001good evening i' like to call to order of the Wall Township Board of Education meeting for Tuesday July 20th 2021 please stand for the flight i al to the flag of the United States of America to the stands indivisible andice for all Mr Smite here we have the sunshine statement and roll call please yes this is the wal Township Board of Education meeting for which adequate notice on the open public meeting Act was provided by no coar Asbury Park Press Township clerk's office all Wall Township Public Schools and a posting in the board ation office on May 13th 2021 take a roll call Mr Gars he has an excused absence Mr Hall here miss hodnet here Mr KOA here Mr Nasser here Mr s Filippo here M here Mr wandra Mr ad here at this
002time could I have a motion for number five for letters Ag and H for executive session make the motion motion Mr sanppo second Mr wandra all in favor okay thank you we will be be back at approximately 8:00 p.m. good evening uh at this time I'd like to reconvene the WT Board of Education meeting for Tuesday July 20th 2021 uh we started at 6:15 p.m. and we are back from executive session all right uh so we are going to start with something very I'm sorry Mr Smite uh roll call please thank you uh roll call Mr guards it's an excused absence Mr Hall here M hit here Mr Kupa I am here Mr nass here Mr s fpo here M here Mr wandra here Mr here thank you okay now we are going to start
003with something very pleasant this evening uh we have a number of people who are retiring from the district and we would like to recognize them this evening um we certainly thank you guys for your years of service and uh we will be giving you a certificate and a nice little flower so when we call your name we'll have you come on up all right our first retiree is Jill berther she was a bus driver in our transportation department [Applause] Jill's worked in the transportation department for over 20 years she knew all her students and made sure they were transported safely each day she really enjoyed working with all the transportation employees and always made sure our postings for work were done correctly for all Jill will be missed and we hope she enjoys every moment
004of this next phase of her life congratulations thank you just so everybody knows transportation is a really difficult job uh you know when you have 30 kids on a bus yelling and screaming paying attention and you know anybody that's driven around wall lately the traffic it's enough to make you pull your hair out so Jill thank you so much our next retiree is Karen baringer uh she was a custodian West Belmar school so I just found out that she's done a couple different things for us uh she's worked in the Wall Township School District since 1992 that's a very long time if I can do my math correctly I believe that's 29 years my Wall Township education right there uh while working here she served the district in many roles she started as a lunch
005Aid then a driving driving the school bus eventually moving to become a custodian during her time Karen is displayed her dedication to the Wall Township Schools and its Community while working in many different roles she's had the ability to help help numerous students and have a positive effect on them as a custodian she was imperative to keeping the students and staff safe at West bore school during covid-19 pandemic we wish Karen all the best in her retirement and thank her for her years of service and commitment thank you appreciate it these individuals are the backbone of our districts uh you know besides Transportation getting the kids here safely what our custodians did this past year making sure the schools were clean and safe and constantly wiping things down uh it's just absolutely remarkable our next
006retiree is Susan thely uh she's a teacher at Allenwood school so Susan taught special education to countless students over her long career at Allenwood as an Allenwood Dragon uh as an inclusion teacher she was a resident expert in foundations word study and has often heard often been heard saying that it was her Jam she taught the importance of making up words and the syllables to hundreds of emerging readers in the classroom she learned new standards and worked with students to meet them she is unfailingly warm and makes students feel successful thank you so much for your your Years thank you our next retiree is Maria Hines she also was a teacher at Alwood [Applause] School Maria is a gifted special educator who willingly went wherever she was needed she has upped her tied dyed sleeves
007uh married uh strategies for reaching students she's an advocate of touch math and a big believer in keeping materials organized her expectations for both academic effort and behavior are non-negotiable she is a generous colleague who eagerly shares teaching tips and materials in her retirement we know she'll miss pickup and pickup Duty the most so you're you're going to miss standing out in the rain thank you how many how many years did you work congratulations and I missed how many years did Susan put in thir wow and and then 20 29 because I had that written here okay uh our next retiree is Olive holiday congratulations also a bus driver in our transportation department uh she has worked here for 18 years as a school bus driver she drove a school van for most of her
008time here she worked with many students and loved driving them to and from school each day good luck in your new Journeys and we know you will be kept busy as you always have she was an excellent driver and will be missed best wishes congratulations thank you okay our next retiree is Claudia jski Claudia was a non-instructional par in our transportation department uh she worked a very long time as a power professional and was such a great employee how many years 30 congratulations wow 31 you sure you don't want to do a few more come on I heard at 40 you might get a watch okay uh oh okay um she was always relied on and everybody knew they could call her for help she always worried when requesting time off about the office covering
009her position if the office could not fill her position easily she would change her plans and come to work wow when she worked with new employees she would make sure they were she told them what was expected and remind the office if something wasn't working out correctly she will be deeply missed and we hope that that in her retirement lots of fun enjoyment and it's well deserved thank you congratulations and finally our last retiree that's here this evening is Keith Smith there he is Keith was a bus driver in Transportation uh he worked here for over 26 years he always loved to drive and really enjoy transporting the children each day Keith was an employee who always was on time for work each day he was a safe and caring employee who will be missed
010we wish him good health good luck and joy in your retirement congratulations thank you so much appreciate [Applause] it thank you we appr could everybody come back up for a picture all the retirees come back come on up we're not done with you Keith come back come back we're not done with you yet we we actually want you to come back we're going to take it all back and you guys are going to come back in September [Applause] yes and just so everybody knows those uh comments were written by your colleagues um so they they clearly think a lot of you and you'll all be missed um we did have a few other retirees that couldn't make it this evening uh Tracy caponegro she was an instructional par uh Sharon Gil she was a teacher
011Kathleen vanen was a teacher Jeff Allen he's an art teacher uh Laura Beal ldtc what does that stand for oh okay thank you uh Patricia Brewer she was a secretary Jacqueline uh shelino she was Speech Denise Clayton instructional power Linda MOS an instructional power uh Robert mlet I'm not sure what he did I don't have that on here I apologize Robert Neil a teacher Janice Weissman a teacher Camille Rogers a secretary and Frank Smith a a mechanic uh We wish all of you health and happiness in your retirement and thank you for your years of service to our school [Applause] district okay all right all right we are moving on to superintendence updates Dr handerhan good evening I wish to extent my heartfelt appreciation and best wishes to the retirees as they Embark upon their
012next chapter I'd like to thank them for their years of service and dedication to the wall the students of Wall Township each one of them leaves behind a lasting impression on their respective schools and departments thank you so much and I bid you best wishes and great health I am pleased to share that many students are attending summer programs and classes throughout the district I cannot recall a summer when I got to see so many students and staff members teachers bus drivers it's been terrific custodians are used to me being um you know always around districtwide 568 students are participating in our summer programs I am grateful to see so much life in the buildings as we transition into a new school year uh this transition is extremely important and uh so many people in
013this room have worked so hard um to uh really make that transition as best as possible for our students and I thank you I would also like to thank the district parents for their patients with respect to and it's certainly apt uh you know this evening because we do have some of our bus drivers here tonight to um thank you for your patience with respect to the transportation this summer school districts across New Jersey struggle to find enough bus drivers to meet the increased summer demand due to newly created grant-funded summer programs historically we do not have have many bus runs during the summer and as such many of our bus drivers have were already committed um like they often are to um other jobs in the summertime when it became apparent that the enrollment
014was so high and the request for transportation was so great we actually um contract we put out we contacted Moes to which is a public contracted service uh for a bid to provide additional Transportation despite follow-up phone calls it wasn't until Friday June 9th that we were informed Our Roots did not receive a bid the program was set to start on Monday June uh July 12th excuse me as superintendent I was faced with the choice of cancelling all of the transportation for the general education summer programs or do our best to develop a solution I do not want transportation to be the reason a student was unable to attend summer academic programming fortunately due to so many people and uh many are in this room this evening um we you know teamwork got us through
015and it was the teamwork of the transportation office the wtea leadership administrators and the business office we were able to cover the roots and I will tell you that um certainly people in this um evening this this room this evening um are creative and uh they really helped us out we were able to cover the roots although uh it was challenging to do so um with limited staff and uh we did have delays but I'm happy to report that the delays have become less each and every day and we continue to refine The Roots again I I apologize to our families for any inconvenience um and I thank them for their patience and especially I thank uh the staff for their flexibility and uh for certainly for the bus drivers that have been helping us
