BOE Meeting 8-26-25

001that all of the goals on those multiple levels, multi-year dis strategic planning goals, annual district goals, the the board's own goals um are all aligned to really be working um together efficiently to serve students. Now, under planning for the administration, the focus is going to be a bit different. The focus is going to be on, you know, working with the educational information, knowing where students are at, where the needs are, all of the educational planning, um, understanding and operating within accepted best practices on a daily basis. Um, allocating resources, providing training and evaluation of staff, and then of course reporting it out to both the board and the community, right? because we all want to be engaged in how um we are succeeding in meeting the needs and aspirations for the students for programs. Uh

002the role of the board is to really um set those standards and expectations through of course your policies which will speak to that and provide that guidance. um have policies that ensure that you're demanding equity so that um people are treated fairly and understand the rules that are applying and how to fully meet that fund the resources and development that's necessary. So one of the important roles of the board is to ensure that the budget reflects the um programs and instruction that you want to bring and the opportunities that you want to bring. Right? So, we can have planning, but it's not going to be successful unless we match it up with a budget that's going to support that for students. Um, and when we look at the administration and their role in program, it's

003going to be really matching programs with New Jersey student learning standards and making sure that everything is in compliance. um looking at curriculum cycle, scope and sequence to ensure that the curriculum is evaluated on an ongoing basis to make sure that any updates that have to be provided and to ensure that it's really providing um you know those that mirror and windows for our students so that they see themselves they see the world and they see themselves in in that as well. They will make decisions about what technology is appropriate at different levels. um of you know schooling and balance and ensure that there's equitable service so that students regardless of which building they're sitting in at the same grade level would have access to those resources fairly. Um for personnel, an important area of

004focus for the board is to ensure that you have the proper policies that speak to the expectations for hiring and um sustaining staff, retaining staff. Um, you also want to ensure that there's equity in the hiring process. Um, that there that you as a board under personnel will um, some of you at least participate in negotiations at times and that you um, are really charged with ensuring the recognition of both staff and students because recognizing staff is is an important key component, right? We want to make sure that we're appreciating and showing that everyone is focused together on student achievement and we're recognizing the efforts of those closest to our students for um the role of the administration under personnel. They're handling of course the actual hiring process and I believe we have our director

005of HR here. Um, so we leave it in the capable hands of the administration to ensure that they're handling the interview process, making recommendations to the board. Um, they're looking at staff assignments. We recognize that staff works for the district and not individual buildings. Um, staff development programs, supervision and evaluation of staff. They're handling those administrative day-to-day processes, right? Whereas the board is staying at that higher level that keeps you informed, sets policies on what the expectations are and lets you evaluate appropriately but leaving the um day-to-day in the hands of administration. For finance, it's important that the board has again policies that speak to what that process of the budget development is going to look like. ensuring that um the community is being kept informed of that process but leaving the actual construction of

006the budget to the administrative team, right? But just ensuring from a board level that that budget is going to meet the needs of providing for the plans that we have for the students. um facilities. Again, the board needs to be really aware um and ensure that there's um money set aside for the maintenance of your facilities. I was in a board um training like this recently and um a member of that board said, you know, we recognize that we're supposed to stay focused on student achievement, but you know, sometimes we have to talk about boilers and roofs and the asphalt. And I said, "That's absolutely true, but what the board always needs to remember is how does that conversation serve students to create and maintain the safe environments that you need to really be able

007to deliver um the education and the opportunities for learning that you want for your students, right? So, we tie it into to how that really serves our students. um the day-to-day facility management um coordinating on projects with if there are project managers, managing the facility staff, all administrative functions that are with administration. And communication finally is that the board has to recognize that its responsibility again is not to speak for the district or for the board but to ensure that there are proper um avenues of communication in place. that information is updated regularly on your website and any other um tools that you're using to get that information out that supports maintaining engagement with the community and if you um have to provide funds to support that work that will be handled by administration then

008you need to match it up with that goal. Okay, so this is a really important slide to just refer to. Sometimes we have um you know unintentionally we may step out of this grid and into the other area and that can be really detrimental to slowing things down when people need to be really good at what they do. The board needs to be really good at what it does and the administration needs to be really good at what it does under the authority granted. So when we look at um the board members, you are policy makers, visionaries and communicators and your policies provide for the guidance of how the district will run, especially to the superintendent, right? Your intentions are clear. We take away ambiguity. We're all understanding what the expectations are. And it helps

009the superintendent to actually run day-to-day operations because the staff also knows what's expected and why it's expected and how those expectations are going to help you fulfill your goals for your students. You're asked as board members to be visionaries, right? You know, have those aspirational goals recognizing where you are now, what um is going really well. Many, many things are going really well in Westfield. um what your challenges are and what's the plan for addressing those while maintaining that focus on the mission that you have and the vision for your students. and as communicators ensuring just that the community is constantly being kept engaged in the good work that's happening and hearing about the challenges and what the plans are for meeting those challenges so that everyone is going in the same direction to really

010support Westfield students and and um we recognize that during the year challenging issues may come up but we have to see in each other a commitment that we may disagree on an issue but we can al all see in each other that we're really here to serve students and try to work through consensus to maintaining that. So the superintendent's role of a district is actually three-fold. As chief adviser to the board, you really benefit from having your superintendent on your board as your adviser who you should be comfortable to go to and get guidance from. and he will proactively give that guidance because of the role he holds, the experience he has and the expectations of his position professionally. He is the staff leazison um to the board from staff, excuse me. He'll provide those

011briefings on things that require board action um or attention. So from uh everything from what may be what he may be hearing from staff is going on in the buildings that we don't have a policies that that really addresses appropriately anymore. Perhaps there is silence on that issue and you need a new policy for something to help this the the um staff guide everyone forward and keep things running smoothly. He'll also keep you informed of those things that you need to know about district operations as well as other things that um you may want to uh be aware of that are on the horizon that may at some point be impacting Westfield. As the chief executive officer, he's running those day-to-day operations. He's ensuring that he's providing progress updates and uh keeping you informed of

012any emergent issues that come up. He's also accountable to the board for the um efficient running of the district and also directing staff members um and evaluating staff members and holding people accountable uh for what they are in charge of. And of course, the superintendent is the educational leader of the community and can be relied on to work with the board to inform you, update you, whether it's, you know, I through a professional um organization that he may participate in, like we're hearing good things about some new program that's out there, there something that we we may want to consider for Westfield here. Um just keeping you informed so that you can um work together and move forward. So to be most effective, it's really important that the board remembers its role as a governing

013body and a community representative um and recognizing the authority of the superintendent as the chief administrator and administrative officer, excuse me, and educational leader. Now, in this this is a picture and I'm a a real visual person, right? So we have those arrows pointing together. The arrows are pointing together because what we're saying is working together to advance student achievement. What we don't have is this, right? We don't want to have this coming together. We don't want to be at odds. We want to recognize that we're part of the same team trying to meet the same goals for our students. And so, we want to really commit to working effectively together, um, removing distractions so that we can be really efficient in how we we serve students. So, one of the basic things I think

014in all relationships, um, not only in board relationships are the rule of no surprises. No one likes to be caught offguard and unprepared, especially in a public setting, right? It can also undermine the the confidence that you need to have in each other as a team, right? That trust that you need to have in each other, that you're keeping each other informed, you're not trying to make anyone look foolish. We all come with our own strengths and areas of challenge, things we have to learn and that's fine. That's what we, you know, ask our teaching staff to deal with students in a classroom, right? People can be at different levels, but everyone can be successful when we work together. Um, and no surprises because it really undermines also the confidence that the community has. you

015have a deeper understanding of how um some things have to be addressed and why they have to be addressed and what's under statute or requirement of you knowledge that your community may not have a clear understanding of. Right? So we don't want to lose their faith in the work that we're doing because it's so um crucial to get that and maintain that community support so that the district can focus on moving forward. Staying in your lane is not just um a phrase or a good idea, although it is. It's also a requirement. Right? So, under the open public meetings act, it addresses the fact that board members are here to serve all students and believe that all students can learn and to um recognize that the board as a body has that authority. So looking

016back at the slide from earlier how that authority comes through the state constitution to the legislature the department of education granted to local boards as individuals we don't have any authority to um act and when we do that can be um really a way that undermines quickly um confidence in what the board is trying to do and what is happening for students. So, roles and responsibilities, just remembering that, and I know that this is probably a refresher, so thanks so much for your attention because I know this isn't probably the first time any of you have heard this. Um, but it's important important things need to be um we need to, you know, revisit them at times. So just remembering that we're not proh we're not permitted as individuals to um either make decisions, take

017action or speak for the board, but not just not to do that, but not to be seen as the ethics act addresses, not to be seen by the public, a reasonable member of the public that we are right. So we have to really think about when we take action, when we speak, are we leaving a reasonable member of the community to believe that because we have information because we said on the board that we're speaking for the board might not have been your intent, but we want to be really careful about that. Um, so it's also important to recognize that individual members of the board are really not authorized to direct any staff, including the superintendent. the board directs and guides the superintendent and holds the superintendent accountable. So, what does that really look like

