001All right. >> Absolutely. >> Good evening everybody. >> Good evening. >> Welcome to the Winslow Township Board of Education regular meeting for Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025. Public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and associates in a meet in a notice dated January 9th, 2025. Adequate and electronic notice of this public meeting has been provided specifying the time, place, and manner in which this meeting is being conducted. It was advertised in the Courier Post, posted in all schools, the administration office, the municipal building, the library, Bud Dubal Center, Edgewood Acres, Elmtown, and the Winsow Township Post offices. Our mission statement, the mission of the Winslow Township School District, a large, diverse, and growing community, is to educate all students to become independent, lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and caring and confident members of
002their community. The district in partnership with the community and in a climate of co cooperation and mutual respect will provide an academic environment which values excellence and diversity, encourages students to strive for personal excellence, and assist them in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to contribute positively to a rapidly changing world. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> here. >> Miss Dreen, >> here. >> Miss Claude, >> present. >> Miss Martin, >> present. Thank you. Mr. Mcmanis >> here. >> Miss Peterson >> present. >> Miss Pittz >> present. >> Mr. Thomas uh may be late. Uh he had an emergency. >> Thank you. And Mr. Shaw >> present. >> We have a quorum. >> Can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
003America to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all. Before we do the district goals, I like to thank uh our deputy mayor. I believe she's somewhere in the audience. There she is. Uh Jacqueline Lee for being here and ward one committeeman Brandon Glickas. And somewhere in this Oh, there he is. Uh, former board member Jeff Fortune and Rebecca Neves for being here tonight. Um, Mr. McManis, could you read the 2025 2026 district goals? >> I would love to, Mr. President. Uh, 2025 2026 district goals in student achievement is to continue to implement researchbased best practices for delivering instruction and accelerating learning for all students, including all subgroups. This shall include uh conduct weekly administrative walkthroughs to monitor teaching and learning. Utilize the district diagnostic and assessment platform
004to a analyze student data to inform and guide instruction. B to monitor and track measurable growth in ELA and mathematics in grades one through nine. To implement creative ways to accelerate student learning by providing additional supports throughout and beyond the school day. Two, to promote a positive environment for students and staff. A to enforce the code of conduct to ensure the safety for students and staff and compliance with district policies. B incorporate social emotional learning opportunities for students to celebrate positive behaviors. And C develop strategies for students with significant behaviors with significant behaviors to reduce the interruption of instructional time. decrease negative actions and improve school attendance. And then three, increase stakeholder engagement by A, explore and expand innovative opportunities to increase parent communication. B, create parent learning opportunities with a focus on how to
005support the their child's learning. C, continue to share the accomplishments of Winslow students in all student activities. >> Thank you, Mr. Mr. McManis. Moving on to awards and presentations. Mr. Peas. At this time, we'd like to have Dr. Carter and School 5's students come up and begin their presentation. [Music] Good evening. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. >> Good evening. >> And thank you, Mr. Peas. I am Dr. Carter. I'm the principal of Winsow Township School number five. Uh and joining me this evening is my esteemed team. Uh Mrs. Lauren Lee, School 5's assistant principal. Uh, Miss Heather Darkangelo, School 5's gifted and talented teacher. Miss Katrina Craftsix, sixth grade teacher, and Miss Stephanie Odell, school 5's reading teacher, as well as the stars of the show, seven of our many extraordinary school five students. And
006I just want to mention them by name this evening. We have with us Cameron Black, Jackson Britain, Saurin Kapali, Monica Jennings, Mariah Jennings, Naji McDaniel, and Talia Vargis. So, I just want to publicly thank these students as well as my staff for um presenting this evening and for all of the preparation that went into uh preparing for this evening's presentation. Um let me just really quickly publicly thank our parents as well of these students for allowing your babies to be a part of tonight's presentation and for bringing them here. Ladies and gentlemen, this evening we are presenting on social emotional learning and ways in which uh we go about addressing social emotional learning or SEAL at school 5. Uh we promote and teach the components of social emotional learning. um in an effort to foster
007pos positive relationships among our students and with the intention to cultivate an overall positive school culture and climate. So at this time I am going to turn things over to the students. >> Good evening everyone and thank you for having us at school 5. We have a wellness Wednesday program every week. It's a time when we focus on topics like having a growth mindset and social emotional learning or SEAL for short. SEAL helps us understand our feelings, handle tough situations, and build positive relationships to get along better with others. To help us learn, students and teachers team up to make fun videos that show these what these ideas look like in real life. >> There are five main components of SEAL. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Each week, we focus
008on one of these areas so we can continue growing not just as students, but as kind and thoughtful people. Last week, in honor of anti-bullying month, some of our amazing fifth grade students created a video to teach us about how to include others, gave an amazing example of what ink kindness may look like, and how to speak up for someone who may need support. This video helped us learn about the SEAL component called relationship skills, which includes communication, empathy, and trust, which are all important for building strong friendships and creating a safe, welcoming school. We are really proud of the work our students are doing to support each other and create a positive school culture. Now, please enjoy the video they created. This week in we're learning all about relationship skills. Relationship skills help us
009build strong positive connection with others. That means learning how to include everyone, show respect and be kind not just to our friends but to everyone in our school. [Music] October at anti-bullying month and today we're learning about something very important. How to treat others. >> Hi, I'm the school. Hey, can I sit with you guys at lunch today? >> Um, no. We don't sit with kids like you. >> Yeah, sorry. You might not really. >> Yeah, we'll come for Oh, okay. Never mind. >> Ouch. That hurt. Student A was just trying to make a friend, but instead they were pushed away, left hand, and what about the others? No one spoke up. But what if somebody had to make a different choice? >> Hi, I'm here. That's awesome. >> Hey, can I send you guys
010back to lunch today? >> Um, no. >> Hold on. Of course you can send back to the beach today. There's always room for a new friend. >> Yes. Sorry. We were waiting for that. >> Yeah. Hey, what a basketball. >> Really? That sounds awesome. Thank you. But that's what is all about. Wow. What a difference. One voice can make when just one person stands up and says that's not okay. Others often follow. That's called being upstairs. Someone who speaks out instead of saying silent. Whether it's lunch, recess, or anyone inv. We always have a choice. Let's choose to be kind. Let's choose. Let's choose to be not a bully. Now it's your turn. School five. It's time to take the kindness and respect pledge. When you sign your name, you're showing that you promise to
011use your relationship skills every day to be kind, respectful, and inclusive in all situations. Home teachers, once all students have signed the pledge, please hang it up outside your classroom. Let's show everyone that school 5 is a caring, safe, inclusive, and a kind family. Thanks for watching, and remember, kindness do. [Applause] We choose to lead with kind at school 5. We are committed to supporting students in many ways to ensure they feel safe, heard, and cared for. While Wellness Wednesday is a dedicated time to help students with social and emotional learning, we also have other important tools in place to support students who may be struggling either with others or personally. One key tool we use is the student incident form. These are special green forms that students can fill out when they're having a
012difficult time with another student or facing personal challenges. Once the incident paper is filled out, it gets handed over to our administration and they will follow up with the student or ask our counselor to help. They take time to talk with us and listen to us and help us find solutions. This system helps students feel heard, supported, and save us. >> In addition to the student incident forms we can fill out, students at school 5 also have the option to use something called the rock form to actually see the counselor. What makes the rock form really helpful is that we get to choose how urgent our need is. If it's something we need to talk about soon, but if it's not an emergency, we need to check the small rock. But if it's something really
