001papers and posted in the board office three schools municipal building and filed with the clerk of the bureau of Emerson. If you can stand for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This meeting is called to order at 7:32 p.m. If we could have the roll call, please. Mr. Garlic, here. Mrs. Mara, Mrs. Ricardi, Mr. Smith, here. Mr. Pazdar, here. Ms. Tamaya here. Thank you. We'd like to start tonight's meeting with a uh presentation on the robotics team. So, Mr. Hutchinson, if you could please uh make your presentation. Good evening everyone. Good evening. I'm uh far from the start of the show and I look forward
002to introducing our Robo Cabos in just a moment, but I just did want to give them a proper introduction and share some of the excitement we've had for their season and all that's to come. Our Robo Cavos is a robotics team that been worked on for a couple of years and really had an outstanding season under the coaching of Mr. Chris Shaman. Mr. Javier Garcia. Um, Mr. Shaman is our computer science teacher and as president, Mr. Garcia, he's our Spanish teacher with a love of robotics. So, even more so getting on to a great outfit. Um, our team uh this year has competed um really well giving up a lots of nights and weekends alongside our coaches. Uh most notably uh after years of hosting a qualifying tournament um out of a field of 22
003North Jersey high schools, very competitive high schools, the Robocus took first place in the robotic competition and qualified for where only uh a little fewer than 20% of North uh New Jersey high schools are able to make it to state competition. I received word that we even finished in the top half of that lot. So the 90th percentile, we have an A-rated robotics team that we're really proud of and a great job to the Rebel Cabos. Um, but I do want to also thank you can see a lot of their parents are here tonight and they're not just there to show support in the form of clouds and smiles. These are people who have donated time, materials, energy, enthusiasm, pickups, the like. I specifically and formally want to thank our parents for STEM team who
004have supported this team for a long time for years and are also hosting science nights at the elementary schools to try to encourage more students to be involved in fields of STEM. Um I'm pleased to be able to make this introduction because we have some more developed plans we're going to be talking about in the field of STEM with our proper course pathways that we're really excited to announce to our community in a short bit. Um, and really more than anything do I want to have you recognize students that are RoboCavos fully, but when you see them come up here, they are not Robo Cabos only. You're going to be seeing members who've been stars on the stage in our high school musical, varsity athletes, have been lorded with conference recognition. You're going to see
005people who are members of our service clubs, our ski clubs. These are people who are not just outstanding robots, but they're well-rounded students, people we can point to as doing it the right way and really being the best you can be in our school. So, we're really proud. I could gush on and on about them, but I think the more proper thing is to bring them up and let them show their stuff. So, Robo Cow, come on up. I think what we'd like to do, Dr. Ok, is to invite the board to come up right here so you can see the robot at work. And anyone you just want to stand in the back, um, they're going to make a little space just kind of do a little demo with their robot. How are you?
006Uh so um good evening everyone. Uh I'm David Kim and I'm the captain of Chicago and uh this year I was the coach of our driving team. We have Sand Hill Gray here as our head driver and James as our co-driver. Uh right now we're going to be presenting our autonomous system which is a a 30 second period in the game where um a robot will be just will be uh is programmed to drive by itself and try to score as many points as possible. Demonst. So, the goal of the game is to try to score as many uh blocks in the uh in the uh bucket. Sometimes a robot blind, but uh most of the time it can score those three blocks. Yeah, we still won. We still won. And then after those 30
007seconds, there's a period called telly, which uh Santiago will demonstrate for us now, where the driver will drop the rot and try to score these shots into the bucket. Uh driving manually this So our season started uh early in September. Um this was this was not our first design. We had many additions of the claw, our hanging design and our just like our design our design overall. Um we've been we work day and now uh I think five days a week. Uh it's been a it's been a challenge sometimes um with our schedules because some of us have sports like bowling people have to play but uh we've tried to work it out. We've had all these wonderful team members put in their best effort to try and help as much as they can. my
008senior Russell helping out with the log books like and then right here is another part of a robot called specimen where we have the human player here. Put clip on the robot and our robot will put grab the clip and put it on the new bar. We'll grab on to the call. And it'll line up and place on the bar. Let's show the hang. Uh the last very second of the game is called end game which our robot will go hang for 15 points. Right. So, we have our two actuators, we call them, and will back up the robot onto the bar and then hand. Yeah, maybe. You messed it up, James. to be fair. Who knows how to do it? James, how did you raise him the first time? I don't remember. Not that
009Can you give it to me? Okay. So, we raise the actuators, right? And then back up the robot onto the bar and then the robot will lift his arm to provide leverage to the robot like so. And then lift the robot off the bar. All right. You know how it breaks all the time? All right. Nice job, guys. Thank you, guys. Go ahead. Go ahead, Al. Mhm. Phil, the kid who said the student who said, "Do you want to see a break?" Is that Jeffrey? The student Jeffrey Adams. That was Jeffrey Adams. Oh my god. I haven't seen him in so long. It's It's hard. I think they got a real life dose of like things go wrong. You could have done it a 100 times and it works. How do they do that? That's
010crazy. We got to do Okay, thank you everyone. Uh, thank you to the robotics team and Mr. Shama. There's plenty of seats up here if anybody wants to move up. Okay, thank you everyone. Uh again, thank you to the robotics team and Mr. Shama and all the kids. I think they all got a real life uh dose of how things go wrong when when you're making a presentation. but uh they put a lot of work in there and and congratulations to them. Uh with that uh we're going to open the meeting to public uh input and comments on the agenda items only. So for everyone, we're going to do public comments on agenda items and then there will be a second opportunity for input and comments on other items as well. So with that, Mr.
011Smith, would you mind opening the meeting to the public for input comments? I move to open the meeting to the public for input and comments on the agenda items only. Seconded. Seconded by Mr. Gwick. All in favor? I uh just uh remind for everybody um when coming up to make comments, please state your name clearly and slowly so that we can record it along with your address and make your comment. Sure. Hi, my name is uh Chris Summervalter. Um I'm a teacher here at Emerson High School, special ed teacher. I live at nine Cardinal Court in Monteale, New Jersey. Um I'm the class of 2001. I'm a special ed teacher and the head baseball coach at Emerson High School. Tonight, I want to take a moment to sincerely thank Dr. Tennis, Mr. Mar, Mr. McUade,
012and the entire board of education for turning the vision of a turf baseball field at Emerson High School into a reality. This project has been years in the making, requiring countless hours of planning, discussion, and dedication. I know I speak not only for myself, but for former, current, and future Emerson baseball players when I say thank you. Your commitment to this project ensures that our athletes have a first class field to call home for generations to come. As a lifelong member of this town, I've had the privilege of experiencing Emerson baseball from multiple perspectives. First as a young fan sitting behind the backs stop watching the Emerson Capitals compete listening to a legendary coach yell out colorful phrases. Then as a player living out my dream on that very field under the guidance of that
013same legendary coach. And now as a coach myself dedicated to carrying on tradition of excellence that has made Emerson a premier baseball community for decades. For over 40 years Jim Doc Sweeney Field is one of the finest fields in Bergen County. But it wasn't just a place to play. It was an experience. With its beautifully manicured grass and treeine backdrop, the electricity of hosting the prestigious Burton County tournament, our field was a true field of dreams. Watching legendary teams and players battle it out on our home turf left a lasting impression on me. It was inspiring. It was unforgettable. And it was a source of pride for our town. When I finally had the honor of wearing the Emerson uniform as the varsity third baseman from 1999 to 2001, every game felt like a privilege.
