001Gentlemen, I'd like to call the meeting to order. Thank you. Um, could you please take a moment of silence and and pray that everyone has a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving and stand for the flag salute. 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. In accordance with the provision of the Open Public's Meetings Act, a public 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 Cable V, uh, West Milford Town Hall, the County Superintendent's Office, the Board attorney, and Cable Vision of Warwick, and posted in the administration building. Copies of the board meeting calendar resolution were provided
002to all local media, town hall, township, library, and all district schools. Roll call. Mrs. Francisco, >> Mrs. Romeo >> here. >> Mrs. Stevenson >> here. >> Mr. Conklin >> here. >> Mrs. Dwire >> here. >> Mr. Greeno >> here. >> Mr. Oshinsky >> here. >> Mr. Stillman >> here. Okay. The superintendence report. Dr. Anamone. >> Good evening everybody. [Music] >> Good evening everybody. Welcome. I don't Is this not on? No. >> Did you flip the switch? Okay. All right. Thank you. Good evening everybody. Welcome to our November meeting. I have a brief superintendent report this evening. Um just an update on our school security drills. Uh as we mentioned last month and I believe in September as well, we will be doubling our school security or fire fire drills for the foreseeable future. We will
003be doing them both on AA days and B days. of both cohorts have the correct number of drills every month. Uh our school security drill in November will be a notification drill. So as we always say, this is going to be one of those moments where we say raise your hand if you're not here. So if you could check your Honeywells for a message from your school principal. We are trying to make sure that all our parents and caregivers are registered on Honeywell so that if we send a true emergency notice, they do receive it. So, if you do not receive a message this month from your school principal, please check your settings. Um, some people have the settings very restrictive where they only receive snow day notices, so to speak, and they don't receive
004anything else. So, we'd like you to open up your settings a little bit. It's not something that can be done at the school. Um, each parent has to do their own settings and they control that. So, we can help you with your login, your password perhaps, but we can't uh change your settings for you. So, our November school security drill will be a notification drill. Uh, next up, the start strong assessment. Um, this is going on. It started, we did grade four and grade five. Um, I believe it was last week in English and math. There is a copy on the board members desks of uh the student reports that will be shared with parents before conferences on Monday. So these are just redacted reports that should look something like this and they have the
005test grade. Uh obviously all the redacted information is on there as well and it lumps students into three categories. Uh strong support may be needed. That's for our lowest cohort. some support may be needed and less support may be needed. So obviously all of our students will be getting support. It just depends on how much is recommended. Um so each student each family will get one of these reports. Our testing is ongoing in the secondary grades as we speak and the board members you should have a second part of your packet which this is what our teachers will be receiving when the start strong assessment is finished. It's probably about 50 minutes per subject, 50 minutes for English, 50 minutes for math, and then they get a report for each student where they did well,
006where they did poorly. So, as you can see on the math one, students have some support may be needed in certain areas. This particular sample one that was redacted, this student struggles in operations and algebraic thinking. These are the standards he or she needs help with. If you look at the bottom of that, the base 10 is the reporting concept. He or she is much stronger in that area. So, one of these reports is for the family, one is for the teacher. The start strong is only used to help our students and to help our teachers. This is not get reported to the state. This will not be reported at a board meeting. This is just for our teachers and our parents because we want to know how our children are doing. This is certainly
007uncharted waters we're in and we want to make sure they don't fall too far behind and if they are have fall far behind we want to catch them up. Okay. So we should be done with the start strong assessments probably Mr. Novak next week end of the end of this week. >> Most student most students should be done by uh Thursday. >> Okay. >> Um I have a question. >> Sure. Um with this STAR assessment, will we be given an overview of how um the whole district did >> and where the weaknesses and strengths are? We will not be given that. >> No, this is not going to be reported publicly. So there's going to be essentially the principles will have their school their school report, the teachers will have their class report and each
008family will get their child's report. That's it. So, the parents are not going to get a report as to how their children stand against other kids. >> No, it's going to be it's nicer in color. Um, there's a little wag there's a little wheel here. So, they're going to know where their child is compared to the standards, not compared to their peers. So, by this point in fourth grade, >> this is where we think you should be. This is where you are. this you have this far to catch up for. So, it's really an instructional tool for our teachers and for our parents. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Courtney. >> I'm wondering, do you know if the state plans to do another test in the spring or would the NJSLA be the host of this?
009>> I would imagine it's going to be the NJSLA. So, this essentially is replacing last spring's NJSLA. So that test was going to be start it was going to be third grade and up last year. So this starts strong as grade four and up which would have been last year's third graders. So >> we should see progress on the NJSLA. >> We should see progress from where they are now to where they are in the spring. Sure. If by chance the NJSLA is cancelled, can I ask that we maybe as a district um do some kind of assessment in the spring to see that our children have grown? >> Absolutely. >> I would be curious to know that they have made progress. >> Although we although we participated in start strong, we are we stayed
010true to our process with link right >> and the benchmarking process. So we are giving uh three link benchmarks this year that we're using in a similar manner as we're using uh star strong. It's another another piece of data to to you know know which standards um we need to recover which standards our students are doing well and you know how we get to the next step. >> Great. Thank you. >> Uh uh Mr. Gino. So when you say participated in start strong, is this something that a number of other school districts are doing or does is everybody have to do this or you just get you just >> it was a it was an optional assessment. Um many districts who chose to um participate, you know, follow through with it. I know there's a
011number of districts who delayed their start because they went um you know into a 100% virtual environment for for a variety of reasons, >> right? >> Uh so I think the initial um cohort of schools that were participating uh dwindled a bit and and um believe it was because of uh school closings for the for the most part for those who who started uh but the window is available throughout December. Uh so I anticipate seeing a lot more schools um getting it in. Yeah, we don't we don't get much for free. This is for free. >> Mrs. Romeo, you had a you had your hand up. >> And all students of this full virtual cohort also took this. >> Yeah, at those at those grade levels, it was open to all hybrid and 100% virtual
012students. >> And will that be the same for um the link assessments? Have we um will the cohort of cohorts students also be taking the link assessment? >> Okay. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay, Dr. >> And uh last up, we have our student representative, uh Miss Amanda Gerald. But before I pass it on to her, I want to congratulate her for the week of October 26th through 30th. Miss Gerald was our West Nor Varsity Club athlete of the week. >> Congratulations. Thank you. And she just came from a state quarterfinal win over overtime win. >> Yes. Against >> against Lakeland two to one. >> All right. >> That's even better news. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Um, thank you for allowing me to speak today. As you most of you know, I'm Amanda Gerald,
013president of the student council and student representative. Like I usually like to start with some positive events that have been able to occur throughout the district. Highlander Band is wrapping up their season this week. They're filming for their annual tattoo on Wednesday and the bagpipe group is filming on Saturday. They placed second in states, fourth in nationals, and second in the grand finale. Despite all the challenges and obstacles for the season, they still managed to put together and perform an incredible show. Most sports are wrapping up their seasons as well. The football team is three and four right now and they have a game against Lakeland on Friday and they encourage fans to come until they reach their 50 fan limit. Uh, boys cross country had a great year as well. The team was able
