Okay. Good evening everyone and welcome to the Caldwell West Calwell Board of Education public conference meeting today, Monday, March 9th, 2026. Um, tonight the board met in executive section actually at 6 o'clock pm. We did have a hearing at 5 o'clock pm, but that
wasn't an official executive. Executive started at six o'clock p.m. in room 105 here at James Cwell High School, 265 Westville a West Caldwell. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss personnel litigation, miscellaneous, and old business matters. The meeting had been advertised and is in compliance with the
Open Public Meetings Act and NJSA 104-6, also known as the Sunshine Law. The matters discussed will be made public when confidentiality is no longer required, and formal action pursuant to said discussion shall take place only at a meeting to which the public has been invited. The public conference meeting
is taking place tonight at 7:02 p.m. here in the James Cobbell High School cafeteria. The board of education meeting is being streamed live, but all community questions and comments will be welcomed here in person. The CO West Cwell board of education public conference meeting is in compliance with the open public's meetings act and
NJSA10 colon 4-6 also known as the sunshine law. Notices have been sent to the progress in Cwell, New Jersey, the Star Ledger in Newark, New Jersey and tap into West Essex. Notices have also been posted at the board of education business office which is located in the Harrison School Building Grey Street West Caldwell and have been delivered to
the clerks of the Burrow of Caldwell and the Township of West Caldwell for posting. Brian, can you please take the role? Yes, >> Mr. Dmbola >> here. >> Miss D. Martini >> here. >> Miss Landalfi Jefferson >> here. >> Miss Mack
>> here. >> Miss Groso >> here. >> Five voting members present. We have a quorum. >> Okay. Before we rise for the pledge of allegiance, I would just like to ask us, we're going to take a quick moment of silence for Ron Scopac who was our business administrator here in the
district for many many years and passed away. Um he was very young. I think he was either 71 or 72 years old, but he was a force here in the district. He was known when you talk about Ron, you talked about Dr. Gerardi, he was a dinosaur here and he meant a lot to a
lot of people. So, if we could just bow our heads and just take a quick moment of silence to remember him and his family. And on behalf of the board of education, we just want to extend our condolences to the Scopac family and to let them know that Ron's
work here and his legacy here will always be remembered. That being said, can we please rise 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. >> Brian, are there any communications for the board? >> Yes. Actually, I received a letter um which I'll distribute to the board from
our one of our recent class on scholarship um winners um Aiden Aiden Levi. Yeah. >> And I'm going to share it's a very nice letter. He's doing very well at University of Wisconsin and I'm going to share that with the board. >> That's awesome. And for anyone here who
doesn't know what the Clausen Scholarship is, the Clausen Scholarship is a scholarship that is given to Dr. Clausen was the principal of Washington Elementary School for many years. When she passed away, she had no family to leave her estate to and she gifted it to the district of Cowell West Cwell. The
specifications of the scholarship are that the student must have been enrolled in Is it K? Is it Brian? Does it start from kindergarten? You had to go through Washington K through five. >> Yes. You're tired. >> Yeah. You had to go through Washington K through five. You have to have um like obviously gone to James Cobb High
School, middle school, high school, and you have to have the highest the only requirement is you have to have the highest SAT score of anyone who attended Washington School. The student that's picked gets a full scholarship to college, all four years free tuition. So
Aiden received that last year and um yeah, it's a pretty if anyone ever wants to come to the scholarship awards, they're in June here at the high school. We do them out on the field and I will tell you when that Clausen scholarship the shrieks from the parents it is something like you could cry and you get
goosebumps because it's a wonderful thing. So I think that's so kind that Aiden and look forward to reading that letter. >> Agreed. >> Okay. So now we're going to start with the superintendent's report. >> Okay. Good evening everyone. Uh as always I'd like to start this evening um
my report this evening by inviting two of our students from uh Greg Cleveland Middle School. Jacob Varela Heyman from House Leadership and Andrew Dambola from the House of Responsibility. Gentlemen, want to go on up.
Hi. Okay. Sorry. Hi. And thank you to Dr. Fenari and the board of education for inviting us to speak tonight. I am Jacob Himement and I am representing the House of Leadershed. >> Good evening. I'm Andrew Dan Bolo from
the House of Responsibility. GCMS is now halfway through the third marking period. The end of the year is right around the corner. The book fair will take place Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Students will attend during their ELA classes and can also go after school at lunch and at lunch. GCMS is 100th
anniversary celebration is happening. Please attend this special event on Wednesday, March 18th at 8:30 in the GCMS auditorium. There will be lots of fun performances and presentations. Coming in in March for St. Patrick's
Day, GCMS holds a leprechaun hunt for a week. There is a single clue every day hinting at where the clue was referring to. Students had to find the hidden place and post a picture with it to prove they found the spot. After a week
of clues, students had to find where the last clue was and then be the first to report who the hidden leprechaun was. Next week is also spirit week, so be sure you check to see what you need to wear each day in order to participate.
