001good evening welcome to the reorganization meeting for the Vorhees Township Board of Education it is January 3rd at 7M pursuant to the open public meetings ACT public notice of this meeting has been given to the board secretary in the following manner posting written notice on the official bulletin board at the Vorhees Township Public Schools administrative building on August 17 2023 sending written notice to the CER post on August 17 2023 filing written notice with the clerk of Wares Township on August 17 2023 posting on the Vorhees Township website on August 17 2023 please rise for the flag salute 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 liy justice for all at the general election held on November
0027th 2023 the legal voters of the township of Wares School District elected three members for full for three members for full three-year terms as shown Below on the attachment the members are Jennifer Branch Stewart with 3,888 votes Richard Rosen with 3,66 four votes and naine Khan with 355 votes we will now do the swearing in of the new members in that order good evening my name is Amy Garen I'm an attorney for the school board and I will be conducting the swearing in uh Miss Branch Stewart can you come to the front with whatever family you would like to have join [Laughter] you you can stand right in front here that's fine that's fine with little ones in toe all acceptable um I'm gonna ask you to raise your right hand and repeat after me
003I Jennifer Branch Stewart I Do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support and the con stion of the state of New Jersey and theit and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I will be and to the governments established and to the governments established in the United States in the unit States and this state and this state under the authority of The People Under The Authority so help me God so help me God I Jennifer Branch Stewart I Jennifer you solemnly swear or affirm that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law that iess for the office of member of a board of education for the office of M and that I am not disqualified and
004I am not qualified as a voter pursuant to statute as a voter nor disqualified nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense as listed in statute as listed in statute and that I will faithfully and that I will impartially impartially and justly perform and just perform all the duties of that office all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability according to the best so help me God [Applause] congratulations invite you to take your seat up at the board Mr Richard Rosen are you here do you want to be joined by anyone what was that oh all right sir could you raise your right hand please I Richard Rosen I Richard Rosen you solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will
005support United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and theti and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and to the same to the same and to the governments established to the government estblished in the United States in the United States and this state and this state under the authority of the people under the authority so help me God so help me God I Richard Rosen I Richard Rosen do solemnly swear or affirm Solly swear or affirm that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law that I possess the qualic law for the office of member of a board of education for the office of member of a board of education and that I am not disqualified and I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to statute as V statute nor
006disqualified nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense as listed in statute as listed in statute and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of that office all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability according to the best my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations [Applause] sir uh and finally uh Miss naven Khan could you come up would you like to be joined by anyone oh there they Comey I understand okay please raise your right hands I'm nen con you solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance
007to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God I naven Khan do solemnly swear or affirm 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 statute nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense as listed in statute and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations all right Madame secretary everyone has been sworn and taken their seats okay I will now call the role Miss K over here miss con here Mr Rosen here Mr Rosner here Mrs ru here Mrs
008Stewart here Mrs stuper here miss verie here Mrs Watson here each of the board members have a code of ethics at their seat if you could each sign them and pass them in whether you pass them at the end or now it's fine but as long as you turn them in if you could read the attached and then turn that in that would be great and then we will move on to the election of president and I will open the floor for nominations do I have any nominations just a reminder to the board that if you do not nominate and vote on a president tonight it will go to the county executive superintendent for decision I will nominate Monica Watson you accept the nomination yes are there any other nominations can I have I'm going
009to make a motion to close the nominations uh okay what can I have a motion to close the nominations so moved second sorry names that no that's okay the only problem is I don't know that I can do the online voting um I'm because I the names have not updated on there is that true so I do paper okay all right so I will just call this off right now as to closing the nominations for president miss Kover yes Miss con yes Mr Rosen yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs yes Mrs Stewart yes Mrs stuper abstain Miss verie yes Mrs Watson yes the nominations are closed does anyone want to make any comments okay I will now call the role for the vote for president of Monica Watson Miss K Miss head over yes Miss con
010yes Mr Rosen yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs Rudder yes Mrs Stewart yes Mrs stuper abstain Miss verie yes Mrs Watson yes motion passes eight yeses one abstain we'll now open the floor for nominations for vice president do I have any nominations I'm sorry let me back up one second I am supposed to turn this over to the president I just realized this is no longer my meeting so I will turn this over to Mrs Watson and she will ask for the nominations um perfect oh thank you can I um open the nominations for board president do I have any nominations for board vice president do I have any nominations yes um I would like to nominate Julian ver for our vice president position she is by far one of the hardest working people I have
011ever met in my life with four young children in our district she is passionate and consistently devoted to the betterment of our Board of Education I truly feel her commitment to our work and all of the children in Vorhees makes her an ideal vice president thank you I will nominate Julie Kover any other nominations oh yes Miss verie do you accept the nomination I do miss Kover do you accept the nomination yes motion to close the nominations for board vice president so moved second I'll call the rooll Miss Kover this is to close to close to close okay yes Miss con this a vote to close close the vote to close the nomination oh sorry yes yes knew this did he she say yes yes Mr Rosen yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs Rudder yes Mrs