013serious or we need help right away, we check the large rock. This helps our counselor understand who needs to be seen quickly and who can wait a little and make sure no one gets overlooked. It's a simple way for students to ask for help and it really shows us that our school cares about our mental health and wellbeing. >> As students of school 5, we stand together to create a safe, kind, and respectful school for everyone. >> We pledge to speak up if we see boring. >> Include us who feel left out. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. >> Listen, support, and stand by one another. Be the reason someone feels welcome, not alone, and smiles today. >> Choose kindness every day and be a buddy, not a bully. >> We choose to lead with
014kindness. Stand up for what's right and make school 5 a place where everyone belongs. Thank you for letting us share how we're growing and supporting each other through SEAL at School 5. Dr. Carter and school five and our amazing upstanders. Thank you for your presentation and I hope that your message of kindness and being an upstander and standing up to bullying spreads throughout our community and throughout our school district. Thank you for coming out tonight. parents, thank you for sharing your your young people with us to uh be leaders in a very difficult world when it comes to being an upstander. So, uh young people, I I hope that you have gained some skill sets that will continue to make you leaders in your building. So, I thank you very much for the hard work
015and the difficult task of being an upstander. Thank you very much. [Applause] our next presentation. Uh, we're going to pause a little bit until our honore arrives. So, we're going Oh, he's here. Oh, awesome. I didn't see him come in. So, great. Yeah, take this [Music] check. Check. There we go. Thank you. So, tonight we get to honor some excellence in our uh school district. I'd like to call up Coach Custous, our boys track coach, coach. Thank you. Thank you for We just want to recognize a phenomenal season coach had. And I just want to start out saying thank you for your dedication and your commitment to our young people. uh we know the work that coaches do each and every day. Sometimes I always uh represent it in monetary like giving with our students
016and having seasons like you just had. I just want to read some of the accomplishments of coach Kustas and his boys track team. Group three sectional champions indoor. Group three indoor state champions. High school all-American with a school record in the 4x400. High school all-American with a school record in the sprint medley relay. Then in the outdoor season conference champion six undefeated years in a row excluding the the co year. South Jersey large school 4x4 champions at the pin relays. Philadelphia R champions, the 4x400 pin relays, bridgen relay champions, Camden County champions, Woodbury relay champions, group three sectional champions, group three state champions, South Jersey team of the year, high school all-Americans with an outdoor school record in the sprint medley relay and our NJSIA and South Jersey boys indoor track and field coach of
017the year for the 24-25 winter season. and the National Federation of High School Coaches Association 242 25 New Jersey coach of the year boys winner track. So congratulations to all the hard work, the success and we thank you for all that you do for our young people. On behalf of the board of education, we present Curtis Cus, the NJSIAA and South Jersey boys indoor track and field coach of the year 2425 winter season. Presented in recognition of your leadership, devotion, and service to the boys indoor track and field program at Winsow Township High School, October 24, 2025. Thank you very much. words. >> I like talking. >> Check. Check. Um, first I want to thank the board of education foring me this evening. It's much much appreciated. Um, can't go without saying thank you to
018one of the first people I met here, uh, Mr. Davis, right in this building when you guys had a, uh, a workshop going on. and I met him in 2017. So, thank you guys for hiring me. Much appreciated and entrusting me with your community. Um, second, um, Coach Ne is my road dog. Been coaching since 200, she said 10, but I thought I met her since in 2005, but she's a big inspiration to me when I came over here. She's a big help. Definitely appreciate everything you've done for me as a friend of mine. Um, do great job with the girls. A couple girls here right now. It's much appreciated. Um, thank God for everything that for me my course of my my career, my year. And finally, but not least, I have my wife
019here, my son here. Can't do much with check. I mean, sports take me away from home a lot. Lot. I mean, my my son going through football, going through school. me and my daughter in college and my son in Air Force and my other son in college and my wife just works hard and takes care of home while I'm gone. Much appreciated to you both. I definitely love you guys. Much appreciated and I thank you to Miss Lane last year. You're doing a phenomenal job. Thank you, coach. Congratulations. Next we have Mr. Dion Davis to present his uh report. [Music] >> Good evening. And tonight I'm here to share with you the Winssler Township Public School self- assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying bill of rights act for the period of July 1, 2024
020through June 30th, 2025. The school self- assessment process which took place over the last month required each school through a school safety and climate team which is composed of each school's anti-bullying specialist, principal, parent representative and teachers to complete a self assessment of its implementation of the anti-bullying rights act from July 1 to 24 through June 30th of 2025. During the 2425 school year, all programs and initiatives implemented by the district were to reinforce and strengthen current HIV policies and practices. At this time, I would like to report and seek approval for the Winsow Township Public School self- assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying bill of rights act for the period of July 1, 2024 through June 30th, 202025. It's as follows. Board members, in your packets, you should have the chart. So, if
021you recall, this looks at a total of eight different core elements. So, core element number one looks at HIV programs, approaches or other initiatives as a total point value of 15. Last year, as you recall, we had opened the early childhood center. So, this was the first year that they were eligible to report results. As you'll notice, as a whole, their number is a little lower than the other schools. And it's primarily because remember we deal with three-year-olds. So a lot of the things that the other schools can do doesn't necessarily translate down to the three-year-old level. But we will work with them this year to bring their scores up a little bit. So score core element one again looks at HIV programs, approaches, or other initiatives as a total point value of 15. As
022you'll notice, our scores go anywhere from 11 up to a possible 15. Core element two looks at training on the board approved HIV policy has a maximum point value of nine and as you'll notice their scores go anywhere from eight to a maximum of nine. Core element three looks at other staff instruction and training on programs has a maximum point value of 15. Our scores range anywhere from 13 to 15. Core element four looks at curriculum and instruction on HIV and related information and skills. has a total point value of six. Scores range anywhere from five to six. Core element five looks at HIV personnel has a max point value of nine. Scores go anywhere from seven to nine. Core element six looks at school level HIV incident reporting procedure has a total total point
023value of six. All schools gave themselves a six. Core element 7 looks at our HIV investigation procedure has a total point value of 12. All locations rated themselves a 12. And lastly, we have core element 8 which look at HIB reporting has a total point value of six. All locations gave themselves six out of six. So we look at our totals which is out of 78 possible points. The early childhood center came out at 68. School number one 74. School number two 78. School number three 78. School number four 78. School number five 78. School number 678. Middle school 77. And our high school of 77. So once this information is approved by the board tonight and transmitted to the department of ed, which I'll do tomorrow, the department of ed will review, approve, and
024determine a grade for each school and assign an overall district grade regarding our programs and initiatives established to address HI. Upon receipt of that approval, usually happens in the spring, I will publicly report out the ultimate findings, which then must be published on the homepage of the district website along with each school's individual main page. At this time, any questions? If there's no questions, can I have a motion to approve Mr. Davis's uh report? >> Mr. President, I move that we um approve Mr. Davis's report as we see it in front of us, the New Jersey Department of Education, the school self assessment for determining grades under the anti-bullying bill of rights act district and school grade report for the period of July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025. >> All in favor? >> I.
