my internet to sign in as a guest. >> Guys, ready? >> The New Jersey public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have access notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In
accordance with this provisions of this act, the Belvadier Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted with the Star Ledger and Express Times and submitted to the town clerk of the town of
Belvadier on January 12th, 2026. The meeting will be livereamed at www.bevierd.org. Flag salute, please. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> The mission of the Bellev School District is to celebrate our past and empower our future while focusing on the four cornerstones of our district. tradition, excellence, academics, and community. We strive to build confidence
and promote collaboration. We encourage an equal partnership with our students and staff as well as its community members. We empower everyone to develop the best version of themselves. The Belvadier School District is committing committed to shaping students into global citizens who take initiative for
their success and contribute to the continued excellence of the district. Our students are leaders in the decision-making process of their education and will be prepared to excel in 21st century society. Roll call, please.
>> Mrs. Cerone here. Dr. Zapp >> here. >> Mrs. Duckworth >> here. Miss Johnson >> here. >> Miss Stephen >> here. >> Mrs. Stridoff here. >> Ms. Walton >> here. >> Mrs. Rener here. >> Ms. White here. >> Mr. Cherelli
>> here. >> Mrs. Gardella, Mrs. Robbath. >> Okay, on to student recognition with Dr. Garcia. I'd like to invite Coach Stout up this time. Yep. Right up here. Coach Stout is going
to help us acknowledge Ethan Zamuski for his accomplishments as a Belvadier bowler. Ethan, would you like to come on up? Oh, there he is. Come on up. Ethan has the highest bowling average in the state of New Jersey with 235 points. He's also earned the title of New Jersey
Singles Classic Champion. >> How about a round of applause for Ethan while we wait? >> Do you have anything you'd like to say? >> But no, no, I mean he he's been doing phenomenal this year. his uh his dedication to the team and you know his hard work obviously from from his
accomplishments have paid off. Um we're going down to the individual tournament tomorrow. So wish him well. Hopefully we we come home with a title with that as well. So but I mean other than that like I said it's it's been a great season and we look forward to next season as well. So
Paparazzi. >> He's on it. >> Thank you. Ethan, you're not obligated to stay for the whole event if you feel like you are ready to go. >> Good night. >> Have a great night. Thank you.
>> Good luck. Good luck. >> Okay, on to staff recognition. All right, Mr. Carabinus. >> Good evening everyone. Um, we're proud to recognize a service professional who has a huge impact on Beldor High School
extraordinary individual. As our sole high school guidance counselor, Miss Kimell has been a constant source. Miss Kimell has been a constant source of support, compassion, and encouragement for every student she encounters. Her warm presence, her ability to build meaningful relationships. Her unwavering commitment
to student success are felt daily throughout our building. Miss Kimell consistently goes above and beyond helping student n navigate personal challenges, guiding them through struggles, challenges, and changes, supporting their dreams for college and beyond Belvar High School. Her
dedication has strengthened our community in countless ways. is with great pride and appreciation to honor Miss Kimell as a Belair High School Service Professional of the Year. >> Congratulations. >> Welcome
picture weekend everybody. when we visit. >> Okay. Now, our teacher of the year is my honor to recognize Mr. Felman's above high school teacher of the year. For nearly 20 years, Mr. Filman has been someone our students and staff can rely on.
Steady, creative, and always willing to go the extra mile. He brings a unique energy to all of his classes, finding ways to connect with students and make learning meaningful. Mr. Mr. Felman is truly, as I said for many times, the Swiss Army knife of the district,
stepping into many roles in any roles we need, doing it with excellence. His leadership in the building, BHS Red Zone, has strengthened school spirit and given students a platform they can take real pride in. Mr. Feldman is a mentor, a colleague, a trusted friend to many of
us. This recognition reflects the impacts that he has made on the entire school. Congratulations, Mr. Feldman. Nice job. Thank you, sir. You're >> welcome. And we now have Dr. McKenna. >> Oh, thank you.
>> Okay. All right. It is my honor to introduce our elementary school service professional of the year, Mrs. Amanda Capola. Mrs. Capola is Miss Amanda to her students. She's recently joined us at
Belvier Elementary School, but it feels like she's been with us for years. She serves not only as an individual aid to one of our first graders, but an asset who consistently fosters a welcoming classroom environment, greeting each student by name and setting a positive tone. She assists students with the
development of empathy, resilience, and respect, ensuring that students acquire both academic knowledge and essential life skills. Among her colleagues, Mrs. Kapola is well-liked, and she's always willing to help wherever she can. She always has a smile on her face as well.
Her impact extends beyond the classroom as she plays an active role in the broader community and fosters a school climate where all students thrive. We are so lucky to have her. Congratulations, Miss Amanda. >> Yes, of course. All right. Although she's not here, it is my honor to
highlight Miss Taylor Prislac as the Belvadier Elementary School teacher of the year. Miss Prislac was selected this year as someone who consistently inspires, leads, and transforms the lives of students and colleagues through dedication, compassion, and innovation.
Every day, Miss Prislac creates a classroom where every student feels valued, respected, and empowered to grow. She approaches each lesson with a genuine enthusiasm and a deep love for learning. This passion is contagious, motivating students to engage actively and take ownership of their education.
Miss Prislac invests time beyond the school day, seeking out new strategies, collaborating with peers, and reflecting on practice to ensure every student succeeds. Empathy is at the heart of her approach. She listens attentively, adapts lessons to meet individual needs,
and creates a safe, supportive environment where every voice matters. This commitment to inclusivity fosters a sense of belonging and encourages students to take risks and learn from their mistakes. Although her students might have their own unique challenges with learning, Miss Prislac believes in
their potential and provides the support they need to reach it. Mistakes are viewed as opportunities for growth and students are encouraged to persevere through challenges. This growth mindset inspires confidence, resilience, and a lifelong love of learning. She's just
not an ed she's not just an educator but a role model, a mentor and a catalyst for positive change. Her impact is felt in every student's smile, every challenging moment and in the community they help build. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated professional in our school community. Congratulations,
Miss Prislac. Again, if you're ready to call it a night, it is quite all right. On to the student representative report. Thank you. Good evening everyone. First to report,
starting March 16th, no students will be allowed to walk into the door using the doors by the gym. Everyone will have to use the front door. Next, the Leo Club has a mirror V trip on March 27th. They will also be helping the Harmony Lions Club with their Easter egg hunt at the
end of March. Also, FBA did science activities during the elementary Valentine's party for those students who don't celebrate. They made cinnamon sugar tortilla snowflakes, fake snow to play with, and other winter crafts. Next week, they will be reading
in the elementary school classes for ReadAcross America Week. Lastly, in mid January, the f the FFA members attended the Pennsylvania Farm Show where they learned more about livestock, agriculture, and the latest advancements in the industry. Our FFA chapter is
right in the middle of celebrating FFA week. And today, they have their barnyard day where several members brought in their animals and gave presentations about how they care for them. Also, Floroculture is excited to kick off their spring and spring tulip
and lily sale. The tulips come in sixinch pots with four bulbs per pot for just $10. Those will be delivered in February and March. And the liies are also sold in sixinch pots, but with three bulbs per pot for $12 each, and
those will be delivered by March. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. It's okay to go. >> Yeah. We do have a special little presentation tonight. Um, you want to grab
Mr. Charlie's Ederson? Okay. So, I am constantly I've been here a long time and I'm constantly blessed and amazed at the amount of talent that we have musically in this town and in the sending districts too. But rather than
hear from me, I'll have you listen to one of the amazing talents we have this year, Ardan Henley. He's the president of the drama club, and he's going to do a brief introduction before we come in and entertain you. >> Hello. Good evening. Um, as Mr. Z said,
my name is Ardan. I'm a senior here at Belvier, and I am also the drama club president for our school's drama club. Um, our shows are March 6th and March 7th. Uh, March 6th at 700 p.m. and March
7th at 1 and 7 p.m. Um, and we have a little number that we're excited to perform for you guys today. And, um, we're going to set the scene here and get ready. Um, but I'm going to give you a brief kind of setup here. We're all
heroes uh going on a quest here and this concludes act one. Um, and well, we would like to have you guys join us for our quest. So, let's uh let's get right here. Yeah. Which way do you want us to
perform? >> So, I'll just work with it. >> Yeah. Whatever works for you guys. >> My mom's gone >> from this world. What if she's anywhere? She's in the >> underworld. >> Yeah, I'll do it. >> I'm leaving now. I better pack. He's
took my mom. I'm taking her back. So, if no one's come back from the underworld, I'll be the first AND I'LL BE THE SECOND FIRST. I can't ask you to come. You're my best friend, dude. So, don't get mad. But I suspect you'll need protecting when things get bad. And this kicking
quest may be the best chance I've had to put my past behind me. So, if you haven't guessed, I'm coming on your killer quest. So fun voyage and fair me well. >> We're going to fight each foe, each
cursed and spell. >> We're going to march straight down to the gates of hell. >> Underworld. >> Close enough. >> I'm finally going to pass a test. We're going on a killer quest. Don't forget this official camp half flood questing
backpack. It comes prepacked with everything you need. Grogmas, ambrosia squares, deodorant. >> You're going to need me too, CV brain. And if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing this up. Been waiting for my chance to prove my
jam. I've got mad battle strategy. My mom will be impressed. I'm coming on your killer. So blast the horns get the flags unfurled as danger slings and arrows
hurl. We're going to march straight down to the underworld. Luke, are you coming too? >> I'm needed here. But how about something for the road? >> Shoes. Awesome. Shoes with wings. Now that is awesome. Uh so where is the underworld? >> Look for DOA records.
>> It's a record company. Actually, I am not surprised. >> Don't get eaten by monsters. >> But monsters? Who said anything about monsters? Have a great quest. >> So, we're halfway. >> Not
go halfway. It's almost. It's up to us. So, let me try my best. As we journey west aome,
dangerous and scary and very heroes heroes. Thank you. >> That was excellent. Thank you so much. >> I know.
>> Yeah, they did a great job. >> Me either. Their voices were beautiful, too. Okay. >> Well, now we are on to our chronic absenteeism presentation. You have quite the act to follow there, Dr. Garcia. >> Are you going to sing and dance? Come
on. >> Can you sing like that? >> Together. I can't bring down. Is it on? >> Yeah. Okay. So, chronic absenteeism. Um, New Jersey's definition of chronically
absent student is a student that misses 10% or more of the school days in session for the school year. Um, this includes locally excused and unexcused absences. 10% of the student school year equates to 18.1 days for Belvadier, which is give or take one to two days
per month for the school year. Um, a few facts that I think are important to know about chronic absenteeism. A student is chronically absent if they've missed again about as few as two days of school a month. Uh, research indicates that the number of
days a student's miss as to why the student had missed the days. Attending school every day increases chances of success in st school and in life. Uh chronic absenteeism is a primary cause of low academic achievement and a powerful
predictor of students who may eventually drop out of school. We are doing this presentation because we have a concern with our chronic absenteeism number. Um it is not the same thing as truency. In New Jersey, truency is defined as having 10 or more
unexcused absences, whereas a student in New Jersey is typically declared chronically absent if they have 18 or more exc um days absent for the school year. So, I do just want to make that note. Um a student may be sent to truency core or filed for truency if
they have just over the 10 days. I want to be clear about that. By the sixth grade, along with the GPA, absenteeism is a top predictor of dropout. As with everything else we do in New Jersey school, there is a statute that goes along with um all of this
information. That statute is 18A 3825.1. Um in the event that 10% or more of the students enrolled in public school are chronically absent, the school shall develop a corrective action plan. We should identify the problems and barriers to school attendance, develop recommendations to address those
problems and barriers, outline communication strategies to educate and inform parents. establish school protocols, uh, informing and engaging parents when a child begins to show a pattern of absences, and review school policies to ensure that they support improved school attendance.
So, having said all of that, there is regulation 5200 that's in place, and New Jersey recognizes two forms of absences, excused absences and unexcused absences. For New Jersey reporting, the only absences that do not count to chronic
absenteeisms are state excused absences. So, school districts are permitted to have locally excused absences, but that does not mean that it meets the requirement for a state excused absence. I'll explain this a little bit more in
the next uh few slides. Um, principles can determine if and when the number of student absences exceeds 10 whether or not to make a court referral if they feel compulsory education laws are violated. That's truency. So here's the big thing with the
absences and this is you know regardless of whether or not there's something that we feel should be an excused absence the state won't recognize that. So when they're calculating our chronic absenteeism numbers this is what they're looking at. State excuse would be religious observance. Veterans Day, take
our children to work day. Yes, that is a state excused absence. Um, college visits up to three days per school year. Closure of busing school district that prevents students transportation to the receiving school. So, for example, we're receiving school if say one of the sending districts there was an issue
with the bus and they couldn't get to school that day, that would be an excused absence. Um, and then attendance at a civic event one day per year. things that we would excuse based on our policy and just um generally speaking in most districts, required attendance in
court. Obviously, if you have to go to court for something, you're going to go to court for something. So, we would excuse that internally um as a school district. Um accommodations through IDA, that's special education, and those are based on individual needs for students.
Um suspension from school, death in the family, interviews with prospective employers or admissions officers. Obviously, there's a grade level exception to this. You're not going to come in as a fifth grade student and say, "I'm getting interviewed for a job." That's not going to work. Um, driver's license examination and uh
student illness with notification. Um, so to create the corrective action plans, it is a problem-solving team. Stakeholders include administrators, they may include families. There was a community caregiver input survey. That information was also taken in in order to develop the corrective action plan.
