001Okay, I would like to call this meeting to order. This is a regular session of the Township Board of Education held for the purpose of transacting appropriate board of business. In compliance with chapter 231 laws of 1975, the notice of this meeting was advertised in the Mars County Daily Record. Copies of the agenda of this meeting were appropriately posted and made available to the public. Mrs. Barta here. Mr. Brandon here. Mrs. Cabana here. Mr. Chen here. Mrs. Hermy. Mr. Johnson here. Mrs. McBride here. Mr. Mills here. Mrs. Noika also present Mr. Fatini, superintendent principal. We have a quorum. Thank you. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
002all. Okay, at this time we're going to rearrange the agenda and go right to a close session at this point in the meeting. And with that, we have a motion to enter into executive session to discuss issues that warrant confidentiality as permitted in the open public meetings act chapter 231 of the office of 1975. These matters may or may not be made public when the board reconvenes. They will be made public when the confidential of the subject is no longer warranted and the topic of discussion is student residency and and the rest of the meeting will take place after the close session. I may have a motion please. I'll make the move. I'll second. Is there a second? All those in favor say I. I. Thank you. If there's any members of the public uh
003that you wish to see the rest of the meeting, please wait out in the hallway and we'll we'll call upon you when we return. Thank you. Okay. We've just returned from our close session. We do not have a presentation this evening nor a student representative. So that brings us to board business motions 1 through three. May I have a motion, please? Is there a second? Second. Any questions, comments, or discussion? If not, the questions on the adoption of board business motions one through three. All those in favor say I. I. I. Anyone oppose say no. Any abstensions? And that brings us to board business motion number four. May I have a motion, please? I'll move. Is there a second? Second. Any questions, comments, or discussion? If not, this is a roll call. Mrs. Bardock, yes.
004Mr. Brander, yes. Mrs. Cabana, yes. Mr. Chen, yes. Mr. Johnson, yes. Mrs. McBride, yes. Mr. Mills, yes. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you. That brings us to administrative reports. Starting with the business administrator board secretaries report, Mr. Murray. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. Thank you very much. Yes. Thank you. We'll talk. Have a good morning. Thank you. Just very quickly, just a couple of items. 2526 budget. Now that it's approved, we're entering in purchase orders and supplies, materials, and services for next year. Cafeteria table replacement went uh swimmingly. It uh was installed in April, and they look great. Um, heating system. I mentioned before uh the last meeting that we had valves that were to be replaced on the heating system. We did that. We had to drain the whole system out and uh replace
005some valves and some piping. New Jersey school board's conference. So, just a reminder, let me know if you plan on attending somehow already for the 2025 Plan City Workshop Monday, October 20th through the 23rd. If anybody's interested, just let me know. Uh, and I'll just confirm reservations down. But we are registered as a group. Um, so everybody will have access to materials after the workshop is over. And then 2025 commencement. It's hard to believe we're talking about that, but preparations are being made for June 20th commencement. Chairs are ordered, landscapers trimmed all the bushes, they mulch all the planting beds, and additional FL uh flower plantings are planned within the next week or so. So we'll be in fine shape for uh for commencement. And that is all I have. John, can I ask a
006question? Sure. Why was the sign out last week for like five days? Do you know? Um, just notice it was dark. No, they went, you know, there was a technical went out and then the software issue and then we had to call the the supplier and our technical people got them all straightened out. Thought it was a power thing. It wasn't a power thing. It was a software and a communication issue. It just shut off. Great. I missed it. noticed. Okay, I noticed him as soon as I pulled in and I got on the phone. I said, "What's going on with the front sign?" And they were trying to work on it. Okay, that's it. Thank you. That brings us to the superintendent report. Uh Mr. Patini, thank you. Uh kindergarten orientation was last week,
007Tuesday, May 6th. I'd like to say any community members out there have not registered their child. Uh that is the proper age for kindergarten for next year, please do so as this helps us with our planning for next year. I'd like to shout out Marco Sarah once again. He was honored at the Morris County Superintendent Middle School Leadership Award dinner with many other outstanding middle schoolers. Uh fifth grade and sixth grade honors band. There are there is a fantastic tour out there. Marian Bulog, Olivia Seminario, Anthony Shalingo, and Amber Wu, who participated in the yearly New Jersey um uh NJ SMA, the fifth grade and sixth grade honors band. Uh they've been preparing for this event for the past couple weeks and they joined musicians from all over Northern New Jersey and practiced for a
008few hours together and then they had a concert in the afternoon at Nahalo Middle School. They sounded great and RBS is very lucky to have such dedicated musicians. As many people know, this week is state standardized testing, the NJSLA. And as a treat for our faculty and students, we have this Zen days uh initiative which was initiated by Miss Naziola for her graduate program. She organized this event for our students and staff. After the NJSLA on Thursday and Friday of this week, students and staff will have the opportunity to unwind for an hour at the end of each day and staff will rotate to chaperone allowing for rest and relaxation. And during the hour the hour off, it will feature eight stations such as yoga, calming coloring, gratitude stones, and a sensory nature walk and
