Miss Jolly, Mrs. Terrero, you set your microphone set? Oh, no. Okay, good. Thank you. Call to order. The Berkeley Heights Board of Education held a special meeting on Thursday, May 1st, 2025 in the Governor Livingston High
School cafeteria. The meeting was called to order by the board president, Miss Bradford, at 6:40 6:40 p.m. Adequate notice of this special meeting of the board of Berkeley Heights Board of Education was given as required by the open public meetings act as follows. Notice of this special meeting of the
board of education was sent to the Star Ledger and the Courier News on April 25th, 2025 and was provided to all schools, PTO presidents, the BHEA president and posted at the administration building. A copy was also provided to the public library and filed
with the municipal clerk. Please rise for the flag salute. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. The board apologizes for the late start. We have several events going on at the high school and parking has been very difficult. At this point, we'll have a roll call. Okay. Um, Mrs.
Airi, Mrs. Bradford here, Mr. Dylan, Dr. Forger, Mrs. Jolly here, Mrs. Connor, Mrs. Stanley here. Mrs. Terrarero here.
We also would like to welcome uh Dr. Crystal Maher, our assistant superintendent of schools to her first board of education meeting, which is an informative meeting. And we are going to be having as a guest tonight Mrs. Clearary from the New Jersey School
Board Association will be presenting us with information. No action will be taken at this meeting. Um, so this is an informative meeting for our board members. At this time, we're looking to see if there's any comments from the public.
Okay. Okay. I see no one in person. Uh, Tim, is there anyone online? No. Okay. So, seeing there are no comments from the public, we will just close this portion and we are going to move on to Mrs. Clearary. Mrs. Clary, welcome to
Berkeley Heights and thank you for being here. I know it's a lot going on at our campus tonight and thank you very much for being here. Well, I'm really pleased to be with you tonight and it's always great to see all of the wonderful things that are going on on the campus, right? It's just a little inconvenience, but
that's what we're all in the business of of making sure that the students have all the opportunities um that they need. So tonight, just for uh the benefit of anyone who may be listening in and the public is that I I am Jean Clearary from New Jersey School Boards and I work with
you as a board towards um your governance. I've been asked to come in this evening to review some things. So the agenda for tonight is that we're going to start with uh training for the superintendent evaluation and the board self-evaluation process.
uh we'll move on to uh introducing the strategic planning process that the district will be using. Um I have had conversations with Miss Bradford and and Dr. Feltree that um if I am invited back out at a future board meeting. Um I'd be
happy to make this presentation again because it's very important that we want to keep in work with all the stakeholders of the community and engage them and have them participate and really understand what um the the process is. Um after that we'll just have a conversation about you know how
we're doing with transition with the new superintendent um where we are and some things we might want to consider and focus on. And then we'll just wind up with um a conversation about uh some future trainings perhaps that might
serve the board well. Um right now we're going to look at the evaluation process because this is very timely um for this time of the year. The board recognizes that it's your responsibility um to uh evaluate the superintendent annually and
this part of the presentation we are going to cover the legal guidelines the evaluation process and the tools that you'll be using. Now, um, just as everyone knows, these have been shared with you, so you have these to refer back to. Um, and I'm also available to
you if you start the process and you have some questions or you get stuck with anything. Of course, I'll try to make everything as clear as possible tonight, but I'm happy to work with you if you need anything or if any of the other board members um, need to reach out to me. So, just an ethics reminder
that if you have a family member, a relative working in the district as a board member, you may not participate in the evaluation of the superintendent. It's an ethics violation. So, just be um aware of that and let uh let the BA board secretary know so that I can
receive something in writing um to note the file accordingly. So, uh that protects the interests of the board and Dr. Peltry. Um, of course, we do an evaluation for accountability, right? And it allows, this process is employed
to allow you to uh fulfill your responsibilities towards appraisal and oversight and making sure that the district is being effectively managed. So, when we take a look at the legal guidelines, um the board must by
code um complete this evaluation once a year. It has to be done in writing. Um the evaluation uh you meet with the board members who are able to participate which again should be all of you unless there is a conflict. Um and you need to meet with
Dr. Feltree at the end of the process and have a conversation to review the findings of the evaluation. And the evaluation itself needs to be based on the goals that have been set as well as the um indicators of um what it is to be
effective in the role of the superintendent. We're going to get into that in greater detail so that you understand and that's clear. Um also, as I think all of you know, it has to be completed by July 1st. So, after I do this presentation, we're going to take a
little break and we're going to actually look at calendar setting to make sure that we're moving the process forward and everybody knows what's expected of them and when it's expected of them. Um the evaluation needs to address strengths, any areas needing
improvement, recommendations for professional development and growth to support the superintendent because we should all be cheering for the success of our superintendent who's reflecting the interests that you've shared with her towards student achievement. um and it has to be focused the
evaluation on the goal of um discussing student progress and achievement. Right? And what I always like to take a moment to just remind everyone that regardless of the title or the position at the table you have um even me standing here
the one thing we all share is that we are working in public education that needs to be focused all of our work and conversations have to be focused on serving student interests and student achievement. And this is an accountability measure and a
communicative tool to allow you to have that back and forth dialogue for guidance of the superintendent. Right? Um the summary conference meeting at the end where it's uh formally delivered and signed off on should include all the board members who participated who were
able to participate. And we'll talk more about what happens at that meeting in a little bit. So, um I'm sure you're all familiar with NJQAC, which is uh the Department of Education's way of monitoring, uh public school districts to make sure that they
are being wellrun. And under that, you as a board have requirements to fulfill towards governance when it comes to the evaluation. So um the first part of the responsibility that pertains to this is that you have both a policy and a
contract with superintendent that actually speaks to the fact that she will be evaluated and that evaluation will be based on um district goals towards uh student achievement and that it will also be considerate of the
achievement of all students including all subgroups. Right. Um you also in that first section um are required to to show that you've had the appropriate training to conduct this evaluation in the right way. I will say
that tonight is that but all of you that have taken governance one in your first year which is mandated training um received that training back then right but that was in the abstract because you had just come on to the board and probably were listening intently but
it's it's way in the past right now. So tonight is that refresher that you'll need to really engage in this process and make it um a valuable tool to use um when you communicate with your superintendent and also uh under QAC it must be completed by July 1st. Okay. So
we see under QAC there is 13 points at stake um that are easy to obtain in that section of uh the evaluation of of the um QAC as long as we just stay on track and that's what we're beginning
tonight. So about our process and tools, it's not a requirement that you use um New Jersey school board's tool, but it is an optional service that we provide. And it's important to know what are the benefits of using this tool. Okay, this
was designed um with New Jersey school boards in collaboration with NJSA um which represents uh superintendents and adi and administrators. So their input was crucial to developing a tool
and uh something that really speaks to the professional um requirements that should be expressed when we're doing this evaluation. It provides a standardized methodology to be used to apply fairly and make sure that we're meeting all of the required indicators
for an evaluation under statute. Um and it allows for the full participation of all non-conlicted members. So, um, in my conversations recently, um, I'm not aware of any conflicted members on this board. If you should have a question about that, you should definitely raise
that issue as soon as possible. So, to make this a seamless process before we start, we always want to focus on three things before we even begin the work. Is the district census up to date? So the BA who's the board
secretary maintains the census makes sure that everything is accurate in there so that um this system is running on um computers right we want to make sure that it's it's functioning well so I can assure you that the census is up to date the president is um is listed as
the president um that you're all listed there and um that's important to the how the process is going to roll out. We need to know right away if anyone is conflicted. Um, which I think we have established that there is no one conflicted. And we need to look at
developing a board calendar to help move this process forward, which is what we're going to do as soon as I finish through the slides. So, the evaluation process is really um the focus of our attention this time of the year, but it's really not begun at this time of
the year. Now, what's a little different for Berkeley Heights this year is that your superintendent started in January, right? So, she can't really be held and and graded according to um an agreement you made in the past with someone else. So, I understand that you've had a
pre-conference um meeting to establish what goals she will be um expected to indicate um you know an update on. So, so that's good. But normally um this process originally starts with the setting of the district goals right
where the board works with the superintendent to establish those goals and you'll be doing that going into next year together. Then throughout the year um she will be presenting you with updates to keep you informed of progress made towards those goals and you should um take that
information in. Right? So it won't be a surprise when you get to this part of the year next year where you'll have to do your part on the evaluation. She will go in and put in her her district goals. She will um do herself evaluation
provide um supporting information to that. It might be right in our tool or she may link it to some confidential document that you have access to to support what she's telling you of why she's voting uh rating herself that way.
After she completes it, it will the system will recognize that the board members have completed it and we can create a compilation document. Um I'm sorry, hers will come out. You will have to do I I skipped a step. Very important step. You will have to begin your
process individually. um doing the evaluation of the superintendent. Things to know is that when you participate in that, it should be focused only on the superintendent and not have discussions of any other staff, good or bad, frankly, because
that could be a violation of their rights. Um and we want to avoid that. We want to stay focused on the evaluation of the superintendent. Um, we also want to remember that this is a confidential process and that you complete it
anonymously, right? But we ask you to be um clear, thoughtful, and concise so that it has true value to help work with the superintendent and move the district forward. Okay. After that's done, a compilation document will be put
together and the and you will meet as a board in an executive session only the board um and you will go through and determine the majority opinion for each section and you'll come
to consensus and agree on what the majority of you felt was the right thing to say in that section backed up by the evidence that's been provided. Okay. After that meeting where you've decided all of the majority opinion
sections, um a a form will be written up. The template is available to the president, Miss Bradford, and and she will complete that. That will be turned over to Dr. Feltree for her to review prior to meeting with all of you. You'll come together and you'll meet, you'll
discuss it. And an important thing to understand is at that meeting if there's anyone that's held a minority opinion on any part of that any section they get to talk to her and and share that verbally because even though it may not have been the majority opinion it could be very
valuable it you know information to have as she's going forward and working with you and the board and better understanding the expectations going forward. Okay. So, um, at the conclusion of the meeting where you meet with her, the board president and the
superintendent sign off on the document and that needs to happen before July 1st. The meeting notes from that just have to reflect that you held the meeting that night for the purposes of this evaluation. Um, so that will be your evidence for QAC that it was held prior to July
1st. So, district goals, um, the district goal assessment, right? We recommend that district goals are between three and five things that we can really um have focus on, laser focus on that will benefit students um and
move student achievement. This evaluation and the setting of the goals should be looked at as a collaborative process. You are a team composed of board members and the superintendent. So, we should all be rooting for the success of the team because you're all
serving the purpose of seeing um growth and support for your students and new opportunities, right? And um when those goals are set with the board and the superintendent working together, then she goes about um developing the action
plans that really lay out how that is going to be achieved and have indicators of success. So you'll all be able to agree whether or not we have in fact achieved that part of it. That's just good goal setting process and those strong goals lead into um a fair
evaluation at the end. So here we just have a slide that is um just a snapshot of what you'll see when you sign on to New Jersey school board's um website and you will receive an email when it's time for you to start and links will be provided in there. But this is actually
the um schoolboard's website. When you scroll down a little bit, you'll see that section where it says CSA and BSE evaluations with the big red arrow there. And you would click on that. When you get in to do this, you will see at the top the goals for the first part.
