001e e good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the March 133 2025 general meeting of the Clifton Board of Education please rise for the flag salute and a moment of silence I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you sorry gentlemen sorry Mr shahada the roll call please nobody even noticed that Miss bassford here Mr Brunet here Mr kova Dr Danny here Mr Mahia here Mr siano here M Suarez here vice president Santiago here president Paris here we have a quorum thank you Mr Shada uh commissioner Mahia could you read the mission statement okay uh vice president Santiago can you read it thank you president Paris the mission of the Clifton School District
002in an open and reciprocal Community Partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong Learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a Democratic Society in an everchanging world thank you the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Clifton Board of Education has C caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date time and place thereof posted at the city clerk's office Clifton Public Library administration building senior citizen Nutrition Center on cable TV and the local press on the district's
003website and mailed to presidents of parent teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with policy 0168 is our student representative in the house hey Mark come on up hi good evening all um well there haven't been many report worthy events happening recently at CHS so tonight I just want to give a quick synopsis of what's happened in the past weeks and what to expect uh for the future uh our recent performance of Sweeney Todd was very successful I want to thank all of you that attended um lots of clipon students parents were in attendance and in whole I would like to thank all those that support our arts and theater programs uh they cannot succeed without your support furthermore ngpa testing is happening this week which has been going smoothly uh tomorrow
004there will be a students versus staff basketball game at 700 p.m. in the CHS lower gym and I'd like to cordially invent invite all students parents Clifton nightes of course all of you guys uh to attend and come watch I personally will be playing in the game as well so uh if you would like to come and watch that that's happening uh finally our spring Sports season has started and with game starting as early as next week I'd like to once again urge everyone to go and support our teams in terms of the future uh I personally have been working with the math department at CHS uh to resolve some issues with our online math programs so prior to this year we had been solely using imagin math to supplement students learning imagine math was
005a program introduced a couple years ago uh it's a replace Study Island uh but this year my path was rolled out as a pilot program in certain uh I believe sophomore level classes uh and we are so far uh trying to test its Effectiveness working with the head of the math department I personally am trying to gauge student opinion on the program as well as trying to understand the root cause of Why students are doing poorly in math and refusing to do uh lessons on the program even though they are aware that it will hurt their grade so I believe we'll be sending out a survey next week uh which will last about a week and we will be trying to use this data uh to come up with solutions to these issues uh and
006I will personally be presenting uh relevant information at next week's board meeting so I will uh work with Mr Rose in regards to to that that is all for this month and thank you good night to all thank you Mark and thank you for spearheading that new math uh uh solution that sounds exciting isn't it nice that we get student input Mr bar it's wonderful that we get student input um okay Dr Robert toy has a presentation for us this evening so the floor is yours sir it is that time sir how you does it need to be here or can it be close be close we good evening commissioners of the Clifton Board of Education community members faculty staff and students looking forward to tonight's uh presentation because the idea that we'll be discussing
007is something that I've hoped for since year one of my superintendency here in Clifton and that was the opportunity to open up a new school now not a brand new school but nevertheless a new school a new building to us and so tonight we talk about expanding the possibilities of the Clifton public schools and as you all know and hopefully the community knows that we have agreed uh in terms to a lease for 775 Valley Road which is the former Pope Paul v 6 school and later Pope John Paul II elementary school tonight I want to talk about what's happened since October 21 when we first started October 21 when we first started discussing the possibility of getting that building so back in October 21 we did an initial walkthrough and I was very impressed
008with the building itself um the last time it was used as a high school was in 1990 the building is still in very very good shape since October 21 till February of 25 uh the business office um along with myself had been working uh behind the scenes with the arch dasis of Newark to um get a deal to get this property um initially we wanted to purchase the property the arch dasis of Newark wasn't selling in fact we were told that the the Catholic church in general doesn't like to sell its property because they are the largest property owners in the world uh well due to um some recent events they changed their mind and we were able to uh lease the building so since October 21 we've talked about this building in various committees
009in October of 24 uh when I was out on medical leave um my great team in my absence uh Mr Jenaro Miss kusich and Mr Shahar uh did a community survey to get some input from the community on what they would like to see in a new building we had the architect uh our district architect the Cara Rabino in to look at the building we started a demographic study to determine what would be the best use of the facility and we've had our technology team teams our security teams and our maintenance teams in the building to scope out the area do A needs assessment so that when we took possession of the property we'd be ready to move in we'd be ready to go and I'm proud to say that when September 25 comes we
010will be prepared to hopefully open a third new Middle School in the Clifton Public School District truly a historic moment in our District's history to help us along that path we posted the position for a principal and tonight on the board agenda you'll see my recommendation for Mr Rob bertolini to be the next principal of our third Middle School real quick told you about that survey we did in October here's what the community had to say you see that unlike a lot some surveys we've done in the past we actually had a pretty good response rate uh on these surveys and to be statistically significant not to get technical here but you really only need about 5% of the people to respond to get what's considered a statistically significant answer and as you can see
011the biggest response from the community was to open up a third Middle School the second uh biggest response which was something Administration strongly considered was opening up some sort of special ized Academy um an offshoot of Clifton High School but as you'll see later on my presentation the need in this district is for a third Middle School here's that same data in percentages so roughly 38% of the respondents um said they would like to see a third Middle School in October the board appointed a demographer to begin a demographic study to help us make a strategic decision that would meet the district's needs and part of this demographers report is a comprehensive analysis that considers operational efficiency cost Effectiveness and long-term sustainability the study looked at data from 2009 to 2022 including historical enrollment Trends
012local housing growth of which I know you all live in Clifton you've seen the new developments and the increase in population in our city um the demographer looked at home sales special education enrollment and did GPS geocoding mapping to provide us with 5year enrollment projections of what we can expect through 2030 geocoding of the population uh the population density for School boundaries and possible redistricting of where we might want these students to come from what neighborhoods also options for which schools should be sending their students to the Middle School the new middle school and also did statistical forecasting and predictions on what we can expect in the future now that demographers report is not fully complete ladies and gentlemen but we have um more than an exerpt we have a um an abstract which has
013kind of the main points of the demographers report what we do not have and what tonight I cannot tell you for sure is what when we open this third Middle School what elementary schools will be sending their students there however I can assure you that at our next Board of Education meeting we will announce the recommendation from the demographer and the administration's recommendation but you can expect at least three of our elementary schools at least three schools that their fifth grade students this year will be going to a new middle school next year instead of woodro Wilson or or Columbus Middle School and when we announce that at our next meeting the day after we announce it we will notify those parents of those students so that they be can begin planning so why why
014a third Middle School you've been in our buildings you've seen our needs there's certainly a lack of space and overcrowding at our current middle schools that's been a major concern of ours for a long time all of our programs across the district have been growing we've had increased enrollment in our specialized programs that require full-size classrooms whereas we used to be able to spit split a a full-size classroom and make it into two some of our specialized programs need full-size classrooms now we have a lot more need uh for classrooms at all grade levels for special education and elll students you'll recall um that our elll enrollment has doubled in the last five years doubled ladies and gentlemen growing preschool we are not yet at what is called our preschool universe meaning not every three
015and four year-old in the city of Clifton um is attending preschool and guess what we're we're almost at a room and thanks to the board thanks to the budgets we've created thanks to money that we receiv received during the pandemic we've been able to increase student services like counseling uh and that's taken up space too though our own District's data has indicated that our middle schools are overc capacity we have more students in our schools then we should a district survey of our staff showed that the middle schools were the biggest area where space relief was needed and if that wasn't enough the professional demographer that we hired recommended that the best option would be opening up a third middle school because of the dense population of our current middle schools now let's talk about
016the big picture this is the stuff I love yeah well all that sounds good Dr Robert tosy but is this good for kids ladies and gentlemen this is really good for kids there is a lot of research that suggests School sizes optimal School sizes for secondary schools range from 600 to 900 students and there is research showing that optimal size increases math and language arts outcomes currently today there are 1,111 students at Christopher Columbus Middle School and 1,46 at woodro Wilson much bigger than that optimal size and ladies and gentlemen I will tell you that our middle schools are bigger than most high schools in the state of New Jersey and middle school students have much different needs than high school students so a smaller School benefit benefits them in many many ways one is
017a positive School climate smaller schools are often associated with a more positive and supportive School climate which in turn can indicate better academic outcomes right makes sense if the school climate is positive people are happy and satisfied kids staff do better children do better academically there's also research indicating less disruptions less disciplinary issues small schools can lead to fewer disruptions and a more focused learning environment need more research I got it for you this is a lower incident of negative social behavior in smaller schools negative social behaviors such as bullying and victimization compared to larger schools so you are less likely to be bullied in a smaller School smaller schools increase student teacher relationships right the smaller the school the more close-knit they become our middle schools again are the size of most high schools
018when those students at that age really need more attention and that of course can lead to more student engagement which leads to better academic outcomes which leads to more motivated students who are willing and wanting to take more rigorous courses and finally uh there's research that indicates smaller schools can foster a sense of belonging and positive self-regard which can contribute to better mental health and well-being that's one thing we've been talking about we should have always been talking about it but since the pandemic we've been talking about seal social emotional learning and the mental health of our students and staff there is research that indicates smaller schools help students with a better sense of um of self-worth mental health and well-being so why is it important to know this important to know these things the
019professional demographer recommended a third Middle School the staff survey recommended a third Middle School the community survey recommended a third Middle School the administration wants a third Middle School why do we want a third middle school for all these reasons because ultimately it's better for children so here's the plan right now ladies and gentlemen and you will vote on this uh tonight we would like to open up our third Middle School at Valley Road in September of 25 right now there are 47 full classrooms Columbus 55 at woodro our new Middle School will have 33 it's not quite as big as those schools but it's plenty big enough and by the time the third year rolls around we expect there to be about 850 students at Columbus about 850 at woodro and about 650 at
020our new Middle School notice how those numbers fall in very nicely with the oposal school size so when I say when we reach our full capacity is because we're not going to open up a three grade middle school in September that's not the plan we're going to ease into this and we're going to start off with a sixth grade next year so those parents who get a notification that your child is going to a third Middle School what of the benefits is your children are going to be the only grade in that school so I know parents are worried about you know going to middle school is a big step there's anxiety there's worries about going to a big school well your children are going to be just with sixth graders for a year the
021following year we'll move up another sixth grade class and we'll have sixth and seventh grade and in three years we'll have a full Middle School which will bring us up to those projected numbers of 850 850 and 650 so look at what we're doing here right we're not just creating a smaller school that's going to help students do better we're creating three smaller schools that are going to help students do better we'll be able to balance busing throughout the district and programming and when we get the final demographic report again before our next board meeting we will know what schools are recommended to be the feeder schools and as soon as we know that for sure you will know the community know and we'll let our parents know make no mistake about it these three
