001[Music] okay good evening everyone today is Thursday Fe 27th 2025 and it's 5:00 p.m. Mr banano can we have roll call please Mr demiglio here Mr Grio I am here Dr Hopkins pres miss inocencia Mr Jackson here miss Lort here miss Maris Mr Parker here miss s here have thank you can you also read the open public meetings act please in accordance with the open public meeting ACT public law 1975 chapter 231 Sunshine Law copies copies of the public notice were sent to The Courier News the home News Tribune the star Legend Franklin repor tap into Franklin Township Franklin Township Clerk manager district schools offices and associations PTO presidents and posted on the district we thank you can I get a motion to move into confidential session please move by Nancy seconded by second seconded
002by Jimmy all in favor thank you so there is a motion to adjourn to confidential session for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including student Personnel matter a special education settlement a workman's compensation matter and an interview for the Franken High School principal minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists we'll be back apologies it is 7:37 we are 7 minutes late to the regular session uh we just came back from confidential motion um the confidential session was for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including student personal matters a special education settlement a workman's compensation matter and interviews for the Franklin High School principal minutes will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists can I request Erica to lead us with the
003Pledge of Allegiance for those of you who are able to stand please do so to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stand one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you can I request Nick to read the mission statement please Franklin Township Public Schools embrace es its diversity Fosters excellent educational Innovation and empowers all students to achieve their Highest Potential thank you can I get a motion to adopt the agenda please with the addendum so moved by Bill can I get a second so second seconded by Nancy all favor thank you and we are on to Miss Clark good evening um is with great pleasure that I introduce Mr Mark gunderman the musical director of this fine group of students up here
004who's going to tell you tell us a little bit about them and what they'll be performing then they'll be performing and then we'll ask them to come up and speak a little bit about themselves introducing you five seniors from SCH schol who have dedicated most of their educational lives to learning these instruments and music making um many of them started in fifth grade uh in our district and they're a major tour of our performance a lot of them have a full rehearsal before coming here uh rehearsing musical rehearsing stuff for so anyway they're going to play two pieces for you um the first one they're going to do is a Tango the second one is a Walt which should for [Music] la [Music] the [Music] the [Music] ch [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music]
005for [Music] all e [Music] all [Music] all [Music] I e [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] okay I'd like to ask you guys to come up when you're done and you can just introduce yourself your grade what you plan to do the music program whatever you want to say hi everyone um my name is Arona um Mr gunman already said that I'm a senior um I appreciated the uh program um they let me switched my instrument when I was in sixth grade um and so far I've been stuck with the viola for almost my entire life but I don't regret it um no I I I really appreciate the pieces that he gives us um we're working on more bringing more U movie soundtrack pieces into the uh program so look forward to that even though I'm
006gone um and I guess his influence has also traveled into my own life because um for college I will be going into the music industry I will be learning the uh music production and music management uh part of it so although I may lose my touch in my instrument I will never forget my place here in the orchestra so thank you Mr gunman um hi my name is Andrea Lawrence I play the violin and I'm also a senior and music has something I when I was first offered to do it by my parents and my mom and my sister I did not want to do it but it has become something so vital to me as a person I've never left this program and it's continued to grow and Blossom and so things I didn't
007even expect it could become now while Ariana is going into the music industry I am not I plan to become a lawyer but I do hope that I can still stay in some orchestras because I don't want to lose my skill in this instrument especially not after I've done so much for it um hi my name is Jacob tfer um I'm a senior and I play the violin um well I've been I've been playing the violin ever since I was about 10 years old 9 10 years old and like it's really made me grow like a whole lot throughout like um my time playing and you know there was actually this one time I actually hated playing the violin um but over like I've overcame that since then and like I really find like um
008like playing violin or like any instrument in general just like as a passion um and you really need to have like a fire for it in order to like uh I know like shine um and it's just really like uh like lifechanging playing an instrument listening to music and um I'm also not going into the uh music industry um as a career I'm going into mechanical engineering but I'll still have music in my life wherever I I go thank you hello uh my name is Christopher ens young and I've been doing this since I was 10 like Jacob and at first it was a struggle you know like everything else it was challenging but with the new challenges it helped me grow and it became something that I love to do even now um I
009don't believe that I'm going to be doing this as a profession but I'll always always have that Talent now and I don't regret spending any of those years picking up this instrument at all because it taught me to get over the hard things in life that sometimes there will be things that seem unsurmountable but you'll get over it just with enough effort and with enough hard work you can do whatever you want in life thank you hi I'm Peter I'm the base I'm senior right this this Orchestra is so vital right it helps you express yourself as this Arts the Arts in the school right it's such a vital thing to keep around to have this expression of self right that helps you grow teaches you discipline right and ultimately it's only a building block
010but a very powerful BAS to build on top of now that you know how to express yourself you know how to you've learned how to play an instrument it's the point is it's very important that this program and the Arts stay in our school right so thank you for giving us a chance to play today Madam president if I may first off you guys did an amazing job thank you so much and I just wanted to recognize the one common thread in all of your comments where your love for music and that love and inspiration comes from somewhere and a lot of that is home and from your parents but a lot of that also comes from our wonderful teacher teachers and Mr gunman is a fine example of the inspiration that a music teacher
011and the Influence of Music Teacher can have so you I just wanted to say to you Mr gunman thank you so much you do a wonderful job you really do I've always had the pleasure of walking through the Fine Arts Visual Arts section of the building stopping in and uh the work that you do with these kids it's tremendous and I think that was evidence tonight so keep it up and thank you thank you so on behalf of the board Mr Gman we have a certificate for you and I would request you and the kids to come and take a picture with the board come around this way just turn take [Applause] great job take your time we'll just continue with our business you take your time make sure your instruments get back carefully and
012safely and we'll move on to our superintendent report thank you okay uh superintendent report for February 2025 state aid notices state aid notices were released earlier today unfortunately the news is not great for us our district Aid was cut by 3% which represents nearly $650,000 we also loss we also have a loss in what's called semi- Revenue which is connected to Medicaid of nearly 450,000 and and an addition on the expense side will experience an increase in state tuitions for state facilities of nearly 400,000 which also comes out of your monthly state aid payment so those variables co uh coupled with other challenges connected to inflation salary benefits uh and the increases there are going to make for a very challenging budget year as you can imagine uh so we're going to continue to work
