001[Music] good evening and welcome to the Franklin Township Board of Education meeting today is Thursday September 28 2023. can I get a roll call please Mr Bonanno is your green light on uh yeah Mr Tsai here Mr grippo yes Dr Hopkins Mr Jackson Miss Maris Mr Bond this thing here Dr Smith here Miss lecourt here we have quorum so for the record um Lori is at back to school night and Walter has a situation at home um can you read the open public meetings act please in accordance with the open public meetings ACT public law 1975 chapter 231 Sunshine Law copies of the public meeting notice were sent to the career news the home News Tribune The Star Ledger the Franklin reporter tap into Franklin Township Franklin Township Clerk manager district schools offices and associations
002PTO presidents and posted on the district website thank you Bill can you read can you read the mission statement please and the pledge and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance when you're done with that hold on Nancy mission statement of the Franklin Township Public Schools Franklin Township Public Schools Embraces its diversity forced its excellent educational Innovation and empowers all students to achieve their Highest Potential thank you and if you could lead us in the pledge the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you um I'm going to take a little poetic license in the agenda and I'm going to move up our presentation for the Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation first Mary I want to do this first one
003there you go the Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation a not-for-profit corporation was founded in 2019 by a group of parents former Educators representatives of the Franklin Township Education Association Franklin Township administrative supervisor Association Franklin Township Public School administration and the Board of Education who were interested in enriching education in the district by providing additional resources to support Innovative and inspiring programs you'll see by the names listed here that some of those that started out the foundation or revamped the foundation I should say were retired Educators from our district the assistant superintendent the former assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction Charlotte Wiesner is currently the chair and the founding chair when we first restarted the Education Foundation was Phyllis Bruno who was retired director of social studies for the district the current trustees include parents board members
004heads of Association teachers and as well as the officers part of the foundation's purpose is to provide grants to teachers for Innovative programs that aren't necessarily covered in The District budget and one of those groups that had applied for a grant was the junior classical League Jen Jones who's the um very enthusiastic advisor from that group had a back to school night at the high school today so she invited Emma casaba if I said your name right one of our students you can say correct me when you come up to speak about um the program that she's in and maybe a little bit about the trip that uh the grant funded part of through swag and fun stuff that they bought today I'll be talking about the junior classical League of Franklin High School's National
005trip to Louisiana during the summer of 2022. schools were finally reopened and Nationals was back for jclers oh sorry so do you want me to restart from hello or Solway today I'll be talking about the junior classical League at Franklin High School's National trip to Louisiana during the summer of 2022. I know that was a mouthful but schools were finally reopened and Nationals was back for JC ehlers Nationals is the time of Summer to meet friends challenge yourself in new things such as Athletics arts and academics to learn leadership skills and geek out about your favorite Greek fable Nationals gifts also gives law and students New Opportunities and so many lifelong memories that summer in the recovery of Coba 19 pandemic New Jersey sent 15 students and eight of them were Franklin this is only
006possible because of the grant we were given due to the generosity of the board of education so many kids were able to expand their JCL and Latin passions and meet so many more enthusiastic peers to collaborate and befriend for that I am truly grateful and proud to call myself a Latin student in jclr thank you or as we say in Latin grazias and I hope you all have a good night thank you another recipient of a grant from the foundation from the high school was the aspects of video program on June 9th the aspects of video program highlighted the next generation of creators by hosting the 19th annual aspects of video awards the awards show similar to the Oscars featured student-produced videos by the aspects of video classes these students are exposed to the television
007and film industry by learning how to tell stories using multimedia skills through classroom instruction the aspects program gives students real life experiences working in television Studio where they are able to serve as student producers directors editors and videographers over the years the program has grown with students attending and graduating from many prestigious colleges and universities majoring in film and television these schools include NYU Drexel Mount Clare and Howard University many of these students are currently working in the film and broadcasting industry another recipient of a grant was the race and gender equity in America program on April 18 2023 Franklin High School students met with Mr Amal Sana to discuss Mass incorporate incarceration prison systems in New Jersey and issues surrounding prisoners in New Jersey to better understand the progress that is being made in
008our communities in tackling systemic issues Franklin High School principal Dr Solomon and the supervisor of equity and instruction Mr Darren Plummer also attended the meeting students were proud of the accomplished accomplishments Mr Sanaa and his teachers and his team of civil rights attorneys have made for fighting for social justice on this slide you'll see some thank you notes from the students who were in the program the next set of Grant awardees was the were given to the Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street campus in year one the foundation gave four Awards to various clubs and in year two another four Awards some of the highlights of them were the Franklin Middle School at the Hamilton streets campus anime and Manta Club Manga Club was created three years ago the project goal was to benefit manga
009literature and art supplies for the club which benefit benefited and still benefits club members in the 6th 7th and 8th grade the club closely aligns with Asian culture and Ela and social studies grade level standards the project supported the social emotional needs and development of our middle school students by allowing them to express themselves through World Arts literacy and cultures both during and after pandemic times another recipient from Franklin Middle School at the Hamilton Street campus was the Hamilton Street campus school-wide book club the grant helped those buy the books so all students at HSC could read El deafo during read Across America to celebrate literacy it was a great Community builder for our School El duffo is a graphic novel written and illustrated by CeCe Bell the book is a Loosely autobiographical account of
