001ation working together in partnership with the district to develop board and district goals for the 2526 school year. Before we begin, we will hear from our director of communications, Isaiah Draper, who will present the results of the Satan Hall University's SOMD market research results. While this was originally scheduled for our August 29th meeting, I felt it was important for us to receive these results tonight as they may inform and inspire our discussions as we finalize our goals. Following that, we will be joined by our NJSBA rep, Gene Clearary, who will talk us through the process of engaging with NJSBA to develop a multi-year strategic plan. Since joining the board in 2023, many of my board colleagues and I have had a strong desire to work collaboratively with the superintendent and district leadership on a five-year
002strategic plan. I'm both encouraged and energized that Superintendent Bing shares this enthusiasm for charting a long-term vision for our district, one that will be guided not only by our board and administration, but also by the voices of our community members and key stakeholders. And one more announcement, we are celebrating our board member Dearra Brown's birthday. Yay. >> Happy birthday. >> Got extra treats to celebrate that today. And now I will read um Oh, you always forget. I don't need to read the board presidents. Oh, I guess I do because we're going to have the today's a little different. So, we're going to have the presentations here at the deis and then um after the two presentations, we will um close out and then move to the tables to have our more intimate setting and those
003who are here tonight can stay and listen on. Um, so are there any public speaks? Do you see anything up there? I don't think there's anyone online. Okay. So, while they're checking for that, I'll read the board. The schoolboard meeting is a business meeting in public and not a meeting with the public. Oftentimes, it may appear to members of our audience that the board of education takes action with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote. Before a matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting, it has thoroughly been reviewed by the administration, the superintendent of schools and the board of education after which it is placed on the agenda for board discussion and action at a public meeting. No action will actually be taken today as it is our retreat.
004So no one was signed up. Correct. Mr. Mitt, no one signed up, right? No. Okay, good. Um, so let's move into presentations. Hello there. Good evening all. Uh thank you so much, President Duval Wilson and the rest of our amazing school board members. Uh I'm really thankful for this opportunity to share some notes from our caregiver experience survey that we did in collaboration with Satan Hall University's market research center under the direction of Professor Adam Warner from Satan Hall University. As we reflect on the current perceptions of our district among parents and caregivers, we really want to emphasize that our collective efforts are not just about meeting benchmarks. They were about fostering an environment where every student can thrive, every educator feels empowered and every community members feels connected to our shared mission. Before I
005get into it, I would also like to mention very briefly that I presented at uh the National School Public Relations Association conference this year in Washington DC on building a team of content creators for monumental impact with a few other really renowned school district communicator uh directors and the president of class intercom which we use in our district. This is really amazing and I thank the board for my participation in this and it was really great to have a very packed room full of school district administrators and aspiring communicators alike. One of the most compelling takeaways from this research that we did with Singh Hall University, which surveyed 454 parents and caregivers, was the clear indication that most parents and caregivers believe that the school district had room to improve in several critical areas: transparency,
006communication, accessibility, budget allocation, student well-being, and special education. This isn't just a number on a chart. It represents valuable feedback that will guide our strategic improvements from Superintendent Bing. Specifically in communications and transparency. While the majority of parents felt we communicate urgent updates in a timely manner, there is a significant perception that it's not always easy to find important information. We heard a strong desire for more focused communication such as weekly or monthly newsletters via email, text, and even printed copies for those without internet access. There's also a clear call for more accessible information on our district website, including timely posting of meeting recordings and presentations, and a greater emphasis on why decisions are being made. This is a testament to our community's desire for deeper engagement and understanding. Inside of our survey that we
007did with Sean Hall University, there were 24 questions that were on QualricS and we sent out a survey via email to all SOMD parents and caregivers. The students then conducted telephonebased interviews with all 450 and if not through email and constant discussion. Equally important was the feedback that we received regarding student well-being and support. Our research indicates that a notable percentage of caregivers feel SOSD did not adequately support students mental health and emotional well-being and that there aren't enough social workers, counselors, or mental health resources available. Furthermore, concerns were raised about safety, inclusivity, and bullying prevention, particularly at Columbia High School. This highlights a critical area where we must double down on our efforts to ensure every student feels safe, supported, and has access to resources that they need. On this slide, we can see
