June 25, 2020: Board of Education Meeting

001okay the executive session of the Wayne Board of Education regular virtual meeting of June 25th 2020 was convened virtually the statement of compliance setting forth sign date and location was read in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act and the roll call was taken the meeting was recessed and is now being reconvened if we could have the flag salute you can put up the photo thank you so much I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all oh sorry moment of silence okay thank you start with the superintendent's report so we need to move to open in to reopen bill mr. Moffitt you can if you'd like well I'm just

002asking if it's great I would suggest you do so can I get a mover to reconvene I move Stacey second Suzanne okay dr. Toback I don't think we need a roll call on that okay so would like to do is start by reading a statement resolution against racism on behalf of the Wayne Board of Education so where's the wing Board of Education recognizes that schools can be a powerful force and generating change and that our school community shares a collective responsibility to reject all forms of individual and systemic racism as destructive to our educational mission values and goals where's the board further recognizes that formally taking a stand against racism and all four is an important step for all institutions at the Wayne Board of Education in word and through action seeks to clearly communicate

003our position against racism and stands with the black community to condemn the violence marginalization microaggressions and other behaviors that have devastated and devalued so many lives where's the board continually adopts a set of goals to create priorities address challenges and provide direction for the school community and whereas the board is committed to establishing a diversity equity and inclusion goal for the 2020 2021 school year that includes the following elements one internal and external review of policies practices procedures and curricula through a diversity equity and inclusion lens will be concluded through a committee process and then to provide a list of recommend changes or new policies practices and procedures to creation of the creation of a district diversity equity and inclusion statement to be integrated throughout the district three assessing nicknames mascots slogans and school symbols

004that may be offensive or otherwise counterproductive to our mission value and goals for professional development program to include bias awareness training anti-racism training and training for restorative practices five publication of a report on diversity equity and inclusion which will be shared with the public on an annual basis using the supporting activities of our goal as a basis for the first report sis budgeting to support the purchase of additional instructional tiers materials and resources to support the goal now therefore be it resolved that the Wayne Board of Education directs the Superintendent of Schools to take any and all action necessary to establish the advance diversity equity and inclusion goal to include the above elements and to include any other supporting activity deemed necessary to carry out the goal and to present the goal at the next

005regular meeting of July 16th 2020 right so now we'd like to do is just get to my administrative summary report okay so grieving everybody this school year came to a close on June 8th they wanted to take a moment to thank all of our staff members or administrators for all their work in making the end-of-the-year special for our students and parents especially are moving up in graduation events which were virtual I believe that each of the events was well done each was something for our school district to take pride in especially considering considering that virtual graduations are new for all of us tonight the Board of Ed will engage in further discussion about the plans for each of our modified in-person graduation events for high school students after reviewing the results of the thought exchange

006that took place throughout this past week beta with 310 participants who shared 451 thoughts and the exchange showed high levels agreement on a number of issues the first area of agreement was that July 30th is a date that was too far in the future for a graduation event they were solid support to have the event on July 8th with a rain date of July 9th another area where there was a high level of support was keeping the graduating class together with no guests in attendance as opposed to splitting the class up for two events per high school of course with a single event for each class we would live broadcast so anyone would be able to watch there was also strong agreement that we should hold this event in the morning that a barbecue luncheon

007would be welcomed as an option after the graduation event is complete so any action for the Board of Ed tonight is reflected with an emergent administrative item r31 of the most important activities in the district the summer includes the development of a plan for students and staff to safely return to school and we've had a retired school committee working diligently to consider a variety of issues and to further investigate on problems we might experience we also formed eight subcommittees that recorded this previously after numerous meetings we have a well-considered set of questions that need to be resolved and tomorrow New Jersey Department of Education is scheduled to release guidance about the reopening of schools will match this guidance with our existing set of committee questions and from there we'll be left with a list of

008questions that will be answered another list that will be needed that we will need to answer locally once we receive this guidance will be able to share more also the return of our high school aid programs is another important topic that required guidance and in this case from the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association which issued guidance on June 20th both of our athletic directors at Wayne Hills Owen Valley also our school administrators our coaches are working on a plan to allow a safe return to our practice field in the coming weeks so as far as our HIV report goes during this reporting period there was one incident reported as HIV after throwing this sari after a thorough investigation the reported incident was found to be an actual case of HIV it is let's move on

009to the presentation would that be you mrs. rushman yeah just need um dr. Prashar to bring it up thank you thank you good evening everyone I'm here to share out the end of the year goal report you can present the advance the next slide the first goal that I wanted to report out on was our wellness goal this was year two of this goal and we are now recognizing that there is a need to continue with this goal this past year the district offered a host of wellness workshops and very training for staff and students to provide tips and strategies for increasing mindfulness reducing stress and improving overall health fitness and nutrition several of the workshops were offered to staff members to participate for their own personal growth in these areas as well as to

010offer training and simple practices that can be passed along to students and colleagues due to the köppen 19 school closure we're recognizing that there's an even greater need to continue with the wellness goal in the 2020 21 school year and this will have a new focus honestly return to school it's critical that the district continue to prioritize the new and and unanticipated needs of our students and staff for so many students families and staff the koban 19 school shut down period led to increased stress and socially isolating isolation at home the district is committed to staying current and best practices for a safe return that addresses how to best meet the social and emotional wellness needs for our staff and students we will continue to evaluate the needs of our students and staff throughout the

011summer months and are committed to providing ongoing support delivering practical information and preparing for counseling workshops that will meet the needs of our students and staff for increased wellness the second goal that I'd like to report out on is our ESL expansion plan this year additional ESL staffing was added along with new class sections in our elementary schools and this resulted in greater participation and fewer student refusal more students are now serviced in their home schools through ESL programming and identification and dr. Bouchard you can advance the next slide I have a few data points that I wanted to share out the expansion led to a new program at apt which currently serves 30 students this expansion also led to reduce student-teacher ratio at ryerson elementary school we reduced the out dough which was the

012primary intent of the goal and the refusal population by 13 students we continued to trend upward and exiting more students over the past years and and this means that we've met the language requirements for general education for this year due to the fact that we do not have testing we'll have an unofficial count but we did receive some new guidance and we have some surveys and decisions that we'll be making over the next couple weeks as to how we'll assess the needs of these students when we return in the fall last year 19 students from Rebecca to EPA from Pines and this also helped not only did we service these kids in their home school but it also saved additional funding for transportation expenses we increased teacher training for ESL and buildings we now have

013a new dual language lending library which lends out books in nearly 20 languages to families it's nice because they can see the English on one side and then their language translation on the other side and we continue to develop expansion plans next year we are looking at a proposed plan to add an ESL services and staffing at Tunis Thai and James Fallon and elementary schools and a special education program for ESL support at Anthony WIC bo3 was using data to enhance instructional decision-making and max my student growth this was reported out on mid-year where we talked about our assessment practices and how we expanded them to evaluate student achievement again with distance learning and the school shutdown we recognized that this is really more critical now than ever were you know it we're assuming that

014in many homes and in many situation students may have fallen behind it was a very rough time for our teachers for our students for parents so many working and home schooling their children what we did was we added in new assessments at the end of the year to gather current data based on where the students were at in their ela and math learning and we have plans to give another assessment in the beginning of the school year these were offered through the Lincoln and these will be in addition to our own assessments that go with programs we have in place this will give us data points to start out and just make determinations about what student groupings should look like and what remediation should look like for students when they return we did make some

