001The May 5th reorganization meeting of the Garfield Board of Education has been posted and announced in accordance with the open public meetings act and adequate notice has been provided as required by law. Please rise for the flag salute and then remain standing for a moment of silence and reflection. I pledge allegiance to the flag 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. Please remain standing. Please be seated. I will now read the official results as certified by the Bergen County Clerk for the annual school board election that was held on April 15, 2025. Arlene Patiri 696 Lissa Hassan 625 William J. Otto 610, Nancy Kutzup 462, Aaliyah Sanchez 412, Bogamila Switite 409, Richard Derek 387, Aldo A. Munos
002353, Abdel Kedar Sardana 197, Isma Feroski 126. The following individuals were duly elected to serve the unexpired term of three years. Arlene Patiri 696. Lissa Hassan 625 and William J. Otto 610. Congratulations. We will now administer the oath of office to the newly elected members of the Garfield Board of Education. Can Mrs. Arlene Patiri, please come to the podium with her invited guests. Mrs. Arlene Patiri will be sworn in by Mayor Everett E. Garnto, Jr. Left hand on the left Stand up rightly square that I will hold the mic. Maybe you can hold the mic so that you're listening. And to the government established in the United States. And the governments established in the United States. Okay. Under the authority of the people. Under the authority of So help me God. So help me God.
003I Or Peteri I Or do solemnly swear that I do solemnly swear that I possess the qualification prescribed by law for this office. possesses the qualifications prescribed by law prescribed by law for this office of members of the board of education of members of the board of education and that I am not disqualified as a voter and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS pursuant to RS 19 semicolon 4-1 19 semicolon 4-1 we are disqualified due to the conviction of a crime and not disqualified due to the conv conviction of a crime or offense listed in or offense listed in New Jersey. NJS NJS 18A semicolon 12-1 18A semicolon 12- one one and that I will faithfully and partially that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties
004of that office the duties of that office according to the best of my ability. So help me God according to the best of my ability. So help me God. Congratulations. [Applause] This congratulations Mrs. Peteri. Please take your seat on the deis. Who needs the mic? Congratulations. [Applause] Yes. Can Mrs. Lissa Hassan please come to the podium with her invited guests? Mrs. Lissa Hassan will be sworn in by Deputy Mayor Kevin Kaine. [Applause] I Lissa do solemnly swear. Oh, right hand and place your left hand. I I Lissa Son do solemnly swear that I that I will support the Constitution of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. and that I will bear true and that I will bear true faith and allegiance faith and allegiance to the same to
005the government and to the governments established in the United States and the state the authority under the authority of the people so help me God Ian do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS194-1 nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in NJS 18A 12-1. and I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties that the office according to the best of my ability. So help me God. Thank you. Congratulations, Mrs. Hassan. Please take your seat on the deis. Can Mr. William J. Otto please come to the podium with his invited guests? Mr. William J. Otto will be sworn in by Deputy Mayor Mayoral Advisor
006Tana Raymond. [Applause] Oh, thank you. Put the Let the kids hold. But you you got to hold it so he can hold this. There you go. Put your right left left hand right up. I I say your name. William J. do solemnly swear domly swear that I will support the Constitution I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States by the governments established in the United States and this state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the
007people. So help me God. So help me God. I state your name. I, William J. do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law prescribed by law for the office of member for the office of member of a board of education of a board of education and that I am not disqualified I am not disqualified as a voter as a voter pursuant to pursuant to RS RS 194-1 194-1 nor disqualified nor disqualified due to impartially No, wait a minute. No. due to conviction of a crime due to conviction of a crime or offense listed or offense listed in New Jersey in New Jersey. Statute 18A12-1 statute 18A12-1 and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially and partially and justly and justly perform
008all the duties perform all the duties of that office of that office according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations and honor. Congratulations, Mr. Otto. Please take your seat on the deis. I will now turn the meeting over to the board attorney who will take nominations for the president of the Garfield Board of Education, Mr. Vice Lair. At this time, we're seeking nominations for board president. I'd like to nominate Alan Focarino as president for the board. Motion. Motion to second. Any other nominations? I would like to nominate George Ramos, president. Yeah. Is there a second? A second. Any other nominations? Seeing none, nominations are closed. They will be there will be a roll call vote based upon the uh order
