001Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Uh Dr. Hayes with Tabaki, I need to just read one quick statement if I may. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meeting of public bodies for which any business affecting their interest is discuss discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of this act, close park board of ed has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted in the office of the board of ed and the office of the school numbers 3, four, five, and six and the high school on May 16, 2025. and notices were forwarded to reporters of the record
002May 16, 2025. This is an official meeting. I'd like to take the role if I may. Mrs. Abru here. Mr. Capano here. Mrs. Fredo here. Mr. Garcia here. Mr. Nadru here. Mr. Rancor here. Mr. Russo here. Mr. Tbakia here. And Mr. Yanuzi is not here. Uh Dr. Hayes. Mr. I believe you got a Yes, sir. Thanks, Mr. Resolution 64 if I believe that is correct. Um, Mr. Terabakia, I would like to go out of order this evening. Ask everyone to please open their packets to page 21. And Mr. Tabakia, I'm asking you to please read resolution 64 into the record. Resolution 64. Whereas the Clintai Park Board of Education advertised for the vacancy of the board that became effective May 6, 2025 and received an application from Dr. Leticia Pentiliano. And whereas the board has
003determined that Dr. Leticia Pentiano possesses the qualifications required by law and board policy 0143 to be a member of the board. Be resolved that the board hereby appoints Dr. Dr. Laticia Pensana to fill the vacancy affected immediately and be it further resolved that the term of Dr. Latishia Pensan appointed to the board shall be until the 2026 reorganization meeting an ordinance with new NJSA 18A 2012-15 and board policy 0143. Can I have a roll call, please? I'll make a motion to approve resolution number 64. Second. Okay, that was Mr. Capano. Yes, Mr. Russo. Okay, we'll take a a a vote. Mrs. Abru is not here. Mr. Capano, yes. Mrs. Fredo, yes. Mr. Garcia, yes. Mr. Lrew, yes. Mr. Rancor, yes. Mr. Russo, yes. Mr. Bakia, yes. And Mr. Nuzi is not here. Congratulations, Dr. Prian.
004[Applause] I'm just going to move your jacket. Now we're going to go to I, Dr. Leticia Piliano, I, Dr. Leticia Penciliano do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government and to the government established in the United States established in the United States in this state in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people. So help me God. So help me God. I, Dr. Leticia Pantaliano, I, Dr.
005Leticia Pantaliano, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications that I possess the qualifications prescribe by law prescribe by law for the office of member of a board of education for the office of member of the board of education and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties of that office of that office according to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Furthermore, I affirm Furthermore, I affirm and declare and declare that I am not disqualified that I am not disqualified as a voter as a voter pursuant to pursuant to R do S dot R dot S dot 19 colon 19 col 4-1 4-1 So help me God. So help me
006God. [Music] Thank you to my colleagues on the board. I really appreciate your faith in me and bringing me back. I'm not sure. Congratulations, Dr. Pantiano. Thank you very much. Okay, now we have to now that we have Dr. Pantiano filling the vacancy of the board, we will take a second roll call. Mr. Capano here, Mrs. Fredo here. Garcia here. Mr. Nrew here. Dr. Pantaliano here. Mr. Rancor here. Mr. Russo here. Mr. Terabbachia here. Okay. Mr. Tabbakia, Dr. Hayes set to at this time I am going to ask Mr. Tabbakia, Captain Garcia, Mr. Pinto, and Mr. Helm to please join me at the front table and we are going to honor a group of talented students from our high school who finished in both first and third place in the state of New Jersey competition
007for real world design. Mr. Hel, you want to take over? And then do you have two volunteers? We have what? Do you have two volunteers? Yes, you have plenty of help here. All right. Um, ladies and gentlemen, uh, I just want to say how proud I am of our students. Um, the real world design challenge is a program where students need to create a packet where they use software to create, in this case, drones to examine wildfires. They need to purchase all the proper equipment so that it functions effectively. They need to create a business plan. Uh they need to um look over the problem from an academic standpoint, how best to serve their communities if they are in a situation where there were wildfires. Uh we did have a team qualify to go to
008international competition this year. Their packet was 80 pages long of physics calculations, preparations, business plans, and it just takes so many dozens of hours to do that. They do it over the course of a year. Uh, and this is our fifth year doing that. So, we've had three international qualifiers, two first places, three second places, a series of third places, and I'm just very proud of our students. And so we have uh awards for them and plaques that we wanted to present them with today. The medals named on the back. Okay. Uh so Jen Palawachi. Thank you so much. Why don't you stand over? Why don't you stand over here? All right, Tayang Kim. Good job. Uh, next up we have Kevin Espinosa. Thank you very much. Let's see. Brooke Leaky. [Applause] Well, thank you
