October 19, 2023 - Clifton Board of Education Meeting

001e like to call the regularly scheduled meeting of the clion board of education for Thursday October 19th 2023 to order if you'd all please rise for a salute to our flag followed by a brief Mona silence I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with li and justice for all and if we could all just pray for peace in our world thank you roll call please Mr abjo here Mr aad miss bassford here Mr brunak here Mr Mia here Mr Paris here Mr Santiago do it again here vice president Danny uh coming late president Smith here we have a quorum um Richie uh Mr commissioner M would you read the mission statement please the mission of Clifton School

002District in an open and reciprocal Community Partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the the skills necessary to become literate lifelong Learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a Democratic Society in an Ever Changing world the open public meetings act in New Jersey open public meeting law was ened to ensure the rights of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the bodies of public uh at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Clinton board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the daytime 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

003press on the district's website and mail to presidents of parent teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with policy 0168 uh the board is going to move into executive session at this time uh for uh Personnel matters um Mo and a legal matter is a motion to go into executive please by Mr abaj jaabo second by Mr Mahia roll call please Mr yes M bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes president Smith yes motion passes okay if the public would just please vacate the room so that we could stay here for our executive session thank you oh there are they say okay sorry e okay we're going to uh get ready to start so uh cheering section will have to hold off for a little

004while just a little bit all right are there any people standing outside do you need a seat ma'am oh she's rocking okay because we do have a seat up front if somebody needs a seat okay um like to call the uh board back to uh order from executive session roll call please Mr Rober jbo here M bassford here Mr brunak here Mr Mia here Mr Paris here Mr Santiago here vice president Danny here president Smith here we have a quorum um so the board had uh had already opened their meeting uh at 5:30 we met an executive session no we're coming back from executive session so that's why you don't have to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance we did that uh already all right so we're going to continue on with the board's agenda

005uh we're starting um at number four uh the open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the rights of 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 Clon board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date time in 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 website and mail to presidents of parent teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with uh R policy 0168 okay the first part of the meeting is going to be public recognition this portion of

006the meeting is open to Residents and non-residents of the city of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to Andor directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School System residents and non-residents are requested if in person to sign the register provided for this purpose all speakers are asked to State their names municipality in which they leave in subject matter before they begin speaking comments are limited to 5 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 and when appropriate your questions may or may not be answered by board members the board asked that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals

007when speaking specifically comments regarding students and 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 the state of New Jersey 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 okay we'll start with um virtual Callin is there anyone there okay motion to close motion by Mr abrao second by Mr Santiago okay now we'll have in person um if you wish to address the board please come up to the podium sign the register state

008your name municipality subject matter and you will have a timer starting for five minutes to be fair good evening board members again and the Clifton Community my name is Joseph Ceno and I am number four on the ballot running for a seat on the board of education on November 7th as this is the the final board meeting before the election I would like to take a few moments to outline my priorities for my candidacy first and foremost I am deeply committed to securing increased funding for special education as I wholeheartedly understand the crucial importance of providing adequate support and resources for students with special needs additionally I believe in the power of early learning and its impact on a child's education as a member of the Early Childhood advisory Council I am well-versed in the

009benefits of Early Education I am dedic D at to expanding options and opportunities for early learning within our community I recognize that as a new member of the board there will be a learning curve however I am fully committed to working closely with the board members and seeking their guidance every step of the way by attending every meeting and actively participating in board activities I will ensure that this position has my undivided attention collaboration is at the heart of my Approach I am a devoted team player and will always maintain Ain an open door policy for the community it is my mission to listen and address any concerns raised by community members I will be their voice at board meetings advocating for their needs in addition to my involvement in Early Education I am actively

010engaged in various Community organizations I am proud to serve as the newest elected president of the friends of the athenia veterans Deputy Grand Knight for the Knights of Columbus Regina Monday 3969 Council and a member of the action Clifton committee and the beautification committee I am also dedicated to working with the power one organization assisting in any way I can I humbly ask for your support and consideration in the upcoming election if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time I am here to address any inquiries you have furthermore I invite the public to a meet and greet the event this Saturday the 21st from 10:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. at wee bake fresh Bakery which is formally Gourmet desserts bakery located at 851 vanav

011which is confused because it's across the street from the Walgreens on Mount Prospect Avenue it's an opportunity for us to connect I'm going to have coffee Donuts cookies waiting thank you for your valuable time and your consideration once again I am Joseph sieno number four on the ballot for a seat on the Clifton Board of Education this November 7th and I look forward to seeing you at the polls thank you all very much okay good evening ladies and gentlemen I don't know if you guys remember me from last time uh but I was was talking about the transgender issue um section the district policy 5756 C if you could just please state your name your name is oh Anthony dvo I live in Clifton thank you been here for 17 years have a 10-year-old son

012in the district everybody's doing great um I was here about 5756 before I start I want everybody to know I have nothing against the LGBT Q Community this is not what my problem is my problem is in this poorly drafted document it states that there is no affirmative huh it states that there is no affirmative Duty for any School District staff member to notify a student's parent of the student's gender identity or expression the rest of this isn't worth even talking about once again my point is the state is now attempting to co-parent with a parent as I said before if my kids's got a snotty nose I want to know I'm quite sure that if Little Johnny goes and breaks a window he's going to the parents are going to get a call I'm

013pretty sure that if he scrapes his knee somebody's going to get a call but if Little Johnny wants to walk around and pretend he's a unicorn and change his name in school then I'm not supposed to know that is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard in my life trying to remove a fundamental right from a parent I'm not here to sit there and say or be told hug your child at night that was a pathetic response the reality that everybody says this is not a mandate and it's only guidance that is another fallacy the reason why is because the AG that was arguing that case CU I pulled up the brief I pulled up everything I pulled up the minutes I pulled it all up he was at a point where he

014was going to lose and what does he do he picks up this thing and it says School transgender student guidance for schools and everybody stopped but it's not guidance because guidance if you look in the dictionary says to help to guide somebody to do something to get them to an end point for the state to spend all this money suing these districts that don't agree with it that's not that's not guidance that's called a forced mandate anybody that can read knows what that is number one number two looking at how this works and how this is written I would be ashamed to put my name on this ashamed and I write and I do things for a living whoever threw this together doesn't know what they're doing and I don't care what anybody says or

015what anybody does the reality is if you're trying to take away a fundamental right from a parent you're going to have problems you you have to do what's right forget about being scared about litigation costs forget about all that do what is right we we we destroyed our kids during coid we really messed them up because everybody had their own special interest with regards to it and now we're going to do this I've got a 10-year-old son and only 57 seconds left I'm not going to put him through it and as I said before and angry parent I am willing to fight a bear with a toothpick and let me tell you if you see that pray for the bear don't pray for me because the bear will lose and that's all I have to

016say thank you good evening Elias Rago president of the Clifton Student Union um I come today with two um issues um so as we all know you can look at the news you've heard it at board meetings there is a national teacher shortage um and first let me say that I'm not knocking administration because I understand that Administration is doing the best they can with the present situation but um maybe some aren't aware of how badly this is affecting students currently multip there's at least two um classes are quite literally learning virtually as they walk into a classroom and are expected to sit down open their Chromebook log into some kind of Zoom or Google meet and learn from a teacher that likely doesn't know their name maybe doesn't even live in New Jersey and

017I think we can all say that that simply does not make sense and it's not beneficial to the student um once again I understand Administration saw this as a simple fix and everything um and I'm happy they did that because the Alternatives could be worse um but the reason why this really you know hit a nerve is because so many of Board of Education members and it's more than one that's either sitting up there today or running now run on the promise of teacher retention that they're going to bring teachers into the district and I question how can you think that you're going to run on a campaign promise that is is an issue for Nationwide um it really doesn't make sense to me and it really just doesn't make sense because students are quite

018literally not learning as in I've heard them say to me personally I've I've been told personally and I've heard them say to other people we can't learn how are we expected to actually sit in the classroom with over 20 students you know it's bad enough people complain that in a classroom with 30 students they can't learn one teacher now they're in a classroom with almost 30 students and their teachers on the computer it doesn't make sense um and once again I acknowledge this is a national issue you know I saw on the agenda today I believe at least if I understand it correctly four more PA professionals are resigning um it really is affecting our schools um I had a friend that couldn't start a club because there aren't enough pair professionals um I acknowledge

019the district's you know once again they're quick fixes I see that we're going to raise the salaries of substitutes but that that's not how you fix this um and if your argument of why you should be voted for is because you can raise people's um wages and you think that that's really going to fix this because last time I checked we did that last year too and we're still struggling with this you know it's not the right quick fix and you're on here because somebody trusted you to fix issues somebody trusted that you can think critically and that you can face these issues that face the district and affect students parents whatever it may be um so first of all I don't think that's the right quick fix it's something and I once again I

020acknowledge that but more has to be done because it's truly affecting students thank you all very much for um good evening my name is Anna man and I am here to speak up for my daughter's asthma action plan um that was denied by a Dr Basista and Mr Rober toy um The Asthma action plan came straight from tonfly Pediatrics our doctor um with the alal dose that she's been prescribed since she was a baby and this doctor Basista denied our asthma action plan because he says he's concerned about the dose and I'm here to ask for help um cooperation I'm willing to sign a hippo release form so that the doctors can speak to each other um because I don't want to delay this any further it's a life-threatening um matter and I'm afraid that

021when she's in school and she's having an asthma attack and the pump doesn't work for her I I'm afraid that I won't get to the school on time um we were given a handwritten note it was a handwritten denial note and I was honestly a little surprised by the handwritten note um that I that I emailed Mr Rober toy um and he confirmed the denial and I even sent um a document from hackin sack University Medical Center showing that the dosage that she's getting is correct none of the um um the prescri uh the pharmacies none of the pharmacists have ever expressed any any concern on the dose so I'm really not sure why I'm being um denied or prolonging what she needs um at school and all I'm asking is that they give her

022a nebulizer treatment because the pump doesn't her it does it's not effective for her she's 6 years old um that's all thank you um silence pleas please sure good evening everyone uh Joe Kenova 21 Hudson Street I'm running for border of Ed number 7 on the ballot uh I'm not here tonight to be repetitive this is the final meeting before the election and as candidates we could tell you what we know what we have experience in but the truth is that it doesn't matter because you can learn that as you go and as long as you dedicate time to being a board member you could be an effective one so we could be good public speakers but that's really only necessary if the board is members of president or someone like Dr Roberto who represents

023our interests as a district we could tell you our position on issues but that's only a glimpse into time on certain known issues in the moment we could show up to every event in town but it does that re does that really mean we care more what skills are really needed listening skills to represent the students in public on issues and items that come up coming up with policies that meet the needs of the district and respect students and parents providing a value ad for subcommittees and issues facing our district not just taking up a seat being a springboard for the super if needed to understand if what he's thinking makes sense most of all the values and morals of a board member are important issues change from day to day but knowing the moral

024character of a person knowing how they evaluate situations gives you a great idea as to how they will represent the community if they are on the board regardless of the monster of the week that we need to tackle or the issues that occur most of the job is being a level-headed person that can reason with others to understand the issues and vote their conscious on what's best for both the school and the community My overall thoughts for students is that we need to provide them with with what is needed to have a shot at success and it's our job to show them all the areas they can go so they could choose the profession that they love because it resonates with them and not because they think it might be a fit for their future

