2026. Um, adequate notice has been provided for this meeting. So, um, Mrs. Coleman, roll call, please. >> Mrs. Brown, >> here. >> Mr. Chu, >> here. >> Mr. Craig
>> here, >> Mrs. DeMarco here. >> Oh, sorry. Thank you. Mrs. Divine >> here. >> Mrs. McCovsky here. Mrs. Sherman >> here. >> Mrs. Z >> here. >> Jimmy's absent. Mr. Doas
>> here. >> Mrs. Maya >> here. All right. Um, can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance? Okay, thank you so much. We uh had no executive sessions, so we are going to uh move past that. And before we um get
started on the presentations, I would like us to enter in the committee of the whole. So, can I have a motion to answer committee of the whole, please? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> I am going to pass it over to uh Meredith. Oh, I'm sorry. >> Favor. All in favor?
>> Hi. >> Thank you. Um I'm going to pass it over to Meredith. >> Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming out tonight if you're here in person or for listening and watching at home. Um, we're going to begin tonight with a celebration of February's Black
History Month here in Collingswood Public Schools. Um, we have a few things prepared for you this evening. Um, and especially if you're listening at home, I'll just share a little bit about what's happening in the room and then I'm going to toss it over to Miss Carlson and her students for a
performance. Um, so over the last month in February, across our pre-K through 12th grade classrooms, our district has ensured that students and staff are participating in a variety of learning opportunities related to Black History Month. Here in the room tonight along
the side tables that you'll see um to your left and right are examples of student poetry, artwork, and of course music as you can see um submitted from our middle school and high school history, English, graphic design classes
um as a representation of some of the learning opportunities and opportunities for students to share um their experiences as students of color here here in Collingswood or as white students and the learning that they've um experienced throughout the course of the month of February and in their time
in Collingswood. So, on your way out tonight or when there's an opportunity, please stop by the tables alongside and see some of the beautiful, really talented student um artwork off to the side. And then here in real time, I'm pleased to introduce Miss Carlson, our
6th through 12th grade strings teacher, who's going to introduce her students and tell us a bit about what they'll what they'll be performing tonight. Thank you, Miss Carlson. >> Thank you for having us tonight. Um, this these are members of the seventh and eighth grade middle school orchestra. We're going to be playing
Circle of Rhythm, an African motif by Rainard Burns. Rainard Burns is a Harlembborn African-American composer and he's frequently a um presenter and lecturer on um African-American composers. This um this piece circle of
rhythm has a lot of really driving syncopated energized rhythms. And I wanted to point out usually when a piece starts it gives you some indication of how fast you're supposed to play and the instructions that begin this piece are joyful. So this is circle of rhythm.
Thank you so much for the beautiful performance. We appreciate it. And I will turn it back over to Kelly and the board for any further comments or questions. >> U just to the students and Mrs. Carlson, thank you so much. That was amazing.
very very well done. Um, and I also when I was walking in tonight, I got a chance to see the display over there. Didn't have a whole lot of time to take a look at it. So, I plan to do that after, but if you do get a chance, take a walk over, especially if anybody's leaving, you know, early to take a walk over there and peek over there. Um, and at
this point, I'll open it up to any any comments or from board members. >> That was that was so fabulous. How long did it take you all to learn that? We performed this on our December concert and we brought it back for the
performance tonight. >> Awesome. Thank you again everybody. Can we get one more round of applause for the students and the teacher? Okay. Um so
I am you okay moving on to section five >> So our next presentation I believe is lost my thing. Okay. All right. So our next presentation is uh 3.02 secondary program highlights. Um so we'd like to
Okay. So, if we can uh bring up the secondary team, please. Do you guys need the Okay. Okay. Good evening. My name is David Oliver and I am the CMS interim principal and it is my pleasure to begin this
evening's presentation. I want to walk you through through some of our uh programming highlights here at CMS before turning it over to the CHS administrative team. As always, we reflect upon our mission and vision statement in which we emphasize our students and each student as an
individual plus their service to the community as well as our focus on inclusionary practices for all students. very thankful to work with wonderful people on the secondary campus and I'd like to recognize our CHS and CMS administrative teams. For my team
specifically, unfortunately, most of the team is unable to be here this evening, but I do want to note the contributions of our people, Joseph Gersk, Michael Jefferson, Dr. Beth White House, Kim Halenbeck, Laura Creel, and Brad Klein.
And I also want to touch on our values. We achieve student success when we embrace equity and inclusion through our respective teams and families here on the secondary campus. KPI stands for key performance indicators. We have focused on these all
year and I will give you a little bit of background here. So, going back to the very first day of school, I showed the staff a short video featuring Michael Phelps, who spoke in great detail about doing the little things the right way, repeatedly, day after day, every single
day, week by week throughout the course of the year. He called these actions money in the bank. What he was referring to was analogous to making regular deposits at the bank. By doing this, by putting the work in each and every day and utilizing best practices, we will
see incremental growth over the short term and significant growth over the long term. We want to take an approach to KPI goals with the money in the bank philosophy in mind. We want to demonstrate our ability to grow student achievement while adhering to realistic
expectations, timelines, and using sustainable methodology. At the midyear point, we're pleased to report improvement. We are exceeding our goals in daily attendance and reducing tardies. The other areas such as reducing suspensions and chronic
absenteeism are being influenced by a couple of factors that are outside of our control. While we are still a few months away for ad from administering the NJSLA test, we are very encouraged by our MAP testing growth we gave in January. Students at CMS continue to receive two
periods of ELA daily as part of our commitment to strengthening literacy skills. And the results of our most recent MAP test support this endeavor. As of January, more than 73% of our students are reading at or above grade level as compared to the 2025 state
average, which was 53%. Teachers are using the updated 2024 New Jersey student learning standards to guide their instruction and to continue to incorporate a wide range of diverse authors and texts into their curriculum to ensure students gain perspective, build empathy, and strengthen literacy
skills as they work. In addition to district PD days, teachers have been meeting twice monthly since October with their professional learning communities to support district-wide ELA and math goals as well as more specific content area goals.
In the STEM department, we are also using PLC's to support student learning and departmental objectives. Our commitment to math occurs occurs early on at CMS when students in grade six receive a double period of instruction
in science and CTE. We are giving students a hands-on approach to the subject within our labs and even outside of our building as students compete in areas such as future cities competition. I have to give a shout out here to Mr. Meyer students. Their efforts won them the right to
compete at the Philadelphia Future Cities competition back in January. There, our students took home awards for best energybased project and excellence in highway design engineering. Looking at our program of study, these are our standard courses across the
board. And you can see the students metriculate through this form from left to right, grades six through eight. We also have support classes such as STEM support for math and read 180 for ELA that fall under this umbrella. You'll also notice the required double block of
math for grade six as well as a double block of language arts and writing workshop in ELA for grades six through eight. In grade six, our electives do emphasize our community's commitment to the arts and band and chorus and orchestra as these are all available as fullear
options for our grade six students. Quarterly options also exist and they are offered out of various departments. These include art, Spanish, teched, and IQ. In grade seven, students who are a part of those previously mentioned music
electives have the opportunity to continue on that track. Other options such as music explorations, Spanish, tech design, and I cubed also exist. For a more hands-on experience, we have K's makers, intermediate art, intro to
psychology, paleontology, technology education, and woods and crafts. These elective opportunities continue into grade 8 along with the opportunity to continue on within an arch track of band chorus and orchestra.
Once again this year we are focusing our staff professional growth on inclusion. staff have received professional development on best practices for classroom inclusion, differentiation, and in-class support strategies for special education. This is important to
us and it is an important statewide goal as New Jersey becomes more inclusionary with educational practices. The New Jersey Inclusion Project or NJIP has been instrumental in our work. This organization seeks to support the development of more inclusive schools
where students with and without disabilities learn, contribute, and belong. Through NJIP and the New Jersey Department of Education, we received a three-year grant for CMS to further our inclusive practices. We're currently in
year two of this grant. Last month, select CMS and sharp school staff attended the state convention for allin for inclusive education. It occurred in Galloway, New Jersey. This event featured inspirational speakers and a variety of inclusion workshops. It was
an invaluable experience for all of us who participated. Our point person for our grant participation is Dr. Lauren Baldino. Working closely with Dr. Baldino. Our staff is getting real-time coaching and feedback on best practices for inclusive education. Dr. Baldino is a regular
visitor to our campus and most recently she conducted coaching sessions with our staff members. The coaching piece is integral in year two of the grant. Year one featured professional development, an introduction to classroom inclusion, survey and data collection, and
establishing a baseline for where we stood in classroom inclusion prior to the grant. Year three will feature additional coaching focusing on improving our support plans for individual students in need and long-term maintenance of our inclusive school environment. Dr. White House and I also wanted to share some information
about our district-wide practices in this area. We will continue to apply for the all-in systemic change grants we have at CMS and Sharp so far. And we are participating in additional PD sessions offered by All-In this year. They are for the administration and the child
study team. Regarding the inclusion task force, the team finished our series of community meetings and is currently gathering and compiling staff feedback. Our CPAG continues to facilitate strengthening inclusive practices through initiatives like inclusive schools week and neurodiversity
celebration week. In addition to assisting the district with problem solving as issues arrive, Dr. White House also engages in regular consult sessions with administration in each building. CMS is also the home to many student
clubs and athletic programs. With help of the PTA, we're able to host three school dances throughout the course of the school year. We also believe in recognition for students and their achievement. We've incentivized good behavior, rewarding students who are demonstrating what it means to be an
engaged learner here at CMS. no cell phone violations, good attendance, punctuality, and of course, we have our quarterly Panther of the Marking period award, which recognizes a student who is making great strides in academics as well as other areas.
