001I'd like to call the meeting to order. Let's take a moment of silence. >> Flat sloop. [Music] 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. In accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings act, a notice of this meeting has been sent to board members, all district schools, the Herald News, the suburban trends, the record, the messenger, West Milford town hall, the county superintendent's office, the board attorney, cable vision of Warwick and West Milford TV77, and posted in the administration building. Copies of the board meeting calendar resolution were provided to all local media, town hall, township, library, and all district schools. Roll call, please. Mr. Schultz, >> Mr. Sidowitz, Mrs. Dwire >> here, >>
002Mr. Jurgensson >> here, >> Mr. Lippy, Mrs. Markwar >> here, >> Mrs. Romeo >> here, >> Mrs. Van Dyke, >> Mrs. Rico >> here, >> Mrs. Lockman >> here. >> Could I have a motion to go into executive session? I move um to go into executive session um that the board will immediately go into executive session for approximately 30 minutes for the purpose of conducting a grievance hearing. The executive session minutes will not be released until such time as the privilege or confidentiality is no longer applicable. >> Second. >> Thank you. We will be returning. >> Oh, I'm sorry. All those in favor. >> Any opposed? We'll be returning in about 30 minutes. >> Like to call the meeting back to order. Roll call, please. Mr. Schultz. >> Mrs. Markwire, >> here. >> Mr. Sidowitz,
003>> here. Mrs. Jurgensson, >> here. >> Mrs. Dwire, >> here. Mrs. >> Mr. Lippy, Mrs. Xandike, >> Mrs. Romeo >> here, >> Mr. >> Here, >> Mrs. Lockwood >> here, Dr. Fernari, the superintendent report. >> Good evening everyone. Um, this evening we have some visitors with us and we have some wonderful recognitions uh that we'd like to share with you. So, at this point, I would like to in invite Mr. CS, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars, up to begin our presentations this evening. >> Not really a big mic user, but I guess it's on I can call this one pretty well. Um, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I I will say I've noticed a lot of left-handed people up there also. I am one as well. So, uh, we're here tonight to honor not
004only some of our students, their phenomenal teacher, but as well their um these these these presentations that we're going to do also reflects West Milford Township Wood that allows us to do these programs uh with our students and our and the teachers uh within the schools. Uh we have three programs that are out there. Um one is the most democracy for high school level where the students return to oral essay based on whatever the the annual theme is and they get graded at our level at post level here within the township. Then the w top three winners move up to district level or parent level if you will. They get judged there. Top three then the top winner goes to state. Um this year uh as you'll see here in a minute um our first
005place winner I'm sorry we only had we had there's one uh voice of democracy winner she did not she still gets recognized here because of the district we had you know we include the entire state county pretty much in um our second program is the patriots penn which is now a written essay again based on theme by the national champion and that is geared towards the middle school 6 through uh written essays that come up and again are judged by my teammates behind me and uh I stay let them do it. Bill Johnson's our our chairman. Um those top one winners will be presenting here. Our top winner here goes up to district level. The great thing about that is our our West Mil winner won at district level and a couple of weeks ago
006represented us at the state function where they had all the districts up there. Unfortunately, our winner did not um advance to national level, but he represented Western with the utmost patriot. We couldn't be patriotically we couldn't be more proud of of of his achievements at this level. Um the third function, the third program I ran is the teacher of the year. There are three levels, one for elementary, for school and one for middle school, one for high school. Um we had and all right, we all know who she is. Uh you know, she's a phenomenal uh teacher and person. Um and she also advanced the statement. Uh not only does it cover, you know, it talks about what they do in class, but as well as what they do on the outside and how they
007foster that patient. We'll get there. We replace it. We already you already know. Um but she's been great and I'll tell you that she invites us every year around veterans. They come in and talk about our you know, as you see, I have my my Vietnam guys, my fellow brothers VFW. I'm a contemporary guy. uh that is a very loose work but you know I've been you know fortif [Music] um and I am going to make it is an issue of mine uh when I graduated when I told this my answer is this I want the newer generations to still be continue that sense of pride and patriotism in that country. You can't argue that the fact that this is the best place in the world to be and that's what I want to continue
008that that effort as adults we know kids not so much with social media and everything sometimes you read and you read and see thumb as I say but there's a reality to it that we're still the best place in the world and they need to maintain that patriotism because you know as said it takes one generation to lose it you know to lose the freed that we So, um, with that being said, I'm going to bring up Bill Johnson. He's going to talk he's going to tell you a little bit about the voice of democracy. Um, and how they do it and we'll present that. Uh, the voice democracy is a national program. We spend the BFW spend millions of dollars every year from the students and teachers of the country. Uh there's some 48,000
009entries uh a year in the uh these contests. Um so like I say, if you get from one group to the next monetary uh or reward state, top award for the DoD is a $35,000 scholarship, whatever college. And uh the uh the what they have to do is the money goes to when they get accepted at a college. It's not their money to just spend. They have to be accepted at a college and then the uh uh award is given out. So today we're going to honor three people uh or three categories. And as uh Rudy said, we're doing it here. We can do this anywhere, but you're the ones responsible for allowing these teachers and children to do what they do. And so we always feel that it's appropriate that we make these awards
010here in front of you so that you too can appreciate uh what these kids can do. So uh our first award is going to be for the voice of democracy. uh which Rudy has indicated is a uh a performance. They have to do it on a video and uh it gets judged. Um there's a name you might have heard before. Um Miss Hos is Rudy's blood, but he had nothing to do [Applause] Veterans of Foreign Wars in the United States and its auxiliary Voice of Democracy Certificate of Merit presented to Jelina Hos in recognition of excellence in the Voice of Democracy audio essay competition. You have been designated an outspoken person for freedom. [Applause] We also have a medal for her and a photograph pencet on the BFW. And there's a little bit of a
011check inside car. So the first place winner is 300 200. >> Unfortunately, we didn't get as much participation as you would like. So this next year coming up for the 24 25. Um we're going to make a bigger push. We'd love to get this bigger into there. And as Bill says $35,000 uh stay low. I don't know what what they're cuz I >> Oh, everybody who wins in the state, all 50 of them get a minimum of $1,000, a free trip to Washington, an audience with the president, and all expenses paid to uh Kansas where they have the final presentation. So, it's worthwhile the students to participate. Poor car. The second presentation is for the Patriots P. Uh our first place winner also came second. Second place first. Second place I wanted to second place
012winner. Uh these are all from the uh school and um Natasha. Well done. Veterans of Foreign Wars in the United States and its auxiliary youth essay certificate of merit presented to Natasha. second place in recognition of excellence in the Patriots Ben youth essay competition. You have been designated an outspoken young person of the future. >> Oh, you weren't ready, man. >> All right, ladies and gentlemen, I present Natasha a Patriots pen medal, a um and a check for a soon card. Okay, first place winner uh Marco uh also won our district level and uh we were very proud of that that we get somebody from our post and his family is big enough that we expect to see other members of the family. I don't know if you remember well her whole family is our
013first place patriots and winner [Applause] of the United States in this auxiliary youth essay certificate of merit presented to Marco Ptoella first place in recognition of excellence in the Patriots pen youth essay competition. You have been designated an outstanding spokesperson of the future. Ladies and gentlemen, Marco first medal. Obviously, if you have W to shake your mom in the first place, >> also he's now uh able to participate in the next level. Uh so we expect him to be our voice of democracy there next year and uh congratulations. Before we we do that, as he turns in his check over to his mom, we're going to have him read his winning. I said so I present to you. >> You guys hear me? >> America is the greatest country in the world. It is such
014a great place to live with it cultured diversity and influence on our world. Our country has truly influenced me in many ways. Most important ways America has inspired me are by celebrating differences, providing opportunities to all, recognizing those who serve, and valuing our nation's history. One of the ways America has inspired me is it showed me that it's a paid different from everyone else. America is one of the most culturally diverse places in the world. People from all over the world immigrate to the United States, which is how our country is born. It also shows that our differences can influence other people and other cultures who want to come here for their for the freedoms America has which is why my father immigrated here from Italy to America. America has also inspired me because it
015has shown me that it is never too late for a new chance in life. Many people moved to America for a new opportunity to restart their lives with a stable economic system, equal rights for everyone, and a great democratic government system. We have We also have our We also have rights and freedoms in our country that aren't in other countries. Brave men and women in the armed forces fight at and risk their own lives for the rights and opportunities of others. This is the heart of what it means to be an American and why this country is called the land of opportunity. Another reason why America is an inspiration to me is because it history has shown me that it has never shown me to never give up. We have been underdogs in many wars