We analyze the state data that's given to us. We analyze the input that we receive from the community, the caregivers, the parents. Um, we look at what potential supports we might have available, protocols to be able to support students improving their absences. Um, and we implement and
monitor that plan. We also make sure that what we're trying to do is something that we can sustain not just for that school year but continually. So for our purposes, we were required to do the corrective action plan based on
the 23 24 chronic absenteeism rate. As you may know, the New Jersey uh Department of Education releases performance reports and those performance reports are delayed when they come out. meaning we're in 2526 school year, but just this year the 2324 school performance reports were
released. So that's the information you're going to see here. What I wanted to make a note of is that the chronic absenteeism rate on a federal level, which is what's used on those performance reports, is does not include preschool. The state of New Jersey will
give us a chronic absenteeism number for preschool, but it is not calculated as part of this number. So, I just want to be very clear about that. And you can see here that the state average um for K through 8 was
13.8% and we're at 30.1%. Which is significant. State average for the high school is 12.1% and we were at 23.3%. Now again, this was for 23 24. Um and what you can see here is that the
previous year 22 23 for the district it was lower and it's been increasing and that's what we're trying to figure out why is it increasing what's happening. This is I know it's a little bit hard to see but this just breaks it down uh by
grade level for the elementary. Again, state does report out a preschool number, but it's not used to calculate the overall chronic absenteeism number. So, you will see that there. Um, what we would generally tend to notice is that there's a trend from one year to the
next. So, if we're looking at information and data, which we did um for 23 24 and then we looked at how that number looked for that same cohort group of students in the following year, was pretty consistent. Um
that's self-explanatory there. What I would say is in 23 24 you can see here that grade 2 and grade 8 had the highest number of chronic absent students chronically absent students. I'm also going to point out because um
these grade levels tend to have smaller class sizes than other districts. It makes a huge impact when maybe one or two students in a class are consistently absent. it's going to impact this number significantly. And then this is the high school
information again 23 24. Um what you can note here is that the seniors had a higher um chronically absent rate compared to the other grade levels but 10th grade wasn't far behind there. This is the information from the parent
caregiver input survey. Um, we did get 143 responses which is a nice number uh for our community. I know that you know we feel like well we have more students at that but remember these are families filling it out for all their students. So 143 I think is a good number. Um what
you will notice is the majority of individuals who completed this had students in grades 9 to 12. Um, which was was interesting for me when I saw that. Okay. How often does your child miss school? Typically in a month, 0ero to
one days. But we know that because of our sizes and our numbers and everything else that even one day a month when you have others that may be out a little bit more is going to impact our number significantly. And what I would say is that the information that's collected here is for
parents who you know for this year and last year they're typically reflecting on that our data is a few years old. Can I ask? >> Sure. So the in the beginning you said that the chronic absentee is a student that has missed more than 18 days but
then so I understand that and then we look at if one child is absent one day that a month and it's a total of six is that child then get counted as chronic absentee like where does the correlation
between like a child who >> So we submit reports we submit reports to the state um previously was NJ Smart, now it's called SLESS. Um and I don't recall what that stands for right now, but that's what it's called now. Um those
reports track by student. So what we're looking to see is what is the trend by individual student, what is the trend by grade level, and then we identify certain students that are definitely out quite often. So if we say
30% of the fifth grade class is chronic abstin that means that they're 30% of the students are out 18 or more days. >> Correct. But it's that same one three students. Okay. I just wanted to make
sure that I understood that. Thank you. >> Okay. um the reasons for why students may be out. 80 over 80% of the individuals that completed this survey indicated that it was due to illness or medical appointments. Now,
I understand I'm a parent myself. I understand sometimes it's very challenging to get medical appointments outside of school hours. I get that. Um I understand that sometimes our kids are like, "I really really have a headache. I just can't go to school today." I get that, too. Um what I would say to this
is you know while kids should stay at home if they are sick absolutely nobody is saying they shouldn't. Um we sometimes need to start gauging that a little bit better. Um if there's a fever, if there's anything like that, vomiting, you keep them home. Please
don't send them to school. Um but if there's you're noticing a pattern, then that's a time to reach out to the school and tell us what the pattern might be. >> Can I just ask a clarifying question? >> You're right. We we all have to deal with medical appointments during the day. So if a if a student is out, say
they have an a morning appointment, but they make it in at some point during the day, does that count as an absent fee? >> It depends on the time that they come in. So in order for a school day to count, you have to have over four hours for it to count as a full day. Otherwise, now it's a half day absent.
>> Okay. Thank you for clarifying. >> Um so these were the top three. The illness or medical like I said was the top um reason. Then we have anxiety, stress or other mental health concerns. That was 4.2%. Which I know seems like a low number,
but still when you're again um trying to figure out how to address something, you want to see anything that we feel might potentially be a concern for families. And then lack of interest or motivation um the 3.5% there. And just to reiterate for Belvadier,
because our numbers of certain grade levels especially are so small, it makes a difference when it's maybe just two students in a class. And you know, that's just part of being a smaller district. Okay. Days of the week missed. Um I actually thought this was a little
interesting that there was just no identified specific pattern. Um I don't know that I would agree with that. um because I think that Mondays and Fridays tend to be, you know, generally speaking um a day. But, you know,
that's that's what it said. Um what was interesting to note in in this information was that the high school families that completed this noted that the absences were due to certain class periods of the day. My child feels safe at school. So out of the 143 uh families that participated,
132 strongly agreed or agreed that their children feel safe at school. That's a good thing and we want to make sure if anything that we keep increasing that. But that is a really really good thing. Um school connections with adults. My child feels like they have a they are connected to at least one adult at the
school. Um, again, out of 143 survey participants, 127 families agreed or strongly agreed that their children feel like they have a connection at school. Um, here, strongly agree was almost 50%. Again, that's a really good thing. We'd like to see that number even higher.
My child feels motivated. uh 112 families strongly agreed or agreed that their children feel motivated to come to school and engagement opportunities for students. So um what we asked is what would make things more engaging for your child? Why would they want to come to school? What would you know prompt them
to want to get out of bed and come into the building? And we have clubs and extracurricular activities were rated as the highest. Arts, music or creative programs second highest. And then sports and physical activities rounded up the top three. Um, so you can see nothing there said
academic, but that's okay. Part of this is trying to see what we can also embed within the classrooms and within the contents to try and get this a little more engaging. Um, did I go backwards here? I think I did. Yes. Has your child ever struggled with anxiety, depression, or emotional
challenges? Um, the majority said no. um you know we know that this can be a reality. We had at least 33% acknowledge that yes this is something that they have experienced with their child or
children. Um so this is one of the things that we've been talking about um and I've been sharing with the board with some of the things that we're trying to do in school to help support students who may be needing some supports with mental health um you know anxiety whatever it might be.
If supports were available, um what would you find helpful? Most said not needed at this time, but if you'll notice here, um schools counseling, school counseling or social work services, small group support for students, and check-in with mentors or a
trusted adult. So, um, this information will be shared with the staff after tonight's board meeting, but I think it's important that we all see this because I think it just helps us be more aware of what it means when a student comes to school. Um, they're here, yes, to learn. They're here to
learn content, math, language arts, writing, reading, all those things, but they also are here to make that connection with somebody. Um, we've been talking about some of the things that we've been trying to do to be able to provide more supports to students because we do have limitations and resources. Um, and we have are working
on all of that. We've been doing that. Um, I feel informed when my child is absent. Most agreed or strongly agreed that they're informed. Um, you know, there are calls that go out, messages that go out, notices that go out. All of that happens. Um there's not always another person picking up at the other
end of the phone and that's okay, but we do try to reach out to families as best we can. Um and also check in with students if we've noticed prolonged absences. We are checking in to just ensure things are okay. Best way to communicate um email, text
message, phone call. I mean it just depends on the person's preference. So, so notable action items based on all of the information that I just reviewed, the information from the state, the information from the um input survey, the information from support staff
throughout the building and others who have noticed certain trends with absences. Um we have tier one strategies and tier two and three strategies. So for tier one, Genesis, which is our student information system, will provide parental notification on days students are absent with um 5 days absence, 10
days, 15 plus. Um these are also monitored from the perspective of the guidance department um just to be able to make sure that we're keeping track of individuals who've been out. Our nurses do a phenomenal job of alerting the administrative team and guidance
counselors when they are noticing a trend because they do review absences with students and the fact that they've been out a pretty long time. Um, our teachers will notice that as well and they do bring that up. So, there are a lot of eyes that are paying attention and we do try to our best to try and
address whatever the concern might be. Um, of course, promoting and encouraging student attendance, uh, through morning meetings, through assemblies, through school events and activities. This is what gets the kids to come into school. Um, if they're hearing we're going to be having barnyard day, they want to come
and see the animals. So, things like that are the types of things that we want to continue to incorporate throughout the school day that we think will help engage a lot of our students um, to want to be here. tier two and three strategies. Um, teacher and cha staff check-ins for students at risk.
Um, and what I can say and speak to this is we have students that we have, you know, attendance concerns and challenges and we have designated individuals to check in with those students. Um, and just how are we doing
and in the morning and that's something that may be consistent and you know no matter what's going on, it's not always visible to everybody but it is happening because we do have lots of conversations around all of this. um formal parent meetings. There are meetings that are requested when we are
uh concerned about a student, whether it's through the school administrators, the guidance office, the counselors, the child study team, whoever it might be. Um individualized student goals, wellness checks, and just so you're aware, the individualized student goals obviously is appropriate to the
student's age. Um you know, if we have a kindergarten student that is chronically absent, we're going to work with the student, but the parent is the one that really comes and brings a child to school, right? versus a high schooler where maybe we're doing a little bit more individually with that student.
Um, referral to the family crisis intervention unit, possible truency filing depending on the circumstances, credit makeup opportunities after school, and a referral to mental health based services as available. And again, that's based on the individual student.
So, chronic absenteeism is an issue locally, statewide, and nationwide. We have seen trends going up across the state for sure and across the nation. Each school has measures in place to track student absences, communicate with parents, support students um who we see
trending toward chronic being chronically absent or already there. We are trying to continually track them. Um we are emphasizing that it is very important to still keep your children at home if they are truly sick and those guidelines have not changed. Um,
but if we're running into concerns where there's something medically going on, then we also need to be made aware because maybe there's other ways that we can help um, manage some of that. Our goal is to work with parents and students to ensure that students attend school regularly um, which ultimately
leads to their success in school and in the future. I mean, we all know when we go to work and we go to our jobs that we are expected to be at our jobs and and be there on time and all these things. This is part of that preparation to be able to do that. So we want to emphasize why this is so important to be in
school. This is their job. Um acknowledge that there are circumstances that require students to miss school. Um you know ab absences accumulated for valid reasons will not lead to truency filings. And again those reasons can very much be dependent on the student and that individual
student's need. So this presentation is going to be posted on our district website and you will see the policy that is our attendance policy on the presentation itself. It'll be linked to there and then the individual corrective uh action
plans for each school for that. Any other questions? >> So I have one. Mhm. >> I know it's probably the exception, not the norm, but when you have a student who has a serious medical condition that requires extended therapy or regular PT,
OT, broken leg, can't, you know, stuff like that. >> If they're doing work at home to keep up with their studies, how does a situation like that factor >> that is counted as home instruction? So, if we have a a medical need that's supported by a medical professional,
then we would coordinate home instruction for that student. Um and then that will not count as an absence as long as they are >> participating in the home instruction. >> And home instruction is up to 10 hours per week. >> Um and again it's really dependent on
the individual uh circumstance. Some students may require a schedule that maybe you know it's abbreviated like they come in two days a week whatever. So >> when we see the approval for you know someone to provide that home study >> when you're seeing approval for home instructions some of them
>> may be tying to this >> the majority is based on some >> Thank you. >> I have a question. >> Um so the goal is to get our absenteeism rate down to 15% 10% less.
>> It should be under 10%. >> Okay. And then um because this is a part of the district improvement plan, >> corrective action plan, >> right? So how long does that how how long is the duration of the corrective
action plan? >> So this plan will go through the end of this year, but obviously if we have something that we have in place, we're going to continue that. What happens is when they release the 2425 performance reports, we look at what our um chronic absent uh absentee rate is and then we
determine whether another corrective action plan is required at the end of this um school year. We would give an update on our corrective action plan. >> Okay. So then we can expect another update at >> not nec no it's not necessarily a presentation. I mean it'll be posted on our website.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. But we will continue to, you know, if we see strategies are working, we're going to continue those strategies. >> But the board will be made aware that the corrective action plan that we're we're making progress improvements or we're not and we have to continue another corrective action plan for the
new year >> when Yes, we would just like this and it would be actually earlier in the year. >> Okay. >> And then I I have another silly question. It should be pretty quick. I mean, I think it's fair to say like we're not going to be down to 10%
next year, right? So, what is the like achieve >> based on the fact that it's 2425? I would >> Right. Yes. >> Yeah. So, what would be like what is the goal? You know, your aim to achieve to reduce it by 5% this year, 10% next
year. Do we have have we thought about that at all? >> The goal is a reduction. >> Period. Period. >> Okay. Um this is one of those challenging things because again our numbers are so small >> that the simplest thing can throw off that number quite a bit. Um but the goal
is reduction. Um >> okay that's just want to see >> I want to see it trending down. Yes. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Do tardies included in this call? >> Depends on the time and how late they are. >> So it's the four hours. So like if someone decides they're going
to come in for the last two periods of the day, that doesn't count. >> If someone is a chronic chronically late, do tardies add up two days? >> That's not necessarily okay. >> Counted in this number. >> And then um >> that would I'm sorry that would pro
impact more like a credit for a class depending on the grade level of the student. >> Okay. Oh, for the tier one interventions, um, are those letters going out now >> for the chronic absenteeism? Okay.
