001yes what's going on I'll tell you when go good evening to everyone I'd like to welcome everyone to our uh virtual board meeting tonight I'd like to begin with the Pledge of Allegiance so if we could stand and take a pledge I pledge allegion to the flag FL United States of America America and to the repic for it stands one na God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you Mr Alano I just need to read a quick statement if I may Mr romanino Sure uh the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of the public to have advanced notice of to in attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provision of this act
002at Cliffside Park Bo of has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time in place thereof posted in the office of the burough Club burough Library burough Rec Department the office of the Board of Ed and the offices of school numbers 3456 and the high school on August 12 2020 and notices were forwarded to reporters of the record August 12 2020 this is an official meeting I'd like to take the rooll if I may Mr Roman Gina okay um Mrs Abu here Mr Pano here Mrs Fredo here Mr garga here Dr pontano here Mr ranc Court here Mr Russo uh Mr Shelly here Mr teraka here okay Mr romanina okay thank you again um once again I'd like to welcome everyone to our meeting tonight uh before we look at
003the consent agenda there are a couple of items I'd like to make mention of uh you know that right now all of our schools are in an all remote mode uh we'll continue through up until the winter break and we're anticipating that we're going to return to a combination hybrid all remote um um me uh program beginning on Monday January 4th uh just as a FYI uh at my County meeting on Monday it was reported that at this time there are 48 districts in Burton County that are hybrid and 27 that are all remote for various reasons but uh right now we are all remote um I know that it's snowing pretty hard out so tomorrow uh I've already called an all remote day for our staff and students so staff and students will be
004following their regular uh remote schedle schedu for tomorrow which will be Thursday December 17th we'll be we'll be sending out a swift reach to parents and staff and students I think at 8 o'clock tonight also with a uh notification to our parents just regarding um tomorrow's program I do want to take this opportunity to congratulate uh members of our four boy soccer team and cross country athletes uh I'd like to take a minute to just recognize the following student athletes uh First Team all County was limmer quo uh Alvaro Rodriguez and Christian arreta uh congratulations to our boy Saka they were first team All County second Team all County recognition went to Kerrie Coro and 13 recognition went to uh our Janet Sufi uh so congratulations to our boys um soccer team for those recognitions
005cross country I want recognize Kelsey pier and tasnin Issa uh both of those girls were first team or conference and third Team all County so I know there were a lot of challenges uh during our fall season but I do want to recognize um all of our athletes and our coaches for doing our great job you know that our winter season has been temporarily pushed back as per state guidelines right now tentatively uh Jan January 11th is a date when we will possibly begin boys basketball um and then I also believe bowling and then later on we'll be phasing in indoor track and eventually I believe it's March 1st uh volleyball but again these dates are just tentative uh based on the current situation but those are the current guidelines that have been given to
006us uh from the state um we are also we had a athletic committee meeting Monday night one of the things that we spoke about was starting outdoor intramurals um hopefully we could well our plan was to start that tomorrow but obviously that's not going to happen so maybe uh early next week uh Dr Pantano is chairperson of that committee we had a committee meeting on Monday night with uh Dave porfo uh our athletic director who um put a proposal together for uh offering all students across all sports the opportunity to participate in outdoor in murals so it'll give all athletes the opportunity to get outside do some workouts we're going to follow all guidelines temperature taking um um an assessment of of each child before they participate in the program so right now um hopefully
007we'll be able to be begin that program on Monday the 21st based on the uh the conditions that we have have that's in our agenda tonight I'll make mention of it when we get to it uh we did have parent conferences back on December 8th for prek through uh fifth grade students that worked out very well this year um the students had a remote day uh they were given assignments in Google classroom and during that day uh staff members had the opportunity to set up um scheduled phone conferences or Google meets with parents being able to talk to parents about the progress that their children are making so we did that this year in grades prek through five if there are any parents who are listening who have children in grade six and up uh
008and you are or do have questions about your child's progress uh I encourage you to call The Guidance Department uh at our school beginning tomorrow uh and make an appointment through Guidance with a particular teacher if you'd like to talk to one of your child's teachers teachers or if it's sixth grade it might be a teacher that you your child might have for all subjects so um that opportunity is there for parents and I I encourage you to take U take that opportunity to do so uh I do want to recognize Mr Helm who is in charge of our STEM Academy at the high school uh our students that are involved in the STEM Academy right now are participating in an international engineering Dei design competition uh that's going to be going on for the
009next month or two uh Mr Helm who's uh advisor to that program will keep me apprised of the progress that our students make um and it's International so um although it's very competitive I think it's a great experience for our students to have the opportunity to participate internationally in a program like this uh so thank you Mr Helm and thank you to the students that are part of that program I do want to just make mention that um every few weeks uh Cliffside Park TV comes out with a new episode right now posted to our uh website is season 3 episode three of CPTV um I just viewed it the other day again the kids are doing a great job especially remotely being able to put something like that together so it's posted to our
