Boe General Meeting 11/20

001She wants to speak. I'd like to call to order the November 20th public meeting. >> Mr. Jones, can you please call the role? >> Yes. Miss >> here. >> Miss Bower >> here. >> Mr. Benedict >> here. >> Mrs. Bor >> here. M >> Broaddy >> here. >> Dr. >> Yes. Mr. >> here. M Williams >> here. Mr. Murray >> here. Former Mr. President, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Flag is >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Executive session report. We went through personnel, hib legal status and detention and suspension report board president announcement. New Jersey public open meeting law is enacted to ensure the right of the public

002to have advanced notice of and attend the public the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest to discuss or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act. Scott Plains Fanwood Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted at the board of education offices located at 313 South Avenue in Fanwood, New Jersey. Such notice was also provided in a written notice forwarded to the led the leader formerly the uni county hawk the star ledger the township clerk of scotch plains and the burough clerk of fanwood and annual notice regular schedule meetings as adopted April 24th 2024 2025 sorry additions to the agenda I don't have any right uh one referendum update is this um superintendent report Dr. Yes.

003>> Yes. So, we have a couple of very exciting presentations tonight. One is from our robotics club and secondly, Dr. McGary is going to be um presenting the district data report. So, um thank thank both the robotics club and Dr. McGary for being here tonight to to make those um presentations. Also, I would like to just remind the community that the district has begun work on developing a new strategic plan to set goals for the next three to five years. As part of this process, a survey has been emailed directly to parents and guardians who have children enrolled in SPF as well as all of our faculty and staff. The district is also asking for feedback from community members who do do not currently have children in our schools. The this community survey gathers data,

004ideas, perspectives from residents. The specific survey can be found on the district website under our district district news drop-down menu. It also is being shared through the Scotch Plank Foundaries as well as the town newsletters, which will all be going out tomorrow. The survey will close on November 25th. So, if you have not completed that yet, please do. Your thoughtful anonymous responses will help us inform our work and will be greatly appreciated. So, thank you in advance for your help on that. And that's my report. >> Thank you, Dr. M. Mr. Jones. >> Yeah, just one quick update. I [clears throat] have an official report. We closed our second bond and it came in under budget. So, it's doing well. And just to remind everybody, the the we restructured the bonds um to do two

005bonds versus one and save this interest. So, we saved um over $4 million in interest. So, we'll be um under budget and what we estimated uh when we did the referendum. >> Thank you, Mr. Jones. >> Grace and Leah. >> Okay. So, for our student report today marked the end of marking period 1. So, grades are now officially finalized and we are moving into the second quarter of the school year. Um for our fall sports summary, um we have boys soccer which was 19 to3 and the north group four and Union County champions for the second year in a row and ranked number nine in the state according to nj.com. [applause] We also have girls soccer which were 11 to 6 to1 Union County semi finalists. We have girls tennis 100-0 in the mountain division,

006division champions and fourth in the county. Football, we were 2-7, but we had great support at home games and won senior day two years in a row. For field hockey, we had 684 with an upset in the number two seed in the state tournament with a younger team this year. Um, as for gymnastics, we were 81, seventh consecutive county championship and team state championship qualifier, being the top 10 in the state. For cross country, we had a strong season. Um, Jonah Tamayo won the mountain division individual championship and boys and girls team qualified for the group four race. As for volleyball, girls had a strong finish with a run to the sectional finals as the 10th seated team turned around a one to se not sorry one to five start to a remarkable finish in

007the sectional final. And as for cheer, we continue to have a great uh presence at football games as well as the pep rally, convocation, and eighth grade parents night. Um as for more school related um academic extracurriculars, we had world language honor societies are having their inductions December 3rd and we are looking forward to our spiffy high which is December 5th. Our fall play, Metamorphoses or Metamorphosis, I don't know, performances are this weekend showcasing our talented students who have put a lot of work into it and tickets are currently sold out. Um, there's also a pool on the stage which is really cool. Um, if you're in the first row, watch out cuz I heard you can splash. Um, Thanksgiving break is coming up and everyone is really excited and ready for a break. Um,

008take a look. Okay, so at the end of October, we had NJSLA field testing, which gave students exposure to a new type of state test, which is adaptive now. And then last week, we had National Honor Society induction ceremony. And our school's NHS chapter welcomed new students who demonstrated scholarship, service, leadership, and character. And we also had eighth grade parents night where parents got a chance to see all that SPFHS has to offer, including its amazing clubs, classes, teachers, and students. Um, and I know Dr. Mass was telling me that a student came up to her and said that they had been planning on going to a magnet school, but after coming to eighth grade parents night, they decided that they wanted to come here instead, which I think really speaks to how impactful and

009successful the event was. So, congrats to Dr. Hines and everyone who participated in the event on making it such a success. And besides from that, middle school band concerts are coming up and we are all looking forward to the winter sports like cheer, wrestling, basketball, hockey, track, and all that stuff. Thank you both for your updates. >> All right, instructional updates. So, we're going to start with our 2024 2025 annual audit presentation. >> Hello, my name is Heidi W and I'm from Sabacha. I'm here tonight on behalf of Kathy Mantel who is responsible for the audit. She will be retiring this year and I will be with you on a go forward basis. So, I'm have a lot of good positive things to report. Overall, the district finances are very well managed. The general fund,

010which is the main operating fund of the district, ended the year with 28.2 million. That's down about 1.86 million. I wanted to point out some components of that fund balance. Capital reserve, which is very important to have. funds that you can use for the local share of >> Okay, I'm sorry. Can't hear me. I'll speak up a little bit. Sorry. Um, >> you have to use your teacher's voice. >> Have to use my Okay. All right. So, let me start very quickly from the beginning. Overall, very well managed finances, general fund, main operating fund at the district. Um, the finances, the fund balance ended the year at 28.2 million. That's down 1.8 million. That's comprised of different components that I'll talk about. One of them is the capital reserve. It's very important to have funds

011in the capital reserve. It's difficult within a 2% budget cap to do capital projects. You use that for the local share of projects in the long ranges facility plan. At the end of the year, you have $16.8 million in capital reserve. Very healthy balance. Maintenance reserve used for comprehensive maintenance projects. 671,000. The main driver of fund balance replenishment is unexpended budget balances. There was approximately 5.5% or 6.6 million of the budget that went unexpended. The district very wisely has been using a a set level of excess surplus over the last couple years of $2 million. So overall very excellent finances in the general fund. also have the food service fund which is the cafeteria that ended the year slightly um down 13,000 but it has a total net position which is similar to fund bounds

012of 542,000 both very strong pleasure working with Christopher and his staff they take great pride in their work you can tell the records are kept in excellent condition there are a couple different liabil that the district has. One is serial bonds. At the end of the year, there was $20 million. That's [cough] all the additional bonds that were sold. You also have some leases. These are similar. If you're leasing a car, it's an item that if you um lease for a couple years, it has a shorter period of life. That's 1.2 million. Then you have compensated absences payable. It's a calculation of the unused sick and vacation time of the staff. That's 3 million. All these different liabilities I'm talking about, you pay them out. Whether you have like a you know a bill that

013you pay each month or you get a bill from say for the net pension liability which is 17 million for those in the PRS pension system that's the staff at that system traditionally your secretaries your custodians transportation staff and then the district also has other uh postemployment benefits payables for staff that elect into that in their retirement. about 6.7 million, but you're paying what you're owed each year. Overall, very good finances. Can I answer any questions? Then I'll move on to the results of the audit. I'm very pleased to report no formal recommendations, which is quite an accomplishment. We look at a lot of different things. We do usually include a couple of suggestions to all our clients. two of them on the Gazsby, which is the governmental accounting standard board, which sets the standards

014for um school districts and other local government entities. And one of them is on um the presentation and the audit of certain audit schedules and information. They like to change things up and make it more interesting. And then one has to do with uh capital asset disclosures. We did have one suggestion specifically to the district. It's on the federal audit receivables, accounts receivables. Um, the state likes to see them being submitted on a monthly or quarterly basis. Sometimes that varies depending on when you submit the funds. Just one very minor point. Overall, excellent um records and very positive results. >> Yeah. Yeah. So just for awareness, the finance committee meets with our auditors to go through all the report um and any uh recommendations and then we also speak they give us feedback on the

015business office and the how it's functioning um and that meeting is typically probably an hour plus >> yes more in depth and it gives you a chance to ask questions. >> So thank you for for your update. >> I don't have any other questions. Thanks. Thank you very much and best wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving. [applause] >> All right, we're going to move over to Raider Robotics presentation. Hello everyone. My name is >> you guys can bring that out. just whoever's speaking just uh we we have a a deficiency in microphones are all to play at the point in time but the camera mic works really well so if you put your earbuds in you can hear us better through the camera but just try to speak up sorry >> oh okay thank you

016>> hello everyone my name is Joseph Soua I'm a senior here at the high school and I've been with the with the Raider robotics team for the past four years hello everyone we are Raider Robotics Uh we are Scott Flame Fenwood High School's um robotics team and club. First off, I would like to say thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to you all about our team and our community impact. Breeder Robotics is made up of a robotics club and competition team. The robotics club is made up of 15 or more students. Their parts are supplied by the competition team and they are led by the competition team's mentors and coaches. The um the club team has been up and running since 2019. And even though the the club team doesn't compete, students

017still have the chance to learn and explore more about the basics of robotics and step. The competition uh the competition team is capped at 15 stu students because of FTC rules. We have two two coaches and two two additional uh mentors. We have been we have been uh competing since 2021 and our team motto is more than robots. Uh what is first you may be asking? First is made up of three of three leagues. First Lego League. Oh, uh first Lego League which caters to creates four to eight. In first Lego League, students build robots out of Legos and they use blockbased programming to program their robots. There they usually have smaller teams and smaller budgets. Uh first tech challenge serves grades 7 to 12 and it's the league we compete in. In first tech

018challenge students build uh build their robots out of metal and custom parts. We use language based programs such as Java to program our robot and we have a moderate size team in and budget. First Robotics Competition or F FRC caters to grades 9 to 12 and it is much similar to FTC except they usually build larger robots, typically have larger teams and a more intensive season. >> Good evening. I am Ryan Zuckman, captain and programmer of the robotics team. Let's talk a little bit about our game. We compete in the first tech challenge which takes place on a 12 by 12 foot field. You are paired with a partner. Your partner one round may be your opponent in the next. The goal is for you and your partner to take these balls around the field

019and launch them into the blue and red goals on the corners of the back of the field. You can also score more points. There is a purple and green ball. If you scan the April tag at the back of the field of the camera, which is like a QR code, then you could retrieve a pattern. If that pattern is replicated within either of the goals, then you would get more points. So, how do we get here? We go through a design process. First, we understand the rules and instruct uh the rules of the game and the constraints to build our robot. Then we will create numerous ideas in the ideate phase. Our ideology is that no idea is a bad idea. And then we get to the prototyping phase which is where we test ideas

