001first >> I know we'll do we'll do the map first. >> I'm just going to turn this so I don't have my rear side to everyone. I'm pulling in Mr. Flynn here. >> All right. So, I want to start off by first again recognizing Jose who has started a trend. Uh we have at least three athletes going over to Henry Hudson for winter track. So, we're super excited about that. But athletics is not why I'm here tonight. Um we're here to talk about math. and I'm really excited to present to you our adoption review for a resource that I feel very confident in and very strongly about. So, um let's start Rich. Okay, so I listed here our committee members. As you can see, we have at least one representative from every grade level as
002well as an interventionist. This was really important to get the whole uh picture of what this program does for our K to8 district. it does run the breadth of our grade level at keyport um at central school. Uh so it was really important to have everybody's input as well as the administration who uh took part in this process. So our why our case to continue with I Ready I spoiler I told you what we're going to pick but um we currently use I Ready or Ready Mathematics. So you're going to see it called Ready Mathematics. You're going to see it called I Ready Classroom. Both the same thing. It's the math instruction that's happening in the classroom. When we talk about just I Ready, that's the digital platform where our students take the diagnostic which
003also creates the my path or personalized instruction. So just so you know the difference in there. Um so we have proven success with this program. Our data shows consistent growth in student achievement and teacher effectiveness under this program. It also allows us to move from learning the resource to mastering it. Through this program, we've really been able to guide our instruction with data and that's only going to get stronger as we continue with this resource. So our review process, how we started? Well, we started with what we currently use, which is ready mathematics. And we were able to analyze the data that we receive from the platform as well as our benchmark scores and our state assessment results, which you all heard about during the last board meeting. We also took the opportunity to survey
004our staff members. They are the masters of this program. So it was really important to hear what they had to say. I included a couple uh sentiments of their feedback. So really straight into the per point, our current program is solid. So they feel very comfortable with it. The one that really hit home for me me was that we were able to reach our multilingual learners. Um there's a lot of visuals. I have an example of a lesson in here as well, but they're able to really understand the content through the pictures and the supported vocabulary. So we're excited that that a teacher brought that to light for us during this review. So with that in mind, we knew we had a great resource in our hand, but we wanted to explore what other programs
005were out there to make sure that we were making the most well-informed decision. So we looked at these three. We looked at Envisions, we looked at STEM scope, Eureka, and also our ready math. All of these resources were all green meeting expectations on ed report. So we used that research to pick our resources. And then we reviewed each resource. We started with Envisions and we saw that it incorporated a problem based learning meaning that we're not only just asking students to fill out a worksheet with 20 multiplication problems, we're asking them to apply it to a real world example. It also has a robust digital platform which was a plus and the real world applications. The cons of uh Envisions was it lacked a spiral review and as you can see as you move down
006so did I Ready but we do have a fix for that. So I feel very confident that we're going to overcome that hurdle. It also had insufficient computational practice. So that individual that individual practice on the platform was lacking. And it also had a very complex instructional model. Our teachers really felt that envisions and the way that it was worded and presented wasn't really something that would reach our district and our students. So they were not comfortable with that choice. The next was STEM scopes. This is inquiry based which is awesome which is what I Ready is as well. Um presents the problem has the student figure it out through discovery instead of just direct instruction. also builds conceptual understanding which is amazing. It's not just skill and drill. However, our teachers felt that it
007was too scripted. It was poor quality of materials. They did not like the digital interface and it lacks visuals. Again, something that's important to our multilingual learners. I can't say this one. Eureka uh was the next one. And it had great logical progression, but it was rigorous, which is great, but we know our demographic. We know our students and we know what they how they learn best. and we just didn't feel like that uh platform would reach them. So does not support our sub populations, does not build prior knowledge and has poor assessment tools. So that one was off the table for us. We then looked at I Ready again. So it focuses on math talk. They have built into these lessons for these students to turn and talk. They have to talk about the
008content in order to understand the content, in order to internalize the content and be able to apply the content. It's rich in resources. Something that I Ready does is they're constantly improving their platform. So instead of just selling you this product and saying here it is for six years, they're constantly incorporating more tools. They're updating their platform. There uh is digital tools which I'm hoping to get one of our teachers, Mrs. Voit, to do a Red Raider Academy on. Um she loves it. Uh so there's constant professional development, constant upgrades, which we love. The one con that we saw was the lack of spiral review. Um this was a concern last year as well. So what we did during a professional development day is we gave our three to five teachers the opportunity to create
009these spiral reviews. Right? Time is always of the essence. We need to provide them the time to make these things and that's exactly what we did. They were extremely appreciative of it. Um we use it in small group uh in our centers as well as um for homework. Uh what I then went and did is I made a spiral review for grades seven through uh algebra 1 as including the concepts class. So that is being used as homework as well. Um, I know homework can be a hot topic, so we figured six problems a night is is doable. Also being used during centers, also being used for um during class time, but it's a spiral review. It's constantly bringing up those topics. It's not a oneanddone. They're constantly seeing it throughout the year, which will
010help with our recall for state testing. So, our findings confirm that Ready Math maintains its all green top tier rating and has high scores uh for standards alignment, rigor, and usability. So why ready math continues to excel? So in the top right um you can see the report that our teachers get after each diagnostic. So this places our students in four or five domains depending on the content area because we do use the um diagnostic for reading as well. Um but it gives them the report broken down by grade level showing them exactly where our students sit per domain. It provides a true adaptive diagnostic that pinpoints exactly where our students are. We can look up a student and see how they're performing in numbers and operations. Maybe they excelled in geometry. It's all very
011telling. From this data, we then get the next steps and it provides the lesson in I Ready that we use in our centers to support our students. So when they see them in the next diagnostic, we can see the growth per domain. As I spoke about, the my path um is extremely beneficial to our student success. They're required to do 40 minutes um a week. We found that some of them realized if you sit stagnant on the platform, it counts minutes. Um so we have switched to two lessons per week. Um we'll start our competitions at central school for that um probably in the new year um just to keep them excited about the platform. And it's a high quality core instruction. The curriculum u materials are rigorously aligned to our state standards. The bottom
