001um I start talking and now you can see There it is. Pursuant to the open public meetings act, adequate public notice has been given by the secretary of the ein township board of education in the following manner. Posting written notice on the official bulletin board of the board of education office. Emailing written notice of the Bonson County time post. Filing written notice with the municipal clerk of each township. Mr. Yates, can we have a roll call, please? Roll call. Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown is absent. here. >> Mr. Dearcy Dearcy is absent. Miss Fox >> here. >> Mrs. Null >> here. >> Mr. Thompson >> here. >> Mr. Peel >> here. >> Mr. Bach >> here. >> Mr. K >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Thank you, Mr. We're now looking motion for items
0022.1 through 2.4 to go into executive session. Whereas JSA 104-12 allows for a public body to go into close session during a public meeting. And whereas the board of education of East Township is deemed it necessary to go into close session during discuss certain matters which are exempted from the public. And whereas the regular meeting of the board of education will reconvene following the end of close session at approximately 7:30 p.m. EST. Now be it resolved that of education will go into close session for the following reasons as outlined in NJSA 104-12 item 2.2 through 2.4. Do we have a motion? Motion by Mr. seconded by Mrs. Null. Uh, any questions or comments from the board? Seeing none, Mr. Call, please. >> Roll call on executive session. Miss Moitz, >> yes. >> Miss Fox, >>
003yes. >> Mrs. Null, >> yes. >> Mr. Thompson, >> yes. >> Mr. Peeleman, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> Thank you. He will see you back at approximately 7:30 Would all those who are able please rise for the pledge? >> I pledge allegiance. >> Thank you. Our mission statement tonight will be read by Mrs. Null. The >> mission of the Eve Township School District is to promote excellence in an environment that engages students in meaningful learning experiences in partnership with students, dedicated staff, families, and community. The district provides a strong educational foundation that will empower our students to achieve their unique potential, embrace self-directed lifelong learning, develop the skills necessary for appropriate risktaking and responsible decision making. Respect themselves and others. Problem solve individually and collaboratively. and become contributing members
004of a diverse global society. >> Thank you, Mrs. Null. I'll now hand the floor over to Dr. Smith for annual state of the for getting the correct lighting. Um, welcome everybody meeting during the school year. Very exciting annual state of the schools presentation. This is the presentation over the uh collected assessment data from the prior year including the NJSLA and especially Miss Mculik and Miss Collins for preparing this presentation along with a few slides from So, um based on the data from last year, 77.2% of those children made what's called accelerated progress. And I'll talk a little bit more about that on the next. And then we also have what we call literacy lessons because um reading recovery is a first grade preventive intervention versus a lit lesson is something that's done in grades two
005through five um specific to students particularly around that phase three or tier three intervention. Um title two and four. So these are primarily utilized for professional development um and technology and professional develop related to technology. So see in that second talking about funds um we have different teacher leaders in our district at all of our schools. So we have math and tech coaches, we have elementary respective classroom facilitators, we have PLC facilitators. These are individual teachers that we train and work with and talk about set goals and do different PD so that they can help and be a resource at the building. um and then come back to us as a district to talk through where we're at, what we need, strengths and needs that way. Uh the third bullet talks a little bit about
006some of the various sessions um along with 76 districts that were offered last year about 126 at teachers uh specific to multilanguage learners. So we have an ESL program in um use the fund there to help support services for for children who are identified as needing additional services. Um in that next bullet it talks a little bit about the our total number of students that qualifies. We have 117 last year in our program. We had 11 who parents refused services but they still were considered in the program because they need to take the access for L's but they don't receive direct services at one of the two magnet schools that we have. Next talks a little bit about number of students ad what's called the access for ls is the required state assessment for for
007MLS. Um so 99 12 moved before testing one had an incomplete test so that obviously wouldn't count and then got the number of students who exited mid year with a different model and that's again a standard model that all districts use. 39% of students access the first time. So it was 39 students and 80 And then just a little bit more in terms of reading recovery. Um so again I mentioned one of our students were 89% either accelerated or progressed. So you see that 77.2 is the largest part but then you also add in there the portion 11.9 made progress 5.9% were additional services um and then had an incomplete program they might have different services and the other thing um which is nice about our district we are a reading recovery site so we
008actually teacher trains not just our teachers but teachers across state who goes to national conferences who is up and talking about latest research that are as it relates to literacy. Um so she is our teacher trainer, our teacher leader. Uh she facilitates and so 23 teachers outside district participated in that professional development and again each district pays a cost to us. So that was $23,000 additional and then just down at the bottom is a couple like medally developing student in terms of reading recovery students about a one. Um and then on the right side then at the first grade what is your typical expectation where kids end the year about a 16 and again that mean text level as it relates to Right. So, we were a busy district summer. Um, this slide shows all
009the different programs that we have provided to our students. Um, throughout the summer, there was a very students in each of those programs and a variety of sessions that were provided, but we were able to serve around 700 students this summer. Okay. Now, we're getting into some of our standardized assessments. This is uh a slide that indicates what we have for our KOATs. KOAT is a cognitive ability test. It assesses the aptitude of our students. Uh a doesn't change greatly from year to year. So we do assess our students every other year in grades three, five, and seven. Um the range of our students are um what we call if you you see the staininess there, we generally fall within the fifth and sixth day, which is solidly in the average range. Um, we use
010this data alongside other forms of data that we have to ensure that we're meeting the needs of all students. We use it for our tier three identification, which is our talented program. uh for accelerating on how to dig down deeper into the data so that they can see the student profile so they can meet those individual needs based on uh the students uh profiles. >> Thank you, Miss Collins. So um this slide now we're getting into macro and JSLA data. So the forest future um this this presentation by the way it'll all be linked on our website. I'll include that link in um the ETSSD update so people can see it and it lets you uh not just get to take a longer look at the numbers but some of the graphics and so on
011are the colors come out better, right? Looking at it that way. Um so we're looking at uh E data from spring 2025 compared to um three years prior. The um the purple which is the fourth uh bar fourth column from the left uh is the um spring 2025 data. If you look at that and there's and there's multiple ways to look at this but just comparing like to grade. So looking at like third grade performance in spring of 24, that's that low blue bar, the uh is um a significant increase over that um in spring 2025. And you can follow that across and you see in grades three, grade four, grade six, grade seven, grade eight, an increase in ELA performance in ETSD compared 24 uh spring 24 with spring 25 compared to the state.