025I have three girls and they attend Clifton schools I hear firsthand items that come up and would love to continue making things better and move along for Clifton if what anything I have said that resonates with you tonight as a voter I would appreciate your vote for me this November thank you anyone anyone else wish to address the board hey right here oh I'm sorry I didn't see him hi I'm Cameron Hebron I'm number three on the ballot and like the other candidates before me I'm not here to speak too too much about my Board of Ed race but I am running on a platform of advocacy accessibility and accountability um am I even speaking into the right mic um so first things first I wanted to talk about teacher retention as well as school

026crowding since I heard that stated earlier school crowding and teacher retention were huge issues even before Co and now that now that CO's over they still remain that way either thankfully or unth thankfully Co shifted a lot of priorities and allowed the state to expend more of the budget on the grounds on the premise that it helps Public Health however they didn't do any work on the back end to actually ensure schools continue to get budget the this budget while schools were already previously under budgeted prior to coid um data showed that short-term fixes like teacher trainings bonuses help but don't actually solve the root of the issue or the long-term issue however there is data that shows quality of life cost of living and other resources outside of bordered would help solve these issues

027like a parent stated earlier asthma inhalers as well as other health care is a huge it's a huge need for a lot of communities let alone our community schools are expected to be a not by the taxpayer but schools are expected to be a source of free child care as well as health behavioral modeling as well as a source of nutrition for students however we do pay out of pocket for lunches here um other states other counties and other districts don't necessarily have to do the same um that's more tax stuff on the back end next thing I wanted to talk about at first I was confused as to why the health standards were even controversial I hear a lot of people bringing them up I got asked a couple questions about that anyway and

028just by reading the policy it seemed pretty standard for most developed nations with and like within the last decade it's really on par with most developed Nations um when we talk about transgender people that's only half a percentage less than .5% of the population but in short it's important to have state legislation that doesn't make performative gestures towards a group and actually helps these minority groups going back how this Segways into the pharmacy The Asthma thing and other health care needs when someone is transgender they have the frontal lobe of their brains the white matter in the frontal loes of their brains more accurately aligns to the gender they identify with as Oppo as opposed to the gender they were born with AKA The frontal loes of your brain don't have that much differentiation between

029the gender your body was assigned and the gender you perceive yourself as that comes from hormone washes in the womb and there's a lot of research behind that let me just get through this taking things a little further I see the same curriculum making linguistic mistakes it's a little bit sloppy and honestly revamping the anti-discrimination policy would do a lot more for families and students and honestly the state at large um to take things even further the health curriculum is the same base with the past decade with a the same base we had over the past decade with wider ranges of implementation but it's statistically proven by many studies to reduce the prevalence of communicable diseases and not non-communicable diseases when we have thorough legislation we when we have thorough planning around health education and

030health literacy it reduces communicable diseases like coid and non-communicable diseases like HIV and STI um next New Jersey has some of the lowest STI incidents in the country I think it's around 47 and that's all a result of good policy put forward not only by the Board of Ed but by the state um emotionally changing policy would put us in League with States who have amended their health aded standards and have gotten higher incidences of HIV as well as other STI okay um there was one more okay some of my notes from the last session just rapid fire who decided to name the the thing A literacy Green Card why are we measuring English literacy through something called a green card a punch card was right there um Bravo to you guys for the data

031are the therapists and TR County behavioral changed in gender dysphoria and is it accurate adequate all right thank you vote number three hello everyone good evening my name is Dr lanade uh I'm an Iranian American and I live here in Clifton uh firstly I don't think uh Middle East or any politics should be discussed here at the Clifton Board of Education meetings we have so much to focus on when it comes to education I think we should make a rule to only discuss matters that directly have to do with our children's education but since some of the members of this board have brought up the situation with Israel and Palestine on multiple occasions in the past I'd like to address it today let me start by saying that I want peace for all innocent civilians

032let's make that our goal and reach out to other community leaders to wish condolences for their tragic losses and to see how we can help to achieve peace rather than Stoke flames of anger and hatred I'm really worried about something tragic Happening Here in Clifton and if we don't reach out in dialogue and find ways to encourage our community members to calm things down I believe we're headed to a dark place my uh my question that I'm here for tonight is I need to know specifically from Mr abdrabo who has spoken many times in the past about the Palestinian cause I'd like to know where you stand because I won't feel safe sending my children to school with a board member who thinks what Hamas did is Justified for the cause so my question is

033do you believe what Hamas did was immoral you condemned the horrific act committed by Hamas to innocent civilians and children please stop this is you're not going to be directing questions to specific board members we are not going to be answering politically charged um issues with you it has nothing to do with the business at hand of this board of education great so then hopefully you guys can establish a rule that matters like this should not be discussed in these meetings that would be even better I'm going to ask you respectfully to move on with whatever comments you wish to make but not direct them at any particular board member and please try to address questions that our relevant to board operations and the education of the students of Clifton okay great so I would

034like to request from the board to establish this rule that I'm requesting we'll take it under advisement sir I'll be watching online after to go put my kids to bed thank you for everything you guys do thank you good evening my name is Lor L I'm the president of the Clifton Education Association I would like to remind the candidates that the Board of Ed education Commissioners are responsible for overseeing and regulating The District's Public educational system their primary roles include setting education policies they establish policies and regulations for our district to ensure the high standards that we are accustomed to curriculum standards working with Janina kusevic the board plays a crucial role in developing and updating curriculum standards to enhance the quality of our great education school funding they allocate funds to ensure equitable distribution

035of resources the accreditation of our school district the board makes sure that the district receives its accreditation ensuring the district meets specific quality standards in addition the job of the Clifton Board of Education commiss Commissioners is essential for several reasons quality education our education here is phenomenal we have to work to improve this quality in Clifton which is vital for the future success of our students the equity help ensure that all students have an access to fa fair and Equitable education regardless of their location or background our accountability the board holds schools accountable for their performance driving improvements in the educational system policy development they create and update policies that adapt to changing educational needs technology and societal Trends funding allocation the board's decisions on school funding impact the avail ability of resources for schools

036which affects the learning environment and opportunities for our children in summary Clifton Board of Education Comm Commissioners plays a pivotal role in shaping and regulating the district's educational system with a direct impact on quality equity and future of our education here in Clifton now I know that many of you will be going to the convention for the school board just like I always go to the Jaa convention and I haven't missed that in 25 years the only time was Sandy that was it but I saw that you guys have some great sessions 364 exhibitors you're going to learn a whole lot of great stuff there for our district and I'm really happy to hear that now I just want to um piggy back on the teacher shortage and I want Elias to know that the

037cea and the district were working together on that so we're looking for opportunity to get more teachers here into the district and as everybody knows it's a national shortage and the problem is so many years especially here in New Jersey with one of our previous Governors that the idea of being a teacher and being treated very unfairly in the news and um being torn apart uh has stopped many people wanting to go into education and it's usually the first five years and that's the key time when people make up their mind are we going to stay or are we going to go so I just want to reassure that we're working together with the district to find solutions to this National problem thank you very [Applause] much anyone else wish to address the board seeing

038none motion to close motion by m Mr robero second by Mr Mahia okay we're now going to move uh I'm going to do uh number eight first Dr roboy please thank you Mr President it gives me uh great pleasure to have one of our uh exceptional students here tonight with mom um and our special education technology integration coach Miss fante and speech and language pathologist from school 17 Miss Heather pulk to do a brief presentation on augmentative alternative communication AAC and recognition of AAC month uh Commissioners you'll remember last month uh Mr brunak read a a resolution where the board uh confirmed and and recognized uh AAC month after their brief presentation Henry one of our exceptional students will show us how he uses his AAC device Mr fron good evening my name is Amy

039Franti I'm a special education technology integration coach for the district well first let's start happy AAC Awareness Month AAC Awareness Month happens every October AAC Awareness Month began in 2007 initiated by AAC organizations it's a time where people and organizations shine a light on AAC to help more people understand what is AAC celebrate people who use AAC to communicate and share the latest tools and Technologies in AAC the ultimate goal for the month is to make people aware of AAC and to create supportive communities for our AAC users so what is AAC AAC is short for augmentative and alternative communication augmentative means to supplement so it includes things that make communication easier such as text messaging or pointing alternative means instead of as it includes the things that completely replace V verbal communication such as

040a communication book or a speech generated device so who uses AAC AAC is all of the tools we use to communicate in addition to or instead of verbal speech so most of us are using AAC every day some individuals who cannot communicate verbally or have trouble being understood will rely on an AAC device to assist them they may have a developmental disability which has affected the development of their speech or have acquired a a disorder that has affected the individual's ability to speak such as a stroke what can AAC look like here are eight pictures of different AAA AAC systems that you may find across our district in the leand corner is a flip book so students can flip through the pages to communicate their wants and needs to the right the green go talk

041that is 20 images that stay in a one location and then students could select their message and it will spee uh it will generate speech next is a switch so if a student um has a message we put an icon on the top we select it help and it communicates what the student needs to the right is an eye gaze tracking system and here if a student is unable to point um to an icon they can use their eyes to select the different icons to communicate their wants and needs needs and then in the left hand corner that's an igas system that's just paper that we can create uh we have Apex it's called a picture exchange communication system and here a student would take an icon provide it to a communication partner to let

042them know their wants and needs next we have an iPad which is a high-tech device that would have um different applications to communicate and in the rightand corner is a communication coreboard there are two types of AAC we have our uned AAC and this is AAC that doesn't require a physical Aid or tool so it's our facial expressions body Gest body language gestures or the use of sign language and then we have our aided AAC and that is AAC that uses tools and materials such as a symbol board a communication board a switch or a speech generating device just some information about our Clifton AAC users all students in our district who cannot communicate verbally or have trouble being a being understood are provided with a type of AAC system by a district speech language

043specialist we currently have 63 students who are using a high-tech AAC device which is the iPad um and we currently use two different applications so we the S the SL SLP will select which application would work best with the student we would upload it to a device and then provide that to our students and then I myself um do parent and staff trainings throughout the school year so that they um are using the systems effectively so I'd like to thank you all for supporting all our AAC users and now i' would like to introduce one of our AA AAC AAC users to the [Applause] podium okay is Henry my name is Henry [Applause] okay and we have a few um questions from the commissioner so if you'd like to ask a question Henry will answer

044some of the questions okay Henry you ready what is your favorite color [Music] favorite hey color is orange my color is great okay who's next anyone over here hi Henry good evening buddy no baseball for Frankie on Sunday so we might not see you and Bobby and Gabriella right uh what do you like to eat Henry [Music] didn't say you chicken nuggets a I love chicken [Applause] nuggets anyone else on this side Judy hi Henry hi Mom hi who is your teacher M teacher is m h my teacher is m h strawber d Henry who's in your family mommy daddy Rosalie [Music] Daisy two cats cats mommy daddy Ros Daisy two cats all [Applause] right over here cats cats one more one more one more hi Henry I'm Tony what do you like to watch

