001Oh, was he? Oh, is that what they were waiting for? We didn't have a quorum. Call the meeting to order. Roll call, please. Mr. Akamando, present. Miss Bali, present. Mr. Oello. Miss present. These are none. Mr. Laurentino, present. Miss Roloff, here. Miss Torbick. Mr. Mr. Traverso here. Moreelli here. Please rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Amen. Please be seated. Except this one right here. Adequate notice of this meeting has been sent out to all members of the board of education and to the Bergen record in accordance with the provisions of the open public meetings act chapter 231 1975. At this time, please be advised that all
002cell phones and electronic devices are to be turned off. Student report, please. Okay. Yeah. I don't I don't think these are on. I don't think they're on. Says it's on. Testing. Testing. No. He had them. He had them before. They were working. I was good. Okay. Good. I think we're better now. Yep. They're working. Nice to show. You weren't waiting for me, were you? No. Perfect timing. Nice of you to show up. I just got your mic, so I'm busting. We just started. Go ahead. Good. Okay. Good evening, everyone. Starting off with Washington School. This month, they had a visit from the National Honor Society at the high school to celebrate Neurodiversity Month. The high school students joined classes to build a friendship chain and then go outside and blow bubbles. The long chain is
003now proudly displayed in the main hallway at Washington. Preschool classes also took a field trip to the town's public library. The teachers constantly stressed the importance of reading to preschoolers and it is so much fun to be surrounded by so many new books. Their ABA class also took a special trip to we rock the spectrum and pramis. There students got to play in a sensory gym where they had so much fun using all their gross motor skills. And this week they had their annual spring egg hunt and a visit from a giant bunny. For Franklin School, students have been enthusiastically participating in several different reading events. The first was the read around the bases challenge designed to encourage students to read each night. They've also been hosting the first ever month-long bookworm brawl where classes
004are competing against one another to see how much they can read and how many books they check out from the media center. The school's third grade students recently showcased their musical talents at the recorder concert which was a great success. The sixth grade students had the opportunity to extend attend the middle school experience trip to familiarize themselves with the middle school. And finally, the students in the gifted and talented program at Frank at Franklin organized and hosted their cardboard carnival for all students. Now, for Smith School, the fifth graders recently brought history to life with their wax museum. The addition of digital presentations truly enhanced the experience, and it was a huge success, showcasing their hard work and creativity. A couple nights ago, the third graders joined students from Franklin and Long School for the
005annual district-wide recorder concert. It was a truly memorable evening. The excitement continues today as the fourth graders will be hosting their annual Boston Tea Party. They've been working hard and everyone looks forward to seeing history unfold with in their own unique way. And finally, Smith would also like to take the time to acknowledge the and thank the incredible PAR professionals and their dedicated media specialists at the beginning of the month. They thank them for their tireless efforts, unwavering support, and exceptional teamwork. Now for long school, they had a long month of sharing and discovering for their K through three students. They enthusiastically presented their learning from their Amplify units to their other grade levels. The kindergarteners shared their knowledge of ocean animals. First graders are exploring the American Revolution and the nation's history. Second graders
006researched the Civil War and the fascinating world of insects. And third graders brought the Vikings to life. The students were so proud to host classroom museums offering a glimpse into their wonderful daily learning for staff and peers. They also want to thank Miss Lauder for her valuable lessons on autism and neurodeiversity awareness. In a beautiful display of unity, the ABA class coordinated a schoolwide mural that celebrates the unique ways we all think, blending together into one amazing piece of art. For the middle school, on April 24th, faculty and staff had power professional development day, excuse me. The PTO was kind enough to donate coffee and treats for everyone and the staff would like to say thank you so much for the kindness and generosity of the PTO. March 31st was the sixth grade experience. All
007three sixth grade elementary schools visited the middle school for the morning. The sixth graders were able to meet with the middle school staff, learn about different classes and curriculum, and take a brief tour of the middle school. Everyone was very excited to welcome the middle school next year. April 2nd was PAR professional appreciation day. The middle school wants to thank all the paras for everything they do for the students in the middle school. As always, district music day was a big hit. It was exciting having the students showcased their talents. And a special thank you to Mr. Ortega and Mr. Cuden. And on Wednesday, April 9th, the middle school had their battle of the books. Congratulations to the plot twisters, Charles Mcool, Damen Aldocowski, and Andreas Bernovich for winning the competition. And congratulations to the
008Saddlebook Bookers, Emma Milik, Amelia Madinski, Alysia Rakenna, Mel Melanie Rivera, and Maha Zakalowski, the runner-ups. I unfortunately don't have anything for high school at the moment, but it will be in Miss Violletti's district update. And lastly, for information regarding sports, the Saddbrook High School athletic department would like to recognize Nina Barali on being selected as a 2025 Unico Brian Piccolo Award winner. Nina was honored at a dinner at Great Cliff Manor. Congratulations, Thank you. Good job. Thank you. Superintendent report, please. Thank you, Savannah. All right. A reminder to everybody that tomorrow is our last day of school before our spring recess. So, we are closed Friday and all of next week. I think they needed a reminder. Some very excited attendees here this evening. And when we return, we do start our state testing. Oh,
009they're in second grade. Um, we do have our state testing and a reminder to our families that for the first time our K to6 buildings will be on a delayed opening schedule, operating on delayed opening schedule during their week of testing and our middle school high school will also be a delayed opening schedule on their week of testing. So, please be on the lookout for emails from your child's building principal so that way you know the schedule. Last night here was our grade three recorder concert. It's one of the best nights of the school year. It's the first time our elementary students get dressed up. They come here and they perform in the auditorium up on stage. They are super excited. The energy is beyond up there. Um, and it's one of our events where
010it's like standing room only. Parents come, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and it's a show for sure. So, congratulations to our third graders. They had a great night last night. And I was actually just at the fifth grade wax museum over at Long School. They did a fabulous job. It was 5:30 to 6:30 tonight. Franklin School already had theirs. And a reminder to our board that May um for Smith School had theirs. May meeting is coming up quickly. It's May 7th and 9th. So it's it's a couple weeks after we return from spring recess. And in June at our June board of ed meeting, we'll be honoring our teacher of the years. Fifth, sorry, 5th and 7th of May is our board meetings. Um, and in June at our June board meeting, I will not say the
011date, our teacher of the year and retirees are going to be honored. So, it'll be a special evening for everybody. I wanted to also provide an update on our field, our turf field at the middle school high school, Mr. Karate, myself, Mr. O'Donnell, Mr. Ionel, and the architects. We walked the field today. It is on the final stages. So, we're really excited about that. That being said, we also have the visitor bleachers that are now being installed. So they're currently all the pieces are out there out back and we also have a company cleaning out the back part of the field by Popular Street. Um all the brush that all the brush that was there. They're cleaning it all up and flattening it out and they're moving the shop hood area back there as well.
