001I'd like to call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono, >> Mr. Harris >> here. >> Mr. Holmes >> here. >> Mrs. Perez >> here. >> Mr. Rivera >> here. >> Mr. Silva is absent. Mr. Sabrana >> present. >> Mrs. Katispati >> here. In compliance with the New Jersey open public meeting law, commonly referred to as the sunshine law, the Vinland Board of Education has caused notice and posting of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time, place, agenda, etc. The Daily Journal, SNJ Today, the Press of Atlantic City, Vista Bueno, the clerk for the city of Vinland, and the administrative office public bulletin board. The violin board of education provides an opportunity for public comment in accordance with the open public meetings act. Speakers are reminded that purpose of
002public comment is to address issues of public concern. Personal, defamatory, or discourageous statements about district staff, students, or members of the public are prohibited. The board reserves the right to curtail remarks that violate these standards. Would everyone please rise for the flag salute? Forward march. Left face colors colors. of the United States of America and to the stands nationy and justice for all. >> [applause] >> Mr. Masterell, do we have a resolution for executive session? We do now. Therefore, be it resolved, the board of education, the city violence school district will convene an executive session for the following reasons as outlined in NJSA 10 col4-12. Discussion is about any matter involving the proposed lease or acquisition of real property. any matter involving employment matters and any matter falling within the attorney client privilege to the
003extent that confidentiality is required in order for the attorney to exercise her ethical duties as a lawyer. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Mr. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sabrana. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Scottispati. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Mr. Yano, do we have any special presentations this evening? >> Yes, we do. Uh, we would like to begin with our solicitor, Miss Sandra Grace, uh, swearing in of Miss Luc Vasquez as an open board for the open board member position for the remainder of the 25 school year. >> [applause] >> I just need this. I don't know if we have a another handheld microphone. So,
004I'm just have to share this one. >> Yeah. Right hand on the button. Yes. >> All right. >> If you can please repeat after me. >> I, L. Vasquez, >> I, L Vasquez, >> do solemnly swear >> or affirm >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and I will bear true faith and allegiance. Now I will bear true faith and allegiance >> to the same and to the government established >> to the same and to the government established >> in the United States and this state >> in the United States and in this state >> under the authority of
005the people. >> So help me God. And then I, LE Vasquez, >> I, L Vasquez, >> solemnly swear or affirm >> solemnly swear and affirm >> that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law >> that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law >> for the office of the member of a board of education >> for the office of the member of board of education. >> And that I will faithfully >> and I I will faithfully >> justly >> and impartially >> perform all of the duties of that office >> according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Just sign Next, in honor of Veterans Day, we will be recognizing one of our district employees. Uh, so just
006allow us a moment to go down to the podium. Today's a special day. We have the opportunity to recognize some of our veterans. This morning, uh, we had a wonderful opportunity to spend time at Memorial Middle School, Veterans Memorial Middle School, where we recognized many of our community members who served. This evening, we have the opportunity to recognize Frank Rodriguez, who's one of our custodians who works with us. He is was in the army, served in Desert Storm, 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, New York. And uh he served for two years as a light infantry soldier. So if Frank Rodriguez is here this evening, please come on up to receive your certificate. I'm not sure if he was able to make it out this evening. Frank is not here. He was going to
007be here, but maybe something came up. So we will make sure he gets his certificate. And let's just hear a round of applause for Mr. Frank Rodriguez. [applause] >> Do we have any other veterans who served and are here with us this evening? Oh, we do. Please come on down. [applause] Anyone [applause] else before we move on? No. Okay. Thank you again. At this time, I'd like to bring up a special guest, Mrs. Kate Kron, VHS girls field hockey coach, who will honor her team, our team for an undefeated season. So, let's hear another big round of applause. [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you for having me. not big speaker for uh stuff like this, but I want to um well uh thank you for having us to especially acknowledge our girls. Um it's not
008my doing, it's their doing everything that they've done out there on the field and from not just uh September and October, but all the work that they put in come the end of the school year and all the months that people don't see from July through August and then the culmination of the entire season. Uh we had uh astounding 46 girls out for the team this year, which is the most since uh prior to COVID. So 2019 was the highest we had prior uh to that. And before then it was almost to back to I'm not going to say the the year, but almost to when I was born. Um and you know, we've we've been constantly growing, which uh the testament of these girls coming out and sticking to it is is a big
009fact of that. Uh they scored 61 goals this season. So to give you some stats on that, [applause] uh we won our entire division um with an 8-0 record in the Cape Atlantic League United Division. Uh we have a 6-2 home record and we had an 11-9 record overall and we got to the first round of the state tournament against Rancokus Valley. So our girls did a great job. [applause] Unfortunately, we are losing two seniors. Um, but as much as it's tough to lose uh girls to graduation, it's a good thing that we only have two to lose because that means we still have strength in the numbers of our team and our program is only growing. and our seniors and what they've put into the program. And they could even tell you if you
010ask the questions of what they've seen over the the course of what they've did in middle school because uh playing in middle school and just the four years of high school. Uh the growth of what they've sacrificed and what they could um impart to our girls and what they helped with the freshman has definitely uh come to fruition with what they what we've done this year. And it's a a lot of testament to the the basically putting in the hard work outside of just what we do. Um, so these girls, it's not, like I said, it's not about me, it's about them. And they know this because they hear me preach it all the time. So I'm not going to preach it here to you guys all the time. [laughter] Um, but they know it's
011it's about their hard work. I'm just there putting all the pieces in in in place. So, um, realistically, it's it's what my girls end up doing on the field that really makes, uh, me happy to see them, um, achieve this. So, it's their honor. So, thank you. [applause] >> [applause] >> Alexandria Harris, [applause] >> Kira Herring, [cheering] [applause] Ryan Grover, [applause] Denise Johnson, [applause] Mr. Shyra Jones, [applause] Gata Lavari, [applause] Malia Pierce, [applause] Nyla Pierce, [applause] Gabrian. [applause and cheering] Thank you, Ana Austin. [applause] Olivia Brunini. Thank you, >> Sydney Kron, [applause] Abigail Flickcraft, [applause] Aliana Garcia, [applause] Mila Hennis, [applause] Isabella Hereda, [applause] Lamira Howard, [applause] Laura Hulahan, [applause] >> Chloe Morve, [applause] Olivia Oliver, Miss Henley Rivera. [applause] Short one. >> [cheering] >> Just want to give them a moment to clear out.