016and we never let that affect us. The main the main reason America is independent because we never gave up in the American Revolution. The British had two of the best militaries in the world during that time. We were completely outnumbered and we had a vast majority of our military composed of regular towns folk to join the army. But we persevered and we beat the British. It is quite an inspirational moment to uphold. America is filled with tons of inspiration. Whether it's from its history, present day status or from its diverse citizenship impact upon foreigners lifestyles and it is filled with inspir inspiring things. This is why America is great. So, one of the things that we were remiss for the boys of democracy, this year's theme was what do you feel are the most or
017the most important tenants of our democracy? And for our middle schools, um for the patriots men, it was how does America inspire? Um and there we go. And it's great because he, you know, he pulls back our personal experience of why I'm also a first generation um Ecuadorian. So, you know, I'm the first one in my family born here. Uh, and I'd like to think I did some good stuff. So, you know, in honor of my parents and my family that um that I have overseas. Um, so with that, I you know, these kids did great. Um, but now moving on to the people that actually inspire our kids, uh, our teachers. Um so if you want to get ready um our teachers program and I will tell you I got into a fight with
018the state commander when we went out to dinner because they did a teacher promotion there and I didn't know our teachers and said what she teach the the state of New Jersey has a lot of phenomenal teachers but they do not have the one we have here. Um, y Christa is phenomenal. All right, Miss I know they're not working. Um, Christa is a phenomenal teacher. She always calls us in. You all know what she does with the feeling, but she has this amazing personality with the kids when she's teaching her history class. Uh, she brings us in and trust me, there's a lot of history as you can see from from my teammates here that we have. I think we have about 400 years of of military experience and amongst us. Um, well, no, it's
019just an E. Sorry. No, we got a lot. We have a lot of we have West Milford is is very robust with the veteran population between us and and the region. There's a lot of this out there. There's a lot that you know are are anybody can just you know where if they need some experiences they need some they need some help with something uh good or bad we're there that's what we are so called um Christa is is is an amazing extension Chris come on she's an amazing extension of [Applause] I was gonna take your read her resume, but they really everything you can imagine. She loves her job >> and uh so if you ever want to see her resume and she got glowing letters of recommendation uh from Graos, you know, and
020just a lot of people after they meet and and they can't really say anything bad. No, no, but she's phenomenal with like I said with the students, with the family, with everybody. It's just it's amazing, but she takes the time while and and I don't know how she does it because she applies the same amount of energy to school sports and her family. So, and she does the perfect fact that she's just there. She knows how to do it. She can handle it. I'm sure she's got a great husband, a great partner to to do all that. But, uh, >> well, while raising more kids. >> Exactly. Well, touch a new generation. I want to read the the thing here. >> Veterans of four awards of the United States National Citizenship Education Teacher Most Post
021Recognition Award presented to Christopher Provost 2023 2024 teacher of the year in recognition of promoting citizenship education in your classroom and school. Look over there. Who's that picture right there? >> Thank you. >> As well as >> Oh, wow. >> I love it. >> Yes. [Applause] And just a shout out to our our VFW. I've been having them in for since I started teaching. I was so what, like 16, 17 years. Um, so I was looking forward to it. That day in November is like one of my favorite teaching dates just to sit back and hear the veterans talk. I also invite some parents and neighbors or my students who served or currently serving and you get a different perspective. and you guys keeping up with the essay contest for our students is uh is
022what makes it makes it happen. So, thank you. [Applause] And the last thing on this one is just so you'll know that later on today our district we have thank you guys for all the wine today. We bring in all the winners. Uh we bring all the district winners. We have a lunch in a little cook out there. uh where we bring it and you know we have some county officials come into that and and we try to do keep the politics out but it's still a great representation of our county uh and know that we have our county winner the county winner for teacher of the year and uh Patriots Ben came from West Milford. So ladies and gentlemen, one more round of applause for our ladies and gentlemen. I have to get these
023guys to bed. You didn't even hear what I said. >> Can we call Thank you so much. Congratulations to the students and our staff winner. Um, you know, the uh the annual celebration of our veterans, not only on Veterans Day, but also in an opportunity like this is tremendous. Um, you know, I have my grandfather fought in World War I. My dad fought in World War II. Yes, I'm old. And, you know, I recently, within the last 5 years or so, found photos of my dad when he was 19 in Italy. Um, he was in World War II. And, you know, those are very special moments. And they don't talk about themselves. you know, our veterans are very humble and we appreciate not only their sacrifice and their service, but the way they give back
024to our community. So, >> uh the next part of the superintendence report is um we have two of our schools who um were named as New Jersey uh schools of character and that um Marshall Hill School and West Milford High School. This is something that all of our our schools strive for and they um they have that designation for several years. Was it three years? Three years and then they reapply and our schools are are always um part of of that body. So um Washington DC uh character.org has a nice little blurb that I'd like to just briefly read to you. Um character.org or certifies schools and districts each year at the state level that have developed and implemented um an intentional, proactive and comprehensive approach that uh embodies character uh into all aspects of
025school life. schools and districts announced during that this time period. We just found out about these about week and a half, two weeks ago. Um are considered uh character by character.org's highest distinction. Um, and so we want to recognize our Marshall Hill School and our high school, but really to also recognize the efforts of all of our schools in working to make sure that our students are learning in environments that um really celebrate being um kind to one another, being thoughtful, being deliberate about the way they treat other people. And you know, I'm I'm very proud and I'm only here as a visitor. So, I'm really proud of the schools and the students. And I know it takes a tremendous amount of work to apply and to maintain that that designation. So, congratulations to our
026our two um schools that we're celebrating this evening, Marshall Hill and the high school, but also to all of our schools. Okay. I'm sorry. Okay. So, the next thing that um I have for you this evening is our um HIV ITP information um report. This is um a report that we give twice a year and this report um takes the time period from July 1st, 2023 through December 31st, 2023. Um I do have breakdowns for each of the schools, but I thought that I would start with the district first. So at the um these are our summary numbers. Um so districtwide, there were districtwide trainings. One that happened um just before school started August 31st for our new hires. Um we also had HIV ABS meeting training on September 6th. Um so there were two
027districtwide trainings. Now, there were many other trainings that happened at our schools, but this was the district level. Um, districtwide programs, the week of respect that happened the week of um October 2nd and school violence awareness week that occurred on October 16th during that week. So, those are two district-wide programs that happened during this period. Um, during that same period, we had uh 12 HIV investigations initiated across the district. uh HIV investigations completed within 10 days was all 12 of those investigations. HIV incidents affirmed by the board six uh total trainings 33 total school programs district-wide trainings two and district total programs too. So again this is about half a year's worth of data. Um the reason that we had 12 HIVs with um six affirmed means that the others were deemed unsubstantiated in the
028language that we typically use at the board table. So I wanted to make sure you were aware of that. Um does anybody have any questions about our HB? Great. >> I think I'm going to ask our student representative to speak now. Otherwise, we'll be sitting through a very long torture. >> I don't want to make you do that. >> Hello, I'm Marina Pedro and I'm the student council secretary. First off, I would like to congratulate the West Mford High School pipe and drum corp for their performance on the Red Hot Chili Peppers at New Theater on the 28th. So, good job. Congrats to Michael McCcluskey who was selected to be a SE county unsung hero for 2024. Congratulations to the journalism and modern medium class. The literary arts magazine took second place at n took
029a second place national award for the American Scholastic Press Association contest. Black and gold. The Highlander the Highland Review is looking for a submission. So if you have any poetry, short stories or art of any kind, please submit those to Miss Petillo to be entered in the magazine. Club yearbook photos were held on the 14th. So thank you to Miss Metcap and Miss Portman for organizing that. The senior superlatives are underway. So good luck to all those who are running. And check the senior Google classroom to vote. The student council is also seeking acts for these senior choice awards held in spring. They need singers, dancers, magicians, comedians. Any type of performance is welcome. Juniors should be on the lookout for their prom bids. Their prom is being held the 28th and tickets will be