008just a few survey participants that were collected across the district. Most notably, many of our participants were from Colombia High School. In a recap of our survey, the 20 phone phone interviews sent out districtwide to get parents to participate in those interviews. And that was the very first phase of the telephone-based surveys that the students did. Many of those then shaped how the students were then moving forward in the rest of their findings regarding bud budget and district operations. The survey revealed that a significant majority of caregivers do not understand how the budget is allocated with only a small percentage feeling that they knew very well. This underscores the need for enhanced transparency and clearer communication around our financial resources. Parents also identified areas they believe should receive more funding, including teacher salaries, school facilities,
009and student support. Finally, the presentation laid out a clear vision for our future goals based on this feedback from the students. Our strategic priorities will include enhancing our communication channels to be more proactive and informative, ensuring our website is truly accessible for all district information and crucially increasing our focus and resources on student mental health, emotional well-being, and special education support. We are committed to being more active and timely in responding to emails and ensuring parents feel heard and we will continue to hold town hall meetings to foster open dialogue. These aren't just aspirations that we're saying. Mr. Bing is committed to this and they are actionable plans designed to build upon our current successes and address the needs that our community feels that we need to grow in. As we go through some of
010this, just a quick glimpse at some of the findings. 61% of caregivers said they do not understand how the budget is allocated. At Columbia High School, 28% of caregivers were not satisfied. Many of the comments, one standout was saying, "Respond to parents, respond to bullying incidents." >> So, now comes our recommendations from all of the findings that our students had. Number one, communicate with caregivers at least on a weekly basis and constantly include contacts so that people can reach out. Number two, be active and timely with responding to emails. Continue letting parents opinion be heard. Number three, as we said, include more insight on information and decisions that the district makes before, during, and after. And fourth is keep conducting town halls and other virtual learning events, including community conversations that we hold in person
011around the district. In closing, this presentation was more than just an update. It was a powerful affirmation of what we can achieve when we work together with a shared purpose. listening to the voices of the parents in our community. I am incredibly proud of the students at Satan Hall University, our staff, our families, and our community. And I and Mr. Bing are confident that addressing these insights, we will continue to strengthen the South Orange and Maplewood School District. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Draper. Um, are there any questions members? >> No. All right. >> Thank you. >> Great job. Thank you. >> So, as many of you know, uh we did lose uh a very special part of this family this week. Uh Dr. Jane Bean, folks. Um uh she is really
012nationally considered more than just an exceptional educator. Um, you know, for me, she was one of the first people to greet me in the district. Um, and she just carried a very light soul. Uh, so it's been a rough few days for us. Um, I do want to read just what we have posted on the website just to make sure we're honoring this wonderful person uh, in the right way. Uh, throughout her time in South Orange and Mapwood, Dr. folks poured her heart into her work, always centering around the needs of her most marginalized students. Her unwavering dedication to building a love of reading and writing, her high expectations for excellence and her compassion for the whole child inspired students, staff, and families alike. She pushed us all to think more deeply, to act more
013boldly, and never lose sight of the transformative power of education, especially literacy. Dr. Bean folks was a devoted teacher, scholar, and advocate whose life's work reflected her unwavering belief in the power of language to transform lives. Uh she earned both masters and doctor degrees from the teachers college Columbia University. She dedicated her career to teaching students and mentoring colleagues and education alike. While tirelessly researching and championing multilingual classrooms, Dr. Bean folks cared about African-American language and the educational journals of students from historically marginalized communities. A true researcher practitioner, she poured her heart into K to2 classrooms, collaborating with teachers, administrators, and students, leaving behind a legacy of scholarship, compassion, and an unshakable commitment to equity and education. Her impact will be felt for years to come in the program she strengthened in the teacher she
014mentored and most importantly in the countless student whose lives she touched. Dr. Bean folks leaves behind a legacy of empathy, advocacy and unshakable belief in the potential of every learner. Uh we have many many many people who uh have felt this loss very deeply not only in South Orange Mapwood school district but across the state and across the tri-state area. Uh we are working uh with colleagues to memorialize uh Dr. Jane Bean folks. We'll be working with our newly opened library to set up a reading section in her name. Uh we'll also be uh funding uh a bench for students to sit on outside with a plaque and we'll be working with the Achieve Foundation to also uh develop a literacy grant in her name and that's atachchievefoundation.org. Donate. Uh I want to point out
