Yeah. >> Can I have a motion to return to public session? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Okay. All in favor? >> Okay. So turn to executive out of 736.
>> Okay. Um Okay. So um continuing on with the superintendent report. Yes. At this time, we'd like to have the report of the student representatives, please. >> Uh, good evening everyone. It looks like we have a big audience tonight. Um, welcome to the 12th edition of
Happenings on the Hill. Uh, this report is a little different because it marks the final board meeting of the school year for Pipum and I, the board representatives for students. Um, while I'm incredibly honored to be recognized tonight for my service to the board of education in our community, don't worry.
I'm going to be act back next year for one final year as a student liaison. Over the course of this year, I've had the privilege of attending 11 board meetings and with tonight's meeting, that total reaches 12. Along the way, I've written 6,147 words through these reports, all with
the goal of giving the board a better understanding of student life at Governor Livingston and highlighting the experiences, accomplishments, and challenges of our students. I want to sincerely thank every member of the board for your commitment to our schools and for evaluating the student p perspective. I'd also like to give a
special thank you to Mr. Nixon and Mrs. Barlet for selecting me for this role and I think you guys will be doing a fantastic job at Milbour, giving me the opportunity to represent my classmates. It has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my high school career. Today was the second day of
finals at Governor Livingston. Students will be taking two finals per day. Uh the first final starts at 8 and goes until 10:00 and the next final starts at 10:30 and goes until 12:30. Um many students have earned exemptions including seniors with an A average in a
course, students enrolled in AP classes who took the AP exam, and students in many elective courses who completed final projects. Uh for me personally, today marked the completion of what will most likely be the last final exam I ever take at GL. Uh, it's a strange feeling knowing that after years of
studying, late nights, and exam weeks, the chapter may already be behind me. While there are still two more days of finals remaining for many students, I'm wishing everyone the best of luck as they finish the school year strong. Although finals are still underway, graduation will take place on Wednesday,
June 17th from 2:30 to 400 p.m. at the football field. To the members of the class of 2026, that includes you, Pippa, I'd like to share a passage from one of my favorite books, oh the places you'll go, which is by the great Dr. Zeus. You have brains in your head. You have feet
in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. As you begin this final chap, this next chapter of your lives, remember that your future is yours to shape. There will be twists, turns, successes, setbacks, but each decision will make you help will help define who you become. Trust yourself,
stay curious, and never stop looking for opportunities to grow. To everyone else, summer's almost here. It's meant to be a season of joy, adventure, and celebration. Don't spend the entire break sitting in your room. Find a new passion, pick up a hobby, get a job, volunteer in the community. Spend time
with your friends and family. Travel somewhere new if you can. Give yourself the chance to decompress after a busy year, and make memories that will last after the school year ends. root for the Knicks who will hopefully win their first finals in 53 years on Saturday. And of course, enjoy watching the World Cup that is being played in our backyard
and cheering on your favorite team. But while summer is the time to relax, don't let it become a season of procrastination. Especially to all my fellow juniors, uh fellow rising seniors, the months ahead will go much faster than you think. Get started on your college essays, apps, scholarships,
and anything else you'll have to do eventually. Your future self will thank you and you'll be able to enjoy senior year much more without unnecessary stress hanging over your head. One of the greatest things about our school is that isn't just what happens in the classroom. It's the people you meet, the experiences you share, and the community
you build together. Every student, teacher, administrator, parent, and board member plays a role in making Governor Livingston the special place that it is. I'll see everyone again in September when the another school year begins. I'd like to leave with one final thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson. What
lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. As we reflect on another incredible year, it's easy to focus on the grades we earned. The challenges we faced or the milestones we reached. But what truly defines us isn't our past or even our future. It's the character,
resilience, and determination we carry with us every day. Those qualities are what help us overcome obstacles, seize opportunities, and make a difference in our communities. Serving as your student liaison this year has reinforced something I've always believed. The strongest communities are built when every voice is heard. Thank you for
listening to mine and for giving students a seat at the table. Thank you. Have a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing everyone again in September. Hello everyone. This is officially my last report to the board of education as a senior at GL. I just wanted to say thank you for having a place for me on
this committee with this year with Howard. It's been great and last year with Olivia. Uh, and it's a privilege to have been selected for this board. Uh, and it's great to be involved as that's something that I love to do for my community. Although the year is almost over, there's actually a lot happening with sports on the hill. So, GL track
and field athlete Eduardo Nasimento signed his national letter of commitment to continue his academic and athletic career at the collegiate level. He'll be attending Susuana University in the fall, so congratulations to him. The seniors celebrated their student athletes at the annual Highlander Senior
Sports Banquet. Congrats to all the athletes who received scholarships for unwavering commitment and dedication to our athletic program at GL, which is what makes us a school that is special. The GL boys tennis team took a 3-2 win over West Essex in the North Jersey Section 2 group two. The GL boys um
yeah, they completed that one. Congratulations to the Highlanders on day two of the group championships. The athletes included Darius Francis, Gavin Schiller, Noah Abdullah, Tyler Weissman, and Riley Conover. And these were two impressive, very impressive track feats.
So Darius Francis finished third in the boys high jump with a clearance of 6'2, which is very tall. And Noah ran a 42251 in the 1600 meters to finish fifth. And he also broke the school record previously held by coach Trent Chris
Johnson. So congratulations to the two of those athletes as they are both incredible achievements. The girls softball teams are the NJSIA Group 2 sectional champions. Congratulations to them. They've worked so hard to get to this point and it was their first sectional final win since 2007.
Governor Livingston uh baseball team also won the group 2 Central Jersey sectional title and once again will be competing for a state title. They are officially three pets as sectional champions. The boys will be facing Ramsay on Sunday at Ruckers in the group 2 state championship as the Highlanders
chase a third state title. Alongside that, the lacrosse blue rebel athletes came to GL. Cannot wait to see the future Highlanders at the school. Congratulations to Noah Abdullah and Clare Lee on receiving the UCI Scholar Athlete Award for the 2025 2026
school year. And finally, congratulations to Julio Onetto for signing his national letter of commitment to continue his academic and athletic career at the collegiate level. He will be attending Eastern University. So again, I would like to say thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Have a nice summer and a great year. All right. At this time, I'd like to say thank you to Pipa and Howard for your stellar service. And we have some recognition for you. So, can you Do you want to face the audience or do you want to face the board?
>> Okay, I'll face this way. You face that way. How's that? So, whereas Pippa Royers is a senior at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. And whereas Pippa is a member of the Interact Club and is a student ambassador. And whereas Pippa volunteers on the Wharton Arts Student
Alliance of New Jersey and teaches music to ch to children at Wharton's Arts Center. And whereas Pipa is a three-year member of the varsity tennis team and a four-year member of the varsity swim team, which I think we have some people
here. Yes. And the spring track team. And whereas Pipa is a member of the National Honor Society, MOU Alpha, Theta, and Row Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society. And whereas Pipa has been awarded the
Dwight D. Eisenhower award, the New Jersey Scholars Award, and the Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony Award. And whereas Pippa served with distinction in the Governor Livingston High School student liaison program to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education for her
junior and senior years, serving as a liaison between the board and her peers. And now therefore, be it resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education hereby recognizes Pipper Roy Makers for her contributions to the students and the Berkeley Heights public schools and
for her service to the communities of Berkeley Heights and Mountainside. And be it further resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education wishes Pipa the best of luck as she moves on to study at Smith College. Signed and
sealed this 11th day of June, 2026. So whereas Howard Aerson is a junior at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and whereas Howard is the student council treasurer and is involved in many clubs, too many to name apparently. And whereas
Howard volunteers at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey and is a transcriber for the United States Library of Congress and is involved in Interact Rotary Sponsored Club. And whereas Howard is a member of the National Honor Society, MOU Alpha Theta and Roappa
National Social Studies Honor Society. And whereas Howard served with distinction in the Governor Livingston High School student liaison program to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education for his junior year, serving as a liaison between the board and his peers.
And now therefore, be it resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education hereby recognizes Howard Aerson for his contributions to the students of the Berkeley Heights Public Schools and for his service to the communities of Berkeley Heights and Mountainside. And
be it further resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education wishes Howard the best of luck as he moves into his senior year at Governor Livingston High School, signed and sealed this 11th day of June, 2026. Thank you.
And tonight is a night of celebrations. We started with the retirees and um now the student representatives and now we have the honor um to uh celebrate David Clauss, head coach of the GHS varsity
swim teams um uh for a career milestone achievement as well as his dedication to our swimmers over the many years. So, can I have them come up? All right. Um, who was the captain of the swim team? Were you one of the captains?
Would you like to at least hold the resolution while we honor him? >> Okay, that's fine. >> Come on up. So, okay. So whereas David Clauss is an employee of the Berkeley Heights public
school district in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and whereas David Clauss, head coach of the Governor Livingston High School boys and girls varsity swim team, has exemplified dedication, leadership, and a passion for the sport throughout his coaching career. And whereas David
Clauss achieved 400 wins in his career during a swim meet against Cranford High School on December 23rd, 2025 with the boys team score of 92 to 78 and the girls team score of 91 to 79, a
testament to years of hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence both in and out of the pool. And whereas the Berkeley Heights public school community is very proud of the accomplishments of this outstanding head coach who has not only built a winning
program and culture, but has also positively influenced the lives of countless student athletes, instilling them instilling in them values of discipline, teamwork, integrity, and sportsmanship. And now therefore, be it resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board
of Education members applaud the outstanding accomplishments of David Clauss during the 2025 2026 Boys and Girls Varsity Swim Season. And be it further resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education hereby congratulates and honors head boys and
girls varsity varsity swim coach David Clauss for achieving 400 career wins in his high school swimming coaching career and expresses its deepest appreciation for his outstanding contributions to our community as well as the local
communities of Berkeley Heights and Mountainside. Signed and sealed this 11th day of June 2026. Will you see it? All right. But thank you. Great job. As we gear up for the end of the school
year celebrations, I want to thank you for entrusting your children to us this past year. And I invite the community to celebrate the successes of their children. For those with transitions, second grade, fifth grade, eighth grade, and 12th grade, these times can be
especially nostalgic. Make memories and enjoy the moment. These are exciting milestones. And this concludes my superintendent report for tonight. >> Okay. Resolutions one and two. All board members, do I have a motion?
