001is open to members of the public to be physically present. Members of the public that attend will be asked to follow the same procedures as all other visitors to our schools. Those procedures can be found on the agenda page of our website. Additionally, the board meeting live stream for viewing purposes only. I'm sorry I'm fighting with this microphone here. Uh anyone wishing to view the meeting may do so via Zoom. Webinar ID 862 0761-9315 and the required password is 0000325. All right, I call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. Richard Dilva >> here. >> Benjamin Kasmarski >> here. >> Brett Copas >> here. >> Mike Gallo >> here. >> Tristan Deanro >> here. >> John Denise >> here. Christopher Hughes >> here. >> Janine St. Jansen >> here. >> Prima Mory >> here. Adequate
002notice of the agenda for this meeting has been provided to the Ridgewood News in the record specifying that the model board of education will meet on December 3rd, 2025 at Joyce Kilmer School, 80 ridge Road, Rama, New Jersey. Copy was filed with the township clerk. Uh our salute to the flag. Mr. Hughes, if you would please lead us. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we do need a executive session in the beginning this evening. So motion to recess to executive session. Mr. >> Mr. Silva and second by Mark. We're we're quite an active group this evening. Uh all right and we will be back in about seven.
003Thank you. Okay. Um, I need a motion to reconvene the public action meeting. Mr. Kismarski, second by Mr. Hughes. All right. Agenda questions. Please limit your questions at this time to resolutions under new business on this agenda. As a matter of fairness, you're asked to limit your questions to no more than one. and your remarks to no longer than three minutes. If you're here representing a group, please identify yourself, the group, and your position in the group. If you're here as an individual, please give us your name and address. This section of public participation will be limited to 15 minutes. Please specify the resolution you are referring to in your question. All right. Motion to open the meeting to the public. Mr. Dilva, second by Mr. Gallow. All right. We are open to the public.
004All right, seeing no one come forth. Oh, go ahead. Motion agenda on the >> Okay, then we have public participation at the end. Okay. Um, motion to close the meeting to the public. Mr. Chris Marski second by Miss Ting Jansen. All right, our Mala student representative reported this evening. Um, winter sports are starting this week. Fall play done to death is a success and the casting crew did a really amazing job with that. The drama club is taking a turn and starting the auditions for the spring musical. Something brought in this week. The SJ installation ceremony took place on the 26th. Senior LFA is currently in the works and elves will be picked by the end of next week. SGA and the National Honor Society Adopted Family Project is being put together and gifts are
005currently being collected. When the winter concert is on December 16th at 7 p.m. And finally, Mr. Pascal was in the Macy's Day Parade. We are very excited. >> Good. Okay. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. um our superintendent report this evening, Dr. Dur. >> Yes, we have uh a number of things, exciting things to share with the board and the community. Um I'll start with uh the referendum. Please allow me uh to read. There's a lot of information here. I want to make sure that I get it all right. Referendum showcase introduction. Mala Township Public Schools remains deeply committed to providing safe, innovative, and inspiring learning environments that support every student's growth and success. The proposed referendum projects are the result of careful planning informed by district priorities, expert guidance from our architectural partners,
006and meaningful feedback from our community. These recommended upgrades address essential and long-term needs across our schools, strengthening instructional spaces and infrastructure while elevating opportunities in physical education, athletics, and the performing arts. Collectively, these enhancements will enrich daily student experiences, expand extracurricular programming, promote wellness, and ensure our families reflect that our facilities reflect the excellence of our academic and co-curricular offerings. We are pleased to share preliminary design renderings that illustrate the proposed structures and major architectural elements. Please note that these images are conceptual and will continue to evolve. As the design process progresses, additional refinements will be incorporated to capture the full version of the improvements being considered. Before sharing final visuals on our website, we will ensure they reflect the most current, comprehensive, and accurate representation of the planned upgrades. As you can see on
007the screen here, uh we have our first rendering of what we are proposing for the MOA High School exterior gymnasium. Uh the preliminary migrants for the MA High School Gymnasium showcases a new exterior adjacent to building 5 positioned just off the grandstand and oriented toward the existing gym. The design incorporates brick and modern white metal panels to seamlessly complement the current building along with a column lobby and extensive windows that fill the space with natural light. You'll see here the inside of the new gymnasium. Inside, visitors enter an expansive venue featuring vated ceilings, high wall mounted lighting, and retractable bleachers with a seating capacity of over 900. The gym is adaptable color scheme and versatile layout support a wide range of school and community activities, creating a modern, highcapacity space for athletics and events. Keep
008in mind these are preliminary. So as we start looking at the granularity of a lot of the renderings moving forward, you'll see some some changes or modifications along the way. But we want to at the very least show you our first draft. The BA High School interior lobby. The interior lobby rendering of the auditorium showcases a significant brightened and modernized space with the amount of glass nearly doubled to bring in an abundant natural light. New finishes on the floors, walls, and ceilings refresh the uh entry experience while the existing waffle concrete slab is enhanced with acoustic paneling and the perimeter lighting to lift and illuminate the high ceilings. The updated design maintains approximately 2/3 of the existing brick facade within the lobby with consideration for the new wall trim that will create continuity between the
