001United States and to the repic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Hello everybody welcome I am going to turn it over to Dr muchi for our super intendent good evening uh I guess given that it's Thanksgiving week we lost our student Representatives who we're going to update you on many of the wonderful things that are happening on behalf of the administration and the Board of Education I'd like to offer a congratulations to the casting crew of Shakespeare and love mhs's fall drama which had uh five shows including a sensory uh performance um as well as a performance for the senior citizens and three uh Great Performances over the weekends they did a wonderful job and uh also wishing everybody a Happy Thanksgiving week and that's it
002for me no presentations tonight right um I just wanted to uh share in everybody's appreciation um for Melanie Smith the MEF the bus drivers the administration who came out and got up at an obscenely early hour to celebrate um the district and it's just been wonderful to hear people far and wide reaching out and saying how um wonderful it was uh to be featured on CBS and all how much of it really focused on the students and um I'm very grateful for that I know that the entire board is especially grateful um to to the people who who worked with the kids after they got up at 4:30 in the morning so um and would also um like to relay our hopes that you all have a wonderful and restful few days off of Thanksgiving
003and how grateful we are for everybody doing such great work so thank you um and with that we will go into uh committee reports um since the students are not here uh Susan could you give us a curriculum update sure the curriculum committee met on November 13th and we approved the following items the October 16th meeting minutes various K to2 field trips a full list of these trips are under educational matters motion number six preap English module training for one of our preap English one resource room teachers to complete the virtual module training this is educational matters motion number seven the Community Schools rebranding of the great Horizons and lifelong learning Adult School the unified title will be Mars Adult School this is educational matters motion number eight the Community School's Mars Adult School ceramic
004art pottery class was approved as well as the sunset programs youth Taekwondo and chess classes this is educational matters motions number eight and nine our last approval is for a part-time K to5 reading specialist and part-time k to5 math specialist this is educational matters motions 11 and 12 Dr muchi presented the committee with an update on Marist toown High School's AP test registration signups as of our meeting date 439 students signed up and paid for an AP test and we are expecting 944 exams to be taken after all fees are paid I would like to thank Sophia Kenny our new director of guidance and program development for providing us with this information Matthew kryy director of Elementary education led a discussion on the use of Title One funds to support students in K to 5
005intervention as mentioned earlier based on this conversation the curriculum committee is recommending a part-time K to5 reading specialist and a part-time k to5 math specialist and that's about it thank you again to Dr muchi and Mr kryy for leading these discussions and our next meeting is on December 4th thank you uh Linda can you give us an update on finance please uh sure we met on November 18th um um part of what we talked about was receiving a donation again from Morris Arts U from the FM Kirby Foundation uh that covers the cost of their winter assembly that's under business matters motion six uh we talked about uh the final reports and uh dealing with carryover from our ESA and Ida um grants uh you'll find that under educational matters motions four and five and
006also P pupil Services 2 and three uh we received a report from uh one of our um Consultants Mr Pina who completed his work as of the end of October he was helpful in managing a number of the capital projects that we had underway in absence of the super or the director for buildings and grounds and did a fabulous job for us uh he attached a report outlining many of the things that he took as well as some suggestions for future consideration which have been passed along to our new buildings and grounds director Glenn Miller um we um also have uh under business matters motion nine um and um motion to appropriate a million dollars in extraordinary aid funds to the current budget 20242 um due to a number of unbudgeted items that have come
007up this year we're recommending appropriating um this money from a prior Year's extraordinary aid funds into the current budget and um uh so you'll see that um I also just want to mention there is uh under educational matters motion 13 um a series of Grants listed there from the MEF that total more than $20,000 I'm going to let Katie give the specifics on that when she gives her MEF report but that was a very significant contribution uh coming to the district from the Morris Educational Foundation um as usual we have a list of asset Surplus under business matters motion 10 um uh they will be posted on gov deals for auction or be otherwise disposed of and they include things like old match storage racks a couple of kils at the high school and an