010Belle's childhood and her life with deafness it is the story of a student with hearing loss and a hearing aid who becomes a superhero another group that benefited from the foundation's awards at Hamilton Street campus was the trep entrepreneurial Club which had applied for a color printer and supplies the color printer supported the multiple teams and students in this club it engaged students because the displays were now more aesthetically pleasing they students would stop in the hall during class and in between classes and take time to view the displays students in this club were also proud to see their work displayed in color the Hamilton Street campus was also the benefit of an award which purchased stress and fidget items in a post-pandemic society our students are learning to succeed in school while also learning
011to manage difficult emotions since returning to in-person learning our school counselors and Deans have been working closely with students to develop effective coping skills to manage their mental health while instituting strong emotional social emotional learning program for all students the ideas the items from this grant helped us to create a self a safe space where students have access to a variety of sensory items to assist them in developing their emotional regulation the team was able to create five five of the kits shown in the picture there to provide resources to students in all counseling offices the sac office and the Dean's office Hamilton Street campus was also the beneficiary beneficiary of the ESL Scholastic Book Fair books by providing ESL students with Spanish language books the person who applied for the grant hoped to encourage
012their students to enjoy reading by offering them access to books that reflect Latino culture language and identity in a thought-provoking positive and entertaining way finally the HSC ampus also applied for and was awarded a multimedia digital apps using qriket this grant helped our students to experience how to create a product from start to finish cricket was ordered instead of the silhouette machine as the second was out of stock the device was used to create a production experience for students in multimedia 8 classes as students created projects such as brands logos and decal stickers and applied it to many products of their choice you'll see in those photos that the students were able to create those stickers and put them on their Chromebooks next was Elizabeth Avenue School who in year two was awarded three different
013grants for the quiet and cozy reading Nook inclusive science lab and Multicultural night Fist Festival the esa law the EAS libraries sought the warrior Grant to create a reading Nook to provide students with a quiet place where they needed to process emotions this promoted SEL skills and reading skills for our students and gave them a safe place that they could go when they needed it with the grant the teachers involved purchased bean bags book basket book baskets posters and timers for the area they relocated some of these resources into the guidance office to combine with what their guidance counselor was already utilizing for a quiet calming corner with books and alternative seating the EAS inclusive life science lab project allowed all young scientists at EAS to connect life science the grand provided age-appropriate models and
014specimens of living things for Hands-On exploration of the science lab and finally for EAS the Multicultural night Festival this event celebrated the diversity of ethnicities and abilities that exist at EAS the night was full of performances crafts and food from around the world the EAS Community celebrated and had an excellent time and they were looking forward to having the event again at Franklin Park School the school was awarded one Grant in year one and Grant in year two the first grant was for self-published books the project was having the first grade students create their own books this whole process gave them a sneak peek of what it would be like to be a published author they had to go through the process of writing a rough draft of their paper revising it and then writing
015it neatly so that it could be shared with everyone the students felt accomplished that they had done with what they had done with their books and loved sharing them with their family and friends also at Franklin pork another project recognized readers of the month this project recognized all of the wonderful readers at Franklin Park School each month one student from each class was recognized as the reader of the month each student received a new book certificate medal and bookmark it was amazing to see the students faces light up as they were recognized for all their reading achievements at Hillcrest they use their Grant Monies to go outside first they established an outdoor classroom the goal of this project was to utilize The Outdoor Classroom space and engage student in authentic life science experiences their students
016love being outdoors they enjoyed walking over the bridges along the creek and seeing and hearing Wildlife the grant money was used to purchase flexible seating options for their young students to sit with nature make inquiries and observations and relax the bucket served as a great tool for carrying supplies outdoors and were an ideal seat as well the Hillcrest School Garden Club was the beneficiary the next year the beautification committee started out with a small project four years ago created a butterfly garden to brighten the students faces when they walk into school their project was a huge success the following year they decided to include the students in their fund the Gordon promoted a peaceful place for students to learn and work together they began focusing their attention on other areas around the school to help
017make their Elementary School a warm and inviting place to grow learn and to share in a school community foreign Grove matter won two Awards in year two the stem science lab and a quiet reading Nook the stem science lab students are able to engage in more stem and coding opportunities stem activities were given to students in the science lab and after school using the materials from the grant and now it's time for Mcafee so I can stop speaking and principal Karen Adams and her team is here to speak about what the grant money meant to their school thank you very much okay good evening everyone um joining me this evening at the podium we have a team uh well a small part of our team but we do have a team we have Mrs talharram
