001there we go I'm calling this evening's meeting of the regular meeting of the Wayne Township Board of Education to order adequate notice of this regular and executive meeting setting forth time date and location has been provided in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act on January 10 2022 by prominently posting a copy on the bulletin board in the lobby of the offices of the Board of Education which is a public place reserved for such announcements transmitting a copy of this notice to the record the Wayne today tap into wayne.net the municipal clerk and the district website uh roll call Mr moffatt Mr Bubba here fatal here Mrs Kazan here Mr pavlak here Mr prosacos present Mrs puttup here and Mrs winting here yeah motion to reconvene motion thank you um we will
002be having a flag salute followed by a Moment of Silence during the moment of silence I would ask that we since we just celebrated Veterans Day last Friday that you remember all of our veterans during that time thank you thank you like to welcome all of our students this evening thank you for being here and we are very happy to celebrate your accomplishments Dr tobac foreign so good evening and welcome everybody for our audience members at council chambers and for all of our viewers at home I would like to start our National Merit AP scholar and college board recognition program by sharing some information about the different scholarship programs and recognition that you'll be hearing about tonight this is a very important part of the program because it gives the community a sense of the
003significance of this recognition the National Merit Scholarship program is an annual academic competition to recognize student achievement and to award undergraduate scholarships established in 1955 the program is open to all U.S high school students who meet participation requirements scholarship winners are chosen on the basis of their abilities skills and accomplishments without regard to gender race ethnic origin or religious preference most scholarships awarded through the national mayor program are sponsored by approximately 400 Corporate organizations and higher education institutions each year Educators and about 21 000 high schools provide the opportunity for their students to participate in the National Merit Scholarship program typically over 1.5 million students in 21 thousand high schools entered the National Merit Scholarship program some 50 000 entrants qualify for program recognition which means that any students receiving recognition from this program placed
004in the top three percent of all students nationally entering the program approximately 8 500 outstanding students receive scholarships for college undergraduate study in the total scholarships awarded every year is approximately 39 million dollars so what is a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist so these are the awards that are indicated in the program for this evening in early September more than sixteen thousand students are approximately one-third of the fifty thousand High scorers are notified that they've qualified as semi-finalists to ensure that academically talented young people from all parts of the United States are including this talent pool semifinalists are designated on a state represented represented basis semi-finalists are selected from among the highest scoring entrants in each state what is a National Merit Scholarship commended student in late September more than two-thirds about 34 000 of the
005approximately fifty thousand high scores on the PSAT received letters of commendation and recognition for their outstanding academic progress committed students are named based on a nationally applied selection index score that may vary from year to year although committed students do not continue in the competition for the National Merit Scholarships many of these students become candidates for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses so on to advanced placement or AP Scholars every fall the AP program recognizes high school students who have demonstrated outstanding college-level achievement through their performance on multiple AP exams AP scholar Awards come in different levels and types for example AP scholar is granted to students who receive scores of three or higher on three or more AP exams an AP scholar with honor is granted to students who receive an average score
006of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on four or more of these exams AP scholar with distinction is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on five or more of these exams the national Hispanic heritage scholarship a student must meet the requirements to become eligible for National Hispanic recognition program including taking the PSAT in October of their junior year achieving a minimum PSAT score possessing a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher identify as Hispanic and be a permanent resident of the U.S or U.S territory so before I go I'd like to just take a moment to congratulate all of our students for receiving this recognition and thank you for being such
007outstanding role models in your schools congratulations to your families for all the work they've done to support you in your studies congratulations to all of your teachers and administrators for their contributions and helping to place you in position to receive this recognition it's a pleasure for the Board of Education the administration and the entire Community to recognize you for your amazing academic achievements and for receiving some of the most significant academic awards that can be earned by high school students congratulations to all of you thank you so at this time I'd like to turn things over to Mr kauzewski to continue the program oh I got to take my glasses off come on Mr rule uh good evening students parents family members friends uh first of all certainly want to congratulate the 60 plus students
008who are being recognized this evening in an incredible accomplishment in any time let alone going through a pandemic and remote learning and all those things that we don't want to talk about anymore it was really a struggle so congratulations to all of you uh this evening and I don't want to reread what Dr tobac already told you about the different recognitions however I am very very proud to announce that tonight we will be recognizing three National Merit semi-finalists and 19 commended students from both high schools so well done congratulations [Applause] and in addition for the national uh college board exams we will be recognizing four students as National Hispanic Hispanic recognition program Scholars so congratulations to those four students [Applause] and at this time I'll turn it over to my counterpart Mr ruakle talk about
009our AP Scholars again congratulations to all of you for uh being that as Dr tobac said one of uh the three percent of our students who achieved this so congratulations so as he mentioned there's different categories from AP Scholars so tonight we're going to be honoring 20 of you for AP Scholars we will be recognizing 12 of you for AP Scholars with honors and for our AP Scholars with distinction we have 27 students in that category so um as Mr palzewski said uh despite everything uh that you all went through you achieved greatly and there's certainly an abundance of talent in this room and I congratulate all of you thank you [Applause] at this time I'd like to call up Mrs laviola our lead counselor at Wayne Valley High School to recognize our Wayne Valley