018in your operations, in your governance, you know, being really clear about the um process that you put in place for how you perhaps request information and data, how you make requests coming out of committee, you know, just understanding whatever your accepted process is in place. it may look different at another district that you're really um being faithful to that process. It's not appropriate for individual board members to request information from a superintendent or another staff member. It really should have the full support of a majority of the board, right? To ensure that we're spending time where that time needs to be spent. If that report is really considered to be valuable information for the board to be able to make good decisions and support a recommendation, then certainly it should happen. But we don't want

019individual board members um taking that time away from what administration should be focusing on. So acting with the majority, you recognize that as a as a board of nine, your majority is five. and you could simply move forward with thinking, well, as long as I have five people, I'm good. We can make decisions. We've recognized that in truth, nothing gets done without a majority. But a deeper um commitment to make is really committing to trying to work in an environment where we're building consensus, right? where we're listening to each other for understanding. Not so much to think why I don't agree with what that person is saying who's holding a different position, but rather why does that person feel differently than me, right? Um why are they arriving at a really different place and what

020do we need to address about that as a majority when we're making decisions to try to be a little bit more inclusive where that's possible? And then also to to have that environment where if you're um we always tell board members, right, it's your responsibility to be persuasive, be informed, and be persuasive. So if you can carry the majority, you do. And if you don't carry the majority and you're in the minority, but you're in a an environment where you feel that you've been heard and considered, um then you should look to act with the majority, right? And you should not be sending the message to the community that well they made that decision and I didn't support it because really everyone is here to serve students and the way the board does that efficiently

021is to make decisions and hopefully bring people along. But when we're not holding we're not holding that position of the majority as a minority if we can feel respected and heard and considered then we should send the message that we're supporting the work of the board. We're a team, right? So, if you play on a team, you know that we would not accept for any of your Westfield um students to come off a field or a court and say, "Well, we could have won that game if the quarterback made better plays or the running back around faster or it's really the work of the team. It wouldn't be acceptable for to single anything out, right? The the success of this board is going to be on how well it moves forward together. find that common

022ground, commit to um recognizing that good people who want to serve students can hold different opinions at times and that's okay. Um but we want to not get caught up in the disagreement but on the action that will really best serve students. Always being respectful what we would hold students in this district to um holding us ourselves accountable to that. So the code of ethics is here. It's really tiny print from where I'm standing and the purpose is not to really give you an ethics um training again tonight. But just to really remember that the code of ethics exists through the ethics act to retain the public trust and the and the trust that you have as a board in each other in the responsibilities and roles that you have to serve students. So making

023it work in real practical sense um one of the things we really need board members to be comfortable with and commit to is understanding the importance of the chain of command right when we know that we can't speak for administration what we need to do is when approached and we we are I'm a former board member myself you know you are approached by community members because they're seeking you know resolution to an issue of concern that they have and there's nothing wrong in that but what is um right is for you to explain and educate people that it's really against your authority to engage in that and that they really need to be directed to the appropriate person on the chain of command closest to the issue that they're happening. So, if it's a teacher,

024if they say, "I've done that." um the next person may be the principal or um an administrator in your chain of command, letting the superintendent know that you had that interaction so he can make the administrative decision um to follow up on that however he sees fit running day-to-day operations. Um we recognize that, you know, we don't want to seem cold to our community when we're approached. You're on this board because you care about your community. you care about students in this district, but it's fine to care, but it's important to educate people that it's really um against why you're here to serve and it can actually be a violation of the code of ethics. So, we can ensure through proper governance that the public has access to the workings of the district through your

025public meetings, through other things that you do, through communication coming through the district. But remembering that it's not your job to to run the districts well, it's your job to make sure that the district is wellrun. So any issue that um we call an it's a fancy way of saying but administrative solution. If there's a failure of an administrative solution, if the solution is not accepted by both parties between say a parent and the teacher, up to the principal, up to whoever, up to the superintendent, right? Only then does it come before the board and the board as a team as a whole will um hear that and decide on it if it gets to that point. But just warning any member that if you've had any engagement on any issue, you would at that

026point have to recuse yourself and not participate in discussions or a vote on a resolution if it should reach the board. And that's something that you may need to um share with your community as well so that they understand the reason why you're directing them in to someone else and not engaging in that conversation. Referring to the chain of command does a couple of things. It allows the issue to be handled in the most expedient manner. It also ensures that if that issue comes up again that that administrative solution can be applied. So we kind of ensure that there's equity and we're not just making different solutions for different people but there's some kind of carry over and equity um to the to the extent possible. Right? We want to ensure that as board members,

027if we're out in our community or in our schools um participating in something that we're keeping board business here at the board table, that we're not soliciting um for feedback and saying, "Well, what do you think about this?" or "Have you heard about that?" or right, we want to stay above that because we want to be seen as neutral parties, which you need to be to govern properly um for those issues that come before you. Okay? And um again, you know, no surprises, notify the superintendent if something comes to your attention so that and then leave it with him as the administrator in charge. Um and we don't follow up, right? Because he doesn't work for individual members of the board and a lot of times confidentiality is involved and he needs to maintain that

028but leave it in his capable hands. Communication tips for board members as you fill your responsibilities are just remembering that of course the superintendent is in charge of day-to-day operation has that authority. You as a board um have significant authority and responsibility towards oversight. So you want to stay focused on how you do what you do as a good board team. Um know your board's communication protocols right internally. um as a board, you know, if I have a question on something in my board packet or something that's going to be discussed at the board meeting, how do I get the answer that I need so I'm best prepared for the board meeting? Right? Understanding um while we really hold a value of transparency with our community, there are appropriate times to um keep things confidential,

029right? Confidentiality is really important. So, if you're working in a committee and you are the committee chair is sharing with the rest of the board appropriately the information so everyone's prepared, um it's not the time for any board member to bring that into discussion in a public meeting unless it's on the agenda. Unless there's going to be um a recommendation and a vote, then that's the appropriate time for that to be discussed in public, right? We don't want to undermine the work of the committee or of the the district um with putting things out that can be confusing to the public before they're really in a place that we have a plan right that we agree on that this is what we want to do and this is how it's going to serve our students.

030Um if you're getting emails you know I'm not sure if you use board docs probably board docs or no you don't use board docs. So if your if your board packets are coming through email um just remembering or anything else that may be coming out never to respond all and uh being aware that blind copying is problematic. So um the data could be tied to and it still can be in violation of open public meetings act. So just be aware. So as I said earlier right a big component of your role and responsibility is towards policy. So I'm just going to take some time now to really look at that in a little detail. Um, of course the code of ethics and under C talks about this the roles of the board as policy makers,

031planners and appraisers and goes on to say that you'll frame policies after consideration um of hearing from those who will be affected by them. Right? So we do this in a very structured processoriented way. Policy adoption is one of the main responsibilities of the board and it establishes the direction and structure of how the district is operating. There are four types of policies just to be familiar with. I understand you have a policy committee, right? Okay. So sometimes what I've experienced is that when board members aren't on that policy committee, they're really kind of like, thanks for the update, but not really aware of really this is how the board governs. This is a crucial part that everyone should be comfortable with. Now, with that being said, we have committees for a reason. We put

032committees together and we trust that they are going to be meeting um the goal of that committee and then reporting back to the full board. So everyone gets the information they need to be prepared for the meeting. But policies are really um the way the board is communicating about how the district should function. So we should all be comfortable whether or not we're on that committee. There are mandated policies that are required under federal and state um statutes. There are monitored policies that are in place that are monitored such as nepotism. Right? We know there are rules against the board um hiring family members or family members of the superintendent, right? Those things we have to be in compliance with. We have to have process in place and policies that speak to that. Critical for

033other reasons. Now, this is one that um New Jersey school boards has tons of information going out all the time and is on our website, right? We try to keep boards informed of recent legal decisions that may um impact you. You would want to be aware. So it may not be a mandated policy, but it's something that you can guide your future decisionmaking on to ensure now there's a precedent out there, right? If we do something similar, we're going to be held to that precedent. So that should inform your decision making. And discretionary are those things that you as a board feel um will serve locally your students here, right? That you have um control over. um you see a need for it that helps things run efficiently daytoday. This slide really goes to why

034you need to care about the pos the uh process and the policies themselves. Right? So from when I the feedback I've gotten is that and and looking at your self-evaluation there are high marks for your committee structure and that's wonderful. Um and one of the things though what we want to really understand is the connection. If you as a board recognize you are here to ensure the proper um functioning of the district to support student achievement, your policies listed here really go to that. So you should be comfortable with them and what direction those are leading people in because these policies in the in academic standards and assessment curriculum of course instruction um learning climate right how how people feel how you address safety and security issues um uh facility issues to support the delivery

035of instruction all of those things. the educational program, professional standards, what are our expectations of who's working with our students, um how we how we evaluate, right, how we provide um ongoing professional development to ensure that our staff is well suited and prepared to be successful. We want to be supporting them. And importantly at the top you see board governance and planning your own bylaws that speak to how you govern right and what you do how you um share you know your focus for strategic planning and tying those annual goals into those goals. We don't want to have so many goals that are distracting to everyone. And the purpose of goal setting is really to ensure that they cascade, right? Your multi-year goals set you on a path of what those district goals from the