012So there's still work going on. So that being said, we are not using having our students use the field yet. The goal is for the first week of May to begin using our field, have our teams get on that field and enjoy it first and then we will have our graduation out on that field as well. I also just wanted to take a moment to thank our teachers who have agreed to host a student teacher this past year. Our student teachers, they've been with us all year and I'm starting to get emails and phone calls from superintendents across the county that are thanking us for doing such a fab fabulous job with our student teachers and really building such talent. such great talent here in Saddlebrook. So, I really want to extend a gra my
013gratitude to our cooperating teachers here who have offered to host a student teacher. It's really appreciated. At this point, we have two exemplary falcons that we are going to honor. And then we have two presentations. Intro to neurodiversity is a new course that we started this year. So, we do have um one of our teachers of that course and some of her students here to share information about it to kind of recap what the year has taught them. And then we have it in a presentation on our workbased learning that we also started this year for some of our special education students at the high school. All right, I'm going to move you notice a pendulum on that clock. I just sore you. Okay. So, what we've done is this school year is honoring our
014students here at the high school in a little bit of a different way than we've done in the past. So, we have our teachers across the district nominate a high school student that shows um the qualities of a falcon. And this month, we have two students. We have Anthony Weey and Kelly Gleason. So, I'm going to start sharing what staff has have shared regarding Anthony. And I'm just going to start by saying that Anthony has always been extremely respectful to me. He says good morning to me, which not many students at the high school say good morning. and he um he definitely has always been very kind and respectful. So I appreciate that. What we do is we share it out to the entire district and everyone has an opportunity to share words about the
015student. So here's what staff across the district have shared about Anthony. Anthony is very polite and a true exemplary falcon. Wait, I thought it was me, but it's not me. It's another one. Anthony is very plate and says good morning to me every day. I was like, I didn't write that. He assists his fellow students during class and always turns in his work on time. He is hardly ever absent and comes to class on time and with a great attitude every day. He has a positive attitude and works very hard to achieve the best grades in my class. Another staff member wrote, "Anthony is the true exemplary falcon. He is the complete package. He is polite, courteous, and always quick with a smile and a good morning. He represents Saddlebrook as an athlete during all
016three seasons. He is also a great student doing what is needed to help himself and others. A true role model for all of our students. I had the pleasure of being Anony's teacher in elementary school during the COVID time period where we had blue and gold days. Anthony was always prepared and ready to learn. He made the best of being virtual on some days and in person on other days. Anthony always had a smile on his face and was was respectful at all times. He was a team player and willing to help his classmates in whatever way he could. He knew exactly when to be silly and when he needed to settle down. He is someone who could be counted on to do the right thing. He is most deserving of this rec recognition. Another
017staff member wrote, "Anthony was an outstanding student and a true role model in my fourth grade class. He excelled in every aspect of his academics, always putting forth his best effort and striving for excellence. Beyond the classroom, Anthony was a very talented athlete who demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship both in competition and in everyday interactions. His kindness, reliability, and sense of humor made him a joy to have in class. I could always count on him to lend a helping hand or bring a smile to those around him. Anony's dedication, character, and hard work make him more more than deserving of the exemplary Falcon title. It was truly a privilege to teach him, and I couldn't be prouder of all that he has accomplished. Anthony is respected by his teachers. Anthony is respected by his teammates. Anthony is
018respected by his peers. We all recognize his exceptionally sincere nature, his kind disposition, and his determined attitude. He is a role model for younger students, a dedicated group member in every classroom activity, and a bright presence in all of his classes. I have noticed that Anthony always tries to bring out the best in other students. He encourages them, supports them, and always has something kind to say. He is kind to his teachers as well. Thank you, Anthony. And is always prepared and ready to work in class. So, Anthony, congratulations. Come on down for your exemplary falcon t-shirt. Anthony way. Anthony, you made me smile. Good job, Aunt. [Applause] And now we have Kelly Gleason. I have had the honor of knowing Kelly since she was quite young at Franklin Elementary School, and I am extremely
019proud of the young adult she is today. All right, so Kelly, here's what other staff members had to say about you. Kelly Gleason is the kind of person who brightens any room she walks into. Cheerful, polite, and endlessly creative, she brings a positive energy that lifts up those around her. A true friend to all, Kelly's kindness and work ethic set her apart as both a leader and a role model. She approaches every challenge with determination and an open mind, always ready to lend a helping hand or spark a new idea. Her intelligence and creativity shine in everything she does, making her a standout example of an exemplary falcon. Kelly is one of the most talented and humble students I've ever taught. I am thankful to have worked with her for so many years. She is
020a kind, disarming, and curious young woman who always gives her best attention to every assignment. She works well with others on challenging group assignments and always puts in a great deal of effort. She is among the finest students who are graduating this year. I can't believe you're graduating. A well-deserved award indeed. Kelly is incredibly kind, empathetic, and an excellent participant in class. She goes out of her way to learn about others and has taken time to understand people of varying abilities. I loved being her third grade teacher. She was compassionate, positive, and was always motivated to learn. She was always driven, helpful to her classmates, and kind to her teachers. She's bound to succeed in anything she puts her mind into life to in life. Kelly walked into her fifth grade classroom every day with
021a smile and a helping hand. Not only could I always count on her positive attitude, but she was extremely hardworking and determined even at such a young age. Congratulations, Kelly. Saddlebrook is so very proud of you. Kelly is one of the sweetest students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. She is quick to offer a hand or a kind word to anyone who needs it. She always has a positive attitude even when the work is challenging. Whenever Kelly has had difficulty with the material being taught, she asks questions in class, comes for extra help, or emails me for assistance. She can be counted on to be prepared and actively participating in math class daily. Every interaction with Kelly ends with her wishing me a great day, afternoon or evening. She is an absolute doll
022and would be be greatly missed when she graduates this June. I wish you all the best. You deserve it. Kelly Gleason has been a pleasure to work with for the last three and a half years. She has maintained excellent grades and has applied to several colleges with hopes of becoming a vet tech. We are waiting her decision or where she will be attending school in the fall. All the way through the younger grades, Kelly was a pleasure to work with. She approached every one of her math classes with dedication and enthusiasm. Her serious approach to learning was accompanied by a great sense of humor and appreciation for all the help you gave her. Kelly always showed perseverance when doing her work and always did it with a smile. I am so glad to hear that
