today's regular May board meeting to order. This meeting has been appropriately advertised. Roll call, please. Missing. Mrs. Brown. Mr. Craig. Here. Mrs. Divine here. Mrs. Maya here. Mrs.
McCeltzer here. Mr. Sherman. Mitzky. I know. Mrs. D. I'm just Mr. McMillan here and Mr. Ch here. Please rise for pledge of allegiance. There was no executive session tonight.
Uh before we do our presentations, we're going to go ahead and enter into committee of the whole and do the presentations in committee of the whole. So can I have a motion, please uh to enter committee of the whole? So moved. And a second. All right. All those in favor? Okay. So for our presentations,
we're actually going to go in in reverse order today. We're going to go and and do the uh 2024 25 Kingswood staff members of the year award. I'm going to pass this uh to Miss How Turner to to kick off. Good evening and welcome everyone. Um my name is Meredith Howell Turner. I am the
assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. And we are thrilled tonight to welcome our six staff members of the year and the many family and friends and colleagues who came out tonight to celebrate them or who are watching at home. Um, so we are in a
moment going to recognize each of the six folks that you see listed here in the board agenda by asking them to come forward with their supervisor or their principal who's prepared a few words. Um, but I just want to publicly read each of their names first and say say a
few words myself. So we are thrilled to recognize as the prek and elementary teacher of the year, Mr. Brian Gross. [Applause] as the prec and elementary instructional
assistant of the year. Ellen Townsburg from [Applause] Garfield, middle school ELA teacher. Kristen Tash, high school science and psychology teacher. Karen Silverman, secondary instructional
assistant, Bernardet Jefferson, and last but certainly not least, Mr. Wayne Matthews, our district support winner. [Applause] Um we received 59 um recommendations for
this year's staff member of the year. My team and I which is Mr. Dave Alive, Dr. Karen Principado and Dr. White House um have the real pleasure of reviewing the 59 applicants. And this is all done internally by colleagues recommending
colleagues. Um they each then share tons of beautiful anecdotes about recommending these individuals for consideration. So, we had the real pleasure of reading each of those um beautiful testimonies that people took a lot of time and thoughtfulness to put
together for us. Um and then I'll just say personally having been here now a year, I just am so thrilled and lucky um to work with each of these six individuals. I get to see them impacting individual kids. So, we're very grateful each of
the six winners this year. Um so without further ado again we're going to go in the order listed here. Um so can I please have the sharp and principles Mr. Miss Hson come along with Brian Rose please.
Good evening everyone. I'm the principal at my pleasure tonight. First words that come to mind instrumental lessons for students actively involved in our
various and also various points of bases always pass up an opportunity to share the elementary level. Mr. Rose
establishes an excellent foundation for students learning about music of our district's many great offerings in music, theater, and the arts. Brian also a terrific colleague. Uh he's part of an excellent music department in our district who support
and encourage each other as they collaborate on outstanding learning experiences and opportunities for our students. We're very fortunate to have Brian Gross as a member of our team here in Collinswood and I am grateful for his many outstanding contributions to our
school and our district. His teacher of the year award is certainly very welld deserved um and a fitting tribute for a great teacher and a great person. Congratulations to Brian. And at this time I'm gonna hand it over to Miss Henson, principal of Sharp who will also
share some remarks about Mr. Good evening everyone. As Mr. Jenna said, my name is Camila Henson and I'm the principal at Sharp Elementary School. Um, ironically, I chose two of the same words to
um to describe brush. So Mr. Gross exemplifies dedication and passion when he is working with the students. His dedication and passion for music has transferred to the students as well. Mr. G's students thoroughly enjoy music
class and especially instrumental lessons. For example, one student waited in the office for Miss Kawasa, my administrative assistant, and I to call home. I would say it felt like at least 10 times. And student. Um he's such a
sweet student. He just waited patiently and we had to let him know that um no one's answering right now, so you may not be able to have your instrument today, but he really really wanted to, you know, to participate in his lesson. Another example just happened last week
where a student um actually the parent came in with a dripping wet flute case and I was concerned because I know how delicate instruments are. So I asked I said, "Would you like me to at least wipe it off?" So she said, "Yes." But that is the dedication that your
