001All right, we are live to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> here >> Mr. Phillips >> here, >> Mr. Golden >> here. Mana >> here. >> May I have a motion and a second, please, to approve the action meeting minutes from the October 16th, 2025 meeting? >> Second. All those in favor oppos. >> All right. Welcome everyone. >> Hope everybody's doing well. Okay. It is time for the best part of our meeting which is to give awards to our some of our amazing students. These awards are being given out to our students for being kind uh and hardworking students from both JFK and from DDE. I'm going to start with the students from
002JFK. Students, when I say your name, come on up. Stand here very awkwardly next to me, [laughter] okay? While I talk about you, and then you have to continue standing here next to me awkwardly until I call everyone's name. And then we're going to take a picture together in the back. Sound like a plan? Yeah. >> Okay. Love it. >> All right. We are going to start with JFK and our prek student of the month, Kinsley Rafalco. [applause] >> All right. Kinsley is being nominated for JFK student of the month because of the great friend she is. She is always willing to lend a hand to a friend in need or to her teacher. She is always smiling and always uses her matters. She is an absolute joy to have in our class. Keep being
003the shining star you are. >> All right. Our kindergarten student of the month is Grayson Townsen. Grayson has done a wonderful job following classroom expectations and routines. He is showing responsibility with his personal belongings. Grayson has been a wonderful listener and greets his friends and teachers. Congratulations to Grayson. [applause] Our first grade student of the month is Vivana Severino. Congratulations Viv Viviana. Riviana. >> Viviana. >> Vivana is the mom of our classroom. She does a wonderful job at using a gentle voice when helping her friends, demonstrating patience, and being responsible. She is a hard worker, bright, and super funny as well. Great job, Viviana. [applause] Second grade, we have Jolene Mhenny. Jolene is always very friendly and helpful to those around her, sacrificing her free time to help others catch up or to understand. She
004displays great integrity and a wonderful attitude towards learning, asking questions that show she is thinking about the topic on a deeper level. Congratulations. [applause] Our third grade student of the month is Raniah Thomas. Raniah has been such a wonderful addition to JFK and our classroom. She is pleasant and motivated every single day. She is always positive and determined to do her best work. She works so well with others and is always kind. So, congratulations to Rena. [applause] And last but not least from JFK, our fourth grade student of the month, Jude Mcolen. Jude consistently listens well, follows classroom expectations, and frequently helps his classmates when they need support. Congratulations, Jude. You ladies ready for a picture? All right, let's do stand right in front of me. One person right in front of me and then
005two people on the other side right here. that chair. Make sure you're holding your certificates the right way. >> Just like that. And last rule, big smiles. >> Great job, girls. Okay. And now our DE students of the month. We will start in fifth grade with McKenzie Severino. [applause] Congratulations. McKenzie has been nominated to be student of the month because she consistently demonstrates organization and preparation in all her classes. She arrives with her materials ready and completes assignments on time. Her friendly attitude makes her a positive presence in the classroom, and she treats everyone with kindness and respect. Kenzie is also quick to offer help to classmates and teachers. Her teamwork and positive energy make her a role model for others. Awesome job. >> Our sixth grade student of the month is Carolina Herrera. >>
006Carolina [applause] Thank you. >> Karolina is a dedicated and focused sixth grade student. Karolina always goes above and beyond in her academics. She is kind, conscientious, and respectful to all of her teachers and peers. She is always willing to offer a helping hand and and is as hardworking as they come. Congratulations. [applause] All right. Our seventh grade student of the month is Eldri Kuzman Callan. >> [applause] >> ALDRI IS A hard-working and kind seventh grade student who is respectful to his peers and the staff at DD. He always applies himself in class by asking questions if he needs assistance, focusing on his task, and following through with all of his academic obligations. We are proud of the daily effort Eldri puts into his classes. So, congratulations. And last but not least, our eighth grade student