022schools will have the same curriculum the same general programs the same scheduling and activities so regardless of where your children go to school they will have the same opportunities and we'll have more space for our specialized programs more space at each school because of this so there's the projection of how we get to 650 next year we're expecting about 220 students following year we'll add another grade that'll get us to about 440 students and the third year will get us to what we're calling our capacity um not it's not quite our capacity but about 650 students which is a very nice size school when parents get a notification and children get notification that hey your school your fifth grade class is going to the new Middle School we have to be very very strict in
023making any exceptions to that just so that we balance out the numbers so a parent may say but I'm my my child was planning on going to Columbus they have to go to Columbus I'm let the board know now and I trust that you will support me in this that we have to be very strict in allowing any exceptions to not going to the new school but two of those right off the bat or if a child already a parent already has a sibling going to woodro or Christopher Columbus that student can also go and finish the eighth grade year so even if the siblings in 8th grade next year we're going to allow that student to start and finish at the school they go to as to not disrupt their education more than once
024and then of course any student who's in a specialized program part of this redistricting a re balancing is uh as you know many of our special education programs at the middle school level are at woodro some of those will go to the new Middle School some will say it woodro and so if a child is eligible for those programs um they obviously would go there and if their sibling is in that school we we would also allow The Sibling so other than that other than what I deem and you know we can discuss this in committee other than what I deem a really good reason we have to be very strict about making any other exceptions to the middle school so we make sure our our schools are balanced so we're in the why and
025what phase now what's next so we have the lease signed we are waiting njd we approval New Jersey Department of Education does have to approve the lease we don't anticipate any problems with that but that hasn't happened yet tonight hopefully the board will appoint a principal and tomorrow we'll have our first meeting from then on we're also going to form a smaller committee M made up of the Middle School administrators certain select teaching staff and others who are impacted by this move to help us to think about all the little things that we might not have thought about in our plan and we'll start getting down into the the nitty-gritty details about what are all the things you have to do to open up a new school and there's a lot that you have to
026do and the reason why I surround myself with with those people is because I first of all I don't know that much right I pretty much get by in my good looks and personality but the people that we'll have on that committee will know a lot more and will get their input we'll review the final demographic report and I will come to the board and I will tell you this was the recommendation of the demographer and whatever the administration's recommendation is for the two or three or four schools that are going to the Middle School Will redistrict based on that report we'll notify the families we'll have an open house in the summer and finally we'll name the building this board in its foresight last year just happened to a make a new naming policy
0277660 and so this is for anyone who's listening any Resident student Community member board member staff member can put in a written proposal to recommend a name for the building that procedure is as follows you can recommend the name our policy says that that the the person if it's a person doesn't have to be a person could be a tri the person has had to have significant contributions to the city and and the children in Clifton okay um it's part of your petition requirement you'll have to get 25 signatures we'll have to verify those signatures to some extent Mr Paris will create an ADH committee to review um the names that committee will include board members faculty students administrators and other community Representatives as deemed appropriate by Mr Paris and Mr Paris only that committee
028will then discuss all the recommendations and then make a final recommendation to myself and Mr shahada and the policy says if it meets with our approval then we bring it to the full board I will tell you this whatever that committee recommends will be my recommendation to the board we bring that to the full board the board considers it we'll probably start off in committee and then bring it to the full board and the final decision will be by a majority vote of the board on the naming of the school the application for naming of the school is on our district website thank you to Mr shahada for creating the form uh it's under the Board of Education tab we are asking it's not a firm deadline but we want to get this done rather
029quickly we're asking for uh submissions to be before April 1st again not a firm deadline the the the policy doesn't have a deadline you can submit a recommendation anytime to change the name or add a name to anything but for this specific purpose we're asking for an April 1st deadline and then finally in September 2025 we'll open that new school name yet to be determined ladies and gentlemen those are all the reasons why I recommend that we open a third Middle School I'm happy now to answer any questions that you may have and if you ask a question I may ask Mr Jenaro M kusich or Mr sh to help me with an answer thank you Dr Roberto for very thorough presentation Commissioners uh commissioner bassard thank you Dr Roberto for your explanation I have
030a couple things um I've been going back and forth with all day with uh the ba I you were not in and you now are not in during the presentation but I recall that we did we did mention we were going to have community input on on which um area of the grade level you were going to put up in the school so um I I I don't know if anybody else recalls that but I did recall that we were going to have some kind of public meeting and it never happened so I'm disappointed with that we're going to get we're going to get kick back on that I know we're going to get kick on and the other thing I'm I'm worried about is I know your reasons for implementing one grade at a
031time the sixth grade but why not utilize that whole building for other things where busting at the seams for and I'm I how do I tell the people in the community that we're only using a third of the building when we're when we're in a budget issue so that's my this is me with my my my Community member hat on I'm I'm concerned about that this that's that's an excellent question let me answer that first before we touch on the first comment for exactly the reason you said people might be concerned is the reason why we're phasing it in budget it is not as simple as some may think that we just take a certain amount of students from the middle schools and then we take the teachers who are currently there and it works
032out evenly and perfectly and it fits we're going to have to hire new staff it just doesn't work that easily so we're going to have to hire a new staff next year and then each year we're going to have to hire additional staff so as to not have to hire one of the reasons is to not have to hire all those staff in the first year so I could understand why somebody might say hey you're you're only utilizing a third building I get that but there is a significant budgetary reason why that makes sense um the second reason is we would if we redistrict everybody for September 25 we're interrupting the education of two additional uh grade grade levels right so in this regard the students who are in fifth grade yes they were expecting
033to go to a certain middle school but they never got there they never experienced that they get to go to the new school so we don't have to disrupt the current sixth and seventh graders to go to the new Middle School I am understand I understand that but it's just that we have an obligation we have the fiduciary obligation to the taxpayers and I'm looking at a third of this mechanism being utilized is there anything else or any other program that we could put in that building in the meantime separated out so it will be safe it will be conducive to educ learning so that's what I'm saying because you you talk about preschool and I know shifting things around and don't start yelling at me everyone I'm just how can we utilize that mechanism
034to its full potential so we're not we're not under burdening ourselves either because we have I told you I was in a classroom on Monday right I read to a classroom on Monday of 24 first graders and it really alarmed me it really alarmed me I didn't like to see that because they're emerging readers and I I was really upset about that I didn't say nothing to nobody I just I didn't say nothing to the teacher but I was like when I walked in I was like woo I I I I I was taken back because I know that that's really not ideal in short Miss B while I can't give you a specific program I can tell you that although only a third of the middle school students are planning to be there in
035September we will absolutely be using that the rest of that building for other reasons there are a myriad of things that we can utilize I don't want to TI myself down to a particular one by saying it publicly tonight but I assure you we will be using it and in addition Mr bassford I'm not sure I think the board knows but the community should know we are also taking possession of the building next to the school which is the arch dasin offices and so where when do we get that it's going to be a little longer uh we're supposed to get it in December but that is still inlux so within a year uh we'll be getting that and there's a ton of space there the good thing is it's not a good thing but
036the good thing is we have overcrowding everywhere so even here at school 6 there are programs that could be moved there and so and we'll have further discussions about that but I think that that every inch of both of those buildings will be used thank you you're very welcome commissioner Brak thank you Mr President Dr Robert TOA you you mentioned previously that some of the siblings who some of the older siblings who attend currently attend woodro Wilson or or Columbus that they have their parents have the option of still continuing to have them go there those are the only exceptions for now right but by year three that won't be cuz I had some some of the parents be they didn't know what it was going to be they were concerned about that as well
037you know my son is currently attending there but his his little brother he's coming up he wants to be in the school at least for one year two years if they got Irish twins or whatever so you know they they could potentially have up to two years or three years to two years together you know so essentially but do we have a ballpark figure of how many fifth graders have older siblings already going to a a middle school a ballpark not as many as I expected um in the low teams wow yeah um having said that Mr Brun the only other exception is if a student attends A specialized program that that would be an exception too right there's nothing you can do for that it does answer my question thank you yeah I guess
038the the idea is we we want to disrupt uh students and parents par lives as little as possible uh allowing what we'll call The Sibling exception I think helps with that um but other than that unless somebody has a real legitimate reason why they can't go to the new Middle School um and of course we'll consider any requests but I can't really see making exceptions commissioner SI thank you very much thank you for the presentation yes sir um special education in the school yes sir um there will be um most of our middle school special education programs not all but most are at woodro now and as part of the realignment some of those programs will move to the new school thank you you're very welcome president Paris commissioner sarez and commissioner Mia wanted to
039add something to my previous answer Janina right now the the majority of the self all of the self-contained special education classes are at Woodrow so we would be looking at moving some of those strands to better balance between the two schools and the vast majority of elll programs are at actually all of them for Middle School are at Christopher Columbus so even though it may sound like we're only moving up this group of fifth graders once you start layering in the specialized programs coming over as well that's going to use a lot more of the building than it sounds like just Rising fifth graders because the strands of self-contained special ed will move over there and there may be other smaller programs that can come over as well so more of the building will be
040utilized and special it will be balanced across a better balanced across the three schools that's why I always need you by my side commissioner Suarez thank you president Paris I was just curious if there are any plans to um put out the naming for um as an assignment to students I'd be so curious to see what ideas they might have and and make it an academic um love love that idea assignment I did not think of it but I have no problem doing that in fact that will do that I love that idea what's that chewy middle school I love that idea they have to follow the same rules as everybody else well it's probably easier for the kids to get 25 signatures and the adults you know commissioner M here so um I received
041a lot of calls today mainly because I think people within the community especially some of our staff members over at Christopher Columbus were worried that it would just be Target to a specific group of demographic students who live around the area and I wanted to know would it just be those main three schools that are around there or would we incorporate alleviating some of Christopher Columbus Middle School as well excellent question Mr Mia um it's part of the demographers report um not not only is it the students who live in that neighborhood but we ask them to look at ways that we can make other schools um that might be overcrowded at the elementary level to lessen the load there and to balance out now we have an obligation to provide all students with a
042thorough and efficient education one of the one of the things we have to consider when redistricting is that we have to balance the socioeconomics and the other demographics so you can't just move all the kids from one excuse me one section of town to that school it's going to be a balance of students from all over while considering um busing right so we're not going to take all the kids from uh you know one part of town but it's absolutely balanced it's a very good question and the demographers final recommendation will include um reasoning behind um my followup question to us going to be is there going to be options I know before we would have options like option one would include these three schools option two would include these three and option three would
043be would include these are we going to have things like that or is it just going to be a set final recommendation I think what the demographer will recommend and what the administration will recommend to the board is what is the most efficient and balanced um way I don't think it I don't think it would be options I don't think that that that would make um yeah I don't think that would work thank you you're very welcome vice president Santiago thank you president Paris can we will we can we get access to that report the demographers report as soon as I get it you guys will have it excellent um the special needs classes the reason this this school is chosen or for that is because the existing size of the classrooms already or the