014to succeed despite the uncertainty uncertainties and complications due to co 19. The boys trained hard the entire season and competed well as a team. Some highlights include the varsity team taking third place in the conference as well as the JV team taking home second place at the Doc Braver Invitational. All in all, it was a great season for the team. Girls cross country also finished with a 4-1 overall record. Placed second in the Brett Taylor in Invitational. JV had two first place finishes, one in the Brett Taylor Invitational and the other in the Doc Braver Invitational. They also became co-conference champions with their first place win at the conference championship meet. Oning adding on to that, they as well placed second in both the Lou Froolo Pay County Invitational and in the North one group
015two state sectional meet. So great job to girls cross country. Girls soccer just finished their season yesterday against Lakeland. They had a rough season but overcame the ups and downs and worked hard from the start of each game to the end. Their record ended up being 310 and one and they grew a lot from the beginning of their season. Girl, the girls tennis team finished their season as well today. After talking with one of their captains, Jessica Bante, she made it clear to me that tennis is a home to an amazing group of girls with phenomenal coaches who are dedicated and kind and that the program has bright futures ahead of them. Like we were talking about, the New Jersey Start Strong testing started this week and will be finished hopefully this Friday. And the
016annual empty bowls will be Thursday and held virtually. The girls varsity field hockey team is having a great success as well. We have a winning winning record of 12 wins and four losses. We won our state quarterfinals tonight home against Lakeland in a two-1 overtime battle. This group of girls has a bright future and outlook and is determined to continue the streak for Thursday when we take on when we take on Morristown Beard in state semifinals at home. Please come out and support our team. Thank you again for allowing me to speak tonight. We're working hard to keep our spirits up in Highlander Pride and Character strong. >> Thank you, Amanda. >> Um uh Mr. Novak, your report, please. Director of Education. >> All right. Thank you. Uh I just wanted to start off with
017a um I guess >> a brief update on uh hybrid learning to this point and and I say hybrid but also hybrid and our our virtual learning um virtual learning program. Uh as we mentioned in Dr.'s report the fast one um in reference to Dr. report. >> We did complete um the start strong assessment in grades four and five. >> Um there'll just project I'll try that. Um and we will be completed with our high school assessment by the end of the day on Thursday with a couple outstanding makeups and that sort of thing. But in addition to start strong, uh we are in the process of administering link. We have completed the uh benchmark assessment um in grades 6 through 12 for the for the um students who were taking courses where we would
018would get that assessment and our elementary schools will finish um the link assessment by the first week of December. Uh just a little reminder what link Lincoln is very similar to start strong and that it is a uh an assessment that measures our students against the state standards that are expected to be uh mastered at that point in time in the school year. So um you know we anticipate using start strong uh link it some of our local assessments as well as in our elementary schools we have a panel benchmark assessment which assigns a student their um independent reading level. uh within within the collection of assessments that we've been able to do uh we see ourselves being able to predict um you know future learning objectives for our students and be able to try
019and you know recover as best we can. So we've completed this you know first two months two and a half months of school where um we followed the spring shutdown and and what that was and now we have a little bit more of a sustained effort. We get to see now that our our students are gaining stamina in in this structure. Not that it's great, but it is what we have now. We see that our teachers are uh gaining comfort in the structure that they have. It's not easy, but it is what we have now. And I think we're at that point where we take a look at what we've done and we can really start focusing on our on our students once again as as individuals and be able to start grouping students by
020weakness, by need, by strengths and and trying to, you know, fill in the gaps that we have identified through uh a number of these assessments. Our our staff members are doing a great job having these conversations already, things that they've noticed. Uh that's one of the uh some of the conversations I had with you know principles who have had conversations with their staff that the um feedback that we've seen on you know start strong initially is validating to what our staff members have seen in the classroom. So so it's a good gauge that this is going to match um some of the things that we've seen. Uh and just to point out some of the nitty-gritty on those assessments is that those numbers that on the report that Dr. minimum share they they um directly
021relate to a specific standard. So although it says literatur literature or information when the teacher sees this they know that that standard is a little bit more fine tuned and they know exactly what area um that our students need to recover. Um, so live stream >> again. >> Okay, >> I don't think anyone really wants to hear from me. >> That's not true. You're important. They all want to hear you. >> Thank you. I need to hear. >> I'm here. I'm here. [Music] still. Okay, >> thank you. >> Okay, go ahead. >> Good. Okay, >> go ahead, Mr. Novak. >> So, that's that's my library and virtual learning uh update to this to this point. >> So, can you maybe just go back to that because I think we record it. You want to hear
022it? Just re rewind that. How long are we up? the the beginning of >> where your teachers where your teachers are gaining confidence in the in the program and structure and link it is validating the >> you know the rapid uh 3 minutes of the last 10 um that you know the the collection of assessments that we've had in place this is a repetition of what we just talked about for the people at home who missed um that in our hybrid and virtual learning cohorts we've completed completed a initial round of assessments uh gaining comfort with the hybrid and virtual models and we're at a point now where the conversations with our administrators and our staff are really targeted towards repair and recover of some of the things some of those gaps that may have
023been developed uh in the spring and in you know are getting comfortable in September. We know in September we we had some uh technology issues, we had staff gaining comfort. So September got us off to a good start with some troubleshooting, but we know that there may have been some gaps even from from this year early in September. So that's the point we're at now with having really good um thoughtful discussions with our administrators and teachers, which will then be shared next week, which will lead me to one of my other items on the agenda is parent teacher conferences on um November 23rd and 24th. So at that point in time, uh parents should expect a um a good conversation about where the teacher, whether it's a particular course or a home room in elementary
024school, where they see your student standing in terms of what's typical at at this time in a third grade or a or a freshman course and what the teacher sees now, you know, with with the you know, the difference in the environment that we have. So, uh, parents can expect that when they, um, when they visit their parent teacher, which everyone should please do. Um, if you are not familiar with the schedule, there should be a Honeywell. There will be a Honeywell on Friday afternoon, probably multiple. Um, I'll be doing one for the district and the individual schools will be sending out reminders as well. Um, in that vein, uh, we, uh, we, pre- pandemic, one of the important conversations that we've had that we spoke about in this, in this forum at the board
025meetings and in our, uh, education committee meetings, um, and with staff um, and parent groups was that we made some changes to the elementary report card process. Um, principles presented these things at back to school night. Teachers talked about it at back to school night early in the fall. I just wanted to have a a a public reminder that our elementary schools shifted to a trimester structure. Um it's a little bit more best practice for what an elementary setting um entails. It allows for more time for growth. It allows for more of our um work with individual student reading levels and and that type of assessment, their work in their readers and writers notebooks to be reflected in a um in a better manner on on the report card. And the release date for the
026first trimester for our elementary schools K through 5 will be December 23rd. Uh so parents will attend the parent teacher conference next week. They should not expect to see a report card at that time, but they should expect to have a robust conversation about student progress and that's that's the message that our staff is prepared to share. Uh, our elementary families will be receiving their start strong um individual student report probably um if not Friday or Saturday, they should get it um in the mail um Monday morning at the latest. They're I think they're in the mail um already. Um and that's it. So also in along that line um we have elementary trimester structure and the third grade report card um has shifted and it it will not be reflecting um letter grades as
