001Welcome to the Egg Harbor Township Board of Education regular meeting for July 2025. I call the meeting to order. Mr. Smith, please read the open public meeting statement. On Wednesday, June 8, 2025, notice of this meeting was emailed to the press and the Mainland Journal. Notice was also delivered that day to the Egg Harbor Township Clerk and posted on the Bulletin Board in Township Hall. Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Here. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Here. Mr. Ireland. Here. Mr. Price. Here. Mr. Sepe. Here. Mrs. Sullivan. Mrs. Sloggy. Here. Ms. Hyman. Here. And Mr. Delbarco. Here. May we all rise for the flag salute. And after the flag salute, may we have a moment of silence for Warren Young, a former student of Ed Carpenter Township High School who passed away recently. For Katherine Gillingham, a retired bus
002driver who worked with us for 17 years. For a former student who graduated in 2021, Christopher Daniel Rodriguez. And for our rising freshmen, Walter Jack John Sullivan. Ready? Salute. 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 very much. May I have a motion for approve the minutes from 4.1 through 4.3? So made. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Seffi? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Sloggy? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. And Mr. Delbar? Yes. At this time, we have our superintendent's report. Dr. Gruccio, please. Good evening and happy summer. uh halfway through or more than halfway through july and
003a lot going on in central office so each month i share with the board um things that are going on in the school district centered around the district learning goals we don't have a district learning goals as of yet so i'll just give you a little summary of what's going on district-wide as i speak so yummy there we go so everything we do is wrapped around the embrace engage educate that is our mission statement and it's a very very important mission statement new hire sitting here in the audience that I met with know how important that is to me teachers and staff administrators know how important the embrace engage educate is through our school district so just quick recap the class of 2025 we're very very proud we graduated 576 graduates from a carver township
004high school 17.6 million dollars in scholarships And we have students attending four-year, two-year vocational and technical schools, the military, and out in the job field. So we're very, very proud of those students. It was a hot but lovely night. We changed the time from a 5 o'clock start to a 7 o'clock start, and we think we're on to something. So things went well. Big thank you to... project graduation committee that extended the night and fun for our graduates and things all worked out there. Thank you to the volunteers who gave their time. There was staff, faculty and staff, as well as community members and parents. It was a great night for all, and that's what makes our school district a great school district. So what's going on right now? In the district, you'll see a
005video in about five minutes, the Aspire program's going on with their summer camp. We have athletic practices already starting for our fall season. Professional development opportunities for our administrative staff. I know the assistant superintendents went to a behavioral training last week up in Newark. So we're continually, we are lifelong learners, and we want to learn about new and different things that we can bring here to our school district. Our extended school year program is in play for our special education program, our talent program, aviation, culinary, young engineers, JRTC, and our summer athletic camps all happening over at the high school. There is action and there is education going on. There's meetings and collaborations going on, intervention referral services. We're looking at MTSS, how we can improve those programs, special education. We've already met various times
006with our principals, our directors, our supervisors. them abreast to looking at data, looking at performance last year, moving on to next year. And I stood in this room and said, if you do what you always do, you're going to get what you always got, right? So we're in a state of crazy. You keep doing the same thing, you're going to get the same thing, right? I see some smiles there. You know what I'm talking about. So some things need to change, and those expectations have been outlined for the change. You're going to see more data digs, data dives, as I call them. the supervisors will oversee those data. How we create the data, how we analyze the data, how we share the data. So that's going to be a big thing. The board will see
007more of those results. We had assistant principal meetings. I think there's one coming up next week. The assistant principals have been working hard on revising handbooks that are more user-friendly, that are age-appropriate, and that are addressing the behaviors we're seeing now in the schools. Central office has met and our security Mr. Page has been working hard on trainings for securities a couple that are coming up in the next couple weeks and one next month. So this is a time where we reflect and we look at where we need to improve and we go right at it. We have those collaborations and we put those trainings or changes in place. In our facility department, we have a third director today. He updated us that the high school, Swift Slaball, has HVAC projects going on. We have