023she was chosen as an exemplary Falcon recipient. Kelly is a very hard worker and a genuinely strong student. I have witnessed significant growth in her academic abilities, but also in how she is there for her friends and her peers. Kelly is genuinely curious and inquisitive and always puts her best effort into her class assignments. She demonstrates consistently good character, sound judgment, and genuine kindness. I am thankful for the opportunity to have taught her. So, Kelly, come on down. Congratulations. Good job. Okay, at this time I'm going to ask our board members to transition to one of the chairs and I'm going to introduce our next presenter. Cheers. [Music] Okay, thank you. Well, let me change. Hold on. Okay. All right. So, we started there um a new elective here at the high school called Intro
024to Neurode Diversity. And what we have today is one of the teachers is going to share with you sort of a recap of the class, how it ran this school year with some of her students who are also going to share. So, I now welcome Miss Laura Ironman, one of our speech pathologists here in the district. She is one of the leader of this course and she's going to share a little bit about it. Thank you. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Good evening. Um, I'll go ahead and ask my students to also come up. So, I have some student represent representatives from the class this year that are I don't want to call them our guinea pigs, but they were brave enough to be the first to sign up for this course. So, I do appreciate
025them a lot. All right. So, as we said about a year ago, I came and presented the idea of this course to the board of education and it kind of developed through um when creating the curriculum of this wonderful program that allows um a lot of our people that are in the Tomorrow's Teachers program to learn about varying abilities within schools. But the other things that I've noticed is that we have people who are looking into going into law and other courses as well to find that everyone's minds work differently and all brains are great brains and that's essentially what they've been learning this year. So some of the highlights that we've had is we do have guest speakers. Something that I advertised this class for last year for our students is when you just
026want to help someone and you don't really know what to do with that. You know, there's teaching out there and of course we need teachers, but there are under other wonderful helping careers out there. And we've had some wonderful guest speakers. We've had a child life specialist who specializes in hospitals helping with traumatic events for children, medical procedures with children. We've had our entire child study team have a panel with the students to say their varying degrees. We've had both um Brooke Hannenburgg and Jillian Collie also come in to be uh presentate presenters I should say. Um and we have some more coming up as well. An occupational therapist or a um helping careers as well to help discuss with our students what is out there and how they can help people who are neurodeiverse.
027Um, increasing awareness of varying ways people think, not just necessarily the stereotypes that we see in day-to-day life. This is really important in neurodeiverse awareness month and acceptance month as more falls under that neurodeiverse umbrella than what we initially thought. And so that's something that they've been learning as well. And just empathy within our schools. So we're always open to new questions. I always say no questions or stupid questions in this class because we're all learning together. So some things they have been learning are the diagnosis uh criteria for varying neurotypes. So autism, ADHD, dyslexia, disgraphia, discalculia, stuttering, Tourette's syndrome, OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and more. So we've been covering a lot in this class and I have a wonderful class that is willing to learn all of this stuff and come with the hard
028questions, hard-hitting questions and they've been absolutely outstanding with um working on just understanding more. They always want to understand the why, the how. They want to get to know why people are a certain way or how they think a certain way. Some other things like I said we have the helper jobs, communication variations. So obviously that is my specialty is as a speech pathologist I have that bias of I can go in and kind of talk about communication types with them. So that's been wonderful. And most recently we've been doing sensory variations. So I think I it's safe to say our sensory is the most fun. And I have some pictures of some recent events that we have done to learn about sensations and not just necessarily our five sensations that you learn in science
029class, but more of that internal feeling as well. Um, and then in quarter four, we're getting into after the break executive functioning. We're going to finish up sensory processing a little bit. And then also the legality and advocacy for neurodeiverse populations. So, this is great for people who are looking into law and other things to understand the legality behind why we do what we do, what an IEP even is, and all of those fun things. So, here are some pictures from our recent sensory station. I think the best way of learning is by doing. So, some of our students had to create their own sensory profiles by identifying what they find um pleasing, what they find displeasing, things that bother them, things that give them the ick, things like that. So, we did a tactile
030station where they had to put their hand in and feel around and see what's inside. Some of it was shaving cream, some of it was smooth rocks, but they had to identify and understand the difference between diff uh differential tactile sensations. Uh, same thing with identifying smells. That one was always fun because half of them wrote soap and it's not always soap, but they they had fun doing it. So, here's some of our other ones. We had a visual table where they had to do search and finds. Some of our brave souls getting into this uh shaving cream bin. We did proprioception, which is one we know less about. how we get our muscles moving and how certain people have sensory sensations such as seeking for proprioception. Um, vestibular is another one. So, balancing with
031their eyes closed. That's Miss Helina there with her blindfold on. And then we always have fun, too. So, we have some taste sensation going on here. They're all eating a lemon. So, identifying how some people may be hypo sensitive to a lemon. These three are not. They are very hyper sensitive and you can see it on their faces. And then the last one is again proprioception. So putting our muscles to use. Again I like teaching through doing. So I think they had a really fun time with our sensation walk that we did. And here are some little blurbs from our students. Miss Leie could not be here tonight, so I do have um permission to read it. But this class has educated me with a lot on the differences of each brain with Mrs. With
032Ironman's passionate teaching and interactive lessons, it makes understanding the material easy. Every day we are leaving with more knowledge about things we may have never heard of. A takeaway from this class is that each individual is different. No matter if you are under the neurodeivergent umbrella or not. Kelly, you can go ahead and say yours, ma'am. This this class has taught me and will continue to teach me so much about how uniquely every brain functions. Throughout the course, we cover we covered a variety of different topics in such an efficient way that I'm able to obtain all the information. I especially like how every week we have a different guest speaker that provides us with their firsthand experiences with kids and adults while they're in their different careers that they have. As a senior, I