036district should be, what your board goals should be annually towards um both supporting district goals and your own uh growth and development in your governance. So these policies are really um important and touch on so many categories that really show why the board is really a policym body and helps you to then appraise and hold people hold the superintendent accountable and directs him in how to evaluate and hold staff accountable to meet those aspirational goals. So there should be and I believe you have that in place your ongoing review process and also as I mentioned earlier one of the roles of the superintendent is to be your advisor. So if something comes to his attention he can advise the board like we may need to look at this policy. He may get feedback from staff

037that says this policy is really not supporting the needs of what we need to do now. It needs to be looked at and perhaps updated. Or perhaps staff comes to the superintendent and says, "There's no policy. We're silent on this, but this is something we're really having a difficult time with addressing." Right? And a policy will help to ensure that there's um a focus on that and that everyone is treated equitably under it and outlines the expectations for everyone. So key points to remember when you're um working with your policy is that it it affects the entire school district. Right. So in the creation of policies or the review of current policies, you want to um engage with your administrative team to ensure that if it's a policy that would affect their area of expertise

038that they can weigh in and provide some guidance um so that we have really sound policies in place that are workable. Um, we also want to ensure that we have good process in place like first and second reading publicly to get feedback and listen to the community. Um, so that we're confident that we're considering the implications of setting that policy. Policies help to clarify roles and responsibilities for board administration and staff. Um, as I said earlier, I was a board member, but I was also an administrator. And I know that when the administrative team meets, knowing when something pops up and we're not really sure how to go forward, the first thing we do is look at the policies for some guidance to see what would be appropriate for us to go how to go

039forward. Um it allows the board and the superintendent to really optimize the efficiency of um discussing and investigating things and moving forward in making decisions to really um have clear actions and making clear progress towards meeting goals for students. And it helps the board to retain that perspective of being a macro manager, not a micromanager. Right? We want to um have that trust on the team between the board and the superintendent um to be supporting what he needs to be in that position of authority, holding him accountable, but also having those clear goals set that you evaluate him on at the end of the year. Um getting those progress updates, right? the success for your students is going to be and really research shows that well-governed boards which I believe you are um that really

040stay focused on their role and responsibility being informed on topics working within the authority working well together and reducing the the amount of distractions that pull us off especially in these challenging times really you know back to the Iowa Lighthouse study show that student outcomes are best in boards that govern well. Okay? So, every policy you make and approve and action you take needs to always be focused and based on meeting the needs of what's the best for all students of the district and recognizing that different students come with different needs and all needs need to be supportive. We have to always believe that all students can learn and it's our responsibility to ensure that we put that in place for their success. So that is really the presentation for roles and responsibilities. Do any

041of you have any questions or want to go over anything that you saw here? >> Go ahead. >> Um first of all, thank you. That was really helpful. Um, and if it's possible to get a copy of it for reference, that would be terrific. I didn't see it in the portal, but I would love to get a copy of it. It's not right now. Um, or at least I don't see it in there, so maybe I'm not using the portal. >> Oh, I was just in it. I I couldn't find it, but um but that might be me. But let's not focus on that. Um, I'll I'll work on it afterwards. Um, so could you um just going into the policy side of things? Um, and just given your experience both as a board member

042and now in the role that you'd had, I would love to hear maybe some pragmatic suggestions on how we can get to that macro level, both those who are on say the policy committee and those of us who are not on the policy committee on how we could collaborate successfully to make sure that, you know, feedback is given and received and what are maybe some best practices and if you have any documents or or or or any, you know, or any processes or, you know, internal controls or procedures that you think are helpful. Um, that might be something useful. >> Yeah, I I mean, I can speak to it just a little bit generally here, not knowing specifically how you're currently running to be fair. Um, but one of the things my background is in

043operations and project planning, right? So, I'm a process driven person. I like to know that there are clear process in processes in place that everyone is aware of and follows with fidelity. Right? So the committee meets and is looking at certain things. The chair of the committee is doing the report and sharing it. There should be a process for all board members to understand how to how to communicate if they need clarifying information. Now you're working in committees though for a reason, right? because committees that are really well-run maximize um the effectiveness of being able to have different groups of board members dealing through different committees on different things. So it's not the intent for every board member. You're not acting as a committee of the whole, right? But with that being said, good strong

044processes that people understand can really um bring efficiency and and really develop trust because people do understand the pathway to that. So if a board member who's not on the committee um feels that there's something that comes up, there should be a clear process of how do we ask through the board president or through the superintendent. It can differ, you know, how do we get something in front of that committee to be dealing with? And it shouldn't just be the policy committee, right? should be similar for any other committee. So that there's an established process of like okay I'm not on the finance committee but these are some concerns is that something now it may be something that gets answered by the business administrator and doesn't really need the committee to review but it might

045be something that you know there's a sense from um the board president that the majority interest that this is really something that maybe they should be looking at and giving back through a committee report so we're all informed on that. Right. So that what does that do? That really um gives support to the individual committees that are running so that they can stay effective. Um but it also prevents you know people trying to do too much be and re resorting to like we're calling ourselves a committee structure but we're really operating as a committee of the whole and you know I'm not here to say that that's a bad thing but you've made the decision as a board to operate in a committee structure. So you really want it to be successful, right? And and

046efficient. So you want to really make sure that those processes are in place about well I have this concern I'm not on the board going to the appropriate authority to say how will that get perhaps on their agenda and then they'll report back on it. Is that helpful? Thank you. So you you mentioned the term committee as a whole. And I think one of the we do have certain systems in place where board members can see what happened within the committees, but there's also that it's always the gray area that that trips you up, right? So it's if it's something simple that flows easily and that you can wait for or whatever it is that that's easy to put into committee. >> The the harder stuff is stuff where you're you're almost more soliciting group

047feedback on something, right? We all see something happens, right? there's a committee that's going to deal with it, you know, at some point in time, but how do we get with the communication restrictions that we have without turning a conversation into a public meeting? How do we make sure that's that's all getting to the right flow? And we've talked about using committee the whole as a way, but I'm I'm wondering if there's some even some best practices on that, whether it's through NGSBA to to kind of get that middle ground in, you know, the better way to collect feedback maybe more as a group and get it there. I could probably um get some supporting information out to you that would be recommendations for how to do that. I think that again it really is

048a process, right? if individual board members have a concern about something, how you would do it. And it might be at a public it might be something that gets raised at a board meeting to say, "We have a we have a majority of the board members who feel that this is a concern and we're directing it to this committee to get back to us next month or whatever you deem is appropriate so that even the public knows that the board is addressing it through the proper way that you are organized to look at it. Is that helpful? Okay. anyone else? And you're right, the devil is in the details, right? It's um it's it's important to I would just like to say this is that you know these presentations I hope I never come off

049um pointing fingers, right? I I recognize the challenge that you have to operate and be efficient, especially when other things come up that are affecting the community or concerns. We want to be responsive to that. But always really remembering that we have to at times take that step back um and really with fidelity go through our chain of command, go through our committee structure, have the process in place so that it can be broached at the board meeting. That's not time for the discussion right prior to assigning it to committee. We want to let the committee that's appropriate do that and send the feedback. The other part of that I would like to say is also another process that's really important is you know of course and it sounds like you do this an appropriate

050time to prepare the rest of the board for whatever that committee report is but if a com if a board member has a question on something just to understand it better. We really want to hold um that the board meeting is a business meeting in public but it's not a business meeting with the public. We want to be respectful of time and not waste energy for all of you because we have a lot to be um doing. So we want to make sure that questions that can be answered to clarify so you understand it better so that when you come into this room you really feel informed to have if there's a a discussion necessary an informed discussion but just you know uh I need to clarify I don't really understand this can you give

051me uh you know point me in the direction of resources there should be a clear way to find that out so that you really come into this room prepared to have an informed discussion that your public can hear um before any decisions are made. >> Yes. Thanks. >> So, just building on that, how do you balance the need for the board to be efficient with our time and making it look like we know what we're doing and the public's desire to understand how the sausage is made? We don't want to look like we're just coming in rubber stamping things that have been discussed behind closed doors, but also we don't not everything needs to be deliberated at Nauseium in public. That's right. But giving updates about you know that this was looked at in committee

052and to the the extent appropriate to share maybe what happened sometimes uh per policy right the work of the committee is to do a cyclical review and always be looking at policies on an ongoing basis. So you may not need to report out you know and read every policy where it might be more efficient to say we looked at these policies they're you know they're okay or this policy needs to be updated because and then that sharing that way right but I think that um you know one of the things you said is interesting actually that we often hear from boards that are um governing well honestly that the community will say, "You guys just rubber stamped everything, right? Because there's um a lack of understanding from the community at times that the work has

053been done before you got here, right? You've been informed. You've read your committee reports. You've worked on your committees. You've participated and worked with your staff leazison on those committees. You know, all of the things that happen to get you to the point that you come into a public board meeting that's efficient." So there is a line with explaining that first and foremost to the community that you're not just going along that these things have been appropriately um addressed in the proper format and that here's what the public needs to know. We're making you know this is vote is about this. We have the discussion we need to have and we're making the decision but we've also addressed this in committee before or whatever it is just to send that message out. they have a