027it has in the past. Our letter grades are now currently in fourth grade and up. Our third grade report card will look very similar with some slight adaptations from what our kindergarten through 2 grade report card looks like with one through four indicators rather than A through F. Um one um you know uh students are exceeding grade level expectations, meeting approaching or or needing support. Um and all of those all that piece all those pieces of information will be available for you at the uh at the November conferences. And my final uh announcement tonight is that we are uh in the process I'm going to be sending a parent survey uh tomorrow and that survey is going to be in relation to the uh parent technology support sessions that we're going to offer on December
0289th and 10th. Um, we don't have the exact times. Anticipate that the exact times will be shared prior to Thanksgiving for parents to uh, we're probably going to have a variety of um, sessions that are open-ended where parents can come and visit and and ask questions and we'll also have a series of sessions that um, help support parents with uh, Google Classroom, Google Meet and whatever else we get out of the survey that I send out tomorrow. So that that survey is going to um you know look for some information from the community about what can our um educational technology committee uh staff members what can they do to present to this to the community that'll help you help us. That's really what we're looking for is is we have a um we've got an
029amazing community who's now supporting at home learners or virtual students while our teachers are doing their thing and we want to support you in that. you know, you're kind of the last tier for for how we bring the whole big picture together. You know, our staff was first, our students were second in terms of training and getting things ready. You know, our staff work tirelessly all summer to get ready for September. Our students had to learn when families kind of in the background on how to on how to do school now in the new environment. And now we're at a point where we want to bring this to parents now that you've gotten your feet wet and you know you know what you know in terms of what support you need. So that survey will
030come out tomorrow. There's a few open-ended um areas on it to give you know to give us the feedback that um that'll help us help you. And that is concludes my report. >> Thank you. U Mrs. Francisco special reports and correspondence. >> Question. >> Oh I'm sorry. Go ahead Kate. >> Um two questions. One is um did I uh experience data and three as a standard based report card? >> Stand not not an entirely standard based report card. It's our K through2 report cards were more of a the word hybrid is overused now. Um but this was the hybrid word that we used prior to pandemic hybrid talking. A hybrid report card is a is a blend between a completely standardsbased report card that reflects all of the standards at a grade level and a
031report card that um collects collects those standards into um you know so like minor minor categories. >> Okay. Now I have two more questions. So did just curious did the education committee look at these report cards with you and this was like fully discussed and it's just the first that I'm hearing of it >> in the spring this was discussed at at ED committee we have a report card committee um with um you know staff members administrators that helped develop the process we went through um this goes back several years when we adopted the report card structure that we have now in K through2 um so we we basically took took what we we do in K through2 and applied it to our third grade while looking at a lot of samples from from numerous
032other school districts in you know nearby and you know surrounding counties and and in our county. >> Okay. And then my last question is um if a parent was unable to attend back to school night, how would they have known that elementary um went to trimesters? Was there another announcement? >> There was not another announcement. So tonight would be the >> Well, we announced it in We announced it last spring. >> This was a decision made here. >> Yeah. >> Um back in, you know, maybe in the February. It was that close to when when things changed in the world, but >> but there hasn't been anything since. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Right. >> Courtney, did you have your hand up? >> I just I just think that maybe a little um presentation
033might be nice at the next board meeting. Very simple, just what the third grade report card would look like. K1 and two is more progress indicators whereas three as we discussed in education committee would be more we're looking more at the standards and whether the child is meeting that standard or exceeding that standard or below that standard. I think maybe from you cuz you're the expert to just make a little, you know, model to share with the public because >> yeah, we can like we can put all the uh >> I think that would be really card because it is different than what our families are used to because we're used to in third grade getting grades and having a third grade student. We are still getting grades on tests. You know, tests are coming
034home with A's, B, C's. So, how does that transition into the standardsbased report guard? I think maybe just a little quick little thing if that's okay. >> I'm sorry to make you do that and you're doing so much work already, but I think it would be really helpful to the community. >> Please presentation. >> That's right. >> All right. So with the um parent teacher conferences next week, especially with the elementary because of the change to trimester, do we think about maybe for next year moving that parent teacher conference to coincide with the end of the trimester for the elementary? Right. >> So that's in discussion. Um it's not something we can it's that's a that's a contractual um situation. We we met last week, I believe, um to review calendars for 21, 22, 22,
035203. It did come up. Uh we tend to have them scheduled for Thanksgiving week again next year. I almost think if I could just put in my two cents, I almost think having it more in early November, end of October might be better because by then teachers in especially in the elementary level, they've they've already assessed their students. They know where they stand. I know as a teacher myself, I'll say to parents, by Thanksgiving, I want to see your child progress here. By January, you know, we do these things with linkit and everything else. I think maybe having them coincide with link and having >> Yeah. It's a I it's a long it's a long haul um to get to December 23rd and and to have and to have conferences close to that release time
036that's in my opinion too long of a period >> for a parent to you know not have had a an established you know there would be regular ongoing communication with the single emails here and there but to have a formalized structure to report progress I think the timing of it right now is um is appropriate as as u Mrs. Stevenson just said with the reporting of the assessments. Um uh I also think that um often our apparent you know just talking with districts who have a trimester setting once they switch to the trimester and majority of them kept their you know their structure in place for when the um when the conferences are it disconnected the parent conference from being you know all of that you know if you get that 20 15 20 minutes
037you spend a lot of it just looking at the report card talking about the report part. This brings the conversation more about student progress and performance than the number on the than number on the page. And you know, so that that's something that we're open to and getting, you know, feedback from our community after we go through this year with conferences now and report card on the 23rd. And you know, we're open we're open to the discussion for what would be best for our community. >> Thank you. Oh, go ahead, Kate. >> Oh, no. >> Okay. I'm ready to make a motion on the next thing if you'd like me to. >> Okay. Special reports and correspondence. >> Uh we have minutes from our last board meeting on October 27th and our special meeting which
038was at 17 meeting from October 28th for your consideration. >> Okay. >> Romeo make a motion to accept the board of education meeting minutes from October 27th. >> Second. >> Okay. Voice vote, please. All in favor? I >> Okay, there is no president's report. Mrs. Van Dyk is not here. Um, we did try to meet with uh the township, but it didn't work out. So, there is another meeting pending for December and that's the only report. Okay. Public comment. This portion of the meeting is open to members of the public for the purpose of addressing resolutions on this agenda only. Members of the public who have requested to speak prior to the meeting will be recognized by the chair first. Each speaker will be given five minutes for a period of 30 minutes and then
039time permitting other public comment limited to five minutes per speaker will be allowed until the 30 minute period transpires. All members of the public speaking during this public comment of com comment period are asked to address topics listed in the agenda. All speakers are asked to sign the register provided and to give their full name, spell their last name, group affiliation if appropriate, and provide their address. Issues raised by the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asked that members of the public be courteous and respectful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged, and the board and the administration will not respond
040to them. Students and employees have specific rights afforded to them by the laws of New Jersey. The board is not responsible and is not liable for any comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments. Members of the public are reminded that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. Okay. Anyone wish to speak? Mrs. Francisco, do we have anyone? >> Uh, no one know. >> Okay. Any anyone like to speak? >> Okay. None. I make a motion. >> Second. >> Voice vote, please. All in favor? >> I >> All right. Just want to make one uh that out again. >> We adopt it. >> Go ahead. >> On page eight, personnel student affairs