015on the spot decisions just recognizing that there were some kids who really did fall behind and could benefit from summer support and we are offering two week sessions inclusive of book clubs small math instruction and small reading group instruction to students recognizing that this will help when they return and they'll have some additional work that they could focus on during the summer and our last goal is the early childhood expansion and transition to full-day kindergarten again this was your one of a two-year goal the Early Childhood Center Preakness renovation is near completion I have here that a final walkthrough but it's really a progress walkthrough it's scheduled for Monday June 29th things are moving along very quickly and the school is near completion the playground installation is complete if you happen to drive by you'll

016see that we have a state-of-the-art playground which is really really nice we will be able to offer weather permitting and assuming we're back in school all kinds of services ot PT speech outdoor for students the new Early Childhood Center principal begin July 1st we're excited to have her on board and parent outreach will begin in August today we just started work on our website for the Early Childhood Center so we'll be excited to launch that this summer and we are planning for a ribbon-cutting and a virtual or small in-person tours depending um what the situation is at the time in late August and this completes my report if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them thanks anyone have any question or comment on the goal report thank you mrs. rushman great

017job everyone oh I'm sorry mrs. but uh good job thank you thank you well done thank you so much back to you mr. Moffet revisions to the agenda right we have a few tonight under the eye section education items one to two we have additional information on or I should say revision of our number two which is approval of 2020 2021 Ana district placements and related services we are going to revise number 19 student ID should be number eight zero six nine to nine for 805 we have an addition it was the WEA was that conducted a discussion in that's building forward so okay so I'll add it okay so that is going to read again under emergent - education s section and that will read resolved at the board of education upon the recommendation

018of the superintendent hereby approves the sidebar agreement between the Wayne Township Board of Education and the lane Education Association with respect to the negotiated stipend for lead counselors for the 2020 2021 school year 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 under item t emergent Human Resources we are going to revise a few items under item 1 which is approval of additional compensation number four we will be adding date July 1st 2022 September 4th 2020 as needed number 5 we are going to add a date of July 1st 2020 through September 4 2020 and that as needed number 6 some

019artists it's to add a summer assistive team and that we're going to add to date which is July 1st 2020 through September 4th 2020 at 7 and a half hours each number 7 we are going to add 40 hours each item and that's going to add dates of July 1st 2020 through September 4th 2020 and number 8 summer soar we're adding the dates July 1st 2020 through September 4th 2000 24/7 75 hours each under emergent tea emergency resources continued we are going to add item number seven which is approval of increment restoration that resolution reads resolved at the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent approves the restoration of the step placement and the adjustment and employment increments totaling four thousand four hundred and seventy five dollars for employee Ida ID number six

020nine eight nine retro actively to July 1st 2019 the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps to implement the same we're also adding number eight to that section under T which reads as approval of increment restoration and that reads resolved that the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent approves the restoration of the step placement and the adjustment and employment increments totaling two thousand five hundred and seventy five dollars for employee ID number one three four six retroactive to July 1st 2019 the business administrator and superintendent are authorized to take all further steps to implement sane moving on to emergent school resource finance which is section V we are adding under the number nine which is approved 2020 2021 school year contracts we're adding number two number four that

021was a blank area in the agenda so the amount to be filled in on that grid is going to be two hundred and seventy nine thousand five hundred dollars that's under that's the Nexo amount we will be adding the following two contracts the first one is for northern region Education Commission which is regular summer school the location is district-wide it's not two na which is not to exceed because it's a pass-through it's a expense just for students it's methodology is a and the contract term is from July 6 20 22 July 31st 20 20 20 which is just a summer number six is cold it's and Zuka LLC for treasurer of school monies district-wide for amount not to exceed of $7,600 contract term would be for July 1st 2020 through June 30 2021 we are

022also adding in the emergent school resource finance section of V as item number 11 which is approval of general special education attorney the resolution reads as follows be it resolved at the Wayne Township Board of Education approves stretchy and compact as our general and special education attorney for the 2020 2021 fiscal year the only other item I just like to point out I did send I did send an email late today as I do at the 2019 2020 report for contracts so that you have that if you need another copy or have any questions feel free to contact me and that can concludes my revision section in just um one edition mr. Moffitt it has to do with emergent administrative item or a3 and that is the authorization to go ahead with the graduation event

023modified in-person graduation event so that's something that the insurance company is asking us and the Department of Ed is asking us to have approved by the Board of Ed first and after discussion and after reviewing the results of the thought exchange the resolution that reflects that is resolved at the board of that upon recommendation superintendent who the graduation then at each high school only for graduates of the class of 2020 to be held on July 8th at 10:00 a.m. the rain date of July 9th also at 10:00 a.m. following social social distancing requirements in effect at the time that authorizes the administration to hire staff and approve volunteers as needed for supervision that's the agenda provisions completed okay this portion of the meeting is open to citizens for comment on agenda items only residents are

024to state their names addresses in subject matter comments may be limited to five 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 your students cannot be legally responded to by the board other comments may be responded to tonight or at subsequent meetings under old business can I get a mover five-lack mrs. Shearer and dr. Bouchard I don't see any hands raised I see no one wait wait they're coming I can't okay hi a man address my name is Amanda Keeling I'm a resident of 11 on Madeira Drive and I'm here to talk about the wing Valley mascot okay again my name is Amanda keel I'm going to be a senior at Wayne

025Valley this fall and a little over a week ago I created a petition called change the wing valley mascot in which I explained the issue with mascot supporter a Native Americans and how they are hindering Wayne schools from teaching their lessons of inclusion and equality that they aim to teach since it was uploaded the petition has gained over 2700 signatures for people of diverse backgrounds including current students graduated students from many generations parents previous Wayne Valley teachers and other community members as well as Native Americans who do not agree with the way that we represent their race with recent events surrounding racism both globally and locally it is time to address the racism president Wayne and make changes accordingly for those of you who might not have read the petition or don't know about this

026issue with Native American mascots the history of retiring mascots like these goes back for decades and the National Congress of American Indians started their campaign to end Native American mascots in the 1960s their website says that and this is a quote that I got rather than honoring native peoples these caricatures and stereotypes are harmful perpetuate negative stereotypes of America's first peoples and contribute to a disregard for the personhood of Native peoples we are sending Wayne Valley students the wrong message through the use of our Indian mascot it is not our right as non natives to decide how Native Americans are portrayed their physical and emotional traits or anything else a race is not a mascot and if you substitute the name Indians for any other race you can see how wrong this is one comment

027on the petition reads I am a proud native American woman I am NOT a darn mascot neither are my people or anyone else this week pascale kills in Pascack Valley Regional High School was here in New Jersey decided that it's time to retire there Indians and cowboy mascots a recently retired Wayne Valley teacher commented on the petition that he believes that wings similar Indians versus Patriots mentality is problematic because it romanticizes the historical genocide of Native American people at the hands of the Patriots the most important thing that we can do now is admit that it's time to change the mascot and stop actively promoting it as a symbol that represents Wayne Valley I understand that there are constraints physically and monetarily but with a timeline of gradual changes over the next few months and

