001One, I would like to call the meeting to order. Open public meeting act statement. >> In accordance with provisions of the open public meeting, the board secretary has ordered notice of this meeting for advertising by having date, time, and place thereof posted in CO town hall on the board located in the hallway of the board of education administrative building as well as the district website. >> Flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Roll call. >> Miss Dadetta, >> present. >> Mr. Barry, >> present. >> Mr. Deombre, >> present. >> Miss Geller, >> present. Miss Howard present. Mr. Lewis >> present. >> Mr. Lions >> present. >> Executive session.
002Oh, I'm sorry. Regular meeting minutes. All right. Presentation. I'm just thinking out loud. Sorry. Still on vacation mode. Don't mind me. >> Yes, it's the summer summer brain. I'd like to welcome Jean Clearary here. Um she is from New Jersey school boards and she is going to um be doing our goals presentation this evening. >> I am I was told it would be okay if I sat. Is that all right? >> It is perfect to sit wherever you would like. Welcome. >> I was just Okay. Okay. So, what what we're going what I was asked to do tonight is um you have all completed the board self-evaluation and this is a summary report that I put together based on the responses that were compiled. Okay. Um to start off for each of the sections written
003across the top um it shows what the compiled result was on a 40 scale. So, I want to thank all of you for um participating. you had full nine members participate in the board self-evaluation and that's really important. This is your way to um con you know continuous improvement for your governance and to ensure that you're staying focused um on student achievement under the authority that you have to govern as policy makers, planners and appraisers. Right? So for each of these sections, what you see on the on the left side is really reported what you indicated as a team that you see as the strengths of the work that you're doing in that area. And on the right is um some of it is taken from comments that were made that were reflective of majority.
004But I I have also included on the right um recommendations for things that may possibly be things to consider to go into your uh board goal setting. Right? So the this can be used as the basis for discussions on what constitutes good board goals for the upcoming year and we'll talk about that and creating action plans after we look at this. So for um vision, mission, and goals, and I should have said I'm sorry. Um if you have any questions or you want to stop me at any Okay. So under vision, mission, and goals, um on a four-point scale, it came in at 2.57. And the strengths that you're talking about here are that you continue to monitor the advancement towards goals, which is good. You have student focused goals. That's really the work that
005we're all here to do regardless of what title we have, right? We are looking for student achievement. Um, this board uses relevant data to engage in continuous district improvement um through the, you know, collaboration with the superintendent and establish priorities that are aligned with the vision and mission. So, just to take a moment, we have vision and mission which reflects what this community holds of value for educating its students. Then you set your priorities through goal setting, right? So multi-year goal setting is done through your strategic plan. That should inform your annual district goals towards student achievement. So it kind of cascades and then your board goals should be there under the authority that you hold as a board. How you may support a district goal or how you may focus a board goal on
006your own governance and improving your governance. Okay. So on the area um on the right is um just from a reflection of the comments that were made maybe improving um in a unifying way the understanding of district versus board goals. Right? So district goals generally come from the superintendent based on his work with the administration to say what should we be really focusing our attention on this year. That's what's going to direct all of the staff towards trying to reach specific goals throughout the year towards student achievement. And to be clear about that, that could also mean it might be a facility goal because you need the space that's appropriate to provide a program of instruction, right? But we just want to always understand that those goals should have some tie-in along the way with
007student achievement. Okay? So they are generally um recommended by the superintendent with the board's input and discussion that you agree and then you approve those goals and when you approve those goals at the end of the year the superintendent evaluation is how you perform your role under governance of holding the district accountable for meeting the expectations towards the achievement for students. Right? So just having a clear understanding of that and then also really being faithful to creating action plans for all goals. Um the superintendent does the action plans for district goals but the board works on creating action plans that you all agree to for your own board goals. District goals should be um reported out on quarterly to keep the community informed of the progress being made. And similarly, your board goals should be
008reported out by the president quarterly to to show this there's a fidelity to really staying focused on what those goals are and achieving them. Okay. So, um it also is um recommended uh communication, no surprise, comes up on every board um because we live in a complicated world and we all have different styles of communication. um communicating um among board members to increase overall board involvement and support a proactive approach to resolving issues to ensure effective governance and maintain a focus on student achievement. So when you're thinking about goal setting after this, how can you improve in the area of communication in ways that keeps everybody engaged, right? Um, if you're in a committee structure, making sure that your committee reporting is being um, done and getting out to the other members who aren't on
009that committee in appropriate time for the other board members to ask questions that everyone understands the process of who to ask the question to. That's an accepted process that you're all faithful to. So, we want everyone from the administration on the board to be working really efficiently and um that helps stay focused and be really serving your students in the best way that you can, but it also prevents unfortunate misunderstandings where people feel left out, right? Or how come I didn't know that and everyone else seemed to know it? So, you want to really make sure that you have those processes in place. So an action item and we're going to look at that later when we look at sample goals could be to set board protocols for communication and requesting information. So one of
010the other things we know from ethics is that individual board members don't have any authority. The board holds the authority. So there should be a process in place that when information is requested and I'm talking report information, something that's going to take significant time to put together that there should be a process where the board is recognizing that the majority of the board agrees that this information would be helpful in your decision- making and understanding, right? So that we allow the district to operate effectively and efficiently daytoday. Okay. Um, of course, setting three to five board goals with action plans that support approving district goals. Um, and also addressing your own governance and develop and maintain trust through strong practices. That was one of the issues I know I've been in and we've worked on