Friday, March 13th is our day of giving at GCMS. GCMS is collecting donations for the service projects the students will be making on Make a Difference Day. We will be providing essential assistance to those
who are facing difficult times. Sixth grade is collecting for Seat and Hold Dove, which is an organization that helps combat local hunger. The sixth graders are being asked to bring in nonp perishable items and microwavable items.
Seventh grade is collecting toiletries and food items for St. John's soup kitchen in Newark. And the eighth graders are being asked to bring in donations to write letters and make cards love for our elders. Elders,
>> make a difference day is upcoming Friday, March 27th. On make a difference day, several representatives come to speak to the students about how they make a difference, how they can make a difference to their community. This is a day of one of this is this day is one of
the ways that GCMS makes a difference in their community. This day is one of the ways GCMS honors Jim Brown, a man who recognized the importance of helping those around you. Make a Difference Day is a way for students to connect to the community and their peers as well. Many
community members volunteer their time not only to their organization but to their students on this day as well. In the past, we have been honored to have Dana Hunkley from Caldwell Council, Jen Ken Jurgens, Calwell Council, Julianne
Groso, Board of Education, Terry D. Martini Greenley and Fiona Latty Girls on the Run and Garrett Jones, Mayor of Calwell. Everyone's favorite presenter is the seeing eye dogs. >> Yes.
>> My favorite aspect of being a house leader is controlling and organizing house days and running the games with a friend. >> Um, my favorite part of being a house leader is being able to contribute to the fun activities with my peers. Thank you again, Doc, Dr. Fernari and members
of the board of education for your time. Do you have any questions? >> Does anyone have any questions? He answered my question. >> I think you guys did a great job. Are you guys excited for high school? >> Yeah. >> You're almost there, right? You're in the home stretch. Awesome. Thank you
guys for coming. >> Take a picture. You want to take a picture? Okay, >> those are all my clothes. >> All righty. >> You better hang it back up. >> Okay, >> my clothes. >> So, to continue on with tonight's superintendence report, um I may repeat
what some of the some of the things that our two middle school students just said, but bear with me. Uh so, as of today, um we have one inclement weather day left, and we're going to pray for no snow. Um, if we don't use that day, uh, we'll
make an announcement and get information out to the community as soon as we can regarding how that day will be given back. Um, congratulations to our JCHS girls basketball team on their outstanding win on Friday night against Madison.
The team are section 2 champions and that's the first time in 30 years that the girls have >> brought home a playoff. So that's fantastic. Uh they're moving on to the sectional against section one and that's going to be in
>> tomorrow night. I believe it's sold out. If you didn't get your tickets, I think it's sold out. Um >> yeah, but you can live I'm sure it's live being you can live stream it. >> Yeah. But we just want to wish um our give congratulations to our student athletes and to the coaching staff. Uh
it's a great accomplishment. >> Um also this past weekend our uh James Cobell High School play production of Xanadoo um was >> performed for several audiences and it was a resounding success. I mean I'm singing along back in my seat with all
the songs. Brought me back a few years. Um the students were wonderful and there was um just an opportunity to to really see the the talent shine through not only of our cast but of our crew members and the
directors and um and their adviserss as well. So great job to our student um performers and and you know that that takes a lot. That's my area, right? And I know several of you are also >> former theater people, so you know, you
know how much effort it takes to put on a great production. And we just want to congratulate all of the students and their teachers. Um, we've been doing our community connections program for parents, our workshops during the course of this school year. And I just want to
let everyone know that our next um community connections parent workshop is scheduled to take place on March 19th at James Cwell High School at 6:30. And the subject of that workshop is the impact of screens and social media, what all parents must know and do. So we're
hoping for a good turnout. It's a topic that I know is um something that's very current and that hopefully will be helpful to parents to learn a little bit more about. And as our middle school students just said, the 100th anniversary celebration of Grover
Cleveland Middle School will take place at GCMS on March 18th at 6:30. Please join us to commemorate the school and its history. And that concludes my report. If board members, if you have any questions, please let me know. >> Questions?