012picture is um what the student would see on the first day of a new topic. So you can see it's not just problems on a paper and the teacher is going to do the direct instruction. It's a word problem which our students typically shy away from. and the teacher is standing in front of the room. Let's read the word problem three times. Let's identify what it's asking. And then they're hands off and they say, "Solve it. Figure it out. Apply what you know to solve the problem." And that's how students truly learn. They're not going to learn by being told. They're learning by doing. So that's why we love the I Ready resource. Also, with this resource that we currently have, our students are growing. As you heard last week, um we're seeing tremendous growth
013in our 3 through7. Uh we're beating the state in three through seven proficiency, which is amazing. And we know our eighth grade is a concern and that is something we are addressing. Uh Mr. Flynn worked with the schedule this year. Um and in each of those classes there are two math-minded teachers. And I say math-minded because they're a math certified teacher. It's not like we have a special ed teacher who doesn't have a math background. No, they have the math background. So our students are getting almost a double dose of that math because whoever is leading the small group is just as knowledgeable as the student or the teacher who is the general ed education teacher. So there are things in place there as well. We continue to work in grade level meetings uh to
014support our students and the intervention uh cycle or the intervention period during that middle school block is also helpful and we're using the data from I Ready. So with all that being said, our recommendation for is for renewal of the Ready Math and the I Ready uh math classroom. So here's the fun part, the financials. So this um quote gives us a term of six years. That sounds like a lot and it might be frightening to say, "Oh, no, we're going to stay with the same thing for six years." However, I feel confident in working with curriculum associates, who is the bigger umbrella of I Ready. Um, that they're constantly updating. They're not going to leave us hanging if something changes. They're constantly adapting to what's happening. So, this includes our I Ready classroom, which
015is our math instruction. The students every year get a consumable. So, that is included in this cost. There's no extra cost every each year for that. This includes the my path for K to8 students. It also includes the I Ready my path for 9 to2. So for our concepts and our algebra 1 students who will be taking the state assessment as algebra 1 students will continue to get that adaptive platform which is what the state is turning to as well. Um at no cost to us they're providing our professional learning. So where they come into the district provide our teachers PD um and partner services. They are always a phone call away. I don't know about a $12,000 price tag but it's free to us so it's okay. Um but they are a fantastic company
016to work with. So, what are our next steps? It's not just paying the price tag and saying, "Okay, I did my job. I can sit back now." Um, we have to update our resources for teacher for our teachers. Um, for middle school, it's about getting the manipulatives in the students hands and really building that foundational knowledge that we're missing as to why we think that kind of eighth grade year is falling off. Sustained job embedded professional development. We will constantly uh provide our teachers who need it and anyone who wants it professional development either through curriculum associates or through a Red Raider Academy. Uh for middle school, it's proactively building the foundation. Like I said, putting manipulatives in the students hands. We're seeing the growth in grades six and seven. Uh so we're confident that
0178th grade we're going uh to be able to pull up. Also, what's really important is the 6 to2 articulation. So we are very fortunate that and I love it that we are a small district. Um so providing the opportunity for our 6 to 12 teachers to really collaborate and say, "Hey, I'm noticing that they're missing this when they come up to us. What are you doing in sixth grade?" to really sustain that um understanding. What we also did, I think it was last year um is we actually asked our six to eight teachers from our sending district, one of our sending districts um to come to our school and have an articulation with us. Um I have to say kudos to the math department. It went really well. Um and they were able to share
018ideas about what are you doing in your classroom in your district and what are we doing? Um and the teachers actually walked away with ideas that they could implement in their classroom. So, we want to continue that. What's coming in the spring or the new year? Um, our high school series is up for an adoption review. Um, Curriculum Associates currently has an algebra 1 uh program, but it stops there. It does not have geometry or algebra 2, and those are the three classes that we'll be looking to uh do an adoption review for. So, we'll do the same process that we did here. We'll form a committee. We'll an analyze our resource that we currently have, look for those uh vetted resources that we may be able to pull into the district, receive samples, um
019and then you will get a very similar presentation um about that one as well uh with our final recommendation. And that's it. >> Thank you. Does anybody have questions? >> Can you hear us now? Okay. >> I thought you questions. >> Yes. Uh, Miss Gross, um, I have a a question more about over time. >> What what are the fundamental changes that have happened in math instruction? >> So, the mastery of concepts has gone down. They're expecting them to master content earlier um, and then apply that and build on it as we move on. So, that's been the major shift in >> Did you say content or concept? >> Concepts. Yeah. So if I fractions may have been a fifth grade skill, well now it's a fourth grade skill >> and we have to make
020sure that our in first and second grade and third grade we're making allowing our students prepare for that jump of understanding. >> So how do you find um this kind of earlier levels of instruction, conceptual instruction cascade forward? How does that >> I mean it's definitely evident in the classrooms when our students are presented those word problems and they don't shy away from them. uh because in our K to3 they really gain that understanding that they need in order to solve those problems. So they're building the blocks there to be able to apply the conceptual. Um what we saw in our diagnostic this year um is I think we had one of the best fall diagnostics that we've had for both math and ELA. Um which means our students are retaining the content and the
021information which is wonderful. >> So just so then you're what you're connected to this is literacy too, right? 100%. Could you talk about the connection between those two, the literacy and >> Absolutely. So, when we first got um ready math classroom, uh our teachers were saying it's heavy on the word problems. Yes, it is. And if our students can't read, then they're not going to be able to solve word problems. However, with the new program we put in CKLA, that has boosted our students confidence tremendously, and we're being able I able to tackle those word problems, pick out those defining words, understand what the question is asking, and without the improvement in literacy, that wouldn't be able to happen, but we are on such a great trajectory to I'm really excited to see what this