There are two parts, right? The first part of the evaluation will be focused on the goals that have been agreed upon. Um, so in this section, the description of the goal, what that goal is, and she will self-rate. You'll see that you'll see the evidence that she provides with
any um information she would like to share to support that. Then you'll have an opportunity to rate, read, review that information and then rate and make a statement. That statement should be concise um and be uh written with the
purposes of providing information that could be discussed at that meeting when you're going to come together with the other board members for the purposes of determining what the majority feels. Right? So, we want to be clear and concise so that you have something. If you only have the number, you know, if
you only have a check in a box, it's going to not lend itself to a really um valuable discussion. So you want to really give some thought to doing that. So when you're looking at the compile document, it will look like this. There'll be um this is for a
sample compilation for a goal. So the sample goal here is improving safety and security for students and staff. When you look at that um compilation document, you'll see the superintendent's comments and and information. And then you'll see all of the comments put together that each of
you have shared on the individual one you've done. You see that no one is named there. No one is identified there. The purposes are to stay focused and have this um useful information to serve the interests of students going forward,
right, of how the work is going to be done. And of course there'll be a grid and it'll be broken up by where she um marked herself on that and how many of you gave uh the various ratings that were available. So the second part of the
evaluation past the goals that you have agreed upon um evaluating her on is based on the professional standards for educational leaders. these that's the source of where um these standards came
from and the purpose is to reflect the qualities and values of the leadership that the leadership work that's integral to student success and that is meant to assist you in identifying the areas of strength and where mo more focus or
support for the superintendent is needed. Right? So these are the six standards that um you'll see in the evaluation. The first being mission, vision and core values. The second governance, ethics and professional norms. Then operations
management, curriculum, instruction, assessment and school improvement, community of care, equity and family engagement. And finally, professional capacity community of school district personnel. So um this is really here just for you
to refer to later on but um the standard this section this is what it'll look like the standard assessment will be there the first standard as we said mission vision and core values there'll be um a brief sentence to to explain what that's about there there will be a
rating scale and one thing I really want to point your attention to in this part is that for the different standards in this section that rating scale can change based on what standard it is. So, please just take a moment to make sure
that you're actually looking at the rating scale so that you're using the um the one you intended to use for that section. Okay? So, it really reflects what your intention was. Um there will be resources provided to you from the
superintendent to consider um how she is, you know, foundationally doing this. Um, and then you'll have the grid for checking it off and there's room on the bottom for board member comments. Now, for this section, right,
um, we have the compilation of the district goals and those statements. On this section, it's going to look like this. It's going to provide the standard and an uh an explanation of what that standard is and then the um objectives underneath it of what we're trying to accomplish through that standard and
what we should more closely be looking at for where we are right and where growth needs to happen. The grid will provide um how many board members rated in each of those categories for each of those objectives with um a compilation
on the bottom. So, the annual performance report, which is actually what you'll be turning over to the superintendent as her evaluation to sign off on, is meant to be um a compilation of the non-conlicted members
participating in this. It's a majority opinion document. It's not necessary for everyone to agree, but the majority information um is important for her to have some footing to know um what she should be focusing on going forward,
right? And how she's been evaluated on the things that were expected of her. And it also um reflects the majority of opinion, but it allows when it's presented, when you all attend that final delivery of it to her
in executive session for any of you that have had a minority opinion in any one of those areas um to verbally share that, right? Because that's useful information for her to have as well. So the performance report the
non-conlicted board members get together um to discuss uh the compilation document. Now what happens in some districts is the board president may start a draft version of that um of that
paperwork um and you would as board members see the compilation document and perhaps the draft or no draft and just look at the compilation document. it really becomes something about um board choice if if you think that'll be
helpful. Um once that's done, it's um finalized and written up by the board president and then will be discussed at the meeting with Dr. Feltry, of course, giving her the opportunity to receive it ahead of that meeting so she can actually read and absorb um what's in
there so that the meeting could be um productive. So here we just have the um performance template that's available uh to the president so she can write that up. It just is a snapshot of leadership
standards overall assessment and you know you'll be uh putting this together from your conversation. Um there'll be a section for overall strengths and and uh growth areas and you can check multiple boxes as is appropriate. There's also
space for comments as well. That's why individually putting those comments in can be helpful because it can help with developing and sharing those on that final document. So um one of the things that's very important to remember is that we never ever speak about um staff
anything to do with any staff member's employment without providing them with race notice. That's a a statutory requirement. So, even though tonight we're going to pull out calendars and decide on dates, um Dr. Feltry has to be formally provided with a rice notice for
two times. The time that you're going to meet together as a board to discuss it and the time that you're going to be meeting with her to deliver it and go over everything. Um remembering always that it's a majority opinion and we want
to be respectful and allow people to participate but um we can't have eight separate voices guiding the superintendent, right? We have to have um some unifi unified voice that helps um progress and discussion moving
forward. And the minutes of the meetings just have to reflect why you're meeting so that you'll have the evidence that you need under QAC. So, right now we're going to, you know, this is just a summary of what we've already talked about and a reminder that you can refer to after
tonight. Um, who keeps a copy? It's important to note that um, Dr. Feltree should be keeping a copy of the signed document that's signed off by the president and and her. Um, she could keep a hard copy or an electronic copy
or both. What the board needs to um to look into is that some boards actually by policy have their uh board attorney retain a copy of that and keep it out of personnel files in the district while
other boards um and other districts have policies that require that it is in fact kept in the um personnel files. So, we know that personnel files are, you know, very restricted and who has access, but sometimes that becomes um a concern. So,
please check your board policy. Have your board attorney um coordinate with you on the proper handling for your district. We at New Jersey School Boards, I should just back up and say, um, okay, I should just say that um we
cannot retain these files. So, we won't have it available to you, you know, to give to you next year a copy. we're required to purge them. We do it in late December because they're personnel files and we're not really allowed to keep them. So, you really need to make sure that you're keeping and retaining those
copies. So, um at this point, maybe we should just take that moment to look at calendars and get the dates for these uh established. Is that okay, Miss Bradford? Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Clearary. That was very helpful. Um, you all should have a copy of this presentation
if you need it to refer back to. So, uh, we are on May 1st, Thursday, right now. Uh, if you have your calendar, if you could just take it out. Dr. Feltry will be, uh, submitting her portion of the CSA evaluation on May 15th. It's a
Thursday. That gives us 48 hours after that to begin the board member portion of it. So if Dr. Feltry submits on the 15th and then it is Excuse me. She will submit it prior to the 15th. It will be
online for us. If I might. Yes, please. Um this this can be a little confusing. So um just bear with us all. So uh Dr. Feltry has indicated that she expects to have her part completed on or about May 15th. So from the time that she
completes it, it goes into hold for 48 hours just to give some time in case something happens or she remembers or needs to make some adjustment. Right? It's held um for 48 hours. After that 48 hours, you will get email an email that
will look like it's coming from me, but quite honestly, it comes, it's generated by the system, which is why it's so important that the census information is accurate, and you're right, email is there and all of that. Um, it will come to you to begin the process. It will say it's now time for you to begin the process. It'll have a link in there
about it. Of course, if you get stuck or have any issues, my number is on there and you can reach out to me and I'll I'll help you with it. So right now what we're trying to do is assuming it's done on the 15th by Dr. Feltry, you should be receiving it about the 17th and then we
need to determine when you can reasonably complete your individual evaluations so that I know when to run the compilation to provide it for you at a meeting that you need to have. Okay. Okay. Thank you for the clarification. Um in our district May 23rd uh is a
Friday. That is a day off. there's no school. It is Memorial Day weekend on the 24th, the 25th. May 26 is Memorial Day, no school. And then May 27th is also a day off of school. So, in
anticipation of board members taking a long weekend with family members, is it possible to set a date deadline of May 22nd, Thursday, for all board members to complete this evaluation?
Doesn't give a lot of It's only a week, right? Correct. Yeah. I think I have one more time cuz if we're moving forward then on the 29th, a week later, we would be able to meet as a board ourselves to review this and that would leave May
5th, which is our next regular board of education meeting to meet in executive session to do an evaluation with Dr. Feltry not present. June 5th. Sorry, June 5th. Correct. Sorry. So, yeah. So, a couple of things. So when is the 48
hour hold business day hours or the weekend included? Because people that are not here will definitely question the when that 48 hours ends. It it the system just generates 48 hours. Okay. Yeah. So that's one. But then two, June 5th, we got to leave alone. That's the
teacher um of the year. So if we do it, we have to do it afterwards because we've run into trouble where we end up going late to the teacher night and we can't do that to them. It's going to be a really long night. So, I know, but I'm I'm so that we've tried to have June 5th not have exact session at all because we
have done exact session and then we run late and then we'd miss the teachers and it's really disrespectful and I I hate when we do that. So, I really think we definitely should not put something like this before that meeting. Um, if we're keeping that meeting light, which is, you know, the hope always, but it never
turns out that way. Um, because we have the 26th meeting. I suggest we do it afterwards. Um, but if after the 28th, no, after the 5th meeting. After the 5th. So, we have to meet. So, we'd like to have a special meeting then on No, I meant like we can have an exact session
that night after the teacher of the year. After the teacher of the year, as long as it's just to work on the evaluation that's going to go late and there are members. Well, it depends on whether or not we have a full agenda, which is what we try not to do, which is why we have two meetings in June, but it
sometimes it doesn't work that way because June gets crazy. If if everyone gets it done, um then the compilation could be compiled by the board president the weekend of the June 1st and then reviewed by Dr. Feltry and then sent to
the members with a draft of that by June 3 so that on June 5th after the educator of the year celebration, it would just be reviewed. I I have to just back up a little bit.
Okay. Okay. So, it doesn't get shared with Dr. Feltry until it's finalized after everything has been written. So, so the process would have to be I think what we're we're trying to do here is not put in another meeting date on your schedule if it works to work within what
you have there. But what I'm hearing feedback is important. That's why you need to discuss this, right? if that June 5th meeting is going to go late and then to first begin the conversations about finding a majority opinion that might not be reasonable. So, um I think
that what you want to consider is from the time you receive it. I think the first question is from the time you receive it, what's a reasonable amount of time that you could individually get your parts done. What's the date that the every board member should be able to know that they have to complete their
part? the compilation um can then be shared and you would have it available for that meeting where you need to discuss it and come up with the majority. Would would May 30th be a better date
for board members to complete it? It's a Friday after the long weekend. That's a third that's a Saturday. May 30th. May 30th. Sorry, I thought the other question I wanted to ask you, not to revert back to that educator of the year, but on here it says we open
the meeting at 6:00, but the educator of the year doesn't start until 7:30. What happens is the board opens here in this room in public at 6:00. We do flag salute, roll call. Then the board adjourns to a reception in the media
center, cookies. Okay. For 15, 20 minutes. Then at 7:30, the board goes into the auditorium for the educator of the year. And then after the educator of the year, we come back to this room and
continue the regular board meeting here. So do we have an exact session at all before the board meeting? We do not on that day. Is it just for clarity? So we we start at six o'clock. We try not to, but I mean it really just depends on
what's the on the agenda on the We start at 6:00, but it says that teacher of the year doesn't start till 7:30. That's an hour and a half later. So, what So, you said 15 minutes that long. We could have
an executive meeting at that time to review. Would that work? I I will caution you about trying to squeeze this conversation in before coming back for a board meeting. And just from experience, I can say that you don't perhaps know if
you will need an executive session for other business of the district that night. Right now, you may be considering you don't need it, but from my own experience as both a board member and an administrator, that can happen. Um, so we want to be fair that when you're
coming together as a board to discuss this very important work that you're really in the right frame of mind and equipped to have that conversation productively, right? I mean, I appreciate that we don't want to create a separate meeting, but our executive
sessions always go long, right? So, I don't think it's it'll work. Okay. Putting into an existing exact session, they're always go long. is we could have, you know, parents come in. We could have Yeah. And
would it help if I could um uh have my deadline be May 12th? I need the weekend. I will be honest. I need the weekend. I I'm not sure. So, you get it by the 14th versus the
17th. But I I don't know if it's by when we get it. It's the question of do we want to have a separate meeting, a special meeting, right? And so then if we can decide when that is, then we could work backwards in terms of deadlines for completion.
Mr. Dylan, what what's the drop dead date of this being compiled, majority presented back to the superintendent? July 1st. July 1st. It it has to be officially by code, but I really actually always caution people to not put July 1 in their head.
You really in real terms need to do it before that because school is going to end. Some of your board members may not be available to you to have the meeting where you need to meet with Dr. Phil. But it's July 1st. Yep. But our last board meeting of the year uh for the school year is June 26th. So could it be
done by then and finalized by the 26 that we could send it over after that? So I think if we could set a date as to well my another question I have is if we can set a date for when we want to meet
and I agree with Natasha that we probably have to have a special meeting to just go into exact session then we have to back into when we have to have our stuff done. Is that readily available? like as soon as we get it done, boom, or is there Yeah, it's pretty straightforward. 48 hour period
for us to No, no, as soon as all of them are in, I can run the compilation and deliver it electronically. So, uh, do you have a suggestion for a special meeting date? I'll just say, I mean, I'll show up, but I am opposed to another meeting just for
this. Is this I'm I'm Forgive me, it's my first time here. Is this new? Last year we did not do it. Our and the year before that we did. Here's my two cents. I I I've done this six times. I've never had a
separate session to compile and agree to the majority statement um to then give it back. And additionally, it's not the same makeup. And at the same time, I also have never presented those findings as an entire
group. Uh it's been my experience that the president and vice president do that solo. So just uh those would be options for us too. In terms of the presentation of the final draft of our of our give back, um I I get it. I know
our execs go along. They go along because we have a lot of things on the agenda. We control the agenda. Um I know there's been asked to to announce in advance when there's a second uh but I I'd prefer to go along when we're here
than to come back another day. So if if I could offer this. Okay. Um when I gave that option of sometimes uh boards go into that executive session to compile the majority opinion and some boards choose to have the president look at the compilation and start drafting it. So
it's almost there and then you come kind of come in the room and you will see the compilation. So you know that it's really the work of all of you but it's already almost prepared towards you. you can now be looking at something to say, "Yes, I think we agree that that was the appropriate statement to use on there or
whatever might just logistically help the process along." Um, you still have all the same access to the compilation and that kind of thing, but it might allow you to shorten the period of time that you're in that room. And in terms of um I recognize that some boards just have the board president maybe the vice
president meet although we at New Jersey school boards don't recommend that as the the best practice because of the importance of the minority opinion right so if people can't make it they can't make it but they should be invited and have the expectation to be heard at that
meeting. Um so just for the value of what that presents for the superintendent moving forward. So to be clear, there's a there's a a meeting where we discuss amongst ourselves and finalize kind of the compiled document and then there's another um instance
where we present it to the superintendent. That's right. Does it make sense to have the presentation be the president and the vice president and then we can do it that way? Right. And then I think you can also make that decision once you Here's the benefit, guys. So if it's if
it's less than a quorum, you don't need a meeting. Mhm. But that feedback can be given any whenever you want. Yeah. I mean I don't think the actual presentation should take long that that I think I could feel like we could do that in a regular exact session, right? Because by that time we have all agreed.