>> Yeah. >> I, you know, experience has taught me that sometimes they're sort of disregarded, but we do, you know, try to provide notice. >> Okay. So, I'm thinking we really won't know for a while how much it's helped
because we're already in 26. We're going in the 26 27th school year for a full year. >> It's going to be What I'll say to that, yeah, it'll be hard to gauge it with next year's numbers. Um, what I would say is that regardless of when this was completed,
>> alerting to student absences has been a goal since um >> for a while now. >> For a while now. So I would hope that there is some improvement for 2526 >> and we we should be able to gauge at least
>> for the end of next year I would >> and you can um when you dive into the corrective action plans there's information and data on there preliminary data um for 2425 that can be viewed as well. So >> thank you that was helpful. I want to
ask just one more question as far as the seniors go because I know there's been a lot of back and forth with this. They're still required to be in this building four hours, correct? To count because I know they can sign out for lunch cl, you know, if they have study hall. So, where do we stand on that?
>> It depends on the students program. they're required to be here for their classes, but if their classes are cl if their classes um they're mandated two classes and and all the things then it would count that's their full day.
>> Does that make sense? >> Is that if so if they're like on work release like where they can >> Yes. work release that is >> that absolutely but if they're >> if they're not even if they have study halls they still have a six hour So, they should still be
required to be in >> here for 4 hours, whether that's two classes in a study hall or whatever makes up that 4 hours. >> That's why there's a study hall in the in the schedule. >> Okay. I'm just I was just asking because I know there's been a lot of back and forth about that. >> Yeah. And that's something that can be clarified too with, you know, as u Mr.
Carabinus who's been sending quite a few messages out to students just to clarify some of that. If there's a program though that the student is participating in like a work workbased program, that does not count. that is part of their program. >> But if they're not in that program, then that's still four hours. Okay? Because I
I think in the past two years there's been a lot of muddy water around that. >> Um so I just wanted to clarify that right now that it's four hours, whatever those classes are. >> I would encourage anybody that has questions specific to them because again
they're so sure that they really reach out to um Mrs. Kimble's a great person to reach out to and or the building principal and then of course the rest of us will. Great. Thank you so much. That's why I'm asking because there's been a lot of muddy water. It's a good question.
>> Yeah. Where are we at? >> Okay. So, chronic absentee. So I need a motion for executive session which will be personnel individual privacy matters rendered
confidential by federal law, state law and court law. Can I have a motion for executive session? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I any abstensions? Okay. So any discussion held by the board which need not remain
confidential will be made public as soon as practicable. Minutes of the private session will not be disclosed until the need for further confidentiality no longer exists. All appropriate persons who may be discussed in private session have been adequately
notified. The board will reconvene in public session at the conclusion of the closed se closed session and approximately we go with 20 minutes. We're going to aim for 20 minutes. No, it's not. >> Thank you.
>> Okay. Okay. >> So, I just wanted to let everybody know that I will be I have requested a sign to be made for the the public participation notice and a stand that will be similar to like please wait to
be seated that we can put in the front help solve so we don't have to bring it up again. >> Windy. >> So, yeah. I'm hoping by March it will all be in and we'll be ready to go. by then Melissa will be ready. >> Okay. So until then
>> we are on to public participation agenda it this is for agenda items. We very much welcome input from the public. There are two times during regular meetings that the public is invited to speak. One of those times is early in the meeting before the board votes when you may ask about any items that is
listed on tonight's agenda. Towards the end of the meeting, there is another public forum to address any matters of public concern related to the schools. To ensure fair and efficient meetings, each public comment session will be limited to a total of 30 minutes at the
discretion of the presiding officer. When you approach the microphone, please state your name, city, town, and group affiliation. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to 3 minutes. Time may not be yielded to other participants. All statements must
be directed to the presiding officer. No participant may address or question board members individually. Please understand the public comment portion of our agendas are not question and answer sessions but are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. The board may or may not
respond to the public comments. However, all comments are considered and will and they will be investigated and addressed as appropriate. Please be cur cou Please be courteous and mindful of the rights of others when speaking. Comments may
not be abusive, obscene, threatening or irrelevant. The presiding officer may interrupt and/or warn if necessary. Please understand that the board will not be responsible for the content of comments made by members of the public. Members of the public are cautioned that they are speaking at their own risk and
any statement they make that are directed at a particular individual or individuals may subject them to legal liability or defamation. Please also understand that the students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board will not
respond in public to comments about students or employees. Do we have any public participation for agenda items? Yeah. >> Good evening. Chris M. Coyle, Association President. Two questions regarding the agenda this evening. Uh
first, it regards agenda item personnel 14. Uh revolves around the aid salary in question. Uh allery salaries must be paid at the rate. This rate is incorrect. And regarding education number 25 um question would be by the
association who is this employee and why are they being paid this rate rather than that of a unit member? Thank you. Okay. Any other public participation? No. Okay. So, we are on to
committee reports. >> Go first. >> Okay. >> I have two. I have personnel negotiations and I have finance after that. So, for personnel negotiations, there's not a lot. I mean, we can't obviously we don't talk about negotiations. There was, as you'll see on your your sheet, there was a couple of um agent offered positions. They're
approved by the thing and they're on our agenda for tonight. We discussed some special education staffing forecasting for 26 and 27 um negotiations. I have no new updates to give anybody at this time. I got finance now. I'm not done.
Let's see. Finance. This is from February 11th. We had a meeting tonight, but this is not for tonight's meeting, but there's not much different really. Um we discussed in detail the budget and the budget gap, which we'll discuss more in a little while, so I'm not going to get into that. We discussed the hot water exchanger, right? We have cracked needs to be replaced. $40,000. Boilers,
the grants are back on. Shel's working on that to see if we can get that roof. She's working on that, too. She had a meeting. They're going to look at the um moisture up top there when she gets a quote back. Third Street, there is a buyer March 20th, but that's really from tonight's meeting. There was u some
Brown and Brown stuff. There's two articles here, which you should all go read because it's pretty interesting reading. All right. Um we have to look at the long range facility plan. We need to discuss it and then we have anticipated agenda items for next time. >> Just really quick, the grants that are back, are they the original grants?
>> No. Or they're new grants. >> Those they are similar to the original, but last year it was with JCPNL and this year um it's with Elizabeth Town Gaths that we are waiting on >> um that they'll be funded and how much.
We don't have many specifics yet. >> Okay, cool. But cross your fingers >> they are. >> And to >> I can do the um policy readout. So the policy committee has been quite busy. Um we in our last meeting
um reviewed policy 0167 which is a new policy and is on today's agenda. Um we Oh, is it? Yeah. Um, we may actually it's the public comment so I don't think that it's actually a new
policy but we added we changed some language there. So it's in for the first reading but we may also want to revisit this in six months just to take a look at some other things um on prioritizing who can speak etc. Um we were provided
by stress estimate a new um sexual harassment policy 1552 which is also on the agenda. This is a net new policy which covers staff and closes the gap in the title 9 policy previously had before.
Um we are abolishing 3362 34 4352. Um we have a revised um nepotism policy which was also pro provided to us by stress Esme. There are no changes requests from the committee at this time
based on that policy that was provided to us. Um, we updated the employment chief of staff um, chief of staff, chief of school administrator um, policy 1220 and we updated it to
reflect our current contract structure. So, it's tailored to Belvadier School District and we also selected the qualifications for section one. Um, we opted for that first one. So, we'll want to um, make sure you guys reviewed that.
And then four, we also went over our board committee policy, our freedom to read act policy, and our booster clubs. Those are not on the agenda for this um meeting, but we the goal is to have the freedom to read gap um policy all
cleaned up and ready so that we can approve it in March. >> Any questions? >> Great. Thanks, Colleen. student activities. We started looking at the number of participate
participants in sports and activities. We looked at winter of 2025 and the spring of 2025. We haven't looked at spring of 2026 because the interests are still being gathered. We also noted that there were some JV
sports that did not run due to lack of interest. We're looking at co-op participation numbers and whether or not we provide the coaches or if they come from other sources. Questions were asked about certain activities that had low participation
numbers. And we're looking at trends in certain sports and activities. How can we make them work without eliminating them? And is co-op or another option available? We looked at moving forward, how can we
proceed with the costs? Are there other sources of funding? How much do booster clubs or the clubs themselves support themselves? And it's not a budget item for the board. The ride home waiver was looked at. There were two different versions out there. They were reviewed
in a single document was shared by Dr. Garcia. We're looking at how we present field trips on the board agenda to make sure that there's clarity being presented to the board about costs and whether or not they were preapproved.
An activi what a question was asked about how do incoming students learn about the activities. An activity fair was held in December for incoming students. A career fair is being scheduled for March 27th. That information was shared
out to the board and a flyer was shared so that we can help promote it. And we talked about promoting positive events and it is an area that we're continuing to work on. >> Great. Thank you. All right. And the
last one, um, curriculum instruction. We met on the 17th. Um, we talked about the district benchmarks um, for winter. uh our K through 8 Renaissance um was
mostly utilized by under fifth grade and then um middle school did their benchmarks with the um with it also but it's newer to them so they haven't done as much training with that. Um so that's something you know we will be looking at
further um as a resource for them possibly. no high school benchmarks, which is kind of consistent. We there was some reach out with the roundt discussions, other schools, you know, what they're doing, like what we could do to
um do them, not do them, you know, kind of collaborating, you know, to see what might work best. Current focuses are math. Um I think no surprise there. We've all talked about math um being an area of concern. Uh we talked about the
grant um that's on the agenda for tonight, the high impact tutoring um which would be grades three through eight. Um a platform for that we were discussing and hoping that we would be able to have that um eligible for the
next school year 2627. We discussed um academic programs, AP platforms possible um how we can support those those programs and the numbers of students taking them and passing the
exams. We talked about different again with math different options for supporting our incoming students especially and you know trying to see where everybody lays and what we can do again in a roundt setting to collaborate
on that. And we did um an overview of the 26 27 schedule and also talked about the new regulation for cursive writing in 3 through fifth grades. And then we
talked about the um updated calendar which we know is a work in progress here with our mother nature not wanting to cooperate. Um so you know we know that that is something Dr. Garcia has been looking at and
possibilities and now that we had Monday, we'll see what comes of that. Um, and the extended school year dates um July 6th through July 31st. And the school calendar um for the incoming 2627
year um is something that we're working on to hopefully have um more concrete. Um, but there was three versions and definitely I think everybody in our meeting favored one of the three versions um the same. So,
we'll see how that comes out. And then chronic absenteeism we were talking about um with her early findings and the presentation for tonight and that is on well the revised calendar is on the board agenda but again work in progress
and the corrective action plan is on the board agenda tonight. Any questions >> from stand I don't know if it's conferenceing. So generally speaking just from a scheduling perspective that when they
look at the conference they do look at what's meets our where we fall and what's available uh for that. So it's generally speaking something that's already a part of the process. Um I can certainly ask Mr. Carabinus if there's any more you
know that we can do there. I know this was asked before and Mr. Carabinus has talked about it and some of its size. >> Yeah. >> And some of it were placed in conferences. We don't always have a choice. You know, it's by standings um
by you know the size of your school >> and that's demographics. >> That's basically what it comes down to. And what's happening is for some sports, some schools are no longer running certain sports and some schools it there's just so many reasons. So, generally speaking, when they do place you, it's based on
a few factors. Um, but like I said, it doesn't hurt to ask the question. >> Yeah, >> I know a lot of the ones that we'll pick up that are outside of conference tend to be our close ones. >> Yeah. >> When we're going to some of these schools, you know, 15 minutes away. If you look, a lot of times they're not conference games or they're coming here
because the same reason. It's easy. You can play more games, get your kids more time, but >> I don't know. >> It will probably affect your state standings when you're if you want to go for trying to be in states and stuff.
Yeah. >> Yes. Well, yeah. So, that's you have to play those ones in your conference even if it's an hour and a half away. I think the question should be we know the state as a whole is struggling financially for school
districts. So, you know, years ago conferences were based on geography. Now, they tried to level the playing field by size. I think the question we should ask is are is the athletic association at the state level as a whole taking into
account the financial implications with particularly when you're aligning small school to small school there's that distance and cost of travel. So, while they're trying to level the skill set, are they creating a financial
burden as opposed to, you know, it the double-edged sword, but >> yeah, >> we're not the only district with financial struggles in this state. So, what are they doing at a state level to help not increase the burden?
>> Nothing. >> I'm sure. Nothing. >> Yeah, I'm sure. But it's good. It's a great question to put out there. like when the 80s come together. It's a good it's a good question to put it in the forefront. >> You've got enough school districts asking what are you doing big picture
wise rather than just one school district saying we're trying to reduce our busing costs like me. >> You don't ask. They're definitely not going to do it. So talk about doctor. Okay. Any other questions on committee
reports? Okay. All right. Correspondents I have one letter. Um, this letter is to inform you that beginning September of the 2627 school year, I will be stepping down from my full-time position as an
aid to a part-time 65% position. This change is due to the taking of my social security. Please note, this is not a retirement, only a reduction of hours. Sincerely, Terry Burn. Okay, that's it. All right. Update for district goals of
Dr. Garcia. >> So, um, so back in December, we had established district goals um when we established the board goals all at the same time. Um, and this is one of the checkpoints. So, here we go.