Okay. And then, yep, just on behalf of the board, just to echo Dr. Fernari's comments, just sending big congratulations to the casting crew of Xanadu. Wonderful performances this weekend. Um, our girls basketball team, we're so proud of them. Wishing them big
good luck tomorrow night. I believe they played Glenrock Bloomfield High School. So, please, if you can't get tickets, if you have your tickets, go cheer loud for everyone. If you can't, please live stream and support them. Um, and of course to coach Keenan, um, who's been coaching these girls for years. A big
kudos to her and her staff. Um, Coach Lisa, Coach Tremor, all of them. Um, we also have six wrestlers going to the states this weekend, which is a huge accomplishment. I think we had nine go to regions, nine go from we had 12 go to districts, nine go to regions, and six
going to states. So, that's incredible. Congratulations to Coach Romano and to them, and we'll see what happens this weekend. That's a really big accomplishment. And today, spring sports started also, which is very fun. So, the high school is a buzzing. Um, and on the
middle school end, Spongebob is cast and in rehearsal. So, Spongebob will be taking place in May. That seems like it's going to be adorable. A lot of those kiddos came to see the middle uh the high school production this weekend. So, excited for that as well. Um, okay.
So, this is not a voting meeting tonight. Um, next week we will be I'm sorry, excuse me. Yep. We're going to vote on one curriculum item, but I'm just going to peruse the agenda. Um, but before that, I'm going to open up public comments on agenda items only. So, I'm
just going to remind everyone that public participation shall be governed by the following. Participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments, but by an announcement of their name and address. Statements are to be limited to three minutes duration. participant may speak no more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on
that topic have been heard and all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. Boards use the public comment periods of the meeting as an opportunity to listen to citizen concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or a cross-examination between the public and individual members. Please be
aware that not all issues brought before the board will be resolved this evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or her designate. The presiding officer may interrupt, warn, and or terminate a participant's comments if they exceed
the allotted time or are objectively obscene. Participants may be civily liable for any obscene, defamatory, or slander statements made during the public comment portion of the meeting. That being said, right now public comment is just on agenda items only. Does anyone want to come up and address
the board on anything on the agenda? No. >> Okay. All right. Then moving on. Um I'll just peruse curriculum and technology, then we'll do the vote. Okay. So, we have um tonight we're going to be voting on some HIVs. Um there's next week
there's curriculum that we're looking at for um language arts 7 and woodworking. We have field trips we're going to be approving next week. um out of district placements tonight. We're also going to approve special services consultation services. So, it's just going to be
voting on the HIV's A and F tonight. Um which is the special services consultation services. Um next week we're going to have retirements, which I have to say I was shocked by and saddened. So, we're going to be approving two retirements of two
long-standing educators in our district that we will accept with regret um but well wishes. Um some appointments of extracurricular activities, non-athletic um leaves of absences,
um finances, just certification of funds just like our regular. And then we're going to have usage of school facilities next week, which is really um for the fall um Cowell University's um usage of Bonell Field.
And then it looks like for the spring also Sunday night um league field hockey league for um the springtime here at Bonell Field. And then we also have some policies that we're going to be approving next week. All right. So that being said, let's do the approval of
curriculum and technology and then we'll open up for public comments on anything off the agenda. >> So Danielle. >> Okay. Uh upon a recommendation of the superintendent of schools, motions to approve items A and F only under curriculum and technology on this evening's agenda.
>> Okay. Before I for a second, any comments or questions from any board members on A or F? Okay. Then may I have a second, please? >> I'll second. Okay. And then Brian, if you could please take the role. >> Yes. Mr. Gambola, >> yes. >> Miss Steve Martini, >> yes.
>> Miss Lindali Jefferson, >> yes. >> Miss Mack, >> yes. >> Miss Groso, >> yes. >> 50. Motion carried. >> Okay. And that being said, we'll move to open up public comments on anything off the agenda. Again, to remind everyone, public participation shall be governed
by the following. Participant may be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of their name and address. Statements are to be limited to three minutes duration. Participant 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 citizen concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and individual members. Please be aware that not all issues brought before the board will be
resolved this evening. Boards may respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or her designate. The presiding officer may interrupt, warrant, and or terminated participants comments if they exceed the allotted time or are objectively obscene. Participants may be civily liable for
any obscene, defamatory, or slander statements made during the public comment portion of the meeting. That being said, would anyone like to get up to address the board this evening? Good evening. Kevin Murray, 478 Payic Avenue, West Cwell. Um, I had a question. I saw in one of
the previous meetings that you're going to use capital reserve funds to build a fieldhouse. has that been decided and voted on or is that something you've just decided to do? Is and I know this isn't question and answer but >> so it's going to be um it will be
integrated uh into our FI27 budget for the um withdrawal for 6 million for a fieldhouse >> 6 million >> will be voted on when we um we pass the budget. So I just if the community voted twice on this matter and rejected it
both times, why are we going forward with this and spending capital reserve funds that are needed for emergencies and for building and field building operations? Why is it being used for a fieldhouse that was rejected twice by the community? >> You want to answer or do you want me to
comment? It's up to you. Lydia, you want to >> Sure. Yeah. So, what we as as a school district, what the uh referendum votes were for were for additional taxation of the community on the funding to build a new fieldhouse.