Our recent CMS advisory meetings, we covered the importance of Black History Month and conducted a trivia game in identifying famous African-Americans in history. And just three weeks ago, we conducted our level up recognition ceremony. The objective of this was to honor students who had improved a full
letter grade in a subject area from quarter 1 to quarter two. These students are putting forth the effort and showing commitment to growth and improvement, and we want to recognize them. Additionally, we will have outside presenters such as the NJ4S organization. They'll come in next month
to discuss the dangers of substance abuse and will have an added focus on vaping prevention for young people. As you can see, student participation in extracurriculars exists across the board at CMS and this is accompanied by strong academic achievement. Ideally, we would
like to see 80 plus% of our student population to be involved in an extracurricular activity of some kind. This ties into our overarching goal at CMS to educate the whole child. We will continue to direct our efforts in achieving this. I'm now going to turn
this over to Mr. Newman and the high school team. Good evening everyone. My name is Doug Newman, principal of Kwood High School. Happy to be with with you here this uh evening. Um just want to talk to you a little bit about uh what goes on at the high school, some of the update you on
some things, talk to you a little bit about our c course offerings. Um and you know just discuss how we celebrate students towards the end of the presentation. Uh today um you'll find Dana Ambrose here with me helping me
out. Um my administrative team pretty much the same folks that are on the middle school administrative team. Uh, but Colleen Hart, she is in the building. But we had a game going on today. We had a basketball team. Our team, our girls have made it to the playoff and I'm I'm
very excited about it. And they won. They did a very good job today. Uh, they played Gloucester City in the playoff game and uh I don't know who they're going to play next, but it doesn't matter because we're going to take care of that, too. So, congratulations to our girls, but uh Miss Hart is there. And then there's a wrestling piece going on
tonight because we got a big wrestling event this weekend. So, she's uh she's working. She's working. Um Mr. Jefferson is here tonight. Um we also have Miss uh Kim Halenback, uh Miss Laura Creable, Mr. Brad Klein, and Dr. Beth White House. As far as the uh high school
administrative team, uh so I just want to jump into some of the programs that we have in our building. Um we have our Ignite program in our building. Our Ignite program, which stands for I can't we have to do this one way or the other. All right, we got to go this way. Our Ignite program
stands for individuals gaining necessary intensive transition experience. Um it's a program that provides special education for our students um with um uh disabilities and it it goes from 18 to 21. our students um come in, they
graduate um from high school, but then they uh stay a little longer, you know, to work on some some experiences to help uh with that transition into adulthood and what that means to enter the workforce. So, uh the program um it's a wonderful program and our students spend
a lot of time um uh engaging with one another going out into the you know into areas um that are uh that will work with them that will um allow them to uh gain experience at their own businesses. As you can see the academic curriculum um
and community- based instruction or CBI experiences are important. So, you know, in our own area um you know we have people that will help support this particular program. Calico Cat Cafe, uh Perkins Center for the Arts, partnership um with uh the Chatterbox Shop. Um they
all allow our students to uh participate, work with them. We'll see students here with our own uh maintenance uh not maintenance, but more so buildings and grounds doing uh jobs and duties throughout the uh the building and uh just spending time here, but getting those experiences as far as
work is concerned. So, it's very helpful in helping them to become more independent as they move on. Uh I was there today uh watching presentations and uh they were doing presentations on black history and I got to tell you you know you learn some things when you when
you listen right so I uh walked up to the class and we have a in our building we have a competition actually it's going to be voted on tomorrow you know so it's a black history competition uh black history it's a door competition for black history so every content area you know you put something out on your
door um and you know try to connect it to what it is that you're teaching and what it is that you're doing. Uh, and so I went to this particular again classroom to listen to presentations. But as I was looking at their door, I was just seeing that, you know, um, black Americans with disabilities that are famous that, you know, things like
that. It catches your eye. You know, when you walk around the building and you're looking at what goes on in the building, there are different things that will catch your eye. And that caught my eye and I learned some things today. Uh, as far as our guidance department is concerned, our guidance department, uh, they get busy. they get busy. They they
spend a lot of time working with our students uh getting them to understand and see things maybe a little differently or helping them to understand um what it is that their own vision is moving forward. The program of studies, it should be updated. So, you should have an opportunity to check that out uh for next year. Uh the PSAT, our
our guidance counselors will organize that uh day. Our students have an opportunity here to take the PSAT and SAT here on campus. Um which is great. It's a place where they're, you know, that they're familiar with. so they can take it here. our advanced placement program. Um we have uh our counselors
again they work with students in you know trying to uh ch there are students that just automatically jump in which is wonderful and there are students that you got to speak to about you know hey you might want to challenge this you might want to challenge yourself uh dip your toe in the water and see what happens and you know the support is
there to help them get forward but the bottom line is we do have those options and our counselors I think do a wonderful job uh talking with students to get them to that point. uh college visits. We having college visits throughout the course of the year. We have those uh HB.CU um local schools. Uh but it gives the
kids opportunity to go and visit for that next level if that's what they're interested in. Our post-secary planning um and our financial aid nights and college nights are things that um I get really excited about. I know I did it with my my own daughter when she came to school here. I was able to visit um the
financial aid or visit I was I attended the financial aid night and college planning night and it just gave us an opportunity to plan ahead. You know, I work in a building, but I don't know everything, right? I come and I listen to folks that actually know what they're talking about and it helped me to plan as far as my daughter was concerned uh
as to what school she was going to go to and my son. Um Instant Decision Day was awesome this year. was the first time we did this, but it allowed students to talk to representatives from different colleges and get an instant answer. They got an answer. They got an answer quickly about where they're going or if
they're interested. Um, they got accepted. So, that was actually pretty cool. We're going to be doing this uh moving forward. It was a great I glad uh Miss Halen Brook brought that on board. But this is what our our department does. again, they come up with great ideas, things that are helpful and gives our kids um, you know, just different
ways to, you know, just different exposures, different things that allows them to uh, look ahead and plan ahead, which is awesome. Alumni Day was so cool. You know, I love it. Every year we have um, we used to do this every year, but this year we had alumni come back, talk to our kids, and these are, you
know, people that were here, right? So, they talked about where they are, what's going on with them. Um, but it gave our kids an opportunity to engage with the community and speak about um, you know, what to expect when they move on. Uh, and those conversations are always
enriching. The bottom line is our kids, I'm a parent of four, our kids, you know, they do listen to us. I'm I'm pretty sure of it, but they don't always listen to everything, right? And so when alumni come on board, they come, you know, and they say the exact same thing I said. This happened with my son. You know, they say the exact same thing that
I said and they come back to you and say, "Oh, I had an idea." You know, and I know we all look at them like, "Yeah, okay. I I told you that yesterday, but okay. I'm glad you heard it from someone. So, that's a good thing." Our high school core academics, um, you know, you're going to hear me say this a
couple times throughout the course of this um, presentation, but we are second to none, folks. you know, our the you know, what we offer and how we go about doing work in this building is is phenomenal. Um, you know, and I know, you know, as far as the Camden County,
um, school district is, as far as Camden County is concerned, um, we are second to none. As far as the state is concerned, we are second to none. Um, our offerings range from academic um, as far as English is concerned, uh, preAP, English AP, and our kids can, if they
want to challenge themselves, um, even more so, they have the ability to do that. uh because of what we offer, our AP classes. Uh our curriculum emphasizes uh and effective communication through reading, writing, and speaking uh to prepare students for that college level. Uh and anytime students want to
challenge themselves, as you can see, they can. Um our math is algebra, algebra 2, geometry, uh honors, algebra 2 honors. Uh but the rigor is maintained through those honors versions um of our courses of AP, uh calculus. And our students, you know, again, if they want
to dip their toe in challenging waters, they can do it. And we offer that to them. Science students must uh complete at least 15 credits of lab science um with core offerings in biology, chemistry, uh environmental science, physics, and human anatomy. Um our history department, awesome department,
uh our students, I've been in in the classes and just listen to conversations, and I'm very happy with what our kids are talking about. They get it. They they get it. The program requires uh world history of at least two years of US history but the courses are designed to help students to relate
uh current global issues to past events. Um you know our students they they pick up on the fact that you don't know how to navigate the future you know unless you really understand what our country has been through and what the and what history you know has has you know what has happened within our country. Those
conversations that they walk away with I think are it's gold. It's something that, you know, in the end, we want our kids to be able to uh implement the the ideas that they have moving forward, making our country better. And um our students are having these these these tough conversations in class and I, you
know, and I enjoy what it is that they get out of it and our teachers lead them um efficiently through those uh through those conversations. As far as our high school electives are concerned, as you will see, we have many. Uh and I think that in the end um when you look at any other district in the area, when you
look at any other school in the state in the area, we are as competitive if not more with regards to what we offer and I am not making that up. We we have a lot and our students take advantage of what's there. Uh so kudos to us and to Collinswood and to you know what's
expected of us but it is there. um the overall um standards are always connected to the New Jersey standards, you know. So everything that we do, our curriculum is aligned with the New Jersey um student learning standards. Um our teachers, you
know, spend a lot of time professional development wise, our PD days. Um and they spend a lot of time through our personal learning committees, our PLC's, um just focused on deep mastery of the content and fine-tuning those strategies that are needed to connect with kids. The bottom line is we know that you
throughout the years the way you connect with people changes every every it used to be every 10 years every five years now every it's just getting shorter and shorter as to how you need to be able to convey information deliver instruction and connect with kids. Um if you don't you get lost and our teachers stay on
top of um the strategies that are needed in order to connect with our students. Uh as far as our electives are concerned, once again we have uh we have we have many. Um the elective pathways they ensures they ensure that students are future ready for both college um and
high demand uh careers. You know the great thing about the electives is that I know that our students figure out who they are sometimes just based on a class that they've taken and they walk away thinking to themselves, you know, I think I want to do this moving forward. I think I want to spend more time learning a little bit more about this.
That happens through electives. that happens through figuring out who you are with content that's challenging you. But our students do take that time um as far as where they have to choose an elective. But hopefully uh you know we can all understand and agree that not only are they needed but it's something
that our students are um uh definitely you know jumping in and our teachers are doing a great job uh connecting with them. Our mass media uh program I want to you know just brag a little bit about them and what it is that they do. um our TV, our pause um program, our TV and
production program is awesome. Uh they take you spend a lot of time behind the camera and in front of the camera and if you ever turn it on, you'd be entertained, but you'd also, I think, walk away smiling at the fact that these kids are um spending time working on a skill that if and when they wanted to if
they decide to get into this field, they can walk away with the experience necessary and competitive with those, you know, moving forward or interviewing for a job or what what have you. My understanding is that has actually happened. You know, our students, you know, that are interested in this area
can go on and compete with um uh you know, other other candidates, you know, for opportunities, you know, in the area, uh that they're interested in. Um Mr. Ambrose is going to talk a little bit more about the digital program, but I'm always excited about our audio digital program that Mr. Ingram does,
and our students, you know, they go in there making music and, you know, it's just awesome. And these are all uh a lot fun ways to spend your day throughout the you know throughout uh the year working on skills that uh you can walk away with. Um we know that teamwork is
important you know but our students when they focus on these skills you know in different um in different electives you know they have to be able to work with one another. We know that developing those technical skills are important um and once again we have the opportunities for our students to be able to do that.
