001We'd like to call the meeting to order and welcome everyone. >> Thank you. >> Adequate uh good evening. This meeting is being held in accordance with the scheduled meeting adopted at the organizational meeting held on January 6, 2025. Adequate notice of this regular meeting of the Kennorth Board of Education has been provided to the Home News Tribune, the Star Ledger, the local source on January 16th, 2025. The copy has been filed with the Kennorth Burough Clerk, posted in the board office, Kennorth Burough Hall, Burling and Harding Schools as is provided by the Open Public Meetings Act. >> Thank you, Mr. Ganella. Will we please rise and have this to the flag to the flag of [clears throat] the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible
002with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Ganella, can we please have a roll call? >> Yes. Biner >> here. >> Koli >> here. >> David. Ferrara >> here. >> Ather >> here. >> Hardina. >> Lead >> here. Penichi >> here. >> Zimmerman >> here. >> We have quorum. >> Okay. Thank you. At this time, we will now have the receiving of the minutes and committee notes of the secretary from November 10th, 2025, the personnel committee meeting notes and November 10th, 2025, the regular meeting minute notes. Can I please have a motion? >> Second. >> Motion made by Mr. Hther, seconded by Mr. Fer. All those in favor of accepting the receiving of the minutes and the committee notes of the secretary, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> Eyes have it. Motion's carry.
003[clears throat] Reading and acceptance of a monthly correspondence. Mr. Ganalo, do we have any monthly correspondence? >> Yes, we have two items. We have a handwritten note uh of appreciation from the Mancino uh family to the board uh following the passing of their father uh Mr. Livio Mansion, a former board of education member. And we have a me email from uh from myself to all board members regarding the certification of election results [snorts] 2025. >> Okay. Thank you. Can I please have a motion to accept the monthly correspondence? >> Second. >> Motion made by Mr. Ferrer, seconded by Dr. Conoli. All those in favor, please say I. >> Opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carried. Thank you very much. We will now move on to the superintendent reports and presentation. Superintendent Davies. Good evening everyone. Thank
004you Dr. Panichi. [snorts] Um it's a pleasure tonight um because we have two middle school students here as well as Miss Pavle, their principal. Um we are in our fourth month of our new construction. Um our new middle school is humming along wonderfully and um we thought it would be a nice opportunity to highlight what's been going on in some of our science labs. As you know, because of the support of the community and support of the referendum, um we were able to build our new high school science labs on the first floor, which then freed up our former high school science labs to be middle school science labs. So, our middle school students are able to enjoy um high school level science equipment and rooms. Uh so, M. Pavle, if you could please um
005stand and introduce your students. Thank you. >> Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for having us tonight. Like Mr. Davies said, "I'm very excited to highlight our two students, Alessia and Amiro, to share a little bit about some things happening in eighth grade science." You guys can come up. Um, you can come up, too. So, Alysia is going to share a little bit about what's happening in the Scholars Academy science class with Mr. Hernandez and talk about our first ever Scholars Academy science fair that will be taking place in March. and Amiro is going to share um and give a little demonstration for an experiment that they did in science class that he enjoyed and did very well at. So, I'm gonna start with Allesia. >> Good evening. Um in eighth grade times today,
006we do a lot of modeling through the engineering design process. We learn about a topic, we build a model, test it, assess it, and rebuild and retest. My favorite model so far was the supply drop. So this is where we had to build a chargo a cargo shell for shipment and our task was to safely deliver the cargo but we had to follow a few criteria including maximizing shell condition, minimizing cost and durability. He um my group was successful because we had to keep the cost low and balance everything out making a few trade-offs but in the end we were successful and we delivered the cargo safely. And also this year the seventh and eighth grade academy classes are holding a science fair in March where we are making different proposals and show and tell
007and me and my partner are testing the rate of solubility of sugar and sweet tea and we are presenting this based on the temperature. So as you can see like the seventh to eighth grade academy science classes we're holding few experiments and are having fun and hands-on activities with them. So can't wait to see what's next. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] >> And next you're going to hear from Amiro. >> Very similar to the supply drop, we also did an egg drop model which actually introduced the supply drop. In my group's egg drop model, um we made this. Um this is a recreation of our original model. Um, so our so we were tasked to keep an egg safe in a drop from the top of the bleachers and we only had to uh use
008the supplies given to us which were coffee filters, packing peanuts, steel wool, straws, strings, plastic bags, plastic cups, and tape. My group of three decided we needed a good shell with padding which included steel wool and packing peanuts. We taped it shut and then worked on the supports on the bottom. We decided to make legs out of straws which were durable and flexible to absorb the impact. We made three legs and connected those legs with even more straws so they would so they wouldn't bend too much. Then the parachutes was the hardest part. We knew it would have to be very strong to support the weight. So we needed a good design. My group used prior knowledge about um what we call like reverse thrusters to design a parachute that uses the the same concept.
