June 4, 2020 - Clifton Board of Education Meeting

001please stand for the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem performed by our students 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 clifton strong [Music] wow [Music] ah [Music] bye hello can we please continue to stand and have a moment of silence for peace in our country and for all those affected by covid19 officer you can be seated attendance roll call of board members mr daley here mr casper here mr pasenti mr smith here miss danny here would anyone like two of the board members like to read the mission statement dad frank are you can you do it mr casper you there i forgot i was on mute okay the clifton school

002district in an open and reciprocal community partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a democratic society in an ever-changing world thank you mr casper next order business is the reading of the open public meeting statement the new jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of 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 place thereof posted at the city clerk's office clifton public library administration building senior

003citizen 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 policy 0168 next order of business is recognition and awards presentations which we will have later next door of business is the adoption of minutes can i have a motion to adopt the minutes of the regular meeting of may 21st 2020 and the executive meeting of 21 2020 motion by miss basford second by mr smith any revisions concerns roll call mr abby drabo yes miss basford yes mr canova yes mr daley yes mr casper yes mr smith yes danny yes motion carries next order of business is communication and announcements of which there are none next order of business is first reading of policy and we

004do have a few new jersey school school boards association number 9322 code of conduct for remote meetings coc new jersey school board association number nine three two two public and executive sessions virtual pe sv number 1581 domestic violence number 2422 health and physical education number 5330 administration of medication number 7423 supervision of construction number 8220 school day number 8462 reporting potentially missing or abused children next order of business is the presentation of reports from administration advisory committees and special committees so we have recipients of the 2019-2020 governor's educator of the year award dr robert chozi if you would like to take over at this point thank you madam president it's my honor tonight to recognize some of our outstanding teachers and educational service professionals that we have in the clifton public schools each year the

005governor has the governor of the governor educator of the year program uh and in its run throughout the entire state in clifton one teacher of the year was nominated from each school and one educational service professional was nominated from each school those individuals are then able to apply to become county teacher of the year um when a county teacher of the year is chosen then they are eligible to become the state teacher of the year and then of course out of all the 50 states the state teacher of the year has an opportunity to become the uh united states teacher of the year so we're very proud of these educators we're very proud to recognize them tonight i ask them to join us so they are live on our meeting i am going to call

006your name and then i'm going to read something uh that your principal or in some cases your direct supervisor uh said about the reason why you were nominated for your particular school so when i call your name turn your camera on so everybody could see you um and when you're done please turn your camera off first from sila b clifton early well it's actually sila a and b um our teacher of the year is julia kosey miss kosey are you here tonight with us miss cosey is an aba preschool teacher at sila bright she creates an environment that promotes learning and engages her students she is empathetic collaborative and curious she spends time getting to know her students strengths and difficulties and creates goals accordingly congratulations miss cosey the educational services professional of the year

007from celebi is miss raquel lima raquel are you with us tonight no raquel okay i'm still going to talk to that she's there i'm here oh she's there okay i can't i can i can see their faces i have to do a different layout there we go hi raquel miss lima is a preschool master teacher and preschool intervention and referral specialist that sounds awesome she brings invaluable experience wisdom and strong pedagogical practices to provide and maintain high levels of quality teaching by helping and supporting other preschool teachers she serves as a mentor to many and models best practices she coordinates and provides professional development for early childhood staff and assists with successful and safe transitions between preschool kindergarten and first grade miss lima congratulations on this honor thank you from school number one the nominee

008for teacher of the year was alyssa stepnesky is elissa with us tonight there she is alyssa is a first grade teacher uh and her principal says always has a smile alyssa where's that smile there it is alyssa's positive attitude and advocacy for all children represents the true spirit of exceptional educators she is an outstanding teacher and an asset to our district congratulations elissa for being the teacher of the year from school one thank you and the educational service professional of the year from school number one robin greengrove robin are you with us hi robin robin is a outstanding school nurse she's uh robin are you at work now i am you are wow she uh robin robin performs her responsibilities in a nurturing and respectful way to assist students staff and families she knows all

009of the families at school one she makes us extra proud by volunteering in hospitals during the covet 19 pandemic robin is that what you're doing now volunteering that's wonderful congratulations thank you so much for doing that and congratulations on your honor thank you from school number two the teacher of the year nominee is diane jacomic hi diane diane is a self-contained special education teacher at school number two she is a phenomenal educator who's deeply committed to the success of all her students both academically and socially diane has a special bond with each of her students and they often come back to visit and share their accomplishments with her she's a conscientious dedicated and passionate teacher who was a valued and celebrated member of the school 2 family congratulations diane on being teacher of the year

010from school too thank you the ed service professional of the year from school 2 is the school counselor lisa heiner hi lisa thanks for being with us tonight lisa is a dedicated elementary school counselor who has an excellent rapport with the diverse group of students she serves at school to although lisa has a huge responsibility in her job she never hesitates to help out a student or colleague in need she is consistently reliable dependable and humble during her tenure at school too she is the epitome of what an educator and counselor should be congratulations to you lisa thank you our teacher of the year from school number three is leanne rosado hi leanne thanks for joining us leanne is has been an elementary teacher for the clifton public schools for nine years she is currently

011a first grade teacher mrs rosado is a compassionate talented and dedicated teacher she's also a teacher leader who works collaboratively with all stakeholders and is loved by parents and students overall mrs rosado embodies all the wonderful characteristics of an exceptional teacher congratulations to you leanne as being teacher of the year from school number three thank you so much and the educational service professional of the year from school number three is anna zuluwaga is anna here tonight there she is mrs zuluwaga has been a speech and language specialist for clifton public schools for nine years she's the preschool and elementary level mrs zuluwaga has a contagious smile with a kind and caring heart to match uh mrs zulawaga collaboratively works with teachers child study team members parents and administration to meet the needs of her students

012congratulations anna i hope i didn't mispronounce your last name too many times no you said it perfectly thank you very much thank you and congratulations thank you from school number four the nominee for teacher of the year is dana dersukius dana here tonight hi dana mrs desukias is charismatic creative and always willing to go above and beyond for her students she has shown excellent classroom management skills and has developed a rapport with both her students and colleagues that is characterized by mutual respect she embraces the opportunity to prepare her students for success with a positive attitude and tackles the challenge year after year with ease ensuring that her students are successful every step of the way congratulations to you dana i'm being teacher of the year from school number four thank you so much our

013educational services professional of the year from school number four is kristin real a reading recovery teacher kristen is a dedicated reading specialist at school floor and has worked in our district for 18 years she is a driven dedicated teacher who develops inspiring relationships with her students her pleasant and supportive demeanor allows for a positive and productive learning environment geared towards the needs of individual student learners ms real is responsive to her students needs and is always prepared with a variety of different strategies and tools to help her students succeed congratulations to you kristin thank you very much dr robert jose thank you the teacher of the year from school number five is alexandra wisnowski hi alexandra you know i told you when when we met that i love your name because that's my oldest daughter's

014name i remember that thank you mrs wisnowski is a valued member of the school five family serving as a third and fourth grade special education teacher she demonstrates how caring and dedicated she is in meeting the individual needs of her students through her conscientious planning creative instruction and most importantly the love of her students that that makes me happy alexandra is a valuable member of the school 5pbsis team in addition to leading the school-wide character development program she helped to create congratulations alexandra thank you so much from school number eight the teacher of the year is mrs mata mrs meita are you with us tonight all right there she is mrs mata has worked for the clifton school district for 25 years she first started at the high school as a basic skills instructor and

015for the past 20 years has been at school eight as a fifth grade teacher mrs maida is known for being a kind caring and compassionate teacher she uses humor and a diversity of programs and techniques to enhance the learning environment in her class students always come first her students are encouraged to be proactive and take a more active role in their educational experience in their school community congratulations mrs maita teacher of the year from school number eight thank you our educational service professional from school number eight is hillary van gaal is hillary with us tonight hi hilary hillary stepped into the new role of elementary math coach coach this year after teaching for over 20 years she rose to the occasion her knowledge of the mathematics standards using data to drive instruction and instructional strategies

016in order to support instruction help clifton teachers increase student achievement most importantly she used this year to build relationships with teachers and administrators it's these relationships that have enabled teachers to feel comfortable and confident in letting her support student learning in their classrooms congratulations hillary keep up the great work our teacher of the year from school number nine is melissa sternberger hi melissa when it comes to identifying a model of excellence for teaching there is no better example than ms sternberger she is dedicated reliable and consistently goes above and beyond so that our students receive the best educational experience possible she is a trusted colleague and friend to all the clifton school district is very lucky to have her congratulations melissa thank you so much the educational service professional from school number nine is laura

017lazar laura is a speech therapist laura is a speech therapist who provides the students of clifton exceptional speech therapy throughout the school year she is kind caring and always finds creative ways to motivate and encourage her students she's a true professional and we are fortunate to have her as part of our staff congratulations laura and keep up the great work our teacher of the year from school number 11 you're very welcome our teacher of the year from school number 11 is sophia thank you you you're welcome sophia parmigia sophia are you with us did i mispronounce your last name i feel like i did farmiga farmer oh i just thought it was going to be more exotic than that that's easy thanks for joining us tonight sophia uh mrs farmiga is a art teacher she

018is truly the definition of what a renaissance person is mr puzo says we have discussed art literature languages etc and she's brought these conversations to her students at school 11 and used them to create works of art with those students this year she collaborated with mrs peasey world language teacher on the artist brito and his pop art students created their own work of pop art from these lessons thank you sophia for being an outstanding teacher and keep up the great work congratulations thank you the educational service professional from school number 11 is nicole zareski school nurse hi nicole nicole is a great source of valuable information more importantly she is knowledgeable of all the students who are enrolled at school 11. she is a comfort for her students and is patient and comforting to their

019parents she gracefully deals with all situations in a warm and professional manner thank you so much nicole and keep up the great work thank you so much our teacher of the year from school number 12 is miss luciana camanero good evening how'd i do with the name pretty good yes i'm making it italian is it italian it's portuguese uh i'm close i'm close close luciana thank you for joining us tonight luciana is english as a second language and bilingual head teacher in our school building she is a resource for teachers through our building and is always filled with many ideas for instruction and how to deal with educational situations she has been appointed the lead esl bilingual teacher in our school building and often turns key information that she has learned she has also taught

020many of the staff professional development courses such as saya and handles fisk information and orders for a school language department she's always willing to help her students with any academic remedial needed and she often goes above and beyond to teach content until it is learned congratulations to you luciana and keep up the great work thank you the educational service professional of the year from school number 12 is mr angel castro angel with us tonight yes hi angel thanks for joining us uh mr castro is the counselor at school number 12. he has genuine love for all the students and has become someone students rely on every day mr castro is constantly approaching students in a friendly manner asking them about their day and what they have learned he is a walking computer with important information

021about all 600 plus students in our school building he makes it his business to get to know students and their families often personally contacting them or popping into a classroom just to say hello he is dedicated to his profession and works hard to provide great service to the students and staff angel great job congratulations and keep up the great work thank you so much i appreciate it our teacher of the year from school number 13 is mrs liliana habadank are you with us background sorry about that she's coming joining us tonight from san francisco yes i'm sorry about that we have we're using the ipad my chromebook stopped working five minutes before the meeting you're here that's all that matters you're here it's okay uh mrs habedank teaches language arts and math to bilingual third

022fourth and fifth graders at school 13. her task is monumental to determine what her students needs are when they get to our school figure out the best way to fill in any gaps differentiate for each student's unique level provide opportunities to learn the language and customs of america and provide a crucial link between our families and the school mrs habedank is a tireless crusader for her students offering the support they need while demanding the best from them congratulations eliana and keep up the great work thank you so much our educational service professional from school 13 is miss nancy pescoski nancy are you joining us tonight nancy is a special education paraprofessional that works with triads at school 13. mrs pescoski's warm patient demeanor is a benefit to every student in her class and her incredible

023ability to anticipate the needs of everyone she works with from teachers to the students as a major amazing congratulations to you nancy thank you thank you our teacher of the year from school 14 is lisa post hi lisa hi everyone mrs post is it excuse me everybody got a little choked up there mrs post is a true team player who displays a passion for helping her students she's always trying to find new ways of remaining up to date with current educational trends and best practices to better assist her students to be independent and successful in this room the growth observed that her basic skill students from the beginning of the year has been absolutely remarkable parents consistently praise the progress they see in their children and often bring it to mr habitank's attention lisa great

024job and please keep up the great work congratulations thank you so much our educational service professional from school 414 is heather carew a behaviorist heather are you with us tonight yes good afternoon or good evening sorry good evening heather thanks for joining us mrs crew is truly selfless and consistently goes above and beyond when working with staff and students she is reflective of her practices and is constantly finding ways to better assist her students reach their goals as outlined in their ieps and behavioral improvement plans as a behaviorist mrs crew works hard to make sure that our teachers are comfortable with implementing behavior plans and is always wrong to spend whatever time necessary to help the teachers and their students be successful congratulations to you heather thank you very much from school number 15 our