044special space needed or will there be renovations to the building to make any accommodations actually Mr Santi that's a great question too the the reasoning is actually more simple than that um a child with an IEP is required to um go to class and go to school with non-disabled peers and so as part of that Balancing Act we have to include special ed programs with regular Ed programs in the new building um if that makes sense yes so that'll be part of the The Balancing Act so to speak yes and then thank you the last question in the naming um in our policy talks all back petitions we would just been saying this by names of people but as you mentioned it could be you know the famous oak tree that's been there forever um
045it could be the section of town it could be whatever and so um the process would be the same in terms of submitting that per the policy yes sir okay any um petition that meets the policy requirements will go to the committee that Mr Paris creates for consideration so yeah it could be you know could be a thing could be a place it could be doesn't have to be a person thank you uh Dr Danny just um thank you for the report very very um very well put together does the uh building have air conditioning just was curious box air conditioning yes is it it has split units in the classrooms in most classrooms thank you split units in most classrooms thank you that's one of the things that you know we'll be looking at
046with our maintenance teams thank you president Paris um I was just wondering if we have a r rough estimate when families will know about the bus schedule uh for the new school the bus schedule so the day after our next board meeting parents will be notified if their child is going to that school as part of that notification if they live more than 2 miles away they will be getting a bus and they'll be notified in that letter you're very welcome Mr sh I'm sorry 2.5 at the secondary level two at the elementary level commission M I don't know I feel like we need a little bit more input from the community in general is it okay we just table it and wait until we get everything in order cuz I know we do have
047to appoint a principal yes but until we have like all the information we need and then finally passing it because I know the resolution is just to make it a designated principal a PR uh building making it a middle school and all that but is it okay that we have everything in order before we finally put it down Mr we won't have everything in order to open up the new school probably till the day before that school opens so I'm just curious as and what additional information would you need to help you make a decision like all the schools who are going to be involved in transferring over to the new Middle School yeah so we're going to know that in two weeks at the most um yeah so I mean certainly um at the
048board's discretion if that's something that the board wanted to do I just want to say that um respect your opinion uh this resolution is part of the final piece of the packet that needs to go to the doe for um approval of the building so every building every lease unfortunately has to go to the facilities Department there they have to comb through it along with the Architects reports and every other piece of documentation um and that can take up to it it took us a year and a half to get uh CA s so you know that's it's a large undertaking from them and they are very underst staffed so this would put a huge delay in the process yes I have a question does it have to be designated a middle school before it
049goes down to the DOA or does can we say that we're just we're going to take it as a school that's I think that's what Mr M you're refering so I I believe uh don't quote me but I I believe it does because it has to go into our long range facility plan that has to be updated in conjunction with the packet that we submit to them when when is our next meeting april-ish second week of April maybe the 13th I believe it's April 13th that's here's my rationality I'm on the same Wing link because I was getting a lot of calls and text messages today from people saying that they didn't have weighin I'm just telling you what have what weighin weighin right and because I really Danny I I was trying to go
050back to look at the old meetings I didn't have time to do it today and I thought that was one of the discussions on this board is that we wanted Community input so the community survey was not enough the community survey didn't go out to all all as aspects and that was a big controversy if anybody remembers that it didn't go out to like the senior citizens I know we're talking about school age children and it went out to most of the parents but it didn't go out to the senior groups it didn't go out to the um the out of District placement people and um Dr Rob so yeah let me just say one let me just say one thing it if the board wishes to table this it would be against my recommendation
051but that's okay you don't have to take my recommendation I don't think and you can tell me if I'm wrong that there's something that a Community member could tell you tonight that is going to change my mind about the need for a third Middle School maybe there's something they could say that would change your mind and I'm open to change but I laid out at least what I believe are all the reasons why we need this um and I'm not sure what somebody else could tell you tonight that would change that but certainly if that's the board's perogative we can we can wait can I respond to that um my thing is that we've sometimes we dropped the ball and we didn't have follow and I'm not saying anything against anyone on this on this
052bis or anyone in administration I just thought that we would the process was going to go a little different I thought that we were going to have a special meeting and just put it out there what you wanted to do and I thought that the decision was going to be made after we got the demographic study back that's what I thought I don't know if I'm I'm miscalculating something somebody am if I'm wrong tell me you know cuz age but one other thing is that I'd like to know the rule does it have to be named the middle school or not named the Middle School because that would be helping me make my decision tonight I need all the facts it's just like the other night with the with the budget we don't know we
053do know I you know I got to I got to have concrete stuff I respect Mr M I respect this B is there any other commissioner that remembers there was going to be additional Community input or a community night I remember Community night is there anybody else guys because we it's it's been discussed in committees it's been a staff survey It's been a Community survey but if you're not comfortable with it then I respect that but if there's another commissioner who remembers that that would be helpful we let me just I haven't had a chance to make a comment so I'd like to weigh in a little bit here um we've had was it at least 2500 and more than that what was the total number of people surveyed it's thousands we're talking thousands this
054was done back in October students and parents and it was out of District students District Stone went out also we have a demog we have an independent third party has didn't come here with any kind of preconceived notions and they're recommending also our need is a as a middle school um and we also have our own Administration which knows I'm sure they did not I'm sure they did their homework as far as where the biggest need is for overcrowding in our district um I don't know what would be the benefit of having another public meeting um there were six months people could have come here or written to us or communicated with us um about their concerns and here we are and it's it's we're on a timeline here we want to get this school
055we have possession of the school regardless we need to get it prepared for the for the fall um I I don't see the need personally for a for an additional meeting on this yes commissioner siano just to uh answer the superintendent so if I'm remembering correctly Janina did the presentation on this and I think that it was said that it was going to be open for the Comm I don't remember the exact wording but commissioner Mahia commissioner bassford that's a good recollection that I have that that was said I'm not saying that I'm agreeing to table it I'm saying that I agree that something was said to that extent thank you I'm I I don't want to table this but I'm just asking for a concrete answer does it have to say Middle School in
056the resolution so we can get it down to the to the proper departments get it moved and then then rename it at another resolution because every time we put a resol resolution on on the agenda if there's a change to resolution including a date change it should go on a resolution because you're changing something that was agreed upon by this Collective body that's how I was taught on when you do resolutions I don't know if that's changed since I went to resolution school but that's how it was taught all right but I I'm just saying I do not want to be subject to public scrutiny saying that we didn't give the community weigh in that's all I'm asking for and can we put it is it yes can put it as a middle school or
057no we have to have it we have to have it uh the exact wording to go down to the state that's all I'm asking for so I can make my decision on how I'm going to vote I don't know that answer I don't know I'm trying to find but I would imagine you would I mean how are they going to approve it for a use without knowing what you're using because there are there are specifications so if we wanted it to be uh a preschool it's 950 Square ft 750 usable an elementary I mean elementary and Secondary School it's about 775 or something like that um yeah so in my professional opinion I do believe it is required because we have to amend the long range facilities plan that gets updated every 5 years unless
058there is an amendment of adding a building demolishing a building so on and so forth so yes president Paris yes so to to Mr Rober toy uh Dr Roberto sorry um so I asked for would we get the demographers report you said yes we would get that uh if we then review that and somebody doesn't agree with the data or wants to challenge or can we do that challenge the data or challenge the decision to make challenge the recommendation um sure but at the end of the day it's only a recommendation it's it's my recommendation that you'd be voting on so I guess the answer is sure you absolutely could challenge that um demographers report you could hire another demographer to review it um but at the end of the day the only action you're
059taking is to vote on the recommendation for the school itself if that that makes sense yeah I'm just I'm just saying um you know just some wild example that uh they choose schools or you know the criteria that they chose and it just seems as I believe Comm Mahia said you know these schools are from one section or whatever whatever reason that any one of us feels excuse me are you asking for like to question the recommendation of being a middle school high school elementary school kids I'll be I'll be clear let's say the three closest schools to Valley Road to the school are the ones that are selected period um you know somebody might not think that that's the right way to do it so I give okay recommendation depending upon what the demographer
060right they're a consultant they're third party I'm sure they're professional and they're qualified and they're going to give great data but on the chance that they come back and somebody thinks that it's not the best recommendation the CH the schools that were chosen um what can we do and Mr Santiago just so you know while I fully expect that I'm going to recommend what the professional recommends if we don't think it makes sense we we're not beholden to that rep so if we you know have a more efficient way or a better way or a way that's less busing or you know um certainly my recommendation could be different than the report good okay Dr Dan so um I I do want to say that I um do agree with Miss bassford and Mr sien
061on the way I thought the roll out just would be a little bit different I that was again but I'm not saying you know um to hold it up because I do understand that that would be a huge you know disruption to you know what we're planning to do here I get that and I think that Mr Santiago what you said I would think that that is sort of what Mr Mah is looking for to to be able that that we have some ability to put some input into you know when we get this study that if there's something that we see I think that's like what I think you would be okay with I mean I don't want to speak for you but that's like what I from what I heard that's what it
062seemed like that you know it's not there like this is the final word but there could be something that you would feel much more comfortable than maybe you know voting on that knowing that you have that option you know so I I think that was because that was going to be one of my questions was you know is this the final say in the word and that's it then like we didn't even see it so so Dr Dy um just going to read it with Dr Roberto that it they will give us a recommendation of what they believe is best ultimately it'll the recommendation will come from Administration through Dr Roberto to the board um but it is and for lack of a better phrase it is negotiable so just because they say schools 27
06328 29 have to go to this new school that that is not law that is not concrete we can make tweaks you know within the confines of you know legal bounds to ensure that you know it is encompassing of you know socioeconomic stat and Al all the diversity components that come along with it so the board will ultimately see the recommendation from Dr Robert toy and have input as to if they believe it is Equitable and from by all accounts there are only two firms in the state that that do this um and they are one of the two best so I know they have a really good reputation the reference list they've done almost every single District in the state so we have full confidence in their uh in their reporting and and what
064they've been doing they've been keeping us in the loop every step of the way and I do believe it'll be a recommendation that we can all be proud of and remember we we're not voting this evening on which schools are being sent to the new school we don't have that data yet anyway to even consider so what we're only voting on tonight is to authorize Mr shahada to get the application finished for Middle School there again if the majority of this board says that you need to wait we respect that decision I don't personally or professionally think it's necessary but I if if you felt or if you were told that there needed to be more input or more Community input um and you felt like this the process was the correct one and I
065respect that and I understand it um so I'm not sure um really what else I could I could say so if you guys want to vote or motion you know it's up to you there's a motion otherwise we move on okay thank you thank you Dr arosia thank you everyone for uh a very vigorous and healthy discussion um it's getting late and I always try to have public recognition by 800m so that I'm not tying up everybody's evening so I'm going to change the order a little bit here and uh open up we'll start with virtual if there's anyone in the virtual room for public recognition one person oh and let me do one bit of business before we do that I'm sorry this portion of the meeting is open to the residents and non-residents
