001[Music] in accordance with the provisions of the New Jersey open public meeting Act of 1975 the Aon Board of Education transmited notice of this meeting scheduled at 6:30 p.m. in the Aon Junior Senior High School auditorium to the retrospect newspaper and the bar Clerk and by postings on the oton public school website and the mean and Pine Street entrance of the Junior Senior High School Mrs ronas may I please have a roll call sure Mr bloomenstein here Mrs Cox here Mr Gilmore here Mrs Davis here Mr Ryan here Mrs betri here Mr Miller here Mr K here and Mrs shyo is absent thank you where is the senator Byron Bear open public meeting ACT public public meetings act requires all meetings of the Aon Board of Education to be held in public the law sets
002forth nine types of matters that may lawfully be discussed in executive session meaning without the public being permitted to attend uh the we have reason to meet in an executive session the reasons are marked on the agenda may I please have a motion to go into executive session MO uh we'll begin tonight with our flag salute pledge allegiance the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible withy and jusice for all okay we'll begin tonight's meeting by administering the oath of office to to Miss Lori Cassidy if she could please come up so miss Ron case will administer the go of office to miss Lorie Cassidy who has been appointed to the unexpired uh term uh replacing Mr Simpson may I please have a I
003guess you'll administer the oath and then we'll do that okay and then repeat after me I state your name I Lori caspy do sovereignly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States I do solemnly swear that I will support the constition Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution for the state of New Jersey and that I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same and I will bear truth faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state and to the sa and to the governments established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God under the authority of the people so help
004me God I state your name I Lori casby do Solly swear or affirm that I possess the qualifications do solemly swear or affirm that I possess the qualifications prescri prescribed by law for the office of member of the Board of Education prescribed by law for the office member of Board of Education and not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs1 1941 am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs19 4-1 and not disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 and not disqualify due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in mjsa 18a 12-1 and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best
005of my ability so help me God according to according to the best of my ability so help me God [Applause] congratulations okay may I please have a motion to approve the appointment of La Cassidy to the unexpired term replacing Mr Simpson motion second Mrs ronas roll call please Mrs Cox yes Mrs Davis yes Mr Gilmore yes Mr Miller yes Mr PR yes Mr Ryan Yes Mrs betri yes and Mr blomde yes motions pass okay thank you um I would like before we begin tonight I would like to remind everyone um as uh was probably mentioned to everyone at the door that uh following the executive order of the governor we expect everyone present to wear a mask including board members uh board members if you feel comfortable you may lower your mask uh when speaking
006but otherwise it should be on under advisement of our attorney um and uh if when it comes to public comment sections sessions as well uh we expect uh the people that come up to make the public comment uh please wear a mask uh especially in order to keep the microphone uh as sanitar is possible moving forward uh we would like to recognize Miss Natalie Sylvester the president of student council and Miss Leah Grim vice president right student council so welcome um you have a report take it away all right first we wanted to say that the entire student body is very excited for the boys cross country team they are group one state champ Champions as of this past weekend is also very excited for the football team because they made it to the playoffs
007for the first time in 38 years although they are no longer in the playoffs now it's really exciting to see them win their first game the first round and we're looking forward to their official last game on [Applause] Thanksgiving and yesterday the student council held our annual cder plus football game and we had a great success at our last student council meeting we had some conversations about the current dress code we talked about that we thought needed to be rewarded and possibly change SL and since last Monday we've heard really positive feedback about the school lunches people really like the different options and especially the snacks have you had time to have you had time to discuss the dress code or do you have plans to uh take a look at that yeah we did
008um at our last meeting we talked about it we made some suggestions and I going talk okay great so maybe we could get update at the next meeting all great excellent thank you okay moving forward uh we will recognize our students of the month so I'll turn it over to Dr Davis all right I can Project without the mic so uh what we're going to do if you haven't been here before for students of the month and the recognition for the pop Spotlight program we'll go through um picture will be up and then the board member will read uh parents you're more than welcome to come up here for a close photo app um I will escort the students over here so they can receive their Earth so that's a nice place for a picture
009and then my favorite part is always the end we do a group shop with all the students from WE 12 um up here I also invite the parents and VAR caregivers to come up to get that shot too we tweet it out and put it on Instagram too on social media so no further Ado we'll start with our first so our first student of the month is our pre kindergarten student Oliver Ean Oliver Oliver are you here this evening and I'm back come yeah anybody is welcome to come up with him if he needs support no Oliver's not here all right I will read his statement Oliver Egan is nominated as the preschool student of the month Oliver is an amazing role model for his classmates he is a great helper and hard worker Oliver
010follows all the rules in the classroom and is an excellent listener his teacher is so proud of Oliver and looks forward to an amazing year so we'll make sure that Oliver gets his certificate moving on to our kindergarten student of the month we have Avery writer is Avery here there she [Music] is [Applause] Avery is nominated as the kindergarten student of the month Avery is a hardworking student who is always prepared and ready to learn she is the first one to unpack and get started each day Avery is also a positive role model to her classmates she helps others without being asked Avery's motivation and enthusiasm for learning is a wonderful thing to see [Applause] congratulations [Applause] Elena warlander is nominated as the first grade student of the month is Elena here okay Elena is
011nominated as the first grade student of the month she's continued to show perseverance adjustment to being back in school full-time her teacher enjoyed seeing Elena participating playing with friends and working hard you can count on Elena to complete her work and follow directions Elena is kind and respectful to teachers and peers her teacher says Elena is a pleasure to have in the classroom so congratulations Elena our second grade student of the month is Corbin Riley come on up Corbin [Applause] Corbin is such a passionate student and always shows his classmates that they matter he is the first to jump in and help out anyone without being asked or prompted to support another individual he is always there to lend a helping hand additionally Corbin works hard to complete his assignments and do his best work
012each and every day his teacher States Corbin is a smart curious outgoing and involved classmate we are so happy that he is in our class congratulations [Music] Corbin [Applause] the third great SP of the month is Aubrey King Aubrey King is nominated as a third grade student in mon Aubrey continuously shows the a expectations at Manion Avenue School she works hard completes her assignments and participates in class discussions she's always respectful to her teachers and classmates she has questions if she doesn't understand something and works Co cooperatively with others her positive attitude and drive for learning sets an example for her peers her teacher States I am proud to nominate Aly as my third grade student of the month keep up the great work [Applause] Aubrey Dean ruol is nominated as the fourth grade student
013of the month is Dean here she just want to be on stage again to sign up Dean exemplifies Roar behavior in so many ways at Mansion Avenue School he shows respect to all of his teachers by always listening and being attentive in class Dean takes ownership of his learning by always doing his schoolwork he sets high goals and works hard to achieve them responsibility is also shown by Dean for always completing his assignments and putting forth his best effort not only is Dean a wonderful role model for other students at Mas because he shows Ro Behavior he's also a genuinely kind boy who is always happy and willing to help others his teacher States I'm lucky to have Dean in my class this year and I am so excited to have the October student of
014the month presented to him it is welld deserved congrats [Applause] Dean Jose Abram SOS is nominated as the fifth grade student of the month is Jose here his teacher States I can see that Jose consistently exhibits Roar expectations he is ready and excited to learn every day and shows respect by being an attentive and active learner Jose shows ownership by being a wonderful classroom participant and role model for other students he completes his assignments in a timely manner and then goes an extra step Jose being bilingual speaking fluent Spanish Steps in to help a fellow class classmate who speaks very little English and translate all of the teachers assignments so that the student can be successful also he does this without being asked Jose achieves a high level at high levels and continues to support
015his classmates as well Jose shows responsibility every day by being a helpful classmate while also continuing to do well himself his te teacher also states that Jose is always a great help in the classroom and I am very proud and thankful to have him as a student in my social studies class great [Applause] job we have na Gallagher nominated as a sixth grade student of the month [Music] [Applause] ma is an outstanding example of Roar expectations in the sixth grade at Mansion Avenue School she is respectful to her classmates and teachers she is always willing to help a student in our class Whenever there is a need she shows ownership and achievement but not only completing her assignments but also following up on missed assignments due to her band lessons lastly she shows responsibility by