033feel like this class is especially valuable because after I graduate, I will be going into the real world, obviously, and there's a bunch of different people out there with different experiences and different perspectives. Miss Stella is also not here tonight, but she participates in tomorrow's teachers and she helps out the gym teacher, which exposes her to all different ages and types of children. This class has helped me be better to understand and communicate with all kids, especially those who are neurodeiverse. I really love how in this class, what I am learning is constantly being translated to my day-to-day life. It is really cool being able to take what I am learning in the class and actually use it to form stronger connections with children and be able to help the them learn in a way
034that works for them. I really do love taking this class and I've been able to take away a lot from it. So, originally I became interested in this class because of my brother Hudson who some of you may know. um he has an IEP and he talks to a child neurologist about his OCD symptoms which I learned a lot about during this class. I am also going to minor in sociology and this class has 100% taught me so much more about kids and adults that I never knew before. I now know more about what a neur a child neurologist is and the different symptoms between OCD as well as autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and more of the things that Miss Ironman had stated before. All of this makes me eager to learn more in
035this class every single day, which is why I'm glad to have this as an elective, and I can't wait to know even more as I'm getting to the end of my senior year. As my aunt will be talking on Zoom about being a COA on May 2nd, I'm very excited and glad that I'm able to take this class and I will continue to use what I learned here in this class moving forward into my job and in the Tomorrow's Teachers program that I am currently in. And this is Deep Miss Deanna, also not here. Sorry Erica, you're best for last, right? I chose to take Intro to Neurodiversity because I plan to study psychology in college and hope to work with children, possibly in the criminal justice field where understanding different neurotypes can really uh
036can make a real impact. Taking this course has given me a deeper understanding of how the diverse brain functions uh shape the way people experience the world. So far, we've explored autism, OCD, ADHD, sensory processing differences, and more. This class has opened my eyes to the importance of empathy, inclusion, and recognizing the strengths that come with neurode divergence. This would be a great fullear course. Oo, for people interested in studying psychology. Didn't tell her to write that. have to go. So, in in this class, we've done different activities. And my favorite activity was by far spoon theory. And if you're not sure or you need a refresher, you have three different energies. Emotional, which is like friend drama or like just like anything me more mentally draining. Mental drama, which can be like a very
037hard class or like testing. And then physical physical like energy is gym class or a sport. And with spoon theory, you each have a certain amount of spoons every day. And that represents the energy you have. And we were all given spoons, like physical spoons. And if you're neurodeiverse or neurode divergent, you have less spoons. And whenever we would do a task, we would take away a spoon or gain a spoon depending on what it was. And it basically showed me that no matter how like it basically showed me how to empathize with people who have more energy or have less energy and it showed me how to deal with that and like if I have less energy one day it showed me not to be hard on myself or if I have more energy
038it also showed me not to be hard on myself because everyone is like different and it's back to what Miss I said about all brains are good brains because we all experience things differently and it made me more aware of like the world. And again, I did not pay them to say any of these wonderful things about the class. But yeah, that is how our class has been going. And who it could be a full year class. I may have to do some more curriculum building. Thank you, Miss Iron Man. Thank you, girls. Can we have another round of applause for them? They did 50 stub. They did a fabulous job and I had nothing to do with the creation of this course, but I do appreciate it. Many of you know I do have
039an autistic daughter. She's now 18 and I have a neurotypical son who is 21. So, I really do appreciate the course and I thank our students for participating in it. All right. At this point, I'm going to invite our director of special services and our supervisor of early childhood and special services up to the podium. They're going to share a new program that we started this year called workbased learning. So, Mrs. Hannenburgg and Mrs. Collie, please come [Applause] up. Good evening. Can you hear me? Is it working? It's like all right, you can hear me though. Okay. Okay. So, in keeping with um the theme of neurodeiversity month, um we've been doing a lot of activities around the district, but with our growing population and special programs, we thought it would really be a nice
040opportunity to kind of give you a little glimpse into what's actually happening in some of our programs. So, our sale program at the middle school high school building is rapidly expanding. Um, and for 11th graders who are getting ready to be prepared for life beyond school, uh, we have a focus on community- based instruction. So, under that umbrella of community- based instruction, we have started uh we've been partnering with Ruckers, the Bog Center at Ruckers, which um Jillian will speak about in detail a little bit later, um to really get different job sites up and running for our students to prepare them for meaningful meaningful work experiences. So aside from just the community- based instruction that happens in the classroom and the specially designed curriculum that they use on a regular basis for academics, maybe
041adaptive skills, life skills, um they're constantly cooking something in uh Mrs. McCarthy's classroom um so that they are meaningful members of our community and they can live independently or as independently as possible. we do take that very seriously. So to take it one step further and age appropriately prepare them for um for jobs. So Jill, you want to talk about Ruckers? All right. So one of the um exciting things that happened this school year is we are now part of um a CBI cohort through Ruckers University and the BOG Center. Um and it's a partnership between the Bog Center at Ruckers and the Department of uh education. And basically it's provides um strategies and supports to us here in school about how we can better our programming and really support our students more. Um so
042what that comes with so we have members it's kind of an interdisciplinary team. We have our teachers from our sale program. We have um uh an occupational therapist, physical therapists, speech therapists, behaviorist um as well as um Miss Hannenburg and I are both sit in on that group as well. and we have met with them four time five times already. Um they have provided a four-hour um foundations of community based instruction training program for us. Um they have also done um one technical assistance day already and we have another one scheduled in two weeks um where they are coming and providing with like hands-on feedback and instruction to help us better again support our students. Um we are the team is creating a CBI action plan that will kind of guide us um as the
043years go on. I believe it's a 2year program that we're doing with them. Um so they will continue to follow us for at least another year to assist us with that. Um and then they have also provided uh job coach training to three of our par professionals who now go out onto job sites with our students. So I will let I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. McCarthy who has kind of spearheaded a lot setting up all of these job sites for our students and has really been the workbased learning um go-to this this school year. So I will let her share a little bit about the program as well. Sure. Sure. Hi everybody. All right. Like she said, I'm Miss McCarthy. Um I am the workbased learning coordinator. So, this is a rundown