025teacher of the year is mrs karana vega mrs vega are you with us tonight hello how are you good how are you mrs vega is an exceptional teacher she is eager to learn reflective of her practice and always willing to help others mrs vega works diligently to motivate her students by providing an energetic and invigorating learning environment she goes above and beyond to ensure that her students are successful mrs vega is an asset to the entire school 15 community congratulations karena and keep up the great work thank you so much our educational service professional from school 15 is mrs anna daley crespo mrs crespo are you with us tonight mrs crespo is a paraprofessional who loves and cares for all students not just the ones she works with directly she is always willing to assist

026students parents and teachers alike the care compassion and empathy she shows is commendable congratulations to you uh mrs crespo and our teacher of the year from school number 16 don doing you here with us tonight dawn has been a physical education teacher for over 20 years with the clifton board of education she is innovative inspiring and cares for all students each and every day she goes above and beyond her duties as a physical education teacher by participating in many school committees infusing technology into her lessons and creating sensory lessons with an environment for students with autism to have a safe place to be physically fit while in school this award and recognition is well overdue congratulations to you dawn and our educational service profession professional from school number 16 is miss jenny teachin are you

027here jenny has been a part of our school 16 family for two years now her role as a school counselor is very important for students and staff she is responsible for the inrs process fundraising and has a leadership role in our pbsis team miss teaching is full of wonderful ideas and spearheads many events for our school she is a positive role model for students and has a wonderful way of helping students deal with school related issues she walks in with an infectious smile every day and is loved by everyone at school 16. congratulations jenny keep up the great work thank you so much okay the big three are left the two middle schools in the high school oh no i'm sorry school 17. i apologize school 17 and then the big three our teacher of

028the year from school 17 is frances carlo miss carlo is an educator that shows her dedication and commitment to the school her students and the community each and every day she constantly seeks professional development and joins in implementing new educational initiatives within the school not only is she part of the pbsis team she is also part of a select group of teachers who are currently piloting the arts integration program at school 17. her love of education is both unwavering and admirable congratulations carla thank you so much i appreciate it and the educational service professional of the year is susan grimsland so are you with us tonight i am all right sue is an educational professional that shows her exceptional practices to the staff and students of school 17 each and every day the staff students

029and parents all feel comfortable with mrs grimsley and know that she is there for them as a support in both times of illness as well as health her genuine care for the well-being of everyone within our school community is felt throughout school and her knowledge and advice are welcomed and appreciated on the daily basis her dedication and commitment are both unwavering and admirable congratulations susan please keep up the great work thank you so much from christopher columbus middle school the teacher of the year is mr jeff labriola jeff are you here tonight with your beautiful little girl i'm here where's your beautiful little girl she's not on your lap i was expecting to see her mr labriola uh is the lead art teacher at christopher columbus middle school he has positively developed the art program

030to the point of excellence that it is today he is the lead teacher on our universal team pbsis and is also the student council advisor he believes that teachers first and foremost must be good human beings not surprisingly his former students come back to visit him into their twenties to talk about how he changed their lives with the influence of art jeff congratulations uh you are an incredible teacher i really appreciate it and grace will make a guest appearance if you like yes please there she is hi grace thank you thanks everyone and the that was nice babies always make me feel better um our educational service professional of the year from christopher columbus is mrs jaeger this is jaeger are you here with us tonight hi i'm here with you how are you hi

031erin erin is the middle school math coach and the coordinator of the summer academy and saturday programs at the middle school she ensures best practices in the math classroom by modeling appropriate strategies for teachers and modeling math practices for students she has developed an amazing relationship with staff and students alike her knowledge and personality make her an asset to christopher columbus to our district and to the community congratulations erin keep up the great work thank you everybody our teacher of the year from woodrow wilson middle school is cherylie caramucci hi shirley charlie's mission is to use sports and education as a foundation for our students to promote school community that empowers students to be leaders by infusing respect dignity and acceptance into every aspect of the school environment she's the leader in our school in

032embracing diversity and accepting differences by recognizing that everyone is special unique and loved she has helped our school become an inclusive accepting and tolerant place where all students are given the opportunity to develop friendships and thrive in a nurturing and caring environment congratulations to you shirley teacher of the year from christopher columbus thank you and the educational service professional of the year is none other than gene bates is gene with us tonight i am how are you hi gene how's everything i'm doing doing wonderfully thank you for asking good jane is one of the most loving and dedicated paraprofessionals that i have had the honor to work with that's what your principal said her dedication to her students her teachers and her schools beyond reproach throughout the years jeannie has always been a team player

033volunteering her time to attend evening events with her students and ensuring that they are cared for safe and happy every day jean has many positive qualities but the one that i believe is her strength is the protective nature that she has for all her students she proactively works behind the scenes to ensure her students have all the same opportunities to make friends and meet with success as everyone else gene congratulations and please keep up the great work thank you very much and finally from clifton high school the teacher of the year is miss megan graziano megan are you joining us tonight hello hi megan megan is finishing her eighth year as a science teacher at clifton high school combining her knowledge of science knowledge of pedagogy and her knowledge of her students megan's classes are

034as challenging as they are nurturing thus megan has been successful with all levels of biology students but her influence extends beyond the classroom as she serves as a faculty mentor for the stem academies and as an advisor to the heroes and cool kids program established in 2017 this program which had over 115 applicants this year trains high school students to work with sixth grade students in our two middle schools to discuss issues such as emotional wellness bullying cyber safety and substance abuse this program has helped to improve school culture at both levels while creating tighter bonds between the high school and middle schools megan congratulations to you and please keep up the great work thank you very much and last but not least our educational service professional of the year from clifton high school is

035shauna grossman sean are you here tonight shawna has been a valuable member of the clifton counseling department for the past 21 years she has worked across the district provided counseling and support services to students at all levels elementary schools 1 12 13 16 17 woodrow and the clifton high school annex and clifton high school not only has she provided counseling service but she has also worn the head of a student assistance counselor during her clifton tenure her commitment to her students is unwavering and she continues to be a true asset to the department and the district congratulations shauna congratulations to all of our teachers of the year and all of our educational services professionals of the year uh some next week you will have a lovely certificate mailed to you with a letter from me

036and we just wanted to recognize you tonight we wanted you to know that we care about what you do we recognize what you do on a daily basis and we're very very proud that to have you working in our district in our community with our children so congratulations to all the recipients and ms danny that concludes my presentation thank you i would just like to say congratulations to all of the recipients and at this moment i would just like to give alphabetically each of the board members just an opportunity to congratulate each one of you for your time and dedication so mr abedrabo thank you um i'll keep it short and brief uh our administration our teachers our faculty our staff are the backbone of our district and you know the what you put in

037day in and day out um i'm sure not only we appreciate it i'm sure the whole district appreciates it uh from the students to our parents to your own colleagues so thank you keep up the great work and you know kristen strong and always a great day to be a mustang thank you miss basford uh good evening uh one of the highlights of what we do is go to the cta dinner every year unfortunately we can't do that this year uh we get to see uh education at its finest during that dinner and we get to celebrate each one of those teachers uh for their accomplishments so from my heart to yours thank you for everything you do for our children uh we we are grateful for every single thing you do and from uh

038from our home to your home thank you thank you miss beltram could not be with us this evening because as she's an essential worker she did want me to convey to you um congratulations for all that you do for the clifton um students and mr kanova yes congratulations to all of our teachers um you do an amazing job throughout the year i know a lot of teachers that come in even in the summer and and build up their their courses and and their course work and um you know hearing those sentiments from your your principles about what it is you do hearing things like students come back and tell you how how great of a job you did with them because later on in life that's the profession that they gravitate towards based on the

039things that you did in their lives you know those are the things that really change people's lives and and really makes the the student uh and our and our whole system here really work so thank you for everything you do much appreciated mr daley uh thank you all very much um i am really uh bummed out this time of year i'm so used to go attending these things in person and i would like nothing better to look in the eye and shake your hand and congratulations congratulate you all on your nominations uh we know you do a great job uh it does not go unnoticed by the board members uh even though we're kind of off on the side but it's extremely appreciated especially by me i know what you all go through and all

040the best to you and continue teaching the greatness that you currently do thank you mr casper i'd just like to take this opportunity to congratulate each and every one of you on a job well done and uh i would like to thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for everything that you do for our students in this district mr pacenti could not be with us this evening as he is an essential worker and he did want me to um congratulate all of you for what you do to for the clifton school district mr smith what a great group of educators staff members paraprofessionals nurses um all of you have done a tremendous job in being and educating and being with our students it's just a great testament to see and to hear

041some teachers here tonight 28 years in the district 25 years in the district that shows dedication it shows your commitment to clifton and making clifton the best school district so i thank you from all of us from clifton education for all that you do congratulations so now we will continue on with our presentations our next presentation at this point um if you want to log off the educators the instructor you can at this time we won't be offended and we will have ms kusalevich presenting um njsla science presentation good evening everyone i'm just going to take a moment to share my screen uh this evening's presentation is regarding last year's 2019 njsla the new jersey um student learning assessment science assessment which was only recently released and i'm going to be giving us an overview

042of that presentation and mr mountain um the computer is telling me that the host has disabled participant screen sharing can that possibly be turned back on for me yes one moment should be okay now there we go thank you and here we go okay so once again this evening's presentation is about the new jersey student learning assessment science results for 2019. what is the new njsla science njsla science is a federally required state assessment administered to students in grades 5 8 and 11. it provides a snapshot of student performance on the new jersey student learning standards for science it has been developed in collaboration with new jersey educators with the new jersey department of education as well as new jersey's contracted science assessment vendors and it is significantly different from the old nj ask new

043jersey assessment of skills and knowledge because njsls science is more rigorous and it focuses more on the application of standards rather than memorization of content which the previous assessments had been in clifton in the spring of 2019 during this first administration between grades 5 8 and 11 we tested 2 students across the grade levels we up clifton approximates state averages at most levels what are we doing to support our students in attaining these standards so that we can show our performance on this assessment we have increased the rigor and realigned the science curriculum and pacing to more effectively address the overlapping topics in njsls science in the standards we completely redid the course the order of high school science courses now 9th graders typically focus on biology 10th graders on chemistry and 11th graders on

044physics we have increased very significantly the number of chemistry and physics sections our ap participation is consistent across all three disciplines biology chemistry and physics 19 students scored three or better on ap bio 12 on ap chemistry and 16 on ap physics the highlight um of all of our support for our science learning are the five newly renovated science labs that opened at clifton high school this past fall we're also continuing to support five areas of concentration in our stem academies as well as a con computer science concentration that's in our career academy we are using three-dimensional questioning um for formative and summative assessments we've incorporated defined stem lessons in grades three through twelve these are hands-on lessons where students try and apply and experiment with different ideas in the areas of stem as well

045as implementing gizmos in k-12 and we've been leveraging the one-to-one chromebook initiative which has been exp which is being expanded um to grades three through twelve frequently asked questions so this is a new assessment and parents around the state have been asking about it so this was the reason we needed the new test was to align better with new jersey's new science standards those standards were adopted in 2014 and were rolled out over 6 between 2016 and 2017 2019 was the first operational new test unfortunately 2020 was postponed due to the current school closures that we're experiencing as a result of that delay um this year when clifton went underwent nj cusack they did not utilize those science scores um nj cusack will measure our science scores in 2021 2022 measuring next year's results because

046we don't have a 2020 administration does a student have to pass njsla to graduate it is not a graduation requirement why do these scores look different from those of previous state science tests this does reflect new expectations of the new science standards and as mentioned before focuses on application of knowledge as opposed to the old nj ask science test how can schools and districts use this data well we are using this data from the science assessment to evaluate our curriculum and our pacing as well as instruction we use this information um to identify where we have patterns of need where we have areas that we need to focus on and the department of education under their office of standards has a huge repository of information on njsls the science standards as well as njsla science

047which is the assessment um the department of ed is going to continue to add resources um in 2020 and that is all do you have any questions thank you thank you miss kusalas do any of the commissioners have any questions for ms kusalevich okay thank you once again as you always do a great job thank you very detailed um so at this point we'll move to next order of business which is the committee ms danny excuse me um may interrupt uh we i was i was remiss in and not recognizing um our school district uh edu 2020 educator of the year um so we recognize the governor's teachers of the year from each school and we recognize the educational services professional at each school but we do have um the clifton teacher of the year

048and it's on the agenda under ea item number two but i'd like to uh to to read it and congratulate um that the board of education recognizes the 2020 educator of the year which honors an outstanding educator in the clifton public schools the selection committee has named cherylie caramucci special education teacher at woodrow wilson middle school mrs caramucci has been selected for this distinction by her colleagues for her dedication to the teaching profession the clifton board of education and superintendent of schools commends her for her dedication to education and strong commitment to the children of clifton so mrs caramucci please forgive me for not mentioning it earlier and congratulations on a uh incredible honor thank you thank you and the board congratulates you okay so the next order of business is board committee reports we'll