016out um you know helping us out for the benefit of the kids so um I thank there's so many people to thank because um you know often times there are challenges this uh the 2020 2021 school year I can't imagine a school year without more Challenge and we just uh one of the nice things as I I'm entering my second year we need to work together and I can tell you that certainly with respect to um you know these summer programs whether it be instructional whether it be um transportation whether it be custodial we've all been working as a team um to really get it uh get things together for the kids so um I thank you um wholeheartedly for that each year schools are charged with reviewing harassment intimidation and bullying or what is
017commonly referred to as Hib data and programming using the categories and metrics provided by the New Jersey Department of Education schools can receive up to 78 total raw points with 78 being the highest score that can be achieved the full breakdown for each category for each school is available on our district website and it is also included the complete table and breakdown it's included in the agenda packet for tonight's meeting the overall score for each of the district schools is as follows and again 78 is the highest score that can be attained using the Doe's metric wall High School 77 wall Intermediate School 77 at Allenwood 76 Central School 77 Old Mill School 77 West Belmar School 75 and Primary School 75 again I wish to um extend my heartfelt appreciation for for all of
018the all the retirees tonight uh for uh their dedication and their service and uh I truly enjoyed meeting each and every one of you and uh again I know Mr adio was uh inviting you to come back in the substitute capacity I would very much like to Echo that sentiment so uh you know where to find us and uh we would love that on that note I do hope that the Wall Township community members they're enjoying these summer months and um we're in the throws of planning for a new school year so I thank you and uh thank you very much Mr adio back to you thank you Dr handerhan um anybody have anything for Board of Education updates seeing none uh committee reports policy Mr Hall okay thanks Ralph uh policy meeting we had
019on July 7th in the superint tenant's office uh Dr hran Mr SMI myself Ralph Andy KR Kristen hognut board members were there as well as Kim Keeter who attended virtually um basically we had only two things both of these were um for discussion items um and uh policy 5111 eligibility of the residents uh not resident non-resident um basically uh Tracy kind of brought this to the attention saying that when we take uh tuition students um the application process did not line up exactly with the uh with the policy so we wanted to uh you know change some language in there um to uh to more accurately reflect the uh the policy so that parents that sign up from out of District um know exactly what the what the expectations are so that that was kind
020of a you know kind of a basic one um the next one was basically uh policy 0167 public participation in board meetings um this policy deals with how the meetings are run and the rules surrounding them uh the board is looking to formalize and standardize some of the existing rules tweak a little bit um the group discussed uh providing the public with a detailed uh rules of the meeting before each public comment as well as the role and responsibility of the board um and the powers that the board actually has and the enforcement of the five minute rule the group agreed that the me uh meetings uh need more structure and we'll look some look to add some more language um to that policy in the coming months um the group will look to prepare
021something uh let's see here I'm sorry uh the group discussed making a timer visible which I think you'll see tonight um so that people will know how much time is left if their time um and then uh requiring some formal changes uh or or ministrative in nature um so we'll get uh Tracy and uh uh and that team to work on it and then bring it back to the policy committee to to iron out most of the details but basically it's just kind of re reworking a little bit of the policy to to kind of bring it up to speed of where where we're actually what we're actually doing now versus what the policy says Thank you Mr Hall uh Personnel Mr San Filippo uh I'd like to uh thank Andy um for chipping in
022and pinch for me uh this meeting um minutes are posted um Andy I don't know if you want to um say any uh in reference to the meeting sure thank you um ch Mr President so uh there were three items on the agenda sub rates transfers and HR Consultants um it was shared with us the committee that uh sub rates for all positions in the district are going to be looked at um this is been a very um dire area for many many school districts all over the state with regards to having people to sub when needed and so there will be further exporation of that by the finance committee and the Personnel committee um once that done they'll bring that information to us um there are some districts that are already increasing the daily
023sub rates so um wall would not be in its uh isolation on this um transfers person Personnel matters were discussed and some background was given and then the third item uh HR Consultants uh that was tabled due to the conversation that happened on the first two uh items so I don't know if there's anything from the other committee members that were present that I missed nope okay thank you thank you Mr Kupa uh curriculum instruction Mr Kupa okay so um let me just open that one uh there were three items on that agenda again they are posted as was mentioned earlier and just so the public knows when you go to the Board of Education uh page you can actually go to the board of ed drop down and all the Committees are there and
024the date of the meeting is there as well as the uh minutes for uh that the agenda that occurred on that day so there's a couple ways that you can get to it and um it's working I've used it so I just want to make sure you're all aware of that um the items on the agenda were uh update on world language program particularly for the Middle School um the NN DC program which is part and parcel of our acade um our Service Learning Academy at the high school and then um a hodg podge of curricul issues so let me start with World languages in case um some of the board members have questions the um Middle School requirements have been updated by the State Department of Education as probably many of you know that
025you do take languages in the high school but now it's kind of creeping down into uh the intermediate world and they have a plan in in place for that and just as a matter of information at the middle school it's Spanish French and Latin so CPM right and um there'll be scheduling massage done so that we are in compliance with that with all of our students whether it's uh regular Ed special ed or other um the curriculum issues that were spoken about were um social emotional learning the the lgbtq uh content and implications with that and then um critical race Theory so these three have come up over several months now and again it's important that the public knows that there is a curriculum committee it's representative of you but also that we were very
026much in uh cons um consult with each other that whatever comes down the pike that it's very important that we work with the community to make sure that people are aware and comfortable with what information is being spok of the concern that I'm just speaking personally for myself not for the board was that the social emotional learning area is getting lumped in with those two other areas in a way that is not really proper social emotional learning has to do with mental health and you know learning about um perseverance grit how to deal with stress and a lot of parents as you know have come to us with that concern over this past year because of covid so we are as part of the um requirements with the federal monies and other uh budgets that
027we received going to be addressing that in the coming year and as one of the follow-ups for that committee meeting we asked that we have some more information on that um the nnc program is also thought of as uh like the uh RZA program and there going to be a additional information coming from the high school about that service Academy to the committee we were just having a very light conversation about that um I skipped over the two uh lgbtq and the critical race um U portions in the curriculum uh pod so I apologize for that so with regards to those the um mandates in the curriculum and um discussions that are happening down at leg at the uh legislature level that's all being looked at and the timeline for any curriculum changes has been
028extended another year again due to co and um Erin mom I want to acknowledge her Presence at the meeting with regards to explaining to us some of that as also Dr Rando was there um and that's pretty much it did I miss anything oh and there's just one other announcement related to curriculum sort of which is the I I can bike program uh which is being done at the preschool level and this week actually there's volunteer opportunities for students anybody really that wants to help out with that program that's being uh brought by our Primary School um director special services so we want to thank them for that but if you have students that are looking for volunteer hours they should reach out on that and the committee members do they miss anything that I
029just have a clarifying question is it appropriate to ask yes um so just in your meeting because I unfortunately wasn't able to attend were you able to clarify if critical race theory is indeed the same as social emotional learning no that's exactly why I was making the point that it's it's social it's mental health critical race Theory would need further explanation but it had to do in my understanding right now is that had to do with um the historical accounts of what's occurred over our our history as a country and whether it's neutral biased or does it have a slant one way or the other but social emotional learning which I was really concerned about like I said have to do with mental health uh being able to uh overcome obstacles good life scale things
030it's separate it's not the same thing okay did that clarify Miss hodet I do want to drive some um drive a couple um points is that um I received numerous one of the reasons it was on the agenda is that um we did have some comments in public comment in the past during the past two months and I've also received and as well as Dr Rando and our principles um actually quite quite a few Communications regarding uh critical race Theory um I am I I do want to report out that uh New Jersey Department of Education does not it it is not mandating critical race Theory and I think that uh there was um you know that was uh some of the questions that we uh received so I wanted to uh touch base with
031that and uh with respect to um critical race Theory um it's not a new term it's a term that has been around uh for quite a while um It's associated uh primarily with uh law school um it's a course that is taught um in some law schools and um so there was a so um I can tell you that Dr Rando the principles and me we have been um working with parents to um you know address any questions that they might have so um so there will be um more information to come um the there is um there is information from the Department of Education regarding uh diversity inclusion and Equity that is something that uh was um was uh signed by Governor Murphy during the uh month of April and I will share with