020and we pick which ideas work best. Now we have our robot. This is what you get from doing all the previous steps. So, first you have a intake system created by a plastic ramp. You load the balls into the in into the intake system. It will slide down to the bottom. We have this kicker that will kick the ball up into the outtake and you have a wheel that will spin up to 3,200 RPM or 53 times per second and then will launch the ball out. We also have a camera for computer vision. We have a plow to push balls around the field. And we also have these wheels called mechan wheels. And they have rollers on them. And they allow for fully holomic movement. That means the robot could turn, go left, go right,

021and it could also go diagonally if you wanted to. And now we will demo the robot. Hello. [applause] Oh my god. >> [applause] >> All right. So, I'm Will Lou. I'm haveve been on the I've been on the team for three years. I'm one of the captains. So our team model is that we are Radar Robotics is more than robots. So I'll be talking about some of our accomplishments this year. So during our very first team on during the competition, we were the number one winning alliance team. And then last year we received the Inspire Award. The Inspire Award is the highest honor a team could get within the competition. Only one out of 24 teams during the league tournament receives this award. This award is given to teams who are nominated for other awards

022in the competition like the innovate award, design award and the think award. This award is also to given to a team who can inspire and make an impact within their community. And to give this award to have the a good robot to compete at the highest level award shows that we embody what stands for and it shows us who we are a role model team within the first community. So off the field, we started a robotics club at St. Barts Middle School. Helped them to start their own robot a Lego robotics team to help them compete. We also raised money for another school in Newark, New Jersey for a Lego robotics kit. And we supported numerous STEM efforts in our community. Moving on, so some of our impact within our community, we are proudly represented

023SPF through our community outreach events. Last season we estimated to have over 500 hours of community outreach and so far this year we are pushing 200 community outreach hours. [applause] >> Hi, my name is Charlie Kong. I'm a senior at the high school and um this is my first year being on the team. A lot of our community outreach that we've done aligns with the mission of furs which is to basically inspire uh younger audiences to do STEM in our school district and in our community. So starting in March we've had maker day at the Fanwood Library which is basically we uh showcased our previous season and demoed of our robot and also provided three 3D custom 3D printed kits for the uh parents and families there to build. And similarly at astronomy day at

024trailside we partnered with the amateur astronomers incorporated in order to kind of bring uh draw in audiences for robotics and astronomy kind of bridge the gap between them. So we had a bunch of Lego robots that we allowed people to build and a few of our own to showcase while also providing like making buttons for little kids. Um at the St. Barts presentation we sh we presented at St. parts in order to advocate for an LL team or first Lego League team at the um elementary school. So continuing with the outreach um in around September, we had uh events that work towards sustaining the um integrity of the team which is keeping a nice flow of new members and students coming in. So we had the ninth grade orientation and Fannywood day which were also

025kind of areas where we could fund raise using this app called double good where you could like buy popcorn and then that would help support the team and also simply donations at the SPFHS club fair we had hosted here um we were just there to bring in new members um especially new prospective students coming to the high school and at Robocon uh at Bridgewwater Commons Mall we were supporting a first robotics competition. So, they had a competition there and we were directing them, we were directing parents and families to go watch the events, to go see some new um like showcases of the robots while also promoting our own robot and our team. In more recent times, we've had back to school night and eighth grade parents night, which is similar in which they were

026at the high school and we just brought in new students to become interested in the STEM programs we offer at the high school and also the robotics team and club. And continuing with our St. Barts presentation, we were able to secure a first Lego League for St. Barts. So every around two weeks like every every two weeks every month every Tuesday we go like a bunch of team members go to St. Barts and we help support um the students there learning about first learning about STEM and creating Lego robots for their first Lego. So some additional upcoming events we have uh follow the same vein. So cool STEM night and the SPF hackathon. Uh the with the hackathon we are getting kids interested in mostly computer science. So a lot of the club members and

027team members volunteer to help just teach kids with a bunch of different coding activities like blockbased coding. And at co stem night we get a bunch we get a bunch of parents and families to come together and we do a bunch of activities that not only include robots and Lego robots but also challenges that require creative thinking. So, it's kind of fostering that STEM mindset and we're honestly looking for a lot of a lot more schools that are willing to participate and like help us host these events to inspire STEM within our community. >> Hello everybody. My name is Manav Shaw. I'm a second year programmer on the team. Um, upcoming we have on December 7th, we have a robotics competition that we're hosting here at SPFHS from 10 to 4. We'll be hosting over

02820 teams and we encourage all of you to to come and support us. And yeah, um we would also love to set up a meeting to discuss a vision for uh moving our district forward in our STEM and IT education along with robotics. You guys can email us at raider robotics at spfk12 or you guys could email one of our coaches for any further information. >> Uh if you guys have any questions, you guys can ask me. But that's it. Thank you. [applause] [applause] >> One question. Would you be able to introduce your adviserss? >> Uh yeah. So we have >> and if they can stand [applause] >> uh we have Mr. Duffy as our head coach. He leads he leads our team. He helps us with mechanical any outreach problems we have or any

029like outreach planning we have. And we have Miss Ritter who's an assistant coach um for our team. She also helps us with outreach and mechanical stuff. And we also have Mr. Bradley over here who's one of our adviserss as well. He helps us with mechanical outreach and programming uh issues. And yeah, great. And we also have Miss Lockwood who is also one of our uh outreach and mentors for our team for the past few years. [applause] >> So my question was what do you use to control the computer or do you have a handheld thing that you use to control the robot? >> So we use this device here. This is basically just an Android phone. Um, and we also use a controller. You could use a Xbox 360 controller. You could use a PS5

030controller, PS4 controller. Um, not sure what this one is, but you could als you could also use like a Logitech controller as well. >> That's pretty cool. So, you program that to the controller to move it. >> This just communicates with the robot. There is a separate system on the robot that you actually push the code to and it just communicates back and forth with this and that's how that's basically how it works. >> Very impressive. >> Thank you. >> I saw you guys at the steam night last last year and I told my son I'm a parent at Kohl's and I told my son we are going back to Steve night. The first question he asked is the robotics team going to be there? So you guys made made an impact on him and

031I I know a lot of students were still talking about it after you guys left. So thank you so much for coming >> and being there for >> Did you have a question? >> Yeah. Um so you mentioned uh Java as the like one of the languages used. Is there any other programming language that are employed for this or is it mainly just Java? >> We mainly use Java as well as other teams. You could use blocks as well. Um there you could use other programming languages like C++. They're not as well supported as Java would be though. >> Gotcha. >> I would just I mean congratulations first of all. This is fairly new 2019, right? And um [clears throat] I I know just from from hearing stories and read reading about all of the

032Appalach, but hearing from from you guys directly about the work that you're doing in the community. Um, not I don't want to take away from this amazingness at all, but um, those that know me on the board know that um, for me and for everyone I think we could agree, knowing that you're impacting youth and showing them something fascinating that they might not have otherwise gotten exposed to, but through a lens that they can really do. Thank you for that. Thank you for bringing it to the community outside of the school district. I don't know half the the things when it comes to STEM job I got but just by making it natural by by you regularly attending all these events just like you said you're instilling it becoming more like a getting people excited

033about what's to come. So thank you so much for that >> and then I'll just [clears throat] add that this is fantastic if you could do something with the leaves [laughter] that awesome convert that thing into doing something with leaves but also I'm I'm going to try to be there on December 7th. I'm very excited. And they were all laughing because this is my first like great feelood presentation I watched and I took my phone. I said please don't be busy on December 7th and I'm not. So I'll I'll be there cheering you on. >> Awesome. Great job. >> Yes. Thank you guys very much. >> Can I just ask what is the significance of the of the number? >> I wanted to know that >> that's our team number. So every FTC team is

034assigned a team number. Um and even even if our team is retired, you keep that number always. It's almost the scotch plane backwards [laughter] 07. [applause] Great job, >> Dr. McGary. our state assessment report. >> Can [snorts] you know in the um performing arts they say it's very difficult to work and to perform after pets and children. Um I'll add robots to that as well. But I am excited that um so many of our students are here tonight to to hear about our state testing report. So tonight we're presenting the 24 25 and you may want to sort of reposition yourself. Feel free to chair. I have a lot of slides. Um so it's probably more important than so report focusing on the NJSLA and DM. There's a report. the report will focus on um

035both the NJSLA and English language arts, mathematics and science as well as the dynamic learning methods. So preparing for implementing and then learning from these assessments takes a significant collaborative event. uh effort. Um we want to extend special thanks to u many individuals and groups who work to make all of this happen very seamlessly. This includes our curriculum and special education supervisors. Special shout out to several of our supervisors of tested areas who are sitting in the back row. Dr. Liz McKenna, you would stand. Supervisor of ELA grades 6 through 12. Miss Kelly Dunston, supervisor of ELA 85. Um I have Kate Rosander who is our supervisor of mathematics K through five. Um unbeknownst to many of you our supervisor of mathematics at the secondary level is our very own Dr. Mass. Um and we

036have Christine Lwood who we've already met tonight as our supervisor of staff. Also specific thank you to our district testing coordinators. Lisa Howard who handles grades 3 through eight and Dr. John Vgh who has been handling grades 9 through 12 for the past few years. Thanks to the board curriculum committee who got to have a preview of this report last week and to our teachers, our specialists, our CST members and aids and of course to our students who had to endure all of this testing and their families and caregivers. So before diving into the results, um it's important to acknowledge the data lended here tonight reflect one measure used in each subject to help us understand each learner and plan for their growth. Plan for their growth. We recognize that NJSLA and DLM only consider

037mathematics, ELA, and science in certain grade levels and do not reflect all that we value in our district as evidenced by our robotics team tonight. With that said, we begin with the dynamic learning maps, which serve as the state's alternative assessment and was administered again in the spring of 2025. The DM is administered to students in the state with the most significant cognitive disabilities whose IEPs designated as the most appropriate academic assessment. Students in grades three 3 through 8 and grade 11 may take the DLM in English language arts or math. And students in grades 5, 8, and 11 may take the DM in science. All depending upon whether it's written into their IEP that would be the assessment that you take. DM results are reported using four performance levels that is uh emerging, approaching,

038target and advanced. So in ELA we had 24 students in the district um take the assessment um and you can see that two of them achieved the target level. In mathematics 26 students um took the assessment, eight of them achieving the target level. And in science, eight students took the assessment and one achieved the target. We utilize this data for making curricular decisions for providing instructional feedback and also as a as another data point to monitor student progress and growth. So we'll now turn to the New Jersey student learning assessment. I want to start um by reminding us of results um from the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment that this year seniors including our board rap took um last March. Um the reason I want to remind us of this is because this is a

039test that has consequences. Most of what we test in the NJSLA does not have consequences for our students. This is a test that does as it provides a pathway to graduation and you'll see the results um show exceptionally high performance by our students on this critical assessment. So in [clears throat] English language arts on the lefth hand side 94% of SPF students in the class of 2026 were categorized as graduation ready in March of their junior year substantially exceeding the state rate of 81%. In mathematics, 85% of our students were categorized as graduation rates, which is significantly higher than the state average of 58%. These strong results confirm the effectiveness of the academic path these students have followed. These are the same students, keep this in mind, who when they took their last NJSLA, scored

