001the record good evening the meeting of the Monroe Township Board of Education will come to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I aliance to to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all may we have a roll call Mr Gorski miss antelis here miss armeno here Mr Braverman Mr Chella here Mr calman here Mrs Pano here Mr noin here Mr Po Mr proso Mr zareski here Madame board president president you have a quarum this evening and Mr poy and Mr proso will be joining us at some point during the meeting via teleconference thank you in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meetings law the mono Township Board of Education has
002caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof posted July 18th 2014 one at all schools two home News Tribune three cranberry press and four filed with the clerk of the municipality and before we go into the girls varsity competition cheers I'm sure most of you have either read the agenda or have seen a lot of the newspaper articles that have been written lately um Dr Hamilton will be resigning this evening as the superintendent of Monroe Township School District and um because we needed to as of I believe August 1st in order for us too an interim we need to have six votes this evening and since um Miss anelis and Mr Kaufman cannot vote we only have five eligible people here to vote therefore we would like
003to wave our policy 0164 so that we can have a teleconference with um Mr proso and Mr Po so it is recommended that the Board of Education suspend application of the medical condition requirement of board policy number 01 64.2 board member participation at board meetings using electronic devices to permit members Anthony proso and Douglas po to participate in a portion of the board's public meeting this evening so I need a a motion and a second so moved second miss anelis Mr noin is there any comments or questions by members of the board Mr noin yes I'm I'm always skeptical of uh of waving or you know putting aside a policy that's been in effect uh what would the procedure be going forward so that we could possibly put this to the committee uh the policy
004committee to revise this policy in the future so we don't have to wave it so that we could maybe allow for situations where uh we won't have a quorum um and we could specify that as a condition of having an electronic uh phone in or better yet I would really like to see it with um we had the iPod iPad technology uh we could easily do uh you know FaceTime or something that would have legal ramifications we would have to check with the board counsel if that would be okay we can send that to the policy committee to look at revisions okay that how how would could we get that going after this meeting I think that this we'll do it tomorrow this is a perfect example where we may need an exemption to this
005uh to this we should have to wave or if we didn't get this resolution passed tonight we would be in quite a bind right because we wouldn't be able to appoint an interim until the August meeting and therefore Dr Hamilton would have to stay till the August meeting and work two jobs so um Michelle yes um with that said uh I agree with Mr noin and I'm concerned about um if we had an issue the next time it would be either arbitrary or subjective and I'd like to see some consist consy um you know when when will the when you do you wave policies and when don't you I think it would be um difficult unless we had something in writing and you know I I just don't want anything to be subjective in in
006one case it's allowed and another case it's not it just doesn't seem appropriate right we checked and I only remember one other time where we had to wait in all the years that I've been on the board one other time where we had to waiver policy for an issue and I can't recall off hand what it is um we did check with our attorney today and she said in this case it would be appropriate to do so because of the interim position so then in another case it might not be appropriate is what you're saying it depends on what we are all right and that's that there in lies the problem because if you make exceptions for one issue you know uh I'm concerned about another issue being maybe important to some members and not
007important to others and it not be waved yeah we would have to look at the policy and decide and I'm not even sure with a a policy revision we can come up with every situation that would be appropriate or not appropriate but we send it back and have the policy committee look at it okay anyone else okay I roll call yes Mrs kapano yes Mr noin yes Mr calman recuse Mr zareski yes Mr Chella [Music] no Miss armino yes Miss antelis recuse mam board president motion to suspend board policy 01 64.2 passes okay who do you have as a second for that motion Mr Mr okay thank you uh this time we will go to the girls varsity compet ition cheer presentation Dr Hamilton are you I'm going to ask Mr Greg berer to come
008up and make this presentation and let us know um what our girls are being recognized for tonight I should say what our team is being recognized for tonight yes sir this is the best part of my job um we've had a banner season in athletics this year we've had division champs County Champs District Champs state champs national champs and now we have a Grand National Championship or you can clap for [Music] that last year our girls won the National Championship this year they won a step further they won two steps further actually they won the state championship um this year they won the national champion and they won a Grand National Championship that means that the competition that they participated in they not only won their division but they had the highest score of everybody
009in the competition down in Florida so we should [Applause] I don't think people realize how hard these girls worked um most of them a little conscientious right now because they just finished practice about 15 minutes ago some said my hair's out of place sweating a little bit here the gym was freezing last night and it wasn't cold tonight it was very warm so they're a little bit apprehensive but they're excited to get their Rings one thing ladies when you get your ring I know this is the first first time you're going to see it um wait till everybody gets them the other thing is these rings are guaranteed so if the size doesn't fit all you have to do is call Justin's up and they'll resize it for you okay and now I'd like to
010call up coach Carissa Titus who did an absolutely fantastic job with these ladies she is going to announce each one ladies when we call your name up Dr Hamilton do you want to present sure yes Miss Titus will give you your certificate and Dr Hamilton will present you with your ring me say names okay ladies why don't you just come around here come around ladies come around on this side see you're moving just talk High okay I don't think you want to do that all right all right first up Paige all back she couldn't be here tonight Jessica [Applause] alre here Kathy Michaela agresto [Applause] Sabrina [Applause] chafi Kayla [Applause] Cogan Alyssa debrowski [Applause] Cara Dalton who is not here as well Victoria gianola maryan [Applause] Glade Brianna [Applause] Guerrero Gian [Applause] ion Emily Kuts
011[Applause] Linda [Applause] Marano Jenna [Applause] Marshall Kirsten Mims she's not here either mateline Mullen thomasine nadio [Applause] Anna [Applause] ogi Alysa [Applause] purcel Cynthia Russo Ashley [Applause] Salter Megan scroy [Applause] Taylor Smith who is also a senior and she's at her College [Applause] orientation Justine [Applause] tarello Ashley [Applause] tanova Rebecca tesler Madison tillum [Applause] Gianna [Applause] visalo Stephanie vuna and sunny [Applause] Warden tonight tonight is the culmination of a very successful and memorable season for the 2013 2014 Monro Township competition cheer team this team is not only recognized throughout the New Jersey as state champions but also throughout the country as a Meritor International Champions and international Grand Champions and none of this would have been possible without the support and encouragement of so many people at this time I would like to take a
012minute to thank Dr Hamilton and the entire Board of Education not only for the support of this beautiful ceremony but the rings that the girls were just presented our ad Mr buer who said we had to be grand Champions to get another ring and we're here our principal Mr Goodall all the staff and teachers at the high school the people in town for their generous donations my assistant coach Dan who cannot be here tonight with me and especially the parents for their never-ending support and encouragement throughout the entire season F finally the team your season began in June of last year and we didn't end till about April this year you worked hard and believed in us as a family I could have not asked for anything more from you girls you allowed me to
013have the coaching opportunity of a lifetime and to create memories that will live in our hearts forever for this I thank you I believe when you won this award last year we told you if you come back you needed to do a cheer for us yes right right I am right I am right so I if if they're not prepared today when you do it three years in a row we do expect the cheer okay we could show you what we end practice on every year every practice and every competition okay okay get in your hdle really what what I did sell them that last year I like that you got to be kidding me sheer look of Terror was [Music] awesome good [Applause] family thank you and congratulations to all our cheerleaders at this
014time at this time number six on the agenda we're going to hold off for a few minutes because Miss Thorton is has not arrived so we will go to the public forum I'll I'll give everybody a chance to clear out before we speak we wanted to see some around I did too but I wasn't specific yeah we could do that at the end of our meetings maybe we should fact I think we should start doing that hey we go to the public forum anyone from the public wishing to speak to the agenda please come to the microphone and state your name and address for the record and we will adhere to our 3 minute time limit Robert roach J team efield Boulevard congratulations to your cheerleaders they did a great job uh what I wanted
015to mention is that I object to the exception to the voting requirements the policy um and I'll tell the reason why is I understand the issue you have but Dr Gorman is the assistant superintendent of schools so Dr Gorman has replaced Dr Hamilton I'm sure many times when he's Bor vacation been on trips I think he went to London one time if I'm not mistaken but so someplace anyhow I I know you were out of the country doctor and I think for one month uh that could have sufficed Dr Ham Dr Gorman uh replacing Dr Hamilton and then when you had the full board to vote I think that's much better now a rule is a rule you had the policy is a policy and I agree with Michelle that once you start waving policies
016here and there there's no where do you stop I think you should stick with the policy as it is thank you anyone else from the public Mark Klein seven cruncher uh Dr Hamilton I want to I'm not going to throw mud going to drop everything that's happened in the past I can tell you had a lot of respect for you you knew that in the beginning okay I wish you all the luck in the world in Mount Vernon but like any of us when we change positions or we change jobs you take the good you apply it to your next position any mistakes that were made I would hope are not made again so I lay everything down I wish you all the luck in the world be successful I read your resume that they
017had printed which is super unfortunately things happen so again I wish you all a luck in the world thank you Mr Klein I appreciate that good evening Ira tesler 11 La drive like to congratulate the cheer team again um very well done and I just want to emphasize the importance of Athletics in the school program as well in academics um a lot of these girls or a lot of kids uh may not be such academically inclined and Athletics as well as the Arts keep them in school so is uh just want to make sure that moving forward we uh keep the emphasis on Athletics and programs and extracurricular activities as well as academics second thing is I'd like to congratulate Dr Hamilton for uh moving on uh I'd like to uh um it was um
018um wow okay I'd like to congratulate you for uh your new position um and I'd like to also it may be a little premature but congratulate uh Mr ventrillo for uh inter for becoming interim superintendent hopefully tonight and Mr Higgins for taking over his interim as uh an Applegarth school so I wish you all the best uh in your future endeavors and um good luck to you thank you thank you thank you IRA tce Fon 81 forol Monro Township I just want to wish Dr Hamilton all the best as the jamesb rep for was 18 years and I think Dr Hamilton and I worked for four or five sorry after 50 nothing's up there so um you you carried through with a great respect and um understanding of the relationship between Jamesburg and Monroe which
019was started by Dr ferry so we greatly appreciated that and wish you nothing but succcess in the future appreciate it anyone else wishing to speak to the agenda then that would be at the second public forum at the end of the meeting something going on with Dr Hamilton tonight I just kidding it's all over Facebook actually n the amendment would loose Masters n m kort sorry I would remember right uh item n on the business the Comcast business Communications the additional 10 megabits I'll wait for Mike to is there associated cost with that yes of course we know how generous Comcast can be yeah I have it in here uh the Comcast agreement that you have before you tonight is an amendment to provide utility services for for the uh new leased property for special
020services and I if I recall correctly the cost for those Services is about $550 a month so it has nothing to do with the common core or any of those testing no thank you and then of course Item B Dr Hamilton I going to say something too we haven't always agreed especially on full day kindergarten uh we had some really heated arguments about that but that's okay okay um but best of luck thanks for all you've done um I'm sure it'll be great um Mr V thanks for stepping in over at uh for Dr Hamilton and Mr Higgins thanks for helping out at Apple GTH I'm sure you'd be seeing a lot of us he's in the back I'm not going to turn around because then you'll yell at me but that's it thank you
021thank you L anyone else from the public wishing to speak okay seeing no one we will go to the approval of the minutes for special Board of Education meeting of June 9th 2014 so moved Mr Chella second second by Mr noin any additions or Corrections all in favor opposed extensions miss sellis Mr Kaufman abstain for the closed session meeting of June 9th 2014 Mr Chella second Mr noin all in favor I have a question Michelle um on the report it's a it was the superintendent evaluation the Clos session correct yes okay there's no real uh minutes here and it said that the summary report will be prepared by the board president has that been done yes is it in here it's in the official minutes back in the office no so it's so I wasn't
022able to review what the minutes were what it said that that was a superintendent evaluation is that still is that still considered confidential yes okay thank you anyone else all in favor opposed abstentions miss analis Mr Kaufman approval of the minutes for the public Board of Education meeting of June 11 2014 and so second Mr Chella miss armeno any additions or Corrections okay all in favor I opposed abstention Miss anelis abstains for the closed session meeting of June 11 2014 M Mr noin miss armeno any additions or Corrections seeing none all in favor opposed abstentions Miss Anis okay that's it for the approval of the minutes and we will now go to the committee reports are there any committees that need to report this evening Mr call sure we had a curriculum meeting recently and