students have for their music class and especially for their lessons. Our students again are very serious about learning to play their instruments. Um these are also instruments that Mr. Gross was determined to secure so that all
students had access to music lessons. Sharp's art and music showcase was today and that was a testament of Mr. Gross's hard work in the music department as well as um Miss Emanuel's in the art department. So, Mr. Gross, I
just want to say congratulations and thank you for everything that you do during the testing. You made sure that we were able to fit in all the instrument lessons, scheduled, you know, the music classes, made arrangements, and so forth. So, I appreciate you. The district appreciates you. Um, of course,
the Sharp community appreciates you. And most importantly, your students truly appreciate you. So, congratulations. All right. Wow. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is for my my high school and middle school theater students for public speaking here. Uh, first off, that Thank you,
Mrs. Henson and Mr. Jenna for those very uh thoughtful words. And I was just thinking of people to thank for like how how many years I've been in Kingswood. I think it's 12 or 13. I'm losing track. Uh but I, you know, thanks to principles I've had in the past to Dr. Pritzipado
to um Joe Gers who I had in the past, Tom Santo, and then I was just thinking, you know, going through all my principles, you know, now at the high school, Doug, Dr. Jack, Mr. Whan, my supervisor, Steve, I'm Steve and Dave. there's uh I'm just very lucky here in
Collingswood that I've been able to be, you know, not just an elementary teacher, but I feel like I teach everybody and that's something that's really important to me and important to our music team that everybody in the district is one of our music students and it doesn't matter if they're not at
our school. Um, everyone's one a part of our music program and I take that very seriously. So, I'm very very lucky to have that happen here in Kingswood and I don't know if that happens at bigger districts that we have that type of uh community in in a larger district when you could just be a number. We're
very tight uh music community here. So, I got to thank my my music colleagues, Mr. Goldberg, Miss Lewig, Mr. Hartung, Miss Carlson, and Mrs. Traco. Literally could not do any of the things I do without my music team. Couldn't couldn't do it. Uh and of course, my theater team
adding to them would be Mrs. Goodall, Miss Hartman, and Mrs. Doerty. Like, we're again a unit, and none of this happens without the whole. And um something that's just super important to me is back to that that small town community that we have here in
Collingswood. And I'm just very grateful and very honored to have this this award, but also I am lucky to see some like my the seniors right now I I had in kindergarten and that is something that we can do here in college. If if I have you middle high school theater, I can
have you in kindergarten and then I can see them all the way through to 12th grade. That's that's just a great privilege. Um so thank you all so much for that great honor. Take care. [Applause]
Uh, next please. Um, Mr. Wiltsy and Ellen please come forward. [Applause] How you doing? You going to stand right next to Come here.
I'm sorry. Where do I go? This will make it easier on me. Uh, so first off, before I read my words, I just want to say thank you to all Thank you. Congratulations to all the winners. Um, I know most of the winners and I know being here in Collinswood, um, this is a huge honor. So, congratulations to
everyone. So, good evening. My name is Mark Wilty. I'm the principal at Garfield Elementary School and I am happy and I am proud to be the one who gets to stand up here this evening and honor Miss Ellen Tonsburg. As life likes to give us full circle moments, I have gone from teaching Miss Ellen's son,
Matt Tonsburg, who's sitting over there, to now serving as her colleague. Everyone in this room would be hardressed to find something about Miss Ellen that isn't positive. She's kind, she's loving, and she is caring. Through her kind heart, she consistently
purchases snacks, backpacks, the big event of the year, Mr. Softy, right? Or whatever else is needed for students and staff. She is the first to give a student or staff member a hug when they need it. And she's also caring enough to ask me almost every single Monday, "How was your weekend?" And she actually
means it. She truly does a little bit of everything at Garfield. There are quite a few people that have a connection to Garfield here in attendance, and if I gave them each a chance to stand up and mention a role that Miss Ellen has at our school, they would be able to say something different. To list a few of
these examples, however, she is the queen of lamination. She is the our expert at grade K and grade one curriculum. She is the overseer of our bus students, a recess aid extraordinaire, a collar fixer for both myself and recently
retired Mr. Carolyn. She is a pseudo nurse for our students and also with worrying about staff health, etc., etc., etc. So, I'm going to switch gears for a second and I'm also going to talk about Miss Tonsburg and
