New Jersey, Star Ledger, North, New Jersey, and Tap into West Essex. Uh, notices have also been posted at the Board of Education business office in Harrison School Building, Grey Street, West Codwell, New Jersey. Um, and has been delivered to the clerk burrow of
Codwell and Clerk Township of West Codwell for posting. Um, Brian, can we have the role? Yes. Miss D Martini here. Miss Landalfi Jefferson here. M. Mack
here. Mr. Diamola here. Miss Groso. We have four voting members present. We have a quorum. All right. Can we stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Um, Brian, are there any communications? There were none.
All right. So, starting off, we have the superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. Jim Bola. Um, first I'd like to welcome our uh James Coobal High School student council who will serve as student representatives of the board of education meetings for the 202526
school year. Um, I'd like to ask our students to come on up. So each of you could please just come to the microphone, say your name and what your position is in the student council and then we'll be swearing you. Okay. Okay.
Um I'm Maya to representative of the Cwell West Call Board of Education and that I will faithfully and justfully perform all the duties according to the best of my ability. So help me God. Do I have to? Okay. Welcome. Thank you.
I'm Angelica Parath and I'm the school secretary. Yeah. I, Angie Perth, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey, and that I will bear truth, faith, and allegiance to the
same and to the governments established in the United States and the state under the authority of the people. So help me God. I, Angelica Perth, do so solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law to be the student representative of the Caldwell West
Caldwell Board of Education and that I will faithfully and justly perform all the duties according to the best of my ability. So help me God. I'm Adeline Laymans. I'm the vice president of student council. I, Adeline Lammons, do solemnly swear
that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to do the same for the governments established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people. So help me God. I Adeline Lammons do solemnly swear that
I possess the qualifications prescribed by law to be the student representative of the Caldwell West Cowwell Board of Education and that I will faithfully and justfully perform all the duties according to the best of my ability. So help me God. Hi, I'm Ta Fiori and I'm the president
of student council. I, Ty Fiori, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and that I will bear the truth, faith, and allegiance to the same and to the government established in the United States and
this state under the authority of the people. So help me God. I Tai Fiori do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law to be the student representative of the Caldwell West Caldwell Board of Education and that I will faithfully and justly perform all the duties according to the best of my ability. So help me
God. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] And I'm going to ask a picture. Okay. It's always exciting when we have
students uh become part of our governmental process. So, thank you so much for being here. Uh the next thing on our uh for my superintendent report this evening is um to give you a little bit of an update on some of the things that have been
happening in the schools. Uh on September 2nd we had our staff convocation and um that's when all of the staff members in the district come together and we have a a little bit of a breakfast together and meeting together
to kick off the school year. Um this year we met here in the uh performing arts center and uh we had the opportunity to um have a very uh I I think a positive start with one another.
It was very collegial. Um we had the opportunity to talk a little bit about why we got into education in the first place and um one of the things that I felt was really important is uh saying thank you. And there are so many thank
yous that really were said and should be reiterated. Thank you to all of our staff members, our custodial staff, our maintenance staff, our um administrative assistants in the schools, our par profofessionals, our teachers, our administrators, and everyone who
contributes to making sure that school is ready for our students. Um teachers were uh then and everyone really then went back to their home schools. uh after our meeting, but before they did, we had several staff members who
received milestone awards through the um the association. And those were staff members who have been with the district for 25 years or more. And there were several and we're going to be um doing something special for all of our staff members in the upcoming months, but uh
who have had that kind of a milestone. But I wanted to make sure that I just gave you a little bit of a a heads up about it because you know to have people who are not only in education for that long but in one district and spending their careers in one place and contributing for so long. But you know I
always said when I started to have the children of former students I knew I had been you know in one place for a good long time and it it felt good and I know these teachers feel the same way and staff. Um, the other thing I wanted to
update you all on is our search for the new Jefferson principal. Um, we, as I said, uh, in my last meeting with you all, I said I told you that we were going to do some surveys and we did. We had a staff survey and a parent survey
