001I have four. I have four. [Music] I was going to ask, but they're the one that put it up there. I'll talk to the one teaching. Thank you everybody. Welcome to tonight's Winsler Township Board of Education meeting, regular meeting. uh of Wednesday, April 30th at 7 p.m. Public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and associates uh and 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 a courier post hosted in all schools, the administration office, the municipal building, the library, Bud Dougal Center, Edgewood Acres, Helmtown, and the Winsslow Township Post offices. Mission statement. The mission of the Winslow Township School District, a large, diverse, and growing
002community, is to educate all students to become independent, lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and caring and competent members in of their community. The district in partnership with the community and in a climate of 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 and contribute positively to a rapidly changing world. Roll call please. Mr. Clark here. M Martin present. Mr. M presence. Miss Fitz. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Thomas and Mr. [Music] Everybody please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Please stand als One nation under God, indivisibley all this time like a moment of silence who not only was a gentleman and a pillar of this community. He passed the light of science basically. [Music]
003district calls, please. 2024 2025 district goals. uh student achievement to continue to implement best practices for delivering instruction to students and this shall include a conduct weekly administrative walkthroughs to monitor teaching and learning. Two, consistently reduce the student assessment data to guide and redirect teaching. Three, continue to provide supplemental activities such as tutoring and enrichment periods to address student deficiencies. sport benchmark assessment for ninth grade math and language arts. And number two, create a safe and positive learning environment for students and staff. A strictly enforce district student code conduct. B. Focus on upper elementary school students. Modify student behavior in the early grades. C. Reinforce positive behavior in a specific and genuine way. D. Approach discipline with care, respect and desire to see the good students. Three, increase parent caregiver and community engagement and education
004by A, provide opportunities for two-way communication with district stakeholders. B, continue with communication consortium. C, focus on refining our communication methods and messages to better market our schools. And D, continue with our public relations within the community. Thank you very much. Presentations. Yes. Uh Mr. President, members of the board and community, we do have one presentation this evening. Uh I would like to call Miss Lorie Kelly uh to the podium to introduce uh the school for Miss Kelly. And of course, Miss Kelly is the principal of the school. Miss Kevin. [Applause] Thank you for this presentation. If the board members want to take a seat in the front row, have some reserve seating. [Music] One more student. [Music] How are you? [Music] Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and get started while we're still setting up.
005Good evening, Board of Education President Mr. Shaw, members of the board, Dr. Mr. Davis, parents, families, and members of the community. This evening, school board students and their siblings are excited to present a portion of their spring concert titled A Kids Life, which is about times when kids play good old fashioned games that did not include technology. Our exceptional music teacher, Miss Pan, and amazing physical education teacher, Jenny Hillary, have arranged and choreographed the show. students have been working hard and are excited to perform for you this evening. We hope you enjoy the show. It's a kids life is a rocking musical about enjoy the challenge of being kids in today's high-tech world. It's an exciting time, a most excellent adventure. Nowadays, young people are getting their kicks in a much different way than did
006years ago. Unlike days of your mother dependent on what was really available to your dayto-day life, so much of you is time spent staying connected technology, iPads, cell phones, games, iPods, and many more. But what if all that suddenly went away? That's when the music all begin. It was a day like any other. I woke up, took off my head for 30 seconds, take a shower, sent a text message to my sister in the other room so I would have to talk to her. Even my mom, my breakfast, she's old now. Hey, I'm still a kid. How cool is that? Kids, there's a whole world out there. It's all about using your imagination. Look at the clouds. What do you see? I see another chasing my plast. Good for you. [Music] Excellent. I see a
007puppy. [Music] I see flowers on the hill. I see. I see mountain. I see animal. [Music] I see two ships sill. [Music] looking at the sky. [Music] falling down. [Music] I see a world in my imag. [Music] I see mountains soaring. I see. [Music] My [Music] [Applause] I don't know why you're also jumping. Did someone say jumping? You're not going to teach us a jump rope, are you? Surely a jumping rope could be a lot of fun and important of a kid's life. Grandma, jump roping is for little kids. Little kid, you happen to be looking at the 1976 jump up champion of Luna Township. You gr you used to jump rope. Used to? What's all the talk about used to? No, you are not. You bet I am. But you're too old. I mean,
008grandma pooping for little kids. No, ma'am. Come on, Grandma. Show what you got. Come on, kids. Let's jump up the rock. [Music] I don't know what [Music] 1 2 3 [Music] We start to get up [Music] and jump and [Music] 1 2 [Music] 3 at the table. You are a Don't forget [Music] Rock and [Applause] Amazing boys and girls. Thank you so much. That was really great. I'd like to give a special thank you to our administration and board of education for your continued support for visual and performing arts in our schools. I'd also like to give a special thank you to our school board teachers that are here this evening. And one more round of applause for Miss Stan and Miss Chilleri and our third grade student. [Applause] So at this time parents will
009return to the band room. Parents, you can exit through the back door here and we'll find you the hallway where you can pick up your child right around the corner. Thank you so much. [Applause] That's a [Music] question. [Music] He's still filling it up. [Music] Guys, look. Moving on to correspondence. Um, do we have any correspondence? Thank you very much. Moving on to minutes. Um, did I have a motion to for the regular meeting minutes April 9th open session? Motion up. Make a motion to the meeting minutes of the board of education regular meeting on April 9th, 2025 session. Second, Mr. Clark. Any questions? Roll call, please. Clark. Yes. Miss Dre. Yes. Miss Glor. Yes. Miss Martin. Yes. Mr. McMahon. Yes. Miss Peterson. Yes. Mr. Thomas. Yes. And Mr. Strong. Moving on to committee reports.
