001Good evening. Welcome to the business meeting of the Wall Township Board of Education for June 10th, 2025. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Mr. Mr. Smith, Sunshine announcement and roll call, please. Yes. This is the Wall Township Board of Education meeting for which adequate notice under the open public meetings act was provided by a notice to the co-star, Asbury Park Press, Township Clerk's Office, all Wall Township public schools, and the board administration office on January 9th, 2025. Take a roll call. Miss Adams here. Mr. Anio, Miss Barbier here. Mr. Berton here. Mr. Buff here. M Giovani here. Mr. Smith here. Mr. Wandra here.
002Mr. Mal here. At this time, I'm going to ask for a motion to go into executive session. I'll make a motion. Mr. Buffer make the motion and a second. I'll second. Mr. Diovani. All in favor? I I we anticipate being back for uh public session at 700 p.m. Okay, good evening. Welcome to the June 10th meeting of the public meeting of the Ocean Township uh Board of Education. Uh please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Smith, can you call the recall for reconvening to public session? Take a roll call. Miss Adams here. Mr. Mr. Anio here. Miss Barbieier here. Mr. Burton here. Mr. Buff here. Mr. Diovani
003here. Mr. Smith here. Mr. Wandra here. Mason Adam here. Vegan Cappy here. Aaron Richie here. Michael Southwell here. Mr. M here. At this time I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Haman. Thank you very very much, Mr. Maliff. U to start off uh tonight's program, I'd like to welcome our assistant superintendent, Miss Jennifer McCann. Uh she is going to be sharing some really special honors that some of our students had earned this year. So, thank you, Miss McCann. Good evening. Every year, the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Port Portuguese, AATSP, hosts a national poster contest inviting students to showcase their creativity across multiple forms of media. This year's theme was celebrating our roots and cultures in the heart of the universe. One outstanding poster was selected to represent Wall Township public schools
004in the AATSP state poster contest. And we are thrilled to announce that John Pastor, a fourth grade student at West Belmar Elementary School, won first place in the state of New Jersey in the grades three through five handdrawn category. John's artwork went above and beyond in capturing the heart of the theme and we could not be more proud of this incredible achievement. Congratulations, John. In addition to his artistic talent, John is a well-rounded student. He plays the cello in the school orchestra, is a member of the wall soccer team, an avid chess player, and a dedicated Pokemon card collector. John also has a deep appreciation for culture and history. He has traveled extensively, including visits to his heritage countries of Ecuador and Peru, and he loves spending time in museums. Please join us in celebrating
005John Pastor for his creativity, dedication, and excellence. We are truly proud to have him represent Wall Township. [Applause] Your [Applause] We have one more student to recognize. Every year, Wall High School participates in the National Latin Exam sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Have to take these off. Can't see it. National Junior Classical League. This year we were joined by over 100,000 students in all 50 states and the district of Colombia as well as 20 other countries including Australia, BISE, China, Italy, Hong Kong and Japan just to name a few. The National Latin Exam awards certificates and medals based on the annual national average for each separate exam. This year, the beginning Latin exam was particularly challenging with a national average of 27 out of 40 correct. Despite this difficulty, every one
006of our Latin two honor students scored higher than the national average and all achieved awards. Most remarkably, however, was one of our students, Avalina McInnness, achieved a perfect score of 40 out of 40. This has only been accomplished by five students in the past 30 years at Wall High School. [Applause] Avalina is not only an extremely proficient Latin student, but she also displays academic excellence across the board. She is a member of the marching band, the jazz band, the golf team, FCA, the engineering academy, and has been on the high honor role every marking period. We are very proud of Avalina, and we know she will she has so many incredible accomplishments in her future. Congratulations. [Applause] Now, I'm sure you can understand why we dragged these two amazing students out to a board meeting
007in June. Um, it's just it's the the awards and the recognitions are just too special to let the school year end without giving them the proper recognition. Um clearly they are um you know some of our school district's finest and we are so proud of them. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Um next up is u really kind of bittersweet for me and it happens every year and it's when we say thank you and farewell to our amazing student representatives to the board of education. Um they are amazing individuals and um I for one am going to miss them. Um you know especially earlier on in the year we spent a lot of time together kind of getting the uh the rhythm down but uh one of the highlights for I think I and
008I think I can speak for the whole board is to really see really just the development of you guys throughout your senior year. You know you walk in, you're fresh off a junior year and here you are. Um we're so proud of you. uh you've done the four of you have done such amazing things during your your time in the school district let alone the four years at the high school and I for one could not be more proud and I cannot wait to hear about all the wonderful things that you're doing after high school. So I better have a knock on the door from the four of you come um Thanksgiving break. So is that a promise? Yes. Yes. Okay. All right. because the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I'm going to see some good smiles.
009Or if not, it's going to have to wait for the game and we're home. So, just throwing that out there. Okay. Um, so without any further ado, would Mason Adam please come forward and Miss Megan Kappy, Miss Aaron Richie, [Applause] And you guessed it, Mr. Michael Southwell. All right, we had definitely have to have a nice picture of for all the mems that we've had this year. So, I'll hide the microphone really quickly. Thank you, reps. Now, as bittersweet as it is to say thank you and farewell to our this year's school uh board of ed reps, it's also a pleasure to welcome our new board reps uh to um Yep. It is wonderful to welcome them to um and share the their identities with the board of education. So I'm going to ask Mr.
010Davis to do the introductions. Thank you Dr. Andan. So we have uh two new outstanding board of ed reps for next year. Our senior class president Sophia Keeping and you want them to come up. All right. So come on up Sophia. and our student council executive president, Hazel Gro. Yeah. So, welcome them and I know they'll do a great job next year and they got big shoes to fill. So, all right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Davis. Okay. Okay. When you get the random phone call this summer from the superintendent's office, it's me. Okay. So, it's all good. See you then. And you have to tell me what kind of pizza you like. All right. All right. That'll be a conversation for another day. I think this is going to work out a little better.
011Um the next portion of our evening is uh something that we do every every June and this is an opportunity for the board of education to recognize uh the the wonderful service of members of the Wall Township public schools community recognize their service and recognize uh their retirement as they move into the next stage in their lives. So, uh, you know, this is, you know, it's again bittersweet is the June meeting. Um, I'm incredibly happy for them and, um, it's, you know, it's a small recognition for all the years of, um, really dedicated service and I thank them very, very much. It's my pleasure to introduce one of our guidance counselors from Wall High School. He has served in his capacity as a um guidance counselor, as an educator at Wall High School for 25
012years. Would Mr. Christopher Barnes please come forward? Congratulations. at the end. Mr. Barnes and I actually did a lot of cafeteria duty together over at the high school through my five years here. Um, and also some hall duty and I bothered him countlessly in the guidance office. So, thank you for tolerating me, Mr. Barnes. Okay. Next, it's my pleasure to um honor an instructional parah from primary school. She has served the district for 19 years and her name is Carrie Bletzki. [Applause] Our [Applause] next dedicated employee is an administrative assistant from Old Mill School where she has served this district and the students and the families and the educators for 26 years and her name is Ingred Butler. Don't worry, Ingred. I'll come find you. Don't worry about it. Okay. Next is a third grade
013teacher from West Belmar where she is and she has served the students of Wall Township for 20 years. M Paula Dap, please join us. Our next retiree to be honored is a teacher from Central School where she worked in Wall Township 30 years. She has served our students uh for 30 years with Tracy Deainy. Please come down. Next is an instructional para at Wall Intermediate School where she has worked for the district for 25 years with Eileene Hockenbury. Please come down. Our next teacher is a second grade teacher from Central School and she has been with the Wall Township public schools for 32 years and her name is Sharon Hudson. [Applause] from Allenwood School, an instructional parah who has worked in the district serving our students uh very very dedicated service for four years. Would
014Janet Kaden please come down? serving the students of this district for 27 years. It's my pleasure to ask Miss Christina Lemming to join us. She is a intermediate school teacher in And again, she has served our our students for 27 years. [Applause] Our next educator to be recognized is a social studies teacher from the intermediate school where he has served 26 years serving the students of Wall Township. It's my pleasure to welcome Mr. Thomas Maliff. Another [Applause] teacher from West Belmore where she has served the students of Wall Township for 25 years. Would Miss Margaret Sloan please join us? Next we have next with us this evening uh after serving the students in Wall Township for 22 years. It's my pleasure to introduce a teacher of special education from Wall High School, Miss Teresa Zgman.
