February 9, 2023 - Clifton Board of Education Meeting

001foreign um foreign all right camera crew ready foreign I like to call the regularly scheduled meeting of the Clifton Board of Education to order on Thursday February the 9th 2023. if you'd all please rise for a salute to our flag in a brief moment of silence I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please keep in your thoughts all those affected in um turkey and Syria on the horrible earthquake and all those families uh here in our district in our town and in our communities that are affected Us by it as well thank you roll call please Mr abedravo here Mr Awad here miss basford here Mr Brunswick here Mr Mejia here

002Mr Paris here Mr Santiago here vice president Danny here president Smith here we have a quorum [Music] um mission statement please uh vice president Danny the mission of the reciproc reciprocal Community Partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong Learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to Democratic Society in an ever-changing world the upper public meetings act in New Jersey opened public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to advance notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Clifton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date time and

003place thereof posted at the city clerk's office Clifton Public Library administration building senior citizen Nutrition Center on cable TV in the local press on the district's website and mailed to presidents of parent-teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with the board policy zero one six eight uh we thank and invite um Mr John crew to uh be here as our legal counsel uh this evening John thank you very much uh for being present okay so we have a nice packed house tonight because we have some great presentations to make so um uh [Music] uh okay with the board um that we do the presentations first and then we'll do the public recognitions anyone have any problems with that okay so um okay so we're going to do our um recognition and award

004presentations for our Clifton High School All County First teams and we have present with us our uh athletic director Mr Tom Malay to make the presentation all right no problem all right I'm sorry first the first meeting in the new room uh once again thank you uh president Smith thank you uh board Commissioners Dr robertozzi uh Ms Kusa Levitz Mr gengaro uh for all your support for the athletic program and for this not only uh the student athletes but all the students here in Clifton um you know we certainly appreciate all the time and the commitment that um you've given to us so once again this fall we've had a tremendous amount of accomplishments uh for teams and individuals so we're going to take a second and I will call these athletes up um you

005know by team we're starting off with the Passaic County Champions boys cross country uh Team the following athletes have made first team all-county Hashem itabi he's a senior Lamar Olive he is a sophomore and Alejandro rally is a junior so uh gentlemen are here come on up thank you foreign thank you congratulations [Applause] where do you think they came from coach pontus was also the county boys cross country coach of the year uh he couldn't make it we have practice this evening but uh once again we're very proud of uh coach pontes and and his commitment I've lost track over the past 10 years how many times uh coach pontus has been recognized as uh All County coach of the year so he certainly deserves a round of applause thank you next we're going to

006recognize the girls cross country team um first up is a senior who accomplished a lot of things this year she's not only First Team all County but she was the uh individual cross-country Champion uh which is no easy feat there's a lot of great runners in Passaic County and even more impressive she was the individual sectional Champion um so I'm going to ask Remy dubeck to come on up she'll be joined by fellow first teamers Olivia green who is a junior and her sister or sister Victoria who's also a junior [Applause] again one more thank you [Applause] next up is our first team all-county football players Joe Abel senior true main Lawson's a junior and seniors Ryan listener and Suleiman Pitts I saw Ryan continue congratulations [Applause] next is our first team wall County girls

007tennis player she was also an individual Champion for first singles anayus Jenkins [Applause] all right last but not least we've got boys soccer first team all-county athletes Vitale Datsik he's a junior Lucas ferrata is a senior Dylan Perez senior Sebastian Perez Mora is a senior and Steven osga he's also a senior thank you congratulations [Applause] Mr melaye we're we are so uh proud of all of our student athletes um as many other teachers could come here and attest to um I know Mr lisner um would you have a 3.9 uh right very excellent student and guys I I'm sorry the rest of you that I don't know it personally I almost happened to know his uh since I know his family very well but these students have to keep these athletes have to keep up

008a certain certain grade point average to be able to continue as athletes at Clifton High School so not only do they Excel on the field they do so in the classroom so we're very proud of each and every one of you and our seniors that are moving on to uh to college we know that you'll do great things in college as well and please make sure you come back to Clifton um and uh and tell us how good that you're doing in college so again Mr maleh to the athletic program to all the coaches that give so many hours of their time and commitment to these athletes we're so very uh proud of them all and thankful for the great job so congratulations to everyone tonight [Applause] okay we're going to move on to our

009next which is right I'll get it they're not big enough um we're gonna move on to our students of the month yes if you like to hightail it out years a good time to go however you'll be missing uh some great presentations here of again students that are shining in Clifton High School um so we'll have our recognition of our students of the month so we'll start off with our freshman and I believe that's Dr Danny Rochelle De La Cruz Rochelle's favorite class at CHS is physical education because she enjoys playing sports and being active Rochelle's most influential teacher has been Mr Stewart because he has been very supportive and helps guide his students to make good decisions and work hard Rochelle's grandmother is important to her because she was a single parent and worked

010hard to ensure her children got an education and became successful adults Rochelle has been successful at CHS because she is responsible and conscientious Rochelle is looking forward to participating in many of the programs that CHS has to offer such as the MSU and Bergen program the certificate of achievement is to in recognition to Rachelle De La Cruz [Applause] no I don't think I will make sure that she receives that they are sophomore presentation I believe is Mr berziak thank you Mr President please forgive me a bite the butcher the name of the name a little bit sophomore yadrian Castro Adrian is a hard-working student who has been enjoying his geometry class at CHS because he enjoys the challenge of solving problems and trying to solve the puzzle by finding the missing piecesian credits Mr ewase

011for his success in math because he is a great teacher who makes the lessons more understandable and is always willing to help students when they are struggling Adrian's mother has been his biggest inspiration because she always puts others first he can always count on his mom to be there for him and she believes in him and pushes him to his fullest potential Adrian's secret to success has been putting his schoolwork first staying focused studying regularly and working hard certificate of achievement this recognition is certified to Adrian Castro on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education and the administration for CHS sophomore student of the month February 2023 congratulations foreign [Applause] they are a junior student of the month uh Mr magia thank you so the junior student of the month is Lori and Quadra lorianne

012is determined and hardworking whose favorite class has always been mathematics because she thrives in math class lorian's most influential teachers have been Mr Henry and Miss smelter Hamilton because they have always been very helpful and strive to push their students to The Highest Potential lorianne credits her success in school to her parents who Inspire and support her to be whoever she wants to become lorian serves as the volleyball team manager which has helped her make new friends since she transferred to CHS last school year lorianne wants to study engineering when she graduates next year certificate of achievement this recognition is certified to Lori Ann Quadra on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education and administration for CHS Junior student of the month February 2023 congratulations [Applause] foreign [Applause] is fast food yes it is my

013pleasure to read the senior student of the month senior Jason Rossi Jason is an ambitious student who has history classes the most at CHS Jason's most influential teacher has been Mr Genji because he helped make one of the hottest subjects for Jason to learn easier to understand and found success in his class because of his support Jason's role model is his mother because she pushes him for for his potential and always supports him Jason's future career aspirations are to attend trade school and become a certified HVAC technician once he graduates from Clifton this June certificate of achievement this recognition is to certify that Jason Rossi on behalf of the Clifton Board of Education and administration for senior CHS student of the month 2000 February 2023 with sincere congratulations on your notorious achievements with recognition by

014resolution of the Board of Education the desire to excel is the formula to a lifetime of success your efforts to have brought distinction to you your family and the Clifton Public Schools congratulations Jason [Applause] you're not the role model s I'm sorry are you ready third grade project together what do you have to do yesterday yeah congratulations with him thank you congratulations [Applause] uh Jason I um I just received a special a telegram here um yeah there's um well whatever they call it nowadays I don't know my age and myself there on that one well it couldn't have been an email because I didn't go to my whatever I received a message Jason uh from your um supervisor at Stop and Shop on Broad Street roseanny she wishes to uh tell you how proud she

015is of you on your accomplishments and what a great employee you are at Stop and Shop and how proud and on top of that your manager athenia Brock also sends those same uh accolades to you how very proud they are you so congratulations foreign I also might add that when you finish HVAC school with a very good chance we might have a job available here in the Clifton public schools for you so don't forget us okay okay so before we do our pbsis um I like our student representative Tiffany to please come up and give you a report foreign brief update on the CHS winter sports the boys varsity basketball team played against Kennedy in their last game winning 69-60 today they played against pcti at PCI their next game will be at the boys