049start with the may 27th policy meeting thank you um policy committee met on may 27th we began at 5 pm attendees were myself board members joe konova frank casper jim smith administration was dr danny roberto janino gucci levis and lou ross we discussed um a policy on it's um it's a code of conduct from new jersey school boards association about remote meetings we discussed uh new jersey school boards association 9322 public and executive sessions it's about a virtual meeting uh so the discussion was held on the 9322 code of conduct and the pesv which is the public in executive sessions it was agreed that the committee members review the proposed code of conduct as well as the proposed bylaw on public and executive sessions which added sections concerning virtual meetings all proposed changes should be

050sent to committee chair myself by june 1st we uh we will we were concerned about wording i haven't received anything so as far as i know it's it's going fine and it's going to move forward uh mention was made to delete paragraph number 30 13 of the code of conduct and to amend paragraph 12 to include the following proposed as uh similar language all members who participate in executive session will ensure to take all necessary steps to the best of their ability to maintain the confidentiality of executive session and to participate behind closed doors or in a secure and private location as feasible within the confines of their setting without any member non-members of the board being present the discussion was held to amend paragraph three a code of conduct to include the following proposed

051or similar language we will we will to the best of our ability given unforeseen interruptions under circumstances that can occur when participating from home or other locations in a virtual manner focus on the business of meetings within just without distractions or multiple um tasking a lot of times people can't help it they have uh children walk by or dog spark it's it's just we're home so uh we're gonna try to our best ability to make it um a decent and uh productive meeting it was also discussed to look into incorporating the language of new jersey school boards association bylaw 9322 and the public and executive sessions into our straus ismay policy 155.1 which was attached to everybody's minutes the committee also uh reviewed the following mandate strauss esme policies which are on the um then

052tonight uh 1581 domestic violence 2 4 2 2 health and physical education 5330 administration of medicine and 8220 school day number three the committee reviewed the following mandated straus as may policies and will bring them to the board for adoption with the following amendments uh number 7243 is supervision of construction the business administrator slash board secretary and or his designees will be inserted into the blank spaces in paragraph one and two both options paragraph at the end of seven three four three will include in proposed policy the business administrator board secretary and his destiny shall be inserted in a the first option paragraph and superintendent shall be inserted into the second optional paragraph b number 8462 reporting of potential missing or abused children discussion was held on acquiring posters and notices in various languages to

053post in schools throughout the district it was further agreed to recommend that the distance superintendent or his or her designee be inserted into page two as the school district's liaison c two one zero two excuse me two one one zero philosophy of education the committee decided to hold off on moving for adoption of the within policy pending conclusion about district strategic planning meeting um the meeting adjourned at 5 50 and mr ross uh respectfully submitted the um the minutes any questions that's my report thanks madam chair thank you vice president chair next order of business next is the passaic county agenda june 2nd 2020. okay so i attached the minutes in the agenda for you to look at for this evening so i virtually attended the passaic county uh school board meeting on june 2nd

054there was an unanimous vote um for nancy schwartz from pompton lakes as delegate and joseph kenova from clifton as alternate delegate for the njsba board of directors so congratulations again mr canova uh mr jeff fisher congratulated uh ms schwartz mr kenova on being elected as delicate and alternate he updated us on workshop 2020 so unfortunately this year uh we're going to have virtual uh we will be having a virtual workshop uh since the um the building that we were going to be in is uh used as a field hospital and um he also was talking about a loss of revenue because um of the sponsorships which wouldn't be able to make it down there this year uh the good news is there has uh not been a dues increase for the 11th straight year mr

055sinclair our our past president also reported on workshop 2020 it will be running from october 20th through the 22nd and board members can earn uh academy credits uh by taking it virtually our county superintendent mr carlos rodriguez was in attendance he was talking about tough decisions that had to be made since march 17th when we had to go virtual with our virtual learning services are being provided for our special education students he will be having a conversation with the superintendents from passaic county this friday which is tomorrow uh social emotional learning will be a key point of conversation at this meeting a reopening plan um he hopes will be available by mid-june and um a discussion will also be made on personal protective equipment uh for schools opening next year uh some other topics that

056were in discussion and questioned about was uh were fair funding uh school budgets uh and busing uh during our current issue mr ray penny talked about the governor's budget meeting uh for the end of august he said that we should have multiple budget plans because things keep on changing on a daily and weekly basis um he would like to make a virtual tribute for our unsung hero students unfortunately we couldn't hold that event this year so he would like to have um a photo sent down to him for that occasion and of course smith cathy hallowad talked about the new nj sba remote code of conduct which can be found on uh the njsba workshop on the s nj sva website are there any questions thank you mr counter thank you i would like to

057say again i know i said it last week uh last meeting but mr canova again congratulations on being alternate delegate for new jersey school board board of directors thank you the next is the facilities committee minutes may 28 2020. facilities since mr presente is not here does this mr j or mr conovo would like to read those minutes yeah i can read it uh facilities committee meeting may 28 2020 board members present jim daley joe canova gary passante dana beltran administration president danny robertozzi michael uchi janina kusalevich al martin marcion and martijn meeting time is 2 p.m to 3 40 p.m items of discussion central office registration room mark gingaro mr jango presented administration's vision for old head start space in central office there are staff concerns when people come to the building because we

058have a very large influx of families and visitors the presentation included how families currently enter the building and how the plan would be to make the head start entrance as a welcoming center which has ada access the welcoming center should include all offices that families would need such as registration esl guidance etc most of the work can be done in-house except to carpet the floors the committee recommended this to move forward as a summer project and should be completed by september of 2020. summer projects school 14 update the two classrooms at school 14 have been abated and the water issue has been resolved the refinishing of the rooms is about two weeks from completion school 15 roof roof at school 15. awaiting permits the project will be completed by the start of next school year

059bms school 17 awaiting permits the project will be completed by the start of next school year school 1 and school 5 electrical upgrade the project is completed however we are waiting on public service to hook up the new polls to the building we are working with a contractor and architect to get public service to come in as soon as possible district-wide painting update once summer is cleaning once summer cleaning is completed the maintenance department will begin painting again the plan is to try to keep as much painting in-house to provide overtime for custodians and maintenance employees however we will obtain quotes for some schools for the committee to review in order to get more schools painted before the start of the school year architect professional service fees there was a discussion regarding architectural professional service

060fees for construction projects potential purchases by year end wooder wilson middle school locker room hvac unit electrician maintenance van there will be a resolution to pass these purchases on the june 4 agenda they are being purchased through cooperative and state contracts using the maintenance reserve budget express heating internal controls the committee is reviewing the recommendations made by kpmg again internal controls are being enhanced by the maintenance department standard operating procedures will be drafted weight room and locker room ventilation at the stadium the issue of ventilation at the stadium weight locker room was brought to administration's attentions attention quotes will be received and it will be fixed as soon as possible thank you mr canova do any of the commissioners have any questions seen in the next one is finance committee june 2nd would anyone like

061me to read the finance but mr daley he's trying to himself yeah okay so i didn't know just give me a thumbs up mr daily if you want me to do it if you're having an issue we still can't hear anything okay there you go okay um okay all right the um board of education finance committee meeting on june 2nd at 2020 board members president with mr kenobi miss beltran and myself administration president was uh dr robert tosie uh mr yusi miss kusalavich mr tegen and mr thomas uh item the meeting was held from 310 to 435 items of discussion was number one uh state aid discussion uh unexpectedly late on may 23 governor murphy said all districts revise state aid because the state budget is tentatively cutting the additional 336 million to all school

062districts from the state budget clifton was going to receive 7.8 million in additional state aid which the board would uh port which the board built its budget and that was submitted to the county office revised state aid is only an increase of 2.5 million therefore by state aid is cut by 5.3 million additional prior priority and maintaining all staff and programs at this point in time there'll be no further guidance on how districts will be allowed to resubmit their budget or by what means the administration and the committee had an initial discussion on how to balance how to balance budget renew state aid such as cares grant funding utilizing additional surplus cutting certain aspects of the budget using reserve account funding if available tax levy etc no dish no decisions will or can be made

063without the guidance from the department of education i'd like to add one thing that we'll have i think we're going to have an executive discussion uh because also in part of this discussion was impact on employee contracts so we'll have to discuss that in executive session thank you mr daley any of the commissioners have any questions uh i do just uh tag on to that um mr daily of commissioners on the legislative committee the ones we do not know yet uh there will be a legislative meeting um with our state legislators on june 9th to discuss strict district funding and before coming hopping on to this meeting i found out um that somebody when we're assembling women timberlake sheep of staff has invited the government relations person from the department of education uh so that

064we can have somebody directly from the doe to discuss um our concerns with our budget and the costs thank you mr abu drabba uh uh let me also add that everybody can listen to as we also uh one of the cadre of items we discussed is uh getting permission from the department of education to pro rata cut uh all our uh out of district uh school uh budgets in other words charter schools pcti special ed the idea here is if we're taking cut everybody should have a pro rata cut in their apportionment of the money they should get full pay that was the feeling of the committee and i believe the administrative staff too as well thank you seeing there are no comments we'll move to the next item on the agenda public recognition this

065portion of the meeting is open to the citizens of clifton for the purpose of addressing resolutions on this agenda only prior to the meeting we had citizens um had the ability to write in their responses and at this time mr uc will read into record the responses thank you yes all right so kind of like last time there's a lot of comments so please bear with me and i'm very sorry if i mispronounce your name i'll try my best all right brittany gascion english teacher i'm writing to let you know about my wonderful colleagues at clifton high school on wednesday may 20th and thursday may 21st caps and gowns were distributed to senior students as they prepare for graduation over a dozen teachers volunteered their time over those two days to be sure that the

066process was safe and went smoothly for all involved the students who came were appreciative of these efforts and it showed ashley latrace school 2 grade 5 and is the cheer leading coach as well she just wanted to share that the 5th graders at school 2 had collaborative google meets with teachers guidance counselors and the principal from woodrow wilson middle school to help students feel good about their upcoming transition to middle school it was a it was very productive and students feel so much better after being introduced to familiar faces they will see next year at woodrow it was also a great opportunity for fifth grade teachers to collaborate with sixth grade teachers and communicate about their students thank you for all you do this is jose rivera teacher at the high school dear clifton community

067as we face the challenge of ending the 2020 school year away from our students i'm amazed at the dedication of my colleagues and ensuring that our students and fellow staff are nurtured through these difficult and uncertain times i think of the teams of teachers and counselors at the high school who via email or google hangouts diligently collaborate to figure out how much how to get in touch with hard-to-reach fans students and families i think of my co-teacher mrs priestley who has brought many excited smiles to juniors in our classes by mailing birthday cards to those who have been quarantined on their birthdays they often send us messages oozing with appreciation and gratitude exclaiming you made my day i think mr terry who in addition to endeavoring the with the robotics team to manufacturer ppe for

068those in need has taken students who are struggling to remain motivated under her wing coaching them and pushing them to make a bet to make a better effort to finish the year strong i think of miss anderson who traveled to my home in west orange to deliver a lucky leprechaun package at my door when our little gift exchange game was cut short by the closing of the schools if the district has done some if the dis if this district has done something right is to hire a workforce of educators who care deeply about our students and each other the dedication and commitment our faculty and staff have for the clifton community makes me proud to be part of the mustang family uh jaclyn turk i'm an english teacher key club advisor and parent of a

069sophomore at clifton high school i would like to thank my daughter's teachers mr lafranco mr anderson mr dixon coach fila mrs khalil miss casione mr o'reilly for going above and beyond and educating my daughter with fun intelligence creativeness wit kindness and compassion after teaching our students please ignore vera deets mrs miscacion and i hosted a virtual q a with award winning author a.s king for all of our sophomore students her her teachers mr stewart mr weiss mr figueroa coach griskin and coach latito even made her birthday video messages for her sweet 16 because it was canceled thank you to the high school guidance counselors mrs springer for thoughtfully sending my daughter information about nyu summer film school opportunities and mr mcconney for putting together the film festival quarantine edition he also made a cameo in

070her film and guided me in buying the perfect camera for her to pursue her passion in film i would like to thank the 50 teachers who volunteered for the clifton high school reopening committee to make plans for september to keep the chs community safe i serve on i serve on the distance learning some committee with miss abeda mr ashworth miss mr white mr frankel and mrs o'brien thanks to vice principal rogers and principal doctor for continuing to support the key club's service endeavors in tutoring clifton children and making phone calls to clifton senior citizens thank you to dr robertosi and the board of education for their support you provide our schools and community megan anderson teacher at the high school i have so many colleagues who have gone above and beyond to help our students

071and their families one is jessica ferraro a special ed education teacher at the high school in the early weeks of distance learning the mother of one of her students was diagnosed with covet and was unable to find tylenol the student reached out to miss pharrell and within hours jessica had put together a care package of medication toilet paper clorox swipes and snacks for the family and delivered it to her front porch another is vito friore a history teacher he has been encouraging his students to be active and engaged citizens during distant learning and has had them reflect on the world around them his writing assignments have have helped his students have a voice and critically think about how they can have a positive influence on change andrea o'rourke um esl teacher at school 12 i