032you that um um you know that diversity equity and inclusion are not um topics that are um unfamiliar to schools it's something that we have been um working with uh for a very long time but I will um I will certainly indicate that uh there are many topics curricular topics um that seem to be in mesed so uh we're at the pro in whether it's in Media or um you know whether it's in common conversation but just to um make people aware of what what what the topics are and um how school districts will be moving forward with some of uh certainly the requirements and uh a large por portion of what we talked about at the meeting is certainly um being sharing with the public um how we're implementing things have these topics into
033the curriculum and um also um sharing resources and educating the community so so that really um took a that was a big portion of the meaning as well too but I do want to reiterate that uh critical race theory is not required um by the state of New Jersey through the Department of Education thank you for that addition I said other committee members you're in the committee I am so Dr hhan I'm sorry so but I I just want to one step further just to be clear because I I know a lot of people are confused about it there is a lot of conversation about that subject um and it's a CO really college level thinking for for you know people that should be able to make decisions and and you know maybe not necessarily
034children but we we to date we have not purchased any new books any new curriculum uh anything that would go down the road of critical race Theory as it's being uh talked about in the media uh today as it's being taught in discussed in the media no there's been no purchases um you know however um obviously um race is an extremely important topic that is addressed uh certainly as a high school principal for a long time it's something that um in in United States history it's um you know it for I don't want to use the word critical but it's integral to um you know American history so um so with that so we're teaching history we're not we're not teaching theories we're teaching actual history it's right now there is there is no we
035do not have any curricular modifications with respect to uh uh theoretical um aspects of race um we are uh certainly teaching uh race and um you know within certainly a contemporary context a past context um our literary choices often um you know race can be a topic in certainly in United States history too uh race as a topic um and uh we very much take a global U look because um part of our charge is to prepare our student body for um really Global citizenry and um we do so um with uh many cultures um and many societies thank you but to but with respect to an actual this is a unit on critical race Theory absolutely not thank you I have a a question uh Mr President yes superintendent handan um so one point
036early in my two years on the board um we did get a list of resources Ken and I were talking about that um when does that typically happened from the curriculum office is that happened like Oh you mean the approved U curricular materials right um Dr rando's office is preparing that now and we expect it for the August meeting okay thank you so that is a comprehensive list that is available to the public um as well as our curriculum guides um for review Andy all right I I don't like being right here I can't see everybody I gota like stretch you need a corner SE I got a I got a small neck short neck um one of the things that we sort of talked about and I just wanted to kind of bring that
037up was um you know the possibility of having a town hall meeting in regards to curriculum and how um different different things are integrated into our curriculum in um different ways like Dr handan mentioned you know reading lists um uh certainly on an uh Elementary level I would think um you know different um you know passages that these kids reads and different things like that um so maybe that would be something that we could throw um on the um agenda for uh the curriculum um committee meeting yeah that that format was discussed as one of the as the options so it will continue um into next month's agenda and um thanks for reminding me Chris that was good um and and it sounds great the other thing that came up which uh I forgot to
038mention I'm sorry um is that the opt out for um sexuality education whatever in in health and PE not um social studies where they to talk about history but the opt out for that has been done very well in this District um and I can speak to that factually um we get letters from the principal um if you're a parent out there I hope you've gotten them I have as I am a parent and um it explains the program and that's without penalty to graduation or grade or anything that existed years and years and years and uh I'm just um pleased to be able to say that our district does that well and so kudos to you guys thank you thank you Mr grupa all right on to finance and Facilities uh Mr gartz was
039not there the minutes were posted on our website uh Mr SMI uh assisted with those thank you um but uh Mr nzar has uh something that that the committee has to follow up on our previous meeting and I will turn over to you thank you Mr President uh good evening I am I am representing the members of the facilities and finance committee uh it's our primary responsibility to deal with uh the facilities issues that arise uh I'm confident that our thoughts represent those of the full board uh we're excited to be moving past the Central School trailer phase of the wall board ahed this board and current fnf committee inherited the circumstances around the trailers and as expeditiously as possible voted to legally remove them off for premises investigated the circumstances that led to the
040situation and put in Action a plan to avoid these types of issues in the future the report that this board CH chose to pursue as a way to help move beyond the unfortunate circumstances the trailers presented was thorough complete and detailed the history of the trailers from purchase to demise uh that report is online on our website for everybody to see I encourage people to look at it uh through the investigation no wrongdoing was found our 13 years of school audits found no wrongdoing not one government agency that's been informed repeatedly about alleged misconduct was brought forth any charges or reprimand to the board or employees over the trailers the past Central School trailer challenges are no longer a topic of discussion for a committee and for the board as an outcome we take away
041key lessons of what we could have done better in including but not limited to being wise about trusting our professional recommendations investing more strategically in the assets as it relates to their life cycle and communicating more effectively internally and externally this board and committee are committed and have shown our commitment to doing things differently moving forward to be more effective efficient and responsive these efforts to be more transparent have been put to task with our gy uh gym floor Mercury findings and respond resp as well as the burst pipe at Central School in September of 2020 communication with the staff unions parents and Community was Swift transparent and in the best interest of students and employees those two event responses were also very much in coordination with the wta's health and safety committee and we
042thank them for their efforts working with us to create environments that are safe to learn and work Beyond those incidents our committee reviews School due reports monthly at our meetings to root out repetitive issues that may need attention our committee is focused on capital projects within our annual budget to invest in the necessary assets of the district going forward our monthly meetings will be held in various schools with a tour of needy areas and building and meetings with building principles to hear their input firsthand this fnf committee will continue to address necessary concerns openly and honestly in the best interests of students family staff and stakeholders our focus is to continue continue moving forward in a more professional manner with the ultimate goal to modernize our current assets as much as the annual budget will
043allow the fact is the can has been kicked around and down the road too long the district's assets need attention and by attention we mean investment annual improvements are helpful but a referendum to fund larger scale needs in an efficient manner is our next big focus it is what is needed to maintain any level of educational success from technology mechanical systems roofs security effective educational spaces meeting spaces presentation rooms and athletic fields the opportunity is in front of us not behind us this committee is committed to making effective Pro progress for the future and not getting crossed up trying to rehash the past thank you very much and we look forward to working with everyone to move the district forward thank you Mr President thank you all right this time we are going to move
044on to public comment on agenda items uh the purpose of this of commenting on agenda items that the board may be taking action on this evening in accordance with policy 0167 public participation in board meetings the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest so this is only on agenda genda items and just so everybody knows uh moving forward the no calling out uh calling out we'll ask uh give you a warning and if you call out again uh we will ask you to leave the meeting we will suspend the meeting um it's to try to keep meetings organized and running well and respect the people that are at the microphone so please
045come up hi my name is Betsy cross sorry I just got here and I had to borrow an agenda um I'm just wondering where are you approving the uh report by Mr scilla's office what item is that on the agenda that you're approving it that was the report by Mr scilla's office that we paid so far $14,000 that is not on letterhead and is not signed by anyone what item is that on your agenda Mr rinio or Mr Nasser since you just went over that that is not on the agenda it's not on the agenda well how do you go forward and move on when you're not even approving this report that Mr scuro and Mr Dennis mckever have presented it's not on letterhead it's not signed do you have questions on agenda items it
046that that report means nothing okay questions on agenda items these are not agenda item so you're saying it's not on an agenda you're not approving that report because it's not on letterhead and it's not signed by anyone is that what you're saying Mr you have a question on agenda items if not please sit down that is my question I guess you're not approving that report because it's not on letterhead so and it's not it's not really a report because we were told we this time is for agenda items right and you don't have that on the agenda um so I guess we we do know that that report has not been accepted by the board right so we do have ethics forms filled out they will be going against Mr mver scilla Cross these are
047agenda board no I'm just getting this on the record right now um I didn't really get a chance to look at it and you don't have any um agendas actually back here so um I'm just looking it over very quickly because I was out to dinner right before I just walked in here um where is Mr skillo tonight I guess he's not here okay Miss cross you haven't asked one question on agenda item so thank you your time is up no my time's not up it's no your time is up because it's question on agenda items um who who I guess where's the HR report it's not here where's the HR report you don't have a cop everything is posted online what the third version was posted at what time today or fourth version of