011trust and building trust and maintaining trust, which is not an easy thing to do. Um but one of the ways we build and maintain trust is by having reliable processes in place that everyone follows with fidelity, right? So that we're not having side conversations. We're working efficiently. We're working as a team. We can disagree. That's fine. Um but everyone should be able to be heard respectfully, but then we should be able to say, "Okay, I didn't carry the day if I'm not in the majority. So I can support the majority because I know that that work has happened and we're building consensus because regardless of whether or not you all agree with each other, I believe that you're all here to serve the students of CC caucus, right? So we want to always keep all
012of our conversations and the work that we do focused on students. Um I just as an aside to that also one of the things and you may or may not have it so I'm not really sure but um a new board member orientation plan if you if you have it one of the the good things to do is to annually look at it as um a team to it helps to refresh what you've already set in motion is if that's something you would want a new board member to know. It's a good refresher for you that oh that's the way we're supposed to be doing things, right? Because we tend to get away from the things we know we're supposed to do. It also allows you to um update it if it's necessary for new
013board members that might be coming on. Okay. So, if there's no questions or comments or anything, we'll go on to the next. So, under policy that received a score of 3.2 two out of four. The board holds monthly meetings and uses Strauss Esme to make sure that policies are up to date and follow all necessary laws. You know that you're a policymaking body. Um understanding the importance policy. You know, one of the things I really want all board members to walk away with is really an understanding of the incredible responsibility that you have and the and the power that you have um and to use that power appropriately as a governing team, right? Not to run the district, but to really communicate through your policies and making sure those policies are updated that those are
014the guidelines for how the district will run. It ensures that people are being treated equitably. It ensures that you're helping to meet the mission and vision that you have for your your students and what you value for them as they move through the system. So, hold that authority and respect that authority as a board team. um and really uh be working through those policies and we know that you have authority over your local policies and make sure that they're updated that the language is appropriate. Sometimes we change language, you know, from pupil to student and a whole bunch of other things that um may seem s silly, but we want people to feel um included in the language that we're using and that they're being treated fairly. Um, so I I was glad to hear
015the policy committee works collaboratively with the board and the superintendent. Very often the superintendent may from running day-to-day operations recognize that a policy may have been in place that really is no longer best serving what needs to happen in schools and may need to be amended and can recommend that to the policy committee for review and perhaps updating. Um, I always say the superintendent is your consultant on your board, right, as the educational leader. Um, and your policies serve student achievement. Um, and you do that through different ways. Some policies will talk to, you know, expectations for for outcomes on test scores or or what it is, who should be hired, what what they should have, and, you know, to be hired for positions. Those things should all be spoken through your policies. So areas
016that you may want to consider as grow areas, things that you could maybe make steps towards are to focus your governance on communicating through your effective policies. Remembering that that's what ensures that the community is also aware of why decisions are being made because policies are in place that speak to those issues and topics and that no one is being singled out or treated differently, right? um perhaps training, professional training uh development uh on the board's role and responsibilities in the policym uh process and ensuring that it really is is working for you, right? That everybody understands it and whether or not you're on that policy committee understands really the power that policies have. You're a policym body. um having informed constructive discussions regarding policies and ensuring that the process itself allows for those who
017will be affected by them to um have that information in common. So first and second read is a good best practice so that people have an opportunity to consider um but internally you know um as a former um administrator myself you know we have to also be careful at times that policies we set are being inclusive of people who will be affected by them. And one thing comes to mind when I was in district is going onetoone with technology right it it's wonderful but if we don't really have a very clear policy and include the IT department in that policy to say what is actually doable right where are we go are we going to collect all of them back in the summer are we not how are we going to replace things what software
018is going to go on to protect students right so you can write a policy without the right um expertise and that policy isn't going to deliver for you the results that you need. Right? So that's an important thing to know. Accountability for student achievement 3.06 um very uh interesting that you know the education committee works closely with administration to make sure that the goals are met. The board receives updates on student performance through data sharing and tracking. The board is committed to supporting student and staff achievement. Um, the board works to ensure proper information sharing with the community, which is vital because we always want to keep our community engaged and understanding why decisions are being made and what effects those decisions have, right? And we want to appraise whether the decisions we're making need
019to be re-evaluated if new information comes so that we can um adjust as necessary. And the board's committed to advancement of all students and gives attention to data on subgroup performance which is really key right because we serve for the interest of all students and different students have different needs. So an area to just consider is really formalizing that more instead of talking about goals as an abstract really having goals that are written up with action plans that are written up and posted and having quarterly updates on those goals. Right? that holds us accountable, that helps the conversations we're having when we're at the board table be focused on how this ties into what we are supposed to be focusing on and as a team working together. So, it's not a surprise to anyone. Um,
020so we um I'm sorry I so the grow areas are training in the board's role of oversight and student achievement um by supporting administration through the development of the district goals, right? not to be writing them necessarily, but to have a a discussion and an understanding and you approve those district goals and having a clear understanding of where your responsibility is and where it isn't, right? So, we're not trying to get into the administrative side to but to best support administration in pursuing those goals for the students. Um, training perhaps and and these are recommendations. These are not, you know, you have to discuss these and decide what has value to you. Um, based on what I was reading, perhaps training on the board's role in curriculum, right? Where it's not to write the curriculum,
