001That's it. Turn this off. Check. Check. Check. One 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Check. Check. Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Check. Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Check. One, two, three, four. Check. Check. Check. Check. All right. You want to check the stream and see what it sounds like? Sounds like that on the screen. I don't know what else we have to do, but all the stuff here. I would say maybe sit here. We get to microphone. Yes, that's correct. All right, let's see. What? I want to show you how after I don't website. Yeah. Hello. Test test test. Awesome. All of a sudden, she got They're not they're not I showed him like what you were doing backiring. said, "I don't know. Okay. So, we switch around. people. Maybe
002it's action. They all set. Oh, you mean the one for reading of the I'm pretty sure that was your all stay like this. If I was So, we're going to be We need a few hits. on. Test test test. Is this on? Is this the board is an executive? I heard somebody with a mic. Is this on? Okay. Executive session should be done within 10 minutes and they'll be they'll be coming back out. All right. What happened? What do you say? Pretty quick. Um, you want to talk in that microphone one more time? Yeah. Test one, two, three, four. Test one, two, three, four. Okay. Um, you want to talk in that microphone one more time? Yeah. Test one, two, three, four. Test one, two, three, four. Okay. So you guys uh try not to
003do any talking at all cuz I have your microphones or the microphones on your cameras. That's probably what they're going to be picking up in the room for the live stream. Um yeah, that's it. Maybe they'll make it really quick. What did he say? So, what he says is uh try not to do any talking at all. I have to start on your cameras probably which are going to be up. Are you going to So, you want to see if I play with it as they go and then if it sounds good I can switch it back over. But right now, I just have it on their camera microphones. All right. Anyway guys, I'm on this camera right there and then if it sounds good I can now I just have it on there camera
004microphone doesn't put it up against those lines on the TV right there. You see how it slants over? You're gonna have to straight. Yeah. But use the level one underneath. See what I'm saying? Ready to go. And then if it sounds good, I can Now I just have it on there. Camera microphone. All right. Just whenever you're ready, just zoom in on you probably open up your iris, too. Just open it up. See what I'm saying? A little bit more. If it sounds good, I can switch it. Right now, I just have it camera. Um, all right. Can you zoom in a little bit more or no? There you go. All right. Stay right there. We're going to come to you in a minute. My question is if everything is Where is that coming from?
005Yeah. Did you just turn them all down? I just turned them all down. Just out of curiosity. Good evening. All right. Camera on your meeting. Uh for those who wish to provide public comment remotely, the legal form was posted on the district website at 6:30 p.m. Those remote comments will be addressed in the second public comment section. This meeting, which is hereby called to order at 6, whatever time it is, uh is in compliance with the notice requirements of the law. Public notice was posted in the office of the board of education and communicated to the municipal clerk in a daily record on January 14th, 2025. Can you please stand for the pledge of allegiance? Camera four. You guys are clear for the moment. Thank you. We have three Dober Middle School students to lead
006us in the pledge tonight. Uh Bel Torres, Jackie Mendes, and Aiden Curves. See if you guys can get any shots. Blocked by everybody. All right, let's go eat my camera. Back to camera for Mr. MS M. Let's go to you. Miss Phillips, Miss Canelis, Dr. S. What's your M shower? Miss Son, Mr. Miller. Yeah, you're going to have to open it up here. Mr. Shower, you leave our mission statement. I have my camera for make it brighter. Extra steps tonight. 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. The Dober Board of Education acknowledges that the law of the state camera forward. My number. Good evening everyone. My
007last Thank you. We have our first presentation this evening in recognition of BMS 2025 National School of Character Mr. Maple and Miss D. All right, camera four. Let's go to the podium. Camera three. So uh well thank you everyone. Um we're very excited uh to be here tonight. Once again I'm Mike McCauley, the principal of Dober Middle School. I'm here with uh Miss Julie Deli who's in charge of our character education programs and we have our students pledge my Torres, Jackie Mendes and Aiden Kurs. Uh so we're very excited to be with uh you here tonight to share with you that DMS was named a uh 2025 National School of Character by Character.org. Um Character.org is is basically the leader in character education. Um and comprised of educators, researchers, civic leaders, business leaders uh who
008advocate for character education and and like us they prioritize the vital role uh that character plays uh in a student's education. Uh their mission their mission is to provide global leadership, voice and resources for developing character in families, schools and organizations. Uh and of the roughly 100,000 schools uh in the United States, only 70 uh or 71 earned this distinction this year. And middle school this was one. [Applause] So we do have a video we'd like to play which is comes from character.org and it's them sort of thanking uh uh or congratulating the schools that were named. So, uh, hopefully this will work and I'll bring some microphone over. John, shoot the, uh, shoot the screen for me. Just turn your um, turn it down a tiny bit. ISD in San Antonio, Texas, and I
009am a proud principal at Cambridge Elementary. We are also a national school of character of 2024 and 2019. And I want to shake my pom poms and extend my heartfelt congratulations to you being a 2025 National School of Character. What an incredible honor and one that reflects your deep commitment to shaking not just smart minds but also strong hearts. Again, another pom pom shaking. I do back flips for you and high kicks, but those days are over. But I do want you to know what a wonderful commitment you have made to this National School of Character. I know firsthand that this journey takes vision, teamwork, and a lot of heart. The work that you're doing does matter and every person in your building, the teachers, the students, the staff, and every family and community partner
010is part of something truly transformative. You're not just teaching character, you're living it. And because of that, your impact reaches far beyond the walls of your school. Congratulations again and thank you for being a light in your community and a model for everyone around the country. Congratulations. All right, camera four. So as a school's been working to really meaningfully incorporate more character education and social emotional learning since the 2019 2020 school year. And this started I pointed to the screen, but there's nothing there. This started with us talking to the whole community and saying what um character traits you think our students really need to learn. And maybe you were part of that. Maybe you were part of that voting in the 1920 school year. And we came up with tigers. Ti gs. And at
011that time um we were using those in East Elementary and in Dober Middle School and as a district as a whole. And then last year in the 2023 2024 school year, we started a PBIS committee which then reserveyed everyone and said, "Hey, how's our character journey going? Do we have anything that we need to work on? Are these still our core values? Are we ready to move on to something else? And on the screen you can see that at the beginning of last September we started with war at so we adapted new core values of resilient, observant, accountable and respectful because we felt like that was where our middle schoolers needed to focus the most and what we wanted to highlight the most. Uh we rolled out the new core values at the beginning of
012last school year with a pep rally hosted by our PBIS committee which is your son. Um so the PBIS committee began work uh in the 23 24 school year under Mr. Haime's leadership and in case we don't say it enough tonight, you know, so many of uh of these initiatives uh started with under Mr. Hime as principal of Middle School. Um and so PBIS continued our district's partnership with um uh NJCIE, which is the New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education, and we've been working with them for years to, you know, better incorporate all different types of students into the life of our building. Uh so uh working with them uh they came up with the new acronym uh for our core values which is ROAR which stands for resilient, observant, accountable and respectful. And that
013was really born out of the committee's desire to recognize positive behavior and reward positive behavior and not always when focusing on behavior focus on negative behavior or consequences but to praise students uh and let their families know when they um engage in positive behavior. Uh so they did a lot of planning in the 23 24 school year and then in this school year we rolled it out. Uh we got t-shirts for all of our staff with the ROAR acronym uh and we organized a uh kickoff pep rally um in September. We created posters um with the ROAR acronym and examples of of how to live up to it in different parts of the building. So we had posters for the cafeteria, the hallways, the bathroom that sort of showed what, you know, roar behavior looks
014like in those places. Um, and uh, we also started something called the ROAR awards where teachers uh, if they see a student living up to one of those core values, they fill out a postcard describing the behavior. Uh, that postcard gets mailed home um to the parents so that the parents know and are aware of what happened. Uh, and then we highlight that behavior in our morning announcements. So every morning I'm reading uh highlighting a different student for some you know good deed they did you know one example I saw a student uh you know help a teacher pick up their things they dropped their things trying to enter the building in the rain and the student without being asked sort of held the door and helped them pick up their things and brought them
015in. So I wrote that uh in a postcard that went home to the family. Uh and like I said then we highlight the the students in the morning announcements. Um and then we also have an end of marking period celebration where all the students who have been nominated uh come down to the cafeteria for some kind of treat and um you know get recognized uh again in in that respect. Um and that was something that uh came out of our MOSA survey which is a survey we give to staff um uh you know seeing what they want more of less of same of uh same as and uh that grew out of that. Uh if this slide here is an actual picture from the pep rally. So we uh we had a pep rally and