041number 27. We're going to add one name of the substitute nurse. It's Alona. I L O N A last name D Santis D E capital S A N T I S that's going to be a substitute nurse added >> number 27 >> didn't we >> isn't she somewhere else too >> she's going to be hired too but we're going to add it to our sublist as well >> okay >> we're waiting on the official certification >> for school nurse system >> oh so That's not silly. So then she could start under those sub. >> Uhhuh. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um Kate, would you move items one through six under education? >> First move to adopt the agenda with the one change. >> Oh, we have to accept the agenda as amended. >> I just
042did. I made a motion to adopt the agenda with the change of adding Aluna as a substitute nurse. >> Okay. Second. >> Second, >> Jay. Okay. >> Then I'll make a motion to >> need a voice. Oh, >> all in favor? >> I >> All against >> Sorry. >> Okay. Do that right there. >> Romeo make a motion to move one through six under >> any any discussion. No discussion. Okay. Roll call. Mrs. Francisco. Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stillman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Oinsky. >> Yes. >> Mr. Romeo. >> Yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Okay. Personnel and student affairs. Um Jay, would you move items 1 through 39? I'd >> like to make a motion to move items 1 through 36. And the
043hand car. >> Second. Any discussion? Go ahead. Uh Ray. >> Yeah. Um so I'd like to hold 26 until after executive session. >> Okay. >> Ask them to hold the vote until after executive session 26. Good idea. >> Okay. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All against. Okay. So, we'll hold 26 till after executive session. Any other discussion? All right. I have a question about number 31, the parental technology report. Um, we're three months into the year. I I just am curious as to why this wasn't done over the summer. What number was that? >> Number 31. >> It it just seems that I think the parents needed the support as the school year >> wait >> began. >> So, this is our going to be our our parent classes. Uh we weren't certain
044we were going to get a great turnout over the summer. >> Okay. >> So, we think we get more parental turnout in the fall once school started. Um I think summer it was uh I think people were looking for a break from school from Google Classroom. >> I have to say too um Mrs. Dwer having a having two students in the district. I have more questions now than I did then. So I think it is smart that they're doing it and to go to Dan's report from before he was concentrated on the staff and the students and the parents are now okay >> third makes sense to me. So uh on number is that person just going from one school to another school and then obviously the transfer of assignment >> number 12 temporary transfer
045that's one of our special class dates that's been key to ro >> and then >> but are they in are they in the same in the same school >> in the same class >> same place yeah same >> okay >> and then um just with regard to that. So is somebody else taking that person's role as a as an aid? >> So that particular role temporarily we have not been able to fill besides through back coverage of substitutes. Um but the enrollment in that class because that particular aid was in our behaviors class and we have many students that have their parents have opted for 100% virtual. So the inperson has not really required it but we will be looking to replace that position come January. >> So we say we don't need an aid
046in that class. Is that what we're saying? >> I'm saying from up until this point we did not need to replace it other than filling it if like another aid was out. But come January 2021 you will need it. >> Okay. Um I I have a question on number 33. I know that this sidebar is to begin on December 3rd, but um the state is making decision about winter sports on Friday. Is there any way that we can hold this until December 4th, this sidebar until we know because I I know that once we sign the sidebar, um we're responsible to pay these people that 20%. But if December 4th comes and there's no sports uh and we signed a resolution that says we're going to pay them the 20 cents 20 20 cents 20%
047we're responsible for that. >> I think our next board meeting is >> but we can make that retroactive. I mean I I I don't know. Am I wrong? So I had this that thought in my head also. The only thing is I I know that there are probably a number of these coaches that have already started to do work >> towards the season. So there is a piece at least at a minimum there is a piece of this where they've begun to do work and I think that that was probably a little bit of that sidebar. So, I I I agree with what you're saying, but with a slight variation because they've already started to do I've seen a lot of >> emails already just and and I've seen a lot of coaches doing things
048with regard to at least one sport. So, >> but do their contracts actually start now or do they start December 3rd? >> Well, the season would start December, but it's slated to start December 3rd. >> Okay. So, Okay. Does anybody else agree with me? >> I do. I do agree. >> Well, right. I I I hear what you're saying, >> but I know that there are a lot of teachers that do a lot of work in August >> and they don't get paid >> and technically their contract doesn't start until September. Well, they they're still getting paid for for some of that time. So, again, I just I I had brought >> they're not getting paid for all this. I so I had brought up the the same question, but then I got comfortable with,
049you know, what the answer was. >> I'm just concerned about Friday's decision because I don't think it's going to be a good one. >> Mhm. >> Kate, adding into this conversation about 34 and 35. It looks like that's the student production of the play, right? Both of them. So, I hear what Ray saying and I hear what Terry's saying. If the governor says that we cannot do indoor activities, whatever, >> we're still going to pay these people 20%. >> Because we've signed >> play, right? >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Once you sign that side, >> you know, they probably have already started reading, you know. >> Oh, sure. >> And doing I understand that. Um but if there's no production, there's the possibility that there might not be one. >> Mhm. >> Right. And so
050then once we vote on 33 then we're paying all of them the 20%. >> Right. >> Also 34 >> I mean it's a hard decision to comment. >> Go ahead. >> Important to understand that a lot of these positions are based upon receipts. So if there's no receipts we're going to have to assume whatever we're paying out. So, it would be our responsibility then. So, I I'm nervous because I don't know what the governor is planning. I don't know what the state sports association is planning. Um I see that Connecticut shut down their winter sports. Um I I'm worried and I'm also worried about the state aid that we get. I I think we're we're talking about losing a lot of money and this could be dangerous for us. Um, Courtney, >> I think in
051regards to 34 and 35, the play, I would have all the faith in the world that these um employees would be able to put on a virtual show for us >> and I would be okay with us >> approving that because I think that especially there's one name on here that I know would do phenomenal with doing a virtual show. Um, so I think that if we could say if it's not in person, could we do virtual and could that be done? Then I would be okay with voting yes cuz I think that the play especially the play the productions >> but could happen virtually. >> But how are these kids going to be practicing if there's more than 10 or 25 of them? >> Agreed. I think it I think it poses a lot
052of problems but >> I think that these teachers are capable of working around that. We've already asked them to teach in a different platform. I think that they can do these productions on a different platform. Sports I don't know how the heck I mean that's a whole different ballgame. Kate, >> I've thought a lot about this over the last couple days and just to be clear, I'm voting yes on all of it because I do believe in our staff and I do believe in our people and I think if they can't have sports, they will work the 20% that they're getting paid to do our senior letters and our videos that are sent out and the other things that entail being a coach that they don't even get paid for on a regular year. When
053you work out how many hours a coach puts in in a normal year compared to what these salaries are, it's normally pennies. So, I will be voting yes on all of this. I understand that we are in a time where we can nitpick every single little thing and talk about all of it, but the reality is that these people are supporting our students whether it's on the court, on the field, off the field, and they'll be helping do many other things. So, I thought a lot about it. I've gone around and around and around just to be clear. But also, I heard Jay try to say something. >> Oh, Jay, I'm sorry. >> Like ask him you said something about 36, but I didn't hear >> it include 36. >> Yes, >> it would include
05436. Yeah, >> sorry. >> Because everybody was just referring to 35. >> Yeah. No, >> we we put uh the the cyborg agreement 33 first and then the couple that follow it after. So, they're all into the sidebar agreement. There is a protection for the board of the 20% where okay you wouldn't be on the hook for 100%. So if things get cancelled super early it would be a >> it would be uh you would not be on the hook for the whole salary this whole stipen just 20%. >> According to the sidebar it does say provided indoor practices began on the end of >> Gotcha. There you go. >> Okay. Um, any other disc? Kate, >> one last question. Somewhere on here in Oh, wait. It might be under operations. >> Yeah, forget it.
