October 6, 2022 - Clifton Board of Education Meeting

001i'd like to open the regularly scheduled meeting of the clinton board of education for thursday october 6 2022. if you'd all please rise for a salute to our flag followed by a brief moment of silence 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 thank you Roll call, please. Mr. Abidrabo. Here. Mr. Awad. Ms. Baskford. Here. Ms. Beltran. Mr. Canova. Here. Dr. Danny. Here. Mr. Parris. Here. Vice President Daley. Here. And President Smith. Here. We have a quorum. Ms. Baskford, excuse me, Ms. Beltran is in Florida assisting her sister with the things from the terrible hurricane. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people of Florida and the Gulf Coast and the

002Carolinas and all those that were affected. So that's why Ms. Beltran is not here this evening. Okay, mission statement. Vice President Daley? Thank you, Mr. President. The mission of the Clifton School Districts in an open and reciprocal community partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate, lifelong learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a democratic society in an ever-changing world. The Open Public Meetings Act, the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law, was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advance notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Clifton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting

003to be publicized by having the date, time, and place thereof posted at the City Clerk's Office, Clifton Public Library, Administration Building, Senior Citizen Nutrition Center, on cable TV, in the local press, on the district's website, and mailed to presidents of parent-teacher organizations. This meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with Policy 0168. Okay, we will start with our public recognition Mr. President. Yeah, I'm sorry. We'll do students first. Yeah, I was gonna say I just saw that. Yep. Miss Ragoza will have you come up and do the presentations for our students Good evening. Mr. President Smith vice president. Mr. Daly. Dr. Batozi Commissioners and central admin, thank you, thank you, thank you for the privilege of showcasing yet another amazing learning institution in our district. Tonight, we are so glad to see the school nine

004learning community. The bulldogs that you see in front of you are going to I'm going to share a little bit about their instructional event. And we are all really excited. Dr. Robitose, you should know that as you were talking about how long it took you to get ready for this evening, there's a young man in the crowd that said it took him 30 minutes to do his hair as well. So I'm going to share. Not the entire presentation of what School 9 did. So as we talk often about PBSIS implementation, we focus on the instruction that staff provide students and that in particular the PBSIS team and administration provide for staff. So it's everyone at School 9 is aware of the safety and health and the overarching expectations in our buildings. This is an example

005of... One of the presentations that the PBSIS team put together for students for when they return out. This happened the first week in September when students first came back so that everyone gets into the routine of the expectations at school nine. In particular, they focused their lessons around being respectful, kind, and responsible. And they used different modalities. The first was to review the posters that they would see around in their building. So arriving to school clearly has outlined expectations. And then they displayed what that looks like. So I'm just going to show you real briefly. When you are arriving to school each day, be sure to arrive on time, enter quietly, follow directions, and walk directly to your destination. So you see that the videos are short, quick, and engaging. Now, this was done over

006the summer. That's why you still see folks with masks and for preferences as well. But as you, all the way down through the presentation, you see that kids are engaged and they pause at different moments to assess what the students are learning. In the end, what follows is a tour of the building. And now I don't have that here, but I just wanted to show you that quick video that shows the in and out, and then I'll show you the next piece. They prompt staff to follow a schedule to show the students the expectations by location. So they take them on tours. The whole building is active, filled with energy, and totally vibing on what it means to be a school nine bulldog, right? Once they did that, they also showed, this is the piece

007that I think the students in the audience are just waiting to show you. Once that is done, they had this to show students. Now this video was made possible by the students that are here with us tonight, as well as the PBSIS team. Now, what I don't. I don't know. If I do, it doesn't take the caller off? Okay. Oh, wait a minute. Sorry. Trying to get the volume up. I didn't touch it this time. Someone's trying to call in. Hold on. We've got a call waiting. Do I X them out? X out? Sorry. We're gonna need a lot of p- I'll put him in the wrap-up bin So I don't know how many of us out there have tried writing lyrics for songs, for like dubbing songs, but if you have, you know how

008hard that is. If you haven't, trust me, at some point it was very hard in my youth. Amazing video, amazing connection to what is happening in our students' lives. Pop music will always be a way to connect with our students and bringing the expectations live in that way. The students that you saw, Thank you so much. Thank you. We totally appreciate you. The gentlemen are on this side, so I've got to face you as well. Thank you so much. President Smith, Dr. Obutose, Mr. Daly, if you'd be so kind as to help me provide recognition and certificates for, we'll start off with the students, and then we'll go on. So I might need Ms. Rosetti's help at some point with names if I get stuck. So Arian Shah, Jasmine Banquiser, how about Jasmine Mustafa, Aya

009Kasim, Megan Rogers, Abby Kelly, Shakar Akaria, Leah Kalu, that's Miss Leah Kalu everyone, Moksha Jolly, Kimberly Castillo, Jayden St. Peter Kayawa. So those are the students that helped with this year's video. Thank you all again. Smile nice guys. All right, and of course, we know the PBSIS team is amazing at School 9. We're going to start off by recognizing their wonderful and amazing administrator, Ms. Joelle Rossetti. Kelly Peruso. Ms. Mia Cerullo. Now, Mia and Kelly are the co-coaches for the team, and they do amazing things. And just as amazing are Ms. Vicky Majerczak. and miss patty belfondo because man we miss sam oh i'm sorry i'm no no please thank you i didn't mean to you know i'm sorry we miss you i need a rope can you get a handle on each side i

010was there five at three o'clock i was there since three setting up i did all the center pieces a little bit it'll be kicking in soon yes tremendous job to everyone we thank you at school 9 for the wonderful job that was a great presentation and I'm sure if you wish to leave then now would be a great time if you wish to stay you're more than welcome okay we'll move on to public recognition This portion of the meeting is open to residents and non-residents of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to and or directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District. Residents and non-residents are requested, if they're in person, to sign the register provided for this purpose. All speakers are asked to state their names, municipality

011in which they live, and subject matter before speaking. Comments are limited to five minutes per person. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. Your questions may or may not be answered by board members. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when they are speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board. Students and employees of the district have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of the state of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the

012public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for all of their comments. All right, Mr. Mount, we'll start with the virtual. Are there anybody waiting? Just one, okay. Mark, we can't hear you, so if you can unmute. Hold on a second. You hear me now? Now we can hear you, Mark. Yes, go ahead. Great. Good evening, everyone. Mark Brunczak, Holly Street. I just want to thank the principal and staff at School 14 for a wonderful evening at back-to-school night on September 22nd. All of the presentation made by our kids, teachers were informative and thorough, and the expectations of the students were very impressive. With this being said, I'm humbly requesting

013that any major future events such as this not be scheduled the same evening as a Board of Education meeting. By the time my wife and I got home, the final public commenter spoke, was finishing commenting, speaking, while streaming live on our TV. I also want to give a shout out. to Marlena Cowan and the rest of the School 14 HSA who this Saturday are doing what I believe to be the first School 14 car show this weekend, which will include cars, motorcycles, in addition to power wheels. So if anybody has any additional time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. this Saturday, please consider stopping by St. Andrews Boulevard at School 14 to see all the awesome entries that students and parents will bring. Finally, I want to wish my daughter a very happy birthday, who

014turns eight years old today. Happy birthday, baby girl. We love you very much. And I just want to give my shout out to everybody else on the recipient of the awards night for the PBSIS awards. And my prayers to everybody that was affected by Hurricane Ian. Thank you, everybody, for your time. And God bless America. Have a good night, everybody. Thank you, Mr. Brunsiak. That's it. Okay, there's no one else in the room motion to close virtual motion by mr. Abadrabo second second by dr. Danny Will now move into in person if you wish to address the board, please come up to the microphone and You have five minutes to address the board I'm bringing up the idea that I saw in our town paper about eliminating the religious holidays I Find that to be