advanced placement options. Once again, second to none, folks. We have um we offer a lot. We well over 15 um uh AP classes. Uh when my daughter was here, you know, I pushed her to do, you know, exactly that. You know, figure out, you know, who you are um through the
challenges that you face, uh through the rigor that you have to, you know, that you have to go through. And I think our kids, you know, get that. Matter of fact, I know our kids get that. Uh here at Collinswood, um we have um AP classes on all the major disciplines allowing students to uh tailor their rigor uh to
their own career goals. We have uh AP classes in STEM, humanities, and arts and world languages. Um and when I tell you that we are second to none. I can prove it. I am so happy about this particular award that we've um that we've received. um you know it's honor
role you know and um as far as I'm concerned you know our kids uh have proven that they're second to none um CHS was named was named CHS um has earned um the um the honoral status from
college board um the 2025 um honoral status right this is a a prestigious recognition that signifies that our AP program is successfully delivering college level results while broadening student access. Um folks, that's huge. That what that means
is, you know, I the national recognition places CHS at 36% eligible high schools um in the US and in Canada. The bottom line is you know the the opportunity for our students to excel and not only is there but they get serious about it once
they are there and it's more than just a handful of kids, right? That's what this means. this award means that you know it's it's based on three rigorous benchmarks. Um uh one of them has to do if you take a look at you know some of the um percentages down at the bottom there um one of the benchmarks has to do
with the just high percentage of students taking the the AP exam at least once uh during high school. Uh we we met that criteria. Um, another one is strong student performance with a significant portion earning a three or higher
qualifying them for college credit and tuition savings. Once again, we met that criteria. This is what your kids are doing. Students are strategically uh spreading their AP challenge across multiple years. So, they're not all just taking AP classes in their senior or
junior year. You got kids that come in their freshman year and just get to work, right? but you have kids doing this freshman, sophomore, junior, senior year, you know, and so that award was um that that's something to be proud of and I hope you are. Um if you didn't know, now you know, and I hope you have a
smile on your face based on that. Nice job everyone on that one. Um our college credit options, our dual credit classes. Uh once again, this is something that I'm definitely um encouraging people, you know, kids to take a advantage of early when they can. Um again, my
daughter went here. I'm proud to say it. She went here. she took um advantage of some of the dual credit classes. Um came out with a handful of credits um almost nine credits. I was happy about it. The fact that I had to pay what I had to pay because you're going to have to pay two, you know, it is what it is, but you pay
a little less than you would as far as college is concerned, right? So, I say go for it. I say have your kids take a look at it, you take a look at it, um and see what you can, you know, have accomplished here in high school. The bottom line is it gave me a lot to talk about with her. Um, I enjoy the idea of
uh students understanding that they can do college level work period, right? And here's the proof. Here's the proof. You know, not only can you walk away with college credits, um, but you walk on to college with college credits. You may not have to take that class. And that did that does happen to students. Um, I
took it in high school. I don't have to do it in, you know, in college. What else do you got for me? So, you know, our college, our dual credit options are here. And again, it's something that Col, you know, that uh Collinswood offers. Um and as you can see, there's a lot of there's a lot of um intentional
uh we make sure that our students are college ready, you know, and we do it in a variety of ways. And I hope you can see that. Uh Miss Ambrose is going to jump in and help out real quick. She's going to talk a little bit about our ELA uh humanities and our STEM and CT CTE
classes. >> Good evening, everyone. and I'm Dana Ambrose. I'm the interim assistant principal here. And so this evening I'm going to talk a little bit about the academics just a little deeper than uh Mr. Newman did. So first we have ELA and
humanities. Our students are being accelerated in literacy and we are supporting the students who need support. In ninth grade, we have targeted a targeted support course for students so that they
can maximize early on the skills that are needed for all four years of high school. The goal is that we're strengthening their reading and writing skills very early and they'll be prepared the rest of the way. Standards align instruction.
We are following New Jersey student learning standards to guide instruction. This ensures that our work is aligned. We're working along with the New Jersey state standards. So, we're meeting the state expectations and we're keeping
consistency across classrooms. We have introduced students to rigorous and diverse text. These texts are challenging students appropriately and we are in intentionally incorporating diverse authors and perspectives. This approach
helps students build strong academic skills while also engaging them with a range of voices and experiences. Our our professional learning communities, which are our PLC's, this
is where teachers meet twice per month and they focus on schoolwide and content area goals. Things like common expectations, shared instructional strategies, and analyzing student work. What about the results? While our middle
of the year math assessments show that more than 70% of our students are reading at or above grade level. For context, the 2025 New Jersey state average was 53%. So, we're performing above the benchmark.
We have another celebration, biiteracy. The New Jersey Seal of Biiteracy Exams for Spanish and German was awarded because we have students who are graduating from high school who are demonstrating proficiency in English and
one other language, fine and performing arts. This continues to be a very strong area of student engagement, creativity, and school pride. Our art department each month highlights a student artist of the
month. This feature helps to elevate student work and build positive culture around the arts. We are also giving students authentic experiences. Our graphic design students are designing both yearbook and our
school newspaper, the paw print. This is a great example of students applying the skills that they're learning and serving the entire school community. In January, students participated in the Museum of Modern Art field trip, which
gave them exposure to highquality works and helped them connect what they're learning in the classroom to the broader world of arts and culture. Our music program has been very active with onampus and off-campus performances.
We hosted concerts for band, orchestra, and choir. Our campus students represented our school and some very visible venues. We participated in the choir participated in the SJCDA
and the All South Jersey concert. Our band performed at the Collingswood American Legion. And our marching band performed at the Veterans Day parade in Philadelphia. Theater continues to be a major point of
celebration here at Collingswood High School. The fall play for Collingswood High School was another evening of comedy. Hopefully some of you enjoyed that. For the middle school, there was Spongebob Squarepants and we're looking forward to this spring's musical Mama
Mia. They are hard at work and we are excited and waiting to see what they perform. These programs they build student confidence, collaboration and belonging. Here our winter concert with our choir. And then there is STEM and CTE.
This slide reflects how we are strengthening both foundational academics and real world career pathways at Collingswood High School. Starting with math, we recognize that ninth grade students are at a critical transition.
So to support students early, we've implemented a target math support program. It's designed to reinforce essential skills while keeping students on track for grade level rigor. This approach allows us to provide intervention without lowering
expectations. We continue to monitor growth through our middle of the year math assessment. Our current results show that Collinswood High School student math achievement remains above the national average at 54%.
While we are proud of that, we are focused on growth, ensuring that every student demonstrates measurable progress from fall to spring. We are continuing to strengthen our engineering pathway through ongoing training including project lead the way.
We are looking ahead. We're excited to add a new course for 2627, the civil engineering course. This expands students access to engineering concepts that align with real world careers and college pathways.
In our business pathway, students are using interactive simulation programs to create marketing campaigns, design floor plans, and develop business proposals. These are authentic applied learning experiences that mirror the real
workplace. We are also planning to launch FBLA, which is future business leaders of America in 2627. This is where students will build their business skills through academic competitions, leadership development,
and networking, which adds a strong student leadership component to our pathways. And I would not I would be remiss not to mention, although Mr. Newman already spoke on it, our digital audio production and our TV production
programs. Our students in digital audio production are sharpening their skills and creating amazing projects. We even have some students who've already begun to monetize their work. I'm going to buy me a beat from one of the students. Um, and our TV production program
is busy in the community, but each and every day they provide a program for us to view, giving us the latest updates on Collingswood and local news. That is all for me but in short we are reinforcing math skills, language skills, humanity skills and expanding
handson career connected learning in engineering and business while monitoring progress using consistent benchmarks and collaboratively having teachers plan together so that we can ensure that we are providing our students with the most rigorous
instruction possible. Thank you, Miss Ambrose. >> So, once again, so we are right now we are um uh actually towards the end of Black History Month and um some of the activities that we've done throughout um uh the month have I've I've really enjoyed. I hope the students enjoyed it.
But um you know, I do trivia. I um I I write to the last couple of days for uh during our flex period. I'm trying to do um you know just uh well I'm doing music but one was the 70s today was 80s 90s you know honestly the kids know their
music you know so when they have requests you know and it has to be you know artists of color uh black you know black artists they know their music and it's always fun um to have days like this uh because you get a chance to you know kind of color in some things as far as you know what does this mean when
we're playing um certain artists you know it connects people to you know, to the times. And so I know for me, um, I do like to, you know, speak to the students about what I'm familiar with, what was going on during that time period. And I have a lot of fun with it. But, um, just throughout the month, you know, we've been doing just more
activities, uh, with that. But, um, it wouldn't be fair if we only did it during Black History Month, would it? You know, throughout the course of the year, uh, we are we have always, um, encouraged and we expect to see, you know, kids reflected in the work that they deal with throughout the course of
the year. Um there is a Hispanic history month, but they shouldn't just be doing content during, you know, and activities during Hispanic history, right? Uh during during that month, it should be throughout the course of the year. We want our students to um to see themselves reflected in the work and that's something that we are constantly
pushing and um looking to refine and do better on a um on a regular basis. I think um you know overall when you just think about who we are though as a community you know CHS does reflect the strength of our community um and we are a comprehensive school district where
the backgrounds you know they go students come in here and they're they're rubbing elbows they're side by side um and they get an opportunity to see who to see who they are um in a real world environment um you know the ability to be able to see who you are next to someone who's different having
that conversation next to someone who who has a different uh background, who has a different belief, who loves differently than you do, who you know, that all happens here at Collinswood. And I think in the end, you know, uh that when they walk away, they walk away
benefiting from that exposure that they have to others. You know, um some students when they walk out, depending on where they are in whatever district they are, they walk out into the world and they're shocked. They're shocked that people don't look like them. and they're shocked that people don't believe the way they believe and see
what they see the way they see it. Um I know our students get that exposure on a regular basis and I'm glad for it. I'm happy for it and this is something that is needed in our um in our global workforce moving forward. Um our uh student leaders. So we do have a
senior leadership program. Oh, and one more thing once again uh uh it was stated that on the sides we have uh work from our students in that you know they did activities within their own um department such as graphic arts and uh in our arts department. So please
when you get an opportunity if you haven't already uh take a look the kids did uh they did they worked pretty hard on that and it's actually pretty informative. Our senior leadership program something that I'm also very proud of. I'm proud of a lot of the programs. Uh senior leadership just happens to be one of them. Um our
program uh connects our seniors to our freshmen and it connects our seniors to students within the community, the little guys, right? Um the senior leadership program is an opportunity for motivated students to serve um uh as a face of the Panther community, Panther
Nation. Uh the journey begins with our juniors uh with a rigorous application process um including competitive interviews. The thing I like about this, um, I remember when we first started this, but the thing I like about this is that those kids actually sweat when it comes to the interviews, they
actually, you know, there's some sweating going on. I remember that at least when, you know, when it started off and hopefully it's just as challenging and you know why we do it, you know, it's just to get them ready. Like guys, think ahead like this is what it's going to be like, right? So, um, we're not going to give you a break here. You know, you got to you got to
come in here and you got to interview for this position if this is something that you want. Uh the senior leaders do they do take um you know moving forward when they become a senior leader um they do have some challenges and again freshman transition mentors that is a challenge. Um anybody working with a freshman and trying to get them to see
the light you know can be you know a challenge. Many of them do see the light right off the bat. Others need time right and so our senior leaders are great voices and great advocates to help them understand that they too will be one of them. They're going to be a senior one day. Uh so they do a great
job with that. Our elementary uh school ambassadors program is a wonderful thing for our kids to see. Uh they get a chance to go to the elementary schools and just spend time with younger kids. Um how awesome is that that the little guy looks up to the to the big guy or you know like athletes when I was over
at Sharp and the seniors came over it seemed like they all just like they found the athletes, athlete found athletes, the quirky kid found the quirky kid, the quiet kid found the quiet. was pretty cool and the kids had an awesome time and they were always asking for the kids to come back. Passion projects, I can go all day with
those. But I love them and I'm glad we have them. Um, passion projects are pretty much a senior commits to something that they're passionate about and they get to work and then they at the end of the year um they get a chance to talk about what it is that they're doing. If you walk through our building, you'll see murals. You'll see um hopefully there's things going on in the
community that students uh students have um brought assemblies, you know, here in the past. Uh but our passion projects kids think about what goes on in the building, what's missing, what can I add and how can I add, you know, how can I add to it. Um uh positive uh school culture. We love to celebrate our kids.