016varsity County tournament playing against Wayne Hills on February 11th at 12 pm go and support them the girls varsity basketball team played against PCI today at the Clifton High School their next game will be on February 11th at 10 A.M playing against Cliffside Park at the Clifton High School lower gym the boys varsity ice hockey team played against West Milford in their game winning 4-1 their next game will be tomorrow playing against West Milford again at icefall at Wayne at 5 30. this game will be the quarterfinal round for the big North silver cup so go and support them Varsity bowling have a game tomorrow at 9 00 a.m location is to be determined wrestling varsity team had a meet yesterday for State sectional finals Varsity indoor track will be having a meet tomorrow we'll

017be having a meet tomorrow the time and location is to be determined moving forward moving forward to events and fundraisers the Mustang cheerleaders ended the regular big North season with an overall record record of 7-1 and our Liberty division championships for the second year in a row they move on to the big North Championship on Friday February 17th at the Clifton High School come and support your Clifton Mustangs in the fall for Esports every CHS team managed to make their respective playoffs they have nine teams across a wide variety of games and are eligible to earn Varsity letters for their dedication and performances students from different teams that play on the computers practice from Monday to Thursday after school on the school's gaming PCs tournaments are gonna start being held again for students not actively

018participating on the competitive side of the club they will again be holding a summer camp for middle school students who wish to play games among the minded peers there are actively reaching out to Bloomfield to set up an exhibition match that can be streamed the CHS student council Association will be hosting a volleyball event for CHS students and staff members on Friday Friday March 3rd in the CHS slower gym this fun event is scheduled to begin at 4 but we're still figuring out if it's going to be a game or a tournament the cost of admission for spectators is two dollars for students and three dollars for adults we hope to see you there the MSA along with the S SCA and Key Club is collecting donations to send to Turkey to aid for to

019Aid the thousands of this place in injured earthquake victims donations are being accepted through February 17th for any questions reach out to miss Ibrahim thank you thank you Tiffany okay Tiffany thank you again very much for your report and uh Dr Danny is very concerned that you're staying at this meeting and not doing your homework so if any of our student recipients would like to leave at this time please do so so Dr Danny can be happy thank you Mr melaye maybe he'll take these back here thank you okay and next um we'll have Miss ragoza please come up and do our uh presentation for the pbsis good evening everyone um president Smith vice president Danny Commissioners Center Administration and Dr robitosi thank you once again for the honor of the time on the floor

020today to showcase the wonderful work that our schools our school students and stuff are doing with the PBIS implementation tonight we're going to touch a little bit on a topic you've seen before regarding our book vending machines we've collaborated with the language arts department to bring book vending machines to our schools and we've tied it up to our reading goals as well as our PBIS or pbsis framework what we're going to see tonight is artwork from students so the two middle schools recently got there in the past couple of weeks received their book vending machines that are adorned with student artwork once again just to remind everyone how this book vending machine is tied to our curriculum the middle school students can earn tokens for books by completing their monthly reading goal within the accelerated

021reading program in addition every month teachers can nominate one student who they feel has earned a token this award does not have to be based solely on academic achievements some instances that Merit earning a token might be showing the most personal growth working really hard recent Improvement or just having the best attitude simply put following our school-wide expectations the slide in front of you of the pictures are the Mustangs that were selected to Adorn Christopher Columbus Middle School's book vending machine and the artworks um uh were pre uh were provided by the students you see below and in a moment we'll congratulate them and provide them with certificates of recognition I wanted to show you all what it looks like here you have Woodrow Wilson Middle School's vending machine and what that artwork piece looks

022like by the student Miguel Ruiz so um Dr robitosi a president Smith vice president stani if you can honor us and help provide students with their recognition certificates at this point so first up we have Miguel Ruiz from Woodrow Wilson Middle School foreign [Applause] all right um next we have Miss Kristen de Verge is she here tonight nope no Kristen okay okay how about uh Michaela Mercado Gabriela Fonseca well we will make sure that these students receive their certificates um via snail mail thank you all so much [Applause] thank you okay thank you uh to uh all our reward recipients tonight um and thank you to the public for allowing us to all through the agenda a little bit uh to let the kids receive their Awards so now um I would like to open

023up public recognition this portion of the meeting is open to the residents and non-residents of the city of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to and and or directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District 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 live and subject matter before speaking comments are limited to five minutes per person issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered in a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate your questions may or may not be answered by board members the board asks that members of the public be courteous and

024mindful of the rights of other individuals when they are 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 to them by the laws of the state of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments paid by 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 will start with our call-in is there anyone in the call-in room no motion to close please second by Mr Awad and now we'll open up to those that are in person if you wish to address the

025board please come up to the podium and uh state your name uh municipality and subject matter there it is good evening my name is Gregory Quinlan I am the President and founder of the center for Garden State families we are a Christian family advocacy organization promoting Faith freedom in the natural family coaches at this very muting meeting it's green okay has to be red oh it has to be green green okay um my name is Gregory Quinlan I'm the president and founder of the center for Garden State families we are a Christian family advocacy organization promoting Faith freedom and the natural family at this very meeting a few months ago my name was brought up and I was maligned and riddleculed for being an ex-gay my gender identity is ex-gay my pronouns are biologic my

026pronouns are scientific my pronouns are based in reality not made up to please some Childish irresponsible dangerous religious ideology everything you are teaching is a faith-based assumption and these results are Grievous physical emotional and psychological harms to minors I am a nurse retired and as a nurse I watched a hundred of my friends and acquaintances die of AIDS before I quit counting I know the result of the activity that you're teaching that the state is imposing upon you to teach but it is up to you as a school board to meet those mandates in a responsible way so it isn't harmful to children in August 2019 the Ghana study which is a large-scale genome-wide Association study revealing insights into genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behavior the study had 477 000 human genomes as the sample

027that is larger than the population of Newark New Jersey their source of genetic material came from 23andMe and the UK biobank the principal universities doing the study were MIT University of Queensland Australia and Harvard the conclusion of this massive genetic study is quote there is no single gay gene end quote there is no gay gene there is no cluster of genes supporting the Amer which does support the American Psychiatric association's conclusion in May 2000 quote there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biologic etiology for homosexuality or lesbianism or bisexuality or transgenderism or any of the other lgbtqia-xyz nonsense that we see because they have more than tripled the alphabet and continue to invent new and more ideologies and ideations homosexually is not normal on the contrary it is a challenge to the norm

028nature exists whether academics like it or not procreation is the single Relentless rule that is the norm our bodies were designed for reproduction no one is born gay lesbian bisexual transgender or any of the other made-up scientific unscientific unsubstantiated dangerous and childish imaginations of the newest language and religious sect of Marxism the idea is ridiculous homosexuality is an adaptation not an inborn trait that is from lesbian feminist activist Camille Paglia everything lgbtqia-xyz is a developmental gender identity disorder I want to say that again a developmental gender identity disorder developed not innate acquired not inborn all these alternative lifestyles are a religion they are a face faith-based assumption not supported by any science none that means replicated science everything you are doing is contributing to the emotional and mental disorders everything you are doing is to

029look like you're cool and acceptable or or or you're in with your crowd your Clique your party or to yourself I hope that isn't the case you are destroying the children of the school district we are destroying the children of our culture we are perpetuating unscientific lies detrimental emotional psychological physical harm to a minor child I'm going to send you the study so that you can look at themselves particularly the Ghana study you need to see that you need to understand too that I standing here is the next gay I'm not the only one this isn't Winnie the Pooh and I'm not ticker and I'm not the only one there are hundreds of thousands of us and we make our voices heard although we're silenced by the media we're silenced by the mainstream but we're

030still here and we're not going to stay silent any longer we're here to tell you the truth about what's going on in the schools what's going on in science and that what is being done from the top down to you being forced to do this you can choose to stop it thank you [Applause] mm-hmm [Music] good evening my name is Gabriela brandeel I was a veteran teacher for 32 years in three different districts in northern New Jersey I mostly taught primary age children so that's where my heart really is I am the director of education at the center for Garden State families and I am concerned about the sex ed curriculum I'm concerned about the gender ideology and I'm very very concerned about the trans community uh we at the center of uh for gardening