009Reverse thrusters work in a way where the air flow goes through the thrusters and out the other way to exert a opposite force. So, we decided to have two parachutes, one with a hole in it to redirect the flow of air and make it even better. Um, when we tested this on the bleachers, um, it slowly descended and landed. Mr. Hernandez said it was amazing, and that's why we're here. [laughter] [applause] Uh, thank you. Yes, thank you. Um, Alysia and Amiro, if you could please just stand for another moment. U, Miss Pavle has a certificate of appreciation for your excellence as well as a little gift bag uh to thank you for coming out tonight. And if we could just do a quick picture with your principal in front of the um background. >> Are
010the third graders listening to this? They do that. >> Yes, they do the egg drop too from the third grade windows. Irish made it. >> I love that day. It's great. >> Thank you both again very much for being here and for presenting to us. Um it's great to see some of the wonderful science work that's going on in our middle school science labs. Um, and it's great to see two students um, with the articulation and poise to be able to stand in front of the board of education. So, thank you so much uh, for coming out tonight and Miss Pavle, thank you for presenting your students. Um, thank you very much. Uh, next we were going to move on to our student representative of the board and I am pleased to be able to
011introduce you uh, to Katie Lima. Um, and I just wanted to take a moment. Um, Katie is our newly elected student council president for David Brley. And if you look in the board um agenda, she is under resolution number eight. Um and for Katie's pleasure, I'm going to just read her board motion. It says, "Be it resolved that in accordance with Kennelworth Board of Education bylaw number 0143.2 high school student representation to the board of education, the board of education appoints Katie Lima as the student representative to the board of education for the 2526 school year." So that'll be voted on in just a few minutes. Katie. Uh, in the meantime, if you could please stand up and give your first student liaison report. Katie, >> good morning everyone. My name is Katie Lima. I'm
012a senior here at Brley and I've lived in Kennorth basically my whole life. I'm truly honored to be here tonight and thankful for the opportunity to speak as your newly as my class's newly elected student body president. I want to thank my classmates for their support and the board for giving me a chance to represent my students and my friends. I'm excited to get started and share tonight's updates. So, first we have powderpuff was which was on November 19th. It was an all girls interclass tournament where the juniors had won. We then had interclass games where the Spanish club hosted a table offering cultural treats and seings. Seniors won the overall tournament based on combined points across games. And students also we also had a fundraiser where students could pay a dollar for a raffle
013ticket to pie a teacher. It's really fun and it raised a lot of money. Funny enough, um we had our PTO vendor fair which was on December 6th where we had local vendors local vendors sell homemade goods, crafts, and more. And we also had Santa there to meet and greet all the families and kids. The robotics team placed first out of 25 teams on December 7th tournament and is currently ranked ranked second in the Northeast Edge League where there's 41 teams total competing. So, it's pretty pretty high pretty high stakes. Our esports team has officially entered our playoffs and the David Brily Theater had their annual show, Puffs, on December 5th and 6th. It was a strong turnout for both nights and students volunteered to sell tickets at the door. The sophomores are currently doing
014a fundraiser where they are selling rarely themed lanyards for $10 each to raise money for their class. And Be Nice Company had a new product drop today in collaboration with Miss Pente's kindergarten class. The student led nonprofit brand turned five years old and this this brand is used to uplift our community and does really great work amongst Bley Bears that Care also had is having a canned food drive where students can donate goods to the main office. And some things to look forward to are winter sports desk started on December 1st such as track, basketball, wrestling, and cheer. And we can also look forward to the winter concert which is scheduled for December 17th where dance, choir, and band will all perform. Thank you so much for your time, guys. I'm so grateful for this.