>> So moved. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> So Bradford is first and Jolly is second. Discussion. >> So I just want to say thank you to both of you. you guys, right? Not only have you been great representatives, but um
you guys have always spoken your mind, which I really appreciate because it's not easy to do um especially when it's recorded and you know your peers can look at it. So, I really appreciate you always speaking your mind and speaking the truth. Um I wish you the best of luck, Pippa. I think you're going to do
great things. We're so excited for you. And Howard, enjoy your summer. I know you got a lot to do before senior year, but you enjoy it as well. So, thank you so much for everything you guys have done for your class and and GL. >> You too. Likewise.
>> Anybody else? Madam Secretary, roll call, please. >> Ms. Bradford? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stanley? >> Yes. >> Mr. Morales? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jolly? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Akiri? >> Yes.
>> Dr. Forer? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Terrero. >> Yes. >> Motions pass. >> Uh, report of the business administrator, board communications. >> Yes. So, we had one correspondence from Susan Pogue with regard to a hire on the agenda sent via email.
And then I have my report. So, since my last update, the district has successfully concluded the 2526 uh school year and adopted the 2627 budget. As we transition into the summer months, I would like to take a moment to
recognize and thank the many ini individuals whose efforts help make Berkeley Heights Public Schools successful each and every day. First, I'd like to extend my sincere appreciation to our bus drivers. Their dedication to safely transporting our students to and from school each day is
an essential part of our operation and often one of the first and last interactions students have with the school district on any given day. Through changing weather, challenging weather conditions, traffic challenges, and the daily demands of transporting hundreds of students, they consistently
demonstrate professionalism, patience, and commitment to student safety. We thank them for another successful year of getting our students to and from school safely and wish Bob Dwire the best as he looks towards his retirement. I would like to thank our custodial maintenance staff for their tireless
work maintaining our buildings and grounds. Their efforts ensure that our schools remain clean, safe, and welcoming environments for students, staff, and visitors. As the school year concludes, much of their important work is just beginning as they prepare our facilities for
summer projects and ready our buildings for the opening of school in September. We're wishing Ted Msinski the best in his retirement. In addition, I'd like to recognize the staff of the business office in central administration. Much of their work occurs behind the scenes.
Yet, it is critical to the district's daily operations. From payroll and benefits administration to accounts payable, budgeting, purchasing, compliance requirements, these employees help ensure that the district continues to operate efficiently and effectively throughout the summer. They will
continue working diligently to prepare for the upcoming school year and support the many operational activities that occur when students are in session. I want to acknowledge uh Lisa McAdam on the uh on the agenda as she retired earlier this year and the amazing
contribution she made to this office. With the successful passage of the referendum, the district has also begun planning for the next phase of work. continue to take. The district will provide updates to the board of education, finance and facilities committee staff and community regarding
project schedules, building impacts, and anticipated use considerations. And while the budget process is now behind us, our focus remains on responsible stewardship of district resources and ensuring that Berkeley Heights Public Schools is well positioned for a
successful successful 2627 school year. We look forward to productive summer and the opportunities ahead as we continue working to support our students, staff, and community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh comments from the public on agenda items. During this portion of
the meeting, district residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda items only. The board requests that individuals state their name and town of residence or school of attendance for the record. Additionally, all inerson public commenters are asked to please sign in. All comment should be directed to the
board president depending upon the nature and complexity of the question. It may or not may not be answered during the meeting by the administration. If so, the request would occur um after this public portion of the meeting has concluded. Although the board may not respond to all items raised during the
public forum, all public comments will be considered. The board asks that 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 a specific legal rights afforded by
the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting, the board president may terminate the participant statement. Continued disruptions may result in
removal from or adjournment of the meeting. Each speaker statement will be limited to three minutes in duration. I will take in-person comments first and then I will move on to online comments. Um go ahead. Hello. Good evening. Laura Capusinski,
Princeton Avenue, Berkeley Heights. I just want to start by um thanking Coach Dave Clauss. Um, he is an incredible human being and an even more incredible coach and I am grateful for the three years that I had as a swim parent under his guidance and coaching and not only
what happened in the pool, under the water, at the swim meets, but really in shaping our our young children to be independent adults. Um, so I thank him dearly. Onto the business. Um, I did have a question under finance uh
resolution number 14. It's for the approval of securely classroom. I just was wondering if you could provide any context to that item as I know the gaggle program which was my
understanding taking over for what securely was doing as far as AI monitoring of our students Chromebooks. um where this fits in and if that's supplemental to the GAGL program different and or why we are using this
company for what seems like a similar purpose. Thank you. Anyone else? Shauna Williams, Berkeley Heights. Um, for those of you who don't know Coach Clauss, every year at our swim banquet,
he roasts the kids. So, since he's not here, I feel the need to do a little roasting of my own. Um, Coach Clauss, you ditched us just like you did the boys for their semi finals in sectionals. I don't know, man. Um, but
in all seriousness, uh, Coach Clauss coached all three of my kids. um you know was really an amazing and inspirational coach for them. Um Matthew wasn't able to be here. He had work
tonight, but I do want to say get a little choked up. Um the entire reason that Matt's name is on that board downstairs is due to Coach Clauss and we will miss him dearly. That's all. Okay. Um, is there anybody else
publicly? Okay. Um, moving on to online. Are there any is anyone online? Okay. So, I'm going to close that out. Um, do do we want to respond to the question? >> The the security classroom is for teachers to um uh monitor that students
are actually on the tabs that they're supposed to be on when they're working on the Chromebook. It's for lesson management during the teaching of the class period. So, it's different from Gaggle. >> Doesn't it also allow the teachers to push material to the
>> Chromebook so to them? You can close down the tabs and push tabs out to them so they're all working on the correct like research sites, >> things like that. >> Okay. >> Madam President, >> sure. Go ahead. I just want to take a time and apologize to this board and the
community for my absence on May 28th and the emergency on June 1st. Uh I had a funeral on the May 28th and June 1st unfortunately I was in Alabama training for hazmat technician. So I just want to apologize to the board and to the
public. >> Thank you m Thank you Mr. Morales. >> Okay, moving on to minutes. Resolution one. All board members. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. Second. So Bradford's first.
Jolly second. Discussion. >> Madam Secretary. Roll call, please. Miss Bradford, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stanley, >> yes. >> Mr. Morales, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jolly, >> yes. >> Mrs. Airi, uh, I abstain. I wasn't here.
Dr. Forger, >> yes. >> Mrs. Terrarero, >> yes. Motions pass. Finance resolutions 1 through 24 all board members resolutions 25 through 27 Berkeley Heights only. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Bradford's first I'll second.
>> Jolly is second. Uh committee reports finance and facilities. >> Good evening everyone. Um the finance and facilities committee met on Monday, June 8th. Um and in attendance were myself, Dr. Boragar and um Miss Stanley,
Dr. Feltry and our um BA Jen Nicholson. So, right. Okay. So, the first item on the agenda is a resolution that you will see um with respect to the auditor. We have we're appointing a new auditor that
went through the um RFP process. Um one thing to note, this auditor was the lowest cost submission. However, he does do a lot of work in Union County. So we think he'll be kind of knowledgeable with our um processes. Um and Mr. also
participated in the RFU review process. Um then other items on the agenda, we you'll see an agreement with um Interstate Waste Services. Um so though we've never worked with them before, um they were $10,000 cheaper than Waste
Management. So we're going to give it a shot and see how it goes. Um, Raptor Technologies. Um, this is a renewal contract. Um, and I think they they honor their promise not to increase contract price for the next year. Uh, there is a DOT clearing house service
um, uh, resolution and this service is to do background checks uh, for our bus drivers. Um, there is an ESA grant amendment. These are carryover amounts from the 2425 school year and they need to be used in 2627 or else we
would lose them. Um there are uh I guess number number 11 number 13 out of district placements for ESY and the 27 26 27 school year. Um so these are for kids who need services beyond what the
district can offer. Um the costs are offset with IDA funds. Um these schools are state approved and we have an ongoing exercise to review monitor costs and revenues across um all of the special education programs.
Uh number 12, there was a resolution for enrollment of non-resident special education students at GL. Um there are eight students for the DHH program and two students for the LLD program. Uh tuition is calculated in the state um software. That's the home room software.
um and accepting non-resident students allows us to run our programs. Um securely classroom um that was just asked about securely classroom is a tool that you is used by teachers to be able to monitor student use of Chromebooks while students are in the classroom.
We also discussed the res you'll see the resolution um for an agreement with school solutions. So Lisa McAdam um uh would be hired to support RBA and the team uh for the end ofear activities um
for a cost of um 5,000. Um number 16 and number 17 um that is resolutions with respect to the contract with Mountainside. Um and this represents the last year of the current contract uh the current existing contract. Um and
then there's also we also discussed the membership in NJ strive. Um and this is to enable the district to participate in jobs fair to recruit new teachers. Um there were some uh additional topics for um information that we discussed. Uh
the referendum update as Miss Nicholson said stated the contract um between district and school solutions is being reviewed by Mr. Rutenberg includes um a provision for annual renewal so we can take stock of where we are each year. Um and the security camera project um as of
the meeting I think we were still awaiting to get the full scope of work and total costs. So um we touched upon participation fees for athletics um and clubs. Um, at this point I think the committee agreed not
to um, move forward with any changes to those. Um, but we will continue to review the fees and the fee structure so that any changes to the fees are anchored to costs. Um, and see and I
think that is it. Thank you. Athletics co-cural. Yes. Topics discussed review of winter and spring coach lists. The co the committee approved a
structural change within spring spring track moving forward. The recommendation is to separate boys and girls co-head coaches. This change should be costneutral. Full list of coaches will be reviewed by the board for discussion at the end of
June 24th executive session. The committee discuss options for fulfilling athletic trainer needs within the district that fall outside the collectively bargain contract of our current current staff.