048the agenda do you have a question Miss cross I do when are you going to be approving Mr mver and Mr thank you m cross your time is up you you you're not following I have two minutes and 26 seconds left that I can see on there so you answer for me when are you approving the report by Mr mckever that's unsigned and undated M cross you given a war question I have two minutes and 13 seconds left so I need you to answer that question tonight thank you m cross your time is up I'm waiting for you to answer a simple question when is the board approving the unsigned report that's not on letterhead that the parents sat here and we weren't able to ask questions yes I'm just wondering and we could stop
049the time if we needed to is this a question and answer statement session no not at all so what is public common for exactly what I read right and we had a question and answer session last week that we were not able to answer ask questions into a microphone and that was a big problem Mr adio we were not allowed to ask question M cross your time is up oh thank you m cross you have a question about the agenda it's not on the agenda mross have a question about the agenda it's not on the agenda you have any thank you is there anybody else for questions comments on agenda items only Mr President yes Mr Kupa um I just want to make sure I'm correct with my understanding that number 20 public comment open
050for the purposes of commenting on any school district issue is later on correct okay thank you hi my name is Lauren Gall and this is my husband Brian we live in VA and we have three girls in the district tonight Dr handerhan I respectfully ask that you strike the two proposed new hires for the TB d special education spots from section one of the HR report and members of the board I ask that you do not vote on these two individuals until you receive reassurances that this is not a backdoor plan to remove Mrs Moore and Mrs buiji from their MD classrooms in September the two lines that I just referenced are anything but transparent the two teachers in the HR report are retired Allenwood teachers and one was not even in special education so
051please ask yourself what is the coincidence that Administration is looking to replace both of these retired Allenwood teachers with two new hires for special education while at the same time trying to replace the two current Allenwood MD teachers there is no coincidence this is the administration's way to get both new hires in the door and then perform an inbuild transfer to move Mrs Moore and Mrs buiji out of their rooms it appears as if politics are being played behind the scenes the wink wink nod nod kind of politics that are not prioritizing the needs of our children post pandemic the MD program success is due to Mrs Moors and Mrs bui's combined years combined 28 years at Allenwood they are always looking to take the program to the next level did you know that several
052years ago they suggested RBT or registered Behavior technician training to Administration and for whatever reason at that time it was not pursued and now fast forward to this year the big plan that special services is trying to sell to parents as the reason for all this change is you guessed it RBT training they are taking credit for an idea that is not new and are not including the very teachers that originally suggested it in my opinion if you want to bring parents along with you on A New Path it would be beneficial to all involved to include the teachers they trust the most last month I sat down with the director of special services and my building principal they said they could not answer my questions until after tonight's meeting because quote there were many
053moving Parts end quote that had to be put in place first I now see why and when I suggested the creation of the state mandated parent Advisory Group which this District does not have the comment quote parents only want a committee when they have something to complain about end quote was said that was the tell all for me in contrast thank you Dr handerhan for meeting with me last week I felt you listened and understood my concerns and that was a productive meeting on June 15th I stood at this Podium and I said the choice decree unnecessary change in the MD classrooms will create instability well some of my fears are already coming to Bear right now in esy my daughter lost a year and a half due to the pandemic and now she's losing
054six weeks of ES why due to the lack of training and experience of Staff with MD students where is the accountability for leaders making these heavily opposed decisions who at no point are pausing to step back to get perspective on the situation when can Mrs Moore and Mrs buiji who are actually sitting in the room tonight get the respect they deserve as wonderful Educators right now I have no reason to believe September will be any different I've lost confidence in my district leader decisions making because that's what happens when you ask parents to trust you in a vacuum of information and I only have the results of their actions to judge them by but you can change that there is still time to repair the damage of the tumultuous past few months this is not
055an aha or I Told You So moment we're all better than that I'm asking for the board's support as we aim to close the learning gaps created by the pandemic please work with us to ensure Mrs Moore and Mrs buiji remain in the Allenwood MD classrooms so we can all move on to a successful school year thank you thank you may I address Dr handerhan yes Mr adio I while um I I would like to um make a a comment um I have to be very careful because to not keep this in a Personnel realm however there are um special education teachers on tonight's agenda because we need to hire two special education teachers in the district it is uh tonight it is July 20th um it is imperative that um our students um have
056teachers come fall so um with certainly without going down a Personnel um Road I would like to stress that we need to staff our schools so that we can provide our students um with teachers um um which is a you know certainly a critical element and to delay the hiring of teachers impacts students greatly throughout the district so I I did want to mention that and the um also the uh special education parent group is uh certainly U an important U an important um aspect to special education and it is a uh parent initiated group and um this is something that um has been uh it has been supported and facilitated um with parents throughout the district um and it appears that there is uh the Resurgence uh for um for a more active group
057at this time so that is something that we um have discussed administratively thank you is there anyone else for public comment on agenda items good evening everyone um my name is Danielle hman I reside on air Road and my daughter lease is currently in the MD program at Allenwood I am here again tonight to address my concerns as a parent regarding the teacher transfers and changes in the MD program as it stands parents have been told there is a new program in the works that would only be revealed after tonight's meeting odd that they would not publicly reveal any information prior to this we as parents have looked over agendas and meeting minutes looking for answers not yet provided to us seemingly the new improved program entails an ABAB based classroom with RBT for the
058Paras that's great but our current teachers not only utilize this but have near perfected it individually for each child this is not a one-size fits-all type of program so I have to ask again why to me this is just getting new teachers to replace our current ones why the secrecy misinformation and lack of transparency as a parent it's disheartening to see new teachers on the agenda being brought into the building that are listed as special ed teachers but not know if these are meant to be replacements for Mrs Moore and Mrs beiji it is confusing and undermines the trust we are supposed to have in our Administration trust that has been lost to me after my child was struggling and miserable a few years back in a classroom where I was assured that would be
059a perfect fit as an advocate for my daughter I will not stand by and assume that anyone else will know best or do Best by her I do know that initiating a new plan after the year these kids have had pandemic mask changes social distancing along with the anxiety that is common place for many kids on the spectrum is downright Thoughtless and Ill timed again I have to ask what advantages will benefit my child if this goes through I cannot see any and I will not have my child wait and regress until the Kinks are straightened out it's unnecessary furthermore I'd like to point out that replacing Mrs Moore and Mrs beiji with teachers who may have credentials on paper but no MD classroom experience is certainly downgrade again another adjustment where momentum is lost
060and my child pays the price Alise my daughter has come so far in Mrs bei's classroom she entered it not liking school being defyant and aggressive she had no confidence herself or her potential sorry today she's thriving she's reading writing progressing in math in all areas but truly the most remarkable change is how proud she is of herself and how willing she is to try new things Mrs beiji has changed changed our lives quite literally you may have heard that before because that's the type of teacher she is she puts in 100% for her students and they have her support no matter what this should not be overlooked because is rare it is rare and not easily replaced I feel not only is this unjust and outright wrong on many levels but also damaging and
061disruptive to put them through further changes this change will likely precipitate academic as well as social emotional and behavioral setbacks esy has had them adjust to a new inexperienced teacher only to Poss have her replaced with yet another come September in closing I would just like to be clear that I am outraged and saddened by what has already transpired we all need to come together and put the children first we cannot accept this current climate of secrecy unreasonable change for the sake of change and administrators who think they know best please figure this out look closely as the facts speak for themselves and do the right thing for our children because ultimately that is the bottom line thank you for your time thank you [Applause] my name is Amy Sone um I just want to
062make one clear statement uh my son was in Alwood and he will be going out of District next year my statement is is that when we came together our two teachers Mrs piji and Mrs Moore have done wonders for my son and it's evident because they had an elementary program that could provide everything for them and now we're going out of District because the me tool can't meet his needs but I just want to get this on record when we reached out to the community and told them how outraged we were um regarding the changes that were taking place the community came back behind us to say we hear you we're a very small group but they hear our voice and one of the things that came out during that time is that people from
063other communities because it was talked about by the special service director that this is only uh people are signing it that aren't even from Wall Township but I want to make this clear we got people from all over the place and during that conversation because we're go I'm going to a different school so I'm learning a whole new thing but during that conversation we talked about what other districts did during the pandemic what support they had what was special service doing to keep people in communication and I know that you're saying that this is parents that are supposed to have this group however we were told two days before September the first day of school that my son was going to be with Mrs buiji on Virtual now if you want to talk about communication
