001In accordance with the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notification of this meeting has been provided by advertising in the record. Please rise for a flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. [Music] Please remain standing for a moment of silence and well wishes to our former President Biden. [Music] Thank you, Mr. D. Roll call, please. Dr. Kamoek, present. Mr. Taylor, present. Mr. Otto, present. Mrs. present Mr. Ramos Mr. Gaba present Mr. Killes present Mrs. Peteri present Mr. Ferino present and then our student board representatives Mr. Stay salon. Try salon. Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of April 28th and May 5 meetings, please? I'll make a motion to approve the May 5. I'll second. Do I need a motion to approve both
002of them? You could abstain. Nobody's making a move. So that's good. Yeah, I'll make the motion to approve. Come on. Let's get this ball rolling. Is there a second? I second. Mr. Pro. Dr. Porchek. Hi. Mr. Taylor. Hi. Mr. Otto. Yes. Mrs. Isan abstain. Mr. Ramos. Yes. Mr. Gaba. I Mr. Keles. Yes. Mrs. Petiri. Can I abstain on 428? But I for 51 55 or 59, whatever. 3.1 3.1. I'm going to abstain on the April 28th. Gotcha. And yes, on the May 9th. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Fourino. I came, Dr. Tonko. Superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh good evening, everyone. Um well obviously we have uh you know an incredible evening packed here with our educators, power professionals, our community members to honor those individuals who won either teacher of the year or power
003professional of the year. So that's going to be in a few minutes. Um uh I want to just say that the last few weeks we've worked in board committees which I'm sure you'll hear about a little bit. Uh I think we've make we're making a lot of progress, a lot of incredible things uh moving towards the end of the year and into the new year. Uh we're trying to, you know, get some more programs for the summer for our students. Uh so we'll have an update on that pretty soon. Um and uh again, a lot of incredible things that are going on here. Um there's there's some events coming up at the end of May. Uh we'll hear about Easy Ride, uh and a few other things that we'll talk about, but I don't want
004to, you know, stop the festivities any further. So, uh progress. uh appreciate uh the sitting board now uh working together and uh look forward to that in the upcoming year. Thank you very much. Did you want me to Mr. Sosa, are you here? I saw him. There he is. Yeah, Mr. Fos is going to uh address the student of the month for us. Okay. Good evening, esteemed members of the board of education. It's my pleasure to introduce to you Fernando Aras. He's the Garfield High School May student of the month. Before I get into Fernando's academic and athletic accomplishments, I want to first speak about his character. Did you guys ever hear the expression that everyone has a bad day? Well, I think that expression needs to be changed to everyone has a bad day
005except for Fernando Elias. I'm always going to think of him as the first student to arrive to class, ready to put in the work with a smile on his face. I think the three words that describe him best are pleasant, consistent, and focused. His positive attitude sets the tempo both in the classroom and on the track where he's a threeseason athlete. He's a varsity captain and distance runner on our cross country team in fall. And he's also a captain on both the winter and spring track teams. Fernando is a member of the prestigious National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the Math Honor Society. He's been on the honor role every year of high school, and he's a member of the Spanish club, math league, and TI, which is a group of peer leaders selected
006for their outstanding traits. Fernando will be attending Rucker's Business School next year to pursue a CPA with a major in accounting. Uh, which is good news for me because my accountant, Mr. Konos, is about to retire. I let Fernando know I'm going to be a stressed client. So, Fernando, I'm sure your family is very proud of you. Uh, your maker family is proud of you, too. Congratulations on being awarded the Chicago High School student of the month. Good afternoon. I want to first thank God for every accomplishment in my life. I second want to thank Mr. Saposo for nominating me for student of the month and helping me progress through high school. I finally want to thank my my family, my friends, and my coaches for their support and encouragement during my high school years.
