##VIDEO ID:K5YwGJoBU1o## [Applause] i' like to call this barnegate Board of Education meeting to order please the notice of this meeting has been forwarded to the Asbury Park Press the beacon tap into barnegate and plac in the foer of each barnegate Township School in the barnegate Township Municipal Building and has been filed with the barnegate Township municipal clerk in conjunction with the open public meeting Act njsa 10 4-10 roll call please uh Miss journey is not present Miss konanza here Mr fedori here miss jeie here M Mr Hearn here miss MSA here miss tarnowski here miss wasburn here and Mr Sno here we have a quorum thank you please join me in the flag suit alance to the flag the United States thank you um no changes right good okay all right can I get a motion to approve approve the agenda as it stands please second roll call Miss churny oh she's she's not present Sorry Miss konanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss Mesa yes Miss tarnowski yes Miss wasburn yes Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you item six on our agenda is approval of minutes uh don't believe there's any additions I get a motion to approve both uh sets of minutes please please so move second roll call M Miss konanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn I abstain okay Miss MSA abstain M turnowski yes M wasburn yes Mr sorno yes motion carried thank you all right item seven on our agenda is kind of a switch up uh we have the student upstanders be presenting right now good evening everybody the upstanders program provides a wonderful opportunity to recognize and celebrate students across our district who embody the core traits of bangal Pride these traits are essential in fostering a positive School climate and strengthening the vital partnership between home school and Community a partnership that plays a significant role in our students overall success this month we're proud to honor students who exemplify acceptance representing the A and bangal pride their ability to show respect kindness and understanding towards others has had a meaningful impact on their peers and school environment to celebrate these outstanding students we're thrilled to present them with a gift card gener generously provided by one of our local businesses Doyle's porous we're grateful for their support and partnership and recognizing the REM remarkable achievements of our students thank you for your time and continued support in the initiatives like the upstander program which help to shape thriving and inclusive community for all when you hear your name please come forward to join board president Mr Sno and Dr super uh superintendent Dr Laz to receive your plaque and gift certificate I don't know Dr super duper intendent Janice Vieira Janice is a warm friendly and accepting of everyone during challenge day she stood out as an excellent excellent listener showing empathy and support towards everyone in her group she consistently open to feedback on improving as a student and demonstrates a positive attitude and adaptability making her a joy to work with in any environment congratulations [Applause] Janice Max yman Max is a personable and approachable individual who consistently offers positive feedback and encouragement in any situation demonstrating a collaborative Spirit he is always willing to assist not only his friends but also his peers he actively engages in conversations and strives to Foster an inclusive and accepting environment ensuring that everyone feels supported and valued congratulations [Applause] Max Riley Zoho Riley is an incredible student who truly stands out what makes her so special is her amazing ability to accept everyone's differences and make everyone feel valued her kindness shines through and everything she does and she genuinely cares about everyone around her she's always there with a smile and a helping hand she truly makes our classroom a better place congratulations Riley [Applause] [Music] Dylan Bart Dylan truly accepts everyone he includes others in activities if they are sitting alone at recess if he sees someone is left out he will go out of his way to invite them to play Dylan is a team player and never puts anyone down he is open-minded and listens to others ideas before inputting his own thoughts Dylan has the biggest heart and is an amazing role model to his peers congratulations Dylan Sarah pesi Sarah exemplifies the acceptance character trait she is a she is a very receptive to those around her and to how they think and feel Sarah gives her full attention and is great at actively listening to those around her it doesn't matter who is in our room or in the hall student or adult she wants to be there to help listen to them and be there for them Sarah can easily work well with anyone in our class she does not discriminate when it comes to showing up and helping others Sarah's shown growth in her ability to accept herself overall Sarah is a wonderful student who is extremely kind caring loyal and dedicated congratulations Sarah Stefania NY St Stevie is always smiling and eager to help her friends in class she's often the first one to play with a shy friend or lend a hand to someone in need Stevie frequently takes on the role of a class Helper and is always willing to assist the teacher with cleaning up or starting a new project her positive energy inspires others to do their best and her infectious smile makes makes her a complete joy to be around congratulations [Applause] Stevie Ronan Salvatore Ronan has excelled this school year in adapting to new challenges and requests he has navigated numerous changes including new teachers classmates and classroom with great success Ronin arrives to school eager to learn puts in significant effort and he is a great friend his positive attitude and resilience serve as a wonderful example for his peers congratulations ronaning great Budd picture all right can you guys slide on guys congratulations thank you parents congratulations [Applause] everybody I know I know good I know they're so that's [Music] quiet no it was like definitely looks like PR no con to distance space no no all right we'll move on the agenda as the children move out um item eight on our agenda is our student representative each month we invite the student representative in high school to come here and speak before the board in public and as always I'll turn it over to you Mr Hoffman perfect thank you um good evening and thank you to everyone joining today uh for those of you who may not know me my name is Daniel Hoffman I'm a senior at BHS this year and I'm happy to be here today representing the barnegate student body as the executive Student Government president at the high school with the New Year in full effect your student body is working harder than ever to deliver for the Bengal community on several fronts even in light of midterm exams this week our student advisory team will meet this Friday again and in anticipation of that I want to highlight a few agenda items that will transform Barnette High School into a much better place overall student representative has finished the structuring of our new found peer-to-peer mentorship program and defining the role of that the upper classman will play in that process at the high school as I said before this