014We won countless games and championships on that field. And those memories and moments shaped who I am today. The sense of tradition, the pride in our program, and the bond between generations of players have made Emerson baseball truly special. As a coach, I've had the privilege of leading our team to three state sectional titles on that very field. Two of which resulted in a group one state titles. And as credible as winning championships is, nothing compares to watching the boys who have played together since they were 5 years old dog pile and celebration after achieving their dream. That is what Emerson baseball is about. It's pride and tradition, love and passion, teamwork and brotherhood. It's about lifelong bonds these players form and lessons they carry with them long after their final game. This turf field
015is more than just an upgrade. It's an investment in the future of Emerson baseball. It ensures that our players, both present and future, have a safe, reliable, and highquality surface to train and compete on. It allows us to maintain the high standards of play we've always upheld while minimizing weather related conditions, improving field conditions, and making Emerson even more attractive destination for tournaments and competitive play. Beyond but beyond the practical benefits, I truly believe this field will be a magnet keeping our hometown boys in Emerson. It will give them one more reason to stay, to continue playing for the town they grew up in with the friends they made in kindergarten and to be part of the tradition that has made Emerson baseball so special for generations. By making this investment, we are not just
016upgrading a field. We are preserving a legacy. We are giving our youth the opportunity to create their own core memories just as I did. We are reinforcing our commitment to excellence and ensuring that Emerson baseball remains a cornerstone of Bergen County baseball for years to come. Once again, on behalf of the players, the coaches, and the entire Emerson baseball community, thank you. [Music] Hi, I'm Nancy Gra. Um, I live in at 50 Bra Street in Jersey City and I am the uh uh head softball coach here at Emerson. So, I just wanted to have an opportunity to uh thank the board and Dr. Nissoff as well for uh you know making this uh kind of dream come true. um be a little more casual than coach Summer Halter, but um we've developed a nice relationship
017over the years coaching and uh a lot of it comes through um hey it's raining out today, are you going inside or what's happening or you know just spending that time texting to figure out what our plan's going to be and and just you know just for example looking at the field today I left practice and we have a scrimmage tomorrow and I'm kind of looks like we might be able but uh you know this this will kind of alleviate that and I know you know for obviously the convenience of the coaches I know that's not why it's done it's the convenience of of the the buildings staff and and the work they have to put into the uh the grass and dirt fields um I think it's just going to be just way more
018efficient um and then also to echo what coach Summer Halter that I am also an Emerson uh graduate 1987 which is a long time ago. um does pain my heart a little bit that the field is moving to a different location um just having played on it. But it in the you know going forward it's going to be such an opportunity and not just for the high school kids but I think for uh the rec programs in town to have an opportunity to use that field at times I'm sure. Um, and and I think we're both the benefit of of really strong programs over the years and it just helps continue that. And I know we both hosted Emerson baseball and Emerson softball really were the ones who established the Burn County tournaments on both
019ends for softball and baseball with Coach Andis and Coach Barbara Barlo. And you know, at some point we didn't have the best field in the world to host anymore. And I think with this we would have an opportunity to be able to host those tournaments as well, which is a great thing for um the town. You know, having lived here, I've watched great Emerson baseball beat Catholic one year. Um just so many great great things and also u so many great uh softball tournaments. So it would be great to have that back in town here. Um and it's just a great opportunity for the kids going forward. So just Thank you. Good evening everybody. Um my name is Susan Gray. I reside in 96 Eagle Drive. I'll be speaking in behalf of my husband Jonathan
020Gray. Um and I'm going to read as he wrote it. Okay. So um he's sick today. So that's why he cannot make it. He's very sorry to miss it having miss Santiago. Great Santiago my son Santiago is part of the robotics team. So that was a little sad but um he missed it but I'm sure uh he wanted first uh all of us to congratulate the team the robotics team and to uh tell them that we're very proud of their hard work and accomplishment. Thank you so much to Mr. Shama Mr. Garcia for their time, dedication and guidance of the team. We are so grateful to have these excellent educators working with our children. My husband really wanted to be here tonight to support the turf project for the athletic fields here at the high
021school. Uh he has coached every sport our two children have participated in town over the years including soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, and track. and currently uh serves as the vice president and the field coordinator on the recreation soft board. The soft program is very grateful to the board of education for its ability to use the fields at memorial and high school as there are no softball fields um in the borrow and the two uh lighted fields in the borrow are strictly for baseball. I know this project uh doesn't include lights, but if anyone field had lights, it would increase the time we could use the field and alleviate some congestion. Point is, uh my husband acutely is acute aware of the desperate need for this project and would like to thank the board of education
022uh for listening to the needs of the community and strongly encourages its pursuit. The fact that very successful high school baseball and softball programs also support the project shows that this is a big win for everyone. I know that it would also be a great asset to our soccer program as well. From hardworking volunteers to others, thanks again for listening and we strongly encourage you to move forward as soon as possible so that its use by our community isn't delayed. Thank you. Thank you. Looks like no more input and comments regarding agenda items. With that, Mr. Garlic, could you close the meeting? Sure. I move to close the meeting to the public for input and comments. Second. Seconded by Mr. Smith. All in favor? I. Board's had an opportunity to review all of the agenda
023items. If no discussion is required or desired, can we uh Mr. Smith, could you adopt motion A? I move to adopt all items on the above consent agenda. Seconded. Seconded by Mr. Gwick. Roll call, please. Mr. Gwick, I. Mr. Smith, I. Mr. Pazdar I move on to committee reports. Uh Mrs. Mea and I I was remiss in stating this earlier at the beginning of the meeting. Mrs. Mara is out with illness today and that's why she couldn't make it and uh Mrs. Ricardi had a previous uh workrelated activity and that's why she couldn't make it. So we're going to skip the facilities, buildings, and grounds report for today by Mrs. Mea. I'll move on to the budget and negotiations uh report. Uh just two items. Uh teachers negotiations have been progressing well. Uh I uh
024I know that Dr. Nissanov and Mr. Mamora met with the teachers union and are going over some of the details of the agreement and things are progressing well. So we'll have more to report when we uh reach some final uh decisions on that. And also the uh the budget. I'm not going to steal Mr. Mamura's thunder on the uh the budget, so I'm going to allow him to report on that when he gets to his report. That's the end of the budget and negotiations. And uh again, curriculum, instruction, and student achievement chair Amanda Ricardi uh out today, so we will defer that to the next time. We'll move on to individual board member reports. Minister Groick. Thanks. Uh, good evening everyone. Hope everybody's doing well. Uh, pretty brief report tonight. Um, wanted to send congrats
025again to our winter athletes and best of luck to our spring athletes. Super exciting to uh, feel that energy out there and see the fields all hustling and bustling. So, pretty cool stuff. Um, I absolutely love the high school's production of Peter Pan. Um, I was honestly blown away. Um, uh, I got a little nervous when there was flying. Um, even though my kid wasn't flying, but uh, it was pretty awesome to watch. Um, and uh, just huge kudos to the faculty, student actors, stage crew, AV team. Um, I guess I'm supposed to say bravo, but uh, uh, it was pretty awesome and um, my family uh, we really enjoyed it. Um, our high school robotics team was here earlier. Uh, huge shout out to them. Um I uh had the privilege of watching uh