007of the month is Walter Hernandez. [applause] The eighth grade team is nominating Walter Hern Hernandez for student of the month for October. He is respectful, hardworking, and demonstrates his leader in me habits in both class and advisory. Walter is resourceful and prioritizes his work successfully while balancing being president of National Junior Honor Society, a member of Student Government Association, and a member of the DDE soccer team. Lastly, Walter has had a has had perfect attendance so far for the 2526 school year. Nice job, Walter. [applause] Let's get you to Make sure your certificates are awesome. Congratulations, guys. All right. Thank you so much everyone for coming out and for sharing your awesome kids with us. Um, and you you you can go now. >> [laughter] >> you'll have to stay for the rest of the
008meeting. So, thank you so much for coming. Have a wonderful night, great weekend. Can you look at me? Damn, that's not idea All right, let's go. [snorts] >> Get in. Get in. I would say it without >> Thanks guys. >> Okay. So, I am going to jump right into yet another presentation. Um, very brief presentation. I'm not going to take long with this. Um, we finally received uh eight months later our QAC results uh from from last year. And so I wanted to share some of the results with the board and with the public. Um so QAC again just as a reminder they look at five indicators for the county office review that they do of our district. Instruction and program fiscal operations governance and personnel. And there are what feels like a million indicators
009in each one of those categories. And we have to provide evidence throughout the entire process how we're meeting each one of those indicators um that matches matches up with statute or law. We'll see. Um so throughout the QC process, the district was asked to upload data that would satisfy the state requirements. The district then met with the county office. The county team provided feedback to the district and ultimately uh gave us a score Eight months later, dot dot dot, the county office provided us with our scores uh for each of the five categories. Any category that was rated lower than 80% requires the district to create a dip or a district improvement. Um and so for us, I actually thought we did pretty well. Um but we scored we rated lower than 80% in two
010of the five categories. The first um category that we rated lower was in instruction and programming. The majority of of the issue on instruction and program that knocks points down is test scores. And we're not unlike many school districts that lose points in that area. Um but you lose a lot of points and we know that we're sort of working our way back up right now over the last um so many years. So that was rated at 73%. >> And we did increase almost the last we are moving right and we did go up and we did earn more points. And the important thing is that in in most of the indicators, we're doing everything that we're supposed to be doing. It's just we're not hitting what they consider to be a test score that's
011adequate. Um, and our operations rated at 78%. So, two two points lower um than than what we needed. Fiscal was 87%. Pat yourself. >> Went up six points. No big deal. um govern governance was 85% which is a good score and personnel was 84% also a good score um but having said that there are areas so this was my first time obviously going through and my first time going through with with our district um and there were some really easy things that we could be doing that will raise our score in every category they were just things that he had either fallen off on the transition between superintendents um or the district just wasn't doing previously And so that's why we didn't get the points. Um so instruction and program like I said large largely
012derived from our state assessment uh scores trending in the right direction. Math and ELA still not high enough to receive enough passing points. Um there was also one other note there about implementing dance and theater curriculum and we're we're looking for some guidelines on that because we do have dance and theater curriculum but we don't have dance and theater as a elective or as a course. So, we need to see if the county office is asking us to do that um to integrate that into some other course. And so, we'll hopefully get some information on that moving forward. Operation score. Um there were four indicators um that really sank our ship and and made us a 78 780. Um the district did not report the SSDS results to the board in the 23 24 school
013year. So, right before I came um and I've already I've already presented them to you twice. that's the the violence vandalism HI um pretty pretty common report but it hadn't been done the year prior and so that's what they were scoring us on um and I put on there it's already been rectified because I I do the report to you all so those are easy points that we'll get the next time that was two points so that that could have to some so it's unfortunate um number two the district does not report bus evacuation drills to the board with all the required information per code you'll see on your agendas tonight. There's a lot more information listed there for the busy evac drills. Um, which I don't know if it was a new requirement. I
