001I would like to call the meeting to order. In accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act of 1975, the Ottabon Board of Education transmitted notice of the meeting scheduled at 6:30 p.m. in the Ottabon Junior Senior High School Media Center to the Retrospect newspaper and the Burough Clerk and by postings on the Ottabon Public School District website and at the main and the Pine Street entrances of the junior senior high school. Roll call, please. Mrs. Ronase. >> Alison Lipsky, absent with notice. Mark Gaddy >> here. >> Bill Wilson, oh absent with notice. Danielle D. Franchesco >> Allison Cox >> here. >> Andrea Robinson >> here. >> Amy Davis >> here. >> Steven Wilson >> here. >> Sarah Coen >> here. >> Michelle Kennedy >> here. >> Thank you. All right.
002Whereas while the Senator Byron MBER open public meetings act requires all meetings of the Ottabban Board of Education to be held in public NJSA 104-12B sets forth nine types of matters that may lawfully be discussed in executive session. Whereas the Ottabon Board of Education has deemed it necessary to go into close session to discuss certain matters that are exempted from the public and as are noted in the agenda. May I have a motion to go into executive session? >> Second. >> All in favor? Any opposed? Okay, we'll be approximately 30 minutes. I'd like to for a motion to reconvene the meeting. >> Motion. >> All in favor? Any opposed? Excellent. All right. Please stand for the >> algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands.
003One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. First on our agenda this evening, we'd like to hear from our student representatives. Mr. Wyn is going to speak for both uh 12th and 11th grade. >> Um so I'll start with Havlin real quick. Continuing continuing my uh field work. I went to Havland yesterday and met with second grader Ava and she was filling me in on what's going on in Havland. They're getting ready for their Memorial Day concert. They're in Steam. They're learning coding right now. They're writing. They're doing realistic fiction. Um Roxy the dog is visiting tomorrow actually. and they're all really excited for their gardening club. Clearly, it's not happening right now as uh snow is frozen over the entire garden. But for the high school, everyone's prepping
004up for midterms and uh I know our sports teams are doing really well. The wrestling team's on fire, both of them. The girls track team finished second, I believe, in the state at one of their meets and the uh boys got a new school record. So, yeah, looks like we're doing good since post uh post winter break. Any questions for Mr. Win? All right to our spotlight program where we recognize students of the month for the month of December as well as some faculty members. So when we call your name, we invite you to come stand right next to one of the boardful things that your teachers have written about you. And we also ask that you stay until we're all finished recognizing the students and the faculty members so that we can get everybody's
005picture. Okay? And we will begin with our pre kindergarten student. Good evening. For pre kindergarten, we have Nora Seabberger. >> Congratulations. I want you to stand right here. I'm gonna say Okay, hold on just a moment. Nora was chosen as a student of the month because she consistently demonstrates kindness and compassion with her classmates. She is always willing to help others, whether it's sharing materials, taking turns during activities, cleaning up, or helping a friend who needs support. Nora shows care by comforting peers when they are upset and making sure everyone feels included. Her positive attitude and help from nature make our classroom a friendly and welcoming place. Congratulations, Nora. And our kindergarten student of the month is Vincent Manardi. Uh, congratulations, Vincent, and thank you for being so caring toward your classmates, his teacher writes,
006his teachers and peers. You have a compassionate and kind heart, and it shows when you cheer on your classmates when playing games in class, when PBIS Buzzbuck winners are chosen. You make it a point to congratulate and cheer on your peers for winning. And when your classmates do a good job with their schoolwork, you are always there cheering them on and complimenting them with a good job. You know how to include others are very patient and hardworking. Vincent, you really know how to make your friends feel special, loved, and important in our class. We are so thankful to have you as part of our kindergarten class. Vincent, keep being a kind and compassionate role model to your friends and peers. We are proud of you. Congratulations. >> Okay. Grade one, Luke Johnson. We'll go ahead
007and read about Luke. Luke has been chosen as student of the month for being caring and compassionate towards others in and outside of the classroom. Whether it is sharing his ideas, encouraging classmates, helping others with academics, or being kind to everyone, Luke shows kindness every day and always comes in ready to learn. Luke is a wonderful example of what it means to be compassionate and caring in our school. We are happy to celebrate him for student of the month. Way to go, Luke. Grade two, Aninsley Gant. The second grade student of the month for December is Aninssley Gant. Aninssley is a very caring and compassionate girl. She always helps her classmates in any way she can. And if someone is upset, she is right there to comfort them. Aninsley happily shares and takes turns with
008others. She goes out of her way to make sure all are included and does this easily with her contagious smile. Anley is a great role model for her peers and is consistently safe, respectful, and responsible. Great job, Angel. for third grade. We have Andrew Drumul. All right. Andrew is nominated as the third grade student of the month for his outstanding compassion and caring nature. He has a remarkably remarkable ability to sense when others are feeling down and in need of encouragement. Andrew doesn't just show this awareness with his peers, but also with staff members as he knows when someone needs a smile, a kind word, or simply a check-in. Andrew has worked very hard since transitioning from Havlin to Mansion. Like many students, adjusting to so many changes can be challenging, but Andrew has consistently
009put his best foot forward. He shows great compassion not only at school, but also toward his siblings and family, always looking out for their feelings and well-being. In addition, Andrew is working hard to take ownership of his emotions by recognizing how he is feeling and utilizing strategies to help improve his mindset. He truly enjoys making others smile and being a positive presence, making him a wonderful role model for compassion, empathy, and personal growth. Congratulations. Great work. Our fourth grade student of the month is Satie Tierney. Satie, your teacher wrote, "I would like to nominate Satie Tierney for being a caring and compassionate member of our fourth grade classroom. Sadi consistently shows kindness to classmates by offering help, including others, and treating everyone with respect. Whether a classmate is feeling upset, struggling with work, or needs
