ABOE Meeting 04-16-2025

001All right. Good evening. I'd 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 Burrow 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. Amy Davis, here. Steven Wilson, Sarah Cen, Alison Lipsky absent. Mark Gaddy, Bill Wilson, Danielle D. Franchesco absent. Allison Cox, Andrea Robinson, Jonathan Maxon absent. Whereas while the Senator Byron and Bear open public meetings act requires all meetings of the Ottabon Board of Education to be held in public NJSA 10

002col4-12B sets forth nine types of matters that may lawfully be discussed in executive session i.e without the public being permitted to attend. And 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 on the agenda, I'd like to have a motion to go into executive session. All in favor? Any opposed? All right, we will be approximately 30 minutes. Ask for a motion to reconvene the board of education meeting. Thank you. All right. Please stand for the flag salute. I pledge algiance 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. Oh, I didn't say all in favor. All

003right. Um, next I'd like to ask our student representatives to make their reports. Um there's not too much to report on um right now. People are just getting ready for spring break, which starts tomorrow after the half day. Um prom's coming up. Um I want to commend the guidance office for doing such a great job helping us seniors apply to scholarships, apply to college. Um get ready for what the world is taking us to next. Um and that's about all I have to report on right now. Right now, as you can see, there's a volleyball tournament um for FCA, which is Fellowship of Christian Athletes. And yesterday, NHS had some of the preschool students here to do an egg hunt and read some springtime stories and do some fun outdoor activities. That was really nice

004and a good way to engage the older kids with the younger kids. No. Okay. All right. Terrific. Um before we go on to arguably the most delightful part of the meeting, which is the student and faculty and staff spotlight. Um, I wanted to highlight just a couple of things that are upcoming since we have so many people here right now. Um, first of all, this evening, our superintendent, Miss Allen, is going to be giving a presentation on um some of the things that we have in place for mental health support for our students in the district. And that is actually going to be recorded and it'll be uploaded to our website. So, if anyone wants to view it again or if there are folks here not here this evening that you know would like to

005see it, that will be on our website. We also have our budget presentation coming up on uh May 7th. That is a Wednesday evening. That's a special meeting for the board of education. Not our regular meeting, but a special budget presentation on our at our meeting on June 11th. will be recognizing all of our retirees from the district and really looking ahead our meeting on July 16th. We will be giving a report out on our strategic plan um program, what what came out of all of those wonderful community forums that we had and the things that will be put into place for year one. We know it's July and that's not the best time for folks, but we want to make sure that our administration has a chance to work on those initiatives over the

006summer. So, we need to approve the plan and then we'll be presenting it again in September so that hopefully everybody will be back from vacations and and more people will have the benefit of seeing that presentation. All right. Now, we will continue with our student and staff recognition. When your name is called, um, please come up. If you are feeling a little shy and you need to come up with your grown-up, that's absolutely okay. And we just ask everybody, yes, even the older kids can come up with their grown-ups. Um, we ask everybody to stay at the end uh for a picture. And I will get started with our pre kindergarten student of the month, which is Edwin Mosen. [Applause] Hello. Hello. Right up here in center. Can I shake your hand? All right. This

007is for you to hold. And can can you stand over here so all these people can see right there. Rainbow. See, and they don't make those for grown-ups, and that's just so unfair. All right. All right. Edwin's teacher writes that Edwin prioritizes safety by walking in the hallway, carrying scissors correctly, and always following the classroom rules to keep himself and others safe. Edwin works together with fellow classmates and is always willing to help them, whether it's cleaning up after an activity or collaborating as a team during group play. He achieves his goals by showing an eager attitude toward learning. Always curious and excited to try something new. Edwin is respectful as he listens carefully to teachers, follows directions, and treats everyone with kindness and care. Edwin listens quietly to classmates, but when it's his turn

008to answer, he starts every story with, "Well," and turns it into an epic tale that makes the teachers laugh every time. Edwin has shown the most growth in his ability to be mindful. He has learned how to recognize and manage emotions. If something is bothering him, he takes time to calm down and express feelings in a healthy way. While it took some time for Edwin to transition into preschool, he has shown the most growth this year by making incredible progress in every area. Just like a bee in a swarm, Edwin plays an important role in helping our class work and grow together. Great job, Edwin. Okay, our kindergarten student of the month is Jackson [Applause] Per. I'm gonna say some nice things now. Okay. All right. The kindergarten student of the month for March is

009Jackson Puffer. Jax Jackson's teacher writes, "Jackson is one of the most hardworking and responsible students we have in our class. Each day he comes into school with a drive for learning new skills and is never afraid of a challenge. Jackson is always respectful and kind in all of his interactions with both peers and teachers. He is always cheering on his friends when they have accomplishments, big or small. Jackson is a bright light in our classroom. He fascinates us with his humor and extensive knowledge of great movies. Oh, I'll have to I'll have to check in with you later on that one. Jackson always makes sure that the choices he makes each day are safe, respectful, and responsible for himself and others. His teacher says they are so proud of the growth that they continue to

010see from him. And his teacher is honored to nominate Jackson as the kindergarten student of the month. Congratulations, Logan Roth is the first first grade March student of the month. Logan, come on [Applause] up. I'm gonna read some good things about you. Logan comes into school each and every day with a huge smile on her face. As you can tell, she is always excited to be at school with her classmates and her teacher. Logan has been a a true safe, respectful, and responsible role model in our classroom. She respects all of her peers and teachers. She is a a kind friend who looks for ways to include others. the her teacher can always count on Logan to be a good role model in the class. She follows the directions and completes all of her work

011and takes pride in her work as well and tries her best with everything she does. Her teacher has been so honored to teach Logan this year. Congratulations, Logan. And for second grade, uh, Von Bule's teacher would like to recognize him as student of the month. [Applause] Vaughn is always respectful to his teachers and classmates. He uses good manners, is friendly and kind, and goes out of his way to make other children feel valued. If someone is sad, he tries to cheer them up. If there is a conflict, he works hard to resolve it. Vaughn does all these things quietly, not expecting recognition, simply wanting to support others in any way he can. Von is also a very responsible student, independently getting his work done and always trying his best. His willingness to learn, to grow,

012and to try new things have helped him to make great progress in second grade. There are many ways that Vaughn makes safe choices throughout the day. He follows the advice of his teachers and works to follow our classroom and school rules carefully. We would be remiss if we did not also mention Vaughn's clever and unique interests. Many of his earlier teachers will speak fondly of his love of vacuum cleaners. Though his second grade teacher can share that his interest is machinery in machinery has evolved to a thorough understanding and appreciation of cars. His teachers and classmates find this knowledge and of course vaugh himself to be very cool. Vaughn, we are so proud of you. His teacher writes, "Your behavior not only makes our school a better place, it also sets a wonderful example for

013your classmates to follow. Keep up the good [Applause] work." Okay. It is my pleasure to recognize Vesper Link as the third grade board of education student of the month. Vesper exemplifies raw expectations in and out of the classroom. Vesper shows respect to her teachers and classmates by following classroom and school expectations. She takes ownership for her learning and participates in class discussions as well as staying focused and engaging during lessons. In addition, she's not afraid to seek help when needed. She shows achievement by giving 110% into all of her assignments by presenting her work neatly and making sure she uses all of the strategies she has learned. Finally, she shows responsibility by keeping her materials organized and being prepared for class each day. She always lends a helping h hand to classmates in need by

014offering assistance. Vesper roars every day, all day long, and is very deserving of this recognition. Keep roaring [Applause] Vesper. And the four Oh, he's so tall. Um the fourth grade um student of the month is Capri Grimmie. I hope I'm pronouncing it [Applause] correctly. Congratulations. Capri is consistent in showing the roar expectations at Mansion Avenue. Without a doubt, Capri shows respect to all staff and classmates. She is kind in her actions, making sure everyone is included. Capri has been working hard all year to achieve goals that she sets for herself. She has shown a positive growth mindset. When she feels she has not mastered something, she goes out of her way to practice it. Capri has taken ownership of her learning. She is always an active participant in class discussions and applies new concepts to

015her work. She loves to help others learn as well. She takes responsibility for classwork. She is always turning work in on time. Her materials are organized and she loves to help others that keep their materials tidy as well. She helps to keep her group on task and finish assignments that meet expectations. And your teacher is proud to nominate you as the fourth grade student of the month for April. Congratulations. Okay, for grade five, uh, Zoe [Applause] Severance. Zoe's teacher writes, "I am proud to nominate Zoe Severance for the Board of Education Student of the Month. Zoe exemplifies the core values that make our school community thrive. Respect, ownership, achievement, and responsibility. She consistently shows kindness and consideration for others, whether it's in class or during group work. She treats their peers, teachers, and staff with

016a positive attitude. Zoe takes ownership by sharing her thoughtful answers with the class. She consistently participates in class and furthers class discussions. Her achievement is seen through her hard work and perseverance. Zoe always tries her very best and submits work that is thoughtful and thorough. She is a master at time management. She always puts in the time to make her work stand out, yet she never rushes. I am proud of all that Zoe has accomplished thus far this year. She has clearly earned the title of student of the month. Congratulations, Zoe. For grade six, we have Aubrey [Applause] King. Aubry's teachers nominated Aubry for sixth grade student of the month. They say since the start of the year, she has displayed Mansion Avenue role model behavior and continues to do so. Aubry shows respect for