012Stewart yes Mrs dupler yes Miss verie yes Mrs Watson yes oh that's me um so the first person nominated was Miss Julianne verie let's vote on yes we vote pardon me you had said they can make comments if they wanted to if anyone wants to make a comment now is the time to make a comment yes I'd like to make a comment yeah um I'm honored to be running for vice president of this board and I just want to share a few thoughts about why I think I'm well suited to this role um 2024 marks my 20th year living in bores 20 years of my life I've lived here this is longer than I've lived anywhere else in my life and in those 20 years I have raised my children this is ongoing I am
013not finished um I've volunteered I've built and developed relationships and I've served in leadership capacities in many different communities of which I'm a part my children have been in bori schools throughout their educational Journeys and I have been involved and engag in our schools for the entirety of that time I borne witness to 15 years of evolution and growth growth I was here when we didn't have full day kindergarten and I want to give props to our one veteran board member here who was part of the decision to bring us full day kindergarten Miss Monica Watson I remember when our students got their iPads I was an active participant in the debate around Park testing and common core standards since 2010 I've been attending board meetings staying a breast of developments in our schools and
014participating actively in discourse the point is I've been deeply deeply connected to education here and I've always appreciated the complexity of our school system and the need to be working together in partnership with all key stakeholders including teachers parents Administration and the board most recently I was an outspoken defender of the board teachers and our Administration during the covid years I stood up and spoke out on many occasions my life's work is about leadership development and I bring my leadership skills to bear in any in every Endeavor in my life the board is no exception I believe I've demonstrated strong leadership on this board and in this community for a very long time and I would be honored to serve as this board's vice president for this year to support the president's leadership to ensure
015that the board in our district achieve our goals and to always be centered around student outcomes in our schools thank you thank you any other comments I'd like to make a comment in support of Miss verie um I would like to Echo with with um Moren said I think Juliana is probably one of the most dedicated board members I've ever met and just in the last year she joined the board she has taught me so much about board policy she brings such a tremendous amount of expertise with her and just sitting on the policy committee for the last year I can't tell you um how much I've learned um and as a mother of four young children I don't even know how she does it and works full-time so I am in awe of that
016and the time that she dedicates to our community and our children um is just you know by far I mean I think she would be the best choice as and she's a wonderful leader and very eloquent when she does speak so thank you and I offer my support thank you any other comments moving to vote I didn't prepare anything but I I'll just say one thank you so much to um Mrs Rudder and Mrs ster for the support and to uh all the members of the community who have offered their support um over the last few weeks I I greatly appreciate it I may not have uh Decades of time and experience in Vorhees but I consider this my home and I'm so proud to be a part of this community and to be a
017part of this board and I've been working as hard as I can and at every single meeting to ensure that I live up to the expectations and the promises that I've made to the voters of this District um I volunteer for absolutely everything that uh there is to offer to this board anytime there is an opportunity I step up um I have been committed to professional development I completed a one year um a year-long fellowship uh purely based on being a good board member um and spent hours and hours of my time learning alongside um colleagues to to ensure that I can bring all of this expertise back to Vorhees um so I I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve this district and greatly appreciate the support um and trust in me
018thank you moving on to the vote okay this vote is for Miss birdie as vice president Miss K over no Miss Miss KH yes Mr Rosen no Mr Rosner no Mrs Rudder yes Mrs Stewart no Mrs ster yes Miss verie yes Mrs Watson no I have five NOS four yeses so then we go on to miss Kover we're now voting for Miss Kover as vice president miss Kover yes Miss con no I'm sorry no okay Mr Rosen yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs Rudder no Mrs Stewart yes Mrs stuper no Miss birdie no Mrs Watson yes I have five yeses Miss Kover is Vice President congratulations Miss Kover thank you moving to audience participation anyone wishing to address the board please appro oh I'm sorry that is not true do we have to do the swearing
019in um no oh okay never mind you're good you're good okay um anyone wishing to address the board please approach the side table on the right and write your name and address on the login sheet while the board is limited in its ability to respond to the public on matters involving Personnel litigation negotiations and attorney client privilege the board will now hear comments from the public relating to items on the agenda for this board meeting comments are limited to three minutes the board will not take action this evening you will be notified at some later time by letter electronic mail telephone or in the context of a later board meeting of any action the board does take given the amount of people we have in the room we will only be allowing people to speak
020one time and for three minutes the login sheet will be over here and then you can approach the podium do have time my name is CR Manan I played a significant role in the campaign efforts for the ace campaign slate for Board of Education this last election cycle it will forever be one of my greatest regrets that nin Khan was beneficiary of those efforts and Hason ma'am excuse me I need to interrupt you at this moment this portion of the public comment section is for agenda item only this is this it's not an agenda item the agenda items are the things the board is going to vote on tonight if you wish Oh I thought it was the things that we just talked no it's the things that the board is going to vote on
