001oh good evening everyone adequate notice of this meeting provided by sending such notice that he has a very short press release yeah this is right yeah how's the devotion for executive session for managers of HIV legal matters good evening everyone adequate notes for this meeting was provided by sending such notices [Music] the public school district website and a posting a session notice of the Augustine minor administrative offices in each elementary middle and secondary schools here [Music] [Applause] your time [Music] foreign [Music] listen we know there's a lot of people here and everybody wants to say something that this meeting has to remain orderly if there's any any yelling out or disturbances you will be born once if you continue you will be removed okay [Applause] we're now moving on to our student recognition of Mrs
002Haley hello I want to say again I pledge 10 months and we're grateful for all the difficult I want to say thank you and give you this great condition which is a survey certification recognition presented to you from Middletown High School South 2023 school year for many of your contributions advocacy thank you very much [Applause] thank you [Music] and we'll move on to 8A 12 a one and two [Music] which is a resolution except in the resignation whether a Mary Ellen Walker and thank you Mrs Moore for a years of service to the Middletown Township Board of Education and also resolution appointing this is just for our phone as Acting Superintendent replacing Marilyn Walker and make sure you leave through December 31st 2023. come on [Music] this is Farley Mr Fitzgerald yes Mr Heffernan yes
003Mrs minions yes Mr Coke yes Mrs Wright yes this is tobacco yeah yes [Music] they also want to save your extraordinary grateful for Mrs Wilkins leadership during an extraordinary difficult time here in Middletown the board and Senior leadership are hyper focused on not only ensuring the continuity But continuing to move the district fire the board put both Mrs Alpine Who currently serves as assistant superintendent for consideration as Captain superintendent and prior to serving the Middletown Township School District at her capacity Mrs Alpine was a prior superintendent of Monmouth Beach Mrs wolf will continue through December 31st to help provide transitional support for the district thank you very much reports curriculum and instruction and this is Farley in the cell phone earlier in the month of the board um [Applause] for next year so I think
004you'll see that um contract um tonight [Applause] um we are going to be doing reading Pilots at primary interview of the magnetic reading Foundation program we're also going to be rolling out for both feet for all elementary schools in the placement of f p there are a couple of curricula on the agenda for approval tonight this is the ELA 363 and I think this thank you very much moving on to Student Services Mr Trump thank you uh yes we also met on Junaid as well as Social Services um you must know where the item I think we're excited we uh on the agenda tonight is the approval of the hiring of the teacher of the deaf uh for the district that's funded with idda grant money so there's no effect on the outbreak of the
005budget right now um it'll you know go a long way in preventing how to fix Replacements and save a lot of money um and we also just discussed the progress in the mental health and behavioral programs at Ocean Avenue this first year looking forward to maximizing those in the future to minimize District placements and and moving on to finance and facilities in a similarity reviewed a proposal for the facilities master plan that was reviewed with the community by spiesel Associates and we've talked about the social work that that would Encompass and we are also working with them to fine-tune that and um [Music] and cut down the scope of it but we are looking to hopefully have a proposal for the board to consider at the July meeting for that proposal we also talked about
006the High School North Field and track project which has been delayed due to a protest on the bench that was filed we did get information today there was a hearing this morning or the early this afternoon the judge did hear the arguments related to the mayor of the case but has not made a decision at this point that did commit to both attorneys that the decision would be right here by the end of the month so at that point in time we will have to see what the decision is and then see what course Events maybe take from that point we also talked about the HVAC work scheduled at Bayshore in High School South Mr Vanessa our facilities director and the form of committee that in addition to the work that was already discovered Bayshore
007we're going to be able to get a head start on where it was awarded for High School South because the equipment arrived sooner than what we anticipated so that was for the news we also have several items on the under Finance on the boarding agenda most notable is our new of our property casualty and workers compensation coverage for next year we will be named at the department Jeff for another three years there is a resolution on the agenda and we will be renewing our coverage for those areas for 23 24. um thank you tobacco um [Applause] [Music] as usual it'll be three minutes per person [Music] again [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] state your name thank you guys um a lot of highlights [Music] just your address for the record and your full
008name tonight um [Music] [Applause] students try our best in school they want to be successful in life but this policy can damage trans kids profitability probabilities of being successful for the future especially positive what you were trying to do is harming innocent and young children that's because you've chosen to identifying the opposite gender this is dangerous to their mental health there are at least 125 kids that identified as transgender in the Middletown School District 75 of these kids have considered suicide with the way they are being treated this will rise the money that you're putting into the policy can be used for teachers party is school for reference this isn't just affecting trans kids this is affecting all students this is so finally I would like to ask one question what are these kids done
009to deserve such terrible truth [Applause] hello my name is Sloane Simpson and I reside in Atlanta New Jersey as you leave school and move on to the next chapter in your life I encourage you to remain true to yourself never lose sight of your goals and most importantly never get up give up to Mr Capone the road ahead may not always be smooth but with determination courage and wisdom you will overcome any obstacle that stands in your way that's what I heard at graduation this year and honestly I can't believe you're talking to all students knowing the policy that you would revised because right now the odd skills that stand in the way of your transgender students is you this community has stayed true to themselves they have had the real courage it takes to
010walk through those doors every day despite Whispers And bullying the goals of these students is to be able to learn in an environment without credit being exposed and opened up to mental and physical abuse that could be brought upon them by your harmful policy changes perhaps you forgot the code of ethics when you took this job and needed to be reminded the board member will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability race Creed sex or social standing perhaps you also forgot when Middletown was on the wrong side back in 2014 when a child at Thorne Middle School came back from summer vacation dresses the opposite gender she was assigned at Birth Middletown
011Board of Education refused to let her back in school dressed in a skirt there is a legal battle in Middletown loss not only money but was seen nationally as the school had discriminated against the child who wanted to live offensively as herself don't make this mistake again and put Middletown students back in the spotlight for such a hateful and disgusting policy you will only end up using taxpayers money to wage the war of a few citizens that have no real interest in the welfare and safety of all the Middletown students you will also be known as the school district who violated our students civil rights under Title IX the Department's office for civil rights States Title IX sex discrimination prohibition extends to claims of discrimination based to gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical
012Notions the masculinity and femininity and the OCR accepts such complaints or investigation so if this policy passes tonight Middletown Board of Education will be in for a fight and I will take the advice Mr Capone gave to our graduates this year I will stay true to myself and with determination and courage I will never give up on making sure this policy never harms our children [Applause] [Music] Prospect Circle I'm 18 and a high school senior I graduate tomorrow and I'm also a transgender woman I socially transitioned at 10 years old and it had been a long time not an overnight decision I was consistent persistent and insistent that is what doctors look for in trans people rather than removing important terminology from the transgender student policy you should study it because you must not know
013an actual any actual trans kids if you think coming out to a trusted adult at school is Silly's Child's Play I have known who I was from the from very early on and was lucky to be supported at home but many kids are not I am disgusted that I have to speak at yet another board meeting because trans students rights and privacy are being put in danger you clearly don't understand the amount of harm you are putting young trans students in with this proposed policy team outing students to their parents without knowing the consequences they could face at home is absolutely evil and sinister you have been provided guidance from the state not to do this and you supposedly want a safe environment and overall safety for your students but you don't know how important
014affirming a person's gender identity is to their emotional health just like some kids go to school to be fed some go to feel safe and supportive and you're threatening to rip that away because some parents are afraid of their children will randomly decide to transition at school parents who are pushing for this change I have a suggestion for you look inward if your children can't talk to you about their identities there is a reason for that this board of education's job is to support the education of the children of Middletown not Pander to a group of ignorant parents who are making a problem for one doesn't exist in the first place you are harming the children who need this policy to survive let us live thank you [Applause] hello my name is New Jersey so
015as I said before my name is new Boudreau I am a recent graduate of Middletown South and a Middletown resident and I got my name changed just last year in the system I am a non-binary student who is not looking towards medically transitioning as part of my personal Journey meaning that socially transitioning is something incredibly important to me I'm thankful to have been blessed with a very supportive mother who accepts me as I am but not everyone is as lucky as I am what many people don't understand is that the concept of socially transitioning is a huge and important step for Trans people such as myself to be able to identify with a name that you truly believe is your own is something so gratifying and is a lot of people's First Steps in their
016transitions what you're looking to put in place is going to gatekeeps and stuff only to students whose parents are supportive and aware of their child's transition taking away the safe space that is Middletown schools is going to ruin lives transitioning whether it is socially or medically has saved so many transgender peoples and students lives and if you take that opportunity away There Will Be Blood on your hands with the passing of this law you will be outing students and putting them in danger of emotional or even physical abuse at the hands of their parents or outright keeping them in the closet and keeping them from evolving into the beautiful person that they truly are I am begging you all to decide against this unjust law and to keep your beloved students safe trans people are
017people just like how you or anyone else in this room is and deserve to be safe and protected just as much as any other student do the smart thing thank you and good night [Applause] [Music] hi my name is I just graduated a few days ago and I'm also a transgender man I came out when I was 13 in middle school and had the blessing of having accepting parents saved my life while I've had my bumps in the road with transitioning computers now and then my treatment from Middletown teachers and staff from the time I come out middle school has always been that of supportive and accepted in my personal experience I would like to continue to know that the school district I've now graduated from will do what's best for future trans students but
