001I'd like to call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono >> here. >> Mr. Harris >> here. >> Mr. Holmes >> here. >> Mrs. Perez >> here. >> Mr. Rivera >> here. Mr. Silva >> here. >> Mr. Sabbrana >> present. >> Mrs. Katispati >> here. In compliance with the New Jersey open public meeting law, commonly referred to as the sunshine law, the Violent 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, Miss Dueno, the clerk for the city of Vinland, and the administrative office public bulletin board. Would everyone please ride rise for the flag salute? United States and justice for all. >> Mr. Musterell, do we have a resolution
002for executive sess session? >> We do. Now therefore be it resolved that the board of education and the city of violence school district will convene in executive session for the following reasons outlined in NJSA 10 col4-12 discussion about any matters falling within the attorney client privilege to the extent that confidentiality is required in order for the attorney attorney to exercise her ethical duties as a lawyer. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bona. >> Yes. Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrina, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scottispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Before we proceed with the rest of the meeting, um, as of August 14th,
0032025, uh, Mr. Fio has resigned and stepped down from the violent board of education. So, therefore, we have a public notice. City of Violent Board of Education vacancy unexpired term. The city of Vinland Board of Education seeks a qualified resident to fill an unexpired term on the board through through the January 2026 reorganizational meeting. Requirements include at least 18 years of age, a United States citizen, at least one year of Vinland residency, a registered voter of the city of Vinland, not having an interest in a contract with with or a claim against the city of Vinland Board of Education, successful criminal background check. Please email a resume and letter of intent to Scott musterell, board secretariat s muststerellinland.org and copy his assistant car Irvine at kurvine.org. Deadline is 12 p.m. Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025. Presentations
004by candidates/in shall take place in public session at a meeting special meeting of the board immediately following the 5:00 pm combined meeting on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Scott Musterell, board secretary at 856-794-6700 extension2243. This has been posted on our website, social media, and will be in the newspaper on Saturday. Mr. Bermudez, do we have any special presentations? >> We do. I will be presenting uh actually our harassment and intimidation and bullying annual report. All right. So the first uh slide please uh just refers to and goes over the definition of a hip. Um as per uh administrative uh code 18 uh any gesture or written verbal or physical act or any electronic communication whether it be a single incident or series of incident which is and then it
005lists those uh characteristics underneath u one that takes place on school property and that a reasonable person should know under the circumstance that they would emotionally harm a student or damage students property um and or has an effect of insulting or demeaning the student or group of students and or interferes with the student's education or is a uh are severe and pervasive enough to disrupt their education is the definition that's used to classify harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Uh the next slide just references our board policy and that board policy is obviously an important component in in guiding our our harassment bully harassment, intimidation, and bullying prevention programs. Uh again, policy 5512. And then that very next slide is actually going to reference uh our HIV data. Um over the course of a number of years,
006but specifically we're looking at school year 2425. Um in school year 2425, we had a number uh 108 uh harassment, intimidation, and bullying uh incidents reported. 66 of those 108 incidents were substantiated and 42 were unsubstantiated. So we saw a decrease in the number of reports as compared to last year. Uh but unfortunately there were an increased number of substantiated reports. Um we've done a number of professional developments uh over the last school year. Um so we're hopeful that our teams are prepared for the upcoming school year to address any of those issues and certainly do what's uh necessary to uh mitigate those types of behaviors and prevent bullying in our schools. Thank you. >> Any questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Bermudez. Um I'm a numbers person. So when I did the um the calculation
007from 23 to 24 to 24 to 25 it was a um 23 to 24 was about 3.6% and substantiated but 24 and 25 was 6.1% and I know that you did just speak about it and you have noticed it. I'm asking, do you can you tell me what you think the what attribute it to more the substantial or substantiated um hib policies? What what kind of like where are we with this? I know that you said we have more learning, we have more um uh education that we're doing, but where do you see what was the catalyst? >> Yeah. So it it sometimes it's difficult to put your finger on a on a single incident or or a single um to to make a specific correlation about what where those numbers come from. Um you
008know just kind of speaking as as a former principal as well. I think that one of the things we're doing is we're we're increasing that understanding. We're increasing that messaging to families and parents about you know what what is harassment, intimidation, and bullying. They're reaching out to us. They're letting us know when these incidents occur and we're able to to follow up. we're able to do an investigation and put in uh measures to, you know, correct those behaviors um so that they don't they don't occur again because ultimately at the end of the day, that's our goal is is for them not to occur. Um you know, I I I on a more personal level, I certainly think that things like social media play a role in in some of the increased incidents that we
009see. Um so, you know, I think as as a as a district and and even during some of our training, we've talked about, you know, where the where where the incidents are happening, how they're being communicated, and ways that we can better educate students. we could better educate families so that we can prevent those sorts of misbehaviors, those sorts of actions. So, tough to put a finger on a on a single um you know, factor. Uh but I think there's a there's a there's a few things, but I think we do have a good uh handle on on what's necessary to kind of move forward and hopefully see those numbers decrease in the future. >> So, can I follow up with one other question? So to drill down a little deeper, do you see um