What the district still has on its hands is a facility that is outdated and is in many ways not code compliant. And in order for our students to have a place that is um really safe and and up to
code for the purpose that it's being used, the district still feels strongly that that facility needs to either have improvements or needs to be replaced. And so the capital reserve and Brian correct me if I'm wrong, but the capital reserve funds are there for this kind of
issue. We also um are not looking to spend the kind of money that we had put in that referendum, but looking to spend money that is very reasonable and um is not going to be an additional burden on the uh the public tax authority, but is
money that we have set aside. It's already in our accounts in that reserve. >> I'm just at a loss. I don't understand. This has been put between I know you're saying the bond referendums were for acquiring money to do these projects
for this specific project. It was put before the community and rejected twice. Two times that you've spent money. You've spent school district money to analyze it to put forward the bond referendums and it's been rejected twice and then you're just going why don't you
just go ahead and do this to begin with instead of wasting everyone's time and money and do what you wanted to do anyway. That's what what I don't understand how much do you know um Mr. McCarthy, do you know how much money was spent on preparing and setting up and putting forth the votes for the two
referendums that were put out there? >> The I do I do. So the the first referendum um we had two questions as you're aware. The first the first one which passed were for major security and
structural improvements for various schools in the district. >> Um and the second question uh >> and the steam labs right so steam labs in addition so that one in March um we spent somewhere
between 80,000 and $100,000 for that um special election. Uh and we had to do that to pass the larger um question $23 million for the security and up you know various upgrades for the various schools
including the steam lab at the high school. >> Um >> the second uh and that was in March. The second um question and that was for question number two was for a 15.5 million fieldhouse. we were going to
contribute two million from capital reserve and borrow 13.5 million. The second uh question was in November and then that question um we're the fieldhouse was going to be half the size. It was going to be 8.5 million and
that was going to be borrowed um there was going to be no capital reserve contribution. That was all going to be financed through a 20-year borrowing. Right. there was no cost for that um that that vote because that was part of the um the normal election process. So
the first one in March there was a cost but we had to go out for the larger question. Um so at the same time we did a second question. >> Did I answer that? >> You you did it and just it's a lot of wasted time and effort. you you wasted
the community's time going out to vote on this and now you're just doing what you want to do anyway, which I don't understand. So, I'm disappointed, but thank you. >> Thank you. I will say from the board's perspective, passing a $23 million question one to do safety improvements and security improvements and put steam
labs in every elementary school and a state-of-the-art steam lab which will be nothing to what this high school has ever seen wasn't a waste of time or energy on the voters to the board's opinion to the voters or to the school district. Um, and as far as the
fieldhouse goes to just echo what Dr. Dr. Fernari Sang and she is speaking on behalf of the board. Mr. Murray, you know, the fieldhouse as it stands, we challenged the public multiple times in a year and a half's time to go to that fieldhouse. We opened it at numerous
meetings. We held every meeting here at the high school to encourage people to educate themselves about how unsafe that building was and to let them see how our female students have no place there. I'm sorry, our female athletes, excuse me,
they are our students also. But Mr. Romano also told everybody that 80% of the student body is involved in athletics. It touches more than half of this high school. And that building is a safety issue and it's
an equity issue and it's something I'm sorry that that's why the board went out and spent time to do. We felt we were very fiscally responsible. We could have done another special election. We did it. We went on the November ballot to to not spend any more money. But that special election in March, the board is
very feels excellent about what we did because the structural upgrades, the steam lab here itself at JCHS is going to be something that is going to last for decades and touch hundreds and hundreds of children. So, but I just have to clarify that. So, um, anybody
else want to get up and speak to the board this evening? Come on up. Hi, Christina Press, 22 Eastern Parkway. >> Samantha O'Neal, 14 Johnson Avenue. >> Good evening, members of the board. um to kind of go off of what you were
talking about as far as money putting towards security. That's kind of what our our conversation is about tonight. So, we are both parents of students at Wilson School and like every parent here, when we send our child to school each day, we expect them to learn in a safe, secure environment. I want to
start by acknowledging that we do understand the district has taken steps to improve security, including the incoming vestibule as well as the camera systems in the schools. Cameras are helpful, but they are not enough on their own. They record incidents after they happen, and they cannot intervene
