001I'd like to call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono. >> Mr. Fio, >> 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, Vista Bueno, the clerk for the city of Vineland, and the administrative office public bulletin board. We'd like to have our Vine and Police Explorers come up for a flag salute, please. Four hearts by
002Julip. I you I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty andice for Forward. Thank you very much. We are deeply saddened to share the passing of former board of education member and past President Thomas Aldrich. Tom was a dedicated public servant both as a longtime violent police officer and as a schoolboard member for over a decade. He was a man devoted to his family, an educator, a mentor, a beloved member of our community and a great friend to many and he was a great friend of mine. At this time, we ask that you please join us in a moment of silence to honor his memory and the lasting impact he made on so many lives. Thank you. Do
003we have a resolution for executive session? >> We do not. >> Mr. Jana, do we have any special presentations this evening? >> Yes, we do. I'd like to invite Mrs. Susette Tamari, executive director of CNI and Mr. Raphael Mason, VHS Asselta building principal to present the NJGPA spring 2025 results. >> Good evening, Mrs. Katispati, Mr. Sabrana, and board members. Good evening, Mr. Yano, central administration, and community members. Um, this evening, Mr. Mason and I will be presenting the spring 2025 NJGPA results. The NJGPA is the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment. Each year, all 11th grade students are required to take the NJGPA. Uh it happens uh about March of each spring. The NJGPA is designed to measure the extent of students that are ready to graduate in both language arts and math. Language arts components
004are aligned to grade 10 standards and the math component is aligned to algebra and geometry standards. Students who do not meet the requirements of the NJGPA, they do have an opportunity in the fall to retake the NJGPA. If students are still not successful with passing the NJGPA, there are other pathways for students uh to be graduation ready. It is a graduation requirement that all students pass the uh a pathway, a state assessment requirement. And I'll go a little bit more in depth with the various pathways. Um but at this time, Mr. Masonette is going to go over the ELA and math scores. Thank you, Mr. Margie. Good evening, board. So, we're going to start with the math component of the NJ GPA, which uh like Mr. De Marchie mentioned is aligned with algebra 1 and
005geometry standards. Um it consists of two 90-minute test sections. Um and it was taken in March of March 12th of this past school year. This first chart is showing the number of students that did not meet the GPA requirements for for um for math. we have uh 65% of our students did not meet the requirement the first time uh taking that assessment. Um but one thing that's important to note about this number uh even though it's higher than what the state average is um the important thing to note is that violin high school has this number has decreased over the past three years. So we more and more students are being prepared um to be um out of high school and to pass this particular exam. 35% of our students were graduation ready. Um and
006this number again this is the reverse of the previous uh the previous chart um is showing it it is showing that our number is going up year year from year to year when it comes to math. Um this is the comparison of yeartoyear overall. So you can see in 2003 uh 23 it was only roughly 22% of students that were graduation ready. And now we're in 2025 where we're 35% of our students are graduation ready for math. So that number is increasing increased over 13%. So that's the direction we want to be going. This is a breakdown of the subgroups that are graduation ready. Uh we saw increase in the entire student body compared to 2024 including our multilingual learners. Uh, one of the things we didn't see the the increase at the same rate
007would be for our economically disadvantaged students and our students with disability. But as you as you all know and hopefully you know that attendance plays a big part in that college readiness component and that's why we have such a big focus on attendance for this school year so that we can make sure students are in seats and uh make sure they're getting prepared to take this exam on on a regular basis. So we also have the ELA test results that was taken on March 11th and it's consists of two 90minute test sessions. Uh we did much better in ELA than we did in math where we had um 35% of our students that were not graduation ready. um nearly double the number of students were ready for graduation then compared to math where 65% of