045on [Music] TV pop [Applause] patrol Henry thank you so much you did such a wonderful job we're so proud of you y and Henry and his teachers and his par would like to come up for a presentation it's not about me Henry just leave them I'll take them okay the certificate reads certificate of achievement we recognize that Henry D Simone of school number 17 on behalf of the CL Board of Education Administration for your outstanding AAC demonstration tonight October 19 2023 with sincere congratulations on your achievement with recognition by resolution of the Board of Education the desire to excel is the formula to a lifetime of success efforts have been have brought distinction to you your family your teachers and your [Applause] cats in there three two one some these phones got Laura's phone no

046this one's locked don't worry about it got I gotot this I'll text it [Music] to [Applause] good I just don't know where my phone is where my notes are mommy's just GNA say something G to go to 7 right all right good evening um I would like to thank everyone for having me and Henry here uh tonight I would like to thank commissioner brunak for adding the resolution um two weeks ago as well um I I have like a very foral speech but I feel like I don't want to use it um but what I really did want to say um is you know it became clear to me when Henry was very little that he wasn't developing the same as his older sister and you know we didn't know what the future held for

047Henry and when he was like a little baby like how old his baby brother that he didn't want to talk about cuz he was too worried about the cats uh when he was around his age you know we didn't know if he would walk we didn't know if he would talk we didn't know what type of life he would lead and literally there would be nights that like my husband and I both like dreamt of him walking and like dreamt of him talking one day and he walks now you know you saw him walking all over you know he wanted to go up all these stairs in this building um you know and I feel like when that became a reality I you know we stopped having those dreams you know and and I realized

048recently even though he doesn't talk verbally I haven't had a dream in a really long time of him speaking because I I have heard his voice you know it doesn't sound the way you your kids voices sound but I know it's you know his mind and his heart and I just wanted to thank the Board of Ed and the special services department and Miss Gorski and miss pulk and everyone that you know works with him tirelessly every day his teacher Miss Huston is wonderful with him all his power professionals everyone is wonderful with him um because you know I I have heard his voice you know and sounds different and that's okay so thank you for having us here [Applause] tonight coming up having another picture all these board members want to have a picture

049with your picture is famous everyone toct okay I think I could see all right three two one great job [Music] bud we're not going to do a tumble uh so I I speak for myself but I'm sure the rest of the board um would agree folks this is what education is all about this is what Clifton education is all about right here thank [Applause] you Henry already asked to come again oh he's welcome anytime thank you to to Mom the the entire staff the teachers that work with uh Henry and children like Henry every single day we are so appreciative of all that you do and so grateful thank you okay we're going to okay gotta find it here is this somebody's device where is the uh teacher Employee of the Month where the heck

050is it that's cuz I'm on the wrong one keeps going back to the fifth yeah it switched back to the the meeting of the fifth that's why I can't find it yeah thank you okay uh do we have certificate somewhere oh they're down there okay um yeah um Mr uh AIT trobo would you take one what do we have for right you just distribute them out that's fine I didn't know okay so um these are um these are our recognition and um I'm sorry these are the uh October students of the month so we'll start uh whoever has freshman please is Sophie here all right uh SEC of achievement this recognition is certified to Sophia zel on behalf of the CL board education Administration for CHS freshman due to the month October 2023 with sincere

051congratulations on your meritorious achievement with recognition by resolution of the Board of Education the desire to excel is the formula to a lifetime success your efforts have brought distinction to you your family and the Clifton public students schools excuse me Dad expanation oh my God you don't even know that many words it's an auto fil hey Jim [Applause] Jim good think we're good think he signed in but he's good no he go no my bad you're in business all right cooking with oil now ohic good evening everybody is Judah here Judah Judah Portillo delali Judah is a sophomore at Clifton High School who enjoys history class and shows his creativity by making animated videos he was most influenced by his sixth and eighth grade teachers who made him feel valued and encourage him to pursue

052his dreams his parents have been the most inspiring people in his life as they push him and encourage him to do his best he looks forward to having continued success here at Clifton High School certificate of achievement this is recognition is certified to Judah Portilla de Valley on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education Administration for CHS sophomore student of the month October 2023 congratulations [Applause] Judah e thank you president Smith is Juna Crawford here come on up junah junah is a junior here at Clifton High School junah is a junior here at Clifton High School when she's not in the dance room her favorite academic subjects are math and English Jun also plays varsity volleyball and is a part of the advanced dance classes and dance Ensemble program her most influential teacher has been

053her dance teacher Miss barrows who has resurfaced her love and passion for The Art of Dance junah plans on continuing her dance career through and after College as well as majoring in sports journalism and broadcasting Communications congratulations to junor Crawford our Junior student of the [Applause] month hi uh is Nico Valencia here okay no worries he's here oh Nico come on up senior student of the month Nico Valencia Nico is our senior student of the month he was recommended by Mr White for his tremendous Improvement and growth in English Nico's favorite subject is Tech draft mainly because of the projects and assignments are very entertaining Nico plans to go to college and study architecture Nico is currently a member of the CHS nutrition club and also works as a swim instructor at the YMCA so

054the certificate of achievement this recognition is certified to certify nicoo Valencia on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education for October e with uh with so many uh talented students in our high school is truly an honor to be recognized as student of the month so we congratulate everybody for your Great [Applause] accomplishments okay we're going to um we have uh number 10 okay um a new uh recognition program uh that's been started this year Dr roosi wanted to highlight uh employees of the month and while it's such a we have such dedicated and talented people in our district um we wouldn't fit everybody in this room to be uh employees of the month but we we surely would like to recognize uh one employee uh this this um month of October for recognition so

055um so we have um actually we have a few here so we'll start with um we'll start with Joseph Joseph Schmidt [Applause] for now start on this side please yeah we'll read it but start on this side they already gave things out that's all right you're there go ahead go ahead uh Joe SMI Schmidt is a floating head custodian who works quickly and diligently responds to all staff's requests regardless of how many tasks he already has to do Joe makes sure that he says hello or good morning to every staff member or employee comes across Joe always has a smile on his face he makes staff members feel seen and valued Joe makes sure everything he has to do is done and then some he is a kind he is kind and helps without hesitation

056he knows every aspect of every school with which in and of itself is very quite impressive Joe also sets a great example of hard work to our students which is admirable we recognize H our U Employee of the Month Joseph Schmidt floating head custodian congratulations oh oh theme that's it right yeah that's it yeah present the should I read it or no oh yeah we read the black uh just want to read this so really before I read this actually Joe and I just reg graduated class 2003 together we just celebrated our 20-y year um High School reunion last Saturday um so not that I asked to read this but it was handed to me I thought it was just fate um so it's actually an honor for Joe for me to read this for

057Joe Clifton Public Schools district distinguished Employee of the Month October 2023 presented to Joe Jo excuse me Joseph Schmidt for outstanding service dedication commitment to the Clifton Public Schools Learning Community congrats [Applause] buddy [Applause] thank you president Smith this next uh Employee of the Month War goes to William Terrell hey [Applause] Mr B Mr B that's a way to do it bring your own audience so William Terrell mostly known as Bill head custodian Bill Terrell is a remarkable head custodian for school 12 who is all [Applause] here he works with a smile on his face every day and gives his colleagues staff and students his utmost dedication to keep the building clean organized and up to code Bill quick fills in for his colleagues with no complaint and answers all calls after hours even though

058he is not qu required to he is a true team player Bill not only works tirelessly to keep the school building clean and spotless but he makes sure all teachers are happy and comfortable in their classrooms he is present and visible at all times and when given the opportunity he participates in school events to connect with students and staff he takes pride and joy in his work and keeps schol school 12 welcoming safe and [Applause] [Music] [Applause] presentable Clifton Public Schools Elementary School distinguished Employee of the Month October 2023 presented to Bill Terrell for outstanding service dedication and commitment to the Clifton Public Schools learning congratulations [Applause] bill school 12 be only F if you come up and get this come let's go [Applause] you [Applause] thank we got more to go we got more

059to go who's reading Brooks I have horn I have horn horn who's reading Brooks uh Middle School distinguished Employee of the Month John Brooks School security specialist John Brooks has been an amazing addition to wwms Mr Brooks welcomes our students every morning with a smile a fist bump and his wonderful playlist of music to pump everyone up and Infuse our day with positivity he is a positive force to be reckoned with often with some brief words of wisdom or encouragement both students and staff all equally recognize the beauty of what Mr Brooks does for our school every day District security Specialists look to him as a mentor and leader staff members feel safer with him there students feel protected and looked at after Mr Brooks always goes out of his way to get to know

060students make them feel seen appreciated valued and safe congratulations to John [Applause] Brooks Commissioners we're not the only ones who love uh Mr Brooks he is being honored tonight at his university he's being inducted to their hall of fame um so we'll recognize him in the future but that's the type of uh person we're talking about here congratulations Mr [Applause] Brooks High School distinguished Employee of the Month Jeffrey horn Network [Applause] [Music] [Applause] coordinator Mr horn is a dedicated patient compassionate and understanding Network coordinator Web Master does not see his position in CHS as a job but as a service to his co-workers he is always ready to resolve any technology issue swiftly and efficiently it does not matter how busy he is he will always make time to answer your questions with a big

061smile Mr horn is highly proficient in his knowledge and technology and brings talent to clipton high school he makes his priority to address all user complaints by ensuring functionality and efficiency of sites and web services Clifton public schools high school extinguish Appy point of the month October 2028 2023 my bad presented to to Jeffrey horn for outstanding service dedication and commitment to the Clifton Public Schools learning [Applause] community con [Applause] Mr M Mr Smith also Mr horn made the mistake of telling me he wasn't sure how formal this was so he wrote down a few words so um after your picture maybe we'll let Mr horn say a few words [Applause] un right all right guys uh duh I didn't know how formal this was so I wrote a couple things down um good evening

062ladies and gentlemen colleagues administrators board commission Commissioners I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation for to be nominated for this honor uh when people explain what I do for the district they seem to like describing it as that I wear many hats uh I suppose that is true in some respects um I am a network coordinator for the technology department I manage all Auditorium productions for CHS I dabble in live streaming I am a media specialist uh and I am a teacher although I not in the classroom uh that is the hat that is most important to me um to explain uh technology as we all know can be very frustrating um so I approach resolving issues uh with a teachers's perspective in mind uh I dedicate myself every

063day to tackle each and every Tech issue with urgency efficiency and with a smile on my face as someone mentioned me earlier uh I do talk through Tech problems with our administrators teachers and students uh from a teachers perspective as I said so they can understand the problem at hand and that tends to help alleviate some of the frustrations uh if technology is hampering our administrators well they are not productive in guiding our district if technology is not functioning in our classrooms the direct result is the loss of incredibly valuable instructional time and in the end it's about maximizing instructional time uh for our teachers to instruct our students of this District so um for me that's why I'm here uh I approach my job with great pride and enthusiasm to make sure we do

064maximize the instructional time for our students um and so I guess people had seen this taken notice of that regarding me and I'm extremely grateful for that uh I would like to thank everyone involved with this recognition I would like to mention a few special thank yous my colleagues and Friends Mr mccy Mr lesler Mr Rose Miss kenning miss sagorski Mr Mecca my supervisor Eric mountain and my technology department colleagues and of course I would be remiss without mentioning my amazing family and their support that I receive at home um we don't live in Clifton but my family likes to call me Mr Clifton so because I'm here quite often but thank you all so much thank you uh Dr robit toi thank you Mr Smith Mr horn thank you for those words folks I