030available soon. This year's spring musical will be Foot Loose. The cast and crew will be putting on four shows from Thursday, March 7th through Sunday, March 10th. Tickets are on sale now. The guidance department is presenting college panel night tomorrow, February 21st. College representatives will be at the high school to answer all college questions. Indirect club is collecting dresses for the annual Cinderella project. So bring any new gently used dresses or gowns for this cause just dropped off in labeled bags at the high school main entrance through the 23rd. The sale will take place on March 2nd from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the high school lower library. Congratulations to the cheer team who placed first in nationals and with the PTSO. They have two upcoming events. A murder mystery dinner on the 24th
031at Lindy Lake clubhouse for adults and trivia night on March 15th which is open to all students, staff, and community members. Okay, thank you so much. Uh board members, at this time um the central office administration team and we're going to present the update midyear update on our strategic plan action plan. So I know you have this digitally but this is the most updated copy and I wanted to make sure you have that. [Music] Open [Music] it up. Sir, appreciate your help. Right. >> Might turn back. [Applause] Okay. Uh, thank you everyone. Um, as you know, and if I'm in a bad spot, let me know. I'm trying not to walk the screen. Um earlier in the year we presented the strategic plan action plan that's based on a strategic plan that had been begun
032two years ago. Uh last year there were activities that spoke to working toward attaining the goals of the strategic plan and this evening we are going to give you an idea of some of the things that we feel are highlights that will help us to accomplish our strategic plan. Now, each of the years of this plan broke out year one. So, last time we talked about things that we had in the works as well as um the way this plan was broken out. So, um I'm going to start us off. Um sorry, this is a little squished. Um so, the strategic plan action plan has um several goals and several areas. And our first goal area as you may recall is global learning and academics. And um the goal itself is to continue using a
033different approach a differential approach in all academic areas. Um the objectives that are part of this are to increase staff capacity for the use of instructional practice that address the needs of all students through the provision of meaningful professional development to expand the use of data analysis and database decision making to improve instruction to improve academic outcomes for all students including increasing local, state, and other um forms of assessment. to continue to review and revise and implement uh the curriculum to ensure rigor and alignment to standards um both national standards and our state standards and to encourage opportunities to increase student self-confidence uh thirst for knowledge and self there it is reading on the margins here okay um this is a tight it's a very tight screen and I apologize But if you recall, this
034is the um the way that we broke the plan out. So in the far left column, you're going to see the uh the tasks that are part of the plan, the copies that you have in front of you. Um then you see several columns that talk about um exploring and planning, creating um implementing um monitoring, analyzing, and evaluating. So each of our tasks over each of the years those X's move right. So in the first year we might have been planning something in the second year we may be implementing that that item in uh the first year we might have created something but by the time we are uh implementing usually creation and implementation happen very very close together and then we might be monitoring. So if something's been in place for a long time,
035it may say that we're analyzing our current data and that we are um perhaps exploring for a future year. So those columns are intended for those Alexis to move in the document we have. Um the next thing is the uh the leaders that are responsible for implementing those things. uh the resource materials that we may need, the evidence that we expect to be able to gather to ensure that we're accomplishing that particular task, and then the status is in the last column. So, what we've done to make this a little bit more meaningful. Um, and I'm going to turn this over to Mr. know that in a minute, but I just want to show you what we've done here is we've given you highlights under each of the goals and we've also have um a
036notation about what some of the outcomes are. So, um I'm going to ask you to speak to the next >> uh two major themes I suppose. um the wilder um goal number one um and and I think the um biggest thing that we can pull away from from this component is our work in K12 mathematics. Uh we've been speaking for many years about our u wanting to you know improve district mathematics. we were able to through the the strategic plan um begin a process for professional development and that really um our work with Nancy Schultz I've talked about it many times so we don't want to rush them through it feel free um but that that work with conquer math and training our staff um in best practice instruction for for New Jersey student learning
037standards has really led to all of these um components that we're talking about here today. So, so the training takes place all of our teachers K through um K28 in their particular um coursework for for math along with our teachers of algebra and geometry received um intense training which is you know six full day sessions in their first year and then five to six full day sessions in their second year. um they don't only go and and meet with Nancy Schultz at Conquer Math. They also bring that work back. They meet with department meetings. They talk about it at faculty meetings. We had professional development day today where uh these themes are are still uh still present. Um this process with conquer math led to our investigation into a new um a new mathematics series
038for K5 which we are in our first year of implementation. It's also led to the discussion about changing that program uh six and up. Uh just for example, today when we talked about the implementation of the plan, today was one of those days where we're able to, you know, our students were home. Uh but our staff are here working hard and one of the things that our middle school teachers did today is they um one they had an hybrid training which I'll come back to. Uh and the other was they met with uh vendor who presented new mathematics programs for our students in grades 6, seven, eight, as well as um coursework for algebra one and and geometry. Uh so the you know really comes back to that um you know that intense training and
039and the process for professional development that open these discussions and that was one of the goals when we first did this immediate training and now our staff are um more ready for what a um progressive and contemporary program looks like. So that's that's the process that we're in now. So, our uh eighth grade um sixth through 8 mathematics come in today with with a um uh with a vendor and you know we don't know if that's the one they're going through. So, they are beginning a process similar to what we did with our K25 where we you know met with and looked at different materials. Over the last year, I brought in a lot of materials. I just haven't had the official um vendor presentations for them but they have had their hands on the
040surface. Um the other piece of that which started with our um started with training was then led us to IE was a was a major theme of today's professional development day. Uh every staff member who works with uh I Ready in grades K through eight had a two-hour training today to take a look at the results of diagnostic 2 as well along with the um the interaction of the individual learning path that our students have been doing since they took um diagnostic one. So, uh, today was was just, uh, loaded with examples of, you know, our our implementation of of, uh, our goals. It was a long time frame, so feel free to rush along. >> All right, language arts. Um again with with today uh we did meet our district literacy committee met today
041and there's been um uh a program that one of the last programs we've been wanting to look at is called wonders and it's been today was the fifth time we've tried to reschedu they just continue to um be scheduled on the day that we have snow. Uh today was that day and when I booked them for today I just made a joke committee that looks like we'll probably get snowed out because that's just what this one's presentation doing. So, uh, we completed I believe we completed, um, our process for reviewing sample materials for our K5 replacement, and we're at that stage now of, um, selecting, um, staff members who are going to have a targeted pilot, who are going to um, prepare for visits into other districts to see these programs in action. We had
042some good public stimulation. Go ahead. So, we we have received word that we um have received stabilization aid um you know with the grant that um Mr. Schultz filled out earlier in the year and we are able to fund our um our K5 program replacement based on the on the stabilization aid that we received. So, uh all of our goals for uh for this committee are, you know, in progress and on the way. One of our I guess in the big picture goals we talk about training, we talk about um professional development for our staff. What's our you know what's our end goal? Why are we why are we working with our staff to get them more accustomed with New Jersey student learning standards? And it's one, so our students are better prepared for on
043grade level instruction when it comes to uh whether it's moving on course work for the next level of high school or making them better prepared for the next level beyond high school, whatever that is for our particular students. But it's also so that we can um perform better on the state assessment and that's what we are um we are exposed to today with the IE training that you know if we are implementing I ready uh to fidelity that our students will improve um uh in JSLA. Uh, one of the the um I think powerful parts of today's uh presentation was talking to our staff about the IR diagnostic and how it is a um you know anytime you implement something new, it's not part of their uh part of the program that's been um you
044know typical that we've been doing over the years. It has an appearance of you know being new and somewhat disconnected. So today was a huge um moment for connecting what we do with the diagnostic to the daily instruction in our classrooms. And that is just simply that u the diagnostic assesses New Jersey student learning standards expected at that particular grade level and that our um the student my path helps fill in those gaps. And that's the process that we've been we've been following along with and that's what our staff is was trained on today and how to continue that how to look at the data and how to um you know how to better use these these tools as we go forward. So it was a great thing. One of our goals was, you know,