018this policy makes me think otherwise by outing students to their family you are giving them a huge disservice for their emotional mental mental physical well-being and safety you could be subjecting them to physical or emotional abuse from unsupported parents and regardless of whether the parents are accepting or not being Stripped Away of coming out on their own terms to who you want and when you want is emotionally distressing and traumatizing in and out of the cell another concern about concern I have with this policy is the fact that it targets transgender People's Law the kid named much to say what Christopher wants to go by Chris or any other nickname would you also notify their parents that they are making a public name change the class if not I feel that this policy is most
019definitely distributed like I said before I would like to thank the school district I grew up in would support trans kids who are in the same situation I was in this policy is pointless and just a blatant attack on transgender people it tries to erase Us by making kids feel too afraid to come out I ask you to please know that we trans people are just people and that trans kids are just kids who are trying to figure themselves out and they should be able to do that with the support and on their own terms how they would like and with that project transcripts hello my name is um I've been in the school district for 14 years both my kids attended me about school we're a very small community we're just extremely tight-knit we
020don't have 35 and 36 and a lot of other roads going through Us in addition to coven we've helped each other through many loads and fortunately many many times our teachers know our family whether they have them in class or not my older son never had mississaugana yes when my younger sons and they had Mrs alfargo he knew almost everything about him Dominic dreaded School up to fourth grade graduate school yet he did a complete 360 once he was in Mrs Alfano's class he's going to be a junior in South this year um he never said this year in the 12 years 12 years that he was going to school except his last day of school in fourth grade asking Prep School he actually cried so much on his last day of fourth grade that
021his cell phone had to call me in New York and let me know not only that she suggested that I get on the bus and get up um for weeks during that summer he asked me when we could take this is our product to lunch he made her a rainbow and this is how far it was promised him that she would hang it in the classroom every single year and to again talk about the tightness that we have many students who are at incredible school have come back to Dominic and said that Mrs alfano has talked about the rainbow that is in the school and how important it is to her and the success of her students here's another example of the impact that makes itself found in our house on Friday all of you
022know South graduated over 22 students from back to physical and prep teacher there was a list of five teachers that they wanted to see and this is alfano who's on that list so it goes to the arms Elementary so I'm sure you can say to me and some of you have in my emails militarily it's wonderful that such an incredible teacher such as Mrs O'Connor will be a person out of school I got it but here's what I say what about Lincroft school we have open positions at Bancroft School shouldn't we be filling them with our own someone that knows our families has been through all the heartaches and all the tribes I understand that two new people are being brought in and Mrs alfano is being involuntarily booted out to us and thank you
023it's been 40 minutes okay actually um who really are really upset about what's happening with Mrs alfano um you know school is not a business it's uh it's teachers are not another number and what teachers do they build a community and these children look forward to seeing a familiar face and it's all about consistency and what matters this is such an unnecessary change there are openings in Middletown I'm sorry a Lincroft school so I don't understand what the issue is that she decided to change from third grade to first grade because there was an open end so why take someone out that has been in the district for 23 years has been a teacher for almost 14 or going on 14 years in Lincroft has the ability to sub for a principal she might have
024all these credentials and it's wonderful that my email said oh well it'd be good that she's a great teacher in another school in Ocean Ave but what about Lincroft there's a there's she is an amazing amazing teacher and I really take this to heart my son has had her both my boys had her and you know when I look at the code of ethics I just want to read it to the board it's the third one and it says I will confine my board action to policy making planning and pray appraisal and I will help to bring policy plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them well when I read that word uh punitive retribution targeting bullying that's the words that came to mind when I read this she
025was not told until just recently that there's a Jeopardy of her position at Lincroft [Music] I mean it's just unbelievable um you know the world's changing and you know you have to accept change but this is a very unnecessary change like our artists go out to her and that's why we're all here and half of us all our kids are graduate are in college so it's really upsetting that we don't have that opportunity that she doesn't have that opportunity to really keep her job so with the code of ethics really that's something that I really wouldn't like for the administrative administrator the board of EDS who really taken off the table and to really consider what a great teacher she is it's just really disheartening and it's very upsetting and I think going forward it's
026like as taxpayers here's what's happening it doesn't make sense [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] my name is Michael sandello and I'm from Lincroft I'll be speaking about Mrs alfano transferring Mrs alfano is at stake as you already know she's been teaching at Lincroft Elementary for 13 years with the pillar of our community not only has he been a phenomenal teacher but more importantly she's been a role model of students before I'm shot down with the apathetic argument that she will get the same phenomenal teacher at another school let me explain why she must remain in lincraft home for more than a decade when I walked back into that school for the first time in years last week I didn't recognize 90 of the name tags on the wall commitment to the school has been a
027blessing for hundreds of young students and should continue to be for hundreds more I can't think I can't thank her enough for what she's done for me and I know many others feel the same way transferring her out of Lincoln Grove Elementary will be at the service to the lanecroft community I understand you did not make this decision but I know you have the ability to overturn it and why why is it being moved if there are open positions to go to school well you don't owe me an answer to this question you certainly don't miss a fan on and if you can't answer this question then you mean seriously be consider the decision regardless of the rationale this is alfano has given so much of herself to the district the least we can do
028is give something back to her that's not upend her life for no logical reason let's not take away her home and her family let's show something amen thank you [Applause] thank you hello my name is Eric levue I live in Minneapolis I graduated from Middletown South in Florence my two and I am I identify as a science center I was given the opportunity to come out my senior year to all of my teachers and socially transitioned without the fear of my parents by now luckily I was thinking of being confidence and coming out from them on my own terms so I'm less with an accepting family that is not the case for everybody and there is no reason what any child should go to school fearful that if they share their true self they will
029be heard and home through their home lives I want to ask is anybody here transgender do any of you any members or have a transgender child all right I [Music] you need to listen to trans people and you need to listen to your transgender students and transgender people in Middletown and New Jersey when they say to you that you are putting us in danger it is not your place to decide whether somebody is safe at home or not it is up to us and By ignoring that you are putting so many lives in Jeopardy you are putting the entire expression of people in Jeopardy and that is completely unjustice on Americans thank you [Applause] thank you happy with his birthday but I raised myself [Music] I'm also a gender therapist I I work early with
030um adolescent children who are exploring their gender identity so I see people that are identifying as transgender or non-binary agenders and I get this extensive training from the little professional association to transgender helps every year in fact our our guidelines are about 250 pages long because of all the research that's included in them um but the point the point is the name you've been here today right ten years ago when there were no guidelines and kids came out as transgender they had to immediately get their names legal and changed you know by a judge in order to have their name changed at school and what happened was when the Board of Ed came out with all of the guidelines and they said that the schools should honor their names and they should you know affirm
031them at a pool the kids didn't have to do that anymore so it gave him time they gave him time to really see if they are transgender you know to kind of work through all their feelings give them a safe space to try out names and pronouns and what's going to happen now and so a lot of the students I see they haven't changed their names lately because they haven't had to right so they're being honored at school and they're being a firmed for who they are without having to do that yet they do get their name changed if they do decide you know in the end that they are transgendered usually before they go to college um the um you know the thing is we don't want to rush them right we want them
032to have time to kind of live as themselves and to make sure that this is really the right decision for them and and the name thing is important for that also a lot of the reasons that kids don't tell their parents right away is because their parents are their most important people in their lives but not in common for kids to tell everyone else in their life but their parents until the very last minute because they don't want to lose that relationship it's very important today so having them able to come out of school and try it on you know gain their confidence with you know confident in order to talk to their parents about it is so important for them [Music] there's been such a change in the schools like the kids really feel
033good about themselves they feel like they can explore their gender you know without risk of losing the love of their parents and obviously I'm a therapist the kids I see have a disappearance right now today but I know that there's many kids that help that don't feel like they can do it yet so I would ask that you would consider um you know when you talk to some other gender therapists about what we're seeing out there and why this is important for the kids to have their own space and to have some time good evening uh IMC Willis teacher and gender sexuality advisor at High School South and Secretary of the mtea and the 2022-23 nja quality Champion Award winner on behalf of those who cannot be it out of fear of Retribution for their
034beliefs or for who they are as individuals we all desire the same thing the Safety and Security of our students and the upholding of the Integrity of the professional responsibilities of our staff and while we want to promote parental or caregiver involvement we must also remember that not every child comes from a safe and supportive environment additionally every individual is entitled to civil rights I feel compelled to speak to you tonight because enacting this policy violates those civil rights and actually undermines our aim as Educators who are tasked with providing a safe space for the children of our community and we will be prohibited from doing so accordingly unless you are in the shoes of an lgbtqia Plus student you cannot appreciate the immense feeling of anxiety associated with coming out to anyone let alone
035their family so what we are doing by enacting this policy is creating a culture of distrust distrust of the parent or caregiver by the child and distrust of the school official by the student that helps no one the students come out to us as trusted confidants to help them navigate challenging questions or situations that would no longer be the case as I said before not every home is a safe space so then what would be um what we would be doing is uh sorry so who would then be guiding our communities children not us and that would be your fault at its core this policy is discriminatory we are bound by New Jersey's law against discrimination to equitably protect our students passing a policy that requires teachers to follow rules and guidelines only for one