021just like under the budget, it's not the board's role to write the budget, but to understand the the importance of the role that you play in overseeing it um so that you can support it through approval um and hold it accountable to make sure that it's really serving students. supporting continuous engagement and communication with the stakeholders of your community by establishing a calendar for scheduled updates. So people, it should be up on the, you know, your website so people know that this is generally when we would expect, right? We're not going to talk about test scores in September, right? That would be inappropriate. But what through the year can people expect that this is the proper time of the year that we would be providing updates on certain things? Okay. So, the governance team relationship
022and accountability came in at 2.63. Um, it was reported that there's a commitment to student success. I have no doubt about that. I've um, you know, just working with you now over um, different times, the questions and the um, attention that you give to the detail. I know that everyone is really focused on on students. Um committee chairs keep everyone informed about the work and that's great feedback because um that's important to maintain that trust that you have in each other that you know people are doing the work that's expected of them but then being inclusive and sharing it so everyone's prepared for that board meeting to weigh in on what they need to do right um an area to consider though um what I noticed in here was that the team ratings for the
023following and I put them here reflect a need to focus on these which was interesting interesting to me because if you remember when you did this, you graded yourself with the numbers. That's where I'm getting the numbers from. And then you made your comments and I noticed that the numbers didn't match up with the comments, right? So, it's an area to really um pay attention to and and where I have that um you know, it's broken down here is C is was that category was establishes and adheres to the board operating norms and code of conduct. So five members indicated this as an area for improvement and one said it was unsatisfactory. So that is worth investigating right that you're and this is a good thing. This is why you do this self- evaluation, right?
024We all want to hear the good stuff about ourselves, but it really helps to identify those areas where how could we do better? Why are people feeling that, right? Maybe we don't have clear written out norms that people know what are the appropriate steps to take or how to be informed or how to pose a question. So, we want to put those things down. Um, and that could be a board goal. And then the action steps would be to really write that out and have board support for it so that you know how to go about um staying within the code of conduct what that looks like um and really advancing that you're doing. Um then the other one was works together as a team in an atmosphere of trust and respect. Seven members indicated
025that this was an area for growth and two is unsatisfactory. So, it's very hard to be um serving your students if as a team you are being challenged by trusting each other in the work that you're doing. You're doing really challenging work, right? And the students of the district are really counting on everyone to bring their best self forward to these conversations of how you work together to really ensure because it's not one board member or the superintendent alone that's going to really serve students. It's really all of you within your roles and responsibility coming together and being able to have the discussions that have to happen um and coming together as a team to serve your students. Right. So um board training for compliance with code of ethics especially regarding transparency and confidentiality. So,
026um this is an area that I I do see and it it's really um something with the best of intent often is that board members want to be transparent with the community, but we have to understand when it is necessary for confidentiality, right? Um breaking confidentiality will be the shest way to break trust um and makes it really difficult to go forward positively. So there are times when if you're working in a committee, something is being discussed and researched and you're kind of fact gathering and yes, after you come out, the chair of the committee should be writing the report and sharing it with everyone, but that's to keep you informed, but it shouldn't be raised as an issue, say, at the board table in an open meeting until it was decided that there's a
027recommendation from that committee and it's going on the board agenda and now you can have an appropriate discussion in public, right? Otherwise, what happens is you um putting the cart before the horse and it's really not meant and it can confuse the public. It it evaporates the public's trust in how you are operating, right? Because they're confused and not understanding what they're supposed to be under, you know, hearing about what you're talking about. So, we just want to really um re-evaluate that and and look at that. So board goals should focus on address addressing these areas through agreed upon action plans to improve your communication, your process and fidelity to rules to ensure that there's efficiency and maintain an environment of trust to work effectively as a team and not as individuals. Right? It's really
028important. You don't all have to agree. Totally fine. But you have to always have work that's being done with students. So sometimes we persuade the maj you know the others and we become the majority but when we don't we have to be willing to say that well the majority has decided that this is the way we're going forward and I'm going to support that because we're trying to serve students and we want to do it efficiently. Okay, any questions or Okay, so resource management and oversight was 3.21. The board monitors the district's near-term and future financial health. The board finances committee and administration review financial reports monthly and update the full board. The priorities given to the health, safety, and security of students and school facilities and financial information is made public, right? And that
029is that is appropriate when it's appropriate. you one of the responsibilities of the board whether you're on the finance committee or not they'll speak about the monthly reports right in in committee and then they're shared with the full board and you have to vote to approve those monthly reports. You need to all hold yourself accountable for understanding the reports is not the same as you know running the district because we have a business administrator who's tasked with doing that. But when you're approving something you need to understand it. So you have to know where the level of your responsibility is to adequately meet that. Um the board's role in collaborating with the administration to address the long range facility plan and other short and long-term goals should be clarified. You should understand the long-term facility
030plan um so that that's information you need to have as you're you know making goals and approving things. um so that it's it's laid out. You know what is needed um for necessary upgrades for your structures, what demographics, you know, could be shifting in your community that make you need new space or whatever it is. That helps with understanding the decisions that are made for budgeting and for how you're going to continue to serve your students. Um, also I would recommend strongly that uh board members use New Jersey school boards resources to remain informed about educational issues and governmental re regulations which could impact district resources. So we send out and if you're not on the list and I am going to admit that sometimes it seems overwhelming if you're getting you know daily things