017her teachers and classmates by always raising her hand, waiting for others to finish speaking before taking her turn, and making positive comments to others during group lessons. Aubrey is a kind and caring student, and her work ethic is commendable. She takes ownership of her work by turning in assignments on time and actively reviewing and checking in about her work. Aubrey demonstrates achievement by f fully participating in all group discussions, asking questions, and going above and beyond, especially with her writing assignments. Finally, Aubrey is responsible for her academic materials and preparing for class by being ready to learn. Her teachers say, "Aubrey, your hard work and dedication to learning are admirable." Congratulations. Nice job. [Applause] For seventh grade student of the month, we have Alexander Erbano. [Applause] Alexander Erbano, a standout seventh grade student at Ottabon,

018has been selected as student of the month for his exceptional character, leadership, and positive influence on those around him. Alex is one of a kind, mature beyond his years, and full of wisdom, particularly when it comes to the great outdoors. Whether he's sharing stories about fishing trips or time spent on his dad's boat, Alex brings a unique perspective and energy to every conversation. He also demonstrates a strong commitment to academics. often seen helping classmates with homework or offering words of encouragement in the hallway. His kindness and natural ability to connect with others make him a role model among his peers. In addition to his academic and social strength, Alex is an active member of the wrestling team and proudly represents the school with enthusiasm and sportsmanship. With a younger brother and sister at Mansion Avenue

019School, Alex sets a great example for his siblings and the greater school community. We are fortunate to have him at Ottabbon Junior Senior High School for the years to come. His continued involvement in academics, extracurriculars, and athletics will no doubt allow his leadership skills to flourish. We look forward to seeing him seeing Alex grow into an outstanding upper classman and continue to make a lasting impact at [Applause] AHS. Amber Pregartner is our eighth grade student of the month. [Applause] Amber Pregartner has been selected as Ottabban's eighth grade student of the month for outstanding character, strong work ethic, and a positive impact on the school community. A passionate soccer player and math enthusiast, Amber brings the same level of focus and determination to the classroom as she does to the field. She is a younger brother

020in fifth grade and serves as an excellent role model both at home and at school. Amber is known for her strong work ethic, honesty, and dependability. Her smile is truly contagious, brightening every room she enters and uplifting those around her. Always willing to lend a hand, she consistently supports her peers and teachers alike, contributing to a welcome, welcoming, and inclusive environment. Amber has shown remarkable growth in our band program, where she has emerged as a leader and an inspiration to her fellow musicians. Her love for music and commitment to improvement are evident in every rehearsal and performance. Over the past school year, Amber has taken her musical talents to the next level. Joining a select group of junior high students who have performed with the senior high band, an impressive accomplishment that speaks to her

021advanced skill and dedication. She is highly motivated and takes initiative. Always striving to grow as a musician and as a student. Amber's contributions both in and out of the classroom have been outstanding and it was truly a pleasure pleasure to witness her growth and success this year. Congratulations [Applause] The freshman class student of the month is Tristan Mendell. [Applause] Congratulations. All right. Your teacher wrote, "Tristan exemplifies what we look for in an Ottabon student athlete. He is a dedicated, well-rounded individual who excels both in the classroom and on the field. As a student standout student in honors biology, Tristan consistently demonstrates a strong work ethic and an eagerness to learn resulting in outstanding academic performance. What truly sets him apart is his willingness to support his peers. He is always ready to help classmates who

022may be struggling whether during class or after school. His approachable nature, academic strengths, and natural leadership make him a respected and trusted presence among his peers. Beyond the classroom, Tristan is actively involved in Ottabon's athletic programs. As a member of both the soccer and track teams, he manages to balance his rigorous academic schedule with his athletic commitments, setting a great example for his peers. Tristan has a particular passion for math and science and shows a deep curiosity about the world around him. At home, he cares for a unique group of pets, including a dog, six snakes, two lizards, and eight turtles, highlighting his love for animals and the natural world. With his strong character, academic excellence, and dedication to his interests, Tristan is a truly deserving recipient of the ninth grade student of the month

023award. [Applause] Congratulations. Lily Fardo is the 10th grade student of the month. [Applause] Lily Fahardo exemplifies what it means to be a respectful, hard-working, and positive student. She consistently demonstrates respect for herself and others, always treating her peers and teachers with kindness and consideration. Lily is actively engaged in the classroom, showing genuine curiosity by asking questions and participating thoughtfully in lessons. Her strong work ethic and willingness to help classmates when they need support make her a valued member of the learning community. Lily's upbeat attitude and consistent good conduct help create a welcoming and encouraging atmosphere for everyone around her. Beyond the classroom, Lily balances a full life with maturity and grace. As an integral member of the field hockey team, she brings the same level of dedication and teamwork to athletics as she does to

024her academics. She is also a proud older sister to five younger siblings, a role she embraces with care and responsibility. Lily enjoys math and is already looking ahead to a future in nursing, a career path that perfectly aligns with her compassionate and driven personality. Her well-rounded character, leadership, and commitment to excellence make her more than deserving of this student of the month recognition. Congratulations, [Applause] Kyle Brown is the 11th grade student of the [Applause] month. Kyle Brown, Ottabon High School's 11th grade student of the month, truly exemplifies what it means to live with pride and excellence. Academically strong and personally driven, Kyle is one of the most well-rounded students at AHS. He consistently demonstrates leadership, kindness, and a commitment to excellence both inside and outside the classroom. His involvement spans across athletics, the arts, and

025numerous extracurricular clubs, making him a vibrant and essential part of our school community. Whether he's representing Audabon on the soccer field, sprinting on the track, or performing in a school musical, Kyle always brings passion, energy, and a positive spirit to everything he does. Kyle's extensive list of commitments is a testament to his incredible work ethic and school spirit. He's an active member of the soccer team, winter and spring track teams, and participates in Spanish club, Spanish honor society, unified, teens to teens, student council, interact club, national honor society, and choir ensembles. Most recently, he starred as Barry in Prom the Musical. Captivating audiences with his talent and charisma. Kyle is a role model to his peers and a shining example of what it means to be an Ottabon student. We are proud to recognize and

026celebrate Kyle for his outstanding contributions to AHS. Thank you, Kyle, for all you do to make our school a better place. [Applause] Kaylee Mazone is the 12th grade student of the month. [Applause] Kaylee Mazone has been selected as Ottabbon High School's 12th grade student of the month for her outstanding character, dedication, and academic excellence. Kaylee is an exceptional student who consistently demonstrates initiative and compassion, particularly through her volunteer work in the animal science lab. Without any ex expectation of reward, credit or service hours, Kaylee has gener generously given her time to care for the lab mice, feeding them and changing their bedding almost daily. Her commitment reflects not only her love of animals, but also her strong sense of responsibility. In addition, she has played a key role in offering thoughtful input on the logistics

027of potential animal behavior projects and activities, consistently contributing meaningful ideas that elevate classroom discussions. In the classroom, Kaylee is known for her diligence, positive attitude, and ability to get along with everyone. A dedicated student in anatomy, she brings curiosity and enthusiasm to her studies, especially in the sciences. Her passion for the field is evident in her future plans to attend the prestigious veterinary technician program at Camden County College. Outside of school, Kaylee enjoys spending time with friends and is close with her older brother. Her work ethic, generosity, and collaborative spirit make her a standout student and a valued member of the Ottabon [Applause] community. All right. Next, we will recognize our um staff members for the month of March. First, we have Miss Brown. [Applause] The Havlin Avenue staff member of the month for 2025

028is Miss Amanda Brown. If you ever want to take a master class in classroom management, you should visit one of Mrs. Brown's physical education or health classes. It truly is a sight to see the students actively engaged in physically challenging instruction with complete and total order in the gym. In one minute, students will be cheering on one another, running drills, throwing bean bags, and giving high fives. And the next second, the gym is completely silent while they wait pensively for feedback and the next instruction. To say students are engaged is an understatement. That same model can be observed in the health class for any of the classes that Miss Brown teaches. In both settings, her expectations are clear, standards are high, and positive supports help students succeed. Miss Brown serves as our most vulner serves

029our most vulnerable students with kindness and care and helps every student see their own strengths and achieve more than they thought they could. Her fun personality and sense of humor make her a fan favorite among the students and staff alike. Amanda Brown is a certified member of the Havlin code red team, the leader of the dance into spring, the coordinator of our field day events, and a true cheerleader for health and fitness of her colleagues as she keeps signing people up for marathons, triathlons, and other challenging fitness goals that help keep our staff healthy and well. She serves our school as a community, our school community, as the assistant athletic director, assistant softball coach, and the former assistant basketball coach for many years. and she just completed her CDL so she could provide transportation for

030our district. We need that. Amanda keeps us on her toes and we are grateful to have such a dedicated professional to work with. More than that, we are happy to call her a friend. Miss Brown, thank you for your work, support, and dedication to our school. Congratulations on being selected as the Havlin Avenue staff member of the month. [Applause] Great. And for Mansion Avenue School, we have Mrs. [Applause] Rosenberg. Look at that. Mansion Avenue would like to recognize Kristen Rosenberg, grade five English language arts teacher, as our staff member of the month. Kristen has been at Mansion Avenue for many years. She is a dedicated staff member that puts significant time and thought into all she does for her students. Whether it's decorating the classroom or planning engaging activities and lessons, she thinks carefully about