016always having her required supplies with her even with switching classes throughout the day congratulations and keep up the good one please Liliana Cassidy Wells is nominated as the seventh grade student of the [Applause] month sometimes good job all right I'm so excited Lily has been nominated by two staff members this month she has made a nice transition to the aabon high school Lily is a great student who works very hard every single day she sets a great example for her classmates by completing her work and always gives her best efforts her teacher says Lily is a great addition to the class she is an Avid Reader earning the top prize in the Summer Reading project for all grades 7 through 12 dedicated to education is a top priority for Liliana and we can see a
017bright High School career ahead for her [Applause] congratulations our eighth grade student of the month is Johanna Jordan that here okay he's been nominated as the eighth grade student of the month he is always quick to help his peers and stats and has a positive attitude when he is among his peers in the hallway and lunchroom he a leader and he corrects behavior and looks to be a ro model throughout his actions he's always going out of his way to say hello to staff and always which is very much appreciated he's finishing up his football season and will start with the winter wrestling season he always enjoys being an office runner for Mrs rayway and Mrs rising and just looking forward to the rest of the school year [Applause] congratulations our Freshman Class student of
018the month is sincere folk is sincere here tonight no okay since here was nominated for his personality and ability to make others feel welcome in his classes the transition to 9th grade to be difficult but Sincere was a positive influence on his peers sincere says his favorite thing about AHS is how nice helpful and cool his teachers are since here is planning to join the wrestling team this winter and hopes to play football next year we are so lucky to have sincere's friendly personality in our scho School congratulations sincere and the sophomore class student of the month is Aiden [Applause] Williams Aiden is nominated by a staff member for always always going above and beyond he is always offering to help set up the technology for choir rehearsals Aiden is described by staff members as
019a responsible a leader and a role model for his peers he is busy here at oton high school Aiden is involved in choir band choir Ensemble environmental club and the spring musical he is on the Autobon boys cross country team who are now St group one champions for the first time in school history congratulations Noah Noah is nominated as the 11th grade student of the month Noah is being nominated for his dedication to the junior class and his creativity Noah took charge of the junior hallway for spirit week and it looked amazing Noah is an active member of our school Community he is a member of the coral Ensemble all South Jersey choir and has a part in this Spring's musical his teacher says Noah is such a bright light in our school and we
020are lucky to have him Noah would like to thank his teachers and School staff for supporting him through his journey at otan high [Applause] school Emily mcau is nomin ated as the 12th grade student of the [Applause] month Emily mcau is a fourth year member of the student council she's always present and willing to lend a helping hand Emily is reliable consistent and accountable she shows up at all the events and Dem demonstrates a kind positive attitude and puts forth a really good effort as an example of leadership to the other members of the group her hard work and talents are really appreciated Emily is involved in the student council senior Council project Memorial National Honor Society teens to teens and the Spanish club congratulations Emily [Applause] now if I can have all the spotlight
021students B up right up here he 1 2 three smile goofy [Applause] smile okay thank you there are no presentations at this time uh we'll take a very quick recess um so that uh those were were here for student of the month um if you are inclined to leave at this point um give you some space to do that and we will uh proceed with the meeting at just a few minutes that uh Miss Cassidy had to step out for a moment um so we will proceed with the meeting uh and when she jumps back in we'll make sure that that's reflected in the minutes uh moving forward may I please have a motion to approve the October was a busy month October 6th 20th and 27th public and executive sessions motion second Mrs ronas
022roll call please Mrs Davis yes Mr Gilmore yes Mr Miller yes Mr pu yes Mr Ryan Yes Mrs betri thank you and Mrs cxs yes Mr bloomenstein yes motion is passed thank you 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 meeting for public comment on any school or School District issue that a member of the public Fields may be of interest to the residents of the school district for the first portion this upcoming portion public comments are invited on matters pertaining only to the agenda for tonight's meeting for the second portion
023following the committee reports public comments are invited on all matters matters pertaining to the school district participants should announce their name address and any group they they may they may represent if applicable the board reserves the right to limit public discussion public discussion of a topic will be limited to 15 minutes and individual speakers will be limited to three no participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard the board uses public comment period as an opportunity to listen to Citizens not all issues brought to this meeting will be resolved may or may not be resolved at this particular meeting complaints stated or actions requested by the public may be taken under advisement by the board for investigation discussion actions or
024disposition at a later date or time the public comment sessions are an opportunity for citizens to share their opinions 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 then 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 the members of the public any individuals who may be the subject of public comment including District employees shall retain All rights against defamation and slander according to the laws of New Jersey is there anybody that would like to make a public comment on agenda items only okay seeing none may I please have a motion to close the first public comment session
025second all those in favor any opposed moving on to governance um we have not met since the last meeting at this point we plan on meeting in most likely in January after we reorganize um the first thing on the agenda tonight is a second reading for two policies so those were introduced to everybody at the last meeting um uh and we review those the second motion is new that is the cusac report um I believe that was shared with everybody the committee chairs um have signed off on their um corresponding section um you know I a brief comment uh at this point um everything looked really good uh we self scored ourselves at this point so we're waiting to find out how that matches up against uh the state but um that was good to
026see Dr Davis do you have anything to add to that yeah I'll just continue with the qac review um we had a a review of all the indicators U there are five instruction program fiscal management coverance operations and Personnel so we self score in regards to where we think we will fall um we have to provide supporting documents to the Department of Ed the county uh office comes out they will be coming out in January to do the formal review some of that will be digital and then some of it will take place on site um if they have any questions or need an additional information we provide clarification and then um we'll make their recommendations so potentially you know sometime in the spring we should have our overview results um any of the questions
027that they bring up as we have done in the past we will share because there's always um you know areas for growth um but it looks pretty good at this point right now and uh this happens every 3 years in every District within the state um they do a third a third a third so I appreciate everybody's time for that review because it is a comprehensive document okay thank you very much um does anybody have any questions or comments for governance on nonm motion items I have sure I would like the Govern voting on makes we that vot in their next meeting I think it's unlikely that we'll bring it to a vote at the next meeting but I think um yeah so what will happen is um we'll make sure that that's on the
028agenda for the next meeting at the first meeting we'll review all the material that we reviewed previously we'll go through that we'll talk about that um and then uh you know we'll see what comes out of that at that particular meeting but I can't you know promise that a vote will come out of that but yeah that's okay but the discussion will definitely get started any other comments or questions for governance okay may I please have a motion to approve items one and two under governance Mrs Ron case roll call please Mr Gilmore yes Mr Miller yes Mr pu yes Mr Ryan Yes Mrs Buria Mrs Cox yes Mrs Davis yes Mr bloomenstein yes motion's passed all right thank you um next I'd like to recognize Mrs Cox for operations thank you Mr bloomstein um
029we did have a meeting it was November 10th last Wednesday um we discussed qac uh and um a letter we had gotten from the um Department of Health we also discussed the timelines on um the bond calendar uh where where we're at and what we have left to do um there are uh facility um walkthroughs right now uh the next one will be December 1st for the high school and um we're going to have a a buffing busting the myths of um the bond on the website um therefore you know as with anything it's discussed that you know oh well this is going to happen that's going to happen well any of those things that it if you hear something let Dr Davis know and then we'll make it right we'll State the he'll State
030the the facts as they are cuz everybody has their own interpretation but we know the facts um or at least Dr Davis do very well um I believe it is our next meeting December 8th is it the week the week prior to or do we not have one in December uh yes we have one in December and it's scheduled for December 15th 15th okay I was checking op operations it's usually December December 8th so that's our next meeting um and we also discussed that's pretty much pretty much all that we had discussed is there anything Dr Davis that you'd like to add no um did a very nice job of uh reviewing what we discussed as Mrs Cox shared we will be out and about I need Mr bloomstein to remind me I forget I
031even have my mask on and I want to make sure anybody in the public that want be able to see thank you Mr balloon sign it's going to go like that I got a big sign mask I just forget um so we will be out and about um at disal time at havin mansion in December we have some hard signs just for anybody who wants to uh put the reminder out there we do have placs as as well so I'll be sharing some information I just got information right before the board meeting uh commenced from New Jersey pen um we do have an article out in regards to the bond so tomorrow I will push that article out to the full community so they can review and include the busting the myth so we can