040only about 61.8% in ELA and 57% in math. These substantial increases in scores from from from 61 to 94 and from 57 to 85 strongly suggests that when assessments have consequences, right, you can't graduate without passing it. Um, students perform significantly better or more in line with their capacity. The data also underscores the ability of our students to achieve at a very high level when facing high stakes examinations, providing critical context as we move forward to look at the NJSLA performance for the grades below them. So, we'll now take a look at the 2025 results across all grade levels. In ELA, SPF, which is in the blue, and the state in the gray, outperformed the state average across grades three through nine. For example, our proficiency rate in grade 8 was 80% significantly higher than

041the state's 57 f um SPF generally outperformed the state average in math. This was particularly true in grade four [clears throat] and grade seven. And it's worth noting that our proficiency rate in geometry is slightly below the state average. But based upon um analysis of this previously, we've retoled our geometry class at the high school, which we used to be a course called algebra and analytic geometry to really have more of an inepth focus on geometry. Finally, SPF also demonstrated strong performance against the state average in science across all grade levels tested grades 5, 8, and 11. In grade 11, SPF proficiency was 52.2% compared to just 31.3% statewide. So, as a reminder um in case you forget the report that you received at home parents that the ELA and math results are reported in

042five different levels. The top two levels which are exceeding grade level expectations and meeting grade level expectations um represent what we call proficiency. So this chart provides an at a glance view of our ELA performance this past spring showing high proficiency across the board. Grade 8 again showing the highest proficiency where 35% of students exceeded grade level expectations. So just sort of setting our data lens again, this slide represents how we're going to take a look at some of the data moving forward in terms of grade level achievement over the four testing cycles that have um that have happened since um testing was interrupted due to the pandemic. So we'll apply this four-year view to specific subject and grade levels and for each grade level we'll present SPF results side by side with the New

043Jersey state results for direct comparison. I'm going to go through these slides pretty quickly because there's a lot of data. All of this will be posted on our district website after it is received tonight by our board of education and public so that you could really take a deeper look if you if you so choose. So, as we move through the next set of slides showing ELA performance by grade level, keep in mind that this data compares different students each year tested in the same grade level. What you'll see is a four-year trend showing how each grade performed over time. Not individual student growth, but rather how well successive groups of students have performed at that particular grade. So, we want to watch for patterns. Our proficiency rates recovering post pandemic. Are we consistently outperforming

044the state? And where do we see gaps between our performance and state averages that suggest areas of strength or areas that are opportunities for us? So moving on here is grade three again from 22 to 25. In grade three our ELA proficiency is 62%. And really outperforming the state by um the state at 50 50% we're at 62%. Grade four ELA proficiencies at 75%. This grade level has maintained as you can see on the bar graphs on the left really consistent performance over time. Grade five ELA proficiencies at 71%. The percentage of students in the lowest categories though if you look at the reds and the oranges remains very very low in SPS. So consistent performance above those below grade level bands. Grade six ELA proficiency reached 75% this past year demonstrating a really strong

045recovery trend. Grade seven ELA proficiencies at 76%. Notably, 35% of our students are in that blue band achieving the highest level, which is exceeding grade level expectations. Grade A ELA proficiency, as I said earlier, 80% represents really strong um performance from our students. And for our ninth graders, ELA proficiency is at 63%. But if you look over time, and we're going to look at this a little bit later, um we've stayed pretty consistent in the in the reds and oranges with some fluctuations in the greens and um the blues. So, we're now going to examine what's known as cohort growth. Um this means it's the same group of students over time. So this cohort is our current fifth graders and shows how they did in third grade um compared to fourth grade. And you can

046see that they they moved from 59.4% proficient in grade three to seven um to 75% proficient um as fourth graders. So the exceed and what's really remarkable is the exceeded the blue band expanded from 8.2 to 29%. This cohort, our current sixth graders, um saw a a a peak u in the exceeded levels when they were in grade four, as you can see here, followed by a dip in that category in grade five. This cohort, grade um current grade seven, um showed progress in grade six compared to grade five. As you can see on the as the bar sort of move from left to right, our our current eighth graders um demonstrated strong upward mobility, as you can see, moving from 24% exceeded in grade four to 35% as grade seven. And this cohort experienced

047substantial growth through middle school as you can see in the expansion of the blue and um you know keeping the the reds and oranges at bay. This is our current 10th graders. This cohort maintain a strong profile moving from 13.5% in um when they were grade six to 19% in grade nine. Any of you 10th graders in the room? So we'll now um analyze the data by demographic groups looking at the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations. So this is sort of like taking the the overall data and breaking it down by groups. Had I known you you were all going to be here today, I would have broken it down by teams and volleyball team up there. We'll wait. >> So you can see here that female students achieved 76.7% proficiency while

048male students um achieved 64.81%. Both groups both groups seeing a change um positive change from the previous year. And this is an aggregate of all students who were either meeting or exceeding expectations. Here you can see that Asian students achieved the highest proficiency in ELA at 87%. All reported ethnic groups um showed an increase in performance from 2024 with Hispanic or Latino students showing the largest gain of 5.46 percentage points. And this slide reveals some some significant gaps for specific programs such as English language learners who showed the lowest proficiency rating. um and have a little bit of a drop over the previous year. Students with disabilities um 29.1% and economically disadvantaged students 40.2% which is a slight decrease from the 2024. I don't expect you to actually see this this but um this is

049an example of the other forms of data that we receive here in the district that help us to analyze and set priorities moving forward. This is what's called a um a district evidence statement analysis. So this is a look at um different standards that we teach and how our students performed on questions related to those standards. So this brings us to our ELA insights and actions. So moving forward um our plans are are beginning to strengthen complex text analysis by focusing on instruction on standards require requiring higher order thinking skills especially synthesis and deep literary analysis. Um the second item is really about integrating domain specific literacy. So this is the the language in the academic language of science of social studies of history. um sort of really digging into and reading reading strategies specific

050to reading technical texts. We also um are are looking at strategies to close the economic and gender gaps that have been discussed and addressing the foundation in informational text in third grade. So, as far back as third grade, how are we helping kids to um read um texts that are not um necessarily um fictional um stories, but but more about reading for information. So, so highlighting text features and and such in our So, this brings us to mathematics data. Again, this is the sort of at a glance view from third grade through geometry. Um, and you can see again that our proficiency is strong across these grades with grade four showing a 73% proficiency rate and grade seven showing 61.1% proficiency. For math, again, we're reviewing grade level achievement over four years, comparing different student

051populations when they were in that same grade level. As these slides will quickly focus again on three questions. First, power proficiencies rates trending over um over the four-year period that it that it looks at. Second, where are we maintaining strength relative to state averages? And third, which grade levels show either recovery towards prepandemic performance or areas where additional support might be needed. This grade bygrade view complements the cohort data we'll examine later, giving us both a snapshot of grade level performance and insight into how different groups of students experience mathematics at each stage. Starting with grade three, mathematic proficiencies at 70% maintaining strong performance um against the state averages on the rankings. Grade four proficiency 73% showing continued high performance over time. Grade five 63% proficiency. Grade six um 55% proficiency which is a noteworthy

052year. Grade six is a really noteworthy year because we move from um what is our everyday math mathematics program which is K through five to a more pre-alggebra based program in grades six seven and then algebra in grade 8. In math 7 proficiency is 68%. So you can see there's a a bit of a rebound from um this transition to connected math um sort of moving into that more pre-alggebra world. And then algebra 1 proficiency is at 65.5%. This data though, you know, as you think about um how this compares to to other districts, really reflects our district's commitment to equitable access to advanced mathematics with 91% of eighth graders in our districts taking algebra 1 compared to fewer than 60% fewer than 60% of students in neighboring communities taking algebra 1 in a eighth

053grade. It's important to understand that current ranking methodologies such as US News only count high school assessment results which can create a really misleading picture. When we provide algebra 1 to 9% of eighth graders rather than gatekeeping it for only the top students, we're serving a broader, more diverse population. Our proficiency rate reflects achievement across this wider access point, not just among SLS [cough] youth. While this approach may not optimize rankings, it optimizes opportunity and prepares more students for success in higher level mathematics that they need to be successful in robotics. All right, our geometry proficiency is 54%. Again, I discussed earlier about how we're we're working to sort of rethink our geometry course at the high school, right? Miss Pella, >> one of our math teachers. So we now shift to looking at that

054growth over time tracking the same students from grade to grade um over the last three years. [clears throat] So current grade um five this this grade um increased proficiency from grade three which was they were at 66.7% to grade four 73%. This cohort our current sixth grade show showed a little bit of a drop in the exceeded category in grade five compared to what they were doing in grade three. This cohort um which is our grade grade seven showed significant drops in the exceeded level from 25.2% in grade three to just 8% in grade six. But it's worth noting the consistent performance from grade five to grade six. This cohort, our current grade eight, um while dipping in grades five and six, is now growing into their study of higher level mathematics. As you can

055see the difference between grade six and grade seven. So we now reviewed math achievement based upon the same demographic groups we looked at earlier. Male students achieve 67.2% proficiency slightly higher than female. So we have sort of a a shift in um performance in ELA versus mathematics in terms of gender. [clears throat] With the exception of black or African-American students, all racial groups saw an increase in proficiency over 2024. Students with disabilities showed a large improvement in 2025, a positive 7.93 percentage points to reach 21.47% while English language learners and economically disadvantaged students showed a bit of a decline. So numbers and mathematics insights and actions. So, our plan includes prioritizing complex thinking by increasing instructional time devoted to non-rine complex problem solving, focusing heavily on modeling and reasoning domains. We're also planning to target

056specific areas identified as weaknesses such as grade three [cough] that talks about operations and fractions. Grade five, fractions and measurement and data. Grade six, geometry and the number system. grade seven modeling and reasoning and um in algebra one functions. Lastly, we have to close those equity gaps that we see by implementing differentiated sustained support for students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students where the gaps are the largest. So, we're now transitioning to excuse me the science results. Um, this is a test with truly limited implications as we see our students enroll in and achieve in AP science courses in large numbers and go on to study science fields at the college level. And of course, the success of our robotics team would not be what it is without um, you know, truly truly commendable engagement

057in science. So science is different than the other two in that there are four performance levels advanced proficiency proficient near proficiency and below proficient. So this sort of gives you the view of fifth 8th and 11th grade in our district. You can see that grade 11 is is the highest at 52.2% with grade eight showing the lowest proficiency um of 30.7. In grade five, our proficiency um is 46.2%. Substantially outperforming the state by 30 um the state's 30.1%. In grade 8, proficiency this past year was at 30.7% compared to the state's 19%. And in grade 11, proficiency is 52.2% 2% which is significantly higher than the state's 31.3%. And here is science achievement um broken down by those groups. We think males and females better. So um our male students significantly outperformed our female student

05847% to 37%. Male students saw a large improvement over the previous year of 5.06%. Asian students achieved the highest proficiency in science at 7.57%. And notably, students identifying as people more racist saw saw the most significant drop over the previous year. Yet, they still perform at a a significantly higher level than white students. proficiency rates are significantly low for multilingual learners, which would be expected since they're learning academic language. Um, and our former multilingual learners, both showing substantial declines from 2024. This is a very small number of students. If you look at the the chart, we're talking about 15 and 19 students. So not a lot of data upon which to sort of think about programmatically what's going on. So some insights um and actions for science our actions include implementing supports for our MLS