009lobby finishes and auditory interior. Together, these elements support a high voltage welcoming welcoming gathering area that can comfortably accommodate more than 100 people at one time. I just want to bring something to your attention cuz when we we got these renderings today around 1:00 um what is going to be changed as we said it's still a concept on the left that blue wall that's going to be a full run of windows um straight across um and I'll show you exactly where that that opportunity lies but that's going to be the first significant change to really open up that space. The next is the auditorium lobby exterior. The exterior rendering of the MA High School Auditorium highlights a redesigned storefront entrance that opens into an expanded and more welcoming lobby space. The new storefront is thoughtfully
010aligned with the existing overhang creating a cohesive and modernized facade. On the right side of the view, the current the current concrete ramp has been removed to allow for a cleaner approach and an expanded glass entrance that wraps around the corner. This updated design enhances accessibility, increases natural light, and provides more contemporary identity for the auditorium's exterior. If I just can share with you, if you look up at that rendering, which obviously won't finalize, will be in full color. um the the glass uh entryway. If you look to the right, you can see that column coming down. From there to the right, we can expand the glass to make a full run of an entryway. Is that everybody see that? That's where the opening is going to be from that previous picture to really bring
011in more natural light into that space and it's more aesthetically pleasing. The auditorium renovation uh dramatically frames the stage to enhance um if you notice you can see um the framing of the stage. Currently we have the top framing in wood and he's bringing that down on both sides to enhance that framing. Veneer wood paneling and acoustic wall treatments will be installed on the walls complemented by decorative lighting in the upper half to add visual warmth and improve sound quality. The project includes comprehensive upgrades with new seating, flooring and all finishes refreshed throughout the space. Enhanced HVAC systems will mitigate air noise and improve distribution while the design team continues exploring refinements to add that that special wow factor. And in speaking with the architect earlier today, particularly about uh this render and a few
012others, um he spoke to the fact that a change in color of the drapery is something that we really should consider because it it could change the the whole aesthetic of of the of the space. So you'll see in a later rendering a different color drapery in a similar space in another building that looks a little different. So, you'll see here uh this is the exterior of uh what we're uh looking at to be uh the new gymnasium addition to George Washington School. You'll see here black accent trim provides a cohesive visual connection between the existing structure and the new addition while establishing a contemporary aesthetic. The addition enhances accessibility with improved entry points at the rear of the building, facilitating weekend use and daily operations. Modest window placements dress the corner and far left
013side of the addition, bring natural light to the interior spaces. The design incorporates modern touches with restraint, creating a timeless look that complements rather than overwhelms the existing architecture. uh you'll see in our older buildings uh the architect shared that the goal was to utilize materials that uh obviously are modern but aren't too modern so that there can be some seamless cohesion that you'll uh you'll also see as we speak to uh the exterior of Betsy Ross uh later on in our presentation. And here's the interior view of the um of that gymnasium. The interior palette features accent blue against natural wood tones, creating a clean and timeless aesthetic designed to endure uh for years to come. The simple color scheme provides visual interest without overwhelming the space requiring frequent updates. School insignia will be
014thoughtfully incorporated throughout uh featuring either the MA or the MA Thunderbird to reinforce uh our school and our district identity. This unified approach ensures a cohesive professional appearance that celebrates school pride while maintaining design flexibility. The Betsy Rose School exterior gymnasium. The addition uh establishes visual continuity with the existing structure through thoughtful use of common materials including brick, wood, cladding, and black cabinet trim. The expansive gymnasium features a ribbon of windows that floods the interior with natural light, while wood paneling and storefront entrance treatment at the lower level accentuates pedestrian friendly space. A gray section with punched window openings provides architectural interest and serves as a visual transition between the gym and the library media center. The existing slide and slide and stairs will be preserved to maintain the beloved features of the school. And
015again uh in speaking with the architect he had shared that uh as a collective group we're going to need to talk about like what exact signage will look like. I know that um anyone who knows me knows that I'm um very uh I always have an opinion on font. I know a lot of us have an opinion on on the aesthetic. So the signage that you see here is not necessarily what's going to be on the final draft. The gymnasium design uh sorry Betsy Ross material gymnasium. The gymnasium design features decorative wood framing complemented by vibrant color padding and paint to create an energetic athletic environment. The design incorporates strategic accent colors and varied wall treatments along with colorful drapery to make the space more visually engaging. Wall graphics are still under construction uh under