010a friend, Sadi is quick to step in with patience and understanding. Her empathy and positive attitude helped create a welcoming and safe classroom environment for everyone. Congratulations, Satie. Scarlet Quarrels is the fifth grade student of the month. Scarlet consistently shows caring and compassion toward her classmates by treating everyone with kindness and respect. She's always willing to help others, whether it's offering to work with someone who can't find a group or simply listening when someone needs a friend. Her respectful attitude makes everyone feel valued and included, and she helps create a positive, welcoming classroom environment for all. Congratulations, Scarlet. It is my pleasure to recognize Tula Leon as a sixth grade student of the month. Unfortunately, she's feeling a little under the weather today, so I think they're watching on YouTube right now. As part of
011the classroom community, you consistently demonstrate positivity and show appreciation for those around you. You care about your peers and always ensure that everyone is included. Your teachers and peers notice this. When you help your classmates and encourage those around you to keep trying, your energy and spirit become infectious in the classroom and manifest a can do attitude. This positivity allows you to be to productively struggle and succeed. Your teachers and peers notice this. Tula, you embody the qualities of a caring and compassionate mountain lion. Your ability to see the good in all things and express thankfulness enriches our entire school environment. We are excited to recognize Tula Leon as the sixth grade student of the month. The grade seven student of the month is Bin Doelman. Attaban's December 2025 student of the month for seventh
012grade. Brin exemplifies the theme of caring and compassion through both her academic excellence and her support of others. Brin currently holds a 98% average in media technology and consistently goes above and beyond on assignments and projects. She regularly assists classmates, contributes thoughtfully to class discussions, and is confident in asking questions when clarification is needed. Brin leads by example and is a true model student who positively impacts the classroom environment. Outside of the classroom, she participates in field hockey and deck Belmar hockey, and she has a strong enthusiasm for math and ELA. Bin's kindness, leadership, and dedication make her a deserving recipient of this recognition. For the grade eight student of the month, we have Adam Br. Adam Brash, an eighth grade student at Ottabon, is the December 2025 student of the month, exemplifying the theme
013of caring and compassion. Over the past several months, Adam has worked extremely hard to turn his grades around, demonstrating determination, responsibility, and a consistently positive attitude towards learning. Beyond the classroom, Adam goes out of his way to support peers who face multiple challenges, showing them genuine kindness, patience, and inclus inclusiveness in his daily interactions. He has further modeled compassion through his involvement in the unified bowling team and by volunteering with the adaptive physical education class where his teamwork and respect for others are evident. Adam also enjoys helping Mr. mantle in supporting his classes and his tremendous academic and social growth reflect his commitment to doing the be his best for himself and others. A big sports fan with a even bigger heart, Adam is truly deserving is a truly deserving recipient of this recognition. Congratulations.
014For the freshman class, we have Thomas Drew. Is Thomas here? His teacher writes, "Ottaban Junior Senior High School is proud to recognize 9th grade student Thomas Drew as our December 2025 student of the month, honoring the theme of caring and compassion. Tommy consistently demonstrates genuine kindness in the classroom, always quick to offer help to others, and thoughtfully checking in with his classmates and teacher each day because he truly cares. His positive spirit and generous energy make a meaningful difference in our learning environment. A dedicated and hard-working student, Tommy takes pride in his schedule, enjoys staying organized and keeping things clean, and brings enthusiasm for his interests, especially trains, into his daily routine. He is a wonderful presence in the classroom, and truly a pleasure to teach. Congratulations. All right. And our sophomore class is recognized.
015We are recognizing Molly Maguire. Is Molly here? Wow. It's a Everybody must have stayed home because it's so cold out tonight. All right. Molly's teacher writes, "Molly Magcguire, a 10th grade student at Ottabon, has been selected as student of the month for December 2025 in recognition of the theme of caring and compassion. Molly consistently demonstrates respect toward both her teachers and her classmates, setting a positive example in every setting. She is a dedicated and hard-working student who always puts forth her best effort, particularly in her biology class, which she greatly enjoys. Beyond the classroom, Molly actively participates in interact and unified, showing genuine care, empathy, and inclusion toward others. Through her character, work ethic, and kindness, Molly exemplifies the qualities that families hope to see in their sons and daughters, making her a truly deserving
016recipient of this honor. Congratulations to Molly. We will make sure that all these students get their certificates as well. Okay. The junior class student of the month is Noah. Noah Batillo. Noah has been selected as the December 2025 student of the month with the theme of caring and compassion. Noah's teachers say he consistently demonstrates respect for himself and others, shows genuine kindness, and maintains a positive attitude in all that he does. He displays strong character and good conduct while participating fully and putting forth his best effort across all areas of school life. No exemp exhibits a solid work ethic and is extremely helpful in the main office on a daily basis where he goes out of his way to greet students and staff and offer assistance whenever needed. He has been especially supportive of new
017students, often stepping in to help them feel welcome and supported. A well-rounded student athlete who is involved in many aspects of Ottabban High School, Noah leads by example and serves as a positive role model for our underassman. He is truly deserving of this recognition for the meaningful ways he contributes to making Ottabbon High School a better place. And senior class is another Noah. Uh senior class student of the month is Noah Salerno. These kids know it's not a snow day yet, right? You understand that? Okay. >> Uh Noah's teachers report that Noah consistently demonstrates respect for himself and others and is known for his kindness, positive attitude, and willingness to assist classmates whenever needed. He leads by example through his strong character, good conduct, and full effort in all areas of school life, making him
018a true role model among his peers. Noah is an integral member of the varsity basketball and soccer teams, and looks forward to playing golf this spring, further reflecting his commitment to teamwork and school pride. Academically, he enjoys history and science, particularly anatomy, and plans to pursue studies in the medical field or physical education, depending on his college selection. Noah is a pleasure to have in class and exemplifies the spirit of caring and compassion that defines Ottabbon. Congratulations, Noah. >> All right. Next, we are going to recognize some of our for our preschool and Havlin Avenue. We have Miss Wson. Thank you for coming out of the cold. We appreciate you. Um, Mrs. Wson, um, teaches art three days per cycle at Havland Avenue School. Since her start a year and a half ago, she made