016we had students engage in activities. Each one uh each activity represented uh one of the different uh words of roar. So for resilient uh students had to hold yoga poses for as long as they possibly could. Uh for observant they engaged in a scavenger hunt. For accountable uh a blindfolded student would be sort of coached through an obstacle course by a student who was not blindfolded. Um and for respectful we did the human knot which is pictured above which with uh students and our teacher Kyle Madison who's on the PBIS committee and that's where all the students have to lock hands and then they have to actually get out of that um without letting go and figuring out how they can maneuver around one another. So that was a great event in September. It really
017helped to kick off uh our core values uh with the acronym board. So character.org has many different tiers of recognition and we've been working so hard to highlight all of the good work that we're doing, but then also receiving feedback and learning and growing and creating more programs that better meet all of the needs and um social emotional needs of our students. Um, so we originally earned a promising practice for our character counts program, which we'll talk about more in a little bit. And then last year, we actually were so excited to earn the state school of character recognition. But the reason we're all here tonight is because we did become a national school of character this year, which is extraordinarily difficult to achieve. and we worked very very hard to do so. Um, so
018we had lots of reasons to celebrate and lots of different ways that we celebrated. Um, first we plastered it all over social media. We had as quickly as we could, Mr. McCauley was sending out emails, school messenger notifications. We wanted everyone to know our good news. Um, we met with our interview team and all of the distinct character groups to congratulate them. We purchased new banners that you'll see outside of our school. And then we Mr. McCauley said, "We need t-shirts." And man, was he right. Listen to the people. We needed t-shirts. So, we Mrs. Christini and I designed t-shirts. We got t-shirts out to everybody in our building. We're so excited to have one for every incoming seventh grade student next year. Um, and we all wore them together on the last Friday of
019the school year. And it was so nice to see everybody matching. We sent out our Tiger News team to grab some pictures. So, we have a video that you can with that. And board of ed members, if you remember, we asked you for your t-shirt sizes because we want you to celebrate with us. I'll play it again. I'll play it again. All right, John. I just want to thank Miss Christensen and our DMS news team for putting together that video that went out on Tik Tok. And they're always putting together videos of our events and posting them to uh Tik Tok and Twitter. On this slide you'll see um the five different awards that we've earned. So in 2023 we were recognized for character counts and in 2024 for the power of being seen which
020is professional development brought to us by Mr. Haime and perpetuated after he moved up. And then also another program that we have continued that Mr. Hime brought to us is the Meloa feedback loop which what's so great encompassing this is is that character counts to students leading students and the power of being seen is teachers helping students and the Melissa feedback loop is administration asking teachers for feedback and acting on it. So we really span the whole spectrum. Um then we also have updated our website which is going to share with you website has been updated to achievements. As you can see our website uh as you can see our website was assigned to start the work that we are in and the website team has included the character journey that I would like to
021show you how to find it. First uh click about DMS then go to school character and then then click about Then go to school character. There you'll see your moving on, we can go back to our our next slide, slide seven. Um, you know, this year, uh, last year we came very close to being a national school of character. we only fell a couple of points short uh according to the uh the formula of character.org. So this year we obviously wanted to make sure that we uh you know did everything uh to the best of our ability for their application process which really has two part uh parts. First we had to submit sort of an online application in early November. Uh and we just had a ton of support from uh all of our
022staff and from central office administration from Mr. Hime Mr. Carl. Um, and we were able to, uh, submit our application on time. Uh, basically, you can see there, we had, you know, 22 essays and 60 pages of artifacts. We really had to give them a whole lot of information about all of these various programs. Um, and we just had a lot of cooperation. We were able to get that done. And then we also had to prepare for the interview which which they call a virtual site visit where uh we had to put a whole team together of staff members, administration, central office administration, parents, students. Uh these students were here and and and part of of that interview. Um and we had to prep everybody. So that was really kind of months of getting ready
023for that site visit which I think happened in February. Um and uh once again we just had so much cooperation uh from everyone involved. Uh I think if we can go to the next Oh, we have to go down a little. I don't know if you can go down a little to uh uh to slide 15, Stephen. Uh but that there's a great picture there of um of that committee. We had 10 staff members, four students, five parents, uh you know, administration from our building and then also uh central office. We had Mr. Carl, uh Mr. Wshaw, Mr. Haime were all present. So that's a picture from that day. We certainly thank everyone who helped us uh make it through that virtual site visit. Uh we certainly felt very good when it was over and
024we felt we had sort of done our best to uh uh make our case as a national school of character. Um, so it was really a just a huge team effort from uh our building to the entire district and we're just very thankful for everyone uh who helped us along the way. Mr. Steve, we're back on slide eight. Thanks. So in the 1920 school year when we really started focusing on character education, we developed a program called Character Counts and it is our flagship program. It's what started everything. Um and in character counts, we have um seventh and eighth grade student mentors along with some sixth graders from Eastover since we're lucky enough to have share the campus. and they create lesson plans and they teach lesson plans about important character traits like those we
025talked about before for the tigers and the roar. Um the students select books that our librarian Mrs. Saoden curates for them and they select books that teach about that trait. Then they work with their elementary class have some choices to make and they really are teaching and taking part in that. Um for the past three years we have also traveled to Academy Street in North Dober. Um so we visit Eastover six times a year and we have those two additional visits. Um the program is always changing, always growing. The best example I can give this to you is when we were um learning virtually through co through the pandemic um her account succeeded. We were not sure. We thought it might die off because that was the year it started. But we were able to
026get students joining us virtually after school and practicing. At that time they were reading the books to the kids. They were practicing reading them online and then joining the group um that way. And now that has evolved um to now where they pick a YouTube video and the YouTube video reads it, they pause the video, they talk about how that shows trustworthiness and it really has become a teaching opportunity for them as well. this year. Um, I was really happy to work with Aiden, who's one of our carriage accounts mentors. As a car two times mentor, I'm always trying to live up to my expectations and I really enjoy being in the classroom be the uh open classrooms and just helping the kids, you know, whether it's trying to understand the video or ask them
027asking them questions about what happened in the video and then like helping them understand how to how to live up to these core values. And even if it's just um being mindful of our behavior the hallway, I'm always trying to demonstrate um and teach these kids to be the best they can. This is another rising ninth grader in Jackie also talking about her time as a character accounts mentor for three years. In this picture we can see an eighth grade student in the kindergarten classroom. Every month we um plan and teach a difficult value in our academics. Growing up, a student would always go to my classroom to talk about and I was always excited when they came. And in sixth grade when I was elected to be student, I was very happy and confident
028for three years. Um, and then on the next slide, uh, the power of being seen, uh, was another, um, professional development, uh, activity that Mr. Haime brought to do middle school. And it's great. It's basically, um, you know, the teachers sit around and we sort of make a list, and you can even go to the next slide, Stephen, you'll see a picture of them. Um, we basically take our time to try to identify every student in the school who has a strong connection with the teacher. And what we're really looking to do of course is identify the students who do not have that one strong connection with a single uh staff member. Uh and then from there we work on obviously uh establishing those connections with those students. So it's a fairly simple idea but
029it's it's very powerful. Um, and it allows us to make sure that, uh, every student in the building has at least one adult, whether that's a teacher or an administrator or a security guard or anyone, um, that they feel comfortable going to, a guidance counselor, uh, you know, if they have an issue or or they have something that's bothering them. So, we want to make sure every student has that person and this activity uh, allows us to do that. So, we've been doing it uh for several years now and certainly we will continue to do it. Uh and then uh going on to slide 12. Uh we've talked about this already, the Mimosa survey, which stands for more of less of and same as uh which sort of got the technical name feedback loop as
030we uh presented it to character.org as a promising practice. Uh but this is a a survey we issue at the end of every year that Mr. Rame started and we just issued it again uh just a few weeks ago at the end of this school year. Uh and this obviously allows staff to sort of express their feelings on on what they like that's going on and what they don't like and uh what they want to keep or not keep. Uh and that's very valuable feedback to me and Mr. Stiniac as we are planning over the summer for what we're going to be doing next year. uh and it was you know excellent that this was named a promising practice uh because every five years you do have to reertify as a national school of character.
