001of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Second. Miller-Bazari. All clear? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? FTME Jazz School field trips for the art and architecture class went on a walking trip around Brexit. BLSU visited the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, and the Environmental Club visited the Penn State Forest. Student Council hosted a week of kindness, Spirit Week, from February 10th to the 13th, which included a snack sale before school on that Thursday. The debate team finished their season off strong, and the JV team finished in third place of their league, and a debater from each of the JV and varsity teams won Best Speaker. This weekend kicks off the start of this year's musical, SpongeBob, with a show on Friday, February 28th.
002The show will then continue on March 1st, 7th, 8th, and 9th. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 25th, there's a mandatory senior class trip meeting here in the atrium starting at 6 p.m. Tomorrow, the Future Teachers Club will also go on their next district-wide trip. Wednesday starts our girls and boys basketball team playoffs as they each play away for their first round. The girls will play at Valley Park at 5 p.m. and the boys at Henry Hudson at 6 p.m. Spring sports will be kicked off the week of March 10th. So make sure to watch the activity scheduler for upcoming scrimmages and meetings. Thank you. We're going to start with our student of the month, Mr. Hogan. So I have two. I have two students of the month in the points of the month. And it's full disclosure.
003So in December, 1,000% my fault because our student of the month was given the wrong date by me. So yeah, it's completely my fault. So Tasnia, come on up, student of the month for December. And we're also going to invite Leah up as well. Leah is our student of the month for January. So the plan is to watch one video for Tasnia, then another video for Leah, and then to embarrass them the best that we possibly can so that they realize how special, hopefully they realize how special they are. My name is Tasnia Islam, and I'm honored to be chosen as student of the month for December. What I like most about Florence is our diversity and opportunities. Our school offers different subjects and extracurriculars that help students get more involved, including me. I have
004been able to make new friends in the diverse student body we have, create relationships with my teachers, and grow into a more confident person. My favorite subject is art. Art allows me to express myself creatively and let my ideas be seen. Considering how much time I put into my art, I feel proud of my work when it's finished. Art also serves as a way to relieve stress as it gives me a break from studying and lets me focus on my artistic side. I never fail boarding art class, especially with the unique projects that Mrs. Homestead assigns. As for my hobbies, I love partaking in photography. I've grown to love it more throughout the years, and this year I was able to purchase my first digital camera and take pictures for the school's yearbook. After high
005school, I plan to attend a four-year college, preferably workers, and major in public health. Once I earn my degree, I plan to apply to PA school and become a physician assistant. such a Memorial High School that sets it apart from other schools is our strong sense of community. I've grown up with many of my peers and have learned the power of what a strong community can do. My favorite subject is art. I really like how Mrs. Homestead allows us to have creative freedom while also teaching us about critical elements of what art really is. This is very helpful to me as I plan on majoring in an art-related field. I have many hobbies and interests outside of school. One of them includes playing video games like Animal Crossing, but I mainly play Minecraft with my
006younger brother and cousin. Another hobby of mine is baking. Right now, me and my dad have been working on our sourdough starter, which I named Egg Your Almond Dough. So far, the best thing we've made have been our bagels. I plan to further my education at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where I will earn a BFA in film. My hopes for the future are to inspire new generations through my films and to successfully make a living pursuing my passions. Okay, so you can see that these two are fantastic students. And a few notes. on both Tasnia and Leah. Tasnia and Leah are both hardworking and conscientious students. They challenge themselves academically and they are excellent role models for our younger students. They are both leaders outside of the classroom. Tasnia is
007the president of our Interact Club, the manager of the volleyball team, a three-year class officer, a valuable member of the National Honor Society, and the vice president of the Social Media Club. Leah is parliamentarian of our National Honor Society, captain of the girls varsity soccer team, an instrumental part of our school musicals for the last four years, and in fact she just had to step out for this meeting. And a valuable member of the environmental club. Tasnia and Leah are both terrific students who are constantly going out of their way to help others. Congratulations Taznia on being our student of the month for December and congratulations Leah on being our student of the month for January. We are very proud of both of you. Outside of school, God's bands and cheer. I was surprised because
008I didn't see it coming, but I was happy because I know it's such an honor. My favorite subject is language arts because I love to read and write. My favorite memory from Riverfront is hearing the Holocaust speaker come in because I love to hear it from his perspective. My plans are to attend Florence High School. I plan to take as many AP classes as I can, be an NGHS, and get all A's. I want to be an author because I love to write. My advice for younger students would be to stay on top of your work and to not fall off. In my eighth grade year, I'm looking forward to having my teachers sign my yearbook that I helped make. She is actively involved in middle school. She is part of NJHS. She is the
009vice president of student council at the Yearbook Club. Outside of school, she dances and she cheers, and she does a lot of volunteer work. The teacher who nominated her said she is absolutely polite, respectful, and will grow to be a wonderful author. It is my honor tonight to honor our third grade class from Manna Banner. Teachers are Ms. Nash and Ms. Meenan, or better known in our building as Nashville. So if they can come up and join me this evening, they will call our students and watch their videos. Absolutely. Sorry. We have Julius, come on, Julius, Isaacson, McKenna, Niderman, Ace, Kathy. Cameron Cullen. Good job guys. We are respectful, responsible, safe, positive, and kind. I love my class because I like my friends. I like boarding school because of all my friends. I like boarding
010school because I like seeing my teachers. I love my class because It's for kindness. I like Ms. Nash because she's fun. I like Ms. Mealy because she's nice. I like Third Grade because of the teachers. Also because it's all fun stuff and he says they can do it. It's fun. It's all fun, definitely. With all my friends. We are the Manor Banner Class. to make it but we started a new award for our preschool program so i'm going to ask miss marina to come up and to present um one of our preschoolers with her award and unfortunately the other one for today is the name we can add around the future flash that we have this month in our classroom is vienna schuler so vienna strikes for five every day um she gets She sets