015[Applause] Okay. So, I believe there's going to be a maybe a photo a couple of opportunities, but I would like there are some people that were not able to be here this evening and I would still like to mention their name and some are actually chaperoning our eighth graders on their annual trip. So, they cannot be here with us this evening. So I would I very much wish to congratulate Jason Bars, Beverly Bazako, Lorraine Doms, Janice Farrell, Anthony Marian, Mary McGrady, Virginia O'Haney, Maryannne Patron, and also uh one of our administrators, Mr. Thomas. So I just wish them well and um I congratulate them. [Applause] My apologies. I missed a part of the chart. Gail Salvatore, Sandra Spagnola, Judy White, Allison Griffith, Carrie Duffy, Joseph Lambertie, and Thomas Llewellyn. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay, thank you again.
016Congratulations to our student achievers and also to all of our retirees. Our very best wishes go with you always. At this time, uh we're going to have our student representative report. We have Mason Adam, Megan Kappy, Aaron Richie, Michael Southwell uh to give us your report. And if you remember last meeting, we ask if you would uh in your report if you wanted to give a a uh a memory of your days in in Wald. It would be appropriate to do at this time. No, you don't have to, but it would be nice if you uh could do that and include that in your report. So, take it away. Is it all right if we do those at the end, like the memories at the end after the report? Okay. All right. Perfect. On May
01727th, Shake It Up Day was a huge success. 36 students enjoyed shadowing wall high school teachers for the day. The fundraiser raised enough money to cover the cost of the two senior prom bids through Project Snowflake. On May 30th, Jacaz reception Joz Reception Center hosted the senior prom. It was a beautiful night cap capped by Sharief Gary and Sarah Lawrence taking the crowns of senior prom king and queen. On June 3rd, the class of 2025 celebrated their senior night, receiving their yearbooks and decorating tiles to to be displayed throughout the school. A big thank you to the TV for classes for creating a video montage with highlights from the time at Wall High School. Seniors received tickets for chances to win fun prizes generously donated by the Wall High School PTO. On June 4th, Wall
018High School anti-bullying task force held its first annual color run. And let's just say no one left looking the same as they started the event, except for Mr. Davis, who somehow dodged every flying handful of chalk. Students had a blast sprinting, tossing colored chalk powder, or cheering from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Mr. Hwitt took one for the team, emerging from the event like a walking piece of art. A huge shout out to everyone who participated in making this event a colorful celebration of kindness, unity, and school spirit. Final exam started on June 6th for all high school students. The seniors will participate in the senior walk through the intermediate school and their home elementary schools on Thursday, June 12th, followed by the senior picnic. We will celebrate the class of 2025 on Friday evening as they
019take their final bow at graduation. Finally, to wrap it up, we will all share our favorite memories. Now, starting with Mason, my favorite memories from being in Wall High School from Wall Schools are my experiences playing sports throughout the years. I've made some of my best friends playing sports, whether it was baseball, basketball, or football. Being a part of a team or even a club is the best thing about high school. My favorite memory from all high school was deciding to join the swim team. I was so nervous on the first day because it was something I've never done before. But now looking back, I've met some of my best friends on the team and I couldn't imagine my four years without it. I've had so many favorite memories during my time in the Wall
020Public School District that it's hard to just pick one. So, I'll mention a few. I found some of my best friends playing soccer, basketball, and lacrosse for the school and developed strong bonds with my coaches as well. I also love being involved in clubs that gave me the opportunity to speak to elementary and middle school students. I was able to build connections with these kids and share advice to help them through their time at Wall Schools. Finally, I want to thank every teacher that I've had for their support and guidance throughout my years. They have helped me become the person I am today. And finally, my favorite moment has been uh the summer going into my senior year when the day after I had a bad injury playing soccer, my whole entire soccer team came
021to my house to make sure I was doing okay. Even my coaches came to make sure I was okay. Even I I had some classmates from for and teammates from uh past years come to uh support me. It made me realize the importance of friendships. Thank you. Thank you very much for all you've done for your class. All right. And for the uh hopefully all of the great memories you've had in the in the wall schools. We appreciate your uh your time that you've spent with the board of ed and with the community. And at this time, I would invite you and your successors if you wish. You can uh stay if you want, as I always say, but if it's not required. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Take your name plates. See
022you Friday. At this time, we're going to open the floor for our first uh public comment. I'll just wait a second for We're going to open up our first public comment. This is for school related issues. The board requests that those individuals speaking will be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when making comments, specifically comments regarding individual students and school personnel are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board. Students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The Walt Hampshire Board of Education bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Speakers should consider their comments in the light of the legal rights of those affected or by uh identified in their comments and recognize they
023are legally responsible and liable for their comments. And we please ask you to kindly observe our policy of three minutes per speaker. We have a microphone at the top. We have one down here. Ma'am, you're up. Oh, I'm showing my age of a ma'am. Me, too. I thought referring to his name. Good evening. My name is Laura Greyhill Grenelli. I live at 113 Highland Avenue Neptune. But for some of you who might recognize the name, I have a long history with Wall Township Public Schools, not only as a student, but as a teacher, 40 years. I am here to add my two cents to the conversation about the Paris. It is always a best practice to have as many eyes as possible on the children during the hours they are in our buildings. It is
024also best practice to have a connection to their parents and family as this directly affects how the children are impacted and their ability to perform in school. Missing breakfast, a fight with mom, fighting with your best friend, all can make or break a children's day, a child's day. During the school year of 2011 2012, I had a new student come into my class. Not only was she new to fifth grade, she was new to the school. After the first month when I had met mom at meet the teacher and during the first conferences, I felt I had made a good connection and that if there were any ever a need, mom would get in touch. The little girl even made a good friend of someone else in the class that really could use a friend,
025a 10-year-old who suffered from selective mutism. After the first three months of school, I learned from my parah, who went each day to the recess field, that the two girls in question had formed a great friendship and the silent classmate was talking up a storm on the recess field. So armed with that information, I could over several months work the student into regular conversations with not only me but other classmates. Additionally, my parro was instrumental in the healing process of my new student. Now, some of you may remember in November of 2011, a young toddler was strapped into her car seat and thrown into the Shark River by her dad. It was a horrible event. It turns out that another important important piece of information was also obtained through my parah and her regular conversations
026with the children on the recess field. The student that had just joined Allenwood was the cousin of the toddler. My young student carried the weight of a horrible situation with her every day. Now that I knew the information, I could make sure other students were not discussing it in class and I could watch for any unexpected change in demeanor from the student. These two examples are just two of the many instances that I have had where a parrot is an extra set of eyes and ears and knows a lot more than I do and have I have come to rely heavily on their observations. This year was one class. Multiply that by 40 years together. We were able to stop a lot of issues just by working together and figuring it out. You cannot replace
027that kind of supervision. It is needed every day without fail. Please revisit your budget and allow this kind of supervision. It is a benefit to all. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening everyone. My name is John Reo. I'm a parent of three boys at Old Mill. All three all three of my sons have IEPs. And as a parent and advocate, I'm here tonight deeply concerned by the pattern of curriculum changes and the way parent concerns are being handled. At the last board meeting, parents spoke passionately and clearly and the response from this administration. Dr. Anahan attended the Cape Central Cape meeting on May 14th and Oldm Milan School meeting on May 21st, both unannounced. While she did state that she and Mrs. McCain would visit Alawwood and West Belmar on May 29th, no formal present presentations
028and data were provided at any of the schools to explain and justify the curriculum changes. Parents continue to voice concern and confusion about these changes. Cutting physical education, technology, and Spanish while satisfying physical ed, and health requirements using seven mindsets during morning minutes. Yet, we have been given no clear rationale, no transparent plan, and no data that shows how this benefits our children, especially those with special needs. Meanwhile, Dr. Hanahan continues to refer to misinformation and rumors being spread online. I assume she's referring to the wall challenge parent coalition for student safety and well-being, a group I founded in May, in early May and now includes over 500 parents and stakeholders across all world public schools. And let me be clear, no one, no parent, teacher, or district employee has been able to identify any
029misinformation shared in our group. But misinformation has come from this administration. On May 14, I met with Mrs. McCain, Mr. Steiner, and Mrs. Antelo at Oldm Mill to discuss my concerns. In this meeting, Mrs. McCain told me a teacher and a teacher and administrator committee met all the time to develop these curriculum changes. But when I followed up and asked her to document which teachers were involved and when they met, I was told no formal committee exists, just general feedback. Also in this meeting, I asked which truth you seven mindsets at elementary level. I was told Manisquan, but when I confirmed with Manisquan staff, I learned it used it used this program only in grades 5 through 12. When I followed up by email, Mrs. Strer replied, I did not specify a grade. At the