031um because you have a lot coming into your emails but just remember that those are there for a reason as resources. So, daily clips. We now have capital watch um which talks about things that are happening in Trenton that could be impacting your districts. Um school board notes of course school leader. We have webinars that you can if you can't sign up and be available a lot of times they're inconvenient at 10 o'clock in the morning live but you can go on and watch webinars at any point if you feel like you would like more information to be more informed in the work that you're doing. Um and NJSB connection is also a way you any board member can go on and just see you know this is a situation in our district. Does anyone
032else out there have a similar situation and how did you handle it right to just gain more perspective on how things are being handled? can be really helpful and and Kelly knows that we have just unrol we have rolled out the one for um board presidents right because just um setting just for board presidents to have that train of like how are you handling it what's best practice that kind of thing so there are a lot of resources to keep you up to date community leadership 2.7 the board values community engagement and welcomes community input um so just based again on the information that was shared from all of you is it might be what um helpful to have a training. It doesn't these trainings don't necessarily h I'm happy to help you but you
033know it could be your attorney who maybe um just gives a a little reminder refresher course on the importance of open public meetings act and how to be in compliance with that and you know what OPRA requests are how to protect yourselves as board members by of course not using your personal emails. Um, but not to look at that it is a challenge. We recognize oper requests at times, but it is something we have to understand and if we're conducting ourselves appropriately and we're being transparent when we're supposed to be transparent, we shouldn't be worried about that. Um, so that takes care of that section. The individual members, there's this again was um an updated tool. So we really didn't say for each one of these categories, how does how do you think the board's
034doing? how do you think I'm doing? Right? But there was this one section to kind of reflect on yourself and how you felt equipped to serve under for governance and as as individuals it averaged out to 3.33. So you you know you feel that you know what is expected of you um but you're very open to learning and continuous growth. So that's really great to hear. So what do you consider the board's greatest strengths that we can build from is um board members remaining focused on student achievement which is what you are committed to and the board members diversity of expertise. You value that you know actually it's good to hear that you recognize that you don't maybe agree all the time but you come from you bring diverse strengths to the table and you
035want to work better with each other. I think across the board that was really what I was seeing in this. Um so governance areas that you know it was asked that you may need to focus on to further your work as an effective team. Um developing and maintaining that environment of trust among board members. And how do we do that? Through specific actions, right? through specifically um laying out how we go about sharing information, how we communicate, who to go to when, how we have that process of before we ask for a report that's going to take staff time. Is that something that we all agree on as a team that has value and it'll be a majority, maybe not everybody agrees, but but if it's a majority that agrees it's got value, then that
036you're indicating that that is something that the board would benefit from. um individual and board training to gain information on topics and to serve students through efficient and effective actions under your authority that's been granted to the board and supporting the authority of the administration. Having a clear understanding of um policym, planning, and appraisal. What does that really look like? And how do we work as an efficient team with the superintendent and allow the superintendent the space to run day-to-day operations to work with administration so that everybody is very clear on the goals that you have all of which should be addressing how we're going to all work together in under our authority towards student achievement. So um clear board norms, board training, self-evaluation to identify strengths and governance. Keep doing this annually. um it
037gets easier as you go and you'll always find something that will be um an area to move forward on. So, what I want to just share with you now is and I'm going to apologize because I grabbed this as I was running out of the house and I grabbed the wrong one. So, on the top it says district goal action plan. It really should say board goal action plan, right? We know we've talked about the difference between district and board goals. So, you could cross out district and just But we're not going to do the actual goal setting tonight. I'm sorry, I walked away from the We're not going to do the actual goal goal setting tonight. But but this is really what we're looking at in terms of identifying across the top of the
038page. What is what do you feel as a team is a good board goal to have? Looking at what we just talked about, right? and identifying that, then identifying the different action steps that you would want to reasonably take, whether it's writing those things out, you know, what it is, putting dates on it of when. So, the first part should be, you know, we're going to write up these things by a certain date, right? And then we're going to move on with it. We're going to report out on the updates of our goals. So what I did on the next section, okay, is um these are not your board goals. Okay, I am not equipped to write your board goals, but this is guidance, sample board goals for consideration based on the report we just
039talked about, right? to give you an idea of how you could start out with your board goals and then develop some action plans. Now, if you don't agree that these are the areas that you most want to focus on, that's fine. This is just meant as a reference for you. Okay? So, what I put here was review board protocols for communication and requesting data. You know, maybe the action steps are who to request it from, right? and setting this out in print like there's going to be something shared with all board members that we all know that this is what we do. We go to do we go directly to the superintendent or not. Identify the steps to request that information. Again, um there are certain things that are good practice, right? So if one
040board member has a question and you're directed by your board norms to say go to the superintendent, it might be a good practice for him to then respond in an email that says I this question was raised by a board member today and I'm sharing my response to all of you. This way everybody whether you had that question or not gets the response so you're all on the same page. Those little things can help keep you all working together and no one feeling left behind. Okay. Um and also just on the second one to set professional training schedule, right? So um it might be that you want to um look at board certification and I'll tell you right now um it looks like you have 13 of the 16 required credits to get board certified.