008old sound system um from our facilities Capital project standpoint we're uh we're proceeding pretty well of the Woodland Renovations work um has been largely completed there's some metal trim work in the round portion of the building some duck work um installations still to be completed other open items include electrical services upgrades from jcpnl and connecting the leaders and downspouts for the new roof drains um there are a few other change orders not yet finalized by the contractor or or approved by the architect but uh we're nearly ready to put a ribbon on Woodland which is very exciting um the the township building department has accepted our waiver application for the uh Normandy Park and Alfred Bale fire alarm systems the new system has passed inspection in both cases and the contractor will now begin removing
009the old system on second shift so it won't interfere with children at school um phase one of the culinary arts renovation which Mr priscina was actually very actively involved in um has uh actually wrapped up kids started the uh started class in that room on Monday the 11th and um they're assisting the teacher and setting up the space we're very excited about having that expanded colonary Arts room um which we accommodate I think uh Anthony numbers up to 35 students now right yeah um security vegetables uh for Alfred Vale Normy Park and Hillcrest um are in the works permits have been issued and they're awaiting a schedule from the contractor and confirmation of the materials delivery uh we have a series of 20 summer 2026 projects in the planning phase they include roof Replacements at
010the high school and Hill Crest uh security vegetables at the high school the middle school and Woodland building management system updates at Hillcrest uh Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson um an HVAC Improvement for culinary arts phase two uh here at the High high school and the elevator replacement and FMS they're all um again in the planning stages a couple of these are associated with the rod grants that we've discussed previously so we look forward to completing that work in the coming um Summer from a food service standpoint um I was really uh pleasantly surprised to see a report from PM tonian um they have uh taken action to begin to donate excess meals uh they call it share my meals and uh as of October in the month of October rather they donated 297 meals
011um that were unused food from the school uh lunch and breakfast program and they reported that also in the month of October for both breakfast and lunch they had served over 74,000 meals across our 10 buildings it's uh it's kind of mindboggling to think what a massive operation that is because we don't really have it top of Mind most of the time but uh it's really really pretty impressive um they've also added two new hires taking care of some of the openings that they had uh the serving line at Thomas Jefferson is in line to be replaced along with the addition of a new satellite serving area in the media center here at the high school uh there'll be some satellite breakfast locations um for the middle school that are being inspected by the Department
012of Health and will'll begin serving students on the 24th which will be this week um what 24th what is today today is 25th so yeah uh we're getting quotes for uh replacement chairs and tables in the cafeteria both at the middle school and the high school and uh pomptonian is um having a special turkey dinner uh for the building administrators and they're invited to join uh the staff that served the meals and um enjoy some good food Transportation also had um a a good report for us they um they gave us some numbers on the uh trips that have been provided to a number of schools for whom we provide services uh we did 18 field trips and uh 45 Sports trips uh for a total of over $34,000 for PEC School Morris Plains assumption
013Unity Charter na I don't know what that stands for but um children on the green and Jefferson Township um um so uh the fact that P peek and Mars Plains are the ones who received most of the services for us but we serve these other uh schools as well and for the more School District Sports we had 188 um fall Sports trips and for the Middle School 25 for a total of 213 um it's significant that all of these trips have been handled in-house for the first time ever we didn't use any contractors for any of this Transportation um and you've heard me report before that we were adding buses with luggage compartments so part of the value of that is that we can put the lacrosse and hockey and whatnot stuff underneath so there's
014more room for the students in the bus itself and also it's safer because the exits are not blocked in the event of some trouble um we also have begun combining our freshman and JV ridership together so when they're going to uh play sports activities we do it in in one trip back and 4th so that makes it more efficient and as always we reported I think last month on our late buses that run at 4: o'clock and also between 5 and 5:30 for students who are involved in core curricular activities and the later bus of 5 to 5:30 when is for uh children who are involved in our Sports programs um other topics um motion eight there's aou pending for Morristown Police four schools are provided coverage by the Morristown Police Department those schools are