008our students were ready for uh ready for graduation and this number has also gone up for year from yearly 20% since um 2023. So again we're going in the right direction. Our number continues to rise year-over-year and we're getting more and more students prepared for graduation. This is the demographic uh breakdown for the total group. Um and again our our economically disadvantaged students and our students with disabilities are are not pacing at the same rate but again that that attendance component is something that comes into play in that as well. So u we're hopefully we can see the the growth over the next couple years in all the subgroups. And that's all that's all the data I have for you Mr. Marchie. Our goal is for our students uh to pass the NJGPA. Again, if
009students um do not meet the 725, which is the passing score or greater, they do have another opportunity in the fall. So students or juniors who did not pass this first pathway in March of 2025 will have another opportunity in the fall of 2025. And this is for the class of 2026. If students are not successful in passing the NJGPA, there is a second pathway. Please remember that students must sit and they must take the NJGPA before the other pathways can come into play before they have that opportunity to actually um partake in another pathway. Pathways are um the ACUPPLACER for ELA, PSAT, SAT and the ACT. For mathematics it is the same the SAT, PSAT, the ACUPPLACER um or the ACT. This is for pathway number two. Now, if a student is not successful
010in pathway one or pathway two, they have the opportunity to um complete a portfolio assessment. And this is something that our district supervisors work very closely um with our new building principal or will um with our new building principal to ensure that our students meet the NJG or the um ELA and math requirement for their graduation assessment. So again, students will have another opportunity um in the fall if they uh did not pass in the spring to take the NJGPA. If they are still not successful, there are other pathways for our students in order for them to meet their graduation requirement for both language arts and math. Notable achievements. ELA scores have increased by 19.8% since 2003. Each year we have seen an increase, a growth, which is we're definitely trending in the right direction.
011Math scores have also increased by 13.4% 4% since 2003. Again, we're trending in the right direction. We're seeing growth. Uh since 2003, every year, our scores are slowly going up. And one of the um topics that Mr. Masonette had mentioned is attendance. Mr. Masonette and Mr. Adams are going to be focusing on attendance, getting students in school and in class. And it will be that then they can learn. if you're not in school, then um it's very hard for our teachers to teach the standards in order for them to be successful. So, I'm very happy to hear that the high school is going to be focusing on that attendance piece. Curriculum, the CNI department, I have to really give a um a shout out to Jen Lanning and David Krun. They've been working very closely
012with the ELA and math teachers to make sure um that they are understanding the standards that teachers need to cover and they've been working very hard on the curriculum to make sure it is up to-date and they are receiving professional development to teach those to teach our students um what they need to know to be successful on the NJGPA and datadriven decisionmaking allowing teachers to allow teachers teachers to adjust instruction and provide targeted interventions, intervention strategies. Our guidance department will work very closely uh with our students um and uh making phone calls home. Again, students will be able to take the NJGPA again in the fall. ELA and math supervisors will discuss the results with department members. Uh summer curriculum revisions are underway and our ninth grade academy preparing students early on for those skills
013that they may may not have. Building that background knowledge through our close reading pre-alggebra and math lab those courses to begin in the fall which would hope to again um as we move forward and continue with our growth have the graduation ready scores much higher. Does anybody have any questions? >> Thank you for Can you hear me? >> I can. >> Thank you for the presentation. Uh it is concerning that 65% are not graduation ready, but I do understand the pathways that you do have. When do those when does the final number come out? In other words, for them to graduate, what how long what's the time frame, I guess, is what I'm asking. >> We have the the school year. So by May of 2026, now these these scores are for our current seniors.
014This is the class of 2026. So in the fall about October, these student the students that um did not demonstrate that they were graduation ready will have that opportunity to take the test again. Um, so we know the students right now that um have not met uh this requirement, but now we're also looking at those students that maybe they passed the SAT or the PSAT. So, they would automatically come off that list because they've met that graduation assessment requirement through pathway number two. Okay? But every student that did not um pass the assessment has that opportunity again in the fall. Um and then they will have all year um up till May. The the submissions to the state for the portfolio um must be submitted by May. >> Okay. Any further questions? Okay. Thank you.