Going to struggle here to hold everything. All righty. So, our uh first goal were related to the long range facilities plans and that was to review and update comprehensive long range facilities plan that aligns building condition, enrollment projections, program needs,
and budget forecasts. So, we've successfully initiated this process as you've noted from the finance committee update um to look at our long-range facilities plans which it happened to um align with when it needed to be updated anyway.
Correct, Shelley? Weren't Wasn't it expiring soon? >> Yes. >> Yes. Okay. Um and there has been some progress since January, which is when we pretty much started to work on these goals. Um the long range facilities plans was discussed. We've actually had
discussions with the finance committee um business administrator chief uh operations off the operations chief, excuse me, um and an architect. And what we're waiting on right now from the architect is a um quote for the longrange facilities plan. We are
looking to incorporate since we are working on the plan um the roofing sections because it makes sense to do everything right now to ensure that we are as up to date as possible and um considering everything that we are trying to get done and would like to get done with that plan. Um once we review
the long range facilities plan um it will be sent to um the county office. Everything does get approved and then we would go from there. Um but this is uh you know we've made good progress with this. Um there's a lot of work still to be done. Uh but we are headed in the
right direction. Um just so you know that when we're looking at this, we're obviously looking at building condition, but we're also looking at program space needs. Um what are we looking to do in the district as we move forward? Um where is everybody throughout the building and kind of just trying to
figure out areas of priority? Um, and just making sure that we're aligning with whatever the needs of the students are and the programs that we're hoping to support. Any questions about this one? Um, just a quick update which again were uh was updated through the finance
committee, but the boilers we had originally anticipated doing something um towards this school year. However, we are still waiting on information from the grant and we do know that the roof um needs um attention as soon as possible. So, we have switched the priority there a little bit and we are
looking to do two sections of the roof this year while we wait for that grant hopefully to come through and support the um updating of the boilers in the following school year. Okay. Our second goal uh district goal related to the school leadership
communication with all stakeholders. Um our goal here is to strengthen communication to be as transparent as we possibly can uh with uh community members, with staff, with with everybody, with all stakeholders. Um the board of course um we have been working
toward that. One of the projects that um I had since I started in October was to figure out how things are communicated. um how often do communications go out? Um what kind of information are people looking for? Uh what would be helpful to
you know build trust and to reinforce trust in the district? Uh so we've been working to that end and there are a few areas that we're targeting. One is the communication about certain things going on in the district and in the buildings. Um to that end, you know, certain things that have happened and notices that have
gone out have been with regards to our heat exchanger. Um and then the parent caregiver input survey for chronic absenteeism. Those are just two of the items that we've sent out and we hope to be able to continue that communication um with the community. Um it's not always communication that we want to
send out. It's not always positive news, but we feel like it's better to be transparent and forthcoming to every extent possible. Um and then we are also looking at our website quite a bit. Uh there's a few areas that we're looking to update to ensure that we're in compliance. um not only to make it
easier for community members or other stakeholders to navigate the website, but also to ensure that we're meeting with the requirements of the department of edar. Um so that is a work in progress. It is a team effort of course um much like everything else is and it involves just ensuring that we have um
you know certain things accessible from certain pages on the website, things like that. So it is a continued work in progress. Um, I do feel like we've come, you know, a pretty long way and I think that we're making great progress towards that end and that goal. Um,
our goal for everything that we're doing is to be as transparent as we possibly can and that includes on the website too. Any questions about communication and then student achievement. So an area that we identified as um
needing attention is our overall student achievement and this is you know based on state assessment results uh that we know that we need to work on. We know our areas of concern. Uh so one of the things that we've been doing is reviewing the data that we have available in district. This data is
supposed to be guiding our instruction when we're working with students. when we see where our students are starting as a baseline, we can then move forward and address whatever those concerns or challenging areas might be as we move along the school year. Um, and it's not only about identifying weaknesses, we also want to identify strengths because
we can use that a lot of times to be able to support other areas. So, we want to give the kudos where the kudos are needed, you know, are deserved and we want to be able to say, now we have this really great, let's look at this over here. Um, so this information is very important. As you know, in the fall K
through 8 did take the fall um benchmarks information. Um we've been talking about how we share some of that information out with families and community and we're still working on that specifically with parents. Um but there we are looking to be able to share a little bit
more of that. But what we've been able to do is use the data that we have now with our winter benchmarks to identify where we are showing some positive trends and where we may need a little bit more. So, um, in the areas of math, um, what
we notice is that between the cycle one, which would have been our fall assessments, versus cycle two, our winter assessments, we saw some nice growth in math for grade 2, where we had a 24% growth point for our students. That's significant. That's really positive. Those are good things. And
then we have a 15% growth in our seventh grade for math. Um, these are things we want to see. what's going to happen as we move along and as we move along with the district goals and we extend whatever we need to extend beyond this year. We're wanting to see how some of this information that we have will
correlate to the state assessments and is it correlating and what are we noticing? So this information is very important for us. Uh the building administrators they review this information we talk about it. The piece that we feel like is is still missing that we would like to get addressed is
how we get it out to the parents in a timely manner. Um, what I will tell you for this year, what we're looking to do is by the end of the year where they take the third assessment, our goal is to be able to release a report out to the family so that they can see where their students were at the beginning of the year and then their growth towards
the end of the year. So, this was the identified um, you know, top growth areas in math here. What we noticed there was a trend for middle school um, sixth, seventh and eighth grades trending down for language
arts. Um, what I will say is this is not necessarily uncommon. Um, I've actually noticed throughout, you know, many years of reviewing and analyzing the data is that in the winter time, language arts scores do sometimes tend to go down a little bit. Um, I still haven't figured
out exactly why, but our goal is to see where those areas of weakness might be and then hopefully be able to address that. It was mentioned before um through the committee report that what we do know is that when the Renaissance benchmarks were rolled out in the
district, there was training that was had for K through five teachers. However, there was very limited training if any for middle school teachers. So, there was um a reference to K through five or using in middle school, not using it as much. It's not the assessments that they're not taking.
It's using the program to address the con areas of concerns or the skills that need to be addressed. knowing how to use the program for students to boost those areas. That's the piece that we're trying to to work on. Um, but it's it is a work in progress. We are at least
looking at the data at this point. Something that we did notice with the information because it does give us certain um specific targeted groups is that our economically disadvantaged students, they're the ones that saw the most decrease from fall to winter
benchmarks. Our demographic has a significant um significantly large economically disadvantaged group. We are over 40%. So when we see this, it's very concerning because if we're over 40% and
we're seeing that decrease here, we know some of our state assessments what that's going to mean for those state assessments, right? So trying to figure out how to address some of this. Um when you really really really dig in deep to some of this chronic absenteeism information.
This is also a group economic disadvantage >> for the state. Um it's students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch um who may be eligible for Medicaid things like that.
>> Thank you. So definitely something we need to keep focusing on. We need to keep looking at and determining what we can do to try and help boost some of this up. Any questions on achievement? Okay. Um
the road ahead, this is what we're looking to do by the end of the school year. Um and I think again we're headed in a positive direction. it which is to completely finish the long-term facilities plan which would be very helpful for everything else that we're trying to do with our projects and then
continue the grant process for the boiler project. That's a big one for us. Um we do need the support of the grant in order to be able to do what we need to do here for that. Um continuing the updates on the district website to ensure compliance and enhance transparency. Continuing to send those
messages out. Again, messages may not always be the most positive messages, but it's important that we're sharing it. Um, and then of course, the achievement is being able to use our benchmark data to drive instructional planning. Um, continuing, you know, to show that growth in math
and, you know, beyond those two grade levels. And there were other grade levels that had shown growth. Um, second and and uh >> seventh, thank you. Seventh were the two that showed the most significant, but I mean that that's a good thing. Those are good things. And then um we are looking
um as a cluster and just discussions to be able to find some sort of common placement assessments for math. And what that means is that you know sometimes what we're noticing um just when we look at how students are placed and we're looking at grades and we're looking at performance
are students being recommended for classes appropriately. Are they all coming in with the same skill set or are there gaps depending on what school they're coming from? So that's what we're trying to look at is are we being consistent? There's already things in place here in Belvadier which is great. How much of
that are we sharing out with the sending districts so that we ensure that whatever it is that we're doing they're they're aligned with and that's where our discussions with the superintendent the roundt discussions is very helpful of course um and every m every single one of our um sending district
superintendents are very much on board with the collaboration the cohesiveness. Um, our next step is to be able to reach out to certain grade level teachers so that we can try and do some sort of articulation with them. >> Questions? Yes. >> Quick quick question. Uh, for the math
growth, I know we talked about achievement. Did we see anybody slide backwards? I am minute. Did we see anybody slide backwards? >> Yes. So um the the board has a copy of the detailed update and in there you would see a
chart. There was um two excuse me one subgroup that actually um took a dip which was the economically disadvantaged group. The others all had some sort of increase for math. Um some of it was two
percentage points but still it was an increase. There wasn't anybody declining. So what we noted there was that one specific group that was that the decline >> and then for the economically disadvantaged group has that at all I hate to say it like this but
advantageous to us from a um state funding standpoint. We do get funds based on our demographic and our numbers and those funds are um addressed through like a school improvement plan things like that that
is a part of what we use to plan for certain things. So, an example is um you know, moving forward when we're looking at a potentially a summer program, there's targeted groups there for that summer program. And some of that comes from the fact that we are eligible for
um support aid based on our demographic and our economically disadvantaged numbers. >> When was the cycle 2 test given? >> January. >> Okay. Because looking at the economically disadvantaged did we take
or take into account other factors not just academics because >> meaning >> meaning that was right after a huge chunk of the population lost their aid. So that impacts breakfast, lunch,
dinner, home stress impacts that second testing cycle that affected I know with our kids where I'm at their attendance, things like that. So it's not just the academics to look at, it's all of the holistic approach to the student. That's where I
would say I again I'm going to give a lot of um credit to our nurses here because they are very on top of this and helping us to determine if there's things that we aren't maybe capturing right away you know administratively. Um we do get information and we um you know
information about students who may be eligible for free and reduce and things any change anything like that right so then that gets addressed immediately that also puts students on the radar for hey are we is something going on is there a correlation that's where this chronic absenteeism thing is also
important and that's why I'm saying like there are lots of discussions not always visible to everybody because that wouldn't be appropriate but there's a group of us that are like Okay, we we need to see what's going on here. Um, and I will say from there's a difference too when you're
addressing older students versus the younger students. The younger students are a little bit more open usually to say certain things like I'm hungry, whatever it might be. whereas you're not going to get necessarily the same from the high school which is where our teachers are also very important because
if they're noticing something in the classroom with students if they're you know anything like that um I know that there's been individuals that have gone to other to colleagues to say um we're we have a concern or we don't know what's going on. Um, so there's a lot of
eyes, but obviously there are there are situations where someone can fall through the cracks. So, we do our very best to make sure we're paying attention, but um, this wouldn't necessarily identify, you know, this is the group. If they went into the system as being in that category, um, in their
student information system, it's all tied in, then that's it doesn't account for maybe they lost something or didn't lose something. It didn't matter. >> Yeah. I guess the thought process is right if it was provided on a delayed opening there may not have been breakfast provided to the kids which
could then their scores you know that's how some of the things I was >> could be and then you're going to send a copy of that I looked I don't know I might have missed it of the district say to the board get a copy okay thank you
>> okay >> anything else Okay, thank you very much for that. >> Okay, so we are looking at agenda items. So we will be looking at policy items
one superintendent report. Oh, I wrote I wrote my notes around it. Sorry, I forgot. And we have one more report from Dr. Garcia for the third and final time of the evening. Sorry, guys. No, get a drink. here. >> Okay. So, first I'd like to thank Kelly
Mitchell from New Jersey School Boards for facilitating um the sessions to develop the updated mission and vision. Um I think we had some great conversations that highlighted the essence of our Belvadier school community. Also, a very big thank you to Miss Antoanet Bader for making our
tagline poster for tonight. Um just be it, belong, believe, become. um this was done so quickly and I very much appreciate her efforts to do this. Um you know we're excited for this. We're excited hopefully if you know if everybody's in agreement to be able to
launch um and just sort of like start fresh start a new um from a special education perspective I there's continuing visits to students that are placed in out of district programs. Um that is going to be an ongoing process.