064I would say that's poor and a lot of these different communities during the 16 months had a lot of support from Special Services as far as caretaker gift uh tips and education gifts so I I understand what you're saying that it's parent oriented but in the same respect we need to also have that from our special services thank you thank [Applause] you hello um I'm Maria hin 1719 K Street in West Belmore as a special education teacher I've had the opportunity to work at every grade level K through six in Allenwood school during my years there miss I'm sorry that's probably more appropriate for the second public comment this is to address items on the agenda perfect thank you thank you is there anybody else for agenda items I'm sorry could you start my time
065time has started I didn't start speaking you're at the microphone yeah only just because I walked quickly more quickly than some but could you start my time I'm gonna start speaking now you just wasted 15 seconds come on all right Miss cross I I gave you one warning now we're gonna suspend the meeting and you're going to be asked to leave can you please stop the clock while Ralph talks yeah please stop the clock Mr Smite M cross while Ralph is speaking please stop the clock yes Miss cross you're leaving could I have a motion to suspend the meeting Mo motion Mr rer could I have a second I'll second it second all in favor okay what apologize rejourney we will be back after Miss cross has left could I have a motion to reconvene
066second roll yeah everybody's back all in favor all right Mr SMI roll call please Mr Hall noted that Mr Gs is absent tonight M hnet yes Mr KO yes Mr Nasser here Mr s lipo here m stes here Mr wandra Mr Ed here thank you Mr Smite uh this time I'd like to apologize to members of the public for um people who uh don't follow torum and uh you know don't respect the fact that other people are here uh that have legitimate concerns and and want to express yourself to the board so we we want to hear you um we want to do it in a orderly fashion uh so you get the time that you all deserve and re so apologize for that Mr ran time has been reset Smite could you reset the
067clock testing okay thank you just hold on second I'm first making a general comment before as a Prelude to my question but I want to point out the hypocrisy of Ralph unfortunately and the board because I have been told for the past four years that this comment time is not specifically not a question and answer period I have been asked to sit down I have been asked to leave the meetings and I have been told it's a time for public comment not question and answer all of a sudden last week the last uh presentation meeting and this meeting all of a sudden it's a question and answer only because I've never got a answer to any of my questions you could have saved yourself a 100,000 if anyone had ever just answered my questions they're
068still not answered but we might have been able to just sit and talk it out I want you to know that I think it's hypocritical to Now call it a question and answer period when it's a public comment it's not a question and answer period I misspoke I thought so okay okay I also also wanted to ask Miss handerhan what her definition of equity is because you mentioned it while you were speaking that we were not teaching critical race Theory but we are teaching diversity inclusion and equity and I was curious as to your definition that's not on the agenda the season she spoke about it at this part of the meeting you know she did she spoke about it so what is it it's in the agenda apparently okay I don't have one because
069there wasn't enough copies okay since it's not a question answer period it's just a hypo thank you it's just a hypothetical question because I'd like to point out that diversity inclusion and equality is a very laudable and worthy goal that's not anything we're voting on this evening diversity inclusion and Equity well she spoke at length about it she spoke at length that's for the second public comment this is for agenda items only okay well I don't I can't tell because if she spoke in the first half it sounds like it was on the agenda it was on the uh 16d I guess the appointment of affirmative action team Comm it was under committee reports it was on 16d for comprehensive Equity plan I'm very concerned about the use of the word Equity because I believe
070it's critical race Theory by another name it's a social Marxist term that dictates equity in outcome not equity in means and I'm very concerned that you're hoodwinking people who are sitting here tonight and going forward by your misuse of the word um um that Pro the use of equity is socialism and it's critical race Theory it is not the same as equality before the law which is a wonderful goal um also I wanted to you somebody I believe it's the gentleman in the blue to my left spoke about the the trailer report and I just want to know I just wanted to say that um I didn't get my questions answered and I didn't get interviewed although Mr skillo stood up here and said myth busted everyone who wanted to got interviewed did I did
071not and I think that was deliberate I emailed him Mr told not on the agenda well you spoke about it in the first half of the meeting while addressing the agenda item so you GNA I mean you spoke about it at length point of clarity Mr SMI can you pause the time stop the time when we say action items can you clarify what that means things we are voting on this evening which would be where uh it would be on the agenda from old business to new business thank you so nothing on the first two pages are included thank you you're welcome well I'm just thoroughly confused because the first two pages of what you guys spoke about tonight which sounded like like it was part of the agenda or why would you have talked
072about it the first two pages are not on here I mean you're telling me I can't talk about it I just want people to know that I wasn't interviewed I don't think it was a mistake and the investigative report was extremely poorly done it read like a really weak childish defense brief instead of an investigative report I've been reading investigative reports for 29 years it was pathetic it was actually very poorly done and not one thing that we pointed out that was problematic was addressed in that report not one not one it was just written like a defense brief the things that we pointed out that were problematic were not addressed so if you're going to be annoyed going forward with people not moving forward with butterflies and unicorns and Kumbaya it's because this was
073a terrible waste of money poorly done didn't interview the main stakeholders and the people who had actually gone through the documents I'm one of the very few people who read um all 8,000 documents my knowledge I would throw down with anybody on it but the stuff that we pointed out as problematic was not addressed I'll leave uh and also I just wanted to say please convey to Mr cill that I thought his treatment of me was degrading misogynistic very disrespectful I thought he became threatening to Betsy um and his yelling at me every time I asked more than one question after each section that he forced me to wait and then when I had multiple questions he would stop and yell at me like I was a child after every one question to the point
074where I was turning to the board begging the board to just say okay come on can I ask a second question here and I was civil to him every question was civil it was spoken in a civil term his behavior towards me and Betsy we were two opposite ends of the spectrum both were treated very shabby very a really a big disappointment and not necessary for comments on agenda items only I'm sorry action items agenda action items yeah hi um my name is Lauren Cuna I'm well resident uh one uh comment I had is I noticed there were several versions of tonight's agenda the first one was 80 Pages the next one was 127 I did go through the 80 pages I didn't get a chance to look at the new version so I wanted
075to know what 47 Pages were added um also I'd like to point out of item number 16d um where it discusses appointment of the affirmative action team to develop and assess a comprehensive Equity plan I'd like to understand exactly what does that mean and also uh item number 12 C that was discussed tonight the curriculum and instruction it is my understanding that in fact while CRT might be a graduate term and we don't educate graduates here at Wall Township at graduate level course it is used there are other terms that are used so I'd like to understand the terms that this district will use and be open and upfront about because I'm concerned about my children being taught things or indoctrinated in certain aspects of our history and my third item is I would really
076uh appreciate uh a town hall to discuss this like a gentleman up here mentioned I think we have a lot of parents who are concerned about what this District wants to teach our children and I think you need an opportunity to hear from all our parents thank you thank you y hi uh Kim howling my son's a student in W Intermediate School I'm very concerned as well with this um inclusion and diversity curriculum I guess you want to call it since you're not calling it CRT um I've got something here from Miss uh emom provided to somebody um employ at least two different disciplinary perspectives in paper oral presentation or research project on lgbtq plus topic resources brain pop civil rights Pride black lives matter protests National Geographic 12 historic lgbtq figures who changed the
077world I have nothing against lgbtq Community I have family members are in that Community I have black and Asian and Puerto Rican and every other friend in my circle of friends um I'm just I'm disgusted actually for the New Jersey Department of Education um curriculum I'm going through it and it's pretty sick uh transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and or expression is different from cultural cultural expectations based on gender that were assigned at Birth um I can't I can't I can't even I'm so non-binary is a term that often uses used by people whose gender is not exclusively male or female including those who identify with a gender other than a male or female with more than one gender or with no gender at all people whose gender is neither
078male nor female may use the term to describe themselves such as gender fluid agender by gender or gender expansive my son does not need to be learning these things these are things that I should be teaching him at home not in the classroom hi Miss hander hand i'm talking I'd like you to acknowledge me at least look at me um I would like also a definition of equity that you guys have I'd also like to know what is the affirmative action I I'm so upset with the with the things that are going on in this school it just makes me so sad I don't even know what I'm doing up here but I just want you all to know that it's I'm I don't know it's crazy I don't agree with any of this stuff