and the results of those surveys were intended to help us create the posting for the position and make it truly unique and and meaningful to the Jefferson community. So, thank you to all of the parents and all the staff members who took those surveys. Um, we
posted for the position last week, last Friday, and it'll be open until, so it was two Fridays ago, and it'll be open till this coming Friday, and I'm happy to say that as of this afternoon, we had 61 applicants for the position. So, it's
um it's a highly soughtafter principal ship and and I know that we're going to find somebody great. Uh, the next step is um two two parent and staff meetings. There's a parent meeting. Um, I'm going to be working with the uh the staff
administration and the um the HSA uh president to determine the dates and times of sta of uh parent meetings. I'm hoping that we can have one during the school day and one probably early evening or so so that we give parents
who can't make one or the other have them, you know, able to attend a meeting. Um, and then there will also be a staff meeting coming up and those the purpose of those meetings is to hear from people um in the Jefferson community about um you know what kinds
of questions they'd like us to ask the candidates as we interview them in person. Um sometimes there are very generic questions that we have to an ask ask but uh you know when you have a situation where you're you're finding a leader for a school community it's
important to know what that community feels are the important pieces. So that'll be next and uh from there we're going to hold several rounds of interviews uh until we find our successful candidate. and the board has agreed that um on November 3rd we'll
hold a special meeting to appoint our successful candidate. And the reason we want that meeting to that appointment to happen in November is because if in the event that that person is from outside the district, they will have to give their own school district 60 days notice before they'll be released to come to
us. And so we want to make sure we give whoever our candidate is the opportunity to have that 60-day notice period so that they can begin and you know we won't have any hiccups in the road. Um I want to thank Alina Jacobs who's our
director of elementary education who's been shephering Jefferson in the start of the school year in Mr. A's absence. He'll be back this week. Um, but I just want to make sure that everybody knows Jefferson is in good hands and will continue to be.
Um, the next piece of my report is actually not my report. Um, I'm going to invite our representative from Promejin Architects to come and talk about our referendum. Good evening everybody. It's nice to be back.
the um as many of you know there was a referendum passed where the infrastructure projects were approved and we've been diligently working on designs and developing those drawings further so that over the next several
months going into the holidays we'll be bidding things and then coming out into the new year you'll start to see a lot of construction happening but this evening I am here to provide an update on a question that is being presented did in November with the regular board
election and it has to do with a revised athletic center that the board asked we put together, submit to the department of ed, and then present to the community as a question. As you may recall, the athletic cent's
original proposal was to replace the existing with a twostory building. Um the athletic center goals at the time were and they remain to this day to modernize the existing athletic center to make it code compliant to provide
facilities for both the men and women not just athletes but physical education students and students throughout the campus. The um right now there is only a men's area allocated within that building. The
proposed building will have men and women facilities. The public restrooms are old and small and I would dare say even non-existent. They are single fixtures and the rest are portagons. Uh the proposed are new code compliant and multi-ixtures. Uh the barrierfree
compliance requirement for the current facility is non-existent. The proposed will be compliant and obviously today we would not consider this a modernized facility and the proposed facility would be modernized. Uh this is an aerial view of the existing property and you will
notice on the right hand side of the screen at approximately 3:00 is the existing building. The track and field are probably most recognizable. The existing one-story building is approximately 3,000 square ft. The proposal is to reconstruct a new
facility again one story not the two stories that was originally proposed in the other question. uh this would be about 7,080 square feet and the blue footprint that is represented on the screen would be the new footprint and by way of comparison the red outline is the
existing fieldhouse athletic center today. This is a floor plan of the proposed facility. It's similar to what was in the original plans uh minus elevator stairs and a second floor. working from
left to right. There is a trainers area proposed so that there's a facility that is near the athletic sites and that the trainer has a place to keep equipment to see athletes. Uh the blue areas that are
on either side of the area in the middle that is green, those represent the locker facilities. They are exactly the same for the men's side and the women's side consisting of a larger locker room and a smaller locker room and uh restrooms for each of those uh locker