028years when Valli can create a more positive environment for their students something that we all want to see another previous Wayne Valley teacher who is Native American himself comment that to claim tradition or money or similar research reasons as to justify keeping the current mascot is selfish and our ethical nostalgia and tradition do not outweigh the dignity and respect that everyone deserves to be treated with I do have faith in our community I do believe that if the district is really dedicated to eliminating racism and creating a better environment for their students we will see a change in the wind valley mascot I am proud to be a winged Valley student and a member of the Wayne community but I'm not proud to call myself an Indian and almost 2800 people agree that this mascot

029needs to be changed being an Indian might represent things like pride strength and togetherness but so can countless other mascots it might be hard to admit that something that people weren't supported was wrong but it is the first step in creating a safer more accepting environment for the students in our district I encourage the Wayne community and Board of Education to have empathy for the students of color or subject to racism in their own schools I encourage everyone to research by so many colleges universities high schools and sports teams have dropped their Native American mascots in the past and why people continue to fight for this we cannot let sentiments and nostalgia keep us from making progress that we want to meet want and need to see in our schools thank you thank you very

030much we have more hands dr. Prashar Chad yes hello my name is Chad Seenu some former resident of 26 Beachwood in Wayne New Jersey I'm here to speak today about the mascot which Amanda Kyle just spoke to you about on June 23rd nj.com reported that the Pascack Valley School has abolished further use of the Native American mascot a recent change.org petition started by Wayne Valley's own Amanda Kyle has brought this issue to light in the wing collective I have some things to say about the wind valley school and its mascot I grew up in packing AK attended pakatok elementary school and I graduated from Wayne Valley High School in 2012 many who remember me may remember me many of my friends as troublemakers and I would say that I think that's a fair assessment me

031and my tier my peers at the time were psychologically broken by the way in Valley School District by the time we got to senior year many of us who were LGBT or ethnic we're dealing with personal and financial issues in addition to facing discrimination within the way in school system so it's clear to see why many of us appeared apathetic at the time but I was also introduced to a lot of great teachers and thinkers who changed my life for the better like Allison Solomon my drama teacher who she was a world-class actor and writer she helped me get into the Stella Adler studio of acting in New York City for the summer between my junior and senior year that experience opened me up to the true beauty of diversity just outside my mostly white

032neighborhood and dr. white my AP Language and Composition teacher who taught me lessons about form that I still employ in my professional career as a strategic writer these positive experiences within Wayne Valley only serve to make my recollection of abuse toward non-white students all the more confusing how could a town with such great educators also maintain such an inhospitable environment for minorities since leaving Wayne I've lived in two different states started and invested in several business ventures and as of right now I am studying at the University of Colorado Boulder with an in-state tuition grant I'm the president of my school's chapter of students for sensible drug policy an anti-drug were nonprofit the work I have done with formerly incarcerated victims of the racially what motivated war on drugs has changed my life in addition

033to all of this I'm a published poet and essayist with all the accomplishments I have attained and all the perspectives I have listened to I'm still quite ashamed to be from Wayne because of the mascot the failing public school system of Wayne Foster's bigotry in the hearts and minds of its students with its outdated Arts and Sciences curriculum and it's insensitive betrayal of the great Native American warriors who lived in this land before it was quote made clear for cultivation unquote there is no amount of research I can do to make sense of the mistreatment of marginalized students I witnessed in the way in school system if any are Jewish or non-jewish white family friends of mine moved from Wayne my family would always say looks like they couldn't take the pressure of living with

034the bigotry in the school system I posted the petition to change the Wayne Valley mascot on the Facebook pages I'm from Wayne New Jersey and remembering packing a quake about two weeks ago well I know these pages are not officially affiliated with the township of Wayne the comments I was met with were truly disturbing the members lamented in droves of hundreds how long will this go on and when does it end as if respecting someone else's culture is a great upheaval to the sanctity of their way of life as a historian and the scholar it is my opinion that there is still something truly fundamentally white-supremacist within Wayne's culture and it comes out in the school system it surfaces within the school board's reluctance to bring the Wayne Valley High School into the 21st century

035I urge the word of member Board of Ed members not to turn the mascot into a partisan matter when considering this issue the next time it comes before them this has nothing to do with left or right liberal or conservative democrat or republican changing the Wayne Valley High School mascot and is an issue of basic human respect I'm a proud libertarian and I believe that it is your duty to reflect the egalitarian philosophies of this country by making Wayne Valley a more inclusive and responsible place for all please get rid of the mascot thank you Thank You mr. wilt hi how are you my name is Steve will 23 pair and drive Wayne so I have a slightly different viewpoint than the last two speakers and I totally respect their opinion but I think it's

036if we're gonna make a change like this maybe it should be up to the community and the people and the vast majority of people that to make that decision and in whichever direction that Falls I think that you know the people should be the ones making the decision not the select few and and and I'm happy that twenty-seven hundred people signed the petition but again it's 27 hundred people out of the whole the whole town enough people to make that decision but to take something away or make a change positive negative whatever it may be that being said I don't necessarily see their point and I rather see the school board focus on things that are a little bit more concerning su you know people are worrying about racism and all these things and in

037trying to bring it more to light nowadays let's focus on doing things that are actually gonna affect the children more and and teaching them about it make him more aware about it and and I'm honestly a little offended that you know about the last comment how you know the the white supremacist mentality or whatever that comment was about the schoolwork because I've never seen I grew up in Wayne I still live in Wayne I'm not looking to leave Wayne and I've never heard of seen any of these things so I'm a little offended by that comment alone but I think at this point I think if we're looking to make a change I think the change should be from what the town wants and what the people in the town not want not a minority

038whichever way that lands so that's all I have to say thank you mr. Thompson hello my name is Timothy Thompson I'm from 1/3 lolly Avenue I'm a graduate of Wayne Valley from the class of 2019 I currently attend the University of Michigan as a rising sophomore I first want to say thank you to the Wayne Board of Ed for taking steps to address racism in our town tonight and our school system and for publicly and explicitly dousing racist acts in our country in our town these actions and words make many in the town feel like they're finally being heard and have a safe space to come forward and discuss issues they are passionate about however I do want to speak honestly and from a place of care and passion as a graduate of the Wayne

039public school system and share with you that as an LGBTQ african-american boy I have been failed by the way in public school system it was in Middle School where I began to hear the N word without a single thing being done by my teachers freshman year of high school I witnessed kids being openly um kids openly displaying confederate flags and experience what it was like to be called a still going unaddressed by my teachers sophomore year i was harassed by a group of kids who were upset i did a project on colin kaepernick and had my life threatened by a separate group of kids who were angered by my identity as a gay boy junior year i was by a friend I his gym teacher harassed him for being too feminine to the point where

040he had to switch teachers and drop a sport he was involved in senior year I witnessed teachers chase black students around the hallway for wearing do-rags and saying they are trying and saying quote they are trying to be like the gangs in Patterson and in the past two weeks while organizing a black lives matter protests in Wayne my friend and I received numerous cyber attacks and death threats these are just a few of the scarring incidents of racism and Prejudice that I have experienced in this town by peers and officials that have gone unchecked and unacknowledged by classmates teachers and local officials and I'll tell you the truth and I'll tell you exactly why that happened because the Wayne education system has not educated its students on the truth of American history and modern day

041American society why was college the first time I learned about activists and leaders like Angela Davis Fred Hampton Malcolm X in the Black Panther movement why wasn't I taught any LGBTQ history in high school why weren't we taught about the systematic oppression of minorities that include institutions that still affects minorities to this day like them like the prison industrial complex or redlining might eat my team and I have conducted several interviews over the past three weeks with officials both local and out-of-town as well as community leaders and almost none of them knew about the institutional systems that allowed Wayne to directly profit off of the oppression of its neighboring town many cities and New Jersey have I often wonder if kids in our town in our schools knew the truth about the history of towns