021tonight okay okay thank you good evening I'm gwend de Vera I live in Boris for 35 years my three children graduate in eastern now I had the opportunity to say what I observe when I go to the high school Eastern is a very prestigious high school but what I observed the students need to wear uh don't need to wear a shortt dresses short uh pants I'm so sorry interrupt you for second this is not an agenda item this portion of the Public Public comment section is for agenda items only if you wish to make a general comment you can make it at the public comment section after tonight's voting oh so can I still go back because you can come back at the at the second public comic section once again this is for agenda
022items only I didn't sorry I didn't know that thank you any questions on the agenda tonight okay moving on to board comments seeing none um we will not be going to Executive session tonight moving to item 12 awarding contracts for Professional Services can I get a motion for items under number 12 awarding contract for Professional Services so moved second Miss cut over yes Miss con yes Mr Rose yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs Rudder yes Mrs Stewart yes Mrs stuper yes Miss verie yes Mrs Watson yes motion passes moving to board member appointments [Music] um I I want to read off who the the current appointments and ask if these individuals would like to continue to serve um oh I'm this is the list it's okay it's the same as on your paper Okay um Jacob
023Rosner is representative to the Camden County School boards Association executive committee um Julie Kover as an alternate delegate to the New Jersey school boards Association Julianne verie as a legislative representative to the New Jersey school boards assoc assciation and Randy ster as a representative to the C Camden County Educational Services Commission um and I both both Richard Rosen and Randy stuper have expressed interest but since Randy is already serving in a capacity um Mr Rosen is if you would mind serving as delegate to the New Jersey school boards Association oh thank you yes perfect um can I get a motion to approve uh the those F those appointments as just discussed so moved second Miss Kover yes Miss con yes Mr Rosen yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs Rudder yes Mrs Stewart yes Mrs ster yes
024Miss verie yes Mrs Watson yes motion passes okay now what I guess everybody's here for um anyone public comment anyone wishing to address the board please approach the side table on the right and write your name and address on the login sheet if you've already done so you do not need to do so again while the board is limited in its ability to respond to the public on matters involving Personnel litigation negotiations and attorney client privilege the board will now hear comments from the public relating to items on the agenda for this board meeting comments are limited to three minutes the board will not take action this evening you will be notified at some later time by letter electronic mail telephone or in the context of a later board meeting of any action the board
025does take my name is CST Manion I played a significant role in the campaign efforts for the ace campaign slate for Board of Education this last El election cycle it will forever be one of my greatest regrets that nenc was a beneficiary of those efforts and has won a board seat as a result she is unfit to serve this community in any Capac capacity but especially as a member of the Board of Education Miss Khan has not only defended patently anti-semitic statements posted by her husband Behavior which is in and of itself deeply troubling but of perhaps even greater concern she has repeatedly demonstrated profound lack of judgment diplomacy and the necessary skills to participate in meaningful listening and self-reflection in late October I received copies of several incendiary social media posts made by Nine's
026husband at least one of which was liked by her after several days of contemplation I decided to publicly withdraw my support for Miss Khan with this announcement in a private Facebook group it was also my intention to share what I had learned with the community this felt like a responsibility once I had seen the post and once enough time had passed in which Miss Khan had said and done nothing to clarify her stance or apologize When Miss Khan and her husband were called out for posting sharing and liking anti-semitic content rather than taking any responsibility or acknowledging any harm she had caused misom pursued a path of concerning lack of judgment and self-reflection at every single Choice Point she never made a public statement she never apologized for any harm she the community felt she
027refused to offer the offer of education for members of the Jewish Community she did not simply stay quiet in order to mitigate any additional harm instead she retaliated gaslighted and harassed and she played the victim again never once holding herself accountable for any wrongdoing she accused people of fabricating the post and participating in smear campaign she sought to remove it an individual from one of our school's pfas her husband filed police reports against people for removing their previous endorsements her husband filed lawsuits against people who spoke up and stood out although she used her husband as a sword he has been speaking on her behalf and in response to her candidacy for this board of education position as such she is responsible While most of her targets have been members of the Jewish Community her
028impact is against all of us as members of the board each of you have received feedback that was challenging harsh difficult and worse none of you have filed lawsuits or police reports against members of the community this board and Community should be working together to enhance our children's education she has proven many times over that she not she is not up to that important important task as she seeks retaliation against those who dare to disagree with her I stand with the community the members of my community who continue to speak out on a daily basis I will not be bullied into silence I reject Nan cons placement on this board just as a reminder to the Board of Education Miss Khan is a uh duly elected member of the board you have no actual authority
029to remove an elected candidates um and they serve as a full member of the board um as is their legal duty to do so also just a reminder to members of the public that Miss Khan retains All rights against defamation um and the ability to pursue privately whatever she wishes to pursue thank you my name is Marlene Kaplan I strongly believe in the strengths of community and we are a community a community in Vorhees the Vorhees schools including this Schoolboard there are three important Community Values one is the respect for the rights differences and dignity of others two honesty and int Integrity in dealing with all members of the community and three accountability for personal behavior in any Community collaboration is expected and necessary in order to collaborate a person needs three skills communication skills
030emotional intelligence which is the ability to understand what others are going through and respect for diversity people belonging to different cultures being able to work together one of the strengths of the community of Vorhees is its diversity Navin last year I encouraged you to become more active and you did and I supported your candidacy I can't tell you how incredibly disheartened and disappointed I have been in your actions and behaviors in the past few months you have not demonstrated those three Community Values nor have you shown the ability to collaborate what you have shown what you have done the actions and the behaviors that you have the actions you have taken have been divisive means spirit and vind vindictive is my very strong opinion that these behaviors do not make for a productive or collaborative