022year brings. Um, so do we think with the establishment of the preschool three and foury old program in the next three or four years we'll see them starting to take testing and be absolutely >> do we think that we're going to see increases and a better understanding because they're getting it so much earlier now. >> Absolutely. And it's more fluid, right? You have we we have hold of them in three and four years old. They're in our routines and our programs. We're not trying to learn that as kindergarteners. And we're able we have teachers in those positions who have taught kindergarten who know the expectation to say, "Hey, they need to come in with this." and we're able to apply that in the preschool and yes we will see the trend move up as we
023go on. >> Mr. Fopoulos, >> thank you Madam President. Miss Gross, um I have a technical question. The upgrades that are included in the price, are they reviewed first by um you folks? >> Oh yeah. >> And there's training. So they're just not pushed out and you know you're surprised by it, right? So, I went to the Mid-Atlantic Symposium, which turned into an invite only this year, which was bizarre. Um, but we got invited. Uh, and that's where I learned about the digital practice. And I went back to my office. I did it as a student, and then I presented it to one of our teachers who I know is very confident in the program. And I said, "Hey, try this with your group." And she did, and she loves it. The kids love it,
024which is awesome. Um, and I asked her, "Could you could you do a Red Raider Academy? Can you share this out with everyone? They know it's there, but they don't know how well they could implement it." So yes, everything is vetted. I don't just say, "Hey, look at this." And I don't try it before. I absolutely vet everything before we send it out. >> Now, I know that there was an interventionist that was part of the committee. Is it just one interventionist that's going to be using this platform for students or >> So, we have the intervention for our three to five. So, that is that one teacher who is part of our committee. Like I said in the middle school, we're getting that intervention through having those two math certified teachers who both are
025familiar and comfortable with the platform. They can access the data. They can assign lessons to the students. So they have full access just like a general education teacher. And would you find and would it be would you say that an interventionist in those grades outside of those teachers would be helpful or is it >> absolutely the interventionist allows also again time is of the essence um allows for the interventionist can jump onto the platform break down that data and supply that to the teacher with the support of hey here's your groups here's everything we need to do and here's how we're going to implement it. So yes intervention across the board if it were increased at all would be amazing. Okay. Thank you, >> Miss Van Hottton. >> For the special ed, let me for
026the special ed students, what are the accessibility features within I Ready? >> So, any accommodation they can have, they have an I Ready. Um, and in our embargo data, which I know we've said that like 400 times, but we're really excited about it. Um, our special education population almost uh doubled in their proficiency. Uh, so the program has the readalouds. It has um the centers built into it that our special education students can have. It has the uh workmats that they need. It has the fluency checks that they need. It's all embedded in the program. But we're also very fortunate to have um supplements from our special education department that support this as well. Um so in conjunction it they're they're doing fantastic. >> So I I'm not sure because I only cover the high
027school. I'm just curious for the accessibility. So, if a student needs alternative access, so I don't know if you have any students that use switches or eye gaze or alternative mouse or alternative keyboard, are those accessible on that program? >> Yes. >> Yep. And we are using um I Ready at the high school level uh with our concepts class and our algebra 1 class uh for the my path diagnostic. >> Thank you. >> No problem. >> Mas, I'll be quick. Sorry. Um the eighth grade when you say you know our scores go lower that's be a main part of that is because we split the eighth grade up right to offer algebra 1. >> Yes. Okay. And the way that we presented the data last week was we had our eighth grade students who just
028took eighth grade pre-alggebra and then we grouped our grade 8 and algebra 1 to show you the full picture of how our district performed. So yes, those students were removed >> and um the articulation I thought was brilliant that you talked about. >> We're really excited about that. And um I just wanted to say the spiral review that is so important and I know how much time that takes you guys. So I just want to thank you because it is so useful. >> Yes. >> I see my child doing it at home and >> and not complaining, right? It's only six problems a day. >> Yes. And but I see it helping too. >> Good. Good. >> So I just want to thank you for that because I know it's a lot of time. >>
029Of course. Thanks. >> Any other questions? >> Just to clarify, I'm sorry. Uh this what Miss Teas brought up about lack spiral re review. What is the I I mean we're not going to be without it in with this application. Correct. >> No, we've already built it. >> Okay. >> Yep. It's already there. It's implemented this year. >> That's awesome. Thank you. >> Good presentation will go out to the uh public as well as um on the agenda for December 10th for a resolution for the board's approval. So if you have questions between then and there, please reach out to us. >> Thank you, Mrs. Gross. Um, our second and most important presentation this evening is now students of the month. So, Mr. Flynn and Dr. Seavoya. >> Oh my gosh. >> Oh, Mr. Flynn.
030>> That's a lot of money right there. >> Wow. Got a little aggressive. >> This is Oh, this Sorry, I'm I'm gonna calm down a second. I'm sorry. Coming in hot here. I'm sorry. Um, this is the most important of tonight's events, uh, because of the hard work that students in these seats right here have put in. We're very proud of you students. We're also proud and thankful to the parents for the work that you do at home that allows this. So, we're going to call you guys up to recognize you. Come up and stand with me. Don't be shy, okay? When we call your name. Kira Solo, first grade. Dr. Seavoya, >> first grade, Connelly McNamera. >> Congratulations. Second grade, Payton Petraelli. Salem Sultan, second grade. Ashley Leon, third grade. Dante Torres Robinson, third
031grade. Fourth grade, Ryder Jones. and Juliet Roberto, fifth grade. Blanca Hubler, fifth grade. Aubrey Ban, sixth grade, Kevin Sanchez and Leth Gonzalez Cologne. Seventh grade, Samantha Albury, Lisa, and FA Delmir. In eighth grade, Slali Kabanas and Aiden Vasquez. Here we go. Ready? Two. Congratulations to all of our students of the month. If you guys would like to leave, you are able to or you can stay for the rest of the meeting. That is up to you. Okay, we are going to continue with the meeting. Um, so president's remarks. Um, the Mammoth County School Board hybrid meeting is on December 2nd to it's a Tuesday at How Middle School North. It will be about school budget overview, strategies to avoid the fiscal cliff. It is virtual and in person. So, please make sure you sign up
032if you would like to attend. Um, we had another successful PTO meeting that was held on Thursday 10:13. Um, there are lots of great events coming up for our kids in the central school. So, that's really exciting. Um, and on Monday evening, Mrs. Rogers, Miss Lal, Dr. Dr. Seavoya and myself attended um a round table on how to better collaborate with the teachers union admins and BOE to build um stronger relationships. So it was u interesting and some good information >> and we already have a meeting set up. >> Yes. >> Did you say that was at how middle where was it? >> The county meeting is at how middle school. >> Yes. >> Uh Dr. Seavoya communication >> none no new news since the last meeting. Okay. >> Public participation on agenda items. Dr.