030May 14th Kate meeting, Mrs. McCain stated that the seven mindsets program cost this district nothing. She also said that teachers opinions were taken into consideration. Both of these statements are false. members of the coalition is is unable to identify any district employee across all Walsh public schools that were made aware of these changes and all strongly feel it's not in the best interest of our kids. So I must ask why is transparency so difficult to come by in this administration. I am calling on this board to hold a special meeting with Dr. Hanahan and Mrs. McCain where the full data rationale and decision process behind these curriculum changes is shared transparently with the community. Anything less is unacceptable and fails the trust we've placed in you to lead. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. Uh my
031name is Leah Baby. I'm a parent at uh Central Elementary. I have one child there, soon to be two. Uh thanks for letting me speak tonight. I sincerely hope you all will uh answer some of my questions and take what I and everyone has said to heart tonight. I'd first uh like to touch on the seven mindsets program and that's that um collaboration or not not collaboration per se but uh with regards to the physical education 150minute requirements um I'm aware that almost all public schools have implemented anal program. If you don't know what is, it's social and emotional learning. That being said, I'm unable to find any of these schools um who are double dipping an SEAL program as minutes towards their FISED health and wellness programs. In fact, in public schools nationwide, programs
032are either implemented throughout the day in all subjects or as a completely separate subject. I'm not saying an SEAL program is not a good idea, but I am saying the SEAL program is not under the umbrella of physical education, health, and wellness. We have not been meeting the 150 minute standard for many years now. Uh studies by the CDC along with numerous other legitimate researchers show regular physical activity improves cognitive cognitive function and reduces mental health issues. As um another fact I'd like to point out is that the new schedule has home room teachers instructing the 15minute daily mind uh seven mindset program. Home room teachers are not licensed to teach physical education health and wellness. Only a licensed physical education teacher can instruct and implement the 150 minute minimum state requirement weekly. um that
033um if you as a board and a district believe otherwise that means that any licensed teacher in any subject can come in and teach fized in health and wellness. We are asking for documentation and proof that the state mandate of 150 minute per week of physical education health and wellness instruction can be instructed by someone other than a licensed uh K12 fizzed teacher. Are you able to provide that? Um, regarding the mind, seven mindsets, I would like to state I am not against, again, I'm not against an SEAL program in our schools, but seven mindsets. Where did this come from? What other schools are using this? These are questions I asked Miss McCann um when she came to Central Elementary. She was not able to provide uh direct answers for that. Uh, only general um
034answers. Uh the author of seven mindsets is Scott Schilliku Shikler sorry it is not a professional nor does he have any background in children's social and emotional learning or any type of background in child development of any kind. Um the Wall Street Journal referred to Scott as a serial and parallel entrepreneur due to the number of businesses he has launched. Seven Mindsets is not anal program. It is a self-empowerment program. Basically a self-help program. We would like to see a copy of the curriculum that you are planning to follow for this program. If you are unable to provide that, please provide um the list of main topics that will be taught. Thank you for your time. Okay. Thank you. Hi, my name is Lisa Minkler. I'm standing here today as a concerned parent. After the
035last board of ed meeting when public comment was closed, you tried to deflect and invalidate everything the parents spoke about. You stated that the information we were speaking about was more of a rumor mill on the internet and that we were uh giving there were serious inconsistencies in what we were saying. However, you still have not addressed specifics. Majority of what was spoken about was confirmed verbally in writing verbally or in writing. So, I'm curious what the where the inconsistencies lie. You still have not addressed the fact that you're leaving two minutes at the end of the day for dismissal. I cannot express more concern for the safety and well-being of the students and adding more to the plates for the teachers and the security staff. You've confirmed that you're cutting technology, firing the part-time
036lunch aids and cutting Spanish. You've confirmed you're cutting physical education and replacing it with a social emotional learning program that is built to complement your current curriculum, not replace it. when, and it is definitely when, not if, you get fined for not complying with the law, that will come out of taxpayers dollars again. Or it seems like it may be cheaper to pay the fine than do what's right for the kids. You've made the decision to pay for a seven mindsets program, and I've researched it. It does cost money and it and haven't disclosed what that costs our district specifically. Please tell us why it takes precedence over physical movement and other specialties that have been provided to our children for generations. You've confirmed that all 40inute courses are being cut down to 38 minutes
037in addition to specials to make room for your morning meetings and what I need session which again does not include fizzed which is what my child might need. Your proposed scheduling including for my incoming first grader states that he will be in his classroom with straight instruction for 3 hours and 20 minutes with no specials and not a minute venturing out of his classroom. The teachers are already struggling using brain breaks to help and now you're proposing them to be sitting longer. Kids who are cooped up with no movement or change are prone to behavioral outbursts. What is it going take to take for you to see this? My child or someone else's receiving this outburst and getting hurt. It shouldn't come to that. You've confirmed that the lunch shift coverage will include the specialty
038teachers. So now you've created room for us to lose things like our annual art show that Mrs. Wagner puts on every year. Every bulletin board she puts together, murals she paints in the school and on the windows that bring so much brightness into their days. Will she still have time to do these things? Or will she be pulled to cover lunch shifts because of budget cuts? Being silent about the why of the situation creates a vast ability for people to fill in the blanks. You need to be transparent. These are our children, not yours. It's not us verse you. We're here for the kids. And if you are too, then why are we not talking about this? Why are you not explaining what's going on? Because this certainly is not going away. How are these
039changes benefiting our kids? It only affects the students and teachers. They're the ones in the classrooms day in and day out, not us, not you. The kids need balance. They need movement. And these teachers need at least a fighting chance in the classroom. You're asking too much of them and it needs to stop. Let them be kids. I want you to also take a minute today to think about my kids and how they are two of many who had to say goodbye to these lunch aids with handmade cards and tears rolling down their faces today knowing that the district failed them. What needs to be done in order for us to effectively move forward is you need to freeze these changes, keep the current curriculum until we prove the actual benefits, and that it's not
040just some agenda for budgets. Thank you. Thank you. I had a printer mishap. So, I'm actually carrying around my laptop. I apologize. Hi, my name is Angelie Pinto. I am from Allenwood. I have three children in the Wall Public Schools. I'm here out of great concern for the schedule uh the curriculum changes the district intends to implement this September in our grade schools. I'm here to call for an immediate moratorium on these changes. Recently, I found out the seven mindsets curriculum implementation is a direct outgrowth of a dis uh district strategic plan to change the culture of the district following a spate of high-profile student incidents. The objective was to implement a comprehensive research-based wellness program. The curriculum committee made a wreck to go with seven mindsets. The change is expected to take three to
041five years. To allow for a roll out of the seven mindset school-based curriculum, the district decided to greatly reduce the exposure of our children to the countless proven and wellocumented benefits of gym, unstructured play and recess, music programs, technology, library time, and exposure to foreign language among other things. So, for one, are we to believe we have a district-wide culture problem with our kids? And further, the answer is that they are going to have to go through scripted synchronized programming in all four elementary schools for 15 minutes each morning. And that is more beneficial for the overall health and wellness of our children in comparison to all the things they are having to give up. Has anyone really looked at the seven mindsets product? Because I have. It started with a book seven mindsets to
042live your ultimate life written by Scott Shikler and Jeff Waller. Shikler has a BS in marketing and entrepreneurship and Waller has a bachelor grade in industrial engineering. All information on the internet I found about seven mindsets is provided by seven mindsets. It all goes back to their website. You can't really find an independent review and the article I found was not from a scholarly academic resource and often found on websites like schoolwire.net written by an author employed by seven mindsets. You can find blog sites with teacher threads. However, very few are seven mindset specific and those were generally not in favor. And then worse, their expressed concerns were now about being evaluated in their teaching of the seven mindset curriculum. By their own admission, seven mindset evidence-based practices are derived from clinical foundations including CBT,
043MIDBT, strengthbased solution focus, mindfulness, etc. Students are taught psychosocial concepts through supportive and therapeutic dialogue. We bought a product that is a hodgepodge of frameworks packaged together and marketed as an effective SEAL program, checking all the buzzword and ideology boxes. Seven Mindsets threw everything in their recipe and out pops this product, part of the mindset revolution. I can't believe anyone seriously looked at this program and thought this was the right thing to do and further that it puts our children first. It appears to be a perfect PR product, though. I can understand how the district might have been duped. It's marketing genius and seven mindsets is making money hand over fist. But I don't think our kids deserve to be dragged into this. District leadership in BOE, please, please stop these changes immediately. Do your