010students [Applause] yeah good evening it's my pleasure to be here tonight to introduce our National Merit AP Scholars and college board National recognition Scholars for Wayne Valley High School our first student is Eric shepline he is a go ahead Eric you can come up whichever one of you you come on Eric is a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist and AP scholar with distinction he has applied to Princeton Columbia and Villanova he intends to major in economics his proudest accomplishment is becoming game captain and playing as a starter on the on 9-0 football team 9-0 football team foreign [Applause] our next student is Andrew Barbera he's a National Merit National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar With Honor his hopes are to attend RIT RPI Udell or Virginia Tech to major in chemical engineering his proudest
011accomplishment is getting a five on the AP Calculus a b exam our next student is Connor fauerbach he's a National Merit Scholarship committed student his hopes are to attend Maryland Institute College of Arts Rhode Island School of Design or University of the Arts to major in graphic design his prior's accomplishment is excelling in high school level art classes since the sixth grade and currently taking two AP art courses looks like Connor faberback is are you here here oh there you are congratulations our next student was not able to make it tonight but it is Christopher Jen he's a National Merit Scholarship committed student and an AP scholar With Honor his hopes are to attend Johns Hopkins University to major in philosophy his practice accomplishment is being in the Wayne Valley Football team captain our next
012student is Brett manler the National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction his hopes are to attend Northwestern Michigan Georgia Tech or Purdue his proudest accomplishment is earning a 1500 on the SAT congratulations [Applause] great job our next student is Andrew Christian a National Merit Scholarship committed student and AP scholar his hopes are to attend Boston College Wake Forest Villanova Notre Dame to major in business analytics his proudest accomplishment is baseball where he was named First Team all Passaic County first baseman as a junior congrats [Applause] next is add your graph is a National Merit National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar his hopes are to attend Notre Dame UVA Georgia Tech or Purdue to major in mechanical engineering his proudest accomplishment is designing a functioning aircraft in his junior year CAD
0132 class [Applause] next is Ariane Patel is a National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction his hopes are to attend UPenn NYU Carnegie Mellon or north northeastern to major in finance his prior's accomplishment is earning first team all-conference in high jump congrats great job Nicholas McHale is a National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction his hopes are to attend William Patterson University Temple University or Berkeley College of Music to major in sound in engineering as part as accomplishment is acceptance into the nje 2022 All-State jazz band wake up [Applause] Matthew Shapiro is an AP scholar with distinction his hopes are to attend Notre Dame Boston College Penn State or Ohio State to major in business analytics his proudest accomplishment is being named captain of the varsity lacrosse team congrats
014Ryan schechman is an AP scholar with distinction he hopes to attend Michigan Maryland or Virginia Tech to major in computer science his practice accomplishment is getting a five on the AP calc a b exam great job congratulations Winston calvo is an AP scholar with distinction his hopes are to attend University of Miami Florida State University Penn State Rutgers New Brunswick Rutgers New Brunswick to major in accounting and finance his proudest accomplishment is qualifying for and competing in the winter track meet of Champions [Applause] Joseph scarpula is an AP scholar with distinction he plans to attend Seton Hall stevens or Drew University to major in computer science his proudest accomplishment is creating the keyboard Warriors game and AP Computer Science a congratulations Nicholas cremona is an AP scholar With Honor his hopes are to attend Boston
015College Villanova Lafayette or University of Virginia to major in political science his proudest accomplishment is having undefeated regular football season and winning a league championship in his senior football season congrats Angelina petropalo is an AP scholar With Honor she hopes to attend Duke Villanova Lehigh or Lafayette to major in civil engineering her proudest accomplishment is being captain of the field hockey team for the past two years [Applause] Tyler Westerberg is an AP scholar with distinction his hope is to attend MIT bu Vanderbilt or Georgia Tech to Major mathematics his proudest accomplishment is winning two state championships in the Wayne Valley marching bands come back [Applause] Ian Harmon is an AP scholar his hopes are to attend a university where he can major in finance his Paris achievement is becoming a game Captain for football and
016going 9-0 in the regular season [Applause] Nicole Antonio is an AP scholar with distinction she hopes to attend a university where she can major in a biomedical engineering her greatest achievement is starting the HOSA chapter at Wayne Valley great job [Applause] Alex shepline is an AP scholar he plans to attend Villanova Boston College Penn State or Lehigh to major in finance his proudest achievement is being captain in quarterback of the football team Jacqueline Ellis was not able to join us tonight but she's an AP scholar with distinction she hopes to attend Brown University University of Michigan University of Virginia or Boston College to major in kinesiology her proudest accomplishment is co-founding at the HOSA Club also not here tonight is Cole ferula he is an AP scholar With Honor he plans to attend Boston College
017Northeastern Babson or the College of New Jersey to major in finance his Paris accomplishment as being a three-year Varsity soccer player Taryn kutson poor is a college board National Hispanic recognition program scholar she plans to attend Seton Hall University Thomas Jefferson University TCNJ or Sacred Heart to major in biology for with the physician's assistant program she is most proud of having a 4.1 GPA and winning third place for white tap and SDA her junior year and being white overall her senior year congrats thank you Isabelle mailman is a National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction she has applied to Eastman School of Music Manhattan School of Music Mason Grove School of the Arts at Rutgers University and Syracuse University to major in music education and performance her proudest accomplishment is being woodwind
018captain of the marching band and winning two state championships congrats great job at this time I would like to recognize the following two students who are unable to attend as well Amira najad is an AP scholar her hope is to attend University a university where she can major in biology with a pre-med track her proudest accomplishment as being a biology lab technician Allison Bernstein is an AP scholar with distinction she hopes to attend University with the pre-med track her proudest accomplishment is being in the top of her class congrats to all of our Wayne Valley students I'm out [Applause] I'm now going to pass off to Harrison Bender Who will highlight the students from Wayne Hills congrats everybody all right good evening everyone um it's my pleasure to be here to help honor our Wayne
019Hill students tonight and we'll start with nadir ghani National Merit semi-finalist and AP scholar with distinction nadir is a diligent hard-working student who is incredibly bright he is Dependable friend son and student to those around him and will always be there for someone in need he is an active member of model un engineering club and winter track Nadia plans to pursue a career in computer engineering foreign okay next we have Daniel Gaz also National Merit semi-finalist and AP scholar with distinction Daniel is a driven methodical and goal-oriented student he was awarded the Rensselaer medal which is a scholarship for outstanding math and science students Daniel participates in an engineering robotic competition where for eight months he and his team design build and program a robot to complete various tasks he aims to be a computer
