I'd like to call this meeting of the Board of Education to order. Public notice of this meeting pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, has been given by the Board Secretary on November 4, 2025 in the following manner. Posted notice on the School Bulletin Board at the Administration Building, transmitted to the Courier Post. Philadelphia Inquirer and the Clerk of Cherry Hill Township. Please rise and join me in saying 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. With liberty and justice for all. Mr. Shimf, can you please call the roll?
Dr. Braddock here, Mr. Fain. Here. Dr. Dryson. Here. Mr. Greenbaum. Here, Ms. Manzano. Here. Mr. Mayor. Here. Ms. Palmer? Here. Ms. Stern? Here. Ms. Winters. Here. Thank you so much. I am going to turn it over to Dr. Morton. Thank you so much, Ms. Winters. Uh, under normal occasions, we normally jump directly into our agenda, but today's a special day. Uh, today is Veterans Day, and although we were in school today, it's a day that we absolutely recognize.
the service and commitment and sacrifice of those violent, brave. Um, individuals who've chosen to serve our country, um, is a long line of military service in my family, and we… Truly, truly thank everyone for their service. Uh, I'm not sure if everyone knows, but one of our board members. Um, it's a military veteran, and a current reservist as well. Dr. Dreisen has served. And our… the United States Navy is currently in the United States Navy Reserves as well, so… Definitely appreciate you, sir, and thank you so much for your service.
We also have some special guests with us this evening who came to grace us with their excellence in thespian. performance. Uh, today we're joined by. students from High School West who are here to preview. their play, the musical, upcoming musical, Elf. So I guess without further ado, I'll turn it over to you, Miss… Fleisman? All right, nice shirt as well, yes.
You are doing it perfect and wonderful.
Well, I certainly hope that got you all in the festive spirit. We open next week, the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, and tickets are available at cure8.com. Thank you so much for having us. But we… dance rehearsal to get to. Thank you so much for coming and giving us a preview. It's such a highlight of being on the board, and I can't wait to come see the show. It's gonna be amazing.
Now, to follow that act… We have a presentation! on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments. Advanced placement and dynamic learning maps. Now, I heard that Ms. Holmgren is going to be doing this entirely with the majesty of song for us. To make it wonderful. Yes? No.
Christmas songs make me cry, so… Good evening. Tonight, I'll be presenting the results from Spring 2025. New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, otherwise known as NJSLA.
This presentation provides an overview of district performance and English language arts. Mathematics and science. Comparing results across. 23, 24, and 25 administrations. Our goal is to highlight areas of continued growth. Identify opportunities for improvement. and share key instructional strategies. that are guiding our next steps. Let's begin by briefly reviewing the purpose, as well as the structure of the NJSLA assessments.
The NJSLA assessments and ELA mathematics, and science are required by both federal. and state law for all students in grades 3 through 8. As well as high school. These assessments are designed to measure how well students are meeting the New Jersey student learning standards. Results help us identify curricular strengths. and areas for improvement across schools and grade levels, ensuring equitable access to a high quality of education.
for all of our students here in Cherry Hill. This data informs both district. and school-level planning. Professional development, as well as curriculum refinement. Next, we'll look more closely at the performance levels used to categorize student achievement. The English Language Arts, or ELA, and mathematics Assessment includes 5 performance levels. Ranging from Level 1, not meeting expectations. to level 5, exceeding expectations.
Students performing at levels 4 and 5 are considered proficient, demonstrating that they are meeting. We're surpassing grade level standards. The science assessment includes four performance levels. Students performing at levels 3 and 4. are considered proficient. Tracking performance across these levels over time gives us a clear picture of progress. Growth, and areas where instruction or intervention may be needed.
We will now move into the ELA portion of the presentation. beginning with participation data. Here you can find the 3-year comparison of district-wide ELA performance on the NJSLA ELA. for 23, 24, and 25. It shows the number of students tested and the percentage of students in each of the 5 performance levels.
Please note that the number of students tested slightly declined each year, from. $5,490 and 23 to 5,406 in 25. There was a small increase in performance for our students in levels 1 and 2, and we maintained our percentage of students who performed. within levels 4 and 5. This slide displays our ELA participation rates for NJSLA, again, from 23 to 25, across grades 3 through 9.
The participation rates, as you can see, are consistently high, above 97% for all grades. as well as yours. This strong participation ensures the data is representative. and valid for analyzing student achievement trends. The data in this exhibit provides you with several data points, which include how many students were tested at each grade for all 3 years. You are also provided the breakdown of the percentage of students across the 3 years.
who performed within each of the five proficiency levels at each grade. We are always looking to see a decrease in students performing within levels 1 and 2. and an increase in students performing within levels 4 and 5. You may notice we saw this exact trend. In grade 6. Grade 8 and grade 9 for ELA. This slide compares the changes in ELA performance at each grade level.
With the state's changes over the same period. It displays for each grade. Two different metrics. The percentage in students scoring in levels 1 and 2. And the percentage of students scoring in levels 4 and 5. Cherry Hill outpaced the state in most grades, both in reducing the percentage of students in levels 1 and 2. and increasing the percentage of students in levels 4 and 5.
Diving further into comparison data. Here you can find the comparison of the percentage of our students scoring in levels 1 and 2 versus statewide results. For each grade from 23 to 25. We consistently had a lower percentage of students in levels 1 and 2 compared to the state. Across all tested grades. and all 3 years. Green highlighting on this slide marks. Every grade where Cherry Hill outperformed the state.
This indicates that our students performed better than their statewide peers. in minimizing the number of students who did not meet expectations in ELA. Here, you will find the data for students performing within levels 3 and 4. The data show that we consistently performed better than the state. in these mid- to high performance levels across all tested grades and years. Again, green highlighting in level 4.
indicates where Cherry Hill outperformed the state. Finally, here, you can find the data for Level 5, or Advanced Proficient. This is a ceiling performance indicator. Stability or growth here suggests the district is maintaining opportunities. for accelerated student performance. Now we will move into the subgroup data. For ELA.
This slide presents the percentage of Cherry Hill students who fell within each of the five performance levels in ELA for 2023, 2024, and 2025. Broken down by race and ethnicity. Our Asian students had the highest proficiency, with 76% meeting or exceeding expectations in 2025. We also saw an increase in proficiency for students of 2 or more races.
Here you can view the assessment outcomes for the percentage of our students meeting or exceeding expectations in ELA for the 3 years. broken down by student subgroups. You will notice our proficiency levels are remaining steady. for these subgroups. And here you will find the final subgroup data for ELA. For multilingual learners improved from 14% proficient in 23.
to 16% proficient in 2025. We'll now shift our focus from ELA to mathematics, reviewing 3 years of NJSLA results for our district. including participation. performance trends and comparisons to the state. Over the next two slides, I will highlight the district participation data for mathematics. This first participation slide here provides you with this 3-year participation.
participation trends in percentages. This exhibit shows Cherry Hills percentage by performance level for those 3 years I indicated earlier, 23, 24, and 25. The percentage of students in Level 1 decreased. from 8.5 in 23. to 7.2 in 25. Level 2 also improved, dropping from 16.5.
to 14.4. Levels 4 and 5 together increased from 48.5 and 23. to 52.8 in 25. This slide details changes in math performance from 23 to 25. For each grade and high school course. It presents the percent of students in each performance level for each year.
with a focus on the percentage change. From 23 to 25. Most grades in math courses saw fewer students. in the lowest performance bands. And more students achieving proficiency and above. These improvements are highlighted in green and reflect positive trends. Here you will find the percent change from 23 to 25 across grades, compared to the state averages in two key areas.
For levels 1 and 2. In almost every grade as well as year, from 23 to 25. Cherry Hill had a lower percentage of students in these lowest performance levels than the state. For level 4 and 5, we saw an increase in about half of the grades and courses. for the percentage of students who were considered meeting. or exceeding expectations. This slide compares the percentage of our students scoring in levels 1 and 2 across grades and years compared to the state overall.
In all grades and courses. Cherry Hill had a lower percentage of students in levels 1 and 2 than the state. in 2025. This slide compares the percentage of students in levels 3 and 4. for Cherry Hill, again, as well as the state from 23 to 25. Green highlighting, once again, shows the grades where Cherry Hill outperformed the state. In almost all grades or courses, we had a higher percentage of students in level 4.
than the state across 3 years. And finally, here's the data for Level 5 percentage changes. Which, again, is showing a shift. in a positive direction. Here you can find the subgroup data for race and ethnicity by performance level. I would like to draw your attention to the Black and African American subgroup who saw an increase in proficiency.
from 26.2% in 23. to 28.8% in 2025. This slide presents the assessment outcomes for the percentage of Cherry Hill students meeting or exceeding expectations in math. for the 3 years. Broken down by student subgroups. You will notice that our proficiency levels are remaining steady for these subgroups.
This concludes our mathematics subgroup data. I would like to highlight the performance for our economically disadvantaged subgroup. that has remained steady across the 3 years. Moving into the next section of our presentation, we will now move into the science data. A few things that I want to bring to your attention. Science is only administered to students in grades. 5, 8, and 11. And the science assessment only has 4 performance levels.
those students who perform within levels 3 and 4 are considered proficient. As we did with ELA and math, we will begin with our participation data. Science participation rates are outstanding for grades 5. And 8. Consistently above 96%. However, Grade 11 participation has declined sharply. Because the science assessment. is not a state or federal requirement.
This slide shows our overall percentage by performance level in science. The percentage of students in Level 1 decrease, which indicates improvement. And levels 3 and 4 increased by 5.1% from 23 to 25. Which is, again, the trend we want to continue to see. This data presents the percent of students in each performance level for each year, with a focus on the percent change from 23 to 25.
We saw fewer students in the lowest performance bands, and more students achieving proficiency or above. These improvements are highlighted in green and reflect positive trends across the district's science program. Displayed here are the percent change from 23 to 25, again, across. Those 3 grades, 5, 8, and 11, with the state averages in two key areas. For Level 1, in every grade and year from 23 to 25.
Cherry Hill had a lower percentage of students. in the lowest performance levels in the state. For levels 3 and 4, we also saw here that our students had a higher percentage. of students who were proficient. comparable to the state. This exhibit compares the percentage of Cherry Hill students scoring in levels 1 and 2. across grades and years compared to the state overall.
In all grades and courses, Cherry Hill had a lower percentage of students in Level 1. than the state across all 3 years. 23, 24, and 25. This slide compares the percentage of students in levels 3 and 4 for Cherry Hill in the state. Again, green highlighting, indicating where Cherry Hill outperformed the state. In most grades, we had a higher percentage of students in levels 3 and 4 than the state. across the 3-year span. We will now move into subgroup data for science.
We continue to see gradual growth in science proficiency among our subgroups. With a decrease in the percentage of students in Level 1 and an increase in the percentage of students performing within levels 3 and 4. I would like to highlight our Hispanic subgroup. who has made nice gains since 2023. For students performing within Level 3 in this subgroup in 2023. 9.7% performed in level 3. And that increased to 16.6. in 2025.
Here you can find the percentage of Cherry Hill students meeting or exceeding expectations in science. broken down by student subgroups once again. I would again here, like, to highlight our Hispanic subgroup, who were, in total. 12.4% proficient in 23. and jump to 20.1% proficient in 2025. This concludes our subgroup data for science. Here, I would like to highlight the increase in proficiency that we saw in our economically disadvantaged subgroup, as well as our students with disabilities.
subgroups. I will now turn the mic over to our curriculum supervisors, who will highlight the notable achievements. As well as the interventions for ELA. mathematics and science based upon our Spring 2025 NJSLA data. Good evening. So I want to begin by highlighting some of the achievements in English language arts in the past sitting of the NJSLA.
As you'll note, students in all grade levels are at or above in all of our reading standards. This is a great achievement. In addition, students in grades 6 through 9, so our middle schools plus 9th grade, which is the last year that students sit for the NJSLA in English. Those students have shown improvements in, um, decreasing levels 1 and 2, and increasing levels 4 and 5. As Ms. Holmgren highlighted. In addition, we're pleased that more of our multilingual students are meeting the state expectations for the NJSLA.
Hi, good evening. In math at the elementary level, there's been an increase in the percentage of African American and Hispanic students meeting and exceeding the standards. At the secondary level, our students are achieving above the state. average for grades 6 and 7, as well as Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2. In science, there's been an increase in the percentage of students who are proficient. in 9 out of our 12 elementary schools. And at all of the test at grade levels, 5th, 8th, and 11th.
There's been continued growth in the percentage of students who are proficient. advanced proficient. So now for some of our interventions. For English, we continue at the elementary level to target our students who need additional support. Using the sports that are built into our new program, Amplify KLA, and MCLASS. In addition, at the secondary level, we are using our new literacy coach to help with instructional strategies daily in the classroom.
And also support our writing standards where we see room for growth. And in math at all levels. We're working to differentiate instruction, so students meet and exceed the standards. Uh, and providing the tiered supports that they need in both Tiers 1 and in Tier 2. differentiation is working with students to make sure that we're meeting their needs where they are. Um, at the secondary level, we're infusing the curriculum with. Um, items from the release question bank, so students can familiarize themselves.
With the types of questions that they see on NJSLA, both in terms of content and in terms of format. Moving into science at the elementary level, we continue to foster vertical articulation. So that aren't familiar, that would be a secondary teacher working with both. Um, third grade teachers and first grade teachers to get a better understanding about. path students take in science, as well as integrating the ELA standards and their practices into the. the science journals that they, uh… complete during the science units. Um, and at the secondary level, we continue to update the benchmarks.
We chunk skills by band, and we're expanding the OpenSciE programs for our students. That's actually the last slide. Opening the floor to questions. Thank you so much, we really appreciate it. Information was fantastic. Board members, I'd like to open it up for questions. Dr. Rapp. First, as always, thank you for the data. I like seeing a lot of the green on the screen, and when I see the green, all the data makes me very happy.
This might be getting a bit too into the weeds, but… for any grade level, or any kind of… have you collected any kind of data to indicate. why the shifts are occurring, why some students would be going from, say, level 3 to level 4, level 4, level 5. or any other direction, some students are dropping in levels that they're going down. It's cool to see those numbers shifting. But I was wondering if you have any inclination as to why they're shifting whatsoever, aside from. The obvious fact that you're putting together some very good interventions.
I'm gonna take that one. Um, so thank you, good evening, everybody. So, we are very, very intentional with our curriculum and our benchmarking. to give students as many practice opportunities. As possible throughout the school year prior to a testing window. happening, where they… we use released test questions on our benchmarking to give them an opportunity to practice those questions as they would see them on a standardized test. So that's definitely going to help move those 4s and 5s. Um, we're also starting to see a fluctuation in the number of students in our grade levels.
sometimes as much as by 100 students. That's definitely going to play a role in what we're seeing in our Level 1s and 2s, as well as our 4s and 5s. But with the use of our coaches, um, we have our literacy teacher coaches. our math coaches at the elementary level, our secondary coaches. and using our ELA secondary coach as a literacy coach going into. the different disciplines to talk about how the ELA standards are assessed through those disciplines. Again, give students as much practice opportunity as possible to help them move into those 4s and 5s.
Love it, thank you. other board member questions? Mr. Mayor. So, um, my staff, can you go back to… Slide 37. I think it was 37. Thank you, yeah. So, and this, I'll just throw that… I'll throw this out to whoever, um. wants to handle it. Um… On the right side, science.
Uh, great to see the pers… Proficiency levels being met. where it's increased at 9 of 12 elementaries, but… What's going on at the other three, but do we have any… You know, can we… Get a little information on… the three words, not… Increasing… is that cross-referenced with any. Challenges… Yeah, so, Mr. Mayor, each individual school conducts root cause analysis.
Um, you know, they're in the process of doing that and working through. Uh, what those root causes are. I think, you know, back to the original question that was asked. Uh, by Dr. Braddock. There's a variety of reasons, uh, you know. in terms of, you know, what's making impact, and also what some of the hindrances are as well, that's some of the drags. Um, one of the things that we have, uh, communicated. You know, quite openly about is the problem or the challenges that we're facing.
Um, around chronic absenteeism. And what we see is that there are, uh… different results by different schools. Generally speaking, across the district. Uh, chronic absenteeism is a major concern. I mean, definitely a major… a challenge for us. What we see in some of the more. Um… marginal… the groups where there are, uh… I guess you can consider marginalized populations. We see higher rates of that chronic absenteeism. Uh, that directly. correlate to, um… treatment results, essentially.