025>> Thank you, Mr. Davis. So at this time we get to uh present our district performance level uh summary of our NJSLA scores. Uh it is a very important presentation that we uh basically see the performance of our students from the last school year from the spring testing season and basically share with you some of the ideas and strategies that we're going to move forward to put in action to help uh continue some of the progress that we're making and also to correct some of the areas that we need to uh correct. So, at this time, myself and Miss Clement, the assistant superintendent, will begin this presentation. This presentation is not designed to point the finger at anyone. Uh there's work to be done, and that work uh starts with the board of education, myself,
026the admin team, teachers, and parents, and then our students. So, we're looking for a partnership to come up with strategies to continue to see improvement. We're looking for the support necessary to uh see our students compete and that competition. Uh it needs to continue not only within their schools but amongst the other schools in the district and our neighboring schools. So, we're looking to compete just like we have the success of our boys track team, our girls track team, our football team, and other athletic teams. We need that same type of competitive spirit in our classrooms as well. And that takes a partnership from everyone to uh be on board to uh see our students through these uh these important uh measures and uh assessments. So, we're going to look at uh focusing on some
027of the priorities in our schools and some of the things that we need to do at home to make sure that our students are successful. So, let's get started with some of the uh information from the test. So, as you can see, uh the green is the current uh the school year that the uh the students took the test in and the blue is from the the 24 school year. So, the spring of 24. So you'll see there's growth in the majority of our schools. Uh school one through three. There has been some growth and we're going to use that information to support each other. We're going to use best practices. We're going to look at the success at some of our schools that did really well on the test and use that to support
028some of the schools that need additional support. So it's important that we come together. We have weekly meetings with our principles to share best practices to find out what are they doing in school 4 that's generating that type of success so that we can share amongst all the schools uh from school one to school 4. So it's important that we continue to have open communication and Miss Clement has been doing a phenomenal job each week meeting with the principles to gather that information to uh talk about the different strategies which we'll we'll share with you tonight. So here is the uh breakdown and in that green area is the area of the students that have passed it and those are the percentages which basically goes back to these uh green areas right here on this
029chart. So this is just a breakdown from the state that shows uh our students at level one, level two, level three, level four is have have met expectations, level five have exceeded expectations. So, that's where we want our students to be and that's where we want to make sure that our students uh have that type of success. And I just stole Miss uh Clemens a slide, but we're going to keep this thing flowing. So, here on uh grade four, uh you can see our students at uh grade four, which is grade four ELA, and our students having success in school five, and uh they showed a significant amount of growth. and we g we're going to use that information to support uh school six. We need to see what school uh five is doing with
030their fourth graders to de develop that type of uh growth. So there there is a lot of growth and a lot of information that we can take from these tests. The data is there is there for us to use to definitely make some changes moving forward. So there's the uh the state page that shows our level ones, our level twos, and our level threes and where we want our students to be at level four and level five. We continue through um we are in the subject of English language arts. You will see that um school number five, we'll move forward that way. So on these slides you will get to see um and in your handouts as well the state level and the district level and how we compare as we go along. So for
031grade five for school five is 39.4% school six grade five 31 and then we'll move on to grade number six and then you'll just see as well school five the growth that they've made and school six. So for this year 38.2% 2% for sixth graders, 27.2% for sixth graders um at school six. So then we move into our middle school for English language arts and you see by grades 7th, 8th, and 9th, I'll have to read the scores to you, but you'll see that we did have a little bit of a dip in our seventh graders. We'll see that we had a little bit of a rise with our eighth graders and um just about solid or stationary in grade nine for ELA. And then you will also see the high school or our NJ
032GPA for English language arts from last year we went from 78.8 and this year just about 70% proficiency in English language arts. So these these slides break down basically the the the subgroups of all of our students and it's a lot of information in there. So we use this information to basically target our students that need that additional support based on how they're performing. So you know it breaks down gender ethnicities ethn ethnicity and also uh our special needs students. So, it's a a great tool that we use to uh basically pinpoint exactly where we want to focus that support with our students. And we have that for each of the grade levels. So, some great information there to support our students and our teachers when they want to focus on making some of those
033changes. So in math, let me hear you. So for math, we began back at third grade again. And then you will see from the blue to the green, you'll see the scores from each of the schools and the growth that was made. you will see that school two has uh made it above the district um and the state expectations and you'll see that our other schools are also making what we call um measurable gain in those areas as well. So schools one through four. So in schools five and six we see the growth from school five and again you know we need to use uh additional supports and best practices of what we're doing in school 5 to see their growth so that we can bring uh school six into the same trajectory uh of
034success. So, it's important that, you know, we continue to have these conversations and also look at some of the systems that we have in place to make sure that we're are being uh impactful with our students when it comes to math uh across the district, not just in school six. And you'll see the percentages uh in level one, two, three, and level four and five where we want our our students to be. and school or grade five uh school five showed uh some increase some growth and uh school six showed some growth with their uh uh grade five students. So you know we see signs of success uh we want to capitalize on those students and those teachers who have are having success and really share those best practices. I'm going to keep repeating that
035because it's important that we operate together, not in silos, and bring our schools together to really support each other. And that is the breakdown of grade five and math. Grade six. >> Grade six, you'll see again some measurable gain. At school five, you'll see um that school six is trying to move up as well. For um the next slide, we move into the middle school. Well, you'll see the individual schoolers there. Middle school, you will see um that last year they went from 16 to 14. You'll see that our eighth grade students are in need of some support and we have some of those things in place. You'll see that the middle school students who took algebra um are consistently above 50%. You'll see that our high school students that take algebra are making some
036gains, making some growth. And then the high school ninth graders who take geometry are making some growth as well. So with our NJ GPA, this is for our high school uh for mathematics, we see growth in that area. And in science with our uh NJSLA uh grade six, we see that uh we had 10% of our no 2.4% and 16.6% of our students uh in the proficient and uh exceed expectations categories. So, we definitely want to see those numbers increase. And when we start talking about some of the strategies that we're going to use, you know, we we'll we'll show you how we plan to move forward uh with getting our students uh to climb towards those uh level four and level five areas. So was our >> so when we talk about intervention strategies
037when we begin at the school level um what we are talking about is in keeping with our board and district goals are to create and maintain learning environment that's conducive to teaching and learning to maximize our teachers instructional time with their students and to continue our adoption of what they call HQIM and that is high quality instructional materials. We're going to continue to look at our data, both our state assessments and our benchmark data to drive instruction and our professional development and continue with our administrative data review in our meetings to guide staff for instruction and student learning goals. We also will continue as building and district administrators to observe staff and provide constructive feedback, doing that through walkthroughs to monitor teaching and to calibrate our standards across all schools. Some of our professional development
038that last year and targeting into this year has been again to work on improving through the use of researchbased strategies and also the adoption of highquality instructional materials. So you will see that last year um we began a pilot in math around February. We adopted a new math program by the end of the year. This is our full implementation. The beginning of that full implementation is this year. You will note that in kindergarten through 8th grade, we are actually piloting new highquality instructional materials as well. We concurrently from kindergarten through 8th grade have about five pilots going for our teachers to take a look um and utilize the information that they have and have gained through professional development to vet and pilot and make sure that programs that we are recommending to you for adoption
039are not just something that the salesperson sold us, but it actually does what it's intended to do and what we needed to do. And you'll see that what we are doing for the teachers, our teachers are our greatest resource. And what our goal is for the teachers is to make sure that they have the knowledge of what it takes to take our students from the steps that they need to go through regardless what program we have. The teachers individually know how to progress through teaching and learning. So that's our goal. So by the end of this year, all of the teachers from preK3 through first grade, our foundational teachers will be trained and certificate in the program that's called letters, language essentials for teachers of reading and spelling. And that program teaches teachers how to
040teach children how to read, teaches about the brain research. What does your brain look like when it's trying to read? Some of the old strategies that we used to use used to be look at this page, guess what it's saying. What does this picture or context clue tell you? We now know that some of those strategies that were considered best practices were not so much. So, what we're doing is training our teachers to help them move through this process and we're standing alongside them every day as we do this training. And that's why I think you see some of the gains that you've seen across the schools because we're doing this work. It's not going to be instantaneous. It's going to take us a little while, but we're already seeing some of that come through.
041>> And along with that, you know, small group instruction is something that we always want to get to. We're a big school district, so we have to basically train our teachers to design small group uh uh situations so that our students can be, you know, we can target that instruction to them for the needs that they may have uh specific needs they may have. So some of the uh intervention strategies that we'll continue with is you know we'll continue to do our benchmark assessment uh tools. So we'll continue to use I ready. I ready uh something that all of our parents should be familiar with. We you should be getting information from your teachers about uh the progress of your students using this platform in our classrooms. We'll also continue to use uh RTI uh
042and use uh some of the tutoring that we uh have available to our students and and we'll get into you know the impact of tutoring. You know when it's used properly you know we we have success but it's important that you know there's a partnership between the house and the school when it comes to tutoring making sure that the kids get there to receive the tutoring. So that's important. So the RTI program is designed to use research uh based instruction to really focus on supporting our kids looking at intensive uh uh tutoring and uh supports for our students as well. So these intervention strategies uh you know we want to make sure that we continue to develop great relationships with our students. We want to continue to build confidence like the young people we saw
043presenting today. That's a prime example of students who have confidence and feel good about uh what they've learned. So, we want to make sure that we uh provide our students with those opportunities as many as much as possible. Uh we want to continue to set and maintain high expectations and make learning fun and engaging. So, we want to make sure that our students are excited to come back to school each and every day and to learn. And again uh with our preschool we uh have a new curriculum called Frog Street which is designed to strengthen students foundational skills and to incorporate social emotional learning. Social emotional learning is important to our students so that they feel comfortable in our schools. When they feel comfortable and safe in our schools they learn better. >> So Mr.
