001So when you're done like with the full like your whole thing just switch it. Oh, thank you. I'm good in case anybody's wondering. >> Okay. Is that good? All right. I got it now. All right. So, I'd like to uh reconvene into open session. Do we have a motion to move into open session? >> Do I have a second? >> You have to just lay your fingers on this. >> Second. >> Okay. >> Put your hand on it. So, I'd like to call this meeting to order at 6:37 p.m. For those who wish to provide public comment remotely, a Google form was posted on the district website at 6:30 p.m. Those remote comments will be addressed in the second public comment section for this meeting. We hereby call to order is in compliance with notice
002requirements of the law. Public notice was posted in the office of the board of education and communicated to the municipal clerk and the daily record on 9:16. Okay. Um can we have the pledge of allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Can you read our uh mission statement? Thank you. Working together as a community, our mission is to welcome all and provide opportunities for our students in a safe and accepting learning environment to become creative, empathetic, resilient, and who choose to make an impact. Okay. At this time, I'd like to open the meeting to the public. Uh the board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public
003to express themselves on school matters. To ensure fair and orderly expression of such comment, each statement shall be held to a time period of three minutes. Public comments limited to items on this agenda shall be entertained for approximately 30 minutes upon the discretion of the presiding officer. Please understand that public comment portions of our agenda are not structured as question and answer sessions, but rather they are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. The board may or may not respond to public comments. However, all comments are considered and will be investigated and addressed as appropriate. Please be courteous and mindful of the rights of others when providing comments. Comments may not be abusive, obscene, threatening, or irrelevant. Please understand that students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board is
004not permitted to respond in public to comments about students or employees. Please be advised that you are commenting at your own risk. Any public comments that are directed at a particular individual or individuals could subject you to legal liability for defamation. Could I please have a motion to approve the minutes from August 12th? >> So moved. >> Oh, sorry. Is there anyone from the public that wishes to be heard on any agenda items? All right, I'll close that portion of the public. Thank you, Mr. Crew. Motion to approve the minutes from the regular and executive session of August 12th. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Can we have any discussion on the minutes for anyone? >> Could we please have a roll call? >> Yes. >> Miss DS? >> Yes. >> Mr.
005Mor? >> Yes. >> Miss Penales? >> Yes. >> Dr. Center? >> Yes. >> Miss Shower? Yes, >> Miss Sness. Mr. Miller. >> Yes. >> Okay, Mr. President. Point of personal privilege, if I may. Um, I found a trick. The microphones. If you put it on the lock setting, press this turns it on and off as opposed to needing to just keep your hand on it the whole time. That may Thank you. >> I'm just keeping mine on now. Yeah. Okay. Uh so we did have some whole board communications. We had one from Jennifer Podesta on uh concerns regarding transportation and communication on August 29th. And we had another one u from Mrs. Lorelli on some uh safety concerns at the parking lot um at North Dover. Were there any other whole board communications that you
006can think of? No. Okay. Our student representative to the board, Mr. Lei. Good evening, members of the board. It is good to see you all to see you all again. I hope you all had a great summer and I'm excited to begin the new school year. I wanted to inform everyone about some things going on at the high school. Our SGA is having our first meeting of the school year tomorrow where we will be talking about upcoming events like the homecoming dance and pep rallies. I also wanted to inform everyone to go out and support our boys and girls soccer team, girls volleyball team, and our cross country boys and girls. Now, I don't have a really long report uh prepared for today because there is someone else doing this for me. For the last
007part of my report, I want to say that I will no longer be the high school student representative to the board of education. As you can see, I will now be working with the culture and climate committee to help resolve issues across the district. I will be working with Mr. Haime and others to help represent the students across the district and at the other schools. I just wanted to say thank you to each and every one of you that welcomed me on my first day here. I hope you will all do the same for our new representative, Sophia. I look forward to seeing how my involvement with the board in my new role will continue. I just wanted to say thank you all again for everything and I look forward to the new school year.
008>> Thank you very much. You you've given us a lot of great information to really help students and give us a new perspective of things that we need to consider. So, thank you very much and welcome. >> Hi, good evening everyone. My name is Sophia Garcia and it's an honor to be the new student representative for Dober High. Um, just to share a little bit about myself, I'm a junior um, this year and I'm a second generation Mexican and I varsity soccer since my freshman year. I enjoy being involved in our community at DHS and I'm very excited to share a few updates about our school and what's happening this year. Looking ahead, our back to school night is scheduled for September 17th. To encourage family participation, we've made an incentive for families who arrive
009on time to that will receive a raffle ticket. It this is a great way to get families involved and show support for our school. We will have student ambassadors present to guide any parents who need help and also translate for them as needed. The annual club fair took place today and continues Wednesday into Thursday during all lunch periods. This is an excellent opportunity for students who want to get involved and explore their interests at Dober High School. We have clubs such as the Interact Club, which focuses on community outreach, the yearbook club, and the National Honor Math National Honor Society, including others. Our first college fair, our first college fair of the year set the tone for students looking at their options for higher education. Students were encouraged to familiarize themselves with the various colleges
010and universities that visited DHS and shared programs they have to offer. This is a fantastic opportunity that students should certainly take advantage of and do. We also had the pleasure of welcoming our new principal, Miss Mrs. Ross on September 8th. Our school community gave her a warm welcome and leadership and her leadership has already begun to make a positive difference for staff, students, and families alike. The grade the grade levels all grade levels have taken part in class meetings with our new principal and assistant principles. These meetings took place on Wednesday, September 10th and Friday, September 12th. During these assemblies, students celebrated the year, reviewed expectations and participate in participated in social emotional learning activities to support growth and a positive school culture. I would also like to talk about our new cell phone and
011dress code policies. We have received mixed feedback from students, but overall it's been positive. Students are following the cell phone policy without major issues, and we're glad to see our school community adapting to these changes. Thank you for your time and support. We're looking forward to a successful year. >> Thank you. Welcome, >> Mr. Miller. >> I just wanted to say to Mr. Le, thank you for your service to the high school and this board of education. and we all appreciate it. Um, and Miss Garcia, welcome. It only gets easier after tonight. >> Anyone else? Okay, President's Report. Good evening again. Um, I hope everyone is well. Um, as we begin this new school year, uh, we're launching with renewed energy, new programs, new classes, and most importantly, countless new opportunities for our students to