031the culture she creates in her classroom and is sure to provide the best experience for all of her students. Kristen truly cares about each and every student. She seeks out support and ideas in an effort to reach every single one and to help them learn and grow. Kristen also warm warmly welcomes staff members into her classroom and is supportive and a co- a creative co-teer. Any student who has Kristen for a teacher is truly lucky. [Applause] And for the Ottabon Junior Senior High School, we have Mr. T again. We are pleased to recognize Mr. Mike Teddigan as the Ottabon High School staff member of the month for March. His unwavering commitment to his students and his readiness to help both inside and out the classroom make him an invaluable member of our team. He consistently

032demonstrates what it means to be a true team player. Whether it's supporting colleagues or often guid offering guidance to students, he is always willing to contribute his time and expertise. His dedication to creating rigorous learning environment is inspiring to everyone around him. His high expectations for his students are evident in the quality and the challenge of his lessons. He continually pushes them to reach their full potential, ensuring that they are prepared for success. The passion he brings to teaching has a lasting impact on his students and enriches the entire school community. We are incredibly proud to have him as a member of our NHS team. His hard work, dedication, and positive attitude make a real difference. Congratulations on being named staff member of the month for March. We look forward to the continued continued contributions

033you will make to our school in the future. [Applause] We would like to take a picture of our students and staff of the month. So, if everyone could gather over there by the glass doors, we will get some pictures. What's up? Good job. I miss you. I love that. All right, we do need to continue on with our meeting. Okay. At this time, our superintendent, Miss Allen, is going to uh give us a presentation on our mental health plans for the district. Thank you. There's a presentation that's behind you. Anybody that's still in the room that wants to turn so they can see it. Again, we will record this and publish it on the web, you can put the lights down just a tad so we can see the screen a little bit better. Thank

034you. So, mental health is obviously a hot topic. It's something that's very important to all of us. uh we have a a good initiative moving forward in the 2526 school year and I wanted to make sure I had an opportunity to talk to the board and the public about some of the things that we are planning for next school year. So we have a comprehensive approach that we want to look at. Um mental health is not something that's a oneanddone. It's something that needs to address in multiple facets. We're going to be using a couple of different things to achieve this. We'll be using a program called playful. Another program is dreams. We already have care solace. And we'll have professional development and a mental health counselor for K to2. So for each of these,

035the reason we need all four is CLUL is something that will work for the students. I'll get in more depth in a few minutes, but this is something that will meet the needs of the students in the district everywhere. Next we have dreams which will be for the staff and the school personnel. It'll give us training for the staff and the personnel in some mental health concepts, trauma, dealing with students who have some anxiety and stress to deal with. Care Solace is yet another thing that we have that's available for families, people outside of the school district. If you know that your child is in crisis and needs a therapist and you can't find one, this is a service that's available to you that will help you find and meet your needs. The professional development

036and the mental health counselor we have will help with our school counselors and giving training and things to our staff. Playful is transforming how students access support services. We've had guidance counselors for years. We have a mental health counselor, but that doesn't mean every child is willing to go down and talk to them. Students don't communicate in person as much as they like to on an app to chat with their friends, with other people. CLUL is a ondemand chatbased program that allows them to access to a person, a trained coach. This is available 18 hours a day. They can go on an app. They can go on their phone, on the computer, and be able to access say, "I'm having problems with a friend of mine. My boyfriend and I just got in a fight.

037I don't know what to do. My friends are all at a party and they left me out. I'm really upset. A coach will come on and start an interactive conversation with them. If it gets to the point that they need other interventions, they'll reach out to the school or to other services for those things. Another important aspect of CLA is called a universal screener. If you've been to a pediatric appointment or a doctor's appointment in the last few years, one of the questions they ask you is, "Do you feel depressed? How many days a week do you have trouble getting out of bed? Do you have difficulty sleeping?" That's a type of universal screener that's used to identify people that are dealing with depression and some other things. Most schools in the area already have

038universal screeners and use them to identify your atrisisk kids. They come up as a red, a yellow, and a green. So any of the kids that are in the red zone, these are kids that we can make sure have scheduled visits with their guidance counselor, the mental health counselor, or with a mentor to make sure that they're being having somebody to talk to, that there's somebody for them to confide in. We know we have to keep an eye on them. There's data that shows the success of Clayful. For example, 46% of the Clayful users are boys. It's statistically less likely for a boy to say, "Hey, I'd like to go talk to my counselor. I'm having some problems with my mom at home." They're not as willing to do that, but they're more willing if

039they have a different venue to do it. 77% of the students feel less alone after having one of these sessions. 76% of the students feel less helpless, feel more um reassured after a session and this is one of the things that helps with suicide prevention. Uh school in our area, Haden Township, is using this this year. I also have a video here, three minutes I'd like you to watch. It's about a school district. You're going to have to click it on there. A school district that uses Playful in their schools. Hopefully you can hear this. As they said, this is just one piece of the puzzle. This is the the accessibility for the students for the things that they have outside of the school day, outside of the classroom. Dreams is another component. Dream stands

040for developing resiliency with engaging approaches to maximize success. This is something that was brought to us. It's a partnership between Division of Children's Services, um, DCF, Children and Family Services, the state of New Jersey, and the Ruckers University of Behavioral Health Services. This is a coalition that will come in and train our staff, our principles, our counselors about traumainformed healing centered practices. They're going to use something called the nurtured heart approach. Um the students getting help, the students finding out where their needs are is great, but these kids are sitting in front of us while we're teaching class. They're shutting down. They're dealing with anxiety. They're dealing with things from home and we're not recognizing the signs. All we see is a kid is despondent. They're not listening to me. I'm telling you to pick

041your head up. Pick your head up. And I start to engage and get mad at them and whatever. And there could be other things going on. So, it's to teach the staff how to be more cognizant of some of those things that are going on. What does it mean to be trauma informed? Considering how trauma impacts the relationship, learning, and behavior. You got to realize that everybody in front of you is not there with a great background, a fully fed Billy, night of sleep, and ready to learn. That's just not today's world. there's a lot of things going on in their lives, around them, etc. that could be affecting who they are in front of you. We need to take those things into consideration. Trauma may be present and recognized behaviors as stress and response

042to traumatic experiences. Um, part of the training I started the orientation was talking about that students that are willfully defiant, a lot of times we just are sure that they're being obstinate, they're being teenagers. Sometimes that's not it. there's an underlying thing going on with them that doesn't allow them to access those coping skills that they need when they need them. Learning to respond to behavior in ways that resist retraumatizing. Uh some students don't do well with the u proximity type thing. You're going over, you're standing next to the child because they're being disruptive. That could end up traumatizing them. They could have issues with that and you don't realize that. We're not getting to know the children and some of their issues before we do some of these things. and understanding our own responses

043to trauma and that we need to self-regulate. We're getting heightened. We get angry. So then we take it out. We need to be So this is training that will come into the school throughout the year, work with us, work with our staff, give us PD, and help us with some training ourselves so that we can continue the PD on our own to recognize some of these traumas and to help teaching in a very different world that we're in today. Care Solace is something that we've had in this district for years, but I don't think everybody really understands the value of it. Care solace is something that works for families to help you get mental health providers. You know, your child is at risk. You know, you need to get help for them, but you have

044no idea where to start. My in I don't have any insurance. My insurance doesn't cover therapy. I don't know how to find this. This is a coalition that will help with that. They help the school districts provide wraparound support for every student, staff member, family member. This doesn't have to be for students. This could be your husband is going through something. This could be your mother-in-law is going through something and you need to get help. They're here to help. They do something called a warm handoff referral service, which means if you let us know, we can contact them and say, "This individual needs some help. Would you contact them? This is their area of need." They match the services to you. You call and say, "I need a male to work with my son. I

045need somebody in the house, and this is the insurance that I and they'll go through and find providers, find things, set it up, and make sure it works for you. This is available 247 365 multilingual support, so our ELLL population always also has success and has ability to get a hold of the needs they have. And there's a resource center. Once again, this is a very short twominute video that shows a little bit about how Carales can help families. My clicker isn't clicking. Can you click me to the next page? Here we go. The last facet we has have is the professional development. Now, that's we've already talked a little bit about professional development for the staff, but we also have professional development for the counselors. Um again, school counselors today when they went to

046school, a lot of this grief counseling, trauma, crisis intervention, all of these things were not necessarily things in their coursework. The things that students are dealing with today is much different than what the ste students were dealing with pre- pandemic. So, we're going to make sure that they get to the training and get the things that they need to be have even more tools in their toolbox to handle some of the things that were coming across. the administrators will be trained in trauma-informed strategies because again sometimes that um hard tact coming at you with with you did it again. We talked about this. I thought we said taking some different ts and dealing with the discipline with students who are repeat offenders and trying to figure out the root of the problem. See what other