055It's the next one. I'm sorry. >> Okay, >> Dave. >> Number 29. I realize those are all contracts for but going forward kind of bringing it I'm looking at more of $100,000 easy I know have a lot of retirement system this year but any thought going forward on contract >> that would be a negotiation >> that would be something for negotiations >> well we have some some people that were employed quite a while ago that still are entitled to a larger amount of money. >> Yeah. >> But newer employees are not entitled and most of them are capped at 15,000. >> Right. >> So >> any other discussion? Right. >> So Barbara, you're saying that there was already some negotiation which is why these certain employees say cap. There's different levels uh in the teachers
056contract. There's different levels. So depending on how long you've been with the district depends on what kind of a compensated >> and that doesn't have to do with the district. That's >> No, >> That's the state. Yep. >> Right. >> And I think it was in 1992 they kept people they kept >> 2007 when all of this >> debate. So, >> so some are grandfathered in, some aren't. >> Some are and some aren't depending on their start date. It's all outlined in the teacher contract. >> It's out again. Live stream is out. >> Kate on. >> Oh, it's on. Good. >> Uh, same number. Um, >> we're on >> um >> I know the first one is the administrators agreement. The next one is the teachers contract, the WMEA. Can you tell me what the
057WTAA and WMCMA stand for? >> Yeah, that's the teachers assistance. >> Thank you. >> And the um otherwise custodial maintenance. >> Any other comments or discussion? Okay, thank you. So, we'll move on to operations and finance. Oh, I'm sorry. You have to vote. See, I told you I don't like this position. Okay, roll call. Wasn't meant to be. Just leave it. >> So, I just want to make clear we're voting on everything but 26. Right. >> Right. >> Mrs. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. Yes. Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Okay. Operations and finance. Ray. >> I'd like to make a motion to move items one through three on operations and finance. [Music] I have a question on number one, the um ice vault arena
058contract. What happens if we don't have ice hockey? >> You still have to pay the bill. >> No. >> Oh, >> $26,000. Oh god. >> 27,000. >> Well, it's half of that. >> Half of that rate. That's >> If you don't approve it and we don't make a payment, then you're going to lose your ice time. So then if material is at some point in the future. >> Okay. >> Is there any negotiations that could happen with the ice? Like they know we're in in a pandemic, right? And >> I don't think >> they're a business. Yeah, >> we didn't have to deal with them last winter cuz the the season was basically >> over. >> So, we don't really know. I mean, there might be something, but I'm not quite sure at this point,
059>> Ray. So, so two things. one uh with regard to the ice wall. The question is because there's going to be like you said the NJSIA is going to probably have some guidance on Friday. When do we when do we have to pay them? I know we we may vote on this but when do we have to pay them? >> Do we pay them before Friday? >> I think Tuesday. >> Next week. >> Tuesday. >> Okay. So, >> Monday or Tuesday. >> So, we we may have some opportunity there, right? if there was. And then the second thing was I just wanted to say thank you very much to the Echol Baptist Church for donating um a fantastic grand piano. But that's a that's a very great donation. >> Do we know what kind of
060piano it is? Is it a Yamaha Baldwin Steinway? >> I want to say Steinway. >> Oh, I'm impressed. I'm impressed. Thank you. Thank you. Kate, >> going back to one um Barb, can you please clarify? Are we responsible for that full amount? >> No, >> I want to hear state because every >> Thank you. >> And is that something that uh we can table? >> Well, then we don't pay them on Monday. >> If you're asking me, you could, but when would you vote on it? >> Right. >> Yeah. We have that board meeting is the 15th, right? December 15th. >> So then it would be a retro. Do we know if the other district has already approved their h? >> I believe >> I I can check. >> But I mean I >> there
061may not be ice time for us to approve on December 15th if it's uh not approved tonight. If we don't pay them next week, they may be able to sell that time to a youth team, a club team, something another high school. I don't know. >> I get that. >> Um I guess I'm just not comfortable if we didn't ask them for like like a similar agreement to our sidebar. >> Mhm. >> Right. So, if we could work a part of the contract with them where okay, if we're only doing this much, can we pay you 20% or 50%. or we didn't try that yet. >> But even if we do, >> everybody going up till today thought that the right >> season was going to take place. >> So there was really no reason
062to negotiate anything different. >> Can Can this be something and I don't know >> that we table and vote over the phone? Is that something that's allowed? No. Okay. Just asking. I didn't know. >> That's okay. >> Pandemic. I got to be, you know, up to all options here. >> Yeah. >> Flexible. >> And they're watching all the more because of the open public meeting. >> Right. >> Okay. Any other discussion? All right. Roll call. Mrs. Francisco. >> Mr. Karina. >> Yes. >> Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> Yes. >> Mr. Con? Yes. >> Okay. >> I I thank you. I think um you know we don't want to see hurt we don't want to hurt the kids and no >> if we lose that ice time. So stupid. Okay.
063Um Ray go on. >> Okay. But we we still do have some small window which >> we'll know more on Friday. I know timeline doesn't match up with our board meeting but >> right >> um you know it's not our timeline the state. So we'll figure out more on Friday. much to do about that then >> cuz the right the ice wault's going to have to deal with that with every school system that they're dealing with. NJSIA says they're going to cancel the fall sports season. >> But like you said, >> they're going to deal with that with everybody. >> They're also a business. >> And on the flip side, if they don't say that, right, then they have opportunity from every school system. So I like we don't want to hurt our kids. >>
064I mean, even a phone call to the ice vault saying uh you know, Skylands is giving people 20% or whatever. Who knows? A business is a business, right? But you got to ask. >> Sure. >> Skylandance is probably packed, too. >> I understand. I'm just saying if we don't ask, then we're on the hook for the full amount. If we ask, there's the chance. So, a phone call tomorrow would probably be in best interest, you know. >> Well, why don't we just wait till Friday and see what happens? >> Yeah. So, um >> I'd like I'd like to move item number four under operations of finance. >> Okay. Roll call. Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> Yes. >> I'd like to move item five under
065operation. >> Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, >> Mrs. Dwer. >> Oh, sorry. >> Yes, >> it's the pandemic. Blame the pandemic. I >> already got to move item five under operation finance. Okay. Um, roll call. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Shinsky. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stillman. >> Yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> Yes. >> Mr. Conway. >> Yes. >> Number six. Ray. >> I'd like to move item number six under operations and finance. Mr. >> Epstein. >> Mrs. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stillman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo. >> 15. >> Okay. Uh, policy. Kate. >> Um, I'd like to move numbers 1 through 20 under policy. Handry. >> Oh, do we have
066a hand carry? I don't have a hand carry. >> Green one. >> The green one. >> Okay, this is >> this is good. I'd like to move items seven and eight under operations and finance. >> Roll call. >> Any questions? >> No questions. I'll just say I'm glad we're finally getting getting the equipment that we we need. We need >> I I think that uh have we waited on this because of the pandemic a little bit. >> Well, we waited it we waited on it because we couldn't get any prices. No one's working. Manufacturing plants were shut down. >> Yeah. And we have to we finally got it priced and the a lotments are so small because the manufacturer is only working at 25%. >> Yeah. >> So if we don't order it, we may
067not get it for 6 months instead of 4 months. >> I noticed the gators were few and far between. So >> is that gator a new one or a used one? >> Yeah. >> Oh wow. That's a good price I think. Right. >> Yeah. Oh, that's very good. Y >> It's small. >> Okay. >> It'll do the job. It'll be helpful. >> Okay. Mr. Green. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Mr. Roinski? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romeo? >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Okay. Now we can move on to >> All right. >> Policy. Sorry. So now I'll make the motion number 21. >> Okay. Discussion. Nobody. Okay. Roll call. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stevenson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Con? >> Yes. >> Mr. Stillman. >> Yes. >> Mr.