010Mr. Thomas here for the athletic committee. Yes, I do. First and foremost, I'd like to take this time to uh recognize our committee award various people who just came in. Want to recognize today and thank you for coming. Also, before I finish report, I just like to uh and I'm sure uh Miss Murphy's daughter going to come up and do her report for the bay and the guards and the winds. They had a phenomenal weekend this weekend. I still don't have fun, but I want to let them know we we were watching and we want to contribute to your success as well. Um, just get into what's going on in the athletic department. So much stuff that's going on that I'm just supposed to not just break it down what I see that they did
011a lot of things and we talk about the athletic department a lot because they compete every week and they win every so that's why we talk about it a lot because they do a lot of stuff from week to week. Uh, one thing that he did this week or the week before they won the Woodbury really there were 16 events. Out of the 16 events, they came in first place out of 14 out of 16 events. This is the other two. So just a phenomenal weekend the Olympic conference uh featuring division championships county championship the group three south sectional championship the group three state championship and this past weekend with the pen they qualified to run in the mega champions of America which competed against all the high school team in the country. Um it
012didn't win but the fact that they got there they got there with two freshman and two sophomores which is a phenomenal saying that our wins girls track will be good company moving forward they have the middle school girls they won again at relays for the third year in the world the middle school boys in the third relay was another great fe and I can say we just keep doing good things in our athletic department and we just want to give them an overall kudos to what they're going. And also I just want to point out uh our community youth personnel basketball K held the first Adidas basketball tournament today at our facilities. So we're just going to promote that we're not only uh the district we are community and that's what we thank you this
013morning. Any citizens advisor citizens advisory review meeting is Thursday at 6:30 in the administration. Thank you very much. Education meeting is on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Okay, Mr. McMud. Okay, very good. Sorry, Mr. problems. All right. So, the citizen advisory committee met April 3rd. Scroll. I'm sorry. Sorry. Yes. skipper at 6:30 p.m. Uh, some things that were discussed were the honor recognition ideas, an athletic hall of fame, an academic hall of fame, and a veteran hall of fame, top honorable participants, uh, suggesting meeting of the field of the Edgewood Legacy Sports Complex to honor past, present, and future individuals. Uh, there was discussion on volunteers, a policy on how to be a volunteer and how we can make those recommendations. Uh, visitation still available. They just need to be certified. Uh the suggestion of a
014watchdog, a volunteer group that would go into the schools to assist students and teachers. Uh we wanted to talk to teachers again to gain info and reports on prep time coverage in classroom coverage at lunch duty, KPIs, and what they are measuring. Right now, academic special area personnel are covering lunch duty. contact other schools to understand how they are successful in having parent teacher involvement. As an example, Cherry Hill School uses parents to build subspots. Uh tutoring, are there any KPIs available? Uh information on the number of tutors, breakout sessions versus academic sessions, how they are keeping track of students, uh for example, signing sheets and inperson versus computer driven. Topics for our next meeting include teacher engagement, tutoring criteria for selection of students um addressing progress and more reading programs and schools to assist
015students. The CAC2 does have three official recommendations coming out of our April meeting. Uh one being an arts hall of fame and an academic hall of fame. The CDC proposes the establishment of both an arts hall of fame and an academics hall of fame at Winso Township High School in addition to the existing existing sports hall of fame. We believe that the creation of these recognitions will significantly enhance the educational environment, further support student learning objectives and districtwide goals and appropriately celebrate the diverse talents and achievements of our current and past students. Winsow Township High School has a rich history of student excellence that extends far beyond the athletic field. We have witnessed remarkable achievements in the arts, including theater arts, chorus, dance, orchestra, and theater grow. As noted, talented alumni have gone on to
016achieve significant success in highly competitive fields such as Broadway performances and professional dance careers with renowned artists. Recognizing these accomplishments through an arts hall of fame will provide current students with inspiring role models and broadening their understanding of potential pathways to success. It will highlight the dedication, discipline, and creativity inherent in artistic pursuits, fostering a greater appreciation of the arts within our school community. Similarly, Windsor Township High School consistently produces students who demonstrate exemplary academic achievements. Many of our graduates pursue advanced degrees, including masters and doctorates, and make significant contributions through research and innovation in their respective fields. An academics hall of fame will serve to honor these outstanding intellectual accomplishments, showcasing the braver value of academic excellence. This recognition will inspire current students to strive for higher levels of learning, celebrate intellectual curiosity, and
017demonstrate the course with which academic success can manifest in the world. Okay, that was uh let's see, number two, the athletic field naming of the CAC strongly recommends exploring the cost of renaming athletic field. If renaming proceeds, we propose Edward Legacy Hall of Fame and as noted for past, future and current um uh athletic achievement fair. And number three, the third recommendation was in crisis management, stronger protocols and more transparent communication. Um, just to acknowledge any profound impact of tragedy and loss in the community, clearly communicate the availability of support services, provide accurate and timely information to prevent the spread of misinformation and rumors, demonstrate the district's commitment to the well-being of this community, and offer a platform platform for collective grieving and healing. And there are some more things that go along with that.