015[applause] >> Thank you, Katie. Do Do any board members have any questions for Katie? Before >> I have a question. Who got pied? >> So, it was Miss Maranka, Mr. Pit, it was Miss Logan, and Miss Quintterero. >> So, it was it was it was hard to convince them. It really was. We were like, "It's for a good cause." So, it was fun. Congratulations. >> 20 bucks. >> You want to pie me? [laughter] >> Just offer 20 bucks or >> This is your last meeting, isn't it? >> 20. >> Uh, thank you, Katie. Appreciate it. Um, at this point, if any students wanted to uh take an exit, you're welcome to to leave. You're also welcome to stay. Um, but uh thank you so much uh again to our middle school students for presenting and
016thank you Katie. Um I want to move on and um take a moment. Um Mr. Fra provided a nice little um >> Oh, separate. >> It's your chance to >> I want Yeah, I want to do >> or you could be here till 10. >> Sorry. [laughter] >> No, no worries. Um >> I'm only kidding. >> So, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the service of Mr. John Ferrer, our board of education member for the past three years. This is indeed Mr. Ferrer's last and final meeting. Um, and I want to thank him for dedicating countless hours of meetings, [clears throat] um, reading tons of agendas and reports over the years and giving up his own family time to serve the families of Kennallorth. Uh, I always think it's important to remind
017everyone that these uh, nine board members are all volunteers. Um, all of this is volunteer work. uh there's no payment involved and it's just uh a lot of dedication to the success of our schools. Um and Mr. Ferrer has been a wonderful member of our board of education for these three years. He's been a supporter of our school system, our teachers and students, myself, u and he has worked very hard to make sure that we are always providing the best opportunities for our kids and we're creating an excellent school district. So, uh Mr. Farah Ferrer, I want to thank you for your service and congratulate you for everything you've done. [applause] And we do have a small gift to you which we will present um after the meeting. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. >>
018Uh Mr. Gella. >> Yes. Okay. It's been a couple months uh since uh I've had the opportunity to update you on the facilities projects and the referendum. Uh so I thought it'd be a good opportunity to jump back in considering the finance committee met earlier today uh to review some potential projects and review the status of some of the existing projects. Uh so I'd like to get right into it. So, keeping with our funding sources, something that we've tried to accomplish this whole entire time was uh maintaining uh various sources of funding to do these projects. Not only the referendum, but some restricted state aid for with with uh earmarked towards uh uh site improvements, bond interest proceeds, and as also the current operating budget. And the key uh constraint to all these additional projects
019has been to not uh create a an additional new tax impact on the community. So all these projects are being uh funded for various sources that will not additionally impact the community. Um the tennis uh pickable courts uh we talked about uh that this evening and we're going to be proceeding with this project uh which will create our existing four courts and convert two of them uh into six pickle ball courts. Um but this is not just do doing that conversion. This is a full um uh full renovation of that uh that space uh including new fencing. Um and um um we're we're looked [clears throat] at the the uh proposal from our engineer and we'd like to proceed with that. Um Wfield uh we talked about upgrading the lighting. Uh the the current lights
020are uh in excess of 20 years old um and quite expensive to operate. Um and also they're starting to fail. So every time we and they're not easy to replace. It's not like you could just go out there and screw a light bulb in. So uh so at some point we're going to be needing to um do that. So we thought this would be a good opportunity to use some of the the the funding that we have to upgrade those to uh new LED systems. Uh the contractor is coming out this week to do uh an analysis of our current system to determine which um uh systems can be done and what what the capability of it of it is. Um but we're looking to do that project. Uh the uh Harding School playground expansion
021continues. We're looking at a boulder project out there um which will include uh three boulders um and uh um that should be a lot of fun I think for the kids. I've seen these on other playgrounds and they get a lot of use. Uh and then uh included in um the site improvement uh project will be um uh additional uh sidewalks uh along uh around the Hardy playground. uh fencing uh at the Brley Transformer and Chiller in the on Monroe Avenue to isolate that. Um a fence to isolate the kitchen loading dock area. Uh fencing for the back parking lot uh with two new gates at Brley. Uh Harding School playground. Uh not really anything other than to try to prevent students from driving their bikes onto the new playground and damaging the surface. um