044research and move forward in collaboration with our kids, teachers, and parents. Thank you. Thank you. Um, good evening. My name is Meg Fireman and I'm a concerned parent from Alenwood. I want to begin by expressing my disappointment in the lack of transparency around the recent curriculum changes. There was no meaningful involvement from parents or teachers, no opportunity to give input or share feedback. That's a missed opportunity and it erodess trust in the board's decision-making. I've heard directly from a handful of teachers who are just as frustrated by these changes and feel their voices were ignored in the process. Second, the new two-minute dismissal plan is unrealistic and developmentally inappropriate. Please come to my house and try getting three young kids out the door in 2 minutes. You will see it's impossible. Now picture 18 children
045all tired and over stimulated trying to pack up and leave at once. It's not safe. And as Mrs. McCam mentioned in the Alawan PTG meeting, students ending the day at a special will now be dismissed from the special. When exactly are they supposed to pack up? Is that really how we want them to end their school day? This plan will also delay buses and push back schedules for children uh with afterchool commitments such as dance, sports, and CCD, adding to stress. Um third, our special teachers should not be pulled for lunch and recess duties. They're educators, not backup coverage. They deserve planning time and respect for the important work they do. These added responsibilities risk pushing valued educators to leave for roles where they're not expected to manage duties unrelated to their teaching. And as
046uh was just mentioned earlier, the elimination of the lunch paris is clearly detrimental and I urge you to re revisit your decision on that. Uh couple more things. Um while attention has gone to the loss of gym gym time as it should, I also want to highlight another loss, the technology class. My second grader loves it and is already disappointed to hear it's being removed. It was educational, educating, and uh a highlight of her week. Also, the shift to morning band with no transportation plan in place puts families in a tough spot. I haven't had to deal with this yet due to the age of my children, but I was hoping to participate in the music program when the time comes. With three kids in different schools and two working parents, coordinating extra drop offs
047just isn't feasible. And I'm know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Please reconsider these changes or at the very least in the moving forward include the voices of those most affected by these changes. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Yes, my name is Erica Sprag and I live in Wall. I'm the vice president of the Allenwood PTG, vice president of the WHIS PTO, a former elementary classroom teacher, and a mom of three. My son will be attending Wall High School next year, my daughter at WIS and my youngest at Allenwood. The music program in Wall has been essential in my children's education. From all wall band to jazz and competition bands, they've thrived thanks to dedicated teachers like Mrs. Mclofflin, Mr. Bryant, and Mr. Montalto. But I'm deeply concerned about the future of
048this program. This year, 88 fourth graders and 67 fifth graders are enrolled in the elementary band program. Next year, those numbers have dropped to 73 and 45. That's before most parents even realize that they'll have to transport their children themselves twice a week to school. Once they do, I fear fear that those numbers will drop even lower. At the last board of ed meeting, Mrs. Swyn spoke about how years ago they switched band to before school and numbers dropped. I'm afraid that these changes will jeopardize our amazing music program, a program that just was named one of the best communities for music education by the NM Foundation. Two weeks ago at Allenwood, Mrs. McCann assured parents that they were working on solutions. I questioned her on how she would go about doing this. The orchestra
049students are offered transportation to the middle school on middle school buses, bus routes that are already in place. The district bus transportation, at least on an elementary level, is a daily problem with at least one bus route late in the morning, afternoon, or both. So, how exactly will this work? I'd like to ask the board members, by a raise of hands, how many of you have spent time in an elementary classroom? These changes were clearly made without understanding what it's like to teach 20 plus 5-year-olds. Expecting teachers to get them packed up in two minutes is unrealistic. Mrs. Macan suggested that they pack up throughout the day, but that just proves how out of touch this plan is. The bigger issue here is transparency. Teachers are hearing one thing, parents another. We shouldn't have to
050be detectives to figure out what is happening in our children's daily schedules next year. What is driving these changes? It's not saving money. Replacing our amazing and caring lunch paras with teachers receiving stipens doesn't save money. and how our and now our special area teachers who have degrees in music, art, Spanish, and physical education will be supervising recess instead of teaching the subject that they love. If even one group was happy with these changes, that would be one thing, but parents and teachers are all upset. Students will be too once they experience these changes. It's June 10th. School starts September 4th. There is still time. I'm asking you, please hit the pause button. Let's re-evaluate this plan. involve teachers, parents, and students. I've already suggested a focus group to Mrs. McCann. I would gladly serve
051on one to help find a better solution for everyone. [Applause] Hi, my name is Haley Sprag and I am a third grader at Alenwood Elementary School. I am a mindset mentor and I think we should not change anything because why change anything when anything is perfect as it is. Mr. V, the art teacher loves his job teaching art to the kids. He does not want to be doing recess and being a lunch para. Miss Georgie, my lunch parro, loves her job as a lunch par and does not want to lose it. She loves the students so much she came to our third grade wax museum and listen to all the students speeches. I do not want to lose Miss Georgie as my lunch par and the other classes don't want to lose their lunch paras.
052The special area teachers love the students but they do not want to have a different job. Also, the kids need breaks of learning. They do not want to have fewer gym days. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you. My name is Brian Walstein and I am a sixth grade student at Wall Intermediate. I have a younger sister who's in elementary school and I'm really upset to hear about the changes that you are planning for next year and the negative impact these will have on my sister and other elementary school students in Wall. I've heard that you're planning to reduce gym class from 3 days to just two days each week for elementary school students. I think that having gym at least three days a week is essential to a young child's learning. Gym class allows us to
053get out from behind a desk and move our bodies. It teaches us about sportsmanship and pushes us to challenge ourselves physically. As an energetic kid, even on days that I used to have gym and recess, I still found myself wishing I had more time to stretch my legs during the school day. Having gym for less than three days is a terrible and outrageous idea and is going to make it even harder for kids to sit still and focus for a whole school day. Students would be better behaved in class if they had more opportunities to move and play, not less. Also, eliminating the positions of the power professionals that look after the kids during lunch and recess isn't fair. I loved the lunch powers when I was at Allenwood. So nice and really get to
054know every student. They're an important part of our school family. They made recess fun and cheered us on when we would play games. If there aren't as many Paris, I don't know how they would keep an eye on so many kids and make sure everyone is safe. I understand that teachers can help out during lunch and recess, but they don't get a break during the day. And let's face it, our teachers need a break, too. The last thing I want to mention is how important the wall music programs are to me. I've been part of the orchestra program since fourth grade, and it's been a great experience for me, especially now that we get to practice during school every day at Wall Intermediate. I was able to participate in elementary school because we had buses
055picking us up before school practices. My friends in the band practice during the school day. If band practices are moved to before school, those students should be able to take a bus, too. Otherwise, some students who want to learn and plan play a band instrument may not have a ride to the school because their parents work or other kids at home need to be put on a bus. It is wrong to make it harder for kids to participate in band and orchestra. Please listen to what we have to say and don't make these changes for the elementary school next year. It would be a big mistake. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment beds across I love wall. Um yeah disappointed with these changes that you're looking to do and uh every time I hear
056something from another parent it just I just can't figure it out. Uh it's no surprise that you've all been given a vote of no confidence. It went to Tracy Handerhan. Uh Jennifer McCann and it went to uh Mr. Smite is on there, Brian Smay, and all nine uh board of education members Kathleen Giovani, Dioani, Ralph Adenezio, Cody Smith, Samantha Adams, Athena Cornell is the board attorney. She's not on it, but I just want to mention her name. Thomas Buffa, Ken Wanderak, Maron Barbari, James Bredton. Um, uh, speaking from, you know, my son, uh, I brought up the issues that he had with the, um, the helpfulness of the lunch aids. Uh, I I can't speak more highly of it. Um, music program. Uh my son was just hired for his second professional contract on his
05721st birthday. Uh that was due to starting trumpet in the third grade going into fourth by Carol Swinkosski uh by having uh Mr. Bryant and having the Hollanders and uh his early years in high school. Uh so you're really going to hurt your own program. And I think it's really really sad that I see the Hollanders on the agenda as retiring, but you didn't even mention their names. I mean, it's a sad sad world up here. Um, I could not be happier that we have three really good parents that are going to run for the board and they will go against Kathleen D. Giovani James Maliff and the third is Ralph Adeneio. So we we got to get people on this board that are working for the kids because you guys are not. It's really