012Let's hear another round of applause for our field hockey team. Had an amazing season. Next, I would like to call up uh Mrs. Dina Ralfo, Mrs. Alexis Ziggler, Mr. David Krun, and Mrs. Jennifer Landon, CNI curriculum instruction supervisors to present the 2024 2025 NJSLA scores. >> Good evening everyone. I'm Dana Rodalfo, supervisor of school counseling here um in the district and we're just going to be presenting our spring 2025 uh NJSLA uh results as well as some additional data regarding our grad rates. First off, we're going to start with ELA. Miss Jen Lanning is going to report on the ELA results for grades uh 6 through 12. Hi everyone. This slide presents the ELA growth data for grades three through nine for 2024 to 2025. The comparison is made on a gradeby-grade basis. For example,
013grade three is 2024 versus grade 3 and 2025. The goal is to see a decrease in levels 1 through three and an increase in levels four and five. Notable growth can be seen in grades four, seven, and eight. While areas for improvement remain in grades three, five, and nine, these areas will be addressed further in the response to data section. This chart here shows our growth by grade compared to the New Jersey state average. Grades four, seven, and eight outperform the state average. As you can see, this data compares the district to the state percentages for levels 1, and two from 2024 to 2025. The goal is to see a decrease in levels one, two, and three. Similarly, this data set shows growth from uh levels three to four comparing the district to the state.
014Lastly, this specific slide is showing a comparison from the district to the state for level five. Level five is the exceeding category. Alexa, good evening everyone. So the next couple slides look uh break down some additional data points for elementary and middle school. Uh what you're looking at right here on this slide is a comparison of our eight elementary schools. So obviously they've been deidentified. They are uh represented by letters here. So this is a comparison between 2024 and 2025 looking at all levels of achievement. Uh there's been some gains, some decreases, no um notable uh trends across the board. Our grade four actually did phenomenal this year. We are very excited to see um some tremendous gains. Again, uh the schools are represented by letters. Same thing as the slide before. Uh some of
015our schools made significant gains. You know, looking at one school in particular, almost 20%. Uh they went up in levels four and five, which is tremendous. Um again, letter H school, they made a huge gain as well. So we were very proud of our grade four last year. Uh the next three slides are a comparison of two deidentified schools, one elementary and one middle school. So obviously grades 3 to 8. This first slide is looking at the comparison of levels one and two uh how they performed from 2024 to 2025. This next slide looks at level three and four for those same two schools. So it's an ongoing comparison. And finally for level five, uh looking across all three uh or all two schools, the two identified schools across the past couple slides, this is
016the amount of students that were tested. Uh there's obviously, you know, a gain in grade three, but we saw some decrease in some other grades, so just pending enrollment. Um and finally the slide I'm excited to talk about is what have we um some highlights and just our response to you know what our data is showing us. So obviously I mentioned the highlight uh for elementary specifically was grade four. We saw a 7% increase in students scoring proficient or higher. So that was very exciting. Uh we're hoping to continue that trend into this year. Uh I did have to mention my dibbles data. So, for those of you that probably remember, you know, those amazing presentations we put together for you, maybe from last year, the year before, or infographics, um, our dibbles is our
017universal screener that we are required to implement, uh, by New Jersey law. And last year, given the changes we brought into kindergarten and first grade was our first year implementing a structured literacy curriculum, we saw a 27% increase in proficiency in our kindergarteners from beginning to end of year, which was phenomenal. And in our first grade students, we saw a 24% increase in proficiency from beginning year to end of year. So we are hoping with the continuation of bringing that uh curriculum, it's called bookworms into grades two and three this year, we are going to see some tremendous growth in uh our second and third grades as well. And our grades four and five, the plan is to bring the curriculum into four and five next year. So we are continuing to plug away. We
018are working with the University of Delaware and bringing in uh their literacy specialists to consult with our teachers and coach and we are hoping for continued success. Thank you. Okay, so notable highlights for grades six to nine ELA includes a 6% increase in grade seven and a 9% increase in grade eight with both grades exceeding the state's average growth. Additionally, I wanted to highlight several schools um really did an incredible job. School A on here, as you can see, in grade six had 7% growth. In grade seven, we had multiple schools that exceeded the district growth of 6%, school D at 7%, school B at 8%, and school C at 9%. For grade 8, we had a school actually meet the district growth of 9%. Our response to this data in curriculum is we are
019in year one of implementing curriculum that is vertically and horizontally aligned for grades 6 through 12. Grades 6 through eight are in year two of implementation and grades 9 through 12 are in year one of implementation. interventions. This is our second year implementing I Ready at the middle school level during mascot period. In grade nine, we are in year two of implementing the close reading course, which has now been expanded from one to three sections. Students take this course in addition to their core ELA class. For professional development, we have a focus this year where we provided teachers grades 6 through 12 ELA with uh close reading PD, text analysis PD, and student led discussions. Our secondary instructional coach is continuing to support uh teachers across the district for grades 6 through 12 with a