044of steps I took to get the program running. So, I had to um find some businesses. We partnered with Walgreens and so for the Washington school to have our students go there to work a couple days a week. Uh we are in the uh planning stages with some other businesses as well. There is a contract that's signed by the students, the parents, the business, and uh myself to um give guidelines for what everybody's roles are. There's also the student training plan. They and they are directly correlated with each student's IEP goals. And um so these students are on unpaid, excuse me, unpaid internships. And it gives them the real real world real life experiences. And actually the in Walgreens the manager Mr. Frank he says that he really uh excuse me um what's the word
045per he really wants the students after they graduate he would love if they uh interviewed for there to get a paid job there. So, so it's really a good um a good way to get a job after graduation. And then also with those goals, uh of course we assess them throughout the year. I'll go and visit them and watch how their students are doing at their different jobs. Some various tasks that they've done. We also have jobs that we just do in the district. So, clerical office tasks like shredding and uh laminating things like that. I actually really love those jobs. Uh custodial tasks, cleaning around the building, vacuuming, cleaning windows, um all sorts of things that um need need to be done in the school. sorting mail in the main office, putting them in
046all the staff mailboxes. It's a really good way to to learn people in the building as well. And then assisting staff with various project. We've been a part of lots of different projects. Just um today and last week, we were helping with making the packets for the state testing, putting them all together, counting the the amount of materials and items needed, putting them in the envelopes. Uh we decorated the staff room for Valentine's Day which was fun promoting joy. Um we also had some class fundra fundraisers that they helped to promote and different creating different uh CBI materials. We went to Franklin school so they helped to make the materials for that activity and we went to Washington school twice uh for a uh Cat in the Hat activity. um some upcoming um excuse me
047events. We're having a Mother's Day tea party for the mothers in the district. So, they're going to be helping with that. We're going to be organizing the office storage closet and labeling uh this diecut machine at the Washington School. So, some big projects coming away and also deliveries and like I said materials for those events. This is our wonderful team here. Myself, Miss Lauder, and our three job coaches on the bottom there, Miss Ashley, Miss Ivy, and Miss Dara. So, we speak often and we uh help each other figure out um how the students are doing and then make decisions on how to help them. And there's some fun pictures of our students while they're working at Walgreens looking. So, our students find the outdates at Walgreens. They look for the expiration dates and the
048we have to determine whether if it's an out date or not, if it's within the 30 days or 90 days of of the date and they will put that if it's an out date, they'll put it in the cart and then at the end of the shift bring it to the back room. Um, they're very they're very good on checking out dates and expiration dates. Even stuff that we have in the classroom, they start looking at the dates for everything. So, it's really it's really uh following through on their daily lives. Just some more the great great work that they're doing, really focused, just having fun after our shift. And those are some cart full carts full of items that we they found. So, and after every shift, a lot of our students, they like
049to buy um something at the end. So, they like that as well. So, we had to work in the freezer section one day in the refrigerator. So, Oh, yeah. Just our guys and Yeah. Yeah. They were they were about they were about to expire or expired. Yeah. They were within 30 days of expiring, so we had to pull them off the shelves. So, and these are some pictures of us cleaning cleaning around the building, doing different tasks. This was making the packets for the state testing stuff in the classroom. Uh Kendrick was helping me make uh the Mother's Day flyer. So, and none of the students was were able to be here tonight. So, I have just um some their phrases of what they like and what they've learned. Kendrick, he said, "I like to
050find expiration dates on the containers of milk. I am proud to have a job." up. He always wants to go to the milk section. And he said, "I I learned how to check expiration dates on items to see if they are if they are outdates." Andy, my favorite part about work is saying hi to everyone and buying stuff after work. He loves he loves to talk to everybody, especially the manager. He's like, "Can I can I say hi to Mr. Frank?" So, I learned how to read and check for expiration dates. Ysef, I enjoy speaking to my boss. I enjoy working with my friends. I feel so excited to go to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I feel proud that I have been doing great at Walgreens. I hope to keep working there. He said,
051"I learned that I have to use my arms a lot to reach the items and it is a tiring job, but nice." And last but not least, Yostina. My favorite part about work is playing and interacting with the kids. She works u primarily at Washington school now and she learned how to care for the kids and to help them. So thank you for listening. Have a great night. I just wanted just shameful plug here. Also if there is anybody listening or anybody in the audience who has a business and they would like some help and would be willing to um have some of our kids come work there. We're always looking for new locations and places and opportunities for our students. So, please don't hesitate to reach out and we will absolutely uh see if
052we can work with you. Thank you very much. I thank Mrs. Collie, Mrs. Hannenburgg, and Mrs. McCarthy for bringing work-based learning to our school district and to our students. The vocational training is needed for these students and they really took it on and the collaboration that they have with Ruckers, but then the collaboration across the district is pretty amazing. So, thank you. Um at this time a motion to take a five minute break before we go through the agenda. Okay. So what we are going to do is we're going to take a five minute break and then we're going to proceed going through the agenda. During caucus at Monday's meeting we do go through every line item and it's discussed. So it should be relatively um quick and smooth process going through the agenda this
053evening. So thank you very much. We'll take a quick fivem minute break. I didn't get your email. [Music] nothing to save it and it just keeps going back. So even if I upload here, it's the same thing. Are you guys twins? Are you twins? You know what? I'm just going to Are you Who's older? I'm Me, too. I'm two minutes older than my brother. On my other computer. Your other one? I have one that's not a Chromebook. We have a Chromebook, right? Yes. So, you can't save something, right? But they're saved in my forms or wherever they're saved. Oh, they're saved in your documents. But the thing that's not Go ahead. You'll see what we're talking about. I know where they're saved. Okay. Motion to reopen the meeting. Motion. Second. We're going to you. Oh,
054yeah. Uh, excuse me. Business administrator's report, please. Second. Maybe one of the kids. I was ready for it. Excuse me. This time I didn't do Sorry. As Mrs. uh Violet was explaining before, the field's u coming along. Uh the field work is almost done. Other site and work, the fencing has begun. Visitor bleachers uh all started this past uh Monday. So things are progressing well with the field. um some other referendum projects. A bid was sent out um last week, end of last week for the front entrance improvements and also we're working on trying to do an alternate for the entrance to the field as well. So bids are due the end of the month and we hope to make an award on May 7th meeting at Coolage School, which will be the board offices.
