001[Music] Ladies and gentlemen, may we have your attention, please? We would like to start our board meeting. And at this time, Mr. Show. Mr. Show. Thank you, Dr. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Welcome to the Winslow Township Board of Education regular uh board of education meeting of Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and associates in a notice dated January 9th, 2020. 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 posted in all schools, the administration office, the municipal building, the library, but Dougal Center, Edgewood Acres, Elmtown, and the Mun Winsow town office. Our mission statement, the mission, the mission of the Winsow Township School District,
002a large, diverse, and growing community is to educate all students to become independent, lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and caring and competent members to of their community. The district in a partnership with the community and in a climate of cooperation of and mutual mutual respect will provide an academic environment values of excellence and diversity encourages students to strive for personal excellence in the system in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to positively to a rapidly changing world. Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, here. Miss Dre. Miss Glo present. Miss Martin present. Mr. Mcmanis here. Miss Peterson present. Miss Pitts. Miss Pitts will be absent tonight. Thank you. Mr. Thomas here. 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
003States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisibley for all Mr. Clark, can you read the district goals, please? Sure. 2024 2025 instructors number one continue best practices for delivering instruction to students to monitor teaching and learning. B consistently review student assessment data guide teaching. C. Continue to provide supplemental activities for example tutoring to address D. B. D. [Music] A B C D. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Moving on to awards andations. Yes. Um, President Shaw, members of the board, community, we have three presentations this evening. First, we'd like to start with a chef's challenge, and I will ask Dr. Carter, if you come to the podium to preside over this presentation. Following the chef's challenge, we have a performance by school six followed by the presentation of awards to former board
004members. At this time, Dr. Carter would you present the chef's challenge awards. Thank you. All right. Good evening everyone. Good evening. So, welcome everyone to the 15th annual Future Chefs event. I am Dr. Carter. I'm the principal of school 5 and host of tonight's uh future chefs challenge. So, the whole concept of this competition is to help educate kids about healthy eating habits. Uh too often we hear about obesity in kids and kids not making the right choices in terms of their eating habits. Uh this year the students submitted their favorite dish favorite main dish recipes. Final judging was based on taste, originality, ease of preparation, healthy attributes, kid appeal and plate presentation. And so just a bit about the timeline in preparation for this event, students from schools five and six filled out recipe
005cards. The food service office narrowed down the recipes to two students per school. The four finalists were formally invited to a culinary competition cookoff today, March 26, which started at 5:00 p. him. Just to note, all finalists will receive a prize package with the champion also receiving the grand prize. So now, let me introduce the judges in today's event. Winslow Township School Board Member Wanda [Applause] Glaude. Winslow Township School Board member Jerry McManis. Winslow Township School Board member Michael Clark. Westlo Township business owner S Marcante, owner of Juliana Pizza, Community Care, Food and Clothing Pantry, a nonprofit organization here in Winslow Township. Owner Mario Partee. [Applause] The village of Camden County Incorporated, nonprofit organization here in Winslow Township. Director Camille [Applause] Williams. Young people got feel welcome, don't they? So, the finalists had the competition
006earlier today and we are here to announce the winner. But before doing so, I'd like to introduce the contestants out of school five, Alicia Addison. Alicia, raise your hand back there. Alicia prepared homemade beef sliders. [Music] All right. And from school number six, we have Arian Williams. Arian prepared. [Music] I'm starting to think school six has the homec court advantage. So Arian, as you guys saw, prepared sweet and spicy salmon bites. Also from school number five, we have Kelsey Jones, who prepared homemade chicken noodle soup. [Music] And also from school number six, we have Taylor Young, who prepared chicken Alfredo. [Music] Great job. And congratulations to all of our students. At this time, I am going to announce the winners. Our runners up are Alicia Addison and Arian [Applause] Williams. Ladies, you guys can come
007forward. contestants, once you're called, you can actually come to the table right over there on the far left hand side. All right. So, our second place winner, our second place winner is Kelsey Jones. All right. And our 2025 future chef's winner is Taylor Young. [Applause] Once again, congratulations to all the contestants. A special judges and students for your participation. Thank you to the Winsow Township School District for hosting the event. And a special thank you goes to Sedexos, Colleen Lillich, Ray Watkins, and staff for hosting this competition. Thank you everyone. Dr. That concludes our presentation. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Carter. At this time, ladies and gentlemen, we will have a performance by school number six. I would ask the principal, Miss Brown, if she would please come forward. Good evening everyone. I am Miss
008Brown, principal of school six. Congratulations, Taylor. Congratulations to all the chefs. Women's history month is our focus for March. It was actually started in 1987. This evening uh we will have three classes present information for you. The classes were given a charge of conducting research and creatively presenting it. So this evening we have three classes uh with three different women that will span from the early 1900s until present day. They can't see. Good evening. Good evening. Our women's history month spotlight brought to you by Miss Peterson's home room is Katherine Johnson. Katherine Johnson was a brilliant mathematician who worked for NASA and helped send astronauts to space. She was born in 1918 and loved math from a young age. She worked as a human computer calculating important flight paths for missions including the Apollo 11
009moon landing in 1969. Today's WNC Winsel News Champ is here with Johnson at NASA headquarters. Our reporter Corbin is here to lead our very important press conference. Thank you. Tonight I am here with Katherine Johnson as she shares with us details about how she changed the world and space forever. Miss Johnson, come on out. Thank you for joining us this evening. Thank you for having me. We We are here this evening to celebrate your accomplishments. We will be taking some questions from the reporters in the crowd. You. What made you want to become a mathematician? I wanted to become a mathematician because I love to count everything. I counted everything I could like dishes, spoons, and forks I washed. How did you How did you feel when you worked on the first flight to space?