012broaden their horizons. On August 25th, I had the honor of speaking at our district convocation, gathering together, all our teachers, staff, and administrators. You could feel the excitement uh in the building, colleagues greeting each other, friends reconnecting, and a shared sense that we are all part of something meaningful. As a graduate of do of the Dober School District, it was especially moving for me to represent the board in this moment of new beginnings. One of the standout moments was the video Mission Possible created by Mr. Haimey and many staff members. It brought laughter. It celebrated teamwork and it reminded us that while our tasks are serious, our journey together is based on joy, commitment, and support. We also had the privilege to hear from a guest speaker, Alicia Dorenzo, whose message resonated very deeply. Alicia
013challenged us to cultivate a culture of aliveness, a framework for increasing engagement, fostering creativity, innovation, collaboration, and growth. She reminded us that when we when when work feels overwhelming, when burnout looms, the solution isn't simply to do less. It's to do it differently. To foster human connection and authenticity. To quote Victor Frankle, "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." That idea unites us all in this room. While there are obstacles, there's nothing we cannot solve. If we bring our best selves as professionals and collaborators, the answers lie here among us in our creativity, dedication, and shared purpose. I want to express my gratitude to Mr. behind me and everyone who planned our convocation event including the follow-on workshops. Thank you for setting the tone for a
014year of excellence, growth, and shared success. Okay, administrative reports. Mr. Haimey, >> good evening everyone. Woes to start off my superintendent report number one by welcoming Sophia to the team. Uh we look forward to your input and information from the high school and to Matt Lelay. Thank you so much for an a great year and I'm looking forward to what you're going to contribute to our culture and climate committee. So it's going to be great. Uh so I want to kick off just with the convocation. Uh we did kick off this new school year with inspiring convocation centered around the theme mission possible. As educators, we often face countless challenges and obstacles, but here in Dover, our staff proves time and again that we can overcome them together. The energy at convocation was nothing short
015of incredible. From teachers to staff, support staff, administrators to counselors, every member of our team came together with one purpose to make a difference for our students. The message was clear. No matter the hurdles we face, our mission is to support, inspire, and empower our students in always uh always possible when we work as one. Uh this event uh set the tone for this full year of collaboration, resilience, and dedication. We are grateful to our staff for their unwavering commitment to ensuring every child uh in Dover has the tools, resources, and encouragement to succeed. Uh opening opening day for all of our first for our schools. The first day of school was a tremendous success as we welcomed our students brand new school year filled with excitement, learning uh and learning opportunities. A heartfelt thank
016you goes out to our teachers and staff for the dedication in preparing classrooms uh creating a warm inviting space for our students and your hard work sets the stage for a positive start to a successful year ahead. We also extend our gratitude to our school leadership team for their commitment planning ensuring a smooth and organized opening day. And finally, a special thank you to our custodians, buildings and grounds team, our director of maintenance for their incredible efforts throughout the summer to make sure our schools were clean, safe, and ready to welcome everyone back. Uh, quick announcement. This past weekend, we had a our track field um was applied with geese repellent to the track area in effort to reduce geese uh odor and droppings for the both our students and our community. Please note that
017the product used was non-toxic to both humans and animals and it is safe once applied. Uh we are planning a second application in the near future and we will ensure to communicate that in advance to our community and our students. Um, thank you again for understanding the support that we're trying to do when it comes to our facilities. I want to welcome Miss Ross, who did start on September uh 8th. Uh, we'd like to extend a warm welcome to the Dover community and wish her the best of luck as she begins a new school year. Uh, we look forward to working together to ensure a fun-filled uh, year for our students and our families. A reminder to our families, don't forget about Parent Square and Genesis signup. We want every family in do community to
018have easy access to important information by signing up for Paris Square and Genesis. You will stay informed and receive updates on school events, closures, and announcements in real time. Access to student information. You know, Genesis allows you to view grades, attendance schedules, and important forms anytimes, anywhere. Uh get emergency alerts for the first to know about school delays, emergencies, and and schedule changes. Streamline communication. Parent Square keeps you connected to teachers, principles, and district staff. And once again, it's to support your child's success. Stay engaged in school activities, parent teacher conferences, and accommen academic updates. Uh sports are on their way. Do public schools community invites everyone to come out and cheer on our student athletes as they represent our schools with pride and dedication and sportsmanship. Your support for stands uh makes a real
019difference. It inspires our athletes, builds school spirit, and shows our students that the hard work and commitment uh matters. Whether it's on the field, on the court, or on the track, our student athletes love seeing their families, friends, community members, and staff there supporting them and cheering them on. So, please visit our website for athletic schedules and do our best to come out and support our athletics here in Dover. Um, culture and climate. Dober is hosting a Dover uh culture and climate festival which we as DOA public schools will be participating on on Saturday, October 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rain or shine. Uh this year we're proud to showcase incredible talents of our Dober dance team uh once again as they're going to be performing at the culture uh culture connections festival
020that Saturday, October 4th. So, please mark your calendar and come out and support uh the town activity as well as seeing our students perform at the talent uh via dance. Um a big thank you to our families who have joined back to school night so far at North do academy and delu. Thank you so much for your partnership and and once again starting off the year in the right foot. Uh and we're excited to share that we have still upcoming back to school nights. So for North Dover will be September 18th. Um DMS will have theirs on September 25th. Uh DHS will be tomorrow, September 17th, and Delk One will have theirs on September 17th as well. So once again, I ask all our families to please come out and support our back to school
021nights. It's very important for us to uh get all that information and get to meet our staff and and in the buildings. Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off yesterday and each year Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15 by celebrating the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America. of the observation started in 1968 as a Hispanic Heritage Week under President Johnson and was extended by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting September 15th ending October 15th. And join us, Da Public School, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with our district Hispanic Heritage Festival, which which will be October 15th. This will be our third one uh the third annual one. Uh 600 p.m. from 8:00 p.m.
