senior option um did you have that level of conversation with Mr Goodall I did today I mean I actually and I will say this Mr Goodall and Mrs Celli director of guidance met with me for about two hours today they were very you
033know we had a long meeting about issues and these were addressed um my husband has more the data CU I knew I was going to be pressed to 3 minutes but we contacted middle sex County Superintendent today we contacted a law office um there is no policy to disallow there is no policy there is no state law that does not allow a child who failed the hespa to take senior option um so I and I do have the data to show it so I can and I know Mr good is not aware of it he sent me something with it we had a conversation the paper he sent me was from governor mcgrievy in 2004 applying to um New Jersey business Industries something whatever it was I checked I contacted a lawyer I contacted the
034county superintendent there is no law to not allow her to do senior options so that can something that Mr Goodall is not aware of what I the research I did after I met with him well I'd be interested in seeing the the the research you've gathered as as well and then we'll talk about that further cuz I I would certainly need to see all that data in order to be able to but my request to the board was and that's why I'm here still till 11:00 at night is I know that it's not budgeted I know that it is um you know but I I just cuz it's not budgeted doesn't mean it's not warranted and even numbers even if it's one child two children I know that there's I mean we kind of have
035seen her whole career in a bubble and we all sat back and didn't really give her that extra that I think she needed and I'm asking you now to do that and I think that's my request and that's what I'm ask that's my request okay we will we'll have Dr Hamilton look into it and thank you very much anyone else from the public can I read my daughter's thing will you do it the public is done sure even get five Scout Drive um I guess I'm just going to present the uh law that Mr Goodall uh sent to my wife earlier today which is really just a recommendation guide from the McGreevy Administration and then all of the code sections that have anything to do with the student the which is actually called the 12th
036grade option program uh the code sections for the school refer only that it be qualified workers that they report back to the school and to receive credit that the school uh advise the county superintendent and that they don't violate any uh any child labor laws those are the only laws the only laws that relate to the 12th grade option program so the district has absolutely nothing in their policy on the website they have nothing in the handbook this is the district by District decision so the only reason that you would not allow a student who did not pass the hespa to take it is because the district wants to punish someone so uh I can present this afterwards but I just want to continue in saying that my daughter has worked hard her entire School
037career and we have asked for help on numerous occasions most especially this year and in fact this year in one of our meetings Mr Goodall instructed the teacher right there in the meeting to move my daughter's seat two weeks later we contacted the teacher she still hadn't moved my daughter's seat two weeks later we contacted Mr Goodall had the seat moved the teacher moved my daughter's seat from next to her friend which was causing a problem and disruption a lot of talking which is why we wanted the seat moved she moved her to the farthest back corner of the room so this is the respect that your teachers have for your principal and your teachers in this District not all of them obviously have for the students and this is why my wife and I
038are so upset with this thank you thank you we'll take that information if you want us to have it anyone else from the public thank you Lara gets five Scott Drive speaking on behalf of Brooks five Scott Drive 16-year-old who I sent home um earlier this even I have struggled with math my entire School career math has always been tough for me it never came natural but I always tried my hardest I've been getting tutored since fourth grade every year when njs scores would come back I found that I always received around a 200 mark one year in fact I even scored below and was placed in basic skills program helping me to improve my math to a 200 now in high school we have as you may know an after school tutoring program called
039CAC I have ATT ended CMAC my entire High School career I attend this regularly as well as outside private tutoring I don't do this for my health I do it because I care about my education and I strive to do better I'm asking you to please not take away senior option from someone who tries their hardest in every way possible I didn't try to fail the hespa and I do not think I should be penalized for doing so frankly I think the school has failed me too this year especially my parents and I have asked for extra help and suggestions on how to improve my math skills the school has done absolutely nothing to help me this year in fact my math teacher and she says the name and I don't think it's necessary was
040told to move my seat by Mr Goodall and it took over a month to do so instead of moving me to the front like ass she put me in the last row in the back of the class maybe just maybe if I was in the front of the room and maybe I could have received a little more help from the teacher I would have gotten one more question right and I wouldn't be in this position right now I scored a 198 thank you m Dr Hamilton yeah I don't I know Mr Goodall is here and Mr Goodall Mr Goodall I don't know if you I can't see you rob um do you need or feel obligated to make any comments and reference to this at this time okay thank you okay is there anyone else
041from the public okay seeing no one we'll close the public forum and I believe that there is a motion that needs to be made yes I would like to uh make a motion to uh at a special Board of Education meeting on Wednesday June 13th at 7 p.m. and the purpose of that meeting will be a closed session Clos session to discuss the superintendent's evaluation okay is there a second second okay all in favor I opposed abstentions seeing none and we will have a special Board of Education meeting on Wednesday June 13th 7:00 p.m. here at the high school schol our next that will be our next scheduled Board of Education meeting is motion to adjourn motion to adjourn ly Mr tesler all in favor opposed extensions and the meeting is adjourned