014don't ever remember seeing that one >> and that wasn't flagged the last time and we did still we still reported them at that point and it wasn't flagged at that point. >> We were reporting the bus evacuation drills. We just weren't putting bus number and all the other stuff that you see on the report. Um, the district did not report the special education section of NJ Smart report by the October 15th deadline. So, NJ Smart, that's actually not the system we use anymore. We use NJ Sleds. Now, um, same difference is where we input all of our student data. Um, and that's sort of like the state repository for all things demographic, um, attendance, everything that that that really, um, defines your school district. There was an issue with the special ed upload from what
015I understand because this was something that I before again that I wasn't involved in and there was one student that had an error and they couldn't figure out how to how to fix the error. >> Well, the deadline comes and goes and you can't once the deadline happens, you can't change anything. And so I think it was like a a 1% error rate and we all support that. Um, and finally, our paperwork for students on homebound instruction did not meet the standards set forth by the DOE. We have already updated our form. Um, so they they kept harping on the fact that we didn't have the name of the teacher listed on the home instruction form. Again, kind of a small detail. Um, but something that we already rectified and won't be an issue moving
016forward. Um, so now we have to create that district improvement plan. We're working on that currently. Has to be um I'll I'll um be giving it to the board prior to our December meeting. You all will vote on it and then the next day I will sub it to the county. That'll be that. Then they check back in with us in six months to see how it's how it's >> Any questions? >> You said every years four years. >> There's four cohorts. So, we're we're in the in the clear, but it it's you know, they'll change some things in some things, but it's I I feel like we're in a much better spot now because we're just trying to bring everything up to speed, you know, making sure that we're even the most minute things.
017We know that every four years, they're going to read us. state. Can I have a motion and a second to open the meeting to the public for the discussion of agenda items only? >> Motion. >> Second [clears throat] hearing. None. Motion second then to close the public portion of the meeting. >> Second. All those in favor. >> Okay. Um you are >> again. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> Sit down. Let's go. >> Okay. Superintendent report. Um we have our safety and security drills. Items A and uh B. Item C is the bus evacuations I previously mentioned. Uh item D is all the uh monthly administrative reports that have been uploaded to the portal for your review. Item E, we had no uh no HIPS at all reported before the board meeting. So that's good
018thing. Uh F1 is uh oh to affirm the the H decision from um last meeting and there was there were no appeals on that. G1 is to approve a guest speaker. G2 is to approve a bunch more of our advanced approved parent volunteers. G3 is to approve the nursing services plan for the 2526 school year. G4 is a corrective action plan. Uh G5 is uh to approve all of our 2526 policies uh for the school year. That's all the all the district policies. We have to approve them every year. Uh G6 is fundraisers. G7 is to approve the submission of the preschool education operational plan. Again, that's an annual plan that we have to put together for the uh for the grant. G8 is another annual approval. That's for the district's professional development plan. And
019item H is our field trips and I is under personnel. I1 we have one new hire that's care support staff. I2 is uh stipen position that's baseball security. I3 is two staff renewals. I4 is for clinical practice placements or student teachers. I5 is to approve a few leave of absences. and J1 is to approve uh the disposal of books from the DDE library. >> So first I have a motion and second to approve the superintendent items XA through XJ motion. [laughter] >> Second. >> Does anyone have any questions? >> I just had one question. Are there going to be long-term subs for the staff members that are going to be >> um for two of them? Yes. >> Okay. some sort of struggle. So, >> they have been doing some interviews already. Okay. Yeah. >>
020Any [snorts] other questions? >> M. >> Yes. >> Mr. Phillips. >> Yes. >> Miss R. >> Yes. >> Mama. >> Yes. >> Miss. Juliana? >> Yes. >> Miss Williams? >> Yes. >> Miss Reed? >> Yes. >> Mr. David? >> Yes. Perfect. Moving right along. Um, business and finance. Um, items A through D are just the financial reports for September and October. No line item has been overextended. There are sufficient funds available to meet the obligations for the remainder of the year. Our treasur's report and secretar's report were in agreement for months of September and October. Um, there are no changes in anticipated revenue amounts or sources. Um A is to approve batch number 53 and 54. 53 is just we had to add we had to go to motor vehicles specifically because they didn't give