Um Panther of the Month is pretty much um uh student of the month and student of the month and uh our students are you it's not just academic folks. It's it's for any reason. uh teachers can nominate a kid and then they get um you know
voted on and and that's how we get to our Panthers of the Month. So um that's a great thing and we enjoy that. Um as you can see once again our kids get to work academically. We we know we enjoy that. We celebrate that through our Renaissance program as well. Um but um if we have it broken down as far as
honor role you know in the quarter and you can see our our kids do get to work and they are honored for the work that they do in the classroom. uh teacher to teacher program. Uh it's wonderful. You know, our teachers get an opportunity to go learn from other teachers. Iron sharpens iron. Isn't that is that how it
goes? Or you know, metal sharpens metal. But that does happen. And their strategies, they get to bounce ideas and strategies off each other. They get to see what goes on in classrooms and they get to talk about what works, bring it back to their classroom, and try it in their classroom as well. Uh weekly submissions are wonderful. Um it's just
a matter of thank you for being who you are and a pat on the back and we enjoy that. Uh our Panther athletics uh once again uh each season we have a number of activities that goes on uh second to none. I enjoy it. Our kids have an opportunity to get involved if they want
to if they want to move and we do promote it. We do encourage them to get involved. Leaving at the bell, leaving at 2:35, I get it. But there is a whole, you know, life that you're missing. um that comes after the bell. There's something about yourself that you have not ex
explored yet. And through sports, through clubs, through activities, you you you figure out who you are. And we want our students to be able to to to spend that time figuring out who they are, you know, doing activities with other kids and having fun. Um speaking of which, our wrestling team, our
wrestling team, thousand wins this year. Congratulations to them. Um just on some highlights, uh we had a a student, Miss Henson. Where are you, Miss Henson? Yeah. uh thousand points this year. Congratulations to But you know just throughout the course of the year
different things have been happening that we're excited about. 100 win career wins um 100 career kills and digs. That's all volleyball language but that is something to be you know excited about as far as our kids are concerned. We all celebrate together. As far as our engagement is concerned, more than enough going on. We want to add more.
That'd be nice, right? Um we have our fall play. We have 30 plus students getting involved. musical uh cast and crews, 60 plus students getting involved. Um, as far as our band, orchestra, and choir concert, 165 plus kids getting involved, right? Um, our extracurricular clubs are offered. We
have 25 of those. It's just a matter of a of a student taking a look at what's there and seeing, okay, I think I want to try that. Uh, fall sports, we had 37%, 20 winter sports, 28% um involvement. I would love to see those numbers go up, but we got to keep
pushing. So, I'm I'm optimistic and I'm positive that they would go up. I am done talking because I heard that I talk too much sometimes, which I'm actually surprised about. But, um, but yeah, so if you guys if you there's any questions um, feel
free. All right. Thank you. We do have one more presentation tonight, but Before everybody that just presented uh leaves, I just want to um see if anybody has any questions. But I also want to give a shout out to the presenters. Thank you so much for all
your information. And I think that this goes really well tonight with um our program of study um and all the highlights there. And I also want to say that, you know, a lot of this stuff tonight is due to the fact that we have incredibly hardworking staff every single day in our buildings that that do
this work and make this stuff happen for our kids. Um, so thank you to all of you out there in the audience and thank you to all of you at home for watching and uh I'm going to open it up for questions. I'll start. Um, so uh the team showcased a wonderful opportunities for our
students. Um, so many awesome numbers that we're at or above national aestheum So, it seems that our secondary campus is doing a wonderful job. Um, which we didn't really need numbers to see, but um I'm also curious if um at a later
time in the year we will see um how we are supporting our students that are not at or above grade level. So, I don't know if that's a separate presentation that would come or if that's something that you know that we can get data or information on at some point this year.
would probably something that we do um during our next board retreat >> probably uh before we go home for the summer. >> Anybody else have any comments or questions? >> I have a question. Oh, sorry. Sorry.
for the Ignite program. Hold on, let me find my notes for the 18 to 21. Are those kids all um Kwood High School graduates or did they also come from other schools for that Ignite for the um for the 18 to 21 program that
they to transition out of high school? I know that. >> No, I just wanted to say thank you so much. That was a lot of information and I'm looking forward to um going through the slideshows and and chewing on more of it. So, thank you for putting all that together. >> Mr. I I don't want to put you on the spot if
if uh this does, but wondering if if you could speak about some maybe of the shifts or changes you've seen on campus from the um the inclusion grant and that that work. Um and again, don't want to put you on the spot. Uh so if you need some time, you know, we can talk about
that later, too. Yeah. >> Actually also had question for Mr. Alberry around the level up uh recognition. Does that also acknowledge improved attendance and punctuality or
is it just an academic level up recognition? So, good question. Um the level up program is all about academic improvement from quarter to quarter. Student goes up a full letter grade, they're eligible for a level up recognition. uh Panther the market
period is a little bit different. Anybody can be nominated for that. It could be driven by academics, could be driven by attendance, could be driven by behavior. So, we try to recognize both, but the level up specifically is for a full letter grade improvement. >> And I'll just build on Rogers uh Mr.
choose question and ask um in terms of the inclusive school program knowing that uh both CMS and uh Sharp Elementary are going through the training and development are you got uh can you describe any cross collaboration as you're building the muscles and learning
everything? How are we kind of pushing that forward between middle and elementary? >> Sure. So we're in year two of the grant which really involves the in-depth coaching that's going on. Sharp and Miss Sensei's here tonight. they're in year one of the grant. So, we've been in
touch a little bit talking about this and kind of the steps that we've gone through, but we're both fortunate and that we're kind of in the same program and a lot of the PD there's overlap from certain year to certain year. Um, so I think it's a good spot for the district to be in the fact that we were able to
pilot it, but now Sharp as an elementary school, they could take their efforts and kind of replicate it at different elementary schools from a turnkey perspective. Mr. Oliver, can I It's over here. Danielle, I have a question for the um for that NJ4S program that you have. Is
that a contract with Center for Family Services? And also, is that like are the children is it assembly or are they there voluntarily get to go to this substance abuse and vaping? >> Good question. So, NJ4S is part of the Camden County government. So, they offer
services across the board. They offer services for attendance. They offer services for um punctuality programming, things like that. This is specifically substance abuse. So, they're going to come in and do three assemblies for us. I spoke to their representative and I said, "We need something that's really
tailored for a younger audience." And they said, "It's no problem at all. We have a lot of experience with that." So, they're going to put on three different assemblies for us. One for sixth, one for seventh, one for eighth. The area that I think we need the most, as all schools do, in this region, probably
across the country, is the vaping epidemic that that is going on because that's really the target drug, the gateway drug for for youngsters at this point. So, they're going to target their assembly specific to us and to this age group. So, I'm really looking forward to seeing it. They're going to come in on
March 20th for us. >> Is that also going to be offered to the high school? >> Uh, no. This is a specific middle school program, but like I said, NJ4S, they offer a number of assemblies, a number of programs. The high school would be eligible for any program they're
interested in. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> And this may be a question for Mr. Oliver and Mr. Newman. Come on down. Um, I wanted to just uh the extracurricular program participation.
um get both of your perspectives on what we could do to really engage students and and make it make those programs feel accessible and doable. Um I think the percentages and the the goals where relative to where we are, what does it look like to increase that participation
from your perspectives? >> Well, I think you have to kind of meet the kids where they are and meet what their interest is. So, what we've done at the middle school through the years and we're hoping to amp this up again is tailor programming specific to their needs. So, for example, um we had a teacher pilot a Minecraft club a few
years back. Now, I don't know very much about Minecraft. It's some sort of a game, but the kids do and Mr. Cross was the teacher and he kind of piloted that and he got a following with that. Um, and years ago, we had some kind of a paleontology club when we had a teacher that was really into that. So, it's
really just kind of reaching out to the kids and surveying them and seeing what they would like and then building your programming off of that. Other than that, for the programs that exist, such as athletics and the other clubs that we have, it's just a matter of kind of advertising and trying to reach the kids
however you can because the more participation we get in those types of activities, you're going to see a decline in some of the negative behaviors, including things like vaping or some of the more serious things. >> Thank you.
>> Absolutely. It's the exposure. You give them exposure. um they can't deny that they saw it, right? They can't be unaware when they're aware. And that's the idea. So, we have um what's it called? It's activity the name for it, but it's a it's an activities day for
the most part where uh during a particular period, we have all the activities come out to the tables. We set up tables. These are activities that are here and we, you know, we usher kids through like this is what's here, right? If you're interested, it's here for you. If there's not something that's here,
come talk to us. Come let us know. Uh we had golf in the past that went away. Some kids talked about golf recently. So now there's some cough meetings going on, right? Like that that's what happens. Just being um accessible to them and and you know for them to when they have an idea, try to find a way to
to fill the need. Uh that's how we get more, you know, participation. I like basketball. Everybody doesn't like basketball, you know, but some kids just want to do anime or Minecraft or what have you. So, it's really just trying to find that need and and expose them and and then push. Just keep pushing. You
got to have that energy. Can't say here here's activities. Yo, there's activities, right? You it's in the way we deliver it. Uh so that that's important. >> Thank you. Thank you both so much um for presenting tonight. We appreciate all your time.
>> Thank you folks. >> Okay, so we have one more presentation tonight. I believe that is the SSDS report. Um so I think we're going to step away one more time. Good evening everyone. I guarantee you I will not be as long as Mr. Newman.
That's intentional. I just have a couple of slides. Doug will get me for that. My name is Mike Jefferson. I am the district director of culture, climate, and safety. I'm coming to you this evening reporting um the uh school
safety data reporting period one which is going to take us from the end of the school year basically July 1st to December July 1st to December 30th. So we're going to start off with the high school in the high school 37 suspensions
um with our restorative practices. One of the things that we're really starting to focus on is when we talk about suspensions, we're talking about in-house suspension and um out of school suspension also because in the end, if a student is removed from the learning
environment, it doesn't matter whether they were home or whether they were in in-house suspension, it's it's still a suspension and it's still a loss of seat time. So, in that time, we had 28 in school suspensions. I will tell you that
that was one of the few numbers that that rose. Um and that was a result of our yonder system in which you had some students that just adapting to not having their cell phone was a difficult uh hurdle for them to get used to. Six
fights, seven substances, zero vandalism. Hibs, which represent harassment, intimidation, and bullying um investigations. There were six total investigations conducted and there were two con confirmed three uh threats and
two restraints. When we look at the middle school, the suspensions is going to be 26 total. Um 11 fights, two substances, one vandalism, eight harassment and intimidation and bullying
investigations. We tend to find that the middle school always has more uh bullying investigations with some of the lack of maturity. Three confirmed, zero threats and seven restraints. Um that high number in restraints is going to be
the disabilities class, the younger uh version of the disabilities class that we do have that is located in the middle school. the suspensions uh when you combine middle school and high school did represent a 19 and a half% drop uh
from the prior period which was uh January 1st to June 30th. Elementary throughout all of elementary we we did have one suspension. Um we had six total hibs in which three
were confirmed and we had nine restraints. Once again also in elementary those restraints are more than often um with some of the students with disabilities and uh assisting them and keeping them when they have some um
of their concerns keeping them from harming themselves. some of the training and programs. Uh district restorative practices which we're in our second year. Uh a better you seal drug prevention program. We
kicked off the year with um um that assembly right in right in September because we really wanted to to give the students something when they got back. Seclate K9 response team neurodeiversity panther pantry community service. We have a lot
of students who love participating in that. look be be on the lookout for the future. We're looking at trying to spin Panther Pantry. I don't know if anyone is familiar with service learning where students can receive credit for serving their community. That's an idea that's
in the back of my head. I'm going to move it to the frontal lobe sometime soon. Um student voice um student voice activism um group and there's something else at the bottom that I'm missing that I cannot see.