026their meets this season and in the very beginning I remember you know getting all pumped up when they would score 100 points and then by the time we made it to the state championship they were getting close to 200. Um the team really um refined and their robot and just worked tirelessly and um so much help from uh their amazing adviserss. As Mr. Hutchkins said they're here all the time and um so much to be proud of. That's an international competition, an international organization. Um during the state championship, there were teams in Europe competing uh at the same time, a couple hours ahead of us. Uh so it was just really neat to see and it's um lots to be proud of there. Um and actually something I had in my notes, Mr. Hutchinson said,
027um, one of my favorite things about the junior senior high school is how students can participate in several extracurricular activities, clubs, sports, and all at the same time. And even some of the robotics team members u made reference to that as well. And I just think that's really amazing opportunity, and I'm really looking forward to see the opportunities that our students take advantage of in the spring. And uh to wrap up, I'm super stoked for third grade Heritage Day next week. Um, I'm a little sad I don't get to go uh for my own kids. Makes me feel a little older, but uh a wonderful day for Emerson as that always is and very much looking forward to the Wano play uh coming later in April. So, thank you all very much and concludes my
028report. Great. Thank you, Mr. Grow, Mr. Smith. I will not be as repetitive on a lot of things Mr. Grow uh stated, but there was one thing as I was watching Robotic Club, I was noticing some of the faces. I recognize some that I did recognize, but they look a lot older now. Um, and David Kim, who I I've known, he's my son's age since I think kindergarten. He said it, but I don't know if it settled in. That's a that's a club. That's a you know, that's not your hey basic book club. That's they're meeting. They're putting this thing together. They're writing program. And I know David and James Neistat, we're on the uh championship bowling team. I know some of the folks played soccer, band, uh play. So, so these these students really
029found time to not only do this, but do it extremely well. So, I think that's, you know, a big kudos to them. Time management, all that. Um, you know, in in the fact that there's the Volano students that were there and involved in it and seeing it. And I think that's something the school's always done fairly well. What I would call pressing down, getting some of the high school kids involved as we go down the scale to Volano Memorial. Um, which is a neat thing. I know my kids always loved it seeing high school kids and being involved. So, um, that was really a, you know, a great presentation, especially because I know a lot of those kids and I know they're they're good students and good people. So, I'll just end it there. Great.
030Thank you, Mr. Smith. Um, I'll move on to president's report. I'll be a little repetitive. Uh, thank you to the robotics team for for the presentation. It's tough to get in front of pe this crowd even though they're used to presenting and and performing in front of the regular crowd. Um, it takes a lot of work like Mr. Smith said and they're doing this along with all the other things that they're doing which is their academics and some of the sports and etc. So, congratulations to them for for what they've obtained. Um, Mr. Gollick mentioned the high school play. I loved it. Um, one of the things that I noticed was uh the the smaller kids in the audience, the little kids, and every time Peter Pan went up in the air and their eyes
031and at one point I found myself watching them instead of the play. And it was just really nice to see the tension and the inspiration that that was hopefully bubbling up in their minds and their hearts. And so, uh, it was really nice to see that and the play was great and I hope you got a chance to see it. Um, uh, winter athletes, congratulations to all the winter athletes and and their awards and attainment. And finally, uh, Mr. Garlic mentioned Heritage Day. Hopefully people can get out there and and experience that. But I know it was one of my favorite activities uh when I had children in third grade. So um uh regarding uh county county uh school board meetings uh next one is not uh for another two to three weeks. I will
032report anything that pertains to our community. Uh and also uh I will be attending the New Jersey School Board Association director's meeting on Friday night. I don't know why they scheduled these for Friday night from 7 to 9:30 p.m., but I will be attending and I'll report anything that's relevant at that time. That concludes my report. We'll move on to Miss Tamayo and the student representative report. Thank you. Um, good evening. The first thing I have is that one of our clubs at the high school, the Cavo Cancer Crushers, they got a chance to spread joy to the patients at the John Thurer and Sensari Children's Cancer Hospital. They were able to deliver 150 Valentine's and Shamrock goodie bags for the patients. Um, they also got to recognize 100 nurses and social workers with bags
033of appreciation as well. Um, also this year's relay will be hosted by Pasco Valley High School on May 16th and uh, but it will take place at Lockwood Field in Woodcliffe Lake. So that's for Cabo Cancer Crushers. Something else that's going on or just occurred is that the Emerson marching band got a chance to perform at the St. Patrick's Parade in New York City. I myself was there along with my the rest of the band. It was and the color guard as well. It was really fun. Um, also the student council got to hide shamrocks around the school and some of the kids were able to find it. So that that's also took place on St. Patrick's uh St. Patrick's Day. And the Key Club is starting to collect donations. So in the main lobby
034you can see the boxes that are set out as well as the penny wars are starting for student council. So that will be up hopefully by tomorrow. Um there is a Ronald McDonald House also coming up. So there's also donations that are coming up for that. And lastly, uh the Peter Pan production that just took a wrap which was really fun. I myself took part of it and um the flying and everything was great. So but yeah, that's that's really it. Yeah. Great. Great. Thank you very much. And again, well done on the on the play. Awesome. Um, moving on to uh superintendent report. Dr. Niss. Yeah, you didn't just participate. You were a major lead. You were fantastic. Thank you. You did a great job. But, you know, often times we we have these
035meetings and I've embarrassed you way too many times. So, I'm not going to do that tonight. But we am going to recognize you for uh you being recognized by the Burning County School Boards Association as the unsung hero award for all of the things that you do which I'm not going to list today but we have talked about them in past. So congratulations for that award. Thank you. which she had to receive the week of right before the opening night of the play that she had to squeak out for a couple hours just to get the award and come back. And yeah, the flying was great. Not going to lie. I was a little nervous with the apparatus. Only one minor one minor accident, one minor headed injury. Could have been worse. Could have been
036worse. Yeah. But the show went on. So, uh, that the play the play was in fact fantastic. Um, I don't want to repeat what everybody said. Thank you to the robotics team. There was a little hint from Mr. Hutchinson, yes, that we have some big plans for next year for our STEM programming in in the high school. Um, we're looking forward to uh to to revealing what those plans are. Uh part of it is going to be continuing to actively support uh the robotics, computer science, and STEM programming courses that we have here at the high school. Um yes, we talked about the play, but uh big kudos go to m uh Mr. Olman who really did a phenomenal job of organizing uh so much. everything from the set to the music to uh and
037practicing for weeks and weeks on end. Um spring sports, as we said, we started they've had a rough start with the weather. Hopefully this time next year that rough start will be a whole lot easier or or you won't have the rough start. You're it's going to be a whole lot easier with uh uh a better surface to play on. A couple of events we talked about heritage day. Just a shout out to anybody who's making the canoli this year. Please make extra. You always seem to run out by the time I get there. Um, looking forward to that. Looking forward to the play coming on April 8th. And this Thursday, we will be uh hosting the induction of the National uh Honor Society this Thursday and the National Art Honor Society in April 24th.