033Seavoya superintendent report. >> Okay. So, tonight we uh Miss Mrs. Gross, I'm still going to go with appie uh presented a solid resource for us. Again, it's going to help our students uh increase student achievement across this district. I am confident of such. Uh a resolution will be on the December 10th agenda for your approval and those will that will be funded through tax incentive uh funds. On November 20th, central school uh leadership will present an update on our schoolwide goals. That presentation is attached here and we'll review baseline data with NJSLA which is guiding the primary focus of our multi-tered systems of support using I Ready and linked data. We'll also show our progress on SEAL initiatives and highlight the success improving school climate with chronic absenteeism reduced from 9.5% in 20123 to embargo
0349.7% for 2425. Uh the NJAC6A requires school boards of education to make all approved pacing guides and citations for core instructional materials publicly available. What that states is that within the next month or two, we will be putting every curricular document online for access to the entire community. Uh resolution on the agenda for your approval to approve a teleaotherapy professional services agreement with Hazel Healthc Care Services to provide teleaalthbased professional healthc care therapy. The district anticipates this will help reduce truency related to illness, increase student retention and overall improvement in the academic performance of our students. This will couple be coupled with our relationship with communitywide as well as integrated uh service solutions. Uh if you recall, KHS is participating in the student health survey. This survey is sponsored by New Jerseys Department of Human
035Services and Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Three classes were randomly selected to be given the survey on December 4th. parents and guardians are able to opt out if their child notification of the survey will go home to the students and if they do not want them to part participate they do not have to and there's a fact sheet attached. Uh we're also grateful again to be giving out codes from United Way's warmest wishes. They go over extremely well in the community and we're very happy to have uh everybody benefit from them. Students of the month uh tonight was wonderful. I think that's the highest attendance we've had in a while and we'll get the pledge going in the once we open up the meeting next time. But that took a lot of um
036a nerve for that young child to go do that. So I was very proud of him. Uh the NJSLA and NJ GPA field tests were successful at KHSN Central in the last three weeks. Again, as you recall, board, this was something that we did not know was going to occur and occurred after we created our assessment schedule for the year. Um kudos to Mrs. to Miss Pearson and the whole team because to see them all surface for everything she needed to make that go smoothly for the students to have little anxiety and the teachers to be have a reduction in anxiety was extremely a proud moment to watch. Um Miss Madame President spoke to the PTO uh the I hope everybody noticed the Veterans Day flags all around the properties. They're really holding up too.
037Um and it's it's I've gotten a few compliments on such it was nice to drive by. Uh in addition, his MAC US2 class had hosted John Eric Smith, a former Marine who served in Vietnam. He was able to come into the classroom with the students, which was wonderful. I spoke previously to our LLD programs, their cafe uh 2026 had its grand opening this week. Uh we're also excited to share that students have been featured in JPAC art exhibi exhibition. The students, their families have been notified. Congratulations to Fla Cabanosis and Britney Penabanos. Uh that reception will take place in December. Also, Central School is ready to kick off our the fundraiser for the food pantry. Miss Different and Ms. Melanchico, Miss R, Miss Fleming, Miss Santo, Mr. Mooney, and Mr. Reco will be vying to
038wear the turkey costume. That's a very big thing. So, we'll see how that works and they can parade around. Uh the KHS peer leaders facilitated their second meeting of the year this past Friday. The seniors engaged with the freshman class in conversation and a game about time management and encouraged students to reflect on how they're spending their time. It was a really great experience. Um lots of uh compliments from the students which is really our most important sometimes well actually most of the time. Uh KHS will have 23 seniors. This is our biggest group to date uh participating in the seal of biiteracy. So if successful all 20 of these three of these students will receive um a seal by literacy on their high school diplomas. Uh we had one new incident of HIV at
039central since we met on the 12th. The case was founded and consequences and services have been provided as per policy 5512 and 5560. Uh the KF met this on 111 the library met on the 13th. Municipal Alliance met on the 17th and we met um we had board meetings for sure the shore center and and C today. Uh the slideshow was attached I you know as you so choose board to utilize it in new business um from school boards uh for our presentations. Um and then we will have closed session this evening but no action will be taken. That concludes the report. >> There are some things in the slides I checked and I added a little bit. >> Okay. Um thank you Dr. Seavoya. Um election results are still not finalized yet. So hopefully