045we when we moved the um the sixth grade into Macken, uh it was during, you know, right year one, year one was was a pandemic move. Uh so we set a goal to continue, you know, focusing on that transition. You know, they're there, things are are going well. Um but we can always improve. We always take a look at um what can we do better as a fifth free in elementary school moving on to a uh collective uh in in the middle school. Um so we do have processes in place to continue those collaborations to have those discussions to to bring our students um to bring our students together as a unified sixth grade uh in the middle school. Um, one of those is the discussion we continue to have with um, placement into um,
046certain levels of coursework and um, having processes in the fifth grade for determining prerequisite learning, making sure students are ready for uh, course work that they place into in the in the middle school and beyond. I guess the hiring I've been thrilled to have uh, Dr. Dr. you know, hiring the ST supervisor that was uh that was a big moment for, you know, things that we're we're doing and working today. It was a fun day today for our PD to um you know, be able to see our staff work with the dedicated supervisor that we had haven't had for for many years. So, that was that was an exciting part of the day. >> Anyone else you want to comment? >> Yeah, sure. Okay. >> So, um we have one of the uh the sections
047of our strategic plan is to do with academic rigor and learning the raising the level of academic discourse and also analyzing what we do in order to ensure that our students are really getting the best educational experience that they can. So um the program of studies for the high school um is uh updated and is continually being looked at so that we ensure that our high school courses are really targeted correctly. Um the second item there is our West Milford High School academic success committee which continues to meet. Um, they're not only looking at our academic rankings as seen from the outside world, but they're also looking internally, taking a hard look at the things that we do and what things we want to see change, expand, um, be revised in order to help our
048students again, you know, be fully prepared for the future. Uh, that committee has met several times um, since the beginning of the year. you'll see all the dates there and they continue to meet and we should have a report for the board in the spring from that group. Um, also adjustments are being made to the middle school math track. As Mr. Novak mentioned, we're taking a look at making sure that, you know, this is something that we talk about a lot, making sure that the prerequisite skills in mathematics truly prepare our students for high school level mathematics courses. um and professional development for secondary math teachers to ensure consistency in algebra 1 and geometry. Stud also spoke about that when he was talking about uh conquer math and our teachers do also participate in the
049NCTM organization which is the national teachers of mathematics um and some workshops that are scheduled. Okay, this next uh strategically planned goal area is hometown tribe. Um so the goal was to increase sense of pride and unity across all schools in the district. Um some of the areas that are the objectives which to develop good system branding across all schools and we'll talk about that in a minute. Um to upgrade our technology, create greater awareness of township events using a variety of uh technology apps and tools. Uh to empower individuals to impact the community through volunteering and mentorship. increase student interaction with alumni to facilitate transition from school to community workforce and to continue the process for recognition as a district of character. And we just heard that we have two of our schools who
050have just renewed their New Jersey status as schools of character. So um and any of my colleagues can chime in on this but um we are in the process of creating a branding strategy for the district. Um this is something that the district has begun several years ago and was something that you know when I first came to the district we talked about what are some practical things that we can do. So one of the things that um we've implemented already is our district newsletter that was released in November of 2023. Um we have another issue coming out at the end of this month and then there will be two more in April and finally in June. Um the idea with this newsletter is to hear not only from all of our schools but also
051from some of our community partners. So we'll have opportunities for those connections to really be publicized for anybody to see. We know our district newsletter that gets posted to the district website. It gets sent out digitally. Uh so we're going to continue that process. Um, we're also looking at resources uh such as the communications ekit for superintendent that's put out by um the uh National Association for um public relations administrators um and the branding uh school branding guide through constant contact and also several of the board members and some of those of us who were went to New Jersey school boards attended some of the sessions. um and we sat in on um a couple of them that had to do with branding for school districts as well and we also package all of that
052in a branding plan that will be shared with the board you know in the spring. Um, let's see. So, they talked a little bit about this already, but just making sure that the district website is continually updated. I think a highlight of that informs um progress through the superintendent search. A page was uh developed and um in conjunction with our consultant, but also, you know, I want to shout out to Mr. uh Winston who is our talented web designer and and popular of all things information on our website. So uh thank you Mr. Winston for keeping that up. Um we talked about Marshall Hill and the high school as New Jersey schools of character and that each school will reapply um as their dates approach. Uh the next area I'm going to turn this over
053to um Mr. Schulz uh for facilities and operations. For those who've been on the township board of ed committee, you know, we've had meetings with the feasibility study for Hillrest. And a part of that plan, there's a conversation that we had to possibly interpret another field in the district. Uh last month, you may remember, we approved the township to apply for a grant to the Department of Community Affairs for $100,000, possibly provide lighting at the at the cost of field. Uh currently we're also looking through the possible funding sources for the town between the township also the board of ed possly fund uh new turf field in the district without having to impact our current uh operating budget. >> Oh yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So, the HVC upgrades everything we recently went
054through final stage stuff. We now have uh Mr. Kelly retired again in December. Now, Mr. Glenn has replaced it at the beginning of February. So, he's jumped through the whole feed. That's all ongoing projects in the district. Uh we're at the final stage of the HBAC installation that was done in the fall. We're working on a lot of the um with the sub work out the cables and controls for the actual systems. So that's the final stage of that and that'll be completed. Uh rooftop rooftop exhaust fans at the school are fully completed. Most of the match kit is completed. Uh if someone high school and other elementary schools have a mixed bag of some old and some new once the weather breaks and snow uh will be available to see what needs to be
055updated and continue to add a replacement. uh as best as for replacement the items in 2024 have been completed or in our budget as I mentioned Mr. plans to do here. You know, he's actually has some walkthroughs scheduled this week in the district where he's going to walk around and see what's going on in the district, get a lay of the land, and see if there's any other uh four places that he's interested in pursuing for next year's budget. Um, one of the motions on tonight's agenda is we have we're hoping to use some of the XA money that we received last year that we get appropriate for this year. I'm hoping to get some of the security panel and offset upgrades to complete and designate some of those funds so we don't impact the
056budget for next year. uh athletic maintenance. We're working with the township under the uh field maintenance and also looking towards um the field maintenance field. So for the spring we're definitely uh sports seasons. >> Yeah. >> And also for the performing arts facilities now as I mentioned with Mr. planning walk around getting a label in seeing what kind of other improvements we can do for our fields and also for our performance facilities auditorium. I know we redid the high school a few years back and now obviously we should start looking at the macro as well. The LRFP is something I really aren't doing ourselves with as we're both new to the new roles in the district. So we're going through all the projects included in there see what needs to be adjusted and amended moving
057forward and the feasibility study as I mentioned earlier we have to test properties underway. I spoke to a member at EMB today. They're working through the through the plan for the trying to pose over there to the highlands commission and they're working with the uh township as well to the reason for that. >> I'd like to ask Dr. Russa to take over now is our next step. >> Okay. Good evening. So the the next goal that the uh the board is uh placed as a priority is the strategic plan is the area of well-being and to again create the environment that we want all of our students and our community members to be a part of. Uh one that is inclusive that is connected and that promotes life lifelong learning and promotes the wellbeing of
058all of our community members. Um we are doing this in a number of different ways. Whether it's fostering that culture of acceptance in schools, promoting the mental and physical wellness for students and staff uh as well as strengthening those peer-to-peer relationships which is so important when it comes to student learning, making those connections and having our students and our staff uh just you know connect with one another and connecting each other as part of the learning process. Uh some of the things that we are doing God bless you. >> Uh some You're welcome. Some of the things that we're doing uh in in part of creating opportunities uh include utilizing the funding that we've been able to acquire from from the ESSER grant uh supporting clubs and activities throughout those trips uh which really foster