015LLC Alexander Hamilton Thomas Jefferson and the high school uh our other schools of course are located in Morris Township and thatou is pending uh we had an updated student csil report as of the end of October and um our budget work for 2526 has begun um Anthony is coordinating with the schools and departments input from them is due in the month of December and actual meetings on site in January so um let the counting begin I guess kaching kaching um and I think that's it our next meeting is uh December 9th and um Happy Thanksgiving everybody Linda I just had a comment about the ridership um for the J combining JV and varsity I hadn't noticed that in the minutes um it's really something to consider very seriously in terms of not only making the
016decision in a Financial way because the Sports that do that it's a real burden on the kids because if you are a JV athlete and then you have to go and you have to commit all that time that's less time to be home and relaxing and taking time to do homework and it there's not that many sports that were doing that and if we're expanding that it's really something we have to for like the mental health and the capacity of the kids I think we have to like really look at that because it's it I understand it's a numbers decision but it's also there's a human impact when you do that and I think up until recently the only sport that they were doing that was basketball and honestly it's a reason why it's a
017good thing is there are not that many kids on that team because when my daughter played basketball one of her decisions to not play senior year was like I have too much homework like I can't keep doing this and she also didn't she wasn't a starter so she didn't hly want to do and if we expand that to more Sports especially the ones where like a game could be two hours that's a lot of time so I actually don't know how many teams are doing this but we can find out and report on it next time well and just to clarify you said freshman and JV whereas before the JV would wait for the varsity so well get more information yeah we'll get more information and Report out on that so you have a feel
018for how many sports or I think part of it too is just the um the number of drivers and buses that have um if you're going to the same school with two buses versus one you know yeah obviously it's more difficult so uh anyway a lot of sports you couldn't really combine them partially because of the equipment and partially because of the size of the team so now if we have buses where the equipment goes underneath yeah it can be yeah better for sure we'll just get more information and Report out for you great Katie may I comment as well um I was just excited to hear about sharing my meals I wanted to say that's actually my um friend and neighbor Meg LMBO I connected her with Anthony who connected her with witson and
019now pomptonian and they continue to work with both companies to do this which I think is fantastic so excited that it's working out so yeah yay very good thank you um can I send it back to you for HR update yeah HR met on the 19th and you know you can see on the agenda lots of like the typical comings and goings some exciting news our new assistant director of HR we were able to firm up the date and it is a week from now which or a week from tomorrow which is very exciting yay for Laura um Laura also shared some really great um experiences that she's having through the a new program through Howard University which is really exciting I look forward to hearing more about that because I think and I think
020we all do as well which is exciting um in an effort to be flexible um with our maternity leaves at freeling heisen we're bringing on another teacher on a special assignment over there to cover some of those which I think is also great and just the last thing I wanted to Spotlight is the job description for the bilingual coach that is in the confidential folder um and thank you Laura for all that you're doing you've been without an assistant for what is it 11 months long time a long time so you're almost there and our next meeting is on December 10th aome thank you um Beth could you give us a policy of absolutely we uh met as a committee on November 15th and uh first off we we had a discussion on policy 2430
021extracurricular activities the committee uh reviewed the policy and discussed District practice we were joined by Smitty Horton who discussed with us um how MHS athletic department and coaches handle cuts for certain sports teams and um although the district does not have an actual uh cut policy Mr Horton had explained how it differs for each coach for each sport um and each year of high school that the current the student is currently currently in um and there are many factors in um making cuts which largely vary from sport to sport um overall a majority of the committee agreed that these types of policies should be created and decided upon by the athletic department um and not necessarily the uh policy committee um then we moved on to review policy 5756 which is our gender identity and