015appalling It seems that the school system in our state is trying to take religion out of schools and out of our children's lives. As years ago they changed Christmas and made it a winter holiday, then they made Good Friday, Holy Friday, and now they want to take religious holidays away from other groups. And I find that to be unacceptable. Our children need more education and not less. They're now behind because of the two years with the pandemic with that they were forced to be educated at home. And that's a detriment to them. I also want to applaud the woman that spoke at the last meeting. I did not catch her name. She had a accent. And she was not happy about the new sex ed standards either. And she requested that the book Gender Queer

016not be in our school system. And I agree with everything she said totally. I again don't agree with the new education standards for this academic year to be brought to the forefront. Apparently the Zoom meetings that the BOE had were not successful because I'm hearing from a lot of parents. that they weren't even aware of it and they didn't see it. So there needs to be another way of communicating this agenda. Maybe each child should go home with a piece of paper with the information on it and the information about an opt-out because they're not happy and they're afraid to come and speak. And I'm also addressing the cancel culture agenda along with the CRT, and that too is canceling the family. We need to invest in students first and not keep on going back

017to the past and dredging up new things about the past. They do learn history and some things that did happen that were not acceptable, but history is history. We need to stop tearing down individuals and focus on academic excellence. We need critical thinking and problem-solving skills to be taught. And to stop the emotional sexualizing and grooming. There is a group called Gays Against Groomers. It's founded by a lesbian. It was taken off whatever network it was on. Because I guess the media and whoever controls the media did not feel it was appropriate. And they did not approve of what's going on in the schools today. So that is my. discussion for tonight thank you see none anyone else wish to address the board okay good evening to everyone I hope everybody's doing well very good

018start of the school year so we're very happy there's a couple of things I just want to bring up and I'm gonna make it short because I think everybody's probably tired so one of the books that was brought up to board meetings ago was by a man named Pete Hegseth And sadly, he is one of the Koch brothers pawns in this privatization of education. So we really need to understand who the players are. and we need to protect our educational system here in Clifton. There's nobody here that is going to be teaching kids things that are irresponsible. We have great educators, as I've said many times, so all of this gibberish that's coming through needs to stop. We have the best education system in the state of New Jersey. We are number one, and that's

019for a reason. We do not have to listen to anybody from the Koch brothers team because it is ruining public education across the state of New Jersey as well as the United States. So I just want people to understand this. If there's any people that come up, you can go to the Southern Poverty Law Center website and look them up. And this guy has a huge list of groups that he belongs to and trying to dispel the use of public education. So I'm not going to stand for it anymore. I'm tired of listening to it. And I'm here to protect the staff and the kids here in Clifton. Thank you very much. Elias Ragsdale. President of Clifton Student Union and the mock trial team. And that's what I can talk about today. Good evening, President

020Smith, Vice President Daley, Dr. Robertozzi, administration, Board of Education Commissioners, citizens. First of all, the mock trial team is selling discount cards. We have stores on there include Mr. Cupcakes, the Grand Saloon, 7-Eleven. You can get a discount on a car wash, White Castles, and more. It's in the Clifton Inn area surrounding. We just came back from a competition that happened in Baltimore, and it would be extremely supportive if you were to buy one. It's $10, and we have many. So you can email me to arrange how we can make that set up. My email is C-A-P-T-I-N-A-T-R. at gmail.com and secondly i just wanted to give a little brief you know something that happened that includes student success um i don't know if anyone saw the october edition of the clifton merchant yet two students

021of the class of 2024 officers are on the cover including me and um the president and this is not a school magazine this is a city-wide magazine and two students of Clifton High School and more being actually in the magazine is just evidence of student success, student strength, and this would not be possible without the help of you and teachers and administration. So I'm extremely honored to be president of the Student Union, and this is just evidence of our success and strength when we can all work together, and the benefit really goes to the students. So thank you very much. Good evening everyone. Samantha Bassford, Clifton, New Jersey. So before I say anything about running, even though I think it's clear. I am running. Before I am a candidate running, I am a proud alumni

022of Clifton First. And last meeting, I really have to give it out to the students who are here for CAS, especially the student who spoke up. You know, that is the reason why I stayed in higher education, was for students who stick up for themselves, who advocate for others. It was a really proud moment for me and I would say as my fellow cast people because I think once you're in cash You're always in cast no matter where you are It shows that the district is doing something, right? So I just wanted to give kudos out to the students and look they came back So I guess it means that they are interested in the stuff that we're talking about and that's a great thing because that means that we're engaging people other than parents

023and Taxpayers the students who it impacts directly The second thing to talk about the calendar and the days off, I know it's something that's really upsetting people. I think something that could be adapted here that is adapted in the workplace and higher education sometimes is categorizing off days of different things. Not everything needs to be categorized as a sick day. Sometimes you need a personal day, you know, mental health days. Because there's so many different people who need time off for different reasons, you're not going to satisfy everybody. And because there's so many different ways to make sure a student doesn't fall behind in class, as, you know, sadly people don't get snow days anymore, that if a student needed to take time off for a holiday, that they can be excused from class and

024there would be time for them to make up for it. that kind of would appease everybody in their needs, because I think everyone's needs are different, without having to single out a specific religious group. So I think categorizing, again, different time off for different things. I think we've evolved from just sick time, especially if we're talking about mental health for students and we want them to understand mental health. Understanding that care that sometimes, like, I don't want to go to school today is okay because maybe you're not going to be your best at school and you just need that time for yourself. I think that would be, you know, a solution to look into as far as, you know, trying to make it the best for everyone. So that's all my two things to say

025today. Don't forget, I'm Samantha Basford, class of 2008 on November 8th. Vote for me, number 8F on the line. Have a good night. Good evening. Alderwater Clifton. I just want to make two comments. I went to safety night a couple weeks ago and it was Excellent. Ms. Conte gave an excellent presentation. It was open. It was transparent. It's what you should have done when it was face masks, vaccinations. I know it was a little difficult then because of the requirements, but you definitely should have done that with the sex ed mandates. I'm not going to use health mandates because some of the things in that sex ed mandates are not healthy. I don't really like calling it health mandates. I don't think there's anything healthy about anal sex. So I would like to still have

026meetings regarding the sex ed mandates. We don't know where this is going to end up. We don't know how complicated it may get down the line. Wayne has about 500 students that's opt out. It's going to probably grow a little more during, up until the elections, and then we'll see after the elections what happens. But I think if you had a meeting as you did with the safety meeting, where everybody can come and presentations made and no one's hiding anything or afraid of anything, it was beautiful, beautiful meeting. I also went to back to school, and I got to agree. It was another beautiful night. It's hard to come up here to say negative stuff when I went back to school and everything was really probably 100% or better. It was beautiful. I mean, I

027went a little late, but it was organized, wonderful. The presentations were great. I even got to get into the library for a few minutes and there was a couple of good books in there so I was impressed. So we'd still like to see a meeting opened. with people who aren't afraid to speak and let us throw whatever it is and answer them. That way we wouldn't have conflict of, I don't know the books everyone's talking about, but it's hard to come up here for five minutes and feel you're in a certain structure that's confrontational when you don't want to be confrontational. Back to School Night was excellent. I mean, I got to agree, there is no better. So I just wanted to say that. The days off, that came about after a meeting, and all

028I wanted was names on the calendar. But when I heard the meeting, and another, that was a virtual meeting, but so many people brought up such good points that it makes sense to do what you're proposing. So I don't have no problem with giving certain days exemptions for your beliefs. That seems very good. Thank you. Take care. Natasha Rocha-Clifton, good afternoon board. Some of you may remember me from the last Board of Ed meeting when I spoke and said the first thoughts that came to mind. These past two weeks I've gathered my thoughts and decided I've missed some important points. As a student who still attends Clifton High School, I feel as though I can speak for the students in this generation. Due to most people that attend these meetings, being Gen X or Millennials

029and were raised in a different world than us. Statistics say that one of ten people identify as LGBTQ. In Clifton High School alone, there's about 2,900 students, meaning that approximately 290 of them are in the LGBTQ community. And it's being argued whether or not we teach them how to do things safely, correctly, and show students how to protect themselves from getting illnesses and STDs. It sickens me that it's being argued whether we keep our kids safe or not. If it was anything else but sex ed, we'd jump to add things into our school's curriculum if it meant keeping our students safe. Statistics also say that 19% of kids that range from ages 13 to 18 that are in the LGBTQ community attempt suicide. We just received our IDs and in the back there's suicide hotlines.