041Now there are categories and that's up on our website about other things that you have to have in place. The board self-evaluation annually is one of them. Um, but there are a couple of other things that are lined out there, but that could be getting board certified could be a board goal. And then you need some more training. Lay out, you know, we're going to calendar the date for whether it's a special meeting retreat or however that's going to look, right? And and those are the action steps that you take to make sure that you do it by a certain time so that you could get board certified. So you could set that out and then in the spring be invited as a team, the whole board. you get free dinner and you get a
042plaque and you get recognized and it sends a message to your community that you know you're working on working together to go forward for students. So, >> okay. >> Yes. >> We can get individual cification. >> Yes. And we're 13 points out of 16 points. >> That's right. So, there are other criteria. You're you're really close. This is a real doable board goal. So, you're already doing it, right? You're already you've had me in a couple of times. You've had previous trainings before that. It's a foury year window. Um, and so, yes. And thank you for raising that because sometimes there is confusion about that, right? So there's individual certification where you as an individual um can attend certain things and you can uh get training and and you do that independently and you get
043credits and when you meet the criteria then you are um a master board member. You can be you know the Carol Lee Larson master board member first. You get board certified. a board certification that we're talking about here is requires that you will have really at these trainings um for us to give credit like for instance tonight you will get credit for the time I'm spending with you so there'll be another credit um but five of seven board members no I'm sorry seven of nine board members have to be participating really you want nine out of nine because you are a team and that's the whole point of strengthening your team together and the superintendent has to partic participate in that as well. And then that allows us to give credit. There are times I've
044gone out and a board um for whatever reason can't get everyone there and they the members that show up still feel it's valuable because they need the training. So they won't get the training. They won't get the credit but they get the training. But you seem to be really good about showing up for your training. So I would take advantage of that. Um and and we know the research shows that boards that learn together have improved governance structure which ultimately is more efficient in serving students. The data is there to support that. So um it it is a valuable goal to consider. >> We never achieved that status. Yeah, >> that we could find out exactly what we need to do because I think most of us if not all of us would benefit from
045having this status and the community. >> Oh. Oh, I think your microphone >> Sorry, >> I was getting um >> just for the people at home. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Sorry about that, folks. Yeah. I I if we know exactly what we need to do in that, I think that should be a goal that we can. >> Yes. So any of you right now can go on to the New Jersey school board's website and it is there actually under board certifications and it walks you through but I can send tomorrow the link if if you don't have it. Yeah. And you could share it few months about working toward that goal. Yeah. To get us all >> I've seen our individual achievements there but it also has the full board. >> You won't you won't
046see necessarily as an individual board. >> Okay. That's why I don't see Okay. Great. I just see my own. >> Yes. You'll see your own. >> Yeah. So um so that you know it it helps you to come together right and and do what's necessary and you get to strengthen how you're governing together to serve students. So, um, another thing I know I love handouts. So, um, this is not, this is actually from another presentation that I give. Um, but it's just something I think is a really handy reference when we talk about policy, right? I recognize that some board members, if they're being honest, just kind of glaze over and don't really want to get involved with policy or don't want to read the policy or don't see the value in the policy. This
047is just outlining for you how policy directly affects student achievement. It lists out how those policies that you have really are impactful. So that's why it is such a main focus that you should be focusing your activity on to make sure that they're really speaking to what your expectations are. Of course, we have policies that are mandated and they have to be there, right? But in all of the other policies that it isn't it isn't something that should just be um left like, oh, I don't want to know that. This is really powerful. this is how you govern and speak to what the expectations are and how the district is going to go forward, right? Because staff is using that to guide their behavior of what's acceptable and how we know we're achieving what we're
048supposed to be achieving for our students. So all of those policies are ones that speak to student achievement. So you really want to become familiar with them. Okay? And that really um sums up. So the uh the worksheet is there. I gave you sample goals to consider and start off your conversations. How you do that can look different. Different boards do it differently. Um sometimes a president will say like, "Hey, based on last night, what do you think about these just to start you off?" And then you can move from there. Um, but you know, you want it to be thoughtful and you want to hear everybody's view. But I think it's also very important to make sure that those action plans are really specific of who's doing what when. And that last column on
049the right says, you know, how the indicator of success. That is crucially important not only in this conversation, it's crucially important with district goals and other things that you are doing as a team. You want to in the beginning have indicators of success so that it's an objective conversation at the end and not a subjective conversation. It's not well I think we got there. I think we're doing great. Oh, I don't think we're doing right. If you say what do we expect to identify that we have achieved this goal from the beginning, it makes it a lot easier to come to agreement later on. It's a yes or a no. It's objective. We did it or we didn't do it. So that's just good practice. Okay. All right. So, I believe my time may be
050over with you. It's always a pleasure to spend this time with you. If anyone has any questions or I can be helpful on this or anything else, um, please just, you know, don't hesitate to reach out. Okay. >> Oh, thank you. Appreciate that. >> Oh, sure. Yeah. >> We have a a great my opinion. I reviewed the mission statement and it looks, you know, fine. How often should we as a board be reviewing that and just to update it so that people know that we've looked at to see what it says, if it's still appropriate, if it needs to be changed at all? >> I think that um there's no one real answer to it. I think it's important to always have it at the board table so that your discussions really remind you that