047ways we can do to help them become more successful. The mental health counselor plans to move around. I'm going to make it a K12 position that will move around all of the buildings. I envision them being at the high school three days, mansion one day and Havlin one day because our students at all grade levels are dealing with different traumas. And the teachers will be trained on the trauma effects with students in the classroom. Some of what we've talked about with our dreams coalition, but some other workshops and things that we've already researched. Ottabbon Public Schools is dedicated to addressing the needs for the mental health support the school and the community. There's multiple facets. It's not a oneandone. There's lots of things. All of these pieces of the puzzle are going to be available

048to help our students, our teachers, our staff, and our families. We're all in this together. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Allen. Board members, I have a question. Um, for the mental health counselor position, is like there going to be some sort of plan in place to ensure that they have time to be able to see the students that part of the mental health counselor position was seeing on a daily basis. Part of why we're using the universal screener is to make sure that we can make the identify the students at risk and get to those first. It's not going to be a just go when you want to. We're going to have another means of making sure because although now let's say she's seeing 80 students, there could be a hundred that need the services

049and 20 are being left out. There could be 200 need the services but we don't know what that number is because we've never used those universal screener. So we need this data to be able to see are we able to meet everybody and much like at the elementary schools now the guidance counselors can do a lot of that as well. Okay. So in theory there's plenty of counselors at down the line we need more. We'll figure that out. Um, Kerasolus and Clayful, we already use Kerasolus and Clayful. Will they provide like monthly reports on how much they're being used? Because they do there's an expense with Clayful, so we want to make sure. Yes, Clayful has all the data that will let us know exactly how much it's used and Carololis. We can also they're

050all very data driven. We'll be able to do a lot with that. And you can present those to the I guess operations. I can present it to everybody you want. Thank you. playful. I just had a concern um when it said that if there was further issues that wonderful if it's going back to the school and saying hey they need to be connected mental health but what happens when this is a child that's reaching out they're struggling but maybe they're struggling and their thoughts are are more homicidal than suicidal I I just want to make sure that in them reaching out for help and I understand that, you know, if they're talking about how they want to take a gun and shoot everyone in the school and things like that, it's still in that sphere

051of of kind of like counselor um client confidentiality when things is also that you then go to the police. I want to make sure that this is not where they're going to get arrested for their thoughts that we want them to talk and want them to so that we can get them the right help and more that this would be a mental health track where correct it would be a voluntary or involuntary commitment type of thing. So they the um this was just a brief overview. They do have tiers. Tier one, tier two, tier three. Tier two is when there's something that's a concern that they want to make sure the school follows up with the next day and they will contact the school email, text, etc. If there's something that's a level three self

052harm concern of that nature, they knew do contact the off the police for wellness checks. They will they don't do the our concern was another thing that was raised. Okay. Well, I wrote to Mr. Leb and said that Jane was upset and sounded suicidal, but Mr. Leb didn't get the message. So, where does the liability fall? They don't let anything like that happen. They make sure that they reach out for wellness checks, things of that nature. school is also notified, but if there is something that's concerning, they do take the next step to whatever agency needs to be contacted. But we can I can show you some more of the specifics on that as we get closer to it. No, but like in case that like somebody is having a crisis or they're feeling a

053certain like I know that when my grief hits me, it hits me at random times. It's not something that I can schedule. How is that going to be played into how you're saying there's going to be like a needs to be seen first. So C playful, like Clayful, for example, is a I'm talking about in person. In person, well, in person during the school day, there will always be there will always be somebody available at at a moment's notice. I mean, you know, we're a small enough town, if they're at Havlin and there's a crisis, we're going to go just like right now when there's a crisis, we pull somebody to go to another building. The other nice thing about Clayful is like you said, it could be 11 o'clock at night when these things

054pop up. There's an app, there's somebody available to you until 1 in the morning. What we find statistically and you know students although they should be going to bed at 10 o'clock at night a lot of times that's the hours that they're up watching social media doing things that's starting to affect their self-esteem and whatever and that's the time that they need to talk to somebody when they're with their friends and around people they're not feeling as depressed when they're sitting home alone in their room by themselves hearing parents fight in a fight with their boyfriend or girlfriend things of that nature with their friends that's a so that's one of the nice things about this is that there's somebody available to you all the way until one o'clock in the morning. Any other questions?

055I was just going to ask that. No, no, no. Okay. Um, thank you very much. Um, yes, thated and available on the website for folks to uh continue to reference. All right. And it's still you attendance report. Yeah, you did everything that I wanted to do. The strategic plan in July, the mental health thing there that was that was and the preschool that the NHS did the other day. I do want to do a shout out, sorry. Shout out to the National Honor Society. We had the preschool over for an Easter egg hunt. Um, anybody involved in the preschool knows that we had a water mane break and the preschool had to be closed. The students were here at the time. We had to call an audible. Suddenly, your six uh activities bea became an

056hour and a half worth of activities. They didn't break stride. They had no problem. They came inside, had the the media center set up, story time set up. The littles had no idea that none of this was scheduled. They thought everything was just But we literally at 10:30 got a call that they're not going back to the preschool. What do we do now? And by 11:30, families were contacted. Students were all home. There was plenty of supervision the entire time. The staff at the preschool was great. The staff here was great. But I'm new to the district. Seeing what the National Honor Society kids did was just amazing. They were so good with the kids as is. But stepped up, took over things like I'm worried about, do we need to this, do we need

057to that? And no, it's done. It's done. It's done. We're good. Okay. What can I do? You go back to your office. We'll come find you if we need anything. Okay. Um, it was really, really nice to see everybody step up and take ais situation, take it all in stride. Nobody panicked, nobody freaked out. Kids were all taken care of and home sleeping soundly by 11:30 because we ran them good for a couple hours. Excellent to hear. All right. Thank you. All right. Next, um, we're going to have the approval of the board minutes. May I have a motion to approve the minutes from March 19th executive session and March 19th public session? Roll call, please. Alison Lipsky, yes. Andrea Robinson, Bill Wilson, Steven Wilson, Alison Cox, Danielle D. Franchesco, Mark Gaddy, Sarah Coolen, Amy

058Davis. Motion passed. Thank you. Next is our first public participation session. This is for agenda items only. The board of education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest. In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comment, the board has set aside two portions of this board meeting for public comment on any school or school district issue that a member of the public feels may be of interest to the residents of the school district. For the first portion, this portion, public comments are invited on matters pertaining only to the agenda for tonight's meeting. For the second portion, which will be at the end, public comments are invited on all matters pertaining to the

059school district. Participants are asked to announce their name, address, and any group they may represent if applicable. The board reserves the right to limit public discussion, and public discussion of a particular topic will be limited to 15 minutes, and individual speakers will be limited to three minutes. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard. and we ask you to reference bylaw number 0167 of the Ottabon Public Schools Board of Education manual. The board uses public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizens. Complaints stated or actions requested by the public may be taken under advisement by the board or disposition at a later date or time. The public comment sessions are an opportunity for citizens to share their

060opinions and remarks with the board. It is not a question and answer session. The board may or may not respond to public comments at the time they are made and is under no obligation to do so. The board does not endorse public comments, nor will the board be held liable for comments made by members of the public. Any individuals who may be the subject of public comments, including district employees, shall retain all rights against defamation and slander according to the laws of New Jersey. Having said all of that, um, is there anyone who would like to speak on an agenda item? Welcome to come up to the podium. Um, I will make this short and sweet. My name is Nicole Philippy. I live at 107 Tweet AV here in Ottabon. I have a current junior,

061so class of 2026 student. Um, I think I can speak for some of the parents that are here for the class of 2026, but um, there has been talks of not potentially having a senior trip for the kids for next year. And I'm here just to show my support for it. And um, would like to not at this moment, but maybe at the end go over some points um, for the positive for the kids of why they can have it. And also I would be willing to I know some kids don't like rides or get motion sickness and I would like to for next year um being a Disney lover come up with some alternatives while they're in Disney as far as the foods they can do, the shops, the shows, the parades and other

062things like that. So um that's all I have to say for now. Thank you. Hi there. My name is Moren Matson, 2011 East Graberry Avenue. I have a sophomore and a junior in the high school and I too am here to support this senior trip continuing and I will just share that in the last few days there's been a lot of misinformation disseminated and I think that stems from the lack of information as a parent of a junior I don't know what's happening for senior year I feel very uninformed about it and I believe in student autonomy for information. But in this case, I feel like if there was some sort of connection and parent involvement, um we would have a little bit more empowerment and information on the back side that we would be

063able to respond a little bit more uh in an informed manner. That's it. Thank you. Hi, my name is Rick Brown. I live 226 Princeton Avenue in Hadenfield, New Jersey, but my son is Kyle Brown. He's a junior. I'm here to speak. Also, on the issue of the senior class trip next year, uh I realize, you know, looking at the agenda, there's a motion to approve it tonight. I would urge the board to pass that motion and approve it. Um, I think I've heard talk, you know, through social media, through text group messages that there's some question as to the value of a trip to Disney World. I think some people look at it as just a five-day trip to an amusement park. I think what the board should keep in mind that there is