009in which they were nominated. So, Mr. Focarino will be uh put up f first for a roll call vote. Madam Mr. Keles no Dr. Pivarroek no Mr. Focino I Mr. Taylor. Nay, Mr. Gaba. Hi, Ms. Petiri. Mrs. Peteri. I Mrs. Hassan. Hi, Mr. Otto. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Mr. Fino is now present. Congratulations to Thank you. First, I'd like to say thank you very much everybody for your support. At this time, I'm going to take nominations from the floor for vice president. I would like to nominate Mr. Taylor for vice president. Motion to nominate Arwin Peter. Second. Hold on. Hold on. We have Mr. Taylor as a nomination. Do we have a second? We have a motion. Do we have a second for this? Second. Ask for any nominations. Are there any other nominations from the
010floor? Motion to nominate Arlene Peter. Second. Are there any nominations? Hearing none, I'm closing the nominations. Roll call. Mr. Taylor. On Mr. Taylor. First, Mr. Taylor. Yeah. Apologies. Mr. Killes. Yes. Mr. Pivar. Hi. Mr. Focarino. Nay. Mr. Taylor. I said Mr. Gaba. No. Mrs. Petiri. No. Mrs. Hassan. No. Mr. Otto, Mr. Ramos. Yes. Since there's no majority, uh, we're asking for the vote on Miss Mati. Roll call, please. Mr. Keelles. No. Dr. Pivar. Hi. Mr. Ferino. Hi. Mr. Taylor. Hi. Mr. Gaba. Is this for Mr. Peter? Yes. Mati. Yes. Mrs. Mr. Peteri I Mrs. Hassan I Mr. Otto I Mr. Ramos back in. Okay. Yes. I just wanted to change my vote. I misunderstood what she was saying. So yes. So Mr. Keelis would like to change his vote to an I from an A
011to an I. Mr. President. Yes it is. Congratulations. Congratulations [Applause] materiality. Congratulations. Somebody move. Let's leave it for now. Yeah. Down. Sit down. Thanks again. Again, congratulations, Mr. Miri, on your nomination and successful vice presidency for the board of education. Thank you so much, Mr. Focarina, and thank you for everyone's support through this all. At this time, I'm going to call for a motion for consent agenda 11.1. Mr. President, I'll make a motion. Is there a second? Yeah, Mr. Taylor. So, we have Mr. Gaba making the motion. Mr. Taylor, second. Any discussion? Roll call. Mr. Keles. Yes. Dr. Pivarro. Hi, Mr. Taylor. Hi, Mr. Gaba. Hi, Mrs. Hassan. Hi, Mr. Odo. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Hi, And then we have me Mrs. Mrs. Peteri I and then Mr. Ferino I Mr. President former golf n number
012nine. Number nine. Uh we need a formal roll call of our officers of of our trustees. motion. No, there's no Mr. Keles. I Dr. Pivar present. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Gaba, hi. Mrs. Hassan, present. Hassan, Mr. Odo, present. Mr. Ramos, present. Mrs. Peter present and Mr. Focarino present. Yeah, here it is. Number 10. Yeah, here's 10 to approve the board of the of the days of the meeting. A motion to approve calendar the calendar of board meetings. I'll make the motion. I'll second. Roll call. Any discussion? Roll call. district. Let's approach. Okay. Miss Mr. Keith. Yes. Dr. Pero. Hi. Mr. Taylor, I Mr. Gaba. Hi, Mrs. Cissan. Hi, Mr. Odo. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mrs. Petiri. Hi, Mr. Focarino. I approve district code of conduct. What is this? This was a resolution board action. There's no
013board yet. At this time, I'd like to open up for public comments. Mr. Sure. Whoever whoever is all right. How are you? Good evening, Mr. President. Congratulations, Madame Vice President. For the record, my name is Al Deleiz, assemblyman for the legislative 35th district, which includes Garfield. I'm your new assemblyman. Thank you for having me. I want to congratulate all the commissioners that were um elected. Um Commissioner Hassan, Commissioner Peter, and uh Commissioner Otto. Um I'm looking forward to working with each and every one of you with the administration, all the board of education members because down at Tren, we want to make sure we fight back, make sure you guys are fully funded. We're here to support um upgrades our facilities, build some schools in Garfield. So, I want to come out here today to
014wish you all uh congratulations and my office, my door is always open to make sure that we're bringing resources back to the great city of Garfield. Thank you again and have a great night. Thank you, that's a lead off double. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you, Tanner Raymond, 93 Spring Street. Congratulations. What a breath of fresh air. [Applause] It was time for a change. Thank you to those that did serve, but we're looking forward to the to the new board that's sitting. Mr. Folkarino, I would like to say I'm I'm I'm very proud to see you in that seat. Your grandfather has to be looking down smiling. For those that don't know, his grandfather, Al Focarino, was the president of the board of education years ago, and he was a man when he gave his