051it this is what you're here to do and are the discussions we're having serving that right. when it gets changed frequently is when you do strategic planning because there's an opportunity to hear from the community, right? That that um mission and vision statement should be reflective of what your community values in the education of its students. And the best way to do that is through strategic planning. When you're bringing your stakeholders in to say, you know, what what is it we want? And when you do strategic planning and you have the input from the community um that helps to formulate those multi-year like what do we want to see in by five years those are the multi-year plans um inclusive of perhaps an updated mission statement and then that can be used to say well
052we know what we want to do in five years so in year one what should be our district goals in year two how do we keep moving closer and closer okay yeah of course >> we talked about Just before you go, um that training that I went to, the leadership training for presidents and and Lance Bartletta uh went to the vice president >> training and in there they had roundt discussions with presidents from other districts and they talked about um incorporating the mission statement into the agenda, which is something that I discussed with Grace when we came back. Um and we're going to start that come September. Um change the format of the agenda. >> Um we made some other changes as a result of that training. So, it was really good to listen to
053some other districts and how they do things and get ideas and how we can, you know, improve here in our own district. So, mission statement, that's funny that you brought that up. >> You know, coming out to that because, >> you know, it just shows, right, a commitment to wanting to continuous improvement and hearing from others and the value of that having being in a room because there's only just like there's only one superintendent in a district. It can be a lonely place, right? So, superintendent roundt serves that serves that um discussion of being able to rely on other people who are also in that role. So, for presidents as well um because I know that you want to work very well and lead a team efficiently and and make sure that everything everyone feels
054included and heard. So, that's really important. >> Yeah, it was good. It was it was informative. But we are definitely going to incorporate um the mission statement into our agenda so that the public can be aware of what what our mission is and remind us also, you know, why we're why we're all here. So, I thought that was a really good idea that they that they gave us. >> I know that you're already coming to way too many meetings. I recognize that. I was a board member. Um but if you want to do training, one of the ways to maybe consider doing it um is in a special meeting situation where um that the focus of that meeting, of course, the public is welcome to attend and listen, but it can be as we've done
055it in the past um where we can go through, you know, different things, different topics at one time just so it's really an efficient use of your time and that again that those credits would be helping you to arrive where you want to be. Okay. >> Okay. Thank you, Jean. Thanks for coming out. We appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Getting back to business. >> Correspondence. >> No correspondence. >> Okay. Acting superintendent report. >> Just a few weeks away. Um the school that's always a little behind because of the uh summer camps is the high school, but they're going to catch up over the next two weeks getting ready. But, uh, overall uh, transportation, everything's ready to roll. All the teachers, we we're hiring a few more. Um, and we're almost fully
056staffed. So, you know, we're really proud of that because if you go back a year, you know, we were still really scratching and clawing, but right now I think we're in pretty good shape. So, we're ready to open. Um, like I said, the high school, you'll see a lot of hallways closed over the next few days. So, we're ready to go. Thank you, Charlie. >> Business administrator, board secretary report. >> We have to do the >> Oh, I'm sorry. I do this all the time. HIB. Sorry. >> Are you going to do it for Lance? >> I make a motion to accept the harassment, intimidation, bullying findings as reported by the acting superintendent and are available at the administrative offices for review. >> Second. >> Discussion. Call the role. >> Miss Diodetta, >> yes. >>
057Mr. Barry, >> yes. >> Mr. Deombre, >> yes. >> Miss Geller, >> yes. >> Miss Howard, >> yes. >> Mr. Lewis, >> yes. >> Mr. Lions, >> yes. >> And now, business administrator board secretary report. >> Yes. Good evening. Tonight, under governance, we will be adding a resolution R1.24 24 to accept the recommendation of the acting superintendent to approve the continuing suspension of a student whose name is on file at the board of education office through the next regularly monthly meeting of the board of education. Thank you. Public forum agenda items. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Governance personnel. >> Under governance, we have several new hires. The reappointing of the security guards. I'm happy to announce that our substitute teacher rate will be increased to $140 a day and our nursing sub rate will be
058increased to $250 a day. Um, also would like to announce the retirement of our long-term nurse, Margaret and Prevadudo. Thank you for all of your time and serving our district and I hope you enjoy your retirement. I'd like to make a motion to accept the recommendation of the acting superintendent to approve and adopt resolutions R 1.01 01 through R1.24 and motion M1.01. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Call the role. >> Yes. >> Miss Diodeta. >> Yes. >> Mr. Barry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Deombre. >> Yes. >> Miss Geller? >> Yes. >> Miss Howard? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lewis? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lions? >> Yes. policy. >> Under policy, we have many policies up for first reading, but a couple I wanted to highlight was there will be an update on whom will have the
059authority to seek legal advice in will be limited to the superintendent or designate, the board president or board secretary. Another item was the sunscreen lotion and cream is acceptable and we will have that listed. However, aerosol cans will be prohibited and if you're in prek through fifth grade, you will need written permission to apply sunscreen. There will also be removal of language that a person needs to be deceased before a facility can be named a location can be named after them. And the final one will be our job postings will have a more descriptive information including salary range and benefit descriptions. I'd like to make a motion to accept the recommendation of the acting superintendent to approve and adopt resolutions R2.01. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Call the roll. >> Miss Diodetta? >> Yes. >>