055We hit a little stall with the electrical uh hookup from PSCG. So the vendor had to, you know, halt work and um we saw the PSCG truck there on Monday doing some hookups. So we hope that's uh going to take place soon and then the contractor can get back to finishing the elevator, flooring and bathrooms. Uh that work should be completed by the um end of May. We expect to move in late June, early July. We are also working on quotes for the replacement of some older doors around all the school buildings and replacing some floor tiles in Franklin and other areas. The window replacement project at Washington School and other roofing replacements will be done over the summer. And other than facility projects, we have currently have a proposal out for uh food service
056operations, which is a mandatory rebid every five years that's due the end of the month. And we have a solid waste removal um bid out that's due again the end of the month because of the the cost we're increasing which goes over our our threshold to force us to go out to bid. That's the end of this month as well and we're looking to approve those both on May 7th. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Before I open the meeting to the public, anybody from the board need have any questions for Miss Vetti or Mr. Karate? No. All good. Okay. Let me hold on. Okay. Can I have a motion, please, to open the meeting to the public for items on agenda only? Motion. Second. So moved. Anybody in the audience want to speak?
057No. Okay. Motion to close to the public. Motion. Second. All in favor. All in favor? I Okay. So, now we go on to just our action, right? Action items. Good. All right. I will read Miss uh Torbick's information as to the board action items. B2425.34. Let me change that. Sorry, Mike. Okay. 40. Sorry, just missing a sentence or two in here. At the recommendation of the superintendent, I make a motion to approve the following minutes. B, excuse me, the following board action items. B2425.34 through B2425.40 motion second. All those in favor we don't have to do that. Okay. Any discussion? Any questions? I'll share 3.37 is a donation of an alto matophone to the Smith school music program from donor's choose. So, Miss Kowalsski, the music teacher at Smith School, she filled out an application
058within donor's choose where people um from anywhere can contribute to the donation. So, she raised enough money to purchase one of the xylophones for the ORF program there. So, I thank her for doing that. I also want to extend um our gratitude to Saddleberg VFW Post 3484. They donated once again $1,000 towards the cost of the sixth grade trip to Fairview Lake Environmental Center. So, thank you to them. Thank you. Education and curriculum, Miss Ayanella. Oh, forgot. Sorry. Hold on. I also would like to thank Mrs. Traverso. It's our first time leading our board meeting. Mrs. Torbick, our board president, had a family emergency. She was unable to make it. So, you're doing a great job. Thank you. She is due back on Friday. So, okay. So, Oh, roll call, please. Mr. Lorentino, yes. Miss
059Roloff, yes. Miss Otterelli, yes. Mr. Akamando, yes. Miss Bali, yes. Mr. Oello, yes. Missyello, yes to all, but I'm going to abstain from NB2425.34 numbers two and three. Yes to everything else. Okay. And Mr. Traverso. Yes. Education and curriculum. Miss I know. Okay. At the recommendation of the superintendent, I make a motion to approve the following items. E2425.46 through E24251. Motion. Second. All those in favor? Oh, any discussion, please? I would like to highlight some of their field trips. So this year our senior class, they opted to take a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure instead of their annual senior day here at the high school. So that's on this agenda. As well as our service learning club here at the middle school high school to go to Washington School. They complete activities with our
060preschoolers. And they're also going to our sixth grade classes to answer any questions they may have about the transition to the middle school. Here I would also like to highlight 0.51. There's two giveback days because we did not use two out of our three snow days. So, the school will be closed for the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. We're closed Memorial Day, which is Monday, and we will be closed the Tuesday. So, those are the two giveback days, the Friday and the Tuesday. Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Laurentino. Yes. Miss Roloff. Yes. Miss Adarelli, yes. Mr. Akamando, yes. Miss Bali, yes. Mr. Archello, yes. Misseloo, yes. Miss Traverso, yes. At the recommendation of the superintendent, I make a motion to approve the following items. BF2425.92 through BF2425.103. 103. I have a second, please. Second.