023the major topic Point uh was for the um insurance program which we are going to start uh this year for our iPads uh We've we've uh exhausted the three-year term I think it is Jeff three years on the iPads uh so we are taking a um approach to provide Insurance um for our devices uh going to be paid for mostly Michael out of the operating fund beg your pardon the uh insurance I'm sorry I missed the question I the question is the um the cost for the insurance is going to be paid mostly through the uh the fund that we already had in place for the uh yes there's $70,000 available in the fund from the proceeds from the students that can certainly contribute toward the cost of the insurance correct um for this coming
024school year uh we also did talk about what we are going to do as far as uh continuing the onetoone initiative with uh devices as we move forward in time so there will be more discussion on that um in later months so that was the big uh item up for bids on our curriculum meeting anyone else have a committee report have question on the committee report do you have a question question on committee report sure um I don't have it with me it I think it was in the the weekly confidential you spelled out some of the uh financials of the uh Insurance versus self-insuring um are we going to look at that further cuz I had a lot of questions with regard I'm going to put you on hold we're just about to go
025into I had a lot of questions with regards to um how are we working out with the $50 are we covering our cost with that Etc so what what is the next step for going forward with that uh I think we also agreed that in that meeting we were going to bring it before the finance commit that is correct that is correct we have to schedule a meeting for with Anthony okay any other committees okay at this time we will go to the superintendent report Dr Hamilton and we are in the process of we have Mr proso on the line and we are getting Mr Po on the line you want me to proceed or just one minute they wanted to participate in that so just one minute hi Doug you just about to go
026into the superintendent's report I'm going to put you on speaker now okay Mr Po yes I'm here okay Mr proso Mr proso hi okay excellent please just uh as we discussed identify yourself if you wish to deliberate in the discussion thank you okay and speak as loud as you can hey do Dr Hamilton your superintendent's report yes uh just a few comments before I read me my report read my report uh first of all I'd like to thank the board and the community for an amazing experience professionally and personally um I have tried to live by a mantra to uh not to play where I work and not to work where I where I play but in spite of that effort I've made some friendships that will last forever and I want to thank you
027for that uh I've also had some experiences in the district that have had such an impact on me that it will shape me for the rest of my life I've made some extraordinary connections with kids and staff and members that have just been amazing members of this community I enjoyed a partnership with the mayor the Town Council the police department that has been nothing but professional respectful and supportive uh there are some career accomplishments that will shape the future of this town forever and although this journey to becoming a district noted for Innovation Progressive thinking and among the best in the state and the nation has not been by accident I have to pause to acknowledge the principles members of the staff students and this board and you should all be proud of what we've
028been able to accomplish in almost six years of this professional journey and while I am excited about the next leg of this professional journey I look forward to creating new opportunities for kids elsewhere and it comes with a bit of sadness so sometimes seems thank you just seems to be so inadequate and this is certainly one of those times but until something else comes along that's more appropriate thank you we'll have to do so thank [Applause] you um moving on to my swan song um the superintendent report includes the enrollment data for the month of uh June comparing April I'm sorry comparing May of 2014 14 showing an increase of 108 children and of course I leave this this board with um an admonishment about the importance of pursuing the work with the ad hoc
029committee and the urgency associated with that and I think you're in a very good place with the report that we have I have provided with you uh that has been revised several times to reflect what I believe is the direction that we ought to be going in also included in the report is the enrollment data for our outer District placements and our home school instruction which you will note because of the summer session has is significantly reduced the fire drills and lock lockdown drills are also included in your report for your review and awareness for the month of June and I will take the Personnel report in uh in order but um not moving everything as at once so that certain items can be considered separately so first moving on to Personnel item a it
030is recommended by the superintendent that the board approve Personnel item a by roll call vote so move Mr Chella second Miss armeno there any comments or questions for Dr Hamilton seeing none we'll have a roll call Mrs kapano yes Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr noin yes Mr calman yes Mr zareski yes Mr cherella yes Miss armino yes Miss anelis is absent Madame board president motion passes on Personnel report a thank you moving on to Personnel Item B Madame board president members of the Board of Education it is recommended that the board approved the resignation due to retirement Yours Truly Dr Kenneth our Hamilton superintendent of schools effective that should read July 31st please note the correction instead of August 1 instead of August 1st July 31st second mrin is the first is there
031a second Mr tiarella any comments or questions Miss ormino yes um I I will also like to thank Dr Hamilton for all his uh work and achievements over the years I can't hear oh please try to speak up into the mic as soon as as loud as you can okay I'd like to thank Dr Hamilton for his uh work and achievements over the years and I I say this next thing just as a matter of housekeeping for no other reason in terms of um the it's a a retirement it is not a resignation okay um does that mean a retirement can go at any time or do we still should we have had like a 60-day notice or a 30-day notice contractually contractually he has a 60 days but the board could let him go
032as soon as possible and that's what we will be voting on that's the house that's the housekeep GU one now is there anything that that is rescinded because of that I know in the in the new contract I saw are there any sick days or vacation days or anything like that that are rescinded because of that Madam sure because it's a the question is are any of those contractual items rescinded yes because of we're we're again we're waving we're waving a contractual agreement is that correct yeah the answer to that is no I'm not aware of any resentments Dr Hamilton would be entitled to any acrude sick or vacation time which he would be paid out upon uh resignation as of June 30th right that's when as of ju ju 31st no but I mean
033the contract okay so we're going he had a new contract signed in June so this would be the first month of his contract and essentially is that pro-rated until that that I guess I'm sorry that should have been the first question thank you anyone else Mr Chella well Dr Hamilton I'm going to vote Yes but I'm going to do this out of the kindness of my heart for you but I'm just I just want to let you know that uh I'm going to miss you personally I think you've done a great job for us and and uh I think you've done wonderful things for our children and for our district and I wish you well I think uh I can consider you a friend and I think that uh you know we'll we will keep
034in touch but I I just want you to know that I'm I am grateful for everything that you've done for us and you know everything that you've given to this District since you've been here um I do have one problem with you though isn't that probably six years ago was it six years ago when we hired you uh during the interview you told us what a wonderful cook you are and how you were going to cook for us and make desserts and everything else and I'm here to tell you not said I need it but I'm here to tell you that I have not had one delicious morsel of your cooking and that so I I will vote Yes but I just want you to know that that's gonna that's going to stick in here
035thank you Miss santalis well while we're talking about you uh I also reluctantly will be voting yes um Ken I just want to let you know that when I first met you I thought you were one of the smartest people I had ever met uh you have been such an asset I'm hearing you've been such an asset to this District um you've brought Grace class and dignity um many people have called me and said they're going to miss your singing um but you will be missed and I hope Mount Vernon really knows uh what an asset they're getting and they're very lucky thank you and you'll be missed thank you anyone else Mr zareski it's been a short time that I've worked with put you on this board but I've heard of things that you've
036done in the past and it's regretful that we have to let you go at this point with so many good things that are coming up so many other things that you could have possibly done this future year uh good luck to you in the future and best wishes to you and your family thank you rob Mr noin Dr Hamilton I've only worked with you for a short period of time but I want to say it's been an honor and I want to thank you for your service and if you need any tips on uh getting to your new location I know a lot of shortcuts so please feel free to let I tell you I have already used one of your suggestions and I appreciate that Mr Po Mr proso is there anything you'd like
037to add I could hardly hear everybody Mr Po uh yes this is Doug poy and I would like to wish Dr Hamilton well and also let him know that I appreciate the service that he has given to the district and I think that he has moved the district forward during his tenure with us and I'm looking forward to his doing uh even greater things at Mount Vernon thank you thank you Dad anyone else okay then I'm going to add my two cents for what it's worth um although I don't always think that it's been easy for you in Monroe especially at certain times um you've always been committed to Excellence and and making Monroe one of the Premier districts in New Jersey and you certainly put your name our name Monroe on the map with
038Innovative initiatives and programs and I couldn't think of them all but the ones I came up with Mecca The Early Childhood enrichment program being a pilot program for the new teacher evaluation system becoming an AP honors District raising our test scores making sure we're ready for the park assessments supporting all of our special education needs the opening of the new high school and the middle school getting an an updated strategic plan put in place putting together the ad hoc committee um and I probably the most important being named to the top 100 high schools in New Jersey I think that is the icing on the cake um you truly care for our District employees the total community of Monroe and especially the students and I think that was the most fun part that you've had
039is dealing with the students whether it was through academic through Sports through music and um I know especially the group of students you met with monthly yes on a personal note I have truly enjoyed my time working with Dr Hamilton as the board president while we didn't always agree on everything I always saw the passion that you had for our children and education in general and I think that we have always been able to sit down and deal with our discussions and solve whatever disagreements we had knowing that the bottom line always is and always will be what's best for children and I know you will bring that same thing to Mount Vernon and I'm going to have a deep respect for you and I know also that a sense of humor comes in very
040handy so I know that this is not an easy or was not an easy decision for you to make but I want to thank you for everything you've done for Monroe and personally wish you the best in your future and than you thank you Kathy appreciate that thank you all for your very thoughtful and kind words appreciate it hey if there's no further conversation over here then we will have a roll call on the retirement of uh Dr Hamilton Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr noin yes Mr calman recuse Mr Mr zareski yes Mr Chella yes Miss armeno yes good luck Dr Hamilton thank you Miss anelis yes Mrs kapano yes madame board president motion B passes thank you moving on with the Personnel report Madame board president members of the board of education
041is recommended by the superintendent that Personnel items C through DD be approved by by roll call vote so move second Mr Chella miss anelis any comments or questions for Dr Hamilton yes M armo um on p uh recommended the board approve the following changes from June 11th agenda are these were these mistakes or that we're improving looks like the difference in salary or steps or is this just the moving on to the next step um these are folks who should have been moved on to the next step based on inaccurate reporting from the for the from that particular agenda is just a correction so these are Corrections correct so was that I mean um I don't remember that being discussed in Personnel did was that correction made at Personnel is being made now it's being
042made now okay and um s is that a it's it's a nominal fee but I'm just curious is that a onetime stien for each person for the year or is it a monthly that's a one time one time one time for the for the year and yes and um all schools have school go committees yeah I I have no problem with it I just wanted to be clar clarified and then um are we still are you including e e and FF in this not yet not yet okay thank you anyone else Mr nin I'm not sure if you're including this in it but uh I think on board action uh on page 26s uh the board have had approved the previously submitted agreement I don't know if you're we did not get the board action
043items yet okay good anyone else could you just repeat what we're voting on The the letters c through DD okay thank you anyone else have a comment question then we will have a roll call Madame board president this is a roll call for board action item C through DD moved by Kent Chella second by Amy anels Mrs kpano yes Mr Po yes Mr proso same Mr noin yes Mr calman yes Mr zareski yes Mr cherella yes Miss armeno yes Miss anelis yes madame board president item C through DD passes thank you moving on to Personnel it is recommended members of the Board of Education Madam board president is recommended by the superintendent that the members of the board approve Mr Dennis vello as the interum superintendent of schools at a salary of $167,500 effective August