022and um the back of Harding's parking lot. And then we're looking at a baseball netting of uh along the third baseline to prevent foul balls from going out into the uh street and into neighbors front yards. Uh other projects we're considering, two of which actually are on this evening's agenda, are the middle school multi-purpose room uh audiovisisual audio system, which will have the capability of to having a projector as well as audio system, which will allow the middle school to uh do um um uh staff meetings as well as uh grade level meetings as well as small assemblies in there. Um and um uh so that's a that'll be a nice addition to that. And then the blue light lockdown system uh for the addition. Um several areas needed. Um that's a system that allows
023us to know um when the the building is in lockdown. It's usually generally used for areas that are um noisy um and people might not hear the announcement over the loudspeaker. So this flashing strobe blue light will definitely be an indicator that we are in a lockdown. So, some of the projects that we're looking for, actually that should say 2000, yeah, 2026 uh referendum. That's correct. Uh projects are the early childhood education program, taking two classrooms over at Harding School and converting them to allow for in-class bathrooms. That's will alleviate the need for aids to escort students outside the classroom to the bathrooms. will allow the students just go right in the uh the toilet facilities that are within the in the confines of the classroom. Uh so that will be two classrooms at Harding
024School on the second floor. That will give us four full day full four full day prek classrooms capable of those capable with those capabilities at Harding School. Uh the other upgrade that we're looking at is the fire alarm system here at Brley. It is relatively old. it is um um uh creating some false alarms and some troubles uh which increases our maintenance costs as well as operationally it's not that great. So we're looking at to to replace that system as well. Um and um that would be a uh probably either a summer or a nighttime uh situation. And then as far as the status of the referendum project, um the field improvements are completely closed out. We're moving very quickly to close out the HVAC upgrades. Uh we expect to close out documentations within the
025next couple weeks and hope to close out that and have final payment sometime in January. Uh the project addition and renovations, we're still uh battling a couple of issues with that. Uh the elevator is expected to be uh installed in April. Uh the sun shades are expected to be dis installed in February. Uh we're still working with the contract to alleviate some of the issues out on the soccer field. They're still going through some of the punch list items and we're looking for an extension of the uh TCO uh to allow us uh you need the TCO because we don't have the elevator. So we'll have to extend that at least until April. Um just some upgrades that um since the last time we met. This is the new uh multi- uh middle school multi
026multi-purpose room. You can see here, this is the curtain uh between the two sides of the gym. Uh that's that space has really been transformed. It's nothing what it looked like um a year ago. Um that dark, dingy back gym uh is now a nice bright multi-purpose room for the the middle school. Uh and then uh just last week uh they finally put in the uh the bleachers um where students can assemble in the morning and uh you use those for grade level meetings uh and things like that. Uh so here are the project lists in their entirety of what we're looking at doing uh and some of the costs associated with that. Once again, the costs are coming from uh fund 12, which is that $750,000 grant or state aid that we received uh
027and referendum projects. Okay. And just a nice little picture of our site. Uh anyone have any questions? >> Yes, sir. >> For the lights, um is there any I know I know still in that phase. Um I think I asked this a couple maybe last last meeting or the one prior. um about adding solar panels. >> Mhm. >> Uh to subsidize some of that power. >> Yeah. >> Um and then maybe like add a battery so at night they can >> Yeah. They're going to that's one of the things that they're going to take a look at. There's a couple of things that they need to uh analyze to determine um which system we could go with. Um but that is one of the things I asked them to take a look at. >> Okay.