036specific group of students is in violation of anti-discrimination laws and infringes upon the civil rights of individuals this is the textbook case of disparate impact versus disparate intent in short disparate impact refers to the unintended discriminatory outcomes of outing transgender students like emotional or physical harm desperate intent pertains to the deliberate Act of revealing their gender identity without their consent and with harmful intentions with which this policy does this is the measure of discrimination and if we pass this policy we are most definitely the textbook definition of violation and we will be violating the civil rights of a protected class of individuals I would like to address the importance of consistency in our values and the actions when it comes to embracing diversity and promoting inclusivity it is imperative that we reflect upon our own
037beliefs and behaviors to ensure that we are not inadvertently sending mixed messages it is crucial that we accept [Music] more leadership did reach out to Union leadership over a month ago to have a discussion regarding policy and it was still follow up on that thank you my name is Elizabeth Eric I am a non-binary resident and taxpayer here in Middletown I'm also a former graduate of Middletown Public Schools starting first in kindergarten at New Monmouth and finally graduating from North in 2007. I am now a civil rights attorney specializing in advocacy on behalf of the transgender individuals speech it is crucial that we extend our support and acceptance to all Queer students creating an environment through action where they feel safe and valued it is essential to bridge the gap between our personal relationships and
038our commitment to equality standing United as allies for all members of the lgbtq community Mr Capone at graduation you spoke about the importance of setting an example for others I challenge you to truly consider the action of you and the board to begin here and now in my words I'm going to skip to the point this policy is unconstitutional under both U.S and New Jersey constitutions this policy violates Federal Title IX protections for transgender students and the New Jersey law against discrimination given the limited time to report it to speak I'm going to refrain from listing the numerous other laws we'll be violating if you pass this but I want to make it clear this policy is unequivocally illegal and if you pass it the district will be sued the state of New Jersey has
039made it clear that they will be challenging this policy in his past in fact the New Jersey attorney general sued Hanover School District in May for passing a very similar policy I can tell you as a lawyer who has participated in this kind of litigation multiple times it is expensive you are talking about hundreds of hours at an average of 330 dollars an hour in attorney time you are going to cost the district's hundreds of thousands of dollars that can be used to actually educate and protect all Middletown students have a protection in place for Trans students who may face abuse from their parents if outed as a former child abuse and neglect attorney I can tell you that it is not enough a child often faces dozens if not hundreds of instances of abuse
040from a parent before any reports are made what you have chosen to do today amounts to abhoric violence against the students you are sworn to protect school is or is supposed to be a safe haven for this Haven for students by passing this policy today you'll remove that place of safety and you will instead make the school a place of harm and harm will occur if you do this less than a third of transgender and non-binary students live in a home that is gender affirming when trans youth are rejected by their parents they're at least eight times more likely to attempt suicide than other students but when those same students have access to affirming spaces safe spaces their suicide rates drastically decrease you are going to be taking away the safe space if you pass
041this policy here and you will be making a decision to harm students you will be putting students In Harm's Way I pray that the transgender and non-priners Middletown are able to hold strong enough all right [Applause] foreign [Music] as a recently graduated student at Middletown High School South I've been reflecting on many of the parts of my school experience that impacted me and I can't help but think of all the important teachers I had these teachers went out of their way to provide us with the proper education and prepare us for the world the Deep conversations that my teacher and I have shared are what really resonated many of my teachers share details about their lives their families and their identities and I share the same with them this policy chain that you were trying
042to pass removed all of the trust students placing their teachers from minuscal stores of our daily lives to important parts of identity we share these things with our teachers because we trust them and respect them and we expect the same in return no longer will students feel that they can be truly themselves in front of their teachers if students are not telling their parents but instead choose to tell a teacher that they are transgender have a preferred being or another part of their identity that they choose to share they're doing so for a reason instead of having a staff member they trust they will now be added to family members who may not be supportive and these students May no longer have a safe space transgender students and other students in the lgbtq plus Community
043have always existed so why this change why now we can see now more than ever that there's an immense amount of support in this community and an immense amount of opposition to your discriminatory policy changes 1500 plus signatures on a petition I started to raise a pride flag and increasing facility in Middletown 1600 plus signatures on a petition started by Middletown North Junior to oppose this policy change and even the group of people here tonight are just a few examples that your policy will hurt many and impact everyone while I'm up here I also just wanted to thank you for the generous scholarship for my involvement in the GSA which is a necessary safe space for lgbtq plus students in office I'm very grateful for that scholarship that I can't help but to see the
044idea please continue to keep children safe and put children first thank you sorry sorry it's been a long way to work home from I don't know myself which sounds pretty wonderful and my kids are in my improp elementary school right now I'm sorry I had four boys they're all young children right now um you know Congress speech or anything like that again a little voice that are very young and uh um I'm sorry that some of the people in this room feel that the parents should be left out in a conversation um I saw Camillus up here speaking and I saw somebody else come up and take over his speech I don't want his words coming out of my kid's mouth I don't need him to tell him what my telling my kids what to
045say the gender therapist up here she said parents are the most important people in the kids lives I'm sorry if some of you feel that you can't tell your parents what's going on in your life yeah I'm sorry for that I heard the abuse stories that's terrible that's a terrible thing like I said I have four boys and one of them was thinking about becoming a girl those are the people I that's who I wanted that's who I I want to know so I could give them the help that they need so I can support them they're calling the teacher in school I would hope that that teacher would contact me and say hey this is what's going on with your kid not so I can abuse them not for any other reason that I
046can help them and be there that's the reason parents are the most important people and we want to know what's going on with our kids teachers I think should be there to teach not up there as mad because four different policies on kids I can see that from this guy it's the first time I've seen him here but he shouldn't be forcing his policies to kind of forces his beliefs and his ideologies on kids that shouldn't be okay like my kid ever has a problem in school my kid one of my boys I have four boys they feel like they're becoming they want to be a girl I want to know so I can be there and I can help thank you sorry my name is I'm a resident of Middletown and I am a
047parent of three children in the Middletown Township School District I am in full support of the Middletown Board of Education to amend transgender biology 5756 claimed to be an all-inclusion Community but instead they are here trying to Advocate to not include parents their position interferes with my ability to help my children and they keep telling young children that it is a parent's fault for not wanting to help them transition and to be afraid of their families meanwhile we are here trying to get into our kids heads by having them think that their parents are not safe they are here forcing children to turn to other people in their own family it is not their job to fix what's broken in my home my children belong to me and no one else sport in all of
048New Jersey they are being extremely inclusive to make everyone happy privacy doesn't exist if a child is making a public transition for everyone to see the boy belt at a time where he put at risk by telling their caretaker that this amended policy allows for flexibility to protect that child but the fact is parents should be a huge part of any conversation about their child transitioning there was a huge risk in having a child take too many blockers or having sex change all this is irreversible YouTube one and eight-year-old to transition into the office of Denver only to realize 10 or 15 years later they made a mistake that would cause a child or an adult to have mental issues later in life because of this issue if a child is wrong to make a
049public transition in front of their peers don't think that the pants is going to eventually find out from other people and admitting this by advocating for their child to help them I am tired of the government other people trying to co-parent with me trying to tell me what's right for my family we need to let two so for them to come here and advocate for my children they are stepping out of boundaries they need to direct their attention elsewhere not wear a cousins alone no one loves my children more than me and I will always support them for the best of my ability I will do whatever it takes to make sure my child is happy whatever it takes no one has the right to remove my parental rights or decide to respect to my
050family I will choose to surround my children with peoples through love and uplift them thank you [Music] I want to start by saying how critical it is that everyone understands exactly what this policy changes to win addresses unfortunately there is a plethora of disinformation that is being spread by people who are not really read an understanding policy is causing unnecessary division frustration and anger we are all under a tremendous amount of Social and emotional stress in today's world and instead of listening to one another and having mindful constructive and critical conversations you're turning one another with more hate and anger than I could ever imagine it this is the last thing we need our children's care witness to is contrary to the common goal we should all have which is except this acceptance and kindness
051towards all the first thing that I want to clarify and it's not something that has been brought up tonight but it has been brought up in leading up to this meeting is that this policy has nothing to do with sexual orientation and it is important that we recognize and understand this policy specifically addresses gender identity sexual orientation gender identity are two completely different things that are being confused by many people this policy is not requiring teachers or supervisors to notify parents if a student comes to send them in confidence discuss their sexual orientation meaning if they can find these teacher or adults maybe a lesbian bisexual or asexual this type of misinformation surprised me is causing unnecessary angular hostility within us too the transgender policy is being proposed to the United States the board finds
052the conversation with counselors teachers or other staff felt one is gender identity and expression are entitled confidentiality however in the event a student requests a public social transition accommodation such as public name identity pronoun change bathroom logger room accommodation or Sports Club accommodations room light the school district shall notify a student's parents or guardian of the students assertive gender identity and oranges or other requested accommodation which will be the policy of the board to Support Facility health and communication between a transgender student and their family rather than Foster an unreasonable expectation that a public in-school transition will remain confidential require District staff to permanently misrepresent information to parents this is specific to students who not solely identify a transgender but who are seeking specific District accommodations or who may need counseling services that would require
