001Jersey. Where's your smile? >> Mr. Smorl, >> Mr. tomorrow. Can you please take your seat? You're lucky he doesn't have a gavvel. >> Find him one. >> Where's Where's the panic button so I don't get it? >> I know I'm right here. >> Okay, it's over there. >> Good evening. This is a public meeting of the board of education of Clark Public Schools. Adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with PL 1975, chapter 231 and that a special notice was made in conformance with section 13 of the act. Uh, thank you. Can we get a motion to return to public? Miss Harrison and Mr. Breedy. You need a roll call. >> Oh, you want to rise for the pledge? >> Yes. >> Rise for the pledge, please. >> Algiance to the flag
002of the United States of America and to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. All right. Can we get a roll call, please? Miss Eonis. >> Mr. Bena. >> Mr. Greedy >> here. >> Miss Harrison >> here. >> Miss Hickman >> here. >> Mr. May >> present. >> M. McCarrick >> here. >> Miss Melnik >> here. >> Mr. Sorl >> here. >> And Mr. Ducker >> here. >> Have an A board members. We have a quorum. >> Thank you. And at this time, can I get a motion for the approval of minutes from last month? Miss Melnik, followed by Ms. is um Hickman. I'm sorry, Kristen. I'm sorry. I'm having I'm having a moment. I'm sorry. So, can I get a roll call, please? >> Mr. Breedy, >> yes. >>
003Miss Harrison, >> yes. >> Miss Hickman, >> yes. >> Mr. May, >> yes. >> Miss McCarrick, >> yes. >> Miss Melick, >> yes. >> Mr. Squirrel. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Duckloop. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. And at this time, we'll open the floor to the public for agenda items only. So, if there's something on the agenda that you would like to discuss, now would be the time. At the end of the meeting, we'll have a time for non-aggenda items. So, seeing none, we'll move on to the next part of the meeting. We have personnel items 1 through 17. Can I get a motion? I see Miss Harrison, followed by Mr. Small. Any questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Breedy. >> Yes. >> M. Harrison. >> Yes. >> Mr. man.
004>> Yes, >> Mr. May. >> Yes, >> Mr. McCarrick. >> Abstain from items 1 5 6 9 10 and 13 through 15. Yes to the remainder. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Smurl. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Douglas? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Uh, next we have curriculum items 18 to 20. Can I get a motion? Mrs. Hickman followed by Can I get a second? Mr. May, any questions or comments? >> Can we go back? >> Vote. >> Miss Melnick, did you >> Sorry. >> Did you ask for Miss Melnik's vote in the last call? >> Last one. >> Can we call Miss Melnik? >> No. Okay. Miss Melton Mel. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. >> My apologies. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Very vested in personnel. And so we're back to
005curriculum 18 to 20. I think I can I get another motion to Mr. May followed by Mrs. Harrison. Any questions or comment on those? >> Then roll call, please. >> Breeding. >> Yes. >> M. Harrison. >> Yes. Mr. >> Sickman. >> Yes. >> Mr. May. >> Yes. >> M. McCarrick. >> Abstain from items 19 and 20. Yes. To item 18. >> Thank you. Miss Melnik. >> Yes. >> Mr. Small. >> Yes. >> Mr. Duncan. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. And then policy. We only have items 21 and 22. Can I get a motion? Miss Hickman by Miss Mr. Breedy. Any questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Breedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Harrison, >> yes. >> Hickman, >> yes. >> Mr. May, >> yes. >> Mr. McCarrick, >> yes. >> Melnik,
006>> yes. >> Mr. Smurl, >> yes. >> And Mr. Douglas, >> yes. >> Mr. Carried. >> Thank you. And now, board governments, we have items 23 to 27. Can I get a motion? Miss Melnick, followed by Mr. May. Any questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bry, >> yes. >> Mr. Harrison, >> yes. >> Sikman, >> yes. >> Mr. May, >> yes. >> Mr. McCarrick, >> yes. >> Miss Melnick, >> yes. >> Mr. Smurl, >> yes. >> And Mr. Douglas, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> And then finally, we have items uh we have finance items 28 to 34. Mr. Small, followed by Mr. Breedy. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Breedy? >> Yes. >> M. Harrison. >> Yes. >> Sickman. >> Yes. >> Mr. May. >> Yes. >> Mr. McCarrick. Yes. >> Spelnick. >>
007Yes. >> Mr. Smurl. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Dunloop. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. And at this time, we'll hand it over to Mr. Grande for this report to the superintendent. >> Good evening and thank you, Mr. Donut. On this evening's agenda, we're approving the retirement of Mrs. Anne Mahoney, a Carl H. Comfort Middle School English teacher with 10 years of good service to the district. We thank Mrs. Mahoney and we wish her the very best of luck. Also on the agenda is the return of the Clark connects to the past humanitiesbased summers program which will run July 27th through July 31st for students entering grades 4 to 7 in September. And I know Mrs. Terrell is already hard at work to make that its typical um great experience for our students.