Uh, further, when we think about. you know, I had shared, I believe, at, um… CNI meeting at Shared. pre-COVID numbers to post-COVID numbers, you know, pre-COVID, we were at about 8.6. as a district with chronic absenteeism, that number has risen. by 64% post-COVID, so in the 4 years. after COVID, we're at about 14.6. Uh, percent of our population who are chronically absent. Um… I mean, students miss 10% or more of the day.
What's more problematic, just as problematic, not just that group, missed 18 days of school, essentially. But the group that's… that misses more than 12 days, or 12 days or more. At the high school level, our high school staff will tell you. Uh, that once a student has 12, accumulated 12 unexcused absences, that student. technically is in a credit deficiency state. And needs to have their credits restored. What our data has shown, and what we've been able to identify, particularly this year, is that students. who aren't necessarily listed as chronically absent. But have accumulated between 12 and 17 absences.
are lagging in their performance as well. Uh, so, you know, it's a big group for us. I just… this last school year, of over 2,000 students, so we absolutely have a work cut out, and there's correlation here, as well with those schools. with a higher representation of children who, um… are struggling in that regard. Great. Well, not great, great, good, great that… great that… that there is, um… you know, you have a… you have a lens on that. Um, and that the district is now. More aggressively pursuing, um… various, um, various methods of attacking the chronic absenteeism issue, so… I appreciate that, and just, uh, just want to make sure it wasn't being overlooked.
I knew it wasn't, but it's good to hear that. Thank you. Other board members. Ms. Stern. I have a few, um, questions, um… This is one of the main areas that really stood out to me, um, in where we're struggling. Um, is middle school. really 8th grade in algebra, middle school math, I would say. Um, and I guess, um, I mean, the really significant number of students are not meeting proficiency in that… in that band.
And, um… I think, you know, a few things. First of all, looking at root cause, um, I guess I'm a little. trying to understand if the root cause, and that this is a question that, you know, I asked as part of our, uh. you know, weekend memo questions. If the root cause is chronic absenteeism, I guess we're not… I don't know that we're seeing the same crossover in ELA in that band. So, I guess I'm just trying to understand. Um, you know, why there's a discrepancy in the performance on ELA.
at that… at… but not… but math. There's a different, um… there's a higher level proficiency in ELA in that same group, so if they're absent and they're missing ELA, and they're absent and they're missing math. Why are they still performing better in ELA? I think that's… that's one of my first questions. Yeah, I'd be very happy to address that question. One of the things that I think that we were able to glean through COVID. Um, and teaching through virtual formats is that it was an entirely different experience, an entirely different results.
kids who were learning, uh, using literacy skills as opposed to learning mathematics. The one conclusion I came. came to is that mathematics is best taught through eyeball to eyeball instruction, where. Uh, teachers have an opportunity to offset. Um, errors in thinking, where students fortify those errors in thinking in terms of the way that they're solving. problems, uh, mathematical problems. Um, so what we've seen. nationwide with mathematic results, mathematics results following COVID, as you've seen a decline.
It's evidence in the National Assessment of Educational Progress results that just came out this year. Last year, the year before that, as well. Um, I think, um… Math is… math is somewhat cyclical. It's somewhat foundational, where you're building upon concepts that are taught. Um, at early ages, and that knowledge keeps extending and keeps growing and keeps. building, um, in a way that if there are. foundational gaps or confusions early on. It leads to, you know, later challenges as well. So, I find it difficult to compare.
Uh, met the learning and teaching of mathematics. to ELA for, you know, for those reasons. So, based on that, I'm… I guess… There's no doubt in my mind, and I think, you know, you and your team have articulated very clearly. Chronic absenteeism is certainly. And it has a direct impact. I guess I'm just, in terms of when we talk about, like, root cause. What I'm also hearing is that root cause has to do with more foundational concepts as well, with mathematics.
That's another root cause impact. Um, when we look at these cohorts that are not meeting the standard. Am I hearing that correctly? Yes, yes, I think… so I think if you're… so as we begin to analyze. So there are different groups of kids annually, so you mentioned Algebra 1, for instance. Uh, we've, you know, we've… We had seen, in the last several years. gains in Algebra 1. It's the same teachers, same curriculum.
Different… different set of students. So then you say to yourself, if it's the same teachers, we believe in our teachers, our teachers do a great job. My kids are working hard. What's… what's the rub? What's the difference? Why didn't we see the same continuation? And we have to dig a little bit deeper, and dig a bit further. Um… I gave it in rates for chronic absenteeism in the district of 14.6. I can tell you. Those who were not proficient on the Algebra 1 assessment, chronic absentee rate for that group.
was 40%. So, you can begin to draw conclusions, and you can look for that population or that cohort of kids. You think about the compounding impact of. year over year over year. Of missing excessive amounts of school. Um… it's very difficult for even the most outstanding educators to, you know, to overcome. So, you know, we have our… we absolutely have a greater responsibility, I believe, to. Um, all cohorts of our students. Around, um… Bringing awareness to good attendance and.
help and support our families with resources and information strategies and knowledge in that regard. And so, just as a follow-up question, because again. You know, the kids that took the test. you know, last year. Now they're in… either Algebra 1. Right? The kids who really were not proficient. are either in Algebra 1, or they got through Algebra 1 not proficiently. This is one of our main. parts of our, you know, our goals, our district goals.
And our strategic plan is, you know, algebra proficiency, because it is so important for all of math foundation. So my follow-up question is, what are we doing this year with these kids? And what are we doing with the kids? seeing that we've had. Definitely struggles in 8th grade math. What are we doing with the 8th grade math kids this year? Um, to ensure… that we have different results next year. You know, because it's November, right? We have… we have the entire year ahead of us.
Um, you know, and I think about… you know, did we have our math coaches full-time last year? I'm not… if my recollection is accurate, and it's… Um, you know, I can recall, you know, times where we were without a math coach, or one or two, because if I'm calling correct… if I'm recalling correctly, just because, you know, sometimes we have abs… you know, sometimes we have. Teachers on leave, or what have you, like… You know, we've had a change in the supervisor. Like, I just… There's so many factors, but ultimately we have to make sure that these kids have the skills.
You know, to… because we're gonna keep seeing… they're gonna keep experiencing this. If they don't get this solid foundation. Yes, I think… I think we have to… I think sometimes we… we run the risk… I think we run the… Uh, risk of believing that, um… Um, achievement or success is captured in one year. It's a progressive effort, and it's a progression. Uh, so if you think about this concept or idea that there may have been instructional time missed, or there may be gaps or things.
Uh, our teachers do a heck of a job of providing. Um, information that's based upon the annual set of standards that. children need to learn, but then there's also the. concept of catching up, not Heinz catch up, but… catch up as well, right? So, helping them to catch up. So you're doing two things simultaneously, right? You're providing. structure, um, to fill the gaps for annual progress that needs to be made, but also catch-up progress as we call it. And it's a progression. You may not be able to make the catch-up progress in one year.
But we can analyze growth, and that's why we speak to growth, and we look for growth metrics to see if our children. are making steady, progressive progress. You know, I've seen that work, you know, I've seen it up close and personal. Uh, particularly at the high school level. Um, for our staff, um, you know, during my time at West, you know, as they continue to. to work with students. I can attest to the fact the longer. Children are with… the children are in the system and with our teachers. the better off they do. And it ultimately leads to positive outcomes where our children are able to.
access college and career opportunities. Um, just as we communicated, you know, last week, 100% of our kids graduated and went on to. over 100 colleges last year. Final question, and maybe more of a pin. Um, so… district assessments are part of our strategic plan, right? Analyzing district assessments, and that was a question I also asked, and the answer I got was. We're just getting the data in. Um, when can we expect a, um… report out on that, and when we'll… And specifically, the cohorts.
when we're looking at the areas that struggle, I think math is just the standout. 8th grade algebra. That cohort that took the test. in the spring of 2025. Right? Um, when will we see, um, how those… those group of kids specifically are doing at this point? So the benchmark window's just closing this week with the end of the marking period, so we should expect to see some data on how they performed on benchmarks. in all of our core content areas within the next couple of weeks.
And then our… what we will do is we have data protocols, so the CNI supervisors with the building-level supervisors, as well as the coaches. And, um, Dr. Birdie, Mr. Guy, myself, will work with the building level administration to unpack that data. To look at the standards that were assessed. how they're assessed on the standardized test, because they are very much lookalike. And then where they come up in our content again, so that the students have additional opportunities where they may have struggled in this first window.
to practice those skills again, because there's that spiraling of standards that occurs. I have a follow-up question. I know that all of this information feeds into the building of the school-based goals, which flow from the strategic plan to the district goals to the school-based goals. When do you think the school-based goals for this year will be available? But then, within a week, they'll be available. They… they are done, they're under review right now. Well, under a third or fourth review, I guess you could say.
Uh, right now by myself, and they'll be imminent before, you know, their poster. Excellent. And that wasn't meant to be a pressure question. I was just honestly curious, because this conversation around algebra readiness, as Ms. Stern indicated, is something that we really worked on. during the strategic plan conversation in CNI, we talked about during district goals, so I'm just trying to see the progression and the… we'll talk about it in the committee report, also the CNI committee got a slightly different. version of the presentation, which… looked a little more deeply at the school level. So I'd like to do a little bit of matching to looking at what's going on at the schools.
by grade, and then thinking about what the school-based goals look like. And what that means for this academic year. To sort of address some of the questions Ms. Stern was asking. Other board member questions? Dr. Dreisen. Thank you, and I think this is building on the current discussion. So, first, thank you again for the presentation. Um, I think, um… We… it does a great job at highlighting a lot of the notable achievements. Um, what… I've asked this of CNI in the past, and I think I've brought it up here. maybe this is a conversation for the board as well. For me.
as I try to think about my role as a board member, what would be helpful is, in between the notable achievements. And the intervention strategies. is hearing from the… those with the educational expertise. Like, I don't have the educational expertise. What we identify as the notable opportunities. Like, Ms. Stern, for example, she just identified Algebra 1 as an issue. But I'd be curious to know what the district. viewing this data is zeroing in on as the notable opportunities. Because then that would help me as a board member.
be able to tie the intervention strategies back to, okay, we're trying to address these. Notable opportunities. So… It's more of a process, um, comment that, um, we do a great job highlighting. the notable achievements, it would help me to understand what we as a community are viewing as the notable opportunities. Yeah, I'll answer that one. Yeah, so… So the interventions themselves that are… that are identified, the intervention strategies. Um, are intended to address opportunities. Maybe it's not… the language isn't as explicit and clear.
you know, for… just for everyone to understand, but… Um, but the idea behind those. intervention strategies is to provide intervention based upon something that's a challenge for us currently. So that… I guess it's just semantics in the way that. it's being, um, titled and communicated. I think that I appreciate the explanation of the intervention strategies. I'm just currently unable to. Tie the intervention strategies back to. an issue, an oper… semantics aside. What is the metric that we're then.
when we come back to this a year from now. that we're hoping to see achievement on based on that intervention strategy. That's what… I'm just speaking for myself. I have a hard time connecting the dots. Yeah. For questions, Mr. Fain. Um…
Okay, doesn't like me. Um, I know you were maybe planning on doing a little bit more of CNI deep dive, but one thing that I was hoping that Ms. Staffen could mention that we talked about in CNI was how this data. Um, is or will be used to, um… to address individual student needs in. You know, in respect to either Eli or Matt, or I guess science as well, because I know we discussed that, and I thought that was very helpful, what you said. Sure. So, this becomes one metric of data. That schools use in order to determine.
We've talked a lot about MTSS, right, the multi-tiered system of supports. it becomes one metric of data that's used to determine the needs of. students. So if we see a correlation between specific standards that students may struggle with independently. on this NJSLA, we go back to, um, any student in gate. grades, you know, K-5, tested students in 3 through 5, and there's a correlation maybe with DIBELS data. They're looking at, you know, performance on. localized assessments. So all those things come to play, and then we look at.
NJSLA is looking at the major standards that we've taught through our curriculum, and so we're going to pinpoint those first to say, if this is a struggle, as Dr. Morton talked about, the build. then… and there's multiple metrics that. show that there's a continued struggle with this specific standard or skill, then we could focus on that in an MTSS-type process. Whether it be a Tier 1, because we need to universally make sure all of the students. they might see that same struggle, because it's a very new concept.
or standard, or it becomes a little more individualized into Tier 2 or then a Tier 3 with one of our interventionists. Thank you. Um, and the one more, it's not so much a question as it is. Um, a talking point, I would say, for the board, and this is kind of related to what you said, Ms. Stern, and I appreciate. Um, your comment and perspective on that, because I think it's important to look at this, and I didn't… I didn't actually look at that specific trend, and I'm… I'm glad you said that, because I like the way.
That your brain was going with that. Um, and… because when I was looking through this data, the thing that stuck out to me the most. was the ELA level. five, um… data for… Grades 3, 4, and 5. Because it looks as though we've either… We've pretty much trended up in 2024. And then trended back down in 2025. And these students… if I'm getting this correctly, are not COVID kids, so they were not in school during… the current sixth graders would have been the COVID kindergartners.
And so a lot of these students, although there is obviously residual years, COVID didn't just happen in a few months, we all know that. Um, there was residual years, but I… that was an area of concern for me, was the ELA data. Um… for those grades specifically, so I don't really have a question as more of just the talking point for the board itself. And, like you were saying, Dr. Dreisen, I think it's important for us moving forward over the next year to make sure that we're not ignoring that data. I'm, like, far away, that we're not ignoring that data, because it does look like it's now trending back down in those grade levels.
And after implementing a new curriculum, I want to ensure that we're. we're paying attention to that as well, just as much as we are the algebra kids. Um, because these students… Should not have been as heavily affected by the COVID years as the ones that are in the higher grades. Um, and I'm also just kind of skimming through. the data for absenteeism on. the dashboard, I think it would be helpful for us. to look at that, uh, in correlation to these grades.
Um, because there… there's very… it seems like there's very… The percentage of absenteeism in those grades is not good. But it… from just a very quick review, looks like there's not a huge shift from year to year in those grade levels. So I would… I think that it would be helpful for us moving forward, especially when we're discussing different positions like we are tonight, on adding and trying to address. Some of the absenteeism concerns. Um, maybe we can pull some data and see how that correlates year-to-year with which.
what our absenteeism from 23 to 24, 25 in those grade areas. And obviously, it'll be skewed, because you'll have to take 23 third graders, look at 24th graders, 25s. it's not an easy linear progression there, but I think maybe that would be helpful for us and for the board to see that data so that we can get a better perspective into what that looks like as. What these… this… performance looks like in relation to our absenteeism.
So, not really a question, but I guess more of, like, an ask for going forward if there's a way for us to extrapolate this data so that we can look at absenteeism as it's, um… in relation to these grades and some of the other areas, like Algebra 1, the 8th graders, and things like that, so we can get a better. Bigger picture of, um, how all of this relates to each other. Yeah, so I'm looking at Ms. Santiago right in front of me. She's been doing a majorly heavy lift, so… Thank you, first and foremost, Nora.
Um… That's what we're attempting to do, and that's what we're attempting to get to. So, you know, there's lots of cross-referencing. many different reports. You have several different reports. The system isn't necessarily built and designed that way just yet. But we're working on it, and that's the intention. Yes, lots of handwritten data. Crunching… I'm sorry, but thank you for that work. Any other questions from members of the board? Ms. Palmer. So, one thing that stands out to me is, you know, pretty consistently, although.
definitely, clearly, areas where there have been improvements, which I love to see. it still feels to me like they're consistently, you know, certain groups that are doing well and are more highly proficient. Certain groups that. just are not as highly proficient. what stays consistent is that, you know, the groups that. struggle, for lack of a better term, are. still the groups that struggle. So, I'm sure chronic absenteeism, like, if we looked at it, I'm sure that there's a lot of crossover there, but. A, you know, are there other factors? And B, like, what… what ultimately, in your opinion, as the education experts, moves the needle for those groups?
there's… I know that there's no magic pill, there's no quick fix. You know, but I just… kind of a big question, but I'm just curious what you… what you think. there is inextricably… tremendous connection between chronic absenteeism. Um, you know. the group, if you look at just demographically, that. Um… we've had, um… We have massive, massive opportunities in trying to push forward. Um, economically disadvantaged students, for instance. While the district's 4-year number was 8.8.
And, uh, 8.6, I'm sorry, 3 years before COVID. It was 15.6. for that same group of students at that same point. Uh… The district has moved to 14.6 in the last 4 years. That group is 26.3%. Chronic absenteeism. Remember, now that's the aggregate of all the children who fall in that category. That doesn't mean that every one of those children weren't proficient. When you further break it down, and you reduce that number down to those who weren't proficient.
proficient, that number. continues to go up and skyrocket. So as you further disaggregate. Uh, so what I'm seeing… I'm seeing… absenteeism, again, chronic absenteeism is 18 absences. I'd say, if you miss 12 days. to 17, you step… you have… More than half of the population of kids who aren't successful. We've missed more than 12 days of school. And, again, that… That's the… that's the issue, I think, that we have to… we have to solve. We get our kids in school, we get them in the classrooms.