009more. These activities aim to promote relaxation, mindfulness, and emotional well-being. And the last and final pieces, I want to make an announcement for um for the community about our worldclass education initiative. Uh to have our instructors have opportunities to develop and collaborate with each other and I have conversations with Dr. Brad Seagull from Mountain Base to have our uh two faculties join together at some point probably uh over the summer at the end of the summer when we have our back to school time. And we are looking for new teacher training uh like a new staff orientation over the summer, those two days that the teachers come back as well as professional development going on throughout this course of the year. Um uh a comprehensive character education uh approach and also having tip of the
010spear technology moving forward with AI and instruction and uh development of lesson plans. Uh we'll have some more information on and meetings at night for parents to know about our new math courses, algebra 1 for seventh grade next year and following year uh separating algebra 1 and geometry. So there'll be uh transparency as far as like criteria and uh percentages and numbers of how many students will be going into those uh those advanced courses. and uh the uh STEM or STEAM program. We've been partnering up with an author and professor of STEM from Montre State University, Dr. Bridget Looney, to define and expand the program. Uh and that's all I have for my report at this point. Anybody have any questions? What was the session about the math programs that scheduled? No, I'm going to
011be offering multiple sessions for parents in the evening so they they have a clear understanding of what courses and what's the criteria. Great. Good. I don't think one session would be enough. There's not enough parents will be able to just attend one session. So, I'll open it up to uh fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade parents or all parents. And I'm looking to videotape it as well if somebody can't make the multiple sessions. But I want to have multiple sessions. I know some parents will have some questions about that between now and end of the school year. Pardon? Between now and correct. Yes. Thanks a lot. Well, thank you. All right. Thank you. No questions. That brings us to the nurses report, the student attendance report and staff attendance report which we all had a
012chance to look at and accommodations Mr. Patini. I'd like to have a huge thank you to the teachers, administrator administrators, and members of the Township Police Department who valiantly face the Harlem Wizards to profit school programs and provide an incredibly fun evening of entertainment. A massive thanks to the HSA for bringing us this event. Uh once again, the HSA outdid themselves this year for teacher appreciation week. The staff truly was overwhelmed with the generosity and creativity of the special treats, the lunchon raffle mask uh raffle baskets and everything they did to make everyone feel loved and appreciated. These went on each day for the entire week. So, thank you once again. Uh last week we did have a break in the weather to enjoy fun run. It was so successful we headed out in the
013front circle. We escaped the rain and soggy soggy field. The This event requires a large team of volunteers, teacher involvement, parent communication, and student willingness. And we have that and more here at RBS. The HSA was able to raise over $25,000 with this effort, and the school couldn't be more grateful. Kudos to our third grade teachers, Mrs. Sydney and Mrs. Larusa, for another successful cultural show full of interdisciplinary learning. The c the cultural show is an event in third grade which is one of my favorite events and it shows the diverse heritage of our community here. And I like to mention all the countries that were represented just in this one grade level only two classes. Guyana, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Pakistan, Germany, Italy, Israel, England, Canada, Turkey, China, Scotland, Chile, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Colombia,
014France and Liberia. It's an amazing amazing diverse grade level. Um, so it just goes to show you what a wonderful diverse group of people that we have here at our school. Uh, let's talk about the spotlight on student work for March. Congratulations to our kindergarteners, Owen Liberator and Andrea Connelly. In first grade, Harrison Newbie and Colin Rickert. Second grade, Isla Hegan and Jace Duchess. And in third grade, Lola Hansen and Cameron Gooseman. in uh fourth grade. The flying high fourth graders for March. This certificate is awarded each month to recognize students who display a variety of outstanding character or achievements within the classroom. Zeke Hamill, Avery Ryerson, Nirvon Ja, Va Vander Stratton, Charlotte Lang, and Roco Reano. And finally, the Falcons of the month in March. Falcons of the month are students that exhibit a
015dedication to learning, leadership skills, great attitude, and strong character traits who promote a positive school climate. And for our fifth grade, the representative for the Falcon of the Month is Jane Kinger. In sixth grade, B. Clark. And seventh grade, Caitlyn Holding. And eighth grade, Ismail As. And that concludes my commendations. Thank you. Thank you. That brings us to correspondence one uh which is also related to person on motion number 10. Um um there is no one in our audience so I'm not going to yell this is open session number one but I will skip reading the statement because there is no one in our audience to read it to. That brings us to leaison reports started the mountain lakes board of education. So, just like us, the uh just this past was this past week,
016trying to remember when the Yeah, it was last week. Sorry, on Monday, they had the um uh approval of the budget, which uh passed. Um not many new updates from the last time I talked about it. B just like us, pretty much a preliminary budget was very close to the final budget. Uh they did note um some headwinds they face. Um they have increased healthcare costs up 12%. uh plus utilities. Um they have some a few new positions and supplies and transportation costs are basically just saying cost of living increases are going up. So uh those are some of the headwinds they're facing. Revenues were $44 million. I forget comparison to the year before. I had mentioned it in a previous call, but that's basically where they are. I think they do have decreases to