038And that's all I have for my report tonight. Great. Thank you, Dr. Nissan. Business administrator's report. Doc, uh, Mr. Memorial, thank you. So, um, just two things that I wanted to report on tonight. So, um, we had passed the tenative 2526 school year budget at our March 17th meeting. So, right now that's been submitted to the county for review. Um once that comes back to us and it's um an approved state, we'll have our budget hearing at our April 28th uh board meeting. Um also I just wanted to highlight as our uh coaches and uh Miss Gray also mentioned we are approving the uh the turf baseball and softball fields project. So um this is a major project and I'd be remiss without making special recognition to Dr. Nissenoff. Um this project is being funded
039with our capital reserve funds. So this has come through years and years of responsible fiscal responsible budgets um to just save and progressively be able to afford a project of this scope. So just uh something to recognize. I think it's important that we are grateful for this project, looking forward to getting it started. Um start date right now we're looking at starting as soon as school is over and we hope to have it ready to go for next uh spring season. So a very exciting project that probably would not be able to uh we wouldn't be able to move forward with without uh Dr. Noff's years and years of fiscal responsibility. So uh that concludes my report. Thank you Mr. Mamura and let me uh let me take this opportunity to to thank both Dr.
040Nissenoff and Mr. Mamora. Th this is a big project as Mr. Mamura mentioned uh took a lot of work not just in previous years in in responsible uh fiscal actions but just getting the project together getting the bids out uh getting it to where it is here. So I wanted to on behalf of the board thank Dr. Nissan off especially and also Mr. Memorial. So thank you for that. That concludes the lunch for everybody. Uh that concludes the reports and uh we can now move on to the uh public for uh public input and comments. Mr. Garlic, would you mind make a motion to open a meeting? Sure. I move to open the meeting to the public for input and comments. Second seconded by Mr. Smith. All in favor? I. So with that, uh, if
041anybody would like to have make a comment or has input, you can step up to the podium. I ask again, state your name, your address, and make your comment. Uh, it seems like there's a lot of people here. We generally try to keep it uh to three minutes, but uh we'll give the opportunity for anyone who needs more time. if everybody uh who wants to speak uh has spoken. So, hey guys. Hi, my name is Mike Balo. I live at 22 Main Street. I'm a long time resident ever. I was born and raised here 47 years. I know a lot of people in town and and it's a great place to live and I went through this school myself. Um, you know, I have I just want to read off of here. It' be easier
042for me. But I'm here because my 13-year-old son would like to join the fishing club, but we're homeschoolers and we were informed by Dr. Nissoff that we wouldn't be allowed to join as a homeschooler. I'd like to request that the board reconsider current policy that excludes homeschoolers from joining competitive sports and extracurricular clubs in junior senior high school. New Jersey is one of five states that gives the authority to local to the local level. So this board of education at this moment in time has the opportunity to change their policy and allow homeschoolers to join. I believe this would be a meaningful step towards for fostering more inclusive, united and supportive community for all students. My my son is friends with a lot of the kids in town, you know, he's he's you know, but
043he wants to have an opportunity to share experiences with them, become more, you know, a part of community. He's longing to be part of the community. It's worth noting that many of our neighboring towns, some of which Emerson competes against, allow homeschoolers to participate in their athletic teams and/or extracurriculars, such as Northern Valley Regional, Westwood, Fort Lee, Midland Park, Dumont, Waldwick, Hackinack, Hallworth, and more. These districts have recognized the value of including all children in their programs. If these neighboring towns can see the benefit and find a way to allow it, I have no doubt that Emerson can too. I asked the board to consider the positive impact that such a change would have on all of our students and our community. Integrating homeschooled students into these programs would not only benefit them individually, but
044it would also benefit enrolled students. It would encourage diversity of thought, introduce new perspectives, and provide more opportunities for collaboration across different backgrounds. The spirit of teamwork and unity that thrives in these environments would be enriched by contri contributions of all children, creating a stronger, more connected community. I understand there may be logistical considerations and policies that need to be reviewed, but I'm confident that we can create an environment where all students can contribute to and benefit from the valuable these valuable opportunities. Thank you for your time and consideration of this request and I look forward to the possibility of our community growing even stronger together. And I'll I'll also take a cue from Dr. Niss off of lunches. How are you? Nice to see you. Hello. Uh Jessica Timberman 83. So, I'm here today
045to address the recent incident involving inappropriate books being distributed to elementary students and the concerning administrative response that followed. Many of us remember the board of ed meeting last August when numerous parents, myself included, spoke about parental rights and oversight in educational matters. The responses that evening suggested that we needed to have faith in the schools and trust that the teachers would do the right thing for our students. Our response then was unanimous and bears repeating now. As parents, we will never blindly trust anyone with our children's well-being. Period. The recent book distribution incident proves exactly why that position is not only reasonable but necessary. A graphic novel containing explicit language and mature sexual content was made available to elementary school children. In principal Hutchinson's response, he stated that National Honor Society members collected book
046donations from the public, reviewed them, and sorted them by grade level. This explanation places responsibility on high school students while failing to address a critical question, where was adult oversight. What's equally concerning is Dr. enough statement that parents should receive communication directly from the school and not from unreliable sources. This characterization is troubling. The parents who initially raised concerns about this incident, much like those of us who spoke up in August, are not unreliable sources. We are engaged community members. We are exercising our right and responsibility to protect our children. If this was not the intention of the term unreliable sources, this brings up a further point that more oversight is required when distributing community correspondence with a sensitivity to how language can be misinterpreted. Those of us who stood up last August to highlight
047that parents must maintain vigilance should not be discredited now when that very vigilance has uncovered a serious lapse in judgment and supervision. What I'm asking for tonight is pretty straightforward. First, an acknowledgement that adult supervision failed at multiple points in this process and clarify who was responsible for overseeing the book donation program. Second, specific information about what protocols will be implemented to prevent similar incidents, including clear lines of adult accountability. Third, a commitment from administration to respect parentto parent communication rather than attempt to control lobe information where it concerns. Thank you. Are you going to be commenting back or should I get Please go ahead. No comments back. Okay. Um Ashley Rice. Hi everyone. family all for the homeschooling aspect. I want to pick your brain later. I'm just curious, do you pay any less
