001Okay, let's go ahead and get this meeting started. So, moving to agenda item number one. In accordance, call to order. In accordance with the open public meetings NJSA104-6, adequate notification of this meeting has been provided by advertising in the courier news and posting notice in the board of education administration building and district schools and filing notice with the burough clerk. I hereby call to order the regular public meeting Tuesday, October 14, 2025 in the Lincoln Middle School Cafetum 400 Dellan Avenue at 7 p.m. This meeting is broadcast live. For details, check www.theanelinschools.org. Moving on to agenda item number two, roll call. Mr. Pepe, could you please call the role? >> Mr. Anderson >> is present. >> Mrs. Condit, >> present. >> Ms. Ibeck, >> present. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> present. >> Mrs. Howard, >> present.
002>> Mr. Senoi is not here. Miss Shy, >> present. >> Mrs. Shep is not here. Mr. Walker, >> we have a quorum. Oh, >> okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Pepe. So, moving on to item number three, executive session. The Denellan Board of Education will now adjourn into executive session to discuss items that fall within specific exceptions to the Open Public Meetings Act uh CJSA 104-12B. The confidential matters discussed by the board during this executive uh session include items related to individual privacy, collective bargaining agreements uh and personnel. Any discussion that does not need to remain confidential will be made public as soon as it is practical. Minutes of the executive session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists. All individuals who may be discussed in executive session have been notequately
003notified. Action will be will action will take place after the conclusion of the executive session. Uh may I have a motion to move to uh executive session please? >> Move to go to exec. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed. Okay. We'll be back at about 7:30. Okay, we are back. So, um at this time, uh looking for a motion to come back to public. >> Move to go back public. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I opposed. Okay. All right, then. So, moving is here. Moving on to item number four on the agenda. Pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. The flag is over there. Please rise. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,
004one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Will you all please remain standing for a moment of reflection and respect for our troops serving throughout the world, our troops who have served and our troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our United States of America. Thank you. Okay, moving on to item number five, uh, approval of minutes. So, looking for a motion uh to uh motion to approve um the minutes from the September 23rd uh board meeting. >> Approve 5A. >> Second. >> Open for questions, comments. Last call. Okay. Mr. Pepe, can you please call the role? >> Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. Ms. Ibeck. >> Yes. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >> yes. >> Miss Shy, >> yes. >> Mrs.
005Shep, >> yes. >> Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Wonderful. Moving on to item number six. >> Moving on to item six. Uh, we're appointing a new student representative to the board. So, I'll go ahead and read this out. So be it resolved upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the Denellan board of education approves Queen Emil to serve as the student representative to the board of education for the 2025 to 2026 uh school year. So uh may I have a motion please to uh approve 6A? >> Motion to approve 6A. >> Second. >> Open for questions or comments. Okay, Mr. Mr. Pepper, can you please call the role? >> Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. >> Ms. Ibeck, >> yes. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> absolutely. Yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >>
006yes. >> Miss Shyf, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shep, >> yes. >> Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Fantastic. Moving on to item number seven, student recognition. I'll turn this floor over to Mr. Ross. >> Thank you, Dr. Dendrono. Welcome parents. Welcome students. Apologies again for the delay. Uh we had some business to attend to an executive session. It's wonderful to see you all here. Thank you so much for coming. Um we also have some of our staff members here to support all of you. Thank you as well for being here. Um student recognition each month uh recognizes amazing students, outstanding students who have shown great character and contribution to each of their schools. And we have our school administrators here to recognize each one of them individually. We're going to bring out the
007um the step and repeat. Um and so we'll take some pictures. Once all of the students from the school are recognized, we'll pause. Parents, you can get up. You can walk into the aisle, take some pictures. And then at the end of all of the recognitions, uh we'll take about a fivem minute break and you can feel free to take as many pictures as you like or um have a family shot or anything like that. So without further ado, I would uh we'll start with Lincoln Middle School and Mr. Tobin. [Applause] Maybe it's me. >> Good evening everybody. Thank you for coming out to tonight's board meeting. We have our uh three students of the month. Uh one for sixth, one for seventh, and one for eighth grade. Uh we will start with grade six.
008Uh Thomas Tran. Come on up, Thomas. Stay right up here. Uh we had the teachers all share input about each student. Uh what they said about Thomas is that he is eager to share his experiences about the topics they're learning in class and that they are discussing. He consistently earns high grades. He is friendly to his teachers and his peers. He always greets his teachers with a handshake or hello and always a thank you at the end of the period. The same is true I know when I've interacted with Thomas as well, shaking hands and very polite. He is also conscientious about the quality of work he completes and submits. So congratulations again Thomas. Our grade seven student of the month is Emma Coglin. [Applause] Emma's teachers stated that she has been extremely focused on
009her schoolwork so far this year. Uh she has paid great attention to detail in all of her work. She's been respectful to both her staff, the staff at the school and her classmates. And she's working collaboratively collaboratively with others and contributes to the group. So, congratulations. Welld deserved. And our grade 8 student of the month is Sia Diaz. All right. Say is not here, but I will share with you what her teacher said. Uh, Sia demonstrates kindness and curiosity. She is eager to help her classmates succeed. She asks thoughtful questions that enrich the topic of study for all. She collaborates well with peers. She is a leader within the class, always organized and prepared, always a positive attitude and approaches every challenge with maximum effort and creativity. So to congratulations to Sayia and congratulations to
010all of our students of the month. Do you want to take a picture at this time? >> We'll join [Applause] Good evening. Hi, I'm Miss Powell. I'm the assistant principal from Denellan High School. I'm so excited to be here tonight. So thankful for the parents for coming out and I can't wait to share some good um news about our students of the month. So we're going to start with our ninth grade. Our ninth grade student of the month is Jordie Goya Guamin. Come on up, Jordy. You're so welcome. So Jord, this is Jord's first year at DHS and he has quickly established himself as a standout member of the school school community. He's performing exceptionally well academically, earning A's and B's across all of his classes. He's known for his politeness, respectfulness, and positive demeanor,
011and he never fails to greet staff members in the morning um with a cheerful good morning and how are you. His attitude and work ethic sets a wonderful example for his peers and reflect the values we strive to instill in all of our students. Congratulations, Jordy. Our 10th grade student of the month is Miss Maline Poric. Matteline's teachers consistently describe her as an active, engaged learner who brings energy and enthusiasm to every class. She is always willing to help others. She demonstrates strong leadership and is deeply involved in school activities. Maline's commitment to both her academics and her community make her an exceptional representative of the 10th grade. She embodies the qualities of responsibility, kindness, and school spirit that make DHS proud. Congrats, Maddie. 11th grade. So, our 11th grade student of the month is
012Elellani Gil. Come on up, Elellani. Congratulations. And some words about Elellani. She is a respectful, kind, and dependable student who always goes out of her way to support both staff and peers. She is diligent in her studies and consistently demonstrates integrity and compassion in her interactions with others. Elelliana's willingness to help and her steady, positive presence makes her a true asset to our school community. Her quiet leadership and thoughtful nature are deeply appreciated by all who work with her. Congratulations. And last but not least, our 12th grade student of the month, Michael Dao. Congratulations. Michael is an exceptional student who consistently demonstrates academic excellence and strong interpersonal skills. His teachers describe him as a gifted collaborator who naturally becomes the anchor of any group he works with. Mr. Kubiaak notes that Michael is also a
013talented and expressive writer. Beyond his academic strengths, Michael's respectful and polite polite demeanor set him apart as a role model for others. His leadership, maturity, and humility make him an outstanding representative our senior class. Congratulations. [Applause] And now we'll welcome M Mr. Tenant for favor. [Applause] Good evening everybody. Thank you for coming out to celebrate our students at Faber. First up we have Isaac Gonzalez. Special areas from Miss Man in Mr. Laney's class. Come on up Isaac. >> Isaac is kind and caring student. He works hard, gives extra effort and tries his best. Isaac is a pleasure to work with. He shows enthusiasm for his classes, actively participates, and make work makes working for him a joy. Congratulations to Isaac for being a special area student of the month. Clap it up for Isaac, please.