079being taught to my son whether it be in health class social studies gym or anything else interex means a person whose sex characteristics may not fit medical definitions of male or female my son does not need to know know about that and be taught that lgbtqi is an acronym that stands for lesbian gay bisexual transgender questioning or interex the Q may also stand for queer I don't understand why these kids need to be taught this in school they need to be taught to be kind tolerant and respectful they need to be taught math English how to read how to write how to do things that they have to do in a daily basis write checks pay bills this stuff is disgusting and I am 100% against it and I know you're not calling it critical
080race Theory but you've got it in your curriculum Mr Kupa I'd really like you to please pay attention pull up Department New Jersey Department of education's curriculum read through it please okay I I've got paperwork here about CRT about if you need some stuff to read I can hand you a bunch of stuff to read about it but please pay attention to it because it's pretty scary stuff [Applause] thank you is there anybody else good evening Jennifer spear Wall Township two kids in the school district hopefully for next year twoo hopefully with everything that's being said I would just hope that you'll be forthright transparent and give the parents some heads up before the week before school as to whether or not they're going to have to mandate if they don't have a vaccine are
081they going to have to wear a mask all day longer than they were last time I was good with the four hours longer than that I'm not okay with second thing if the curriculum is going to change which some of that is I received some of it from Mrs embomb I understand about the lgtbq stuff I don't agree with the BLM coming in to schools to be taught to children period if that is going to happen I'd like to know when I can withdraw my children what is the end date for enrollment to get a tax credit to go elsewhere let us know thank you thank you is this General comments yet or are we still doing agenda just agenda okay because I I'm paying a baby story 15 bucks an hour and I have
082to leave like in five minutes can I just say it it's about the the two appointments that are being going to be voted on go ahead thank you okay so I'm Betsy Prince 3426 Shoreline Drive Allenwood most of you know my name because I've sent several emails and letters um I'm here to support Heather beiji and Patricia Moore it's a huge decision that's on your shoulders and I'm glad you're not taking it lightly most of us have children that are nonverbal so we're the only voice that they have and I just feel like it shouldn't be this hard not just to raise our kids but to fight for our children with a school that's supposed to be watching out for them it should be a no-brainer we support and guide them and you the school
083district provides the absolute best teachers that you can that our children to teach our children to like themselves and Thrive when one of our kids has a really bad day they come home very upset if they're nonverbal which my child was for the first seven years of his life the way they show it is by biting themselves throwing things punching us screaming for hours not sleeping at night um walking the the up and down the stairs I had one year when my son used to come home crying for hours every day after school luckily that was not a year he had Mrs beiji the only way I can explain it to you if you don't have a special needs kid is to picture coming into a movie late and either there's no dialogue at all
084to the movie or it's in a different language and there's no subtitles we as parents of special needs kids have to be detectives to figure out what our child needs I have all kind of health issues now from fighting so hard for Ryan who's now almost 19 I'm 57 and most days I feel like I'm about 90 it's exhausting the only light in the clouds is when you have a super good teacher with your child during the day that makes them like themselves and helps them get over big and little challenges when you have the power to mess with that and replace two teachers that are amazing at their jobs you're taking a gamble with our children's lives it won't affect any of you but it certainly will affect our children and our families for
085years to come please do the right thing and leave these two amazing teachers where they belong in Allenwood in the MD classroom thank you for your time thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you is there anybody else seeing none we'll close public comment uh Dr handerhan yes thank you Mr Mr adio Mr adio I would like to um address some comments that I heard here this evening um one is the creation of an affirmative action team for a school district um I invite the public to look in past agendas because it is a requirement that a school district has an affirmative action team and I will tell you when I started as an administrator in 1997 it was a requirement um so I invite the public to look at that so I can assure you this is
086is not um uh me uh hoodwinking uh to use a term that was used this evening for the community additionally I would also like to talk about the compreh comprehensive Equity plan again similar to the affir a District's requirement for an affirmative action team it is a requirement that a school district has a three-year comprehensive Equity plan this is not a new requirement and again it will appear on uh many past agendas so I do invite the public to use our archives to identify um where these have been um developed and approved in the past um I would also like to U mention revisit uh my comment my brief comment regarding the diversity inclusion and Equity act that Governor Murphy signed um into effect this past April um in the ACT um he he and
087his team indicated that we would the schools in New Jersey would receive resources from the New Jersey Department of Education to date nothing has been sent nor created um that has been anything has been communicated to the school district so I think it's important um to note all we have um is the actual act itself um in it it is uh it is promising school districts uh sources that have yet to um come to fruition so I do want I did want to point that out um and also um as mentioned during the curriculum committee segment we very much intend on having public meetings our curriculum is certainly available uh for the public to review as Mr Kupa um asked earlier we do have our resources that uh are available and are approved um on
088a weekly basis um on a yearly basis if there are questions with respect to materials that are being used in school the protocol would be to contact uh your child's teacher cont um with further questions contact uh the supervisor Andor principal uh depending on the scenario uh there are uh there are protocols there are chains of command and uh the school district is here to uh to really support families as they negotiate the curricular materials that uh their students uh will be um that are included in the township uh curriculum guides it is as a public school district it is um not only our our responsibility to follow New Jersey um code New Jersey statute uh the required standards but as a public school district it is Our obligation to educate not indoctrinate we educate
089and that is um that is our job to educate and um making students aware of um certainly U you know whether it's the Pythagorean theorem um whether it is um you know atomic theory whether it is um Universal themes in literature it's this is our job and um the state of New Jersey we are a public school and there are standards that the New Jersey schools must follow uh but I would like to Echo back and indicate that an affirmative action team for a school district and a comprehensive Equity plan is very much uh Central to the operation of a school district and it has been for some time thank you Mr adio thank you Dr hendin uh someone mentioned 47 Pages added to the agenda Mr yes that's regarding items think it's on CL
090sorry 18 c d and e it's the bills list uh on the original agenda posted on Friday they were listed as to be provided and then when the agenda was updated on Monday and again on Tuesday those documents the bills list were included as attachments B3 B4 and B5 but the agenda on Friday that did not include the attachments said uh on the agenda under those items under 18 that they would be provided great thank you and Dr Ander um question was asked about Ma I'm sorry masks and vaccines uh as a school district we don't mandate vaccines that would come from the state correct that's correct and that's an item that we have addressed in past meetings before the school district has U certainly there is literally no discussion uh requiring uh the uh
091covid-19 vaccine it hasn't even been discussed it has also not been discussed at any of the um superintendent meetings or through any Communications that have come through the New Jersey Department of Education and ask for the mass the governor uh the last update he put out left it up to the individual school districts um if they were going to wear masks or not yes and he also but uh he also indicated uh that he was uh monitoring Health Data at the time so things are subject to the Health Data at the time okay thank you and that would be at the time of the opening of school yes okay all right moving on uh number 14 could I have a motion for approval of the secretary minutes of the executive session of June 15th business
092meeting of June 15th executive session June 24th and the special meeting of June 24th all of 2021 so mve motion Mr Kupa second second Miss Stites uh we need roll call Mr Smite or all in favor all in favor any opposed any exensions motion car oh I have a question yes sorry I missed the executive session on Jun unee 24th because I had class do I abstain from that okay yes thank you record will be noted all right new business uh number 15 policy uh recommended approval after public hearing of the first reading following policy 5111 eligibility of Resident non-resident students uh could I have a motion on that motion Mr wer could I have a second second second Mr Kupa I will open it up to uh public hearing on this policy Betsy cross
093I live in wall what do you changing in the policy that for non-resident residents it's been posted online I know before you vote on I'd like to know what it is because I didn't look at it online so if you can tell me before you vote what are you changing for eligibility of Resident and non-resident students all right otherwise don't vote on it do you have anything else do you know the answer do you have anything else I wouldn't vote on it if you don't know the answer Mr adonel Ralph excuse me Mr President yes um yeah we went over this before uh but basically it's it's uh the application to become a tuition based student here in wall um you know you live in Manasquan and why you send you kid the wall you
094you'll pay the tuition um the application process what it says in the application uh you know what we what what we would do is different than what the policy said um in some cases um and again I think Dr Hanahan led the discussion on this and she can give maybe a little bit more granular I don't know how far granular you want to go but general just to answer Mr Cross questions yes well uh specifically it just speaks to uh clarifying some of the language that may have been vague so this way our policy and all of our materials are are aligned and and convey a consistent message all right we have a motion and a second Mr SM roll call please move no we already did that Mr Hall yes M it yes grupa