054right to understand that, right? You're having a business meeting in public, but not everyone in the community is um privy to how how it works, right? So, we want to always be educating people to >> Right. And we we don't want to have a performative debate just to satisfy something. >> Exactly. Right. >> Especially when something's controversial. But >> that's right. You you really you want to be as efficient as possible so that the work of the district can move forward in serving its students. >> Good point. Thank you. Thank you for all that information. It was really helpful. And I just wanted to remind everybody that we have a um a board handbook that mimics this that kind of helps us go through, you know, what to do and when and follows the chain

055of command. So, it's very helpful for us and just a reminder to everybody that we have that up there. >> Yes, thank you. As a matter of fact, the next thing we're going to go on to is the um review of the board self-evaluation. And I learned that through that because it was mentioned a number of times. I was so happy to hear that not enough boards have their handbook that gets updated and reviewed regularly. It's an amazing thing that you're doing. So, thanks for bringing it up because then I won't say anything else. I'll let you feel free. I didn't mean that was all you wanted to say. >> Not at all. I think that um absolutely. I I had forgotten it, but thank you for tying that in. So when board members have

056questions um they have that available information right about how to go about doing some of the things that you're asked to do. I was actually going to say the same thing Sonel said was that we, you know, we have the board portal that has all the committee um all the committee notes >> put on there for all the other board members to see and then if there's questions or discussion needed then it tell the board handbook then tells you who to go to if you have >> Oh, excellent. >> if you're not on that committee, how to get in touch and ask questions. That is great to hear and and that is one of those things that you want to really, you know, share with your community that you have that because that's a wonderful

057thing that you have put in place and a process that you're following. So, you know, you're you're doing a lot of the the right things that you're being asked to do and that's wonderful. So, these reviews are just an opportunity to kind of revisit and keep us um recommitting, right? Recommitting to the tasks that we have in front of us. Oh, yes. Yeah, that that goes to that goes to process. >> Yeah, exactly. Like Um I think you want to um you want to recognize first of all that sometimes it's unavoidable right that things might come a little closer. Um, but yeah, best practices, we used to say, you know, 48 hours after that committee meeting that those notes should go out to the rest of the board so that people, we're all busy people.

058We recognize, right, you're you're all coming from work, you have family obligations, community obligations, all of the things that you do and you want to be best prepared. Um, it's also important with the committee. Do you have your committee calendar meetings set from the beginning of the year? You do. Perfect. because some boards don't do that and you know how hard it is to arrange for 9 10 11 people to get together in a room. So, um when you're setting that calendar as a board and agreeing to it, just factoring in that how many days before a board meeting are we having that meeting so that that chairperson who's writing that report has reasonable time to put that together. Mhm. >> Yeah. I I would actually like to redirect this to your president just because

059maybe on a specific way, you know, I'm not sure that I have all the information of what is happening. So, >> Sure. No, I mean, we generally we put the we we try to have our committee meetings within at least a week and a half before a board meeting will happen. Sometimes that can work, sometimes it doesn't. Sure. >> There's times we have to have board meetings shifted around a little bit and that sets the schedule pretty skew. Um, but we'll generally try to have the meetings at least, like I said, usually at least a week and a half, sometimes two ideally. The finance committee meetings are a little harder because you're getting financial information almost up to the >> up to the day. And, you know, and and those will usually be on the

060Friday before a board meeting, >> but as far as the policy committee and the curriculum committees, we try to get at least at least a week's lead time before then. Um, and then try to get the report out. I think probably 48 hours it generally is. I I have to look for every I don't know if that's every single time, but I think that's pretty close. >> Overall, generally that's >> and then there's usually that period in between where folks can start asking questions. Well, you talked about this. What did you talk about? Why did you, you know, why did you discuss this? Um, so I think we're we're generally pretty good on that. Uh, it's not to say that there haven't been times where something has come pretty late to all the committee to

061each of the committees and and you're saying, well, you know, gosh, we got to we got to act on this sooner than later. I don't think any of us love that. Um, quite frankly, but but it is what it is. So, I mean, look, there's always room to to be a little more solid, a little better. >> It sounds like you have a process in place that supports that. >> Just a matter of making sure that process is functioning the way it's supposed to function as frequently as we can possibly make it work. >> And there are times, right, that especially with, you know, um, budget and finance that, you know, you're going up to the wire. I know that, um, even creating agendas for board meetings, right? Sometimes those things are coming in really

062minutes. Am I lying? You know, right before you're you're coming out here and you're trying to update the board and do all of that. It's a frantic time in central office. But um recognizing that sometimes there's not one rule that's going to work all the time, right? So you may wind up getting a report that for whatever reason is coming in a little late, but it may not really um contentwise present a challenge, right? might be something that's pretty straightforward and you're informed and we're prepared to go forward with it. Um, and other times if there is a situation where it seems like more time is needed, the board operates through a majority, right? So, if the board majority feels like, hey, we just haven't had enough time to really hold this vote right now.

063um what understanding what are the impact if we push this off to the next meeting and there might be impacts um that you're not willing to accept right so it's kind of working together to come up with the best scenario but overall having an expectation that those meeting committee notes are coming out in proper time then when it happens where it goes a little off course you can address it in the proper Okay. >> No, I I I think that that's something that through your bylaws can be addressed and and your handbook that you have that kind of supports that. Um I am very careful about trying to make a statement of this is right and that's wrong. Right. Because what I'm more concerned with um and try to focus boards on is if you're

064recognizing there's an issue with that, what's leading to that and what do you control that may improve that? Right? So assuming that you know some if some board member is missing a meeting, what's behind it? Is it a conflict with a schedule? Is it that we have to consider holding the meeting at a different time to support everyone being there? you know, so for me, I would be uncomfortable to stand here and say that there's, you know, one right way and one wrong way to do it. I think we always want to be sensitive to what's in front of us and really pull together as a team and analyze it, right? Um, look at, you know, what's happening and try to understand why it's happening and what's a reasonable response to that to support all

065members of the team so everyone can fully really um be playing their part, right? I'm sure that if someone's missing it, it's not intentional. It's just that, you know, it may be something that needs to be addressed to support that person just the way we would hope that would happen in administration and with staff. Correct. So, we want to make sure that we're not using a hammer when we can um be working together to move forward together in a positive way. Yeah. And life changes, you know. It it might be that someone thought they can meet the obligations of that committee and it might be a personal situation that they're not comfortable sharing with everyone, but they can go to the board president and maybe that has to be addressed, right? Okay. All right. So,

066if there are no more things on the roles and responsibilities, um, do you need a break or should I move into the board self-evaluation? Just go on. All right. So, um, I I did leave copies with you. I think you may want to share now. Now, what has happened um, just to reflect on where we started, right? So the board um should be recognized for agreeing to participate in the board self-evaluation. It is not a requirement under any uh statute for you to do that. It is a recognized best practice. And it's a recognized best practice because it shows your willingness to engage in your own accountability and continuous improvement for what you do and how you do it, your own governance. So the report that's just been shared is my summary report. So you

067each individually who participated um did it through our portal and that information was compiled and it's like 20 pages long. Okay. So what I do is I take down put together a summary report and I've included some recommendations that you may find helpful and they may actually help you on the next part of what we're going to talk about which is board goal setting. um or it just might be something you consider and you may or may not agree with it. So um the uh self-evaluation covers the categories that are listed across the top. Vision, mission and goals, policy, student achievement, governance, team relationships and accountability, resource management and oversight, community leadership. and you all um graded yourselves in those graded the board I should say um in those areas and the on a scale

068of 40 um your overall board co govern governance rating came in at 3.4. So it's showing that you're um a strong strong good well-governed board. Um but like anything we want to identify those areas that are really working really well right because we hope to um duplicate that in other ways and then we look at the things that we recognize yourselves as a challenge and an opportunity for additional growth. So the you have it all in front of you but just going over it um the board uses goals to guide initiatives and the mission statement is the driving force behind communication and meetings. um that's a a plus. So this has been designed with on the left taking um comments. Some of them have been put together because you know several people made a similar

069statement. Um an important one was also that since the adoption in the fall of 2023 of your strategic plan, it has served as clear and consistent roadmap for the district. It's frequently referenced by both administrators and board members as a living document that reflects the aspirations of the community and the collective commitment to continuous improvement. That's the whole reason we do strategic planning, which is to engage our stakeholders and then set plans that are going to support those aspirational goals. The alignment between the strategic plan and the district initiatives has strengthened the focus on student achievement and fostered a shared sense of purpose across all the stakeholder groups. So that is really positive how you have reflected on your work um under uh vision, mission and goals. On the side for um opportunities for growth

070based on some of the comments is that it may be helpful to add the district mission, vision and statement. uh I'm sorry, strategic plan goals to the beginning of the board handbook. Now, I don't have the benefit of seeing that and know they may be there already, but that was a was something that was recommended and you as a board may feel that that's a positive. Some board members um are perhaps not fully trained in in the ways to engage in discussions that focus on the vision, mission, and goals for the district operations and the board's planning, oversight, and policy decisions. So, it's recognizing here and and several people said something similar just about how board members communicate, right? And how to stay um communicating efficiently and focused on the mission and the work that's