008chiller replacements going on at Alder and Fernwood. New IT office is being constructed at Fernwood Avenue Middle School. work on the Fernwood roof. Our high school has a new security vestibule stripping and waxing in the cleanings going on amongst the custodians and staff. They're doing a great job with that. And there's multiple additional projects going on throughout the school district. So if you're driving by and you see a crane or you see some trucks or you see a couple businesses around. We are tending to the needs of our buildings, and we talked about that our buildings are aging, and there are certain things that have to be addressed for the comfort of the students and the staff. Plans on the work, what I'm working on with my staff right now, we know we have NJ
009CUSAC coming up. We have a visit from the county office that will be next week. It doesn't have to do with CUSAC, but it has to do with they want to take a look at the Acarver Township School District. Take a walk around. But we're going to ask. We're going through QSAC. What is going to be your focus? What are you going to be a focus schools? What are you looking at? So we can begin planning more deeply with that. Facility upgrades. We've had discussions. Mr. Smith is leading that charge. Looking at areas that need upgrades. Looking at plans. Working with the architect to see what some of those plans would look like. How we can tweak them. That's all for the referendum that you'll hear more and more about as we move throughout this
010new school year. My staff is working on opening week, what we're going to do in those three or four days for staff and how we're going to welcome back our students. We work with our principals and our assistant principals and directors on the plan, and we'll all come together and we'll share more out in August. Communication, this is an area we know we have to improve on, and that came to us. during the strategic planning process. And when I stood in front of the community then, I said, wait a second, what do you mean communication? We're communicating about everything all the time. They said, that's the problem. There's too many different resources. There's Facebook, there's social media, there's different apps that teachers use. Excuse me. Is there something where we can bring it all together?
011Yes, there is. It's called Parent Square. And we are looking on how to bring that on board where all our communications will come out from one resource for parents and for staff. The staff use it as well. And we have to train our staff. So that's going to begin in September. And we're going to roll that out throughout the year. So we responded to the public, responded to the strategic plan piece already. Transportation, bus passes will be out on August 11th for the high school. August 18th for Pre-K to 8. So I know parents are always looking. There's always people asking. You got that information. If I had Parent Square up and running, we'd put it in there. All right? So that's how those things will work. Also, another plan is SOAR. You know that
012initiative that we've worked on? the past year. We're going to really work to bring that concept onto the buses. We talked to the director this morning how we're going to roll that out, bringing parents into the circle as well and assisting us with... appropriate and acceptable behavior on our buses. That's where it starts as the kids get dropped off and come into school. So we want to make sure that everybody's part of the plan where we're assisting students with appropriate behavior. And in food services, I'm putting a pitch out there now. Free and reduced lunch applications are going to be available. Please fill them out. Please spread the word. It's important. Those applications are being filled out. We got to taste out our first taste of food from our new food director, and great job
013if you're watching. Very, very tasty this evening. We appreciate that. And he has great ideas, great ideas for the food services. I knew that was going to happen. The food services department, he'll be working with our career tech department as well. Always looking to improve. So continued planning, I did mention the county visit. So the board knows, and we discussed moving on when we get to the place where we develop the district learning goals. But our focus this year is really improving student achievement. And yes, it was a goal last year. But again, doing the same thing we always did isn't going to make change, and we see that, so we have to make changes. With the settlement of the contract, we have... We received one more staff professional development day for professional learning. So
014that will be put in place, but we're already planning what's going to go on during those days throughout the year. And we have professional learning communities that we now call professional learning teams, and those teams focus. when they meet and on our professional learning days on teaching and assessment, content and curriculum, behavior and life skills, and data-driven support. So those teams will be broken down into these areas. Teachers will get to select which area they want to have professional development on and they will come together to address these content areas or these areas each and every month. We do have a calendar change, and that's on the board agenda. From March 5th, 6th, we had a half day and a day off. We had to move to March 2nd and 3rd, day off and a
015half day, so that Dr. Luis Cruz can be brought back to the district. He's through Solution Tree. He kicked off. Actually, he was in our March. He attended our March Professional Learning Day last year. It has to do with training on professional learning teams and how to increase student achievement. So he will be here. to work with our staff and he's hard to get. We could have him here next week. We tried. We tried for September. We tried for November. But he's a hot commodity and he's able to get here in March. So we're very excited about that. We're also planning about our... on items of our discipline approaches and strategies to assist with classroom management. Our supervisors, as I stated before, are overseeing data collection and analysis, and they'll be working in the professional