And that is it. I will go back to the numbers for anyone who had any questions as we proceed. >> Did the student learning? Sorry. >> Okay. How are you? >> Was that um the student learning was that something
that was stopped or did they >> service learning? >> Service learning. >> The service learning is is not something um that we had I'm I'm going to I'm going to age myself here. When I was in graduate school, I actually was a graduate assistant Rowan University. Service learning is much bigger in
college and Rowan University. I was a graduate assistant for the center of for service learning. And um at that time in my life, I learned how to cold call places and say, "Hey, I'm calling from Rowan University and I'm going to ask you for something." And um I got much much more comfortable in doing that. So
I really want to look at how is it that we can implement that within the school. We have some students, I'm going to tell you, with Panther Pantry every Wednesday, they just look forward to to working and helping. And so, if we can really kind of take that and and magnify
that that concept and reward students with some types of credit, then that's what we we'll do. >> I think that's what I was trying to remember because I know my older kids did some um community activities or community health volunteering and they were able to get credit. >> Okay.
>> With a school. Do they does the high school still do that? >> Do we still I'm not familiar that we still have that. I'll have to look. >> My older kids, they're in their 30s now. >> Oh, okay. Gotcha. >> But it was great. They they were able to help in the community and Yep. >> and get service hours for >> Yep. for Definitely. Definitely.
>> It's a great idea. I will tell you that the the the the drop in suspensions I I I'm I think that the in the second year of the restorative practices that that's really helping. But I I wouldn't put all of it on that. I would also say that the
yonder pouches with students h being forced to be focused on what's going on in the classroom versus searching through social media or a text message coming through about who said something and things of that nature. I mean, we used to be in the office and somebody
would come in with their phone and say, "Look what they said. Look what they said." And you would have to immediately try to get that tiled down there so that you can mediate that. But I definitely think that the yonder pouches have administrators lost some time. Yes. In the morning, it is a process, right? It
is a process. It is timely. in the afternoon. It's not as timely because students um the process of putting them in the pouches and turning them off and locking the pouches. Um in the beginning of in the beginning, we really had everyone who was here every day, but you
were losing a half an hour every day and then 15 minutes at the end of the day. Administratively, I don't think that was something we anticipated that we were losing 45 minutes a day just with the yonder pouch process. Um, Laura CrarAel was able to put together a a schedule
that everyone now is not working every day, but that was very time consuming. Um, but listen, you're either going to invest the time on the front end and lose it on the back end. And I think I think it's better in investing it and losing it on the front end than the back
end with um some of the problems that derive from the cell phone usage throughout the day. And I'll go through just um one more time and then the middle school numbers >> once again those restraints.
>> Mr. Jefferson, I have a quick question. Can you um what does inschool suspension look like? Can you explain that? I'm unsure. So >> So well inschool suspension depending upon what you're there is going to look different. Um there is a full-time staff member who who works there. That staff
member currently is actually out. But for example, one of the things today um I was assisting with a student today which was um substance abuse. So when the mom came in, Colleen Hart and I were meeting with the mother and we were
telling the explain to the mother that there was going to be some time in in-house suspension. But there's a curriculum and there are some assignments that Mr. Kevin Adams. So, you really have to look at who are your resources. So, Mr. Kevin Adams has put some things together for that student.
Mr. Kevin Adams will step in and counsel that student and work with that student and check with that student. So, it kind of depends upon what it is that you're there for, but there is a designated room. There is a designated staff member um to to work with that with that student.
>> I have one more question for um middle school suspensions. Uh it's not broken down. Are they all one or the other or >> middle middle school does not have in-house. Okay. So So middle school suspension I I and and and and with Dave and and
and Jack I excuse me Jack. Dave and Joe I can tell you that that we've it's been a group this year. There's been a group. So um we've been working on some things. We've been it's my office is actually in the middle school. So it helps. >> I have a question. I know you have in
school suspension, out of school suspension. Do you still have the Saturday school? >> Yes, we do. >> Is that also for suspension or just >> um Well, the sat it doesn't count towards suspension. Now, I will tell you there are children who would rather suspension, >> right? I I I used to when I was in the middle school, we had children who would
ask for suspension, and I would say, "No, no, no, no, no. We're going to do this on your time." So, yes, the three-hour Saturday detention is uh still there. Um, I can tell you when I was at the technical school before I came here, they had a three-hour after school detention,
which if you can imagine going to school for six hours and then sitting down for an additional three, but um, I think this Saturday works for us. Works for us. >> Um, I just had a question about the HIPS data for elementary. Does that seem
consistent and year to year over year? I'm trying to wrap my head around this category in elementary school. So wanted to just get a frame for what was >> the last reporting period. >> Actually what I did not and a little
intentional I I did not look at the last reporting period to this year. As far as far as secondary is concerned, you're graduating a group of students. you have a group of students who are coming in from Woodland and you have a
we we can become somewhat transient sometimes when you look at the amount of students who are leaving and the amount of students who are coming. Um, so within the year you will really compare from September to December and then you'll compare to fall to spring, but kind of
year to year and and this time I really was focused on, you know, what we were doing differently this year and how things were working this year. There'll be a lot more comparison when we come back and look at these numbers in July in elementary. That that seems to be about about what the numbers are.
Any other questions? >> Nobody else. >> Thank you so much. >> I promise. I promised I'd beat you. All right. If uh just before we exit out of committee of the whole, I just want to make sure that nobody else has any comments or questions. Okay.
All right. So, um, can I make a motion to or have a motion to exit committee of the whole, please? >> So, move. >> Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. So, we're going to move on to uh section five, future dates and miscellaneous information. Um, there's
just a list of dates there that you can skim through and see if there's anything important that you want to add to your calendar. But I would also like to highlight for um everybody listening in and everybody here that uh the colleagues would um board uh committee of the whole meeting is moving from it
was originally scheduled for March 11th. It is now moving to March 19th and I sent everybody an email and um you know let them know and I got some feedback that for the most part that seemed to work for everybody. Um so again the committee of the whole that is our public committee meeting that's moving
from March 11th to March 19th and then our regular Collinswood board meeting is moving from March 16th to March 23rd and this is uh because the governor is pushing the budget address to March 10th and state aid will not come out until March 12th. So we're going to push
things back a little bit. Okay. Y. All right. So, uh, now we're going to move on to section six, routine business, uh, and approve the minutes of the, um, right? Approve the minutes of the January 21st meeting committee of
the whole board meeting, the January 26th regular board meeting, and the February 7th, uh, joint board re retreat. So, can do I have to make a motion for that? Yes. Okay. Make a motion to approve the minutes. >> So moved. >> And a second. >> Second. >> And all in favor?
>> I. >> All right. So, now we're going to move on to our student report. And we have a couple uh student board reps here presenting tonight. >> Start us off talking about the uh unification meeting we had in the high school with Dr. McDow present. And we had teachers, students, and
administrators in attendance. and he was there to answer any concerns and questions we had about it. And overall, what we think we do well is the yonder pouches before the governor banned cell phones in classrooms. Yonder does work and it'll be good to implement across
all grades. What we think needs improvement is more preparation for class elections in the beginning of the year. And for senior leader passion projects, we had a couple that took place recently. We had Daniel Orna's snowball
dance to raise money for a school in Peru to fund education for the students. And we had Andrea Triundo's passion project, a walk in our shoes that raise awareness for woodland students who have to walk from and to and from school.
And benefits of unification would reduce redundancy of systems and processes instead of investing in things to invest in students and staffs. Streamline campus the barriers and possible sports renovations. >> I would just like to touch on so we sent
out a survey um kind of like uh asking like what some concerns of the students are. Um and as far as the unification goes, um a much a big population of the students are kind of concerned with the
unification in that it hasn't really been mentioned enough. Um a lot of the students are really they feel unclear about the unification. They just they kind of wish they had a little more um information pro provided to them for the
unification as far as what does the unification actually entail and like what what what does the unification mean moving forward in the next year. Um and then this year we had computer science that
was eliminated from the program of study and the program has an interest of large quantity of students and students are confused as why the course is cut from the program of study and we had a ninth grade student who put out a petition that total 65 signatures and counting to bring back the computer science program.
We talked to students and teachers and a lot of them say that this program is an important program because some students need the exposure to computers since we're becoming a more techbased society every day. And this program allows students to not only be exposed to this
technology but may also peak in interesting career paths. And a handful of students in the engineering program are also concerned with the cutting of this because computers align drastically with engineering. And the question the students have is why this program was cut.
