Okay. When you're ready there, my friend. Good. All right. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisibley
and justice for all. 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 website. Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Alan, >> here. >> Mr. Marzula, >> here. Mr. Pal >> here. >> Miss Keegan >> here. >> Miss Dor
>> here. >> Good evening everybody. >> Thank you for coming out on this cold evening. Good evening everyone at home who are watching. Um at this point I would like to open the meeting for public comment for agenda items only.
Seeing that there is no one here for that, I move to close that portion of the meeting and move on to our committee report. We will start with our student representatives. Good evening. >> Good evening everyone.
And today we'll just be talking Santa. It was a fresh day at our spirit hot cocoa and popcorn to celebrate all their hard work. This first of 18
students performed many program. Thank you to the staff of SSA for providing a piece of snack with all students who joined it as part of their holiday learning held concerts
as they enterain large kindergarten students and the a really great time relationship and forming new friendship. invalide assembly. warm treats
as governor educator of the year was a very very proud of her. Operation students created double veterans. This experience
opportunity to learn about Last month at the top at the bottom at high College has our school program.
This was the first time that 71% of the class 41 of those students or higher ones or currently offers 18 courses across all the department
over 25 student It was led by hospital and we were able to ask both Liberty Center and Dr. a bunch of questions about the kidney. We got to talk to all the nurses we got
to talk about previous and how it really and all the stuff and the donation system went on a tour at Mansion. The students had a really fun time and learning all about the site during the Revolutionary
War. It was a really good opportunity for them to engage those around them, see all the local history, and really learn more about the Thank you so much. Good night. Thank you very much. >> All right.
Moving on to some of our uh committee reports. We several tonight. Um, we'll start with uh curriculum and instruction. Mr. Pallet, do you want to start on that and jump in as we attended together?
>> And I met with Dr. this past Friday. There were a number of issues that we discussed. First and foremost was the accolades that were received. The accolades that were received by the high
school in regards to We also started in and began to discuss program of studies that the high school will be offering in the future. Any new courses that will be coming along that the board will approve. We also
spoke about the u number of AP courses that we had in the district. Coming back to that because will be number and also the uh potential addition of a dual enrollment. Yes,
neurosience dual enrollment classes are very inscel followed right up the regard of business forward. >> The only other thing I would add is the
upcoming professional development day. We spoke about that and Dr. T shared there is a full um of um professional development for the staff. So, thank you for sharing that.
>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Pik. Um we have the personnel FSA updates. >> We met North End uh Dr. T and I attended the North End FSA meeting last
Wednesday. Um at that meeting, we spoke about some of the accomplishments that we've been making within the district. Dr. was able to give an outline of where we are in regards to our movement with our
referendum. Some of the time consuming components and what the expectations are forward. Does anybody else have anything they
want to share before we move on? >> Okay. Uh I'm going so I for the president board president update I had asked Dr. and I had spoke pri previously about doing a midyear review and just updating the uh community on some of the
things we've accomplished where we at where we are at in some of the projects. So I am going to at this point pass it over to you because you have a nice presentation tonight correct? >> I I hope so. Thank you. >> All right. [laughter] >> Thank you madam president and good
evening Seedar Grove school community. Before I begin begin with my presentation this evening, I do want to uh start with some acknowledgements and and appreciations. And first off, uh to our board tonight, um to the IT department, to our business office for being so flexible. You may notice we're
in a different location this evening. And that's so that we could accommodate our middle school students who are rehearsing for Greece, which will be performed this weekend. And so, I just appreciate everybody's flexibility. Uh we're really proud of all the activities we have happening in our in our schools. Uh sometimes it takes some extra
coordination to make sure we can pull it all off. So I want to thank and appreciate everyone for that. I also want to shout out and acknowledge both John Bannon, our buildings and grounds department, our custodial staff. Uh the storm that we lived through this past weekend was sort of non-stop. Um and it
required several different clearings to keep our walkways, our entrances to our schools safe for all of our students, families, and staff. And they couldn't have done a better job. And I know it was not an easy task. So, we thank them for that. I also add my personal acknowledgement and recognition to our
