001[Music] is this one here's that one okay give me okay can everyone in the back hear me okay all right then okay bye to call this meeting to order the mission of the Freehold Township School District is to honor and support every learner every day on the journey to become curious and engaged members of a diverse Global Community a notice listing the time date and place of this meeting was posted on the public bulletin board of all Freehold Township Schools on the entrance door to the administrative offices of the board of education on the district website at the office of the Freehold Township Clerk published in the Asbury Park Press on January 6 2023 and sent to the news transcript on January 4th 2023 I'd like to invite you to join us in the Pledge
002of Allegiance i al to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all call Mrs brand mrso here Mr go here mrsan Mrs thelman here Mrs vanoi here Mr Williams here Mr emo here Mrs Lambert here we have a quum okay I'd like a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes from October 17th 2023 I'm move can I have a second all in favor say hi hi any knows or extensions I'd like a motion to approve the October 17th 2023 executive session meeting minutes second all in favor say I Iain got the two up okay okay um we'll move right into Communications uh we have two things we have two things this evening the first is enrollment R
003does want to come up on the screen got it uh September 2023 we had 3,453 students October of 23 3,458 and you compare that to October 2022 with had 3,444 uh the second item I have here is a letter or actually an email um from A's name here from a Haven Franklin to all the board members it was also sent to Mrs Lambert it's dated today says Dear board members I attended the round table Forum last week and I must share my shock and deep disappointment and how these discussions proceeded while I recognized that the board had good motives in hosting the forum for residents and parents there was no plan made for facilitating a civil discussion amongst the attendees once you determined to hold these meetings it was the board member's obligation to keep
004order in the rooms what was a rush why not give time for planning better I encounter people screaming over each other right from the start frankly it was the parental right side doing the screaming and bullying the other side of the room there is no other way to describe it I personally had to demand that Elena and Carrie get control of the meeting and Institute a three-minute rule to allow others to speak without interruption even at the at that attempt my friends and I were interrupted and our ideas were put down and hotly debated before our time was up we heard words like trans BS and leftist teachers grooming students banded about one resident resented teachers pushing rainbow flags on their students and the implications of that some people reportedly preached about their own religious
005beliefs to the group after residing for Township for 27 years I I am highly disappointed in my community members bullying behavior and vitc attacks while we did eventually get to speak about the 5756 policy itself at a round table it became clear that the board intends to abolish it regardless of debate according to carry it sounds like altering the policy would cause the school to be sued the message was that the alter the alteration was off the table the main issue for opponents at 5756 is the statement quote there is no affirmative Duty for any school district staff member to notify a student's parents of the student's gender identity or expression unquote our superintendent and board president have both stated that abolishing the policy will make no changes in this regard there will still be
006no affirmative duty to notify parents in such matters will be decided on a caseby casee basis as determined by the current superintendent meanwhile abolishment of this policy leaves teachers without guidelines as regards to transgender or gender questioning students to me this outcome is a big negative for the teachers this is a lot more there is a lot more knowledge and guidance imparted on in policy 5756 than that one statement while the board president has stated she does not wish to politicize this debate it has been politicized the school board could have addressed the question after the election to avoid this politicization apparently be members are and residents alike fear the Toleration and protection of a minority group of children that is the biggest disappointment it seems no input from the transgender Community or social workers
007or statistical data regarding homelessness has been seriously integrated into the discussion or final determination as a resent for all Township community I appeal to the board members to reverse course and give rational sensitive support to other students but especially to this vulnerable group of young gender fluid students abolishing this policy shows the desire to brush the lgbtq reality back under the carpet and my opinion is this continues a trend of dehumanizing our fellow man woman and child please reconsider meanwhile R our book Banning is on its way and is already started according to one of the residents at The Forum who is the arbitrator of that question in our schools Haven Franklin question why was that what was the particular reason why that letter was D it was a communication sent directly to the board
008secretary on behalf of the board on behalf Mr direct what about the other letters that were sent that letter was sent specifically to the board secretary as a communication for him to read to the board of education and who was that person a resident a resident sent a letter to the board secretary and on and in his capacity as board secretary asked that he share that communication with the rest of the board when we receive an official communication which would be addressed to the board secretary he shares it in the communication section at the board meeting doesn't happen often okay okay okay um any other Communications that's all okay um I will keep my president's remarks brief because we have um a short executive session that we are going to insert uh after our first
009opportunity for public participation I also wanted to clarify to the members here and the people at home uh what the procedure for the round table entailed because there seemed to be a lot of confusion as to why people were broken up into different rooms and why we had a round table in the first place if we already had a survey um as I stated in previous board meetings it is the policy of this board to consider um all policies changes to policies abolition of policy after input from Community stakeholders for a lot of reasons many reasons um sometimes a policy may be going away but a new one may be put in its place and hearing from the community and all the stakeholders can help shape what that might look like so there's a lot
010of reasons we solicit uh comments from our community and our stakeholders we had intended to have a community Round Table a little sooner and when it couldn't happen sooner because of our schools being busy with Student Activities and other reasons as well as attendance issues by our very own board members who have other obligations we decided to do a survey to just sort of get the lay of the land we never intended the survey to replace the community Round Table we stated from the beginning when the survey went out that a round table would still occur between the October and the November board meeting which it did it was also not a board meeting when five or more board members are present in the same room that's known as a quorum when you have a
011quorum you have a meeting when you have a meeting that meeting has legal notification requirements that have to be advertised members of the public have to attend in order to host around table we used one of our biggest buildings possible and spread only two board members at a time in various rooms just divvying up the public it was not an official board meeting it was an information gathering session so by dividing members of the public up this board was not operating in any surreptitious way and trying to keep you from one another we were following our legal guidelines and how we need to operate when we are not in an official board meeting capacity so I hope that um clarifies uh why it was done the way it was done I got a lot of
012feedback a lot of conspiracy theories I can assure you nothing you know nothing happened in a way that was meant to be um manipulative or secretive we did what we needed to do within the legal framework that we are required to do it in um we will get more feedback regarding the round tables I'm sure as we go on um can I add to that sure the other conspiracy the um which is the election this same board is seated until January so a vote on this had nothing to do with the election either that was another unfounded conspiracy theory that somehow this was timed around the election people were mentioning that at the Roundtable so I wanted to clarify that okay all for sure we don't operate that way um so with that so because
013I don't want to keep you all here all night uh I will move right into the administrative report Mr dickin yep so I do want to share um we are actually um have still not recovered from coid and our ability to procure substitutes for our teachers so many teachers are working for pay but working through their prep periods the time that they're supposed to be spending um preparing returning phone calls emails to parents and planning together um um we I'm not sure that everybody knows so I think it's a good opportunity to just share with the public that the requirement for substitute teaching has been reduced from 60 college credits to 30 college credits so it should uh open the candidate pool a little bit wider also uh we pay comparatively to our surrounding districts
014more it's $130 a day and the nice thing is you can become a substitute and work at your convenience so um a little plug that we are trying best you know our district prioritizes professional development and in order to provide that professional development our teachers need to be out of their rooms and it's really a struggle for our teachers to know that they're leaving their classrooms where their peers are covering those classes um but we don't move forward without that professional development so it's a delicate balance and we do need the the help of our community or any of those who would be willing even to pick up a day a week and become substitute teachers and the nice part right now the only cost would should be fingerprinting because the state has determined that
015there's a fee holiday so you don't even pay for your substitute certificate so and you only need 30 credits 30 college credits at this point yes so if if anybody here or listening can't do that I'm sorry D an 18 years old at oh and you have to be at least 18 years old of course so um if if those here uh can't do it maybe there's somebody that you can tell or somebody that you know that may be interested those at home the same thing we get the word out we are in desperate need of substitute coverage uh the bilding investigation report since our last meeting we had seven cases of harassment intimidation and bullying out of those seven six were founded and one was unfounded and that's all I have I Robert D
016the school business administrator board secretary certifies as of October 31st 2023 no line item has been overexpanded in violation of njac 6A 23-16 do10 C3 and that sufficient funds are available to meet the district's Financial Obligations for the remaining fiscal year okay um anybody have any questions on the bully investigation report okay seeing none um as you know this board has two opportunities for public participation the first opportunity addresses items that are on the agenda this evening the second opportunity beond any item affecting the district um in this first opportunity if anyone wishes to address the board please write your name and address on the sign-in sheet and state your name and town for the record statements are limited to 3 minutes and should not be abusive obscene or defamatory in nature would anyone like
017to address the board is this on the agenda we don't have a copy of the minutes they're asking if it's on the agenda I think your question is the policy on the agenda and the policy is on the agenda so it would be appropriate if you have something to share in public to do it now um real [Laughter] quick hi my name is Liz santoso um I'm a Freehold Township resident for 30 plus years now I would like to share the email that I sent to my facilitators um after my chance to go to the small group meeting to discuss uh policy 57 56 I said I thank you uh for facilitating this meeting uh last night I appreciated your attempt to create a respectful and considerate environment I hope it was abundantly clear though