014Fifth grade, we have Jackson Boris. Jackson, no, not here. Well, I'm going to talk about Jackson. Jackson is a student who is not only good when it comes to academics, but he's good, kind kid, and thoughtful for every student in the class. Every day, Jack comes in to school with a positive attitude and is ready to learn. He works extremely hard in all subjects. And that comes from Miss Johnson. Next up, Gigi Salis. Come on up, Gigi. Congratulations, Gigi. Miss Christy Johnson says, "Gi has made a wonderful transition to fourth grade. She participates in class, completes all the work, and is always willing to help her peers. Her positive attitude and effort make her a great example to others." Clap it up for Gigi, please. Next up, we have Callie Mundy. Come on up, Callie.
015Callie is a role model who gets who sets a great example for her classmates. According to Mr. Pansen, she is passionate about learning and always gives her best effort to whatever she does in class. Mr. Pansson appreciates her positive attitude she brings to class every day and congratulates her on winning student of the month. Great job, Cali. [Applause] Second grade, I have Malikica Rufi. Where's Malikica? So proud of you. Hanging. There we go. There we go. Good stuff. Miss Capriola, Miss Halm. We chose Malikica as student of the month because she's a si shining star in the second grade class. She's everyone's cheerleader, always rooting for others and the kindest to her friends and her classmates. Malikica works so hard at everything she does and every day she enters the classroom with the brightest smile
016and is ready to learn. Clap it up for Malikica, please. Next up, first grade, Ryan Mundy. Where's Ryan? Front and center. Well done, Ryan. Ryan comes to school each day with a smile on his face and positive attitude. He is a great friend and helpful to all his classmates. Ryan is becoming a great reader and writer. He always tries his best and gives his best effort whenever learning new skills in class. Look at that big smile. Great job, Ryan. Well done. Kindergarten, we have Nathan Healey. Nathan, come on up. Congratulations, Nathan. Well done. There we go. From his crit, Nathan comes to school every day with a big smile. Always is ready to learn. He loves to learn, follows directions, and is a help to his classmates when they need it. Nathan is a wonderful
017role model in class. Clap it up for Nathan, please. And last but not least, prek. Wally Amir. Where's Wall-E? Come on up, Wall-E. Miss Shaheen's class. Wall-ally always strives to do his best. Each day, Wall-Ally comes to school with a positive attitude and is always ready to lend a helping hand. She is so proud of you, she says. Keep up the great work, Wall-E. Clap it up with a favorite student of the month. Please [Applause] >> come on up for pictures. Everybody [Applause] All right. So, thank you to Mr. Tobin and our incredible administrators, Ashley Powell, Mr. Tenant. Let's give all the students of the month a big round of applause. We're going to take about five minutes. There's uh this is double-sided, so feel free to take some more pictures if you'd like. Um
018and then we've got a lot of business. You're certainly welcome to stay after uh all of this, or you're welcome to go home as I know it's a little late, but thank you all for coming. Congratulations again and have a wonderful evening. [Applause] on the other side. >> Yeah, there's another side. Oh my god. Have a good look. We don't have Congratulations. A lot of He was good. How are you doing? [Music] I don't want to get up. My face was all just I turn around and go. There we go. Start lowering. Oh my god. >> I can't have my husband. Paul I shared the spreadsheet with no but I gota share with everybody else. >> Well, there was the meeting where you asked for a cookie on the microphone. That was >> it's like
019on >> point of order. >> Needs a cookie. >> I think she needs a motion for that though. >> Yeah. >> All right. You're going to give your report. I'm gonna have Welcome aboard. >> Great. each other. >> Yeah, we go way back >> a whole like 10 minutes. >> Okay, perfect. >> All right, let's go. Okay, we are back. We are back. So, uh, good evening everyone. So, we're moving on to um item number uh seven on our agenda. I'm sorry, item number eight on our agenda, president's remarks. So, good evening. For those uh joining us here for the first time, um the Nellan Board of Education is governing body of the school district. We donate our time out of a deep compassion for our students and work to make decisions based on what
020we believe will best help all of our students be successful. The board meets about once per month here in the LMS cafeterium for a public meeting and that covers school district updates, an update from our student representatives, student recognitions just like we had and important presentations like we will have tonight. Our agendas are posted prior to the meeting on the Denellan School District website along with past agendas and attachments and I invite you to join us in our monthly discussions and if you cannot attend uh please join us on the uh reading the following up on the agendas uh and minutes uh that are posted on our website. Uh moving on, I'd like to uh congratulate our new student representative to the board. At the last meeting, we swore in and welcome Mr. Douglas Cordardo,
021excuse me, Guardado Crian to his second term as a student representative to the board last year, having served on the board. Right. This evening, we have have the pleasure of swearing in and welcoming Miss Queen Emil as the other half of our pair of student representatives to the board. Miss Emil, we are so happy that you are have joined us and look forward to hearing the wonderful reports from you and Mr. Crian at our board meetings this year. Welcome. Welcome. Since our last meeting, um, we've had back to school night here at Lincoln Middle School, and it was a great success. It was a, if I, if I recall, standing room only in the cafeterium here, and parents, uh, got a chance to meet most of the key players at LMS. It was a wonderful
022evening. I got a lot of steps in. It's great. Um, also, excuse me, also since our last meeting, um, on a somber note, it's with a great sadness that I'd like to acknowledge the passing of, uh, Councilman Hal Vandermark, uh, at the beginning of October. Mr. Vandermark was an integral part of the Dellan community, well known for his stead steadfast support of our students and the arts. His dedication and service enriched the lives of many, and his presence will be greatly missed. On behalf of the board and the entire community, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for all that Mr. Vandermark contributed to making Denellan a better place. His legacy of commitment and kindness will continue to inspire us for years to come. Thank you, Hal. Moving on, staying healthy. Healthy kids means healthy schools, which
023means a healthy community. Bottom line, we encourage you to take the common sense proven precautions like washing hands well, covering up when sneezing, keeping sick kids home, keeping currently vaccinations to minimize the spread of bacteria and viruses that can really impact our school year and wreck us. Moving on, monthly celebrations. So, I this is the part where I like to just share upcoming or current uh monthly celebrations. So, in October, there are a number of celebrations. a heritage month for German Americans, Italian-Americans, Polish Americans, and Filipino Americans. Uh it's also family history month as well as LGBTQ history month. Specific days of celebration, uh October 10th was World Mental Health Day as well well as world inclusion day. October 11th was National Coming Out Day. We also had Yamapour and Diwali in October. In November,