009so much, Yousef Shamoon. Good job. Thank you so much. Great, Sahilar. All right. And the captain of the team, Caitlyn Belings. Thank you. And this is our international qualifying team. in front so we get a good picture of you guys right here. You all sitting around podium. Congratulations. Smile. Excellent. Our next team earned bronze medal for the state of New Jersey and they have been award winners several years in a row now. So, Victor Freighas want to stand in front. Muhammad Elhindi tomorrow. Juan Hernandez. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have this Eric Lo. Eric Lo. And it looks like our last one. Oh, wait. Hold on. Okay. Sah Bash and Max Grand. All right. So, uh, ladies and gentlemen, bronze medalist for the state of New Jersey. How are you doing? Congratulations. Thank
010you very much. Thank you very much. Great job. We did that. Mr. President, it's up to you. Throw it. Yeah, we spoke through it. We're not doing No, Miss Calib, we are just going to proceed with your teacher of the year presentation. I would have left you and Captain Garcia down here. That's fine. We need exercise. Ladies and gentlemen, this afternoon, our teachers of the year were honored at the Glen Point uh with Mrs. Calib in attendance as well. I thank all the principles for being here tonight. Mr. Calibri to honor them once again. Captain and Lieutenant, if you could join. So, on behalf of the administration and the board of education, I would like to um thank you all for being here tonight. And I would also like to recognize our teachers of the
011year and our educational specialists. So this evening is also about celebrating the educators who have um we thrive as a district because of you for your passion, your dedication and your commitment to our students. We want to thank you today. We were so so blessed to um share you with the county and um it was a beautiful lunchon and today uh I I do have to tell a little story today. Um today when we were out at the county, one teacher from Bergen County is recognized and uh the teacher was able to get up there and and talk about um what shaped her life as an educator and why she became an educator um amongst the rest of all of the teachers of the year and educational specialists. And as she was explaining what it
012was that was um so you know uh what made her become an educator. It was she said it was the village and it was the community that she was brought up in and that was the community of Cliffside Park. That's a testimony to our community. She said she was properly mentored by her guidance counselors, by the nurses, by the teachers, by her mentors, by her principles. and we were so proud that she gave such a big shout out to Cliffside Park. So that is a true testimony to our educators and we also we see a lot of parents here in the uh in the audience tonight. So thank you for trusting us too with your children. So at this time what I would like is for um I'm going to call the teachers up and
013each principal will come up and uh speak a little bit about them. So at this point at this time um Mrs. is my marold. Where are you? I've probably taught with almost every one of these teachers. So, you're very welcome. And Mrs. Braco, you do have to say um first of all, congratulations to all the recipients tonight and to the students for your honors and your awards. Um, I couldn't be more proud to work in a district where we have such excellent educators and students and um, you rock. You really do. Um, I've worked with mostly all of the teachers of the year and I'm proud to know all of you and have worked with you. So, but our Liz Leighton, known as Elizabeth, but we call her Liz. Um she goes above and beyond
014every day to support our students in um their reading journey. Her dedication, compassion and tireless efforts make a lasting impact not only on their academics but she touches their heart. She teaches them um a love of learning and she makes a lasting impact on their confidence from her. She has a compassion that no other has. She gives up herself quietly. Anyone that knows Liz knows that she's very quiet. She gives up herself quietly and wholeheartedly and never seeking recognition simply because she's passionate about helping children grow. Congratulations, Liz. I'm so proud. Thank you. Our next teacher of the year is from school 4 and that would be Miss Jennifer McCrae and her principal Mr. restulations. Read from my paper tonight. Um, so good evening and congratulations to everybody, all the teachers of the year in
015Cliffside Park. It is my absolute honor and joy to stand before you tonight to recognize a truly extraordinary educator, our school board for teacher of the year, Jennifer McCrae. I've had the privilege of knowing Jen for nearly 20 years, going all the way back to when she first began her journey in Cliffside Park as a bright, passionate first grade teacher at school number five. From the very beginning, Jen stood out, not just because of her incredible talent in the classroom, but because of her heart, the heart she brings to everything she does. I still remember a conversation we had many years ago. Jen shared with me that one of her dreams was to someday become teacher of the year. And tonight, that dream becomes a reality. But the truth is this honor was simply waiting
