001Hello. Hello everyone. Welcome to the June 27th, 2017 workshop regular meeting of the West Milford Board of Education. I would ask everyone to either turn off or silence their cell phones and please note the um emergency exits. I'd like to have a u moment of silence um for all bullying victims. We please stand for the flag salute. In accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act, a public notice of this meeting has been sent to Board members, all district schools, the Herald News, the trends, the record messenger, West Milford town hall, county superintendent's office, the board attorney, 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. Mrs. Francisco. Mr. >> Here [Music]
002>> uh Glenn, would you do the honor of reading the executive session resolution, please? [Music] It's how they because my my Friday folder copy doesn't come on. >> Yeah. >> They give you a new one on >> Yeah. >> Yep. Uh move to approve the following resolution. Resolve that the board go into executive session at 9:00 p.m. >> Is this better? Does >> it work? Is it working? All right. Uh, I'll move to approve the following resolution resolved that the board go into executive session at 9:00 p.m. for appro approximately 60 minutes for the purpose of discussing HIVs personnel and matters of attorney client privilege. The matters discussed in executive session shall be made public as soon as the need for confidentiality no longer exists. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed?
003Okay. Uh, Alex, the superintendent report, please. >> Yes. Good evening, everybody. We had our We were here one week ago tonight for our student recognition and even staff recognition. And one thing we neglected to do was thank all of our volunteers for this school year. We had a wonderful school year and we mentioned it briefly, but I wanted to say that uh thank you to all of our volunteers in all of our schools this year. Uh we're going to go a little bit out of order on the superintendent report. Next up, I want to give the board and the community an update for our lead testing and water. A few meetings ago, I updated the board and the community about our lead testing, and we finished testing in all of our schools, all of our
004outlets, the administrative building, the transportation building, the uh the the fieldhouse, everywhere where there's running water. We did have a couple of hits in various locations and we did change out all the fixtures in those locations. We are finished with the repairs. We are now in the process of running a second test for those locations. We should have the results within a month, probably closer to two weeks. And also new to the agenda very uh recently in the news, you may have read about it was there is a new school funding formula proposal. Uh it is now working its way through the state assembly and the state senate. This is going to if passed take effect July 1 of 2017 for the 1718 school year. And it there seems to be bipartisan support in both
005houses and the bill we believe awaits Governor Christiey's signature. Uh how does this affect West Milford? Um not well is the answer. We are slated to lose over $20,000 in state aid that was promised to us in I guess it was February, late February, early March. Uh now the new number we have is $20,000 less. um which doesn't sound like a lot until you realize the rest of the state or just about the rest of the state is seeing their state aid go up. Um we are the only township in legislative district 26 that is going to see a cut in state aid. Uh there are districts that are less affluent than West Milford, Elizabeth, Newark each receiving 7.5 million more dollars in state aid for the 1718 school year. There are districts much more
006affluent than West Milford, Rididgewood, Milbourne that are seeing about $300,000 more in state aid. So, we're really not sure where it's going to go and we're certainly not sure how they selected West Milford to be one of three districts in Bergen and Pose County combined that is going to receive a cut in state aid. So, uh nothing is official yet, but we the state uh the fiscal year ends June 30th. So, they have to have a new budget for July 1. This is one big sticking point. So, uh, we should have an answer for you probably by next week. And lastly, uh, Mr. Gorski is here with the high school climate climate and culture committee update. Uh, this is a small group that has met throughout the school year to figure out ways to improve
007the climate and culture in all our buildings, but specifically the high school. Uh, and they have some recommendations for the 1718 school year. So, Mr. Gorski, when we talked about this, we weren't expecting this crowd. >> So maybe we'll do a a bridged version of your presentation. Thank you. [Music] >> Good evening everybody. Um multiple as Dr. Anamon said actually multiple high school committees uh that are addressing the culture and climate of our high school. character education committee which supports and focuses on uh promising practices and also the school of character process the HIV uh school safety team which examines HIV info and programming at the high school and also the culture and climate group that Dr. and mentioned this past school year we were pleased to welcome outstanding guest speakers John Paul Gonzalez, Keith
008Hawkins, and John Hallagan. Uh it's always nice to have other voices come in from other uh places to speak with our students and share with our students. They hear from us every day and from their teachers every day. So, um that was an invaluable perspective. Uh there's still much to do. We had some nice milestones and recognitions this past school year. uh Jersey school character honorable mention, DAJ award uh for character and athletic excellence sportsmanship awards for softball and girls lacrosse, five promising practices which were empty bowls program, project north pole, uh the field hockey administrators versus students challenge, gymnastics together in this county tournament and the tennis for life breast cancer fundraiser. Others were the Holocaust Gallery Walk in our library. Uh elementary students coming here to do science dissections and physics were two
009that came immediately to my mind. Uh freshman seminar classes donated uh to our Marines serving in the field. Our war remebrance day uh and wonderfully uh inclusion of our special ed students in two particularly remarkable events uh in our color guard with our color guard. They were integrated right into a routine that was performed by our color guard on multiple occasions. Uh and also the spring track meet, the black and gold spring track meet um integrated a number of our special Olympians as well. Um all this was capped off by our new graduation morning tradition uh when the class of 2017 went full circle on graduation morning and walked the halls of their old elementary schools. Across the board, we're looking for more student voice and involvement in the upcoming school year. Kickstarted by the
010Highlander Pride Committee painting black and gold in the hallways of our high school. uh more involvement of our students in activities and PAL's peer leaders, student government all stepping up and stepping in to make our school a better place. Uh it reminds me of the take five segment that runs in the messenger. Uh we want to film students expressing what our pride model means to them. So it's not just letters or words. It actually becomes more real. Uh we're seeking ways for younger students in our middle school and our elementary schools to come to our high school in small groups, meet our students, and see our programs in action. We'd like to see uh parents come in for visits as well. I'm going to continue to work with the PTSO on this because I do