031So you sort of have to go through this process again in five years and the best way to continue on and and be reertified is to continue to have these promising practices. So, since we already have three promising practices, we're always looking to build the program and just to keep everyone updated that our goal for next year hopefully is to have our new program helping hands become a promising practice in 2026. That's what we'll be working on next school year. Um, last November there were some seventh graders who noticed that some help was needed in the elementary classes and that's how it starts that they were read the fact that what the community we've already built that they saw something and they wanted to do something. So they came to me they said what can
032we do and that's when our new service learning project began and what it turned into is that helping hands is where seventh and eighth grade students volunteer to help elementary classes once a week. Um, it directly aligns with the family life health core curriculum standards. So, it it it works and then it turns out that one of the family life teachers, Mrs. Blank, is now helping us run this program and it was very very effective and the feedback has been wonderful. I I would just like to add um Mr. Chewy is here tonight and we want to thank him and Miss Garcia for always working with us on these programs. Uh, as you know, you know, we have two schools in one building, Dover Middle School and East Elementary. Um, and one of the great
033things about it is that we do have those students from kindergarten through sixth grade in the same building as us. And it just allows for programs like this uh to exist where sort of the older uh middle school students or even sixth graders who sort of join our middle schoolers with character counts can go into the younger classrooms. Um and you know that's a real benefit for us that not a lot of middle schools you know have you know where they have those younger students in the building. So, um it's it's always great working with East Elementary, uh to make these programs work, and we certainly Aiden was part of helping hands and is pictured here. So, I wasn't I wasn't helping the uh 20 the or their 2025 for the school year. And I
034like um helping keep kids occupied while the adults are doing their thing cuz it's it's difficult to manage their kindergarten classroom. So it's I I enjoy being part of this journey to help just guide them along and help them grow up to be be a good person just as with character counts, but also it helps me get experience of what it's like to help these kids. Little passion tasks like help me pass out the folders. You know that takes someone's time and our middle schoolers are ready and able and willing to help. Uh so some of our other application highlights, we're down to the last two slides. Um our student ambassadors, uh you know, we have seventh and eighth grade student ambassadors. when we get new students to the building, they take them around and
035help them get acclimated. They also assist us at other evening events. Uh our care closet, which there's a picture of right there, which was a great program. Our school nurse, Stephanie Boures, started uh so that she has items that she can uh give out to students uh who need them. Uh our summer bridge program is a is a is a great program in the summer where uh we invite uh a bunch of rising seventh graders who've just finished sixth grade. they come to our building and do a a program in July to get acclimated to the middle school. Uh our summer planning breakfast, that's when all the teachers come in and basically help us plan out the entire year uh in August. Um our safety team uh committee and uh our student mentor program u
036which was started by our teacher Mr. Madison and uh matches uh teachers with a student mentor. You know, those students are in need of some extra guidance or help uh you know, getting through middle school and that's been very successful as well. Uh and now for our last slide, uh you know, what's coming next? Uh you know, we had neighboring districts who helped us with this application. Uh and that's a favor we'd like to return in terms of helping other districts and schools in the area as they go through this process. Uh including our own Dober schools, many of whom are are in the middle of this process as well. Uh more promising practices as I said and I got Mr. Hay's permission to put this on the slide which is going for district of
037character. You can become a district of character. Um I guess if all the schools become schools of character, you can then apply for district of character. So that's certainly a a long range goal for the whole district. Um but uh thank you uh for listening to us and we're just very excited to share all of this uh with you. Um thank you very much. I want to thank everyone who's involved uh in helping put this program together. Not only is the recognition great, but it's really creating the culture that gives our students a wonderful environment for learning and to excel and it's amazing and I just love the power of being seen. I think that is awesome. Love that. Does anyone else from the board have anything they like to say? Thank you again. Congratulations
038DMS for continuing that work with character education that we started many years ago. Um I'm excited to see you continue on progress and continue to work to uh hopefully eventually become a district of parent. Um so now for our next um presentation we have a uh recognition from retirees Gibbs. Sorry no we're going to skip to the next one. Sorry then we'll go back to Miss Gibbs. We're going to the recognition of New Jersey uh consortium for the gifted and talented program. Miss Bolock, Miss Ginger, and Miss Dr. Thank you everyone for the patient with the technology issues tonight. Honey, good evening. I'm Cynthia Bas Genszinger, the supervisor of social studies and gifted talented education. I am excited to share that students in Dr. Kina's enrichment classes at Academy Street Elementary School and the students
039in Mrs. Bullet's third grade gifted and talented class at North Elementary School participated in the fairy house and known home cardboard challenge through the New Jersey Consortium of Contamination Programs. The students created remarkable projects using only recyclable materials such as cardboard. All projects were constructed with a moving part. The students won outstanding prizes such as best overall concept and design, best use of movement, best craftsmanship, and the judges award. Thank you to both educators and their principles, Mr. Edwards, Miss Lucas, Dr. Carlton, and Mr. Danielle for engaging the students in such a wonderful endeavor. Mrs. Bulock, and Dr. Cena will now introduce the students who will describe their amazing projects with us. Good evening. I'm Dr. Kina and at the time of this challenge, my assignment was at Academy Street School. I presented this project
040to all students in grades K to 5 to see if they were interested in participating. We had numerous students participate. I'm very fortunate to have three of the top winners from the contest in our building. First of all, I'd like to introduce you to Sarah Orama. In the K2 category, she won the top prize with best overall concept and design. Let's give her a big round of applause. [Applause] So, this is my project. I used open and I have from my backyard. So, and I painted them and I got from I got these from the store and I colored like colorful flowers. I use like sticks along to get to get the side of the order and I use my leaves in the store my glue them on. And here's the best part. It's a
041fairy dancing party and I we use a mechanism to like make the make very looked like a dancer with a little piece of sitting there and we had they put me and I'm here and it's loud. They give her a nice round of applause. Now they want me to tell you that now she was and I want to introduce you to Mixel Estrosa who won. She's in grade two winning the best use of movement for her fairy house. My house has in the pool and the baby can go inside the door and she can put into house. So they can go down and do a party. Then they can water and can go make [Music] go to swim and see the things that they did. [Applause] And now in grade three category, best craftsmanship, Miguel
042Lango, grade three. Let's give an applause for So this is my new home house. So it's 9 7% out of the out of it's made out of cardboard. And now I'm going to tell you all about the insent and the outside. So here we see some grass and some leaves and some pine cones. And we see some different kinds of leaves for the roof and we see a pine cone. And here there's a water ball where we move this thing and the water and the bucket of water. coming up. So, gnomes can get the their water whenever they want to get water. And then after when they're done getting their water, you just do like this. Then it goes down. And here's a sign. It says, "Nome sweet, calm." And and it and that way
043they remember that it was their house. And here we see a a door and they open and we can go inside. So here we see a car with table right there and some nouns. We see a microwave right here and we see a window. Then after we see a room right here, we go upstairs. We a portrait and you see a TV and you see a comfortable bed with some flowers in it. And we see a closet. We open it and it has stairs. This is my favorite part. And we turn on the lights. [Applause] So before I introduce Bianca, I just want to uh let you know how much work goes into something like this. In my class, um it was uh eight teams of three uh where they did all of their work