058sad. Um I also want to bring up policy 5756. I brought it up in January, February, March, April, May, and it's now June 10th. Um 14 school districts have abolished policy 5756. Uh we don't need a transgender policy. Every child here should be uh treated properly. We don't need to have a policy for this. We don't need to allow boys and girls sports. We don't need to allow the boys in the girls bathrooms. Uh we don't need uh we don't need it. We don't need this policy. Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Deal, Edison or some of the new towns that have abolished it while I just get blank stairs uh month after month. Um I see in the referendum we've spent almost $21 million on air conditioning and the air conditioning still just never seems
059to work in here. Where has that money gone? We have spent so much on air conditioning. Is this is this room air conditioned? Do you just not turn it on? I I want to know about that. I also would like to know about the business and finance academy. Somebody stopped me on the way in and said, "Wow, I really loved your comment about having the kids from the Business and Finance Academy work on the budget." It's so simple, but why won't we let them? Because there's so many problems with the budget, we can't let them look at it because they would question their teacher. Why are there so many fiscally irresponsible decisions made? We can't spend 5048,000 for a family for health benefits. We cannot afford to do it. We can't spend $66 million on
060a referendum when our last update was in January and then there's one in June. What happened to February, March, April, May, June? We're going to be so transparent. Mr. Buffa, Mr. Adan, please address the chair and Miss Cross, please, please conclude your remarks. Yep. Um, so I wanted to mention that. Uh, yeah. This, um, you'll have another opportunity, Mr. Right. You didn't cut anybody else off. I gave you an extra minute. I've given you an extra minute. Please conclude. Please conclude. Right. Um, I do not want to see Jim cut down 3 days to two days. My husband reminded me when he went to Wall, he had gym five days a week in elementary school. Um, it your seven mindsets is not working. and all these parents did a wonderful job about doing and digging
061and get this information. We should not have to be the detectives. You need to do your job and you're not doing it. There should be a pause on everything that you have tried. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Cross. Thank you. [Applause] Hello. Uh my name is Dean Skirtino. Um a little nervous, first time speaking in public. Um, but I went to wall. Uh, I had gym five days a week and it wasn't enough. Um, I was always hyperactive. Um, and I feel by getting rid of gym, it's it's really going to hurt people, especially my son. He's like me. Um, he's he's got a lot of energy. He's a kid. What did you guys do growing up? I mean, you guys five days, no Spanish. Get rid of Spanish. Fine. But keep Jim and please keep
062the Paris because kids fight, kids choke, and if there's not somebody there to help, I don't know what's going to happen and you guys do not want a lawsuit. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Um, my name is Allison Connelly and while I reside on Sous Street in Wall, I am here tonight in my capacity as the proud president of the Township of Ocean Education Association per the request of the WTEA president, Gail Maher. Uh, she and her executive committee could not be here this evening as they are chaperoning a trip and they asked me to deliver a message on behalf of the WTA. So, forgive me as I read Gail's words. Uh the World Township Education Association is also a parent group. But first and foremost, we are the voice of educational professionals and
063work is fundamental to the WTSD. We accept this profound trust placed in us. Our vision is a great public school for every student with a mission to advocate contractually and emotionally for every member. We believe a partnership with the community and all stakeholders is essential to quality public education. Our ultimate goal is to advance and protect the rights, benefits, and interests of the members and promote a quality system of public education for all students. We deliver curriculum and we follow schedules chosen and developed by the administration of the district and we always have. Last year, there was a major schedule change at the high school. Our leadership at the high school would say we should have had ongoing meetings this year to address how to tweak the things that fall out of a new schedule.
064We are officially asking for that process to be put in place at the elementary level. Now, we do worry that there are two major schedule changes occurring September 1st, but we know that each new initiative has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Teachers now have what they contractually had from a prep standpoint, but in the past they have had more than what but in the past they have had more than what was contractually given. We expect to work with central office if the workload issues occur. You can't fix problems that have not occurred, and we will grieve problems when they occur, not gripe about them before they happen. Our concern still remains with losing the lunch power professionals. We believe it is a mistake and just because other districts don't have that position does
065not mean that we don't need it. It's a safety issue, anal issue, and potentially a bullying issue. Students will not tell teachers uh tell a teacher in the cafeteria on Monday that they are having a problem because a different teacher is there on Tuesday when the problem grows larger. Whether this is truly the only way central office could solve a bud solve a budget deficit, we will never know. But we do believe that lunch power professionals may return because mistakes do get fixed in Wall Township public schools. Regarding a vote of no confidence, been there, done that. It took 15 months to build up the problems that were occurring and to get a 2018 vote of no confidence vote after every effort by both the WTEA and the WTAC. No one can come to a
066decision about a vote of no confidence in two months, especially when no change has even occurred. Do we always agree with the decisions made at central office? No. But do we have a voice at the table when things aren't working? Yes. Central office and the board have worked with the WTEA for the last 5 years and a vote of no confidence is preposterous and we have no changes uh we have seen no changes occur that would warrant that type of action. So on behalf of Gilmore, thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Mary Connors Wall Township. Um just want to hear I'm backing up the families that are speaking about the changes in the elementary level and I'm going to speak as a parent of three children that went through elementary and now completed
067uh while intermediate school um and one finished the high school. I have two in Mammoth County vocational schools. Um, what I want to say is that there are plenty of studies, probably a plethora of studies that you can find that students that are exposed to and are challenged through foreign language and music excel in their um other areas of testing. I don't know that you can find the same for seven mindsets. I know that our test scores have been dropping and we have been falling be below the Mammoth County as well as the state and national levels. So whereas I normally would always support Mrs. Steiner because I think very highly of her, I am concerned that test scores will be affected. Instead of pushing seven mindsets daily, why don't we do assemblies? Why don't
068we do quarterly assemblies or monthly assemblies? But why push it daily? Why don't we push this children to foreign language? Why don't we push the children to music? Why don't we encourage them to learn other ways of expressing themselves? expression through physical activity or musical activity help you across the board. I had recently or actually this past year the opportunity to visit my daughter in college where she performed on a collegiate level in an orchestra. We offered to make a donation to the university's music program because it's completely volunteer and non what's it called? A sorry I'm getting nervous. It's a non audition. It's walk-on. and they told me, "No, please go to your local board and beg them to increase your music program. Do not decrease. Don't give us money. Beg for more time
069in the curriculum for music." So, that's what I'm doing. I'm begging for more music, more foreign language. Help the children in ways that will be seen the rest of their lives. They could play a violin the rest of their lives. They're not going to be on a softball field or a basketball court the rest of their lives. We have beautiful overachieving students that prove it to you tonight sitting right in front of you. Support them. Support our children. [Applause] Thank you. Good evening. Christine Saints Wall Township. At this celebratory time of the year, I felt compelled to speak as the mom of a 2024 graduate and a soon-to-be graduate of the class of 2025. It's been my pleasure to hear a freshman success stories as kids have returned home from colleges across the country. I
070had the thrill of contacting a 2024 graduate last week for plumbing services and was thrilled to see him doing so well. And I'm excited to note that the upcoming class has kids attending colleges and universities that meet their goals and expectations that we're recognizing graduates pursuing careers in the military and young people who are choosing to enter the workforce with enthusiasm. Wall Schools continues to serve the many and varied needs of our diverse and multifaceted student population. As you can imagine, it has been a very busy few weeks in the house of a graduate. My mom flew into Newark today at 3:30. But instead of staying home, I'm here to touch base with my fellow community members and to support my former board members and the administration of our school district. I have been saddened
071to watch recent meetings and observe social media postings denigrating our superintendent and hostile criticism of board members. While it is certainly an American's right to speak, it hardly reflects the positive culture the board has worked for years to establish. And I think what bothers me most is I genuinely believe that a great deal of vitriol and anger is based on a series of misinformed and misguided communications that were prematurely sent to families by staff ahead of the district's roll out. Now, what I don't think a lot of people realize is that the board of education gets together nine people only in a public setting. They're not sitting somewhere behind closed doors discussing this. These things can get discussed in meetings and they're also broken down in committees. These are volunteers. These are your neighbors. These
072are people that live in town. Excuse call out please. I'm going to address whoever I want. Excuse me. I'm certainly not speaking to Mrs. Cross. Um and the sad thing is the sad thing is who am I? So I'm the former president of the board of education. I'm a president and vice president of the Old Bill home and school for four years. I was a president of the wall intermediate school co-president. So I have done tremendous amounts of work volunteer within this district. I understand how unusual because I have sat on the opposite side of this board when previous superintendent had suggested charging the PTO's to have facility use and pay custodial fees when we fundraised for our own students. So I understand how unusual this dynamic is, but I just want to point out