016to catch up to her because Jen McCrae has been a teacher of the year in every sense every single day of her career. Her kindness, compassion, and unwavering love for the students and colleagues are qualities that set her apart. Jen goes above and beyond, not for recognition, but just but because that's who she is. Whether it's staying late to help a student, lending a hand to a colleague, or simply greeting you with her trademark warm smile, Jen makes Cliffside Park a better place. She carries with her an aura of calm and support, one that makes every student feel safe, every colleague feel heard, and every parent feel reassured. Jen is the kind of teacher who doesn't just teach curriculum. She nurtures hearts, she builds confidence, and she inspires growth. Watching de Jen do what she
017loves over the years, making such meaningful and lasting impacts on her students and on all of us, has truly been one of the greatest honors of my career. Jen, you are a shining example of why Cliffside Park is so special. Your dedication, your spirit, and your heart embody the very best of what it means to be an educator. We are so lucky, truly lucky, Jen, to have you here, right where you belong. Congratulations, Jen. You're so welld deserving of this award and so much more. And I know I speak for everyone I when I say we're all so very proud of you. This used to be my lunch bro. Thank you very much. Our next teacher of the year is Miss Wana Morales from school five. All right, Miss Morales, School Five is so proud
018of you. Very proud of you. How many years have you been in school? 23. 23 years. Miss Farales has such a peaceful demeanor, yet the work she accomplishes with other kids is astounding. We are so fortunate to have you at school number five. Um, your colleagues here are a testament to their faith in you and the admiration and respect that they have for you. When I came to school five, Mr. Buckle was going down the faculty list with me and he got to Miss Morales and he said, "See this one? She runs the little schoolhouse, like the little house off the prairie. She had students of all different ages, all different grades, and she knew exactly where they were, exactly what she had to do with them to bring them up to reach their potential.
019She has a quiet personality, but over the years, um, she's gained tremendous respect from faculty and and her friends at School 5. Um, when we did the nomination process, all the nominations came in and ironically they're all going to do the citizens of the month theme for um that particular month. This year was perseverance and I have to say that this year you exhibited that tremendously. We changed a lot in our in our program and how Miss Morales was going to instruct her children and it was a little it was a lot difficult in the beginning and she's somebody that'll come to me to be very open and honest and I said so how's it going and Miss Morales said it's a little tough but we're going to keep at it we're going to keep
020at it and a couple months later she said we got it we got it and you know what Miss Martini she said I like So, um we are just so fortunate, so proud of her and um just keep doing what you're doing. You're changing so much. School I'm Our next teacher of the year is Miss Vincenza Camareri from school 6. As her principal So before I speak, I need Mrs. I need Miss Camar's permission. Can I speak to everyone with gum in my mouth? Ah because I know in class he doesn't allow it. So I just want my permission. First of all I want to congratulate everyone here all the teacher of the year winners and the students. You all have done an excellent job and it's wonderful to have you in the district. I
021also want to thank everyone back here because without you and your support we wouldn't be here and I thank you for that. I do have something written short, but then I want to go off the script and just talk a little bit about a couple things about the chancellor. Congratulations on being named school 6 teacher of the year. Your dedication, creativity, and passion for teaching is an inspiration to your students and your colleagues and a testament to the powerful impact you make every day. You have become a leader in our ELA department and school. This year specifically, you led your department through navigating curricular shifts stemming from revisions to both NJSLS and our district's curriculum. And you know that was a little tough on you. Your knowledge and expertise has been invaluable to those new
022to the profession or new to our ELA department because you do need our department. Even on your days off, even on her days off, she calls to support the substitutes through following through with her lesson plans. So that's dedication on her days off. Your students and colleagues are lucky to have you and we are all better for it. This recognition is so welld deserved. Before I congratulate her, I had the honor of having her as a student. What year did you graduate? I don't want to put you on the spot. 2003. 2003. She was very quiet in 2003 as a student. She's not quiet anymore. Thank you. couple years ago also last one. I still have a picture from her prom and she wrote things nice things about me, you know, kind things on the