010I felt scared, but I knew I could do it. How did you solve really hard math problems for space missions? I just kept trying my best and trying different ways to solve problems. I love math so much that I just want to keep on solving problems. What was the challenge you faced as a black woman working in science? The biggest challenge I found while working at NASA was being taken seriously because I was a black woman. Back then, many people did not think that women could solve math problems and we were ignored. Can you tell Can you tell us Can you tell us what it's like to help astronauts go to space? I was honored to be trusted by John Glennon. He would not go into space unless I checked the calculations. Miss Johnson, thank
011you to speak with us tonight. Mila, back to you in the studio. Thank you. Thank you, Corbin. It is clear to you that Katherine Johnson's work was crucial to space travel and she overcame many challenges as an African-American woman in science. Katherine Johnson received many awards for her contributions, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Badly, Katherine Johnson passed away in 2020 at the age of 101. Wow. next to each other once. this one. Don't lose your car. pleasure. Nice. Keep going. We're not uncooked. I'm cooked. Tonight, Miss Carter and Miss Cton class will present a poem about Serena Williams. Serena's power. Serena steps on a court ready to play. Where fierce smile, she's here to stay. With her racket in hand, she's focused and bold. Her story strength is one to be told. From Compton,
012she dreamed and worked so hard. Tennis was tough, but she played the car. She practiced each day, never giving up, even when times are rough and tough. Her story is fast. Her shot is smart. She played with courage and true work of art. She won so many but never quits. Her passion and power will never miss a hit. Serena teaches us to never back down, to wear our pride like a golden crown. If you believe yourself and keep reaching high, you can do anything. Just give it a try. She faces challenges big and smaller and chase your dreams. Thank you for listening to our poem and we hope you enjoyed our presentation on Serena Williams. There it is. [Laughter] [Music] This one. [Music] When we're ready, Mrs. G's class welcomes you to our skit, Ava
013Duvet, a trailblazer in film. Ava Duivere is a groundbreaking filmmaker known for her powerful storytelling and dedication to social justice. Ava grew up with a passion for film making. She started her career as a publicist but soon found her true calling behind Ava's first feature film, I will follow, was released in 2010. It tells the story woman of a woman dealing with grief after the loss of a loved one. Ava's films like Selma and 13th have received critical acclaim and sparked important conversations about ma race and justice. Ava made it with her film Selma, becoming the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best director. Eva Duven continues to break barriers and inspire future generations of filmmakers. Thank you for watching our skit Ava Duivery, a trailblazer in film. Thank
014you. So, I'd like to thank the parents for bringing the students out. Thank acknowledge the teachers for their hard work and dedication. Thank you, Miss Brown and school number six for an excellent presentation. At this time, we'll have the presentation of awards to our former board members. And at this time, we'll turn our board meeting back over to our president, Mr. John Shaw. [Music] Mr. Davis, would you ask Dr. know the preschool information. This is going to be on the website tomorrow. All right. Give everybody. Congratulations. Congratulations. He was in there running that Congratulations. Good night. We got to start that. We'll give we'll give them a couple minutes to leave. Uh yeah. Is this one? Yeah, it'll work. [Music] Oh, there she is. All right. All right, Mr. Ascu. Can you come up here
015first, please? [Music] It's a little quieter. Our first plaque is uh going to be presented to Mr. Anthony Ascu who served on our board for from February fe uh 2024 to December 2024. The plaque says presented to Anthony Ascu in recognition of loyal service as a member of the board of education of Winslow Township February 2024 to December 2024. Ask you this is from all the board members. Thank you very much for your dedicated service. We really appreciate Mr. Chester, could you please come up? How you doing, sir? This plaque is presented to Mr. Robert Chester in recognition of a loyal service as a member of the board of education of Winslow Township, November 2024 to December 2024. Uh from all the board members of the Winslow Township Board of Education, Dr. Potit and Miss
016Bole, Dr. Parko and all the staff of Whitlo Township. Thank you for all your service to the students and teachers and family. Thank you very much, sir. Last but not least, Miss Neves, could you please come up? says presented to Miss Rebecca Neves in recognition of a loyal service as a member of the Township Board of Education, January 22nd, December 204, sorry, January 2022 to December 2021. from all the members of the Winsor Township Board of Education. Thank you very much. That concludes our presentations to all our former board. Um, can can Mr. um, senior vice president for a second? Mr. Thomas. Yes. Ladies and gentlemen of the board and constituents and stakeholders, I'd like I'd like to ask for a 30 second moment of silence. this past uh I believe it was uh Sunday,
017we had a tragic accident where some people lost their lives. They were students of our building. So, at this time, I'm just going to ask that you bow your head and ask for 30 seconds of silence. Thank you. Um, Dr. Patique or Miss Bo, sorry. On the correspondence, uh, we have none this evening, Mr. President. Can I get a have a motion to approve the following meeting minutes of our regular board meeting, March 12th, open session? Peterson move for approval of the regular board of education meeting held on March the 12th open session. Any questions? Um, roll call, please. Clark, yes. Miss Dreen. Miss Claude, yes. Miss Martin, yes. Mr. Mr. Mcmanis, yes. Miss Peterson, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. Motion has carried. Moving on to board committee reports. Mr. Thomas, is