044in class. So we had a lot of cardboard dust flying around for days and weeks. Um, but they were thinking in terms of engineers where they had to take the challenge, they had to uh plan it out, create prototypes, test it out. Uh, when they're working in teams of three, they're both had to collaborate. But it just doesn't stop with a house. Uh, every entry had to have a storyline. It had to have characters. Each child had to a story uh and uh videotape their story um so that the uh house became alive with a fairy moon. Uh and that's a big challenge. It took a lot of time and patience but you saw the student creativity uh coming out in many many different ways. Uh and this was a team of three. Bianca is
045representing her team. Uh Alan Chippaw and Sophia Ramirez were not able to make it. Uh but she's going to tell us tell you a little bit about Chase and his home. Chase right here. Sophia made We decided the gnome should be art. So, we put a little splotches of paint up here and some of the ground. Um, we have this. Um, this was the one of the cards. It was up here, but we lost it. Um, my friends made the windows and then colored these leaves and the reason top. I brought in the natural leaves. I brought in this one, this one, this one. I also brought this. And then I didn't bring anything that goes inside. Um I got these leaves that live cinnamon because he smells like cinnamon. Um the windows are one
046of the movable parts in this. I don't know. And we have two carpets. One's a rectangle, the other one's a circle. We have stairs so that she could climb up the stairs and get to his couch. The other thing we lost was a book, but we didn't use a couch. We made a bed, um, a light, and a drawer. Sophia made the sign. Me and my friends colored the acorn. I got in some little rocks. We colored those, too. Technically, I covered the rocks because I don't think he So, you can see Chase. Um, brush. Um, we have some pictures of the house. Right here is the book is downstairs. Um, and the windows on the back, the back windows, the escape window. I made the escape window. It's big enough for just to fly
047out. So, just to let you know, there were 120 entries. So, when you think that over students took away four of the prizes. Uh the judge spent a lot of time and wrote each one a special note what she liked about their project, what she thought their strengths were and uh the gifted and talented consortium they put a lot of time and effort in it and it has been a wonderful opportunity for our students. So, thank you very very much. Thank you so much. Round of applause. Thank you guys so much for show Good evening everyone. Uh and on tonight's agenda, we honor and recognize several retirees uh from throughout the year. Um and when looking to craft a speech to honor our retirees, I reflected on appropriate theme it could be. Last year I
048did reading, writing, arithmetic, and retirement. And this year I thought, what about a book? If we were to write a book about our retirees, what might it be? Because after all, isn't that what we tell our students that they're the authors of their own story and they should write a great story. So here are the great stories of our retirees. The title of the book is a lifetime dedicated to education and it was published one unforgettable year at a time. When we read the dedication page, we see that the book is dedicated to the students who inspired each chapter, the colleagues who shared their journeys, their families who offered support, and the community that helped Son Conception, our high school security guard with 25 years in Dover. Jean Pakina, our art teacher at North Dover
049with 18 years in Dover. Robert Franks, our director of preschool with 24 years in the district. Ela Raldi, special education teacher at Dover Middle School with 16 years in the district. Mary Walker, Spanish teacher at Dover High School with 30 years in the Andrea Williams, par profofessional, 26 years in district. Chapter one. They're quick chapters, I promise. Chapter one. Fresh faces, fresh pencils, fresh new beginnings. While each retirees story may differ somewhat, I'm fairly certain that each story all began with nervous energy, fresh lesson plans, and the anticipation that one can only have with a fresh start, a new beginning, and an open heart. Whether that young person was stepping into a school office, an art classroom for the first time, or stepping into a gymnasium, or a special educ special education classroom, or a
050Spanish classroom, or any classroom where assistance was needed. They were all ready to make a difference. That first day, that first bell marked the beginning of incredible journeys that would shape so many lives, including their very own journeys. Chapter two. lessons beyond the lesson plan. The real magic wasn't always in the textbook or in the lesson, but rather was in the teachable moments. As everyone who has ever worked in any aspect of education knows, some of the most important lessons taught in school are never written in the curriculum guide. Sorry, Rory. Uh or this time the whiteboard mis misconception on you taught students to follow the rules to show their ID and stay safe. But you also taught them that true safety comes not just from locked doors, but from knowing there are adults who
051care, who protect, and who treat every student with a respect and dignity. Miss Fina, you taught students how to hold a paintbrush, how to shave, how to mix colors, and how to sketch what they see. But you also taught them how to see beauty in the world, how to embrace their creativity, how to be proud of their individuality, and how mistakes can sometimes become masterpieces. Mr. Franks, you taught students to follow the rules, to work hard and have a sense of humor, and to strive for excellence. But you also taught students to believe in themselves, to lead with kindness, and to understand that success isn't just measured by grades, but by character, courage, and compassion. Mr. Galdi, you taught students how to read, how to solve problems, how to meet their goals. But you also
052taught them that every learner is unique, that progress is measured in courage as much as in grades. And that with patience, belief, and support, there are no limits to what they can achieve. Miss Walker, you taught students how to conjugate verbs, how to roll their Rs, and how to build sentences in a new language. But you also taught them how to appreciate other cultures, how to be curious about the world beyond their own, and how language can be a bridge that connects parts, not just words. Miss Williams, you taught students how to stay organized, how to stay focused, how to follow directions, but you also taught them that help is always nearby, that every student deserves patience and understanding, and that sometimes it's the quiet support in the background that makes all the difference. This
053chapter though one written in that lesson plan book may just be the important most important one of all. Other chapters, chapter three, I'll just read the synopsis. Lunchtime laughs and staff room wisdom. Here's what's here's where bonds were built. Between colleagues who became friends, mentors, and sounding boards. Through every change in policy, curriculum, and schedule, there was always a community of educate educators keeping each other grounded. Chapter 4. Conferences, challenges, and growth. There were long nights, tough conversations, and lessons learned the hard way. But there was always a return to the why. the reason you chose this path in the f first place. Growth just didn't happen for students. It happened for you, too. Chapter five. The years of change and resilience. Education is never status. New technologies, new standards, and new unprecedented challenges tested
054the limits. But with every turn, you each adapted. You each rose. And you each led with heart. Chapter six, the final class, the last assignment. And then one day you realized you had reached the final chapter of your career. The classroom was the same. School was the same, except in Mr. Frank's case, it was never the same. Um, but something was different. a sense of closure, of pride, and of knowing you gave it everything you had. And it was time for you to begin writing the next chapter, the epilogue. A new chapter begins. Your book doesn't end here. It just turns a page. Retirement is your time to write new adventures, explore long-held dreams, and reflect on a story well told. Because while the classroom lights may dim, the light you sparked in others will
055forever shine. Congratulations to each and every one of you on completing one of the most meaningful stories ever written. Your legacy lives on every student who believed in themselves because of you. We thank you for your dedication, for your passion, and wish you nothing but the best in retirement. We have some flowers for you um and some photo opportunities with Mr. Himene. So, if I know we have a few people in the audience, Miss Ronald, um Miss Williams, Mr. friends, if you would come up and we'll do some photo opportunities here. [Applause] [Music] And one, two, three. Thank you so much. Thank you all. [Applause] And we're going to take a short five minute recess for cake. Yeah. Hello. Okay. And at this time, I'd like to open meeting to the public for public comment.