007And lastly, I would like to thank everyone who showed up here. Thank you so much. [Music] Is uh Alejandra here? Alandre. Okay. Uh, Alejandra was going to talk uh talk about the um I think several months ago we had um the board approved uh something called the easy um easy easy ride for life club uh which is connected to a a nonprofit organization called Easy Ride. And what Easy Ride does is they provide um services especially in Bergen County to individuals who need rides. So whether it's um doctor's appointments or uh shop right or anywhere that they would need uh you know it's not just the elderly, it could be uh anyone that has a special need for a ride. Uh we have numerous um citizens of this city that utilize Easy Ride. So, I'm
008uh I'm a board trustee uh for Easy Ride. And one of the things that we we were tasked with uh this this year was to try to raise funds because every ride, and it's multiple rides, every ride is $15. Um so, the uh the nonprofit, Easy Ride, is trying to subsidize some of that. So I thought what an incredible way uh to do that where in practicality you actually can you know see where your fundraising efforts go dollar to dollar to help the great citizens of this city uh individually through the efforts of our students here. So um through the interact club uh as an ad hoc this easy ride uh for life um uh club was uh created approved by the board several months ago and they actually are coming up with a fundraiser
009and it's through it's um it's done in the month of well it's called the elder month I think May. Okay. So I hate to say that but uh we call it seasoned the seasoned uh month. Um, and on May 31st from 9:00 to 12:00, there's going to be a walk-athon and some other events going on. And we'd love for everyone to uh to go there uh and help us out and uh you know, just kind of walk and raise some funds um and some awareness for some of the the things that are happening in the city uh where we can help others. So, um we will put this out. There's a QR code up here now if anyone wants to um snap it. Uh if not, uh we'll get something out. There was something that
010went out to the district yesterday or did before. I'm sorry. uh today uh or Friday. Uh so we're really excited about it. So hope to see you all there uh to stop by and and raise some money um for such a such an incredible organization and and a program. So So I want to thank uh everyone for even putting this together. Um and uh hopefully we see you there. Frank, did you want to say do you have a report? No. Okay. Um, and then now I'd like to call up Miss Bellinger, our director curriculum instruction, who is going to take over for the teacher empower professional of the year uh, recognition program. Thank you, Dr. Tom. Good evening to everybody. Uh, very excited to be here. This is the first year we went digital with
011the nomination platform for our teacher of the year program that's sponsored by Bernie County. And I'm excited to say we decided to add in power professionals of the year because we know they're working just as hard alongside those teachers and those students uh every single day. So there was a list of criteria that were present in each survey as far as teacher of the year and power of the year. Things that encompass what what makes somebody deserve deserving of being recognized as a teacher of the year such as building uh fostering a love of learning with their students. um inviting them into the classroom, creating a warm and friendly environment, student achievement, building relationships with staff and with parents, so many things that go into it, things that we all possess. And each school has
012a committee that they went through all the nominations and after a lot of work, which I thank the principles for spearheading that in their buildings because it was a little bit of a challenge doing it in a digital platform this year. Uh we were able to come up with a recipient for each building from every single one of our schools from preschool all the way up to high school. One teacher of the year and one par professional of the year. So before we pass out, we have certificates and we have plaques. I was wondering if Mr. Mr. Foso, GFT president would like to come up and just say a few things and then we'll get started with passing out the awards. Just be reminded that once you're called up and you're given your certificate and
013your plaque, if you could kind of just line up on the side so we could do that photo op at the end, we would appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, I'm back again. Uh I'm honored to be here this evening to also present the awards for 2025 teacher of the year and power professional of the year. There's a lot of outstanding educators amongst this group of honores this year. I just want to read something that was written to me uh by Kristen Miles. She's one of the 20 25 teachers of the year. She's an 11-year veteran of K to2 special education. right now she's in a first grade inclusion classroom at Thomas Jefferson School 9 and she wrote to me that she finds joy in watching her students grow and learn from strong connections with them
014and I really um thought that was a a perfect statement to summarize everything uh as far as the common ground shared by all the winners this year. Uh we see numerous practical examples among our group. Uh since my son Theodore is a student at James Madison School number 10, I'm just going to put a spotlight on that school for a second and point out a couple of things about the winners. Um first we have Miss Sarah Wish. She's a fantastic art teacher. The other night, my wife had to be with one of her friends because something tragic happened and I I got the job of putting my son to bed. And right before he went to sleep, he said, "Hey, Dad, I have a question for you." I said, "Sure." He goes to, "When you
015go to all your meetings after school, you ever see Miss Wish there?" I said, "Sometimes." He said, "Can you tell her I miss her?" So, I mean, it just goes to show um the kind of connections there are. Uh, and of course there's Mrs. Neville, the 2025 Power Professional of the Year. I can tell you I'm an anxious parent and she usually sets my heart at ease. Uh, whether she's finding lost shoes in the bushes, which is a true story, making sure my son's pants don't fall down in the middle of the winter concert. Thank you for that. uh or just tending to the children with care in the classroom, on the playground or during field trips. She takes joy in helping the children learn and grow. The 2025 honores are a living example of
016what Kristen wrote to me. They find joy in watching their students grow and learn and forming strong connections with them. All right, let's honor the power professionals of the year. And I'm going to start at school number eight with a very special person, Mrs. Deborah Simpson. I don't have time to say something about everybody, but I have to say something about Mrs. Simpson. For 25 years, she's been a kindergarten par professional. She's also a vice president of the teachers union. I have to say, Mrs. Simpson's always been there for me uh to lend an ear, provide me with guidance. She's patient and understanding and it's exactly what she's always done for the children here in Garfield. So, our first award goes to Mrs. Simpson. [Applause] Okay. Yeah. You want me to do like one? Yeah.