008Preschool and kindergarten registration are underway online through the Genesis system. Information is on the district website, but please don't hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Vanic, our district district residency officer register with any questions. Our Princeton review SAT prep classes began last week. 23 students are in the Monday and Wednesday class while 23 students are also in the Tuesday and Thursday class, both in preparation for the March test. There will be another class beginning in March in preparation for the May test. That March class still has two seats open, so any interested students should act quickly and see their counselor. And again, it's open to juniors. And many thanks to the board of education for funding this initiative for our students. Schools will be closed for President's Day this coming Monday, February 16th, with an
009early dismissal this Friday, the 13th, to extend the weekend. Um, for our students and staff, every district is required to report to the public twice yearly detailing the number of incidents of violence, vandalism, substances, weapons, and confirmed HIV cases that have been recorded for the given reporting period. In this case, September 1st through December 31st. 14 cases were reported for were reported for ALJ, 16 for Carl H. five for Frankie Henley and zero for both Valley Road School and the preschool n school counselor week took place last week with a very special thank you to Mr. Amandola who leads our school counseling department our school counselors and the support staff for the superior job that they do for our students and also thank you to Mr. Pinger and his team for the job that they
010did in getting our schools cleared on such a rapid basis so that we only lost that one day of school. I know many neighboring towns, the schools and even townships themselves had um longer delays and that's because of John and his team that we were so readily prepared. Thank you and have a great evening. >> Thank you, Mr. Grande. And I would like to also echo uh the gratitude to Mr. Por and his team. They uh had our schools open. Uh, I had many friends down south where they said they had the threat of black ice and they were close for three days and Mr. Pino and his team had us back in a day. So, appreciate everything John and his team did. At this time, we'll go to report of the committees. Mr. Oh,
011>> um, I just want to reiterate what Mr. Grande said about school counselor appreciation week. Um, counselors are faced with the unexpected every single day. um from students who are struggling emotionally to academic needs to just really making sure everyone is supported and heard and seen in the building. So, I just want to send a special thank you to them as a board um and tell them that they should be appreciated all last week and the whole year round. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Harrison. >> Mr. SM. >> Okay. Um so not necessarily related to committees but I thought this would be the right time to make this announcement. Um we are thrilled um to learn that uh our longtime board of education member Lorraine Akalonus has been selected for um entrance into the
012ALJ alumni hall of fame. Um this is a a great accomplishment for her. Lorraine's been uh a board me Clark Board of Education member for the last 31 years. Uh she's also participated as a board of ed member at the county level and at the state level. Uh unfortunately we we didn't learn until the very last minute that Lorraine was not going to be here this evening. Wasn't going to be able to be here this evening, but we know she's watching. Um we were able to communicate it to her during our executive session and wanted to make the announcement public. And I also wanted to introduce Donna Vulpi Catchion who is from the ALJ alumni hall of fame. She's like to say a few words in regard to Lorraine. >> Hi, I am Donna Cashion.