A tour of all GL athletic locker rooms occurred to educate the committee members on the current allocation of space across various teams and genders. The committee the committee reviewed the current scenarios which resulted into
athletic games beginning with normal within normal school hours. A discussion occurred about the equality of providing fan buses for specific teams. Having offered a bus for four times in the last two years with zero participation, this
option would no longer be considered. Miss Lick Nicholson and Mr. Hendris agreed to share their evaluations of athletic resources across boys and girls activities at the end of August board meeting. A survey will be sent out to students and parents to gather
feedback on the status of ongoing varsity awards assemblies, parents nights, and team banquetss. The committee reviewed the best option for parents and athletes to provide feedback in coaches programs. It was it was it was agreed that a current that a
current chain of command exists and should be followed. This process should be documented and added to the district website. While anonymous feedback will be reviewed, it is discouraged and it limits the staff's ability to follow up as
needed to take action appropriately. Behind the scenes, work continues preparing for the retirement of the existing GL turf field alignment to recognize our championship softball and baseball teams. At our next meeting,
the committee was made aware of unexpected donations for the Highlander Booster Club and other local groups to improve the GL softball softball field and wrestling room. Given the time
constraints, the following items will be answered via email. What are the defined criteria or athletic reward awards such as hearts of a Highlander? That's all. >> Thank you. Um, technology and
communications. >> Uh, we did not meet uh this month. >> Okay. And just so you know, Tom, I I read the minutes from last time for you. Um, discussion Okay,
>> I just have one in finance on Raptor. I know last year we had some question on where they store the data. So I believe last year's contract was a little ambiguous on um I think it said cloudbased services. So do we have the
exact same terms and conditions or because parents are like I think the question was on retention of how long do they retain because we are expecting every parent or anybody who enters the building to scan their driver's license or an ID. How long do they retain it and
where are these cloud-based services that >> I don't um I I I don't think anything's changing. I don't have the answers but we'll chase up again. I think where I gained comfort last year, not comfort like I where I wasn't as concerned about
it because I think when we spoke about it with Jeremy, the data elements that are actually um captured are are anything that are not um a security risk. I forget what it was, but it was like things on your driver's license like the last four digits or something
that's readily available that I I I forget how he put it exactly, but I can find out from him. So, there's nothing that's ch but I don't unless you know we weren't infor we weren't told told and I don't think it was discussed in technology committee that anything's changed. >> So last year I think there was one
sentence in their contract that said they're going to store everything on a cloud-based um server and there was nothing mentioned about how long do they retain the information there. My only concern is we keep hearing about these security
breaches happening. So when if they get hacked like you know how we had with powers school or something like that what what is the liability to the school district or how long do they store the information? That's all I'm asking.
>> Um Tom that probably makes sense for us to talk about that um next time in the technology meeting. We can ask those questions. >> Yeah. >> And try to find that out. >> Yeah. I was wondering about uh once you're in the system, does that allow
you to get into any building or just building where you're sort of authorized? >> No, no. Every time you walk in, you're expected to give your license. And the reason I ask is I had a very bad case of identity theft where and then I had to
pretty much change all my because your DL has DMV's license has your face facial recognition date of birth and those last four digits are the ones that are required to register or query your IRS database. So I was advised to change
everything. So that's my concern here. Now my my question had to do with >> oh >> uh when you're sort of granted permission by virtue of being in the system, are you granted permission on a on a every
every school building that we have or just one that you have a legitimate reason to be in? >> I think you might have to do it. >> You have a legitimately reason to be in the Yeah, you have to do it at every school. >> Yeah. If you're going to go to every school in one day, you have to sign in
at every school. >> Okay. >> But is the I I think what he's asking is once you initially create a profile, is that profile um able to be pulled at each individual school or you having to create a profile
at each school? Is that what you're asking? >> Yeah, sort of. It's Let's make a specific case. I'm Let's say I have a kid at GL. Okay. But now I show up at one of the other schools. Can I get in based on my GL authorization? I
mean, is the authorization based on the school or is it based on, you know, you're allowed to get into any district school? >> Tom, from what I understand, every time you visit, you have to take your DL out. You It's not like you came in, you came
today on June 11th and you gave your driving license. Let's say you come back 10 days from now to GL, you have to still take out your driver's license. I think >> I I think there's a capacity you can also create so you're not actually pulling out your driver's license, right? So I think if you do create I I
forget what it is like I didn't use it but I don't go into the schools that often but you can create like >> um some sort of pass key that you can it so it's a quicker process than logging everything in. So it may not necessarily because if the task is there run the
background check again but it logs you in um in terms of like identifying that you enter the school at a certain time. Um I have the Raptor app on my phone so when I go to different schools I just show the QR code. I don't have to take
out my license QR code and yeah and then I have to say why I'm in the building. Am I here for a classroom or meeting a teacher IP meeting? So it's I don't show my license. It does not open the door, right? You have to ring the doorbell. The secretary allows you in. Then there's a little
screen there that you scan your code. It prints a little tag with your photo on it and you can walk around the school once the secretary allows you in and she knows where you're going. So it's not like a hey, I scan it and I get in. It's just so that way they don't have to
physically check your ID for any issues, right? So in particular it helps when we have custod uh custody issues right the computer already knows right which parent is allowed in and which parent is
not right previously you have to look at the license compare it to the computer and make sure right so it's just helpful that way but it also helps when we have um construction people coming through >> I think what makes sense is let's put it
on the agenda for technology and communications and and then they can answer a lot of those because they know a lot of the ins and outs of it for you. >> Good idea. >> Okay. >> Does anyone else have anything else? Okay. Um, Madam Secretary, roll call,
please. >> Miss Bradford, >> yes. >> Miss Stanley, >> yes. >> Mr. Morales, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jolly, >> yes. >> Mrs. Does it carry? >> Uh, I'm a yes on everything except number five,
Paraptor, number eight, and um a no on 14 and 15. Everything else is a yes. >> Dr. Forger,
>> yes to all. >> Mrs. Terrero, >> yes. Motions pass. >> Personnel resolutions one through 21. All board members, resolutions 22 through uh 30, Berkeley Heights only. Do I have a motion? >> So moved.
>> Bradford is first. I have a second. I'll second. Mr. Jolly is second. Um committee reports personnel. >> Yes. >> Debbie, can I amend one of the disputions or >> do you person? >> Okay. Uh the personnel committee met on
Wednesday, June 3rd, 3 to 4 with myself, Miss Terrarero, board president, and Mrs. Stanley and Dr. Feltry. Uh items discussed, we met and we met the candidate for our CMS principal online. She's here tonight. Thank you, Miss Mohler. And the committee discussed salary options for the position. The
committee discussed a revised job description for custodial staff. Dr. Feltry checked with the board attorney concerning the proposed updated job description. The board attorney had no issues with the changes as the peers as custodians are already doing similar work. The committee discussed proposed
job descriptions qualifications for the position of instructional coach primarily at the elementary level. The committee discussed a staff member salary adjustment and Dr. Feltry was going to investigate that. The committee discussed a web master stipen for a staff member. Upon further investigation, Dr. Feltry removed the
request. Uh for tonight, the committee discussed the salary for increase for Dr. Feltry and we will be discussing that by the with the whole board during the executive session following this meeting. The committee also discussed the review of the fall coaching assignments. The athletic and co-curricular committee reviewed the
list at their May 11th, 2026 meeting and the list was being updated uh for item action tonight on the June 11th. The meeting adjourned at 4:15 and our next meeting is on June 18th. >> Discussion. Um
I would like to amend resolution number two that is to approve appointment of interim assistant principal. I would like to amend the duration from the end of the duration from August starting from August 27, 2026 to December 31st,
2026. Can I have a second? I'll second that. Thank you. Can you read the dates again? >> Yeah. So, amending resolution number two, approve appointment of intram assistant principal. The duration is
from August 27th, 2026 to December 31st, 2026. The rate remains the same. So, sorry, Mrs. for clarification. You want from August through December. So that's just August 5 months instead of the the full year. Is that correct?
>> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Roll call, please. >> Oh, wait. Go ahead. >> Just one thing on the resolution two about Dr. Jackson. The
overall sentiment of the students at GL is that the students enjoy Dr. Jackson. They see him roaming the halls. He's active. He's part he's active in the hallways, always talking to students. He understands the
students. And I think that if the students heard that we're cutting Jack, Dr. Jackson to December instead of the whole entire year that some of them might be unhappy. Uh, personally, I
would be unhappy if that happens. Uh, I think that the general sentiment would be that students would be unhappy. Um, and I I don't think that that's a proper amendment for this resolution. Howard, can you explain when you say
they won't be they would be unhappy? Can you explain for the board why you feel that way? >> I think that they'll be unhappy because as I stated, Dr. Jackson, he's very active. He roams around the halls. Uh during lunch, I always see him. He's
always talking to students. If, say, someone's sitting alone, he'll go and eat lunch with the student that's sitting alone. He'll talk to them. He'll make sure that every voice is represented well within the district. Um disciplinary stuff, I think he's handled
stuff well. I haven't heard a single complaint about Dr. Jackson at all of his time. Um there's a student here, Jack, who might be able to tell you more about Dr. Jackson if you allow him to. Um, but
he's just a good role model within the school and I think that a lot of students look up to him. Um, and also that would also leave us with a potential gap and we already have enough administrative overturn. We don't need
more people just to do more more more uh say job interviews or have a new assistant principal again. Like I I've had a new principal at GL every single year of my time here and also at CMS as
well. I had a different principal my in sixth grade, seventh grade and eighth grade and the same at GL. And I think that people People need to understand that change is inevitable, but in a in an environment such as school, it's important to have a
good trust on the people who are making the decisions at the table. And it's sad to see that. I mean, there's not a lot of students that come and listen to meetings, but if more students came, they'd be able to share their experiences of what happens in the hall because I know you guys aren't here
every single day and don't get to see the full impact of all the staff members on the students. So that's that's my reason why I think that the Dr. Jackson should stay for the whole entire period. So the reasoning I'll just say this and we have discussed this multiple times is
when I first moved into Berkeley Heights about 14 years ago the enrollment numbers at GL were I think roughly in the 1200 they were above a thousand let's say that um currently I think we are at 840
and um based on last enrollment report that we get for bordered so my thought process and I work as a project manager is look at what is the cost per pupil administrative cost per pupil. These these reports are available on the New
Jersey Department of Education website and uh I've been pretty so the way I look at education Howard is very different from maybe I've never been to an school in America. I've experienced education in America through my daughter's experience in American
schools. So I always question which is what I do at my work daily is what is the best return of investment or so when I look at Berkeley Heights on those reports at the New Jersey Department of Education we are very high on cost per
pupil and administrative cost per pupil and when you look at each building in Berkeley Heights GL with the has the highest cost per for administrative cost at GL for the number of students we
have. So it's nothing personal about one person and we cannot talk like I've heard great things about him and I'm sure he's a great fit and we have tried to work with the superintendent and the assistant superintendent about how best we can reduce the administrative cost in
district overall and at this building. So we've come up with I I won't be able to discuss them here but I'm free to open to have a conversation with you. you have my number so we can chat and I can explain further but the reason is we're looking at different models and
this is just reducing it for 6 months to see if the other model can work better. >> So based on that are is that an assumption that that one assistant superintendent role would get axed after December >> not assistant superintendent. >> Oh no assistant assistant principal
sorry um >> I don't know I can't speak to that right now. Okay, thank you. >> I know this is kind of unorthodox, but I I if there's another student here that would like to speak, I think the board should hear them. >> Yeah. >> Do you guys agree?
>> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. It's fine. >> Hello. >> Sorry. My name is uh John Patty and I'm uh go to the school here. I'm uh Southview Drive in Berkeley Heights. And uh like Howard said, I think all
students at the at the school have had a very positive experience with Dr. Jackson. And I feel that you know something that is very well needed at GLS is he brings an air of officiality. I would say he dresses very well. He addresses all students with respect and most importantly he's willing to hear them out especially when it comes to
disciplary action. Uh a lot of students when they get in trouble usually you know they'll go to assistant superintendent I'm sorry assistant principal and it'll usually be a rubber stamp process. you know, they'll be in and then, you know, they'll get their discipline, they'll be out. But Dr. Jackson is willing to hear other students out and I've heard many stories
of students going in. He's willing to talk to them, understand the problem, and he's willing to understand it from their perspective. And I feel that's something that's uh strongly needed at GL. And I know uh we've uh discussed uh enrollment numbers. Um I understand that we lose a lot of uh kids to magnet schools. And I feel that, you know,
alongside, you know, the fact that they offer certain programs that are tailored to uh future endeavors and future programs that these students are interested in, I think they also have this air of officiality that Dr. Jackson brings to the school. They're seen as very um well-mannered and uh wellunded.
And I feel that Dr. Jackson brings that to GL. He brings this air of respect and dignity. And I think that's very well needed. And I feel that students feel respected and they feel heard when they speak to Dr. Jackson. And I feel that's very important for our community as a whole. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> I think what I'm hearing our students saying is that um there's more than just data points to look at when you're talking about um a school building and you know every staff member brings
something to the table um and they support right not just the students but the staff as well. Um, and so data points sometimes are just that. They're data points and you can't look at them um, in a vacuum. You have to get in the
building and actually see the process of what's going on in the building. So, I am not in support of this change. I just want to thank the students for um, you know, for speaking out. Uh, that is you know a brave thing to do, not very easy.
um you know and I and I appreciate all points of view right we also don't live in a vacuum when it comes to budgetary constraints but um it is very important to hear about an impact um that an administrator or a teacher has in the
lives of students because ultimately we are here for the students >> yeah I mean we would have to do a roll poll >> first on that. >> Yeah. >> Amendment. >> Correct. So the the vote right now there's a first second discussion. So now it' be a vote just to amend
resolution number to not you're not voting whether to approve that or not. Just to approve the amendment. >> Mrs. Bradford. >> No. Mrs. Stanley. >> Mr. Morales. >> Yes to the amendment.
>> Mrs. Jolly. I >> I'm sorry I have to say no. Mrs. Akiri. >> Yes. >> Dr. Forger. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Terrero. >> Um, I just want to say before I vote
that I was thinking one way and after you guys so eloquently spoke, you've actually changed my mind. So, I'm going to say no. Motion does not pass. Um, does anyone have to discuss anything else or should we move to roll call on
on the entire personnel? >> I just want to thank the staff that are retiring or resigning for all their many many years. I know many of them we celebrated tonight in the auditorium um but some of them we have not. So I just want to thank them for their time and their dedication to our students here in
Berkeley Heights. Um, I also in personnel I expressed um that I will be voting no to number 14 um as I have concerns um and I brought those to the personnel committee already.
I just want to discuss uh as you know the personnel committee uh both of us and I know we're missing Bill uh we are strongly against uh number two and number 14. I know Bill's not here to
speak but I'm just we're expressing our concerns. That's all. Mr. I I misunderstood what you said. He said concerns. >> Well, we and the committee explained ourselves and we were adamant. No. On
number Well, me personally on number two, no. And for the appointment, not in the amendment. And number Oh okay. >> So >> 19
>> I think it's we've been speaking since early this year right about the number of administrative staff and I think if Bill was here and he has spoken about it previously also very eloquently. We're not talking about a person. We're talking about a line item in the budget
and what it adds per value. So it's nothing against a particular person whom who has a great uh rapo here and the best way to do it would have been in the budget and I did try to amend the budget
to remove 175,000 I amended it at that time it wasn't attached to a name it wasn't attached to a person I just said I would like to amend the final budget adoption this I had to do that after we tried multiple times and Dr. Dr. Feltry
is aware of it of how many hours we spent in the personnel committee. Uh Dr. Maher is aware of it. Natasha who's the chair is aware of it. It's not just one board member. There are four board members who are very concerned with how
much we're spending in terms of administrative cost. So this is this is June 6 months in the year. So there were multiple ways to address this without it having to come to amending a resolution for a person's
duration in the high school. Unfortunately, we were not able to cut 175,000 or a position based on the need. So it's not just about data points. It's about this 175,000 being used for a
project, could be used towards students needs, could be used for trips, could be used for science experiments or whatever. So I feel that we have to be cognizant of not just the multi-million dollar budget we approved plus the $50 million in referendum we we have approved and the impact on the
community. Look around. I I don't know about you guys. I walk I hear at least like every alternate like you know every alternate day somebody has lost a job. So I don't know how feasible it is for us to say hey every year we are going to increase our budget by 2% and now there
is going to be additional tax on us. But when the enrollment is dropping we really have to go to the root cause analysis of why are we asking to keep these administrative overhead. That's the question. So, it's up to us. And on
personnel committee, we were all on the same page. Um, except for Mrs. Bradford. So, yes, I am the chair of the personnel committee and there were majority and minority uh reports and unfortunately you weren't there at the last committee. There was Mr. Dylan or Mr. Morales. So,
we did discuss this and we're going ahead with the recommendation of the superintendent on these uh items coming up for action tonight. Well, and I'd like to clarify a point that we did decrease administrative costs during the budget
and we talked about which administrative cost during the budget process and we did decrease administrative budget just not that one. So, >> Miss Bradford, >> yes to all. >> Mrs. Stanley,
>> yes to everything but no to 14. Mr. Morales. >> Yes. To all but no to number two. No to number 19. >> Mrs. Jolly. >> Yes to all.
>> Mrs. Airi. Uh, yes to all except number two and number 19. Dr. Forger. >> Uh, yes to all but no on two and 19. >> Mrs. Turo, >> yes. Motions pass.
>> Education resolutions one, all board members, resolution two, Berkeley Heights only. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Mr. Bradford's first. >> Second. >> Mr. Morales is second. Uh, committee reports curriculum. So we met um day before yesterday which
is June 9th. Uh on the agenda were a long list of discussion information items. I will share the minutes. Um I went so I think the majority I think we wanted to get an update on dissections for the general uh general
education biology students in 9th grade. Um even though we found the material looks like that's no dissections will be planned for this year. Uh I believe the director is working on incorporating dissections um in co in collaboration
with the science teachers. Uh we also requested for a list of consolidated list of all experiments in science uh biology, physics and chemistry planned for next school year and uh how best we can include dissections into them. Uh we
asked for information on changing uh grades. I believe we do collect grades in numbers but reporting grades in numbers was one of the topic. Uh we asked for the criteria for GL awards to
be finalized. Um we had um Meg Bry come in and explain to us the process. I believe the quick overview was um most of these awards are scholarship giving entities send their criteria to GL. Some of them ask for information or data and then they make the choice but some of
them ask the school to make the decision. So Mrs. Berry said that um all I think the counselors they form an internal committee for awarding and the committee consists of counselors mainly
counselors because they she felt that the counselors interact with all students and uh they look at the criteria they have their internal ways of evaluating or giving points. So I asked her if we can just formalize this
like and then so that we can communicate it. So, I believe they're working on putting like a wiki or a page on the district website for September. Uh, there was some concerns on um sharing the criteria and how it was used for this year's
awards. Um, so we said it was an initial discussion. So, there is going to be follow-up discussion. I was hoping that um similar to what we did for CMS, define the criteria, document it if it has to go through a couple of drafts, finalize it so it can be circulated with
the students and the parents. Uh we got a commitment that there will be uh an initial list of awards and the criteria put on the district website for September 2026. But um I believe it was January or February, Dr.
February is when they begin coming in from the scholarship. >> Yes. So for next year um I think the entire list of what's available and how the internal committee is going to evaluate will be finalized in February.
Um, initially I was hoping that we should define everything by the beginning of the school year so that parents and students are aware that if they are going to apply and aspire for any of these they're aware of the clear criteria and they can go for it but given some of the timing issues. So we
will see a list. Um I just want to ask um so the scholarships is one thing because I think a lot of times the kids have to write essays and things like that. I think the bigger question really comes down to the book awards and how the criteria selection process is there
because I that's I suspect that's really where the big question mark is right >> yeah so um one of the question that uh Dr. Feltry asked was where is the concern coming from like why do we have to define it and then I said well the best way to address that is send a survey out right uh the administration
has the has all the means they can send a survey to the parents at GL or to the students and say hey are you happy with how the awards are being handled depending on how the feedback comes but it's up to I'm not going to step into their their alley uh it's up to the administration if they want to understand where the concern is coming
from I said very similar to CMS I would like to list all the awards, book awards, scholarships, whatever it is. And if we have an internal committee, then define the internal committee. Define who appoints these people on internal committee. Do they rotate every
year? Stuff like that. So I was going to actually um request for some information from you and Natasha given you have students here. Uh we also talked about um announcing validarian and uh what was the other topic?