program will work to address countless of culture and climate issues that the high school Faces by not only creating smaller tight-knit communities for students to build connections internally but also to identify issues among students that can either be addressed socially by the mentor group or handed off to the proper Administration as there is a consistent Mentor overseeing each student it can also Advance the idea of peer-to-peer advocacy and becoming more seen and better heard in the Bengal Community it too has the capability to help involve more freshmen in all of the sports clubs and activities barnegate has to offer and it also makes sure we can keep every incoming student from falling through the cracks of invisibility again these are just the early stages of this process but it's our primary goal to build a more inclusive and community- based climate for all of our students one step at a time since last meeting we started the drafting process of proposals to repurpose Courtyard 2 at the high school this comprehensive report will outline the goals and activities potential outcomes as well as funding and partnership information of a possible agricultural green space in the currently unused and Barren secondary Courtyard at BHS with more specifics to come the team could not be more excited to see this project come to life a huge goal of this year's student government has been enhancing our philanthropic activity and in relation in relation to the school and our ever so supportive communities and we have made great strides toward that the major change in our Student Government activities this year will be a charity rockathon in the spring where students at BHS will stay overnight at the high school raising money on behalf of the Ava voice Foundation Ava Voice's mission is to empower youth around the world with Usher syndrome to educate families and school communities on what Usher syndrome in is Ava is a South Jersey native and attends Southern Regional High School and Got Her diagnosis at 3 years old Usher Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects both hearing and vision as well as balance and navigating its struggles is one that many families do year toe and we are so grateful to be part of such a great cause student government has also worked become more transparent with our activities so if you walk out these doors to the left and down the hall a little you'll see a class war scoreboard as well as a rumble scoreboard in an effort to encourage healthy competition we've made it easier for students to see their accomplishments and participation actually have an impact on their Community back to our advisory team this Friday I alongside the executive board will also move to begin the foundation of a barnegate high school alumni association when we draw comparisons to local districts where we fall short is a culture of Pride from the time we enter Elementary School to when we turn our tassel and further than that into the workforce and our future endeavors barnegate has seen such great talent and such great potential and it's important that we bre in to string together that network of promising students past and present to not only create a tighter nit student body but also to seek alternative means of supporting our students for years to come speaking of great people I would be remiss not to acknowledge the retirement of one of barnet's finest Educators Miss Lyn Clemente any student who's taken freshman world history honors over the last however many years will know that Miss Clemente is one of the most energetic and passeng passionate teachers they've ever had Miss Clemente has pushed Barn get students to their fullest potential and as a result her students succeed Leaps and Bounds beyond the rest knowing Miss Clemente has truly changed my path and I cannot be more thankful for her help and guidance over the years first as my world history teacher to my NHS adviser and to now my AP European History teacher Miss CL has always raised the bar and what does it say to you about her character that even after she leaves she's coming back to volunteer and help with exam prep for AP European History a whole lot I will tell you that so again a huge thank you to miss Clemente barnegate owes you a great debt of gratitude a few put ups for the district Bengal Athletics has truly made a name for itself this season most notably coach Tammy nicolini and her Lee Bengals team are now at 13-2 overall and 5-0 in their division so great job ladies coach purro and the men's basketball team are 10 and5 overall and 4-1 in their division the boys and girls swim teams are in Peak form this season as well as the winter track and field team setting PRS and Records week after week if you walked in next to a bunch of suitcases or glance in the main office you would see that this week our dancers are leaving for Nationals in Florida and we were wishing them the best of luck um our FBA competitive team placed second in the Ocean County cons competition oh sorry Ocean County competition at the New Jersey state consumer Bowl under the direction of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs as team captain I may sound a little biased but this is a great stride from last year with this year's gold being progress I'm proud of the program we have built and cannot wait to see what next year competition brings this same team will go on to compete at the New Jersey fbaa state leadership conference in Atlantic City this March in coding and programming as well as in public speaking vying for bids for Nationals so big things to come finally I'd like to extend a warm welcome to our new board members Mr Hearn and Miss MSA as well as a warm welcome back to both Mrs tarnowski and Mrs wasburn the student body looks forward to all you have to offer for this District as always a huge congratulations to our upstanders but at least for now that's all for me thank you for your time tonight and I yield back thank you as always Mr Hoffman always giving us I mean everything we want to hear about the high school and more and the district and uh after school activities and you again do a great job so thank you appreciate it um next on our agenda uh baa Association leaon and I believe they're not here today so we will skip that item 10 is our state New Jersey school board representative I'm not sure if there's any meetings or for either or the Ocean County School Board representative if there's anything if not we can just skip over uh we have a meeting tomorrow for the Ocean County School boards um but I also just wanted to mention uh that I had the privilege of attending the Mercer County School boards meeting um and was thrilled to hear Barnette receive a special shout out for our Forward Thinking AI policy uh it's always rewarding to see our District's effort in Innovation and preparing students for the future recognized by others so kudos to Barn awesome that's great to hear so thank you for bringing that to the table all right each month uh item 12 each month we uh the chairperson of each committee will kind of give a synopsis of what have H what has happened in their uh committee during that month and uh we'll go through the each one um and kind of report out who's our new chair or chair uh continue to be chair of the committees