059our multilingual learners and students with disabilities by providing scaffolded science instruction integrated with language supports as they're learning the language also sort of like learning the academic language that they need to know to do well in science. uh in science areas. We're also focusing on grade eight science pipeline by conducting a review to identify barriers to to leaving that lead to that low performance at that grade level. And finally, we want to plan to close a performance gap by reviewing and enhancing support structures through differentiating instruction for our Hispanic and Latino students and our black and African-American students. I'm almost at the end. So um we can by [clears throat] reviewing process our progress towards postpandemic recovery right. So um we want to focus first here on on English language arts discovery. And what these

060bars [clears throat] show you is our performance in the what what I would call the benchmark year of 20189 was the year before the pandemic. So that's where all of our grade levels were in BLA at that time. I'm adding to that where we are in 24 25 you can see um so you can see that that gaps still persist in ELA notably grades seven 8 and nine but um Dr. McKenna pointed out a really interesting thing to me that in the grade nine ELA test was a test of consequence. You had to pass it to graduate from high school. You no longer have to pass [cough] test to graduate high school. So here we focus on mathematics recovery. This chart displays the 201819 math proficiency baseline. You can see that the algebra 1 middle

061school baseline was 78% back then. And you'll see here that some significant gaps remain particularly in algebra 1 and in grade six. But do you notice something's missing? Grade four and five. Drum roll please. [laughter] grade four and five have exceeded their baseline proficiency each by one percentage point marked by the gold star for each of those great. So now before we wrap up we're going to take a step back and think about what this data actually represents. This entire presentation all the percentages the bar charts growth cohorts is just one snapshot of our students at a single moment in time. It's an important snapshot certainly, but it doesn't capture the whole story of a student's journey, which is more likely like a movie. So, what exactly do these state test results tell us about

062our students? So, for the past several years, you might recall, you've seen this presentation before. I've asked students this question. What don't state test results tell us about you as a student? I've asked um high school students this question. I've asked students in fifth grade this question. This year, I decided to turn to our teachers to ask the same question. So, our teachers remind us that quote, "Standardized tests offer a limited snapshot of proficiency at one moment in time and don't honor our students creativity, critical thinking, or social emotional skills and strengths." I was an evergreen first grade teacher. An Nettingham science teacher agreed, noting that the scores don't reveal the full picture of their learning, growth, or potential. And a Brunner second grade teacher beautifully captured the human element, saying, "A score cannot capture

063their humor, empathy, resilience, or a spark of curiosity that shines through in everyday learning." A terrible fifth grade teacher emphasized that real learning is a dynamic process. Real life is all about the process is is and that's what we teach. Thinking, wondering, noticing, designing, creating, revising, revising, revising, revising, all with multiple minds. At the high school level, um, one of our high school social studies teachers remind us that tests don't capture how my students are able to think outside the box. an ELA teacher at the high school noted that they don't capture their sense of discovery and joy when they like what they are learning. And finally, a science teacher um here at SPF just noted that um that the scores don't measure the fundamental humanity of our kids, how kind and compassionate they are.

064So, we present these state assessment results tonight as critical data points that help us strategically focus our resources and our instruction. But we always remember behind every data point there is a child. So, thank you for your partnership in prioritizing both high achievement and the holistic development of our students. As I said, you'll be able to visit our district website tomorrow to see um more presentations you want. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. McGar, for the report as well as all the administrators and wanted [clears throat] to help put it together. I know it um was not an easy task. So, thank you. Anybody anything? Okay, moving on. So we are going to move on to our first public comment. In accordance with Scott's family with public school bylaw 0164 and 0165, the meeting will

065be open for 15 minutes for public comment maximum three minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing superintendent items, business functions, and other board business will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other board matters. Speakers, please state your name in the town in which you reside. Please note boards use the public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and the individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before the board will be resolved that evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or her designate. This is the first of two. The second public comment is at the towards

066the end of the meeting. So I will now open it up for 15 minutes. Yeah, Mr. President, if I may, [clears throat] uh, I see a lot of new faces here who haven't been to our board meetings before. Welcome. I do see some of our regulars. In fact, hello everyone. Um, just for those of you who haven't been here before or spoken at a public meeting, uh, just so you know, just kind of a cliffnotes version of the statement that the m that the board president just read, uh, the board is legally prohibited from engaging with the public on issues of, uh, personnel, student matters, or any of those other things that are covered by confidentiality laws. So you are certainly welcome to come and make uh comment about anything. Again, the first session is

067about anything that's on the agenda, including personnel, student matters, anything that the board may not be able to respond to you about. So if you come to the mic and ask a question, we're going to assume it's rhetorical and keep your time going. Um you're not going to get a response tonight. Just so that those of you who haven't done this before or watch the meetings online, so you're aware of that. You're certainly welcome to come and like and share your thoughts with the board. Uh the purposes of public comment is that the board can hear your feelings as members of the community. uh not to as the uh the statement the agenda [clears throat] as read by the president says hey engage it's not a question and answer kind of open town for a

068setting. So thank you for bearing with me and so if you have a public comment please come to the podium state your name and the town in which you reside and um our board attorney uh maintains the clock for the three minutes uh each please speak. Well, good evening. My name is Alan Andis. Uh I am a resident of Scotch Plains. I've been uh in this town for about 20 years. I'm the parent of three children who've gone through the school system. Uh two of whom are boys on the Scotch Plains Fanwood boys volleyball program. Uh I'm here not just as a parent of those two boys, but as a representative of uh almost 500 supporters who in a period of less than 10 days [clears throat] have emphatically signed a petition to respectfully request

069that the board reconsider the dismissal of coach Brock and coach assistant coach Matt Ritter and reinstate them in their positions of boys volleyball program. Coach has been the head coach of the boys volleyball program since its inception nine years ago. During this time, he has led the boys varsity team to seven Union County Championships, four state sectional championships, and one state championship. The team has amassed a phenomenal 183 to 19 win loss record, representing 91% winning percentage, and has led one of the most successful sports programs not only in our school's history, but also in the state of New Jersey. Over the years, many of our children, uh, some of them are here tonight, have grown tremendously under the leadership of these coaches whose impact goes way beyond just wins and losses. They have built

070a culture of respect, of hard work, accountability, and genuine team unity. They have created a positive, safe, structured, and supportive environment one in which our children thrive and who have, as a result, developed confidence, a discipline, and pride in representing our high school. I understand that the board's decision uh was based on concerns that must be taken seriously. However, many parents and players who interact closely with the boys program believe that the incident in question does not reflect the consistent professionalism, character, and dedication both coaches have demonstrated season after season. Quite simply, their record with our boys has been impeccable. The greatest impact of your decision falls directly on our student athletes who are now devastated, confused, and in fact uncertain about the future of a program that we all care about. At their age,

071continuity and trusted mentorship are incredibly important, and the abrupt removal of both coaches has created instability during a crucial time in their emotional, social, and athletic development. Several players from the boys team are here tonight and have requested to directly address the board on this matter. We believe that bringing the coaches back now would restore the guidance and stability our children need at this time. And so in closing, I respectfully ask that the board reconsider this decision, listen to the voices of those who've been affected, and reinstate both coach and coach Ritter on the boys volleyball program. If you believe that a full reinstatement is a step too far at this juncture, perhaps by way of compromise, granting a one-year reprieve and reinstating them on a probationary [clears throat] basis, which could include additional oversight,

072would allow the board time to review performance before deciding on permanent actions. The simple thing for you to do is to say no. However, the right thing for you to do on mature reflection is to say yes. or at least yes for now. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight, for your consideration of this matter, and by the way, for all that you do for the children in our schools. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Uh, good evening. I'm Daniel Enis. I'm a senior here at Scotch Museum High School. I've been a member of the boys varsity volleyball team for three years. Um, and I was a captain last year. As a captain, I feel the responsibility for to speak for not only myself, but for all the players and parents that are

073here today. Uh, we were told that coach Brock was fired for a lack of professionalism and commitment. So, I would like to address that directly. Um, as a member of the team, Coach Brock and Coach Ritter could not have demonstrated a higher level of professionalism and commitment to our program. They were never late to practice, never miss games, and always demonstrated excellence as it pertained to their job. Before tournaments, uh Brock would wake up at 4:00 a.m. 2 hours before the bus would get here um to go get snacks for us for tournaments. His commitment to the players uh went well beyond Scots fan at the service level. Uh, for example, he drove to my brother's game in Washington DC, four hours away, and I know about many other examples of him driving to watch

074alumni play at the collegiate level. Over the past two years, we have came within inches of losing in the state final, um, falling in heartbreaking fashion in the final moments. These losses have fueled our returners and our 10 seniors that we have this year. Um, why is it fair for our 10 seniors to be stripped the chance to win with the coaching staff that has been with us through our journey? Um, as a senior captain, I want coach Brock and coach Ritter back for the benefit of the entire boys volleyball program, not only for this season, but for the future. I ask that this uh decision be reconsidered thoroughly. Thank you. [applause] Um, good evening members of the board. My name is Brandon Endo >> and my name is Aaron Frank. >> Um, we're both

075from Scratch Plains and um, have lived here our whole lives. Um, we're both seniors on the varsity volleyball team. We're here because removing coach war and coach uh, directly affects us, our teammates, and the program that we deeply care about. Both of our coaches have played a major role in shaping who we are as athletes and especially as people. They built a positive, supportive, and disciplined environment that has helped us grow both on and off the court. Um, those of us that work with them every day know their true character. We know that they're professional, dedicated, and always focused on what's best for the team. Um, we understand concern raised concerns were raised in the recent past, but um, the incident being discussed does not reflect who these coaches are and how they lead. One

076moment shouldn't erase the years of commitment and trust they've earned from players and families. Um, and as seniors, this is our last season and all we want is a chance to finish it with the coaches who have guided us from the start. We're we respectfully ask the board to reconsider and reate coach or and coach Ritter for the sake of the players who are most [applause] good evening. Matthew Caliphat, 22-year resident of Scotch Plains. This is hard for me. I am a a a big fan of Warren Hines, Ryan Miller, and Joan, big big supporter of yours. Nevertheless, I I respectfully think that there's been a significant overreaction and a an error in judgment by some of the people in this room when it comes to coach Ritter and Coach Brock. I believe unequivocally it

077is the right thing and the moral thing to do is to reinstate them for a lot of reasons. But in three minutes, I'm just going to give you a couple of main reasons. Number one, Coach Brock and Coach Ritter are high character men who coach for the right reasons, and that is rare. His record speaks for itself. There are hundreds of programs that are going to scoop him up if we don't retain him, including Westfield next door. I'm not joking. I've been an educator and a coach for over 20 years. My mother was a principal and a superintendent of schools. My father was a professor at Ruckers. I grew up in education. I know bad teaching, bad coaches, hotheaded coaches. I know bad what bad board members look like. I'm not calling you that. I'm

078just saying I like to say I know when people genuinely care about kids. There is no doubt that coach Ritter and Coach Brock genuinely care about these student athletes. There is no doubt about that. Every one of these boys, hundreds of players, present and past, can share anecdotes proving this fact. See, kids have built-in PS detectors. They know when an adult is not sincere. These men are sincere. They care beyond words to convey. And respectfully punishing Coach Ritter, who is a volunteer for the girls team, comes across as spiteful and petty. And that should never have happened. Another reason why they need to be reinstated is that this decision is completely unfair to the current boys on the team. Volleyball is not a two-month season. These boys play year round on club teams scattered around

079the state. They sacrifice sleep. They sacrifice social lives, sacrifice family time, and sometimes even academics. But they come together for a couple of months in the spring to represent their hometown. This decision, your decision, whoever influenced you to make this decision was made without these boys in mind. Your decision jeopardizes the literally thousands of hard work of hours of sacrifice by these boys. At best, you're unaware of their sacrifices. At worst, you are aware of their sacrifices, but you don't care about their sacrifices. In theory, we're in this for the children. It may not have been your intention, but jeopardizing these boys sacrifices is deeply unfair. That's the second reason. Another reason why I want you to reinstate coach Brock and Coach Ritter is a lesson about character. We all know what your rebuttal is.