073that we are working with volunteers who come to committee meetings several times a month, budget workshops several times a year, ad hoc committees, general board of education meetings, and support our students at any number of events throughout the year. at the central school sing at the business and finance academy graduation. They'll be at the graduations this week. These are our community members. Um a couple of things that I can tell you that I think are are potentially incorrect. Bring your remarks to a conclusion. Sure. Thank you. I don't think anybody ever wanted to lose our paraprofessionals. um they have always been kind and outstanding members of our schools. Unfortunately, when you look at the budgetary uh issues that have to be looked at, it is not reasonable to suggest that the schools would keep folks
074in when we have certificated staff who by the contract that they negotiated, they have the ability to be supervising our kids at lunch. And FYI, our teachers at the middle school and the high school do lunch duty. It's not beneath anyone. It's an opportunity to partner with Thank you, Miss I'll be back for the second comment. Thank you. Thank you, M. Do we have anyone else for public comment? Seeing you had your seeing seeing none, I'm going to close public comment at this time. We will have a second. We will have a second public Please don't call out, sir. you have the opportunity to present your comment uninterrupted. Please give other people the same courtesy. Thank you. There are no special presentations tonight. We're going to have the uh president's report. Last month, I neglected
075to uh mention the names of the April students of the month. I'll be happy to do that now. Uh, for grade nine, Elizabeth Campanil, grade 10, Bella Cerello. Grade 11, Michael Coplan. Grade 12, Jesus Chavez Fernandez. Uh, nights of the week, grade 12, Sophia Bernell. Uh, for the week of 4125, uh, for 47, Jaylen Miller for 422, Caroline O'Hara. For 428, Michael Bullard for 428. Also, Shane Hinel. and for uh also for 428 Landon Hickey. Students of the month of May for grade nine, Aan Lee McInness, uh Megan Farrell, grade 10, grade 11, Gabrielle Farardo, and grade 12, Kira Leonard. And nights of the week, grade 11 for 5'5, Shawn Rosenfeld. Grade nine, Llaya Gant. Grade Nine for 512, McKenzie Williams. grade 12, Brandon Risco for 519 and for 526, Khloe Ketchum. Couple other uh
076things I'd like to mention. Uh last week at the uh uh New Jersey track meet of champions, we had a uh uh a junior, I believe a junior, uh Cali Bucks, placed fifth in the 1500 meter run. And that's out of all of the uh runners in the entire state of New Jersey. not just a section or a group, that's the entire state. New Jersey has one of the strongest uh uh track and field uh competitors of any state. So, that's a tremendous accomplishment for Cali. I congratulate her. I was also here uh this past week for the high school band concert which was hosted here in this room because of the uh refurbishments to our high school auditorium. I'm looking it was an excellent show. I congratulate Mr. Hollander and the all of the
077uh members of the the jazz band, the symphony band. Uh it was an excellent uh performance. Uh I'm looking forward to being able to see these same performances next year in our new high school auditorium. Uh I would also again like to extend my congratulations to all of our retirees, those who were here tonight and those who could not be here. uh the district uh thanks you very much for your great participation and your contributions to our students over the years. Uh I also now want to wish the best of luck to all of our graduates uh we are having our graduation on Friday. All intermediate school and all high school graduations will take place uh this uh Friday afternoon and early evening. I also want to uh congratulate the our prek graduates who had
078a graduation I believe yesterday. Okay. Uh and also all of our uh elementary students and our four elementary schools who are going to be moving up uh the vast majority of them uh to our intermediate school. And that's that's as big a jump as you know if not even a bigger jump than going from the intermediate school to the high school. So, I wish them uh the best of luck as well. At this time, I'm going to turn it back over to Dr. Hanham. Thank you, Mr. Mal. Good evening. I would like to once again thank our student representatives, Mason Adam, Megan Cappy, Erin Richie, and Michael Southwell for joining us this evening and for all of their service throughout the year. Best wishes uh to them as they begin their next chapters. And as
079I mentioned earlier, I do hope that they keep in touch. Again, congratulations to Aan Lee McInness and John Pastor for their outstanding academic performances. To all of the retirees, I bid you great health and great happiness as you begin your next journey. On this evening's agenda, we will accept additional retirement resignations. I offer congratulations to them and the board will be reaching out to invite them to another meeting for formal recognition for all of their years of service. Congratulations to the class of 2038 as they graduated from Wall Primary School this week. Congratulations to Miss Bagar Roa and the primary school staff on an amazing job preparing them for kindergarten. And a big great congratulations to the Wall Intermediate School and Wall High School classes of 2025 as they engage in commencement exercises this week.
080Let's all hope that we have great weather. In accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act, each state is required to report annually to the public on the evaluation of each local education agency aligned to the new the state performance plan and annual performance report. The IDEIDA Part B regulations require states to make annual determinations regarding the performance of each LEA using the following categories. Meets requirements, needs assistance, needs intervention, and needs substantial intervention. We are happy to report that once again, Wall Township meets requirements due to the number of points earned on the local special education profile. Congratulations to our special services department. Our total district enrollment numbers for May 2025 are as follows. PreK 80, kindergarten 228, first grade 225, 2nd grade 233, 3rd grade 248, fourth grade 236, fifth grade 279, sixth grade
081237, 7th grade 253, 8th grade 260, 9th grade 219, 10th grade 215, 11th grade 249, 12th grade 235 and that gives us a total enrollment of 3,197. There are some things that I would like to discuss that took place at the last board of education meeting. Based on some of the public comment, it appears that some attendees from the last meeting were under the impression that the board of education was voting on a new elementary schedule. A new elementary schedule was not on the agenda because it is not something that would be on an agenda for a board vote. The board of education hires a superintendent of schools to manage the district. Provided a teaching schedule fits within the parameters of a collective bargaining agreement, the schedule is at the discretion of the superintendent of
082schools. So, please understand there will not be a board vote on a new schedule. I feel it is worthwhile to share some information with the public regarding the role of the board of education and the role of the superintendent of schools. A board of education is made up of elected or in some case in some cases appointed in the event there's a vacancy resident volunteers. They do not receive any compensation. They willingly give their time so that they can collectively work towards providing students of their community with the best education possible. Major duties of a school board include the hiring of a superintendent, evaluating the superintendent, and setting board policies. The superintendent is evaluated on district goals which are a direct outgrowth of the strategic plan which was designed with community input. These goals with
083supporting objectives drive the actions of the school district across the prek through 12 continuum. Administrators, faculty, and staff work together throughout the year to make progress towards or meet these established targets. New initiatives, curricular planning, budgeting, etc. trace back to the district goals and objectives. Central office administrators report out on progress twice a year. In February, we provide a mid-year report on our progress and the end ofear update takes place during the summer. All of these yearly updates can be found on our website. The district goals and objectives with accomplishments is a very detailed document prepared and posted each year. I invite all to spend some time reading this material. There you will see many references to trainings, meetings, and implementations. As superintendent of schools, it is my responsibility to manage the operations of the
084school district. When a school board searches for a superintendent, the goal should be to hire someone with a great deal of experience in education, one who is wellversed in school law, curriculum, budgeting, and operations management. Essentially, a superintendent candidates's professional experience is important to the job because so many decisions need to be made each and every day. While I think it is a great thing to elicit feedback from stakeholder groups when appropriate, such as community feedback sessions and surveys during the strategic planning process, please understand that a school district cannot be effectively managed managed by consensus. I was hired for this position because I had a great deal of professional experience and training in areas that were identified as community priorities during the last superintendent search. I continue to hear from some parents that they
085believe the decision to eliminate the part-time lunch power professionals from next year's budget should have been made with community input. I ask you to take a few seconds to play that out in your mind. What would that have looked like? While some members of the community are not happy with the reduction in force decision, some members of the community shared with me that they believed it was very appropriate and fiscally imprudent. This is just one of the many examples of how public school leaders must balance the different views in their school communities. Another example is the new elementary school schedule. There are some members of the school community that have vocalized their disagreement with a new elementary schedule. Yet some parents and teachers have communicated to me that they are pleased that the students will
086have additional instructional time in reading, writing and mathematics. Members of communities regularly offer differing point differing points of view. That is why it is so important to have school district leaders with a great deal of professional experience, training, and a track record in implementing evidence-based practices. Some decisions need to be made at the administrative level. The reduction in force of part-time lunch power professionals and the new elementary schedule are such decisions. There is a perception that the elementary school schedule was made in a vacuum without any input from stakeholders. I can see that I can see that perception from both sides. So I will just state the facts. There were curricular disparities between the four elementary schools. I believe that all of our students, regardless of assigned elementary school, should have the same curricular opportunities.
