001The New Jersey open public meeting law will ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of the public body of which any suspecting their interest is discussed or agreed upon. In accordance with provision of this act, the man regional school district of education advertised this meeting on April 24th, 2025 in the front press and the star ledger. This notice was sent to the municipal clerks of the burough math and the township of African and the African public library. A notice was also placed on the district's website. Please stand for the pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Good evening. Mrs. here. Miss Violet here. Mr. McGovern here.
002Mr. Mont here. Miss Pal here. Miss here. Miss Martinez here. Be it resolved that a close session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy, personnel, and legal advice. The subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides. Although the board cannot guarantee it, the length of the executive session is estimated to be 30 minutes, after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business. Action will take place. Can I have a motion and a second? A second. Thanks everybody for coming. Um, I'm going to turn it over to Superintendent for us. Good evening everyone. Tonight is the first of three special evenings where we come together to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of our students, staff, and programs. As superintendent, I couldn't be
003more proud of the talent, dedication, and the heart that define our school community. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our amazing staff for their commitment to helping students grow and succeed, whether it's in academics, the arts, or through their individual passions. And to our parents and families, thank you for your continued support, encouragement, and partnership. Your involvement makes a meaningful difference in the lives of all of our students. It is now my pleasure to turn things over to Mr. Leman, our assistant superintendent, as we begin tonight's celebration. [Music] Thank you, Mrs. Perez. Good evening, parents, students, staff, administrators. I just want to echo Mrs. Perez's comments that this is one of the nights that we look forward to. It's fantastic to see everyone out here tonight. We're so excited to recognize students
004and staff this evening. We are going to kick off our presentation tonight with a special recognition of the Manoan Aberdine Ed Foundation is an integral part of a lot of the work we do with curriculum and instruction that directly impacts the students in the classroom. At this point, I'd like to turn it over to the Ed Foundation President. This is not the microphone. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Leman. Thank you to the board of ed. Thank you to um our superintendent and everyone here tonight. Um my name is Amanda Nup. I am a parent of the district. I actually have two kids in Strathmore. I see some familiar folks here from sports and it's really great to have a chance to talk to everyone. Um so, uh I am the president of the Battle Educational Foundation.
005For those of you who maybe have never heard of us, we are a 501c3 nonprofit run exclusively by a very small group of volunteers. Our mission is to grow the opportunities and educational experiences for students in the district by funding and awarding um teacher ideated grants that support the uh support the educational curriculum. So, these are typically in areas like technology and learning, scholastic enhancement, arts and education, professional development, and cultural enrichment. You've probably seen our little light bulb logo all around the district, but we're trying to get the word out there uh more so people know what it is we do. So, this is a quick presentation to kind of walk through what we did this past year. So, again, what do we do? We fund um we fund raise and then award these
006grants to our district teachers that they apply for. The goal is to enhance, not to replace any curriculum programs, and the grants can also act as pilots for future district-wide adopted programs of which we have an example to share at the end of our presentation. We want grants to be reusable as much as possible and not a single occurrence. And also important to mention, we don't replace the PTOs at the school, but we work really closely in partnership with them, especially when we identify pilot grants that need funding year-over-year. So, the past year we have funded over $10,000 of worth of grants directly to our teachers, including eight mini grants and under 3,000 and then one major grant over $3,000. So, six of our seven schools participated this year and over,200 students were impacted by
007the grants. But there is still opportunity for us to make an even bigger impact. For example, we received over $30,000 in requested grants from our district teachers this past year. We were able to raise over $13,000 and then any of that unused funding rolled over to next year's grants which we are just kicking off for next year this June. So this year we also changed our grant timelines and we realized that by having our grant application open in the fall, we were limiting to when the teachers could actually see this impact in their classroom. So this past year we've had two rounds of grant applications and um as a result you can see by this image this is kind of when all of the grants happen throughout the classroom. So really again trying to figure
008out how do we make a big impact um with what we have. So now for a quick snapshot of all this year's amazing grants. We want to thank our creative and thoughtful teachers in the district for their dedication to our students and applying for these grants and carrying them out in their classes. So, first of all, the Pause for a Cause grant at Ravine Drive was awarded to Miss Morrisy and the other co-licants, helping students understand how to support their community by collecting donations for Castle Dreams Animal Rescue and painting paw prints for the hallways as a follow-up. So, the Ed Foundation supplied their art materials for this project. And again, at Ravine Drive, uh we awarded five lending libraries to the school thanks to an idea from Mrs. Murray. These libraries give broader access
009to books to nearly the nearly 400 students at Renee from preK to third. Mrs. Murray also shared that many of the students are already excitedly borrowing books from the library. At Strathmore, Mrs. Misenko was awarded the solar STEM kits, which allowed her third graders to learn more about solar energy in a hands-on way. Her students built the kits made of Legos-like pieces and wires and then took them outside to witness how the variations in light given by the sun directly impact the machine's fans and how it spins. These kits will be passed all around the Strathmore third grade classes for their solar energy units and can be used every year. And at Cliffwood, Mrs. Gomez received multiple standing easels to expand her art lessons outside the classroom. The prek students have been able to observe
010the the changing of a tree throughout the seasons and so far have done this for three seasons which they'll finish with the summer um at before the end of the school year at MAMS. Mrs. Nilson who is actually here with us tonight. Uh thank you for coming. She has found a way to keep her seventh graders engaged by emphasizing journaling and reflection reflection with wildlife awareness. The foundation supplied art journals, supplies, and book resources for teacher-led art journaling and reflection for all seventh graders. Students investigated possible methods of preservation and current organizations that support the wildlife in our area. And then also advance, Mrs. Farmer was awarded the True Color Grant, which supported the eighth grade design lab with materials for t-shirt creation, which supports self-expression and computer science and design principles. And then last
011for our mini grants at the high school um we supported the reach students thanks to a grant from Mr. Snipen and Miss Hollinger which supply reach students with kitchen items to help further develop independent life skills. And our guidance counselor here, Mrs. Longo, was awarded a grant for girls in gloves, a program that introduces many self-defense principles and practices to 9th grade girls. She shared the positive feedback from the participants who felt better prepared with an increased self self-confidence and self-esteem. And then last but not least this past year was our major grant at Boyd Road. This was team building awarded to Principal Bombader. So, this was a one-day team building session run by an outside organization called Optimal Performance Associates that helped the fourth graders at Floyd develop a sense of togetherness and helped
012acclimate to their new environment after having come together from the three different elementary schools. And while this was a one-time funded grant, Principal Bombadigier plans to continue this with staff for each incoming fourth grade class, helping to make the transition into Lloyd easier and help establish better relationships among students who may not know each other. And one um quick way that this was measured was kind of looking at the overall behavior of students throughout the year. And they did they were able to report better behavior overall and less uh less incidents of other students. So it really did seem to have an impact. And since our grants are meant to make an impact beyond the single year, we wanted to give a quick update on last year's major grant aquaponics at the high school. This
013was a awarded to Miss McMillan. The aquaponic system continues to be used to expand our environmental science classes here um and this year extended to the club as well. Students continue to grow plants from seeds for their sustainable farming unit which is powered by a fish tank beneath it. Continuing their tradition of salad day and even grew bigger plants for the front office staff. And this system even had an impact this year on elementary students with the AP students visiting Strathmore to teach about sustainability and stewardship using lessons from the aquaponic system helping build on all the STEM principles in elementary. And the last thing I want to mention about this, which is kind of exciting, um, is the high school students were actually awarded a 5-year license to participate in in in a program
014called Trout in the Classroom, which is part of the New Jersey State Wildlife and Fisheries Group. um because of their knowledge about aquaponics from the system and sustainable farming. And today they actually um were able to release six healthy rainbow trout that they grew from eggs from this subsystem. Um so they released those today. So it's pretty exciting. And then um the last one last year, so this is an example of a pilot grant that we did last year. Um the student again at Strathmore actually applied to this grant. It was an assembly that built on the dinosaur curriculum and it was such a great success that all the elementary schools decided to do it this year and which was funded by the PTO. So just to kind of show how one small idea can