0441st 2014 pending further action of the board board the salary will be prated for time serve as pre previously submitted contract Mr Chella second second by Mr noin any comments or questions Miss armeno yes um I am uh this is a question again uh not on on the personal level but on a procedural level um the recommendation for Mr ventrello um as or one person as the superintendent of schools I'd just like to know how many were certified within the in the township the district district in the district how many potential candidates were certified um amongst the rank of the principles I am aware of two who carry the chief School administrators Michael you're going in and out this ISO okay the question was asked how many uh District employees were certified to hold the
045position of interim um superintendent that was asked by miss armeno my I was there two two okay and and um and the assistant soup so I should say three so there were there were three plus so there were four no three in toal three three in total and the um I know this is your recommendation uh but could this have been also discussed at the Personnel committee meeting not at that time it wasn't in it wasn't up for discussion at that time okay cuz I believe I received an email with your um discussing your resignation that afternoon I didn't receive it until later but the Personnel meeting was that evening and I thought it might have been appropriate for us to have at least an option through the the Personnel committee and and an understanding
046of the procedure and the candidates I had not even thought about that at that point okay so was potentially we could have spoken about it at potentially yeah my my only objection to this is that as as a board and this is uh and I know we need to do this uh and move forward but um as a board member when we're when we're making decisions on an important position like this I think we should have as many options as possible um in in advance so I would hope that you know we can sort of avoid this next time okay thank you Mr noin did any um other of the other certified certificated uh candidates express interest in this position not well no um how long can an interim superintendent serve for what is the
047maximum uh time frame or is there I believe it uh this particular motion would be I believe the contract speaks for I'm not sure I it was June 30th one year think it's a year but it can be renewed after a year okay and also can be uh if we get somebody before that it can be yeah I don't know what that call that okay um okay thank you any anyone else okay at this time we will have a Madam president yes hi Bo hi Doug uh could could you because I was having difficulty hearing them could you somehow summarize the points that Mrs armeno brought up um she was really looking to see who in the district could have been um appointed to this position um and if there was any uh reason that
048it could not have been discussed in the Personnel committee and Dr Hamilton responded that at that point he didn't have any recommendations to discuss in Personnel three okay thank you and you mention this is the preso Madam president you mention what tomin just passed I can I can reiterate if he can hear me can you hear me can hardly hear you oh boy yeah it is very difficult on just I was just asking if um there were other candidates that were certificated that expressed interest in the position did you hear that Anthony no I did not if there were any other candidates who who expressed an interest in the position of in room superintendent from the district and Dr Hamilton Dr Hamilton said no so they can be home I also asked how long they
049could serve for yes we had a discussion on the length of the contract that Mr ventrella would have which is um the contract is till June 30th 2015 it can be extended or it can be um if we get somebody before that then the contract would be over is that okay Anthony yes okay now Mr not one other question um I did look um back to 2008 I was kind of curious because I I'm a firm believer in duplicating success and obviously we've had some success with Dr Hamilton and that's a good thing um but back in 08 we actually had a close session meeting just to go into and determine who was going to be the inim superintendent um since I obviously wasn't on the board then I'm just kind of wondering what is
050the thinking of sometimes going to close session to discuss that and other times not I I think at this time this time it was a little different because Dr Hamilton wanted to leave in a week and we could not have had well there was no meeting scheduled before today um we wanted to have an interim in place and I think it was from what I heard from some board members easier to have one that was in District and ready to take over then to do a search and find one out of district and start a um interview from the board thank [Music] you yeah and I think in the spirit of openness and transparency that it's good for us to be able to have this conversation in public and not in closed session so I
051think that this is something that we should be discussing in in in in open in the open and not behind closed doors so if anyone disagrees with this that's what they should say and they can vote now discussion yeah we we'll have to work on that um so I just I just think that you know this is a good discussion to have public the other is that I I believe we got the resignation retirement letter last week and because Dr Hamilton wanted to leave in such a a um a short amount of time we were had a lot of time constraints with getting an interim in place so that everybody felt comfortable and Dr Hamilton felt good leaving the district in in good shape and um the recommendation both of these this recommendation and the
052upcoming recommendation was really made in an effort to to uh be mindful of the cost associated with interims from outside and minimizing the disruption to the district so that that was a catalyst although I yes I did want to be released early um that not withstanding this was my recommendation to minimize the impact on the district okay so at this time we'll have a roll call and accepting Mr ventrello as the interim superintendent as of um August 1st 2014 Mr po yes Mr proso yes Mr noin yes Mr cman Mr zareski yes Mr Chella yes Miss armeno yes Miss antelis yes Mrs Kap Pano yes madame board president motion unanimously passes for Mr ventrello point of order I thought that the conflicted members can vote I I think we need to talk to an attorney
053because as a board member we have the right to appoint a superintendent I I don't not I I do not believe that the conflicted board members can be any part of the superintendent search or vote is did we get that legal opinion I I I think it um we I know we got something today didn't from um yeah Miss selis I'll I'll double check with uh Council on that issue but I believe that that that Mr notin comment is correct I I didn't see her we can ask when Thorton I'm sure she knows um I I believe we should probably count it as a recusal and then go on and we could change it ADV Vis position I leave it as a yes and if I have to you can change it but I I
054believe I have the right to vote on it as you wish Madame board president motion still unanimously passes thank you and Mr V and as soon as we're finished with the Personnel items then I will introduce you to those people in the the public who do not know who you are which I'm sure is very few okay moving on to Personnel item FF Madam board president and members of the board of education is recommended by the superintendent that Mr Kevin Higgins be approved as acting principal of appleg school effective August 1st 2014 pending further action of the board so move Mr Chella second second by Miss anelis comments or questions from members of the board M president this Mr presos yes Mr proso would this position be filled this uh vice principal at uh the
055high school I do noted I do not believe that position will be replaced at the high school so he will there there won't be anybody taking over his position correct no there's three three Vice principls at the high school right now there will be two after this appointment excuse me Madam president hiring another person to no we are not no we are not I can't I can't hear what he said could you have him repeat that please Mr presiosa was questioning if the position of Mr Kevin Higgins would be replaced at the high school we have three prin of three Vice principls at the high school right now Mr Higgins will leave to go to Applegarth and will not be replaced at the high school therefore we will only have two two VPS at the
056high school thank you anyone else yes Miss ormino yes uh my argument is the same for FF um were there any other candidates considered for this position um yes others were considered by me I am recommending Mr Higgins because it minimizes the impact again number one and number two um there's no additional cost to the board to do so and number three Mr Higgins has the elementary experience that think is necessary and could assume this this role effortlessly okay and um since this is my first vote on such a matter um is it normal procedure that it would be discussed in personnel and then we then the board would be given uh one or more candidates and then there would be an interview as well if this was would that be the normal procedure if
057it was a permanent position yes the superintendent can recommend an acting uh an acting position just for clarity the difference between acting and interum is an acting position that person is filling in for a position that is not a true vacancy meaning someone else has rights to that position and how long is the acting position until the need no longer exists meaning until the inter room in this case returns to the position so does so I take it Mr Higgins is certificated also for yes ma'am once you're a vice principal you're also CER cic okay and an acting position I know in some like law enforcements um that has to if you go into a full position that would have to be voted on by the board once again absolutely okay anyone else I seeing
058none we will Madam president yes Mr proso I can't hear too well but would this position be a permanent position for him or are weting for principal also at Oak no we first of all it's Applegarth school we are we are not looking for a permanent position when we get the permanent superintendant Mr ventrello will go back to being the principal of Applegarth and Mr Higgins will go back to being a vice president at the high school so this is a very limited time thank you you're welcome so we will have a roll call from approving Mr Higgins as the acting principal of Applegarth School Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr noin yes Mr cman yes Mr zareski believe I need to be left outed at sorry do you wish to abstain yes so
059noted Mr Chella yes Miss armeno yes Miss antelis yes Mrs kapano Madam board president item FF passes thank you moving on to the last set of resos it is recommended by the superintendent that the board approved by roll call vote Personnel items GG through I I so move second Mr Chella and second by Miss antelis are there any comments or questions by any members of the board Miss Armenia okay um on the there are according to my count are there five new positions on this list created positions or approximately is that approxim I didn't count them but you didn't count them okay so where it says new position that's a new position right so there's five new positions and the pending certificate when we have someone who's pending a a certification does that mean they
060have not had the state CER certification that means that the certificate has not been released yet but we know that they're they are eligible they're eligible yes okay thank you anyone else oh one more sorry and the on 30 on page 20 the stien for the director of adult education is 17,500 um is that is that after school hours that job is done that is after school hours so it's not done during school school hours it is not done during school hours any of that work that's done okay thank you Anthony or Doug do you have any questions no okay then we will have a roll call on don't remember GG to I I Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr noin yes Mr calman yes Mr zareski yes Mr Chella yes Miss armeno yes
061Miss anelis yes M poano yes Madam board president items GG to II passes thank you and would you like to do your board action items and then I'll in okay Madame board president members of the Board of Education it is recommended by the superintendent that the board approve board action items a through U by roll call vote so moved Mr Chella Miss anelis comments or questions by any member of the board Mr noin I just have a question with regards to uh to S could someone explain what that is please said s like Sam S isn't Sam yes sorry yes during negotiations uh there was uh several members of the negotiating team um became ill as a result of food poisoning and uh it is recommended that we restore those six day six days use
062as a result of that experience and exposure how many days are we talking about roughly average uh um just off the top of my head 10 to three probably less than 20 days were there doctor certificates uh attesting to this sness okay thank you yes anyone else yes I'm sorry Mr T I just have a question on you this the the vandalism incident that cost us $150 yes is the parent being charged for this yes good thank you Mr meno on P the learning through gardening for Barkley Brook do we need to supply matching funds I think it's a grant what number are you on p p no from New Jersey Agricultural Society learning no and how do we know how much they're giving us uh I think it's a wonderful idea just curious as
063to what we're getting Madam president I hear you fine but I I can't hear the other speakers I know Anthony it's kind of difficult because they're pretty far back can you repeat they had do you have the agenda in front of you no I do not not right now no then I would have to read the agenda to you but they had some questions on um Dr Hamilton that's okay excuse me I I can get that another time I'm satisfied Miss Armenia with regard to that Agricultural Society Grant um I believe that what was delineated in the grant was specific supplies soil beds plants veggies all kind of things like that and there was no total price associated with that oh they're just actually giving us the items yes to my recollection it was the
064items yeah and it's in it's in your backup actually I well I did see that oh okay okay and there is no matching as Dr Hamilton thank you Anthony there was also a question about um sick days that are being given back to those mtea employees who were sick after about a food poisoning during negotiations there is also a question on a vandalism cost and if parents were going to be invoiced and pay for vandalism that their children that's the question that I yes what was the answer the answer is yes that the parents will be responsible for the cost of the vandalism you're welcome anyone else okay then we will have a roll call Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr notin Yes except for S is and Sam Mr calman yes Mr zareski
065yes Mr cherella yes Miss armeno yes Miss anelis yes Mrs K Pano Madam board president board action items a3u passes that concludes the superintendent's report well thank you one take a bell you don't get too many of them all right um before we go to the business administrator's report I would just like to introduce Dennis vello to um members of the public um he has graciously agreed to accept the position as interim superintendent so that he could be a help to our district and our board as we move through the transition um timeline the board being mindful to the community and trying to be fiscally responsible felt that or some of us have felt that we needed to have an in-house um interim candidate instead of spending a lot of money for a per DM
