LEHSD Board of Education Meeting - October 14th, 2025

001This is to advise the general public that in compliance with the open public meetings act, the little harbor board of education meeting was advertised in the Asbury Park Press, Atlantic City Press, and posted at the office of the board of education located at 305 pine road, New Jersey, and posted at the office of the municipal clerk of the lake. >> Roll call, please. Mr. Chone here. >> Mr. Vichello >> here. >> Miss Lawrence >> here. >> Mr. Lee >> here. >> Dr. Snider >> here. >> Miss Martin >> here. >> Miss >> here. Please join us for the pledge of allegiance. I >> aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. Okay. A motion to approve the

002agenda. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. >> Recommend a motion to accept the following minutes. Can I have a motion? Motion to accept. >> Second. Any questions? >> All in favor? >> I motion carries. >> Public comment number one, agenda items only. The board of education now welcomes the public to comment on the items which are on the agenda tonight. It may not always be able to able or possible appropriate for the board to directly answer questions during the public comment period. Each speaker is allotted a maximum of three minutes to make their statement. No one may speak more than once on the same topic. You are required to give your name address before you speak. Please keep your comments respectful and non-defamy and maintain a

003level of decorum appropriate for a public meeting. reminders may be in the audience. Okay. Would anyone like to speak >> on the agenda? Okay. Seeing none, go to correspondenceformational items. Any questions on those? And okay, we'll move on. Committee reports. I guess I will go first uh since we're reporting tonight because some of us didn't share our heads. Um policy committee met on October 7th. We reviewed um one, two, three, four, five, six policies that were on the communicator. They're on the agenda for first read tonight. Most of them were updates um mandated updates. And for instance, our food services one, I think it was dated 2005. So that was updated by and and correlates with the US Department of Agriculture. Um, we discussed the upcoming New Jersey QAC info as well. And what I

004put on for the next agenda is the code of conduct. I would just like to review that policy. It's it's also pretty old. And uh currently we have the same code of conduct both in in this both schools. Um and so that's something that's upcoming that we'll be reviewing. And let me see anything else I missed. That was it. That's it for me. policies are on the agenda for first read and then we have some for second read and adoption that we've had for a month. >> Okay. How about finance or >> um committee met on October second myself, Greg um Dr. Jun and Melissa Gry met and the following things were discussed. First of all, we discussed the NJSLA data results which is going to present to the public and the board tonight. Um,

005we also talked about the New Jersey Department of Education Lear mandates. Uh, the district is actively communicating with the K through3 families in reference to the MClass Dibles EL universal screener. Letters are going to go out with um information uh for the children's results. Uh, they're going to go out soon. We discussed the ESS, the effective school solutions um counseling service um report cards transitioning to real paper um unless requested and addressing the chronic absenteem which uh Dr. Antunes has talked about previously and then finally as you mentioned T stack is done. That's it. That was it for us. >> Um the personnel committee met on September 23rd. Um in attendance was myself, Dr. Snder and Greg along with Dr. Antunes, um Carl, and Mrs. Trezelino. So, we talked about quite a few things um

006including some grievance matters that um needed attention. Um talked about paraprofessionals and hiring them moving forward just uh with benefits and their hourly rate. Discussed the current vacancies um that the district has and different salary um ranges. And then um also talked about our lead nurse and a stipend. And then lastly, just address some personnel issues in regard to social media. Um, and that's it for personnel. >> Thank you. Okay. For finance. Finance, we discussed a lot of things. Um, we discussed um the cafeteria, purchasing a kettle, a large kettle. Um, some maintenance that projects that we're going to be addressing over the course of this school year. um the broad grant update and how we're receiving those funds along with our pursuance of uh potential solar project since they have opened up the grid

007in Little Ed Harbor. Um also too regarding the audit hopefully in the next couple weeks definitely by the next board meeting we should have an update on that as to where we stand fiscally. Um we talked about our transportation and the purchase of the mini buses. Um we also discussed QAC along with um an attendance officer position also to a temporary position for the upcoming year to address the attendance issues along with um cyber security along with review of our electricity usage and how we're using it um currently and how we could potentially be more efficient um moving forward. And that's all I have. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Okay, moving forwards to superintendent report, please. >> Thank you, Mr. >> So, we had our final back to school night, ECC's back to school

008night was on October 2nd with Dr. Flynn. It was great to welcome so many parents and our youngest learners to school in order to visit with their ch child's teachers. The night was success. It was crowded and we're looking forward to seeing you more often as the year progresses. We get these New Jersey health links that come to the districts every week or so. And right now, the one that's seems to be taking over is measles. It's a serious and very contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus. And before the measles uh vaccine became available, it was a common childhood disease. It's considered one of the most deadly of all childhood rash and fever illnesses. and symptoms include rash, high fever, cough, runny nose nose, and red watery eyes. All suspected and confirmed cases of

009measles have to be immediately reported to the local department of health. But measles is easily spread through the air when an infected person talks, coughs, or sneezes. It's so contagious that if one person has it, up to nine out of 10 people around them will also become infected if they're not protected. It can live on contaminated surfaces and in the air for up to two hours. And an infected person, like with many viruses, can spread measles to others even before knowing they have the disease. So, we continue to implement healthy habits in school, encouraging frequent handwashing habits such as covering the mouth and nose with a tissue or your elbow, not sharing utensils, water bottles, or other items. And as new cases of measles throughout New Jersey are being reported, we're just making sure that

010everybody takes precautions and that we're doing it as well. Thank you. Thank you for that update. All right, presentations. Student of the month of G by George J. Mitchell administrators, please. That's up next. Good evening. The character trait for the month of September was friendship. All the students who were chosen were chosen based on that trait. First up, Carson Pastrick. [Applause] Miss Flynn said, "Carson is a kind and helpful kindergarten student who tr truly shows the character trait of friendship. Carson is always ready to include others in play, share his toys, and help his classmates when they need a hand. He makes sure everyone feels welcome and valued, spreading kindness with his smile and thoughtful actions. Carson's caring nature helps make our classroom a fun and supportive place for everyone. [Applause] Next is Jason Albertson.

011[Applause] Mrs. Mr. Cutinello said, "Jason is soaring, a soaring first grader who consistently shows kindness, empathy, and friendship in our classroom. He has a caring heart and always is the first to encourage his friends with words like good job and you got this." Jason is quick to offer help to a classmate in need and treats everyone with respect. Jason's thoughtful and supportive nature makes him a true role model and a great friend to all. I feel so lucky to have him in my class. Keep soaring Jason. [Applause] Next is Ryan Bascalis. [Applause] Ryan is a very kind and thoughtful student who consistently demonstrates kindness and empathy towards his classmates. He has an kind heart and it shows during all parts of the school day towards his peers. Ryan is a great friend to everyone. He

012is a hard worker and very respectful towards his teachers and classmates. Keep up the wonderful work. [Applause] And Brian Salters [Applause] It's hard to get in here outside. Congratulations. >> Brian is a kind and caring student who works and plays well with his classmates. He shows respect, helps others, and brings a positive attitude to the classroom. Brian also has a big love for animals and enjoys learning about them. [Applause] How are you? It's okay. this way. >> Everybody just keeps laughing. >> You mean I can never get a natural shot of >> That's right. As long as >> Okay, there you go. [Music] [Applause] >> And the women are coming. They were inadvertently left on the desk. They are coming. Good job. [Applause] All right, good evening everyone. It is time for the Frockpot School

013students of the month. Students, if you are here, please come forward. We're going to start in third grade. We have two third graders. We're going to start with Luke Chaplain from Mrs. Savage's room. Mrs. Savage says that she is excited to announce Luke as student of the month. She nominated Luke because from the moment he walked into the third grade classroom, he has shown to be hardworking, kind, intelligent, and helpful to his classmates and teacher. Luke understands the expectations from the Frog School and models appropriate classroom behavior and work habits for his peers. You can tell he enjoys learning and Mrs. Savage says she can't wait to see what he does this entire school year. Congratulations to Luke and keep up the great work. [Applause] Our second third grader is from Mrs. Barrett's classroom. Michael

014Moeen Michael here. I don't think so. Mrs. Barrett says, "Michael always follows all of our class rules and school rules. He completes all of his assignments on time." I'm not sure I do that. Good job, Michael. He is eager to learn new things every day. He helps his peers follow directions by setting a good example and reminding them what rules are for. When it's specials, Michael's very respectful and interacts well with his peers from other classes. He is a leader in Mrs. Barrett's class that meets all of the expectations without reminders. We are excited to have him in our class this year. So, another round of applause for Michael. Moving up to fourth grade from Mrs. Lupo's room, Madison Childs. Oh, Madison. [Applause] Mrs. Lup says, "Madison has been doing fantastic job settling into our