072am a teacher at school 12 and i am ce the clifton educational association's pride and fast fast chair throughout the school year the cea hosts family engagement events at the schools in the in in our district using pride and fast funds from njea although we had to cancel our in-person spring events we are proud to say we were able to relocate fast funds to create virtual advance events for example next week schools 4 12 14 and 15 will be having a kindergarten virtual craft event all sponsored by the clifton education association we are happy to we are happy to be able to bring home i'm sorry we are happy to be able to bring some fun virtually as families our sponsored events throughout the year my name is tony jacobus and i teach first grade

073at school 16. i am also a resident of clifton as the school year is coming to a close i would like to thank the administrators of our district for showing care and concern for the students and teachers i appreciate the effort made by the administrators to keep us informed and well abreast of changes and challenges that we face during the last few months i would also like to thank the supervisors for their hard work and supporting the teachers by assisting us with curriculum and planning during distant learning you help make our jobs easier i would like to thank all the special subject teachers art music world language and physic physical education teachers for all of their extra efforts and hard work and staying connected to our classes and preparing fun activities for us to do

074together on our google meets last but not least i would like to thank my awesome students and their hard-working parents for making the best of this unfortunate situation the parents and my students were supportive of me and my efforts and worked tirelessly tirelessly to help their children complete their work for that i am grateful my amazing students showed me that above all we were all above all we were problem solvers when faced with this challenge we did the best that we could and i couldn't be more proud of all of them i for one am proud to be an educator in clifton um jen copic media specialist at cc i am a media specialist at both christopher columbus and school one i want to highlight the way the teachers administrators and board have come together

075to recognize the needs of our students and to keep them safe while meeting those needs we have a district to be proud of with teachers who have stepped up learned what they needed to do to continue classroom instruction remotely and move to head with their students i am privileged to work with with these teachers and and to be able to support them even when they're working from home from kindergarteners logging on to go on virtual field trips to middle schoolers creating videos to show what they know this new platform has been astonishing to watch thank you for the board for supporting all of us my name is dana yodice i'm a first grade teacher at school 14. adopting to remote teaching has been challenging trying to think outside the box and keep students engaged and

076motivated on mondays my class has a mystery reader come read us a story read a story to us the mystery reader is another teacher at school 14. students meet with me once a week for small guided reading groups and another time for math groups during the school year we had therapy dogs come to our class during language arts we were able to continue this during distant learning thursdays we met with a therapy dog or rabbit and read them stories the kids love that we are able to keep are able to keep some of the classroom routines fridays we have our fun day we have done a variety of fun activities such as live virtual tour to tamerlane sanctuary directed directed drawing with our art teacher exercises with our gym teachers scavenger hunts and a live

077magic show it's great to be able to interact and see my students through google meets i wanted to share with you an email from my student's grandma you have done such a great job with the video conferences the kids seem to really enjoy them it's not easy keeping all the kids focused and drawn in however you seem to do it seamlessly kudos to you thank you for all you do the kids really love you i always say kids and animals have the best judge of character so you must be so you must be phenomenal enjoy your day it's great to know i am able to reach my students in the classroom and through distance learning miss dawn patton school 16 pe teacher i would like to share school 16's live field day the virtual way

078yes we were live using our google me students completed ten different events we split the events into two weeks five events per week i created a video to demonstrate the events and we had a virtual practice session with the students some events were the water bottle flip magic dish towel whip it sneaker catch exercise challenge soccer goal kick soccer toss penny tricks cup stacking napkin juggling pancake flip all materials were household items each class was divided into three teams red white and blue students represent their team by wearing their team color on a on their shirt students completed their event and we took the top score from each team to declare first second and third place the classroom teacher in paris assisted in cheering and monitoring the students participating in each event students earned virtual

079toby tickets toby tickets are part of our pbsis program the pbsis team will pull winners this friday the idea is to get more tickets earned the better chance you have to win adrienne simmons bsi or basic skills teacher at school four on behalf of the school for community we have we we would like to acknowledge the hard work being done with the hard work we are being done from home in the past few months during these unprecedented times we are very proud of our students efforts across the grade levels lessons are being taught on google meets and the majority of classes have had almost a hundred percent attendance we realize school four is part of the big picture of success across the district throughout each phase of district learning and we continue to be impressed

080every day at what is being achieved carrie prop co pio apparent i would like to keep this short and not take up too much time i am a mother of a current first grader at school five my husband and i are fortunate that we still have our jobs and are able to work from home amidst this pandemic on top of us both having full-time jobs we also need to juggle our daughter's education which is mostly falling on me because of my husband's occupation i understand that this literally just happened and everyone in every industry is coping and had to throw plans together in a blink of an eye my daughter's teacher and assistant teacher are extremely supportive in all their children's educations and have really gone above and beyond to try to make the best

081out of the situation and make it fun for the kids i have filled out the survey and will send my daughter to school in september if there is a reopening i am a sport but if this remote learning is going to continue in september it needs a different approach i would normally send my daughter to school for the sake of argument 9 a.m to 3 p.m where she has taught her lessons physical education lunch etc all the teachers need all of the teachers need to be teaching on zoom for the for the time that the kids are supported supposed to be in school minus lunch time we are not receiving that currently which i do not understand why i have a co-worker in queens new york and her son who is in second grade grade

082gets just that the teacher teaches them on all day on zoom and she is able to work i do not know the behind the scenes of the teachers and what they need to do but i do not i do know that i have a full-time job that needs that i need to do other than teaching there is a full force of clifton teachers that are being compensated to do just this the bottom line is i honestly have two full-time jobs right now my real job and my teaching job i'm the parent of one but i am sure that many other parents feel this way please ensure a copy this gets to the superintendent frederick hemsey under the present conditions the virtual senior awards ceremony was a success great job by tom maleggi laurie marcion the

083head coaches and all the senior athletes mia seller euro grade four school 9. good evening dr robert tosie and members of the board of education we were thrown a curveball this year and while distant learning may have tried us i am proud to say that my class rose to the challenge i thank my students for showing up every day with smiles on their faces they inspired me by willingly coming to our daily google meets our time together were fun engaging informative my class learned how to use google slides to create a research project about new jersey which was our social studies curriculum for the fourth marking period we created comic strip stories using a program i found we laughed a little cried a little and had some and had fun challenging each other to dump

084a bucket of ice on ourselves i am a proud i am proud to be a clifton teacher i am proud of my students and their parents who supported them daily i am proud of the district for providing meals and other resources for our families and staff during the this unprecedented time there will be better days ahead may your bad days leave you with lessons and your good days leave you with memories enjoy your summer cara rose durkin miss durkin's kindergarten class at school one has been staying connected weekly through fun-filled google meets ms durkin misses her class so much and wanted all of her students to know she mailed a flat teacher bitmoji version of herself to her students with a hello letter and a list of activities and and fun they can have together

085while learning from home the students are having a blast taking flat miss durkin on adventures daily and even completing school work and activities together miss durkin and mrs catalo takala's kindergarten classes at school one also combined google meets to make a magical virtual field trip to disney together since they were unable to attend their annual field trip this year other teachers our principal and school counselors attended our fun-filled virtual trip too it was a blast name is helene chantitello and i'm a fifth grade special education teacher at school 16. i would like to thank the administration dr robert chozi miss kusalevitz dr kropanek miss zamuda and many more for their support and guidance through these last few months secondly i am proud of my students because they have continued to learn through this virtual setting

086despite many issues in their personal lives my class has been on a virtual field trip to space with slime and will be meeting pandas from the zoo next week together we have come very far a big thanks to the board for their support stay well and safe i would also like to add that as a special education teacher i have come to rely on my paraprofessionals and have the utmost respect for them this year i had the pleasure of miss wong and doreen wesley in my room and we were able to meet the needs of our 16 students i hope that the cut in the budget i hope that with the cut in the budget these pairs will still have their jobs in the fall they are very important to the education of our students

087my name is melissa sternberger and i'm a kindergarten teacher at school nine i am so honored to not only call myself a teacher but a clifton teacher i would like to thank all you all very much for the wonderful support encouragement and open communication throughout this time while distant learning has been an adjustment i am proud to share that i am i am proud to share that great learning continues virtually i love seeing smiling faces during our google meetings and have and having engaging conversation playing literacy and math games and simply continuing to connect and support each other we are also sure to read a book together during every meeting during this time we have all we have also had amazing art music gym and spanish sessions lessons thank you again for all you're doing

088and stay safe mabel fuentes a parent hello to hello to both i hope all is well with you and your families i'm writing to you as a parent whom graduated from fifth grade at school 15 17 years ago it was one of the last graduations i had due to me dropping out of middle school i know with everything that has gone through it's kind of hard to arrange anything but my child and myself would really appreciate it if there was something we can do for the kids even if it's a small outdoor ceremony for each kid to receive a graduation certificate please take in please take into consideration for many years fifth grade moving up ceremonies have been a part of many of our lives as a school 12 mom i would appreciate an effort

089to to rewarding our fifth graders the way they deserve miss brown uh teacher i just wanted to extend a big thank you to the parents of the preschool children that have welcomed us into their homes and taking time and are taking the time and helping their little ones navigate their devices during live teletherapy sessions to make distant learning possible having the frequent interactions with you parents has been a blessing in disguise as we work together to help your children achieve their goals it has been a challenge at times but seeing your children smile is a big payoff my name is alicia garbeyo and i'm a world language teacher at schools 8 9 and 14. as i reflect on these past weeks of distant learning i wanted to share what i've learned and what i know

090one i've learned that we have the best possible team of principals and supervisors led by mr teigen and the incredible and amazing genina and our new and outstanding superintendent dr robert josie number two that the communication and support they have all provided have simply been the lifeblood of this whole learning experience three that teachers have stepped up in every way possible supporting each other students and families four i know that when the history books are written one fact will shine through about clifton new jersey teachers navigated through the waves of the storm steered by the best captains bringing guidance love and compassion to all those affected by it as this nightmare comes to an end it is my hope for the sake of our schools that we capture this feeling of accomplishment and pride and

091replicate it when things go back to normal again because we are so much better together i am so grateful to be part of the clifton school community monique duterte the robotics teacher at the high school and chemistry goody good evening members of the board mr teigen and dr robert tosie thank you for continuing to support our faculty staff and students during this unique time in history i would like to take this time to thank my students who participated in the peaceful black lives matter rally this week i was encouraged by seeing them there addressing the issues of inequality and oppression without creating greater problems through rioting or being disrespectful to the police force i am very i am so very proud to be an educator here in clifton thank you to all the parents and

092and community members of these young people who are continuing to create a safe environment for all of us and dr robert tosie for your words of solidarity that were sent to our community sent out to our community i would also like to thank the dedicated group of cafeteria staff who have been such essential workers during this time they are incredibly hard-working group and i know many families who are grateful for the meals that they have been providing the robotics the robotics program has completed their collaboration with the ppe made in the usa initiative that began in march with 45 other groups of makers teachers and corporate sponsors we were able to fabricate 5000 reusable high-quality face shields and put them into the hands of frontline workers in march and april thank you for your continued

093support and of our extracurricular extracurricular programs at the high school with a 5.3 million dollar deficit we know that tough decisions are going to be made but we know but know that myself and my other volunteer engineering mentors will continue to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers through our first robotics team the mechanical mustangs caitlyn priestley a high school teacher i would like to recognize the staff members at clifton high school who have been innovative and empathetic in their communication and teaching of students during distant learning there are many more than i can single singly recognize but to name a few kathleen gordon who holds an afternoon google me in addition to our morning google meetings in order to accommodate more students for jose rivera who has called and emailed numerous parents to

094translate for our spanish-speaking parents not only of his own students but for teachers for other teacher students as well to the teachers and administrators that are working tirelessly tirelessly to give our seniors the recognition and celebrations they deserve in particular the teachers who volunteered for cap and gown distribution for mike mcconney who is compiling teacher shout out videos to present to the senior class and for megan anderson who wrote personalized letters to 122 seniors that she taught last year when they were juniors congratulating them excuse me on their graduation and wishing them the best of luck in the future crystal morales a parent i have a daughter in fifth grade at school 12 who is a safety patrol who who is on safety patrol and while i'm specifically reaching out regarding an in-person fifth grade

095moving up ceremony my sentiments would be echoed for 8th grade and 12th grade students as well even though i do not have a child in those grades i initially reached out to our principal and superintendent via email just last week after our governor released a statement that in-person graduation ceremonies could take place after july 6. so as long as social distancing guidelines remain in effect to see if our district would be open to accommodating such i'm still waiting a response i'm still awaiting an update the governor's update can be found and there's a url link i was advised about the virtual graduation however while yes i'd agree that something is definitely better than nothing i wholeheartedly believe that the district would would at least attempt to give all of our amazing hard-working students a truly

096better memory and moment for their graduations because this is a moment that could be never this moment can never be duplicated i am not asking nor expecting the same type of experience or ceremony that would normally come with the moving up ceremonies and or graduations i am just asking as a parent who would gladly donate my time if needed for any sort of setup required to make this happen if a smaller outdoor 20 to 30 minute ceremony with limited parent family attendance is that hard for is is that that hard for a district to accommodate while i understand that the teachers contracts end on june 30th i find it quite hard to fathom that those responsible for for coordinating such ceremonies would think that teachers and their parents wouldn't donate their time to make this