as uh the new year new committees are put together with new board members so um but I think most of stayed pretty much the same with Finance Miss tarnowski is still the chairperson so I will turn the floor over to miss tarnowski hello everyone Finance met January 22nd our new board members join finance committee and I'm thankful to have them we discussed various things including answering questions on the bills list uh about the solar panels we discussed the dreamy kids subscription and about the Max Million foundation's continued support on this app for our students so thank you thank you um thank you also to the list of donors this month on our agenda thank you to all those who supported our districts for the holiday season the amazing donations of coats and everyone else who continues to support barnegate schools and their students as we kick off the budget process coming soon I look forward to continuing to serve as the finance committee chairperson thank you all right thank you Mr turnowski um next up is all buildings grounds transportation and food services and Miss wasburn is the uh chairperson again this year Miss Washman the committee reviewed updates on Food Service facilities and transportation Food Service highlighted the success of December's holiday meal theme and plans for a separate payment system for Benny's facilities updates included Staffing changes ongoing fire inspections lead water testing with additional results pending um and snow removal efforts planning for the 2526 budget and summer projects is underway Transportation updates covered staff return driver recruitment ongoing vehicle maintenance issues electric vehicle planning with finalized estimates and progress on new routing software training as always thank you to our buildings grounds and transportation departments for keeping our kids safe in the ice and snow okay thank you Mrs wurn um number three is education committee and Mrs churny is the chairperson and Miss churny is not here tonight and don't know if anyone else put together any I have notes Len's got notes I've got notes notes for sure please uh the education committee reviewed several items including participation in the Civil Air Patrol Aerospace education program a Broadway field trip College University placements continuing education requests and other various field trips and outof District workshops we discussed the submission of a Grant application to expand access to high school computer science courses the Grant application discussed aims to the development of an artificial intelligence course including curriculum writing licenses and Equipment additional highlights included a donation of 2024 World Book encyclopedias and record breaking participation in the Seal of biliteracy testing all right thank you Miss wasburn welcome filling Us in um next up is governance committee uh Mrs konanza is the chair person of governance committee once again thank you Mr SAA um governance uh committee met on January 22nd on tonight's agenda there is for approval the following board motions motion one to approve the second reading of policy 7450 proper property inventory um we revise the policy we will now state in this inventory will be done every five years um motion two is the motion to approve the first reading um there's a lot of policies on t tonight but just a few um policy 5516 use of electronic communication devices policy 5533 student smoking policy 5701 academic Integrity um motion three is our regulations there's two policies there tonight policy 1110 organizational chart and policy 5513 uh care of school property um there's also um regulation approved um the first reading for 7510 use of school facilities and number six there's a motion to revise the school calendar 2425 um we're amending the calendar due to the snow day on January 6 and changed uh April 17th from early dismissal to a full day and changed April 18th from closing to an early dismissal um they also added um that June 20th the schools for 12mth employees will be closed due to June um Jun the next government governance meeting will be February 19th thank you thank you Miss konanza and next committee is health safety technology and again uh this year Miss not again but Miss konanza will be the chairperson of the committee this year so I'll turn the floor over to her again okay thank you um the health and safety technology met on January 23rd the committee discussed some security items for the uh School District there was a discussion of installing a ramp with ballards at the high school to control traffic um the high school and middle school security guards will be attending an active shooter incident Management training the District intends to have all security guards to in attend this training between this school year and the next um we also had a technology update from P pipol um there was an overview of cyber security measures that the district had implemented our next HST meeting will be February 20th thank you thank you Miss konanza um last up is Personnel committee I am the chairperson of person L um but this month's committee which I believe was Monday the 13th if I'm right yeah Monday the 13th um we went over again obviously all the Personnel matters we have to deal with uh I'll start off with um number two on our agenda is uh several retirements again obviously there'll be more discussion on these at the end of the year but I just wanted to point out now we have um Deborah mjusi who will be retiring um again Deborah was a neighbor of mine for many years and I know her very well um she worked at BN she's worked in bnate District for the last 19 years um she was a substitute teacher here before that um she was also an instructional Aid here in our district um she has been a learning disabilities teacher consultant in our child study department since 2017 so again want to thank Debbie for uh her years of service here in our district and uh everything she's done for all of our students um Miss Mary Beth McCarthy from um brakman school I believe um I known her also for quite a long time she'd been all three uh both my son kids my son and daughter's track coach so I know her very well um excellent teacher very great coach um she's worked at barnegate school district for the last 24 years as an English teacher um Miss uh Lynn Clemente and uh Mr Hoffman had mentioned her she has worked at the bnate school district for the last 25 years as a history teacher um and specifically here at the bnate high school so again want to thank her for her 25 years of service and helping our students uh immeasurably I'm sure over the last 25 years greatly appreciated and lastly on the agenda is Mr Thomas hubs he has worked uh in our school district for the past 20 years in our transportation department so again our the board extends their great uh appreciation to each one of those for um everything they've done for our district our students and our community so and like I said we will obviously uh celebrate them more as the end of the year comes but I just wanted to point it out right now so um also on our agenda you'll see uh several par professionals being hired uh prek special ed um multiple disabilities teacher being hired bus driver some transfers substitute teachers substitutes security guard [Music] um uh