Uh we are being quite vigilant of um special education cost of course and um we are currently sustained which is a good thing as sustained as we can be. Um very excited today the FFA hosted a barnyard day. There were a few pictures
up on the uh slideshow from before. Um but I got to go in and meet all of our little friends. Um the goat was not happy with the pig. It was a really good day though. Um, and it was very nice for our Belvadier students to be able to visit the
barnyard and have that experience. And the students did a wonderful job explaining and um, all the things. And I think I saw um I I know not think um the biggest three-month-old cow that I had ever seen. Um, I had just not seen a
three-month-old, you know, that big. And I believe she said that um that she wasn't even quite 3 months old yet. So it was pretty impressive. I did take a picture of that, too. Um it was mentioned that we are uh planning a career fair. Mrs. Kimble is working on
that and there was a flyer notice that went out to organizations. If you're aware of any organizations that may want to send someone to represent, um we would encourage them to reach out to Mrs. Kimell, reach out to the high school, and that is going to be on March 27th. Um you also saw in the PowerPoint
presentation just a little update on the life skills room. Um we're continuing to work on that. Um our next step for that would be the cabinets and the installation of the cabinets. So we are moving along. Um you know even with all the other things going on right now. So
um very big thank you to Andrew and the team for that because um there's been a lot of things and work that has gone into that. Um Mrs. Prislac is also very involved with that and she's really doing a phenomenal job and you know uh really good things for our students. So
we're excited to keep that going. Um as we speak I think uh Mrs. Susigan is running a family math night at the elementary school for grades 1 through three with members of the National Junior Honor Society, the boys basketball team and football team as volunteer helpers. Uh Mrs. delay is in
the process of coordinating a family science night also for grades 1 through three on March 19th. So those are all good things. the the life skills room. I know it's a the pictures look really nice, but when
is do we have an expected date that it's >> I hesitate to give that date right now because we had every our intention was to be able to sort of I don't even know um what's the right word I'm looking for? >> Ribbon cutting.
>> Yeah, like a ribbon cutting um by February, March. But obviously due to the concerns with the heat exchanger and um all the other things that have been going on, we have had to push that back. We do have a limited amount of resources and we have to make sure that we are addressing the most pressing needs at
the time. But it is a continued um goal for us and is not forgotten and we are working on it. So we would give a date once we are confident of when we're able to move on with the next step. >> Are the resources financially related or are they operational?
>> Operational. Um, anything else on that? No. Okay. Similar to many districts across New Jersey, we are facing a substantial budget gap for the 2627 school year. The 2627 forecast is developed using expenses and revenue for the 2627 school
year. Prelimin preliminary estimates indicate a gap of more than $1.5 million. The budget gap is driven primarily by significant rising healthc care benefit cost, continued special education costs, and a trend of minimal to no increase of revenues such as state
aid, local tax levy, etc. We are reviewing all departments and programs and making strategic reductions while prioritizing actions that protect and preserve core services for students. The district will continue to update and discuss the budget during upcoming board
meetings as the process continues. >> And that is it for me. It >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> I have a question for the budget. Um when will we have a more solidified proposal on the direction that we're headed for the 26 27th school year?
Because I think we have the public budget presentation May. So like that's right around the corner. Well, we plan to have it ready by March 18th. Right. >> Question. When will we have any more solidified?
>> Yeah. Budget proposal for 2627. >> So, I handed out the current draft that we have um which still has a budget gap included um that we're working on. Still trying to determine ways to fill the remaining piece. Um so, you have a
current version of the budget. Now, at the March 16th meeting, um >> March 18th, >> I'm sorry, March 18th meeting, that's when the board will be asked to approve the preliminary budget to go to the county. We are waiting for state aid
to be released. Um the governor's address is March 10th. March 12th is when we should have state aid by. So by the March 18th meeting, we plan to have a draft similar to what you've got tonight, but one that is actually balanced that we can use to submit as
preliminary. Um the finance committee has additional meetings planned between now and then. >> Finance committee has additional meetings planned between now and then to keep working on it and the administration works on it. Well, some
of us continuously. Um, so with the proposal that I or with the draft that you all received, you're welcome to review it. You're welcome to ask questions to the finance chair um and to myself and we can try to answer
additional questions. I'm not sure. So, looking at the budget here, the details in the committee minutes aren't necessarily reflective of some of the things that I'm seeing in the like on page 16, there's some things
highlighted there that I have. Uh, so when will we So, we're going to have we're going to be >> that came out tonight. Our budget our finance meeting was tonight. So, you didn't get meetings. >> Well, so let me finish though. So, we're not going to have the opportunity to
talk about all this until the day we need to approve it. Is that what we're saying? Like March 18th. This is very helpful stuff, but there's a lot of interesting things in here. >> Absolutely. Um and there's there's much more to come because um I think it's page six will show you that we still
have um a significant gap that we don't have even I won't say necessarily ideas but I mean any good way to close the gap at this point. >> Um and we've already implemented or you know already put in that proposal that
draft two some really hard ways to close the gap. So, it's um it's troubling. It's across the state. It's not a Belvadier alone problem at all. Um just as far as quantifying some of it, almost $600,000 is related to benefits
increases. And we just received our actual rate increase. So, it's not even based on a proposal. The actual was 2.5% higher than the proposed. So, it's um there's some big numbers in there.
and um which we're already a slim school. So it's but as far as the full board discussing prior to March 18th, we don't have anything currently on the calendar,
but at this point we pretty much need to see where state aid goes. There is hopes by crossing our fingers based upon our resident enrollment and based upon financial disadvantages um that potentially we may get additional aid but we we don't know until it happens.
They don't always follow the formula. And there was just to uh clarify too initially that um where it would get addressed first from the governor was actually pushed out further which is impacting obviously the timeline for >> but originally we should this week like
now >> I that's what I was thinking >> actually about tomorrow was when we would originally have gotten state aid but so you know that being pushed down the road a couple more weeks doesn't give us a lot of time to turn things around. So, um, right now we have the
finance meeting scheduled for the day that we hope to have the aid and then we will continue to work >> and then on the >> I mean literally by the calendar there's not a whole lot of places to say let's insert another meeting to discuss it because
>> there's nothing that's happening >> right I mean so between March 12th and our March 18th meeting it's not like a lot of place to add another meeting so Um, is the finance committee meeting in between now and March 12th? >> Yes,
>> we're we have Okay. >> March 12th is when we're meeting. Yes. >> And then the Brown and Brown um I think I understood from the minutes that they were coming up with like an assessment of quotes or >> um
>> or analyzing where we are and how we compare to the market. Is that what they're doing? I was the Brown and Brown >> the minutes from which which meeting? I just I'm not sure if I was there. >> I don't know if they were in a negotiations minutes or a finance minutes. >> No,
>> finance. >> There was Brown and Brown material and a conversation with Brown and Brown in policy and negotiation. >> Right. Negotiation. >> Personel negotiation. >> Personality. >> Personal I got my P's confused by >> Brown and Brown. And that was >> and they reviewed with us different
options. >> Okay. that that would be eligible to a district as well as where we compare. >> We're basically marketing our plan right now like we do most years. So the plan they're marketing um they're I think what did he tell me was by March 15th
>> that they would hope to have the proposals back and if anybody >> basically >> quote on our plan or not >> out to get quotes. >> Yeah, we at harmony >> and we asked them to get an additional one that they hadn't pre hadn't already started the process with. So we had
another option to consider because the the percentage of increase >> Yeah. >> is Yeah. >> And that's a national problem, right? >> Yeah. No, I understood that part on the minutes. I'm just trying to make sure that I understand what the next step is, which it sounds like we went out to vote and we're waiting for that,
>> right? When we get those proposals back, then we can look at them, see the feasibility, whether we can include them in the budget or not. Right. I mean, it all >> Okay. Unfortunately, this is obviously one of the biggest things we do all year and the way that the dates work out, it
all gets crunched into a small pocket of time. Okay. So, one more time, we're going to still have are we going to be expected to approve the preliminary budget on March 18th,
the same day we're getting the information as a board as a whole? Um well I don't necessarily know that on the 18th that we would hand it out like you mean I gave it to you now because we just met but I mean hopefully for the 18th packet I'll be able to have it in your packet. Okay >> so that you can have it earlier
>> and then we could review and then have discussion. >> Yes, that is definitely our hope but also you're welcome to ask questions based upon this version um send you >> but yeah you know through email is uh >> that's our okay >> norm right to go through the finance
chair. Yep. Yeah. So, I mean, >> the hardest part is for us, you know, and then when you're reviewing it, if you have any ideas that possibly, like we have, you know, you'll hear from the minutes of tonight's meeting that we
have already met with the county to sit down to see if there's any other possible ideas. They basically have said, you have the quote tonight. >> We have tapped into everything we can possibly tap into. We are
>> we are scratching for ideas. So if you have any please feel free to >> so as we >> email those as well. >> You know how are we triangulating the data right? Um we heard that in student activities. I'm probably now I'm going to mess up all my committee names that
we're looking at the data for how how actively our students are engaging those opportunities. Right? You can see we've and all of those have a stipen. those stipens are here. How do we get that data brought in so that as we look at these
things and we may, >> you know, have to make decisions. >> I'm guessing you didn't I mean cuz you just got it. I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to really look at this, right? But I tried this. >> I did not read 23 pages. >> Absolutely. >> What I would what I would just say is yeah, review the packet that you were
given and you'll see a lot of information. >> Is that correlation in here? >> It is. Okay. That's >> I have expanded that quite a bit to try to make it a one pager where you can just read across and get the >> Thank you. >> You write the participation numbers, the stipens, the everything on the couple of
pages. Um I just while we're talking about that when you are reading it, >> the the way those spreadsheets are written right now, they're suggestions. Um the numbers that you see where we've made reductions are more numbers that we'll need to meet, but the principles and everyone will have to make final
decisions on those. the suggestions you see on those spreadsheets are not definitive by any means. >> I I just want the actual conversation. >> So hopefully you'll you'll see that you have pretty good information. Um if you do see information that you would like that you don't have again reach out and
I'll also offer if you are looking at it and you want to schedule time to come in and meet with me you know just to review for an hour or so please do. I'm more than willing to do that to try to help even if it's some of you know I already met with Bana. We spent a couple hours
plus um going through pieces of it. So just so she could kind of prepare to understand it. I would love to do that with anybody who wants to come in. >> So Shelley, you were very helpful to me last week and you answered a question or helped clarify my question. Um, and I
was wondering if you could share that clarification with the rest of the board just to better understand what I was trying to articulate um, with if we if we're approve if we don't approve certain
activities this year, would it help us to save money for next budget season where we see a major crunch? And your response was yes because then you could reallocate like that savings to other areas to
cover the the deficit for this budget and not have to take as much from next year's budget. Can you put that in better terms for me? >> Yes. So I think my response was technically yes. But as we're
progressing and what we do is we take whatever we can when I do um the forecast for the 2526 budget is I try to see where are we going to end up. So and I kind of going to kind of wrap a couple of questions together if you will
allow me to. So in the beginning of the year when I was forecasting it's very unusual that I forecast in September for the end of the year but we had some pretty good hits from our 2526 budget happen before 2526 even started. So
there was time initially that we were even when my forecast was showing that we had a potential deficit coming. Luckily things have spun and gone the right way that we are not in a deficit position. So, I want to make sure we're always clarifying what a deficit is is when you don't have enough money in your current budget to finish the year. That
is not our situation. It was potentially looking that way, but we made some changes earlier and we had some good things go our way. both of which put us into a position that when I did the the forecast in December, I was able to look at it and say, "Okay, we have a $12
million budget and I feel like we're going to end up with um say for, you know, for rounding $260,000." So, I felt okay at the time to say, "Let's take $200,000 and use what we
call budgeted fund balance and push that to the 2627 budget. So, >> and that's not bank cap. >> Bank cap is a whole another creature. So, let's not talk about that quite yet. >> So, with the budgeted fund balance,
you know, I do a full forecast to come up with that number. >> Things still happen between, you know, from December all the way till June. That that number, you know, one, it was an estimate to start with. Two, things happen plus or minus all the time. So, when we say, "Okay, if we want to save,"
and I know the the question you asked was $1,500. Yeah, saving $1,500 is excellent. And if we have a lot of those, we can accumulate them all up and then and we had a lot of good wins together, we can say, "Okay, maybe we can push forward to the next budget more than $200,000." But unfortunately,
as quickly as we can save $1,500 one way, maybe something else happened and went the other way. And when, let's go back to what I said when I was forecasting, I think I came up to over I think it maybe was 260 or $275,000. That meant if I'm saying we're going to take 200 and push it to next year's
budget, that only leaves a $75,000 cushion over almost 7 months time on a $12 million budget. >> You have hires on this agenda for shortages in staffing that are taking up a chunk of that, say, 60 grand. That is
not a good place to shift around. So I am not So although technically any money we save we could push forward if we during the budget process you know say the preliminary we say okay hey let's up that number now to 210 or 220,000 or 225.
I won't recommend that at this point because there's too many things that'll flick back and forth and I'm not 100% sure that I'm really comfortable with pushing $200,000. The good part is any money that we save and we are looking very conscientiously at every purchase order.
Not in a we're in a budget freeze position, but we are definitely looking at every expense that comes across. And more and more as this year progresses, you'll see purchase orders that are just not approved because >> well, you won't see purchase orders.
>> They're not approved, >> but we see them and it's already happened. or there might be recommendations on we need to buy this a different way um or let's look at a different vendor or figure other ways out because any money we can save maybe it's not going to go into that budgeted
fund balance number but it is going to go into the final amount that we have at June 30th that potentially we can put into our maintenance reserve. If you look just at page one on here,
this first couple numbers that you see are withdrawals from our reserves or withdrawals or budgeted fund balance. Those become revenue sources. >> If we can't provide those the next year, >> you have a revenue decrease right away. Yeah.