016consideration to further enhance the school spirit and athletic identity. And these elements combine to transform the gym into a dynamic, inspiring space for students and community use. Our next picture is best school um library media center. This is only half of it. Um the media center is designed as a flexible zoned learning environment that encourages collaboration, diverse learning styles. Expansive glass walls provide views to the outdoors and potential outdoor learning space, while decorative lighting and complimentary ceiling treatments create an inviting atmosphere. A circulation desk anchors the foreground surrounding by high top tables and a variety of seating options throughout different learning centers. This rendering showcases one half of the space, demonstrating the room potential, the room's potential for supporting various group work and educational activities. So then we're uh shifting from uh our actual bills
017to our athletic fields. Uh the following two images are connected to turf field replacement and uh turf edition at Mawa High School. The project delivers new synthetic turf for soccer and softball use while staying within the existing fields footprint. Uh, six new light poles provide enhanced illumination for extended playing hours and improved visibility during evening events. Updated fencing completes the perimeter improvements, creating a fresh, functional athletic facility. This serves as a comprehensive turf replacement that will provide years of low maintenance use for student athletes in the community. And over at the ridge, uh, we have the turf field, uh, which with this renovation includes, uh, obviously new synthetic turf suitable for lacrosse and soccer along with updated fencing and comprehensive field laying. The improvements will enhance playability and extend us use usable hours for practices
018and games. And the uh the description appears incomplete regarding the back left corner field. >> Is there something going on with the back left corner field? Yep. That's going to be that's going to be structured for softball. Yep. >> But it also is going to be ticked. There's going to be spots for a baseball diamond, but we're not baseball. >> Got it. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much, Dr. Dro. Uh, assistant superintendent report this evening. Dr. Fair. >> Yes. I'm just uh we're looking at a few of the images right here. Um I apologize. The >> Okay. So nothing >> the the one that's that's displayed up there which is also in the back. That's the um field that current um the current field right behind central office and behind the Malawa High
019School. That's currently a grass field. Um the proposal is to make that turf as you can see in the bottom right. Um that's where the current MA High School softball team plays. Um but it's also um marked for soccer as well as as you can see in the dark uh black lines and the numbers. the benefit of that um that painting of the lines and colors that it doubles up for opportunities for our marching band color guard and anyone else who needs to practice on the field to have those line designations. Um it provides more opportunities and there wouldn't be that challenge of uh field access. So that would be a turf field for use of soccer, softball, band um and color. Also, I I apologize. Both the model high school field as well as
020round is all scheduled to have lighting um around the exterior of the field as opposed to the interior. Okay. All right. Uh now we'll have Dr. Ferris report. >> Yes. So, as always, I'll be sharing some of these slides with Dr. Auroro as well as Miss Hiramodoto. She'll be uh she'll be joining us as well. So, uh the first I know that we've talked about our soaring Thunderbirds program. >> Dr. Mory, would you like to join us? It's a collective effort. So, uh, at our last meeting, the, uh, board of education recently approved, uh, Thunderbird U or Thunderbird Unified, uh, which is a new club which is for our general education students and special education students to have the opportunity to meet, to interact, and to socialize and make friends. The or organization cultivates friendships
021and promotes acceptance of all students through social inclusion. Earlier in the fall, students and partners socialized and painted pumpkins together. And just recently, members participated in Friendsgiving. Um members of the club ate lunch together uh along with Thanksgiving treats, engaged in conversation, and shared what they are thankful for, which is really awesome. I'm extremely uh proud to share this with the board. This is something that's been an ongoing commitment for for years along the lines of creating opportunities for our rapid students to connect with Mawa High School and understand what they are able to take part in if they choose to go to Ma High School. Mr. O'Hara um took the lead as well as Mr. Pascal as well as a number of other administrators in creating this day. It was called Thunderbird for a
022day. The Thunderbird for a day event was a huge success for a visiting group of eighth graders. Current eighth graders and our gifted out program were welcomed uh through uh through some great preparation by our MAS school staff and students. Students were paired with a buddy. Presentations were made related to the school's many offerings and students were given ma swag, the lanyards and ma t-shirts along with the VIP passes. On the walk back, these students could not stop talking about the classes they saw in the overall experience in the walk uh overall experience. Amawa seniors were wonderful ambassadors as well. This opportunity gives students a true glimpse into the great life and opportunities that a mama student is able to take part in. Um just to kind of talk to you about I know it's
023kind of distant to talk to you about the schedule. They were welcomed um they were welcomed by our our cheerleaders. Um they were also able to walk through our T3 building and talk about the different pathways. We had a number of student ambassadors come and talk to our um our eighth graders about the high school experience. They were also able to go to a couple classes to see how that takes place and enjoy lunch and then they were addressed by the administrative team about all aspects of model. It was a great success and we were going to afford this opportunity to all of our eighth graders this year. This was really a pilot pilot opportunity and seeing what goes well and what needs to be refined. Um but it was uh received well by all.