015have a ricochet effect throughout the the district and we can't end without mentioning the battle of the faculties event which was spearheaded by the foundation as a major fundraiser and will continue for next year. So, this event brought together teams of teachers from all seven schools for fun minute to win a style games at the high school. We had an incredible turnout with over 400 attendees which raised over $6,000 for the foundation. All of which goes directly towards grants. And we're excited to announce uh that this will continue in the fall with a tenative date of October 23rd. So, please mark your calendars and see if the Strathmore team will be dethrone or reclaim their coveted title. they took it very seriously. Um, and before I close, I just wanted to mention that the first
016round of grant applications for next year is officially open. So, teachers are made aware of this and they already know their classroom assignments um are are starting to think about all these great ideas. So, they are we're excited to see uh what kind of ideas come from our amazing teachers for next year. And as a reminder, um, shameless plug that all of this is made possible by a very small group of volunteers. There's really four board members and then we have a handful of volunteers that very kindly help us with miscellaneous tasks. But, um, I just want to say thank you to our other board members, Quinn Bond, Lynn Nelson, and Ellie Inod, who, um, you know, along with all the other volunteers who really make this possible. But um if we really want to
017make an impact, we we do need more help. And Ed Foundation is essentially a nonprofit arm of the school and it can be really transformational with enough community support and interest behind it. So please consider getting in touch with us uh or continuing to make donations so we can award more impactful grants to our district. And if you'd like to learn more, we have a Facebook page, we have a website. Um you know, if you're from Strathmore, I'm around there all the time or flag football. Um, but yes, please please get in touch with us. We'd love to share more about what we do and how you can help. And yeah, thank you uh again to the board of ed and the administration for your continued support of the Ed Foundation and allowing us to
018come speak here today. And thank you all for your time. And we're excited to see what next year has in [Music] store. Thank you, Mr. Stuff. We encourage everyone here to please get involved with our head foundation. Moving on now to student presentations. I'd like to call up principal of Clickwood Elementary School, Mrs. Cher. Please come to the [Music] building. Good evening everybody. Welcome. I can't believe this turnout. This is amazing. What a great night to celebrate our students at all of our schools. and I am honored to be acknowledging students at Cliff Elementary School. Without further ado, let's get started. So, for our first student, this student is being recognized for her beautiful voice as a beautiful singer. Lily, can you come up Lily? [Music] Congratulations. We have very talented students at Swiss in
019the music department. So, we want to recognize Christian and Sunny. Either here, if you can come up. And then we have Arion for his bravery and courage. [Music] Arian, Brandon, and Harley are being recognized for their artistic abilities. If you can come up at this time. Ava is an amazing cheerleader. She travels all over the country competing. So, we're recognizing Ava for her cheerleading. And we're recognizing Nazar tonight. Adar just came to this country this year knowing no English and today he is very fluent in English. We are so proud of him. Adar, if you like come up and also our initiative this year is attendance. The importance of being at school every day because every day counts. And these students that I'm going to mention right now have a 100% attendance. We are so
020flipping proud of them. They are Briana, Jason, USA, Julian, Brian, Jacqueline, Emma, Noel, Albert, Florette, Mishka, Faith, Theodora, Rihanna, Callie, Charlotte, Kayen, Olivia, and Audriana. Let's give them all a big round of applause. [Music] if you want. We'll get them together. You take a big picture. Okay. So, come up in the front here. You can take a picture at the table there. Go ahead. And I'll get your certificate to the back. [Music] Okay. All right. Let's give that one more round. [Music] [Applause] All my food friends, if you can meet me in the back and I'll give you your certificates and we'll take a picture back there. Thank you everybody for coming. Have a great night. [Applause] Thanks. Next recognized student from Bean Tribe Elementary School. I'd like to call Dr. Crowley to the podium
021please. [Applause] Good evening everyone and thank you so much for allowing we're being proud to be part of one of the three celebratory evenings to end our school year when we were bestowed with the honor to acknowledge students of being drive for their outstanding accomplishments throughout the year. This was a very difficult task to narrow down who we would be uh presenting our awards to tonight. So we took time as a school and we decided that our overall overall goal is building connection with the community and we are going to announce our winners who were uh determined by Madawan Burrow for participating in a contest to discuss Arbor Week and all of the ways that trees can benefit the Madawan and Aberdine communities. With that, four students were uh were excuse me were announced the
022winners. One per grade level at Ravine Drive Elementary School. And the winners are Madison Samido, our kindergarten winner, who is here with us. Dawson, I'm sorry, Madison's older sister. Dawson is also with us. She can join us if you would like to. No, Madison is the older sister and she can join us also. Sorry about that. Thank you. We also had Alejandra from first grade from second grade. And finally, Penny from third grade who cannot join us tonight. It's Penny's father's birthday. Penny, happy birthday. Thank you again. I'm so sorry about going to Madison. And thank you all and thank you for joining us. Thank you premise to be a part of [Music] tonight. Please join us at in front of the dance for a quick picture and have a great night everyone. [Applause] [Music]
023[Applause] Everybody got Our final set of recognition this evening will be for Regional High School. I'd like to call Principal [Music] [Applause] Wells. Good evening everyone. Welcome to Madan Regional High School. I am Mike Wells, proud principal. Thank you, Mr. friends, board of education members for giving us this opportunity to recognize all of our students this evening. There are a lot here. Yes. Uh but we we stand to be recognized um one of your uh respective uh teacher. Okay. Um I want to congratulate all of our our students here. It's an honor to share this night with Dr. Crow and his parents your dedicated administrators that I've had the pleasure of working alongside. So, it's great to have you guys here and tonight we have over 90 students here, okay? And I don't want to
024jinx us because there's a month left, but we're really having a great year. So, I really thought it was important to celebrate all their accomplishments. Tonight, you will hear about students uh and their outstanding achievement in writing, outstanding achievement in poetry, outstanding achievement in science, and of course, our outstanding achievement in visual and performing arts. There's no way that I can do all this on my own. So I have to call upon support members to come out and talk about their respective areas. So at this time I'd like to welcome Miss Geravino to the podium. But before I turn it over to Miss [Music] Gerino earlier today, Mr. you know, was uh having a good old time at an awards ceremony. She's soaking wet. She came right off the bus. Uh but she received a
025big old check in the amount of $10,000 for her work with our students against destructive decisions uh organization for the commodity work that they've been doing uh including our serenity garden that will be uh finalized in front of the school. So, thank you for being here. [Applause] Thank you so much everyone. Um so in a world where artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping communication um and often threatening to replace authentic student voices. Creative writing I think remains more essential than ever. Um, our student voices matter. Uh, and not just for what they say, but how they say it. The passion, the individuality, and the perspective that no algorithm can replicate. So today, I'm honored to recognize four exceptional student writers whose work has earned meaningful recognition beyond our school community. So where are you, James? Please
026stand James. James received an honorable mention in the Satan Hall University essay contest. Um, and this is a testament to his thoughtful insight and clarity of [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] expression. Please stand. Giana earned first place in the Mammoth County law as a law day as a conference. and she'll be receiving her honor next week on Thursday. And that just shows the power of persuasive writing to engage and both inspire [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] congo contest. um where his evocative language and unique voice really stood out. Congratulations. Although she couldn't be here with us today, um Joby Ailis also deserves special recognition as our Mic County representative in the creative writing at the Teen Arts Festival. But just so we're clear, Joy at the age of 18 has already won multiple writing contests including Scholastic
027um and she's already a published author um before she go to college. So um just an extraordinary accomplishment that reflects both the talent and dedication of our students here at Thank you, Mr. Again, congratulations on the uh big check. Big big check. Uh next up, I'd like to welcome Dr. Shervidia to the podium to talk about some of our science accomplishments this year. [Applause] [Music] evening and we didn't win a big check but we won a lot of plaques from our competition and that's pretty valuable. My name is Dr. Paul Cvido and I am the proud instructor in biology, anatomy and physiology and molecular cell biology. It is my pleasure to introduce the students who competed and performed brilliantly uh representing our high school in the New Jersey Science Week and in the United States
028Biology Olympiad academic competition. We will be receiving school plaques from the New Jersey Science uh for finishing in the top 10% in both biology and in an finishing seventh out of 90 of the top schools in New Jersey and STEMmies in biology are my freshman appear to be hiding back Delila Penta [Music] 47 finished 20th out of 450 and will get a personal plaque also. Finishing second Out of 30 high schools in anatomy, these are the top high schools that that offer anatomy in their schools is Karen [Music] Village who just today told me that I've been mispronouncing her name all year. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] which is [Applause] probably Amelia Sandival. ninth out of 170 students and will also receive a plaque. I have to mention last but not least, Logan BB, he is not