018after hearing from our group that the issue of policy 5756 is much deeper than a parent's right to be notified what unfolded was a dialogue of fear confusion ignorance and hatred I hope that our board realizes this as they've moved forward and that you are prepared for the influence of this hatred in future public policy I did get a response from my facilitators and they addressed a few of the questions I had I just want to share that public schools should be a place for educating our children and opening their minds to a greater understanding of all human beings what a grave disservice we are doing our children in allowing some small-minded adults to limit their educational experiences based on their own personal fear ignorance and hatred the lering questions that I have that I
019would like to know um what policies will be protecting our trans youth in the absence of 5756 what will the protocol be for how and when parents will be notified I am still hopeful that the state will come up with a firm mandate soon to put an end to the local Board of education's misguided repealing of 5756 our trans students deserve the same respect and protection that all of our students do thank you Mr San if you can email me your questions I can respond to the particularly one about the other policies I don't have them with me but I can respond in an email um I was with Megan Mary hi Doris um I'm a resident and a parent I believe in parents rights but more important is the safety of the children missing
020from this debate is the voices of the students repealing the policy removes a layer of protection for the students repealing this policy does not change the state law but in the future that law could change for the worse and I implore you to leave this policy in place to protect the safety of our students thank [Music] you did than sorry good evening my name is Deb Smith and I'm a 38- year resident of Freehold Township and a parent uh of a grown child and a retired social worker I'd like to believe that we meaning our community actually have shared values with parents involved and in great communication with our teachers your survey of greater than 90% parental satisfaction proved that I know that I've cherished the relationships that I formed with my daughter's teachers I
021knew my daughter was thriving and when I had concerns I expressed them it was a trusting relationship I know that most parents share those feelings I feel that we're at a critical juncture here with this board actively preparing to vote for the repeal of 5756 in spite of every professional appeal not to do so and why harm to those you are designed to protect every parent wants to be informed and in the overwhelming majority of cases they are so this outcry of parents rights has been a fallacious one since the beginning in the rare case of an abusive household that information is withheld from the parent that child deserves protection when we've heard from young people coming before the board from outside our community to speak on behalf of the lgbtq plus children keep in
022mind that they do so in support of our children because our children are afraid to speak and feel that this is not a safe space here since I participated also in the round table conducted by the board two weeks ago I got a small snapshot of the attitudes of some of the parents I heard many examples of hate speech disrespectful conversation bullying and expletives being used when describing transgender youth it was horrifying to hear out loud what was being expressed I felt bullied as did several others participating in other rooms but I'd like to commend miss thulman and miss calino that they at least had a process for thoughtful conversation in their room if adults felt bullied it certainly reinforced the need for care careful protections the extreme vitri witnessed directed by those who they
023didn't even know was very telling to me it was deeply offensive and indicative of their anger towards this very small but vulnerable population they expressed no regard or consideration for what professionals deemed necessary it was a horrifying experience regarding the survey in which 300 people Plus responded I'd like to point out that 45% indicated that they did not feel that there were adequate adequate Protections in place of removing 5756 with another 20% unsure which represents a total of 65% which might say something very different about about parental concerns again the question about whether you feel parents should be notified when posed this way yields an affirmative answer I'd like the question to be asked differently I'm disappointed that it never was the narrative needed to be redirected I'm deeply disappointed that we've arrived at this
024place and I would have hoped that better reason would have prevailed there is still time thank you thank you all right hello uh members of the Freehold Board of Education I'm Grayson corn blat I'm 20 years old and I am a recent graduate of the freeold township uh High School District and I'm here because I feel like the rights of transgender children are under attack much like mine were when I attended your school district uh though I may be an adult and my time in school is behind me the damage of having my trust in autonomy violated by adults I was told to put my utmost faith in in his deep I was forced out of the closet at the age of 13 by my middle school guidance counselor her exact words to me were
025that it was either going to be me telling my parents of my newly discovered trans status or hert I had thought telling my teachers about my preferred name and gender would be a safe and would be safe and secure that I'd be able to experiment a bit with my gender before making the large leap of telling my family I had friends in schools in other states who had been given given protection I sadly didn't realize wasn't my own as well I was naive and didn't know how to protect myself yet and sadly the adults around me didn't have the interest in doing that either I remember a panic wash ing over me the dread the anger I felt violated but I was inevit but the inevitability of the situation was setting in I was forced
026to come out to my mother that day not with pride and joy like I was supposed to but scared crying and feeling as if a very important moment was ripped from my fingers I didn't want my coming out to be filled with such emotion I didn't know who to trust anymore after that your gance counselor and their office is supposed to be a safe space and it became my own personal nightmare my parents weren't homophobic or transphobic luckily I came out with relative ease though there were some issues from other family members that's not the story for most transgender children though unfortunately some children are punished abused or even worse when their F parents found out about their gender identity suicidal ideation and attempts amongst transgender children are common 41% of transgender youth attempt suicide
027let that sink in for a second this is decreased by almost 90% if a child has at least one person in their life that supports them yeah School sometimes is the only place a child can express themselves freely without judgment or threats of danger your board claims to be all about respect and turning our generation into leaders and making a better diverse Place making schools hostile for transgender children actively goes against the messaging you put out for the public to see shame on you for trying to pull the wool over our eyes thank you for your time protect trans children I'm uh Wendy Sabin I'm a 21y year resident of the township I speak tonight against the abolishment of 5756 despite the fact that you have already made your decision I heard this directly from
028the board members at the start of the Round Table whose purpose I had thought was to facilitate open discussion as a retired school counselor and licensed professional counselor I can tell you firsthand that children are continually exploring their identities in numerous ways it is our responsibility as parents sents and Educators to facilitate that exploration without fear of repercussion it is not up to a school to out a child and place that child in a potentially hostile environment subject to harassment intimidation and discrimination the opposite it is incumbent upon the school Community to protect that particular child the one who is not an infirm and supportive home environment and where School Remains The One and Only safe and validating Place consider this according to the Trevor Project in 2023 trans kids have the highest rate of
029family abandonment and homelessness and as was mentioned 41% have attempted suicide and fewer than 40% found their home to be gender affirming parental rights refer to the rights of individual parents with regard to their own child not to the children of other parents we cannot and should not permit infringement upon the rights of other parents and their children not on this issue or any others including what books a parent allows his or her child to read finally I would like like to share the findings of a new poll by the MJ EA released on October 19th in which three in four New Jersey voters agree with the statement quote it's up to a student to decide when they are ready to talk to their parents about their sexual orientation or gender identity it is very
030clear that the action of this board goes against the vast majority of Voters in this state when anyone else like to address the [Music] board good evening Dan Finn Aberdine father of five grandfather of five retired military first I want to thank you all for your service and discernment that you already uh dis demonstrated in your first reading nobody with the shred of intellectual honesty can say 5756 really offers a benefit or protections that are not already afforded Elsewhere for Trans kids and certainly not the 99 x% in fact it alienates causes division confusion and is flat out harmful if looked at objectively lying to kids about the fantasy of changing Sexes as a solution to gender dysphoria or that they can create their own gender is grotesque lying to parents or teaching kids it's
031okay to lie to parents is diabolical and affirming or celebrating a well documented mental illness without a without question without diagnosis or any other criteria which is in the policy is incomprehensible furthermore the policy demands that we all affirm them affirm look up the synonyms that's encourage and many others and that folks is pure indoctrination most of these kids don't even have clinical or deep-seated gender dysphoria rather it is born out of social contagion online influence and now our local schools if not stopped in fact that is the only possible explanation for the thousands of percent increase in just a few short years this is an agenda field of movement encouraging that kids down this path if you don't stand in the gap for our kids many are going to be harmed emotionally and physical
032okay they need to hear the truth and some of them are going to be suing all the adults involved not so long in the distant future and it's already happening how in the world is it appropriate to put any teacher or staff in this position to practice medicine and involve themselves completely outside the Wheelhouse of public education God help us some are worried about lawsuits the frivilous lawsuits from the state are not the ones you need to be worried about please exercise your responsibility and your Authority and take back local control from government overreach and don't wait to be the last ones to do the right thing and just for the record my oldest son killed himself in 2007 and it had nothing to do with gender dysphoria or any of this but there was
033plenty of confusion and other challenges that are you face okay including mental illness which in this case there was heredity uh mental illness on the mother's side so folks be Discerning and understand that some of the data and some of the uh studies that are being thrown around are being funded by people that want you to believe a certain thing that's not true thank you there we go what anybody oh hello um my name's Alice Marie I'm from Colts Neck um I came here in August and last time I talked a little bit about how I was a tomboy and seriously as a child I thought it was cool to act like a boy maybe to push the boundaries I don't know but I always knew that I was a girl because my parents told
034me I was a girl and being a tomboy was normal my 90-year-old mother and I were talking about this and she said everyone was a tomboy back then and Common Sense is to tell the kids this is normal and affirm their birth gender I asked you I didn't start up by saying I am glad and hope that you will reeal this appeal that policy to get rid of the 75756 11 studies including the Toronto 2021 study indicate that 80 to 90% of gender dysphoria children return to their birth gender by the age of 18 The Narrative that is coming down from the state I believe is evil and telling innocent children that there might be something wrong with them if a child is awkward or feels insecure maybe even has Aspergers or DHD uh you