017their um use of the fund balance and they had uh slight decrease in state aid relatively nominal but there was a decrease in state aid. So most 88% of their revenues come from um tuition and their um tax levy. Sorry, think of the word. Well, that's where most the rest is state aid and other um they went through they did a good presentation um Dr. Seagull did on district goals. Uh they have five uh district goals and it was basically aligned to the long range plan. They are in year uh three um of the five-year plan. Um so they talked about teacher evaluations and they they had um um an upgrade that is now research based. It's first time they've ever had that. So they're very proud. They did a lot of work to go
018into their teacher evaluations. Um they did an update on school security. They updated the whole plan. Um which was very good. We've only seen kind of pieces of it for security reasons. They don't note it, but they did a thorough review of the security. Um they they checked the box on the extension of the Mountain Lakes Bin Township sent received. Uh so that was well noted and they they said great things about the articulation now how that's really coming along. So it was kudos to uh Mr. Patini. um and Dr. Seagull for for really making that connection. Um to the last two they're they're working on a little bit more. Um they they still have work to do. The STEM think tank um they're looking to generate ideas uh for a new vision for K
019through 12 in STEM. Um and then they're working on district culture just improvements is you know as uh Dr. Seagull says they're never done with dis you know district culture but it's something that they're they're taking. Um they also then we actually did a survey as a board and the administration on the remainder of the strategic plan which is actually kind of interesting. Um they didn't exactly say this but the way I took it was hey there's still a lot to do and we're in year three of five. So what do we want to focus on in the remaining time we have left? It was a good survey. Um so it was a long survey. Um you know there's a few things they're going to focus on. Um some of the things they haven't started
020yet was to ensure um success of all the students. Um they want to um research all different kinds of partners they can partner with outside um they want to set up a new committee to um break break down any barriers they have to student success. So that's one of the things they wanted to focus on and a few other things they kind of dep prioritize. It was a long list. I'm not going to kind of go through it all, but it was basically just a good thorough look at the um the five-year plan. And other than that, it was just regular business. Great. Thank you. And that brings us to New Jersey School Boards Association. Um nothing to report except that I think we heard at the event this month that Charlene's will be extended
021to end of June. I think it was supposed to be end of this month. extra month which is fantastic. Uh that's it. Thank you. And we'll save the other thing for Mars County Schools Association. As we know, the meeting was last Wednesday. Many of us were able to attend and of course we were honored with the certification from New Jersey School Boards Association. So congratulations to all of us. Um and we also got a chance to say goodbye to Sha again. Um so that meeting was last uh last week and that was the last one here. We'll get another and we'll get another meeting. We also showed our video which was Yes. video portion was cute. Yes. But I will say you know thanks to all of you for you know for all your hard
022work and earning our board certification. It obviously couldn't happen without all of you. So thank thank you very much. And I guess we've discussed in our goals. The next thing we're going to move on to is the Carol Carol Larson board certification. I'm not sure if we'll be the first board to hear it twice, but we'll see. I'm sure. But uh that's great. Uh let's see. Educational Services Commission of Mars County. I attended a meeting just prior to this meeting. Mostly routine business and they did their superintendent evaluation this evening. And that brings us to the Booten Township Special Education Parent Advisory Group. Sure. Since Alicia is not here, I'll step in. I met with uh Mrs. Wilson this morning and Amelia and Dean. We talked about the survey results for the school year. We
023send out a survey every year that is driven by New Jersey SPAN, which is an advocacy group for special ed. The survey results were very favorable. We we saw we've seen fewer parents out there. So, um less engagement, but more engagement in our presentations, if that makes sense. So, we've had some really good presentations this year. We talked futuristic thinking for next year. We've already targeted doing an executive functioning ADHD program and then an anxiety program for next year. So, um very positive meeting. That's it. Please refresh my memory. Who's who from a parent perspective is leading this group? Is it you? Me and Ameilia and Dean. Okay. Yep. Any other meetings for you? So, this is the end of the year for us. We we had a listening night and truthfully was no one
024there the last one. So we're kind of closing it out. You lose people April, May, June and especially right now. So we're focusing mostly on fall and what we're doing then and just wrapping up the survey. We'll share you know all the data with administration. We went over the data and like areas of need, areas of opportunity, but mostly all positive. So that's good. Okay. Thank you. That brings us to the Boon Township Education Foundation. Oh, sorry. I actually don't have anything to report. Thank you. And Rockaway Valley Home and School Association. Sure. So, field day is coming up in early June. I believe it's June through Blue. I don't have the upgrade date. You might have a report out on that or no, forget it. Um, but back to the fund run. So, we