064there's a lot of educational value to this trip. Not only are there life lessons these kids can learn from learning how to pack a suitcase efficiently and effectively so it doesn't go over the weight limit for the airplanes and incur an additional fee. Learning how to navigate an airport. Learning how to live in a hotel room for five days with three other classmates which my son's an only child. He doesn't share a bedroom with anybody at home. and Disney itself. I I would argue every class that's taught in this school could learn something from a trip to Disney, from math, science, engineering, um the language arts, all of that. There is something that can be learned from going to Disney World. So, I would like the board to keep that in mind that this is

065not just a frivolous, meaningless trip to an amusement park. um it means something to these kids and in connecting with people on social media the past couple days. I've had people reach out that said, "Oh god, I went to Disney 30 years ago on my class trip and not just from Ottabon, but Kyle's mother went from Cherry Hill. Uh former town uh resident went with his hat in township class." Like it matters. These these memories matter and they will last these kids a lifetime. Thank you. Good evening. Do Barnett's 139 Virginia Avenue. Um my daughter is class of 2026. Um sophomore. I am here as well to speak on behalf of some of the things that have been heard spread about the senior trip. I am a teacher at a neighboring high school. I have

066actually gone on senior trips with some of my students in my high school at the Black Worth Pike Regional School District. Um, I can tell you I teach seniors. I've been teaching 28 years. I also am a graduate of Ottabban High School in 1993. I went on the senior trip here. Granted, the senior trip in 1993 was $685. But I will tell you that, you know, the fact that the current senior trip going up to about 1,800 is still a fantastic, fantastic bargain when you think of the price of Disney and the opportunity for these kids to go and spend time with their friends for five days. Um, doing as Mr. Brown said, bonding as a class, having this experience, going through learning about themselves and the travel. Um, I do want to make a

067comment also to the fact that there is not a lot of information forthcoming. As a parent, my daughter graduated class of 2021. Sometimes it's difficult to find out what's happening when it's happening because we're not, you know, the website's not always up to date. Things are not available and you really do have to kind of find information. Um, some of the misinformation, some of the concerns I think comes from the January 24th, 2025 retrospect paper where there were members of this board that were quoted saying that, you know, that was financially um an issue for many people to go on the senior trip. And though granted it is extremely expensive, um my concern and my fear as a parent is that if you begin to question not doing things because of finances, where do you

068draw the line? Do you start taking away prom because it is expensive to have prom tickets? Do you take away homecoming because homecoming is expensive? Winter ball tickets. Now granted, these things do cost money and they do require students to like make an investment and parents to make an investment. But I, as a parent and as a teacher, our school district, we have done things in my school gathering and collecting prom dresses and things from other people, encouraging students to go. Camden County just held an initiative to be able to go get free prom dresses. There is information out there and if you ask there are ways that you can get help to try to encourage more students to participate in these coming of age right of passage activities that I believe are part and

069integral to the high school experience and the maturity and the growth of these students. These kids granted are coming to Ottabon for a fantastic education. I moved back to this district because I believe in the tradition and pride of excellence that is Ottabbon High School. And I would really, really hope that this board would continue to move forward with providing that same quality of education to these current students who have been through quite a bit in the last six years. And um moving forward, I just hope you will take all that into consideration and reach out. Your parents are here. They will help you if you ask. Evening Matt Rapto, 435 Chest Street. Uh, just want to expound on that. I my daughter graduated last year, Isabelle. Um, and we were just talking about the

070trip and it is a very very important part of of the experience, the high school experience. I believe that to be true. I have a uh Sean is an eighth grade, so this affects both ways. Um, I understand for you, you're never going to make 100% of people happy. I get that. But I also understand that a free flow of information back and forth also kind of smooths over everything. And if people don't feel like they're being told things, then they're going to get upset and then stuff starts to happen on social media. And we lose tell you the truth almost instantly. Um I will say fundraising wise I know it is expensive uh but I was involved with project graduation and also sixth grade so there are people calls here people have stepped up

071in the past I know that co kind of if you've been around long screwed with the fundraising for the seniors um because it started earlier before and with that lack of of social stuff we lost a lot of that um I do think it being collaboration we're for any parents to step up and start this fundraising early, have a group per grade. Um because senior year, not just the trip, senior is expensive. We have proms and pictures and uh what else was there? We I know we tried to buy yearbooks. There's a whole bunch of things that we can help out people with. Um that you don't realize until the very end. There's a lot of bills do at the very end. Um so I would just keep an open mind to it. I would

072hope that we continue the tradition because it is a good tradition. Um and it's not just like people said, it's not just a fun trip. There is a lot to it and I think we should uh we should look at it and communicate it about it before we make any harsh decisions. Thanks. Hi, I'm Elena Winship. I live 279 South Black Horse Pike, Mount Ephraim. And I am Kyle Brown and I live at 206 Spruce Street, Ottabon, New Jersey. Uh we'd like to actually the back of that fundraising thing and you know like he was saying there are a lot of expenses at the end of the year whe when it comes to homecoming even though it's only $10 people still have to buy dresses and you know pants and a dress shirt you have

073winter ball you have numerous field trips throughout the year and then it comes to senior trip cap and gown the expenses build up but what we're more up here to talk about is the fundraising aspect of it we were told from the beginning of high school that we're supposed to be doing fundraisers every year to build up these, you know, savings accounts almost to help with this these numerous expenses. But what it seems like is that there isn't enough support and backing to help that. I feel that we need to put more effort through class advisors and through class fundraising in the beginning to help now this backload so that it doesn't come down to junior year when you know tonight we had a Chick-fil-A dine and donate so that we could cover the cost

074of a a personal fundraiser that would go directly into every single student Disney bank for the amount of money that they raised singular singularly. So, we just want to say that maybe this whole uproar of, you know, criticism of cancelling seniorship and all shouldn't be about the expenses and how much it costs, but more about putting more of an emphasis on fundraising earlier and stronger. Yes. So, I obviously agree with all of those points, but as someone with a lower income, I have a single mom and the fundraising has really helped. I feel like there has been efforts made. I just want to speak truly more of what an impact these events make on me as a person. Even though it like we struggle to afford sometimes, but me and my mom, we've worked towards

075fundraising. like she's set on me going on this trip even though we struggle and that's fine, but there's so many other people that I can speak for just like me. I struggle with money, but so many other people that would still like kill to go on this trip because it's so fun and it's also sometimes a little cheaper than just going with your own family because wouldn't you want to send your kid if you can't afford to send yourself and your kid? Wouldn't you rather them have that experience that you're not able to give them with you there? Like, wouldn't you still have that experience overall than not at all? [Applause] Uhoh. Right. Is there anyone else who would like to make a comment on an agenda item? All right. I am going to close

076this public participation session of the meeting and we are going to move forward with our agenda items. I would like to recognize Miss Lipky for governance. Davis. So, governance met on April 8th this month. Um, we reviewed uh some for second reading the harassment, intimidation and bullying, uh, the high school graduation and the student smoking which as mentioned last time with the first reading I went into in depth what each one was. The only changes that were made were changes that were manditate were mandated by law. So, they were mandatory. Um, like students smoking, it included vaping because they didn't have vapes back when they had originally wrote this. Um, things of that nature. So, there's nothing here. Uh, the high school graduation is now the law is that uh t parents have to complete

077a FAFSA application, you know, things like that. nothing that is in any way harming anyone and it's just it's what's mandated by law. Um the first read that we had was activity participation fee program. This is just a change and it just came down to it was hard to balance the books when we had $100 for a single child and then $150 if it was two or more children in a family. And you know which is 100 which is 150 is that two or more what's happening? So, uh, it was decided by administration that it would just be easier and more fair if it went to $80 increments. So, it's $80 if you have only one child who's engaged in activities, $160 for two or more children. So, if you are like me and have

078a singleton, your activity fee goes down $20. If you have two or more children, it is going to go up $10. But it still, as you can see, is is more fair on on its face. When you have you have two children, you pay 160, but then three, four, seven more kids, you're not going to pay anymore. But it it's having that that each, you know, it's an increments of $80, but it gets capped at 160. So that's what that is. Um and at our meeting on April 8th, we did do a a mini dive into the code of conduct. Uh we definitely are looking at um making some changes so that certain things that we know that there are kids that struggle with lateness and things like that. We are looking at possibly making

079some changes if it's legal for us to do so. uh where we have put forth the idea of instead of it being five latenesses equal an absence, it would be five latenesses equal a detention. If you an afterchool detention, if you failed to go to your afterchool detention, it would go to a Saturday detention. And if you fail to go to your Saturday detention, it would be in school suspension. So this is something where instead of it being an absence and then you are capped at 18 and I have risk losing credit and not getting credit for that school year. This is a way of kind of addressing the need to be on time with also understanding that sometimes things happen and it would be better that you get in in school detention rather than

080possibly losing credit for the year. So that are some of the things that we're looking at to try to have a more holistic restorative justice approach to the code of conduct. And so just wanted to let everyone know that that's on our agenda and what in governance we've been looking at. The other thing that we are putting on Miss Allen's radar is the junior uh student representative on this board because I believe Miss Helena is going to be the student representative and not the apprentice come next year. And so we will basically need a new Helena. Big shoes to fill, but I know we have the people, the students in this school to do it. And so that is now being put on the radar. And I anticipate because we the school year is coming