015that funeral arrangements for Dr. Jane Bean Folks are as follows. Uh, her wake is on Thursday, August 21st, 3 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Preston Funeral Home, 153 South Orange Avenue in South Orange. And her funeral is Friday, August 22nd at 10:00 a.m. St. Joseph's Church, 767 Prospect Street, Maplewood. Um, our hearts are broken currently. Um she is she is missed um and she is uh she will be honored throughout this year. I promise you that. Um so she please feel free to uh dedicate to the literacy grant. Uh also attend her services. Um simply put uh she will be missed. >> Thank you for that Mr. Bang. he will definitely be greatly missed and um the website our SMSD website has that information on the homepage as well for those who want to
016reference that. Um and so next we will have our NJSBA rep Gene Clearary come up and present. Thank you. Thank you. It's good to be with everyone again. My deepest condolences on the loss of such an important person to the district. I know um her memory will will live long past her from hearing about her and her accomplishments and how she touched so many lives. Um, it's a pleasure to be here and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have had uh to listen to the previous presentation because I think that it goes kind of handinhand with what I was asked to come out and speak to you about this evening. Um, so we are going to take a look at New Jerseys uh New Jersey school board's 3D strategic planning process. And before we
017start, we should just um address what the 3D really stands for. It stands for determination, dream, and destiny by design. And it's focused on how we can work with the community to um best serve the students of the district and really focus our work for the next several years um on very purposeful, meaningful plans that will best serve students. So we're going to just look in this presentation um and speak about what the strategic plan is, the advantages of doing it, how to be part of the process because we really want to encourage all stakeholders to be involved. Um hearing from the previous presentation about some of the issues that came up. this is an opportunity for a wider swath of the community to come out and participate and actually um guide some things forward
018um so that students are best served and then at the end I'll answer any questions that you might have. So so for the benefit of um your community who may be listening in I just want to touch upon New Jersey school boards and what we do. We are a federation of boards of education which provides training, advocacy and support to advance public education and promote the achievement of all students through effective governance. And as this board knows, I've been in a number of times to work with you on issues that you felt um you wanted to address to continuously improve your process of governance to best serve the students of South Orange Maplewood. So what is a strategic plan? It's actually a way to create an organizationwide vision that directs and motivates and inspires all
019members of the educational community to work together for the common good. So what is important to keep in mind is that we're welcoming everyone into this process, but it's going to be a process um focused on building consensus and working together so that we can really efficiently um serve students. The advantages of doing a strategic plan is that this is a proactive process. Very often things pop up that need our attention and distract us. Um but this is a proactive, inspirational, creative, and innovative process that we're asking people to participate in. Um the planning for this is flexible, and if you decide to move ahead with us, we'll work on some of the logistics about um that and communicating out specific dates and places so that your community can participate. It's really meant to provide
020a forum for all stakeholders to come out and be involved and consider um what the students of South Orange Maplewood really will benefit from and help to create that vision and those overarching goals that will be the focus for the next um 3 to 5 years. The process itself of strategic planning creates an ongoing cycle of planning, assessment, and decision making um that follows it through the next several years really to ensure that we're staying focused and making progress on those goals. It optimizes limited resources. We look at um really prioritizing what it is we want to see and how we want to go about serving um so that we can make best use of our um resources. And it helps to increase communication and that was an issue that came up earlier, right? Where
021people um just are are wanting to be engaged, want to understand how decisions are being arrived at and how those decisions um impact and serve students. So advantages of this process, the strategic planning process are that it brings focus to decision making where we can really rely on these goals and um stay focused on what we're doing so that our conversations can be tied together and the work of all of the the staff and the educational community at large is focused. It highlights the importance of information for decisionmaking and it creates that district-wide vision again um the vision and mission that's going to direct and motivate and inspire people um so that they feel connected to the work that they're doing with students and um understand the important role that each of us plays. Right?