010something that's glaring out like are there more uh reports of social media harassment, physical harassment, bullying, and things like that? Is there more do we see a trend I guess is the question I'm asking and the types of bullying and harassment that we're seeing? >> Um you know, if if I'm being I I want to certainly speak with accuracy. So, I can certainly uh drill that down a little further and and look at kind of last year versus this year and just see and and do a comparison. I'm happy to, you know, prepare that information for you, but I wouldn't want to speak and and share something that I'm not, you know, 100% accurate on. So, >> totally understand. >> Yeah. No, I I can do that for you for sure. >> Thank you. >>
011Any further questions? >> Okay, seeing none, and there is no further HI report, correct? Correct. Thank you. The approval of minutes for August 6, 2025 combined meeting. Are there any questions or comments? >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono, >> yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Do we have any uh committee reports? >> Do we have a public meeting report by the sport solicitor? >> Nothing to report. Thank you. >> We don't have a student representative here this evening. Public comment on agenda items or any other matter. Do we have any yellow sheets? >> I
012do not have any yellow sheets. It's open to the floor if anybody would like to come and speak. >> Seeing nothing. >> Okay. Mr. Ramirez, do you have the recommendations of the superintendent for discussion and approval by the board? >> I do. Uh I do. Discussion and approval regarding personnel item 1.1. >> Questions or comments? >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono, >> yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrina, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cottis, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Congratulations, Mrs. Fenizio. >> Miss Fenizio, if you don't if you would like to come up to the podium and share a few
013words, please. Good evening everyone. I want to begin by thanking Mr. Yano, the board, Mr. Bermudez, Mrs. Deari, Dr. Spieman for this wonderful, incredible opportunity to serve as principal of data analytics and information systems. I am truly honored and committed to working hard for our students, families, teachers, and staff. As a proud Violin High graduate who has served as a teacher in the district, an assistant principal, and now a principal, this moment is especially meaningful. I am excited to continue giving back to the community that has shaped me today. A special thank you to my family for being here tonight. To my parents, thank you for instilling in me the values of hard work and dedication. To my husband, your love and support means everything to me. and to my son Rocco. Remember, you can
014achieve anything you set your mind to. Thank you everyone and have a wonderful evening. >> Thank you. >> Discussion and approval regarding procedures and operations items 2.1 through 2.4. >> Questions or comments? >> So move. Mr. Bono, >> yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. To all. I recuse myself from 2.4. >> Thank you, Mr. Silva. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sabbrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Discussion of approval regarding building and grounds 3.1. >> Questions or comments? Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono, >> yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr.
015Silva, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Discussion of approval regarding finance items 4.1 through 4.11. >> Questions or comments. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono. >> Yes. >> Mr. Harris. >> I'm going recuse myself from uh 4.5 and yes to uh the remaining. >> Thank you, Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rivera. Yes to all, but I recuse myself from 4.6. >> Thank you, Mr. Silva. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sabbrana. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Scottisbati. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> There are no regular agenda items. No items proposed for review or discussion or adoption by board members. There is no itemized bill list for this meeting. No emergent
016items. No old business. No new business. Board member comments. Mr. Holmes. >> Nothing at this time. >> Mr. Bono. >> Nothing at this time. Thank you. >> Mrs. Perez. >> Nothing at this time. Thank you. >> Mr. Rivera. >> I guess nothing at this time. >> Mr. Harris. >> Nothing at this time. >> Mr. Silva. Nothing at this time. >> Mr. Sabrina, >> congratulations, Mrs. Finio. We're sure you're going to do a fantastic job. I know a relative of yours sitting down there and had the pleasure of working with her on translation of a district calendar when we used to print one and she did an awesome job. Um, even though the language doesn't translate well all the time, we had some interesting conversations about what something should say and what it really meant. Uh
017but it was a lot of fun. Um until all the rest of our staff uh restful couple of weeks and then we're going to gear up and start another school year. It goes by faster every year it seems and uh there's a lot of work that gets done behind the scenes as we get ready. Thank you all. >> Mr. Bidz. >> All right. I do have a few things to share on behalf of our our superintendent, Mr. Yano. he was sorry that he couldn't be here this evening, but he did want to just highlight some of the things that uh that we've uh been proud to kind of do here at Pi Public Schools over the month of August. So, a lot of activities we uh VPS, we proudly participated in National Night Out on
018August 5th. It's always a fun event. We enjoy seeing the families and community partners out there at that event. On August 7th, the district hosted its first job fair. It was very well attended and resulted in many positions being filled. So, thank you to Dr. Speakman and her team uh and and all of the staff who participated and supported that that successful event. On Monday of this week, Wallace Middle School held its new student orientation in Carnival, which highlighted the Verizon Innovative Learning Initiative partnership. There was an excellent turnout, showcased a very strong support of our family and communities. Um this week we're wrapping up our annual administrators academy. It's a multi-day professional learning series designed to prepare our leadership team for the year ahead. So, thank you to Mrs. Dearie for all of her
019work to put that together for us this week. Uh, one thing we want to remind everybody about is, uh, on Monday, August 25th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., it's our second annual back to school extravaganza at Katone Stadium. We have a packed house. Over 60 schools and community partners are going to be there ready to welcome back families for the new school year. It's a free event open to all violent families, and we look forward to seeing everyone there. And last, uh, I have on this list from Mr. Yanu is we're looking forward to welcoming our staff back on October or excuse me, September 2nd uh to kick off two days of inservice before students return to us on September 4th. Uh we want to wish all of the staff and students the best
020as we embark on another successful school year. Thank you. >> I'd just like to congratulate Mrs. Benio once again. Thank you all for coming out tonight. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. All in favor? All right.