024we look forward to uh for Heritage Celebrations, Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month. I mentioned these recognitions to underscore how important diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are to the lives and the world around us, to our lives and the world around us. With diversity, we're able to welcome and appreciate different views and perspectives and how that makes our lives richer and stronger. With equity, it's important. Equity is important. So we are all playing on the same field by the same rules. And inclusion is key. So there is equal access to opportunities and resources for everyone. And with belonging, you feel you are part of something, a group, a community where you are accepted, valued, and comfortable. You fit in and are an important part of the whole. These things have an unbelievable impact to
025our community, especially our kids. Open, honest, and genuine communication that is respectful, positive, supportive, fair, and most of all, kind goes a long way in strengthening a community. Thank you everyone for your time and listening. Uh, moving on to Superintendent Report with Mr. Ross. >> Thank you, Dr. Jendano. I will start Superintendent's Report by passing it over to Queen Emil for her debut. Um, Douglas is not with us today and I know that they sort of split the uh, presentation uh, materials, but Queen's got some great updates for us and hopefully we'll see both of them in November. So, Queen, take it away. >> Try it. >> Okay. Good evening everyone. I'm happy to share some updates on how our Denellan athletes have been doing this fall. All of our teams have shown a lot
026of effort, growth, and school pride, and our coaches had great things to say about their progress. Cross country has had an amazing start to the season. Senior Jaden Carbalo has earned first place in three straight meets, while Jason Carbalo finished just 4 seconds behind first place earlier this month. Freshman Jonas um Bradshaw also stood out with top five finishes. The team has shown, as the coach said, strong improvement each week, and they're preparing for a big upcoming meet, including the GMC divisional and sectionals. For football, the coaches describe the team's five seniors as a glue that has kept the team strong. They've helped guide the younger players and bring energy each week. With 15 sophomores and 13 freshman, the future looks promising. The team will finish their last three games at home. The Denellan High
027School cheerleading team has made great progress this year. They've they've raised their stunt level from 1.5 to 2.5 and are even planning to debut their first ever level three pyramid at the October pep rally. The team has also added new cheers, basket tosses, and tumbling to their routines. Off the field, they've shown a lot of initiative with fundraising. Their car wash raised over $800, and their next event, Pi the Professor, will take the place will take place at the pep rally on October 17th. Looking ahead, the team hopes to attend cheer camps and stunt clinics to keep improving their skills in school spirit. Girls soccer is having its best season since 2014 with a 96 record overall and 9-2 in the division. Coaches said, "Our girls have worked extremely hard this season. Junior goalie Rose
028Ciserella reached 300 career saves and is closing in on 500, while Katie Garcia has scored over 20 goals. Other top players include Milana, Lydia Salgado, Jazella Vargas, Sophie Kuransza, and Laya Praish. The team will compete in the first round of the GMC Invitational Tournament this week, and thanks everyone who supported them this season. The boys soccer team is also having one of its best seasons yet, currently ranked third in the Central Group One State Tournament and competing in the quarterfinals of the GMC County tournament. They've defeated Manville, Highland Park, and two group four schools, Edison and Perth Amboy, and they're on a sevengame unbeaten streak. Upcoming games include senior night on October 20th against Calvary Christian and the county invitational quarterfinals on October 21st. The girls tennis team is closing out their season strong. The
029coaches said their biggest strength has been doubles play. At first doubles, Madison Predomo and Amina Black are eight and four. And at second doubles, Joselyn Garcia and Payton Fenor also hold 84 A4 records. A highlight was their senior night win over South Amboy where Megan North battled through two tie breaks to secure the win. The team now looks ahead to the GMC tournament next week. Overall, all of our athletes have worked hard, represented Denellan with pride, and continue to make our school community proud. Thank you for your continued support of Denellan Athletics and congratulations to all of our student athletes on a great fall season. >> Nice job. All right. Very good, Queen. Let's give Queen a nice round of applause for a very well put together initial uh update. And so, obviously, our athletics
030teams are are doing incredibly well. Douglas was going to share some other things happening throughout the district. We'll probably get more information from him in November. Um but in the meantime, thank you. Um I'm going to move on to uh some presentations that we have. We have two required presentations uh as part of uh state accountability metrics. And the first one is the NJSLA DLM spring 2025 assessment results. And I'll I'll ask Miss Jopkin to uh come up and start it off. >> Thank you very much. See you next time. Good evening everyone. Can you hear me? >> Hello. Is that better? Better now. Oh, wow. It's really It's really loud. And you'll notice all the directors now dress similarly. We don't plan it. We just sense it, I guess, in the mornings. It's our
031office. So, uh, now on to the data. So, good evening everyone. Today, we're going to take a look at our New Jersey student learning assessment data. First, you will notice here that it is administered annually in the springtime. It's based on a on a subset of prioritized academic standards. The assessment meets our federal requirements. Data is reviewed by educators and administrators. And in the spring, we assessed students in ELA grades three through nine, mathematics 3 through eight, algebra 1, algebra 2, and geometry are the assessments that were taken for our math and science grades 5, 8, and 11. So these are the reports that come back to us. We have a standards analysis in which they will do is they'll do the difficulty level and it's determined by state level for all reports. And we
032have the evidence statements and some of the items are not tested. So those are left blank. So you will notice that some of the standards may be tested. And then for the district, you won't see the district colorcoded. They're left blank. Different types of items for math. You have type one, which goes over your concept skills and their direct content. There's type two, which is mathematical reasoning, and your type three, modeling, and application. Our ELA type items are evidence-based selection response, technology enhanced items, and the pros constructed response. So, parent reports that are sent home, you will see the different achievement levels, level one through five. Level one is did not meet and level five is exceed expectations. On those reports, you will see the student score and you will also be able to see
033how they did for the school average, the district, and the state average. So now we're going to take a look at some of our language arts data. These are the same grade, different students. So you will notice that our students in grades three through five show consistent gains with proficiency levels are four to five have increased set to 75. middle school, we're stabilizing our scores with grades six and seven near 65% passing, yet still they're still below our state average. And our grade nine is still a focus. They declined a little bit from the previous year. So here you will see our same students consecutive grades over two years. So there's upward movement in some of the earlier grades. So 3 to four and then four to five the cohort of students that are moving