018who is our special education teacher we have Miss O'Connor who is our math AIS teacher and Mrs motar who is our reading AIS teacher and we're here to talk about our two projects that we worked on this year but first we do want to thank you all for your generosity it really helped us to have an exciting experience this year starting first with the battle of the books Battle of the books came about by just myself and initially the librarian having a conversation about what can we do to make reading a little bit more exciting and so she met without growing of growing a garden of readers committee and we were able to recruit 47 students to engage in some extra reading and what happened here here was that they all had to read the
019same types of books and at the end of The Experience after they read and we started out with grades four and five we had a competition so what you see on the screen are 47 of our students and then on the bottom the setup of our competition it was a great afternoon of family engagement we invited parents we invited I think grades three four and five students so they were part of the audience so it really turned into a game show atmosphere and I believe on the next screen wait oh no no no do we have a video there I don't know oh you cut the video okay she got the best part it's okay all right so we had a great time so basically the students had questions from the text they they consulted
020with each other um if I didn't so we're we're a group we all read the same books a question is posted we hit the buzzer some of us knew the answers of certain books some of us knew the answers of other books but the bottom line was we worked as a team to celebrate reading and they really had a great time so we're looking forward to trying that again and this time expanding it to include our third graders the parents had a great time lots of suspense and excitement we didn't expect that but um it was fun and it did promote some extra reading and the kids really had a great time and we had a nice cross-section of students so we had boys we had girls we had strong readers we had kids in
021between kids who were still striving to um if they reach grade level standards with reading but they all felt that it was a fun way to engage in reading so that was the McAfee Battle of the books and we're going to expand that and do that again so I'm going to allow take it away Mrs tal Harem to talk about the next for it okay so I'll do okay so our next project started with um our sustainable Jersey Juniors Club so we have a club of students that focus on Recycling and helping us to achieve you know our award that we did get for sustainable Jersey Juniors so what we've worked on this year was expanding our outdoor instructional space with our Courtyard and so the grant money was used to purchase what you see
022pictured on the screen rates soil seeds everything gloves everything that we needed to really clean up our Courtyard so you see the beginning the middle and you'll see the end product we were able to get jersey kids to come and help us to wrap up the part that when we ran out of money but you know they helped us out at you know just recently in August but we did put the garden we cleaned up the garden we put the garden to bed we had a great time doing that and then the next part of the project I'm going to now turn over to Mrs to talk about so so there you go um so hello um sorry I'm like pretty short sorry um so I um is this okay so um I got involved
023with the greenhouse Garden project at McAfee Road school I was a student teacher I ended up being um this lovely woman Susan zaga her student teacher and um I ended up being her paraprofessional as the years went on and then I became her co-teacher and she is the reason why I am continuing this amazing Garden Greenhouse project because she had kind of given me the hope and courage to kind of expand what it is to you know enjoy the environment and enjoy plant life and have the students really see what it's all about so um with the years of covid unfortunately we kind of had to put the garden in the greenhouse on hold and I don't know for those that who know but uh Susan zaga she actually retired last year and I just
024thought it was absolutely insane for us to let the garden greenhouse go so I decided to get a big group including these two and Miss Adams on a Saturday to clean up the garden and we just kind of took it apart and from there we went from planting a bunch of fruits and vegetables my special education students were able to experience that planting stage we monitor growth we every day during science we came out with our observation logs in our greenhouse and kind of just took data throughout the time of those plants growing and as you can see in the slides the amazing growth that happened and there they were ecstatic to see all of that that in itself just made teaching worthwhile so as you can see there's a lot of different pictures but
025um as it goes on you will end up seeing that we ended up having a very successful summer and a very successful summer picking of our Harvest we had pumpkins and tomatoes cucumbers butternut squash watermelons zucchinis carrots we had so many things that we were able to grow and not only grow but we were able to actually we give back to our community as well so overall it was just an amazing experience and I think it's really good for not only special education students but for general education students just to see what that you know what gardening is all about and how we can give back to the community so yeah I I'm very thankful that we were given this grant because um I was able to also enjoy a new hobby um as gardening
026so thank you very much I don't know if there's yeah that's it the McAfee Road school and we thank you thank you very much [Applause] I would now like to invite Reverend Dr Katina Jackson the vice chair of the foundation to say a few words about their work good evening my name is Reverend Dr Katina Blackman Jackson Vice chair of the Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation and I stand proud to represent the founding chair Phyllis Bruno current officers chair Charlotte Weisner secretary Lori Friedman and Treasurer John Felix as well as the trustees Corey Cohen Linda Darby Nina Jordan Nancy Lacourt president of the Board of Education Dan mayor president of the ftea Dr John Ravalli superintendent Dr Lee Schneider Dr Nicholas Solomon president of the ftsaa and trustee Ellen wren the Franklin Township Warrior Education
027Foundation provides the teachers at the Franklin Township Public School District with additional resources to support Innovative and inspiring programs for their students the foundation seeks to enhance the learning opportunities of students by supplementing the curriculum through grants that provide resources that could not be funded through the board of education budget all proceeds go directly to teacher grants to fund Innovative projects whether you join us for golf dinner or provide a sponsorship you are having an impact on the educational experiences of one of our shining stars of our future and I am very pleased and proud to share that we have done some amazing work because of our community support in 2022 nine teacher grants were awarded totaling forty three hundred dollars in 2023 14 teacher grants were awarded totaling sixty three hundred dollars projects can
