001All right, we're going to get started. New Jersey Open Public Meeting Act. The statement is hereby made that adequate notice of the meeting was given by posting written notice prominently on the bulletin board in the lobby of Wandell School, 97 East Allenell Road, Saddle River, New Jersey. the mailing and or hand delivery of said notice to the designated uh newspapers, director, the river news and the town journal filing with the clerk of saddle river board. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nation indivisible and justice. Okay. Miss Rosa Jazinski and Miss Elizabeth >> Salazar. >> Salazer have been elected to three-year terms expiring in 2028. Can the new board members please um see me up front and we'll read the oath. Good.
002>> Raise your right hand. Read together in unison. >> Okay. I, Elizabeth Salazer, do solemnly swear I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people. So help me God. I, Elizabeth Salaza, do solemnly swear that I possess >> the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of the board of education and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS194-1 nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in New Jersey. Oh, in NJS18A colon 12-1 and that I will faithfully and partially and justly
003perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability. So help me God. >> Wow, good job. That was great. That was like music. [applause] >> [laughter] >> Okay, we're going to take a quick roll call. Mr. Greta, >> present. >> Dr. Holden, >> present. >> Mr. Zinski, >> present. >> Kaufman, >> Miss Sal, >> good. >> Salazar, >> good. Perfect. Present. I should have practiced that. >> It's okay. >> Okay. Nominations are in order to elect a president of the Sal River Board of Education. Is there a nomination? >> For board president, I elect Dr. Douglas Holder. >> Is there a second? >> I second. Any other nominations? Okay, close the nomination. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> Yes. >> Okay. Roll call. Miss
004Ketta. >> Yes. >> Dr. Holden. >> Yes. >> Miss Jazinski. >> Yes. Yes. >> Just misses that second. >> Okay. President. [applause] Now we'll have nominations for vice president. Can I have a nomination for vice president board? >> Yes. Shannon Ketta. >> And I'll second that. Anybody else? Okay, we have a roll call. >> Motion. >> Have a motion. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Motion. >> Roll call. Okay. >> Ketta. >> Yes. >> Dr. Holden. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jazinski. >> Yes. >> And Miss S. >> Yes. >> Okay. Shannon Ka is the vice president of the board. >> [applause] >> At this point, we'll have public comments. Agenda items only. Meetings of the board are open to the public and all members of the committee should feel free to participate. There are two portions
005of the meeting reserved for comments from the public. The first at the beginning of the meeting for agenda items only and the second at the end of the meeting for other items. If you wish to address the board, please provide your name and address and please limit your comments to three minutes. Issues raised by the public may or may not be responded to by the board, but all comments will be considered. The board requests that all members of the public be mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Due to confident confidentiality and legal rights afforded by the state of New Jersey, members of the public are asked to not speak negatively or in a derogatory manner about any employee of the board or any student. open it for public comments. >> Hi, good
006evening. Yasmin El Shami Eugene Drive. Um, I noticed on the agenda the calendar dates that are set up by the board members for the meeting dates throughout the year. Um, I can't help it, but I am just a stickler for calendars. I did notice that in June the meeting date that was selected coincides with the Northern Highlands graduation and the Bergen County Academyy's graduation. And I know that I'm sure that members of the board would want to attend their own children's graduation and we always send someone to the Northern Highlands graduation. So I didn't know if the board wanted to do their due diligence and um change the date of that meeting. Thank you. Any other comments from the public? >> Hi, Maria Harper. Um I just want to take a moment to thank um
007everyone and to share how happy I personally am and I believe a lot of other people are to see the recent leadership changes. So congratulations Doug and Shannon and also welcome Rosa. Um congratulations to everybody again. Change can be a wonderful thing. It brings fresh perspectives and new ideas for addressing challenges. And we all know that we've been through a lot of challenges here at Wendell and within the district. Uh, and I believe that we've already seen some positive changes. I've seen especially since Doug and Shannon joined. So, I really want to acknowledge the hard work and the commitment that you've both shown to this board. Uh, I feel like personally that the spirit of the old Wand Bell when my kids were here is coming back. It was extremely vibrant. We felt like a