035mean to tell me that the automatic go-to is maybe you'll feel better as another gender no who would initiate this idea and think this is okay to do that's why parents need to know and to be involved in their child life I'm here to speak about telling them the truth other adults such as teachers and counselors should be able to affirm the child's birth gender and if they can't do that the teacher should be able to inform the parents I'd like to quote from the testimony of Cole who testified in front of Congress earlier this year pleading to protect all children for from attempting to transition and to protect them from this pervasive lie or to be victimized by this barbaric pseudo science that she calls it she says that she is a d transitioner
036quote another way to put this is I used to believe that I was born in the wrong body and the adults in my life who I trusted affirmed my belief this caused me lifelong IR rible harm I speak to you today as a victim of one of the biggest medical scandals in the history of the United States of America I speak to you in the hope that you will have the courage to bring this Scandal to an end and ensure that other vulnerable teenagers children and adults don't go through what I went through end quote she again um talks about also how she couldn't focus on school because of the hormones and everything she was taking and all that happened to her and then she quotes again when my specialist first first told my parents
037that they could have a dead daughter or live a live transgender son I wasn't suicidal I was a happy child who struggled because she was different however at 16 after my surgery I did become suicidal I'm doing better not but my parents almost got the dead daughter promised to them by my doctors my doctors almost created the very nightmare they said they were trying to avoid so what message do I want to bring to American teenagers and their families I didn't need to be lied to I needed compassion to be loved I needed to be given therapy to help work through my issues not to affirm my delusion that transforming into a boy it would solve all my problems we need to stop telling 12-year-olds your three minutes or all wrap up thank you all
038right thank you and I ask I I ask you to please continue to um get rid of I have to hold this up hope I don't know okay sorry um I'm Cheryl poo Freehold Township um I have two sons in the Freehold School District um I'm here uh to support the resending of policy 5756 um although we understand uh and have compassion for children who are going through gender dysphoric uh feelings um and again I think the premise of the argument has not even been agreed upon um the one notion that this is a a way forward for children that it's natural and normal to feel that you were born in the wrong body if you experienc these feelings um but you know um I believe and I think science backs me up that you're
039not born in the wrong body this is a mental illness and until this issue actually gets resolved we're always going to be in an argument okay so um sadly in New Jersey Chris Christie signed into law that um licensed professionals and fortunately are not allowed to discuss underlying conditions of gender dysphoric children at a professional level so there's really no alternatives for parents so the professionals hands are tied and also the parents hands are tied if they want to bring their child in for uh an evaluation on why they're feeling gender dysphoric they're not allowed by law to discuss underlying conditions basically it's affirmative care that's it that's and then they're on the road to transition it's not fair to parent parents because children need to be um cared for properly there is a pervasive
040I think amount of mental illness today with children the suicide rate has increased among young children 10 11 years old you're hearing committing suicide um but it's not just because of gender dysphoria it's because of all these other underlying possible conditions um from sexual abuse verbal abuse um autism 70% of autis children um present with gender dysphoria it's a symptom of their autism um and just depression anxiety and things of that nature and those are not explored um once a child decides that they decided that they're just born in the wrong body I don't think it's the school's right to circumvent the parent if this does happen the policy just uh does state that the teachers or administrators they don't have um it's the right right word uh they don't have an affirmative duty to
041inform the parents but also in the law it doesn't state that they shouldn't either um if you look at the law and the language of the law it basically just states that um includ confidentiality and privacy concerns including ensuring that the school Personnel do not disclose information that may reveal a student's transgender status except as Allowed by law it's very ambiguous that's chapter 137 That's the Law also in the policy it's ambiguous and if you go through the guidelines did I just do that oh in the guidelines also that yeah well in the guidelines also from the uh State U Department of Education is very ambiguous as well so anyway thank you hello everybody my name is Anthony danello I also was part of the Round Table discussion my perspective on that discussion was a
042little bit different I thought it was a highly inclusive conversation in which a lot of viewpoints were heard and um respect I think it was a passionate discussion uh but I thought the school board members did a very good job controlling the room I believe I was in um Mrs Mary calino and Miss Meg Dolan's room and I thought they did a very good job so and I appreciated hearing the other perspectives um I would say this um you know every morning I have a daughter and a son uh that attend Freehold Township grade school and every morning I wake up and I tell them to listen to their teacher and every morning I reinforce the importance of trusting those teachers I think um you know 5756 goes a long way to betray that trust
043because you need to include the parents I think once a child exits the school system uh your obligation to that child ends but the parents continue at the same time I think um when you think about a child under the age of 18 unable to enter into a legally binding contract they're unable to buy a can of spray paint they're unable to substitute Teach as you mentioned here today but they're able to go ahead and make these decisions without including their parents and they're able to go ahead and move forward uh with an effort to deliberately exclude the parent we also discussed in the room that there were five instances that occurred in which the decision was made to include INE the parents and I commend this board for that there were no issues with
044the parents none so it's sounds like um parents are being made out to be the enemy of this when in my opinion they need to be included and consulted because no one knows better for their child than a parent and I think that teacher relationship with parents we putting them in a very difficult situation and I think that if a student chooses to come out uh in any way shape or form we should focus on a plan for informing and including the parents I think you've gone a long way to create a very inclusive environment we've had roundtables we have opportunities to speak here uh all types of things that you go through to include everyone yet this excludes probably the most important people I think it's natural to feel like you are going to
045disappoint your parents much like me I'm sure some of you here have disappointed Ed your parents at some point in time and hopefully like me who has disappointed my parents my parents were forgiving understanding and they worked with me to be better so um whatever that support looks like I think we need to lean on parents and focus on that relationship and when I think about a lot of the arguments uh that I heard on the other side I heard even today uh things like hate speech disrespectful um you know there's just a lot of in my opinion uh abundant conflictions in those arguments that just lack uh oftentimes common sense and are fueled by emotion and I think we have to take a look at this differently so I appreciate everyone's willing this to
046take a second look at this and appreciate the time today so thank you thank you U my name is Kylie patmore I'm a resident of fre burrow and I currently go to fre bur High School making teachers responsible uh for reporting to a parent if their child has Preferred pronouns different uh than their biological sex or preferred name different than their legal name is putting teachers and the school as a whole responsible for what happens next 40% of the homeless population in this country are queer 15% of that number are queer queer people under 18 years old which is a striking number for a population that covers only 10% of the world over 33% of trans people experience abuse abuse 41% of transgender youth attempt suicide a teacher's job is to teach teachers and school
047administrators are not responsible for Bridging the Gap between you and your child if your child is not telling you that they are questioning their gender or are transgender there's a reason schools are where your child spends a majority of their time Monday through Friday September through June so thank God they feel safe enough there to come out to a teacher we should celebrate these safe spaces and not tear them down if your child does happen to be transgender they will tell you when they feel safe and comfortable enough with you to do so if you failed as a parent to make a safe space for your child to talk to you about these things it is not the school's responsibility to pick up the slack thank you hello tell me why I have to be
048here on a school night defending me oh sorry H oh Frederick I live in free holds I went to B and I went to West freeholds um I currently go to freeold burrow but I still live in West Freehold it's not fair that no one is listening to the children of whom This concerns me and my friends shouldn't have to come here on a school night and be here late at night to tell you that we deserve protection the decision of few parents the matter of the situation should not be the same for every situation because there are those 30% of trans children who will be beat who will kill themselves you are failing these children it is not fair they need to protect themselves and they need people who will protect them you hear
049the parents out here calling being trans and mental illness we need to protect those children no one can be alone and those teachers jobs to make a safe place for their children is not teacher's job to teach parents how to parent their children thank [Music] you my name is Don fabula I lived in Neptune I'm a parent the 15year old ninth grader and uh first I want to thank those on the board who have the courage enough to think clearly through this uh and made a decision last meeting to uh move to abolish the this um just disgusting 5756 policy um I'm a parent and for anybody to think that they have my daughter's best interest in mind and for her success in life greater and above myself my wife is absurd to exclude me
050from uh decisions regardless of how my how she feels have we forgotten the definition of a parent I'm her greatest champion I want to see her succeed more than anybody anybody who thinks I'm GNA be there for her not not the school not other folks my wife and I have the the greatest desire for her success and and and if we've forgotten what the definition of a parent it also means guiding her when she's going off the wrong path how I feel she's going off the wrong path not how you feel or not how they feel she's my child and until she becomes an adult I'm going to do everything I can to guide her in the way that I feel and my wife feel it's going to lead to her success is not the
051school board's job to usurp my my responsibility to my child or my desire and that's what this policy is about it's separating parents it's separating families to create a quote safe space there's nothing safe about transitioning a child from kindergarten first grade second grade third grade all the way up to whatever to to an adult there's nothing safe about that and I think the numbers that we hear speak for themselves about suicides and mental health problems and this and that this is about an agenda and an ideology change this is nearly not about the safety of our kids the underlying the okay thank you I just want to say one last thing I 100% support you and my wife does and my neighbors do that I've spoken to to abolish this this this 5756 you
052got I'm behind you 100% thank you anybody else like to address the [Music] board is my time going to start now or should I sign in good evening um while politicians always have oh my name is Lori Solomon Jackson good while politicians have always been skillful in dismantling half truths Twisted facts misleading statements and out ofout Fabrications masquerading as facts we are living in a time in which those same people who derive their powers from the consist the consent the consent of the Govern are now openly and notoriously violating their Oaths of office the laws of this country and our unalienable rights in M Fein that being said I would like to start off by saying that the coid shutdowns that went on far longer than necessary remote learning that appeared Pride open the black