028be big small simple and or complex with the primary focus for teachers to creatively connect with their students what was the impact of your donation well I'm so glad you asked me the question we know you didn't have to answer the call but you did and because of you the Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation annual golf outing that we planned for June 26th but Mother Nature had different plans even though we moved our outing to July 17th our event was a huge success over twenty three thousand dollars was raised for Teacher grants therefore over 800 teachers will have the opportunity to apply for our ftwef teacher grants of 500 each to provide their students with out of the box teaching our teachers have thought outside of the Norms previous grants have opened the doors for
029our students to learn and therefore 7 200 plus students have the opportunity through our teacher grants to delve deeper into reading and writing including visits from authors they read and Publishing their books business and sparking their entrepreneurial passions social emotional learning diversity equity and inclusion science projects including creating Gardens which we just heard from the wonderful McAfee team and even yes let's clap you all are very inspiring I'm inspired and even the junior classic League at the high school Emma you rock you did an excellent job and we can't wait to see what's next what will the next grants be we don't know and yes let's clap for Emma because you did an awesome job you know I love you sweetie you know I love you what will the next grants be we don't know
030but whatever they are they will surely spark the minds of our talented students and you have been a part of this and you made it happen to the community we solicit your support to affect positive change Make Your Mark create a lasting impression and leave a legacy by enriching the education of the next generation of Future Leaders our students please visit our website at FT Warrior EF dot org again ft Warrior EF dot org to learn the many Myriad ways that you can support the Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation with your time talents and monetary gifts as we work hard to promote the teacher grants who in turn Inspire and Spark the innovation in our wonderful students here in Franklin we are Paving the path for a better tomorrow for our students we are a
031501c3 organization all donations are tax deductible as permitted by law make your mark on the future please join us thank you you [Applause] all right that was the other Grant and thank you again Reverend Dr Jackson for your organization's support of our district our board has a certificate of appreciation for your organization as well and if there are any other members of the foundation here you want to be part of the picture I'd like to take a little picture in front and thank you all [Applause] exactly [Applause] so thank you Reverend Dr Katina Joy Blackman Jackson and thank you to McAfee Road school and thank you to the junior classic league and I'm sure Mr grippo feels um left out from not being able to be part of your reading group or your gardening group
032at McAfee so I'm sure you have something to say on that bill but we all appreciate your support for the for the Franklin Township Warrior Education Foundation and it's an amazing organization and it is truly like it you can't tell what the grant money is doing is is the teacher more excited in delivering the the product or the program or coming up with the ideas because a lot of really great ideas that our teachers have come up with so for that we thank you very much and thank you and do you have any anybody want to say anything John since you're on I would love to say something of course it'll be a Shameless plug because the more the more we raise the more opportunity we have to support those wonderful ideas and those wonderful
033projects so that's the whole intent that's what the foundation works so hard to do is raise money up to 23 000 now this year it's probably the biggest I guess you just made mention of that uh Dr Jackson that's probably about the biggest bank roll that that Foundation has had to date so the more we can raise the more we can give and the more the foundation gives the better opportunity or the more teachers who are supported with their unique ideas so I think it's wonderful I just want to thank you I want to thank all the other trustees I want to thank all of the other folks who have supported the different events because without them we wouldn't be able to see what we saw on the screen there so and thank you Mary
034for putting that together because I know that was no easy chore collecting all that information but it was nice to see collectively how much impact in just two short years of being able to give grants the foundation has made so thanks again thanks to all by the way the grand cycle opens in November and closes I think the end of November so grants will be awarded you'll know if you have a teacher Grant so start thinking because you I'm sure you've got something so for that thank you thank you guys very very much and now we are going to move on to our student representative Kailyn is a senior at Franklin High School so welcome Caitlin okay hello oh hello I'm Caitlin Platt the student liaison and this is the prospective agenda so one FHS
035will be celebrating week of respect from October 2nd through 6th this will consist of week-long activities including spirit week and the return of FHS Courtyard games two Club Rush is being held September 28th and 29th with the focus on Advertising for all clubs three after school clubs will start the week of October 16th as well as the return of after school buses four the homecoming dance at Franklin High School Returns on Saturday October 14th and the Franklin High School gym at 6 pm tickets are only 25 each and can be purchased in the cafeteria from Tuesday September 26th to Wednesday October 11th during lunch and in the b306 suite 5. JSA and the League of Women Voters will be holding a voter registration drive on Tuesday October 3rd during all lunches anyone 17 and older
036can register to vote and six the physical education classes look to support breast cancer awareness on Wednesday October 4th and Thursday October 5th support with money donations are greatly appreciated donation jars will be out by the track or you can see missing Zano thank you thank you very much and welcome and now we are on to our superintendent's report John thank you my report's relatively short I have three items first up Transportation as mentioned last month the Board of Education engaged a Consulting Group Pupil Transportation safety Institute known as ptsi to assist in auditing the district's Transportation contractors ptsi is working alongside the district's Transportation staff as they work to develop a more robust auditing strategy also as mentioned last month ptsi is currently helping District staff to prepare a stronger bid specification to guide