020programmer come on [Applause] next we have sahil chaturwala National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction sahil is a diligent humble and meticulous and a true leader who genuinely cares for others saho was accepted into the NJ Governor's school for engineering and technology and recently presented his research at MIT he is the captain of The Varsity tennis team and an active member of math League computer science league and Robotics Club sahil plans to pursue a career in computer science specifically in the field of machine learning or deep learning foreign [Applause] next we have Eunice Chi National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar Eunice is a compassionate caring and dedicated student in addition to her impressive academic achievements she is also passionate writer she is actively involved in The Patriot press French Honor
021Society and empowerment club and is a founding member of the Human Rights Watch student task force Eunice is dedicated to advocacy work and furthering human rights causes and plans to pursue a career in a related field foreign [Applause] next up is kalyani carmaker National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with honor kalyani is an extremely Dependable responsible and efficient student in addition to excelling in the classroom she also enjoys performing music writing poetry and exploring the outdoors kalyani hopes to study biology in college with the ultimate goal of becoming a biomedical engineer foreign [Applause] next is Sophia Kim National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction Sophia is a diligent creative and thoughtful student her most meaningful activity throughout high school has been zooming through music which is a non-profit organization that
022she has co-founded with her sister which helps isolated communities through the power of music After High School Sophia plans to continue studying music physics and cognitive science questions [Applause] okay we have Luke cornhaber National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction Luke is a determined inquisitive and Elite student outside of the classroom Luke enjoys dedicating much of his time to his athletic Endeavors including hockey and tennis in college Luke hopes to pursue multiple degrees in the areas of mathematics and business [Music] [Applause] okay we have Olivia lamb National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction Olivia is an ambitious deliberate and thoughtful student who's always looking to explore new opportunities in addition to earning excellent grades Olivia's greatest passion is long distance running which is an activity that she has excelled
023at for many years in college Olivia plans to study business with a concentration in finance along with computer science [Applause] okay next is manojavan nagarajan National Merit Scholarship commanded student and AP scholar with distinction mono is a highly motivated hard-working and disciplined young man mono explains exemplifies the well-rounded student as he is both a talented athlete and leader in many school organizations such as the Red Cross Club NHS and student council mono has participated in several pre-college programs with Rutgers University and Fairley Dickinson mono plans to pursue a career in the medical field and is applied to colleges as an incoming pre-med student foreign National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction Ben is an incredibly passionate young person and remains determined to achieve what he sets his mind to his academic success
024throughout high school has remained balanced as Ben has dove headfirst into his part-time job and has led his captain of the boys soccer team through a successful student season season he intends to pursue quantitative and actuary Sciences After High School thank you [Applause] next up is artem turbov National Merit Scholarship commended student and AP scholar with distinction artem is a curious kind and diligent young man who has grown increasingly more confident confident in his abilities and willingness to speak and present his ideas he plays the piano enjoys computer programming builds robots and is a Passaic County Champion fencer learning is truly his passion and he plans on continuing to study compute computer programming in the future thank you [Applause] next we have Nicholas turbovich National Merit Scholarship commanded student and AP scholar Nicholas is a
025family-oriented young man who has excelled throughout High School his favorite hobby is football where he was selected as one of the off-season captains and is a four-year member of the program he is also actively involved in the community perhaps in no bigger way than with Saturday afternoons out a recreational program for kids with special needs that he started with his mother Nicholas plants the major in business as an ungraduate student thank you okay next we have Muhammad Assad AP scholar Muhammad is a kind and humble individual with exceptional academic ability and dedication to his education he's always willing to help others in need consistently volunteering his time to multiple organizations whenever he has a free opportunity with a natural aptitude for mathematics and science Muhammad intends on pursuing a career in the stem field but
026[Applause] okay we have Kenneth Chang AP scholar Kenneth is a studious kind-hearted and driven student he's an exemplary student academically and as always and is also dedicated Athlete on our varsity boys volleyball team he is very independent and always engages with others in the most respectful manner Kenneth plans to pursue a career in the field of business and exploring opportunities in finance marketing and accounting foreign [Applause] we have Deanna Gaber AP scholar Deanna is an extremely strong student Advocate and peer leader when she is passionate about a project or a cause she will go above and beyond to make it happen currently Deanna is interested in pursuing computer science and technology with a focus on environmental and sustainability studies right we have Maddie Gillespie Maddie is a driven creative honest and thoughtful student the word
027settle is non-existent to Maddie she strives to go above and beyond in both her academic and extracurricular life she is planning to pursue a career in either the medical or law field [Applause] Jonathan Goldberg AP scholar Jonathan is a kind caring and hard-working student who has a strong grasp on balancing his academic obligations with his extracurricular activities he has been a star athlete throughout high school and plans to pursue a career in the business field [Applause] next we have Irene Huang Irene is open-minded enthusiastic tenacious and understanding she has a strong interest in science and advanced technology while also valuing the importance of music and the Arts she has a few ideas of potential careers but is ultimately considering something with the stem field [Applause] next is James Liu AP scholar James is a hard-working
028and independent student who is also a genuinely kind caring and conscientious individual he is passionate about basketball running track and being a great friend and person James enjoys computer science and is particularly skilled at mathematics and plans to study both in college [Applause] great in new Yen AP scholar Grayden is a hard-working kind and charismatic man with a positive attitude Grayden is a member of several School Organization holds a part-time job and volunteers for a non-profit organization Graydon also held an internship with a company that introduced him to the field of business which has ultimately become the major he plans to pursue in college [Applause] okay next we have Emily Nolan AP scholar Emily is an outgoing dedicated and hard-working young woman Emily is involved in countless School organizations such as the NHS photography club