013with our budget managers and the board's finance committee to find expense efficiencies and identify other sources of revenue that will allow us to balance the FY what we call 26 which is the 2526 school year budget the preliminary budget presentation is scheduled for Tuesday March 18th which is when you'll hear about how we were able to make that all work uh NJ SCI uh the New Jersey school climate Improvement survey will be coming out at the end of April and what I mean by coming out is it gets pushed out to our families and our students this is an important survey it gives students and families the opportunity to provide us with feedback on feelings of school belonging within our buildings please take the time to complete the survey as the data gained is valuable
014to our Improv efforts in that area a message announcing the survey and its release is forthcoming The Zo fall school-based Health Center The Zo the Zu fall school-based Health Center building construction is near complete I want to take this opportunity to thank the township and the council for their willingness to partner with the district and wisu fall Medical Health to make this building and this program a reality in just a few short months once the building is complete all of the necessary equipment is delivered and installed by zall themselves Zu fall will be operating a fullservice Community Health Center on the grounds of the Hamilton Street campus this Center will provide Primary Care Dental Care and Behavioral Health Care for students and their families that reside within Franklin Township we anticipate a grand opening for
015later this spring and we are very excited about this program and then Shrek Jr I had the opportunity to witness another great uh fine visual performing arts program last weekend actually enjoyed it with Mr who was sitting next to me a board member and I had Mr grippo also at that meeting or at that program we were sitting with the uh vice principal who was assigned that night um it was a wonderful performance of Shrek Jr put on by our Middle School players the student performers were just absolutely amazing and the adults involved with the production those that were directing the teachers involved with directing the program and arranging it and arranging the choreog uh choreography uh all amazing the building the sets and designing the costumes my understanding a lot of volunteer help there
016and then of course those parents volunteering all so to help organize the evening really did some amazing work from start to finish the musical was wonderful my sincere gratitude on behalf of the board uh my sincere gratitude to all those involved and congratulations to the kids absolutely wonderful next up will be our Spring High School Musical happening a little bit later in the spring and this year the musical for the high school is Cinderella I encourage you all to make some time to join us and witness what likely will be a Broadway Type musical at our in our High School gy uh in our High School auditorium and that's it for us thanks thank you so on to the board president's report I want to begin by thanking Mr gunderman and the students of the
017string quarted from Franklin High School for for their performance this evening I'm sure you make your families proud as well as our supervisor of fine visual performing and practical Arts Mr Caesar Reno as proud as you make the Board of Education I look forward to many such performances in our schools as we get ready to celebrate youth art and music in our schools month in March now on to some Student News Franklin High School junior Shannon Schwarz was recently named as the Legacy driver to the safety Bank a nonprofit organization founded by professional race car driver Taylor ferns the safety bank's mission is to provide adequate safety equipment to racers in need through their legacy competition this organization highlights the accomplishments of a well-rounded Motor Sports Enthusiast Shannon received the award due to her academic
018success at the high school her community involvement with Girl Scout scouting America the food bank and local senior citizens facilities as well as her 11-year history of racing both she and her brother Thomas a senior at Franklin High School have recently graduated to the next level of racing Shannon will be fully outfitted with new gear and will serve as an ambassador for the organization this season congratulations to Shannon on this achievement recent staff news the warrior waves a team of 39 individuals from the district raised $12,000 as part of the seaside Polar Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics this past weekend now on to some upcoming events the ESL bilingual department is hosting a family literacy night on Tuesday March 4th at the Hamilton Street campus of Franklin Middle School from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00
019p.m. please RSVP via the link on the website headline the Franklin athletic booster club will be holding its end annual Marsh Madness Tricky Tray event on Saturday March 22nd at Franklin High School doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and drawing begins at 6: p.m. more information about ticket purchases is available in the community event section of our website and as Dr rali said the high school spring musical Cindrella will be performed during the weekends of March 28th to 30th and April 4th to 6th a special character Tea Party is also scheduled for our younger fans on March 30th before the maty more information for these events can also be found in the headline and Community event section of the website also on March 30th is the warrior for Life sneaker ball which will be held
020from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Imperia by daa event space proceeds will help to provide scholarships for Franklin High School Warriors who excel in AC mics Athletics the Arts community service social Consciousness and philanthropy to date The Warrior for Life Scholarship Foundation has awarded over 95,000 in scholarships to deserving students in Franklin Township also many thanks to that group as well as the Triple B Foundation who will be donating additional sensory items for students at Hillcrest you may recall that this group made a similar donation early ear this school year to benefit Claremont Elementary School also thanks to Community member Winnie Lim for the donation of various musical instruments to support the Franklin Township Public Schools music program and finally we have a minimum session on Feb 28th at Franklin High School because
021they're hosting the regional wrestling tournament that's it for the board president report now I would like to make I would request someone to make a motion to open comments for the from the public on agenda items only 5 minutes per speaker so moved moved by Nancy second seconded by Lori all in favor I okay motion for public comments on agenda items only is now open please state your name and address if you're an adult and you can come to the podium good evening everyone uh my name is Jonathan white I uh live in the somerset my children go to Franklin High School uh for the superintendent um regarding his um his letter I'm just wondering whether or not uh any of the changes that we're seeing with the federal government are having an impact on
022our school and school budgets I know you mentioned some monies that are uh um that we're not receiving related to Medicaid and some other uh things are we having issues related to the um New Administration in the federal government and what can we do as uh residents um to talk to our Congress people or anyone else to try and help alleviate some of those challenges any other questions no that's it okay thank you seeing now want to make a motion to close public comment motion to close public comment by Nancy second seconded by Lori all in favor I thank you since we're running out of time and we have to go yes um I just want to make a statement since we're running out of time and we have to go back into confidential to
023finish uh the Motions for confidential we will uh we we have the committee and liazon reports which are online so we will not have the board members read the reports tonight uh Dr rali would you like to respond sure uh Mr White I I will say I did mention I'm looking for my notes I apologize uh I did mention the semi Revenue which is tied to Medicaid now I don't know if that's a result of anything that's happened at the state and federal level um I did hear the governor's address and he did talk about less Medicaid money coming into the state so I can only assume that that's why the projection is much less for us than it's been in the previous years um other than that we've not got any indication uh we
024typically do as practice budget about 85% is that right Mr freed of grants yeah so we typically as a practice over the years have built our budget with a 15% cut if you will in federal funding um and all intentions have been the same this year we haven't been in there's no indication that that will happen but you know that's always been the responsible practice uh within our industry anyway so you know we are going to do that again but I again I can't I don't know enough about Medicaid to speak to that but I can tell you semi- revenue is tied to Medicaid and our projection is that $450,000 Less in my understanding from my colleagues they saw similar less uh similarly reduced projections as well that's the only impact we have been made