025actually made 28,000. So the number went way up in the last week. So thank you for everyone who participated. The wizards, we made over 8,000 from that as well. It was an arduous task, but a fun task. And then in terms of HSA, I I spearheaded with a few friends a zen also with Miss Nazi for the teachers. So the teachers lounge is has a little zen corner um that we set up this morning. So they have a nice little brief even break from testing. There's some some mindfulness exercises, some gratitude boxes that they'll share with one another, and a few things that we did to kind of boost their spirits a little after this week. And that's it on my report. The field day for prek to 3 is the 3rd of June and
026the 9th for Grace. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Just a question. When do they flip their like annual uh like positions that are up for HSA? Uh next meeting? June. June. Yes. Thank you. And that brings us to a boot. Okay. A few things to report. Family fun night is this Friday night, May 16th, 600 p p.m. at RBA Fields. There'll be a DJ, hot dogs and snacks, games, and a petting zoo. Uh, household hazardous waste drop off is Saturday, this Saturday, May 17th, from 9 to 2 at Jefferson Township DPW, which is at Yeah. [Music] up in the sink and then drive back. We all knew that Jos. Um, the next thing I have flyers as well. The Historical Society of Bootin Township is uh doing a benefit night May 22nd, which is a
027Thursday night. I believe it's at the Barn Theater. Tickets are available at the municipal uh trailer, but I'll ask if you know anyone or have interest yourself. That is what their uh benefit night is. Um, for the primary election, early voting will be from June 3rd to June 8th. Hours Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. till 8:00 p.m. And the hours on Sunday will be 10:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. Primary election day is Tuesday, June 10th, with polls open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and all voting is in the municipal trailer, uh, 13 155 Powerville Road. Uh they are still accepting applications for summer camp. Camp runs from July 7th through August 8th. You'll see the township website or the newsletter for details. And that concludes my report. Great. Thank you. And then the township
028green team. We have a green team event. Um the annual coming up in June, the festival. I forgot what it's called. green fair. [Music] I don't know when that is. I think it's like 12 6 to 12. Either way, it'll be it's in the virtual 5 to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 4th. This is Green. Green. Okay. petting zoo and lizard guys cages 5 to 8 June 4th at school. Okay, great. Thank Thank you very much. And now we are at facilities transportation. I don't believe the committee met since the last meeting but we have facilities motion. Yep. Facilities motion number one. May I have a motion please? I'll move. Is there a second? Second. Any questions, comments or discussion? If not for questions on the adoption of facilities motion number one. All those in favor
029say I. I. Any oppos say no. Any abstensions? And that brings us to finance. I cannot believe the finance committee has met since the last meeting. No. And that brings to go through my agenda but motion for finance motions 1 through 15. I'll move. Is there a second? Are there any questions, comments or discussion? Question. Motion nine is for um surveying of various woodlands delineations etc. Is that for any specific project or that motion nerds on is that for any specific project we just doing that we have to plan in place. So when the facilities committee met and we met with the the architect and in order to do any future planning for like referendum, we have to really, you know, see what the area looks like because we're surrounded by wetland. So in order
030to start it out, you can't start planning unless you know where you can build and where you can't build. So that's to approve the delineation. they have to, you know, do all the surveying and all the wetlands and then from that point we'll report back and then you can start your planning because we want to expand the building out or move out into move the footprint. You may not you may be restricted by what's here. So this is the first step and that is for the future planning for the whole facility. Do we have one file from last time or do we didn't do it last time because we weren't changing the footprint. Yeah. Or the the addition was was clearly not in the wetlands. It was not the last one. No, it was right
031in the back. Four boards ago probably right long time ago, right? Oh, that um probably probably when they did the last 2001 when they did that. Oh, but however, the reason why you have to update it is because the buffers and the rules and the EPA everything changes. So, what may have been a 25 foot buffer, you know, could be 100 feet in some areas. So, you can't even encroach. But I think what's important to know there's been no decisions. This just the first absolutely do the plan you say what you can take. Well the and the board always ultimately has approval rights but this you know this is giving you information that will help you make decisions in the future. It's like very private if we were to say like I want to just
032extend out here. We got to figure out. Yeah. So you'll have a new site plan of the school and it'll it'll delineate wetlands and then buffer areas and then then you know then you can have a or an idea of what can do. But it's not only the buffers. I mean there may be you know bog turtle. There might be something that lives 10 miles away that might affect or impact the way you can the drainage something. Well it's only not only drainage. It's like animal life and it's habitat that you can't disturb. When are they going to do it? Um, soon as they get the approval, we'll get everything ready to go and then have them start on it. Great. Make sure there's no sink holes. [Music] Let's see. So, we have a motion.