061Any discussion or questions? I'll highlight the workshops. We have some secretaries here in the across the district that have opted to participate in Google workshop for secretaries and admin assistants. So, I thank them for taking that on. 0.95 is a contract with um NRESC. That's to host a summer school program here at the middle school high school. So, we're excited to start that for our students, any of our students that may need to um earn back additional credit. And then we also have one of my favorites here. 101 is the purchase of cafeteria furniture. That's for this school building, cafeteria A and cafeteria B. Um we are going to purchase new tables. Some of them may have the falcon on them, some soft seating areas, some high tops, and sort of uh uh brighten up
062our cafeterias here at the middle school high school. Nice roll call. Mr. Lorentino, I'm going to vote yes to all but under BF2425.92, I'll abstain from checks 1754 and 21107. And then under BF2425.93, I'll abstain from number 142. Miss Roloff. Yes. Miss Otterelli. Yes. Mr. Akcomando. Uh, yes to all except for BF2425.92. I will abstain from checks number 66790. Miss Brelli. Yes. Mr. Oello. Yes. Missyello. Yes to all, but I'm going to abstain from in BF2425.92 check number 66913 and in BF2425.93 item number 142 and yes to everything House. Okay. 142. 14. Item 142. Item 14. And M. Traverso. Yes. Facilities and operations. Mr. Roto. At the recommendation of the superintendent, I make a motion to approve the following items. F2425.8. Oh, that was a big one. Second. Any questions? Any discussion? Anything from you
063for that? No. Okay. Second. Anything from you? Okay. A roll call. Um, roll call, please. Mr. Laurentino, yes. Miss Roloff, yes. Miss Aarelli, yes. Mr. Aamando, yes. Miss Barelli, yes. Mr. Archello, yes. Misseloo, yes. M. Traverso? Yes. Policy? Misselli? We didn't have the meeting. There's nothing to report. Thank you. Negotiations, Mr. Akamando. Um, unfortunately, I don't see any numbers under here, so we don't have anything. Personnel, Mr. Lorentino. At the recommendation of superintendent, I make a motion to approve the following items. P2425.67 through P2325.74. Second. Any discussion? Any questions, comments? We have um resignation of an ABA Parrot Washington School, resignation of a teacher here at the middle school high school. 68 or leaves, 69 are appointments. Um number two is bringing Mrs. Terry who retired from here um at the middle school high school
064as bringing her on as a home instructor for the district. Number three is our ESY staff. That's extended school year, our special education program. Number four and five are teachers to start next school year for September. Four is for a preschool classroom at Washington School. Five is for the Franklin school music teacher. He's in that position currently as a as a long-term substitute and he's in the position for two weeks and last night performed or co-led the third grade recorder concert and did an amazing job. So, thank you to Mr. Harter for that. Number six is a part-time evening custodian. And I you should have number seven. I interviewed her today. So you may not have a number you have number seven. Um it's a power professional that I interviewed today 70 or stipen. So
065we have a revision because one uh staff member went on maternity leave. So that's allocating that stipen appropriately. Number three and four is head football coach and spring uh weight room coordinator Joseph Katrona. And number five is the stipen that the part-time custodian gets for working evening shift. We have a salary re revision 71. Mr. Will William Osborne the vice principal here at the high school. He earned his doctorate. So congratulations to Mr. Osborne. And then we have a speech pathologist college student who's needs to complete her observations and other mandated items. Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Laurentino, I'm going to vote yes to all, but I'm going to abstain. Uh P2425.73 number 15 and 22. 15 and 22. Yes. Miss Roloff. Yes. Misselli. Yes. But before I vote, I just because we didn't
066get a chance for comments, I just want to say congratulations to Mr. Osborne and yes to everything. Mr. Okcomando, yes. Miss Bali, yes. Mr. Archello, yes. Misseloo, yes to all, but I'm going to abstain from P2425.70, items number three and 4. And then in P2425.73, I'm going to abstain from items number two, 5, 10, and 22. Yes to everything else. Okay, Mr. Traverso. Yes. Committee reports. Don't think we have much. Uh, Mr. Archello, anything? I have a couple Washington. You could. Yeah, go ahead. You can jump down to that. Oh, committee. I have nothing on committee. Sorry. Okay. Then we'll come back to you. All right. Thank you. Um, Mr. Zarelli, Mr. Akamando, I don't believe you have anything for committee. Okay. And all I'll indicate on budget is that we have a public hearing
067on May 5th to address the public uh the budget. Sorry. Budget and finance liaison reports. Missyella, do you have nothing? Okay. Vicki is not here and I was not given anything on the educational foundation. You haven't heard anything right if I would. Okay. Uh the CPAG I have not been given anything new on that. Township leaison. Who's going to address that? We haven't had Oh, you had another meeting. Okay. Nothing on that. PTO leaison. Miss Sarelli for Franklin school. Yes, I do have one for Franklin school. Okay. Over the last couple of weeks, Franklin PTO has hosted a Falcon Fun Day at Humdingers and delivered their Gertude Hawk orders. They have a pretzel sale to kick off spring break starting April 17th in addition to the sixth grade committee selling spring break kits and an
068egg myard fundraiser. After break, the PTO will focus on teacher appreciation week activities, field, and field day. They will tape Mr. Rogers to the wall. Oh, I shouldn't have said that, but um fundraiser for the sixth grade class, second Scholastic book fair, and the possibility of an end of the school year dance. They've also began planning uh a tricky tray for November 15th at 2025 at Elon in Loi. So, make sure you mark your calendars and all donations are welcomed. That's it. Thank you, Misselli. Uh Mr. Akamando, do you have anything? Uh, no, unfortunately not. Okay, let me sorry. Go back to that page a minute. There's Mr. Archello. Anything for Washington school? Washington? Yes. Just quickly, uh, for current students, for current students, if you've not done so, please respond to Miss Hannenburgg indicating
069whether or not your child will be returning in September and whether they will be half day or full day. Uh please note if your child is turning five before October 1st, 2025, they will be uh going to kindergarten and no longer welcome at Washington School. So get them out and go to your school you need to. Uh the PTO sip and night uh was held at the spotted canvas and was a great success thanks to all the hard work put on our by our PTO members and for the many donations sent in from parents for our class baskets. A total of 41 baskets were raffled off and a profit of uh $1,778 was made. The next PTO meeting will be held virtually on April 8th and links for the meeting will be sent out soon.
070Um and then some dates we have here. Did I Where did I say? April. Next year. Oh, we missed it. 2026. No, just kidding. Um I'm sure the May one will be fantastic when that one rolls around, but we missed the April one. Apologies. Um key dates coming up. We're on break from the 18th through the 25th. Please don't come to school. Um on May 19th coming up, um the upstairs classes will be going to Vance on May 21st the downstairs classrooms and then May 30th will be the Washington School family movie night. Thank you. Is that really? Did I get middle school? Uh, high school has not met since last, but they will be meeting April 29th. Excellent. Thank you. And as for Long School, um, they have some upcoming events. Of course, teacher
071and staff appreciation week will be celebrated the week of May 5th. Look out for some good uh, surprises there. The spring book fair will take place on May 6th, 7th, and I believe the 8th, although it's not on here, but I believe it's three days. The LMS color run will be held on Saturday, May 17th. PTO will be providing t-shirts to all LMS students and staff for field day, which will be held on May 29th for K through 3, and May 30th for grades 4 through 6th. End of year class parties, can't believe I'm saying that already, will be held on June 23rd. Their spirit sale will continue. Please check their website and as their friendly reminder, please join their Facebook page. All information can be found there regarding updated events and fundraisers. And I
072just want to add, I know that Miss Vleti spoke about their um wax museum today. I was also there and I have to say I met Oprah Winfrey, a lot of famous and she definitely did a very good research because she gave everybody a car. Not that you could see it nicely, but she gave everybody a car. It was very cute. They did a wonderful job. I forgot I have a sticker. Oh, there you go. I can't remember who gave me the sticker. Somebody had that on their thing. I saw that. Betsy. No, no, Betsy Ross. But it was it was very good. It was very amazing. And um Franklin Schools, I believe, is May 1st. It's coming up. Franklin Schools is coming up shortly. So, I hope to be attending that one as well.