020particular emphasis and focus on grades 6 9 and 11. Next up is math with David Kern math supervisor K to2. Good evening everybody. So one thing I just want to start talk before we get into the data is a couple notes to notice about this for our grade eight data that we're going to look at. It does not include any of our accelerated students in eighth grade math because those students are taking algebra 1 which is a ninth grade course for algebra 1, algebra 2, and geometry data which our algebra 1 is a nth grade course. Algebra 2 is an 11th grade. Geometry is a 10th grade course. These are only going to include nth grade students because they're ones that are tested and any of our middle school students that happen to be enrolled
021in algebra 1 or middle or geometry at middle school level. Also for geometry and algebra 2 data, there is a much lower amount of students tested in those due to the limited number of students available to be tested because of the restriction to 9th grade. So those percentages are subject to larger swings with that. And as I mentioned here, this is the student count. It is to be noted that our algebra 2 only saw 11 students tested in this one. So when we look at the data across the different grade levels, we'll see grades three through eight here had no decline. They all maintained or improved. Our algebra 1 at the high school level and our geometry at the high school level also saw the same where they maintained their proficiency or improved. where we
022have our biggest area of focus this year is going to be on those accelerated courses in algebra 1 middle school geometry middle school courses and that algebra 2 which is those ninth graders that are following out of that algebra one course that's going to be our biggest focus we're going to talk about that a little bit later in our response to data when we look at the levels four and five compared to the state I want to highlight grade seven and our algebra one students at the high school because our grade seven improved more than the state did so we're starting to closed that gap there as well as our algebra one improved while the state declined in their proficiency rates. The next couple slides, just like you saw in ELA, are going to look
023at level one, level two, three, four, and five, how those changed across the different grade levels and courses. And then we have the same thing where we're looking at grades three and four. These grade three is our first tested subject. We don't really have a cohort data that we can look at to track the students year-toear, but we were able to take a peek at how the different schools performed. And we saw half of our schools made gains. And then we saw the same thing in grade four. And it's to be noted that in grade four, we saw a lot of schools with double-digit gains in proficiency. When we look at the comparison with one of our elementary schools and one of our middle schools, we can see that same level comparison as we go
024through the different grade levels. We have levels one and two, three and four, and then level five. So, this is the one I want to talk about what we're going to do about this data that we saw. As I mentioned, in grades three through five, we did not see any decline. They maintained or improved. So, we're going to expand two of the programs that we started there. One was the Bridges intervention math system. We're expanding it out of just HIT tutoring and expand making available to all of our K5 teachers to work with our students on this. We're also doing a math fact fluency initiative this year where we're really trying to hone in on some of the math skills at the basic level that may hinder a student from acquiring their grade level content
025at grades to six to eight particularly to address those middle school algebra 1 geometry and then that algebra 2 course under the leadership of Mr. Marshy and Mr. Yano. There's actually been a committee formed to look at those accelerated courses and any of the underlying data within there. We're also, like Miss Lanning said, we're in year two of I Ready with the small group instruction. And we also have a focus on prerequisite knowledge as students are gaining that grade level content that was added into our instructional model for middle school classes. For grades six to eight, grade nine as well, we're looking at evidence-based instructional strategies for professional development. And in our grade nine or algebra 1 students there, we're implemented math lab, algebra, and pre-alggebra to support those students that are able to make
026the proficiency on the test but may just need that little extra push there. So that's one of the things that we are doing there. Couple highlights I mentioned is high school one scores increase while the state average decreased. Our grade four saw multiple schools that made double-digit gains. grades three through eight high school edge at one end and geometry did not decline. They maintained or improved. And then we saw at least one of our middle schools and one of our high schools that made gains across every single one of their grade levels. If you have any questions about some of the specifics here, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Feel free to send me email. I'll get right back to you on that. And then I'm going to introduce Miss Dina Ralco