056The 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 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
057abusive, obscene, threatening, or irrelevant. Please understand that students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board is not pres permitted to to respond to public comments about students or employees. Please be advised that you are commenting your own risk. Any public comments that are directed at a particular individual or individuals could subject you to legal liability for defamation. Is there anyone from the public that wishes to speak? on agenda items. Okay, seeing no one from the public, we're going to close the public portion of the meeting. Uh, do we have approval of the minutes for May 13 and May 21st, both regular and executive session? Have a motion? Do I have a second? Any comments, questions? Okay, please have a roll call. Yes. Dr. S. Yes. Michelle. Yes. Okay. I'm not aware of
058any more cohort communications. Did you have anything? I don't think there was the whole Oh, the communication that we did receive today was a personal matter. Okay, our student representative who's at school now everyone and happy summer break. I would like to sign my report by congratulating the graduating class of 2025 and say good luck to all of them in the future. I want to start my report about talking about SGA. I have mentioned SGAA a lot before here at the board and I want to clarify what SGA is and what we have done this past year. SCA is the high school student government association. We are a brand new organization/club that just finished it first year running. As SGA uh continues to run, we are going to do things like host homecoming dances, pep
059rallies, and the Olympics. SGA is the student government and the student body of the high school. We represent the student body and the students all have and most recently the SGA had met with the superintendent to address some things going forward. One big thing that we had discussed at this meeting was creating a steering committee or a student committee and in this committee it would include um students from each grade and students from student council along with important administrators like the dean of students or the union rep for teachers. This student committee uh idea that we came up with was to make make a better way to communicate between administrators and students and also to involve more students in important decisions and I know a lot of you might be asking like what kind of
060important decisions should like students be involved in. So an example of this I know would be the new starting times we have at high school starting next school year. And I know there's a lot of students back when they heard this, they were complaining and had a lot of issues and complaints. So I think if we had some type of student or steer committee, this would help kind of address some issues like this with the administrators and with the students and it would be really helpful because it would get more students involved in the high school and a lot of important. Things like this also help boost school spirit and help the students feel more motivated to become more involved in the high school community. Creating this kind of committee and promoting it throughout the
061high school will help address any concern students have and also give more insight to students about decision making process at the high school. And not only that, but SJ would like to have more of an involved role in the administration. We plan to do this by continuing our weekly meetings with the principal and building a strong connection between the student governor association and our new principal the next school year in the fall. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to say you are way wise beyond your years and the fact that you're working with uh student leaders to make a better environment for students to help bridge the gap and understanding between administration and students. Um it just makes for a much better learning environment when everyone is all in. So thank you very much
062and enjoy your summer. Okay. Um, President's Report. So, good evening again, everyone. It's certainly been an extremely active and fulfilling month for our board and district. I had the distinct honor of attending the Marsh County Academic Achievement Recognition Dinner where our valictorian and saludiatoran were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. Celebrating the academic excellence of our students is one of the most gratified parts of this role and seeing their dedication and potential acknowledged on a countywide level was truly inspiring. I am also proud to share that I was elected vice president of Mars County Educational Services Commission again this year. Um this responsibility offers an expanded opportunity to advocate for the needs of our students and community across Mars County. and I look forward to representing our district as part of that board. Uh this month
063I've had the privilege of participating in the graduation ceremonies at both do middle school and do high school. Uh these events served as a powerful reminder of what we worked toward all year student growth, achievement, and readiness for the next chapter. So again, congratulations to the class of 2025. Yesterday I attended the New Jersey School Boards Association leadership summit uh for board presidents and vice presidents and held at Marvel High School. Over 90 school board leaders were present and the summit focused on three core pillars of effective board leadership lead, preside and unify all through the lens of John C. Maxwell's 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. One quote that stood out to me was Everything rises and falls on leadership. This principle reminds us that as board members, we set the tone for the culture,
064focus, and unity of our district's leadership. Throughout the day, we engaged in expertled sessions on parliamentary procedure, strategic agenda setting, and team building. In smaller group discussions, we explored real world scenarios and shared practical strategies. These conversations highlighted the strength of our home board here in Del. We are fortunate to be a trained collaborative team that places the education and well-being of our students at the center of every decision. A number of boards that were represented do not have the same experience as us and they struggle and they have a lot of conflict. So we're very lucky. As John Maxwell notes, the law of process teaches that leadership develops daily, not in a day. With that spirit in mind, I'm bringing back several ideas for us to consider as we continue to evolve in service
065to our community. So, one of them is strategic agenda alignment. Some districts are aligning their board meeting agendas directly with the strategic district goals. This approach reinforces clarity and purpose in the decision uh board decision making and can help the public better understand how our actions are tied to student outcomes. Second one is district and board newsletter. To enhance transparency and connection with our stakeholders, I propose exploring a monthly district newsletter by packaging our community reports, presentations, and key agenda items into an accessible and engaging format. we can better tell the story of our progress and partnership with the community. I'll be working with Miss Phillips to further develop these ideas and then we're going to hand them to the governance committee to further explore and possibly make recommendations going forward. So, as always, I
066thank each of you for your commitment to this work and to the students of Dober. So, together we demonstrate the truth of Maxwell's law of the picture. People do what people see. So, let's continue to lead by example with vision, integrity, and unity. So, thank you. Administrative reports. Good evening everyone. I'm not just thank you again everyone for your patience with the issue of the technology. Um, I want to piggy back off of what Mr. was mentioning with the SGAA and I did meet with the SGAA last week and it was a great conversation we had and it really ties in very much into one of the goals that we're setting for next year to hopefully be able to put together a tour for once again have those opportunities to have conversations and I agree
067with Matthew in that allowing our students to understand the process and reason behind the decisions that we make does help to clarify how we move forward and I know there was conversations about cell phones and and dress codes and things of that nature uh And it was great conversations that we had understanding why these parameters have to be set. Uh and really good questions. You know, once again, it became a place of wanting to understand and grow and and how can they also contribute to those pieces. And one of the things that we also discussed is the possibility of moving forward for next year during our climate and culture and connection committee, but potentially having a senior student in there who has gone through our system who's able to provide that input or perspective for
068that student. because when we discuss culture of a district that also involves our students within house as well. So, uh there's a lot of potential here and I'm excited to really explore them and and do something different. Uh and allows me also to still have that commission to our students which to me very important. Uh so I look forward to those SJA meetings next year and they're really planning and putting some stuff together. I want to congratulate all of our eighth grade and 12th grade students on the promotion for the next academic level. We are incredibly proud of your hard work, resilience, and accomplishments. To our parents and families, thank you for your unwavering commitment toward your child's success. Your support plays a vital role in their journey and celebrate these milestones with you. So
069once again, wishing all of our students continue success in the second chapters ahead. In addition, I want to congratulate our eighth grade and 12th grade students again in their promotions in regards to um honoral ceremonies, eighth grade awards night, senior awards night. Um the fact that we had 126 students earn a seal of high literacy which was was amazing and that's all the hard work of our students as well as our world language and multilingual departments. Uh and this really been a true team effort and it's outstanding achievement that reflects once again both academic excellence and linguistic pride. Uh to the community of do we're already preparing for an exciting and productive summer. Uh please look out for several important updates including a end of the year recap video highlighting our accomplishments and key uh
070key moments. Anformational video explaining upcoming staggered time changes for the following year. A schedule panel forums uh for the upcoming school year each with a specific theme to guide meaningful discussion. Uh and thank and once again thank you all for staying engaged as we have continued this past year really working to collaborate with our community. Um, and the the next piece I want to remind everyone is that this upcoming Saturday, May, uh, June 28th, starting at 2 o'clock, there's summerfest here in Dober Town, and we are going to have our preschool uh, um, sorry, administration there as well as our community and SNAP information. So, I encourage all of our community stop by our table this upcoming Saturday once again. and our summer event will take place on that's the highway parking lot fe and
071the last piece um it's hard to believe that it's been a full year has passed as I step into the hold in superintendent as I reflect on this journey I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks to our board of education members dedicated staff incredible administrative team amazing students and our supportive community trust and patience during my transition from building principal to superintendent has been more more than words can express this year has been filled with learning, growth, and shared purpose. And I'm truly grateful to walk this path alongside all of you. Thank you for believing in me, for all you have do a place of hope, opportunity, and excellence. Thank you. Any questions? This is I have so I thought I had Good evening everyone. I'm going to talk about a
072couple items on finance. items as well is safe uh meaning school alliance insurance fund provided low premium allowance for our workers compensation and other insurance packages. So this is on the agenda for approval uh savings going to be like $40,000 a year. Item 14 is this uh this is the resolution to transfer surplus funds to our capital or maintenance reserves. I said highly is a fair question uh but the actual transfer must be determined after the audit is completed. Item 32. Due to a three-year agreement, our current software provider, we have been unable to switch the improved software for accounting personnel and narrow over the past couple of years. Since the agreement has at the completion of the 202526 school year, we will proceed with transitioning to Genesis education services. The next school year will
073focus on implementation to ensure all systems are full operation by 2026.7. Uh it was on the last uh board meeting agenda we uh submitted uh we were working on the cops school grant. Uh now we submitted it uh which may be approved for up to $300,000. I would like to thank Mr. Rancho again uh for his help in putting the application together. Our board attorney Mr. Core architect Mr. Campus and his team Mr. Bas and Mr. Risman along with myself attended lower town's planning board meeting last Thursday. We read the sixth grade and this project design and answer questions from the town board. We will an official letter from the town outlining our recommendations and we discuss them with our facilities finance committee. Thank you. Any questions on our business administration report? Thank you. Miss
074Miller. So for our HIP report, I'll start off. So for our district grade report for 20 for the school year, so we're looking at school academy school streets um with a score of 77 and the grades are coming in the scores are coming in from HIP program approaches and our initiatives as well as training for BOE approved HIP policy. Our staff instruction training programs, curriculum instruction, HIP and related instruction skills, HIP personnel, school level HIP incident reporting procedures, HIP investigation procedures, HIP reporting and school grade with a combined score of 77 for Dober High School. Very similar in the four elements that I just mentioned. Their score also is in that of A77 which the max score becomes 878 for D middle school. Once again the core same four elements with a score of 77.