008connected community way back when. And I really feel just by talking to all of you, Rosa, like I feel like you're really going to see some great things happen, especially in 2026. So, thank you, Doug, and thank you, Shannon, for taking on the leadership roles. And I also wanted to thank Dr. McCones. Um, you're a breath of fresh air. You acknowledge everybody in the room. You have eye contact. And I could tell that you generally want to make this a success for all of us. So, thank you everyone. Appreciate it. Nancy Bush not working three farm road saddle river I just want to say happy healthy new year congratulations to Dr. Holden congratulations to Mrs. Ketta and I am so happy. It's a blank new year, right? So, new page. Um, looking forward to seeing
009some wonderful things from this board and the collaboration and how well you all work together. Um, thank you to Mrs. Salazar. Thank you to Mrs. Kaufman who's not here. And especially thank you to Dr. McCome. Um, we look forward to seeing great things in the new year. And I know that you are all elected officials working towards the common good of the school district and doing what's right for every student in the entire school district. So, thank you for your time because I know it's, you know, a m a lot of hours that you volunteer and put into this and we as a community appreciate it. So, thank you. I'm happy that my mom has a chance to make Rondo a better place. will close open public session. Now, we're going to Can I have
010a motion to approve the following code of ethics? We will read through them one by one. So, if you want to start, we'll go paragraph by paragraph and then we'll have the motion at the end. Be it resolved that the New Jersey Board of Educ School Board Association code of ethics shall be considered the official code of ethics of Saddle River Board of Education. I will uphold and enforce all laws, state board rules and regulations and court orders pertaining to schools. Desired changes should be brought only about only through legal and ethical procedures. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools which meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex or social standing. >> I will
011confine my board action to policym, planning and appraisal and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. I will carry out my responsibility not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are wellrun. I will recognize the that authority rests with the board of education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action which may compromise the board. I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends. >> I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would needlessly injure individuals or the schools. But in all other matters, I will
012provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its schools. >> I will vote to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer. >> I will support and protect school personnel in proper performance of their duties. I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and will act on such complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution. Can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Ma. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zinski. >> Yes. >> M >> there. Hold. Yes. Motion to read current policies, bylaws, and regulations of the Saddle River School District. Approve the appointment of president and vice president as the Saddle River Board
013of Education delegate to the New Jersey School Board Association. Establish the Ridgewood News andor the Record andor the Town Journal as the newspaper of record for the Saddle River School District. Adopt Robert's rules of order as the official parliamentary procedure manual to be used to conduct meetings. May I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Ketta, >> yes. >> Mr. Jinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Lazar, >> yes. >> Dr. >> Yes. I have a motion to approve or discuss the following 2026 committees liaison of the board and approve the 2026 board of educational meeting dates. These are the committee reports uh that we'll be going over u in the future. Communications and public relations, curriculum, student activities, finance and facilities, human resources, negotiations, governance and policy with the liaison
014of mayor and council, New Jersey school board association representative, Northern Highlands Board of Ed, Ramsey Board of Ed, and Paul and the board meetings. uh are on here. Um the dates are listed. Um we might not want to approve that until we change decide on that date or we can change it later. I guess the June date there's a conf. >> Can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Second motion. >> Roll call, please. Ma, >> yes. >> Mr. Jazinski. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lazar. >> Yes. >> Dr. >> Yes. >> This is second questions or comments from the public on other items. Do we have any comments from the public? Um I have several questions. Yas Shami Eugene Drive. Do you need me to write my name again? Okay, I have several questions regarding
