Hi >> here. I did it. Anyone want to touch? Did you love your letter? I can't Are you done? Fore speech. out.
God bless you. We have a special guest that >> you're always special guests. >> I don't know. One, two, three, four. Looks good. I'm squeezing down. >> You guys get sick. I'm not going near
you. >> Absolutely. Yes, I printed mine out, too. So, I'll jump in if necessary. >> I'll go through all three of them right in the row. >> Yep. One, two, three. And then >> Oh, >> you're going to speak up for some. >> Yeah, you can jump.
>> Yeah, you can too. I took some notes today, too. Okay, we good? >> Yes. >> Call the meeting to order for the flag salute. >> 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, liberty, justice for all. Can we get any smaller here? The New Jersey Open Public Meeting Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to
attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Cedar Grove Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be advertised by having the date, time, and place thereof posted on bulletin boards
in the district, published, and or transmitted to the Verona Cedar Grove Times newspaper, tap into online news, filed with the township clerk, and posted on the district's website. Could I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Alban,
>> here. >> Mr. Pal, >> here. Miss Keegan here. >> Good evening everybody. >> Um, at this time I'll open the public open the meeting to public comment
agenda items only. Seeing that there is no one uh here to speak, I move to close that portion of the meeting and we will uh move to our committee reports and we will start with our student representatives. Good evening ladies.
>> Good evening. Okay, so last month at MMS they had the production here of Greece and the performers did a fantastic job. The audience loved it. Each night the sold was the show was sold out. So that is a huge accomplishment and a huge thanks to
Mrs. Fillain, Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. Hill and Mr. Aler for their hard work putting this production together. Um, this last month's student of the month are Alex Martinez, Parker Freeman, Janu, and James Peu. And on the top,
it's Giana Lapra, Molina, Zoe Rubin, and Alexandra Saja. Congratulations to them. And during the holiday season, the MMS Student Council invited staff members, students, and their families to give back by donating socks to our holiday
soccer. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our school committee community, we collected an amazing total of 1,73 pairs of socks. All donations were donated to Brandon's heart and soul organization, helping to support those in need. We are grateful to everyone who
contributed and helped make this holiday initiative such a success, which that was amazing. MMS award winners. Our sixth grade STEM students at MMS have absolutely shattered expectations in this year's bridge breaking competition. 11 results
that showcase their exceptional engineering prowess and dedication to excellence. This year's project took our structural engineering challenge to new heights as students explored three distinct types of trusses in their bridge designs.
Through hands-on investigation of these different structural conf configurations, students discovered how various geometric patterns and load distribution strategies affect overall bridge performance. Working collaboratively with popsicle sticks, glue, rubber bands, and boundary
effects, teams applied biochem biomecrate principles to create remarkable in initiative designs. And congratulations to our fifth grade A students that participate that participated in totally globally hosted by the Essex County Steering Committee
for Gifted and Talented Students. Two students placed in the competition. Total Globally is a social studies based round robin trivia competition. Students from various districts in Essex County including Verona, Belville, Essex Bells, Rosland, West Orange, and Fairfield are placed into random groups with students
from other towns. It is in these groups that they have taken to learn to cooperate, make new acquaintances, and solve problems at each station. Our first place team member this year was Michaela Ferris and our second place team member was Victoria Bia.
Congratulations to them. So, at South January started a new year and benchmarks for our students in EL ELA and math. These benchmarks assessment helped the teachers determine how students have grown and what areas may still need help. Our students and
staff in service used in service time to analyze the data and develop teaching plans based on the results. We are so proud of our students. They continue to learn and grow. It is hard to believe SAP students celebrated their 100th day of school on February 11th. 100 day
activities were evident through throughout South. It was a wonderful celebration of learning and growing. Our student our kindergarten students received their first report report cards on February 6th. They have learned so much in the past few months at South and we are so proud of them.
This year we did something different and celebrated the 101st day as well. Students and staff deserve dressed with a theme of black and white Dalmatians and even Corella. Certainly another day. celebrate all of our accomplishments thus far this year.
Mr. Mario is enjoying her time reading to all grade levels. Her theme is perseverance and never giving up in spite of challenge. This month, this past month, she read the most magnificent thing to kindergarten and grade one grade first grade students. There's nothing better
than a great book to inspire young children. Snow may be on the ground, but we still like to get outside for some fresh air during recess. We have to take a walk, draw with chalk, or just get some fresh air and talk to friends. A little snow can't stop us.