high school, our teachers, our students, and our administration for the honor that they achieved uh last week. And I know we'll hear more about that to come in the weeks and months ahead. Um so, with that, let me begin my midyear presentation, a report on an update on
our progress towards our goals. And let me begin by a summary of our accomplishments really dating back to a year ago. Um it's a year ago now when we launched our budget planning for the 2526 school year and it's really in that planning when you're making the
strategic decisions to determine where we're making our investments and where we also need to potentially rightsize. Um and so I'm proud to say that we successfully rightsized our leadership team uh from a year ago through the budgeting process. Um, we are a small
but yet very comprehensive school district and we requires us to think outside the box sometimes about how we staff ourselves to support all of our activities. And so we made some decisions a year ago um to create some efficiencies there um and pleased with how they are are working out this school
year. We also continue to make new investments in technology, math, curricular resources, NPD. You heard some of that in the student reps report tonight. Uh we made a multi-year commitment to our teachers a year ago when we launched those initiatives and I'm proud to say that we've lived up to and will continue to live up to that
commitment. You should know that when while I'll say more about our referendum initiative and planning later in my presentation, I can tell you as of today, we've already received uh upwards of $20 million in approval for state aid to support our various referendum
projects. Uh so that's a very significant accomplishment uh that a year ago we had just undertaken. So there's some great progress with that. We've also this past year with our operating budget we funded and constructed a new multi-purpose varsity
baseball turf field that will be ready for the 2026 season which is fast approaching. So we're very excited about that. We launched new data meetings this year to support our teachers analysis of student achievement during the school year through benchmark data to inform their ongoing instruction. Uh and we're
pleased with the participation our teachers at all levels have taken in that deeper data analysis. We also made significant updates and improvements to various internal systems related to security of our schools and the overall impre improved customer service for our
staff. Um these are things that oftentimes um aren't front and center, but they're back of the office type systems that when they run smoothly, they impro improve the quality of life for all of our staff and our overall schools. So, we're proud of those
improvements to launch the nurtured heart approach across all schools. That's something that we will remain committed to for several years to come. And I'm proud of how our leaders and teachers have embraced that mindset and continue to reflect about all we do and think about how important it is about
how we talk to and how we talk about our students. We expanded universal screening protocols and intervention services at both end schools. Uh we established partnerships with local officials relating to ongo security planning. We launched and continue to maintain professional development for co-eing
with plans to expand that more forward going forward this spring into the middle school and into next school year. And then we launched this past fall here at the high school for our freshmen. We launched a healthc care pathway where freshmen are taking higher level college level courses through the dual
enrollment program. And then lastly, we continue to provide all eighth grade families with one-on-one high school scheduling conferences with their Cedar Grove High School counselor. I can tell you last week our high school counselors were in the middle school meeting with all of our eighth graders. And over the
next four to six weeks, every eighth grade family will be invited to participate in a one-on-one scheduling session to ensure the transition from eighth grade to our high school is as smooth as possible. So, very proud of those accomplishments. A shout out to our leadership team, all of our teachers
and staff who have been invested in implementing this work um over this past year. We couldn't be more proud of all you've done. As part of my ongoing presentation relating to our goals, I think it's always important to start with our data. And so this is a part of a presentation
I gave last fall, uh but also want to just revisit it to keep it top of mind. This is a three-year look back of our achievement data on NJSLA. Um, it looks at it at a grade level comparison. And what I think is most important to look at here is how far and how fast are we
outpacing state averages. So where you see CG versus state, that's Cedar Grove averages passing and exceeding versus state averages. And in a community like ours, we expect to be fast outpacing far outpacing state averages. You see that
in fifth grade with plus 28. You see that in third and fourth plus 29 plus 24. That's what we expect to be our outcomes. Where there's areas where we're not outpacing the state at that level, those are areas for deeper analysis that I referred to earlier in my presentation this evening. So you see
the plus seven and ninth grade. Those are things that we're taking a closer look at because we should be outpacing the state at a higher rate than that data seems to suggest. Now these are ELA scores. Let me now move to our math scores. There was some really good news here from last fall that we share with