042like Wayne and Patterson maybe they wouldn't be so quick to disparage the citizens of that town why isn't the Confederate flag being denounced as a hate symbol in the same way the swastika is denounced as a hate symbol why are why and why are why wasn't I taught about african-american trailblazers who made an impact on history and the society that we know it to be today lastly why has Wayne Public Schools been supporting the appropriation of a historically oppressed and persecuted race many schools have already taken steps to change their mascots and I hope Wayne will follow the rest of the country in doing what's right I also want you to know that because you guys have publicly denounced racism in this town and are considering taking measurable change in the community know that you

043might get some backlash from people in the town who are perpetuating the racism in this town just like how my friends and I got back last when we put on our protest well while you are making these changes I want to share with you the words of one of my favorite authors JK Rowling there comes a time where everyone must choose between what is right and what is easy I hope you guys make the right choice I will leave you with this last week I attended a BLM protest in Patterson led by a 13 year old girl who used to attend James Fallon however she was bullied and harassed so much for the color of her skin that she transferred to a private school I wonder if that would have changed if maybe she had

044a few more people of color in her class a teacher who was a person of color or even a curriculum that properly represented her in her history I know the feeling of being the only African American in all my classrooms for 12 years over 5,000 people and Wayne usurer in Wayne New Jersey have signed petitions for a changing of curriculum over 2000 FSU have designed to change the mascot please please take measurable steps for change thank you thank you very much a couple more as Budnick hi my name is Marissa buttnik at 38 Clinton Lane and Wayne I graduated Wayne Valley in 2016 first of all I want to acknowledge the work the Board of Ed is doing for COBIT right now I know how difficult that must be so I applaud you for your

045efforts and now I want to discuss diversifying the curriculum I have learned more about black history in this month that I didn't then I did in my 12 years in the Wayne public school system I learned about redlining and the present in the prison-industrial system and how it was designed to lock slaves back up I learned more about black leaders authors activists this past month than I did in my 12 years in the Wayne school system the only black authors I learned about in high school learning of in high school or Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes my hope is that you will implement more than just four weeks of the real history of the u.s. including indigenous Latin ex Asian and LGBT history and literature a documentary xiii by ava duvernay du Vernay and the

046discussion of the prison system directly coming from slavery and the purposeful lockup of free slaves should be a mandatory watch and discussion in class I learned about documentary this month and it has changed my life and my views also I am in support I am in full support of changing the wayne valley mascot a race should not be represented as a mascot the snack stand at Wayne Valley athletic events should not be called the TP the school newspaper should not be called smoke signals that is cultural appropriation and offensive and I hope the mascot will finally change Pascack Valley did it so we can do it too I also encourage the diversifying of the teachers I had one by POC teacher and it was mrs. Shan the school nurse at James Fallon it is imperative

047that students of color have teachers that look up that they that look like them to feel represented I along with Timmy who just spoke attended a March in Paterson a few weeks ago led by a thirteen year old girl I talked to her grant we talked to her grandmother and she said how this girl initially attended James Fallon but transferred to a private school after feeling ostracized and discriminated against for being one of the only black girls in a predominantly white class that should not happen and it breaks my heart that this happened at my elementary school I am urge you to look at the position of the student equity advocate in schools Montclair schools have this position and they act as a liaison between students and families and the district they work with students

048who experience racism harassment etc in schools and that girl from Fallon could have used someone in that position for help I implore you to do more research on this position and how it can benefit students and families in the Wayne school system thank you thank you very much next sorry I think there was a can you hear me I'm sorry yes again now we hear you okay sorry about that so I attended Wayne schools from kindergarten to graduating Wayne Valley in 2017 I wanted to speak on behalf of the racial perspective I feel students were lacking throughout Wayne schools as we know Wayne is a predominantly white town and this shows especially since I personally do not remember more than one black teacher from all my years and Wayne Public Schools this was the norm

049and it was easy for people to dismiss this was an issue entirely but in retrospect I and my peers have lacked vital context for understanding the true depth and nature of the oppression and issues are black peers faced as we do not have teachers themselves who can communicate a black experience it is even more integral to include a black perspectives in all subjects throughout the curriculum while I have myself as well as many of my friends who Wayne schools just learned about Juneteenth this month when it has been an event in history since June 19 1865 omitting black history is harmful to students especially to those who do not have the means to educate themselves otherwise too often I would hear about white students yelling the n-word and teachers stood aside and said nothing too

050often I would see Confederate flags hung proudly on cars as I pulled up to a valley too often I was told not to visit Patterson because of the crime rate though the stereotype represented the entire town too often I watched as my friends who identify as far the lgbtq+ community were not represented at all throughout history or English classes but through merely one health class explaining pronouns and definitions of sexualities and transgender as though that was the extent of their communities if we want to show that black lives matter we need to value and represent the experiences of black living the choices made in the curriculum do not go unnoticed in order for us to all understand each other we must consistently learn about black history from a young age in school all the way

051up to high school to encourage this being a lifelong effort thank you for your time and please consider what I've said thank you very much one more hi this is Maria pranzo I'm resident of Wayne I live at 14 Chicopee Drive and I've been a resident in the town for 46 years now I'm probably considerably older than many of the colors that you've had so far and and I'm really thinking about this is both an alumni of the lane school system and the parent of the child in the lane school system and I'm calling about the mascot when you know when I was a child and I went to Lane Valley I remember you know going to school and having a mascot and you know I think about it today and I recall the situation

052where my daughter was in where a grammar school the country's in middle school now and she came home with homework from her teacher and her teacher was teaching the class about the first Thanksgiving and you know it was it was part it was it was an assignment where the you talk to your parents and see if they were thankful for and also lesson about the first Thanksgiving and throughout the entire lesson that I was going through with my daughter I noticed that all the references to the indigenous people of this town were referred to as Native Americans and I remember when I was going through school at her age the term Indians was a very common term um and I noticed the difference there and so you know when I look at the issue with

053the mascot today I don't understand why it's not okay in the classroom to refer to Native Americans as Indians and yet for sport on the field it's okay I know people have a history and feel that it's a it's part of the wing heritage too you know in tradition to have Indians as a mascot but you know we evolved as a town as a country as a people and when we know it's not okay to teach children in our classroom that Indian isn't an appropriate term to refer to people as then I think we should follow through on the field as well thank you for listening thank you a couple more ray Stantz popped up go ahead do you hear me yes okay great um Evan Covello 29 Sunset Terrace so while I don't remember

054what the exact operative clause that was stated in the resolution at the start of the meeting regarding mascots I do greatly appreciate it being mentioned there's certainly a lot going around going on in the world right now particularly the public health crisis which I'm sure is taking up a great deal of your time trying to prep things for the fall and get the schools open so I that as well you know speaking out on you know issues like this regarding race it could be difficult it could be uncomfortable but it is critical I come before you as a winning ballet class of 2014 graduate and I also graduated from Rutgers a State University of New Jersey class of 2018 one of the largest stakeholders in our educational institutions I believe is alumni we as alumni