040at the December meeting we will have um finalization of results that we can are able to share out. Um Mr. Rapola board secretary report buildings and grounds and finance. >> I have nothing new to report uh since last week. I I do want to reiterate that uh we are most likely going to have a presentation by the auditors at the next meeting on December 10th. Um Dr. Seavoya and myself uh met with them uh today in a over a uh a Zoom session uh to discuss uh this year's past audit. They still are they are still waiting for some uh reports from the state that are needed and Dr. Seavoya this afternoon forwarded a memo from the state that came out that said they those reports are still delayed and uh we do have a
041statutory deadline to uh submit the odd sum which is uh basically all the numbers that come out in the audit we upload into a program. state uses that to for the budget and other financial things that they do. So, we have to always upload that by December 5th. There was talk that because of the delayed numbers uh that that would get postponed this year. Uh it doesn't look like that will be postponed, but they did say that there are elements of the report that will not be required to be submitted on December 5th until the state comes out with these numbers. So, my guess is we'll upload the numbers on December 5th. will have the auditor present on December 10th. Uh if the reports are finalized, if the state has has handed uh out what
042they do and the auditors have process that information, then we would accept the audit in December 10th meeting. Otherwise, we're most likely accepting the audit, you know, at a January or February meeting without the auditors being present. They'll present all the pertinent information on the 10th and we would probably accept it at a a meeting once the report was totally finalized. Um, that's all I have. Uh, Miss Cunningham. >> Thank you. So, we need a motion for 9.1 to 11.11. >> Make a motion. >> Second. Any questions, discussion? Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Abrahamson. >> Yes. Miss Cunningham, >> yes. >> Mr. Papopoulos, >> yes. >> Miss Grabowski, >> yes. >> Mr. Hubler, >> yes. >> Miss Cahane, >> sorry. Uh, Mr. Stall, >> yes. >> Mr. Staley. >> Um, abstain and 9.1. Abstain from
043the November 12th open and closed minutes. Yes to everything else. >> Thank you, Miss Ste. >> Yes, >> Miss Vanhen. Um, I abstain from anything that's not related to the high school and I abstain from the minutes from the last meeting. >> Okay. Thank you. Motions pass. >> Thank you. Uh, Dr. Seavoya, curriculum, personnel, and policy. >> Okay. The bolded items that you'll see is under 12.4. There are additional class trips that are scheduled. Uh, in addition, you see a purchase of Atlas as I spoke to previously. uh that will allow us to put all of our curricular documents online. Um a series to attend the AP mentorship program um to be the printer. Oh my goodness. Sorry. The AP mentorship program advisor for this year. Remember that's from the grant that we attained as
044well as the statement of insurance for safety. Underneath personnel, you'll see additional substitutes added. and you'll see a volunteer for the high school's girls basketball, volunteer for the wrestling team, and the modification or the um approval of Andrea Simon, um the assistant to the school business administrator's contract. >> Uh so we need a motion for 12.1 to 13.4. >> I'll make it. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Questions or discussion? We're only going to 13.4. >> 13.14. Sorry. >> 13.14. Thank you. Sorry. >> We had a motion in a second. Yes. Um, questions. Roll call. >> Mrs. Abrahamson. >> Yes. >> Miss Cunningham? >> Yes. >> Mr. Patopoulos? >> Yes. >> Miss Kowski? >> Yes. Mr. Obler, >> yes. >> Mr. Stall, >> yes. >> Mr. Staley, >> yes. >> Mrs. Teas, >> yes. >>
045Miss Vanhen, >> um I abstain from anything that's related to preschool handicap uh preschool to um middle school, but yes on everything for the high school. >> Okay, motion's pass. >> Thank you. Um old business, >> new business. >> Madam Chair, a question. Um, is there any do you have any update for us on the board committees and how they're going to shake up or >> um so Dr. Seavoy and I were talking about that the other day. I'm going to send um an email because nobody sent a email back yet and I was not able to do it this week. Um we I will need them a response to the email prior to the next meeting so we can put everybody in their roles and then we will have six months to work on
046those goals. Okay. >> Was this an email that was sent out recently or way or >> No, we had talked about this I think right after we go did set our goals, but now I'm going to send out an email with the information so I get responses back to the actual email. >> I think we were also waiting to see who was going to win the >> election too. >> So that way we don't do double work. Any other old business? >> Okay, new business. So, um, NJSBA 2025 presentations. >> In case anybody wants to stand and speak to it. Good night, ladies. >> Bye. Good night. Um, you also don't need to stand up and speak to it. You can just turn your microphone on and talk in your seat also because you can
047all see, right? Um, I think the first person on here, Joe, Mr. Stelli, is that yours? Yes. So, do you want to kick us off? >> You could do whatever you would like. Wherever you feel comfortable. >> I actually believe that statement. >> I know. >> Well, you can give me a Madam Chair, I mean, you can give me the uh you know, like a Yes. So, um I um I think I want to just So, it's Wednesday afternoon at at workshop afternoon. I'm pretty much done, but I decided to go to one more one last session, right? And so I picked this one, the career focused students challenges opportunities for um traditional high school. And the board was very brief and it talked basically about an update of a of a task force work.