065just want you to understand the um significance of this this is the first time we're recognizing an employee of the month we have almost 1,800 employees so to be recognized uh at your particular level Elementary Middle High School or district is truly um truly an honor you there were hundreds of nominations this month alone and you were chosen having said that I want to give credit where credit is due um this idea was not mine although I loved it and it was last spring near the end of the year one of our assistant principles Miss Jennifer Ray uh sent me an email and said it was just so nice how we honor the students of the month why don't we consider honoring an employee of the month and I said I love that idea guess

066who's going to run run it and uh not only did Miss Ray run it she took it over she handled everything um so miss Ray I wanted to acknowledge you tonight and thank you for all you did did we have [Applause] um how many nominations did we get was I accurate 101 nominations so so folks the the November nomination will come out um next week very shortly uh nominate your colleagues and I I love the fact that uh Representatives came out to support their uh their their colleague and I hope that we see more of that in the future thank you very [Applause] much okay next we have our um our wonderful student uh representative Jada yep Buton there you got it sorry okay good evening um Commissioners and Dr Robert toy um I'm going

067to start with just some um Sports announcements so our girls tennis team girls volleyball team and boys soccer team had their senior night this week so um please continue to come out and support the rest of our other sports as we wrap up the fall season and um our football team is having its second to last game of the season tomorrow at our Stadium tickets are $12 if anyone wants to come out um okay so Club updates Key Club is once again having its NJ EA pridefest Pride fast Grant um continuing to host their free Zoom series of workshops with the Garden State equality for the whole clipon Community um they have upcoming workshops January 24th um March 20th April 17th and May 22nd if anyone um any residents of Clifton are interested please contact

068Miss Turk at jurk Clifton schools onet um next we have some updates with our mock Tri team so a couple weeks ago the CHS mock trial team attended the Yale bulldog in Invitational which is an elite trial tournament in the US um our Clifton mock trial team dominated the field and beat their opponents by 118 points they face teams from Texas North Carolina and Massachusetts Massachusetts one of my sophomores um Jenna altner won the best attorney of the competition competition by 20 ranks um Omar Ari one of our seniors won a dual best witness Award with 17 rinks for prosecution um yes thank you our steadfast dedication over the summer summer break was rewarded this is what um the adviser Mr vand said their steadfast dedication over the summer was rewarded with a clean sleep

069of all four rounds um next they will be attending the Harvard mock tral senior competition they will learn techniques from Harvard's University Mo team with Jess Jessica Alexander a CHS alumni that will be teaching them strategies and techniques from the number one ranked college level mock trial team in the country so that's exciting um and their victory at the yellow bulldog in Invitational Garner garnered an invitation to be the bubster team for the mock trial um Interstellar virtual mock child competition they gained an honorable mention from Empire at their closing ceremony um they said an an astonishing feat was performed by the clipon high school they will be competing next November at the mck Tri World Championships in Chicago Illinois and we can expect an update on their performance um from the Hindu student Hindu

070Student Association they will be having a cultural dance known as the Garba on Friday October 27th starting at 7:30 in the lower gym of the CHS and they would love to invite everyone to come out and support them which will be next Friday um so our senior class we actually just celebrated a successful homecoming weekend starting with the senior Sunrise Breakfast um and a big congratulations to our homecoming king queen Bianca gardano and Omar Ali near nearly 400 CHS students had a wonderful time out of dance this past weekend um and spirit will spirit wear is now being sold by the senior class through October 30th with options for General designs by anyone in the community who would like to support our class of 2024 um so we have our fall play coming up um

071it is called I hate Shakespeare they're hosting what they hope to be their biggest and Main fundraiser of this season with a flapjack fundraisers at the Applebee's in Garfield New Jersey on Saturday October 18th between 8 and 10 a.m. tickets are $12 cash only and they can be purchased from a cast member at CHS or at the door the morning of the event they hope to see many members of the Clifton community at the event in support of the perform Performing Arts they thank you in advance for your support and they hope to see you at the show November 17th 18th and 19th okay so this is well that was it for um our updates so just um a couple of General issues we've been seeing um including the parent professionals and teachers or lack

072thereof um so this is a general issue that affects more than our district I believe it is worth addressing the problems facing our school which of course is the direct direct result of the teacher shortage um um starting with the bathroom lines as a result of there not being enough teacher to cover all the floors in each Wing um instead of students excusing themselves for what's supposed to be a brief um bathroom break we find ourselves waiting in a bathroom line turning what was supposed to be a quick five minute trip into a 10minute ordeal which of course takes away from our valuable class time I have also heard from um a couple teachers that they're in positions where they are routinely losing their prep periods in order to subfer classes um as there are

073not enough substitute teachers and I did see that was on the agenda being discussed so that is um greatly appreciated and though this may seem like an issue that has nothing to do with students in order to receive an optimal education our teachers need to be at their best unfortunately when they're under the stress of an excessive workload and they're being forced to take work their work further and further out of school hours it is putting them and essentially us students at a disadvantage I also ask that we stop and assess the alarming weight the alarming rates of resignation that we see across our district especially in regards to professionals um in this meeting like I said we see four um pars from across the districts rigning and it's important to remember the student to

074teacher ratio that is um different in our classrooms as it come like in regards to pair professionals um and regular teachers so as the student representative I'd like to make sure that all the voices of the students are heard regardless of ability and that they we're all given an equal opportunity to exceed um wherever our next step may be and I don't mean to sound redundant but I just really wanted to get across this um issue as it is extremely important and um we do see the victories that our prayer professional brings like our new friend Henry so um I just want to make sure that it's heard and um not being overlooked um and as Elias did briefly mention um there has been an issue with um some online algebra one classes so over

075the past couple days I have heard from many of my peers and friends that they have been learning under an alternative method I have been told by a few students that under this um temporary situation they have been sitting through um an online class which is rather fast-paced um the main problem with this setup is the amount of students who are actually failing the class um and a couple of told a couple of my friends told me that there are some students with uh an average of less than a 10 [Music] um I had the opportunity to talk to the math supervisor Miss Seer about the situation and she expressed the fact that she to has been talking to the students about this algebra 1 class and that she's actively working to alleviate the situation

076um again I am aware of the teacher shortage that we are clearly seeing the effects of in our own district and it's something that must be overcome as a collective effort but my peers and I would like to ensure that we were being given all the materials needed to thrive and to and one of these imperative imperative materials would be physical teachers in our classroom now I'd like to emphasize that I would never want to undermine the work that is being done for us but I'd like to remind everyone of the danger of be becoming complacent as there in there's always a solution that we can be found to grow as a district thank you again for the steps that have been thank you again for the steps that have been taken and I hope

077we can continue moving forward to butter us as a whole thank [Applause] you Jay thank you appreciate your report okay um okay we'll move on to 11 adoption of the minutes of the um October 5th meeting 2023 moved by commissioner Abad drao second by commissioner Santiago Paris sorry uh discussion roll call please Mr Robo yes Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Miss Santiago yes president Smith they're going now oh I'm sorry excuse me vice president Danny yes and president Smith yes motion carries uh our superintendent report Dr rosi uh no report tonight Mr President other than to briefly uh acknowledge Mr Brooks again uh I found my notes he's being inducted into the Hall of Fame for football and track at his college in Camp Kansas tonight so that's

078pretty pretty impressive very nice thank you okay um I'm going to hold off on the announcements okay uh first reading of uh policy Miss bass just want to read them into record okay uh first reading to policy um 227 schools 3161 examin 3212 passord do you have your mic on sorry all right 5111 eligibility of Resident non-resident students that's mandated with the m after it 5116 education of homeless children and youth um five 8500 Food Services Nets mandated um there I want to bring back 2270 back to policy um there was a question about the the wording and the verbiage so I want to bring that back for um some more discussion to the policy committee uh does anybody have any other ones that they would like our attention to go to are are these

079may I Mr President yeah are these is Strauss smma saying that these are mandatory the eligibility and the Food Services 5 111 yes and 8500 yes are we sure they are mandatory or no cuz we had the discussion at the last Mr Ross said they were mandated so yes we asked okay said they were mandated thank you okay I was being pulled no I I wanted to go but I want to bring it back for further discussion before the second reading I'm sorry I was unclear okay we'll move on to our board committee reports uh we'll start with Miss bassford uh policy please yep y Mr okay uh the policy committee met on October 9th uh we started at 506 uh presid was uh Mr Smith uh president Smith uh commissioner abrabo and commissioner Mahia

080um also from Administration was Mark jenero Heather Rolo l our board attorney M Margaret Miller was present and myself in addition we had special guests for that meeting we had Elias and Jada our students were there because they wanted to address the committee the student representative presented a proposal to the committee regarding homework policy and having willingness uh Wellness periods when homework is not give is not given such as during breaks the committee listened at asked questions of the students who eloquently presented their proposal they mentioned a sample policy from Glenrock Administration will review our policy and present the new proposal um policy incorporating some of the student requests when complete it will be presented to the education committee for review the policy committee will then discuss any proposed changes prior to presenting the proposal

081to the entire board in the interim Administration presented the proposal to the teaching staff and the uh Clifton Education Association members at the last District collaborative meeting the following proposals um po the following policies uh from the most recent Strauss Isme alert are recommended for adoption as presented for first reading I read them before so I'm not going to read them again uh we're going to pull uh we're going to do 2270 a little bit more in depth some of the wording is is not sitting right with some of us the following policies are being abolished as per Strauss Esme as they are no longer applicable and have been incorporated into other policies 3432 and 4432 sick leave 54 60.02 a bridgeyear pilot programs 8540 School nutrition programs 8550 meal charges outstanding food bills Food

082Service Bill proposed changes to policy 3324 right of privacy and it its corresponding new policy 4324 have been tabled by the committee and the policy sent to Commissioners for review um the suggestion Language by Strauss Isme after review um please provide any recommendations to the policy committee chairperson for discussion of the UN next policy meeting after a said meeting the committee will make the final recommendations to the full board the committee also discuss policy 7510 use of school facilities and does not recommend any further changes at the time the updated application form has been shared with the commi RO Commissioners um Mr Ross wrote the minutes and the meeting adjourned at 6:57 p.m. any questions I do but uh through you Mr President directed to uh sis superintend jjo um I I know you were

083at the uh and just so the public understands and also particularly our board members so I know you at the you mentioned the district collaborative meeting and you have some feedback can you just explain what some of this feedback was from the ca just uh this and this is regard the the the homework recommendations from our students so unfortunately due to a conflict I was unable to attend the uh District collaborative meeting but I did pass the information along to Dr Roberto and in turn Miss Lama uh for the most part what the feedback was it is seems to be a very good idea but is always want the consensus of the staff and as such we'll be sending a survey to staff just to get feedback from from all stakeholders within our teaching Community

084as opposed to just the members of the DCT as well as just the committee thank you and there's one other security issue um in regards to students being at committees obviously it's fine but in terms of uh reports since Dr bar is not here um through you Mr President to either superintendent uh kovich or Jero can we make sure maybe I'm just going a little too much with this that students aren't named when we read these just say student representatives are there just for the for security purposes um that's my recommendation I don't know how other board members feel about that um I yes I don't think they they had a problem with it Mr abajo because they are the student Representatives they were charged by their group to come so I think they were