staff members for the pause pause substitute teachers and I think that was about it and Miss Clemente is also coming back after retirement just to show you the dedication and commitment she has to our students our community she's coming back even though she's retiring to volunteer to work in our district um starting April 1st so to me that is amazing awesome um and to have people like that in our district um is really great I mean it's it's great to see so again M Clemente please thank you thank you thank you on behalf of the board um and that is it on behalf of personnel all right next up is superintendent district highlights information I will turn the floor over to Dr LS all right while I read off some highlights I'll uh give uh Mrs Dro a heads up on making her way over to the podium so that we can introduce U Maximillian while she's making her way over there though I'll read off some highlights so uh as mentioned before uh just a quick congratulations to to Danny and his teammates uh Ryan pedo and Nicholas sers on your second place finish that's very impressive and from my understanding you guys just missed out on first place by only a few points so excellent showing congratulations on that uh big shout out to suo and Cindy Gallagher they uh recently presented at the OC uh the connected leadership conference at OCA uh so big shout out for them to do uh for their presentation uh I will pause now to go on the podium well I mean wherever you feel most comfortable Mr mono but we will come on up so this is the max foundation and they work with our district they have amazing program that they f for us their mission is drug involved in and they have been supporting our col school and our school with the program which is a mindfulness program that classroom teachers get use with their students and they different activities to help and mindfulness and cooperation so we're very thankful to have them support our school district and we thank them enough wonderful it's it's been a long time to ever since I've been at super director special maybe so thank you guys very much we really appreciate all your support and everything you guys do year after year uh to support our kids it's really appreciate so we look back here first over here [Applause] back all right just some other highlights here before I turn it back over uh January 13th uh marked our third year now hosting challenge day at the high school um which is an awesome event where our students uh take place um that's hosted by the prosecutor's office or it's F I guess funded by the prosecutor's office so big thank you to them for continuing their support congratulations to the BHS uh junior varsity dance team uh they were crowned Regional champions in game day and are a second place uh finishing Jazz continuing on congratul congratulations to the BHS dance team for an outstanding performance at their first competition they got first place in Varsity intermediate Jazz and uh Varsity intermediate pal uh congratulations to the brakman dance team they also in their uh first competition placs first place in middle school jazz and Middle School pal congratulations to the BHS cheerleaders they earned first place in medium varsity game day in first place in small Varsity traditional and they were crowned Grand Champions uh congratul ulations to Cole toding on becoming the program's alltime leader in rebounds congratulations to Emily Duo for setting a new school record in the 500 freestyle surpassing the previous School Rec uh record set in uh 2010 congratulations to Christopher Duo for breaking the school record in 500 freestyle previously set in 2014 uh congratulations to Sophia uh Lotus Amaya Affleck and Daniela Holly and Regan shive on their first place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay at the Ocean County relays sorry bear with me there's a lot of exciting things that transpired congratulations to Sydney Collins for being selected to the barnegate uh High School's 2025 njsi AA National girls and women in sports day uh the BHS counseling department uh just uh recently hosted their uh annual scholarship breakfast so big shout out to all the donors that came out and part uh had a nice breakfast and and also uh continued to pledge their um donations to our graduating senior class class of this year uh I think to date it's well over $1.5 million that has been donated uh since uh this started about 15 years ago barnegate High School is proud to host the National Honor Society induction ceremony on this upcoming Wednesday night so congratulations to all the reans there um just piggybacking on uh president zno would just like to uh give a shout out and congratulations to our four retirees tonight I would just like to point out that collectively they have dedicated over 86 years uh of Professional Service to District so big thank you to uh their passion and dedication over that period of time uh and then tonight uh was our first night of Hosting uh of having the beastro open uh as well as right to school offering uh uh daycare services for anybody that uh brought their children so big shout out to those two organizations for stepping up and helping to provide those services so thank you very much there uh with that being said I will turn it back over to you thank you very much Dr LS um next is president from Mor's information on agenda again just a couple things on my end um I know it was something we had discussed and thank you to to Dr lawis and rest of Administrators as far as the beastro during the uh uh board meetings again you know parents come here with their kids a lot of times right after work um don't have an opportunity to go home and and you know cook up a meal or whatever so you're here and so we figured it would be a good idea an opportunity to show showcase our beastro um so again we appreciate them opening it up and and having staff here um and the same thing with the um the uh offering the babysitting for the for us children or children of our residents that come to our meetings again we understand you know parents want to attend their kids' functions they want to be here sometimes it is not easy to get somebody to take care of your younger kids or whatever and have them you know sit here for a couple hours or an hour is not usually always easy so we thought as as a board we talked about it brought it to to the administration they worked on it found some a solution relatively quickly and um again it's great that we have that option for our parents and our family to uh make it a little easier for them we know everybody works hard and you know it's it's not easy to spend that much time here when you have uh family things to do so again thank you to the Dr LS and administration putting that together um on the board's end a couple things just kind of wanted to announce um new this year with the with the board is uh a couple things that we're doing um put together a uh Board of Education uh Communications team this year so we thought that again we want to get more of our message again obviously the district message gets out there great to our Administration but the board again wants to get out the uh information on what we are doing things that we're trying to do in the community um things that we think are highlights that sometimes you know