033Do we have a motion or second? We did have a motion. Okay. So we have any other questions, comments or [Music] discussion on finance motions 1 through 15. Okay. If not, this is roll. Mr. Ba, yes. Mr. Brander, yes. Mr. Cabana, yes. Mr. Chen, yes. Mr. Johnson, yes. Mrs. McBride, yes. Mr. Mills, yes. Motion carries. Thank you. That resistant personnel, the personal committee did meet very recently. Yep. We met last evening afternoon. So um the things we discussed were we have a leave replacement motion that you'll see. So Miss Manell is t has taken over for um Mrs. Doyle for her maternity leave. And then we have two retirements Mrs. Bickerton and then I call him boss for one of the custodians. And then let me see what else. to sorry we talked about the
034math as Mr. Fini mentioned and then the hiring of an LDTC which is a learning um person in the special ed department. Thank you. And with that I have a motion for personnel motions one through 10. Is there a second? Any questions, comments or discussion? [Applause] I guess I I will say in reference to personnel motion number nine um you know uh it's not number nine 10 in reference to personal motion number 10 that was close but not quite um you know thank you to the many years of service to Mrs. Vickerton. She's worked very hard for for our district, our board. You know, she's done, you know, interact with, you know, us as well. And just want to, you know, thank her for her many, many, many years of dedicated service and, you know,
035we wish her well. She will be missed and and also our custodial staff, you know, um um also, you know, also very hardworking. Um I think uh I I don't know if I mentioned during the evening but yeah many thanks to our our custodial staff person who's retiring as well for many dedicated years of service and with that any other questions comments or discussion not the question is on the adoption of personal motions one through 10 and this is a roll call Mr. Ba yes Mr. Brander yes Mrs. Cabana yes Mr. Chen yes Mr. Johnson. Yes. Mrs. McBride. Yes. Mr. Mills. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. And that brings us to the program committee which also met on May 12th and uh in the afternoon we discussed uh this dyslexia screening. I almost said that
036wrong. Um our math program um um team and co-eing schedules um uh a co-eing model. um professional development uh inclusive education and AI versus A1. Uh and with that may have a motion for program motion number one. Is there a second? Second. I'll let Mr. Murray think now motion. Are there any questions, comments or discussion? And if not the questions on the adoption of program motion number one. All those in favor say I. I. Post say no. Any abstensions? And that brings us to policy. I believe they also Yeah. So we just met last week and um I did put some notes in the file folder, but uh for pol uh yeah policy for the board orientation there really wasn't any change to that. There was a change where you would put in a number
037maximum of people that could attend an outofstate um convention or sorts. and we don't really ever go to any outofstate convention. So it was the same policy. We will read it and uh adopt the critical policy but there was no changes from ours and policy 3220 3230 state funds, federal funds that was uh revisions and updated um including the uniform grant guidance that was effective the end of last year. Um and we will adopt a critical policy on that one as well. And uh we just began discussion on a policy for artificial intelligence which we're still taking a look at and it's in its early stages still. It would be a new policy. Okay. With that Oh, I'm sorry. And with that, we have a motion for policy motion number one. I'll second. Any questions,
038comments, or discussion? If not, oh yes, you're saying what the job description is a skill teacher. Is that also a policy or is that a separate is just a job description for review? It's not a policy policy. It's not policy. Not a policy. So we're approving it but not policy. Yeah, it's a policy motion. Got sorry. And with that, any other questions, comments or discussion? And if not, the questions on the adoption of policy motion number one. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose say no and the abstensions. And that brings us to the governance. So no motions, but we did meet on May 9th. I got these dates right now. Where is this the date? Roughly next week and I don't remember. I don't remember when we have to be done. Um
039actually so uh next week uh Mr. Coutine will will have complete the portion have completed the portion super the CSA evaluation portion that he has to do and then after that I'll we'll send an email out to the board saying please complete this I I'm trying to remember was it June 2nd uh yeah because we're going to meet on the June 18th to do the review. Yep. Barry needs at least let's give him let's give him some time to do it. So I think we settled on June 9th. June 9th. Yes. Monday, June 9th being the deadline. So then it gets very some time. So we have since you're your we have almost two weeks to do the review because Ken's gonna finish it in the next Yeah. Yeah. We'll have about two weeks to
040do it and it'll give Barry 10 days to summarize and then the 18th is that our actual board meeting or is that a special board meeting too? We do. Yes. Yeah. So yeah. So we just So we discussed this the superintendent evaluation. We also discussed the board self-evaluation. Um Charlene Peterson since she did extend her stay, she offered to come discuss our board self-evaluation with us tonight or at our June meeting. And since we had some other issues on the agenda tonight that might have not made that go smoothly. We decide, you know, she I asked if she was available for our June um 18th meeting and she is. So we'll have another opportunity to say hello to Charlene and wish her well, which is great. And we give credit. Yes. This will be credits