019an immediate impact on our program, elevating students exposure to the concepts of art and design by embedding exemplar pieces and art history into her instruction. As a member of Art Goes to School, Mrs. Watson attends meetings outside of her workday to coordinate with this committee to bring authentic and historical artwork to school using an inschool museum model. Presenters not only bring artwork but provide instruction about the work and expose students to new works to new works to inspire their love of visual arts. We are excited for them to visit Havland in May. Beyond teaching to the standards or school events, Mrs. Wson seeks ways to showcase student work throughout the school year. Last year during children's night, Mrs. Wson added an artwork scavenger hunt for all to participate in. This simple activity encouraged families to
020seek out and explore all of our students work instead of just their own and generated meaningful conversations among families, staff, and the art room. This year, students created mural pieces in art class and are now that are now on display in our media center as part of our Havland hive. Their showcased artwork brightens our space and again creates meaningful conversations about art. Havlin students are excited to see their work hanging in the school and appreciate the differentiated and flexible instruction that is a routine part of her instructional model. Mrs. Wson collaborates closely with the other art teachers in the district as well as building as well as her building counterparts and she implements zones of regulation to support social emotional learning for every student preschool through grade two. We are thankful for the contributions that
021she continues to make for our students at Havland. Melissa, thank you for your hard work, support, and dedication to our school. Congratulations on being Havlin's educator of the month. For our Mansion Avenue School, we have Mrs. Miller. We are proud to recognize Kelly Miller as the teacher of the month. Kelly is an exceptionally organized educator who consistently goes above and beyond for both her students and her colleagues. She truly dots every eye and crosses every tea, ensuring that nothing is overlooked and that everything she does is completed with care, precision, and excellence. Kelly is deeply committed to student success and takes extra time to support learners academically, emotionally, and socially. Her students benefit from her thoughtful planning, clear expectations, and unw unwavering dedication to their growth. She is also a reliable and supportive colleague, always
022willing to lend a hand, share resources, or step in wherever she is needed. In addition, Kelly actively serves on multiple multiple committees where she plays an important role in initiatives aimed at improving our school community. Her contributions are meaningful, wellorganized, and focused on making the school a better place for students and staff alike. Her leadership, professionalism, and collaborative spirit make her an invaluable asset to the school. For her dedication, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence, Kelly is truly deserving of the recognition of teacher of the month. And for the Ottabon Junior Senior High School, we have Miss Edgar. >> Nobody wanted to brave the cold tonight. It is with great pride and enthusiasm that we recognize Tam Edgar Tamara Edgar as the teacher of the month for December of 2025. Her creativity, energy, and
023passion for learning are evident in everything she does. She is deeply dedicated to her students and to the teaching profession, consistently going above and beyond to ensure student success. Her willingness to support not only her students, but also her colleagues truly sets her apart. She is always ready to help any staff member or student in need, fostering a positive and collaborative school community. Her dedication to students is especially ev evident through the engaging and creative activities in her classroom and through her leadership as the adviser for the AHS chapter of the National Honor Society. Additionally, her strong presence at after-school events such as choir concerts, band concerts, musicals, and many other activities demonstrates her commitment to supporting students beyond the classroom. The school is extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated and passionate professional working
024with students on a daily basis. Beyond her outstanding professional contributions, she is also a genuinely kind and caring person making a lasting impact on everyone around her. Her unwavering commitment, enthusiasm, and excellent excellence make this recognition truly welldeserved. All right, congratulations to all of our honores for the month of December. Before we take a picture folks here this evening, I just wanted to make sure that you knew that next Thursday night, January 29th, we are having a IC plan and then it's kind of an open you have sit and speak with um um ask us questions, give us input, give us your insight on the health of the district, what your aspirations are for our community and we would love to hear you hear from you and hopefully the snow will be out of the
025way by next Thursday. All right, picture time. So ask everybody to go over there to the glass doors and your certificates if you want and line up for your picture. Come on. Come on. You can stand with me. Anybody else? There you go. But we also know that everybody needs to get home and get in jammies and get to bed. You'll be the one that Oh, look. Nobody stayed. Well, some people did. Sorry, I shouldn't say that. >> People here. >> There are still people here. Yes. All right. Um before we continue, I did want to introduce um our newest member to the board. Mrs. Candid is joining us from the Mount Ephraim Board of Education. So, she will be their representative on our board for the year 2026. Glad to have you. She's not
026a stranger to some of us. Um, she's been on the ad hoc committee that we have with Mount Ephraim. So, um, we're really glad to welcome you to the table. All right. Um, there are no presentations scheduled for this evening. Miss Allen, would you like to give any reports? So, the meet and greet that you mentioned, there should be an email and a text going out. I thought it was scheduled for tonight, so I'll check on that and another one next week to remind you. Uh, but just because the pending snowstorm is on everybody's mind, I just wanted to put out there that we'll make the call as early as we know something. Obviously, there will be a phone blast that goes out, but also it's on the website, the lightboard out front. It'll be