Yes, I I would I would agree with you on that. So it's it's more like do we need it's the discussion amongst ourselves prior to finalizing it. Is it something we feel we can accomplish without another meeting? It be Yeah. Okay. So,
it's my experience that um they would take equally as long. So, we don't think we could do that on June 5th when the educator of the year celebration is. I think we would have to do it after because I've I've been with this board long enough to know that it's going to be
um it's going to be difficult to get majority opinion done. Here's what you're going to debate, right? You you look you saw how the evaluations happen. It's satisfactory, unsatisfactory. So, it's it right. I've done it multiple times as well. I just I've done it multiple times with this board and I
tell you five of us pick this option that's the majority. The part that's going to take us a while is the the free text, right? The what are we writing? How do we agree to the language? That's going to be where we get caught up. It's going to be easy to see where the majority lies in terms of fulfilled,
unfulfilled, kind of close, whatever. Simple math. But in the comments by the board members, you will have your comments that Diputy and I could put together into a narrative. We've got to agree as a group to the language. Right. Of course. Then agree to the language.
Okay. That's what takes a while. Got it. And like I said, I don't think it necessarily can't be done on the fifth. I just don't want to do it before the teachers. So, if we can keep that agenda light, I think that's the question. Is that agenda going to be light or heavy? Because I don't mind doing it after. But
if it if that's going to be a heavy agenda, then yeah, we can't accomplish it after. But I don't want to put it before only because we really have done this to the teachers before. And I just don't want to do it to them. And once we get people talking, they're not going to want to stop talking. And when you talk about the agenda, you're talking both
the actual the public and any other exact sessions, right? Because the public is what goes long, right? We long Yeah. Okay. Like any anything that's on the agenda. If we have a a a regular agenda with second reads or first reads, it's going to it's going to add up. If we don't, if we have a lighter agenda
that's just like we really got to get a new teacher in or whatever and it's quick quick, which we have done before, very few times, but we have done before, we could do it that night, but it just depends because we do have two meetings. Are we going to make the 26 really heavy or do we need to get stuff in the fifth? I think that's the big question. Well,
then we need to what we need to do is But I do think we could do the presentation to the superintendent on the 26th as long as nobody feels that it's a huge conflict because I think by then we would be prepared. Yeah. If we have a bunch of stuff that needs to get taken care of between now and that June
5th meeting, can we try to get those into the May 15th meeting to lighten up the June 5th agenda? I don't know what we have pending that needs to be addressed.
Right. Um it's my first time through so I'm not sure. I do know that um there's like a schedule of things that take place and we're trying to do as much as we can but I I I don't know what rolls over into the 5th versus the 26th. Well, why don't we
try what Pam suggested, right? Like do it after the the meeting at the teachers convention and the teachers convention. the teacher teacher of celebration teacher of the year, right? And try to do it at that point. Um, and that hopefully there's a
lot of pre-work that's done um in terms of the language and stuff. Okay. So, we could have a tentative of June 5th to meet just among board members at an executive meeting with Dr. Feltry Rice after the educator of the
year celebration. So, backing up now, when should board members have completed their portion of this? Well, you're going to for the June 5th, you guys are going to compile something. Is that what's going to happen? As soon as all board members have completed this, then
a compilation is sent to the board president. That's right. So, so the question I think you're referring to is will she start writing that draft up perhaps with the vice president? You're going to need time. If if they are doing that, you need to build build that in. You're going to spend the time before or
after, right? It's just how you want to spend the time. So, if the if Dr. Feltry is expecting to be completed on the 15th, you should be receiving it by the 17th. So, that's giving you a lot of time. Um, just a few days perhaps. Um,
could we do it by the 30th? May 30th. May 30th. Even the 29th, right? I I would say do it the 29th and then you have the 30th to harass anyone who didn't press submit yet. Got it. Okay. And then you have the weekend to get it together and then you and make a plan to meet. Yeah. Okay. The voice of
experience. Thank you. Got it. So Dr. Felry will on and about. You don't submit, you don't get counted, right? Yeah. What happens if somebody doesn't submit? They just don't get counted. Is that right? I I think if you're trying to meet your statutory requirement to
doing it that the board I I really can't tell you the answer to that, but the board has to firmly communicate what the expectation is of completion and that the process may be moving ahead without people who do it in that time frame to allow the board to meet its governance
obligations under CUSAC of getting everything completed in time. Okay. So if we have it the week of between the 12th and the 15th, Dr. Feltry and then board members will have until May 29th
to complete it and then uh Diputy and I can have over the weekend up until June sorry June 5th and then we will discuss it in an executive meeting after the educator of the year. At that point then
it gets presented to Dr. Dr. Feltry and that's right. You'll come out of that meeting. You'll know you'll be able to turn it from a draft to a final version that can be sent to Dr. Feltry so that she can absorb it, read it, and be prepared for the meeting that you're going to have with her to formally sign
off, introduce it, sign off on it, and allow minority opinion to be verbally shared. So, the expectation is that when we leave that exact session, we have a final document. Yes. That just needs to be typed up. Okay. and then the final
sign off by the board would be June 26th and then send it to um it just it doesn't have to be sent anywhere. A copy a signed copy needs to be um kept by Dr. Pelletry and by the board. So either in the personnel file
or with the board attorney according to your policy. Um and just notes about the meeting that it was for that purpose. So that that's your evidence for QAC, right? And this is coming up a QAC year. Is that correct, Dr. Feldry? So we have
to have that. Got it. And and just as to touch on that just for a moment, is that just for everyone's information because the public may be listening in, although you get um every district gets evaluated with a visit um for QAC on a three-year
term, um they go back and look at what you were doing in the years they weren't here, right? So every year counts. Um, and it just so happens that this is your QAC year, but even next year when it's not a a QAC evaluation year, you're going to want to make sure that you have
all of your things recorded properly. Okay. All right. Do we agree on those deadlines then? Okay. So, no special meeting. Yay. Okay. So, June, uh, you said I would show just I don't think
it's necessary. I I agree, Mr. Dylan. Okay. So, we have those dates and I will compile this and send it out to all board members um uh who weren't able to make it tonight, too. Okay. So, if I may proceed, I'm going to I was going to
wait until have to have that discussion till the end of this. We're only really um completed with discussing the superintendent's evaluation, but a really important thing to consider is for the same purposes of accountability and recognizing that what you're doing
and how you're doing it is actually best serving students. It's really although it's not mandatory, it's really best practice and recommended that all boards complete their annual board self-ealuation. So on the next few slides, I'd just like to go over that for you. Um, of course I don't want to
confuse you and your focus needs to be on what you just said as your dates and the completion of the superintendent's evaluation, but the board self- evaluation actually allows you as a team to reflect on the work that you're doing on behalf of the students of Berkeley
Heights. It can be completed by all me all board members. There's no such thing as a conflict. There's no statutory deadline, right? It's not mandated. However, um similar to how you just set dates so that everyone knows what to expect and how you can use it as data
that can um move you forward in your governance. Um you can look at setting dates for that, right? So it really is recognized as best practice. It improves your governance and management of how you go about governing, right? It allows
you to use the results that um can help with conversations about what your board goals will be going forward. I know you had board goals um last year, right? And and I was really happy to see and I know that Patty Reese, I believe, worked with
you on the last one um and she was very good about showing you the importance of creating action plans towards those goals. Now, to be fair, the district had a lot of things to be focusing on bringing in a new superintendent, right? So, it's it's not a bad thing if you didn't reach all of your goals. You have
already established the importance of that process, but now's a good time to really move ahead with that, right? um it helps to bring you together speaking about um your governance and and how you can best work together as a
team and sets the standard for conduct and the operations of the board. So we want to we want the board to be operating um really effectively and efficiently. We don't want to be tacking on extra meetings when we don't have to. We don't want conversations that take
away everyone's focus from student achievement. So, it should really be um completed annually. As a matter of fact, it can tie into becoming board certified, which is another thing I'd like to talk to you about later. Um on
the board on the board self-evaluation, you as a board can decide um if you would like to include the superintendent in a part of it. Um that's a board decision and we'll look at that a little bit on another slide. It helps you to determine your priorities in the six
areas that are recognized as being important for board governance. Very similar to the superintendent evaluation being based on professional standards. Um I would do similar I would compile it for you. Um deliver it with a report of what it indicates and then begin that
work with you of what really is this information telling us so that we can move ahead using this data of how we would like to create our goals. how and then from those goals how we would like to develop our action plans and be hold ourselves accountable and build the confidence in the community about the
work that you're doing and how you're doing it so it's always clear and focused and um serving students. So um it's right in the same spot on our website there's a the same section where you either go into the superintendent evaluation or the board self evaluation.
Um, board members can start to complete this at any time, although it would be helpful to agree on a time where you're all going to say you have it done so we can compile it and work with that information. Um, it will look like this when you go in there. It'll give you um,
if you notice on the top two on the right uh, column, it indicates that as a as a non- voting member of the board, the superintendent can participate in the first two. And then it goes on to outline what each section is. Right? This is similar to the superintendent's
professional standards. These are recognized as being important um for governance by the board. It will give um a ratings description. I will tell you that uh New Jersey school boards uh just redid this
whole process for the board self-evaluation. We I think it's been greatly improved actually. Before the ratings were very subjective terms um commendable, good, adequate and people could um come to that thinking
differently, right? So the information you got out of that might have been um a little bit corrupted with uh personal opinions and lack of agreement. But here we created a real rating scale. We identify and define each part of the rating so that each member that's
participating in it is actually using that same rating scale to make the information you get out of it um important and valuable. So to begin the process, um this is different than we had it in the past. If I'm not sure if any of you have
been um in the board self-evaluation in the past, but this year uh the board president needs to start the process off just by going in and putting in this past year's goals. And I know you have goals. Um for a district that might be doing this for the first time, if they
didn't have goals, the board president would go in and just indicate that once that happens. Um and as part of that she can load if you've completed something she can put in evidence toward you know that supports the fact that that was completed um then you'll all have it and
then you can begin your individual um evaluations of your board. This is also um improved from years prior because we recognize that it's important to always be focusing on the board as a team. Right? We train you even through your
ethics that individuals don't have authority or power. It's the board that has that power and the operations of the board as an entity. So this is um designed to really speak to that that team approach of how are you doing as a team? And when the board goals from last
year are put in, this screen would pop up and start you off so you could reflect on those. If there weren't any board goals, it would go into the next section. The board standards that it's based on are are similar but different. Um vision, mission, and goals. As a
policymaking body, they're of course going to focus on a policy section of how you handle policy. Um accountability, how you address accountability towards student achievement, uh community leadership, resource management and oversight, those important functions of your
responsibility. and the governance team relationships and accountability. Um it will be broken up by those standards. Um the standard statement will be there. Um there'll be an opportunity to put in a statement to
support uh ratings and um identifying what you think that the board is doing well in this area and what the challenge and opportunity for growth might be. the ratings for individual contributions to the board team will
happen in one place. In the past, it was how do I on this standard, how do I think the board is doing? How do I think I'm doing? Right? And that didn't really serve um keeping a focus on the team as a whole serving. So, at the we this is just on this one sheet. At the end, that
just gives you an opportunity to self-reflect just on what you may need. um what are opportunities to help you with resources or training or anything so that you can develop your own skills as an individual on the board to best serve. At the end, there'll be
reflective questions and these are meant to really provide um good open dialogue later on about where the board wants to um focus its attention on its own governance. And um here it will show you similarly a
compilation report for the standards. Um you can similar to the superintendent evaluation. You only have um access to seeing yours. It's anonymous. Um you can see the tracking report of who's completed it. So you have that
information. Um and we provide the compilation report to help get you started um moving forward in the direction that you want to do to grow. We also provide visuals because charts are a really helpful way to um really look at data at times. So there's
um a chart to make it clear. Um there's another chart that can combine if you've done it in the past with year-over-year growth and how you're rating yourselves um in those areas. And this is a snapshot from what you for what you see
on our website in the section when you call up the evaluations. It'll be available right above where the superintendent evaluation is. And for both of them, there are hyperlinks that will bring you to um information to help you do this or understand the process
better. So when you're doing the board evaluation, you want to re remember that you're really evaluating the board, right? All eight members and your governance as a team. You're not looking
at um the district and you're not looking at staff. We really want to stay focused on the board as as a team um and their and its performance and efficacy. So it's really an opportunity for that conscious governance. Um, we all need to
take a step back and evaluate and take accountability and celebrate the successes with everything, but also um, honor those things where we should focus our attention for growth um, because everything you do is so incredibly
important to stay focused on what we are providing and how we're providing it for students. So, that's the end of the evaluation presentation. I don't know if anyone has any questions on that. Um, Mrs. Clearary, let me give a background to some board members who weren't here.