017Is the principal here for me? Okay. And uh is Samantha El Katie here from school number eight? She Okay, we're going to bring up the principles from each school as we go through. So, starting at number eight school, step out of the way. Good evening everyone. It's my absolute pleasure and honor to speak to you today about someone who truly emphasize what it means to be an outstanding educator, school a teacher of the year, Miss Samantha Elcatine. In every school, there are teachers who go above and beyond. They are the ones who stay late to help a struggling student, who find creative ways to spark curiosity, and who seem to have an endless supply, patience, wisdom, compassion. Miss Elatib is all of that and more. Colleagues often describe Samantha as someone who is willing to
018lend a hand, share ideas, support others without hesitation. Her passion is contagious. Her dedication to our kindergarten students is nothing I've ever seen. Tonight, we recognize Miss Elcat, not for the countless lessons taught, but for the lives changed along the way. Her impact will be felt long after the bell rings through every student who leaves her classroom more confident, curious, and courageous. Thank you, Sam, for being the top educator at school 8. [Applause] School 8 pirate professional of the year is Miss Debbie Simpson. Her dedication for the last 30 years has been filled with love and lots of patience. walking past her kindergarten classroom after school. She's organizing paperwork for the next day and of course wiping down everything so the students have have a clean classroom to come into. That's a must for her
019and we all know that at school 8. She truly loves her students, especially the ones who challenge authority or show that early independence in kindergarten. Debbie can handle them all. Students adore Debbie and show great admiration and respect. Debbie can handle Oh, I'm sorry. Not because she thinks she made things easy, but because she made them believe in themselves. And that is perhaps the greatest gift someone in education can give. Miss Simpson is retiring this year, and whoever replaces her has pretty big shoes to fill. Thank you from everyone at school 8 for what you have done as a power union rep and a friend to all. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Well, let's go down to the early childhood learning center. They have to be awake the earliest. Our par professional of the year is
020Gerald Dean Contrus. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and our 2025 teacher of the year from the Early Childhood Learning Center is Maline Teal. Let me turn it over to Dr. Grill. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Mrs. Teal was unable to make it this evening, but I want to make sure that we recognize her for her outstanding service. I am proud proud to highlight Miss Maline Teal, a dedicated speech therapist at the James A. Garfield Early Childhood Learning Center. Now in her 13th year with the Garfield School District, Miss Teal brings passion, expertise, and a deep commitment to helping students find their voices. Her work goes beyond speech therapy sessions. She is deeply invested in ensuring that every student has the tools and skills needed to communicate effectively. Miss Teal also takes the lead in organizing and facilitating
021both the ECLC lending library and the free little library to help ensure that all students and families have access to books. We are incredibly fortunate to have Miss Teal as part of our preschool program. Her dedication and compassion make a lasting impact on our students, families, and school community. At this time, I would like to congratulate Mrs. Geraldine Contras. Mrs. Contrus is currently a PAL professional at the James A. Garfield Early Childhood Learning Center, working in a 4-year-old inclusion classroom. This year marks her 24th year with the Garfield School District. Mrs. Contraras is a dedicated and invaluable member of our team. She consistently goes above and beyond in her role, always ready to mentor new staff members, willingly stepping in to cover shifts when colleagues are absent, and generously volunteering her time whenever there is
022a need. Her commitment, kindness, and professionalism make a lasting impact on both her colleagues and the students. We are incredibly fortunate to have Mrs. Comparis as part of our preschool team. Thank [Applause] you. Okay, moving on to PK uh one. Our power professional of the year there is Marsha Stewart. And our teacher of the year there is Francis Marinella. [Applause] She's here. Good evening everyone. Um, unfortunately, Miss uh Stewart was unable was unable to attend tonight, but just know that we did have a ceremony at the school to honor her as well as Miss Marinelo. Um, Miss Stura is someone who has a power professional is someone that the kids truly do look up to. Um, whether they're upset, need a hug, or just, you know, a supporting hand, Miss Marcy is someone that when
023they see, she's always there to offer to them. Um, she's recognized by her peers, her colleagues, and the teachers as someone who's uh 100% dedicated to the students of GPA1, and um, we do honor her for her service this year. Now to our teacher of the year, Miss Francis Marinelo. Um, if anybody that knows Miss Marinelo has met her, um, in a matter of moments, you can see that she has quite a personality, a one-of a kind personality. And what makes her stand out as a teacher is bringing that personality and sharing it with her students. Because if you spend if just five minutes in the classroom with Miss Marinella and her students, you can see just how infectious her laughter is. um how dedicated she is for them and just everything she has to