034along. Um our oop I hit the wrong um we have mid-level stability stabil stability um and some steady performance here. We have a mild decline you will notice in our five to six and six to seven. sometimes that transition from grade 5 to six and then we have mild from sixth to 7th grade. You will notice however from our grade 7 to 8 and 8 to nine we did see an increase in our student scores for passing levels three through five. So here for our language arts you will see the difference with the state. Many of our uh ELA scores you will notice are below our state passing for four and five. Here is our subgroup data by our L free reduced lunch section 504 special education and gened. And then here you can see
035it for our meeting and exceeding students. And then here we have by race. And then this is our percent meeting and exceeding. So our Hispanic economically disadvantaged and our special education students still perform below their peers. So we are continuing to move forward with our differentiation and targeting instruction for them. So you will notice in our next steps with curriculum we do have an implementation of arts and letters K to2 this year and six through eight we have high quality instructional materials with vertical alignment in it should actually be in grades K through eight. So this will be the first time in our kindergarten through 8th grade where all of our ELA will be doing the same using the same program that meets the standards. And we are currently going to be adopting and reviewing
036high quality instructional material instructional materials for students in grades 9 through 12 for ELA and taking a look at our understanding writing course instruction and assessment. We're continuing to strengthen our small group instruction. We implemented benchmarks in grades 9 through 12 this year for the first time and we now have instructional coach coaches across the district to assist in grades K through 12. We have two in our K to 5. We have one right now in our 6 through 12. And we are looking for with the coach grant that we received our K to2 literacy coach. Professional development. We are continuing. We are utilizing professional learning communities to analyze student data. We're structuring PD on best practices in ELA teaching strategies and literacy research and really also understanding the difference between evidence-based instruction and research
037based instruction. So it's something we're really working on this year and providing PD on new programming to support the implementation process. We want to make sure that the teachers feel comfortable using the new resource across K to8 and that they feel supported in using this. So taking a look at our mathematics. So you will notice in grades three through five we have improved in grades um four and five. So our student levels have increased. Our middle school scores have dipped a little um in grades six through eight. They show inconsistent achievement with proficiency ranging from 34% 61% and then our eighth grade is 26%. Our algebra 1 scores um they are at 96% at our middle school and you will notice at our high school they were at 41%. our geometry and algebra 2. Both
038of them did see an increase from the previous year. And then here is our same students consecutive grades over two years. So you can see in grades 3 to four and four to five, we have strong early gains there. The cohort rose sharply. They went from 57% to 77% passing for three through five. And here for our district um comparison to the state, you will notice our algebra 1 scores exceed state average by 39.9%. So that's strong instruction and our algebra 1 at the middle school level. And here you'll notice our subgroup by program. So again our um MLS our economically disadvantaged section 504 special education and general education. Here you will see the percents meeting and exceeding and then this is by sub uh district subgroup by race and also our percentage meeting and
039exceeding. So here our overall math p prof proficiency shows areas of growth at the elementary level. There are still achievement gaps across the subgroups, especially among our Hispanic students, students with disabilities, and those that are economically disadvantaged. So, our next steps for mathematics, we're continuing the use of Magma Math for formative assessment in grades K through five, and we are looking to pilot it in hours six through eight. We are continuing the implementation of our high quality instructional material, Big Ideas, in grades six through 12. That was rolled out last year. Now that the teachers have a year underneath, we will continue uh support and coaching for that and creating vertical maps that pinpoint power standards and our prerequisite skills for each grade level. So instruction and assessment utilizing in grades 9 through 12 to
040provide personalized learning opportunities. This can really help target math fluency and align very closely to our standards. We are continuing to implement Ireie and we are now going to be using the I Ready progress monitoring and standards mastery in our K through eight. So this will really help take a look at the standards and the standards mastery gives a preassessment and a post assessment a very quick little assessment four to six questions so we can see where students are and where they need to be and then how we're assessing and then using item analysis to identify patterns of student misunderstandings. professional development. We're maintaining our instructional co coaching across grades K through 12. And then our coaching is focused on implementing small groupoup math instruction and targeted PD for grades six through eight and our
041science. So our overall proficiency is below state averages. You will notice these are the same grade, different students. So we are still below for um students in 5 8 and 11. Elementary is about 16 points below our state average. And our eighth grade is about 6%. So we do see a little increase there from the previous year. And then our 11th grade is about 11% below the state average. Here's by subgroup. And then for our science they do prof uh percent proficient and advanced proficiency and then by race. So as we noticed in the data there are still gaps. They're consistent across across the subgroups and similar to the language arts and mathematics our um subgroups the Hispanic economically disadvantaged and students um with IEPs. So for curriculum reviewing science resources that align to the
042NJSL the New Jersey student learning standards but also the next generation science standards with clear threedimensional learning. So um just looking at those progress progressions and also making sure that the literacy practices are embedded. So prioritizing hands-on phenomenonbased units and implement New Jersey practice items into weekly lessons. So the New Jersey puts out questions from previous years and in our uh K through five the coach will be working with our teachers and also the teachers in grades four and five that focus on science on how to implement these standard um practice questions into their weekly lessons. So the students are getting comfortable practicing and taking the science assessment science focused coaching cycles in K to 5. uh we are piloting the link science benchmarks in six through 12 and then strengthening our integration of reading
043and r writing in science through claims evidence and re uh reasoning routines for short constructed responses. So much like language arts and math, there are short there are constructed responses in science and professional development, utilizing our PLC time to analyze data and create lessons to target skills and strategies and continuing to support our middle and high school teachers to sa scaffold inquiry for students with IEPs and MLS. >> Thank you. Um, so I'm going to talk about our dynamic learning map um, which is the alternate assessment for students with our most significant disabilities. Um, just for confidentiality purposes, just a uh, statement about FURPA. Um, also you'll notice as we go through the slides that science is not reported because our students that took the science assessment was less than 10. So those scores are