areas. The green area in the middle are public restrooms, multifixures with a unisex family restroom accessible from the back and then in the front a custodial closet for cleaning supplies. And then all the way to the right is
storage that would be used by the various teams, the physical education classes, etc. This is a revised rendering uh very similar in architecture in so much as we're trying to match what exists today
here at the high school and uh connect the two. Obviously, this proposal is a one-story proposal, not a two-story proposal that was originally proposed with the last referendum. So, here are some frequently asked questions that we've gotten over time
and that we'd like to answer. The first is what is the budget? So, the budget is $ 8.5 million. It is 55% less than the previous proposal which was two stories and which is arguably the largest push back that was received
by the board from the community. Uh my takeaway as a third party was that the community supported the idea of replacing what was there and that the major concern was this additional multi-purpose space that had a significant investment associated with it. So again, when we went back to the
drawing board, we went down to one story and reduced the budget and the cost uh significantly. Is the athletic center just for football is a question that continues to come up and the answer is no. I think you've heard from different coaches over the last several months when we were
presenting even the old plan. Uh that is for physical education students. There were parents that were discussing the medical needs of their children and the ability to go to a private place to take care of those medical needs. There's the need for a reasonable uh restroom facility for students that don't have to
come back all the way to the main high school building unsupervised. And obviously athletes of all types from soccer to lacrosse to field hockey and every other sport that will be up and around the athletic complex would have
the ability to go in there and to change, to go in there and use the restrooms and to go in there and just have a place to perhaps get out of inclement weather. The athletic center locker rooms uh are often asked for some clarification. So there are two locker rooms on the men's
side. One is a primary locker room expected to have between 60 and 80 lockers. The second is a smaller locker room with approximately 32 lockers. And then we match that exactly on the women's side. After the referendum passes, we will be sitting with the
coaches to narrow specifics down about what types of lockers they have a need for. So obviously this is more of a generic uh commentary on what is expected in each. Um there's always a question about why are things so expensive. I think we all
experience it in our daily lives. But as it relates to a public school project, one of the driving reasons that the projects are much more expensive than one might find in a public uh private project is the fact that prevailing wage
which essentially are union rates must uh contribute and support the high school. uh the numbers are very very close but each community has a different assessed value. That's a a more complicated discussion to get into but essentially the numbers are very close.
So between $83 and $84 annually on the average assessed home is what the tax impact would be. And ultimately uh once the referendum is successful, the public uh the uh bid for
the bonding will take place and certainly uh there's a reasonable likelihood that the rates will be even better than are being anticipated and these numbers could potentially be slightly lower. Why do I have to vote? Well, communities
must vote in order for the board of education to borrow money long term. Uh the goal here would be based on this building have a life expectancy of 50 or more years is that the board would probably borrow this money similar to a
mortgage for 20, 25, or even 30 years. I don't know exactly what those numbers were based on, but typically that is a very common practice for such large capital improvements. And that's ultimately why the community needs to vote just as they did with the last referendum.
How many questions are there this time? There's only one question that is outside the typical board of uh education vote. It will have to do with yes or no to support the new athletic center. And this will take place during the regular board election which is on Tuesday, November 4th. It will be a
question on that ballot when you go in there to vote on the other board uh related items. short and sweet. I'm happy to answer any questions that the board or the public might have. Is there a microphone? I know that you
guys are videotaping this at home, so I missed you. I haven't been here in a while. I know. I know. I asked a bunch in the last meeting, but uh and I asked Brian and he said to ask you. So, uh Liz Hart 149 Ravine. Um so,
do and I don't know if you actually know this. Bryant might actually know this more, but If I don't have the answer, I'll make one up. How's that? Yeah. No, I don't want you to make up answers. I want hard facts. So, the HVAC and plumbing, I looked at the budget cost estimate, right, is coming out to about $2.5 million. So, that's going to
be like a one-time cost, but I believe during the last, you know, bond referendum, this was asked, do we have an idea of what those actual costs are going to be operating wise moving forward? Right. Water bills are going up across everywhere. So is electricity.
That's a still a pretty big building. There's light fixtures everywhere. Um, obviously lots of restrooms. I saw that there's showers for the coaches. Um, so what what can we estimate that increase will be?