044Davis mentioned that um in the reporting out for HAIB that our early childhood center wasn't there yet, but with this new curriculum, conscious discipline and SEAL, as Mr. P's mentioned, is incorporated already. So, our three-year-olds are already working on their foundational skills, but they're also working on those skills that they need to be a good citizen as well. So, it's beginning in our district at age three. So next year I'll expect that those self-reporting scores will go up because it's already ingrained in the things that they're doing. So for our parents, it's important it's important that you have a relationship with your child's teacher. If you haven't spoken to your teacher or you don't have a pathway to communicate with them, that's a problem. So we need to make sure that you have those pathways
045to communicate with your teachers to see how well your children are doing. That also ties into our parent portal. We need all of our parents uh participating or using the parent portal to communicate and to view their child's grades and their child's attendance. Uh we need to make sure that when we do have uh programming workshops that our parents are participating uh opportunities to enhance awareness and strategies of how students are learning. Uh we want to make sure that uh you send your child to school every day. It's important. It's the law from 6:00 to 16 that our our kids are in school. So, it's important that you send them there when they're healthy. Don't send them when they're sick. So, uh it's important that they're they're there learning. Make sure your uh your child
046participates in uh doing work at home. It's just no it's no different than these uh great athletes that we have in the district. They have to practice and we need to make sure that our students are practicing at home with their academics. I truly believe uh with the advancements of technology there's there's a lot of responsibility uh that parents now must take on and that is the control of how much screen time our students have and that's from TVs, tablets and phones. There's there's information there's studies that report that this has a huge impact on the success of our students. It has a physical impact on our children. When that screen time is past a certain threshold, it has a a physical impact on their abilities to focus, their focus, their abilities to retain material,
047and their ability to just be present in school. So, you saw our governor pass some legislation to control cell phones in schools. We support this. It's important that we manage how much screen time and we need to make sure that all of our parents are on the same page with that. You know, we we can't control what you do in your homes, but it's important that we continue to send the message that we believe that some type of uh controls on that is important for the success of our students. Uh we also want, like I mentioned earlier, is make sure that you're monitoring your child's progress. If you haven't communicated with your child's teacher, that's a problem. If you haven't been on Genesis yet, if you don't know your your login credentials to Genesis, that's
048a problem. So, it's important that you have that information and that you're you're taking advantage of how to communicate with the your child's teachers. And as we continue to put programming uh together, it's important that we get a packed house when uh we have these programs. I participated in the uh fast program. We had a great turnout. I would like to see more. The first one we had was great. I want to see uh Miss Stump uh continue with those programming uh opportunities for our parents and bring more parents out. We had a CPAG meeting. We only had three families that showed up while while I was there. It's important that we have more parents come out to these meetings and these workshops to participate. It is everyone's responsibility when it comes to improving student
049scores and grades. you know, the teachers burden the loot, but it's also the responsibility of every household and every person that sits on this uh this board. So, it's important that we all work together to see our students uh succeed. That concludes our report. Any questions? I'm sure there's some questions. Yes, we'll make this uh uh report available. So, as soon as uh we get back to work tomorrow, my secretary will put this out on the website and make sure that everyone has access to it. We appreciate that. >> Definitely. Thank you. And you know, again, we want to make sure that we have that collaboration with our parents. And you know if it's not there, if you have issues making those type of connections, please do not hesitate to reach out to me so
050that we can make sure that those uh pathways are given to you. So uh it's important that you know your your teachers, it's important that you know your administrators and it's important that you are engaged with them. Also, you know, the reality there's a teacher shortage not just here in Winsow but throughout the country. you know, we need more young people to get into this profession and uh do the great work of being educators. And because of that shortage, we see areas in Winslow where we're struggling to find teachers to fill spots. It is an ongoing relentless battle to try to hire individuals to fill these positions. That won't stop until every position is filled. So, it's important that if you know uh individuals that are educators that are looking for jobs, please have them
051contact the school. If you know individuals who are in college, who are looking to become teachers and need support from a school district, we're open to support them because we want to create that that pipeline to have teachers come back to Winslow. So, it's important to us that uh we support this profession and support people uh coming here to work in Winslow. Any other questions? [Music] We got a mic for you. One sec. >> As we look at the third grade, I feel like over time, our third graders typically do well um in all three in all the four schools. Um but then we see that decline in fourth grade. We see it maybe increase in fifth grade again in sixth grade. Like it's the same kids that are going from third grade to fourth
052grade. Why are we seeing that drop? Is it just the content? [Music] There are a number of things, Miss Murphy. As you know, when you're in schools one through four, it's it's lots of hugs. It's seal. You know, we're walking down the hall together. Um, essentially it's a brand new world when you get to fourth grade. So students are going through changes of academics. If they weren't in a program where they change classes, RTI, different things, now they have to figure out how to change classes, which is why we do some of the things that we do in third grade, right? We do RTI. We have differentiated classes or departmentalized classes of ELA and math to try to help them prepare for that. But there's an upstairs, there's a downstairs, there's a whole new social
053order. They were on the top of the social order when they left, right? They now are on the bottom of the pecking order when they get to school 4. So, it's not just academic changes that they're going through. There's a whole world of physiological, social, emotional changes as well. That's why you see some of it catch up when they get a little bit older. But I want to say to the educational piece that some of the teachers that you saw here tonight, I told you that our teachers pre-K3 to first grade, our foundational teachers are trying to um participate in the professional development that we're doing to teach teachers or teach children how to read. So too are some of our teachers at schools five and six, right? Because we can't move on to teaching
054comprehension and things that are a higher level until we've conquered the things that are at the lower level. And I don't mean low like it's not important. I mean foundational level. Right? So again, our teachers are our greatest resource. And what we want them to be able to do is take that fourth grader, work with them social emotionally, but then let's look at the data and say, where is Sheresa maybe lacking? Does she have a need to work in phonics or phmic awareness or um ordinal numbers? Right? I always say I do Macy's math, right? I can't do math, but if there's a sale at Macy's, then I can do percentages. I can do all kinds of stuff. Right? So, we need our teachers to be able to find out who our kids are and
055know, oh, I've got a Macy's math kid, right? I need some music to help me learn. Those are the things, the relationships and things that we're doing and building. So, yes, there is typically a dip off at fourth grade because of all of those things. But I want you to know that we have many teachers working hard to work on the new researchbased strategies to get that that growth. And also, you know, it's important. Miss Clement has been doing a phenomenal job communicating with the teachers and making sure that the third grade and the fourth grade are communicating to develop what what are they lacking in fourth grade and so that we can make sure that we're providing that in third grade to try to close that gap. So, it's important that we have those
056type of uh conversations and Miss Clement has been doing a phenomenal job meeting with the principles and with the teachers to develop those type of uh bridges between the different grade levels. Any other questions? Yes. >> How you doing? My name is um Coach Kenny Smith. Um I just wanted to say that um basically right now I I run the um the baseball program and the basketball program and I coach football. Okay. And I think like um that might help the kids if the school system can interact more with the programs outside the school system because then like it's a certain power that a coach has. And um so like um when kids are not doing exactly what they supposed to do, if the um if the teacher calls the coach, a lot of times
057that coach can talk to him and get him to do certain things. Um, so it's a thing like can we set up something whereas, um, cuz we're setting up right now with football, we're sending up setting up a program called the the Winsow Township Coaches Union. It's the football union where we're sitting down as coaches and we're going to learn football. we going, you know, because I mean sometimes you're a football coach, but you're not good at line or you're not good at this. But also with that, the coaches, we can sit down and say how the kids on your team are doing in classroom and what we can do to help out that kid so he can get stronger. I know with the football program that I'm in, we have tutoring program. Whereas at