029here. Uh Logan competed in the United States Biology Olympiad where 11,500 students from around the world compete of from all these different countries. Only 600 qualified for this semi final. Logan was one. It is absolutely the most difficult academic science competition I have ever seen. I usually try to take it and I barely get to the semifinals, but I cheat a little bit to try and get in. The qualifying exam is created by Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and Brown. Thank you to all my spectacular students. You have made this an extraordinary year for [Applause] [Music] [Applause] me. And finally, I'd like to welcome Mr. Andre Baldrini and our 2025 AC nominee director, Miss Linda Wong, to the podium. Talk about our visual performance. Good evening. My name is Andre Baserini and I am the choir director
030at Madawan Regional High School. Tonight I have the pleasure of congratulating an exceptional group of students who have spent countless hours with me rehearsing and refining college level repertoire that we have performed and competed with throughout the year. Aside from the usual holiday and spring concert, the choir has had the opportunity to sing at community events such as the Dr. Martin Luther King celebration click this year. We've also had the opportunity to sing at the Westminster Choir College Invitational where we performed the piece The Cry of Jeremiah for the composer Dr. Rephanie Powell. She was so impressed with our interpretation of her music, she personally invited us to come and perform her music with her at Lincoln Center this month in November. The competition choir has also competed in the Mammoth County Teen Arts Competition
031where we placed first and received comments such as, "This choir sounds better than some of the college choirs I've heard from the [Music] judge." We also just competed last week in Virginia on our overnight trip. Thank you, board, for making that happen. Um and the choir received first place with a superior rating. Best overall chorus of the day. Outstanding soprano section, accompanist and solist. [Music] The choir and I would like to thank Superintendent Perez, central office, the board of education, Mr. well in the high school administration and anybody else I forgot for their continued support um of these students. Um these students are thriving in this program. I always say that your voice is the only one that sounds like it in the entire world and you share that gift with me every day and
032for that I'm eternally grateful. So students that have come this evening from the competition part, could you please stand and be recognized? Thank you again. Congratulations to these incredible students. [Music] I apologize in advance because mine's going to be a little longer, but it's a good thing because we have such a successful season. So, I'm Linda Walling, the director, proud director of my theater students. So, first um in March, we competed at Mama County Teen Arts in our drama and our musical. So, please, my cast of leading ladies, would you please come up here and stand? I'm going to try to combine this a little. There you go. Okay. Um, we competed. We came in first and we were chosen to represent Madawat High School was chosen to represent Mammoth County at the state teen
033arts festival which is June 4th. So fingers crossed. Um, I'm going to cross reference this a little. Um, last night were the Bassy Awards and some of these students were nominated for the Bassy Award. So, I just want to call them out. Lucas Rouso Cano, step out. Nominated for black male actor in a drama comedy. If that And then honorary mention, let's see if I get it right. Charles Y. Cort. No. Yes. Honorable mention of male identified lead in a drama comedy. And then we have a male identified featured actor Allison Lindley. Step forward. Now Alison was nominated, but guess who took home last night? [Music] And they take direction. Well, and then I'd like to call up Tara. Tara was nominated for female featured actress last night for Baisy. Step back. All right. So,
034I will ask you to if you were in the musical, please stay there. If you weren't in the musical, please sit down. And the rest of my musical cast for Pippen, please come [Applause] [Music] up. This is a big [Music] one. Okay. Okay. So this is my lovely Pippen cast. They competed in March at Mama County Teen Arts. We came in first and we're representing Mama County at states. Hopefully we'll win and that is on June 4th. Now, this full cast, out of 29 musicals, only five were nominated for it's like the Tony Awards for the Mammoth County Ocean Daisy Awards. And if you're nominated, you get to perform. And they performed last night at Bassy. So, so proud. My whole cast was nominated. Take a bow. Paul, I'm going to call out for best
035actor nomination. Lucas Cano, step out of my step. Nominated for best female actress for the leading player, Henrietta P. [Music] Yes. [Music] Nominated for best featured actress. Sophie, is she here? Sophie Estrella. She couldn't be here tonight, but we're very proud of her. got a little secret. Nominated for um actually for honorary nomination for the chorus of Manuel Regional High School's pivot. Chorus step forward. [Music] But I have to thank Maline Avenue and their administration for letting me have such a special upcoming that has been with us all the way every competition competition and I think he wants to stay at the high school instead of going back. Declan step forward. said that the choreographer got nominated. Um, the officer got nominated. So, we were happy. I got nominated, but it means nothing to me
036if they weren't nominated because they do it all. So, while you're standing there in front of them, will my stage hue crew for the drama and musical step up in front of the status? [Music] And you know, some of the cast of your cast members, she's in crew, can they stand up? Some of my cast members, Kayen, this is her first ever senior year that did the musical. She's been on crew for all four years since she decided to try the musical and still did crew. So, Honorable mention at the Macy's for set crew and lighting. There they are. Take a bow. All right. Anastasia, could you step up here for a minute? This is Miss Anastasia Martinez. Comes in the microphone. Oh, yeah. She got two things from Baisy. a scholarship and tell them
037what you got. Go ahead. Uh, I got the Arts Impact Scholarship for $2,000 [Music] and Miss Holland so kindly nominated people for outstanding student leadership uh like awards. [Music] My seniors, including Anacia, step forward if you are continuing in the arts in college. I'm going to miss them. So, they're going into [Music] action theater. I'll miss them so so proud. Now, my last thing, the people from Bibon that got scholarships in, please stay. And everybody else, please. Almost done. I promise. Okay. The following students received scholarships from the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts after they were critiqued at our Friday night performance of Fitbit. All in all, these scholarships total [Applause] [Music] $50,000 step forward $20,000 scholarship. [Music] will also be attending that for a month in the summer. We'll miss him to horn
038in on his fabulous craft. Right. Okay, good. Henrietta Pal [Applause] $10,000 scholarship. No, 15, I'm sorry. $15,000. [Music] Christina, is she here tonight? Christina Tessy receives a $10,000 scholarship. Step Forward received a $1,000 scholarship. [Music] [Applause] Charles $1,000 scholarship, who's not here, received a $1,000 scholarship. a thousand scholarship for her wonderful, wonderful, amazing dance [Music] school. Sabrina Bud Fun got a $1,000 scholarship. So, total 50,000. We're so proud. And one more thing, if you are around, the best thing in town will be June 14th in the morning. We're noted we're noted, Maline was noted for the shark attack, our shark race by Main Street Donuts to benefit our theater program. Last year, I think we raised 11,000 and we're aiming for more. Mr. Wells and I are going to love to have that check. So
039please come out and clap on and support. How about one more round of applause [Music] for student going to ask that you meet us in the front lobby for a quick photo and your certificates. And I want to thank the board of education for all your support. without support. Thank you [Applause] [Music] all. Student recognition. Thank you. Thank you and congratulations to all of our students and parents for their support and the wonderful staff. Okay, continuing on. Actually, before we get to the rest of the meeting, we have one more presentation. Correct. [Music] Okay, thank you. Uh, each year the New Jersey Department of Education uses a rubricbased self assessment to grade schools and districts on their efforts to implement the anti-bullying bill of rights act. Uh the rubric assigns points based on various core
040elements and indicators with the total possible score being 78. The self assessment is not a letter grade but rather a numerical score reflecting a school's compliance with the law. The assessment for the 2324 school year which was last school year. Um I presented at the October 2025 board meeting. I share with the board that each building principal submitted their self score for their respective school. At this time, I am sharing with the board the assessment score assigned to our district, which is a 71 out of a possible 78 points. This information is posted on the district website for publication the entire year. Thank you, Dr. Charles. Uh, moving on. Can I have a motion and a second to accept the minutes? Motion. I have a motion and a second to accept the correspondence to the
041board. Motion. Thank you. Um, board president's report. Uh, just an update on a few things that have been going on over the last month. Um this week we had uh several board members and some of our central office administration team attend the Gart state coalition of schools which is an advocacy group. There was a panel discussion with two legislators and two superintendent. Um, and we had a lot of similar themes that we've been hearing from our own community about uh the school funding formula, budget, teacher shortages, substitute costs and shortages. And you know, we sort of had a discussion to try to come up with solutions. And I think one of the main um points is that everybody should use their voices to advocate. um because you know groups like the Garden State Coalition of
042Schools and other statewide groups um have been doing this for a while and it kind of gets drowned out. So when we have community members who are reaching out to their legislators that helps um kind of bring that ground swell from the grassroots directly to the legislators that can affect change. Um we have been continuing leasing with the town about ways that we can work together. Um continuing with conversations including with our counterparts from each of the two towns here on the board with their um their counterparts on on the town councils. Um we have continued some training. Uh we are a certified board. We're hoping to reach master certified board status. So um we had a training session today on internal and external communications which we could always improve upon and personally we all