>> And because we've withdrawn from our maintenance reserves to fund over the years, that's a revenue source that because this year is so tight, started out in a deficit and now is just very tight. We don't have much money or maybe we won't have any money to put back in a maintenance reserve, now we just made
our 2728 budget even harder. >> And don't think that the benefit increase that we got this year is going to decrease or the other cost increases. They're not. They're here to stay. So, this really hard budget year probably won't get very easy any much easier for the next year. So, I'm trying to work
and balance a two I wish I could say three-year plan on how we're trying to balance this, >> but it's virtually impossible. So, any money we save, I suggest we keep and put together so that we can put some type of
deposit back into maintenance reserve, which will help us in 2728. So long- winded, but hopefully explaining how those things work together. No. Bank cap on the other hand is related to tax levy. >> So tax levy that we did not go to 2% or
we did not utilize all of the the tax levy adjustments that are available to us, they are available to be used over the next three years in banked cap. So the reason that you see a fairly high very high tax increase proposed on this draft
is because we had banked cap from last year. We also have a cap levy adjustment from our very high um benefit percentage. Um so with your 2% if if you are over that with your benefit increase they'll give you a tax levy adjustment
for your benefits. That's allowing us another big increase. So, the numbers you have in here are taking a bank cap number plus an adjustment into putting those together and allowing us to increase taxes higher. We could go even higher yet by quite a bit, but it's
not proposed because we're trying to think ahead at least a couple. I wish a few years because you can carry bank for three years. They're two totally separate items. >> I think that was really important for the board to hear as well as the community. Um so thank you for reviewing
that. Um and I just had one last final question is um for your recommendation as our business administrator, is there a reason why you don't feel that we need to freeze the budget yet? Freeze anything?
>> Um I think freeze a budget sounds a lot better than it is. the fact that we're reviewing each purchase order very closely and just because maybe you have a budget for this you may find like you know you as a board won't but those in the school may find that it may not be
approved that's because we're trying to condense all funds together >> at the same time knowing that there are many things that are not in the budget for 2627 I find it also a little hard to say hey you had it in the budget this year now you can't buy it and we also know it's
not going to be in the budget next year and maybe They're things that are be you can use for more than one year. So at sometimes this is your ability to get it and you might not get it again for several years. So I think freeze is is kind of an artificial way to make you
feel like you're stopping all spending. We have things that we have to buy. >> Um so I think it's and I think Dr. Garcia agrees it's more of a vigilant look at expenses rather than a freeze. >> Okay. >> Thank you.
All right, thank you for that. Okay, now I'm going to say let's look at agenda items for policy and that is items 1 through six. Can I have a motion for items one through six? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Are there any questions on those? It's
all of our policy that were reviewed in the minutes. No. >> All in favor? I >> I >> Any abstensions? >> Okay. So, now we're going to go on to
personnel items 7 through 16. Can I have a motion for items 7 through 16? >> Motion. >> Second. >> I have something. >> Okay. Questions, comments? Dr. Garcia. Um,
I just wanted what >> Mike says seven through 16. >> Numbers are >> Yeah, she did not. Seven. Seven through 16. >> Yeah. Okay. >> I may have misspoke. >> I just wanted to just speak quickly on
home instruction. Um, just to get a clear picture of what is going on with that. Um so fiscal responsibility for home instruction is the student's district of residence. Home instruction eligibility is based on medical, psychiatric, psychological, 504 and or IEP student needs. It can be short-term
or long-term depending on the individual student and what is specific for their need. The district does maintain communication and collaboration between school and home. um whatever the home support team is, whether it's the parents and
guardians or there's additional people involved with that student. Um and we do this throughout the home instruction period. We do request updated documentation for prolonged home instruction needs and we identified potential supports for transition back into the school setting.
We emphasize the importance of having students transition back to school uh with safety and well-being always being the top priority for our students. While specifics for students uh may not be shared due to privacy and confidentiality, we do meet all requirements based on regulation and
code. We are required to give home instruction based on these circumstances for students. Um home instruction is always posted internally first and it is posted for at least a minimum of 3 days. If we do not have interest for a home instruction
provider for any specific posting, that is when we reach out to other individuals outside of the district to provide the home instruction. We do not have the flexibility or the liberty to wait for someone to become available in district to provide home instruction. We have to provide it. It is always posted
first in school through email that every posting that we do and then when um if there are no takers then we have to go out Okay, >> that's it. >> Can we have roll call for 7 through 16?
>> Mrs. Serbone? >> Yes. >> Dr. Zappith? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Duckworth? >> Yes. >> Miss Johnson? >> Yes. >> Miss Stephen? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Strider? >> Yes. >> Miss Walton? Yes, >> Mrs. Wer. >> Yes,
>> Mrs. White. >> Yes, >> Mr. Cherelli. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Robbotham? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, now we are on to education items 17 through 28. Can I have a motion for 17 through 28? >> Motion.
>> Second. >> Second. I >> Okay. Is there any questions on education items 17 through 28? >> I do. I actually just um if it's okay um just for the calendar. So, we have
utilized all of our emergency uh days that were embedded in the school calendar. Um we don't know what's going to happen with mother nature and how that's going to impact us. um if we were to have a situation in which we had to utilize
additional days because of um we had to close um we would be looking at potentially having to utilize days during spring break. >> So my question was around the calendar. I mean there really isn't much of an
update because we haven't used that last day or or we use that last day. We're not adding a day in in May at this point in time. So, should that maybe be tabled? >> You're not. This is more of an acknowledgement. This is not an approval. So, it's just acknowledging
that we're updating the calendar. >> But are we? >> Yeah. We just took the last day off. >> Yeah. But they're already built I hear what you're saying. They're already built in. >> Yeah. So, I don't >> We just crossed it off. It's not an option now. >> Yeah. Yes. It just It just feels like
it's a change to the calendar, which is not occurring >> at this point in time. maybe next week, but as of today update the families though because the calendar that they have out there is a calendar that says there's a day off in >> whatever. So that's the acknowledgement is that we are essentially four days are
gone. >> Those days are gone and now we're going to send out a new calendar. >> Okay. So we'll be sending out a communication with that for the calendar and then any subsequent change that may occur. >> Okay. Thank you. With respect to the calendar, since we talked so much about
absenteeism in the event we have to take away days at spring break, we know it we have a high school level trip and stuff. >> Are we anticipating that it's that potentially >> if it is a school sponsored event, it does not count as an absence. >> Yeah, but I I would agree, Virginia. I
mean, a lot of us plan trips their kids. So, I would >> it would not be excused. >> Not be excused. But this the school trip to I forget where in Europe it is this year that would be excused. >> Yes. So that whole >> that is that is essentially a >> awesome
positive. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions on education items 17 through 28? >> No. I think um the only other comment I would say about the school calendar that I'm just thinking about is the cost of
aids and um you know if there are already like people that have significant number of vacations at that time would we look at an increase to the budget by having a lot substitutes to cover if people are out because of
vacations you follow what I'm saying? >> I mean it wouldn't change the budget. might increase the forecast for the dollars costed for substitutes. >> But um again, you know, when we're forecasting such things like that are so variable,
>> this it's not something that is tweaked on a daily basis for reasons such as that. >> It's just something to think about. >> Yeah. I mean, the cost it would happen if there's people that are out, but I wouldn't have any way to know. What I would say to that though is that we've
had, you know, we have a certain number of substitutes available to the district and we've had days where there's substitutes are in the district, all of them. >> Yeah. So, >> you mean already covering? >> Correct. >> And we wouldn't have incurred any
substitute costs on all of our snow days where we probably would have had some >> if we have coverage, right, for all the classes, too. >> Yep. Okay. All in favor on 17 through 28. I
>> I >> Any nos? Any abstensions? Okay. So, that brings us to business items 29 through 34. Can I have a motion for 29 through 34? >> Motion. >> Second.
>> Any questions? I had one and I know they uh an answer was provided. Last meeting we increased our ex budget line for legal fees. Are we still within
that? The response provided was I I was just looking for yes no >> within I can't remember what we increased it to >> to 40,000 >> at this point. Yes, we are. >> Okay. Thank you. I just had uh one question about the pro approved coordinated transportation. Do
we know what that cost will be yet? >> I actually have two things that I wanted to address there. >> All right. >> Um one of them was number 29 the special education Medicaid initiative semi-action plan. Um this is again students who are um we have an over 40% population of students eligible for
Medicaid um which requires us to participate in SEI. Um but I know there were some questions about that. So just to be clear, um, SEMI is not a direct correlation to all um, special education services. SEMI
has specific services that may be covered under that Medicaid, which is a very very complex and intricate process. It's a lot of work. Um, but it doesn't cover every single special education service, every single provider that's out there for the students, anything
that we may have in an IEP. So I just want to be clear about that because I think there was a question about whether or not you know how does it impact the special it it it's not a direct correlation so we shouldn't look at it that way and the action plan that was required for semi was actually required of all districts who are obligated to
participate in semi um and that's just based on the state it was every single district in New Jersey had to do an action plan for that >> so just for the community can you just explain what SEI is? It's the it's literally called special education
Medicaid initiative. So students who are classified that are also Medicaid eligible are identified as participating in SEI, meaning that there are certain services that they may have um that they may receive through an IEP which may be reimburseable at the Medicaid rate to
the district. It is pennies. Um but that's what that is basically. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. And then with the um Moring County special services transportation contract. So we do not have numbers for that currently because
all of those routes would be determined based on the number of students that need that transportation um for the 2627 school year. So what we do is we approve the ability to um work with them and identify students who may need a route and then they would give us whatever the
cost of that route would be. Um but currently they do provide um they are provide our routes for Warren Tech students and they also provide our routes for two of our outofd district students. So we can kind of use a number from this
year but honestly with we don't know. >> So the contract that you see on here is just the ability to use them for transportation when needs arise. It's not specific at all to any specific route or or um type of transportation.
Yeah, >> they tack that on to their root cost. So, it's basically like a consortium where they go out and they try to combine roots across the county or whomever utilizes them to try to be a cost savings, but their existence and them putting in that work, they charge a
5% administrative fee that they add on to any root cost, >> which is a standard fee for Yeah. >> anything like that. Okay. Anything else on 29 through 34? No. All in favor? I. >> Any knows? Any abstensions?
Nope. Okay. So, we are on to onboarding our superintendent with Kathleen. Hela, you're on. went to sleep. >> Hello. >> No, I heard the door.
>> Sure. Did she go bad? It's not a long, but where do you want me to deliver everybody? My goodness. >> You want me to present from here or
there? What's best? >> I think you you're fine, right? >> Everybody give her the microphone. Our first two motions tonight. >> Is that you and >> Board members? I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to work with you yet. My name is
Kathleen Hawa and I was the search consultant that assisted the board in um Oh, there it is. >> Hiring Dr. Garcia. So, as part and Oh, thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um and as
part of what we do together, our last step is what we call a transition meeting, right? um so that we can make sure that the board superintendent team is primed to work, you know, together and get all of the good stuff done that needs to be done together. And I have a
short like slideshow just to kind of keep us uh you know on track, but really this is not about me preaching and clicking through slides. This is really about identifying what is best for the board and superintendent relationship.
So that's a that's a conversation, right? But uh so forgive the slideshow, but um I figured really what I wanted to talk to you about is the why and the what and the how you guys do your work. And the why part is really a question
for all of you. But I think I know the answer. At least I hope I know the answer. It is tough to be at the day sometimes and even when it's not tough, it's a lot of time and it's a lot of energy. The search by itself was an all we were here every Saturday, right, in
the summer. Um, it was really it was a lot going on. You didn't get a dime for that, right? Not a thing. Not a thing. That's true. Thank you, Shel. And those those were good. Those were very
appreciated. But, you know, there's a lot of pressure on you guys to make the right decisions to vote the quote unquote right way to move the school district forward. And there's no pay, there's no, you know, bonuses. So, why are you serving and this is why I don't
need for you to give me your answer. I am sure that this is why these are your kids, right? That's why you do this. So, thank you. Right. Thank you. That's what makes a big difference. It really
does. There's no political agendas here. Like, it's interesting. There's not school, you know, Nova Scotia doesn't have school boards. Very interesting. So, imagine that, right? Imagine not having, you know, people from the community who are like, I'm here just
for the kids and that's the only reason why I'm here. I think that that's a beautiful thing. So, when we talk about what a school board is, I mean, this definition is from EPCO. It's nothing that you haven't heard before, right? About why what a school board is. Boards are responsible for setting policies
that guide local public schools, though their specific agendas vary according to community needs. That's the beautiful thing in my opinion about local control. So, Belvadier makes decisions for Belvadier instead of Trenton or
somewhere else, right? Um but but what's really interesting about this entity is that boards of education are made up of mostly lay people. You don't need a background in education or
policym to serve on a board of education. That is not one of the requirements. There are some requirements. So how do you govern well? Right? Regardless of all of the, you know, different background that and they
are different backgrounds, professional experiences that you bring to the table that are not necessarily in public education or education or laws or policym of any kind. How do you do that? Right? Well, that goes to the how
you do your job, right? How exactly do we do this? And it can be done and it has been done. That's the system works, right? But there are two main things that every board member I am telling you, you could be asleep at the wheel for most of your board meetings and
still be a good board. Um, see I can say stuff like this now that I don't work for school boards. But um, but honestly, honestly, you hire the right superintendent and you evaluate them appropriately annually.