018there anything out of the athletic committee? Yes, I do. There, Mr. President. Uh, members of our athletic committee is John Shaw, Wanda Claude, myself, Joe Thomas. I'd just like to give you some updates on our Windows spring athletics. As you well know, we are four 2024. We are four team state champion and we're seeking to get two more to make it a six state champion run in the year 2024 2025. And I'd like to talk about our middle school Winslow spring athletic baseball. We got 14 varsity players. Their first game is tomorrow. Our softball team, this once again, this is middle school. 20 varsity players. Our track and field middle school, we got 56 registered players and that's for our middle school. And now our high school wins spring athletic 2025. Baseball varsity players 17,
019junior varsity 13. Softball varsity 16 players, JV 10 players. Boys lacrosse, 15 players. Girls lacrosse, 20 varsity, 22 JV. And now our boys track team, we have 80 varsity track members. Girls track, track and field, 54 registered members. Boys tennis, 16 varsity players. And for the first time ever, Winslow Edgewood history, our girls flag of football team, 14 varsity players, eight JV players. They had their first game yesterday with a good effort. They fell, but they are winners in our heart. Let's give them all a round of applause. And that's the report there, Mr. President. Thank you. Thomas, Miss Martin, is there anything from the citizens advisory committee? Anything from the education committee? I'm okay. Mr. McMas, anything for from the marketing committee? Um, nothing new saved. We have the upcoming meeting 1:30 this uh
020this upcoming Saturday. Um um Miss Dreen the operations committee meeting. Okay. The operations committee met on Tuesday March 25th 2025 at 5:30. In attendance were Miss Dreen committee chair Mr. Shaw, board president, and Mr. Mcmanis. Also in attendance were Miss Bole and Miss Chico, and the following items were discussed of the high school HVAC. We had a meeting with land architects in order to get an update on the status of the project. Lamb provided a timetable to get the project past the OSC review and out to be fee for the project was brought up and discussed. The fee, which was based on the cost of construction, had not been adjusted since um the last estimate. At current estimated costs, land's fee could be as high as $1.1 million. They are requesting an additional 198,905 which
021would actually bring their total fee for the project up to 534, uh719, which is still 613 plus less than what it could have been. This increase is on the March 26, 2025 agenda for approval. 24 25 budgeted capital projects and other projects. They're being held or uh run through EI assoc. So big documents were released biders on March 12th, 2025 for the upgrades to the HVA systems at school 5 and school 6 an addendum which was issued um I said yesterday that would have been Monday and bids are due to come in on April 3rd 2025. We are still waiting for the approval for from the school development authority for the school 5 project and there are several other projects scheduled 2425 budget. A roof replace it placement at the administration building. EI's fee schedule
022is on the March 26 addendum for approval. I think they're they're charging us 5.8%. Um, a grease trap replacement at schools 1 through 4. This project is currently on hold. Estimated funds needed to do this project. According to EI associates, our budget isn't sufficient. So, putting it on hold. We're doing a partial roof roof replacement at the high school. J Espe will be on the tonight's addendum as well for approval. I believe they're charging us 4.11% of construction costs and the construction of a pole barn for the athletics at the high school already been we also had an additional project that popped up which was middle school off HVAC that fee has been approved I is moving forward with that project and then the third thing we discussed was the 2526 budget Uh the tenative
023budget was presented and submitted to the county office for review. District received an additional 3.2 million in state aid to support the general operating fund. We also anticip anticipated a 2% increase in the tax levy. These funds will be used to cover additional costs to service special ed tuition costs as well as transportation to get our students to and from their out of district placements. The funds will also be utilized to secure teacher aids in the classroom and the increase in health benefit costs. It allows for the purchase of course school bus and the replacement of playgrounds at our elementaryaries. The public hearing for the 2526 budget is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 at 6 PM. The board will be asked to approve the budget at that time. Other items under
024consideration. Unit negotiators contracts end as of June 30th, 2025. uh the balance of HBAC system upgrades. Funding will be needed to be sourced for schools one, two, and four. Funding is in place for schools 5, six, the high school, and budget pass the middle school. And then federal funding, the board's amount remain unknown at this time. of the meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. and the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 29th, 205. Thank you, Miss Bole. Um, is there a representative from the policy committee? Move on from discuss the policy committee um at the next meeting. Mr. Mr. Thomas, do you have anything from the two township committees that you're on? I I do, but before I get there, m Mr. President, I'd like to make a emergency newsbreak announcement amending the athletic committee