053parental signature to access as a mother of a rising fifth grade son and first grade daughter it is my right as a parent to minor children to be more notified if they want to request the change in their gender identity at the school it is not only necessary that I as a parent thank you [Music] hi it's Robin Stella from River Plaza before I start I'd like some memory board please make a motion to extend comment period Beyond 30 minutes I know it's been done before if somebody please make a motion all right please let everyone speak as hundreds of people have already been locked out here anyway I'm a local Middletown person I'm not some activist who was flown in here for anything um in 2017 Republican Governor Chris Christie signed legislation that required
054the state to provide guidance to public schools in relation um to trans students to ensure supportive learning environments this included the creation of confidentiality plans to protect their transitioning status I'll remind you this was signed into law by Chris Christie a republican governor human rights are not some leftist idea I hear that those in the public they're the sorry that there are those in the public tonight who are promoting this policy change and they're threatening to Brand board members um as groomers for the record Being accepting does not make one a groomer adhering to state laws does not make one a groomer so clearly the purpose of this policy change is not to help anyone but only to harm or erase the students that make them feel uncomfortable in this town as I say it
055only one person benefits from this policy change it's certainly not the lgbtq plus students that you've heard from tonight who are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers it's definitely not the teachers who will have to violate the trust that the student has in them by reporting them there's only one person I can think of who benefits and he's sitting right next to Mr Capone that's our school board attorney um he takes you know we pay him by the hour and with our taxpayer money he will benefit greatly greatly and also make us susceptible to legal action so to change right there I think you'll benefit greatly from this being accepting is very important following the law is important what I ask of all of you is that instead of clenching
056a fist towards these students that you instead open your hands and be accepting and protect all the students in Middleton thank you [Music] Inner City Lake scores on standardized tests showing the great decline even compared to some surrounding District the crumbly facilities lack of ability to fill Advanced teaching positions culture of fights and assaults have increased at the secondary school level here in military bullying and intimidation on a rise with little recourse multiple suicides of students in only a few years here in Middletown Equity between one side of town and the other in terms of needs and resources these are all part of what the Boe should oversee not Audi our youth members of our lgbtq plus community the Boe knows they're a violating State policy this Boe is using these marginalized youngsters as political
057currency to Garner support with leadership for re-elections they see this as a way to gain support for themselves as well as Township and District Kennedy that support them financially this is simply theater however using our kids as props on your stage is unacceptable and why we are all here tonight this was the exact same tactic that this same melee leadership used it meant for all the fighting changing a venue and causing legal dose when did Middletown finally lose the mask the same exact day every other District did Statewide it was a simple show it's about gaining votes and submitting to a very loud view from your social media to Scott Paulson's support their narrative if you further to gain an audience out of an imaginary sphere you know like litter boxes in the hallways of
058our schools leashes on kids and outlandish books that are being pushed on our kids by our grooming teachers none of this is happening but if you will push these falseins to spark fear our kids should not be used for decades we have educated Our Youth Without such a policy this policy does not solve any problems that is measurable or systematic in nature even if you don't Boe members that support this new policy admit it is about providing rights for parents not the children I find it ironic as their slogan when campaigning was putting Children First [Music] if you want to know what's going on in your child's life community welcoming environment where your children will open up and express their feelings to you don't use teachers and counselors as your personal spots and elsewhere to
059be apparent for one I've been a public school teacher for 24 years much of the need for counseling is because of a child's troubled homes or poor relationship with their parents when students feel they can't go to their parents they go to trusted teachers or train counselors they know this policy will no longer allow trust between the student and staff members if you truly put children first as you so boldly printed on thousands of costly signs during your campaign you will not Institute a policy that will only provide an opportunity to hurt children and for those that were not a part of that campaign but are on the board voting here tonight resistance [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right good evening my name is Roy capital I live in Highlands uh remove your recently from Florida
060you live in Florida for 43 years and I teach courses at the University of South Florida to Tampa called racism and American society I've been hounded out of that state my wife Mary is here she's a social worker I'm a PhD in sociology for 15 years I was the head of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in the Tampa Bay area and I tried very hard working during those years in the school districts of Hillsborough Pinellas Pasco in other areas around the state and you've been here on this day I graduated Asheville Park High School in 1962. I made one of the oldest people in this room uh next week we're going to celebrate our fifth seventh year of being married [Music] I I really have to tell you that I started a program
061called Camp any town in 1990 and that is a program designed to bring teenagers together 14 to 17 years old and we pray the United Community where they learn about themselves and one another and through this activity over the years I learned that many students were very unsafe at home sociological psychological evidence proves that students are safer in school than they are at home pure problems there than at home I want you to consider the possibility that changing this kind of policy they have drastic effects on their children and their lives of some of the kids that go to school in Middletown it's the kind of thing that I wouldn't want to have to sleep right at night worrying whether or not something that I did Might ultimately affect the outcome of the life of
062your child I work very hard to try and convince teachers and administrators in the schools in Hillsboro and Pinellas in Pasco County and I worked for the OCR and fought for five years in Pasco County trying to get them to understand it that what we want to do is don't make better students but make better people putting your teachers and administrators in their position or having to decide whether or not to release information about private personal confidential information about a student we have classic implications with the teacher the administrator and the child as well as you say I'd like to give you a fight thank you [Music] hi uh my name is Jason guzik I'm a Middletown 37 years the first thing I would say is that some of the great people behind me has
063such beautiful tour could stay off their phone but people are talking uh because um but besides that um first I went to open with a positive as this is my first time speaking here I wanted to thank the board for the installment of the humor program this is something that will continue to strengthen this Independent Living skills of our older special needs population I think these are the programs that they can appreciate towards time and efforts um with regards to policy 5756 I'd like to share my objections and my concerns the amount of time money resources that are being exhausted over this was a long time resident Middletown I think those efforts should be allocated to more pressure matters with improving our academic and test scores over the last five years Middletown North has ranked
064on average 227 out of all the schools in New Jersey comparably High School South is ranked 109. Middletown North last year alone had a 50.29 of students at the minimum language arts proficiency level set by the state and that was only at 50.6 percent North is also one of the highest United Future ratios at 13.4 compared to Kingsburg high school at 11.6 I just want to know that a similar policy was emulated in Hanover Township and was quickly met with alongside the State Attorney General forced him to rewrite it which is a total waste of time money and resources I also think that um Although our children you need the hours I think old people hold on for themselves [Applause] anything I'm the Reverend Michael Cronin I am from Rumson New Jersey I serve as
065a priest at St George's by the river Episcopal Church I feel that the objections made to the policy regarding transgender students have been pretty well articulated at this point I would like to add that to me it seems outlandish for a kid to even to just have their name and pronoun perspective by their teacher they may have to risk coming out in a hostile environment and while there are Protections in place in this policy of course there's nothing to stop a parent from pulling their child and then removing those protections I would like to use the rest of my time simply to address the LGBT young people in the room I'm looking at the board but I'm talking to the LGBT LGBT young people in room as a transgender man who was once a transgender
066uses as a priest in the Episcopal Church and as a person you are all loved you're prayed for you're cared for there's a group of priests and pastors and lay people who are here because they love God and because they love you with your field hang in there I'm sorry that you have to fight so hard to be respected in a place where you're just trying to learn where you have very little relative power in the face of adults who have a hell of a lot of power and [Music] Victoria I'm very happy to speak on behalf of gays against rulers we are gays against rumors and we have officially submitted the statement to be randomized I have A's against rumors is a 501c64 organization of gay people who oppose the recent trend of indoctrinating
067sexualizing and medicalizing children under the guide of the lgbtqia [Music] we are disgusted that NJ State Attorney General file emotion to stop a local school board from protecting parental rights every parent has the right to know what's going on with their children and the majority of parents today are far more accepting and passionate and understanding and our government is currently giving you credit for it the internet attorney general's argument is that parents wanting to know if their child is going through an identity crisis is somehow a violation of New Jersey's law against discrimination so we decided to look into what's supposedly the most comprehensive anti-discrimination law in the country what we found this is a protected classes under the lading the state of the lad prohibits discrimination and bias-based harassment based on actual or perceived
068and then a long list of reasons people can say they're discriminating against let's go back to that word proceed there are actually two definitions one of them come aware of there is interpret or regard as for those of you who don't understand what this means is a weaponization of weaponing of language to give your children the power who claims they're being discriminated against at home even if they're not it's all based on their interpretation to feel it it must be true we never thought we would see today when our government wouldn't enable this kind of overreach whatever families and take ownership of our children so we never thought we'd see other parents supporting [Music] foreign [Music] Gregory Quinlan I'm with the center for Garden State families we are a Statewide family advocacy organization I'm here