011put monthly invites in the school newsletter. Uh but they're not drawing the uh the break down the door crowds yet. So I'll continue to work with the PTSO on some ways to have folks come in. We're reaching out to the community through our outstanding fine performing arts programs, our athletic hall of fame, and our newly formed Hall of Excellence. The environment with within the school is one that we want of respect and accountability. want to quickly and efficiently address distractions to the learning environment. We want to make better personal connections with students. We want to know who they are. We want them to wear IDs, ID cards for this and for other safety reasons as well in the upcoming school year. Uh Highlander Pride means representing us and our activities well. So, we want to
012look to have clear and direct extracurricular consequences for violating our school's behavioral code of conduct. We're always looking at our substance abuse policy as well to prevent intervene and get students help. We're making good relationships currently with CASA in town. We delivered an important message right before senior prom to our seniors and we are planning program already for next school year. Uh to sum this up, we are not perfect. We know we have much to do. We're putting in the work at this point. We're excited to continue our planning and to hit the ground running in September. So, um just a little brief overview. Um, and that's that. Right. Thank you. >> And that is it for the superintendent report. >> Mr. Novak, education report, please. >> Good evening. Uh, I'm also going to keep
013it brief, follow along with the theme. Uh the first part I want to talk about is an update in regard to our uh summer administrative retreat which we do uh we do annually with our with our administrative staff to talk about uh teacher evaluations and and uh collaborating on on how we evaluate. Um this year Dr. Mcuade and I are going to mix things up a little bit along with our exercises in terms of teacher evaluation. We're also uh launching our uh administrative academy where we're going to be um working with our administrators in a more hands-on capacity throughout the year in a similar fashion that we would our uh our new new teachers through our new staff induction. We're going to be working with our administrators throughout the year. This is the launch moment
014for that on uh July 17th and 18th. We do have a number of new administrators who are you know five years or less in their positions. So um you know in our discussions we thought it was a good idea to um you know raise the level of of our interaction with our administrative staff as well. So that's something to expect soon. I also just want to provide a quick update on our 7th grade pre-alggebra course. It's the first time that we have um this level of differentiation in our uh seventh grade math curriculum. Uh we introduced and approved the course last year. The pre-alggebra course now is going to be offering three sections. Uh 54 students, curriculum, textbooks are are ready to go and um those students who have um qualified for the program have
015received their uh invitations and we have an appeals process for those students who um were borderline or parents wanted to just review the uh review the results and and the process is in place now to to have those discussions and and take a look at the assessments. Um, and we're looking forward to doing that. I know this appears to be um, you know, solely for those students who who are testing well and and um, you know, are able to to meet the demands of a pre-alggebra program. When you're looking at it from a differentiated standpoint, we're able to now um, better focus our encore services and our uh, remediate remedial programs for those students in the other sections. In the past on our seventh grade math, we had a um wide range of of learning
016needs in each class. Now that we're able to tailor it to uh our pre-alggebra students, we have the ability to better schedule our our encore and our basic skills services for um for a smaller group of uh small group of students. So So we're excited on on many levels for for that program. >> And that concludes my report. >> Okay. Um Barbara, special reports and correspondence. >> Um the minutes from um May 16th and May 23rd were in your folder. Unfortunately, they were a little late. Um board members did not have to review them and next month. That's understandable. Um how do you guys feel? I didn't get a chance to. They got in there late this afternoon. We'll hold it off till next month. >> That's good. >> Okay. All right. >> Withdraw that.
017>> We'll withdraw the um the minutes then. Um Barbara, I understand that you did have some contact regarding the LGA that we finally got somebody on it and that maybe we're going to get >> somebody. Um I talked to someone a couple months ago after this and she said that she could get back to me. Um I reached out to them um a couple of weeks ago to see where we were in the process and um she um we have a conference call scheduled for this week. >> Okay. >> So um apparently there's been quite a number of applications and they're going in order. >> Okay. [Music] >> Okay. Thank you. Okay, Joe. Legal report. >> Uh, I do have a legal report tonight, but it is confidential and we will discuss it in executive
018session. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, president's report. I have uh two quick things. Um, I want to tell Cherry Terry Charles uh good luck and wish her well in her retirement. She'll be sorely missed. And uh I hope I I spoke to her last week, but if you can reiterate that when you guys see her, I'd appreciate it. And I can't really report on it. I can only go by what you guys had said, but the senior walk seemed to be a resounding success. If you could just uh >> It was on my notes and I didn't even touch it. Thank you for reminding me. Uh this past I guess it was Thursday, the uh day of the high school graduation, we started our first ever senior walk where led by Mrs. Neker at the
019high school, our seniors after they practiced their graduation inside at the gym, they walked up to practice their outside graduation at the football field. As they walked up the driveway, our McAven students and our board office employees lined the driveway and cheered them as they walked up. They did their practice graduation. Then our students got on five buses to go to five elementary schools. The sixth group walked over here to Westbrook and the students who attended that elementary school visited that elementary school. So I was here at Westbrook just observing and it was a wonderful day. We had big sign out front welcoming back the Bobcats. As our graduating seniors made their way through the building, the Westbrook students lined the hallways, cheered them on. They had signs that said which graduating class they were
020in. Class of at one point, maybe 2030, I think we even saw maybe. So, they had a great time. Uh, I know Mr. Novak was at uh Upper Greenwood Lake and he we have reports that after PK that the seniors broke out into a game of kickball on the recess field. We have videos of children on the slides and the swings at Upper Greenwood Lake School and we had smiles on every senior's face and smiles on every elementary school child's face. So, uh it was a tremendous team effort. It was pulled together fairly late into the spring, but we did very well. I'm glad we did it. The kids had a great time. I'm sure we'll build on this for next year. Uh, and we do have uh we did have six cameras at each