037the process for rebidding current routes and all future routes moving forward this year and in preparation for advertising a new multi-year to and from contract later this winter in addition the board as noted on this evening's agenda will be advertising for a second phase of work related to transportation services the scope of work will include auditing the loading and unloading procedures at various schools as well as providing ongoing coaching and mentoring for transportation staff especially with regard to Transportation safety we hope to be in a position to award the contract next month so that this vendor is ready to mobilize once the first phase of our auditing work is complete which we anticipate will occur by the end of December Claremont road construction just as an FYI if you're not yet aware the Somerset County
038Department of Public Works unbeknownst to us began a road paving project on Claremont Road Tuesday morning we were unaware of the project and unfortunately we're not given any time by the county to make our families aware of the ongoing work with that said I was able to connect with a supervisor at the county level earlier today who was able to provide some relief to us I am being told that starting tomorrow and for the remainder of the project which is projected to last at least through the first portion of next week the paving contractor has been told not to start work until 9 30 a.m which means traffic flow in both directions should be unaffected during arrival times at Claremont and Franklin Park school because that has been very challenging the last two days to
039say the least because it's an alternating pattern of traffic so we're down to one lane on Claremont Road which you know there are two largest elementary schools so that has been somewhat of a challenge again thankfully they are seemingly willing to work with us at arrival however unfortunately the county has informed me they cannot interrupt work once it started so the day so for the day they will continue the one lane alternating traffic pattern until 4 30 which is quitting time so dismissal times at both schools will be affected and I encourage you to give yourself plenty of time if you're picking up a child to get there there's nothing we can do about it it's a county project and I'm being told this is how it has to be so again sorry for the
040inconvenience but as I stated earlier we really have no control over the project the good news is should be done by midweek next week looks like the forecast tomorrow is horrible so they likely won't be out there but the forecast for the beginning of the week looks pretty good so I think they may be done by midweek on being told which means if there's a light at the end of the tunnel that is it FHS top 40 percent uh one president lacorte gives her report in just a moment you'll hear that Franklin High School has made the U.S news and World Report best high schools list they honor and and award and allow you to use their um lovely recognition symbol as you can see behind me as long as you make the top 40
041percent um I can only tell you that at least in the most recent years this is the first time that I remember us being named to that list we climbed several hundred spots in the last five years that has earned our way onto that list and I wanted to thank the entire Franklin Township community for their continued support as we work to improve the school experience for all of our students attending Franklin Township Public Schools and I guess I'll end with a go Warriors and congratulations thank you unfortunately I'm going to begin with a moment of silence it's with deep sadness that I ask for a moment of silence to recognize the passing of Susan leader appara at Franklin Park School Ms leader passed away earlier this month our thoughts and prayers go out to
042her her to her family friends and fellow Warriors Thank you regarding find Visual and Performing Arts alumni news Kristin Sergio daughter of Terry Franklin High School class of 2015 booked the Broadway national tour of Mean Girls for an 82 City North American tour playing three principal roles Ms Heron Ms norbury and Ms George Kristen is on the road but will be close to home at the State Theater on May 11th and 12th 2024 so book your tickets Malia Moon class of 2020 booked the new musical Hell's Kitchen playing a young Alicia Keys at the public theater in New York she opens for previews in October's in October and here is an article about that musical which is at Warrior news at franklinboe.org so um if you know of any amazing success of our Warrior alumni
043please let us know and share the good news and speaking of which actually I'm sure that that bill can talk about this better but his daughter Mariah was recently with her tiny words project company um was that the VMAs amongst many other places and she gave me a bracelet that says in power for that she gave to me at the football game so I'm sure bill can talk about that too um awesome news about Franklin High School um actually I'll get back to that in a second you can get your banned cards for Franklin High School which give you a huge discount to a lot of local businesses that support the band parents that support the kids so we're always looking for ways to help so you can go and find information on their Facebook
044group Franklin High School band parents and our volleyball which is a big thing this year our junior varsity and varsity team are having their home game and rematch on October 3rd at four o'clock against Hightstown so please attend and now some really awesome news about Franklin High School which is why we have the plaque behind us earlier this month we received word from U.S news and World Report that Franklin high schools did you just say all this at Franklin High School okay so I'm not going to belabor it but we got this really cool plaque because um we are in the top 40 percent of the 23-24 best high schools so we're really proud of that and we're really making strides and if you can't find something at Franklin High School that piques your curiosity
045um then you need to look harder because there's something for everybody at Franklin High School we're really proud of what we have going on at the high school so I would like to present this to Dr Solomon the principal at Franklin High School [Applause] go there yes uh this is an awesome awesome acknowledgment by the U.S news and World Report we are so ecstatic I I was talking to the staff um about what we were acknowledged for and I thank them you know this is not something just happened in the last year or last two years but we we certainly have staff that's been there for a very long time and speaks to their efforts um of the time and effort they put into what they do each and every day for our students in