024So thank you to all involved. M schools hosts American Education Week. American Education Week is an annual celebration in the United States um held the week before Thanksgiving to honor and promote the nation's public schools. It involves activities that celebrate students, educators, and school staff and encourages communities to become more involved in education by showing appreciation and supporting school initiatives. Um, parents visited classes physical education classes where Mr. Schmidt led the students and their parents in chase the turkey. That's what you see up there on the board. This is a massive point of pride for MA. This is now, I believe, our third year doing blessing baskets. For all those who don't um don't know, this is such a great representation of how MA comes together to really support their own. Um this is called
025blessing baskets. And as we all just experienced, Thanksgiving is a time for family, food, and gratitude. As the holiday approached, Ma residents have graciously donated full Thanksgiving Day meals to those who needed it the most. 218 Thanksgiving dinners were donated to Ma families. We thank our community so much for their generosity and a special thank you to Miss Shell Kaplan in leading the organization efforts for this very worthy cause. This is truly what MA Connects is all about. We also have two retirements to announce. Uh our first retirement is found on agenda item 19B uh for Miss Moren Loveman who is has been an instructional pair professional uh here at Joyce Gilmer School. Um Mrs. Loveman is known as an exceptional pair professional whose dedication, compassion, and steady presence uh has made a profound impact
026on our school community. Throughout the years, Mrs. Loveman has supported students with patience, guided them with kindness, and celebrated every small victory as if as if it were her own. Her willingness to jump in wherever needed, her proactivity, and her calm on even the busiest days have been invaluable. As she steps into this well-deserved new chapter in the coming weeks, we hope Mrs. Loveman knows just how deeply she will be missed by the JK community. We wish Moren the best in this next chapter. And lastly, Mr. Hiramodoto is going to announce the retirement uh found on agenda item 19A uh for someone uh from the business office. >> So, this is Joanne Scano. As a long-standing member of our district business office, Joan Scano has been the staff member responsible for accounts payable since 2013.