Our teachers will do their part, and they'll do their due diligence and ensure our kids learn. So… Alright, thank you, I appreciate that. Any other questions? Thank you so much, board members, for your engagement on this. I know that, you know, this is a. presentation that is mandated to be given to us. Once a year with a template from NJDOE. And I want to thank, um, Ms. Holmgroom and Ms. Santiago and the entire CNI team, the staff in… the curriculum supervisors, all of you, for all of your work on this. I know that what you're giving us is.
a quick snapshot that only skims the surface of all the deep dive work that you do, and we really appreciate it, and we want to continue to partner. with you, just to build on this Palmer's question. I think our ask as a board is, how can we help? You know, we… you're bringing this data to us, we're all here volunteering because we care about the kids the same way you care about the kids, and we want to know what can we do as a board to move the needle in this Palmer's. phrase to help these kids become even more successful as the years go on. So thank you for partnering with us in that. We really do appreciate it.
Alright, guys, it's a heavy meeting tonight, we're not done yet. We are moving on to administrative reports, and the first one is something that we asked for. It is a quarterly update on the district goals from Dr. Morton. Now, just to remind everybody, we had been receiving updates on our goals through different presentations received throughout the year. The board requested that quarterly we get, sort of, a sky-high look at all of our goals and where we were with progress on those goals. So this is the first of four to see how we're progressing on the goals that we set.
take it away, Dr. Morin. Yes, thank you, Ms. Winters. So, absolutely, this is, uh, somewhat of a newer process for us. Uh, but it's a good process, and it's an opportunity for us to reflect and just capture. Uh, our progress, and to see where we are. Uh, relative to the district goals that have been established. So, the quarterly updates themselves speak to the KPIs and the actions that have been established.
via our current district goals. Um, they're intended to capture. whether we are… we're on track to meet those KPIs and actions. Whether we're off track. If there's any, uh, significant. highlights or hindrances. Uh, for those specific. KPIs and actions. I'm just going to share… Quickly, where this information can be found. I believe it's important for… The community to have an opportunity to see it as well. So this is obviously the district's homepage. If you go to our district.
Here, click on Strategic Plan. and scroll down, um, you'll see that information here. So, district quarterly. District goals, quarterly updates. If you click on this, this takes you to a spreadsheet that shows whether we're on track. Uh, for that particular, um… priority and that aim, or not. This… this particular… Here, we'll take you to a written summary. Of… of this document here. I'm not gonna go through the entire thing, but I really just wanted to create.
Uh, situational awareness, so people understand where you can find this. have an opportunity to see this information. Um, as mentioned, these are quarterly goals, so we'll do updates. Um, as reflected here. The next one is scheduled for January 27th. I'm not gonna go through the entire thing, I'm not sure if there's questions, uh, so… I'll hold here. Board members, you had a chance to review the update on. the goals, are there any questions at this time for Dr. Martin?
Seeing no questions, it must have been a fabulous update. We appreciate it. Everything's on track. So, I don't think the board at this point, I don't see anybody having any specific questions. It's early in the year. Um, I suspect that as the year goes on and we start to continue our progress, we'll have more questions, but members, if you have any questions going forward, feel free to send them on in. So we can interrogate that further. Thank you for creating those documents. Thank you very much. I'll just win this again. I just want to give an update on where we are. I know there was, uh… discussion about, uh, library books.
And the district stance, and… all that's occurred, so I want to address it head on, so… Um… so we shared a memorandum from myself on, I believe, Friday? Ms. Friday-ish or so, to attempt to clarify the district's position. around, uh, where we are. First and foremost, I think it's… essential, and I want everybody to hear it very clearly. The district is not sensing, uh, seeking to censor. or ban any books. That has not been a discussion with the board. We have not discussed any policy around that. We have not had any… discussions that have been, uh, binding.
and terminal type of conversation around that. Truly, the discussion was… intended to be about establishing a consistent process. for how books are vetted for age-appropriateness. And our… our school libraries. So obviously, uh, different than the public library. We're a school district that has different levels of kids. And, uh, what may be appropriate reading material for. high school age kids may not. be the same for elementary age kids.
So just ensuring that we have a consistent process across the board is really what we were seeking to accomplish. Um, I had a great meeting today with several of our. Outstanding media specialist, and we support our media specialists wholeheartedly. We believe in them. Uh, and they do a fantastic job for us. Um, we were able to review a protocol that they had discussed amongst themselves as a group that they were able to present to me. Uh, to ensure that the, um… the designation of books, the process that would be used to designate the books that would be chosen.
was consistent across the board, so… Great, great process, forthright. everybody's on board with that process. Um… additionally, they added another piece as well. Uh, just to… just to provide some substance to the conversation around. Uh, providing opportunities for parents to be in the loop, and for parents to be aware of the materials that their children. are reading. So, on our district's. Well, on our school-based websites.
And I can demonstrate this as well. various school websites. One second, just to pull this up. I just want to show where this can be. generate. So if you… so this is the district's page. If you go to. any of the… any of the school pages themselves. Under Quick Links.
There we go. Okay, under Quick Links, you'll see a link for Destiny. It says Destiny here, this is Fallout Destiny. This contains… This link here is fantastic. Our media specialist has set this up, where this contains. Uh, repository, so to speak, of all of the book titles that are available. And the… and the school libraries. Parents can go on this. site here. You can pull up your school. And you can preview, or… Look at all of the various books.
that are available for your children to read. They are separated by themes and topics. And the titles are here, um… Further… If you require your child's login information. parents have an opportunity to see the exact books that their children have borrowed. from the libraries, as well. You know, one of the great things that, um, that we believe as a school district is. Uh, the opportunity for. families to engage in dialogue, right, about.
materials that children are consuming, materials that children are reading, materials that. Families seek for their children to, uh, to acquire and read. Uh, this site provides a phenomenal opportunity. for families to go through. preview books, you can identify books that you may want your child to borrow. Um… and engage in conversations. Ms. Winters, I know you and I discuss all the time conversations that. You're able to have with your children. Um, and we believe that that provides great family… family structure and family.
family time. Any concerns that, you know, families have about whether to choose a book or whether or not to choose a book? That… that family prerogative, and we respect that wholeheartedly. Um, so we'll provide more information about how families can navigate this site. And how they can go about. acquiring their logins and logging into it so that they have. Accurate information of what their children are reading. Uh, we are not providing or requiring any parent permission slips or anything of that nature.
Um, for book selections, so… And I want to be very clear. Cherry Hill Public Schools is not seeking to censor. Or ban any books. Thank you for that update. We appreciate it. Moving on to our next administrative report. Mr. Schiff is going to provide us with an update on the projects in our schools.
Thank you, I'll try to work through this. Rather quickly. Um… okay, so tonight we're just gonna focus on, obviously, the projects that are… ongoing or currently under construction, and I'll jump into… Uh, providing additional, uh, status updates on upcoming projects that I. that I alluded to last month. Um, so good news here over at Mahlberg and Kilmer, we are wrapping up.
Um… these additions and renovations to these two buildings, so… Uh, right now, these… these, um… Classroom editions are scheduled to come online, obviously, in January. We are still on schedule. Um… We are down to, uh… I'll get into the pictures in a second, but here you can see in Malburg, we actually have. classrooms completed. So, uh, flooring, ceilings, windows, everything are in. I won't go through the full laundry list, but we're getting.
Uh, very, very close to getting into punch list type items. at both Malberg and Kilmer, you can see here at Kilmer. just a couple shots. I included this, so the playground is just about done. All the equipment is installed, the rubber surfacing. has been poured, and that's… curing as we speak. You can see on the right the fencing around the retention basin. And then the final piece is really the casework that you see going in. to the classrooms, you can kind of see the cubbies that are the lockers for… For the preschoolers.
Uh, jumping into ROSA. Oh, again, I should also mention that the substantial completion date is really December 10th on those, uh, additions at the preschool level. Furniture is scheduled to actually start being delivered on the 15th. So, we are on target with that as well, and Dr. Mahan's office is coordinating. those efforts, along with buildings and grounds. So Rosa, you can see Rosa now has a front entrance. Um… which it didn't necessarily have in the past.
Uh, substantial completion on the full rows of projects still is scheduled for August 21st of 2026. But there are intermediate milestones. Um, throughout, so the B-Wing renovations over at ROSA. obviously wrapped up, uh, this past summer. Uh, the main office renovations, including the main entrance here, are scheduled to come online on November 28th. So, we're… we're just about, uh, just about to that point. Cafeteria additions… or cafeteria Edition is scheduled to be completed, and I have a couple update photos here, scheduled to be completed by July of 2026.
And then the A and the C wing renovations. are scheduled for the summer of 2026 over at ROSA, so all projects over at ROSA will be wrapped up. By the end of next summer. So you can see here just a couple pictures. Uh, on the top left, this is the ramp to the stage area. In the new cafatorium, you can also see the capatorium stage slab there. Uh, as well as the roof truss is being laid. Uh, for that area. Uh, the roof trusses in an associated structural steel components have actually been installed.
Roof decking is currently in progress. And again, we're on target to wrap. Rosa up, uh, by 8-126. Uh, here you can just see the main office area and the main entrance that'll be coming online again at the end of this month, so on the left. Uh, you can see some of the mechanical piping and ductwork completed. Uh, ceiling grid installation, including the lighting, is actually complete, so we're… you can see these pictures were from the end of October here.
Uh, walls and door frames are painted. So, again, turnover of the front entrance area is expected by, uh. Thanksgiving recess, um… And fully completed and ready to be occupied, you know, just thereafter. This is just another look, I think I included this last month, of the Phase 2 work. Uh, that'll be commencing… Uh, when the kids let out in June. Um, so just a reminder, uh, you know, the work in ROSA consists of, obviously, asbestos abatement and renovations.
Um, in all areas, all classrooms, including the existing. Capitorium and serving areas. Uh, as well as the AWIN class, it was in Media Center, that's all part of Phase 2, you can see here. Um, just a reminder, the existing cavatorium is being reconfigured. into instructional music room, 2 instrument storage rooms. a new general classroom and additional student toilet rooms. So the A and the C wing renos will commence, again, when the students let out in June, and they're scheduled to be completed again by the end of.
the summer. So the original allowance on this project was just about $290,000. And we still have about 200,000 left, so we're progressing not only on time, but also on budget, without many surprises. Uh, in between there. So, just jumping into Carusi, you can see here the new main entrance. at Carusi Middle School, as well as the plaque. Um… again, this is… this is the… the large, uh, larger, uh, projects that's ongoing. This is, uh, almost a $28 million.
Uh, ongoing renovation. Uh, there really isn't an area of Karusi that isn't being touched. And again, within Carusi, the renovations are being phased. Uh, over a four-phase period. uh, full completion over a career season scheduled to occur until. Um, 2028. So, right now, we are in Phase 2. Um, the abatement and renovation of the B-Wing Blue, along with the yellow. Uh, between Cafeteria and Jim, these are scheduled to be wrapped up by May of 2026.
And then Phase 3, we'll jump into when the students let out, and that'll be. the abatement and reno of the D-Wing Music Suite Cafeteria, and just the remaining spaces there in the C-Wing. And then the final phase will be e-wing and remaining wing spaces along with the F-wing, which is the media center and the adjacent rooms. But those projects won't begin until June of 2027. So all… full completion over at Carusi is still on schedule for. uh, spring 2028. Uh, just a couple photos, so work in the B-Wing continues. You can see ceiling grid installations, door frames being installed.
Uh, walls being painted, floors being prepared for floor tile. Uh, the B-Wing roof replacement is complete. Coping and the siding. is about 90% complete. Uh, some minor punch work, or punch list work is ongoing still in the C-Wing, and that's taking place actually before. Students arrive in the morning. Uh, so all total B-Wing HVAC is about 90% complete. Um, we've already started the programming of the HVAC controls, and we'll be scheduling equipment startup and testing here shortly.
Um, so the photos, you can see oversized door frame for… that's actually a custodial closet. Um, and a new, uh… Or, I'm sorry, in the bottom left, and then you can see a new wall or separation wall that was constructed between two classrooms, which used to be an accordion-type. door that's between B9 and B10. This is just a classroom here. You can see ceiling grid going in, and the B-Wing. And then on the bottom, you can see a univentilator being wired up. As well, in the B wave. So, substantial progress.
Uh, occurring there as well. Um… here, this… similar to Rosa, this is just to show future phasing. So Phase 3, again, will begin in June when the students let out, and you can see the highlighted portions there. Uh, the cafeteria… Again, a music suite, uh… work is to be completed by the end of August. And then D-Wing will continue through summer of 2027, so… Karusi, we had an original allowance of $400,000, we're down to about $144,000.
But all in all, when you compare that to overall construction progress that's been made, we're right on target with that as well. Um… I don't know why. I don't want out of order here. Sorry, one second. All right. So, um, just to talk about the future, those are the 3 remaining projects, or ongoing projects. Just to talk about the upcoming projects.
So, Beck Interior Renovations, you may recall last month. Unfortunately, we had to reject the bids that were submitted. We had the low bidder who ended up withdrawing their bid due to a mathematical technical. So the… the re-bid is scheduled to open, actually, on November 18th. So, um, our architect tells us we have actually additional. General contractors that have pulled down the spec this time, so we're looking to. Uh, looking for additional competition there. high school auditoriums.
Those bids are currently on the street and will be accepting those bids next week as well on the 20th. Uh, just a reminder that little change, minor modification from the last time I spoke. Um, we will be doing the East Auditorium. First, which will begin in April of 2026. And we'll conclude in December, but instead, you know, with the critical HVAC work that we also have scheduled for the gymnasiums. Instead of doing or taking the East Auditorium and the East Gymnasium offline at the same time.
We're now going to take the East Auditorium, and then we'll take the West Gymnasium offline. And take care of that HVAC work, and then vice versa in April of 2027, we'll do the West Auditorium. And then the East Gymnasium. Um, we are now at a point where we can announce the… or I guess officially announce the next round of security vestibule installations. Uh, these bids are scheduled. Uh, to be issued on January 5th, and we're actually going to bid these in two separate. lumps, so we're gonna do, uh, Johnson and Sharp.
Those bids will hit the street on January 5th. And then Barton and Kingston will be issued the week later on the 12th. So we'll be looking to take care of those for, uh, security vesicles during the summer of 2026. Uh, as well, um… In addition to that, just to get into the site work a little bit. Uh, we're looking to issue bids in January, and again, we're going to lump a couple of the sites together, but we're looking to do site improvements, which include accessibility.
And parking lot upgrades at… Johnson and Mann. Mann also includes a new parking lot to address some of the. Uh, parking issues we currently have over there, and we'll also be bundling Kilmer and Knights. Um, parking lot and accessibility, uh, project upgrades as well. We're still with our engineer and, um… our transportation department and others were still taking a hard look at East High School's parking lot, and. The way, uh, our buses. pick up and drop off, and parental pick up and drop off.
So a lot of ideas being tossed around. Uh, again, you may recall that we're gonna have to take that parking lot work in phases as. the F wing that we're going to be demolishing and redoing. is located in an area where we can't avoid. So if we did major asphalt work, we'll… it'll get damaged, so… Um, should have more to share, hopefully, on East's. final layout and design. Um, that's the one that's under the most scrutiny, and it's… we're gonna see significant change, I believe, over at East's.
layout shortly. Um… Just 2 final things, the playground enhancements. additional playground enhancements will be made at Mann. As well as Stockton, and we'll be looking to take advantage of co-ops. Uh, to take care of those two playgrounds, similar to what we've done with past playgrounds. At other sites. Um… So, certainly at the next meeting, we'll be bringing two large projects to you, hopefully for approval and award of contract. Um, and can share a few more updates there, but this is pretty much, um… how things are going to look, at least moving forward, starting in the spring of 2026 here.