027on Facebook. I definitely have the contact with ABC and Fox. I'm still working on NBC and CBS. Nothing could be easy. Um, so we will do our best. I personally try to make sure I tell you at night if at all possible because I know that makes things earlier for the morning. Um, I respect that. And you know, sometimes we we guess wrong. With this one, I I don't think we can guess wrong. Um, if we are off though, I do need you to remember that we're going to need to make up the day or days that we're off. So, make sure you're looking at the calendar to see how that's going to affect things. Obviously, I'll put that out, but I do want people to remember that there is, you know, this is there
028is a fallout. We only have 180 days in our calendar. So, for each day we're off now, we do have to make it up somewhere. So, keep that in mind. But, we will try to make sure it is out everywhere. I do appreciate it. Some people do put it out on Facebook as soon as they get for some reason some people aren't always getting the the robocalls. So, we're working on that. If you're not getting it, just contact the district. We'll put your number back in. What happens is you get so many notifications. Sometimes you say decline or it says if you want remove, press one to remove your name from this and you thought you were removing from updates about food service and here you're actually removing from all notifications. They're really all under
029the same umbrella. so we can get you put back in if that's the problem. >> Great. All right. Thank you very much. All right. On to approval of board minutes. May I have a motion to approve the minutes from December 17th, 2025 executive session, December 17th, 2025 public session. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Andrea Robinson. >> Yes. Bill Wilson, >> yes. >> Steven Wilson, >> yes. >> Michelle Canada, Steve. >> Alison Lip, Alison Cox, >> yes. >> Danielle D. Franchesco, >> yes. >> Mark Gaddy, >> yes. >> Sarah Coolen, >> yes. >> Amy Davis, >> yes. >> Motion's passed. >> Thank you. On to our first public participation session. This is regarding agenda items only. I'm not going to read all those paragraphs. Uh, if you would like to make a comment about
030items that are on the agenda, please come forward and state your name and your address at this time. All right, seeing that we have no one for that, I will close the first public participation session and move on to our committee reports. Miss Lipsky um is not able to join us this evening for governance. So, Miss Allen is going to report on governance. Uh, yes. So, we met on Tuesday the 13th at the preschool. Um went over some of the changes there. Each of the committees going to the different buildings. On the agenda, you will see the first thing is that our committees are reset for the new new um year. Uh not a whole lot of changes, but they are on there. Um and Michelle Canada was added uh we didn't have that name
031at the first printing of our agenda, so she was added under governance and as the alternate under education. Uh at the meeting we did have a lot of discussion about the freedom to read act. We actually had the assistant superintendent Mr. Burke there supervisor curriculum instruction Miss Costl and our media specialist at the high school Mr. Palamini all joined us at the meeting that day to help us with some of the information about the freedom to read act how that impacts our resources our library resources things of that nature because that was involved in a lot of these policies and regs. Um, so we re we did a resource materials, library materials, public complaints, nepotism, sexual harassment was kind of rewritten. It's you see it says it's new because the other one was abolished and
032employment of the chief school administrator were all revised. RGs of the same um and there were a few that needed to be abolished because there was something replacing them. We also talked at the meeting about the fact that um in having some conversation with some questions I had contact with Strauss Esme who is our service that helps us with any updates for policies and regulations. They actually did an audit for me to look through our entire um post our entire catalog our entire >> volume of policies and regulations to see if there's anything that is out of sync so that at one of the next governance meetings we can catch up. Uh it actually wasn't that bad. It did come in. looks pretty good. There's actually a bunch of abolished ones that we somehow missed.
033So, that's an easy um there wasn't that many that need revisions. And our next meeting is set up for February 3rd. It's the AI um task force that we talked about. I did invite everybody that was at our first AI task force meeting. They're getting back to me that they are coming. We also have some references to use to start. Haden Heights has a very um comprehensive uh AI program set into place uh that Miss Bitner did a presentation there that she shared with us and Miss Costl got us some other resources from another district or two so we have some things to look at when we're having our AI task force meeting on February 3rd. >> Thank you. All right. Any questions, comments, or discussion on non-aggenda items under governance? All right. May I
034have a motion, please, for items one through four under governance? >> Second. >> Any questions, comments, or discussion on items one through four. Mrs. Cooland. >> There was a question that we had unresolved at the meeting. I think it related to the sexual harassment policy. There was a question of preponderance of evidence versus um the other language and I was just curious if you got any clarification on that because my understanding is when we asked stress stress estate they said well you could do whichever you want but we want to make sure that we're making a good uh decision in terms of what's best for um both the alleged offender and the alleged victim um to make sure that their rights are you know taken into consideration. So, I know that it's on a first
035reading, but I think the the version of the first reading we have doesn't specify which one we're going to do. So, just wanted to make sure that that's clarified by the second reading or >> you're right. I did um I did reach out. It wasn't something I followed up on. I will make sure by second reading. I'm making a note right now to make sure that I have that for second reading. Thank you. Any other questions or concerns? >> Oh, Mr. Gaddy, >> we had to rearrange. Uh, we're going to have to switch things around because there was a reason that people weren't available on the one date. So, we were going to need to switch things. So, >> that may affect operations also. >> Correct. Okay. >> That I think that we're just going
036to flip-flop, but I think operations is now going to be on the 10th. Okay. Can I have roll call, please, for governance? >> Bill Wilson, >> Steven Wilson, >> yes. >> Michelle Canada, >> Alison Cox, >> Danielle D. Franchesco, >> Mark Gaddy, >> Sarah Coolen, >> Alison Lipsky, >> oh, sorry, she's absent. Andrea Robinson, >> yes. >> Amy Davis, >> yes. >> Motion's passed. >> Thank you. Moving on to operations, I'd like to recognize Mr. Gaddy. >> Uh we did not meet in January. Uh so we are looking at the usual fiscal items. The board secretary's report for November, the cash reconciliation report for November. Uh the November transfers and the bill list for January and last December. Uh there's a report on fire drills, the approval of the power professional statement of assurance, and