015>> Thank you. Approval of minutes. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono. >> Yes, >> Mr. Mr. Fokei, >> yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> I recuse myself from uh June 25th executive session item number two. And yes to the rest. >> Thank you, Mr. Silva. I have to recuse myself from June 4th combined meeting, June 4th executive session. Yes to June 25th special meeting. I have to recuse myself from the June 25th executive items two and three and the final yes for July 7th special meeting. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes to June 4th. both meetings. Yes to June 25th, both meetings. I need to abstain from the
016July 7th uh special meeting. >> Okay. Thank you. Motion carries. >> Committee reports. >> Mr. Fokei. >> Yes. Good evening. The finance committee met Tuesday, June 29th, uh 8 a.m. via Google Meet. In attendance was Mr. Merell, Mr. Yano, Miss Carrey, Mrs. Perez, Mr. Silva, Mr. Rivera, and myself. Following topics were discussed. Uh we reviewed the budgetary and food service bank balances. Grants and aid SDA grant was revised to include the VHSLA partial roof replacement. Shared services billing the city for Saber Annex HVAC utilities for fiscal year 2425. RFP and bids VHS partial roof replacement alternative high school. Uh bids were received. I think that's actually on the agenda tonight. Facility topics, irrigation at VHS is complete. Land is drainage, HVAC at Sabiter Annex. Uh lastly, last two things, food service for May and June
017net income were reviewed and uh miscellaneous items. All of the new buses from the 2324 lease purchase have been received. Thank you, >> Mr. Holmes. >> Good evening. Transportation Committee met on July 29th at 4:30 p.m. via Google Meet. Present was Superintendent Yano, myself, Mr. Rivera, Mr. Bono, Mr. Harris, Mr. Bermudez, Mr. Musterell, Miss Blakeley. Driver recap, extended school year, ESY, uh, 2025, drivers budgeted 45, drivers serving as AIDS budgeted 12, ESS AIDS budgeted 33, route packages, which is drivers needed 45, transporting to 22 different school locations in the area. Review the current number of open and completed registration for July. Open registrations is 164. registrations completed in July was 150. We discussed our summer joints and co-ops with other districts. Three um accidents were reported in July. No injuries uh to report. Personnel items,
018interviews for clerk typist registration and interviews for assistant coordinator, which is on the agenda for tonight. July event, some staff participating in the Puerto Rican uh day parade and ongoing planning for the extravaganza. Garage update on the buses in our fleet. General information, bus route picks will be August 12th, 13th, and 14th. Driver opening meeting and professional development will be August 28th. And lastly, discussion of the expectations and protocols in place for a driver involved in an accident. Thank you. Any further reports? >> Is there a public meeting report by our board solicitor? >> There is none. Thank you. >> We don't have a student repres representative here this evening. Um public comment on agenda items only. Please limit yourself to three minutes. Do we have any yellow sheets? We do have one yellow sheet.
019Steve Soloff comment is not about uh agenda items. Is that okay? Okay. So, hi everybody. My name is Steve Soloff and I just want to take a minute to introduce myself for anyone who doesn't already know me. I run a nonpartisan website called informthevotenj.com which covers local elections here in Cumberland County. My goal is simple, to make it easier for voters to understand who's on their ballot and what they actually stand for. To the candidates in the room or watching at home, this is just a friendly reminder or heads up that I'm around and covering this year's school board race. I always do my best to keep things fair and I welcome participation from everyone. I'll be doing outreach using information from the county clerk's office, but I want to note that a few weeks
020ago from a source at the county fair, I was told there might only be two or three candidates running. But when I checked the clerk's list today, we're already at eight. So, yes, I will do my due diligence, but if you think I'm sitting around refreshing the county website every day waiting for new names to pop up, that's not quite how this works. Uh, I'm not trying to chase ghosts. I just need basic communication and coordination. And as a bit of speculation, this is making me think of the Millville City Commission race where there are five seats open and at least 17 candidates and new ones seem to appear every 37 seconds. That's a lot to cover and a lot of potential unexpected plot twists. Also, remember the vote by mail process starts September 20th,
021so you might not have as much time as you think. The point is, the sooner candidates reach out, the better I can represent everyone fairly and avoid any drama later about perceived bias or one-sided coverage. Finally, for sitting board members and others in the no, if you want to help clarify what the public should be considering when they vote, I'd be happy to get that on the record as well. The more clarity we can give voters, the better. Thanks for your time. Is there anybody else wishing to speak? >> Seeing none. >> Superintendent recommendations. >> Requesting discussion and approval regarding personnel items 1.1 and 1.2. >> Questions or comments? Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Roll call, please. >> Second, >> Mr. Bono. >> Yes. >> Mr. Fio. >> Yes. >> Mr.