So, if anybody has any questions, or… Thank you, Mr. Schiff. You really just fit right in here, don't you? You came right into it. That is a lot of work. I really appreciate it. I do appreciate it, and I have to say that, um, I did hear feedback over at High School East about the concern with the gym and the auditorium, so I'm excited to hear. That that's being flip-flopped with less, so that… Major large spaces aren't all going offline at the same time. Correct. And I'm sure every East parent.
and student… and anybody who's ever tried to drive to East is now rejoicing to hear that eventually the parking lot will be reconfigured. Yes, lots of work, a lot of people involved, so hopefully we get this right, yeah. I'm sure you will. I'm sure it's going to be fantastic for the kids. Mister, uh, just a comment of. appreciation, you know. Um, as someone who… Was very involved in… Conversations with community members who… you know, came out and supported this, which community members will say, you know, I voted for the bond, I supported this.
you know, um, you know, we have a lot of gratitude… I have a lot of gratitude for the community for doing that, and I have a lot of gratitude for the fact that we are doing these projects. On time, on budget, with. Regular report outs, and, you know, when we… when the bond passed, and then we… it started becoming reality, oh, this is going to happen. We didn't really have a clear, defined mechanism of how we were gonna. have a community was gonna know that there was accountability for this… these bond projects. And it's really, you know, it really evolved into, um… you know, the meetings that we started being able to attend, the monthly meeting now updates, and these.
Very regular updates, which are… Like, a lot, like, sometimes I glaze over a little bit, you know, with how much is going on, and… I'm not always, you know, I'm always like, well, when did… what month was this, or what year is this? But. Honestly, it's just, I think, such a… credit to this district of how. Um, this entire process is… is, um, continuing to unfold and. Um, you know, this is truly, like. you know, taxpayer dollars.
Um, coming directly back to the taxpayer benefits for the entire community with. With very significant, um… Accountability. So I just really want to thank you. Um, Dr. Morton and Mr. Schump and, you know, all the folks that you work with. Who helped make this happen, and for the continued updates. Which are, you know. We get many of them, so thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments from board members on bond projects?
I'm very excited about the preschool edition. Can't wait. January will be here before we know it. It felt like January today. Alright, moving on to correspondence, and I think this time I'm going to start on this side with Ms. Surefain, if anybody has any correspondence to share from the last two weeks. Um, I do not have anything, thank you. This manzano. I had the pleasure of seeing the East, uh, concert on October 29th, where, um, it was a pretty cool.
examination of every awesome music program they have there. So, one, uh, every ensemble performed one number, and so I just want to extend a super thank you to Mr. Kelleher, Mr. Palmer. Ms. Mendescu, Ms. Lockhart, and Ms. Slousey, because it was just wonderful. I was excited to be there. Mr. Mayor. Nothing to share. I was also at the fall preview. It was indeed fabulous, Mr. Greenbaum. Nothing this week, thank you. after Dryzen? Nothing this week.
Eastern? Nothing to report. Dr. Bradda? Nothing to report. And Ms. Palmer? I joined Mrs. Winters at the annual Zone PTA breakfast with a number of Zone PTA representatives, a number of representatives of the administration and staff. catered by the, uh, the West. is it culinary students who. If you've ever tasted their stuff, do a phenomenal job, so thank you to everyone involved. It was my first time. was happy to be there. I'm sorry, and Mrs. Stern. Did I miss anyone else? If I miss anyone else, I apologize.
But I appreciated the opportunity. Everybody who knows me knows I will go literally anywhere the West students are cooking. I cannot say enough about what was it, stuffed French toast. And the pumpkin, uh… Croissant things. They're all really good. They're just incredible. Like, literally, if you ever want a board member to show up, just tell us the West Culinary kids will be there, and we will all show up. That's how you get us. To appear. Well, and… As fabulous as it is for us to enjoy their food, what I enjoyed even more was talking to the students, some of whom are going on to culinary school next year.
They have actually been accepted to culinary programs. in four-year, you know, college programs, um, at some very impressive. Institutes. So, um… You know, if there's ever a doubt, and some of those kids are kids that we… I've seen over time on my time on the board, who maybe. maybe I saw them in situations where they've had more struggles, and to… be able to hear those updates from them. Such a joy as why we… why we go to these events, is to interact and see the kids having these successes. And we laugh and we joke about how great the food is, and we'll eat anything for free, but, like, I mean, the professionalism and the skill that those students demonstrate is really, truly impressive.
It's easy to forget that they're, you know, high school students, um, because it is, it is at that caliber, so… kudos to everyone who… who is involved. It is amazing to watch them bloom. It really is, and then to hear about their plans for the future, it's so awesome, so… Cheers and kudos to High School West yet again. And they're culinary students who are incredible. All right, we have made it to first public comment. So, there are two opportunities for public comment this evening, and the first public comment section is for board action items only.
So that are… those are items we are voting on this evening. Those are items number 17 through 20. If you want to speak on any other topic other than those items, you may speak during the second public comment period. The exception to the rule is that if you are a student, you may speak on any topic at any time, so if there's a student in the room or a student online, you are welcome to invite to speak now at first public comment. If you're online, please put an S after your name. on your sign-in, that way I can see it, and that way I know to call on you first.
Speakers must provide their name, municipality, and the action item they're speaking on. We'll alternate between speakers here in the room and those wishing to comment online. Each speaker has 3 minutes to speak, and the timer on the screen will indicate the amount of time you have remaining. All statements, questions, and comments will be addressed to the chair. Your inquiry may or may not be addressed by district administration at the close of the session. So I'm going to open first public comment. By custom and practice, we start in the room. Is there anyone in the room who would like to come up and provide first public comment tonight on an action item?
I do not see any takers in the room. One minute to get my computer to work. Because we do have a commenter online, it is a phone number ending in 788. It is your turn. Please unmute, give us your name, municipality, and the action item which you are speaking on. My name is Jeff Potowitz, I live in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and this is 17.3, approval of research projects. I don't know. I've spoken against research projects before.
about the kids using the kids in Cherry Hill, and I feel the same way. I mean, you're worried that you're supposed to be educating these kids, and worry about education, not about research projects. I mean, our kids aren't guinea pigs. enough already. One has to do with a master's program in psychology. And it's. kids, and it's about ASD students' independence in apologizing for behaviors. I don't know what the details about that are.
But the kids. I mean, teach the kids. If their ASD, which I suppose is autism spectrum disorders. teach the kids, don't do research on them, I'm sorry. Oh, no, but you won't. Another is it masses portfolio for early childhood education, celebrating our cultures by integrating family stories and traditions into. Early learning experiences, you're going to do a research project. And with our kids in Malberg.
our early childhood center, kids with disabilities, and kids without disabilities about culture. I mean, celebrating our cultures. Celebrate education, not our different cultures. please, um… research on cultures. acculturating, I hope it's not a backdoor way to DEI. Um, I've made comments about DEI that, uh, from a lawyer and a law review, that it's anti… that the way it's run, it isolates Jews.
I have another article that the Jewish struggle of the 21st Century, Conflict, Positionality, and Multiculturalism. And it's by Dr. Daniel Ian Rubin, and how when it comes to DEI. Jews are isolated from it, and it's the way it's being taught. He wrote a number of books. on that subject. So why? Why are you doing culture. just teach the kids to be together and learn together, and you're already teaching separation on kids with.
in preschool. You've got to separate different people. That's no, stop it. And again. as I said, I've read article about this and go look up. Dr. Daniel Ian Rubin. and see what he's written on that subject having to do with Jewish, but. Just keep… just learn about each other, and be friendly, and just teach, and… Please vote no on these studies on two studies. That's ridiculous already. Thank you very much, but you're going to vote yes.
Thank you for your comment. Thank you, Dr. Potowitz. Is there anybody in the room who would like to make first public comment this evening? Seeing none, I'm gonna go back to the line. The next person, it just says Zoom user. Zoom user, if you could unmute, give us your name, municipality, and the action item you're speaking on this evening. Uh, this is Rick Short. Carriel, New Jersey. I'm speaking on the same issue. That Dr. Potowicz just brought up.
Our children aren't lab rats. This district is constantly… running research with Rutgers University. It's endless. Again, our children aren't lab rats. Thank you for your comment. Going back to the room, is there anyone who would like to make first public comment?
Seeing none, going back online, the next person is Ken Lee. It is your turn, please unmute, give us your name, municipality, and the action item you're speaking on. Good evening, my name is Ken Lee. I live in Cherry Hill in the districts of Clara Barton Elementary. As well as Carusi Middle and Cherry Hill West. I'm noticing the 17.3 approval research project. I'm assuming it is also related to ASD. And probably on top of it.
ways to improve kids' behavioral. I just want to make comment to… Dr. Potowitz and Rick Short, both of you are not educators currently, so I suggest that you stay out of this right now. Quite honestly, DEI is. DEIs… the explanation you were trying to give is basically saying it causes more violence. When there's people that teach ignorance and hate. that actually causes an increase in bullying and.
Which is why we also see… The increase of reports. Because we have now… been able to speak up against. racism and discrimination within our schools. So, quite honestly, I'd like to commend the Board of Education here for doing all the work that you guys are currently. doing right now. And at this point, I'd say I approve of these research projects, because quite honestly. ASD is such a wide. It's such a widely.
it's such a wide topic that still hasn't been. fully understandable. And as research has gone. through and through, there's even more, um. research that shows it's a wider. Thank you for your comment. Going back to the room, is there anyone who would like to make first public comment? Seeing none, going back online, I don't see anyone who would like to make first public comment.
So I'm going to close first public comment for this evening. Just as a fund of information, I want to let everybody know that if you look at the CNI report out, which we'll be doing in a little bit. The CNI committee does receive and review and discuss all research that is done in the district, so the committee receives that information. The committee discussed it at its meeting in November, then it's recommended out to the full board, and that's why it's on the agenda tonight. But we will get to that when we get to the… board work session, which is coming up soon, I believe.
And actually, we're there. All right, give me one minute just to shift over. Thank you for your patience. So my job is fairly easy tonight, reporting out from CNI, because most of what we did in the meeting was the NJSLA data presentation, which we just had a robust discussion about. earlier in this meeting, so I won't belabor that point, but I did want to, again, go over some of the other things that happened in the meeting. We did get, um… We were told about the Beck Middle School Musical, which is going to be Mean Girls Junior this year, so now we now have all our three middle school musicals approved.
We did talk about the two… studies that were just discussed during first public comment. There are items number 2 and 3 on our agenda, and the committee, like I said, received information on those. And recommended them for approval. We got an informational item about the Family Life Curriculum in grades K-12, and… The information shared with parents about that curriculum. And then we went through the spring testing report, and like I said, I'm not going to go back through the entire. conversation, I just… I think the board tonight actually did a really good job bringing out the highlights of that.
We did discuss a couple things that didn't come out tonight. We discussed the correlation between district benchmarks and. the strategic plan, the district goals, and NJSLA data, and how that all works together. We talked about… formative versus summative assessments, which is something that the administration continues to educate the board about, which I think I'm slowly beginning to grasp. The staff and does a great job of explaining it every time so that we understand, we do appreciate that. We talked about MTSS, multi-tiered systems of support, and how that plays into all of these things.
We talked about special education. Ms. Mallory was there, and we talked about our subgroups in those areas, and how that relates to the NJSLA data. And we did have a big conversation, and I'm not gonna, again, belabor the point, because Dr. Morton did a fabulous job about the connection between chronic absenteeism and our student success data. So that was something that we talked about. Any other committee members want to contribute, or any other board members want to. add to the conversation, Mr. Fain.
Thank you. Um, I was hoping… I was hoping that, um, somebody, maybe Dr. Morton or some… hates me. Okay, I was hoping that Dr. Morton or somebody could just address the process or procedure at which. Um, for research projects, our students are… parents aware when they happened? Do they opt in, opt out? How does that work? Hi. So, when somebody puts forward a research proposal.
they must submit to me on their school letterhead exactly what the research is, what it entails, what's it intended to do. What degree they're working toward any communication they intend on sending to any families. Any permission slips, any survey information that they intend on giving to any participants. all of that gets read through, gets vetted, they need a guarantee that everything remains anonymous, that students. our anonymous as well as the district itself, and that there's no recording.
That's done either, um… You know, video or audio. Um, once I have all of that guaranteed, we go back and forth if there's things in it that we would not approve. We go back. If they can remove it, they do. If they can't, they move on to someplace else. So just to confirm, if I was to receive. notification that my child's teacher was undergoing a research study, I have the choice to opt out. Or opt my children out. Absolutely. Thank you. Can I… can I add to that, too?
Am I allowed to do that? Yes, Dr. Raddick. So, as a researcher, someone who does a lot of research, I should also add, there's another layer of security here, too, for the kids. And that the researcher coming from a university has to go through their university institutional review board. before they even come to the school. So there's an ethics committee at the university level who looks at. the entire study, make sure that all the. the stipulation surrounding the study, everything the researcher's doing is safe for the students, and for… for people under the age of 18, the threshold is super high for those institutional review boards to approve.
So it's been through two layers of security. an ethics review board at a university, an accredited university's already approved it, and the school district has approved it, too, so… Um, I'm… Completely fine and completely confident in that. There's no research being done that. Has negative implications for students. And I should also add, too, if anybody's worried about negative. Negative responses to the research. the IRB won't approve the study unless there is recourse for somebody if they feel they've been harmed by research in any way.
I've done studies where I've asked somebody one question. I have to be able to tell them. Well, if you feel harmed by my one question, here is the recourse for you, and that recourse is counseling and all kinds of other things, but. It wouldn't get to that point with these kids anyway, so there's several layers of protection here. Thank you. Ms. Monsano. I just want to commend our educators and our administrators here. in the fact that if they are. Wanting to further their own education and research, that coming to their home base of Cherry Hill really should mean a lot to our families, because.
They don't want to expand to another district. They want to do it here, where they can make a difference almost immediately. So, thank you for that. Thank you, Ms. Turn. Um, Ms. Staffan, would you also be able to speak a little bit to, um, what kind of courses that we offer our students and opportunities? in terms of their own learning, if they're interested in a career in research or data science or statistics.
Um, if you… if you could speak a little bit to that, how we… how, you know, perhaps. you know, what we offer, and then… How does that tie into what we are modeling in our own district? Sure. So, um, we adhere to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. And there are standards about research that go all the way down to the elementary level and all the way up. When we get to the high school, we hone it in. Um, and become much more specified. So, students as early as 9th grade might participate in a research and science.
course, where they are picking a topic in science to research. Our students have, um, been able to compete in the Coriol Science Fair and earn tens of thousands of dollars toward their college educations. Um, so that's one way that they can participate in research, and I'm sorry, Ms. Stern, if you can repeat the next part. Well, I… and I was thinking, um, you know, that's… kind of open very broadly, and we also have added data science and quantitative reasoning. And we have a statistics course, correct? Yes. So, I mean.
I don't know why we would teach all these things to our students, and yet not have that available as something that our own educators participate in. Yes. So, thank you for explaining that. You're welcome. Thank you. Anybody else on the CNI committee meeting? We are moving as we try to move towards greater meeting efficiency, which Ms. Gilfilen is diligently helping me with. We are trying to not just read out the committee reports, and so the reports are in there, embedded for the. the board and the public to review, but rather to try to generate discussion, so really good job tonight on that, you guys. I think it's… Better for us and better for the community who may be listening to hear us engage on the issues.
Rather than just read out the reports. So, that is the high bar I've set, and with that, moving on to Mr. Greenbaum, who's going to engage us. in thrilling discussion about BNF. Absolutely. And in this case, I mostly am going to read out the committee report, as Mr. Shimp did a fantastic job of summarizing what we discussed. Uh, the focus of this month's B&F Committee meeting was all about the 2627 budget preparation process. Uh, the committee reviewed key milestones that are included in the budget calendar.
Uh, Mr. Schimp provided an overview of the information that he provided to each of the schools and department heads regarding the budget prep. process. Uh, the district will be utilizing a zero-based budgeting approach, which is different from the incremental-based approach from past years. Unlike traditional budgeting, which often builds on prior year allocations. Zero-based budgeting requires every program and expense to be justified from the ground up. This methodology forces the organization. to analyze needs and associated costs from a zero base, rather than assuming existing funding levels.
Uh, with the uncertainty that we have in the upcoming budget cycle. Um, we're hoping that this is a way to. really ensure that everything that we're budgeting for, we need, and we're not just building in stuff because it was there last year. Let's keep building on that. That being said, we also met in closed session to discuss some of the potential challenges that we may expect to see. Uh, and we had a brief discussion on the impact on state aid due to, uh. New governor being elected, which we now know the outcome of.
And I think that wraps it up. Are there any questions from committee members or other board members? Yes, Ms. Palmer. I just want to reinforce the point about zero-based budgeting, and just commend Mr. Schimf, your office, on taking that approach. I think this year, of all years. We all know the anticipated budget challenges, fiscal challenges for the state. I just… I think getting to a point where. Obviously, every budget is a budget that. we've supported, that we feel like we're budgeting what's essential, but it's just a new opportunity.