025aware of to date thank you very much yep thank you we're on to new business now all right let's get U ready with new business all right I would make a motion that we accept um from M1 R1 through all one in one okay here we go I'm sorry I'll make a motion that we accept all one in one A1 A2 A3 has been affirmed uh as met A3 A4 as Madam president said that we are going to table this until uh we go from until after confidential A5 A6 I'm sorry with time I'm not gonna um say the uh names of each particular uh item you could read that yourself a78 A99 A1 a 11 A2 a13 a 14 A5 B1 B2 B3 U B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 C1 C2 C3
026C4 C5 C7 P1 we P2 and we have added a addendum to P2 which is addendum number eight addendum a a a addendum a did you say C yes and that completes um the motion Madam president thank you so there's a motion on the table uh to move R1 M1 a12 A3 table A4 A5 to a15 B1 to B10 C1 to C7 P1 P2 with addendum a can I get a second please second second by Mr grippo any discussions Erica Jimmy no Lori no discussion Nick Walter Nancy Dennis okay can we have roll call that's okay he's oh yeah I said yes Mr demeglio okay I um from A6 and put your microphone on I will abstain from A6 A7 A10 as it relates to Elizabeth Avenue School P2 as it relates to Elizabeth Avenue
027School and yes to everything else connect which one a 11 abstain from a11 so just to be clear abstaining from A6 A7 A10 as it relates to Elizabeth Avenue School a11 and P2 as it relates to Elizabeth Avenue School everything else is yes thank you Mr grippo yes thank you sir Dr Hopkins yes Miss inocencia yes Mr Jackson um yes for everything uh except for P2 as it relates to I'm abstaining from the appointment of f f Franklin High School uh spring interal girls coaches okay thank you Miss Lort yes Miss Maris yes Mr Parker yes Miss sing yes all motions carry thank you very much okay you ready okay so we have some good news here drum roll please we are here to announce the new principal for Franklin High School Miss Hennessy miles
028welcome hello testing there you go good evening everyone Dr rali Board of Education and esteemed constituents of Franklin Township I stand before you today with immense gratitude and a deep sense of honor it is truly a humbling experience to be appointed as the principal of Franklin High School and I am filled with pride knowing that a first generation Dominican American woman from Jersey City has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading one of the best high school in New Jersey this moment is not just a personal achievement but a Testament of the power of representation I have called myself a Franklin transplant since I came here 5 years ago I remember the day I sat across Mr Wilson and Mr Foo sharing all my hopes and dreams for the RTS alternative school program that I
029was interviewing for I am happy to say that with the support of many of the people sitting in this very room I was able to transform those hopes and dreams into plans and actions that have focused on Student Success at every step of my journey Shirley Chisum said service is the rent you pay for room on this Earth serving the Franklin Community has been my favorite thing to do in all the roles I have held since 2020 having the honor to serve a community of 2500 students and staff is a joyful experience I cannot wait to begin I am eager to help all of our students look forward to coming to school every day in preparation for a future that they are passionate about creating programs and opportunities for our students Futures is vital helping
030students feel seen families be heard and teachers and staff be supported those are all areas that I have specialized in and I can't wait to continue at Franklin High School I have had the privilege to work alongside some of the most talented and passionate people in education and I would be remiss not to acknowledge them thank you to Dr rali the cabinet and the board of education for always supporting me my programs and my Evolution as a school leader Dr Solomon and Mrs Solomon thank you for taking me under your wing and providing me with mentorship and support to my husband usband and children thank you for encouraging me and putting up with me when I'm hosting my dozens of family engagement events or when I'm at a coffee shop writing my dissertation all weekend
031long to my parents and siblings I am everything I am because of you last but not least to my PGM family I love you dearly and remember that no matter what we're better together Panda bow thank you all w okay now we're on to good of the order and we'll go to my left Madam Madam president oh I missed comments from the public sorry I was just so excited okay we're going to I'm going to ask for a motion to open for comments for the public 5 minutes per speaker any topic so president so second second so second move my V to grippo and a lot of people said second so Brian whoever you heard first okay you got it okay comments from the public any topic five minutes per speaker please come state your
032name and address and come to the podium everyone mon Anderson um Jade Court I'll write my actual door number down on the paper I'm not going to put that since y'all recorded me um I am over at Franklin Park school and I have a child over at the high school I actually want to um acknowledge the youth that were here performing as well as the ones that are sitting in this space today um because it was something that they said in regards to making sure that the Arts in this town stays um and then something that um Hennessy said as well in regards to congratulations for being the high school principal but acknowledging the amount of diversity that we have as well as the space that we're in with the way the country is going
033so it leads me to ask how are we how are you as elected board members um by the community members proactively looking towards what can possibly come down the pipeline with Federal funding being taken away and we are a district that Prides oursel on our diversity initiatives here um and that is at attack right now um and those that are still holding it has a chance of losing their Federal funding we've watched Medicaid be cut we are watching um snap be cut and we're already in the Battle of food food and security here in this County or just period in this town so I just want to know and this is not even just for drct R valy it's mostly for those that we voted to sit here how are you proactively looking at what
034is happening so that we can ensure that our children are showing up in the schools feeling safe feeling seen and our staff are also feeling safe and scen and not afraid to have conversations in their classroom with retaliation of what is happening nationally um I also want to address the factor of what are we doing about Twitter currently known as X because we use this platform but as of right now the person who oversees it does not agree with the mission that we hold here in Franklin Township so are we looking to disband that and not allow our our staff to use that platform and fully go over to Instagram because we're that's how we're communicating I just want to make sure that whatever we're doing in the relationships we're having with the vendors in
035these towns or softwares it's a reflection of what we as Franklin Township are holding in our mission statement every day so that is it I know that we can't have the banter back and forth but those were concerns but our students they want to be seen and they want to ensure that however you're representing them is the best of their interest because I'm I just watch lawyers mechanic engineers um music business students up here we are producing Talent out of this town and I just want to make sure that we continue to do that and not get lost in everything that's happening but we need to be proactive and not reactive thank you thank [Applause] you sorry you don't have to state your name or address as a minor okay okay um hello my name
036is Zoe Wilson I'm a sophomore at Franklin High School um is can I um I first wanted to say I love the dance dance is my whole life um I've been dancing since I was 4 years old I became a dancer at a private studio um where I had much success last year Miss Wallace started um dance team um a competitive dance team it's great she encouraged us to work hard and to stay focused and promis us to succeed um this year our goals were up last year we competed at the state championships we won third yeah um this year we um we uped our goal is to compete um at regionals States and Nationals which is a huge learning experience I feel like we have learned a lot um this this year we were