068Oinsky. >> Yes. >> Mrs. >> Yes. Okay. Committee reports and leaons, park and recreation. Mr. Garino and Mr. Stillman. >> Nothing. Okay. >> Say Mr. Stillman's soccer teams are doing well. >> Congratulations. Safety. Um, was anybody with Mrs. Van Dyke for this? >> Nothing. Okay. uh superintendent's roundt was um we talked about um basically the encore teachers um the problems with the virtual a lot of kids are are not doing well virtually and um you know they were parents are looking for feedback on how to help their children. So hopefully those parent meetings will will help them. Okay. Bet County School Boards, we have nothing. Um, school New Jersey school boards association, nothing. Legislation, Mr. No report. Technology over Oh, Kate, >> I have a question, Terry. Um, you just said at superintendent's round table
069that parents were saying that kids were not doing well virtually. >> Yeah, they're frustrated. >> Was that academically or social and emotionally or both? >> It's both. Okay, thank you. >> It's both. >> Okay. Um, Mr. Go technology oversight. >> So, there was no technology meeting in particular, but I know that uh just speaking to Robert quickly, they're working on getting uh laptops uh out to the teachers. They had to uh do some things to uh image reimage the uh computers. So, they'll be going out probably over the next few weeks. >> Oh, good. Good. >> Yep. >> Okay. Township board of education joint committee. Nothing at this time. Um, West Milford Municipal Alliance, Courtney and Kate. >> I went to the meeting um, virtually. Um, I can't say enough great things about this um,
070alliance committee. They are sponsoring our heroes and cool kids which is starting November 13th. Um, they're doing the we're not buying it program for our sixth graders because they missed um, the it's not called lead. It's not called lead real. It will be leading seventh grade >> and they're going to do seventh grade too. Awesome. They're going to be doing um the lead pro sponsoring the lead program for us um which will hopefully happen in January. I know Mr. Novak has been communicating with them often too. Do you have anything to add, Mr. Novak? >> Okay. [Laughter] >> I made sure to include you. Um, and the other thing that they had was they had a woman um, and I I debated whether or not talking about this, but I think it is important for
071our families um, in the community. They're working with um, a family support center in P County um, where they're offering to help families with addiction. Not the addict, but the family. Um so if there is um a family in our community who has a child who is dealing with addiction, they provide support out of your per personal home. Um they help the family and educate them. They don't just support um the you know what's happening with the substance abuse, they'll help find me mental health care. Um they'll help with the enabling um stuff. And it just was seemed like a wonderful thing to mention because I'm sure that there are many families in all of the United States that are dealing with uh family members that are addicts, children that maybe are addicts. Um I
072think that this alliance committee is just doing wonderful things to pull in different programs to help our community as much as they possibly can. So I wanted to mention that too. >> Thank you. that if there's a flyer for that, we can distribute that to our >> I will forward it to you. >> Yeah, >> absolutely. Anything else, Kate? >> I just wanted to add that out of all the committee reports, the West Milford Municipal Alliance is open to everyone. So, all parents can attend those meetings. They are looking for prevention ideas for the entire community for all age groups. >> They're looking for any any program, any educational program that the community thinks of. and it's open to everyone. >> Thank you, >> okay, old business, >> Ray. >> So, I know last month
073we talked about the students who are virtual, students in class cohort A, B. Um, right now I think the numbers kind of line up where the high school it's in that 45 to 50% of the students, right, are roughly virtual now. that probably closer to 42% maybe. >> Yeah. So I think we have like roughly 950 students and probably 433 >> or I think that was 433. >> Yeah, that's exact. >> Okay. You want me to try >> from this morning? >> So yes. So 951 total at the high school. 433. >> Yeah. So, you know, I I know I brought this up at the beginning of the year and and we weren't open to this, but with that many students virtual now, uh, is there opportunity to rethink how we're going to teach those
074students and have some of these teachers that we may be paying, have them teach those students virtually. Um, and why are we opening a high school with 200 kids in it? Or can we have those kids that are going to school have them go every day? I I don't know. Doesn't seem like we have a lot of kids in the high school. >> We're probably at about 28 260 280 every day at the high school. 290 maybe on Bdays. >> No way. >> So the building is quiet. So is that what I >> I mean I think you're every high school has kids that are absent because then they're attending virtually, right? So if you have 89 290 on your BDS, 260 on your ADS, and then like you probably have 30 to 70 kids
075absent on any given day. We're probably closer to about 100 kids daily in our in our high school. >> 200 maybe like I mean >> 200. Are you suggesting that the high school just go all virtual? >> I I all I'm doing is I'm just kind of asking or posing the question. One, >> can we get some of those teachers back so they could maybe we can get some of our teachers back that we're we may be paying or maybe we're not paying, right? Because some may be out for a valid reason and we're not paying them anymore. We were to a certain point. Um can we get them back teaching and maybe we have them teaching students virtually. Uh, and is there opportunity? You know, I'm trying to always try to find, is there
076a way to bring the kids that are comfortable coming to school every day? Is there a way to have more of them safely there? Well, we're looking at that. We've been looking at that the past couple weeks. Um, not just high school, but elementary and middle school as well. Um, looking first at our special needs students, >> right, >> from 6 through 12, and also at our primary grade students, K through two. uh different uh groups of students are in 5 days a week now already uh special needs K to five are in 5 days a week or at least have the option of coming in 5 days a week um so that was within the last probably two weeks we've been having meetings we have another one set up for the right after Thanksgiving
077and uh of course the last month our corona virus numbers have doubled maybe tripled so >> we want to do this safely And we want to bring more students back full-time, but we want to do it safely, not just for our kids, but for our staff members as well, because most of the classrooms are pretty well spaced out, but some if you added near max capacity now, you know, 10, 11, 12 kids. If you add three, four, five more students to that classroom, it may not be so safe for the students. It may not be so safe for the teacher. So we do want to bring students back, but we want to do it safely. So right now we're really looking at our our CO numbers in West Milford in Pay County and New Jersey.