069to speak and they have to be a parent I come with it with a unique perspective bisexual orientation is ex-day that means I used to live as a gay man and I don't any longer I used to be with a human rights campaign fund as it was called then the largest gay lesbian political organization in the country to ranks is the ninth hardest of all independent political action committees chiefly responsible for the billions of dollars in AIDS research and support money that comes from the federal government that's why I got involved in that organization it's for that aids money I'm a nurse I watched 100 of my friends in acquaintances dive AIDS before I quit counting [Music] many more since then I questioned my sexuality before I could became and identified as a gay man
070and then when I left homosexuality because here are the facts and everybody has their own separate facts but these are verified and I can send them to you to your emails there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biologic etiology for homosexuality that's the American Psychiatric association and deals in 2019 August 2019 one of the largest human genome studies ever done release this study called the Ghana study done on three continents multiple institutions including MIT Harvard regentland Australia Cambridge and Stanford has something to do with it with hundreds of researchers many of them have identify as lgbtqia-hyz and I choose that term because they've tripled the alphabet with these Faith identities imagine identities they're not real at the end of that study that study they used 477 000 Human Genome 477 000 that's larger
071than the city of Newark at the end of the study with reluctance because so many of the researchers there did not want the findings published said this quote there is no single gay gene in quote there's no cluster of genes there's nothing biologic or genetic regarding someone's sexual orientation or their desire for sex with someone else it is a developmental gender identity disorder developed not innate acquired not inborn nobody is born gay nobody's born lesbian nobody's born in the wrong body nobody and I want to address this other fact let's see if you notice those who demand tolerance the most possess it the least here's the fact regarding the lawsuits and the money you're going to pay on being sued and what's happening in Hanover there are multiple public and response lines across this time
072they will pay for yours thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] so how can we possibly be passing a revision that was so negatively impactful when you don't have the knowledge of what you can do to Jesus um do you guys know the distinction between gender identity and gender expression between sexual organization and gender identity well I invite all of you to take these three segmented training courses that are offered by the New Jersey Division on civil rights to deal with the transgender and lgbtq in the schools and hold off on your decision until you educate yourself and you understand this community before you do something which will have a dramatic negative example now a couple of other things members of your student Community if you're here tonight with posters if they wanted to hold
073up in this room and they were told by the police that this board has a policy against them seems to me that that's an infringement of their first amendment rights and in fact if there is a policy every board policy must be a rioted so I would ask that you send me a copy of that house voluntarily or I can always fire only my next question is what has changed that such a dramatic change to this policy is required tell people what's changed in your community what's changed in your school now finally I want you to understand that you need to know of the people that come and speak for you and the speaker just before me I didn't expect to be speaking after him but you should know a few things you should know
074that in 2013 when the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act he came out and said it was ruled by five black wrote Nazis and then he claimed that justices came in and Justice Kennedy Were Gay and said they ruled on the case to satisfy their own must but he wasn't satisfied with that because then he made a statement that the most powerful person in the world at the time President Obama was a Down Low president because no one could support the LGBT community unless they were a member about themselves and the Reverend likes to quote the banner report they brilliant nobody ever said that there was a single gay Genie [Applause] videos off thank you anyone yelling out [Music] all right man my name is [Music] I am testifying a math the League
075of Women Voters the League of Women Voters have a long history of advocating for the rights health and education of children defending our democracy and ending discrimination against the lgbtq plus communities go hand in hand we are gravely concerned with proposed policies to put student safety and mental health at risk and violate New Jersey's law against discrimination public schools are a Cornerstone of democracy and New Jersey should strive to ensure our schools are safe completed and welcoming for all proposals like this are causing extreme political polarization and are manufactured to divide our communities and increase the stress to public education and Civic engagement how do children put them at risk by bullying harassment and discrimination it makes them more vulnerable to self-harm and suicide despite arguments otherwise numerous studies and data show that forced Audi
076to parents is harmful not helpful to lgbtq plus youth here's the bottom line if a child is not sharing information about their sexuality or gender identity with their caregivers those grown-ups should be concentrated on the environment they were prostrate within the four walls of their own home instead of attacking and blaming a school where the child might be a safer it is important to note that this is not a standalone policy but part of a concentrated effort to undermine public education in addition to attacks on LGBT through Plus student rights the campaign includes book bands attacks on sexual education and attempts to rewrite American history right prohibiting accurate and necessary conversations about race and equity the League of Women Builders cannot stand by while a small minority uses our classrooms as political battlegrounds at the
077expense of our students and our country's future this is also an attack on our Public School educators and has served to drive highly trained experienced teachers out of the field it is time to say no to these attacks time to support our Educators and stand up for our children the Earth supported education to reject the proposals under consideration tonight thank you [Applause] hello my name is Pamela Renee I'm a council member in Neptune City part of Monmouth County and I've been asked to come here today by members of Middletown Community and as a family elected official I just want to thank you for your service is a great commitment no pay and you want to take a lot of reviews so I just want to thank you for being here and I want to thank
078you for representing the children I'm here to speak out for our lgbtq community I know there is no representation on the board and that's why I'm here today because representation matters and I think that the policy changes that you want to make are very very harmful and I've been told that you know don't don't waste my breath because most of you are going to vote for these changes and don't you know there's nothing that could be said that's going to change your mind but I've sat on the dice and I've listened to the public and I've changed my mind and my home based on what was said and what I heard and that is my hope and that is my prayer that you will know these changes tonight at least it's too close at home
079your vote um and and become more educated and I know you've already done a lot of research but um the policies that the state put in place took years to develop I wasn't part of that team that developed those policies but I know the people who were and they took so much time into consideration they've listened to two lgbtq students and the public and yeah the reasons why the New Jersey state policies are the way they are and if if you out students unfortunately it can bring about a lot of harm to those students I would trust the students to know their own caregivers to know if it's safe for them to tell them when it's the right timing for them to feel safe enough to tell them we do represent the students and I
080am here to urge you in the hope and prayer that you will vote no for these changes there are a lot of people a lot of people don't know that a lot of people are born intersex so when they don't want to identify one way or the other is because maybe they haven't decided which way they're going to go yet you know so it's like how how can we say for them when they're just trying to explore this themselves to know so please just adhere to the state policy I mean it was well researched and developed and it came into place after a long period of time and it's a public school system in New Jersey [Applause] thank you thank you for allowing me to speak my name is Jeanette Morgan I'm a Middletown resident
081voter and taxpayer I'm here tonight to express my strong opposition to the changes proposed to the transgender student policy we're often told that the boards of Education are non-partisan I can tell you it doesn't feel that way right now when you look at all the politics being propagated across our state and all at the same time and all the very similar language it certainly feels fluid each of you is taking a note protect all the students in our school and to make the proper use of the resources at hand time money and work now people have gone through the various dangers of outing a student before they're ready the uh the issues certainly for teachers and counselors that the conflict between the need to have confidentiality and this policy there's also a tremendous risk that
082some of the speakers touched on a financial costs and legal expenses and potential liabilities as you all know over half of our Municipal Taxes vote to support our school last year saw increase in half of our homeowners that's not my statistic that's our own it's Middletown assessment this irresponsible policy will cost significant additional legal fees to defend the challenges that are going to come from the New Jersey attorney general's office on civil rights grounds and whatever other challenges purely fine God forbid a child is harmed by this policy this whole system is applying itself over massive legal liability you're ending June 30 2022 is anyone on the board know what the budget line for Legal Services was 265 000 that's over a quarter of a million dollars how much more are we willing to pay
083when a pilot a harmful policy like this in place has the board budgeted for the additional costs that will come is there estimate for these costs where will the costs come from something that I hope you are all considering very carefully as you think about this I urge each of you in the strongest terms to do your jobs in a non-partisan deliberative manner reject these dangerous changes and work do the work it's hard work it's collaborative work to address the real urgent problems of our students our parents our teachers in our community thank you [Music] first I want to say thank you to the board members for this opportunity to to talk about the revisions to this kind of gender student policy I'm sorry Emory screen of Sterling Terrace first I want to say thank
084you to Kaylee because you have been at every board meeting I've been at every board meeting you have been here every board meeting and you have been respectful and your service to what you've done for the report of bringing the student information in has been invaluable so I just want to thank you so much and I sat here for an hour stood here for an hour and listened to everyone's feet and so my speech may be a little bit different than I had planned but and I also know that there are a ton more families here that are not speaking but that are in agreement with what I'm about to say the revisions make sure that all children are protected we have wonderful and amazing teachers staff and administration in Middletown we are blessed but
085we the parents are the constant in our children's lives I listen tonight and I we seem to forget that this is a public school a public school where we pay taxes to for our children to attend school we are the parents and as a parent of two children one in elementary and one in middle school I have to sign a petition slip for everything whether it's to give permission for the nurse to administer title or an inhaler for field trips even to acknowledge that I've read a syllabus I know what both my son chose for his Ela project we signed these permission slides because Middletown recognizes that parents are an integral part of our children's lives not just assigned paper it means something if my child went to school and asked the teacher not a