027that is going to go over our science data and our graduation rates. >> Thanks. I'm filling in for Cat Rivera. She could not make it here tonight. So, I'm just going to briefly go over her science her science data glasses on. So, with science and NJSLA, um it's not like um it's not like ELA or math. There's not five uh categories or five levels of proficiency. There's only four. Um so, these are all the schools and how they performed. Oh, here we go. These are our grade 8 percentages in comparison with 2024. These are our 5, eight, and 11 um grade level based on what they were from 2024 to 2025. As you can see, grades eight and 11 both improved um in levels three and four. These are levels one and two and their
028proficiency levels. And these are levels three and four, grades five, eight, and 11. And these are the comparison of the percentages. As you can see, grades eight and 11 um [clears throat] have improved. These are the amount of students that were tested. And this is the important information that Cat wanted Mrs. Rivera wanted you to have. Um in grades five, one school surpassed the state rate for levels three and four. and several schools posted gains of 10 plus percentage points in science um from 2024. In grade 8, the district doubled its percentage of students at levels three and four from 2024 to 2025. And grade 11 didn't make meaningful progress. Levels three and four rose by five points. So, they're making progress. as far as what what the what they're going to be doing with
029this data and the response to this data with grade five. They're going to continue emphasis on in inquiry based instruction and hands-on laboratory experiences. Um they're going to explore schedule adjustments to include hopefully a dedicated science instructor. Um based on the district's curriculum cycle, um it's recommended that grades three to five adopt a new science curriculum while grade two continue integrating science instruction through bookworms. grade eight develop and implement um summitive assessments pre-midunit to to monitor student progress and inform instructional adjustments. Teachers are going to receive targeted PD on how to teach open sed with fidelity. Focus on questioning techniques use data use and CER claim evidence reasoning writing and explore opportunities to increase instructional time for science. grade 11 PD aligned with evidence-based instructional strategies. So, I'm also required to report on our subgroup
030data. So, this is just provides an overall um percentage percentages on the students that were tested for NJSLA. It's broken down by gender, race, um ML, our multil- language learners, our economically disadvantaged, our special ed, gened, all of our students. Um this next slide is our graduation percentage rates. Um so we just got access to our 2025 rate which um was 81.6%. Um and as you can see it definitely is a dip from 2024. Uh so I can pretty much uh attest to the fact that the the dip came from the 2023 24 school year. The new attendance policy was implemented where students received no credit for attendance. So, I think last year we did have a lot of students that um we had some students that did not return to school based on lack
031of credits and they just weren't coming to school. So, we did have um some students drop out due to that. Um with that 81.6, that's not final. Um that is temporary until I file all the appeals. I just filed 25 appeals today. So, using my math, I think it's going to be up to around 84.5% by the time I'm done with the appeals. So, we'll be back up to close to where we were. Um, these are the four and fiveyear adjusted graduation rates over the course of the past uh 13 years. Um, as you can see, we have been steadily increasing up until this little blip that we had this past year. Like I said, that's not final. For those of you um the five-year graduation rate, um that rate, we also are required to
032report that graduation rate is those students that did not graduate in four years but had to take needed a fifth year to graduate. Um so that that is what that 5-year graduation rate is. And this is additional graduation data that we're required to report. it. This this slide basically discusses how many students graduated, the total number of students that were denied graduation, um whether or not they were denied for not passing the assessment, um one of the assessments, uh which we didn't have anybody that that that did not pass an assessment. Um, then it also discusses how they graduate, how they met their assessment requirement, whether it was through the NJGPA, whether it was through the portfolio appeal or whether it was through their IEP or a substitute process. And that is the end. So,
033if anybody, it's a lot of data and we don't like to go over every inch of it. So, if anybody ever has any questions regarding ELA, math, science, um, feel free to contact the one of the supervisors and I'm sure they'll be able to fill you in on whatever information you need. Is there any questions? >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> Um, slide number eight, some uh I guess it would fall under the ELA data. >> Scroll all the way up. Is it this one? Is it grade three? >> Is that the one? Yeah, >> it literally can't. Usually we have one here and we >> I think it's great. This is eight. I can't see what slide it is, but it's number eight on here. So, I'm looking at um school D.
034>> Yep. >> 33. >> Yep. >> To 329. >> Oh, that's a typo. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> I don't know what happened there. >> That's what I was going to ask. >> Yeah. No, that's probably a that that's an extra number that got put in there. >> So, what should that number be? I believe >> I believe it's 32. >> Okay. Thank you. >> But I'll edit that. >> Any other questions? >> If someone could just give us a key to um what these school ABC what they who they correlate to, that would help. >> Okay. Okay. We don't know what school these are. >> Yeah, we're we're not Yeah, we're not supposed to publicly put that out there, but we can we can supply it to you. Yes, >> we'll have uh Mr.