032gather some information in regards to any questions that people have there's a lot of information on the website all the walkth through pictures are included the fast facts are there um I keep going back to say it's not a glamorous bond this is a bond that needs to be done in order to upkeep our schools and the the the the piece that seems to resonate with folks it it's common for school districts every 20 to 25 years to go out for a referendum because there's projects that build up over time the um metaphor or the example I like to use is when you buy a house if you buy a house and your roof needs to be fixed typically depending upon the shingles that you select or the roof you have every 20 to 25
033years you have to either replace that roof or put another layer the pieces that are in this referendum are all items that need to be addressed so I welcome the public and obviously the bo you're well aware to visit the website for that information or you need information reach out to us we haven't determined another walkthrough date there was an interest to do another walk through um within the high school I believe it's going to be December 1st I need to confirm it with my team because we do a really nice job um with the ba and Tech director building uh principal and the facilities director really addressing And discussing all the items but as we walk the building and you see the different locations it becomes fairly evident it's time to vote on December
03414th thank you um does anybody on the board have any questions I was just asking how the uh I asked her just sitting next to her so I said I'll do it publicly that um I wanted to know how the walkthroughs went and if the public felt you know reassured that this Bond was uh of utmost importance as the whole board feels and has already voted I would say yes I mean the attendance has been different in regards to the different buildings um in regards to the numbers of participants there have been really good questions in regards to why um why do we need to move forward with these items um been questions about what are we going to do if for some reason that the the referendum didn't go through you know we're going
035to have to continue to push push push real hard because these are all items to be address uh any of the people uh or attendees that had questions um IED use the cleaver example now um when we were over in Mansion Avenue Elementary School there's a boiler or there's two boilers that need to replaced with a high condensing units um which are high efficiency as well and the size of them is uh definitely different than what's there um as we were walking through the building there were some uh attendees that I believe were in the construction trade and the building trade and when we came into that area and we're looking um the the boilers are manufactured by Cleaver and so these big things Cleaver so I see them as Cleaver um I asked for
036clarification about when they were put in place and Cleaver one and Cleaver 2 are from 1962 and it's time to replace them we keep repairing repairing but they need to be fixed so anyone uh that has questions or doubts please come out to the December walk through and when we walk through the high school it will become fairly and quickly apparent to you that it's a need sure um I just I was able to attend the um the high school walkthrough in its entirety with Mr Miller and Miss Cassidy um and I was able to attend um the beginning presentation section for the Mansion walkth through and I just wanted to thank Dr Davis and and the rest of the administration and staff that was there participating in the tours and answering and Fielding questions
037um there's nothing like seeing it um in person um I I had seen a lot of it before um being on the committee but um there's nothing like seeing it firsthand for yourself so I really encourage um anyone that's interested or has questions to to try to make that December walkthrough especially here at the high school anyone else anything all right okay may I please have a motion to approve items 1 through 10 under operations motion any questions or comments on the agenda items okay Mrs Ron's roll call please Mr Miller yes Mr Pro yes Mr Ryan Mrs futa yes Mrs Cassidy Mrs Cox yes Mrs Davis yes Mr Gilmore yes Mr bloomenstein yes motion's passed thank you next to education Miss shyo is not here tonight so I will make the committee report uh
038we met last week November 9th um and we had a really really productive meeting um I like to go over some of the highlights you know at the last meeting um Sheamus Mr Burke you know presented some information to us that um was obviously concerning you know the data reflecting uh math and uh English scores were were bad so um he he started off the meeting I thought on a really good tone and one of the things we impressed upon at that meeting was that you know math and English are important but make making well-rounded students is also important we don't want to lose sight of science and social studies and stem and art music and things of that nature so he started off the meeting by sharing with us and celebrating some of the
039things that students are doing you know outside of that math and English um space and um so that was good to see and good to talk about um after that we went to the data and um you know one some of of the highlights are that the data that was presented to us in September was after many students had spent an entire year uh in remote learning or some form of hybrid learning which you know followed us shutting down for a few months year prior to that so that data was a benchmark of where students were in September so not to you know that data was obviously um you know I don't want to say sh but it was you know I I don't think it was a surprise to a lot of people but
040it needs to improve and one of the things that he brought to our attention and since then um so far they've measured 2.1 months of growth in math over the course of 1 and a half months and uh anywhere from 3.2 months to 4.1 months of of growth in math and Ela at Mansion over the course of one and a half months so in you know we're seeing accelerated growth already and U our next meeting isn't until uh probably till January but you know we asked as a committee that um Mr Burke and and Dr Davis stayed you know in close touch with the committee um and uh consider sharing that information uh at with with us at a board meeting um you know as they continue to collect thata and see that Improvement so
041that was good to see kind of put that into perspective uh we talked about SE um there's really good things going on at hav London Mansion we talked about zones of Regulation which are teaching kids um how to express their feelings appropriately um the growth mindset which I think many of us are familiar with that's continuing and um morning meetings they're having morning meetings now which are promoting a sense of community in the classroom um the teachers and and students are talking about that in a very positive manner so that was good to hear um back to data you know we talked about you know using money the money that we've gotten from the federal government what are we going to do to use that money to help you know with these scores so the
042administration was meeting I think the following morning to talk about what to do with that Esser fund so the Esser is the elementary and secondary school emergency um fund that we got from the federal government so you know we have um some money there that I know it's definitely being earmarked for the coaches that we've talked about but um some other spaces as well so I'm sure at the next meeting we'll have more information about that uh there was a report about Equity um the work is continuing with Rowan University um right now it's uh very staff oriented um I think that uh beyond that after the staff get themselves situated you know we'll see things more more activity with students and Community we talked about the preschool um obviously um you know we want
043to celebrate the fact that we were able to get the preschool this year and get it up in running um there's still a couple hurdles to overcome um you know it's not perfect I know one of the spaces that needs to be rep or filled as the master teacher um Staffing is is an issue this is not an aabon issue this is a Statewide issue so you know we're facing some of the challenges that many schools are facing so you know we're the administration is working to overcome them um it's not a perfect situation but you know they're working hard to to improve and uh moving forward on that the final thing is qac we spoke about that at length and uh we approved that report tonight so I won't say much more about that
044does anybody have any questions regarding education non-agenda items questions or comments before we do that Dr Davis do you have anything to add yeah I would just bring the attention to the board uh number uh item number two where you have student statistics for November um you'll notice that we've upated the chart to include the Aon Park preschool um just so you can see the the student counts and the numbers um as we were reviewing wanted to make sure that that they were uh present and yes uh there is conversation in regard to uh the es monies and how we'll spend them we will be sharing more information formally with the board and really the community to talk about some of those pieces once again for got my mat um it's that new Norm you
045know um the other piece is uh you know or parts of that to be extended school day extended school year also um both enrichment Support classes seal comes into play so we'll share some information and as those programs start um as we are able to get fa and stff members on board and we Define them you know hopefully we'll get them started sooner than later and we'll see some of those things happening in 2022 which is really right around the corner um that's it for me great thanks and uh I just forgot to review the the motion items um mostly uh mostly fuel trips and um um professional development um if there's any questions regard you know we we'll take that after the motion may I please have a motion to approve items 1 through
04610 and before we do that I'd like to note that uh on endal number five was amended to add a field trip request so just so everyone knows that there's um something on the addendum that changes that uh motion to approve items 1 through 10 any questions or comments on motion items Mrs Ron case roll call please Mr PR yes Mr Ryan Yes Mrs Buria yes Mrs Cassidy Mrs Cox yes Mrs Davis yes Mr Gilmore yes Mr Miller yes Mr bloomenstein yes motion passed thank you next I'd like to recognize Mrs Davis for human resources thank you Mr bloomenstein Human Resources committee met um that was just last night wasn't it Tuesday evening um and I I will say that um I I speak for myself but I think that the committee would agree with
047me that it it is nice to have the meeting on a separate night it's giving us a chance to catch our breath and and um really discuss things a little bit more in depth without having the pressure of we have to get to the to the regular board meeting so I'm I'm happy to report the success of that um first before I um forget it um there is an addendum number 18 there's a um uh an extracurricular contract for inrs and um also um on number five it says motion to resend the the should be struck it should be motioned to approve the request from employee number 536 okay um other items on the agenda um there is uh an intent to retire for Mrs Nolan this administrative assistant at page school so we certainly