023back, but the one thing she did write was that she was going to haunt me. And I have to tell you, I've been principal for eight years at school number six. And every single day, she haunts me. I'm grateful for it. School six teacher of the year. Our next teacher of the year is Miss Mrs. Allison Palmary and her teacher is Mr. Rakfus, her teacher, her principal. So, it's probably killing Allison to be up here right now because if there is a teacher in the middle school that doesn't like the spotlight, doesn't want the spotlight, it's the person who's now currently in the spotlight. Um, we are extremely lucky to have Allison in the middle school. Uh she started as an elementary school teacher, made her way over to the middle school ELA department and
024hasn't looked back since. Um she thrives. Um she she works. She's a grinder. Um the one thing I always thought about teaching was that teaching the high performing kids, the honor students, the AP students, those are the easy students to teach because they're self motivated. They push themselves. They don't need a teacher to give them that extra boost. Where Mrs. Palmary thrives in her teaching is with the kids who struggle. It's with the at risk students, students who may be reading below grade level, writing below grade level. And I'm just an amazement what she's able to do with these kids year in and year out. And every year when we're talking about courses that the teachers are going to be teaching, the following year, I feel like Allison's name always comes up with the kids
025who need that support the most. Um, it's not always an easy group to teach, but we definitely have the right teacher to teach those kids. Um, just one quick story. Um, we've had a student who struggling academically, socially, um, just having a really tough time getting through the difficult middle school years. Um, and Allison did what a lot of teachers have tried to do. Um, but she's starting to crack that shelf. She found out what that student's interests are. She finds out what that student likes. um she takes it upon herself to reach out to bookstores and use her own money and purchase biographies, autobiographies of any type of musician or entertainer um because she knows that's what the kid likes and she doesn't have to do this, but she chooses to do this. And
026that's just a snippet of who this teacher is. So, thank you for everything. Our next educator um of the year is from our prince of from the high school and it is Miss Linda Zenado Jennings and Mr. Pinto. All right. So, Miss Donado Jennings, I don't think there's a lot of students here. I think every single student, show hands. Have you had Miss Donado Jennings? Show hands. I mean, they can come up here and they can tell you how incredible this woman is. Uh, rigorous. Her classroom is rigorous. She teaches the highest level students in the building. Um she teaches both dual enrollment uh collegebound students and she teaches uh AP uh is it language? Language which we just introduced. And if you know Mrs. Donado, she's very comfortable in her comfort zone. Um she
027likes to teach what she's been teaching and we challenged her. Uh we asked her to, you know, would she be interested in taking this this this AP lang language on because we really want we want to bring more rigorous courses in and We had to negotiate with Miss Denali and eventually we got her to buy in and I think at some point she came down. She was like so grateful that we convinced her to do it. Um so she sets incredibly high standards for the students in our classrooms. Uh she's a role model for our our staff in the building because of the rigor that she provides in our classroom because of the knowledge that she has of the curriculum. But she does all this while valuing the students and meeting their their needs and
028making them feel comfortable. And it's all honest and it's all it's all a a a level of comfort that engages the students. The students walk in there and they know that they're going to be expected to perform, but they also know that there's an instructor in there that cares very deeply about them. And we are so lucky to have Miss Donado. Uh two real quick things. When I first started in the building, one of the first people to kind of welcome me into the building was Mrs. Donado Jennings. um you know trying to get me to engage with the with the staff and participate. I was a substitute. I kind of didn't know anyone. So um she was she kind of you know welcomed me in. Uh the second thing is she's probably the best
029secret Santa in the building. She had me going she had me going all all uh all like all December trying to figure out who this person is. She she's right on the nose. So Mr. Data Jennings, thank you for all you do for our students. Thank you for what you do for your peers in the building and thank you for your commitment to cliff park. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. And our our last uh recipient of this award is not a teacher, but she is someone very special to our district. She is a speech pathologist. Right. I I I got it. Miss Haney right. Miss Megan Haney, please come. I got it right. I'm so proud of you, Miss Hal. You did it. Congratulations. I'm glad you said uh that before me. Yeah.