Um, to look at things in a different way, and just really make sure that we are. prioritizing. from school-based level. through central administration. What's… what's really most important for our students, so… Thank you. Okay, yes, Mr. Payne. I'm gonna try it. Um, I was hoping, Mr. Schimp, you can give us just a brief. Overview of what zero-based budgeting is, and how you see in your role the benefits of that versus maybe how we've done it.
Previously. Yeah, um… you know, it's… coming from a district that went through a similar funding struggles as Cherry Hill. we kind of went to this… this method. Um, you know, back when we were all fighting, I guess, for S2. Where it's… it's more of a… I don't want to use the wrong… it's… it's… everything's thoughtful. I mean, incremental budgeting, obviously, people are thinking and budgeting.
appropriately, but I just… we found… When you task schools or departments. to literally start from the ground up versus me saying. Um, and I'll just make this up, you know, Stockton, you have $300,000 because that's what you spent. Or that's what you budgeted for this year. This approach really makes them. hone in, um… and validate every budgetary request with a justification, meaning, you know, how does this. get us closer to our goals? How does this expense or this service.
this position, um… push us towards our goals, which, you know, essentially goes back to, obviously, our strategic plan, our building, our district-level goals, our school goals. So, in addition to them, you know, building from the ground up, I mean, obviously, looking at historical spending trends and things is… important. Um, again, you know, when the zero base, and I reiterate this. I think it'd be an F meeting, too, is just… I mean, this… we're talking about 25% of the overall budget, because again. People, you know, salaries and benefits is really… Uh, the vast majority of our budget. It's just… that's… we're a labor-intensive industry, right? So… Um, it's just… it's a different approach. I think this is the right year to do it.
you know, there's certainly positives and strengths to incremental base type budgeting, but I think this is. An opportune time to kind of just take a different approach and a different look. Um, I'll be side-by-side with all of our principals, and… administrators and department heads and all of that, um, as we navigate this process, and… Um, kind of excited to see where this build goes. Um, and see what, you know… house state aid and all of those other things shake out, but… Thank you very much.
Okay, any other questions or comments from other board members? Alright, seeing none, thank you very much. That was an excellent lead-in, too. the HR committee discussion, Ms. Stern. Um, so, uh, Mr. Fain and I are going to split up this. portion, I guess, of HR. Our, um… Proceeding with HR. So, we primarily talked about, um.
these new positions, which Dr. Morton has brought forward. And, you know, I guess in the vein of, like, zero-based budgeting, it sounds like my. layperson's understanding is it's kind of like taking a fresh set of eyes. Looking at, like, stepping back and really looking at what do we really need and going from there. I liken… Um, these positions to that kind of thing. Dr. Morton is taking a fresh. using his fresh set of eyes. To really look at, are we, you know, what are… do we have the positions in place that we really need?
to reach our goals. Um, and so with that, we have three proposed. Um, positions, one that's, um. Similar to a position we recently, um… Uh, filled, um… temporarily with a… and then we were looking to make some adjustments. So. Um, there's a… the director position? Um, and let me just read them out, um… the Director of Special Projects and Student Services.
Um, and then that is, um, a position… I guess we had originally the director of. guidance position in… and actually, we had, um… Dr. Morton had shared with us that. really in going through some of the interview process and looking at certifications, and that really there's a recognition that. a better fit for what we're looking for, um, and… and in terms of also finding, like. the best candidate for this type of job. Um, we're better off, um, changing the position around a little bit to Director of Special Projects and Student Services.
Um, and then having, um, a supervisory position, the supervisor of school counseling. Who will, um, be more, kind of, um, I would say a little bit more granular, a little bit more boots on the ground, working more directly with the, um. with guidance counselors. So, um, those were two. And then the third one. was the community engagement liaison, so… Um… so the committee met, we discussed these initially, and then we had some follow-up internal discussions.
Um, with committee members, and that brought forward… brought forward a lot of questions and a lot more thoughts. about that, um, which we, um, kind of fed, you know, in our feedback loop, brought to Dr. Morton and Ms. Lieber. And then, you know, some continued interrogation, as we say, you know, in the modern use of the. the word interrogate, you know, interrogate the question. Um, so we thought it would make sense to have a little bit more of a conversation as part of our work session with the full board tonight, so…
Um, I want to open it up to, you know, thoughts, questions, ideas. Um, about these three positions, um… Um, not position, 3 job descriptions to say. Because we're just discussing job descriptions, we're not voting them tonight, we're just discussing them, but they are. new and different, so I'm going to stop here and ask board members. who might be interested in. you know, sharing thoughts, ideas, and looking at these, um… If you… anything you want to bring forth. I guess we'll start with committee members first. Mr. Fain. Um, I guess I would… I think it would be helpful, because it's probably hard.
Maybe I'm assuming, but it might be hard for some of the other board members to really wrap their head around a lot of it, since they weren't part of the original discussions, and I was hoping Dr. Morton, maybe you can just give us. A very brief overview, and then how that relates to the current positions that we're redefining. I'm very verbose. Brief is gonna be tough. I'll hold onto my seat. Uh, essentially. the two positions, Director of Special Projects and Student Services, does exactly what Ms. Ms. Stern shared. Uh, it's a revision of the title of Director of Guidance.
But it affords us a greater opportunity to a wider pool of candidates. Uh, which we believe would be more beneficial. It also adjusts the… some of the responsibilities. to focus on supervision of a supervisor, we'll work directly with the school counselors. And it also, uh, positions that person as the individual who will do much of the heavy lifting. Um, that had traditionally been shared between the supervisors. of student services role, um, that we currently had.
in the district as well. The other… the other. Uh, community engagement liaison positions. speak directly to our need around chronic absenteeism, and the need for us to. To go out externally outside of the schools, and to support our families and helping. to connect them with support services and resources. And also to get him back in school. I think something else that's important to just mention about our discussion with the community engagement liaison.
was, um, something that we brought up through the committee was… I guess, who exactly are we… are we looking for in that… position, and the discussion was based around. Would that be somebody with a social work background, and what that really looks like. So I think it's important for the board to know that we. We did look into that, um… Obviously, some of us are a little bit more experienced with that… that understanding and background than the rest of us, but… I think it's important that, um, the rest of the board knows that that was a topic of discussion, because. When we consider these… Job descriptions moving forward and voting on them.
Um, having that perspective and knowing what to expect of who will be filling that role is important. Um, as well as we considered budgetary requirements for those positions as well, because it's not simply just a salary for these people. It's benefits, it's all of those other things that go into having, um… Having a role in the, you know, in the district under whatever circumstance. So, that was kind of the… some of the discussion that we had in the committee. Um… I think… I guess that's kind of it of all… You know, just to recap some of the discussion that we are having.
Um… yeah. Thank you. Other board member comments, questions? Mr. Grumman. Thank you. Um, it's not so much questions as they are just comments, because some of these were questions that I had in internal discussions. Which mostly just got me up to speed with what the HR committee. was already discussing. Uh, but my understanding of the community engagement liaison position, the primary focus is on addressing chronic absenteeism.
Um, it addresses post-pandemic issues with chronic absenteeism that we talked about a little bit earlier. And there's a strong correlation with proficiency gaps that were discussed earlier this evening. with chronic absenteeism trends, and we see that particularly with the subgroups that are most impacted on both sides. Um, some of the questions I had were about. Uh, looking at the trends over recent years with. Uh, particular subgroups overall with chronic absenteeism, and we're starting to see it decline a little bit.
But not to pre-pandemic levels. And the discussion turned to… You know, looking at some of the supports we've been able to put in place through MTSS. Um, and other supports. But those only work when we get the kids in school. Am I understanding is these positions, the focus is… it goes beyond a truancy officer. It's to engage with families, it's… to understand the root causes of absenteeism and try to get them back into school. Because when they're in school, that's where we're able to get the supports in place.
They get all that right? Okay, and those are… those are some of the discussions that at least I had with some back and forth with members of the HR committee and other folks, so… figured I would share some of the, uh, the Q&A that I had. Thank you. Thank you. Hello there… Board members have anything they want to… Mrs. Winters. So the lens that I tried to… bring to the Director of Special Projects and the Supervisor of School Counseling positions was, how do these positions link directly into our strategic plan?
Because this is a new process for us, we've never had a strategic plan like this before. And I wanted to make sure that everything flows from that and makes sense towards achieving the goals that we've set for the next 5 years. So, part of my understanding is that. these positions, Director of Special Projects and Supervisor of School Counseling. Link into… Um, under Priority 1. D and E, which are experiential learning opportunities, which is internships, and also. Um, post-secondary opportunities, whether college or career or beyond.
So, I think one question I had was, should we better. or more directly articulate some of those items. in those job descriptions, so that we can make sure to hold those positions accountable. As they move us towards achieving… aims and goals that we've set. So that was just sort of my thought. And I am definitely not of the committee members, I am not the HR expert. I don't have any HR expertise, this is not my wheelhouse, so maybe that the answer is… That's not what you do with a job description. But that was just my… that was, I guess, my concern, that I want to make sure that if we're going to.
if we're going to create these new job descriptions that. anything we do from this point forward is directly aligned with. our strategic plan, and then… measurable and accountable to that plan to make sure that it's moving us. towards our goals, because I think, for me. having done priority one through the CNI committee. this piece of internships, experiential learning, college and career readiness, it was. clearly spoken to us by the community. this was something they really, really wanted, and it was also something that the board was 100% in support of. When I asked board members for feedback on Priority 1.
that was very clear, so I just want to make sure that we're articulating how. these two positions directly relate. to those priorities. So, that's… And, you know, to share with the full board, that's really what was… I think resounding when, um… the three of us from the HR committee. had further discussions about the position is the piece about. Um, these are being brought forth with really focusing on.
Higher level student engagement. You know, these 3 positions, higher level student engagement around. To address chronic absenteeism, which is a root cause challenge for our student success. And also, implementing… a much more… more support. for the role, ultimately, of the people who are helping our students. do these college and career readiness. You know, the pathways, um, for post-secondary education.
Um, and… and post-secondary, um… pathways, you know. I think it felt like we were missing language to tie that into the job descriptions, because that really is the genesis of the job descriptions, so… You know, that's the question that we have brought forth. Um… and it's… you know, again. Part of our… all of our discussions about our goals is also about being good fiscal stewards, right? Um, you know, I think Dr. Morton has really led this district.
Previously with Mr. Sugar, not with Mr. Shimp. To be very thoughtful about finding. Um, you know, places in our budget where we can have salary savings, or we can have a. Um, a tighter budget that matches. the challenges we face with state aid. And so much success with that, we… We need to continue to always have that lens, and that's a commitment we made together in partnership, so… Um, you know, I don't… I mean, you know, in full candor, being fully candid, I don't see those pieces woven in in the way I was expecting to in the job description, so…
That's my ask, is… To have them more clearly articulated. You know, it's not that they're not gonna happen. It's just that the way that we know that we can tie it clearly, and the people who come after us. I have one more year, and then I'm done. I'm gone. And I'm not gonna be able to have that conversation here at the board table, so… You know, the people can continue to say, well, this is where this genesis was, and this is how we. Um, you know, this is why the board supported it, because that role was part of this.
So, that's where my thoughts are. Um, and, you know, we had some of those, you know, emailed, you know. you know, email conversations, but, you know, really at the table, I don't know if other people. have any other… I mean, that was just our HR committee, you know, bringing those ideas forward. I don't know if other. Board members have thoughts or, you know, ideas, or Dr. Morton thought any response from you about that? Absolutely, and thank you for bringing the conversation forward. It's just so much easier for the conversation in person than. Through email. Uh, so one of the things that we look at, and just to understand.
the, uh, concept of philosophy behind. how the job descriptions themselves are written. Versus the strategic plan. So, strategic plan is intended. To be more specific, and it's more, like, targeted at a specific aspect. Of the role of a counselor or staff member. The way the job description is written. It's more on the macro level, as opposed to… specific, but it… the macro level covers. the specific nuances of the job. So, for instance.
And the school counselor role, it says, assist with the formulation of goals and objectives. for student counseling programs aligned with district priorities. So technically, the expectation is that I could expect. for a counselor to ensure that they're aligned with the district's strategic priority. 1E, right, A1E. around college and career pathways, experiential learning. And things along those lines, but… Ms. Lieber and I sat down, and we went through each of these essential duties and responsibilities.
We have a list of probably 45. different things, and it just… Long and cumbersome, we wanted to, like, pare that down and condense it a bit. and make it, uh… Such that it encompassed all of the general roles and responsibilities that would be required. Um, specific language could be provided, it just makes the job description longer. Mr. Fain. Um, another question that I had that I don't… I'm not sure that I articulated well enough via email, like you said, I'm much better in person than I am.
via email, is, um, what the support at the building level looks like for East. Um, versus West, knowing that West, as it stands now, has. a pretty robust internship program, and how do these… how will these positions ensure. That east is giving… getting the same experience that West is. building an internship program and providing opportunities for students. to participate in the same program. Yeah, so I'm happy to report that there are, uh… about, I believe about 9 or 10 students at East that are participating for the first time in the experiential learning program this year, and they're having a great experience as well.
Uh, we actually have someone, uh. Well, you know very well. You're in a picture with last week that we shared. Santa Castellani. Ms. Castellani's one of our teachers over at High School West, but she also. serves as sort of like a coordinator of our experiential learning. program district-wide, so she's been… at East and at West, obviously, she teaches, but she works with. students on both sides. We haven't had, at the district level. Um… the level of probably, like, central.
coordination and support in this manner, and essentially what we're… what we're attempting to create. sort of like a department around student services. That supports all things that's related to. the student experience, counselors, and, you know, the career pathways, experiential learning. And things along those lines. I believe these two positions will work in concert with Ms. Castellani, who will still continue. But I see this as our avenue or our way of helping us to really grow. and ensure that there's parity between what's happening at both schools. We started this at West many, many years ago.
Um, so, you know, this… There's some catch-up on the other side of town as well. Okay, thank you. There are board members have any comments, questions? Mostly us in HR. I mean, so Dr. Morton, what I'm hearing from you is you don't want to be overly burdensome, but you're also not. You don't… you don't see that there's a prob… or a negativity to adding a, you know, maybe some of the language, it sounds like.
That's what I heard from you. You didn't want to have 40 things listed, but… maybe adding, like, experiential learning or whatever, you know. maybe there's some agreement that there's, you know, that. ultimately is not adding a lot of burden, but does help shape a little bit more. really how these positions are… forward-facing, future-facing, and perhaps start to differentiate maybe some of the past roles. I mean, that could… You know, provide that. So, I don't know if that's something that… I mean, that's what I was hearing, I don't know if I got that right.
Yes, absolutely. Yes, those are things that we really believe in as a district. We don't, again, we don't want the… job description would be cumbersome and too lengthy. Right. But, certainly, yes, absolutely. That's great. Um, another thing, this is more for. to bring up for the board. Um, when looking forward. Um, but now that we're starting to get real knee-deep in budget season and all of that. Does it make sense for us… I know as, um, as it was explained to us now.
when we look at salaries year to year, there's… room, and what we've looked at from this current year to next year to provide. So that we're not overburdening ourselves and a… a financial situation, or standpoint. Um, I guess my question to everybody else would… is now the opportunity… is now the right time to be making this decision on these things, or would it make more sense to wait until we have a better understanding of what the budget will look like next year? That's more of just for… I don't… that's for my, I guess for me personally, like, to have your… everybody else's thoughts on that, kind of.
That's one of the pain points that I have, is making a decision on. positions that will require annual. budgetary, you know. factors, um, and whether it makes sense for us to be moving forward at this. Right this second. well, we're not voting on it tonight, but next meeting is really what I meant. Mrs. I don't know, Mrs. Palmer… okay, this wasn't sure if your hand. Did you… well, if you… do you want to just weigh in, and then we'll go to Mrs. Nurse, since you haven't gotten a chance.
Yeah, and I know that we're not voting on them tonight, but what we're… we're considering just the job descriptions, right? Not necessarily the… hiring of or posting of X number of positions. I… because I had a similar. concern, although my thought is. Back to the zero-based budgeting conversation. as we put the budget together, we decide what our priorities are, and if this is. truly a direction that we're committed to. then I'm… I'm definitely not opposed to.
If that's the recommendation to move in that direction, but I… I appreciate that point, I had the same initial kind of thought. But, you know, I don't, I don't personally, as one board member, see harm in. having the discussion around the descriptions themselves. Mrs. Winters. So… Right now, we have somebody in the Director of Guidance. position. So that position is currently exists, that person is retiring at the end of the year, so this would be a continuation of a position that currently is budgeted for this year and exists. Same thing with the… my understanding, and please correct me if I get this wrong, but… the old position that we had for Student Services, that position would then turn into the supervisor of school counseling.