022So why plan? Why is planning important? We want to look at some common um questions about is your school enrollment changing? You know, do you have um stress on your facilities because of increasing population, more kids coming into the schools? Is the makeup of your population changing? Are students arriving and families arriving in your schools that maybe have different needs than those that you were um addressing before? Are there more people in your community who don't have children in the school? How do we communicate with them and engage with them and and share the good work that's happening here and the importance of planning for successful schools for our students because successful public schools make successful communities and we need um all participants. Additionally, we want to um look at things like these. Are there
023changes in family structure in your community? Um perhaps as an example, if there are more single heads of household, right? They may need services um to be expanded for before after care. That's just an example. Is the economic structure of your community changing? And if so, what impact will that have on both revenues coming in um and how you meet some of the additional needs that might be presenting? Are the educational levels of the community changing? We want to be really careful and aware of that so that we can ensure that that communication that we're trying to do is um re able to be received in a way that people can really make use of what's being shared with them. Is there a competition for your public schools? Um are you seeing students uh leave
024maybe at the high school to pursue other opportunities? um and how can we um provide services to retain our students? Is limited funding impacting your programs and services? And I I'm quite honest to say I don't know a district that I've been in that that isn't a challenge right now. So really um having those conversations and that focus on how we are good stewards of fi the finances. So, one of the things that we know is that when we embark on um some of these things, we have to be careful that we're not just creating additional layers um of additional work on the shoulders of very busy people that already feel um challenged to serve. So, what this process is designed to do is actually to create cascading goals. So, we'll create multi-year strategic planning
025goals and those will be developed with the input of the stakeholders throughout the community. And when I say stakeholders, I mean board members, staff members, um community members with and without children in the schools. Okay. Those multi-year goals will then help to identify the annual district and board goals for the next several years. Those annual steps will be steps on the ladder towards achieving those multi-year goals. Those will then help to align additional goals like the superintendence goals, administrator goals, building goals for the principles, um department goals, you know, goals that we have for our students regarding academics, um and looking at what professional development is necessary to ensure that everyone is prepared and has what they need to best serve students. All of this leading ultimately to a very purposeful plan to increase student
026achievement. So the components of a 3D strategic plan are as follows. Once the board decides to commit to this process, um then what we want to do is get information out because we really want to engage with community and have them understand what this process is and how they can participate and how valuable their participation really is. We'll um have three meetings that'll involve all of the stakeholders and in the first one um we'll ask Mr. being as superintendent to pre present in uh the opening a state of the schools, a state of the district, right? So that we all start this process of working together with the same information, celebrating all of the wonderful things that are already in place and identifying the challenges so that we can all be aware of that as
027we start this process of discussion and examination. We'll then um work in these meetings. The first one will be a focus of strengths and challenges to now get the input from what the community determines to be what they feel are the concerns and challenges. And then we'll move on to um vision. We'll do visioning exercises to really kind of establish where does the community Oh, I'm getting some feedback here. Um okay, sorry. There was some feedback there from Oh, it's happening again. Not sure. Um, we have some Okay. Um, okay. So, there'll be visioning exercises to identify what it is we want to see in the next five years. You're hearing it, too. >> Yeah. It's very distracting. >> Thank you so much. Would you like to go >> so much? >> No problem. >>
028Okay, >> you're all safe. >> Okay, back to it. Thank you. Um so we'll we'll get the input from the community about what they see as the strengths and challenges. We'll move on to visioning exercises in the second meeting to kind of come to consensus about what do we envision um as where we want our students to arrive in the next say five years. And then we'll also embark upon goal setting, setting those um overarching goals that should be the focus to help us meet that vision. Then there'll be some um discussion about strategies and moving forward. After the conclusion of the third public meeting where everyone's involved, that information is all turned over to the superintendent who shares it with the administrative team so that they can derive the um action plans which will
029actually be the work of the district and the administration and the teachers towards helping um us meet those multi-year goals. So an important thing to really understand about this process, it is an inclusive process. It's meant to have the diversity of thought and opinion um and bring those discussions um through consensus to develop a plan that really is reflective. And what that does is that in the future you really have that as guidance for the actions that you take over the next several years. So the process itself consists of pre-planning. So um Mr. Bing will put together the state of the school's overview and that will be how we open the process at meeting one. Um and it'll consist of um going on then in that first meeting strengths and challenges. We'll um initially start
030with I'll do a very brief introductory to get the night kicked off. We'll work in small groups. Then we come back into a large group and report out from our small groups. always bringing everyone along with us through this process. The second meeting is on the visioning and the third meeting again is on goals and objectives. So overview of just the process is that um once you embark on this we want to of course set the dates. These um meetings generally happen about four weeks apart. before the first meeting. We want to make sure that um proper communication and advertising is going out that you give some thought to maybe community organizations who you'd like to send specific invitations to. Um we ask that the district just sets up um a way for people to
031register for the program and that's really more for logistics so I can best be prepared for the amount of people that will be showing up. No one is generally turned away if they show up that night without being registered, but it does help us plan and really accommodate everyone. Um, we want to uh make sure that the meeting um is advertised appropriately and that we separate it out and ensure the community that we're not taking any action just as tonight, right? There's no board action. The focus is going to be on this strategic planning process. So the meeting will begin with um the board president or the superintendent saying opening remarks and then I move on to taking over and facilitating those and I ask that um staff and board members please come and participate.