018to include that in the report that I sent out to the board for their review. And if there were any questions, I will take those. Just want to point out I wasn't at this meeting, so I might have to sell. Okay. Thank you. Mr. You made you made a recommendation uh to the board in reference to the naming of the athletic field. You did make a statement. I didn't get that. Do you have or will you be giving us just that recommendation because it's important that we include that in the recommendations that we already have in place? So, you provide that for us as soon as possible so that we can include it with the others. Absolutely. And with the other two as well. Like I said, they're very lengthy. Um, and I don't want
019to take up too much time reading the entire report, but that was the gist of the report and the conversation that was had that. Thank you. Also, also uh Mr. President, I I have a statement request of the marketing committee if I may. Um, I would just just be in line with what we've done in past. I know Matt did phenomenal jobs and then an opportunity to collaborate with the township on board for events. I know I emailed everybody today, but I've been asking us to come together to see how we can present our WO town state championship school at these events in collaboration. That's the June team on 62125 and of course the 4th of July fireworks here Friday on 74 2025. We have the family day at 8:23 25 and the fall festival.
020I'm just seeing that we need to get a consortium to make sure that our board of education is tent is occupied and ready to be in a winning vote when it comes to these events and collaborations with uh have a presence at those events. Absolutely. I think that is u pretty much a board decision but if you want us to have intent at the event it's just a matter of request continue that was a request put in last last meeting have a tent over at June celebration. Okay. And but I do like I love Mr. Thomas's idea about having the especially recommendation there is Dr. Okay. Uh, Mr. President, keep in mind we will provide 10 chairs as far as what the board intend to do at these [Music] event. You know those kind of
021integral parts that need to be present those as far as what? [Music] Yes. Yes. And thank you Miss for your report operations. policy. I know Mrs. But anybody that's on that committee was there at this time. Okay. Um Mr. Thomas committees that you're on. No, no report at this time. Okay. And I have none for the planning board. So we'll move on to superintendent report. Can I have a motion to approve the superintendent report as he recommends it for approval? Yes, I make a motion to accept the superintendence report that begins from H3 letter A 256. Second. All right. Any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark. Yes. Might. Yes. Miss Martin? Yes. Mr. Yes. Miss. Yes. Mr. Thomas. Yes. And Mr. Sh. Yes. Motion. I have a motion on the business administrator board secretaries report
022as it's as it's recommended for approval. Um by the superintendent the board administrator make a motion for the administrator board secretar begins on page seven letter A and B one through 21 on page 11. Second, Mr. Clark, any questions? I just have one question for you. this board. So the the the projects that were going out that are going out for uh DOE approval, they're just going up. How far along are they far out? But this is step Oh, I'm sorry. I do. I turn my head to look into it's a strategic step has to be taken so that gets out. Okay. Thank any other questions. Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss, yes. Miss Glor, yes. Miss Martin, yes. Mr. Yes. Miss Peterson. Yes. Mr. Thomas. Yes. And Mr. Sh. Yes. But I have
023to recuse myself from on the vendor list bill on the vendor list on page 10 number 63. It's for uh Starite address. Moving on to the personnel report and I have a motion to uh approve the uh the personnel report as superintendent recommends it for approval. I make a motion to accept the personal report that begins on page 12 letter A. I have to make one correction. I'm sorry. real quick. Um, there is one correction on that I need to make sure everybody has before we go through letter H on letter B and everybody make sure that on letter B it says shall be shr Mr. President, on page 18, letter B, and everybody make sure that it says Shelby Shaw, you are the assistant drama director. Mr. President, is it BB? Everybody's good to
024motion. I make a motion that the person report one through 22 on page 24. Second, Mr. Clark. Any questions? Yes, Mr. President. On page 13, number four, high dosage tutoring that started on March 1st going through May 30th. How many are participating as of March 1st or as of April 30th? Which number is that Miss Four on page 13? Is the 2024 2025 uh tutoring? I want to know how many teachers or students or students I don't have that number in front of me if I can provide it for you. That would be one more. Thank you. Any other questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Dre, Miss Martin, yes. Mr. McM Peterson, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. The motion has carried. Moving on to our agenda. And I have a
025motion. Oh, I'm sorry. Everyone take a couple minutes to read over the agenda, please. Can I have a motion to approve the superintendence report as a superintendent recommends it for approval? Make a motion that we accept the superintendent report and second Mr. um any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. M. Yes. Miss Floyd, yes. Miss Martin, yes. Mr. McN, yes. Miss, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. Motion has. And I have a motion to approve the board secretaries report as it's uh as recommended by this board administrator, board secretary and superintendent. I make a motion short beginning on page one letter A and go through three second. Any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark. Yes. M. Miss Lloyd, yes. Miss Martin, yes. Mr. McN, yes. Miss, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr.