081to a close that sometime in May you're going to have some people that the students get to select and vote in rank choice voting as to who they want to be their junior student representative on the board. So uh that's wonderful. And Miss Allen will h can talk to Mr. Wilson who will explain rank choice voting very beautifully. Uh but it actually is the most equitable and fair form of voting. So um we're doing everything we can so that every vote matters and that's all. So as Miss Lipky said in the um governance meeting we did had a huge conversation about attendance policy. It wasn't just late. It was uh there's different kinds of late. We have students who come in and miss first miss home room but are here for first period and then

082you have a student who is absent for late for an hour and at this point they're being handled the same way. So we're looking at a lot of that part of the code of conduct was repeat offenders and we were talking about the loss of good student standings which may not affect any of you. You may be unfamiliar with that terminology but it is something else that we're looking at and trying to clean up a little bit. Um, so we we really it's like it was a mini dive, but we had a lot of discussion about a lot of ideas and we're researching with some other districts to see how they handle some of these repetitive problems to see how we can clean them up. Thank you. All right. Any questions, comments, or discussion on

083non-aggenda items? All right. I just wanted to say again that um New Jersey school boards is hosting a conference on AI. I know that was something that was on Governance's uh radar and we've had um some meetings on that already. That's on June 6. It's from 9:30 to 3:30 at the Mercer County College if anybody's able to go to that. Um, and also I just wanted to share, not everybody got a chance to hear this, but Jane said that there are students that are actually asking about the process to be a student rep on the board of ed. That's very exciting. That that's that's a credit to you guys um, you know, who have really been um, the trailblazers in these positions. So, thank you for that. I've been hearing interest about this position since

084I think like December, like ve very early. I have people ready to apply to this and they're very curious about it and interested. There's a lot of students here at Audabon that really would like to be involved and be part of the conversation and it's really awesome. I'm really excited to see who else will be up here with me. Well, again, thank you for for setting the standard and for um giving everyone something to look up to. That's just great to hear. And Miss Davis, if I can just say, I think the reason why Helena was getting people coming up to her and asking in December was that was when she took the initiative and did an entire poll of the student population on AI and then as part of her job as a junior

085student rep and on and she's on the governance committee and that was incredibly informative and helpful. So I think a lot of that is you. So that's wonderful. the two student reps on all the committees have been have given a great um insight. We've many times been having conversations in the middle of something and then one of them will say, "Well, I've noticed or yes, I've heard that or no, I haven't heard that." And it's like, "Oh, okay. We we from a different perspective think that something's a major ordeal." And they say, "Yeah, no, it's not." Or we think it's not an ordeal and they say, "Oh, no, it really is." So, it's really nice having student representatives as a part of the committees to give us a different perspective thing. I' I've found it

086to be very helpful. Yeah. But it's not our It's not our generation, though. So, we need that voice. We need that voice a lot. Okay. All right. Um, and then I just want to note that the agenda under governance, it should say that it's a motion to approve items one through two. I think it had said one through one. Um, so, uh, may I have a motion on items one and two under governance? Any questions, comments, or discussion on items one or two under governance? Okay. Roll call, please. Andrea Robinson, yes. Bill Wilson. Stephen Wilson, yes. Alison Cox, Danielle G. Franchesco, Mark Gaddy, Sarah Coolen, Allison Lipsky, Amy Davis, Motion passed. Yeah. I would like to recognize Mrs. Cox for operations. Mrs. Davis, we did have a meeting April 1st. Our next meeting is May

0876th. Um at our meeting we had discussion on the budget. Of course it's the budget until May 7th. It will still be the budget. Um but just all aspects uh you know personnel although it's not we're not human resources it does affect the budget and all of that. So every aspect of it. Uh we also talked about shared services between Collingswood and Audabon and also Belmar. they're on the agenda and that's for our techn technology services. Um we are continuing to talk and will continue to talk about preschool expansion uh for the 2025 no yeah yeah 2025 26 school year but also we're projecting it the 26 27 and future years. So always looking to grow that program. It's very successful. And then we also did uh talk about the tax levy incentive program which

088I'm now going to read a prepared statement. The Ottabon Board of Education would like to announce that we have taken advantage of an opportunity afforded by the state to apply for a tax levy incentive program. A resolution was passed at a special meeting on Wednesday, April 9th. And although this meeting was publicly advertised, as are all of our meetings, due to low attendance and the absence of a reporter, we thought it was important to communicate the action taken. If approved, the resolution available on our website could amount to an increase of approximately $260 per year on a home valued at 2004 thou 204,500 in Ottabbon. Please note this is not an official number until approved and certified. If approved, we will be able to fund initiatives generated through our strategic plan forums, increasing staffing and

089fulfill select budget requests not allocated in the current budget. Please join us for our annual budget presentation scheduled on Wednesday, May 7th at 7 o'clock in the Ottabon Junior Senior High School Media Center, which is here. Also, um I have a couple that I just want to mention what's on the agenda that I didn't mention prior. Um, we have our February board secretary reports, cash reconciliation reports and transfers, March and April's bill lists, safety drills as listed, and we received a donation of $1,999 from the Scully Found Skully Family Foundation to support the Wave, which is our workforce and vocational educational program. And that's all. All right. Any questions, comments, discussion on non-aggenda items under operations. All right. Then can I have a motion for items 1 through 11 under operations? Questions, comments, or discussion

090on items 1 through 11? I just wanted to, you know, point out that Allison had mentioned it, but the uh almost $2,000 grant uh for our workforce and vocational education program is is great. Uh it's it's really something that the Ottabbon can be proud of. Um the special education department has done a great job in preparing these kids for life after school and for, you know, life in the real world. And uh I'm glad to see that. If I we're going to move to well this is part of the agenda because it's the wave program. Um I would just miss uh Allen there have been requests from the students that if the cafe could be open maybe through at home room or first period or some other times because they would like to take advantage

091of it. Foundation. Who was Bill Scully? Is he a graduate or I don't know Scully was the spouse of one of our faculty members. That's right. Okay. Thank you. I would like to thank um Mrs. Ron Case and Miss Allen for the quick turnaround time that um that the state has placed us under not only in the regular budget cycle but in this all of a sudden tax levy incentive uh opportunity for us. Um a lot of moving parts, a lot of you know a week to do this, two weeks to do that. So, I I appreciate the continued effort um on our budget and making sure that um we can achieve the goals that we have for the district. So, thank you both for that. All right. Uh roll call, please, for operations, Bill

092Wilson, Stephen Wilson, Alison Cox, Danielle D. Franchesco, Mark Gaddy, Sarah Coolen, Allison Lipsky, Andrea Robinson, Amy Davis, yes. Motions pass. Thank you. Next, I would like to um have Miss Robinson recognize Miss Robinson, please for education. The education committee met on March 25th and our next meeting is on April 29th. At our March 25th meeting, we talked about the recent testing that was completed, including the NJGPA and the access testing. Um, we were presented with a new eighth grade elective, a middle school media elective, which will be offered next year to eighth graders. Um, including ethics around technology, podcasting, videos, things like that. Um, we talked about preschool expansion and some curriculum writing that is happening over the summer. One thing that was brought up uh was that students [Music] are having more difficulty engaging

093in productive struggle and sometimes they're giving up in ways that maybe they wouldn't have years ago. So that we are as a district trying to start a a conversation, a teaching conversation about encouraging productive struggle and perseverance. And uh we also were presented with the mental health resources that we were presented with again tonight. Just the ways that the district supports students in their mental health. And then on tonight's agenda, there is the HI report, the facilities requests, conference requests, and field trip requests, including the muchloved Disney trip for the class of 2026. And that's that's it. Anything to add to that, Miss? Nope. Okay. Um, any questions, comments, or discussion on non-aggenda items under education? Um, Miss Robinson just mentioned the preschool expansion. And, uh, I just wanted to say thank uh, Miss Allen

094uh, and all the people that attended all the meetings and worked tirelessly to make the expansion happen for next year. We have a small expansion and continuing to work to expand it in the future. Um I know a lot of people were part of that. Mr. Burke was there, Miss Ledard, a lot a lot of the teachers. Um and so u working tirelessly to make that happen. I know a lot of families are going to benefit from this. A lot have spoken that they would like to see greater expansion or working on it. And uh I want to thank you for making this happen and making progress. very excited about the um pres preschool expansion and to continue with that and just because the education committee mentioned I just want to thank the parents again

095the attendance for the NJGPA testing was amazing we had really high attendance rates we had very few students that need to do makeups and that takes everybody to be on board for that to happen it's a great statistic to have we have NJSLA coming up next if we could have that same support it would be very much appreciated it's good for the kids it's good for the community if we can get these scores in and really show all that Ottabbon really is something in from hearing all the parents talk and then and about not just this senior class trip but more in the future um and then hearing the students talk about fundraising as well. Um, I know that this has been kind of bandied about here there. I hear it in different groups in

096in groups of our committee meetings and things like that. But is there something that we can have a PTA in the high school? I know that there was some talk about that they were doing it for seventh and eighth grade. Um, but it really sounds like that there are parents that are in invested. Um, and I don't know how to go about that. Obviously, it's not something for the board to do. Um, but if there is some type of way that maybe a PTA because it sounds like the parents want to kind of be involved and be involved early. Um, and I don't know if they know how to start it up either. So, I don't know who is the person to kind of talk to about it and things like that, but um, if