053box of America the classrooms what an Awakening that was that brought the parents rights right into the classroom we had a front row seat it all started with the coret then the critical race the maps minor attractive persons then came the sex books and now we have the lgbtq transgender binary nonbinary not to mention we can't speak of God which that's what all these rights were made out of biblical that's how the laws were founded on okay I'm going to speak it what I'm speaking about this is about the agenda I'm going to get to my whole speech who's talking about the policy 57 okay this is 5756 okay you don't know what the speech is about you already interrupting me I want you to stop the clock and give me my three minutes nope
054okay I'll get your name when I'm done you people sitting here you are employees who work for us you are employees and you are required to notify parents that the children ask to use a different name or a pronoun or to seek and use different bathrooms and programs that don't align with their birth gender while at school I can't even F the idea not wanting to tell parents what is going on with their children employees are mandated reporters meaning you have to tell the state's Child Protective Services is if children are in danger at home so if a child says I don't feel good you take the St the protocol steps if there are already Protections in place when a child is sick you have to notify the parent when a child gets hurt you
055have to notify the parent so what changed now this makes no sense at all schools need to understand their place and they need to stay in their place most parents want their children to be academically and socially successful we want to go back to basic six love leave our kids alone do you really think you are going to co-parent with us because we're not going to have that okay and what is with the pronoun nonsense the words he she boy girl it's not allowed to be spoken really this has gone no it's not cuz my speech was timed at 3 minutes and I said I said this speech of many things and it was not three minutes no no this speech was turned at less than three minutes and I didn't even get through it
056no and I want to have your name when I leave here please yes I want to I want to have your name before I leave here okay I'm gonna get your name by the way I have a gay daughter and she does not go around trying to change people's agenders she stays in her place does her own thing she's not trying to tell them to be a boy or a girl okay address the board hi good evening my name is Valerie O'Neal I've been a resident of real old Township for 23 years I have two children in the district one's in elementary one's in high school uh first I want to thank the board um for opening the conversation to the public I attended my first round table um few weeks ago uh definitely passion
057on both sides for different and very understandable reasons um we are all here because we care about our children I think that's something maybe we can all agree upon everybody wants the best for our children and I think everyone should be entitled to an excellent education in a safe environment but parents can't be on a need to no basis when it comes to the welfare of their children and that is what is so troubling to me about this policy I believe the language in this bill some of the language sets a dangerous precedent leaving parents out of the the discussion which affects the well-being of their children I've heard very troubling and and they're very difficult stories to hear that we've heard tonight and I no one is belittling them and can't even begin to
058understand some of them and what it is to go through that um and I can I can only imagine the fear sometimes and some of the situations in an abusive home what that must feel like but there's another side to this what about the scenarios where children aren't telling their parents and then the abuse or bullying they may get in school and then the problems that arise because of that and the parents are not looped in in any part of that and the issues that that could present this isn't a black and white issue at all when it comes to that um I I have a child in elementary school and recently I I kind of left and I mentioned this in the round table I had to sign a permission slip um for her
059to eat an ice pot um to watch a PG movie and then I was thinking about but right now the way this policy would state that if a child as young as five six seven eight years old wants to identify as another name or gender then um nobody has to notify that parent and when you look at that and like that seems kind of ridiculous we're all trying to protect the rights of our children we all want what's best for them but um the way this policy is written I think opens a Pandora's box for a lot of parental rights issues and as a parent that's what I'm concerned about and um that's why I'm against this policy thank you for your time Carmela spieler Freehold Township um I just want to say I do
060um agree with you guys abolishing this policy I will say something else I think it doesn't go a step further it needs to go a step further where you make a policy where you're going to absolutely include the parents I know that doesn't makes some people happy here but I do believe like the last lady just said that protecting parental rights um what we want for the best of our kids might be a different viewpoint but we all want what's best so that being said the round table notifications did they just go out to only people with students in the district out School messenger so it didn't go out to other residents it was on the website it was on the home page of the website okay all right so what I want to say
061here though right now is that um when when did parents rights become a political issue like we've always supported that parents would take care of their children they belong to them they are a gift from God calling it a political issue was never meant to be one and um if a student were to have an IEP a need for an IEP in the School District the parent is brought in the district provides some options what is good and what is needed what they feel is best and then the parent gets to decide yes my child needs a power or my child needs this or they need a different accommodation this would work better because the parent knows what's best so just like we include them for everything we need to include them and something where
062a child is recognizing that they want to change their name or they want to transition or whatever t see they're showing parent does need to be notified about that I do firmly believe that um I hope and feel you guys will do the right thing I thank you for your service and thank you would anyone else like to re the board hi my name is Jen booty um I'm a resident of free whole Township I grew up here moved away for a little while and now I'm back um I attended both the initial meeting here where this policy was first discussed and um ultimately tabled and then the community Round Table um and from both those meetings I've learned or reaffirmed two things uh one that the residents and many of the members of this
063board are willfully ignorant around the topic of trans youth um the amount of misinformation viewed at both meetings and now this one is honestly deplorable um I don't have a solution for the ignorance amongst the residents however the board can and certainly should take steps to further understand the children in this district and that includes trans children read talk to professionals do your due diligence at the meeting where the policy was first brought to the table one board member in particular was quite literally making up facts and then questioned regarding current policies in the district he didn't have an answer and I take it he didn't read them so in my opinion if the board doesn't even know the policies that are meant to represent and that they are meant to enforce they shouldn't have
064a right to have a seat at the table that alone make decisions that affect our children the second thing I learned at the meeting was that money seems to be more important than marginalized groups um as Haven stated in her letter at the round table I suggested amending the policy to reduce gray area and found a way to satisfy both sides of this argument and the board explicitly stated that amending the policy would be too costly and that was honestly around the time that I walked out um earlier tonight Michelle you mentioned that there was an opportunity to put a new policy in place and since this policy is likely getting apolish tonight I look forward to the next Community Round Table to discuss this topic further thank you any what else um good evening
065thank you for um opening this up to the public to discuss uh my name is Emily Crosby I'm a free- old resident uh 26 years my entire life I went to ktina Eisenhower and freeold burrow um I went to MTH University and I studied psychology and I am now working at the Center for Independent Living of Moman ocean counties um where I provide disability services around education and advocacy uh for the community um I would like to just address specifically that the diagnostic and statistical Manual of mental disorders um specifically the fifth um version was amended in 2013 from gender identity disorder specifically to gender disphoria um this was done intentionally so that um health care and insurance would recognize this in a way that individuals who um were thinking of transitioning um could get
066the proper care that they wanted to um as discussed I'm sure with family members loved ones and parents for advice um so that was done to get them the care that they need not as a mental illness um in terms of autistic individuals I work with so many on a regular basis um neurod Divergent individuals see things differently than um neurotypical ones so whereas neurotypical individuals use horis STS a lot of bias we box things um more Divergent individuals do not um so they're more open-minded to gender expression and the nuances within that um I support trans youth I support trans individuals um I think that parents who have created an inclusive and supportive environment at home will have children who will come to them and express this and ask for guidance um if they
067do not create that safe space they will look to other people to do so thank you there we have um a legal matter that needs to be clarified freefly um since there are 14 of us and there a lot more of you we will leave the room to go into your office into Mr Dix's office and we will come out after that and um conclude the um the rest of the meeting so uh with that I'd like a motion to go into second move okay I don't have the the language on here on St I'm just going to go in um whereas pursuance to njsa 10 42z the Board of Education shall May includ that the public from that portion of a public meeting where the board discusses any of the matters prescribed in njsa
0681042d items 1 through n now therefore be Sol that in ordance with the provisions of the open public this board education shall conduct the Clos session for personnel and legal assessment prescribed by NSA for2 for the purpose of discussing um possible um matters pending an anticipated litigation it is anticipated the length of time of this executive session will be 15 minutes and that action will not be taken with specific regard to what we have discussed in an executive session but action will be taken in our public meeting moving forward um the a further resolve that said discussion may be disposed to the public when reasons for discussing and acting upon it in first session no longer exist um this specifically involved discussion regarding ATT appr need to be no more than 15 minutes and then
069during that time please feel free to have coffee [Music] e and with that we will move on to the Personnel committee okay M um today we met as a committee uh people in attendance for Dr breatha Neil gulio M thuman and myself we discussed and reviewed all the agenda items I'd like to go to subject number three administrative leave moved as written number four retirement as written number five resignations as stated number six adjustment to termination date as stated number seven position control as stated number eight new employment as stated number nine established start date as stated number 10 weend offer of employment as stated 11 extend long-term assignments as stated number 12 Change of assignment salary adjustment as stated 13 salary adjustments as stated 14 Le of absence as stated 15 unpaid days as
070stated 16 District honoria as stated 17 PTO honoria as stated 18 additional compensations as stated 19 additional compensation CPI and safety care training as stated 20 translator interpreter as stated 21 volunteers as stated 22 curriculum committee as stated 23 certified substitutes as stated 24 non certified substitutes as stated and that is it does anybody have any questions can I have a second W Mrs bran yes Mrs casalino yes Mr gulo yes Mrs ulvan yes Mrs thomman yes Mrs Veni yes Mr Williams yes Mr Amoroso yes Mrs Lambert yes motion carries okay curriculum and policy committee Miss cosino yes hi we did meet this evening present were Mr amaroso myself um assistant um superintendent Montgomery and um Neil Dix um also joining us at the end was Jeff Williams um we reviewed the following I actually