024offer to support them. She aside from teaching the math, language arts, and the standards of preschool, you can see how her students have grown so much from September to now. And it's a testament to her dedication to teaching at the preschool level and those connections that she has built with her students. Um, in addition to her work in the classroom, she's also someone who um is dedicated to um presenting different activities for um the students in the building and she does a fantastic job um organizing special events and it's because of all those attributes that she was recognized by her peers, the parents and the staff at GPA1 and that's why it's my pleasure to honor her as GPPA1. 's teacher of the year. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, let's move on to PK3 where the
025power professional of the year is Lindsay Maker. [Applause] And the teacher of the year is Laura Bell. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Valerie Stewart from GPPA3. Um, and I'm pleased to be here tonight to honor our two uh GPA GPA 3 uh winners. What can I say about Miss Laura Bell? Laura started in the preschool program as a paraprofessional and after what I would call gentle persuasion, she moved up to be a preschool teacher. Currently, she works as a preschool inclusion teacher. Miss Bell brings compassion, enthusiasm, and positivity to our school each and every day. I can tell you that she has the patience of the s the patience of a saint. In a parent nomination, Miss Bell was described by a parent as her child's safe space. The parent noted that Miss Bell
026deserved this award because she works hard to ensure each student meets their full potential. Miss Bell has become a beloved member of our preschool community and is very deserving of this award. [Music] Miss Major has been with GPPA3 for three years, two of which she has been working with Miss Miss Bell. They are quite the dynamic duo. Miss M uh Miss Lindsay is patient and kind and it always greets her students with a smile. In one of her parent nominations, a parent described Miss Major as friendly and kind. She noted that she was that when she asks her child about her day, all she hears every day is about Miss Lindsay. Lindsay is always positive, is always willing to lend a helping hand, wipe a tear, or cover a shift. No one is more deserving
027of being the first and only GPA paraprofessional of the [Applause] year. Okay, let's move on to Washington Irving School number four, Blue Ribbon School. The power professional of the year is Marzana Copaz. And the teacher of the year is Mr. Christopher Perry. [Applause] [Music] Good evening everyone. My name is Jeff Wilson. I'm the principal of Washington Irving School number four. It's an absolute honor to stand here tonight and present Washington Irving School number four's teacher of the year award to someone who's not only an exceptional educator, but also a teammate, a coach, and a true friend. Mr. Peter and I have coached football and track together. We've taught side by side in the gym right down the hallway here, and now we continue to work together, pushing each other and our students to be their
028very best on a daily basis. I've seen firsthand the dedication, the heart, and the unwavering energy that Mr. Peteri brings into everything that he does. From motivating athletes on the field to inspiring students in the classroom, Mr. Peter leads by example. He teaches with passion and treats every student like they matter because to him they do. And that's what makes Mr. Piri not just a great teacher but the kind of teacher everyone hopes to have in their school. Please join me in congratulating school number four's teacher of the year, Mr. Peteri. Next, I have the privilege of recognizing someone who is often the unsung hero in our schools. Someone whose impact is felt deeply by students, teachers, and staff alike. Our power professional of the year is a kind of person who steps up without
029being asked, support students with patience and kindness, and brings a calm, steady presence to every classroom that she enters. Whether it's helping a student find their voice, offering support during a tough moment, or simply being that dependable smile in the hallway, Miss Copatch reminds us all of the power and care of consistency. She doesn't just assist, she leads, she lifts, and she inspires. And our school community is better every single day because of her. Even though she couldn't make it tonight, please join me in celebrating Washington Irving School number four's power professional of the year, Marzanna Copach. All right, let's move on to what used to be Garfield High School, but is now Abraham Lincoln School number six. Our power professional of the year there is Kathy Santa coach. And the teacher of the year,
030Sema [Applause] Bro. Good evening everyone. and I'm meend the proud principal of school number six. It is with great pride and admiration that we honor school number six's teacher of the year. Her unwavering dedication, creativity, and compassion have made a lasting impact on both her students and our school community. She goes above and beyond each day to create a nurturing and engaging learning environment where every child feels seen, supported, and inspired. We are grateful for her outstanding contributions and celebrate the difference she makes in the lives of her students. Congratulations, Miss [Applause] Baron. We are also proud to recognize school number six's laminating queen and par profofessional of the year. Her dedication, patience, and positivity shine through in everything she does to support our students and staff. She builds strong connections with students, offering encouragement
031and care that help them thrive each and every day. We are truly grateful for her commitment and the invaluable role she plays in our school community. Congratulations, Miss Santa Cruz. [Applause] Okay, moving on to Theodore Roosevelt School number seven for our power professional of the year is Barbara Menzi. Hope I said that [Applause] [Music] right. And the teacher of the year is Karina Piera. [Applause] I know Dr. Bonanado couldn't be here this evening, but I know he'd be very proud and honored of these two uh young ladies who are representing school number seven and all the hard work that they put in there every day. I know I've heard their names mentioned a million times. All good things and I wish them all the best. [Applause] Congratulations. Okay, it's time to move on to Thomas