030Um Miss Haney is um sorry, education specialist throughout the entire district. Um we are so lucky to have her as part of our middle school family. Um but what a lot of people don't know is that her job entails a lot more than just the middle school. She works with elementary school students, middle school students, high school students, and this position forces you to be flexible. Um, at the beginning of every school year, um, Miss Zane comes to me with her case load and she like a little, you know, game of Tetris kind of fits this student into this day at this time in this location. And every couple days, I always check in. Is is everything okay? and it's always yes, everything everything's fine. Everything's fine and we'll get it done. And every single
031year she gets it done. Um, and it doesn't matter where she is forced to teach. It could be a basement, it could be a closet, it could be a stage, a gym locker room, you name it, she's probably taught there. Um, and she's done it well. Um, but we are so incredibly lucky to have her. I believe you've been here the same number of years as Miss Paul Mary. So, it's only fitting that you guys are winning teacher of the year and educational specialist of the year on the same night. So, thank you for all that you do. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations everyone. May I continue? Good for me to continue. Yes, Dr. H. So, Mr. Tarabakia, members of the board of education, at this time, I ask you to please open your agenda. to page
03216 and would you please address with members of the committee uh resolution number 60. We're going to go out of order again. Um Mr. Capano, if you could kindly read resolution number 60. Uh this is resolution number 60 before I get started. And uh this is the appointment of a new superintendent of schools. The last two years, Dr. Mark Hayes has done an incredible uh journey and work in guiding the school district after Mr. Romanino's retirement. Dr. Hayes, your loyalty to our community and you were part of our family on the first day and you'll always be part of our family here in Cliff Park. Thank you. Honor to be here. Thank you, Dr. Hayes, Mrs. Calibri and um Dr. Panthriano had the privilege to introduce some fine candidates for the superintendent of schools and
033I'm proud this evening to read this resolution of this fine young man. Be it resolved that the Cliffside Park Board of Education appoints Mark Reinfest as the superintendent of schools for the Cliffside Park School District effective on July 1st 2025 and ending on June 30, 2028. Be it further resolved that the employment agreement has been submitted and approved by the executive county superintendent according to the standards adopted by the commissioner of education pursuant to NJSA 18A semicolon 7-8J. Be it further resolved that the board approves the employment agreement agreement with Mr. Mark Reinfest for the position of superintendent of schools for the foregoing period of appointment which employment agreement is attached to this resolution and made part of here up being further resol resolved that the board of hereby authorizes the board president and business
034administrator board secretary to execute on behalf of the board the employment agreement by and between the board and Mr. Mark Rinfest. Mr. Mark Rinfest welcome aboard. The only thing I can tell you Cliffside Park like I told you in the interview does not like change. you're part of our family. You're going to guide this district to the next uh future. So, uh congratulations and the best to you and your family and good luck to you. I'm going to make a motion to approve the uh employment agreement on the appointment of Mark Ryan, the superintendent. Do we have a second? Second. Second. Roll call. Mr. Alan. Mr. Capano. Yes. Mrs. Fredo. Yes. Mr. Garcia. Yes. Mr. Nadru. Yes. Dr. Piano. Yes. Mr. Rancor. Yes. Mr. Russo. Yes. Mr. Terbachi. Okay. Mr. Fo, he has to strike
035his and recuse him. Recuse myself also. Please. Mr. and Mr. Terabakia. Recuse. Right. So, you need another second. I'll second it. I'll second. Thank you. Got it. Sorry, Mr. Works. Congratulations. Last portion of the superintendent report. Resolution number nine. The board of education accepts with regret the retirement of Mary Bell Buono High School LDTC. To Mrs. Bello, thank you so much for your service to our students, our school district. We wish you a very, very happy new chapter in your life. That's it for me, sir. Anything, Mr. Tbakia? No. I'll give a quick finance report. Um uh we are going to be engaging we just engaged in our pre- audit which is prior to the auditors coming in in the fall. Um we find it very enlightening and it helps us considerably because we kind
036of engage our order and we try to head off any potential findings or issues proactively. So the order was here about 6 hours on May 14th. It went very well. We are in the process of engaging the end of year process. Uh we are in the process of opening up 2526 the new school year and we are in process of finalizing our summer capital projects uh specifically the multi-purpose room at number six school the unit ventilator project at number six school and the HVAC projects at school number three and school number four. Those are the major capital projects that will be going on in the um late spring and summer into the early fall of 2025. Dr. Hay, anything else on your end? I would like to thank everyone for coming out this evening. Congratulations.
037Congratulations to the teachers, teachers of the year. Congratulations to the students for your hard work. Um, that's all I have. You have anything from the public? Uh, no. Does anybody have anything for us before we adjourn for the evening? I'll make a motion to accept the uh agenda. Okay, that was Mr. Garcia. I second it. That was Mr. Kapano. Okay, I'll take a vote. Mr. Kapana, yes. Mr. Freda, yes. Mr. Garcia, yes. Mr. Drew, yes. But I'm also going to abstain on for number page 14. Thank you for that. Drew, Dr. Pompiano, yes. Mr. Rainort, yes. Mr. Russo, yes. Mr. Turbakia, yes. Uh, so move Dr. Hayes. Mr. have a happy and healthy Memorial Day everyone. Thank you.