not that there's ever a lot of people here which I understand at the meetings so we think using uh social media and different uh uh things like that to get our message out is important so we established the communications team this year which is uh Mrs konanza Mrs tarnowski and Mrs wasburn they will be working with Dr LA's office again on information the board wants to get out um to the public and kind of interact and and have that exchange with the public so they know what their elected officials are actually doing besides showing up at meetings I thought it was important for transparency with the public um also on top of that I created the um this year a new committee for the board it's called community outreach committee um again this will be kind of a committee it's really has no voting function within within the board um at meetings it is more to try to tie together the board your elected officials in town um the administration and and organization um and stakeholders out in the community again there's there's a lot of people in this community doing a lot of great things for for our students for our families um you know the elderly everything else um we want to as a board we have again a great platform we have a lot of great resources um and I think it was a it's a great opportunity for us to kind of bring a lot of those groups together to you know help each other out and build the community more you know everyone I understand each organization has their own little thing that they do and you know the time they put in I'm sure is a lot which I understand being on this board but maybe uniting and and trying to make things easier collaborating um for all these organizations and and groups in our town um will benefit a lot of us so again we're we have a couple Flyers we have a a flyer handout and a information handout that I know is ready tonight I know Miss wasburn has one there and I have some here we're getting the board members you'll be seeing it on social media soon um we're going to try to get it to as many organizations in town so if you know any organizations that you think may be interested in meeting we're meeting um February 13th 6:00 right here in the media center um just don't hesitate reach out to one of us ask for a flyer whatever you think and we uh any organization um any um stakeholder in town as far as a group that you know that we can help in any way that's what we're looking to do um so you'll be seeing that coming out to the public after tonight I'm sure I'll have more Communications team and on top of it so that is it on my end next up is public session item 15 the barn Township Board of Education appreciates and welcomes public comment advice suggestions especially when it's intended to assist the Board of Education please feel free to speak to the board during during the public session comments and discussion will be limited to one 5 minute period per individual unless requested by the chairperson to continue on a point of clarification public comment special meetings of the board shall be related to a call of the meeting in accordance with the Board of Education policy each participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface their comments by an announcement of their name address and group affiliation if appropriate your anticipated courtesy to the members of the board and the public is appreciated thank you can I get a motion to open public session please so move roll call Miss contanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss tarnowski yes Miss wasburn yes Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you with that is there anybody in attendance that would like to speak gentleman right here just make sure um your name and address when you get to the podium good evening and a Happy New Year my name is Joel gold you want my address yes please 25 right Road in Barnet y called Barnet I also have an address in Florida but it's not that much warmer down there either but I I'm here for two reasons tonight and I'll try trying to be as brief as possible uh my son was criticized strongly uh a while ago for wearing this sweatshirt it was called a bar or an alcohol sweatshirt I'd like to pass it around if I may this was given to us as a thank you for a donation that we make every year to the rodeo not to for participants but for allowing underprivileged children to attend rodeos in small towns and cities primarily in the Midwest and every year we're called upon and yes Aaron and I my son and I make that donation uh the uh person in charge of discipline did not approve of the shirt and demanded that he take it off he refused just like we said just throw it on a chair it's okay just as we saw a spark ignite in Southern Cali California and it created a tremendous tremendous destruction we had the same thing to the extent that it's gone so far as to tell us that if there's ever another situation in this matter that Aaron would be put in a special school or a special program I immediately said and I'm cutting this very very short cuz I have another topic as well I immediately said try it I'll homeschool him and then I'll bring my attorneys in right after that was open School parent teacher conferences and I met with every teacher who told me what a polite young man my son is that doesn't surprise me I know what he is he's a rotten kid like every other teenager but there's no reason why he cannot wear that shirt to school it doesn't imply drinking it implies physical activity a rodeo and if we can't do a rodeo then we shouldn't have one at the down at the end of the uh of the state that has one every Saturday every summer it's another activity an outdoor activity a clean activity that children of all ages including adults can participate in although I would not suggest that any one of us do bull riding uh so I'm going to cut it there but I see no reason for him not to be able to wear it and I'm going to tell him that starting Monday he can wear it unless the board feels that it's inappropriate and if you feel it's inappropriate I'd like to know why the second subject that I want to bring up is sports now this week at Barnette High School we're in the middle of midterms which is good we need it we also need sports but Sports have to take second place behind education yesterday there was a wrestling match the kids didn't get back here until after 9:30 the exact moment I don't remember but it was after 9:30 by the time we got home ate dinner got washed got into bed it was almost 10:30 at 10 at 5:30 in the morning we have to get up to get ready to be on a BS at 6:30 it's not enough time for the kids to rest and be able to come to school fully refreshed ready to either listen with their ears do work with their hands or take an exam or as of today today there were two exams so I would ask the board and our superintendent to look at the sports schedule to make sure that our children have the rest that they need to be able to truly function in school in addition I was notified that a Federal holiday Martin Luther King Day a practice was going to be held that means the school had to be opened and heated etc etc the last moment it was cancelled but during the uh winter break there were practice sessions we were not here we were out of town but there's got to be what is the