071um being done for students. So, a recommendation that I put in is that um a board goal of obtaining board certification through New Jersey school boards could help you in this to ensure that there are regular updates and training on governance topics that best serve the board. The board would choose those topics. Um and it would be run similar to this evening. Training to clarify the board's roles and responsibilities which we've covered this evening. This was written before um I put together the uh slideshow for you and the role in data decisionmaking. So this board from other comments throughout um stressed that you do f do want and work with data and making informed decisions, but it seemed like there might be um some areas to bring everybody on to the same level of understanding

072how to work with data, what data is appropriate, how to request data. So, under policy, oh, and I should say, I'm not sure if I did, um, that you had rated yourselves as a as a team 3.4. Policy came in at 3.3. And it was mentioned that since adopting Strauss Esme, the policy manual and alerts, the board has made significant strides in maintaining an up-to-date and comprehensive policy manual, which is all good news. Um the committee-based approach to policy re allows for collaborative thoughtful dialogue particularly when local discretion is permitted. Um the process supports policies that are reflective of the district's values, priorities, and operational needs. So again, talking about your committee structure, your process that's in place um is seen as a strong positive. The board leverages administrative expertise while maintaining its governance role

073through clearly articulated policy. Um, a grow and a challenge area for this would be um I noticed comments in the section for challenge and opportunity that you um filled in. And the areas that I thought you might want to focus on are clarifying the process of continuous review of policies. This is not to imply that you're not doing that, but as we heard here today, just um ensuring that all board members really have a clear understanding of the policy, how to get something in front of the committee, that type of thing. Identify how the input is received from those affected by policies, right? Um ensuring that you're having um a proper feedback cycle as part of this and ensuring cyclical ongoing review and clarity for stakeholders. So, it's important to have those policies, but it's

074also important that those policies are clear. No one should need a legal degree to understand what the policy says and that um the community has access. So, of course, your policies should be available up on your website. I believe they are um so that people can be directed to them and referred to them. So our recommendation um is and we've covered it tonight uh training on the board's role in policy but the training tonight is again just the beginning of the conversation right so you as a team can continue where appropriate to discuss that and put things into place as far as how you um work together. Next is accountability for student achievement which came in at 3.6. The strategic plan um continues to serve as a powerful framework guiding the district's work and ensuring

075that student learning remains central to the focus for all students. There's a culture here in Westfield of high expectations, informed decisionmaking through analysis of student data and support structures for equitable access to rigorous learning opportunities. This is really um something the community should be really proud to hear that the board is acknowledging that you do really show um a commitment to rigor for all students at all levels under the um the belief that all students can learn and be successful. Right? The strategic use of technology and instructional resources has led to increased personalized learning and academic growth. The board is recognizing that these are all really um good things that uh you are evaluating in yourselves. So challenge area an area and opportunity for growth is remaining focused and unified in supporting the district's instructional

076goals and student centered initiatives without the distraction to highlight the importance of academic achievement through work that aligns curriculum resource allocation and professional development together. I think what we're saying here is that this is not a huge negative. It's just a matter of focus and focusing on the board's role in this work, right? And not trying to um expect perhaps uh those updates perhaps coming too soon or looking to change lanes too quickly, right? We want to be faithful to the plans we put in place. Strengthening the public messaging to more explicitly celebrate the work will enhance transparency, build community confidence in the work, and modernize what the traditions of excellence means to our district in the modern era. So again, engaging with your community, having your community um really understanding the wonderful things that

077are happening here and the reasons behind the decisions that you're supporting, right, and the recommendations that you receive. So a recommendation would be to review how to request data as a board and how to fulfill the board's function of appraisal. Right? The the I I can be guilty of it. I would like information on a lot of things that can be at times distracting to the work that I need to do. It's not really it's just because I want to know, right? We want to really always have a clear understanding of why we're requesting information and how that information helps us in the governance that we're responsible for. Um so the next one is uh the pro the team relationships and accountability. Now I do want to draw your attention that this one the board

078this is all coming from your you know responses. Um the board has this as your lowest ranked category recognizing an openness quite frankly to do better in this area. Right? So honestly I applaud you because this is what we're doing a self-evaluation for to strengthen our weaknesses. So the um the good thing that's happening is the annual approval and use of the board handbook exemplifies the shared commitment to clarity and goals responsibilities and expectations. I do see that as a really really strong tool that you have in place and a process in place um to hold yourselves accountable. The board's utilization of the committee structure allows for thoughtful informed discussions and operational efficiency and information is easily accessible by all board members before board meetings. And I've gotten that feedback from you tonight about there

079being a portal that you have access to those reports and things that you need. So the challenge areas um are how the board and this is something that we see often, right? We have different people with different backgrounds and perhaps um different focus and we want to continuously work in how we develop an environment of trust that supports your working together right recognizing that people will have different ways of communicating but ensuring that it's productive communication so um I think that you're you as a board show that you value, respect and commitment. So I think in this section it's important to look at um the feedback more in terms of you know how can I what part do I as an individual play in this and how to improve that and how to address appropriately

080ways forward to move forward so that next time we do our board self-evaluation these challenges are going to um be resolved right or on the way to being resolved because there's nothing in this section that's really um too difficult for this board to overcome. It's just an honest reflection on things that you can commit to to address to clarify bring some clarity for people. Maybe not everybody is in the same place um and you just want to work on those things together. So a recommendation is the review to review and update the bylaws which are your policies about how you govern yourself, right? your bylaws and the board norms for communication including communication from committees which we spoke about earlier. Um really just getting uh clarity on the responsibilities of board members in the committees,

081what the responsibility is of the chair of those committees, keeping everyone uh on the same page to be efficient in serving students and recognizing the importance of confidentiality. Right? That doesn't mean to imply that we're holding things back where they appropriately belong with the public, but not sharing before we're in a position to really communicate to your community. Um, with one voice that the board is acting that the work behind the scenes has happened through the committee structure. Um, and just paying special attention to how you interact with each other, right? Assuming I think one of the most important things for boards board members to do is assume right as I do when I come in to work with any board that all of you are committed to serving your students. All of you want

082the best for your students. All of you want to work well together and not god bless um and not be the one that's um throwing the wrench in or slowing things down. You all want efficiency, right? But what trips us up is sometimes just our humanness and we have to um just look at the things that we can do um revisiting our code of ethics not assuming that if there's a problematic behavior it's intentional. Sometimes people just don't realize the action they're taking might actually be going in the direction of a violation of that code which would lead to the breakdown of trust both on the board and with the community. So, um I think that you know there's there's really nothing major here. It's just in how you go about working towards it and

083working as a team and staying focused in uh your unity, which is really what your community expects from you, right? Resource management and oversight came in at 3.6. The passage of the referendum is a positive and certainly a passage of a referendum, congratulations. Um, reflects the community's support um for you that things were clearly communicated well and they understood what you were trying to do and how it was going to serve students. Um the board facility and finance committees work well with administration which is a a key part in um you know resource management and oversight that there have to be clear expectations and and good working relationships and that's in place. The board demonstrates strong f uh I'm sorry fiscal oversight and proactive planning. So understanding you know that why you have a long

084range facility plan um what your responsibility as a board to uh get that committee report from finance and facilities so that you can approve the monthly secretary and treasurers reports right ensuring not that you're looking at um all of the details but that things balance every month is the most important responsibility of the board so that there are no surprises in that budget later on. So, you identified challenge areas. No surprise. I hear this so often in every district. Um, dealing with aging facilities, dealing with changing demographics, right? Um, do our facilities meet the needs of our changing community? Um, navigating financial pressures that are associated with our rising costs, right? And having to um make decisions um in a in an environment with a lack of clarity perhaps right now. Um the recommendation is

085just really do what you are doing. Um ensuring focus and alignment of all student centered goals to remain good financial stewards. And and part of that just goes on to how you communicate with your public, right? When we want to put something in place, at times we may have to make a hard decision to remove something else, right? something that's not being sub subscribed well to or we may have to make some changes that not everyone will agree with. But there should be thoughtful um communication so that the community is assured u of the depth of you know the work that you're doing to try to um keep things as least impactful to students as possible. Community leadership came in a 3.3. And the board demonstrates a strong commitment to transparency and community engagement. Um,

086presentations and discussions at public meetings are effectively reinforced through newsletters and meeting synopsis. Um, ensuring that stakeholders who wish to stay informed have meaningful access to relevant information. Um, that is really uh under communication an important function of the board to ensure that's happening and it is. Um a challenge area is just remaining vigilant and separating out personal advocacy. You come on the board and you are individuals. You are individuals with different concerns. But recognizing that the board table is not the place for individual advocacy and that we really have to operate as as a team serving all students. um keeping the code of ethics at the center of your board governance to maintain that public trust in members as the school officials that you are um individual member contribution to the board team. This

087year you probably noticed that the self-evaluation tool looked different and there was um thoughtful reason for that because you are a team that needs to operate well together. That's the most important part of successful governance. In the past, there was that how do I think I'm doing? How do I think the board's doing? Right? And this year, there was only one section. And I would just say that you may want to go back to that one section and check on yourselves throughout the year because it lists the things that are really um going to put you in the right direction, right? Just as a reminder for your own accountability. Um but it came in at 3.6. What do you consider the board's greatest strengths um that you can build from is um the commitment to