030This is amazing and shows how people of Clifton are trying to raise awareness. But why do so many people in the LGBTQ community try to attempt suicide? It's because they can't voice themselves without being judged. They can't show the world who they are without being looked at differently. Why can I, a person that identifies as a female, go and hold hands with a man and no one will look at me differently? But if a man and another man hold hands, people will stare. Same thing with sex ed. Why are you teaching me how to prevent myself from getting pregnant and STDs by having... but have a problem doing the same with homosexual students. We're all at the age where we're starting to experiment and need guidance on how to do things safely. Clifton is a

031very diverse town with many races and religions, especially some who may not accept our students for who they are. Some students don't feel comfortable coming out because they fear of getting judged and bullied, but not by their peers, but also by their families. This is why so many kids in this community struggle and we want flyers sent out to parents to see if they can opt their children out of what we learned in health class. If we do that then we should send parents letters. to be able to opt out their kids of any controversial topic we learn in school, such as things we learn in history or books that we read in English that are banned in other parts of the country but are a part of our curriculum. Parents all of a sudden

032want to feel uncomfortable because they don't agree with things we learn. Some feel like Christopher Columbus was a bad man and some feel like he's a hero. Are they going to stop their kids from attending school with his name, reading books about who he was, or learning about who he was in history? It's really the same thing with sex ed. We'll give the students information on how to do things safely, just like all of your guys' lessons. Some will use it and some will not, but adults should have more trust in us and leave it up to us to make our own opinions on whether we take the information and use it or if we don't. Thank you. Hi, Donna Popowich from Clifton. I've been watching from home. It's interesting. It's much more comfortable on

033my couch. I know you spent a lot on these chairs. They're really uncomfortable. And I think it was just to maybe make us all leave quicker. Okay, I came here to talk about the sex ed curriculum. For those of you who don't know it, I worked in Clifton in the classroom for many years. And then after I had my own children, I worked as a home instruction teacher for the city. That was a full-time job. Even though I was getting paid about $15 or $20 an hour, I usually was able, and this is, of course, before we had some laws about full-times and benefits, I could log in 40 to 60 hours a week. 90, 95% of my clients were pregnant students. Years ago, we used to let them go on home instruction the minute

034they knew they were pregnant at six weeks. So I'd have them from six weeks pregnant till 12 weeks postpartum. They filmed my whole day. Many of them were from the high school. The shocking part to most people is many of them were from the middle schools. My youngest pregnant students were in sixth grade. I had students tell me things like, oh, I got pregnant in Christopher, and I'd be like, yes, because you're in ninth grade now, and I'm teaching bio, and I'm thinking I'm doing a big lesson, and she goes to me, no, it was in the bathroom on the third floor. Our kids are having sex. And this is, oh, what, 12 years ago? More than that. I mean, my kids are in college. They've always been having sex. We need to give them

035all the information they have. Because when I honestly tell you I had students who did not know how they got pregnant, they did not know how they got pregnant. They seriously did not know. And if anything, And I know I'm probably in this little tiny minority. I don't think your curriculum even comes close to being what we need. I mean, I saw those pictures Janina put up where they had the people dressed, and they were dressed, and they're pointing to the body part. And I can tell you, right away, I knew what was going to happen. Everyone's going to go, what part is that? Kids know what's going on. Young kids know what's going on. I remember when my daughter was in second grade. And the health teacher came in, of course this is aeons

036ago, and he talked about a family. Where's the family? And he goes, it's a mom and a dad and the kids. Well, my daughter's class set him straight. At the time, we were watching Big Brother Home. So my daughter goes, I know of a guy who has three wives. We had children in the class who had two mothers. We had children in the class who had two fathers. We had children in the class who had two grandfathers living together. And you know what? So finally, the teacher just said, you know what we're going to do? He had a nice little picture of a family they were supposed to color. And he said, flip it over and draw your own family. I don't think we give the kids enough credit. And if the adults are uncomfortable,

037they need to get uncomfortable. Because these kids need that info. Because I never want to see an 11-year-old child in this district walking around with her pregnancy belly. Have you ever seen that? Have you been to the homes with them? When they turn 15, their parents can literally kick them out. I've been to a lot of apartments where the pregnant girls are living with no family support, with no baby daddy. My favorite home, I had two family and the girl downstairs, and I did the girl upstairs, and it turns out they had the same baby daddy. So we need more information to them at a younger age. Because we don't want to have to open a daycare across from the high school like they have in other cities Keith bastard Clifton, New Jersey I used

038to be able to get up here faster. I think the age is catching up to me first of all Lucy your mom and dad I seen him before they said say hello to you and everything they said especially Stash from me say hello Lucy for me. I said, okay another thing from me to Mr. Smith. You know, I like to see us go by Robert rules here because if you ever notice, like if a question comes up and your board wants to answer it, it seems like everybody like don't get a chance. It's like that one person keeps on ba-boom, ba-boom. And really under Robert's rules, once that person... gives their opinion, you should open up to whoever else has the opinion. Who's next? Then if nobody next has anything to say, then you can

039go back to the original person because it seems like, you know, I sit out there and I feel like, you know, maybe one or two people are leading the whole charge here and other people trying to get their voice, their opinion in, and they can't get their opinion in. So I think we should follow Robert's rules with that, too. Another thing, too, on this election, and if you know Steve Goldberg, he made a joke on that at the city council meeting. He said, you ever hear SOS? And he meant signs on steroids, he called it, signs on steroids. And I'm glad to see so far that our candidates who are running for the... Board of Education here don't have signs on steroids. They're just regular signs and that. So I'm happy to see that too.

040Another thing too is, you know, elections are funny. And I was talking to my daughter and my daughter's 32 years old and she's learning still things in life. And she said, Dad, you know what? I never seen like an election go on like this because she's really involved in that. And she's like understanding but trying to put the pieces together how elections run between the people who are running and that. And I said to her, it's very easy, Sam. Either people are out there running for themselves the right reason or people are being coaxed by other people to run, political parties, friends or something. Because sometimes some people want to take more control of the board. Either they want to be president or they want to be vice president. And then we got the backdoor

041deals going on. And I said to my daughter, I said, you know what? We didn't raise you that way. You do the right thing. You run your election the right way. The other people... They want to play backdoor deals. They want to play games. It's going to catch up to them sooner or later. It's a big city, but word gets around and everything. So I have a lot of respect for my daughter and everything, and she is really trying her hardest to get on this board. And as a father, I think she's going to bring a lot here if she could get on this board and that. that's all I'm gonna say because I'm on a gag order until after November 8th so that's all I have to say thank you Anyone else wish to

042address the board motion by Mr. Abadrabbo second by Dr. Danny our student representative Tiffany is here this evening Tiffany if you give your report thank you CHS sports are doing a fantastic job right now. The varsity football team in their last game defeated Passaic winning 48-0 on their senior night. The boys varsity soccer team right now is having an undefeated season. Seven wins, one tie, and zero losses. Today they played PCI winning 2-0, making them have eight wins, one tie, and zero losses. The girls varsity soccer team versus Bergen at Bergen today. The girls' gymnastics team last match won, also on their senior night, too. The next meet will be tomorrow at Wayne Hills. The girls' volleyball team's next game will be tomorrow at Bergen at 4.15. Both the boys' and girls' cross-country meet will