022Harris. >> Yes. >> Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yes. >> Mr. Silva. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sabrana. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cottispati. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Excellent. Uh, I would like to congratulate uh two of our uh employees who are here this evening. And uh first we'll start with uh Dorian Rickettts who is uh promoted to assistant coordinator in our transportation department. Congratulations Dorian. We look forward to working with you. I know Dana and the team is here in support. So your team is behind you. So excellent. And next I'd like to also recognize Dr. Cornish who will be going over to Winslow School as AP. Congratulations. It's been a little bit of a long road, but we have landed and we are ready to
023fly with you. And I know that you are going to be warmly received at Winslow. I see the principal right behind you and I see Deb Quinn, one of your number one supporter right next to you. Congratulations again. Requesting discussion and approval regarding procedures and operations items 2.1 through 2.5. >> Questions or comments. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fio? >> Yes. >> Mr. Harris? >> Yes. >> Mr. Holmes? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perez? >> Yes. >> Mr. Rivera? >> Yes. To all recuse myself from 2.5. >> Mr. Silva? >> Yes. Mr. Sabbrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Requesting discussion and approval regarding finance items 4.1 through 4.13. >> Questions or comments? >> Do
024I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono, >> yes. >> Mr. Fio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrano, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katispati, >> yes. >> Motion carries. I would like to recognize Mr. Muhammad uh from Transforming Lives who will be uh serving and supporting our alternative school. Welcome, sir. >> Welcome. Regular agenda items. We don't have any proposed items for review or discussion or adoption by board members. None. Um approval of itemized bill paylist for June 2025. Questions or comments. Do I have a motion? >> So second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bono, >> yes. >> Mr. Fio, >> yes. >>
025Mr. Paris, >> I have to recuse myself from vendor number uh 1074 and 1333 and yes to everything else. >> 1333. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mr. Sabrana, >> yes. >> Mrs. Catis body, >> yes. Motion carries. >> There are no emergent items. Old business. New business. Board member and superintendent remarks. Mr. Fio. >> Nothing at this time. >> Mr. Holmes. >> Nothing at this time. >> Mr. B. No. >> Nothing at this time. >> Miss Perez. >> Just quick congratulations to all the new hires promotions. Looking forward to starting a great new year. Thank you. Thank you to the police explorers for leading us in the flag salute. Um I'd like to
026say again, as we said earlier in the in the meeting, my condolences to the Allridge family. Um a quick story about um Tom. He obviously everyone knows, well, most people know that he was he was here prior to me arriving on the board. And um >> so the election happened and and I became a board member and he was no longer a board member. Um but a year passed since from the time that I got elected to the time that I actually met him. So when he when he saw me for the first time, I wasn't sure how he was going to to greet me or how he was going to, you know, just talk to me. So he turns around, he he looks at me, he says, "So you're Dennis?" I'm like, "Yes, sir."
027He says, "Um, I'll be honest with you. I was upset that I lost that election, but knowing that you're doing a great job, knowing that you you are I hear great things about you, I'm I'm glad that I lost that election." And that's always stuck with me because he didn't have to do that. He didn't have to say that. He didn't have to go out of his way to to do that. And he did. And from what I'm hearing, he was that type of person. He was that kind of individual and that kind of man. So, my heart goes out to his wife, uh, Diane, and, um, his family, his kids, and every all his friends that loved him. Um, I'm sure he will be missed. Thank you and have a good evening, >> Mr.
028Harris. >> Yes. I'd like to send my condolences to the All family, to his daughter, to his wife. Uh, Tom was a personal friend of mine. He was my supervisor in a detective bureau. He was my supervisor as a juvenile sergeant. It's funny. Tom was a good man. I've never seen him mad. Uh we worked long hours together. I was actually put in the juvenile unit because Tom was upset with the amount of arrests that were being made in the schools. So I was put there with a specific task of we're going to drive these numbers down. and we drove them down using the station house adjustment program so that every arrest or potential arrest was scrutinized by myself and Captain Aldrich to get those numbers down because he knew how that arrest would affect
029the kid later on and he didn't like it. Tom went out of his way to show that whatever agency he worked with, he wanted that connection with the community always. uh national night out. If anybody ever went to that uh or went to that yesterday, Tom was the driving force behind that. We started out at Magnolia Park with a budget of $1,200 and look at it now. So, he was a good man, deserves a lot of credit. He will be missed. Uh like I said, we worked late hours. We were on opposite sides of the political spectrum and we never had a cross word. And when his candidate would win, he would tease me. He'd bring a life-sized poster of somebody who won and sit it next to my desk, but it was always inest.