066candidate from outside the district and Mr ventrello as we know has the chief School administrator certification certification and required for the position and therefore Dr Hamilton had recommended him for the position it is my belief that he does not plan to apply for the superintendent position but looks forward to becoming the principal of Apple Gart school when the new superintendent is appointed but as I always say Never Say Never um I asked him for a little bit of a bio so that people who have not been familiar with him will have an idea of what he's accomplished in our district he has uh 42 years of service 23 of them is principal he started as an Elementary and high school art teacher teaching at every grade level he became the arts department chair supervisor and
067during his tenure over the years he's been the district director of testing the district director of talent and gifted program the director of Community Education public relations and commun community volunteers he's been the district affirmative action officer and he has central office experience as the administrative assistant to the superintendent Dr morasco at that time he has opened up three new schools under three different superintendent Brookside under Dr morasco oak tree under Dr Ferry and Applegarth under Dr Hamilton and he is currently the president of the Monroe Township School administrators Association and outside of our district he has taught for many years as an adjunct instructor at Georgian Court he has been a state trained Mentor for new principles to in their leaders to leaders program and he is a guest lecturer at the New Jersey
068principles and supervisors Association so I believe that Mr ventrello has all the qualifications needed to help in the transition of our Administration and helping our Administration by becoming our interim superintendent so Mr vello I don't know if you would like to say say something to our public and our board because I believe there might be some board members who have not had the pleasure of meeting you and welcome personally I think I appal by comparison to the cheerleaders thank you Kathy and all the members of the board for the appointment as interim superintendent I'm humbled and I'm honored obviously I see this temporary interm position as one of shared leadership though with the board central office staff principl Schools administrative teams mtea teachers parents and residents are working together for the benefit of our students
069and District the school district success as we all know is the result of all the stakeholders working together for the sake of the students speaking of working together I also want to uh to acknowledge to the board I know full well as far as the respect that you have and the reverence that you have for Mike Gorski as your business administrator and board secretary I want to let you know is the fact that I've worked with Mike probably for the past I don't know 15 or 16 years we certainly have a very strong work and relationship together with that said is I would expect even on a daily basis taking over this position which I'm thinking is only going to last for about three weeks is that right uh is that I'll be working daily
070with Mike Mike can handle obviously all the financial concerns of the district I'll be working educationally with the building principles and with Dr Gorman as a matter of fact as far as the curriculum and the educational programs so I think that's a great a great coin both sides of that coin going forward um we're at a critical juncture I've been here many times times as a matter of fact in my 42 years as far as now coming to the point where you have to select a new superintendent it's probably the most important decision the Board of Education can make let me clarify it is the most important decision that you can make as a board member I encourage everyone to give their full support behind me to give their full support to you uh as
071far as cooperation as you go through this transitional process if that means as matter of fact you know what if they can give you some cookies that'd be great if they can give you a pat on the back that'd be great because it's really going to be very ardu task picking a new superintendent you should be prepared for this some of you have already experienced it obviously as Dr Hamilton came on board it's happening again um everyone in the district should appreciate the task and hard work that's ahead of you on behalf of the entire District obviously I wanted to say goodbye to Dr Hamilton as well too uh he's outstanding leader dedication to our school district he certainly has moved us from point B I mean from point A to point B um he
072will be successful Mount Veron there's no doubt about that now I need to digress here just for a second Ken has a very melodic fine singing voice I do not so if but can you cook I was going to say that I I think I make some cupcakes so just want to let you know is the fact that I will not be singing if that if it comes to that day as far as the delayed opening or school closing I will not be singing those alerts just want to let you know to know them um lastly good luck good luck to all the board members I mean you know we worked together for many years as a matter of fact and as I said this is a tough time but also at the same time
073and Kathy made it quite clear is that my intention is obviously just to step up pitch in only because I'm the senior administrator help you out that's my only intention on all of this um and then I'd like to return back to appar with your permission as far as wrapping up my career there with the kids the staff the parents at appar school with that said I wish you good luck as you go forward thank you thank you thank you Dennis but before you go I want to personally thank you um and the um Association the group of people that you represent uh you have been a fine example of leadership in the district and my recommendation to put you in this position was not done lightly uh it's because I believe you can do
074the job and will do the job I remain available to you to assist in any way I can through the transition uh you will find things in order but of course if you need my help I'm just a phone call away thank thank you on speed dial on speed dial and um I would like to introduce Mr Kevin Higgins um to those people in apple gor school who will be um working with you and I don't know if you'd like to come up because I didn't have time while I was away to ask for your bio everything happen so quickly thank you very much um just uh hello I'm Kevin Higgins um uh I'll be the acting principal of of Applegarth school I want to thank you all for your confidence um Dr Hamilton Mr
075ventrillo and everybody else who uh had a part in this decision um I'm looking forward to uh to to uh helping the folks at Applegarth and keeping the ship wred as we move along in this endeavor so thank you very much and I appreciate it thank you okay at this time we'll go to the business administrator's report Madam board president and members of the Monro Township Board of Education it is recommended that board action items a through BB be approved by consent roll call so mov are there any comments or questions for Mr gor on the bill list um I noticed could you explain uh doc you is it DOC you serve docu sense yes yes docu sense is a vendor that you'll see throughout the bill list I'm sorry docu sense is a vendor
076that you'll see throughout the bill list uh they provide toner and also paper to the district um which is considered an instructional school supply okay and they they is that $48,000 a month approximately it varies I don't want to say that okay um and everything is procured under State contract with that vendor this is a state contract vendor okay yes ma'am and so it could all right so for this for the month of May it was $ 48,4 188 yes if my I'm sure you're better you're better at addition than I am but and Apple the Apple computer was 1,635 the bills totaled some were replacement repair General supplies so there were different there were differences the general supplies at Barkley Brook were 4,488 what was that for was that new iPads there were new
077iPads in the budget I'm not sure if that expenditure was purchasing new iPads most of the items for Apple that you'll see throughout the bill list this month are repairs and they're paid for through the funds collected from parents right it's but that those are the low numbers the iPad replacement or repair is like $245 the general supplies at Barkley Brook are $ 4,488 and it's there twice yes I believe that that is I a new iPad purchase for enrollment growth that was in the budget okay but I'm I'm at a bit of a liability because I don't have the invoice in front of me but I believe that's correct okay and the other thing the other items are part of the school's budget um for the 14 15 school year and you'll see more
078of those as they come up as those purchase orders are are processed and does it say and that's in 10 is that the fund 10 yes ma'am okay thank you anyone else Mr knin with regard to BB um Mr Gorski is this that uh contract that we talked about at finance that they were actually uh potentially entitled to a 2% but you negotiated to a zero is that accurate which vendor is that uh this is for the gardener gation for the snow removal yes that is the item that we discussed in building grounds Transportation committee and um it was the recommendation of that committee to the board to continue and renew another year on that contract with no increase so we will continue on at the advantageous prices that the district enjoyed in the prior
079year contract good job thank you and one more yes on the other Capital project determination the alterations to the middle school would there be a more detailed itemized list because there it just talks about the money it doesn't talk about what's actually being done um you you can certainly stop by our office and we'll give you any information you want on the renovations at the uh Middle School I'm glad you brought that up if Madam if you uh would indulge me I'll just give the board a brief update on what's gone on that was way the roof has been hindered because of some of the heavy rain that we've had but we're about 40% through the instructional roof replacement project you'll notice a lot of workers up on the roof and um that was long
080overdue and it's kudos to the board for including that Capital project in the budget and we are addressing that now additionally there are sit improvements um that were part of a rod Grant and you'll notice that there is asphalt um milling and will be uh resurfaced soon as well as curbs and internal renovations to the school could I just ask about beg your pardon let me uh there was one more thing I was missing in addressing the U hazardous material the asbestos remediation all of the asbest um containing materials in the Middle School in the floor tiles and then the non Frable asbest has all been removed now and we had a 100% clean test of the air and and um U materials in the building to show that there are no residual um asbestos
081contaminants at all okay and that that the the Hazardous Materials of batement isn't there isn't a number so it wasn't on this Capital Improvement one there is no cost for that on here yeah that contract was probably previously approved okay and how about what is the 10 years of useful life $10,000 f f and E more than 10 years of use is that like a warrantee building conr where are you getting that from Miss armeno building construction cost by building system it was section 19 I just said $10,000 I was curious the build it's on no it's on the contract backup material just give me a moment I'll find that I can get it another time I just just something I'd like the answer to if you wish you can you can call I'll be
082happy to expl we can discuss it next month if we have to thank you anyone else seeing no one we will have a VOC call on the business administrator's report Mr Po yes Mr proso yes Mr nusstein yes Mr calman yes Mr zareski yes Mr Chella yes Miss armeno yes Miss antelis yes Mrs Kono yes Madam board president board action items a through BB passes and Madame board president I would like to conclude my business administrator's report tonight by very sincerely thanking Dr Hamilton for his many contributions to the district's fiscal Affairs during his tenure and our four years serving together uh this fine Community we achieved many historic accomplishments new milestones and is with a great sense of accomplishment yet despondency that I wish Dr Hamilton continued success and the very best in his
083future endeavors thank you kindly Mike appreciate okay at this time we will go to the board president's report and I just want to um discuss I know I sent an email out to the board members about um the superintendent search so um there are a couple of ways that we can do a superintendent search we can go through New Jersey school boards Association we can go through a search company or we can do a search by ourselves um and I I think we have to get the cost because I'm I don't have the cost of what it would be for school boards um I know that some search companies have already um acquired if we will need them and I don't know what the cost would be for doing that um I do remember miss
084antalis that we had an U when you were doing this as board president with Dr Hamilton we had an issue with um and I don't remember what had happened so I know we it was just a mix up with letters actually okay because I know we ended up doing the search by ourselves yeah well that was a board decision to do search ourselves so um I think it's something that we need to think about hopefully at the next board meeting uh we can come up with numbers and then have the discussion here in public and come up with the search and then start that search so in order to be ready to start the search I sent an email out to everybody about the qualifications you're looking for in another the next Super tenant so
085I thought we would have that discussion and I sent you some examples so if we want to have that discussion now then we're ready when we hire a company to help us with the search so I'm going to throw it out to you to um anybody want to give us an idea of what you would like in the next superintendent and Mr zareski know you're an expert now because you just completed a search at Jamesburg I wouldn't say an expert but just in going through it we had looked at New Jersey school boards and the other organizations I think there's two other ones that come recommended from other districts to us and we decided to go with school boards only because of our familiarity with Gwen and the other staff at the school boards Association
086I knew most of them they do come in from time to time and speak I know Pat Duncan was one of them that came in when it came time for negotiations so they helped us out each step of the way plus the services that we pay for is I think cheaper than the outside districts and again just a familiarity and being that we know who's doing it and how it works step by step it was just easy for us to do it that way so that's where I would say we we should go and honestly think about that yeah I know Miss Thorton is supposed to be here and not because we're hiring her we're not hiring her but she wants to give us the process of what we would go through as a they