012Uh we did the state in the spring 25 in grades three, four, and eight. um essentially tied in grade six and uh fell short grades five and seven. Um the uh and you can also want to look at this longitudinally and like follow a a co a grade cohort kids. you can see, you know, a performance in a certain grade in spring 24 and then look at the next grade up in spring 25 and see how it did um you know in terms of the fluctuation. Oh yeah, now we're go to math. Um same thing uh same uh sort of framing for this in terms of the colors and the years. This is spring 25 data compared to the three years prior. Um the uh and again you can look at longitudinally. You can look
013at it comparing um grade three year to grade three. The next year you can compare it to the state. We exceed the um New Jersey percentage of meeting and exceeding in all grades from spring. Uh I would point out like a little asterric on grade 8. Um if you look and you look not just statewide but also in ETSSD like Sesame Street which of these is not like the other the bars there are lower. Um the reason is because the top math students in New Jersey in eighth grade are uh district but certainly in our district are taking algebra andor geometry. So they're taking the algebra one assessment not the eighth grade math assessment which leads to um this eighth grade. Uh this algebra one approaching expectations at 50%. It it's relative in the number
014of students that we're talking about. Is it one out of two students met that? Is it more? Um, that's something on the backside that we as a district are talking to with our principles, our teachers, um, and looking to see are those kids identified in terms of where are their needs, what are the supports they're giving, and what are the next steps. And that's kind of the overview of the slide. I will not go through every single grade level, but we just have working backwards. So, this was grade eight. The same is true for grade seven. Same framework. grade six, grade five, grade four, grade three, and now we repeat all of that based on math. So, same slide as you sh saw for ELA, a different way to look at the numbers broken apart
015by the uh the levels, district percents, New Jersey percents. The bar is looking at whether it's above, below, where we're at. And then we do the same thing again in terms of subgroups. Now I'm going to skip grade eight only because as Dr. Smith had said it's a little disappointing to look and big oh 100% in grade eight but that's 100% of our most highest achieving students because this is on the algebra versus the second one is on all the other students who took the grade eight assessment. So I think a more truer place to look to kind of talk through one grade same slide same rows across just specific to math but again we break those numbers down. So state percentage there, it's a little hard to read, a little darker, 38.7. District 47.7,
016so above the state average. Gen ed a little bit higher, 58.2. Special eds lower 12.3. Economically disadvantaged 32.7. And then MLS is to that 25% but again those numbers, some of those numbers are suppressed just given the low numbers of ML students in that subgroup. Um and then again goes through exactly the same thing. Grade six, grade five, grade four, grade three, and then the last caveat. Um so in terms of NJSLA, ELA and math, that's all the numbers that we just looked at. Last spring was the last time children will ever take that assessment. So uh that ended, that was the final administration. So this new assessment that is starting this year, we'll need to reset cut scores. will need to reset. Well, not we, but the state will reset school and district targets
017and all the different things. Are there going to be five levels like there are like there were on this one? We don't know. We don't have that information yet. But what we do know and the training, our testing coordinator right here has been going to the training in the last couple weeks um is that they are calling it the New Jersey. So, it's still NJSLA, but it's called NJSLA adaptive and it is an adaptive assessment in both ELA and math. So, in order get it's kind of a quick turnaround that the state is implementing this. So, in order to get some data in terms of on the questions themselves, they're doing a field test that all districts are required to do. So, that'll be in grades four to eight. It will be literally this fall.