048taxes complete sense that you would be able to participate in any after school or sports program? Interesting. All for that. All right. So, um Ashley, if I could just make just for everybody's benefit, address the the the board instead of individuals. Got to give him a couple kudos there. Thank you. So, uh here tonight to share my concern about the path our schools are taking. As everyone here knows, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the removal of DEI programs from our schools. As of right now, we still have an entire district page on our website dedicated to DEI, a DEI focus within our curriculum, a DEI committee, and a DEI focused professional development for the teachers. What I'm about to share next is a fact and not from unreliable sources. Emerson is a
049conservative voting town. We vote this way at the local level, at the state level, and at the federal level. In fact, it was one of the reasons my family moved here. Our taxpayer money should be directed towards initiatives that align with our values and most importantly improve academic performance. We need to prioritize increasing test scores, academic achievement, and the success of our students, not divisive DEI programs. It is my belief that four years of DEI initiatives have warped the culture within our school system. Our upper elementary school displays a pride flag outside the social worker's office. My oldest will be there in September. Being on the heels of St. Patrick's Day, I can confirm to you that she has no knowledge of any alternative meaning to a rainbow. Nor should she. Sexual orientation has nothing
050to do with her academic life at school, especially in an elementary school. Some could go as far as saying that black demonstrates grooming behavior as it initiates conversations that children may not be ready for. As a result of DEI, we now find ourselves in a deeply troubling situation. A highly sexualized graphic novel was allowed into the hands of our elementary students. Children, how did we get to such a point where our children were exposed to such inappropriate material after you assured us multiple times that this is Emerson. Trust us, you as a whole put more effort into blocking the opinions of parents last August than you did in making sure your teachers and building principles were checking literature for Phil. You voted yes to allow a child's gender of choice to determine whether they sit
051with boys or girls for the sex ed talk. You doubled down on your DEI efforts with your letter to the community. And now you're involved in distributing a graphic novel that upon further review includes disgusting language, underage drinking, and the biggest of all, unconsensual advant advances, aka sexual assault. The incident the incident itself is bad, but the handling of it handling of it is a dumpster fire. The administration's lack of accountability in the aftermath of this disaster is unacceptable. The messaging shared with the community blamed the students for their lack of judgment and avoided putting any blame on the multiple adults that were involved in this. I'm so grateful to those reliable sources that I have that shared this information. A community of parents who always look after our children. That is not just a
052this is not just a failure of oversight. It's a failure a failure of leadership. It's time for our school system to get back on track and focus on what truly matters. providing a safe, respectful, and academically focused environment for our children. We demand better. Hi, my name is Julie George,52 Hazbrook Avenue and I came here from the project graduation meeting and I am the proud parent of a graduating senior from Emerson High School. Um, and I have to say I'm not from New Jersey. I'm from the south and we moved up to New Jersey and didn't know anything about it really outside of the Sopranos which is kind of scary and we picked Emerson to live because of the schools. We looked, were academics, we looked, I created a spreadsheet, an Excel file where I
053had house values, tax spending, um, and the excellence of the schools, AP courses taught, scoring card, and we chose Emerson. And I have to say it was the best decision that we made. I am so proud of the school. I am so impressed with the school district. and and I you know I I am a voter. Um I'm a mom. I am an educator. And I think that one of the greatest things that we do is including everybody. And it's striking that we're celebrating Heritage Day, which is a celebration of our town's diversity. I think there's strength in that and I would hate to throw it away. I appreciate everything that you've done for my child and for her friends. I was here, you know, a couple years ago. I was we were discussing the
054sexed curriculum and I disclosed that my young niece, who was five at the time of her sexual assault, didn't have the words to say about the crime that was committed against her. And I think that our school protects our children and helps them make those points and gives them the language to bring it up. And so anyway, I wanted to thank you guys so much for everything that you do for us and and for the the values that you hold. I know that in every single one of your hearts, you care deeply about our children. You care deeply about their future. You care deeply about their education and you care deeply about their safety. So, thank you. Good evening. Molly Abrahamson, 109. I stand before you today with a sense of urgency and a deep
055concern for the direction that our schools are heading. As we know, President Trump issued an executive order to eliminate DEI. Why are we not in compliance? Why are we continuing to push for programs that are divisive? How much funding will we lose if we continue to defy this directive? The financial implications of non-compliance are serious and it is crucial that you, the board, provide us with the clarity on how this could impact our schools and our community's children. None of these questions were addressed in the email that was essentially initially sent out to us. But my frustration doesn't stop there. The administration's lack of judgment resulted in the release of a highly sexualized graphic novel to young children. How is this acceptable? They were fourth and fifth graders. Our children should not be subjected to
056inappropriate content that undermines their innocence and distorts their understanding of healthy relationships. What happened to the responsibility of protecting our youth from such material? The lack of accountability shown by our school system and administration is appalling. We cannot afford to let these failures continue. Thank you. Good evening. Uh Nadina Kavorin 182 Wharton Dyke F. Um uh good evening members of board of education. I stand before you tonight as a concerned member of our community and a community that has long upheld the values and hard work and respect for tradition. a community and town I grew up in and I as well as my siblings attended the schools in and now we're raising our families in. Uh we are generally a conservative town and that is not a political label. It is a reflection of the
057principles we hold dear. We are a family town which is why many of us have moved to Emerson and stayed in Emerson. Yet despite this I see our schools continuing the path that does not align in the values of the families who live here. This initiative is prioritizing identity over merit, group think over ident independent thought and activism over academics. Why are we allowing this ideology to remain embedded in our curriculum when it does not reflect the will or the core value of this community? Schools should be placing should be places of learning, not indoctrination. Our children deserve an education based on academic excellence, not social engineering. We want education, not activism. We want fairness, not force equity. We want a curriculum that prepares our children for success, not ones that teaches them to see
058the world through the lens of race, gender, and political ideology. It is time for the board to take action. And it is time to remove the DEA DEI from schools as ordered from the president and refocus on what truly matters, teaching our children the knowledge and the skills they need to thrive. I love this town. I love the teachers in this town. And that's why I stayed here. I am first generation. My parents worked hard to give us the education to live here. I am all for diversity. I'm all for all that. But some things I disagree with. And now I am asking you to respect the values of this town and make decisions that reflect the will of the people you serve. Thank you. Nadvajian 11 place. So I'm echoing a lot of similar