087This needed to change. As most of the school community is aware, the district moved to implement evidence-based reading instruction practices, namely using the science of reading methodologies. Elementary teachers received a great deal of training. And for the last two years, many of our elementary teachers have asked admin have asked administrators for more instructional time to implement these new practices with the utmost fidelity. We needed to find more t more time. That this needed to change. After reviewing a great deal of internal data, given our demographic, I believe our students can achieve more academically. This needed to change. There were great disparities between prep or unassigned periods throughout the K5 teacher schedules. The collective bargaining agreement requires that every elementary teacher is provided with a minimum of six periods of non- studentent contact time or prep
088time a week. Some teachers have been provided with seven, some with eight, some with nine, and some have 10 or more non-instructional periods during the week. To be blunt, I do not think this is fair. This inequitable practice needed to change. During cold weather or rainy weather, when students had indoor recess, in most cases, they spent recess in their classrooms and did not have access to the gymnasium. I believed that that too needed to change. Elementary teachers are not afforded the opportunity to receive extra compensation like secondary teachers for covering classes when substitute teachers are not available. I don't think that's fair. This needs to change. For the last two years, I tasked our assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction, Miss McCann, and her team to work through these challenges because when I learned that we
089are out of compliance, I cannot unlearn that information, and we will work to rectify the issue. What started out as a curric as a curricular scheduling discussion quickly became an enshed conversation regarding personnel meaning discussions moved on to confidential topics such as individual teaching certificates elimination of positions reductions in force transfers etc. Conversations involving these topics cannot and will not be had with parents and teachers. So yes, I would have really loved to have had more curricular dialogue during the past year. However, the reality of the situation precluded that. I invite you to imagine a meeting where teachers are assembled in a room engaged in a conversation rooted around which staff members may be transferred or which staff may or may not be returning next year. With respect to teacher input, I would also like
090to add that teacher feedback on the elementary school schedule should not only be limited to the elementary school community. A conspicuously absent perspective from this public conversation is the perspective of the secondary teachers. For five years, I have had the pleasure of hearing their perspectives and accounts on student progress, and I value their input as well as the elementary teachers input. Secondary teacher feedback and secondary student work samples have been extremely valuable in identifying needs which also shape the elementary schedule. It is critical that curriculum decisions are made using a K12 lens. I have also heard from some members of the school community that special area teachers should not be expected to spend part of their day supervising students at recess or the cafeteria. Having having personally spent a great deal of time supervising students
091in the cafeteria, I take exception to that. Special area secondary teachers, subject area secondary teachers, administrators in this district regularly spend time supervising students in the cafeteria, hallways, bathrooms, etc. It is part of our jobs. In fact, I contend it is a very important aspect of our jobs. Take the cafeteria for instance. It is a great way to observe student interactions with peers. It is a great time to get to know students in a more casual setting so you can learn more about them. It is an excellent forum to ascertain if the students are having a bad day and if they could use some help from a trusted adult. The observational data collected while supervising students should never be undervalued. With respect to the morning meeting, recognize that morning meeting is an educational best practice
092that some of our elementary teachers are already using. Seven mindsets programming is one of the resources that will be used. It is not accurate to say that morning meeting is the seven mindsets. It is one of the resources. know that physical movement is also part of the morning meeting and some of the health standards will be addressed during the morning meetings throughout the year. As many of you are probably aware, a parent has filed a complaint with the New Jersey office of controversies and dispute regarding the utilization of the morning minutes towards the health and physical education requirement of 150 minutes. The district has been working on a response and we are cooperating fully with involved state officials. I look forward to a swift resolution. I have received some correspondence from parents on their perceptions
093of the seven mindsets. I invite them like some have presented here this evening to become more familiar with the program. I would also like to stress that the implementation of the seven mindsets is a direct outgrowth like that was presented earlier of the district goals specifically number two the goal which speaks to student wellness. Most of you are probably aware, but some may not be, that a few years back, there was a public outcry for the district to actively combat bullying, harassment, and intimidation. If you weren't aware, I invite you to view some of the archive board of education meeting videos. The community spoke, the board of education listened, and made combating bullying, harassment, and intimidation an absolute priority. We are not yet where we want to be, but we have made some strides in
094a positive direction. I am just wrapping up the fifth my fifth year as superintendent of Wall Township Public Schools. I was hired at a May 2020 board of education meeting and I was hired to be an agent of positive change. During the last five years, there has been quite a bit of change in this school district. I understand that change can be difficult for some individuals. Sometimes individuals will vehemently fight for the status quo. I would argue that change can be exciting and may even be invigorating. I am doing what I was hired to do to be a catalyst for posit positive change and to lead this district forward. I thank you Mr. Maliff. Thank you Dr. Hahan. Uh, board of education update. Any members of the board uh wish to make any comments? M.
095Barbier. Um, I just wanted to uh add that I had been to uh I got to attend the preschool graduation here uh yesterday. Uh has to be one of the cutest things I think I've ever seen in my life. Tiny tots, little tassels, they were perfection. Um and I just want to say congratulations to the class of 2038. um and wish them well as they become students at Wall Elementary Schools. Thank you, Mr. Barber. Anyone else? Mr. Buffer. Thank you. Um I I just wanted to say uh Dr. Handhan, thank you for that report. That was a excellent report. Um, and as a parent of five Wall Township, um, either past or present students, uh, I could absolutely see the change that you've made in your time here. So, thank you for that. Um, I
096was able to attend the Renaissance lunchon, which was a another very spectacular Wall Township um, event at the high school. um to see the high honor roll list um be I think three pages long front and back was very very impressive. As somebody who's probably never made high honor roll, that was even more impressive. Um so that was a that was a great event to attend. Um and I just really wanted to um speaking for myself uh not for the board but speaking as Thomas Buffa. Um, I've seen uh and heard the positive feedback uh from my children uh regarding the seven mindsets programming and I would um I would encourage uh the definitely encourage the public to take a look back uh at the um previous board meetings and you could see there were
097quite a few um presentations that took place during those board meetings that really showed the impacts that it's had and what the kids are doing with that program. Um, you know, we spent quite a bit of time and and um Miss Steiner and uh Miss Gilvari and the rest of the crew really do a phenomenal job with that and I thank them for that. Uh, and lastly, um, thank you to all of the Wall Township Public Schools staff, uh, administration. Um, really another fantastic year. Um, and I'm looking forward to next year and I hope all the staff and students enjoy their summer. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Buffa. Well said. Uh, Mr. Smith, thank you. Uh, I also wanted to just cong uh, congratulate the retirees today. Uh, also specifically Chris Barnes,
098who is a coach and a teacher of mine. Uh, secondly, on June 1st, I attended the color run at Central School that was hosted by Cape. Um, it was a great turnout. All the kids had a great time, including my own. So, I just wanted to thank uh Cape, all the volunteers and teachers, and Mr. Manifest for hosting it. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. All right. Seeing seeing no one else, we're going to move on to committee reports. The uh minutes are available on the agenda. Uh, any chairman or members of committee wish to make any comments? Okay, seeing none at that time, we're going to open up now for the second public comment. And again, I ask you please to be cognizant of our policy of of three minutes. I was a
099little liberal the first time. Betsy Cross, I live in Wall. Um I guess uh what I don't understand is you gave a president's report but on your agenda I think it had superintendent and president report and you said there wasn't one. So I mean that type of report should have been here when people were sitting here not when half of the people left. That's what you did at the last meeting. It makes no sense. So while you've been here for five years uh we really haven't seen any type of improvement. uh test scores have gone down and more and more uh students uh seem to be unhappy and be bullied and you have more and more lawsuits. So, uh there you go. Um I see you're approving the bleachers, but I never saw where you
100actually went for bids, so I don't understand that. Um, I also asked for when you went out for quotes instead of bids on athlet on the athletic uh facilities. Uh, nothing came back from Mr. Smith today uh right before the meeting. So, I'm going to put that and I'm going to give you a copy so you have it. And I'd like you to get back to me, Mr. Maliff, on why do we not have proper bids for things. Uh, I was there for the bid opening and this great woman that's running for the board was also there for the athletic bids. I'm glad we were there. The bids have been rejected. The first one was nonresponsive. Uh, second one was too high, so you have to go out for new bids. Um, Mr. Smite did
101not sign in and Mr. Buffer did not sign in. So, when you have a bid sheet, you're supposed to sign in so we know who's there because what happens is when we have like all these problems like we did with the trailers, we can't find the bids and there's no bid signin sheet. So, the bids get thrown out and there was a problem with the bid. Uh, so Mr. Buffa, you work in a school district. I think you got a job very similar to Mr. Smi. So, how you didn't sign in that day, I don't understand. Um, so that's right here. Um, and Mary Joe Michaelels also did not sign in or Sally Sally Joe. Uh, so problems problems with that. So, like I said, when we passed this $66 million budget, I see transfers