097moment memory happen for their children have the teachers been pulled to see if they'd be willing to help coordinate and or accommodate such for the summer my daughter has spent the past six years working hard and looking forward to her fifth grade moving up ceremony as well as the safety patrol washington field trip and how sad it is to see her and the others at no fault of their own in layman's terms robbed of not only the experience but the moment and memory that could never be duplicated we are all going through this together and it's during times like these that we are able to truly step up and not only be there for one another but also attempt to truly understand one another and as a clifton resident homeowner and parent that is fully

098involved with my school and our hsa i i had a higher expectation for a district regarding this matter anne-marie sheridan i want to share some awesome news the wood woodrow wilson middle school raises thousands for st joseph's medical center the wwms 8th grade trip a cruise on spirit cruise lines touring the new york harbor was cancelled due to covet what started as a token of generosity by a few of our families who chose to donate the trip refund to charity a fundraising effort to aid front-line workers in the battle against covet 19 became a huge success together students and teachers raised thousand seven hundred dollars to donate to st joe's hospital and medical center in patterson st joe's is one of the only area hospitals that never turns away a patient who is unable to

099pay in the last three months sj st joe's medical center has treated over 2 500 coveted cases the money raised is going directly to aid frontline workers and patients by providing essential equipment for the day to day operations of the hospital the saint joe's foundation was thrilled with the news of our donation not just because the money is needed but because our kids took the disappointment of losing the class trip and channeled it into something positive this experience has been another example of the life lessons our students have learned in the face of adversity i'm about halfway through john o'reilly's social studies teacher key club advisor clifton high school i wanted to share how one teacher jacqueline turk a sophomore english teacher and an np club advisor has contributed her organizational skills and talents to

100the clifton community since the covenant 19 pandemic began jackie realized that many clifton students were not going to have access to normal tutoring resources since the pandemic had taken away possibilities for meetings as a result she created an online tutoring service run by p key clubbers that would that would contact parents and guardians to set up digital tutoring sessions so students can have individual instructions in subjects that they are struggling with since march this tutoring service has helped many students jackie's hard work organizational ability and collaboration with our key club and community has allowed this to be very successful just just thought it was a nice moment worthy to be praised by last year's teacher of the year carla rodwig rodriguez grade 7 inclusion teacher at woodrow i wanted to take this opportunity to thank

101woodrow wilson middle school community and their and the clifton community at large for supporting the unified champion schools initiative and the woodrow wilson play unified program since remote learning we have been working hard to continue our programs and our mission for creating an inclusive school environment so that our differently abled students and students of all abilities continue to feel like they belong and their voices are heard in april we held our annual week of respect spread the word to end the r word we shared various videos from special olympics play unify teachers and students signed the pledge to end the r word and we held a mustangs our all-in day this week we are hosting a virtual summer game spirit week to support our athletes and unified partners we've had virtual high fives participate participate

102in the many fun activities from the woodrow wheels virtual field day yesterday we all ran a few miles for global running day today we danced our pants off and tomorrow we be tomorrow we be fans in the stands showing our spirit for virtual special olympics summer games opening ceremonies which can be live streamed on the sonj summer games website thank you for all your continuous support of this wonderful program my name is luciana camanero and i'm a bilingual esl teacher at school 12. i just want to take a minute to thank all our clifton school community for pulling through during these hard times to all the administrators thank you for keeping us informed and supplying us with the educational content we need to continue teaching our students to all the teachers who have gone above

103and beyond to keep their students engaged and learning thank you to all the parents for doing that what they what they can to ease the children's minds about the scary times that we are now facing thank you and a big thank you to all the students who despite this very difficult and sometimes challenging new way of learning you have not given up on your education i am honored and grateful to be part of our strong clinton community elizabeth prize music teacher at ccms on behalf of the music program at ccms i would like to thank dr robertosi mr teigen ms kuzelevitz and the board of education for their ongoing support of the clifton staff and our arts program the students of ccms have been working together throughout our distance learning to keep playing and practicing

104their instruments not only has that allowed us as t as their teachers to create virtual performance recordings of our band strings and choral groups but we have also created a virtual talent show that showcases students from throughout our whole school both in music and in art and this includes virtual performances from some of our ensembles for the students the opportunity to still create music and perform keeps them connected and engaged in their distance learning they have learned to use different video and audio technologies to do this and we could not be prouder of them i would also like to recognize my colleagues who have gone above and beyond in writing new technologies as well as able to edit as well as being able to edit these performances and ensure that our music program continues to

105thrive while distance learning has had its challenges for all of us it has also helped us continue to find new and innovative ways to make sure that our students continue to have music as an outlet to express themselves i am proud to be part of this department and this music program thank you so much for your time um miss allison zicker 6th grade math teacher at cc my name is allison zicker and june 19th will conclude my second year of teaching at ccms this year especially has shown me just how strong the clifton community is i teach sixth grade mathematics but i also have but i have also taken on the challenge as the yearbook advisor i am thankful as a non-tenured teacher that i was given the opportunity to take on a new challenge

106and learn a new skill set despite several obstacles of being able to put together a great yearbook without having many of our yearly events that would have normally been photographed the clifton students parents and faculty rose to the occasion to help me put together a fantastic yearbook that displays distance learning it was extremely uplifting to see how many students parents and staff reached out to me to provide pictures from their distant learning experiences with their loved ones although we would have all preferred to be together we are happy to have a yearbook that still displays the hard work and connectiveness of our school and community i am proud to say that this is a yearbook that students parents and faculty will be able to look back on years from now and remember these hard times

107that we all overcame together my name is virginia sheehan mishi and i am a special education teacher at school 11. i am so grateful for everything the district has been doing in support of us during these difficult times a special thanks to the hard work the supervisors have put in your hard work and communication with us is appreciated despite the challenges we have been we have still been having mean meaningful lessons with our students last week i hosted a bilingual read-aloud of a story marisol mcdonald doesn't match a story that celebrates uniqueness many school 11 and kindergarteners attended our world language teacher read the spanish parts and the rest of the kindergarten team assisted when we called out on children to share a picture and reflect and reflection relevant to the story it was a

108successful learning it was it was a successful lesson lesson and the students enjoyed it despite the up people in the world our students are still eager to learn and we will continue to look for ways to meet their needs through the school year and beyond my name is gabriella marcassel i am a grade one teacher at school 15. recently our school held at r a z raz kids imagine math tablet challenge two students per class would win a tablet based on books read and minutes logged in a very proud moment i had was when two of my first graders shared that it if they won the tablet they would give it to someone else who really needed it they are seven years old it had me in tears especially with everything going on in the

109world right now we are truly doing something right in clifton renee trevinonen art teacher at schools 4 9 14 and 15. on behalf of the elementary art staff we wanted to convey how proud we are of our students they have been producing incredible artwork during distance learning regardless of what art materials they have at home students have used their imaginations creating art with objects from nature or things they found around the house their creativity love and passion for our inspire each of us our education can be an invaluable tool for dealing with trauma and utilizing and uniting communities it is our hope that r can continue to serve to help each of our students families and our community as we navigate through these uncertain times we as educators are deeply honored to play an ongoing

110role in this we sincerely sincerely thank all the parents teachers administrators and the community for their support and participation my name is carl carmella ziegler and i am a teacher at school number 15. although we have all been home i continue to feel very connected with our students and families thanks to everyone's dedication cooperation and ability to grow with technology i would like to extend my most sincere gratitude to each and every board member for supporting our teachers schools students and families every step of the way throughout this crisis and always thank you dr robert chozi for taking the time to listen to our concern giannina gus levitz for your patience with all levels gloria lama for representing us dr batten walker for keeping us connected and a special thank you to mr jim smith

111for your loyalty and care be safe and well clinton strong good evening members of the board my name is florencia i am a third grade teacher at clifton school 17. through this year though this year had its challenges i am proud to say that all my students and their families have gone above and beyond in all that they do we couldn't have done it without the support you continue to give us every step of the way lastly congratulations to francis carlo for receiving the governor's education educator of the year award and for susan grimslen for receiving the educational service professional of the year award you're both inspiring from school 17. laurie lesler chs teacher i would like to spotlight just one of my many colleagues who have gone above and beyond during this difficult time

112of distance learning megan anderson hand wrote congratulatory letters that she is mailing to seniors who are in her classes last year and as juniors she took the time to find out what colleges they are attending next year or their future plans so she could personalize each and every letter it will be difficult not to be able to say proper goodbyes to our seniors my name is catherine siano and i have a student and i have a student at the high school who will be a senior come september first off let me start by saying how much i love dr robert tosie and want to thank the board for hiring such a great superintendent it's only the first year into his position here here and a challenging one at that and he's doing an outstanding job

113in my opinion communication has been exemplary clifton has been blessed with dr robertosi i just have a question about the reopening of schools and the guidelines i saw from the cdc i know it's still early and i'm sure dr robert jose is on top of it but i just want and i am just wondering with a school as big as clifton high school how these guidelines can possibly be followed especially since the hallways are so crowded and even at back-to-school night people walking are our people walking are on top of one another and there are many more students switching classes during the day not to mention having to take temperatures of 3 000 students plus staff and faculty every day like i said i know it's still early and i will understand if there if

114the there is no concrete of information yet thank you beth smith i am a second grade teacher at school number eight and i've been teaching in the district for almost 30 years i am also a graduate of the chs class of 86 never could i ever have imagined that we would be in a situation where we would be teaching and learning remotely i have to say i am so proud of my students and their parents for making this work making this work to the best of their abilities my second graders have really become quite the technology experts and this experience has only made them stronger school eight rocks miss you all rebecca fitzpatrick school 17 first grade firstly i hope you and your families are all safe and well secondly i want to take this

115time to tell you about my first grade students and their parents i am beyond proud of them together we have learned to effectively use google meets my students and their parents have learned to mute and unmute their microphones and use the chat box during these meets we play jeopardy to review many skills that have been taught the children also learn how to spell write and define new words they read guided reading books that are presented in the meeting and answer comprehension questions both verbally and handwritten in small group meetings tomorrow the children parents and i will be attending our first ever virtual field day for school 17. thanks to thanks to mr de perry and mr peretta we will have our regularly scheduled but special google meet tomorrow to have fun participate to have fun

116participating in the stacking cup race the students parents visiting teachers and i enjoy being able to spend time learning and having fun with each other in the safe environment finally thank you to the superintendent assistant superintendent board of education members the whole administrative team my colleagues all the parents and my students for stepping up and navigating through this challenging and unprecedented time i feel we have come out of this experience as stronger individuals and educators in our community my name is angela bien kev vics and i am a kindergarten teacher at school number 12. i want to thank dr roberto bertozzi first and foremost for connecting clifton's learning community and making sure our students are all safe and healthy during this time i also want to thank miss janina kusalavis mrs valerie kropanak and mrs

117aaron zumuda for the wonderful job they're doing at school 12 our students and parents stay connected through our daily google classroom sessions and on google meets three times a week excuse me where the teachers can still provide support and guidance for them in our kindergarten classes we are planning to do a virtual craft activity to celebrate their hard work and moving on to first grade we also went on a virtual field trip to a farm to see different animals my name is stella van winkle and i am a second grade teacher at school 15. when at this time when this time of distant learning began in march many of us were worried and unsure of many things mainly how will we teach our students without being with them luckily for teachers in clifton our supervisors

118answered this question by creating plans and lessons for all clifton students i know that this was not true for many of my friends teaching in nearby towns they had to do everything on their own in addition our supervisors met with us virtually and after every meeting i felt reassured and supported also to superintendent robert tosie your many letters of communication encouragement and support during this time are greatly appreciated finally i want to send a special thanks to you special thank you to my students and their families for all the hard work and effort they put into completing online assignments i know it wasn't easy but i am proud of all they have accomplished many have gone above and beyond what they were asked to do although i am disappointed that we weren't able to do

119the special things planned for the end of the year our virtual class meetings have been a fun way to connect and do activities together i look forward to the day when we will be back in school and together once again okay karen karana vega school 15 grade 3. i am truly honored to be a teacher for the clifton board of education during these times we have shown the importance of coming together as a group of educators for our students and community i want to thank the central administration for their continued support encouragement and encouragement together we are all clifton strong thank you tracy rubin english teacher chs many staff members in the district have demonstrated kindness generosity and thoughtfulness during this current unprecedented circumstances and i have been on the receiving end of one of

120these acts a fellow colleague and friend jennifer sveck drove to my house twice to deliver pediatric mass for my younger daughter when i was told i was when i told her i was having a hard time finding masks that fit her properly it is acts like these that are reflective of our of the colleagues i am lucky to work with and i thought you should know cheryl pianciac school eight i am a third grade teacher at school eight and i wanted to take a minute to reach out to you to let you know how amazing the supervisor and administrators have been during the most this most extraordinary time i have felt their support each and every day and they have been available to answer questions give suggestions and always and are always letting us know