Yes. In 2023, the board decided that we would take part for the first time in developing board goals and that was with a uh president prior to myself. So, Mrs. Um Reese had come in on let's see she
came in on uh November 2nd of 2023 and she worked with the board to develop goals. We came up with five goals uh which are at the top of every agenda that you see. Every blue agenda has our
board goals and our district goals. And then during the um uh liaison committee meetings I have given an update on those goals. There were action plans developed that were inherited by previous by this
board. So we are working toward being able to work together in a commonality and with governance rules and this is why the previous boards have decided to go ahead with board goals. So we have one year under our belt of board goals
and now we're starting our second. Yes. And our board goals were based on our district goals. So in timing of this we have some time to look at this because now our district goals are going to be developed by Dr. Feltry but the board self-evaluation
will take place and will be compared to our our previous goals. So yes so yes so we don't want to lose people in all of the all of the planning. the purpose is to work really efficiently together and and see how
you're tying different things together to really go forward, right? And and I know it seems like a lot of things, but it only seems like a lot of things until you see that the work you're putting in is really tied to other work that's happening. So what can happen is if you
set time say for the board self-evaluation when I would come out and work with you and do the compilation and talk about it with an eye towards setting new goals. You would of course want to reflect on how far along you in certain goals. There might have been
some goals haven't been completed yet. You'd like to carry those forward. You may think um we've completed some so we can fill it you know with something else. And we would want to have the information about what the upcoming district goals are because generally when a board sets goals, they set two
types of goals. How their board goal may support the district goals, right? In their role and responsibility as board members, but then also goals that are um reflective of governance, your own governance. And that can include many
things, but it can include education, right? what we're doing tonight to really learn together to really learn on different topics together to um address you know operations how is the board running when was the last time we looked at our bylaws that really direct our
governance of how we operate as a board right so it provides a lot of opportunities to start to um correct and focus attention so you can streamline it and work smarter and not harder right
and our board goals were for um 2324 because our district was in a flux. Yes. Last year without a superintendent, an interim superintendent, we did not update those board goals. So we are now doing that process now that we have our
our administration team set. Okay. So um so that is the process. I don't know that you want to we need to set those dates but that's a consideration um to work with uh Gail so that you can determine when would we as a board feel
that we could complete our individual part of it so that there's a date where all board members complete their individual part of the board goals just so that I can compile it we can put something on the calendar about um getting together. Um, many districts try
to do it towards the end of the summer so that if you're developing new board goals, you can have them in place for the start of the new school year. Uh, Dr. Feltry, when will our new district goals be developed? Okay. Sorry,
don't by by the end of August. By the end of August. Okay. the teachers come back or the admin for the summer after summer break um come back the last two weeks of August. So I have a two days of I'm calling it admin in
service but but we'll be okay developing goals then. So is September a good time then for us to then having looked at our district goals develop board goals for that school year? Is that um a
feasible time? And then starting in September doing the board self- evaluation and developing board goals that could be developed and approved. I I would recommend frankly um because it's independent and it can happen over
the summer, you can just start the the board self- evaluation over the summer, not feel the clock necessarily ticking. Um and just have a goal that when would you like to have a compilation done and set a time that you could come together
to prepare for the upcoming year and so your board goals are put in place. But I but I think it should be like as of a certain point in time, right? because somebody could start it now, two months down the road, something else could happen that when if I was doing it two months later would change how I feel
about the like, you know, it has to be like, okay, so as of I don't know, May 30th, right? This is my evaluation as of May 30th. You might you might like me now, but not Yeah, you might like me now. You might not like me, you know. I would remind you though, as a board,
when you're doing a board self-evaluation, you're reflecting on the work of the board. So most boards aren't meeting in July and you're looking to come back in August. So the purpose of the having those board goals because another thing that's come up in the past is you know people trying to
time it based on the elections and if the board is going to turn over and the recommendation we have is put board goals in place because even if there is turnover on a board you're welcoming your new members onto the board with some direction of what the expectation
is going forward. I think the question was about the self-evaluate the board self-evaluation not not the go board goals um I would think that the board goals if we do want goals to support the district goals we should they should come after district goals but I guess
the question I had was Dr. Feltree like does the board are you are you open to considering any recommendations from the board with respect to district goals? Um yes, but I also feel like district
goals are going to come out of the strategic plan as well and that's going to be done at the same time. Right. So um so so any I guess like yeah any input into that whole strategic plan also district goals. We're we're going to look at the
strategic plan now. So, if I could just if you don't mind. Um, so when it's it's very common practice that um administration will get together over the summer for identified times to start working on um putting everybody's heads
together to say what is going to best serve our students and Dr. Feltry would then get that information especially being new in the district from um the educational leaders in the district um and make a plan of what is the hierarchy and priorities we should be focusing on
and then presenting it to the board so the board can have some input and and you know the you're a team you need to be going forward together. So um but looking at um her role, you know, she is the adviser to the board. She is the
educational leader of the district. So bringing that to you so that we're not starting from nowhere, right? We're starting from the recommendations that she's making based on her work with administration who are experts in their fields. So then the board should rightly
be having a conversation about that and having having an understanding of why those priorities are being set and how we're going to best serve students because you're an oversight body, right? You have to understand what's going to be the focus and ensure that that's happening and that then of course you
get those updates that you need to be able to appraise it later on. So I think that's the flow and when we talk about the strategic planning process and I'm just about to kick that off. I don't mean to cut you off. No. Um, but the strategic planning process is really
going to be a separate pro process and we're going to see the value of doing it which really helps you set those fiveyear goals of where you want your students what you want them to have and where you want them to be in five years, right? And it's really the community voice, all of your stakeholders being
involved in that. So once that happens um and we'll talk about that schedule which will be over the c the course of the next academic year um that will then help inform future district goals. Right now you are admittedly in a in a point
of transition. Right? So this year may look a little different than how you establish yourself going forward. the strategic plan goals that come out of it will be those multi-year goals that will help inform next year's district goals. Okay. So maybe the best way to
understand it is if we look at it, but go ahead. Yeah. So just I just wanted to comment on the the the board evaluation part of it. So I think what you were saying before is accurate, right? Boards have so much turnover, right? Because there's an election every November, my
least favorite time of year. Um whether I'm running or not, right? It's it's just it causes hustle here on the board. So I think the evaluation by getting it done in August September area, you're not evaluating each board member. You're not evaluating like Exactly. Yeah.
Right. Like I I didn't like this meeting. This shouldn't have happened. You're evaluating like what does the board as a whole need to work on? Like we need to work on paying attention to policy. We need to work on paying attention to efficiency.
um no surprises like whatever it is as a whole right over and over we've seen this right so now we've been together since January so we have plenty of time to know like this is an area we could work on because some of those board members will be there to work on it and some of them won't because it's not
about individual board members it's about the board as a whole like what what are we missing right so one of my things is always governance like I don't think this board has a good overhead governance right like having a writtenout procedure these are the procedures that we have, right? I I
would love to work on that, right? But we've never had a governance committee that really focuses on that, right? So, that would be one of my feedback on that evaluation. So, I don't think the time really is necessary. I wouldn't recommend starting it now if we're not going to do it to August. But, Right. Like, I don't think because you're
really just like, what does this board need to work on next year? Right. Exactly. And you know to your point the board self-evaluation can just be the board self-evaluation and you could just focus on what did we learn from that when I give you the compiled document. Um I I think that many boards have used
that information, that data to help then the conversation about building out those board goals, right? Because if you recognize like we all feel or majority of us feel we can learn more about this or improve that, then you can actually develop a goal of saying, okay, we
recognize it. We're going to do it. We're going to put an action plan in place and address it so that next year we'll look at something else. Right. Yeah. So, kind of add to what both of you guys are saying because I think you're saying the same thing. I I would like to add though that I don't think it
should be open-ended that we should be doing a board evaluation anywhere between June and se like August. I think if we're going to do it, we should all do it around the same time. That should be our target. That That's a a board decision. I I frankly I don't see it
being a problem, but it's definitely a board decision. We I just want to put it out there of consideration. I would tell you not to put it as a focus right now because your focus right now should be the superintendent's evaluation and it's a very busy time of the year right now. So um if if it's okay to proceed with
the strategic plan. Okay. So, um, just for a statement of fact, right, the strategic plan was part of the contract that you engaged as a board with New Jersey school boards for the superintendent search. So, this process
um is something that we generally do wait until things start to flow and give the superintendent an opportunity to settle in and meet staff and do all of the important things before we engage in such a big process. Um, I want to point
out to you that I have taped I have put this picture here and I've stolen the pictures off your um, district website of your students in Berkeley Heights, right? And I think it's really important to remember as a board really in
everything you do that at times where there might be disagreement or you know it's hard to find consensus is to always bring it back to the students. everything and everyone here is working towards that right serving them. We may
have difference of opinion about what's best and the best way to do it at times. Now, one of the things we know as a board is that you are here to reflect the community aspirations for the students, right? Well, the strategic planning process actually is going to
allow you to hear firsthand what your stakeholders really are valuing. And sometimes what they valued 5 years ago looks different than what they value now, right? because of the changes in the district and the changes in the world we live in. So this presentation just keeping in mind that I had said
that I often come back to a regular board meeting and just present it for information so everybody gets excited and and wants to participate in it. I would of course introduce myself more formally, introduce um New Jersey school boards for those who don't know what we
do. Um we're going to tonight look at as we will in the future what is strategic plan what is what are the advantages of doing it how to engage and be a part of the process for all of your stakeholders and then we'll have opportunity for wrap-up questions right so this just
goes on talks about and identifies us as um an association and the work that we do with you strategic plan is really an opportunity to create that organizationwide vision that's shared that becomes common that the the way we
are going to move forward and move our students forward down the road um to arrive in five years meeting the aspirational goals that we set. So it directs the the strategic plan actually directs motivates and inspires all
members of the educational community of Berkeley Heights in the best service for the students. So advantages of it are that it's a proactive process, right? We're going to start it. We're going to engage with it. And we're not going to
be reactive and only be talking about trying to put out fires all the time. We want to be really inspirational and aspirational and um be proactive in addressing some of the things uh that may not be present for the students um
right before it becomes an emergent issue that needs to be dealt with. It's creative and innovative. By um welcoming and encouraging um different stakeholders to participate, we bring that diversity in. Right? Your staff
members, parents or members of the community with no children in the schools may have very different feelings about um what's important in and they could all want the best for students. So, we want to get um all of that
feedback and input so that we can really be engaging with that to move the district forward. It's uh a flexible planning process. We'll talk about the structure of how we're going to to do the meetings, but it's really meant to set those aspirational goals that are
going to be the focus for the next five years, but allow for things that may come up that haven't been addressed in the strategic plan to be um you know collated into that plan so that it doesn't derail us from the plan, right,
that's been established. It provides the forum for participation of everyone. Um it creates an ongoing cycle of planning, assessing and decision- making, right? I know as a former administrator um in my
district, you know, we were really when we got into our regularly scheduled ad admin council meetings, it was really okay, what's happening was happening now, but really always tied back to the advancements we were making and the
decisions we were making to move towards achieving those goals, right? Everything needs to be tied in and focus the work that we're doing. Um, it optimizes limited resources, right? It's really not helpful if we have one school
addressing a problem one way and another school addressing another problem another way, right? We want to really put it under one place so we're making the absolute best use of our resources which we know are strained and it increases communication um through the process itself. But then
with the updates that are shared um and bringing in community stakeholders who may not be parents who may not always know what's going on daytoday but to ignite that interest you know in the schools and the importance of even when you don't have students in in the
schools the importance the important role that the the schools play on behalf of students um but on behalf of the community as well right so um advantages also are to bring focus to decision making. Being able to really recognize
what priorities are and how we can combine things and tie things together so that they work and that the um administration and teachers are supported and understanding what's expected of them as they're moving forward. So, they can really just really focus on the work of doing what's best
for students and not spend half the day trying to figure out what's expected of them. Right? It should be a really clear message of what's expected and what we're looking to achieve altogether. Um, and it creates that vision that really
will support going forward the creation of those annual goals. This is meant to be a five-year plan. So, it's going to help us direct our attention on how we go about creating those annual goals that will progressively support the completion of the five-year
goals. So, why plan? Um, I think it's pretty obvious. Sorry. Um there we go. Um it's pretty obvious why we plan, right? To be efficient and thoughtful and um ensure that we're
really meeting the needs of all students of the district. Um so we want to look at things like how is your school enrollment changing? Do you have perhaps development in the community? I think every district I'm going into right now does, including my own. Um what impact
does that have on your classroom space on how you can deliver certain um things to your students that you value? Uh are the facilities adequate? Is are there strains on your resources? Um is the school population changing? Do you have
students and families appearing that may have different needs than those who were here five or 10 years ago? and how can we serve those students if we're not taking that information in and considering it in our decision-m going forward? And are there more people
perhaps in the community um who don't have children and how do we engage with them because we want them to support schools and we want them to see the value of all of the work that's being done in the schools. Um so also why we plan you know are
there changes uh like digging down a little bit are there changes in family structure and if there are what impact does that have right if you have um back in the day when I was raising my son in my community there were um those of us who could take a couple of years break
and stay home with our children and pick them up after school let out when the bell rang. um that's not happening in my community anymore. So that creates a need for parents of how who's going where are their elementary students going to be after the school day, right?