046our school and our community so I thanked our staff at our last faculty meeting um this is a team effort and I think it's great to see the wonderful programming the wonderful course offerings the the any all the things that we do to meet the needs of our students and I'm proud of our school we offer a lot of different things to meet the needs as I looked into what the criteria was for the U.S news and World Report it talks about seniors taking uh AP exams seniors passing AP exams graduation rate math and Ela and science proficiency on state exams so this is heavy heavy stuff and we're doing we're doing a good job with it so I'm excited about that but I'm competitive and I look at numbers I want to be the
047number one and I also talked to the staff about that so we're going to keep on striving keep on pushing uh there's a lot more work that we can do and I know that our students and our staff can do it so thank you for taking the time to acknowledge Franklin High School and uh congratulations to all of our staff and students because they're the ones that made all this happen too so thank you [Applause] [Music] thank you we're good [Applause] so we are really proud of um you know every everybody's high schools are shining star and actually we have a really good high school with a lot going on and we're really proud of it so thank you for that Dr Solomon and definitely thank you to um the staff that works really hard
048every day and just does a great job so thank you and to our administrators and for coming up with the curriculum that's getting us this award and and to Administration for all the work that they're doing for helping us get this award helping us be the district that we are um do you have anything you want to say on that of course you do okay and now we are going to move on to committee and liaison reports oh I'm sorry can I get a motion to open a comment please second it okay move by and sheet of seconded by Samuel in favor pose public comment on agenda items is now open to the public mailing President says uh is no public comment I um open the motion to close it second emotional close public comment
049by Dennis second by Michael in favor oppose public comment and agenda items is now closed can I get a motion to move the agenda please bye okay now we are on to um committee and liaison reports Sam you have anything uh you can come back to me I need to shoot his laptop nishita you got anything bill yes um so on September 12th the Safety and Security committee met uh with myself as chair Lori Mara Sami Shaban Nancy Dr ravali a lot of the discussion took place around the beginning of the school year how our schools were open successfully and safely and got off to a good start for the most part uh Dr ravali informed the committee that there was a lot of road work going on in town especially at McAfee at the
050town at the time and he was able to with the township to divert that project for a while so that project will uh take place in the spring there's numerous road projects going on in Franklin which impact Transportation so the administration is working very well with them the superintendent reported to the committee an update on Pupil Transportation safety Institute project which is very very important in light of recent events and uh he's keeping us informed on how that is progressing the committee is in the process of reviewing the student safety data system annual report from last year oh Mr Wilson will be given a report on that in future months and finally the committee reviewed the student assistant coordinators fall newsletter now this is a newsletter available to all students staff and to the public
051through the district website and this you know with all the talk and study about mental health this is a great tool for the parents and the students to use so we had a very Dynamic meeting and it ended about an hour after it began thank you Jeremy ready yeah sure uh thanks so facilities met on September 26th at 6 03 PM in attendance for myself uh Miss Singh Miss Maris Miss Lacourt Dr Ravalli Mr bernano Mr Valencia Mr McNamara and Mr Alice Transportation request Dr Ravalli presented a parent request for an exception to board policy 8600 the board committee reviewed the request and agreed the request for exception did not warrant full board consideration and directed the administration to respond to the parent accordingly updates board member project updates Mr bernano provided an update on
052construction of the Franklin Warriors Health Center construction is complete and the move-in process and state approvals are ongoing projected opening is for the first week of November that's super exciting news facility use the committee discussed the facility use applications appearing on the board September 28th agenda and the energy report Mr Ryan Alice always gives a very Lively report to the committee regarding the status of the Claremont solar project which for anybody who doesn't know is saving us lots of money and is making us Greener and better members of our community so that's it we wrapped up around 6 51 respectfully submitted thank you arteman thank you the Personnel committee met on September 20th the meeting began at 602 PM in presence where myself as chair Walter Jackson Laurie Maris Nancy lacorte Dr rawali Brian Bonanno
053and Jackie Schneider we reviewed and discussed the following items Personnel reports September 28 2023 number three which is on the agenda tonight the report includes appointments for teachers paraprofessionals Food Service workers assistant school business administrator substitute safety custodians Food Service workers and nurses additional appointments include 2023 2024 6th and seventh section high school and middle school extracurricular and Club advisors and horizontal movement an affiliation agreement with Seton Hall University was reviewed by Mrs Schneider in support of their Counseling in turn students for the good of the order Dr rawali and Mr Bonanno updated the committee on the status of the warrior Health Center the meeting ended at 6 53 pm thank you thank you Mike curcille curriculum and instruction committee met on September 18th uh at 6 pm via Zoom uh president where myself as
054chair Mr Jackson Dr Hopkins president lacorte Dr loughran Dr Ravalli and Mr Sean Thomas the supervisor of health and physical education was there we talked about new business there was a and these proposals are for the board's consideration tonight the first was to approve a water safety Initiative for second grade F Franklin Township Public School students with the YMCA this program will teach students water safety skills such as treading water and floating and general pool safety we also would like to approve a course name change from the Middle School ESL and Ela ldd courses t-e-s-l-e-l-a-l-d-l-l-d courses this change will remove redundancies and grade reporting procedures small change but needs to be done uh there were a couple discussion items uh we with uh Mr Sean Thomas we talked about the the water safety program and