018Um, we have a small testing window with different dates we can and can't use. Right now, if you happen to look at our assessment schedule, it's the week of October 27th. We promise it will not be on Halloween. Um it's looking to be about two days, but we need to wait and do some different information on the trainings and as things are being released from the state. Um it is not adaptive. So the field test isn't adaptive. They're just trying out the questions. So kids will take the assessment probably over two days. Um and we'll probably stack elementary and middle based on infrastructure trials because it's a totally different platform. So there's a lot that has to be worked out. But that's all in preparation for the spring to take the true adaptive assessment. And
019again, we'll have more information from the on what exactly that will look like. But again, any state testing is grades three through eight. So that is looking ahead. There we go. Okay. This is um for NJSLA science. This is the assessment that our our students take for grades five and eight. This is not part of the adaptive change. Uh the contract for NJSLA language arts and math lapsed this year. So they're going to have the the new field test. The contract for science laps next year. So I anticipate that we're going to have a new test in 2027 for science as well. So this is the last um well this this year is the last year that they'll be taking NJSLA science. Uh this data is for fifth grade. There a te the the test
020assesses the core disciplines physical science life science earth space science um it also assesses the engineering practices of investigating sensemaking critiquing and those crosscutting uh concepts as well looking at patterns cause and effect um energy matter structure function things like that uh this assessment is at grades five and at grade eight uh the test is you know it's a it's very similar to what we see in ASLA there's multiple choice questions, there's tech enhanced questions, there's um open responses and again this should be updated uh in the following school year. Danny had mentioned that the population that is most cognitively um significantly delayed takes a DM assessment in lie of taking the ASLA. So this slide uh shows the performance of our students um that take that assessment. they have to qualify for DLM in
021lie of taking that NJSLA but the same grade levels are assessed. So three through eight take language arts and math and grades five and eight take our science assessment and Danny had mentioned also that we take an access for LS test to assess our language acquisition for our students that are multilingual multil- language learners. Um this assessment is uh given in the spring loosely starting in February is what they consider the spring. So this assesses our students um language acquisition listening speaking uh reading and writing. Most of our students enter into our ESL program uh by taking the WEDA screener and they enter in that very beginning stage. You'll see that it goes from entering through reaching. Most of our students come to our program in that entering emerging stage. And most they qualify for
022exit by receiving a 4.5 alongside other um data, teacher input and things like that. But they have to have at least a 4.5 to exit the program. So you'll see that we don't have a lot of students in that bridging and reaching because the students have already exited the program at that point. Um, our students do uh you can be in ESL for the entirety of your educational career, but most of our students exit our program within three years. And last, just a little bit about the data review process and next steps. So again, teachers have been collecting or are collecting right now different fall baseline assessments on this year. Um, so in K to2, uh, that will be the I Ready assessment this year. um benchmark, DSI, math readiness. So again, just some different
023data points where teachers are looking at where kids are coming in to start the school year because again, we want to look at where children start, but more importantly, where they go, what is the growth that they made because again, everybody has different levels of growth they're going to throughout the school year. Um so we look at district level data review. So as we get different information, we have our teachers uh enter that before they statements where are the questions kids aren't succeeding and why or where the kids uh who might be at the did not meet expectations what's what's happening there the principles are able to say oh I know exactly okay that student du are they getting the supports and that really is an important part that process to talk about which is
024all district level schools. We have some schools that might be in the 40%. We have other schools that are in the 60%. So looking at what are those anomalies, same curriculum, different different teachers, looking at what does that look like or is there different opportunities um within but also going back to aptitude as well. Um so kind of looking a little bit further at that and then into that next morning we are happy to have our delayed openings return where teachers then will come up with collaborative goals that they'll be able to focus on as a team for the school year and that goes into their PDP which is something they do for the state by October 31st every year and that triggers those PLC works in the schools. So teachers have PLC teams that
025they work with both their school level or it might be a related arts team but then they also at each building have a PLC either uh that's voluntary that might be before or after school. So it allows different teachers from cross representations to come together and work as a team that way. Um certainly goal set like I said for grade levels, departments, buildings and district. And then obviously we're looking at that as we continue to have administrative meetings in terms of professional development, curriculum, writing, planning, implementation. So things that were from the previous year's data were revised and some things happened this summer for the school year and that continues to happen on an ongoing basis. And that is it. Thank you. before we move on to I have a couple transportation slides but any
026questions from the board Mrs. Google look uh the I Ready test. Did you say it's for K through two or was it K through three? >> K through three. >> Thank you. >> For those on the live stream, she said K3. >> All right. So, we're moving into um couple slides here on transportation. So, and uh pretty dark. This will be on the website, too. Um why transportation sides? Well, it's no secret. Um the start of this school year with transportation has been very rough. Certainly the rough roughest opening in my six years here, perhaps in any year that anyone can remember. uh we working to improve, but that that situation, those challenges certainly merits some time here. Um for me as superintendent, it's been extremely painful seeing the frustrations and the concerns of families.
027Um I'm ultimately responsible for everything that happens in the district. So, you know, that that that is personal to me. um what people have been going through and we've been making steps to improve which is why we want to talk about that now a little bit. Um this slide shows the previous structure that we had. It was two specialists so co-rolls um and then the drivers under them which is for in-house drivers plus um the vast majority outsourced. the issues we saw we have seen and are working on um inconsistent routing. So basically uh I mean the the the bedrock the the foundation of the issues has been um really poorly built routes and that has a number of reasons um relying too much on the software and and and not enough human review of
028uh you know for logic and efficiency. Um second issue, poor communication. Uh you know, delayed responses to parents, reaching out by phone, email, or no response at all, which then um you know, what what initially might is very often a a cordial um question about an issue, can become um a frustrated question about an issue, can become an angry question about an issue, understandably, right? If there's no response, partial resolutions, there might be a response, but it doesn't carry the ball all the way to the end zone and it's it's a partial response and there's a d we have a dangling thread there that needs to get tied off. Uh and no peak time support. So like afternoons especially um not enough um resources human resources in the office to to handle the uh communication.