025uh report. And this just came in off the wire. Our coach Shenica Brown was named New Jersey.com 2024 2025 girls indoor track and field coach of the year. And our coach Curtis Custous was named an NJ.com 202025 2020 24 boys indoor track and field coach of the year. We had a alliance meeting on March the 24th where they uh got several events that are coming up on April 29th, 2025. They have a cyber safety social media at the municipal courtroom that starts at 6 pm. On May 8, 6 pm to 8:00m right here in this very building at the Winslow Middle School. They have a spring event. On May 16th, 2025, 6th grade dance, 6:30 to 7 at the school number six library. on June 21st, 2025 is Junth, 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. New
026Brooklyn Park. July 4th, 2025, right here again at our own Winslow Middle School is the fireworks. And them fireworks start at 6:30. On August 23rd, 2025 is the Winslow family day from 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. And that will seems to be back at the New Brooklyn Park. And national night out is August the 5th, 2025th and a fall festival at Miller Farms October the 4th, 2025. And that concludes concludes the uh drug analysis uh report. Thank you, Mr. Thomas. And that's great news about both track coaches being named coach of the year, which doesn't surprise me because they both do an outstanding job. Moving on to the planning board. The only news I have out of the planning board was another development was proposed over on the uh by Hay Road and that was
027shot down and it will have to be brought back because they didn't want to put sidewalks in around their development um for whatever reason. And a bunch of us brought up the sidewalk issue because when children move in, there's no safe way for them to move around the development and wait for the school buses or anything else of that nature. So, they're forced to come back and represent at the planning board for us. Um, so that that will come back sometime around June with hopefully sidewalks in their uh building plans. So, that that's the only thing I have from the planning board meeting. Okay, moving on to the superintendent report. Can I get a motion to approve the superintendence report as it's a recommended on our agenda? Peterson move for approval of the superintendence report
028recommended. Approval items A and B down on page three through eight. Any qu any questions? Yeah, I had one question. Uh, I was reading through the um the policy uh 9320. What page? Getting to that. Oh, my friend Joe. Um, it would be on uh page two uh chapter 4 A. Um the uh actually appears yeah on page two it says school officials shall not notify student or students parents in the instances of sus suspected child abuse or neglect but at the end of at the very end of the same regulation it's the uh any kind of um suspected child abuse gets reported directly to law enforcement. Yes. Yeah. Okay. I just wanted to make Yes. Probably more for the community's uh consumption for that in case somebody had a question. Yes. You don't want
029to endanger one of the children going home to report. Exactly. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Um, roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Dreen. Miss Glaude. Yes. Miss Martin? Yes, Mr. McManis. Yes, Miss Peterson. Yes, Mr. Thomas. Yes, and Mr. Shaw. Yes. Motion has carried. And I have a motion to pass the business administrator board secretaries report as it appears on our agenda. Um, as it's recommended, Peterson move for approval of the business administrative board secretaries report as indicated on the agenda found in item A and B, page 8 through 11. Any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark. Yes, Miss Dreaden. Miss Claude. Yes, Miss Martin. Yes, Mr. McManis. Yes, Miss Peterson. Yes, Mr. Thomas. Yes. And Mr. Shaw? Yes. Motion has. Can I get a motion on the personnel report as it's
030uh recommended for approval? Peterson move for approval of the personnel report as recommended by our superintendent found in item A 1 through 6, page 12 through 13. Second, Miss Martin. Any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Dredden. Miss Glaude. Yes. Miss Martin. Mr. Mr. Mcmanis, yes. Miss Peterson, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Schaw, yes. Motion has carried. Moving on to our addendum. Everybody wants to take a couple of seconds to look at the addendum. Can I have a motion to approve the superintendent report on the addendum as the superintendent recommends it for approval? President Shaw. Yes, sir. If I could pose a um just a question on number four, the first page of the addendum. There's a assistant principles. We're going to be adding a few of them. Is that correct? Yes,
031sir. And then what would be the impact on the budget? It will not have any impact on the 25 26 school year budget. We are recommending to have those uh assistant principles out of this existing budget that we're presently in. Excellent. Thank you. You ready for the motion? Yes, sir. I mean, ma'am, I'm sorry. Um, you want a second? Uh, Peterson move for approval of the superintendent report as recommended by our superintendent found in item A through 1 through 4, page one. Second, Miss Martin. Any any more questions? Okay. Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Dreen, Miss Glaude, Miss Martin, yes. Mr. Mcmanis, yes. Miss Peterson, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. Motion has carried. May I have a motion for to pass the May I have a motion for the on
032the board secretaries report as it's uh recommended for approval from this uh on the agenda? Peterson move for approval of the business administrative board secretary report as she recommends item A1 through seven found on page two through three three. Second Miss Martin. Any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Drean. Miss Glaude. Yes. Miss Martin? Yes. Mr. McManis? Yes. Miss Peterson? Yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. Motion has carried. Moving on to the personnel report on the addendum. Can I have a motion to approve the personnel report as the super tech superintendent recommends it for approval? Peterson to move for approval of the personnel report as recommended by our superintendent found in item A 1 through three found on page four. Second, Miss Martin. Any questions? Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes.