080Even though you can't say it now, we know what it is. Well, he left the girls program that makes Brock X, Y, and Z. For argument sake, let's pretend. Let's take that at face value and pretend there are no other personal reasons behind the scenes. Joan, you've been a teacher. Have you ever made a mistake when you're a teacher or as a superintendent, you know, just rolled out some not great professional development? Evan, I don't know you. I don't know what line of work you're in, but have you ever made a mistake in the corporate world? Yes, those are rhetorical questions. You don't have to answer. We know the answer. We've all made mistakes. I Here's the point. I said earlier that Brock and Ritter are character men. Character is not an absence of error.

081Character is not synonym for perfection. Character does not mean we do not stray on occasion. >> We all you can just finish. >> Absolutely. We all make mistakes. Brock has earned the right to heir. Even all state players serve it into the net once in a while. Right, Binda? Just kidding. To paraphrase the great man from scripture, let he without sin cast the first stone. If this is really about that he let the girls program down, then each of you need to do the ethical and humane course of action. Show compassion, show forgiveness, and do what's right for these boys. There is no way anyone in this room can look these boys in the eye and say with a true heart, we made this decision because it's the best for you. That notion is laughable.

082Thank you. [applause] Hi, my name is Nick Valhino. I've been in town for 18 years. I have two sons in the high school. I'm greatly disappointed with the board's decision to separate ties with the coaches and the boys volleyball program. It's unfortunate how an issue that originated in a separate program has now further escalated to impact another program and a group of passionate young student athletes through no fault of their own. Aside from the obvious about the talent of the program, which we've all heard that has been built with these coaches, I along with many other parents well beyond who's here tonight who've come to show their support, have witnessed these coaches lead these players beyond the court, treating them with respect, holding them accountable for their performance and their development, and genuinely helping them

083to become better players, better teammates, and better men. Rob and Matthew Rigger have been nothing short of excellent for this boys volleyball program. I know these type of decisions are not likely to be reconsidered once made, but I ask on behalf of our team that the board reflect on the decision that was made and determine what is actually best for the interest of the program, the team, and the community. I ask that you consider that the version of the story being shared might not be complete. Show our students, all of our students, not just the players, but those sitting here learning from you tonight, that their voices do matter. that character and history do matter and that isolated incidents aren't always black and white and when it's not too late to take corrective measures that

084they can always be taken for what's in the best interest of our students. [applause] >> Hello, my name is T and I'm a proud parent of Scotch Plains volleyball player. I'd first like to ask, do any of you know the names of these players? Do you know them personally? Has anyone asked them about their thoughts or their feelings on this matter? And do you realize how your decisions will affect them? >> Thank you. >> Not just as athletes, but as young men, because that's why we're here. We're here to do what's best for the boys, specifically these boys. Not for ourselves, not for a vendetta, not because of what other towns might say, but for what's best for these boys who trust their parents, trust their coaches, and trust you to protect what's best for

085them and only in their best interest. I don't know all the facts as to why the coaches are being forced to leave, and I don't need to. But what I do know is a secret to our team success. It's a mutual respect from coach or and coach Ritter to our boys and vice versa. It's the years invested in getting to know each other and building trust. It's the connection that this volleyball family has built. And yes, we are a family. For some reason, however, this family is being told that they must break up. No explanation, no warning, no request for input, just told. That at minimum is suspicious. What crime was committed? How was their infraction so severe that we can't be told the reason for their forced exit? Was it violent? Was it so

086horrific that you can't share details? I can with every confidence say that each and every one of us here has stepped out of line, made a regrettable move in our past, and yet seeing as we are all still here, we've been graciously allowed that second chance to redeem ourselves. Some of us third and some of us fourth. Based on our experiences, we see these boys grow under these coaches toutelage. Their passion, commitment, and dedication are all woven into a shared love of the sport of volleyball and how we as a team approach it. This is a hard cell expecting us to believe that there's a valid reason to tell these men that they can no longer continue on the road to success that they've so carefully built. Forcibly replacing our coaches with new people will

087fill a role. But how can they replicate what we've built? In just a few months, how can an outsider earn the respect or trust or connect with these boys the way our coaches already have? You can't fake trust. You can't fake connections. And you can't fake a safe school in which to grow. Our volleyball team with these coaches are an incredible unit. One tough to replicate and one that is highly respected. I ask you to give it thought. When you go home, what will you tell your kids tonight? What footsteps did you tell did you make so that your kids could follow? Did you cause turmoil where none was necessary? Or did you give a second thought to the repercussions your actions will have on these boys who earnestly attend a meeting in hopes that

088their opinion actually matters? Their high school high school experience will be based on the adults in this room who are actively listening to the facts. The fact is what we have is not broken. There's no need to fix what already works. These kids in this room, your kids at your home, let's be an example through our actions tonight. Let's make our kids proud that we chose to do the right thing. Let's be that rebellious adult who put their kids first. Let's be their hero. [applause] My name is Moren Lambertie. I'm a resident of Scotch Plains. I have daughters on the girls volleyball team who were abruptly left without coaches and 12 hours later had to figure out what their path was going to be. There is plenty of time ahead in the path that the

089boys program has. We support the board in the decision that we've made. We are grateful for the swiftness in which you acted to get our girls program back on track. The girls showed resilience this year. They showed heart. They kept together as a family and they came out strong before it. I have every faith that the boys and the gentlemen in this room whom I know some of them personally have the same ability to be resilient. They have the same faith in one another to move forward under new leadership and new guidance. And we support that. And we thank the board for what you have done for the girls program, showing them that leaders and coaches are role models and they support their student athletes. [applause] >> Hi, my name is CJ Ching. Um, and

090I am >> You reside? I reside in Fwood Dutch Plains and um I've been a resident here for over 13 years now. I'm a proud volleyball player both boys and girls. Um Tony and Guma was one of the players that started the boys volleyball team could rock but having put my daughter what he did to them this year I cannot I'm sorry the like Moren said the girls volleyball team was le devastated my daughter is a senior this year with no coaches is no assistant. Everybody walked out. We talk about responsibility. What are we teaching our students? What are we teaching our kids? That is okay to quit in the middle of the season. That is okay to quit your job and you know dock your responsibility in the middle of the season as at

091least we all know you keep going. At least that's what I have taught my kids. You don't quit on your team. But our girls volleyball team was left devastated and quit on in the middle of the season. I thank Dr. Mass and Dr. Miller for how swiftly they move to get this program back on. And God, these girls showed some resilience and made it to the sectional finals. My girl stood up last night at the at the teammate um party and stated that they played their last game not knowing that they have actually played the last game because when they came back the following day they were left getting ready to go for a game with no coaches and nobody to stand up for them. And I don't think that is right. Coach Brock make

092the decision himself and there are consequences attached to every decision you make. I am sorry that this is what it has come out to be, but you guys have enough time to figure out a new coach and build your trust. And I am I I will volunteer to be part of that process to take a look at who the next coach is going to be for Scotch Plains Floodwood. And I'm standing here on behalf of my son who still plays at Nor Eastern who did not believe that Brock could do that to her sister. Thank you. [applause] >> Uh this portion of public is now closed. We've exceeded our 15 minutes. There's another session um towards the end of the meeting for the next public uh comments. So, we're going to move on to additional

093reports. Letters to the board. There was 12. >> Um, we're going to do committee reports. >> I have a report. >> Community relations report. Um, we tossed around some ideas um from the JFCA workshop um that were gathered by Mrs. Serani and Stephanie attended a four board member panel of districts with varying sizes and strategies they are using to communicate more effectively with the community um and some of our own brand new learning. >> Mr. President, since the lights aren't working, we're just on the camera. There's some background noise. I don't think the camera's probably going to pick it up. >> We're just going by the one mic. Oh yeah. >> You should be all right. Go ahead. >> Um, some of the ideas we came up with and and Stephanie had learned about was

094that the use of an app that could be segmented by specific demographics to push notifications of information. Partnering partnering, excuse me, with municipal governments, utilizing libraries to place newer newsletters or other printed information. going to senior citizen meetings for an open form community mailings [clears throat] celebrating our alumni. We're going to add an alumni quarter to our newsletter. Uh post a link to sign up for our newsletter on town websites if allowed and postcards available public areas with a QR code for signing up for newsletters. We we solidified some next steps. Um we're going to start a campaign to get newsletter out in the following ways. We're going to post a link on the board of ed Facebook page. Allow this post to be shared to other community groups. Set up a way to sign

095up for the newsletter. Design a flyer for the municipal buildings and libraries. Put uh out Facebook posts for sign up to the newsletter. Focus on alumni corner and celebrate the careers of our graduates and review possible apps for communicating community communication. So that's what we had come up with for our next steps. Um we went over the lrand update web page. So now there's a a hub page for the lrand update to that will be continually updated regarding the grand school. Um press releases have been issued and picked up by local news outlets. So we're getting some information out there that way. And currently the new page is found under the subtab of our district. And soon the link will be added to the homepage of our district website to more easily be assessed. So

096you don't have to, you know, go through a couple of links. Um, Dr. Mass shared good news from the superintendent meeting on 10:27 and there were a lot of things on the list, but I just consolidated down to, you know, one thing per school. So runner uh 33 books were purchased by the PTA in memory of Nico Lombardi at Kohl's. The third grade received the Madagascar missing cockroaches and are learning about body structures and science. At Evergreen for their October fundraiser, they were able to donate $500 to Connie Dwire breast cancer foundation from their real cubs wear uh t-shirt fundraiser. begin. Diwali was celebrated with parent visitors, staff presentations, and food brought in from staff members. At school one, an upcoming assembly will be fourth graders teaching the younger students about perseverance. Nanningham, Hispanics Heritage

097Month, was celebrated by music and daily facts on the announcements. Tara Little, Mr. Heatner's class, has created a coffee service during fourth period on Fridays. It is al it is so well organized and something nice to look forward to after a long week. Um office of special services students are progressing on their speech language goals and objectives. Athletics SPF girls tennis went 10 to zero in their division and 11 to six overall and SPFA uh pep outreach was done at school night. um in the report there's a whole big list but that's just an overview and that's just I mean all the great things that are going on at the schools that um are you know just wonderful to look and see what's going >> Thank you Mr. Any questions? >> Next report. >> Williams.