029and the Leo Club she has been a member of various sports teams at Wayne Hills and has been a competitive gymnast outside of school for 10 years she is also a volunteer at the Friendship Circle of Passaic County while Emily remains undecided she is considering pursuing Business Degree in college [Music] congratulations okay next we have Nicholas pepley Nick demonstrates determination and perseverance and has taken on a multitude of extracurriculars and Community involvement Nick has been captain of the boys fencing team and Lead counselor for the Wayne safety team he has also been actively involved in The Scouting program since first grade and currently serves as Junior Assistant Scout Master Nick plans to study mechanical engineering After High School thank you wajaha risby AP scotler wajaha is actively involved in debate teams forensic tournaments researched through
030several universities and model un while balancing academics she also founded a non-profit to help a coven to help covid-19 workers organize book drives for neonatal hospitals and created numerous programs for the Wayne public library and has even founded a public speaking group for middle schoolers wajaha plans on studying medicine in the future [Applause] foreign [Applause] AP scholar Milena is a passionate strong-willed and humorous individual who puts her full effort into everything she does in addition to many extracurricular activities and playing six instruments Elena runs her own food drive to collect donations for the Wayne Interfaith Pantry she currently coaches cheer after doing it competitively competitively for years in the future Molina wishes to study Optical physics or Optical engineering [Applause] thank you next we have Winnie Wang AP scholar Winnie's articulate creative and resilient and
031has learned throughout High School how to push herself out of her comfort zone she has been in our national art Honor Society since freshman year as well as more recently our National Honor Society when not doing her schoolwork or pursuing her passion of art she helps out her at her family's restaurant and volunteers each weekend as a teacher's assistant at the Chinese school that she also studied at for many years foreign [Applause] AP scholar with distinction Alex is an exemplary student academically a dedicated athlete a pastor a passionate musician a writer and a soon-to-be Eagle Scout Alex's vast skill set and it's proven to be both an effective team leader and team player in a multitude of settings he is an active member of the National Honor Society Italian Honor Society science Honor Society and
032math Honor Society Alex plans to pursue a career in computer engineering [Applause] next we have Jordan praisman Jordan has moved through his Wayne Hills experience with a steadfast open-minded perspective between his extracurriculars including volleyball part-time employment and volunteerism Jordan's exceptional skills have allowed him to apply his ever-growing knowledge of technology to projects with the intention of helping others Jordan seeks to continue his journey with computer science in his college Pursuits foreign [Applause] next we have Dominic rojak AP scholar with distinction Dominic's hard work a hard-working kind and willful demeanor has carried him with poise throughout his time as a student and these qualities will undoubtedly carry him further he has been a member of the soccer team since his freshman year and is an active member of both the National Honor Society and student ambassadors
033Dominic plans to study economics in the future [Applause] okay next is Daphne sachulu Daphne's academic success is underscored by her inquisitive compassionate and diligent nature Daphne has immersed herself in a number of extracurricular activities including tennis president of FBLA and co-leadership of the Township's chapter of March for our lives after graduation Daphne plans to venture towards the field of biology and Neuroscience thank you [Applause] okay we have monishoire sampath AP scholar with distinction money has extreme passion and excitement for the potential of what can be done with computer science this has been shown through his multitude of competitions and tournaments online engagement and the certificate awarded to him for his self-taught cyber security skills money skills humility and Grace has inspired him to not just study computer science but consider how his goals all can
034also change people's lives for the better congratulations [Applause] okay we have when Ruiz Zhang AP scholar with distinction when Rory Joy Zhang is curious multifaceted and highly capable inspired by her environmental passions she recently organized the piano concert for climate related donations at the Wayne Public Library at her school she is an act she is active in the National Art Honor Society Lantern magazine club and math club in the future she hopes to study a discipline where she can combine her interests and fulfill her immense potential congratulations [Applause] okay next is Amy Hecht AP scholar With Honor Amy is a hard-working compassionate ambitious and musically talented student through her High School experience she has learned how to be more authentic and self-confident Amy is still debating career options but is interested in acting Psychology and
035Neuroscience [Applause] [Music] [Applause] okay we have hormon Kohli AP scholar With Honor hormone is a very studious and caring individual who is a strong interest in social justice during his time in the Wayne Hills empowerment Club he helped to create a space to educate others within our school community of the importance of diversity equity and inclusion in college Harman plans to major in political science with a secondary focus in either Finance or computer science thank you okay sahil Mata AP scholar With Honor sahil is an incredibly hard-working determined and ambitious student he is an active member of the Wayne Hills fencing team and participates in several School organizations such as model un math club and the NHS saho's ultimate goal is to study computer science in college and become a software engineer [Applause] okay we
036have Vijay Shah AP scholar With Honor Vijay selflessness has always remained easily recognizable even when facing challenges head on he has been an active member of the unified Esports and the math Honor Society vijay's self-reflective Nature has allowed him to explore opportunities beyond the confines of his comfort zone he plans to pursue actuary sciences and economics After High School [Applause] okay next we have Patricia Vias AP scholar With Honor Trisha is a compassionate genuine leader who knows what she wants in the future and has all the capabilities necessary to make her goals come to fruition in the future she would like to pursue a career in political journalism or political law for fun Trisha loves to sing and write and she has even created the school's Patriot podcast OS National Hispanic recognition award Johannes is
037an academically well-rounded student who regularly challenges himself with his rigor of course work always willing to lend a helping hand he is most proud of his time in the Leo Club at Wayne Hills where he is able to participate in many volunteer activities he intends on continuing his education in the computer science field with interests in game design [Applause] okay next is Samantha Huerta National Hispanic recognition award Samantha is a competitive athletic and high achieving student she is a member of the soccer team but also thoroughly enjoys playing the violin and competes in local events Sam is interested in pursuing a career as a physical therapist or physician's assistant [Applause] and lastly we have Michael Montano National Hispanic recognition award Michael is a kind respectful and hard-working young man he is a member of the