015classroom routines and expectations. She's kind, hardworking, and overall great role model for our class. Mrs. Luba can always count on her to lend a helping hand, whether it's for a teacher or a fellow student. She's honest and dependable, a great resource for other students in our classroom. For this reason, it is without reservation Mrs. Lupo nominees Madison Child as her September student of the month. [Applause] Moving on to fifth grade in Mrs. Cauus classroom, Riley Cassidy. [Applause] Mrs. Cauus says, "Our our school year has just begun and Riley has already made wonderful impressions walking in circles around Mr. a wonderful impression in her classroom. She's an incredibly kind, observant, and empathetic student who consistently goes out of her way to help both her classmates and her teacher. Whether it's offering a snack or school supplies

016to someone who may need some, maybe reminding Mrs. Caua the tasks that need to be completed, or gently including others in a group, she's always showing thoughtfulness in everything she does. Academically, Riley always puts forth her best effort. So her combination of kindness, responsibility, and dedication make her truly deserving of student of the month. And I saw Jack in the back from Mrs. Arnold, grade six. Jack Creer, come on down. Jack Creer is without a doubt Mrs. Arnold's picked for the first sixth grade student of the month for the 2526 school year. He is a student who displays the frog pon core values of being safe, respectful, and responsible in everything that he does. Jack comes to school each day with a smile on his face, a positive attitude, an inquisitive nature, and a desire

017to learn. He's determined to figure things out, even if even if they're challenging. He possesses a unique ability to find a balance between socializing with friends, but also being productive throughout the day. Mrs. Arold and Miss Lario, her partner teacher, are pleased to have the opportunity to watch Jack learn and grow this sixth grade year. Very nice work. [Applause] Thank you. Very proud of all of you. Next up on the agenda is the new um Miss Mrs. Gallagher with the New Jersey School Learning Assessment Results. Thank you. >> Good evening everybody. So tonight I'm going to present to you the NJSLA Harbor data results. I am really proud of the growth that our district has shown this year. The students and teachers in my opinion did a great job. So here's a score interpretation of

018ELA and math. For meeting expectations, you need to get a 750 and for science, you need to get above a 200 for proficient. So we're going to first talk about ELA. So the total number of students who were tested were 765 students and we had an increase in fourth grade of 32 students. So you're going to see in the presentation I'm going be circling a lot in orange. That's to really identify what we're going to be looking at at the data today. This is a breakdown by grade level. So for third grade ELA, we had 31% that met or exceeded expectations. In fourth grade, we had 46 who met or exceeded expectations. Fifth grade we had 46% and then sixth grade we had 55% who met or exceeded expectations. So as you can see as

019the years progressed our numbers did improve. The next slide has a lot of information. There's a lot of data here and really wanted to look at the change of level one and level two to level four and level five. So level one and level two is not meeting or partially meeting and I wanted to show you how we improved in ELA. So for second grade we improved by 2.1 for percent. For fourth grade we went up.1%. Fifth grade we improved by 7.2% and sixth grade we improved by 12.3% from meet uh to meeting and exceeding expectations. As a district in ELA we improved 5.7%. The next slide is comparing it to the state. So as you can see for third, fifth and sixth we did improve um above the state. We are narrowing those gaps.

020We are getting where we need to be. So fourth grade we did drop a little bit but that was our highest scores the previous year and I wanted to dive into that. So the next slide you see the difference. So even though it doesn't these are the same students same cohort different grade level. So when we look at third grade for fourth grade last year only 29% met and exceed expectations but this year 47.6% met or exceed expectations. So I kind of wanted to dive into fourth grade so you can see that even in my book right we decreased we didn't decrease we did improve. The next slide I wanted to show more narrowing the gap where we're at. So we have the little egg harbor compared to the average state score. So this year

021compared to last year in third grade we improved by four points. The state only improved by one. For fourth grade we went down but we were really high last year and the state didn't do anything. Fifth grade we improved by seven points. The state stayed the same. And sixth grade we improved by seven points. The state stayed the same. I also wanted to highlight that in fifth and sixth grade we did achieve higher level four expectations than the state as well. So now's the breakdown by our races. Um our black population is 4% of our population and 29% met or exceeded expectations. We have 10% of our static our static population. 36% met or exceeded expectations for multiple races. We had 33% met or exceeded expectations. And then 79% is our white population. 47% met

022or exceeded expectations. The next is by gender. So female for ELA 47% met or exceeded expectations. And then for female we had 41% that met or exceeded expectations in males. Next is by our summary programs. So ELLL is 2% of our population and 13% met expectations. 54% of our district is free and reduced lunch and 39% met or exceeded expectations. 8% is section 504 and 38% met or exceeded expectations. 25% is special ed and we had 13% and then our general population we had 62% met or exceeded expectations and that is 33% of our population is our general general ed. So next we're going to talk about math. We had 766 students who took the math assessment and again an increase in fourth grade with 32 students. and then by grade level. So we had

02335% in grade three who met or exceeded expectations. We had 32% who met or exceeded expectations in fourth grade. In fifth grade we had 40% who met or exceeded expectations. In fifth grade we had 40 I'm sorry in sixth grade we had 42%. And then in all grades we had 37%. So again as the years are progressing we are hitting higher percentages for meeting and exceeding. All right. So now we have our level one to two and how we change to level uh four and five. So if we look at grade two we improved by 2%. Fourth grade we did decline a little bit which we'll get more into later on but again they were our highest um grade last year. Fifth grade we improved by 4.6%. 6% from level one, level two to level

024three or four or five, excuse me. And then in sixth grade, we increased by 14%. Which is a very high amount. As a district, we improved by 3 3.6%. So again, this slide is showing we are narrowing the gap. Um we have a big percentage in third and fifth who are approaching. So they're just a couple questions away from passing the NJSO. So now we compare it to the state. If you look at fifth grade, we were 4.6, the state was 4.1, and sixth grade, the state was 3.5%, we were 14%. So again, we're narrowing that gap. When we look at fourth grade, it's again same cohort um moving students in the right direction. Again, last year we were 34.7% meeting or exceeding where this year we were 34.5%. And then we also reduced our

025um not meeting uh expectations. We were 13% last year and this year we're 8.8%. So we're continuing to close that gap. Next is comparing our average to the state average. So in third grade we were 739. We improved by four points. The state only improved by one. In fourth grade we did go down a little bit. Um but we just discussed that. Fifth grade we improved by eight points. the state only improved by four and then sixth grade we improved by 10 points. We were actually above the state average this year. So we were 34.9% that met expectations in fifth and sixth grade that was above the state average. And in sixth grade we weren't too far off of where exceeded expectations was. So next is by race. So we had 27% of black who

026um met or exceeded expectations. We had 26% of Hispanic population, 35% of multiple races and 40% of white population who met or exceeded expectations. For by gender, our female population, we had 34% who met or exceeded expectations and 41% male who met um or exceeded expectations. and both are pretty similar in approaching. Next is by subgroups. So ELL again is 2% of our population. We had 16% who met um expectations. For free and reduced lunch, that's 54% of our population. We had 28%. For section 504, we had 32% who exceeded or met expectations. Our special ed was 19% which is 25% of our population and then our general ed was 55% who met or exceeded and that is 33% of our population in the district. Next is NJSLA science. So this is only fifth grade

027that is tested and we have approximately 186 students. Majority of our students 40% were near proficiency. um we have 23% who met or exceeded expectations and this is still and I said this last year it's still a state issue for science science is an issue across the state with um testing results but we are moving in the right direction if we look at our proficient um near proficient and advanced proficient we improved by 5.6% 6% from level one 2 to level 3 4 and we actually improved more than the state did. The state improved by 2.5%. The next slide states that our average scores was 165. We improved by 8 points this year where the state is 173 and they improved by four points. So we aren't too far off where the state was for

028the level of proficient. We were 2.8% off. Next is the state breakdown by race. So we have a majority of Hispanic was near proficient or below proficiency. We had 11% Hispanic who were proficient, 31% multiple races proficient, and 26% proficient or advanced proficient. for female and male. For gender, we had 18% who were proficient or advanced proficient and 28% male who were efficient proficient or advanced. And then lastly, as far by subgroups, we had a free and reduced lunch, 13% was proficient, 36% section 504 proficient, 13% special ed, and then 35% general edll. We could not um get results on that because we had less than 10. >> We also have dynamic learning maps which our students who are most significantly intellectually disabled take an assessment because we are under 10 students. We do not