021lo or one camera at each location filming the students. I believe one student, one high school student was fitted with a GoPro on an outside facing camera. So, our TV science department is trying to put together some I guess we'll call it a movie set to some inspiring music of the morning. So, uh, we understand people were working that day. It was probably 10:30 in the morning. So, we understand most moms and dads couldn't make it, but we are going to try to get some try to get this video together and put it on our website and share it with the community. Honey will it out as well. So, thank you for reminding me. >> Yeah, you're welcome. >> Mrs. Neer, it was >> actually it came from other sources. My wife was one that
022>> Oh, your wife, too. But I thought Mrs. Never was the one that put it together. >> This is a great example of the community, working with the administration, working with the board. >> It's a great great example of working together. >> I'll say this. I think it was Harry Truman who once said, "It's amazing how much can can get accomplished when nobody cares who gets a credit." So, I'll answer your question with it was a collaborative effort and the whole community pitched in and we'll leave it at that. The kids had a good time and period in the sentence. I'm I'm just glad that we started a new tradition. >> It it sounds like it uh it's it's something that was very worthwhile and and was >> glad that uh glad we're going to
023do it. Maybe we should thank all the teachers that were involved and um the parents who supported it >> here. >> All right, we will uh move on to petitioners petitions and requests. Um, and before I call out any names, um, let me read the statement and then I got to ask for a show of hands. Uh, petitioners who have requested to speak prior to the meeting will be first with 5 minutes for each petitioner for a period of 30 minutes and then time permitting other petitions and requests limited to 5 minutes per petitioner will be allowed until the 30 minute period transpires. Petitioners speaking during petitions requests are asked to address topics listed on the agenda. All speakers are asked to give their full names, spell their last name, and provide their address. Speakers
024may not use the names of students during petitions and requests. You Barbara, you said there were 24. >> Okay. Um, can I have a show of hands of the people that are cuz we've had 24 people ask and then there's always people that don't uh ask for to be put on a list. How many people um are going to want to speak tonight? Can I see a show of hands, please? Just keep them up for just for a minute. I'm sorry. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 34 I saw 25 maybe 26 hands. Um how does the board want to move forward? Um we only allow 30 minutes during this. So do do you what are what are
025the board's uh feelings on this? Terry. >> Um, Mr. Rosselli and Mr. Foody, can we extend the 30 minutes? >> Make a move to extend it because that's what I'm asking. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. 70. >> By by how much? Because if we allow 5 minutes for each person here, we're going to be here for two hours. >> 2 minutes, you're still going to be 50 minutes. >> Right now with just the people listed, it's 75 minutes. The list is grown to 24. >> So >> I I think we should at least extend it to 60 minutes and then if needed >> then there's also a second >> and there's a second part. There's a second petition or request section. So we can do an hour and then an hour. >> How do you feel?
026I'm going to go around. I'm going to ask everybody will >> you can't do that >> which is about 60 minutes. >> It's not 3 minutes. >> 3 minutes. >> Rodney. >> They took the time to come here. Let's let's hear you. Well, but for how for how long do we want to? >> Nobody's saying we're not going to hear everybody. It's just how do we want to do it? Do we want to extend this period to an hour or an hour and a half or just what are we going to do about the second period? It's how we're going to talk. >> So, whatever. >> What do you think? >> Raise your hand. >> I mean, I think we should I think we should allow them to speak. I'm fine with extending a little
027bit. I mean, I think we asked to be as succinct as possible so that we can move through and give the most amount of people time to talk. What >> I think if if everybody did three minutes, which I just as um everybody would have an opportunity to talk and nobody would get. >> Okay, >> Steve, >> that works for me. That'll be 15. >> Um just for clarification, if if somebody has spoken and you've said your wishes. If you got something more to add, please get up. But if you don't, for the sanctity of keeping the the meeting um moving along in in a timely fashion, please if if if it's not something new, if you wouldn't mind not speaking, that would be great. But if you have to, you have to. So, uh
028Mr. Bailey, listen. this is going to be good. So I say let's not modify things. Let's not reinvent the wheel. This is exactly what America is all about. Democracy and freedom of speech. So I advocate that everybody gets 5 minutes, not one second later. And I really don't care if that goes on until the we hours of the morning. God knows we spend so many other meetings here going over the same items, adnauseium, stretching out meetings to 4 hours. So why not have one tonight? At least this might have a minute. >> Okay. We'll what we'll we'll do is we'll start if um we'll see where we are after the 30 minute period and if moving forward will >> I would be for that if we keep a hard five minute line. >> I'm I'm
0295 minutes you know I mean I've got a couple of board members here that have complained that our meetings run too long and this is exactly what they're going to >> keeping in mind we do need to get to the actual agenda. I know. I know there's some >> I think we should talking. >> All right. >> Okay, let's begin. >> Barbara, do you have the list? >> Do you want to rattle their names off since you have it? >> Yep. >> Recipe. [Music] >> Yep. So, we'll we'll revisit it at 30. >> All right. Thank you for having me tonight. Uh, thank you for everybody who came out to support Coach Frink. Um, I think it's I think it's also important to note that the live stream is running and there's a lot of
030people that are not in this town or state right now that did graduate from this school, uh, play for coach, work for coach, or just come to camp that are watching. So, thank you to them as well. Um, before we get started, I do want to wish coach Frink and Mrs. Fink a happy 25th anniversary. Uh, too bad you have to spend a year in this circumstance. Quick background on me. I live grew up 2 minutes from here, 41 Alvin Road. Uh, 2008 graduate of West Moford, uh, played basketball and soccer there, was class president. and uh was fortunate enough 2 years after that to give the guest speaker to be the guest speaker at the 2010 graduation which I think is important because I think West Milford should represent each other and should look