028All right. Yes. questions. So you mentioned at I think the last not the last meeting the way be the one before that the the funding for this is specifically allocated for these projects and it couldn't be used for other things. Am I correct? >> The 750,000 correct. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Okay. Site improvements. It had to be site improvements. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Ganella. Uh a few other points from my perspective. Uh as you heard from Mr. Canella, um we're re the plans are to redo those preschool classrooms. Just a reminder to the community that we are opening two preschool classrooms in January. Um which I think is a huge um benefit to the community. So I want to thank the board for their
029support of that and thank Mr. Ganella as well as the Harding team um for being able to make that happen. Um it is odd to have preschool classrooms opening up in January, but we were on the timeline for the state. Um so that's why it's happening now. Um, and I'm really proud that we were able to commit to that as a district, um, for the good of our, um, youngsters. Um, also, um, we had our third and final strategic planning meeting, uh, last week. Um, and I want to thank everyone who was able to come to that from the public. We had a good number of voices um, contributing to our vision for the next five years. Um, so we came up with three goal areas. One is community engagement. The other is student learning,
030achievement, and equity. And the third is school culture, climate, health, and wellness. So those are our three goal areas. And our my role with the leadership team next is to take those specific goal areas and create action plans. Um we'll be working on that over the next month and a half or so. Um and then in early 2026, there'll be a presentation to the board regarding those action plans based on the community input for our goal areas. and then we'll be rolling out those um action plans and goal areas to the community as well. So again, just thank you to all the voices that contributed to our um strategic planning. Um sounds like we're we have a good strong vision for our future and I look forward to designing those action plans and then seeing
031them to fruition over those five years. Um also I just want to add my own kudos to the robotics team. Um, and to echo what Katie said in her report, uh, just to think about that, the David Brley Brley Bots came in first place out of 26 teams, other high school teams. So, our robotics team is is first out of those 26 teams, and we're number two in our league of 41 teams. Just want to echo what Katie said about the strength of our robotics team. I think that says a lot for our small school. Also, just a congratulations from me as superintendent to the cast and crew of the high school drama Puffs. I was here on Friday night. Uh it was a great show and uh I'm also looking forward to the um
032Harding winter concert this coming Wednesday at 6:30. Um and also the high school and middle school winter concert and dance performance next Wednesday, the 17th. So, a lot of great holiday cheer happening here on campus. Um so, I hope people can come out and enjoy those events. Um one other update I just wanted to um report out uh regarding our Brley High School principal search. Uh we posted for the full-time position last Monday, a week ago. Um we already have a good number of applications coming in for the full-time position. Um the plan is, and I'll have a more formal plan to the personnel committee soon, and the full board, but the the general plan is after the holidays, we will be um really ramping up our search. We're going to be uh surveying the
033community, teachers, um parents, students. uh we'll be forming some committees of stakeholder groups do a full um thorough search for Brley High School's next leader. In the meantime, you'll see in resolution number 14 is um uh a recommendation to approve an interim principal. Mr. Luciani was here last year on an interim basis. He served uh while Miss Pavle was out on leave. Um he stepped in twice actually last year to fill the role of assistant principal. He served the students, the staff, and the school community very well. Uh Mr. Luciani brought consistent and stable leadership. Um and I believe he will do the same again during this time of transition. So you'll see him um recommended for approval under resolution number 14. I think he'll do a very good job in this time of transition
034for these few months while we await the um next high school principal. Um the HIB report is in your packets. There were five investigations in the month of November. Three were at the middle school. Two were at the high school. All five of those HIV reports um leaded lended themselves to confirmed HIV. Um various consequences were given out as a result of those situations. Uh, I'm going to give you a moment to take a look at the HIV report as as I always do. Um, so you can ask any questions if you have any. Also, while you're looking through your packet, you'll see that there's the November discipline report as well as the enrollment report and the residency report. >> There seem to be a consistent theme in these recent reports. >> Yeah. So, be
035addressing that. >> I'm glad you brought that up. So, one of the district priorities that I mentioned, we had three district priorities at the beginning of the school year that I outlined. One is student attendance, the second is homework, and a third is um interpersonal behaviors. Um and what we're seeing is u continued concern in that area. Um whether it's students using inappropriate language towards each other or racially charged language towards each other. Um we're continuing to see that. Um we actively combat against that uh in our Harding lessons, the Soore program, um our peer adviserss, and our middle school lessons. Um we talk about it at grade level assemblies. We are combating it. It is it is difficult to combat when many things in my opinion have become very um normalized in social media
036and uh Tik Tok videos and such. So we are battling that like many other school districts. Um there's just more prevalence and acceptance but yet at school uh it is not acceptable here. Um I am not happy about an uptick in HIVs, but I am also I always look at this as a students continue to report these things and we continue to address them um through appropriate discipline consequences and counseling. Um so just know I want the public to know that we continue to um field these reports which means that our students believe that things get done >> um when they come forward. So, and I I think you just said it, but when when the victims are part of these or a result of these racially charged instances, we're offering them counseling, too, right?