043be at the Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday morning at 11. Girls' tennis match is tomorrow at PCI at 4. CHS Spirit Week has started already. Monday was Pink Out for breast cancer awareness. Tuesday was Mitch Match slash Crazy Hair Day, where students wear Mitch Match clothing and crazy hair. Today was Throwback Thursday, where students wear something from the past. Tomorrow will be Mustang Madness. Students will be wearing their Mustang gear. The homecoming game is tomorrow. During halftime, we'll be announcing the new homecoming king and queen. Our football team Mustangs will be playing against the PCI Bulldogs, so make sure you come out and support them. It will also be at 7. The following day is the homecoming dance at SELAB. There will be a homecoming extravaganza at the high school on October 27th, so come

044out and bring your family to enjoy this event. There will be a CHS open house on November 2nd, so come and bring out your kids to see how great our high school is. is being held at CHS on Saturday, October 29th. It's free and open to the public. We would love to see you there. The Esports Club has about 40 active students that practice three days a week and have scheduled matches one day a week. Students who play games on computers even come in after school on a rotating schedule to practice on the school-owned gaming PCs. The other fundraiser is video game consoles. Since its inception, every game has at least one team that makes the playoffs in their representative leagues. Lastly, the National Honor Society Student Advisory Board for the 2022-2023 school years are

045Co-President Remy Dubrak, Co-President Krishi Patel, VP Scholarship Janine Yusuf, VP Leadership, Shivam Mehta, VP Character, Chris Shah, VP Service, Mia Gomp, Co-Secretary Kayla Yunus, and Co-Secretary Mia Jimenez. Thank you. Tiffany, great job. We're so glad that you were here tonight, and you're always welcome to give your report. So if you would like to leave, you can, but you're welcome to stay as well. okay we'll have the adoption of the minutes of the september 22nd meeting so moved so moved by miss bassford second by mr abu drabo discussion see none roll call mr abu drabo yes miss bassford yes mr canova yes dr danny yes mr paris yes vice president daly yes president smith yes motion carries okay we now have our report from our superintendent dr dr robitose Thank you, Mr. Smith. Good evening, commissioners,

046members of the public, community members. Judy, you can't leave now. It's good to be with everybody tonight. I want to start off by addressing the issue of the school calendar. Because I want to make sure everybody understands Why this topic even came about and why it's been discussed So in the past couple years it has become increasingly more difficult To create the district calendar and meet the hundred and eighty day requirement what holidays do you include on the calendar what what do you exclude how many snow days can you include in the calendar when should the school year end all of these things depending on the way certain holidays fall this the school year can end as late as June 28th June 29th while I know within a couple years we're going to have fully

047air-conditioned schools I don't think anybody really wants to go to school until the last week of June so for all of those reasons I formed an advisory committee a calendar input committee for lack of a better word which was made up of a variety of stakeholders people who you know they're called stakeholders because they have a stake in the game they either are parents who have children in our school or they're community members or HSA leaders administrators students I included people on this committee who had reached out to me previously either with concerns on the calendar or suggestions about the calendar people who've spoken at Board of Education meetings and the purpose of it was to gain input from our community before creating next year's calendar. It has become since a little controversial because at

048the second meeting that I met with our committee, that night the overwhelming group, the focus was to do whatever we needed to do to end the school year earlier for a variety of reasons which I'll get into when I do my formal presentation at our next meeting. And so the length of the school year being the biggest concern, the vast majority of that committee said we should do whatever we have to do to end the school year earlier. And we collectively decided in that committee that we should poll the community to get input. unlike other school districts who have just made changes based on the superintendent's recommendation or because the board wanted to and then once they face scrutiny had to backtrack we wanted to get out in front of it and ask the community

049first and that has since caused some controversy because some people believe that we've already made a decision to be clear no decision has been made regarding next year's school calendar Because the Board of Education has the final say on that. But I wouldn't be doing my job if when I present a calendar to you or come to you with any information, I don't provide you with all of the data and all of the information that I've learned from our community, from our constituents, so that you can make an informed decision and so that I can make an informed recommendation. And so... Therefore, we sent out a survey specifically whether the community would be in favor of eliminating school closures for any non-federal holidays and non-federal religious holidays in order to end the school year early.

050It's an option that could be considered. It doesn't mean that's what we're going to do. We sent an email to the entire community twice. We posted it on our social media. that poll closed today the plan is now at the October 20th meeting I will be giving a formal presentation to the board and the community in that presentation I will give you the input from the survey I will give you the input I've received from parents and community members who've emailed me who've emailed you I will give you the Clifton Education Association's recommendation And then we'll have a discussion about what we want the calendar to look like next year. And I think that's very reasonable. So I just don't want anybody to feel like we've made any decisions or that I don't want people

051to jump to conclusions that all of a sudden, you know, we're anti-religion. By the way, I'm not sure which would be more anti-religion, to be closed when there's a major holiday or to be open when there's a major holiday. Right, which ones I don't know which ones worse right? So that's why we asked the community. What would be best? How about for other non-religious federal holidays We talked about Juneteenth in the committee Juneteenth is it better to have school that day and have our teachers? Do a lesson about what Juneteenth is or to close school in the third week of June when everybody's done and students aren't learning a lesson about why so I mean I could go either way but at the end of the day this is a collective decision that this board

052will make based on information that I give you and that's what I'll be doing at the October 20th meeting if tonight you have any questions about that process please do not hesitate to ask me so that I can answer them publicly and go on the record if there's anybody in the community that wishes to have their voice heard besides the survey you're welcome to come to a board meeting and speak you're welcome to email me directly I will share those emails with the Board of Education you can email our board secretary and we'll get that information ultimately at the end of the day I'm not sure that we can come up with a calendar that will please everyone but can't hurt to try I bring that up only because I've had several news organizations call

053me in the last week this has become a very very big story so there's gonna be a story coming out on NJ.com within the next few days about not just about Clifton but about other districts too and school closures so anyway some positive news we brought back our wellness days this year in the Clifton Public School District to support the social, emotional, and academic well-being needs of our students and of our staff. We just recently had a wellness day, and on wellness days our staff get to dress down, which, by the way, is a big deal. Allowing staff to dress down, they love this. Students are not assigned homework. Wellness quotes are read during the day, during morning announcements, and teachers have the option to do a wellness activity with their students. Been pretty successful

054so far and I think we're doing one of those a month This week the district acknowledged the week of respect in which our school participate each school participated with school-wide activities to show their respect to others and the community The district will acknowledge school violence awareness week during the week of October 17th as well as red ribbon week For those of you who don't know what Red Ribbon Week is, that's the purpose of Red Ribbon Week is to keep students drug free. And the theme this year of Red Ribbon Week is Celebrate Life, Live Drug Free, which I think is pretty awesome. October is a month where we do recognize a lot of things. One of our students mentioned Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I believe there's a resolution on the agenda tonight for the board.

055Also, October is National Principals Month. where we recognize the importance of our building leaders and from my own experience being a principal is one of the most difficult jobs there is but also has the ability to be one of the most extremely rewarding so if you see a principal send them a thank you principal is responsible for every single thing that goes on in their school and also responsible for setting the tone responsible for the culture of that building when you walk into a school and it feels good a lot of that has to do with the tone and the the culture supported by that building principal the high school counseling department has just hosted the first of two financial aid workshops this past Monday and there will be another one On October 26th information

056regarding that workshop will go out to parents of seniors and juniors. I now have a of my four children I have a junior in high school and learning about financial aid and things like that causes parents a lot of stress so please come in and find out all you can and we have an amazing guidance staff willing to help if anybody needs additional information. also high school will be hosting a virtual senior parent night on Monday October 17th and that information will also be sent out to seniors a couple other really cool things going on in the district school 8 held their annual PBSIS kickoff event similar to a pep rally representing the start of the new school year Each classroom teacher presented lessons on each location's specific expectation during the week leading up to