048So I I kind of went to it with having like you know when you go and have low expectations I was just uh anyway so um what happened in the session the presenter was Dr. Rebecca Kip Newold who is now in um I think it's West Morris Regional District but had been the vice principal I believe at Bhin High School. She was on this task force and she gave very quickly an update, but 90% of the session was what her and her colleagues did at Bootin High School um in looking to offer some opportunities for their students. So what I what I hope to do, I would like to tell you what they did, why they did it, what the outcomes were, and how what they did might relate to what we do. And I
049think when you hear uh Bontin for those of you who maybe not know is in Mars County, um Mars County is one of the most wealthiest counties not only in the state but in the country, but Bhutin does not quite fit that profile. Uh for example, they have 30% um economically disadvantaged students. uh they have 650 students in their high school. So the vice principal Rebecca was given a charge like the kind of the underlying theme was what can we do? How can we invigorate a traditional high school? and some of the pressures that they talked about. This is kind of one of the wise she talked about, you know, like even in our own county, we have some of our children who aspire to go one of to one of themies, right? They test,
050some get in, some don't. So, she says, "What happens to those kids who have aspirations but, you know, don't make the cut to get into one of those schools?" talked about students in their school systems and families looking for something more than what a traditional high school offers going to public schools or like even in our own case we have RBR with these kind ofmies. So these were kind of the um the other part was and I think in my note it says here um uh select vocationalademies and also too few CTE opportunities right leaving unmet needs for in a traditional high school CTE CT >> uh career technical education uh career technical we have in our own we have um supply chain management right yeah so um yeah so but there so but again
051the context was u so another concept was looking at students creating some of these opportunities outside the district are high barrier situations so what they wanted to do part of their design was to create a low barriers no barriers and So what they did was they created their own academy system totally. They're not taking students from other schools right now. And they created um you can go to the to the next slide. Right. >> Oh Rich, could you go to >> Could you go to the next one? There's only two slides. So yeah. So um yeah. Yeah. So they created now this all happened within the last five years. uh it started just before COVID and they put it together and so they created actually there are actually six I have five listed there uh
052they created thesemies STEM teaching and learning business criminal justice aviation Abbott I'll tell you what that was and then there was another one is called Gateway Academy so they created these six ummies within their traditional high school with 40% participation and some of the characteristics of these things all of the teaching is done by their own faculty. Uh these faculty what I thought was kind of I mentioned this to Dr. Seavoy and she kind of say yeah that's kind of the way it is but it was surprised to me. So you can see uh where the who their partners are, right? All of these universities plus the civil air patrol that the teachers who are teaching in their academy are their own teachers who become who get trained by one of these universities and actually
053are become adjunct faculty. Their their status is that of an adjunct faculty member. And so when they are teaching these courses now each of the course each of the ummies has six courses one course freshman sophomore one course two courses each uh junior and senior year right and so the teachers who are teaching that um so therefore college credit is involved in almost all of these things plus whatever they may do with AP on top of it. So, I thought that was really good. On each of the cat on each of the they create kind of a family. They kind of create a there's a teacher advisor who's stipened who follows and and really manages in a sense that particular academy. Um, let me just So, I thought it was um I think the 40%
054participation uh rate was they're really happy with that. They've seen reductions in absenteeism and in some cases there are different kinds of certificates that that can be earned. And you can see on this bullet point they guarantee a 100 hours of field experiences within each of thesemies. Um I think it was um really I was I was impressed and thrilled you know then you can say oh the reason I mentioned some of the things at the beginning you think about oh this is this super affluent uh it's not a super affluent place and I said how how do they how do they how do they do this one of the things she throws out this comments you know every student we retain part of what they're looking how do we retain kids in our traditional
055high school? How do we keep them rather than going to look elsewhere? She said that each student um retained was equal to $17,000 in aid. >> So yeah. Um, so then how does it how does it apply? Because of course, you know, when you sit in a workshop, I'm thinking, well, how does this apply? What's what's this about us? You know, and and I think um there's something, you know, Dr. Seavoya has certain phrases and things that she repeats and in a good way usually, right? >> No, no, no. And one of them, one of them is the word equity. And she speaks about equity of opportunity for our students, right? Or concern that our kids are not getting the fair shake. This was one of the thoughts behind what they're I was thinking about.
056Yeah. uh we are we are concerned about opportunities for our students and how can we how can we continue to work to do that and then for myself one of the things uh I've mentioned over time like particularly in high school I kind of would say something like this you know every one of our students needs a plan interesting one avid What was AVID? AVID is for an option for the kids who are in that, you know, the the middle 50% kids who kind of don't know what they want to do. And the program is set up for those uh for those kids. There's the one that I didn't list is called Gateway, which is their high academic achievers. Uh, so yeah, I thought um that was um yeah, that was it. Any questions or
057thoughts on it? If you would like if you would like to see Rebecca sent me her slide deck and if you'd like to um to see it. >> Yes, I think um yeah, >> real real quick. Um, I know it said each retained student saved 17,000, but did they mention how many they retained? And also, what is the comparison of their like how many how big is this district? >> How big is this district? >> How big is the what? >> Boomington. >> No, 600. >> 650. >> They say how many they retain. >> No, she didn't. She just uh she was talking about the retention was uh was an issue. was a was a was one of their objectives, right? And but I think she talked more about it conceptually. But I think it's
058true if we look at I think if we examine ourselves in our own community as kids are coming through sixth, seventh, eighth grade, what are they thinking? A lot of our kids are thinking about what where else can I go? Because and this is this is be in a bigger picture than Keyport High School. It's what are traditional high schools going to be? And I think this is an insight into where high schools need are going. They're going to go this traditional route. There's doubts about it's going to be fine for a lot of people, but I think there's doubts about its effectiveness because people are looking for something that they I think this is their response to those concerns. >> Thank you. Are you next, Mr. Fopoulos? >> This wasn't you? Oh, this was
059you >> probably. Okay, go ahead then. >> Dr. The next one was me. I thought it was you. >> No, I I attended a couple of the you know, Mr. Fopoulos and I and all cander have had conversations about um this association that's up there and a presentation that actually I think a couple of you saw at school boards and with such I I took an opportunity to go to a couple of the workshops because I was you know again we can always do something we can always learn like it's ongoing that's what we do here but I wanted to see what this person how she presented and and see if they could offer something to us and out of that workshop ironically enough one of the two of them they talked about a bunch