055will always bear our school colors particularly Wayne Valley for me on apparel that we have yearbooks diplomas in on bar sealers and so much more and I really am proud to have graduated from Wayne Valley I love my time there I serve as student body president and I was a play-by-play announcer for the many athletic teams of the school and I was with those roles I was often one of the first to promote Wayne Valley students and its student athletes and games and from that experience that I have I really do believe strongly that it's time to change the name of the Indians mascot and looking back I back then it was something different as everyone has said it's incredibly insensitive culturally insensitive and going forward it'll be more difficult to teach a greater amount

056of inclusive values in our Wayne schools with this name hanging over its head as an alum it really is embarrassing to tell people the Indians was my high school mascot I don't view this as a new issue I think it's been around for years and it really is great to see that people feel including myself feel more empowered to speak out about it thank you for your time and I hope you consider that going forward thank you next good evening my name is tree piranha 18 Pontiac Drive I'm not calling regarding the mascot issue I had sent an email to the town to the Board of Ed and Don Pavlik I believe did say that the matter of the 8th grade trip to Washington DC being canceled is on the agenda I did not see

057it so that's why I'm calling because the Township canceled the trip the company man I'm sorry to interrupt you but frankly that's not an agenda item I hate to ask you to wait for the next public portion for that discussion ok that's fine I was just you know I'm going off of the email that I did receive from Don that it would be added to with the agenda evening it's not on our public agenda now but when you come into the next public portion you're free to ask any questions on that topic okay thank you very much I'm sorry thank you but you have to follow procedure for everyone okay I think that was the last hand for this portion can I get him over to close and president there's no one else who I

058can't see I would move to close the first public portion mister Giordano okay next we move on to committees who would like to start committee reports mr. buhbuh facilities and transportation met tonight with myself mrs. Kazan mrs. put up and with our administrators mr. meso and mr. Moffet we had five things on the agenda tonight first thing we discussed was the facilities use permits right now we're not issuing any permits until we have all the regulations in place from the state on how to safely open the fields and then once we have our schedule in place because we have to separate our sports a little more than we normally would so we have to see availability first before we even start doing permits for the field second item on the agenda was the esup which

059is the energy renewal we're ready to turn over an agreement to Ameresco bid to do July 1st and we're moving along very well with that then we had the prep-school cleanings for the summer there was a head custodian meeting today to kick off the summer cleaning schedules everything is in place and we are moving forward with getting the schools ready for open in September under whatever guidelines we are given by the State Department of Education and then we also looked at a construction policy where Stas s mate has Lilith's will change their policy for construction contracts to clarify background checks and things like that so we'll be adding that as a first reading tonight and then transportation we are working on plan for summer school transportation to make sure that we are compliant with social

060distancing and cleaning so we have already had to run multiple bands on the same route just to make sure that we have those things in place that was one thing and the other thing I was really looking at an interim for transporation transportation director and then we also want to look at maybe reorganizing to save the district someone thank you very much that's my report Thank You mr. villain anyone else mrs. Alba nice um the Finance Committee has had two meetings since our last meeting we met on June 11th we also met on last night June 24th in attendance were Eileen Albanese Smasher Donnell and Cathy Kazan for the board as well as mr. Moffitt the business administrator and board secretary we reviewed many agenda items between the two meetings we did not have any

061budget transfers to review we looked at purchasing updates we discussed legal and architectural services general business services and special ed services we discuss the Sodexo food service contract which I believe will be coming to the next agenda there is a contract on for tonight but I think there's more to come for that mr. Mont that you could correct me if I'm wrong we looked at were emerging school resource items we looked at some co-op pricing agreements we discussed the transfer to capital reserve we looked at the PCI a lease for next year and mr. Moffitt I'm sure will give more update on that he did review contracts for our school doctor and our legal counsel the business operations office will be opening July 6th and employees will be returning in a socially distant manner we

062have a minor discussion about a 2020 2021 budget update as all board members are aware that's I'm sorry that's that's still up in the air a little bit with what we're gonna get as far as state aid or Early Childhood Center project is well on track and getting ready to open and we got an update on our ISA project as well I'm sorry for the phone message I'm about that's why report thank you mrs. Albanese believe you're next mr. Giordano yes thank you the Communications Committee met earlier this evening residing at the meeting was myself as chair Eileen Albanese Sean Duffy was not present for that and representing the board was dr. Toback really only covered two major areas the first one was an outline of the end-of-the-year newsletter which was I encourage everybody to

063take a look at that newsletter it's really really well-written there's a lot of very strong very heartfelt stories about graduating seniors being written by counselors there's information on where graduates are going to in the future how much scholarship money our students got which was quite a bit which is a big salute to all of our academics for giving us some great students to work with here a list of college acceptances which was enormous we did note that many of them are trying to stay closer to a home especially with the given circumstances of society today being closer don't may be more of a more of a better choice but even with that there was still a tremendous amount of college and university of sentences that were outlined stories of student athletes and up-and-coming stars in

064the Wayne school system not just limited to the high school area there were some stories about elementary successes and Emma elementary profiles which is wonderful to see and overall it made for its usual excellent newsletter and I encourage everybody when you get a chance to go through that really nice read free for the meeting this summer um dr. doback talked about the thought exchange and some detail but that was a big part of it some of the results were discussed just as a quick up on it it looks a lot like an early july ones what were they people really responding to it was a very very positive set of exchanges there was very little mud sling going on more constructive criticism than anything else which is great for us to see here um and

065it just shows an example of how we go out to our communities and get support on ideas and how successful it actually is so tip of had the doctor talk back in his ideas on the using be thought exchange and that is my report for communications thank you anyone else any other committees that matter President Madison if I could I'm sorry I would have loved to been at the Communications Committee however I did not get a invitation to the zoo meeting and hopefully moving forward will for that oh sorry to hear that mr. Moffat what you have two items just add to what mrs. Albanese expressed as part of the update the Sodexo contract normally during the review process you see menu prices and a la carte prices through the fact that we've had to

066shut down for the pandemic the board has wanted to take a real good look at that they proposed pricing to keep it as manageable as possible for the general public so we're going to be reviewing that next board meeting and hopefully at that time we'll have a suggestion on prices and the other item was related to the esup we are going out we've advertised we have an ad on our website as well for ease of financing which will be open and due back in our offices on July 1st at 1 o'clock but that advertisement is been displayed in the newspapers as well as on our website so those are the two pieces of information I just wanted to share as part of the update for the committee Thank You mr. Noblet at this time would

067someone like to move the PWS items as a unit or move the next agenda item madam president mrs. pedak would you like to move the PWS portion of the agenda yeah just if I can interrupt yeah this is the regular meeting so all the PDMPs items come in so we had to take a vote on everything I'm sorry they're two separate portions of this agenda there's the PWS items and emergent items okay are you saying you want to add as a consent agenda for just all the items are identified from last week that rolled in correct okay the emergent items well including the the walkins but they're on the emergent agenda okay any of the changes obviously so you're gonna move from from I to R II right that's what you're calling for no actually

068we are q rather thank you the first emergent item is our so up to cure that was moved by mrs. putt up and that was seconded by I believe you mr. padlock correct okay Oh is there any discussion seeing none roll call please mrs. Albanese I'm going to vote no to m9 the approval to hire emergent vacant positions again no disrespect I just feel that that's a board function and should stay part of the voting for our summer meetings yes to everything else mr. Baba to the rest mr. Duffy go and turn your microphone on see there I don't see any please maybe there you are this grid is like a blonde in a while he's mute stick up your thumb if it's a yeah if it's a yes mr. Duffy unless you have something

069you need to say yes both you can't unmute yourself okay we'll try to come back to you see if you can unmute yourself would you like to follow me mr. Duffy call my phone and I'll continue to take the vote take the rest of the rolled did you hear me mr. Duffy mr. Jordano no two m9 yes to the rest mrs. Kumar yes mr. Pavlik mr. Moffat is is s5 on this or is that on the next okay Shawn what did you wanna say sob on he is great anything I stain on I abstain on that and yes to the rest the emergent I have that that'll be in the inverter okay yes just wanted to check huh that's fine yes to everything yes to everything yes thank you mrs. putt up I'm sorry mrs.