029So what we're doing is um we're re configuring that office. So um instead of two co co-rolls we're going to have a transportation coordinator who oversees the office. Um we have a um new coordinator recommendation very excited about on the agenda tonight. Brianna Worm who's coming as a site supervisor um for from Sheepard Butt Service um with firstand experience um in multiple roles uh up the food chain to the you know from aid to driver to assistant supervisor to site supervisor. Um, so we're excited about the experience that she's bringing transportation specialist as a assistant and then we're adding additional support um to handle the communication uh the PM off support which is temporary right now while we're in this transition period but ultimately uh the enduring support is going to be that clerk type
030of support of two halftime FTEEs. Um other improvements a standard operating procedure manual. Um, listing uh timeline and steps throughout the year, what needs to get accomplished by whom and when, targeting route fixes. So, that's an ongoing process in any school year because any school year there are hiccups and wrinkles at the beginning. um this year more than ever. But um that that is ongoing work um efficiencies, oneoff efficiencies with um individual routes, timely communication, clear communication and then route history preserves. So that we so you know next year we can take the improvements made in the routes and apply that forward to the next year um instead of starting from scratch. To summarize before and after the before is on the left in red the after the now and moving forward is on the
031right in green. Um, and um, yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I don't know, Mr. Jesus, if you want to add anything maybe about Routeinder or I know you've been learning a lot about Routeinder. >> Rapinder is our transportation software program. >> Thank you. Uh, yeah, so over the past uh, couple weeks, I've spent a lot of time uh, working in the transportation department myself. um very little time working as a business administrator, just kind of full-time trying to solve some of the problems of the department, putting out buyers, answering parents inquiries, trying our best to um improve where we can find improvements. We've met with our contractors. We've brought them in. We've looked at all of our routes. We've changed the routes in a way that makes sense. So, we've changed stock orders
032trying to make more efficient routes. We still have problematic routes right now. We're currently in the process of trying to target those individual routes and find solutions or or provide fixes. So, um we're probably hear from uh some of you tonight at the mic about transportation. it's warranted, but just understand that our goal with this new outcome is to provide a place where parent inquiries when you phone the department. If you can't get the department, it's going to filter through or or uh jump to the clerk typist are going to be able to answer the phone, understand the problem, write down the problem, and then move on from there. Um uh maybe even get you a timely answer. So maybe I'm just walking back to the transportation office and finding out what if can get
033you a quick answer. That's one of the biggest problems that we've found is poor communication or just lack thereof. So we're targeting that specifically along with trying to target the reps um and then hiring the right personnel. And that's on the agenda for tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Shoot. Yeah, the same way they do now. Um, except that we're going to be able to answer the phone. So, uh, we call call the contractor and they can quickly pull the GPS or radio the driver and find out where they are in the stop in the the route process at that time. >> Yeah. on the the uh roll out of transportation in the beginning of the school year. Yeah. Um so this is not an outsourcing problem. This is a problem with the way
034that the routes were developed. This was a personnel problem. Um, so outsourcing quite frankly the problems that we had in the beginning of this year would have existed whether we had our drivers internally or not. The difference is we don't have to deal with the volume of daily call outs and trying to find route coverage that we did last year. >> Just clarify, when you say personnel problem, you're speaking not of the drivers that we >> That's correct. Yeah. Yeah. No, the the four drivers we have are our foremost senior. Um they've done an excellent job for us and uh one of them's in the crowd tonight and um we're we're proud to have them. Roll call on the approval of minutes. Miss Mutterz, >> yes. >> Mr. Dearcy, >> yes. >> Miss Fox, >>
035Mrs. Null, >> your extensions noted. Mr. Thompson, >> Mr. Felman, >> your extension is noted. Mr. Bach, >> your abstension is noted. Mr. Conson, >> your abstension is noted. >> So, we're deadlock. Do we need a roll call or can he just revise his vote if that's what you're looking >> Mr. Your abstension is now a yes. We appreciate >> the motion carries. Thank you. that are the lifeblood of learning and the foundation for all else that we strive for in our mission as a district. This is palpable. We strive that this be palpable in every school and space in our district. And so thank you to everyone from our teachers to our pair professionals, our administrators, cler typist, secretaries, custodians, every role for seeing, hearing, valuing our students and making them feel that way
036so they can learn. Thank you to our staff as well for their efforts in the excellent back to school nights which extended over the past two weeks. Thank you to our parents and families for their attendance at those back to school nights and their support of the work of our staff as the partnership of schools and families is key to student success. Another point of light on the agenda tonight, our first batch of extracurricular activities for the year. Our extracurricular programming is second to none. I'd encourage all families to talk with your children about signing up and discovering the fun, the belonging, the growth that can come through after school activities. They look a little different at each school depending on variables like staff interest and backgrounds, expertise. Gratitude for sure to all the staff
037who've committed to serve as coaches and adviserss. It's a wonderful way to make an impact. Thank you also to uh Hillman Hulcom and for student bus companies as well as our driver Joyce Luchcci for helping provide middle school late buses which as a reminder start this Monday and elementary late buses that start Monday, October 6th. Schools uh will be communicating more specifics as the times of each school vary. Um and uh last point of light to mention would be our strategic planning process facilitated by the New Jersey School Boards Association. Uh thanks to everyone who came to our first meeting. Um as well as our board members who are here, Mr. Pilman, Mr. Petramoitz, Mr. Dearcy. Um great to have you there. Great to have everyone there who came. Our next meeting is October 15th.