085kind of happy that we had actually mentioned them but going forward if we have anybody in lower grades I would be more than happy we should ask them sorry next time um uh if they wouldn't mind being mentioned and then we would just keep them out but I'm happy to see that the students were at the meeting because uh in the whole time that I've been in on the board in 12 years this is the second time we actually had students at our policy meeting and it it's nice to see them again and it was refreshing that they got to see the process so thank you very much to the students that attended and the board for allowing them to come thank you okay we'll now move on to our finance um commissioner brunak thank

086you Mr President minutes of the October 16th 2023 finance committee present were myself commissioner Paris president Smith Dr Rober toy Mr Jenaro Mr shahada Mr doctor and Miss bis bakus she's sitting right behind Mr shahada uh meeting start start time was at 510 meeting end time was at 612 items of discussion number one use of facilities cost sent from policy committee Finance discuss costs for Clifton based groups specifically ones pertaining to Clifton students number two HSA insurance policy committee discussed the possibility of adding HSA as an insurer on property insurance more information will be provided number three Pope Paul School administration again discussed the need for renting this building given our booming population this conversation took place last year around this time and the committee agreed that it was worth pursuing window bid CHS it's

087on the agenda this evening for approval committee discussed the cost of the bid and we're informed it is this is within budget and this is again being used for all these schools it's with the yeser funds so this is not part of our regular budget this is part of the coid funding that's associated with it so that's what the bid is on regarding this does anybody have any questions uh I do um Mr brunc so for Pope Paul I know you mentioned that it was discussion for last year between last year and this year what changed what we talked about pursuing it last year and it was brought up again uh in uh in in the finance committee what changed between last year and this year in thoughts was it pricing did we not were

088were were we not uh aggressive enough in terms of going after and pursuing it yeah at the time they were not willing to rent it or even uh entertain any sort of negotiation on coupled with our our booming population specifically the ESL uh side of the department okay and regards window uh window bids you you say that was for Sr 3 thank you any other questions okay we'll move on to facilities uh Mr Paris would you mind do that please sure uh the facilities committee met on October 16th present were myself commissioner Santiago and president Smith from Administration Dr Robert toy Mr Jenaro Mr shahada Mr Maldonado Mr doctor Mr Marion Mr hamda uh for guests we had Mr Costello Mr Watkins Mr avido and M bakos we started the meeting at 3:30 we ended

089at 510 items of discussions included a referendum update where the EP epic rep gave us an overview of what's taking place thus far in the referendum and the plans for the next few months psng uh has been contacted for final steps for the woodro wol Wilson field and that has been completed uh bathroom Renovations are on schedule school one bathroom is being tile tiled and will be completed in the coming weeks uh in school 16 there are some new doors that have been installed uh L3 expansion uh this is a room at the high school Mr hamda spoke about the need for expanding space for electives and two options were presented uh the committee was in agreement uh it's basically taking a larger room and making two still fairly large classrooms out of them uh

090building and ground updates Administration gave an update of projects taking place throughout the district uh wathon for the uh poac I believe that's uh autism uh Council the committee discussed the possibility of waving their fee for the group as has been done many years in the past and the committee unanimously agreed uh parking overflow for a church at school 2 the committee committee discussed the possibility of waving the fee for this group as has been done many years in the past it's a one-time event uh the committee unanimously agreed uh ballards at CCMS uh this was sent from the security committee a discussion ensued in regards to adding ballards at the beginning of Mustang way to ensure the safety of students and staff uh and also especially since we have our new uh weight facility

091uh being completed there uh discussion about a facility use for Dance World Academy ensued and it was agreed that we would not issue a permit to this group um Pope Paul we dis Administration again discussed the need for renting the building giving our booming population conversation took place last year again as you previously heard um School five uh it was requested to look into an exterior basketball hoop uh and we discussed the possibility of replacing it the director of buildings and grounds uh was looking into that and a discussion concerning the stadium uh bleachers uh some leaks that we have uh currently um committee discussed the possibility of renovating the stadium bleachers uh uh given everything around it has been uh looked at about it's been looked at about two years ago um so we

092need to do something about uh certainly the leaks that are happening there uh school for roof repairs were discussed there's a leak in one corner of the building and the director of buildings and grounds will look into this uh that was the conclusion any questions um The Hoop I'm sorry Mr President the school the hoop at school 5 is that the one in the front lot or the back lot uh well the answer we got back was it was the one in the parking lot okay so I can tell you I can tell you how old they are cuz I remember ordering them from when I was the the HSA president so they're in the front the ones in the back they're old so they need to be replaced but also can you guys um

093put on your list the front um parking lot um Landscaping in the garden it's just it's a little bit like jungle habitat it needs school it needs a little tension yeah I saw it when I drove past this morning thank you thank you uh Mr President I have a question in regards to the new doors at 16 are that is that the new invested bual that was put in no don't believe yes oh no I didn't think it was that the new door is at 16 yeah it's through the the vestibule yeah I I saw him working out the other day when I was driving by uh and then the other question I have I guess to Mr shahada the leak in the corner of the building of school 4 Change yes okay I guess

094to you Mr uh Mr Paris the leak in the corner of the building for school 4 um is if it becomes a bigger issue have we talked about funds that would come out of is that a insurance issue is that going to be at a what budget line funds did we get a report back on what needs to be done there to remediate that uh the the roofer is going out next week he was a little swamped we had him at uh a few other schools unfortunately uh but no it would not be covered under Insurance um we would just take it out of our Maintenance building repairs thanks thank you okay um food and Transportation uh commissioner Santiago thank you president Smith the food and transportation committee met on October 17th start time was

0955:30 end time was 6:18 uh in attendance were myself Mr commissioner Paris president Smith um Mr Jenaro Mr shihada Mr Rosenberg from pomptonian Miss Nick from transportation and Mr doctor we started with the food service we be uh we uh started with a beginning of the year update Mr Rosenberg gave an update on how the year is progressing he spoke about new kitchen kitchens at school 1 and school 5 and new equipment installed and tiling at CCMS and woodro Wilson at uh Clifton High School uh we moved snack lines and added two new serving areas School 13 cafeteria upgrade is still in progress waiting on a Transformer through referendum Mr shikada gave an overview of lunch demographics roughly 65% of our students are free and or reduced lunch Year date debt is 65,67 there was

096rollover debt from last year of 142 502 the debt uh was at 250,000 at one point last year so through the business office um and that staff and all their hard work uh we reduced it down um from 250 uh to the 142 the business office is sending out weekly notifications to parents in addition to building based notifications for debt above $20 njie implemented uh by by state due to cost of living students who would be denied on normal application can possibly be free through this program it's a state subsidy which we can possibly add um some more students there and uh there is legislation that's being worked on for possibly Universal free lunch with an anticipated um uh you legislative uh passing of that sometime in 2027 but it's with the state right now

097so we'll see uh Commissioners recommended ways to have applications filed uh filled out I'm sorry at various building based events so you know all of our school events our HSA events we have so many of them um we discuss maybe uh having literature or Flyers there with a QR code that parents can um scan and then have the application right there and immediately start applying to that because we just need as many students as we can to fill that out um and so Mr doctor is going to look into that Mr Rosenberg told the committee he was promoted um and there's a new gentleman David who's going to be uh at the next meeting he's going to be the day-to-day person Alex has been working closely with Mr shihata weekly um so uh congratulations good

098luck to Alex he's still going to be with us but he's going to be over a couple of districts so then the transportation part of the uh meeting started we discussed silven Avenue property update property AC acquisition is nearing the final stages we have a draft contract being worked on by our attorney and presented to us in the near future land surveying has taken place and once a contract is in place we will be able to add uh to do land testing we discussed possible uh old Honda location which is still in use by the current occupant and um we uh I Believe Miss Nick started uh discussing the start of the year with our buses very busy but minimal issues uh Dr Rober toi expressed his gratitude to Liz and her team we discussed

099the electronic the electric buses still no uh ETA on that we're anticipating arrival by Christmas we'll see but um we can't definiely definitively confirm that we're expecting three 24 passenger vans electric and lastly we discussed a new position miss Nick who is head of the Pupil Transportation has been swamped and um we discussed the need for a new position to leviate some of that overload work that she has and the committee asked for this to be discussed during budget meeting to implement a new position any questions yeah so uh Mr Sing I would just to uh emphasize that again um miss Nick is requesting this uh help per se um she has been working a tremendous amount of hours um because she doesn't have an assistant or somebody that can assist her with this so

100that's why she's asking for this new position so um we asked uh Administration that they would put it in the budget for next year correct um we did discuss the possibility of giving her some temporary help until then so I don't know Administration could look into that um she was she was telling the committee that she was you know putting in quite a bit of hours so uh we don't need her to get burned out as well so um all right we'll move on sorry Smith just for notations of the committee um I just remembered uh I think believe the legislation for school launch just got pushed back possibly to the 2 29 school year uh since they delayed it for legislation that's the last thing I heard from friends on the legislature side so

101FYI yeah it's it's it's it's stuck it's been stuck since uh late June I believe in committee uh I think it was agriculture um and they're talking about 2020 I think it's uh assembly Bill 5563 I think um I got to double check it Tony I'll give it to you no problem Mr Bak yeah look this thing about the universal lunch or whatever commissioner alujo sorry so what is it is it up for this would that be paid for by the district or is that going to be paid for by the state or by the feds I mean if it's taken by if it's taken by the state legislature there I'm I there's two ways they can do this right but I'm pretty confident and then Mr shahan from the business office probably correct me

102I would say from the state I don't think they're they're um I don't want say funneling money from the federal level on this one because otherwise it would have been a nationalwide concern in terms of this but since it's stuck on the state level it would probably most likely I'm 99.9% positive that it's coming from the state level so so we would our normal budget would not be on the hook for this is that correct no the state would pick up the tab that's why it's pushed back five years so they can plan yeah funded liabilities I get it thank you very much it's not 63 it's 5573 I just looked it up thank you everybody okay our um superintendent's HSA um uh committee uh Miss bassford thank you the the HSA committee met on

103October 17th uh we started at 6:30 I'm proud to say that every single School in the district was represented it was a great meeting we started at 6:30 um Dr robotzi opened it as he always does he runs the meeting where there the board members are there as advisory U members um so he was there Administration board members HSA presidents um the Commissioners that were uh at the meeting with Dr Lucy Dany vice president fim Abad drabo and myself the Commissioners um Danny gave a a brief summary of the meeting and an overview we had a discussion um recognition of the Board of Education Commissioners in in attendance um stated the purpose of the HS HSA meeting and the group we thank the principals in attendance and we began introductions all the parents that were

104there and the administration and administrators from each School introduce themselves then we had a presentation at 652 by uh Karina Vega and Megan Fitzpatrick presented the HSA website they've been working on this for quite a long time and they had some exciting news Miss Vega explained what the purpose of the website was to provide HSA leadership with a centralized location for collaboration to benefit students and Community to serve as a directory for of resources for fundraising Endeavors Miss Fitzpatrick discussed the spirit Weare sale at school one um Miss manin Ram I going to sorry about that uh provided information regarding spirit wear Miss Fitzpatrick explained the HSA Google group adding an updating contact information and stated that the information gathering gathered regarding successful Spirit Weare sales and information successful fundraisers and assemblies will be forthcoming