021us one of our vehicle registrations for our buses. So Chuck had to do that before the end of the month in October which added to that bill. So that was $50. We had to add and revise that fact number 54. I believe everybody has gotten through all the bills for tonight. Um F is just to approve the October 2025 listing for source for teachers with the um pay rates as well as the bill rates that are listed on the agenda. G is to approve the cafeteria dispersements for the month of October in the amount of $30,151.68. H is to approve the care dispersements for the month of October in the amount of $54. I is to approve the out of district tuition contracts for 252.6. This is a um specialized student in a public um
022school placement. This was not budgeted. This is a new student. Um so we will watch that uh special edition line and see where that takes us as the year progresses. J is to approve some travel and professional development for a few of our staff members. K is a manual renewal um review of the standard operations procedure manual for the 2526 school year that was uploaded for your review. I is to approve the 2627 budget calendar. Again, that was uploaded um that just shows our kind of budget process rounding out with the whole um public hearing as our ending there for our 2627 budget and is to approve the um 26 federal grant award submission. So the sub submitting the grant and the actual allocation. So the ESA um and then the IDA that's our allocations
023for the year. They've all been um allocated revenues have been um put in the system and is to approve our salary allocations for staff that are paid through those um federal grants. This is specifically title one um basic skills. So that's our staff members, our federal funds, local funds, and then their total salaries which were previously approved in April anyway. And then now is just to approve the submission of the comprehensive maintenance plan and the M1 to the county school business administrator. Again, that's just an annual submission that we have to do um every year. It essentially takes our um maintenance costs and breaks it down by school um throughout the district and then we have to submit that to the county with a breakdown just to see where we see it. Um and I
024have a motion and a second first for those items. >> Motion second. >> Any questions? Yes. Um for letter I is do we not offer the program that the student would need in our district? Is that why we just sent out? >> Yes. Yeah. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Mr. Golden. >> Yes. >> Mr. Phillips. >> Yes. >> Um Mrs. R. >> Yes. Thank you. Mr. B. >> Yes. M. >> Yes. Um, >> yes. >> And Mr. Davis, >> yes. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. So, nothing else for me. Um, old business, I don't think we have anything old. Uh, new business. Um, we will be starting negotiations. Our first kind of meeting with the BCBA is going to be um in December. That contract expires June 30th. So, um, our negotiation team
025will be working diligently. Um, we did have three members when we started the team in January, but then when one of our board members resigns, um, we do have vacancy. So, next month we'll probably be looking for an additional member um to hop on board negotiations. So, um, there are a lot of um restrictions with the DTA. There's a lot of conflicts as far as like um like if you have a um I'll find them. I'll get those details, but if you have like a direct family member that is already involved in in a union, you can't be on the negotiations. So maybe for the teachers and things like that, the principal and supervisors is a little bit different. Um so I'll kind of get those breakdowns. We'll find out who's conflicted on the board
026and kind of see who actually can do it and hopefully um we'll garner some interest to get that third team member um like we've always had in the past. So that's BTA finance plan. I didn't have that tonight because we actually had a little pre-negotiations meeting this evening with our solicitor. Um, but I am knee deep in every single report, monitoring, you name it. I've been through it. Mr. Lee and I, we've been in the trenches. Um, so I'm glad we didn't have finance. It was I don't know how I would have prepared for it all with the week. We had um school board association for New Jersey. I haven't seen anything come through. Um, Ed services commission. No. Okay. Uh, Pine Health. Anything, Kim? >> Yeah, I got some stuff. Perfect. All right. So,
027first, um, I'll start with the play is tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday. Tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. Um, we also had a presentation given by Debbie Barrett and Desiree Raza. I didn't say her name wrong. Um they are they put together every year um a holiday gift giving program and they do about a hundred families and they did a big presentation for us of how they get um people to sponsor them and all their fam all the families that they have right now are sponsored by somebody but they always have other families come in between now and the holidays. So, they are looking to um take donations of pretty much anything. Gift cards. Teenagers are the hardest ones to buy for because they're not little kids like little kids are