038So, um, look forward to what comes out of that as that process is going to help shape our goals and strategic vision for the next three to five years of our district. Um, thanks very much, Mr. Canson. Thank you, Dr. Smith. Any questions or comments from the board? Seeing none, Mr. Yates, roll call, please. >> Roll call on administrative items. Miss Bramotes, >> yes. >> Mr. Dearcy, >> yes. Miss Fox, >> yes. >> Mrs. Null, >> yes. >> Mr. Thompson, >> yes. >> Mr. Peeleman, >> yes. >> Mr. Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Conley, >> yes. >> That motion carries. >> Thank you, Mr. Yates. Moving to item eight, curriculum and instruction. We need a motion to approve items 8.1 through 8.4. Do we have a motion? Motion by Miss Fox, seconded by Mr. Deamari.
039Any questions or comments from the board? >> Seeing none, Yates. Roll call, please. >> Roll call on curriculum and instruction. Miss. >> Yes. Mr. DeMarcy, >> yes. >> Miss Fox, >> yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Thompson, >> yes. >> Mr. Pelman, >> yes. >> Mr. Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you, Mr. Yates. Moving to item nine, finance and operations. We need a motion to approve items 9.1 through 9.12. Do we have a motion? >> Motion by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mrs. Null. Any questions or comments from the board? >> Seeing none, Mr. Yates. Roll call, please. >> Roll call on finance and operations. Misses. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Dear. >> Yes. >> Miss Fox. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Null. >> Yes. >> Mr. Thompson.
040>> Yes. >> Mr. Felman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bach. >> Yes. >> Mr. Compton. >> Yes. >> That motion carries. >> Thank you, Mr. Yates. Moving to item number 10, personnel. We need a motion to approve items 10.1 through 10.10. Do we have a motion? >> Motion by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Mr. Peeleman. Any questions or comments from the board? >> Seeing none, Mr. Yates. Roll call, please. On personnel, Miss Bermouth. >> Yes. >> Mr. DeMarcy. >> Abstain to 10.3. Yes to the rest. >> Yes. To all abstain from 10.3. Your abstension is noted. Miss Fox. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Null. >> Yes. >> Mr. Thompson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Peelman. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Conference. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. >> Thank you, Mr. Yates. Moving to item 11,
041policy. We have no policy. Moving to item number 12, committee reports. Are there any committee chairs who would like to share a report? >> Thanks, Mr. Consonant. I'm going to share a report on curriculum and instruction. Um, it's not necessarily on a curriculum meeting, although that did happen this month. Um, but more to talk about uh a meeting that Dave and I were able to join in on with the uh the parents for the literacy advocacy here in town, as well as the Mrs. McGoric, several curriculum supervisors, a couple teachers. Um, so it was great for Dave and I to hear from both sides. Um, the literacy advocacy folks have been extremely passionate and they've been contacting us quite a bit. And there was a meeting that took place a couple years ago. I'm not
042sure exactly when. It was before my time. Um, so I was happy to have the opportunity to sit in this one. I just wanted to kind of recount. I had spoke to a lot of the board members about this, but I wanted to kind of take this opportunity to fill everybody else in on what occurred. So, what happened was, you know, it was very constructive. It was, you know, the several of the members of the literacy group, you know, they made up of of parents of ATSD. They're also, you know, pretty decorated professionals in their field. Um, and then, you know, our the district side of things. Um, so it was great to hear. Danny started out by kind of explaining, you know, what has been improved, what has, you know, the curriculum updates that
043have happened in the last couple years. This was the first year of full implementation. Uh she talked heavily about the the focus grant that the district is taking advantage of as well as the the I Ready score uh the I Ready uh the universal screener test that is going to be rolling out shortly, which everybody was excited to hear about that. um you know, but what stood out to me um throughout this process was, you know, it was really great to hear about, you know, where we've been and where we're going as a district and we saw a lot of data here tonight. Um but one of the things I wanted to mention you know we've talked about this kind of individually as a board you know between ourselves here and there about you know
044where we generally feel on the topic of curriculum and uh the literacy curriculum and updates that might be needed and I kind of want to officially go on the record as saying that after this meeting I walked out saying that I think it's time I think it's time that we honestly take a hard look at the curriculum and it's not because I'm a professional in the field none of us are. It's not this board's responsibility to discuss, you know, curricular products and what curriculum, you know, might be best going forward. That's not our job. Our job is to look at the data and the facts. And what stood out to me more than anything is, you know, for example, the Irey's test, it's going to be great. We're going to have universal screening for all
045of K through three kids, but what happens after that is unclear. what happens after that in terms of the kids that are identified and what the processes are for, you know, the intervention for those kids and the way to assess, you know, where they are in that process and way to know if they've mastered a skill. Um, the way they know to know if they've, you know, what their progress is, if they need more intervention or less. Um, as of right now, there doesn't seem to be any consistent assessment for any kind of intervention once kids are identified as needing it. Um, reading recovery, you know, I can't speak to the nitty-gritty of that, but I do know that it serves only 100 kids in this district, and there's 4,500 of them, maybe 4700 at
046this point. And I worry a lot about the kids that don't qualify for that and what the assessment process is for those kids to know if they are mastering the skills that they should be for their age level and for their grade level. Um, one other thing that I think stuck out and this was actually agreed upon by some of the members of the curriculum team was a lack of consistency across the board. I mean, there's parents in this district that have twins in two different classes that come home with entirely different things, and that was a problem. And that was recognized as a problem, too. So, I think there's clear areas for improvement. I don't think we should settle for anything less than the best here in EPAM, especially after um you know, the
047tax levy, which I know Dave might speak on that in a second, but you know, we should shoot for better than state average. We shouldn't be the lowest performing school in an area where we we're so with our socioeconomic peers where we're the lowest of the bunch. Right? So, I just kind of want to put it out there. This has been an elephant in the room here for a long time and I just want to kind of go on the record and saying that it's time and I think we should at least start the conversation. Right? I don't have the answers, but I think we can work collaboratively with the curriculum professionals on our side as well as the educated people that can contribute to the conversation and find a solution that everybody is happy
048with going forward. >> Couldn't agree more, Miss Bramitz. Are there any other questions or comments from the board or committee reports? Mr. reportations. >> Sorry, I was do a committee report for community engagement. Um, and primarily just about the strategic planning sessions that we had. I wanted to thank everyone that came out. There were about 45 people that attended. Um, in the first session, we talked about the strengths and limitations of the school district, the challenges that the district faces, came up with lists from all the groups that worked on it. They will be part of the final report and posted um in the future. I thought it was a great meeting. I'm very excited for the next one on October 15th. I just want to uh remind everyone that was there. Please come back.
