001that the meeting of the Monroe Township or the special meeting of the Monroe Township Board of Education will come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance our pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and jce may we have a roll call Mr Gorski miss antelis here miss armeno Mr Braverman here Mr Chella here Mr calman here Mrs colano here Mr noin here Mr Po Mr proso Mr zar here Madame board president you have a quarum thank you in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law the Monro Township Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted
002February 15 2014 one at all schools two home News Tribune three cranberry press four filed with the clerk of the municipality and at this time we we will go to number five on the agenda and before we do um I just want to read a statement in accordance with bylaw number 0167 public participation in board meetings and in order to ensure the efficient administration of the board's business this evening The public's participation shall be limited at this meeting as follows each member of the public who wishes to speak during the public forum the first public forum shall have one opportunity to do so and his or her statement shall be limited to 3 minutes in duration and there will also be a 1hour time limit put on the first public forum this is not going
003to be a question and answer session but it is the Public's opportunity to voice your concerns or make a statement the board will listen to all your comments but will not have a response at this time I ask that everybody please maintain a reasonable decorum and be respectful of all speakers so at this time anyone from the public wishing to speak to the agenda please come to the microphone and give your name and address for the record and I ask that each of you coming up to speak please address all your comments to the chair thank you very much Ira tesler 11 Ilia Drive first I would like to thank the Board of Education Administration and public for coming out tonight for the public and the viewers at home I would like to briefly explain
004what happened after the conclusion of the February 10th Board of Education meeting during the meeting I raised my hand in order to speak at the public forum at the same time somebody else did what I did was make a halfway hand gester and put my hand down in order to let someone go first at the conclusion of the meeting I was having a nice conversation with Mark Klein and Lou Masters and Mr prosu interrupted us made a Nazi hand gesture with his hand and said you're Jewish you shouldn't raise your hand like that initially I said get out of here and continued my con conversation then went home the next day after talking with my wife and friends I decided I needed to do the right thing and following the correct procedure wrote a letter
005to the board president I find it inappropriate and disrespectful for a public official to make a comment like that to a member of the community if a member of Congress made a comment like that like this it would be all over the news we have an affirmative action officer in the district and if a staff member made a comment like this they would be terminated we have bullying laws for our students and if a student made a comment like this they would be disciplined I realize it is unrealistic to ask Mr presiosa to resign but I would like but what I would like is a public apology by a conclusion of tonight's meeting I'm not doing this because I lost the election currently I do not plan for running the Board of Education again I'm
006not doing this for any type of Revenge this is not an action against the board of Board of Education or any other board member while I may not agree with everyone on the board of education I do respect their opinions I am doing this because I feel it is a right thing to do and and even if you disagree with me I hope you can respect my opinion in conclusion I know this is a Hot Topic and there may be lots of speakers tonight I probably won't agree with all of the statements being made I do encourage everyone to be respectful adults speak your mind and if you want to en list if speak your mind if you want to and listen to others while they are speaking this the issue we are here for
007tonight does need to be addressed but after the conclusion of this evening I urge everyone to come together and focus on helping the board of educ a provide the quality education our children deserve thank you for your time anyone else from the public wishing to speak how do you do Richard Gibbons 415 Schoolhouse um if hearing this it seems like when some people can't get what they want on the merits it seems like they always go to the lowest common denominator in this case it looks like the race card was thrown down now I've known Mr proso for about four years I campaigned with him I wouldn't have campaigned with him if I had ever heard him issue issue a racial slur which he has never done now the eighth commandment says Thou shalt not
008bear false witness against thy neighbor and I think this is what's happened here and I think what's happening here tonight is like a Lynch Mob and I think that it's a disgrace thank you very much is there anyone else from the public that wishes to speak J Deo 48 limbwood Drive I was very disturbed to hear about the comments that would made was made after the previous board meeting as parents Educators members of the Board of Education we must set the example for all children in our words and in our actions this is how we shape children to become the leaders of Tomorrow anything less is unacceptable we live in a diverse Community where every child has worth regardless of color religion academic ability or sexual orientation anything that we do or say that says