055he presented it to us uh for our consideration uh the meeting lasted a half hour starting at 6 pm thank you thank you Dennis policy yes uh the policy committee met on September 18th 2023 those who was present was myself and she was Dasani Dr Michael Smith Dr John Ravalli Nancy Lacourt and Mary Clark the begin the meeting began at 7 23. it's a committee review and discussed the following policies the revisions to these policies and the creation of new policy and regulations came about in response to changes in the state's requirements policy 6112 reimbursement of federal and other Grant expenditures policy 6311 contracts for goods and services funded by federal grants policy 6115.04 federal funds duplications of benefits and regulations 6115.01 Federal Awards slash funds internal control allowability of costs the committee also review
056revisions to the following policies and regulations policy 2520 instructional supplies which was revised to reflect current best practices and policy and regulation 5200 attendants which were revised to update terminology so me ended at 742 respectfully submitted thank you does anybody have any liaison so they like to talk about nope okay can I get a motion to or new business make a motion to close out the Committees and move to new business second excellent all in favor oh God make a motion to move the following are one monthly reports M1 minutes of board meetings A1 travel and related expense reimbursement A2 approved School connected organizations a three week of respect October 2 to the 6th A4 Fire Prevention Week October 8th to 14th A5 School violence Awareness Week October 16 to October 20th A6 Hispanic Heritage
057Month September 15th to October 15th A7 National principles month October A8 facilities use a through d A9 re-adoption of policy A10 revised policies first reading a11 new policy first reading a12 new regulation adoption a13 Dental visit van Dental van visit A14 settlement agreement with Altria Group a15 donation B1 warrants and payroll B2 Financial reports B3 contract approval a through n B for change orders B5 Award of RFP for a Pupil Transportation program audit and mentoring B6 non-public school nursing services for school year to 2023 2024 B7 budget 2024 C1 out of District students 2023 2024 school year C2 field trip destination C3 field trip applications C4 Franklin YMCA partnership C5 course name change C6 intend to apply for Grant P1 salary allocations P2 Personnel report number three dated September 28 2023 and P3 employment contracts
058once again motion to approve R1 M1 A1 through a15 B1 through B7 and C1 to C6 and P1 to P3 because can I get a second for that please foreign yeah I guess I have a comment here the A14 settlement agreement I guess I would like to table that because it's not been presented I haven't read it support I'm sorry the A14 the settlement agreement with Altria uh has not I don't see that um in our documentation I haven't read that I don't want to vote on it tonight can I make a motion to table that until next meeting will that affect anything here uh it will it was presented it's the same agreement that we had to reapprove because I had to file a I have to file a second paper this is with
059Jewel it's a class action lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the district the settlement amount is twenty eight thousand dollars I mean it's a little less than that I think it's 27 and change but 28 000 and of that Franz group will get fees and so we'll probably I think the estimated cost or the estimated award to the district is 15 ish 15 000 ish we're one of about 600 districts Nationwide that are involved and we got in a little bit later than other districts so they also do it by tiers so you're certainly welcome to table it I mean that's up to you it will affect us in the sense that I won't be able to file the paperwork on time which means I don't know if we will um you know jeopardize
060our fifteen thousand dollars didn't cost us anything to be part of the class action lawsuit and it was recommended by Parker McKay our attorneys who said hey this is a class action suit we are advising a lot of our clients to jump in it and we did it a little more than a year ago and actually if you recall maybe you didn't recall at the time we had to decide to go forward with it there was a presentation and closed session about it so but that is the settlement the settlement I and I apologize I thought the number was on here um but the the number is 28 000 but of that like I said a portion of that and a decent slice comes out for all the other fees and whatnot but again it
061didn't cost us anything in the money uh you know we had agreed at the time when we did this that any money we could put toward our anti-smoking anti-drug effort that that you know that our Student Assistance counselors um pursue all the time would be found money and good money for them to use and since it didn't cost us anything to get involved um we thought it was wise for us to move forward at the time so again you can certainly table it that's basically all you're going to get because that's what the agreement says and it says we can't go on and sue them ourselves that's the other piece that's good enough for me thank you thanks and again I'm sorry I had thought we had put the settlement amount in there but um
062it it for the rest of you it was in my memo and we had talked about it previously actually we thought we would get a little bit more but unfortunately we ended up with just 28 000 but hey it didn't cost us anything and you know we'll end up clearing probably around 15 000 so good for us anything else Dennis no I'm good Mike Sammy Nishida bill no do you have any discussion on the agenda items okay Audrey can you do roll call please uh wait before we do that I'd like to just point out that um a15 thanking the Iola foundation for a ten thousand dollar grant for the Franklin High School Pace Club um and um what's the other one um D7 is not the budget it's the goals and the tentative budget
063calendar so just so people know that now can you do roll call please Mr Tsai Mr grippo yes Dr Hopkins yes Miss Singh yes to everything and I'll abstain from C4 because I work for the YMCA yes what about me oh yeah yeah yes of course great and now we are on to comments from the public can I get a motion to open public comment move by two Sammy seconded by Nishida all in favor pose agenda items or I'm sorry public comment on any topic man the president since there's no public um comment uh available I'll make a motion to close it okay motion close public comment by Dennis seconded by second everybody all in favor opposed okay public comment on any item is now closed now we're on to good of the order Bill
064do you have anything for good of the order yes I was kind of wishing that the McAfee people would stay here but today was uh a wonderful day at McAfee Road School iconic teacher Susan lincheski who assuel as many of you know retired today was the last day and the staff had a breakfast and after school they did a clap out Sue is an exemplary teacher a legend in Franklin Township for her generosity her educational leadership her compassion for the community I've worked in you know as principal of McAfee for 10 years and I've never met a a teacher with such deep commitment to her students both in the school and out of the school so you know we recognized her today and uh it was it was a great day for Mcafee and she