026Strong, yes. Moving on to the personnel report. And I have a motion to approve this personnel report as a super Mr. President. Yes. I'd like to make a motion that we table personnel report letter number A item one. Second that motion Mr. Sher motion and a second the table under Robert Tools. There is no debate if the table is successful. If there's unsuccessful then it'll be up for approval um or denial and then there can be discussion but there can't be at this point. Okay. And and a motion table takes priority. So we need to proceed immediately to a roll call on that matter. Okay. Miss B. We have a roll call on that. Yes. So I had a motion by Mr. Mr. Thomas. Seconded by Mr. Clark. Yes. Missing. Yes. Miss Lloyd. Yes. Miss
027Martin. Yes. Mr. McManis. Yes. Miss Peterson. Yes. Mr. Thomas. Yes. And Mr. Strong. Yes. Motion has carried. Mr. President, we need a motion from item two page or the agenda through the bottom on page six. Second, Mr. Clark. Any questions on those items? Call Mr. Clark. Yes. M. Yes. M. Yes. Miss Martin? Yes. Mr. Yes. Miss Peterson? Yes. Mr. Thomas? Yes. And Mr. Shaw? Yes. Going back to our regular agenda, um, open public records and act requests. Thank you. Moving on to theformational items. Are there anyformational items? Yes. Uh, Mr. the president members board. I move forward with the information items. I want to remind everyone that I still represent here tonight and we have not given her an opportunity and I would be remiss if I didn't have anything she would like to share
028with us on. Yes. Good evening everyone. I'm happy to report that today our school held a seasonal sports assembly to honor our winter sports athletes and looking forward our student government's most upcoming events for teacher appreciation week alongside Mrs. I'm sorry. I can see you down there. That's all. That's all right, Mr. Ch. Um, at some point, M is going to share with us um some important information in reference to her future goals. Brief conversation with her, but I'm going to let her tell you that at the appropriate time. Uh but I just want to say in advance that I am proud of Miss Dutton and her future endeavors and the things she has planned here. So congratulations on behalf of administration. If you feel that you would like to share that personal information, you
029may do so. All right. Thank you. Uh ladies and gentlemen, I do have some information items. However, a couple housekeeping things I'd like to bring to your attention today. In your folders, you will find uh the viewing information for Mrs. Pit's husband. Uh I wanted to make sure that everyone had that information um so that if you or friends and family would like to attend that information is made available to you. I also have in those folders from Strauss Esme. Um this is an annual educational policy and school law seminar. If you are interested, um, you have to apply or register by June, excuse me, by May 21st. Two board members can attend at no cost. And if any other board members would like to attend, it will be $100 per person. I know over
030the years we have participated in these uh seminars. So, I wanted to make sure that information was available to all of you. Uh moving to my information items. Uh like to give you a couple updates. As you know, we've been uh having our conversation about Chromebooks. At our last school board meeting, the board approved us moving forward. We're providing one Chromebooks at the middle school and high school. However, I I think I need to make a clarification. Uh I've been using the term useful life when we are talking about pertaining to conflicts. Uh after our last board meeting, my leadership and I uh had a long conversation about what does that mean? A useful life of Chromebook. Um so we pretty much um have that question asking ourselves are the Chromebooks that we say useful
031is inspired does mean Chromebook Chromebooks are no longer useful or are they limited in what they can do? Uh Dr. Caramo had a conversation with the principal at the middle school as well as the principal at the high school and uh this is what was determined. Um when we purchased new textbooks uh many of them have online components uh and many of the new programs may not be compatible to the Chromebooks that we presently have in place. Um in some cases it may be the memory or the technology components. Um in some cases they can be upgraded. We can upgrade so that we can accommodate those new uh programs and in some cases it may not. So if the Chromebook is not compatible it does not mean that they cannot be used for other purposes
032in our schools. uh if the Chromebook can still be used for and most of them are research, our Google classroom, our state assessments and all of that program then those Chromebooks still have the useful life. Um, so what we're going to do, um, you know, we still want to discard those Chromebooks that are old, uh, but we're going to continue to, uh, go through the process of upgrading that Chromebooks on a rotating basis. So, with that being said, uh I just want uh all of you to know in the community that we have enough Chromebooks uh for our state assessment, which is very important. And we will be able to provide a Chromebook for each of our students 7th through 12th grade in the 256. We've already purchased or placed an order to purchase 600
033Chromebooks, 400 for the high school, 200 for the middle school, and we ordered an additional 200, 800 Chromebooks, which will be more than enough for us to continue with the one to one for our students 7th through 12th grade. All right. Any questions to that? Doctor. Yes, sir. Question um regarding the useful life Chromebook. Yes. Was there a like a re recommended time frame by the manufacturer that that would that would go by like say five six years or whatever? We we normally try to be a threeyear rotation. Okay. Um and in some cases u when we don't do all of them those Chromebooks are still useful. the problem you run into or the concerns we have. Most of the new textbooks that we purchase now have uh a technology component and when we purchase