the community. Those numbers in fifth grade, fourth grade, and third grade are really where we want and expect we should be. And that's with new math curricular resources. So that gives us some evidence that those uh curricular resources are having the intended impact. If you scroll all the way down
to the bottom and you look at that plus 30 in geometry, I know through talking to the administration, our math department, that's the result of some very uh highlevel intentional planning with our curriculum and our instruction and expectations that it really paid
off. That plus 18 for algebra. Um when you get under the numbers there and you look across um and you see the two different numbers there 85 verse 56 or 91 verse 23 that's referring to and capturing that when we give an algebra state assessment we're actually giving
to students in both 8th grade and 9th grade because we do have students in our eighth grade at the middle school who do take a full year class of algebra. So they're not tested on the grade eight math, they're tested on the algebra math. So, we're pleased with those success rates and want to continue to
look at going forward increasing the participation rates and how many of our eighth graders are actually opting into algebra in eighth grade. So, that's something that's very much top of mind for us. These next couple slides revisit some of our science outcomes. Now, there's some underperformance here
compared to the state. Uh we also know however the state is preparing to launch new science standards which will require us to do some curriculum revision and rewrite and potentially make some new investments in some of our resources. I will say though, just a shout out, our
science department uh in particular at the middle school has engaged in several different professional development activities this year uh with an outside provider who's come in to meet with them and they've been very thoughtful exchanges as they continue to think about the right way to organize our
science curriculum at the middle school. Uh and then lastly are NJ GPA passing scores. You can see a nice jump in math, pretty consistent ELA. um here at the high school. So, in general, pleased with the upward trend in math and look
to see the same going forward in future years for ELA. So, after we talk about our data, it's important to then tie it into our goals. And so, I've given you a bit of an update on our student goals or our district goals for this school year
here. Um we have three goals. The first relates to student growth and achievement. A lot of the items I highlight here, I highlight in that first slide. Uh but this continues to be our commitment to guide our work for the remainder of this school year. District goal number two, the focus continues to
be on communication and public relations. I want to pause here on this goal because there's this is the one area where there is a revision to an overall timeline. Uh it's under this goal where we captured the desire uh and the need for us as a community to go out
to a referendum uh to address some of the significant infrastructure needs across all four of our schools as well as some of the space needs in particular at our end schools. And so we're at a point now where up until the end of the
summer, frankly, we were planning on potentially going out for a March vote, which was the goal at the start of this school year. And while we were prepared to do so, um the board continued to do its due diligence, work with our architect, work with new civil engineers
to determine what the right timeline is. And [clears throat] as we sit here today, we're revising that timeline to be September 15th of this of this calendar year for our referendum vote. The reason for that change in date is the need to do further analysis of the
right way to consider reopening LRP in terms of impact to local traffic and other considerations. And so that's going to require a bit more time and it's going to require us to submit one more application uh to the DOE to
consider for potential funding for one additional project to build an access road, a driveway that would connect LRP's opening to Bradford uh to Bradford Street through Panther Park. So those are ongoing conversations that are happening and by moving our vote back to
September 15, it affords the board, it affords our community uh the gift of time for further deliberation further study and further community engagement candidly about all that will be in the referendum so our community can make an informed decision when they go to vote
on September 15th. Um more to come on the referendum from my office. A letter is going to go out to all of the members of our community who participated in the focus groups this past summer giving them this type of an update about the referendum and why why there was the
need for a delay right now. That letter will go out tomorrow morning. And then you'll continue to get newsletters from our district in the coming months and when we get clarity on what the final referendum will be. Likely the board will take action in April and May. Plenty of time for the ballot to be uh
open for September 15th. And then you will see me engage all the various stakeholders in our community about the details that are in the referendum. But as I shared earlier this evening, one of the exciting details is we already have approval letters of over $20 million in
state aid uh that will come to Cedar Grove. And again, if those funds don't come here, they go elsewhere. So we're excited to know that we can make those investments here um in our community. And then lastly, goal three, consistent with finance, facilities, and security.