059the social emotional learning. We look at the whole child we look at with the entire the entire student uh to make sure that when they are feeling supported when they are feeling encouraged when they are feeling valued that's when great learning happens for them. It's a safe place for them to be. So we also are doing that with clubs and and other types of intramural activities. Um our our sports programs is very very much a part as you saw tonight uh from um one of our teachers. Uh the athletics and this program that we have here is such an important part of what we do in building that community. Um we also have a lot of staff wellness activities. Um we're very excited to be uh working in this with the second step program. uh
060where our even today our professional development day we had a number of our teachers our guest counselors work with our physical education teachers so that they can start bringing that social skills and social development curriculum into other parts of the school day I believe right now we're looking at having we we're having it in their second grade and also I think schoolwide in Asha so we're really looking to build out this program and continue to develop it uh for all of our staff as it is a really valuable tool in helping our counselors and our teachers uh use really positive language to help our students identify, you know, um you know, their needs as well as work well with one another. Uh moving on, uh we're also looking at um creating professional development opportunities for
061staff um and and really looking to develop uh these opportunities to work on things like peer conflict, family uh family challenges, social emotional challenges. Um we have uh one of the tools that we use a lot especially in our higher program is the is the nurture heart approach which is a very uh student centered very language based that's that's positive that's encouraging that looks to help students with their sense of selfworth and you know really frame things in a positive way and even encouraging students using that positive encouraging language. Uh we're very excited about the opportunities that we've been able to do this year as it relates to uh bringing in um therapy animals to the district. Um it's it's an amazing thing to see students that maybe don't have language be able to really
062connect with that that animal therapy animal. So we've been able to do that at Marshall Hill. We've been able to do that at Highland Academy and Ash State. We're in the process now of looking at the little staple in Warwick to explore other possibilities to bring kids in and connect with the animals there. So, uh, you know, I've seen it firsthand, uh, and and see the wonderful things that happen for students and staff, all of us, when we can be able to connect in that way. So, that's something that we're exploring for our special education programs. And then lastly, too, we really make sure that our events are centered on me mental and physical wellness. Um I know we do a lot across the district in that area and are going to continue to really
063help not only with our students becoming um you know aware of themselves but also digital citizens. I know that's a big thing that comes in March. Um but we're also looking at other other opportunities to uh to develop wellness for our students uh and and mental and physical wellness opportunities. So >> I ask to return to the final section. >> So the state was district finances. Um the absolute all state we had over the last year. One of the steps that we did is we shut down the purchasing system midway through the year and any this has been a practice since my predecessor Mr. success and we've had really pulling in on what we're actually purchasing how much new money we have available at the end of the year and any pers request on an
064individual basis through the business office one of the other things we've done is pursue and manage alternate funding sources as Mr. know I mentioned we applied for stabilization aid back in the fall. We received word on Friday that we received $45,996 through stabilization aid. So it's not quite the total amount that I applied for but at least it's something that's going to help the district to help RLA program some of the other items we included in the application. Uh our reality of the funds in response to S2 we from the time I started 9 years ago as the accountant for the district we were even over $9 million in safety. So district has really had to prioritize and reshuffle and basically reinvent itself financially to continue with how programs and things we do for the
065students in the district. As I mentioned limited spending in January 2024 enrollment figures we're monitoring that was an item in regular budget. received the enrollment for death coming school year. As of now, we have at the time of the month we had 148 students registered for kindergarten more since then. That was at the beginning of February. We were reviewing the enrollment figures and monitoring this year and next year to evaluate teaching staff and needs of the district. And also we've doing other need assessments. The orders the order is here to uh present on last year's order tonight. We had a midyear budget review down the county that's Dr. haven't already attended. Uh it was a great success. Good talking to other districts down there, also with the county business administrator and seeing other issues other
066districts are having and how we're similar and different to some of those districts. And we had budget planning sessions with all the administrators back in December that formulated the budget that we're currently working on, going to be working on over the 20 months. Budget analysis is currently ongoing from the senior budget books that we have now. So I'm sure we'll be discussing that in coming weeks. uh stabilization aid we received 40 found out on Friday about that um the grant that we received we've been working on we are working with that and working to implement the activities that are funded by the grant into the budget one of the important things that we've been doing is Mr. go back running STEM camp for multiple years. We have the extra funding available for this upcoming summer,
067but it might be something we need to evaluate moving forward to continue that program as well as what we funded funds is the Chromebook purchases over the last few years. So this upcoming year will be the first year since before the pandemic where we'll have to fund the Chromebook purchases for our recycle schedule for the operating. Another thing is also we are subsidized our encore program between title funds and er funds. Now if the funds unveil we're working to absorb that the operating budget again so we don't impact the programs regarding ESDA funds I work closely with Mr. Novak and his department on all the activities that run through the grant also Dr. A with the IVA grant uh capital projects. One of the things we did last year uh in the spring was any
068of the projects that were completed, we fully reserved those any balances that were projects under under budget to return that to the funding sources. So we're looking to do that again at the end of this year with any of the ongoing projects. I know for the mine and cafeteria for the aspesus forum when we came in under budget there. So we'll look to see a motion probably in the spring to turn that money into capital return. Um, so at this time, um, I just wanted to make sure that the board doesn't have any questions. I know we throw a lot of information at you. Um, but the intent here is to make sure that we hold ourselves accountable and that we are transparent with the board and the public as to how we are moving
069through the accomplishment of the strategic plan goals and objectives. So board members, if you have questions for us, please let us know. I >> I have a question. Um, I think the stabilization grant was 400,000 and then in addition to that, the money that you applied for, was that a grant that 494,000? Well, >> the 405 that we applied, we applied for a civilization grade stabilization grant that we applied for 1.4 million. We were applied, we were awarded the 400,000 and just found out. >> Okay. And that's it. There's no one. >> That's it. As far as it >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thank you very Okay. So, that concludes my superintendent. >> Thank you, Dr. Manari. Um, Mr. Novak, your director of education. >> All right. So, I did try to uh
070be efficient and mention some of my professional development day activities in the presentation. So I don't have to take too much of your time just commenting. I I just want to say thank you first to um everybody who was involved in today's uh event. It was it was a tremendous day. Um pretty loud. Uh it was a great day in terms of team effort with uh staff members, teachers, um administrators, myself, um you know, feedback from all of you in terms of what type of day we we presented uh for our professional development. Um, I Ready was a was a tremendous um uh success today with many staff members taking away um some new knowledge that that they um I guess were curious about and had came with a lot of great questions for our
071sessions and and I feel that our um what I what I talked about at the end of some of the sessions, we talked about momentum and that um every day we get a little bit better and uh that we we're really We're about 5 and a half months into a major implementation for everybody in grades K through eight, all staff members, all students. And I couldn't be happier with where uh where we're at and and I feel like that was a that was sort of a shared um vision and discussion in today's uh today's professional world. Um our um just to give you a few highlights, our Dr. Russ mentioned I I won't um be redundant. Uh we did have a great multilingual learners uh presentation for our um language arts department. Um looking at
072we've talked about um in our meetings over the years that our um students requiring those services has grown um over the last uh last 3 to 5 years. We we've got a um you know significantly different population for multi multilingual learners than we had 5 years ago. and we are on on the track for um you know making sure that our programs are appropriate for um for the population that we um that we have and especially what we where we see growth. Um I know that uh Dr. Russa did a great job. I don't know if you want to comment on uh you know some of our uh along with you know new programs there's also a level of compliance in terms of what we do professional development day and I know we had quite
073a few staff members uh trained in CPR handle with care um >> CPI second step um you know social emotion learning was was a big uh component of what we what we did today. Uh we had Judy Lobiano uh come and work with our coaches and our um physical education staff in terms of um some of the things we've been talking about over the years with our um comprehensive health and uh physical physical education curriculum. Uh so overall it was a great day great team event. The high school was a great host. Um many of our uh sessions were housed uh at the high school today. So again, I just wanted to comment item um I don't know if we have a complete schedule um before the evening's over. I can share that with you