034those new textbooks some of the older uh Chromebooks may not be able or aren't compatible with those new uh those new programs. So on the other hand, we may be able to come to be able to make some changes so that the Chromebooks are compatible or um we can decide to again just go in and purchase some new ones. But again, we usually make that determination over three year period, but in some cases when we don't, those Chromebooks still have a useful life for us as long as they can manage state assessments, as long as the students can use research in or outside the classroom, that classroom, um, and all those other any programs we have in the school district, if they can continue to be used for that purpose, then we don't necessarily have
035to roll them over, but we are pretty much on a three-year rotation. And I believe that you also had shared before, and correct me if I'm wrong, that there we have in our in-house technology department, we also have the ability to perform upgrades, be able to get some more functional utility out. Yes. Yes, we can. Thank you. Yes, we do. I have a question. So, we're going to continue to with the the original motion to ensure that each seventh grader and 10th grader, excuse me, seventh grader through 12th grade, they can assign their own Chromebook. Yes, that was part of the original response. Yes. So, 7th through 12th grade will have. All right. If I can, I just like to say thank you to the administration board. I know this has been a topic for
036years. I just like to thank all who supported it and championed it to get it to this point where we can uh do new things to service our community. The second thing is the technology audit. We have identified a vendor to perform the technology. Um the name of the company is Karasoft. Carasoft is an approved New Jersey school board association vendor. Um the cost for the audit came in pretty much where we anticipated. It's going to be $168,644. Um we would like to present um that offer to the board at our next school board meeting. However, as I mentioned to you before, um we will be asking um that vendor to come and make a presentation before the board on the 14th um so that you have a better idea of the scope of work
037and if there are any other questions you have, you'll have that opportunity to address some questions. So, they will be coming in on the 14th. That concludes our information items for this evening. And if you have any additional questions you'd like to ask before I I have one continue concerning that I I would ask could we send a robocall out to the parents letting them know that that they will be looking at a new so they can come in possibly a part of this communication process with the IT if that is the way she's on the board then we can do that. I think that's a good idea. And I have an information item I'd like to read. Yes, sir. Uh, Mr. Abs, Dr. Share with me that he met with Mr. Mario Archie, executive
038director of community care, food pack, representatives of the Southern Regional Food District Center and with Mrs. Marsh Thomas representing the community to discuss the possibility of establishment of food bank one or more school one or more of our schools. He shares with me that the major concern the district is finding a safe finding space in the school to store food and how the food will be directly distributed. Principles will be asked will be asked to go to the buildings to see if they can approve of any size. Once this process completed we will contact Mr. Bart and let him know the district can establish a in the district for the next school year. Can I ask a question, Mr. Thomas? And and just refresh at CCU, correct? Yes. Uh is that uh the closed distribution
039in particular is that focused on township only or is that the original? I the schooling pantry will be focused primarily about lessons in those children who attend school and then the any things like that? um pretty much the same but our primary focus has been just a food painting uh even though this part represent clothing aspect of that was not a part of our conversation. All right. Thank you. Thanks for another question. I know this is coming to a shock to everybody. um the uh the sprout estimate what would you need to know like I'd like to know this right that doesn't necessarily have to come directly to me board secretary if you would let her know as soon as possible fill out the attachment that you have there um Mr. president, I would say
040first two go free and then everyone else after that will have to pay $100,000. So let Mrs. B know fill out the information so she can keep it running because of course come back to the board. Mr. President, I have a question. Going back to the two things I volunteer at three and all three are in W school three with Uing church. I do with RT and then I go to be the one that is at first. All of focus on what the how different would it for the school district be? I I think um the emphasis would be that the children or the students in the school will have direct access to the food and they can and as I shared with Mr. Thomas discreetly take the food home. I think it's important that
041um we try to provide and protect some privacy for these young people that it doesn't become an issue of them taking food home on the bus and the other students not really understanding um make it an issue where they don't necessarily want to participate anymore but it's primarily the children. Um what was explained to me is um we will um bring in and this uh town seller was one of those represent the community as a volunteer that they had individual come in help package the food put it in backpacks so the young people can um just bring back home and uh the little people who of course would communicate with their parents, put it on the bus so parents can greet them, that sort of thing. Um I think the need for food has gone