022at Dover High School. This event will have student performances, cultural displays, art exhibits, and music honoring once again the rich histories and traditions, contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities. Uh, so mark your calendars. I hope to see everyone there. And that is all for my report. Thank you so much. Thank you. Uh, Miss Garcia, I don't know if Mr. Lei told you, but at any point in time after you give your report, if you have a lot of homework to do, you're free to leave. So you don't have to stay and listen to everything. >> Did he tell Did he tell you that? Okay, good. All right. Thank you. >> Business administrator. Oh, first of all, does anyone have any questions for Mr. Haime with his report? >> Mr. Miller, I just had a comment.
023Uh, thank you, Mr. Haime, for the invitation to attend the convocation. It was outstanding. In all my time on the board, I had never been to anything like that. And uh I was I was taken back by the warm welcome of all of the teachers while we were standing in the lobby and seeing the new teachers come in, the old familiar faces, the staff, and then um the mission possible was so energizing and uplifting with the guest appearance by Mr. Franks who will never be gone, I think, um from the district, but and then also the guest speaker energizing truly truly energizing. It was a wonderful event and I encourage any board member to do it again next year if you can. It was fantastic. Thank you very much. >> Anyone else? Uh business administrators
024report. >> Good evening everyone. I'll be talking about the u finance and facilities agenda items. Item one, two, three, and five. The financial reports for July and August 20, 2025 are scheduled for April at tonight's meeting. There are too many reports because there are two months worth of reports. Item five, we are aware that the cafeteria fund currently shows a negative balance. As this is the beginning of the fiscal year, we will close the monitor situation and make appropriate adjustment to ensure the fund remains in positive standings. Uh actually we are also investing in the equipment. Some of our uh kitchen equipments are like 23 years old. Instead of repairing them, we are trying to buy new ones. So it's uh we are keeping the funds little low for that reason. Item six, we extend
025our sincere uh thanks to the Kuwanis Club for their generous donations. Item 13, where I'm transitioning one of our transportation routes from Education Service Commission to the Mandum Township School District. This change is projected to save the district up to $40,000 annually. If the transition proves successful, we plan to move additional RS to further increase savings. Item 16. Following the execution of a new 5-year lease agreement for all district copiers which we approved a couple months ago uh we will be selling the older units listed uh in the agenda which were purchased several years ago and most of them are not even working condition. Item 17 as we approach the start of the construction of the sixth grade annex. The approval of this contract will al allow us expand parking and relocate this school bus
026depot to a new site. That concludes my report. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Sabahulu? Okay, we'll move on to board of ed reports. Uh the Mars County Education Services Commission, I attended their meeting last week, but there was nothing from the business conducted that I need to report here. Legislative report. Dr. Sainer. >> Thank you, Mr. Miller. Um on September 3rd, Governor Murphy signed the following bill into law. The labor movement instruction A1682S1054 requires boards of education to include instruction on the United States and New Jersey labor history and the contributions of the labor labor movement. This instruction must be provided in an appropriate place in the curriculum for students in grades 6 through 12 as part of the district's implementation of the New Jersey student learning standards in social studies. Specifically, the instruction
027must include at minimum the history of organized labor, notable strikes throughout history, unionization drives, and the collective bargaining process, and existing legal protections in the workplace. That concludes my report. >> Thank you. Any questions for Dr. Ser? The Mars County, New Jersey school boards association report. Miss Dallas, just just That's it. >> Thank you and thank you for the new microphones. >> Um, good evening. The Morris County uh school boards assoc association will be meeting on um Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 for the first hybrid meeting of the school year. The meeting topic and description are would be um from budgets to brilliance linking school finance to student outcomes. All members must register in advance. For assistance with your registration, please contact the NJSBA call center at call center njsba.org. Um, it is at Bin High
028School and um I am going to read a letter from Mr. Sera. Is it a Sarah Oera? Um to the our board. Um hi town of board do board of education. What an incredible achievement. We are so excited to congratulate you on meeting all the requirements for board certification through the NJSBA board member academy. Your hard work and dedication to continuous improvement truly set you apart and we couldn't be prouder of your commitment to effective governance. To celebrate this milestone, we'd love for you to join us at the MCSBA meeting on Tuesday, October 27th at Bhin High School in New Jersey. NJSBA is thrilled to share your success story with all the districts in the county. The evening will be a great opportunity to connect with your peers. We'll we'll kick things off with dinner
029at 6. You can register individually or have your business administrator register everyone. Um we're also planning to take a group photo of uh to feature in a future issue of our schoolboard notes weekly update. This is a fantastic chance to celebrate all you've accomplished and network with other members of the Morris County education community. We really hope to see you there. All the best, Robert Asera, Morris County School Boards. So that that's in recognition of our achievement and um the NJSBA will be hosting workshop 2025 in Atlantic City from 10:20 to 10:23. And that concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any questions for MS? >> Okay, moving on to administer. >> Oh, >> Mr. I'm sorry. I think the Date of that meeting is October 7th. >> Yes. >> And we're all registered