029report that. It protects our student confidentiality. Okay. So what we're doing next, so what we're doing is working, which is great. So our math, we are in third year implementation for I Ready. We're going to continue using I Ready. It has my path for each student for 45 minutes a week, which really dives into the specific skills needed to help those students. And then in K2, we're focusing on the math calendar. ELA we did get a universal literacy screener this year which is Dibbles and that is done through K6 again targeting specific skills that are needed to help our students grow. We are in our second year of Wonders ELA program in K5 and Wonder Works program we have in grades K2. We brought it to second grade this year and that's in our resource

030and self-contained classes. So it's an easy adjustment if a student goes from resource or self-contained to um in a class support class. Also we're using hegrity in grades K1 which focuses on phmic awareness and foundations in case three which focuses on the phonics instruction. We have ble that targets lexile levels and we're using just words and gillingham programs for our tier three interventions. We are implementing win in George Mitchell this year which means what I need now. It's a period to really target specific skills for our students that the teachers can pull small groupoup instruction and we're doing the same in frog pon which is an RTI period. So utilizing some letters and focusing on student data. We are um strengthening our MTSS program. I'm working with Dr. Eer with the special ed piece of

031it. We are working collaboratively together to um really hone in on targeted interventions. We have our ASI supports to target our atrisisk students and personalized instruction. We are being consistent with our curriculum. We are utilizing which supplemental resource that target specific skills in ELA and in math. Um myself and the building level administrators are collaborating with lead teachers to really focus on our data, utilize our new programs and target small groupoup instruction and also discuss future professional development. and they are also working with their professional learning communities. And then lastly, we're focusing on crosscurricular activities for wonders. Um we have science and social studies implemented in our program and then science. We have some I read as well and that's it. Thank you. >> I have a question. >> Yes. >> So you said that

032science is something that this state struggles with not just us. >> Correct. Um being that that you know our competiting competitors in different countries really focus on science and technology and stuff why do you think it's such a struggle for students? >> I don't know if it's a a str I wouldn't say it's a struggle for students. I think how things are being implemented. So I think the state is really looking into the implementation of science how the standards are implemented and at what grade levels it was done by grade bands previously. So, I think we really need to hold in on what needs to be done at each grade level. And additionally, how the state test is is different than what we're doing in our classes, too. It's project based learning, but when you're

033sitting in front of an assessment, it's a little bit different. >> So, what we're learning in the class isn't necessarily tested. >> I'm not saying it's not tested. It is tested. I think it's just that how our state tests are is very different than what we're implementing with our project based learning, doing experiments. It's a lot. It's very readingheavy content as well. So students who have trouble with reading or have disabilities are struggling with a science assessment. >> Your side, Professor, what do you see? Well, I think it's I I mean, I have to thank all of my Little Ed special ed teachers that showed me how to uh break down problems, give a model problem, how to dissect a word problem into science. And so, that's what I use when I teach my students.

034So, it's not it's something I learn from them. And that seems to work well. If I show them a step and they can memorize the steps and how how it translates, that helps them because it gives them something to expect and it doesn't because word problems make every up until the collegiate level makes students nervous >> and so yeah it is it's it's not you're not assessing necessarily their ability to solve a science problem. It's their ability to comprehend and comprehension of science is very different than comprehension of a short story. It's just a different piece. >> So sorry about that. So I have a question. Oh, sorry. Question. >> Well, I was just going to say first of all, I was very happy to see that there's little difference between males and females >>

035in a lot of the areas like that that we're bridging that gap personally, but um you can answer yours is the same. >> Okay. >> Uh great job. >> Thank you. Um, I've noticed there's significant growth in fifth and sixth grade, >> especially compared to previous years because I've been on the board for quite some time and then also on the title one committee. Um, >> what do you attribute that to? Do you think it's the implementation of Wonders and I Ready? What do you attribute that? >> I think it's a domino effect. I think when you go to third grade, and I'm starting second grade, so I'm seeing the growth of him right now. Third grade is a big jump and you're just starting all these state assessments. So, it's a lot a lot

036for a little person. And I think once you're practicing and getting used to doing these activities and these assignments and the programs that we bought helps with practicing these problem based learning activities, I think that's helping attribute to the growth that we're seeing here. And I also want the teachers that are doing a phenomenal job as well. I mean, every single teacher has something to do with that. They're growing from third, fourth, but it's a building block. School's a building block. So, we're building on everything. >> Yeah, for sure. I just didn't I never saw growth like that in fifth and sixth grade before here in Little Harbor. So, kudos to all of the teachers out there. That's really saying something. So, good job. >> Thank you. >> Now, we're starting new assessments this year.

037Correct. >> We are. I'm going to let you know that the feedback from lessons they can't stand adaptive assignments because right they get harder or are they going to take more of the same question? >> They do the first question. We still don't know much about the um assessment coming out but the first question comes out. No, they get depending how you answer it harder or get easier. So then I guess the question is then we're not going to understand this at least we're looking at peer-to-peer relationships, >> right? >> That one will no longer be >> I think we need to see the data first. I can't you know they're doing a they're doing some practice trials in November. Um I think we need to see what it looks like. I don't we we

038don't know what the data is looking is going to look like >> and and I guess what is like is there a percentage based with approaching expectations? Is that like 65% of the material or we don't it doesn't correlate to a percent? >> The state doesn't really tell us whether it correlates to the percentage. They don't tell us any of this stuff. So, I wish they did. I think that would help us dive deeper into the data. Um, but about a third of our population is approaching and that's why we're really focusing on small group instruction in our win periods and our RTI periods because they're just a couple questions away from passing. Yeah, I'm probably on the opposite, but I mean 30% that are not, if you look at those numbers, you pull your

039yellow with your green, you're approaching, >> those are good numbers. They're very good numbers overall. Basically, based on what we're seeing from the state and the amount of students that are not math ready to graduate high school, I don't know what happens between here and there, but something because they're leaving here at at a good point to take on new information. Um, and of course, I always love to look at more I have to look at more the um um based on the race subgroups and see where that all falls and nitpicks. if you put it all together with the race, the gender, and the um free reduced lunch and all of that to see what that be interesting to see. Thank you. >> I have a question. Sure. >> So, based on consistency, like

040you said, I think that maybe t um is a reason for our improved numbers. I'm a little bit more critical. I think we should be above 50%. I know we're doing better than the state, but I still would like to see us. I know grade six is doing great. Is there any um special interventions for the fourth grade? Anything more than what you're doing? >> I know it looks like the fourth grade went down, but they really didn't go down. That same cohort did improve. That's why I wanted to show that. Um but again, we're doing the same things we're doing in all the classes. We're focusing on that small group instruction. We're focusing on using that I read mind path. We bought a progress mod, the universal screener for dibbles, which will help assist

041with those specific targeting ELA standards that need to be, you know, assisted with. Um, and the nice thing about the program is it breaks it down to small groups for you and gives you activities and assignments. So, I think after we utilize Dibble, that's going to help with our improve as well. >> More consistent curriculum, too, right? Across the board, >> 100%. And we're consistent across the board, especially in a resource and um self-contained classes. Okay, that's great. Wonders is for science or do you have >> that's our new ELA program. This is our year two. >> Okay, that's and that's it. Thank you. I just want to add one more thing. Considering that these were done after a year when we did major cuts in the district, I think a lot has to be

042said for our teachers and how much >> absolutely >> that they kept at the same momentum to have our students rise above. >> That was great job by everybody. >> Thank you programs too >> to get used to and learn right programs. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have Mrs. Trezelino over Yeah, it's going to be on video. We have it on video. She recorded it. So because she was unable to be here, so she recorded it. Okay. >> So we can we're going to watch >> it's I'm Jackie, director of personnel planning and evaluation for the Little Life Harbor School District. I'm also the district's anti-bullying coordinator and tonight I'm presenting our 2024 2025 kids selfassessment scores. This submission is required under the anti-bullying bill of rights act. The scores

043for each school must be presented and board approved and then submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education by October 31st. The NJ DOE reviews and validates the scores and will release the official scores in the spring of 2026. Once provided with the official scores, they will be presented to the board of education and the scores will be posted on our district and school websites. There are eight core elements of the self assessment. HI programs, approaches or other initiatives, training on the board of education approved HIP policy and procedures, other staff instruction and training programs, curriculum and instruction on HIV and related information and skills, HIP personnel, school level HIV incident reporting procedures, HIV investigation procedures and HIP reporting. We are also required to report the number of times a preliminary determination was made that

044a possible HI was outside of the scope of the definition of HI and therefore not investigated as a possible HI. This information was previously reported during the two SSDs presentations last year. Self assessment is completed by the school anti-bullying specialist and reviewed at their school safety climate committee meetings which include administrators, staff members, and parents. The anti-bullying specialists for our district are John McGrath, Sandy Close, and Megan Gunston. The team at the Frog Pond School scored themselves a 77 out of 78 possible points. The teams at both the middle school and the ECC scored themselves a perfect 78 out of 78 possible points. When the teams met recently, they discussed focus areas for the 2526 school year. The team at the ECC is planning for activities throughout the year such as the great kindness challenge