038Wayne Hills fencing team and has been a member of model un and the math club outside of school Michael has various volunteer experiences with the Wayne public library and at his church Michael's goal is to attend college with a major in biology ultimately becoming a veterinarian foreign [Applause] I just want to congratulate all of our honorees tonight this is a very impressive accomplishment for all of you and I can't tell you how proud everyone is at the school for you so thank you so much for being here [Applause] foreign behalf of the Board of Education and myself we would like to congratulate all of you I know it's been a lot of hard work balancing everything these days you're not expected to just Excel academically but also with activities and giving back to the community
039and we thank you for that we thank your parents for being there for you every step of the way think [Applause] sorry I do get a little emotional at ceremonies like this there's so much pride and I want to wish all of you a wonderful future I know you're going to get out there make your way in the world and have an impact for the good of others thank you [Applause] foreign for photo taking and celebration so thank you very much and we will come back and resume the school board meeting in about five minutes foreign congratulations foreign excuse me yeah it's coming back okay um we'd like to resume the meeting please uh at this time Mrs Kazan is going to say a few words excuse me one second um excuse me gentlemen could
040you close the doors please thank you thank you um ready yes we recently had a board member who had to resign because she was moving out of Wayne Township and at this time Mrs Kazan would like to say a few words and thank her for her participation the last three years this is Kazam thank you madam president traditionally we give a plaque to the outgoing board member but unfortunately Mrs Kumar couldn't make it this evening but I'm going to make my speech anyway John Kumar won her seat on this board three years ago through a writing campaign only two people were running for three seats that year what a difference three years makes I became fast friends with Dawn for many reasons I just instantly liked her and she took to the role naturally she
041was invaluable when it came to discussions on education and health topics as a former AP Chemistry teacher she had a wealth of information to share on so many issues facing high school students being married to a pediatrician she had access to the ever-changing guidelines regarding covid as it related to children she was able to share that constantly changing information with the board as we navigated our way through the pandemic I was sorry to see life take her in a different direction she served with character and enthusiasm and although I will miss her here I know we will remain friends and I wish her all the best in her latest chapter I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight Dawn if you watch this but I am sure we will see you soon and thank you for
042your service to the students in the Wayne Community [Applause] Dr tobac administrative summary report so in January of 2022 assembly Bill 3392 was signed into law this new law requires every Board of Education in New Jersey to have student Representatives Wayne board of education is really a Pioneer when it comes to involving students and Board of Education meetings and has a long history of doing so so I'd like to do is start my report by welcoming our student representatives for this Academic Year so first [Applause] so first from Wayne Hills Ramsey kubavsik Ramsey is a senior and plans to make the senior year enjoyable and eventful year for his peers through special events such as Spirit Week food and blood drives Sports tournaments after Ramsay graduates he plans on going to college and pursuing the
043pre-medical track to ultimately become a medical doctor in terms of extracurricular activities Ramsey is a part of the National Honor Society oh sorry math National Honor Society Spanish National Honor Society science National Honor Society class president for the past four years student climate team leader student ambassador peer tutor member of the golf team and varsity football player at Wayne Hills welcome [Applause] good evening and thank you for having me to start the Wayne Hills chapter of the National Honor Society has had a busy fall on October 27th the chapter held its annual induction ceremony inducting 103 new students along with this the Wayne Hills National Honor Society hosted a trunk or treat for Wayne Elementary School students everyone dressed up played games ate Candy got face paint and had a freeze dance battle as well
044as all of this great stuff the Passaic County Sheriff's Department surprised everyone at the event by zooming in on bikes and trucks all decorated for Halloween the event was a great success the Wayne Hills Patriot marching band capped off a fantastic season with an impressive third place and group 3A at the tournament of bands New Jersey state championships in addition the color guard earned best auxiliary for all of group 3A this week Wayne Hills is celebrating Spirit Week the week is designed to foster a sense of Charity and caring that is sometimes Lost In The Hectic space that is a school day week and year this is accomplished through healthy competition between each grade level where they are given the opportunity to create their own identity as 9th 10th 11th and 12th graders while celebrating
045their role as members of the larger community that is Wayne Hills High School the competitions include a food drive penny wars daily themes wall decorations and the competitive activities of the spirit rally Jackie Bernardo competed in the gymnastics meet of Champions finishing her career as one of the best gymnasts in the state three years at Wayne Hills she was athlete of the week for the Bergen Record Sophia Bradley of our girls soccer team recently competed uh completed a historic season at Wayne Hills earning nj.com offensive athlete of the week the Bergen of record athlete of the week All State recognition and set the school record for goals in a single season with 32. she is also up for All-American voting voting which has not taken place yet congratulations to our fall County Champions girls tennis
046gymnastics and girls volleyball thank you okay so next we have from Wayne Valley Catherine McGee Catherine is a junior and she plans to start prepping for the college application process by participating extracurriculars completing National Honor Society hours and taking the SATs after Catherine graduates she's interested in pursuing a major in Biochemistry while minoring in linguistics Catherine is a part of the weak Club the World Language Club model un the school newspaper smoke signals the National Art Honor Society National Honor Society once the winter season starts she'll be involved in winter track Catherine is excited to also add Board of Education student representative to her resume Catherine welcome foreign this week marks the 11th week that school has been in session and Wayne Valley has accomplished much in that time the club Fair ran on September
04723rd and most clubs have started up since then that same day the football team dedicated their game against Wayne Hills tobacca civilella and the Wayne Valley student section honored him by wearing orange or leukemia awareness on September 29th the class of 2024 student council partnered with Dairy Queen for a day-long fundraiser with a portion of the profits going to the class in October Wayne Valley observed dyslexia Awareness Month posters were put up around the school with resources and information on dyslexia awareness last month Valley also held its first pep rally since 2019 taking place on October 7th the rally focused on supporting fall Sports and Gathering excitement for the fall season all fall Sports the cheer team and the band were recognized and had the opportunity to advertise their upcoming events that same week the