044not reported. So just an overview of what the DM dynamic learning maps are. um it is the state assessment for students with the most significant disability and it really assesses what the student knows as opposed to um their the grade level standards. The assessment is individualized. Students have to take a um kind of initial profile to kind of see where they're starting at and then the assessment um kind of is is uh it it's adaptive as it goes through with the student in the digital platform. Um, students are also mostly educated using the essential elements um to kind of determine the mastery of their skills. And for ELA and math, it's grades 3 through 8 and grade 11. And for science, it's 5, 8, and 11. So slightly different than the, um, more traditional state
045standard. So in terms of our district results, um, a little bit smaller population than what Miss Drafkin reported. Um, so for the grades, we had, um, 12 for ELA, 14 for mathematics. Um, and as you can see, half, if not more, of our students were at target or advanced when it came to the assessments. Um, and I think that that really has to do with just the high quality instruction and also making sure that the students who are eligible for the DM um, is appropriate. The state, the district did go through technical assistance with the state last school year to really work on ensuring that students who are eligible for the DM that it was an appropriate um, assessment for them. So I think that these scores also kind of show that the students who
046have our most significant disabilities are appropriate and we are seeing success when it comes to the state assessments and again science is not reported because the students was less than 10. So in terms of next steps um I would say that um Mr. Trakin and I are working very closely um when it comes to curriculum to ensure that our special education teachers have access to highquality instruction and also resources and making sure that the essential elements are embedded into every aspect kind of of the student's day as well as looking at the IEP development. Um we also really encourage the teachers to co-plan and also have the general education teachers really be aware of what those essential elements are for students. Um when it comes to instruction and assessment um again really working with our
047teachers to understand which students are eligible for the DM and then providing them the resources for the instruction within the classroom. Um we also have been increasing our inclusion opportunities um specifically in science um and the science co-eing pairs really are working with the essential elements to ensure that students can participate in the curriculum just getting um adapted differentiated material. In terms of professional development um I found the technical assistance that we received during the 2425 school year to be extremely informative. um really helping the child study team to make informed decisions about students who are and are not eligible to uh take the DM. So I plan to continue that professional development with our case managers. Um and then also just providing our instructional staff with opportunities to be exposed to the essential elements
048having the additional resources and making sure that they align with the IEP goals. Mr. for us. >> So I'll I'll just keep this portion very short. Um I will present on the district goals next month. Um this presentation is also available online. So feel free to take a closer look at any of the numbers or any of the metrics here. But just a reminder that we have our key priorities uh and our alignment is I think very strong this year. Um we're uh we're looking at multi-tered system of supports, instruction through walkthroughs, curriculum alignment, uh professional learning, communities, feedback, and student attendance as our key priorities. And we're really looking at uh student progress and student outcomes on on a variety of assessments throughout the year um through improvement cycles. So there's information about each
049one here, but basically, you know, as you can see from the results, we've got some strong areas of of growth in elementary school, especially upper elementary. We see a dip in the middle school, which we're looking at, and then we see kind of a a back uptick at the high school, and we've got consistent growth in some grade levels at the elementary school. And a lot of that is really about curriculum and instruction and teaching practices. And the staff have been wonderful, the leadership has been wonderful. Um, and we're we're doing the same now up in the middle school. And as Miss Drapkin mentioned, K2, we're looking at strong alignment there in ELA. We do have to turn our attention to math because, as you saw, third grade math is an area where we definitely
050need some improvement, but this programming is all, you know, part and parcel of our our complete and total redesign of of the the systems here. So, we've got MTSS, which is uh going to be fully in place this year at Faber, is being built at at the middle school. Um, we've talked a lot about instruction and curriculum. PLC's are rolling out this year, uh, very strongly. There's been a lot of feedback and a lot of outreach about the things that we're doing and the things that we can continue to do that are working and areas we need to improve. We're looking at student attendance as a really significant aspect of student performance, which we know is a it's a very direct correlation. And then ongoing and professional development uh, coaching. This has been something that
051we've been focused on for years. uh but now we've got more staff capacity and with the recent grant award we'll have even more uh capacity to support our teachers. So that's really what we're looking at. So thank you and thank you to Mr. Drapkin and Dr. Santanelo as well for for presenting their portions board members. Do you have any questions for anyone on the presentation? All right, then without further ado, I would like to bring up Mr. Altmire for his uh debut presentation, the very exciting school self- assessment for determining grades under the Anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act 2024 25 presentation. Couldn't have said it better. There you go. Thank you, Mr. Ross. Good evening, everyone. As the anti-bullying coordinator for the district, um like Mr. Ross said, I am required to present a statemandated
052report and it's on the school self assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying bill of rights act. Keep in mind uh this information and data that I'm presenting tonight is based on last year, last school year, the 2425 school year. I worked very closely with the three anti-bullying specialists from each of the schools to complete this. And being a rookie, they were very helpful as far as completing this report as well. Each school safety team completed a 38-page self assessment in September 2025, last month, consisting of eight core elements. Number one, HIV program approaches or other initiatives. Number two, training on the board of ed approved HIV policy. Number three, other staff instruction and training programs. Number four, curriculum and instruction initiatives on HIV and related information and skills. Number five, HIV personnel. Number six,
053school level HIV incident reporting procedure. Number seven, HIV investigation procedure and number eight, HIV reporting. It's a four rating categories for each indicator. Zero points for does not meet requirements, one point for partially meeting the requirement, two points for meets all requirements, and three points for exceeds the requirement. Furthermore, with the scoring, the school grade is a raw score of data and the sum of the ratings for all indicators within each core element. Maximum total score for a school is 78 points. The minimum total score to pass is 52 points. The district grade is an average of total scores of all schools in the district. Keep in mind the grade will come out in the spring. So the score that I'm reporting now is based on the 2324 school year which was a 77 which