059feelings that are coming up right now but ultimately just read off here. So good evening board of education members. I'm here tonight as a concerned parent advocating for what should be our top priority protecting and educating our children. I'm sure we can all agree that our kids deserve a strong academic foundation free from distractions and environments focused on academic excellence. critical thinking and real world skill building, not ideology. Despite executive orders urging schools to move away from DEI initiatives, it seems to be present um within our school systems. And ultimately, what I'd like to understand is what are the implications of continuing with these initiatives and how this these may impact academic performance and or cause any other further distractions down the road. So the recent events that that have been brought up have raised
060concerns about whether our priority of academic excellence is being upheld. Given a school sanctioned event, a highly age inappropriate graphic novel, as we've heard, was given to a student. The issue is rather than there being accountability, the response was deflection to students. While it was confirmed that there was no vetting process in place and I appreciate that transparency at the time, I think we as parents really need to understand and know what those safeguards um are and that will be implemented and put in place so that we feel confident hopefully that these don't happen again. Further anecdotally, I just want to hit on classroom discussions play, I think we can agree, play a significant role in shaping a child's learning environment. I personally experienced this when my son came home uh discussing a conversation where
061a staff member engaged in a topic that was not age inappropriate at all. This topic continues to come up in my household and something that I need to continue to redirect whereas it should have initially been redirected to begin with. The issue isn't about personal beliefs but that certain complex topics should not be introduced in school at such early ages and should be redirected. And I would hope that there are clear guidelines in place to ensure discussions remain age appropriate and focused on curriculum versus furthering a five-year-old's conversation with a group of friends. So these concerns tie into a larger issue, which is educational priorities. With attention placed on DEI is the same level of effort being applied to improving state testing scores. Ensuring strong academic outcomes must remain the focus to provide our children
062with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive world. I look forward to hearing how the board will refocus on its mission of protecting and educating our children. I'm still grateful to have fallen into the Emerson school system and the community and I hope to see the change that that we can bring together. Thank you. Hello, Kathy Gallagher, 39 Sunset Place. I'm a longtime resident of Emerson. I've went to these schools, which I found excellent. I believe they're still excellent. The problem is when you look at the scorecard for our schools, math proficiency is 42%. That's alarming. And I think some of you ran on the platform of improving our academic excellence. I would like to see some transparency of scores to see how are we improving. What is the board
063doing to improve that? I would appreciate that as a taxpayer science proficiency. our wonderful uh robotics club excluded is 51%. We live in a global economy. If our students can't get the mathematic and science education required to compete, they're going to be at a loss. The other thing I would like to highlight is um the student teacher ratio. We spend about 21,000 per student and our student teacher ratio is I believe 10 to1. You can correct me if I'm wrong. With that type of ratio, no student should be falling behind. These scores should be way better and I just I would love to know what the board has done to ensure that this is happening. Does anyone have a comment? This is just for input and comments for the public. Oh, okay. When when do
064we get some feedback from the board regarding our concerns? So, you can always reach out to Dr. Nissenoff if you have specific questions. I know that Mrs. Zapperman can provide information regarding test scores, regarding uh curriculum. Uh you would obviously work that through Dr. Nissenoff and I'm sure and you can speak up if you'd like Dr. Nissenoff, but he'll be very happy to have a conversation with you about how to address those or get information. Always available to answer any questions that you would have. A lot of your test score questions are available on our website, but if you couldn't answer them, Mrs. operate me not being able to answer them. I find you very very condescending, Dr. Ninov. I I I don't think we've even met that. I've listened to you. I've sat out
065there. I find you very condescending to the mothers and to people that come up and voice their opinions. Bruce, the just a comment, we we do provide a uh curriculum in score During our meetings, Mrs. Alman goes through all of our scores, the curriculum, what they're doing. Um, and we post the agenda in advance. So, I hate saying go to the website, but that's the best place to get it. And in this day's world, everybody goes to the website, but we certainly hold a meeting where you can see everything that's done. The scores are broken down. They're broken down through diversity, any kind of way you can max it. And I it's probably the best place to come and ask questions that that meeting that day. Yes. that I mean that's a good time to
066get it because you're gonna have the right people in the room that are prepared. You'll have the information in front of you. They they do a nice uh PowerPoint. Okay. Um but that would be the I could look up scores. Sure. But if you want to hear what how and what's going on, that's that's a great meeting to go to. Unfortunately, meeting uh I don't know when we have it scheduled for this one for this coming months, but um it's certainly in the agenda. We we have it out early enough that we can do it. I just have a concern for the quality of our schools. Sure. But I would but to answer your questions is a good one. That's a good meeting to come to that that will hit a lot of your your
067questions. Okay. Thank you very much. Hi everybody. I'm Danielle Agnazi. I live at 64 Monzie. I do not have anything prepared. I figured I should just start showing up to board of ed meetings um and offer my support really to everybody working to make our schools great. I do want to share a small story with everybody including the lovely ladies in the back. This is the story about a book I accidentally gave to my child when she was six years old. The book is called Fairy Tale. It's by Stephen King. I will be honest, I read this book first and what I took away from this book was really this amazing fantasy that had this tie-in to all of these fairy tales. So, the Wizard of Oz, all of these Disney fairy tales that we
068all knew. And I read this book and I said, you know, my kid likes fantasies. She's just getting into reading now. She's just getting into chapter books. I'm going to put this book in her hands. We'll read it together. She'll read a little bit of it on her own and we can discuss. I'm sitting there reading the first chapter and I realize that I'm dealing with a parent's death. So, the mom dies in a horrific car accident on a bridge. And one of the paragraphs is, and I'm not sure if there are kids in here, but in the event that there are, it's the GD word. You guys can figure out what that is. Over and over, the GD bridge, the GD chicken, the GD wing, the GD store for an entire paragraph. And I'm
069reading this paragraph out loud to my six-year-old child going, "Oh my god, what have I just done?" You know, and instead of shying away, I recognized that this was an opportunity for me to talk to my daughter about language in books versus language in schools versus language in art versus language in movies and language you speak to when you speak to your grandparents versus everybody else. So, I saw that as a learning opportunity for me and for her. I didn't say this is just the school's responsibility. I said this is a working relationship between my daughter's education that she receives at school and also the education that she receives from her parents at home. We read through the entire book. There was lots more inappropriate stuff in there that I completely disregarded when I initially