016learning teams, and there'll be a focus on literacy across the curriculum. So when I say that... When you think about literacy, you're saying, oh, it's in the English classes, it's in the math class, it's in the history class. It's going to be in all classes, all the way down to phys ed class. It takes a village. It takes all of us to assist these students with reading and understanding and improving their literacy. So it's going to happen in phys ed, health, in CTE. Reading is important. Our scores need to improve. So again for the board these are some these are the items where we're going to develop those goals around and I'm sure I'll come up with more after I wake up Here's your visual this gives you a recap what was going on at
017the end of June Thank you, Mr. Vargas, again, for capturing what goes on in our school district. As you can see, there's many, many opportunities for students, and we're very, very proud of that. There's a lot of moving parts and pieces in a huge district like this, but to be able to have things going 12 months a year, all for kids. is a huge huge accomplishment we never shut down and we're very very proud of that so thank you for listening and now we're going to have our state assessment results presented to you by assistant superintendent lilly moss thank you Okay, so tonight I am going to report out on our access results, which is for our multilingual learners, and the NJ GPA, which is the graduation assessment that our 11th grade students take. We
018have not received our scores for the NJ SLA yet, so that presentation probably will not be until September, I was told. So the ACCESS tests and the NJGPA were taken in February and March, which is why we have the results already now. And I'm going to present to you on first on the ACCESS. So the WIDA standards are what our ML students and teachers use to assess how our students are acquiring the English language. The areas are listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The assessment is really individualized so that we are able to look at what our students needs are, how they are growing year to year. So unlike our other state assessments where we're looking at those norms or comparisons amongst students with their peers, this is truly an individualized assessment to see how our
019students are progressing individually and what supports they need. Obviously, we look at our results as a whole to help us to make sure that we have the programs and resources that help our students achieve. But again, the focus really is on each individual student and their different needs in the classroom. So as I mentioned, they are scored in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. And the proficiency levels go from one to six. A 4.5 or greater on the overall is considered proficient. And this is part of the qualification process to determine whether or not our students need services within our buildings. These are just the descriptors for proficiency, just for knowledge. It's included so that you are aware of what the criteria is for our students as they're learning to speak and listen and read and
020write English. So some of the things that we have in place in our district, we have our pull-out classes at the middle school level. In addition to that, the students have ML Win, where they're able to go and get support from the ML teacher, as well as in the high school, we have that for study hall. We have after-school programs that are run through our Title III federal grant for students to receive extra assistance. We have Lexia English, which is an online platform which students can work on individually that helps them in their own individual pathway. So students take a diagnostic test, and then they're able to continue to learn skills even when they're not directly receiving services from a teacher. We obviously have our PLCs where our teachers talk about student data and information
021and really look at our resources to make sure that they're fitting the students that we have in front of us right now. So here's how our district average was across the board. As you can see that our students are, you know, really making headway and acquiring the necessary skills to test out. If you remember, I said that's a 4.5 and our district average for listening is 4.3. Reading is 3.3, speaking 3.1 and writing 3.2. Here you can see our students that are scoring proficient. Our numbers are usually well above our target score that we're given from the state. So every year on our school report card, we receive a score based on how many students we have, their time in the country, in the district, and then we get that target school score. And as
022you can see, our district is our, you know, the target score in 22-23 was 27%. We were at 43, 22, and 24. So we plan on being you know, around that same marker for this school year. Okay, so now I'm moving into NJGPA, which is our graduation requirement. If students do not pass this assessment, they have multiple pathways that they can use to fulfill the graduation requirement. The PSAT scores count, SAT, we also have the portfolio process where we can work with students if they do not meet the criteria of this assessment. However, as Dr. Gruccio said, We know if we keep doing the same things we've always done, we're going to keep getting the same results. So I've stood up here three years in a row talking about these results, that they are not