031out for each other. Uh following that I went to Syracuse, played basketball there. Um did two years of graduate work after there, coached with them and uh the past 3 years I was with the Brooklyn Nets. Um basketball is my passion. It's my career and one of the uh perks of the job is we get to travel a lot. And upon all that travel, I met this woman who taught me a great lesson. And she was frantic this one day. Frantic. She's works in sales and she had been away from her family for a week. Her husband, three kids, all under the age of 10. And she was just about to miss the flight, starving. Hadn't eaten all day. Sprinted to the plane, just got on it. And just before she got on the plane,
032she's able to grab a bag of cookies. Now starving, she's in the last row, she sits down and she goes to eat the cookies. And she takes a cookie and the man next to her, he's she's in the middle seat. The man next to her takes a cookie. She takes a cookie, he takes one. She takes one, he takes one. Now she's frantic. It's 7:00 p.m. flight. She can't believe what's going on. Hasn't eaten all day. Why is this guy eating my cookies? She gets up. She takes a deep breath. She sits down. All is well. She takes a cookie. But then he takes another and she takes a cookie. He takes when she takes when he takes another and there's one left and they look at each other and she goes he goes, "You
033want to split it?" And she says, "You kidding me with this guy? You just have the cookie." She gets home, the flight lands. She gets home, she puts her pocketbook on the table, opens up, and there's the unopened bag of cookies that she bought. And look, we've all fixated on some things. We've been down the road where we think we know, and we're right. We know everything that is that has happened and it t and we realize that this isn't the case. We might have gotten something wrong. We might have been wrong in this situation and that we need an open-minded perspective. Now, how does that relate to coach? And as you see, a lot of people supporting him tonight. When I was younger, I looked forward to going to fast break basketball camp. Couldn't
034wait. Over 6,000 people all these years went. I couldn't wait to get to the high school division with Dan Novak. Couldn't wait. And then I couldn't get enough. I was a fifth, sixth grader. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my mom who's here tonight supporting and I I needed to be more involved with the team. So we emailed coach Frink and I was the water boy. I went to every practice, every game. I had to have it. I couldn't get enough. And that's the reason I went to Westford High School. My soccer teammates for the most part growing up, they went to other schools, John Depal, and I loved playing with those guys. But it was something about wearing the West basketball jersey. It was something about that playing for that program. And
035that man has built it over these 28 years. And we can't get fixated on 28 years, though. This is a West Milford guy. He went to school here. He teaches here. He coaches here. And he developed this camp that people from all over this area come to. And so there's something that you guys need to know about this man besides that is his compassion. And I said that's his compassion. Not a lot of people in this room know that I almost didn't make it to high school. I was sick, very sick in 8th grade, weeks in the hospital. Almost didn't make it to high school. And before I put a jersey on, that man was in the hospital all the time, calling my mom all the time. What's What's going on? Is he Is he
036okay? Is he okay? I didn't play a minute for that man yet. But that's how he is as a person. He was there for me non-stop and still is to this day. I've been lucky enough to be in the final four. I've been lucky enough to go to NBA playoffs. I don't think about those things at all. I think about Wes Milford my senior year. We won the conference. We played for the state championship. Joe Light got us. But that's what I think about that man. What he's done for this program, for this town, this community. And I strongly urge that we rethink this. We get this right because it's okay. We don't have to get it right. If we didn't get it right the first time, that's okay. But let's get it right. Let's
037get it right. Okay? And let's do justice by this man. Okay? And I hope that we can all share this bag of cookies and understand what that means. All right. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you. [Applause] Basket. hard guy to follow. M >> Mr. Basket, please address the board and not the audience when you're when you're speaking. Thank you. >> I want to thank you guys for listening to us um listening to me. My name is Tyrone Basket. I live at 48 Jefferson Street, Oakidge. Um, I'm on a different part of uh of the basketball um family. Uh, I get to see the other side of of the basketball other than being on the West Moer court. I get to see the kids at the PL rec center. Now, I get to see
038the kids outside at CYO. I coach in the offseason. What I want you guys to understand it is just not what goes on on the court. It's what goes on outside the court. I want you to understand that the kids are a family. The parents are a family and I'm very proud to be part of this family. We just had a Highlander that passed away uh maybe about a week ago. And it's a band of brothers that came and helped the father. There's a band of brothers that got together and reminisced about Rob Nland. You guys need to understand that it's not just B a basketball coach. This is a guy, like Nick said, has been there has been there for us. Has been there when my guys were this little. I have seven boys.
039Four of them have graduated from West Milford. I have two more boys in the program and I have another one that can't wait to be a West Mford player, but they want to play for Coach Fink. They've wanted to play for Coach F since they were this little. I've been out to eat and seen Coach Fink with his with his coaches, 3 months before the season starts, going over how are we going to get better, how are we going to make the program better. It's never really been about wins and losses with him at the end. That's how sports are. It's wins and losses. But I'm telling you, he cared about the program and it's one of the strongest programs I've seen. We're involved in soccer. We're involved in basketball. We've been involved in football.
040Um, and baseball. Basketball. The program is strong. We have a lot of people that will bend over backwards that would help this program. And John Frink started this program. I believe in this system. I believe that you guys will make the right decision. I believe in the kids that are here, which are grown, some of them were grown men now. They want to be part of this. They want to stay part of this. Whether they bring their kids here or whether they just cheer for us when they look in the paper or online now to see how well we did, even if we lost. I'm asking you, bring Coach Frink back. It's the best thing for this program. It's always has been the best thing. Thank you. [Applause] Eileen basket. Hello. Eileen Basket, 48 Jefferson
041Street, Oakidge. My husband just spoke. Can you guys hear me? Everyone hear me? Okay, >> I can hold it. I don't want to break out into Pat Benitar. Okay. Um, good evening everyone, members of the board, Dr. Anamon, Mr. Novak. Um, quickly one sentence about me. I entered Paradise Middle School as a four-year-old in 1969. Please don't do the math. My last son just left Paradise School last week in 2017. I was part of the first class to go all the way through Makipin with Mike Mcan and John and a few other people around here. I went to another high school to Paul. My parents made me. We're a good Irish Catholic family. I got seven kids to show it. So, I came back to West Mford with my family to raise my kids here.