086friend but a teacher to call them a different name that was on school papers or ask for an accommodation to use a different bathroom or locker room that was different than their physiological makeup I would expect a phone call I would want to know what is going on I would want to know if there's a reason that this is happening the opposition argued that all parents are not suited or unkind enough or understanding enough to handle this conversation why if that's true there are places there means in in made available to present to protect that child but it is not okay to assume that every parent cannot handle this conversation and if the child is not ready to talk to their parents as I'm hearing time and time again for the last hour the school
087can facilitate that conversation that conversation that is meant to have with the child and the parents that is what their role is their role is not to deceive their role is not to be in a position to to lie or deceive parents their role is to work collaboratively collaboratively with the education system with the administrators with the teachers that is their role not to take the place of the parents three minutes thank you my name is Pamela Burke I live in Oak Hill I live in Middletown forever and my kids with proud graduates so that's what Fountain Inn South one of those children as a non-binary trans feminine gender identity and I have to tell you the most important conversation I had with my childhood is when they came to me when they were ready
088to come to me and explain their experience in life they thought long and hard about how to talk about this what information I want might want to know how to prevent me from becoming helicopter mom and barging into the school and demanding that my child be taken care of they wanted to show me that they had agency they were capable of exploring this and talking to people they could tell me that their friends had their back their teachers were cool the administrators got them and they trusted that I would love them and that conversation I remember every minute of it and I be incredibly sad if you prevented me from having the opportunity to say to my kid thank you for telling me thank you for feeling the trust in this relationship I love you
089I'm proud of you had that conversation been required by the school has taken away the empowerment of my kid to have the leadership of their own life my relationship with them would be entirely different imagine your mother-in-law telling your your future fiance that they're going to be engaged tonight those conversations that we're going to remember for the rest of our life deserve to be owned and by the people in the conversation and no public agency should be the ones who dictate how and when a trans child talk to their parents I know student-centered part of the policy which has so many things crossed out on it demonstrates that you haven't listened to the community since you announced it for the records of the public comments started at 8 18 and now 9 40 so you've
090left over coming after we get to the agenda for another 30 minutes uh the emotion to approve minutes from executive Session 5 15 23 the special voting means 5 15 2023 executive session 523-23 and workshop regular voting meeting 523-23 . all in favor discussion sessions I need a motion to approve I'm sorry beginning for secretary [Music] answers get a motion to approve C1 your C4 [Music] discussion all in favor [Music] opposed extensions [Music] to um [Music] as a teacher and administrator in the district I'm overwhelmed by the countless memories of the remarkable students who touched my life your determination resilience and achievements have been a constant source of inspiration moreover it's the compassionate acts of kindness towards others that have truly left the last thing in the background I'm proud to have been a part
091of their educational Journey now I deeply grateful to our students parents for their steadfast support and active involvement in their children's lives the collaboration between staff and parents has led to an enhanced educational experiences for our students parents are valuable Partners in educating our students and I appreciate all their efforts to support Student Success the Middletown Township District staff is extremely dedicated skilled hard-working and caring in other words they are exceptional whether they are educating our students maintaining a clean and nurturing learning environment ensuring students Safety and Security providing vital organization support or managing the complex operations that keep our district schools running smoothly our staff always places the student at the heart of their work I sincerely admire respect and value their passion and commitment to our students I will profoundly miss my colleagues
092across the district and cherish the privilege of having worked alongside them for many years I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the members of the board of education for forwarding me the opportunity to lead this extraordinary District I am grateful for your support and stone commit commitment to providing an excellent education for our students you set a vision for a district that values every student and you have championed initiatives to enhance their academic achievements as well as their social emotional growth the campus volunteer hours you have dedicated up to our district have greatly benefited our entire School community serving to Middletown Public Schools has been an outstanding honor and a true privilege and it really has been please accept my deepest gratitude for the incredible opportunities and cherished memories I've gained over the years
093thank you everybody [Applause] need a motion to approve 12 D1 to 13 B5 discussion I just want to say we're administratively withdrawing under um Student Services number four the first line item yeah well no what we're doing before just the first the first item in that item is coming out of the tuition the Pennsburg violation [Music] discussion [Music] you should be on top of paging right now [Music] good discussion all in favor of opposed um yes I'm family behaves number two but I am no family [Music] I'm alone [Music] I'm sorry no okay is that clear for the record s [Music] foreign [Music] suppose thank you I need a motion to approve 13 E1 to G1 [Music] discussion all in favor all right oppose potentials [Music] in order to approve one through 25. [Music] over
094here [Music] discussion [Music] um [Music] supervisor and the only reason I'm doing that is [Music] so for me it's just a salary enough for people [Music] that is number 10 and 11. and I'm number 25 HR 15 I'm voting no on number 12. right [Music] now foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] so 125 so everybody is voting yes anyone else hey Gary good that was one through 25. just the one position and she's talking about 25 but not the entire list thank you now we're going to move to home business everybody had a problem [Music] [Applause] okay we're gonna lose a new business does anyone have new videos I just want to say congratulations to all of our graduates Middle School and High School congratulations were incredible it was great to see if this is foreign Awards
095and and all the things that they do and it was great to hear from the high school North principal that it also recognized all of our students that go out for career and and that was really incredible in fact tonight I got an email from a High School South student who's going to be a senior and he got his first job as a welder with a company for the summer it's not an internship it's a job and he gets the company truck and everything I can't wait for us to hear more about our career on jobs since in our career classes that our kids are taking because I'm sure there's more than just this one student but it's the stuff that we've been trying to take for many years and it's finally coming to fruition
096so I'd like to congratulate him on that our high school speeches were great but I have to say I was disappointed in one thing the paths chose to do an article on a young lady who Moved passed out and they even put the point of where you could go and watch her face I I you know and really grateful to all of our board members who jumped off the stage to help her I think that was very humanistic and I think anybody there would have done the same thing because that's what we do for our students but for the past to highlight that as the highlight of the day when there was so many great things that went on at that graduation and so many accoloids I just find that very disturbing and I also
097find it maybe embarrassing to the poor student who now everybody in town goes you click on that and the unfortunate event that happened I wish her well and I'm sure she's fine but I think it was poor taste on the paths to print that article so I just wanted to say that I've never seen anything like that happen before that days about our students and that's the way to stay [Music] okay we're not going to hold up for public comment we have a 30 minute limit same as before and three minutes each please say your name all right thank you my name is Kelly Middletown resident I'm speaking here tonight as a concerned Community member as we all know we're in the midst of some pretty decisive cultural issues here in this country most recently
098targeting the transgender communities let's be honest they are easy targets they are largely misunderstood they are marginalized mostly being forced to live on the front of society and now we witness them being swept up and weaponized as part of a political tactic to mobilize a large group of people using fear and misinformation with the assumption that most people won't be motivated to do their own due diligence on what it means so let's start there the truth is gender identity is real and it is separate from Naval sex which are the body parts you are forest for more than 99 of people the external sex characteristics and chromosomes the determinants of what you can call a person's natal sex match the person's gender identity for less than one percent the natal sex and gender identity are
099opposites when this occurs it's called transgender identifying as trans is not a fad or a phase or a choice it is a real part of human biology that is vastly misunderstood simply because it affects so little of the population the American Medical Association cites evidence that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variants of human identity and expression and that foregoing gender affirming care can have tragic Health consequences both mental and physical and when you are a child gender affirming care can be as simple as respecting name and pronoun choices and providing safe spaces such as school environment for exploring your identity the American Academy of Pediatrics released the following statement in 2012. being transgender or gender variant implies no impairment and judgment stability reliability or general social or vocational capabilities however these individuals often
100experience discrimination due to a lack of civil rights protection for their gender identity or expression such discrimination and lack of equal Civil Right is damaging to the mental health of transgender and gender variant individuals and so here we find ourselves today with extreme political and religious ideologies deciding that they carry more weight than our most accredited medical associations for going a long-standing history of trans people as well as human biology and the lived experience of trans people I hope you all see how problematic and terrifying that is I come here tonight as a concerned Community member and as a mom who has children in this school district to request that this board refocus their efforts and resources thank you [Applause] my name is Alison Krug I am a taxpay member of Leonardo I have a
101small child entertain District in September this is more towards the parents of sports um your teachers are not grooming your children they're not indoctrinating them if your kids are not confiding in you that means their teachers are a safer space than you are it is time to take a look in the mirror and recognize the issues with yourself and stop to play stop blaming with teachers that you don't have a relationship with your child and you're expecting them to bridge that Gap is ridiculous that's not what they're known for they're going to teach our children to protect them in the ways that they can and if that's by supporting their individualities without putting them into Harm's Way of their parents and that's what they need to do it's not about you it's about the kids
102I use my time [Applause] thank you [Music] hello my name is Ezekiel Ibarra and I've lived in Belford for 10 years now when I attended school at North uh it was one of my only safe spaces uh since my mom is not supportive out of all the teachers I've had they've been amazing and called me by by my name even though my own mother will she even threw away my college mail since it didn't have my birth name on it isn't it sad that there are other people like me and children who can't be safe at their own homes uh what you want to do is rip away any form of comfort that we have to which we have little even your children even if your children aren't uh telling you of stuff about themselves