071have good news this District received a high impact tutoring Grant to the tune of $230,000 this is going to really move the needle for our students um and it is estimated that $350 kids will be touched by that is that the correct number approximately um and um we also um discuss the district goals we have K2 District goals 35 District goals and middle school goals across all four instructional levels um we also went over the njsla takeaways provided by the states um provided by the state um on the performance overall for all districts um and we saw some of the same things we saw here um lower scores in math and English um is there anything you want to add on that um it was a summary report that link had prepared for us they
072did a DFG study of all the former identified DFG districts in the state um and provided a series of 10 takeaways around that um many of which as Mary said were summarized in my njsla uh presentation that I gave to the board previously okay so no surprises and no aligned yes yes okay um we also discussed uh the progress of the intervention um revamp that the district is in the midst of doing um and how we're needing we're meeting kids where they're at and trying to provide extra support to those kids who are further behind and in need of T tier three supports um and we also uh reported out that um we're waiting on an analytics report so that we can begin the fall map data review so look for that in the next
073month right yes I will be reporting to the curcum committee at our December meeting around our fall map data all right um so to get to the curriculum part of the agenda um I would like to move number three first reading of policy and regulations number 64701 number 7243 um regulation .01 the second reading of policies um as listed there's a few of those I'm not going to read all the numbers um number five um the first reading to abolish policies P 8540 and I'm going to skip number six I'm going to go to number seven home instruction and 8550 what abolish oh I I missed that one sorry 8550 um I'm going to skip number six I'm going to go to number seven home instruction I'm going to go to eight resend course reimbursement
074as listed number nine student teacher practic practicum observation and placements as listed number 10 School Safety and Security plan annual review statement of assurance as listed and that is it okay do we want a second on all all items excluding item number six second all in favor say I I I motion carries okay i' like to make a motion uh to uh for the second reading to abolish policy okay any discussion I would are we going to talk as we vote or should we uh you could talk before you vote you could talk as as you vote and explain the vote however you want to however it want you want to do it I want to explain as I vote as you vote okay do it that way sure okay so um then we'll do
075a roll call vote okay ready yeah Mr bran I have a little I have a little talk I'd like to mention with this I'd like to first thank everyone that came to the Roundtable meeting on November nober 4th the parents in the room were overwhelming overwhelmingly in favor of repealing policy 5756 my room of the 20 to 30 parents that attended my group the vast majority upwards of 85% were opposed to the policy the reasons cited were basically the ones that we have discussed at a meetings here as well one parents have the ultimate authority to know all aspect of their child's life that includes scholastic information as well as medical two this policy is not mandated and protection is given to all children under various forms of other New Jersey laws we as a
076school cannot favor create favoritism for one group of students over another that would expose the district to liability government int three government intrusion and interference in school matters must be reduced and brought to a minimum schools should be focusing on education of our students math reading science Civics the arts history four our community is made of exceptional is made up of exceptional parents that are active participants in their children's education they take an active role in the Affairs of the school and the students these parents are intimately involved in the school and demand to know what is going on inside the walls of the schools as it affects their children five any issue that involves a medical condition should be referred to a medical professional children have no right to diagnose themselves a medical issue
077must be part of a broader family discussion between the student and parent the school should be alluding the parent of any issue that involves their child's potential well-being six student Studies have found that under the age of 8 years old a child has subjective learning what does that mean that means that they will believe whatever they are told as a school we are given tremendous responsibility to be mindful of how and what we teach as well as what children children are exposed to lastly I return to the issue of parental rights as we all know these rights have been upheld over the last 50 years by the Supreme Court for these reasons I vote to abolish 57 56 Mrs coino okay um I too have some remarks and I would just add um thank Miss
078brand for her remarks and I would just say that my three children don't always believe everything they're taught it's just not the kind of personalities I'm dealing with um we have been looking at this policy for over a month now we've had Parents on both sides of this issue speak and write us and participate in roundtables and surveys we have heard from people in Freehold and outside of Freehold we have gathered a lot of feedback and information voting on this issue has caused many of us to do a ton of Soul surging and ask tough questions who are we as board members parents and community members what does this community conversations say about Freehold Township I wear many hats I am first and foremost a mom a mom who like many of you cares a
079great deal about her three boys their world and the community they are growing up in I am also a board member who like several members of this board board has missed many nights and sports games including tonight with those boys to serve this school district and I do my best to serve all the students of this District but I am also a Community member and an active volunteer who works with my neighbors to continue to build an inclusive community that takes care of each other as I consider policy 5756 I hear some stating concerns about parents rights I care deeply about my role as a parent and my rights with respect to my kids to me this issue is not about parents rights at all Freehold has always been a school district that has sought
080and benefited from the active participation of parents in their child's education many of us on this board including myself had our first experience with freehill Township Schools through our children and school-based PTO as families entering Freehold Township Schools we found a community of Administrators teachers and other professionals calling us to lend our talents in time our students have benefited from the type of collaboration our teachers and parents have always had the existence of this policy has not impacted that it is important to clarify some misconceptions about our current policy and what abolishing it will mean chief among them is that some it somehow requires schools to keep information from parents that is untrue based on my reading the policy states that there is quote no affir affirmative duty to tell parents and urges the district
081to talk with the child who is reluctant to tell their parents and make the child aware that if they are identifying at school as a gender different from that at home chances are Mom and Dad will find out so it becomes a conversation about how to have those conversations with their parents that is what our superintendant has said that is historically how it's been handled in the few cases that have occurred in frial Township we are also being told that that will not change without a policy we will continue to handle these issues in a similar manner another right asserted in the policy states that the district is required to address the student by their chosen name and gender without parental approval this comes from njsa 18a colon 36-41 and is therefore New Jersey Law
082this District follows the law we are also to we were also told at prior meetings the repealing of this policy will not impact bathrooms intermural activities as well as njs I AA sports teams all Protections in these areas fall under other laws and Sports Association policies if none of this is changing with the abolishment of this policy I wonder why we are doing this why are we exposing our community and our school district to the kind of hate and division we now see why are we exposing our students to the type of strife and rejection some members of our community experience at those roundtables I guess the flip side of that could be argued as well if the repeal of 5756 is not going to change anything why not just do it already end this
083debate with the District of the policy allow the administration to just conduct themselves as they always have and take them at their word that they will continue to protect our kids the answer answer came to that the answer to that came to me as I listened at our recent meetings roundt discussions and email sent just this week this is where folks argued and not all folks that quote transgenderism is a social contagion end quote those were their words not mine or it created a kids transgender status with diabetes or parents asserting that schools needed to immediately out their kids so they could pursue quote other Solutions not currently Allowed by New Jersey Law or called on school or called School Personnel groomers I worry that with this repeal we validate their words and attitudes these
084kids are already members of a group that is prone to bullying in fact in this very District last year there were at least 15 incidents where kids here in free Township were subject to bullying because of their perceived sexual orientation or perceived gender non-conformity those are the incidents we know about and because we know about them parents know about them if we remove this policy which was designed to list protections for this vulnerable group we need to be concerned about the message we are sending I worry that that is a message of please stay hidden what does our school district get in repealing this since we've already asserted it it would change since we've already since I've already asserted it would change nothing in how we approach and deal with these kids and families we
085would get rid of a policy that codifies and provides guidance in one place for our staff to follow we get potential legal exposure in my opinion as our well-meaning staff risks personal liability as well as dis District exposure as they attempt to navigate these issues on a caseby Case basis absent a single clear policy and we send that message to stay hidden as a mother board member and Community member I am not okay with that I am voting no mrul [Music] doing move it away good I'm loud anyway why I think policy 5756 should be abolished I do not wish any harm to any transgender student or person they should receive good loving care and help from professionals with any issue they may have gender this for can lead to deep depression bipolar disorder or
086other mental issues minor children should never be transitioned without parental consent and authorization when a person reaches the age of maturity they are better able to make such important lifechanging decisions they now have reached adulthood and are better able to determine what is best for them policy 5756 wants to hide information from parents how can you hide what a child is going through as critical as this from the parent the policy says the school district shall accept the students asserted identity parental consent is not required a student need not meet any threshold diagnosis or treatment requirements there is no affirmative Duty for any School District staff member to notify a student's parent of the student gender identity or expression don't the parents have to know if their child is being administered a Tylenol this policy
087by the state was heavily influenced by LGBT Advocates and want to keep the parents out of the equation the state should not get between the children and their parents the Supreme Court has upheld this right for over 50 years our Administration has explained to us that they can and have helped trans gender students overcome their fears about parental notification it is an issue that has been carefully handled to help the child and not hide any information from the parents this policy goes too far and needs to be abolished just like surrounding school districts have done I vote to abolish M oin I vote to abolish Mrs stman thank you Mary and I were together in the room um during the round table and um you know at that time I hope we were able to