045and others. They are also creating hoot huray reinforcements for positive behaviors and attendance awards. The team at the Frontcon School are identifying non-tangible incentives to recognize students for positive behaviors such as extra recess time and time to visit a specific staff member. This team also wants to schedule an extra school safety climate team meeting to continue working in this area. at the Mitchell School. Their team is planning to focus on bus and cafeteria expectations and provide activities and incentives to improve student behaviors in those areas. I'd like to thank you for your attention to this presentation. I will be reporting to you again two times this year to update the board and the public on our programs, trainings, and student behaviors and investigations related to HIV and school climate. If you have any questions, please

046always feel free to reach out to me. Thank you and have a good evening. >> Any questions? [Music] Okay, seeing none, we'll move on action items. I recommend a motion to approve finance items A through F. Can I have a motion? Motion to approve. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> Are there any questions? [Music] >> Yes, I have a question. Um, >> sorry. And sorry I didn't email this ahead of time. I was just reviewing the bills list, Carl, and I'm just wondering there's it's like Bloom or Blum. It's $30ome,000 for replacement chargers. >> Was that due to the leak in the ceiling? My question >> that was and we are finding it. >> Excellent. That was my question. I'm sorry I didn't get to send that. I ahead. >> Okay. Anyone else?

047>> Question. Is that the thing you saw? Is that like the charging device that saves energy or like a device that saves energy? >> It was chargers and >> Gotcha. It's like green and white >> or eight books. Yeah. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Chan, >> yes. >> Mr. Philella, >> yes. >> Miss Lawrence, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Dr. Snider, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> M. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Recommend >> a motion to approve facilities items A and B. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. Okay. Are there any questions? >> Seeing none, roll call, please. >> Mr. Chong, >> yes. >> Mr. Fichello, >> yes. >> M. Lawrence, >> yes. >> Mr. Lee, >> yes. >> Dr. Snder, >>

048yes. >> Mr. Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Recommend >> a motion to approve school business administrators non-personnel items A through M. Can I have a motion? Motion to approve. >> A second. >> Are there any questions? >> Yeah. Yes. Just regards to G and the um parent contract. Is that a standard rate or is that a negotiated rate for $25 per day? >> This was a negotiated rate prior to me becoming your school business administrator. I believe last year. >> It's been that way for a few years. >> Is that something that I mean it's >> it's a low amount. >> I mean but it's triple aided blue >> if you put it in that perspective that perspective. Yes. >> So that's why >> again I would have to go

049back in your records to see when it was first approved >> and negotiated but it's been that way for quite a while. >> Okay. >> And it's only for the days the child attends school. only for the day the child attends school. >> Yes. >> I just want to comment on letter D note before. Uh as many of you know, I've been on the cyber security committee when we had it pushing for some sort of um security awareness training and increasing our cyber security protection. 90% of hacks happen through email and social engineering. And I know for a fact that this company is at the forefront of battling that battle. Uh so it's it's a very good company and it's definitely a wise investment given how much we rely on uh electronic data, online internet

050use, storage of of data. So I think that's a a really good step in the right direction to help hopefully ward off any uh malicious activity. >> Thank you Chris. >> I just wanted to comment on day. I just want to say thank you to everybody who made donations on this list. So, Secrets Village, uh, Reading for Education, uh, Donor's Choice, Applebees and Man, go spend some money there cuz they donated. Uh, Little Lake Harbor PTO, make sure you join that PTO. Thank you for the donation. And Sandy Keys for the pumpkins. >> Yeah, PTO's mini. >> Oh, great. I you took my thunder, Greg. I was going to say I I've noticed that we're getting not only more donations, but more highly monetary donations, higher monetary donations. >> It's great to see. >> Yeah.

051Thank you. >> Very nice. >> And I want to say that Sandy T has donated probably for 20 years since my oldest was here. So that's helpful. >> That's fantastic. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Chron, >> yes. Mr. Philello, >> yes. >> Miss Lawrence, >> Mr. Yes. >> Dr. Snder. >> Yes. >> Miss Martin? >> Yes. >> Miss? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Recommend a motion to approve personal items A through H. Can I have a motion, please? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Okay. Are there any questions? Um, this is page five through all the way >> through 10 or 9 H. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um my question is regarding to um the part-time bus driver salary. How many hours does that um come out to? >> The part-time

052bus drivers are hired at 29 and a half hours per week. And is that a a normal traditional time that like they would run a day? I guess is my question. >> It covers the hours that they would be driving the bus plus a few additional hours which they'll be helping us out in our district during their non-driving hours that was discussed in the our finance committee meeting. >> Yeah, I did not hear what other activities they would be doing. We're putting a list together of any of the areas in our district that we're a little bit short staffed with, such as maintenance, supplies, paperwork and offices, deliveries, anything that they could help out with in the district, >> even child supervision. I think you mentioned >> with on the playground, etc. >> Correct. because

053they are certified to be with children. >> Non-classroom activities. >> Okay. [Music] >> Okay. Anybody else? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Chong, >> yes. >> Mr. Fellow, >> yes. >> Miss Lawrence, >> Mr. Lee, >> yes. >> Dr. Snder, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> Miss, >> yes. >> Motion carries. recommend a motion to approve superintendent schools non-personnel items A and B. Do I have a motion? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Are there any questions? I guess it's uh four. Okay. Can we see those? The um the district goals so that everybody here can see them. And our board goals. They're available. >> Thank you, Dr. Keep that organized. >> I have Yeah, I have the email you sent me so I can speak to those after you're done. >>

054You can go to the next one. >> Okay. You don't have the right one. Go to the um the one that Crystal sent today. >> I have I apologize. >> We have Yeah. But no, we have we made one specifically. Uh I will send it to you again. >> It goes on the first. >> Yeah. Just the Yeah, just the um I'm going to send it to [Music] >> I can speak to our goals real quick. um kind of proud of the progress so far and I won't read the whole thing but the board of education will work with the superintendent and school business administrator via the fin finance committee to review and analyze transportation operations safety and cost effectiveness by receiving a minimum of three status updates and we're in the process of doing

055that and and we have a very in-depth finan uh transportation plan in place. Um, and the board will be keeping an eye on that. We I'm so proud to say we're leasing buses instead of well, least to purchase instead of purchasing outright buses, which we can't afford. So, that that's a positive thing. Um, our second goal, we will work collaborative collaboratively with the school business administrator to enhance financial transparency and efficiency by reviewing quarterly budget to actual reports. and that I'm very excited about and I think the finance committee is committed to doing that. Um uh re very near f in the very near future we will be getting a financial status report from our auditors which will be um very informative for us and then we'll relay that to the public as well and

056then each member is working on their um education I should say just you know professional development improvement and attending pertinent um educational sessions that will help in our board functions. And that pretty much encapsulates our board goals and the the updates and and I have to say a couple of members already achieved that that goal that we have there for attending education sessions. >> Okay, thank you. >> Over that over two years >> and the workshop's coming up. >> Another one. So we did explain that these goals are all living goals. So they can always be adjusted, changed, revised, updated. Just like the teachers have can revise theirs, we do the same. And we do have the district goals which we will bring up because they were prepared. There are four district goals that that

057are smart goals. By the end of the 2526 school year, our we're going to increase our academic grow growth across the district in ELA and math by 2% in grades four through six as measured by district assessments andor the NJSLA as Miss Gallagher talked a little bit about tonight. Another goal is to increase student engagement opportunities by strengthening positive relationships between the Little Lake Harbor School DIS school community and the broader community. And uh third goal is that we will reduce the rate of chronic absenteeism among students in Little Harbor School District as compared to the 2425 school year through targeted interventions such as regular attendance monitoring, parent outreach, attendance incentive programs, and partnerships with community support services. And the last smart goal for the district is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of transportation operation

058safety and cost effectiveness in Little Lake Harbor School District. Identify at least identify and implement at least two actionable improvements such as route optimization, safety enhancements, or fleet management planning to increase efficiency, reduce cost, and improve student. So what you on the screen now are the three board goals that Mr. Herbert talked about and then I don't know if anybody has any additional questions about that since they're up now. And then the second slide there are what I just shared with you for the district host. >> So the ones that line up if you go back to the port goals real quick. So the transportation transportation's on both >> uh the budget >> but more so with regard to the finances on the moral >> and keeping a stoop on our finances and that's really