078I think P County is the highest rate right now in the state. >> Yes, it is. >> Um Northwest region is is still in the moderate risk range. However, that could change tomorrow. we could be in the high risk or very high risk uh uh risk factor range. There's a the website on the state there's a page on the state website which color codes every region um using multiple metrics. So we're watching that very closely and personally I'd feel more comfortable if our corona virus numbers had dipped now. So we're really there's been some changes now with indoor meetings with outdoor gatherings. They're really limiting that. They're pulling back on bars and restaurants. the times they can serve inside. They're probably going to make some changes to sports, other things. So, I think we have
079to really tighten it up where we were last spring where the numbers spiked and then we kept our distance from one another. Nobody was having parties. Nobody was having gatherings. Nobody was having slumber parties. And the numbers they plummeted to where things were it was much more safe to go out again in in May, June, July, and throughout the summer. So, we need to get get our discipline back and get our numbers back under control because, you know, the hybrid model is working now. It's certainly not perfect, but it's working very well compared to a lot of places and we want to maintain what we have. So, it might not be the right time to bring back more students now. Um, it might be in the future. Right now, it it'd be difficult for me
080to say with our numbers spiking to the highest they've ever been, we're going to increase students on our buses, in our calf, in our classrooms. That might not be the best timing for everything. So, um, we're probably going to stick with our hybrid model now through the new year and then really evaluate, you know, but again, that could change at any time. If numbers spike even more, you know, perhaps we can't even hang on to what we have. So, it's something we have to be mindful of and we check these numbers every single day and we're on the phone with the health department every single day as well. So, uh, takes up a lot of our time, but it's it's worth it to hold on to our model. You know, back in our staff put
081together a great hybrid model and, um, like I said before, it is working. If you speak to, you know, colleagues from around the state, you know, I think we're doing a much better job than a lot of places. So, that's a testament to our our teaching staff, our administrators, and our very supportive board of ed. Um, not to mention our parents who are, you know, do a lot of parenting at home. So, um, we're all in this together. We'll get through it together. It's just going to take, uh, some more time. >> Ray, did you have any >> some good news on the vaccine front, >> right? The road anyway, >> right? >> So, so that being said, you know, and you've probably talked to some of your counterparts. I know that there are a
082number of school districts uh throughout northern New Jersey then that have decided that they may go all virtual from that Thanksgiving through maybe a couple weeks after um New Year's to kind of maybe help if if there happens to be that spike or if people go away to one of these what do we have 58 states now that are on New Jerseyy's list that you can't go to. um you know if they go to those places then they have to come home and quarantine for a couple weeks. So um >> but it's voluntary. It's not >> it's still voluntary. I understand. So is is there you know what are your thoughts on on that? Could I've heard Clifton has decided to do that. Veron's decided some other school systems have decided to do that. I
083don't know what your thoughts are just hearing. >> It sounds like you're you're optimistic but maybe cautiously optimistic. >> Cautiously optimistic. I I think what I see in school I think kids are safest in school because there's seven of them in a classroom. There's nine in that classroom, there's four in that classroom, there's five in that and there's not many students. They're all wearing masks. The teachers are on to wash their hands. They're keeping apart from one another. Um you know, if you look at our makipin and high school cafeteria, there student desks there. They're reading at desks that are spaced 6 ft apart. So they don't really have the lunch tables. So, it's a pretty controlled environment. I'd argue it's the most controlled 7 hours of the day for our students because when they
084and they're on the bus, they're spreading apart in the seats. Most parents are driving still. Our car lines are stretching forever, which we don't mind because we have buses that are averaging nine or 10 students per bus. And then they go home night, weekends, and there are some loose spots in society where people are not taking this serious. um they're having little parties, little gettogethers, whatever you want to call them. And you hear about nobody's wearing a mask. There's, you know, a dozen kids on a couch watching a movie with the door closed and the window shut. You know, like it's that that's, you know, closing a school doesn't solve that problem. >> Mhm. All it does is give our kids seven more hours of kind of downtime 5 days a week, you know, and
085it's hard to we can control these 35 hours a week. It's hard to control what goes on beyond that, but we're not seeing schools have not been identified as a place of transmissibility. Things are really going well here in regards to that. We know students are testing positive. Um, we don't think they're getting in school. you know, we think they're getting it on the weekends from family members. Um, which again, closing schools doesn't help that. You know, if mom has it, sometimes the kid gets it, too. Um, so I don't think closing schools, you know, is going to really help option a stay-at-home order, you know, where if you close schools and everybody stays at home, >> you know, so right now you have districts closing and then the kids are out and about, you
086know, they're done with their learning at 12:00 and then they're jumping on the bicycle to their friends house and they're playing video games together and that defeats the purpose. So, as of right now, u I think the kids are safer in school if I had if I had a, you know, to answer your question. >> Thank you. Yeah, that's good. Thank you, >> Kate. Um, at the October meeting, I raised the question. Look, this is just high school. When I look at these numbers, everything I'm about to say, I'm only talking about the high school. Every other school, the numbers are not alarming. The numbers at the high school are alarming. And when I look at our staff numbers, it's the high school where the staff seemed to have been an issue when I go
087through all the past agendas. So at the October meeting, we were at 33% students that were full virtual. Now tonight, we're at almost 45%. About that, at the October meeting, I raised a question, at what percentage of our students going full virtual will we bring our high school to a full virtual learning environment? Now I ask that because when you look at the entire educational picture, I can see how many of our top notch teachers are out and those classes are being covered by substitutes or other curriculums or other things. So looking at the entire educational environment, I agree with a lot of what Alex just said about safety obviously is first and that we're not the kids are not contracting it in the school. But thinking about education, I personally think the education that
088the high many many many of our high school students got in September might be part like might be better than what's happening right now with substitutes and different things that are happening. You know, if you talk to a parent whose child is in full AP courses, they will tell you their child was was doing that there's a difference. Okay. So, I'm going to raise the question again, not looking for an answer tonight, but that at what percentage of virtual students do we need at the high school for our kids to get their teachers back? And you know, I understand all of it. I do not want to go full virtual although I thought September was extremely successful. We had a lot of troubleshooting things. It really set us up for a lot of success across
089the entire district. I would support that decision again every day. But right now when I look at these high school numbers, it's like time for something or let's just bring the full 5 days, you know, like let's move that up or something. When I look at the numbers, the number of full virtual 433 kids is a lot. Um, so I just wanted to mention all that. The other two things that I wanted to mention are the temperature in the classrooms. Uh, staff, kids, parents, everybody's talking about it. Um, and I think this even needs to >> That's new business. >> Oh, sorry. >> That's okay. >> Okay. New business. We'll hold that. Then the only old other old business thing that we've talked about quite a bit but not recently is waving the parking or
090>> Yes, we have to. >> Is that being discussed still? >> Waving it or having it? There's a discussion I mentioned to cut it in half because the students are in some students are in a day or bday but not both. So the question is we cut it in half or not. >> I mean that's a decision that we can make we can discuss with the high school administration. >> We we've talked about it. >> So bringing it up in business. I'll make the statement that I fully support actually waving it. We talked about it in the spring. We talked about weaving it so that we would have less students on the bus, more students driving. I'll let everybody know. I fully support that for our students and our families right now. And if that
091needs to be a further discussion at another meeting or whatever, that's fine. But I think that needs to be discussed. >> Right. >> Committee. The next one. >> Thank you. >> I want to go back to the temperature in the classroom is new business. >> It's definitely old business. >> Is it because we've been talking about ventilation >> facilities? Oh yeah. Okay. I'm thinking about the kids being cold >> facilities. >> We've talked about >> them being too hot and cold. Now >> now they're too cold. So it's >> people were too hot. I missed that. >> I didn't hear people saying they were too hot. >> That might happen in June if we're still doing this. But right that's always every June. >> So >> okay. Well, we have talked about facilities. We had
092Chris Kelly here and I think that that all has to do with the temperature, the ventilation is old business because we've talked about this before. >> I'm in a meeting tomorrow. I can review this with the principles, but the temperature in the classroom, if you think of temperature not as a number, but as a range, you know, people are comfortable between this and this temperature, it should be at the low end of that range. You know, comfortable dressing appropriately for the winter. um sweatshirt, you know, pants, you know, we have >> mittens. >> We have students wearing shorts still. >> So So what would be your low end of the range for somebody to be comfortable in the classroom? >> That's we have to f we have to uh I'll talk to the principles tomorrow.