066of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to and are directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District residents and non-residents are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to State their names addresses and subject matter comments are limited to five minutes per person issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if in one appropriate the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students Andy employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New
067Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments now Mr Rose is there anyone yes online okay Gary we have Gary Gary you have the floor if you can hear me hi there sorry um will I I the last I heard uh the new Middle School would also still be a church is that correct can you can you please share your name please and uh and and city of residents I'm so sorry I really can't hear you can you share your name and city of residence oh sure Gary Lorry
068and I'm in Clifton thank you and your question was uh the last I read the new Middle School would also uh still be functioning as a church is that correct that is not correct oh all right very good thank you so much you're welcome was that all that was it thank you all right thank you thank you sir motion to close second second motion to close by commissioner Brun Shack seconded by commissioner bassford um would invite anyone up to our public recognition table if should you like to make any comments now uh you got a microphone over there yeah right hello well good even it's on okay thank you all right good evening my name is lur L Lama and I'm the president of the ca so my discussion tonight is did you know investing
069in our schools means we're investing in our future today I stand before you to talk about something that affects all of us our schools our students and the future of our community we are at a critical point where we must decide whether to invest in the success of our children or allow our schools to struggle with Rising costs and increasing demands that is why a 2% increase in the school budget is not just necessary it's essential under New Jersey law school districts are permitted to increase their tax levy to 2% to accommodate the rising costs benefits salaries programs this cap established under the state budgetary guidelines ensures that schools can maintain Financial stability while continuing to provide high quality education however this 2% increase is not automatic districts must advocate for it and that's what
070I'm doing to ensure that we can keep up with inflation maintain Staffing levels and support our students programs without this adjustment schools May may be faced May face budget shortfalls forcing cuts to critical Services extracurricular activities and resources that directly impact Student Success our superintendent Dr Danny Roberto during the new teacher meeting at the beginning of the school year always stresses the importance of loving our students this is the key when we truly care for our students we ensure that they have the best resources opportuni and support to thrive and that requires adequate funding the small but Ina impactful increase means maintaining class sizes and allow teachers to give each student the attention they deserve it means providing updated textbooks technology and resources that prepare our students for a rapidly evolving World it means keeping
071our schools safe our facilities well maintained and our staff supported the cost of living Rises each year so do cost of running the schools without this increase we lose vital programs extracurricular activities and even essential staff that's not just a loss for our students but a loss for our entire Community strong schools create strong communities they attract families increase property value values and ensure the next generation is equipped with the schools the skills that they need to be successful let's be clear this is not about excess spending this is about responsible investment a 2% increase ensures that we continue providing quality education that every child here in Clifton deserves without compromising their future so I urge you support this increase support our students support our schools because when we invest in education we invest in
072a brighter stronger future for all thank you thank you anyone else who' like to either pick the podium or the table whichever you feel more comfortable that they're gravitating towards a Podium so maybe you should just keep the podium up good evening um just a simple question I know at Tuesday's budget meeting it was mentioned that I believe sta it was my understanding at least that Staffing was covered under the last budget that the expenses for this school were budgeted already um but I think once again if I understood correctly that we'd be Staffing as we're incrementally adding students to the school I think you mentioned at least that we're going to be doing new hires I don't know if it's every year or something like that um so maybe before making this kind of
073decision that you all have to make soon um is getting projected numbers of what we're looking for in the future because you have to plan for that now unless and then we'll be stuck there saying if we don't do this now then students are going to lose and kids are going to lose and then you're almost stuck in that position again um so if we're hearing that there are going to be costs that are coming with this I think it's better that we act now and get those numbers now and see what those projected costs are going to be be so that you're ready and that's all thank you good night thank you would anyone else like to make a comment this evening uh yes so I just had a question regarding the uh new
074middle school as well um the location of the middle school to me is interesting considering its proximity to uh woodro Wilson so uh obviously more of the students are going to be taken from uh that would have gone to Wood Wilson are now going to be going to this Middle School uh so are we potentially anticipating any students that would have gone to the Christopher Columbus Middle School uh sent to Woodrow instead to even out the numbers or is that uh not an option Mr spis I'll answer that if you don't mind go right ahead Mark we are expecting uh some students who are slated for Columbus to go to the new Middle School okay thank you so much anyone else like to approach the ponum this evening good evening Donna papait um I'm here
075tonight to speak on behalf of the Clifton Little Pantry program and we want to extend our incredible thank you to the families the staff and everyone at Clifton Public Schools you recently in February had a Valentine's Day food drive for us and the response was overwhelming you know here we are pulling up in our little SUVs to we school and we each have our list of about six schools to pick up from and after every single school I had to go home and empty it was some of schools we had to make two three trips with our cars it was a testament to what we are teaching the students of this community about caring about what it means to be Community um and I just want to I want to thank you and I want
076to say it was absolutely heartwarming and I also want to thank the Clifton Education Association who also filled our pantries for an entire month they got a they raised food they had their own Drive they packed the pantries it was absolutely wonderful without your help you have really have made our next few months just that much easier um I can tell you we all breathed The Sire relief you know we were down to dusting you know off the shelves and suddenly uh we had to run out to Home Depot and buy tubs to store food and we are extremely extremely happy and so thank you so much to everyone parents students Administration teachers the cea everyone it was just absolutely wonderful thank you okay now I'm going to talk about for me I I don't
077know I mean you've been talking about this school last time I came I I I just knew it was a middle school I don't know how I knew that I just made sense to me cuz the if you're having more preschools you need to make preschools in where you have the people who don't have the transportation so like turning that into a preschool but then not finding Transportation didn't make sense and since we're getting rid of the Department of Education it looks like I don't think you're going to have any money for a preschool so that was kind of a waste um high school that doesn't ever every time we've tried I was there the last time we had that Annex for the high school yeah that did not work cuz then no one wanted
078to go there there were extracurriculars there was uh blah blah blah I'm telling you it was a million problems as someone who was teaching at the high school at the time please please do not do that to the staff so I I don't know I just assumed it' be a middle school because our middle schools are overcrowded and we're not giving them what they need they're doing an excellent job do not get me wrong but you know we're not giving them the tools they need there's too many kids we're trying to do a lot of character education and you can't do character education when you have 32 kids in a room because they're all characters so thank you very much thank you anyone else like to approach the podium motion to close second okay seeing
079none motion to close by commissioner brunjak seconded by commissioner Mia okay next up is board committee reports um like to start with residency security and Technology um that's vice president Santiago please thank you president Paris the residen security and Technology meeting took place on Wednesday February 19th 2025 and began at 5:02 p.m. in attendance from administration were Mr Jenaro Mr doctor Mrs anola Mr Mountain Board of Education members and attendance were myself commissioner Kenova commissioner canano and president Paris Mr doctor explained that since the last meeting 18 non-residents were identified and removed from Clifton public schools at a savings of $350,900 based on the cost of educ ating a Clifton student he also explained that prek and kindergarten registration opened on February 19th Miss zenola stated that the drill of the month sh uh shelter
080and place transition to lockdown was successfully completed by all schools in January it was also shared that a former Clifton High School graduate is now working at pay County Sheriff's department and provided providing our elementary schools with presentations on Internet safety both for students and parents the presentation is a very heavy focus on social media and video games it discusses the current dangerous Trends found on apps websites and video games commonly used by Miners and brings to light the threats and dangers online Predators posed to Children Mr Mountain explained that security and referendum projects are moving along and are in the final stages of installation Mr Kenova inquired as to the fees associated with damaged or destroyed Chromebooks within the district Mr Mountain uh reassured the committee that fines are based on excessive and potentially
081intentional damage to the Chrome books fines are not levied for normal wear and tear of the Chromebooks cell signals at various schools was also discussed it was determined that the issues lie uh with the cell phone companies and Mr Mountain will work with other stakeholders to draft the board resolution to send to the companies imploring them to increase their service in the area for safety reasons the meeting was adjourned at 5:47 p.m. thank you anyone with questions okay seeing n then we'll move on to policy minutes uh commissioner Suarez please thank you president Paris let me just make large the print um because there's some reading to be done um the meeting took place on February 19th those in attendance were myself commissioner Santiago commissioner Mahia and president Paris Administration who were present were Mr
082jenero miss kevich Mr shahada and uh Miss Maggie Miller the meeting began at 4: p.m. items of discussion General policy and regulation updates we discussed policy P 2365 acceptable use of generative artificial intelligence which is a new policy policy guide 2365 includes a list of General AI issues for a board to consider including in Greater detail in its District's AI plan the list may be revised Andor expanded to meet local needs policy guide 2365 authorizes the superintendent to revise or suspend a provision in policy guide 2365 or the district's AI plan there is currently no statute or Administrative Code that addresses student use of AI therefore the board has flexibly has flexibility ability to determine the extent it wants to permit student use of generative AI policy guide 2365 is provided to assist a board
083in developing an AI plan policy guide 2365 is not the district's AI plan I am recommending this go to education committee to discuss the policy and to develop an AI plan tailored to local needs policy 511 51 111 eligibility of Resident non-resident students revised policy guide 5111 was previously revised in policy alert 231 to comply with njsa 18a 383 that prohibits admission of non-resident students to a district without the paying the payment of tuition except for those non-resident students who were children of board employeed teaching staff members however njsa 18a 383 is vague in regards to what staff members are considered teaching staff members and also does not mention whether a student who moves to or from a school district in the middle of a school year is covered in Clifton we do charge staff
084for non-resident tuition and it is only for certified staff the committee is in agreement with current procedure in place p546 High School graduation revised policy guide 5460 has been revised to include a new graduation requirement for high school graduating classes of 2025 2026 and 2027 on January 16 2024 PL 2023 c295 was enacted which states a board will require a student and the students parent if applicable to complete and submit a financial aid application and a form prescribed by the New Jersey higher education assistance Authority policy guide 5460 is mandated as njc excuse me njac 6A 85.1 States a board shall develop adopt and Implement graduation requirements that prepare students for success in post-secondary degree programs careers and Civic life in the 21st century policy 5516 use of electronic communication devices revised policy guide 5516
085prohibits a student or School staff member from being video or audio recorded or audio or video recording others without the consent of the student parent or School staff member policy guide 5516 also addresses the student's personal use of an electronic communication device to include cell phones during the school day as districts are considering limitations on a student's use of an electric communication device specifically the use of cell phones during the school day Strauss smme has Rewritten policy guide 5516 to incorporate the provisions of the existing policy guide 5516 with the new provisions of prohibiting or limiting the use of an electronic communication devices during the school day districts have been requesting a cell phone policy that prohibits and or limits students use of cell phones for personal use during the day revised policy guide 5516
086provides General requirements and defines electronic communication devices to include but not limited to cell phones SmartWatches tablets earbuds wireless headphones and other devices there is currently no statute or Administrative Code that addresses student use of electronic communication devices and schools therefore a board has the ability to revise policy and regulation guides 5516 to meet local needs policy and regulation guides 5516 were developed based upon research regarding the trends throughout the country a board that wants to limit student cell phone use May revise the times use times used is pered commed and may want to establish different times of the school day for use for different grade levels in summary a board has a lot of flexibility in addressing student use of electronic devices in schools and may develop rules and discipline that are not included