059what we we as a board kind of promised we would do right with that huge tax increase that we would monitor where the money is going where it's being spent. Any other questions? >> Well, if you go to our district goals there. So, um I guess for community engagement, what is the purpose? Um just to have more parent involvement or is there specific things that we're looking to target? Are we considering um developing our strategic plan? Like what is the district's thoughts on that? >> So, all of the above. The strategic plan is its own standalone. standalone. Actually, if the district wants to pull that route, that's that's a board goal for sure. However, it's it's just engaging the community, getting us out to the community, getting the community into us, being available, being visible,

060being present, being able to just talk to people when going out, meeting people where they are. That's what we're hoping for for that. So as a result of that that increases just the community environment of our schools. >> So that would be it the administration team you and the administration team going >> just me it could be some of the administration. It could be me and some board members. It could be any combination of stakeholders. >> And how many events do you propose? >> I'm looking at that now. Not just me. We're all looking at that together. >> What did you share Lisa? Sorry I put you on the spotlight. Some some names of those. Well, we were actually talking about that and Mr. Filichello came up with pizza with Lisa and uh we talked

061about like uh coffee and conversation and some of them will be we're going to offer things at different times or I'm going to offer things at different times. So perhaps we can do something virtual, we can do something in the morning, we can do something in the evening so that any whatever can fit into people's schedules will do. I saw recently a um do you know the the um Snoopy Peanut Snoopy the where Lucy pretends to be as a psychologist psychologist and I saw something recently that I thought well that would be cute if we said the superintendent is in and have like a little a little tent at an event that if people wanted to come talk to me or whoever is there can come talk to me as a cute little way to

062to bring people over. >> Yeah. I think the fall is the fall fest coming up too >> this weekend. >> Saturday. >> This Saturday. >> Um >> who sponsors that? the fallest. >> The uh >> Chamber of Commerce is it's being held at uh for the second year at Pine Lands Regional High School >> and I think we're putting uh they asked us to put a message out so we're going to do that. Chamber asked us to >> It's a really popular event. >> Wow. >> I know we were having a communications committee on the board side. Uh can we coincide that with what you want to do with this, Marco? >> I'm just going to make it work. open for suggestions, right? >> And the other thing is chronic absenteeism we're addressing that it's

063kind of the unspoken, >> you know, it's where everything starts. If you don't show up at school, we can't do anything else. >> So, what are some things that you envision us taking proaction steps to get more kids into the school? >> Well, right now we're gathering all the data. So we have the data that was that I presented previously and then I'm gathering data as per a question from Dr. Snyder. So we're gathering that and actually some of that is on my desk but I just received it so I wasn't prepared to to talk about it. And from there we'll have a committee that starts part of that is an attendance officer that we're that we are going to fund if it's approved through the grant federal grant. That person will also be held

064accountable, working with us and the principles, the building base administrators in doing some reach out, doing some uh data collection and doing some things that haven't been done in the district previously for any number of reasons. That's where we're starting. >> In regard to incentive programs, I know we had ones for at the end of the year for per perfect attendance. Do we do anything like monthly or quarterly or that we're thinking about implementing? >> So, I know some of the some of the buildings the the buildings do things individually, but I've been speaking with the PTO about perhaps doing some things as well. So, we are having some conversations about that. >> Awesome. My I have a seventh grader and they basically do the who had perfect attendance for the month at Pinelands Junior

065High. They all get put onto a wheel um and then they spin it and whatever name they pick three names and then they get a Chick-fil-A gift card. Oh, fun. So, he was very excited to make that. >> Thank you. >> That's a great idea. >> For the transportation, um, I'd like to see, I don't know if you're thinking about this, doing some kind of survey of all the parents that line up an hour early to pick up their kids. It's a great sitting audience. I'm sure you can get a lot of feedback. You know, why are they there so early? What can we do to improve the parent pickup? What would convince you not to pick up your kid and stuff like that? >> So, I know Mr. Cover talked about that previously when

066he did his presentation and the conversations he has with parents is essentially a survey because he does talk to them. So, you know, we can sort of gather that anecdotal data. For sure. >> I I think we would like something more formal to see cut and dry um what it looks like. Like if we if you surveyed parents and said, "Listen, if your child is only on a bus going directly to the school that your child is attending, if your child is no longer on a bus with K through six, will that change your decision to drop off or pick up?" Um, >> we can look into that for sure. >> You know, I think, right, Kristen, isn't that what you're looking for? >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean we're assuming that we know why people

067are doing it, but we never know until we ask. And you know, it's just a scientific way to get feedback from the the community. >> I think Jackie Trezelino's uh report said that she was entering in or in charge of climate survey with staff, students, and I think that was one of her slides that she had up there. So we can maybe go through her. But on the attendance officer part, I just want to say the um job description on the agenda tonight. I'm just so glad I I read it. And you know, there is a responsibility to report or send a letter that if you're four four days or more, whether they're consecutive or not. This has been in place for years though. When did it stop? >> Since 2018, actually. It was it

068became a law and >> but we've always received letters like every 40. It's not like we haven't received them. >> Oh no. People and also some phone calls, robocal calls. >> It's it's risen to the top in New Jersey because it became part of the monitoring system and so it's risen to the top. Although it's been a it's been an acute problem for years across the state >> and I would think that during CO that might have fallen off the plate a little bit >> perhaps. Okay. Any further discussion >> um about that attendance policy just if we could can we remove that? >> Yeah, I saw that you Yeah. Um you had >> cuz I was for a second college. >> Yeah, I saw that college visit. >> There's college visits in there. There's

069no need to have that part of our policy, >> right? I don't think anyone's any >> I was like, oh maybe because siblings go, but if they were attending it, it was strange. Yeah, it's it it it just encompasses the statute and code. That's, you know, Yeah, that's really what that's about. It doesn't affect us, but I you know I >> But are you purpose of the policy is to revise it. So, >> right. I took note of that. >> So, what are we doing? >> We're taking it off. >> No, no, no. Not the whole policy. >> Just taking that statement out. Is that what you said? >> I would like to. I don't know if he has to come back on for a read again until next month. >> Yeah, I think it

070would have to come back >> or think we had the opportunity to make that. >> Sure. >> You can also vote to make that adjustment. >> Make the motion that >> I don't know what it was like what line it was at. >> It's number >> I know what the policy is, but I don't know where it is exactly. >> Number five. Make a motion for uh number I have seven. Um >> why don't we just put it on? >> Okay, that's fine. You can bring it. >> So just table the regulation. >> Yes. It's just the regulation. >> It's just regulation. Okay. >> And I can I'll adjust that. >> Okay. So can you make the motion, Christine? Make a motion to table um number seven polic uh regulation 5200 attendance until next board

071meeting until it's revised. Perfect. >> Second. All right. Just a reminder A and B, right? This is what we're voting on. Any other questions on personnel items A and B? it. I just um I know I had asked about this I'm sorry about um 5350 the student student suicide prevention and I don't I didn't write it down u but there is something that is and I don't know if it's something that our district can do because I did ask how often staff were monitored um not monitored but trained in regarding to this because uh for myself as a college professor this is uncharted territory and I have students come to me with things coming on going on in their lives that I have not been trained to deal with. But there is something with this

072I think it's with the Sandy Hook promise and I can't remember the name of the um affiliation but it's a way to report that if you feel like a a student >> oh that's by law >> um a student is uh like a classmate or anything like that um might harm themselves or something might happen then you can report it anonymously and it's part of a training program to um teach them how to respectfully use social media and things like that. And I don't know if there's a fee associated with it, but if it's not, it might be something. Um, >> but we've had a month to revise this, so we're not >> I'm not revising the policy. I'm saying about adding something to the district. It's it's a program. It's not I just made

073me think of it. That's all. Or I was changing the policy. >> Okay. [Music] >> Anyone else? >> Does this policy follow statute? With respect though, I am going to ask again, this is probably about the third or fourth time. Can we please receive these policies perhaps when the policy committee meets to review them because we did not receive these until Friday and it does not really give a lot of time for us to to look over them? >> No, you received them last month as a first read. All of them were on the first read. >> I wasn't at last month's meeting, so I did review it afterwards, but when I went looking through this one, I that's why I'm asking. But nevertheless, I'm asking that we get them in advance. When the policy

074committee receives which policies you're reviewing, I'm asking that the whole board receives them. >> And I think it's similar to what Craig had requested. >> Yeah, I would second that. I think the more information we're flow the better. I feel like we're always on the tail end of uh some of this info. >> Well, that's what happens with committees that it's a good point if the board moves to work session. So, >> I mean, you can strive. I I would think it would fix it if we just get the agenda early. it would be attached to the agenda and solve that problem. Right. >> Yeah. >> Right. Because the attendance policy would have been modified and we would have been able to vote on it tonight had we had it in advance. >> So, can