On January 20 at North End, on January 23rd, kindergarten and fourth graders met for another special Big Brother Big Sister activity. Students enjoyed listening to the dot by Peter H. Reynolds and created their own dot inspired crafts using markers and stickers. It was fun and meaningful time
for everyone. It may be cold outside, but it's heating up in North End. Our students also marked a very exciting milestone on their 100th day of school. Celebration was filled with creativity and school spirit as more attenders
proudly wore decorated hats, shirts, and stickers featuring 100. Some students designed shirts with 100 objects while others created imaginative crowns and accessories to commemorate the day. Classrooms also took part in
special 100 day activities that highlighted counting creativity and reflection on how much students have learned and grown over the past 100 days 100 days. It was a fun-filled day of celebration and accomplishments for all. School spirit has been shining brightly with North Spirit days in full swing.
Students and participated in flannel and fuzzy sock, cozy day sports bag, hearts and love deck. From warm flannels and comfy DJs to team jerseys, red and pink outfits, the hallways were full of color and excitement. Health and love was especially sweet as
students exchanged Valentine classmates and teachers. So many thoughtful cards, treats, and kind messages were shared. On February 11th, North was delighted to host the prek open house for the 2026 2027 school year. Families had the opportunity to visit classrooms, meet
teachers, learn more about the early childhood program. It was a great way to welcome prospective students and their families into the North community and share the learning experiences that await all the new learners. Okay, so Sophia is not here because she's at her
hoops for hope basketball game, but give her a round of applause because Sophia, congratulations to Sophia on making Cedar Grove um high school as the first National Honor Society student and records dating back to 2012. To receive the prestigious NHS scholarship, Sophia
has been named a national semi- finalist and an honor awarded to exceptional student leaders who amplify exemplify the core pillars of the National Honor Society scholarship service leaders in captain. The NHS scholarship program administered by NASSP recognizes
students nationwide for their academic excellence, dedication to service, and leadership impact. Sophie's achievement reflects not only her hard work and commitment, but also the spirit of excellence foster Cedar Grove High School's NHS chapter. We are incredibly proud of her success and excited to see
all the things she will accomplish in the future. Sophia next year is going to be going to Boston University. And she is the captain of her soccer team and a senior on the girls basketball team. And every day Sophia is making um a impact at
Cedar Grove High School with her academic and kindness in the halls. Um our model UN students attended their very first conference last weekend participating in the two day Schuman XVI conference at the mall. Throughout the
event, students took on the roles of international delegates, engaging in debate, collaboration, and problem solving as they worked to address complex global global issues. The conference provided an exciting opportunity for our students to develop their public public speaking research
diplomat diplomacy skills while others connecting with peers from other schools. Um, congratulations to sophomore Alina Adara for earning the outstanding position paper award. This is an impressive achievement and a wonderful recognition of her hard work
and and preparation. We are incredibly proud of all students for representing our school with enthusiasm and professionalism. The CG um the CGHS had mining AP inventor mile and the AP inventor mile class did cookie mining to evaluate the
pros and cons of mining and its inven. And that's all we have today for this year school. Well done. >> Thank you very much. >> Overview. Really appreciate it. >> Yeah. And the athletics are doing great. We're going to watch the wrestling.
>> Very good. I know. >> Maybe we'll put that in the >> next one >> slide if they win. >> Very good. >> When win. >> Thank you. >> Have a great night everyone. >> Thank you. >> Well done. Well done. >> Thank you. >> So cute.
Okay. So, we're going to move to some uh committee reports. Um I think we have four tonight. So, Mr. Pallick, we're going to start with you. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Dora. Um all of our meetings were conducted on Friday.