031School Board member and as as a result naven I urge you to resign this position yes come up you can come up hi hi what I'm trying to say the high school should we should have a dress code because when I go to the high school I see these girls wearing short shirt dress shirt pants in my country we don't allow those things to go in the school so hopefully they will change that policy to have a dress code below the name or whatever or in uniform you know cuz most of the students they ask their parents to buy them some designer clothes and those are very expensive for them to have designer clothes and all that so uh that's all I'm asking dress Cod because you know it they need to discipline themselves and
032the boys I saw them is scy clothes is scy hair can they have a discipline to go to school properly and that's all thank you thank you I I just I do want to let you know that we don't have any jurisdiction over the high school we are only responsible for K through eth but we will happily send your comments along I think so because I you their attention they looking for with very thank you for your comments we will pass them along again thank you we needed that hi good evening everyone thank you uh I want to congratulate uh navin's appointment and I want to thank Voris Town Township Public Schools for standing for her appointment um congratulations to you and your family for upholding First Amendment rules and laws um uh um I
033said this back in November the issue that is happening in Gaza right now is a generational issue not a religious issue maybe a religious issue just for the sake of argument but it's a generation issue after World War 2 uh there's a different culture which America has forcefully or non forcefully started thinking but now the new generation of Americans who are going in schools high schools universities workplaces have a different perspective they have social media they can see the truth the and media the mainstream media can uh can no longer be a host of of of the narrative that is being uh taken by Zionist let me be clear over here so I appreciate and the entire city for for the Vorhees uh uh for upholding the First Amendment right to Freedom right to speech
034and right to protest and um it takes a lot um and I appreciate uh especially naven for standing up and giving a new generation voice and and strength to stand up against bigotry and um kudos to you and your family thanks for being the voice of anyone and everyone um who is fighting bigotry this is plain bigotry and thank you for standing up for bigotry thank you at this time I'd like to make a very brief statement on behalf of the Board of Education the Vorhees Township Board of Education does not condone discrimination or harassment in any form regardless of your religion race ethnicity or any other characteristic we want to provide a safe space for our children to learn undoubtedly there are horrific and troubling events taking place around the world it is our
035sincere hope that we use this time to come together to support one another as we take on the work of educating students this is not the time or place for personal attacks or political posturing this is about remembering what our mission is and staying true to that thank you in Psalm 133 King David wrote over 3,000 years ago how good and pleasant it is that brothers and sisters can be together that's what Humanity has been striving for the past 3,000 years navine you ruined it we should be here talking about our students we should be here talking about the future of the bhe school board we should be here talking about how to better the educational system of South Jersey in particular bores but many many of us are here talking about how especially at
036this time naine and her husband posted online very vile and disgusting post about Jewish people about Israel about anti-israel about anti-zionist and don't play word games don't have a word salad if you're anti-israel and you are anti- Zionist it is a synonym it is synonymous with being anti-jew it's synonymous with being anti-semitic especially at this time and naine you should not represent our children here in Vorhees at a time when we need to come together you sue me and others don't think because your name was not on the police report it wasn't you it was your husband and you do it together and just so everyone knows the judge very very quickly ruled and dismissed the case with the Prejudice with prejudice which means that no further information can be taken there is no context
037in this day and age to be anti-semitic there's no context to be anti-israel no context to be anti-zionist because that is not what King David had in mind 3,000 years ago and those words are even even stronger today that how good and pleasant it is that all of us need to come together and this is not the turnout for most of your meetings this turnout is here nine because of you and your husband this turnout is here because we all feel that even though you were elected you would not have been elected if it the male in votes did not come in yet before we found out how you really feel about Israel how you really feel about the Jewish people you would have never ever been elected for your sake be thankful that there
038is mail in ballots in New Jersey because you will never never be sitting up there today so go sir I need to apologize but your time has expired thank thank you Happy New Year thank you thank you for that Scott um I should mention that he is not from Vorhees so I am John zok I posted on my private Facebook page sentiments about a foreign government naven didn't post anything nothing nobody reached out to us before it was posted online to gain clarification or hey I found something disturbing can we talk about it no there was nothing no no no no I'm talking thank you and so it just went this constant attack on her and according to the US state department a criticism of this of the government of Israel is not anti-semitic it
039you are allowed to this is America you can criticize our own government and foreign governments it's okay and but she didn't I did and we reached out to everybody we called and we emailed and they are harassing they online threats and and and we're like can you take this down pleading no one we even talk we I I filed a suit because I couldn't figure anything else out I have a three-year-old he's getting he's getting threats little boys are getting stabbed in Chicago and a mom was killed today in front of this mosque like like this is a real thing and and we get people from out of nowhere just you know saying oh I'm gonna join in on this this should have never happened she firstly this is not 1950 she is her own