All the people that are served by the Belvadier school district, all of them, right? Kids, faculty, families, community, only you get to do those two things. And that's what moves the school district forward. That's what makes
Belvadier different from Branchburg or Sussex Tech or any other school district out there. That's what makes Belvadier Belvadier. now very happy to be standing here not surprised to say that you completed your superintendent search
right yay that was in August and it was a very comprehensive process a lot of time a lot of discussion a lot of examination of all of the data and information that you needed to do right and it and it was you know it was not
predetermined at all there was a lot of work that went into that and you did it so yay And then your next step is to evaluate your superintendent annually. And your first stop on that road uh with Dr. Garcia is going to be on July 1st,
you will have completed her annual evaluation. Now, from what I recall, you guys use the school board's um instrument and we had talked about that, right? So um and I'll get you a copy of this presentation. There's a link to that. So if anyone our new members are
not SCO so familiar there's a lot of resources on the NJSBA website. It's a very good tool. It's very thorough and um and the board has a history of using it. So excellent. Very good. Um but let's go back to that what for a moment
because if you notice like oh okay it's is it all about the super why are the two most important things why are they focused on one person? Well, the superintendent, what do they do? Who is that? Right? Your superintendent is your
CEO. They are in charge of overseeing and managing the school district. I put that in red because that's the big thing, right? But they do that in order to ensure that your educational goals for your kids, for your community are
met. That's the person who's responsible for it. That's why we can have like someone from the retail banking world like I was, right? Someone who, you know, maybe in home maintenance or something like that can sit at the table and still be a very good board member, a
very effective board member even if quite frankly you don't have a higher degree, right? You don't need to have a college degree to do this. You don't need a background in education, but you do need to make sure that you hire someone who can oversee and manage the
school district and who can ensure that your educational goals are met and you need to hold them accountable through the superintendent evaluation. Right? That's annual. Now, I'm not going to go through these. You've got your district goals in place already. That's another
important meeting. You know how I said, "Oh, you could be asleep at the wheel most." You don't want to be asleep at the wheel when you're setting your goals. That's a big meeting. That's a big conversation. That's where boards of education, to be honest with you, are in my opinion most valuable because that's
a conversation that works for Belvadier. Right? So, you have done this. You've got your goals in place and Dr. Garcia is updating you on the progress. It was actually a really nice night for me to come out. Thank you. But I won't be long um because I know it's been a long night, right? So, let's go back to that.
how for a very important question that relates to your superintendent and this is really kind of the crux of what I'm here to talk to you tonight this and one other question and that is for you Dr. Garcia and that is how can the board
help you to advance student achievement? I think by allowing me to focus on the areas that need most attention at this time speaking. Okay. Um, so basically, um, I don't want to I he kind of to do
your job. Is that fair? Like I don't mean to sound very direct, but maybe I am sounding very direct to do what you were hired to do, right? Okay, got it. >> Can I clarify a couple things just really quick? I just want to I know you mentioned that we come from all different backgrounds and we're not
trained in this and that's what Dr. Garcia or any superintendent train, but I did want to note that a board member is the highest ranking official to serve without compensation. So, it is a big deal and you are elected by the community. Um, that being said, also
when we talk about what New Jersey school boards has always preached to us is policies, governance of boards, that's really important of a board member. So can you touch a little bit about that and the board members role in oversight over the
>> Absolutely. I am a policy nerd too. So thank you for the question and also thank you for clarifying that. You're right. You guys are at the top of the food chain. And that's not individual board members by the way. That's the board of education, right? No money,
right? No money. So again, but it's all about the kids. It's all about the kids. It's not about money. And that's what's so beautiful. That's why I make my living doing this stuff. >> And what governs a district is the policy. >> Absolutely. But can you imagine someone
saying, "Write a policy manual for a school district." >> I mean, what? Like, how would I do that? Even if I were an attorney, right? I'm married. >> It Well, yes. Absolutely. Absolutely.
And there are supports, right? You have Strauss Esme as your policy vendor. So they're fantastic. You also have NJSBA to back you up as a resource. They I mean clearly they know what they're doing, right? So you your job in the
realm of policy is to present policies to the board that need to be updated or this or that or the mandatory the mandatory changes you have to approve them. explain to the board what they are, right? And there may be changes in the language of the policy that you
would recommend or perhaps there's another situation where maybe the need for changing a policy that's not mandatory or that you know hasn't gone through any kind of you know updates from Strauss as mayor school boards that you say look we have
to make some kind of an adjustment because this is not working and then that work goes to the policy committee. to discuss in greater detail, right, and to get into the weeds, right, as you need to do. Although policy is kind of
standard, but it's still a great conversation to have >> for all the deep dive investigations, right? >> Yeah. And most of them, thank God, don't need deep dives in investigation, right? Because that would be a full-time job. And if you're spending your days as a full-time board member, you're doing it
wrong. Like, respectfully, search aside, right? But that is exactly what you do. And then the policy committee recommends the adjusted policy or the newlymandated policy or you know you have to reapprove
to the board and you vote on it. Does that match your experience? Good. Then you're doing your job. Then you're doing your job. That's a regular occurrence, right? You have policy on your agendas every time you meet. I'll
bet. Right. >> I would say well >> I would say that as we move forward yes that is something that happen is happening. Um >> okay >> a lot of work to be done. >> Well that's one of your board goals
right relates to policy I think. So, um, what was what's kind of nice is, let me see here. You have three board goals in place already. Most of the time when I do this transition meeting, we talk about goals, but you guys have done it already. Um, and two
of them are already achieved and the ongoing one is the policy goal. Am I right? I'm not looking at it exactly. But, so you guys are in a really good spot. And another thing that I'm really happy after having met with your vice
president and president is to learn that you talked about and I knew that this was coming and it was successful that you worked on board norms together, right? And you came up with a document that everybody can agree to and everyone can adhere to. And I know it's new, but
if you follow the board norms, that's tremendous, right? also very much a a recipe for success. And we talked about communication norms that you've gone back to a document that
little me helped you work on back in the day. Um that is still workable for the board. Is that and the superintendent so that's accurate? I wasn't sure on the of the date on that. >> Yeah, we're we're continuing but >> Okay.
>> Good ground to start. Yeah, really good ground to start on. And when I met with Carolyn and Melissa and Dr. Garcia, we were talking about committees that maybe getting best practices for board committees is another ongoing
conversation. And I said, you know, and we had mentioned, oh, you came in one time, Kathy, and did that whole thing. I found it June 9th, 2021. if you want to listen into it in your car, you know, on YouTube or whatever. That was a pretty
good discussion about committee norms. So, that could help you as well. But you guys have done a lot of this work already. So, good, right? So, good. But I think and and believe me, this is not
this is this is not the sort of thing that I'm like, oh, I've never seen this before. There is often room for any board of education to improve and based on our conversation I think there is probably room and you guys this is where the convers this is where I stop
clicking around this this presentation um I think there's room for improvement in efficiency and avoiding micromanagement and establishing and strengthening mutual trust right and I know we have some new players at the table here and
there's not a switch to turn on like oh trust is there oh you know you know we're we're running exactly how we were supposed to but those three things I think are kind are very important for
any board and I will also say that almost every board that I have worked with um and I've been doing this kind of work for 10 years I can't believe it have you know should always be working on that always. There's almost always
room to improve it. So, it's not uncommon, but it's super important because if you don't have number one, good board members resign. If you don't have number two, good superintendent resign. And if you don't have number
three, then the whole thing will fall apart into chaos, you know, circus board meetings, you know, a loss of focus on your kids at the highest levels. And that is
not where we want to be, right? Not where we want to be. But the bright side is that all three of these things hold hands, right? They all are very much interrelated. So if you're making
progress on one, progress on the other two will likely follow. Right? I mean, can you kind of see what I mean by that? So these are my ideas, but I'd like to hear from the board where you think you
are on these particular items. And I know you guys are really doing great on your board goals. You just established your board norms. you're giving them a try. So where are you on these three things? Any particular thoughts? >> I just want to understand before when
you started with the slides, you had said that you met with Melissa and Caroline and Dr. Were these three what came out of that conversation? >> Yeah, I I but Melissa and Carolyn did not give me a a list to tick off. I've,
you know, I absorbed our conversation and I think that these really are your best shot for, you know, refinement. >> Can you explain a little bit more what you mean by >> Oh, absolutely. Okay. So,
micromanagement is leads to inefficiency. I can tell you that. And that leads to a very long board meeting. Right now, sometimes you have meetings with four different presentations and you just it just winds up being long, right? But there's no if
you keep having long board meetings that are going like an two hours at a clip, right? An hour and a half every single time, there's probably something a little wrong, right? Also, you guys have a committee system which should help to propel you towards efficiency because
the board trusts the committees to do their homework. Right? That's the beauty of a committee system. If I'm a real nerd about policy, I can do the deep dives into policy with my fellow policy committee members and the board says, "I know that that committee did their homework. If I have a question or two,
I'll ask it before the meeting." And then we either vote yes or no, right, on their recommendation. Most typically yes, because that's why the committees exist, right? They're like, "I have a problem with this. I think this doesn't match for our community. I think we can strengthen this." blah all that work is
done in committee so that when you come to the board table it's not a matter of like pulling apart well what did you talk about or how did you do it or what did this one say or could I have a transcript of what you guys all talked about like I need to know everything
like that could be micromanaging the board committees but yeah Caroline you have another >> I just want to like level the the the playing field here a little bit I I think it's important to acknowledge that we have a a lot of new board members,
right, that that are learning. And it's also really important to acknowledge that we really just started a committee structure. For the po the time that I've been on the board, we had a LZ fair kind of committee structure where people were
coming in and out and it was sometimes on, sometimes off. Now, I was only on the board for three months before we had our superintendent resign, right? So all of that plays into the fact that our committees were off for about a year. So
I I I just want to acknowledge that we as a board are still finding our groove when it comes to committees, communicating in those committees what we should expect in the minutes, what we're all looking for. And and I it's
just super important to understand that really January was the first time we've had committee meetings almost all year. >> Wow. >> So that's just I think really important when we're laying the >> So you're finding your footing. Right. >> Right. And so it may feel this way
>> because we're all figuring it out. I mean >> and I appreciate that and kudos to you guys for getting back on track with committees, right? That's a big step. But now that you have it in place, you
have to trust the work of the committee. You have to trust the work of the committee. >> But Kathy, that doesn't mean that as board members, we can't ask questions with the content that was discussed in committee. That doesn't take away our right as a board member to think on our
own. >> Um, right. >> You should always think on your own as a board member. you should absolutely always think but then when the board votes naturally you go with that right but until then you know it's in this case 12 different votes right and how
you get to that vote is important and how you can cast that vote with confidence is important that said there's a right way and there's a wrong way or at least a suboptimal way of doing that and that goes to the efficiency and the trust piece right so
for instance I for whatever reason even that despite my career in banking, I was never on the finance committee. It was the only committee I was never on on my board, right? Three terms I never got on that. But if I had a question about what the finance committee was doing and
budget season was the time, right? Budget season was a time we had like a budget buddy, right? each for that committee each board member had a budget buddy and I could call up my budget buddy Jim and ask him my questions and he would answer that and this way when
we all got together I wasn't like going down my laundry list of questions and this and that because Jim as the chairperson of the finance committee could answer those questions for me and if he couldn't answer them he'd go to our business administrator or our
superintendent to get the answers. So yeah, asking questions is important for what you need to know, but you have to do it in an efficient way. And the other side of that coin too is your superintendent is also new. And there's
no switch that you flip to say, "Oh, now I'm, you know, uh, district's running exactly the way that we needed to under my leadership, right?" I think you would have hit that switch by now. It's a lot of work, right? It's a lot of work making that adjustment and acclimating
to the district. So, there's a real need for efficiency with your time, too. And so, finding the right method to ask those questions is important and also what the right questions are to ask.
>> What is the information in the minutes? You don't know what you don't know. So, the information isn't fully transparent in the minutes. I don't know to ask Joe a question or a question until I get here and I get the full I have more questions, you know. So, I think there's an opportunity too.