031State families maintain as our mission statement the goal of protecting the natural family in New Jersey we believe that parents are the primary providers protectors and teachers of their children and have the right and responsibility to raise and educate them well I'm sure you do as well we have researched the national sexuality standards and comprehensive sex education and the 2020 New Jersey Health and physical education learning standards which are based on the aforementioned we've also investigated the controversial outside agenda-driven organizations such as planned parenthood Seekers advocates for youth Amaze answers and others which have contributed to those standards and which provide materials for their implementation these organizations are using materials which are extremely graphic their age and school inappropriate they're medically inaccurate in many cases and they are desensitizing children to sexual behaviors often with

032peers who are also minors and cannot legally consent to such interactions a review of the New Jersey obscenity Law from 2019 that's NJ code 02c 34-3 for persons under 18 and a comparison of the materials published by the aforementioned organizations reveals a shocking similarity and connection between what this law prohibits and what is contained in many sex ed materials and related School library books pandering obscenity to a minor is opening the doors to Grooming by sex traffickers to sexual experimentation and increased sexual activity childhood and innocence are categorically being destroyed this leads me to the question since we are in Clifton what Publishers is Clifton using to teach their sex education program and have the Board of Education members thoroughly review those materials and made them available to the public also what is the procedure

033for parents to opt out of the sex education curriculum which is their legal right and is it parent friendly the third question is which groups are doing in-service training for teachers and how have they been vetted many materials encourage unhealthy dangerous behaviors which Foster harmful emotional physiological social and spiritual consequences and they do not stress abstinence education as is required by New Jersey Law actually numerous parents believe that sex education has no place in public education and they have expressed that to me to me that it is the job of the parent to do so at home as they know they love their children and they also know developmentally where they're at out of his sense of responsibility here's a suggestion might the Clifton School District reconsider improving just the pursuit of scholarship which evidenced

034by the students tonight is already quite good as opposed to adopting a social agenda and a detailed sex education curriculum we are certain that you are aware of the recent reports from the Department of Education and federal sources which show an alarming decrease in math scores reading proficiency and other academic subjects after the past two years of covid related shutdowns and at home learning parents have emphatically communicated to me that learning laws should be vigorously addressed everywhere in New Jersey and Beyond many people may not know but there are multiple contradictory studies regarding the validity of comprehensive sexuality education instead of preventing sexually transmitted infections pregnancies and abortions some excellent research has shown okay thank you your time is up man oh okay thank you I just thank you ma'am that's it thank you start

035to tell her good evening my name is Mickey gaudette Clifton and I'm going to use a couple of titles that I actually have earned New Jersey Public Charter School Association parent liaison the sake Arts and Science Charter School Clifton Middle PTO president sorry I want to get those out I first want to apologize for my delay in offering congratulations to the newly elected Commissioners I was here on your swearing-in and I did not come to the mic and publicly congratulate the three of you so Mr brunsiak Mr Mejia Mr Santiago congratulations I also want to offer my belated congratulations to president Jim Smith and vice president Dr Danny simply because again I never stood up and your peers and your colleagues chose you both and that speaks volumes about your ability to cohesively work together

036additionally I brought cards of congratulations to the newly elected Commissioners from the students of the state Arts and Science Charter School Clifton Middle campus the classrooms each adopted a newly elected official and that's from the city council the Clifton Boe the Garfield Boe and the Patterson Boe because all of them had elections this year each of the classrooms chose elected official and they wrote you all of the cards so the cards are from one classroom only and as a result we are also inviting you to come and meet your students whether to take a tour to meet your students during read Across America week which is March 2nd through the 6th and to meet even our assistant District director of operations our director of the students which you call a principal um lastly I want

037to thank president Smith for always remembering to say all children because it is extremely important to me I know you know that and all of the children in Clifton do and deserve to receive an amazing education so thank you all for that should I bring this to you or you want to leave them Tony would you take those for everybody and thank you foreign is there anyone else that would like to address the board it's going to say Lori where are you well good morning good morning good evening to everyone I guess I'm tired it's been a long day all right so I'm the president of the Clifton Education Association so as I'm sitting here listening to what is being said it's a shame that people think that we have to erase students different groups

038that have a different sexual orientation and coming from a community that is supposed to be Christian I thought God loves one another so I find it very disheartening to understand where that's coming from so this group as I've spoken about before is targeting our public education schools they're targeting the LGBT community and spreading false information about grooming and indoctrination in government schools the extreme Center for Garden State families is trying to Rolling into our communities and preach their far-right Creed please note that this should not reflect the community of Clifton because we work together we support each other we have students that go into the lgbtq community we have staff members and we're not here to erase them we are here to support them so I appreciate your time thank you very much [Applause] hi

039I'm Tova Felder I was coming to speak about something else but I can't because I'm too upset um I'm not going to say shame on you because I think that's really harsh and I like you people but seriously that first speaker that was straight up hate speech at a Board of Education meeting no I'm not wrong everyone was respectful when the first Speaker spoke everyone in the audience please be respectful now I'm okay to allow that kind of stuff at a Board of Education meeting which does not have anything to do with the direct workings of our school district they're clearly not from our school district they clearly have not been following everything you've been doing for the past year and a half to educate our community on how our district is handling the updated

040Health standards and from their website their mission is to protect and promote Faith freedom and the natural family in culture and public policy as held by the traditional Christian worldview well I'm a Jew you can keep your religion to yourself you are welcome to have your religious beliefs in your home in your church but guess what the whole world isn't Christian our school district certainly is not and we are not beholden to you to have a Christian focused school and in fact that would be flat out against the law I'm very angry I'm sorry I don't mean to yell but I am very very upset and I'm mad that I can't talk about the thing I came to talk about which is about three awesome CHS students I'll save that for next time because I

041don't want to muddy that in but last night I went to an event in Glen Ridge where hundreds and hundreds of community members came up to shut down a group of I think it was eight adults in Glen Ridge who wanted to ban a certain series of books from their Public Library hundreds of people it was standing room only in the auditorium came out to tell them why that was wrong and the library board at the end decided they were keeping all of those books on the Shelf thank you very much please find a way to shut this down at our Board of Ed meetings okay [Applause] foreign good evening excuse me I'm here to discuss the webinar that was offered to the community please state your name and musicality please Marcia Miller Clifton I'm

042here to discuss the webinar that was offered to the community the transgender and nine non-binary identities webinar on Wednesday January the 18th 2023 at 7 pm presented at it as a collaboration between the Clifton High School Key Club and the Clifton Education Association the flyer stated this is one of a series focused on developing a better understanding of various aspects of the lgbtqia identities it is free and open to the community join the zoom meeting and click here the program began with a male and female presenter from the Garden State equality organization they began with various names people chose to be called examples they them cisgender non-binary Etc they went on to discuss feelings body parts sex reassignment surgeries hormones Etc a short time after my screen went black and notice stated that I was

043removed by the host and cannot rejoin I then tried to rejoin again and the same notice appeared you were removed from the webinar by the host and cannot rejoin I found that to be very disturbing and unacceptable I was on mute and just listening I would like to know if anyone else was removed Mr Santiago I understand you watched man please direct your comments to the board president and not to individual board members I understand that one of the board members viewed the webinar and I was curious if he was removed from the webinar as I was at the beginning of the webinar there should have been a warning that this material would not be appropriate for all ages who was the targeted audience for this webinar I would like to know who funded this

044program as a taxpayer I would like to know we started at the beginning of the webinar that it would be shown again at a near future date for all to see I would like to have that information to my knowledge as of today that knowledge has not been made public so if someone from this body could be a help of obtaining this information that we can all view it it would be great and deeply appreciated thank you anyone else wish to address the board so you know emotional second motion close by Mr Roberto second by Mr rawad um I'm going to ask our board attorney Mr John crude if you'd make a statement about uh public comments and statements and what the board can and cannot ask people to refrain from sure it's um as