043have to have a certific training to stay um current with what's required as a board member. So every year there's training involved. So uh I just recently completed my government governance three training. Um we um wanted to update uh everyone on the um memorial garden. We had students come uh to one of our last meetings to talk about the memorial garden at um Maline A. Review Middle School. Um it was kind of in a state of neglect and um then borderline vandalized um I don't think on purpose, but some things were misplaced and stern about. So, um I was really pleased to see the quick action um by central office admin as well as the uh building administration there to get that in a really nice place. And then we even had some parents donate
044to freshen it up even more with some flowers and things like that. And we're going to keep that um you know in a in a nice um state so we don't have a situation again where it gets neglected. So we'll work on you know how we're going to do that. Um I also wanted to update and u Mr. President I might have to turn to you for this but a couple of um our community members. We have a student um who also has a a parent in this district who's a teacher who's been receiving some treatment for a cancer diagnosis. You may have seen um the Ben's been some of the fundraisers going around uh town. It was the treatment has been completed and so far he seems to be doing well. So we're going
045to continue our prayers for him. We also had a teacher in our district who's a longtime teacher um much beloved teacher in the elementary school at which I think now she used to be at Cambridge Park. Um she was in a very serious car accident and um there is some fundraising going on for her as well. Um she's uh right now I think she's stable but it's a pretty serious situation. So, our prayers continue for her and if there's any interest from the community to donate to her um medical expenses as well as um some other support that the family will need, there's information um out on a lot of the Facebook pages where you can contact the district for information on that. Um elementary has information directly. Um and with that, I will turn
046to our student representative, Miss Ter, for the student rep. Thank you. Good evening. To begin at the high school, there are many exciting events coming up. Tomorrow is our annual battle of the classes where all the grades will compete in events, including pie eating, tugofwar, musical chairs, and a dance off. We cannot wait to see which grade will come out on top. The advanced dance students will present their showcase this year on May 28th at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $7 at the door. Come out to show your support. Senior picnic and prom will both be held on May 30th. Looking further ahead, the senior achievement ceremony is June 3rd and the 2025 commencement will be held June 19th at 12 p.m. Next up at Ravine Drive, students enjoy an assembly from the Garden State percussion
047sponsored by the PTO. On April 29th, they celebrated Bubbles for autism. Every student had a bottle of bubbles and they popped the stigmas that surround autism. Ravine is especially thankful to their central office for providing ice cream Sundays on May 8th in recognition of teacher appreciation week. Field trip season is also underway with preschoolers going to set in presidents and third graders visiting Porsc Park. The Mammoth County Park system is giving our students the opportunity to learn so much about the environment and ecosystems within the community. Ravine's related arts teachers also held a phenomenal night of the arts last night as third grade students kicked off the night with their annual concert. Over the next few weeks, several events and ceremonies are underway as Ravine will celebrate their preschool and kindergarten students stepping up the
048third grade carnival and ice cream social, just to name a few. join them in these celebrations. Moving on, Cliffwood is excited to share some of their most recent happenings. Recently, they held an art contest in which students had the opportunity to create designs for the trailer located outside the school. After a schoolwide vote, one of their very own talented Cliffwood students had their artwork selected. In the coming months, students will work together to paint the trailer, helping to beautify the outdoor space and proudly display their Cliffwood spirit. Clipwood students have also been busy celebrating their moms and importing women in their lives by creating heartfelt crafts and enjoying special classroom celebrations in their honor. In addition, the amazing Clipwood staff took on the Harlem Wizards in a fun-filled basketball game. It was an unforgettable night
049filled with laughter, energy, and school pride. Best of all, the event helped them raise funds toward their goal of installing a sponge surface for the playground, making it safer and more enjoyable for all students. Thank you to Cliffwood families and community for your continued support. Next, Ly Road Elementary School is gearing up for many exciting end of the year activities for fourth and fifth graders. Over the next month, Lloyd Road will host their annual art show. This year's theme is a superhero art show, and the evening will include make and take crafts and raffles. Thank you to Mrs. Gurnie for planning this wonderful event for students and families. Additionally, the Ly Road PTO is preparing for their first annual movie night under the stars, where families can come cuddle up on blankets and enjoy some
050snacks while watching Despicable Me on the outdoor screen. Lloyd Road is also excited for their fifth grade carnival, fourth grade field day, and end of the year pool club trip for fifth graders. Students are also preparing for their upcoming chorus and band concerts. Mr. Lavine and Mrs. Hughes have worked hard to prepare their students for their spring concert performances, and students are ready to show off their incredible talent. Lloyd Road is hosting two upcoming parent workshops open to families at both Lloyd Road and the middle school. The first parent workshop will be a virtual webinar on May 19th focused on executive functioning skills including time management, planning and organizational skills, cognitive flexibility, and self-regulation. This parent webinar will be recorded and a link will be shared for any parent that cannot attend live. On June
0514th, Lloyd Road School psychologist Miss Angle will host an in-person parent sorry an in-person parent session focused on addressing stress and anxiety along with strategies and tips to promote self-care and coping. Flyers with full details can be found in the Lloyd Road parent update newsletter. Finally, Lloyd Road is excited for their fifth grade promotion ceremony taking place on June 17th with three different ceremonies based on the students home rooms. Information about the promotion ceremony has been shared with fifth grade parents and they look forward to recognizing their students for their hard work and accomplishments as they are promoted to sixth grade. Recently at May, eighth grade classes attended an assembly as part of mental health awareness month. Students were engaged in a presentation by Matt Bellis from the Tiger Stabola Foundation. Mr. Bellis' message was
052titled Better Highs and Healthier Lows, and the assembly was interactive for students. Additionally, the annual MA Spring Band and Chorus concert were recently held. Students from grades 6 through 8 performed various numbers under the direction of Mr. Wells and Mrs. Loic. Both shows were great, and the band and chorus students have demonstrated tremendous growth since the school year start. The annual art show was held on May 13th, and more than 300 attendees visited MAMS to see the outstanding artwork produced by our middle school students. M's artists have have developed their skills in our classes led by Mr. Stevens and Mrs. Pecarino. Additionally, MA's battle of classes is coming soon. In late Bay, MAM students and staff will battle it out to see which grade comes out on top. Activities include a dance competition, trivia contest,
053relay races, fundraisers, and much more. It should be a great time for all involved. At Strathmore, spring is the season of field trips. The first grade classes kicked off the season with a trip to a layer community farm. Additionally, kindergarten classes visited Long Street Farm and third graders spent the day at Info Age in Wall Township. Cambridge Park students had the opportunity to tour Strathmore School, including some favorite common spots such as the cafeteria, community center, and they even visited, sorry, they even visited kindergarten classrooms for a glimpse of what is to come next year. Under the direction of Strathmore's music teacher, Mr. Eversol, the third graders performed their concert show, Strathmore Cinema, on May 15th. Students perform songs from some of Hollywood's greatest and most popular films. Mrs. Drienzo Strathmore's media specialist has arranged
054for many fun activities to continue to foster students love of reading. On May 21st, Mr. Mike was the guest of honor at this year's author visit and the Madawan Aberdine Public Library will be visiting Strathmore on Friday, May 23rd to promote their summer reading program. The PTO was very busy this month with the 2025 lip sync. The night was a huge success thanks to all of their hard work. Over 50 students showcased their lipstick skills for a packed house and the much anticipated teacher act closed out the show. Thank you to the MRHS Dance Academy for volunteering their time to put together the opening number. Pennywor also ran in May with the third grade class emerging as the winner. The PTO also sponsored a Muffins with mom evening and the annual plant sale for Mother's
055Day. The students will finish out a busy month with their annual funday event on May 29th coordinated by their physical education teachers Mrs. Elvinise and Mr. Papis. Finally, preschool students at Cambridge Park participated in a Disney parade around the school to raise money and support for one of their teacher sons who is battling a brain tumor. The PTO co-hosted a literacy night where families participated in reading activities together, obtained library cards from the Maline Aberdeen Library, and visited the Scholastic Book Fair. They raised almost $3,000 for Cambridge to purchase books from Scholastic. This concludes my report. Thank you, and have a great evening. Thank you very much, Miss Tuber. Moving on the curriculum and instruction agenda. Thank you. Under curriculum instruction, we are asking the board to take action this evening. Our first item for
056action is a travel as listed on the travel attachment. Item B, we're asking the board to approve field trips as listed, which includes one revised and two three new. request the board to approve item number two which is to approve the submission for a grant application for the focus grant which is intended for universal literacy screener for students in K3 amount as listed. Continue on to page 202 the board to approve item number three which is the submission of a grant application to improve teacher climate and culture with the two focuses being streamlining teacher evaluation model and improving student attendance amount listed. Item number four, we're asking the board to take action on a swim team co-op as listed. Item number five, we're asking the board to take action on the non resident student enrollment