027In her role, she managed outgoing payments to vendors for goods and services, processed employee reimbursements, and handled the related financial recordkeeping and compliance. In this position, Joanne process invoices, match them to purchase orders, ensure payments are authorized and made on time, and maintain financial records. We appreciate Joanne's longevity to the district. In her retirement, Joanne looks forward to spending time with her family and friends, plans to finally travel to Italy, and she's excited to join the gym. So, um, yeah, thanks Joanne. She'll definitely be missed. >> Thank you, Dr. Fair. Um, our business administrator, her secretary, Mr. Ramodto this evening. >> Yes, good evening. So, um want to start off by discussing the county office has released the official results for the November 4, 2025 school board election. In Malawa, the final um tallies are
028as follows. Steven Houston 4,495 votes. Christopher Hughes 4,784 votes. And Krma Morphy 4,981 votes. So based on these results, Mr. Houston, Mr. Hughes, and Dr. Morphy will be sworn in at our reorganization meeting on Wednesday, January 7th, 2026. Um, we've also made some enhancements to our budget process. So, I'll be scheduling meetings with school principles and supervisors over the next few weeks as we begin preparing for the upcoming budget cycle. Since our last board meeting, the assistant to the business administrator, the superintendent and I met with TE Bank to discuss potential investment opportunities. So, we will share um the meeting summary and recommendations at the finance and facilities committee meeting next Wednesday, December 10th. We also wrapped up on open enrollment for health benefits today. So, um I'll be presenting an analysis of the financial
029impact to the finance and facilities committee as well um next Wednesday. And that concludes my report. >> Thank you very much, Miss Terodto. Um my report this evening, um brief will be brief. First, um we'll put I have an audio visual. How exciting. um for our soaring Thunderbirds for November. Um so we have the student who is Lauren Prunk, grade 10, for being trusted. Lauren was nominated by both staff and students. And one staff member wrote, "Len is the kind of student I have never had to second guessess. If she says she'll do something, it gets done. And it gets done at a high level." Um, she's also the sophomore class president. She's the foundation her classmates lean on, always organized, always prepared, and always willing to step in when something needs attention. Lauren is
030a member of the government and social sciences pathway as well as a fellowship as well as the fellowship of Christian athletes, future medical professionals, rebel, jams, mock trial, and the varsity soccer team. Uh, so she's a busy girl. Um, but congratulations to her. And for the teacher staff member is our food services director, Mrs. Rebecca Davis, uh, for being spirited. Mrs. Davis was nominated by multiple staff members, and one staff member wrote, "Seeing Rebecca in the lunchroom is always a joy, and not just because we are hungry. She knows all the teachers names and is happy to chat for those passing moments during lunch. She makes everyone feel welcome and she is always very upbeat and positive. So, congratulations um to Mrs. Davis as well. Um the second part of my report was just um
031that this is our kickoff um uh to our um board meetings being at uh different um schools. Uh thanks to uh Mr. Coplin and our community relations committee. Uh this was a idea that came out of that um for us to go on the road for the board to go on the road. So this is our first meeting at Joyce Kilmer. Um next meeting on the 17th will be at Lape. Uh and then we'll announce uh the January February meetings um at the different schools. And again, this is an opportunity um with the seeing the renderings for the referendum to also discuss projects that are happening at the different school buildings. Um and we encourage um parents uh to come out if you have questions. If you um want to share something specific to your
032school, we're here as a board to hear your concerns. Thank you very much. That's my report. Let's move on to board committee reports this evening. Do we have any board committee reports? >> Hard to see. So, Mr. Coplin, >> uh, just two um, transportation that last week, I believe. No, the week before that, uh, shared the minutes with the board members, but I just want to highlight one stat that Miss Spiller provided us. Uh, currently in the district, we are at a 40% wrership rate in the morning and 36% wrership rate in the afternoon. I want to thank uh Miss Spiller, the AIB team, and all of the schools and the leadership teams in the schools for putting those numbers together. It is a physical audit that they're doing um in the morning and in
033the afternoon, physically counting the kids coming off and on the buses. So, we have a very accurate um number as to who's on the bus and how many kids are actually using the the the transportation. uh community relations. We are continuing our weekly Monday morning meetings with Lord Bishop uh to continue to review the referendum, get updates. They're very productive meetings. I I share the um summaries of those meetings with all the board members after these. I want to thank Dr. Doro for putting that together for me. That's a huge help. Um, this past Monday I shared the summary and I also shared a link to a list of community organizations. Um, I'm asking all the board members to please review that. Um, please go through it, make sure that we've listed organizations that we
034can be reaching out to uh to be discussing the referendum with them in January and February. Um, if you have a personal connection with any of these groups, please let me know as well. Um, and we'll we'll lean on you to help u schedule some meetings in January, February. >> That's all I got. Thanks. >> Thank you, Mr. Gler. >> Anyone else? Mr. Alan, >> just briefly, um this has been sort of a quiet period for the financial facilities committee to come to the referendum. But even during this quiet period, we continue to find um opportunities through the referendum process to better support our programs and create some new programs for our students, which we'll be rolling out um during the information sessions regarding the referendum. uh due to some last minute um uh thinking
035and creativity uh we're going to get another exciting project on the list that I think once the public is fully informed will be very exciting and a real help to um a certain population of our students that'll be wonderful and it also comes with state agency so uh and as best as I understand we're on target with our timeline in terms of the expectation of getting the state's determination uh or approvals and their commitment to financing some of these projects. So, we um we wait and watch, but we're also continue to figure out how we can make this recreate process working harder for more citizens. >> Thank you, Mr. Galla. Any other committee reports? Okay. Um board member remarks. Mr. Papa, >> just real quick, I want to congratulate um a marching band parent who
036was recently recognized by the township as the 2025 volunteer of the year. Uh John Ryan uh who has I believe has four daughters, uh three of which have um I think two have already gone through and one still here. I can't keep track of all his kids. Uh but John was uh nominated and selected by the township uh to be actually the inaugural, right, Ben? >> That is the inaugural. Um Township Obama volunteer here. So, congratulations, Chuck. >> Oh, cool. Um, all right. Anyone else? All right. So, let's move on to old business. Let's take 17 A and B minutes um from the November 12th meeting and executive session. Um, I need a motion on the floor. Mr. Coplin, second by Mr. Gallo for 17 AB. Roll call, please. >> Mr. D Silva, >> yes.