010website and I encourage community members parents uh when you get the opportunity to uh to view that also tonight um as I'm speaking right now our our high school is presenting their winter virtual concert uh it's something that was pre-recorded so after our meeting tonight or at any time when you have um some free time you can go to our website uh I believe right in the center of the website will be a link for the high school Winter concert and I know the students work very hard uh with Mr Nelson to um put this together despite the challenges that we have right now so uh take that opportunity and and see what a great job our advises and our students did with the Winter concert I was able to view a little bit of
011it today before getting on to the board meeting and uh from what I've seen the kids really worked hard and did a great job also posted to our website today was our Middle School newspaper the second edition uh Mrs Tully at the middle school is our advisor uh with a group of students and uh they put out a great addition uh articles on the on the presidential election uh articles that have to do with covid and what we're experiencing right now so uh again when you have a little bit of a free time um take the opportunity to read over the Middle School newspaper uh they did a great job with that okay uh one other thing I do want to mention um yesterday we had our grab and go um breakfast and lunch distribution
012knowing that the weather today was going to be a challenge uh for next week um and we we'll be posting this on our website on Tuesday of next week we will also have a grab and go uh between the hours of four and six at school number three it'll be Tuesday rather than our usual Wednesday because Wednesday's a half day um prior to the winter break and during the winter break uh December 30th and again we'll also promote this but uh Wednesday no December 30th our our pomptonian staff will also be at school 3 between the hours of 4 and 6 pm to distribute uh gra up and go breakfast and lunch we've been getting um a great turn out I think the last distribution correct me if I'm wrong Miss Alano was between 800
013and a thousand wow y that's uh spot on right so um the word's getting out there um I'm happy that parents uh and students can take the opportunity to get the grab and go which are usually a five-day is it a five day supply or a s-day supply uh they've moved it to seven sday Supply um so each Wednesday um normally it'll be a Wednesday uh parents and students can stop at school 3 between 4: and 6 and take advantage of the grabing go uh that's something that we've been doing by the way since last March when we went remote and um the federal government has provided us with assistance uh to not just Cliffside but all districts in New Jersey that were able to uh provide uh grab and go for uh families that
014are in need so I thank C cat Scot our director at pomptonian who's really done a fabulous job uh putting this program together and making sure that uh there are enough available breakfast and lunches for for anybody who is in need so I I thank the whole pomptonian team for that okay at this point I'll stop this before we look at the consent agenda or I ask for committee reports any questions from the board no but uh building and grounds I just want uh the board to be aware and the public that uh the boilers at uh five and three School are up and running uh we do have some issues uh at five School uh with some steam traps uh some issues uh at the tree school with some steam traps in the past
015we had experience similar ones when we did the high school boiler project many years ago so uh Lou Alano our business administrator has asked uh the engineer to look into it a little bit further uh and tomorrow we're going to have uh an 11 o'clock meeting with some of his findings uh the building does have heat there's a few rooms that uh aren't getting getting heat because of those uh steam traps so we're working on it and uh hopefully we can have this wrapped up and it's a pretty with a project of this uh size uh as you know it's snowing out there uh tonight we're going to be appointing a new uh facility uh supervisor he did start on December 1st seems like a nice gentleman with experience from a previous District uh and
016uh looks like everything's in PL place to uh take care of the snow the only Advantage is that the schools are closed so uh they can attack everything when it's light out uh tomorrow morning so uh that's pretty much it on my end if anybody has any question questions be more than happy to answer them I have a question for Mike on the agenda if it's the appropriate time can you just explain there's a resolution on the agenda um and it says you're appointing somebody as a non-certificated school nurse right can you just explain non-certificated school nurse because I believe that's still a nurse correct but maybe you can just explain the terminology right the difference between a non-certificated uh and certificated is a non-certificated nurse would be an RN uh and we have had
017had situations in the past where we've hired a nurse who has experience as an RN but did not fulfill all the requirements to get certified by the Department of Education they could still fulfill the position and carry out all the duties they're the same in terms of what they're able to do the difference is one of the differences when you're certified by the Department of Education uh all the guidelines that apply to a teacher tenure going on the guide would apply to a nurse who is certificated by the department of end but as far as what they're capable of doing or able to do in terms of whether it's dispensing medication writing reports uh they're allowed to do all of that so they're a regular nurse they're a regular nurse okay we need to use