013I'm a 1982 graduate from ALJ. I'm currently the vice president of the ALJ Alumni Association. I'm here on behalf of the association to congratulate Lorraine on her pending ALJ Hall of Fame induction. They say that once a crusader, always a crusader. Lorraine has proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt with the years and years of service to the board of education, the Clark school system, the students, and the community as a whole. I look forward to celebrating with Lorraine at the induction dinner in May and hope that the um other members of the board might join us as well. Congratulations, Lorraine, and thank you for your service. Thank you, Donna. Um we had a chance to speak to Lorraine, as I said before the public meeting. she's absolutely thrilled um on her selection to
014be inducted. So, I know she's looking forward to it and I know the board shares uh you know my thoughts and in terms of uh really being just so happy for her. It's very very welld deserved. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Smarl. >> While we're on the topic of um people we care dearly about, um little birdie told me that someone has a big birthday tomorrow. So, So, just want to take this opportunity to uh wish Superintendent Grande a very happy milestone birthday and uh and try to enjoy it. Maybe only work 10 hours instead of your normal 14. Thank you. >> All right. Okay. Any other report of the committees? New or unfinished business? All right. We'll hand it over to Maddie for the update. >> So, sorry. Here is the February
015update. So, the preschool program began a medical themed unit introducing students to roles in the medical field such as patients, doctors, and nurses. To support this learning, students participated in a dental health presentation focused on healthy oral hygiene practices and received a toothbrush and toothpaste to take home. Students are also looking forward to their first PTA sponsored Valentine's Day celebration and activities recognizing the 100th day of school. During the month of January, Henley students completed meteor benchmarks and assessments which are being used by staff to assess current learning levels and inform instructional planning. Henley participated in a district-wide activities including professional development sessions for staff, classroombased Martin Luther King Jr. Day service activities and the K to2 math night held at Frank Henley for younger students from both Henley and Valley Road schools organized by
016Mrs. Masa DeFabio. In January, Valley Road School hosted several engaging activities, including a PTA sponsored science assembly, the annual glow night featuring light-based activities and music, and the Colonial Job Fair for grade 5 students. During the job fair, students dressed as Colonial Americans, presented um presented on historical careers, and performed a colonial dance for parents and guests. Students also participated in the K through5 American heart challenge in physical education classes and the Great American Read and Rally fundraiser. As a part of the Child Smart program, representatives from the Secret Service and juvenile officers, educated students in grades 2 through 5 on child safety practices. February events will include the sweetheart dance where students will attend with a parent or guardian. In January, KMF Middle School recognized its students of the month, Sophia Tacis, Sophia Martinez,
017and Carissa Koulers, and concluded the second marking period with report cards now available. PAL's tutoring is currently being offered during all lunch periods, and students completed Lincoln benchmark assessments in language arts and math to guide instructional planning. The Science Olympiad team advanced the state competition following strong regional performances. Students also participated in internet safety presentations by the secret service and Italian night hosted in collaboration with ALJ was well attended. The PTA meeting on January 22nd included the hidden in plain sight parent presentation. Upcoming February events include the first come family feud night, a PTA sponsored candy bingo, and a student versus staff faculty basketball game. ALJ High School held the driver's education examination. Students participating in the Italian program took part in a cultural experience focused on making pasta, enhancing their understanding of the Italian
018language and tradition. Winter sports team celebrated senior nights, recognizing student athletes for their dedication and accomplishments. AP research students conducted their research studies to collect data for their projects, applying inquiry and analy analytical skills. Additionally, the school counseling department continued to share scheduling information with students and families to support academic planning. Finally, as they plan to transition to the 26 27th school year, ALJ administration held an eighth grade um curricular open house where students and families came to learn more about the program of studies. And on top of that, Miss Salivera and Mr. Amodola visited KF and Garwood schools to talk about the scheduling process with upcoming crusaders. Thank you. >> Thank you, Maddie. All right, so at this time, we will open the floor to the public. If there's anything that you would like
019to speak about, now is your time. You have three minutes. You come up to the podium, state your name, your address. Just make sure the microphone's on. Okay. Is it on? Yeah. How are you? So, I am not a Clark uh resident. I'm resident of Garwood. Um Lance from Lance Far 65 Third A. I'm here on behalf of my son today who has been um part of Clark sports since he was in first grade. He's in sixth grade now between um soccer, baseball, flag football, most notably wrestling. So, uh he's been a wrestler since uh first grade, right? First grade. Uh just won uh gold in his bracket yesterday with the Clark uh wreck tournament, night of the year tournament. And about a year and a half ago, we were informed that the middle school