057the kickoff event. The care team ran the kickoff event, and the focus of the presentation was that all students understood the school aid expectations and what it means to show that you care. You're courteous, you act responsible, you're respectful, and you encourage kindness, which I think is pretty cool. School 11 is also off to an amazing start. They received state recognition from the New Jersey PBSIS team as a school of distinction for implementation fidelity of the PBSIS program. So congratulations to School 11. Another exciting thing is going on at School 14, where they are working in partnership with their HSA to bring therapy dogs into the school through an organization called Creature Comfort Pet Therapy. nothing excites kids more than when you bring a therapy dog into the classroom well the adults too the therapy

058dogs will visit first school 14's first grade classes our children will practice their reading by reading stories to the animals and the program will help school 14 students foster both a love for reading and a love for animals so a win-win students are really really enthusiastic about it finally tonight I'd like to give a hearty congratulations to one of our new teachers Miss Kassoy Marissa Kassoy at school 12 who published a book called principal for a day I have to admit I haven't read it yet but I'm looking forward to it and I just wanted to give her a shout out that's Miss Kassoy she had then I wrote an article about her on North Jersey comm so congratulations to you Ms. Kossoy, we're very, very proud of you. And really, finally, I'm not going

059to give a full referendum report tonight because we had a report last month, but please know that during the week of the 17th, date to be determined soon, we will have a ceremonial groundbreaking of the new field at Woodrow Wilson Middle School. We'll let you know as soon as we decide on that. Thank you, Mr. President. That completes my report. anyone have any questions for the superintendent on this report okay seeing none just in my report there are so many activities taking place in our schools not only with athletics with the arts and each individual school there is so much going on if you would kindly look at the information that is sent home to each parent regarding your individual school and then on the district's website under the peach jar section you'll see all

060the flyers that were submitted for all car washes all the Elias as you mentioned the discount card sale so many people are interested in supporting our students and we thank you for doing that and here you'll find most of that information there is just so many good things going on with so many of our different groups and we hope that you'll go out and support our kids wherever possible so thank you for in advance for that okay we'll move on to first reading of policy I don't see any we have board committee reports okay we'll start with technology Mr. Canova Technology Committee, we met October 4th. It was Mr. Smith, myself, Mr. Daley, and Mr. Paris. Administration, Dr. Robert Tozzi, Mr. Jungaro, Mr. Mountain. Meeting time was 4.04 to 5.35. Items of discussion. First one

061was referendum update. Wire is nearly completed at CHS, CCMS, and Woodrow Wilson Middle School. New cameras are being installed at CHS, and old cameras are being replaced. One issue was detected with a single model overheating, and those are now being swapped out. Finalized site plans for pre-K to 5 buildings are being reviewed, and orders will be placed soon. New clocks, strobes, and PA systems have been installed in a few locations, and preliminary tests are underway. Worldwide supply chain issues are delaying the delivery of a large number of network switches, but all other project work is on schedule. Item 2, new Chromebooks. 3,000 Chromebooks arrived in late August, and a large majority have been deployed to replace aging models. We have enough on reserve for new students and emergency replacements for the year. Commissioners proposed loaning

062mobile battery banks for students who forgot to charge. Mr. Mountain will pilot this with one school. Item 3, start strong assessment. Students' Chromebooks were updated with the newest version of the TestNav software. Start Strong assessments are now complete with little to no technology issues. Item 4, email signatures on staff email. The committee discussed the possibility of using a unified template or format for email signatures. Dr. Robert Tozzi and Mr. Mountain will explore options and will bring examples to future technology committee. Five, tracking devices for contractors. The committee discussed sign-in, sign-out procedures as well as the screening process for contractors during the referendum projects and if any technology could assist. Administration brought up some pros and cons for various scenarios. The larger conversation will be revisited and continued in upcoming security committee meetings. Item 6, call

063in at Board of Ed meetings. The committee discussed options to improve the call-in process for those wishing to speak virtually at the public participation section of the regular Board of Ed meetings. The main factor that was addressed was a large number of callers who joined the Zoom with no intention to speak. Administration will clarify the wording of the public notice to steer viewers towards the live stream and only steer those wishing to speak into the Zoom meeting. In addition, Zoom participants will be let in early and an announcement will be made to raise your hand if and when someone wishes to speak. Any questions? Any questions? Mr. President? Yes. I have a comment. Thank you to the committee for looking into my concerns about the tracking of the subcontractors, and I hope it goes to

064the next committee for some more thorough discussion. I appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Canova, a question for you. In regards to the process of what the technology is looking at, for these Zoom meetings. Can you explain a little further? So what would the process be? So I hit the link, I get in, what am I asked in order to understand if I'm here to watch or if I'm here to speak? So first of all, the communication has changed. I'm not sure if you read Dr. Robert Tozzi's email today to us. No, I didn't get a chance to. The communication has changed. It's very simplified. They're letting them know specifically to use link A if you want to watch, link B if you want to participate. And then it was decided that at this meeting because

065there was two options that were discussed one was being a Webex And the other one was being a breakout room as we discussed here at the last meeting But none of those options were something that was feasible tonight So we said as an intermediary step, which seemed to work pretty well, was we would let them in early for the meeting. Let's say the meeting starts at 7, you just let everyone in. And what they would do is they would raise hand if they wanted to speak. So there could be people there watching that didn't realize that they're just to watch, but the only time that they would be able to speak is if they raise their hand. So therefore, we know that they would want to speak in the meeting. Okay. So now in the

066communication of the email, if... There's the two links, correct? Then you have the verbiage. Is it going to be only in English? How is that going to be communicated to folks who, obviously, we have seen speak multiple languages? And that was discussed as well. The communication was in five languages. There you go. Okay. But the link doesn't get lost in the body of the language, in the body of the email, the communication, does it? You know I mean so if we do it in five languages then you have the link then you have a five language and you have a link does the link get lost in in in translation in terms of where it's it is I think it's like a user manual when you're putting something together and you go to the English

067portion and I just want to make sure we simplify things and not make things harder think we did good tonight yeah So all right. Thank you anyone else? Okay HSA miss Bessard The HSA committee was virtual. It started at 6.05. I'm going to read a combination of the two versions. Dr. Robitozzi introduced everyone and welcomed everyone back. Thanked everyone for being there. From the board was myself, Joe Canova was as a parent and a commissioner, Alan Paris and Jim Smith. He also apologized to CMS HSA because the meeting conflicted with their HSA meeting. The presidents all introduced themselves, that took about 17 minutes. Dr. Robituzzi introduced Paula Ragusa. When we had went back and forth, Dr. Robituzzi and myself, about what we wanted the agenda to be with, I gave him three suggestions. As a

068former HSA mom from five Woodrow Wilson and from the high school. I said it would be a nice way to talk to the presidents about how can the Board of Ed help increase membership on those levels. Also, what resources do they need from us and we can help them with. And what areas, where do you need help? And there was a lot of dialogue from back and forth. Ms. Cowan gave a really good suggestion, so I want to highlight it. She suggested at the next Board of Education meeting, take ten minutes to explain what each HSA does, why is it important. She also suggested providing information about the HSAs at staff development sessions so that they can stress the importance of an HSA. We went back and forth with a lot of different suggestions, so

069they have a really good basis on where to go from. So Dr. Robertazzi actually loved that idea about bringing the HSA to meetings to highlight what goes on in their schools. A lot of the community doesn't know the good that comes out of what a home and school does, and the reason why they have to raise all that money to give the extras that they don't get from the school district. So we want to show the positive of what the HSAs are doing. Maybe that will, in turn, bring more members in oh i want to get involved oh i want to help i didn't know they do that we're all busy right um Dr. Robertuzzi asked Paula Raguse to assist with this and the conversation just went viral. It was really good. It was a

070really good, healthy conversation. So the minutes aren't formal because it was more of a dialogue back and forth between everyone. The HSA presidents all shared their names and information in the chat, so now they can talk as a group, right? So we get them together, we bond them. Dr. Robertuzzi asked the veteran HSAs to give advice to the newer ones because we have one HSA that is really struggling to get off the ground. They need help. So all of a sudden the chat box went poof, it went wild, right? All the vets were giving out their information, doing a really nice job helping them with how to get off the ground and with help. So the purpose of the meeting was to bond the group. It was success, well in my eyes, and I thought