065is a role model for any teacher in Franklin Township that's it okay Nishida you have anything um I wanted to congratulate Dr Solomon and the hard work that the teachers put in as well as the cabinet and all the administrators that we were able to achieve the top 40 but I really want to thank the students they really are taking in and working towards their best um I also was really thankful that we got to see what um Franklin Warrior organization does uh and now that I'm retired I found many things that I want to volunteer for AKA gardening so watch out people uh I may be knocking on your door um and I was able to um beginning of this month go to the Health Center that others had talked about fantastic this is
066gonna it's a game changer for the folks who work in this Township and really is going to be good for their families thank you for the initiatives that you guys come up with and I can say that I'm very proud that this has been my sixth year being on the board and I think I finally have some guts to speak up um but I really admire the initiatives and the goals and the plans that many of you bring to the table and this has been a really amazing group of people to work with because everybody's agreeable and want to do what is best for the community and for the students in Franklin go Warriors that was beautiful Sammy yeah I agree with what nishita said I mean I've had an opportunity to see other boards
067in action in in different areas and and they're not as I guess cohesive and United on on sort of the work that they're doing and so we're all blessed so thanks for reminding us of that I do want to congratulate Dr Solomon I mean this is a heck of an achievement to to climb that many spots in the past few years and to be top 40 I mean one of the things that Franklin Township we always knew could do was to be top 40 and I love your statement where you said uh you're a competitive guy and you want to keep going and we're here behind you anything you need I think as a board I speak for all of us that we're going to do whatever it takes to keep climbing whatever you need
068whatever we can do within the means of our two percent and whatever you know we're going to get done um and we're already doing several things with the health center and things like that which I'm super super excited about uh thank you Dr avali president lacour and all the other folks for the Franklin Warriors I'm shocked how much gets done with such a small amount of money all those projects being funded it's just uh it's just really uh spectacular and impressive um I do want to make a plug for for anybody on the board also for the uh a new group that we talked about a few weeks a few months ago at this point uh uniting with the Town Council to create the Franklin food insecurity and safety Coalition Fisk so we're meeting on
069Monday uh if anybody of the community or any of the board members I know uh Nasheed is going to be joining us and maybe others will be joining but the goal at this point is to identify systemic things within our community at a food insecurity level that we can help to correct not just put a Band-Aid on it but actually get deeper into it Dr Valley has attended every meeting and I'm very grateful for that our strategic plan thank you to Dr Hopkins for all the work that he did in leading that really includes a lot of that in it but um this is just the beginning of that pathway that we set forth as a board to start with the Town Council and it's gotten a lot of moment so when I'm excited about
070it so it's at Monday at 3 30 or so after the the golf tournament with the food bank um otherwise thank you so much thank you can I say something else sure um so the there were lots of projects that we saw on um that Mary uh showed um the township has Boy Scouts and Girl Scout groups and I was wondering if we could have a list of the kinds of projects that were supported but maybe are not going to have additional funds and if it is possible to show them to the Girl Scout Troop leaders sometimes they are able to support knowing that I had been running a troop for past 16 years many times you know what somebody's looking for and the troop is able to get it done and they're so cute
071and they can go ask for things and they get what they ask for so we've collected lots of stuff for the students and kids in the township so I think I would be happy to take that list from you and see if I can figure out a way to still promoting and giving some stuff to the teachers that may not get additional funding from the grants thank you it's really nice thank you Mike I have nothing tonight thank you Dennis yes um I wanted just to Echo my congratulations to Dr Solomon and Franklin High School um I always said that um the the the the courses just like Dr Solomon said that the high school offer is phenomenal um I'm just going to keep beating the drum to uh encourage the parents to take advantage
072of it um seeing um just keeping my eye on each graduating class to see where they are venturing off to leave College the workforce the military uh if if you want it Franklin has it and um if you find your lane you will um progress also congratulations to the Warrior Foundation uh Reverend Dr Jackson as always um did a spiritual job in her presentation and uh it was always a joy to um to hear that presentation also um just um it brought glow over me just to see the young lady that I have seen grow up in front of my eyes Emma casible um to see her uh presentation um is um like I said um as always that uh Franklin does have it if you want it we would measure up to any and
073all and just like Dr Solomon saying of course um like Sammy said the board members we like a challenge too and uh we would um encourage you in all facets to continue to push on and push hard thank you Arden okay I guess the mic doesn't want me to talk today um I would say it's congratulations to everyone involved um Dr Solomon the administration team the staff the students the administration it's the collective teamwork that has been going on for years and years and striving ever since the news has come up I have definitely gained a few pounds people with joy and happiness and you know there were times when you would say no our schools are great we're doing great and now we have something to show and tell and you know it's really
074an exciting time and uh you know it's here people need to know Franklin people we keep saying it married does a phenomenal job with you know the communication and our Franklin reporter tap into they you know say a lot of things about Franklin but I think you know here we are we're you know spreading our wings and on that note on October 12th I will be sitting on the Somerset County Business Partnership on a panel on inclusion and I will be definitely talking about Franklin and you know it's an opportunity for me to again talk about Franklin and I keep talking about Franklin what a town we are and this December I will be completing half of my year living in Franklin so I am a really proud product of Franklin I feel myself as
075well so go Warriors such positivity and it's a great thing to end on so go Warriors and we are adjourned [Music]