037exposed to many different groups in style many we were exposed to groups of different styles abilities um sorry uh this year we were exposed to groups of different styles and abilities than us but we were still able to hold our own when we competed at Nationals the first time ever we were up against teams who were competing at the at the level for decades although we did not play at Nationals we were able to beat some legac some Legacy teams which coach reminds us of our Victory itself no matter what happens coach always shows us how we grow and involved as his team this year we plac third again as States um competing this year was a lot together than last year on top of we on top of that we were able to see
038how we influenc other teams um this last year we competed against a team that didn't really have um the hipop style that we do but this this year we came back and they did the exact same style well um shows us that we are influencing people outside of our Township um we know as a team we are better than third place a third place win however we grow we grow we need more however to grow we need more coach um sacrificed a lot of time for us she constantly she's constantly juggling her responsibilities at her job at Franklin High School and her part-time job she has devoted More Time To Us by funding but by that's I'm Sorry by funding RTI didn't that I'm sorry but funding restricts that I'm sorry um on top of
039her coaching duties coach has figured out how to pay for all that we need without Bing our parents too much we have constricted numerous fundraising activities from popcorn BN fundraising to shaking cans out um supermarkets she has also created the bridge between dance dance team in the community in Frankin by hosting game nights for the elementary school kids um formation oh to foster a relationship among the grade levels she has also created a junior dance team which we taught Elementary School routin a routine that they performed at performed at a halftime show at a basketball game this is a lot to take on for anyone but to take all of this on as a club is outstanding the problem is that it is not struble coach is trying to create a dance is trying to
040create a dance culture that will hopefully turn into a feeder program like other schools have but that cannot happen if we remain a club coach who we need a coach who is paid as a coach not a club the amount of effort that goes into ring a club does not compare to what goes in what goes into not only thank you oh we just really would like we would really appreciate if we got more funding for what we love is to do in this thank [Applause] you good evening my daughter Zoe Wilson uh she's a sophomore at Franklin High School and as she says part of the danc team she's one of the original members uh last year I don't think many thought the team would be able to accomplish much however in four months
041they were only a team for four months they were able to compete on a state level and as she said they brought home a third place trophy fast forward a year and the still team is still going strong despite being grossly unfunded and competing against teams that have not only have many more years of experience over our team but money they were able to show that Franklin is a formidable team we placed again in States um and went to both National and Regional competitions what I found to be disheartening is that despite our team being just as talented as others the money being poured into those teams can be seen at first glance from the quality of their warm-ups and costumes to the number of guest choreographers they bring in money makes a huge difference
042I have to give kudos to coach Wallace who through sheer grit and utilizing her contact strategically has been able to expose his team to a venue they never thought they would be able to reach many of the team members were able to meet some of their dance Heroes when we went to Nationals earlier this month coach brought in choreog a choreographer who not only worked with the team on technique but also talk to them about her experiences dancing for a Beyonce and the Brooklyn Nets this has inspired many to seriously consider dance as a career option my daughter is in the C te program even though this program is geared toward preparing them for a dance career she never thought that would amount to more than being a dance instructor at a dance school coach
043Wallace exposed them to people who show them how to monetize their talent in other ways parallel paralleling um their performances at football and basketball games to their own and how they can use that as a platform to being a professional dancer and more more than just a dance school I also appreciate how much emphasis coach Wallace puts on academics and behavior coach is constantly mon monitoring Genesis assuring that her team is in good academic standing and is willing to work with their teachers when they fall behind she talks to the girls about their appearance and how they dress of a reflection of more than just them coach Wallace is more than just a coach she is a mentor to these young people and when you look at the team most of the girls are ladies
044of color she can talk to them about issues that are fa that they are facing in not just school but society as a whole I grew up with the mentality that it takes a village to raise a child I so happy that coach Wallace is part of my Village finally I'd like to address the fact that I keep referring to Kalia Wallace as coach as stated previously Kalia Wallace goes above and beyond her for her team she teaches them choreography she exposes them to a world larger than they can imagine she promotes Academia she mentors them and she does all of this on a club stiped Wallace took on this job under the pretense that this would be a competitive team she has done her part of the bargain it is time that she is
045compensated for a Time expertise and commitment it is ridiculous to believe that she can continue to do what she does without the proper funding these kids love this team and love coach Wallace we parents implore you the board to recognize the Franklin competitive dance team as a true team and fund them appropriately so we can truly show everyone the war what Warriors are made of thank you thank you good evening again my name is Jonathan white I live at 7 Gary Court in Somerset New Jersey um before I start can I have all of the members who are here of the competitive dance team please stand I just want to note that the these are young people who not only have schoolwork and responsibilities at home but I'm sure would rather be home on their
046phones you know on their Tik toks and everything right now but they're here because this is an important thing to them um my daughter Payton I'm sure she's embarrassed out I'm mentioning her name is a freshman at Franklin High School uh and a first year member of this team she's dedicated as much time to uh this underfunded program as she has to playing varsity soccer for the high school Dan is in my daughter's blood she's always been a creative notwithstanding being an excellent academic as well uh she's a part of our CTA CTE high school program but the competitive dance team gives her unique opportunities that aren't available with CTE uh including representing the school with pride at our football and basketball games locally at national uh competitions and Regional competitions as well the experience
047these types of opportunities um bring to young women particularly women of color has a tremendous effect on their confidence their overall mental health their leadership and their physical health uh as mentioned earlier the girls have also participated in service by mentoring and teaching children as young as 6 years old about dance these same young kids performed at halftime during one of our high school basketball games uh in front of our own high school and Franklin family uh when I've gone to the competitions that these young women have participated in the thing that stands out to me the most is they are the most diverse dance team of any team I've seen at all of the competitions we've been to largely even in a a a field such as hip-hop you see largely uh students who
048are not black not Brown uh participating in these competitions but our kids are there and giving their heart and trying to perform uh with pride for our school and for our district and what we would ask of the district is that they support these kids as much as this these kids are supporting our school by funding this program and funding our coach who has committed um a large amounts of time to Preparing these girls to be professional uh and excellent in the CRA that they all adore so much so it is with unwavering support that I ask the board to efficiently recognize our program and to fund it appropriately so that our young ladies can take their representation of our Warrior spirit Spirit to the next level thank you very much thank you um hello