071you felt that way as well. And so did my fellow board members. School 14, they started talking from their school. Marlena Cowan suggested asking for assistance in a person that they don't have to respond in an email. Asked for a half hour and a person. Chrissy from school number two suggested an easy way to solicit volunteers to help. School nine, Joel Rosinetti, I always mess up their names, suggested that the HSAs create a group. with sign sign up genius so they're going to work on that too as well so we got a lot of ground covered in in a little bit of time in this meeting school five suggested um Signs for class parents, making the parents volunteer for a few events such as Trunk or Treat, Field Day, and expressing the potential volunteers exactly

072what they are going to do and explaining it to them. School 15, Dana Howard suggested to start small, don't feel obligated, build up from something small. Ms. Howard mentioned School 15 decided to have September, October, and November meetings in person and in the colder months go virtual. So everybody was getting some ideas from each other and it really kind of blossomed from there. Ms. Ragoza explained the whole PBSIS presentation. She explained the multi-tiered system. Every school is implementing PBSIS, positive behavior sports. We are district-wide implementers. Every student gets instruction around behavior expectations in order to promote the behavior you want to see. You teach, we teach, and behavior. Make connection with the staff members and give them their points. Encourage HSA parents to ask students. Why they received reward tickets, explain that some of the

073students may need secondary modifications and interventions. Pyramid models in SELA schools as well, reflecting on positive comments, the goals to increase community engagement, also if we work together. Now that we have partnered with the Clifton Public Libraries, we will get tickets and rewards and carry them into schools, teaching them expectations of what the library has, bringing them home. into home and school as well, offering partners with the HSA and PBSIS, suggested creating a folder of resources. And Dr. Robituzzi asked Ms. DeRosa and Ms. Ragusa to create a folder. Dr. Robituzzi polled the audience about holding in person versus remote, and the majority agreed to remote sessions to continue because It's amazing to watch these moms on these meetings because they're multitasking. Who's at a game? Who's at this? Who's at that? While they're in our

074meetings, they're multitasking, so they want to stay virtual. So we're going to honor their request. We had some comments. There was a comment we asked about the BMX bike show, about anti-bullying. And Dr. Obatazi could probably speak more on this if he wants to, and how the district is going to pay for this. presentation district wide. They were happy about that because it's one less thing that they have to fund and also as well. And then we talked about busing and we went into those in detail. Mariam from WMS HSA, she also has a secondary role at the high school. She suggested a global calendar for all schools so that meetings and events don't overlap. Someone suggested a Google Classroom calendar. Dr. Obutazi thanked everyone. I thanked them and we spoke a little bit. Mr.

075Paris did and so did Mr. Canova. We're going to try to do, Dr. Obutazi wants to do four year, aim for December, January, April, and June. And then the meeting ended about. 715 and there's a list of attendees and this will be available in the archives but it was a really good meeting it was a really good dialogue after or off to a great year thank you to administration and everyone that's helping and miss Ragusa and um mr. Rosa for helping and stepping up to the plate any questions okay thank you next we move unfinished business I see none all right next move on to education administration we're gonna do one and three through ten we're gonna do number two separate so number one and three through ten motion motion by mr. Abidrabo second by

076mr. Canova discussion seeing none roll call please mr. Abidrabo yes miss Bassford yes miss Beltran mr. Canova yes dr. Danny yes mr. Paris yes vice president Daley yes president Smith yes motion scary as we mentioned October being breast cancer awareness month port and resolution so mr. Abba Java would you read that it is my pleasure not thank you mr. president excuse me Whereas Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a worldwide annual campaign in October involving thousands of organizations to highlight the importance of breast cancer awareness, education, and research. And whereas a woman living in the U.S. has a 12.4% chance, sorry, 12.4%. or a 1 in 8 lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. And whereas the survival rate of women who have breast cancer is 98.1% when detected in the early stages can save

077lives. And whereas knowing the risk factors for breast cancer, which include age, weight, century, lifestyles, diet, family history, gender history, and dense breast tissue can aid in early detection. And whereas Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to unite all citizens in our community and the Clifton School District. to prevent breast cancer fatalities through increased education and regular screening. And whereas this October, we recognize breast cancer survivors, those currently battling the disease, friends and families of a diagnosed patient, and applaud the efforts of our medical professionals and researchers working to find a cure. And whereas there is still more progress needed in research, now therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education would like to pay tribute to those individuals and their families and friends. who have to struggle with the battle against

078breast cancer and recognize the more than 2.4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. Okay, can I have a motion on that, please? Motion. Second. Mr. Abadrabo, seconded by Mr. Canova. Okay, any discussion? Seeing none, roll call, please. Mr. Abadrabo. Yes, absolutely. Ms. Baskford. Yes. Mr. Canova. Yes. Dr. Danny. Yes. Mr. Paris. Yes. Vice President Daley. Yes. And President Smith. Yes. Motion carries. Okay, next we'll move on to personnel. we have p1 through p26 motion motion by mr. abu-dhabo second second by mr. Paris discussion seen on roll call please mr. abu-dhabo yes miss Passford yes mr. Canova yes dr. Danny yes mr. Paris yes but abstain on 12 vice president Daley yes president Smith yes Dr. Robitose we understand we have a newly appointed staff member here this evening Thank you Mr. Smith Mr.

079Rando was just appointed as a new supervisor in special services Very nice Your microphone's off. Your microphone's off. Oh, sorry. There you go. Should I do it all over again? Okay. We got you. In my 11 years as an educator here in Clifton, I've held a diverse range of roles. And as a result, I have been able to grow personally and professionally, specifically in special education. I've always been surrounded by amazing colleagues and administration here in Clifton, and that has made it very easy for me to take in a wealth of knowledge and to grow exponentially. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow in this new position. It will be an honor to work under the guidance of Ms. Rotolo and our amazing special education department and the rest of Clifton administration. It

080is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I accept this position as supervisor of special education. I thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. Thank you and have a good night. Congratulations. For Smith, Mr. Rando worked his way up the ranks. His first job in our school district was as a paraprofessional. Oh, nice. Excellent. He's done really, really well. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Congratulations. You have a great team to work with, a lot of great people and dedicated. So we know that you'll do great things. So thank you. Thank you again. All right. Next, we'll move on to finance and facilities. We have F1 through F5. Motion. Second. By Mr. Abadrabo, second by Ms. Bassford. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call, please. Mr. Abadrabbo yes with abstaining on list bill number two Ms.

081Bassford yes Mr. Canova yes Dr. Danny yes Mr. Paris yes Vice President Daley yes President Smith yes motions carried okay next we'll move on to board member comments okay so last meeting the board had agreed not to do comments so Mr. Awad is not here miss Beltran's not here miss Bassford hi good evening I'm glad to see all the trunk-a-treats on the agenda please remember when you're driving around the schools and the children are excited please be safe and go close oh if you're late you're late be late don't don't just go slow you'll get there Patience is a virtue a lot of people don't have anymore. So please, please watch the schools, just take it easy. Every morning I watch a TikTok from school night. It's about the caller number. It's great. I watch

082it. I love that TikTok because the secretary has a really hard job about which number caller she's picking up. But I get such joy out of that little TikTok. I have to tell you how you make me smile. Prayers to the residents, friends, and family down in Florida during this difficult time you're all going through. So we're going to continue to pray for you. Highest suicide rate in the entire world is in the LGBTQ plus community. And I personally feel that we need to do more. And anything that I can do, I'm learning to be a better ally. I am there for you. And it gets me upset when you see a student get up here twice now, not once, twice, and have to say what they have to say. So we need to come