035Marchie send with a new um PowerPoint with the school names in there just to the board, but that's not for distribution. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Anyone else? >> Anybody else? >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments on the HIP or suspension? reports. Seeing none, we're going to go into executive session. regarding um approval of minutes. October 1st combined meeting, October 1st special meeting, October 1st executive session, October 6th board retreat. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Mr. Harris. >> Yes. >> Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perez. >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sabbrana. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Katispati. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Committee reports. Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. Curriculum and instruction met on October 27th. In attendance, we
036had Mrs. Deari, Miss Galooski, Mr. Sabbran, Mr. Bono, Mr. S, and myself. We discussed the November uh district-wide professional development day, the gifted and talented program, the accelerated middle school courses, um the study, the studio production VPS van integration, and the van tour video project, the awarding of the impact grant, the Vine program, which is violent inspires new educators, which is a new initiative this year designed to welcome and support our newest staff members as they begin their journey in Violent Public Schools. also discuss student services, homeschool returns, and middle school social studies, science update, and the Denovi program support. Transportation committee the next met the next day, October 28th. Uh, in attendance, we had Mr. Rivera, Mr. Bono, Mr. Harris, Superintendent Yano, Mr. Bermudez, Mr. Musterell, Miss Blakeley, and myself. Driver recap. 143 drivers
037budgeted, 131 route packages, which is drivers needed. There are 83 general education and 46 special ed. Total filled positions 129, drivers on leave four, substitute drivers 23, drivers in training, VPS employees 13, and city employees 16. The average absences in the morning for October was 15 comparison to 17 in 2024 and for the PM 18 um in comparison to the 20 in October 2024. Open registrations 12 co-op uh total year to date is 11 five accidents reported no injuries. Uh personnel items, registration clerk recommended for approval and bus drivers recommend recommended for approval as well. October events, pink day for breast cancer awareness and homecoming. Um they move the buses for guest parking. Um there is a posa requirement to restrict driver uh use of garage bathrooms concerned with footwear and training. And that is
038all. Thank you. Mr. Vera, >> the facilities committee met on October 23rd at 4:30 p.m. in attendance were Mr. Sbrano, Mr. Bono, Mr. Harris, Mr. Yano, Mr. Must Mr., Mr. Finacio, and myself. Discussed was the energy savings improvement plan. The current progress was was uh updated. Most investment upgrades consisting of LED lighting, insulation, energy monitoring, and load controls will be installed before the coming spring of 26. Larger projects which are include Landis boilers, energy management controls, dehumidifi humidification units for Sabiter, and Pepe will be completed over the summer of 26. Also discussed was the VHS north classroom wing HVAC replacement as well as the VHS South gym partition walls to curtains. Also discussed was Dan Barcy. Uh the state inspected um inspection pertaining to a fire code. The inspector cited a stairwell leading from the
0391951 to the 1962 edition as needing a fire suppression barrier. Uh the appeal will be heard tenatively on November 18th. Some additional items discussed were the sabotary pool engineers estimate approximately $500,000 to replace equipment which is inoperable and has remained this way for multiple years. The Cunningham school boiler has failed and no longer has parts available. Replacement costs will be near $30,000. Uh also discussed with some budget concerns uh ongoing budget concerns, challenges with manufacturing availability for parts and materials. This pertains to HVAC, electronics, electrical items, and building system materials that are having an impact on budgeting. The department is approaching each issue as it comes and is and in constant communication with the business office. In addition, Oaken Main building, the committee confirmed the building's deed will be transferred to the violin community foundation.
040Uh, Mr. Yano spoke on the future for a building for future plan for building use of Cunningham School based on the cost an estimated $11 million for Cunningham improvements. Considerations will be need to be made in the near future. Decisions to move the alternate the alternative program to a PM program as well as planning for a future middle school edition will be considered. administration and the committee will be discussing future choices based on the district's need and available budget. Mr. Masero noted another SDA grant was awarded to Violent in the amount of $ 1.5 million. Administration is working with facilities to prioritize allocation of funds. In addition, administration is working to develop another updated cost analysis pertains to rental charges for facilities. Currently, there is a request from Violent Recreation to expand the use of
041facilities for weekend use. Mr. Mr. Mercer also noted noted a request came in to use building use school buildings in order to shoot a film. More information to come. Mr. Jan and Mr. Mercer reviewed the state's proposed free phone free grant. The decision was made to continue with our current model for both high school high schools and not take part with the state legislation. This decision was based on a collaboration with both principles at North and South who are happy with their current model. And finally, technology department summary cyber [snorts] security enhancements. Uh Mr. Financial once once again noted the department is working on security enhancements. Almost half the district is now using smart fobs for two-factor authentication. Completion should be at the end of November and the VILS grant uh Mr. Ferach noted the
042Verizon grant is being utilized in all middle schools and is very successful. Recently a walkthrough was conducted by Verizon who noted all the achievements. All devices are being operated and used by students and staff. >> Any other reports? We have a public meeting report by the board solicitor. >> Nothing to report. Thank you. >> Our student representative Obi Okafor. Hello everybody. My name is Chobi Okafur. I am the senior class president at Violin High School. Violin High School has been busy these past few weeks. Just two weeks ago, we wrapped up our homecoming celebration, and the energy from that week is still echoing through the halls. Our spirit days and pep rally were huge hits with moments like the snatch the wing snatch the wig game and plenty other activities that people are still replaying
