001All right. Hi, how are you? What's happening? Came up from the beach. I brought a change of clothes cuz I didn't want to be wet. Uhhuh. Perfect. Good job. I don't want to be sitting here freezing. I wish I was there. Are we ready? Emily, are you ready? Okay, everybody ready? Everybody ready? Ready. Ready. Ready. Okay. Chop. Chop. We're happy to have you. Uh-huh. You could come up here if you wanted. I mean, nobody's here. Um, that being said, in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 231 PL1975 announcement, I wish to announce that the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is
002discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the school district of the Cadams Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted in the board administrative offices sent to the clerks of Chattam Burough and Chattam Township, the library of the Chadams, the Chattam Courier, the daily record, and the tab. M Ross here, Miss Allen here. Uh, I wanted to thank Dr. Walker and his team at CHS for a wonderful high school graduation. We had 306 students walk and four of the graduating high school seniors will join our Cougar Academy at CHS. So, we're very proud of all of our graduates as well of our students joining Cougar Academy. Uh, regarding the reconfiguration, the district is in great shape to
003open our schools in August. Uh, this coming week, we'll bring the physical move of the materials from the three elementary schools to Lafayette and the uh materials from Lafayette to CMS. So, thank you to all of the administrative team uh for making all of that happen successfully. There are two new supervisors as well as a supervisor of human resources on this agenda. So we are very excited to have them join our team. We're continuing to staff the buildings and we're in good shape with pair of professionals as well as teaching professionals and both of our summer instructional programs extended school year as well as brain camp are doing incredibly well. Thank you to the staff and administrators running these programs and for providing these valuable services to students. That's my update. Perfect. Thank you, Mr.
004Dquilla. Update for you. Sure. The uh as far as on the construction goes, uh the sections of the high school roof were uh a little over 95% completed. We're just waiting on the metal trim and the final inspection uh by the roofing company and then obviously the building inspector. Uh for the CMS reconfiguration, the contractor is well underway and has made significant progress uh at right now on target to be finished on schedule, which is before school starts. Uh the HVAC project replacements at the high school, Lafayette, and Middle are going well and on schedule. Uh only a minor hiccup uh on the morning of July 1st, it was discovered that one of the shut off valves uh when I disconnected equipment gave way. So, we had some water in uh both floors of the
005both Yeah. both floors of the 170s 270s wing at the middle school which the custodians and maintenance crew addressed first thing Tuesday morning on the first. Uh serve has been in and is now vacated and has cleaned everything up. Uh so they will finish doing the floors and those rooms will be all ready. Perfect. And the Lafayette electrical panel upgrade is slated to happen in July. Okay, cool. Thank you. Anybody have any questions for Mr. Dilla? No. Okay, moving on to our student liaison summer. So, as everyone knows, you know, we haven't really been in school, so there's not too much to update, but um since the last meeting, we obviously had our uh class of 2025 graduation. So, we just want to say congratulations to all the graduates. Um that was on June 13th
006and it was held at Menon Arena and it was a lovely time. So, congratulations to all of them. Um, and the just CJ students are also just looking forward to having a great 202526 school year and are enjoying the summer. Excellent. Thank you so much. Um, moving on to committee reports for personnel. Miss Weber have not met, but they've been busy. They have been busy. Uhhuh. Okay. Uh, curriculum, you have not been not meet either. And our next uh scheduled meeting is for September 10th. Okay, perfect. Uh finance and facilities, Mr. Smith. Uh finance and facilities met June 25th. Um we decided to update the demographers report um that would show the new housing and the changing enrollment trends. You'll see that on tonight's agenda for approval. Um all of the summer projects and construction
007are going well. Um, we have Liberty moving uh group movers that are going to be moving materials between the schools for the reconfiguration. Um, we're looking for a contractor to do drainage work at the playground at CMS. Um, we discussed a mural outside of CHS to be painted on the wall. The committee had some questions about the logistics and location and material. Um, we decided uh on a couple of tuition matters for out of district students. Um, we decided on a perdm rate of pay for the prek to five teachers for moving per the CA contract and we had a discussion about free and reduced uh and the items that the district could financially support. Uh, further conversation is needed on that. Our next meeting is August 20th. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Uh, policy and
008planning, Mr. Ryan. Yeah. policy and planning meeting. Okay, got it. Uh policy and planning met on on June 25th. Uh up for first reading this evening as a result of that policy meeting is this new spectator conduct draft policy. Um it will be edited and worked on as per the NJSIA requirement. Also up for first reading this evening, the sunscreen policy as per New Jersey requirement will be adjusted to incorporate into our existing medication administration policy. The healthy workplace policy, there's consideration of how to amend this policy. The district is beginning to research sample policies from other districts. and we discussed AI and our recommendation at this time is not to create a new policy but instead utilize our acceptable use and academic integrity policy as a guide. However, students should continue to learn about