015last month's meeting. Um, Dr. Holden, during your update on Northern Highlands, why was it not disclosed that their calendar had already been approved on Monday, December 8th, just two days before ours? Um, Mrs. Ketta, at the last meeting, you stated, "I was discriminating against the Ramsey Board of Education based on how they observe their um, religious holidays. According to the Miriam Webster dictionary, discrimination is defined as the unfair treatment of a person or group based on cigor categorical characteristics such as race, religion, or gender. Therefore, I cannot be discriminating against an entire school district. Um, Saddle Rivers's decision [clears throat] to give our significantly more diverse student population those days off does not meet that definition. Accusing a fellow board member of discrimination particularly while serving on the deius and using that term incorrectly does
016not follow best practice guidelines. More concerning is the fact that incorrect information was presented and in the spirits of transparency and accuracy. I wanted to set the record correct. As a liazison to Ramsey, you should know that in fact their calendar does not include homework free weekends, no new material days or field trip restrictions for religious holidays observed as an excused absence. As you repeatedly stated in the last meeting, there are only three homework for your weekends and they all coincide with secular holidays. Did you conduct the necessary due diligence before making your recommendation? Dr. Holden and Mrs. Kretta, both of you expressed surprise that the calendar appeared on the December agenda and that it had not been previously discussed as you said at the last meeting. However, board meetings, minutes, and communications showed that
017adding these holidays as student days off was in fact discussed in February when this year's calendar was approved. It was formally introduced as new business by the board president in the March Board of Education meeting. Throughout April, feedback was actively sought from the Wandell community, specifically giving the days off for our students and that it would be done for the current school year we are in using PD days at the April Board of Education meeting. Um, multiple parents and students requested these days off and no feedback was received from any member of the public opposing the addition of these holidays. Many letters of support were received requesting the days off for students. At the April meeting, the board president said that we will continue this work with the new incoming superintendent in the fall. Between
018April and December, if there were concerns related to finances, negotiations, Department of Education guidelines, or legal implications, why were those concerns not raised in the public board meetings, the finance, governance, or negotiation committee meetings or in executive sessions discussing legal? And Mrs. Ketta, if you disagreed with the feedback process, why did you not request an alternative for the entire month of April when feedback was being requested? How many times must this community be asked before we accept that students should be able to observe their religious holidays without missing school? >> You have stated that teachers should not be required to attend professional development day when students are online holiday. Why is the same consideration not expected to if their peers are not in school to observe the holiday? Why should they be? Thank you. Uh
019Ruth Dugan, 35 Fox Head Road. We now know why we had a dysfunctional board of education prior to today. Thank you for all of you that are here and that possibly we can now function as a team. Thank you. [applause] Anybody else have a comment? >> I have Maria Harper, Terrell Dunling. I the only question if we're going to resurrect the whole religious observance which I don't think anybody in this room has an issue with anyone no matter what their religion faith observing their religion and their special holidays. My question is something that wasn't brought up at the last meeting and you're probably not going to be able to address it today is we we're hearing about all the emails that the board received. Are these emails from parents of current students at Wendell or
020are they just, you know, people from the community that do not have kids at Wendell? You know, when I I work I was a a very senior HR executive at a major Fortune 500 company. When we did anything that had impacted the population, whatever it was, we always did an analysis. We never heard. We don't need names because we want to respect people's confidentiality, but we never heard how many students actually observe the holiday. I think it's very important because that should go into the analysis, especially when the Well students are going to be going into Ramsey Middle School and they do not have the days off. So, it's something to consider because once they leave here at fifth grade, they're going to go into another school that does not have those days off. And
021I think it makes sense to follow the district unless the numbers warrant it at Wendell to follow the district they're going into, which is the same district. So, that's just my comment, which I wanted to raise last month and then I was unable to come back up because the comments were closed. So, Any other comments from the public? Seeing none, we'll close for open public session comments. There is no executive session uh this evening. Uh can I have a motion for adjournment? >> Motion. >> Can I have a second? >> Just do all favor. >> All in favor? I >> I thank you. >> Thank you all for coming. >> So I can put it online. You made this in your hand.