045a as a public entity the board of education is governed by the Constitution of the United States and under the the First Amendment of the Constitution uh individuals when they speak at a public meeting have rights of free speech and the board it really is not in a position where it can the board is not permitted to um to try to shut down comments based on the content of of the speech uh you know obviously if something becomes literally um threatening or obscene or something that's a different that's you know a different type of restriction but um again it's a public body and it's governed by the First Amendment [Music] thank you okay let's move on to um adoption of our minutes motion uh so we have the adoption of our minutes of the uh

046regular meeting of January 19th uh the executive session part of January 19th uh motion is made by Mr abujabo second by Miss basford uh discussion seeing none roll call please Mr abadrabo yes Mr Awad yes Miss Pastor yes Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay uh let's hear some things about education uh Dr robitosi under your superintendent's report education that's what we're here for right and the Board of Education meeting thank you Mr Smith good evening Commissioners uh members of the community this week I want to uh to recognize I want to take a moment to recognize our school counselors that is National School counseling week and on behalf of what's that yeah well on behalf of Miss Jessica tremble

047and Miss Jennifer Bergman our counseling supervisors and our entire Administration and on behalf of the Board of Education I want to thank our district counseling team for their constant efforts in ensuring that our students mental health is their top uh priority we have really incredible team and they have had a lot of work there's a lot of work there's a lot of students who need uh who need help who need assistance and they're they're always there and they have a very difficult job so thank you as we recognize all of our counselors during National School counseling week I'd also like to acknowledge the great kindness challenge that um happened during the week of January 23rd and the school counselors held school-wide kindness activities and events for students and staff students were presented with morning announcements

048character education lessons and we're challenged to perform numerous kindness acts throughout the week so we're not just teaching um reading and arithmetic we are teaching how to be kind and I think that's a pretty good thing uh and the counseling department also asked me uh on behalf of the district to thank Casa Clifton against substance abuse for hosting the speak sobriety assembly the keynote speaker Stephen Hill presented important information on knocking down the stigma attached to the disease of addiction while teaching the seventh graders how the choices they make today can affect and impact their future self so thank you to Casa for sponsoring that assembly shout out to school nine whose Universal team organized and planned a successful mid-year pbsis pep rally the staff and students participated in a rock star presentation that focused

049on respect staff and students were encouraged to drum along and rock out to the cords of respect if you happen to see it on social media teachers dressed up as rock stars students dressed up as rock stars and they it it it it it looked like a ton of fun um the students were um also competed in several minutes to Win It games if you've ever seen that show the students were competing for a week of no homework while the staff were competing for a week of dress down days it's a big deal amongst the staff these dress down days so it was it was an amazing event and everyone had a blast congratulations School nine and uh Commissioners mark your calendars February 28th there will be for the first time since the since before

050the pandemic there will be a Special Olympics unified team basketball game from 3 30 to 4 30 at the Woodrow Wilson uh gymnasium the unified Club will be uh obviously sponsoring they're selling snacks and drinks and they're going to have a professional referee and I just want to give a big thank you to our Unified sports coaches this year Cheryl Lee caramucci Megan Fitzpatrick and Brooke and Sarah I plan on being there it's going to be a fantastic event please come out if you can 3 30 on February uh 28th uh that's all I have for tonight um I do wanna reiterate what our board attorney said about that that pesky First Amendment because there are times I certainly want to interrupt people but I will I will say this um I don't agree with

051everything everybody says up there but I will fight to protect your right to say it um once we start taking away that right we start to erode some of some of the Liberties that that we cherish in this country and that leads us also down a dangerous path almost as dangerous a path as some of the statements that were have been made tonight so my two cents thank you Commissioners that's my report Mr Smith thank you Dr robitussi okay um I'm going to um move over my comment uh my announcements and we'll move on to um board committee reports um we'll start with the HSA presidents uh Miss bassford absolutely my pleasure uh one of the great things that we do in this community of the Clifton Public Schools is we have parent involvement we

052have a lot of open-minded boisterous parent involvement leaders that are are just a refreshing it's a great committee to be on and something really great came out of this after the 11 years being on this board and an old HSA president for many years on every level from elementary to middle and especially to the PTSA at Clifton High School this meeting was really outstanding and we got something really accomplished that I'm very proud of so to the people that naysayers that we're teaching our children anything else but good and I'm sorry I'm taking the privilege of my time to read the report I needed to say this these parents would tell you otherwise what we do for our children of this District they do Stellar things and and they would be the first ones at

053this mic if we were doing anything wrong child children to tell us that we were doing that so let me get back on I'm sorry I apologize to my colleagues but I needed to say that um the meeting opened uh it was held at uh February 7th at 7 pm it was virtual the meeting was opened by Dr robitussi just so everybody knows this meeting is um the the HSA meeting is actually his purview and we as board members attend in in view of and we're there in an advisory uh capacity so we can bring the information back to our colleagues on the board so the meeting opened there was introduction and attendance of attendees which is on file in the superintendent's office if anybody needs to see that uh president from Administration was Dr

054Robert hausi uh many Administration members um the Board of Ed um the as the HSA presidents and miss is mariello and Miss boyko from the cpag which is a special education parent advisory group from The District Board of Education Commissioners that were present was President Jim Smith Dr Lucy Danny vice president myself as chair and faheem abajaba as commissioner there was a brief summary of the meeting by Dr obatuzzi he explained to some of the new presidents and attendees what the what the actual group does so Dr Robert opened the meeting and introduced the Board of Education members Administration Community organization members and attendees Miss mariello from cpag gave an overview of what cpag does and provided information where individuals can find more information about the organization on Facebook and via email Dr robitussi explained

055the history and the purpose of the HSA president's meeting before introducing Clifton Public Schools teachers Karina Vega and Megan Fitzpatrick both teachers are members of the administrators Academy who created a website to use as a platform for the HSA members to collaborate and share ideas to benefit Clifton students Ms Vega and Ms Fitzpatrick demonstrated the website and the use of the Google Groups and received much positive feedback Dr robitussi then introduced assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Miss Janina kuchalevich who explained the online teaches Gradebook would be open to all parents including the first time to Elementary and an ongoing basis via the real-time Parent Portal this is an effort to increase transparency and communication Miss kuchalevich further explained that the district would be phasing out progress reports and indicated that the district would send

056periodic reminders inviting parents to check the portal of student progress the discussion then turned to assemblies payments for assemblies field trips busing for field trips before Dr obatuzzi introduced Polo Ragusa Who provided an update about pbsis and the importance of input for school climate surveys finally Dr robitussi facilitated question and answer portion of the meeting members discussed the current elementary full School photography a company and the possibility of exploring other companies for the school photography the meeting concluded about 808 pm and the next meeting will be held sometime in April to be determined any questions um why do we have two of those oh I see okay um residency and uh security uh Mr Santiago thank you president Smith so um this was my first committee meeting um and um was very informative I kind

057of gave a warning to everyone that you know I'm gonna sound like a five-year-old why but why because why and why and so um uh you know had tons of questions and the meeting proceeded to go almost two hours so I appreciate everybody uh being patient with the questions and all the information they they provided so The Residency and security meeting uh took place on Thursday the 2nd 2023 and began at 5 31 PM in attendance from Administration where Dr Robert Ozzy Mr gengaro Mr doctor Mrs zanola and Mr Constantino in attendance from the Board of Education where myself Mrs basford Mr brunsiak and president Smith Mr doctor provided an introduction to the committee and explained the various responsibilities and duties covered in residency and registration board members asked various questions about the department and

058how specific situations were handled Mr doctor provided an update that 10 additional Aid and lose students were found not to be living at the listed residence further investigation to follow so can can I explain Aidan Liu for so and you keep me honest so Aidan Liu if you have a student and they attend um say another school private school or another school not at one of our public schools and you transport your child to those schools yourself you received you receive Aiden Liu money from the district which is about roughly a thousand dollars 1022 I believe to be exact annually so these are Stu your child uh going to another school not in our district and you're taking them to school we give you money for that right so um the administration started investigating and

059they found that there were parents who had moved out of Clifton their kids are still going to that private school or whatever school but they did not inform us and they continued to receive the thousand dollars so um that was you know great work I we've we've caught several and um you know I don't think too too long ago in the past it was something that was being done as much and so um yeah it's interesting so listen if you move out of the district please let us know and uh let the other town give you the adenlue um but we'll catch you if you don't so uh so there were 10 additional um and he's continuing to investigate Mr sunola updated the committee on security protocols for the district Mr gengaro updated the committee