033Miss Dredden. Miss Glaude, yes. Miss Martin, yes. Mr. Mcmanis, yes. Miss Peterson, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. Motion has carried. Moving on to the open public records act requests. Miss Bole, are there any uh uh Oprah requests? Uh yes, Mr. President, between March 7th, 2025 and March 20th, 2025, we responded to one request from Anna Cano, Jump Ahead Pediatrics. She requested scoring of proposals for the RFP 2025-06 learning disabilities consultant services. That request was approved. Those documents were supplied. Thank you, Miss Boy. Dr. Potit, do we have anyformational items tonight? Yes, we do. Uh, I have three information items for this evening. Uh, ladies and gentlemen of the board, if you would look in your brown folders, you will see a report, blue report. If you would take that report out, I
034would appreciate it. Uh I do not intend to go word for word uh through this report but I just want to highlight some things uh bring it to your attention. Um you'll have an opportunity of course to read it at your leisure and at our next board meeting if you have any additional questions I'll be more than happy to answer them and of course if you have questions tonight I will be able to answer them. Um ladies and gentlemen of the board as you know um we had uh received additional funding from the department of education about a year ago. Uh school one, school six and the high school receive additional funding and technical assistance uh to increase academic performance and graduation rate. if you would open uh your report to um page number two.
035Um the New Jersey Department of Education conducted a desk monitoring of the Winsow Township School District to evaluate compliance and federal requirements. This desk monitoring focus on general and program specific requirements associated with the with the administration of grant programs authorized under the elementary and secondary education act and reauthorized by the every student succeeds act and the individuals with disabilities education act. Um once we received those funds, of course, um the Department of Education was going to return to monitor how those funds were spent according to the guidelines that were presented to us once we received those awards. If you would turn to page three, on page three, there's a chart uh that shows the federal grant programs covered in this desk monitoring along with the amount for the fiscal year 25. And if you
036look at those amounts, it goes down title one through title 4, the IDA basic and IDA preschool grant. And at the bottom, you see a total of $4.8 8 million. If you look below that, uh there's a compliance review where they would rate um each of the categories that were monitored. If you get met, meaning if you met the requirements, we received a satisfactory evidence of support of compliance, meaning we done what was asked of us. If you receive a met with recommendations, inadequate evidence on compliance with quality concerns and if you did not meet the regulations, it was insufficient evidence uh to support the compliance. So on page three at the bottom, title one, and it spells out the areas, and the rating is on the side. So you'll see uh title one pawn
037a the ratings we met all the requirements if you turn to page four um at the top met all the all the requirements title one SIA meaning you know supplemental funding additional monies that were received in addition to the title one funding you'll see that all the requirements were met title two part A those areas that were applicable We met those requirements. If you turn to page five, uh, at the top, we met the additional requirements for title two. Under that, title three, we met all the requirements. Title four part A, uh, you'll see the very first one, it says program requirement A1 met with recommendations. And I'll explain that to you as we move forward. And the uh the third one, program requirements A3, we did not meet those requirements. So if you turn
038to page five, all of the uh IDA uh requirements were met where applicable. Now uh right below, of course, you see we're met with the recommendation. The requirement A1 reads, when the school district, that's the LEA, when the school district receives more than $30,000 in funding, it must describe the needs assessment process for title 4- A. Include an overview of which stakeholders attended the discussion, when it was conducted, what data the team used to inform decisions, and what the results of the assessment were. If you look at the bottom, basically the recommendation is it is recommended that the school district enhance its efforts to gather, collaborate with stakeholders, summarize and present a needs assessment in a format that clearly demonstrates a robust datadriven process. This process will ultimately lead to more effective title 4-1 activities
039and outcomes. Um so that was pretty we did meet it but they're making this recommendation so that we can present it in a more clarified way. Um if you move to page seven where it says not met and basically uh not meant as appropriate evidence toward resolution of any not met rating must be submitted in the form of a corrective action plan. So this particular area that was not met, the school district must submit a corrective action plan within 30 business days of receipt of this report. Um we received the support you see on the front of the um the report uh March 21st. Um we must present this of course to uh in a public meeting to our board and to the community and the 30 days would be April 21st, but since we'll