070read the book to myself. You know what? Because of that, my daughter is an avid reader. She is above her grade level in reading and she is still obsessed with fantasy books. I will never stop a book from going into her hands if it's free. So, I want to say, was it a misstep because of the language? Yes. Was there child pornography in that book? No. Okay. FYI, gay right now is being used as a Excuse me, Mrs. If you don't mind, address the the board and not I can tell you that right now in our schools, my child is in fifth grade. My daughter came home to me and she said, "Is the word gay bad, mom?" And I said, "Well, that's a very complicated question because being gay is not bad." Okay, people
071cannot inherently be bad. Loving someone of the same sex is not bad. And by the way, yes, we are a family town and you can be queer and have queer parents or have queer children. You're still a family, right? That is inarguable. I don't care if you're conservative or liberal. We don't cast people out because they love something different than what we love. Right? So yes, should the book have been pulled for language? Yes, I agree with that statement. We should not shy away from putting books into the hands of our children because you never know what book is going to help a child feel seen. Maybe it is somebody who is realizing that they are queer. We should not take representation out of our schools. And that includes elementary school children because they know.
072And we should also not assume that children are stupider than they are because they are saying things. And I had to explain to my daughter that gay can be used as a derogatory word when it's said in a certain light and it should never be used in that way. But being gay is not inherently bad. So that's pretty much it. I wanted to thank you guys. I'm happy that my daughter received a free book. Um, I don't have an issue with my daughter reading above grade level. I think this is an excellent opportunity for the parents of this town to sit down with their children and explain to them what they're reading and making this interactive. And then maybe all of our grade levels will go up and we'll be better at reading and then
073our teachers will have a better and easier job of teaching our kids and it will be better for everybody. Thank you. on a 264 spruce app. Um, I wasn't going to get up here and speak. I just want to support the mothers in the crowd. Uh, Phil, you coached me in soccer. in 20 years. I I see you around. Um I think we're concerned about the wrong DEI in this town. The only inclusion we should be worried about is right there. Mr. Correct. Well, I'm sorry. It's a um I I can't imagine this stuff coming into school of fourth graders. I'm sorry. It's not this is not something that should be in a in a book that's given to fourth graders. The problem is DEI is great in general. Diversity is great. Equity is great.
074Inclusion is great. But the problem is it includes this disgusting stuff in books to little kids. If you look around, it's happened all over the country. I mean, we we as a town need to stop it. Sorry, my voice is I'm so It just angers me to even know that this is in these books. And uh these mothers deserve support and uh so do these people. All right, have a nice Hi, I am Emily, 112 Stanford Avenue. I did not come prepared to speak today, but felt the need to get up and express my thoughts as well. So, pardon me if I'm going to be a little bit all over the place. Um, in essence, I am also a concerned parent. I don't agree with everything that has been said. necessarily. Um, but I do
075believe that at my core, I believe that we're getting away from what should in my view be the essence of a school, which is that education. And by introducing um I mean, it's great that my son learns about so many different things different than when I was a kid, but is he fairing better as a result of that? So I just want to make sure that we don't get away from what is the essence of a school and that is the education of our kids in those areas that they really need to excel at and I don't know that they are um speaking from my own experience and my son he also was introduced to the books that have been a question um and you know my son has a maturity level that I'm impressed
076with but I absolutely do not believe that it should have been in his hands and the fact that it made its way there um is very concerning because of the protocols in place to sort of limit that from happening. But again, do I I mean it's like I disagree with any book is good. Um why not put in there to the Shades of Greg? I know that's an exaggeration, but I just mean like I don't believe that we should be putting or allowing inappropriate books into the hands when a child isn't ready for that or a parent isn't ready for that. So, if I wanted to introduce him to that, then I could do that on my own terms at my own time. Um, so not to digress, but I just believe that we can't
077get away from the most important things, which is that education of sort of the basics that our kids need moving forward um to excel at life. I want my son to be a great human being. That's important for me and I'm doing my part in that. I want the schools to help in those areas that maybe I'm not so much able to because, you know, let's face it, I've been in school, haven't been in school for a very long time. So, um, that's it. I'm sorry it's all over the place. I wasn't anticipating speaking, but I just felt the need to express my thoughts. So okay, looks like no other uh comments from the public. Uh Mr. Growle, could you close the meeting to the public for open comments? Yes. I move to close the
078meeting to the public for input and comments. Second. Seconded by Mr. Smith. All in favor? I I Mr. Bazar. I just like to make a quick comment to the crowd. Um because I think it's important. You know, someone said, "Are you going to comment back?" It's really at the forum. We'd be here all night and start arguments and everything else. But I do want everyone to know you're heard. I think that's important. when I did run for this and I was out in the seats with with a lot of you folks on different topics that was important to me. So where we may not be interacting, your voice is heard, your emails are read, there's active discussion going on in the board, sometimes we don't agree, we get to a good place. Uh not only
079about these topics, budget and everything. Uh I just think that's an important thing because sometimes I feel like you're probably looking at us going there's no reaction, there's no interaction, but there certainly is. There certainly is. Uh I can tell you it's very active. I'll speak for uh Mr. Ricardi and Mrs. Maritt that there's a lot of interaction between the board, a lot of healthy discussion, uh a lot of weight hours here. Uh every one of your voices and opinions are heard. So I I just for my two cents, I want you to know that. Thank you, Mr. Obviously, there's a lot of questions and and uh this event has caused a lot of angst. Uh, I wanted to address that. Obviously, and to your your point, Mr. Smith, we we don't sit here and
080just go through the motions and just let everybody get up, make their comments, give their opinions, their concerns, and then wait for the clock to tick and move out of here. Every one of your opinions, concerns, input, comments matters. We record these, as Mr. Smith mentioned. We go back, we discuss it, we try to look at it objectively. We understand that there's different perspectives, different viewpoints and all of that is heard cons considered and discussed. Um, in regards to this book event and the issue, obviously a lot of questions, many of them we thought were addressed or answered by Dr. Nissenoff and Mr. Hutchinson's communication to the individual communities whether it was volano or memorial but obviously there's there may be more questions. So I wanted to just take this opportunity to provide a little