015word, he lived by it, unlike a lot of the men today, I have to say. Um, he and you know, we weren't always on the same side, but your grandfather was respectful and you could go to sleep on his word. and and from what I know of you, you're a chip right off the old block. So, congratulations and congratulations to your family, your dad, your mom. I'm sure they're very proud and I know he's very proud. To the new board members, we have um Arlene who has served our community on the zoning board, been active for many, many years. We have Mr. Odo who's a retired firefighter and has been active in that community for many years and has given he was one of the first responders has given a lot of years and and
016we have Lissa who is a very active mother participant in you know children's activities in the school so it's a nice mixture and we're really hoping to see that this this new board looks like a new board majority we're hoping looks like I we're hoping that we're going to see a focus on the students and the staff and what the needs of this district are as opposed to jobs and created positions. We don't need them. You you need to start now focusing on the buildings, the repairs, and our children. I I just received a call today. There's no paper towels in the schools for the last two weeks. That's unacceptable. So please pick your committees wisely and be active, be very proactive and thank you so much and the best of luck to all of
017you. Thank you. Uh Kevin Kane, I give my address to 13 Lincoln Place. Uh Garfield, I just want to congratulate the three new members of the board of education. I'm so proud of you guys. you guys ran an amazing election. Um although I have not known them forever, I've known them for a couple years now and I do have faith that they will do the right thing for the students, the staff, and everybody else in the district. Um great people and I would back them any day of the week cuz I know that they're the right people for the job. Congratulations, Mr. Focarino, on the president. Congratulations to everybody else that is up there. um just get ready for the phone calls, the emails, the text messages, the Facebook messages all day long. Um but
018I do know that these three that were elected in addition to most of the others will respond to you and get back to everything that you need. So congratulations [Applause] guys. Uh Joe Delaney 15 guard on the court north. Arling you look great up there. I'm telling you you look smooth. Yes. You that that's what Yeah. What do you think J? Huh? Had you known this? Yeah. You got a winner. I mean congratulations. And you ran a great campaign. You're a great person. You definitely know what you're doing. You know you have it. Well, congratulations you and your family. I'm thinking about your father-in-law right now, Tony, who ran that border. He ran a first down and he ran a good He did a good job. I I had the pleasure of serving with him.
019He was a good man. Melissa, you got this. Just do what you're doing. Melissa, you're a great parent. You know, you did it for the right reasons, you know. So, wish you all three the best of luck. Great job. Thank you. Happy birthday, Joe. I'll be very short, I promise. Um, Ever Garnto, 51 Jun Street, Garfield, New Jersey. First and foremost, I'd like to wish our Councilman, Mr. Joseph Delaney IVth, a happy happy birthday. Secondly, I want to congratulate the three uh newly elected board members from Savoir schools. Uh I've not known two of them all that long, but the time that I've known them, I can tell you they have a lot of heart, a lot of grit, and I know they're going to do the right thing. As far as Miss Arleene Patiri,
020what can I say? Arlene and I have known each other for Yes, I'm an old man. Well over 50 years. It's hard for me to even believe that. Arlene, I am so super proud of you and your team. You ran a tremendous campaign. Uh we did support you. Uh I'm happy it turned out the way it did and I think the right people are sitting in the right seat. Mr. Oto, what what can I say about you? You're retired fireman. I know what you're about. I used to have dinner with your father-in-law almost every night when I was on the job at u what was that um pizza no uh Jose no Josephine and um Mike own the pizza place I'm for sake three I got a a brain fog right now thank you thank
021you birthday boy every night Tony and I would sit down and have dinner twin twin she's a twin I'm a twin uh congratulations patience. I know, like they said before, you're doing it. All of you, the three of you are doing it for the right reasons. You've been out there silently. I call you the silent assassin because that's what you are. People look and say, "Wait, where is she? Where? You're all over the place." I congratulate you. And I wish each and every one of you the best of luck. And Mr. Fogerino, long overdue, Allan. Long overdue. Let me tell you, when I was on the [Applause] board, Yes. Yes. I I've advocated for you to be my vice president. You know, it it didn't work out for whatever reason, but I always knew what