043in their heads. At halftime of the homecoming football game, we crowned our new Miss Monogram, Alila Faulk, along with her court. in order from second place and downward. Payton Russo, Deshara Jones, Ariana Gimenez, and Alva, sorry, Ava Alis. For anyone who may not know, Miss Monogram is a long-standing tradition here at VHS. It's similar to homecoming court, but it recognizes dedication to VHS athletics and includes an interview process. Alila also serves as our senior student government representative and competes at both cross country and track. So, she's basically booked and busy year round. Our Rio themed homecoming dance was another major success with over 500 students attending. The gym was transformed into a vibrant rainforest style celebration space that honestly felt like you needed a passport to enter. None of this would have been possible without
044our senior class adviserss, Mrs. Madrid Oriana over there and Mr. De Shields who have worked their butts off to be honest um to help the vision come to life. Next up is Powderpuff. This is where the juniors and seniors face off in a high energy flag football game while the boys break um out their chairs, their stunts, and and what we call um like a creative dancing. To be honest, this year we also added a sophomore versus freshman pregame match for the girls. I am also one of the cheerleaders this year. So, yes, I will be proudly wearing a tutu. And yes, I will be prepared to embarrass myself in front of the entire stadium. The the game will take place on November 19th at 5:00 pm at Gaton Stadium. So, make sure to be
045there. We're also preparing for the National Honor Society induction ceremony this Thursday at 6 PM in the VHS theater where we'll be welcoming hardworking juniors and seniors into the chapter. It's one of our biggest and most meaningful events of the year and we're excited to celebrate our new members. Before I close, I also want to take this moment to recognize our new principal, Mr. Masonette. in a short time. He has been so encouraging and kind of motivating motivating us to speak up um think with purpose and understand the why behind what we do as student representatives. His passion for making our school a more engaging and supportive place is clear and it's obvious that he truly wants the best for every single student. This year, many of us already fought a stronger sense of unity
046in the Aselta building. I also want to acknowledge our Aselta building administrators, Mrs. Quinn, Mr. Russo, Dr. M, and Mr. Newton, along with our Tanner building administrators, including Tanner Prince building principal, Mr. Adams, as well as Mr. Lapsley, Miss Craig, and Mr. Hall. All of who have played a key role in supporting our school and helping Mr. Masonette transition smoothly into his new role. Thank you and have a good day, everybody. Thank you. public comment on agenda items or any other matter. Please limit your time to three minutes. >> Victoria Santos. >> Hello. Good evening. A quick message from Steven Solah from Inform the Vote NJ. He wants to relay a message that Cedric Holmes, Dennis Rivera, and Alex Rivera will have their seats open in the next election. If you're planning on running, the
047time to establish clean, professional channels of communication is now. Anyone in the public that is running can find Steven Soloff on his social media or inform the vote nj.com. Um, Sabrana, Mrs. Vasquez, congrats on your win at the one of the seats at the board. As you know, my name is Victoria Santos. I'm a local parent. My last speech and the last meeting gained over 20,000 views, a message that really resonated with the community. I am sure you will agree that the well-being well-being of children matters greatly. Child suicide is the second leading cause of death in children today. In this speech, I address you, the board directly as your role. The mishandling of bullying incidences may seem minor to some. This has served as a stress test to the educational institution. Our child was
048bullied and her claims were ignored. While this remains personal, the greater half of this reality has shifted beyond my family. Trying to talk to board members from this community has not come easy. We are now seeing that those who ran on campaigns of transparency and communication are now behind red tape. This will affect how we vote for you going forward. We're also hearing too often the board is not involved in day-to-day operations. But when a staff member acts outside of contractual obligations, there must be accountability, on record warning, suspension, termination. When children are bullied, this requires the governing body, the board to act per policy. Distrust for staff. I am in within my rights to say, "Your anti-bullying coordinator has lost my trust in handling bullying cases. As you know, our child is now in
049private school. It did when situations fall under nonprotected classes. This is a danger to our children. I know that you can do more. Bullying reports require a specific protocol of checks and balances. We must move beyond games of diminishing the student voice to keep a record of low bullying reports. And Mr. Ayano, I have not heard from you. While your time is volunteered, your position requires a genuine commitment to govern. We need action that goes beyond a photo app for the board. Student recognition is important, but when you fail to securely secure the safety of our children for basic measures such as following basic protocol, you fail us. For those that voted against polic, I thank you. The district has a lot of work to do. We recognize that you have to abide by state
050policies. However, you are in the full position for more over oversight. I have many ideas to share with you. I end with this. We do need the Lord and we will leave no stone unturned. >> Thank you, >> Louisis Santos. Good afternoon. My name is Louisis Santos and I come here with my wife, both of us parents of a daughter who was registered in public school before we moved her to private school. I'm also here as a member of this community who believes that the board of ed and school administration are not doing a sufficient job in the context of bullying. Bullying continues to be a major concern in American schools. And according to a 2019 Hamill Institute study, research a recent national data suggests that more than one in five school-aged youth report being
051bullied by peers in school within a 12month period. Research has also shown that bullying can have significant effects on the victim, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, self mutilation, suicidal thoughts, and suicide. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center has also showed that the classroom was the most common location of bullying in school. I recognize that the state of New Jersey does not operate on a strict zero tolerance on bullying policy and instead uses a harassment, intimidation uh or bullying HIP form based on the anti-bullying bill of rights act to address bullying. However, in practice, school administration far too many times operates two-dimensionally, ignoring or simplifying the complexity of the bullying in order to check off a box. This leads to a victim of bullying, who decides enough is enough, and chooses to defend themselves