048student council accepted donations for Tommy Barfield Elementary in Southwest Florida the council hopes to help Tommy Barfield alleviate some of the issues caused by Hurricane Ian National Honor Society Hope was submitted their applications on October 3rd and results came out on October 13th the induction ceremony happened on October 25th in the Wayne Valley gym on October 12th Valley's Juniors successfully took the PSAT Valley's job fair took place on October 19th and students had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Macy's Starbucks FedEx and more on October 27th the first edition of the school newspaper smoke signals was published in sports news Wayne Valley's football and soccer teams continue to win games throughout October the football team won 35-0 against Nutley in the league championship conference and the girls soccer team made it to Passaic County
049finals through their win over Passaic County Technical Institute on October 15th the girls volleyball team competed in the finals of the Passaic County girls volleyball championship but unfortunately lost to Wayne Hills the valley girl soccer team competed in the Passaic County Championship as well and they Advanced to the finals on October 22nd in a game against DePaul Catholic High School Valley's gymnastics team participated in the all Passaic County all around with two students receiving top honors and second and fourth place respectively the Wayne Valley marching band placed first again in the New Jersey marching band directors association's competition the band also earned the title's best music best effect and best visual so far in November Wayne Valley has engaged in multiple donation drives such as shoe donations food gift cards donations and donations for daycare
050supplies this school play happened on November 3rd 4th and 5th with a healthy turnout each night as of now the fall Sports season is over and winter sports are beginning within the next few weeks okay so just um to wrap up my report I'd like to talk a little bit about our enrollment so every year public school districts in New Jersey must report their enrollment to the state we're in the process of completing that report based on preliminary numbers that will be finalized and certified by the business office in the near future it appears that our enrollment is on the increase and they will have approximately 7 620 students in attendance for the 22-23 school year this is an increase of a little over 125 students from compared to last year and it reverses the
051trends predicted in our most recent demographic study which projects slow and steady decreases with their enrollment over the next many years the finalization of the Assa is important because it provides demographers with the information needed to project future enrollment which is difficult to predict because of the upheaval created by the pandemic keep in mind that the increased enrollment is only off from the projection of 60 by 60 students but if that Trend continues and when you add increased enrollment from all the new construction projects you can see why we may have a different scenario compared to what we originally thought which is at a slow instead he decreased enrollment would allow us to absorb the increased enrollment from the new construction projects over the next 10 years that concludes my report so much student representatives
052for being here this evening [Music] donations yes we're going to read donations now start on November 3rd of 2022 to Pines Lake Elementary School the donor of Charities Aid Foundation cyber grants a donated 150 dollars to the uh to be used to support student programs and the Wayne Valley viewed 3689.55 to Wayne Valley High School to be used toward the Zen Garden thank you thank you for sharing your time with us we do appreciate it okay [Music] Mr moffatt revisions to agenda items please yes ma'am we have a few tonight so please bear with me it might be a little lengthy first is under uh s emergent education and number eight excuse me approval of the agreements with Gerber tours recommended recommend recommended action reads as follows resolve at the Board of Education upon the
053recommendation of superintendent approve and agreement agreements with Gerber tours of Mineola New York to provide travel services in connection with the grade eight class trips to Baltimore Maryland pending attorney review and be it further resolve at the board approve set overnight field trips for 8th grade students to travel to Baltimore Maryland as follows item number one on the list uh s c m s is a field trip approximately uh 515 per student from account number 93-00-00-600-13-12 dates from May 22 20 2023 to May 23 2023 item number two is gwms um field trip to again also approximately 515 per student account number 94 Dash triple zero Dash triple zero-600-14-015 May 22 2023 to May 23 2023 and lastly line three awms field trip approximately 515 per student account line 92-00-00-600-20-011 May 23 2023 to May
05424 2023. moving on to section T emergent Human Resources T6 approval of Staff we're going to add number three Jennifer O'Connor school nurse Wayne Valley full-time equivalent of one which UPC number is zero one-41-28 backslash b j h account number 11 Dash triple zero-213-100-60-038 effective January 27 2023 at an amount of ninety thousand four hundred and seventy five dollars prorated which is Step 18 on the ba plus 15 guy of the WEA salary guide with Benefits replacing Anita dispensary at eighty thousand two hundred and seventy five dollars which is Step 14 on the M.A guide of the WEA salaries salary guide I will also add or I should say revise item t7 which is approval of additional compensation and we're going to revise it again under item number one which is six period assignments on
055an attachment that followed number six is Jody Aveda GW English revised type an amount to twenty nine thousand dollars prorated for both the sixth and seventh period which is fourteen thousand five hundred dollars per period and we'll add seven Carolyn Leibowitz GW English revised type an amount to twenty three thousand prorated for six and seventh periods which is 11 500 per period I'm moving on to um approval which is t11 under again merging human resources we'll be adding approval of administrative leave recommended action reads as follows resolved at the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent that employee number zero zero zero five be placed on paid administrative leave from November 18 2022 through December 23 2022 and lastly under Section X emerging school resource legal We'll add number one which is an
056approval of settlement agreement that resolution reads as follows resolve that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent hereby approves a settlement agreement and release in the matter of student ID number 492-421-6604 dated October 11 2022 as attached by reference and further authorizes the board president and secretary to execute same on behalf of the board the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps required by the terms of the settlement to further Implement same that concludes tonight's revisions to the agenda thank you Mr Moffett um we have some retirements to celebrate this evening so I'd like to have those read at this time Mr fatal thank you Anita dispenziari as a resident of Wayne for many years Anita graduated from Wayne Valley high school and went on to raise her
057children here she began her tenure in Wayne Public Schools as a substitute nurse where she was able to learn from the expertise of her colleagues and develop her own style of school nursing in 2005 she became a part-time nurse at Anthony Wayne middle school and then in 2006 she was hired as a full-time nurse at Wayne Valley High School Anita was a holistic practitioner taking into consideration all aspects of individuals she treated while underpinning her care with her Mantra give it understanding as a school nurse she was a value team member who worked collaborate collaboratively wow collaboratedly with many staff members across departments as she found to be particularly unique and rewarding wanted to know and understand her students as fully as possible and need to spent time attending concerts plays band performances sporting events