0585:00, if your kid is down is having problems with math or reading or whatever, you bring them to the field and we got people there to help them. Because the thing is, we can have a great athlete, but if that great athlete can't score at least 700 on the SAT, he ain't going to college. So what happens and you know up north we don't have a lot of junior colleges up here that you can play sports at. Most of them are down south. So, I'm just saying if we can set up something a program where we can interact with that coaches outside the outside the school or even um different programs that are outside the school so that we can help these young people, you know, it might help cuz I'm also the grandmaster of
059um of the um of New Jersey Masonically for the MA. So, we're trying to set up something to work with the young people. So, I mean, these things can help out with the education because we know that education is the key. >> So, Mr. Smith, I agree. Know that I know that I know right that you're there for their students that um are in our various schools as a coach and you have that influence. Invite me. I'll talk to coaches about what they need, but what I would say back to you is the child's education is the most important thing. And so I need your support as a coach to help people understand that not everybody's going to the NFL, not everybody's going to the NBA or the W, right? So, I would say, Coach
060Smith, can you encourage your athletes to come to the tutoring programs that we have here as a district where there are certified skilled teachers, right? Their profession. So, I'm not skilled in what you do. I'm skilled in partaking or making sure that our children get the education that they need. Come go to tutor, man. Did you go to tutoring today before you came to practice? That's that's what I need you to do. and Clement, come out to my coaches association and have a conversation with my coaches about what is important. This is my list. Do you know without breaching anyone's confidentiality who you might think I might need to have a conversation with parents about to say, "Hey, yes, I have football practice, but I got to practice to read so I can read those
061plays, etc. as well." So, it goes both ways, right? But as you said, they're not going to be a successful athlete at any type of high level if they can't read or if they do Macy's math like me, right? So, so invite us, but encourage them, coach, to come to their tutoring programs that are free right here in the district that we have available for them. >> No problem. >> And we just want to thank you for your, you know, work and commitment to our young people and the youth programs. and I I know we've spoken on the phone and uh I I look forward to communicating with you and developing those partnerships. So, we're all about building partnerships here at Winsow Township School District and and whatever uh groups that are out there that's
062going to support our young people, we're we're in favor of that. So, we would love to have that conversation with you to see how we could take advantage of some of the great work that you're doing with your coaches and supporting our young people and how we can uh provide some programming here and get your support to have those kids participate in those programs. So, thank you very much for coming out tonight. Anyone else? I I got a report for that. So if you want to hang around, I will uh uh kind of share with you. I I can jump into it right now because it's it's a part of our academics. Uh first I would thank the community for their patience and for the understanding of the struggle that we're going through. Uh what
063happened to our building, you know, it was significant. It was some significant damage. And right now I'm working with the contractors to get this work done as quick as possible. I'm on them every day. I speak with the uh owner of the company that is doing the work. So right now we're looking at a window of to get the flooring done about two and a half to three weeks. And after that, that may open up the door for us to get our kids in a little bit sooner. I can't make any guarantees on when that's going to happen. I'm hoping I'm hoping that uh we can get this work done as quick as possible. So, as you know, with construction, I I don't have any control over supplies getting here. I have no control over
064the uh company and how fast they work. So, it's important that, you know, I I continue to communicate with the public about what's going on. I was going to send out a uh another video just to give the community an update on on the building. So, as I get information and as I see progress, I'll definitely share that with you. I know it's a difficult time. I know no one wants to be in a virtual capacity. We want our kids in our buildings. We know this may have an impact on our students uh in the long run. So, we want them back here as quick as possible. So, I just want to thank you for your support and uh just being patient. But it is uh something that weighs heavy on my mind simply because
065I know that they need to be back here in the building and we want them back here but I just can't bring them back until the building is completely safe for them to be back. But thank you for your question. >> Anyone else? >> Thank you for coming out tonight. >> Just a comment. Sure. And I think this was perfect timing of uh school five and this presentation because it states a growth mindset and I think about running track and the timing that it took for me to improve my distance. So when we make learning fun as a coach when you look at the time and you say Peterson you did this last year I need you to go out and do it. and you start thinking about how I can do it. As a
066musician, I thought about all the levels of pitch, the sounds, everything that we take for granted, but we don't utilize it as a learning instrument. And I applaud you for mentioning teachers because I really believe the future of Winslow or all our school districts is the quality of the teachers and keeping teachers here. And it's not that they're leaving, it's undervalued profession. >> Absolutely. Thank you, Miss Peterson. Uh I couldn't say it any better. It's, you know, over the years, uh education, uh the respect of education has been watered down for whatever reason, but it's our job to advocate for public education and to continue to uh put teachers in the forefront and put them on the pedestal that they deserve. My father used to always say to me when he was growing up in
067Florida in a small town, uh the teachers and the principles were some of the most powerful people in the community because simply because of, you know, the importance of their job and we need to bring back uh that importance that what we're responsible for. We're responsible for the most valuable resource to our community and that's our young people. So making sure that we have great teachers taking on those responsibility is important. So, we got to continue to advocate for young people to get into uh education and to uh do a job that uh we know is uh important to uh to our country. So, uh thank you for coming out tonight and I hope this information help and I look forward to doing uh great things here at Winsow uh with our students and with
068our uh improving our test scores. Thank you. Have a great night. Thank you, Mr. Peas. As you can see, Mr. Peas and his team with Miss Clement and our administrators are on the path to trying to do something very great with our our school district. and it shows by the commitment they're making to the pipeline for our teachers and the future of our our students. So, I really hope that everybody is on board for the path to success and the path of movement forward for our district because the potential is unlimited here in Winslow. Moving on to correspondence. Uh >> we have none this evening, Mr. President. Okay. Moving on to our minutes. Um can I have a motion to approve the following regular meeting minutes from Wednesday uh October 8th, 2025, open and close
069session. >> Mr. President, I move that we approve the following meeting minutes of this board of education. both regular meeting um which was held Wednesday, October 8th, open session and the regular meeting which was also held Wednesday, October 8th uh close session. >> Any questions? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden. >> Miss Claude. Miss Martin. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Mcmanis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pitts, >> yes. >> Miss Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> Motion has carried. >> Moving on to board committee reports. Um the the athletic committee, Mr. Thomas, isn't here, so Okay. Oh my. um organizations around Win Township to ensure that that the kids um get all equal access to being able to go beyond the field, whether it's the track, whether
070it's the baseball field, soccer, cuz there are many things inside the athletic world that you can become besides the player. You can also be a coach, you can be a me the the trainer, you can be the the medicine doctor, you can there's so many things you can be the owner. So we're we're making sure that sports isn't just about jocks. We're making sure sports is about academic success. So that's what we're doing at the younger level to make sure that when they get to this level, they're already conditioned enough to know that academics come first, sports come second, but I can be great at both. So that's the report from the athletic department committee. One more thing to add to the athletic committee. Our marching band on Sunday, they were a little disappointed over
071at Eastern for their championship uh competition. They they missed first place by about a half a point. >> Um I know they were talking to some of the marching band people. They were a little disappointed because I they had an awesome competition. I wasn't there personally, but they kept me updated on it. So, I know as they move into Hershey, they're going to be going for that championship over there, and I have nothing but faith in them that they will bring home that championship. So, I just want to compliment them on an excellent performance from what they uh from their performance on Sunday. >> All right, moving on to the citizens advisory committee, >> no report at this time. Education Committee. >> No report at this time. >> Mr. McManis, the marketing committee. >> Yes.