049my name is anayia rton and I'm a junior at Franklin High School and I'm also a part of the dance team so I'm going to be reading um a word from Dr Musa Abdullah director of Social Services um from New Horizons Community Charter School to whom it may concern I hope this letter finds you well I am writing to formally request that Franklin High School recognize dance as a sport and include it as a part of its school's athletic programs dance requires immense physical endurance strength flexibility and discipline qualities that align with those required and traditional Sports such as basketball soccer and track as an administrator in an educational institution that currently sponsors a dance team I see firsthand the impact that our team has had on the academic social emotional and participatory levels of
050the team members currently many high schools and organizations including the national feder Federation of state and high school associations acknowledge dance as a competitive sport dance teams engage in rigorous training conditioning and choreography often competing at Regional and National Levels by classifying dance as a sport Franklin High School would provide student dancers with the same opportunities resources and recognition as other athletes including dance as a sport would benefit the student body by encouraging teamwork promoting Fitness and fostering school spirit it would also provide opportunities for scholarships and future career prospects for students who are passionate about dance Franklin High School parents would love the opportunity the opportunity to discuss this further and would explore what steps need to be taken to make this a reality thank you for your time and consideration and just um
051a personal word I have my entire to go full-time at VTech but after coming to the basketball games and seeing this team and being inspired um I've made the change to now go share time and I've sacrificed a lot to be on this team and it means a lot to me and Coach Wallace is somebody who I feel like really saw me because I've been dancing all my life and this team is really a manifestation of everything that I've wanted to do so I'm just really thankful towards her and my team and it would just be um an honor if you guys would consider it thank you thank you hello my name is Li fortuno and I'm a junior at Franklin High School I'm also one of the team captains and this is my second
052year on the team this team has taught me dedication and that hard work really does pay off ever since the team has started by my coach Miss Wallace who has dedicated so much time keeping this team running it has been an eye-opening and influential experience from learning leadership skills to experiencing what the World of Dance looks like after high school this team has awarded our hard work like funding and having classes open to our elementary school students with so many opportunities one of them being our recent trip to Nationals where were're able to compete against the best of the best from across the nation in our most recent state competition we were awarded third place in the sportsmanship award which really shows how dedicated and committed we are to reaching our goal of success for
053this team I feel that this dedication should be recognized and that our team should be recognized as a sport also I would like to say that this team has brought me just so much joy and I always look forward to practice because I know that as a community as a team we always stick together even our parents and our families that are part of this team we have such a tight Bond and it just you know we have a tight community so yeah thank you hello my name is Selena and I am a sophomore in Franklin High School and I'm also a dancer on the Franklin High School dance competitive team I want to start by asking what is your why why are you here right now why are you in the position you are
054in right now what motivated you to take this job as a dancer for this team I've been in the dance program ever since it was offered in elementary schools and ever since I stepped on a stage my why was exponentially growing I do what I do not only because I simply love being on stage but because it is a part of my culture today marks the day that the Dominican Republic obtained its independence and we've been dancing ever since I dance because it's inside my DNA I dance because I want young people to see me to see us on TV screens and say hey Mom hey Dad she looks like me or Mommy and with an increase in funding we can Inspire more young people to find their wives with an increase in funding we
055can show these other schools and other districts that they not like us thank you was amazing it's a hard one to follow yeah yeah good evening everyone uh I'm a senior at the high school no uh just kidding my name is Pete Sabino uh I'm at 136 Drake Road in Somerset New Jersey just wanted to read a letter from my daughter J seina who graduated she's a freshman at Montclair State she felt passionate enough to write this letter and I'm going to share it with you uh good evening board I'm Jada srino I'm one of the former dance team captains I write to you on behalf of a dedicated and talented dance team which I was a part of last year as Captain and a dancer uh who's been through uh ups and downs and
056um seeing this team uh face Financial challenges I feel that I'm that it's incredible uh I feel that I'm an incredible source to speak on the subject the lack of funding and advocacy and support really takes a toll on a dance team not only basically not only with the basic it's like costumes and um uh costumes and um let see not only with the basic costumes but it also affects the motivation of the dancers and coaches uh coach Wallace it also takes a mental toll on the team it sends the message to your dancers that this team isn't as important as other teams such as cheer which they have seen their with their own eyes get the recognition and support that they also deserve dance team brings a lot of energy to the football games
057to the basketball games the drill the drills and dances they drill and dance for hours and hours and our end make making sure that the dance looks clean and organized to be performed well for the school and I know how drilling hard is I know how hard drilling is um it also speaks volumes that we have long practices this is not easy yes dances a sport and dances are athletes as well even more so they compete they compete which we have done three times now this season coming in third in the state and bringing back a trophy for the school they are making history here and should be encouraged and supported through that process Coach K is the foundation of the team she always encourages us and supports us through that process uh she works
058tirelessly tirelessly to to pour into the growth of her dancers uh and she generally genuinely cares for the dancers and the team she deserves more support she deserves more pay uh if she hasn't if if it wasn't for Coach K we don't know we don't know where this dance team would be uh um if she wasn't here what would the halftime shows look like at Franklin for the basketball teams for the basketball games and for the football games give us some thought as we all know that Arts are a pivotal part and well-rounded of the well-rounded education and the dance team exemplifies the power creativity hard work and teamwork that enriches students lives however despite the contributions that the dance team makes to our school community and growing concerns regarding funding and support we receive
059it stands that resources are important and all we do all we're doing is asking now uh for support with our resources to be to so that we can enable to get the costums that we need uh proper training facilities and so forth and so forth in closing I'm advocating for a substantial increase in funding to ensure that our dance team has the tools that it needs uh to try to thrive with the right right amount of financial backing I know that um Franklin High School dance team will definitely be the force that is reckoned to be go Warriors thank you okay hello too hello everyone I'm Alicia Thompson and I live at 131 Arlington Avenue in Somerset New Jersey I have a daughter in kindergarten and a son in Pre at Franklin Park uh school
060and a one-year-old at home I'm a school-based bilingual speech language path ologist and a private practice owner licensed in Washington DC and New Jersey I have two questions is there currently a push for related services to be provided in the classroom using a pushin model and if so what is the reasoning for this not every case is Cookie Cutter and as a member of the special education parents and Advisory Group I'm interested in the district's stance on this despite what information may be listed in IEPs uh the second thing that I wanted to discuss um at Franklin Park there's a huge prek population and there's lots of pros and cons about the inclusion model that's being used now depending on who you ask um my prek son has an excellent teacher Mrs Hoff and I