121that they are there for us for anything we might need for our students for or for ourselves they have excelled at very difficult jobs in extremely difficult times andrew rosado phys ed teacher school 14. i would like to recognize the students from school 14 and their amazing effort to put forth each day during a virtual field day week every day this week students have completed two different physical fitness events and they are doing amazing i am so proud this is lori lallama president of the clifton education association i want to thank the administration and the board of education for their commitment during this challenging time and and open communication we continue to have to better our educational community i also want to thank dr robertosi for the letter he sent out to the staff and

122clifton community regarding another tragic incident in the black and brown community our students are watching this through different lenses and we must be there for them to come combat the divisiveness in this country there they will be ones to make positive changes our students and community have gone through terrible hardships from sandy to govind and now they are trying to find a way to truly support clifton's identity our diversity is our strength this is the beauty of this city which is a collage of mosaics that represent the different customs cultures languages beliefs and education we should not forget this thank you again to the staff for their hard work dedication and caring about each student they have in their class and striving to make their challenging lives better even though many of you have had

123your own challenges at home as well i appreciate it thank you elise peralta school 12 parent i would like to begin thanking the principal teachers and staff at school 12. they have made the transition to remote learning as smooth as possible and have been a great have been great supporters of the kids during this time i'm sure no one knows about the trials we as a community have faced these past few months this life-altering pandemic has left us all searching for answers and for the next move the new normal our children should be continued to be our priority as a community as a community our our focus should be on providing them with as much normalcy allowable without hindering guidelines in everyone's health i currently have a daughter in fifth grade at school 12. when

124the school year began in september she was so excited she entered the school year thinking all she had to do to look forward to as a safety patrol as it as a safety patrol the washington dc trip was a huge deal her trip to medieval times because that's where the fifth graders went every year and of course graduating with her friends she has been with since kindergarten getting an awesome teacher also helped as well with governor murphy's recent decision to allow in-person graduations after july 6 parents have begun to question whether or not a ceremony for kids is feasible our children want to feel validation for their achievements they want to feel seen not just through a computer screen the virtual ceremony was an appropriate option when we had no other choice but now we

125do school 12 has a big enough outdoor space to be able to provide the children with the most minimalist of ceremonies having approximately 100 kids and their families line up outside the school i agree is not an ideal situation by breaking the ceremony up into segments it can minimize the number of individuals on school grounds we can gather students per classroom or even break it up alphabetically these are options that could that should be considered prior to scrapping the idea altogether the ability to see their teachers and receive their certificates would put a smile on our children's faces i understand that teachers are technically not obligated to attend school functions in july but the school 12 teachers i know would happily spend a day of their summer seeing their kids smile giving each other air

126hugs and being able to just say goodbye and good luck this is a big ask and yes i have considered the fact that the district will want to approach graduation as a as a one for all approach but i i asked you as a proud clinton school parent and one who wants my child to realize at least one of these exciting ventures she so look forward to on the first day of fifth grade please allow school 12 to hold a small ceremony for its graduating class i asked for i asked for all parents talk to parents teachers and administrators i can guarantee you that most will be all for and will volunteer time and do whatever it takes to see their kids smile thank you for your time and all that you have done thus

127far to keep the district running as smoothly as possible during this difficult time chloe popovich high school student i am asking about summer assignments the math assignment is an online packet so it's no problem ap classes in language arts and history require us to read chapters in a book and or separate novels how will we be receiving these materials donna popovich parent with the covid crisis schools need to plan for september we need to have plans in place in case the state allows clifton schools to reopen in september i'm not sure where clifton is in the planning process but would appreciate an update at tonight's meeting this planning needs to take the concerns of all stakeholders including teachers teachers parents administrators and parents into account i am offering to serve as a parent representation to

128help reopen the district vito fiori social studies teacher high school good evening to all my name is vito friari and i'm a social studies teacher at the clifton high school i would like to begin by extending my gratitude to the entire social studies department during these challenging circumstances the department has risen together as one of the as one sharing insight experiences resources and materials i would also like to acknowledge teachers brian on suke for always guiding and inspiring me and amy roberto for constantly providing me with a support system and friendship to everyone at chs thank you for welcoming me with open arms this year although my first year teaching is not exactly how i envisioned it at the moment i know that i am exactly where i am supposed to be i am so

129grateful to be part of the clifton public schools where the teachers are all a family this week i asked my students to reflect on the year as a whole namely what the most important thing they learned in my class was i challenged them to consider how this that particular lesson would impact them in the future in their future lives as engaged and active citizens the students had completed freedom to decide which lesson they chose i expected things like the bill of rights government structure the electoral college et cetera i was shocked with some of the responses and with permission from the anonymous student granted i wanted to share but one of them with you student one wrote after your class you taught after your class you taught me value you can dream as big as

130you want and touch the stars no matter how far you taught me how to walk with my head high because you lord only knows how little i felt your class made me my bad days brighter something i never thought a teacher could do over time our class grew close you left a mark on everyone's heart students from different backgrounds with different stories you accepted all of it i can truly say that you inspired me you were one of the only teachers i ever i ever had to im impact me in the ways that you have you taught with confidence you taught with heart i was never comfortable with public speaking and that you taught me that it's okay it's it's okay to trip over a word it's it's not about what you say it's about

131how you impact that person it's about how you deliver the message so many lessons you taught me in such a short amount of time every teacher in chs should learn from you without your class and your teaching i don't think i would be able would be the student i am today you took it upon yourselves to influence a group of kids difficult yes a difficult group of kids some kids are not used to the kindness because all they ever knew was mean and dark you're the light for some of those kids and you had no idea you taught me to go go with your gut you only live once and whether you were right or wrong you took you took a risk when it comes to my future i'm scared of making mistakes i have

132no idea where i want to go or what i wanted to do i want to give my parents the life they never got to have but always said one day with the lesson of taking risks and holding my head head up i will push myself to be what i always dreamed myself of being although there will be challenges and people will question me i'll believe in me before anyone else thank you for taking a chance on me and all of your student and all of your students don't change you for nothing in the world there are no words to express how much this statement means to me as a teacher this is this is only one example of the impact that teachers have on students of clifton public schools it is thanks to the entire

133clifton public schools teaching and instructional staff that our students go on to change the world while we their teachers and our and number one fans support them and cheer them on proudly seeing them achieve all that we know that they are capable of clifton public school teachers are impacting the lives of students every day and we are unwavering in their dedication to our students i am honored to be a clinton teacher amongst the most talented dedicated and caring individuals thank you to the cleveland board of education administration for believing in the teachers that believe in the future of clifton to all the students i believe in you we believe in you i am proud of you we know that you are going to change the world and we know and we as your teachers are

134humbled to be part of your journey and to all my students always remember it's kind of fun to do the impossible my name is gene duncan and i am an lldm special ed teacher at elementary school five i wanted to reach out to the superintendent board of education and administrators to thank them for their support and guidance during the last several months although we are not in the classroom or physical buildings our teachers and parents are doing incredible work at school number five our teaching staff is working together visiting each other's classes on google meets our teachers are excited to introduce themselves to the anticipated students we have for next year our parents have let us know that they are appreciative of being able to identify teachers from school number five that their child may

135have in september in closing although our lives have been disrupted the children from school five and the city of clifton are working with parents and teachers to maintain their academic foundations we look forward to be being able to continue building their not their knowledge when we get to see them again heather boyco parent i know these are difficult questions and not everyone knows the answers yet as parents we need to start planning for september soon how does the district plan for reopening if it is even possible and safe are you considering alternate days like like cities near us how how would we figure out our busing according to guidance if schools open with after-school care still be allowed in the building thank you for everyone for being so transparent and holding these live board meetings

136on youtube adriana austin parent i am a parent of two students at school number eight we were recently informed that the school's principal will retire but have received no information about the hiring process for the new principal the only information that i've received is that parents will be excluded from the hiring process in progressive and high performing school districts bloomfield montclair and others parents are included parents are included as a symbol of the importance and partnership between schools and parents in education and as an acknowledgement of their value of parent insight and interest we need to we need public school number a to improve by leaps and bounds remote learning has surfaced incredible gaps in pedagogy and teacher effectiveness during this time where p parent confidence in school leadership is more important than ever i

137ask you that you consider including parents in the hiring process and providing more information parents should not be excluded nor should we be subject to non-transparent decision making process the to a non-transparent decision-making process that will impact the quality of the children's education at school number eight last but not least miss falco resource teacher at school number 12. i would like to give a shout out to all of the parents who stepped up to thank i'm sorry i would like to give a shout out to all of the parents who stepped up to help their children during this most difficult time of distant learning you guys really shined and should be commended by your hard work and dedication to your child's education the teachers of clifton thank you also thank you to all the administration

138administrators and supervisors for helping the teachers in setting up the distant learning classes and curriculum you rock that concludes public comment mr lucy you you did a wonderful job you spoke over 50 minutes so was it really that long yes i mean you don't realize how long because you're reading it but you know that yeah it was so you could madam president yes yes that we provide mr yusi with a dr seuss hat for the next meeting i was actually going to make a motion and uh get him a reader or buy him cases of water for the house no i mean what are you drinking yes well you need it and and it's and it was interesting that the one spot where you um you know made a little bit was right when you

139were reading about the public speaking the student that was talking about the public speaking i thought that was pretty interesting um okay motion to close the public portion exactly what it sounds like all right it's somebody else jim was first i was second that's gonna do credit okay all right mr daily uh motion by mr daily second by mr abhijava next quarter of business is education and administration can i get a motion to move ea one through any questions see none roll call give me one second i'm sorry i have to add dana to the attendance hold on one second i'm sorry yes take your time okay um so it's ea one through six and i called roll call mystery okay mr abby drabo yes miss basford yes miss beltran yes mr canelova yes mr

140daley yes mr casper yes mr smith yes miss danny yes next order of business is personnel can i get a motion to move p1 through p16 motion by mr smith second by mr casper questions see none roll call mr abba drabo yep miss bassford yes miss beltran yes mr canova yes mr daley yes mr casper yes mr smith yes miss danny yes mr mr lucy i need to abstain on uh p20 okay next order business finance can i get a motion for f1 through f12 no move motion by the strava drabo second second by mr casper any questions cnn roll call mr abedrabo yes miss basford yes miss beltran yes mr canova yes mr daley yes mr casper yes mr smith yes miss danny yes motions passed next order of business is public recognition there

141are no public recognitions past what i what i've read okay okay so the next order of business is board member comments and i think mr casper is it start with you this time i went yeah i went the last time okay so then it'll be mr smith thank you um madam president uh tuesday night i had the um privilege to attend the athletic senior awards [Music] it was a it was a very nice program to be able to recognize our senior athletes um usually done in person and presenting them with their awards but it was very nicely done by the entire [Music] athletic staff and the coaches that were present and just like to congratulate all the senior athletes especially our spring athletes this year that just did not have the opportunity to play their

142sport this year [Music] but we wish all those athletes seniors that are moving on [Music] i know many of them are moving on to colleges and playing sports in college so i wish them all the best and i just like to congratulate our female and male athlete of the year uh our female athlete of the year was brianna rubio and our male athlete of the year was uh jack lauer uh congratulations to both of them and a job well done by the athletic staff um on our uh on our agenda last meeting we have two principals that are retiring this year and i happen to know these two principles uh very well as they were principles when i was on the board previously two tremendous individuals two great people and clifton is truly losing two

143wonderful educators and those that had the privilege of knowing them and being taught by them and under their leadership truly are better people today because of that so i'd like to just congratulate and thank uh miss nancy lezzone and mr luco puzzo for all the years that they gave to clifton and clifton students you will truly be missed um as dr robertosi has stated um we will uh have a graduation and we are waiting for the final um stipulation and guidelines from the department of education and once we have that i'm sure dr robitosi will share all that information with everybody so that we all know what's taking place with graduation so just please hold on a little bit as we wait for that information from the department of education um like to thank principal

144healy from school number nine and the bulldogs for a great job tonight and each school day for their pledge of allegiance um i think it's great that each and every day that the students share that responsibility and have a pledge of allegiance and i think it's great that we used uh the kids tonight to do our pledge of allegiance at our meeting and hope that that we could continue that uh going forward for our meetings and uh mr louis and mr lanzarotti uh and the students of the woodrow wilson symphonic orchestra for the great playing of the national anthem through zoom it was just amazing to see that and how well put together that was and what a great job those students did so uh i commend you all for that um special shout out

145and thanks to uh mr frank giangaro and his team uh those of you that do not know it um i believe june the fourth um our registration department uh started uh online registration uh something that was first here for clifton uh excuse my voice the allergies are terrible um they uh they put together a tremendous program to have online registration the staff was trained and the staff is doing a lot of it from home but i know some of the staff members on their own have gone into the office from time to time but basically uh this is a brand new program for clifton and mr gingaro has put together with dr robitosia a great registration process so i commend you uh uh on this great uh progress that we're making in clifton with online