037>> Mr. Kazmarkski? >> Yes. >> Mr. Gallow? >> Yes. >> Miss Daviniro? >> Yes. >> Mr. Denise? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hughes? >> Abstain on both A and B. >> Mrs. T. Jansen. >> Abstain on A and B. >> Mr. Coughlin. >> Yeah. Yes. Dr. Morphy. >> Uh, yes. On A&B. All right. Very good. Let's take new business now. We have A2P. Um, made a motion on the floor. U Mr. Kizmari. Second by Mr. Hughes. Um, I think we do have a donation in that as well. So, thank you um for 17 I mean 18N uh for the anonymous donation to the model high school music program. >> Um I just want to point out 18P >> y >> the establishment of the class program. I wanted to thank Miss Rizzo and our admin team
038for putting this program together. Uh for those that don't know, it's a prek autism program. Um, and we we talk about a lot on the board about keeping our kids in the district, and this is a great example of this. We're keeping our youngest kids that need support here in Monoa. Uh, so thank you, Miss Rizzo, and thank you to your team and and the entire admin team for making this happen. >> Thank you. All right. Um, roll call, please. Mr. Dilva, >> yes. >> Mr. Kazmarski, >> yes. >> Mr. Mr. Gallow. >> Yes. >> Miss Deanro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Denise. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hughes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. St. Jansen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Coplin. >> Yes. >> Dr. Mory. >> Yes. >> All right. Let's take new business personnel. Um, we
039generally take retirement separately. So, um, let's take 19 A and B first. Um, motion. Mr. Coplin second. Mr. Pisari thank you. This is uh seven 19 excuse me and B. Thank you for roll call. >> Mr. D Silva. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kasmarski. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gallo. >> Yes. >> Miss Daviniro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Denise. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hughes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ting Jansen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Poplin. >> Yes. >> Dr. Mory. >> Yes. All right. And now let's take 19 C to HH. Mr. uh motion on the floor. Mr. Kismarski. Second by Miss Ting Jansen. All right. This is your motto. Uh roll call, please. Mr. D Silva. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kazmari. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gallow. >> Yes. Miss Daviniro, >> yes. >> Mr. Denise, >>
040yes. >> Mr. Hughes, >> yes. >> Mrs. Tink Jansen, >> yes. >> Mr. Coplan, >> yes. Thank you to the parent volunteers. >> Dr. Morphy, >> yes. All right. Now, we can take public questions or comment. Um, public participation at board meetings is in accordance with bylaw 67. At this time, members of the public may ask questions or make a comment on educational issues or school matters of community interest. As a matter of fairness, you are asked to limit your questions to no more than one, and your remarks to no longer than 3 minutes. If you're here representing a group, please identify yourself, the group, and your position in the group. If you're here as an individual, please provide us with your name and address. All right. Motion to open the meeting to the public.