061have no complaints but many parents do so I just wanted to know in what ways is the district assisting teachers and staff with this transition as an inclusion model is being pushed thank you thank you for hi Christina Duncan 8 webford way Somerset um it's really a tragedy that I have to speak here again um it's even more tragic that the corruption that I've learned in the past few weeks few months at this point here in Franklin Township I really believed that the right thing would be done I follow the rules file the HIV report talk to marglin talk to principal sent emails I did everything that I should have done correctly but unfortunately we're still here today an abused victim was forced to take a break from the basketball team to heal from her
062abuser why does the abuser have more rights than the victim why do you Franklin Township Board of Education continue to allow a Serial abuser to harm our girls the girls on the basketball team wrote letters to the coach to express how they feel about him why are we protecting a criminal darl Robinson's a Serial abuser who continues to abuse because each one of you are allowing him to do this each one of you has now given him permission what will it take for you to act abusers follow proven patterns and escalate when they are not stopped you have already allowed sexual abuse are you waiting for physical abuse or are you waiting for for the call about the suicide attempt or the potential funeral what are you waiting for why are you supporting child abuse
063and discrimination against women let me give you a small example of the conduct of your professional coach that you hired the text message I'm about to read was in response to a conversation I had with Mr me Miss Duncan can I just interrupt you for a minute can you pause the timer please um we have students in the audience I would request that you do not name any staff members because it's violation of personnel information okay thank you I appreciate um okay so um regarding so I talked to ad regarding a uniform for my daughter since she transferred late and the other girls chose their number I offered to pay for an additional uniform so she could have the number she had for years at the school um since the school did not have it
064in stock this was a casual calm conversation with the ad who was in charge of uniforms and had nothing to do with the coach but as you can see his narcissism took over and you can easily see his mental instability a woman challenging a narcissistic man is clearly laid out in his response just spoke to the ad I'm going to tell you like I told him when I make a decision it's final you can continue to go behind my back to keep asking and checking things you want and try to pay for it but that's not the type of program I will have nor will tolerate so moving forward you'll have to make a decision either understand when I make a decision and and say that's what's done that is it or keep trying to
065do things your way this isn't AA I'm not bringing Financial politics into my program this isn't the first instance and I've already spoken up so now if it happens again there will have to be a sit down meeting with you me and Athletics to discuss next course of action hopefully you understand the severity of this matter why I'm addressing it now after this text message I immediately called a meeting with the coach and the two ads one of the ads claimed that the coach was going through distress due to his friend's murder is it not the ad's job to protect the student not the coach since the coach was mentally unstable why was he tempor why was he not temporarily removed from his coaching position why was he allowed to coach being mentally unstable why
066is the ad not capable of doing his job in protecting the students also given the severity of the situation are the girls safe what type of person is the coach exposing our girls to murderers why Daryl's contract was or sorry why the coach's contract was renewed um did you take into consideration the multiple complaints last year against him or did marglin fail to or did the ad fail to document the um incidents to my knowledge there was an HIV a separate HIV filed and three separate players filed separate reports how many complaints need to be filed for you as the Board of Education to remove him we we are supporting special treatment are we allowing people that have people in politics to be able to stay employed because of this what what do we value
067more our girls or politics this is really a sad day I used to believe in justice but I'm clearly realizing that this is not what anybody in Franklin Township wants since our last meeting there is no longer a female presence on the coaching staff both female coaches last left the last one left last week if this doesn't speak volumes I don't know what will what is it going to do to take action the situation has affected my daughter more than I ever thought it could she has been receiving weekly counseling to learn techniques so that she does not get abused again in the future unfortunately she is still at the point where she cannot be around him she will not even sit on the bench with her teammates because of the trauma and the PTSD
068my daughter is a junior she has played basketball her whole life now she has to give up her dream due to the abuse this is my last cry for you to hear me if I continue to go on Z ears that I'm left with no other choice to take this public and contact politicians to help for Help For Justice for my daughter and all of the girls that are suffering from this abusive coach thank you thank you hello um Blair Wilson um Franklin High School's head football coach I live at 117 Johnny Bush um but I'm standing here in front of you not as Franklin High School head football coach I'm standing here as a dance dad um I understand the whole process it takes to make a club into a varsity uh sport I
069also understand that it can be done and I want to just say as a coach to see what Miss Wallace has done with the girls in the past two years like my daughter's been dancing since 4 so I've been a dance dad about long as long as I've been coaching the girls have evolved they came in and they were a little bit first year was first year they did a good job second year they came in definitely improved um I'm asking just to think about it I don't know put it on an agenda whatever you guys need to do it doesn't have to it doesn't have to happen next year but it needs to happen the dance program the fine arts program in in in this district is unbelievable and they're a part of it
070you know from the from the middle schools uh when I was a middle school coach I used to go to see my daughter dance and my niece dance and I was recruiting the boys that could move pretty good like oh I would talk to M stran what's his name I got to get him out football team but it's just a great program they need your backing that's what everybody's here saying we're asking kindly that they need their backing they're going up against a lot of schools that have the backing and competing at this point and they're going in there uh outmatched but they're still at the top they came in third in State uh I think this program is great um the funding for the coach uh I'll just speak for all the coaches you're
071never gonna get paid enough to be a coach if you really have your heart into it it's a 24-hour job my wife will tell you my phone always ringing off the hook about some something going on as a coach you usually a fire man you try to put out little fires before they become big fires uh just think about it and let's you know really take in consideration uh dance is a sport and uh it will really benefit our town and my new thing is stay public okay these these girls can go different places and go on the dance teams at different you know they can take them go with progo where they're getting the funding but let's stay public where we can do everything that's going on where people think the pario schools are
072better because they offer more no you can do everything you want to do in a public setting thank you for your time that's it thank you hello my name is Deborah Perillo I'm at 12 128 grower Road um this is my daughter Sophia she's mortified to have to be up here um although she really loves the attention she is the um co-president for student council she Student Government she's on she's on the executive uh leader uh leadership committee so many things she she does um and I'm the co-president of the ptso and I have stood before you uh on many occasions um speaking to the board um requesting that um very careful consideration was given to um the decision um that was made for the uh new principal because as we know we have very
073large uh shoes to fill um you know to follow uh Dr Solomon so with that being said I've you know made it very uh I was always very open about how important it is to have someone that's committed um that is uh going to be here for the longevity committed to um just making sure that they see classes through and through um and so with that being said we're hoping that you guys um unanimously have made the proper decision and we feel that you have we very excited so we just really wanted to welcome Miss miles um and just let her know that we're very excited and we're going to work alongside her wherever she needs us there's a lot of ptso um members here um so on behalf of them and many many parents