098>> Yes. >> Wellness and equity committee met on November 5th. On the agenda was the teaching academy of social justice and a nurture nurtured heart approach. Uh teaching county update. A new cohort of freshmen joined the sophomores and teachers for the launch of this year's program. There's excitement all around. Um a Zoom meet and greet was on the 11th with the parents for um dual enrollment for the junior class. There'll be bi-weekly meetings during lunch with students in the program. Um and visiting Kain University leadership conference through the Holocaust resource center at KAE. Some changes going forward. Um strong desire for students to maintain electives while participating in the cohort. Students will be doing more student teaching perhaps during the summer. Students in the program will be presenting programs on positive healthy minds moving to

099the high school and more to our middle school students. Uh the student cohorts cohorts were about 28 um as part of a larger cohort and there were 10 students in the junior cohort and the freshman had about seven. Um and exciting news with a neutered heart relationship based appro based approach to recognizing positive behaviors. The week-long training was fabulous and they were trained others with the on the champion team. Um she also met with teachers, aids, lunch aids and most staff. That's Shandari. Give your energy where is going to grow. Working with your students on their inner wealth, self-worth and confidence. Um student specialists were also making the nurtured heart the culture at Kohl's and using stars on a bulletin board was very motivating where they shine and do well. There's energy shapes behavior. Um,

100there was a reset through a grant from the Dreams program. Reset boxes were made for all the teachers. It gives students opportunities to take a break. It shows that it's okay to take time if you need to. The boxes have fidgets activities and allow kids to regroup, reset, and feel okay about taking the time to do so. Kohl's and McIn are currently training and receiving support from advanced trainers. Um, three staff members are being trained in December. In the future, we plan to introduce parent workshops and our next meeting would be Thursday, December 4th. >> Thank you, Miss Williams. Any questions for Miss Williams? >> Siri. >> Okay. Um the curriculum committee met earlier this week and or last week, I'm sorry. And the majority of our meeting was spent previewing Dr. McGarry's presentation on

101the district test scores. So I won't uh reiterate that but the the committee previews it and then has an opportunity to ask questions and um have more discussion around you know the insights that that Dr. McGarry presented. Um and then also we talked about additional dual enrollment courses. This is I think the third time I'm talking about um the expansion of our dual enrollment offerings. So I'm really excited to talk. Last time was business. This time we talked about dual enrollment offerings. um at the high school for our STEM courses and um our STEM supervisor, Miss Lockwood, who was here earlier, talked about six electives that the district is working on becoming eligible for dual enrollment with Fairly Dickens University. Um so we're in the process of completing a partner application with FDU. Um but

102I'll talk about the courses that are um are being looked at for dual enrollment. Um and currently there are more than 300 students who do take these courses. So hopefully they um you know will be able to get college credit for them moving forward. And those are um four science electives, astronomy, anatomy and physiology, forensic science and the chemistry of nutrition. Um and then um two STEM courses which are intro to computer AED design our our CAD class which is drafting and design and engineering practices graphics and design which is engineering technology um on on the college level. So um stay tuned for that and our next meeting is December 9th. >> Thank you Mr. Any questions? >> Any other committee reports? >> Okay it is I again facilities We met on November 12th and

103I must say that was a very robust meeting and on the agenda we talked about um enrollment in the middle school. Dr. Dumer um presented a very um a great overview on the increased enrollment that will impact the growth at Nettingham Middle School. Um 284 students will be entering fifth grade. So there are some concerns about the recess times and lunchroom times and we will have to adjust make some adjustments and um class sizes possibly will also beffect affected. We also talked about grant grounds update. Um thank you to Nick Prudy. He's um doing some amazing things. There was a staffing shortage but now we're fully staffed. So, we're working on the quality of the fields and something I learned also is the EIP, energy savings improvement program and we are going out for possibly

104an RFP for a company to come in and do an energy audit which will reduce energy consumption by a lot of money. And um that concludes my report. That's a high level updates. >> Thank you, Miss Williams. Any questions? Okay. Any other committee reports? Okay. Um the other item was the enrollment report which we received and now we'll move over to Dr. Mass the superintendent report motions. So, I ask the board to approve the out of district placements, the the field trip reports, the HIPS from our November 20th or from excuse me, the HIVs from our October 16 and the personnel report as discussed in exec. >> Do we have a motion? >> Miss Bora, do we have a second? Second. >> Miss Bower, do we have any comments or questions? >> Mr. Jones, please

105call the role. >> Miss Barb, >> yes. >> Miss Bower, >> yes. >> Mr. Benedict, >> yes. >> Mrs. Borro, >> yes. >> Miss Broaddy, >> yes. >> Dr. Kolkowski, >> yes. >> Missiani, >> yes. >> Miss Williams, >> yes. >> Mr. Murray, >> yes. Motion passes. Uh, business functions. Mr. Jones. Uh, number one, staff training. Number two, related services. Three, big one, a ratification workers agreement. Um, the next Okay, number three is a ratification team agreement. The next four are related to the grant. So, number five is the interior renovation, which is good news that it came in budgets to be able to renovate the first and second floor um with this pick. Uh number six is air quality monitoring or construction. Number seven is IT purchases for the grand and then the rest

106are 8 through 11 are referendum. So again number eight is asbesus monitoring. Um number nine is except the tax number one. This is um electrical and extract updates for um McIn Brunner and Evergreen and that work will uh be accompanied this summer. Uh number 10 is for the bond issuance which I uh talked about in my opening statement around the the bond results. Uh number 11, same uh cost to issue. Number 12 is um finalization of our Evergreen um windows project. So it came in under budget. So we're just closing that out. 13 is the approval of the ESA program that Williams talked about. 14 budget calendar. 15 fire drills. 16 book disposal. 17 financial reports. 18 dispersement listings, uh 19 paying the bills, 20, um we add them to the ad was also about

107um the bond issuance um costs. Um and one we did take off with was our audit report that'll be finalized and next board meeting. Do we have a motion to approve the business functions? >> So move. >> Mr. Birdie, do we have a second? Second, >> Miss Williams, any comments or questions? >> I have a comment. I just want to reiterate, I didn't say it earlier when the audit was reviewed, but I just want to thank Christopher and his whole department. again um year after year we get very positive audits with um you know minimal feedback for any changes and I just really appreciate the hard work that your office puts in to keep the records and um and be fiscally responsible and and you know it really is nice for the outside auditing firm

108to recognize that. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments? Okay. Mrs. Bar, >> yes. >> Miss Bower, >> yes. >> Mr. Benedict, >> yes. >> Mrs. Borl, >> yes. >> Bro, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Williams. >> Yes. Mr. >> Yes. Motion carries. >> We'll move to motion to approve minutes from the October meeting. We have a motion. anything >> comments or questions? >> All those in favor? >> I opposed. It's carried. >> No new board business I'm aware of. Please on reports. >> Um so I have an update um a report back from CPAG which met on November 10th. Um and I actually was online for this one so I got a different perspective of it. Um, but rather than just telling you about the the CPAC meeting, they have such good

109minutes on their website. So, I'm just going to read. We talked about executive functioning and and this is just the type of way that the conversation goes. We had um a one of our high school assistant principles came in who talked about executive functioning and started just answering questions. What are the core [clears throat] skills of executive functioning? um what signs to look for in regards to executive functioning, but then what specifically in ninth and tth grade executive functioning looks like in 11th and 12th grade and what supports at home can look like. So, I guess my point is um it was a fabulous meeting for the special educ education parent advisory group. Um, but if you're ever wondering about it and you go to the CPAG site, which is right under the um, special

110services site on our web page, CPAG is right on there and you can click on there and there's tons of resources as well as minutes from all of the meetings. Um, if you're ever wondering if it would be a good resource for you, you don't have to worry about it. You can just show up or jump in online. I highly [cough] recommend it for a resource um, coming up. And so that was my CPAC update. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> Other reports. >> Garden State um Garden State Coalition of Schools is a um organization of uh superintendent and board members. That's uh a statewide organization that does a lot of lobbying um mostly often in conjunction with other education organizations. We had our meeting um yesterday and um so part of uh what we

111discussed are some um some of the kinds of bills that are going on uh right now. It's a lame duck session and uh in Trenton. Um there are um there's good news and bad news in some of the things that are going on. Um, good news is that there is a bill going through that looks like um it has some support uh that would require towns to share their pilot money uh with school districts. So that would really um help us out. Um the uh one of the ones that has a lot of problematic things in in it um is a uh bill related to charter schools which would give them would require school districts to pay for all their transportation. that would be a huge financial hit uh for uh public schools and uh

112would increase um their recruitment area which would dramatically also increase transportation costs. There are a lot of pieces to that. Um uh the we had a speaker yesterday and the speaker was George Scott who's the head of the traumatic loss coalition um that is through Rutgers University um and he's also a licensed family uh therapist um and it was a very uh interesting session. Um he he was invited partially because um a lot of uh people in school districts in including superintendent and board members um uh really didn't sign up to do mental health work. Um and um a lot of of the support uh needed in schools is related to mental health. Um he talked about um uh the fact that there's um a feeling that uh suicides uh are going up, but that's

113not they have been pretty even. Um not that it's good, but not going not going up like people had thought. Um and or as dramatically. Um and um he just talked about a number of things related to wellness um that school districts can do. And then he talked at length about what it's important for all human beings to do. Um he talked about sleep um which we always hear about um and how everyone needs to have both the rout routine as well as the seven to nine hours. He talked about nutrition, talked about movement. Um, and then he um, uh, talked about in addition to those body mind things like yoga and tai chichi and also healthy relationships. Um, and he was talking about um, suicide prevention is not a high school issue that it

114begins already at the preschool level. um and that the CDC data they collect begins at age 10. So that their suicides before age 10, but there's a significant enough number starting at age 10 for the CDC to collect data. Um, and one of the things he talked about, um, you probably parents have probably heard, um, about educators using Bloom's taxonomy, but there's also Maslo's hierarchy of needs, which he talked about Maslo taking priority over Bloom because Maslo emphasizes like beginning with thing needs like safety um, and, Um so anyway, he talked about anxiety, depression, all kinds of um things, senses, belonging, isolation, things to look for. Um and he said sleep is not necessarily, this is a big conversation point in schools is not necessarily about a later start, but earlier bedtimes if that is

115the case to get in those hours. Uh it was uh a very interesting um session and um Mrs. Barb do you want to add? >> Sure. I I just thought one thing that he kept bringing up is this idea that connectedness and belonging and safety and security they lead to success in student outcomes. And so I love that, you know, as a district through curriculum meetings and the wellness and equity committee, I I realize, you know, we're as a as a district, we're ahead of that curve and there we're already thinking about these things and it's so important that we thank you for any other reports. Seeing none workshops request to attend workshops. >> As far as workshops, I don't I just wanted to say that most of us attended the New Jersey school board's