087in regulation guide 5516 a district that does not want to establish districtwide rules regarding student use of wireless communication devices during the school day does not need to currently the Administration has a place in plan that seems to be working at the secondary level it was agreed upon to keep the current practice in place as we await guidance from the NJ dooe policy 5701 academic in Integrity revised Strauss Esme has developed a new policy guide 571 academic Integrity to replace the existing policy guide 5701 plagiarism there were no changes to the language of the policy only the name policy 5510 student grievance revised policy guide 5710 has been revised to provide more details regarding the student grievance process the revised policy guide 5710 requires written documentation supporting the grievance timelines to file AG grievance a
088time and timelines for a district official to respond to grievance the procedure and policy guide 5710 shall be used to address the student grievance unless the board policy or act of a schooled employee being challenged is governed by a board policy regulation or other grievance procedure specifically designed to address the conduct the conduct in question policy 8500 Food Services revised the workingclass families anti-hunger act has been revised and the following statute sections have changed which necessitates revisions to policy guide 8500 njsa 18a 33- 3.2 18a 33-4 18a 33-11 18a 33-14 a 18a 3321 18a 3321 B 1 18a 332 21.1 and 18a 33 27.2 the revisions to the statutes include but are not limited to new terminology expansion of income eligibility to qualify students for free meals and additional parental notification of school meal information
089I got a few more pages everyone so please be patient policy 9163 spectator code code of conduct or inter Scholastic events which is New New Jersey state inter Scholastic Athletic Association is requiring every member school to adopt The Spectator code of conduct policy during 2024 2025 school year as per an njsi AA guidance dated May 8th 2024 policy guide 9163 includes three options explained below option one this option provides the school district the ability to impose disciplinary action to a person that is found to have exhibited unsportsmanlike conduct at any way inter inter Scholastic event to include the suspension from attending a subsequent home events in school district option two this option addresses the situation when a person is immediately removed from an inter Scholastic event for an activity and the suspension from sub subsequent
090home events cannot be imposed because the suspension exceeds the remaining home events for the activity or season this option indicates any remaining suspension shall cover excuse me shall carry over into the first home event of the activity in the next school year option three this option permits the principal or designate to suspend a person from attending home inter Scholastic events in excess of the suspension Provisions in this policy if the person violates the policy multiple times as determined by the board within a fixed period of time to be determined by the board the committee is recommending a hybrid of options one and two part two a uniform State me memorandum of agreement between education and law enforcement officials 2023 revisions policy 5512 harassment intimidation or bullying revised polic policy 5533 student smoking revised policy 7441
091electronic surveillance in school buildings and on school grounds policy 9320 Co cooperation with law enforcement agencies revised the uniform State memorandum of agreement between education and law enforcement officials Mo MOA was revised in 2023 all school districts must annually review revise when appropriate and adopt the Moa pursuant to the njac 6 a16 6.2 B13 through 14 the mo MOA provides a much greater level of detail regarding njac 66-6 and all of the requirements outlined therein Strauss Esme has reviewed the revised Mo MOA and made the appropriate revisions to the policy and regulation guides included in this policy alert which addresses a wide range of topics this was recently updated by the state and these policies reflect the new updates terminology required under the mo MOA all policies will be recommended for first reading resp respectfully
092submitted by Mr Amed shahada thank you any questions thank you commissioner sarez that was quite a read Mr Paris I would like to say there was 230 Pages worth of policy alerts that I got down to five so that was excellent summary thank you um if you really the detail is all in our first reading uh on this on today's agenda any questions for commissioner Mia so I know that we've already been starting to implement the uh the policy about having every student complete as FASA I'm getting a lot of parents asking me if I could help out their student for L of FASA are we doing any workshops with one of our partner schools or is that only going or has that not been communicated yet cuz they're just told to fill it out
093what do you mean by partner schools like college like our mou schools yeah are they having their F I'm not sure but I do believe in Miss Kus you can correct me if I'm wrong that the the guidance the guidance Department yes that yeah Jen Bergman I'm actually looking up the notification that I received from her regarding this um but the guidance department has done quite a bit of work with our students students the counselors have met with them there were everything was released to them um and there is support available hold on I'm just trying to find it right now sorry for those of you who might not know what Mr May is talking about the um it's a new graduation requirement that's for the state of New Jersey that parents are required to
094fill out the FAFSA which is the free application for federal student aid um regardless of whether the child intends to go to Secondary College or trade school or anything um there is a waiver process I'm not sure what that entails so that is the part that we are that's the part that we're required to um to complete we are required to ensure that every family checks off there's a survey that's part of real time where they have to check off if they're going to be completing FAFSA or not they have to they they fill out on that survey that they're going to fill out the FAFSA or if they're not going to and if they say no they're not going to then that that they apply for what is called a waiver if they say
095Yes um then our guidance Department checks with the state to make sure that they've done it um and if they have said yes that they're going to be doing it and they need support then the guidance counselors can reach out to provide that support and our um this this is kind of happening right now to make sure that it had been completed on time yeah I'm only asking because on Saturday I did get people asking can you help them out I'm like I don't know I can't personally host a a workshop saying let's all do it all at once you know so if we host a workshop that' probably be the best case scenario thank you anyone else any other questions yes president Paris yes vice president um on the communication policy just want to
096uh like a quick refresher on uh currently at the high school our students there are little I don't know pouches um where they leave their cell phone in the front of the classroom uh is that correct somebody yes um and then um the middle schools they leave it in a backpack in the front of the class in the backpack in the front of the class just refresh for everyone um and then in the beginning of it it talks about consent obviously you always want parents consent for pictures videos Etc um I believe our parents signed some sort of release uh just overall because you will have events the teacher doing something whatever it is um and they signed that release we just had read Across America right we all read we pictures Etc does that
097cover uh that kind of a scenario or No Yes uh Mr Santiago yes it it it does um and the parents fill that out before the school year starts in the parent portal it's one of the mandatory questions that they have to answer uh each year um whether or not they give permission for their children to be videotaped and pictures uh utilized so that does cover that okay thank you commission M here I know I mentioned it during our policy committee meeting um I know at the time Governor Murphy had said that he was giving out grants I think for the pouches to put your phones in would be we be able to apply for reimbursement through one of those grants nothing's come out no I believe it it's targeted schools that those grants are
098going to m like it's like the the schools that signed up as like Pilots or I I don't know if there was a sign up process but it is specific schools that was hand selected by the the governor's office yeah I was on a webinar this morning and there's $3 million Statewide for this roll out those Pilots they didn't say exactly what it no they didn't say it was limited to anyone necessarily um so it might be a possibility might be open to apply for I was under the impression it was a limited well certainly if we have the opportunity to apply we absolutely will um if we can get some some money back um at at the middle school level as Mr Santiago mentioned they they keep the phones in their backpacks but at
099the high school they're putting them not not necessarily in a one of those Yonder pouches that's that's the company that's selling them they're they're pretty expensive and like theaters are using those now um I don't know that that's necessary I don't know that we need to spend the money on that but if we can get some money we'll definitely give it a shot they just call it cell phone removal grants so they didn't specify it was it's a new it's um some new funding that's coming in this year's budget hasn't been passed yet but it's in the proposal that will be voted on by the state legislature okay anyone else on this one okay last one in under uh minutes is education and special education and that would be commissioner Dr Danny uh thank you
100president Paris the committee met February 19th 2025 the meet meeting began at 6m present were myself the chair Alan Paris president Tanya Suarez commissioner and Joe Kenova commissioner from the administration we had Dr Danny Rober toy superintendent of schools Mark Jenaro assistant superintendent Amed shahada assistant superintendent of business Janina kusevic assistant super intendent for curriculum and instruction Vanessa Gava principal CCMS Andrew joerger uh principal wwms Heather Rolo director of special services 8ighth grade endof Year events options Miss Gaba Mr Jager reviewed current end of year eighth grade activities and events which include school-based Awards assemblies who's who superlative assembly 8th grade field day yearbook sign signing an eighth grade breakfast or barbecue options to provide an eighth grade moving up ceremony were discussed the major concerns addressed included safety security parent participation parking building capacity
101and Auditorium capacity during the school day given the size of each eighth grade class evening options use of stadium and use of high school were also explored costs associated with security and Staffing for multiple evening events were also shared a virtual streaming of existing assemblies was also discussed other options for bringing the parents and school Community together were also presented such as diversity dinner at CCMS staff versus student events parent math or academic nights HSA meetings and events commissioner Joe Canova asked that we explore additional options to improve parent involvement in and opportunities for community and parent engagement commissioner Suarez discussed parent videos for viewing at home to Showcase events and Student Activities action informational updates on Pope Paul property Mr shahada shared updates on the lease Miss kusel levich presented various aspects of the
102one Clifton survey and preliminary demographic study as well as District programming and space needs all all of which supported using the site as a middle school The Proposal is to open a middle school with a grade byg grade roll out redistributing three to four Elementary sending schools from CCMS and woodro Wilson Middle School representing 200 to 250 Rising fifth graders balancing busing and socioeconomic status a plan for a three-year roll out was presented as follows 2025 to 26 school year about 200 students sixth graders Rising fifth grade from selected schools 2026 to 27 school year 400 students sixth and seventh graders 2027 to 2028 school year 600 students six seven eighth graders hiring an administrator to work collaboratively with CCMS and wwms um scheduling Equity courses additional information was discussed action informational continuing and counseling
103needs Miss kusel levich shared updates on integration of PBIS and inrs into a unified multi-tier system of supports in the linkit program to assist with academic and behavioral interventions and supports rebranding of our programs to help the community and parents better understand what our schools offer and can provide to students was discussed action informational reformatting of English course offerings at CHS Miss kusich shared that Mr White and the English teachers at CHS revised existing English 10 11 and 12 curriculum taking student input to create course choices by student interest topics including literature through film short story science fiction Edge ofyour seat Thrillers among many others students select their top three choices for scheduling action informational special education updates Miss Rolo shared information about the continued increases in special education referrals and challenges in finding space
104and staff to fill growing self-contained and specialized classes she referred to the integrated mtss inrs PBIS to help support students in the least restrictive environment of the general education classroom Miss Rolo provided updates on cpag meetings touchscreen CH books and student engagement activities including tours of middle school and elementary schools for smoother transitions the project UniFi basketball game LIF toown trips and polar plunge fundraiser and team for Special Olympics action informational the Zin project Foundation teaching Miss kusel levich shared a a professional development opportunity for staff including a teaching for black Liv study group the district will apply for the grant based on the ongoing application process action informational calendar input and Multicultural crosswalks Dr Rober toi discussed priorities and the changing calendar based on teacher input celebration of juneth and the option to amend
105the calendar were discussed options for calendar change were proposed and will be brought to the district collaborative and the next Board of Education meeting the district lessons about the many mandated and Multicultural days including juneth MLK and Indigenous peoples as well as in school lessons about Veterans Day were discussed the pros and cons of a day off from school to celebrate versus explicit lessons in each school and grade on such days were was discussed action bring calendar choice change choice to the full board meeting better branding and parent Outreach Miss kusel levich discussed a project to better communicate curriculum programs and school offerings via multiple methods including expanding the adult evening ESL program to include a parent University more instructional workshops for parents to better understand what we can do for our children better exposure