022you truly were about, and that's for the children. That's for the the staff, the teachers, everyone. You have a tremendous heart. And I want to congratulate Mrs. and Mr. Mr. and Mrs. Pogarino. Your son truly truly deserves that seat. And uh do the right thing please. All of you. Congratulations. [Applause] Hi, I'm Ben Folkarino, Garfield resident for little over 80 years, long time. But, uh, I want to extend my, uh, appreciation to the board of education, the attorney, the superintendent, and of course, uh, Kathleen. I know you have a lot of work ahead of you. You have to learn how to work together. And I think you're doing it and I see it going on right now tonight. And I want to congratulate you all for being here and doing what you do in the
023long term. Congratulations to the new members. Uh a hardfought battle, but uh it's not a war. It's something we learn how to work with one another. Allan, your grandfather, three score in five years ago, he handed me my high school diploma as president of the board of education. I want to congratulate you and you I know you're going to do the right thing. Thank you. Are there any further public comments? Seeing none, are there any comments from the board? I would like to congratulate everybody coming in. Uh Mr. Focarino, Miss Patiri, uh congratulations on your win. Um, I hope that uh we find our way to move forward. We find our way to work together regardless of everything, regardless of emotions, that we can set everything aside and we can do the right thing continually
024for this public. Um, thank you for stepping up the bat. Good luck with everything and congratulations everybody. [Applause] Congratulations to the newly elected members. Uh, Mrs. Assan, Mr. Odto, Mrs. Peter, Mr. Peter, congratulations on vice presidency. Mr. Focarino, congratulations. Absolutely. Um, the politics are the politics, but I have no doubt in my heart and in my mind that we'll be able to find common ground and be able to work together to to do what's needed for the students and the teachers and the parents, you know, the taxpayers in this district. So, I look forward to the future together and congratulations. Welcome aboard. I would like to take this moment to congratulate Mr. Otto, Miss Isham, Mr. Terry. Welcome aboard. We have a lot to accomplish and I'm sure that we will find common grounds in
025working together and moving this district forward. That's the goal. It's about the children. It's about the community. So, I congratulate you all. I also want to take this moment uh to Mr. Alan Fino. It's uh way overdue. And congratulations on being the president. We're here to support you and move this district forward. Thank you. I'd also like to congratulate the new additions to the board of education. I I just want to say that change is beautiful. It's great. I'm excited and I'm very eager to start working with um everyone on the board. Um I'm very excited to show you guys what the student government wants to get accomplished because there's a lot more. Thank you. [Applause] Uh, I as well would like to congratulate Mr. Otto and uh Mrs. Isan uh for uh getting elected
026onto the board as well as uh Mrs. Peter um for your vice president um election and um uh Mr. Fukurino uh I think you guys are more than confident of doing the good job. So I I look forward to working with you. Mr. President, I got to say something. Uh, I would like to thank uh the new elected official. I like to thank Mr. President, vice president. I also would like to thank the outgoing president, vice president. It's been a rough year. And uh I wish them a good luck. I wish you guys a good luck. Let's work all together for the community, for the students. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. [Applause] I um I don't have a long speech prepared. I just want to thank everybody in the community for supporting us
027and getting us to these seats up here. Uh we have a lot of great things that we want to do for the schools, the students, the families, taxpayers, everybody. Um I want to congratulate the new president and vice president and I look forward to working together with all of you. Thank you everybody for their support for getting us in these positions. Appreciate it to the president and vice president. Congratulations. And uh now it's time to go to work. Thank you guys. Of course, I'd like to thank everybody who supported us and I'd love to thank my teammates. It was great running with you. We had a great time. I'd like to thank the outgoing president and vice president. I'm sure this year will turn out a little bit different. And I'm going to ask Mr.
028Tomco, you better get ready for me. And to Kurt, we know each other a long time. We know each other how we work. So, let's hope for a great year. Again, thank you very much uh Mr. Ramos, Mr. Taylor, thank you for your service over the past uh time. Mr. Willis as well. Uh looking forward to working with each and every one of you and like I said, we do have a common goal. It is the city of Garfield. It is the students of Garfield and uh we're going to do the best we can and uh appreciate your support this time. Thank you. May I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion. Who's it? Mr. Ramos. I'll second. Dr. Porchek. All in favor? I opposed. We'rejourned. Thank you.