060on District security pbsis and it's tied to safety and preparedness Mr Gengar updated the committee on school nine vehicular safety Clifton police have issued numerous tickets and new signs for the school 9 area they've been ordered by the city a speed trap will be set up shortly in that area so um this is a great situation where there was an issue at school nine we discussed we've been in communication and actions being taken taken by the city to improve the safety around school nine the city manager reached out to superintendent and the Board of Education will be meeting with them so they can work on this together committee members expressed concern about the lack of crossing guards throughout the town Mr gengaro stated that he and the administration have been working with CPD to attempt

061to remedy to the situation Mr Gengar provided an update on the active shooter presentation by Lieutenant hasselberger of Clifton PD and Mr Constantino provided a report concerning the security drill of the month all observed drills were performed in an exemplary manner the meeting concluded at 7 14 pm okay anyone have any questions for Mr Santiago sure he had a lot of questions for us we're we're happy that you have without questions uh uh status quo is not always such a good thing so we welcome any of our commissioners who question at any time and uh especially a new commissioner that is uh trying to get themselves acclimated to the process and and uh it's it's a it's a tremendous task to learn um and I'm going on my soapbox now a little bit but um

062I commend I commend our three new Commissioners um this past weekend they attended their new uh board member training which was held in Princeton yep um and it was a whole weekend so they had to leave their families for a whole weekend and sit through many presentations from New Jersey school boards Association to kind of bring them up to Snuff of what it means to be a board member what the responsibilities are Etc and I'll let you I'll leave it up to them to tell you a little bit about what happened at that but I just commended each of you and your families for giving you the time to to go do this becoming a new board member is not an easy task there's a lot to learn and um even after being a board

063member for many years you're constantly learning so please don't anyone ever hesitate to question that's how we make this District better so again thank you for your report and um we're chairing the committee facilities Mr Awad thank you president Smith um we met on February 8th 2023 a meeting started around 3 30 p.m I was President commissioner Paris Santiago and president Smith from the administration we had Dr Danny robertosi uh Mr gengaro Mr Uchi Mr shahada Mr malandano and Mr marcion and guest attended was Mr Bill Costello from Epic items of discussion or the overview Administration introduced themselves to the committee and explained why they do and the purpose of the committee a referendum update epic rep gave us an overview of what was taken place that far this far into the referendum and what

064is taking place throughout the rest of the year as of right now the projects are on time and on budget however public service is around 12 to 14 months out of the Transformers to upgrade electricity to our buildings so we're able to run our new HVAC systems it was noted this is a national issue but Administration along with the committee will do everything in their power to become a priority on the Public Services list third item was B and G updates Administration gave an update of the projects taking place throughout the district one was tree removal Administration received two independent reports of dead trees at an elementary school both stated that the trees are dead and need to be removed maintenance will work with the city to hopefully replant young and healthy trees uh second

065was School 17 and Ciela B's playgrounds will be installed as soon as the weather permits another item that was discussed was n27 Energy savings Administration spoke about the new consultant bro on at the end of 2022 the consultant is reviewing all usage throughout the buildings to see where we can cut cost business office is exploring potential utility savings by bidding the usage ourselves another was Classical Academy graduation outside entity requesting to use our facilities for graduation committee reviewing requests as CPS graduations and construction will be taking place another item discussed was the Esther grants Administration gave overview of what the grant is and when the grants are sorry I was building up for building up Miss basford was about to run party no it's okay I don't blame you a current and potential projects include

066window replacements throughout the district seventh item Memorial bench and plaque for school 16 a discussion uh ensured regarding adding a bench and a plaque in a memory of a former employee it was recommended to add a resolution approving the donation on the to February 9th agenda which is today Banfield update concerns were passed to the contractor flying a walk through and punch lists are being addressed with the architect final payment is held until satisfactory uh ninth was that tennis court use of facilities discussions uh ensued on the board to keep the court usage to Clifton community and clifton-based organizations new item of business was potential capital projects for 2023 2024 stadium bleachers CCMS parking lot expansion roof replacement and exterior door replacements the meeting adjourned many hours later it was very it was a great

067meeting honestly uh facilities is one of those committees where I personally do enjoy uh I just gotta give a complete shout out to Mr Uchi Mr shahada and every single person in the business administration office are groundskeeping our maintenance team everybody in between because to be totally honest with you there are so many projects going on in this District besides what we're doing with the referendum I have no idea how you guys manage it uh from epic Management Group to everybody in between it's a lot that on its own is like an animal to handle and you guys are absolutely killing it I'm very proud uh to be a chair of this committee and I think we are planning to have a meeting hopefully a month from now date to be uh kind of narrowed

068down based on people's schedule thank you are there any questions questions for Mr Awad it's for administration through you to Mr President to the superintendent um there was mentioned that there was two um independent arborists reports can we be given that because you know my pet peeves about those Lotus trees at school 16 what which which schools were it was it was it 16 on there I was just school too okay so my question too is when they replace the tree are they going to give us the same type of tree back because I've I've drive past School 16 and it's kind of barren over there that little land and so that my fellow Commissioners don't know from my new commission is on the board the Lotus trees were put in that swampy area at

069school 16 because they act as a sponge the root systems absorbs water so when they were taken down it's it was they weren't replaced so that's one thing when are they gonna if they do do them can we make sure they're Lotus trees and the other one was you know the report replaced the trees to the specific species that you're taking out and are we doing um censored light lighting Replacements especially at the high school now I'm gonna date myself with the next phrase I'm going to come out of my mouth because the young board member is not going to know what I'm talking about it looks like Luna Park uh Luna Park was a park that uh back in the day when I was born was was developed so it was a light Park

070and you switch it on there's a lot of lights when you drive up Colfax Avenue or Van Houten you could see close in high school it's a beacon of light when the janitors are in the lights are all on and they stay on most of the night if we're going to save energy why don't we start there a good point Mrs basford we actually just replaced the was it just the hallway lights Mr shahad at the high school yes where we plays with new um LED lights which are more energy efficient but they are bright um the classroom lights are still the still the right it's probably the original you go if you Christopher Columbus on the highway you see the lights on when the genitals it's no fault to theirs they're doing a thing

071but if we can have the automatic and the new additions to the stuff that you guys are doing and I noticed that in the chemistry lab you walk in it goes on and off it's great right the sensor lights yeah so please because if we're going to be really worrying about and buckling up about electricity that's where we should start we shouldn't be throwing that money out of the windows with uh with electricity so that's just my YouTube pet peeves or my three pet peeves so thank you no good good good points and uh you know with all of them do HVAC projects throughout the district it's estimated that our energy consumption will go up 65 percent so that's anywhere that we can reduce that is going to be beneficial I did ask does that

072mean our bill goes up 65 and I was told no not necessarily I can't couldn't explain to you why but I was told not necessarily oh um another request um if anybody notices on the website our committee lists are not updated it needs to be updated yeah all right any other pets any other pets pet peeves Mr I'm driving I was gonna miss the same thing about ask a question for saying about the tree but the second thing I have uh roof Replacements uh what roofs are we looking at Mr Lucy I have the list but um if I if you want me to say the main priority right now is actually School two and the the new weight room at the stadium what other schools are there he'll get he can get you if

073you can get us a list of you I think it'd be good so everybody can take a look at yeah that oh yeah I can get you a list um obviously can't do it with them all at once though um no of course but based on budget and whatnot but yeah of course there's a list it's about five or six schools I believe um that could use a roof replacement in the next few you know a few years and the CCMS parking lot expansion that would expand wear onto the grass the area near 46. in the grass yes that was the area I once requested for us to take a look oh that's where they parked already that's right yes okay did we discuss how if that was to happen how many extra spots would

074we be able to add or I remember we did last year we mentioned it but it was in the report last year Yes somewhere between maybe 14 20 something like that so just for clarification you're not taking any grass away from the front of the stadium no no correct okay when you pull in the parking lot okay thank you you park there they park there already for for the big events actually I parked there almost for every event because there's not enough parking and so yeah it's as soon as you come in the parking lot how many spots are we expecting to open up there we figured about 14 somewhere around there 14. I can't remember the exact number but it was in that area thank you okay um uh Food Service I should add