054again the maximum score is a 78. So we did very well as far as the individual school reports. As you see the three schools are listed. DHS ended up with a 76 for a self assessment this year. LMS a 76 as well and Faber a 75. And again, this is something that we are self assessing ourselves on. So again, we will read the final score in the spring. As far as district strengths, starting with curriculum and instruction on HIB, there was a program that we used uh very well and it was the Middle Sex County NJ4s for grades 6 through 12. And what they did was they came in and they presented two different presentations to the students in those grades during their PE periods. The first one was on growth mindset which was in
055January of last year and the second one was bullying and social media safety in February. Another important thing that they did for us and we are going to continue to work with them is evening parentmies for the district. A second component to the curriculum and instruction on HIB was partnering with urban assembly. As far as other elements that we did very well with school level HIV incident reporting procedures, HIV investigations procedures, HIV reporting and training on board of ed HIV policy. improvements in progress, things that we're going to focus on this school year. Throughout the upcoming school year, the district will focus on ongoing training for new hires, increasing PD for school safety team members, staff training with regards to restorative practices, maintaining documentation that would allow the district to demonstrate that it exceeds requirements
056and continuing to create parent workshop sessions to support the work in the district. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Does anyone have any questions? >> Okay, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you all. Uh all right. So uh other items for discussion. Um I will try to go through these relatively quickly. I know it's 900 p.m. already. Uh first is that we got our updated scores from the CQAC process. This is the quality signal assurance continuum uh accountability monitoring that every district in the state goes through every three years. Uh we like many districts with our demographic profiles did not pass the QAC process in instruction and program which is uh based uh 60% of which is based on academic performance on state testing. So we had a corrective action plan that was put in
057place last year. our results for the spring 2024 assessments, which is the last results that they have, uh did improve a little bit, but also still fell short, were required to earn uh 60 points and we were about.3 short. Um and so uh sorry, 40 points and we're about.3 uh short. So we will need to be on a corrective action plan. Again, I do believe that the results from the spring 25 assessments will push us over uh the um the the mark there um which will take us off of the the DIP the D the district improvement plan that's required. So um in the meantime uh we will present the CAP uh or the DIP to the board and then we'll board approve that again and then we'll go through that that process and continue
058with that. Um, I'm very excited that we were able to receive uh four grant uh awards from the New Jersey Department of Education. The DOE put out four grants through the office of um literacy, education, uh and reading. Uh it's the Lear office. These are comprehensive literacy state development grants. The original date for these was supposed to be September 15th. We heard about these just last week. Um and we did receive all four of the grants. The first is the coach grant. These all have really nifty little acronyms. The coach grant is $150,000 per year renewable for five years. So it's $750,000 total. This is to support the hiring and and uh professional development of a K12 literacy coach. We got the impact grant which was $100,000 which is for the purchase and uh professional
059development around highquality instructional materials which we will be tailoring for the high school. We got the RISE grant which was $50,000 which is uh going to help support intervention and this is at the middle school and the high school. Um and we'll we will be providing Wilson training and coaching at the middle school. Um which is excellent. And the last is the Lyft grant which was $40,000 for family engagement uh for the youngest learners families of zero to three year olds. Um so those who are sort of pre preschool supported by a community parent involvement specialist. So in all uh these four grants that we heard about last week um will provide us with $940,000 in additional funding to support literacy efforts through the district. So really remarkable stuff. Um labor management collaborative is moving
060forward. We have building based team meetings that we are trying to schedule for the end of this month and then we'll also run a district labor management council collaborative team in about December or January. Uh we had a great inservice day on October 2nd. Um we had se sessions on Atlas and um AI which were led by our learning experience leaders. They are uh staff leaders as you know who are supported through um our innovations in uh teacher climate and culture grant through the DOE. Uh those folks are uh Miss Mette Brown, Mr. Fortuno, uh Christy Johnson, Miss Travers, Miss Taminsky at the middle school, and Miss Bodak, and Miss McCarthy um at the high school. Miss Andimeo was unable to attend, but she is the third LEAL at the high school. We also had
061uh presentations from our ENL folks. Um this was the multilingual learner teacher toolbox. At Faber, it was Miss Fontana, Miss Canella, Miss Melanowski, and Miss Khalifa. At the middle school, Miss Delveio, and Miss Franklin. and at the high school, Miss Jordan and Mr. Omana. We also had CPI training from our behaviorist, Nancy Coer. Um, and so we really have uh been relying on our own staff to provide a lot of the professional development and training, which I think is wonderful. Builds their capacity. Um, ensures that we've got really strong leadership within for uh for that support. We also welcomed a team from North Planefield's East End Elementary School who shared information about their district's restorative practices initiative. Mr. Altmire just mentioned that as well. We had principal John Lucas, assistant principal Liv Thomas, and uh
062music teacher Caitlyn Valentine uh who was on the district uh steering committee. So, I just want to thank um you know, I I I did write a thank you letter to the North Planefield Board of Education um and Superintendent Dr. Michelle Aino. Um but I just want to thank them for their partnership and their willingness to to send some folks over um during the day. >> Were those sessions recorded? they that was not recorded. Now, um I want to congratulate Matt Olivy who is our grounds person. Um he was selected to present at the Green Expo Turf and Landscape Conference in Atlantic City in December. Um and he's presenting on his work on the sports fields and grounds management in the district. Um and so we've got people presenting uh at all sorts of places
063and Matt being one of them is great. He's wonderful. If you see, you know, around the building, uh it's always very well landscaped. The fields are always in excellent condition. Um we're very proud of the work that Matt does. >> Question. >> Yeah. >> Would we be able to see what he's gonna present since we're not going to be there? Is it possible? >> Yeah, I'm sure I could get that presentation. See the slides? >> Yeah. Um I would like to mention as a coach who sees lots of different fields. Ours is in excellent condition in comparison. He's doing a really great job. >> Awesome. Awesome. Thank you. I will let him know that there's a lot of appreciation from the board about the work that he does. Um we next week we have um