>> Um, kind of adding on to the computer science uh program. So, I I'm in the TV studio. I'm a part of the pause TV program and I I kind of agree with some of the concerns of the students as far as how important of a class computer
science is because especially with the rapid growth of you know technology in society. It's it's quite concerning that we don't have a class that will help students kind of learn the basic
functions of say a computer or a data script or JavaScript and going into the career paths um some like some students even though even if it might not be their first choice of an elective some students may get dropped into the class and find out that they love it. I was
dropped into the TV program and I originally I didn't I was not I did not select TV but I fell in love with it. And I think a concern that I'm seeing as far as students go is that it will kind of diminish the the um diminish the
spark for a career path in computer science. Um and moving forward uh into another elective um I had chance to speak with a couple of the AP Spanish students because I had overheard them talking in the library about how about
the difficulty of the class. Um, I'd spoken with a student and what the student told me is that they there's a student who does not really know what to do um, as far as what to do with the AP Spanish class
because there is no teacher and it's an online course and he's not really sure what to do with the class. Um, and back in January, he had requested to drop the class and he was told that he would be switched into either a study hall or
another elective, but it's been a month and he still has not heard anything yet. Um the student was also told that there would be an email going out providing information on what would be happening with the class but has still has not received any information providing any
updates on what will be happening moving forward with that class. Um, I had also talked to two other students who are in the AP Spanish class and they're kind of in the same boat where they they kind of just feel lost and they don't really know what to do,
especially because um they they feel like they aren't really getting the help that they need and they feel almost unseen or stuck and their their biggest question or their big their biggest Yeah, their biggest question I would say is that they just they they wish they could have the help that they need and
they asking for help um not only to well they're asking for help kind of to just help them figure out what to do moving forward whether that is place them into a different class or
or just drop them out of AP Spanish in general. Um, another we we sent another thing on the survey is that the regarding the new vice principal, a lot of the students wish that they had kind of been introduced to the new vice
principal a little bit more as far as like maybe like an assembly or an introduction to the new vice principal. I know myself personally, and this is no disrespect to the new vice principal, I hadn't learned her name until three days ago. which is kind of concerning. And I
didn't know that we had a new vice principal until uh I would say two weeks ago. And it's kind of the same thing that I'm seeing on this on the student survey is that a lot of the students did not really know that we had a new vice principal and didn't know her name and kind of just
were never felt introduced to the new vice principal. and they kind of just wish that they felt like they would have been introduced a little more so then they could kind of warm up to her and get to know her a little bit better. Um, uh, one one thing that I I had also
talked to some teachers about. Now, I'm not I don't have enough information on this, but I had heard overheard some teachers talking about how there was a their concerns with the grading scale being changed from
uh being changed from an F being from 0 to 64 to now an F being from 50 to 64. And some teachers are kind of concerned um some teachers are concerned that students may not be prepared enough for higher education considering the
workload may be less difficult um in the way that if a student if a student for the first two two marking periods has an A average they think oh I I'll be able to take this marking period off and still pass for the year. Um,
some some of the benefits that were all that that I I had kind of seen with it though is that it also it creates the an a little bit of an easier learning environment for the students causing the workload to be a little less. But then again going on to the concern that
students may not be prepared enough for college or higher education because they think it is okay to kind of take a marking period or Um, and another thing that I have seen is some of the technical issues in the school. And it's not just myself, but
it's also a number of students have reported this. Um, kind of just the slow internet. They're not a lot of the students are not really quite sure what is going on with the internet. And I'm I'm a little confused on the internet as well. I'm not sure why, like what is
going on with that because we have had a number of Wi-Fi outages recently. Um, also as far as technical tickets go in the TV room, we have there there's a lot of stuff to work on in the TV room. Um
so currently in the TV room we are in the process of submitting packages for Emmy for our Emmy awards coming up which the due date is on Friday. Um and a lot of us have kind of been working on these projects for months. Um, and this past
week has been ex uh extremely challenging for the TV students because there some of the computers that we have, the MacBooks do not have access to the internet. Um, and we're not quite sure why they don't have access to the internet. Now, from
what I heard, we are working towards that. We are working towards getting internet onto these Macs, but it is it's quite difficult, especially when you have these high level uh competitions to submit packages to especially when you have a t a television 4 program student
who needs needs these MacBooks. They're essential. I would I I would say they're essential to our our learning are basically just for us to produce a award-winning package. These MacBooks are essential because we need we need to
take these home to work on our packages. Um some of the some of the students have been forced into to kind of like some of the students have been forced to not submit anything to certain uh to certain
to certain um competitions like for the first uh for the first time in five years. Uh we were not able to submit to the Garden State Film Festival and this stemmed from the fact that we just we don't have the the technical support that we need in the TV studio as far as
MacBooks go. It's especially hard because a lot of us are uh teachers assistants in the TV room. So like myself, uh Raina Bar, Miles Fischer, and Ana Stzman, we are all television, we're all teachers assistants in the TV room. So we kind of
help out with the um we help out with the lower level TV students. And because they're on all of these all all of our iMacs, we are unable to produce packages. and that is more or less what caused us to not be able to submit to
the Garden State Film Festival. Um, another growing concern that that was mentioned in the that was mentioned in the student survey is kind of just communication. Some of the students wish that there was a little bit better of communication between the school and the
students regarding uh events that are happening. example, some of the seniors were concerned with the push back of graduation. Um, they they were I know I myself I was thorough I was confused about it, but then again, I also don't know a lot. I don't have enough
information on that to kind of be concerned about it. I was more so confused as to what the pro like what the procedures are to push back graduation. And I know I have heard from a number a number of my friends and my
peers that their their parents who were on the PTA um were quite were a little more or less aggravated with the fact that uh graduation was pushed back because the PTA schedules project graduation and because graduation was
pushed back we had to reschedu project graduation which again I'm I'm not I don't have all the information on that but I I know I or I'm pretty sure that coincides with the money aspect of it but I'm not 100% sure I don't know if
that causes us to lose the money that we had to to originally schedule project graduation. But I know that it was originally going to be at Sky Zone on a Thursday night, but since it was it was pushed back, we had the PTA had to reschedu it to a different date. But
they couldn't they couldn't reschedule it to Sky Zone because on that Friday night it would have been way too expensive and because Friday night is usually a packed a packed night at Sky Zone because who doesn't like to have fun on Friday night at the trampoline park. But um I I would say that a lot of
from what I heard a lot of the PTA moms a lot of the PTA moms and parents were quite aggravated with the push back of the the push back of graduation and project graduation and just kind of like the communication aspect of it. They wish that they had heard that it would
be pushed back. Um and now moving on. Uh moving on, I will be speaking about the sports wrapup. The winter sports wrapup. Uh the first team I will be talking about is the girls basketball team. Uh newly managed by coach Mchuan
is 19 and3 or well I guess 20 and three because they won tonight in their playoff game. They finished seven and three in the Colonial Conference. Um and I wrote down that they are actively playing in the game, but they won the game uh with a score of 56 to 31 against
Gloucester City. The girls bowling team coached by Laura Gillan went 12 and six, six and two in the Tri County Conference with a highlight win uh against Middle Township in the first round of the playoffs two to nothing, but they had sadly lost to Bordon Town in the second in the second round. The boys basketball
team, newly coached by Steven Hand, finished with a final record of 1 and 26 with a highlight win against Maple Shade, 44-34. The boys bowling team finished with a record of three and 13 and sadly did not make the playoffs.
Um, the girls wrestling team coached by Matthew Freriedman. Uh, I'm sure a number of you guys know who Matt Friedman is. He's he's a great guy. Um, they finished 40th in the state with a record of 11 and two. This is also the first year that we have had a 100% full
lineup for a girls wrestling team including JB Wrestlers. Uh this Sunday is the district tournament, the first ever girls wrestling district tournament at Eastern High School. Um and the team, the girls wrestling team is looking forward to moving a multiple wrestlers
onto the region tournament. And then the final team I will be talking about is the boys wrestling team which I am so grateful to be a part of. Coached by the legendary Declan Moody finished with a final record of 32 and4. They finished 10 and0 in the Colonial Conference which
is the first time in history that in the Colonial Conference and we were in the Patriot Division which if you don't know is the lower the lower um division. This was the first time in history that a team in the lower division has won both of the both sides of the conference outright, defeating every team. Uh we
have became the fifth team in the state of New Jersey and only the eighth team in the country to reach 1,000 program wins, which is a an excellent milestone. Again, so so grateful to be a part of that. Uh we had made it to the South
Jersey Group 2 final, but sadly lost to Lower Cape May in a great match, 27 to 46. Seven out of the 14 varsity wrestlers made all conference this year. Uh those including freshman Jake Iy and Chase Wright both being on the on the first
team all conference. Sophomore Vvonte Santos on second team all conference and seniors Mason Mousiano, Lena Batalone and Tim Rambo on the first team all conference and senior Shawn Bird on second team. And now the the wrestling team is gearing up to host districts at
home on this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. I believe. Uh we have a long-standing tradition where we bleach our hair which is why my hair is the way it is now. But that's kind of wrapping up the winter sports season. Um I would say as far everyone did great. Um you know a
handful of new coaches you know just great year all around for college of sports. Is there anything else you'd like to say? >> Thank you both so much. We took a lot of notes. So, um, we'll try to follow up with administration on some of these topics that you were asking about. Um,
so we are going to move on now to section 8 to the superintendence report. Dr. McD. >> So, good evening everyone. Um, thank you for being in attendance. Um, got a lot
going on in Collingswood. So, lots of good stuff. So, we we always appreciate the time. Uh section 8.01 is the enrollment report. January of 2025, uh 2233, January of 2026, 2216.
That report is attached. 8.023 and 4 are the safety drill, suspension, and anti-bullying report. I have a few um uh uh announcements. So, first and foremost, u I think it goes without saying that we have uh the
absolute uh what did what did Mr. Newman say? Second to none. I think that's what he he said. Second to none buildings and grounds crew for helping to successfully get our buildings back up and running. They were uh like a fine-tuned uh
machine uh clearing snow and ice to make sure the students and staff could enter into our buildings safely. Um and while other uh uh districts uh were struggling to not just open uh we were able to successfully get our folks back in school. And so uh Mr. Longo, the
buildings and grounds crew uh we have deep appreciation for the work uh that the team does. uh when schools are closed, they are here. Um when schools are delayed, they are actually here early uh to make sure that we enter into
it safely. Uh and so just wanted to publicly acknowledge them again uh with heartfelt thank you. Uh we heard from our student reps um about uh athletics. Uh we're extremely proud of all of our student athletes. uh wanted to bring um
in terms of the wrestling team uh some recent congratulations to Lo Batalini and Mason Mousiano for hitting a 100 career wins. And so we just wanted to keep adding to a record season of 32 and
four. Um and the dominant nature of our uh student athletes on the wrestling team uh is something pretty pretty special. And so I don't want us to ever take that for granted. And so, Kenneth, you and the team, thank you. Uh, you guys continue to lead, not just on
campus, but also off campus. Um, I think it also goes without saying, um, we'd like to publicly thank, uh, Coach Mchuan and our girls basketball team for continuing to, uh, to show up and to show out on on and off the court. Um, their playoff run continues this
Saturday uh, also uh, at Hadenfield. And so we have two major um athletic events taking place on Saturday. Our wrestling team will be hosting a district tournament and our girls basketball team will be continuing to move on in the state playoffs. We'd also like to bring
positive attention. We had a series um of high school students that excelled on the national German exam. And so we're pleased to announce that four of our students were honored for outstanding performance on this national exam sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of German. And so we'd like to
uh publicly acknowledge uh Jack Shankaro, um Jacobe Klene, Matt Messer, and our very own student board rep uh Chris Shamansky, who each earned um uh these awards for exceptional performance, distinguishing themselves
among a highly competitive group of German student language learners across the United States. And so we celebrate their hard work and their effort and their dedication to uh additional language mastery. And so in terms of the academic calendar
uh due to our recent weather closure uh school closures we will need to adjust the final day uh of the current school year because the change affects the scheduling of end of year activities including promotion ceremonies a formal recommendation for a revised date will be presented for approval during the
March board meeting. In addition the board will also review and approve the 2627 academic calendar during the same session. And so we understand that families need these dates for summer planning and we will share these uh immediately following the meeting. And so in response to graduation
um yes the last day of school will be changed to reflect the 180day requirement but as not to disrupt school and family plans actively in progress. The class of 2026 graduation ceremony will be unchanged. It will remain on
Thursday, June 18th with um a sponsored project graduation aligned with uh our PTA leaders and they will announce that on on on their own. Uh so please be advised that during this ceremony, high school diplomas will not be released to
students. A schedule for diploma distribution will be announced at a later date. Um and so what this means in plain plain terms is that we know that travel plans have been made. We know that project graduation plans have been made. We know that diplomas have been ordered. We know um that individuals
have have made significant plans. Um the snow came, the snow has gone. Uh and so we don't want that to disrupt things that have been actively planned. A lot of thought has gone in. Uh and so the graduation ceremony will be will move on
as planned. uh students will need to uh and we will be working uh uh with the uh the students uh at the high school in order to quote unquote make up the days needed. Um students that have really great attendance, they will be fine.
Students that need the days, they will need to work closely with the administration and their counselors, but we will not be changing um the graduation date uh which is Thursday, June 18th. The school district will be closed on Friday. uh for Junth and then
so uh information about makeup days will be coming uh uh for board approval in March. We'd also like to make the announcement uh or continue to repeat the announcement that our preschool and kindergarten registration team are looking forward to this new registration season. Families with children ages
three or four by October 1st and not currently enrolled in our preschool program can apply for full day free preschool by completing the lottery application which is now available. Children entering kindergarten and who are not currently enrolled in our preschool program can begin the registration process at any time. And so
please uh go to our uh district website, our registration page for more information. In terms of budget, this is budget season and so the 26 27 U budget season uh comes with its own set of challenges
and so in general the budget address um is normally uh the first week of February. However, there is a long-standing bill that allows a new governor um an additional extension. Governor Cheryl is uh scheduled to make the state budget address on March 10th.