088being open and transparent. The organization, the team approach, the board handbook, the structure of public meeting agendas, agendas are all seen as positives that are currently in place. there's a strong team of people on the board and in administration working well together and the committee structure was identified as as that strength. Areas that may need more focus um to work as an effective board team and continue the good work that you're already doing are just again we've talked about these before throughout the evening um some tightening up some internal board processes reviewing and update the board norms and and bylaws. Again, not assuming that that's not happening, but just committing to it. Making sure that all board members are aware it's happening. Clarify internal and external expectations for communication, keeping the focus on students, all

089students and all schools. Um, remembering your governance role, understanding as we talked about tonight, your roles and authority. um making that commitment to consensus building and not just operating on a majority. Recognizing that the majority is a fact of life, but it's um it leads to better outcomes when we really take time to slow down and understand why people may feel differently than we do and making um decisions that might better reflect more people. and continuing to build that trust, sticking to your ethics and staying aligned with long-term goals. So, uh that is the summary report and I was there. I'm not sure if you gave out the action plan template to the board. I recognize that we are approaching 7 o'clock. Okay, you can stop me um when you need to. So, the board

090self-evaluation and the reason we went over the summary is that whether it's my recommendations or what you see as more importantly um something that you should be focusing on as a team to become a board goal. Generally the district goals reflect the plans um that are recommended by the superintendent with the input of the board and approved by the board. Those are going to be specifically um directed at student achievement including of all subgroups um in great part and it is what the superintendent is evaluated on at the end of the year allowing you to perform your role to appraise and make sure the district is wellrun. Tonight we're not talking about that. Tonight we're talking about board goals and it's important to recognize that the board cannot set goals outside of the authority of

091the board. Right? So within the authority of the board, what can you set as three to five goals for this year that will help you improve what you do or help you meet a goal area? So, what I've shared with you is the template is blank on one side and if you look across the top, it just there's a place for you to fill in what your board goal will be. And then underneath it, um what board activities would you need to have to meet the objective of that goal that you set for yourself? And then there's a spot for, you know, who's going to be who are we going to be working with, the resources, the timelines, and very importantly, the indicators of success. It's important to identify upfront what the action plan is.

092Otherwise, goals have a tendency to just sit on a table somewhere, right? What really makes them where you're committed to living them is that you set action plans in place that you agree upon. And similar to how the superintendent will give maybe quarterly updates on progress made towards goals, the board president can make those quarterly updates on progress made towards your board goals to hold yourselves accountable and focused on these things that you're going to determine are going to serve you in your governance. On the flip side of what I gave you for no particular reason is a sample of what it would look like if we were talking about a board goal of evaluating the superintendent. I recognize you are already doing that. This is just a standard sample that we provide and it's

093helpful because it kind of gives you a sample of how they break out the steps to getting to that. This is this was for a board that really wasn't meeting the requirement of doing that by July 1st annually. Right? So if we look here based on what we talked about tonight, you may have an idea about a board goal, but if I could be so bold as to share one that I thought coming from your self-evaluation you may want to consider um is to um determine that the board would like to become a certified board through New Jersey school boards. Right. So um we have information. I think this is the certification process. Um I I'm sharing with you um the certification process what the board would have to do to be certified. Now what

094this would allow you to do is allow you to focus on setting a schedule of goals of you have um four years to obtain 16 training credits as a board. Right? So you could schedule out what that looks like for your board team. How you know maybe twice a year having this type of a training. Um you could select those topics which are really agreed upon to really best serve your board in that moment. Right? We don't just say you have to take these um these topics. They really should be meaningful to you as a team. Um you can um submit uh as part of it on there the certification. one of the steps that could be part of your action plan for getting board certified. A requirement is to submit your contract settlements. The

095reason we ask for that is because we retain that information so we could share it with you as a resource when you're in negotiations. Um you have to fulfill uh performing your board self evaluation annually and you want to ensure that there's full compliance for mandatory training for all board members. So you don't want any of your board team members to fall out of training compliance for mandatory training. Um and that would be a sample goal. What that could do for you is ensure that you're setting the path. Um now board certification will not to be clear be achieved in one year. Okay, that's not expected. But it's one board goal and just like district goals at times maybe multi-year but what do we expect to accomplish within the first year and that's where you

096could um set your timeline for you're going to get two credits this evening right for towards board certification just by having me out tonight. So now you're down to completing the remainder of that and what schedule will you do? How many more will you commit to achieving within this year? Right now, this would be one board goal that you could carry over to next year and the following year until you meet the full requirements of board certification. What does that do? It helps you actually just focus the work you're already doing on your own governance. It helps you um with the research has shown that boards that um commit to professional development as a team have better outcomes for students because you're taking the time to work together um as a team and support each

097other. Um and it also says to your community that we're not just saying that we're staying informed. We're not just telling you to trust us. We're actually working towards it and you will be recognized um at the county level. um you will have you know a a public recognition of that achievement. So that's a sample of one goal and how you would break out those steps to achieve it. And indicators of success again are really important because what we never want to have happen on goals is that at the end some people feel we did great on it and some people feel we didn't. Right? So you want to have real objective indicators of success. we have completed, we agree that we're going to complete this amount of credits by the end of June. Um,

098you either do or don't. It's objective. You, you are all on the same page, right? We don't want to do anything that's going to invite disagreement. So, that is an example, but I'm not sure from tonight and what the feedback and the conversation if anyone has another idea for a board goal that you might want to consider. And generally I would say is that um three to five goals a year, three can be sufficient, right? It depends on what's going to take place. You don't want to overburden what you're doing because then there's a tendency to not really meet your goals. So we want to really give yourself, you know, as a team space to really be successful in it. >> Um I love the idea of board certification. That's what I was looking up.

099So that's why I was laughing because I was looking it up as you were handing it out. So I apologize for the distraction. Oh, not at all. >> Um I love that idea. My question for you is uh at the New Jersey um teacher and no the school board convention >> um several years ago there was a school board's representative that recommended I can't remember what district he worked with but they read as a board the governance corps. It's a book and he worked with them and it was almost like they did book club. Yeah. And they would break it up and those were their courses. Is that the kind of thing that's available to earn credits towards the 16? Like can it be creative like that or are you trying to hit very standardized?

100>> Yeah, it's um the governance core actually can be very helpful to a team to do that. It would be I would have to look into how we would accomplish that towards credits and get that actually approved actually from school boards. So I can get back to you on that. I don't want to give you misinformation here. >> Okay. So I can tell you that I purchased it in 2023 which means that it was presented in 2023. Um it's a good book and uh I don't remember who presented it though but that person has ran book club with two different districts. >> Yeah. Okay. So, that's a a consideration. And again, this is your work, right? Your agreement as a board of what's going to serve not for me. I was just giving you an

101example of something I thought may serve you to get you started. >> Yeah. I mean, that might be too big of a commitment for the board. I don't know. It's just a suggestion, but I didn't know if it was a suggestion that would work towards the 16 credits. That was the real question >> because I think that's going to be a big time commitment to to work book club. Yeah. So, if it doesn't work towards the 16 credits, maybe that's something we >> opt to be it could be um you could still have it as a board goal. If you agree that you all want to commit to doing that, it wouldn't necessarily earn you credits because it would my time would for credits to happen. I have to be interacting with the board in

102a training situation and I'm not sure that I would be able to fulfill that to meet the requirements from school boards. >> Yeah. So, if you can just find out, then we'll know if it's an option. It's called the governance core core. I own it. I can send it out. >> Well, um Kristen, if we don't add it as a goal, I will meet you for book club. >> See, there you go. >> Um but I do think that um I think this is excellent. These are exactly the types of controls we should be working towards as a group and this is really great structure. >> Oh, I'm glad you hear that. One thing I would say is that I think that, you know, and we can figure this out offline, but we should figure

103out like a timeline for when we get back to Rob with maybe our suggestions and then figure out a way to meet as a group to to get to Yes. But I just want to say I think this is a terrific structure and set of controls and frameworks. Um, and just thank you. >> Yeah, we we we really recognize that there's so much expected of the board, right, as individuals and as a team. We're not trying to lay layer on more responsibility, more time away from your families and your work commitments, right? We want to really use this as a tool to help you efficiently work towards what it is that you're doing. >> Just a note to the board, uh we've made board certification a board goal several times during my tenure and it

104is difficult to achieve. Not because the getting training done is hard, but it requires devoting this much time at the start of four board meetings every year for four years and finding the schedule that allows us to do that. We despite having the goal and making progress towards it, we haven't achieved it because of that simple logistical problem of not just our schedule but our NJSBA rep schedule. >> If I could just address that, it's it's reasonable. I'm not going to say it's not. So it's four it's 16 credits o achieved over four years. So it's four credits a year. Tonight you're you've achieved two for this year, right? So if you stay on that kind of schedule, it also doesn't have to be a two-hour commitment. You know, we can be flexible for me

105coming out and doing this as an hour. Um other boards that I work with, so I cover Essex Union and Hudson County, and I can't tell you how different things can look across those counties. Okay. and the needs of the board members as well as the administrators. So, some boards actually find it more helpful to do like special meetings like a retreat for the purposes of this um and not um doing it on the same night as a board meeting because it's a really long night. We recognize and truthfully I'm not advocating for just checking boxes like okay we all sat through that for an hour. We really want you to be in a place where you can focus on what it is and interact and work with each other most importantly so that it's