priority of the school is it education or is it Sports if it's Sports let's say we're a sports school but if we're an education school which is what I'm hoping that barnegate is and what I have seen to the most part part it is then we have to control sport activities to be to end at a reasonable hour in the evening so that the kids can come home they can study they can have a meal and get to bed at a reasonable hour one other item when it comes to sports that should absolutely positively take second third fourth fifth below education and that is back to school night when we come to school on back to school night we're here for a reason and that reason is to find out what our child children are going to do in a particular class for the school year it allows us as parents to work with our students and encourage our students there was one teacher last year and it could have been the same teacher this year that was not there because he felt it was more important to be at a physical uh school activity a school meet with another school somewhere than be here uh I feel the board has to do something to make sure that we have the ability to meet with all teachers on parent night that's a lot to cover yep no we'll we'll cover it one by one um and I thank you again for bringing the concerns up to to the board to the microphone um I will between myself and Dr latas I'm sure we'll try to uh answer your questions you had and your concerns but again thank you may you a few extra minutes but if you could just give me two more minutes I would appreciate it I want to thank the board our superintendent and our principal for Having the courage to have a holocaust program in the school uh the kids went to the uh not the museum but an exhibit in New York to see what the Holocaust was all about they came back and all they were shocked at what's happened uh every time I go to Israel the first stop that I make after I leave benorian airport is to go to the Holocaust Museum and going up the road the fourth or fifth Tree on the left is the one for rasa Shindler so you don't have to be Jewish to like rybread and you certainly don't have to be Jewish to go to an educ to go to a holocaust museum or any other Museum absolutely that celebrates and honors those that are not with us today thank you very much enjoy the rest of the evening and have a great school year one other question that I have if I may is I see we're extending the school year for a day because of a snow day uh I remember that during the co we're not actually extending the the school year but all right during the uh covid situation we were not here uh we were not living in barnot at the time however everything was done remotely uh since all the kids have computers and we don't have textbooks anymore uh why can't instead of closing school why can't we do it remotely um there's a lot of reasons why but again I thank you for your questions and we'll try to answer the ones that you had asked um you could take a seat we'll we'll go well I appreciate the time that you gave me thank you I don't know if you want to start you could start I mean I'll jump in wherever you want but sure I'll run through the uh the three different items so first and foremost uh dressing the sweatshirt um you know we obviously met a number of times um you sign off uh each year on the code of conduct that identifies the dress code and identifies uh what's appropriate not appropriate um that sweatshirt does not meet the criteria of the dress code um so when you said that you're going to inform your son to wear it on Monday I since I'm encouraging you to rethink that um I would like you to rethink that um on the front of the shirt it clearly identifies Kors which is an alcoholic uh beverage company and right on the website for Kors Rodeo it says Kors banquet back of the Jersey It also says cor banquet so the the shirt uh the example that when we met about this I believe a couple times um you know the example that we had given that I thought we were on the same page about was if a student decided to wear a NASCAR sweatshirt and that was a sponsorship of an alcoholic uh beverage company that wouldn't be appropriate either um so it's pretty cut and dry what is and what isn't um you referenced about the special program just not getting into the specifics of the event because that wouldn't be appropriate but it wasn't the sweatshirt that uh was the issue as far as why that program was being uh put on the table it was the uh the reaction uh as you identifi comparing it to the fires in in California um the uh uh the reaction um from the student at that time uh I think we can agree was was inappropriate uh given what was asked of him um so it was more the reaction uh that we had discussed that if that type of Behavior Uh were to continue uh when a directive was given by a staff member then obviously that opens up a larger concern and uh the larger concern is if if students are given a directive by a staff member in the school um there has to be confidence that the student is going to follow that directive so it doesn't necessarily you know in this situation it was uh removing a sweatshirt and offering that there would be an alternative shirt provided or uh giving you the opportunity to come if you wanted to switch out the sweatshirt uh to something different um you know that uh you those are the the appropriate kind of alternatives to that to that situation um it was really it was the behavior and the reaction after that that if if I can't as a superintendent have confidence that a student is going to follow directive from a staff from a staff member in a non- heightened situation like just uh switching out a sweatshirt um you know that does not give me a lot of confidence that uh you know God forbid we're put into an emergency crisis and that same student is given a directive from a staff member that they're going to follow it so that that then speaks directly to the safety of uh the students and staff in the building so when we had talked about that program uh both left that meeting I thought uh on a positive tone uh kind of uh moving forward together uh with the idea that uh if confronted with another situation like this it would it would be handled better um and then that would uh remove that uh that concern and that would remove then that recommendation to a specialized program uh which is uh what you're referring to as alter our Alternative Program our Twilight program plus uh the second uh um before you move on to the second let me just on that um item itself I mean again I don't know we the board doesn't know about the specifics of what happened with the individual wearing that sweatshirt at the time but all I can tell you is that as the board the nine members that sit at this board make this board up we are the one that divide put together the policies in the district we make the policies in the district we vote on them we approve them um it is administration's responsibility all throughout the schools in the district to enforce those policies and one of the policies again is about what what type of stuff to wear is appropriate and not appropriate so it's not the ad Administration that is setting this um standard it's the nine members of the board that makes the policy that they are here to enforce um so