technology. All right. At this In the school year, teachers are receiving their summitive evaluations. During these summitives, we give some actionable feedback and recommendations for growth. And for my first few years working with Miss Ellen, I always had to put something in there about improving her understanding of technology. I would
remind her that email, Google Docs, ASOP, and things like that aren't going away as the as the district moves forward with technological platforms. This terrified her for sure, but that is what she does. she just moves on and she works works toward the goal. So now in
2025 when I arrive at work and she beats me there, which she does some days, I see her sitting in a chair with a laptop on her desk checking her email. To her left is a brand new iPhone 16 that I recently put the screen protector on and
she has an Apple EyeWatch. So I am not sure if she just wanted to give it back to me for writing the same thing every year. But as I write her summit of this year, I'm struggling to come up with something as a recommendation for growth because she is that good. So lastly,
when I talk about Miss Ellen, I think back to my late grandfather. No, Miss Ellen, this is not the part of the speech where I begin to roast you, so don't worry. When he and I were working on my back deck, he would stare at each board before using it. And he would stare at it. He would make sure it was straight before we could nail it
onto the onto the uh deck. And he would say, "Mark, you have to remember they just don't make things like they used to. You have to always check and make sure things are good. And that always stayed with me uh because I've had the pleasure of working with incredible staff members during my time here in
Collingswood. We truly have some of the best of the best. But the best way to describe Miss Ellen is that she really is indescribable. They don't make people like they used to. Is accurate about her as well. We love you, Miss Ellen. We are so grateful that we all get to work with you each and every day. And on behalf of
all of us at Garfield, [Applause] congratulations. Thank you. I'm not real good at this. Good evening, everyone. I am
incredibly honored and truly humbled to be standing here today as the recipient of the instructional aid of the year award. For over 30 years, I've had the privilege of working in the Collingswood district. And throughout those years, one place has always had my heart. Garfield. Garfield isn't just where I
work. It's my home. It's where I've poured my heart into every day. Share countless memories and felt the joy of being part of something truly special. One of the greatest blessings of my time here has been the people I've worked alongside. I couldn't ask for better
co-workers. They are more than just teammates. They are my family. We've supported each other through everything and that bond means the world to me. I also want to take a moment to say how lucky I am to work with Mark Wily, the greatest boss I could ask for.
Mark, thank you for your leadership, your support, and most of all, your sense of humor. Some of my favorite days were the ones spent laughing with you, and I'm so grateful for the joy you bring to our school every day. Sorry,
guys. To the students, thank you for being my inspiration, Grant, for making me proud and for reminding me why I love what I do. Thank you again for this incredible honor. I will cherish it and all of you always.
Thank [Applause] you. congratulations, Ellen. Ms. Tosh, I believe Dr. Jack and Dave
are introducing you. Dave first, then Jack, come on up. Good evening. The teacher of the year honor is one of the highlights of every school year here at Collingswood. Looking back at the list of honores of years past, I'm struck by the number of wonderful people who have served our
students and we have had the privilege of working alongside. Going to turn it over to Dr. who's going to introduce another CMS staff member who will join that list of legendary people. Thank you, Mr. Alivi. Congratulations to all the honores this
evening. As principal of CMS, I am thrilled to recognize Miss Tosh for this welldeserved honor. As an eighth grade language arts teacher, Miss TSH exemplifies what it means to be an outstanding educator. Her classroom is a place where kindness, compassion, and
empathy thrive, fueled by her unwavering belief in the power of a growth mindset. She's not only dedicated to academic excellence, but she also understands the crucial role of social emotional support during these
transformative middle school years. As TSH builds meaningful relationships with her students, earning their trust and respect while challenging them to grow as thinkers and individuals. She truly understands that in middle school it all happens in the
middle. And she embraces that complexity with grace and humor. Her colleagues deeply admire her professionalism, her collaborative spirit, and her ability to lead with both heart and
purpose. As William A. Ward once said, "The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, and the great teacher inspires." Miss TSH is without question an inspiration to all who had the privilege
of working with her or learning from her. Congratulations, Miss TSH. And thank you for making Collings of Middle School a place where students and staff alike feel seen, supported, and inspired. It is my honor and