009AI through workshops with administrators and class content class content such as digital citizenship and study skills for CMF students CMS students. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 20th. Perfect. Thank you so much. Um, okay, moving on. Any liaison reports? No. [Applause] I haven't heard of a meeting. They haven't placed any meetings up yet because they hadn't hired somebody, but they said they would close. Got it. Okay. So, that's cool. you can facilitate a meeting with the new wreck and the administration here for field. Once we find out who it is, I shall. That'd be great. Thank you. Um, okay. I want to uh move the minutes from the June 9th public session and executive session and the June 23rd public session minutes. Anybody need to the on June 23rd uh only Mr. Smith
010needs to stay. So we can do both at once if you want or separate item. Okay, let's do it all at once. Somebody want to second You have to second it or something. [Laughter] In the fight and battle, I want to presume Mr. Delandro is the second. All right, we'll go with him. Awesome. Perfect. All right. The June 9th regular and executive session minutes and the June 23rd regular um and executive session. Miss Ross, yes. Miss Allen, yes. Mr. Delandro, yes. Miss Peek, yes. Mr. Ryan, yes. Mr. Smith, Steve, yes. And a no. Yes. And an abstain. Gotcha. Yes. And Miss Weber, yes. Dr. Zang, yes. and Miss Sharelli. Yes. The June 9th pass 90 the June 23rd 801. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Um, okay. Now, this is our first opportunity for public
011commentary. Hearing of the citizens during the public commentary section of the agenda is an opportunity for any member of the public to be heard about issues which are or are not topics scheduled for the current meeting. to help facilitate an orderly meeting to permit all to be heard. Speakers will be asked to limit their comments to a reasonable length of time. Good evening, Mr. Heap. Good evening. Four minutes today, Bill. Yeah, Bill, cut your time for that. Summer meeting will get out as quickly as possible. I don't have much to say. Uh first, congratulations to Dr. Sortino on her first meeting. Uh second, I attended the uh TED talk and it delivered as usual. Uh the idea that people can get up and speak in front of a crowd uh just amazes me and if
012you can master that, you have a leg up on the rest of us. Um something more serious. I got my estimated tax bill from the burrow. I don't know how many of you got yours. All I can say is wow. Mhm. And uh I'm by no means pleading poverty. Uh but it was a substantial increase and burough elected officials made sure by omission to well throw you under the bus. Um the math on my house is easy. I bought my house in 1988, paid 290,000. My taxes were a shade under $2,900. That's a 100 to1 ratio. Uh fast forward 35 plus years later. Uh my house according to the burrow is worth a million and change a million1. And my taxes uh according to this um estimated tax bill are going to be somewhere north
013of $18,000. So the math is pretty easy. My house has doubled twice in value. My taxes are going up a lot faster than my house is. Uh they are uh going up at least two and a half times probably at this point uh more than the value of my house. Now um is that sustainable? I I don't know. But what I would ask out of all of this, uh, especially from the second question that you posed, uh, back two November ago, uh, you asked for money for a specific purpose, and it wasn't a bond, it was an increase in the general revenue, and that was for security. The question has been asked several times, if you're going to segregate that money, put it aside, make sure that it's spent for the intended purpose. you ask
014the taxpayers uh for money for a specific purpose and you should honor that as far as I can see and when and if maybe you won't run out of security uh projects to spend money on. I don't know how many sets of double doors you can possibly install, but uh it might be nice if you uh started to give that money back to the taxpayers I if you do run out of projects and make sure that it doesn't get rolled into the general budget. As far as the other question is concerned about uh providing uh health care, I am sure that healthcare increases will go up for the foreseeable future and you probably won't have any problem spending that. Um, and then the last thing I would uh ask if you can take a stab
015at the number of students you think have entered since the uh since the uh River Road uh the Enclave and now the uh development across from Charlie Browns. I'm wondering if you have any idea of how many students enrolled as of uh May or June 1 and how many you think might be enrolling as of September one. And if you take a stab at that, I would appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you. Take a stab at Bill. We have We know the exact numbers. We'll I'll email it to you. We We know the exact numbers. I could email it to you. She'll email you the numbers. We have the numbers of the kids from those places. She has the We have the numbers of kids from those places. We can email it to you. Okay. I