048um thank her and and wish her well we have some appointments as well um Miss Cochran is going to be serving as a special education teacher at the hin Avenue School we also have a parttime custodian coming on for the night shift at the preschool and we would like to um extend the warm Aon welcome to Mr McMichael who is going to serve as the assistant principal for student Personnel Services there are some FMLA requests uh substitute approvals um uh there are some winter coaching paid and unpaid U Personnel listed uh Community Education volunteer or wrestling and basketball the uh art and book club extracurricular um contracts for havland Mr CI is going to be uh completing some observation hours towards her Masters there's a mentor assignment for Mrs Reich um and also additional extracurricular
049contracts for IR in r s appointments and um Crush of The Ensemble um Mr Blum inside mentioned it in his education committee report um one of the other things that we continue to discuss in Human Resources is struggle with Staffing um and again it's not an udon issue it's not even a state of New Jersey issue it's pretty much a global issue at this point so um that just continues to be something that we are looking at and um in discussions for ways to to try to mitigate it um Dr Davis do you have anything else to add yeah I mean I my I have people helping on both sides um the seg way from your last comment in regards to the the Staffing issue we are fortunate that we have some wonderful part-time faculty
050m members and staff members in the district and we're able to move them into full-time positions when they open um M Cochran would be a perfect example that anding Bo approval she's going to move from a part-time special education position to a full-time special education U position it becomes a struggle to fill those those part-time positions and we as an administrative team work diligently to make sure that the supports for all our students are in place but we also know the importance of having the ability to move staff into those full-time positions and they are able to do pieces and work that needs to be done as well so as Mrs Davis comments you know there's things that happen um we do review and plan um we've had phans that are open um typically after
051board meetings the following day or the following week I send out an update to the community in regards to openings uh just as a reminder um so we we welcome Miss Cy potentially to that full-time position once again I'd like to recognize Mrs Nolan we'll have to talk as an HR committee I know the last two years we had done the recognition for our retirees in June and I think it might be nicer for us to do it sooner in calendar year so we have them in in attendance and we're able to get them on board so we'll talk about that and there'll be some more uh formal recognition for all her years of service and the aades for not only her but any other any other retirees that we may have um that's it
052for me thank you so on the addendum 18 just changes 18 okay we slow 18 items all right um may I please have a motion to approve items 1 through motion second any questions or comments on those motions okay Mrs fron Cas roll call please Mr Ryan Yes Mrs petria Mrs Cassidy Mrs Cox yes Mrs Davis yes Mr Gilmore yes Mr Miller yes Mr PR yeah Mr bloomenstein yes motion's passed thank you next I'd like to recognize Dr Davis for the hit report and the superintendence report yeah as the board is aware we do have one report of an HIV it does appear to be a confirmed HIV um we'll go through the process and uh you know next board meeting we'll go through that piece um now that it's it's formal I'd like formally
053express my gratitude to our interview committee for their service in selecting the next assistant principal for student Personnel Services for the alivon Junior Senior High School I'd also like to thank the board for their appointment of Mr John MC Michel Mr M Michael earned his bachelor's of Arts degree in Psychology from Villanova University and his masters of education in school psychology from Temple University he furthered his formal education at Wilmington University where he earned a second master degree this time in school leadership Mr McMichael comes to us with 17 years of school counseling experience his duties included the coordination of standardized testing for a large or Regional High School with over 2100 students and about 300 staff members he's familiar with the tenants of positive behavior support and proactively supports students and caregivers needs he
054served on various District level committees that have included the crisis management team intervention and referral services the long range plan data team and middle States associations of Colleges and Schools accreditation he's also an avid Runner and has coached track and field at the high school level Mr McMichael has been known for his ability to build relationships and his overall passion for schools and learning the supervisors have recommended him for this advancement in position and this new challenge without reservation they describe him as a passionate and dedicated educator our team looks forward to him joining our school Community as noted in the board motion Mr John McMichael will formally begin his services to the students faculty staff and the oton junior senior Senior High School community on January 18th or if we can get him sooner
055we'll take him sooner Mr McMichael please stand and give us a little a [Applause] all right our student council reps mentioned the cross country team we were going to try to recognize them this evening but we wanted to give them enough time so their family and friends could be in attendance so we will recognize them at the December board meeting and then uh the board had requested that I share some information in regards to to uh meal services um the student council reps were a little more succinct than I'm going to be and when they shared their excitement for the meal service at least at the Junior Senior High School to return to pre pandemic and actually I would say that's true of havin and Mansion so I'll start with a little formal and then
056I'll back uh board members I'll share this whole document with you that goes into the nuts and bolts um there were some struggles as we opened uh the school year so I'll I'll start off with the first part it's it's six pages I I could be a little too for um or thorough if that's possible so I I will share that neutr Ser has been professional supportive and responsive throughout the pandemic if anybody was here at the June 9th 2021 meeting the board I formally recognize Miss Kimberly V for serving over 70,000 meals over the 2020 21 school year the meals were prepared and packaged on a weekly basis the items selected were well received and on most weeks she made herself available for individual family pickups and in assisted with deliveries too Miss venis
057and her team did a tremendous job selecting preparing and so serving our school Community throughout the 2021 hybrid instructional model over the last several board meetings there have been some questions in regards to the quality and quantity of the food being served and the overall meal service I confirmed that the administration at the Junior Senior High School had received communication expressing these concerns I rece received a few on my own um and both from students and parents although no not formally reported to the elementary principles there were issues to be addressed at both mansion and havin Avenue Elementary Schools um not unlike other service Industries new Serv has been neg negatively impacted by the pandemic items that have influenced aon's meal service in from September on included labor shortages changes in the meal delivery at
058our schools struggles with supply chain equipment issues and the overall increase in meal requests with the universal free meal programs across the country these issues have been compounded effect in some instances because one thing impacts another so I'll do the briefer version for the board um you know labor shortages you know neutr Ser is a contracted service so their their employees are not employees of the board we we employ neut serve we contract out with them um when they started the school year at the high school um there typically eight employees at the Junior Senior High School three employees at mansion and then two at havin when they started they were short three staff members um including medical reasons uh and also resignations and retirements so that's a challenge and as you listen to these
059things you have to think about each one of them and how they impact the other and that's what I did within this document because there's that compounding effect it's listic um we also impacted them based on how we set up our our pieces so we added two preschools over at oton or two preschool classes over oton park so uh that's an impact at this point neutr serves currently fully staff um but they will be looking for another hire um we also employ lunch AIDS within the district or cafeteria AIDS both at havin and Mansion when we opened the school year havlin needed to hire two cafeteria AIDS Mansion had to hire one currently we're fully staffed Mansion will be looking for a cafeteria Aid um those cafeteria AIDS do different things right they uh open
060thermoses snack bags they also help with cleaning when we came back we also changed the the meal delivery right because we change at the high school specifically the locations and really as we go through this that's probably the biggest impact because typically we serve all our students meals in the cafeteria we move them to the the auxiliary gym we separated them we attempted to cohort the students by grade levels and also separate them and social distance them while they're having their Meals by doing that also knowing mutra serve was down three employees we added another location where there's meal service um everyone should understand um we do all the meal prep or neut Ser does all the meal prep uh within the high school and then satellites them to the other locations so we took
061those eight employees which were short and really six employees and move them to two separate locations to one so the preparation that's happening here even though that begins in the in the cafeteria at the high school they also had to move those items now it's not a big distance they were using the car to move them over but there's an other compounding effect because we did not have uh a warming station so at havin and Mansion we have stoves in both locations so although we prepare the meals here and get them above temperature right so typically around 180° as they pack them up and ship them to the other locations which is okay for the first meal service typically so the uton park preschool really isn't a big impact because they received their meals first
062they had one meal service so that food wasn't getting cold um but at mansion and havlin that first meal service typically easy their meals are nice and warm if they start to get cooled they have ovens where they can bring the meals back up the temperature and they also have warming trays where the the the food items are there for uh serving them auxiliary gym a little bit different because one we often have to mitigate the fact that there is mercury within the um floor which is part of the bond please remember to vote on December 14th because we have to keep the temperature down it's okay um you know be by Health standards but it's also a cold area within the the school and the district as a whole and we're moving meals over