070Bennet yeah mrs. Shearer yes and mrs. Kazan will be next she's on the phone okay I'm talking to mr. Duffy who wants to vote yes to the PWS items and so do i and i well with the exception of the authority to hire i believe we move that to the chair of the Personnel Committee last year and not sure what the vote count is on that item okay but if I could just ask for some more information so the no on m9 is both for yourself and mr. Duffy well he hung up no just me so I have five votes in the affirmative for the m9 so it passes right yes Mr Shearer is it a vote he says through consultation with the Personnel Committee so that's fine because I'm the chair of the personnel

071and I thirty on there and the resolution that you would be consulted mr. sheriff yeah I just wanted to make sure that that as well as the board president okay good even better Thank You mr. Pavlik okay time for our retirements who would like to go first mr. Bubba you're on mute mr. Bubba your mic yep done mute yourself further coming Marion Grier trying to come into the wind School District in 2000 this is Marion where worked in Bloomfield Saddlebrook and Passaic Park as a pre-k first grade second grade teacher and media specialist she was hired to start up found media centered library when that building reopened after creating maintaining and facilitating that collaborative work and learning space for students and adults she was called upon to help open anthony wayne middle school in 2005

072this is fantastic news there was only one person who could recreate a student-centered library to serve as the hub for the new anthony wayne middle school and so she took mrs. Greer with her to Anthony Wayne middle school since 2005 mrs. Greer has served as a leader regarding all things student literacy as well as technology she has spent countless hours teaching classes and training her fellow educator educators in the newest and most productive technological platforms that help to enhance teaching and learning a lifelong learner and passionate educator this is there has been a very important part of Anthony Wayne middle school success in focusing on students overall social emotional wellness of know her leadership and bringing the one school one book initiative Anthony or middle school will forever be part of her legacy furthermore the

073one to enroll out for our school last year was only made possible with their careful planning and follow through with student and teacher training much more than just a librarian mrs. very own bear will be missed on behalf of the Anthony way middle school learning community we wish her many years of good health and happiness as she embarks on her next chapter congratulations mrs. Rhea mr. Maryann Coogan Maryann Coogan has been working at James Fallon as a cafeteria program playground for over 20 years she has always been a very caring dependable person with a pleasant demeanor mrs. Coogan always was reliable upon upon to ensure that the children's safety in the cafeteria and the playground was was well undertaken she has also worked well with her colleagues in our staff and will be greatly missed

074mrs. Coogan is also is looking forward to spending more time with her family in grandchildren we wish we wish mrs. Coogan much happiness in success and health in her new chapter in her life and just on a personal note Marianna was there for both my children and James Fallon and she was always a professional and always the most caring person you could ever want your child to be with god bless and best of luck in your retirement Suzanne I'm sorry mrs. Potter I was forget we're in public our crispy treats Margaret Petrie attended st. Thomas Aquinas College in spark Hill New York she successfully completed her studies with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature after years of and often saw her daughter's schools and Girl Scouts she discovered her passion for working with

075children she enrolled at William Paterson University and earned her new jersey teacher certificate shortly after that Margaret began teaching as a paraprofessional in the Wayne School District in September 2000 for three years she worked with students side-by-side as a one-to-one paraprofessional Margaret because working with excellent Wayne teachers during that time and her role as a paraprofessional helped her prepare for an incredible journey as a teacher for the following 17 years in September 2003 she was hired as a second grade teacher at Albert Petrie Yoon School where she remained still today Margaret is an excellent teacher in during the 2017-2018 school year she received the governor's educator of the year Ord Margaret worked iris tirelessly to ensure that her students needs were met she always had her students best interests at heart and provided her students

076with a safe and welcoming learning environment students were fortunate to have had her as a teacher Margaret has been an asset to the Albert H Ryu school community she is an excellent educator who will be greatly missed by students parents and all those that worked with her over the years that with me we thank Margaret for her service to the students of apt and a school community and we congratulate her on her retirement Miss Margaret B streets last day the teacher with the Wayne School District will be June 30th 2020 wish you all the best in your retirement Margaret as I do to the rest of the retirees thank you thank you mrs. Potter this is sure I'm sorry I wasn't given one okay I believe I gave you one in the email it was

077Dorothy it's mine Chelsea okay I guess I'll have to read two now um that leaves you mrs. Alba nice Maureen we're morning we are joined the Wayne Township Schools community in 2003 she started as the physical education health supervisor at Wayne Hills High School she later became an assistant principal then the principal of Wayne Hills High School and has spent the last three years in the central office as the director of secondary education during her time in the Wayne schools she touched the lives of so many and for this reason we have several contributors to her retirement piece mr. Orrick principal of Wayne Hills High School shared the following when I had arrived at Wayne Hills I had already met Maureen I knew she was a good and genuine person when my parents passed she

078warmly sent prayer cards her staff meetings were a thing of positivity she really made you feel that teaching and being an administrator was the most noble and important thing one could do each meeting was full of carefully selected videos from cutting-edge speakers and simply anyone who has ever worked with or interacted with Maureen knows what a kind sincere person she is one who genuinely cares about the well-being of every student and staff member she believes in people and celebrates their gifts by finding opportunities to let them shine she trusts in others and supports them as they move toward their bold goals our uncompromising integrity has earned her the respect of all with whom she works and serves well we see you go to credit others above herself Maureen remained humble even when she deserved all

079of the recognition the Wayne health staff commented that while she served in her roles as assistant principal and principal at Wayne Hills Maureen was always visible throughout the building during the day and on the athletic fields after school in fact faculty members could be heard marveling that this was the first time a principal made time each day to make visits to classrooms on the second floor Maureen takes a genuine interest in people and when she speaks with you she always makes you feel special she believes in working as a team encourages collaboration and fosters a team environment the central office will truly miss Maureen she joined our team in 27 January 2017 as the director of secondary education not only did she support the secondary administrative team with defining and achieving their goals but she

080served as a friend and a confident to so many her you tart and empathetic and compassionate personality are just a few qualities that make her so special every morning when she entered the building she could be heard greeting everyone with good morning team each week she would bring crumb cake and coffee to the central office team this would be a time for us to gather at the table and just enjoy some quick conversation and laughs Maureen always knew that food helps contribute to a warm and inviting office culture and creating a space where people can be themselves share ideas and appreciate the company of colleagues she will always be remembered for her warm and compassionate personality we will certainly miss her but know that her legacy will never be forgotten and on a personal note