060Mr. Baron? >> Yes. >> Mr. Deombre? >> Yes. >> Miss Geller? >> Yes. >> Miss Howard? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lewis? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lions? >> Yes. >> Education committee curriculum. >> Okay. Good evening all. Uh the education committee met on July 30th. Uh I would like to give a short update on what's going on in the district. Our extended school year program wrapped up at the end of July and the district reported that it was a big success this year. It's been a busy summer for our teachers and supervisors who are working on updating the curriculum for the upcoming school year. Uh I would like to mention a few events planned for our students and parents. Um on August 25th we'll have our high school new student orientation. On August 26 um our
061middle school new student orientation will take place. Also we have um college essay writing workshop scheduled for August 27th. Um our all our high school students are encouraged to attend. Also we have anotherformational session understanding of advanced placement. Um this is a session for parents and students and it will take place on August 27th. Um now we have a few items to vote on today. Mostly we are um talking about curriculum um that's been updated but by our teachers and supervisors. Um it's um business economics, culinary art, uh pre kindergarten curriculum, and first through fifth grade um ESL and social studies and zoologology curriculum. Um also we are voting on approval of um high school student handbook code of conduct, middle school school student handbook code of conduct elementary school student book of conduct and
062also two plans of uh emergency virtual or remote instruction program plan and also um safe return plan as well. And one more resolution, we are voting on um teacher orientation tour of Caucus. It's designed for new teachers who are uh joining our district that will take place on August 25th. Um I motion to accept the recommendation of the acting superintendent to approve and adopt resolution R3 one through R3 07. Second discussion call the role. >> Miss Deetta, >> yes. >> Mr. Barry, >> yes. >> Mr. Deombre, >> yes. >> Miss Gella, >> yes. >> Miss Howard? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lewis? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lions? >> Yes. >> Operations Committee, Finance. Uh so this month at our uh monthly meeting we talked about um we got updates about uh the district. The lighting project
063at the pack is on uh is on schedule should be completed uh by September. Um we currently have two inoperable rooftop HVAC units um that are going to be serviced. Um that is ongoing at Huber Street School. The cement work on uh the ramp in uh I'm sorry on the ramp and the front steps of Huber has been completed. They are now being painted. Uh the summer work uh for the school is almost done. Uh at Clarin School, the gym floor resanding has been scheduled for um after summer camp uh which is now in process um in progress. Uh the cement work started uh on the door. Uh the cement work has been started around the doors uh of Clouden School. Uh at the middle school and high school. Um they chose the middle school
064math wing as the next wing to get refurbished with the new LED lights. Uh we are waiting for pricing on uh cleaning of the pack carpets and the seats. Uh the stage uh will be sanded once the lighting project is complete. Uh and then we discussed um the finances uh for the month. So I make a motion to accept the recommendation of the business administrator, board secretary to approve and adopt resolutions R4.01 through R4.20 described below. >> Second >> discussion. Call the role. >> Miss Detta. >> Yes. >> Mr. Barry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Deombre. Yes, >> Miss Geller. >> Yes, >> Miss Howard. >> Yes, >> Mr. Lewis. >> Yes, >> Mr. Lions. >> Yes, >> there's nothing for safety uh security buildings and grounds this evening. >> Moving on to the ad hoc
065committees. Um there was no meeting for shared services, legislation, athletics, uh visions or negotiations. We did however have a meeting for technology and communications this month. It was well, it was held July 30th. um our committee chair for that committee is absent this evening. Can you Okay, thank you. So, one of the things that the technology committee is really trying to focus on is using our district website and social media to make a presence to really highlight the things that we offer, the things we're succeeding at, the things we're working on, and just basically when the school year starts, getting all of our web masters for all of the schools to be consistent and concurrent and just fluid. So we're have the same approach to um broadcasting what we're doing and updates that we have
066going so that the parents and the students are informed as well as the community if they want to attend anything. So you'll be seeing throughout this year a big push for that. >> Thank you Christina. Public forum general >> Anthony Grineer. >> Uh good evening. This is the public forum uh general open to the public for the purpose of addressing any subject matter that is pertinent to and or directly related to the operation of the Caucus Public School District. Residents wishing to speak on such items must sign the register provided for this purpose and are required to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. The board may or may not respond to issues raised by members of the public at the time they are raised, but will
067provide a response if and when appropriate. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Please note that the board will not respond to comments regarding students or board employees in light of the privacy rights held by those individuals. Moreover, the board discourages comments about such individuals and will not be responsible for those comments. Members of the public who choose to speak during the public session should carefully consider their comments since they can be held personally liable for any statements they make. Finally, please note that in accordance with district policy number 11000, the board will not officially comment or respond to any matter mentioned unless it can confirm that the matter has first been brought to the attention of the appropriate school personnel in
068an attempt to resolve the issue. Good evening, Mr. Grer. >> That was fast. >> That was good. I'll try to keep it as fast. >> Yeah. >> Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> Um, happy summer. Uh first I'd like to commend the district on establishing the preK4 uh integrated code teach program half-day program. Um I know that we've been advocating for that for quite some time and I am hopeful that the district will continue its progress and establish the ICT program on a full day basis for grades K through five. Um but I do appreciate the progress thus far. Uh second, may the board or Mr. Dr. Vorhees, please provide more information on district goal number three presented last month, which specifically how exactly does the district plan on providing intervention delivery support with