037the approval of two generous grants from the Ottabon Education Foundation. One for the theater club and the other for the identification of trees at the high school. And our next meeting is tenatively February 10th. >> Miss Allen, do you have anything to add? >> Uh no, I'm good with that. >> Okay. Sorry. >> Sure. No. Any questions, comments, or discussion on non-aggenda items for operations? All right. Then may I have a motion for items 1 through 11 under operations? >> Second. >> Any questions, comments, or discussion on items 1 through 11. All right. Roll call, please. >> Stephen Wilson, >> yes. >> Michelle Candid, >> Alison Cox, Danielle D. Franchesco, Mark Gaddy, >> Sarah Coen, >> Andrea Robinson, >> yes, >> Bill Wilson, >> Amy Davis, >> yes. >> Motion's passed. >> All right. I
038want to make sure that we have one correction in education. It is motion number one. The incident report number should be 299748. 299748. And with that, I'd like to recognize Miss Robinson. >> We also did not meet in January. No, we didn't meet in December. We are meeting on January 27th. Um, and on the agenda are the incident reports, um, student enrollment conferences. There's a lot of a lot of people going to an ISL conference and I know students will be happy that that's getting a rejuvenation. Um, field trips. Somebody's going to the aquarium to explore the traits of adult and baby animals. Super cute. Uh, the calendar is on the agenda for approval and That's pretty much it. >> Allan, do you have anything to add? >> Uh, just to clarify, there's two different
039calendars on there. Number six is a change to this current year's calendar. We removed the um early dismissals for the preschool conferences in March. We found that to be ineffective and took that off so parents can plan accordingly for their school days for that. And then the next one, number seven, is the proposed 2627 calendar. And I just wanted to point out that Mr. um my god Hunter Mr. Hunter and I from Mount Ephraim met this week to make sure that our uh calendars again were aligned. It's not a 100% alignment because there's a few things that are different with conferences, but for the most part, for all intents and purposes, we are very much aligned as I did also collaborate with um a little bit with Township and Heights, but that we are doing,
040you know, making it purposeful to make sure that we're all looking at each other's calendars before we're building them. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions, comments, or discussion on non-aggenda items for education? All right. May I have a motion for items 1 through 10 under education? >> Any questions, comments, or discussion on items 1 through 10 on the agenda? >> Mr. William Wilson. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Um, I just wanted to comment on item seven with the calendar for next year. Um, I looked it over. It looks looks good. The one thing that I felt unresolved on is a concern that I was expressing before about the question of the third Friday each month and the early dismissal. Um, and my question had to do with the uh how effective that time
041has been used in the prior year as the first year that we launched it. I said when we launched it, let's launch it um and then we'll discuss after the fact um how effective we feel like it is. And I really um I don't feel educated yet on whether or not we feel like that was really worthwhile because it is one Friday a month early dismissal, which ends up being eight days a year. And it's my belief that an early dismissal day, while we've been trying to use it for things that might like rallies and whatnot, um it often is a day that you can get far less done obviously because of time, but also the time that you have, you can't go as indepth. Uh and so the level of of achievement for the
042day is significantly decreased, not just slightly by that amount of time. And so I am curious to find out if teachers feel that a Friday afternoon is the best timing for that or if there's a better time or a better way. Uh not saying it's good. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying I don't quite feel educated yet on how that has worked out. And if it if it is successful then great. That's that's excellent and we should keep on. if they feel like it's not and there could be a better time or way, I would like to explore that just because we're asking families to then handle making sure that they can take their children on those Friday afternoons every month. So, um, so I'd like to make sure that we we we
043really are sure about that. But otherwise, calendar was great. Thanks. Uh, I'd just like to ask, is that something you would like me to report out to the board or is that something maybe education committee is that something that I mean because I I think Mr. Burke and I would love to actually report out on that. I think we're very pleased with how things are going. I think we can work on getting a teacher survey together, but um we feel very good about it. I need to make sure you do you want it to be for education or do you want it to be for the whole >> We've talked about on education committee. I'll defer to Andrea for for that. I don't I think the full board might want to hear if Well, I
044don't know. Do you guys care? >> You want to let us handle it or you guys want us to uh Okay. So, we'll do a presentation for the education committee. Maybe we'll do a a summarized thing I'll do for the weekly waiver or something like that. We'll work on that. Um, also I just want to say that the pea came to sorry A.EA came to me to say this year I think it was on second Fridays occasionally, not the third Fridays. And they said it really works out conveniently when it's a third Fridays because it's right after their PLC meeting on Wednesday and it gives them the opportunity to talk. Good. I got teachers nodding. See the nodding? It gives them the opportunity on Friday to work on something that they just talked about on
045that Wednesday. Whereas when we had the second Friday and then the they're like, "Oh, I wish I would have had this information before we did that." So I have gotten that I have some feedback I'll be able to. So for our Yeah. >> So that's great. That'll be our December. That'll be one thing we'll make sure we put on our December agenda. >> January agenda. I'm sorry. January agenda. I am just all kinds of different places all of a sudden. >> No, I think that's great. So, if education can, you know, talk about it and then if there's any other concerns, just bring them to the board then at the next meeting. >> Perfect. >> Yep. Absolutely. >> Any other questions or concerns for education? >> All right. Then, uh, roll call, please. Michelle Kennedy,
046>> same. >> Allison Cox, >> yes. >> Danielle D. Franchesco, >> Mark Gaddy, >> Sarah Cen, >> yes. >> Andrea Robinson, >> yes. >> Bill Wilson, >> Steven Wilson, >> yes. >> Amy Davis, >> yes. >> Motion's passed. >> Thank you. >> All right, a couple of corrections under human resources. Um on page 10 number three it uh about the one two three fourth line down it should say step 10 and then it should be uh BA full-time employee. So that should be included also on page 13 number 16. We need to add to that first box. We need to add uh Dan Reed and Madison Whan. And number 18, we need to add Kelly Stanton. And Michelle Canada's name is added to all the roll calls. I should have called that out first. Sorry.