032Jefferson School 9 where the power professional of the year is named Dean Ramadani. And the teacher of the year is the uh young lady that I quoted earlier, Kristen [Applause] Miles. Good evening. I'm proud to be here to speak on behalf of the teacher of the year and the power professional of the year for Thomas Jefferson School number nine, Miss Miles. as Mr. Sosa had said is a first grade inclusion teacher at our school who in addition to being a strong center-based instructor whose students know the protocols and expectations also organizes all of the staff and all of the family events creating a community from the entire school population. The students in grade 5 v to be in her classroom as patrol and you can often find previous students wandering in her room looking in
033need of any cheering up or some direction in their life. Her impact on her students is felt years after they have sat in her room for instruction. Miss Christristen [Applause] Miles. And I'm sorry that Miss Ramadani could not be with us tonight, but Miss Dana works in some of the most challenging classrooms in our district. She celebrates the little wins every day. Trying a new food, using the toilet, finding an a word on an alternative communication device. She is a constant champion for our students. She is truly an amazing employee and it's the reason that the power professional should be honored the same as the teachers. Without them, nothing would get done in these specialized classrooms. So, thank you all for that. Congratulations, M Ramadan. All right. How exciting. We're moving on to James Madison
034school number 10. And my favorite winner of all, Mrs. Neville par professional of the [Applause] year. And our teacher of the year, Sish. [Applause] Good evening everybody. I'm Jennifer Alonso from school number 10. It is my honor to recognize this year's teacher of the year for James Madison School number 10. Sarah Wish is nothing but incredible. Miss Wish brings creativity, passion, heart into everything she does, and she also stays there almost later than me every night. She goes over and beyond to make sure the students feel like artists. Her classroom space is full of imagination and everyone glows and shines. She doesn't just teach art, she inspires it from the colorful displays or the one-on-one encouragement that I sometimes need to when I draw. Miss Wish truly makes our school a brighter place. Thank you,
035Miss Wish, for everything you do. You truly, truly, truly deserve [Applause] this. All right, Miss Neville. Today, we are thrilled to honor Miss Neville, who does it all and somehow does it with a smile, a sense of humor, and maybe a little bit of glitter. and she does this all before 8:30 in the morning. Our power professional of the year is a magical unicorn of our kindergarten classroom. She makes kids laugh, teachers breathe easier, and rest. And we all appreciate for her. She's the first step to say, "I'll do it. You need me to put a costume on and I'll run. I'll go on the stage. I'll help you. I'll do the show." Honestly, if there's a spotlight, she's probably in it. Not to take the spotlight, but to help everybody shine in it. She
036brings warmth, fun, and a whole lot of heart to our school. We are so lucky to have her. Thank you for being the joy and glue of our school. If you want to see her in action, please go to our um JamesMadison School 10. You'll see all Miss Neville's Tik Toks. She's amazing. Thank you [Applause] everybody. Okay, let's move on to the middle school where our power professional of the year is Carolyn Bowen and our teacher of the year is Lauren Whitney. Good evening everyone. First of all, congratulations to all the recipients. Great job. You're the reason Garfield School District is so wonderful. For first of all, I'd like to recognize Carolyn Bow, the power of the year. You know, if you know Carolyn, you know she's a character. Carolyn is more than a colleague.
037She's a true friend, a team player in every sense. Whether she's helping our nurses during her free time or stepping into a classroom and helping out or helping out that student that just needs a little extra, she gets it and she gets it all the time and anytime we need need her help, she's there for us. Thank you, Carolyn Bowen. It is my great honor to recognize and celebrate the Garfield Middle School teacher of the year, Miss Laura Whitney. Mrs. Whitney serves as our ESL sixth, 7th, and eighth grade students who are just beginning their journey with the English language. Her classroom is a true reflection of the world filled with students from Ukraine, Poland, South America, Turkey, Albania, and Macedonia. Teaching English as a second language is not an easy task. It requires incredible
038patience, compassion, and creativity. Miss Whitney not only teaches her students new language, but she also builds their confidence, helps them helps them with their voice, and creates a new space wherever these students need. She's valued and supported in the school and in the ESL classroom, no matter what what comes from it. Her work goes beyond grammar and vocabulary. She bridges the gap between culture and help students adjust to a new country, a new school, and a new life. Thank you, Mrs. Whitney. Congratulations. [Applause] All right, and last but certainly not least, my home away from home for the last 20 years, Garfield High School. We are the power professional of the year is Dawn [Applause] Pada. And the teacher of the year is Chrissy D'Angelo. [Applause] Hello everyone. I'm Dora Demo, principal of the high