087they help you step by step through the way and anything and if any board member has any question they're always open to phone calls or emails and they do get back to you in a timely manner when you deal with outside organizations sometimes you don't have that freedom or you not comfortable with talking to us I know a bunch of us veteran board members here we've talked to them over the years many times on many different issues and that's what makes it a little bit more personable a little bit easier to ask questions and to get answers so okay Mr Chella yeah I just I I know that you know we want to we want to move as quickly as possible and but I think we should really be taking our time making sure we
088get the right person and the right fit for this district and I also think that there you know there might be something to be said for allowing the next board to make the decision on who they're going to hire just because you know we could have the potential of three new board members um and you know uh with that possibility you you'd have new you know what three months out from the election November the beginning of November right so uh you know you'd have a you'd have an old board dictating what the new board's going to have to live with I think that you know we have an in in place as we do now and uh get through you know get through the opening of school and I'm not saying we shouldn't be looking
089we should be looking and we should be working toward that but I don't think I don't think there should be any hurry to seat a board before the election or you know before the just so that I think it's fair and and the new board members would have a say if there are new board members hopefully you know we uh we have a good turnout and we have a lot of candidates but okay just like to add something I would agree with Ken that we let this go on as not as long as possible but do our research as far as what we do I know one thing that benefited us when we were looking for new superintendent in Jamesburg was the fact that we advertised through the New Jersey school board's Workshop through that
090end of October and let the applications come in after that because a lot of things happened that first couple months of the school and a lot of Administrators a lot of principles everybody else is down there during the workshops that if we at least go through the application process at least through then that would definitely carry over until next next year's board Mr nin there are some things to be said for what Mr chel has said but quite frankly as a new board member I I would love to rely more on the experience that we have with the board members that went through this already um I think that their input is going to be integral uh I'm not saying that we should make a decision before November or January but I think this is
091something that um goes on all the time with a board there's always every year there's an election uh I don't think that we should really be looking with that as the reason for uh going slow or going fast uh the bottom line is we have to do neither we have to go at the correct Pace we have to get the correct person for this job uh this is the unequivocal most important job that I think uh we as a board is going are going to do and with that in mind I think that we have to proceed at the pace that's correct neither fast or slow but correct so um I know I'm going to be relying on a lot of the board members that went through this already I've already gone back and looked
092at the minutes from previous meetings um Mr Gorski helped me uh get some things that were mixed up on the website from 08 and uh so I'm kind of already looking again because about duplicating success uh I think that this board hired Dr Hamilton and I think that we need to to look for their expertise in this in this issue so I for one think that it's good to hit the ground running we're fortunate we have uh the right hand on the wheel right now with uh Mr vent trillo and uh I think that with that in mind that we just need to proceed um in the most expeditious way possible but for getting the right candidate thank you m armo yes I'd like to ask during the process can we solicit some of our
093stakeholders and maybe have a committee of parents uh even some students maybe just to to to get our an idea out of what the needs are so I'd like to propose that we talk about even if we have to talk about the next meeting or resolution to invite some of our stakeholders in the process well that's exactly what I was going to bring that's great but because I believe with both uh the search for Dr Hamilton and the search for Dr Ferry we were very a community inclusive process so I I know we had um board members on the committee we had central office administration principal supervisors District staff members from like the elementary the middle the high school um parents gated community members and uh students so while we don't want a big group
094of 50 people because it's intimidating for somebody to come in if we can get a cross-section of the community I think that would be very good I know that the board members they went through all the applications and were able to pick the ones that they felt needed to be um looked at by the committee um I believe we made have had like eight to 10 the committee does the initial um interviewing and when they get down to three four candidates then it goes up to the full board and then we do the rest of the work so yes I'm right on there with you with um having the community do part do be inclusive of the process Kathy Gwen from New Jersey school boards is two blocks away she apologizes for her lat okay
095Mr Kaufman M mad president yes Doug uh I'm I'm having a considerable difficulty hearing uh the comments of the other members of the board uh so I'm just wondering if there is any need any further need for me to stay on the line and be part of this meeting because I really cannot clearly hear their comment um I can't I do not believe that we're going to be voting on anything else do we have any there is a resolution that will follow close session can we handle the resolution out there vote no it it would be okay for both of you if you do not need to participate anymore in this uh discussion okay I I I I know this is the discussion you're currently involved in and uh I have given that some thought
096and I have relayed those thoughts to you and they essentially are similar what you just uh stated so uh I I really don't as I said I'm kind of sitting here at times just uh unable to hear most of the comments that other people are making I will just continue my call at this time okay thank you all right thank you gentlemen for participating from your vacations appreciate it one one question please and thanks for your assist yes session yes what will we be discussing have we taken anything [Music] up um we will be discussing uh the board update on RFP for Legal Services we have an employee issue and we have harassment intimidation and bullying incidents those are the three items we will be discussing okay you you won't need me then all right
097then thank you very much you're welcome thank you bye bye CH yeah I just want to clarify something because I was thinking about what I said I I when I said um candidates and turnout I'm I was talking about at the superintendent level I wasn't talking about uh candidates and turnout for the election so I you know that we we you know I was what I'm saying is that I hope that we get a lot of candidates and you know good turnout for uh for that position so that we have a you know a wide yeah and and the email that I had sent to everybody is not to come back today and have everything done but to get you to think about where we're going and what we're going to need and I it's
098a lot of thought and I you really hope that um by the next meeting we can get this put in place Mr cofman thanks I I just want to dovetail on something Tom said and and I agree with everything just about what everybody said um this is my third goar around at picking the center seat individual um and for you board members it's really not fun it it's long um and there's a lot of information that you have to collect in a very little time and of course interviewing anybody for any job is is difficult um so so this position uh is equally as challenging um I think what would be very helpful for everybody would be if we can all get copies of the job description that we had when we originally uh was
099looking for Dr Hamilton because you know you always want to start with something and then the district has grown since then so we could take a what what we were looking at at that time and decide what do we want to add change or delete I know for members of the public um Kathy did send out um a communication on uh some of the things that the board members were looking at or what kind of criteria um and I think we're going to build on that list as we go through the process I know some of mine even when we were looking for Dr Hamilton was uh certainly somebody with a doctorates degree uh at the time one of the board members made a comment and I can't remember who it was you know do
100we want to set that bar that high or should we lower it and set a wider net and and really wider net not good because we got a lot of candidates with the higher bar if we lowered the bar and asked for people that were maybe not doctorates then then we're going to it's going to take a year just to go through resumés um so some of the things that we are remember that we looked at at that time was that they had their doctorates degree that they were superintendents previously um I don't look at Monroe as a training ground I think people that we should be considering um have already had a superintendent's position because it is challenging uh and these again these are things that we could all hash out as we move
101forward uh certainly somebody with uh experience at a district of maybe our size would be nice uh because it does add a level of complexity with the number of schools and those types of things uh as well as things like if they've had prior redistricting experience or other things that we know that we have either had in this District or maybe having in the in the near future so um much more much much more dialogue to be had on that but um I just want to reiterate one of the first things I had to do when I got here was to start the search for Dr Ferry I I got here literally my first day was I think Jim sheron's first day at that at that very very first meeting um so it it was
102very challenging for me being the new kid on the Block really not even knowing uh the depth and the bre of the questions that you really need to ask and certainly not knowing the inner mechanics of the district which is very vital on making the decisions that we have to move forward so um for new board members I welcome you because it's going to be a wild ride it's been a lot of late nights a few things um I think that whether we move fast or slow whatever the pace is um I don't think it really matters about a superintendent and a new board voting on it because regardless of whether we're on the board or not we're still taxpayers and we're still residents and we still have a stake in this so I think
103it should just be taken at the pace as it goes and and not slow it down or speed it up um I would be in favor of having school boards um do this only for the reason I know we had a problem with them last time I I think it was a minor problem um I think we're a more cohesive board and I think it's important to have somebody neut neutral right now we have new board members older board members and I think somebody neutral handling this would would really be our best bet I know um school boards was maybe about $6,000 last time um uh but that's my feeling I I would really rather see somebody from the outside handling at least the first uh few steps of this procedure anyone else okay well
104that gives us a a lot to think about and I think I have a feeling the next meeting will be longer and uh hopefully we'll get through this process and have it made easier for all of us Mr cherella yeah how big are those blocks because if she was two blocks away she's here oh she is welcome thank you man those are some big blocks it's a rural community so blocks are longer I do apologize there were terribly severe thunderstorms as I was driving down here so and they're coming you can see the lightning as you come South um I was further north coming south so I apologize for the Del you can just drive so far so fast in the rain so I'm sorry for the delay I'm glad you're safe so and actually
105you're here today to give us an idea of what the process would be for superintended search I am and I have materials if I could distribute to the board and while you're doing that I have a question for you Gwen and it regards myself and another board member who have family members in working in the district are we allow to be a part of the superintendent search you are not you are conflicted out the uh School ethics commission has expanded the definition of conflict um and there is some indication that we have from advisory opinions that indeed not only are you conflicted out of the process you're conflicted out of the selection process of how the process actually moves forward is our understanding but certainly that could be verified with your Council I know um
106if we wait for Mr nonin because I believe he stepped out and when he comes back we can you can start your presentation to us I'd be happy to do that yes a couple minutes and and while you're waiting um the information that I have distributed to you really outlines um the process that School Board Association um undertakes and um on page three you will see a matrix there that includes all of the services at the various levels of search we have several levels of search at this point in time that is a little different um then when Dr Hamilton came to the district I I actually went back in my records and pulled the advertisement and the calendar um for that search um the world is a different place I'm really not going to
107talk about the process without everyone here but while we are waiting I thought um it might be helpful not only to you but to your community to sort of understand the larger picture Statewide currently with superintendent because the landscape has changed since the last time the board did a search one of the pieces that has changed that is superintendent salary caps um the governor saw fit when he came into office to create superintendent salary caps based solely on the population of school districts and so as a consequence it has had the net net effect you may have seen in the Wall Street Journal just this past Monday there was an article on the impact of superintendent salary caps in the state of New Jersey and the um resultant number of retirements that we have had
108it varies County to County but quite clearly in the last couple of years in Bergen County and Mammoth we have lost 50% of our seated superintendant who have retired and in many instances have gone on to other states to continue to work um there are bills pending before the legislature currently although I'm not sure they're going to be acted upon um that would eliminate that superintendent salary cap it is due to sunset in 2016 even if the legislature passes the legislation eliminating the cap I am not certain that the governor would not veto it nor am I certain that the legislature has the wherewithal to override that veto the good news is that it has at least risen to the top of the Public's Consciousness as it does not take into account educational background years