Uh, all of the activities related to here remain on track. Um, and we're pleased to say, uh, the referendum is also valued here as well. The final few slides are more detail. So rather than me going into the specifics here, um, I
want to reassure the community that tomorrow this presentation will be added to our website. You can find it either under my page, the superintendent's page, or under our curriculum page as well for anyone that want to take a deeper dive into what are some specific activities that we committed to doing
this school year. Um, and the timeline that we're on to achieve them. Um, and with that, I'm just going to go to the final slide, make sure there was nothing else hidden back here. I don't think there is. So, that's all information that was presented in detail last fall.
and really remains on track um except for as I noted earlier uh the referendum initiative. One last comment. Um I'm glad I paused there because I knew there was something I was forgetting. In speaking about the referendum, I will as board member Palak mentioned earlier, we
attended the uh North End FSA last week and tomorrow evening the Southoun FSA is meeting and I will plan to be in attendance there. Um, and the message that I'm pleased to continue to be able to share is while we have moved the vote to September 20, uh, 2026, September
15th to afford us the gift of time. Uh, we still are on the timeline and able to keep to the timeline that with a successful referendum, we'll be able to reopen LRP September of 2028. Now clearly it's a tighter timeline uh but
we are still being told by our architects our engineers who are working on these projects with us that we can still meet that goal. Um and so that's an important point I wanted to make sure I shared this evening with the community. And with that, Madam President, I will
end my report and turn it back to you. >> Thank you. Very well done. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Very informative. Okay. Anybody have any questions or any any uh comments before we move on?
>> Okay, great. All right, so at this time we'll let's move some business. We are under a business administrator's report. Can I have a motion for G1 through G13, please?
>> So move second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Alban, >> yes. >> Mr. Marzula, >> yes. >> Mr. Pallet, >> yes. >> Miss Keegan, >> yes. >> Miss Dora,
>> yes. All motions pass. >> Thank you. >> Under superintendent report, can I have a motion for H1 through H3? >> Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Alban, >> yes.
>> Mr. Mr. Marzulo. >> Yes. >> Mr. Pal. >> Yes. >> Miss Keegan. >> Yes. But abain from H2A. >> So noted. Miss Dora. >> Yes. >> All motions pass. >> Thank you. Under human resources. Can I
have a motion for I1 through I6? >> So move. >> Second. Any discussions? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Alban, >> yes. >> Mr. Marzula, >> yes. >> Mr. Pal,
>> yes. >> Miss Keegan, >> yes. >> Miss Dora, >> yes. >> All motions pass. >> Thank you. >> Under special services, a motion for J1 and J2. >> Second. Any discussion?
>> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Alan, >> yes. >> Mr. Marzulo, >> yes. >> Mr. Pal, >> yes. >> Miss Keegan, >> yes. >> Miss Dora, >> yes. >> All motions pass. >> Thank you. At this time, I'd like to
open the meeting to uh public comment comment. Um any related items? Seeing there is no one, I move to close that mot that section of the meeting portion of the meeting. announcement of
future meetings. Our next meeting will be February 17th. Um close session, if necessary, will be at 6:30 and our regular meeting will be at 7:30 at the high school. And the following meeting is one month later on March 17th. Um
this point, all in favor of adjourning the meeting. >> All right, meeting adjourned. Thank you very much. Have a nice evening everyone.