016mean, the administration knows where we all come from. It's like big brother watching us, right? So, we know the numbers. As you know though, it's not necessar just the number of students. It's whatever expenses might be incurred with each student. So, right, it's just not a straight mathematical equation, right? Because some kids some kids require require extra services that Yeah, got it. Easy peasy. We got you on your first question. On your first question, we uh we said when we posed the proposed the second question, and I think the entire board, and I don't want to speak for everyone, we've all uh talked about that at length, that that money will be used for security. When we posed the second question, the whole board was very vocal that that money is to be used for
017security and we are committed to that. Perfect. Okay. Um we'll wrap that section up. Moving on to the regular agenda uh for personnel. Miss Weber. Yes. Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh there is an addendum. So I'd like to move action items A1 through A25 on a regular agenda. And then if I could draw your attention, there's um changes to 38 and an addition of number 26 on the back. [Music] I'll second it. But do you want to draw attention to some certain things there, Dr. Sortina? Um, so I'd like to specifically draw attention to Beth Grant's resignation. Um, as all of you know, Beth has been in the district for many years and has done absolutely incredible work for the staff, you know, and the families, you know, tangentally from her role as the human
018resources chief human resources officer. I always mistitle you, Beth. Um, we are very sad to see you go, but we are very grateful for the tremendous work that you've done. So, thank you so much for your service to the district and we wish you all the best in the future. You will absolutely be missed. So, best of luck, Beth. And you better still hang out with us in Atlantic City. Mhm. You tell that new boss of yours. I got a bone to pick with him. As do I. Oh, David Ben David. David Ben David. Yes, he is. I'll never let it go. But yes, Beth, thank you so much for all of your service to this district. It's somebody's got some big shoes to fill. So, we appreciate you and uh we wish you nothing
019but the best. Don't be a stranger, though. I'm not going to say more cuz then I'll cry. I know. I remember when Beth was Deb Becker's assistant and when Deb was resigning, you know, oh, we're going to have to fill her spot and we're like, wait a minute, we have a shining star right here with Beth. And even though you were a little bit nervous, we I think we had more confidence in you than you did. But man, within a month, I think you saved us like $300,000 and you just kept going. And man, you have you have rocked our world, Beth. You can we cannot thank you enough. We you know, we're going to kill Michael Ben, but you know, that's okay. He's he he knows it's coming, but you know, we're thrilled for
020you. So, thank you for everything you've done. I know you're leaving us in good hands. So, good luck to you, and we'll see you at the for an adult beverage. Thank you. All right. And then sitting in the crowd tonight is actually best replacement, uh, Sarah Latzki. Sarah Laskkey is our new supervisor of human resources. Sarah has many years of experience in creating efficient HR related systems that allow staff to quickly and efficiently access the information and the support that they require in times of need. She began her career as a biology teacher, which gives her a unique perspective on the role of the majority of the employees that she works with. She's thrilled for the opportunity and excited to begin and quite frankly we're very thrilled to have her. So Sarah, welcome to Chadam.
021Please take a minute just to introduce yourself and thank you so much for traveling so far in such terrible weather. I'll creep up so I can do without. Good evening. My name is Sarah Latsky and I'm truly honored to be recommended for the Supervisor of Human Resources position. I'm excited to join such a professional and collaborative administrative team and I'm ready to support your dedicated staff as they continue to uphold the academic excellence that CHADAM is known for. Thank you for placing your trust in me and I look forward to joining the Chattam community. Welcome Sarah. We're so happy to have you. We also have another supervisor here tonight, Gita Faria, our supervisor of science and instructional technology. Gita has an extensive background in science education. As a chemistry and physics teacher for over 14
022years, she established her content knowledge and instructional practices. For the last seven years, she served as the K12 supervisor of science, engineering, and gifted and talented in another local school district. And in this role, she provided supervision to a large number of teachers and instructional programs. We are very excited for her to join us. And Gita, if you'd like to just say a few words as well. Hello. Good evening to everyone. Um, I'm so honored to be here. I'm super excited to join the team. Everyone has been so welcoming. Um, it's feeling like home already. It is a bittersweet move, but I am so excited to get started next week and to get to know everyone and to really work alongside everyone here in school district of Chadams. Thank you so much. Welcome, Gita. We're
023so happy to have you as well. Okay. And Gita and Sarah, if you'd like to leave, feel free. I know the ride is treacherous for both of you, so feel free to exit when you'd like. We'll be right behind you. Don't worry. We don't feel bad about it at all. We're uninspable. Exactly. We are uninsulable. Okay. So, there we have it. Peter. All right. Agenda item A1 to 25, addendum item 38 and 26. And just a quick note that agenda item A23 is for returning substitutes. So the board members with family members that substitute, I am going to register. Uh if you would kindly abstain from that one resolution, it' be appreciated. So resolutions as stated. Miss Russ, yes. Miss Al, yes. Mr. Delandro abstain. Noted yes on all except abstain on A23. Miss Pek.