047Okay, I think that's it for the corrections under HR. Um, so I would like to recognize Mr. Steven Wilson for human resources. >> Good evening. I wrote a little something since it's my first night as chair. >> Yes. Uh, thank you to my fellow board members for the trust you've placed in me by asking me to serve as chair of the human resources committee. I'm grateful for the opportunity and take the responsibility seriously. Over the past several years, serving on this committee has reinforced to me that our people are our greatest assets. Our teachers, administrators, and staff are the foundation of everything that we do for our students. I'm proud of the collaborative work that we've done, including navigating contract negotiations with professionalism and mutual respect, even during challenging times. As chair, my focus will
048be on continuing that collaborative approach, supporting our staff, maintaining fairness and transparency in our processes, and ensuring that decisions are made thoughtfully and in the best interest of students and the district as a whole. Strong schools depend on strong relationships, and I believe that trust, communication, and consistency matter here. I look forward to working with the committee, the full board, our administration, and our employee groups as we move forward together. So, thank you again for voting me this position. All right. Uh we had a meeting last night. Uh we met at the preschool. Um the whole board was there or the whole committee was there. Um nothing too exciting happened. Um we have a nurse position filled and a maintenance position filled. We have a continuing struggle with paras. So, one instructional pair of five
049special ed pairs um are still open. Um we thankfully had no resignations or separations this last month, which is excellent. Uh we briefly reviewed the staffing charts, which are great and something we've been asking for for a while. Um and then we briefly touched on the ECAC meeting if you want to talk about that a little bit more. Um I don't know if you want to do it now or if you want to do it at another time. >> Yeah, talk about it. >> I I attended my first ECAC meeting. I will tend to go >> define what ECAC because otherwise It was my It was my first as well. >> These acronyms, >> there's so many >> I actually can't tell you what the acronym is. >> Early Childhood Advisory Committee. There we go.
050Early Childhood Advisory Committee. Um it was a really neat experience. There's parents there. The obviously Miss Ledger was there. Uh Mayor Je Jagabowski was there. Uh board member was there. I was there. It was really neat to hear the different um aspects from different people. Uh overall we know the preschool program is is doing wonderful things but parents had commented just that the kids were very happy when they get picked up like they see all of the kids and the kids are smiling and happy and that's just a really good thing to see when you're picking up your children and seeing that everybody is in that mode. The teachers seem very happy and really like to do their job and I it sounds silly but that's that it matters. It's being seen. Um we were
051looking at some of the data. They they do some um even at preschool level we do some data do some assessing and where students are as they come in. And we were looking that a lot of the students look a lot stronger this year than they did last year at the same time which just shows that as the teachers become more and more veteran at what they're doing. You know some of our practices are becoming stronger and stronger. Uh we were doing some of the same activities that were done at the strategic plan with posters up and and last time there was brainstorming and this time we got our stickers to put which one did we think out of the 10 things up there which are the one or two that we think are the
052most important so we can try to focus on some things. Um trying to get more people involved in the committee and making sure there's more awareness of what the different things are. Having some um programs to bring the high school students in or community members in and then doing more for the community. We had a um demonstration from a program on toileting. That was one area that we thought maybe we could help the parents with. And again, parents chimed in and said, "Yeah, you know, I was having all this trouble with potty training and when they came to school, when I knew with the vocabulary you were using, that made all the difference in the world. That sealed the deal." So, we found that that's something that maybe we should be doing a little bit
053more of. and even for the students on the wait list that don't get into school, helping them with some of the programs we have and the reinforcements and just the the planning and the programming of it. So, it I felt like it was a very productive meeting. I think we got a lot out of it. Um, Miss uh Sylvie put together a really cool little video. It was like a five minute video of all the stuff that's going on that I've been showing to the board of the committees when you come. Uh, but it's really neat to just see some of the things. The high school kids came down. We got to see some of that. There's a culminating activity at the end of each of their units when the parents come in. So, they
054had some pictures of that to show showcase some stuff. It's it's just really great to see all the wonderful things and of course we're excited about expanding that more and more just because it is such a perfect experience for the kids to prepare for kindergarten. >> Thank you. That was excellent. I enjoyed the potty program. I thought it was cool because my kids are older and I was like, "Oh, yeah. hadn't thought about like making sure that the language you're using at home matches the language you're using at school so that everybody's on the same page and the kids know what's going on and have consistency throughout that. Um, and then engaging the kids that didn't get in on the wait list, making sure they're involved as well. So, Miss Galvan is doing a great
055job over there. Um, so on the uh uh schedule tonight, we have various motions relating to staffing uh hires and transfers uh with substitutes. Uh a few motions relating to FMLA requests, various motions related to staffing and volunteering on clubs, extracurriculars, music. Uh various motions related to professional learning. A motion to approve nor new mentors. A motion to approve rate uh for registars at the preschool. a motion to rescend an extracurricular contract and then extend, excuse me, rescend an extracurricular contract and then extend one for the same position. Uh, and two motions to approve observation rubrics for tech and assistant admin. And I think that's pretty much it. We're still keeping the same structure um of having the meeting the day before the board meetings. And so I think we're good for the calendar for