So I I don't have an answer for you. What I will say to you is that the current if there was no building there today, then I would say to you that you should expect a brand new line item on the operating budget for all the things
that are there, sewer, electric, water. The fact that there's an existing building there that is old and inefficient, you're already paying those things. So, my hypothesis will be that you're probably going to pay a little bit more because the building is bigger, but it's also going to be a function of
usage. So, um, when we build a new building like this, we put motion sensors in there, which means that lights go out when the kids go back out onto the field. Today, I'm going to guess, and I don't know this, but maybe someone can answer it, there are probably not light sensors in there, and when the lights go on, they stay on, and
you're paying it for unnecessarily. So, I don't have an answer to your direct question, but I would offer to you that proportionally it will be a little bit more, but it will also depend on the usage. And I will also say that when you have a nicer facility, people are going to be more um inclined to use it. I
remember some parents in the audience that were saying they go home to go to the bathroom because the facilities are so bad. Oh, that was you. Oh, perfect. Well, you're one of many, I think. Um, but now people are going to use the restroom, right? So, I I don't have a direct answer for you. There are a lot
of factors that go into it, but I would also offer to you that the fact that you have something there, the line items are already being carried and so just like every annual budget, they'll have to be budgeted after the first year to see the usage and to manage that accordingly.
Okay. Um, so then do we and again I don't know who I'm directing this question to. We'll tag team it. Yeah. Okay. So for the fieldhouse, right? So, is that planned to be open year round or just in the fall and the spring? So, I I don't have an answer for that,
but typically my experience is that the field houses used in the fall and the summer and depending on the circumstances, sometimes the public restrooms might be open if the weather conditions are okay. And what I don't know is do you allow the community to
walk on the track? Yeah. So when you open uh uh facilities up to community members, it's often something where the board would consider opening the restrooms so that the public in the middle of the winter if they're walking or if winter track has a nice day and they go outside, they would use it. But
obviously this is focused primarily on the fall and spring sports that are going to be out there in the in the area. If physical education goes out there in the winter because the weather's appropriate, then I suspect it would be open for that use. There's no common area in this building like it was
in the last run where kids would be going out there wrestling cheerleaders like before. This is really limited to the locker and restroom facilities. Okay. Sorry, I don't know if any do you have I have a bunch more, but I don't want to hog. So, and if I misspe, please correct me. I'll
just keep going. Um, Linda German, 43 Memorial Road. Um, I wanted to ask for this new proposal, and I don't even know what the case was for the previous proposal. Obviously, the the fieldhouse is what,
80 years old. It hasn't been updated in 80 years. It is in absolutely terrible shape. We need a new fieldhouse for sure. For this job, is like the whole building getting knocked down where you're just rebuilding from like the foundation up. Yes. Or are using
anything for No. Okay. Brand new building from the foundation. Building from the ground up. Okay. Okay, I have a little bit of an odd very specific question. Um, how tall are the ceilings in this building? I mean, I know I can see like the ceiling. You mean in the new building? Yeah, in the new Sorry.
So, in the in the new facility, um, and I'm going to guess because I don't remember it 100%. But I'm going to say that the ceilings are probably somewhere between 9 and 10 feet, which is higher than a conventional 8 foot ceiling. Um, and it
might even be higher in the storage areas. You can see on the far end of the rendering that one section of the building pops up a little bit because we want to take advantage of some verticality for storage of things, out of season stuff. But typically, the design of such a space takes into
account some of the acoustics. You're going to have a lot of athletes, kids, men and women on each side. They tend to be loud in a locker room. When you get a little bit of a ceiling height that's higher, you can dissipate some of those acoustics. So, um, that's my rough guesstimate based on my recollection of
the design, but it it there's a there's a a code requirement that we're meeting for the Department of Education, and that's the minimum that's going to be met. Okay. Okay. Um, and then the last question I have, um, is has there been
any con, but kind of piggybacking off the other question here with the cost of everything going up for operating expenses, has there been any consideration for doing any solar panels to offset any costs or does the outlay for that because solar panels are very
expensive at their initial purchase, something that's take 30 years to make it worth it? Again, I I don't know. You hit it right on the head. So solar panels are a talking point in almost every community that I present in. And
the realities are that in New Jersey without subsidies to invest in solar panels at the board's own expense would take a significant time to get a return on investment. Okay. There used to be
maybe uh what are we 25? So almost 20 years ago where the state and the department of education had subsidies where and I think it was a school district that had an ice rink which are far and few between but they benefited
from the state subsidies and the department of education subsidies and were able to implement the solar panels very inexpensively. Um, a lot of people are pursuing what are called p um PPAs, power purchase agreements where a school district partners with a private entity
and most of those clients of mine that have done that can't wait for that term to end and rip the solar panels out. So, it has been looked at. Um, it is not something being considered as part of this project for a few reasons. One of which is the return on investment. All right. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. And um I will pass this off to somebody else, but I just want to say I'm be excited to have a new fieldhouse and I've shown up here a couple times. I don't know if Mr. McCarthy remembers me because I advocated for bathrooms at all the fields. So I love public restrooms. Okay. I want them to come to our field.