018the term non-certificated because they don't have that Department of Education certificate which means in in her particular case and in the case of some other nurses we've hired in the past they'll go back to school fulfill those requirements and then get certified so she has a medical background she has an extensive medical background in nursing uh a number of years and that's why I think um I'll jump down to that resolution since you asked me about it but uh Angela margotti is is going to be our non-certificated school nurse she'll be signed to school number five you know Jennifer who was with us a number of of years and did a great job at number five is relocating um and so she had to resign from her position and I think we're very fortunate to
019um at this time with with the challenges that are going on in the healthc care industry to find somebody with Angela's background and based on my interview with her and Mrs Martin Na's interview with her we're very confident she'll she'll be a great addition to our nursing staff thank you Mike if I can interject all the rest of the nurses in the other school all have their uh certifications through the Department of Education correct yes they all do now we had uh two nurses that were working towards it when they were hired and uh the last one our nurse at the high school Dedra uh just finished up this past August so yes so angel will follow the same protocol that the others have okay so if we can look at the consent agenda um
020as Mr capano mentioned uh second resolution uh we're going to appoint cero spinella as our interro room uh supervisor abilities and grounds uh the question was was asked why interim uh he's working towards his certification as supervisor of buildings and grounds the um the LW is that when you hire somebody for that position uh this is as per Steve fogy our board attorney they have two years to uh get that certificate or to complete that program uh in speaking to cero he's already in progress so uh we don't think it's going to be more than a year when he gets the certificate and then the interim will be dropped from the title of supervisor of buildings and grounds but he is working towards that and as per Steve fogy our attorney we can hire him
021in this capacity while he's going for that certificate I think that's a certificate that's online through ruter if I'm not mistaken yeah he's already in the process of doing that um underneath the uh resolution for school nurse uh Stephanie laurano who's been a part-time title one teacher at school 6 we're moving Stephanie over to a full-time uh grade five teacher for the remainder of this school year uh Stephanie will be filling in for Larry Kane who's been with us a number of years as a fifth grade teacher and has asked for a leave of absence through June 30th um Lara's intention is to return September 1st so Stephanie will be filling in uh in that capacity uh Amy matesic Amy's been on a maternity leave uh she was to return January 1 uh but she
022called the other day and asked for an extension for child care so so uh Amy's tentative date to return is uh somewhere around April 12th uh again Amy is out right now on a maternity leave and the initial uh request was till January 1 but she's asked for an extension uh Jamie spotus who is an art teacher with us uh has been on an unpaid leave and effective um I think it was November 30th Jamie asked to return back to her 10year position uh as an art teacher so that's what the agenda that's what the resolution at the bottom of page two refers to that she's coming off for unpaid leave uh page three at the top Anita frankovic who's been on an unpaid leave um based on medical uh situation has asked that she
023continue her unpaid leave uh through the end of the school year and again her again her intent is to return July 1st 2021 so we are approving that request uh Liz Leighton who's a title one teacher at school number three has been out on an unpaid leave uh since the beginning of the school year and she has also asked to continue that unpaid leave uh through the remainder of the school year so she will be returning to us in September 20121 a lot of these unpaid leave situations have to do with covid Child Care uh schools that are closed or remote that um staff members kids may or may not be going to uh I mentioned a resolution about uh outdoor intramurals uh that we had spoken about at our committee meeting Monday night so
024we are appointing as per contract the following coaches uh who will be involved in um overseeing or supervising uh the excuse me the program uh as per contract it's $10 per hour and um not all of these people will be working at the same time it's going to be spread out over the next couple of months I think we have a budget of about $2,000 which is not much to give kids the opportunity to be able to do some activities outdoor especially the way we have a lot of the constraints On Athletics right now Mr romanino yes uh it says weit room and intermural super provision at this point though that would strictly be outdoors not a weit room situation out the reason why it's listed that way is because in the contract the $10
025per hour refers to that okay but uh in speaking with Mr Pito and the coaches everybody's with the understanding that it's strictly outdoor thank you one more question sure um if we see that we have you know a large number of students participating in this program I know you said the budget was $2,000 but I would hope that if it's very successful and kids want it we need more teachers we can add on and keep it going because obviously we all agree that kids need to be doing something something athletic something physical and you know I think that this is just wonderful and a credit to Cliffside Park that you're even offering it so I would hope that the potential is there to expand it if it is you know popular with the kids I
026I think that's definitely that definitely will be the case and as I mentioned uh Monday night at our meeting uh will open it up to middle school students also uh we did have a small intramural program with them back in October that we had to cut short because of the going remote but we will make every effort to um extend it as long as with there's interest and open it up to middle school students also thank you okay top of page four um I'd like to congratulate ver PESA ver has been a cafeteria worker with us for a number of years uh effective December 15 2020 she will be retired so good luck to Vera uh next resolution is Jamie spotus which uh we had a resolution that she's returning this is just a formality