106just another um way to present it that that can be more palatable. I've done retreats for two and three hours um and you know on a night that's not a board night. Um so it really is what we can adapt to work with you and your board. Just to clarify my point, I'm not saying we shouldn't do it, but if we're going to do it, we need to make it a priority of the board uh and actually devote the time to achieving it. >> I I totally heard you weren't saying that you shouldn't do it. >> Um and and I think if anything, I think it supports the uh template I put in front of you is like that's really a way to create that board goal, um and live it, right? So, one of

107the things we say about board goals and I mentioned earlier is for the president of the board to be able to on a quarterly basis commit to updating the public at a board meeting, right? Like this is the progress we've made toward and not just this goal, whatever your other two or three goals are, right? So that when you do that, the board is remaining focused on the work of the board and what you you as a team have decided is important for you to be focused on, right? Hey Brendan, I didn't know whether or not we were going to pass that referendum and that seemed like the most like unbelievably un impossible thing to do. But if we did that, maybe we could do this. >> We can do anything. >> Yeah. And as

108your field service representative, I believe in you. So, I'm not sure if there are any other um possible goals you'd like to discuss or any questions for me or >> just clarification on the seven members of a nine member board. Um it doesn't matter, it doesn't have to be the consistent same members. >> So, the goal is um we want nine members for training, right? Um but the requirement is the superintendent has to participate in it as well. Um, but we recognize like this evening I believe you have a board member who's not here tonight and we don't want to say like, oh, all of this time spent for you. We can't count it, right? We want to really work with you, but um, we recognize life being what it is, it's complicated. So, the

109it's been established that as long as seven members at a minimum are there, then I'm permitted to give you credit for the training. In terms of credit accumulation, in the past, there's been requirements from the NSPAI that there be continuity and consistency with who those seven board members are. So, if the if a quorum of the board had changed over, pretty much all the points are lost in the process. Is that still the case? >> I just want to give you props for knowing that. So, I I thank you so much. It's a it's a great opportunity for me to talk about that. So that was in in fact in place and what New Jersey school boards recognized is that it's it's really difficult to um you know we have rules and good rules are

110ones that you can really hold people accountable to. But if we're just making rules that nobody can really track, um there is the expectation that you'll you won't be able to for forever maintain your board certification, right? Especially with change over on the board, but we really don't have a way. Some boards are stable and may see one person change over in those four years. Other boards may see a lot more change than that. But if there's a commitment to the structure, you could argue that it's more than just the person. It's commitment from the team to be focused on these things. Um, and so they've kind of stepped away from that requirement necessarily. Yeah. Trying to make it more doable without making it, we don't want it to be like we're handing everybody a

111trophy, right? We really want it to be a commitment from the board to really be um working together on their own governance and us facilitating that for you. But we we need to make it doable as well. >> So how long is the certification last for for the board? >> Yeah, so you maintain the certification. I think it was on there. I I have to say they I have to be careful because they have just recently changed some of the things on there. Um, there's this is the first level of board certification and you'll hold it. If you go for another 10 credits, there's a higher level of certification and I'm going to this is horrible to admit. I'm going to back to you because it's been something that's been actually under active discussions back

112at New Jersey school boards about what that's going to look like. But you do hold it for a couple of years. It's not like it just falls off, you know. I am sensing some levels of consensus on certification and board goals for for sure. Um I think what might be helpful I I I I always like ending on I believe in you. This is great. Like all all the good positive stuff. That's a that's a that's a good way to wrap it up. And and I've always said look before even here especially focus after the referendum. Um, you know, no team is perfect, but I, you know, we've got a great team. >> Yeah. >> Um, however, we may agree, disagree on, whatever it is, we all, I think, have ultimately come together for some

113great things. And that's why we wanted to do this at the beginning of the year, get us reentered, refocused, and now we have a whole another group of great things to focus on. So, what I'm what I'm going to suggest is, you know, maybe I can speak a little bit later. I have just a couple of other process questions about the easiest possible ways to gather information. You know, I think a lot of this would be run through one or at least two committees and I want to make sure sometimes it's easier to have the committee create a plan and have everyone look at it. Sometimes it's better, I think, to collect some feedback first and give the committee some clay to work with. And I my my lean is toward that latter point. And

114one of the things I want to clarify with you is the best way for me to do that while, >> you know, while ensuring that I'm not, you know, you know, messing up the Open Public Meetings Act in doing so. So I think that's how I that's sort of my thought process is the best way to collect feedback but not to wait very long to do that process. I think this is a good good start. >> You know, not not having everyone on it, but individually one-way communication. So if you as the board president request that the members of the board send you their thoughts on possible goals, then you can at least collect that information, which might be a good start if you're going to then turn it over to say your governance committee

115or whatever for further discussions. and then they can report back to you. >> Oh, that's good. So, I can compile as long as we're not having a discussion about it. I can compile a discuss I can compile things one way board members should not be putting like all the board members on it just directly to you. Just one way communication should be fine. >> Oh, perfect. Okay, it's a good start. Okay, great. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. And if um I always give this final thought just to everyone is that you know I am your field service representative. I work with you as a team, but um it's also my responsibility to be able to be available to you as individuals if you need guidance or support or sounding board. Um I do not

116insert myself in the operations of your district. I want to always work to get you in the place that you feel you can best serve. So, however I could do that. Any conversations we have, if you reach out to me, are confidential. It undermines trust if I start talking about who I spoke to last. Um, so I hope that in the time that we've spent together that you know you get that sense that I want to be available to you and help you. My whole goal is to see you be really successful at what you're doing for the students of Westfield. Okay. >> Well, I'd like to thank you very much for coming out for spending all this time with us and and helping us, you know, get uh get focused and and ready for

117the year. So, thank you very much. >> Of course. It's my my pleasure and good luck to the o with everyone for the opening of schools. It's an exciting time and um I look forward to working with you again. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> I think we should take five. Um let's let's come back in about five minutes and then we'll get through the rest of the meeting. I think everybody needs a little bit of a break. So So we'll I'll just take five. Hello. Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Dig it if y'all ready. Oh man. Oh. You're good. All right. We'll uh we will uh we'll come back to order uh for the rest of the board meeting. Uh next step, I think is a report

118by district administration. Dr. Gonzalez. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh I just wanted to use the opportunity as uh we start the school year to to give a a brief report um just on all the work that has uh taken place over the summer. Um even though our classrooms may be quieter, all the work behind the scenes uh is certainly full uh in full speed as we prepare to welcome staff and students back for the 2526 school year. Um over the past couple of weeks, uh our schools have also been uh able to see the renewed energy, um with the kickoff of fall sports, um as well as various new student, uh events and orientations, which really starts to set the strong and positive tone for the school year. So, my report this evening, I just

119want to share some updates on district initiatives and progress that took place across the district uh this summer. Uh beginning with our bright futures uh update. Um, as you know, the bright futures refers to our uh uh referendum from this past spring, and the district continues to make significant strides in advancing the referendum projects. Uh, tonight uh legacy construction management is being recommended to officially join the implementation team uh to work alongside the administration, the architect as well as the district engineer to bring all these referendum projects to life. Uh the combined uh experience and expertise of our hired professionals will be invaluable as we move along with planning uh design coordination and construction oversight to make sure that our projects remain on time and within budget. Engineering surveys and programming reviews have been completed

120uh confirm confirming the space requirements at each school. Uh, additionally, over the summer, a $25 million bond anticipation note, which was approved at the August 12th special meeting, was successfully sold, yielding a net interest rate of 2.5%, which helped to reduce borrowing costs and provided a premium payment to offset finance uh financing expenses. Now, moving on to facilities, projects, and improvements. The summer is always uh a period of intense facilities activities, and this year's no exception. In addition to the annual scrub down and deep cleaning, our summer work blitz uh delivered key upgrades throughout the district. Multiple classrooms and offices renew received new flooring, fresh paint. And while athletic fields uh were uh not getting renewed uh paint and uh flooring uh they were getting air rating uh and reating to improve uh playing conditions.