009to a child you are worth less than your peers is unacceptable when we say this such things to other adults we are also saying them to the children we must represent the best for the sake of all the children thank [Applause] you Alan KH 11 kenure Court I was very disturbed to hear of the board's actions I've known Mr presiosa for a few years now I think he has true concern for the children of this community that's why he ran for the board that's why I supported him when he ran when I heard what was happening to him and the way the I guess we call them the professional staff tried to drum up action against him I it it hurt me he's a good man and I think you're doing the wrong thing thank
010you [Applause] is there anyone else from the public wishing to speak Lou Masters I Mela Court um a couple people asked me if I was going to speak tonight whether I was going to speak because I was an ex-board member or because I was really good friends with IRA and I said of course I'm going to speak um it's that it's that I'm very offended that I witnessed a very nasty Act of racism it's not in dispute uh we can all agree that it was done he's it's very respectful that he's admitting to it what was said doesn't matter to who it was said doesn't matter if somebody laughed after saying it which I did not there's a lie going around that I laughed we were actually laughing about something else doesn't matter all that
011matters was what was said this isn't politics here this is someone making a hurtful racially insensitive statement to another human being I'm also very upset about the response that some people are having is not okay because it's a joke it is not okay because you feel you have been discriminated in the past it is not okay to perpetuate racism it is indefensible defending it only gives it validity it festers and spreads we shouldn't accept it and we should fight it and root it out at all levels the board has a couple of things to consider today one is this an Ethics violation and if every board member looks on their eth form number five it talks about disparaging fellow board members or others on a personal social racial or religious basis two is this a
012policy violation everybody has the policy number 8465 give you a second if you have it hate crimes and bias related acts it's a mandatory and it says an offense is bias-based and thus constitutes a hate crime if the motive for the commission of the offenses or unlawful act and I'll get to that in a second is racial religious ethnic or pertains to affectation or sexual orientation or sex number 17 harassment or number 16 disorderly conduct an act is bias spas and thus constitutes a bias incident if the motive for the commission of the act or unlawful acts is racial religious ethnic or pertains to sexual orientation and you cre read it it's a state act the state act also backs it up three is this a good example that we should be setting for our
013children also I received an email which I was referenced in on some group from a jar Bob um that had a lot of information that seemed very confidential in it um about Union stuff matters and uh some letters to the board I was curious uh where that was coming from and if everybody can have access to a lot of that information um there's a good website the Anti-Defamation defamation League will disc discusses this adl.org if you go to there there's a whole Education website and it talks about you shouldn't be joking about people's ethnicities um but just to follow up I'm very sad about this I'm sad about what was said um I'm sad that a bias like this still exists in this day and age and I'm also angry at the response that certain
014people are trying to defend it I mean if this we talk about we should run the board like a business all the time that's how we said it last meeting that we have to watch the piggy bank if this was a business which has every business has a Zero Tolerance Law he would have been terminated immediately I actually went down to my HR and I said you know if I had said this hypothetically would happen terminated no questions asked thank you Mr Masters that's my two cents there anyone else from the public who wishes to speak okay seeing no one we will close public for go to 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 the Sunshine
015Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 NJ essay 10 col 4-6 through 10 col 4-21 to discuss the the following subject the board will retire to close session to discuss a matter falling within the attorney client privilege specifically the comments allegedly made by a board member to a member of the public subsequent to the adjournment of the Board of Education meeting on February 10th 2014 and the unauthorized release of confidential information and to receive attorney advice on the offer mentioned matters the discussion conducted in Clos session can be dis disclosed to the public at such time as the need for confidentiality no longer exists I need a motion in a second so moved Miss analis second second by Mr Kaufman all in favor opposed abstention okay at this time the motion is carried
016and the board will go into to close session I really have no idea how long this will take but we will give you updates as we um as we go along in there at this time the Board of Education will reconvene into public session and I believe Mr Gorski has a resolution to read thank you it is recommended the Board of Education hold in a abayance the matter involving board member Anthony pre Oso's alleged comments to a member of the public subsequent to the close of the board meeting on January 15 2014 and the matter of the alleged release of confidential information pending further action of the board at its meeting scheduled for March 17th 2014 in order to provide Anthony proso an opportunity to consult with an attorney is there a motion I second