081bit more information for anybody who may not have it or have heard has heard something differently. So to begin I'd like to read out loud and then please bear with me. Uh I want to read Mr. Hutchinson's email to the Wano community. So, the letter goes, "Dear Wano families, I write to you regarding the recent National Honor Society book drive, a student-led service project to share the joy of reading with young students in our community. NHS members collected book donations from the public at various locations, reviewed them, and sorted them by grade level. These books were then made available to students at Balano School yesterday, allowing them to select a book of interest. It has come to our attention that a few of the donated and distributed titles were not appropriate for students in grades
082four through six. Please know that we take this matter seriously and are committed to ensuring that all books shared with students are appropriate in terms of subject matter and reading level. We kindly ask for parents to review the book your child brought home to ensure it meets your family's expectations. If you find that a book is not suitable, you are welcome to return it to our school. In addition, our administration will be conducting a thorough review of all remaining titles to ensure they are appropriate for young readers. We sincerely apologize for any concerns this may have caused and appreciate your understanding as we work together to address the issue. We value the partnership of our parents and send this message so there can be a clear understanding of the matter and how it is being
083addressed. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Brian Hutchinson. End of letter. Um, so th that was an attempt from by the school district and Mr. Hutchinson to clearly communicate to the community about a incident and what we're doing to try to address it and address the concerns of their parents. In the days following that letter, it appeared that there was confusion and some incorrect information circulating in the community regarding that situation. So to address that, Dr. Nissenoff sent an an email to the Memorial community and I'd like to read that email and it goes, "Dear Memorial families, I am reaching out to Memorial parents regarding concerns stemming from the NHS passing pages literacy event at Vano School. It is important that our district communicates clearly when there is a
084matter of rightful concern. Parents should receive communication directly from the school and not from unreliable sources. I ask that you please read below to be fully informed as to what occurred and how it is being addressed. To address the matter on behalf of Memorial School, tomorrow's passing pages event will be postponed to a later date. Please read this letter with a link to the letter sent to allo families today from Mr. Hutchinson. So the the intent behind those communications was to to let the community know what happened. And the the term I personally believe unreliable sources was not intended to discredit anyone or anybody making a claim. It was simply to impress upon the community that if you have questions, if there's information out there on social media that you're unsure of or concerned about,
085it's best to reach out to the school to either Mr. Hutchinson or Dr. Nissanov and they can explain the situation and give you all the information that you need. As we've said before, uh the the book project and and this is a statement I had prepared and and I'll read that now. The book project aimed to promote literacy by making free books available for students to choose from. While the intent was admirable, we acknowledged that four of the books were not age appropriate for those grade levels. This the school reached out to all three parents whose children selected those books. The fact is that content that was not age appropriate was made available to students. We acknowledge that. We made an error and we hold ourselves accountable and seek to address the issue. We have
086confidence that the administrative team understands the situation has taken the necessary steps to prevent similar issues in the future. To that end, Dr. Nissenoff and his staff will conduct a thorough review of all related policies, regulations, and procedures to make revisions as needed. Additionally, clear communication will be provided to all staff, reinforcing the importance of vigilance when introducing students to literature, media, or other materials that may not be age appropriate for the relevant age levels and grades. Finally, we recognize that this situation has elicited strong emotions within our school community. I hope that explaining the facts makes it clear that this was an error, one that we don't take lightly. We acknowledge it, have taken proactive steps to try and prevent future occurrences and we thank you for your engagement, your comments, your input, your
087opinions as we partner together in helping our students uh achieve success. Um I also and that's the end of the my statement regarding that. So again, I want to reiterate that this is not something that the fact that uh I'm just going to repeat what you said because I think you said it well, Mr. Smith. Our not responding to your individual questions as you get to the podium should not be taken as a as us taking it lightly. We it it absolutely matters. We spent countless hours discussing these things and determining how to best proceed with our processes and procedures. Uh I also want to address the the concerns that are brought up about academics and that we're not focusing on what's important, you know, the education. Uh first of all, that's one of the
088most important things that this body discusses and is focused on the academics. We have one of the best uh directors of curriculum as far as I'm concerned in the state uh who's always focused on how do we improve the literacy, how do we improve the math math scores uh along with social emotional learning and all the other things that are important. So absolutely we are focused on academics, absolutely we are focused on math scores and reading. Uh I don't want that to be lost on the community. That is a focus of this body. In fact, for anyone that is so concerned about our community, perhaps I'll mention this. This came out maybe what, six months ago about Emerson school system being the in the top nine of was it Bergen County? Bergen County. So your
089children are attending a school system that has is considered in top nine of all of Bergen County. And all of Bergen County schools are top schools. So I just want to mention that we are focused on academics. We are focused on things that you consider important with that. Mr. Smith or Mr. Gwick, is there anything you want to add or just mention? No, I I think to be honest uh your statement and u Mr. Smith's uh statement couldn't have been said better and I appreciate it. So no further words for me. Mr. Smith, you good. Yeah, I'm good. Did you want to just want to uh just emphasize that this is a meeting of the board of education and as Mr. Smith said, they are here to listen to all members of the community recognizing
090that some of those comments or questions may have been directed to me. Um, I will be looking at the transcript of tonight's meeting and if I feel that there's some a question that if it hasn't already been answered, uh, or I haven't already answer that directly to some of the people who came to the podium today, um, I will reach out. And as always, if you wanted to communicate with me or you had some specific questions that I might be able to answer, um, please reach out at any time. I'd be happy to have a discussion with anybody. And, uh, if I came across as condescending at any point in my career or my life, uh, my apologies. I hope, uh, uh, I have the opportunity to change that perception. Okay, great. Thank you. So,
091with that, we'll go ahead and uh uh end the meeting. Uh Mr. Gwick, could you close this out with motion B, please? Sure. I move to close the meeting to the public and adjourn at 8:54 p.m. to discuss in executive session legal matters in the conference room of the board of education offices. Action may or may not be taken at that at this time. The board will return to open session upon completion of discussion and may or may not take action at that time. The next meeting of the board of education is scheduled for April 28th at 7:30 in the high school media center. Can I get a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Smith. All in favor?