or respond in real time. As parents, that's a concern. Across the country, nearly half of public schools now have law enforcement officers regularly present. Many New Jersey districts including Newark, Bloomfield, North Caldwell, Essex Spells, and Rosland and
districts throughout Morris County already have armed school resource officers or class 3 retired police officers working directly in the schools to prevent incidents, respond immediately, and assist with safety planning. As a parent, what concerns me most is response time. If something were
to happen at one of our schools, an officer who is already inside the building can respond immediately. in seconds rather than waiting several minutes for outside responders to arrive. Our children spend a large part of their day in these buildings and as parents, we want to know that everything
possible is being done to protect them. Tonight, I respectfully ask the board to place a discussion item on the agenda in the near future to evaluate the feasibility of placing trained security personnel such as a school resource officer or class 3 special law enforcement officer in every school
building in our district. Cameras are an important tool, but real safety also requires trained professionals who can respond immediately when seconds matter. As parents, we simply want to ensure that our children and the staff who care for them are as safe as possible while they're in school. Thank you for your
time and consideration. >> Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Thank you. Did Did you want to speak too or you're you're good? >> I just wanted to know what the feelings were of the board and for this matter. We uh we talked about the vestibule and
we understand that the referendum went through and that was great but I'd like to know what the feelings are about additional security >> for our you taking copious notes. Do you want to speak or do you want me to >> Sure. So um
>> typically you know at a question like this is it's not something that we as a board have really had had time certainly not in my time here have had a chance to discuss. So we don't really have anything to share with you as as a feeling that would not be an individual and that's really not the way the board
functions. However, um it's certainly something that is we know that it is uh a discussion point that you know obviously isn't going to be ignored. Um the feasibility and the the practicality of all of that is has to be certainly
weighed by the points that you're raising. So, we can certainly bring this back um to a future meeting with with an update. I don't think it's something that we're prepared to speak to right this minute, but Mrs. Go, I don't know if you have anything else. >> We can definitely We hear you. It's
something that has come up in the past, at least if at the high school level, an SRO. Um because when Detective Mazio was here, he functioned as an SRO, but he wasn't an official SRO, although he spent most of his time here. Now, we have Detective Pichek, who's here. He's now Sergeant Potch.
>> He's now POTCH and he he has been uh his replacement. We just met him the other day. So, >> okay. So, we have not met him as a board yet. We have not met his replacement. So, forgive me for that. But, um you know, it's definitely something we'll add to our discussion. You know, it's something we'll discuss in executive and then we'll bring forth like after we've
had to Dr. Fernari's point like after we've had a chance to discuss it as a board, >> right? I I graduated from here in 2006. I've grown up here, born and bred, and I was here when Officer Joy was the SRO,
and I knew Detective Mazio very well. So, I know that they were here a lot, which was great. And I always that he always had a great rapport with all of the students. >> I think it's time that it gets brought down to the elementary schools. And
because we are a dual district, Caldwell and West Caldwell, that it it would be great to see the schools have >> these resources >> present. Um Mr. McCarthy just reminded me the new
um SRO for the district is uh Detective Bardino. And um just so that everyone is aware, we have um been working on some new security software that's been installed at all of the elementary schools and the um the police department
was part of our testing of that system. So we do quite a lot of collaboration 911 network. >> Yeah. And we and we've but we do a lot of collaboration with the police department. They're you know they're directly involved in our drilling and and all of that. So I don't want you to
feel as though the elementarymentaries don't have any connection to the SRO but you know we'll certainly have more to share. >> How often do you guys meet with executive session? >> Before every meeting session before meeting. >> Yep.
>> So every meeting we meet at six o'clock for an hour before executive that's our executive session before we come and then we'll go into executive after this meeting. So >> okay perfect. Thank you. >> You're welcome. You're welcome. Thank you. Anyone else?
>> Okay. All right. That being said, can I have a motion to enter into executive session at 7:35 p.m.? >> I'll make a motion and a second. >> Second. >> Okay, Ryan, whenever you're ready. >> All in favor? I >> against no.
>> Any obsessions? >> No. >> Motion carried. >> Okay, Lydia. Next, our next meeting is next Monday, correct? >> And here. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yes. >> Okay. So, here next Monday, JCHS. >> Have a good week, everybody. Enjoy the
beautiful weather tomorrow.