146registration um if you know um if you know anything about registrations um i think i said frank gingarrow it's mark gingaro i had such a great relationship with his father frank uh for many years so i apologize was marching garrow but um registrations in the past you could have parents and kids lined out our building waiting in line to come in and get registered registered and uh being able to do this online is a tremendous accomplishment for clifton that we don't have to have that procedure or as often so i commend mark gingaro and his whole team on on the great job they're doing with that and uh last but not least um just gonna say a few few quick words i'd like to thank dr robertosi again for the fantastic letter uh that he

147sent out to the parents the board the community uh concerning the events of our last week and on the killing and the death of mr floyd in minnesota i think dr robitosi hit hit it right on the nose that all of us in education our main concern is that of the children in our district and we know that the students have heard and have seen things in the news or through their parents or for other people talking uh it is it is a great opportunity to use this as a teaching opportunity for the students and allow them to ask questions to answer their questions and to educate them in what is taking place again as people in education our main concern here is for the students their well-being their safety their education and i commend

148dr robitozzi on that great letter and i hope that parents and teachers will continue to allow students the opportunity to discuss this um this terrible situation um i also have to commend uh some of our former students of clifton um some of them were involved in putting together participating in a very peaceful and organized rally this past week in clifton it truly shows that they were educated here in clifton because they did a phenomenal job of getting their message across and doing it in a very peaceful way so i commend any of our former students that were involved in that process and with the school year coming to an end uh very shortly again i thank all teachers parents grandparents all those who have pitched in with this terrible situation of covent 19 it was

149difficult on everybody and i just ask everyone to have a great summer remain safe and we'll be back in september thank you thank you mr smith mr abhijaba uh president danny i'd like to reserve my time before you and ms bastard speak please just give me for now um miss beltram uh sorry i just wanted to apologize for missing the beginning uh with the teachers for the teachers of the year congrats to all those honors very well deserved uh school's almost out we've made it thank god um stay strong and stay safe for what's left and hopefully i'll see you soon at the graduation um congrats to everyone who's gotten an award this year i know it's a little different than yours in the past but hopefully you'll be able to put something together also

150at graduation for all those who earned additional um credits and honorees um throughout the year that didn't get to have their proper send off thank you miss beltran mr canova good evening everyone um first and foremost i love the idea of showcasing our kids for the pledge of allegiance because i love seeing the kids in action you know that's what we do here we're educating children and it shows what they're here for and um it's a great way to tip our hat to them and show really what they could do so i love that um and i i agree with the commissioner uh smith that it's something we should continue to do more often uh i do want to thank the individuals for writing in uh and mr uchi for reading all those uh while

151it takes a while to read in you know we did have a great community input so um there's a plus and minus to it but i do love hearing that um going back to what we said earlier with with finances funding is a concern this year uh as we mentioned earlier there's there's a five million dollar shortfall right now based on what they uh what the initial numbers were that they were allocating to us um and as you know every year costs continue to rise and and you know it's a concern for us right now so i'm glad that uh mr abu drabba had set up that meeting and hopefully we can you know talk to our legislators and they can understand our situation here is it um it is a tough time but at

152the same time if you're going to take money from from one group uh it should be taken evenly it shouldn't just be taken from one school it should be taken from all schools evenly so that's my concern with it you know i'll raise my concerns with them with this meeting but thank you mr abu drabba for setting that up uh someone mentioned the the moving up ceremonies um this is unfortunately one of those things that you know the school operations in in coordination with the lawmakers so i would recommend reach out to your your legislators and you know to speak to governor murphy and his team and talk to them and get some idea on what it is that you know when the dates are going to be when when things happen right now as

153the law reads i believe it's 25 they're allowed outside and even if they said that graduations are allowed it's only to that number that's allowed at the time of your graduation um so that's a concern because when you're setting up something like a graduation like a stepping up ceremony many people are involved many people are there and you need to know the logistics of it so it's just very difficult right now um there's not much guidance coming out from from anyone and that's really what we need so i would i would advocate that that you i would recommend that you advocate to them to understand what that looks like so that we could get you know that uh that ruling um and then the larger issue at hand is you know i'm really upset to

154see this this country in this array like this um i'm in support of any american exercising the right to speak out against injustice and justice is because it's wrong and you know we did this not too too long ago with our funding fight for the state in the same way uh and as mr smith said you know here in clifton we do a phenomenal job all the time we really are a class act you know you see these other other towns and other areas where they're just ripping things apart and looking at happening to mr floyd was deserving you see that the face of that office there he looks sinister and i really hope he gets what he deserves and has coming to him um and as for prejudice there's never room for prejudice in

155this world you know we live in 2020 and that that shouldn't exist so i'm really disheartened to see that in our country it's very unfortunate but this is a teaching moment for our children you know the kids now are looking at social media they're looking at you know all these platforms and they're looking at the media and all these outlets and the concern that i have personally is that they draw their own conclusions if you don't intervene with your children they're going to draw their own conclusions and they're going to come up to conclusions that are incorrect things like police are bad we know that's not the case we know police are aren't bad you're going to have bad people in every single group and every single uh racial group and every single um um

156area of of people who were even just working americans in in different categories you're always going to have some bad apples um and people abuse power but that's why we have the system in place that we have that's why we have people to prosecute individuals like that so i'm glad to see that that is happening um in areas where it's wrong but you don't want your children to to come to false conclusions you want people to understand that they can go to the police you know when they have a problem you want to know there is no there is no room for racial divide and there shouldn't be people need to stand together you know it was a couple couple weeks ago we were talking about covert and how people are standing together and working

157with each other helping your neighbor down the block you know helping elders because they're really the ones affected by this we're not even over that and yet here we are fighting you know that's a concern um and the kids don't know any better so you need to you need to sit down with your children and explain to them you need to understand they need to understand that protesting isn't riots protesting is getting out there and getting your word out peacefully you don't smash and grab inside of buildings and you don't create chaos in the world that we don't inflict change like that that that's not change you know that's just a bad representation of of everyone in this country um so we need to come together as americans as people you know it wasn't too

158long ago that that other groups were getting targeted against i remember a year or two ago there were shootings in florida with people who were lgbtq and you know we had the issue september 11th and then you had muslim individuals getting targeted for for negative connotations on on things that they need they have nothing to do with you know that's a concern and really what the concern it comes down to is a mental concern we had the shootings in vegas right at some kind of country rally the mental concern is really the top priority here we need to figure out what's going on in america we need to understand what what this is and we need to talk to our kids about it you see kids taking their lives into suicide why is that happening

159those are the things we need to understand we need to understand the mental stability of this of this uh this country um and until we stop that i don't think any of this will ever stop we need to come together and really understand what that is but i really encourage everyone go home and talk to your kids and make sure they understand you know how to act how to act in society make sure you're open with them make sure the lines of communication are open so that if you see something weird if you hear them talking about something odd you know address it address it it's time that we come together as a nation um and that's all i have for you tonight thank you mr canova mr casper no daily mr daily sorry thank

160you madam chair um again good evening everyone uh i'll be brief it's been a long evening um first of all i would like to again firstly congratulate each and every one of those teachers with their nominations and i thank dr robertosi for doing a great job about presenting them and discussing them and having them actually hear on screen that was very nice but again um and also mr smith mentioned the athletic awards it's another in-person event that didn't happen in in person um that's another great night uh i think i have attended every one unfortunately because of the virus situation we're not able to do that but um those individuals like it and every other section work very very hard to to do an achievement and to give themselves honor and the school honor and

161a town honor the way they perform and i know when our athletes are out competing um i've always heard positive things from others who uh that have witnessed about our behavior so it's unfortunate that we physically can't uh get together and share this uh event but um uh i do wish you all the best um just a word from a uh from a commissioner point of view about hiring um commissioners do not and i think we may even ethics wise do not participate in any hiring the only uh issue that only way we get involved is the superintendent i know collaborates with his team they hire individuals and he makes a recommendation to the board and we just say yes or no we can't say well we like johnny over sandra or someone that we

162do not participate so the board has no participation other than affirming or denying the superintendent's recommendation when they hired that is the superintendent's bob the only person we hire is the superintendent and appoint professional services that is it so that's i'll just give you the commissioner's point of view on that uh and i'm sure dr robert tosie will also comment on on the hiring practice how uh how it's done here in clifton and how it's done legally in clifton so um i also uh friday is coming up um our country uh is in turmoil i will not go over all the issue with the coronavirus and mr floyd's passing and all those things uh they are um certainly disturbing and uh and challenging to us uh and we're challenged not only as a group but

163as individuals to show our true americanism here um i'm one of the uh individuals who was alive and witnessed the riots and disturbances in the civil rights movement of the 60s and 70s so uh some in some aspects of this is deja vu and sometimes i wonder myself um i thought we'd advance a little bit further sometimes we don't advance as well as we should as a nation of exceptions uh exceptionalism i should say um thank you to mitzla zoni and mr puzo for their service um i'm also very familiar with them and i wish them all the best and again fly day is coming up um maybe it's a different day just besides displaying the flag just be a little contemplative of what our nation is really about and what it should be about

164uh and again thank you mr yusi for uh your marathon there you performed brilliantly thank you so that's it for me for tonight thank you thank you mr daley mr casper okay i'm gonna try to make this as brief as possible um first i'd like to congratulate our teacher of the year uh mrs miss caramucci congratulations on a job well done um it's a well-deserving award for a well-deserved person i'd also like to congratulate all those who had received the clifton and clifton excellence in education award as well as uh thanking all of the teachers staff and paraprofessionals who all made at least 25 years teaching in district as well as all of our retirees thank you so much for your long service to our district um i'd like to thank everybody for their comments

165this evening mr uchi i give you a lot of credit for reading all those thank you so much these are trying times that we are in and um we as a clifton community are i think are doing quite well and um our school district is also doing quite well and i'd like uh to thank dr robert tozie for sending out such a great letter uh to our community and our staff members um i hope i'm hoping that we can get through these trying times as a community together and that um we can all pull together as one community uh which is our clifton community and we can pull through and help each other as best that we can and um one good part uh for this evening is there are only 11 days left of

166school so just hang in there everybody i'll see you on the 18th thank you mr casper mr abdrabbo uh thank you uh congratulations not only your colleague but a friend joe canova the alternate delegate well deserved joe i mean since you're on the board before you went on the board um you've always been you know steam heading the esteem ahead forward and cared about the city and about and about the kids in this district um way before your kids got your beautiful girls gone to the district uh as a reminder as mentioned before a legislative meeting with our state legislators um discussion will be about district funding uh if there's any other one for the colleagues those from the board who who are not on the committee if there's any um concerns that you want

167to bring forward please email me or mr uchi or danny i'm sorry superintendent roberto this way we can move forward and have i can share with them the agenda if there's anything beyond district funding congratulations to the student athletes who were honored last night um virtually of course but your hard work on off the field paid off in your years as a mustang and you all deserve the best congrats to all the teachers tonight the ones i think we did not i don't think i mentioned that but i'll mention our 25 years of service and retirements um 25 years of service god bless you in education i don't know how you did it uh jen algieri had asked me to make an announcement clifton high school graduation signs will be in tomorrow friday june 5th

168um pick up for the signs will be a chess outside the lower gym please pull up around the circle and let us know or let them know the name the student's name if you purchase their name on the sign below is the timetable i'm just reading video off the off the email student first name beginning with a to l from from 3 pm to 4 pm students first name from mdz from 4 pm to 5 pm and if you order plain sign without a name you can pick yours up from 4 p.m to 5 p.m i'll be there to help out um as you know we should all have all hands on deck at this time if you have any questions feel free to text 973-489-8323 she gave permission give out that number because she

169put an email when she sent it out so it's out there so uh i've asked to pass before no pun intended everybody knows like saying the word pass for a reason um because i have a statement a statement that i think is needed a statement that i think that um needs to be said and i'm not trying to steal the stage here or anything but you know i i i'm 35 years old live 35 years in clifton and these the following is speaking on my behalf and not at the clifton board of bed or any of my colleagues on the board of course as always i want to thank clifton police department clinton fire department for their work day in and day out my prayers are with the nypd officers who were attacked this morning

170growing up in clifton i experienced discrimination in 2001 2002 i thought i knew what it meant to be stereotyped although over the past few years months and especially over the past few weeks i've come to understand that i don't know when someone is on the floor being forced to the ground and murdered by someone in law enforcement your faith in the justice system starts to lose its way we as a community should not accept racial injustice which has been responsible for the indefensible murders of george floyd brianna taylor ahmad aubry and others families should not have to worry about the safety of their children because of the color of their skin we as a collective community a melting pot of a community need to stick up for each other for the sake of humanity for

171the sake of the children of our children the future of russia excuse me this is not a time of being anti-police matter of fact we have great police officers in the city of clifton we are in a position to right the wrong and speak up for our god-given rights that every individual on this planet deserves this is not a time sorry my children will be raised to speak for all voices the oppressed the scared and the underprivileged my children will be raised not to ask about someone by their skin color my children will be raised to love thy neighbor equally and my children will be ready to advocate for and care about all and last i want to leave off with this something i read something i i saw um um at the rally a