042beyond what we really truly understand. It used to be you know a situation of the greatest need but I think the need for food has expanded beyond that. I mean, with the economy the way it is, um, I understand and what was made clear to me and I agree. Um, if you as a family want to pay for whatever amount of food that is, then fine. But if someone else can get that amount of food and take home for free, it is what it is. I think at this point our free reduced lunch numbers continue to grow each year which means that more families are in need. And I'll end with this. My main concern at this point is um location in the schools where it's going to be safe. It's not going to create
043a problem because as I shared with Mr. part that uh the winter months, you know, when it get cold, all kinds of things want to come south and if you don't have a secure place for food, then we're going to create another problem for us. So, um I will be working with the building principles and we will make hopefully a final recommendation. If we can, we're going to do it because I know there's need out there. Um, but I need to make sure it's something that's definitely going to work. They even mentioned to us because perishable items, they would provide a refrigerator and things like that because I told you you can't leave food that's perishable anywhere in our schools overnight because that will not work for us. And we have to have a great
044clean program afterwards because you know there's a lot of things we spent a lot of time in trying to maintain our schools make sure they're clean and prepared for the following day. So, uh, working with them and they had a lot of great ideas and suggestions, but I just need to make sure on our camp that we can in fact do provide this service in a way that's not going to cause any additional issues for the school district. So, uh, we will be looking at that and hopefully making a recommendation before the end of the school. And I like to say something. So when the pain situation came up a couple years ago while I was on the CDC um at my school board um Marcy Thomas and Mario and a couple other people we
045all went out and we went to different schools and we actually got to see the pantries in action and when we saw the pantries in action that's when we knew that we had to bring to our community. So when you see the pantry get in action once we get it everything situated with you Dr. and all your administrators at the school buildings. You're going to see not only do they keep the pantry 100% in compliance with safety and and sanitation, but you're going to see what greatness it brings to our community, for our kids, and for the families who need that extra treatment. And that's all I can say. And I just like to piggy back on that on how we we give the community opportunity to make suggestions and show that we listen. We
046do what's best for the students and for the residents. Want to keep that type of collaboration and opportunity open to all. Yes, I'm finished. Thank you. Moving on to old business. Is there any old business? Yes. Um, Mr. President, I want to thank the board uh for making a significant contribution to the Louis Johnson family that the checks and cash were given out tonight with um board member Wana with me. So, thank you for your contributions. I think they'll go a long way. They were very impressed. Anybody else? Just a reminder that was it May 7th like it is the nominations for the athletic field. It closed on May 7th and I forward an additional one to you. Uh if I'm counting correctly with the recommendation, Mrs. We should have five recommendations so far. Just
047wanted to remind everybody that also I want to recognize Mr. Watkins for his attendance here tonight that the special meeting on May. Yes. Also on May 7th, we have our special budget meeting um here in the uh middle school uh cafeteria. That's the uh administration. Oh, at the administration. Okay, sorry about that. 6 o'clock at the administration building. All right, moving on to new business. Any any new business? No, sir. Um can I ask a question? Yes, sir. Um it was a a member of the community approached me and they had a a question. Um I I know the answer to it and I think maybe for if any of you are watching maybe thorough applications. Um they asked this question is there a a general slush fund that's available that I I know the
048answer but fun. Let me let me I can tell you the answer is no. Um but the observation was made that number one the technology part that we're about to do a significant uh cost for that but then we had the money in the budget from line transfers correct me if I'm wrong. Yes. And then was also we had committed to adding a number of assistant principles that had Yeah. that had no quote unquote effect on the budget because they were able to they're able to draw funds from somewhere else within the budget that hadn't been allocated. Um so I just wanted to allow maybe a comment or two public comment or two regarding that just from this individual's observations and that's how you um no there is no such thing as a smudge um
049when we prepare budget as you'll see we set aside x number of dollars for certain for example I'll use supplies um let's say we set aside a million dollars for supplies for the entire school district and at the end the school year like where we are now, we can go back and look at all of our line items and see if there's money left over. If there's money left over, school district as a whole, including the building level, have an opportunity to use those monies for things that we need right now. So that next year because we're dealing with the assistant principal next year instead of putting the million dollar supply we put $800,000 because $200,000 is already covering those two. So basically what we're doing is just redirecting the money. Um so we go
050through the budget every year. Now, for example, a year down the road, um we know we have 800,000 in supplies that we will budget 800,000 and we believe that we can still provide the district and all other entities everything we need at this point next year with 800,000 in supply as opposed to one gift. Um that happens and just like your home budget, I make sure at dealing with Mrs. school that we don't budget to dollar. You know, you because if you budget to the dollar, you going to um you're going to overspend and then we're right back at trying to find money to from somewhere else to cover it. So, um no, I think the business particular in our meetings, we always budget according to our needs. Uh but we always make sure you