This means that school districts will not hear about projected uh state aid until March 12th, which would ultimately give school districts um roughly a week to complete a preliminary budget process. Boards of education will be tasked with ensuring that budgets are balanced and aligned with state and
federal school funding regulations and requirements. Um the board uh uh uh committee of the whole uh will uh be able to preview this uh at the newly scheduled meeting of March 19th with the formal presentation and the vote on the
budget submission on March 23rd. And so Collingswood and and Oakland are participating in a Camden County legislative forum on March 6th, bringing together superintendents, board members, state legislators, um who will be actively engaged in our
efforts, uh for fair solutions to school funding. We'll continue to keep you informed. Since our return from COVID, the cost of doing business has significantly outpaced state and local funding for schools. Stagnant funding is effectively a reduction amid increasing
costs to operate schools. Costs for utilities, insurance, software, digital resources, instructional materials, fuel, and various other items are affected by inflation. Once we have assessed the budget and its impact on our schools, we will provide additional
information. But I need to be very clear. Um the budget uh development season is going to be extremely challenging and extremely tough decisions will need to be made. Um as we reach the midpoint of the year, uh we are also pleased to share that
Collinswood students and staff are currently on track to meet and exceed our year-long goals for daily attendance, reduce tardiness, decrease chronic absenteeism and suspension. Uh but beyond this, we're also seeing um significant momentum in academic growth.
Our elementary students specifically are participating in uh NWA MAP which is for reading and math and dibbles which is also for reading. These universal screeners allow our leadership and teaching teams to monitor student progress in real time and align specific
supports wherever they are needed. And so while these tools are not uh tailored to predict outcomes, we are continuing to trend in a positive direction by providing our educators the data necessary to ensure that students are on a trajectory towards uh achieving more
rigorous goals that have been established. We will be sending out information to families about how they can support their students at home. Uh we'd like to thank again our secondary uh leaders for presenting information on the range of programs and services provided to our secondary
students. Uh their presentation will also be sent out. Uh we'd also like to thank all of the students and the staff who participated in the Black History Month showcase as well as the Black History Month activities and events that have taken place throughout the month of February uh in our schools across the
district. U we'd also like to acknowledge that on Sunday, February 22nd, the community gathered to bring attention to the challenges that some students face as they travel to and from school. We'd like to express our sincere thanks uh to
the student leaders for using their voice and elevating this important issue as it relates to student attendance and transportation equity. So to promote fairness and to reduce barriers to positive school attendance, our high school and middle school administrators have been working to develop a plan to
support eligible students who reside in Collingswood, Oakland, or Woodland, recognizing the longer, more complex commutes uh that some students currently experience. We seek to pilot a plan this spring and make adjustments over the summer uh for the new year. Uh details
will be coming out shortly. And we also be remissed um in uh just reminding our folks that we have a Panther Pantry um and that the Panther Pantry is established in order to provide students and families of Collingswood, Woodland,
and Oakland with supplemental nutrition, personal products, and etc. in a cheerful, welcoming, and confidential and non-judgmental manner. Uh and so uh please reach out to um our uh middle school uh for details. Uh we're
continuing to accept uh donations uh of non-p perishable items uh as well as uh monetary gifts in order to support families in need. And that concludes my report. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Um right now we're going to move on to public comment
section nine. So um I just want to say before we start that plea if you come up uh please stand state your name and address and keep your comments to three minutes or less. The purpose for this public comment section is to discuss items listed on the agenda. Additional more general
comments may be made. Well, actually additional comments can be made now. I think we need to change that piece um because we're not going to have a second public comment section. So, anything you want to talk about, you can talk about, but please keep your comments to three minutes or less. Uh we are going to keep time and uh the public is reminded that
attempts to resolve all concerns and complete should first go through the appropriate staff members and administrators. As a somebody who's helping to plan a seventh grade Minecraft birthday party, I'd just like to extend a formal invitation to Mr. Alivi to uh come on
over uh see what it's all about. Uh good afternoon or good evening everybody. Sorry, losing track of time here. Um, my name is Mike Paluchi and I am the vice president of the Collingswood Education Association. Uh, the members of the CEA, including guidance counselors, support staff, and teachers are concerned about
a change to the CMS CHS program of study for the 2026 2027 school year. In the document on page uh 12, the grading scale has been changed so that no student can get below a 50 for any marking period, regardless of the circumstances that are causing them to
fail. As you know, some students have this accommodation in their IEPs already, and it can be effective in those instances. Uh, but as an acrosstheboard policy, it comes up short of what is needed. Our students face a lot of challenges that affect their performance in the classroom. And this
policy may well be intended to prevent a struggling student from falling too far behind in a particular class, but there are better, more proven ways to achieve this. A few possible solutions to address this issue include a 50point floor for the first two marking periods. uh turning only the lowest marking
period into an automatic 50. Um and maybe formalized meetings with the student, their counselor, the teacher, and MTSS to create a successful path forward. No one wants any of our students to fall behind so much that the hole is too big to dig out from, least of all our
members who show up to do this work every day. These are the folks who work tirelessly with students, tutoring, calling home, meeting with other teachers and their counselors, doing grade changes when students turn in missing assignments. Every educator has their own way of working with students to ensure that they do not cross the
point of no return with respect to their grades. If the district is interested in formalizing a single process and codifying it in the program of studies, then our members welcome and support this effort. However, the district should seek input from teachers, administrators, and support staff, and
they should actually incorporate that feedback into their decision-making so that whatever changes made centers our students and reflects the and reflects the expertise of those who work with them each day. We want students to be engaged and while not all students will change their approach to their schoolwork, others will. if they know
that they can get a 79 for each of the first two marking periods and then stop turning in work altogether for the rest of the year and still pass. Unfortunately, there are those who will make some version of that calculation. One of the major challenges teachers face is turning education from something
that is merely transactional back into something that is transformative. It's not easy. The lack of funding for critical support along with the looming spectre of AI make the hill even steeper. The proposed change to the grading scale uh disadvantages some of the very students it is designed to
help. Further, we owe it to our students the respect of an education with clear expectations and rigor along with a helping, compassionate, empathetic hand to help them meet those expectations. Other schools have attempted the same policy to mixed results with many having to go back and modify it at a later
date. Why not learn from the mistakes of others and get it right the first time? We are asking the board to reconsider this policy and to work with educators to create a grading scale that truly serves our students. Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Thank you. Hi, my name is Elelliana
Auster. Um, I live at 10:05 Miguel A. I am in seventh grade at Collins Middle School. Um, I would like to share some of the ongoing tech and building issues that are happening within the middle school, some of which make it impossible to do some school work. in rooms oh in
room 204 most of the Chromebook mouse pads mouse trackpads um don't work um which is one of the problems that my friends have brought to me um in room 205 almost all of the keys and um room
sorry 108 um almost all of the keys are missing from said from different Chromebooks um in 232 which is the band room Um, there are at least 10 broken Chromebooks in that classroom. In room 108, the clock has completely
stopped working. And before that, it was constantly spinning. Like, it was recalibrating almost every single day, every period of the day. Um, my teacher has put in around 12 tech tickets since the beginning of the school year, but it has still not been resolved.
These are just a couple examples of the tech issues that me and my fellow students um are experiencing which are making it harder to work in our classes. Um, additionally, there are several water leak issues on the third floor,
specifically in room 301, um, where my teacher cannot close the door because of a leak in the door frame. Um, And in 307, there have been several different leaks throughout the year. Some in the middle of the room and
some on the sides. Um, I'm also disappointed to see that there that the mold that has been growing where most of the leaks are um has been spray painted over instead of having the tiles replaced.
Um, and then I can I'll leave you with the list of the stuff that I have noticed, but there are probably there are many issues behind these spec beyond these specific rooms. Sorry. Um I hope that you can work with the teachers, tech department, and buildings and grounds to help fix these problems as
soon as possible. Thank you. >> Uh hello board members. Uh my name is Miles. Uh, I'm the director of uh, Pause TV Club and I'm a fourth year TV student. Um, I've come to address the continued technical problems we're having down in the TV studio. Uh, we
currently have 23 outstanding tech tickets that have gone back a past couple months that have not been resolved. Um, this is affecting our daily life uh, in the TV studio. Uh, currently uh, we're in the process of submitting to the student emmys uh, which is a very big deal to all of us.
Um, all of us have been working on our projects for the past couple months. I have personally been working on my documentary since early November. Um, this last week has been extremely challenging and very chaotic um with everybody putting their final touches on their uh respective projects. Uh, these
challenges have stem from the fact that we have had problems with our iMacs and MacBooks. Um, several of our Macs, those are the large computer ones, uh, are inoperable. um forcing students in the same class to kind of work out a
schedule to work on the same MacBook or skip their other classes to come down to the TV studio and edit. Um our video projects are very important to us and we need the time to work on them. Uh this is because of the lack of resources and
IT support uh we as TV uh pause TV were not able to um have. Uh because of this we weren't able to submit to Garden State Film Festival for the first time in five years. Uh I personally submitted my work to there uh last year and it
actually placed within the top 12 in the state. Um and I even got recognized uh by an independent filmmaker and my work was screened at the Scottish right um which is an incredible experience. Uh because of this my because of these technical issues, my classmates and I are losing the opportunity to work uh
and have our work recognized by industry professionals and network with other people in the industry and colleges. Um thankfully we still will have the opportunity to submit to the student emmys tomorrow. Uh but not without causing unnecessary stress. Um, on top
of the uh non-working computers, for the past 18 years, uh, pause TV has had uh like a mid-year purchase where we buy uh new supplies and replace broken or obsolete uh equipment. Uh, these are necessary. Um,
and we use the budget allocated at the beginning of the year by the uh by the school. Uh, this budget also covers the entry fee for the Emmys. Um, we were informed on Tuesday that our budget has been frozen. um meaning students will have to either pay for the needed
equipment or organize fundraisers to pay for that equipment. Uh I personally find these issues are avoidable with proper communication and your support in making the PCV program successful. I hope our technical issues can be resolved soon. Thank you.
Hi, I'm Mrs. Tany. Um, I've been an English teacher over in the high school since 1998. Um, I have in the past been admonished for taking up the board's time without first following the chain of command. So, I'm just going to read the email
that I sent out mid um early February um that I haven't gotten a response to yet. Um, and this says that I'm writing in regards to the availability of the Chromebooks donated last spring. My preAP3 English class will begin research the research project at the beginning of
next weeks. Students are required to use databases, noodle tools, our electronic research organizer. Um, to complete a 7 to 12page MLA new historical analysis of an inaugural poem. Because much of the work must be completed outside of school hours, students need reliable access to
devices after school. Several students who do not have access to devices at home have already signed up to use the donated Chromebooks, but they have not yet received information about how. By the way, that sign up went out at the beginning of the school year. Uh they
have their parents have not yet received information about how or when they can access these devices. Will the devices be available beginning the week of 32, which is when I'm planning on starting my research process? Um, if not, what is the anticipated timeline? What steps do
parents need to take to secure access to the donated devices? If devices will not be available this school year, when can I expect formal guidance from the district regarding research requirements to ensure equitable access to devices
for all students? Um, I sent this on the 19th and I know there was snow and it was all kind of crazy stuff. Um, but there were there was last year there was room that had those donated devices that we could get them from. This year, our
we we can't even we're not even told where they are. They were removed. So, a 100 plus Chromebooks were donated for our students to use because we no longer allow students to take Chromebooks home
and they have seemed to evaporate it. And I understand the technology is a two-edged sword and there's a lot of push to go back to paper, but midyear if I'm dealing with honors juniors and I'm trying to walk them through college
level research, they need to use databases. They need to use um online um research tools. And if have to stay
after school every day, go to the library. The library is not open on Sunday. Collinswood Public Library is not open on Sundays. So, where are these guys supposed to get their Chromebooks?