075you do both of them at the same time are you not ready okay um Mr brunsiaker Finance thank you Mr President those in attendance the meeting occurred on February 8th which was yesterday the attendees were myself commissioner Paris commissioner Awad president Smith Dr Robert tozi Mr gingaro Mr Uchi Mr shahada and Mrs kusilevic Administration introduced themselves to the committee and explained what they do and the purpose of the committee number one was the budget process the administration explained the budget process and the key dates that are received from the state and when the budget is due the 20 2023-2024 budget is being built by the business office however the district is awaiting very important numbers from the state which estate Aid figures and Charter School tuition the governor's budget address is tentatively scheduled for February

07621st 2023 and the district should receive the numbers by February 23rd 2023. afterwards the committee will be presented with a budget for consideration it was discussed to have a special board meeting to present the upcoming needs and concerns pertaining to the budget additionally we spoke of negotiations Administration spoke to the upcoming negotiations for our collective bargaining units five of seven contracts and June 2024. therefore the negotiations will start early next fall number four pulled insurance program of New Jersey AKA pimp Administration spoke about the renewal of pip insurance that covers every area of the district except health insurance the district is a part of a Consortium of districts to pull together Insurance costs which leverages cost and risk it was noted it is difficult to get into these consortiums uh similar terms that were used

077was a Cooperative because of rising Insurance costs Administration explained that the funds re that the fund refunds a district Insurance dividends Surplus which is built into the revenue budget number five capital projects Administration spoke about the past capital projects and made recommendations for the upcoming budget year the projects depending on the budget and referendum construction could could potentially include stadium seating upgrades CCMS parking lot expansion roof Replacements and exterior door replacements Esser grants Administration gave an overview of what the grant is and when the grants are purportedly sunsetting Esther 2 is expiring September 30th 2023 and sr3 is expiring September 30th 2024 unless there is an amendment to the federal law Administration in conjunction with the architect are planning projects to expand the one-time Grant funds before they expire does anybody have any questions thank

078you nope thank you Mr Brunswick again for you I'm sorry I was very impressed with this yes for his first the Annunciation sure the the volume was good for your first one Mr Brunswick I'm telling you Mr Santiago we still have to wait to judge you on your first no but he didn't do the one tonight right if Mr Paris says a plus then I trusted okay thank you uh again um I will um if you have not already sent to me which you have not sent to me um I've asked all committees if they would send me their dates of committees so that as Miss passport has asked for I can send them out to the entire board so that everyone knows when the Committees are meeting this just gives us all an opportunity

079to know when the Committees are meeting an Administration sends out the agendas ahead of time so that all board members can see the agendas and if they have something to add to those agendas they can let the chair know so if after if at your earliest convenience you could please send me your dates if you have them already some committees already have it set for the whole year thank you Ms kusilevic um if you have those already you can send those to me if not as you have them so that I can get that information out to the to the full board but just so the public knows this board meets um our committees meet regularly uh every month and um the board members work very hard in those committees to make your education for

080our kids the best education possible so I thank our board members for their commitment to their committees okay so let's move on uh is there any unfinished business casein none we're going to move on to I'm sorry yep all right next we're gonna move on to um my mouse batteries are dead all right we're gonna move on to education Administration um we have uh actually I'm gonna pull um so ea1 and ea2 I'm going to do separately so let's move e A3 through ea13 motion second Mr Robert Drago second by Miss basford discussion Smith yes six and seven are the student matters correct for executive session I'm sorry and we have three additional student matters for example right so if possible um we'll add the we'll walk those on after after exactly right okay all

081right so we have six and seven which are student matters that will be for executive session so uh now we'll pull one and two six and seven so the remainder of the group okay with you Mr abadrabo and miss bassford okay any other discussion sink yeah on um number four the contract the first the signer on that contract is no relations to a former commissioner Jim Daley is it well if so thank you sir yeah all right roll call please Mr abadrabo yes Mr Awad yes Miss basford yes Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion scary all right EA one um Mr Santiago would you uh uh make a motion for ea1 motion by Mr Santiago second by Mr abadrabo Mr Santiago

082would you please read the motion and then we'll vote on it whereas the American school counselor Association has declared the week of February 6 2023 as National School counseling week and whereas school counselors are employed in public and private schools to help students reach their full potential and whereas school counselors are actively committed to helping students explore their abilities strengths interests and talents as these traits relate to Career awareness and development and whereas school counselors help parents Guardians focus on ways to further the educational personal and social growth of their children and whereas school counselors work with teachers and other Educators to help students explore their potential and set realistic goals for themselves and whereas school counselors seek to identify and utilize Community Resources that can enhance and complement comprehensive School counseling programs and help

083students become productive members of society and whereas comprehensive developmental School counseling program grams are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve success in school now therefore be it resolved at the Clifton Board of Education recognizes February 6th through February 10 2023 as National School counseling week okay any other discussion roll call please Mr abadrabo absolutely Mr Awad yes Miss basford yes Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay next um we have ea2 motion please motion Mr Robert second by Mr Awad uh Mr abadrabo would you like to read that yes sir whereas since 1926 our country additionally commemorates celebrates the contributions of African Americans during February whereas since our Nations by by Centennial

084in 1976 each president has issued proclamations declining February as Black History Month whereas black resistance is this year's National theme and takes a look at how African Americans have fought repression from America's earliest days whereas African-Americans have contributed significantly to the economic cultural spiritual and political development of the country whereas African-Americans value knowledge and learning and whereas African-American teachers distinguish themselves sorry the voting came up distinguished themselves as Educators in the Clifton Public School District classrooms and whereas incorporating an accurate portrayal of African-American history and the curriculum and teaching the contributions of each African-American history culture society and language and the classroom promotes academic success for African-American students increases the understanding of all students and benefits all citizens now therefore be a resolve the Clinton Board of Education proclaims February 2023 Black History Month and

085encourages staff and students to honor it during February and throughout the year with interactive research classroom lesson plans guest speakers displays lectures practical activities and cultural celebrations okay any discussion seeing on roll call please Mr abadrabo yes Mr Awad yes Miss basford yes Mr brunsiak yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes motion carries okay next we'll move on to uh personnel we have uh P1 through p33 motion second motion by Mr albadrabo second by Dr Danny discussion seeing none roll call please here we go Mr abidrabo yes with a procession on p29 name only Mr Awad yes Miss basford yes Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes with extension abstention on p29 name only and president

086Smith yes oceans carry and next we move on to finance and Facilities we have F1 through f8 motion pushed by Mr Robert second by Miss basford discussion seeing none roll call please Mr abadrabo yes with absentron f8 Mr Awad yes Miss basford yes Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes and president Smith yes motions Kerry oh excuse me I I need to make a correction yes on uh because I'm involved with the unsung heroes for the new school board so I have to abstain on use of facilities thank you okay with that correction the motion earned secondary have no problem it's hearing none all right we'll move on to uh board member comments um Mr Robert drama we started with you last week so Mr rawad

087you're up first I'll keep it short and sweet no comments that was short no that's all right miss basford good evening um I'd like to um thank everyone for coming um I too Miss Felder um it's uh the things that I've learned in the last several months or years it's it's it's it's it's um getting to me as a as a human I don't speak for my colleagues these are my personal views and opinions but um as the attorney said we have to allow certain speech and it's the constitutional right freedom of speech so um a couple meetings ago there was a group of people that came to speak out and speak loudly and I hope maybe that starts to continue again because that's how you balance things out you know like when you make

088a salad you use so many pots of oil to downgrade the vinegar so that's my suggestion you guys were pretty pretty uh vocal and pretty successful the last time I hope maybe that I see that again because uh I'm getting as the superintendent said a couple meetings go tired of it and um there's a lot of my friends that are affected by that speech and people in my family as well that have identified in certain uh aspects of life and it's hurtful you know everybody has their own beliefs and you can't tell somebody what to believe about themselves so it's I'm sorry you you were 100 correct but we can't stop that um I want to congratulate all the CHS um County First teams congratulations to all the students of the month and I got