051have a few dollars in there for emergencies because there are things that happen all the time. Um now as far as Chromebooks concerned the money for 800 Chromebooks with that sat down with Dr. Carone Dr. cargo purchasing textbooks. Uh we can wait another year for that particular textbook because we found out that the textbook that we're presently using has not given or provided a new edition. So we're not going to buy let's say for example a 2024 edition. happen. We wait, we have to wait until the 25, 26, 28 or 29 edition come out so that we're always a few years ahead. So when we went back to Dr. Park, we realized, well, we're not going to purchase that textbook this year because they don't have to do this. So we were able to find
052some additional money to purchase those. It's just simple uh budgeting and preparation like you would do with your budget at home. And I understand all that especially sitting here tonight, right? If you get a good education even in the few months that I've been there, one of the things and I'll be honest with you, prior to me joining the board, sometimes I would see things happening that would give me pause, I guess you might say, like where did that come from? So uh and I know that there's and believe me when I say this in since the beginning of the year during rework when I sat number of people have uh asked me that question. So I just thought it was pertinent to be able to go over that with with books and and it's
053interesting that you say that because like you know we didn't get snow this year but we budgeted money for salt. Absolutely. And so that's since we didn't budget money for salt. I mean we did budget money for salt. It was there but we didn't use it. But now we can do techn you know oversimplification but just so that people can understand. For example, yesterday you have to have money to get that fixed and you got to call from the outside money because they're unforeseen. You can't for things that you don't have. So again with Mrs. for leadership. Uh we are able to look at each line item, budget it, and also ensure uh that we're looking a year ahead for emergencies that we are under that we don't expect to happen. So at this point
054normally Dr. Carter doesn't have any money but at this point unfortunately the new textbooks weren't available to us because we're not going to buy old textbooks and then in one year down there I was teaching so we waited a year and in doing so we had so again we meaning Mr. for myself. When we do these kinds of things, we can explain, we can tell you why we're doing, how we're doing, but we also make these financial decisions for a greater need. We need those principles. Without question, we we've been trying to manage our building, one person, five kids, it's impossible. So, we're in a position now. We can do it this year. Couldn't do it. So, now it's time and hopefully in another year or two I'm going to come back and ask you
055because we still need one more because we still have a shared situation. But that's questionly slightly. So in addition to the budgeting process and the funds that are allocated to certain areas within the budget, um all that financial information is then reviewed by our auditor to determine if there are inappropriate bonds of money sitting somewhere. And I can go back 10 audits with Mrs. oil here and she keeps getting this one finding any other findings. It's that she has too much money in the food account and she can't spend it quickly enough. That's the worst that they can say and we don't use it for any other purpose because correct me if I'm wrong. You can't. It's got to be used and be put back into the food program. Correct. Yes. So, and then there's
056a state organization of Office of Fiscal Responsibility that also comes down on occasion. Um, but I know they've been here many times since I've been here that in addition to our normal auditor that we use to review the books. The state comes down and reviews the books and and they look at um several different areas beyond finance, but a finance is a big component. They require us to produce a significant amount of documents and I don't remember us ever getting less than 100. We've been shy in some other categories but I think our financial responsibility through the state audits that we've been getting have been the highest that we can possibly receive. So I just want to in addition to inhouse, we also rely upon two additional sources outside this organization to tell us that
057we're doing well and we're good shepherds and stewards of the talents fund. Great. Thank you, Mr. No more questions, Mr. President. That was your next question. Moving on to public comments. Thank you, Mr. President. The Winsow Township Board of Education highly values the input of citizens in making important 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 the speakers follow the following guidelines for making public comment. The board secretary will recognize those individuals in the audience who wish to make public comment, and we'd ask you to respect the following procedures. One, all
058members of the public attending schoolboard meetings must treat each other of the board with respect. Two, please state your full name and town of residents. Three, please limit your comments to four minutes. Four, submit your questions to the board in the event we're unable to answer them this evening along with your name, address, telephone number, and an email address if possible. where you can be contacted. Your question will be answered within a reasonable 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. And have a motion to open public comments. Motion to open public comments. Second, Mr. Clark. All in favor? We have signed up for public comments. Yes, Mr. President. I'm sorry. Good evening.