075we finally agree to get the agendas out for those committees when >> something brand new? We've never done that before, but I guess Dr. Antonio, what do you think? We'll do our best. Okay. We'll do our best. >> I mean, I don't see any value in gatekeeping information and and just adding a couple more emails onto an agenda. I don't see why it would be >> Yeah. You're just saying for the committee meetings that are coming up, the agenda that we get ahead of time, it goes out to the whole board versus just the committee members. >> Correct. Exactly. >> Yeah. Makes sense. >> Hopefully everybody reads it >> because then that's helpful to know what's being discussed. If someone writes to do minutes like myself, you know, people know what was talked about, >>

076right? Well, we always share the minutes whether it be here, right, or via the email. Okay. Anything else? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Chion, >> yes. >> Mr. Kichello, >> yes. >> Miss Lawrence, >> yes. >> Mr. Leecha, >> yes. >> Dr. Snder, >> yes. >> M. Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. Motion carries. >> Okay. >> Now, we have new business tonight. >> Yes. I need a motion um to approve the following recommendations of the superintendent. Uh resolve that the board of education approved the new job description for PERDM administrator. >> Motion. >> I have a motion. >> Motion. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> Are there any questions? Questions? Okay. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Chon, >> yes. >> Mr. Felicello, >> yes. >> Miss Lawrence, >> yes. >> Mr. Lee, >>

077yes. >> Dr. Snder, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> And >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. Public just under new business. I would like us to really look to moving forward to the um climate survey and what needs to be done. Um whether it's uh Dr. Antunes, someone on the admin team, but I do think that that's something that I think I would really like to see moving forward to see where we are in the district as a whole so we can evaluate and I also do think that would be a good precursor to um a strategic plan to know what also too is on the pulse of the community as well. >> Thank you for commenting on that. delegate to the right person because I did see it on the on

078the head report tonight. >> And I do have some of our former surveys from our former superintendent. Um if you want a copy of it and those results, I still have a draft of that. >> But that was that shared with the board. I guess >> it was, but if you if you didn't save it to your computer, you won't have access to it. I I must have saved the the PDF file because I do have a copy of it. If you want to see what questions were asked and things like that just as a baseline save. >> Okay. Ready for public comment. The floor is now open to members of the public. The board of education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues. The board requests that each statement made by a

079participant is limited to three minutes as per policy 0167. There's a signin sheet located on the podium. Please sign in before you speak. Would anyone like to speak? Good afternoon. My name is Matthew Smith. My children attend the district here. And just a comment on the attendance part. Uh we are still being told to sign our child out of Miss Wrangler's class. So there's been no action on that. So I don't know, hey, you want to address attendance issues when you're being told to sign the child, but I'll cover more on that in a minute. Uh, I am here once again to discuss the ongoing issue uh with your employee, Angela Randle. Over the past month since Charlie Kirk was publicly assassinated, I have been in contact with almost all of you here tonight and

080I can confidently say I just as I have just as many answers as I do now as I did the September board meeting and that is none. This extending silence is unacceptable. Email responses back with no actual plan or update is unacceptable. Parents have been patient and we deserve to know what our children are being subject to in the classroom. The lack of communication has only increased frustration and concern. As a as a reminder, Angela Randall on her public Facebook account moments after Charlie Kirk was assassinated made a post applauding his murder. Randall again on her public Facebook willingly posted, "Christians are not safe." And I quote, "The biggest danger of taking your kid to a drag show is that Christians could show up with a gun." Now, I just want to comment on that

081real quick with what some of the board members said tonight about suicide and stuff like that. We have a teacher that are coming at and targeting Christians. Now, the superintendent, the principal, they were all sent multiple multiple multiple screenshots of her Facebook account. And I would like to address the public in all to email the superintendent because your children are on it, not just from this year, but from multiple years. It is not a link. These are actual pictures of children. I don't know what radicalized this what what extreme group extremist group she's with ideologies are being pushed in the classroom. Give me one second. I'll just reert. Okay, this is one of her pictures on her account. It says, "Ring, there is a person at your anus. A equals anus with children in her

082classroom posted underneath that with a bunch of pride propaganda all over the place. Now she's pushing her ideologies, her political views of people that don't agree with her political views being assassinated. She's applauding it and now targeting people's religious views that is radicalization. That she is an extremist. What groups on her social media have these children now been subject to? What radical groups is Antifa on there? What other groups are on here that these kids are subject to? Did anybody that received these emails, the superintendent, the principal, did anybody reach out to the parents? Because there's multiple years of kids on her Facebook. Did anybody reach out to the parents? And I would ask all the parents to please reach out to the superintendent and email them uh their concerns. And if they have any

083information on us, you can come to me and give me the information if you want to remain anonymous. It is absolutely disgusting. >> 30 seconds. Mr. Smith has also used her own not associated with the school district Facebook account to publicly post district children without parental consent. Up until this year, Ron's classroom was decor. Randall's classroom was decorated in overwhelming amount of rainbows and pride propaganda, including pride flags and prime nine Disney characters and accessories. There is no way to justify that as a pure and innocent. We are all aware of the intention behind the decorations and referring to herself as the rainbow teacher. Mrs. Mo, >> I have to give other people a chance to speak. I'm sorry. 4 minutes 34 seconds. I have to >> This has gone long enough. We have no

084answers. And you're coming at me saying you got to do what's legal. What's legal? What's legal? And we're taking what's legal what what legal advice you're getting from somebody that was interrupting last week. So I would like to have my time this week and not following and not knowing what the board rules were last week. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. With regard to your questions, I can assure you someone from the administration will be getting back to you. >> Well, I I would like that the board members please hold the superintendent accountable if she's not properly holding her people accountable. This trickles down to the bus. It trickles down to all the children being held accountable. >> Would anyone else like to speak? You're already up. >> Hello. Um, my name is Cindy

085Gustaldo and I kind of had to change my speech a little bit because it's refreshing seeing a new board attorney. Um, I just want to confirm that I have Dr. Tunes's attention because while mo at the last meeting while multiple parents including myself were speaking on a serious matter, not only did I witness side conversations and laughter amongst yourself and the board attorney, but you were openly using your cell phone when I was speaking. Yet, the only speaker who received your full attention was the one defending the teacher who publicly promoted discriminatory and dangerous ideology. That alone says everything. Lisa Antonune, my last talk correspondence with with you when ignored when you gave me no response if the staff member in question was still teaching and also who is teaching my children. Thankfully, another staff,

086one of the staff members reached out to me and let me know that the teacher was uh suspended and I wouldn't have to pick my children up for the 40 minutes that I did several times and they can actually enjoy the class. This is something that should have fallen on your shoulders and the lack of communication and transparency about this matter is absolutely atrocious. You had an opportunity to demonstrate integrity, holding accountability and leadership, and you utterly failed. You failed to show the children of district what is acceptable and what is not. You failed to uphold the standards you claim this district stands for. You failed to enforce your own district policy, policy 3282, which you told me that you were clearly aware of, which the first bullet point states, "No staff should make any

087statement that violates any district policies, including those concerning discrimination or harassment. What was shared by this teacher violated that policy, period, the consequences did not fit the action. It was the quiet removal of flags. And that is not what this is about. This isn't about gay or straight, left or right. This is about publicly shared rhetoric by a teacher that targets a specific group, violates district policy, and sends a trilling message to families like mine and throughout the district. Removing a symbol from a wall is not discipline. It's a distraction. It does nothing to address the harm already caused for the president that you're set or the president you're settling by refusing to act. You have chosen silence. You have chosen to protect the district from litigation rather than protect the students in your care.

088You've chosen to hide behind legal scripts, sidestep responsibility, hoping the situation would fade away quietly. That is not leadership. That is again avoidance. If the teacher had posted, "The biggest danger to my Christian children in a public school is a member of the LGBT community coming in with a gun," would you be allowing that? I would be as outraged as I am now because those words are disgusting in itself. But would you claim it was still a personal matter with no bearing on their role as an educator or would the outcome differ? Because that is exactly the message we are dealing with here, Justin. and your refusal to act on it sends a message that bigotry is negotiable in this district. Let me be clear. I will not stop. Not until this administration issues a

089clear public statement that discriminatory rhetoric online or in person has no place in our schools. Not until we see action that aligns with the policies set in place. And not until this district discriminates that it protects all students, not the ones that just fit your comfort zone. I would also like to know how long this teacher is on their suspension and when they will be returning to the classroom. And Lisa, it's a shame that this entire time I've been speaking, you have done nothing but write down and look, you have not looked at me once. And that is absolutely disgusting. And you're still doing the same. What a shame. Shame on you. Thank you. [Music] to speak >> button. >> Hello My name is Kevin Sarah. I'm quite new to this town. I've been here

090about a year. Um, God bless you both for standing up here and speaking the truth. Um, it's not even what I was going to address when I came up here, but um, I was standing with you both on that very much. Um, so what I did want to discuss, it was in light to the science uh, aspect of the agenda. Um, I moved down here to start a farm. Uh my family and I are building one down on Route 9. Um I've had the pleasure of talking your ear uh some of your ears off about that uh in the past. Um earth science in regard to earth science curriculum I think is a very crucial part in the beginning especially with you know grades 3 to six probably would affect more. Um uh George J.