>> Well, I don't That's an interesting comment about the information in the minutes being transparent. So, you I wouldn't expect that from this group because you're all very opinionated and vocal and I never need to guess like where any of you were
standing, right? Like I'm telling you like this is a this is a very involved board and and but before Virginia did you have like a thing that you wanted to add? >> I did. So um taking individuals out right thinking
about these three items from a process standpoint not a personality standpoint. You're right. I agree that these are things we need to work through and I and they're all intertwined. And to expand on Jackie's comment related to minutes,
I think because we haven't had a good structure in the past, granted only have a year and a month having some standard. You can see we're still trying to find our
ground in terms of standard on the minutes. And yes, there are things that are discussed that are sensitive, but the recipients are all bound by confidential and ethics of the board. So there needs to be some trust there
because in some cases minutes I I you they're not necessarily written for the reader and I think sometimes we forget we write for the reader not for ourselves. I should be able to read the minutes and have a good understanding at
a high level what was discussed and what the key items are. In some of our minutes, we're getting there. In some, we're not. And I understand particularly in certain areas where there's very sensitive information. There's the tendency to not want to put as much in
documentation. But when we do that, that leads to more questions and it leads to a feeling of distrust because either it's not there and you don't trust me and I have to ask the question or the person writing it says you're asking me, you're micromanaging me and you don't
trust me. So it goes both ways. So I think if we create some standards which we're moving towards in terms of committee communications, I think that will help solve. But we've it's February. We've had one round of
committee meetings with the people who are at the table today and we're figuring that out. Nothing. Um so I think we need to recognize it, give grace for where it is and recognize that the goal is to get to where we are
super efficient and we're out of here by 7:15 and we can all watch SBU >> which would be wonderful. And you're and I'm telling you know what word I absolutely love that you've used several times is process right process. Process process. I also love the word high
level. Right? Because here's the thing with the trust piece. Right? Even though I was never personally on that finance committee, I had to trust them, right? I couldn't just call Jim every freaking time that we met and said, "Jim, what did you talk about? And and and and how
did the conversation go on this or that?" I had to trust the committee to do their work, right? But if I had questions, I would ask them. But to your process point, right, most of my questions, if I had any,
would probably be addressed in those committee minutes. So, yeah, you're finding your footing around that. But there's a few pitfalls that I would recommend that you guys avoid. When you talk about confidential information, I'm getting a little lost
there because I think personnel might be, you know, if you have a personnel committee, that's where a lot of confidential information comes up, but in policy, you're not going to have that stuff, right? I mean, student activities, you're not going to have that stuff, right? So, that kind of confidential information should probably
be dimminimous, right? There's just not a lot of it. But you're absolutely right. you have to protect confidentiality, right, and handle those sensitively. Um, there's also the Open Public Meetings Act. You have to be aware of, you know, never running a foul of that. Um, but as far as the, you
know, overarching way to do meeting minutes, I think respectfully that they should kind of match the meeting agenda, right? You're going to be moving through the agenda. you know, meeting agenda item one was discussed and the board came to the conclusion at X. What are
you thinking? There's a there's there's a thought there. >> I am I am sorry. I I really struggle with the with just minutes and agenda and just as a leader like I do this all day long at work. So I we all have our ways, right? So I just want to be clear
that we want to respect everybody's ways. But I but to Virginia's point, the minutes seem to be for the people who are in the committee and there's a lot of vagueness to them. And I think we're throwing
around the word confidential all the time when really it just hit me like a Mac truck. Like even when I write my minutes, I'm not writing them for someone who hasn't been in that meeting. So I may use something like like I'll
just use this as an example for the finance it was grants are back you know was the note well okay what what grants what does that mean what are they covering right and so then it stems all of this conversation and questioning and writing back and then we have to ask
questions but the people on the committee know exactly what that means so it's perfectly clear when they send that out and I think Virginia you hit the nail on the head I think that's where we're a miss right we're following the agenda Aenda and it's B which is a new standard. Thank you Dr. Garcia. I
like that's great but it doesn't necessarily say this was the decision, this is the recommendation or these were the key discussion points like here are the three things we we came to conclusion even if we didn't have a decision like this is not this item not
material here policy. Yep, we're good. so that when I get them, I don't have to call Joe and say, >> "I don't know what you did in finance, bro." >> Okay. >> Or Dr. Garcia, you know, 12 questions
because >> it's now on the agenda, but I didn't have the benefit that those in the discussion had, and I can't reconcile it, and I'm not going to vote if I don't have enough information. Well, I am hoping that the 12 questions is a
overstatement because that would be a heck of a lot of questions on one recommendation. So, >> it's actually not so. >> Oh dear. >> Right. But >> okay. >> But I think I would like to be fair. Dr. Ursia made a good point. A lot of the
questions that we actually had were committee questions when we came to this agenda. So I I just think our goal really I don't we probably don't need to talk about it much anymore for tonight. But I think our goal in general is to just be a little bit more conscious of
how we're writing those notes for the other people who are not in that meeting and take it month by month and just re-evaluate say in April how is it going? Are we feeling better? Are we getting less questions? Because it's going to be a work in progress and we just started so I think that's fair
>> to put a pin on that. I loved that in Kathleen's presentation, she referred to Dr. Garcia as the CEO of our district because that personally is how I view being somebody who works in corporate. The CEO doesn't take minutes. >> I agree. >> Let us take that off your plate. Let us
create some greater efficiency for you to work on the things that your credentials allow you to work on because I've been paid well to take minutes in other institutions. I can do that. I can't address chronic absenteeism.
>> Well, I think the chair is I'm not looking at the document, but the chair's responsible to make sure that the minutes are taken, right? So, if the chair wants to take them herself, great. If she wants to give it to Virginia because Virginia's really good at I would be fine with that, right? or you
know and and I got to be honest with you like for me when I was chair of policy I think that our superintendent took those minutes but she was fine with it. You know we would and then we would review it together as superintendent and like
did I miss anything? No. Send it out to the committee. Did we miss anything? No. Okay. And then it goes out to the full board and that was part of the discussion on that June whatever it is meeting that we had a while back. I'm pretty sure we this was years ago. This
was a lot of minutes. >> Yeah. No. Yeah. You know, that's fine. As long as they exist and that they have a process, I am going to, you know, I've this may not make me any friends here,
right? But when you say, "Oh, whatever works for each person." No, I am going, especially if you're finding your footing. No, you're too nice. You're too nice. You have to go by a structure in my opinion for this to work. And that was kind of the theme of our meeting
like you know these ladies are very nice ladies. They're very good. I hope you treat them well. Right. I really do. But having that kind of oh well whatever works for you as far as the format of the minutes is not going to I I can just
see it coming. That's not going to work. That's not going to work because inevitably one committee is going to take an a narrative format and the other one's going to take bullet point format and that's leads to so I would recommend that your minutes match your agenda. You
know, if you like bullet points, great. Um, it's probably the best way, right? Just to run down this was discussed. This is what the the committee decided because X. I don't need to know that
Jennifer said this and Bobby said that and Kathleen said this. Just it's again, it's the committee, right? It's the committee's work. Okay. So just for the sake of time, do we all agree that we
can kind of keep trucking, feel how how this new committee structure is going with the notes and then in April revisit and see how things are going. >> And what's great about this is that you know really the boards exist to come in
monthly and approve what you need for the district. Right? I've read your policy. You write your your agenda based on what you as a CEO need know that this district needs cuz I'm not in here every day, right? I don't have the background.
Imagine like little rascals, let's run a school district. Let's put together an agenda. Like that's not going to work. So, you know, your superintendent gets an agenda for you and every agenda item goes back to is is vetted by a committee, right? Is that a fair
statement? That's very efficient. So, you've got the building blocks there and you're starting to get more used to them. So, that's a beautiful thing. I feel very hopeful about that. But are there any other thoughts on it
is like that's what's working and what's not working. >> Nice. Okay. Good. Good. So that is my any other thoughts on two or three.
And I would just say and thank you for bringing it up. I know I'm like staring at you, Virginia, but I'm really grateful that you, you know, noticed that CEO spot uh verbiage because CEOs are very busy, right? They are very,
very busy. And I'm glad to hear that the board is interested in taking, you know, menial tasks off your plate, you know, but there's just a lot of stuff that I every superintendent has to get done,
but new superintendent especially. And you had such longstanding leadership here for anyone that's difficult to follow, right? That is that is a transition period that you need the
space to do what you need to do. But that doesn't mean I am not implying so don't take this away from my conversation with you that you just give the superintendent. Oh well my job's done as a board member. We hired somebody great which you did right?
That's where the evaluation process comes in. So, what I would strongly recommend for those of you who have not done the board um the superintendent evaluation in the past or who are a little rusty because I know it's like only once a year, go back to that
instrument and look at it and just kind of I you know, you should be kind of talking about this as you lead up to the evaluation process. you know, are there gaps in what I need to evaluate the superintendent on that I really don't know how to do that right? Like there's
six different professional standards. So, if you're saying, uh, mission and vision, well, that's an easy one because you've already done that, but I don't know how to evaluate the superintendent on that. Then that's a conversation that you need to have before you do the
evaluation. So, you can furnish that evidence. And if you don't furnish appropriate evidence, then the board will evaluate the superintendent accordingly, right? If there's no evidence of progress, but
I think you're going to do just fine. Any other thoughts? Thank you guys for having me in. If I can help you out with anything else, but I don't want to be back here. I don't want to be back here to do the superintendent search and I don't have
to and I just want to assure your public that this board did its job. It was a very robust process with a lot of work and so if I haven't said this publicly before Dr. Garcia, congratulations on landing a very
important gig after a lot of work that the board put into. So, um I'm looking forward to hearing more and more good things coming out of Belvadier. All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we're on to continuing business. Board committee structure. I think we
just cleared that. We're all good. Yeah. Any other continuing business? No. Okay, new business. Any new business? >> Sorry, I had to check my reminder. So, in anticipation of the Third Street
School being sold, is the district doing anything for the sign honoring our former teacher, >> uh, Missy? >> Will will we look to secure that before the property changes hand? >> Was it not moved already? Thought it was
already. >> The bench was moved. The bench the bench was Oh, I just knew there was something in there. I don't >> think it's on Is it on the playground >> back here? I think I remember. >> I saw that in a note. I >> think it's be I think I don't remember
because >> it was a while ago. >> It was a while ago about it. Um I I want to say it's by the elementary school or back by the playground, but I'm not sure. I elementary school. >> I usually walk the other side of the park. So I I
>> Yeah. No, thank you. >> But it did get moved. >> Just wanted to make sure that it wasn't >> rounds. I just would have to go back to the email to find out exactly where it is. But I want to say playground like it was. >> As long as we addressed it. That was my only ask with the clothes coming up soon.
>> Any other new business? >> Um did you uh reappoint a New Jersey school board's representative? >> That was on my That was it. We We need a delegate. >> Yes. >> So, I think Virginia reached out.
>> Yeah. Virginia's the only one who's >> bit on that one. >> Virginia by default. >> Okay. >> No. >> Um I guess we have to officially appoint them though, right? So maybe in March we can put that on the agenda. >> No, we don't. >> No, we don't have to. President,
>> we have to send in a letter, >> right, from what New Jersey school board said to be the voting delegate. >> We could just make a motion right now. I nominate >> We don't need a motion. >> No, but I'm just saying if there's any >> Yeah, because it was just appointed like
you appoint the committees. >> Yes, it's like a committee >> acknowledgement. If you do it, then I can put it in the census who it is. >> Okay. Oh, yeah. Cuz I think >> I read I read under new school on New Jersey school boards for the voting
member that goes for the legislation. I believe there's supposed to be a letter from the district stating who it is. I'll have to look. But then there's all different guidelines. It's supposed to be certain date before the voting part happens. Then then if it's not, it can be this. And then if not, it can be sent
that day. Like a letter. It's really, >> but I could I can appoint the person right now. >> Well, no, it I mean it >> Oh, boy. Virginia. >> Virginia. >> Yeah. I don't know that I It didn't say like it had to be voted upon or whatever, but like we had to formally not like we
>> Sorry. >> We had to formally notify school boards as to who our person was. >> It's through the New Jersey school board's website is where I put him in. >> Yeah. >> So, does that create a letter then? Maybe. And we'll find out. >> We'll figure it out. Virginia for you.
>> But I did see on the June agenda last year it had Bob's name as the delegate that we approved. So we'll just do that in June. >> So Virginia, more to come on that, but thank you so much >> for volunteering. >> I think you're wonderful for that role.
>> It's very quiet right now. >> She's like, "Oh god, >> what should I get myself into?" >> Yes, she knows. >> Okay. >> My name is Virginia. I'm a chronic volunteer. Any other new business? I just want to say new business. I hope
to see everyone here on the 6th or 7th or both for our great show that we just had demoed for us. So, >> I will be out of town. >> I would love to see anybody. Well, there you go. Dinner in a show for your birthday. Come on. >> I also just want to add that I um I
don't know if we we all got it, but I will be at uh ReadAcross America next week. >> Oh, yes. and reading to a class. >> Very good. >> Me, too. Oh, yay. >> Good. Good job. Okay,
>> then we are on to public participation. I read it one more time. It's not as long. I Well, it kind of is. To ensure the fair and efficient meetings, each public comment session will be limited to a total of 30 minutes at the
discretion of the presiding officer. For when you approach the microphone, please state your name, city, town, and group affiliate. Each statement may be made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes. Time may not be yielded to other participants. All statements must be directed to the
presiding officer. No participant may address or question board members individually. Please understand the public comment portion of this agenda are not question and answer sessions, but are offered as opportunities to share your thoughts with the board. The board may or may not respond to public comment. However, all comments are
considered and they will be investigated and addressed as appropriate. Please be courteous and mindful of the rights of others when speaking. Comments may not be abusive, obscene, threatening, or irrelevant. The presiding officer may interrupt and/or warn if necessary. Please understand that the board will not be responsible for the content of
comments made by the members of the public. Members of the public are cautioned that they are speaking at their own risk and that any statements they make that are directed to at a particular individual or individuals may subject them to legal liability or defamation. Please also understand that
students and employees have specific legal and privacy protections. The board will not respond in public to comments about students and employees. Is there any public participation? I read all that and there's no public participation. Chucky Darns.
Okay. So, we will be going into executive session for matters rendered confidential by federal law, state law, or court law, attorney, client privileges. Can I have a motion for executive session?
>> Motion. Did not want to do that. >> All in favor? >> I. Any nos? >> Any sub abstensions? Okay. Any discussion held by the board which need not remain confidential will be made public as soon as practical. Minutes of the private session will not be disclosed until the need for
confidentiality no longer exists. All appropriate persons who persons who may be discussed in private session have been adequately adequately notified. The board will reconvene in public session at the conclusion of the closed session in approximately
I'll say a half hour. We'll plan on less but we'll half hour. And there will not be any action taken when we come back. So you can all have a good night. >> Thank you so much for coming, guys.