041towards our um our Carol Larson certification. Uh we also let's see. Yes. So we discussed board professional development which is also going to we're going to continue trying to have you know um our school board's presentations and our meetings. Um what I'll do is I can resend out a list I've sent out before that says hey you know here's the list of stuff they offer. Give me your top three or five and let me know. And then I try to put it together and see what is it you all would like to do. too much to ask for the ones that we have completed for this current certification that you put like a date in there like so we just know focus on those things with something yeah I think we have they actually have
042a transcript that they can get so that's yeah so I can that's better than me going trying to figure it out yeah that that's an excellent suggestion so um um so like the transcript and yes so we'll ask for your input for future I'm not sure if I send it out now we I think we're going to schedule anything until fall, but you know, probably we'll do board and district goal setting in Augustish. You know, I don't know that we get that done in July, but we can start thinking about board and district goals. Um, and actually that is another item down below that we discussed, board and district goals. So, um, yeah, the earlier we can get done the better. But, um, we definitely want to try to get it start, you know, in
043place for the school year to begin and even hopefully have some summertime before the school year begins to, you know, start, you know, you know, getting prepared to implement goals. Um, I guess with district goals, you know, that, you know, you know, we can start establishing them whenever, you know, whenever and, you know, assuming that we're going to adopt them because, you know, the you know, the administration creates them. So we can certainly get started, you know, with them anyway, whether we adopt them earlier or not. That'll help you get along. Yeah. Yeah. But for board goals, you know, take a look at our past and, you know, think about what you might want to have as board goals in the future. Take a look at our strategic plan and see if there's anything in
044there that might be a board goal. Um I can I mean I can surmise already we want to work towards our Carol Lee Larson certification and get more board trainings to be to be good board members. We try we were trying I think we discussed we were trying to have that in August. I don't Yeah we were trying to target August so that we could have the goals before the school year starts. Yeah. And even if we have them set, you know, even if we haven't adopted that night, but we evolve them, you know, that's, you know, once we formulate them, you know, we can certainly start moving forward even if it's a formality of adopting that. I don't know. We'll meet in July, but we thinking we might. Yeah. Not sure. That's we'll have
045to but I don't know if people then to talk about goals so that we can have them before the school year starts. Yeah. Yeah. the goal would be to try to get them because I think there was discussions of whether we do it in June but then I think we talked about did not make sense because Ken will read back on what he feel like was accomplished for the school year and the board likewise we'll talk about like what we felt was accomplished or not so like kind of need to finish one before we start maybe July can I just ask a quick question back to credits and certification do any of the individual credits that we do apply or is it strictly board totality Okay. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. So only when you're working
046as a board, you earn board credits. Got it. One hour is one credit. So you're under So they just count for our own merits. Yeah. Well, those are those are requirements that you have to even to maintain your status as a board member. So those are your your PD. Yeah. They kind of talked about school board. People do get awards there and it's like you need a certain amount of hours at like attending um New Jersey school boards uh training. working towards those those credits. And I got an email from Charlie to attend a leadership program. A bad time of year. Yeah. I thought you meant like go one, go two. All right. Yeah. There other things that might apply. Those that are required. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. So for the for an individual board
047member, they have different levels of certification for that. And I think the school board's website has like what you need for each one. Like some of them it's just like earning credits like the Morris County School Boards meetings. They typically have presentations as credit. There's many online things they offer throughout the year that you can attend. If you go to workshop, there's a whole bunch of credits you get there. But there's many many opportunities and and then they have different variations depending on what level you're at. So like like I think like to get some of the higher ones you have you have to actually go to workshop. Um but some of the first levels you don't have to, you know, for example. But they're all it's all really, you know, good good information whenever