081I've known Maureen we are for many years Maureen is a treasure she is always the first person to recognize a need somewhere else in someone else she's a mentor to administrators and while she will most definitely be missed she will most definitely never be replaced congratulations Maureen and enjoy your time thank you mr. Duffy are you able to unmute and do your retirement I think you are lying all right this is a very strenuous meeting if I can at least okay I have Carol huntzinger congratulations Terrill on the announcement of her retirement she has been a dedicated and appreciated co-worker of the Wayne Board of Education for 22 years she's an amazing colleague with a true love for teaching it's profound challenge and has profoundly challenged the lives of so many children Cowell is energetic

082passionate and patient she has gone above and beyond each child to learn of their interests if there was an activity a toy or an item the child seemed to enjoy but was the one finding it or buying it she puts the students first over anything even her off she was the first teacher walking into the classroom preparing and gathering materials for the day to ensure the success of all students she has had the reputation of being a dedicated demonstrated that dedication to her position in Wayne public schools and because of this she developed trusting relationships with everyone she encountered it's been a pleasure having Carol as a member of the scrutiny so as we are said to see Carol go we are confident you will find the same success in her retirement and continue to

083touch the lives of so many we send our best wishes and congratulations on a well-deserved retirement congratulations thank you mr. Duffy and last but certainly not least Dorothy D Mackowski Dorothy chaski known to all his dot had a lifelong dream of teaching children her dream was realized when she was hired by the Wayne Township School District where she began her teaching career 36 years ago dot was initially hired to teach special education in a self-contained class at pines lake school however after several months she was transferred to Ryerson School for the second half of that school year the following school year dot was transferred to a PT school to continue teaching special education in a self-contained classroom several years later job became the first resources teacher in Wayne where she remains today Dodd is an

084excellent and well-respected teacher she has been the recipient of the governor's educator of the Year award not once but twice the first time dot received this distinguished award was during the 1991-92 school year and the second time during the 2015-16 school year I know that DA feels grateful to the Wayne School District for affording her the opportunity to do what she loves teach and to have worked in a school that she considers home misty makowsky is an exceptional teacher that has had a positive and lasting impact on the lives of her students her education her dedication to her students never wavered she always has her students best interests at heart and provided her students with a safe and inviting learning environment she's supported in nurturing she understands the importance of not only educating her students

085but caring for their emotional and social well-being she has a thorough understanding of the educational challenges that her students face and the ability and knowledge to teach students so they can be successful she inspires her students to do their best and she knows how to make them feel important and valued students were fortunate to have had her as a teacher Dodd has been an asset and valued member of the Albert Peter human school community she is an excellent education educator who will be sorely missed by students parents and all those that have worked with her fortunately the memories and friendships that she's built an apt will last a lifetime we thank God for her 36 years of service to the students of apt and the school community we congratulate her on her retirement the CHS

086his last day as a teacher with the Wayne School will be June 30th 2020 thank you for 36 years of service and good luck in your retirement long happy and healthy and same to all of our retirees this evening everyone will be missed and I echo your comments I'm this is where a for sure I tried to figure out a way to make a motion to keep her against her will okay at this time we'll move on to the emergent portion of the agenda we have a choice of doing this one by one or moving them all together can I get a move moving our second ex mr. Kay black second by mr. Bubba any discussion on those items this is where the graduation is I have a question on that one dr. Toback this

087is definitely being decided this evening that we will be doing July 8th with July 9th as a rain date students only based on the results of the thought exchange is that correct I want to make sure that public fully understands what we're voting on regarding the graduation in person at each high school at 10 a.m. with a live broadcast 10 a.m. with live streaming so that the parents can watch yes correct okay actually I didn't I have a question - it's a missus it's not written in there so I just want to clarify about the graduation the date but also because it was mentioned but it's not ruined is there a barbeque er isn't there a barbeque that's the other question okay so yeah that was a surprise mrs. Kumar so there was there was

088sentiment to have the barbecue so we'll definitely we'll go ahead a barbecue for the students Thank You mr. Bubba can we actually have a barbecue that was with social distancing rules and serving the food how are we doing that so if that's as far as the food service goes ultimately there would be no it would certainly not be buffet style or anything like that and the is entirely possible that we would probably set up a barbecue it would be prepackaged so that students would have their own you know they pick up their own package so it would not be you know interaction and then as far as social distancing it depends on how many students want to stay and so taped areas to make sure that students keep their distance we would set up tables

089with reduced numbers of people at them so we would set it up so it would be entirely possible to keep the six-foot distance so that's that was that was the general intention I actually had friends who recently had celebrations and they hired barbecue service for that very reason because they could serve the food directly to each person wearing gloves and no one touched the food other than what was being handed to them so and they were all obviously cleaned and sanitized before they were handing out the food so it was done very well but it was a great option during this COBIT time anyone else want to comment on any of these agenda items or have any questions okay roll call mr. Moffet mister Bava yes mr. Duffy I think you're muted mr. Duffy do

090you want to do you want to call you're open emergent v11 know the rest yes mr. Giordano yes mrs. Kumar yes um our queue for the graduation it's a YES on the graduation honestly on the barbecue I have some safety concerns and until I know kind of what the plan is I am NOT gonna say yes or no to that sorry that's just how I feel and then s5 I have to recuse myself for and v11 no okay I'll note the BBQ comment but the action itself did not include it so I'll record that that's why I wasn't sure yeah mr. Pavlik yes and no I mean I'll abstain on s5 and I'll register the same as a more concerning the BBQ I'd like to see a plan before but yes mrs. put up yeah

091mrs. Shearer yes and I'll abstain on s5 mrs. Albanese yes and this is Kazan are you voting no to be 11 the same reason I voted no last year which was the process and in this case for financial reasons and that's yes to the rest all motions carried we'll move on now to our open public portion on any item this portion of the meeting is open to citizens for comment on any topic residents or to state their names addresses in subject matter comments may be limited to five 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

092tonight or at subsequent meetings under oath business can I get a mover Hummel it's not company's wait mr. Giordano I think you were first that's fine anyway okay I see a raised hand hi everybody this is Faris with tap into a quick question about the graduations you say July 8 is that for both schools at the same time Wayne Valley aim Wayne Hills great I see the nods thank you okay is the resident who wanted to speak during this portion still on the meeting I don't think I see your name I'll address that at the end of the meeting for you or anybody else I don't see any hands raised okay if there is no one else I would move to close the public portion thank you mister second by mr. Duffy I'm hearing yes

093just in time the meetings about today okay at this point old business does anyone have any old business a new business I actually do go ahead mr. Sheree first I just wanted to say thank you to administration and the board for actually having graduation for these kids and letting them go and see one another and throw their hats in the air I know not everyone's gonna be happy but the bottom line is that it was put out to a not a vote but a thought exchange and this is what the kids want and as a parent I'm ecstatic that they're going to get that closure and so you get what they want so thank you so much for making this happen mr. padlock you had your hand up yes first of all I just like

094really thanked the administration and the teachers and all our staff well what we've been through for the last four and a half months everyone was faced with challenges and it seems like while there were hiccups along the way the administration and the staff and our teachers have risen to the occasion it's not been easy for any of us for those who have children home and while the sudden were home schooling and we're video it's not something that anyone wanted or asked for but you know what we've had I think we've actually risen to the occasion in this district into our retirees whirring I've known marine for my time on the board here always a professional and if we have any anybody in this district in the supervisory level who wants to emulate someone she is