The needs are changing and we have to make sure that we're aware of those needs so that we can plan and assign resources appropriately. Um is the economic structure of the district changing? Are the educational levels of the community changing? If so, what are
the needs? If you have people who are moving in who don't speak English as their first language, how are we going to engage and inform them and keep them um aware of the resources available to them and build that bridge, that home and school bridge to best support
students? Is there competition for your schools? Are you losing students because perhaps um people are families aren't seeing the opportunity for what they would like their student to have accessible to them, right? Um sometimes
the the aspirations of a district can broaden. So, it might be in uh and I'm not speaking that it is, but in Berkeley Heights um in my home district, it could be there's there was an expectation that we're going to get our kids ready to go to college to get a four-year degree. Um
and now there's so much talk out there that other students are choosing other pathways. They want to be able to get certificate programs. They want to be prepared to go out into a vocational a trade program. So how we deliver the services to our students um to set them
up for the success and the future they want to have and be ready to work in a modern workplace is really crucial to understanding so we can make good decisions and plan for that. Um and of course I think every district right is focused on limited funding and how that
impacts um the resources we have available and how we make best use of our resources. So strategic planning is meant to really bring stakeholders in, identify those aspirational goals, set priorities, and allow the superintendent
working with administration to create those action plans of how we're going to move the district forward over the next years. and then incorporating in the future years those annual district goals which are the focus for those years and how they complement
those um strategic planning goals. So this is the board being here to represent the community but bringing the community in to hear from them and and let them tell you what their aspirational goals are for students. So
when we look at goals, we're looking at those cascading goals, not to have some here and I have to keep some people happy over here and have that's that's a really ineffective way to work. It's really that that that those goals and that aspirational um conversation with with your stakeholders helps to set the
focus and the path forward and it informs what those district goals will be. It informs what the superintendent's goals will be. And I can tell you when I worked and knew what my superintendent was hoping to achieve, I knew that that was going to inform my goals as an
administrator and my focus and attention of what we are valuing and what order I need to do things in all the way through principles running their buildings, directors running programs, um, right down into the classroom. So classroom
teachers are prepared and supported in the delivery of instruction with through professional development or whatever is necessary so that they are really working well with students and supported in doing that. So you've already made the commitment to the strategic planning
process. Um the information we will start out uh with a state of the schools address that Dr. Feltree will provide that will reflect all of the wonderful things happening in Berkeley Heights. Um the numbers, the hard numbers that we
want to consider um but also a a fair assessment of where the district stands and the challenges that may lay ahead so that when the stakeholders come together for these meetings, everybody is working with the same set of information available to them. Right? So the process
itself um in the three meetings we'll each meeting will have a focus and I'll facilitate that. We work um generally in small groups in all of those meetings to make it um efficient. We really stick to a clock. We um set aside two hours for
the first meeting because it will be inclusive of the state of the schools. Um and then the following two meetings we keep at an hour and a half. They're purposeful meetings to um work specifically on an area of focus
that night. So the first is hearing from your stakeholders what they feel the strengths and challenges are. The next one would be um using an exercise for uh visioning where we would you know really like to see our students the things we'd like for them to have
down the road. Um and finally the final meeting we get together um and work in small groups to really learn about how to set goal statements, write a goal statement, write objectives that that speak to that goal statement. Why is it
a goal? What do we hope to accomplish? Um and the strategies that need to be uh applied to that. When that work is done by the end of the third meeting, we um give that to the superintendent who works with the administration so that
they can come up with the action plans. Right. The board update. Can you update our slides? Are we in the process? No, we're good. We're good. Okay. Yep. We're good for right now. Okay.
So, so the action plans um will be the how we're going to get there, right? So, we know that a board focuses on the what do we want to see? We're going to work with the community and what do they want to see and then the um administration will be delivering the action plans of
how we're going to get there. So, the strategic planning process is going to represent the diversity of your community. Everyone can participate in it. You as board members can participate, staff members, community members, parents and guardians, everyone. because that diversity is
going to be the strength of the the conversation and the work that we do. So pre-planning um Dr. Feltry I think she's even begun on the work of putting that together um so that it'll be really impactful and informal uh informational
for you. Um planning meetings we'll have um to of course set some calendar dates and those kinds of things but these are the topics for each of the meeting uh meetings that we'll be focusing on. So, you know, after the conclusion of each meeting, I prepare an I facilitate those
meetings and I prepare an outcomes report that I share with Dr. Feltree and then she will have that posted up on the website. We recommend there's an area on the website that focuses on strategic plan so that people are are kept informed whether they came that night or
they didn't that they can be excited about the process and we're being very transparent. Um and the report will sum up all of the work that happened that night. So um we'll need to work together to just as a board decide, you know, how
are you going to go about and and that's actually the work of the of the district of course, but how to best communicate what resources to use through social media platforms, whatever is available to you guys. Um if you feel that certain organizations in the community should be
like receive a targeted invitation to participate so they can send some representatives perhaps uh that's something you have to decide um having you know your marketing for this um ready for the start of school and
especially um having it talked about at back to school nights right so um I'm not sure if you as board members attend school back to school nights or not um sometimes we did for the purpose of being there holding the the thing that it was upcoming a poster that it was
upcoming and actually inviting people right it's one thing to get the uh notice on the website or in social media but it's another thing to have someone look at you and say I really hope you come right and make it feel um comfortable for them to attend um we'll
work things out about how people can register pre-register just for logistics so we know how many tables to set up and chairs We would never turn anyone away who just shows up that night wants to participate. Um we do ask that um if you
are sending invitations for organizations in the community that they're not sending their full 30 member um membership that they maybe just send representatives. Of course, if those people live in the community and they're coming as individuals, they should certainly come. And um the meetings uh
need to be advertised as open public meetings for the sole purposes of community strategic planning and that no other action is taken. Generally those meetings will start off with the board president and or the superintendent just welcoming everyone very briefly. We're really
going to keep onto a schedule um for those nights. um the first meeting of course the state state of the school district will start us all off and when board members and staff members attend and participate which we really really
encourage you to do um we just ask that you remember that you're attending to listen to the community who isn't always afforded the opportunity to be at the board table right or in the boardroom. So just show up as an individual. um take off your official hat whether
you're uh an you know staff member or a board member and we just kind of coach you through the process of sometimes you will hear feedback at these discussions these small group discussions and you might recognize that something is factually incorrect. We just want to not
use that as the time to address it. Right? We want people It's like inviting someone into your home. You don't want to start an argument with them before they sit down on the couch and feel welcome and and are there. That that's not the purpose. We can put something in place to address and provide factual
information if that's necessary, but that's not the time or place to do it. So after the conclusion of the third meeting, everything all those meeting notes, everything is turned over to um Dr. Feltree. she'll work with her team
to develop the action plans. Um, and then I would generally come out when those are ready. So when we when those action plans are formulated, um, she'll go over them with you as a board. And
what I will do is I will, um, have copies bound which will include for each of you individually all of the work that was tied to this, including the action plans. And then you hold that and you use that as your reference as you move through the next couple of years.
There'll also be a copy for the board table so that if we have change over there's always one at the board table and the superintendent gets a binder so that it'll include all of that information and she can add to it supporting information as she goes. H this backs it up and and keeps it all in
one place for her. I would come out. I would deliver those at a board meeting and we ask you to invite the public especially the participants who have um you know walked through this process and it's an opportunity to celebrate. One of
the things we recognize is when we talk about goal planning and all of the things whether it's district goals, board goals, strategic plan goals, we have to recognize that we never are really done, right? And there's a danger in waiting to celebrate
only at the end. We want to really recognize and celebrate on an ongoing basis. I always recommend that your board meetings should have something that focuses on students, celebrating your students, celebrating your staff
that are working with your students to send the message to the community that this board is focused on what is best for students and celebrating the wins that you're making along the way. Because what we do know is that when you get to the end of a process, you just
sit together and make new goals, right? So, we don't want to delay and put off the celebration. Um, and we want to use that as an opportunity to build those relationships with the community so that they feel welcome and they may start attending other things and and staying more informed about the progress being
made. So, that's um very important. So, here's the sample strategic planning calendar. Um, in June, it would be helpful to have that planning meeting just to kind of set up the logistics of what's going to be involved. Um and then
we would hold the first uh it said dates at that meeting. Um then we would look to hold the first meeting in September. They're generally spaced a month apart. Okay. Um September, October, and November. And then at that point, that
last meeting in November, everything would be turned over. We have to recognize at the end of the year with the holidays and the breaks and all of the things, we need to give the appropriate time for Dr. filry to work with administration. Um so we would expect that by February the action plans
would be prepared to be shared. Um and then we can decide you know when I come out and deliver it and and the formal action you take as a board is to approve formally that strategic plan and you using that as a guide to go forward.
So, we um request that people attend all three meetings, but it's not necessary. People can um drop in. Um we ask also if they could just pre-register just so we make sure we have the seating and all of that set up for them and we could really make best use of our time together. Um
we hope that from this process people will be engaged and stay informed about the district and um supportive of students and have a better understanding of the work that's being done in service of your students and the challenges um that need to be addressed to do that
well. And uh of course updates just as with everything else should be given um specifically updating through the process um over the next couple of years. uh to really celebrate the accomplishments as they occur and that
is really a strategic planning process. So is there any question about this? So um I guess the timing um because I guess like with the with this calendar is our current strategic plan I think ends at the end
of June, right? So then if we only start this, you know, at this point, it feels like we're going to be at the same place, Dr. Felt, like so like, you know, that you'd be maybe have six months of
goals or strategic plan until the next CSA evaluation is due. Now, is so is June typically like when you start planning or is this calendar just because of our specific Usually this is um strategic plan can start any time
throughout the year but very often um it it would look to start it they are generally a month apart. Um they can really be conducted any time. I've just completed two of them um over the last month and I'm just actually waiting for action plans to come in so that we can
finalize it with those boards. So, which makes sense because it would be for the next year because like right now it feels like we're going to our strategic like we're going to start our new school year without goals or No, that's not true. You that you'll you have to
remember the district goals are going to be provided that are going to be the focus of next year. But I but I thought our our kind of um flow and No, which is great, but I thought our flow was going to be like the district goals in support of the strategic plan. But if we're not going to have the strategic plan. Yes, I
I understand your point. Thank you. Okay. Um, so as I mentioned earlier, this year may be a little different just because of the start date for the superintendent, right? So you've agreed to confine this year what you're holding her accountable for and then you're going to move into next year. Now
districts make district goals. They are required to have district goals that especially focus on student achievement each year and not every district is doing strategic plan. So the benefit of having a strategic plan is that once that's in place and approved by the
board, it'll inform the future annual district goal setting. So it's really not a comp. So we could still do the district goals. Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. It's kind of like a bridge year. So if I can get the goals to you to start in September, then you have the full year to know what you're evaluating me on.