060of scenarios on how they handled those scenarios. But um in the second one, I think there were a few of us there at that one. We were able to talk to Miss Perllo and get into a shared services agreement which the board took action on tonight. We can experiment with that, what that can do for us to increase engagement in the community. So some of these scenarios, it was just nice because in the superintendency, you know, not unlike other professions, you know, you're in your bubble here and you and it's nice to hear what other people are doing because I can tell you everything that's going on in Keport, but I can't always tell you what's going on in the world. So I have to go home and listen to some news to find out
061what that looks like. In all cander, it was great to see some of the scenarios that they entertained and how they reacted to those. So again, we're it's a journey, but we definitely are going to try out that shared service. And I think I have Miss Brolo scheduled to come into the district on I want to say the fourth, fifth, whatever that Friday is. And she'll meet to do a tour, go over our communications process, and meet with the administration and see where we can get started. So, it was a good workshop. >> Our current communications process documented. >> Can you can you send it to me? I'd like to see it. Um, and also, uh, I I love that, um, you know, you brought up community engagement. My my only other thought is that
062uh we should also not just take the approach of a community engagement but um community information putting our you know which might be in in many folks mind included in community engagement but you know transparency to the community and whatever we can do to improve uh their knowledge uh would be fantastic. And I' I'd love to hear what Miss Pllo has to say about that as well. If at any point she's going to present to the board, um that wouldn't be it. I I would I would love that as well, but that's up to you. >> Yeah. Any other questions? Um I think next is the one I just put some things in. Um Mrs. Abrahamson, Miss Tish, you were both there also. So it was the school funding formula, follow the money. Um, it
063was a primer. It was actually two board presidents that are extremely passionate about the uh, funding formula and I give them a lot of credit because I don't understand um, to the level of their knowledge. Um, but they did share a lot of things. Um, some of the things were like the six key sf components which uh, Mr. Rapola does a really great job but sometimes I think we need layman's terms because we really really don't understand it. So they kind of um for lack of a better word dumbed it down into simplistic form for us. Yeah. Um so like just the components being like the adequacy budget, special education funding, transportation aid, security aid, local fair share, tax levy. Um they also shared that the special education um money was not fully funded until
064last year. Uh they finally used true numbers um of special ed students and districts to generate real dollars, not just capped out percents. Uh most of the districts cap out at the max percentage and it's not necessarily the amount of students that you have in your district. So you're not being compensated accurately. Um it actually said the majority of districts have been underfunded in this area year-over-year. Uh 60% of the districts were underfunded in 2022 to 2023 school year in special education. And so it's also them not giving us the money is not allowing us to educate our children for the true number of special ed student population that we have. >> They did say they had like a pot, right? >> Yeah. >> And whatever money was left in that pot got split. >>
065Yes. >> And they really they really haven't funded it 100%. They're changing the way they calculate it, but it is still not fully funded. So that is our hope. Um, we also know that there's three categories of state aid, which is competitive grants, which we are, as our district extremely taking advantage of and trying to make as many moves as we can possibly. Um, the categorical aid, which is special education, security aid, and transportation. Um, a fun fact that they shared with us was transportation costs have increased by 42% since 2009, and the funding has only increased by 13%. Um, so that's a huge gap of money that we have to figure out where to make up. Um, and the cost of transportation continues to skyrocket. Um, and one of the other things that I
066took away that I thought was um, very interesting is uh, there are like multipliers which are considered manipulators uh, that are within the school funding formula that they make sure that they can adjust the numbers to get the budget that the state wants to get. So it is not necessarily what our district needs or the schools need, but they have these manipulators in there so they can meet the number that they actually want to reach. >> And that was great because it's the A plus the C plus the F and the G divided by the R. And I'm Tony, can you and nobody knows. So you're absolutely right. And that's I don't know if it's proprietary, but they don't let you know. >> Yeah. So I what what they said I think they use the
067term is back they back into the formula. So you think it's just a simple like a math formula >> but it's not because like they manipulate it to fit their so whatever their budget is they make sure that their numbers fit that budget that they've put out. >> Well that that was a given. >> Yeah. >> Right. Because how many times has has your district asked the state to explain the formula? >> Yep. And they're like, "Oh, don't worry. We we just we we can't even tell you. >> It's too complicated. >> It's too like they'd say it's too complicated. Oh, it's not straightforward." You're like, "Okay, so show it to us." And anytime they go, "You can't understand it." It's because they're doing the back door. >> They don't know. >> Definitely. They don't
068know Cunningham. I was just telling Mr. Hubler I was whispering >> that when they did that part I was like take a picture. >> Yeah, I have lots of pictures and notes because I put them in like my one note and then I put like notes underneath like the slide that I take so that way like I have it. Um but uh they have also like um it is legal. SFR is legal. they were um essentially like sued and tried against and it was decided that it is actually legal and okay for them to do and they're not doing anything incorrectly either. >> What they said was that the Supreme Court upheld the formula and so the benefit of keeping it and not throwing out and starting over is that it doesn't have to be
069tested in the court. >> Yes. and they are um creating like a subcommittee and I think we're starting to see some of that with the surveys that they just sent out that they asked everybody for. So they are taking information. Um but the ladies did make a really great point and like Laura was just saying they kind of are not going to get anywhere starting from scratch with a new formula. that's kind of taking the formula that they currently have and maybe tweaking or changing certain parts of it to enhance or get different or better results, but it's not wiping it out and starting over because then they have to go through all of these processes all over again to see if it es and flows and then we go back to the last two
070situations where we were just in where there was the original and then the addition to. Um, so it's better to keep it how it is and then change some of the things with it. You guys, that was a great workshop. I wish I was there. >> Yeah, we I was It got my brain going. It made me want to like go to Tony and start asking him more questions, but I'm like, do I really have the mental capacity for this? >> Joe, send him an email. Give him some bullets. Come on. >> But it was it really was a great course and I can't believe that those two women are as passionate about the school funding formula. I totally understand because we all want money, but like the amount of knowledge that they have regarding
071it is crazy. >> So, what's their background? Are they accountants? >> Uh, no. They weren't accountants. I think I don't know factually. I can get that information. >> No, I was just wondering because there's not many people that go down that rabbit hole. >> Yeah. >> And come out >> and they've like testified. They've like these women are like hardcore after this funding formula. So, it was a it was a really great class. We didn't know what to expect when we got there, but it was actually a really good class that we >> Did they go into the weeds a little bit? Like did they did they give you some of the known aspects of the formula? So, what they actually did was they showed us an example and not that you guys can see