023where we want them to be. This school year, we've really put a lot of work and effort into taking our time and committees. working with teachers, working with administration to look at where are our deficits and how do we fill those in. We had teachers that went through intensive training, rewriting curriculum. We analyzed our resources. So I did not expect our scores to see a big jump this year, but the work that was done last school year that we are going to be implementing next school year is where we hope to see that implementation of change. So if you look at our scores, So the test is for our 11th grade students. It's ELA and math. It was first given in 2022 after we returned from COVID. And so there's been three solid years of
024this assessment now. They are scaled scores. So again, these are that comparison from student to student. A 725 through 850 is graduation ready. Anything below those scores would have to be fulfilled through a different way. So one of those pathways that I mentioned before. So some things that we did this school year to try and see why our scores are not where we want them to be. We started to really look at our curriculum and what we are determining as essential learning for our students. And then comparing that with what we're seeing from the state assessments. We instituted a universal screener at the high school for the first time. where all of our high school students took a universal screener so we were able to see where they were testing in the areas of ELA
025and math. We had our English lab and we had our second year of co-teachers in algebra and geometry. We had a lot of professional development with math. We had teacher coaching and ELA. We started to really evaluate our programs in special education and ensure that we were implementing all research-based programs and looking at how that was compared to the results on the state assessment. And we're continuing to hone our NJTSS process and INRS. We have our building interventionists at the high school who's working with our teacher teams in the content areas to look at these areas of literacy and math and how we can all support each other in ensuring that we are working on writing goals, working on reading, vocabulary. Again, looking at the assessment and the data to tell us where these holes
026are and then how we work towards building capacity for our students. So here we had our scores for the 24-25. We had 530 students who took the assessment. And we had 24.8% of our students who did not meet the requirement or who were level one. We had 75%. that were level two. That is a decrease in our points from the year before, but we are looking at, again, wasn't expecting those grounds to be made this past school year, but hopefully we're moving in the right direction of getting our students graduation ready. Here it is broken into our subgroup breakdown. Again, this just gives us a little more information on our resources, on our trainings, and where our students seem to be have needs. Here we are with math. We had 48% of our students not
027yet graduation ready and 51% who were. Again, it's down 6.8 points. It's not that statistically different from the year before, but we're working to ensure that we're honing in on those skills that are missed. Here is the subgroup breakdown for math. So as I mentioned, we did a lot of work last school year to kind of set the groundwork for where we are today. And the implementation for 25 and 26 is to put those interventions and supports into place. As Dr. Grucio mentioned, we've already met with our administration. Each, they are all diving into the data. We're working on these data dives to really identify and make sure that... What we are providing in our curriculum, what we are measuring with our assessments is aligning to the state expectations and that we are preparing our
028students for what they need to be successful beyond high school. So we have program and intervention resources that are going to change for what was traditionally called the writing lab. We are now calling ELA seminar because that will be consistent K-12 now. We also are going to have a teaching and assessing focus in our PLCs. Our math and English supervisors have already been working with groups to start building those tier two resources. So for students who are not grasping that tier one, that whole group instruction the first time, providing the resources to help us reteach those skills to students in different ways in small groups. We are going to really hone in on the common assessments and data analysis of those common assessments to see where the breakdown happens when our students aren't achieving. We're
029going to have a strong focus on writing across the content areas and grade levels, tier two resources and plans. We have the new talent time at the high school, which will allow for more of that tier two intervention to happen and students to get more small group assistance and individualized assistance from teachers. And then we're going to continue with that universal screener that we started last year to really help us look at how our students are growing in comparison to those local assessments and what we receive from the state this school year. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Board members, any questions? I do. Go ahead. Thank you. Mr. Price, I have a question. This assessment, the testing that we're using, we used to use different companies like PARC testing. There were different groups