089to see Jason Rossi I used to work with his mom a long time ago so it was a pleasure to see them hear how grown up he is and yes I did have to do a project with him when he was in the third grade he interviewed me as a public official and why I did do what I do and that was a long interview but it was fun um congratulations to the pbsis and I love the artwork um fabulous I hope to see more artwork because I love color I'm not a proponent of very drab spaces I like a lot of color so anything yet time you have purple going on in there you know pokes me right up um I think uh we need to do more about um our mental well-being as

090board members and I hope that um with the counseling department we start working on more things for us and also for the uh the students uh thank you to the invitations I received for read Across America I will be responding this week I had a wait I'm taking the day off from work I had a way for approval but I will definitely be there the schools that invited me I'm going to run around but I it's the one perk of the job that's the one of the best besides graduation and being on the field without students but um I want to wish everybody a Happy Valentine's Day uh spread love spread kindness uh because we need especially in here we need a lot more than that and I apologize for my Outburst side but I

091was some of this stuff really overwhelms me it's getting to me so thank you thank you Mr Mr Brunson thank you Mr President uh just as as president Smith mentioned at the beginning of this uh meeting over 15 000 dead in turkey and Syria so uh prayers up to all those people they need it they need our help superintendent uh Dr Robert Tosi sent out the communication earlier so hopefully there's a fundraiser or something that we could donate to members in the community as well last night I was able to attend uh my first uh play over here in in at Woodrow last night my niece was a stagehand over there lots of my neighbors their their kids were involved as well and it was called Frozen Junior the second showing was tonight but we

092probably all missed it because we were all here so shout out to everybody over here who who came today but those who attended yesterday there was not one parking lot not one parking spot in that school lot in the far in the back of Woodrow and it was absolutely fantastic uh Mr Uchi was in attendance as well with his wife and son and it was absolutely fantastic I must have seen Frozen movie uh about 20 times when my daughter was younger so at least and it was a wonderful representation so there are a lot of these types of things happening in our community and I urge the community to pay attention to uh announcements regarding these types of of uh events in our community they're absolutely fantastic bringing the community together and uh I can't

093thank everybody enough from Principal Jaeger to uh all the stage hands and everybody who made it an absolute success yesterday absolutely wonderful um and again thank you everybody for attending tonight congrats to all the recipients of the awards thank you for your time and God bless America have a good night everybody thank you uh Mr Mejia thank you president Smith I first like to say good luck and congratulations to all the fall sport athletes and all the winter sport athletes I know it's a good season coming up um congratulations to all the center of the months especially um those who are seniors you know you're gonna end up in college pretty soon so you know take this all in right now um I also want to send mechanosis to the people up in turkey and

094Syria to happen because of the massive earthquake um I know that was packs a whole bunch of families not just here Clifton but especially the whole United States I'd also like to send my kenosis to a childhood friend of mine that recently lost his father um Anthony Joseph um senior so I know he does still have some siblings here in the Clinton School District and I know I don't know how that would feel I haven't lost anyone recently but I know it's definitely tough on him and his family and I also like to thank all the school counselors I know a school counselor week and you know school counselors hold a deep place in my heart you know without them helping me out through the throughout the years I don't think I'd be where I'm

095at today so thank you thank you Mr Paris thank you Mr Smith um our prayers and concerns to those affected by the earthquake and turkey and Syria and their families here um congratulations to the award-winning student and athletes that we honored this evening as well as the students of the month the student artwork for pbsis thank you for sharing that with us it was it was wonderful to see that we have such talented artists as well as great readers in Clifton um thank you to the the city uh police department and to um the city manager for taking action on the school nine safety concerns that were discussed in the security meeting and uh just a reminder to those of you who love beef steaks which are kind of unique to New Jersey and some

096tell me Clifton is the origin of the beef steak I would like to think it is there's a ban beef steak coming up on February 17th Friday and you can get your tickets I believe on on their website online there's a contact thank you that banned beef steak is also the Tricky Tray right yes um boys and girls got right um Mr Santiago thank you president Smith um just like to Echo of course um you know prayers to uh those affected by the the earthquakes um and and their families here as well uh congratulations again to all the student athletes and student of the month um I just wanted to share that as we mentioned earlier uh commissioner Mejia commissioner brunsiak and I attended the New Jersey school boards Association new higher new member orientation

097and it was a great information for the three days but one of the things we noticed I don't want to speak for everybody else but I think we're in agreement that you know our district is really far ahead of other districts um in many in many factors from technology to committee to the support to just so many things and we just kept you know they were they were the other members were in awe of us so we don't have that we wish we had that so just kudos to everyone um to our district and to our board um it is uh as we mentioned Black History Month which is you know American history so um you know many ways to get involved if you want or something as simple as listening to a podcast or

098a documentary or reading an article or reading a book um you just want to get get more educated on that uh Mrs Gaudet thank you very much that was very kind of you appreciated thank you for that our robotics team good luck to them they're going out to Pennsylvania and other places to compete that that's awesome um and uh also national school counselors uh week was great to celebrate that recognize that they do amazing work they care for our students they counsel they advise they're in ear the shoulder to cry on and way way more than that so we really appreciate all their efforts um I think that's it for tonight thank you guys good night thank you Dr Davey him I do that all the time see I didn't look at my notes Mr

099abadravo congratulations to academic athletes and our students of the month um what I think Miss Felder was trying to allude to congrats also our three student writers of the Clifton times um we'll hopefully she'll she'll expand more on that later um the earthquake of turkey and Syria I think has been the most treacherous times since um 2014 or 2011 of Japan where over 20 000 people have perished so my prayers and thoughts to not only friends community members but Civic community members of the world um who are trying to put things together and this is a time when we do come together we should always come together but there's a time when we come together even closer to help one another I have a few more things but I'm just gonna touch on one more

100thing and then one other one thing that's been bother me all night uh the pie in the face contest which I was able to take part of where Mr uh Paris and I were in contest with um thank you to the Key Club for raising over two thousand dollars and Mr mccunney for putting over putting together that video it was a fun um fun time I think it was about a week ago you know people think speakers for coming up but tonight was disgusting anybody knows me I'm very vocal and I don't care and I'm going to speak on my behalf and not anybody else's when you talk about the norm of what your Norm is I think is disgusting the norm of a human citizen is about love acceptance and respect you talked about

101mental disorders how dare you who are you God to say that there's mental disorders of people who you don't believe or don't agree with i for one I'm an airline in front of the lgbtqi plus community and this is not a stand show this is not this is something that we my legs are shaking around because that's how viciously pissed off I am and I think we should and you know what what Miss basper said we should pack this room this way they shut their mouths because you know I hope he comes back because they decide to talk and do this every single time and they leave because they don't want to hear the truth they don't want to hear that they are the minority in their voices not the majority and we need to

102show that yes parents can opt out all right so what we understand that you don't agree with the health standards but do not berate and individual because you don't agree with them that is atrocious that is disgusting and Despicable I honestly really hope and I really hope the citizens of Clifton are hearing this because we do need to pack this room up enough is enough yes there is you have your first amendment to speak but you know what an individual has their Amendment and their rights to believe in what they want to believe in it's not about religion it's not about culture it's not about anything else it's respect love and acceptance and we all in any religion in any culture in any Community are taught that from kids age and enough is enough thank

103you Dr Danny so um I'd like to say uh first of all good evening and um congratulations to all the students who received Awards it's so nice to see students come up again we're Board of Education and when this started during my time here on the board of education it's really nice that it's continued and um you know that we take that time before we really get into everything else to you know acknowledge those students who have done really well um I'd like to say thank you to all the counselors in the district for all that you do for the students and helping them with the process of you know course scheduling or you know looking into the colleges that they want to go to so thank you very much um I don't know Dr

104Michael O'Connor who is a Clifton High School social studies teacher but I want to um commend him on attaining his doctorate degree because I know the the time that it takes to get that you know they there's so many that are ABD all but dissertation and they never get to that level so I really commend you because it's a process that I'm just happy that I'm done with but it really took a lot of time from family for friends from going out and doing things so I really want to commend you on that and um it is Black History Month so I thought that you know Dr Martin Luther King Jr quote he said the function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically intelligence plus character that is the