057for the 2526 school year, student ID, grades, and schools listed. And we're asking the board to take action on item number six, which is the submission of a grant application for Keys Academy, opioid settlement funds. That concludes curriculum instruction. Thank you. Can I have a motion and a second to accept the agenda? Motion. Any questions? Um this um so just a couple of things uh not necessarily a question. Uh on the trips I love that we're taking the kids to lane leopards. I think that's fantastic. Um it's right here in our own backyard. So that's great to see. Um the swing swim co-op. I know I've told you all this. Um, I'm very happy to see that we're doing additional props and um, you know, getting the students to be able to participate in sports
058that they that they may play outside of school um, but can still participate representing our school district. So, I think that's wonderful. Um, and I know I've mentioned this, but I'm going to mention it again. Um, we already have one co-op with the hockey team and um, I'd just like to ask that we continue to do what's what's been happening for the past year, which is really, um, recognizing the students. Um, you know, when it first started out, they weren't necessarily recognized as being a part of the Madawan Regional School District. So, the past year has been phenomenal um, because they have gotten mentions and, um, they felt included. Um, so that's fantastic. So, I'd love to see that continue. And then lastly, I'm very, very, very happy to see um that we're submitting for
059part of the opioid settlement funds. Um for people that don't know, Keys Academy is our recovery high school. It's one of three in the state. Um initially, I don't believe um recovery high schools were given any funding whatsoever from the really large opioid settlement. Um so, I thought that was terrible. So, I'm very happy to see that we had a chance um to get some money. And then in terms of current I know we're always lobbying for more money um from the state, but currently how much have we received for next year for keys? Do you know that number? They they decreased funding from um the state to $250,000. So, it's a reduction of 50%. Um so that is devastating I think because um the Keys Recovery High School in addition to the other two
060in the state I mean they're literally saving students lives. Um so I'm I'm very disappointed and hopeful that the state will give us you know give us some money to help those students because for people that don't know we don't just help students from Madawan. Um, we help many other students from other Mamemoth County schools as well as other counties in the state. So, um, so I'm really hoping we get this grant and additional state funding, too. Thank you, Mrs. Cole. Um, I I want to echo that that the Keys uh Academy is a really important program that that we offer. Um, we're blessed to be able to have it through our district. is housed at uh Brookdale College. So, it's it's a nice um atmosphere for those students to kind of get them thinking
061about their future as well. And um yeah, the opioid settlement was a really good number. So, it would be nice if it could go towards helping students through recovery. Um any other questions on curriculum and instruction? I do I do want to add in um that the $200,000 would be for years. So it's a total of Oh, excellent. That's good. Um moving on to student services. Student services. We're asking the board to take action on the following items. We're asking the board to approve item number one for bedside instruction. This includes uh the items listed in red from the previous meeting. Costs listed. We're asking the board to approve item number two, which is an extraordinary rebuild for the 232 24 school year. We're asking the board to approve a district placements for 2425 school
062year, including listed in red. We're asking the board to approve the service provider as listed bottom agenda on item number four. That concludes student services. Thank you. Can I have a motion and a second? Any questions? M Mr. Leman, can you just explain again um on the record what the rebuilds mean um number two for the district? I I can in this case. Feel free to fill in the word. Thank you. So up to three years, the threeear look back to where um schools where we send students out of district can rebuild those ascending districts for the tuition. Um, so that there's an audit process that that it does go through. Um, and unfortunately we're we're at the mercy of when those apples happen that we're required to pay those. Thank you. Any other questions?
063Moving on to personnel. Thank you. We're asking the board to take action on the following personnel items. Uh in item A, we have the resignation uh of the preschool teacher which we wish well and we also have retired two principles uh who we would like to thank for their service to the district. Item B, we have leaves of absences as noted. These are paid and unpaid leaves. Item C, we have appointments which include preschool teachers. We're excited to welcome aboard on page three of eight. Item two, we have extracurricular activities as listed. Item three, we have curricular instruction, title one and as listed. And item four, we have extended school year programs as listed as we are continuing to staff those programs for our summer ESY. Item five, we have home instruction as listed and
064it continues on to page five and ends on page six. On page six, item six, we have staff array changes listed. And item seven, we have placements of college university observers as listed. Oh, on page seven of eight, uh we have the HID uh from our last meeting is listed. And then uh the the HID proclamation that I read earlier with our score is listed in item two. And in item three, we have our affirmative action team listed for the 2526 school year. We also have in item four, our extracurricular and staff recommendations which was shared with the board along with home instruction teachers for 2526 school year. Finally, on page eight of eight of personnel, we have our district mentoring plan which was shared with the board. Uh we have our community college pediatric
065nursing program. We have administrative leads with pay and approve our administrative contracts as and then we have our rehire list. We had some amendments which we had to make from that list as listed. And finally we have a call for extra hours for Michael W. Wells as listed. That completes the personnel agenda. I'm sorry I didn't hear. Oh, I'm sorry. We do have walking item. The we are also asking the board to take action on the appointments that's listed in the walk-in item that was received. And that concludes the personnel. Thank you. Can I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda? Second. Any questions? Um, Mr. Biki, I have a question. Sure. Um, on the I know I asked this before and I was pretty bleak about it, so I'll try to
066be clear. on the um uh extracurricular list that we received in relation to this. There's a handful of vacancies on there that include some that are like basically the leadership of some of some of the clubs um and activities in in the schools. Um is I mean is this like whatever we approved today is this like set in stone list or are those vacancies going to still be attempted to be filled or Yes, they they may be filled. They were posted but we didn't have applicants uh but there is a possibility that they can be filled. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Anything else? Any other questions? Um policy agenda. Thank you. Uh we are not taking action on policy tonight, but we have a first read of several policies. Uh the board did receive um these
067policies along with some u backup uh that explains some of the revisions that were being recommended. Uh policy uh 511 which is eligibility of residents and non-resident students. Um the board should be aware of this policy that the the main change was that in the past uh boards of education were able to wave or had discretion to wave tuition for non-resident students. That is no longer the case except for those situations of employees certificated staff uh members uh children attending school. Uh that's the main change in policy or regulation I'm sorry 511. We also have policy and regulation 5751 which is sexual harassment. um comments to share on this is that mainly what it uh what this policy did the revision it named and describe the roles of the investigator program and activity uh responded
068the title 9 coordinator and the grievance process in terms of uh sexual harassment of students. In addition, the board um has at the discretion to make a choice of an option in order to determine uh sexual harassment. Uh the preponderance of evidence standards, which means that besides evidence must be more convincing and likely true than the others typically requiring a greater than 50% likelihood that the fact question isn't true. The second question or choice is clear and convincing evidence standard. Uh which basically clear evidence is legal standard of proof that requires evidence to be so strong and persuasive that it leaves no reasonable doubt about the truth of a factual contention. Uh that is the main choice that the board has. Um I will leave it up to the board attorney to describe more of
069that if the board needs further clarification. The next policy that we have is the equal access of student organizations. Uh the main change in this policy was a slight change which uh the uh protective groups were removed. Um but they still are mentioned based on the NJAC code. Um in addition uh the teachers role is um explained in this policy change as well. uh policy 2415, Every Student Succeeds Act. Uh main change for this one was it moved from parental involvement to parental and family engagement. Uh that was the the large change there in that title one funding uh policy for every student succeeds act. And we also have policy 2421 which is career and technical education. Um, another change in that policy was moving away from language uh that included vocational and moving more
070toward career and technical education. Um, and describing the the uh the relationship that districts may have with uh out of district or county schools in terms of career and technical education and then those career and technical education programs that districts may have within the uh district. Uh that concludes policy Thank you. Can I have a motion and a second to approve? I'll second question. Yeah. Counc, can I just um ask as um policy chair prior to the next meeting? I'm assuming for process we would have u Mr. Ruben review 5751 get an option what he thinks and then the board would be able to get that answer prior to the next meeting so we can decide. Yes, most certainly. Okay. Thank you. I also had a question about just having um review. I know Mr.