028easy. Um so, gift cards are always accepted. Of course, they're they give you food as well. Um so, if anyone's interested in um giving to that, just let me know and I can give you the information. Um we also went over the QAC results and the results were for Pineh Hill was um construction and program was 73%. Same with us um fiscal was 93% government the governance was 95% operations was 98% and personnel was 87%. So other than their instruction and program, all theirs were passing. They do have to do the um the dip for them for that as well. Um next, let's see. Oh, they are also back to the gift giving program. They also look for volunteers. So if anybody wants to volunteer time to sort things, [clears throat] I can also give
029you the information. They need volunteers on the 16th of December, the 18th of December, and the 22nd of December. Um let's see. We are having a basketball game. Overbrook High School in Pine Hill is going to be playing Overbrook High School in Philadelphia at Overbrook High School in Pine Hill on the 17th of December at 5:30 p.m. It's more for I don't want to call it a fun game, but it's not one for a position or anything, but it um they did tell us all about that. Um I actually might go to that if I get there. Um, next thing the we have two board members in Pine Hill that are actually like um they're seniors. They come in, they can't be in executive session, but they sit with us and they give us their
030rundown of the school of what's going on in the school as well. So, some of the things they mentioned was the fall sports programs have ended. Football made the first round of the playoffs. I believe soccer made the first round of the playoffs, too. Um, the choir concert is December 4th. their testing is complete. They also said the Mingo Hall passes, which I don't know if you guys are familiar with it. It's an online hall pass system is working really well and you can go out in the hallways now and there's like out there. >> Yeah. Great. So, >> we use some we use that in our middle school. >> Not the same. Not the same company, but something. >> So, it's working really well. That'll be good because then when they go over there,
031they'll they'll understand how that kind of thing works. Um, November 26th is the powder puff game. Um, sophomores purchased their school rings. Financial aid night was the 17th. Uh, new Oh, they the seniors got to choose new food menu items for the cafeteria. So, they got to try a whole bunch of different things. They were very excited about that, I might add. Um, excuse me. Um, oh, they were tried by the juniors and the senior class officers. That's who tried. Our new business administrator starts on December 15th. And think that pretty Oh. Um, Hine Hills Christmas parade if anyone's interested is December 7th at 6 p.m. I believe that's a Sunday night. Um, I've been to it a couple times. It's actually pretty neat. >> It is. That's a good one. >> So, if any
032mood and like I said, I watch the blog on Sunday. So, >> um >> they're doing they're looking Oh, we're also looking at the board retreat dates because they always do their retreat in January or February. So, on Saturday morning, I think that's so other than that, I think that's it. [laughter] Great. Um Sh County School Boards for that either. I didn't see any other quarterly. >> Can I also mention something else on my business? As you all probably know, I will be putting in my resignation um in writing uh probably before the next board meeting to Mr. Lee so he knows. Um I made it to Berlin Township Council. So I will be representing council. Um, >> it's bittersweet cuz my other two people didn't make it. So, um, it'll be an experience. >>
033One voice is better than none. >> You're exactly right. Um, I've really thought long and hard about it. So, um, it it's it's tough because I love being on the two boards that I represent. I've been on it for 10 years. Um, and I I really do enjoy coming to the meetings every every month, believe it or not. [laughter] At first, I thought about it when I first started on the board. I felt like there wasn't a lot I could contribute, but that I found ways to contribute. So, I'm hoping to be able to be able to do that as well. >> Great. And thank you all for working so nicely. I appreciate it. >> Congratulations and good luck. >> Thank you. >> I'm going to need all the luck I can get. Keep your
034eyes and ears open this. >> Yes. >> All right. Um then nothing else then for new business, I guess. All right. Um public comments. open to the meeting to the public for the discussion of non. >> All those in favor hearing none. We have a motion and a second then to please close the meeting to the public. Motion second. All those in favor or to abstain and we do not have a need for an executive session. So let's go ahead and adjourn this meeting. Have a motion to second please. >> Motion second. >> All in favor at 7:33. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone. >> Thank you everyone. [clears throat] >> [laughter] >> I'm working. >> So I have to