063there we did use them uh move them a warmer there was a refrigerator uh for the cold items to keep the the juice and the milk items cold but the maintaining of temperature in the auxiliary gym was questionable um we were moving items as it as time went um they were taking the high items from the cafeteria here and moving them over um that impact of that schedule change impacts the service the and and mansion in Hing in order to cohort and break down the lunch periods a little bit they did a halfin half out program which impacted meal service because you have half the students out enjoying recess and you have half the students inside enjoying meals and because that was occurring the the servers are now working double time because as they're preparing
064meals they're and serving meals well they're serving meals and they're preparing the cafeteria work workers are also now impacted because typically there's a break between the periods because as you were feeding the students and they were having lunch when the period was halfway through they would all go outside and and and and play and we could clean the area we separated them but now you have that compounding effect and also the compounding effect of here at the high school the number of servers uh and preparers for neutr Ser was down custodians were impacted as well um because there's more than just meals and I'm going to keep on going I'm still on really page one of six the um our custodians have added duties because we're doing cleaning of high touch areas throughout the school
065day at the high school now we've created two serving areas and now that we had to move those custodians so they were cleaning not only the cafeteria areas both in the auxiliary gym and the cafeteria but also the building um we were able to hire additional student staff um because it's challenging for us to get custodial staff too and maintenance staff so they're hired to work evenings and then our evening staff for now working days so you have workers that are doing different jobs and also working at a different rate than they were before um so and that's based on so our local meal delivery change um so some of the things with you know specific to meal delivery that have been addressed uh neutr serve currently fully staffed havin and Mansion currently fully staff
066we were not on the school year open um we hired additional evening student workers so that our evening custodial staff that could are now working during the day which helps with the cleaning the maintenance of the the the the buildings and the facilities another impact that was because we separated locations was especially here at the high school because of the co-principal retiring and then the assistant principal getting another position there became a supervision issue um because now our administrators were supervising two locations and our faculty and staff that helped assist during that time are supervising in two locations and if anybody followed Tik Tok we know that there were some bathroom issues that were occurring um be not here and and in the post of looking at our Tik toks but Tik Tock was out
067and there were uh some issues with students making poor choices of how they were spending their time well typically we would have had more people and the people would have been dispersed differently during those lunch periods so we're hopeful one we have uh the hire of the co-principal uh with Mr uh Nicholson and now we have the hire of the assistant principle for student Personnel Services so we're hopeful that that will help uh mitigate some of the things specifically within the high school uh big change moving and bringing all the students back to the cafeteria here at the high school there were reasons why um we needed to do it uh we were looking at we wanted to see how the Food Service went with those two locations because of the issues we also lost
068the use of the auxiliary gym we have winter Athletics coming up we have extracurriculars and we also have um this the the community ed programs the supervision piece part the cleaning peace part but then also the biggest benefit and our student council rep's shair was now um by bringing it back the meal service changed we are now um really back to pre pandemic meal service at the Junior senior uh High School um there is one Lunch Period that has more students than others and we were able and thank you to the aea and the uh the teachers union we moved their lunchroom which used to be right across from the one of the lunch rooms we have different faculty rooms but we move that upstairs and then uh we have some students that are eating
069in that faculty lounge and we set it up differently so we could have some more students in there um so we brought back uh the sandwich bar at the high school's back the salad bar is back those are areas where the students can go and make and really say what they want on their sandwich or what they would like in their salad they always loved in the past one of the things that when I came on board in 2018 there was always this conversation about the meal and what was there um and I know there was times that I purchased the meals because they were good they were actually you know exceptional they're also able to because now we're not preparing and shipping and moving things to the oxygen and those staff members are now
070over here in the high school they've increased the hot side Choice options there's always a hot meal item at all all locations and then in the elementary schools they have three other options so there's four meal options um but they have the main Entre here now at the high school um typically they have hamburgers and cheeseburgers that are prepared they have chicken patties that they can get um there's a hot vegetable that they're able to get cheese pizza pepperoni pizza and buffalo Pizza is available so that's those alart kind of items where they can select those meal pieces they're not alart actually they're they they are considered meals um by moving them back we also put the point of sales I'm trying to give you all the pieces because there's a lot of questions about
071it um we were able to bring back the point of sale uh part and reinstate that at high school which means now all those alakar items are back and I know awing likes it because the freshly baked cookies that smell that just kind of walks through the building kind of get you going um the kids love them there's assortment of chips and things that they now have available that they can buy out the par there's juice uh they do like the sports drinks the um body armor I believe it is um ice cream choices that they have pudding they like uh typically Kim chair Kim really tracks it Miss V she tracks all the things that are getting purchased she likes to make sure that those meal items are served um we're having a hard
072time getting pudding uh she knows that the kids like the yogurt parfit that they make uh unfortunately we can't get all the the the the ingredients for that but she keeps looking and when that comes available she will that's that whole supply chain issue so there is a supply chain issue we know that the mozzarella sticks that we had now a month ago were not the ones we we normally get and unfortunately we had them they were cooked they were edible the little kids love them it's interesting to hear how or had different reports than the the Junior Senior High uh and it's interesting that you know the the feedback is different um but we knew we weren't going to order them again um this knew her team knew it was a substitution so we
073we we got our old product back and uh I think it was a high selling item both at the high school and at the element Mansion where I think about 160 of the kids chose to get those mozzarella sticks which were the old mozzarella sticks um she had shared and I quot her like I think everybody needs to understand who she is and who her team they really really take pride in uh their meal service they really want to make sure the kids want to eat the products that we're offering or the meals were offering but she also knew that on the calendar it said mozzarella sticks and the mozzarella sticks that we typically get weren't available so she went across and tried to get something very similar it was not she got them because
074she knows the kids like them and she wanted she did not want to disappoint them other things bom related items please take the tour in December in the high school and take a look at the cafeteria um the equipment is old the walk-in freezer uh had issues in the beginning of the year uh it was down for 18 hours we had to move all the items out and put them in the refrigerator we did not lose any of the items but it needs to be fixed the refrigerator was down for a little bit because um it had ice built up and then there was some condensations so we had to fix the refrigerator both of them are in the bond if you take a look at the oven that's in the back of the house
075which is in the pictures that you can see online you look at the picture you can say and it's clean but when you look at it you're like what's going on that um uh that stove may be possessed I don't know um because it's the the our custodians and M crew fix it uh the it works for a couple days then all of a sudden it doesn't keep and it likes it likes 500° for some reason it goes up and obviously if you're cooking and you're trying to prepare meals that need to be warm they're constantly watching it because they have to make sure that the items don't burn so the one in the back of the house which is used to prepare all the items for both avalin and mansion and the auton preschool
076that someone has to monitor it like you can't leave it alone because it may just decide to go from the 350 or the 400 4 and A4 that it set at and jump 500 and Beyond um in the front of the house there's two two uh two stoves or it's a it's a top and bottom stove that's one unit uh that work on different filaments the the bottom unit I believe it's in my document here the bottom unit works the top one has the same thing it's a little off sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't um we have issues with the warming chair so the the the warmer which is used to make pasta um it's also used to make the taco meat if we're running for serving hot vegetables doesn't keep temp it's old
077it needs to be replaced we keep trying to fix it it's hard to get parts um so those there there equipment issues trying to see what else we got here I'll try to stop um cuz I think you're getting just it you Universal free meals I think that's the other part right so I think there's two real big things that happen by separating the the high school there was an impact that was that resonated throughout but then the other thing that really impacted was the universal free meals um by offering all students within the district the ability and it's nice that we can do it free meals we double the amount of meals that we're serving so think about how that would be impacted by the fact that we're down staff we have equipment that's
078Mees you know quirky at best and we also have multiple locations and we've increased really the number of meal services so um for number wise September and we have to go back to 2018 because 2019 2020 we have Pandemic pieces that are hard to track so we served in September 6 6,800 meals approximately this year we in September we served 12,300 meals almost double and also on a limited Supply in regards to what we um we had available but then also what we were offering purposely in the elementary school they're very specific in regards to having four meal choices because when a little one comes up to get their meal and we're trying to make that go fairly quickly because the lunch periods half if you give them 10 choices they don't know what they're