059One thing it's actually not right yet, but the girls the girls lacrosse team had their first set of backto back wings since 2016. So really and then the guard on Sunday they won the region one championship. So we fought for my banner and they got a score of 92 and then the winds placed second with a score of 79. Both groups are headed to those championships. The wins leave tomorrow for the um 75 I think and then the guard on Friday and Sunday. So guys are that was perfect. so that we can uh be consistent with our acknowledgement of our young people and their successes. Um we're going to have to have um you young ladies and young men come in and display that regional banner with us uh like we do all the other
060championship kinds of things. So um you think maybe you guys be ready for the next board meeting? That's the 14th. Yes, it is. I can talk to I would ask Mr. relative sushi. [Applause] Thank you. Okay. So, I have been fighting for the proper support for my child at school six. My child is in the classroom with a support aid from an outside contractor. I wanted to have a conversation but wasn't allowed. In order to have a conversation, there's like a flaw in the system and it calls for me to have a phone call with the contractor and then an email to a general mailbox and wait for a ticket to be addressed depending on the order of the incident. So, the delay in response time makes issues linger. On Monday, I attempted to go
061to the school to chat with someone about an issue last Friday. I wasn't allowed by administrators. Let me be clear, I have never actually had an interaction where I have raised my voice or been a threat in a way besides asking questions on behalf of my child. That being said, security should have never been an option to be called um to ask you to leave the premises while being a concerned parent trying to get clarity on the situation told to me by my 10-year-old. However, in previous instances at school, I have been yelled at and my child has been humiliated time and time again. As a parent, even with the frustrating circumstances, I still offer solutions rather than just complaining. I've been an active parent and will remain that regardless of how uncomfortable the conversations
062get. At this point, it's almost May tomorrow, and my 10-year-old has had a year full of traumatic experiences from adults who are supposed to support him. I have received an email from an administrator stating having untieed shoes as a as stating having untied shoes was categorized as a behavior. To me, it actually highlights that if true, maybe the support services in OT should be increased since that is a concern. I can also say describing my child as having tantrums and behaviors are inaccurate. I'm asking the board to review the process for rectifying situations swiftly with outside contractors, and I'm curious as to what warrants security being called on a parent. I have never been treated that way in any of the schools and I actually think I deserve an apology. Mrs. Polio, I I have
063one point to make in reference to clarification. Okay. Outside contractors, so they are not responsible for scheduling meetings. know it and a be responsible for scheduling meeting. If you want to have a meeting in the building, then you go through the building principal. It doesn't matter whether the aid is a direct or indirect employee of the district. All requests for meetings must go through building principal. So, um I think I don't know why, but you were misdirected by calling them to resolve immediate issues. They can't they don't have that kind of authority. So, at this point, I would redirect you to building the principal to schedule a meeting in reference to whatever the issue may be. I've actually went to the school to try to have a conversation with the building administrator and that is
064where the whole security situation came into play because I did not know that this individual was a contracted worker. I thought that it would be um a cafeteria worker actually and or a school employee. My son just gave me the information of the person's name. So when I went to the school and I gave the name, then that's when I found out that it was not a district employee. So once they said that, but I I think there's still a misunderstanding. But I didn't want a meeting. I wanted a conversation because an adult calling my child a name is unacceptable. That's what I'm saying. Let let me let me respond. Um the person may not be employed by the school district but if he or she is in the building that person fall under the
065jurisdiction of the building country doesn't matter. Okay. Now I don't want to discuss whatever occurred personally in that building and why security had to be called. Um we don't normally do that and I don't want to do that. Exactly. um if you call me tomorrow um so that I can get a better idea and let me have an opportunity to speak to the building principal um because I'm quite sure there's something other than you know that needs to be addressed. So at this point uh call me tomorrow uh I will be available after uh 12 o'clock because I have an outside meeting to attend tomorrow. So, you will call me after 12 o'clock so I can speak with you find out the details of how all this came about. I don't have a problem with
066doing that, but if I don't feel like it's addressed, I'll be back the next meeting. Oh, absolutely. You have that. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. That concludes those that have signed up. There anybody on the phone line? Not at this time. Not at this time. Not at this time. I have a motion to close public comments. Motion to close public comments. Second. All in favor? [Music] Yes, we do have a uh in speaking to Dr. We do have a short executive session. Um, and of course with the requirements available for public meetings act, we'll be adjourning into executive session on April 30, 2025 at 8:25 p.m. of the nine exceptions utilizing number eight matters relating um to uh performance and positions. Uh does not have to do with any one individual, but Dr. Bert
067has an opportunity to have discussions with the board and he indicated that it would be short. So, I'm going to indicate uh for the record that we should be in executive session probably 15 to 20 minutes. Is that sufficient? That's more than enough time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Motion to approve moving into executive session. Motion to move in into executive session. Second, Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark. Yes. Miss Dragon. Yes. Miss Mr. Yes. Mus. Yes. Mr. Trump. Yes. Mr.