017mrin miss armo any comments or questions Miss just want to let everybody know I will not support this I think what happened I don't believe it was a malicious action by Mr proso I think it was a very bad choice Nazism Hitler the Holocaust is not a joke I think anybody who thinks it is writes that it is is wrong and really needs to take a look at history um I have been with the Henry rickless Holocaust committee for about five years I have done interviews with Holocaust Survivors I've had to stop those interviews because all of us were crying the cameraman myself these are horrible stories it's not a joke and it should and I think the worst part of all of this is when this this happen Mr preos you didn't even think
018that you did anything wrong okay and you did that is a terrible thing to say not even to a Jewish person to any person to refer to Hitler to even mention I'm sorry I'm very sensitive I've been through um the last year researching my family and found out that my grandfather's brothers and sisters were killed they were part of the first massacre in the Ukraine I'm very sensitive to this so um I'm going to vote no anybody else okay roll call Miss anelis no Miss armenio yes Mr Braverman no Mr Chella yes Jamesburg representative is not eligible to vote on this resolution Mr calman yes Mr noin yes Mrs kapano no Madam board president motion passes okay then at this time on our agenda we'll go to number seven public forum anybody wishing to speak
019please come to the agenda uh please come to the microphone not the agenda and leave your give please give your name and address for the record Lisa weinthal T MF Circle monra Mr proso I wasn't there please address all your comments to the chair I can't my letter says this um I was not there when the event occurred but I do know that no one kids about Hitler or the Holocaust no one uses phrases or makes statements about another person's religion that are hurtful demeaning or derogatory as in as casual and off-handed manner as you seemingly did these remarks May in fact underscore your own personal views and you're clearly comfortable and equally complacent about making prejudicial and biased remarks perhaps this is second nature to you behind closed doors but in public it's disgusting
020and offensive we expect our leaders to know how to filter their words at a minimum we expect you to stand up against anti-Semitism and not condone or support speech like this I turn to our Board of Education who has the obligation to implement the zero tolerance policy and ethical requirements for board members as well as the code of conduct required of our students under the harassment intimidation and bullying policy I know of this policy firsthand as one of my own children was the victim of anti-Semitic slurs the student was dealt with swiftly and surely he was suspended from school for several days vigilance by our Board of Education and administration against this type of racist and anti-semitic commentary made by one of their own requires the same Swift andure actions zero tolerance is zero tolerance
021whether it's for a student who may have warranted the the benefit of Doubt due to age or to our leadership who should be held to the higher standards and should know better these slurs and comments reflect on each of you as well and shows the measure of your commitment to do the right thing for yourselves in the community do not disrespect the school the teachers students or your commitment to adhere to the higher standards by allowing racial slurs of any sort to be accepted ironically our eighth graders today in the Middle School have just handed in an essay on tolerance for intolerance their assignment was to identify the meaning of the quote tolerance for intolerance provide a relevant personal story and look at and then look at the larger world around them to see where
022tolerance for intolerance exists you are all accountable to show our children that tolerance for intolerance will not exist in Monroe Township Schools I am personally holding this board to task to send the message that tolerating Prejudice in any form by condoning and enduring the hatreds attitudes and bigotries of others will be dealt was swiftly and surely at all levels in this community and that has not just applied to our students I ask you to do the right thing Zero Tolerance anyone else from the public wishing to speak good evening to you all my name is Don n 80 revie Drive uh tonight I've listened to people stand up here in front of you and uh articulate uh their reasons for their concerns and um in many of those instances I I respect their points of
023view I don't necessarily agree with them but I respect them to have their points of view uh I'm going to say something now that hasn't been said that maybe some people are thinking about because I know I am and that is from the beginning from the CL claim remarks um to where we are now maybe there's an underlying point of view that some people may not care for Anthony's points of view or his opinions or his votes on the board maybe maybe they do maybe they don't maybe you don't necessar like his points of view or maybe you do I I don't know the answers to that to uh to those questions but if this goes down the road and Anthony is is is no longer on the board I get very concerned about that
024because you'd be overturning an election and that's essentially saying my vote doesn't count that my vote can get put in the trash along with others that voted for Anthony so I would ask you to ultimately still do the right thing and look at both sides of all of this thank you anyone else from the public wishing to speak seeing no one we will close public forum or our next scheduled Board of Education meeting will be Monday March 17 2014 at 7 o'clock pm. at the Monro Township High School which is the adoption of the tenative budget motion to adjourn Mr Kaufman second second by Mr knin all in favor oppos exstension meeting is adjourned sh