049For anyone that wasn't there, you are more than welcome to come. You can come to all of the sessions or any of the sessions. It doesn't matter. There's no continuity between them other than the purpose and goal of it, which is setting the goals and visions for the district for what we're doing going forward. Um, in the October 15th meeting, we are going to talk about the the overall thing is going to be start in five years. Where would you like to see the district? Where would you like ETSs? What is your vision of how the district performs and anything else that goes into that and then work backwards and how do we get there? So, for everyone who's here and can tell anyone else, please come out and help us um figure out what
050that's going to be. >> Thank you, Mr. Pelman. Any questions or comments for committee reports on the board? Mr. for Marcy. >> Uh, I was going to save it for board member comments, but I kind of figure since the subject came up, just, you know, air it out. Um, I'm not going to, you know, reiterate everything he said, but I completely agree with it because, uh, you know, after the $18 million tax levy that we took this year, um, at that meeting, I said, "Okay, at this point, we now have no excuses not to perform at the best level that we should be performing, especially in comparison to, I believe the term you used was our peer socioeconomic districts. Um, you know, if you look at some of the data from the state of the
051schools, uh, you know, it it does show that roughly one out of every two kids is is falling behind when it comes to proficiency. um you know which you know we compare it to state averages but when you just think about that number as a policy level it's like okay I how many kids are in our district and and just half of them are are not are not prepared or set up for success uh and I think that you know regardless of comparing again to state numbers it's like that that that that message sends a larger picture so um the state has recently refined a lot of their guidance on literacy education um you know as far as what they're recommending districts implement um you know kind of leaning more into a phonics based education.
052So I think it's time you know like Mitch Mo had said that we here in Echim you know have serious serious internal conversations and and not just conversations but demonstrate action plans of of how we intend to to meet goals where you know again it's not just one in every two kid is is meeting standards and and getting the education they need to succeed. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Dearcy. Any other questions or comments from the board? Miss Fox. Yeah, I just wanted to first of all thank Dave and Terry for the copious notes that were taken and the update on the meeting. I I've been on curriculum um from year one on the board and have been talking to these parents. Um this last meeting from the reports I got was much more
053collaborative. It seemed like a much more tangible goal. I think everyone was very surprised by the lack of consistency across the board and I think that's a huge thing um to address and I know I I've said it in emails to people but like everyone else has said I think that needs to be a real push to get the kids to where they all need to be and that's something that we are all on the same page for. >> Thank you Miss Fox. Any other questions or comments from the board? Mr. B. Um, so we voted, you know, to increase the tax levy, which was not taken lightly. And let's be honest, it caused pain and it will cause pain. Caused pain to myself, people on the board, you know, our neighbors. It's an investment
054in our kids and our future. And that's how I looked at it as and that's how you know I hope a lot of people and I know a lot of people do they look at it as an investment. However, investments are expected to make returns and I don't we need to do more. There's a lot of things that came up in that meeting that were you know alarming consistencies efficiencies. Um, you know, we have programs that help, you know, a hundred kids. That's great, but we have thousands of kids. So, we need to do better. We're fully funded. We're able to do better. I'm not willing to cause pain, you know, to our town in order to just live in mediocrity. So, we need to do better and it starts now. >> Thank you, Mr.