again Dr lawis is saying is 100% true that something like that would be inappropriate I mean anything that has any alcohol students in here are not 21 years old they are not permitted to drink so advertising anything that has drinking on it on school property in any way whether it's staff students anyone that comes into our building would not be allowed to wear something like that it would be totally inappropriate um some I mean again I can go through a list of things that we would consider inappropriate on clothing hats anything else that would be appropriate drugs um anything like that is inappropriate and the board 100% would support that decision of uh the sweatshirt that was worn so again on our end I feel that the sweatshirt not imply okay I I'm not here I'm not here to argue with you I'm just telling you our our I'm telling you our mindset that anything that shows alcohol or represents any type of alcohol will not be permitted and is in policy that you cannot wear so it's just um you know we will back the administration on that if it if it comes before us to make a final decision just so you're aware um if it does happen in the future um next you can go on to your next uh uh second point you brought up uh regarding Sports and the the demanding schedule uh that follows with sports um I I 100% understand your concern um I I get that I think all the administrative get uh administrators understand that but what I would uh you know what I would say is that uh Sports extracurricular activities um you know any of the clubs and whatnot fbaa the amount of hours that go into those uh to make that commitment to do those um is a lot it is a lot it's demanding and I think honestly that's when you look at you know more of the competitive schools and stuff like that when you leave here that's why things like that are looked at with such high regard that if you can maintain your grades and maintain the the grueling schedule of wrestling or or any of the other um opportunities that our students have you know that is that is looked at very positively because it is very very demanding and it's very challenging uh speaking specifically to wrestling um I believe and and Mr Jam you can correct me if I'm wrong but they have to do a certain amount of matches uh that that get scheduled and a lot of those matches get scheduled for us um as far as when those things uh take place and you have to have a certain amount of matches within a period of time to qualify for things like States and and counties and and whatnot so you know uh I believe the wrestling season its entirety is something about 10 weeks is that about right uh Mr Drano give or take um did you want to speak to it oh it's up to you you look like you're kind of like half half so it's no if yeah if you want to elaborate you can but uh there's a certain amount of matches that have to to take place and you know and and some of those matches obviously are going to be a little bit further away um you know we can obviously look at midterm week and things like that and see if there's any flexibility going forward with those um but I do know that a lot of times with the sports uh especially at the varsity level it becomes very challenging uh to to schedule those um but your point is not lost it is it is extremely challenging and it's it's a it's a lot for our students to to undertake um you know but I think that's also why it gets looked at so positively when students can navigate that and and maintain good grades there's I just wanted to jump in I know Mr J will uh you know back me on this I'm pretty sure um just barage just like any other District in the state of New Jersey has to follow certain guidelines put together by NJ SSA um New Jersey governing authority of all of our Sports so every that we do here in barnegate the state of New Jersey gives us guidelines that we must follow for practice for the length of practice when you can begin practice when you can end Practice What time meets can end and begin um everything is laid out by the state of New Jersey so as long as we are following the state of New Jersey's guidelines we're in compliance I understand your you're concern about getting home late um from a match a meet sometimes it may be far away long travel uh might be a lot of teams there I mean I understand that happens but again borate School District follows every Rule and guideline that the state of New Jersey sets up for us to follow um and and as long as we stay within those guidelines you know then I'm pretty uh sure that we're doing everything we can for our students because the state basically dictates to us how we can run our Sports programs I appreciate that however y I thank you again and then the uh the last comment you made um uh some positive feedback uh that there is legislation that's currently uh working its way through uh New Jersey right now that is looking to alter the code um that we have to follow So currently as we sit here right now for us to Pivot and have a virtual day we have to have three consecutive snow days before we can trans position and have a virtual day um however there is legislation right now being considered um where that would then change it so that it could be uh applicable after one snow day and if that were to happen going forward that would be this past uh snow day would be a prime example of a day that we would absolutely pivot to a virtual day and it would not impact our school calendar so we are 100% on on board and I would uh encourage you to reach out to your local legislator and give them a thumbs up on supporting that um because we would all be behind that you're totally right I think after covid I would say the vast majority districts have one toone initiatives at this point um or have access to technology that they could loan out for students that don't have access to it um so that hurdle should uh should hopefully be something in the past and we should hopefully be able to move forward and do that thank you right I think that was about it all right thank you all right anybody else in the public we there's only two people so hi um my name is Lori padet I was here last month uh my address is 56 mutin AV in barnegate and I have a son who's a freshman at the high school um so I'm kind of here to talk about the same thing um last month I was here to talk about and ask about the aviation class that we offer and I was back wondering if there's been any discussion or updates regarding that for any board members who are new or anyone who was not here last time quick overview it's a four-year program at the end of four years um anybody who completes it will have all the book workk that they need to become a licensed pilot however barnegate currently only offers the first year um and at as of last month there was no intention of extending that Beyond um I gave more specifics last time but that's just a brief overview um so despite having enough kids you know there's two sections now it would be great if they could offer that I also realize that kids are probably going to be able to choose their elective fairly soon because I know in my own District it just students were able to choose starting on Monday so I kind of wanted to come back and keep it fresh in everybody's head that way it's not like hey it's now March and