088clear up a lot of misconceptions because there's a lot of misconceptions about what will be accomplished uh when this policy is repealed repealing this policy will not change anything about how the schools operate on a daily basis to my understanding it just creat it's a lose lose lose situation for parents for Trans kids and for our staff parents lose because it is unclear whether or when the district will notify parents if their child identifies as a different gender in school it will not prevent students from using the bathroom of their choice because that is protected by state law repealing the policy will create a lack of transparency which I am always opposed to parents should know how when and if they will notified and under which circumstances they will not trans kids lose because many
089of the student specific protections outlined in the policy are not explicitly covered by law too many questions have not been answered even the ones asked tonight during the first uh public comment about what will happen if a child comes out to a staff member that is still not been clearly answered and while kids don't pay attention to our policies and most of them have no idea who we are what we do they do learn really quickly what the rules are so if one kid is outed against their will every other kid will learn the lesson that they better not tell and they will suffer in silence in the closet because now they don't have anyone to help them make a plan to tell their families and sadly based on the hateful homophobic and transphobic emails
090we've been receiving in the last few days I think that's exactly the desired outcome here we're back to don't ask don't tell our staff loses because without a clear policy to follow they may be assuming personal liability as was the case with some police officers in uh Minersville Pennsylvania not long ago who were named in a suit after a minor committed suicide after they threatened to out him to his family against his will repealing this policy is in my opinion political theater the district will assume more risk parents will have less transparency and lgbtq kids and their families who are watching us right now will get the message that they are not welcome or supported in Freehold Township Schools it's a bad deal no one wins anything here until we have a policy to replace
091this one that maintains protections for Trans students while clarifying to our parents how these situations will be handled I'm a no Mrs Veni I just want to say that I support our transgender students and I support our parents I understand there are circumstances where trans students are supported at home and circumstances where they are not and I trust our team to make the right decision when dealing with each and every child and family situation as they have been doing here for the last few years what I don't support is using our students to be a divisive issue and this has clearly divided not just this board but this town and it continues to shine a spotlight on a v able population of students I would prefer to empower the superintendent and administration to handle this
092on a case-by casee basis this is not a win or loss for either side it is this District continuing to do what it has been doing and does best and that is to educate and nurture the whole child I'm voting to abolish the policy Mr Williams over the last three months over the last three months since the issue of policy 5756 has come to the Forefront of the Freehold Township K througha School Board I've been asking myself why now this issue has been a hot button issue in other towns throughout the state and I've been on the record saying I'm not focused on what happens in other districts my singular focus is and always will be this District students and teachers until September this was not an issue here in Freehold and not one that
093this board needed to address I came to the conclusion that there was only one simple answer and that's politics worse than that extreme politics practiced by Fringe groups that in most cases do not have children in our schools and in my opinion truly do not care about the students in our schools these groups appear to be one thing when their sole mission is to spread as much M misinformation hate and discrimination as possible by using buzzwords in this case their buzz word was parental rights the idea that the idea that parents have children in this District are being denied parental rights and that the repeal of 5756 is going to provide them with rights they currently do not have is simply untrue at the last board meeting President Lambert suggested to the board that we
094reach out to our constituents regarding this issue I did just that I spoke to parents on both sides of this issue and asked them about parental rights they felt they were being denied I told them as a board member I would work with my a colleagues to close those gaps unfortunately I did not get any answers simply because there are no answers our Administration Prides themselves on keeping parents well informed on their child's educational Journey with the safety of that child at the Forefront of this communication this will not and should not change as some had suggested by repealing 5756 further proof of that is at the end of the 2022 23 school year the district conducted a survey where 90 Plus 90 plus per of those who responded to the survey stated they are
095knowledgeable in what is going on with their children on a day-to-day basis in our schools I am firmly entrenched in that 90 plus per. by keeping 5756 in place as is this offers protection to our greatest assets the wonderful teachers counselors and trusted adults that have dedicated their lives to the education and safety of our 3400 students 3,400 plus students 5756 also protects our students who want to live their best possible lives and be comfortable in their own skin amongst our peers by giving into these extreme political groups on this one issue I fear that we're inviting additional extreme policies to become a distraction to our true purpose and Mission which is to honor and support every learner every day on the journey to become curious and engaged members of a diverse Global Community I
096implore this board not to lose sight of this and keep your personal Politics on the other side of the door my vote is no on repealing 5756 Mr so I stated in previous meetings as I stated in previous meetings um I find that policy 5756 um invites ambiguity um in particular the um no affirmative Duty Clause I think is an unnecessary policy when we have state laws that can protect and I do not feel like I student services are changing in any way and why would we have an ambiguous policy so until we are provided with an unambiguous policy I vote to abolish Mrs Lambert um I just want to clarify uh one thing before I give my vote and I will tell you I am voting to abolish and probably for different reasons than
097most other people um this isn't about politics this is about what Mr Amoroso said four years ago when this policy was put into effect it was mirrored the Department of Education guidance that came forth based on the statute that was signed the statute specifically ordered the doe to put forth guidance and the guidance then was put into almost every school board as as policy while the statute has clear parameters the guidance from the doe was a little broader in that guidance as Mr amaroso said there was one line that there is no affirmative Duty and what does that mean in my mind that can mean two things on any given day depending upon who your Administration is if I were an administrator that believed that parental notification should be required immediately well then then I
098then I notify the parent immediately all the the guidance says is there's no affirmative duty but I'm choosing to have a duty the flip side of that that doesn't protect anybody that doesn't protect a very vulnerable trans student that doesn't help the situation now that superintendent requires retires you have a different super superintendent perhaps a different Administration and that Administration comes forth and they read no affirmative Duty as the parent never needs to know who is that helping may not help trans students it may not help the parents I do firmly believe that what is in the best interests of the students is a clearly developed plan this District well before the statute and well before the policy had a best interests of the student policy where a plan a careful plan was developed to
099assist the student in engaging their parent in very meaningful conversation so those students could get the help and resources that they may need that is what has gone on well before the statute well before the policy and will continue to go on I feel I need to be transparent to some people in the room I hear a lot of students come forth and feel that if this policy they have they have no rights or they will be outed that is not the case nothing will change in that regard and for all the people who have come forth demanding parent rights on a sort of phantom violation of a parental right there is still no affirmative duty to notify the parent so we need to be transparent here four years ago when this policy went into
100effect Mr amaroso and I questioned that line because we thought the ambiguity of it would come back to haunt school districts at some point in time well guess what that moment has arrived with political groups using this policy to further political agendas I'm not about abolishing this policy because I want to further a political agenda I want to remove the ambiguity and I want to remove the divisiveness so that this school board can get back to educating our students which is what we are here to do I also want you to keep in mind that this is a K through 8 school district prek through 8 If This Were a high school board I don't know that any person here would be voting the exact same way there's a lot to be said the reality
101is that this policy has caused more division in this town that I have ever seen living here in 32 years I cannot sign on to some of the comments that were made they are bigotry at their best and I that's not who I am I would like to protect this District I would like to protect the students I would like to protect the parents there's a meaningful way to do that and yes for the people who mention the Supreme Court yes for 50 years the Supreme Court has ained on what parental rights look like and guess what even they balance parental rights against the best interest of the children sometimes parents don't have an unfettered right to something if it's not in the best interests of the child the children still need to be protected
102and I hope that we as a board we as a community can find a way to find that balance because balance is needed so and I suspect when that happens as often sitting in this seat most of you sitting in those seats will not be happy with me because I I'm right there in the middle I'm not here I'm not there but I will implore you all to find kindness in your heart and know that there can be a workable solution to this this policy is not it nor is Extreme answers on either side that's not it either if you were to ask me to vote today on requiring immediate parental notification my answer to that would have to be no and I'm a person who really believes strongly in parental rights there's a lot
103of factors to consider and we need some parameters um this policy right now doesn't help us at all it's just hurting us um and not in the way that any of you think it hurts us so for that reason I would like it abolished I the one thing I can say is that in the discussions that have come forth in our roundtables and our board meetings we've learned a lot which is why we have them one thing we've learned and I've had this discussion with Mr dixen and um Miss Montgomery who's our assistant superintendent of curriculum our staff needs better training I mean I think that came out loud and clear um we've again we're a K3 District our um the number of students that have been affected um by whether I don't want to
104say by the policy the number of students that have required our help and our guidance have been very few and when those cases have been brought forth Mr dickstein has brought in Specialists to make sure our staff were trained properly I would implore our administ ministration and our board to support all district training that was one thing that came out of these roundtables um that's for another day there are a lot of answers that need to come out of this but the answer today is to let us get back to the business of educating students so yes the motion to abolish carries okay and Mr dickstein would like to make a state I've uh been in public education this is my 27th year 20 years in prle Township as uh [Music] princip principal in the
105district assistant superintendent when um this policy actually went into effect responsible for guidance and superintendent for six years and this is the first time in the 27 years that any type of politics impacted a school this school district and the manner the the issues in which we deal I've done a great deal of feedback to those parents that have reached out to educate better on what it looks like in Freehold Township so sometimes what's happening politically around the world or in our nation is then put on on Freehold Township so if we're hearing this it must be happening in freeold Township and I've when that has been brought to me I've been able able to successfully educate those people and that's just not the way it happens here um so it's unfortunate that anything of