102were transferring money and people said, "Oh, we can't transfer the money." Oh, sure you can because you have it in your transfer report tonight. And I don't even know if Mr. Buffett knows about it because he attaches nothing to minutes. So his minutes again are horrible. We talk about things in the meeting and then you attach nothing. So nobody knows what happens. So I'll be glad when you are replaced by the three people running on the board so we could get somebody in here that doesn't work in a school district like you that has some common sense and is going to write the minutes how they should be with attachments. Um, thank you, Mr. Cross. Thank you. Do we have anyone else for public comment? Thank you. Christine states township. I apologize for going over
103my time. Um, I guess just to wrap up uh a couple of different points and again I don't say this to be controversial uh with our fellow community members but I think that when they're under the maybe a false impression we we have conflict where there does not necessarily need to be no one does not value uh what our power professionals at lunch have brought. But as I mentioned before, um when we recognize that some of the roles that they are performing can be performed by folks that are in our schools, that's the prudent and financially responsible thing to do. I would like to mention that I do believe 12 of those paraprofessionals will be rejoining the district in a different position. They were encouraged to apply for other positions. I'm sure the district will
104be thrilled to have them back in whatever capacity they're here and possibly more folks will join them. Recess, uh, recess got thrown in, muddied the waters. At no point in time were any children going to have to choose between band and recess. However, my understanding, if I understand it correctly, is that at recess they can now have the opportunity to have structured play if they so choose. They can also go off and do chalk or whatever they'd like. Or they're going to have an opportunity to do more band, choir, or maybe more art, which is more opportunity for them. This district has always valued music, theater, the arts, and has invested tremendously. The budget has uh, you know, is searchable. You can see exactly what the budget uh what the the district spends uh consistently
105year after year after year on those programs to suggest otherwise. is is just inaccurate. And as far as seven mindsets goes, um our dis our meetings are all recorded. They're all livereamed. I feel like almost every meeting of 2023 and 2024, we had a presentation on the seven mindsets. This is not new. This is our third year with the seven mindsets. We have celebrated everything is possible. Passion first. We are connected, 100% accountable, attitude of gratitude, live to give, and the time is now. There has been no secret about what the district has been doing with seven mindsets. It has been celebrated throughout the district and with events with the community. Um, so I just I I just encourage folks who who are feeling frustrated to maybe speak to folks who have um some more
106intimate knowledge or maybe have older children um and have been around uh to maybe give you a different perspective so that we go back to being a cohesive district because I genuinely believe every member of the board who is sitting here is committed to our children and every member of our administ administration is committed to our children. I thank you for your time and I thank you for what you do. I hope everybody has a great summer and I have truly enjoyed and appreciate the time that my children have spent in the Wall Township Public School District. Thank you. Do we have anyone else for public comment? Hi. Uh, Leah Bibby Wall Township. I uh just want to touch base on my first speaking. Um, look, I know that this is tough for everybody. You're
107never going to make everybody happy. I'm on other boards as well. You with lots of parents and but I think the biggest frustration that I'm hearing across the board is the transparency issue. um when people have questions regarding um just support of these new implementations, they're met with blockages or no response. It's very frustrating for parents. Uh we want to be on board, but we don't know what's going on. And so when we ask questions and we're met with silence, it's we're left to determine our own answers. uh and and I just wish that um there would be more information given or at least more responses given to some of the questions. Um I am not against like I said I'm not against anal program. I think that those are great. Everyone does them. Also
108just so you know my bachelor's degree is in K12 lensure fizzed. So, a lot of these questions that I have come from a educational background. I was a four-year member of the Colorado uh aphford association. I was a four five-year member of the national aphford association. And when I moved to New Jersey, even though I wasn't able to find work because it was the recession of 2008, um I was also a member even though I wasn't teaching at the time of the New Jersey Aford Association. At the end of the day, I think we need to just talk more and um we need to I think the honesty the honesty is really we're feeling that you're not honest and and that's probably not the case. But we have no other way to know because you
109stay silent. So I just urge you people have questions you I understand you can't answer all of them HR stuff. I get that. But some you can. I just urge you to just try to talk with us. Uh because we're all in different boats. My kids are different from other people's kids. And you know, what might work for mine might not work for others, but I want to hear about it and I want to find out what we can do to if there's anything we can do. I just think there needs to be more talking and um and transparency. So, thank you. Okay. Thank you. I am Colleen McCormack of Slen. I come just to echo my previous statements from the last board meeting as well as those said here tonight. I understand that the
110board has a thankless job. I am appreciative of the time and sacrifice you have made, but look forward to a changing of the guard, so to speak, with the three members that are openly going to run. My personal concerns are with Dr. Handerhan and Mrs. McCann. I'm hopeful after hearing Dr. Handerhan say she is openly talking with the NJ DOE and may adjust the schedule accordingly. I would like to also go on record stating that she has been presented with two laws and if this schedule as it is presented to us now goes into effect, she's knowingly breaking the law. I'm also patiently awaiting answers to my latest email regarding the seven mindsets concerning funding and the data supporting its use at the elementary level. Even though uh seven mindsets is only going to be
111part of the morning meeting and health is going to be incorporated during that time, it is still violating that law. Instead of more talk, swift and meaningful consequences should come first followed by restorative practices like SEAL or seven mindsets instead of a slap on the wrist and a sweep under the rug. Seven mindsets is not new. We do know this. However, it has morphed into something bigger and is now taking away from required subject areas like health and phys. I did not plan on speaking tonight, so this was hastily prepared. So, I do appreciate you giving me my time and look forward to being a more proactive member in the strategic planning in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else for public comment? Okay, seeing no one else, I'm going to close
112our second public comment. At this time, I'm going to ask for a motion. Yes. Excuse me, Mr. SM. Uh just in response to public comment to try to clarify some of the um inaccurate statements. Uh with regard to the items on this evening's agenda with regard to the referendum project, uh we did receive bids on June 3. Uh there is a resolution that is rejecting the bids. We had one bidder that was non-responsive and one uh second bidder who was over uh budget. both are indicated within the resolution that is included on tonight's agenda. Uh we also have on the agenda is the approval of bleachers. Uh the reason why the bleachers are being approved is because of the long lead time uh for the delivery of those bleachers. Um the bleachers were not put
113out the public bid. They are being purchased as stated within the resolution on the agenda that they are being purchased under a cooperative purchasing program which is one of the uh available options for school districts to make purchases. School districts have the ability through New Jersey public contracts law to go out to bid. Uh they could be purchased under state contract which is um purchasing done uh by the state that has put it out to bid or through a cooperative purchasing program where another entity has put that project or put that item out to bid. Uh this purchase is being made under a national cooperative um which is one of the allowable uh methods of purchasing for the D uh school district. Uh with regard to OPER requests, uh we receive a number of OPER
114requests. We have responded, just give an indication for the current year, we have received 90 OPER request for the 2425 school year. Um all 90 have received a response. 89 are identified as complete and one is pending a response uh from the initial requesttor and if no response is received, that one will be closed out as well. district has provided 18,22 pages of documents in response to those 90 requests. Uh when a request is overly broad uh and we can't reasonably identify what exactly an individual may be requesting uh then we are permitted to uh respond in that fashion that it is overly broad uh and that we cannot provide um documents that are responsive to an overly broad request. Um so and I also want to clarify with regard to again the statements being
115made all the problems with bids. There are in fact no problems with bids. There has not been problems with bid. There has been a total misunderstanding of the procurement laws for school districts in the state of New Jersey. Uh again we don't districts are not required to go out to bid for every purchase being made. Uh again I will state they could be made under state contract. they could be made under a cooperative purchasing program. They can be put out the bid or if they were below the bid threshold, they uh can be quoted uh by the school business admin administrator or the purchasing agent for the district, which is one and the same. Uh lastly, with regard to the statement as far as transfer of monies, it was stated that the district will not
116be transferring money with regard to the referendum funds. Um that is correct. uh and we are precluded by law to transfer money from the capital projects fund fund 30 um related to the referendum funds. Transfers are permit permitted within the projects of the referendum and those are the transfers that take place uh and have taken place since we started the referendum work. However, there has been no transfers from the referendum funds to our general expenses which is uh would not be permitted. I just want to clarify that for future reference. If anybody has any questions, feel free to contact me. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Schm. No comments, please. All right. At this time, I'm going to ask for a uh motion to approve the consent agenda uh for items uh 12 through 19. Can
117I have a motion? Mr. D. Giovani. A second. I'll second. Mr. Berton. Uh roll call. Mr. Smite, please. Um, yes, but I would like to abstain from the HR report 16A section 6, items 59,92, 138, and 177. Noted. Mr. Burton, yes. Mr. Buffa, yes. Mr. Dioani, yes. Mr. Smith, yes. Mr. Wandra, yes. Miss Adams. Yes. Mr. M. Yes. With uh the following abstensions. Uh number 16, Roman numeral 6, number 71, and Roman numeral 10 attachment five. Noted. Okay. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. Mr. Wandre. A second. Mr. Mr. D. Giovani. All in favor? Opposed? We are journal.