032Um but the only request that we have is that you just set aside your official hat, right? We want to just have you there um as a a member of the educational community to participate and to work along with community members um but just ask you to be there as an individual um and not representative of the board or or the schools the action plan. So after the final meeting um all of this will be scheduled out so it'll be on a timeline that we all agree to. um depending on where that third meeting falls, we want to give adequate time for Mr. Bing and the administrative team to have to be able to come together um to work on those action plans and develop them. And they will be corresponding directly to the identified
033goals and objectives that have been um developed from community participation. After the conclusion of this, I will come out and make a final presentation to wrap up this part of the of the um work and deliver to the board um the actual documents. So after each meeting that happens, I'll be writing an outcomes report and sharing it and I'll ask that it be posted up on the website so that it's available to all members of the community regardless of whether they've attended the meeting or not so that everyone can be engaged and understand what we're doing as we're doing it. Um the final documentation will include everything um all those outcome reports and it will include the um state of the schools presentation from the beginning. It will also include the action plans. I'll have
034all of that bound. The superintendent will receive a binder copy so that um background information, backup information can be added as he goes over the next um several years. the board will get a binder copy for that purpose as well. That should stay at the board table for um as a resource really in your decision- making as you go forward. Um and each one of the board members receives a spiralbound copy of that for your um for you to have. Um all participants for that final meeting should be uh notified and um invited out to come out for that to celebrate the conclusion of that part of the strategic plan. But the strategic plan will live on for the next five years, right? and it will guide um the future annual planning that you do
035um and the decisions that you make so that you can really ensure yourself that you really are representing the will of the community for um the students in the district. So here we just have a sample strategic planning calendar. Basically um what this lists is just about a month apart we'll have the meetings. Um, generally within a week of uh the meeting, I'll turn over the outcomes report that I asked to be posted. We want to just keep the dialogue going so that everyone knows that they're welcome to participate or stay involved and engaged with this process. And then as the next couple of years roll out, there should be um regularly scheduled updates for progress made towards the strategic plan and discussion of how annual district and board goals have been tied into helping
036you take steps forward in meeting these multi-year goals. So importantly, probably the most important slide of all are ways for the public to participate. This is generally a four-month process. Um we ask that uh the community members come out, attend and actively participate in the three meetings. But if you can't make all three, um come and do what you can do. You're always welcome. We will ask you to pre-register for it just so we can ensure that we're welcoming everyone appropriately. Um become involved. We ask the community to become involved and educated about the schools. the state of the schools report um will be a wonderful way to start that off. Um and this doesn't necessarily mean that we all have to come out and run into the schools, right? Because we want to keep
037them focused on teaching and learning, but we would encourage everyone to um become more familiar with what is happening in the schools by staying informed by all of those new communication methods that are going to to happen. um and just paying attention to um what's going really well right now and what is the focus of um challenge areas that you want to be addressing. And then um again just over the next couple of years um being very clear with communicating for the community um about when updates will be given on progress being made so that we maintain that engagement um which will serve you in other areas as well. So that is really the summation of the presentation. and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. >> Thank you so much. Um
038I will hold and see if people have questions. >> No. >> Okay. >> Um so thank you. So yes, we will the next steps would be for us to reconnect and then um I know there's like a whole contract process and all of that. >> Yeah. So I believe you have the proposal and the board can take a look at that. Um, if you have any questions, please just reach out to me. Um, once I have your go-ahad, I'll have the contract drawn up and I'll walk you through the next step steps of that and then we can get to some logistical planning. Just setting dates, making sure we have everything on our calendars and I can provide information and support for um, best ways to communicate things that have been used, some templates and
039things like that. >> Okay. Great. >> Great. >> Thank you so much. It's good to see everybody again. >> You too. >> Okay. So, we are now going to move to the side tables for our retreat. Was anything? No. Okay. Um, so I'll uh announce our future meetings. Is that me? Oh, did she leave the mic on? Oh, can someone turn that off, please? Thanks. Um, yeah. Okay. So, the board of education will meet in public session on Thursday, August 28th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. where action will be taken. Um, I would like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting on August 19th at 7:11 p.m. May I have a second? Thank you, board member Kellahan. All in favor? Great. Meeting adjourned.