030to attend. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Um do we have a motion for administrative approval of items 1 through 4? >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Dr. Ser, >> I just had a quick question. Um we are approving a change to the district calendar. I tried comparing the new version to the old version. What is the difference? the the difference comes in the language of the days that we're going to use. So, for examp so, we had discussion with the committee um this past year during the because we didn't use up our snow days. We ended up having almost a second spring break during the end of of May, right? And what happens is it puts a lot of pressure then on our staff and on the result,
031you know, trying to get evening events squeezed in in the month of June, which this year we only had 10 school days where we were trying to squeeze graduations, ceremonies. Uh so in discussing with the uh committee, uh we had talked about spreading those days out and then putting in the correct correct language so that we know what days we're going to use depending on how our snow days go this year, if we use any. But once again, it's just to uh not put so much pressure on our staff during that time of the year because it's so busy. >> Thank you. And thank you for taking that to committee. So you got all the that input from stakeholders. Thank you. >> Could we please have a roll call? >> Sorry. Uh Mr. Suedo. >>
032Yes. Mr. DS, >> yes. >> Mr. Mort, >> yes. >> Miss Penellis, >> yes. >> Dr. Center, >> yes. >> Miss Shower, >> yes. >> Miss Son, >> yes. >> Mr. Miller, >> yes. >> Okay. Personnel. Miss Selenus. >> Good evening everyone. I would like to make a motion upon the recommendation of the superintendent and the board to approve personal items 1 through 15, including the addendant and removing number under leaves. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Uh, any discussion? Dr. Sainer. >> Thank you, Mr. Miller. I have a question and a couple of comments. My question is, can you explain the student mentoring program at DMS, please? >> Absolutely. Uh so the the mentoring program at DMS uh was something that was established by the administration uh to provide more guidance
033and support for our students especially in the executive functioning piece uh really helping our students on organizational uh meeting goals and supports and we carefully select and train our mentors to serve as a positive role model um to offering students a safe place to discuss their concerns and goals through regular one-on-one meetings. Uh the mentors work with the students to establish academic and personal goals, identifying strengths and weaknesses and develop strategies for success. They also guide students to essential social and emotional issues such as any peer pressure, bullying or self-esteem. Overall, the middle school program is something that uh everyone is involved and be a part of to really support our students. And the mentors are selected by the administration uh counselors and therapeutic social workers working together with the students. The students get a
034list of staff that they would like as mentors and they get an options one, two or three. Uh then the mentors uh asked if they would like to mentor the student. Uh so the student has a choice and a voice and you know because when it comes to mentoring that trust is huge, right? in order for it had an impact on the students. And the students then once they've chosen the the uh the mentor they're going to be working with, then they meet with them on a weekly or daily basis uh to check on any assignments that are still left to to to catch up on. Also to advocate for the student, they need to speak to a staff member, say, "Hey, they they didn't get a chance to study on ABC and D. Can
035we extend the time on the the assessments?" Um and overall then how the weekend went just once once again that check-in that opportunity to really support that growth of our students and the criteria is um for our students is you know they have to be uh failing three or more courses um and have five or more absences per market period um and I want to show and of course any negative uh infractions uh that may be causing and other circumstances you know whether it's uh family hardships, trauma or any other supports that they may need as well. >> Thank you Mr. H. That sounds like an amazing support system for our students. Thank you. And the staff members who are mentoring, that's amazing. Um, just two comments. Um, we are approving so many great clubs
036in all of our schools, really tailored to, um, what our students are interested in. This is a fabulous change over the last few years. Um, thank you to all the staff members who are helping our kids find and feed their passions. And it is nice as always to see Dover alumni coming back to teach in Dover. Thank you. Anyone else? >> Mr. Miller? >> Yes. >> I had submitted a question to Mr. Haime in reference to the fee for the mentor mentee services. If you could just clarify who pays the fee. Thank you. >> Uh the mentor fees are are not paid by the district. Uh the mentees pay the mentors but not directly. The fees are set by the state of New Jersey. As a district, we deduct the fee from the mentees paycheck
037and hold the amount until the mentoring is completed. Uh, for example, the 1,00 divided by 20 pays, which comes up to $50 per pay or um, sorry, and 550 divided by 20, then it'll be $27.50. Once the mentor is complete, 30 weeks, uh, we issue the check out to the mentor. Um and the C Cas sorry 500 teachers are have a CES uh CAS have gone to additional route of students teaching and went to college for teachers and then the 1000 is for teach uh people who have graduated college with a degree in something other than education and decide to enter the world of education as alternate roles. >> Thank you very much for clarifying. >> Anyone else? Okay, roll call, please. Mr. Suo, >> yes. >> Miss DS, >> yes. >> Mr. Mor, >>
038yes. >> Miss Penales, >> yes. >> Dr. Center, >> yes. >> Miss Shower, >> yes. >> Mes, >> yes. >> Mr. Miller, >> yes. >> Miss Solenz, you're up again with negotiations. >> Yeah. The negotiation committee is working still on salary guidelines and hope to have resolutions for next meeting. >> Okay. Thank you. Governance, Miss DS. Good evening. Um the governance committee met on August 26th uh for approximately a half an hour virtually. All members were present. We discussed um meeting minutes template template um we discussed templates to be used for all committee chairs to use in the near future. And we also discussed meeting minutes guidelines, when they should be uploaded, how to let board members know the minutes are available, etc. Um, we are working on constructing a board reporting template for when