020was making a team and I know my wife had worked really hard to get that the two students from Garwood cuz it is only two students um to get on that team. Uh we did all the paperwork uh she did with superintendent, she worked with coach Ortega directly and the superintendent to try to make that happen. And then we were told last minute that it was um turned down by the board for reasons we don't really understand. Um we were told that it was they didn't want Garwood students to take over a slot for a sixth grade student. Um that's where we told I can't get confirmation from anybody but uh as to why that was but that's the only reason we got. Um just wondering who was consulted in making that decision because that's
021not even how wrestling works. Um wrestling is on a weight basis. So my son in fourth grade was wrestling eighth graders at times. Um and you get even if someone is taking your spot. So he wrestles at 102 lbs. If there's another kid at the 102 lbs, they wrestle off and the other kid isn't kicked off the team. They're joined. They are in the exhibition team and they wrestle exhibitions and they are part of the practice. They're still part of the team. So, we were just wondering how we could possibly make this a reality for him next year as he's going into seventh grade and going to be aging out of the rec program. Uh my son loves to wrestle. He competes in grappling uh both in Clark and outside of Clark. And theoretically, if
022he's not allowed on the team next year, um he won't be able to wrestle till he gets to ALJ for a team. So, I was just wondering how we could make that happen and if what was the reasoning behind um Garwood not being allowed to be on the middle school team this year. >> So, >> yeah, I mean, I I personally had a conversation with um the uh with the athletic director on this topic. Um it's it's not really just a Garwood thing. We've had students from other schools, private schools, um, like St. John's, um, you know, want to participate in our sports. We've held our position that those that attend the middle school here are the ones that are eligible to participate in sports. So, if we start opening that up beyond the walls
023of that building, it kind of opens a lot of different issues, not just your son, but for anyone that goes to another school to try to come here and participate in our sports. >> No, I I I understand that and get that. Um, unfortunately, cuz cuz uh you can do baseball, you can do soccer, you know, seventh and eighth grade. Wrestling's kind of a niche sport that not a lot of people do. Um, Garwood, for instance, has our own uh ba basketball team. We have our own baseball team. I want to be here um arguing for those sports because that's pretty open to a lot of a lot of middle schools, but wrestling again is a very niche sport. And even if we were to allow him to join that middle school team, um you
024could even make it a policy that you know Garwood kids can only be in the exhibition team. they can't even wrestle off for the weight class, but that would still give him the opportunity to be coached by those coaches and be a part of the team and theoretically his future teammates when he goes to ALJ. So, I I totally get that. >> We could take it back. Um I know Coach Ortega was um in favor of trying to keep the program, you know, fluid, right? So, so that someone like your son doesn't have a gap in in wrestling. So, we'll um we can take that back as the athletic committee during our next meeting and I appreciate talk to Mr. Clees about it. >> Thank you. Is there anybody else with another comment follow? Just
025state your name and your address. Hello, John Gre 30. Um, I just I just had something I just wanted to kind of find out if we could maybe try and do, which was um, you know, there's a lot of things that I've heard people say they want to see in the school. Um, you know, one of the things like air conditioning and um, you know, libraries and art programs and I saw like last year there were some girls that wanted to do a um, gymnastics um, team and they couldn't do it. And I understand that there's things that just, you know, that's whatever the budget is that that's that's what's possible. But one of the things is is there a way that we could have like a goal and say, "Hey, if we want to
026get air conditioning or if we want to get a gymnastics team, we need to raise this much money." And maybe we can get the community involved to sort of meet that goal. Cuz some of these things might not be that expensive. like the gymnastics team. I don't know, but that seems like something that would be like tens of thousands of dollars, not necessarily like millions. Um, well, just in general, just is there a way that we can find things that the community's been asking for? I realize I might not be in the budget now, but we could say, "Hey, here's a goal. This is a number that we need to meet there, and we can somehow engage the community to sort of get to that number to help improve things." And that was kind of
027it. There's a way. >> Oh, yeah. It may be tough to talk in generics, but I I can talk talk specifically about the gymnastics team. That was more of an uh a numbers in terms of team members. We didn't have enough girls to support that team. The finances were there. We would have we would have we've had a gymnastics team in the past when there was enough girls. >> Yeah, I saw some of the pictures in the school >> and um but when the the numbers have just not been there the last few years, so we've been forced to co-op or some of them have just been going private. But that was not a that was not a dollars and cents decision. Let's put it that way. >> Let's say like the air conditioning. That's
028something that we could get an estimate of something and be like, "Hey, you know, maybe that's not something we could do." >> There's there's a lot of infrastructure projects that we look at and prioritize one over another. So, this board this Yeah, one second. This board does look at things like that. And Mr. May, who is the head of the uh buildings and grounds, will comment as well. So yeah, with regards to the air conditioning and some of the other things that you mentioned, um, if you just look at the initial cost, you can gauge what that's going to be, but with some >> where would I see that? >> I'm I'm using it in general. We can determine, we can get a bid on what it would cost to supply air conditioning for all