095the person she has always been the professional all the time I remember when she became vice principal at Wayne Valley up to the point where she became principal and director of secondary ed always a professional person the you you just put her picture next to professional she should be teaching in every College in the state of New Jersey in this country to emulate what a professional administrators should be she hate she is a and to all our students and who'll be moving on it's amazing when you look at the list of colleges and you look at the the amount of scholarships that our students have achieved and you know what it all comes back to what they did what their parents did and what our teachers did for them we're not perfect in this school

096district and no school district in this country or this world is perfect but when you look at what comes out of our school district it is amazing and to each and every one of them I wish you the best of luck I wish things were not the way they were thank thank goodness we can give them a graduation I think well deserved and every one of them deserves for the amount of work that they put in for for the challenges that each and every one of them faced in this year and through their entire year years in the way school district god bless them and I wish everyone the best of luck thank you if I could just interrupt a second for and have as opposed to this being part of new business but board

097member comments because we do have that as a section now and it's last because I did have some new business if that's okay with the board if you don't mind if I interject mr. Gabbert I had asked mr. Moffitt to ask you to be prepared to discuss our future board meetings because now the guidance has changed and we are allowed to meet in person under certain guidelines but I know that there are board members and even perhaps members of the public who may not be willing to meet yet in person so my question was and that you would be prepared to answer this evening is can we do a hybrid model where some board members can zoom in and some board members meet in person and same for the public because not all members of

098the public may want to come to the meeting but we need to be able to let them speak if they cannot because of the health issues so I'll wait to hear your comments on that sure yes a hybrid meeting is possible the law still because wearing a pandemic permit azúcar meeting to occur during the time that that occurs so we can do the zoom meeting into the future now with the lifting of the executive order the size of the crowds that permits us to meet in person as well to have that option if you do decide it is a component of in person then that does create all the restrictions that we have to follow the six foot distance mask things events where bathrooms public areas it is more complicated there are a handful forage

099so far who have done several members and president vice president superintendent the business administrator in the room appropriately spaced with the rest of meeting being done by zoom of course you're going to have health concerns they're members of the public and boards and that who may feel because of their condition or their age or situation so they're not comfortable coming to an in-person and for that reason that's that's a reason to have continuation of the zone but I mean as of today I think the majority of board still participate by zoom but you certainly can as you think of future AB an in-person component to it with the appropriate take body okay so we've all heard that this is a possibility to do as a hybrid so the question is does someone want to move

100to a hybrid model and those who wish to attend via zoom versus in person can make that decision on a meeting by meeting basis same with the public and if so let's do that this evening and take a vote would that be appropriate at this point mr. Gabbert vote on this item okay under new business so so I need a mover to say for the record what it is we're moving raising their hands to move I have a question question to well let's let's first let's let's have the resolution first and then we can continue discussion I'll move it to the point of discussion there's no mr. Pavlik you're going to move that week and have a hybrid model second mrs. Albanese okay now discussion mr. Sharpe you had your hand up first I I

101was thinking that being that everything's still iffy and as we have a lot of issues with zoom as is things get a little funky so I would propose that we would keep July in August as they're usually smaller quicker meetings that we would keep them on zoom and maybe revisit this in September mr. padlock I agree with mr. chair until I want to see a plan of how we're going to do it and what we're going to do not just say we're going to do it and I agree I think July and August being that there's not a lot of business usually going on other than hiring and and you know renewing normal contracts that we do that we come up with a plan for September and say based on the current status of what

102the coronavirus is today and where we are today I think it's hard to say that we're going to move on you know to open public meetings and because things are changing it's a such a dynamic situation we really don't know what tomorrow is going to bring we can be locked down in two more weeks when you look at what's going on in the rest of this country and what expect it so I would agree with mr. Sher let's stay where we are for July and August and then let's look to consider going back into the public in September but let's have a plan of how we're going to do it where we're going to do it and what we're going to do anyway else actually my biggest concern about all of this as we've been

103talking about it yeah there's a lot of Technology issues even just doing it on zoom right and then we're talking about this hybrid model what's the technology gonna look like there if people are opting in one way versus the other so I don't know the answer to that question um so I think we do need to think about okay what does the hybrid model look like if that's gonna be an option cuz I think it's going to have to be an option for a lot of us um even if we you know we give ourselves some time to think about what it looks like and then revisit it once we have like some type of plan for what its gonna look like yeah that's kind of where I am with it mr. Moffat did you

104get a chance to discuss that with dr. Prashar about it being a possibility no as far as the technology no I could definitely do that as part of the training in fact ya know I spoke to mr. Gabbert and I obviously have technology questions for myself just if we can host it in various different places but I would definitely if as part of this planning process would definitely reach out to him to see if we were set up and capable to do that okay fine so does someone want to table this or rescind the motion and we'll address it at a later date I'm I think Shawn had his hand up you have two Shawn consider ascend again go ahead mr. Duffy no I'm sorry is waving okay and the second as well is on

105board with emotion okay well we'll address this is at a later date and you're listening dr. Bouchard so you I want to get back to us with some guidelines there are best practices or how you think we could even accomplish this should we choose to go that way in the fall you're in on the meeting okay so back to board comments go ahead mrs. Alice I want to echo the sentiment banking or administration or teachers or students and also our parents who became unexpected educators throughout these these last few months of distance learning so thank you to everyone both in the school teachers who were working from home the administrators the central office staff um you know everyone really banded together and you know did did a remarkable job under their circumstances I want to

106congratulate our graduates for twenty twenty graduates we wish you all the best we hope you'll have a wonderful graduation ceremony as well as a wonderful send-off to the next stage in life mrs. Shearer congratulations on graduating your first child it's a momentous occasion you should celebrate - congratulations to you as well as all the other parents this is we are we love you we miss you and as you can see you are irreplaceable in our hearts I also want to recognize all of our students who completed the school year this year our kindergarten move-up students our fifth graders our eighth graders you all have done a wonderful job every student through our school district who will move up who has done the work and put in the time and is ready for a little bit

107of summer fun and relaxation we congratulate you and we look forward to seeing you all in some form in September so congratulations to everyone I share the same sentiments as my fellow board members I would also like to thank those people who called in this evening we're talking about racism very close to home for me any other board comments okay I guess I'll be the last I won't repeat what's already been said about our wonderful staff and our parents and our students and everyone who stepped up to the plate and had a wonderful year of it and to say congratulations to the class of 2020 I'm excited about the resolution that was read into the record this evening I share your passion and emotion for this mrs. Potter I have an african-american godchild whose 34

108years old and I have a Hispanic daughter who is 21 years old and I've seen the difficulties that they faced in their lives so this is something that's important to me as well and I'm looking forward to how we handle this and reporting out on our progress and I thank everyone for their input this evening on the subject and I hope you realized that this is a true commitment from us we mean it and we will do this in a deliberative process involving all stakeholders and I think a lot of people agree that the world needs to change for the better there's a lot of negativity and it's time to really focus on the positive and and make the world a better place for everyone race color creed or religion and I'm happy to be

109in a district that's willing to take those steps forward and I'm looking forward to July 8th and I'm looking forward to congratulating the class in person it's something that as a board member I look forward to every year because you know we don't always get to be with the students and that's that's a big day for me and I'm pretty sure for the rest of the board as well to be able to hand them that cover for their diploma and to wish them well and to see their smiling faces and just think about what a great group were we're sending out and and into the future and don't forget us and come back and let us know about your successes and that's it if no one else has anything to say can I get a

110mover to close I'll move who was that second moved Oh mister Pavlik and mister Giordano okay see everyone at the graduations