103about their gender identity or sexuality that speaks volumes about you and not them I will not stand for you to spew hatred at us and try to eradicate us we won't let you pass uh this uh this and you can't get rid of any of us [Music] good evening my name is Tom Ballard I am a lifelong resident of Belford I'm also a teacher here at Middletown High School North I'm one of the co-advisors about gender and sexuality Alliance schools are more than just educational facilities they are the hubs that allow our students to grow professionally emotionally and socially into the well-rounded individuals that we all hope for prevents become the proposed revisions the district's policies of transgender students unfairly Target and discriminate against a group of people that already faced heavy marginalization in our
104community when students are singled out and punished due to a defined characteristic such as their race and that ethnicity sexual orientation or gender identity is the point's essential characteristic of discrimination moreover these proposed revisions will reverse protections guaranteed by all students in the New Jersey Department of education's transgender students guidance for schools published in 2018. according to these guidelines it is only when a specific and compelling need exists that a student's transgender status can be revealed by school officials clearly just by identifying by a different name or pronouns does not meet the state's expectation of specific or compelling needed the ramifications if the board decides to enact youth policy while only impacting a small interest in you spoken Monumental this year Middletown North GSA sat down with School administration and had introductive conversation can we
105list our concerns and Grievances and any changes that we thought creating our school Community to make it more inclusive and more invited I believe as an educator as someone who's truly here to help these students grow that will be more beneficial to listen to these concerns and enact these sort of policy changes we hope that students are to grow up and have agency that we must allow them to make decisions and I commend all the students alumni who showed up today to tell their opinions on this because it's not easy when I was a student I remember standing up here asking the board a question about block schedule Miss Caminiti it's not the bottom on me but after that meeting you to ask me more about my opinion even eight years later I believe there
106are several members of this board many of you who care about the safety and well-being of our students the students have spoken the folks outside have spoken this time that we listen to them as a teacher I encourage my students to speak their mind and to stand up for what they believe is right and lead by example if you want to have to stand up and dress the folks with lower my employment contract every year we are here because we all want the same thing pursues to grow it's responsible citizens [Applause] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] but I'm struck by the visual reminder here of these illustrations which are inspired clearly by the Keith Harry designs that were made famous in the 1980s and 90s during the AIDS crisis when um we saw parents leave their
107dying children in hospitals and not clean their bodies when they were buried in Potter's Fields were never planned at all we saw parents who refused to go to their buying children's bed sides now I understand the passion of the people who have spoken who have said my children my children's home but I promise you there are children in this world whose parents would not go to their bedside if they were dying and we have seen you happen I want to believe I want to believe in Middletown that every kid comes from a house where they would get a hug but that's just not the case and the reason that they're speaking to their teachers I gotta say who knows who are teachers to create these loving bonds I mean I still remember the teachers from
108high school that I felt I could talk to about things so we don't know it's been said before better than the students what their home environments are but I think we need to trust them because history which has shown us that we don't all come from the homes where the kids and loved no matter what it's unfortunate that it's reality um I also want to say that outing kids before they are American in any way become constitutional but oh man it is so cool it is really cool and I think that the reality is it puts Kids In Harm's Way if you could save just one plant wouldn't it be worth it to say no wouldn't it be worth it to just save that one kid you're safe this is not about excluding parents and
109I'm understanding that kids know what they can share and what they can what they're not ready to you just might not be ready to do that okay thank you guys for your time [Applause] good evening my name is Roxanne Judith I was in Red Bank and the central theater at Redman from General High School I'm working with lgbtq youth as a teacher at mwsa advisor it is a fact that some kids are not safety from that at home whom may not be a refuge the school may be their safe place and we care about children as I'm sure everybody in this room cares about their own children and they care about my own child at home and we should feel then we should be supportive of the crowd's right to privacy until they feel safe
110and supported enough to come out at home if the concern is we don't know that their teachers or counselors are saying to them let me assure you if you shut that Avenue down the internet still exists and it's much more explicit has a lot of species advice and can be much more radicalizing than anything that their teacher can say to them in two minutes as they leave the classroom I know it's hard as parents to accept that our children make choices for themselves to support affirm and respect that our children have different goals for themselves than we for have for them can be a very difficult and quite frankly a growth experience for the parents as much as the children and as parents we do worry about their long-term well-being their ability to fit in
111their success at working school but our children are not our property they are their own business law and I know this is kind of a blue point because you're already made the changes but thank you for your time and your consideration and I hope you really listen to the people in this room tonight thank you please [Applause] my name is the Reverend Debbie Coke and I am a priest and director of All Saints Memorial Church in naplesync also known as The Stone Church um and in our faith tradition one of the things we hold in our baptismal Covenant is we'll use strongly for justice and peace among all people and respected the Dignity of every human being every human being including those who are very young and they take them seriously when they say that
112they do not feel safe and we do as a parent who has children that are now adult I would want to make sure I would want to have them know that and make them and want them to feel that they are safe come to me but if for some reason they did not I would want them to have a safe place for them to be at school where they would be able to tell their story and live their dream we believe in our faith tradition that God loves everyone no exceptionist and that holds true and I'm sure many of you in this room believe them and that's a wonderful thing but that doesn't hold true for everybody and as a community as a community we are bound to protect the most harm and that is
113where we need to draw the Baseline and I feel at this Baseline that we that has been drawn is not at the right level um I ask you to please um think on that reconsider and perhaps really listen to the people who are affected the most by these challenges good night good evening it's nice to be back in Middletown I'm sorry I just thought they only do I was Cheryl Cudahy I live in Brash farms and I've been a lifelong resident of Middletown we moved here in 1978 my I graduated from high school board I brought my family back here to raise them because truly I love Middletown my three boys Kevin Ryan and Sean have benefited from so many of the teachers that were here earlier to inform what some of their former teachers
114who are now administrators however tonight unfortunately I had a bunch of prepared remarks for you but it's a new point at this time and I am so disappointed in the decision that you made so disappointed and I am scared for our students because I don't think you realize what is going to happen to them many of them not all of them but many of them as a school administrator a professor at Rutgers or any training with teachers what you have done is wrong it is illegal and I might add as a friendly little reminder you all agreed to a code of ethics I believe all of you agreed to uphold and endorse all laws rules and regulations of the State Board of Education and court orders pertaining to school but you also agreed to make
115decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and seek to develop and maintain public schools which meet and I quote the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability race pre sex or social standing and finally my third point from your little code of ethics is that you also agreed to combine your board action to policy making planning and appraisal and that you would help to bring policies and plans only only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by themselves apply as Educators we often have to do that how many of our transgender students who this policy that you have now put in place how many of them did you actually speak to or consult with one twenty anybody I'm gonna ask you guys I'm asking you guys how many
116times will take time to reflect tonight on a personal note to miss many of these you and I have a little history and I know you remember back at Leonardo in 2008 when we did an anti-bullying day and some people were very angry when we did that thank you I was two years ahead of my time you're wrong on this one it's gone for putting me Mr quickie thank you thank you [Music] Devonshire Court Middletown resident and diligent taxpayer members of the Board of Education Middletown Community and fellow members of the lgbtq community I speak now nervous as all get out as a Collegiate professor a little league coach in this Beloved Community a proud parent of a village student and a proud member of the LGBT community I express my grave concern regarding the
117change you just approved I'll pause during your comments I assume that will come out of my three minutes thank you Mr Abdullah the change that you just approved to District policy 5756 regarding transgender students deeply troubling is your deletion of the definition and terms eliminated this equates to eliminating the existence and acknowledgment of gender identity gender expression sexual orientation Tran the very word transgender itself transition lgbtq has been eliminated as a term gender non-conforming gender expansive and cisgender you just passed forced outing of our beloved students putting children first I questioned that this removes the possibility of in some cases the only safe space for these transgender students sadly and now a burden on the discriminatory actions of this board I don't allow students in my class to be on their phones Mr Bethel I
118appreciate your attention 82 of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and according to a 2022 study in the Journal of an interpersonal violence 40 percent have attempted suicide 40 of our transgender Community suicide with suicidality highest among transgender youth as a parent I understand the drive to be informed about what's happening with my student in them you know we're in in class but the literature is clear and reflects that sometimes the only safe space for these students is at school the Middletown School community that I have come to know is a desire thank you [Applause] I'm sorry in Middletown is everyone getting their streak nobody is I have two daughters attending school in the Middletown Public School District I've been attending Gordon League since 2017. I have some thoughts and concerns I would like to
119address tonight that has less to do with arguing over a policy on the rights of our gender diverse children and their Mental Health I leave that up to the experts as we all should my experts I mean mental health experts receive children privately and work in the school system I mean the New Jersey Department of education's transgender student guidance I mean the gender diverse children themselves our children provide us the language they provide us their thoughts and feelings lead to this when and if it feels safe to do so they do this with whom and where it feels safe to do so if a school is going to disclose such personal vulnerable information about these kids before they are ready I feel that is a vibration of my parental rights the right to ensure the