064New Jersey Schoolboards Association conference um and Miss Drapkin uh Abby Franklin um from the middle school and I will be presenting a session called engaging and celebrating multilingual learners and their families. Um this is a presentation. We've pretty much finalized the presentation, but it's about our work over the last couple of years to um build capacity in that department, really restructure the way that we're teaching kids, the way that we're including them in classes, celebrating them, and uh and working with their families as well. I will also be presenting a session called leveraging local flexibilities in teacher evaluations, which is a much less fun sounding um presentation with Dr. Pete Mezagatti from the department of education and Elizabeth Yukas who is assistant director of um professional development and instruction issues at NJA Tuesday and >>
065Tuesday and Wednesday. Yep. >> Which >> respectively or >> I don't know actually. >> Okay. >> Tuesday is the NJ DOE one. Wednesday is the is uh the district one. >> District one. >> Yeah. Um, I am also proud to announce that Denellan High School students will be joining the youth advisory board of the Nikil Badlani Foundation. Um, which is an organization dedicated to traffic safety and education. Denellan is only the third district in the state participating in the advisory board. The other two are West Orange and Burlington City. Um, and the advisory board is uh it's a youth advocacy uh organization. They deal with programming initiatives. They have been very involved with um the passage of recent traffic laws including the mandatory requirement to move over when someone stopped in the shoulder which had
066been a law in other states for many years and is a relatively new law in New Jersey. Um and um Sangeita Bandlani was recognized by uh Governor Murphy during his state of the state address this year. Um she spoke at a uh keep middle sex moving event where Faber was honored and so I met her. She seemed great. The organization seems amazing and they're doing training through Terry Albertson and some of the safety ambassadors. Many of the same students will be involved in the youth advisory board. Um as the second uh grant for the DOE climate change education and resilience uh piece, Faber is going to be running also student advisory groups with Ruckers. Uh, Miss Gunther is the point person and the students met, I think, today for the first time. Um, is that
067right? Yeah, today. Um, and we're very excited that, uh, First Lady Tammy Murphy is tentatively scheduled to visit the district for Faber's harvest day, uh, which is late November during Thanksgiving week. So, that's very, very exciting. The kids do incredible work. Um, and, uh, you know, our partnership with Drop the Beats Farm has really been amazing. Um, if you've seen the aquaponics and hydroponics setup throughout the the buildings, um, you know, it's wonderful stuff. There's a college fair at the high school on October 30th. Um, I also received a very nice email from Kelly Cedar today. Um, Miss Cedar is the recreation department for the burrow. Um, she's very she sent her regards uh, thankful for the work of the high school students who volunteered for the haunted trail fundraiser this past weekend. She was
068also very thankful for staff members who supported the event. uh Miss Piano who um coordinated the volunteers and also helped out at the event. Uh Mr. Miller for running certain stations and building props for the event and Miss Bulkar for escorting groups into the trail. So, thank you to the students and thank you to the staff for supporting the partnership with um with the burrow and the haunted trail um fundraiser. And lastly, uh the prek facilities project. We have had a lot of interest from um our contractors. The bid opening is Friday, right, October 17th. And so we will have a sense of what the contract uh contractor bids come in at and then we'll have a better sense of how we're we're planning to move forward um what the next steps will be. So
069board members, I'll share that information with you when we get the the bid opening and that's completed. Okay. Uh last but not least is the enrollment report. And I don't have it printed out, but I know it's in the agenda. Perfect. I'll take this one. Um, so the in October, uh, the district, uh, went up to 1,418 students total. Um, 1418 including private prek. uh Faber is at 611, middle school is at 314, the high school is 410, and we have 83 students that are currently in private uh prek uh at our two providers. So, we are up another 32 students since late August. Um and we're right about where we were at the end of last year in total number of students at 1424. So, there's sort of a steadiness there. Um perhaps we've
070crested u but that's where we are and I'll provide another update next month. Thank you for this and that is the superintendent report. Okay. Thank you Mr. Ross. Any questions guys? Okay. Moving on to uh item number 10 on the agenda. Public comments on agenda items only. So, the board invites public comment from members of our community in accordance with board policy 0167 on agenda action items, excuse me, to be voted on only. Public comment sections are intended to provide an opportunity for members of the public to express themselves on school matters uh of community interest. The board and administration will take notes during public comment, but will not provide substantive responses uh to questions or concerns raised by individual speakers. If necessary, the superintendent may provide a brief response after the entire public comment
071period is completed. The board appreciates and welcomes feedback from the community, but is not at liberty to engage in back and forth dialogue with members of the public during this portion of the meeting. Prior to making your public comment, please state your name and municipality. Please note that all statements must be directed to the presiding officer. Please come to the microphone at this time if you would like to make comments on agenda action items uh to be voted on only. Prior to beginning your comment, please state the action item to be voted on that you would like to comment on. Last call. Okay, moving on to item number 11, education discussion items. Um, I will turn the floor over to the chair of the education committee, uh, Mrs. Howard. >> Thank you. Um, this month's
072education committee was attended by myself, Miss Ivac, Miss Shy, Dr. Jendrono, Miss Japkin, and Mr. Ross. The education committee met on October 7th and discussed a number of items including an update on the district's goal setting work for the 2526 school year. Information about four new NJ DOE grants that were awarded to the district this last week. A number of policies, regulations, and bylaws recommended for second reading and approval. A wide rate a wide range of staff professional development occurring throughout the district. DHS students participating in the youth advisory board of the Nquille Budlani Foundation, which is an organization focused on improving traffic safety across the state and a variety of other items and confidential matters. >> Thank you, Mrs. Howard. Moving on to item number 12, education action items. So, I think I'll do
073A3D first and then E by itself. Yep. So uh first no. All right. Uh so moving on. So the I'd like to um looking for a motion to approve 12 A through D as a block. >> Move to approve 12 A through D as a block. >> Second. Open for questions or comments. Last call. >> What's that? >> Clarification on the process. We're going to we can vote on these and then we'll have a separate motion for that. >> Yes. >> So, open for questions, comments. Last call. Okay. Mr. Pepe, can you please call the role? >> Hello. This is for items A through D as listed on the posted agenda. Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. >> Miss Ibeck, >> yes. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >> yes.