037>> Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. >> Thank you for those questions. >> If there are no other questions about the HIV B report, I just want to um wish all of our families in Kennallorth a wonderful uh beautiful holiday season. Um uh it's a hectic time, but a wonderful time. So, I hope everyone has a great holiday season and um we won't see each other until January. So, happy holidays. >> Thank you, Dr. Bichi. >> Thank you. No questions about each. >> Okay. Thank you very much. We will now move on to um report of committees, review of resolutions and board discussion. [clears throat] Up first, Mr. Lady, >> before we jump into that, we have the to discuss the calendar for next year, right? >> Sure. Um so you all have the draft um schedule of
038meetings uh for next year. Um this will be one of the first things we do when we return on January 5th at the organization meeting is adopting this calendar. Um so tonight will be an opportunity if you want to uh adjust anything on it uh without having to have that discussion on the fly that evening. Um it's essentially uh a very similar calendar to what we've had in the past. One uh meeting a month. Um where we've deviated is we have a um change the timing of the July meeting um and eliminated one of the two August meetings. So, we've um you know, the summer months are really uh an effort to get us in a good position that we're fully fully staffed in September. Um so we feel that by having the meeting on
039the June 24th which is a uh the night of graduation which is twofold enables us to um fill any positions that we might have interviewed between the um the June 8th meeting and the June 24th meeting. Uh as well as the possibility that there might be some type of graduation appeal. Uh and this allows us to an uh hold that uh discussion that evening. Um then having a very quick turnaround to that second Monday of July we felt was unnecessary. Uh so we pushed the July meeting to the third week of July uh and eliminated the first meeting in August and went with that second meeting in August which we traditionally have. Um so that's the deviation um from the current pattern. Uh, so if anyone has any questions or discussion about that, now would
040be a great time to have it. >> Looks good to me. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> So, we'll proceed with report of committees, review of resolutions, and board discussion. Uh, first, finance, facilities negotiations, Mr. Lagatti. >> Okay. Thank you. Um the administrators are currently working under departmental submissions for the 2026 20227 budget. Mr. Ganella is updating the Excel program in preparation for the January submission deadline. The leadership team is scheduled to meet on December 11th to specifically discuss staffing needs. Um, as an outlook, as previously stated, our two 2627 budget will be extremely challenging due to the district's restrictive 2% budget cap, potential losses in state age, reliance on free balance funds to offset increasing chromatic um programmatic um demands. U Mr. Davies, Mr. Gard last u met last week with
041the county executive superintendent for the district's mid-year budget review. Um that all went well. What I was told from Mr. Ganella. Um, this district, you know, we're getting it's getting cold out. The district is fully prepared for the winter weather. All equipment is confirmed to be in working condition and the staff uh are ready to maintain the high standard of service that we've always had here. Um, as Mr. Ganella went over everything from the committee meeting tonight, the committee met early. We focused on that $750,000 state aid. Um, reviewed the current facilities and referendum projects. We discussed the 2000 the budget concerns for next year. Um um and we reviewed also some um residency verification process which we may put into play but we can discuss that later um when we kind of finalize that.
042Um as to resolutions, I reviewed all the financial resolutions. All of them are all of them are in order. I found no outliers. Um six I'm just going to hit a few of these. Six are field trips. One is the Met, one is the KA and one is the Anne Frank Museum. Um, seven are payments to the contractors. I reviewed each payment. Um, all appear to line up with the work performed. Um, eight, eight is um Katie Lima's appointment to the board resolution. Congratulations again. Um, nine is the meeting schedule for the November for November 126. 10 are contract awards as Mr. Um Ganella um said in his report for fire and safety in the middle school um audio programs and video programs. Um and 11 is um basically a cancelled check that um we're
043just turning back into the school. Um and that's all I have on the finances. As for negotiations, I just want to thank John. Um I know you're part of the negotiations team and it's not an easy thing to be on. um you know, you're always there for us, always asking really good questions and had some good insight and really helped us get this year's negotiations done and done quickly and fairly. So, thanks. I mean, it's it's a pain in the butt coming to those extra meetings. I know that. So, thank you. >> I second that. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> And that's all I have. >> No questions. Okay. We'll now move on to personnel management. Mr. H. >> Uh there are eight resolutions tonight. Resolutions 12 and 13 are the acceptance of resignations.