030and organizations that did testing. Which one are we using now and how long have we been using this format? So the PARC, the NJGPA, this is all the state assessment. So we don't choose this assessment. It's what the state. puts out so the park assessment became the njsla um and then after covid in 2022 we still have the njsla but they reinstated a grade 11 graduation test so when um i don't even know how long ago that is now maybe in 2015 2016 students used to have to take a test in 11th grade It was called the HESPA. It was the high school proficiency assessment. And that's how we, and that was it. Like they tested in eighth grade and then not again until 11th. Then the state had students testing every year from grades
031three to 11. And then the year after COVID, we didn't have those state assessments. And then they started to slowly bring them back and they reinstated this graduation proficiency assessment in 2022, specifically for 11th graders. Okay, because we all know not everybody is the best test takers. I mean, it's not all about testing summer Some could be great students. They just aren't really good test takers and it's a shame that there's a lot of weight that's put on Just what the tests show Amen to that we agree We agree with you on that however, there are certain the the merits to these assessments are some of those basic skills that we know our students are going to need no matter what they choose to do post-graduation. So whether they're going into career, the military, two-year
032school, four-year school, whatever it is that they're looking to do, there are those levels that we want to make sure our students have those really strong foundations in literacy and math so that they can be successful in whatever path they choose after they leave us. So essentially we're educating them. We're also educating to prepare. to take a test to learn how to be better test takers. I think you're going to hear some, there's two sides to that, right? So I would say yes, but also the genesis of these assessments was that they truly aligned to the standards of teaching. So it used to be that you took that. you know, the HESPA, I can't remember the old ask, you know, these tests where they ask kids to like make up stories and do all these
033things that had nothing really to do necessarily with standards, where now these assessments are tied deeply to the standards that we use every day in our classrooms to teach. So in theory, these assessments should mirror what we're teaching. Now, this is a debate as old as time. I understand. But that is the thought process of these types of assessments is that they truly are a normed measure that's looking at all the kids across the state of New Jersey who are being taught the same standards. Gotcha. Okay. Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. Excellent presentation, and thank you for answering my question. Thank you, Mr. Price. Anybody else on the board? All right. Thank you, Ms. Moss, and thank you, Dr. Buccio. Yeah, I just want to reiterate again, as you see, we're already digging
034into this information, and then from there, you know, goals will be developed as we zero in, and I share with the board in August. Now I'll bore you with the public statement for public comment for agenda items only. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents. This meeting will now be open to public comments, three minutes per person, on agenda items only. If your questions pertain to litigation, student or personnel items, please see the superintendent after the meeting as the board does not discuss these matters in public. Depending on the nature and complexity of your questions, the board secretary may ask for your contact information so that someone can get back to you with a response. As a reminder, this is a public meeting and all comments should be appropriate for a public
035setting and made in a respectful manner. Please come up to the podium and state your full name and address if you would like to address the board on agenda items only. Don't all run up at the same time. Thank you. I'm moving on to finance and operations. Mr. Smith, any updates? There were several questions that came in, so we sent those answers out earlier today. If anyone has any additional questions, you can take them now. Thank you. We need a motion to approve finance item 7.1. Motion, Ireland. Second, Byers. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. This is Gilbert Floyd. Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Sloggy? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. And Mr. Delabarre? Yes. I need a motion, please, to approve Finance Item 7.2 through
0367.28. Motion. Hyman? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price. To everything except for 7.2 PO numbers 500327, 501151, 504317, and 504532, which I'll abstain. And then number 7.18, yes, but abstain to D and E listed. Mr. Price. Mr. Price, yes. Mr. Sepe. Yes. Mrs. Sullivan. Mrs. Sloggy? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. Mr. Delabarre? Yes. Under area of curriculum, Ms. Moss, any updates? I need a motion to approve curriculum item 8.1. Mr. Price, I'll make that motion. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Sloggy? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. Mr. Delbarca? Yes. Under area of policy, Mr. West, any updates? I don't have any updates, Mr. Delbarca. Thank you. May
037I have a motion for policy item 9.1? Motion. So made. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Szilagyi? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. Mr. Delbarco? Yes. Under the area personnel, Dr. Charlton, do you have any updates for us? Mr. Delbarco, just a reminder that Tuesday, August 5th is National Night Out. So if anyone in the community is interested in working for the district, even in a full-time, a part-time, or substitute capacity, please stop by and see us. Thank you. I need a motion, please, for item 10.2 through 10.9. Motion. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Sloggy? Yes. Ms. Hyman?