055Bach. Any other questions or comments from the board? Seeing none, I'd just like to echo the sentiment. Um, we raise the tax levy just not on every parent of every student in this district, but of every resident in this town and we owe to every single resident in this town to deliver a exceedingly exceptional education to our kids because they are our future whether you have kids in this district or not. So, thanks to the board for that. Um, moving to old business. We have no old business. Moving to new business. We need a motion to approve the special education settlement that was discussed in executive session. Do we have a motion? Motion by Mr. Peele and seconded by Mrs. Null. Uh Mr. Yates. Roll call, please. On new business, motion to approve the special
056education settlement as discussed in executive session. Miss Bramoitz. >> Yes. >> Mr. De. >> Yes. Miss Fox, >> yes. >> Mrs. Null, >> yes. >> Mr. Thompson, >> yes. >> Mr. Peeleman, >> yes. >> Mr. Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Conton, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving to item 15, open public comment. This meeting will now be open to the public referencing any items of interest. However, if your questions or comments pertain to litigation, student or personnel items, or negotiations, we would ask that you see the superintendent after the meeting since we do not discuss these matters in public. Please limit your comments to three minutes per person. Do we have anyone who would like to make a comment on any items of interest? >> No, that didn't work. >> Hold
057on one second. Try to get situated here. Is working. Okay. Um, hi, my name is Alyssa Hayes. I live in Brierwood. Um, I'm speaking as one of the 500 plus members of the ETSD parents for improved literacy outcomes group. Um, for years, my peers and I have spent countless hours trying to address a problem that should not honestly have required this much volunteer labor. But we have been persistent because our children's future are worth persistence. We have repeatedly expressed grave concern that under balanced literacy, an outdated and widely disgraced model from the 90s that it contradicts current NJ um DOE standards that teaches kids to look at pictures and guess at words instead of explicitly teaching and decoding and spelling comprehensively. 50% of Eveam students are not reading at grade level. Despite having low poverty
058and when controlling for special education, our district performs below the state average and is the lowest of our neighbors, all of whom provide structured literacy programs. These are facts. They're not opinions. The problem is not the students, it's not the teachers or the parents, it's the curriculum. Yet, as recently as 2022, an EVAM curriculum supervisor presented in a webinar with Irene Fontis, co-author of the very program we piloted the next year in 2023 and implemented last year. The webinar invited attendees to learn more about leveraging state, federal, and local dollars for effective intervention. Effective intervention of course being their programs. So, Fontes and Panel Panel can continue to sell their products. Our district has shared they also serve as a reading recovery training center. However, justifying the use of reading recovery because the district brings
059in some money from training is selling umbrellas while ignoring the flood and our students are the ones left unprotected from the storm. All of this shows how deeply invested our leadership remains in an outdated model of reading instruction. We continue to demand a fundamental shift in the very core of how we teach our children to approach words on a page. Parents leadership will be quick to tell you that they have added phonics to our programs. They are standing in front of a forest fire with a squirt gun and hoping you'll believe them when they say they're making improvements. The responsibil the responsibility sits with leadership at every level. The board must hold the superintendent accountable. The superintendent must hold his employees accountable. And curriculum leader must make decisions based on current, unbiased research and data,
060not outdated preferences. We parents have done our job. We have been persistent, respectful, and data-driven. Continuing these same conversations without a shift in practice is a failure of governance. It is time for the board and leadership to do their jobs. Thank you. >> Is it raining? [Applause] Hi, I'm Renee Pico. I live in Brierwood as well. Um, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am very concerned with parent of a second grader and I am also a reading interventionist with 13 years of experience teaching. Like many families, we moved to Marlton for the quality of education. My husband and I want to provide the very best for our son and we believed that Eveam had the best education. Imagine our disappointment when we learned that Eveam has not met its literacy goals for
061three consecutive years and is now one of the lowest performing districts in the area. Our kids deserve better. Our teachers deserve the tools, training, and support they need to help students succeed. They work hard and care deeply, but they are placed at a disadvantage in a district that refuses to provide outside professional development, a datadriven curriculum and support the science of reading. My son loves school and his teachers and as do we and for that reason we remain Eve Sham residents. I see how hard the teachers work in EVAM. They deserve the best datadriven resources available. As a parent, I have to provide explicit systematic and phonics instruction that my son should be receiving in school. For two years, we have provided tutoring using the Orton Gillingham method for our son. This has been a
062financial sacrifice, but we have no other choice. He is tired. He wants to come home, do his homework, go outside and play with his friends, but he gets tutoring weekly so that we can stay on top of his literacy needs. Sprinkling phonics in here and there is not effective. It must be taught systematically and explicitly to work. And the truth is all students of all abilities benefit from this type of instruction. Asam's slow approach is hurting our kids right now. Families want to move here for the excellent schools. But if this continues, that reputation will be lost. People don't want to move to communities where education is stagnant. Our children should have the curriculum grounded in data and evidence. This is not a budget issue. It's a pri about priorities and commitment. We owe it
063to all of our kids not to waste time, but to move quickly to ensure their success. Please listen to the recommendations made by the parents for literacy improvement and put our kids first as if they are your own. Please stand up for our children and give them what they deserve in the classroom. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Christa Ianelli and I'm speaking on behalf of ETSD, Parents for Improved Literacy Outcomes. We are here because every student in Esham deserves access to high quality reading instruction that is aligned with current research and meet state standards. Unfortunately, the district's current literacy practices do not align with the NJ DOE literacy framework. Programs such as readers and writers workshop, fontis and panel and words their way have been shown to lack effectiveness. Yet they continue