074um we just want to welcome her and say thank you and we're going to give you like a day or two to get like used to things and then we're going to be we're going to be in touch so so thank you very much is anything you'd like to say um I'm very excited um and congratulations thank you thank you hi um I'm I'm Jim Johnston I live at 34 Norwich place in Franklin uh do I need to sign my name here after oh after okay um yeah um I want to say um I'm in support of the petition to have this coach of the basketball team uh dismissed now bullying is a subject I feel very strongly about you know I'm 71 years old I I went to school in the 1960s and I
075I myself was the victim of bullying I I know what it's like and all all my teachers knew about it but no one offered to help me none of my teachers offered to help me and I was even to scared to even tell my parents about it and so I I suffered all those years I know what it's like um now the first thing that strikes me here is that we have a case of nepotism here okay nepotism because this coach uh he is the son of a sumerset county commissioner can I say her name or I think you all know who she is right right that that is a very extreme case of nepotism even if even if it's not true that he has advantages the the perception is there that that the fact
076that his mother is the most powerful and influential politician in summer likey that the perception is there even just just a perception that that if he gets in trouble that she can she can pull strings to help him keep his job and that gives him an unfair Advantage okay even if it's not happening just the perception is there and we do not we do not have a Level Playing Field all right that's my first point um my second point is why do we even have this H what what's it called an Hib uh uh complaint mechanism harassment uh uh intimidation and so on I mean you're making it very difficult for a parent to to to to do something about this bullying you you make her fill out all these different forms going through a
077long complicated uh bureaucratic red tape just just to prove to you that something is wrong and then and then you let the guy off on a technicality I mean okay so that that's what I'm saying I mean your your coaches should be policing themselves it should never even get to the point where a parent has to intervene it should never even get to that point okay um all right so that that's what I wanted to say and also can I I ask you um um could could you uh uh do have do a more timely job of posting videos of these meetings to your Boe website uh last year you were having meetings every month uh but but you were not posting the videos of the meetings to your website at least not for a
078period of six months correct me if I'm wrong okay okay so like so this meeting right here can you like do a timely job of posting the video to your website know me you know a week or two weeks or you know so just so we won't have to wait for six months okay okay thank you oh okay I I signed my name here thank you hi I'm chenice Meyers I have lived in Franklin for seven years now um I have two teenage daughters who are athletes and I came in here tonight disgusted in the Falls so I was very happy to see these girls these young girls dancing and advocating for themselves and their coach and an example of what proper coaching looks like and can do and what proper encouragement looks like but
079this nonsense with the basketball team is horrendous it is unacceptable and there is no excuse for it I myself was an athlete both my kids are athletes they competed at national competition last month my I'm friends with Olympians my kids have access to people who have been participating in the Olympics for the last 20 years they themselves as coaches would never and they wouldn't tolerate from a coach the behavior that has been depicted by this coach and it's not been one two or three there have been multiple complaints and I don't understand why this is continuing because it is a failure by all of you for these girls on this team if you cannot coach without dehumanizing people and degradation and sexual like it's disgusting and to sit here as mother of girls who are
080athletes I'm embarrassed of Franklin and that is why I came here tonight pure disgust and embarrassment we have to do better for these girls they have to know that they matter and at school it's supposed to be safe we are supposed to be preparing them as young women as athletes to go into the world and when they experience bad behavior to be able to stand up for themselves and say I deserve better than this we are not supposed to be condoning and encouraging it and saying well if you want to be here if you want to play this is what you deserve it is unacceptable you all need to do better thank you Madame President seeing no further public comment I move to close the public session so second motion to close by Bill seconded
081by Dennis all in favor I okay public comment session is now closed uh we're on to good of the order and I will begin on my left with Nick okay I want to um also um give kudos to the um cast and the producers and the parents of Shrek uh Dr ravali said we were there last uh Friday what an amazing production um so much energy on that stage from our students um I want to also send out kudos to the Project Graduation and uh Franklin High School ptso for a wonderful um designer bag Bingo that they did raised a lot of money for their programs project graduation also had a clothing drive on February 8th um Believe It or Not $1,700 just for collecting news closed um which goes towards the event on the
082night of graduation um and then uh Project Graduation will have the food truck festival coming up this year again on May 17th from 12: to 6: thank you thank you Walter uh Hennessy soon to be Dr Miles congratulations uh we are very excited for you we can tell that you are very excited and um you're going to come in do some great things and once again remember that we are definitely here to support any any and every all of your efforts so uh once again congratulations to you and your family um I have a quote not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced James Baldwin young lady our dance team uh continue congratulations on your success continue congratulations on your future cons uh success and um
083keep doing what you're doing thank you thank you Nancy um Hennessy congratulations and you're going to do a wonderful job in your new position and your family at Pine grve is always going to be your family and you're just going to make a bigger family to it was actually really cool tonight to see so many kids not just our amazing dance team but see other kids get up and speak and um so beautifully um and and so like you were adults better than probably definitely better than I'm speaking but it just was like really nice to to um your uh presentations and um and your passion it's just very nice to see so thank you for that um and I want to congratulate emman who is um a new certified board leader which is a
084big deal there's not a lot of them in the state um and it's the highest level that you can get in New Jersey school boards um and she's a certified board member and certified board leader and we were a CER IFI board um of Education which is a big deal so congratulations Arin thank you moving on to Erica hey I'm going to try to make it quick here let's see um congratulations principal miles from one dominant woman to another very proud and do us proud okay keep doing us proud um Shrek Jr saw it on Sunday fabulous cannot wait for Cinderella be there um I also want to thank the dance team for being here I I've mentioned before that my daughter my daughter participated in the Franklin Junior dance team and got to dance
085at the halftime of the basketball game fabulous program I I I support it fully and I hope that um um we others should also support and um you know they fundraising efforts they're doing a great job thanks for being here um and uh read Across America is coming up next week I'm excited to read at McAfee Road school um so looking forward to that um it's still Black History Month happy Black History Month to everyone and I believe that's it for me thank you thank you Jimmy I will uh keep it quick as well uh first of all outstanding job by all of the artists that are here today um dancers musicians alike uh it shows uh the tremendous value of uh Fine Arts here uh in Franklin and also it shows the talent that
086we have as well in our youth so congratulations to you guys one and all um with that said uh the meet of Champions is March II the meet of Champions for track uh we have the number one uh triple jumper girls triple jumper Ardon gray that is participating in that so uh you guys uh tomorrow uh if you see Harden in the hallways tell her good luck tell her go get it and bring home to go for Franklin thank you Lori principal miles congratulations we look forward to all of the wonderful programs that I know you'll initiate at the high school um to our dance team and to all of our Fine Arts professionals um I give a big thank you because without the teachers and the coaches leading these students they would not develop