106a political nature has impacted our district because I can speak for myself and I think the entire staff is that's just not who we are our job is to do what's in the best interest of every child every day and I entrust the staff here in this district and the administrators to do that and I see it happen in classrooms on a daily basis so the fact that this uh policy is abolished changes nothing for me it changes nothing for administrators and nothing for our staff as several board members have shared we still are respons responsible and take a great deal of pride in the way that we support students in this district and students across the Spectrum students who are in our care every day and we will continue to do that each and
107every day um that's that's all that I wanted to share okay um done so I can move on to finance okay moving on to finance facilities and transportation Miss vend toen um m l the finance facilities and transportation committee did meet this evening in attendance was Mr Dita Mrs Williams Mrs Lambert Mrs brand and myself um we had a discussion on the 2425 budget uh followup discussion on the budget for next year which will be starting in a few months uh construction update we discussed the ongoing Construction in the district and we're updated on the future projects that will be partially funded through the rod grants we spoke about last meeting I believe Food Services the breakfast conversation we discussed that we only have the serve breakfast at the elementary schools next year and the
108middle school will not be until 2526 and we discussed the referendum uh the proposal from spal that will be on the next agenda for the pre-referendum work the cost is $24,900 we discuss the timeline to get to a referendum vote and the items that will need to be budgeted in 2425 such as election cost PR firm to help pass a referendum and we discuss the agenda items and that is all the breakfast the breakfast situation do we we how much does that how much will that cost our district do we know yet I cost us yeah pay for breakfast so there's no so if if you're free and if you qualify for free and reduced um launch du so qualify free and reduce practice okay and if you don't qualify if you want practice you
109would pay for it okay got it y okay so there's no it's the same way as our lunch program works okay thank you move the agenda item item number three the secretary and treasury report as listed item number four bills and claims as bills and claims sorry total Bills 2,463 6724 payroll 2,573 , 3144 for a grand total of 5, 36984 128 thank you Mr Williams number five traveling related expenses as listed number six transfers as listed number seven disposals as listed number eight the honorarium at Applegate elementary school as listed thank you to the Applegate PTO number nine the competitive contract for the restorative practices coach as listed number 10 competitive contract for the high dosage tutoring as listed number 11 the amended Ida fiscal year 2020 2024 Grant AS application number 12 the
110amended fiscal year 2024 Esa Grant application number 13 the high impact tutoring Grant as listed and number 14 the comprehensive maintenance plan and form m-1 as listed just want to add this came up in our committee meeting I should have added it before under the title 3 Consortium um we're going to be able to provide um with the extra funds high dosage tutoring for our ESL students it could be it could be both so will'll be identifying students and their needs and we'll be sharing um one all so I just want to say um for those of you that know yesterday was World kindness day and um despite what I transpire in other sents we do have a very kind district and I did get an update from shine our district sent out over 450
111kindness grams yesterday to various students and staff throughout our five elementary schools our preschool and our middle school so it was a great success people were very happy they got a little dose of sunshine and they definitely plan on doing it again next year go to the to one so yeah 450 is a lot yeah that's lot that's good morning over Applegate they're having a soccer club for the kids miss Montgomery who used to be Mrs bowler is running it uh the reviews have been awesome uh unfortunately my daughter's in it it's another 7 o'clock in the morning drop off but other than that it's uh it's fantastic and just want to point that out it's just another great program a new program that's gotten great reviews for our children it's awesome um so I
112just want to give a little shout out to Miss Bowler who's now miss Montgomery uh for a job me teaching soccer it was hockey baby uh so yeah just want to give a good shout out to to uh everyone who's involved in that great yes we're going we actually have two Miss Montgomery round tables coming up on the agenda uh one is actually going to be in parallel I guess with uh shine what we talked about doing the round table for the intervention model so that people can understand the new C intervention model and the second one would be about the new um Elementary yeah trimester report cards so what we I guess realized at the P leaon meeting was we'd rather wait till the parents have the report cards in their hand because it's
113easier to ask questions about something you see than a hypothetical that you don't know so we are going to set that up um January yeah report cards go out right before winter break yeah so parents will get it right before into break we're going to set it up for January so that they can actually look at it and say you know giving them a blank without their kids information we didn't think would be too helpful and feedback we got at liaison was to let them wait so that they have it so that will be January and I will um work with shine to come up with a date and time to do the intervention tearing great perfect meeting I couldn't think of the word sorry so those are our two upcoming but we always open
114to suggestions okay one other public service announcement to check your calendars come January um whoever the new board president is is going to have to do a retreat sooner rather than later so don't forget between January and February there are a lot of meetings because we have budget meetings between January and April we're like having a board meeting a week so it's all up to you guys to start looking at your calendars and try of figure out when you can squeeze more in but just think about it just putting that out there I'll send the draft calar shortly so people can take a look at it for the next meeting okay um now would be the second opportunity for public participation um of any type if anyone wishes to address the board please write your
115name and address on the signing sheet state your name and town for the record statements are limited to 3 minutes and should not be abusive obscene or defamatory in nature would anybody like to address the board on any item I thought you were addressing the board I was like oh okay I was like look at that Teck com to the house good evening um I just want to make a few points here um first of all I'm from abine Dan P and um and so I'm from out of town and I heard a couple comments from uh a couple people that were very um not friendly uh about that it words to the effect of get out of our town just outside here in the hallway but I just want to say that I'm a
116concerned parent and I'm a conservative and uh several people on the other side have made assertions that we're making it political and I just want to say it's not political and that's a mischaracterization it's personal okay and the governor of this state and the legislature of this state have made it personal by trying to shove this liberal ideology down our throats and into our Public Schools I'm a Sunday school teacher I have kids that play with kids in Freehold I have students that live in Freehold the fabric of our society is influence and effec and I am entitled to have freedom of expression and my deeply held beliefs and convictions so when I get a letter an email response from one of your board members telling me not to reference the Bible in correspondence with
117the board I wonder how many of you understand the Constitution and the preamble to the the New Jersey state constitution or Article 1 Section 3 and Section 5 some need need to read it because there is a freedom of religious expression and the right for us to pursue the life liberty and pursuit of happiness and if we can't raise our children okay as parents and we can't have pass on our values that's not pursuing Liberty or the pursuit of happiness okay so and and also this separation of church and state I wonder how many are aware of what the actual intent of our our framers was it was freedom of religion from the state and that was rooted in the British uh in the in the European problems with uh persecution I'm not a hater
118I love people and I want every the best for all these kids and we've expressed I think you know some pretty reasonable and uh you know um loving reasons why these kids need to be told the truth and why they need uh you know to be supported without creating special rights and um and a a whole bunch of policies thank you your three minutes to Mr no God Bless America God bless you I wasn't planning to speak tonight so I actually don't have anything prepared um my name is Megan Davis I live in three old Township and I have since 2014 it's nice to meet some of you corresponded with many of you over email and it hasn't been in until recently that I've actually met you in person I did want to just note
119one thing I um was UVA faculty in politics and government for a while and I actually have this handy pocket Constitution with me Amendment one Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof all leave the rest but what that means is not only do we have the freedom to practice religion we we also have the freedom from others religions and what we've seen with 5756 and groups that are supporting really putting a a Target on the lgbtq community creating a very divisive culture war on the backs of children religion as an excuse to do so I don't want my children affected by other religious beliefs I want them free from that and from that I I also think that they will be free from from a lot
120of the bigotry that goes along with the religious underpinnings of much of transphobia and homophobia um the other thing that I wanted to say and I've did this at the round table is that it's really really critical to remember the statistics uh 1% of students identify Nationwide as trans the number may be a little higher because children are afraid to come out so only 99.9% actually in New Jersey is 67 so it's even lower so only 99 99.9% of the parents here will not be affected by their children becoming or identifying as trans so why are we allowing this this overwhelming like floodgates opening to affect this very vulnerable small group of children um I've had conversations with many of you um I believe that most of you are really good people even those that
121voted in a way that I would have not if I were on the board I think you're good people doing the wrong thing with abolishing this policy without something else in place and unfortunately that aligns you with some Bad actors and I worry about the reputation of this of this Township I should mention I have a PhD in education and a masters in public health so spent 30 years in education research health research and labor research as well as being former faculty in politics so I do have a little cred little street cred in this area so anyway um thank you um thank you superintendent dickstein uh board president Lambert and the rest of the members and guests hi I'm Alice Marie and I'm from colck and that's okay um and um the Constitution more
122specifically says the New Jersey state constitution says in article one part three that I am allowed to practice my freedom of religion according to my conscience and I'm also allowed to do that in the public school system and we are as someone stated earlier we have hired you guys to um I'm one of the people and you're supposed to Res represent us and our our feelings but and what we believe in our beliefs and thoughts but I'm standing here today because it's not about politics it's because I have it breaks my heart when I hear of the D transitioners that have come through and according to Khloe Cole she's got thousands of people I listed tonight I didn't get to finish what she was saying but she had said um to stop to please uh
123stop telling our um our 12-year-old children which is of the age of what we're talking about that they were born wrong that they are right to reject their own bodies and feel uncomfortable in their own skin that um stop telling them that we need to stop telling children that puberty is an option that they can choose what kind of puberty that they will go through just like they can choose what clothes to wear or what music to listen to puberty is a right of passage to adulthood not a disease to be mitigated that's what she said she said a lot of other things but I am here I'm here out of the love of these kids not hate this word hate is so easily being thrown around and I believe that is the political agenda