072it um and it's a little blurry, but they took like an actual example of um a district and they put all of the information up there and let us see how it like manipulated and played out with >> just send it to me if would you would you be okay with send >> and they were from the same district. >> Yeah, they were two different districts, right? was and just out of curiosity and we won't go into it but was town was uh tax value of the town. >> Yeah. So they actually made some interesting statements like if you have like a business that's in your town like because some of these people are from like more of South and North Jersey and they have athletes who come and move to their areas and they
073don't want the athletes to come and live in their towns because it changes the local fair share that your town then has to pay or because of income or if you have a business that sells it changes the value. So there's lots of other things like if somebody wins the lottery and wins tons of money, it also changes the for like the amount of money that is played into part. Um so there there's lots of interesting things that I guess that we should have known but just didn't pay attention to because you don't think it's important. Um but a lot of things that actually manipulate >> it could be that anomaly. Somebody could win the lottery and that could skew things. But the survey that they sent out I didn't love because I thought for
074the average person when we talk about making it lay person you know even again I'm not Mr. Rep so I want to read um you had to have some statistic like you had to if you did the survey it was a little harder than I thought it would be. >> I'm not as a I'm not I mean I am interested in that aspect of it because income is definitely a weighted factor. I just want to know what weight is applied because I'm thinking about our town, right? And I'm thinking about how much the actual value of the town has been influentially increased by a very small percentage of homes that have sold >> and it makes it drastic >> and it and it and >> right and again I don't know if I've ever really
075said this on the record but I we've had discussions about this but the ch not the challenge the tragedy is that you know in the last two years, maybe a hundred homes or tops, you know, let's say 200 sold in Keyport, right? And Keyport right now, the values of these homes are super high. >> Yep. >> Right. So, what it did, what they do is they take the value of that home and they put that into the that's how they figure the assessments yearly, the annual demonstration project. Every year they take the what's sold and they increase the value of your home, your home, my home, your home based on what is sold. That's I'm I'm not entirely It's not entirely problematic for me, but when you're talking about less than 10% of the homes
076in Kapport, the ones that haven't sold are generational Keyportians >> and they're they're also a lot of rentals and there's and there's, you know, um there's others that are getting housing assistance. Now, they probably figure that in here, but the demographic hasn't changed as significantly as what the increase in our town value would illustrate. >> And that's >> No, we're having the same issue in Union Beach. >> Yes, you guys are in the same boat. All of the Beayshore is having the same. >> It's probably more there because >> three houses in Union Beach right now >> on the market for over a million dollars. >> One just sold in Keyport for $940,000. Okay. And that messes with the formula >> because they're like, "Oh, well, you're selling million-dollar homes, so that means you're having
077more people come in with more income." Not not not necessarily, >> right? Not and and it's not even the income. It's actually they look at the value of the town. Y >> So they add up all the what all of these homes are worth and >> assess that. >> And you guys had a lot of rebuilding. So you're not even way more than us. The two houses down the street from me that just got built, they're selling for $84,000 and they are not $840,000 homes. It's not what >> somebody's going to buy them for $84. >> They are, but they're not. >> But that that's the thing. It's >> It's kind of like in the eye of the beholder, >> right? when they're coming out of New York City >> and they're paying 25 third
078well 2500 3,000 $4,000 for a one-bedroom two or twobedroom apartment that's 800 square feet they're like woo >> yeah I'm in a mansion >> yep >> any other >> I think if you get the name of the class from her you can go onto the app >> Oh yeah >> and get All of the >> Thanks, Ruth. >> Thanks. Yeah, they put them for all the class. >> I'll get it. If she gives it to me, I'll download it and have it send it out. I'll have Josie send it to you. >> I'll give it to you now while the next person goes. >> Somebody else put something uh discover how your furniture can impact engagement. Okay, go ahead. >> So, with my limited time there, I attended a few. Um, this one kind of
079rung interesting to me as my wife approached early childhood education, daycare, learning center, and then 20 years ago, you've seen this kind of change throughout the uh educational system and and even personally, I figured out like my office was not always good for me. Um, so I'll go to Bell Works or or to mix it up. So, the two that I put on here were presenters. Um, we were exhibitors as well. So, you know, you expect a little bit of a sales pitch. This one was not a sales pitch, so I liked it. So, Key um the presenter was formerly a school administrator. He was going to another school and he was working with Key at the time. They offered him a position at it. So, it was just about bringing different types of furniture
080into classrooms to help enhance education. Um I've been very blessed. Both my kids are very traditional learners in that aspect, but my nephew and niece have um needed things to kind of find ways to work in the classroom for them. So they do grants, they do other things, they have videos on the site that are really impressive across different demographics. Um so they showed an early childhood education and they also showed um a vocational school, a high school vocational school where it's a closed classroom. They can do everything from the start of the day in there, whether that be a lab, a lunch, um you know, a new learning environment where it's an adaptable classroom for all of these things. So I was really impressive with that one. Um what was nice is and progressive
081for them as well. Uh there were satisfaction surveys done and that wasn't done 30 days after or 60 days after where all the kids are still excited about the furniture. They were taking place a year later and I forgot my notes but satisfaction, happiness, absenteeism was down. You were seeing those increases. So what they did do now is they're going back and asking the schools if they'd show testing results, how that would work with those over the years. Um and they got some approvals for that. So they're going to have those results coming forward. So that one was good. The second one on the next slide was a sales pitch and as a salesperson I appreciate it. But u this one kind of you know we're looking at STEM and and so CTE I was
082thinking about banging my head as well until I got to this class. So now I know that. Um but it was approaching augmented and in virtual reality in classrooms and and you know just how they can start accommodating uh all sorts of demographics. Obviously some of those higher school districts do have this in but different ways to approach it in all school districts and then it turned into a full-on hey buy my brand. So less exciting to report back on this one, but I thought the key furniture one was good just for the wide range of things they have just the the different scope. They have a chair that you can sit in like six different ways so a kid can learn and it was just really impressive that. Yeah, >> that was good. You
083you had short notice and you were only get for a day. So you were you figured it out. >> Thank you. Anybody have anything else they want to share? Okay. Then uh public participation on agenda and non-aggenda items. Um we will have close session this evening. So resolved by the keeper board of education as per chapter 231 PL197518.1.1 that hereby determine that uh it is necessary to meet in executive session for an employee matter and litigation. The matters discussed will be made public if and when action confidentiality is no longer required and action pursuant to said disc discussion shall take place only at a public meeting. The meeting thought to be approximately 1 hour. Action may be taken upon return to open session. Uh motion to go to close session. >> Motion. >> Second. >>
084All in favor? I