040person I am I am my own person this was a vendetta by the person who led it right off the front Crystal Mion with an AXA grind said nothing to do with Naveen thank you I'm sorry ma'am before you start I'm just gonna make um a quick statement um again on behalf of the board um the the board of education is here to govern and oversee the operation of the school district and the education of your children um although although this is a a public Comon section and the public can make their comments whatever those those are I'm just going to ask if we can bring it back to educational issues that the board as a whole can actually address because that's why they are here this evening thank you I want to congratulate Jennifer
041and Richard on their uh appointments tonight and um I want to express my deep reservations regarding nen con's sustainability to serve on the board of ed many of you familiar with the events that unfolded and I'm not going to delve into the disturbing anti-semitic Expressions uh by her husband I do believe it's crucial to shed the light on what happened afterwards as you may know I was one that first uh was first to remove my endorsement of Miss Conan as with her campaign manager Crystal I did so in a private group statement Miss KH and her husband then began to Target my child's School insisting on my removal from the PFA board their actions es escalated with the filing of a police report against me and then um John went so far as to file
042a civil lawsuit um what's even more disturbing is that neither Crystal navin's campaign manager nor any other Town members um or Council people who also removed their endorsements were targeted instead it was mostly Jewish community members like myself in addition to all this I was accused of manipulating Facebook itself to make it seem as if Miss Khan liked certain posts an accusation that is frankly laughable as a Jewish member deeply involved in Jewish life with ties to Israel I exercised my right to withdraw support from someone who was endorsing anti-semitic views it was a decision waited that waited heavily on my heart for several days knowing that she was part of a slate that I supported and with the added guilt of that I was the one who initially suggested Miss Khan's candidacy that guilt
043still lingers contrary to what would have been expected Miss Khan displayed zero accountability in my opinion she misrepresented her interactions with Jewish leadership ignoring their advice to publicly denounce her husband's posts furthermore she bullied community members and sought who sought to voice their concerns it is my belief that her continuous deception about cons Consulting Jewish leadership raises serious questions about her Integrity people wonder why no one approached Miss Khan before retracting endorsements and as Jewish Americans we do not owe anyone the right to Gaslight us the right course I believe would have been for Miss Khan to publicly acknowledge her mistakes from the beginning everyone makes errors and everyone has the right to rectify them but this situation indicates a fatal flaw in character Miss Khan's inability to admit when she is wrong thank you
044for your attention tonight and I ask for Miss Khan's resignation considering these serious concerns into her ability to serve all members of the community equally and fairly gotta talk quick three minutes right minutes hard to do for a lawyer good evening my name is Mike frean my family and I have resided in Vorhees Township for 17 years nine of which I had the honor honor of serving the Vorhees Community as a member of Township Council Township committee you're GNA correct me on that Michelle right um I'm a father of four children three currently in the Vorhees School District Two of whom have non-verbal autism I'm a proud Jew and a proud Zionist as we are all painfully aware on October 7th some of the most heinous horrific unprovoked atrocities in history were committed against innocent
045men women children and infants in Israel the world's only Jewish State and a shining Beacon of democracy in the Middle East in the wake of this horror while so many in our Titanic Titanic community of Wares were mourning this unspeakable tragedy the husband of school board member naven Khan promptly took to social media to spew in my opinion and in the opinion of many others verly anti-israel and anti-semitic vital through a number of posts which we've discussed tonight vital filled with not only hate but with utter misinformation and ignorance in my view what's more Schoolboard candidate Khan or School Board member Khan demonstrator support by liking at least one of these posts and staying absolutely silent as to the rest due to her actions in actions and her husband's post only weeks before the election
046the two candidates on her slate disavowed her and elected officials who previously endorsed her withdrew their endorsements the reality is we sadly live in a time where acts of anti-Semitism and hate against Jewish people is up over 400% in this country exhibited by marches demonstrations and violence across cities and college campuses some of which justify the atrocities of H we live in a time when Jewish students feel forced to barricade themselves in libraries and don't feel safe wearing their stars of David or walking through campus and we also incredibly live in a time when the administration at supposedly Elite universities can't even condemn calls for the genocide of Jewish people while miss Khan along with her husband took the time to speak with me and apparently some others from the Jewish Community about our concerns
047which I do appreciate what many of us would have appreciated more is a public acknowledgement of accountability and a statement of cont Contrition to the Community despite there being many Avenues to do so over the past two months this didn't happen one thing that did happen however is that Miss Khan threatened a beloved leader in our community caner Scott borski with legal action if he didn't remove a post wherein he shared his opinion about anti-Semitism when he refused to give into the demand caner borski was sued along with other community leaders by mcan's husband this is not a way to ingratiate yourself to a community McAn and certainly doesn't exhibit the type of leadership that this town deserves on a school board however I'm not going to demand that you resign here tonight I'm asking
048that you prove me and others with justifiable concerns here tonight wrong with not only your words but your actions going forward the truth is we live in a community with a proud significant Jewish and Israeli expat population we must ensure that all of our students feel safe and that they are able to learn real facts proper history and not potential disinformation shoveled at them through any kind of Tainted ideological lens as we've seen in in some sectors of our education system I'm sorry sir your time has exped fired okay PA's in your court Miss Gone hello my name is Deborah Wellings um I also am reiterating an objection to the swearing in of naon Keane serving the school board the anti-semitic views posed by her husband which she agreed with on social media uh which