039school and certainly very proud to be here. Um, as Miss Ballinger said, this was the first year that the uh, nominees were made electronically. And as such, I will say at the high school, we had about 40 nominations for the teacher of the year and about seven for the uh power of the year. And it was nice to see these numbers because we usually don't get that many. And I'm privileged because I get to read all of them. um they speak to commitment, dedication, passion in and out of the classroom, care and connection with our students. And that is why I'm proud to be the principal of Garfield High School because I know we have so many of these teachers that reach our students. So specifically, congratulations Miss Pelota as being our power professional of
040the year. Miss Pelota is the person who greets you every morning with a smile and says something bright and we are going to face the day. Um she is there to help everyone whether it be a student, whether it be a teacher, whether it be me and the way she helps is that first she knows me, she knows the teacher, she knows the students and she knows what we need and she is there to take care of us. So for that thank you and [Music] congratulations. Miss Dangelo if for you if you don't know her is one of our biology teachers and most more specifically anatomy and physiology teacher uh which is a dual enrollment course through Bergen Community College. Uh probably one of the most popular upper level electives that we have. Yes. students
041who want to take science for a fourth year. And I think that says it all. What Miss D'Angelo does, she does with passion. She does with um love for her students and a connection for her students. She looks to give them realworld experiences and she doesn't forget them when they graduate. She keeps those relationships going, keeps the connections going, and 10 years later, they're coming back to be honor society induction speakers, and they've earned two um doctorates, PhDs. And that's what Miss D'Angelo does. She builds a love of learning in her students. And for that, thank you very much, and congratulations. Congratulations everyone. There are some cakes back there if you want to take photographs with them. And there's also boxes for your um plaques so they don't get scratched on the way home. Before
042before you disperse um if we could do a photo up front with the board. Um you would have your families come up and take pictures. Just come around. All the recipients just kind of follow this way. Maybe behind Dr. Tomco. Okay. Congratulations. Someone have a You're welcome. There's always one. [Applause] Congratulations. Congratulations. Dr. Tom Dr. Want to get your moment. Dr. Tomco, if I may. If I may. Congratulations to the teachers of the year as well as the power professionals. I have to say that uh Garfield is truly honored to have such role models for our students as well as your fellow peers. Thank you very much and congratulations to all of you. [Applause] [Music] Make it louder. 56. 56. Are we doing I'm ready to go, sir. Thank you. Progress. Now we're going to
043[Music] go as for the VA. We're up to 57. Mr. Tomco, are you going to do on 56 or up to 57? Okay, then 57 at the front page. Miss Dage, uh, can we get the business administrator report, please? Good evening. I'd just like to share a brief update on our district's facilities. Give that thing a shot. [Music] Congratulations everyone. We have to continue with our meeting so you kindly take it to the hallway so we can finish up our business here. Thank you so much, Mr. President. man. I'd like to share a brief update on our district's facilities. The maintenance department, Mrs. Vandazzo and her team continue to promptly address work orders and keep our buildings safe and functional. Graduation preparation. The custodial and maintenance staff are preparing the buildings and grounds to welcome
044the graduates and their families. The Frank M Dawson Jr. gymnasium. The project is in its final phase with crews completing the last touches. Security. We are reviewing and scheduling updates to our surveillance system to enhance safety. And lastly, we thank our custodial maintenance and security staff for their hard work and appreciate the community's ongoing support. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Um community uh the personnel committee met last week on the 14th. All committee members were present to go over the superintendent's recommendations which are reflected in the agenda. Uh it's a fairly uh not a new committee but new members and we'll continue to work towards progress in the district. Thank you. Can I have a resol motion to approve 7.1 through 7.6 6 7.7 with the exception of items 71 and 304 and 7.8 through
045720 Mr. Gaba Mr. Otto roll please Dr. Poor I Mr. Taylor abstain 7.7 number 798 I to the rest Mr. Otto stayain on 582 and I am arrested Mrs. Isan I Mr. Ramos I Mr. Gaba I with exception uh number 71 and 304 exclusion for so I Mr. Keles I Mrs. Peteri I Mr. I motion carries. A motion for finance resolutions 9.1 through 9.7. Make a motion. Mr. Taylor, I'll second. Mr. President, Mr. Garo. Second. Please, Dr. Kavichek. I Mr. Taylor, I Mr. Otto, abstain on 9.1, 9.2 and yes on the rest. Mrs. Isan, abstain on 9.1 and 9.2. Eyes to the list. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Gaba. Hi. Mr. Kelesz. Hi. Mrs. Patiri. Abstain on 9.1. abstain on 9.2 I on the rest Mr. Pulino I motion carries have a motion for education resolutions
04611.1 through 11.11 I'll make a motion board check second and Mr. Close. Roll call, please. Dr. Porche. Hi. Mr. Taylor. Hi. Mr. Otto. Hi. Hi, Mrs. Isan. I Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mr. Gaba. I Mr. Keles, I Mrs. Patiru, I Mr. Focarino, I Okay, motion carries. facilities. A motion for resolution 13.1. Make a move. I'll second. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Garvis, second it. Roll call, please. Dr. Kora. I. Mr. Taylor. I. Mr. Otto. I. Mrs. Isan. I Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Garba. Hi. Mr. Keith. Hi. Mrs. Patili. I. Mr. Focarino. I. Motion carries. A motion for policy resolutions 16.1 through 16.3. I make a motion. Mr. Cruz. Mr. Otto. Roll call, please. Dr. Porchek. Hi, Mr. Taylor. Hi, Mr. Otto. Hi, Mrs. Isan. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mr. Gaba. Hi, Mr. Kelesz. Hi, Mrs. Peter. I Mr.