022expression um Dr muchi had confirmed for us that our Administration and guidance counselors have always handled situations related to this policy appropriately um and as depicted in the current policy we had some questions about um our transgender students and playing sports team on sports teams and although we have not had this situation arise as of yet the committee had agreed to table the policy for uh first read until next month's meeting meeting so we can um specifically uh discuss further um transgender extracurricular and athletic participation further look into um the policies and guidance that we um follow as members of njssa a and kind of determine whether there's anything we want to pull from those and put into our actual uh policy so more to come on that we then looked at our proposed Board
023of Ed uh meetings for 2025 2026 no issues were um noted so that will go on our January reorg agenda for approval we then of course had our mandated policies for review um these were District organization philosophy of education District mission statement um our school district goals and objectives curriculum development adoption of courses Curriculum maps um all of which were reviewed and approved for first read on tonight's agenda then for information of course we um reviewed our school counts report as of October 31st as well as our K5 section counts um and made any um revisions as necessary and just a note on future topics we will be bringing in our relevant notes from our strategic planning sessions to discuss and incorporate um the anti-hate policy that you recall that we had talked about earlier
024in the year and hopefully we'll be able to bring that interation at some point but we're still working on it so I did not want anyone to think we had lost sight our next meeting I believe is December 6 indeed December 6th and uh Happy Thanksgiving everyone thankful for all of you thank you um Carrie did meridith share governance okay great thank you yep so governance met on November 15th and had a handful of topics that we reviewed we reviewed the upcoming board meetings and presentations um are encouraged with what we're doing with having students and staff um share what's going on within our schools and it's a I think it's a great great thing to continue on with uh we talked about the strategic planning sessions kind of what's next after the the three
025face-to-face meetings we had with um residents of uh the school district um the administration's going to be pulling together recommendations um and reviewing the feedback coming to us um with a set of draft action plans that um NJ uh SBA will help format and put into the proper form for us to read that draft in February will be reviewed by us um the final draft reviewed with the public in June so um we're we'll share a little bit more of that process with the uh public in the January meeting so we're excited about that continuing on and and moving into some actionable plans um the committee reviewed our uh calendar for Progress monitoring um on the district's um academic smart goals and uh committee decided that it's probably best for curriculum to be responsible for
026monitoring and sharing um that role of of taking the the scores and Reporting back to the to the to the group here we talked about our December Retreat um that's coming up uh three top three topics of discussion we'll be on there this strategic plan talking a little bit more about where we're at with that um the progress we're making towards the district goals and then um a little bit more discussion around a potential future referendum uh last we talked a little bit about committee functions um and duties and and having each of the committees document uh the list of their duties and responsibilities so we kind of have it down and documented appropriately next meeting is December 6th so I was going to do this in new business but I'm just going to ask
027a question um about our January 3D reorg meeting which there was some I know you talked about it and I saw some stuff in the minutes but I emailed Meredith and she um hasn't responded to me yet I had raised the point that that meeting is on a Friday like six weeks ago and I'm going to just say you're welcome that we've moved it earlier but what I also asked for at the time is that we not have a Charlene come and do an Ethics presentation on a Friday night so I guess my question is is everyone okay if we change Charlene to another night I think Charlene said she was okay with that date that's fine I know I'm not okay with it have I don't want to be here till 7:30 on a
028Friday night like she's not the holiday yeah I mean it's just it's Friday night like I want to have other plans after this meeting the only reason why we're doing this meeting on a on a Friday is because the way the Holiday Hits Mars way is on Thursday so we're just doing it the next day so that's why we're doing it on Friday we normally would never do a meeting on a Friday so my question is does anyone have an objection to us not doing training on Friday night I think the proposal is to move it to a a more typical meeting Mee ethics training at a more typical meeting on on our Monday is that right yes okay just any other time that's fine I agree fine if anybody does not want to do