109of experience knowledge and so forth so um in terms of public policy it has had a chilling effect on the number of uh out ofate candidates that we get additionally since the last time we did a search the state of New Jersey also passed a law called New Jersey first and New Jersey first says that anyone who works in a public school district or for the state or a public State Affiliated uh agency or institution of any type with some exceptions at colleges and universities for Fulbright Scholars and the like um or exchange professorships you have one year within which to move into the state of New Jersey so for a lot of our districts that may be very close to other states for example I did a search in Cherry Hill um at the
110time this law was passed and we had several out ofate candidates from Pennsylvania who were applicants who withdrew their applications once the law was signed into effect so that too has had a chilling effect of attracting candidates from out of state into the state of New Jersey because you only have a year within which to move in and become a resident of the state now you can apply for a waiver but there to that requirement but there doesn't seem to be any consistent criteria that we can determine by which someone is granted a waiver or not granted a waiver so those two pieces um have had some impact on superintendent search in the state of New Jersey and I thought it was just um important to mention not only for you as a board but
111also for your community to understand the changing landscape of Education with that being said um to Amy's earlier Point uh this is the most important task that you are going to be faced with for the next 3 to 5 years the reason it's 3 to 5 years is because by law a minimum superintendent salary um excuse me contract is three years a maximum is five the board does not have the option to extend to someone a one-year contract or a 2-year contract you must by law give someone either a three four or fiveyear contract so doing this in a very thoughtful way and a very careful way I think is very important you can determine the time frame and the timeline based on your needs um moving forward it can be done in a compacted
112time frame depending upon what the board determines your needs are um my understanding is that you have en acting an interim um for the time being but that he is an admin administrator from another one of your buildings so that does of course have a ripple effect on the buildings within your District as well so you may want to do it in a more compacted time frame if your intent is to return that individual to his or her building in a timely way um or you can take it at a more leisurely Pace um if you are comfortable with having that individual um in central office for an extended period of time but that's a determination all of you would need to make when I talk about search I generally talk about the six Seas
113of search of about what a quality search looks like and that begins with a comprehensive process that's my first C you want to make sure that you have a legally defensible search um that is complete and throw um we when we do a search will handle all of the details we have an online application process much different than um even when we did the search for Dr Hamilton for those of you who may have students in college or gone through that college application process you know what the Common App looks like um you go online you can apply and then you have college specific um essays to write when you're a student um we have a common app and then District specific Pages based on and here is the second C the criteria that the
114board establishes we believe that establishing very firm criteria um to lose Point around um having someone with experience in central office or someone who has experience as a superintendent or as an assistant superintendent that would be an example of criteria that you want someone that has those years of experience you may want someone who has an earned doctorate that would be another criteria so the Board needs to determine the skill set the knowledge the background and the experience level of the individual they would like to see come here to the District um candidates may go online they request applications by going online it is sent to them they fill it out it's a rather comprehensive process it includes all of their background and experience their educational degrees institutions um copies of their certificates so that
115we are sure that they hold the appropriate certificate in order to sit as a superintendent in the state of New Jersey you either have to have a chief School administrator certificate or a Certificate of Eligibility um you could have an experienced superintendent from out of state who is coming into New Jersey to work for the first time they would have a Certificate of Eligibility and would have to go through a mentoring process when 1990 91 the state eliminated um tenure for superintendent superintendence in prior to 1990 used to receive tenure contract tenure the same way your staff receives tenure at one point it was 3 years in one day we now know it's four years in one day um when they eliminated tenure for superintendence in 1990 and went to contractual tenure that 3 to
1165e piece I spoke of earlier they eliminated automatic Reciprocity for outof State certificates it used to be if you had a valid certificate from Pennsylvania New York or what wherever you could use that certificate in New Jersey they eliminated that automatic reciprocity when they eliminated tenure for superintendent so even a c superintendent from out of state who has a valid U Chief School administrator certificate in another state when they come to New Jersey they have to go through a mentoring process but that is the one absolute requirement for anyone who wants to sit in the superintendent seat is they must have that specific certificate so we ask them to include copies of all of their certificates typically um superintendents have come up through the ranks in education and typically have been teachers principal supervisor ERS
117directors and may hold multiple certificates we ask them for copies of all of that We additionally ask them for copies of their latest evaluation from their current employer we ask them to include as part of the application process copies of an evaluation they have written of a subordinate who's doing an outstanding job and also an evaluation of a subordinate who's in need of improvement we've asked for that for several years long before achieve NJ um and the new evaluation model model because we do believe um that maintaining and recruiting and retaining high quality staff is absolutely critical to the success of a school district and is a large part of the superintendent's job as you know the board can employ no one without the affirmative recommendation of the superintendent it also gives you um a
118writing sample we also ask you to identify as a board of education three or four areas um in your District that are of importance to you so for example if you were experiencing as you were several years ago great enrollment growth and you were about to undertake the construction of this wonderful facility you might have asked the superintendent to write and the candidates not the superintendent but all the candidates for that position to write about their actual experiences with referendums Construction and building projects because that's a skill set clearly that someone would have need to have to come here to be successful as you were undertaking this particular project so we ask them to do that so as you can see it's a rather comprehensive application process all of the materials that we collect belong
119to you the board they are all returned to you the board they're not ours they're yours so you get every single piece of paper that we take in but by our handling all of that it comes to the next C which is confidentiality in all likelihood the next person who will take the SE to Super intendent in Monroe Township is probably in all likelihood currently employed in another school district they may or may not have shared with their Board of Education that they're looking to um move to another District or to take another position and so maintaining confidentiality of all of those materials is key to the success of your search different states I understand it handle it differently but in the state of New Jersey uh among superintendents and can CES for that position
120there is an expectation that confidentiality will be maintained and so that's a particularly important component to the process once you have advertised all of the applications have come forward you've identified um all of those materials I bring them all back to the board I divide the pool of candidates into three categories those individuals who who have applied who meet and exceed the criteria you have established those individuals who meet the criteria and believe it or not there are always some people who apply who do not meet the minimum criteria you could not interview those people and have a legally defensible search but you receive all of those materials regardless I will work with you the board to help you identify because all decisions belong to you the board we are really a flowthrough person we
121are a facilitator we are not the decision maker the decisions are made by the full Board of Education and it is a here's the next c a consensus process the board and I think you will find that it really is a very um engaging process that really does unify boards because you're going to have to come to agreement um around who you would like to interview um I always urge my boards to be more inclusive than exclusive especially on the front end and to spend your time interviewing all of those individuals that the board identifies you believe have the knowledge the background the educational experience and the skill set to be successful here in Monroe um every district is unique and we recognize that um I've worked with your board and your district for several
122years I feel I have a really good knowledge and understanding of your District but not the same kind of knowledge and experience that all of you have because you live here you work here um your children go to school here and you are the people elected by your community to make these decisions and so we're here to help facilitate that process to help you all make the very best decisions you can for all the children and all of the citizens in your community and so um once you have identified who you would wish to interview we will set up all of the interviews we will handle all of the directions around getting them here where you would like to have them um the length of those interviews we will customize questions that you identify um
123one piece that some boards do some boards do not choose to do it um very often we do do it I did it for the last search I think it's helpful is to meet with groups um of your community and groups of your staff to get their input we use their input for candidate review documents and to help generate interview questions your staff particularly has a unique perspective that you as board members can't have because you're not in the classrooms on a day-to-day basis Your Role is not to administer the district Your Role is to provide oversight so having their input I think is critically important and your community members whether they're um parents whether they're simply citizens and that's not to make them many less than parents but they all have a perspective and
124they all have a vested interest in seeing that the next superintendent continues to move your District to the next level to continue the success that you have had and to make sure um that the district moves forward in preparing your students for 21st Century College and careers whatever that looks like for the kids in your community and so we will come in and run those input sessions if it's something that the board identifies that it would like to do and then I will bring you back all of that input verbatim so it's not filtered through me you actually get all of that information we will put all of that information we will put we will work with your technology people I don't actually get on your website and do it um but I would work
125with your technology people through your board secretary to put the questions on the internet so that if people are on vacation or can't make it in or don't have an opportunity to attend one of those meetings they can still weigh in um and so you will get all of that data back as well whether they come in person um we generally run through the calendar with them the criteria to give them an understanding of what the process will look like um I think your community um appreciates that I know that the staff appreciates that because whenever there's a change in leadership um it can be a little unsettling for your staff and your community so that's brings me to the next C which is really continuity um you want to make sure that there's a
126continuity um of leadership through the district so that there are no bumps along the road um things will look and feel differently with a different leader but you want to make sure that your process is one that does provide continuity for your superintendent and that's important once that new person is seated um really to sit with the board we recommend strongly that you do a transition Workshop to talk about what are the kinds of communication protocols we're going to use for working with each other um to set some shortterm and long-term goals for the first 60 to 90 days for the first year um as that person establishes himself or herself as the educational leader in your community and the last and the sixc is really about the contract um contracts because of the accountability
127regulations look dramatically differently um today than they did when Dr Hamilton was hired um there are a lot of pieces to that contract that look differently one of our Labor Relations people will come in and do a workshop with the board on you know the contract how do you negotiate a contract it is different than negotiating with a bargaining unit because it is your educational leader but there are still pieces that you really need to be aware of and that's something that we provide for as well um we do a large number of the searches in the state of New Jersey um I've been with the association I'm going on my small here um I just completed it's hard to believe I just completed uh superintendent searches in middlex county in Bayville and South Brunswick
128um also completed a search not too long ago in Manville as well as completing the search in your sending District um in Jamesburg which was the second search I have done in that District as well um I would be honored and find it a privilege to to do your search for you um and I would would be happy to respond to whatever questions you have I know that you have a full agenda um and I appreciate this opportunity to come in and talk to you about the process okay does anybody have any questions for Gwen today I know it's a little overwhelming right now and I'm sure we'll have a lot as we go by go through the process anybody I'm gonna ask question it's a school boards Association is a nonprofit organization is that
129correct that is correct that isre I think we just have to absorb everything you said and read our books and um we'll talk in our next meeting okay if if you have any questions in the interim please do not hesitate to give me a call drop me an email um I would be happy to to get back with you um to meet with any Committees of the board I I think the most important next step for the board is determining what kind of calendar you would be looking at in terms of and work backwards you know what is your target date for having a new superintendent seated keep in mind that you have to allow you have to allow for someone who is currently employed to give notice to their current employer um by and