105goal of true education and you know there are things that are said here and as many of the board members said there's freedom of you know speech and they can say things of course not just anything that they want but um sometimes things might upset you that you hear but there isn't you know again um you can't shut down people because once you start doing that you become you know oppressive so um there's a quote and it's by a um African-American woman and it says um nobody in the world nobody in history has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who are oppressing them and I just feel like you know it's it's two worlds and you you know what I mean you you I think this quote by

106this woman who's um an African-American woman really you know that just sort of stuck out at me from everything that's been going on and finally I want to say Happy Valentine's Day to everybody to um especially my love John and um that's it so thank you foreign she's an expert in lobster so make sure that you uh you get some Lobster from her um I am you know one of the hardest things of being um on this day is is um and as Miss password said before she stated her personal feelings versus what the board represents and one of the hardest things sometimes is sitting up here and um hearing different people speak and you may not personally agree with them but as an elected official you have to listen you have to take it

107into consideration and vote your conscience what you think is best for the district and um it's a tough task it is a very tough task um whether we agree or disagree with the law I have to take the advice from our attorneys and as chair of the meeting I do not hold any higher power than any other commissioner here I cannot tell someone to sit down condone what they're saying um because I sit in this chair more so I have to be a a fair voice to let all those who wish to speak to speak that they would hopefully come before the board to discuss educational items but if they don't and they are five minutes they wish to speak about something else um unfortunately the law says we have to listen to it it's

108not easy thing to do I have to tell you that it's one of the hardest things to do when you don't enjoy hearing what someone's saying that's why when Mr llama comes up you know we're all so happy to hear what you're saying because it's such positivity I'm not saying that we agree on everything but in most senses it's positivity and I think the world needs more positivity and we come together as positive people helping each other and supporting each other what a better world this is and I almost wish that this room could be filled with our students to show these people that hey the the rhetoric that you use and the putting down of our district and this is Who We Are the students of Clifton we like Clifton we like our teachers

109we like being involved in sports and cheerleading and the robotics team and everything else in between the debate team and every I don't want to leave anybody out my Cask crew hero as well um every aspect of it they're proud of being Clifton High School Clifton Elementary Clifton Middle School students and we're proud of them that beginning part of this meeting is the most enjoyable part at least from this commissioner's standing that's the most enjoyable part of my night when I can see kids come up here with their accomplishments and their smiles and their parents with their smiles and their cameras that makes all this other garbage worthwhile because that's why I serve on this board is for those kids and I'll continue to fight for them I'll continue to fight to make this the

110best place to get their education and I know our three new Commissioners didn't tell you all some of their stories from their new board orientation but one of them that stuck home by Mr Santiago and um Mr brunsiak they said when they were at their new board orientation that Clifton is far above most every other school district that was there some of them haven't even appointed committees yet you can be proud that you're represented very well by these people that we work hard because we want the best for our students we work hard so that we can support and back up the best teaching staff there is and the best counselors that we have look at our kids look at the accomplishments look at the graduation rates look at the scholarship money that our kids

111receive and I'm not taking anything away from any other District but Clifton outshines most of them and we have to stand up and be proud of that and profess that and silence the other voices that are trying to destroy the good that we do here stand up and silence it don't let it get you angry don't let it get you PO'd but let it give you strength let it give you encouragement [Music] and as I said if there was a room of kids here that's what brings encouragement to me and it may be to all the rest of you but I'll defend Clifton education Clifton students Clifton teachers and staff any day of the week against anybody that's one of the reasons I'm proud to sit on the board of education of the city of

112Clifton in the state of New Jersey and I thank all of you that supported without you the taxpayer supporting education look at all the construction going around in our town that's positivity you people said our kids deserve better they should have bathrooms that are in 50 60 70 years old they should have cameras where they could be secure going to school you people thought it was important enough you should be proud of that and we're so thankful to the residents for coming out and supporting that and to continue to supportive education because tonight we made many presentations to students that are doing phenomenal things in our school district that is what we have to stand up and be proud for that is what we have to continue to stand and fight for and not allow

113the other rhetoric to try and overcome that and Mickey I will always support all students they are students they are people and they are important that's all I have for tonight uh the boy I'm sorry I'm skipping around again uh new business is there any new business before the board other than our yearbook picture we've been trying to take forever um if we don't do it tonight it will not be in the yearbook um so as soon as we break for executive session we'll do the photo before we go to executive um we are going to meet an executive session for oh I'm sorry is there a new business sorry uh I just want to make a recommendation uh since on two accounts one that we have three new board members Mr President and also

114that it's a New Jersey school board members association thing um I have my own copy but I think we should also have a basic School law book copy in one copy for the whole entire board particularly for our three new board members either left in the superintendent's office or in the Ba's office this way they can be perused by any board member uh particularly three new board members it is written by the New Jersey school board School Board Association and I don't think it'll be it would hurt to have that as a resource or a copy for the whole board to have it somewhere as a desk copy we don't have that in the circular book no that particular one now no okay is that a form of emotion yes motion motion by Mr Roberto

115second by Mr Awad um do you have a an estimated cost s 125 for our membership it's like going to a conference it's 1 25 as members um I think it's a good resource to have for the whole entire board uh to use and it's not I'm not saying that for every board member but one copy copy for the whole District okay uh not to exceed it's 120 125 okay all right so motion is to purchase this New Jersey school boards law book is that what it is yes the basic School law book basic School law book for 125 second buy Mr Awad discussion I have a question yes does it come in audio because I don't read I'm dyslexic I have to have audio can we look if it's in audio and if it

116is an audio does anyone have any objection to purchasing that as well no okay we'll include that with the resolution thank you okay we could have Janina read it well you know what all right we we're taking this photo whether it's at 9 20 or 12 20 gang and Sam wishes to have it at 9 20. all right uh roll call please on the motion Mr abadrabo yes Mr Awad yes Miss basford Mr runziak yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes and president Smith yes motion hey the board will be meeting an executive session to discuss uh one two three four five student matters action um will be taken okay motion to Executive session by Mr abadrabo second by Mr rawad any uh all in favor aye aye

117okay move to Executive session uh please do not leave yet we're going to take our picture out here right now yes before we go to Xavier thank you okay uh six seven fourteen fifteen sixteen two security guards right all right the uh uh sorry uh roll call back from executive Mr abadrabo yes Mr Awad yes Miss basford here Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia here Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago present vice president Danny yes president Smith here we have a quora uh the board met an executive session to discuss uh student matters uh we have uh resolutions uh pertaining to that so we have the two that were on the agenda uh number six and seven do I have a motion for this question second bye Mr who was that abidravo second by Mr Awad uh

118roll call please Mr abajaba yes Mr rawat Miss basford yes like to thank the Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes president Smith yes we then had um three more three more uh resolutions that would be 14 15 16. yep um second by Mr Awad and uh John would you read those please sure the the resolution I'm just going to read it once it's the same resolution for all three it says whereas following a disciplinary hearing before the student Judiciary Committee held on February 9 2023 the Clifton Board of Education hereby approves the disciplinary recommendation for students in this case there's three nine ten and eleven and authorizes as a superintendent to implement same okay roll call please Mr abadrabo yes Mr awas yes yes Miss

119basford yes Mr Brunswick yes Mr Mejia yes Mr Paris yes Mr Santiago yes vice president Danny yes and president Smith yes before the board leaves uh if everyone would please check their calendars for Saturday March the 21st we'd like to have a board I'm sorry you're right 25th Saturday the 25th there will be uh we like to have a board retreat here at um the administration building um Kathy hello our representative will be here as well as some other um so um yes I can't make it at class Saturday mornings every Saturday morning until 2 30. every Saturday morning every Saturday morning I'll show you my calendar till when you said no until what date during the Jersey asthma class from now till May anyone else have conflicts on Saturday I do on the 25th

120of March yeah yeah and every that just that Saturday just last Saturday yeah okay anyone else we'll send you in a minute I work on Saturdays but I could give myself off okay I'm gonna send an email out you're gonna pick dates whoever can make it to make it who can't who can't nothing I can do about it okay all right motion to adjourn motion a wide second by Mr arbitravo thank you thank you everybody