039a board member attends training meeting or workshop to report back to the to the board. Um, Mr. Haime is working on the student evaluation and the objective with the team. And we also went over dates for the quarterly reports. Uh Miss Phillips recommended the following schedule. The first report being November, the second report February, third report May, and the fourth report July. The committee was in agreement. The next meeting is scheduled for September 23rd. Thank you. >> Any questions for Miss DS? Okay. Student Achievement and Curriculum. Dr. Sainer. >> Thank you, Mr. Miller. The Student Achievement and Curriculum Committee met on September 9th. In addition to um Miss DS and Mr. Miller and myself, um Mr. Carl and Mr. Chewy were in attendance. Um our committee meeting was jam-packed. Um I would encourage board members
040to look at the many links in the committee um meeting minutes. Uh there's a lot more information than I can share with you in this limited time. We discussed the opening convocation and the professional development offered for our staff members during that three-day opening period. There were six targeted goals that include that included sorry SEI dual language development supporting co-teers as well as recognizing students. We looked at the completed curriculum um many of which you will be approving tonight. Um we discussed um the various grant submissions and I would like to um share with you that several of them uh that were previously submitted we received information were awarded to our district. For example, the school-based health care solutions network um principal support services mental health grant which will provide both Do Middle School and
041Dover High School with a fully funded licensed mental health professional on campus as well as $25,000 in principal directed funding per school over five thou over five years which is $5,000 per year. Um and the recruitment training and support is managed by um the SBHSN. This will add an additional staff member to each school which is amazing. We were awarded $75,000 from the advanced placement and international balora course expansion grant. This has supported teachers who did summer institute training as well as teachers who are researching potential new courses and will also help pay for AP exams for our students. We were awarded $81,864 for the building responsive instruction through data guided evaluation bridge grant. Um, this will be used to produce common assessments to identify where students who are slightly below grade level are struggling
042and of course help with that. We were awarded $8,700 for funding for optimal comprehensive universal screeners, the focus grant, and thenund and we have applied for but not yet received um $150,000 for the cultivating ongoing achievement through coaching and literacy or the coach L grant. That would bring a literacy coach into the district for five years. I hope to um announce that that one and as well as four other grants have been submitted and we are waiting on um decisions on those. Um we discussed the walkthrough procedure. This is a procedure where admin from across the district walk into uh classrooms for a period of five to seven minutes recording um positive examples of whatever that month's theme is. Um and then there is communication with the teacher about the things that the administrator saw
043in their classroom that supports the um uh domain of that time period. The first one for example is environment and culture and this is will be used to for administrators to look at the data to both identify things that the district is doing well or behaviors that um they are not seeing generally and could provide professional development to support. We talked about PLC's, the um launching of the new gifted and talented program. We talked about strategic planning um amongst supervisors, directors, building administration as well as school admin. We talked about our new reading diagnostic, the Amira reading suite, which is available um for students in grades K through six and supports both um it diagnos or it is a diagnostic in both English and Spanish to meet all of our students needs. We received an
044updates on an update on K to5 standard-based report cards. We received an update on um elementary SEAL integration where elementary school counselors will go into social studies classes and do some SEAL lessons. The goal is to get them in there once a month and the SEAL lessons will tie directly into the curriculum so that it will be a seamless um lesson within what the students are already being taught. And then we talked about how data is uh the am crazy amount of data being collected is being analyzed in terms of instruction, attendance, behavior, and HIPS. That concludes my report. Um under our items on the agenda, you'll see tons of really great field trips planned by our staff members, as well as a list of staff members taking on classes to better serve our students.
045With that, I move that we approve items one through six under student achievement and curriculum. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion, comments? >> Mr. Miller, I just wanted to comment something. Um, we all I believe we all received an invitation from Angelica Rodriguez, our director of bilingual ESL and world language department, inviting us on September 24th with an uh morning and afternoon session to the Belmont Avenue building for uh an invitation to join us for the first session of the dual language training series. Unfortunately, I'll be out of town that day, so sadly I'll be missing that. So, I hope other board members are going to take who can will take advantage of of this and I thank Angelica for her invitation. >> That's it. >> Um, I would also
046like to uh thank Mr. Carl, Mr. Chewy, um, for creating a strategy to drive student growth, to mentor teachers, uh, and not only just the strategy, but then the coordination to figure out how to execute the strategy. It's it really amazing and and the amount of data that they have to filter through and work with committees is really amazing. So I really want to thank them. Anyone else? >> Roll call. Mr. Eve. >> Um I will abstain to um N2 for myself and yes to all others. Miss D >> abstain to N2 to myself and approved for the others. >> Mr. Mor abstain from myself for item two. Uh yes on everything else. >> Miss Panes. >> Yes. >> Dr. Center. >> Yes. >> Miss Shower. >> Abstaining on um item N2 for myself and
047yes to everything else. Miss Son, >> yes. >> Mr. Miller, >> yes. >> Okay. Community relations. Mr. McCort. >> Um the community relations committee has not met since um our last board meeting. Um we are scheduled to meet on September 30th prior to the first citizens advisory committee meeting of the new year. Um and I will have further reports after that meeting. >> Okay. Thank you. Policy. Miss Panales. >> Good evening. The policy committee met on September 9th at 6:30 p.m. In attendance was Mrs. Shower, Mr. Mort, and myself. Also from administration, Mr. Haime, who updated us in some revised policies. Policy 6220 on budget preparation. Um, it is listed a budget presentation on the agenda. By the way, a proposed budget requires a critical analysis of every member of the board during its preparation.