042Um, I want to thank you for allowing us to speak tonight on a matter that's very close to my heart with West Milford basketball. Before I even begin, I would ask you to please listen with an open mind. Can I ask you that? Can you please raise your hand if you just agree simply to listen with an open mind? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, you all work very hard for this board to represent us taxpayers of West Milford. You are our voice. We are the people who live in this town with you. We are in line with you at ShopRight, at the bank, at the Highlander Deli, getting a delicious sandwich. We're everywhere. You are our voice and we voted you in with the trust that you speak for
043us. We, the taxpayers, pay the salaries of the coaches here. We want to pay the salary of Coach Frink. Each and every one of you has taken an oath to be our voice. And our voice is saying we want Coach Fin. Everyone in the whole wide world makes mistakes. As we teach our children, mistakes do happen, but we must work to fix them. Here's your chance to fix this in front of us, in front of our children. I would ask everyone in this room to raise your hand if you have ever have made a mistake in your life. Thank you. I would also like to ask everyone in this room who appreciates that mistakes can be fixed to please raise their hand again. Lastly, I'm going to wrap this up. I would like to ask
044everyone in this room if they would respect and appreciate a revote in this matter of coach's job to please raise their hand and keep it up. Mr. President and trustees, we respect and appreciate the time and effort it would take to execute this revote. We the taxpayers that voted you in and trust you to be our vot voice are asking you to show that great character that we pride ourselves in as a district. We are asking you in trust to show your good character with the action that would make this right. Please fix this. Please re-evaluate. Please revote. Thank you very much. Josiah basket. Josiah basket. Come to basket, boys. Josiah Basket, 48 Jefferson Street, Oakidge. I'm a rising junior. I wanted to play for coach ever since I could talk. I watched all my
045brothers play for him and I could not wait for my turn. Now it's my turn. I could have played other places, but I wanted to play here at West Milford. I just have one question for you. Why did you take our coach? Why did you take our JV coach? We are a family and we want coach back. Please do the right thing. [Music] Little basket. Luke basket, 48 Jefferson Street. In 8th grade, I came into Mr. Frank's um acupin gym one day. I was shooting the basketball. He came up to me and he said, "That's a nice shot you got." And I and I always thought that I would be maybe a JV player as a freshman. and he said I have a big chance to play for him next year. He saw me as
046a little eighth grade kid, skinny, probably 5'7, shooting the ball and he's telling me I could play for one of the best teams in New Jersey, West Mford High School. When I got to Mr. Frank, he's taught me more than I could have ever imagined in basketball. He taught me how to be a man. He taught me a lot of discipline. He was always hard on his players like every every coach should be. And he never crossed the line with anything. I think he was always a great guy to me. He led me through some hard times in my life and he never gave up on me. I've had friends that have been through lots of stuff with me through high school and uh one of my friends overdosed. Um it was his junior year
047kid I played with since I was this big. He overdosed and when he got out he survived it and coach uh gave him another chance to play on the team with me. It's the kind of coach, the guy a coach is, he doesn't give up on anybody. He sees the good in all people and you should see the good in him. You know, you should revote to reinstate him for next season. Thank you, Joe. Joe Lake. [Music] My name is Joe Light. L E I C HT 28 Mohawk Avenue, Oakland. And I'm the boys varsity basketball coach at Wayne Valley. I've known coach Frink for over 25 years, so I know him very, very well. He's a coach dedicated to the game, to the improvement of his team, and to his players. The team is
048prepared physically, mentally. scatter reports, film, they're ready to play. He's dedicated. Believe me, they're an absolute pain in the you know what to play against because they play hard. They never quit. When you watch them play, you don't know if they're winning by 10, if they're losing by 10, whatever the deal is, they play hard. And if you don't play hard, all right, you're going to get beat. I can't tell you how many times at halftime, no matter what the score is, I tell the kids, "You better be ready to go because they're going to be ready to go." He's dedicated to his team and to his players. If you have kids, would you like the coach to be dedicated to the team, to the players? Listen to what he does on and off the
049court. The team is a reflection of him, a very, very positive reflection of him. He works year round. Summer leagues, fall leagues, summer camp, weight training. Not all the coaches do this. Believe me, I know not all the coaches do this. Dedicated. He's experienced. He's dedicated and thorough in all phases. In two months, I'll be married 40 years. I wear my age. Well, all right. In two months, I'll be married 40 years. My wife always says all the time, it's easy to throw darts at coaches because very few professions do people watch you work. And in this sport, they're right there and they watch you work in an emotional and stressful situation. I don't know if this is called work right now, but there's a lot of people here watching an emotional stressful situation. I
050don't think hundreds of people watch the dentist, all right, pull the tooth or whatever, but they watch the coaches in emotional stressful situation. I've been a high school mathematics teacher who just retired last week, a high school coach for 43 years, and a head basketball coach for 35 years. I've seen a lot along the way. Coaches can't please everybody, especially in this sport where only five guys can play at a time. Please don't make the mistake of losing such a dedicated, experienced, outstanding coach as Coach Fink. Thank you, John. Thank you. Next on the list John Frink, 73 High Crush Drive, West Milford. Obviously, you've heard some people talk about me. Um, I need I've been waiting a month now to address the situation that happened on May 23rd. 28 years, you've heard it. I'
051I've been the basketball coach for 28 years. That's through my marriage, the birth of my two kids, the death of both my parents, and numerous other milestones and experiences over this time. Throughout this time, not only was I the head basketball coach, I was the head coach in girls soccer, girls tennis, and co-ed golf. I've also been the assistant coach to two teams that went to the state finals in softball, and one team that went to the state finals in baseball. That's a lot of time spent away from my family dedicated to the young men and women of these programs. On May 23rd, you dismissed those 28 years and everyone who contributed to the success and growth of the basketball program with two votes. You disregarded everything that has been accomplished with two no votes.