074so you see what the schedule looked like and you can um see what was uh accomplished over these days. >> Thank you. Did you want to say anything? >> No. >> Okay. Special reports and correspondence. Mr. Schultz. >> Yes. We actually have uh Matt Wilcox from our auditing firm who's going to present the uh the audit from June 30th, 2023. >> Good evening. >> What a lovely meeting. I know a lot of this is really my name. I am a principal at Wilcott Company auditors and I'm here to present the audit as of June 30th, 2023. Uh I don't know if everybody had a chance to look at the audit. Um really am I not on? >> Yeah. >> All right. Good. Thank you. So um pre-seller audit. There was one comment this year. Uh
075the one comment is one that we're seeing pop up everywhere that has to do with net cash resources exceeding 3 months average operating expenses in the food service fund. Basically what that is, the state has a law that you really shouldn't be generating any kind of net cash resources in excess of three months of your operating expenses because the school service is supposed to be, you know, kind of a net zero cap. Unfortunately, what happened during the pandemic, the federal government threw out hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars all over the state, country, and they ended up creating cash resources. So now our job is to spend them. I've talked with Mr. Schultz. He said, "You have actually already spent it subsequent to the audit." So that one will be gone next year. Um other
076than that, you know, to have only one comment, that comment, uh it's it's a pretty good case. Like I said, most of my clients will have that comment just based on the way that the federal government, state government's handing out funds for especially for school uh food service. Um otherwise, your reserves look for, you know, generating money back into the reserves around what you're spending. I say it's been a pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity. very nice working with you. Um, and if anybody has any questions on the audit, there really wasn't much to talk about. It was very good. Thank you for coming tonight. Um, the the one thing that I like to go over pretty much annually that I've been here in the auditor's management report just because it's difficult for board members
077to understand. if we can go over uh page 14 and surplus calculations and how they relate to what we use for the current budget that we're in >> and what we would use for future budget. >> Right? So, so the excess surplus calculation basically it's a state law that says 2% of uh there's this calculation with you know 2% of your total general fund expenditures from the current year. you can't have excess surplus uh over that and if you do you have to reserve that to use in future years budgets. So the the calculation is really this is off of state law so it's it's all basically broken down there things that are going to be applicable to you such as capital reserve to capital projects fund where you see the 525,000 here and then
078things that are not going to be applicable to you such as the other three above that. Um, and really it's it's it's just a calculation and and what it says is that if you generated this much surplus in one year, you have to use it to offset the tax levy as a reserve for that tax levy in the future. So again, it kind of goes hand in hand with the school food service, right? We're not supposed to be generating a surplus here. And if we do, there's a million reasons why you generate a surplus. Some of it's good budgeting. some of it is that you'd rather generate a surplus and find yourself in a sticky situation where you don't have a surplus and have to, you know, unfortunately based on the school budget. 75% are
079going to be salaries, wages, pensions, and benefits. Um, underbudgeting is a much bigger problem than creating a surplus. So based on what I'm seeing here, based on I'm seeing that the $87 million are your current fund expenditures to have excess surplus of 1.3 million really isn't isn't terrible, right? That's you know you're doing a pretty good job budgeting and and we use that. >> How long do we have to apply that um that extra money? >> Well, you would use it in the subsequent years. >> What is there a number of subsequent years? It's It's one >> It's one year. >> Yeah. So, you use it, >> right? So, you use it to offset the the general taxation to the public >> for the following year. >> Exactly. >> Um, so yeah, it's it's a
080it's a general calculation. The mindset behind it is that right, we shouldn't be overt taxing the public. We use what we have to do to provide the the what we need to our students to give them the best education that they should get. And if we do produce an excess surplus, we do use that to lower taxation in the subsequent >> the subsequent year. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> So looking at this on page 15 that 2 million and change that was for up to June 30th. Correct. That was used. >> These these are adjustments. >> Yeah. >> Well, give or give or take just on. >> Yeah. So this is this is a calculation as of June 30th 2023 and then that number would have been used in your 2023 2024 budget >>
081and the line that states E 1.3 >> at the very top they just kind of reference I believe that was that would be a number for last year >> and that was used for this >> his current budget. Yeah. Well, actually the one the 1.3 that's the amount that we're working with for the budget we're working on for next school year. Okay. >> So, obviously these past four years or three or four years have been impacted by CO and I think it's a huge thing to note that this is dwindling. So, I only bring this up so we can pay attention to the future. Thank you so much. We got I will say that most of the districts in the state are dealing with that just because the money that was, >> you know, getting
082thrown around. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Yeah. Next thing we have is the meetings for the multiple meetings we've been having lately. We've been meeting with each other very often. We have the January 23rd the minutes for the January 23rd workshop ethics special action meeting. the January 23rd executive session meeting. the January 29th special meeting, January 29th executive session, January 30th budget regular meeting, the January 30th executive session meetings, the n January 31st special meeting, the January 31st executive session minutes, the February 1st uh special meeting, February 1st executive session, February 12th special meeting, February 12th executive session, and February 15th special meeting, and February 15th executive session I'd like to move the meeting minutes that Mr. Schultz just read out to us. >> Second. >> All those
083in favor? I. >> Any opposed? >> I point those executive session minutes have excused absences, so we have to kind of go by roll call. >> Yeah. Go ahead. >> So, I'm sorry. So with the January 23rd executive session minutes of clarification more along the lines of those that weren't able to partic participate in the superintendent search. I think that those meeting minutes have to be >> segregated only because >> uh they have excuses and everything like that. So I guess we can move >> meeting minutes you wait January 23rd and 33 regular board meeting. >> Correct. Yeah. You can vote on those together like we do every month and then we can do all of the special meetings. I assume everybody was present for all of the special meeting. >> Everybody who's eligible to
084be present there then you'll have to do >> so why don't we just man make my suggestion read out the line. I made a motion to approve the January 23rd, 2024 workshop ethics special action meeting and then some people would say second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> And then we move to the next one. Can we do that? >> Sure. >> Great. >> January 20 I move the January 23rd, 2024 executive session meeting. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? I move January 29th, 2024 special meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> I. Any opposed? I >> move January 29th, 2024 executive session meeting minutes. >> Second I all those in favor? >> I state I. Any opposed? >> I move the January 30th,
0852024 budget regular meeting minutes. Second. >> You missed. >> Yeah, I was going to say you missed. >> You missed um January 29 executive move January 29, 2024 executive session. >> Second. >> All those in favor. >> Any opposed? Go ahead. >> I move the January 30th, 2024 budget regular meeting minutes. >> Second. All those in favor. >> Any opposed? I move the January 30th, 2024 executive session meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I move the January 31st, 2024 special meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> And with January 31st, 2024 executive session meeting minutes. >> Second. All those in favor? >> Any opposed? >> Abstensions. >> And with February 1st, 2024 special meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All
086those in favor? >> I abstain. Any abstensions? >> Mr. Schultz, you're giving the abstensions. Yeah. Thank you. February 1st. I move the February 1st, 2024 executive session meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any abstensions? >> I move February 12th, 2024 special meeting. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any abstensions? >> I move February 12, 2024 executive session meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any abstensions? Abstain. But the only people that should be saying out of that are if you were in education committee meeting, right? >> What? >> February 12th, 2024 executive session. What is that? >> That was the super that's okay. I >> move February 15, 2024 special meeting minutes. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >>
087Any abstensions? move February 15, 2024 executive session meeting minutes >> second. >> All those in favor? >> I extensions. >> Um I was at the February 15th and um I don't accept the minutes. There's missing information. >> Minutes for that's for the um superintendent. >> Uh not committee meeting. >> Not committee. We don't know committee. how the executive session is. Yeah. Well, then what's the special meeting? >> That's for the That's to go into executive session. >> The special meeting is to go into executive session. So, it's it's all for the superintendent search. >> Okay. So, none of this had to do with the packet that was in our thing. >> No. Got it. >> Really? >> I'd like to just abstain on the entire thing just because I have no idea which one's in.