040be on vacation, it's our responsibility to try to get this uh off to the Department of Education before we go on vacation. Um if you look down to the middle of the page, it's pretty much the same. What is the requirement? The requirement for this um particular area A3 when the school district use funds for technology, it spends a maximum of 15% of its funds for purchasing technology infrastructure and a minimum of 85% for professional development on the effective use of technology. Again, basically they made the recommendation in order for the school district to comply with the 15% cap and 85% minimum for professional development, the school district must rebudget and reallocate the funds. Documentation of this process, including revised budget allocations and a profession professional development plan must be submitted. um our team under
041the direction of Dr. Caramo uh will be putting together uh this um corrective action plan and we will be submitting this plan to the Department of Education. Um that pretty much concludes the report. There's a lot of specific details. Um, if you have an opportunity to read it thoroughly, um, and at our next board meeting, if you have any additional questions, uh, I'll be more than happy to respond. If you have any questions in reference to this report now, I'll answer any questions you may have at this time. Yes, ma'am. If I'm reading this properly, it looks like um, the amount that they're talking about is about $6,500. Yes. Yes. For million. Yes. Yes. Um, every penny needs to be accounted for, uh, according to the, uh, guidelines and the regulations. Um, every federal dollar
042we receive, of course, is always monitored. Um, they will be expecting our corrective action plan as I stated earlier within the 30-day guideline. Any additional questions or I move on to the next item. Carl has a question. Thank you Dr. Clark for the clarif um did you you were able to hear that? Okay. Um ladies and gentlemen, I think um our parents and community have been waiting for this information. our preschool registration. Um, I'd like to uh the preschool registration will be April the 14th, 15th, and 16th from 10 a.m. to 2:24 p.m. at schools 1 through 4. Now, ladies and gentlemen, this information will be on our website tomorrow. Um, as well as our summer camp. Uh our summer camp will begin June 23rd to August the 1st. Flyers will be distributed April the
0431st. Again, this information will re uh will appear on our website tomorrow. And uh those parents, we've already put out our uh interests. So, we have that information. Now, it's time for the parents to uh register their children ASAP. Um these uh seats have a tendency to fill up very very fast and we're encouraging all parents if you're interested in registering your child please do so as soon as possible. Dr. Poti, didn't I see something about that on the website today this afternoon? Well, uh was it put up already? Yes, it was. It's it was on the website this afternoon around 2 o'clock. I saw it. Yes, I did. Well, that's good, Miss Peterson, because uh see did I tell you it's going to be on the website? Okay, good, good, good, good. Dr. Pot,
044would that be communications department? Sort of a joke. We will try to get this information out. Um, and I think at this point, um, just so that we make sure everyone I'll do a robocall to the community to let them know that this is taking place. again. Um, seats fill up very, very fast in our preschool as well as our summer camp. Uh, we take pride in having one of the best affordable summer camps in South Jersey. So, uh, I will do a robocall to support this. My last uh information item, and I think it's important for all of us, we received a statement from the commissioner of education in reference to our president's um executive order to dismantle United States Department of Education. Basically, and paraphrase, um the commissioner of education is basically saying
045to us, we understand that the department is being dismantled. However, all policies, procedures that are already in place in the state of New Jersey will be maintained and supported. There will be no changes at this point in our quality of services and the funding that they provide. However, it did point out that we have not received any word on the federal funding from the federal government. Um uh we were told in my uh superintendent roundt meeting by uh Dr. Baza who's the executive director of the New Jersey Association School Administrators um according to his contacts through the department of education that the money is coming that we are going to receive the money but the only question at this point is when and are we going to receive the exact amount that we would normally
046receive which is $5 million. So at this point everybody's in a waiting uh situation. No one knows exactly when that dispersement will take place, so we're just waiting. We'll keep you posted. But at this point, I um was also on the website with our attorney general and uh he made it very clear that in as much as the federal government may pass or set down guidelines, that does not affect the state guidelines for education and that they want us to uh just continue. They're going to fight to make sure we maintain quality education for all students in the state of New Jersey. He also wanted to make sure that um all of the teachers, administrators, more importantly the parents in this community that the state is going to run interference for us and do whatever
047they can to maintain a quality education. Mr. President, that concludes my information items for this evening. Are there any additional questions? So the largest percentage of the federal funds are title one and we're hopeful that we will still receive the title one. Well, when we look at the overall amount, we're looking at title one through four and IDA. Yeah. And Dr. Potit, from what you from what you were saying, you still expect federal funding of the that $5 million mark to come through? Yes. We were not told that there would be a cut based on the information we've received. Um, in as much as the Department of Education may be dismantled. Um, all the functions of the Department of Education is going to be passed over to another department somewhere uh in the federal government,