095yes n yes Mr s f yes yes Mr WRA yes okay uh 16 can I have a motion on number 16 a through G I'll make the motion motion can I have a second I'll second second miss hodet any discussion questions seeing none Mr Smite roll call please miss hod yes Mr K yes Mr nass yes s fpo yes States yes Mr WJ yes Mr Hall yes Adia yes number 17 superintendent's report Dr handerhan thank you Mr adio I would like to request a motion to approve by consent agenda items a through L do we have a motion motion is Mr wandra second second any questions discussion micone I skip where microphone oh okay is this open for discussion yeah oh we have a motion in a second but I would like to uh acknowledge
096uh uh F on the agenda uh it's with great appreciation wall High School uh Stadium Field Turf donation from the wal Knights Family Foundation at a value of $222,700 uh they have donated that to the district and they will be installing a new turf field um with contractor so we certainly appreciate that and we will have a world class uh football stadium field come the fall all right Mr SMI roll call please sure Mr micone um I just want to sure I understand so when we list for example uh home instruction that's a large number of teachers that's for the it's for the upcoming school year it's for the next coming school year so this is just so if the opportunity it's a pool of Educators that are willing to be home opportunity okay thank
097you anybody else I just have a comment it's nice to see that we're going to be finally able to bring in student teachers again and you know help further the field right Mr SMI roll call please Mr K yes Mr Nas yes Mr spp uh yes but I'm going to abstain on a uh Roman numeral going to abstain on a Roman numeral one States yes Mr WRA yes Mr Hall yes M hnet yes but I'm going to abstain on um R numeral 11 as it pertains to me uh excuse me Mr President yes board secretary um since we're on that PD I apiz Mr Ania yes but I will abstain from uh Roman numeral one um Seth uitt Heather Daniel and um I'm gonna kill his name um supervisor World Language our new hire because
098my uh family member is a teacher in the district not thank you Mr Kupa you had I yeah I'm just um Mr Smite might be able to answer this or somebody um that PD that has the board do we should we have abstain from that or is that because it's not named it's just the whole board going to the uh convention in the fall that's on the PD um approval correct it's noted that um it would be an exstension on self but you're not listed individually but it's the board in the administration uh that is being approved through the New Jersey school boards sorry uh number 18 business office Mr SMI as for a motion to approve items 18 A through M by consent agenda we have a motion on that make it motion Mr
099San Filippo second second Mr wandra any discussion seeing none Mr SMI roll call please Mr nass yes Mr lippo yes M stes yes Mr wandra yes Mr Hall yes hnet yes Mr Kupa yes yes but I'm going to abstain from letter A all right this time uh we will open public comment uh for any school district issue okay I'm Maria hin 1719 K Street in West Belmore um as a special education teacher I've had the opportunity to work in every grade level K through six in Allenwood school during my years there both in the resource room and in a grade level classroom the buzz phrase throughout my tenure was do what's good for kids and we did to the best our best to make sure that that happened regardless of the classroom setting I've had
100the to form relationships with the teachers whose students I supported being the type of person I am these students became my children as well and I collaborated on almost a daily basis with my children's other teachers to make sure we did what was best for them I'm here today to say that the situation occurring in the MD classes at alen is not good for my children Mrs buiji and Mrs Moore are exceptional teachers who work tirelessly to meet the needs of actually they go above and beyond to meet the needs of their children their classrooms run like well-oiled machines a person could walk in at any time and see Paris and teacher working with individual students to help them achieve their goals all of this organized minute by minute by these two fantastic too I
101have had children from both classes in my resource room over the years and most recently in my fourth grade classroom and I felt extremely comfortable approaching them with any need that arose we collaborated on how to make student transitions out of their home rooms into other classrooms smoother how to set expectations for Learning and behavior in these inclusion classrooms and how all the students could interact to best meet the needs of these children our collaborations were give and take but the Fiji and Moore's expertise was evident daily since I put in my retirement paperwork I've heard talk of new ways to do things fresh ideas a breath of fresh air new programs Etc honestly aside from being insulting there is something to be said for experience and expertise in your field if something is working
102and children are thriving why is there a need to change it you give us new supposed all-encompassing programs for language arts or math for example and because we know from experience what skills are expected to be learned on a particular grade level we need to put together additional lessons to meet these expectations teachers are always learning and evolving incorporating what they know works with new ideas that research says may work but that doesn't mean a program that through years Through The Years people have specifically moved to Wall Township to be a part of should change Patty and Heather have specialized skills that all although I have the same degree that they have I am nowhere near qualified to do their job on a daily basis in my opinion to take them out of those classes
103and put either of them in an icr classroom is a waste of a god-given talent it would be a tragedy for these already challenged children to be again challenged needlessly because of a program change if the program needs to change in any way allow Mrs beiji and Mrs Moore to incorporate this new program into their already working one not all changes good especially a huge needless change like this one thank you thank you is there anybody else Kathy D Jova well Township resident I'm the mother of five children my daughter Mia will be returning or expected to be a returning student um as a senior I'll preface that with only if Mass are not required full-time my I know that um you have to follow guidance from the state but I I'm looking at this
104poster the whole time I'm here and it talks about courage and determination and honesty and resilience our children are damaged from this year the mask will only further damage and I can't even imagine what it must be like for an elementary student to be a afraid of another student or to be told by their parent that you're going to kill grandma if you don't wear your mask you know that not to be true there's 9 million residents in the state of New Jersey 1 million of them have already recovered I asked the question of how many of our students do we know are recovered I was told that that information was not available I believe that it is I believe that the Department of Health does know the answer to that question our children need
105to be with each other because you know that they are when they're not in school they are with each other and thank God for that because I did not stay away from my mother for the last year I did not keep my children away from their grandmother in the last year and I'm not sorry about that and I know that fear drives so much and money of what happens in this District because there might be one parent who disagrees we have to be brave we have to be courageous we have to get it done we I have to figure out as a mother how to get it done in my home and their mental health is priority number one to me now they're academics I can catch up I'll get the resources you need if
106it's private school if it's a tutor I'll get the resources you need their mental health right now scares me and we're not sure what they're going to come back to what kind of school they're going to come back to I know you want that everybody here wants that and if it comes down from Murphy that we cannot do that I want to hear from this school district that they disagree I want there to be a letter that says I disagree because we can get it done we have an enormous facility we can be outside we can be intense I saw Spring Lake Heights do it we can do it we can do it at a football field ask the parents to work with you our kids need to be in school and to not be
107masked and I I hope that that's on the agenda um another question I had was um about the science and following science and following the data and science is not settled the data is fluid it changes it has changed so many times in the last 18 months at one time Flat Earth was a a settled science it no longer is um as far as critical race Theory and BLM I'd be interested in the opt out it if it comes to um that next year and that Marxism and socialism it all sounds like Feelgood let's not um let's not hurt anybody let's consider everybody's feelings Until you realize what was taken away and socialism is great until you run out of other people's money thank you yes oh okay I just wanted to remark that uh
108District covid-19 uh statistics of cases is available on our website so um I just wanted to mention that uh all the statistics from January moving forward um are posted on the um the district website under the covid-19 tab thank you ma'am good evening I'm beet Cher I live at 1408 Gully Road in Wall Township and um what I'm going to say is probably going to be repetitive but I just couldn't sit without talking about Mrs buiji I didn't know Mrs Moore but my son had her U Mrs beiji third fourth and fifth grade and she literally changed the course of of his school Direction he was on his way out there he was definitely going out of District if she couldn't get his behaviors under control um I feel within the space of esy right
109before third grade she had like 80% of his behaviors figured out and she did that not because she read it in some book she did that through her heart and understanding and she got down down to like his level looked right in his eyes and she had this amazing rapport with him so quickly and everything that was bothering him she just sort of thought out of the box and somehow he recognized that she respected him and didn't just think of him as just another kid and she established that and he talks better to this day and she came to his eighth grade graduation um he going to be a senior now and he's looking at colleges and he's in the engineering school preac pre-engineering school and he's excelling like he's got his driver's license he's
110got an internship and I credit her with so much of that I know I helped but I think she really just changed his course in school um and I would hate to think anybody would miss out on that because she's been put in the wrong place keep her where she's doing the right thing for the right for the parents and for the kids and she's making everybody's lives a heck of a lot easier um I hope you can recognize that thank you thank [Applause] you hi Betsy cross I live in Wall Township I know you did pass um on your agenda hiring those new teachers for special ed um and when will Mrs beiji and Mrs Moore find out where they're going um it's really not fair What's Happening Here uh it's not fair to