075East do elementary very once again same four elements with a score of 77. North Gilbert Elementary School, a school grade of 77. And that is all for the HIP reports for our district. Thank you. Um all of the our schools had a report of our score of 77 and they lost a point under um other staff instruction and training. Can you expl why we lost this point to make sure we don't in the future. No worries. Thank you. So good. So the the score went down by one point um because the to the training that they provide is at late October and at times it does conflict with other scheduled programming. One said we want to make sure parent accounts to make sure that we're available to be able to gain those scores so that
076we can continue on move forward. and we're going to move on to some DOE reports. I'm going to do two of them before I go to Dr. Serutional Service Commission meeting two weeks ago. Nothing to report there. And Miss D was unable to be here today and nothing to report school boards because they went to meet and so here Thank you, Mr. Miller. Um, for the June legislative report, um, there are a number of new items. I'm going to highlight the ones that I think are, um, advanced. Uh, so, one that is headed to the governor's desk, um, but still has not been signed and things that I think are relevant to us. Um, there are a lot more that I have compiled that is in our shared folder if any of you would like
077to read it. Um, so the following bill is headed to the governor's desk for his signature. The no fee option for school lunch payments would require boards of education to offer a no fee option to parents and guardians for making school lunch and other types of payments. Um, passed by the Senate and returned to the assembly for a concurrence vote is extending the pause on SGOs's. This um bill would extend the statutory pause on the collection of student growth objective data um and would add a pause on collection of administrator goals data. Under the amended bill, the collection of SGO data and administrator goals data would be passed until the sorry would be paused until the next expiration and subsequent readoption of current educator evaluation um regulations. This is very relevant to our administrators and
078teachers. Um spring break recommendations. Um this is S341. Um this is a bill that would require the commissioner of education to annually recommend but not require the dates on which a school district would be permitted to close a school for spring breaks. Um the commissioner will be required to inform districts of the recommended dates for spring break later than June of the prior June 30th of the prior school year. Um this is problematic. We try to do our calendar two years in advance. Many other districts do. So this recommendation would fall short. Um, so I think it needs at least amended. Um, school meal nutrition standards would require all schools in New Jersey New Jersey to comply with previous nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program and federal school breakfast program adopted by the
079US Department of Agriculture. And then finally, CTE teacher certification requirements S4515 would prohibit the state board of education from requiring a candidate for a certificate of eligibility in a CTE endorsement to complete an educator preparation program which exceeds 200 hours of instruction or one academic year. This would update the C current certification process which requires individuals who enrolled in a 2year 350 hour education educator program. Um, and this intends to address the shortage of qualified career and technical education. If you're interested, there are more items in the Thank you. Anyone have any questions? Okay. Do I have a motion for approval administrative items 1 through eight? I have a motion. Second. Any questions about those administrative items? Um I um I'm looking at administrative uh I'm sorry I don't know which item number it is.
080It's the comprehensive equity plan. Um this plan is due to the state no later than June 23rd, but we are approving it tonight on the 24th. Um can we make sure that this is completed and board approved prior to the date connection? Absolutely. This year I think the way the board kind of felt we'll definitely be mindful of that. I'm sure that will work for the upcoming stresses and timely matter. Um so but it is sub. Thank you. Any other comments? Miss Phillips. Yes. Misses. Yes. Dr. S. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Personnel. Melus. I'm going to be more around the room with a microphone. Um, I would like to make a motion upon the recommendation of the superintendent and board to approve items 1 through 29 under. We have a second. Second. Okay. Any discussion?
081Any questions? Um, I'm going to ask all my questions at one time for the obvious reason. Um, were all the staff that are on the reassignment list notified prior to the end of the school year? Um, there is a reassignment for Dober High School in social studies that is unreadable. Could you please um share this information? Um, moving into the new G&T model, I see staff reassignments for academy and Easttover gifted and talented teachers. Why has a teacher for Northover not been assigned to this role yet? and will the two teachers and presumably three writing curricula working together this summer um will they work together to meet the needs of multiple class levels of students and provide continuity and will these teachers um receive any training on best practices in gifted and talented education sorry
082two more miller um can you please explain the salary adjustments in the two business office positions and then I just wanted to comment that it's always nice to see former students returning to the Um, so in regards to the uh staff being reassigned and notified prior to the school year, we do our best to get that letters out to our to our staff to let them know where the assignments are for next year. Yes. Uh, in regards to DHS social studies on self readable, it's uh Rachel Neielson social studies DHS. get to ESL DHS um starting uh July 1st. In regards to the GNC uh one of the current NDE staff members already serving in the GNC role will continue in that capacity as we transition to the new model with the updated stripes program
083structure. Each elementary east academy east and north door will have one designated GNC teacher. These three educators will collaborate closely this summer to develop a a cohesive grade 3 to six GNC curriculum that includes both STEM and humanities pathways at each level. Um in addition to the curriculum writing, all GNC teachers will receive professional development focused on best practice and gifted education. We will continue our partnership with New Jersey Association of Gifted Children to support training and implementation align with state standards and needs of our students. uh in the adjustments uh for two business office positions. We were planning to outsource some part of payroll but decided to increase responsibility to our payroll department. Saved over 2,000 by not outsourcing. There should have been someone assigned for that position. I can double check. Uh I
084will double check on that and get back to you. Sure. Uh in regards to SE Hall, the agreement with SE University student teaching affiliation agreement that allow SE Hall students to complete clinical placements in our schools to support educated development strengths of our recruitment. Sorry, so many questions. I was trying to miss anyone. I believe that was all questions. Correct. All right. And then just one last really quick before I turn over the microphone, I want to congratulate uh Miss Ross and becoming the new uh high school principal. She's here in the audience. And I would also like to congratulate uh Mr. Chewy who is our ED former ED principal who July 1st will be the administrator of student performance and strategic planning. [Applause] Okay. Are there other questions that folks have? Okay. So the
085question is what will be Mr. Chie's new role here in district and Mr. is your role in the district. is going to be focused mostly on our elementary level um as well as title one planning K through 12 and in that uh foundation for elementary he's going to be working with our PC's um working with our specialist teachers also working with the administration and teachers on using data strategically to be able to really indicate how instruction is going to be implemented with schools but also how strategic plan moving using that data as well as we've always talked about using data can be very overwhelming at times And I always felt that outsourcing uh can only give us a bit of training for our staff. But if we have an in-house individual who has demonstrated strong
086leadership in data collection as well as implementation will allow for that growth to now grow districtwide. Um so we are very confident that Mr. will be able to handle that responsibility and move forward with the district in the direction. Okay. And if everyone is okay with there was an addendum uh number 29 uh for transportation. Does everybody see that agenda? So everybody's okay to make sure Dr. S. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Okay. Negotiations. The negotiation committee is working on resolving salary guides for the administration association and we hope to be able to ratify an agreement at the July meeting. Thank you. And governance is Um so the governance committee met virtually on May 27th for approximately approximately an hour. The full committee was in attendance which included Miss DS, Mr. McCort, Miss, Mr.