074>> Miss Shy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shep. >> Yes, but >> Mr. Walker. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Okay. >> Thank you. >> What's it ask for? Yeah. >> So, looking for a motion uh to approve 12E. And let me read that out. So 12E is be it resolved based on the disciplinary charges outlined in the letter sent to the parents of pupil number 101 which the board finds to be substantiated. The board hereby continues the outofschool suspension of pupil number for a period of 45 total days. And be it further resolved that the student shall continue on the current home instruction program during the suspension period. and be it finally resolved that the students family be notified of the board's action and their appeal right as required by law. Looking for a motion for
075that. That's 12E. >> Move to approve 12E. >> Second. >> Open for questions or comments. Last call. Okay. Mr. Mr. Pepe, could you please call the role? >> Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. >> Miss Ibeck, >> yes. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >> yes. >> Miss Shy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shep, >> yes. >> Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Motion passes. Okay. Thank you. Moving on to item number 13 uh personnel discussion items uh the personnel committee report um I chair that committee so I will give that report there so um on October 7th the personnel committee met um in attendance were uh myself uh Mr. Anderson Mr. Shep and Mr. Ross. Uh, and we, um, during the course of that meeting, we discussed a number of items,
076including staffing information for the current year, updates on work being completed by the district security team throughout the district, an update on the negotiations between the board and the DAA, and a number of confidential items. Okay, moving on to item 14, uh, personnel action items. Looking for a motion to approve 14 A through I as a block. >> Move to approve 13 A through I as a block. >> 14. Sorry, >> I'm sorry. Move to approve items 14 A through I as a block. >> Thank you. Second. Steady. >> Open for questions, comments. Last call. >> Okay. Um, Mr. Pepe, can you please call the role? >> Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. >> Miss Ibeck, >> yes. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >> yes. >> Miss Shy, >>
077yes. >> Mrs. Shep, >> yes. >> And Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Okay. Wonderful. Moving on to item number 15, operations uh uh discussion items, operations committee report. I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Walker, who is the chair of the operations committee. Thank you, Dr. Jeno. The operations committee met on October 7th at 7 p.m. I was not present that evening, but present were Miss Condit, Dr. Jeno, Mr. Papy, and Mr. Ross. The operations committee discussed at this meeting a number of items on tonight's agenda for approval. updates related to the district's preschool facilities expansion grant, updates on the many internal construction projects occurring throughout the district, security improvements and actions that are ongoing, and a variety of confidential matters. That is all. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Walker. Moving
078on to item number 16, uh, operations action items. Looking for a motion to approve 16 A through K as block. Move to approve items 16 A through K is blocked. >> Second. >> Open for questions, comments. >> You can flip forward if you want. >> We'll split them next time. >> Open for questions, comments. Okay, last call. Okay, Mr. Pepe, please call the RO. >> Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. >> Ms. Ibeck, >> yes. >> Dr. Mr. Gendrono, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shep, >> yes. >> And Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Wonderful. Moving on to item number 17. Uh, topics for the board as a whole, discussion items. Policy committee report >> and the policy committee did not
079meet. So, we will move on to number 18. Uh, topics for the board as a whole. Action items. looking to approve uh 18A. >> Motion follow >> motion to approve 18A. >> Second. >> Okay. Open for questions or comments. Last call. Okay. Mr. Pep, can you please call the role? >> Mr. Anderson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Condit, >> yes. >> Ms. Ibeck, >> yes. >> Dr. Gendrono, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard, >> yes. >> Miss Shy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Shep, >> yes. >> Mr. Walker, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Okay, wonderful. Moving on to item uh number 19. Uh old business. Is there any old business for us to talk about? I will just make one last plug. School boards is next week. You can still come. It's still possible to go. I
080will be there. Uh others are coming as well. Um but yes, I will stop uh mentioning that after the school boards. Yes, but I'll wait at least a month before I start for the next one. So, okay. Okay. Any other old business? All right. Moving on to 20. New business. Any new things that you guys want to bring up? Okay. Moving on to item number 21, president's remarks. Nothing um prepared just to say. I wanted to say you know thank you to um Dr. Santiello um Miss Drabkin and Mr. Altmire for the great presentations. I think sorry I didn't catch them before they left but um wanted to get that on record um that uh I think they were great presentations very clear um we got work to do but you know we know where
081we are which is great um and uh yeah nothing else for me to say at this point that hasn't already been said so let's not belabor the point um moving on to item number 22 public comments any issue any topic so the board at this time invites Public comments from members of the community in accordance with board policy 0167 on any issue, any topic. Public comment sections are intended to provide an opportunity for members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest. The board and administration will take notes during public comment, but will not provide substantive responses to questions or concerns raised by individual speakers. If necessary, the superintendent may provide a brief response after the entire public comment period is completed. The board appreciates and welcomes feedback from the community,
082but is not at liberty to engage in a back and forth dialogue with members of the public during this portion of the meeting. Prior to making a public comment, please state your name and municipality. Please note that all statements must be directed to the presiding officer. Please come to the microphone at this time if you'd like to make uh comments on any issue or any topic. >> Hi, my name is Erica Corley. I live right here in Denellan. Um so I just want to say thank you for the presentations um that were shared with us today as well. Um listening to those presentations, I do know that the New Jersey Department of Ed um has switched providers from Pearson to Cambium. So I know that they are doing field testing this fall. So, I was
083curious if Danellen will be partaking in that field testing. Um, and also during those presentations, you mentioned um a lot of work on multi-tered systems of support. Um, I just was curious if the district has also looked at um the professional development opportunities that the NJPSA, that's the New Jersey Principal and Supervisors Association, offers. Um I have looked at those myself uh previously and they do have quite a robust selection during the fall um as well as the spring. So just wanted to share that as well. >> Great. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> Any other comments? Last call. Okay. Oh, Mr. Ross. >> Um, so thank you for your comments. Um, yes, the field testing is scheduled for late October into mid November. There's a couple blackout dates for the NJA uh convention
084and Veterans Day. Um, but yes, the transition from Pearson to Cambium is going to be, I will call it, a disastrous one. Um, but I guess that's why we're doing field testing. the field testing that we're doing is actually not adaptive. Um, which is interesting. So, students will be taking an adaptive assessment, but the test itself that they'll be taking is sort of predetermined in order to validate some of the question types, etc. Um, all districts in New Jersey that have testing that are testing students do have to participate. And this was sort of a late decision. There had been originally there was going to be a sort of pilot group and then they said every district needs to practice this because obviously the stakes are very high in March and April uh and May
085for this and um scoring is going to be very much unknown. We don't know how the scores are going to align with prior scores because it's a totally different assessment that's never been given before um and it's a new system which means that there's all these new tech technical requirements but other than that I'm sure it's going to be fine. So uh as we have a district testing coordinator on the board and I know that she's uh gone through sort of Helen back in order to learn that the that as well. So um yes indeed. So uh with regard to tiered system of supports I haven't seen the PSA uh offerings but we actually have been working uh closely with some consultants on MTSS. So uh Christine uh Christy Vincentelli uh and uh Dr. and
086John Lee have both been in the district for I guess since really last year. Um and we have a very strong TSS um system that's built out at Faber um we're really refining the SEAL components of the tiered systems and then middle school and high school are a work in progress. We have an interventionist now at the middle school this year um which has helped a lot but the team of interventionists has really done a wonderful job building those structures out and now it's really just about practicing it and getting making sure that staff members know what the expectations are. But I I appreciate the the recommendation. I'll definitely check those out. So, thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ross. Uh moving on to item number 23. Executive session. So the Denellan Board of
087Education will now adjourn into executive session to discuss items that fall within specific exceptions to the Open Public Meetings Act CJSA 104-12B. The confidential matters discussed by the board uh during this executive session uh include items related to individual privacy, collecting bar collective bargaining agreements as well as uh personnel. Any discussion that does not need to remain confidential will be made public as soon as it is practical. Minutes of the executive session will not be disclosed until the need for confidentiality no longer exists. All individuals who may be discussed in executive session have been adequately notified. Action will not take place after the conclusion of the executive session. So may I have a motion to move into executive session? >> To go to exe. >> Move to go to exe. >> Second. >> All those
088in favor? I >> I opposed. >> Okay, we will see you next time. Uh, November something 18th. 18th. Same bat time, same bat channel.