024Yeah. Mr. Ryan. Yes. Mr. Smith. Yes. Miss. Weber. Yes. Abstain on 23. I think I have to stayain on 23 actually. Doc. Dr. Z. Yes. And M. Cherelli. Yes. Abstain on 23. Uh all with the exception of A23 all resolutions 90 A23603. You got my extension. I think I Oh, sorry. Uh 504. Missed that one. Sorry. Rolling into Okay. Okay, fine. Moving on to finance and facilities. Uh, I'd like to move financing facilities agenda items B1 to B22 to a vote. Um, we'll highlight a few donations which we greatly appreciate. The NJSBO associate business members scholarship of $1,000 uh to be awarded to the CHS class of 2025 graduate. Um, we have a wonderful donation on behalf of Miss Jill Weber for her volunteer hours from Bank America. Uh, which she'll remind you that everyone
025should ask for their employers to give donations for volunteer hours. Um, we also have a donation from the Chattam Booster Club in the amount of 5,500 to be used towards a huddle subscription. So, thank you. I'll second. Agenda items B1 through B22. Miss Ross, yes. Miss Allen, yes. Mr. Delandra, yes. Miss Peek, yes. Mr. Ryan, yes. Mr. Smith, yes. Miss Weber, yes. Dr. Zang, yes. And Miss Chikarelli? Yes. Agenda items pass 90. Okay, perfect. Thank you. For curriculum, Miss Ross. Yes. So, I'd like to move curriculum items C1 to C7 on the regular agenda. Second, agenda item C1 through 3. C1 through C7. Miss Ross, yes. Miss Allen, yes. Mr. Delandro, yes. Miss Peek, yes. Mr. Ryan, yes. Mr. Smith, yes. Miss Weber, yes. Dr. Zang, yes. And Miss Cherelli, yes. Agenda item passes 90.
026Perfect. And for policy, Mr. Yes. So, I'd like to move the two first readings on agenda item D1 for [Music] a second. [Applause] Mike, are these just minor tweaks you sent down or did you Yeah, they're [Music] Yeah, the sunscreen policies mandated and the other ones are minor. Okay. Uh issued to the um adult participation in sporting events. We're changing that policy a little bit. The spectator one really has to do with parent. I'm sorry. Parent behavior. Parent behavior. Yeah. Yeah. That one is brand new. It's brand new. That's a new one. Yeah. That's not modified. This is brand new, but we have policies that where we banned parents that were knuckleheads. We do. This bans specific policy, specific actions by parents. Don't be a knucklehead. Well, that's pretty much what this one is. We
027love Mexico. Sort of like I read it. How about don't embarrass us? I have better I have more choice words for all of that, but yeah. All right. Sort of like covers us. This this puts it puts sanctions in place for parents that misbehave at right at events. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Perfect. All right. Agenda item D1. Miss Ross. Yes. Miss Allen. Yes. Mr. Delandro. Yes. Miss Peek. Yes. Mr. Ryan. Yes. Yes. Mr. Smith. Yes. Miss Weber. Dr. Z. Yes. And Miss Cherelli. Yes. D1 passes 90. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Um, moving on to board business. School calendars. Do we have a an update on that? Yes. approximately 900 families voted and option two was the uh option that the most families voted for which is the start date of 8:25 for staff to begin
028the August 31st first day of school for students a short February break a full April break and the last day on June 18th so that's the option two calendar was overwhelm correct it was almost half it was 48.8% 8%. Correct. Nine and change. Yes. Yeah. Not bad. I'd have to do the unique search. Yes. I believe that that was not that was the latest get out of school date, but by you know, two days wasn't a significant change. Yeah. And if the board approves of that calendar, I can send out the actual graph showing the the data that the families voted for. That was 25th for staff, August 31st for students. Do we want to go ahead and vote on that tonight? Right. Get that. Yeah. Let's do an a Can we do an audible?
029Okay. Uh, agenda item C2, approve option two of the 2627 school calendar. Now, Peter, we want you to say the whole thing. Upon the recommendation of the brand new superintendent of the board of education, I'm sure she's not brand new. She's 11 days in the job. She's well seasoned by now. She's doing a great 11 days. Old hat. You know, you know, she's had her trials and tribulations on day one. All right. Agenda item C8. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the board approves option two of the 2627 school calendar. Perfect. I don't know. Wow. Nobody wants to second. Do an all in favor? Second it. You want to just do an all in favor? I just need a a motion and a Yes. Second motion. Sally was the second. Right. All in favor of
030C8. I duly noted C8 passes 90. Excellent. Okay. Perfect. Um, anything else board businesswise? Anybody? Public commentary. Okay, good. Everybody's good. Public commentary. I know this is our second chance of public commentary. Mr. Heap, you have anything else for us? We've been around. Okay. Amazing. Executive session. No. No. Okay. Perfect. Nice. Wrap it up. I adjourn. Is that a record on it right there? Not quite. Not quite a record. Not record, but that's okay.