124that people are using along with some of the other coin terms about this is political um loving a child is protecting them even if sometimes it's from themselves a child can't drive drink smoke get tattoo or even take an aspirin without permission why would we allow them to engage in destructive behavior that may lead to suicide by allowing them to continue to believe this false narrative that they can change their gender and as you heard Khloe Cole say I had no suicidal idation prior to transitioning and had the suicidal Idol after there another you know 19-year-old California girl Yi Martinez committed suicide after transitioning Daisy strong depression dark thoughts diagnosed herself on the internet so many people that came out later um and said uh they can't believe now she's stuck with a a low
125voice that she can't get rid of Abel Garcia internet caught by the ideology that caused him to hurt himself um Lila Jane 13 double Mass ectomy bipolar 2hour appointment greenlighted hormone therapy one visit plastic surgeon approved surgery one visit to a doctor and he didn't even ask for it preia Mosley 15 told she was born in the wrong body and the reason for all her mental distress Jamie goral Ashton esgd Laura Becker Ellie Palmer Ali London Camille Keefe with suicidal ideation did not go away and these are all D transitioners so we stand for these people in hopes that people will change your mind and um and have some common sense thank you good job all right hello Michael Ki I'm back uh is this working okay so obviously oh no I'll sign in so
126obviously you know I spoke several times and especially at the round table uh you know it was an interesting night definitely got a little heated and free hold okay so I know I walked in here late we got stuck it open T of the game so bottom line is you know how that goes bottom line is you know Dr bre how said something I guess one of the last meetings and she made a really good point I can't believe we're doing this and I understand the policy has been voted already whatever so my speech is like a little different now but I can't believe I'm doing this with my children and thinking about this of what what we had to fight for now and my biggest concern is yes I'm happy with the results but
127the bottom line is this we have been using as a Gateway I don't want this to turn into something else because that is what we are all afraid of yes this policy great I've made my points last time when I was here as far as you know my child just kind of like the other woman said but my child can't get her ears pierc she can't they can't get tattoos without me what makes it okay to think that anybody and not you specifically but anyone that it's okay to not tell my child we don't live for a lack of a better term in the ghetto or in an inner city we live in a family town that we should be know we should know what's going on in our with our kids lives at all
128times they they're trying to Ratt off one one kid out of out of somebody that maybe a family is not going to accept and the bottom line is that for me I want to know what's I want school to be math Reading Writing everything that it should be and let our kids grow and the bottom line with everything is sadly this is political even though you're not saying it is and it's not even you specifically me we know I know how everyone voted I know the people that walked outside when I got here that are all pissed off right now I know exactly what they voted for so unfortunately this is what it's become and you know one thing before before I like I I sign off I don't know how how long do I
129have 35 seconds so this is where become for me and you know what that I'm standing up here like Dr BR hour said I cannot believe that we're that this this is what it's turned into you know in all the your years like being I guess well superintendent now and prior and I just want my kids to not have to worry about this I mean look I have my own opinion I could I don't have to agree with the Trans community that doesn't mean I'm going to be disrespectful to them but I don't I don't agree with it I don't agree with it I believe there's two genders I don't believe any of this stuff what they want to do behind closed doors is fine and I had a quot it's somebody said and I
130have to say they want you to accept them for who they are but they couldn't accept who they were to begin with that's stuck that's stuck in my mind and as far as I'm concerned that's it all right thank you hi Cheryl poo from freeold um I am uh grateful that you did resend the policy but I don't think this is the end I think it's like the beginning because we're still going to run into the issue of Parental notification if you're going to operate the same way and the policy is irrelevant so I want to understand how are you going to manage a child who you know does come out as transgender are you going to notify the parents how's that going to look because if you're going to operate the same you know
131basically it doesn't make a difference um so I feel as that as a concern moving forward that's going to be probably another contentious issue when you come up with a new policy which I'm sure you will have to um the other thing is uh because I'm a parent who doesn't agree with the idea that you can change your gender I'm now viewed from board members especially which I was kind of astonished as hateful transphobic homophobic uh um you know uneducated or whatever other um inflammatory words or nouns you can call the parents that are here I find that to be unfair and unprofessional I don't think any of us um maybe we may have hurt feelings because maybe we don't understand fully the mental state of mind that a person might be going through um
132we're just trying to express our concerns for our children and for all children we have a policy that's rescinded but we have this idea this gender ideology if you want to call it that that to me is being pushed on society pushed and if you don't agree you're homophobic transphobic hateful and that's not fair and it's not true um just like somebody said recently or just prior that we have um they don't want their religion or someone else's religion pushed on them well I don't want this religion pushed on my children or my future grandchildren so I think that we should kind of take a look at the words that we use to each other when we're discussing this as residents parents and concerned uh citizens of this community and remove the hate and the
133transphobic and the gaslighting and inflammatory language from our dialogue I think we're all adults here and we should treat each other with respect you guys demand respect and so do we thank you thank you it's me again I just wanted to say that I didn't my name is Lori yes Solomon I'm sorry okay I wasn't uh too happy with how we were portrayed as someone on your board was kind of insulting and I wasn't happy about how I got attack before I even got to finish my speech either that you said that this this school was a loving school and all that stuff I didn't find that tonight for myself when I was up here I just wanted to quote quote a quote from uh Orwell and he said when you control the language you
134control the ideas that's an outright attack what's going on on our families and I strongly believe this part is a plan and we have to send out children to school under the law of the land and I know you don't want to hear anything about the rights and the Constitution but that's how the founding fathers that's how all this was created and I would like to know how all this even came about because my daughter's 28 years old I have only gay friends because I'm a dancer and all dancers are basically gay and I've been dancing for 45 years my daughter's gay and the gay community is very upset about what's going on and they don't like it it puts an attack on what they are and they're embarrassed now if you want to be
135gay you want to transgender that's fine I also took many classes in college and there are many children that got transgendered and who went up and spoke and most of them committed suicide after that they made the wrong decisions so you cannot have children at this young age telling you they want to be Christopher instead of a Christina and and doing all these stuff and transitioning them children are sponges they absorb everything and that's up to the parent parent needs to know what's going on anywhere you people cannot make a decision like that and hold it against and not let the parents be notified this is a dangerous uh Road we're crossing here and you really need to think about it it's it's it's dangerous and there's nothing that we have against the gay or
136lgbtq Community but it's just gone too far it doesn't belong in the school systems when my daughter went to school and her friends went to school they went like an ordinary child they were loved protected nobody ever mentioned it how this became to get in the school systems and become such a big ordal and change the words when you took English and you had to write a paper you had to have correct grammar so now we have to call the lgbtq then or they that is incorrect they are he or she this is this is ridiculous you three minutes okay and I just want to know why we only get three minutes and you guys got to speak longer that's not fair but thank you hi Raymond Rea 55 Cornell Court I was just outside
137for 15 minutes both the front doors and the back doors are locked hello hello everybody Anthony denell uh I have two children that that are uh attending Freehold Grade School uh for for me this is not political in any way shape or form there's no hate there's no bigotry here uh I commend the outcome of today's vote um I do agree with that I do think when you read through this I'm going to read just a few things where in my opinion this goes way too far and uh in my opinion um as we reconsider the direction that things are going to go I think we need to look at how are we informing parents what research are we doing and educating parents and making sure that we're positioning them so that they have the
138knowledge and understanding that they need to support their child I don't think anyone knows how to best support Someone's Child more than a parent and I think um this in particular as you read it goes way too far in taking that away and for me as a parent um it woke me up because what's next you know what's the next uh legal document going to say about not notifying me there should be no secrets and if a student wants to keep a secret well then let's talk about how we work through that at the same time it says here a school district shall accept the student assertion gender identity parental consent is not required It also says nor is a legal or court ordered name change required there is no affirmative Duty for any school
139district Personnel to notify students's parent or guardian of the students's gender identity or expression It also says the risks associated with the student's transgender status be inadvertently disclosed for example school districts should should inform the student that the transgender status may be revealed due to other students discussions at home the school district should work with the transgender student to ensure awareness of activities and events that may inadvertently disclose the transgender student status school districts seek a variety of professional including counselors and school psychologists to provide emotional supports for all students who demonstrate a need schools are advised to work with the student to create an appropriate confidentiality plan regarding the students's transgender or transitioning status this is all without the inclusion of a parent that goes way too too far for any teacher uh administrator
140anyone the family unit is very important and a parent should be included in all this and a matter of fact it reads like notifying parents is a risk so every section here I read says nothing about informing or including a parent and legal interpretation to my opinion is the Devil Himself because you and I know as an attorney that when you get into the Quagmire of interpretation it costs you thousands and thousands of dollars and years so you have to be very clear in the legal documentation what your intent is because when left to interpretation you know after Neil who's next the person may decide not to include the parent where Neil is and I commend him for that but again parents are five for five supportive so you know and every opportunity they're stepping
141up and I just think that should be rewarded and considered as you move forward and when you think about abusive households I want you to think about there are documents and processes to identify those households and that should be included as well as you think through the future so thank you very much for today appreciate it thank you thank you all for