106through social media including videos interview and other posts action informational meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m. any questions commissioner brunak thank you Mr President are we adding an additional day to the end of the year as a result of that this is um the school calendar something that Dr Robert toy will um discuss and it it is a discussion that we're going to have as a full board Mr brunak at at this time the the resolution uh if the board passes tonight will not add a day but will remove a snow day so we'll instead of three snow days next year we'll have two thank [Music] you any other questions okay thank you Dr Danny um we have three minutes that need adoption February 13th February 20th and February 26 7th uh is there a
107motion to approve those motion by Dr Danny second by commissioner Suarez any discussions roll call where is he Mr Shada no all right well it's a very important Aaron well uh do you have anything superintendent's report you want I have one announcement um do that okay we need a roll call Mr sh he's about to pass out I came back out do for approving the minutes approving the minutes sorry guys about motion to approve the minutes of February 13th 20th and 27th second second what B with me here what what it was yeah commissioner bord Mr bassford yes Mr Brun yes Dr Danny yes Mr Mia yes Mr siano yes but I'm abstaining on February 27th meeting Miss Suarez yes vice president Santiago yes president Paris yes motion carries do you have any additional comments
108Dr Rob Mr Paris I just have one I spoke enough tonight so I just have one announcement uh that I like the board and the community to be aware of um as part of the district's commitment to ensure every child is fed uh for the first time we are piloting a lunch program for students during spring break this initiative was spearheaded by Mr Shahara um whose dedication to our students wellbeing um does not go unnoticed uh in collaboration with pomptonian we will be using two locations Clifton High School and School 17 to serve meals a breakfast lunch combo and once we finalize all the details we'll share more information with the board and we'll send communication to the entire uh community and uh hopefully this pilot will be a success so that we can make
109sure no child goes hungry even when school is out thank you Mr Paris fantastic thank you Dr Robert toy um we have a resolution for National Women's History Month commissioner bassford could you please sure read our resolution just reading something else it's a resolution B1 B1 yesal women's uh History Month whereas American women whereas American women of every race class and ethnic background have made historical contributions to the growth and strength of the nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways whereas American women have played and continued to play a critical economic cultural and social role in every sphere of our nation's Life by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working in and outside the home whereas American women have played a unique role throughout our history by providing the majority of the nation's
110volunteer labor force us and have been particularly important in the establishment of early charitable philanthropic and cultural institutions in this country whereas a celebration of women's progress and contributions to this country since its founding this year's theme is moving forward together women educating and inspiring Generations it celebrates the Collective Strength and influence of women who have dedicated their lives to Education mentorship and Leadership therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education honors the contribution that women have made throughout history and a comment to commit to support efforts to improve opportunities for women and declare March as National Women's History Month congratulations to all the women involved thank you thank you commissioner Bast next is a resolution recognizing so uh School Social Work week which is March 2nd through 8 2025 uh commissioner Suarez
111please thank you president Paris I always say once a social worker always a social worker uh public content whereas School social workers are essential members of the educational team helping students overcome social emotional and behavioral challenges that impact their ability to succeed in school and where as school social workers provide critical services including counseling Crisis Intervention mental health support and connecting families with valuable Community Resources and whereas School social workers play a vital role in promoting equity and inclusion by addressing barriers to learning and advocating for students in need and whereas the National Association of Social Workers has designated the week of March 2nd through 8th 2025 as school Social Work Week providing an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the contributions of school social workers to Student Success and well-being and whereas the Clifton Board
112of Education values and acknowledges the dedication compassion and expertise of school social workers who support the students and families of Clifton public schools now therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education does hereby recognize March 2nd through 8th 2025 as school Social Work week and expresses its sincere gratitude to the school social workers of clipon public schools for their unwavering commitment to our students families and school Community thank you thank you God bless you God bless you and thank you commissioner Suarez um we have a resolution recognizing Irish heritage month this month uh vice president Santiago please thank you thank you president Paris uh Irish resolution recognizing Irish heritage month whereas Irish Americans have have made significant contributions to the cultural economic and social fabric of the United States and their legacy of
113resilience Ingenuity and commitment to education continues to inspire generations and whereas the month of March is nationally recognized as Irish heritage month a time to celebrate the rich history traditions and achievements of Irish Americans including their contributions to education and public service and whereas millions of Americans including many residents of Clifton Trace their ancestry to Ireland enriching our community with with Irish Customs music literature and values of hard work and perseverance and whereas the Clifton Board of Education acknowledges and values the contributions of Irish Americans in the fields of Education science business and the Arts as well as their dedication to Civic engagement and social justice and whereas fostering an appreciation of diverse cultures including Irish air Heritage enhances the educational experience of our students and promotes understanding and unity within our schools and community
114and therefore be it resolved now therefore be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education proudly recognizes March 2025 as Irish heritage month and encourages students Educators and community members to engage in activities that celebrate and honor the history and contributions of Irish Americans and be it further resolved that copies of the resolution be shared with the Clifton community and School District to promote awareness and appreciation of Irish heritage throughout the month of March thank you thank you V Vice President Santiago um April 16th um is designated as Clifton Public Schools observance of bring your child to workday commissioner brunak can you please read that Proclamation thank you thank you Mr President where has the national observers of bring your child to work day is scheduled for Thursday April 24th 2025 and whereas Clifton Public
115Schools will be on spring break from April 21st to April 25th 2025 making participation on the national Daye in Practical and has determined it is in the best interest of students and families to observe bring your child to workday on an alternate date and whereas after reviewing administrative code at njac 68 32844 which designates bring your child to work day as a state recognized excused absence the Clifton Public Schools shall bring shall hold bring your child to workday on Wednesday April 16th April 2025 now therefore be it resolved that the Clinton Board of Education designates Wednesday April 16th 2025 as the official as the official observance of bring your child to work day for Clifton public schools and be it further resolved that any student participating on this date shall have their absence recognized and
116excuse provided that the proper documentation is submitted in accordance with District policies thank you commissioner brunak it's a a great event for our families here in town um looking for a motion to approve under B education Administration items number one through 14 motion second motion by commissioner Suarez second by commissioner Dr Danny any discussion roll call Mr Shad oh just sorry yes commissioner Suarez um just about the the policies for um I I guess I just wanted there were just some cross outs for the words Guardian I know this happened a few months ago um as this is the first reading I just wanted to put my thoughts that if we can keep Guardian instead of just only parent okay this is first reading so it's exactly the time to look at these amendments so
117can bring that back to uh policy committee before the second reading okay and then secondly it's just doesn't seem consistent there's some parts of the policy that has the board and it specifically crosses out of education and then there are other parts that it just says the board and then there's a new bold that says of education so it's just not consistent in the language so if we can just have consistency okay but that's all we can make those adjustments okay Mr shot sir uh Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes M Dr Danny yes Mr Mia yes Mr siano yes with the adjustments that commissioner Suarez suggested yep those will be taken up in policy committee uh Miss Suarez yes vice president Santiago yes president Paris yes motion carries yes uh commissioner Shanel we'll bring
118those back to policy we'll make the revisions and for the second reading then okay next we're uh under C Personnel I'm looking for a motion to approve items uh number one through 28 motion motion by commissioner B seconded by commissioner Mahia any discussion yeah yes commissioner B yeah just a request to let Mr bertolini speak after the vote absolutely thank you I'm sorry it's taking this long but anyone else okay roll call Mr shahada uh Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Dr Danny yes Mr Mahia yeah Mr siano yes Miss Suarez yes vice president Santiago yes abstain on 13 and 23 and president Paris yes abstain on 12 22 and 23 motion carries excuse me uh Mr berini you have the floor not that one Rob you got to have a SE butt I'm sorry
119no mic just waiting so long his hair started growing evening test test test no maybe I rethink this recommendation yeah right microphone putting you on a spot okay um it is both an honor and a privilege to stand before you today as a new principal of our new school I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to president Paris vice president Santiago and all the commissioner of the board of education for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility having spent nearly two decades in Clifton I can honestly say that this is one of the strongest most dedicated boards I've ever had a pleasure to work for your unwavering focus on the best on the best interest of our students is something we all deeply appreciate i' like to thank Dr Dan Dr Rober toi our
120superintendent for his ex exceptional leadership since Dr Roberto's arrival our district has made tremendous his strides and Clifton is a much stronger place today thanks to his vision and commitment we are incredibly fortunate to have him leading us as we continue to grow and explore Uncharted territories a heartfelt thank you to assistant superintendent Miss kevich and Mr shahada for their continued support for all Financial concerns building issues and curriculum and instruction assistant superintendent M Jero has been a both a mentor and a close friend of mine for over a decade he has an incredible talent for identifying and nurturing Future Leaders and his inspiration for what education leadership should be is leaving a lasting impact on this district for years to come as part of his vision he really understands the importance of training and
121guiding all those lessons he taught me through the years have been transformed into something truly special in the administrator Academy the impact of these lessons can now reach many more Future Leaders of clipon I can honestly say that this is because of Mr of Mark jenero that I am the leader I am today thank you Mr jenero a special thank you to Mr doctor and Mrs anola for their support and Leadership through the years for the last four years as a vice princi at Columbus Middle School I want to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation to my current administrative team administrative team Vanessa Gaba our principal at Columbus has been an extraordin extraordinary leader and Mentor the lessons I've learned under her guidance are invaluable and I'm truly grateful for having had the
122opportunity to be one of our vice principls Nicole tur my fellow vice principal has been a consistent source of support she's been an amazing partner in every sense I couldn't have asked for a better colleague to work without Columbus I would be remiss if I didn't thank the staff students and families of Christopher Columbus Community Columbus will always hold a special place in my heart the passion dedication camaraderie I've experienced there have been Second To None Columbus is the Hidden Gem in Clifton and it's because of the incredible people who work there that shine so brightly and last but certain not least I like to thank my family my wife Jillian and my son Bo Jillian supports me in ways that she will never understand she is my guide my voice of reason and she's
123never afraid to tell me when I'm wrong even when I don't want to see it and believe me she never misses that opportunity as I step into this new role I fully aware of the challenges ahead but I also deeply deeply confident that with the incredible support of our Board of Education and centrer administration we will meet these challenges headon and provide our future students with an experience they will cherish remember thank you Clifton for this amazing opportunity I look forward to working with all of you to continue making this District a place where every student can Thrive thank you very much congratulations robt [Applause] congratulations Mr berini thank you okay next under Finance facilities um looking for a motion to approve items 1 through 13 president Paris I'd like to pull um D3 is
124a separate vote and discussion3 F3 no it's D3 okay okay all right so I will amend looking for a motion to approve under D items one through uh 13 motion with the exception exception of item three for further discussion motion uh motion by vice president Santiago seconded by commissioner Mia any discussion at this point roll call M bassford motion to pull everything separately then separ okay yes um yeah yes Mr br check Dr Danny yes Mr Mita yes Mr siano yes on facilities abstaining on permit 5389 for the ca Early Childhood advisory Council thank sir Miss Suarez yes vice president Santiago yes president Paris yes motion carries uh F3 is a standalone okay so open up the floor for discussion commissioner bassford yes um so the the motion on the floor the resolution on on