105Miss Vega provided the link for the HSA website Mrs Miss Kenova um will put the link on the HSA webs uh Facebook they have a closed Facebook group at 7077 we discussed field trips and transportation Dr Rober tuzi um stated that the district will cover two educational assemblies and transportation for grade level field trips that's huge for the hsas to take that burden off their back and they don't have to fundraise for that they were very happy and very pleased that the board is going to allow that Miss Lis added that um there were two assemblies per grade in elementary schools one uh being anti-bullying and the other can be an educational assembly um they we discussed the a photography company we had feedback Dr robzi asked for feedback regarding the new uh school photography

106company Miss Lucas provided positive feedback several several inquired um if on going forward the company can be take individual photos or group on the same day miss cross one of the parents noted concerns regarding Advanced payments for photos without the ability to preview them first Dr oazi said that uh they are able to re-evaluate the company if necessary at 7:14 we had general questions Miss cross inquired regarding licensing for uh games of chance myself Miss Coleman and Miss manam I'm sorry provided information Mr jenero decided booking chewy for HSA events uh the group discussed several um popcorn fundraises and provided information at 7:42 the meeting adjourned Dr robotzi thanks to everyone the HSA will meet again in January and the superintendent scholarship dinner he mentioned will be held um on Friday January 19th at two

107uh 2024 any all the attendees are listed I'm not going to name them but um that's as you can see if you scroll down to my fellow Commissioners we had a good we had a full Full House and and it was a good meeting any questions okay next we'll move on to uh residency and security um Mr Santiago thank you president Smith The Residency and security committee met on Wednesday October 17th at 5:41 p.m. presid from Administration where Mr Jenaro Mr doctor Mrs anola M Rolo pres from the Board of Education where myself commissioner bassford commissioner brunak and president Smith Mr doctor explained that the registration queue is currently at 60 students and that looks to decline parents provide uh as once parents provide the necessary registration paperwork Mr doctor stated that residency investigations are

108continuing with phase one of the year's investigations complete in the last two weeks the department has identified five non-residents and three already transferring out of Clifton schools this is a savings of 49,500 since the the last committee meeting and a year-to-date Savings of $450,000 real money with the increased cases and investigations Department is hiring two domicile investigators one is replacing it's a replacement the first one who obtained a different job within our district and the other is a new part-time position Mrs Zola gave an overview of the security drills for the month of October jills have been completed in some schools while they are continuing at other schools until the end of the month all drills have been successful and continue to Prov provide training for our students and staff Mrs anola also discussed that

109crg mapping is taking place in all of our schools this is a mapping program that will allow First Responders to navigate through each building utilizing digital Maps during an emergency the program is state funded is currently at no cost to our district finally Mrs Nola shared a potential program in coordination with Clifton PD which would provide ebikes to our District's SRO and allow them to navigate around the high school utilizing campus style policing the program which we consist of a nominal cost to the district was discussed and further discussions and ideas will be spoken about at Future committee meetings the meeting concluded at 610 questions Mr Smith yes um there was a suggestion that Mr Santiago made uh to the committee about the the bikes um with uh for our own staff right and great

110suggestion so I hope that we can expand that a little bit because they really they walk that whole perimeter you and walk it and walk it so thank you for bringing that up in that discussion after the fact thank you commissioner bassford all that um is going to continue to be discussed thank you very much you're welcome it was a great suggestion any other questions okay we'll move on is there uh any unfinished business here hearing none we'll move on to education Administration um we have ea uh yeah we're pulling that right ea3 and then 5 through 9 ea4 is being uh pulled for executive okay so EA 1 through three and then 5 through n motion are we pulling aa1 yeah should be ready we should read it it's your pleasure no one asked

111for it moot motion to pull ea1 okay so we'll do uh ea1 separate so now we have ea2 and three 5 through nine motion motion Mr abravo second by Dr Dany discussion roll call please Mr abrao yes M bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries K ea1 is um Italian Heritage Month motion please motion by Mr abajo second by Dr Mr Mahia um you want to read it Mr abrao oh sure you're the one who ask for it thanks president Smith uh ea1 is Italian Heritage Month whereas Italian Italian American heritage month is an appropriate time to recognize the enormous contributions the Italian and Italian-American people have made to this country and the world throughout our history including generals

112Admirals doctors philosophers Statesmen musicians athletes and Noble ORS whereas Italian Italian American heritage month is held to salute the Italian Italian-American community and to exhibit appreciation for their culture and and their Heritage that have immeasurably enriched the lives of people of this nation and the world whereas the strength and the success of the United States the Vitality of our communities and the effectiveness of our American society depend in great measure upon the distinctive and Sterling qualities demonstrated by people of diverse races Heritage heritages and ethnicities exemplified by members of the Italian Italian American Community who share with us their rich and unique Heritage and whereas it is fitting and proper for October of each year to be observed as Italian and Italian American Heritage Month throughout the United States resolved that in order to recognize

113the enormous contributions Italian Italian American people have made to this country and the world throughout the history the Clifton Board of Education urges the district to observe the month with appropriate events and activities okay roll call please Mr abrao yes Mr uh Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay well now move on to uh Personnel we have uh P1 through p27 motion and we're pulling nine right are we pulling nine yeah it was nine okay excluding excluding P9 motion second motion by Mr abrao second by President Danny discussion um p8 you don't want to pull it to um update Miss Danny in the back she wasn't here during that discussion um you feel comfortable with that you

114want to you want to oh no I I talked you like right I talked to him ready Danny okay roll call please Mr abajo yes M bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mia yes Mr Paris yes abstain on 24 though Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay now move on finance and Facilities we have um we have F1 through F18 motion motion by Mr rrao second by Mr Paris discussion yeah I just want to let everybody know about the the the windows School 8 uh school um F7 I apologize School 8 9 11 12 and 15 those are the ones that are going to get the new windows from the user funding the federal funding thank you okay Rollo pleas I have a question um through you to the

115uh uh assistant ba what line item what line does uh like when we get when we get shirts and we have athletic wear what where where is that in the budget because I I went to look at the budget today and uh because I had something delivered to my porch and I didn't know it was coming I just want to know what line it was on that we because we can't can we vote on that because I'm being given a shirt uh it comes out of athletic supplies okay so um because I know that we get the the conference paid for but I didn't know that we're going to get athletic wear paid for so I guess I would like to maybe discuss this in executive session with the attorney because I have a question

116about it I have a legal question about it okay thank you no no no nothing all right roll call please Mr abjo yes M bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries all right uh let's see who's up first okay we have commissioner comments and it looks like Mr Paris is first today thank you president Smith um concerning the augmentative and Alternate communication um presentation we saw today just wanted to thank the staff for that presentation and even more so uh that Henry was here so we can see see it in action it was it was really very wonderful and heartwarming uh congratulations to the students of the month uh and to the employees of the months uh thank you

117Jada for your report and uh also for the uh insights uh from from the student body we will uh definitely discuss those um I guess the only other thing I have is a public service announcement uh on Sunday this Sunday October 22nd at 2 p.m. uh it's probably the last time you'll see a free outdoor concert this year because it gets pretty cold out in Clifton uh so it's at Clifton City whole grounds the community ban is having a free outdoor concert bring a chair bring a blanket uh starts at 2m on Sunday thank you thank you uh Mr cago thank you president Smith um so um I had the privilege of uh speaking to students at school 17 to fourth grade classes in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month um it was it was awesome

118I always love doing that the kids always enjoy um guest speakers and people coming in to visit with them so um principal zagorski uh assistant principal Matos the teachers were Miss HEC Mr Falco uh Miss Vargas and Miss McColly and uh so thank you to them and to all the students they had um kind of Latin American uh geography history um displays that they did there was a big map that first graders did that was incredibly impressive there were um books and it was just it was a great time and I I really appreciate them um uh principal zagorski taught my older son Anthony Jr and Miss heck taught my son Matthew so at school 17 so it was good to see them uh again thank you to Henry for teaching us about augmentative alternative

119communication he was amazing um full of energy uh also I want to thank the students from school 17 they sent thank yous and that's awesome it really um uh when I see um all the students and you go there and you experience it it's just very inspiring uh congrats to all the employees of the months and the students of the months thank you very much to the parents and to the co-workers Who come out and support them that's very important to show them how uh much you appreciate them and how important these things are um and uh oh thank you to miss Ray for her idea of the employee of the month and the ideas can come from anywhere they don't come just from up here um but yeah that's it thank you one Clifton

120have a good night okay uh Mr Auber jao thanks Smith I'm going to Echo my sentiments it's great Henry uh students like Henry for the bo meeting coming for a month uh thanks to Henry for joining us tonight this as mentioned this is what clipon education is about it's how we can better the district students should always be the first priority and that is all because of staff and Personnel we have in the classroom and our schools and you know the families at home that can work with uh day in and day out to make sure the students education and perspective learning is not just stopping at the door of the school building but also at home uh one thing that kind of irked me a little bit was um I'm mention her last name

121because she read it for the public Miss man's daughter uh in regards the asthma attack um we've talked about parents coming to the podium and voicing their concerns this is one um I want to learn more about this and understand why this was denied I get it's Administration and superintendent day-to-day operations but when you have a pediatrician Hack and Sack medical you know supporting her request I know there's always a reason why things happen but when parents come to the podium to speak we as board members must listen understand the frustration and why they're questioning the situation so when it comes to a public portion like this and they're frustrated and this is where they're coming to because they feel that they're being shunned away or door shut and again I'm not saying administrations do

122that no disrespect to Administration but when that's how they feel I think there should be some sort of um reasoning of what you know there's always two sides to the story and I just want to learn more about that uh allias and Jada the national teacher shortage is a problem six7 years ago we had a nurse shortage 10 12 years ago we had a doctor shortage um it's a long-term issue that we have to tackle in education programs and Partnerships with colleges institutions to hire more teachers is a big step that this district has taken over the years and tonight was an example on our board agenda with the Roman University uh studying education and being able to uh transition into a a level of you know K12 learning and understanding and teaching this is

123what this is how we get out of it unfortunately steps such as approving substitutes on board of agenda um is a temporary solution it's a Band-Aid I don't want to call it a Band-Aid but it is uh it's not a long-term solution um I questioned I spoke to the superintendent about certain aspects of of long-term subs and subs in general and he has mentioned to me that there's a plan in place uh and I trust him for that you know he's a great leader a great CEO for this district and I'm sure working as Lama mentioned that they've been talking together about this there's a plan in place and I'm I'm just I I'm hopeful to see it uh in regards to our pair of professionals we took one step for full-time last year but

124the conversation needs to continue to see how we can do better to make sure those pair professionals are able to be with the students like Henry who are needed um and it's huge um I want to hear more from our students like like Elias I have two minutes thank you uh I want to hear students from like from our students who spoke today um to hear back the feedback on Virtual learning um due to the teacher shortage how can we do better what can we do better maybe this is something the education committee can take back and really understand and invite them uh or invite students to understand what their perspectives are um congratulates to all the honors uh honor tonight from our students and employees of the month from across the district once again

125this is what educ is about the phenomenal employees who have proven tonight that they made a g a great impact on students uh in this District congratulations to our team clubs and I'm an alumni mock trial team I'm proud of your accomplishments I've been following um I've stayed in touch with Mr vaner since I graduated high school and I he tells me via text where they are what they're doing and that's amazing um the 20-year reunion for class 2003 was last week and I met with my mock trial team uh Lauren Lauren and Tom and they are in the same boat so keep it up and last good luck to all the candidates on November 7th I really truly mean that um whoever is chosen and whoever comes and joins this this day um will