072Um, grab my notes real quick. Um, uh, marketing committee minutes. Last meeting was held on uh via Zoom, Saturday the 18th of October. Uh, we started at roughly uh 12:15 p.m. In attendance were Miss Glaude, Mr. Thomas, and myself. Uh the discussion centered around the breakfast club, the previously introdu previously discussed potential program for the school. Uh the purpose of the just by way of reminder, the purpose of the breakfast club was to to drive engagement by communicating and promoting upcoming events, district successes, and other newsworthy items throughout the entire community, including staff, parents, and students. Uh secondary goal of this would be for the kids in the club to be able to learn to draft, edit, produce quality and quality short and medium-term form videos for consumption within the district. Uh Wanda Glaude offered
073other modifications to the existing plan including a proposed policy. Uh there was a there is going to be a meeting with the interim superintendent scheduled for Monday the 27th to uh go over some of this. Uh meeting concluded around 12:50 p.m. Next meeting is scheduled for the 15th of November. Time, location, and method to be determined. >> Thank you, Mr. Mcmanis. Moving on to the operations committee, M. Dredden. The operations committee met uh yesterday, Tuesday, October 21st, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. via WebEx. In attendance were Miss Dreaden, and Mr. Shaw. Also in attendance were Miss Bole, Miss Chico, and Mr. Peas. Uh we discussed um the the meeting that we had on Friday, September 26th with land architects. We reviewed some of our projects. Uh the HVAC upgrade at the high school and middle school,
074the roof replacements uh at the Jwing of the high school uh and the administrative building land did advise me that they are able to assist with those projects. So we are going to turn them back over to them. uh the 2425 capital projects and other projects which EI uh our previous architects um um were moving forward. Uh Michael Wazny was able to get the HBAC upgrades to school five, school six, construction of a pole barn at the high school campus and the upgrades of the serving lines at the high school cafeteria cafeteria. All four of those projects, the bids are out. We had a pre-bid meeting for all four of those projects. Uh this Monday, uh at the administration buildings, vendors came in uh purchase plans. They were provided the opportunity to review the areas
075that will be under construction. They'll have the opportunity to submit questions prior to the due date uh for the receipt of bids, which is Friday, November 14th, 2025. and we have an anticipated award date of Tuesday, November 25th, 2025. Uh other projects are the HVAC upgrade in the main office of the middle school. That project is near completion. Our Connor Kennedy is one of uh EI's mechanical engineer. He performed a final inspection of the project and created a a punch list for the vendor. It's very um minor uh items on it. in turns with outstanding lunch balances as of October 14th. The food service fund has served $25,517 82 cents worth of meals, but we have not received payment. uh agenda items that uh I wanted to bring to the operations committee uh meeting members
076was uh we're going to request that the board authorize, ratify, and approve items 24, 25, and 26 on in the business administrator section of the agenda. All of these have been previously approved at the June 11th uh board meeting. And basically, we're just letting you know that we're doing what we said. Um, and we're dating them as of September because that's when they had to take place. And, uh, B, I wanted to draw the board's attention to the certifications when we submit our, um, monthly reports. Uh on those financials, we are anticipating additional revenue from Chiselhurst in the amount of $493,339.80. So, we're going to increase our revenues and we're also going to increase our appropriations for the same amount that's going to be budgeted to health benefits so that it's going to help us
077um meet that amount that's due to hit us in January. Ordinarily, we would certify that there's no change, but this time we had the opportunity to do this and u that's what we're going to utilize those funds for. On another final note, uh the 2425 annual comprehensive financial report or the ACFR, the auditors are currently in district reviewing our financial records uh in preparation for filing of the 2425 ACFR. The filing date for this report is December 5th. So they are requesting records and we're turning them out so that we can get our uh audit file time and our meeting adjourned around 5:55 and the next meeting is scheduled Monday, November 24th, 2025 because our board meeting is Tuesday. >> Thank you, Miss >> Moving on to the policy committee. Mr. President, uh the policy
078committee has met for October. Our next meeting will take place November November 12th. >> Yeah. >> Um just before the uh our regular board meeting and it will take place at 6:00 p.m. um within the district. >> Okay. Thank you. Mr. Thomas isn't here for the economic development council and the municipal drug alliance. I'm going to apologize. I left my notes for the planning board at home. Um, but I will report out at our next board meeting. So, I'm going to move on to the superintendence report. And I have a motion to approve the superintendent report as it's recommended for approval by the superintendent from the top of page three to the bottom of page seven. >> Mr. President, I move that we approve the superintendence report as it appears appears on our agenda beginning
079at page three and continuing to the bottom of page seven. >> Any questions? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dredden. Miss Claude. >> Miss Martin? Yes. Mr. McManis? >> Yes. >> Miss Peterson? >> Yes. Miss Pittz, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> The motion has carried. >> Moving on to our business administrator, board secretaries report. May I have a motion to approve our business administrator board secretaries report as is recommended for approval by the business administrator board secretary. Starting from the top of page 8 to the bottom of page 14. >> And um, Mr. President, that's with the adjustments to uh 23, 24, oh 24, 25, and 26. >> Yes, ma'am. With the >> on which page? >> Um 13 uh is item number 24 and 25.
080And page 14 is number 26. >> It's going to read approve, authorize, and ratify. Okay. So therefore, Mr. President, I move that we approve the business administrative board secretaries report uh as it appears beginning page eight and continuing through to the bottom eight of page 14 with the stated changes. >> Any questions? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden. >> Miss Claude. Miss Martin, >> yes. Mr. McManis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pittz, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> The motion has carried. >> Moving on to the personnel report. May I have a motion to approve the personnel? Oh, one second. I got to stop. >> Mr. uh Shaw, not sure who made the squeak, but uh on the personnel report, we'd like >>
081That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to table number two. >> Before we go and appro uh make a motion on the personnel report, Mr. Davis would like us to table item number two. So, I'm going to make the motion to table number two at this time. >> It's the staff 2025 26 staff reassignments. >> So, can I have a motion to table item number two on the personnel report for the 2526 staff reassignments? >> Mr. President, I move that we um that we approve the super the personnel report uh with stated changes as it appears beginning on page 15 and continuing through the bottom of page 17 >> with the tableling of items. >> Any questions? I'm sorry, counselor. I I didn't hear what you said >> with the tableabling of item
082two. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions? >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Drean. >> Miss Glaude. Miss Martin? >> Yes. >> Mr. McManis? >> Yes. >> Miss Peterson? >> Yes. >> Miss Pittz? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Shaw. >> Yes. >> The motion has carried. >> Um, moving on to the addendum. We have no addendum. So, moving on to the open public records act requests. >> Uh, we had none. Um, Mr. President, >> moving on toformational items. >> Good evening everyone. I just want to reiterate the uh work that we are doing in the middle school. Uh again uh we're looking to uh start our floor project which will take us about two and a half to three weeks to complete and from that time
083we'll reassess and hopefully have a uh a timeline on our next phase and possibly uh when we can get our students back into the uh the building. The high school uh counseling department will host college readiness readiness night on October 28th. The high school Eagles landing annual fall career conversation will take place on October 31st. This is representatives from various trades will meet with students to provide information on coursework scope for practical training and eventual opportunities. The high school TV production team presented at New Jersey school board's convention yesterday. Also, the township of Windsor reached out uh to for an opportunity for us and our high school students to to participate in an artwork competition to paint a mural on the Star Center wall in honor of our country's 250th birthday. And I'm waiting for
084the details on that opportunity. I also had the opportunity to participate in the CPAG meeting on Monday uh Monday night. We are currently uh field testing window for fall NJSLA adaptive and fall NJ GPA adaptive tests. They're scheduled from October 27th through November 14th. There will be no testing on November 4th, 6th, 7th, or the 11th. All school districts throughout the state are required to participate. I also attended the Camden corporate watch meeting on October 14th. The focus was on security and safety. To continue to improve communication and to keep our parents informed, each school is in the process of creating a digital backpack. So, you'll hear more conversations from your building principles and your teachers in regard to information, letters, flyers that go out. So to eliminate the amount of paper that we use
085to send this information out, these items will be placed in the digital backpack on each of the school build schools uh websites. Also, uh I'd like to remind our parents that is important that they participate and engage in our parent portal. Uh we need to make sure that all of our students from uh middle school through high school uh complete their Chromebook agreement forms. Uh we want to make sure that our parents all of our parents from all the grades take advantage of the Genesis parent portal for checking students grades and attendance. And we also need our parents to update their contact information. We need to make sure that if there is a change in a to number that that information is updated in our portal and also if there's been a change with someone
086picking up their child that those changes have been uh updated in the portal as well. Uh Mr. President, this concludes my update for this evening. >> Thank you, Mr. Peas. Um I just have one thing for informationational items and this goes to all the board members. I had the opportunity to Monday to attend the certified board leader uh session for NJSBA and the main topic was mentoring. Um NJSBA is going to start a mentoring program for new board members. They haven't got it down 100%, but they are mainly looking at all the certified board leaders that are throughout the state to lean on for the how to how to start the mentoring program. It probably won't start officially until sometime in 2027. So that they're going to use the next year to get everything in
087place before they they start putting it out there to new board members at the start of after reorganizations in 2027. But they're starting to look they're going to have the application out there for everybody that's a certified board leader if you want if you would like to um sign up as a mentor. I know I already signed up. you know, it's a little premature, I know, but um it's a good opportunity for those with experience. They're even possibly going to be looking at people that may not run after their election cycle comes off. So, that's one opportunity for those who decide not to run or maybe lose their election um to still possibly be a mentor for those that are newly coming on the boards. So, that that's a great uh opportunity for anybody that's
088a certified board leader to uh um be a mentor. And for those in the audience that don't know what a certified board leader uh is on the school board, it's somebody that's a achieved the highest amount of training to get to the highest level of a board member status. Um which I believe Miss Peterson, do you have it? >> Yes. >> Miss Peterson, Miss Pittz, and myself all have that certified board leader status. on this board. So, um, moving on to old business. Anybody have any old business? I have something for old business. >> Our, uh, board self-evaluation is set up and everybody can go on. The board goals are on there. I did not include anything for the hyperlinks on there because we really haven't done anything yet because we just came up with
089them in August, but I would still like to be able to have everybody do the board self-evaluation. Um, at some point going into next year, I think we should have a conversation about moving the board self-evaluation into August before we do our new district goals and look at our how we were moving into uh achieving our um board goals because uh as I was reading this, they changed the uh board self-evaluation a little bit from what we've used to were used to in the past. and they're going into this. They said that more more and more boards are doing this during the summer instead of the November 30th deadline that they used to have because there's no longer a deadline to do it, but I'd like still like to have it done by November 30th.