Uh Miss Dora, myself, Dr. T, and Cheryl, we were all there and um making sure that we were handling first it was uh education, then it was personnel, and then we went into finance. So we were able to make a a morning in of of our
committees. Uh first in the area of education um we were working on a curriculum adoption resolution with the superintendent and the high school principal was in attendance also. Um, for those in the audience, anytime a new course is being presented
within the district, especially at the high school level, those courses have to be presented to the superintendent and then to the board for approval before they can go on the program into the program of studies and then in the C course offering sheet. Um we're we're moving forward with that process, trying
to solidify it as it hasn't been done quite that way in the past, but we're we're making amends for that and making sure that uh all our courses are formally approved so that when QAC comes through and so forth, we will be in a good position to handle that. Um so our program of studies which we've reviewed
is very nice. We um are also having uh some work done in the in the area of the middle school. Uh there are middle school education initiatives being presented. One of them is to uh take a look at the the cycle classes which are more or less their elective program
trying to bring them further into the 21st century so they become a little bit more uh hands-on for our students and more exciting so that that that that time period really does introduce them to a variety of different concepts that should be presented at the middle school and then within the middle school
concept. Uh also they've also discussed the idea of looking at some of their uh language arts programs in the seventh and eighth grade uh to see how they might be able to move forward with some of our exceptional students and see what kind of program we can put forth for them. But these are all things that they
are working on at this time. Uh we also discussed in education which I thought was very important was uh we've already held the first weekend of kindergarten registration. The numbers s as you might
imagine are uh really increasing and uh we will be in a position where we have to evaluate the numbers. Superintendent will in regards to whether a an additional section will be needed to add it to the district. We do at this point
in time have three kindergarten sections in each building. there's a potential for a fourth um and that may have to occur at Southoun but as you know as we move forward with a referendum initiative um our facilities are are the primary issue the number of rooms we
have we just don't have the space and um so that's something we have to look at and and see how we're going to accommodate that and moving forward and superintendent been working on that um we also uh have looked asked the superintendent to
take a look at the idea of um departmentalization at the third and fourth grade. Uh we think that that initiative will be uh helpful to the district and he is working with his administrative team to seeing what the the possibilities are and the feasibility of moving forward in that
direction. Um we also in the area of personnel uh many of the items we discussed from personnel you will see put forth on the agenda today. our the business uh that is is in order. Um
we were also discussing the uh the impact that our budget has in moving forward and the type of positions we have to fill and so forth. So those discussions were were very intense, very lively. Um with more information to come as we move forward and the budgets
adopted in in that point in time. Uh we do have CUAC which is the state monitoring of the district. The state monitoring of district will take place in this district on March 4th. I believe the beginning. That's correct. Right. Pier will begin starting that. Um having
been a superintendent myself and having gone through a number of them. I know the amount of work that's involved in the district must comply as it's a one-year look back. And I thank Peter and Cheryl for all the work in the administrative team that they're doing to get um really us in order to to pass
that. Um then also we were involved in discussing uh some finance issues and everything that we're really discussing in finance has to do with surrounding our upcoming um 2627 budget and um there are discussions a
lot of that focuses on where we're going to be with state aid and the governor has postponed her discussion her talk and um her speech will come at the in the middle of March with we will then be able to get a state aid figure. Um she has to report a state aid figure 48
hours after she presents that talk. So you'll be able to we'll be able to get that number. Um and and also in that particular area something that everybody every household every employer is facing there is such a tremendous increase in
in health care costs. Um it's something that we as a a board are going to be looking into in regards to the the amount that the uh benefits are going to cost our employees. Um it's been projected by a broker that's going to be somewhere into a 30 to 35% increase. And
so therefore, we're going to have to be looking at that as we move forward. and um where that's going to going to bring us. Um also in in the area of the budget uh you know just that for everybody out there if if you see an increase you know
think of what your utilities have gone up with electricity and heating oil and so forth there are all fixed costs that the district have to absorb and I think that'll be reflected and uh I do want everybody in the public to know that this board particularly is very conscious of the tax level. We want to
be responsible caretakers and and keepers of of the money in the district and we're not going to be out there trying to just expend funds for for the sake of expending them. But we do have to keep the district running and also keep us as a high performing district.
And um basically we also discussed just some movement of some board meeting dates which are all predicated on the governor's speech to the to the state and when those state a figures will come in and that will dictate the date that
we will have for our March meeting. I think that about does it. Miss Dora, did I leave anything out? >> Nope. I think you hit it all. >> Okay, great. Thank you very much. Finance and budget time is always a challenging time and so uh we will
continue to work diligently with uh Dr. T and Cheryl. So um the last committee we had was facilities. Be more happier when as opposed to the budget. Um we attended today this
afternoon um Cenne and myself. So go ahead. You can report. >> Okay. And I'll jump in with you. Um we met today with uh Mr. Bannon, Dr. T, Miss BTO um to go over some of the facilities