048but the funding should not be affected. The only thing everyone is waiting for at this point is when uh because we have budget timelines that we're trying to put in place and at this point um we're hoping that it re we receive it very soon. That concludes Thank you. I've had conversations with our local legislators and they've pretty much said the same thing and they it's just you know a matter of the when. So um I've been getting the same information as you have thought. Um, all right. Moving on to old business. Does anybody have any old business? Mr. President, I do have some old business. Um, as as discussed at our last board meeting, uh, back in November board meeting, we had two stakeholders come up. One, Mr. Robert Johnson and another, Mr. Marcy
049Thomasello who presented a uh uh some names to possibly uh get our track named after after meeting with the committee and meeting at the with with the process of that. Once again, I just want I'm not asking for a vote on it. It's not time to vote on it, but I am asking for us to be able to open up a portal on the website for the community to weigh in and for everybody to get whatever conversation they have for the next few months before we make a determination. So I'm asking that we can open up a portal on the website for the public for the stakeholders in a democracy way where people can come in and voice their opinion for or against that situation. Uh Mr. Thomas, sure we can assist with that. Um
050I do want to point out to the board and the community that that process includes public hearings on that recommendation which means let's say um if you want to start in April each board member uh will have an opportunity of course as you are now sitting uh to listen to whatever the comments are. Uh so let's say April both board meetings in April uh both board meetings in May and if you decide maybe let's say June each of those board me board meetings excuse me you must set a time set aside a time for the community to come before you to make comments on that recommendation. So Mr. Thomas has indicated that there are two individuals who are being recommended. the community can come before this board and make comment on one or the other.
051And at some point, if you decide, for example, you're going to bring public comment on this issue to to a close in June, then is up to the full board to vote on whichever one you feel received the most support. Uh, so at this time, Mr. Thomas, do you have a timeline? Is the committee recommending a timeline as to when you want to get started and when you want to bring closure to it? So, as we continue to support you, for example, I would like to be able to say that the board is opening to the community um board meetings, April, whatever the dates are, May, June, and also let them know at the June meeting and the last June meeting that the board will take a vote. Uh so if you give me just
052a little more detail, we'll be able to put it out there so the community is clear on the process and what role they play uh in the voting. I I think them dates I will check with the uh committee, but I believe them dates you have will suffice and in what we're trying to do. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Thomas. There any other old business? I've got a question um just regarding the tenative budget from last meeting. I saw in the meeting minutes from the operations committee that we've received an additional 3.2 roughly million in state aid. Is that additional to what we had planned for in that meeting uh a couple weeks ago? No, that was already reported on tenative budget. Those figures were um anticipated. Uh as I explained during the operation committee, we
053were budgeting flat, meaning not anticipating getting any state additional state aid just at the same level. um ever the needs grew. For instance, needed, excuse me, for instance, if we needed additional aids or we wanted to adjust the pricing in order to get the people to come in, that expense would have grown. We did not have a balanced budget. We had more needs than revenue. The fact that that 3 million came in helped balance us. So now we're in a good position. Uh if we had not gotten that or even at the time could have um received a a cut in state aid, although they told us um the maximum amount would have been 3% of certain fundings and I think it was a hund no 1.6 million we could have potentially lost. We didn't
054lose it. Trying to say just please don't penalize us. However, they ended up giving us money which helped bridge that gap. Okay. So, just to make clear for myself, this is what we plan in that tenative budget. This 3.2. Yes, that's in that that tenative budget. Understood. Thank you. [Music] Any other new business? Mr. Long, you ready for public health? I am. Good evening everyone. Good evening, Mr. Long. The Winsslow Township Board of Education highly values the input of citizens in making the important decisions that affect the children of our community. We believe in the rights of citizens to observe board meetings. To ensure that all 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'd ask that
055the 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 that you respect the following procedures. One, all members of the public attending schoolboard meetings must treat each other and the board with respect. Please state your full name and town of residents. Please limit your comments to four minutes. Please submit any questions that we are unable to answer this evening to the board of education with your name, address, telephone number, and and preferably uh email where you can be contacted. Your questions will be answered within a reasonable time frame. 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,