090Um, that's that's all I have for old business. Anybody else have anything for old business? Anything for new business? >> Mr. President, with regards to new business, I would um would ask the board uh for their consensus and or participation. Mr. um Ray Watkins um has texted an invitation uh to the board and I believe also the superintendent. Uh Mr. Ray Watkins, as well as being uh one of our council people for Ward 3. He is also um the head of the um nonprofit organization entitled the village of Camden County, Inc. and he and his organization are scheduling on Halloween October 31st uh at the Winslow Center, excuse me, a Halloween event where he and other organizations and individuals are coming together um to have treats and food, movies, giveaways, those kinds of fun things
091on October 31st. and he is asking if indeed the board would like to have a table and so uh at that event and if so uh then we need to get back to him to let him know and also uh Mr. McMadness is put on notice if indeed we decide as a board to participate. >> So my question is as a board are we accepting the invitation? Nothing like being put on the spot. >> No, Mr. McMahon, it's not at all. >> No, I have no problem with it. Uh I'm going to need help. I'll put it that way. >> Absolutely. >> So, if if we can uh if we can coordinate something with maybe three or four board members, I'd be great. That'd be great. >> Well, you have your committee and certainly um
092members of your committee as well as other board members. >> I'll reach out to uh the other committee members and then uh >> uh and I even have Mr. walking cell phone direct. He and I are buddies. >> Good. >> So, give me a couple days and I'll get back to everybody. How's that? >> Okay. >> Well, that's fine, but I would need like to know from the board. >> I think it's a great idea. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I mean, yeah, as long as we can get uh widespread support from the board, I'm cool with that. That'd be great. >> Are you going to be there, Miss Pitts? >> Yes. >> You can hang out with me. >> Hang out with you. Okay. My concern is uh certainly we'll have a table and as
093we all know usually when we attend events we have our table and we have our nice green tablecloth that says um that we are the board of of education. However, now this is Halloween and so we need to be thinking some creative ways of decorating our table on that night. Um, with regards to uh whether we want to put out some com pumpkin heads or >> if I show up there, Miss Miss Pitts, do you think I'll scare anybody? >> No, I hope not. >> Miss Peterson laughed, so I'm not so sure that's the case. >> But it sounds like it's it's collaboratively when we get together, it could be a very fun thing for us to participate in. So, we'll wait to hear more from you, Mr. McMahon. >> Thank you, Miss Pittz. >>
094Okay. Um, I have uh a couple things. Um, last night at our Men Empowering Nation meeting, um, they put out a couple of pamphlets. Um, if anybody is interested, I know, uh, Miss Pitts and Miss Peterson and, you know, Mr. McManis especially, uh, like to do some lip singing, especially with some 90s music. Um, Men Empowering Nation iso hosting a lip-sync battle um on nove Friday, November 14th at 6 pm. Maybe we can get Mr. Peas to come along with his wife and uh join in the uh entertainment. Um the cost is $20. Um prizes will be given to the top four winners. This is over at the Bud Dooal Center. Um so if anybody's interested, let us know. Mr. McManis, myself, we'll get a we'll help you out with registering for that. This one
095is uh this one's a really good one. Um this one's to help parents. Um this is dealing with mental health. It's called the panel talk. Do you have questions about your child's behavior? Do you need advice on how to handle your teen? This is open to the public uh on where's the date at? Uh December 8th. It's a Monday night from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Um, Men Empowering Nations is spons uh hosting this. This is something that I would suggest if you have the time to come out, you make or if you even if you don't, you make the time because this is very good uh very good program for mental health. There's going to be mental health specialists uh there to help uh talk about mental health for uh parents with their teens. Um,
096when Mr. Carmen started talking about this last night, this was, man, this really hit home because mental health is something that came up in my family recently and this is something that's really huge, especially with the youth of today in today's world. So, if anybody's interested, please talk to Mr. Mr. McManus or myself and we'll we'll get you all the information for that. Also, this happens to be our board night, so we'll be missing this Mr. Mcmanis. Um, Men Empowering Nation's also doing a Thanksgiving senior citizens dinner over at Edge Edgewood Acres. So, um, if anybody's, uh, interested in helping out or maybe, uh, you know, joining us, um, over there, um, uh, just let us know about that one as well. >> Thank you very much. >> Although, Mr. President, even though that you
097and I may not be at that particular event, the rumor on the street is is that Mrs. Mcmanis's homemade baking will be there for the seniors. That's already been approved. That's Well, we knew that was going to be there. Yes. >> So, is anybody else have anything for new business? >> Yeah. Well, I have something for informationational. I'm sorry I passed by. Um the VFW Post 303 will be passing out um we're going to be buying 100 turkeys. Um and we'll be passing them out on November the 22nd um starting at 9:00 a.m. So, if you know any families that need um turkeys and the the fixings that go with it, please send them to the VFW. But I'm also pretty sure that around the community um there will be other food giveaways. So please
098um pass to the families that if you already received the turkey, please let other people who haven't received one and then needed getting turkeys for Thanksgiving to come out and receive that. It's off of 600 Sichler uh road right there right before you get to school five soon as you turn down off Church Street. Um come out and six >> school six I apologize. School six I stand corrected. So, please come out. Um, us veterans love giving out things and we would love to be able to give the families in our community a nice turkey and a fixings for Thanksgiving. >> Thank you, Miss Glo. Any other new business? All right, moving on to public comments. >> Thank you, Mr. President. The Winsow Township Board of Education highly values the input of citizens in making
099important decisions that affect the children of our community. We believe in the rights of citizens to observe board meetings. To ensure that all of our citizens have the opportunity to attend schoolboard meetings and offer comment and to ensure that the board can conduct the important business of the district, we ask speakers follow guidelines for making public comment. The board secretary will recognize those individuals in the audience who wish to make comment. We'd ask that you kindly respect the following procedures. One, all members of the public attending schoolboard meetings must treat each other and the board with respect. Two, please state your full name and town of residence. Three, please limit your comments to four minutes. Four, submit your questions in the event we're unable to answer them tonight. um along with your name, address, telephone
100number, and preferably an email address where you can be contacted and we will answer your questions within a reasonable period of time. And lastly, individuals offering citizen comment are not permitted to make personal attacks on any district employee, board member, other testifier, or member of the public. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Long. Can I have a motion to proceed to public comments? >> Mr. President, I move that we uh proceed uh to um public comments. >> All in favor? >> Mr. Kenneth Smith. >> Good evening everybody. >> Good evening. Um basically like earlier I said a lot of stuff that I was going to say but number one I wanted to um thank um the new superintendent um Mr. PS for um working with our program in this crisis because um the thing
101is with the basketball program uh we have like 300 kids that play basketball in um in Winsow Township from from 8th grade down to first grade. And with losing the use of the middle school, being that it's two gyms in the middle school, we we actually lost two gyms. And um so we have to figure out exactly what we're going to do. But um Mr. Peas was working with us to try to figure out a way because um number one, we're the we're the feeder program to the high school. So basically when the kid comes to ninth grade um all the things that he knows about basketball most of it he c it came from our program. And number two and my mom taught me this um when I started coaching she said that um
102coaching sports and and with the sports program is part of a child's education. That's why like um when we when I coach a lot of times I um I make sure the kid must read something. Um anybody that plays football for me, the running back's got to read the play on the on their shoulder. Um if he can't read, then he can't really run the ball. It's going to be a problem. But I'll work with him in his reading. So um I just like to thank you. I like the board of education. I'd like to thank y'all too because um I talked to some of y'all and um you're behind the youth and that's important and like I said before um we have to build um bridge that gap between the school and the youth
103programs because we're all one community and it takes a village to raise a child. Um thank you. My name is Coach Kendy Smith. I live at um in Cichlavville and um thank you for always, you know, being behind us because it's about the youth. We must invest in the youth. If we don't, then that's what we get in an investment. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Coach Smith. J. Poill. [Music] Good evening. I appreciate everyone taking the time to hear my concern. I'm here because I need clear and direct answers regarding the preventative measures being taken to address bullying at school 6. My child has now been involved in the fifth bullying incident this school year. And despite previous meetings and reports, I still have not received a detailed explanation of what actions are being
104implemented to ensure safety and emotional well-being. At this point, I'm not just asking for reassurance. I'm asking for accountability and transparency. I would like to know these following questions. One, what specific steps are being taken to prevent further incidents? Two, how are staff being trained to recognize and intervene in bullying situations? Three, what consequences or corrective actions are being applied when students repeatedly engage in this behavior? Four, what supports are in place for my child to feel safe and protected moving forward? I understand that schools face challenges, but five incidents in one year show that something in the current approach is not working. My goal isn't to assign blame. It's to collaborate on a solution that genuinely protects my child and others who may be experiencing the same thing. So before this meeting ends, I
105would like a I would like to walk away with a clear plan of action and a follow-up date to review progress. My expectation is open to communication, documented steps, and visible preventative measures. I can have these questions emailed, but I'd love an answer tonight because I've been waiting since October 8th and it's now October 22nd and I believe that was enough time to complete an investigation. Thank you for your time and I'm looking forward to seeing meaningful change. >> Thank you, Miss Pill, for coming out tonight. uh we uh received your uh uh information and you came to my office to speak to me about the the situation. Uh we're going to work with you to resolve uh some of these or answer some of your questions, but there is an investigation still taking place.