088So, if you could just have seen me, go upstairs. Thank you. >> I was very confused. I'm sorry. >> We're starting to smell gas back here. >> Yeah, I smell a jail. >> Does somebody have like a walkie to contact so >> short and sweet? Um, I just wanted to give a big congratulations to Coach Christa Trapoti and the high school cheer team for winning their division and becoming grand champions. Congratulations. And I heard they got a police escort um into Highlander yesterday into the high school. That's awesome. A quick update on the superintendent search. Uh we're winding down as you can see. We just approved a lot of meetings for it. We have two meetings scheduled for this week, one tomorrow and one Thursday and we're down to um our final three. So, um
089that's moving along very smoothly. And that's it for my president's report. So, I'll move on to public comment. So all speakers will have 5 minutes to speak until a period of 30 minutes transpires. Before speaking, please state your name, group affiliation, and address for the record. Members of the public who have requested to speak prior to the meeting will be recognized by the chair first. After speaking, all speakers are asked to sign the register provided and give their full name, group affiliation, and their address. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. No participant may address or question board members individually. All speakers are expected to have read the statement within the agenda regarding the regulations concerning public comments. Members of the public are reminded that they are legally responsible and liable for their
090comments. Mr. Schultz, has anyone signed up to speak? >> No, there's not. >> Anyone wishing to speak? >> Move to close public comments. Second. >> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Um, Dr. Bernard, do we have any changes to the agenda? Uh, there is one change to carry that was motion number 32 is to be removed. >> Sorry about that. Uh, yes. So, on the hand carrier um sheet that was distributed to the board, motion 32 is to be removed. I move to adopt the agenda. >> Second. >> All those in favor. >> Any opposed? So, education. >> Mrs. >> Okay. I'd like to move items 1 through 10 for approval. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Yes, Mr. Um number seven, um who applied for this and do we know which tier
091one interventions they'll be using? So we have um I have some literature here that I'll pass around to the board on this uh organization NJ4S. Uh this is an organization affiliated with department of children and families that is providing our district with um different groups uh and supports uh for students uh after school. Um, as you'll see in the literature that's being passed around, um, this is an affiliation that will allow us the ability to have access to um, to counseling groups and resources through the state of New Jersey and Department of Children and Families. And uh, I'm glad to hear that. I didn't hear the first part of the question, so I'd like to just get that question again from you again. But um, but I have this information is circulating for the court,
092too. Um, so now it's a three-part question. The first part was did you apply for it? Like >> did we physically apply? No, there is no application process. >> Okay. Um, two questions then. Do you know what the tier one interventions are that they will be providing and in what buildings will they be? >> So the tier one interventions are the information that I'm passing around. So that would be groups for general education for all students. So these are groups uh for different topics such as bullying prevention, um you know, social emotion awareness, uh conflict resolution. Again, the the literature kind of shares some of those tier one interventions because again, these are interventions that are available for all students. So they're not as specifically targeted like a tier 2 or tier three as you
093as you indicated through that question. Um so that that answers the first part of it. The second part of your question, >> um what building will they be in? Uh right now that we have two schools that are interested in those uh services uh Paradise Null and Ashawa. Um but I have talked to other principles who have expressed great interest in having those programs available to their students after school as well. Sorry, when I went on the website, it seems as if all of their services are provided to all state residents. So, I can apply to bring my child to an after school one. And there were some in Lakewood, there were some in Princeton. So, we will be having students from other towns after school in our buildings. Is that how this is going
094to work? >> Not not to my knowledge. So, we'll we'll apply to or we'll have I say apply, but we'll uh request groups to be provided to on those various topics available to students in our uh in our community. Um I'm not aware of there being any students from other districts that will be participating. Uh in the minutes from the committee, you'll see I did reach out to a number of districts that shared their input and they did not mention anything about other school districts students or communities being a part of those groups. Those were groups that were provided to their students and their students alone. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thank you for your patience and my questions answer. >> Thank you. Anything else? Okay, I have another question. I'm sorry. Oh,
095that's okay. Um, number four, it's my understanding that great minds is um our new math program, >> a parent company for you math. >> You read your math. So, can you just tell me um what is included in this price? So, it's the training of the teachers, the textbooks, the workbooks. >> There's there's two parts of it. The the first part is the um completion of our initial training. Um so I had originally scheduled for great minds to come today. Um it's a 6-hour training for it was a 6-hour remaining training for our staff reunion program, but they also had eye ready today and we just finished our I Ready diagnostic. So I I wanted to private um our needs and I thought I already was more important. Um within this the um we had
096two we have um some professional development money already budgeted and paid for when we purchased the great minds program. But because I wanted to break this out to um I guess to be better for our staff members in September we we did a full day. You know we we talked about in here where it was like one of the hottest days of the September teachers were in it high school cap all together hundreds of you know hundreds of staff members together. The training was adequate but it wasn't what I would what I wanted. Um, so this proposal is what I want, which is each grade level is getting a six-hour training with just kindergarten, just first grade, etc. So that's the that's the first part of the quote, and that is the that is the
097completion of the first year implementation training for um Eureka Mascular. The second part of it, which is funded through so is there's two parts to our funding. One is using title two that's our professional development um grant and the second part of it is through ESSER which is the accelerated learning coaching and educational support part of co relief funds and that is in class in school coaching. So each building will get 5 days of an instructional coach from grade lines working specifically with the implementation of Eureka Path Square. So that would be um weeks after the completion of the training. Then you know so the the the training schedule for the end of March the coaching will be throughout the spring and every school is going to get 5 days of instructional coach going in
098to work with our teachers answer questions um help them help them implement the the program. So at the end of year one for Eureka Eureka Mass Square, we know that we've done everything necessary to support our staff in that in that training. So this this is the completion of that process. Um when we built the ESER grant, this was part of this was like this is I believe this is the end of our esser coaching funds which has to be spent on this. Is that okay? Yeah. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Seeing none. Roll call, please. Mr. Sh. >> Mrs. Dwire. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jurgensson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rakana. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sid. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Marquart. >> Yes. >> Mrs. L. Yes. Okay. Personnel.
099Um, Mrs. >> Um, I'd like to move items 1 through 29 and items 30 through 31 on the hand carry. >> Any discussion? I I have a I I can't find a resolution, but we're um approving someone on here. Uh I I can't find it. But anyway, it starts February 8th. 8. It starts February 8th. Why do we Why didn't we approve that before? >> It's going to depend on the res. >> It's number number 13, I think. >> 13, right? retroactive from February 8th. >> So, um, why wasn't this approved ahead of time? >> Because the state department of education issued this teacher certificate on the >> Okay. Yes. >> Oh, okay. Thank you. >> Anyone else? I had to pick up the links. Um um I just wanted to congratulate um Linda Jacobs.
100I see that she's on here for retirement. Um and while I congratulate her and I hope she enjoys a wonderful retirement, she is a tremendous loss for our district. Um my son had her um and I had her father as my principal in UGL. They're amazing family and she is an amazing teacher and she will be missed. >> Did Yeah, I uh I second that and she will be a great loss to this district. I wish her well in her retirement. I think she's earned it. I believe um she's been teaching for over 27 years. So um very welld deserved and will be very missed. Anything else? Okay. Seeing none. Roll call, please. Mr. Sh. >> Mr. Sidewitz. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jurgensson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rakana. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> Yes.
101>> Mrs. Dwire. >> No. On number 14 and number 27. Yes. On everything else. >> Mr. Mark. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bart. >> Yes. Yes. Um, operations and finance. Mrs. Mayor, could you take this, please? Absolutely. >> I'd like group number 13 under operations and finance. Any discussion? Not call, please. Sorry. on on this food service. Um, Bill, have we looked into any other food services? >> We we went out to bid I think it was two years ago and the food service company we had at home and they were the only company that submitted a bid to bid. >> What about this year? Have we >> this year? Well, food service contracts you can renew up to 5 years. We renewed them this past year for the current school year back in the spring.