047Perino. Hi. Motion carries. At this time, I'd like to open up the comments to the public. If any would like to make any comes, please uh come forward. How you doing? Frank, 262 Evans face. Um give me a second cuz I have a couple things. Um first and foremost, I want to congratulate the new BOE members. I wasn't able to make it here last time. Um, this definitely shows that the people want change and we're not happy with the decisions that were being made. Uh, so I I'm pretty happy about that. I'd also like to congratulate all the award recipients tonight. Uh, that includes all the teachers, power professionals, and students. Um, you listen to these principles talk about the teachers, teacher of the years, and and how many were nominated, and that's just um
048going back. That's the reason why we need to take care of our teachers as board members and administrators because of what they do. Um, and how they take care of our children and teach our children. Uh, let me see. I want to give a special shout out to Debbie Simpson. Uh, I don't know if she's still here, but growing up, she was like a second mother to me. So, I'm really happy to see her get that. Uh, now I want to get into a few other things. It's the minutes tonight. A lot. And I've been noticing this. They're like barebones. And unless someone goes online and checks that little PDF attachment, whatever it is, you do not know who's being rehired, who's being let go. It's very difficult for someone to come here and have
049a full picture of what's going on. And um to me that's concerning cuz tonight there's a lot of dead weight on those rehires, a lot of money that could be saved. I noticed a lot of people voted yes tonight. And that's a problem to me. Um as a taxpayer in Gford. I may not live here, but I pay taxes. And if you're voting yes for what a previous board did, then that's a problem. Um I'm really happy to see uh Dr. Kuzmano's retiring. That's uh freeing up a lot of dead weight off of the payroll and hopefully that money will go towards um the teachers. I do want to wish him well in retirement though and I'm confident that the new BE members will help the current BOE members free up more money over the
050next several months by going through contracts which I've saw that are very inflated and um positions with a fine tooth comb. Now that's really all I have. But I want to know because I heard over the last few months there's no money. Are there any positions being cut to free up money? Anybody can answer that because I I don't expect the new ones cuz they haven't really been here that long. But we were all about to cut these teachers benefits not too long ago. Not totally, but change them. And the board members that were here, I'm getting blank stairs. I just want to know how do we continue to rehire people of madeup positions. We never had a human resources director ever. And yes, I will say that position. And now we do making like
051what? 140,000 a year. That's two teachers right there. Ruby probably with perks. We There's I'm I'm a little bit disappointed tonight and I expect some answers cuz I know when this my taxes are going to keep going up for irresponsible spending. I saw everybody's contracts, all these new contracts. People had a lot of nerves to complain about my salary when I got hired here making 113,000. But yet all you old board members voted for these big contracts. You didn't see a problem with that? None of you. I know. Radio silence. But hopefully that'll change. I'm going to keep coming to these board me board meetings to see what happens with these people. But apparently they got rehired tonight. Some of them. If not, explain it. to kind of continue a tan in 93 Spring Street
052to kind of continue where uh Mr. Barber left off. How are we supposed to know if there were any jobs cut or if you stop some of this wild spending? You know, this board had a lot of nerve coming in and wanting to take away the teachers benefits, but yet I don't see any cuts on on this unless unless there's cuts and you don't put it in in the minutes, which is wrong. How is the public supposed to know what's going on? Um I I didn't have time to go online and read today, but from what I'm understanding, all of the people that work for the district were rehired tonight. Was anybody cut? Were any jobs cut? Were any salaries cut? And then what are you going to do come the next school year say
053there's no money? I If that's the case, I'm really disappointed in the three people we just endorsed for this election. I really thought you were going to come in here, sit down, try and work with this board and start cutting where they where we needed to cut. There's plenty of fat in this budget. And you know, Dr. Tomco, I know you came before the council. We would really like to work with you, but you know, the community has a big issue with the way this board spends money. It's not only the council, it's the board. It's the the community. I mean, they know that these these big jobs are being given out to people and it's political all political ties. We know I mean, we know the ties. It's got to stop. If it doesn't
054stop, maybe we need to go to an appointed board. Maybe that's the next thing on on the agenda. This is a big disappointment tonight to to see this this unless somebody can explain to us what you did here tonight. This is a big dis I see nothing cut in this in this agenda. Nothing. And I I would hope that somebody and it doesn't have to be Dr. Tomco. I'd like to hear from the board members. What are your plans? What are you going to do to start saving money? Otherwise, we're going to have to look at other avenues. I mean, you know, in in the in the city, there's a lot of things we'd like to do, but I have to say our city manager nickels and dimes user, she watches every penny. Nothing no
055money is wasted. I do hope that this board starts becoming fiscally responsible because right now you have a lot of jobs that can be cut and I don't see anything in here being cut. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Danielle Marcelo, 66 Crackow Street. Good evening everyone and welcome new board members. Congratulations to those who are still here in the back. Um, so my question to you all tonight is related to Oprah Request and so over time I've been watching them show up in the minutes. They've been kind of a recurrent. I think we're adding on to that list because there's some there from July. And thankfully for um Pat Vilante, my high school algebra teacher in 1999, I sat there and analyzed and used some mathematical skills to figure out exactly what I believe is
056going on. So, one of my questions and there are a few is when someone is in a salaried position, a salaried position includes all of the work components that can get done in a day and they are paid in a lump sum by a salary, not an hourly peace meal type of uh contract. And so it appears on those Oprah requests that there is a fee for support services. I think my mic went on. We're back on support services. I believe when I did the math and figured out the total cost, it was somewhere around $74.52 per hour. Then there is the um board secretary or custodian of records fee of 9250 an hour. That's $167 per hour for work. That from what I understand in the state of New Jersey, customary fees related to