120safety of my child I'm actually here to plead to the board to shift their focus to the pressing issues that are facing our school community and children in 2020 dozens even hundreds of community members came together over several productive forums sharing ideas concerns and values to form our District's mission statement goals and objectives that would drive efforts of the board and administration over the five-year period based on this process class size budget special education and overcrowding were the community's greatest concerns all the information gathered goals were generated the first two goals for their school years 2020 to 2025 are continue commitment to Student Success by promoting social emotional Wellness with an objective of providing and engaging supporting and safe educational environment for our students and increasing equity and opportunity to ensure the needs of all
121Learners on that this information is what should be driving the board's efforts and priorities right now if it isn't then we're allowed to question your motives I plead the view to stand against this policy that was before you already asked it that is taking up the district's valuable time resources and money prioritize the issues that continue to plague our schools and leave these children alone hey this is the last 44 years I was a teacher of Dr peaceful education for 33 years in a coach high school college volleyball team to 28 years so I have extensive experience with practical facilities and matters of health education and gender identity I want to talk to you today about accommodating transgender students which you have already violated it's important that the school board consider the responsibility to our
122students for their stay fancy sense and achieving their academic goals changing the policy which you've just done to come we're accommodating the transgender student what's their safety at risk and diminishes their ability to be successful in their academic studies changing policy set support by the state denies the student with the environment in which they can learn and grow as human beings these policies that change um these policies changes in danger the very sentiment on which this whole system has been built I believe the state of New Jersey's laws regarding accommodating transgender students is clear and the Board of Education must Implement them safety should be uppermost in the minds of the Schoolboy as it exists today having only one unisex bathroom which can be abused by students and can be locked in unusable is untenable
123the other bathrooms in the school are moderated by teachers at all times and yet the unisex bathroom is not it would appear that this policy is detrimental and students who need to use this facility safely and in order to encourage our students to be successful academically the use of only one bathroom is inconvenient because it's the students to be delayed getting back and forth to classes with the students stop streaming liquids in school the fear of unable to be unable to relieve themselves we are creating a medically dangerous situation the same unisex bathroom is also used as a changing room instead of locker room thus causing the faculty students which is the nurse's office which also forces the student to be late for gym or their classes and it's unfortunately not as safe strange experience
124changing facilities investment facilities need to be more centrally located on each floor the risk of harassment and bullying while using traditional boys and girls like home to put that puts the transgender student in World danger and run the teachers and staff cannot prevent or deceiving the continue changing arranges need to be met made for all our students and we must follow State guidelines changing the guidelines for accommodation for transgender will diminish their ability to be successful Americans in whatever they endeavor [Applause] my name is Kendall Burns and I am a recent graduate from Middletown High School South I have lived in Middletown my entire life my father has lived in Middletown his entire life both of us have graduated from high school South and to my to my point the entire time that I have
125gone to Middletown schools never has an injustice like this happened now I can't exactly read my speech anymore because you chose to pass this policy which is now endangering an outing trans children but I'm going to try and read this policy to turn teachers from safe spaces to people who are required to report what a transgender student has come out to them to the child's parents is ridiculous I don't believe you know how incredibly dangerous this policy can be one yes some parents are supportive and would do anything for their trials others are not by outing a child to their parents who are bringing the possibility of immense danger into their lives and potential abuse of appearance and I'm aware you may say not all parents are abusive or that you're looking out for the
126students however what you fail to observe is the reality as I previously stated why is it that therapists don't disclose their minor patients meetings with their parents because privacy is important even for minors these are two extremely similar circumstances or for therapists it may be hip abound miners still have rights just like illegal adults there is absolutely no reason that U.S parents and professionals should be risking the privacy and safety of minors for your own agendas School settings are supposed to be safe for all and by passing this you are turning it into an unsafe environment along with Children's Home lives please leave any decisions and resend this and take into account how we how all the students fill out this matter and realize that we too are human beings with feelings and thoughts of
127Our Own It doesn't matter how young we are we know what we are talking about as a student body thank you I just need to point down it's been a half hour since we started this session we'll give three more and then we'll have to close everyone my name is me tell Floyd um I live in Eatontown New Jersey I um broken Middletown I graduated from Yorktown High School South in the 2014 and um I feel like enough's been said about you know the policy everything that's going on with everything now but I'm just gonna outline like this is I still have now but I I didn't have that and for me my first first place where I could be out was um my college um I graduated with Bachelor of psychology and um Green
128Mountain College was the first place I could be out as transgender and when I would come home and I'd have dresses it's all these different things it's just a social transition at first um I'm beginning to fight with my parents remain hours and hours and um one time it's uh around this time of year I was saying sometimes if you want um and I was facing after reality where I was gonna go home to an environment where I wasn't accepted and my family so um my team came time for me to go home I didn't want to so I just wrote I drove and drove all night and then found myself in the king Magnus Highway in New Hampshire has anyone ever been there um it's a long whiny pass that goes through the White
129Mountains um and I found myself there about five in the morning I um pulled over and um a little parking lot that was um on the side but you know about that was there to a lot of people to enjoy the scenery like after sunrise what's the sunrise for a bit decided I didn't want to go home so I got back in my car I was in all the Volkswagen Jetta couldn't beat up um you know how to resolved a lot of ran it up north it's across the granite so please record there was no guard route on the side of the road big rocket granite um I slammed into it with my car as fast as I could trying to kill myself I thank God for the way I'm an adult Batman taxes um
130that kind of experience where you don't have the support that could be any transgender any strength and gender person who's been in this room right now who's in the school board [Music] [Applause] I'm a school psychologist in the neighboring district and a mom of two children in my office one who was still at South I also have transgender and LGBT Q relatives it's unfortunate that this meeting wasn't moved to the auditorium we refuse to let people participate in meetings virtually saying they have to be here to speak to allow the people to do our attorneys to Resource Mass agenda but you have this meeting to the space of this small Media Center for a district of State as Middletown not only a crowd was coming very cowardly [Applause] it was hard to follow that any
131board members actually opposed the transgender change I did thank you [Applause] is that each of you are aware that lgbtq youth are at the highest risk of suicide Joan and Louise Leonora Caminiti Barry Heffernan Joe Fitzgerald Frank Capone Jacko and tobacco Kate Farley and Gary Cole you will have blood on your hands should a trans student take their life because of the repercussions [Applause] I have many questions why is the poe president making rounds at Boe meetings across the city will our taxpayer money be spent on lawsuits from this policy change what will consider be if the student asks the staff member not to tell their parents will students be awarded this outing before they can find in staff members why would a vulnerable student ever seek to further support from their school when their
132rights and trusts have been violated in this manner will Middletown staff jobs be at risk if they don't go along with this because a school psychologist this is against my ethical boundaries [Applause] profession [Music] speaking of which thank you Mary Ellen Walker for your here to service to our districts why is the bov placing you on administrative leave to the tune of over 100 thousand dollars until your reservation number 31st why are we paying two people for the job of superintendent for State College [Applause] however I am a teacher in the neighboring town of Tinton Falls and I also have relatives who live in Middletown and attended schools as we know this amendment to the policy that you just wrote it on directly affects trans students and parents and trans kids how are changing the
133state policy shows me that the board never took the time to sit down with Middletown parents of trans kids or learn from trans adults or gender affirming therapists or any reputable organizations such as P flag Garden State of quality or the pride Center of New Jersey to gain a comprehensive understanding of trans issues when amending a policy that literally affects Iran's kids we live in a world filled with misinformation disinformation and political divides specifically regarding transitions do not properly tap into the trans Community to gain accurate information when making a policy that affects the trans Community is mind-blowing to me and grossly irresponsible please keep in mind that if a child already feels comfortable in their own home and their parents have created that safe space for them that child is naturally going to come
134out to them first when they are ready if a child is coming out to a staff member first it is because they either need time or they don't feel safe having the conversation with their parents in it they are counting on staff for help we need help talking it through they need resources they need trust this way when the timing is right for them and their confidence is built up and the resources are in place they can feel comfortable enough having that difficult conversation with their parents coming out with an extremely personal process and it takes tons of courage and each trans student must do it in their own time if that deeply personal moment of Courage is stolen upon us it can severely impact their mental health because they weren't ready children have their
135own autonomy and they know who they are better than some someone telling us who they are who they should be I am not trans but I have trans family members however I am I am gay and I can definitely speak to what the coming out process is like I always knew I was gay but I wasn't ready to tell my family it took until I was in my early 20s and muster up the strength to seek support I reached out to the pricer of New Jersey to gain that support and I began to build up my confidence and resources to be prepared to have that difficult conversation with my parents who actually turned out to be bullying is fully accepting and wonderful granted I was an adult when I came out but I know for
136sure that if I had been a student Maybe advisor than the staff member and that staff member was required to call my parents before I was mentioned ready to tell them I can tell you with 100 certainty that I would have ended my life and I know this because it was something I was already considering as my backup plan if it thinks that's out of my hands to prematurely I definitely could have handled that as a child and you never know how parents are going to react so you can't count on the provision you have added up refraining from telling if there's documented evidence that doing so would cause harm they only know if there's going to be harm after the child is about it the most picture-perfect families are notorious trans child to Suicide
137thank you [Applause] our emotion to a journey meeting all in favor opposed attention have a good night everyone [Applause] [Music]