121cafeterias uh spaces as you see in this uh room this evening. Uh we're refreshed with new paint and furniture installations that are are preparing for our students arrival here at the high school. Um we we are excited by the opportunities to uh implement their new schedule and and accommodate our students needs. All second grade classrooms received updated furniture as a continuation of our furniture refresh with which began uh last year. And I do want to highlight the importance uh that everything that we're seeing around is a perfect example of how we have been able to uh take advantage of the support of our community and being able to allocate resources within the um within the operating budget to still accomplish the facilities maintenance and upgrades that you see. In addition to all uh of the

122work that's going to be accomplished by the uh the referendum, we still have uh a school district that we need to take care of. And and I just appreciate the support of the the board of education and certainly the the community when they uh approve budgets that allow us to continue to invest slowly but surely uh in our schools. Uh, I just want to add that security enhancements including the installation of upgraded cameras and external security beacons at key entry points also took place over the summer. And then on July 14th, if you recall, there was a significant storm that resulted in in some damage uh to our schools where that damage was swiftly addressed uh with new flooring installed at Edison's cafeteria and at the high school band room. At Roosevelt Intermediate School, we

123are on to phase three of the facade project with steel installation now complete and additional construction scheduled uh to continue through the spring, ultimately leading to project completion. In the realm of curriculum and programs, the summer months have been filled with robust curriculum work and program planning. Teachers and supervisors collaborated to align curriculum with understanding by design framework focusing on stage one redesign and the development of stages two and three in edup planet our curriculum management system that is posted on our website. Highlights include updates to K8 science, intermediate social studies in the high school global perspectives and visual arts courses. Professional learning initiatives have prepared staff for the rollout of the new schedules this fall as well. Um, and we also have special education planning um that advances the upcoming implementation of the just

124words literacy program and the number world's math curriculum in elementary special education classrooms. Additionally, planning is underway for a centralized student support services hub to streamline collaboration among child study teams, teachers, and interventionists. Now, moving on to personnel. Uh in addition to interviewing and onboarding of numerous c candidates over the summer, this week the district formally welcomed its 20 w 21 newest uh educators through the new staff institute featuring tailored sessions on strategic priorities, instructional frameworks, and community building uh activities. NSI New Staff Institute uh cohort number two continues its year-long professional learning through a study of hidden potential by Adam Grant. The district is also actively working on updates to job descriptions across all positions and stipens. And in the final highlights uh for the summer, we look at finance. In addition to the

125successful uh bond anticipation note sale, the district managed several key financial updates. The idea grant funding uh remains relatively stable for the fiscal year 20 uh 26 while title 2 and title three ESA funds are pending federal action. Extraordinary aid reim uh extraordinary aid reimbursement for the 24-25 school year came in lower than expected um compared to the prior year. But this impact uh this will impact transfers into capital and maintenance reserves. But it does remain uh aligned with budget projections. Fiscal closeout work is ongoing. Our auditors are on site uh and we expect um to be able to provide additional uh information as the year continues. Now, as we look ahead, we are excited to welcome our staff back next Tuesday, as mentioned during uh our um announcements and our students next Thursday. But

126in closing, I just want to thank everyone for their ongoing support and partnerships as we continue to build on this summer's accomplishments and move the district forward uh this school year. So, thank you very much. And that concludes my report this evening. I want to on the behalf of the board, I want to add our thanks as well to all the work that our our folks on the district team and our staff did over the summer. of just sitting in here. I mean, I'm I'm looking very forward for students to come back and just check out just this cafeteria to start with from all the work that got done. So, you know, the students go on vacation. Everybody talks about what were your summer plans, but the summer plans for our district and leadership team

127are to continue the great work that we're doing. And that's not just them. It's it's our custodians who who don't leave. It's our teachers, many of whom stay on for hours and hours after to develop curriculum and to mentor new staff. So, thanks very much to everyone from the district from all the way around and any in any title for all the work that you've done to keep things moving for our students. Um, we do not have committee reports this evening because we're just getting started. Uh, we'll have committee reports for our next meeting. Um, I would now uh typically open the open the floor to recognize the public for comment on board agenda items only. Uh and seeing no members of the public here, I will close that time uh and move to making

128a motion to approve our minutes from the June 17th, 2025 regular board meeting uh and executive session minutes as well as from the August 12th, 2025 uh special board meeting. Can I have a uh a second? Second to Kent. Uh we can do I guess all in favor for approval. Uh please say I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? >> I was not here at the June 17th meeting. >> You'd like to abstain? You You can vote on it if you read the minutes, but if you'd like to >> then I read the minutes, so then I'm okay. Okay. >> Yes. Yeah. As long as you read the minutes, you're good. Okay. Um, so next, uh, Kristen, would you please move the governance items? >> Yes. I'd like to move item A under the governance section

129of tonight's agenda. Can I get a second? Sonel, >> and we can vote. Rob Bacio, >> yes. >> Kent Diamonds, >> yes. >> Brendan Gallagan, >> yes. >> Charles Galinus, >> no. >> Leila Morelli, Sonel Patel, >> yes. >> Kristen Sonic Schmeltz, >> yes. >> Julie Steinberg, >> no. >> I'm sorry. No. >> No. Okay. >> Mary Wicens, >> yes. >> Uh, moving next to the personnel items on the agenda. Mary. >> Yes. I'd like to move items A to Q under the personnel section of tonight's agenda. Is there a second? Kent, I'll take you. Um, Dr. G, do you have any remarks? >> I do. Uh, tonight we are actually honoring the retirements of two of our employees. Mary McElroy uh has been a steady and essential presence in the special services department where

130her work as a secretary has quietly supported the success of countless students, families, and staff throughout her career. Mary has been a calm, depending dependable voice, helping to coordinate IEP and annual review meetings with precision and care. She's managed calls, messages, and follow-ups with consistency and compassion, becoming a trusted point of contact all year round. Her colleagues came to rely on her thoroughess, punctuality, and sense of discretion, knowing that with Mary on the task, nothing would be overlooked. Beyond the logistics, Mary approached every interaction, whether with a parent, teacher, student, or even service provider, with kindness, respect, and a positive spirit. Her legacy is one of dependable service, well-run systems, and a deep commitment to students and families. Mary's quiet quiet excellence will be missed but her impact will continue to be felt throughout the

131district. Sharon Zuber Sharon Zuber has been a dedicated par professional at McKinley since 2003 most notably at McKinley Elementary School where she has supported students and staff as a full-time paraprofessional. Throughout her time at McKinley, Sharon has worked in a variety of roles serving both as a one-to-one paraprofessional and in self-contained classrooms. No matter the assignment, she has approached her work with dedication, warmth, and an unwavering commitment to helping students thrive. Sharon has a gift for building strong, trusting relationships. Her students know they are seen, supported, and genuinely cared for. That makes all the difference. And that makes all the difference. Beyond the classroom, Sharon is also known for her baking talents and her home homemade treats bright have brightened many days for her colleagues. Whether offering a helping hand or a sweet surprise, Sharon

132has always made those around her feel a little more cared for. Her kindness, loyalty, and quiet strength have left a lasting impression on the McKinley community. We'd like to wish Mary and Sharon all the best for a happy and healthy retirement. Thank you. Can we have a vote? >> Rob Bacio, >> yes. >> Kent Diamond, >> yes. >> Brendan Gallagghan, >> yes. >> Charles Galinus, >> yes. >> Leila Mr. Sonol Patel, >> yes. >> Kristen Sonic Schmeltz, >> yes. >> Julie Steinberg, >> yes. >> Mary Wickens, >> yes. >> Uh, next up is finance facilities. Uh, Kent, I'll ask you to move that with what I'm now going to call the diamond donations report ideally coming in as well. Very good. Very good. I like it. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to move items

133A through T on the financing facilities and I will highlight some donations. We're starting the year off great. >> We have three so far to highlight. Uh first from the Westfield Soccer Association, the donation of $21,85 to landscape and turf maintenance at the Elm Street soccer field. Secondly, the McKinley PTO, $600 to purchase water for the staff room at McKinley. And then the Democracy PTO donated $871 to purchase a memory bench to honor the late crossing guard, Mr. Tom, who was a very nice man. So, thank you to all those organizations for their donations. And uh May I have a second? I'm sorry. Second. >> I thought you I thought you had a question. Kristen, >> I thought you were >> And then I do want to call out two things in the agenda. >>

134Yeah. Uh the first is uh as Dr. G had mentioned uh the appointment of legacy construction management uh to help us oversee the uh bond projects as they come to fruition. It's a contract that starts basically the second we approve it and will continue through uh the the last bit of construction, however long that takes us. And the second is uh federal funding. We did get a a slight well about the same amount as we got last year, but we anticipated significant cuts and it works out to about $1.6 million. Uh we with the cuts at the federal level, we anticipated that being about half if not a little less and they held us flat. So it helps that the extraordinary aid was offset by other aid. >> And just when you look at the

135months for legacy construction, that's by construction manager. That's why it's 130 months. I looked it up, friend. Yeah, >> it's not the job is not lasting for 130 months hopefully. >> So the unit is men months. >> Thank you. >> Uh Rob Bacio, >> yes. >> Kent Diamonds, >> yes. >> Brendan Galligan, >> yes. >> Charles Galinus, >> yes. >> Laya Morelli. Sonol Patel, >> yes. >> Kristen Sonic Schmeltz, >> yes. >> Julie Steinberg, >> yes. >> Mary Wickens, >> yes. Uh, Kristen, would you move curriculum, instruction, and programs? >> Sure. I'd like to move items A and B under the curriculum section on tonight's agenda. Can I get a second? Mary, any questions? Okay, then we can vote. Rob Bonacio, >> yes. >> Kent Diamonds, >> yes. >> Brendan Gallagan, >> yes. >> Charles

136Galinus, >> yes. >> Laya Mr. Sonel Patel, >> yes. >> Kristen Sonic, >> yes. Julie Steinberg, >> yes. >> Mary Wickens, >> yes. >> Okay, with that, I will call the board's attention to the notes for the record. Uh, there was no unfinished or new business submitted for the agenda. Uh, next is liaison reports. I'm not sure that there are any early on. So, uh, okay. So, I'll next move to recognizing the public for comments regarding any matter within the board's jurisdiction. Seeing that no members of the public have come in the span of time between the first public comment, I will uh and that is still the case. I will now close the second public comment. Uh and I will request a motion to adjurnn. >> Second for Ken. Uh all in favor, please

137say I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? We are adjourned. >> Nice.