things and we want to commend Mr. Bannon and his team, buildings and grounds for all the work they've been doing to keep the district running. Um keep everything in top shape, especially during the latest storm that we had a couple weeks ago. um his crew was out there working
real hard um through that snowstorm and the day after we only had one snow day and to some people's disappointment, no delayed opening, but that's because um they did such a great job clearing all the grounds. Um with some support from the township as well, which we always
appreciate. Um, so hopefully that's the last of our snow, but we know that the district is in good hands with them. The new field at the high school is moving along. Um, the netting has gone up or is in the
process of going up yesterday and today. Um QAC is monitoring everything and got some real life experience today with the power outage that happened at North End and how our building and grounds team
was able to pivot and handle the situation. Um PSENG got power back to the school quickly so things kept running smoothly. Um and there was no need for an early dismissal or anything. Um the rod grant progress with North End
and South End is moving along. Transformers have been installed and we're hoping that all of the work can be completely finalized by the summer. Um so that will hinge on PSENG a bit, but
everything is looking really good for that. Um I think that is pretty much it. >> Yep. Again, I just want to uh ditto your remarks with to Mr. Bannon and the
buildings, grounds, and custodial staff with just a phenomenal job that they do um in the storm cleanup. And in addition, I don't some people have already may already know that we had uh a leak in the high school and their
quick response to that really um limited the amount of damage that um could have potentially come from that. So, we really do appreciate their efforts on a daily basis. And so, that's about it for facilities. Feel like we're in good
shape there. Um, any comments, questions, discussions, any from uh any of the other board members regarding any of the committees? >> Yep. >> Good. >> Good. Okay. Uh, Dr. T. >> Okay. >> Would you like to give your report,
>> Madam President? Thank you very much. And good evening, Seedar Grove School community. Uh this evening, I really wanted to focus my update on honoring and highlighting uh the success of some of our scholar athletes. Uh it's really been quite impressive this winter season to see some of the achievements. Roco
Caputo, congratulations. Wrestling Essex County champion at the 106 pound level. Um ice hockey, big North Conference Patriot Division Champions, still competing. our wrestling team this evening competing tonight against Handover Park for the North Two Group
One Finals. And then Germaine Russell, I believe it was last evening, um he became the 11th boy basketball player to score 1,000 points in his career. So, we congratulate all of our ongoing scholar athletes uh for all of their success and achievements. We could not be more proud
of you. And then as was alluded in one of the committee updates this evening, I just want to voice my appreciation to the entire North End school community. Today we had to deal with a power outage at the start of the day. Um and uh from
the professionals uh in the building to our families outside of in the community, we appreciate your patience and cooperation. And we thank our safety personnel in town and PSCG for prioritize prioritizing us getting the school back online so we could have a
full day of school. Uh so thank you to them. And with that I'll turn it back over uh to you, Madam President. >> Thank you. And I just want to add the message got out very quick with the app. >> And thank you for the plug for the app. So thank you for anyone listening at
home. If you haven't yet downloaded our mobile app, >> please uh take a moment to do that. You can find it in uh your Android or app store uh on iPhone or Android and we are using more and more more notifications so you'll immediately get notified of
mostly very good news but in today's example challenging moment we were having at the north end. So thank you for plugging the app. Thank you. >> Okay, great. Thank you. All right, so let's move some business here tonight so we can get to the wrestling match
under the business administrator's report. Can I have a motion for G1 through G14, please? >> So moved. >> Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Alan.
>> Yes, but abstain from my name under G6. >> Still noted. Mr. Pallet. >> Yes. >> Miss Keegan. >> Yes. But abstain G6. My name only. Miss Dora. >> Yes. >> Motion passed.
>> Thank you. Under the superintendent's report on general administration, can I have a motion for H1 through H5, please? >> So move. >> Second. >> Second. Any discussion?
>> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Oan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Palot. >> Yes. Miss Keegan, >> yes. >> Miss Dora, >> yes. >> All motions pass. >> Thank you. Under human resources, a
motion for I1 through I8. >> So moved. >> Second >> discussion. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Alan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tyl, >> yes. Steven. >> Yes.
>> Yes. Under curriculum and instruction, a motion for J1 through J3. >> So move. >> Second >> discussion. Roll call. >> Mr. Alban. >> Yes. >> Mr. Pallet.
>> Yes. >> Miss Keegan. >> Yes. >> Miss Dora. >> Yes. >> Motion pass. >> Thank you. And under special services, a motion for K1. >> So moved.
>> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Alan, >> yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Steven. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Thank you. At this time, I open the
meeting to public comment on any school related items. Seeing that nobody would like to speak, I move to close that portion of the meeting. Announcement of future meetings. Uh, as we spoke um, Mr. Pollock mentioned earlier, we are
tentatively set for the next meeting to be March 31st, which is a different date that was initially advertised. Uh, due to the potential delay in the governor's address, as Mr. Pal said earlier um the governor's address dictates the state
numbers and therefore if she delays her address then we have to delay um our budget presentation. So um it is tentatively set for March 31st and executive if necessary will be at 6:30 with a regular meeting at 7:30 and
then the following meeting would be April 21st uh same times. Um at this time um motion to adjourn the meeting. All in favor? >> I I >> I. >> Thank you very much. Have a very nice evening everyone. >> Good evening. Thank
>> you. You get a chance head over to the