069counselors, behavior specialists, interventionalist, and school psychiatrist, as well as professional trainings on trauma-informed care, seal, and deescalation strategies. Will this include support for and trainings specific to children with special needs with IEPs? and what actions have been done thus far to meet these goals. Third, a few monthly meetings ago, Mr. Bartlett has stated the district began looking into hiring a grant writer. May the board please provide an update on the progress that has been made in doing so, and what are the plans moving forward? Fourth, regarding the superintendent search, may the board please provide an update on how many people applied, how many were granted first round interviews, how many are granted second round interviews, and will the board seek community input prior to making a final selection? Fifth, in June, the board approved appointments
070to the district affirmative action team. May the board please provide the team's goals and purpose as well as who does the team report to and is there a timetable when it is to report back. Uh six, we again request that notice of special board meetings by uh be posted via the school district list serve email, text and phone calls uh that we had discussed a couple months ago. I know that I have not received um those notifications via email specifically to the um most recent special board meetings that have been um either stated on the website uh that either been conducted thus far or are planning to be conducted. Uh, and then lastly, I do hope that the board will reconsider its denial of forming a special education committee as parents of children with special
071needs continue to advocate for its need and there is really no justifiable reason for not having one when a rising 16.2% of our students are eligible for special education services. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, let me put my glasses on for this. All right. Um, Mr. Vorhees, I don't know if you want an opportunity to digest that information and answer respond in an email. Um, okay. Um, >> I could send it by email and then it'll all be in writing and then if you could also reply. >> Yes. And I will go I I made notes. Um, I'll I'll watch it back if I have to or if you can email that would be great. No problem. And you know, you and I have communicated before. you know, I'll get back to you on all
072the issues. Um, the only thing I can say right now publicly about the superintendent search that I could speak on is that we had 10 applicants. Um, one of which, um, when I reached out for first round interviews, um, was no longer interested, which brought us down to nine. We did uh, we're still in the process of the first round. We have two more people to interview on August 28th. Um I have not reached out to all of the candidates yet to let them know um whether or not they were coming back for first um for a second round. So I don't want to disclose a number on that. But once I do that, I will I will give you an update and I should be able to give an update um at the next
073public meeting publicly on that. >> Appreciate that. Can I just want to follow up on that? >> Yes. >> Were all nine applicants given a first round interview or was a selection of the Okay. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yes, we made no selection. Um, we gave everybody the opportunity of an interview. We're still doing it. We're still in the process, but yes. Um, I'm trying to think if there's anything else I can give you an answer to. Um, >> the grant writing. Yeah. We Well, do we have an update on where we're at with that, Grace? >> Yes. I'm in the process of putting the RFP together to solicit. So, it's in the process right now. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And and everything else? I'll we'll get back to you um Mr.
074Vorhees and myself in in in email. >> Great. Thank you so much. Okay. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Board member comments. I will I will go and just say um I'll start and say um I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. I know there's only a few weeks left of the summer and um we're confident that we are ready to go in a couple of weeks to open up school for September. So, we are excited about that. So, enjoy the rest of the summer. And also just um a note on the dates that Tatiana gave for education. If you didn't have an opportunity to write them down, they're also um posted on the website. And on behalf of the board, we would like to wish Margaret Imprevadudo um a happy and healthy retirement and thank you
075for all your years of dedicated service. Thank you >> to the chair. >> Yes. >> Uh two questions. One is uh through you to the BA. Uh there's been a lot of information lately in the news and we're getting notes from the New Jersey School Association about uh school bus system being in compliance and I'm sure that we're in perfect compliance, but I just want to put it out there so the community knows. Can you give us an update on our our transportation system? >> Absolutely. All our drivers are in compliance with the requirements that uh are needed in the state of New Jersey. If we do um outsource any of our routes, they are all done through a consortium whether it be Hudson County Schools of Technology or Sussex Regional and those candidates have
076all been vetted through their system and those are the only systems outside the district besides our own that we use. So I am confident I know those two districts do you know those two outsources do comply with the rules so I am fully confident that we are set to go for September. >> Thank you very much. I'm sure the parents are thrilled to know that we are in total compliance is not an issue. And the second is through the chair uh to our superintendent, acting superintendent um requesting data on our current enrollment and historic data on our highs and lows for enrollment. So, um, if I could pass over. >> So, enrollment overall, if you go back when this school was built, we averaged about 180 to 187. I think my graduation class was 187.
077So, if you're looking at our current numbers now, um, our incoming, now kindergarten will change a little bit. It's 144 as we speak. Our first grade is 162. Our second grade is 142. Our biggest class is the seventh grade at 174. and everything else averages close to 150 in that range which gives us a grand total of 2,69 students currently in the school district registered for September. So the enrollment figures are down from years ago. That could change but see has changed also. So we'll wait and see. Uh, I'm guessing there'll be a few more and there could be a few more that leave us. So, you know, one of one of my important things every day is with uh Mrs. Shiner, who was also my secretary for athletics. She also works in guidance, so
078she knows who's going out of this building and who's coming into this building. And then you go over to the secretaries in the grammar schools, they're doing the same thing. So we're on these numbers all the time, but we have said that our enrollment figures have gone down and they have. So averaging 140 150 kids is certainly less than it was many years ago at 187 190. >> Thank you, Charlie. Okay, anyone else? Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Good evening everyone.