>> Salutarian. Yes. Um and then Tom said that we stopped doing it in 1987. We >> 97. Okay. So, >> um discussion. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead, Howard.
>> So, on the the book awards, um I I I won a book award um from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Uh, it gives me a $29,000 scholarship per year if I attend their business program. Um, and I
was talking to some other students. Some of the schools just gave you a book, some of them gave you a sheet of paper, some of them gave you a scholarship. Um, the way that the book award is I re I personally reached out to the dean of
Rochester Institute Technology on LinkedIn and he told me how I was given the award. So basically a lot of the colleges put together a criteria uh and they send it off to the guidance counselors. The guidance counselors uh
scroll through and they they uh put together a list and send it off uh for submission to the college itself who then approves it. Um and some of the book awards themselves like the Yale the Yale book award they come from alumni
organizations not the college itself. uh out of all the book awards that were awarded, I think Yale was the only one that did that. And after off of Dr. Forger's point, I think that uh establishing validatoran and salutarian will be
a good addition to the school community along with class rank. Uh because especially as I'm starting to do college applications, not having class rank kind of puts you at a disadvantage to high schools that
don't that that do offer class rank because it allows your the college to say where you are but uh compared to your peers and currently the only thing that I have to understand somewhat where I have place is something from the
college board themselves but that award report doesn't come in until September where I'll probably be halfway done submitting all my applications. So, it doesn't help very much. And I I think that establishing class rank at validictorian and salutarian would be a good thing for the district to think
about in the future. >> And I think um sorry, just with respect to the awards, I don't think it's so much as a concern, but just information um because I you know, at least like I'm just not aware of them, right? Okay. And
so with the child that's also coming up as a senior, right, I just want to be aware of what's um what's out there. Is there things that you know she can pursue or are there things that are you know or she she's the one being pursued, right? So it's just anformational thing
um and to ensure that you know everybody has um full transparency and information when it comes to um these awards. And so if I can share when in our discussion in the committee that that information that you just mentioned Miss Jolly is what will go on to the website because one of
the things that we wanted to make sure is that students understand and families understand what is available. It's available through the Naviance portal. Um but make sure that they know where it is, how to access it and how to apply what is an applicable scholarship.
>> Um we also discussed three other topics. One was effective. I think Dr. Forer added this topic and I think it was initial discussion on effective use of AI. Um how are we going to like you know we keep talking about tools to identify
AI use chat GPT use but I think we need to train or introduce our students to effective use of AI. The other item that we discussed was a structured summer assignment accountability process for ELA honors and AP courses in grades 9 to
12 requiring completion of assigned reading and a follow-up assignment by the end of September. Um, from what we heard currently there is like a some sort of a disparity for honors assignments versus general ed population. So that is something for us
an action item to fix on. Um we also asked for once the summer curriculum writing is complete produce and share with the committee a finalized list of um science experiments then consult with high school and school counseling
department about the feasibility of reporting a numerical rather than letter grades that was decided that we can do that we do collect all the grades in numbers but we report them in a range and uh Dr. or explain to us why it is being done. Uh there was one additional
item. Uh we discussed about the feedback from parents about the perceived lack of rigor in honors and AP class courses in science, math, and English. And Dr. tomorrow is going to investigate because
some of the feedback that we've been getting from parents is uh some students sign up for honors and then they realize it's not as rigorous as they wanted it to be and some of them uh sign up for AP but then they want to drop off. So the committee discussed on how you can drop
some courses and stuff like that. Uh also we asked about the all the courses. I think we asked for a the finalized list of enrollment for all courses at GL. So we are going to get that. It's going to be a very consolidated list.
Great. Um I just want to welcome Miss Smaller. Congratulations new middle school principal. Does anybody else have anything to say? Okay. Um, roll call vote, please.
>> Oh, sorry. Howard has something to say. >> Yeah, for the grading system, I think that doing the empirical grading will be helpful instead of doing like A's and B's and C's and all that. Um cuz instead
of having letter grades, you get a much more defined system of understanding your data. Um cuz instead of just getting like two data points, say if you have like a A and then an A minus within that range, you get 10 data points if
you put it from the one from like the 90 to 100 scale. And I think that would be much uh better for the counseling department and easier to just understand the data because some schools they differentiate between where they grade what an A what the cut off for an A or an A minus is. Um I think that's really
helpful. >> That's interesting because Power School right now tracks percentage but yet I guess on the transcript itself it's a letter grade. So, so if you're a student who gets a 79 and you're a C plus, you know, you could be perceived a
little bit lower than where you really are if you're like really on a cusp. I don't think that's a bad idea. >> And I will say Oh, sorry. And I'll say that I think I I personally have been someone who's been impacted by that. Like last year, I think I got like a 79 like one quarter and they put it as like
a C plus on the transcript and instead of if it was put as a 79, the college would understand, oh well, this student was extremely close to getting an 80, they just maybe they messed up on one test or something. So, it's lot very helpful for students. >> Maybe I'm going to invite you for my
next curriculum committee meeting as an honorary member. Could you also uh mention making GPA available for students because uh that's been something that's been told to me by a ton of students to make GPA available to
see on both powers school and also uh from your guidance counselor as well cuz guidance if you say you need like a transcript or something they'll give you your GPA from last year they won't give you your your uh your current GPA and
since we use a 4.5 5 scale. It's not really available to know the exact way that GPA is calculated in our school and it makes it harder for people to understand where they fit in uh on regards to a 4.0 no
scale and also the weight in weighted scale is confusing because my weighted GPA is below the maximum 4.5 but if you put on a four scale it would be above a four. So it gets really confusing. That's all I'm going to say
about that. I think with respect to making the GPA available to kids during the school year, it can come with all sorts of um qualifications, but I think it's it's a switch in powers school like we could do
it. And I still am not clear as to exactly why or the rationale. So maybe if we could if we really don't think we could do it or it's really not a good idea, can we just put it on p on paper and just you know so we can end the conversation because I feel like we we have the same conversation like it's you
know >> we we spoke about weighted non-weighted last year so I'll get I'll try to get it documented. Yeah. No, I'm I'm just all of us, right? I I was in curriculum and I know we talked about it um as well, but I I I I still don't understand why
we can't um even if it's just indicative or not, you know, the an exact and it might, you know, the qualification that it might change when you finally calculate it, but just to give the students an idea as to, you know, where they are. I mean, instead of doing it
them doing it on an Excel sheet. >> Madam Secretary, roll call, please. >> Miss Bradford, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stanley, >> yes. >> Mr. Morales, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jolly, yes. Mrs. Akira, >> uh, Eilepstein.
>> Dr. Forger, >> I'm sorry. Are we doing education resolutions one and two? >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh, yes. Except for case number 309359 MP. That's a no. >> 309359.
>> Yes, MP. It's the only MP one, I think. >> Mrs. Terrarero. >> Um, so under number one, case number 309319GL. I have to abstain on that. Everything else is a yes. >> So that's 309319.
>> Yeah. Motions pass. >> Policy resolutions one. All board members. Can I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Mrs. Bradford's first. Can I have a second? A second. Mrs. Jolly is second. Committee reports on policy.
>> No. Um, we did have a committee meeting, but I'm actually surprised to see the second reads on here because I thought we said that everything was going to go to June 25th. Well, there was a certain policy that had to be on here to be approved and
they were second reads because they just rolled over from first read to second read. >> Okay. All right. >> There weren't any questions on the first reads. So, >> on the second read. Yeah. Yeah. >> Right. Right. Well, right when they were first reads last time. So, >> okay. I just in my minutes I think I put
that they were going for the June 25th. Um so for our meeting we had it on the 9th. Yeah. So we had our meeting on the 9th. Um we had
Phil Niccastro from Stress Esme come to answer some questions um on some of our second reads. Um so first we talked about policy 0149 which is on for tonight. Um he looked at the language. Um he stated that many
districts already have this practice in place even if they don't have it in policy. Um he reiterated that he did not find any issue with the language. Um then we have
um policy 2624 tonight for second read. We did not discuss this one as it had passed in first read and we hadn't received any comments on this. Um but again this is the admin asked us to look at the policy again because the BHA
uh suggested language. The committee had looked at the language that they the BHEA presented and we did add some additions to this um to try to work with them. Um and again it's on for tonight for uh second read. The next policy that
Phil Niccastro talked to us about was policy 3324, right of privacy. Um, we are still on hold on this one. We do have a meeting coming up on the 20 uh, sorry, June 18th. Um, and we
will see if we have more info, but probably not. So, it might be a further meeting. But, Phil Neasho came from stress estate to discuss the concerns of the cell phone use policy. um he would like to help the district craft language about how to approach the use of cell phones by staff for photos and videos of
students. The administration is going to work with the tech department and the principles to come up with a plan, most likely something to allow the use of personal cell phones, but with a timeline to download the media off of a personal device and onto the district server. The goal is for student media
not to be on staff personal device. Um, most likely this will have to be moved back to first read, but right now it is on hold as the administration is going to talk to the staff about how to move forward. Um, so for first reads, again, these are not
going to be seen until the June 25th and we do have another meeting. So you will have even more first reads for that. So I suggest you read these now to catch up. So policy 0162, notice of board meetings. Um this addresses changes to the state statute that no longer require
newspaper publication of um board meetings. Um then they have a new policy which is policy 0162.01. This is legal notices. It is mandatory. It is new. Um the changes address the state statue that no longer require
newspaper publication. But this one specifically talks about which websites it needs to be posted on. Something our staff is currently already doing. Then we have policy 1230. This is superintendent's duties mandatory. The
entire chapter of NJAC 6A-8 was recently updated. Um the major change to this policy is the removal of the statutes that were referenced. Um there's some small language changes but the majority of it is to remove the
statutes referenced. Then there's policy 1643 family leave. um this is mandatory. There is a newly passed revisions to the NJFLA. Um there's a reduction in time period that you must be an employee in order to
reach this um to to qualify for family leave. Um we are already following this because it's the law. The policy is just catching up. Um this then we have policy uh 2200 curriculum.