029four schools. >> But what what you also have to take into consideration is the amount of money that it costs to run the air conditioning over the four or five month period that you needed. You need to take into consideration the people that are required to maintain it. You need to take into consideration a lot of other aspects. The board reviewed all that and we determined as a as a board that it wasn't something that was necessary. Uh based >> I I I get that more than just the insulation. >> That's just one example of of the questions that you ask. We analyze everything and you know obviously we have a budget that we have to work within and we take priorities and that uh that was one of the items that wasn't a priority
030and if there's something specifically in mind that you had that you thought was a priority you certainly can address the board and say this is something that we would like the board to look at in the future and when we do meet again and we discuss the next the next round of uh of items that we need for the next session then we discuss that as a whole. >> It's a general concept of sort of saying the community has made certain things that they they would like to see. Can we have something where we can enga like have a goal and engage the community to reach that? >> I try to answer your question. I I think I know what you're asking. >> Like a pathway to do that >> like a process. I think
031you're looking for a process. So my recommendation would be if there are things that the community is looking for or thinks the thinks the board should be considering, what you should be doing is reaching out to the superintendent, communicating that to the superintendent, and then we can figure out how to build an appropriate dialogue because to try to have that dialogue at a public meeting probably doesn't make sense. We probably would need some sort of special meeting where there could be a dialogue around it to determine what's involved, how feasible it is, whether or not it's something that the community could do. There's a lot that would go around around that >> a lot to it. >> Yeah. And I think what you're really looking for is what would the process be? And my recommendation
032would be reach out to the superintendent and he could broker those types of um initiatives that you're looking at to start to build a dialogue around it to determine the feasibility of it. >> Yeah. >> Because we've done it in the past, but a lot of times you see it come through the PTAs, right? Like we've accept and and then it'll come to us as long as it doesn't, you know, like Mr. May said, put us in a in a long-term financial commitment, right? they'll donate this and we'll and we'll we accept that on our monthly agendas as a donation. Not just PTAs but other organizations. They'll donate a scoreboard, they'll donate this and that, right? So, I would say if you're going to have a specific target of something, that's that's where you would
033need the process that Mr. Small just mentioned so that way you don't fund raise or collect or whatever you want to do to obtain the funds and then us be like, "No, no, we can't do that." Right? >> Of course, you guys obviously have to big be a big part of it. That's I guess that's part of it too, right? How do we start that? And I guess you're gonna be getting an email soon and we'll see if we can get the ball rolling. >> Cool. All right. >> That's the best way to >> Thank you, Mr. Greg. Bill Draggy, 47 Post Road, Clark, New Jersey. Um well um we have a new govern governor since I was here last um Mikey Cheryl and um uh since she did not make any executive orders against
034Governor Murphy's executive orders which say there should be LGBTQ teaching to all of our students and uh abortion teaching to all of our students. That means that that executive order of Murphy is still in effect. And uh that's terrible. And the first thing she did, I don't know if it was the first thing, but one of the things she did in her inauguration speech was to state that uh a person can go through an abortion up to 9 months, which is terrible. Um, but it's not it's not as terrible as you might think because uh it's really only uh since since since since the uh the baby is in the womb at conception uh and that's a baby right then and there it's a it's a human being it's really saying like 6 9ths of
035uh uh I mean three three nights in other words the baby can be aborted for another 3 months which isn't really that bad considering the baby can still be aborted up to this first 6 months. So, she is um uh that's a terrible statement to make. And uh as you know we have a uh um a department United States Department of Education Secretary Linda Mcmahan and she has come out against uh LGBTQ stuff being taught to the students and they cannot have any hormones or any operations. So that is the the United States state secret department of of uh education secretary and she is telling us all of that uh and that that is more uh that's more important than um say the state uh secret department of education. So, we should be listening to
036her and and she also said there should not be any uh girls boy uh boys in in women's locker rooms and President Trump President Trump has made an executive order against that also which overtakes Governor Murphy's executive orders. the president's executive orders are more important and are more substantive that more substantive than the uh than any other executive orders by uh >> Thank you, Mr. Governor. >> Time is expired. >> Any other comments from the public on non-aggenda items? Okay. So, at this time, I'm going to ask for a motion for adjournment. Mr. Small, Mr. May. All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you.