106Uh Dr. Brown at school 6 is working on that. And when that uh information is completed, we'll make sure that we reach out to you with the uh conclusion of that report and that investigation. I appreciate that answer. Um I do want to just still highlight that I have brought this to the attention well the teacher has brought it to the attention of administration as of October 8th and again it is October 22nd. So, for an investigation to still be going on, um, that seems like it's a huge delay and it doesn't make me feel safe that my child is still going to this school on a daily basis, but I don't get the communication needed in order to um, support my my child. >> If you just make a phone call to school six
107and uh, Dr. Brown's uh, secretary will schedule a meeting with you. I don't think that that's a a a good answer, but I'm going to take the answer and I hope that there will be some change tomorrow and I hope that I can get a conversation tomorrow so that my child can feel safe. >> If you call the school and ask for an appointment, I'm sure they will accommodate you based on their schedule. >> Again, asking for an appointment just for my child's safety is a little bit um frustrating. Mr. President, that concludes those that have signed up this evening. Is there anybody in the waiting room? Can you put that uh on speaker? [Music] >> Yes. if if you would state your name um and then proceed to ask your question. >> If you
108state your name and then proceed with your what you wanted to present to the board. [Music] >> Hi, my name is Butler. Um, I had a child in school before. I had uh a couple concerns because I do have a kid that's four years old and I have came to the a couple meetings statements that they don't have for care after care for a fouryear-old. But I do want to know if in the future would they have that available for the kids just to help the parent because I do have another child that will be attending the school in the future. So, I just wanted to know if it's ever going to be an option and not like um saying that we've been doing this for 15 years. Like that's like a push like a
109I'm not even sure how to say it, but it's like a herpes when you try to speak for your child because you you have to go to work and your kid can't go to school before and after because y'all don't provide it. So the after school and before before school program is something that we're continuing to look at. Unfortunately at uh schools one through four it's a program that we're not able to put in place right now. But we will continue to assess our programs to see uh how we can accommodate that in the future. But as of right now I don't have an answer for you. But we look forward to uh trying to resolve that that issue for our our students at those schools. I was just I was just looking for the
110future because at the moment I do have chair but it was like hard for me to get it and um I thought that the school would be like a village for me to help me out and help my kids out. But yes, I am looking for it in the future. So hopefully y'all come up with something. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> Thank you. It looks like >> he's raising his He's raising his hand back. >> Raising their hand in the back. Would you like to sign? Come up to the front and sign and then you can speak. believe it's Tim McCarthy. Good evening. Uh my name is Tim McCarthy. I'm not well with prepared speeches, so please bear with me. I've spoke to a few members of the board last week about this matter.
111Um, but to get started, my name is Tim McCarthy. I'm from Winslow. I currently live in Monroe Township, but I graduated from the class of 2018 from the high school. And let me tell you, I can't believe I said I graduated seven years ago because it feels like just yesterday I graduated. But um I started my time within the district within school six, school four, school six, the middle school and the high school. I say this because I love Winslow and I love the district. Um Winslow is stronger when we work together and come together before. Um I stand before you to just hear me out on this matter and open your hearts and your minds. Um, sorry, like I said, I'm not the best with prepared speech, but almost everybody remembers their time in
112school, from their fellow students to a teacher or faculty member that made an impact on their lives. We spend 12 13 to 12 years with the same people in the same places that teach us and leave us with memories and bonds that last our whole lives. But most of us have this commonality. Winslow is no different. I hope um if you close your eyes, you can imagine yourself in those hallways with those faces there. In school, we are taught our ABCs. We are also learned so many different subjects like history, English, reading, and writing. We also learned that every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think we can hopefully agree that currently we are in the middle of our stories. The end of our stories are years and years away.
113Sadly, for many people who I've went to school with, for many alumni, those stories for of those that they know are no long have come to their end. Winsow has become less bright from each person who has passed away. I have seen when tragedy strikes that Winsow can come together and be a place that people can look to to come together when we lose somebody that we knew or were classmates with or have taught us. So I stand before you asking for your help with a memorial garden within the district. This garden would be made up of bricks, a wall, trees, benches, but it would be made up of alumni, faculty, and students because sadly we have there have been students who have passed away or students who have passed away. um within a year
114or two of graduating. So, I just stand before you asking for your help and your guidance to try to get this started and get this going for the memory of those we've lost who made an impact on Winslow and made it what it is and made it as great as it is. >> Thank you, Mr. McCarthy. Uh we look forward to working with you. So, if you could just reach out to my office and schedule a time where we can talk about your plans and some of the things that you're thinking of, maybe we can come together and put something in place. >> I believe that concludes those that wish to speak this evening, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Miss Bo. Thank you, everybody. Can I have a motion to adjourn public comments? >> Mr.
115Mr. President, I move that we um approve the adjournment of public comments. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Moving on to executive session. >> Uh yes, Mr. President. In accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act, we will be adjourning into executive session on October 22nd, 2025 at approximately 8:53 p.m. Of the nine exceptions under the law that permit us to enter into executive session, uh we will be utilizing item number eight, matters involving employment, terms and conditions of employment, evaluation, performance, etc. with respect to increment grievances. And I would anticipate um an hour. Mr. Davis, an hour, maybe half an hour, 45 minutes. 45 minutes. There you go. Mr. Davis settled it for me. 45 minutes. Thank you, sir. Need a motion, a second, and a roll call, please. >> Can
116I have a motion to move into executive session? >> Mr. President, I move that we enter into executive session. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Clark, >> yes. >> Miss Dreaden, >> yes. >> Miss Claude, >> yes. >> Miss Martin, >> yes. >> Mr. McManis, >> yes. >> Miss Peterson, >> yes. >> Miss Pittz, >> yes. >> And Mr. Shaw, >> yes. >> Motion has carried. [Music]