071R is away. So um just having some review with the board attorney and then also so policy 5842 I think we had discussed before when Strauss recommends removing like the list of the protected class not doing that just leaving it in there. So I don't know if that's something that we I'd have to take a closer look at this particularly but sounds like it was removed as per their um recommendation but just I think speaking correctly when I say that as a board we've decided to not take that recommendation. So we can talk about that um with the policy of committing offline funding and that yes that you are correct. Uh usually what I like to do for first street is just to put it there but we we always have the liberty to add
072those protected groups as well. So yes you're correct. Thank you. Finance case. Good evening. Finance. It is our one of our digger months. Uh we have 23 pages of renewals. So I will just say we are looking to take action on items 1 through 69 as well as the walk-in item. I have a motion and a second to approve finance. Motion second. Any questions? I just um wanted to make a clarity. So, it sounds overwhelming when we say 1 to 69 and we're just all going to say yes. Um these are um probably 90% of them are renewals that we um programs that we have every year. And so Miss Casease has kindly put them all in purple for us so that we don't ask her every single time, is this a renew? Is this
073from last year? Did we do this already? So we're Yeah, because that would be very ineffective and we've done that for a while. So um so we appreciate them being in in purple, but so just so people understand why we're just kind of nodding to it. It's uh a lot of renewals for programs we're using. Um, sorry. And a quick question on item 63. Uh, noting yes, most of these are um the same and and on 63 that the contractor is the same. I just noticed that it said um and expand the scope of work and I was curious what what more if if there was time. I know I asked it earlier today, so it wasn't really much time to to get an answer. briefly. [Music] Many of the services are the same. They're
074but when you compare last year's contract to this year's contract, they changed the scope of how they lay it out. So, we just wanted to make sure that we were expressing that there was a change in the contract layout. Okay. Because if you watch side to side, it's not comparative. and also um throughout the budget process. Maybe there was discussion amongst the board in terms of discussion. The district was moving forward with the referendum um in the next year or so. Um so they would be a key partner in um helping us and we also asked them too even with the additional services uh being with the state of our budget that they remain flat to the district and they were very accommodating to do so. They wanted to assist us and expand the relationship
075and partnership. Yes, I noticed that I was curious. Thank you. I also Okay. Um just two um things I wanted to point out. The shared services with Everine Township. Um that's just one shared service we're currently looking at. Uh there are additional ones that we are looking into with both townships or the burrow and the township. Um and Madawan, I know I asked about Madawan in terms of their summer buses or their summer recreation that will be coming in. Just waiting on information. Yes. Uh Madawan is finalizing their trip list with our transportation department and then uh providing them the ability to approve it on their agenda before we have a resolution. As you'll see, Aberdine lists a resolution that ties back to their agendas. Gotcha. Um and then the second thing was um I
076know I sent this in, but just for the community to be aware in terms of the meal prices for next year, I had asked what's the increase from this year and it was 5 cents. Correct. And that's to cover increased cost 5 cents a meal just to cover the cost of increase to wages due to the state requirement. Yeah. Thank you. I'd like to um That's really loud. Sorry. Um number 64. I just would like to um recognize the donation from Northshore Hoops. Um they're a really great program. My son's involved and um they don't charge a lot to be a part of it. So, the fact that they're donating $1,000 is is pretty amazing. Miss Case, can I just have one um followup? Can you just um briefly explain 67 with the food service?
077I know we had asked earlier, but I just want to make it clear for for the community, please. Thank you. So every 5 years we're required to go out to bed and with the state and then we are eligible for four one-year extensions and so we will be in our second year with Mashios. Uh with that being said, the resolution that's before you is statemandated. They need to see that all these requirements tie back into the contract or they will uh return it to us and ask us to reapprove it. So, with that being said, um it has to tie into what is called form 23. Form 23 takes what our price and meals are and what we estimate that will be as well as the estimation of our free and reduced and then it
078ties into a projected cost to run the program for next year. And then they have to then provide us a guarantee back to the district. So that guarantee for next year would be 175,000. We utilize that guarantee to then staff lunch aids into the cafeterias. Um and then um honestly cafeteria aids are more than that, but we're thrilled to be able to have the ability to get that guarantee in order to reutilize it. And then we also hope every year uh we're going through inventory throughout all of the kitchens. There is equipment that is getting older and used and we are really trying to replace instead of just repair. we are getting to a point where the repairs are costing more than replacement. Uh so we're just trying to be very wise with our dollars.
079Thank you, Miss Case. So just real quick, so if if it is a guarantee 175, if for some reason we don't reach the 175, does that mean they would give us the difference? So they are not reaching that and they are still giving us the difference and evening the management cost you do have to be cautious as well because if a company goes too many years without that um then they also can utilize that and say instead of us asking them for renewal they will ask to not be renewed if we have to go out to bid. So we have to be cognizant of finding that middle ground. Uh we were very lucky that we were able to rehire our staff. um that we had here. Uh but that comes at a cost to the
080contract phrases and what they're eligible to then create that guaranteed bid. Um and then just lastly, that money cannot be used to pay back debt that is owed from lunch accounts. No. So we do have um old debt, right? So whenever member you know students leave there's inactive debt and then there's active debt and so um we would not be eligible even if there is a profit in that account to then turn around and use it to pay off those. I know this is a busy time. Um so maybe once things quiet down after graduation and stuff maybe we can revisit that um and look at that policy because I know we wanted to work on the lunch policy. So maybe um when we have nothing to do in July, joking um we maybe can
081look into that. So thank you. Thank you very much. The board of education recognizes the value of public comment on matters of interest to the school community. Individuals wishing to speak must state their name and address. Comments are limited to three minutes duration, but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. All statements should be directed to the board president, and no participant may address or question board members individually. All speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of others whose legal rights may be affected. Please note, while it is not the board's intention to stifle comment on matters of legitimate concern, the public should be aware that if their statements violate the
082rights of others under the law of defamation or invasion of privacy, they may face personal liability to the injured party. If speakers are uncertain of the legal ramifications of their comments, the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal advisor. Hello, my name is Madison King and I'm a seventh grader at Mans. I'm here tonight not just for myself, but for all the students who feel like their hard work suddenly doesn't matter. All year I've pushed myself. I'm currently an honors ELA with a 95 average and accelerated math with a 92. I've made high honor role every marking period, all while managing sports and other commitments. I've done everything I thought I was supposed to do to stay on track. But recently, the criteria for honors placement changed, and it has affected
083me and many of my peers. I don't understand how I could be removed from the very honors classes I've been excelling in. Maintaining an A average and still being excluded from these classes is not only discouraging, it's confusing, it's frustrating, and honestly, it hurts as unfair. It feels like all the late night studying, all the effort I put in suddenly doesn't count. And I know I'm not alone. So many of my classmates are feeling the same way, like we're being punished despite doing well. I hope you'll take the time to really look into this change because it doesn't just affects our schedules. It affects our confidence, our motivation, and the belief that hard work will be recognized. Thank you for listening and giving students like me a voice. [Applause] Thank you very much. I just
084wanted to take a minute to say um I appreciate your bravery and your honesty and your advocacy for yourself. So, thanks for coming. Hello. Uh my name is Jennifer King, New Jersey. That was obviously my daughter who just spoke. Um I'd just like to take a moment um to uh say that this is a student with a cumulative GPA of a 4.19 on a 4.0 no scale. Um, she has received time on the role for seven marketing periods straight since entering the middle school. So, you know, these are very I think these are exemplary achievements that excuse me that should be recognized, but instead she's made being made to feel like it's not good enough. Um, with that being said, I have several questions regarding the recent changes to the honors placement criteria at the
085middle school. First and foremost, what was the reason for this change? Was there an issue with the previous criteria that prompted a revision? Additionally, was this new placement process something needing board approval? Um, and if so, is there a detailed explanation of the new criteria and its justification? For instance, when I look at surrounding districts, particularly hotel, I see they use a transparent point system that is clearly defined and leaves little room for vagueness or subjectivity. you know exactly how points are earned and what is needed to qualify. That level of clarity seems to be missing here for the parents and students. Another concern is the removal of teacher recommendations from the criteria. These teachers work with our children every day and are in the best position to assess whether a student is capable of