056the rest of the year. And I don't know where the next meeting where is the next meeting >> at Havland. Cool. That's it. That's all I got. >> Uh yes, at the committee we had mentioned that my rubrics, one of them went 1 2 3 4, the other one went 4 321. And I did flip them. I think the new link is on there, but thank you for that. It's it's a silly thing. It's a little thing, but it matters uh when you have two or three of them in one order and the other one wasn't. So, I did make that flip today. Um, that was on my list and I remembered to do. >> All right. Any questions, comments, or discussion on non-aggenda items under human resources? All right. Then may I have a
057motion, please, for items 1 to 23? >> Any questions, comments, or discussion on items 1 to 23 under human resources? Roll call, please. Alison Cox, >> yes. >> Danielle D. Franchesco, >> yes. >> Mark Gaddy, >> yes. >> Sarah Coolen, >> yes. >> Andrea Robinson, >> yes. >> Bill Wilson, >> yes. >> Steven Wilson, >> yes. >> Michelle Kennedy, >> Amy Davis, >> yes. Motions pass. Thank you. All right. On our agenda, we have reports. We have our HIV district report. And for our special programs, some um of our board members are stepping up into representative and chair people positions here. So um I still would like to recognize Mr. Steven Wilson for Ed Services Commission. >> Good evening again. Uh at the December meeting, they approved routine governance item governance items, financial reports, bill
058list, compliance charts, uh accepted increased grant revenues, authorized shared services contracts, transportation is mind-bogglingly expensive, and every time I see how much money the county spends on transportation, it blows my mind. Um and we've asked why it's so expensive, it's just an expensive part of the budget. Uh approved professional development, internships, and program expansions. uh approved multiple personnel actions, authorized the start of collective bargaining negotiations for the next union contract, and entered close session for legal matters. Um nothing specifically relating to Ottabon as usual. That's it. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh Miss Robinson for county school boards. >> Um it looks like on February 5th I will be attending a virtual meeting about understanding the funding formula. Um, >> actually it it is actually. Sorry. >> I didn't realize what I was getting into. >>
059So, well, who's presenting? Who's presenting? >> Is it Kelly Hinkle? >> Um, Robert Paul and April Miller. >> Well, no. >> Don't know. Okay. >> I It doesn't say, but I'm gonna register for it right now. >> Okay. Thank you for doing that. And it doesn't just h I mean we those invitations come to all of us, right? So it just doesn't have to be Miss Robinson attending. >> What? It goes to No, >> I I didn't see it either, but >> Oh my heavens. All right, I'm putting that on the retreat agenda. >> That's part of our goals, folks, is to attend workshops. Anyway, okay, moving on. Ed Foundation, we have Mrs. school, >> Mrs. Davis. >> Um, so AEF met on January 12th and um finalized the approval of one of the grants
060that you saw in tonight. Um, one of the others had been approved at a meeting in December on their end. Um, so that's for the school musical and then the tree project. My understanding of the tree identification project is that it will involve uh the wood shop actually creating some of the signs um and then some of the science classes as well and and in order to kind of go around and look at different species of trees on the school property um identifying differences and things like that maybe u measuring some growth um so just really involving a lot of the different classes here at the school um there was some discussion about uh Festival of Lights, a debrief from the event back in December, and it was a successful fundraising event despite it being
061the first year and having some initial costs. Uh they still made a pretty good amount of money. Um which would be really great for approving some of these grants moving forward. Um the night at the races is still being um planned. The the hall that used to be used is still unavailable due to some uh damage to the building, I believe. So they're trying to finalize uh an exact location. At this time, they're looking probably into April in terms of um the uh date for the event. Um but again, it's going to depend somewhat on the availability of of different spaces. So, I will update on that when I have a firm update to share. Uh the next meeting for AEF is on February 9th. It meets at 7 o'clock in here. Members of the
062community uh are welcomed and encouraged to attend and be part of the process. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Next, um, our new representative for community outreach is Mrs. Steve. Franchesco. >> Thank you. Um, I actually just talked with Sarah briefly um, sort of on um, how we're keeping track of the events that are going on in the community because there's so many different outlets that we can pull from and um, trying to um, determine how it will be um, outlined in the tracker. Um, we actually just mentioned maybe we could highlight the things that we would definitely want a board member to attend um, by kind of showing that they're, you know, giving them precedence and then the other ones can also be listed on there um, for everyone's knowledge. Um,
063but then also um, talking about the athletics calendar. um certainly can't add everything onto the outreach calendar, but what we could do is maybe just put the championships or some important um events on there, important uh games and whatnot, so that at least we're aware of kind of what's going on. But um these are some things that hopefully we can talk about at the retreat. >> So, absolutely. Thank you. And uh for ad hoc committee, we have Mr. William Wilson, also a new chair representative person. Yeah, pretty excited. Um, the we haven't met in a little while. Um, and uh, so my first obviously I was running a couple minutes late today, so um, I was going to speak with Michelle and see when we can uh, maybe get together, swap some contact info and
064>> and get things rolling um, for our first uh, meeting of this year. >> We have um, we haven't gotten our committees yet. Okay. >> And we've had a board member resign, >> so we're now that. Yeah. So, >> yeah, >> might be a little while longer. Yeah, I saw that advertisement the other day. So, >> that sounds good. But we'll uh we'll keep in touch that way. We'll make sure. >> Thanks. Sounds good. So, I'll keep you posted on that. >> Absolutely. All right. And then um Miss Lipsky once again is uh spearheading our orientation committee. We don't have any new members per se this year um to our board. So I think we just again need to hone on hone in on um revising our handbook that we use for that. But um
065I would like to say um thank you to all the individuals who um completed on the the survey for the committees and those of you know who said that you had interest in stepping up to be chairpeople or to be representatives of these different committees. um greatly appreciate the um the enthusiasm and the support and the assistance. I know Mrs. Cox and I greatly appreciate the support and assistance, especially when it comes to HR and operations. So, thank you to everyone and uh we're looking forward to another successful year and great input and uh work from all of our committee. So, thank you. Uh any other board member comments, Mrs. Cox? I would just like to thank Miss Allen for the last spotlight. The what do you do at a board meeting or what is