056Mr. President. May I have a motion to approve moving into public comments? Peterson move for approval to open public comments. Second this morning. Um, all in favor? I Miss Bo, do we have anybody on the list for public comments? Yes, Mr. President, Coach Kenneth Smith. [Music] Good evening everybody. Good evening. Good evening. Um, my name is Coach Kenny Smith. I'm the I'm the president of um, Winslow Travel Basketball and also the director of Winslow baseball, youth baseball. Um, number one, what I wanted to do is um, thank the board and Dr. Poti for always being in the corner for the Winslow basketball program. This year, our sixth grade team, sixth grade boys won the South Jersey Championship. And also, our sixth grade girls won the Camden County Championship. We also sent both the girls fourth
057grade team and the boys fourth grade team to the championship, but they came up a little short. But I told the girls at the game. From now on, if anybody in Camden County want to win the championship, they going to have to come through Winslow. Winning, baby. So, I wanted to give that report. And also, um, this year for baseball, this is our second year to have baseball back in Winslow Township after, um, the people that uh, the people that was running the baseball sent the baseball to Hamilton. And like I said in another meeting, I said we can't have that because Hamilton is a choice school. That means anybody that's good at baseball that plays in Hamilton is going to wind up playing for Hamilton. And if you notice the numbers of kids that
058are playing for baseball this year has went up. Also in our program, the number of kids have went up. Last year we only had 35 kids. This year we have around 50. And also what is great um which I've been fighting for for a while. We have a connection with the high school coach. So he's going to help our coaches out so that when the kids get to him, they know what they doing. So, I appreciate everything y'all doing and I appreciate y'all um having um backing not just me because when you back me, you back the kids and you always have the kids interest in your hearts. So, thank you. [Applause] Thank you, coach. I I really want to thank you for restoring baseball in this community. Um, as you well know, over the
059years, the high school program was dying off. Um, this is the highest number of young men we've had in baseball in a long time. Um, so we appreciate what you're doing because without your program, we don't have a feeder system. Um and any other programs you know of course I know the basketball the boys and girls particularly the area with the girls because again our girls program need to continue to build but through your program uh it will be sustained at the high school and middle school. So, I want to personally and pro uh publicly thank you for what you guys are doing because for many years, we just didn't have the adults out there who were willing to put their time in. And I know it takes a lot of your time and time
060from your family, but I want you to know that we truly appreciate what you're doing out there in the community. And thank you, Debbie Murphy. [Music] Good evening. Um, I'm Debbie Murphy and I live in Serville. Um, I said at the last the last board meeting that the marching band was performing at Barnagate. Um, we performed we both both marching band and the guard did really good. The band scored um a 72 and we were less than a point away from being in first. And then the guard came in first with a score of 83 and they were ahead of the second place group by at least 10 points. So we're really doing good and we're only halfway through the season so there's still more to come. Um, and then another reminder, tomorrow night is
061opening night for the musical Mamma Mia. It's at the um auditorium in the high school. Tomorrow night is student night. And for students, it's disc the tickets are discounted to $4 a student. And for the first time this year, we are doing online ticket sales as well as ticket sales at the door. So, the link for the online ticket sales is on the school website. Thank you. Thank you, [Applause] Mr. President. That concludes those that have signed up to speak this evening. Anybody in the way from technology? Uh, Mr. President, may may I uh congratulate Miss Murphy? um you know because without Miss Murphy we wouldn't know what's going on uh too much with that band and the color guard and she's here faithfully every board meeting and I appreciate it. Thank you. And because
062you uh representing the band, you guys are continuously doing extremely well. Um I don't do Thursday nights with the with the young people. I'll be there Saturday night, but I'll see you. All right. But thank you. Thank you. I'll be there. Hey, Dr. Potit. Yes. I would just recommend that my friend Mr. Thomas would just add that to the list, the growing list of Winslow winning. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You see me writing it down? Yes, sir. You didn't run out of ink, did you? No. All right. All right, just I got pins. Um, may I have a motion to adjourn public comments? Peterson move for approval to adjourn public comments. Second, Miss Martin. All in favor? I. Yes. Yes, we did. Yes. All right. Um, to take it. Uh good evening everyone. There is that
063in speaking with Dr. Potit the need for a short executive session this evening. Uh, in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act, the Winslow Township Board of Education will be adjourning into an executive session on March 26, 2025 at approximately 8:25 p.m. Of the nine exceptions which permit us to go into executive session, we'll be utilizing exception number one, which has to do with uh matters of uh confidentiality either by federal law or state statute. And that would be a general discussion on student matters per Dr. Potit. Again, it would be about uh 15 to 20 minutes in duration and we may or may not be taking action coming out of executive session. Thank you, sir. Probably not. Okay. Can I have a motion to move into executive session? Peterson move for
064approval to move into executive session. Roll call, please. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Dredden, yes. Miss Glaude, yes. Miss Martin, yes. Mr. McManis, yes. Miss Peterson, yes. Mr. Thomas, yes. And Mr. Shaw, yes. Motion has carried. [Music]