030It was never any anger. So, uh, I want to take time to say thank you, Captain Orich, and thank his family for sharing him with us. The city is much better knowing that we had him in public life. Thank you, >> Mr. Silva. >> Yes. I'd like to thank officer Kovven and the police explorers for the flag salute. Uh deepest sympathy to the Aidge family. Um I had the honor of serving here with Tom. Um he was a great man. Taught me a lot. But uh yeah, my heartfelt sympathies to his wife and his kids. Um to our new hires, welcome and looking forward to working with you guys. Thank you, >> Mr. Sabrana. that oops, sorry for their report and um our new hires. Congratulations and looking forward to working with all of you.
031Here we are. It's August again, only four weeks to the beginning of another school year. We hope that our students, their families, and all of the staff have a chance to get a little bit of rest before we dive into another school year. And as Mrs. Cottispati said, we remember Mr. Olrich as not only a dedicated law enforcement officer, but a tireless board member and officer who always put the needs of our children first. It was my privilege to be an employee during his term in office and we mourn his passing. >> Thank you, >> superintendent. >> Yes, we've had uh quite a productive summer so far. Our administrator's academy at the end of June was a big hit. Our district leaders spent two days working together uh you know just looking at our school
032year sharing valuable information and collaborating about what would come next and how the year went. Uh our next academy is coming up soon and today we had an operational focus day where we got to talk about transportation security human resources and the business office and special education student services. So we talked a lot about you know the operational aspects. We don't spend a lot of time there all the time because we want to focus on instruction. So, we had a very productive day. Amazing evening last night at National Night Out. Uh it was great to see so many beautiful faces, happy folks. Huge event, incredible event. Gets bigger every time we participate. A job well done to the city of Ireland uh for the production they put on, the event that they put on, and
033just the community and the love that you feel when you're out there seeing everyone come together. Uh we have a lot of events coming up as we prepare for the school year. Freshman orientation. August 18th, two sessions for our incoming freshmen. August 25th, our second back to school extravaganza here at Katon Stadium, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Huge turnout last year. We're expecting an amazing turnout this year. Our schools, our school leaders, our vendors and partners did an outstanding job working to support, you know, our our kickoff uh event of the year. New teacher orientation August 26th and 27th. and our non non-tenure teacher academy August 28th. We look forward to welcoming back and uh working with our newest educators as they get ready to take on their new positions. Many school um events coming
034up. Look at our district website. Look at our school websites. A lot of the events already noted on the calendars. Uh they're already filling up. So, you know, also keep an eye out on our social media. And also to the family of Mr. Alrich. I did not know Mr. all rich personally, but through the stories of our board members and our faculty members, our teachers who were connected to the family sounds like an amazing man and someone who I probably would have loved to known because of the impact that he had on this community and you can see that by uh the words shared this evening. So, uh we will keep Mr. or rich in our heart and we'll be continuing the year forward uh maintaining that memory and working towards all the positive things
035that he helped establish here as a board member which continue to this day. Uh thank you. >> I'd just like to thank the police explorers for coming out this evening. I'd like to thank everyone out there. Um I'd like to thank our administrative staff, all of our faculty and staff. I know you guys have been working hard all summer and I know you're trying to get ready for the new school year which starts in a few weeks. Um, thank you for your tireless work for us and our district. I know sometimes you think it goes unnoticed and you probably don't get enough appreciative praise, but believe me, we notice and we thank you as a board. We thank you to the family um of Tom Wri. Um I I I've known Tom since he was
03617. Um, his family's wonderful. He was a wonderful man and a great um, person. And I will miss him as will a lot of other people. And, um, I thank you everybody here who has shared kind words. Um, and with that being said, do I have a motion to close? >> All in favor? I