111the public um and if you do move them I think the next step will be we'll have a petition to um get everyone here off the board so I think Mrs hodnet what you're shaking your head now I mean I would be really excited to be home at a better time if you're going to start a petition to get us all off the board am I is this an issue they could stop the clock yeah is this a personal issue for you you feel deeply connected to the teachers or you just jumping on what other people have been sh jump on whatever I want to jump on every time you come here every time you come here you jump and that's my right as a taxpayer I don't even know why you're here why are
112you here miss miss cross just complete your comment please yeah we'll start the go back on my time just finish your comment please go back on my time you people are pathetic nine years ago look I look it's my time Top com for the rest okay nine got your intention nine years ago this uh year this meeting was when um James ha's house was raided in September and nothing has changed nothing so what we we want to do here is don't fund the system fund the children if you're not going to give our kids an education we take our money and we bring them somewhere else we're not paying this uh you know 100 page agenda with salaries stipid and everything else and you sit up here and don't answer questions it's disgusting last meeting
113we should have been able to have a microphone and ask our questions like we were promised that's what we were promised for two years and we paid a firm1 4,000 that won't put their name on a report it's disgusting and the way we were treated me and Kathleen was absolutely unbelievable so again for you to call the police last meeting and call the police this meeting I'm not going anywhere I'm not so go ahead and if you want to charge the the taxpayers with Tres passing for coming up and speaking great because it'll be videoed and all over every News Network it's embarrassing for you Mr Adano to call the police again okay it's ridiculous um I went over that Zip drive with the 7,000 documents and none of the documents that Mr Smite supposedly
114gave to the prosecutor's office were on there so now I don't know Mr mckever if any documents went to the prosecutor's office CU I'm not sure how they came up with nothing but maybe they couldn't come up with anything cuz Mr Smite didn't give anything it's not on your Zip drive it's a big problem you also mentioned that um mobilee it looked like you were calling the wrong company for mobilease and then mobile lease uh wrote you a letter for you to stop contacting them so what you mentioned at the last meeting didn't have any truth because you have the email on here so that'll be in my ethics complaint against Mr skillo and your Law Firm so you need to get your facts right and you need to come to a meeting you need
115to sign your report the Board needs to approve it and then we can move on we're not going to have this nonsense of we're going to be transparent and accountable and read every piece of paper and interview everybody and then you don't do it that report meant nothing so yes again it'll go to every state agency and they will have to look at it because you gave us Zip drive that had no documents that Mr Smite ever sent to the prosecutor's office that's a big problem then you put out home addresses for people that met with the prosecutor's office and the Attorney General you never should have done that why why would you do that like I always say at every meeting Our Lives begin to end the moment we become s silent on things
116that matter and too bad miss hodnet you don't like it I will talk about any item that I see you're not doing right and I know you're bored to be here resign we have plenty of parents that will jump in your place don't be here if you don't want to be here and Mr Adano like like I've said we've had bad bad Board of Ed members thank you m cross your time is up you really you know you come up and I mean it must be difficult for you to to put that much effort in to be so rude every week no it has to be I'm not rude at all it's it's got to be exhausted you are a terrible board president thank you I appreciate that ter CR that's an imp and I
117look forward to my award from you is there anybody else that wishes to speak this evening hi my name is my name is Lauren Gall again um I just wanted to say two quick points um by asking to strike those two lines from the report I fully support Staffing teachers um having Subs having bus drivers you know that's very very important it's why I'm up here and speaking out all of a sudden for the first time in six years um my and that was just because For the First Time in six years I've never seen a TBD usually there's always a location associated with where someone's going um and my second point is can you just clarify the vote on that report because I know some people abstained I know Mr Garts isn't here so
118can you just clarify with um number 17 letter A okay okay that's all I wanted to know thank you thank you and just for the record tbds they they do appear on HR reports from time to time so it's it's not something that's not uncommon and we don't do it it does happen quite frequently honestly is there anybody else for public comment Samantha Basset I live in Wall Township good evening thank you for your presentation on the trailer issues last week I understand that based on the review um I'm going to say you I know Mr scilla is not here I know you're not Mr scilla but I thought you would be here you found that the legal requirements for different issues you looked at were satisfied however as I said last meeting but um
119people told me that they couldn't hear when it comes to matters that impact our children and their teachers parents hold decision makers to a higher standard it's clear that there were many things that could have and should have been handled differently over the course of many years when parents found out about the condition of of the trailers and came to our Board of Education meetings we asked the question how did this happen why were students and staff members in class rooms in such poor condition these were reasonable questions largely asked respectfully by the majority of parents there was an opportunity here for administration to be candid with parents instead we received a timeline that was wholly inadequate especially so when you know that there's work orders emails and photos that exist and you know that
120Mrs cross is going to put in oah requests for them the manner in which this was presented to parents was misleading having all that knowledge and when it comes to their children half truths don't cut it for parents much of the outrage could have been avoided I believe that people would have accepted a timeline that included details of all the chronic issues an explanation of different board decisions throughout the years um choosing not to spend money towards reciting and fixing them yet putting students and staff in them year after year many of the things that Mr skillo detailed in his report and documents that were produced under Oprah this didn't happen we came to you because we you are the people that are making decisions for our children and the very least we deserved was
121an honest and complete explanation we have to move forward the primary concern of District parents and staff now are very different than they were a few years ago given the pandemic and its impact on education I know that you've taken steps and made changes to ensure that this will never happen again in this District I think it's important Mr Nasser that you told the community about some of those changes tonight because it shows an acknowledgement that this could have been handled differently and will be handled differently in the future the creation of the wtea health and safety committee has been and will continue to be a really positive change for the district I know that you all realize how much needs to beone needs to be done to ensure that the district functions prop properly
122at all levels that there's more oversight and I look forward to seeing that work continue for the betterment of our entire School Community thank you thank you is there anybody else for public comment Kathleen Duran Wall Township um I wanted to speak um since it was moved at to the end of public comment um in support of um Heather and Patty my son was one of the first students that they taught when they came to Wall Township specifically to Allenwood and I had only recently adopted a nonverbal violent autistic child who was multiply handicapped um and um at the end of the day without belaboring the point what they did for my child was nothing short of miraculous I can't say that he's headed to college and and is a Top Flight student but he
123graduated last in his class but he was mainstreamed he graduated he was the bottom student in wall but he made it to a mainstream classroom in the end and he's been working for four years pushing carts in Home Depot but he is well- groomed he is well spoken uh very polite he knows right from wrong better than some I know and what got him there from the horrible horrible childhood that he had had up to the age of three beyond what I could even say at a public meeting was his happiness in going to special ed classes at Allenwood my son was a flapper and it was both the autistic flapping and also what they call motor overflow so my son would tow walk and flap and anytime he had to go to school he
124would almost launch he was so happy happy and I had seen him so tragically neglected and and damaged and to see him in the course of that first year turn around again like any mom I take some credit for that um but to see him happy was beyond beyond any price and when I I didn't even know that the same teachers who helped him uh turn around and become a cognizant functioning human being um as opposed to this wild child who had been left alone for years to suffer in a cage was that flapping that he was happy to go see Miss Moore he was happy like flapping his hands happy every day at that moment in time when I was at my lowest and not knowing if I could help this child I didn't
125even know what autism was doctors didn't even know what it was we thought he had muscular distopy we thought he had brain tumors we we thought everything I mean he banged his head into the wall so many times he kept cracking his skull open he was a headbanger but he was happy to go to school that is why teachers like this should not be moved from the position where they do such wonderful wonderful work um I I was actually very shocked to find out that they were here tonight and that it's so many years later um you know he has graduated and he's working and that turnaround was that year the the the the belief that he was ha that he smiled that he was happy that he could eat ice cream again that he
126wanted to go to school was was everything so I am one of those people who is heartbroken to think that you would casually or otherwise remove those two very talented teachers from a position where they actually impact and change people's lives so I want to say thank you to them and thank you guys good night thank you is there anybody else seeing none we will close public comment all right at this time we have to go back into executive session and action may be taken when we come back uh if it is we you have to give the public notice reasonable notice as to how long it's going to be I think reasonable notice would be that it in 45 minutes we'll check back um because public uh the private session may go for uh
12745 minutes for personel and attorney client privilege so estimated time is 45 minutes so we're looking at 10 I'm sorry 11:15 yes sir all right uh could I have a motion to go into executive session I'll make that motion motion by Mr CH F have a second second second miss hodet all in favor I okay