083together as a board and figure out how we're going to support our students, giving them more knowledge, like she said. Ms. Popovich, I couldn't agree with you more about giving more information to our students. To see what you see and to see what you told us is really upsetting to me, knowing that these students are going around without support, living on their own, trying to raise a child on their own. You know, some of us never understand that because we've been blessed and privileged not to have to live through that. Homecoming game, I have to apologize. I cannot come. I have a Weimer wedding. And if anybody knows, that's my dad's side of the family, so I'm looking forward to that. We're going to be together with all my siblings. And it's a come together

084since we had a tragedy in our family, so we're all looking forward to that big, big get together. And so go Mustangs. I'll be there with you in spirit. I'll be watching from my phone as they cut the cake and they do what they need to do. But have a safe Halloween. Everybody go slow. Don't run across the street. That night, I dread when people go out driving, go to stores, just take it easy. Relax. You'll get there. Patience. Patience. So good luck and have a great game to the Mustangs. That's it. Okay, thank you. Next, Mr. Canova. All right, good evening everyone. First I want to give a congratulations to school nine. I love seeing kids in the meeting and sometimes you know we're here and we lose track of why we're here and

085that's why I love seeing the kids here because they you know that's what really excites you and you realize that that's the reason why we're here. We make a lot of these decisions we make because we want what's best for these children. So it's always great seeing them. Back to school nights, I did attend both school three and CCMS. Both were fabulous. Teachers are excellent. I felt like a kid again going from class to class inside of CCMS. Everything looks the same. Thank you to all our principals. We are a people business. So without the people that we have here, things would be different. And I think the dynamics of everything are great in our schools, and that's due to the principals and how they manage the school. That's due to the excellent staff and

086faculty that we hire. So all that clicks together, and that's what creates our district here. And you heard many people talk about how great back-to-school night was, and it was excellent. Breast cancer awareness, I do have a cousin that just went through some surgeries. She's doing well, finally, hopefully, rid of breast cancer. But, you know, thinking of her tonight. And the last thing I have is the HSAs. Now, we have a lot of events coming up. The one coming up now is for Trunk or Treat. But this is a time where you can help out your community. You can donate candy. You can donate volunteering time. You can participate in the event. And your children are always going to remember these events. So these are things that you want to be a part of. If

087you want to get out to the community, meet people, meet other parents, these are the places to do it. It creates a safe environment for kids to trick-or-treat, right? Everyone's all in the same area, you have fun all together, and then you go home and you reminisce about the day. So just make sure you're supporting your HSAs because they're using those funds later to enrich the education of your children. So we're putting them on field trips, they're bringing food into the schools and having fun days with the kids and things like that. So make sure you're supporting them. And that's all I have for tonight. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Dr. Dainey. Good evening. I just want to say congratulations to School 9, the PBSIS team. It's just so exciting to see the students, their

088smiling faces as a teacher. It's, you know, so exciting just to see how excited they are to be part of this and, you know, to see all the presentations. from all the schools and what a difference it makes. National Principals Month, as an educator I could definitely attest to what Dr. Robert Tozzi said that you know principals definitely set the climate but with that they have help of vice principals and assistant principals so you know thank you to them as well because you know it's not just one individual it's you know teamwork. Congratulations to Mr. Rando on his new position. And thank you to all the speakers. Miss Popovich, it was very interesting to hear you speak about the students and the pregnancies. And it was sad, but very enlightening. prayers to all those affected

089by Hurricane Ian and that's all for this evening thank you thank you Mr. Paris thank you Mr. Smith congratulations to the students of school 9 their video and the creativity shown was phenomenal Thank you to the speakers this evening, but especially the students that have come out. Congrats to Mr. Randow for his new position as supervisor of special ed. Also, congratulations to the principals, and thank you for all you do. You have quite an impact on students. I think all of us can probably think back and... Know quite a bit about their principles and how they impacted their school life and lastly just Concerning HSAs. I just encourage parents to be active in your HSA the HSA provides activities that Your students will remember forever. I still remember many of the things my my daughter

090did via HSA at school 13 and school number nine Get involved. They need your help. Thank you. Okay, thank you. And Vice President Daley? Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry. Mr. Abadrabo. Thank you, Mr. Daley, for letting him know. Thank you, President Smith. So I want to take a second to put two things in hand, which is the principal, celebrating principals this month and also school nine. Because I follow the school Facebooks, and I see videos that are posted by schools from my personal page. And I notice a culture of school nine, I think that Ms. Rossetti has done a phenomenal job going from four to nine and creating a great atmosphere and culture within school nine. My favorite parts, and I wish she was here because I keep wanting to tell her, is her theme songs,

091Thursdays. that she plays theme songs on the speaker and teachers have to call in like you know when you call Z100 who is which caller are you and it's always I think the seventh caller so she does she has done a phenomenal job and tonight's it's just a testament to the great things they've done within school nine so I applaud her for that and I applaud we have phenomenal principals she's Not just the only one but we have all our principals are phenomenal in this district. I'm glad he's still here, Elias, as a former mock trial alum. Great job, everything you guys do. I'm proud of what you guys are doing and keeping up in the tradition of what we've done through our district. And particularly congratulations on your citizens action swearing in as well

092with the city. That's a great job and I'm glad they have a student there from the district to discuss the needs for our city. My only concern with the calendar is, if I may, ahead of time. I understand that, Dr. Robert Tozzi, if we, let's say we have a class, we have school on a certain holiday, for somebody who grew up in this district and had to take off on a Muslim holiday, and I'll use myself as an example, I either sometimes had to make up homework, which is fine, doable, but what hurts the most is that when you have a test the next day and you have to take a half a day away from your family, instead of celebrating and having dinner with them, you're at home studying. And I think that takes

093the purpose away from taking a day off. So that's the one thing I ask you to keep in mind. It's not just for the Muslims. I'm talking about across the board because we should be caring, representing all our students from all backgrounds in our district. To Mr. Cohen, who was celebrated last game at halftime, congrats. I thought I haven't missed a football game. This man hasn't, I think, missed any sports or athletic event. And he does it with no ask for gratitude or thank you from anybody. So I definitely want to appreciate him and thank him. Besides being a board event member, and I asked Dr. Robert Tosi if I could talk about this. because there are unsung heroes in our district. And the past two weeks in my day-to-day job, I work with the

094homeless population. I'm not going to mention any students, but I have asked Dr. Robert Tosi if I could mention these two individuals who work in our district, Mr. Doctor and Ms. Tremble, who definitely have done some phenomenal jobs where I came across a student and referred him to the district and let Dr. Robert Tosi know. and was able, they were able, with help of Catholic Charities and other organizations and Father English to make sure that this family is taken care of from a counseling perspective, schooling perspective, housing perspective, and take them off the streets and give them some sort of, at least it's temporary housing, but has given them some sort of sanctuary place to live. And it's unsung heroes like that that don't come to the podium, like Mr. Doctor and Ms. Tremble, that

095they're not thanked. And I want to thank them, and I want to take the time right now to thank them from the bottom of my heart, because I saw their work in action. And it was a phenomenal thing that they've done. Mr. Randall, congratulations. And just if I may really quick, oh, I had on my last meeting for LGBTQ ally. Oh, there he is, Mr. Doctor, just talking about you. You know, I keep in mind about being an ally when they say they came for population A, I didn't say anything. They came for population B, I didn't say anything, and so on and so on. When they came for me, nobody stood up for me. And we need to. We need to speak and say something when there's injustice, when there's not justice, injustice, excuse

096me, and when things are being said. And an action item is being done wrong towards any population, any peoples, any students, any representation, any community. And we need to stand up and say, no, what you're saying is wrong. What you're doing is wrong. Because at the end of the day, the way I live my life is I am no better than any other individual. It's God who actually will say what I've done wrong. No human being is better than another. And we all have to live our lives the way we can. Other than that, thank you. Mr. Daly. Thank you, Mr. President. Just a couple of quick items. Mr. Rando, again, congratulations. It's always good to hear, especially when we're able to hire from within. experienced the Clifton district and have moved on to additional