086succeeding in an honors level course. Their input seems not not only valuable but essential. The students most affected by this change appear to be students like my daughter currently in math 7 accelerated. They were progressing along a certain academic path and are now going to be repeating your material they have already mastered the curriculum for accelerated math 7 and math 8 are exactly the same. Um, excuse me. I'm struggling to understand how students who have earned A's in a course are essentially being retained were excluded from advancing. Not sure how that is fair is fair or reasonable. Uh lastly, I'm curious about the rationale behind limiting honors placement to just five 5 to 10% of each grade student population, which I was told was only two honor sections. Um that percentage seems incredibly restrictive. Why
087such a low number? Are we truly saying that only a handful of students in each grade are capable of advanced work? I appreciate your time and hope we can work together to better understand and hopefully improve this process for all students. Thank you. [Music] Thank you. Um Mr. Leman, is there anything that you can um answer or respond to? First, I'd like to say to to Madison, thank you for coming up to the podium. all your hard work in is not for waste, right? It's really important that you're involved with your academics, your extracurricular, all important things. And I appreciate that the comments that you made, but I've been taking notes as you were talking. Um, so mom, I'd actually like to set up a time to meet with you cuz you asked a lot
088of important questions I can answer. Okay. This might not be the time to do it, but I can respond to everything that you have. I appreciate that. So, if you hang out for a couple minutes when we're done, we'll exchange information. Great. Thank you. You're welcome. Do you mind if I just ask I'm so sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I ask a question because a lot of this I think I'm here just now. Um, so can you also at some point just make us aware to if something has changed the limitations, the teacher recommendations? I just think it would be helpful for us. I have I mean I have a copy of what I was saying as a parent know what's Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Yes. So, so for the
089board, um what I can do is and I this is what I add to the committee. I did share with a couple of board members. Yeah. There there's a breakdown of math, right? So, we can um talk in more detail about that. We can also talk about literacy. I can walk you through what some of those changes look like just so you're educated about that. Hello, my name is Charlotte Dorado and I'm a sixth grader at men. I would like to speak on the honor selection requirements. I was a bit confused on how I didn't meet the requirements to get into English language arts honors class. I know the administration looks at I Ready and MJS from my prior year in grades. I worked as hard as I could on all the classwork and test
090assignments and I do believe that would benefit from it. I started to realize that I was getting bored in the early class and I finished my work very early and received good grades on everything I turned in. In January of my fifth grade year, I went to a cardiologist to be cleared to start a new medicine. They discovered that I had an unknown heart condition and was abruptly removed from all sports. Shortly after that, my stomach issues were worse than they ever have been. The pain was delayed and I was in and out of the hospital subjected to numerous tests and procedures and tried all sorts of medications. Anyone who knows me knows I love sports and good grades. Through all my challenges, I still made sure my grades were on point and I wasn't
091falling behind. During NJSLA last year, I was very sick and still tried to come in and take the test. Science, I only got to do a few questions and was sent home. math. I missed Ela. Even though I was in a lot of pain, I pushed through and aired a 777. Maybe not the top score, but still very good. I read I tested out was at grade level. I know I would have probably done even better if I wasn't in pain and uncomfortable. My grades this year have been better than they ever have been. The first marking period, I also had a lot of absences and doctors. We're still trying to get a handle on my stomach issues and the best course of treatment. This meant more tests, more procedures, and in turn more absences.
092My first marking period, I had right below a 90 and earned honorable. My second and third marking period, I had a 94 and a 98 and achieved high honors many times. Even with my absences, I get right back on track without any issue. I was very disappointed that I never received a letter to attend 7th grade ELA honors. I hope that you understand. I've tried my very best and it would mean so much to me to attend one of those classes. I completely understand there was a limit on how many students could attend. However, I do think the challenge will benefit me. I was really hoping to be able to be in honors classes so I could be challenged ignoring the potential compet. I do not think the standardized test will hold so much weight
093because some kids just don't do well on them and they don't give a full picture of students capability. A teacher should have input as they are the ones who see us every day, know our capabilities, personalities, work ethic, and would be the best one to predict whether or not an honors class will be a good challenge for us or if the work would be too hard. Thank you for your time, and I want you in changing the new requirements for who gets selected for these classes. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Same um comment. I just want to commend you for advocating for yourself and for, you know, using your voice to um communicate what you would like to see happen. And I appreciate that. It's learning this early, both of you, is really a great thing
094because um it's helpful to be able to get that skill of asking for, you know, advocating for yourself. Thank you. Tiffany Stevenson, 54, St. Joe. All right. Commitment, dedication, and talent. Those are three words that Miss Perez used this morning when she this evening when she was opening this evening's meeting. She used them to recognize our students. And these words are to be true. I say those words again because I feel that this new honors placement is putting those words to the side. This not showing that we take account these students commitment, their dedication and their talent in the classroom. [Music] Um, sorry. When So, I'm a teacher and I know that as parents, we teach students that when we play games and we play sports, we can't just change the rules in the middle
095of the game. That's what's happened to these students. When they entered the middle school, they were told that they needed to have certain benchmarks, meet certain data points, and once they got in, they needed to maintain an 85 average to stay in the course. But all of a sudden, someone decided to change the rule of the game in the middle. And now these students feel bad. They're losing confidence themselves. They're doubting themselves. They're no longer feeling that their commitment and dedication to their academics is important or that they even have the talent that it takes to be a part of these programs. Now, I know that changes sometimes have to happen. But these changes should have been put in place for the incoming sixth grade that did not have these rules put in place. It
096is very heartbreaking to hear two students out of many that are now feeling this. The math honors program is extremely upsetting to hear about because at least ELA they will be reading new books, writing new stories. But for students to actually have to retake curriculum that they've already passed and achieved at a high standard is ridiculous. We wouldn't when we go to college, we wouldn't want to just take a class again just because we want to take the class again. No. Why would we make students now, even though they're younger, do it again? In seventh grade, the seventh grade curriculum, I believe, has five units. They have to squeeze five units in one year. The eighth grade has four, which means the material will actually be taught slower than it was when they were in
097seventh grade. Sorry. I'm sorry to interrupt, but time three minutes. So, if you would like to finish your comments after we've heard from everybody, you're welcome to return to the podium. Hi, I'm Maline Dorado. I was here about twoish weeks ago about the memorial garden and I just want to say thank you to you all for getting it done very quickly and really caring about what we had to say. My friend Kira Wendell couldn't be here tonight due to um just previous main commitments and I just wanted to give this to Mrs. Perez and Mr. Leman. These are just from half of James. She also wanted me to give you guys a big thank you for really caring about something that she now says she will find more comfort in having to drive past due
098to the bridge being closed and just for reminding her of her son every day. So, thank you. Thank you so much. We're really happy that we were able to get that done in as quickly as we did. Thank you. very um also just real quick, very proud of you girls. Um it's not easy, especially at your age, to want to talk in front of people. I mean, we're adults and we still get nervous up here and we don't like it either. So, um unbelievable that you guys did that. So, um never stop, like they said, advocating and you guys made a huge difference in a month, literally. So, thank you. any other comments from the public? So, I do want to let you know that I did at first when I saw the new proposal
099reach out to the middle school principal and then I spoke to the director of curriculum who ensured me that this 5 to 10% would actually be a way to increase and allow more students to participate which made me feel really good because we should want to have more students in honors programs. parents because all that does is make us look fantastic as a district. We want our students to have opportunities and by eliminating some of these it allows students who might have had hopes of attending one of the best high schools in the state high-tech high school or any other vocational high schools. It's not possible now because they are required to have algebra before they attend and you're taking that away from them. So one recommendation I had is well not recommendation but my