048The administration shall work with the board to ensure board members have a throughout understanding of the budget appropriations, budget revenue, the proposed educational program, and the budget's impact to the local tax levy. The board should also provide community input during the budget development process. Policy 1620 administrative employment contracts was also revised mostly related to the superintendence. Policy 1570 internal controls also revised. Internal controls should promote operational efficiency and effectiveness. Provide reliable financial information. Safeguard assets and records. Encourage adherence to prescribed policies and comply with law and regulations. Policy 5430 on class rank. This policy had been discussed by our committee before, but it was not implemented, so we're revising it. All courses are used to compute the grade point average and rank. Grade point averages are determined from the final marks a pop receives each
049year for each and every subject. We're changing the dual enrollment in AP aligning the way for honors and AP courses. On regulations on first reading, we have regulation 60 to20 on budget preparation, regulation 1570 on internal controls. For job descriptions, we are revising site manager, supervisor of school counseling and community liasan um to be renamed to be aligned with the position and also better um functioning and clear purpose. Our next policy committee meeting um will be determined and with that I make a motion to approve items one through three under policy. So move >> questions. Dr. Shainer. >> Um my first question is can you explain what has changed in policy um 1570? Is it just the language or has there been a change in the law? It's the language uh pronouns and things that
050were changed and uh as well as there were some languages where it said previously uh only the board where now it says board and superintendent or only says superintendent and it's superintendent and board. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Can you explain why the dual enrollment courses are being removed from the um calculation when determining GPA? It looked like they had been struck through. Uh all dual dual enrollment courses are now include honors. Um so distinction and follow the honors category are waiting for student GPA. >> So just to make sure I heard you, dual enrollment is in the same category as honors. >> Yes. >> Okay, perfect. And then could you highlight the changes in the job descriptions that we are approving? >> Sure. >> Please. for for the supervisor of school counseling. The
051biggest change is all uh guidance was changed to school um school counseling. Uh also some clarification on the role as well as the person uh reports to and supervisors. So uh reports to the chief academic officer and designate uh as well as supervisors counselors uh student assistant uh counselors, community liaison, which is uh position that wasn't originally under our school counseling and uh any other staff assigned all the duties of stay current um as far as with the re research and legislation and best practice and school counseling and perform all the duties assigned by district leadership. Uh the community is changed is is person that they reported to is stated by the originally by the assistant superintendent which is uh no longer and the site manager uh we added a few qualifications added address some
052key responsibilities that ensure smooth operations at our athletic events. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Roll call. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> MS. >> Yes. >> Mr. M court. >> Yes. >> Miss Penales. >> Yes. >> Dr. Center. >> Yes. >> Miss Shower. >> Yes. >> Miss Sness. >> Yes. >> Mr. Miller. >> Yes. >> Finance and Facilities. Mr. Shower. >> Thank you, Mr. Miller. Um, the Finance and Facilities Committee meeting met or committee met on August 26th at the Belmont building starting at about 5:30 and we ended approximately 6:30. In attendance, Mr. Haime, Mr. Sabagulu, Mr. to who was a wealth of information and so welcome to be there. Um and uh members board members were Mr. Miller, Dr. Ser, myself and absent was Miss Asdo. Facilities projects that are still in
053progress. We uh have submitted our full packet as full as it could be on our route 46 building former Dober Sport. Um the application has gone to the state. It has been checked on to make sure that there was no issue and that they didn't lose it and they they found it. I guess it is sitting on the desk and we are still awaiting approvals. Um the Dover High School generator project, the pad, electric, gas are all installed and we are just simply awaiting the delivery of the unit which I believe is still on track for December 23rd, 2025. Um the project thankfully has come in under budget which is always very very nice. Uh Mr. Toth uh the the committee mentioned that because of the location and people doing U-turns and whatnot in the
054parking lot which is right outside our door here. Um we asked if there would be a need for the concrete dead man posts in front of the unit so that no one backs into them. and he was going to do a little research on that to see if that was necessary. Um, the HVAC upgrades with Hannah Contracting for the ROD projects, the units are on the stands. We saw photos of them. They look great. They're very high up. They look like soldiers standing there against the building. Um, North Dover will be delayed completion until the third week in September. The contractor at no cost to the district or to the or any additions to the contract will deliver to us and install temporary window air conditionings where needed and uh I believe those become ours
055after after the project is completed as well. Um and those would be handy for the future. Uh, moving on to the sixth grade annex project. Groundbreaking possible this fall with more information to follow and we are holding our breath to find out when that is going to be because that's going to be exciting. Uh, Do High School maintenance garage renovation of the old garage building at the rear of the high school has been cleared out, painted and refreshed, and the photos looked great. North do over and east over roof repairs replacement continuing and completed during the week of teacher convention as to avoid disruption with noise to the students inside. This also Mr. Sabagulu did come in under budget because of the type of replacement that we did. It was far more inex less expensive
056than what we anticipated which again thank you Mr. to for finding these new and innovative ways to uh to do our replacements. Completed the North Dover Elementary School gym floor was completed and looks fantastic. We saw photos of that. Um I'm sure it's already being used. Uh it was discussed by the committee that these completed projects be um shared with the community so that the community that also uses our facilities do over recreation for basketball etc. um that those will be included in the new newsletter that's coming out this fall. So uh we should all be looking forward to that and sharing that with our community. for finance. The 2425 annual aug a audit progress uh is at the online portal stage and we are anticipating an on-site visit from the auditors in September. the