102>> There's a motion for that. >> Too bad. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. >> Yes, Mrs. Romeo. Um, number four, that facility comes to us, right? >> Yes. Yeah. Mrs. Townage, our transportation super crunch. So, they they will bring a truck or bus to and they come and they'll do the testing and then they'll leave and take care they need to do. >> Thank you. Anyone else see a non roll call please? >> Mrs. Rano. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jurgensson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Wire. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sitz. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Markwart. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bachman. >> Yes. >> I'd like to do number nine under operations in finance. Very good. Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Rakana, >> yes. >> Mr. Jurgensson, >> yes. >>
103Mrs. Dwire, >> yes. >> Mr. Silitz, >> yes. >> Mrs. Romeo, >> Mrs. Mark, >> Mrs. >> Yes. I'd like to attend through 13. >> Any discussion? >> Seeing none roll call, please. >> Mrs. Rico, >> yes. >> Mr. Jurgensson, >> yes. >> Mr. Dwire, >> yes. >> Mr. Sidowitz, >> yes. >> Mrs. Romeo, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mark, >> yes. >> Mr. Yes. >> Policy. >> I'd like to move item number one under policy. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> When when was the last policy meeting? So the last we did not have policy um this month because of the rescheduling. So last policy meeting was last month. >> Okay. So this bylaw was discussed last month. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Anyone else? Seeing none. No call, please. >>
104Mr. Sidowitz. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jurgensson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Dwire. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Rakan. >> Yes. Mrs. Romeo, >> no. >> Mrs. Marqu, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lockwood, >> yes. >> Committee reports. Um, parks and recreation. Mrs. Dwire. Okay. Um, I was not able to attend because of superintendent um interviews. So, Mrs. Smart quad went and unfortunately the recck department did not have forums so they will meet again next month. Thank you. Safety Mrs. Ricardo and Mrs. We have a meeting February 22nd at 10:00 a.m. Superintendent round table. Mrs. Ricardo um we met last week. um some topics um that the superintendent's round table brought up um they wanted to know what the procedure was when uh students have excessive absences and um Dr. Fernari communicated that the district would work with parents
105and counselors to determine if there's an underlying cause for the absences. Um, truency letters are generated and sent automatically based on the information in the parent portal. Um, and she did note that the district can be penalized for excessive student absences. Uh, they also brought up um in specifically the middle and high school um the uh lunch options being limited for later lunch periods. So, Dr. Fry was going to check on that. Um and as we heard from the update on the um strategic plan, um Mr. Glenn has been very busy. Um they brought up the Marshall Hill playground. Um and as we heard here, I believe at last month's meeting, um there's a drainage issue at the Marshall Hill Playground and Mr. Glenn is already on it. Um, we talked about I Ready and
106the My Path lessons. Um, they just wanted to make sure that they should be being marked for completion only and not for a grade in the grade book. And that's for both um the diagnostic and the myopath lessons. And um Dr. Bernardi did um did confirm that um and they um were wondering if since we have I Ready Delta Math and some other tools, why is still being utilized and it's just another available resource just giving um our teachers another tool in their kit. Um that's all that came from the superintendent round table. Thank you. Uh Pay County School Boards Association I could not attend um because of superintendent um meetings. Um anyone I know um I think u Mrs. Van Djk I know she didn't go. Miss Romeo I think you said you might
107be able to go. Yeah. >> Okay. That's okay. Uh so no update on that. New Jersey school boards silence. I sent everybody a webinar about the board's role in budget in the budget process and it is a good refresher or a good learning tool for our upcoming budget season. That's that report. I don't have legislator so let's move along technology oversight. Uh Mrs. McQuart today we have the best meeting ever. I have a complaint this week. So, when we start off talking, um Mr. Winston was giving an update on the district wiring upgrades. Um it's ongoing and almost complete. Um our rate provider has been very helpful through the process. Um our prices for points communication and internet services have gone down 7 to 12%. Uh we spoke about classroom tech classroom technology plan and
108Mr. Winston provided a thorough explanation of the type of technology we have in our classroom. and how he plans to replace the technology using the replacement plan. Um we spoke about the district's rolling replacement plan for the student Chromebooks. Uh Google has expanded the expiration date of support for the Chromebooks which allows us to um which allows them to be relevant for a longer period of time. Uh Mr. Winston has the system for yearly replacement of the Chromebooks fine-tuned. Uh new Chromebooks are provided to second, sixth, and 9th grade students. Um the Chromebooks that are returned from fifth and eighth graders are distributed to kindergarten and first grade students. Uh 225 Chromebooks were repurchased for next year with remaining SR2 funds. Uh this will be the first year that the Chromebooks are back in the
109budget due to the ending of the SR2 funding. Uh the cost per Chromebook is $320 which includes the unit software cover etching and white glove service. Um our IT department is trained to do the repairs and all that is done inhouse. Um we spoke about the district's infrastructure and began discussion about moving away from internal servers in in favor of cloud storage. Uh there would be a significant cost savings if we switched to cloud based storage. Um and this was just a preliminary discussion. Um we spoke about instructional software and licensing. Uh retiring what we don't need and renewing what we do need. Um I did request a usage uh statistics report for the board um to help with justification for um renewing or retiring. Um the last thing we spoke about was um no
110before which is a module that helps identify and assess uh suspic suspicious messages that are reported by users as for fishing. Um if a user receives an email that they are unsure of, there's an icon that they can use to check the email. If the email is fishing, it will be isolated if not marked safe. Um there is a component that sends out test fishing emails and will let uh the users know if they handled it correctly. Uh the expectation is that training will be rolled out during the March PD um for administrators and maybe secretarial staff to begin with and then remaining staff and students will follow. So I don't know when our next technology meeting will be. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh the West Milford Well, I'm sorry. I'm skipping over township board
111of education joint committee. Nothing to update on that. Uh West Milford Municipal Alliance, Mrs. Jurgensson. >> Yes, the West Milford Municipal Alliance went on Monday, February 12th. We had a presentation from Teresa Monosura and G Diana Gil Chavez from NJ4s. This went so well that they were looking into having them return to present for WM77. We discussed our upcoming fundraiser, Pedals for Prevention, which will take place on Saturday, April 13th from 8:00 to 4:00 at the West Milford Parks and Wreck. Registration is now open and online through their website as well as through a link on the WMA page on the township website. And there is also a QR code set up as well. They're looking for student volunteers for this event. So if there is a student needing volunteer hours, please reach out to
112Debbie O'Brien at wmma westmillford.org. Several grants are being worked on at the moment to bring programs and activities to our school community as well as the community at large. One of the events we are working on is Scots Fun Run, which will take place on Sunday, May 19th at the Rec Center. And the Junior Police Academy has a start has a date set for the week of July 29th through August 2nd and there are more details soon to follow. Thank you. Thank you. Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, Mrs. Mqu. Okay. So, um there will be an informal parent meeting uh March 5th at 7:00 p.m. And the next CPAC meeting, um which can be attended virtual or in person will be March 13th at 7:00 p.m. And the location is to be determined. Um also,
113the West Her School District will have a week of inclusion starting um Monday, February 26th. Um Monday will be neon day. Uh Tuesday tie-dye day. Wednesday comfy day, Thursday school spirit day, and Friday inclusion day. >> Thank you. Old business. Any old business? >> Move to close old business. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Any opposed? New business. >> Move to close new business. >> All those in favor? Any opposed? Public comments. All speakers will have five minutes to speak until a period of 30 minutes transpires. Before speaking, please state your name, group affiliation, and address for the record. Members of the public who have requested to speak prior to the meeting will be recognized by the chair first. After speaking, all speakers are asked to sign the register provided and give their
114full name, group affiliation, and their address. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. No participant may address or question board members individually. All speakers are expected to have read the statement within the agenda regarding the regulations concerning public comments. Um members of the public are reminded that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. Anyone? No one signed up. Nope. >> Anyone wishing to speak? Move >> to close public comments. >> Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. I have a motion to go into executive session. At 9:05, I move to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing personal appointments, resignations, current litigation matters, special education matters, negotiations, hips, and matters of attorney client privilege. The executive session minutes will not be released until such time as privilege
115or confidentiality is no longer applicable. The board will be in executive session for approximately 30 minutes. Action will not be taken. >> Second. [Music] >> We have a question. Are we adding that we're journing from executive session if there's no action? >> Yes. >> So, we will be adjourning from executive session. We need a we can do a motion there right for that. All those in favor I. Any opposed?