116workshops and went to a lot of really fabulous sessions there. Um, and learned a lot on everything from AI to finances, all kinds of things. So, Thank you. No resolutions. We will move to our second and final public comment. So in accordance with scotch plans stand with public bylaw 016 and 0165, the meeting will be open for 15 minutes for public comments. Maximum three minutes per speaker. Speakers addressing superintendent items, business functions on the board of business. It will be heard first. If time remains, speakers may address other matters. Speaker, state your full name which you reside. Board use public comment period as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session. for cross- examination between the public and the individual members. Be aware

117that not all issues brought before the board will be resolved that evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or her. So I will now open it for 15 minutes. If you have a public comment, please come to the mic. State your name and time. >> Hi, my name is Ryan Gendendrick. I am here uh resident uh in here in Scott Blaine. sorry, former teacher in Berkeley Heights, so perspective from different places. Um, I have two children in school one district. Um, first I want to say thank you so much to members of the board um for volunteering, for being here um and for the work that you do. I want to thank the administration for all the hard work

118that they do um and the leadership of this school and the schools of our district. Um, I also want to thank all of the community members who are here um and the ones that are here to speak um about the situation that's going on in volleyball um here in our town. Um and um this is going to be a little messy um because I've had some new I've had a lot of thoughts and I have some new thoughts as thing as people speak spoke and um I appreciate uh the passion by which all of the parents have spoken um on behalf of their children here today. Um I was a freshman volleyball coach. I was part of the boys volleyball team uh at the start um as a volunteer. Um, I will be speaking from

119a biased perspective. Um, because I, uh, had the extreme pleasure of working with, uh, coaches Brock, uh, Coach Ritter, and middle school coach Stacy Cook. I, um, did not have the opportunity to work with, uh, Coach Stack. Um, but I do believe that when I left as freshman coach, you guys received an upgrade. um when she stepped in for the boys freshman uh volleyball program. Um as a community, as parents, we always try to do what's best for our kids. Um we want to stand up for our specific children. Um and we're biased. Um uh we all have biases, um that we bring to the table no matter where we are. Um, and that leads to messiness. Um, the facts don't always get out on the table. Um, no one in this room knows all

120the facts surrounding the situation. Um, no one who's not in this room knows all the facts from all the perspectives um, surrounding the situation. Um, I want to diverge a little bit from uh, what some people have spoken on behalf of the coaches for. Um, I do not speak for any of the coaches. Um, I speak for myself. Um, but I don't think what they did was a mistake. Um, I think that we failed. I think that if these coaches who have been a part of this program, building it from the ground up, building and I I mean that with volleyball as a school, boys, girls, middle school, volunteered hours and hours of their time uh outside of the and and beyond um their time Um if I'm sorry I I know >> if if

121I may Mr. Jri if you don't feel that you can properly include your comments now and obviously the board as they noted earlier on does receive regular emails. The board does read them and don't put it in the agenda as well. So thank appreciate um we're losing those coaches. We lost them. They walked away. We didn't fire them. right from the girls [snorts] team. They walked away. They left. Um and we did not retain their talent. They are some of the most talented, best coaches that I've ever seen. Um I think we're making a mistake. I think we're making a mistake by not having them for the boys program. And I think we're going to lose out. Um I don't know if you're going to reinstate them. I don't know if they'll come back, even

122if you asked them to. Um, but I don't want this to be the end. Um, I'm asking you, Dr. Mast, please don't let this be the end. Please lead the situation in the next steps and help us on the next step of their journey. Uh, please teach our community how to bring multiple ideas to the table. Um, parents, teachers, coaches, administration. um help us to trust experts in the field like our coaches are um who've been doing this for years and years and years and help us to make informed decisions. Um and please help these kids that are here um and the ones that are growing up in our communities to feel confident in this situation because this situation means so much to them. Thank you. [applause] Hello, my name is Rachel Kamargo. I'm a

123longtime Scott's resident. I really want to thank you today for your leadership and everything. I'm going to try to keep this brief. Um, abandonment, that's not a word that I think of with a coach. Abandonment. And the reason I use that is I'm going to touch on the five things that your parents and people have said that they want this person. One thing I heard you folks say is safety. Well, my freshman was abandoned at the school. Had no way to get home. I was expecting to pick her up after a game. So did not have a chance to even take the bus home in [clears throat] no and not even close. had to walk to the Fanwood library for a few hours until I could pick her up. So, at no point did I

124feel that abandoning and not showing up was safe from any of the kids. Number two, consistency. You said consistent seasons. You have been supportive to these coaches consistently, but I saw 15 plus practices on JB, over 15 games on JB, and over 15 varsity games consecutively with no one showing up. That's not consistency. I know that my student athlete, if he did not show up, was not going to play. If you don't show up, you cannot participate. Abandonment. Number three, care was discussed about caring about the kids. Abandoning the students with zero transparency on why you're telling a 14year-old that you don't care about her or him. 15 16 we're talking kids right behind every data point Mr. said as a child after all of this there are children there were 50 student athletes 18

125freshman uh seven yeah I think it's 18 freshman 17 JV and 15 varsity 15 students 50 students with no explanation or care number four character love that [clears throat] I do think a coach should have lots of character and be a role model and a leader. People make mistakes, I hear, but I don't hear any apology. My student athlete has no idea why she was abandoned on her middle of her season. And respect, abandonment is not a word I would use for a coach. So, I am asking you today to make an informed decision. I don't need to transparency on reasons of why they left. I don't really care. I would like some solidity. The word that was in in the media. We tell students if you have an issue, talk to an adult. They've

126been supported by the board of ed. They've been supported by teachers, superintendent directed for season after season after season. And what I would like to know is that the word they were you the coaches used was solidarity. So I asked you to have solidarity for the 50 student athletes, the bus drivers who were left stranded and banded in the parking lot. Solidarity and respect for the opposing team when the team did not show up. Solidarity for the superintendent, the board of ed, the athletic director, the parents, the janitors even in the school that were here. And I just expect that and and hope that you would make a an informed decision. So, I will leave that to you. I respect whatever you decide, but I would like you to know that the students did show

127up. The student athletes did show up and the new coach that was put in actually turned the varsity team around with the winning season in a in a very difficult situation. >> So, we talked about we heard about new and improved. I'm sorry. That is your >> Thank you so much. Appreciate it. [applause] Can people go first that haven't had a chance to go yet? >> I apologize. I >> apologize. That's okay. >> Feel your passion. >> Go ahead. >> Hi. Uh, my name is Bernice Peter. I am a resident of Scotch Plains. I've been a resident for 21 years. I have three boys. My oldest son also played under Coach Brock who was class of 2023. They won a state championship. He was in the sectional finals. My middle son is right here. His

128name is Brandon. He's a senior right now. He's been with the program three years now. I have also a 5-year-old who's a kindergartener at Kohl's. And I have volunteered my time since he was in fourth grade with Coach Stacy coaching at the PAL program trying to teach all these men how to play volleyball. And the heart that she gave and you know, it's just I have so much invested in these boys and this program. I I follow I've been to almost every single game. I think I only missed like one. And I live stream. I send out emails. I've been the uh secretary of the Raiders club when it was a payto-play sport. I've fundraised. I've collected clothes. I've, you know, bought t-shirts. Uh so many t-shirts. And all of those t-shirts, all the posters,

129all the um paraphernelia basically, [laughter] whatever you want to call it, was designed by Coach Brock He cares so much about this program. The logo that's on the gym floor was designed by him and I have known him probably longer than anybody else in this room. Maybe not the teacher or the staff, but as a parent. And I have never known him to be anything but fair, reasonable, caring, and trustworthy. And I do not know the situation with the girls program. I have no girls. I never went to a girls game. Um I do not I have not had too many interactions with coach staff. But has anybody asked the question, why did coach stack quit? Has anybody asked why did coach Brock not quit? Is there any I'm not asking for this is a

130rhetorical statement. >> I know. >> Yes. >> We don't have an idea and we would like to find out. >> I'm sorry. >> I understand there's a lot of emotions and there's I there's a lot of emotions, but please just uh give everyone the same respect of public comment and and members of the public, please direct your comments to the board so we don't have engagement with the public. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I believed every parent and every student had to sign a code of conduct and in that code of conduct should have stated that no one could come to a coach within 24 hours of a game. I have heard rumors at these girls games that parents were yelling at the coaches. Students were yelling at the coaches. Where was the administration to

131stop that from happening? These coaches felt abandoned. I have spoken to coach Brock. I've coach um I have not spoken to the other coaches, but coach Stack was in such a state where she felt like she could not coach anyone and she was having a very hard time and I don't think that's fair to the boys program. The girls can have their own thing. They have their own they have their own opinions. We have a family. We've never had a problem on the boy side ever that I know and I've been with the program for seven years. So, I don't know why you're punishing these boys when they they showed up for Coach Brock. They respect him. They care for him. He cares for them. And I I don't know what more I could say.

132I'm I'm guessing it's out of my hands. Um but I I would like you to reconsider. You know, maybe uh Mr. Andis's recommendation of a one-year probation period might be good, but I would love this program to be around for when my 5-year-old comes. I will help out in any way possible and I will continue to help out even after he graduates and I have a few years off. Thank you FOR [applause] um I don't want this to be a back and forth. I apologize. Sure. Sure. Matt um they've alluded to it. I don't have a a daughter that plays volleyball, but if for someone who's been a coach for a long time, like Stack and Brock, and let's be clear, Bitter was a volunteer, got caught in something, the question needs to be asked,

133what would drive them to leave? With no context, it seems inexcusable, but how is the community treating her for several years? We've all heard a lot of rumors, so I'm not going to go too much more into conjecture, but it wasn't just like, oh, I don't feel like coaching, so I'm going to abandon these kids. She was driven to it by the behavior of people in our community, and that's not acceptable. When after we spoke, the parents of the girls team were very impassionate and you said they're not supposed to talk to us, but they definitely were talking at us and then we huddled in the hall and we feel their pain. We're not going to dismiss their pain. That had to be a horrible thing to go through. But this is about coach Brock

134and Ritter for the boys program. With all due respect, the parents on the girls team do not know what's best for the boys program better than these gentlemen do. That's illogical. They're not at teen parties. They're not seeing Brock buying these kids ice cream or snacks or getting up at 4:00 a.m. They have no clue about what goes on in the boys program. So, they're impassioned. And I I I feel it. I feel it. But that's got nothing to do with this. That's separate. All the problems are strictly on the girl side. Coach Brock and Coach Ritter have never had an issue on the boy side ever. The petition is over 500 signatures and growing. Um, I didn't get to my last point, my first go round, and I appreciate you hearing me kind of

135blabber disorganized way right now, but there's something about timing in sports programs, in towns that don't recruit. Towns that recruit are loaded every year. In towns like us that don't recruit, programs eb and flow, rise and fall. This year, we are lined up for greatness. It doesn't come along very often. Last year we went to the state finals, lost by a point in the final set with sophomores and juniors and one senior. We are, to use the football metaphor, we are at the one foot line getting ready to punch it in. And yet someone from the inside has sabotaged these boys. It's really hard to swallow. Again, like I said, first go around, people make mistakes. People make mistakes and we have to show compassion as individuals. Thank you for your time and all that