Right. through ideally through the strategic planning process, the district goals will come out of that for the following year. Yep. Yeah. And that's a great point because what we don't want to have happen is we don't want to have like 50 goals all called something else,
right? we really want to start bringing these things together, but this is the way we engage with the community and make sure that when you're serving because you're all putting in tons of time and energy and effort um that you're doing it on behalf of what we really hope to see at the end and what the community hopes to see for its
students towards the end. Hope that made sense. Okay. Um Jean, can you just clarify? the the board of education members do not develop the strategic plan goals ourselves. It is from the community that these goals are
developed. Yeah. So when I say that you participate, thank you for that question. Um when when I say you participate, um what happens is you actually come in and sit amongst all of the community members. And I would ask you specifically not to sit together or
with staff members if possible. I I sometimes even do a thing where people walk in and I give them a different colored dot because I don't want them sitting at the table with the person they walked in with and they hate me for it, frankly. Um, but they see the benefit of it later on because it gives you an opportunity to sit with people
that you probably already know how the person you walked in with feels. Um, but it gives you an opportunity to really meet other people and get other perspectives, whether you're a board member or a staff member or a community member. So yes, to your point, what's
going to come out of it, the strategic planning goals are really we are going to identify strengths and challenges as everybody participating in that sees it. We're going to do the visioning exercise together and we're going to have to build consensus through this process,
right? It seems um like a like an impossible task, but I've seen it work so effectively with so many different types of boards and communities, but because it really helps to bring um people to identify through consensus everything we recognize as important,
but what's most important. And from that, that helps to set us up for the discussion and actually writing goal statements and objectives. And at the end of each of those sessions, we have a little sharing exercise where the
different small groups actually share with the larger group. And very often what you'll see come up is that there'll be um common threads throughout the room. Um and that's really what helps us to to go forward. We certainly want to
limit our goal statements even through the strategic plan to like four or five because um it's hard to do everything well and it's hard to have everything as a top priority. So we want to be very strategic in what we identify and how we move forward.
So do are we saying that like are these the three meetings are they board meetings? They're not. They're um community they're basically special special meetings for the purposes of strategic planning. Okay. So, what happens because we don't always get a
lot of participation, right? So, I mean, like seriously, what happens if people don't come? Well, I'll tell you that's that's when I talk about the pre-planning meeting, that's where we really want to identify how we're going to communicate the importance of it, really welcoming people and spending
the months before September in really getting the word out through different ways and have people excited to understand. So that's why the presentation this presentation can actually go to the web up to the website, right? So that even when you're communicating in other ways with other
people just saying like, "Hey, we're we're going to engage on this and you can you can actually look at the presentation of why you should participate, right? Um we really want to market it quite honestly because we really want to engage with people." to to follow up on what Natasha just said,
we don't have to have the uh community meetings all here with our tables set up. They could be at another location at an elementary school or a middle school. Yeah, generally what I do is work with you in that logistics meeting. Is that part of the pre-planning? Yeah, it could it could be towards that. Um, sometimes
it's helpful to like if this is the room that people are familiar with coming to and it also supports the amount of people we're expecting, which is why having like a pre-registration is really helpful just to make sure that we have the proper room for it. Um, we can do
that. Um, keeping it consistent so that people, it's generally not recommended to move it around too much because sometimes people may just not know where it is this time and we want them to feel welcome and not like they're running around. But it does have to, as we saw this evening, um it does have to be
carefully considered when it's placed on the calendar so that it's not up against other things that would prevent people from participating or make it impossible for them to participate. So, we want to be, you know, really thoughtful about the development. I know the district is working probably even now on the
creation of what that calendar looks like for next year and all of the amazing things that happen before, during, and after school in all of the buildings. So having that information is helpful because we can look at and say okay once we call this strategic planning night we really want it to be
where people understand that they shouldn't be you know booking things against it because we want to encourage everyone to be able to participate. Are these advertised as special meetings for the purpose of strategic planning? Absolutely. But they're not meetings for
the board to take any action or exactly like you said there. No action taken. no action taken and and we don't even do at those meetings public comments. Um we don't want to uh do it electronically or have any of digital. We really want people in the room. We really want to
have people working with people um on very specific tasks in a very limited time. And I I will say it's really important that we move through the process the way it's designed so that we can be respectful of it because if you keep people here for three hours in that first meeting, no one is showing up in
your second meeting, right? We all know how that feels. So we really want to um do that work in that time frame and really um in the ones I've been doing, I see a lot of bases coming back to the second and third meetings and even
bringing friends the next time. I always end my my session with saying please bring your friend next time. Now you're not know it's not so scary. Right. So those meetings are not recorded or posted. They they they aren't generally recorded. No. Um but the outcomes report
that I provide should be put up. Okay. So there should be a section of the website that people don't have to hunt for um that they can be directed to and that anybody going on your website that hears about there's a strategic plan. What was that about? can go and see and
it would be updated with the outcomes reports from meeting one and where where and when will the next one be. All of the dates once they're decided should go up immediately and all administrators should be aware of those dates so that if they're having um interactions with
you know staff and other community members that everybody is voicing that and and welcoming people to attend. Would it be helpful during the June planning meeting to actually um then post that meeting, put out save the dates? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I would I
would say that and whatever um methods you use for social media, I know that might only capture like the parent community, but you may have to do something a little different to get it out. um working if you have um in my district we have um a close tie with the
interfaith council so sharing it with them right and asking them to post it so that their membership will be aware of it if they don't have children in the schools they may want to come out so identifying those community groups that can help get the message out and and know that they're also included in this
right and what about our our mountainside um our families in Mountainside they are also included is that correct they they may want to participate because it affects their children um going on. I actually uh did the mountain side um right yeah
strategic plan with them. So, so, um, that was, you know, interesting and it went well and it was a smaller group. Um, but yeah, we wouldn't turn people away who would see themselves as, um, having a stake in the Berkeley high schools, right? Because we have
community members who are inviting to come who don't maybe have children in the community in the uh, schools either. So, I'm trying to envision this for a minute. So, obviously, we're not sitting around like this as a board. Are you running are you running the meeting? Yeah, I facilitate
the meeting. Okay. So, you don't need quorum. Right. So, right. Okay. So, I'm just trying to understand all this. So, some board members may be able to come one night but have a conflict for another night. I would like you to feel welcome, but understand that we're not asking you to be here with your with
your um board member hat on, right? We just want you here because you're a member of the community um and engage in that process. So, I know I'm a visual person. So what you would see is if it was in this room um and we knew that
there were 200 people coming um we would say well you know how effectively what size small groups can people effectively work in. So I've done it in a district where um one table uh it seemed like having you know 20 people at one table
wasn't really going to facilitate that discussion. So I put two tables that were focused on a particular topic in a later round meeting and then they had to come together to consensus before we brought it and shared it with the so there are ways to work with the size we
get. Um and each each one of those meetings will look a little bit different just because the focus for that night's a little different. Yeah. Just um I did just go through this right in mountain side. Uh I have some ideas to share when we get closer. Um I know it was small the turnout but it was
actually 10x what we normally get. Right. So uh I know you guys have we have a very active community here. I I think we would get people to come. Um we reached out to the very specific groups that we knew we we would count on to bring one or two representatives. PTO
the uh you have BHEA um or what's it your BHF uh the town and council the social sec uh social security senior citizens right there just whatever organizations we all had um and and clearly just the message got across
really well like if you want to say in the future of what we're working on send a representative and they and for the most part everybody sent two and then the word got out and what I really enjoyed was um the the newer parents, right? Uh there
was a very there was a lot of folks that attended that didn't even have they had children but not yet kindergarten age. So they're like, "Well, we want to we want to be part of building this future and that there was that there are a group that usually do not attend our board of ed meetings, but they were very anxious to come." Uh and then from a
recording perspective, think about it. We'll be at all these tables and it'll just be individual conversations. it wouldn't work from a mechanics perspective. We happened to have a quorum every time. So, we did open we read the the however you start the meeting, right? We we did take a roll
call, we did the pledge of allegiance and then that was the end of the formal part of it and then we just we split apart, right? So, that's right. Um you know, it they were good sessions and we we we got a lot out of them. So, yeah. And and I think that you know the size of the group, we would like more participation just because we want to
welcome everyone, but I think it was a very effective it was the right group because we had a lot of representation from different parts and see people that may have walked in thinking oh someone else wouldn't understand their focus but then they had more in common than they really thought they might have and and
I'll say I don't know it's good six months or so since we we've gotten some new participation um that probably wouldn't have happened without those sessions right so um the marketing went well the Facebook pages all the rest and and I you guys do a great job even there
because I know even when we were doing superintendent search. It was a very similar campaign and you guys included mountain side to come and and voice our opinion. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that. Thank you. I have a question. Um so right now we have a strategic planning committee. Is that
are we dissolving that and replacing this or are we talking about something totally separate? We do have a strategic planning committee. We've met once. Mrs. Airi is the chair. she passed out the past strategic plan to the members to for us
to review. But at this point, because we've hired NJSBA, I would assume that the uh committee would work hand in hand with the superintendent and not there are multiple ways that a strategic plan can be approached. Okay.
um very specifically through the contract that was signed to um work to bring a superintendent into the district. It included the 3D strategic plan that I've introduced here. And the way that this works is for us to
facilitate it. Um, and the planning meeting really I think you know if the board really wants to participate in a planning meeting I've generally done it so that every you know everyone might have a good idea about something that I don't know about your district that I should consider or recommendations I can
make of how this will get off the ground smoothly right but there's not really a ton of work and by the way when I was a board member I was the leazison for that committee for strategic planning as a board member and I remember thinking am I doing enough? Am I supposed to do it?
Was the first time I had done it, you know, am I supposed to be doing enough? But this 3D process is really designed to take the work out of the district and deliver it and then the work would be of the of the action plans and all of that. So, we really want you as board members
to participate, but it's not um there are other types of strategic plan where a committee is formed heavy on administration. it can take a lot of administrative time to work with the representative from the board and perhaps identify certain stakeholders
from the community. This is actually not that. This is actually um we want to welcome everyone and get the input from all different kinds of stakeholders. So just my own personal opinion right there there's work to be done by that
committee to do exactly what I just said. Drum up interest, make sure we're we're approaching it the right way. Yeah. The logistics. Exactly. All the pre-work ahead of time. Um then I would hope that those members are also at the
sessions, right? And they're there as parents, but they're there, right? I mean, this is this is why they're on those committees. this is why they they picked and we spend all that many hours at night to be on these committees. So, um and then what I would say afterwards, right, the the plan itself comes from
the administration, right? But just like anything else, that committee should review it, provide feedback, massage it, whatever before it comes to us. And so, um I don't I think there's still plenty of work to do. They just have a friend, right? It's got a little help. Exactly. Right. Internally, thanks for that. that
perspective is important that internally um and I hope I didn't imply that it wasn't important to have a person. I think my my was trying to just show that this is a different plan than perhaps what may have been planned for before. Um the goal is is that we want to be as
efficient as possible and that it's um it's not going to be one run out of the district necessarily because um that also comes at a price. I know that you have a lot going on in Berkeley Heights. I know there's a referendum discussion
happening. Um, and this is not I want to just address that for a moment. This is not, you know, an eitheror. We should do strategic planning or we should do a referendum. Um, the work of the referendum will be um very specific to
what you plan that out to be. Um, but I would tell you that having the community voice brought in, I would not be surprised to hear that a lot of the community voice may be addressing some of the things that you're hoping to do in the referendum because it's already been identified to you. You've already
recognized it and the community perhaps has already recognized some of that. So, what it does is it allows for this um multi-year plan to really, you know, kind of say, okay, the referendum is separate. It's a separate process with a very specific set of rules to follow and
goals. Um, but it's it would probably be represented in the strategic plan as well. I'd be surprised if it wasn't the goals that you hope to attain. So, those are complimentary um issues that we're dealing with just happens to be for us at the same time. Complimentary. Yes, it does. That's
right. Okay. Okay. Um I just wanted to get some clarification on uh district goals. The board the board of education members do not develop the district goals. They are developed by the administration. They are developed by the administration. Um because we're
looking at your superintendent as the educational leader and the um executive in charge of the staff and the resources to bring that expertise on looking at the data. And I know that's one of the reasons you're here is because you're well um capable of looking at that data
and making those recommendations from that professional lens of course along with the information input from administration, right? To then present it to the board and the then then there should be a dialogue of understanding the purpose, right? The superintendent
can't be successful if she doesn't have the support and the buyin so that she's making the recommendation just like with anything and hopes that you get the information you need and are are um educated about why that's the recommendation and what that will
clearly do for moving students forward. Right? So it becomes a complimentary process and you should be approving th those district goals as a board. But you can't approve anything if you don't understand it. Right? So you have to have that fair dialogue around that so
that you can all get behind it. We want, you know, I tell a story about my husband and I and we traveled um internationally. We were dating and we went to Ireland and we spent two glorious weeks. Um we only made
reservations for the first night and then we toured the country. never knew where we were going to sleep the following night. And we had an amazing time. We got along. We went into towns and met people when we wanted and just spent time hiking out in the wilderness
forever and got along perfectly. But I will tell you, if you put that same man in a kayak with me, does not go well, right? And the same people, same good people, same people that can share so much. But for some reason, we look at
that experience differently and our goals don't align. I want to float. I want to enjoy the scenery. He wants to get to the other side really quickly, right? So, when we're working on goals, we have to really take stock of that,
right? That we're all moving together for the same purpose and understand each other in the role that we play according to what your responsibilities are. whether you're a board member or the superintendent so that we can really stay focused on achieving it together.