057ROD grants for the air conditioning projects. Uh first reimbursement was submitted and uh we are awaiting the state share after our submission for Dover Middle School 996,278.40 with the state share being 1,245,348 for North do 596,342.73 with the state's share being 1,490,85683 and these ROD grants have been fantastic for this renovation and our next finance and facility meeting is scheduled for September 30th and that's the end of my report and I would like to make a motion to move items number one through 18 on the agenda. >> Um Mr. Miller, >> is there a second? >> Second. >> Uh any questions? >> I did have a couple of questions. Mr. >> Mr. McCor had his hand up first. >> Please take Mr. Um so first question um is on the transportation contract. Um first obviously
058I think all of us are happy to see a $40,000 savings. I'm just curious um beyond that $40,000 savings. What drew us to Mendum specifically for that replacement contract? >> Actually we're in the NJSBO meeting. Uh we met with the VA over there and she said she was doing the services and they have a big uh fleet of buses. So she said we could offer it and we sent our like uh the lists and the routes and they came up with saying that they can do this with I think like 68 70,000 I'm not 100% sure which versus we were paying like 111 GSC. That's why we pulled one route just to try it at the same time and they're doing pretty good job too. So with that said, if everything works out good, we
059can put like one by one. Uh then every time we can see save like 40,000 50,000 depends on the route so we can work better with this school district. >> Do they have the capacity to take on um more and more as time goes on? Uh we we if they they have we we're going to try to do more business and we don't want to try like two three uh routes at the same time either. So if as long as everything works out good we can have a meeting I can go there maybe one day we can sit down and talk about it if they are a able to do it and we can also we bought like two more buses this year. One of them came and the other one's coming on the road
060so we can do more routes too at the same time. >> Okay. Um the other question and this this just came to my mind when um when Miss Shower was was making a presentation. Um the extension of the parking lot item 17. Is that something that we needed to need to or needed to go before the planning board for or was that included? >> No, there was just like a little adjustments in the park. >> It's not enough to >> Yeah, not enough. Okay, that's all I have. Thank you, >> Mrs. Shaw. >> Thank you, Mr. Miller. Um, I had a question for Mr. Haime that I had submitted, but I would not want to miss the opportunity to thank the Kowanas Club for their donation to our younger students uh, with some personal items
061and they're doing some great things locally. So, I appreciate that and we thank them for their donation. My question submitted was in reference to Fox Education Services and the agreement for the literacy program. It's a 10-day program with I believe the maximum being $28,000. And I'm just curious who's going to be involved with that and will they be um passing on their training? The Kim Fox uh who has previously supported our general education teachers as a literacy coach is now partnering with our special education department for the 2526 school year. She will facilitate facilitate 10 targeted professional development sessions throughout the year starting with an opening day workshop. Uh the training is focused on strengthening foundational literacy practice in grades five uh K through five special education classrooms covering topics such as phonics instruction purposeful
062centers comprehens comprehension strategies and writing development. The sessions are designed to be practical and immediate applicable strategies shared during these trainings and will be aligned with our board district uh literacy goals to ensure consistency and impact across the classrooms. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Roll call, please. >> MO. >> Yes. >> Miss DS? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mccord? >> Yes. >> Miss Penales? >> Yes. >> Dr. Center? >> Yes. >> Miss Sher? >> Yes. Yes. Messes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Miller. >> Yes. >> Okay. Someformational items. Our next uh board meeting is October 14th. We had some facility requests. Do recreation basketball utilizing the Delk One gym, Dover Middle School, and North Dover gym from November to February. And then the do little league um utilizing the do high school ba baseball
063field for practicing games from September through October. Okay. Do we have any old business? >> Um Mr. Miller, I do have one one question which I do believe falls under old business. Um and and I'm bringing this up because of the revision to the 2526 calendar that was on tonight. Um I just curious if there is any news on the uh we talked about this um earlier this year the 26 27 calendar and if there is anything that is still holding us back from approving that um so that it can get in front of parents quicker note just a follow up with the committee do one final review make sure the language and the dates are aligned and I think from there we can then move Thank you. >> Okay. Uh, new business. Uh, Mr.
064Sher, I believe you had a legislative committee report. >> I do. Um, before I go into my report, I did also want to um suggest and offer it to the board. Um, Mr. Crroo had made an offer in executive session to give some new ethics training and update to some of us um as a full board. I believe uh I hope that we can take advantage of that soon with um recent activities going on in the world uh especially nationwide. Uh I think it would be good to remind each other as a board our commitment to acting ethically at all times uh in public at board meetings on social media. Um so if Mr. could if you could meet with Mr. Croo to get some dates together. I know we we are a busy board
065with our committee meetings, but if we could do that soon, I would appreciate that. Um, and then on to I was asked by Mr. Miller and I said yes to volunteering for the Mars County School Board Association Legislative Advocacy Committee and we meet virtually which is great. Our first meeting was on September 3rd with um we had five members and uh a very these are all Mars County School Board members a very eclectic group uh with the noted everyone will recognize her name Irene Lefiv as the um as just a sitting member she she doesn't pull any rank with us but she uh she's very helpful and uh so our first meeting was zoom we had submitted before the meeting what Our key issues were um our the one that I had submitted was funding
066and the uncertainty of funding from the state. Uh several other boards submitted the same issue, but we decided on three key issues. HIV law, what's working and what's not, school funding with equity gaps and needs, and special education challenges and opportunities for improvement. These are all very important topics. what we decided after mulling things over that the um for as far as a legislative committee, our biggest challenge that we could possibly come to some sort of working arrangement with our government is the HIV law. It has been since 2013 that it has been in place. A lot of things in the world has changed. We all recognized the new challenges with HIV. There seems to be a lot of reoccurrence of of the same students and families being yeartoyear being involved in HIV. I was
067I was taken aback by the other school districts that have a lot of that as a problem. this becomes a generational HIV issue with new kids coming in, older kids graduating, and it's it's a family issue of um grievances and gripes between students. So, we're going to work on HIV, we're meeting again um on September 3rd virtually. If any board member, if our administration have any ideas that they would like to submit to me for HIV, problem areas that we encounter as a board, uh those are the things that we're going to work on. Um and that's my report. >> Thank you. I just want to give a shout out to the tech team because the microphone sound is so much better. And I know working with a tech team, we only hear when there's