066a board member's responsibility? What this meeting is about. It was very awesome. Thank you. And maybe we could run that again sometime. >> Mr. Steven Wilson. >> Uh Mr. Winn and I have a meeting on Wednesday afternoon with uh Assemblyman Spearman to discuss the blue ribbon uh schools. Uh I have a vision of uh continuing that in the state of New Jersey since the federal program was cut by the current administration. Uh as of now it no longer exists and as we know from our school community, it's such a cool engagement factor. It's a point of pride with us. Um I would like to see that. I know the board would like to see that continue, not selfishly for us, but for other exceptional schools in the state. Um, so we're going to meet with
067him and kind of do a vibe check and see what his thoughts are on it. Um, see if he would support uh sponsoring a bill or co-sponsoring a bill and then having him make us connections with other assembly people um around the state so we can start doing Zoom calls around the state. Um, if it's something that he's interested in, then we can probably engage other boards of education at previous Blue Ribbon Schools. I think would be a good tool to um build up that momentum u because I would hate to see that program disappear and um you know we have an excellence a tradition of excellence in the state of New Jersey and um so Ryan and I are going to try and make that happen. So yeah so thanks for volunteering to join
068in. Um I guess I'll probably kind of lead this meeting but as we do more of them you can jump in more and I know you wanted to make this a learning experience for yourself so I fully support that. Yeah. >> Cool. New Jersey is one of the top top states in the nation for public schools. So, I mean, it only makes sense that we uh try to continue this program. I'm very excited to be with Mr. Steven Wilson and uh try to advocate for this. I'm really excited. It's be cool. >> Thank you to you. I mean, as soon it was right after we had the presentation here at our meeting about Mansion receiving the blue ribbon school from the state of New Jersey um that you reached out to me like in an
069email. I think it was even that night that you wanted to make sure that we continued this and you were willing to take the lead on it and with your connections with the in Trenton. I I think this is an amazing initiative. So, thank you for spearheading that. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> and thank you to Ryan. Yeah, I think it's a great >> Thank you. >> He's interested in going to be able to do that. That's really cool. >> Yep. >> Any other board member comments? Yes, Miss Robinson. >> Um I was I went to the counselor's corner for something. Uh and then I went down a rabbit hole because at the end there are all of these resources for trades for students who want to go straight into a trade. And it was amazing.
070Um, so many good things on there. I stole some of them. They take you right to jobs. Um, I thought it was really impressive. A really good list. >> The counselor's corner is the um junior senior high school counselor's newsletter that gets sent out once a month. >> Posted on our website, too. >> Okay. Under the guidance you go to guidance. >> I'm just thinking for, you know, I mean, as as high school parents, you know, we would receive it, but but Right. So, if you're if you're not a high school parent and not on a send list to get it, it is available from the school website, I I don't have my computer right in front of me, but I know there's a tab for guidance. I think you have to go to the
071high school first. There's a tab for guidance and it'll take you to u the I say it's a newsletter. That's the counselor's corner. >> Great. Thank you for that. Any other board member comments, Mrs. Cooland? >> So, I know we already recognized Miss Candidate, but I just wanted to say thank you for joining our board. I know our meetings can be very long and having attended some of the Mounty from ones that are quite a bit shorter. So, I know this is a really big commitment and we just really appreciate it. We were a little bit nervous when we didn't have um somebody stepping up for that. So, thank you for the sacrifice of coming to join us. No, >> I misspoke. It's under newsletters. If you go to the junior senior high school, there's
072a spot that says newsletters. There you can see the current issue of the wave and the current issue of the counselor's corner. Excellent. Thank you. Okay. If there are no other board member comments, uh public participation, this is the portion of the meeting where we can have discussion or comments on anything. It does not have to be limited to the agenda. Is there anyone who would like to make a public comment? Just ask you to come up here to the podium so that any I know anybody on YouTube can hear. Just state your name, your address, and any group that you might represent. >> Hi, Jen Mlen. Um 240 Havland Avenue. um a kindergarten teacher at the Havlin Avenue School. Um just a question. What is the paraprofessional statement of assurance? Thank you. >> That
073might have better. It's a um uh survey or a a statistic that we have to submit to the county office every year. So, it's just giving the count of how many we have, >> what vacancies we have, things of that nature. >> Got it. Okay. Um, and then just a couple of things about the district calendar. Is, and I'm sure that it probably is, but I can't find it. Is the 2627 proposed calendar public anywhere yet? >> No, it's not. Okay. >> Not yet. Not until after the like, right? They have a link, the board members have a link to see the attachments. Okay. But it's not until after that that the attachments become available. >> Okay. Um, and just a couple of comments. Um, I very much appreciate how you are, um, you know,
074looking at is that Friday a good idea or isn't it? And I also very much appreciate how, um, one of the first answers you gave was how you would survey staff to find out because there are I'm in one school, but there are a lot of different thoughts going on around that. So, I appreciate that you were reaching out about it. Um, of course my brain just went someplace else. I think that was the only thing that I had a question about on that. Um, and just the last thing that is amazing that you guys are looking forward toward um, continuing the blue ribbon and that you're stepping into it is phenomenal. That's really awesome. Thank you guys. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. Anyone else? All right, I will close that session for public
075participation. We do not have a need to go into executive session. So, our next board of ed meeting is scheduled Oh, yeah. That's not the date, is it? Our next board of education meeting is scheduled for February 18th. It says January 21st, but that indeed is tonight. February 18th. And um and again, two things coming up before that date. We have our meet and greet on January 29th at 7 p.m. here. And then we also have our retreat scheduled for Saturday, February 7th, also here in the library media center. >> We got that. Okay, great. All right. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? All right. Thank you, everyone.