048you can. I I like Mars County is always a great great opportunity to to you know you know learn learn things locally from what our other colleagues in Mars County are doing and network with our Mars County school board people too. Hopefully a good opportunity. I I think what Charlene had said at the the spring meeting was that Mars County was the leader in all the board training that was accomplished all the counties. I'll have to share that next time. I wrote Oh, sorry. Actually, I'll report on it next time, but um I took a picture of it. It was quite impressive. Charlene was responsible for a lot of hours attorney. They mentioned how many hours she spent before boards and it was I did she say she is with 60 school districts. I I
049think I think of like 60 districts and most boards are nine people and just thinking I think of how many times I call up honor for information or guidance and here's in Morris County 985 board training credits 25 board certifications number one in the county number one county 15 Carol E Lararsson master board awards and that's number one we're the first uh county there master board num members 33 number one 19 certified board leaders number one 41 New Jersey school board association strategic plans is what she did 21 assisted superintendent searches and uh 13 governance committees that was all under her but number one for board certifications Carol Larson master board members and certified board leaders number one county in the state. Yeah. Yes. It's pretty impressive. Yes. Very impressive. So, yeah, we're going we're
050going to Mr. Lee and I wonder so you said June 230. Yeah. Supposed to be May. Yeah. Yeah, but I think I think of 60 boards times nine board members and I think of the number of times I need to call Charlene for guidance on things and I and I just think of like if there's 60 me calling her and then any of you are allowed to call her for things too. It's like I can't I don't know when like in her day is like it goes from you know morning to you know evening like she's out every evening at some board meeting for the most part doing something and it's like like her work days are like quite long and and and even weekends people call her I I try to avoid on weekends
051respecting her you know time but I it just amazes me how how you know how all the field rep service reps do their jobs and I commend them for doing sent me. Thanks, Charlie. Uh, oops. Where did I get to governance? So, we're back to board goals. So, we want to try to do that July, August. If we meet in July, we'll start in July. And if not, we'll definitely make sure it's closed. I think that was it for governance. That brings us to open session number two. Rather than getting the open meeting statement, there's no one in the audience to read it to. So, I will skip that. That brings us to old business. any old business to come before the board and is there any new business to come before the board? I
052I have some new business. So, we talked in programming curriculum on Monday, I believe it was, uh, as a suggestion of having a PR initiative for the board of education in terms of maybe a quarterly or bimonthly newsletter just kind of to get ahead if we're thinking futuristic referendum planning, facility upgrades, and then just highlevel overview because a lot of people don't attend clearly or watch the videos. So, I I'm willing to take it upon myself to write it, but just wanted to open up it up to the board to see how people felt about a PR initiative and kind of reporting out more data and what we're doing high level and maybe we can blast it to the township newsletter and just having more communication and input from our stakeholders. Um, I'm not opposed
053to the the spirit of it. What do we have a policy that dictates or work communication to the public? Like do we more this is more just like a general curiosity like an ethics thing like do we have not that for I mean that format I don't know what I mean like do we have to be aware of anything I guess but like if we're making a statement on do we need to say something one I don't really I guess need a policy we can make one I guess the the intent is like what is the rules around like I would love to do that one I two I would like to do it like compliant how do we figure out there would be no sensitive information obviously but I think it would have to
054be something the whole board you agrees on and we can you know send the communication out. I don't think there's anything that you know everything we do is in public anyway state secrets that we're sending out. So I don't think there's this is just me. I don't know if there's anything needed in that aspect. Okay. Just as long as we're all in agreement of the content. Does that mean we have to review it every Yes. quarter like before it goes out we just approve it or something or I don't how would that work? Well, maybe it could be a consolidation of the high level of what we talk about from committees as the report out, right? And you know, not just people listening to the video or watching it here, but that you have it
055in writing, a summarized train, we can discuss it here and then put it into a document. I also feel that the board's uh efforts and attendance at conferences or possibly the Caroli Larson master board certification if that comes up that's really great news for the community. I mean this is stuff that you're doing uh on your own time and it's it's a lot of effort. So I think the parents and the community members would be really appreciative knowing that high level certification that you're going to get. that we already received one too, right? Not to our horn, but also just to engage our stakeholders well above beyond above and beyond when we think about it, right? For the future. Yeah, I totally agree because like people don't really watch the meetings. Clearly, nobody's here today.