049have been proven are problematic and reflect a lack in judgment in a leadership position just such as this with the horrific atrocities that have occurred in Israel is not fathomable that any board member can Overlook these views which align with hatred there needs to be healing in the community and this will only create more division we seek the board to acknowledge this and act accordingly uh on another note the district is still pushing political ideologies more than academics politics do not belong in the schools Studies have shown that Dei drives anti-Semitism research it please Dei is related to Communism the Communist Regime in China used the same critical theory to divide people in the past the only difference was they used class instead of race this is the American version I encourage everyone to research
050the connection between Dei and communism School boards are denying that school boards are denying they are teaching CRT but they are only disguising it as diversity equity and inclusion it's manipulation to confuse everyone wants diversity nobody wants division other school boards have rejected this this board has not these ideologies which force children to examine their gender examine their sexual identity which is ridiculous and also cause children to examine their race and their peers race which may never have occurred to them previously and it shouldn't they kids we have seen the board do everything they can to keep anyone with opposing political views that don't agree with these agendas off the board the board is comprised basically of political activists as every board member on this board is is every board member on this board so
051brainwashed and gullible that they give into Political agendas as a board member you are there to represent interests of residents first all we see are political activists I can guarantee most parents in the district would rather have their kids focused on math and reading this is what the educational system's objective is supposed to be that isn't happening and it's damaging let's start the new year off right let's examine and revisit these policies and bring back normaly to the children's education they only get one are the agendas worth the damage they cause we don't want to have to come here and criticize this is a great School District with tremendous teachers we implore you to do the right thing and stop the political agendas thank you for allowing me to address the board let's all start
052the new year in a United Way and attempt to resolve the present issues thank you are we still doing the state your name and address for the record thing um Michelle noo U I just want to First congratulate um the newly elected board members oh you can hear me sorry I just want to uh congratulate the newly elected board members uh especially Jennifer and and anyone who's willing to step up and represent our community it it is a great personal risk as you can see um everything that you do is judged and questioned um it's actually a rare occasion that um I agree with Miss Wellings on certain things and I do think that she said something that was important which is we are here to focus on things for our children like math and
053reading and my former colleague Mr freedan I think um said it best which is that um Miss Conan has the obligation and the responsibility to our community and to our children to prove that you know the the voters made the right decision and I'll leave it at that I'm not going to express my personal opinions I think the community has already done that uh however I'm seeing you know even in the vote that there is divisiveness on the board and as many of you know that that doesn't lead to where we need to be and what we need as as parents for our children so I just ask that the board find a way despite what happened tonight and despite your opinions of one another to come together we have a lot of resources you
054have a lot of support from parents in this District many of us are proud to have our children educated here I just ask that you come together to support our teachers our students and not have a repeat of of some of the things that we've had over the last few years within the board because I believe that every person on this board is capable intelligent and has the right intentions I think that we just need to find a way to move forward and work together because that is why we all elected all of you so thank you hi my name is Terry Dell I've uh had two daughters in the Vorhees District I've lived here for 23 and a half years with my husband and I as I said my two daughters um my concern
055here tonight is obvious is amongst same as many of you have expressed here is that you know since determination of our previous uh superintendent it has become increasingly clear to me uh that our board has been plagued with transparency issues and the clear intention to push a political agenda uh leading to a lack of trust amongst Vorhees parents this is concerning since it's the board's job to remain nonpartisan while developing policies and curriculum and the hiring of staff that all children and parents will be equally represented unfortunately as I as I said I my husband and I moved here because the education system it's nonpar it's it's excellent and I'm sure that's why many other parents have moved here too because of the education system as well as the diversity here that affords our children
056to be able to interact with other children to learn from each other to develop a cultural uh respect for one another um and unfortunately as I've seen here that instead of picking people to represent each other based on Merit we're choosing them based on identity politics and that should not be happening in here especially since we are diverse of a community as as it is anyway and instead of focusing on making sure that we're working together we're just choosing based on color based on sexual identity instead of who we are as people and and our experiences to be able to afford to uh this orhe community and to each of our children and I'm concerned that Miss Khan how is she going to be able to represent our children with what has happened into our
057community how can we know that she's going to look out for the best interest of all of our children of all of us based on uh what has happened here that we all know about so it's my hope uh that we can move past this and in hope that she represents us all um going forward tonight and I will just leave it at that so thank you any other comments seeing none moving to board comments yes first off Happy New Year I hope the holiday season was joyful and restful for all of our Administration faculty families fellow board members and of course our kids I also wanted to acknowledge that tonight's board meeting was Rec is being recorded for the first time in six months after we passed a board policy at our last meeting
058I want to thank our policy committee for the work on bringing this proposal forward the administration for working with us and to the full board for unanimously passing that policy I also want to take a moment to congratulate Mrs Watson and Mrs Kover for their elections to leadership this evening and to welcome our new board members to this board two of whom represent historic first for our district if you have a child in our schools you may have heard that student council is elections happened last month in December I'm very grateful that Dr Hackett brought student councils to our elementary schools this year my eight-year-old son actually ran for his third grade class representative seat he was so excited about the potential opportunity to represent his class he filled out a form and answered questions