Right? You're not going to be successful meeting any goals regardless of the format they're set up in unless you have the buy in and everyone recognizes the purpose for them and and feels that they own them along with the with the group, right? Like you individually own them
and and value them and know that that's what's leading you forward for your students. So thank you. Okay. So um I think we are okay with this. Um
I would like to um Okay. So we did the evaluation strategic planning uh look at transition. Now, um this is just a check-in, right? I know that um well, to be upfront that the transition services
are part of the superintendent search contract, right? But more than just requirements to do it, it's really important that we check in about how that's going, right? So, um I know that you have met individually with um Dr.
Feltree and that you've met as a board multiple times with her and that you're in the process learning how to work together as a board with Dr. Feltree. She's got a lot going on with trying to um become more familiar with the administration and the way things are
done around here and doing the evaluation of the data and all of those things. So, we just want to take a moment to look at the building effective board and superintendent relationships, those key areas, right? We have to have clear understanding of role and role
clarification of where the board work is and where the um administration work is. We have to have we've talked a lot about goals tonight and the goal alignment, right? All of those different levels of goals, not working separate and apart
and exhausting everyone, but really working together um you know cooperatively and and and supporting each other. Um, we have to not only one time, but we have to be open to
check-ins once in a while to make sure that we are sharing the expectations of who's doing what, how they're doing it. Um so that we can all move together forward and maintain a really solid foundation of a community of trust where
people can express different views um and be heard but know that we're trying to be efficient and work together with consensus because um students lose a day for every day that we waste right so we have to really be committed to working
efficiently. We have to address our operational protocols. Everything from, you know, when do I get my board packet? How do I request something to be on the agenda? How do I request information um that I would hope to get from the
superintendent or another um administrator? What's the proper way that's recognized for this board to operate? We have to step back and understand that we all have to follow the same sets of rules that have been agreed to because we don't want our
superintendent having to take eight calls to answer a question because it's not efficient and beyond the personal um effect for her is that it represents time away from her focus on our students. So we really want her to be
successful and we want to work with her successfully as a board, right? So we have to know what's expected of us. How do I go about communicating and also what's acceptable, right? That perhaps um we could put something in place if it
doesn't exist already. Um so that we feel more aware of what's happening without having to make individual phone calls to ask about topics. Right? Certain things we recommend is if one board member asks a question of the superintendent that she responds with
that answer to all board members so that she doesn't have to now answer it for someone else later on and that all board members feel included, right? Because there's nothing worse than when we feel everybody else knew something and I didn't know it. It it really um breaks
down trust and that slows effectiveness down. So, um, other operational protocols are, you know, communication being a big one. Um, can a weekly, you know, update just high level about things going on in the
district that board members would want to know about, right? Because you're out and about with the community and people talk to you. It may not be of something that she's acting asking you to act on or it could be something that she wants to put on your radar so you're aware of it that it has to be a discussion that you have at another time perhaps. Right.
And at the bottom, no surprises, we put communications because you can't have any of those other things going well if you don't have proper agreed upon communications, right? Clear, concise, efficient, everybody knows what's
expected of them. Um, so it is a transition. It is a work in progress, right? And there's a lot of attention that Dr. to filry has to be um spending on students um evaluating, walking through buildings, getting to know people, being seen, dealing with the
community, dealing with the parent base, dealing with students. Um and we want to set her up to do those things successfully and well and report out so that as board members we can fulfill our responsibility and our role towards
policym, planning and appraisal effectively, right? um we don't want to be tripping over each other. We want to really support each other in what's expected and the role that we hold. So a board member's role is as policy makers,
those policies are your best form of communication of what the expectations are for what will happen in the district. Those policies are what drive the district forward and well-crafted policies reduce ambiguity. Right? So
everybody has a clear understanding of what to expect and as policy makers it's really important that you are evaluating your policies um you know looking at them what are these policies really serving what we hope to see in our schools and paying special attention to
the bylaw section of your policies which are really what you are saying about how you govern yourselves is this efficient should we be addressing something should we be amending something maybe it's no longer longer um appropriate for this time and the way things operate, right?
Of course, you're vision setters, right? You want to bring the um and we just talked a lot about how you going to do that through the goal setting process and through strategic planning to really be that voice of what we hope to see for the students in Berkeley Heights. Um and
then of course you have a role to play in ensuring that when we set those expectations as board members we're taking the responsibility and accountability for ensuring that the resources are there to make those things possible. Right? Everything takes
resources. Um and of course holding administrations particularly your superintendent accountable through the established means we've gone over earlier tonight. And as communicators um when we when we get into communication, one of the challenges is understanding
that board members can't speak for the board, right? Can't speak about board business as an authority for the board, but ensuring that policies are in place that people have access to information. We're having a strategic plan. You're going to make sure that the
superintendent is appropriately advertising and publishing it and having the website updated and all of those things. Doesn't necessarily mean you as board members have to do it, but you have to ensure that there's a good solid communication plan in place. And Dr. Feltry's role as the
superintendent is really um in three ways as well, right? Chief advisor to the board. you've brought her in to keep you informed of um using her experience and knowledge to keep you best prepared to act on those things that will support
your students. Right? So, she can guide you. Um I know that things are just constant flow into the superintendent's office from the state, from the federal government, from all kinds of things um that are are really challenging to keep
on top of at times, but that's why she's here. and then to be that advisor that shares with you the things you need to know so that you can fulfill your roles and responsibilities well um addressing things bringing things to your attention and making
recommendations right you set those policies but if she realizes that um the administration the staff is tripping over those policies maybe they're no longer accurate or best serving the the functioning of the schools she can bring that to your attention and make
recommend commendations at least for you to look at it um and the uh information behind why now might be the time to address something right depending on what's going on in the schools. As the executive officer, she does administer those policies and hold her staff
accountable for um being in compliance, providing progress updates and ensuring um progress towards uh those things that you have agreed to um and directing her staff members, right? assigning people um that are best suited so she can
delegate and maintain supervis supervision and authority over them but see that things are effectively being addressed right by the people best suited to perform that. Um and as an educational leader, she remains active in professional organizations
um through her mentoring process as as a new superintendent um and interacting with those people in the world of education that um you know different districts are going to be trying different things out and she may come across an idea that she thinks is
worth considering here in Berkeley Heights. So she can be that connection for you to provide that of new opportunities and things to consider. So your shared expectation and your vision and again we're going to double down on vision when we work with strategic plan,
right? Um to reflect that common vision of what we want to see here for students in the district. And it's that ability to see and create the future and the education you want for students. So we always want to be staying focused on
this, right? So challenging issues, complicated issues, we don't know what decisions are going to be made by authorities above us that we don't control, but we have to address when we get the word right, whether it's through the state or federal government, how it's going to impact real people, real
students, real families. So we want to really make sure that we're committed to working together. So your communications are tying into that relationship puzzle, right? And we have to really build that
trust so that you can always be operating efficiently and you can have that trust in each other that I may disagree with you on something, but I know you're here to serve students. I know that your intention is to be successful in your role to serve those students. So we have to always bring it
back to to what's best for our kids. um having that conversation about intensity, whether it's, you know, should the superintendent drop everything to um respond to a request or should there be an established
acceptable period of time to allow her to get the information perhaps that she needs so that her response to you is accurate and can be shared with others and you can move forward together. um what what are acceptable timelines about responses to things and the
reciprocity, right? Do one to others. Um we want to make sure that we're not walking into board meetings and then bringing things up that's the first time she's ever heard it, but by the same token, we don't want board members sitting at a table and the first time they've heard about a plan that you're
being asked to support and approve is at the board table, right? So we really want to engage with each other and make sure that there are opportunities to do that in really clear ways of how that works. I know you have a committee structure, you know, looking at how the
committee is operating, how the chair of that committee works with the administrative layers, recognizing that whether or not she is in the room for that committee meeting, that that administrator works for her and not for the board, that the superintendent works
for the board of education and not for individual board members. Those are really important things to really double down on so that you can be really productive. So setting those operational protocols exactly about what's expected
before a meeting. I know that the day of a board meeting can look like chaos at times in the central office. Okay. A lot's happening. Phones are ringing. Administrators are trying to get in behind to provide that information. and
the superintendent's trying to take in a lot of lastm minute information. Um the agenda was set, but sometimes you don't have the data that you're supposed to be reporting on until the day of that meeting. So what's fair to expect? Um in terms of when you receive the information so that you're prepared,
right? So that if you need to have a question answered, it doesn't have to be raised in the public and confuse the public by the back and forth that you just you're trying to be really efficient and get the answers you need. And how do you do that? um how to conduct yourselves during a
meeting. You know, big law of no surprises, right? That does really not serve anyone because um things are complicated and we want to make sure that the answer we get is going to be one that's informed and has been researched and is ready to be shared in
public. Um how we interact with individual members with the community maintaining that that good operations. The community will not look at a board and and pick out who they like and think is a good member or who they think is
not a good member. What they will look at is is that board efficient, right? Are they operating and really staying focused on the issues that affect students? Are they sticking to the agenda? Have they come prepared? Are they able to have the discussion that
needs to happen in public? But is it staying focused on topic and really moving things forward? It's a business meeting, right? we need to conduct the business of the district. Um, and one of the things that um, often needs to be
addressed in advance, you know, we never I I was the school safety layers on to the local law enforcement and um, you know, each district has a memorandum of understanding with law enforcement and the things the protocols are outlined in there. by statute. Some things have
changed about um things that have to be reported and the board should be aware of what the expectations are for the superintendence as she's fulfilling her um responsibilities to that end. And also understanding that even though you're board members and you need to be
updated if an e situation arises that very often um she is no longer in control if it's a very serious thing and she may be directed by law enforcement to not share any details. So her her answer to you may be you know her
assistant may send something out. we have a situation in the district and you'll be updated as soon as possible or you'll be updated with something by the end of the day and you have to understand that we have to give that space because she has guidelines and um
rules and statutes that she has to be in compliance with. So just being educated about that so that we have fair expectations of what things will look like going forward. And I'm going to ask you now, you know, just to think
about what you think is there in a high quality relationship. You know, what two characteristics of of a personal relationship you have that you really value that you think is really healthy? You know, what are two characteristics of that relationship that really make it
important to you that you really feel you're comfortable? You're yourself. You're operating as your real person, right? and and identify those qualities and then ask yourself like am I experiencing that here? Am I bringing it
here when other people tell me I'm a great friend, I'm dependable, whatever, am I bringing that here? And if I'm not or I'm not seeing what I need so that I can operate from a place of trust and respect, you know, what am I going to do about it? How am I going to approach
that and address it, right? Um it it's sometimes having a conversation with a board member away from the board table, right? If we are communication is two ways. People speak and someone has to receive that information, but if
something's happening blocking me from receiving that information and being productive to work with that person, I really have to pull them aside and say, "Look, you may not intend it that way, but it's hard for me to process what you're saying because you're yelling at me, right? That's my personal thing. I
can't really think when somebody is yelling at me. So, can we just agree that you know I understand you feel passionate about this. How could we move forward? Right? Putting the effort in so that you can build that trust and really stay focused on what you need to do um
for your students. Strong communication and effective governance really goes handinand um recommending that when you communicate that we refrain from uh whispering to the person next to us. um remembering that you are on camera and
you know even looking down at your phone um or your laptop it could appear as if you're not staying focused or you're not being respectful to the speaker at the time. Right? So we want to we don't want to project that out to the community. It may not at all be what's happening but
we just need to be aware of what our intent is is not always how we are perceived. Um communicate consistently. hold up your end of the bargain if you have to deliver things. Um, if you're running a committee and you need to get those reports out, whatever the established protocol is that you're
holding yourself accountable to being in compliance with that. And if you see a way to do something better, raising it, but don't raise it as a problem, offer a solution, right? It's everybody. There's really no talent in destroying things. Um, the talent comes in in the
creativity to work to build something better. So you want to do that together. Um, and when you can be in an environment where you're respecting each other and those things are happening with regularity, then you'll be more comfortable to have feedback, not taking it personally, but just for the goal of
serving your students because you are here, right? We've been together almost three hours. Um, and you are you've held through this time with me, right? And you're going to have another couple of busy weeks ahead of you. But um I really think that the community benefits by
knowing that you've met tonight to address these things. And I don't know if there's anything in particular that you have um questions on. You know, this slide, this is for you to look at later on about um how am I doing and just, you
know, holding yourselves accountable and again um communication and the role it plays in really helping us stay focused on doing the work we need to do for students. and asking ourselves, you know, what's the most important thing as a board
member I can individually do to support the superintendent during this transition? And this transition will last at a minimum a year, right? It's not over just in June. It's it's going to be really having that full year under her belt of really um seeing the whole
cycle of how things are. Um, what do you think's the most important thing that your board president could do that would help the work between the board and the relationship with the board and the superintendent? And what can she as the superintendent do to be um, you know,
meeting the expectations you have um, so that everything can move on and her time can really be spent on the work that she was hired to do, which is bringing this district of Berkeley Heights forward for its students, right? So in a nutshell, just always be
respectful. Um collaboration and cohesion and valuing that um being the one, right? Being the calm in the storm, incredibly important. Setting the stage. If your students were here now or sitting at your board table with you,
would you be proud of the way you're conducting yourself? Is that the impression that you'd want to leave them with? Is that what we want to model for our students? um would a teacher in a classroom allow that um for their students or would there be consequences?