093That's a good question. I can talk to Mr. Kelly as well. Um but we want to leave the windows open to crack to get some fresh air in there. The warmer it is, the more you can raise the windows. The colder it is, the less you can open the windows. Um, we do want fresh air in the classrooms, but on a frigid day, they all don't need to be open. You know, maybe some of them need to be open a little bit to get fresh air in. And not the window in front of the heater, but the window in the corner of the room >> where the heater is not. So, the heat can come in and you can get fresh air in. Classrooms will be chillier this year than last year. But we also
094do we do know the importance of fresh air and it does help our unit ventilators which bring in air non-stop but cracking those windows a little bit brings in even more air. So >> can can I ask why I'm hearing in the community there's a difference between the high school, the middle school, and the elementary schools. I mean, I have kids in ele in the elementary schools and they're not complaining about the temperature, but the high school and the middle school, all I keep hearing is that teachers are bringing electric blankets. They are freezing. The kids are going virtual in the high school because they're cold. Why is there such a difference? >> Okay. I just am curious why. And that being said, I think pandemic or not, I think we do need to have
095some serious conversations about the facilities in our schools and how money can be put towards updating facilities, whether it's the ventilation, the temperatures, the radiators, the bathrooms. I think that that needs to be a serious conversation because pandemic or not, we should we should really be upgrading some things. >> all of our air fresh, you know, we we just went through an energy project, so all of our ventilation is >> is like new. Every every HVAC system in every building has been upgraded. It's all in working water. So, we're at a we're in a in a position that So, they're just cold because the windows are open. >> Probably >> the windows are open in order to keep fresh air. They were to keep the windows open. >> I guess I guess my question is
096like why is there such a difference in schools? I mean, I am I'm a teacher and I have not been directed by my administration to open windows. That's my choice if I want to open the window or not. Who's telling these teachers they must have all their windows open? All right. So, >> well, not every window open. You know, in in October, we wanted the windows open. It was 70° out. Makes sense. >> As we get colder, we're asking teachers to keep the windows open depending on the weather. So the colder it gets, the less you can open your windows >> and their comfort level. Of course, >> it should be a comfortable level. The low end is comfortable. But if it's frigid, freezing cold, you cannot open every window all the way. Just you
097can't keep the room. >> So heat. Let's pretend I'm a teacher in West Milford High School and tomorrow is the going to be the coldest day that we've experienced and I want to keep my windows all closed except for maybe one crack. Is that allowed? >> Yeah, that would be all closed. >> Okay. >> We have to still exercise professional judgment. Our teachers have to use good professional judgment. >> Okay. >> And they know what comfortable room temperatures are. So there's no reason they can't figure it out when it's 60° or when it's 10°. They open their windows different amounts. Okay. So >> and I'll just clarify. So I don't think it's just Mac pin in the high school. I think it's very school dependent for those of us right Dan. Those of us that
098grew grew up in town some schools sure >> it's they're probably going to be colder than other schools. I don't think it >> elementary schools are good. Min's not or vice versa. I I think that uh and I think it's dependent on what how comfortable the teacher is. Teacher leaves all their windows open, it's going to be cold, >> right? Sure. >> Anything else? Okay. Motion to close all business. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. All against. >> Okay. Uh new business. >> I actually have a question. Um, >> so I heard elementary score report cards will be December 23rd on the trimester math in the high school. Then >> the 20th >> of >> November 20th. >> Yeah. >> Parent portal will be open on the 20th. >> Parent tutor portal, right? >>
099Um, so that's a few days. Are you have you run are you looking at a failure list and comparing it to former years like >> Yeah, we do that um we we've been doing that pretty much ongoing um since early October and uh we've um you know we spoke about it in here I think in in a few times where we talking about um you know some patterns we we saw in um in in math in some areas. Um Mrs. Just wire just alluded to a conversation we had at the superintendent round table about you know which is interesting bridging on the conversation we just had about students who were choosing more students choosing virtual and then the feedback we're getting is the students who choosing more virtual the at home learners are struggling and
100the you know some of the feedback from teachers is that the increase in you know kids going to at home learning is that they're struggling more you know so it might not necessarily be a great trend that more students are looking to go out of of our schools. Um, you know, so yeah, so we're we're and those are the things we're tracking that now. Um, that's the the you know, we're always looking for another layer and the most recent layer we're um trying to assess is those students who were here in person for 4 weeks and then chose to go virtual. How did that affect them? and you know the early results are is that it's it's not a good um you know it's not a good transition. So yes, we're we're looking at um
101grades often and our supervisors principles are you know it's those those are conversations we have you know um weekly or by bi-weekly we have a meeting again tomorrow where we'll be you know discussing those very things >> and with that do you have even past years before co whatever do you have like a standard of if students and this is max in high school if students passing two or more classes three or more classes four or more classes something along those lines you have a standard where then they are referred to the INRS team. >> So I uh interesting. Yeah, I I met with um um most of the principles. I had to delay a few um just to do an INRS review um just you know go top to bottom with with how we
102are u making sure we're uniform in in that process for referring students uh to intervention and referral services. So um it typically isn't a you know number of courses that it has to meet that sort of thing. It's just um you know, we've tried to evolve into a if a student needs help, we're we're looking to move them to that process as as uh as soon as we can. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Okay. Motion to close new business. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. >> All against. >> Okay. Public comment. This portion of the meeting is open to members of the public having a legitimate interest in the actions of the board for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to andor directly related to the operation of the West
103Milford Public School District. Members of the public who have requested to speak prior to the meeting will be recognized by the chair first. Each speaker will be given five minutes for a period of 30 minutes and then time permitting other public comment limited to five minutes per speaker will be allowed until the 30 minute period transpires. All speakers are asked to sign the register provided and give their full name, spell their last name, group affiliation if appropriate, and provide their address. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and respectful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding
104students and employees of the board are discouraged and the board and the administration will not respond to them. Students and employees have sus have specific legal rights afforded to them by the laws of New Jersey. The board is not responsible and is not liable for any comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments. Members of the public are reminded that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. Mrs. Francisco, do we have anyone? >> All right. Does anyone wish to speak? >> Okay. >> Say no. I make a motion for motion. >> Okay. Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All against. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Dave, would
105you read the executive session and we will be discussing personnel and attorney client privileges. at uh 8:35 p.m. Uh motion to uh go into executive session for the purpose discussing personnel appointments, resignations, current litigation matters, special education matters, negotiations, matters of attorney, client privilege. The executive session minutes will not be released until such time that privilege or confidentiality is no longer. >> Second. >> All in favor? I Okay. And we will return and uh dismiss from here. Okay. >> Action. >> Okay. 20 minutes. Action. Okay. Okay. Um we are back from executive session. Mrs. Francisco, roll call. Romeo here. Stevenson here. Mr. Mr. Dman >> here. >> Mr. >> here. >> Mr. Green >> here. >> Mr. >> Here, >> Mr. Conley >> here. >> Okay. Personnel number 26. Motion to move it. >> 26.
106>> Roll call. >> Oh, okay. Um, any discussion? >> No discussion. Okay. local >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Stevenson. >> Okay. Move to adjourn. Mike, would you read that? >> That's you. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to second. >> All in favor? >> Anyone want to stay? Good night. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. >> You too.