So that person that was Ms. Carter, who had. Um, moved on. That's her position. So those two positions already exist for this. Current budgetary year. Um, the new positions would be the community engagement liaison. So, but to Ms. Ms. Palmer's point, so I'm really comfortable with. the director and the supervisor, the community engagement liaisons are new. But to Ms. Palmer's point, if the board is committed to addressing chronic absenteeism, as we've seen it identified.
Um, as a root cause, then that seems to be the direction to go. I would be in favor of the board. really, um, taking… grappling with that job description and getting it ready. So that if we are ready to move forward with it, then it's… ready to go, because we can have the job description exist. And then decide if something horrible happens with the budget, which is not going to happen because the budget's going to be great this year, you guys, but if it does. That's why Adam keeps me around. Team Optimus.
But then we, you know, we can decide, but I would… I… I would personally, if this is something the board is committed to, I would like to have that. set up and ready to go. And then, pending what happens, move forward with it if it's, you know, something that we decide that we're prioritizing. Because the budget is the expression of the priorities of the district. I mean, that's where we put our money, is where we. in our heart. I mean, that's what it is, so… That would be my preference, but I'm very comfortable with the other two, the director and the supervisor, because they already exist, and like I said, we have somebody in the director position that will be retiring at the end of.
2025. So then that role will be available. Yeah, thank you. I was just gonna say thank you for the explanation, because I did realize with the director, but I… I missed that part with the supervisor, that it was a re… working of a current position, so I did miss that piece. Um, so thank you for that, and I appreciate the perspectives of everyone, and glad to have the discussion. Okay, any final thoughts? Thank you, and move on.
Moving on to P&L. Mr. Mayor, lead us in a robust and productive discussion around pre-NL priorities. Uh, which I hope it will be. I don't think it necessarily needs to be terribly lengthy, but… because I have a clock staring at me, I see. And, um, we do have an audience here. We'd like their turn at the mic, so… Um, that said. So, um, thank you to my board members, I'm sure you have already taken a look at. prepared readout. There's no need to go into a whole lot of detail on most of what we discussed on first reading, but I don't want to ignore it.
We did go very quickly towards the end of the meeting, um, through the items on first reading, specifically policies. 173 through 6220. Um, uh, get… we got a great deal of comfort from Dr. Mahan. Who confirmed for us that the subject matter experts. One of whom is at the board table with us tonight, Mr. Schimp. And also Caitlin and Mallory reviewed all of those in detail. And we're very comfortable with the language and suggested.
revisions, um, from the Strauss-ESME. Strauss Esme, um, policies. Um, so they will move on to a second reading without revision. We spent probably… 50 of our 62 minutes, maybe 52 of our 62 minutes. on Policy 2365, which of course is the acceptable use of generative. artificial intelligence, and to say that the conversation. Um, involves significant feedback was an understatement. Um, we had a lot of engagement.
from, um, not just… those of us on the board, and I want to open the conversation to other board members as well. Of course, um, but also from Dr. Morton. Um, and Dr. Mahan, who is experienced as. Um, administrators as experts. Um, and education, um, we're able to give us. their perspectives on. Um, how much of this language is important? Does this language. That we're considering adding work for. What we need to do in our district, and all.
I think we all recognize, understood the importance of. Um, of not shutting AI out to our students, the importance of. Recognizing, um, that it has all. already taken a, you know, a very. prominent role in all levels of education, really, and that. One of the important jobs that we as a district have is in educating our students, is also educating them in. The appropriate and ethical use of artificial intelligence. Um, when it is appropriate to use it, how it's appropriate to use it, the importance.
Um, of, um, citations and in, um, attribution in the use of artificial intelligence. Um, and empowering our teachers, our educators. in setting their own guidelines, standards, expectations. Not just at the… Um, educational level, whether it be middle or high school, but also in particular. Classes, where there may be. some classes where the use of artificial intelligence for certain elements of an educational.
Um, project would be appropriate and useful. Um, and some where it certainly would not be, so… We recognize the importance of getting this policy right. Also, the importance of recognizing. Um, that the advances in artificial intelligence are. Monumentally, um… fast, and. We do not want to put the district in a position where. this policy, or any policy, has to come back for constant revision.
that sort of dynamic. Does not give educators or students or. parent the kind of certainty. Or that they need in understanding how to move forward. So we don't want to put our, um… Our district in that position. That said, we recognize. because of the speed of AI, and because it is so pervasive. Sure, this policy probably will need to be revisited. Maybe more often than some. Um, maybe revise more often than some. But we want it… we want our first policy out the door.
to be as all-encompassing as it can be to. provide the flexibility for our teaching staff to. work with it as well as they possibly can. with the input of subject matter experts where necessary. So, all of that is to say that we spent. the better part of our meeting, almost the entire meeting. We could have… we could have gone on. going through the various optional additions. Um, through Strauss Esme. Um, all but one, um, were discussed, and thank you specifically Dr. Morton for.
For giving us your, um… You know, your perspective on why these are important, how they would be. operationalized, as well in our district. We have a timeline which still works for us, to have a final vote on our AI policy. before the end of this year, so we look. forward to bringing this on to second reading. in December, and a vote before the end of the year. We had only 2 policies. Uh, on second reading… Um, the one… and one.
One was brought back 24-22 was brought back. Because there was a recent statutory change which was. language which was not incorporated in the original. Um, language of 2422, so Latino-Hispanic contributions. Section was added. So that it now aligns with what is the most current. relevant statutory guidance. Um, we would also… and I have Dr. Mahan, thank you for remaining in the meeting on the line, so if there are any questions.
We did have previous questions on 2422. We'll be able to address those today. That said, um… for other community members. What did I not get right? What did I forget to mention? Um… anything else we want to add to that discussion? Um, just… really quick, I think, um… you know, I thought we had a very honest conversation about just how.
I don't know if this is the right word, but how extensive and pervasive. the topic of… AI usage, AI policy, AI plans really are, you know, this is the beginning of a very extensive and pervasive conversation of. A technology that, you know. Potentially could be as significant as simply, like, the internet, you know what I mean? Like, you know. Um, and it's a long… it's a long road, so just, I think.
you know, I really appreciated the candidness of Dr. Mahan and Dr. Morton about, like, you know, kind of where we're at in this process and how we're building. Um… And this is just a com… I guess, comment question, but I think. The policy references an AI plan, which I guess is in development. Um, and even, like. Um, you know, it… We're just gonna have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot of hands need to be involved, I think.
Um, with implementation, but I was very happy we had the starting point, I was very happy we had some stress as my. Um, kind of, you know, options to go off of, so that's just my only… my feedback. And just to build onto that as well, and this is sort of a view that I had, I don't know if I… Specifically mentioned this during committee, but… way of view what we're doing with this policy now as a foundation. Um, upon which we will build, but the regulation on top of that, um. An ongoing discussion, and it's also a policy which is informed by the many, um.
meetings that, um, and sessions that a few of us attended. Also at workshops where we were able to learn from. Those who are also engaged in the same discussion. and building best practices from experts. Around the state and elsewhere, um, so… Again, it is a… it's a foundation. I think it will be. as it stands. You'll see, um, it's robust, it's wide, it encompasses. Um, you know, a tremendous amount of information. A tremendous amount of latitude, again, for the… for the educators as well.
But at the same time, we'll also provide the mandatory. Um, and educational informational component for parents and for our community to understand. when AI will be used, how it would be used. how students are permitted and when they will be permitted to use it. Um, in the classroom for projects and for curricular activities. Um, and also, um. cross-referencing those policies that already exist in the district. with regard to inappropriate use. Um, unethical use.
of AI and how that would be handled, whether through the code of conduct or other existing. Existing policy in the district. Any other comments from committee members? Um, so, as… Mr. Mayor said, there was a lot of conversation about this policy in particular, and there were a few things that I think we've worked into this initial draft. That I thought were really important that we add, um, things like. outlining or addressing, you know. Not just appropriate use, but age-appropriate use, considering that our district spans from.
Pre-K through high school, I think that varies greatly. how you might use it for a kindergarten classroom versus in the high school setting. Um, transparency around. What we're sharing with parents, letting parents know that it's not just that it is being used, but how it may be used in the classroom. Um, one request that I would make, my understanding is that I believe Ms. Gilfilen has some experience in. these policies in other districts if, you know, if Mrs. Winters, Dr. Morton are comfortable with it, I would appreciate.
just your lens, as somebody who's seen. seen this in other districts. Um, if we could make that happen before it moves to the action agenda, I would… I would really appreciate that. I think it would help strengthen. the policy, and I would ask the same of my board colleagues. you know, we did a lot of work at the P&L level, but just please, if you take a. deep dive on any of our policies, look at this one, because I think this is… Um, not just… really critical at a really important time, but it's also. one of the policies that is truly board-driven. It's not just.
He stressed Esme, you know, template that we downloaded. So, I want to be really intentional, and I… really would like all of your feedback, if possible, between now and the action agenda. I appreciate that comment. Another way, you know, I look at this, we've gotten… district has gotten, generally. great reviews on how we handled cell phone policy, and it's been used as. Um, in somewhat of a template around the district, around the state. I don't see why this can't be the same. And that's not the goal, it's not what we're trying to do, we want to do this.
to get it right for our students, to get it right for our staff. Uh, and to give comfort to our parents also around data privacy. Um, with respect to, um, the… prompting the input that our students are gonna place onto that. It's all part of this policy. But it sounds like a mammoth lift. I'm not going to say that it was… You know, it's… it's… wasn't easy to get this far. But that doesn't mean that we won't be able to get through this, and we'd value your, obviously, your input.
Um, and we shouldn't… We should be able to get this through. to vote before the end of the year. Seeing no other comments? Oh, I'm sorry. Seeing, I should say, seeing none in the direction that I was looking, if I were to turn this way… I would see, uh, Mrs. Surefain. Um, I… looking through, I understand that the policy that you're speaking about with AI is directed towards, um, like, use in the classroom and.
Um, curricular, uh, you know, uses for AI. I'm curious if. Either there was discussion, or maybe we should… have discussion on… how AI also should correlate to. Um, what we have written on Code of Conduct, as well. And is there any discussion around what that'll look like? Short answer is yes. Code of Conduct will be cross-referenced, um, as not… as one of. perhaps several cross-reference policies that would be implicated. Um, in the event that there is.
a founded violation of. Um, the AI policy. Thank you. This time I have swiveled. Dr. Dreisen. My question doesn't relate to the AI policy, though, so I want to make sure if anyone has any questions on that before… Moving on, because we… she and I had an opportunity to review it ahead of you, but thank you for all the work there. And thank you for bringing that up as well, because I failed to mention that. CNI kicked it off, and… We took the point and went from there, so… I know it was only about, I think, 12 minutes, so I did the math of A&I was 50 minutes, so I know there might not have been a lot of time spent on this, but…
I did bring it up in prior meetings, so I just do want to, um… ask for a bit more clarification on 2422. Um, because again, my comments were… I guess I'm still just unclear. When I look at other districts, some districts have kept. the title as, um… comprehensive health and physical education. So, I'm still a little unclear on the impetus for broadening. the scope of this… I guess this really gets to, like, governance of policy for us, but to change this to statutory curricular requirements.
And then, if we do make that change, though. Just to be clear and on the record, like, I support all of the content that's in here. They are NJSA statutes, so it's, like, not controversial. But the confusing thing to me is number 27 in it. Which then says, um… any other statutory administrative codes, and there are other NJSA. 18A35… codes that are other policies that we adopt in Cherry Hill, but they're not listed here, so it's more just a question of.
What we're choosing to include versus exclude. And that's unclear to me. Um, earlier in the day, I, uh, I did… give a heads up to Dr. Mahan, so I see… who I see is still online on our meeting, so… I am going to turn the virtual microphone over, um. To Dr. Manhan, so if you could help us. with some of those details, that would be fantastic. Um… Mrs. Stern, if you also wanted to weigh in.
I'm happy to do that, but Dr. Man, if you're still there. Dr. Dreisen, thank you for your question. Can you hear me? Yes, thank you, Dr. Mahan. You're welcome. So… Actually, we received the update and the guidance for Policy 24-22 statutory Curricular requirements in an update. from Strauss Esme, it's in our policy alert number 235. And in that, this policy is indicated as mandatory, and part of the changes as. direct from the policy update is that in the title, in addition, the title of Policy Guide 2422 has been revised to statutory curricular requirements.
As many of the requirements listed in the policy are statutory and are referred to as statutory curricular requirements. This is alignment with the QSAC. indicators, and they are asking. everyone to make these changes. So, we did not choose to make this change. for the districts that you may have looked at, I'm not sure if they utilize Strauss-Esme, or if they are aware of the guidance. But this is a mandatory guidance, and it is a mandatory update.
That's helpful. Thank you, Dr. Mahan. And so then, you know, if we move forward with, um. You're welcome. approving this to… well, the process, I know we're in second read just right now, and then voting on it at a later date. But, um, if there are other… to number 27. if there are other statutory administrative codes. I guess, process-wise, is that something that we could revisit and add to this policy? over time through P&L? Yes, they would be added, and in… specifically for item number 27, that was just signed into law.
Um, it's a Bill A3871, and that bill requires that, um, the New Jersey State Board of Education is to. adopt the New Jersey looting… New Jersey Student Learning Standards, excuse me, to include Latino and Hispanic history. It is to begin in the 26-27 school year for all students in kindergarten through grade 12. Um, that instruction as aligned with many of the other statutory requirements that you see in Policy 2422. are to support the historical accuracy, cultural relevance. Um, and contributions of these populations, so… Again, those are all… bills and or laws that we are required to follow that we have put into the policy, and we will continue to include them in.
Policy 2422, typically with the policy alerts that we receive from Strauss Esme, they do provide us guidance in which policy these updates should be included. Understood, thank you. And under… yes, I'm tracking on the Latinos and Hispanics, that's, um… that's, um, clause 25. Um, and understood it was… it's another, again, not controversial, it's just… it's one of these NJSA policies. I'm talking about in 27, it just says any other statutory administrative codes.
I'm just pointing out to the board, we do have other NJSA. 18A35. things that are not included in this policy. Um, right now, as currently presented to us, but we can revisit that at a later time, I presume? Absolutely. Yes. Thank you. That's how teamwork works. Thank you, Dr. Mahan. Are there any other… any other questions about the P&L meeting?
Seeing none. Excellent. Thank you, everyone, for a very productive board work session. We now move into the action agenda, which is where all the action is. As former Board President Ovadia used to say all the time. So I will kick it off. superintendent recommends, and I move the following, 17.1, approval of contendants at conference and workshops for the 25-26 school year. 17.2 approval of out-of-district student placement for the 25-26 school year, 17.3, approval of research projects. Do I have a second?
Ms. Palmer, are there any questions? Seeing no questions. Mr. Shimp, please open the voting on the CNI agenda. Motion carries, unanimously. Thank you. Mr. Greenbaum, please move the VNF agenda. Superintendent recommends, and I move the following. 18.1, approval of bill lists.
18.2 resolution for the rejection of proposals. 18.3, copy of resolution authorizing and approving certain purchases in excess of the bid threshold through New Jersey state contracts. and or purchasing system cooperatives. And 18.4. Submission of comprehensive maintenance plan and M1. Do I have a second? Mr. Mayor, are there any questions? Seeing none, Mr. Schiff, please open the voting.
Mr. Shams, I mean… I need to, um, recuse myself on the second bill list from, um, Jewish Federation of South Jersey to avoid a conflict of interest. Mr. Shimp. On bill list number 2, I need to abstain on the payments to Bancroft. Mr. Schiff on 18.1, the fourth bill list, I have to recuse myself, um. For payments to be added. And we're not done. Mr. Shimp also on 18.1.
I have to recuse myself on, uh, invoice to, uh. ESS to avoid a conflict of interest. Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Fain. Can you please move the HR agenda this evening? Sure. The superintendent recommends, and I move the following, 19.1. termination of employment non-certificated 19.2, appointment Certificated 19.3 Appointments non-certificated.
19.4 assignment salary change certificated, 19.5, assignment salary change non-certificated, and 19.6 other compensation certificated. Um, do I have a second? Ms. Stern, any questions, comments? See none. Mr. Shimp, can you please open voting?
Motion carries. Mr. Mayor, can you please move the P&L agenda? Absolutely, the superintendent recommends that I move the following. Um, item 20.1, approval of harassment, intimidation, and bullying investigation decisions. Those were the ones the board heard on. October the 28th of this year. Item 20 point. to approval of the field trip, this would be to approve. Cherry Hill East students to attend. National Convention and Competition.