You love these public restrooms. I'm not sure you love those public restrooms. Please, as somebody who has two small children, I love them. I hope they come to fruition. Sorry, I'm done. No, thank you. Hi, Kathy Moano, 45 Holiday Drive. I was disappointed the first time around this
didn't get passed. So, I think this is just as beautiful as the first time around and we're going to keep our fingers crossed um that it passes. My only question is, and you probably answered this the last time around, is even though we are knocking this down, which is going to be more
cost-effective, is there are there any funds built in to any contingencies, should we have any issues that arise, let's say, after demolition or so forth. The answer is yes. Department of Education requires us to carry a contingency. And the realities are that
even though we're knocking something down, there are always unforeseen conditions that we encounter. So we are carrying a contingency. If that money is not used, it will be returned. Back to the list. Yes. Sorry. Uh so speaking of
contingencies, right? So let's say the budget gets passed or the bond whatever the question gets passed. We approve and and it's you know for the 8.5 million. So once we actually go to start construction and those costs, let's say
are astronomically higher because of tariffs and whatnot, what happens then? So in addition to the construction contingency, we also are carrying a market escalation contingency. So we've anticipated that we're developing a budget almost a year and a half before
we're going to bid the project because post referendum, we still have a lot of drawings to develop for permitting and bidding, right? So there's a market escalation in there as well because we know that costs continue to rise. If for some reason we encounter an issue during the bidding phase, there are two options
in this case. One is that the district has some capital. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Brian, that they Yes, we do. Yep. And there was some discussion that based on the volatility of the market that they might allocate some of that
money depending on where the numbers are. Alternatively, we may have to cut back on some pieces of the particular project so that we can bring it within budget. So those are the two ways to manage it because the board cannot spend
more than the voters approved on that minus the capital which obviously they have and that was a third contingency for lack of a better term to deal with this volatile construction market. Great. So now you just that was going to be my next question. I'm throwing you softballs here. We're a
good team. Totally. Yeah. No, this is great. So I maybe you watched the video from the last one because I did not. I did not. I've just gotten to know you so well. Okay, great. So my next question is then who do we as voters get to vote on what gets paired back? Right? So let's say I
as a voter feel like I don't know. I mean I love our coaches but why do they have to shower? Why do you know in in the fieldhouse? Right. I got it. I mean I get you want to take a shower but like why do we need showers built in the field? And that's something and I don't mean this with any disrespect. We cannot design by
community discussions because it's it that would be very complex because for every opinion you have there are probably 10 other opinions. So we would ultimately look to pair it back in a way that still provides what was intended
for the community. So for example, we would never take away one of the locker rooms that the women have and leave it for the men. we would always maintain that parody. Those are the kinds of things that we would have to make decisions on. And we might also make
some decisions on finishes, for example. So something that maybe doesn't last for 50 years, but lasts for 25 years. And so the board will have to budget to redo something in 25 years rather than 50 years. So there are things that we can
do. Um we feel pretty confident with everything. And look, you made a very, very good point that I do not want to underestimate. The construction market is crazy, right? It's volatile. But part of the beauty of doing this in November is that we'll have time to develop drawings, be out to
bid before others for a reasonable amount of time to get the qualified contractors in to budget and build the project. So, that's really our goal. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. That was it. That's it.