125the agenda is to approve um the adoption of the 2526 PR PR preliminary sorry budget um that would mean with the 2% to go to the to go to the county for approval my question is what would happen if we didn't approve the 2% we would be out of compliance uh with doe regulations we would get uh no no we would have to send we would have to adopt uh another I believe the question is if she didn't if if it didn't pass today yeah but she's miss bassford talking about the 2% tonight's resolution is simply to send the budget so if you so what is the budget amount that we're sending and does it have the 2% raise that we've been discussing from the last from last meeting the budget that we will send
126to the county is 2% however it is is the preliminary budget and can be changed all the way up until we vote on it in May okay CU I have to know what I'm actually voting on so I want and want this community to know exactly what we're vot so we're voting on a budget tonight to send to the county for approval with the 2% increase in in the tax correct it's not final not final final is May 1 I can't say the word preliminary and is only for a compliance check to ensure that you know we meet all the state's regulations the vote goes down to a no what happens after that if this vote F3 goes down to a no um we would have to we would have to call us we propose
127we would have to revise it and make another meeting proposal it have to be another meeting and then we and what date does it have to be in by Monday I believe uh what when is the 17th if the board vote so just to be clear you're voting to give the administration permission to send this to the county if you don't want to Grant permission to send it to the county because it's at 2% you vote no we'll have to keep voting until we get one that you say yes to we have to pass this tonight we have to get approval from the board to send a budget fair I just want to be clear so everybody knows what we're doing so just want to make sure and so guys if you vote Yes tonight
128doesn't mean you're for 2% against 2% it means that you're saying we can send it to the county if however you're not comfortable with us sending it to the county because of that 2% and we don't get a majority vote then the next recommendation will be 1% and then the next recommendation will be 0% knowing that whatever happens it's could be changed up until the night of the May 1 board meeting correct and just I don't even want to complicate matters Dr Dr Rob is correct thank you thank you any other questions okay then a motion to uh approve item three adoption of the 2025 26 preliminary budget motion motion by commissioner Suarez second by commissioner Mahia roll call Mr shahada uh Miss bassford come back to me I want to pass okay uh Mr
129brunak no Dr Danny no Mr siano Excuse me Mr Mahia my apologies you said no Mr siano no Miss Suarez yes vice president Santiago yes president Paris yes come back to me Miss bassford no motion does not carry I make a I make a motion to propose 1% I second that um in in in code and um Miss Miller can um correct me if I'm wrong if the vote does not pass as which it did not did it did not we need to the board needs to instruct me explicitly what to cut from the budget now then then during Tuesday's meeting why wouldn't we told that that I say that same line every year at at this meeting I didn't hear that last year I said the same exact please somebody chime in if I'm
130wrong we I was never what listen if the board if a majority of the board is directing us to pass to send a budget with 1% increase tonight can we just vote on that resolution yeah and it could be I mean you have to break because you have to send a compliant budget so what are comp bud got to send the budget so we need a yes vote right but just taking 1% where are you taking it from so you have nothing I have nothing the budget is something that the board votes on I can't just arbitrarily cut 1% without their approval so my question is can the um what you're saying the specific thing needs to be cut can it be not so specific but general for example not that they would do this
131but we you only to take 1% from programming or 1% from curriculum or 1% from staff is that enough no because the budget that we present to them shows them specifically you know $10 going here $20 going there but they don't have that I I understand okay but I don't understand how you can't plan for I mean you know to to understand that maybe it could be a no vote there's no backup there's no backup because this is this is only sent for compliance purposes this budget is not a final iteration of the budget we we we are we are under the impression that you're going to give us permission to send the budget to the county knowing that you you can change it I don't know we do this every year I don't understand
132I understand if you're against 2% that's okay president Paris but you have time to vote no on that we literally have 45 days that we could sit and talk about this budget every day put it in writing that we will have another meeting Judy we have the April meeting we have the May meeting let me speak let means I have the floor because if it's not in writing to me it doesn't exist that's an advocacy 101 rule it's not in writing it doesn't work I've been inundated with phone calls text messages and all kinds of things today smoke signals to sharpen out pencil because people are hurting I got that I did some research on the also the um reevaluation I I can't do this I can't consciously do this I know other people feel
133the same way as I do because they've expressed that to me in phone calls and text messages miss bassford you have my word on this dayis being live streamed and recorded this bud budget is not final until May 1st and I get five votes you have been with all due respect on this board for half of my life and you have seen these budgets the way the process goes I I am truly flabbergasted that you it is such flabber AET is a good word I feel I feel the same I I'm sending this to the county for compliance check so we can just get it back and then we can work on it topic on the April agenda so we'll have we'll put some more discussion time on it I would like to have a
134sec separate budget meeting so that we can all sit here and have just a thorough listen let let me finish we get along on this board to do what we need to do according to what I view in the city from the other side we need to have thorough conversation about why we're concerned about this 2% why we're concerned about this budget in public in front of everyone and people need to come out and tell us why we need to not give 2% and why we need to cut it down to what we need to do I I mean I everybody that texted me called me or whatever they did with me and stopped me at Shop Right and Stop and Shop I've told them straight out you need to come and voice your opinion
135because I can't be your voice because you have to be your own voice so if you tell me that we will have another de dedicated budget meeting I will change my vote to a yes with your word and then I want writing I want on a piece of paper that we're going to do that thank you Administration will do what a majority of the board directs us to do done president Paris I would suggest somebody make a motion then that we schedule an additional meeting well well president Paris if I may we we several of us also want to make a comment so commissioner swars had hand up with thank you vice president San Diego colleagues I'm sincerely confused and please help me understand respectfully why can't we have the administration be in compliance while
136we still have time to submit I would hate for our district to be out of compliance I don't know if this is connected to cusac or something similar that is of negative a detriment to us as a district just to be in compliance so please help me understand the rationale to withhold the submission of the budget while we still have time to discuss it because I'm sincerely confused as to that decision so we like you just said commissioner SARS just for compliance we need to get something in so I know the there was a motion already by Dr Lucy Danny to put in a 1% here all I have is a general payment of the funds and a total budget it doesn't even give us on the minutes here doesn't give us a stepbystep GL
137on all the things we need to do and all the things we need to pay I know we all have our own separate things and all that but we just need to submit something so it could for example our first year it was going to be 3% 2% we gave like if I recall four or five and the same thing so it was unexpected gave you a little bit more so it could be the same thing it's it was expected 2% the motion is 1% if you guys are all okay with that we could vote on the 1% send something just for compliance no can't do that Mr shahada said we have to we would have to specify the cuts to get us to a 1% president Paris yes so um you know the calendar
138is public we had a we had a meeting just a few days ago we've discussed when these budget meetings occur we discussed when all of our meetings occur so there's ample time for the public to participate to come to contribute we all get comments um from the public we had a presentation from Mr shihada this is just me for from my decision-making um based upon the needs of the district based upon what the needs are um from the administration right we know that insurance has gone up we know that we have salary obligations CBA negotiated contracts so they spelled out what they needed and that was the explanation on the 2% um that's what the information that that I received if we talk about 1% I then need to know what that means cuz I
139know what 2% means I'm I'm satisfied with knowing what that means that was presented to us I don't know what two 1% means I have not been provided data on what that looks like what that means to to the point earlier what does that mean what are we going to cut I've seen we have seen what 2% what the need is and where that's going to go I haven't seen where 1% what's that going to look like and I would need that if we're going to to vote at all Mr Paris yes commission I think this is a statement being made tonight and I'm going to tell you why and please do not take this as an insult we all wanted to know what we were used to what we saw last year and what
140each increment would mean based on what we could do and our wish list you said the word wish list I think that was one of the things that bothered me that I didn't see exact what could be I'm telling you we have time for that I understand that I think this is a statement being made Danny I'm I'm being I'm the mom in the group Miss bord I understand but it's a it's a terrible statement and it's a not necessary statement to be very honest with you not necessary statement because this is a compliance issue the budget gets voted on May 1st I understand listen I make one comment I please speak I have the floor I have the floor but you're making people are making this difficult for no reason can I say bord
141finish let commissioner bassford finish ridiculous statements I asked the other night about the middle school I heard something different tonight about it's only this one year I thought it was going to be three grades in the school blah blah BL blah and now I'm confused I told you I will change my vote if we have another meeting I'm asking all of you to have another meeting so we can have a thorough discussion about this in public with everyone I need answers to talk to my constituents and they tell me what they need that's why I'm here they put me here in the seat and if I don't do this I am I am doing what's against them about finding out the information I have a lot of questions and U don't tell me I'm doing
142stuff against kids because that's not my my Mantra I've never been like that who said that I'm not going to say who said that but I'm just going to say it's against kids I have nobody I have nobody in the district I have no children anymore according to people on Facebook I shouldn't be in the seat I don't have any relatives that work in this District I don't have to worry about that right I am I I am not I am not in Conflict on anything I want answers to my questions so I can make an informed decision whether I say yay or nay and that's where I think my vote came from tonight because I was frustrated with the fact is that I wanted public input with the Middle School thing I I wanted
143this I wanted that me and Lucy agreed to something the other night that we wanted input before we made the decision the other night and tonight I thought that message was clear I expected to get a little bit more information for tonight that's all I'm saying I'm justifying my spford can I just say one thing if you don't mind president Paris go ahead um it was agreed upon on Tuesday that to the recommendation of Dr Rober toi that you guys would have something by the next finance committee of you know a $3 million decrease which is a 2% it is not humanly possible for me to just arbitrarily look at a budget and say I'm going to cut out $3 million it's $3 million that's a lot of people programs whatever it may be it
144has to be a holistic approach I just don't go in there with no regard to the students and staff and just cut we need to reassess every single thing in that budget and I told you guys and I gave you my word I have never lied to you that you will get that information in a timely manner but it needs to be thorough and accurate because I do not give you guys BS and this the information that I gave you guys last year the 2 4 68 whatever percentage that was a wish list because we were looking to increase positionings for Pope Paul this year my presentation was thorough and to the point because it is to maintain operation there is no wish list the options are binary in increase 2% decrease or 0% it's
145very simple are we going to lose $3 million and have to cut people programs places whatever or do we maintain operations so there is no wish list for us there is nothing to present other than the facts I'm not trying to sell you guys on it I am doing what is best for children I have no personal gain in this it is for children and I'm done talking president Paris do you got to do I I see two options to us this even right uh one is and this would have to come from the prevailing side uh a motion to to change what we just voted on and send the preliminary at 2% that would have to come from someone who prevailed in this uh in that Vote or um someone make a motion to
146put an additional budget meeting on the calendar uh in April for this discussion and purpose um but then in the interim we still need to get some something down down to to actually it's not or it's and because we need to get some kind of budget into the county so uh leave that up to you guys I'll make a motion to put it to the send it out as it is as long as we have a meeting and feral discussion with the community involved okay so the the motion to approve the preliminary budget to sent to the county contingent upon having a you can send it we we will have a meeting in April uh special budgetary review meeting do we have a second for that second second by commissioner swarz is there any additional
147discussion at this point okay Mr sh just I just want to be clear Comm sarez no I just want to be clear so we are this motion is to pass the budget as is right now as is written with the with the understanding that we're meeting together as a team and with the public in April to have essentially this discussion but having more time and dedication correct we're sending the preliminary budget in which is preliminary which is changeable the final isn't due until May and we are agreeing to have a special budget meeting the month of sometime during the month of April um again to the review the situation and help our fin that we asked for at Tuesday night's meeting with all the information we asked for at Tuesday night's meeting so we can