130large most administrators as with all teachers and all certificated employees have to provide at a minimum 60 days notice unless their board releases them so if you're doing it midye it is unlikely it's a little different than in the summer um because some boards have gone to writing in 120-day notification requirements and contracts just to protect themselves against being um without a superintendent mid year so you have to allow for that in the process additionally another new component that has evolved since when we last did the search is that the contract has to be approved by your executive County Superintendent prior to appointing a new superintendent and because the ECS is they're used to be an executive County Superintendent in all of the 21 counties but there are fewer and fewer and they have combined
131counties so the current U Middle sex County Superintendent is also the executive County superintend for Mercer and they have asked and they have to be granted some of them will do it faster but they get 30 days to review the contract as well so you have to build that into the calendar as well so I think you need to to identify your target date as to when you would like to have someone seated and then we can work backward um we generally recommend advertising um currently with the internet when I started doing searches 12 years ago 80% of our candidates came from the print media um and we track where we get our candidates from whether we ask them on the application to respond to where they um became aware of the opening when I
132started it was somewhere between 80 and 90% of the candidates came through print advertisements it is now down to almost 5050 between the internet and print advertisement we still do recommend that you use the Star Ledger which is the newspaper of record in New Jersey for educational positions um but it is also would be posted on our website asbos website njasa which is the superintendent association website PSA principles and supervisors we distribute the ad at all of the 21 County roundtables where superintendents meet monthly we send it to all of the colleges and universities where there are superintendent institutes such as University of Pennsylvania TCNJ Rowan University Sean Hall um so that it does get very wide exposure um if you decide to to do the search through the fall one of the advantages to
133doing that is that we also have and post and provide um information to attendees at our Workshop in October um which is wonderful there are some somewhere between 8 and 10,000 people that run through Workshop in Atlantic City um in spite of some of those hotels closing we still anticipate uh a large turnout um for our annual workshop and that's an opportunity um to get your um position out there as well so you know I would be happy to come back and work with a committee of the board if you want to to work on setting a calendar um but I would encourage you to make those decisions sooner rather than later just so that you then have a process in place and I think you will be much more comfortable once you have done
134that so Tom I think I was out of the room when miss antelis asked about conflicted board members are they allowed to participate both in the search and in the voting for the superintendent they are not they are conflicted out of the decision around how to do the search they are conflicted out of the search process including all interviews and they are conflicted out um of the vote for the superintendent they can't even they can't even uh help they can't even vote on how we go about it like whether we're GNA no they cannot um that that exclusion has gotten larger over time with regards to um I believe we there's three choices basically to go with um the New Jersey school boards Association I guess an outside agency a head hunter if you will
135and also to do it ourselves we could do it ourselves if we decide to go with a a head hunter if you will um do we have to put out a request for proposal for that and do we have to do that for New Jersey school boards you wouldn't do it through us it's a a professional service so you do not need to put out an RFP you could if you would like to you certainly can do that um you don't have to do that is my understanding um and there are some firms out there that do this kind of work um while we do not head hunt we have extensive networks all across the state I have counterparts um that cover all 21 of the counties um I I have done I've lost count
136of the number of SE that I have done um but we identify and actually superintendents will contact us and we will reach out to individuals who we believe would be um a good match for the criteria once it's established in your school district anyone else okay then I thank you for coming you're very welcome us today and I'm sure that we will um be talking to you as we move along all right thank you Kathy thank youel thank you very much thank you okay if I find my agenda so that would conclude the board president's report which I think was very long today so we will go to Other Board of Education business is there any other business by any member of the Board of Education I no I just uh I just wanted to
137congratulate our graduates it was a great ceremony and um I was really proud of you know proud of them they were very well behaved but uh we have uh you know we have we have a great set of graduates going out there and and uh entering the world and I'm very proud of them so it was a really wonderful ceremony anyone else Mr Min no have Mr zareski middlex County School Board Association is having our first meeting of this upcoming school year it is on September 6th it's a Saturday it's going to be held at seran Diner up in South planfield it's a regional legal series on uh it's also going to cover board leadership I'm inviting anybody there there is a small fee involved in that that uh $20 per person and I believe
138believe that's part of something that the board might be able to pick up on that if somebody wants to go thank you did you miss you um August 23rd will be our next meeting is that correct and that's a public 20 23rd or 20th 20th I believe and 23rd says 20th I'm sorry the 20th and the 23rd yes we have a regular board meeting on the 20th and the 23rd is a special board meeting to go go over board goals and uh and a budget philosophy yes and that's open to the public yes so that that could be a a place where the public can participate will they have a we have a public forum after that I believe we do and we will have the discussion about budget philosophy in in public we will
139be deliberating that so I would encourage the public to attend to that when I know it's a Saturday in the summer but it's going to be an essential uh meeting uh and before that I'm wondering there were two there were two important groups that I thought perhaps should meet before that and one would be the ad hoc committee I haven't seen anything going forward with that did I miss anything no I I believe that Dr Hamilton had gotten the redistricting report but I think it went back to the for some in for some additional information it was revised and I believe the final version was actually sent to the board the final version of that at what date so maybe I'll go back in my it wasn't have been recent in the last two three
140weeks maybe a little longer 3 four weeks I think that's I the adack committee and also the Strategic plan that we sort of haven't really had any activity on I think would if we can get people to meet before the 23rd of August and I don't know if that's possible but I think that that would be helpful because that would provide Community input on both issues um it would but sometimes it's really hard to get people together in the summer because everybody's away and they usually return right before school starts but if we can make an attempt and if we can't do it and we can't get enough participation perhaps we can postpone it but uh the the Strategic plan I was involved in as a civilian last year and I think I'd like to
141see some more action on that one and I think the ad hoc committee would be helpful um to get feedback from people before we do a budget philosophy okay so I would ask that you would consider that and maybe we can put I mean the people who are in both the ad hoc committee and the Strategic plan committee to me are very engaged they have a stake in it and they may and they may be really um willing to to sacrifice because that's what that's what people in these committees have done they've really sacrificed their time and energy so I would imagine that they would be very um interested in doing that before August thanks anyone else Mr Kaufman one of the things um the board has to consider um and I say the board
142because I'm going to be excluded out of this search is we have the ad hoc we have budget philosophy we have um the strategic planning you need to decide these very very core key functions are going to be something the superintendent has to have good Buy in and a good understanding and quite frankly part of the package that we're going to be looking to that you're going to be looking to purchase is their vision and their leadership and their look you know look to Beyond so some of these meetings that you're thinking about having while I totally agree has to be open let's get everybody engaged let's get all the players involved uh just like we did previously I think we really need to consider the ones that need to be held off until we
143have a superintendent that will be able to execute the drives uh I would say budget philosophy if he probably is not one of them because that's something we would dictate that the superintendent would need I mean please jump in at any time but you know these are the types of things that we would need to have uh the the superintendent that that you choose to really take the ball and and run with it um for my two cents I do think that is very wise the ad hoc committee um is a very important committee it involves the community and the recommendations that are included that report I think needs as as broad an audience as possible so I would suggest to the board that you not convene that committee during the summer uh so that
144you do not inadvertently exclude people who were part of the initial discussion and who are anticipating this uh demographic report to anticipate next steps um the budget philosophy committee I think you're absolutely right that is kind of dictated by the board and and it um can happen over the summer but the atoc committee really should should wait in my opinion yes Mr Gorski the ad hoc committee um as as everyone knows is studying the district enrollment and the district facilities and planning strategically and and I use that in a long-term sense um to get those two to reconcile and the Strategic nature of the ad hoc committee really is not going to affect the next operational school budget to a large extent the only parts of that that may would be any redistricting costs or
145any internal renovations to schools but the great majority of the decisions coming out of ad hoc are strategic in nature a bond referendum for example is not going to affect the uh 156 budget at all at this point anyone [Music] else okay seeing nobody else we will have a close session resolution be resolved that the Board of Education of the township of Monroe hereby moves to go into closed session in accordance with the Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 njsa 10 col 4-6 through 10 4-21 to discuss the following subjects legal board update on RFP for Legal Services Personnel Employee number 00376 and harassment intimidation and bullying incident number 41 we will no longer be at um on the agenda the legal advice for ass superintendent contract has been removed the
146discussion conducted in closed session can be disclosed to the public as such time as a need for confidentiality no longer exists I need a motion in a second I'm moved Mr nin miss armino all in favor I opposed extensions then at this time the board will move into close session 20 minutes do 15 at this time the board will reconvene into public session and I believe Dr Hamilton has a recommendation yes I'd like to read in a recommendation noted in under Personnel item JJ it is recommended that the Board of Education approved the termination of paraprofessional identified by employee number 00 03760 by the board effective immediately the superintendent and the business administrative board secretary are hereby authorized and directed to take all necessary steps to implement this action of the Board of Education Mr
147tiella second second by Mr noin um we have the discussion roll call please Mr noin yes Mr Cal man yes Mr zareski yes Mr cherella yes M armino yes M anelis yes Mrs kapano Madame board president motion unanimously passes thank you no other action no other action okay at this time we will go back to the Public's Forum anyone from the public wishing to speak please come to the microphone state your name and address for the record and we will adhere to our three minute time limit hi my name is Liz falowski and I live at 23 Keswick Circle uh in the Devonshire community and this is my neighbor hi Dana Citron 29 Keswick Circle and we live in Devonshire right next to uh the Brookside school and we're here tonight to discuss the letter
148from Dr Hamilton it's dated June 12th 2014 it's the letter stating that we will no longer be having bus service from our development and we wanted to ask the board what is the process to appeal the the decision this is it this is it this is it okay so um I think if you don't mind we'd like to take a few minutes to talk about some of our concerns um which number one is the safety of our kids um most of you know that um Route 522 which is a street that's right along Brookside in Barkley Brook is a very busy street it's 45 M hour road um yes there is a sidewalk that was built that extends our development into Brookside school um however I I have four children I have a 10-year-old I
149have a 7-year-old and two six-year-old Twins and I'm not comfortable just letting them go um to walk to school I think that's a really busy road there's no barricade there's no fence at all um and I'm afraid that that's a very busy road and although there will be a crossing guard at Brookside it's still quite a distance for them to go on their own um unsupervised uh we also are concerned about the safety from the standpoint of the the neighborhood um in the surrounding area um Dana did look up some information that there was actually a few registered sex offenders in the surrounding area as well as um a couple of group homes that have um mentally unstable individuals who from time to time actually quite often walk down Route 522 waving at everybody now
150I have no idea if they're harmful harmless I'm not sure but they're continuously walking down that road in fact any security guard at the school will tell you many times there's been occasions when they wander under the school property and then have to be escorted off so we're concerned that those individuals are going to be walking where our children are walking um so from from from the standpoint of safety we do have those concerns we also have concerns about logistics um now we know from a day-to-day standpoint of dropping off our kids at school that there are major traffic backups that occur going into Brookside so we see for all of our children which I think could potentially be I don't know Dana how many do you think maybe 50 60 70 some OD children