For journalism, uh, 2 days. do I have a second? Mrs. Surefain, let the record reflect, I looked to my right. Are there any questions? Seeing none, Mr. Shimp, would you open to voting? Mr. Schemf, I need to abstain from 20.1, as though it's not present for those discussions. Mr. Schump, I am also abstaining from 20.1, also not present.
Mr. Schemf, also not present for those discussions, 20.1. Motion carries. Excellent. There is nothing under governance this evening. We had our big bang on governance last week. Are there any board members with new business? Seeing none, moving on to old business. Mr. Schimp and I are going to talk about NJDOE and the school funding reform outreach.
initiative that they have, do you want to… Take the lead, Mr. Schiff? I can, um… So, under old business, we have, or the… the DOE has provided an opportunity for members of the public. Uh, which obviously includes all of you, as well as the administrator sitting here at the table. Um… to comment on… on, essentially, the school funding. Reform Act, or SFRA, the funding formula. I put a link, um… in here for you to see, or get to the survey.
I also included… I went through and just kind of clicked through and did a quick printout so you guys could see all of the. Uh, the questions without navigating, you'll see that it's really a multiple-choice type of. survey with, uh, text boxes for additional comment. Um, in addition to that, I just provided a report that was. uh, developed through… my professional organization, New Jersey ASBO, which I thought. Uh, provide some really good background on SFRA, its current challenges, and some recommendations that they're providing to the state.
I think the discussion was more centered around, um… how we want to… respond to this? Uh, whether it be a coordinated effort. Um… that, that, you know, the district provides, the board also provides, other organizations that Dr. Morton included in his. Uh, update as well. Um, so really just… gathering thoughts on how you want to approach. There is a due date for the survey.
for this Friday, um… The only other piece I would add is the survey itself is very, very technical in nature. I would say it's not extremely user-friendly. I mean, you will require. some knowledge, certainly, of the formula as it currently exists to really. Uh, answer some of those questions, so kind of just looking for feedback on how we want to… Move forward. And just to add to that, so… The survey is there, but there's also an option to.
Email… a statement comments directly to… NJDOE, so… I guess the question is, does each board member want to individually take the survey? do we want to do a statement as a board? like we did last year when they were looking for SFRA feedback, like I did when I went to Trenton. And I read a statement as the board president representing the voice of the board. Um, I think whatever we do should be aligned with what district administration does, that way we're all singing the same song.
So, how… with the understanding that the deadline is Friday. How would you guys like to approach this going forward? Because I think this is a really important moment. Where we can… be impactful in what the changes are to the school funding formula, anticipated changes, Ms. Palmer. So, I do… I think it's essential that we as a board. probably send a letter, um, that would come from you. Or you and Adam, as President, Vice President, um… But I also… I think each of us are also parents in the district. We are also taxpayers.
I… I would personally like to see a two-pronged approach, where. We send a letter on behalf of the board, and then. each of the 9 of us fills out that survey. based off of the feedback that is in that letter, so that we know that our response is. cohesive, consistent. you know, as long as that's appropriate and there's no concerns from the skillful and her administration. I think that's our best approach. Mr. Pain. I would say… I would say pretty much similar, um, response to that. I would also include that.
Writing a letter from the board would satisfy our board duties and responsibilities, but I think it's totally reasonable as us as individuals, parents, and. taxpayers, um, to have. a personal perspective to input to, I would imagine, given that we're all doing this every year. It's probably going to be consistent. Those… that survey, if we took it as a parent or taxpayer perspective and sitting here at the table. Um, but my personal thought behind it is absolutely do both, and I think it's even reasonable that we're. We're responding to our own. personal thoughts on how all of this is via survey.
Um, but that letter absolutely from, like, a Board of Ed perspective, district perspective. Mr. Schemf. What is the… is the administration going to do individual surveys, a separate letter? Like, have you guys decided what your approach is? Because I don't… I think we should definitely be aligned if we're going to do this. Sorry. I would probably ask Dr. Morton to jump in on that and get his opinion on how. how a district wants to move forward. You caught me. I'm sorry. I was listening. I tried to pause, I apologize.
Um, so the question is, we were talking back and forth, so the BOE craps a letter. Uh, and submits to the SFRA outreach site. Um, it sounds as if each of the board members wants to take the survey and submit their own. personal response to that. Do we as an administration want to. submit one response as a district to the survey, or do we want to. I guess have an effort to have all administrators provide. a response. Survey can be individual, but I think in terms of, uh, any written language, it should be on behalf of the district.
And you and I can collaborate on it. Similar to, you know, what we've done in the past as well. So, forgive me, because I… Not, you know, this isn't kind of just came up, but um… the PTA? Are they eligible to participate? Because typically they sit at the table when we testify. The only PTA and fair funding have already been… as soon as the survey came out, we alerted Alana Yara's own PTA. Oh, that was the email we got.
That's all… so that… that community… They're on it, sorry. On it. A community-facing piece is already out there, so Zone PTA, through the Fair Funding Committee. is already handling the social media, the community-facing piece, and all of that stuff. We did get an email. from a community member who teaches in another district who asks. Over the weekend. how we were doing that. That was the email we got. So that was the response back. Thank you. So the discussion here tonight is… Thank you to the community member. Yes, so the discussion here today is not about.
community members who are out there, yes. Please fill out the survey and tell Trenton. Cherry Hill story. We need you to do that. The conversation here tonight is because we're on a. It has to be done by Friday, if… myself and Mr. Greenbaum are going to work on some kind of a draft statement on behalf of the board, which then you guys will all want to read and approve and make sure that we're capturing the board voice. I want to make sure I have enough time to do that, if that's what the board desires. Um… I mean, yeah, I'm a yes on that, and I agree that we should all individually do the survey if we can make the time, because.
the more input… these surveys are data, they're aggregated data, so I think our aggregated voices are important. Dr. Dreisen, just a process clarification. we all do the survey, would it make sense for UN or to co-sign. the district letter as the district with the board, or is it two separate letters? In the past, we've done separate but aligned. So whenever… when we testified at the hearings they had lists. gosh, that was earlier this year, this January. It's been a long year, everybody. When we testified in January, um, Dr. Morton and I both testified.
aligned, but speaking… we spoke from the board voice as the ones who approve. the budget every year, and also incorporating the taxpayer voice. With the burden and the benefit. of the bond referendum on our community and what that looks like when we're forced to increase taxes. To pay for things year over year, so I think… Adam and I, Mr. Greenbaum and I, will work on. something, and I can resend to you guys, actually sent to Mr. Shimp, because he wasn't here. earlier in the year, some of the pieces that we've done in the past, which have board voice, so you can see what we've done in the past, and then we'll craft something new.
For this, and then you will all review. give me feedback so that I can edit and update it. And then we'll make sure that we coordinate with Dr. Morton as well, that way we make sure that we're all singing the same song, but from different perspectives. Does that make sense? I just gave myself another homework assignment, you guys. Anything? Alright, thank you guys so much for that discussion, it was important. Anything else in old business? Mr. Fain. Just a friendly reminder that we have 3 opportunities coming up.
Um, for the community to participate in our elementary rebalancing discussions. The first, which I can't believe I'm about to say this, is this Thursday that went really fast. Um, this Thursday, 7pm at Cherry Hill East, um… Uh, which I actually have a question, will it be, I'm assuming in the auditorium for that? No? It'll actually be in the cafeteria. Cafeteria for that one. Um, also, Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, a week from today, at Cherry Hill West, also 7pm, that's November 18th.
In the auditorium, and then Thursday, November 20th, would be 7pm, and that will be virtual. And that link can be found… Or… will that be emailed how we… On the website. On the website. That link will be very clearly shown on the website for anybody interested to attend virtually. If you really love talking about this, you can come to all three, but know that if you come to just one of them, you will be heard, and um… four of the board members will be there to.
Um, participate in the discussion, hear what the community has to say, and take note of all of your input. One quick point of clarification, can you add on the virtual session? I think there was an interesting question over the weekend memo about inclusivity, that people can. join the virtual one, if the different languages. Oh, yes, sure. So that is actually, I think it's 7… what was the total number of languages that the Zoom can be. Viewed in, that you said? I know we have 71 different languages in the district, I don't know if you remember. I mean, you gave us a nice list of all of the… it was probably, like, 30 different languages that.
Zoom has to offer, so thank you for that, Dr. Dreisen. Um, for anybody in the community that's listening now, or for any of you that are here, you can tell all your friends. Um, be… what is it, 46? Oh, even more than I thought. 46 different languages, so if there are anybody in the district. Um, that might not come in person for, you know, there's, they're. It's likely not going to be some sort of access to interpretation and stuff like that, so the virtual option is a good option for. any community member that would need interpreter services. Thank you for that.
Thank you. I can't believe it's Thursday either. Any other old business this evening? Seeing none. We are finally at second public comment, and I want to thank our intrepid community members out in the audience. who have been sitting here this evening, because I know it was a really long meeting. We didn't mean to do that to you. It just happened to be a really packed meeting, so thank you all for hanging in there to second public comment. We really appreciate it.
And I mean that sincerely. So… public comment as an opportunity for members of the community to provide input to the Board of Education on educational issues. The board welcomes diverse opinions on relevant matters. However, statements that are abusive, obscene, or which demeanor are defamatory to any individual or group of individuals. Will not be tolerated. Such comments are disruptive to the orderly operation of this meeting. Speakers wishing to provide the board with information which is not relevant to the district operations may communicate directly with the superintendent and the board president via email or other alternative means.
So I'm going to open second public comment. Similar to First Public Comment, you will have 3 minutes to speak, and the time will be on the screen. We start in the room. by custom. Somebody already knew the rules. you can approach the podium at your leisure. Give us your… He's been here before. Never been here before. You can approach the podium, you can give us your name and your municipality, and you will have. 3 minutes to speak. The timer on the screen will indicate. Thank you so much.
Alright, uh, yeah, sorry for being so bold and just coming right up, um… Name a municipality. My name is Michael Nussbaum, I'm here tonight as both a parent of a child with special needs in Cherry Hill, and a high school teacher in another district. Um, I've been… I've spent years in classrooms and IEP meetings, like the ones. We hold here, and I know this, when collaboration replaces defensiveness. Children thrive. Unfortunately, many parents I've spoken with in Cherry Hill describes their experience as transactional, not collaborative.
Too often, when a parent raises a concern, the answer is, if you don't like it. go to due process. That response doesn't build partnerships, it builds walls. It isolates families, wastes times, wastes energy from students. we're all supposed to serve. At the last board meeting, I submitted a formal action request for an independent audit. the Special Education Department, modeled after Haddonfield's 2019 Special Education Audit. I provided printed materials to each board member and every director at the side table.
Yet, I received no written acknowledgement or response. So tonight, I'm asking again, please confirm that my request was received. Reviewed and considered whether the answer is yes, no, or pending. Parents deserve a response. I've heard the district's priorities to support every child's growth, to build belonging, and to ensure staff excellence. Those are noble goals, but to live up to them, we must be reflective. A person or a district that can slap its own hand.
When necessary, is the smartest kind of person. Because that takes humility. It takes courage to say, we can do better. And then to actually do it. Cherry Hill needs that kind of courage. to look inward, to listen, and to learn. When a general education teacher tells my son is. not under her jurisdiction, that is not inclusion. That's avoidance. Inclusion has been a law since 1975 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Not a favor, it's a civil right. Every teacher has a student who has a student in a classroom shares a responsibility for that student's success.
I tried to be part of the solution. I reached out to the New Jersey Inclusion Project, who's director. offered to provide the first professional learning session. on inclusion free of charge. I shared the information with the district and was told it would be. distributed. I truly hope it was. Because our teachers want tools and support to succeed. While the district probably showcases its bond projects, we're excited. We are… which are exciting and needed, let's remember, new buildings alone don't create equity.
True progress comes with culture inside those buildings, a culture of reflection. Collaboration and compassion for each child. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to work with you. To help Cherry Hill live up to his promises that already has made. Let's be that kind of district that has humility to reflect and the wisdom to address. and heart that includes every child. Please respond to my request. Thank you for your comment. Thank you, Mr. Nussbaum. We appreciate it. going online, the next… the first person online is Ken Lee. It's your turn, please unmute, give us your name and municipality. You have 3 minutes.
Good evening, this is Ken Lee again. I live in Cherry Hill, in the area of. Clara Barton, Carusi, and Cherry Hill West. My crush… I have about 2 questions coming in. And it's in regards to the academic performance that was displayed earlier that showed the overall improvement of Cherry Hill. Um, first question I have is, what is the percentage of kids transitioning from a private school. to Cherry Hill Public School District. The reason I ask this question is.
My niece, Victoria, who unfortunately is no longer here, was. Here on an F1 visa, and unfortunately, because of Cherry Hill's policies, she was not allowed to attend the public schools. and had to go to Resurrection Catholic School that's located on Kings Highway. From our experiences, I have never experienced anything so abhorrent. Absolutely. Uh, absolutely substandard. in terms of education. There were teachers that were at that school that didn't even have teaching certificates of eligibility.
that allowed them to teach at a public school, and even showed that they even had the credentials. To teach at a public school. Not to mention that one of the teachers, I believed one of them music teachers. did not even have a bachelor's degree, which is extremely alarming. Um, so I'd like to see some of the… data set about the kids that are transitioning from a private school to Cherry Hill Public School District only because. Those kids are coming from an education that, what I see is extremely subpar.
to an education level that will. for sure help them, but also from an education level that was much lower than. the public schools in… New Jersey, let alone Cherry Hill. The second question is in return… it's in, um… It's in pertaining to. The chronic absenteeism. I'd like to know if there's any action. That would penalize parents of kids with chronic absenteeism.
And that's only because one of the possible reasons for chronic absenteeism is possibly due to the lack of care from parents itself. Um… I'm not expecting an answer tonight, but I'd definitely like to know the answers to those two questions. Thank you so much. Thank you for calling in, and thank you for your comment. Going back to the room, is there anyone who would like to make second public comment? Please come to the microphone.
Please give us your name and municipality. Matthew Brin, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Alright, uh, I've been a resident of Cherry Hill for 12 years, and I'm also speaking on behalf of my wife tonight, Melissa Brin. who is a librarian at the Cherry Hill Public Library and the Cherry Hill resident for 30 years. Our daughter, Penny Brin, is a 5th grader at Horace Mann Elementary. I'm here tonight to show my support for both Cherry Hill School's Media Specialists. and the Cherry Hill School District at large. First, we want to offer praise to Bethany Lawless, Horace Man Elementary's librarian and tag teacher.
She has nurtured Penny's curious spirit over the last few years. Guided her exploration of our world and provided materials that inspired some of our deepest and most profound family conversations. Most recently, the library had a book display of frequently challenged and banned books. Such as a Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein. The Witches by Raul Dahl, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. She noticed this display and became really interested in that topic. It sparked a conversation at home about censorship. And gave us a new way to connect over books as a family.
It also encouraged her to step outside of her normal reading habits. and try reading poetry and short stories for the first time. We were grateful and impressed by her librarian for creating that display. And so proud that we're part of a school district where media specialists are trusted. with those conversations and those displays. So when we heard, and Dr. Morton, you addressed this earlier, when we heard that a new procedure was being discussed. to keep lists of books with quote-unquote sensitive topics. Keep records of which children we're checking out such books.
And would require a permission slip to check out those books. it really shocked us. One of the reasons we really love this school district is its commitment to freedom to read. And it's written policies on access to materials. Specifically, we support these policies approved by this board in 2016. Number one, to provide materials on opposing sides of controversial issues, so that students may develop the practice of critical reading and thinking. And number two, to place principle above personal opinion.
And reason above prejudice in the selection of materials in order to assure a comprehensive collection. appropriate for the users of the library. These are sound policies, and the board was right to implement them in 2016. The procedure that was being discussed, and I'm glad to hear, was shelved. Um… feels like a step back for a district as forward-thinking as this one. I know it is still in talks, and it's been shelved, but should the policy like that, or a procedure like that, be reintroduced? I humbly ask this Board of Education to guide the administration away from that procedure.
Because I don't think it represents what is exceptional… exceptional about our schools. I trust the expertise of our school media specialists and the education that they've provided themselves. And I support you all, the Board of Education. And ensuring that they have the resources and protection they need. to perform their job to the best of their ability. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. going back to the line, it's a caller with a phone number ending in 788. It's your turn. Please unmute and give us your name and municipality.