038Yes. Mr. Dahlbark? Yes. And Dr. Grucio, would you like to introduce and welcome our new hire? Sure. I have the pleasure to introduce to our school community new employees for their first time as an Egg Harbor Township School District employee. And I will begin with second grade teacher, Swift Slateball Complex, Amber Lute. Please stand and wave. ELA teacher, Alder Avenue Middle School, Gabrielle Shockley. Secretary of the Swift Slay Ball Complex, Ms. Ashley Santoro. Is she here? Okay. And welcome back to Natalie Moore, Secretary of Davenport Complex. District level positions of Transportation Supervisor, Mr. Charles Oglesby. And no stranger to the transportation game, Mr. John Auer, transportation supervisor. Congratulations to everyone and welcome. Thank you for sitting through our first portion of the board meeting. It gives you an idea of what's going on in the
039district and what we're all about. But I think it's time for you to celebrate. So if you would like to depart and continue your night with your family and, you know, celebrate, feel free to do so. We will not be offended. But if you'd like to stay with us, then... Settle in. Thank you for coming. Welcome and congratulations to each of you. All right, moving on at this time, the public hearing on the superintendent's contract. Mrs. Amy Elko, please. Yes, the... State of New Jersey enacted Public Law 2007 Chapter 53, which requires New Jersey school boards to provide public notice at least 30 days prior to the scheduled action by the board to renegotiate, extend, amend, or otherwise alter the terms of a superintendent's contract, and provide notice of a public hearing on the action
040with at least 10 days notice of the public hearing. This notice was provided as required. However, before we open to the public hearing, it's important to understand the background and responsibilities of the position involved. Dr. Gruccio is the district superintendent that oversees our district. She oversees the administration and coordination of the district's educational and extracurricular programs and assists in interpreting the program's philosophy and policies of the district to staff, students, and the community. Dr. Gruccio ensures a continuous professional development program for our faculty, staff, and administration in order to meet state and federal mandates, the curriculum requirements, and the high-quality professional standards expected by the Board of Education. Dr. Gruccio has spent 38 years working in education and has been an administrator for 25 years. She serves on state and county committees. The Board of
041Education has Dr. Gruccio's rescission on her old contract and entering into her new contract on the agenda tonight. But prior to the vote, the Board must conduct a public hearing on the contract. This is a public hearing and the Board will open up the meeting to accept comments specifically regarding the position and the contract. Please let the record reflect that the hearing has been open for the public. Any public would like to comment? Seeing none, may I have a motion? Motion. For 11.1, 11.2. Second. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Slogge? Yes. Mrs. Hyman? Yes. And Mr. Delbar? Yes. Under new business, may I have a motion for items 12.1 through 12.3? Second. Any discussion? Mrs.