052I had the recommendation of the athletic director, the principal, and the superintendent. I got the simple majority of the vote that night and missed by being missed being reappointed by one vote. Nobody ever spoke to me. Nobody asked me for a meeting prior to the board meeting to discuss concerns. No respect or compassion was shown towards a 28-year employee that literally bleeds black and gold. I'm a 1982 graduate that has chosen to live in our town and raise my children in our town and send them to the school district that I've always been so proud of. I don't know what prompted this action, but I do know that you have received an overwhelming outpouring of support from me over the last month in the forms of letters, petitions, and phone calls. And I would hope
053that, as Mrs. Basket has mentioned, that you took the time with an open mind to read each and every one of those letters. Every letter had a name on it. They come from varied backgrounds. Former players, players from this past season, coaches, community members, and former students. This alone should be enough to generate a discussion about the vote that took place on May 23rd. However, you now see in front of you so many people that have now shown their support in person. 28 years of dedication, loyalty, and incredibly hard work to grow this program from nothing. I took over a program that had won 19 games in six years and where the players were so unhappy that they chose not to play an entire season. I was able to change the culture surrounding the basketball
054team and create a commitment-based program that has thrived now for those 28 years. I had a packet, but it would take too much time, so I don't want to take that time to to hand it out. Two years into my taking over, we won 15 games. We got a home county game and we qualified for the state tournament for the first time since my senior year nine years prior. Since that time, I've been able to build a strong assistant coaching staff, maybe the strongest in the state. I have four former players that have come back to their alma mater to continue what they will tell you was a life forming experience. I have an experienced coach who dedicates his time although he teaches in Tenic all volunteer and my freshman coach is a respected community
055member who is a tremendous role model for the young men starting out in our program. Throughout the 28 years the program has continued to change and grow through successful seasons and rebuilding seasons. We are right in the middle of another one of those cycles. The players are learning about themselves. They're being challenged and they're becoming men right in front of our eyes. It's rewarding and challenging at the same time. We have a job to finish with this group of young men. And as you can see, we are not just about wins and losses. We are about growing the entire person and creating young men who will leave West Milford High School ready to succeed in whatever they decide to choose. The athletic director and I had developed a plan for me to leave in the
056next year or two while training my successor. >> Mr. Frink, I got to keep you to your five minutes because we got a lot of people that want to speak tonight. I'm sorry. [Music] >> Please. [Applause] I'll step down if you want. >> What do you guys want to do? >> If somebody wants to go there five minutes. >> All right. >> Go ahead. Go ahead, John. >> I I'll be brief. >> The athletic director and I had developed a plan for me to leave in the next year or two while training my successor. This would allow me to leave graciously and with dignity. There would be a seamless transition which would be the best thing for the players and clearly this situation is not the best thing for them. The new coach would be
057equipped with all the tools to continue the success of our program. The school district would be commended for the educationally sound plan which follows our character-based educational model that I have been so involved helping to build over the last few years. Tonight is a night that could change my life. West Milford has been my passion for in my entire life. 53 years I've lived in this town. I never wanted to go anywhere else. I ran Bubbling Springs for 5 years. I've run the Fast Break Camp for 26. And I always want to give back. As a high school student, I told people that I wanted to come back and teach with my teachers, Mr. Dandereo, Mrs. Musel, and Mr. Poppy. I wanted to be just like them. They were my heroes. They're my role models
058and I've tried to live up to that dream as a physical educator and a coach in my hometown for over half my life. I'm asking for a motion to revote. Whether it was me or another 28-year veteran who has given their entire life to the district, please make this right and just let me continue to coach my team. [Applause] 30 minutes. We're at 30 minutes. We're at the We're at the 30 minute mark. What do you want to do? >> Move to extend. You want to keep going? [Applause] >> J Merrick, [Applause] >> we're going to go out of order. >> Would you please make a note that Mr. Bailey is leaving the room? >> Heather Terry Egley, 14 Ogden Way in Ogdingsburg, New Jersey. Good evening. Several Upper Greenwood Lake teachers are gathered here
059tonight to support Melissa Berg, as well as the remaining non-tenure teachers who have not and should not receive a riff notice. All of these highly effective teachers deserve to remain in their current positions because they are honest, hard-working, and professional educators. Melissa Berg is an asset to our UGL students and to our UGL community. The removal of Melissa Berg will be a great loss for students and our school. Christa Yuas Yhas 36 Post Brook Road Northwest Milford. As an encore teacher, Melissa Berg works with students that require additional intervention in order to remain on a level commensurate with grade level peers. This is a challenging task that as a highly effective teacher, Melissa Berg handles adeptly. By creating a positive learning environment where students receive both praise and tangible reinforcement, she has made an often
060difficult pull out or pull aside situation and easy transition. Students look forward to time with Mrs. Berg as they are able to work towards winning prizes through the class dojo app that she has set up to link both home and school. Parents are able to regularly celebrate their child's successes and gain valuable insight into their child's accomplishments without waiting for progress reports or report cards. Additionally, Melissa Burke maintains Google folders on each of her students strengths and weaknesses. Utilizing this information and even more noteworthy, she is able to motivate her students to complete individualized and targeted skills homework in addition to that assigned by their general education teachers. students readily realize that Mrs. Berg helps them achieve. Her upbeat style instills confidence and inspires them to succeed. I can definitively say that Melissa Berg is
061an asset to Upper Greenwood Lakes young minds and to the parents and colleagues with which she collaborates. Such great work should continue. Leslie Spone, SPHN 28 Broadway in West Milford. Melissa Berg provides teachers with highly specialized reports after working with students which essentially have become data collection for us. The reports are both thorough and informative. These reports help guide teachers in further differentiating instruction for students. I have used the information that Mrs. Ber has provided during parent conferences phone calls to parents to update them on their child's progress and during INRS meetings in language arts. Mrs. Berg's reports inform teachers at what point meaning broke down for a child whether it be unknown words, text structure or making inferences to name just a few. In math, she lets teachers know the specific reason that understanding
062broke down for either problem solving or computation. For example, there was a time when she informed me that the specific reason a student was struggling in solving a multi-digit multiplication problem was due to the fact that the student was multiplying the 10's place before the ones place. These reports and data collection highlight specific areas of weaknesses and strengths for each student, which allow not only her but classroom teachers as well to celebrate a student's success and address those areas of concern. Thank you. Dina Accarti, AC C A R DI, 151 Elm Street, Rockaway, New Jersey. I'm here tonight to address just one of the countless ways that Melissa Burke has completely reinvented the Encore program. In her time as an Encore teacher, she has brought re a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm to the