091Mitchell my daughter's in second grade right now. She loves it out back. She just wants to find worms. Um, so something I I think we should focus on is more outside learning. Um, gardening, you know, measuring, tracking the growth of vegetables, flowers, all types of things. Um, I've discussed with my family we would be open to donating and assembling a greenhouse uh afrog pond if that is something that uh you would consider. Um, I know uh volunteers in this town are plentiful. Um, you know, I think the well-being of our kids is the utmost uh of importance and I think a hands-on learning um is really the best approach. My mother's been in schooling uh pretty much her entire life. She's got a masters in early childhood development. Um she's adamant about hands-on, mostly outdoor

092activities. Um, I understand we have harsh winters sometimes where the greenhouse would kind of come and play there. Um, with that regard, we could build out an entire program around this. Student run green houses, studentr run farm markets. We have tons of local producers in the town that would be willing to be vendors, buy table space, something that could bring revenue to the school. We have plenty of open space at at both schools to do so. Um, again, I don't know the ins and outs of of the program of that, but I would be willing to volunteer myself. Um, you know, I'm involved in groups such as NOA, the Northeast, uh, farmers association. Uh, I have contacts at farmland preservation. Um, as well as just agriculture departments of the county and the state. Um, so

093I think it's something that we should seriously consider getting our students hands-on outside, learning these things, um, developing um, a quality of life and some self-esteem around that. Kids watch things that they plant grow, they track it, they sell it, they see something come from it, it makes them happy, makes their parents happy, and it builds something in this community that can uh, we can all really be proud of. So, um, you know, I'm open to talk to any one of you. I know some of you. Um, so, uh, that's pretty much all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Like to maybe steer him first toward PTO and then maybe the administration >> some of those ideas. Okay. >> I'm going to say this. I would love to see some farm to table

094at our cafeteria, but that's >> Oh, yeah. >> Sorry. Am I outreaching? >> Does that happen? That's a big deal. >> Fruits and vegetables. >> Okay. Would anyone else like to speak? It looks like it's on. [Music] >> Hello. Hi, my name is Dana Gant. I'm a repair at George Mitchell and I've been in the district 17 years as a substitute and permanent employee and I make $17.37 an hour. I love working with the kids. I love helping them have the best of the pot they could possibly have. And I was disappointed to see that the district brought in part-time aids at $25 an hour. I understand they're not getting health insurance, but I don't need the health insurance. So, I'm hoping the district can find a way to increase our health to bring us

095up to the part-time people that will now be working less and making more money with us. [Music] Thank you. Anyone else to speak? Down. [Music] Um, sorry, I'm not really good at holding mics. Um, before I say anything, I just want to say that the words that I'm going to say are my words. They're nobody >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm a Tom Paige. Um, I apologize. Um, the words that like I'm going to say two things before I begin. One, anything I say, it's my opinion. Um although however some of it is based on hearing from the left ear, the right ear and every place I I wander around the school. Um but a lot of people are afraid to step up and say anything cuz they won't put their head on chopping block and

096and I don't blame them. Uh the second thing I want to say before I begin is a lot of you might not know who I am. Uh I'm the art teacher here at Frogcon. I've been here about 9 years, but I've been doing this for about 20. Uh and I've not just taught I taught sixth grade for four or five years. years. I taught third grade, all general ed. So, I've been around quite a bit. Um, I'm also, uh, in the summer I work as a as a laborer for public works. Um, high paying, but that's not what I'm doing. And, uh, the reason I bring this up, and listen, I've been a a a community member. I've been a a volunteer coach for Pine Lance recreational soccer for I did it for over 10

09710 years, not seasons, years. I have kids at kind of school system and and they're in finance now. I had been a member of my local board of ed talk. Um and I only sat down because um my time was coming up and usually it'd be easy to run into but I knew there were parents that had students that were coming into the school that wanted to be on the board and I wanted to open up those avenues. I think it's important that that your your board members have vested interest in in school and nobody has more vested interest than than a parent, right? Um, I say all this because of two things. I I originally came up here to speak on something uh regarding finances, but I do have to I would be remiss

098if I didn't say that I know that um there's an issue right now with one of the teachers being out teacher. Um I understand that a a foolish but rather ambiguous comment was made on Facebook. Uh from what I understand, I don't know all the ins and outs of it. I've seen screenshots cuz they get shared like mad because the bane of our existence is social media anymore. And um and I just I just think it should be known that I like I said I I've been around the block and I was doing sales and stuff like that way before I became a teacher. Um, I don't know a lot of teachers and I'd be hardressed to find a teacher that is more dedicated to their students and having their students become engaged in learning

099um to be involved is there for every student regardless of how those students treat her. Sometimes I've seen some students be pretty rude and pretty mean and she's always welcoming. Um, and if anybody out there in in the Hebrew thinks that a special areas teacher that is 40 minutes a week with a student has the time in that 40 minutes to do any kind of indoctrination of their student or press any kind of thoughts. It's so outlandish. >> Talk to your kids when you're home. Excuse me. >> Talk to your kids when you're home. >> We're not doing this. We're not going back on. >> I don't Yeah, I didn't. >> Hey, you did me last time. I'm I'm I'm just saying that um >> I I just >> I I I've had kids I've

100watched them go through school. I' I've >> just telling you that she's a good person and I've never in all my time said something. Um I've never seen her push any kind of agenda or anything else. Um I think that we're worried about like rainbow flags and things like that. >> Um >> No, it's pride propaganda is what it is. 15 seconds, sir. >> That's not what we're talking about. >> I I I I can't stop. >> I was just going to say >> welcome to our world. Go >> ahead. Excuse me. >> I know. I know. But I I didn't interrupt you, did I? >> But they did last time. >> Okay. Let Let them finish, please. >> That That isn't what I was up here for. It It doesn't matter. Okay. I'm just

101saying that you lose a really good teacher is all I'm saying. Um, but the thing that came up here before I'm trying to be as quickly as possible, um, I was looking at this bus thing and we keep throwing money at the bus thing. Last year, you're at a 32.6% increase in your taxes and you didn't cut anybody. You did cut some employees. It takes two weeks to get something fixed sometimes. He was last, you know, roll out. Not that those the generous stuff they now aren't, but we lost some good ones. Um, and when it comes to budgets, like listen, I'm a consumables class. And for those who don't understand what that means, it means that anything that goes out never comes back. Paint, art, something like that. I have a budget of 96

102cents a student. Try to go to the store and buy a year's worth of art supplies for your student for 96 cents. You're not going to do it. But I figure out a way to do it cuz that's what we do. And I do tours. We have fundraisers, whatever. I bring funds in. I don't ask for extra money. I put all new furniture in my in my classroom all the fundraisers that I did. I came to and I'm sure Lord knows last year I sent everybody an email and said, "Hey, I have some ideas that might help here and there and I see that you're using the um the electricity doing the solar thing." Correct. That's great. Oh, you keep throwing money across 35k for a part-time and it's 29 and 1/2 hours. My question

103is this. Is it a 10 or 12 month employee? Number one. Number two, what are they going to do with the downtime? You're very, very obuse about that. I didn't come and ask any questions about the stuff on this on the agenda because I didn't know it was going to be approved or was approved. And seeing that you guys approved it, it doesn't make any sense to me. Did you take was there a cost benefit analysis done on getting the buses? That's my question. Okay. And it but it included did it include not only the 40k a year in lease payments but it include how much fuel is going to cost I believe in the previous meeting and you can look it up >> maintenance there was a presentation >> there was a presentation >>

104how is that and I said that my question is is that going to be >> okay yeah we're done thank you >> thank you very much just review that >> 35 kids in a school in a classroom but we're buying a bunch of buses we don't That's my question. >> Oh, not on the same subject. >> It's just kind of been >> You could speak on a different subject, but you've had your time for that subject. >> Well, >> that's what our That's what our policy said. I'm sorry. >> No, no, it's okay. That's fine. >> Carl, can you give the cliff notes on um the bus seat? >> Okay. different subject, right? >> Yeah. >> I just I just want to point something out real quick just because, you know, we're talking about good