042Sullivan did. Marie is with us from Florida. May I have a roll call, please? Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Slogge? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. And Mr. Delbarco? Yes. And I'm going to ask Dr. Gruccio if she would like to make a comment. First of all, I want to say thank you very much. I am humbled and grateful for your support and for opening a contract, starting a new contract. milestone birthday tomorrow and It it makes you think about where you could be and where you should be but after being away for a few days on vacation where I was supposed to relax I realized that There's still energy in me. Couldn't wait to get back to work today because the challenges
043that are in front of us are something that I want to be a part of tackling. So, again, I appreciate your support, and I will continue to work 110% for this school district. I love this school district. It is home for me, and I care about everybody. board, from the board level to the students. And I think we have a great thing going here. And the old coach in me says, you know, we're going to win. And we've got to keep on doing well. And we've got to strive for the best we can be. And we're going to continue to do that. And I still want to be a part of that. So, again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate you. And Mike, on behalf of the board, my congratulations to
044Dr. Gruccio. We're so happy that you're going to continue your time with us. And before I forget, happy birthday to Dr. Gruccio also from all of us. Go ahead, Mr. Byers. Ms. Sullivan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I neglected to abstain on your contract, Kim, due to a conflict. Public hearing. Again, I'm not going to read that whole statement. Anyone would like to address the board? If anyone would like to address the board at this time, this is the time for any item of interest. Seeing none, thank you. Under new business, I need a new business motion for 12.1 through 12.3. Mr. Price, I'll make that motion. Second. Any discussion? Yes. Go ahead, please. Mrs. Szilagyi. The virtual and remote instruction. I don't think that it's really conductive in having virtual when you have to be
045home for three days before you can use that. One of the reasons that we don't have school on election day is because there's strangers in the building. If we had a virtual day, they could still get out a day earlier or even three days earlier if they didn't have the whole week off. So I guess I'm just expressing. My objection to having to be home for three days before you can have a virtual day. I think your concern will be under consideration. All right. Go ahead. It is a state law, and that's what kind of ties our hands. As superintendents, when we were going through, even before COVID, we had come up with the idea, and there were ears. They listened, and then we went, as we know, the COVID process, we're like, oh, kids
046worked at home, and they got this. We could do this in the state. listened and said yeah they can but you have to be out for three days for an emergency a state emergency so i don't like snow you know that but i have yet to see in my 30 some years 10 feet of snow where schools have been closed for three full days and then you know i just had to express my no and you should um but it is is it is difficult to wrap your head around where it says yeah the state says you can do it but you know the parochial schools private schools They don't fall under that. Mr. Arlen? We always have the opportunity to do a board resolution to tell the state what we don't like and what
047we like. So we can, as a board, come together and say this is what we would like. State, hear us or don't hear us. So that's still an opportunity as a board. And Mr. Price, I have a comment. Go ahead, Mr. Price. You probably remember I did bring that up a few months ago. And you did clarify it. It doesn't mean I agreed with it, but it was an answer. And, you know, it's still something to look at. So that's my comment on that. I was just going to say, I think doing a board resolution to the state just to express ourselves from our district, if everyone was in agreement. Mrs. Gilbert-Ford, maybe we can discuss that at that meeting that we're going to have on August 12th. Okay. Add that to that agenda. Sounds
048great. All right. Sounds good to everybody. Very good. I need a roll call, I believe. I know we need a motion for old business. Oh, I thought we did. We have the roll call on new business. We have a roll call on new business. We already voted on section 12. Yeah, so we took that vote already. I don't think we had the roll call on new business. No, we did. We had the motion, but no roll call. It was the one that Mrs. Sullivan made the first motion, and then we took the roll call vote. So if anyone, you have an opportunity, you can go back and change your vote if someone wants to change their vote on any of the Section 12 items. All business need a motion for 13.1. So made. Second. Any
049discussion? That discussion can throw me out of line here like it did the last time. No discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Byers? Yes. Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd? Yes. Mr. Ireland? Yes. Mr. Price? Yes. Mr. Sepe? Yes. Mrs. Sullivan? Yes. Mrs. Slogge? Yes. Ms. Hyman? Yes. Mr. Delabarre? Yes. Under communications. Mr. Harlan, would you have any update on Atlantic County School Board Association? Absolutely, Mr. Delbarco. I'll be quick. So we met June 30th as the executive board, and we talked about what our county goals were. We set dates, and we put the topics out there for discussion. So I'll go briefly over that. So our county goal for 2025 to 2026 is to increase attendance by 5% for each county meeting. which we also introduced was our county, our executive board will attend multiple school districts out there