148make an informed decision yes with that goes without saying there would be preparation for that yes commissioner so in the meantime all my fellow Commissioners you got to study the budget you got to figure out where you want to cut because if we're going to go down to 1% or 0% we got to make Cuts right that's the job that's what we were elected for it's not an easy job he can't do it without us being told what to do um I mean looking over the budget there's you know a few places that I'm going to bring bring up that I'm looking over now that you know commissioner brunak and I have spoke on and um but that's something you all have to do it's it's like homework time you know figure out what we
149could do without because um I think you guys know I can't go up 2% after going up 10% in the last three years give the taxpayers a break fiduciary responsibility we were elected yes students staff taxpayer okay are we ready for a vote on that motion okay yes that's this is to send the priliminary budget and we will have a meeting special budgetary meeting another one roll call please miss bassford yes Mr brunak no Dr Danny no Mr Mahia obain Mr siano this is for compliance purpos to go to the count I it's this is not I didn't vote I know what it's for no M DZ yes vice president Santiago yes president Paris yes motion carries please four in the affirmative two in the negative one as an extension the exstension goes with the
150majority motion carries okay so we'll get that on the agenda um we do have some uh executive uh session topics for this evening we'll be taking about uh about 30 minutes Paris I have something to add on uh no we had some discussion before and there were some members that would like to have some discussion on on the topic so we it'll be should be pretty quick I have something to add into executive session too okay it's a legal issue this is on uh uh student and and Personnel matters should take approximately 30 minutes and uh action should be taken motion to do we I would say let's go to let's get our work done uh if that's okay with the board all right um motion to go to Executive session motion second okays see
151you in a few e e e okay welcome back from executive session um roll call please Mr shot excuse me U miss bassford here Mr brunak here Dr Danny here Mr Mia here Mr sio here Mr W here vice president Santiago here par here we have a Sor okay I'm looking for a motion to approve under executive session uh items two and three motion motion by commissioner bassford seconded by commissioner Suarez roll call Mr sh uh M bassford yes Mr BR yes Dr Danny yes Mr M yes Mr sio yes M Wares yes vice president Santiago yes president Paris yes motion carries thank you um board member com is next and since last time it was really a very Abridged one we're going to start again with commissioner brunak um since it was his turn
152but kind of got jipped last time thank you Mr President I just want to give uh prayers out to the Boon family on the uh matriarch of their of their family who uh was unresponsive today and hope that she pulls through and happy St Patrick's Day to all of those who celebrate thank you for your time and God bless America have a good night everybody thank you commissioner brunak uh Dr Danny uh thank you president Paris I just want to say thank you to all the speakers uh Mr berini uh congratulations on your appointment and happy St Patrick's Day and that's it thank you Dr Danny uh commissioner Mia congrats to um Mr berini I remember back in the day when you were one of our gym coaches and basketball coaches it was a great
153time having you um happy I don't want to mispronounce it PRM um I know a lot of my board members celebrate this a lot of my um close family as well they do celebrate it lasts from today up until tomorrow so happy holidays for you for those who are celebrating and happy woman's history month thank you commissioner Mia commissioner siano thank you president Paris um happy National Women's month I want to take a moment to honor the strong powerful women who have shaped my life I'm especially grateful for my wife who celebrated her birthday on March 8th which is happened to be International women's day one of the strongest women I know alongside my mother sisters and many incredible women in our community Irish herited months uh St Patrick's Day is right around the corner
154please enjoy it responsibly um I want to thank the board of ed for the fruit basket they sent to me it brightened my spirit storing my recovery uh the only thing I do want to update everybody on is a little Health thing here I am happy to report pathology reports that came in showed no cancer in the lymph nodes they removed 28 lymph nodes so all the lymph nodes around my prostate and it appears the cancer was confined to the prostate that being said there was actually a portion of the cancer that was very high risk that did not show up on the biopsy that could have easily penetrated the walls of the prostate which would have led to bone cancer 85 to 95% of prostate cancers turn into bone cancer uh early detection made
155all the difference I want to urge all men and their families to get regular PSA checks prostate cancer can be life-threatening but with early detection there's hope uh I want to wish everybody a happy and safe St Patrick's Day I won't be attending the next strategic planning meeting as I'm being uh awarded for my work and my business it's good to be back stay safe take care of one another have a wonderful evening thank you commissioner s commissioner Suarez thank you president Paris uh good evening everyone as has been stated I would like to acknowledge the celebrations of this month Ramadan continues women's History Month social workers month and iris heritage month uh in general I'm aware that I don't often say too much during meetings that I can be succinct with my words and
156please know that this isn't shade to anyone here or anyone out in the audience but I don't speak to just say anything I speak when I have to some something to say and tonight I do my first comments are regarding the budget I think it's important to reiterate that the budget was simply allowing for the to be passed along to the county for compliant timelines that said I understand that there is much trepidation about raising taxes especially in light of current inflation and how everyday costs are high please know that I certainly understand that concern however it's also important to reiterate that it is an expectation within the New Jersey state school formula that each district raise their taxes 2% each year in order to be adequately funded with this in mind we will be
157negligent to all of our students and staff if we don't meet this basic expectation from the state I could understand if the tax request was Beyond an expectation of 2% and I would certainly respect that exstension believe me I am personally not a fan of our tax dollars being needed to fund our schools because Public Schools shape our future educate our society and our sites that Foster democracy it is my personal belief that public schools should be fully funded by the federal government and seeing that our current Administration is actively trying to demolish public education I understand that having schools fully funded is a lofty and long- fetched goal but I will still keep dreaming about it so in order for us to Simply maintain what we already have and what we provide for our
158students today it is necessary that we raise taxes as a homeowner in Clifton my taxes will be impct impacted as well unfortunately relying on property taxes is how the funding system is designed and therefore raising taxes is the only tool we have to to make up for what we don't get from the state to fund our schools we need to use the tools that we have that are given to us in order to keep our schools maintained further it's important to keep in mind that our schools here in Clifton and in countless other districts are still underst staffed as we are need more specialized teachers more per professionals more substitutes and more space in order for us to function optimally so a 2% increase in our taxes is the least we can do to service
159to students of our district also in a different topic I thank my colleagues here on the day as for approving the new school calendar juneth is an important day to honor the freedom of those who were enslaved and thus also honors the history and ancestry of many of our students and community members we all happily honor our Collective freedom on July 4th our country's Independence Day and I personally love to watch fireworks and celebrate with family and friends but we must remember that not everyone was free on July 4th 1776 historically as is evident in educational research many black and brown students are often feel ignored or even invisible in their classrooms feeling ignored in classroom setting can have negative impacts on school engagement Behavior self-esteem student teacher relationships and ultimately on student grades as
160all good teachers know positive relationships with students are critical to the success and making kids feel seen as being a big part of maintaining positive relationships so I believe that that having Jun teth on our school calendar is a small yet important way to see our students their families and their lived history ultimately sending the message that they matter one more comment absolutely lastly read Across America uh I had such pleasure en jooy reading to the little ones in our schools I had preschool fifth graders first graders and they were so so lovely to read with uh it brings me joy to the parents and Guardians please please read to your children whe whether it's a poem a quick article a picture book a chapter book reading at home sends the message about how reading
161is important thank you everyone for your attention and listening for what I have to say have a good night and I look forward to seeing you next time thank you commissioner Suarez commissioner bass thank you president Paris um for those that didn't hear Tuesday night's comments because they weren't aware we had a meeting condolences once again to the Canova family the Colangelo family and now to the Mullen family on the loss of Tom Mullen Trustee of the Clifton Education Foundation and also Clifton Recreation Department I would like to extend my heart felt thanks to the following schools for inviting me to participate in read Across America in the past couple of weeks School 2 School 5 school 8 school 11 school 12 school 12 zic school 13 School 14 School 16 and School 17 it
162was a true honor to engage with the students and celebrate the joy of reading um as we celebrate Irish Heritage a month I'd like to I take pride in honoring the rich cultural Traditions history and contributions the Irish people have made it is time to reflect on the values of resilience community and Dee rooted spirit that has shaped Generations including my own my McBride family that my sister has traced all the way back to Ireland and has met two years ago on a trip to Ireland knocked on a door and they let her in and she had dinner with those people from Ireland's profound influence on literature and music to its vibrant Traditions that continue to inspire this month reminds me of the importance of family culture and Heritage Happy Irish heritage month all thank
163you and good night thank you commissioner bassford vice president Santiago thank you president Paris um I look forward to our student rep Mark uh with the um the math program the data that he's Gathering I appreciate that I'm looking forward to to uh the results of that uh our next strategic planning meeting is March 20th at 700 p.m. Clifton High School please come out please participate it is the spring athletic season so there's a lot of stuff to support and go out and see on our school teams we have tennis we have track we have volleyball we have flag football we have baseball we have softball we have lacrosse plenty of stuff to support um Happy Irish heritage month happy St Patrick's Day women wom's History Month shout out to our social workers and happy
164porum and last on the budget just to reiterate we just voted to pass uh to send this on to the county to be in compliance there's plenty of time to discuss to deliberate to change all the way up to May including a new April meeting so plenty of time to please come out and uh make your voice heard thank you thank you vice president Santiago um and thank you commissioner bassford for mentioning Mr Mullen I realized he had passed away so condolences to his family uh and also continuing condolences to uh commissioner kenova's family on the loss of his father-in-law um I attended the CHS play Sweeney Todd which was absolutely awesome it was like a Broadway play if you hadn't haven't been to a Clifton High School Musical before uh You' been for quite
165a treat and it's quite a bargain so congratulations to all the staff and the students um putting out a wonderful show uh the 19th of this month is All City strings that's going to be at the high school at 7M and on the 26th It's All City band also at the high school at 7 p.m I'd like to just say congratulations to our Pate County um School Board Association unsung hero Award winner from Clifton High School uh Mr Ryan Raphael Zena was was our candidate it was a very touching ceremony and was it's meant to honor all the well exactly what it says unsung heroes students that are phenomenal in their own right but just are not as visible in their they do it in their own quiet way um so there are a lot
166of very very great stories about some wonderful students that we got to hear very heartwarming um and thank you to the staffs that the eight elementary schools that I participated read Across America uh can report that we have a very strong reading program we have students that were great listeners classrooms very organized it was just a wonderful experience um so thank you for for everyone who organized read Across America and all of all the Commissioners here that participated I know it was very much appreciated by the staff all right the last item is uh new business is there any new business yes yes Dr Danny um so my new business is looking at the May date um of the 22nd I was wondering if maybe we can move that date up or you know move
167the date down like either the 15th or the 29th if anybody would be this is our general board meeting yes yes 29th is academic stud so the 15th that's the week before because it's it's it it's the Memorial Day weekend and that's the only reason why I'm bringing it up that you know um I don't know if anybody else will be I might possibly not be here would have to just zoom in I wouldn't be here for that I would also have to zoom in for that meeting so I just just that's why I'm bringing it up okay you wouldn't be in for the 20 the 22nd I wouldn't be able to make it I would have to Z on Zoom which I would do but if we can move the meeting even a day
168before whatever 22 meeting 15th right so like theth or you know or the I don't know if the 21st interferes with anything does anyone else have a conflict if we move it I have a conflict on 15 you do okay Dr arber to he has a conflict there so we can't do it then um I mean I could zoom in that's no you know but I just thought maybe that's going to be the best way to do it at this point yeah uh for my office purposes the later the meeting in a month the better because we have to Encompass all of the bills okay I mean it's to build call well no or the 28th I don't know that's later the the Wednesday you know before we have the ability for them to zoom
169in right yeah absolutely yeah so I mean that's fine you guys you just have to zoom in for a that's fine okay any other new business no all right motion to close motion second motion by commissioner Suarez second by commissioner brunak have a great evening