044Resolution 14 is the aforementioned uh Mr. Luciani as the David Brley high school interim principal. Uh resolution 15 is a leave replacement. Uh resolution 16 um are 2526 school year stipen positions. Resolution 17 are 2526 school year par profofessional and lunch aids. Resolution 18 are student teachers. Resolution 19 is the approval of substitute staff and that is it >> questions Mr. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll now move on to curriculum instruction. >> Uh good evening. Uh resolution 20 is just the hip report for October of 2025. And that's it. >> Anyone have questions? >> Okay. Thank you so much. We will now move on to old business. Is there any old business? Under old business, I would like to mention as I do all meetings to please continue to read our website, look for updates,
045email, streamline your communication, and look at all our social medias for information. And if you need it, please reach out to the appropriate administrators in the building to get your information so that it's the correct information. >> Uh, at this time, anyone else under old business? New business. Uh, I want to just mention um one thing that I think is important and it's on the horizon. Um, at the New Jersey Educational Services Commission, we adopted a plan regarding insurance plans for the staff. In the upcoming year, the premiums for staff members are going to go up 30 to 40%, a lot of boards are talking and thinking about it about it now. Um, so that is going to be something that the finance and facilities committee is going to have to work on and it's
046something that's pertinent right now. So it's something that the finance and facilities committee members um can look into. I shared with Mr. Ganella um the commission approved something that public school boards can't do, but it was another option with one of the insurance carriers to try to reduce those number of premiums. So that's something that every school board is facing and the more money that we have to pay it could impact the budget. So it's just something to think about because you'll hear about it again in the upcoming months when finance and facilities is planned. >> Anything that >> No. Are they just going to base it on our number of claims put in? Is it going to be individual school or just for that state fun? >> Union services is in state health. >>
047Okay. So >> we just get we'll do whatever cycle right program. So a different cycle from January to December >> but all the plans are changing. So it's something that the board will talk about in the future but I just wanted to mention it because it was the biggest part of our commission meeting and it was something that will be >> it's been an issue every time we've had those issues with with healthcare >> and the increases. It really >> and that was the updated report from the commission when we met in November. that is the most pressing issue they discuss. >> Look forward to that. >> Okay. Anyone else in your business? >> Just to piggy back off that uh on the way out, but I do have a lot of insight on that.
048So, I probably just reach out to one of you guys and give you what my notes because I am for fire department um more well first on that. So, I can I could definitely help you with that. >> Thank you. >> I just want to be clear, we're not in the sale plan, though. So, we're not subject to the increases that those districts are currently facing. Not to say that our renewals come July, which we know around budget time, aren't going to be significant, but I don't anticipate them to be in in the state employee health benefits ranges. So, >> don't want to send out that big of a fear. >> So, it's not it's just those issues come up and just bringing it to the attention of everyone. 10 12% raise in our health
049coverage does to our budget. >> Y and that was part of the commission report there. It is different, but it's something that school boards are talking about with a lot of the financing facilities things that are coming up. So, I wanted to mention in case it comes up in the future. >> If I'm on the finance committee next year, I will we'll work it out. >> Thanks. >> Okay. Anyone else? >> A question for you. >> Okay. We'll now make a motion to open up the meeting to the public. Is there >> or motion to open up the meeting to the public? Second. >> Second. >> Motion made by Mr. Pereira, seconded by Dr. Concoli. All those in favor of opening up the meeting to the public. >> I say I opposed. >> Eyes have
050it. Motion carry. Mr. Ganella. >> Public comment will now be accepted. The board of education sets a limit for the public to speak at a board medication meeting to five minutes per person unless prior permission has been granted by the board of education for extended time pursuant to BOE bylaw 0167. Please be reminded that while members of the public may speak on personnel matters during public comment, the board of education is legally prohibited from discussing individual personnel issues in public session unless the employee uh issue has requested a public discussion. The board's role is to set policy and ensure the effective operation of our schools while personnel recommendations are the exclusive responsibility of the superintendent schools. The board reviews and acts on these those recommendations in accordance with state law and district uh policy, but