Right? We want to be productive and be that for our students. Um always act with integrity and earn the confidence and we don't earn it once, right? We have to keep earning the confidence of the community and the people we serve.
So that's really on that part of it. I would like to just say that in the packet I gave you um I shared this with you. This is actually a slide from uh I hope to be a future presentation on board roles and responsibilities. And
what it really is helpful to do is keep handy because it across the top lists the different categories of things that have to be addressed in a school district. Right? There's planning, there's program, personnel, finance, facilities, and communications.
But on the top, the board brings the what. So looking at how your roles fall under those categories, always staying focused on what we want to see, what we want to bring for our students, but not
crossing into the administration's role on the bottom, right, which is focused on the how, the day-to-day operations, the action plans, the, you know, those kinds of things. So while you share those similar things that have to be accomplished as a team, how you go about
it and what your focus on is different. And that's that's a a training for another time. But I think it's a really helpful um thing to refer to and and bring up as you move forward together to say like on this topic, are we staying
on our side of of the grid or are we starting to go into the other side of it? In the packet also there are just some tips and ideas for making transition a work in progress. Um and you can look at
them and I hope that stimulates productive conversation over the course of the year so that you can really put um clear things in place so that everyone's working at maximum efficiency and seeing the outcomes that you want.
[Music] So, at this point, believe it or not, I think we may be concluding our time together. Um, I am really appreciative of your attention and your input and and your questions and all of the things.
Um, I'm sorry that the other board members weren't here. There were packets for them if you could make sure that they get them. Um, for all of you, um, I just always like to remind people that I'm I am your field service representative. My interest is not um inserting myself into your board
operations, but providing the resources, the guidance, and the training that will serve you for the challenging work that you have. Um if you need to reach out to me at any time, please do. I absolutely never say to one person that I spoke to
another person. Um that's not healthy or good for the board governance. um we really just want to be there for you to get you where you need to be and have the confidence and sometimes quite honestly it's just being able to talk something out um to determine what our next step is. Right. So I I am here for
you and I hope that you feel comfortable and confident to reach out to me if there's anything else that you need. All right. Um did you have anything for me at this point? You had mentioned earlier about uh credentiing. Uh if you could just remind us. I will thank you for that and I'm going to keep it brief
because I know I know it's getting to be a late hour. Um this board training um as we do with all the board trainings that we come out for actually can earn you credits. Um to do that I have to look at it because you're an eight member board and uh you don't have your
full board here but um generally training goes towards earning credentials. um you if you get 16 credit hours over a 4-year period and there are some other um things that have to happen there. I will say that we just removed
the requirement for uh the policy to be submitted although we you know would be happy to try to help you with policy guides. It's not a requirement just came off I think two days ago. Um but on our website it has information about how to become a certified board. Um, one of
your board goals, uh, that I saw was for earning certification, I believe, I think it was stated that way, and receiving, um, training on an ongoing basis and training and learning together. So, I'd be um, very happy to come back and just kind of going over
that, but the the uh, New Jersey school board's website lists it out clearly. Um, and then when I come in, I would always want to have your input on what topic you think would serve you best so I can come out and and train on that. What that does is um is I think two
major things. Learning together and spending the time together and considering those lessons together that gives you something in common to work and bring forward on the work that you do as well as of course informing you. Um but it also helps to instill a
confidence in the community of who is serving them and looking out for the interests of their students. Right? So um the certification actually is awarded to the board when those uh training sessions are in place within that four years. Um and there's separate
certifications that as individuals you can earn which if you want to study on your own time or um do live uh live webinars or even um other things that are offered throughout the year that you might want to attend or be a part of. We
always welcome everyone at the county meetings. It doesn't have to be only this county. Um, but you get credit as an individual if you attend county meetings because each county meeting has a training component as part of it. And you also get to meet other board members
um throughout counties in the state. So very often you can find someone who's got a similar idea or a similar issue and you can learn from them as well. So um it's just um an opportunity. So I would look at it that this is you know starting you in the right direction of
focusing on educating yourselves and learning and improving your governance. So other than the actual you know enrichment right in the education does the actual certification have any other
benefits like so for example do we get uh I don't know some something from the state in terms of like a grant or an award like like other than just like saying oh we're certified which means we're educated and whatever do we
actually get any other benefit? Well, I will say this. Um, there's no monetary benefit behind it and I wouldn't um make light of what it represents, right? It represents the the effort and commitment to learning and expanding your knowledge to serve your students. Um, you do get
recognized when you earn board certification. This is the time of the year we do it in May at our county meetings. We invite boards out to be recognized and that gets published um out through our website and you are recognized for having achieved your
certification. Um and you know it builds kind of that camaraderie as well and sends a statement to your community that um you are committed to your own education. Right? we are working in an educational area and so um we should
hold ourselves to that too of that whole continuous learning process and always improvement for what we do and how we do it. Um I wish I could give you money to do it. No, I mean it's just like you know there's turnover on the board like you know every year and so you know one
board gets certified you know how long does the certification last right so if the board turns over you know years yeah no that's a fair addition like you know what I mean like so I I I was trying I'm just trying to understand like you know there other professional certifications I say in my line of work right but that
gives you something it allows you to do something well it does actually um stay with board um even when there's some turnover, it's really only an issue if there's like a majority of the board turning over, then it may reset the clock because it's not really fair to
ride on the accomplishments of someone else. But, um having a board member or two change over during the course of that is is not really an issue. Um, and you also do get to use the um, not getting the word I need, so I apologize,
but um, you get to use like the electronic digital uh, badge that goes on anything coming from the DI. So it it I it notifies everyone that, you know, you've gone beyond what many other boards have done to to do this and and
work on this together and achieve this. So for the recognition and we do have three board members uh Mrs. Stanley and Dr. Forager and myself have achieved that board certification. So three out of eight of us have. Yeah. So it's a separate thing just to be
clear. So there's the individual certifications and you could do that at your own pace and there are certain things that you have to fulfill within a certain time to do that. Um and board certification um is through uh this kind of engaging as a team for educational
purposes. So it really has a requirement of of a certain number. So on a nine member board, seven members have to be present and the superintendent has to be present for the time. Generally um a credit is a credit hour of training,
right? So, um, sometimes it happens. Um, honestly, I came in for ethics at one of your board meetings and I assigned credit for that time that we spent together because that was training that you took as a board. You'll get credit, um, for tonight as soon as I check on the number for an eight member board.
So, I have to be honest, I have to just verify that. Um, but either way, um, it'll be on the transcript that this training was provided to you, right? So, we would hope that you would get the credit for engaging in it, but that's a consideration for the board going
forward um setting retreat times like this so that you really want to put the message out that we expect everyone to participate for their benefit, for the benefit and the health of the board and so that you're actually all working together towards achieving that recognition. Can you tell us how we can uh see our
transcripts? Um the uh the board the BA actually manages a lot of that but I can um I can actually get the transcript to you as well. So but it's available on the NJSBA website for us to look at our own transcripts.
Is that correct? I believe yours individually you see but for the board it runs a little differently. So you as president may have access to it but I have to double check but I can I can get you the information for where you are. So, what happens also is if you have to
earn 16 credits over a 4-year period, um you would want to plan for that, right? You don't want to have to take 16 hours of training at the last minute. Also, what happens is the clock is constantly moving. So, it's a four-year period. So, things will start to fall off. They
don't stay towards credentiing forever. So, um, you really want to have that calendar set up of like we can do x amount say quarterly or twice a year or what whatever it is that serves the board's purpose um to achieve that, right? So that then you can retain it
for that time. Um, but if you've done it say in 2021, those are falling off because it's a within the four-year window. So those are start those have fallen off. Okay. Any other comments from board members?
Okay, Mrs. Clary, thank you so much. This has been very informative. It really gives us a lot of thought and creating calendars and deadlines and pre-planning. So, we thank you very much for your time this evening. Thank you so much for your time and attention for having me come in. I really um I I
really want to thank you for your service. Um it's one of the um most important I think and maybe I'm prejudice but um volunteer activities you could decide to undertake because it has the most um effect on the students
of the community and I know it comes at great personal cost at times for you and and your schedules and your time. So thank you so much. It's hard work. I personally found it very very rewarding and I hope you do too. Thank you. At this time, I'm going to
ask for a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting. Are there comment? I don't know if somebody I think John's um We had our comment section first. It was closed. It's first. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And there was no comments. I see
nobody. I see nobody there. Tim, is that correct? One person. That's why I asked it. Okay. I'm sorry. Didn't see it. [Music] Um, we did have just one public comment tonight. Does the board want to go ahead with a
second public comment? No. No. I don't know if somebody's paying attention. Why not? Yes. Yes. Mrs. Stanley. Three yeses. Four. Okay. During this portion of the meeting, district residents and staff are invited to address the board of
education on any topic. The board requests that individuals state their name, town of residence, or school of attendance for the record. The specific action items they're commenting on ask that all remarks be directed to the board president or designate, not to individual members or staff. The board asks that the members of the public be
courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board. Students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable
for any comments made by the members of the public. If a matter concerning a district staff member is of interest or concern to a resident, the matter will be referred to the responsible building principal, superintendent of schools, or the board of education either by telephone, letter, or email. Although the board may not
respond to items raised during the public forums, all public comments will be considered. Please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting, the board president may terminate the participant statements. Continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment to the meeting. Each
speaker's statement will be limited to three minutes in duration. I see no one here in public. Um Tim, will you please promote the person online? Okay. I'm sorry, I can't see the name.
Okay, will you please identify yourself and you have minutes for your comment? Hi. Yeah, John. Can you guys hear me? Yes. All right. John Magcguirez, Berkeley Heights. It's probably guessed it was me. Um, so I can give you a sense
of like how to sort of increase buy in for a strategic plan. My opinion of it at least. I feel like a strategic plan is what 3 to 5 years out from my my experience with it. I don't know what what the board of
education and what their but 3 to 5 years out is sort of big and global and I feel the way you get buy in is things like the budget and and sort of decisions that are more here and now. I think a strategic plan becomes sort of
like accessories. it sort of becomes like um pageantry if it's really not connected to any real meaningful input like I I don't know if we really need so I think you could have this whole
process but I think the community was really clear that academic achievement was its number one priority right and and the goals should be pretty clear too I mean we have proficiency targets uh we can define expectations when it
comes to that, you know, and so I think I'm I'm not suggesting that other stuff isn't important, but I don't think the board has to sort of reinvent the wheel, and I don't think it has to be this complicated process um or wrapped in mystery. Uh what I hope
to see from the board is a very clear plan that offers a roadmap as to how those things are going to improve. And I know that there's a difference of opinion as to whether strategic plan should have measurable goals or not. We could go into that forever, but you
know, given how many years we haven't had them and how amunic anemic they were la uh prior to this superintendent, uh I I'd like to see aggressive, measurable goals connected to proficiencies in
science, in English, um in math. I'd like to see the board and the administration held accountable to the use of district dollars proportionally uh when it comes to academics versus things like security theater or card scanners. Those are uh my comments for
tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Um is there anyone else, Tim? Okay. Thank you. Uh we will close our public comments and I'm looking for a motion for adjournment.
So move. Thank you, Mrs. Jolly. Second. Second. Thank you, Mr. Dylan. Uh, voice vote. I Okay, thank you. Uh, passes. The time is 9:18 p.m. Thank you, board members. The loop.