079going to get and it also makes it very challenging because you need to know um and prepare what happens in both havin the Mansion is in the morning they send over a meal count to Kim and her team so they know what to prepare they always prepare a little bit more because little ones would forget just like I forget to take my mask down they forget I wanted I order a hand je toi and now I see oh you're you're selling uh I I would refer to they're not MC ribs but they're Whi sandwiches I was over at havin it helped supervise and uh I was just surprised they had little rib sandwiches and the little ones were Chow them down I think you couldn't give them enough um so but when you you have
080little ones they don't remember exactly when they get in line with I thought I wanted a handmer cheese but my buddy just got the the rib sandwich well I'm going to try the rib sandwich or it smells good it looks good so I want to get it so they always prepare some extras but because of the number it was hard to determine one what the kids were going to select but then also that number so and now the same amount of staff members are repairing twice the amount of meals obviously somewhat of an issue and you could see how that would impact uh in in October uh we served in 2018 10,400 meals approximately this year in October we sered uh almost 18,000 meals um so you can see that number so it's great um
081it's also great to hear and I didn't uh unfortunately really get to talk to the student council reps in regards to what they were going to prepare and talk about so um the fact that they know and I also heard and I've gotten some Community feedback and I've gotten feedback from students but I've also watched them in the lunch line especially over here at the Junior Senior High where they're like it's great to have the the choices back so in summary yes neutr serve was negatively impacted by the pandemic right labor shortages changes in meal delivery and our design here in order to mitigate against the uh spread of Co supply chain issues continue the little ones too they like the crusta the peanut butter and jelly crusta there have been a couple occasions where
082we don't have them um Kim likes to try to order as much as he can and bul when they're available but the reality is is sometimes you can't get them um CU everybody's ordering them and there so there is supply chain issues with some of the items um there's equipment issues and the overall increase in meal request due to the due to the U free meal program impacted we're in a nice Pace right now it looks like and it seems as though we're we're moving in the right direction uh the high school's happy the meal service it's uh and the moving of the the items over to the elementary schools elementary will still continue about that half in half out we'll still have conversations about that delivery and and how it's going um and whether
083or not we want to return to one lunch in and all kids out it really varies um we do have um some potential spread of uh covid one of the reasons why you know we're Limited in regards to Mas and when you're eating we have we we have have a challenging time when all the kids in the schools whether it be havin Mansion or the Junior Senior High are having meals we keep them 6 ft apart while they're eating um it's just challenging so that spread we'll continue to monitor we'll continue to make sure we we do our best um but we'll consider that so I want to thank the community members that reached out to uh neutr serf Administration and the board um I'd also encourage community members really to follow the chain of
084command you know continue to reach out to the building principles if it's a a building level concern but then also reach out to nutrier Kim is very uh responsive in regards to uh any questions or concerns uh whether it be specific meal items that someone may need because they have an allergy or uh just a specific uh nutrition piece she wants them to come she wants them to eat she wants to have food that's prepared and um that the students want to enjoy as well um we're here to serve no pun intended but really um both the administration meal service board so please keep us aware and looks like we're in we're in the right direction right now like it looks like we're sailing and we're going but for some reason we're not please let
085us know I know that was long but there's just a lot to consider when you talk about everything that's impacting or impacted meal service for the start of the school year if any board members have questions in regards to that I would say um based on the amount and intensity of the comments that we receed from the public both at meetings and in the emails um you know we asked you to follow up and report to us and you did a you know my opinion very good job of that um with that being said you know if if we if we sum up the lunch issue with five you know Staffing Logistics staging Logistics supply chain equipment and meal increase impact meal increase impact isn't going away the equipment's not going to be fixed unless
086we pass the bond supply chain issues are come and go um fix the Staffing and now you're changing Logistics you know uh making it better so I know you necessarily can't guarantee anything but are you confident you know very confident that the for example and I think it is an outlier but the pictures that I saw at the meeting and pictures that I saw elsewhere is food that we probably should not be serving to students so are you confident how confident are you that it is unlikely that that will happen again very confident and if for any reason whether you know board members are aware or community members are aware or students because students have SE me in the hall and they talk um we did the one walk through just as an example and
087uh uh there were some it's actually the PTA meeting I believe where there were some students there and after I had talked a little bit about the bond and we we took a a break uh two students came over to talk to me about uh some questions that they had in regards to the meals within their school so you know we're also trying to raise uh young citizens that you know have a voice and and are ready to speak up and are articulate and these two gentlemen were very articulate and every one of the students so I I am very confident that our meal uh service is back to where it was and where we wanted to it to be uh and there could be other impacts you know over time you know we don't
088know what the supply chain so as you say you stated there there might be things that happen but where we are right now we're good thank you any other um questions or comments regarding superintendence report okay moving on to special program Representatives I do not have anything to report for ed services Mrs Davis for school boards thank you um there was no uh County school board meeting this month the next meeting is scheduled for December 13th um it will again um be a hybrid option and I just wanted to let everyone know that the New Jersey school board Workshop videos they've um Extended the amount of time that they're going to be available originally it was 1 month but um thankfully now those videos will be available until December 28th thank you okay thank you
089any board member comments question so sure um Mas the uh we had uh two fire drills um you can say they're drills uh or evacuations at the Junior Senior High um not to say I used it for uh Bond uh pieces but I know when the fire officials came and the local police came uh and then also as the students were coming in uh the reality is uh in both cases they were old um sensors and they were malfunctioning so unfortunately they malfunctioned and the alarm went off and when you when they do um we have to evacuate the building uh the evacuations went well um the the first one later on we had another uh sensor not the same day but the following week the next week we had a sensor that went off
090uh and once again it was a faulty sensor they're old they need to be replaced they are in the referendum in this case the first evacuation went really well I would say the second went well too but in on that day the the students were Outside the Fire officials come uh the police are there um we have to evacuate the building they come and help identify where and the location and then we confirm what the issue is in this case faulty uh sensors and then uh if this if we have a sensor we replace it if we don't you deactivate that sensor or in some cases you have to put the the system on hold and we do walkthroughs in the building it's just kind of part of code um in this case we were
091able to deactivate that sensor um but unfortunately after the students came in it misfired again um and then we had a wait we didn't we didn't have to wait that long because there were some officials that were still here we were able to go through and check and go through true but um in both cases Junior Senior High um the last two drills or evacuations were due to faulty sensors and um we're reviewing you know so uh we know where some of those older um sensors are but the reality is uh the system itself needs to be gutted and replaced um it's old answer your question so I I used it I mean the the fire officials I mean I just told them you know this part of the referendum um the vote is on
092December 14th so um okay board member comments continuing sorry um I I just wanted to ask the board um if anyone would would want to um work with me to develop or um be a part of an ad hoc committee to work on a new member new board member orientation kit um there are um other school boards that have that and um I think it would be a really nice Resource as new members are coming in um I was very happy to meet with Lori uh earlier this week and I just felt like between myself and Dr Davis and Mrs Ron Cas we just kept piling information on information upon information on her and I would just I'd like to have a resource um a document that you know that's digital that we could say
093to new members we're going to walk you through all this but then when you go home there's something else for you to go back and reference so um I'd like to put together some type of an ad hoc committee to at developing something like that and new members would probably be excellent resources because you can tell us what you what questions you had initially and and what needed to be answered so just wanted to put that out there so just reach out to Amy if that's something you want to be a part of um no more than four people can meet at a particular time but that's not to say that U other people can't have input um so just email Amy and she'll take care of that um any other board comments Mr Pro
094uh yes I attended the education committee meeting and I just wanted to reiterate my uh reaction to Mr Burke uh Sheamus Burke's presentation of the data update and how how much I was impressed that the staff and he himself take it very seriously that the data does present challenges and that they're working extremely hard to respond to those challenges and to any staff member that may be listening I would also like to encourage them for their renewed efforts on behalf of all of the students so thank you thank you anybody else okay I have a few things um I have a couple people mentioned cross country um I coached cross country in Sterling for a long time and I've watched uh coach Ireland build that program um and the the boys that did that accomplished