056Like nobody's really flipping. There's probably some people that flip through this, but I'm sure if you blast it out and there's like a here's like the bullets of like, hey, this stuff got Yeah, they went the high level, right? Like this stuff got approved. Hey, this this B like no one's watching if you're not familiar with it. Sometimes these Yeah. this gets lost, right? Like even if you know we just put the highlights and I feel like it's it's helpful for people because they won't they'll probably read that like a one page summary like once a month would be the frequency I don't know two months. So after every two meetings, every two meetings is different. Yeah. What we could do is perhaps tie it the release of it to like soon after a board
057meeting. So that way there's no issues with like I don't you know I didn't want that in there or you know like you know we could draft have a draft of something ready like at a you know certain board meetings and that way we can you know it could be sent out in advance to us to look at and then we can as a board say yes you know like or tweaks whatever it is you know that way we're you don't have that issue of like someone saying I you know I don't agree with this or that. It's, you know, we're all on board. Well, the minutes reflect what happened at the board meeting, but you're talking more higher level board achieve the Caroli Larson, we had two board members reach milestones, things like that
058or just, you know, as we approve our budget, like when I report out to the HSA, I I do a high level overview of the whole agenda that I think people would want to know as stakeholders. Yeah. If we if we secure any grants or anything like that should be published whatever academic board set their district goals like just like I think how many times district goals probably 1% what's that who who knows we district goals and I mean well that's the point I think I think publicize that the board discussed you know the strategic plan or whatever we should be I totally agree it's a great way Yeah, maybe you know there's a tab for curriculum programming, there's a tab for governance similar to the committees and you align it with what we've discussed,
059but then you could truncate it if needed so it's not overwhelming to read. I feel like when you push something people tend to review it a little bit more than poll and having them go out and could be part of the virtual I I suggested that. I think that would be great. Why not? Yeah. Yeah. Do other schools do that? I mean, I know like in the past there's banners on Mount Lake Mike's website, right? Different board things. Board updates, right? Focus on that, too. Look, I'm sure. I'd rather push something than have it play rather than just receive it. I think it's all just stuff we're working on, stuff that's important that the community wants to know. Yeah, we can be our own PR team. We we can yeah but we don't go 19
060minutes or policy just summarize right summarize like the ones that need and remember the longer you get the less people read simple bullets I think are a key kind of capture like oh that's interesting but that probably highlights from the board and not yeah probably not repeating like stuff right here per se keep it precise but highlight board level things you know like the awards that were you know board you know I guess it could be like informative like you know the board sets you know board meetings the board's saying it's four goals and explain the process like each year boards are required to set goals for the you know upcoming year etc etc or it's a best practice you know whichever some of our board members have received awards at various uh board meetings
061that has been that's okay uh how do we board I I mean You and I can talk and bots can talk but I would assume that we want to push it to do it either here right in the construct of all of us. Yeah. Or do we want to do it in like governance and program and since there's separate different people and there's a overlapping content area probably it depends I guess. I mean I guess we could throw it to the governance committee because it's a board thing. Do it here. It's an open meeting. If you do committee then you can meet in small group. Do we have the committee people just like whenever like you want it done like we should just shoot the notes from highlight from the committee or and then to
062like you or something? I don't I don't we can figure that we can figure it out later. I don't know. Yeah. But I would definitely suggest if we do something like that that we tie the release of it to like soon after a board meeting so that way whatever is fresh whatever is going on like we all you know can see it and you know but it can be you know done before the meeting so we can still find you know whatever maybe by the first of the month because they always occur on the second week right my suggest is draft it prior to a meeting we can talk about it here review what we're going to send out and then if we're all in agreement we can send it right Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Because
063basically it is the subs. So yeah, we just want we can summarize the last two meetings. Somebody can draft it put it together. I don't you know it can be drafted in uh governance or something, right? Yeah. you want to put the burden on a person to like go I don't know should we shouldn't we you know you start getting to issues like should this be shouldn't this be and it's kind of a board decision and and so it's you know you have to I guess probably work through a first a first round of this and see what it looks like and see if it's what we want to do or then take it take whatever draft of something and say like oh I envisioned this or that you know it's something we can certainly
064start and work on and see what comes out of it, you know, and then, you know, and maybe think of the ideas of what you would think it should look like and and also see what happens and make it happen. I don't want to say see what happens. That implies it's not happening. So, does that sound like a good plan? Yeah. Excellent. Yeah, it's great. Uh, is there any other new business that come before the board? Uh if not I already I think I already talked to the governance committee about the the super valuation that'll come up. So just make sure you look for an email keep an eye on your emails like in a week or so you know you know to you know prepare your part and uh it'll be great to get
065it done by the deadline because everything for the board meeting. Um and that we do have a close session item I believe two items student matters and student matters and that get an update on BT negotiations. So with that, may I have a motion to enter into executive session to discuss issues of more confidentiality as per the open public meetings act chapter 231 of laws 1975. These matters may or may not be made public when the board reconvenes. They were made public when the confidentiality the subject is no longer warranted. The discussion will be negotiations with DTEA and student matters. Is there a second? All those in favor say I. I. And there will be no board action taken when we return other than adjourning our meeting. And with that, thank you for coming. Okay,
066it is 10:10 p.m. We've just returned from our closed session. There is no other board action. I have a motion motion to adjurnn. I'll move. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Great. Thank you very much for coming. Have a great Memorial Day weekend and we'll see you in June. Thank you.