I feel like I got off easy. We're good. Good. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. And that was that was all for that's all for the superintendent report. Thank you um for the president report.
Unfortunately, Miss Go is not here today, so I'm filling in and I don't have one. Um and committee reports we'll be doing uh next week at our at our uh voting meeting. Um
do we do approval of minutes this do we we do not? No. All right. So um next week we'll also be doing the approval of minutes. Um okay so we are uh on to public comment. So public comment on agenda. This is for agenda items only.
Um, public participation shall be governed by the following. Participation must be recognized by the proceeding officer and must be prefaceed comments by an announcement of their name and address. Statements are to be limited to three minutes duration. Uh, participants
may speak no more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard. All statements shall be directed to the proceeding officer. Uh boards use the public comment period of the meeting as an opportunity to listen to citizen
concerns but not to debate issues or enter into question and answer sessions uh or a crossexamination between the public and individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before the board meeting will be resolved that
evening. Boards may you boards may respond to public comments by seeking additional information uh or by uh delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his or her dele uh designate. Uh the the
proceeding officer may interrupt, warn and or terminate a participant. Um there are uh like the usual curriculum and technology. Um field trips. Um there are expense reports and
reimbursements. Um there are some resignations and leave of absences and amended leave of absences and rescended appointments. Um some curriculum and professional development
job descriptions. Uh under non-certificated, some resignations and some appointments. Uh substitutes, aids and secretaries for finance, there are certification of funds, secretary, secretaries report,
treasuries report, transfers, bills and claims and use of facilities. Uh looks like you know the the fields, the gym. We have some second readings of policies
as well as some first readings of policies and that looks like looks like everything. All right. So if there's no com if there's no comments, we can go to Oh, yes. Yeah,
that's fine. I didn't see you. I think you have to so our our people at home can see you. Great. Hi Kathy Moano, 45 Holiday Drive. I'm actually here um on behalf of my
daughter because I know there was a poll that went around about potential additional um sports coming to the high school. So, one of the things that my daughter's particularly interested in as I am is um girls flag football and there were other
things on there too. Um um so I'm just wondering what the status is on that and what we as a community can do to maybe help pass that and if I can just add one more thing since I'm up here. Um, I'm a big advocate of also a marching unit
band and I know that we don't have one and as great as our band is, is there anything that we as a community can do or or if we can know what is it a lack of interest, is a lack of participation
um to maybe get that up and running because I am a big sport mom, but I also um acknowledge that there are other interests in the school. And then my final point is um since I'm up here um last year when I was here for the
referendum I did bring up to the attention of those students in our community that are not necessarily collegebound. And back in the day when I was in high school, um the high school that I attended offered um mechanic,
plumbing, you know, more trade involved um classes, which I think from what I'm hearing and reading about is becoming more of um a necessity, a need out in the real world. So, I'm just wondering if the board has any plans to
potentially incorporate classes or make them, you know, for students that are not college prep. So, that's it. Okay. Those all don't have to be answered right now, but So, well, I can give you an update on flag football. Sure. Great.
U So, as you know, we um were able to uh hire coach and field a freshman girls soccer team for this year. And um hopefully I'm going to get to a game or two. Uh you know they uh they this this was all student driven
and with flag football we were looking at it at the same time and um because soccer is an existing program and flag football would be a brand new program. The athletic department um led by Mr. Romano. We were talking about making that a club for the for this coming spring. And so that's the plan. We're
hoping to have that fielded as a club in the springtime. So she'll be happy to get that update when I go home. Okay. And um as far as the and I can certainly board members if you'd like me to um at a an upcoming meeting I can talk a little bit about our relationship
with the uh county votech which is right down the road from us and it's um what happens in the state of New Jersey for schools um if there are students who want to participate as either full-time or part-time hybrid um in with the
county vocational schools um we have that capacity so that students students can attend the county votech if they're accepted and or do part of their day at the public school and the uh and take the vocational classes at the county vote. So, we're not replicating some of
the things that they can do, right? Better equipment and much much more um programmatically they have more of an infrastructure. But that's not to say that we don't have some great programs here. We have our shop programs um that have been going for many, many years. They're
fantastic. So, you know, and um and some of our other programs, photography programs in the art department and things that but I understand the trades and you know that's something as you're you're absolutely right schools are turning that around and they're saying how important having um young people become interested
in and train for some of those trades and we're very fortunate to have that Votech program right next door. So um you know I can present a little bit more cogently on that and probably talk to Mr. about joining me to do that at some point in the near future, but I did want to make sure that we addressed it.
Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions? Okay. So, now we can move on to non-aggenda questions. Um, I got to read this again. So, same things apply. So, public participation shall be governed
by the following. Participants must be recognized by the proceeding officer and must preface the comments by the announce announcement of their name and address. Statements are to be limited to three minute duration. Participants may speak no more than once on the same
topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. Boards use the public comment period of the meeting as an opportunity to listen to citizens to citizen concerns, but not
to debate issues or enter into question and answer sessions or a cross-examination between the public and individual members. Be aware that not all issues brought before a board meeting will be resolved that meeting. Boards may respond to public comments by seeking
additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his or her designate. Uh the presiding office officer may interrupt, warn, and or terminate a participant's comments if it
exceeds the allotted time or is objectedly obscene. Participants may be civily liable uh for any obscene, defamatory, or slanderous statements made during public comments. Does anybody have any comments that are not
on the agenda? Yes. Linda German, 43 Memorial Road. Um, I want I came because I had two completely unrelated items I wanted to uh present to the board today. One is small and hopefully easy, but we'll see. Um, I'm
here to advocate for the abolishment of summer packets at the elementary school level. I I understand there's research and things backing to avoid summer slide. You you don't want kids not touching anything educational for 8 to 10 weeks
straight. Um, as somebody who's a full-time working parent through the summer with another full-time working parent through the summer that only has kids in elementary school who are young who then gets sent to camp all day, it is very difficult to then sit down and say, "Let's do some math at 7:30 at night, you know, after they've been at
the lake and whatever all day and all." And these kids do work very hard throughout the year. I can't speak for everybody else, but I can promise you I work very hard with, as does my husband, with my two kids to do what they're supposed to do and do their homework while they're in session. Um, but also, you know, being that I'm not a teacher
and then if you have a question or a problem, you can't reach a teacher during the summer and then they go to a completely different teacher in September, it's all especially when they're changing schools and stuff. It's all very confusing. So, I don't know. It's my two cents on that. Um, and then
second, the much harder one that's completely unrelated is I attended the presentation by Max Staceil, who was part of the social awakening presentation back in June that the board put together for the district. Um, and
the key takeaway of that, and I learned a lot during that presentation, because again, my kids are young, they don't have phones yet, so I'm learning what's happening in the social media space, and it's certainly a lot. Um but the key takeaway from that from his research and his findings and the presentations his
he's done is that specifically at the middle school level they see a tremendous change in student behavior when the kids are not allowed to have their phones at all out from the time the bell rings for school day to start until the time the bell stops at the end
of the school day. The kids are not allowed to have their phones and he's made this presentation a number of districts throughout the country. Some have implemented that and he's consistently found results that were in his presentation where the principles and the parents came back and reported,
"Oh, hey, in the hallway now, instead of my kid texting their friend that's five feet from them about whatever, they're actually saying hello and having in-person conversations and like regaining back some basic social skills that are already so hard to navigate
during that difficult phase." So, um I know I also just found out New York State just passed the law for their entire state that it's banned through the entire school system for all grades now bell-to-bell. So, I mean, I think this is something that I'll be advocating for this year. I don't know
what the board or the district would want to see. I'm sure not every parent would agree with me, but I'm sure some will. Um, so I'd be happy to put together some petition or get signatures or whatever you guys need to see to support this. So, I would love some feedback at some point from somebody on
what would be needed to sort of have that taken in serious consideration for the following school year. And that's it. Okay. Any other questions? All right. Um, okay. Then may I have a motion to
end our public meeting and return to executive session? I'll make the motion. Second. I'll second it. All in favor? I I. All against nay.
Abstensions. Motion carried. Sounds good. Thank you everybody for coming out tonight.