059about why he wanted to serve he made a poster which he was super proud of and spent a lot of time uh thinking about what it means to serve as a representative of a Community focusing his speech on what he could actually achieve as a student council representative despite all the work in passion in the end he lost it was an uphill battle with 12 students running in a class of 23 he was really upset about it he was really upset about losing even though you know we talked a lot about the possibility of losing beforehand it doesn't intuitively feel good to lose at something right I think we all want to win right but we talked a lot about how there could be real Merit in putting yourself out there when you believe in
060the value you can bring to Public Service even when you don't ultimately win we also talked a lot about how an election is over we have to respect the decisions of the voters and find a way to move forward with dignity and self and mutual respect elections are by their nature divisive but now the school board election and the leadership elections are over and it is up to this board to chart a path forward with mutual respect and with a laser focus on what we were elected by the Vorhees Community to do and that is do everything in our power to make our school district the very best it can be for every single child in this District regardless of disability race ethnicity religion sexual orientation gender identity political affiliation or economic status that is
061or at least it should be our North Star I urge this board to keep their eyes on that North Star and not allow personal issues egos or interests to distract you from the work we must do to move our district forward we don't have to be the best of friends but we have to work together and we have to M maintain our focus on every child in this District even if their experiences are different than our own to our community members who spoke tonight I want to thank you for sharing your perspectives and concerns I have often said at board meetings how much I value hear hearing from members of the community because your perspectives ideas and concerns are important and add value to our work hate in all forms should be denounced and I
062am confident that all of my fellow board members will govern with integrity and compassion to ensure that hate has no place on our board and in our school district I ask the public to to place some trust in our board to do that but I do hope you will continue to stay engaged and bring issues and ideas impacting students and faculty faculty to our attention and you should hold us accountable to do what you have elected us to do thank you again May 2024 bring you and your families good health joy and peace thank you any other board comments yes I have one Mrs Watson um Miss Calabria I want to thank you for running a wonderful conference period in December um it went smoothly it felt like the first time in many years it
063was somewhat normal I think it was the first time in many years it was somewhat normal for any of you who haven't had the privilege of doing Arena conferences at BMS it is a little bit like speed dating obviously some significant differences um but you line up and you see your child's teachers and you wait online and you kind of gain the system to see who's available um and you get about five minutes with each teacher and my husband and I went together to meet with each of my daughter's teachers we met with Mrs step nski Mrs Mackey Miss Leo uh Mr Hassel I'm forgetting somebody Mr hopley and I just want to owledge how um how much they knew my kid so you know it's one thing to sit down to talk to your
064child's teacher and get an assessment of how they're doing which quite frankly we can all gather that feedback from the portal as VMS parents what I didn't necessarily expect was to hear feedback about who my child is as a human being what makes her tick What She Likes what she doesn't like how she learns best and I just want to say to the teachers in this community I'm incredibly heartened to know that our kids go to you not only to learn but to be seen to be known and especially at a place like VMS where I imagine you all have hundreds of students each year to be able to tell me what I already know about my kid um was really heartening for me to hear so I want to thank the teachers for their
065incredible dedication it reminds me of how lucky we are to live here and to have such wonderful dedicated teachers and a wonderful school thank you so [Music] much I have a comment um first I wanted to say Happy New Year and good evening I wanted to congratulate the new board members tonight um one of my passions is Holocaust Education I am dedicated to providing Holocaust Education to students through throughout the Delaware Valley through the story of my grandfather who survived ashet it has been an effective way to reduce predat Prejudice and affect attitudes to lessen hatred bigotry and violence this has become even more important since the rise in anti-Semitism since October 7th we as a community need to understand what anti-Semitism is I believe that anti-zionism and anti-Semitism are one and the same I
066am very involved in the Jewish Community I am currently an executive member of the Jewish community relations Council and I have spent a lot of time on the current situation that is talked about tonight um with all the leaders of the Jewish Federation I do not believe in cancel culture ruining a person's life for making a statement I don't agree with it is unamerican to ruin someone's life and no one should be judged on the actions of their relative we have all made mistakes and we've all done things that we wish we could take back I am working on bringing education to our community that can help understand anti-Semitism as you can see tonight our board is divided which does not do our community any good we as a board need to set an example
067for our community work together on behalf of our children and our amazing staff we need to get back to what is important our kids in their future thank you I have a comment oh sorry yes it's bran Stewart first I want to say thank you to my wonderful family and friends those in the room and those who could not make it this evening for their unwavering and their unconditional love and support you are everything to me clearly thank you to my fellow board members for the tireless work seen and unseen that you continue to put in for the good of our district I'm very excited to Works alongside each of you I want to recognize and thank Dr Hackett and our amazing Administration teaching staff instructional staff facility staff and every other individual in our
068district who works day in and day out to ensure that our schools are positive safe and inclusive learning environments for all of our children and last but certainly not least I want to thank our amazing community and in particular those members of the public that showed up here tonight thank you for your time your energy your words your opinions and your amazing level of Engagement I hope that through our Collective efforts we can welcome this new year with a renewed focus on leading with and teaching our children the importance of Truth Integrity accountability and sound judgment as they progress through their academic careers thank you I'd like to make a comment if that's okay yep um there was a lot of things that were said about me tonight um much of it just untrue um