063position. Not only has she enhanced student and parent engagement with her use of the classroom dojo app and kept thorough and accurate records on each student's progress, she has also demonstrated great initiative with regards to teachable moments. Every free moment that Melissa has, she sees as an opportunity to provide instruction. Anytime Melissa had even a few minutes to spare in her schedule, she was in our classrooms asking us to asking to help provide more support. Sometimes she would show up at my door and say, "I've got 5 minutes before my next class. Can I take the kids and practice the multiplication facts?" Additionally, without fail, every Sunday we'd get an email from Melissa giving us a list of the few free periods in her schedule asking us to sign to sign up for extra support
064for our students. She even took the time each week to print out extra practice activities for her students to take home on the weekend. Imagine doing this for dozens of students every week. Even on the day when she found out her position was no longer available, she printed out summer practice packets for every single one of her students. This kind of passion and dedication should not go unnoticed and should be rewarded. Thank you. Karen Fusco, 18 Ty Road, Huitt, New Jersey kindergarten. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your time and dedication. Melissa was involved in many schoolwide events, clubs, and committees. Mrs. Burke was on the serve like a Jedi committee in which Upper Greenwood Lake School joined the national celebration of May the 4th be with you by hosting the
065very first ever Star Wars celebration through the use of character education and academic lessons. The morning began with an appearance by surprise guests and one of them being Melissa dressed as Princess Leia as the parents and buzzers dropped the students off. Jumpstart for Success was an after-school club that Melissa ran in two sessions for grades kindergarten all the way through six. Her ideas were innovative and the students loved attending this club. She incorporated science, STEM activities, as well as team building and character education. Melissa is highly organized and professional. Melissa was also on the UGL's 50th birthday committee as well as field day. Thank you. Jane Merritt, M E R R I TT71 Tamarack Trail, Stockholm, New Jersey. Melissa Berg has worked with students in my class, helping them with individualized instruction. She has demonstrated
066her commitment to our students and staff through development of student specific workbooks and lessons. Mrs. Burr created these educational supports on her own time over many weekends. Her tremendous work ethic is exemplified through her dedication to our students. She is a teacher we do not want to lose. If Melissa has 5 minutes between classes, she will come into a classroom and work with a student. She is connecting with the students using valuable educational strategies. Her educational creativity was extremely successful with one of my students who was struggling with math. She did not just find worksheets to give to the student. Melissa created a notebook targeting identified skills. The notebook became a source of pride for the student and Melissa kept updating it until the student mastered the strategies. She is a highly effective teacher who
067is making a difference in the educational lives of our students. Hi, thank you for listening to all of us. My name is Mindy Turner Tur and I live at 190 Long Pond Road in West Milford. Melissa has an incredible positive impact on the overall encore Encore program. Our students are thriving as she has brought innovative and creative changes to the program. She comes to me for in-class support. She has turned around the students that she has worked with in my classroom. Some of my students were very low had very low motivation and they just became new new children. There's a spark in their eyes. They're highly focused. They love doing work for her. They love taking optional work home with them and bring it back completed. My students are all on grade level now thanks
068to Melissa. On days with a regular schedules like assemblies or field trips, Melissa sends emails and sees each each teacher personally coming to our rooms to give support wherever she can. Not just in math in my classroom. she will come and she has told me any subject that I have because all subjects are related to math and ELA. She has been in my classroom um on extra times conferring with students on their waiting at all times. Melissa is professional. She has creative approach and she has an incredible work ethic. She graciously and humbly exemplifies what a teacher should be at our national school of character. consistently serving as a model not just for students but for our teachers as well. We were blessed the day that Melissa walked into our school at UGL and it
069would be just a tremendous blow to our school and to our district to lose her. Hi, good evening. Uh Kimberly Walker Wer 24 Lancer Street in Sparta. Um, Upper Greenwood Lake School has been recognized as a national school of character. This designation suggests that our students and staff portray qualities that demonstrate the seven pillars of character. There is no staff member who better exemplifies character than Melissa Berg. Melissa Berg is a teacher who both staff and students highly respect. Students respond to her fair and caring nature. teachers recognize her honesty and her drive to support both the students and staff of UGL. She has become a thread in the very fabric of our school community. Melissa Berg is a person and teacher who I admire. I respect her kindness, her intelligence, her work ethic, her
070impact on student learning, and her professionalism. The students and staff of UGL are lucky to have such a committed individual on our team working to improve the lives and minds of our students. Thank you for your time this evening. Thanks everybody. Ray Garino, GU A R I N O 30 Circle Boulevard in New Foundland. And uh I am here again to to speak uh about uh John Frink. And um I will tell you it's interesting. Somebody had uh talked about I think John talked about the story about a team sitting out for a full year before they could actually play basketball again. My brother was one of those players that did that. And when I told him I was coming to the meeting today, he he he gave me a little story that he wanted
071to share. He lives in North Carolina. And he said, "You know, I never realized what Coach Frink meant to me until I got a little bit older." Because John had this uncanny way of bringing people down to the brink and then building them back up and then bringing them down again and building them back up higher. And he said it didn't really hit me until I got out into the business world and to realize what exactly that did for me as a person. So, as a 17-year-old kid, he didn't see all the things that that John was doing. But as he became an adult, he realized that those things that John was teaching were not just things he was teaching as a coach. They were things that were teaching him how to live life and
072how to be better in life as a person, as a business person, as a as a father, as a son. So, I just wanted to share that story with you from from him. Uh for me, like I've seen John coach baseball, tennis, soccer, softball, golf, basketball. I don't even know. There's probably other sports that uh that he's coached. Um and I've seen him coach kids age 5 to 18. And you you will not find um sometimes a tougher guy, but you will not find a more compassionate guy. And and the thing that I've learned in coaching with him, mostly in little league, is that uh he he consistently gets kids to be better than they were from the day they started playing in that particular season. So keep that in mind. I does that mean
073he's perfect? No. But are all any of you here perfect? Likely not. Um as far as I know, there's there's one gentleman that walked this earth that was perfect, and I think if you asked him, he probably would tell you he had many faults. Um, I I think that, you know, there was a decision made that really was a bad decision for us as a township because this gentleman was recommended by the superintendent, which I'm I'm assuming was recommended by the athletic director and two people on this board of education voted to not reinstate him as a coach and in essence voted against the superintendent's recommendation. And and I know that when I read um the bylaws in the code of ethics, it does say board members will confine his or her board actions to
074policym planning and appraisal and help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. Now I don't know if the if the superintendent was consulted or the athletic director was consulted before this vote. Uh, however, um, I think that now this could lead to other potential things that that might be damaging for our school district because with simple two no votes a month ago, uh, we really changed how we view um, our superintendent because you all said, "I'm not going to agree with who you said we should hire." Uh and I thought that uh you you're set for policym not to um really run and decide who gets hired and who doesn't in this that particular situation. Um also that night I think there were seven