Um this is now mandatory because they are going to abolish if you see right below the regulation 2200. So they are combining the policy and the regulation. So curriculum has been rewritten pretty much completely. Uh the new language is
clear and detailed. Um much of this is a process we currently follow and the committee feels like this is a big improvement to the curriculum um policy. Um I know Tom, I saw your email about this one. Um, I don't think we'll use AI to look at this, but maybe we can look
at it um between first and second read to see if there's any more detail you would like us to look at. Um, again, the regulation 2200 curriculum content is um being combined with the policy. So, they are abolishing this. And then we have
regulation 2460.30. This is additional compensation and related services. This is being abolished because it was COVID related about adding um more supports for students after COVID. Um so that is it for our um minutes
except that um because Phil Niccastro was there, he gave us an update on the student use of internet enabled devices. Um they are hoping to have this to us by the end of the month. They are waiting for an FAQ from I believe the state um
because they had some questions on unknowns like field trips or events. What do we do? Does that count bell to bell or not? Um but he did ask us that we need to start thinking now um because this will come to us over the summer and we're supposed to have it in place for September. Um two of the questions he
said was one um do we want to allow it on the bus or not? This is might be optional depending on what the FAQ from the state says. And do we want to allow the use of cell phones with permission from supervising staff members? Um, so let's say you're an EP or, you know,
another class and the this the staff member wants you to bring out your cell phone to write something down or do something. Could a student bring out their phone with permission from the staff? So, please start thinking about these things on how you want to go about doing this because we will need to make
this decision quickly over the summer. That is it for my committee report. As you see, we do have two of the second reads on for tonight. >> Thank you. I have a question. Um, being that this has to be in place for the beginning of September,
we're going to need those answers for the 25th or we're not going to be able to get it in place because we require two reads. >> So, we would have the August meeting. >> We would, but but whether the policies in place like like the implementation of
it has to be in place. It's not about policy, it's about what we're doing in the district. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, it's not as big of a fire drill. >> Okay. >> With with regard to the two reads, there should be a provision usually that you can suspend your rules and lot and adopt
it in one reading if we need to. >> Yeah. I was thinking if we wanted it in, right, we have the August meeting and then we could always do a special meeting like >> before the students actually start if we needed to. again right I don't know if that's
necessary um because as long as right we start implementing the plan but again I think you should start thinking about how you want to implement the plan because there will be options in this policy according to stress estate um that we will have to click you know we want bus you know we want it not on the
bus we do want to allow it on the bus you know how do we want to handle these things so just start thinking about you know what you think it should look like um he did mention that again this was supposed to be more of like no cell phone use during instructional time and instead the governor had signed it in as
a bellto bell. Um so that does change a lot of things and it left a lot of questions on how you know this is handled. Um, so yeah, so I think we need to, you know, one of my questions in my head is like, what do we do for students
who do get to leave campus, they're allowed to use their cell phone, right? Or is that part of the bell devel, right? So, right, these kind of questions, right, we need to think of and I think that's what they're waiting for from the state in this FAQ is more detail on exactly how we go about that.
Yeah, >> I was going to say some more things. Um, but from a student perspective, I think that the language and the law is heavily underdefined and provides a large gray area for
interpretation. And I mean, it's it's not it's not our fault. We're not in Trenton doing anything. Um, but I do think that having accessibility
to the cellular device during lunch and uh, say if you have a study hall and on the bus. Um, I know that a lot of students use their cell phone on the bus. day if they have a like I used this this school year I pretty much had a
test almost well actually yeah almost every single math test I had this year was first period so when I wasn't driving to school I would just say cram stuff on the bus and sure it may be debated if
cramming is helpful or not but I I find it to be helpful at points um I I think that not allowing it to be on the us what could potentially harm some people. Um during lunch uh I've actually helped students with
this. Students are using their phones to uh do stuff such as stock trading during lunch. Like I I at my table I've been teaching people about uh investing investments and stuff like that. And students use a application called Robin Hood and they just they check their
portfolios during lunch. They see how the market's going. And I think that that we're we're helping inspire a next generation of people who are um >> who are financially smart and understand how stuff in this world works. Um I
understand that what is defined by instructional period or belltoell but that's for you guys to decide not me. I'm not a legal person or anything like that. So that's all I'm going to say.
>> Some of it's overkill. Yes. >> Yeah. And like that putting it in practice is always harder, right? Saying it out loud is easier, right? Bellto bell, just don't have your cell phone. But in practice, it's harder. >> Correct. I was also reading a study done
by Stanford where I think it was it was close to I think it might have been like 45,000 schools that Stanford studied and they found that the cell phone ban in California did little to improve the
actual uh say test scores and improvement of students. Although Stanford did find that it helpless student well-being, it didn't overall do anything significant. And I mean the law is already in already in play. The
research was released I think like two months ago. So I mean there's nothing we can really do about it now. But >> yeah, >> just putting out there. >> Thanks Howard. >> Yes, that is true. Uh it is more from a
mental health. Um I don't know. Does it actually say bell to bell? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, we could do like the Japanese and we don't have a bell. We use a gong. That's true. That's true. You just get
rid of the bell. >> Look at what you know if the courts are >> first period starts with a gong and ends with a gong. >> You got to have that. >> What? >> They'll have to be referred to facilities. However,
>> David, do you have an opinion on that? >> But >> would that pass legal muster? >> I do, but not one I will share publicly. >> Well, then he must like it. Okay. Um, uh, I I have a problem with 2200, but it's
not on for first reading. So maybe what I'll do is just send you what I think is wrong with it and what you can do to fix it. Um are I do want to offer an amendment though to the 149 retiring schoolboard
members. Is that okay? Um I'd like to add the sentence. A member with a prior conviction under the School Ethics Act with the sanction of censor or worse shall not be eligible
for this benefit. >> I'll second it. So what would you what would you actually have the policy read because do you have the >> just add that sentence at the end >> of what is currently on for the second
read? >> Yes. >> Do you >> for purpose of the minutes would you mind repeating that motion? Certainly not. M. I will not mind. A member with a prior conviction under the School Ethics Act.
>> Go too fast. I'm I'm probably going to >> What? >> Hold on. >> A little slower. A little slower. Tom, >> a second. I want to >> Oh, okay. A member with a prior conviction under the School Ethics Act
with a sanction of censor or worse shall not be eligible for this benefit. >> Yeah. So that would be added to the end of the line. Any retired board members from a send and receive district, etc. Okay.
>> Uh the last the last sentence I'm seeing here is uh yes, it had to do with a retired member from a send receive district will be granted the same opportunities, etc. It's all in red.
This is so if this is a second read as we know if the motion passes this would be then a first read because obviously this would be a substitute. Can I ask for the reason why? >> I I don't think it looks good to be uh
letting people actually I don't like the whole thing, but uh uh if if somebody uh got censored or kicked off the board or whatever, I don't think that we should be granting a benefit. That's all. >> But someone who has been censored
doesn't necessarily get kicked off the board, right? >> No, no, that's a higher level. There's four levels, >> right? >> Second is censor. Third is uh >> uh suspension for some period. >> So should we do anyone? >> Fourth is uh kickoff, which I think is
hardly ever done, >> right? But should you do anyone that's ever had an ethics charge against them, right? Like what what are we trying to accomplish with >> No, no, not I. Yeah, you could. You
could. No, I feel that it's if there's a conviction then it was upheld. You know, it was not uh I mean anybody can get charged but if there was not a conviction then I don't think you should withhold the benefit.
>> So we were just at the legal forum today and um there were two entire sections on how board members should not be awarding themselves any personal favors. Um, and one of them spoke extensively about
indemnification and how board members should stay away from approving bills and stuff like that. And it was stressed multiple times, I think, at least on three sessions that it's um a nonpartisan, it's a volunteer work we
should not be avoiding. And I did when it came for first read not the last meeting but before that me and Bill voiced the concern that I don't think we should have a policy it should >> so actually Bill did not say that he was specific that he wanted this and he
wanted um retired board members >> so I feel like it should be handled by the administration because by us putting a policy in place is basically giving ourselves some sort of a favor and I did
talk to um stress Esme which makes policies right and he he discussed this at length with the policy committee about unwarranted privileges um but the bigger question was we asked Dr. Feltry during our committee meeting and she
asked specifically that we have this in policy so we can move forward but what you're talking about is very different than what Dr. forger is asking us to add. So I'm not sure where your your part's coming in, but um so she asked us
specifically to have this in policy so that way she has um a way to move forward with this. But again, we are spending so much time on this and I I I really just want us to vote or not vote on this because at some point we're just wasting time on something that doesn't
help the students. um but the district is asking us for direction on so can we give them some direction um on this and again I think people using lawyers against people is you know whoever has the lawyer right wins and I I don't
think that's appropriate either Tom >> Mr. Hey Cara, go ahead and finish what you were saying. >> No, that's fine. I we we I I believe in that we need to clearly if we are going to have the policy, we need to have this additional sentence in there. That's about it.
>> Can I ask a question? So in other words, this particular language that individual individuals are not in good standing at that at a moment at time. That's what >> so anybody can file an ethics violation. I think there is investigation and it
goes to the SEC. We are saying only after a decision has been made >> and it holds merit. You're saying >> yes. >> What if the decision is still in limbo? >> Then there is nothing. So we we're not saying any ethics charge or pending
investigation or >> well but if you have somebody let's say that was contesting a decision >> if there is a censure and if there is a decision already on there on the SEC website I think that's essential that's
up to legal interpretation. So, I'm going to be honest. Um, last time we voted on the first read, I didn't like this language personally. Um, my reasons were number one, I don't think we should be voting on anything that is advantageous to any of us as
board members. Um secondly, and honestly my bigger issue with it had more to do with the limitations that are set upon send and receive district because right now as it reads, you are required to sit
on a full term on this board in order to be able to give your your child a diploma if you're per se in Mountainside. And I have a problem with that. I think they've served. If somebody has served on their board, I
think we should respect that. That's my personal opinion. Um, so as far as this policy goes, I'm just going to abstain on it because I I don't feel comfortable voting on something that could be advantageous to me. >> Well, I think we need to vote on the motion first,
>> right? Can I just get a clarification? The one full term means a year. >> Yeah, but it's a year. >> A year here on this. Okay. No, I thought a term is three years, right? Term >> is three years. >> Three years. But they're talking about a ter says completion of one full term on
the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. So like somebody like Mr. Dylan would have earned that right. But let's say the current sitting president at Mountside does have a child that's going to be a senior next year and she
wouldn't unless she serves next year, she wouldn't be able to give her her son the diploma. And I find that disrespectful personally. >> Uh this is actually kind of interesting. uh one full term
by a send receive member you're saying is just one year. >> Yes. I think a term per mount site is one year. >> I think they nominate somebody on an annual basis. Yeah. >> The >> Yeah. Yes. But anyways, I think we first
have to vote on the amendment to add the sentence. >> Ready? So, we're voting on the amendment. And that reads, "A member with prior conviction under the School Ethics Act with the penalty of censure or worse
shall not be eligible for this benefit." >> Bradford, >> no. >> Stanley Morales, >> yes. >> Jolly, >> no. >> Akiri, >> yes. >> Borger, >> yes.