097responsibilities and contributions to the district so congratulations on your promotion again PB SIS is terrific program I think we all enjoy looking at it and some some people may think it's repetition but it's really not it shows an ongoing commitment of the district to this type of service and education and betterment of our students so I always look forward to the presentations from whatever school has it for that particular month And lastly, on the calendar, I have a general comment. You know, I always believe as a board member or anybody in public life, you need to spend more time listening than talking, and I'm a big advocate of that. As people say, why don't you say something? No, I'm here to absorb it and make decisions. But on the calendar in general, and I've shared

098this with Dr. Robitose, We have a very diverse and large district, and it's important that we understand all aspects of that. And my general comment is that we need to do a little bit better in terms of whatever holiday it is or whatever religious holiday it is to explain to the students in the school. So I think it's more times better to have the student in school rather than sitting home and not knowing. what even they're sitting home for other than to have a day off, but to give a little treatise, if you will, maybe 15 minutes, half hour in the school about what that day means. And we're here for education. And I think that type of thing adds to the education and the students get exposed to different things they might not be

099aware of or heard of before. So I would always advocate, I'm not advocating for a lot of holidays. I think it's a little bit out of hand, to be very honest with you. But I think the other aspect is that we need to look into doing a little bit better job about educating the students exactly what the holiday is about, both good and bad, and whatever cultural things also take place. So that's my general comment on the calendar. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. To our student rep, Tiffany, tonight, we always appreciate when the students can come and give us their perspective of what is taking place. They're the ones that were the reason that we're here. They're the reason that this board operates and it's students that can come forward and give the board

100their vision, their ideas, some of which the board can implement, some we can't, but we're always here to listen to them. And Elias, I always give you credit for how well spoken you always are. how you're one of the last ones to leave here. So we thank you for all that you bring to the board as well. Breast cancer awareness, I think it's tremendously important to keep... bringing awareness to hopefully one day to have a cure for it. I know many of us have loved ones in our lives that have either been affected or afflicted with this horrible disease and to continue to make others aware of it is so very important. So I thank Dr. Robitose and administration for Clifton for making sure that we do not forget. So I thank you for that

101resolution. Ms. Lallama comes up and speaks every meeting about how we have the best teachers. And, you know, you don't have to believe what she says. And sometimes board members are, you know, we like to put our teachers up on that pedestal because we firmly believe that we do have the best teachers. But if you could have just seen tonight with all those students here to receive their awards and see how well-spoken they were, how polite they were, how each of them thanked me for their award, that is a tremendous credit, not only to their parents who raised them, but for the teachers that teach them every single day and if you had any doubts that we were just Miss Lama and myself and other board members were just you know always saying that we

102have the best teachers that shows you right there that we do and do other districts have good teachers I'm not I'm not saying that they don't but in Clifton we have the very best they prove it every such day and prove it to us when they bring their students here and show us so miss llama please continue to advocate to your group that they're doing a great job for our kids we appreciate what they do and I truly still believe that we have the best teachers, if not in the state, if not in the country. So please keep it up. And I wanted to showcase this at some point, and I usually try and do it at the end of the year, and I had forgotten to do it. But you know what we have

103some very dedicated students that are here on board nights sometimes very late That make sure that the cameras are working and the sounds are working and everything that get out to each of you at home so If he could come out here, I hate to put him on the spot, but Mr. McCunney and Mr. Mecca, if you're back there, if you could come out. I just think the public should see the people behind this and the great cast program that you have. Come on out and let the public see you, please. Come on in front of the camera. To your kids and to the great program that you run. I can't tell you year after year how these students, and you heard Samantha Basford before talk about her great memories of the CAST program. It

104truly is a rewarding program, and we thank you and Mr. Mecca for all your leadership and guidance that you give to these kids. And for all the students that come out, guys, are you part of the CAST program? Come up here. come on up here come on up and they're the blood sweating tears and the two guys behind the camera come up here so everyone can see it they'll they'll be okay for a couple of minutes um i um i know i know i'm kind of putting you on the spot but i know i speak as my my fellow board members speak how truly thankful we are for this wonderful program and under your leadership mr mcconnie and mr mekhov If you don't know, Mr. Mecca has been the spearheaded person to livestream all of

105our sporting events. And we thank him for taking that. And what amazes me, and Vinny's the only one that I know, but college kids, Vinny who goes to, is a graduate of ours, who goes to Montclair State, and comes back and works with the program and helps bring that program. So that has to say that we're doing something pretty good here in Clifton. So again. you know i'm prejudiced here but i i you know i think we have the the best cast program go and i just wanted to on behalf of myself and i'm sure all my board members to thank each of you for all that you do for this we really appreciate it Go ahead, please. If I could, just a shout-out to our newest addition to the CAST instruction program is Joanna

106Huster. And Joanna graduated from Clifton High School back in, I want to say, 16, 17, went to Montclair, and now came back as our instructor for CAST 1 in communication, and she's a great addition to the team. And she came through the CAST program all three years, and she was brilliant. we couldn't have picked a better instructor to join the program. So I just wanted to give her a shout out. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Like I said, I usually do this at the end of the year, and I had forgotten it in June. So I didn't want to forget it again. It was in my notes. So again, thank you all for all that you do. We really, really do appreciate it. And I'm sure all of you at home are very appreciative, because

107without them, this doesn't get broadcast at home. Thank you, guys. Thank you again. Real quick. Mr. Abidjabal, you mentioned Mr. Cohen. Mr. Steve Cohen, who has dedicated his time, his effort. He's not a professional photographer. He does this as a hobby. And many years ago, he started to come to some of our sporting events and started taking pictures, and everyone enjoyed it, and he shares the pictures with so many groups. And you mostly see him at football and soccer games. And he had spoken to me some time ago that he was getting up there in age and slowing down and didn't know how much longer he could do this. So I had asked, you know, as many of us did, to ask Dr. Robitose if we could thank him and honor him in some way

108for all that he has dedicated and donated to Clifton. And we did that at the last football game at halftime. And, you know, he was so thankful and so grateful to us. He was not looking for anything like that. he definitely told me that this football season will be his last so we truly do thank him for it so if you see a gentleman on the sidelines mostly again of soccer and football but he does many other events that is Mr. Steve Cohen who donates his time to take pictures for our district so we're greatly thankful for that We talk about sporting events all the time. We talk about our activities we have with our cheerleaders and their competitions. And sometimes we, like tonight, Elias mentioned his mock trial. And another thing that is happening

109on October 29th is the robotics competition. And if you have not seen a robotics competition, last year I went to the event. I could not believe what went on in the robotics area on how gifted our students are and the time and effort that our teachers specifically I forget her last name, the robotics instructor. Mr. Torrey for the time and effort that she puts in to this to this program is is just phenomenal so I ask any of you if you're available on the 29th to go to Clifton High School we're hosting the robotics competition and see what is involved in this I truly was amazed and so proud of our students that put this all together with the help of their great instructors so please if you can go out and do that and

110last thing I have it's always hard for for us to say goodbye but we're not actually saying goodbye we're just saying we'll see in a little while that one of our dedicated people in the district former vice principal in our high school and now head of our of our security team is going to be, tomorrow will be her last day, and she's going to be going out on maternity leave to have her baby. And we're truly going to miss you, and we wish you all the best in your... in your last few weeks of your pregnancy and we know everything's going to go great and that you'll be back to us as soon as you can to do the great thing. So I just wanted to wish you all the best from the district. Okay,

111we're now going to move on to new business. Is there any new business? Seeing none, if you actually believe this. We have no executive session, so I'll take a motion to close by Mr. Albedrabo. We have a security thing. We do? Yeah. You emailed us. Oh, I'm sorry. I did email the board to want to speak about a student issue. At this point in time, I think I can cover it with an email. And if anybody has any questions, you can call me personally. But I think I'll send everybody out an email tomorrow not to waste anybody's time. Okay, so again motion to close by mr. Robert Jabo second by mr. Canova any objection Meeting adjourned. Thank you