087and arts is with them forever to um paraphrase what was said by one of our uh string quartet members so I thank you all for your participation and for your leadership thank you Bill two quick things so if I was in Rome I'd go out on the Vatican Portico and say aluno Gamer's principal and you're supposed to clap I announce to you great joy we have a principal of Franklin High School and I know that we should be very excited about a new principle it is the most important job in the district District so we wish you the very best Tennessee I I've been your representative at Pine Grove I know what your work can be you got a tough road ahead but we're behind you but what I really wanted to talk about tonight
088speaks to all the talent that we heard the musicians the dancers everything now listen carefully last night my daughters took me to see Hell's Kitchen for a Christmas gift my daughter Mariah she's doing something with Alicia Keys's program and she got great seats and I wanted to see Malia Joy Moon so much and they got me tickets now we were right right in the middle I was an absolute awe of her talent and in tears when she took the final bow she's a Tony awardwinning actress the lead on Broadway after the show I got backstage because I'm shy you know I got backstage with my family and we took great pictures if you're on my Facebook page you'll see them you should be anyway and she came up to me and said Mr grippo thank
089my teachers I love Franklin I said Malia listen on behalf of the Board of Education ottoman's going to love this would you come to Franklin we want to do a Malia joy joy Moon day oh I'd love to Mr Grio but you have to talk to my manager I don't know who a manager is but anyway I called Terry sedo and I said why don't you follow up on this you and Tim Walton to bring Malia into our district now and we're talking about all this greatness for our student students to see her on stage and to hear her story she gives credit like you did to I'm glad you guys didn't run out of here tonight because you gave credit to your dance teacher these musicians gave credit as Dr rali said to the
090music the instrumental teacher malah gave credit to Terry to Tim Walton to to other to other uh Arts teachers that she had I remember her in in uh what the heck would he say Westside Story so many different plays when I was at McAfee and all and at Samson this is a Franklin student Nick Solomon had I mean we so we need to celebrate our students and that's what I told Malia Mariah gave her a bunch of bracelets and and she was is so happy to talk to me about Franklin Township I said well tomorrow night's the board meeting she said please give everyone my best thank you Franklin that's all I have to say thank you Bill Dennis I'm not g to be as long as Bill but that was great bill that was
091great um number one thanks for all that came out to um came to the mic to hear your voice um you may not think but we have heard everybody who stepped to the mic that's number one uh the dance team hey keep doing what you're doing uh very proud um uh with kudos to the coach and um we are proud um coach Blair came up and uh it was good to see part of the Franklin staff step up to uh articulate the importance of about not only the dance team but also um his vision in his um what it takes from the from elementary uh Middle School path all the way up to the high school and I think that's critical in all arenas of the extra-curriculum activities uh I am going to give you
092the title already Dr Miles congratulations and as uh I said during the interview process that um the B I would say that um the big shoes that you wore at Pine Grove and the marvelous job that you have done at Pine Grove uh expectations is there and I know you will do what you have done at Pine Grove at the high school so uh it takes a village so we I uh we thank the family uh about the time that you would um that we would take away from the family and your experience that you would have at the high school and as we close out um black uh History Month uh I would like to uh just reflect on that and as um as Lori said I look forward to read uh in America
093also at Elizabeth a thank you so before I give my um you know closing statement and good of the order uh Dr rali would you like to address some of the comments that the public made yeah the FPS inclusion model I I I heard that uh but we're going to if you would maybe Dr Solomon raise your hand if you would if whomever that was would give Dr Solomon a number that would be wonderful because we're going to have the director of pupil Personnel Services Reach Out directly to you that inclusion model the the training the professional development within that um would all come out of that department so we'll have a PPS contact you directly it'll be Dr sofield um you know of course Dance Program funding certainly is part of the overall discussion
094uh with regard to budgeting and we're going to be having a lot of those discussions in the very near future and for the next couple of weeks until we get to that preliminary budget because we've got a lot of work to do as I had shared with you in the beginning of the meeting when I talked about funding cuts and whatnot at the state level um and then I think most of that really was around that so um and the federal funding I spoke on that when Mr White came to the microphone earlier in the meeting and you know that hasn't changed uh at least from our perspective that is part of the overall budgeting and a lot of the federal funding supports uh what we call auxiliary programming that happen in the morning and
095evenings and sometimes throughout the day in our title schools um so obviously those programs are tied directly to that funding and should that funding be affected then of course those programs also get affected so uh but they're not part of what is funded with what we call our general operating budget um so that is tied to the state aid and the other Revenue sources that I spoke about earlier and I think that really is it because most of that was about dance program and funding and thank you girls for coming out honestly thank you and uh thank you for your passion and you are wonderful I have watched you and uh keep up the good work thank you so congratulations uh Miss miles again um and I am very proud that we have young talent
096in our District so as we're closing out black history month and moving into women's month we have international day of women coming up um here is a message to my young girls my young women and of course other women um there comes a moment when you realize the only thing standing between where you are and where you could be is you how often do we wait for the right time the right amount of confidence the perfect circumstances we convince ourself that bold moves require absolute certainty when in reality boldness is built in the act of moving forward before you feel ready I've learned that playing it safe feels comfortable but it rarely leads to growth the moments that have shaped my life my work and my impact weren't the ones where I had everything figured
097out out they were the ones where I took the risk bet on myself and chose to move before fear could talk me out of it so consider tonight your nudge what's one bold step you've been waiting to take What If instead of overthinking you simply decided to go for it because being bold isn't about having all the answers it's about trusting that you will figure them out along the way so that's my good luck and good wishes to all my women friends and my women budding young women find a leader find a woman leader that you can look up to and grow and be bold and with that we're going to move back into confidential session the regular portion of the meeting will now end can I get a motion to move into confidential moved
098by Dennis can I get a second seconded by Walter we will go into confidential to finish up on discussing confidential matters and then we will come back to take action and then close out the meeting thank you everyone have a good night it's 10:47 we're back from confidential session we went to discuss confidential matters minutes of the confidential session meeting will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists can I get a motion to move A4 so moved okay moved by Jimmy second seconded by Nancy Brian can we have roll call please just to confirm that we are inserting the word affirm correct we are inserting affirm for A4 A4 case number 285 234 FHS 010 82025 Mr deaglio yes Mr grippo Mr grippo Mr grippo yes Dr Hopkins yes Miss inosencio
099yes Mr Jackson because he couldn't participate I didn't even realize he Mr Jackson could not participate so he left the meeting Miss Lort Miss Lort yes Miss Maris yes Mr Parker yes Miss Singh yes motion carries thank you and with that meeting is adjurned [Music]