My name is Jeff Potowitz, I live in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Two things. an article to read on School Finance 101, March 14, 2014, what really matters, equitable and adequate. funding, school finance 101. What really matters, equitable and adequate funding. Please read what Mark said on it, and you can read what I wrote on it. My name is Jeff. That was over 10 years ago, and I've been following SFRA for a good 20 years.
a good 20 years. I understand the problem. I've told people in the school board and the school district. The problem I told our. our township that they need to help out. In fact, I did that as early as this week, I told them to do it. It wasn't done. You want to talk to me? You can talk to me, but I've sent plenty of things. And go read that article, all right? We've been cheated for actually, even before that, since about 1989, all of which I've said, and I've given actual numbers.
All right, and I took that survey, and the survey, you have to be very, very careful about it. Because I understand what they're trying to do. Our problem is the wealth equalization formula, to be honest with you, and we are losing all our wealth equalization. It has to do with special education, because two-thirds of our special… of our calculated census method or special ed aid is wealth equalized, and a number of other things, and I've known this for over 20 years. I may have been the first person to complain about it because unfortunately. I called our representative. our Assemblyman about it within about 3 months when it came out, I knew we were being cheated.
So, um, yeah. Talk to me, talk to me, but you won't, because, uh, John Tremble wrote about it from Special Ed PTA. wrote about it in 2010, spoke in front of a legislative committee about it. I could tell you that too, you have it. about an article. by Dr. Ian Rubens, a book written by him. This is from, um, and someone did a review of it, Sandra L. Gilman, distinguished Doctor Sandra L. Gilman, distinguished professor of.
liberal arts and sciences and professor of psychiatry, Emory University and author of Jewish Self-Hatred. Dr. Rubens, the Jewish struggled in the 21st Century, conflict, positionality, and Multiculturalism reflects on the increasing sense of marginality among American Jews, however defined as part of renewed focus on radical pedagogy in the schools and higher education, the social. of Jews in secular culture seems to have moved from the historically defined perpetual victims, positions of power, at least within a radical pedagogy, that renders them white.
Thank you, Doctor Padowitz. Dr. Padowitz, thank you for your comment. Going back to the room, is there anyone else who would like to make second public comment tonight? Please approach the podium, give us your name and municipality. Hi, my name is Aubrey Townsend, and I live in Cherry Hill. Um, I am a parent of a student in Cherry Hill Public Schools. I am also an educator, a speech therapist, and a public school, and so access to information in schools is important to me personally and professionally. I was alarmed when I saw the note from Dr. Morton about the library memo regarding possibly instating a permission slip to take out books from the school libraries, which is.
very adjacent to banning books. But I was very happy to see Dr. Morton. Assure the community that Cherry Hill does not have a book ban or permissionless policy at this time. And again, you stated this. However, I would like to make a comment regarding this topic, as I would like to ensure Cherry Hill does not consider instating any policies that would restrict student access to books, enjoyment, and information. having access to a variety of books is extremely important. Reading about differing perspectives and our own life experiences helps build empathy and community, which is something the Cherry Hill community strives for.
Books also provide representation to a variety of communities. When you read about a character that matches you in a book, it is a feeling of being seen, and our students deserve and need to be seen. Finally, in stating policies that remove access to books limits learning, and limiting learning in Cherry Hill schools would not result in our highly rated school district, as highlighted earlier with the NJSLA. testing results. We are a diverse community, and so our district policy should be aligned with that diversity and integrity. I implore the district to continue their stance in not instating any policies that would restrict access to books, like permission slips or literal bans.
Thank you for listening to and supporting our community. Thank you for your comment. Going online, the next caller is Jill Rothgutman. It's your turn, please unmute, give us your name and municipality. Hi, Jill, Rob Gutman, can you hear me okay? Yes, we can, thank you. Okay, thank you. Uh, first, congratulations to the re-elected and newly elected, um, members of the board. I know Dr. Morton wrote a letter in address this evening about the sensitive book topic and not banning books.
Um, but as a child welfare attorney for nearly 20 years, I'm deeply concerned about an ongoing discussion requiring. parental permission slips to check out sensitive library materials. Why, it sounds like parental involvement and practice, it harms the very. Children most in need of our school support. I've represented foster youth, children who reside in foster homes, shelters, group homes, or with relatives. All who might not be… have a parent available to sign a permission slip.
This means a DCPMP caseworker, foster parent, or parent with an open abuse and neglect litigation would have to sign off. Now I work with children in high-conflict custody cases. We're even asking for one parent signature could spark another round of conflict, emotional harm, or even more litigation. A policy like this could stall or block access to books. It creates unnecessary barriers, mailing forms, tracking down absent parents, and delaying learning.
And more importantly, it threatens students' health and safety. Students dealing with trauma. mental health issues, grief, divorce, or identity questions often turn to books when they cannot talk to adults. Forcing permission means seeing kids may stop seeking help or stop reading altogether. A potential policy creates creating a two-tier education system. One were kids whose parents are open-minded get access. Kids whose parents are strict or uninvolved don't. And the library stops being a place for all students.
Our district's diversity is one of its greatest strengths. Sensitive content often means books about race, gender, religion, or identity, stories that reflect real students' lives. Restricting them can unintentionally discriminate against students who most need to see themselves represented. Books build empathy, resilience, and understanding. They help children heal and grow. Please don't ask them… please don't make them ask for permission to learn.
I'm not there in person, but I had a shirt on today that says, readers are leaders. And then, since I have a little bit more time, I would like to also address the concern with the middle school split class model. Um, surrounding the lunch periods affecting core subjects. Students have to stop mid-lesson. It takes time to refocus them. Those further from the cafeteria lose more time because they're. Um, they're missing an extra few minutes a day compared to students closer to the cafeteria.
That amount of time adds up. So let's say you miss 3 minutes of class. Ms. Rothgutman, I'm sorry, you're out of… you're out of time. Thank you so much. If you have more to say, please feel free to email us. I'd be happy to hear from you. going back to the room, is there anybody else who would like to make… Second public comment. There are a lot of previous board contenders in the audience this evening. I do appreciate seeing that, and librarians. It's a great combination. It's your turn. Hi, everyone, I'm, uh. I need to. My daughter goes to a wrestle night where she is.
Thriving thinks that. Mr. Park is a rock star, so… We're very happy there. Um, Dr. Morton, thank you very much for addressing our concerns earlier today. We have, um, full faith in the board and administration. We know that you are not trying to. Um, step on the intellectual freedom of the students or the staff here. Um, we really just, I should say. I am currently a public librarian serving teens. I was previously a high school librarian.
I am also a… professional reviewer of teen literature for Kirkus and for school library journal. So, this is why this is important to me. Um, we want to make sure that. While you aren't trying to censor books. We don't want any unintentional barriers between kids and books, and that is sometimes what can happen. when we have policies like this. Um, your media specialists are amazing professionals. They have policies to help them select books. And we want to make sure that they are given the time and resources to do that. So, thank you for addressing that today.
Thank you for your comment. Going online, the next person, it says Sue Drew. It's your turn. Please unmute, give us your full name and municipality. You have 3 minutes. Yes, we can. Okay, good evening, can you hear me? Okay. Hi, I'm Susan Druckenbrode, I'm in Cherry Hill. So, I'm calling also about the, um… the library and the book… issue, perhaps book ban. Um, I was very shocked to read.
Um, in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Um, the memo from Ms. Staffen, um, is quite detailed memo, um, so… you know, I think there was a level of thought that went into how. Um, this proposal to regulate. Um, how the kids would take out books, and how that would be tracked, um… it's just very concerning, you know, the state legislature, they did pass the Freedom to Read.
bill, um, and as a parent and as a taxpayer, I was happy about that legislation and really thought, okay, I don't have to worry. Um, about this, but then, you know, I read about this in the Enquirer, and I read about it in other places, and people are talking about it. Um, so I, you know, I did hear Dr. Morton earlier. Um, sort of reassure that we are not banning books in Cherry Hill.
Um, but again, the level of detail in that memo, um, was… was shocking. Um, so, um, so… Those are my comments. I'm glad that Dr. Morton kind of explained that, but I still… it is still, um, perplexing about that memo. Thank you for calling in and for your comment. Going back to the room, is there anyone else who would like to speak this evening? please approach the microphone, give us your name and municipality.
Hi, everyone. My name is Darby Malvey, I live here in Cherry Hill. I want to thank the board and everybody for your time. I know it's late, I know you've heard a lot about this library policy, and you're gonna hear a little bit more, I'm so sorry. Um, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a certified school media specialist, but I've never worked in this district. Um, and I'm really active in a lot of statewide professional organizations. Um, Dr. Morton, I was glad to hear what you said earlier, and I'm glad that I don't have to talk tonight about the New Jersey Freedom to Read Act or the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination in places of public accommodation. Or the many court cases, um, but I could, and I will if I have to, so I will come back.
Don't tempt me. Um, today I want to talk about my own experience. I'm lucky enough to have two students here in elementary school in Cherry Hill at Johnson. Um, and given my profession, they are no strangers to the library, right? Um, but they come home on library day, like, so proud and so excited to show me their library book. Um, that they picked out with the help of their school librarian. And it's really clear when they do that that's, like, a very unique and valuable. moment for them, and why is that, right? Um, so my kids and all the students in the district are really lucky to have access not only to school libraries.
but also to certified media specialists. And we know that's not the case for a lot of our major neighboring districts. And we know that's something that traditionally we've been very proud of in this community. But the value in having media specialists is not just in having them. That's not enough, right? The value is in trusting them, respecting them. and valuing their expertise, experience, and training. Um, the reason my kids are so proud when they come home and so excited about the books they've picked. is because their school librarian works diligently. makes use of her specialized training in material selection, and then works hard to build connections with her students.
and build up a relationship that allows them to do things that young people rarely get to do. Things like make their own choices, explore their own interests. Navigate their own needs and their own curiosity. And they do all of that while they're learning about building a relationship with a safe. trusted adult who has their needs and interests at heart. But my kids and their classmates would be much worse off, and their education would be that much poorer. And their experiences as students would be that much diminished if the priority and the energy and the focus of our media specialists shifts.
from providing materials that meet the needs and interests of our students. to providing materials that meet. some other criteria, right? Um, I'm really happy to hear that the district is committing to not engaging in policies of outright censorship. But the fact remains that the memo was written. and distributed, which means many of the folks in the community and in the profession. are very concerned. that there are still processes could be coming.
Um, that complicate access to materials, stigmatize the needs and interests of students. Or have potential other unintended consequences. I want to close up my time by just saying thank you to our media specialists. My family and many families value you. Um, we thank you, we support you, and we will be watching. Thank you for your comment. Thanks. We appreciate it. Going back online, the next caller's name is Jessica. Jessica, it's your turn. Please unmute, give us your name and municipality.
Hi, can you hear me? My name is Jessica… okay, my name is Jessica Santiago, I'm from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. We can. Um, my first concern is. Uh, health and safety question. Regarding the building work and abatement currently taking place. I understand the district is conducting abatement in portions of the building. My concern is about how the air is being handled during this process. Since the school has a centralized ventilation system that pushes air throughout the building, how's the air being contained so that fibers, dust, or contaminants from the abatement. area do not circulate to classroom and shared spaces.
Like, what containment measures are in place to isolate the abatement area, whether negative air pressure systems are being used to prevent airflow from the work zone. Whether there's been independent air quality testing. And if so, whether the results are shared publicly, how frequently HVAC filters are being changed during this work. And whether higher grade filters like MERV 13 or better are being used, who's overseeing environmental compliance, for example, in industrial hygienists, environmental. Um, and how families can review the documentation. My priority is making sure that environment remains safe for students and staff throughout construction.
So, I'm just requesting clear communication and transparency around the safety protocols and testing data. My other concern is academic. I understand that the kids have IXL access across, um. for math, which is very helpful. However, it seems that the full I Excel for Science, ELA, and foreign language is not accessible. Um, can you clarify whether the district has licenses for those sections? Um… There's an… because there's a section there that says, like, assessment preparation. So that might be helpful. Um, for foreign language, learning, speaking, and listening practice, what audio-based resources are currently provided for French and Spanish to support listening and speaking skills?
Um, my daughter did go to the library, but she wasn't able to find, um, any foreign language support. In her, uh, school library. Are there plans to supplement instruction with pronunciation practice tools, computation labs, or digital platforms that allow students to hear and practice spoken language regularly? Um, for science and ELA, do students have. Um, no, that's okay. For financial literacy, I wanted to, um, ask about adding financial literacy and practice. practical math, um, skills into the curriculum, like budgeting, credit savings, taxes, cost of living, understanding.
Um… and then, in regards to the books. Um, it's… I think it's… About the whole banning. I just wanted to say, like, I don't want my child reading a book that talks about who's having relationships with who, like, she's having a relationship with him, and all this. other stuff. Books can… if the books include immorality, then it doesn't need to be included. Our kids could be reading a thousand other books, including coping strategies. how to deal with anxiety and depression, personality types, the five love languages, self-help books.
Um, how to influence, uh, how to have friends and influence people, how to be financially literate. So there's a lot of other social, emotional. Miss Santiago, I'm sorry, your time is up. Thank you so much. If you have more that you would like to add, feel free to email us. We appreciate it. Going back to the room, is there anyone else who would like to make second public comment tonight? Please approach the microphone.
Rick Short Cherry Hill, um, Miss Santiago, uh, comments were incredible. incredibly smart, especially the ones about the, uh, air quality. Excellent point, Ms. Santiago. Much respect for you. Um, here we go, folks. It's the circus show. From an inner memo. What a circus show. I mean, this goes right along with the, uh… The famed, uh, ragtime show with the N-word, it falls right in with the, uh, great. media campaign that this district runs. And let's not forget the 1776 controversy.
Yes, another media circus. And then we had the lunch. Um, the lunch… uh, scandal. You know, you may not agree what I say. But I want to tell you the worst. moment in Cherry Hill. Manipulation of children. This is horrible. To know how these. This school district manipulates the media for their own self-fame.
Who remembers Sousykel? Yes. Suicol. When these students overwhelmingly voted. to have Legally Blonde. You guys had to make a point. that you had to teach. that Soucycle had racist monkeys. It was like a 51-6 vote. I'll check, I'll come back on that vote. You, the District of Cherry Hill, should be ashamed of yourself.
to create this fiasco that never existed. It is truly amazing how you guys manipulate the media. for fame. Amazing. But let's talk more about how pathetic it is. what you did as a number… race-baiting thing with. Suickel, again. There was a democracy vote done. And a middle school play. And it was overwhelmingly for… Legally blonde, but you guys had to input your racebaiting.
Education into it. You, district, you're pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic. Thank you. Going back to the line, I don't see anybody online. Going back to the room, is there anybody else who would like to make second public comment this evening? Don't see anybody approaching the microphone, going back to the line, I don't see anybody online, and I would like to close second public comment. Before we move on from second public comment, I just want to.
Be really clear that. There has been no change in board policy. There is no change in board policy under consideration. Board policies align with all current state laws, including the Freedom to Read Act. Martin, Superintendent comments. Excellent, thank you so much. Uh, thank you all for your comments this evening, I really appreciate. Um, you know, the candid comments and your support of our media specialist. Our media specialists are incredible. They do a fantastic job, and.
As I mentioned earlier, it was such a pleasure to meet with them and to, you know, to hear the thoughts and the process. And the intentional thought that had, you know, gone into what was laid out. Um… Just moving forward, um… the high school level, first market period closes. today, actually. Uh, so we are ready. Uh, one marking period down, I encourage. all families to ensure that. Uh, students are making sufficient progress. they've gotten off to a great start, and typically what we see in the second market period, kids start the school year off.
with full steam, and they're ready to go, and then it starts to, like, the energy starts to wane, so we wanna… We want to continue that energy and moving forward into the second market period as well. Uh, Mr. Fain, thank you so much for your comments about. Uh, elementary enrollment balancing process in the meetings that will start. on Thursday, we are absolutely looking forward to that. We'll also have a complimentary survey that we'll be sending out to the community. to allow for those who are unable to attend. to provide us with feedback as well about the process.
Um… Final note, this evening while I was here, I received, uh. very positive message from Mr. Burrow, our athletic director. Our high school East boys soccer team went into overtime today. against Easter, Regional High School. and they pulled it out. 2 to 1. They will be hosting the Group 4. sectional final on Friday at 6pm. Congratulations to Coach Mellegrano.
And the East Young Man, and he just texted me this evening, he said, the job's not done. We're ready to get it done on Friday, so we're competitive around here. We're looking forward to the East Boys soccer team bringing home a sectional title. Uh, with that, I'll say, have a great night, everyone. Thank you so much. I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. Is there a second? Dr. Braddock, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Ayes have it. The meeting is adjourned.