087Hen, and myself. Topics for discussion included making changes to new board member orientation to include a technical component to appoint new board members with computers, board docs, setting up Google meets, etc. So a current board member presumably the president or myself would uh giving the orientation would use their own board issue computer to give a quick overview of board docs to the new board members at their orientation ensuring that new board members have contact information for IT support and we are also considering using board docs tutorial video. Uh second topic was board progress on board deadlines and quarterly reports. Um goal one quickly increased training for all board members. All board members have completed their individual training requirements for the current year. The full board completed ethics for school officials 2025 training on May 21st.
088We have our board retreat scheduled for July 7th and upon completion, the board will have reviewed enough will have earned enough credits to receive certified board recognition. Goal number two, promote community and stakeholder engagement. The board has and will continue to recognize students and staff as well as district-wide accomplishments at board meetings. The community relations committee will discuss potential community outreach opportunities at its next meeting. And lastly, role three of role three, promote and increase the board's efforts in sharing the factors that impact the district. We talked about the fact that Mr. Miller had intended delegate assembly on our behalf and that Mr. Mr. report was elected to the 2025 2027 MCSBA executive committee. Last role, the governance committee shall monitor and report on board roles on a quarterly basis. This now gave a report
089at our March 2025 BO meeting and this will be the last report um given at this meeting. Going forward, once our goals are set, then the governance committee will start reporting on those goals as they proceed. The next governance committee meeting uh has not been scheduled to be determined. Dr. Senator curriculum and student achievement. All right. So um we met um and were joined by Mr. Hen, Mr. Carl and Mr. Hicks. Um we discussed the a proposal to the change in the floor of 50 which is a policy where students um earn nothing lower than a 50 um at Dota High School and moving forward in 2526 students will only have that floor of 50 for marking per grades one two and three. Um and then the eval um the plan is this proposal does
090have the support of the staff and the plan is to reevaluate at the end of next year and try to remove three to hold students accountable. Um we learned that the culinary CTE paperwork um has been submitted. Um this is another advance in our um continuing um goal of increasing our CTE offerings. We have gone from 34 CTE students to 239 in the last three years. Um and so the in particular the culinary CTE will partner with Pontonian inhouse and allow our students to gain valuable experience as they work through that program. Um AP summer assignments will be offered for the first time this year. Um we have submitted a number of grants. Um a focus grant um for $8,700 uh supports early reading screeners and that grant has been awarded. We um also have
091been awarded a $75,000 grant from um to expand our advanced placement offerings. This will allow AP teachers to attend AP summer institutes as well as buy supplies for those classes. And then we have submitted but have not heard back um from the bridge grant which will help with the purchase of the Amira reading program which replaces I ready um and primarily this is because um Spanish capabil That grant is in the amount of $81,864. We are applying for the Elevate Career and Technical Education um grant for $50,000 to assist with our graphic design program. Uh the Millennium Enterprises grant um oh, sorry. We're working with Millennium Enterprises, which helps us to find grants to apply for. One of which is the Lots of Compassion Grant for $20,000, which will use vacant space next to um
092the DHS library to create a garden. This will connect to our culinary program as well as um create an outdoor classroom for our students. Um and then we want to acknowledge the um Tigers at the county teen arts festivals who won awards. The first place award to the dance club. Um Miss Elmo is the instructor for that as well as the advanced dance class won second place. Um Michelle Garcia's students Elelliana Thompson and Wade Lynn both won visual art 2D awards and Mr. Maggaro's um student Amy Floreso won an honorable mention in visual art 3D. Um we attended some of us attended the National Junior Honor Society ceremony and watched 12 new inductees. Um a shout out to Miss Peterson and the middle school team for pulling off that wonderful program. We are um working
093with project US which allows um for our students to take advantage of outdoor adventure programming which emphasizes leadership and collaboration and we're going to target students in the mentoring program for that. Um we are going to be working with CCM um college readiness now to provide a um a program to allow students to earn um for uh those zero level math classes that students sometimes have to take so that if the students complete that course in our high school and earn a 75% they can go straight into those um 100 level math courses at CCM um which is a benefit to them because they're not paying for a course that doesn't count towards graduation. Um this will not cost anything for um because CCM will be paying and providing textbooks. Um 11 do students will
094participate in this year's William Patterson University aspiring educator program. Um we um have a working document for the completion of a whole lot um summer curriculum writings. So look forward to those coming up in July and August. And then we heard about the Dober High School SE day which happened on June 18th. Um with that I would like to um move that we accept that we I would make a motion that we accept items 1 through eight. Do I have a second? Any other discussion? Um I have a question about the AP summer institutes. Um uh I wanted to thank the teachers and administrators participating in professional development this summer. We have a ton. um they are attending workshops that address the needs of our AP students, elementary reading, multil- language learners, and bilingual education.