029that that's fine okay I don't object to ending a meeting early so thank you all right so I um we will work to get Charlene scheduled for a typically occurring meeting on um for the ethics training which we all want to be brushed up on I'm sure um okay perfect um thank you Carrie um and just a reminder that the retreat is the ninth at LL thank you yeah the night The Retreat is December uh December 9th is the it is I thought it was DEC yes yes the Monday yeah yeah yes okay talking New York is yes is when we are going to move ethics training but the retreat that Carrie mentioned is the night I just got it y okay um all right and then um just your friendly reminder to dust off
030your dancing shoes singing voices and all those things for the mef's um auditions um for Morris Town on stage um as Linda shared there are several wonderfully Hefty grants equally spread between um some well all have hints of stem but um particularly exciting is the music and theater Department's um technology to support um their uh music and theater programs as well as um the parent talk for the FMS parents um and um the um uh table event the fellowship table events that Dr muchi proposed so um those are under um education it's on motion 13 and Luchia do you have any updates from moris PL for us um new Wing is all finished two weeks ago congratulations and we're gonna have a ribbon cutting on December 7th at 10: a.m great de so we're very
031happy about that awesome very exciting and with that um we will move to public comment uh before we open the meeting to public comment we wish to remind you that our meeting is now video recorded and publicly aired while the board welcomes and encourages public comment we ask that you be respectful including in any comments you might make about staff the board does not endorse any comments made by a speaker nor will the board be held liable for any comments made by members of the public the law prevents the board from speaking about specific students and about Personnel matters for this reason the board will not answer any questions on these subjects finally the board's policy limits each speaker to 3 minutes we ask that you respect this policy and the time of your fellow
032community members by concluding your comments once you reach 3 minutes public comment is open for an hour or until public comments are complete whichever comes first at this point I would like to invite any members of the public to come forward and provide your full name and address okay if there is no public comment we will move on to business matters and if you can read your seat thank you as appointed representative of the sending Mars clean School District to the Mars School District Board of Education I'd like to clarify that my votes and tonight's business agenda items will relate only to those items that are identified as applicable districtwide to grades 3K through2 or to the high School bu 19 I am abstaining from voting on any agenda item pertaining solely to the Elementary
033and Middle School's grades 3K through thank you um and Melissa would you please call the motion yep moving minutes motions one through two um second second okay uh who I think I heard Susan first um any discussion okay Anthony please call the role Miss gy abstain lyd yes Miss Murphy yes Mrs pedalino yes Dr Rodriguez yes Mr Smith yes Mrs fota obene Mrs W yes oh wait a second I'm so sorry I think I have du stain on um one I'm so sorry that just reminded me Melissa uh right because I wasn't here on October 28th okay I'm sorry I'm staying completely I apologize Miss SCH yes moving policy motions one through four I'll second thank you any discussion okay please call the roll Miss gy yes Mr lyd yes Miss Murphy yes Mrs pedalino
034yes yes Dr Rodriguez yes Mr Smith yes Mrs spota yes Mrs wall yes Mrs Co yes moving educa educational matters motions 1 through 13 second Dr rrig uh any discussion okay please call the roll Miss galby yes Mr Lloyd yes Miss Murphy yes Mrs pedalino yes Dr Rodriguez yes Mr Smith yes Mrs SP yes Mrs wall yes Mrs Cole abstain on number 13 and yes to all others moving pupil Services motions 1 through four second thank you uh any discussion okay please call the roll Miss gy yes Mr Lloyd yes Miss Murphy yes Mrs pedalino yes Dr Rodriguez yes Mr Smith yes Mrs spota yes Mrs wall yes Mrs Co abstain oh on number one yes to all uh moving Human Resources motions 1 through 22 with revised motion 18 and New Motion 22 thank
035you any discussion okay please call the rooll Miss gy yes Miss L yes Miss Murphy yes M Pino yes Dr Rodriguez yes Mrs Smith yes Mrs Spa yes Mrs wall yes Mrs B yes moving business matters motions 1 through 18 with REM revised motion number five second thank you any discussion okay please call the rooll Miss gy yes Mr lyd yes Miss Murphy yes Mrs ped yes Dr Rodriguez yes Mr Smith abstain on motion five yes to authoriz Mrs SP yes Mrs W yes Mrs B abstain on number five yes to all others okay uh is there any new business okay I get a motion to adjin I'll move that thank you second second all in favor thank you weed