041Um, Mr. D Silva and second by Mr. Gallow. We are officially open to the public. >> Hi. Um, hi. My name is Ala and I live on Bumb Trail. Um, and I'm a junior at Mo High School and I'm here as an intern with the League of Women Voters. Um, >> can you just state your name again? Sophia Dialto. >> Thank you. >> Um and I just wanted to share um some of our activities that we've been doing over the past couple of months. Um since the govern election was last month, we have set up booths around the town at Mawa Day at the Pride Fair um at the public library um at the Ramsy market and um we're just trying to get out um like encouragement for voting um for upcoming elections and registering
042voters. >> Thank you very much. You can remove the microphone too if that's easier. Okay. >> My name is YDP. I live on Drive. I'm a junior at Mo High School and also a part of the League of Women Voters internship. Um I just wanted to talk about um some more of the things that we have been doing to get the vote out. Um, one of the things that we have been doing is hosting postcard parties, which is like basically um us writing postcards to people who have just recently turned 18. Um, between Malawa and Ridgewood, we have written 600 postcards to multiple people. Um, and we actually had a member of the board at one of our postcard meetings, um, Miss T. Um, yeah. Thank you very much. >> Hi, I'm Zelina Wong. I
043live on um Bella Road and I'm a junior in Ma High School and also a member of the League of Women Voters. Um and you may or may not be familiar with the new policy eliminating out of class written assignments in English classes at the high school. And I understand the concern of combating AI usage, but this comes at the expense of student learning. The policy requiring all written assignments to be done in class impedes on the development of crucial skills that can't be developed in a timed environment. Assignments such as the own choice essay in AP language allow students to reflect and explore on their own life experiences, which is great practice for college essays. It takes time and practice to develop individual creativity and style, and it's impossible for students to fully develop
044their own personal unique, tone, and style in the span of 55 minutes. Essays written outside of a time setting allow students to focus on stylistic maturity, complex syntax, and diction elements that elevate writing from proficient to college level. College courses, regardless of major, are heavy on writing and require form papers completed over several weeks. Removing take-home essays eliminates the opportunity to practice essential skills such as time management and independent work ethic on conference projects. I hope you will take this into consideration. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um Ben Gman. I live in um at uh 91 Fisher Road. Um I am the mentor for the League of Women Voters internship. And I just wanted to share that um this year one of the new projects we came up with was for um the
045students to attend a town council meeting and a board of education meeting and to actually either share information or bringing bring up an issue that they're concerned about at this board meeting. So thank you for being part of that activity. And I also wanted to share a new project that we've done that we're really excited about. Um thanks to actually Nina Wong and Mrs. Lazar. Um the um art department held an I voted sticker design contest and uh we had three winners. I'm going to pass out some samples that you can see what they look like. Um and um we're going to hold um a uh certificate ceremony on Friday with uh uh refreshments and all the teachers that were involved um to uh honor the three girls who won the contest. Thank you. >>
046Thank you very much, Miss Gman. And thank you for encouraging uh board meeting attendance. And thank you girls for speaking so eloquently on what your organization is doing and things that you're concerned about. We do appreciate that. Um and did you >> Yeah. Oh and Dr. Dour would like to say something. But anyway, great job girls. Thank you very much. >> You reported on that at our last meeting. >> Yes. On the stickers. Yes. >> Uh f first of all I just want to speak to the suits. I can't thank you enough for number one your patience today um but number two um what you're involved in. We were really excited that the League of Women Women Voters were were willing to partner with us specific to the internship and externship experience. What it sounds
047like is you've really um immersed yourself into that civic process and it's my hope that you learned a lot along the way and then more importantly you're connecting with our community for a very important cause. That's number one. Number two, I I want to speak submit on Miss Miss Roseman, right, Miss Roseman? Um I I just I I want to I want to say thank you directly to you for welcoming our students into your organization. I think it's extremely important that we connect with the community. We have so many wonderful resources in our community and to have our students go and learn what they're learning in school out in the community is just uh it's such a special thing. So, thank you so much for welcoming our students and providing them with that educational experience
048and real world learning experience. So, thank you very very much. As it pertains to the curricular question or concern, I do want to tell you that I appreciate you coming here and talking to us about it. Allow me to just ask you two things. Okay? If you haven't done so already, I think it's extremely important to share that that concern with the teacher first. If you've already done that, which I would appreciate if you did, I also think it's important to talk to Mr. Pascal and the supervisors, I will do the same. So, don't think I'm just pushing you away and saying go take care of it. But I think if we work together and share that information, I think we'll be able to get an understanding of the issue as a whole and a
049rationale of this is why it's the way that it is or here's the opportunities moving forward. So, I wanted you to know that I hear you and I think it's important for you to continue to use your voice to share the concerns that you have with the people within the building and just know that we will do the same. Okay. All right. Thank you very much again for your participation this evening. All right. Um, seeing no one else coming forth at this time, I need a motion to close the meeting to the public. Mr. Kizarsky, second by Mr. refused. Um we do not require an executive session at the end. So motion to adjourn. Uh Mr. Dilva and a second by Mr. Galla. Thank you for coming out this evening and have a good night.