095So, thank you for those teachers giving up part of their summers to um help our students, but particularly the AP summer institutes. I noticed that all of the teachers are attending virtual workshops, which is fine if that is their choice. Um but attending the larger commitment of a in-person session um is allows those teachers work and collaborate and form, you know, relationships with other teachers in that subject area. And I was just asking if we're making sure that teachers can choose that option if it fits their style. So we do support in person and virtual summers to um based on practice and we do that of the course. I also have an ask for regarding the north positions over GNC and the North and E because both the GNC teachers were there are staying in
096their positions only academy needs to hire a GNC so that's why only there was an approval for uh needed hiring for a GNC teacher at academy whereas a full stay at and stay and okay so we are position missing the one agenda. Yes. Okay. Miss Phillips is going to be reporting to relations for Mr. report. Um, okay. The community relations committee did not meet in June as there were no outstanding items to discuss. Our next meeting is scheduled for August 5th. The citizens advisory committee wrapped up its year on June 2nd. On behalf of the board of education, Mr. McCord would like to thank all of the members who gave their time and contributed to the committee's work. We addressed many issues and even resolved some long-standing complaints which we could not have done without
097the members input. Um and with that I would like to make a motion to open the applications for the 2025 2026 citizens advisory committee. The plan would be sorry the plan would be for the application to open applications submitted through July at our August 5th meeting. the committee would review and make the appointments at our office board. Do we have a second? Second. Any questions? All those in favor? Opposed? Okay. Finance and facilities. Miss Mr. Sher. All right. I'm going in the right direction. Policy. No. No. I'm not. Okay. in the meeting in a minute. Um, but we have the possible rescheduling meeting. We do have two job descriptions to approve today. Accounts payable, which has been revised, and a school health aid, um, which is a new description. With that, I would like to
098make a motion to approve items one under policy. Second. Any comments or questions? Roll call. Yes. Okay. Now, Thank you, Mr. Miller. Um, the finance and facilities or facilities and finance committee meeting met on May 20th at 5:30 at the Belmont building. Uh, the administration present was superintendent Himeme via Mr. Sabra and our new buildings and grounds uh, department head, Mr. Alex to. It was lovely to meet him. He has jumped right into uh the dirty work. Board of it members that were there were myself, Mr. Miller, Asabado, and Dr. Ser. Um, a lot of this information has already been updated by Mr. Sabul. So, I'll just hit the highlights of what we actually spoke about since he already answered a lot of the meat and potatoes of what's going on in the district. So,
099for facilities uh in progress, as you can see straight out the window, we have our high school generator project. Um the pad has been laid. We have a fence around. They are doing the electric work. Um and Mr. Sabalu and Mr. Haime are going to be meeting with the town soon to possibly talk about some price share. Uh bring that subject up again. has been brought up several times already, but to possibly see if the town could get any funds for the generator since this is also our emergency evacuation location and the town would be using it as well. Um, the HBAC project is in full swing. Mr. Tol gave us an update of the progress of the project. Um, and if you drive by Northover during the day, you can see the Hannah truck
100out there. They've been working diligently. The pre-wiring was already done for the middle school. There were some ceiling works that needed to be done. Um, and I believe that's moving forward. Uh, let's see. the space utilization plan for the Route 46 building, formerly known as Dober Sport. Uh the update on the package had been submitted to the state and we were awaiting approval and it could possibly take several months, but we will keep our fingers crossed that things move a little bit faster. The owner continues to upkeep the property. They were cutting the grass. They were moving everything out of the building. So, that's a good um thing to see. The sixth grade annex building project as Mr. Sabahulu uh reported they have appeared at the planning board. So that's always a good uh site
101to see that things are moving forward with the planning and our next finance and facilities meeting is scheduled for the 22nd of July and at that by that point we hope that there are some answers to the questions that were posed by the planning board um that we can then report on. uh the school budget had passed and we were also awaiting some signed documents from the town of Dover. Were we able to Excellent. So, we have those today. So, things are moving forward with that. So, that was our May 20th meeting. And with that said, I will move on to the agenda items. Uh it was awesome to hear about all of our grants that we've received. They are on the agenda tonight for approval from the board that um lots of compassion grant
102sounds just perfect, adorable. Um and I did see the pictures that were posted with uh the curriculum notes. So with that said, um I'd like to make a motion to move items number 1 through 33. We have a second conversation. I'll read all my questions at one time. Um, I see that we are approving the April and May BSR and treasures report and I look back to see that we approved the March reports in May. Um, I'm glad we're back on track and I should notice that we're behind, but can you explain what happened to caused us to fall behind and how avoid this in the future. Can you please explain the $297 paid to NJSBA and um I noticed that we are utilizing Sherwin Williams for our painting supplies. Um and I was curious
103as to why we're not investing in our community by utilizing Sachs. This would also cut down on travel time um and resources. And then I also wanted to acknowledge that Mr. McNeely and the Dober volunteer firemen have generously donated um to our scholarship fund. But I only have to approve the treasures report after the month end 60 days. So we were never behind uh pretty early but sometimes bank statement becomes late and we have something to reconcile and it takes time. So uh we're just uh trying to Make sure everything's in order before we never leave. Uh for those uh NJCs, those are the uh workshops for board members. Mandator is free with our membership, but any other extra workshops we have to pay there $99, $149. Um uh for the sacks, we can always
104uh shop around. to see like if the quality and the uh price is reasonable, we can always open more accounts. I usually don't pay anything to the Instagram manager. He can pick and choose the vendors with the price. But I I'll mention him and if you can go and check open questions. myself. Yes. Okay. Someformational items. Um we're having our board retreat July 7th at Belmont building. Our meeting is July 15th and then August 12th. Um for our facilities um requested gym to use for their summer program in case of the weather. Uh So now I'm going to go to business and I just wanted to thank everybody um for completing the board self evaluation. I know we just have one outstanding one that will be done soon. I wanted to let you all know
105that Charlene Peterson is still not retired and she will be conducting our retreat. So I talked to her yesterday and I said, "Well, thank you so much. I'm glad you're here for us." Um, so I'll be working on the agenda and making sure that I get that out to everybody by Monday uh with additional information. I know wish had some information about um from schoolboard program on building goals uh so that we could be thinking about that. Um is there any other old business that anyone can think of? Okay, new business. Um Um, want to thank Mrs. Shower for volunteering to be a member of the Mars County Legislative Seed Committee. Um, just wanted to mention to folks that petitions need to be in by July. Uh, if anyone wants to run for the board
106of education, I encourage people to do so. Always need to have members of a billboard. Um, on July 9th, uh, Miss Phillips and I will be meeting with the president of the Mineville vice president for coffee to just chat. So, uh, we'll be doing that. And Mr. Sher, did you have something you want to bring up? I did. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Um, I did want to uh since this was actually brought up the the cost of uh New Jersey School Boards training, this was an additional training that I had attended on May 30th. It was a full day virtual training. Um, it was it was very interesting. And um you had a number of items that you could choose to come up with six sessions and the sessions that I chose were number one
107the stories of my immigrant ancestors and yours from alienation to assimilation and this was presented there were two um sessions presented by this gentleman his name is Vincent Deluchia perhaps Mr. Do you know him? He is a former mayor of South Brunswick. He is a 40-year educator, retired. He was also a whistleblower for the FBI when he was a mayor in South Brunswick and and there was a miniseries written about him. Very very interesting. Uh the two sessions the second session that he presented was why did Winston Churchill describe democracy as messy? That was very very interesting and and appropriate for the times that we live in. The other session that um was presented more by New Jersey school boards moving from macro to micro discussions. That was um a little redundant but also very
108interesting. Um the one that I had also heard at the spring forum was communicating for community connection and trust which I know Mr. Miller had uh in his session yesterday. So that is really a hot topic for most communities, I would think. This last one I found to be extremely interesting. It was worth the whole entire day because in my now 15 and a half years as a school board member, I have never seen a presentation from the school nurse. And the role of the school nurse has now become so seriously important to the safety and security involved in school that the Department of Education actually offers security inspectors that will come to your school to do an overall inspection of your nursing department. Um, and this is more so because of the delicate and
109confidential information that is literally in the hands of the school nurse every single day and also um in her possession during an emergency. So during a lockdown if we have to leave the building and during the fire drill if she has to leave the building there are certain documents that she has to take with her on top of student um safety and um health items, medication devices etc etc. It was very very interesting and I would suggest that sometime in the future that Mr. I may uh look further into that with the Department of Education because I think this is a a new and very important um push from the Department of Education. It's completely free. There is no cost to this. Um and you don't you don't lose any points with QAP or anything
110if they come out and find a deficit anywhere. It's all for helping the safety and security of the school districts. And that was hard. Any questions for anything that was mentioned? Does anyone have anything new for business? Okay. Now, we're coming to our second public comment. The board recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves in school matters to ensure ensure fair and order expression of such comment. Each statement shall be to a time period of 3 minutes. Public comments not restricted to items on this agenda shall be entertained for approximately 30 minutes discretion of the officer. For those who wish to provide public comment remotely, a Google form was posted on the district website at 6:30 p.m. Remote comments will be
111read by a member of the board of education. The board of education will alternate between inperson and online comments. Please understand that public port comment portions of our agenda are not structured as question 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 seen as abusive, obscene, threatening or irrelevant. Please understand that students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board is not 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
112are directed a particular individual or individuals would subject you to legal liability for defamation? Is there anyone from the public that wishes to come to the podium and speak this public? Are there any comments? Okay. So, I'm going to close the public portion and I'm going to ask for a motion to reduce executive session to talk about personnel issues. We do not expect to be taking any actions and also litigation update. No actions. Okay. Do we have a motion? A second. All those in favor? Opposed. Okay. Well, have a good night everybody. We're going to see you when we come back. like to make a motion. Someone like to make a motion to close the meeting. We have a second. All those in favor? I Good night.