136you do for the community. Again, I'm a huge fan. So, thank you. [applause] >> Um, my name is Jen Martinez. I am a sixyear Scott play resident. This is my first um school board meeting and hopefully not my last. I um not only have a high school student who was actually on Miss Dak's freshman volleyball team last year. Um I have a four-year-old that will be in Evergreen next year and I have some bonus babies that are uh graduated out of the public school system. Um the first thing I just really want to put on record is my personal experience with Coach Stack. Her name has been mentioned a lot, but I don't know that a lot of the people in this room have personal experience. So, I kind of affectionately call her Mrs. Coach

137Stack. So, my first experience with her was as my son's fifth grade teacher. Um, my son is about as ADHD as they come, thanks to me. Um, and he is not always the easiest student to have in a classroom. He had a fourth grade teacher I won't mention. Um, that did not support him adequately and left him with uh some serious phobias and issues with school. Um, I can't thank what was then Mrs. Stack enough for not abandoning my son and fully embracing him and making sure he did not slip through the cracks and course corrected his trajectory significantly. Uh, my second experience was as a as a substitute teacher. So for the last year, I've also been an active substitute teacher in the district. I love it enough that I am now a graduate

138student to become a school psychologist because I don't want to leave. Um, but as a substitute teacher, I actually taught right across the hall from her for a month this February because I was invited for into a long-term assignment. And it's another opportunity where I cannot stress enough her commitment to her students. I have seen her struggle with personal issues and pull it back together flawlessly because her priority is always her students. And when I my son got accepted to the freshman volleyball team and I saw her there with no idea that she was coached stack as well, I was elated. And my son had an amazing year. He is currently recovering from a fractured foot, but it was very much in our plans and our aspirations to be able to experience Coach Brock. Like

139that was part of the plan. Um, but what I consistently see are people with amazing personal track records that dropped off planet in a day after one bad day. And it is a bad day. And the issues that happened to the parents and I wish they had it left. They matter and it shouldn't have happened. However, there are so many possible causes of something that happens so out of line and character. And right now, to be as blunt as I can be, the impression in the community is that personal matters interfered with professional matters. If the number one priority of the school board is the students, how many students want him back? >> All those. What else is there to say? I have never seen an instance where one thing caused such a severe reaction

140to someone with such a consistent and long-term positive track. I mean, I had no idea what the drama was. No clue. But my faith in these people were such that my immediate response was there was something systemic to address. And I think it is the responsibility of the school board to keep and the trust of their community by being transparent about what exactly was so severe to cause such a severe reaction because [clears throat] one infraction should cause some repercussion. But one infraction that is so completely out of line with a long-term history needs to be addressed in proportion. I can tell you my 21-year-old who was struggling to go back to school went back to his college yesterday and went to two people. His financial aid office and his coach because his coach is

141the person that's going to keep him in school. >> That is your time. [applause] Hello, my name is Bry Bastrino and I'm a junior here at Scotch Planes and I'm not only a member of the boys volleyball varsity team, but I was also this season one of the girls volleyball managers. So, I have experience with both sides. Um, I can say as someone who played under both Brock and Ritter that they were both excellent coaches and just great people in general who really helped me develop as a player during the past two years. And I can also say for the girls side, they were also great for them. And from my point of view, many of the problems that emerged on that side were caused by outside conflict by other people and not by the

142coaches themselves. And I'm going just keep this short, but I just want to make sure to say that I am looking to try to get them reinstated just for the sake of the program and the team. I think they're very important to us and they we're not really the same team without them. Thank you. [applause] >> Can we extend this possibly? There's a lot of people here. >> Is it possible to extend it? We extended the first one. >> Is there an email address? >> We've done it before. >> When they did, I didn't know when they did. And >> Mr. Morris, I know you know comments from the audience. We do have someone who's >> I've been here for I was here last uh what was it? February. >> There's someone here to make

143a comment. Yep. >> Hello everyone. I'm Johnny Caliphat. I'm currently a junior. I don't go I I actually I'm a resident of Scotch Plains, but I don't go to the club high school. I go to the Union County Magnum High Schools, which is also which on the far side of town. And I just want to say that entering my freshman year, I was absolutely elated to be playing for this program. I was very excited, but with excitement also came nerves. I [clears throat] wasn't sure if I was going to fit in. I wasn't sure if the coaches were going to understand my academic conflicts. But coach Brock and Ritter really helped me see that I can that I can personally live in my two different worlds that constantly living. I can pursue all of my

144interests and all of my passions with the Brock and Ritter coaching staff. So, I would love to have them back. I know that they treated the boys program excellently. I haven't heard of a single conflict between player or coach that [clears throat] really affected um my thought of their reputation. They were always they were always models to me. They were always ideal coaches and I just don't think that I myself could be the same player, same person or I don't think that any of these boys could be the same without Brock or Ritter. And they just understood so much about me. I don't think there's a person I don't think there's I don't think that there's a um two other people in this world that could do the same exact thing for me and understand

145my understand both of my interests. So I would just really love to have them back. Thank you. THANK YOU. [applause] OKAY, THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENTS. We're going to close a second public comment section. >> Can we Can I say something? Can we still say something? >> Yes. Close. >> What is the policy on the board about >> 15 minutes? >> People in the audience have said that they've extended it in the past. >> We we've we've extended the first one. We've this one has passed way past the extension as well. >> If you have a comment that you want to share, you can send an email to the superintendent of the board. >> I did that today. >> Public comment is is is closed and we're going to move to the next

146agenda. >> Okay. When is the next board meeting, please? >> December 18th. >> Thank you. >> Upcoming schedule meetings. Uh Thursday, December 18th. We have the reord on January 6th and the January meeting is January 22nd. We now move to the good of the order. Anybody has anything for the good of the order? >> Um I just Leah earlier mentioned the um eighth grade parent night and I just wanted to add to some of the comments that she made that um I have a rising freshman. So, I my family attended 8th grade um eighth grade student and parent night and um also have a senior and this was a new addition I think in the last couple years to our district so I didn't have that opportunity um with my my daughter. Um and I

147was very impressed. I think like the entire school was made available so the kids would feel comfortable. Um, and not only that, but just showing the engagement and the range of student activities and clubs. And they very strategically positioned those student groups in certain rooms so that the incoming freshmen would be able to see, you know, certain key areas of the school like the wellness room and, you know, the gymnasium, the media center. all of our school s um district supervisors, content supervisors were present to talk about, you know, high school curriculum, answer questions from parents. Um and it was just a really great night. So, I just want to recognize Dr. Hines and the supervisors, the administration, the all of the students who came out to represent their clubs um and show the incoming

148freshmen what's available to them. It was a great night. So, want to just recognize everyone who was involved. others you could agree with. >> Um I went to the national um not national the state level competition for the marching band. Um and they play six in their division or in their group I guess group 3 3A. Um it was amazing to see how they transformed from the beginning. I went to their preview show. My my niece was the drum major so I had a lot invested in the program but um I'm also an alumnest of the program so even more. But they were amazing and they they performed really well and we were just really proud of them and you know kudos to Mr. Thomas and Mr. and also drop off is crazy out there

149so everyone please be careful. >> Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. >> I I wanted to say one other thing um in in uh I want to echo what uh Stephanie said about our business office. Uh I don't know that most of the community knows this and I think it's the work of the the board, the finance committee and as well as uh our BAS and and uh uh the people in the central office, but we are one of the lowest uh per student cost in the county and we should be very uh happy that um a lot of work goes into making uh excellent schools that are also um uh doing well financially. But it's a season of Thanksgiving and um I wanted to wish everyone uh happy Thanksgiving too. But I also wanted to take

150a minute to express my thanks uh to the community of Scotch Plains for the opportunity to represent uh them on the board for uh the last 18 years. I started out um as uh with an interest in attending a lot of meetings as a president of the ice hockey association which was the first pay-to-play uh sport and um so in any case um it's not easy uh the decisions that have to be made whether it's related to student issues, staff issues, finances um and I want to uh thank the many board members I served with over the years for their dedication, their collegiality. Uh many ha um uh were mentors to me when I was a new member and I learned a lot from everyone's different perspectives. Um and in tribute to each of them

151and everyone here uh on the board, uh I I wanted to point out to the public how timeconsuming and challenging this unpaid position is. In addition to the regular meetings, there are many committee meetings, negotiation meetings, we're doing one after this, student and staff recognitions and events, trainings, county and state meetings, and more. And there's also the added challenge of being unable to speak about many issues because of confidentiality. Um, things regarding students, staff, legal issues, and so forth. It's hard not to talk about things. Having served as a member and an officer, I can tell you though unequivocally that every board of ed member I have served with did put students and the taxpayers uh first and always behaved in an ethical manner. They understood what the role of a board member is and

152isn't. Um, I want to also thank the administrators I've worked with over the past 18 years. We have been very uh fortunate in our community um that because of the community, the staff, and the board of ed, we've had continuity and leadership with our superintendent. Um, and um, our last two superintendent stayed for 12 years. that continuity is really important and hopefully that will continue. Um and then I also wanted to extend thanks to all levels of our staff from the central office, principles, teachers, maintenance, everyone because they demonstrate a willingness to step up during difficult times, financial crisis, the pandemic, um to be there for our students and for each other. And that's very impressive. And also I want to thank the parents in the community who over the years have provided input um

153and have engaged with us and the schools in a variety of ways and I hope that we can remember to keep the civility in the dialogue. Um it served us well over many years and I think it's very important to model for our children and almost through We can have different perspectives but it is important to listen to each other. Um and it's really critical to also respect um the the expertise of our educators just like we do our doctors and other professionals. Um so again I want to thank everyone. I know Stephanie will continue to do a fabulous job representing Scotch Plains and I wish John well as he takes on this new role. South [applause] of the order anyone. >> I just >> Well, I I was I was just going to say

154that kind of took us all off guard a bit because um we do have a December meeting, but I didn't wasn't aware that Nancy wasn't going to be there. Um and and so I think that we're all in um agreement and I'm just gonna just say how appreciative we are and I personally having learned so much when I came on board and um you you just such admiration for all that you've done for the community and for that ice hockey team that we will always always talk talk about about. Thank you very much. >> Thank you Nancy. It was a pleasure to serve on this board with you and um when I when I started on the board, you were board president. I learned so much from you. 18 years of service that [snorts] that

155uh is quite a legacy. Thank you so much. You're welcome. [applause] I just also want to say because um the woman who did not get a chance to speak asked if there was an email, there is a board email. Uh we do get letters every week. I just want the public to know that the board because we are a board of nine, we have a president that speaks for us. I I know I I read every single letter. Um I had conversation with Dr. Mass this week about one of the letters. So we do thoughtfully consider them and discuss them, but you don't get discouraged if you don't hear from each individual board member because we we are not allowed to respond in that way, but you will get a response from the appropriate administrator

156or president. Just wanted to point that out. Anyone else? >> Motion to move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Thank you. feel I don't