068bad things. So I wanted to be sure to let Thank you because this is much better. Okay. So now I would like to uh open u for public comment um to the public. The board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters. To ensure fair and orderly expression of such comment, each com each statement shall be held to a time period of three minutes. Public comments not restricted to items on this agenda shall be entertained for approximately 30 minutes upon the discretion of the presiding officer. For those who wish to provide public comment remotely, a Google form was posted on the district website at 6:30. Remote comments will be read by a member of the board of education. The
069board of education will alternate between in-person and online comments. Please understand the public comment portions of our agenda are not structured as question and answer sessions, but rather they are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. The board may or may not respond to public comments. However, all comments are considered and will be investigated and addressed as appropriate. Please be courteous and mindful to the rights of others when providing comments. Comments may not be obscene, abusive, threatening, or irrelevant. Please understand that students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board is not permitted to respond to public comments about students or employees. Please be advised that you are commenting at your own risk. Any public comments that are directed at a particular individual or individuals could subject you to legal
070liability for defamation. Is there anyone from the public that wishes to address the board? Good evening everybody. John Kiglio, 24 Taylor Town Road, Montville. So tonight I would just like to take a moment to publicly thank and recognize our director of facilities, maintenance, and custodial staff, Mr. Alex Toth. In the short time that Alex has been with us here in Dover since May of last year, working with him has been a truly positive experience. He he communicates clearly, responds quickly, explains the issues, so I am able to understand the timeline of the repair, and collaborates to address issues effectively. As many of you know, over the past two years or so, prior to Alex's arrival, our district faced a litany of HVAC issues across multiple work sites. This summer, Alex made it a priority to
071correct these problems, ensuring that our schools were ready for staff and students. He also addresses concerns proactively when he sees them during his rounds rather than ignoring them and allowing them to linger. His determination and follow-through gives staff confidence that when a work order is submitted by our teachers and staff, it will not only receive a timely response, but also it will be met with open communication from him and his team. that that shift has made our staff feel much more supported. Additionally, Alex took the time to sit with his staff during convocation, fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion, an action that did not go unnoticed. We are truly grateful to have Alex as a part of our Dover family. His efforts allow our staff to come to work with peace of mind, confident
072that their needs will be addressed. Thank you, Alex, for your dedication and leadership, and I look forward to building on the strong relationship you have already established with our staff here and over. Thank you. Anyone else in the public that wishes to be heard? Uh, since Miss Phillips isn't here, is there anyone that has the ability to check for online comments? There are online comments. Well, I was alternating between in person. Okay. It's the same. Okay. Hi. >> Hi. Good evening. My name is Evelyn Ernnandez and I am currently a senior at Dober High School. I have been part of the dance program for the past four years and it has truly been a life-changing experience. Dance has been my motivation to come to school and is one of the few spaces where students from
073all backgrounds regardless of talents level or language barrier can come together and express themselves. Unfortunately, this year the dance club and Latin mix have been drastically impacted. Rehearsal time has been cut to more than half compared to previous years due to a lack of funding and support from the district. In the past, additional rehearsals were made possible through extra effort and commitment. But without the proper resources in this year, those opportunities have become extremely limited. The lack of rehearsal time is already affecting us. Without enough time to prepare, we're struggling to perfect to perfect routines that usually takes weeks of practice to get ready. It's impacting our confidence or performance quality and ultimately our ability to represent over at the high level we're used to. We take pride in what we do, but it's disheartening
074when we're not given the time or support to do our best. These clubs have consistently represented Dober with pride, earning awards, hosting one of the largest annual school performances and building a strong sense of community among over 50 students. Our performances have drawn more than 500 attendants each year. Just yet despite this s this success and impact, we remain one of the least funded extracurricular activities. All we're asking is for fairness. The dance club deserve the same level of support and funding as other school activities and support so and sports so that we can continue rehearsing properly and showcasing the talent and spirit of D High School. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you very much. >> Is there one comment? Um, I don't have access to it. >> Oh, Dr. Sander,
075do you have >> Okay, >> let me I'm refreshing. You emailed it. I got it. Okay. >> Just kidding. >> Is it okay to read, Mr. Miller? >> Yes, please. Thank you. >> Um Okay, so there are two. Am I Oh, thank you. Okay. Um this comes from Sergio um at 96 Park Street. The transportation department is a mess and the supervisor is the most disorganized person. They have three people coordinating and the mess is the same or worse than in previous years. >> Okay. And the next one is Okay. Um are there any other comments, public comments? And there are no other Mr. Is there anything that you'd like to comment on >> in regards to the the dance club? Um I can we'll have further conversation with the supervisor um as well as
076the person in charge of dance club. Um I know that that was a change we did make last year from a uh if you recall there was a sidebar where it went from a stipen to an hourly club. So it did increase in that manner. Um but I would have to have further discussion with uh the coordinator in regards to um those changes that are being done this year regarding the dance uh and in regards to the transportation. I I welcome the community member to reach out to me and give me further details and and hopefully I can address those those needs and do the best we can to um you know uh move in the right direction with transportation. Thank you. Seeing uh no other comments, I'd like to close this portion of the
077meeting to the public and entertain a meeting a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. All right. Have a good night everybody.