057OPRA are based off of production of documents, not the professional services rendered for those documents. And that's posted in multiple places from the state of New Jersey alone. And then we are legal fees. And from what I understand from the research that I've done, not all OPER requests require a legal fee or an attorney to review them. So my questions are, we've incurred over $5,000 since the month of July in Oprah request. And who are those fees incurred to? Is it the taxpayers? Because if someone is on salary and they are working and there's work production that's being done during working hours, the work you stay until that work gets done. So why are we paying for those fees? My other question is in 2001 I worked for a law firm and we were moving
058from paper files to electronic files in 2001. So in the digital era, why is it taking us 2 hours worth of time to pull up a file that someone should be able to search and get an instantaneous result? So those are my questions. Who is incurring those costs? I believe it would be the taxpayers. Why are we paying nearly on every single one two hours worth of time for a custodian of record and for a support services personnel which I believe may be a secretary and then I understand in some of them we're paying an attorney fee as well. So in the nature of keeping costs down I'm hoping that we have um an explanation as a community as to why those fees are sitting there and I have not seen any for the past
059few months. So, I'm hoping that this is coming to an end. If they're not going to be publicly posted, that's that's great. But we also want transparency on if they're still being incurred. Thank you. Is there anyone else? May. Good evening. Ever GTO 51 Jewel Street Crawford. I have a few questions. Well, first and foremost, let me just congratulate all the uh teachers that were nominated for teacher of the year as well as the power professionals. I've always said many years ago when I was on the board not that long ago that the power professionals are the absolute backbone of the teachers just like nurses are the backbones of of the doctors. Um I just want to congratulate all the uh as I said before the teachers of the year in the parish. Give yourself
060a round of applause. You know, I I brought up I don't know probably about 6 8 months ago that this uh agenda it's it's very vague. It's not transparent. You can't see it. I've had a very busy day today. So, I didn't get a chance to go online and and do my homework. You know, I hear abstain abstension 9.1 7.7. I don't I can look, but I'm not going to be told the whole story here. So my question is, was anything pulled off of the agenda this evening? Any employees? Um I don't think we can answer that now. We have to answer. Well, you know, that that's all I want to know. Um I don't have much to say right now other than, you know, I said this months ago uh about this agenda. It's
061not transparent. It's very vanilla. You can't really see what's really going on here. And I think the people, the citizens, the taxpayers that come to these meetings, it should be spelled out right here in this paper. Also, I'd like to uh you know, Miss Sterage, you you you go on and do your report and reference the buildings and grounds and what's being done. What you what you say is being done is their job. It's nothing spectacular. They're getting the the school ready for graduation. What is that? That's their job. And they do a good job, but you know that that flyer that you guys put out back in the fall or whenever it was, nothing's where's the water stations? How many? One, two. How many boilers were changed, Mr. How many boilers were replaced? Can
062you answer that? That's something that you should be talking about. Not that they everybody here is doing their job. Thank you. Are there any other public comments? Seeing none, I'm going to ask the board members if they have any comments. Okay. Uh through the chair, through the president. Okay. U Mr. GTO, to your question, 9.1 and 9.2 two were abstained because we weren't here for that meeting so we could not vote on it. That went back to the April's meeting. We couldn't vote on it. So that's why the abstension. As far as were there any jobs, two were pulled off the agenda for further consideration. and oh, the name is on the agenda. If you look up the two numbers, it I can say the name. You can look it up. It's 71 and 304.
063It's on the paper. And uh some stipens were removed and we are working on it, but we just got we just reordered the 9th. Today's the 19th. It's a lot of things to really read about, but we will stick to what we said. There's no doubt about it. I know. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. Oh, no. That's okay. We I can take a beat in that time story again. No problem. Yeah. I apologize. No problem. We can do a much better job if you call us out on things. And I mean that we could do a much better job when you call us out on things and make us be accountable for what we're doing. Any other members? Um I just wanted to speak because like I said I am on the personnel committee. Um,
064I obviously can't talk about everyone specifically, but uh, we spent several hours last week going over this um, whole list of removals. Um, some were removed from this prior to the vote. Uh, 71 and 34. I know we don't have the list, but this is everyone in the district. Uh, there are some that are not on here. Uh, some stipens have been removed. Um, and we're still reviewing contracts. They're not up until the end of, I think, June. Um, and we're still looking at some of those to see what else is going to change between now and next month. So, that will be on the next vote. I'm sorry. [Music] Mr. [Music] I think Arlene, didn't you say that's the legal? It's legal. Yes, you have to do that. Thank you. [Music] Are there any
065other comments from any other board members? I want to take a moment to congratulate all the teachers and the power professionals. You guys are doing an amazing job continuing to inspire. Thank you for your service in this community district and let's continue to move the district forward. Thank you for your time. Yeah. I'd also like to congratulate the um the student of the month and the uh teachers and pair of professionals that were um given awards tonight. Uh special shout out to Mrs. Wish and Mrs. D'Angelo. You guys were amazing when I was in your classroom. So, I thank you for continuing to be amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations to the student of the month as well as the teachers of the year, the power professionals of the year. Uh want to thank the
066those who have resigned and those who are retiring from the district. We appreciate your service to the district and uh with that motion to adjurnn. I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Mr. Cruz, I second. Miss Peter, all in favor? Any opposed? Thank you.