075board members um four yes votes, two no votes, and one abstension. Um you know I don't know how somebody abstains from voting. If somebody abstains from voting, I honestly don't want them on the board. Vote yes or vote no. Um, today I think two board members are here that weren't present that night. Well, it'd be wonderful to hear from them how they would have voted. I don't know whether or not this can change but like others I think that maybe there should be some more discussion and maybe you know we can all kind of sit back and take a look at ourselves uh step out of ourselves and understand that uh John Frink really does need to be considered again cuz that is 25 years of his life 53 years of his life in West
076Milford that really just goes by the wayside. So thank you guys for listening I appreciate it. [Applause] Mark Mickens. Uh, Riley Babett, Riley Babett, 25 Morris Avenue, West Milford, New Jersey. I've known Coachman since seventh grade and he was always there to joke around with everyone in our gym class. He's been a good guy who like helped cheer people up when they were feeling sad and was and generally knew everyone and not just the athletes. When I joined high school, I was in the herd and went to like all the basketball games and and stuff. And then I would stay after and then talk to coach about the game. In 10th grade, I tried out for the French team, but I couldn't see good and that costed me not to play. So, I ended up
077being the stats guy. In February, I was at the physical sport tennis and weightlifting when when I saw coach there and I told him about not being able to play fet and he asked me if I wanted to be the manager and I agreed. He helped me out there and we emailed each other and he helped me get ready for it. And being the manager of the basketball team was one of the best experiences of my high school career so far. Being with the team, Coach B, traveling with them, I actually felt like I was part of them. And at basketball dinner, he even gave me my first varsity letter. So yeah, in the end, I would say Coach is like probably one of the best coaches of the high school district, and I would
078hope to keep it. I think it Nick Solceto before we get to Nick. Thank you Mr. Babbot for your comments on behalf of the board of education. We really appreciate hearing from you. Thank you, >> Nick Solceto. Hello everyone. Uh Nick Solico, S I T O 31 Kell Crossroad. Um, I had a big speech written out, worked on it for a while. After listening to all these people, pretty much the main parts of what I wanted to say have been addressed already. Um, but I think I still have a few things I could add. I did have a bit about cookies. Thanks. But, uh, seriously, I could talk about think and basketball and my experiences. I graduated in 2009. I was lucky enough to be a part of four of the best years we've ever
079had as a program. Easily four of the best years of my life. Um, I could talk about the three sectional finals we went to, wins and losses, big games, all that. I don't remember any of that really. All I remember is the practices and the family. And that's what keeps bringing me back. Um, graduated in 2009, wanted to play college basketball. Got cut three times. Um, I've been a volunteer and a coach pretty much ever since I graduated. Always coming back. It's a nice cycle we have and a great family we've developed. You've heard that word a lot tonight, family. Um, I remember being a little kid going to these games and I was hooked. Just like res said, that's all I wanted to do, represent my town. We talk about hometown pride a lot
080here. I see that on bumper stickers. I see it throughout the school. And uh I was the epitome of that. And it was great for me after high school to be able to give back because when I was there, there were former players who gave back, who were dedicating their time. Um former players who would come back and help with practice and help coach. Um about John Fink. Um, I feel weird calling you that. I still got to call you coach. Um, it's a year- round job. Like coach Light said, there's a big group of coaches now. There's about seven of us and he's throughout the year texting us about different kids, different ideas, different strategies, what we want to do. And it gets even more intense during the season and um all hours of
081the day. What do you think about this? What can we do to get this guy going? What What do you think about this strategy? Maybe we could do this at practice. But what really strikes me and what is really important is that it's not about the five guys playing all the time or the guys that are getting all the points and all the glory. We're talking a lot about kids on the JV team, kids on the freshman team, seniors that are on the team but aren't aren't maybe not good enough to play those big minutes and get minutes sparingly. We talk about them just as much. And as a person who's new to coaching, that's usually not the first thing comes to my mind. It's all about winning. How could we do this? But he's
082always talking about how we could get this guy in. Maybe we could get this guy a couple minutes here and get him going. Or at the very least, maybe we could get them to enjoy this experience that we've all had, that he's had, that I've had, all these former players here have had because that's what it is. It's a great experience. And you know, all that starts with him. And a lot of this is about Coach Fink, but as someone who's volunteered for here for eight years and has been a part of this family, I'm personally insulted by what's been going down with this program lately. I don't think it's intentional by any means. I mean, no disrespect to any of you, but I don't think you really understand how important this is to some
083of us, how important it is to this family. And what's been going down lately is just blatant disrespect, not only to Coach Frink, but to all of us. And I know this is about Coach Frink, but I I I wouldn't be able to respect myself if I didn't talk about Mackenzie Miranda. A kid who grew up here, played here, one of the best players we've ever had here, a part of the best team, some of the best teams we've ever had. a kid graduated from this school, bought a house in this town, wanted to spend his time with this program, gave everything he had. You know, I don't know if how many people have played JB sports in their life, but all sports are about varsity. So, if you're a JB player, all you want
084to do is play varsity. You don't care about JV. And all our practices are built around how to get the varsity better mainly. There's time built in for the JD players, but they know most of their job is to get the varsity better. And as a 15 to 16 year old kid, it's pretty common that they're not going to, you know, bring their aame all the time. And I've never seen a coach get his team so enthusiastic to pretend to be another team to get another team scouting report in to get his players pumped up about getting our varsity team ready. And he did that every day. He brought energy to these kids every day. He's here at this meeting. He was let go. I'm almost done. He was let go and he still came
085here. That tells me enough about him than anything he could do about coaching cuz he cares about this family. He cares about coach Frink and that needs to continue. And the way things are going, all this we've had seven, we had seven coaches this year. Two of them were paid. And that's not including one freshman coach and another volunteer freshman coach. So at any given practice, you'll have seven sets of eyes watching these kids. Any parent, I'm assuming when looking at schools want to know the student toteer ratio. Well, seven coaches is pretty good for a public school when the majority of them aren't paid. We had a teacher from Utah who came here and when he f he's basketball fan. He talked to coach Fink, they coached tennis together who wanted to get involved
086with the program. And when he saw the amount of former players and people that came back, volunteered, helped with practices, he's like, "That's amazing. That's special. You don't see that. That's what you're risking to lose." What I don't think you might not understand is that that is something that is invaluable. That these kids are risking losing because if we continue to get insulted, they're not going to keep coming back and giving their time. Parents aren't going to be willing to do all the things they do. >> And it all starts I'm almost done. This is the closer. >> All right. Well, we'll do seven. All this ends when he's if this is how this goes. I'm just asking you to please do the right thing, do the smart thing, and do what's best for these
087kids. Thank you. I'm sorry for going over it, but thank you for listening. Jim Jim Dafel. D Raphael. >> Daffhel. >> Jim. >> Daffy. >> Daffhne. >> Jim. Daffley. D E R A.