027that we're placing her at Ma step uh 15 uh based on her her previous contract uh next resolution is what I mentioned before lar kanaine has asked for a a leave um from December 1st through the end of the school year which we are approving and we're just approving the fire draw reports uh I believe G has sent those out with the agenda that's it for that uh Mr Alano anything in finance yeah a couple items Mr Roman Gino um we're starting the 2021 audit with our fin Business Office Team and our and our audit team um We are continuing to push the rock forward on some of our capital projects for the 2122 budget which these will be summer projects uh the gym upgrade project we've engaged a Department of Education to start the
028application process and we'll be advertising the specs probably in the next week or two for that project and we'll also be uh engaging JCT solutions they are the ones who are implementing and installing the uh Panic butt buttons for the Elissa law mandate uh they will be assessing a potential summer project for uh installing a new PA system at number four School uh We've started that project engaging that project the potential for that project um and there's a couple of resolutions in the back of the packet one is the budget process and calendar for the 2122 budget right now every one of those dates through December we have met those uh deadlines and Milestones uh the dates that shows specific items such as the election and other items on that document are TBD now because
029the election obviously with all that's going on may be moved and uh Mr capano mentioned the boiler project at number three school and number five school we have two pay requisitions to a liberty mechanical and we are going to be having a status meeting that Mr capano mentioned uh tomorrow at 1130 to go over uh where we are with the project specifically uh some of the steam trap issues and the the root causes of those issues and how we're going to resolve those issues so that's pretty much it Mr Roman Gino I just want to indicate what Lou uh indicated about the pay requisitions please understand that there's still that the project is not closed out and there's a significant amount of a balance left on both uh projects that the contractor is owed so
030I just want everybody to rest assured we're not going to uh pay uh the Final close out till everything is resolved yeah that's a good Point Mr capano and then we have to get the manufacturer in to uh do the final sign offs correct I have a question for Mr Alano um we're hiring an interim supervisor of buildings and grounds and we're also undertaking a renovation of the gym will our new interim supervisor be participating in that renovation project or coordinating some of the work that's going to be done will he be getting involved in that yeah he's going to be getting involved uh Dr pontano would pretty much all the major projects uh he's been intimately involved I I got him involved in the boiler projects at three school and five School uh specific
031to site visits uh meeting with the contractor of record meeting with the architect of record uh he also engaged in the retaining wall site visit we had a couple of weeks ago Mr capano and Mr Shell were there and he will be engaged in the uh gym upgrade project any really major project and of course all the day-to-day projects Plumbing electrical that go on the day-to-day activities of the buildings because it's a significant amount of money that we spend so it would make sense to uh make sure we have someone employed by us overseeing them up close right yeah I I think it Mr capano would concur we've had some very large capital projects the latest one was when we installed the modular trailers at number three school it's always beneficial to have someone on
032the ground from the Board of Education not just the architect of Records project manager it always behooves us as a benefit to have someone you know on our own turf uh so I think this will be a very big benefit not only to the day-to-day projects that go on but also the capital projects such as the gym upgrade PA system upgrades retaining wall so on and so forth to manage so to speak your architects of records and your contractor of Records it's good to have our own folks on the ground okay anyone else on the agenda okay motion to accept so moved was that uh Mr capano may I have a second if I may please I'll second it is that Mr garga yes okay I'd like to take a vote if I may Mr
033Roman Gino okay uh Mrs Abu yes uh Mr capano yes Mrs Fredo M Fredo yes she said yes okay Mr carara yes Dr Pantano yes Mr ranport yes Mr Shelly yes Mr tabaka yes so move Mr romanina okay uh so before we close or I asked to close the meeting our January date has not been set yet uh we're waiting for the burrow to get back to us on dates since they'll be uh scheduling their Council meetings so as soon as we have some dates for board meetings in January usually Mr Alano I think we set January February March right yes that's correct so as soon as we have the dates for January February March I'll get that out to the public and I'll also let the board know um obviously before our January meeting
034which will probably be uh somewhere around the 3D or fourth week of of January so I just want to take this opportunity on behalf of the board to wish everyone a happy holiday season uh let's hope 2021 is going to be a much better year than 2020 I'm looking forward to students coming back to school looking forward to our staff returning to the buildings so um I hope we we are successful as far as that's concerned so at this point I'd like to call for a motion to adjourn make a motion I'll second okay Mr Shelly and Mr ranc Court yes yeah okay very good Mr Roman G okay thank you I also just before we close I do want to take this opportunity to thank uh one of our directors of Technology Mr savastano
035who's with us tonight and without him uh we couldn't be doing all of this streaming and uh believe me what he does during the day to assist teaches in all of our Google meets and uh I think our technology program and what we're able to do as far as the district concern is concerned has a lot to do with the Great job that Frank does so Frank thank you