172few days ago which i i i'm proud to to our students who put this together and short so notice short notice um and for the most part it was great um i i understand that i will never understand but i stand with my neighbors my friends and our community members thank you mr abdrabbo madam vice chair basford uh yes thank you um a couple of things um because of my position in the state i get to be on county meetings and we've been meeting twice a month uh and i get to hear from other presidents of other counties and they have the same concerns as we do they have the same concerns about graduation they have the same concerns about letting the students have every kind of um ceremony every kind of event that they

173can possibly do with the safe guidelines so when you have a chance to um advocate that's when you use it and you use it the proper way so when um this week when we had upper state county school boards association we were with carlos rodriguez and he's the county superintendent and we spoke to him about graduation so and whenever you have a chance those those words go to other people so i'm hopeful that the restrictions will be relieved so it's not 25 people people in the community don't realize that we have 750 graduates that's going to be a lot of graduations that we have to deliver so hopefully by july maybe things will will lighten up but um i just want everybody to be mindful in the community um because i know with the personal

174conversations that i have had with dr robitazi he is one person that wants to make sure that our students get what they deserve and and i am i am assured myself that if it's going to happen dr roberto will make it happen if we're allowed to do it we have to make sure that we're safe with our students so um i wrote down all the parents that they talk about um in their comments tonight all the folks that um put put comments in and i thank everybody for doing that and thank you mr ushi for um be going through all those comments um however we have to make sure that we're doing it in the safest way possible and um that's all i can keep on saying uh covent 19 is not gone it's kind

175of been put to the side right now but it's still there and we have to make sure that we keep every one of your students safe and every one of your children safe so um whenever anybody on this boy gets a chance to advocate we will advocate as well so mr abedrabo i would like to put as well as fair funding i would like to put about graduation restrictions and guidelines because that's something we need to get some guidance on from the state as soon as possible because we have to submit a plan to the health department and to the state as well and it just a plan doesn't happen overnight we have we have a lot of work to do so the senior athletic awards dinner i've been going to a lot uh this

176would probably be in my uh 11th year or 12th year and it was really it was really kind very interesting it was very well done the students were very excited uh miss it in person but it was it was done very well and i have to commend administration uh the high school administration also um the athletic director congratulations to the governors uh educator of the year all the teachers of the year the 25-year um service award winners and also our retirees thank you for your service to our district um thank you to the folks that submitted the comments like i said before um sometimes it's not easy to speak up because people are afraid they're gonna something's gonna happen but it's been such a different year i keep on saying it what a difference a

177year makes i can't help it and i'm looking at danny down on the screen i don't know where we would have been last year without you i have to tell you that those letters that you send out are just heartfelt and warm and i get such great compliments from people um i can't tell you they they make me emotional because we know that you care about our kids we know you care about the betterment of this this community and i am grateful for that um let me see um i am a firm believer of a voice being heard um and jim you're the oldest and i'm probably the second oldest on the board and i was born in 1960 i don't remember the things in the earlier days but i do remember my brother telling

178me stories and the last couple weeks my brother's been calling me a lot because he's he's been home because of covet 19 and he's been telling me stuff and and i don't remember it but he's been talking to me about about um my voice being heard and and being safe and and just making sure that we teach our students and our children about getting out there beings being safe by doing what they need to do and to be careful about how they um have to worry about consequences and that's the one thing i want to tell everybody i saw a bunch of our former students in new york city i saw pictures on facebook and they were very safe i just i'm not worried about them because i know they were brought up right and

179you know they've gone through our system i'm worried about the other people that may do something to them so i'm asking everybody and i'm urging them to be safe um regarding regarding george floyd it was tragic and um i watched his family on cnn i watched his brothers on cnn and it was very hard to sit through that that interview listening to his family and i wish them peace because there's nothing else i can wish them is that somehow they find peace to this um so that goes out to them and i'm i'm pleading with everybody and i'm pledging that i'm going to become a better ally to people and i'm learning a lot about things about myself and about different privileges that i never knew that i have as a human being and privileges

180that other people don't have as human beings and i it was kind of eye-opening this week that my daughter had to educate me on that concept and i apologize to everybody that i am going to try to be a better ally to people and that i am going to educate myself so i can support other people better and that's what i'm going to ask our group to do is that we need to be mindful of the mental health issues that we're going to have to deal with going back in september our staff is going to need them our parents are going to need it our students going to need it and we as a board also as a collective group are going to need the help and support to each other so uh today was

181a trying day and we got through it as a group and uh i thank you each for that so be careful out there everybody be safe be mindful of consequences that's all i want to say and i wish you all peace thank you madam vice chair basford um so just to reiterate i do want to say that um you know graduation to add on um to miss bassford is that graduation is obviously over you know 700 students and then you add two parents and then at that point um with right now the guidelines being only 25 people in a gathering it's it's really difficult so i do agree um that mr abu drabbo you know maybe we could you know legislative community say something that either again but even if you increase it to a

182hundred um and then between having administration there two parents a student um you know i see that like maybe 27 or so probably graduations um and then i know i heard you know fifth grade want graduation so again it's just it makes it very very difficult being that the restrictions are in place and i'm sure that um you know dr robert charles will also reiterate that um with these restrictions it makes it very difficult because guidance is limited um i also want to say that i was there at the athletic awards and that what was really nice to see was that not only do our students excel in their academic ability their athletic ability but also their academic ability and that was really quite impressive to hear students going to harvard and yale and um

183so it's not just their act their athletic talent but they're also academic talent as well um i'd like to say thank you to all the retirees and those with 25 years of service thank you to all the speakers um and lastly uh danny thank you for all the letters that you do put out to the community um i'm a history teacher and i always you know teach my students about obviously having a voice and expressing yourself that that's important but um we always talk about martin luther king or gandhi and especially you know i always say that quote that gandhi said um be the change be the change you wish to be but non-violently because when you turn violent you negate all that you do and um you know in watching some of the protests

184sometimes i go down to like the comments and that is what some of the people say that when when you start reading their their comments it's that you know getting violent is not the way because that just negates everything that you're trying to do um so i just want to say that you know peace for the country and that we you know again stand in unity um because that's where the strength is and it's great to see that clifton is so diverse and that we celebrate the diversity and that we can do things you know in a positive way and so let's do something positive and that's all i have for this evening thank you dr arbitazi thank you uh madam president and thanks to all the commissioners for your um very moving words tonight

185um i would just like to share an excerpt of my letter that several of you spoke about tonight uh regarding our current situation uh every time our society experiences trauma such as this and make no mistake about it our society has been traumatized we say that we must do better yet we find ourselves here today in the same situation we can no longer turn a blind eye to that which divides us children watch us and learn from our responses to crises like this whether it is on the news on social media in school or elsewhere our children see divisiveness we have a responsibility to help eradicate the systemic injustices that do not align with what we stand for as a district and as a community so while i appreciate the um compliments that the commissioners

186gave me on on this letter and i received a lot of positive feedback about this letter but as i reflect what am i going to do about this now how am i going to back up these words with action what are we going to do differently as a school district to help our society heal and that's a question that has been keeping me up at night what do i have control over as the superintendent well i can certainly share resources like i did with this letter and get them out to parents and get them out to teachers i can make sure our curriculum covers that i can make sure that our teachers are kind and and that we we cover the standards on teaching prejudice reduction and things like that but what else can i

187do and there is a systemic problem in education and it's not just in clifton it's everywhere typically especially in urban school districts [Music] the teaching population doesn't necessarily reflect the student population in terms of um race and ethnicity that is not a clifton issue that is a national issue the majority of teachers in this country are white predominantly white females there is ample research to indicate that students can learn better from people who they can identify within people who that looks look like them and i think that in my own opinion i don't have any research to back this up but i think that we've created a perpetual cycle of minority candidates not going into teaching because they don't grow up seeing themselves doing that position because they haven't seen other people that look like

188them in those positions now don't get me wrong i don't care what a teacher looks like or what color they are if you love kids you will be a great teacher but what can we do in clifton to make our teaching force more reflective of our diverse community all we talk about is and all you hear me say is diversity is our strength diversity is our strength but our our teaching staff our professional staff is not as diverse as our community it's it's it's just not and it's not just in clifton it's everywhere so one thing i think that i can do and it'll be a small contribution and hopefully over time it will help but i want to start a a program or an initiative clifton comes first where we start with our own

189community we start with our own high school students and we start introducing them to options that there are to work in k-12 public schools when they graduate high school everybody knows you can go to college and become a teacher but you can also be a guidance counselor you can be a social worker you can be on the child study team you can be a psychologist you can be many many different things so i'm going to appoint a staff member i'm going to create a working group to come up with some way to introduce our high school students to jobs in k-12 education and then we want to somehow make them some sort of promise of employment when they graduate college so i haven't worked out all the details yet of how we might do this

190um but i think it's a step in the right direction uh for our community uh and i will have more updates on that to come in the future um but you will be hearing more about this initiative i'm not sure what i'm calling yet clifton comes first or we're gonna come up with a name for this for this movement but if we recruit from our own community we recruit from clifton we encourage kids to go to school and then we bring them back and they work for us it's not a panacea it's not gonna help overnight but in time we'll start to see some changes so among many other things that need to change that's one thing that that i pledge myself to work on uh to to do my best to hire the best

191candidates but to also do my best to hire um a diverse group of candidates to work with our children um let me touch on on graduation there is no one more than me that wants to have a high school graduation for our kids it's so disappointing to me that our seniors after all these years might miss out on graduation on may 27th we received guidance from the department of education and everybody says well the governor says it's okay now you can have an outdoor graduation that's not necessarily the case the governor's regulations now say you can have a modified in-person graduation ceremony as long as you comply with the applicable requirements for outside gatherings as has been mentioned by a couple of the commissioners tonight the number of people allowed at an outside gathering as

192of today is 25 people we do expect that number to go up but is it going to go up enough that we can have a graduation with 700 plus uh students plus their parents plus the staff necessary to to work it plus the police department plus the fire department members of uh oem so while i'm nothing's impossible what i'm saying that it is going to be a difficult task to have a graduation unless the governor's restrictions change dramatically in the next two months it's going to be very difficult to have a graduation like we would like to now having said that we are trying to and we're preparing for that just today uh my team met with the chief of police and and his team we met with the chief of the fire department and

193his team we met with members of office of emergency management from the fire department we met with john beagle our health officer and we discussed this and we all have the same concerns and the concern is unless these restrictions are lifted graduation is not going to happen so what we've been saying is if we're allowed to do it we're going to do it we will absolutely do it for kids um but i just want to bring everybody back to reality a little bit um that there is a chance it might not happen but you have my word if we can do it we're going to do and that applies to you know eighth grade fifth grade it's just not feasible to do at this time we have to worry about health and safety first now

194having said that we have a nice albeit not what everybody wants we have some nice virtual ceremonies planned on june 19th the fifth graders will have a ceremony at 3 p.m the 8th graders at 4 pm and clifton high school at 5 pm in addition our seniors beginning i believe on the 16th um are going to be getting individual pictures at the field in their cap and gown on stage and they're going to hear their name announced over the speaker they're going to be allowed to bring their parents so they're gonna parents are gonna be able to get a nice they're gonna get a professional picture but parents are also gonna be able to take their own pictures hear their child's name announced over the speaker and have them receive a diploma um and and

195we heard some parents last meeting talk about kindergarten celebrations every kindergarten in the district now will have a special end of the year google meeting and will receive certificates there is hope but let me also say this there have been these protests and i've heard people say well if we can have a thousand people at a protest we could have a thousand people at a graduation well here's the issue within the next two weeks if the number of coveted 19 cases spikes in this state and it's blamed on the protests the governor could very well bring all these restrictions back on the other hand if we don't see a spike maybe that gives some inkling that we can gather in larger groups and that would be a benefit for us so the answer on high

196school graduation right now today is it's not looking good but it's not impossible and i'm not sure how clear i can say that um opening up in september we don't know we are planning for multiple scenarios multiple options we are expecting i believe the governor said by june 23rd some more specific guidance many of you received a survey that the department of education sent out we sent that on their behalf surveying parents about reopening schools in september i think the data from that survey is going to help inform some of this decisions that need to be made but please rest assured my team is working on multiple plans uh for for reopening and no matter what they throw at us if we're allowed to open we'll be open we'll get it done and we'll do

197it to the best of our ability um and as always we'll communicate that information widely as soon as we know more so that concludes my comments tonight miss danny thank you so much thank you dr robertosi next order business is new business do we have any new business uh president dan just to remind it to everybody again i'm going to say one more time if anybody has anything else to add to the agenda please let me know by tomorrow actually so i can send out the agenda to the legislators thank you thank you mr albatro okay so with there being no new business um we are going to convene an executive session for personnel matters miss gutierrez do you do you want to take i i believe there'll be no action taken now no action

198taken we're going to be discussing personnel matters and labor negotiations okay and we will um close in executive yes there will be no action taken okay can i have a motion to go into executive motion by mr abu drabo second by mr smith uh roll call mr abby drabo uh miss bassford yes miss beltran mr canova yes mr daley yes mr casper yes mr smith yes miss danny yes hmm you