097it's just kind of something that bringing to Miss Allen's attention, to our attention. Um, but it sounds like we are kind of in a place where everyone in the community and I think kind of the students and and and I don't think that I could see the administrators and and teachers being upset to have some extra support and someone else to kind of do some of the heavy lifting. Um so maybe that's just something that would be beneficial for those future children uh so that this can continue and this tradition can continue and possibly at a lower price for the students. So along those lines, one of the parents mentioned a couple about the lack of communication and I have a student in high school and I have a student in the middle school and

098the communication from the PTA is like watch. So, not just the financial aspect of it, but just the communication aspect of it will be very helpful. Uh, non-aggenda items under education. Okay. Then, can I have a motion for item number one under education? All right. Any questions, comments, or discussion on item number one? Okay. Roll call, please. Stephen Wilson, yes. Allison Cox, yes. Danielle Der Francesco. Mark Gaddy. Sarah Coolen. Alison Lipsky. Yes. Andrea Robinson, Bill Wilson, Amy Davis, yes. Motion passed. Thank you. May I have a motion now on items 2 through 12 under education? Do we have a second? Thank you. Any qu without Jonathan, you uh you guys got to step it up. All right. Any questions, comments, or discussion on items 2 through 12? Tack on to that what they were saying.

099I I think um I heard Mr. on item 12 with the senior trip. um what Mr. Brown was saying, I I I echo the same thing for my kids who are years off from from this trip, but you know, I want that experience for them. Um, I think it's a great experience like like you said and I heard some of the parents um ste and some others saying it sounds like they would like the idea of fundraising and having the school behind that and I've said that you know giving um I'd like to see us look at trying to increase and better support fundraising and giving payment options for parents and that those have been things that I've really been focused on. So, I think if we can continue on that, um, it might help

100some of those families that $1,800 is a lot in one chunk. So, yeah, as long as we keep on that, I'd love to see that. Um, I'd also just like to say I went on the trip like a month ago, and I think that it was a really valuable experience for me and my classmates learning how to share a room with somebody, especially people you become very close with as many of us are going to college and living at college. I myself am living in a suite with three other girls. So I think that this was a great experience on how to manage yourself and manage your time with others and when you know you need alone time. I think it was also really good to give kids some independence from their parents. Teach them

101budgeting skills. You know kids went with a set amount of money and Disney is expensive. The the food there is very expensive and you only get I mean you have to bring money for like souvenirs if you want to get souvenirs. You get a meal card. Well, there's a meal card for a certain amount per day, which covers like a meal or two depending on how you stretch it. One to two meals. I stretched it for two meals every day on ours. No, when I went it was a meal card and I think that on food I spent less than $100 for the whole trip. just keeping myself fed because you bring food with you. A lot of kids use I used half of my suitcase to bring snacks. So I brought stuff for breakfast

102every day and you know stuff to have at night when I was in the room and I might have needed a snack because I know myself I have medical things that I need to eat at certain times. So I made sure I brought things that were high in sugar or high in protein because I knew I needed to eat it. Um but I just think that it was really a valuable experience teaching everybody how to be independent from your parents. Um, and for the people that did bring the extra money, learning how to budget it and stretch it over five days, um, and make sure that you were able to do what you wanted to do. I just think it was a great experience. So, and I would be remiss if I didn't just mention

103that 50% of the senior class didn't have that experience. They had a week off of school. And so, I just think we need to make sure that when we are talking about these things that are available to the students that we are meeting the needs of the majority of the students and currently it sounds like 50% is close to a majority but at some point we may need to revisit this trip if it no longer serves the needs of the senior class the needs the interests the finances of the senior class I also just want to comment as I have said before in other board meetings, no offense to anybody in my grade, we do have a lack of participation in my grade compared to other grades. Um, and I do want to comment that

104from talking to people in the grade below me right now is junior class. Um, 75% or more of them will be going on the trip. Like there is so much hype in that grade for this trip. So there's a there's a lot of feelings in that grade. And I think that and a lot of people in my grade also chose to take their own trips. Let that be known. Um like probably at least 10 people in my grade decided to go I know a girl went to like Puerto Rico. I know other people went to Florida on their own or went down the shore for the week. So people people did stuff on their own that week when they were off. So just to add to that point, I am a junior so this directly

105affects me at the moment. But most of the parents here tonight that spoke have a kid obviously in the class of 2026. And it's true that our class uh participates highly in these things. And even in our junior class group chat, we do have a group chat on Snapchat with everybody that has Snapchat. So, a lot of people were very um intrigued about this and curious about why this was being talked about and um what to do to fix this. Um, so there's a lot of people that are interested in helping and having this field trip next year and people really are just looking forward to it. And if if numbers are an issue, you can always maybe it's more of a communication thing. So maybe send up send out ahead of time and be

106like, are you even interested in being a part of the senior trip? And if you know, if majority says no, numbers are numbers. But if there's a lot of people that are interested ahead of time, maybe take that into consideration. brought up the group chat. So, I just wanted to say that I was so disappointed in the junior class and that group chat because of the things that were being said and the unkind way that they were being that they were sharing their feelings knowing that they were talking about the parent of one of their classmates. And so I I just that really disappointed me about the junior class is that that that was happening and my son had to read those things about his mom and it was like I I'm gonna vote for

107the junior class trip tonight, you know, like it it's I don't understand where this um anger and villainization has come from, but it it did really um make me question our our community. That's that's incredibly valid. Um there are definitely certain people in everyone's classes and things that don't know how to share their emotions properly. Um some people take those group chats and take it out of control. But I'd like you to know that uh many many people uh were concerned for the person you were related to and we were curious about how they felt in this situation and not at all were we supportive of if people were mean like it was very it was talked about. There are just mean people everywhere. Um we really were not happy with how people handled it.

108We definitely talked about it and we considered how people felt and I'm sorry if you felt that way. It was not meant to be that way at all. If someone said things like that, that's truly just cruel. To Helena's point about taking the survey, I think, you know, a survey could kind of bring up a lot of options. So, I think it sounds like the current trip is five days. So, maybe you could survey like, would you be interested in a four-day trip or a three-day trip? and just kind of seeing what the majority feel is appropriate because that can help with the financial end of it. But I'm I'm not suggesting that it should be less than five days, but just kind of throwing out some other options so that you can see like

109at this many days, this percentage of the class is in support or willing to go at this many days, this percentage of the class and kind of getting a feel for it that way too, just to have some other options. Um, if those finances are a concern, they do a survey before and after the trip. They did a survey beforehand to see who was interested in going um and all that stuff. And then after the trip, we all got everybody who went on the trip got sent a survey about what we liked, what we would want to change, any complaints we might have, anything we wanted to say like kudos well done. Just stuff like that. Like I know that a lot of people's complaint was like maybe we could fix an issue, maybe we

110could give a little more money on the meal cards or maybe we could change the park days to this to this to meet everybody's. And I'm in senior counsel right now, which is where we talk about a lot of stuff like this. Like Disney, we do a lot of the planning for stuff that isn't already pre-planned, like where we're going each day, all that stuff. But, um, there have been a lot of discussions about the senior trip in senior counsel recently, and like we do take people's opinions really into thought when we're talking about it. Um, and those surveys were super super super helpful. So, he most likely will be sending one out at some point to the junior class. Um, which an interest form about oh do you want to go blah blah blah

111what's your concerns this that this that else all right then can I have roll call please on items 2 through 12 under education Alison Cox yes Danielle D Franchesco Mark Gaddy Sarah Cen Alison Lipsky Yes. Andrea Robinson. 100%. Yes. Bill Wilson. Steven Wilson. Yes. Amy Davis. Yes. Motions pass. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to human resources. That's me. The human resources committee met last night. Um, everyone was in attendance and present. Um we discussed uh any of the open positions in the district and also how uh the interviewing is progressing for those certain positions. We reviewed the job description for the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Um once approved uh this evening, the job will be posted and just want to um highlight that there will be no budgetary impact for that position coming

112on board. We reviewed the superintendent action items for the year. Everything is current and progressing. We also reviewed the process and expectations for the pre-conference meeting that we're going to have this evening right after this uh to discuss uh Miss Allen's evaluation. We are planning to recognize our retirees at our June 11th meeting and Miss Allen shared that she's planning to connect with the community throughout the summer with recorded updates on the website. So, sort of the way that um she mentioned that the mental health presentation will be uh available on the website, she wants to um have multiple opportunities to check in with the community through the summer. Um she and one of the things that she wanted to highlight was where we are with the strategic plan and how it it's progressing. And

113we also like I mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, we discussed the strategic plan presentation. It will most likely be occurring in July, which is kind of appropriate because July 1 is the beginning of the academic year. For those that don't know, the academic year runs July 1 to um to June 30th. So, we'll kick off the new year in July with the strategic plan presentation and then we'll do that again in September in case, you know, families aren't able to join us in person or via Zoom. On the agenda this evening, uh we have a motion for a resignation with intent to retire. We um extend our thanks to Miss Griffiths for her years of service in the district. We have a motion to approve a resignation. We um have a motion to