011examples for her classmates by modeling how to be kind, be positive, be responsible, be safe, and be respectful. Vienna comes to school every day with a smile on her face, ready to learn. When there is a conflict, she uses her problem-solving skills. She is always ready to help her teachers and peers. Vienna says when she gets older, she wants to be a teacher like her mommy so she can do her own stuff. Vienna is so excited to be a teacher flash. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we have a five-minute recess. Five-minute recess. We're going to take some pictures. And I think the audience are back. I have it. Okay. Bye, then. No comments on this. So, getting to the agenda, our invite is to join the public comment portion of the meeting at the
012end. We're still up to... Pursuant to the opening of the Public Meetings Act, the Board will not publicly discuss personnel matters. This portion of the meeting is not a question and answer period. The Board will not respond to comments made by members of the public on this portion. However, the Board will give all comments appropriate consideration and will refer all individual complaints to the Superintendent of Schools or the Administrator for Supervision. Each statement made by the participant shall be limited to a duration of three minutes. and the total duration of the comment period shall not be more than 30 minutes. I have a motion and a second to vote. All in favor? Aye. Aye. I'm here tonight to address PO-02. Last summer, a dedicated group of staff and administrators backed multiple times to carefully develop
013what we believed was the best policy for our district and our students. I understand tonight that some of you may be considering voting against the wording of these policies. Before making that final decision, I urge you to reflect on the trust you placed in the professionals of this district to complete that task. They worked diligently with the best interests of all involved. A vote against these policies would undermine the committee's efforts and diminish the value of the work. While we may not always agree on every issue, I hope when a matter is important as this, you will choose to support the committee's recommendations. The staff of Lawrence-Hassett School District are dedicated professionals who work tirelessly for our students under the allegations. They do not need to be micromanaged, rather they deserve to be treated with
014respect and trust for the work that they do. If parents have concerns about teachers breaking the timeline, they have the opportunity to discuss this matter directly with the teacher and then follow the appropriate chain of command. This is not an issue that warrants policy changes that undermine staff's professionalism. Instead, we should focus on supporting our educators in the important work that they do on an elementary basis. I thank you for your consideration. I understand there's a staffing shortage everywhere. something that's got to give. We're paying for our children to get music lessons. $1,200. And he has not had all of his lessons. He hasn't even seen a man in the past three times he was supposed to be with him. Music and new lessons takes the children out of the classroom. Classrooms are getting bullied.
015Classrooms are feeling overwhelmed. When Mr. O'Betts provides a very safe and relaxed space for them to be themselves without any questions. And we are taking that back. So can we please, as a district, find somebody else to cover as a substitute? Stop taking music teachers. The practical implications, the way that it's set up right now, because I'm hoping that maybe with the new, currently, right now, I'm saying this to you, right, currently, as soon as the student approves the third access, an email and a letter are being sent to the student. But what's not happening is there's no delay. Students not being able to actually step back and put into the school. Thank you. ...delayed, triggering these mechanisms, no letter would actually be generated, no postage would have been dispensed. So for us, personally, it's
016been three different letters, each at probably about 30 times or so. um two three days delay to at least give the students the opportunity to return to school see if they hand in the letter with the excuse that and then hopefully it will save not only money but also time for support staff right you want to go through and monitor this and actually get out all these letters so just something i wanted to mention because i'm not sure if anyone was aware that this is what's happening but we kind of experienced ourselves personally wanted to suggest it maybe it can help to change the mind thank you I just wanted to talk for two reasons. I will take you back on that. So Mr. Obitz has now covered 14 days out of 15. Some days,
017it's about more than one class in a day. And this is creating an issue where the students are not getting their lessons. And some of these students, this is an outlet for them. This is somewhere where they feel safe. This is somewhere where they can go and express themselves and be creative. And they're not getting that opportunity. And the other reason I wanted to talk tonight, if you would please. Seriously, we'll have a capital improvement budget for the front this year. There are days in the auditorium where it is literally like a tropical sauna in there. And then you go in there the next day and you need tax and lots. We call about it on a daily basis. It comes over. They take a picture. We're basically now at... We are currently out to
018bid for substitute services for next year. As indicated, there is a shortage. We have two companies right now that provide our substitutes and we know we're still short on a daily basis, I believe, and I defer back to the administration on the rotation following the contract language on who is pooled for covering each of the days. So that is part of the language. In regards to the attendance policy, we are monitoring. This is the first year that we're very diligent in following up with these letters. So the suggestion will be taken into consideration. And in regards to facilities, We're anticipating a budget cut, not enhancements for the budget, but I don't know in regards to capital if you wish to make a cut. Like we said, the work session of the state had sent out
019a memo saying that districts should be looking at a more than a 3% cut from their state aid. So that's just one of the things I'm going to have to deal with. Regarding capital, we... At the end of the year, we are, if we have any excess money, that gets put into reserve to... to try and improve the buildings so we can keep them up and running and things working the way they should. Again, the units that we have, the mechanical system, they're 25 to 30 years old. Just to kind of go into perspective, one chiller is anywhere between $500,000 to $700,000. So we try our best to try to keep it maintained. We constantly have a mechanical engineer out. trying to keep it hot and cold as best as we can so it's an
020even temperature. But again, a lot of our equipment is older and repairs, just like we had here in high school, again, we mentioned the work session, to repair one unit here, $16,000. We're not a large district, we don't have... a lot of money in our agreements, so we do what we can as fast as we can while trying to save up money to make those major repairs down the line. This is the confidential session for Attorney Clark. Attorney Clark, Pat. All in favor? Aye. We've got 20 minutes. I don't anticipate the court will take action.