126be a great addition so good luck thank you Miss bford yes thank you to all the speakers that came out tonight uh thank uh congratulations to the students of the month it's distinguished employees Henry technology is a wonderful thing when it's used for good and now Henry has a way to communicate with his family and with others and it's just wonderful to see that advancement for for that for that child and others and I'm glad that our district was able to provide him what he needs I'd like to um call attention to what one of the speakers said about the literacy green card I'd like to discuss that further um I just want my fellow colleagues to know that I re I I was down in Trenton at 8:30 on Saturday morning for the New

127Jersey school boards Association legislative committee um I'm Dr robotzi I did send you the packet of the attachments if you can please just send that to the rest of the board there's a plethora of information in there that I can't even begin to go through um it's just it's a lot of information a lot of updates and um if you just send the um because there's other stuff about the committee meeting down in Atlantic City and I I don't I don't want to confuse anyone so I have a question about First Amendment rights okay and I'm I'm going to address this because tonight Mark no disrespect to you but it seems like this board flip-flopped we allow people to have um freedom of speech that sit on the DAT but we didn't allow a Community

128member to have it um and um um I would like to discuss this in executive session because there was several times on this day is when board members expressed their freedom of uh of speech regarding the First Amendment right um I I really didn't think it was appropriate that he was St stopped um and because I I feel like we don't not yet um I have a lot to say I don't want to lose my train of thought um because it happened once before here in Clifton that a person got up and spoke and then the tape was altered and then the ACLU got involved so I just want to bring that to your attention I'd like to discuss it um freedom of speech is allowed by people here on the Das and also in

129the back room uh June 28th 2021 I was persecuted for My Religion for 3528 seconds about my religious beliefs in executive session and I objected to it several times there's only SE a couple board members that were on the board still back in the day and I objected to it and nobody stopped it and it was about my religious beliefs a tape just recently came to me somebody in the room taped it and I have it I wish I would have had it two years ago because I would have brought it to my attorney and I would have filed suit against those people for violating my rights for about my religion so I I'm I'm going to urge this board I don't know what we're going to do but tonight I witness something that I

130am not proud of we should have let that man speak thank [Music] you okay address it now the tell so um Miss bord I I want to be very clear about something uh public participation under the open public meeting act uh is is been created for the purpose of allowing members of the community to voice concerns or in or of matters that may be of interest to them it is not a back and forth it is not a question and answer it is not an interrogation it is not uh to be um inflammatory freedom of speech is um a constitutionally protected right um I don't know what happened to you in 2017 I I I can't comment to that I will not I will not comment on that because it's just inappropriate um the gentleman

131who was speaking had every right in the world to say what he was saying right up until he made it personal to becoming an a conversation with a commissioner on this deas um that is not appropriate um he was I I thought I was fairly clear about the fact that he could continue and say what he wished um I wasn't trying to uh squelch or disenfranchise him in the exercise of his first amendment rights um he has a right to say what he wishes he does not have a right to seek to personalize attack uh somebody up on this day so to the extent that members of the public wish to have discussions uh about things that are important to them that is all fine and good if it crosses over a line and it

132is a subjective line Miss bord I I will freely admit that um but my role um as far as I see it at least um is to is to in part um protect the sanctity of of this meeting this meeting is to conduct the business of the Board of Education it is not to engage in a back and forth with members of the public they have a right to say what they wish to the extent that someone on this day as wishes to engage with a member of the public um that is the chair's decision frankly to decide since it's the board president who chairs this meeting who will elect to you know make a decision as to whether they'll will be a back and forth there was no back and forth there was about

133to be a back and forth I'm I'm I'm just saying I was trying to um maintain the decorum of this meeting okay so my question to you is disrespect right no no and and and I thank you for that because I'm sure we're going to get some flak on this because people up here are very liberal with what they they speak about there have been ethics charges is written on about this as well what I want to say is that we didn't have a board retreat this year we have three new members I would I'm requesting that we have a detailed discussion about the role with with public speaking with the First Amendment right what we are allowed and not allowed to hear and also what we're not allowed to say as well and I'm

134requesting that because I really think that we need it especially in light of what's going on in the in the public and um the world and after what witness T night because if you hadn't been here and or Maggie been here maybe I don't know if our previous attorney would have allowed it and I'm I'm I know I'm going to get flaked tomorrow morning from people because there is stuff going on on the other side of the street that people are complaining about people's rights being shut down so I wanted to just bring that to your awareness I want to make sure that we are we are not doing anything illegal as far as freedom of speech thank you so so let me be perfectly clear whatever is happening across the street I don't represent

135them M I represent you um and so I can't I'm not going to get engaged in that discourse number one number two I am happy to do whatever it is that the board wishes to do relative to a discussion and an understanding of of the um path through which we walk relative to the First Amendment and what your roles and and you know are in that and what the role of the public is in that okay thank you yes all right we yeah thank you I just really a discussion but okay I mean it's it's here now not in the back so um just want to be clear if someone comes up and talks about something that has absolutely nothing to do with the district nor students extreme example I go up and I talk

136about the New York Yankees all day long that is something that we would move on from while I would engage in the dialogue about the New York Yankees and their relative merits uh the reality is that it's public session is a time for the public to express matters of that may be of a concern to them it doesn't necessarily have any Nexus to the activities of this board of education to the extent that someone is up there and obviously you give five minutes of of leeway to someone um there is a certain amount of yes you have a freedom of expression and you have the freedom of speech um but at some point you're stopping and and curtailing the business of this body and there is a line to be drawn there um it's a

137slippery slope and it's a dangerous place to go which is why the default normally is you give somebody five minutes if they want to talk about why the Yankees stink and they're not in the playoffs okay is it a useful um exercise is it a waste of the time of of this body and the members of the public that want to see the discourse that occurs on this di days perhaps um there in lies the rub um if someone gets up and starts spewing hate speech um or endorsing um you know politically incendiary dialogue um I believe that that there is a line to be drawn I do and if it gets me in trouble so be it that also includes board members as well so of course so your ability to have protected speech

138and the Public's ability to have protected speech are the same it's the same First Amendment you have the right to say what you want within limits of good decorum and and and you know not becoming embroiled in um you know personal or vindictive or defamatory orialis condu that's not protected speech thank you um but the fact is that it is something that you we should be discussing but members of of the board don't have greater rights than members of the public they do not hey anyone else okay uh Mr brunak thank you Mr President I want to thank Miss fan miss pul and miss hon fantastic presentation before congrats to the students and employees of the month I also want to I actually attended the homecoming game while the result was not what I wanted

139to uh Clifton got smacked around a little bit unfortunately it's wonderful to see my fellow Commissioners uh president Smith and uh commissioner Mahia and I thought I was rolling deep but commissioner Maha was rolling deep too so that is so crew over there and it was absolutely wonderful uh the bleaches were absolutely packed it was my first game as as a commissioner and it was absolutely wonderful I want to thank you to uh to Coach Wright I believe his name is and his wonderful wife um Christina as well as wonderful to see them as well I haven't seen them in a dog's life probably absolutely wonderful to see everybody over there including some people that uh 16 that my nephew gra that uh graduated last year from the high school that I remember seeing from

140the graduation ceremony they were friends with my nephew and it was absolutely wonderful to see everybody over there congrats to the homecoming queen king and queen uh final thing I have it's a very emotional Day for my wife unfortunately my father-in-law passed suddenly last year and today would have been his 70th birthday so happy birthday in heaven dead and that's all I got for everybody thank you for your time and God bless America have a good night everybody yeah commissioner Mia please good evening everybody I first like to say congratulations to our students and employees of the month um thank you to Henry for being here with us today you know I got a little bit emotional um during the presentation I know some of us did as well um so thank you again for

141coming tonight congratulations to the seniors for the um girls tennis team both the boys and girls soccer team and the girls volleyball team special shout out to the girls soccer team on winning their senior night tonight 2 tomorrow is going to be our football and band and cheer they're going to have a senior night so if you guys have the chance to be at the game please do come and on Saturday the boys um soccer team is actually facing off at the finals for the P County tournament versus Wayne Valley as you guys know we beat Wayne Valley a couple nights ago so hopefully we see the same result this coming Saturday at 3:30 p.m. um again congratulations to our Montreal team like commissioner obra I was a in not part of it Mr van

142is a big reason why I wanted to go to law school as well as Mr Gonzalez um thank you again to school 17 for also inviting me to go um up and re for Hispanic Heritage Month things like this you know it makes you feel seen you know especially coming from me you know growing up I didn't really see many people in the same positions I'm in right now you know going back and walking in Miss Gorski and I some stud like hey I know him hey I know hey that's Richie so you know honestly for me that put a big smile on my face as well as them um also special shout out for the mon team as well for going to Harvard um I know they're going to be in Chicago in a

143few weeks so that's going to be a great celebration for them I quickly want to address the teacher shortage you know I work in highed that's what I do on a day-to-day um basis it's hard there's not a lot of students who want to be teachers and it's a hard thing you have to complete so many things just to be a standardized teacher license and then let's say you want to go with that alt route the alt route you need at least a 3.0 minimum GPA you need to pass the core then if you don't pass a core you still got to take it then you got to take practice to and then after that you obtain a c then after that finally you can do 50 hours of service then after that you can

144get a job then maybe even 350 hours that's if you get lucky I think right now the passing is four out of 10 so it's extremely hard to find teacher candidates who are qualified in doing this I do this on day-to-day work uh with Federal districts um down in South Jersey Central Jersey so it's really hard to do um I know we're doing a great job right now some of the mlus that we have with ftuu Felicia Monclair Rollin so I want to give round Applause to our Administration for doing that because honestly it's going to be really hard in the future to get more teacher candidat as it was explained before we didn't have doctors 10 years ago 20 years ago shorter on lawyers now it's it's teachers all right so my recommendation for

145anyone who wants to be a teacher wants to get you know paid well some districts are paying a lot of money for students to actually go on the to actually go to school um get their credits and they get paid for by the district in order to come back and be a teacher there I know we're doing something like that here as well so if you want to be a teacher please sign up for one of those programs thank you thank you Dr Danny uh yes I want to say thank you to all the speakers and you know happy AAC month and it was really so nice to see Henry and just um The Joy on his face because you know he was communicating I mean he he was just so so cute and just

146um like I said that just the joy was just so infectious um thank you to all the staff who work with all our students and make things possible like what we saw with Henry um congratulations to all the students and employees of the month it was really so nice to see all the colleagues come out and to support the award recipients um thank you to Al Elias and Jada for expressing your concerns we actually did look um we discussed the virtual option at the Education meeting before um we actually instituted it and um I do remember going onto the website seeing uh where the teachers would come from and I mean you know again it it it wasn't perfect but it was a solution as to just maybe you know having a substitute in in

147or you know the the solutions were not great um as you had stated Elias um but definitely we can look in um at the education committee look at it again um to see now that it has been instituted um you know what we can do and it wasn't meant to be a long-term solution it was just meant to be something that would be temporary and and possibly um you know something that would work better than other options um and you know to piggy back back a little bit of what Mr um you know commissioner Mahia said and um Miss Lama that um it's not just uh you know like what you said which is the barriers of the education program but you know the former um Governor you know what you know Chris Christie I