114approve our assistant vice principal of athletics. Is he still here this evening? Mr. Baker, you want to just give a wave there? There we go. Um we have a motion to approve. We can applaud after gets approved. Motion to Hang on. Motion to approve a special ed aid. Um there's a motion for a retroactive long-term substitute position and another motion for a long-term sub. Motion for FMLA requests. A motion for two staff members to transport students to a golf tournament in their personal vehicles. We have a motion to approve a substitute driver whose name looks really familiar. A motion to approve uh district substitutes as noted, motion to approve personnel for children's nights, and a motion to approve the job description for the assistant superintendent of curriculum. Okay. Having said that, um do you have

115anything to add? No. Okay. Not not yet. Any questions, comments, or discussion on non-aggenda items under HR? All right. Then can I get a motion for items one through 14? Any questions, comments, or discussion on items one through 14 under HR? Really? Okay. Oh, good. There we go. Uh, I want to welcome Mr. Baker to Ottabon. Yep. But I'm not clapping yet. So close. All right. Uh, roll call, please. Danielle D. Franchesco, Mark Gaddy, Sarah Coolen, Alison Libsky, yes. Andrea Robinson, Bill Wilson, Steven Wilson, Alison Cox, yes. Amy Davis, yes. Motions passed. Now we can. All right. Um, we have our district HIV report as noted in the agenda. Special program representatives. Uh, Mr. Steven Wilson. Anything for Camden County Ed services? Nothing interesting or exciting happened at the last meeting. Okay. Uh, Mr. Maxon

116isn't here for Camden County School Boards. I know the next meeting is the same as our operations meeting. Again, it's a hybrid meeting. Um, it's the first Tuesday in May. Not sure what date that is. Is it the six? Thank you. Um, and I know we're registered for the conference for October. Yes, Mrs. Ron Case, we are. And we we do have, uh, rooms. Uh, so, uh, anybody, you know, later we'll see. Yeah. Later, you'll take a Yeah. a straw poll when it gets closer and you're going. Okay. Um, all right. Uh, back to Mr. Dr. Steven Wilson, Ed Foundation, was unable to attend the meeting last night because I had a prior engagement and my alternate got it stuck in traffic and missed the meeting as well. So, unfortunately, we have nothing to report.

117Okay, understandable. All right. Uh, community outreach, Miss Gulen. Yes. Um, so I had sent an email to everyone with a start to a calendar of events um requesting that who's able to attend and interested, just put your name on there so that we can kind of keep track. Um, the next big event is Audabon Day, which is next Saturday already. Um, so we had a couple people express some interest in being at the table for that. So, we'll figure out a schedule um for that and an activity of some kind. Um, please, if you haven't already checked that, go ahead and check. I'll be adding events as I find out about them as well. Um it's great to have our engagement and participation um at some of these school events be it a band concert

118or um community events and things like that. I'm also trying to find out more information about third Saturdays which still is not settled or third Fridays rather which is still not settled at this point but if it becomes settled at some point I will definitely let you know and I don't know if this is totally appropriate but in my hat as a celebration committee member I will just say that some information will be going out about volunteer opportunities for Ottabon Day. So, National Honor Society or anybody that needs service hours will have an opportunity to sign up, help vendors unload and things like that in the morning um to get some of your hours in. So, look out for that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for putting that together for all of us. It

119was very comprehensive. Um, Miss Coolen, I it was something interesting that I saw on on the Facebook, but I thought because I know that apparently that Mount Ephraim does something big the same time as Ottabon Day and I thought there was an interesting reason why we always keep it on the same day and it's highly relevant and I thought maybe you could explain that. Sure. So we had a public comment at the last meeting saying it would be great if Audabon and Mounty from didn't do them on the same day because it's hard to get to both. The reason that Audabon has Ottabon Day on the last Saturday in April is because of the birthday of John J. Audabon which actually is the 26th. So this year the Ottabon Day will be on his birthday.

120So higherups in Ottabon are very um reticent to change the date. Not that it could never change, but probably consistently it's going to be on that last Saturday of April. So, I'm hoping that Mount Eirm doesn't have as specific of a reason for having their event on that same date, but that's out of my jurisdiction. So, thank you for that information. Great. All right. Uh Mr. Gaddy for ad hoc committee. We have not met since the last meeting, but um I I want to report that um our superintendent and and the director of curriculum seem to be very gung-ho about uh including Mounty from Moore and earlier in the process and and I'm I appreciate that. So I will bring that up when we do. Uh Mr. Leb had a meeting with um Mike Hunter,

121the superintendent, principal over in Mount Ephraim. Um our eighth grade extravaganza is going to be collaborative both both districts involved in that. Next year's seven eight uh catillian is going to be comprehensive and as they has suggested the eighth grade trip which isn't always two tall pines but we're going to make something. So they sat down and made some plans for this year already and tentative plans for next year. when they left they met together to do interview process for scholarships that are given out every year and they had a really good planning session out of that I touch base with him clayful and another product rally which we didn't talk about today are other programs that Mount Ephraim is going to invest in with us so that we have that unified um um initiative

122across the the towns. So yes, we really are working on improving it. All right. and uh board member orientation. Miss Lipsky, nothing has been planned as yet and I apologize for that. I had some big things going on in my personal life that have to take priority. Um however, uh I did promise that mentors will be coming your way. So plan that you will get mentors soon and and have that mentors. Um, when they see you, they'll be like, "I'm your mentor and do jazz hands." Um, which No, they won't. I know. Thinking of the mentors, they won't do that. But in my mind, you should also put it in your minds that they have jazz hands. They're just, you know, imaginary jazz hands. No glitter either. Yeah. No glitter though. Although glitter is really

123awesome, but it gets everywhere and never comes out. So, that's the next thing. And then I think just in some conversations that I had with Danielle, maybe we will do something where we can kind of do a deep dive into the NJSBA website um so that you can see where the superintendent evaluation is uh where other workshops are, things like that, how you can sign up for the June 6th um AI thing. So because there's things there that if you don't do that deep dive or it gets overwhelming. Um so this is a way so we can kind of do that. So maybe we'll bring our computers or our Chromebooks and kind of have a sesh and kind of do that. Okay. I know ner as Danielle said a nerd sesh. So that's right. Former

124debate geek. All right. Uh any board member comments? I believe I saw on Facebook that Miss Papone got accepted to Lasal University. Lasal. So congratulations. Just wanted to congratulate you. What are you studying? Awesome. Well, congratulations. Um, I would just like to say on a personal note, I also have a member of the junior class as a um, my younger son and he literally has been talking about the senior class trip since his older brother went um, which would will at that time be three years ago. And um, I would say that to Mr. Brown's point about learning how to pack a suitcase, they have to learn how to do laundry when they come home from the trip. Please. All right. Um, any other board member comments? Okay. Um, second public participation. So, this is

125an open discussion. The same, uh, rules apply that did to the first session, but the only difference is if anybody would like to make a comment, it is not restricted to an agenda item. So, if there's anybody that would like to speak, now would be the time. Matt,5 Street. Um, I came tonight to to look to hear some facts about what was going on in because I don't like the Facebook. It's just so much drama and we we all can all agree how much drama there's Facebook. I think in this case before the board is considering some something a major change 10 minutes with Mr. Thomas Edi would have answered a lot of questions. He could have spoken to what's involved what the money goes to. He could have spoken to participation trends. you're from

126your community because he's been involved in for so long. Um, and in in speaking of participation, I think that is kind of on us that parents, teachers, board, all of us. I've seen the trends go up and down. Like I said, I was involved in project graduation last year. We had a good turnout. The year before did not. Um, and I think fundraising at an early stage, if you get the kids involved, this is not just parents fundraising. this is the students do it as well then they have an investment in their own future and I think they'll be more inclined to participate in that way if they own part of it um and last thing super unhappy about the eighth grade graduation changes um forced fun doesn't work uh most these kids want to

127get a piece of paper in their hands and go out to dinner with their family um and that's what that graduation did so this other thing I maybe it will work I I have my doubts and I wish we would have known about it earlier before it was just told it's happening. Thanks. Anyone else? Hi, I'm back. Um, Elena Windship, 279 South Black Forest Pike. I just have questions which you're not inclined to answer regarding Miss CBO and her position. I'm really curious on how you're going to compensate. And I know you gave all of the different ways, but what about the students who have such like deep emotional connections with her? They've truly bonded to her as you do with most therapists. Like she is who they look up to. How are you going

128to replace that with just another counselor in the building at the time? Especially say someone's having a panic attack. No one can calm them down. They're having a crisis. She's not there. She's elsewhere, maybe with another student in crisis. How are you going to help this student that is in so like such desperate need? How are you going to compensate for that student? And that's Got it. All right. Uh then we'll close the second public participation session. Um the board is going to be going into a second executive session. Uh however, no no action will be taken afterwards. Um so before we adjourn for that, I just want to remind everybody that our budget meeting is set for Wednesday, May 7th at 7 um here in the library media center. And then the next general

129board of education meeting will be Wednesday, May 14th. Um it starts technically at 6:30, but as you know, we go into executive session and the public particip public session starts really at 7. All right. Having said that, may I have a motion to go into executive session? All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. All right. Thank you.