052as being seen just as responsible as the student who initiates the bullying and as a result is treated unfairly. This perception of school administration does not not doing enough to address bullying is shared by many young students in public schools. According to a new national survey, only 33% of teenagers feel their school is doing enough is doing a good job at handling bullying. And nearly a quarter of parents indicate that their child has switched from one school type to another and were most likely to indicate a squ a switch because of bullying, excessive stress or anxiety at their former school. And another research has suggested that more and more parents are removing their children from public school due to concern about dissatisfaction with academic instruction, their moral values being undermined, and concern about bullying. All
053this to say, I'm clearly not the only one that believes there is a deficiency in how bullying is being handled in public schools. And I say this not only as a parent nor as a member of this community, but also as a licensed therapist who has heard time and time again stories of my young clients telling me, "My school, which is located within this community, will not do anything about the kids bullying me. I have already tried and nothing happened." all this at the very least there seems to be an issue of trust or lack of trust that I believe uh this lack of trust in public schools and administration can begin to be addressed when the administration and the board of ed takes bullying seriously based on effective evidence-based interventions not just on record
054to have a paper trail but in reality working with not against the parents as often as possible. You have 10 seconds. >> And making the information readily and easily accessible, appropriate for the population that you all serve. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments? Seeing none, >> superintendent's recommendations for discussion and approval by the board. >> Requesting discussion and approval regarding personnel items 1.1 through 1.5. >> Questions or comments? >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Harris. >> Yes. Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> Mrs. Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrina, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Vasquez. >> Miss Vasquez. I'm Pardon me. Miss Vasquez. >> I abstain on 1.1 and yes on the
055rest. >> Thank you. The motion carries. Requesting discussion and approval regarding procedure and operations items 2.1 through 2.8. >> Questions or comments. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Harris? >> Yes. >> Mr. Holmes? >> Yes. >> Mr. Rivera? Yes, >> Mrs. Vasquez. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sabbrana. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Katispati. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Requesting discussion and approval regarding finance items 4.1 through 4.23. >> Questions or comments? >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. Second >> roll call, please. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Regular agenda items? None. Proposed
056items for review and discussion are adoption by the board members approval of the board district's goals for 202526 school year for the year of Vinland public schools. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez, >> abstain. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scottispati, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Approval of the itemized bill paylist. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scottispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Emergent items. There are none. Old business, new business, board member
057and superintendent remarks. I'm gonna start with Mr. Rivera. >> Good evening everyone. Thank you to the Memorial Safety Patrol and the J ROTC for leading us in the black salute tonight. Uh congratulations to our field hockey team on a successful season. Uh thank you to Mr. Okafor for that update from VHS. I'm glad to hear that the administrators are having an impact on our kids at adv I'm sorry you guys are still kids um at VHS. So I'm glad to hear that and I'm glad to hear I'm looking forward to hear more from Mr. Okafor as the year progresses. Um thank you to the team that presented the scores um the NJSLA scores. Um like we've seen we've seen some improvement. We've seen a little bit of other areas we can improve in on, but
058it's all a a a slow progression forward and that's what's important. We're going forward. Um, and I'm glad to see that. Um, can't wait to see even bigger gains in the future, uh, which I know we will be able to get to. Um, so I'm also a thank you to the to any member of the public that ever speaks. Um, everyone that speaks there. It's not easy speaking in public. Um but it's uh it's necessary for us to understand a different perspective. Um we sit we see her we sit here as board members and we may not know what's going on dayto day because that is not what our responsibility is. That is our our superintendent's responsibility. Um he he deals in uh the day-to-day operations. he deals with that aspect. Um, I do understand
059that the board has a a role to play in the events that happen or the things that happen within our school district. Um, I take bullying very seriously. If anyone knows me and has heard me before, I have openly and publicly criticized this board for bullying situations in the past. However, I know that everyone on this at this table, everyone at that table does not take bullying lightly, does not take bullying as just something to oversee or something that's not that important. Um, I have confidence in this team. I have confidence in the members of this board that we are serious about bullying, that we are serious about every child that enters our school buildings, that they are receiving a top-notch education and they feel safe and are safe in our schools. Do we have
060bullying in our schools? Absolutely. We're not we're not naive to the fact that this happens. This happens everywhere. We're not naive to that and we're not denying that. But I as a member of this board and as a member of this team welcome the public so we can collaborate and come up with solutions not by force not by intimidation not by threats but as a collaboration and a partnership and I am welcome to that and I am sure many members if not all members of this board are as well. So thank you once again to every member of the public that comes out and speaks and voices their concerns. Thank you and have a great night. >> Mr. Harris, >> I'll be brief. Let's say uh congratulations to the field hockey team. Wonderful season. And
061I also like to thank the president, the superintendent for acknowledging our veterans as veterans day come up. Often we don't remember our veterans. And I'd like to take a time to tell them thank you for your service. uh because of their sacrifices, we have freedom. So, thank you both for uh acknowledging our veterans. That's it. >> Miss Basquez. >> First, I want to say thank you for this opportunity. Um as I transition from a community member, an active community member, uh I want to say, uh thank you for those who have been kind and have welcomed me. I appreciate that. have offered me assistance and that definitely goes a long way with my transition as a board member. With that being said, as a community member now transitioning, I understand how important it is to