105teachers. We're talking I one, we let go a bunch of teachers. So, if one needs to be replaced, there's that. And the second thing is is I don't believe that someone should be speaking on who is a good teacher and who isn't a good teacher when the first day when the first day of the school year um every single grade has been told um don't wor I'm not Mrs. East burn. Don't worry, I'm not going to remember any of your names for the school year. >> Thank you. >> May I speak on that? >> It's a different subject, right? >> I think I I I think we're we're going to let somebody else speak. A different speaker if we have anybody else. >> Okay. Yeah. We're going to close public comment now. Thank you very

106much. >> Uh Carl, can you get the cliff notes really quick on uh the transportation just what we're saving uh a year kind of some of the costs that we went into tip. Okay. What I will address is this. If anyone missed the board meeting where we gave a transportation presentation, I believe you can review it on our website. If you go back to that, the transportation plan is there. it will answer probably 85% of the questions that were asked tonight. If there are any other further questions past that, please reach out to me in my office and I will be happy to answer them. >> Thank you, Mr. Marley. And I'm I'm not sure if Mrs. Gant was talking about substitute Paris rates or our permanent Paris salaries. >> I believe she's discussing the

107new the new rates. But when she was discussing her rate, was that >> um substitute or fulltime? >> Permanent part. >> She can always come to talk to Mr. Morel. >> We have permanent parttime. >> I guess they were hired years ago. I don't know exactly how what they were hired. >> I was trying to Okay. Cuz I was because we have discussed substitutes rates. Correct. >> I'm looking at those in the future. >> Okay. We're on the subject of board forum. Who would like to go first? >> I'll go first. I usually start this off. Um, one of the frustrating things about government is that you can't always disclose what's going on behind the scenes. And I think my friends that work in the public sector or private sector uh find that very frustrating

108that there's things that we know about um actions that are taken behind the scenes that by law we're not allowed to discuss. So just in general if you could keep that in mind because there are stuff going on behind the scenes every single day that we can't discuss um that we'd like to but by law we can't. Uh second coach Kevin all the way in the back. Uh, Coach Kevin is not only volunteering with his farm, but he's also a coach in soccer. Um, I've got to known him quite well and thank you for the offer to donate or build a greenhouse. I hope we follow up with that. Obviously, we live in the Pinelands and we have very special soil around here. There's so many opportunities that we can take advantage of, like you

109said, just going outside. Um, and again, he's volunteering himself to participate and we need more volunteers. So, thanks Coach Kevin for doing that. And just to end on a positive note, it was very uh encouraging to see that our scores and our test scores are heading in the right direction. Thank you, Melissa. Thank you for all the teachers and the aids and all the staff that made that happen. Um, I remember 3 years ago when we kind of charted a new course and we weren't sure, we were sure that it was going to work. Uh, but it's more exciting now to see the actual reser results up on the screen. Uh, that we are heading in the right direction despite all the challenges we've had over the past couple years. So, you know, kudos to

110the kids for putting in the effort to learn and the teachers and everybody because, you know, that's what we're here to do is to learn uh the basics, math, ELA, and science uh so that they can be prepared for high school and more importantly be prepared for life. Thank you. Um, I just want to piggy back on Chris about when I before I became a board member, I came to many board meetings and I would sit in the audience and I would wonder how everything got voted yes and >> didn't really matter that I came and it does. What I didn't know was all the things that happened in the background. >> We had personnel meetings. We've had finance meetings. Those meetings on average go from an hour two hours. We have those meetings in

111addition to this meeting where we meet an executive and again we can't share that and it is frustrating because maybe that would make our lives easier because we wouldn't you know as so many people have told us you know we have to fall in the sword for things because you don't know what we have discussed and not one decision that we have ever made as this board and I think I can speak for all of us and I never like to do that we have never done lightly It has not come with a lot of discussion, a lot of thought, sometimes prayer before we come to a final decision on something. And at the most forefront of all of this are our students and our staff and what is in their best interest and what's

112the best that we can do to make Little Parker School District the best that it can be and that makes everyone want to come here whether you're a staff um teacher, para, cafeteria worker, um playground aids, bus driver, whatever it is. And that's what we think about when we try to make our decisions and do that. And again, it's not light-hearted by any means. And it weighs on us. There are some meetings when we go home, it just doesn't go away. Like things weigh on us. So please keep that in mind. And I can't believe I'm going to say this in Kristen. Um before our next meeting, this is an election year for New Jersey. As I tell my students, I do not care who you vote for. go out and exercise your right to

113vote, especially if you're a woman. We have not always been granted that right. So, please do not take it lightly. And thank you and have a good evening. >> Well said. Anyone else? I'll just be really quick. Um, I second what Chris and Christine said. I struggle coming from the private sector and I say it all the time, understanding the public sector and even the role of a board member sometimes. Um, it's true. There are sleepless nights, countless hours of volunteer time that we spend for this district. And I joined the school board because I'm a parent of three boys. So, speaking as a parent, I completely understand where you're coming from. Unfortunately, we can't talk about things personnel matters. It's illegal. Um, so just know that we're on top of it and we're talking

114about it and things are being done. Um, unfortunately Christine mentioned the election coming up and I um it will be the end of my term as of December 31st, 2025. I haven't yet said that in public, but I am saying it tonight. And um it's a was a really hard decision for me um mainly because of my personal life and my demanding job and not being able to give my family what they need um because of the demands of being on the school board. Um it's a thankless job and I have enjoyed working with all of these people up here and I know that they will do many good things in the future to serve our school district. Um, so I just I wanted to say that out loud that you know um there is

115an election coming up. I will not be running uh for many many reasons. Um but I know that this district is in good hands and we have good people on this school board and in our administration. Um the last thing I just want to say real quickly is I'm I'm a finance person. I followed the the budget very closely last year. Transportation is our largest line item next to healthcare. So the reason why we're investing in transportation is because of that. So it's ROI, return on investment. If you invest on something, you will save money in the future. So that's all I wanted to say on that. And thanks for all the comments tonight. Have a good night. >> Thank you, Abby. Anyone else? want to go. >> Sure. >> First, I want to say

116congratulations to all the students of the month. It's been a few months since we've had that presentation. It's by far my favorite presentation of the night every uh every meeting. Uh great job to all the teachers, students, and admin on the NJSLA results. The results are absolutely uh phenomenal. Um I got to see that presentation a few weeks ago in a curriculum committee meeting and um just seeing the explosive growth year-over-year. Uh that just really shows uh a huge commitment to culture and um commitment to learning. So huge shout out to everybody on that. Third, it's great to see the cover dream starting to come true with the addition of three uh school bus drivers which we just approved tonight. Um, I can't wait to see all the savings roll in uh year-over-year. Really helping

117us with our uh budget season coming up. And then uh hearing this tonight, we that we offer 97 cents per student to to our art teachers. I wonder if there's ways we could explore different grants uh that are possibly out there to get a little bit more funding to the arts. Um because I know my stu uh my kids absolutely love it. Um and hopefully uh I know there's a lot of passion behind that to meet other students as well. Thank you. said, so I'm just gonna say ditto. >> I was going to say ditto on that. They pretty much covered everything. Um the one thing that I did want to talk about was um as far as transportation goes, uh they did a great job like Mr. Kofer. Um as far as the safety

118of the children with the nor eastern storms that we had, the storm we had here in place. Um that was great to uh plan the routes out the way they did and made sure that the children were picked up and got they got home safely. Um another thing that I seen was I'm very excited about the energy savings that we're going to be getting. I know um uh that we did some walkthroughs here, Carl, and you did some uh you went over some information with Mr. and you've seen some things that we could save a lot of energy and uh that's great to see that we're saving money there and um that's pretty much it. I mean everything else is very positive. Great to see that the kids are getting the grades up and they're

119they're performing well um especially in science uh math and all the other uh curriculum that's in place and I think it's a great thing. >> Thank you. I just want to do what everybody else said. Um, but I also want to just say to the public, thank you for coming out and that we do listen to your concerns and that we do hold our administrators, our administration accountable. And I I just feel like Dr. has been nothing more than transparent with us um as far as the procedures and the legal ramifications and all that's going on. So, I just want to assure you of that and we're answerable to you. So, that if you want to contact any one of us, you're free to do so and I encourage that. Um, especially with regard to

120this situation, but I thank you all for coming out. We appreciate it each and every one of you. Have a good night. >> Thank you. The next board meeting is November 18th and we have uh committee meetings before that. I think policy and comments >> and the convention >> prior prior to that I like to do a motion to have a motion. >> Motion to motion second in favor. Nice.