And I'm concerned that apparently nobody knows where these 100 plus Chromebooks went. So, please, please try and find them. Let me know. or do I have to totally change the research process, which is fine. Just put it in writing so I know what I need to do. I'm sorry.
Okay, seeing as uh no one else is coming up for public comment, we are going to move on to section 10, the business administrator and board secretary report. Mrs. Coleman. >> Good evening. Um, and item 10.01 is the
January monthly budget transfer report. 10.02 are your January financial statements. 10.03 is the student activity cash report. 10.04 is your um food service financial statement for the month of
January. 10.06 is excuse me 05 is a listing of the purchase orders that were issued during the month of February. And 10.06 6 is a listing of the warrants that will be paid uh tomorrow morning pending approval tonight. And I just wanted to publicly thank my assistant
Steve Burns for um stepping in for the last three weeks to help me out um while I was out on leave. Um and that's it from me. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Yes. Thank you. And thank you to uh Mr. Burns as well for stepping in. We really appreciated all his help the last couple of weeks. Uh we're going to move
on to section 11, buildings and grounds and finance. So, as every everybody is learning, if you haven't learned already, we have now have a committee of the whole where we run through all of these agenda items the week before the meeting. So, we met last week to go over all of this stuff. So, now is our time
to just move through these and um you know, ask for approval for everything. So, uh with that being said, I'm going to say that um we are looking for approval for items Where is it? >> Okay. Uh, we're looking for item uh
approval approval for items 11.23 to I'm sorry, 11.21 to 11.22. Can I get a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> And a second. >> Second. >> Roll call. No questions or comments first.
Can we do questions or comments in case anybody has anything? All right. Do we have any questions or comments from board members? Okay. All right. Roll call, please. Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu, >> yes. >> Mr. Craig, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCowski, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. Except for in 11.08, um, invoice number 1225 for Rancokus Valley, my employer. IND but all the others. Yes. >> Uh Mrs. E. >> Yes.
>> Mr. Dilkus. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Maya. >> Yes. >> Okay. Moving on to section 12, curriculum update. Again, we uh went through all of these last week and we had um discussions about them. So uh the
the meeting to come to might be the uh formal the the committee of the whole meeting. Um and so now we are looking for approval for uh 1201 to 1207. Can I get a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> A second
questions or comments from board members. >> I have a quick uh or just question based on comments about the greeting and I know we went over this um last week. Um, I know that the at least most of the program of study involved a team to
develop that. Um, did they also weigh in on the grading level or was that more of an admin decision or was the team part of the whole decision? >> We've had conversations about grading for the last two years um specifically
with the counseling team. Um, at the end of the day, um, all of the things that some of the comments, uh, referenced, um, have already been tried. And I think that, um, what we are seeking to do is we're seeking to provide opportunities.
And so I think that we can come up with there will always be, uh, individuals who attempt to manipulate systems. And so that is not a reason or an excuse for us not to be able to move forward in an equitable way. And so when we had our discussions in public last week, the
conversation really stemmed on if the value of an A is uh eight points, why is the value of an F 64 points? And so uh what we have experienced over the last five years is that there are some students who unfortunately for one
reason or another have had a bad marking term with some students earning zero on a report card, 12, 13 Uh if a student earns a 12 on their report card for one marking term, they have failed for the year.
>> There's no there's not an opportunity for them to be able to >> I mean because I actually was one of those students at some point. So all I'm asking is if the grading level was a discussion or >> I'm explaining uh and so we had conversations with with the counseling
team last year. Um, and what we were uh directed to do was to evaluate uh what was happening last year. We talked to counseling again this year and we were directed that if there was going to be a change um in order for folks to be able
to be held accountable, they needed for us to make sure that it was board approved. And so that was that was the nature of the conversation that we had with counseling. the uh counseling team uh developed our program of study um under the leadership of the counseling
supervisor and so it was not an arbitrary decision and it wasn't done in a vacuum. Um I would also like to just you know comment again that while I appreciate there are some definite benefits to helping students who are struggling and
who are working hard um you know as somebody who taught in a district who did the across the board 50% for several years and it did become problematic for a lot of students and um you know and I know something that I was thinking about after our committee the whole discussion
was discussions of behavior and obviously you know as you said Dr. Mal a student who feels that there is no way out will become a behavioral problem and that is absolutely true and I do believe that there can be room for you know one or maybe even two marking periods where
okay here's the deal depending on how you're doing let's put some plans in place but um you know I also have seen firsthand and have um you know I think our teaching staff it's important to listen to them too that students who have figured out that they no longer
have to do any more work can also become, you know, there can be some behavioral problems there as well. So, I just, you know, again, want to reiterate that I think it's reasonable to put some guard rails on this plan and um, you know, maybe to limit it in some way instead of across the board.
>> I just want to make a really quick comment and I know there's one more question that I I think we spent most of this meeting celebrating the excellence and raising the bar and the academic performance. So I sit in a space that there's no one who wants to coast. If your goal is to pass the AP test and I
would hope we're holding that frame and in our discussion it's if you kind of go too low there's no coming back and that's the group we want to elevate just as much as we are able to celebrate the accolades and recognition we're getting
for the excellence here. And so we're asking to try I think it was very clear in our discussion there is an agility and responsiveness to is it working? Are we skewing too far? I the team very clearly articulated the that we will be responsive and keep monitoring that. So
I do want to um make sure we remember that kind of that type of the discussion we had and that we know this isn't just permanent written in stone policy. Um so just want to offer that perspective. the the one one one quick statement. So the
reason why it was included in the program of study is because there is annual review by the board of education and so it there's will be an annual discussion point about uh what went well what needs to change and so uh to Zakiyia's point this is not written in
stone in perpetuity. This was an annual review um that will be brought to the board of education. Yes, I'll just chime in because we we did discuss this at committee of the whole last week, but I with the our new meeting cadence. I know not everyone sees all aspects of both. So, I'll just
repeat a bit of what I shared last week at committee of the whole with regard to the F50 policy. In some ways, it was almost verbatim what Mike uh Baluchcci shared earlier with regard to well, we could try X, there'd be pros and cons to X, we could try Y, there'd be pros and cons to Y. And so, um, and you know,
those ideas were shared by board members last week and lift it up again tonight here. So, I'll just kind of double down on what Fred said and repeat a bit of what I said last night, which is we know what we're doing right now is not serving all of our needs and we know there's no perfect solution. Um, our
goal is always to try something and to be listening carefully and watching carefully to see if it's working as we intend it or not. um and um know that we'll revisit and revise if if necessary. And so I think this is an
attempt to move forward and serve students better. Um it may not work in exactly the way we intended. We've we've thought it out as best and well as we um are able to, researching other districts, um talking to members of our team, etc. Um and yes, you have our
commitment, my commitment that we will continue to revise and update if it if necessary. Um so my question is regarding uh computer science. My question for um I
guess representing the school or the students in the school would be um why was the program of computer science exactly cut from the program of study? >> So it was cut because there were only 12 students in the program. And so um every
single year the program of study um or the course selection process which is driven by students um courses that are undersubscribed or either shelved um courses that are uh overs subscribed more investment. And so for example in
that same year um students questioned whether or not that there would be um sustainability for the business program. They didn't know because in years past they had had like bumps in the road. Uh 97 students signed up for business and
so business was on. Um 12 signed up for computer science. Um and the program wasn't sustainable. The instructor uh resigned based on how low the numbers were u which left us with a void. The program was originally um a grantf
funded program to see if there was student interest. clearly with 12 students, not to diminish the importance of those 12, but it wasn't enough to sustain the program. >> Is that uh one of the programs that is is coming back on like an alternate year
basis potentially? >> No. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Oh, sure. I'm sorry. So, can I just clarify? So, um so students won't So, it's not on the program of study at all. So, students won't have the opportunity to sign up for it at all. Okay.
So if there's interest in the future, is there a possibility of bringing the course back or No, >> there's always a possibility, but I I want us to be very very mindful is that um in the future there would need to be some type of tradeoff. And so uh
currently, uh it has not been expressed, um by the school of what a trade-off might look like. and then we would have to we'd have to start over, start from scratch. And so yes, computer science is the future, artificial intelligence is the future. We fundamentally believe that these are the types of
opportunities our students deserve. Um but more more discussion is is is needed. >> Okay. Uh so we are looking for approval of items 1301 to 1318. Can I get a motion? >> So move.
You've already made a move. Motion >> 12. Sorry. I just I apologize. >> Okay. To do roll call. >> C. Okay. Circling uh circling this. So, we're looking for uh approval of items 1201 to 1207. Thank you. Sorry about that. Okay. So,
roll a motion because we wanted to comment after taking correct. >> Got it. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. >> I got all that. Just Okay. Mrs. Brown. >> Yes. >> Mr. Chu. >> Yes. >> Mr. Craig. >> Yes. Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCowski, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dulkus, >> yes. Except we're required to abstain. >> Mrs. Maya, yes. Okay. Section 14. All right. So, we Oh, section 13. Section 13. I am so out of
it today. Okay. All right. Section 13. We are looking uh this is the um personnel section. So we are looking for approval of item section uh for 1301 to 1318. Can I get a motion please? >> So moved. >> Second.
>> Second. >> Questions or comments from board members. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu, >> yes. >> Mr. Craig, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCowsky, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Mr. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dus, >> yes. Except we're required to abstain. >> Mrs. Mayer, >> yes. >> Okay. Section 14, culture, climate, and policy. So, um, we went through this
again last week as well. So, there is one policy that is up for a first read, co-curricular activities, and we are looking for approval of items 1401 to 1403. Can I get a motion? >> So, moved. >> Second. Second. Any questions or comments from board members?
Roll call, please. Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu, >> yes. >> Mr. Craig, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McKowski, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dulkus, >> yes. >> Mrs. Maya,
>> yes. Section 15, uh, miscellaneous. Uh, we are looking for approval of item 1501. Can I get a motion? >> Some moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> Questions or comments from board members.
>> Roll call, please. Mrs. Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Chu, >> yes. >> Mr. Craig, >> yes. >> Mrs. Divine, >> yes. >> Mrs. McKowski, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sherman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Z, >> yes. >> Mr. Dulkus, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Maya, yes. Okay. So, uh, section 16 is specifically for the committee of the whole conversation that happens the week before or during this meeting. We're only having one public comment section. Again, that is was earlier in the night and that is for you to talk on anything that is either on the agenda or not on
the agenda. So, we are going to skip over section 16 and we're going to move to section 17 and move to a journ. Can I have a motion? >> Some moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you.