062be able to present their concerns as a parent and know that uh I have the utmost respect for anyone that gets on that microphone and uh voices publicly concerns for their specific issues. I also like Dennis Rivera uh have the full confidence in this board to address any of the concerns that are presented. Uh there's nothing on as all these years that I have been involved uh that has indicated anything otherwise and and I am confident that they will address her concerns as well. But I do want to thank them for uh coming and speaking and uh congratulations to field hockey for the team. Uh that's awesome. Undefeated and I am looking forward to working again veterans. I thank you for acknowledging that as well. Uh tomorrow there is an event at Landis Park at
06311:00 a.m. where the city of Violin will be honoring our vets and it is a ceremony that I always look forward to. Everyone, it's open to the public. Everyone is invited and it is a time that we as a community honor those who have served our country and for that thank you if you are veteran and are hearing me and I look forward to working with my colleagues. Thank you >> Mr. Holmes. >> Thank you. I echo the sentiments of my fellow board members. Thanks to everyone uh that was recognized tonight. Congratulations, Miss Vasquez, on being sworn in and also on your well-deserved victory in this last election along with Mr. Fio and Mr. Santiago who's back there tonight. Uh we're looking forward to next year, what our new board will bring on. Hope everyone
064has a great Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks, >> Mr. Sabr. >> Uh thank you to our flag saluters from Veterans Memorial. Uh to our Air Force JOTC for presenting the colors. I always like to see that. Uh salute to our employees who are veterans. Congrat congratulations to the hockey team for an undefeated season. That's no small feat these days. Um to our newly elected board members, Miss Vasquez. Um from the very first day I saw you, I could see that you had a passion for everything you did, and that's one of the um hallmarks of a of a real leader, and I I think you're going to be a great board member. Um, and also Mr. Santiago and to Mr. Nick Fio who was reelected. Um, I'm thinking about running again next year but changing my name
065to Sabrana Fio and see how that works. But anyway, thank you, >> Mr. >> Yes, just a few um announcements. I took a picture this morning at the memorial uh veterans event of uh principal Mangaluso um who uh was surrounded by two veterans who were 100 years old, >> you know, and had served in uh in Korea. So, it was just incredible to see uh they were both men, you know, just there so eager and excited to be recognized uh by the student body. And it was a wonderful um program. There was music, there was uh celebration, there was a poem that one of the students wrote, an eighth grader. And I I'll be posting that later on. But it was just very nice to see just the way that community comes together. The job
066that uh Miss M, Principal Mongaluso and her team did to prepare to honor our veterans. Very, very nicely done. A very exciting day for me. And uh Mr. Mr. Bermudas was able to attend with me as well. Um, I also want to just note that, you know, we have a very districtwide um, we have a comprehensive district-wide program to support our district anti-bullying specialists. We have a district anti-bullying specialist. We have school-based anti-bullying specialists. We have uh, guidance counselors, school uh, social workers and admin who are all well-versed in how to properly uh, investigate and adhere to the law. We follow the law. We have a program. Our supervisor was here earlier, Dina RDF. She also uh assists and is in charge of training uh and turnkey information for our team. So, we know we
067do a good job. We know there are challenges that come up. We meet those head-on and our board is often involved in that process. As parents come and they follow appeals and in many cases, we listen to parents as a as a group and a decision has to be made and we move forward. So, I know the team is doing a great great lift, a great job, and they're doing it with a student first type of focus. So, I want to say congratulations um and thank you to all those team members who work diligently every day to keep our students safe across all of our schools. Also, uh 105 students inducted into the National Junior Honor Society on October 15th. Well done. uh upcoming November is always such a busy time of year with all
068the events and the holidays. It's a very busy time. Um so I want to say thank you uh for all of uh the support and uh just continue to work. We're going to dive deeper into the data that was presented today at our committee meetings at curriculum um so we can continue to unpack the achievement that we see occurring in our schools and where there are challenges which is why the supervisors wanted to make sure you heard tonight what their plan is based on what they found and along with Susette Deari our curriculum instructing and instruction director who's been leading that charge with the team to make sure we dive very closely into the details because we know this board wants to know you know how what what's going well, what's not going well, what
069are we going to do about it. So, kudos to the team for the job that they did today. Thank you. >> I'd like to echo uh what most of everybody, all my board members have said tonight. Um, thank you to our junior RTC and our Veterans Memorial Safety Patrol for the flag salute and presenting the colors tonight. Uh, congrats to Miss Vasquez for being sworn in this evening, but also congratulations to Miss Vasquez, Mr. Fogi, and Mr. Santiago on the election. Um big congratulations to our girls field hockey team on their undefeated season. Great job. Congratulations girls. Looking forward to next season. Um Mr. Okafor, you gave us a very well-rounded um synopsis of what's happening um with the high school and um the board will be looking forward to hearing from you more. Mrs.
070Damari and your team, thank you for the presentation this evening. Um to our anti-bullying team members, thank you. Um I know the board works with you also. Um and you guys are doing a standup job and thank you for everything that you're doing. Um to our veterans, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I come from a military family. Um brothers, dad, uncles, um father-in-law, husband, um all veterans. And um I can't emphasize enough um the thanks that I give to you. And as Miss Vasquest said, I had in my notes um Landis Park tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. They're going to be honoring the veterans. Should it happen to rain, it'll be moved to city hall. Um happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Come out for the Millville Vinand game, the Thanksgiving Day game. Um I know everybody
071knows I'm from Milville, but go Vinland. So um I've been standing on Vinland sidelines for nine years. So, um, I just want to say thank you to central administrative team and to everyone sitting up here. Uh, with that being said, do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I