064to be used in our classrooms. While UFly is being used for intervention, the district has chosen not to adopt it for tier one instruction. This is a missed opportunity to provide all learners with access to structured literacy, the most effective evidence-based approach for developing strong foundational reading skills. We appreciate that Miss McGullik acknowledged the need to incorporate decodable readers into current instructional practices. It is our hope that teachers will be provided with updated high quality decodable text that allows students to apply explicit phonics skills in context and build reading fluency. In addition, the district continues to rely on running records and fontis and panel benchmark as primary assessment tools despite their inability to measure essential foundational skills and their lack of validity. Currently, I Ready is used as a universal screener, but only in grades
065K through three and only twice a year. This under utilizes a tool that is designed to support students in grades K through 8 and includes built-in interventions across all tiers of support. At best, Esham is doing the bare minimum to meet universal screening requirements. We are so also deeply concerned about the district's compliance with PL 20224 C52 which mandates professional development in structured literacy. The district has stated it will not participate in the state's lear PD a decision that appears to fall short of both the intent and requirements of the law. With a special education classification rate increasing and below average proficiency scores, these issues point to a critical need to change. We need to adopt a comprehensive research aligned core ELA program. We need to replace the non-evidence-based phonics and word study programs. Use
066valid reliable assessments aligned with structured literacy. Ensure full compliance with the new framework, including participation in NJ DOE provided professional development, address leadership conflicts of interest that hinder progress, and commission an independent review of literacy curriculum. We are eager to collaborate and fully committed to supporting meaningful improvements for our students. Thank you. I don't know if I can be exactly three minutes, but uh Julia Smemell 329 Stony Brook Lane. Good evening everyone. Um I'm coming to you guys this evening. I know transportation is on the agenda, but I did want to raise a very challenging transportation issue that my family has been dealing with since the beginning of school. My 12-year-old son, Alex, who is formerly categorized by the state of New Jersey as developmentally disabled, has an IEP and a history of aloping, uh
067has been required by the district to sit on a bus for over a full hour every morning on his way to Deacy Middle School, which is the only school in the district to offer the SPS program, which is his special needs program, uh that he needs. And I do fully understand that transportation obviously is uh experiencing some bumps at the start of the school, especially with the recent transition. But asking my son to wake up at 5:15 in the morning, in order to be on a middle school bus at what is now 6:05 in the morning, nearly a full hour before the high school students in our same neighborhood are picked up. We have 18year-olds leaving almost an hour later than he is at 12. Uh for a 7:15 a.m. start to the school day,
068which by the way, for the first week of school, he did not experience home room. Didn't know there was a home room because he never arrived to school before home room ended. Even more challenging, the pickup time has continued to change, but the only communications regarding these changes have been to the special needs students on the bus, who, as you can understand, are not reliable messengers. We started the school year with a pickup time of 6:47 and through six different changes to date are currently now at a pickup time of 6:05 as of yesterday, which again was communicated only to the special needs students on the bus and never once communicated to the parents. And I will say when I say communication, there are so many other options. Even if someone had handed my son
069a note or something written down letting him know that he could give it to a parent with the crucial information, that would have been fine, but they expected him to be out there waiting at a new time without ever formally uh communicating to any parent that that was the case. Now, another student who lives down the block is picked up at the intersection of uh two roads in our development to be taken to Demi. the same exact program over a full half hour after my son Alex. This bus stop is less than one minute away in our same exact development. So all I'm asking, as I've already requested weeks ago, is that my son be included on that other bus route in the morning so that he can spend a more reasonable amount of time
070on the bus every morning. If necessary, I'm even happy to transport him there. Depriving a child of sufficient sleep so that he can instead spend over an hour, a full hour on the bus, especially for a child with special needs, is absolutely not conducive to being ready to learn. I do want to set my son up for success, just as I know the board does. Uh I've reached out to the transportation director as well as Dr. Smith on multiple occasions, but other than one cursory email, I haven't received any communication back around this issue. I know this is an issue for everyone. So in the interest of our kids, I am asking that you please address the situation both for me personally and also for the kids who find themselves in a similar situation. Thank
071you. >> Thank you. Are there anyone else who would like to make any comments on any items of interest? Seeing none, we'll close that section out. Moving to board member announcements. Are there any board members who would like to share an announcement? Mr. Gman. [Music] Okay. Um, I wanted to first I wanted to thank the literacy advocacy literacy advocacy group um for meeting with curriculum last week. Not going to reiterate everything that Miss Mr. Moes and M everyone said up here. Um, I agree with everything that was stated both in terms of the goals that we need to set for ourselves, the standards we need to hold ourselves to, and the responsibilities we have with the increased tax levy that we took. Um, all of it is accurate and appropriate. I also just wanted to
072take one second and address um something that I think should be said for transportation and that is that the beginning of the school year is rocky. It's rocky for every district every year. But we have we need to do better. We are working on doing better. as a as the leadership of the district, we need to apologize for the mistakes that have been made and let people know as we have there's a plan for how we're going to communicate better. The routes are being worked now. The routes are being worked now and there are plans in place for future years so that we have less of a rocky start going uh forward in the future. It doesn't answer how we got to the place where we are, but hopefully we can all find a better
073path forward. I know that we have been working tirelessly trying to address the routes and the issues that folks have had and I know that that work continues. So, please have a little bit more patience with us and we apologize for how the year has come off to a start. If I can just for the parent who spoke at the end about your your son's round that starts at 606. It's very long and I'm we're going to look at that tomorrow and I'll you'll get followup tomorrow. So I appreciate you coming and speaking on that. >> Any other board member announcements? I I just wanted to ask if you could possibly email us too so that we can make sure that that's followed up on for >> it's okay with you guys. I can forward
074the email communications to you guys because it lays everything out. >> That would be great. Thank you. >> Just to let you know um to Janice's point. >> Okay, that's >> any other board member announcements. Seeing none, motion to adjurnn by Miss Fox, seconded by Mrs. Null. All those in favor? Thank you.