>> Miss Terrarero, >> no. >> Does not pass. Any other discussion on any of the other policies before we vote? Madam Secretary, please roll call.
>> Mrs. Bradford, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stanley, >> Mr. Morales, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jolly, >> yes. But I am abstaining on 149. >> Mrs. Does it carry? I'm a no on
149. >> Are you yes on 2624? >> Yeah, >> Dr. Forer. >> Uh, no on 149. Yes on 2624. >> Mrs. Terrarero, I'm a yes on 2624 and
I'm abstaining on 149. motion passes. Um, I would like to request that the policy committee revisit 149 because I think there's several of us that really have an issue with it. Um, so I think you should revisit it in September. I
would I would request that you do that. Okay. Um, strategic planning, we did not meet, but I believe we will be receiving that presentation on June 25th. >> Negotiations.
U negotiations. The head custodian negotiated is on our agenda and it passed. the Mountainside Committee negotiations. Um we had we met internally and we met internally on Friday, June 5th. And what we did discuss uh we
discussed recent communications between the Mountain Side and Berkeley Heights board attorneys regarding any conflict of interest and the Berkeley Heights board attorney gave an update on the conversations and correspondence. The committee discussed a change in the current proposal to Mountain Side suggested by the board attorney. There
was discussion on five year, excuse me, 10-year contract, five-year check-ins on the contract. Uh the committee drafted a document with some proposed numbers and the agreement was made to share this document with our business administration and Dr. Peltry before the next internal meeting because they weren't able to make it
>> and we're meeting tomorrow. >> Yes. And we're meeting tomorrow morning at 8:15. Um, first of all, I'd like to say thank you to those that are involved in the head negotiations with the the custodians negotiations. I know that was
a very long process and I really want to thank you guys for closing that out. So, thank you. Um, as far as the uh BHA negotiations, um, things are coming along with the um, teachers union. Um, we are meeting
tomorrow morning to review a couple things. Um and then we will be meeting with the teachers union on Monday evening. Liaison reports. >> Yes. Uh liaison reports.
The Berkeley Heights Town Council met on Tuesday, June 9th. The township recognized the World Cup celebrations, Pride Month, and Portugal Day with a triple flag raising ceremony. Uh there is a community kickoff for the World Cup at Memorial Field on Saturday at 10:00 with food and activities. The Governor
Livingston High School softball women's team was honored with a proclamation from the mayor. Uh recognize their achievement as North Jersey Section 2 champions. The council also heard a girl Eagle Scout proposal adding seating and shade to lower Columbia Field for the summer camp. The council reminded
residents that the ebike law is in effect and children under 15 are not allowed to use ebikes. There will be registration and licensing of bikes and individuals later this year and there should be something going out in the Friday filters. That is from the committee that we just received today. For more information, see the township
website. Um and then the Union County Educational Service Commission met on Wednesday, June 3rd, and this was their annual reorganization meeting. They're on a different schedule than we are. So members of the representative assembly from school districts in Union County
including Berkeley Heights, we were sworn in by oath. There was an election of officers, the board of directors and the executive committee and reinstatement of the policies, curriculum and vendors were approved. The regular meeting of the board then continued with the presentation of certificates for the retirees. A new
principal of Westlake School was announced and Westlake School continued to provide the chocolates for us through their uh program that they have for the students. uh authorization was also entered into contracts with Berkeley Heights that were approved for transportation, child study services,
and enrollment services. And that ends my liaison. >> Anybody else? Okay, moving on to comments from the public on any topic during this portion of the meeting. District residents and staff are invited to address the board
on educa the board of education on any item. The board requests that individuals state their name and town of residence or school of attendance for the record. Additionally, all in person public comments are asked to please sign in. All comments should be directed to the board president and depending upon the nature and complexity of the
question, it may or may not be answered during the meeting by the administration. If so, the response would the response would occur after this public portion of the meeting has concluded. Although the board may not respond to all items raised during the public forum, all public comments will
be considered. The board asks that 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. Will not will nor will it not be liable for comments made by members of the public. Please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting, the board president may terminate the participants statements. Uh continued disruptions may result in removal from or adjournment of
the meeting. Each speaker statement will be limited to three minutes in duration. And we'll take in-person comments first and then online comments. Would anybody in person like to speak? We have somebody joining us.
Sure. Liz Kaine, resident, Berkeley Heights. I'm just trying to understand. I don't I can't make it through these meetings all the time, so I'm sorry. I don't Yeah, I just I'm curious about two things. I know you're continuing on with the
assistant having two assistant principles at this school. I'm just I don't understand what cutting the duration of that contract would do other than you would have to
find somebody to you would still need to hire somebody in six months, right? Okay. And um my question very excited about securely staying. I use it a great deal and I can't think of
my other question now. That was it. It So either way, right, we have two assist. Oh, that's what it was. Um, we approved the contract for Mountainside, but that doesn't mean they accepted it,
right? Because that's still under Is there Well, there was something about Mountain Side. No, there was um so it it we have an existing contract with Mountainside and this was just um an acknowledgement of that year. So we're still in the same contract but every
year we pass a resolution that outlines the cost. >> Okay. But that doesn't >> the send and receive is still in negotiations. >> Yes. Understood. >> Yeah. And then I think to answer your other question um the the vice principal um
term was not the motion didn't pass. So it's no I know >> yeah it's for the full >> but there would have been like from past meetings you are maintaining to have two assistant principles. So that um that didn't
pass. The part that didn't pass had it passed all that says is by December we have to figure out who the newest or the permanent assistant princip. >> So my motion was so we >> and I don't know if she's allowed to >> No. So I'm just clarifying.
>> Yeah. Yeah. >> So we had two assistant vice principles at GL. One of them left, resigned and went to Melbourne. Jackie >> Bartlett. So we are not I don't think we have advertised for a new vice principal role. We had an interim vice principal
here for 3 months. I think I believe it was 3 months or something. So we were extending that interim vice principal for an year >> and what I was trying to do was reduce the interim vice principle for six months.
>> Right? So that would just shorten the interim vice principal like that person but not the position. So you would still need to fill it. >> Yeah. The the vice principal the actual vice principal position is still not filled.
>> Okay. Thank you. I don't need to keep you longer. >> Um does anybody else want to say anything? Okay. Let's move on to online comments. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Yes. >> Hi, excuse me. Uh John McGuirez,
Berkeley Heights. Um you know, I'm starting to notice that uh you know, public information about academic achievements are becoming more prominent. I think that's that's good and more celebrated and I think that's good. I thought CMS did a great job um
last week with the kids. It was really nice to see all the kids get some, you know, a lot of kids get something. It was it was it was, you know, a good a good event. Um few things and and one a couple of things I'd like to inform the board of and a couple of things I'd like
to ask about. So, the first is, you know, um I'm not the easiest person to get along with, but I've been back and forth with the uh New Jersey Department of Education on the changes that they've made to um proficiency exams.
And the email that I got from the director of communications basically admits that there was no validation, nothing, no studies that exist to the changes that they made. that that's going to come after the fact. And I and I think that's important for the public
to know. Uh my guess is they went on data from other school districts um in rolling this out in New Jersey, but this is millions of dollars. Now, the data itself appears to be consistent, you know, and again, I don't know whether whether the roll out was
for everybody, how it was applied, but I I think that is something that should concern the public. Um there's a new DOE commissioner in place now. Um so you know that that that's just something to sort of keep in the back of our minds. I guess the the other the two pieces that
I'd like to sort of ask or you know I guess bring up the the the first obviously is gaggle again and you know the the question becomes like what reporting is going to be um a I so Pam asked this question last
meeting and I I just didn't hear the answer and when I did when I tried to get the recording I couldn't hear it. Are staff emails and staff communication going to be included in this? Um the other question I have is what reporting is the district going to have in terms
of aggregate you know incidents and how how many of those were legitimate? How many of those were sort of false flags? Like how is that program going to sort of be you know obviously held accountable? Where is that data going to
be housed? Um is that data going to be shared at all with third party vendors in the aggregate? I know that student information isn't, but is that data going to be used for other purposes? You know, for example, Gaggle doesn't appear to have an issue talking about its
internal statistics, which nobody could verify, but and in other words, they're integrating even the data into some of their marketing statements. So, I I I'd really like to get I'd like the public to have a very very clear picture on on the intricacies of this, how it's
going to be held accountable, and I think there should be public reporting on it. Uh the the last piece I might run a little over, I'm sorry. The last piece is high impact tutoring, and the New Jersey Department of Education uh and I, you know, just uh gave out about 7.5
million to 55 districts who needed it. they they you know those districts need high impact tutoring. If we made some better if we made some different choices and I'm not gonna use the word better because I'm trying to be nice. If we if we made some different choices with our budgeting
you know everybody for a long time in this district has acknowledged that there's a difficulty with the middle in terms of our students. High impact tutoring has some really strong evidence-based results and we can acknowledge that our
proficiency scores have not been up to par. And we could say kids don't care and and but I guess every district can say that, right? Like what makes our kids care less than the other districts that are performing better on these proficiencies? And then the other question is do our kids not care about
the SATs? Right? because when we compare ourselves to these seven districts, we're lower on that as well. Now, SATs are less of a valid indicator of how well schools are teaching. That's a I I view that as more of an aptitude test than anything, but
it it's peripherally connected, right? So, so these are hard these are questions that are important that I don't feel are talked about. I think we talk about things in very vague terms and theories and models. Um, and look, if if if if the BHEA is a barrier to
high impact tutoring, if it's a union issue, maybe that's something the public should know about. Is it a cost issue? Like, what what is what is the problem or what's been the uh what's been the holdup in sort of an announcing an aggressive plan that invests in
something like that uh for our students. That's it. Uh have a good night. >> Thank you. Um, Dr. Feltry, do you have any comments or on any of those questions? >> Well, I don't have any of the data he's looking for.