069much of it untrue um maybe just that I'm married to John um man it has been awful three and a half weeks um our Windows have being bust in by refer with notes referencing the post by Chris all my son has been attacked we've had the most horrific emails I've reached out reach I've reached out to gosh people every day um in the first especially in the first three weeks just trying to contact people to tell them the truth I I don't have a public Facebook page um I'm not a public person I'm not a political person I'm just a normal person a regular person um and and a bit of an introvert to be honest um we were fortunate to have the support of the Jewish Council of uh Jewish Council on community relations
070and the executive director she was lovely um I just spoke to the office of The JCC we're part of the JCC um I spent the last 20 years celebrating Hanukah my daughter knows the drel song back and forth um she even knows Hebrew I can't tell you you know we like she grew up in La we were in La for 20 years it's just part of us um my best friends are all Jewish um we we're just part of the community and I'd done more into Faith um uh events than you can imagine and it's been wonderful I think I I I won't go on about that but I will say um I have reached out I have and and Sabrina especially has been wonderful and she wrote this to me tonight and she said
071she couldn't make it um and she said I would encourage navine to read the email she sent me to me before before you left she wrote a beautiful letter and I wish that she had shared that as a statement there are some great thoughts in there and I hope she's able to articulate them tonight and I wasn't going to I wasn't going to make a statement tonight um but I I think I think she's right and I'm just going to read that to you if that's okay um you know a lot of the people who came up here they you know I have SP I I've I've spoken to who the people who will speak to me um Michael uh and um and he was really positive and and uh kind um so the ACC
072the accusation of anti-Semitism against me is not only unfounded but also damaging to the Integrity of our dialogue this allegation overlooks the fact that my actions have consistently promoted inclusivity and understanding let's not forget that the allegation was based on my husband's post critiquing the government um not just Israel but the US I am I'm seeing a concerning narrative and Trend that attempts to blur the CL the clear line between political critique and religious Prejudice by conflating a critique of a government's policies or a political ideology with an attack on religion we risk silencing important political discourse and ensure we um we create division resentment and hate within our community as well as alienating entire groups of people it is crucial for us as a community to understand the legimate the legitimate criticism of a
073state's policy um is just a healthy part of political debate a foundational tenant of our democracy and is fundamental fundamentally different from anti-semitic rhetoric which targets and vilifies Jewish people as a group such represent misrepresentations can trivialize the seriousness of actual anti-semitic incidents and are counterproductive to our community's values of honesty and integrity secondly is imperative to address the efforts to link me with my husband's private social media posts the doctor evidence suggesting I liked one of those posts is nothing short of malicious it reveals a deliberate attempt by certain individuals within our community to tarnish my rep reputation by falsely linking me to opinions I neither shared nor supported want to reiterate I didn't post anything which are unjustifiably being labeled as anti-semitic this strategy which appears to be vindictive uh vindictive reaction to
074my husband's critique is deeply unethical such actions go beyond misrep misrepresentation they are an active attempt to damage my standing based on unfounded associations and a a tactic I firmly reject and condemn third the online hate campaign intimidation tactics and bullying used by some in this community has not only and un and unjustifiably tarnished my reputation but created a real risk to my safety and well-being as well as that of other individuals in this community who have suffered indeed the use of doxing bullying and intimidation tactics is not only unacceptable but also dangerous it should not be tolerated in our community these tactics aimed at silencing voices undermines the principles of respect and dialogue that are essential in a diverse community in the individuals engaging in such behavior um ow an apology not just to
075me but our entire Community for the harm that they have caused finally the way this situation has infolded raises concern about the impacts on our community always strived to be support to support inclusivity and understanding across all groups including my efforts to support Jewish candidates previously it is disheartening to see how misunderstandings and misrepresentations can create unnecessary Rifts among us considering this I urge us to work together towards healing these divisions education open um dialogue and a commitment to understanding each other's perspective are essential we must strive to create an environment where every Community member feels safe respected and valued and where this is this where there is room for openness to diverse viewpoints I remain hopeful that together we can transcend these challenges fostering a community that not only celebrates diversity of thought and
076mutual respect but also collaboratively identifies and addresses real instances of hate be they anti-Semitism islamophobia or any other form of discrimination I look forward to a constructive dialogue and I'm committed to working towards a resolution that upholds the values and well-being of our entire Community um sorry for the length of that uh um I won't go on but I I have been open to talking to anyone and still am um but I think people are right I think I should resign because this isn't the way I want to um this isn't the community I I want to be in uh to be honest I man I love our school I love our head teacher I love the education that I get to be part of um I love I love our volunteering I love our
077our children all of our children um gosh every single one of them they're adorable and cute um and so uh I I think it is best that I resign I'm Sorry Miss Khan is that a formal resignation yeah Miss Khan if this is your first and last meeting that is obviously your choice um you are a board member until the end of the meeting at the close of the meeting um you are no longer on the board I will advise board president that you need to advertise for interview and fill the vacancy in the next 60 days you any other board comments the next meeting date will be January 31st 2024 7 PM held here at the administrative mean at the administrative building um can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting so moved
078[Applause] second let's get over yes Miss Conan yes Mr Rosen yes Mr Rosner yes Mrs ruter yes Mrs Stewart yes Mrs ster yes Miss birdie yes Watson yes meeting adour