058dance shows and even overnight trips she worked with families to address a variety of concerns in a caring and respectful manner Anita's colleagues described her as Dependable knowledgeable resourceful compassionate and caring and as someone who is always ready to jump in where help was needed in her retirement years Anita hopes to spend more time with her family including her mother who is turning 101. she also hopes to travel play golf and perform more work for her church the town the Wayne Township Public School District will miss Anita and is Ever So Graceful for her service thank you thank you Mr fatal Mr pavlak Catherine Fredericks Pines lake is proud to recognize Mrs Kathy Fredericks and celebrate her 23 year career with the Wayne schools Kathy has distinguished herself as a speech in language pathologist especially
059in cases where students require assistive technology she's been a leader and a Trailblazer in our community organizing assistive technology awareness events coordinating training for parents students and staff and also designing and developing communication boards for playgrounds her contributions helped earn Pines Lake the distinction of being a NJ Sha as program of the year in 2022 she has helped shape and raise countless generations of students and supported many new teachers as mentors and guides as a community we are grateful for all her contributions acknowledging that she has consistently gone above and beyond in all her duties and set an example for all of us we wish her the best in her retirement this is one thing retirement for Robin Hart since 2005 Miss Hart has taught culinary arts primarily at Wayne Hills after successful 20 plus
060years of 480 and T she believes teaching was the perfect career fit of her for her love of children and love of food and the responsibility of teaching a valuable and necessarily life skill she enjoyed being an instrumental part of supporting and managing the culinary competition with Sodexo as well as teaching her food classes Miss Hart is proud mother of Brian who is Morristown seeing eye puppy razor as she is an elder in her church and an active member of her Morris Plains Community she looks forward to moving to Point Pleasant Beach riding her bicycle traveling and starting her own foodie tour business in downtown Point Pleasant we wish her well on her retirement thank you [Applause] thank you mississipos Linda mandarino congratulations to Linda mandarino on her upcoming retirement from the Wayne Township Public
061Schools Linda has been the JFK media specialist for the past 25 years prior to that she taught kindergarten second grade 7th grade and eighth grade in private school over the years Linda has shared her love for books and reading with countless students this is evident through her Sleepytime Story Hour that she conducts each March in conjunction with read across America she has curated an expansive collection of books in the JFK media center and has helped to revamp the media center to lend itself to Makerspace stem and coding activities even now Linda continues to hone her craft through the creation of a newspaper Club where Young Writers can share ideas publish their work and learn editing and photography skills throughout her day she supports teachers and students with technology organizes State Testing and opens for Media
062Center for students to continue to be inquiry-based learners Linda plans to spend her retirement traveling we wish her nothing but the best in her next quote-unquote chapter thank you Mr proseccos and congratulations to all retirees next is open to the public on agenda items only this portion of the meeting is open to Citizens for comment on agenda items only residents are to State their names addresses and subject matter comments may be limited to three minutes per person members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or a student the board Bears no responsibility for comments made by the public comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to by the board other comments may be responded to this evening or at a subsequent meeting under old business I'll move second thank
063you Madam president seen no one rise I moved to close the public oh sorry I resent that I just have a couple of questions so I heard Allen tempescue 41 Gibbs Drive I heard that the eighth grade trip was just added to the agenda I just have some questions first of all I to continue where I mentioned last I'm a very appreciative of how how Dr tobac Administration and the board listen to feedback and I think the community is very excited about having a trip to Inner Harbor I the questions I had I just heard something about 5 15. I wasn't sure what that meant and I just was asking do we know what the price per student would be I think I heard the 22nd to the 23rd 3rd and the 23rd to the
06424th so I'm assuming that means there's two trips if possibly you could clarify that if we know where the hotel is and when the legit the logistics of well this information will be shared and when parents uh and students would need to be uh signing up for this so again I want to thank everyone uh this is really uh very exciting and I know my son was very excited to hear that there's going to be a trip so thank you thank you Madam president seen no one else rise I moved to close public session thank you okay next is action on the agenda Madam president I'd move the whole agenda into consent second discussion yeah thank you um as I previously mentioned at the Public Works session I'm still concerned about item U1 and U2
065on the agenda uh particularly I'm concerned about the removal of the defined terms of inappropriate attire um I I think that is going to create issues um and possibly liability so if we if we can ask Mr Gerber perhaps um if there's a preference to have uh Define terms versus you know in specific terms versus vague broad terms that that this policy has has become a point of information um Mr prosakos now is not the time to ask for legal interpretation in public you could make a motion to okay no no well yeah I like to make a motion to send this back to policy committee um because these two policies were not the exact person policies that came out of the Personnel committee and were changed in policy committee and um you know I
066want to revisit the removal of the defined terms inappropriate attire and discussion yes she doesn't carry I'm sorry Mr proseccos we don't have a second for your motion no we will continue with action on the agenda as as Mr pavlak stated roll call please Mr moffatt Mrs Kazan yes Mr pavlak yes Mr prosacos no on U1 and U2 yes and everything else Mrs wendtec yes Mr Bubba yes Mr fatal yes and Mrs put up yes motion carries thank you the next portion is open public comments oh I'm sorry I completely forgot thank you so much Mr Bubba our committee reports for the evening Mr Bubba okay Personnel committee met tonight um with administrators Dr tobac Mr Romaine Mrs Clark trying to think if I missed anyone um Mrs putt up Mr prasakis and myself we
067reviewed last month's um committee minutes we went over job description because a lot of job descriptions are getting reviewed because when jobs don't change a lot descriptions don't change but some let some language has to be changed just to go more with the times but there's nothing actual crazy in those we discussed adding additional counselor positions to the elementary school which we think is a really good idea um and we revised a the employee request form for 504 and that's what we discussed tonight thank you thank you very much Mr Bubba yes Mr pavlot the facilities and transportation committee met this evening myself Mrs Kazan Mr Patel Mrs Tibbetts Mr skobitsky and Mr Moffett we were we reviewed the agenda items for this evening we got an update on the projects that the our ongoing