051does not initiate or manage individual staffing decisions. >> Anyone like to make a comment at this time? Please step up to the podium. >> Yeah, we do. Motion to open up the meeting. Yes. And second, >> somebody left. >> You guys were talking talking Hi everyone, Tony Gordano Perno, council um council liaison to the board, but also of course a resident of Kennallorth. And Katie, I am so impressed on how not just you delivered your um presentation and introduced yourself, but that you chose to stay and hear the rest of the meeting. Um, I I think that speaks volumes to what's happening here in Kennallorth at the Kennallorth Board of Education, all the all the different schools. And um, I originally was just going to come and say happy holidays to everybody. And I know
052unfortunately it is somewhat of a thankless job because I hear mostly negative comments on my end in council meetings. Um, and if ever you would like to come up and speak to the council or highlight anything that's going on, even if it isn't just the high school, let me know. And we, you know, of course you come and speak at um open session, but anything in particular, we would love to have you come up. So, everyone could appreciate what's going on at uh K our Kennorth schools. And I want to say um thank you to all of you. I know how difficult it is to juggle your personal um life and to be present for not just these meetings monthly but all the other meetings surrounding it. And you see a lot of negative comments
053unfortunately on Facebook and I just think um it's cowardly and when you talk about an increase in negative behavior if it doesn't start at home the children don't know you know what they don't know how what is inappropriate and what isn't. So, if there was a way to engage the parents to say, "Hey, this is going on. Maybe we all need to look at ourselves when we're driving the kids to school or having coffee or chatting on the phone and the kids are overhearing comments and conversations and they carry it into the school, maybe the respective children of those people." Um but I definitely feel parental responsibility should be um called to task and then we could work on having um better human beings as our children. [snorts] And I know that's how I model
054my family um and I take it very personally when either my kids who are now adults with children and my grandchildren carry themselves. So, I think teachers can only do so much and it's it's really very difficult and I I want to say thank you. Happy holidays and if there's anything I could do on my level on council, I am here and open to any suggestion and you're always welcome. We meet twice twice a month um 6:30 our meetings um start. So, you ever want my information is all on our website. So, thank you all. >> Thank you. Is there any other public that would like to comment at this time? >> No. Okay. If not, can I have a motion to close, please? >> So move. >> Second. Motion made by Mr. Ferah, seconded
055by Dr. Koli. All those in favor of closing the meeting to the public, please say I. >> Opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried. The meeting is closed to the public. Mr. Ganell, are we ready to vote uh vote on roll call resolutions? >> Yes. We have 20 resolutions on this evening's agenda. Do any need to be voted on separately? Are we having any discussion regarding number 14 in executive session at all or no? >> Wasn't planning on it? >> No. In that case, um I'd vote on 14 separately. >> 14 separately. Okay. Okay. Any others need to be voted on separately? Okay. This is resolutions 1 through 20 excluding number 14 on the agenda. >> Biner, >> yes. >> Crinkolei, >> yes. Ferrara, >> yes. >> Haber, >> yes. >> Lead, >> yes. >> Zimmerman,
056>> I'm sorry. This was on all but 14. >> All but 14. Yes. >> Yes. >> And Pinichi, >> yes. >> Motions carry. Um, this is for resolution number 14 on the agenda. Viner, >> yes. >> Crinkoli, >> yes. >> Ferrara, >> yes. >> Haber, >> yes. >> Ladi, >> yes. >> Zimmerman, >> abstain. >> And Panichi, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. Thank you. Do we have a need to go into close executive session? >> Yes. >> Can I please have a motion to go into close executive session? >> So move. >> Second. >> Motion made by Mr. Ferrer, seconded by Dr. Conoli. All those in favor of going into closing close executive session, please say I >> opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carry. Mr. Ganella. Uh be it resolved the board of
057education meet in private session which the public shall be excluded to discuss topics of personnel which private discussion is being held pursuant to section 7B and 8 and open public meetings act. The matters under discussion will be disclosed to the public as soon as final decisions are made and voted upon. >> Okay. >> Biner. >> Yes. >> Crinkley. >> Yes. >> Ferrar. >> Yes. Yes. >> Zimmerman Pichi. >> Yes. >> Okay, we're in close session. >> Thank you.