151we have a large development with lots of children walking into school even though there's a crossing guard there who's going to cross them to Brookside that is going to create major traffic backups on Route 522 because all the cars are going to be trying to turn in while they're constantly being stopped because our children are walking across the street also with the Brookside circle with all the cars going in they're going to have a hard time getting out with the crossing guard continuously stopping all of those uh in and outs and there's only one exit and one entrance into Brookside so I just think that's going to ca major congestion in the morning when there's uh am I cut is that my three minutes you should have had 3 minutes each I'm sorry maybe we
152should have done that instead so um I don't want to take Dana's time away but I guess what we're trying to say is we would like to appeal the decision we're not happy about it I have at least 11 or 12 other families that are part of our community that have also signed off that they also agree with what we're saying and that's just people that we've spoken to verbally but I can imagine that almost everyone in our community um feels the same way and we also have questions on why this is happening we're assuming it's a financial um decision that was made um but we're wondering how much money is it really saving we've been told that there was a new position that was posted that's going to accommodate these kids so we just
153have questions we felt like we got the letter but really no explanation for why this is happening and are we the only community that this is happening to because for Mr gski answer those questions yes thanks Dr alvich would you mind uh joining me and the address of this question Dr alvic is the principal at Brookside school and and uh that is absolutely correct this was um a decision that was first presented to the building grounds Transportation committee I believe it also went to the finance committee I don't recall the exact budget savings off hand but I think it was in the neighborhood of um2 or $300,000 and um as you're probably aware there are sidewalks and there are plans in place to ensure the safety of the students which is everybody in the district's
154job number one and before you appeal to the board I would ask you to please stop by my office speak with Jerry tar facility director Dr alvich we'll look at Maps we'll understand the The Walking um nature of uh you know the school trip uh from walking instead of driving and um you know the school district does have transportation efficiency standards that are set by the state that we have to abide by and and when we looked at all the routes along with our transportation director this was the most obvious low-lying fruit to pick because your development is is right on the border of the school right so is are we the only development that's been discontinued for Brookside and there was there was yours and one at mil Lake right but just for for
155our school we're the only one for barkle Brook and Brookside is that correct yes okay yes Dr a the letter the letter um Mrs Boney and I work use your microphone Sor Mrs Mahoney and I had worked with Dr Hamilton to write the letter and to plan for the arrival of the students so yes all of the Brookside Barkley Brook students walking from Devonshire will come into Brookside exactly the way you you presented it there will be a crossing guard at at the um the driveway it is the same driveway that parents will be pulling in to drop their students off also so there is a traffic guard there will be a traffic guard there um all of the students will come into Brookside School into the foyer they will all they will all wait
156there a staff member from Barkley Brook will meet them in the foyer take attendance and then walk them through the bus parking lot over to Barkley Brook which we understand because that was spelled out just like you said in the letter but do you have a concern about the logistics of all the traffic that's going to be stopped because there's only one way that the kids can cross there's a lot of kids they're not all Crossing at one time right they're not all stagged I mean there's already backup let let me let me suggest this if if I may um just just so that that it's it's the dialogue is is more conducive to getting to Solutions if I could ask you uh Dr alvic to convene a meeting of of affected parents um you
157and Aaron and kind of talk about what the logistics are with some of the safety precautions are and then engage Mike in that conversation once you've had that meeting because some of the concerns that you raised many of which are valid and understandable um but there's another side to the equation that I think would be helpful for for parents to hear as well um so having that that conversation in a more appropriate environment um may lead to a different recommendation or may allay some of your fears or concerns and this this could ultimately be resolved it in a different fashion I appreciate that Dr Hamilton um I think that was another one of the points we wanted to bring up that if we weren't able to change the decision we wanted to be able to
158work with the administrators to come up and you know voice our concerns and work on something something um because I know a lot of our parents are going to be concerned about letting their kids walk especially the young ones what happens is they're going to want to drive them and there's no parking as it is already so we're even thinking is it possible that we could have some sort of like a designated area for the Devonshire families who want to drive their kids so not fighting for spots that don't exist because let's we're concerned about that we're also concerned about being able to take our children to barklay Brook the parents who don't wish to drop our children off at um Brookside we would like to have some sort of a plan in place where
159we can drop them off at Barkley Brook without having to fight for a parking spot and bring them in and sign them in every day and then sign them out at the end of the day Ms may I recommend that we we and I know Mrs Mahoney has has been thinking about this and trying to work something out so absolutely I will send out a letter to all the Devonshire families the beginning of August thank you okay thank you thank you very much anyone else from the public good evening Steve Ryback 23 Riviera Dr Hamilton congratulations and best of luck to you and Mr vello Mr Higgins best of luck to you and congratulations to our cheerleaders as well uh just a couple issues uh for me this was a potential red flag when you
160mentioned the Self insurance for the $49 for the iPads did we have enough money in that self- Insurance Fund initially to cover any damage that we might have experienced Mich I'm going to turn it over to you um I Believe In the initial year of deployment that there was insufficient monies collected from the $49 to cover the repairs Dr Gorman am I correct with that can't be because there's money left over now yeah no the initial year of $49 um times about $2,000 kids doing quick math yields about $80,000 that was enough for the first year the second year Apple Care Plus kicked in because of the refresh which began a whole different process that was one of the reasons of the refresh then any broken iPad would just be um to activate Apple Care
161Plus which is two breakages per iPad was $49 we still have leftover money from the three years acude plus next year's um $49 per fee would equate to the equivalent approximately of the new warranty or insurance but we have to talk to about that with the finance committee to talk about um options and the the possible the possibilities that exist to keep them insured against damages yeah the appare came in after the refresh and and was a much better option than uh than what we had okay I just this a question just a red flag for me I also in remaining time I just like to emphasize what Miss armino said uh about the um steering committee uh and also uh question about um bringing community members uh as volunteers uh a few years ago
162I had wanted a volunteer in the schools I was told that you don't allow community members to volunteer and I know that was in the Strategic plan about bringing community members to volunteer so uh I had a question about that and the community outreach guide where that might be um I know that was also in the Strategic plan uh in Communications you said create flexible focus groups that are representative of various constituencies of the community I don't know if those are functioning so I just wanted to get that out before you're coming Upon Time community members can volunteer there is a process you have to go through for fingerprints which oh I was willing to absolutely but I was told that there were no volunteers allowed in the district there's there's a board policy on
163volunteers I don't remember the number of the series right now but there is a board policy um and you simply need to contact the building that you wish to volunteer in they will direct you through the process and send you to central office where they'll get your finger you get your fingerprints done and there's actually a reduced fee for community volunteers they don't charge I would have been fine for the fingerprinting I was willing to do all of that but I was told that the district has a policy of no volunteers so maybe that's something you might want to look into because I'm sure there's a lot of people I'm I'm answering your question that is the correct information there is a policy that allows volunteers okay well maybe other people need to know that
164that work in the district okay um I don't know uh about my question about the um community outreach guide what what is your question that's in the Strategic plan that there's supposed to be a community outreach guide and I was wondering if it's ready if it's done uh it is not I know the committee met twice I believe it was twice the committee uh met and provided updates uh the facilitators and co- facilitators of that committee provided provided upd updates for the last status report on the on the Strategic plan but I don't know exactly when those meetings were off the top of my head and also a suggestion Dr Hamilton when the adoc committee gets that report I mean when when the report is ready do you think it could be distributed to the
165adoc committee in advance of their meeting so we have some opportunity to digest I think that's reasonable great thank you very much take note of that you want to take note of that yes anyone else from the community public Kine Masters and I'm Michaela Court uh my first question is I see on the for the tag teachers who's going to be the third grade L teacher at Oak Tree it's not listed it's only second grade and first grade or second grade math and L and then third grade math thir my head I don't know off the top of my head do you know what page are you talking about the fourth going into fourth grade no going into third grade so no one's been hired or you just didn't because some's on the list just
166forgot give give Barbara a call tomorrow she can look it up okay I I just want okay you you stop my time I don't want to lose time okay so that's my first thing my second thing is um I know I'm talking about class sizes again but I know like as of today the third grades the smallest third grade has 25 at Oak Tree and the first grades have 25 and 26 or are we going to get any more sections before September um I have communicated with Mrs Den Moore that we would watch those numbers um she did get another section already added to the budget that we were able to absorb in another school that was reduced for what grade I'm not sure what grade she ultimately put that other I want to say
167she left didn't she yeah uh I think it was first but I'm not entirely you're first gr I think so but don't make me give you an answer without being sure um and we'll watch those numbers over the summer and if they increase then we're not going to let the classes get to 27 28 kids obviously well yeah but we did last year that's why that's my concern I don't I'm just afraid you know it's going to be January and we're going to be at 31 no we've we've already made that that commitment that I would come back to the board if we needed to add another section okay um so now Dennis can come back to the board if we need another section so we really don't want 31 kids in first grade just
168way okay so then I want to thank you for all your hard work over the last few years it's been very nice getting to know you and to working with you and I want to thank Mr V for leaving apagar I'm sure we're in good hands and we look for to having you back but we appreciate your sacrifice for you know the rest of the children in the district so thank you very much thanks thank you anyone else from the public Masters and I'm Michaela it's real easy to agree to stuff now that you're only going to be here a year or another week or so that's what I was laughing about I'm like yeah he's agreeing to everything now um I just just a point I want to give some credit I was looking
169at P about the grant the Agricultural Society Grant over at Applegarth in case you didn't know there is a garden right next to the um uh the sun house sun room uh Mrs Hills I think footed the bill for that entirely and it's a pretty beefy Garden I know Mr cherel has been over there it's huge it Rivals oak trees um so I just want to make sure everybody knows that she's been really putting a lot of time and effort into that um over the summer we see her there over the summer doing some stuff too um so again I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that um the second item uh we had I guess two and again want some clarification two board members that were remote today um that were on the
170phone teleconference teleconference I I heard most of the um Now by policy standards they would have to be ill correct but they weren't right so we over overrode the policy we waved the policy this evening so that we would have enough votes to appoint the inter okay I'm just trying to get it straight and apparently I I guess the other the only issue I have is we had a board member on remote that by their own ad Mission couldn't hear correctly correct I mean yes pretty that's pretty obvious right and also didn't have the agenda with them did not have the agenda but they were voting yes okay I'm the one with a problem with that Mr Gorski Mr Masters the agenda was sent to every board member in advance and um Mr proso did
171go through the agenda because I talked with him about that earlier and I was satisfied from my dialogue asking for the votes that they could hear but where they had trouble was where there was some board member dialogue that was far from the microphone and it was coming through the speaker so you're coming from speakers into a microphone and uh going through voice over IP so that does leave a lot to be desired but as the board secretary I'm satisfied that that that was fine for voting requirements okay but you're also considering that he probably couldn't hear discussion correct to the extent of that I don't know you're speculating we'd have to really inquire of him to find out the degree but I was satisfied from the way they voted that they could otherwise they
172shouldn't have voted I disagree speculation um I obviously we heard many requests for repeats but if he voted affirmatively then you would assume that he had enough information to vote affirmatively I don't want to argue about it but you know I was satis we're not arguing we're discussing it I think it's a very contentious point that should have been discussed before voting was done um but that's it thank you excuse me anyone else from the public wishing to speak okay seeing no one we will close public forum our next scheduled Board of Education meeting Wednesday August 20th 2014 7 o' p.m. at Monro Township High School motion to Mr Kaufman is there a second by m armeno all in favor I opposed exstension meeting is adjourned