100question would be what happens if these parents chose to take a summer school course and took algebra over the summer and now you have students that meet the requirements to go into geometry and you weren't expecting to do that. Just thought just throwing that out there as a plausible thing because there's a lot of upset parents that want the best for their children and as we know as parents we're willing to do anything and everything to get them to succeed and be happy. So on behalf of the many students and parents who are not here tonight because this does not actually um affect my daughter at all. I just am here because I just cannot believe what I am hearing that we think this is okay to allow students to repeat things they've already done
101and not allow them to keep going on the path that they are which is only going to make this district look better and stronger in the end. Thank you. Thank you. Can I ask a question? Can we talk this at some point like whether it's here next meeting just for more information clarity so full transparency so I be those meetings with Mr. and then we will readress it. Just in case you didn't hear, Miss Crush, she said it would be addressed within the week. So hopefully we I don't know if that means that we'll be have opportunity to ask questions and talk about it, but um clear communication that the board will receive um notifications in terms of what's been worked upon and then out to the parents. Thank you very much. Any other comments
102from all before we move on to um unfinished business? We have any unfinished business. This morning, can I give a quick update on the delegate assembly? Yes. Oh, okay. So, on May 10th, the um New Jersey School Board Association delegate assembly annual meeting happened and that's when um uh they they passed the um those three resolutions. one to support esports, one to expand eligibility for school nurses, and one to um expand the list of excused absences to add participation activities to join skilled trades, which we all we talked about at the last meeting. Um I learned a little bit more about what the next step is. You know, we're all learning about this delegate assembly. Um the on the two the expanding eligibility for school nurses and the one about the skilled trades, those will
103turn into MJSBA's advocacy. um that like uh gets essentially gets resol um excuse me gets a not called ordinances but well bills anyway um on the uh the agenda for the state legislature and so um they explained there were quite a few new people there and so at the at the meeting they were explaining giving some examples of uh current legislation that's being considered by uh the assembly and the senate right now that NJSBA DA had introduced based on the annual meeting from last year. So, expect to see this on um on the agendas in the upcoming um legislative session for the school nurse thing and the uh the skilled trades. I also thought that was intriguing. So, some of the things that we've talked about in the long run, like perhaps having the state
104consider um the very large state routes going through a town when they're considering transportation funding or uh perhaps permanently funding recovery high schools with a separate line out of their budget. These are things that we might be able to introduce to the delegate assembly um maybe in the winter, the spring, and maybe we can get some people on our side. So, it's another opportunity for advocacy. Thank you so much, Miss Pal. So, I had one other update. I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about that first? I was gonna ask you question. Well, actually, just well, are is it that the delegate assembly? No, it's not. Go ahead. So, the Garden State Coalition of Schools, which I mentioned earlier, um was we attended this week. I don't remember what day because the week has been
105a blur. Wednesday, yesterday seems like a long time ago. Um, so we had uh Miss Martinez, board vice president, Miss Pel, Miss Bas, Mr. McGovern, myself, and Miss Casease, and Miss Perez. Um, and it was really interesting to hear from all the other school boards. There were other school board representatives and other school districts and superintendents and everybody's facing a lot of the same issues. We are not alone in our um desperation for funding. So that you know it's not really encouraging but at the same time it also feels like there needs to be something done um because it's not it's not affecting just one or two districts. It's pretty much affecting a lot of districts in the state. Um and we heard from a couple of legislators who really again encouraged school districts um
106to get community members involved to push for legislation to fund things. um you know we we have a lot of unfunded mandates so to get those mandates funded um so I know that NJSBA is more sort of um they're more like policy or you know change making kind of initiatives whereas um with the garden state uh coalition it's it's really more about advocating for the districts on a much more concrete level when it comes to funding and things like that. Um, so I was going to ask you to talk about what you spoke about at that uh meeting as well as um I know you've been in touch with one of our local legislators about some changes that would affect uh arrival and arrivals and dismissals like walking routes to school. So Okay. Well, so
107quickly on the Garden State Coalition of Schools, um they uh they had a panel discussion and um it had an assembly person, a senator, one senator, district 13, um Senator Declan, so part of our district calls it his uh his space and um the superintendent of Trenton and the superintendent of Farmingdale. No, not Flamingdale, Flemington, excuse me. Yeah, very different. Um and they uh they discussed um uh staffing shortages and uh issues throughout the state and potential legislative changes to open up um for example um eligibility to um uh people who are living in New York or Pennsylvania because right now they can't uh legally be teachers here. Um school funding in general a lot about S2 um like Mrs. Warnick was just discussing um and uh federal funding changes in federal actions and how
108that has impacted districts. It really at that point it was really turning into a commiserating sort of discussion I think more than anything. Uh but when they opened up for questions, I did ask if there was any um legislative uh potential for um reooking at payment of move tax agreements and whether or not um more ch taxing jurisdictions that are subject to it could be part of the discussion. Um and but the feedback was that there's just a lot of inertia. There's like there's a lot of talk that oh that would be a good idea, but then it doesn't necessarily happen. So that's for those who are interested in that that may be a potential for advocacy again about the community advocating for that. Um and then I wanted to give so I don't think
109is that good enough for that? Okay. So then um do want to talk about advocacy that actually some people in this room might be very interested in. Um, at the direction of of approval of leadership and um, administration, I reached out to um, our assembly person, one of our assembly people, um, Vicky Flynn because she's a former school board member about the intersection of Flipwood Avenue and 35 and she is also friendly with um, Department of Transportation. So, that was a good conversation to have. Um she had me share you know tell the story of what has been happening at that intersection and um I after a while I received a response that um her office had spoken to DOT and the DOT leadership has spoken with the division of trans traffic engineering and um
110they're saying that the uh department of transportation is going to move forward with installing high visibility crosswalks at root 35 and Lwood Avenue and enhancing existing signage to improve driver awareness. And they're planning to implement a leading pedestrian interval which um gives it expands the time when pedestrians can cross the um before any cars receive a green signal. Um so I'm still learning more about all this because I'm not a traffic engineer but um the the idea is to uh give more time of course and to increase visibility, improve safety, reduce um you potential for accidents. Um they did not have a definite timeline but they were they they're looking to get this done in short order to possibly impact our next school year. So that I will keep everybody posted as I hear more.
111But um I thought that was that was good movement. Good to hear and thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's really encouraging. I know you talked recently about your alma mater where they had this four-way stop like so similar, but um it would just give a few extra maybe a minute, you know, a few seconds, an extra minute for the people, pedestrians to get across before cars were given in behind. So, I think that's fantastic. Very appreciative for your efforts there as well as um our our legislators who were able to help out as well. And thank you for your support on this move, Miss Pal. Thank you again. Um that's awesome. I'm hoping that when they come and investigate, they realize that it's a mess and maybe we need either more money or they can
112really make a change. I'm not sure. But um I mean I know personally I'd feel better if we could just you know if we got more money in transportation to us but we're not there yet. I'm hoping. Um but uh is there a possibility that if you don't hear like maybe you could follow up or Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. And I mean I think yes I will definitely be following up and I think um our uh assembly people plus they they also were involving the town so there's a lot of people um that are involved in this conversation. Um [Music] yes anything else? So we'll take a vote. Mrs. Foley. Yeah. Miss Bus, yes. Mr. McGovern, no. Mr. Monton, yes. Miss Pal, yes. Miss Brell, yes. Miss Martinez, yes. Miss Warny, yes. Ally,
113did you have any is this new business? Um so just wanted to remind everyone that uh Saturday Madwan Burrow has the Memorial Day parade and our former SRO um Jen is the grand marshal. So um if everyone wants to attend I believe it's around 11:00 a.m. start I think. Um so excellent. Thank you. Be it resolved that a closed session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy, personnel, and legal advice. The subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides. Although the board cannot guarantee it, the length of executive session is estimated to be 30 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business. Action will not take place. Can I have a motion and a second? Motion. I'll second
114you if you're in a different position.