148mean what what he really did um and then the media jumping on top of that and then the attacks on teachers I mean I know there's a lot of people who said that were going into the teacher education program when Chris Christie did what he did um they said well why would I want to do that why would I want to go into the profession that everybody's attacking and you know um it's so unstable with like you know the possibility that you know you promised a pension and then um everything changes and so I think that um you know I know that during that time uh many people just decided to drop out of the teacher education program and then with all the restrictions on things and I know they tried to alleviate like this

149whole portfolio thing and I know that they put in uh they said well retirees could come back okay but retirees left for reasons you know and then to come back with all the new technology changes a lot of them say it's just you know it's it's not worth it so hiring people to come back who were I I never take my minutes okay um just you know hiring people who um you know have um retired and now to come back into a setting with all this new educational technology isn't going to work and I've heard the legislators talk about that when I've attended words but um you know so it's just a very big uh issue is um the you know the teacher shortage but again as we heard Clifton is trying to do the

150best that they can in this situation to try to alleviate some of that um so that's great and then I just want to say May the children have a safe and happy Halloween as we will not be here for Halloween so enjoy but stay safe thank you very much thank you I am uh Mr Mia echoing on the the game uh for the soccer uh County finals for the boys is at 3:30 on Saturday at the stadium not at the U up at the high school field it be at the stadium we wish uh wish them well in all of our um all of our programs um we mentioned our our football you know football uh Friday Night Football always is a um a bring together uh for your district and um I hope that

151people will continue to come out and not only support uh the football team but uh our tremendous band uh who who does a phenomenal job of representing us and making us proud um always doing a great job Mr stepneski and his crew um do a wonderful job and some people had said to me well the band band looks smaller than it used to be yeah maybe down in some numbers but it doesn't change the greatness of them they are um a tremendous uh group as well as our cheerleaders uh that perform each and every game so um please come out and support uh any way that you can uh for our uh wonderful activities that our students are involved in um as we mentioned the mock trial uh is going to uh um uh a

152session um totally 100% support them and I believe our um robotics uh team is uh going to be performing in uh December December I believe is their next uh their next performance so uh there are so many activities going on for our students and um I I just you know you can't you can't tell people you know how they're going to come up and and say or what they say um I just ask everyone you saw this evening on on uh a young boy who was so happy and delighted to show you what he has learned and how far he has come along and seeing him smile and clap and it just makes everything that we do as board members uh worthwhile and you know I I just ask the community we have a we

153have a great school system and What Makes Us greater is the people and the students The Faculty Administration and the public and I just hope going forward that it seems people think that the opportunity to come to the microphone is to um come with bad things or to talk down about things um I just ask maybe maybe come to the microphone or um say what's good about our town say what's good about our district say what's working um this board tries and continues to try to improve our district to improve the educational system for our kids we do it on a volunteer basis so we're we're trying we're working but there's a lot of good things happening and I just wish people would come and Center on the good things instead of the negative yeah

154at times it's it's we have to be brought to task sometimes on things and then we need to improve on them but I I watched uh one board meeting um I can't remember the town in Central Jersey and um their their public session first of all was tremendously quick so I guess either their residents aren't interested in it but the the four people that got up were just praising you know uh uh my daughter was doing so poorly in in math and the teacher got them some uh tutoring help and her scores increased and like that's a positive thing to be talking about that's what we should be talking about Dr roosi and his team have worked so hard to bring our test scores up over the last four years that Dr robito has been

155here that's all that has happened but our test scores have gone up that should be something that's proclaimed shouted from the top hire an airplane and put the thing at the end of the airplane not harping on the negatives all the time why we have a great school system and if you don't see that I think you need to come and and take a a look or call the superintendent's office and ask if you could go go tour a a school with the superintendent and see our programs see things happening see when chewy walks into a room how the tension and the the the smiles and the laughter and the enjoyment of those kids that in itself I'd be at this microphone all the time saying thank you Clifton what a great addition you did

156here for helping our kids and helping education no but we we come with all the negative all the time and may you know maybe that's who wants to be a teacher in a district where there what we keep doing is talking about the negatives I value teachers I value the work that they do and some people just don't do it they don't do it for a paycheck yes we all have to live that's obvious but they do it because of the pride they put in in what they do and seeing the accomplishments of what they do and seeing a kid I I always enjoyed when I taught seeing a kid from kindergarten first grade and then graduate at 8th grade and they come up and say thank you I can't believe we even made it

157here that's what makes it all worthwhile and maybe I'm biased I'm I'm on the board and maybe I'm biased but you know what I I think this board does tremendous things and we do it together no one can sit up here and run this District by themselves or or try to no to run it by themselves you can't Dr roosi knows that he can't without his team that's where we came up with the one Clifton yes and are times that things get altered a little bit and we we have to bring it back to task yes but not to put a district down not to put things are progressing in such a positive way I maybe I'm a different thinker but I just would think people would be coming and saying these are the great

158things that Clifton's doing can you can you continue to work to bring more great things into our district and here's some suggestions we have that's what makes a school district move forward for years this board talked about bringing security specialists in and everyone was a little worried on how that was going to work out we have some of the best and dedicated security people and again they could be going elsewhere for this work they could be going into a profession and making more money but they don't because they care about kids so while I wish I had a magic wand like the rest of my colleagues to give to give teachers and staff all the money that they deserve this board tries their very best to be able to do that and also not kill

159the taxpayer and that's I have to admit to you everybody and I I think my board members would agree that that is a very difficult task as a board member because if you believe in your staff you think you should back them up with rewarding you know giving them a proper salary but in the same token the taxpayers come to you and say well what are you doing this board has to come to that Medium to come into that agreement and I think over the last few years and I'm so thinking positive on the negotiations coming up that we're going to achieve that and people see what good is happening in Clifton they're going to come and want to work in Clifton and it's our job all of our job to keep them here to

160make them be proud to say that they work in Clifton I don't know and I can't speak for the people that won these employees of the month tonight but Mr uh bill was it Bill he was just the when he said to me he says he said thank you so much I never thought this would ever happen gosh people that's positive here's an employee who takes pride in his work and works every day and pride proud of his school and his the the faculty and staff that came out to support him tonight was remarkable I was floored by it so my board doesn't want me to speak all night so I'm not going to but anyhow I asked you four years ago three years ago Dr robot toi came in or even one year ago

161is the Clifton School District better than it was three years ago a year ago ask yourselves that question and again maybe I'm biased but I sure think it has we have work to do continue to do and we will continue to do that but I will always if I'm on this board will always keep students and staff as well as the taxpayer but students and staff the main reason why I'm here the main reason why I give my time the board is going U sorry I I forgot about uh new business yes Miss bord yeah I emailed the superintendent yourself and uh Miss Danny if we could have a legal opinion on what is I sent it to him yeah I have it oh can you read it out loud because no not okay all

162right I mean no not you all right so can you give it to every board member so they thank you thank you doesn't matter we could do it now yeah we can do it which one is it the resolution yeah oh you're going to read it right sure okay um a walk-on resolution um dealing with a a grievance that was filed whereas the Clifton Board of Education has received the Clifton Education Association grievance number 20232 whereas the board has discussed the merits of the grievance in executive session now there be resolved that the clist Board of Education hereby denies the grievance as submitted for the reason set forth in the superintendent's denial and no further action shall be taken in response to this grievance further resolve that this resolution be communicated to the parties involved

163and filed accordingly dated today October 19 2023 there needs to be a motion please motion by Mr abrao second second by Miss bassford discussion roll call please Mr abrao Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Paris abstain Mr Santiago abstain vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay the board um even though we met an executive session before we still have more work to do in executive session um we have uh contract matter Personnel matter and uh legal matter right um I'm gon to presume oh our clock's not working um I'm presuming we're going to be about an hour um so that would be action may be taken uh so if we're going to be more I will come out uh just before 11: to let the public know we

164might be a little bit longer um but after the board meets an executive we will come back here to close the meeting so motion to go to Executive Please Mr D second by Mr Paris any objection thank you can we get five minut yeah five minutes to uh to blast off mark e I was hoping it was be was hoping it was Alan can you get Danny please cuz Keith has an issue e sure [Music] all [Music] h [Music] e [Music] for [Music] for [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to clion High School's JFK Auditorium my name is Gabrielle Rivera and it is my pleasure to introduce the Mustang band under the direction of Mr Brian stepneski tonight's concert will feature an ambitious program of Music performed by some of

165Clifton High School's most excellent student musicians whether this is your first time hearing us perform or you've been following the band for decades we're confident you are going to enjoy yourself please enjoy Opus [Music] 2023 ladies and gentlemen would you please stand for the playing of our national [Music] Anthony [Music] h [Music] h [Applause] [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] la [Music] a [Music] [Applause] our next selection is based on one of the oldest recorded forms of notated Music Gregorian champ throughout the composer utilizes haunting chant-like Melodies extended instrumental techniques and found percussion to create the aura voices echoing in a monastery here is old churches by Michael [Music] Gold [Music] I [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the window to's final selection was also used to conclude

166our memorable performance at w State University in March please enjoy Robert 's collection of Irish folk songs a Longford [Music] Legend [Music] la [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay [Music] h [Music] oh [Music] Hal [Music] oh [Music] for [Music] oh [Music] the [Music] la [Music] n [Music] [Applause] w [Applause] w [Applause] so we do we doing W on [Applause] [Music] you I [Music] can't [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] h what [Music] for [Applause] [Music] yeah [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] the [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] w [Music] n [Music] a [Music] the [Music] la [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] so they some [Applause] C [Music] for [Music] for [Music] oh [Music] he [Music]

167a [Music] la [Music] [Applause] [Music] w [Music] la [Applause] w [Music] e [Music] la [Music] l [Music] w [Music] I [Music] la [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] for [Music] n [Music] oh [Music] yeah [Music] w [Applause] [Music] w [Music] oh [Music] w [Music] a [Music] [Applause] w [Applause] w e talk we talking [Applause] talking [Music] [Applause] [Music] for [Music] you [Music] yeah [Music] Mr mccy I got to make an announcement it'll be another three another three hours oh okay just updating the public that the uh board is still an executive session I am estimating that we will probably be another 45 minutes if we are longer than that I will advise you at that time thank you [Music] la [Music] la [Music] Mr McCone we're coming back [Music] live [Applause] e all right the board uh

168met an executive session um the second part was the qu quickest uh 45 minutes um anyhow roll call from executive session please here motion a motion to reconvene yeah that's what I mean motion motion motion second Mo by Mr arjo second by um Mr Santiago roll call please here Mr arjo miss bassford here Mr bronc here Mr Mahia here Mr Paris here Mr Santiago here vice president Danny here president Smith here we have a Corum okay motion to move P9 motion by Mr abjo second by Mr Mahia no discussion roll call please Mr rjo yes Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries you need a motion for ea4 okay motion for ea4 by Miss bassford second by Mr

169abrao Mr yes discussion roll call please sorry about that Mr abjo yes M bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Mia yes Mr Paris yes M Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion Carri motion to adjourn motion to close move by Mr Mahia second by Mr Santiago I didn't hear you over there I didn't hear it uh any objection meeting adjourned for