>> So, >> I think we haven't started to use Gaggle, so I have no data for that. And I've been researching some of the things um that that uh um Mr. McGrez has has spoken to. And in terms of high impact
tutoring, I mean that was ESSER funds. Um and the the awards that were awarded from the DOE is funded from the DOE. Um the districts that are doing it are are getting state or federal funds. Um because it is expensive. Um but yeah,
tutoring, you know, you all get tutors. So for Gaggle, I thought that at the last meeting we said there is monitoring of staff email as well. So I think that was the one question uh that John had. Yeah,
>> sorry that one. >> But as far as what Gaggle does with that data, we have no control over that. Correct. Or do do that's is that data that we >> follow up with Jeremy. >> Okay. >> I think the question on high impact tutoring is are we able to find money in
our budget for allocating some money for tutoring? So I think that's the I know I think everybody's aware that SR funds are over and my daughter used to get tutoring after school in middle school and it was very helpful and um when she
first when that was first offered somebody told me Michelle Gardner who used to be like an interim principal at CMS and I think prior to that there was a principal who ran a homework club at CMS which was very famous which was very popular a lot of students stayed there
and uh it was there for at least 2 years in in Berkeley Heights. So I don't know how and how was it made possible at middle school for almost an year and a half I think it under their supervision.
So what we are trying to see is is it something that we can plan for next year. I know this year's budget is all set, but is it something that we can do? >> I don't know at this point. I mean, that's during the budget development. I
mean, there's been a lot of things that have been asked for tonight that have a dollar sign to them. So, >> I think one of the other things um that um we're trying to dive into a little bit more is looking at grants that are
out there and maybe that's a good avenue is to try to see if there's some grants. I know that um Mrs. Nicholson and I have been talking to leveraging some of the databases that are out there um where they house a lot of the grant
information um to see if maybe that's something we can capitalize on and and possibly there's a grant out there that we could leverage to address the high impact tutoring. We'd have to look at it. >> Go ahead, Dr. Porter.
uh as I was looking at 2200 curriculum there's a lot of attention to you know this is what we have to do to develop a curriculum um and there's of course state testing associated with all this but I can't find anything that says what actually is
our obligation if the student is below proficient are we what are we what are we required to do does anybody So what I can share is that we've just made revisions to our curriculum documents. Um and there will be a page.
So with when we talk through on curriculum committee about uh multi-tered systems of support really looking to ensure that that would be our tier 2 our small group interventions are in place and that students are monitored and that we have a system for providing
interventions for students who need it and for progress monitoring those interventions in the future. So, I would say that we'll have an overview of a district document within that curriculum document for teachers to know what they're held accountable to and what
they can do for students. >> I mean, okay, that sounds good, but uh when you when you use the language of tier one, tier two, tier three, >> that's special ed, isn't it? >> No, that's not special ed. We and we have had we have currently had in place
our uh win groups at the elementary level, our what I need groups as well as our foundations first at uh Colombia and then our MSTA program at uh Governor Livingston as well >> is >> so I think I have the question that Dr.
Foriger is asking and we have asked this from Dr. Curtis before is we have the standardized state tests NJSLA right and I've seen the report and I have voiced this concern like I've seen my own child sometimes on some subjects
come back as not proficient so by the state and by the as a public school entity are we expected to do anything when we know that a particular student is not
proficient on in JSLA is it documented somewhere because that is the part that we cannot find. >> The the state requires us to have a plan for what to do if those students are below proficiency. The state does not require what our plan entails. Okay.
>> I have president I have a qu in regards to tutoring. Do we have teachers in our district now that can provide that service? Well, if it's a current student that is of that particular teacher or
that department, generally the educators will provide time to spend with the student to assist them, I guess, is really the right word. >> They can't tutor their own students, >> right? They can't tutor the word, I
guess. Right. It's not tutoring, >> right? Correct. But my question would be in our district >> a lot of teachers if they're willing to yes they have tutoring services on the side um and and they will do tutoring for students typically they meet in a
library or something like that but that's up to them >> and that's at the parents expense. >> Okay. >> I'm sorry. >> And I had a thing on the tutoring. So, I'm a National Honor Society and we
offer free peer tutoring every single day in the IMC during lunch and in the morning. Um, and it's heavily undervalued. I've done peer tutoring in the library for
at least I've done it at least 10 times, maybe more. And I've only had one student come in and ask for help. And the issue is that the students don't advocate for themselves to come seek out
help from us. I mean, I understand that peer tutoring might not be I mean, obvious no actually it's not at the same level as the high impact tutoring obviously cuz I'm not a trained professional. The fellow peers who are in National Honor Society are not
trained professionals either. But everyone who's in National Honor Society has to go through a rigorous selection process that ensures that you are able to cover a wide range of topics and classes that
are offered at GL. And a lot of these classes are from students who are in these classes that we've already taken. So we have experience and understanding of what goes on in those classes, what you need to understand, how to go through it, some study strategies on how
to get better in that class, time management, that sort of stuff. And I think that the price being free is that students need to understand that they have resource availability,
but they just don't use it. And also through National Honor Society, we offer uh you can contact us and we'll set up times to meet in like the library or uh at other places after school. We also do stuff at Deerfield every single Tuesday.
Um we help with the Deer Deerfield Elementary and Middle Schoolers with peer tutoring there and they find it to be really helpful. So, I would implore you guys to think more about utilizing all of this uh all the honor societies
that we have at GIO to help people. And I know that this year uh we had a lot of help from the science honor society to help with physics when we had uh issues earlier in the year with physics. And it was really helpful because a lot of students were having issues and their
parents were scrambling to try and spend thousands of dollars on tutors and ultimately it could be solved at no extra cost at all. >> CMS students also they have an honor society and they also uh offer tutoring
at certain parts of the year. >> Yeah. But just so we understand the high impact tutoring grant was for third and fourth grade students who were struggling in reading, right? So we ran that program, right? We ran that program
with the money provided by that grant for students in third and fourth grade only and it was for the most in need students to get one- on-one pretty much tutoring from a staff member who signed up for that. Um so I think we need to
right the high impact tutoring is very different than what is being discussed right the high impact tutoring was specific to third and fourth graders who were probably I think the kindergarten and first graders during COVID um I do believe they have extended that grant I
don't think we um have it this year but it's again it was for a specific need and it was for the the students in most need so it was not for the middle student to come after school and get extra help. It was specific targeted instruction for students who um
were falling behind um specifically in reading as well. So just to be clear. >> Okay. Um at this point um I'm going to move on to adjournment of um to executive session. And one thing I want
to explain and Mr. Dysler if I'm wrong here let me know. Um the intention of the board is to go to executive session and be done with the meeting. So do we have to actually go to
exec and then come back or can we actually close out this meeting and go into exec? >> So you can't technically close out this meeting. But I think what you're asking for is can we close in the other room? >> Yes. >> So I think the motion is going to be you're going to make clear that motion
to move to executive session. Uh, no action will be taken after executive session and you're going to close the meeting in this building, but it may not be back in this room. >> Correct. >> I I I think is everyone comfortable with that? Because I think you noticed the meeting for Governor Livingston. Correct. How do you do you notice the
meeting for this specific room or do you notice it for the building? >> We announced the room. I think according to OPMA, we have to close publicly. >> You have to close publicly. I guess my question is >> the announcement says GL cafeteria.
>> So if the announcement says GL cafeteria you have to come back here and close not if it's building then you can close technically building but if it says you've if you've set your meeting for this building you have to come back in this >> room sorry if you you notice as this room you have to come back in this room and close
>> and we have to announce what we are going to discuss the topics for going into exec before we go into exec. So your exemption for going in the personnel. >> Um no uh yes >> it's negotiations I guess >> it's negotiations and it's personnel.
>> Yeah. >> And you should give an expected amount of time and no action will be taken afterwards. Correct. >> Correct. So are you saying that we do have to come back here and close out? >> If you've noticed this room then yes because you're not closing
I don't know if you need to. Are you asking is it because you want don't want to hold people? >> I I don't want to hold people and I don't want to hold the staff because there's going to be a portion of the executive session where none of the staff are going to have to be are not going to be able to be with us.
>> What staff are you concerned of? >> Everyone else except for the board. >> So I I think you can have a board member to notify for purposes of minutes. You don't need your board secretary, your board secretary. can basically designate someone to take the minutes which I
presume is the motion to close the time the second vote and time. >> Okay. All right. So adjournment to executive session. Um whereas Berkeley Heads Board of Education seeks to adjourn to executive
session in full compliance with the Open Public Meeting Act NJSA 104-6. And whereas the open public meeting act provides that a public body may exclude the public from that portion of the meeting at which it discusses matters related to those identified below.
Matters rendered confidential by federal law, state law or court rule, individual privacy, collective bargaining agreements, purchase or lease of real property if public interest could be adversely affected. Investment of public funds if public interest could be adversely affected. Tactic or techniques
utilized in protecting public safety and property pending or anticipated litigation. Attorney client privilege personnel employment matters affected specifically spec specific perspective or current employees. Be it resolved Berkeley Heights board of education
adjourns to executive session to discuss matters related to personnel negotiations and student matters. And be it further resolved, the minutes of the discussion of any items will be disclosed to the public when matters have been determined and confidentiality is no longer applicable. I have a motion
to enter into executive session. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Bradford's first, Morales is second. Uh all in favor, voice vote. I I >> um we'll go into executive session at 9:43.