095that this weekend and at sectionals um certainly have worked hard and um are I'm sure very proud but I would just like to point out um just like with any other sport that Mr Ireland has worked hard very hard to create that culture over time those things don't just happen overnight so that's a testament to not only him but Runners that have since graduated you know there's there's a tradition that's building uh at uh oton and um you know it's pretty cool to see so I just wanted to recognize that um welcome to Mr McMichael officially and Miss Cassidy welcome it's good to have you on board um as you all know we recently had an election um I received some emails prior to the election suggesting you know what can we do to promote
096a forum how can we have a forum for candidates and the uh the way that I responded to that was that you know it's not appropriate for the board itself to host anything we can't especially if there's people on the board that are running you know it's it's not appropriate so my advice was I know that fathers does something and I encouraged um those that reached out to reach out to the PTA the fathers the Rotary Club other independent organizations in town to you know have those types of forums in the future so I wanted to make everyone of that uh on Election Day and since election day um some other questions and complaints have come across uh my desk I just would like everyone to know that this board has nothing to do with
097the elections that take place so if there are questions concerns or complaints about the election itself they should not be directed to this board so if any of you um get questions or complaints you know you should direct those folks to reach out to the county elections office we cannot we have nothing to do with that so um just wanted to put that out there as well um I want to thank Dr Davis for the Food Service report and Miss Venus for you know working to approve that and get it back to where it is and the final thing um I would like to mention is that the committee chairs did meet um and uh some of the things that we discussed were the ways in which we can facilitate the committee meetings um but
098we we're I think we're doing a good job but we discussed ways in which we can make sure that we focus on the goals and and nail you know drill down into those um so we had a good conversation about that we did follow up with Dr Davis we talked about how to improve our communication with different stakeholders um the Commissioners uh m e PTA uh a and what we came up with was first of all with Mount eph we're still waiting to find out but we'd like to create an ad hoc committee that we meet with them you know on a a quarterly basis or whatever is agreed to by that group what we don't know is if four of us can meet with four of them if that constitutes a quarum or not
099so if it does then we'll probably go with two people and they'll go with two people we can talk about may maybe making a committee of four or five and there's two people altering I we'll we'll we'll talk about that more but that that's the table um in terms of the Commissioners what and the PTA and uh a uh any other organizations that we want to build a relationship with um what we would like to do is lead by example so what we intend to do is reach out to those organizations when once we reorganize in January and say hey we want to have a better o relationship with you we want to have an open line of communication what we're going to do is start to attend your meeting so what we're going to
100ask from the board members is to we're going to have a schedule and we'd like you to sign up you know as often as you can to make sure that we have people present at those meetings so we're going to let them know that you'll start seeing us and um rep make reports at our meetings if appropriate of what went on at those meetings in terms of uh anything that's related to the school district and in hopes that uh they may start to attend our meetings more often perhaps they can work those put that into their reports so just starting there uh and seeing where that goes so we wanted to share that with everybody so once we reorganize we'll probably have a retreat in January so that's one of the things that we'll make
101sure is on the agenda um and we talked about public comment uh improving that I will address that when we get to the public comment uh session and we address the mask policy um to make sure that we are you know following the executive War so what we are asking is that everyone who enters the building uh just like students and staff is wearing a mask um if someone is unable to wear a mask due to a medical condition just like students and staff we would just ask that they bring a medical note so moving forward that's the you know that's the norm and the expectation that be like to establish until the executive order goes away so um you know that's that any questions or comments regarding my comments I just had a comment
102sure for great I will that's perfect that's a good start great and I've been a member of the father's Association they meet on Thursdays I've been doing my graduate work on Thursday nights so I have not been able to attend um them as much as I used to but you know um I I could be a conduit to them as well so and I know we talked about PTA uh connections so we've identified who those leaders are and uh when the schedules are so we'll start to you know push that out to everybody yeah okay um moving on to public participation so at the outset of the meeting uh I outlined um our guidelines for public participation um all of that stance uh we want to address the public uh regarding what happened at the
103last two meetings two meetings ago um we had people that were yelling from the audience trying to interrupt um it wasn't egregious but uh we do not want it to become a problem um we want to make it clear that this frustrating as it may be for some people we are a public body that is meeting in the public and while we conduct business the people that are attending the meeting are there to witness it when we open for public comment we have a policy of 3 minutes per person 15 minutes per topic one person at a time so it's inappropriate for people to yell or shout or interrupt or continue to talk after their 3 minutes is up um so that's what happened two meetings ago so we want to reiterate how important it
104is to run the meeting you know in that fashion second at the last meeting we had a gentleman who um came and made public comments and acted in a way that we will not tolerate anymore um we expect people when they come to make a public comment to speak to us the way in which which we speak to each other which is with respect and we do not raise our voices with each other we do not Shake fingers at each other we do not yell or attack people um at the last meeting that is what happened and we will not tolerate that so we want to stress and make clear that if you come and make a public comment please address us with the tone and with the respect that we speak to each other
105with and that we extend to the public um that's not to say that you can't disagree uh or be upset or even angry um but it needs to be expressed in a way that is appropriate so we wanted to also send that message as well um so with that being said uh with public comment the way that we will handle comments from now on is that we will hear all the comments so we will open open up public comment we will hear all public comment we will not respond to any of those particular comments while they're being made um and then we will close public comment SE session after is closed um we will engage with Dr Davis about some or all of the comments that were made um we'll address them to the degree
106that we think they should be addressed board members can have an opportunity to enter into that conversation ask questions or follow up um so uh beginning tonight we will we will conduct public comment session that way um we have a 15-minute limit um if we feel that there is a topic that should be extended any board member can make a motion to extend that 15 minutes that motion needs to be seconded and then there will a vote will take place so we can extend that 15minute increment so that's something for the board to keep in mind we've done that in the past um the final thing is there I I sensed and I take some responsibility for this with the way that I responded that um definitely there's some frustration uh on behalf of people
107on in the public when they come to make a comment um and they want the board to advocate for them so what I would like to reiterate to the People to People in the public is that um we do not get involved in the daytoday operations of the school it would be inappropriate for us to do that that doesn't mean that we can't have conversations with Dr Davis and I think Miss Cassidy even used the word nudge in in the past I mean you can nudge them you can talk to them you can have conversations um but with that being said for us to advocate for you the best way is for you to come to a meeting and show that you went through the chain of command that you reached out to a building
108principal uh and that wasn't resolved and then you ask the building principal well who should I talk to next and they point you to to the another person in the district and that ultimately that ends up with Andy so when you come to the meeting if you could quickly review that you've gone through that chain of command you still are frustrated and upset with the lack of resolution or the resolution that is reached we are in a better position to have a conversation with Dr Davis about you know if there's a problem and how that problem can best be solved um it is unlikely that those problems will be solved on the spot um what you will hear after public comment is Us address it maybe ask questions and task Dr Davis with looking into
109it and getting back to us like he did tonight um you know after he finds out and investigates that matter so um that's uh what I would like to to leave the public with um uh as a result of the conversations that we've been having so uh with that being said uh may I please have a motion to open public participation motion second all those in favor I any opposed okay would anyone like to make a public comment hi ellt 25 third everybody hear me m first of all I want to say thank you to being considered so I can actually partake in this meeting uh my hearing uh what I'm about to my statement I emailed to all of you anyway but I do would like to read it as you know M well
110and I recently Run for the Board of Education seat that is a writing candidate and we did it five days before year election five I was short 17 vots in those five days I came very close to sitting next to you didn't really campaign I just went out and talked to parents I knocked on doors I walked around I saw people outside and talk to them the main things that I was informed that they are concerned about and this is where your job comes in to Advocate because this is what they say a lot M parents do not want CRT social justice agendas in our classrooms at all while you may have a handful that do want this it appears our community as a whole does not the parents I spoke with want a better