073Okay. Um All right. Any correspondence, Mr. Karate? Yes, we do. So, uh, Bergen County School Board Association gave me a memo that at their meeting in May, May 29th, they will be honoring two of our board members, Miss Traverso for new board member boardmanship certification she earned in uh, this past December and Miss Zarelli for her 10-year milestone. [Applause] Any old business? I'm sorry, old business. Any new business? I would like to acknowledge we have in our audience Mr. Katrona. He came this evening. He's um approved tonight. Thank you to our board of education for the head football coach position and weight room coordinator. There was several applicants for the position and there was a whole entire interview process and Mr. Katrona stood out. his skill set, his enthusiasm. Um, he exudes the Falcon spirit
074down to the golden blue tie, which I really appreciate and we are excited to have you on board. So, welcome to our team. And just to add to that, your boys came in earlier when they were waiting for it to start and I said, you know, hi, who are you? My dad's the new football coach. I said Mr. Katrona. They are very cute and very polite. Thank you. Congratulations. Okay. Um, new business. New business. Go ahead. I'd like to welcome Mr. Katrona aboard. Uh, but while we're doing that, I'd like to my condolences uh to the family of Gerald Gundry. Uh, Mr. Gundry was a longtime history teacher here at Saddle Park High School, retiring in the early 80s, but he was also the head football coach uh for many years here, leading some great
075teams through the 70s. And uh he had some great athletes. Unfortunately, with his passing, uh we lost a tremendous source of information for our high school Hall of Fame, which is something I'm focused on. So, condolences to Mr. Gundry's family. Also, I found out that uh Joanne Russell, who was my music teacher back in the 70s, another longtime employee here at Saddlebrook, uh she also passed away. So, condolences to her family. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lentino. You reminded me that we do have a Hall of Fame athletic hall of fame meeting. Our second meeting is Tuesday, May 6th at 7 o'clock. We had a large showing last time we met. So, we are looking forward to continuing this and starting to build an athletic hall of fame for Saddle Brook High School. Anyone else?
076Just want to wish everyone a happy holiday and congratulations Mr. Thank you. Go. Also, congratulations to Mr. Anthony Weey and Miss Gleason. Mr. Patronona. Um, like you said, condolences with the two who passed and happy Easter and Passover and happy Passover and Passover. Sorry. Thank you. Happy. Yes, absolutely. Can I have a motion to open the meeting to public for the public? I'm sorry. I just want to say uh Tuesday night before our Monday night before our work session, we as a board went through another training which we're going back to becoming certified. So we have two more trainings and we'll be a certified board again. Y thank you. Anybody else? No. Can I have a motion to open the meeting to the public for comments? Second. So moved. All in favor? I. No one
077opposed. So moved. You gotta wait. Go ahead. Read it. Okay. Just got to wait. You may stand there. Give me one moment, please. I'm reading this one. Okay. All right. Residents are requested to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. In the event it appears the public comment portion of the meeting may exceed 45 minutes, the presiding officer may limit each statement made by a participant to 5 minutes duration. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded
078to by the board. Students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. Joe Katrona, 254 South Lancer Court, Saddlebrook. Um, just want to take this opportunity to thank Miss Violleti, Mr. Ianelo, um, the board of education here uh, for entrusting me with this uh, this great honor of representing my hometown um, family. My retirement lasted three months, so I'm back. I'm back back on the sidelines. Um, we have our recck commissioner here. Um, I vowed to work
079hand in hand uh with our wreck program and making sure that our student athletes stay here in Saddlebrook. Uh, I know the importance especially at a small group one school of keeping all our athletes here and uh I vow to work hand in hand with you guys and I'd like to commend Miss Violleti and uh Mr. Iel and the board uh for making the upgrades to our schools, athletic facilities. Uh that goes a long way into keeping these kids here. So, I commend you for that. And um you know, you're going to get somebody that's passionate. I'm passionate about coaching, passionate about um after football. You know, making these kids, you know, high character kids and going out into the real world and uh becoming a better person. you know, football is football on the
080field, but in the end, it's about uh you know, making sure that these kids go out there in the real world and uh become a better citizen and uh you know, better people. So, I thank you. Um let's go Falcons. Oh, another thing is I'm a sheriff's officer. So, uh that's my real job, I guess. And um I guess I'm going to have to make a call to Mayor White to hire more Saddle Brook cops because Friday nights are going to be really packed here. Um, and uh, if a smart burglar is out there, they're going to know there's going to be nobody home in Saddlebrook and uh, they'll be knocking on uh, you know, going into people's houses. So, I'm going to make sure that our our alumni are here um, that we're engaged
081with the community and that the uh, Friday night games are packed and uh, you know, a winning product will go on the field and off the field. So, I appreciate it guys. Thank you and I'll make you guys proud. Congratulations. Thank you and congratulations. What time you showing up tomorrow? Does anybody else need to speak or want to speak? Can I have a motion to close the meeting to the public? Motion. Second. All those in favor? I. So moved. Meeting adjourned. No. Motion to close the meeting. Oh, no. She just did that. We got to close the meeting. Oh, did Oh, close the public. Sorry. Motion to close the meeting. Motion. Second. All those in favor? So move. Motion. Meeting closed. Come over. We'll get it. What?