kids already chose their schedule so now nobody wants to do it we'll offer it to them but they're like eh I'm good I already have everything and then there's no need to extend it so I wanted to try and just again keep that Fresh So that hopefully we can make it happen um I also last month mentioned a conversation that I had with a student who had said hey you know we I met with middle States and all the students were talking about kind of how barnegate has a lot of great initiatives and drops the ball on a few things I actually ran into that student again at a football game um an Eagles game just at somebody's house and his mom was there too and she's like hey you know I was on that middle States meeting as well for parents and the parents mentioned very similar things and I know Dr lwis when he responded last time it said you know middle States never told any told us any of this they had great things to say and I'm sure that they did barnegate is a great District um also I have been on numerous visiting teams for Middle States and when they give their oral presentation not that it's very different but they don't give you all the specifics as far as what you get when that um written report comes back and also not every single thing gets mentioned so you know this was something that was brought up by parents that I now know of and it was brought up by students so it would just be great if you know barnegate could not essentially drop the ball using the students words and not just for Aviation but continue programs and give students more opportunities towards things that they are interested in for their future um so thank you again for your time and for at least considering this going forward and also congratulations to Mr Miss Clemente my son had come home saying I heard she was retiring he was devastated he's a freshman he has her for history honors and absolutely loves her so congratulations to her on her retirement and that's it thank you thank you very much I don't know if you want to touch upon any of that Dr yeah no uh so um we have continued just some internal discussions about uh where this could possibly go um but you know uh what we had shared last time hasn't changed in the sense that we are all uh looking to kind of get some guidance from the state on what our uh funding is going to look like and then that would obviously dictate whether or not we can add additional staff or not um so you know we are discussing it it has not fallen off uh radar um it has not uh been a ball that has been dropped um but uh to right now I can't give you any concrete um examples of of where we can or possibly could go with this based on that um but I would be curious I mean this is the second time that you've mentioned the balls being dropped we did get the 86 page report and I did not see any of that eviden in it um do you have any examples that you could share that were given to you by the student or the parent nothing specific just that happens with various initiatives and neither the parent the student gave me specific besides Aviation okay so I don't know I'm not going to make up anything no no I I appreciate that I'm just like I said it's the second month that I've that I've heard that and you know I I that is something that like uh I take to heart because I feel like the district uh has provided a lot of opportunities from prek all the way up to 12 and and I can't think of anything that has been quote unquote a ball dropped so if was examples that would help me then at least kind of hone in on some of those things I don't want to the name of child was sure yeah reach out that would be great I'm not hard to find um you can you know definitely I'm right to the right of Collins and you can reach me on phone email um you know any any which way I would love to hear a little bit more about that maybe you'll see them at the Super Bowl party um and you can you can share that with them because I would I would love to have some insight into what that looks like thank you I sir I you get one opportunity um to speak want to make com yeah but I I know but I again yeah sorry I appreciate it though um anybody else in the room seeing that there was only two people besides staff um can I get a motion to close public session please second roll call Miss Miss konanza yes Mr fedorek yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss tarnowski yes Miss wasburn yes and Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you item 16 on your agenda is finance committee motions we have motions 1 through seven can I get a motion to approve those seven please seven second roll call Miss konanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes mrowki yes Miss wasburn yes and Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you item 17 on your agenda is education committee motions with motions one through six can I get a motion to approve those six please I'll move second second roll call Miss contanza yes yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes M turnowski yes it's hard very hard to hear you is your microphone thank you yes Miss wasburn yes Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you item 18 on our agenda is education committee information which is information for the public nothing for the board to vote on item 19 on our agenda is governance committee motions we have motions one through six can a motion to approve those six please so moved second roll call Miss konanza yes Mr fedorak yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss tarnowski yes Mr Miss wasburn yes and Mr stno yes motion carried thank you item 20 on our agenda is Personnel committee motions we have motions 1 through 24 motion to approve those 24 please Some Mo second roll call Miss konanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss Misa yes Miss tarnowski yes Miss wasburn yes and Mr Sno yes motion Carri item 21 is Personnel committee information again just information for the public to go over nothing for the board to vote on item 2 2 is executive session I get a motion to move into executive session to discuss Personnel student and hi report please second roll call M konanza yes Mr Fedor yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss turnowski yes Miss wasburn yes and Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you hopefully we will not be very long it's too long B last because of the all right under new business we have two motions I get a motion to approve the uh H Hib incident report as reported in executive session by the superintendent please so moved second roll call Miss konanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss Jeanie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss tarnowski yes Miss wasburn yes Mr s no yes motion carried item number two under new business is motion to motion to uphold Hib appeal 26- 9289 can I get a motion to approve that please so moved second roll call Miss Miss konanza yes Mr fedori yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss tarnaski yes Miss wasburn yes and Mr Sno yes motion carried thank you can I get a motion to adjourn please Mo second roll call Miss konanza yes Mr fedorak yes Miss jeie yes Mr Hearn yes Miss MSA yes Miss turnowski yes Miss wasburn yes Mr Sno yes motion Carri thank you meeting is Jour thank you everybody