050to explain what we are and who we are and how we can help provide different stuff to different education, to different districts. Another goal for us was to establish a scholarship from the county. At least we're going to establish the procedures and the committee to go into that. That's the first time ever we've ever done that. So it's a big lofty goal that we have within the next two years. So it's going to be a nice process out there for any county student to get a scholarship from the county. And also what we're going to do is update our outdated bylaws because they're last updated in 2011. So I'll go briefly over our stuff. So October 8th, our topic is how to increase test scores. December 11th. December 11th is what legal issues are district
051school boards facing? Okay. February 11th is how can school board members be more involved in district curriculum? March 23rd is our eighth grade dialogue. It may be at Hamilton School District. And May 18th is our spring dinner. The superintendent and the county teacher of the year will be presented at that time. So, Mr. Delbarca, that is all I have from the county level. For the public certification, Mr. Ireland is the president of the Atlantic County School Board Association, so he's very tuned into everything we're planning. Go ahead, Mrs. Gilbert-Floyd. I guess I'm just going to ask a question in reference to the, since I have the president of the county board here. The topics. that you have, are those topics that are going to be discussed this year? For this year, yes. So Mrs. Gilbert-Foy,
052what we did was we sent out a survey to multiple different presidents and vice presidents, and then they put in what they would like to see, and those were the listed top three basic topics that we can hit because we don't have that many meetings because we have to do the eighth grade dialogue, the spring dinner, and those were kind of our three top topics. Okay, I was just going to say, and this is just a suggestion, to maybe just maybe re-look some of the topics and re-look, re-visit. You could totally tell us which ones, and then we could bring it to the executive board and then go from there and then look at it. So when we did it, we did it to 25, 26 different districts out there, and those were the major
053numbers that came out of what the people wanted to see. So absolutely, we're open to any kind of discussion on that. Absolutely. And that was for the whole state? No, that's just for Atlanta County, ma'am. I was going to say just Atlanta County. Atlanta County, ma'am. If you have any topics for the state, you can address me since I'm our representative. Well, I'm more, I mean, the state is one, that's one thing. I think, well, I'll talk to you about that. We can talk about it at the, maybe at the August meeting, but just to make sure that the, just that the topics are, I just think they should be, I just think we could do a few different type of topics. That's perfect. And you're always welcome to join us at every county meeting.
054And they are the October 8th, December 11th, February 11th, March 23rd, and May 18th. Yeah, what I'm saying is not about, I'm not speaking at the meeting. So I'm trying to say if I'm not at the meeting, I can't have a say. I'm just telling you that I think that some of the topics should be a little relooked at. That's just my personal opinion from what you just read. Thank you. I appreciate that. We'll bring it up. Okay. Thank you. And you can also address our Vice President for the County, Mr. Szilagyi, and our Vice President for Legislation for the County, Mr. Price. Okay. So you have three people on our local RAHT board. I sure will, because sometimes I feel like it's a little bit of a repeat of some of the same things.
055Do you have two seconds? I could bring that up. Yes, I have more than two seconds. So we actually brought up the last five years of all the topics, and not one of those topics were brought up in the last five years because that was a big, huge concern. And anybody that was at the meeting, please let me know if I'm wrong. Speaking out of turn, but basically we wanted to have something that was relevant today And that wasn't repeated two years ago last year or the year before that so we took the topics of the last five years I believe from mr. Bell Parker and Miss Salagi and basically we wanted something new refreshing different and kind of relevant for for that So and we're open to any board member for any suggestions at
056any time of them should the county level or the state level That's one thing we have always opened to any new ideas. So it's appreciated. I believe I jumped the gun already. I opened to public comment. So again, that's the next item on the agenda. Any other comments from any board members? I just wanted to say one thing, National Night Out, I know you covered it, and I know I'll be there, and I'm glad that the district, Dr. Tarleton, will be there and will have representation. So looking forward to National Night Out. Thank you. Have a great night. And our next committee meetings are on August the 12th, and our next regular board meeting is August 19th. Thank you, everybody. May I have a motion for adjournment? I'll make that motion. Second. All in favor?
057Anyone opposed? Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies in the audience. We appreciate you being here.