068projects our Wayne Valley Next Generation science classroom should be opening come January right after the break and our next Generation science classrooms at Wayne Hills are in the design phase at this point um we talked about Staffing and two new in two positions that are in the process of being filled at this time talked in transportation or evacuation drills are pretty much done with the exception of two schools um we are also in the process of winter getting ready for the winter as our bus garage maintains our snow plows snow blowers and any kind of snow removal equipment that we do have we auction door old Vehicles we property twenty one thousand dollars on those Vehicles we also had a presentation from the Wayne Hills Human Rights Watch students about renewable energy and we also
069had our representative from our current project now amaresco and we're talking about how we can the district can move towards a green environment thank you Mr pavlak reports okay thank you open public comments this portion of the meeting is open to Citizens for comment on agenda sorry wrong on any item residents are to State their names addresses and subject matter comments may be limited to five minutes per person members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employer or student the board Bears no responsibility for comments made by the public comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to by the board other comments may be responded to this evening or at subsequent meetings under old business thank you I'll move thank you I have them okay Madam president Mrs Kazam and
070Mr prosakos Madam president seen no one rise I moved to close the public portion second okay um we're going to into Old business uh Dr tobac would you like to say a few words Mr chimpescu just to respond to your question the 5 15 is the price per student there were a couple nights mentioned because there are three middle schools and there was not available accommodations for all three middle schools to be attending the same nights and um where the contract is pending approval we're just working out some of the fine details and once all that's worked out within the next few weeks it'll open up for parents to sign up so that information will be forthcoming from the building principles sure okay any additional comments from the administration I think we're good great thank
071you thank you from the board any comments under old business yes Mrs wenting I guess I had a question regarding the enrollment if we can have the breakdown of where do we see the increases I was interested in that um once once the enrollment report is certified and we have official numbers then we'll share that with the board and we'll go we'll go over a variety of different types of enrollment in different demographic groups things like that thank you okay moving on to new business Mr pavlot um first of all congratulations to all our students this evening it's always a pleasure to be here at this meeting see the accomplishments of our students see Mrs rigoloso is here congratulations on your election well so uh Mr Meredith congratulations on the honor you received for reporting
072on the board and the town I don't see what news you had coming out of here but everything you wrote was great and thank you and also as many of you know Mary Pagano's mother passed away this past week and we wish him condolences thank you Mr Pavlik um just to Echo what Don said I want to congratulate all the students also want to congratulate Miss Kumar for her service on the board Mr rigoloso Mr batashell um and I also want a semi-sincere condolences to mayor of oregano and his family with his mother passing and uh Dr tobeck I look forward to those numbers so we can you start getting to work and planning our future with the with the district so thank you Madam president meetings a year that I look forward to this
073is obviously one of them honoring and uh sitting here and being able to enjoy the student achievement with the students and their parents and just the the happy faces and the pride in their accomplishments is just one of the things that is enjoyable as a board member and then there's the student performances I always look forward to those as well the choral and the music and it's wonderful and today we myself Mr prosakos Mrs puttup had the honor to attend the veterans program at George Washington Middle School and that's a tear-jerker event but boy is it worth it um it's just amazing to see how excited the kids are to honor the veterans and to talk about their service and they put on such a great program between the music and the uh singing and
074the poetry and they do a poster contest and it's just so it's just a heartwarming event and I look forward to that every year um obviously I want to congratulate the students and I also want to wish you all the best to our retirees we we are losing some really amazing staff members uh and it seems lately far too many um and I'm almost afraid of like the The Brain Drain that's happening it's it's it's coming a little too fast for me now every time I open an agenda I'm afraid to read that section of who who we're going to lose next and I know it's because they're just reaching retirement age I'm not placing any blame on anything or anyone but um it's concerning especially considering the difficulty we're having replacing these wonderful staff
075members um and obviously I've already spoken highly of Mrs Kumar and her service to the community but I also want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving with your families again my favorite holiday I don't have to buy anyone a gift I don't have to rap I don't have to put up a tree I just cook eat and enjoy and I hope everyone has a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving I just would like to Echo all the congratulations to all the great students I do want to mention I had the pleasure of watching Wayne Valley Football team on many occasions and they did have an amazing season so I wanted to congratulate them on that um I I I I was sorry not to be able to join them the Veterans Day uh part at the GW
076I would have loved to joined it but I was home with a sick child today but uh he's doing better so um really honoring the veterans is very important and actually on the day like today from my background being in the Czech Republic something had happened on November the 17th which was the Velvet Revolution and I encourage everyone to look up what that wants what that meant where students stood up and fought for freedom like many of our veterans and I wasn't going to say it but I feel like it's appropriate especially because today is an anniversary day so I'll end on that note thank you thank you as always a lot of wonderful things happening and we our congratulations to retirees thank you to Mrs Kumar even though she's not here this evening for
077her service it was wonderful having our student reps here this evening to talk about what's going on at Valley and hills and um again I I also attended the veteran ceremony at GW um definitely a worthwhile experience I think what meant a lot to me driving around town before the election were the signs I saw that um thank a veteran and please vote which says it right there um um or condolences to Mayor vagano on the passing of his mom and congratulations to all of our students who worked so hard to reach the Pinnacle of their success this evening but we know that it's going to be ongoing this is this is just a stop along the pathway to Future and greater things so we wish them all the best and I Echo everyone in
078Wishing everyone a very very Happy Thanksgiving I haven't need a motion motion close thank you very much good evening