111curriculum for our kids so we can get our test scores up and our kids ready for the outside world we're in the very high 200 where we should be for a small school it should be much better than that they do not excuse me they don't want activism they just want a curriculum that's Back to Basics using the technology that's available knowledge is power knowledge is confidence confidence is everything for kids parents want to stop wasting our tax dollars on things that are not needed and put things put toward things that are proven to how I can't succeed let's go back and review programs a majority of parents do not want mandates parents should have a choice in whether their children wear a mask or not mandates are not laws mandates are dividing our community
112it's not enough to say we're doing what's best for our children what you think is best for our children isn't what a majority of these parents think it's best for our children we are the parents we know it's best for our children a majority of parents do not want politics making their way into our schools and do not want more mandate put in place I urge the board to take into consideration what the parents want and not political parties parents and their children who are on the board should advoca [Music] for so your time is up but if I have your statement here if if you want to finish that and that will be the end of your statement I'll let you finish the rest of the statement you're welcome drug testing for new hires
113is a big concern many think a mistake not making sure new hires are drug free these people in our children's lives on a daily basis they set examples for our children if kids can be tested anyone working for our children in excuse me working for our school district should be I understand Bo at meetings are not the time for some things to be discussed my neighbor mentioned the town hall type setting to have parents hurt this may be a good idea for once or twice a year to get the board to come together with parents and the people of the community to Pro promote less frustration with everyone involved thank you for listening you're welcome would anyone else like to make a public comment may I please have a motion to close the public comment
114session motion second all those in favor I any opposed okay first uh I will address the drug testing uh as you heard tonight the governance committee will be taking that up and discussing that so um that uh that process will get started um I can't promise anything one way or the other but it'll start in committee and that's where the discussion will take place um the governance committee will report on those discussions as we move forward um in terms of the Mandate uh our board has been clear about um our uh responsibility and um really guidance from our uh attorney our board attorney to um make sure that we follow follow the Mandate so you know we are going to do our board is committed to following uh what our attorney uh is advising us
115to do and um I I'll leave that at that um in terms of the Town hul settings um I I think that that is a good idea um we have used them in the past because you know we had issues I talked earlier tonight we want to make sure this is this is not a question and answer session it's not an appropriate place for it so a town hall setting would be um we've used those a couple times when we when you did um reports for reopening yeah so um I think that that is uh something that we've used and we will consider uh in the future um Dr Davis can you address uh CRT and social justice and the degree to which it is or is not part of our curriculum yeah I mean
116we've addressed that in public several times in regards to critical uh race Theory um it's it's not part of a pre2 curriculum um the fact that this topic continues to come up not only here in aivon but in other districts we've made that comment before that potentially there needs to be some training and there needs to be some information uh brought out to families uh I will meet with the administrative team and discuss bringing some information uh to the public so you can really understand um we are teaching cultural responsive pieces it's not critical race Theory and I think people really need to have a better understanding of that so I will come back with some information and uh you know I I really and I had stated that probably two or three board meetings
117ago where it appears that people just need a better understanding of what is occurring within a school and what is not and that's probably something that um we can make sure we discuss in the education committee as well um in terms of improving the curriculum um you know again I think that's something that we'll discuss in um education we we we regularly discuss that um and uh I think that's something that will will come out of the data that we're looking at diving down into that um using the Esser funding to improve the curriculum um to bring those scores up you know so um that's something that I'll make sure that the education Comm committee keeps their eye on keeps discussing and uh keeps making reports at Future more meetings can I comment on sure
118yeah and I don't know if Mr pum was reading my notes I mean I was not but we're going to continue to focus on data right data drives uh our decision making and part of the reason why we pushed forward with the ISL information although it was alarming it's real data in regards to what we have to look at now because the state assessment that is not available and one of the things we do need to do is raise the rigor but we also have to raise the rigor within the environment that we are in now and the SS will help in regard regards to providing additional supports and services but it's time to talk about where we are in a realistic Manner and get our kids to the place where they need to be
119whether it be academic or social emotionally so that will be an ongoing conversation thank you Dr Davis do any board members have any comments or questions for Dr Davis or for the board to hear at large sure if you could just make sure you speak into the microphone as we take a look clearly youing at the DAT where we are to drive our curriculum and make it better when we look at our student how does that compare to others that you benmar the local are we can look at some of the best practices that maybe well it's challenging to do that in regards tol data so because ISL data the data that we presented um it's looking at norms across a wide range and it's also looking at norms across a wide range not considering
120a pandemic so that dat is Challen challenging to do comparisons um when we were doing comparison it's part of the VPR um that was shared with the board when we reviewed the qac review um you can see areas where we are below where we both in ela and Mathematics where we looking at similar dist Factor group we were below where we need to be so there's an honest look there but the nice piece to look at that was old dat that the state's using to compare it also shows that we were in an upward Trend when this data was being reviewed there's been a lot of work that's been happening within our classrooms um not only providing curriculum resources but providing training um and the the the administration and the teachers are doing a good
121job so the data does reflect even when you look at the data that was reported from the state level that we're below where we need to be but also that we were on a trend so our goal is to one look ATL because it's a data we can look at now where are we and and how can that help drive us because we won't potentially have data to do any kind of comparison until the end of the school year when uh the njsla is uh readministered um and it's also really important for us not only to look at those standardized assessment results but also local assessment data and as that gets refined and Define but we know um there's areas for us to improve and that's our goal overall I know that completely answer your
122question very well definitely so obviously starting to begin to learn to ask questions on the educational basis but what we look at obviously we're on an upward Str which is a good thing phenomal appreciate the the teachers the students everybody who's getting us there in our trajectory compared to others in our local area any other best practices that would help us to maybe even increase us further by giving the teachers more more resources that have successfully worked in other districts that's a challenging piece um I can go into some historical uh pieces in regards to other positions that I've served but we'll talk and bring that back to Administration and get some more information for you yeah I was going to say at the very least you could look into that and and report back
123at Le through the education committee or at the next meeting um the degrees to which we can do that so great thank any other comments or questions Mr Pro yeah I wanted to celebrate the public participation and to encourage uh parents and community members that have brought issues of data utilization and how we can best use that for instructing the children children and I think to see how Sheamus Burke and how the staff have responded with Mr bloomenstein indicators of more growth than was expected so in a month we have 1.2 months or 1.5 months that that additional growth reflects on how hard the staff is responding to this data that they've recently been made aware of so I think it's encouraging and I'm just reiterating what other people have said but thank you for
124all of those things that people have brought to the attention of the board sure go yeah and and for that public uh session piece one other comment I have in regards to that is um last week we really wanted to get out a uh parent survey parent Guardian caregiver survey still under review um it should be be going out shortly it will be uh a good way for one it's an overview um asking some specific things in regards to demographic information so we can recognize and celebrate our school Community um but then also uh some school climate and culture pieces that come right from the Department of Ed and uh there are open-ended sections for encouraging parents and care and caregivers to give information in regards to what other questions that weren't part of the
125survey would you like answered if you were to make um three uh topics that were part of the fiveyear goal what would they be so we'll be using that data um to to look at the wants and the needs and of the the community as a whole so uh anybody who's here but then also anyone who's uh going to review the YouTube uh make I encourage everyone to fill out this the survey um so we can get that information and we can continue to best serve the community thank you anybody else okay uh with that there is no need to go into the executive session tonight um and please the next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday December 15th it'll be our last meeting together as this board that'll be at 6:30 in the aabon
126Junior Senior High School auditorium um actually that's not true Mr Gilmore if you are you could come to the January meeting so if you were inclined to we're going to recognize um but uh with that may I please have a motion to adjourn second all those in favor I any opposed all right Happy Thanksgiving everyone have a good night