privilege to introduce the Collings of Middle School teacher of the year, Miss Kristen Todd. [Applause] Thank you, Dr. McMullen and Mr. Ali for the extremely kind words. It has been a pleasure working with both of you over the past seven years here at
Collingswood Middle School. I'm extremely grateful for your unwavering support for what I do each day. I'm honored and humbled to be receiving the recognition this year. I'm also especially grateful to Miss Gillan for the nomination. You can expect to see her here very soon within the coming
years. Congratulations to my peers that were also honored this evening. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends. Their constant support helps me push through on tough days and it validates the time that I'm putting in outside of the classroom. Especially my co-teer, Miss Pgleon, who
listens to my crazy ideas and helps me put them into effect. Thank you to my parents and my brother Matt who listen to my school stories each week. Tuesday night family dinners and they do so without judgment. And a shout out to my
son Oliver for tagging along to every school event with very little push back. The current state of this school district makes it tough to love the choices that we made to get into this profession. But our students help us to regain our focus, to strive to be better, and to give them our best
selves. I love how Grace when my nail color changes. How Jacob and Brody call me out for middle of the night Google Classroom posts. And when Ally and Tiana still ask how to make their writing better, even though we already know it's great. I love that Ryan makes me laugh
and smile when I'm not supposed to. The right on uh right on cute eye contact with Elodie every single time. The parenting advice I get from Zamora. The sweet post-it messages from Dar. the always raised hand of Raquel and the
check-ins from Thor. I could go on, but hopefully you see that I have enjoyed this year's students so much. They begin each day fresh with a smile, eager to learn, and a willingness to try new things and to take on challenges. This class especially has reminded me why I got into teaching in the first place.
They bring joy to my day and impress me daily with their hard work. I thank each of them for helping me be my best, and they are the reason that I'm here tonight. Thank you. [Applause]
Congratulations, Miss Tosh. And next, please, I believe Doug and Dr. Principado are introducing Terren [Applause] Silverman. Come on up, Miss Silverman. My name is Doug Newman, principal of uh Collinswood High School and um it is
truly my honor to say congratulations to all the honores tonight. Um you are recognized for a reason and I hope you um embrace that, enjoy it, enjoy your moment because we are proud of all of you. Um it's my pleasure to be able to introduce uh Dr. Principal who's going
to talk about Terren Silverman. Uh, one thing I'd like to say about Taran real quick is that she is one of the sparks in the building without a doubt. And for anyone that knows Taran, you know, within the first five minutes, you know, you're probably going to walk away with a smile. Um, but at the same time, you
know that this person has energy and wants to just go go get it. And it doesn't matter what it is. Um, but she's the right person for the job of our Renaissance program. a renaissance program which honors kids and recognizes kids and just find ways to um show them
our appreciation and Taran is the right person in that spot. I've known that since 2013 when I first came on board like wow this this person is really you know uh with it and definitely the students um recognize that you know when she's in the room there's a celebration
going on there's a celebration that may get ready to start you know there's something there's ice cream coming from somewhere you know but this is Terry Girl Scout oh this is girl scout cookies but you know I have nothing to do with that um but she's great and and I'm glad
that she's on boardad glad she's on our team. We have um three honores tonight and this is going to uh you know kick it off. Dr. Princip has something to say. [Applause] Hi, I'm Karen Principado. I am the
supervisor of the STEM and gifted and talented programs at Collinswood. I'm so excited to present the high school teacher of the year award. This award recognizes outstanding performance, dedication, and a commitment to
excellence. This year's recipient has consistently gone above and beyond in her role. Her innovative ideas and relentless work ethic have significantly impacted our students, colleagues, and school
communities. For example, she chairs the Renaissance Committee, which organizes reward assemblies to motivate individual student attendance, academic excellence, and citizenship. She creates and maintains
the log for senior open campus, which allows qualified seniors to leave campus during their study hall and lunch period. She works with the National Honor Society to organize the annual Mr. Coll's contest.
She helps to commemorate our seniors by leading the senior graduation sign project. And shortly you will see pictures of all of our seniors on signs up and down Collins Avenue. She serves as the advisor for
our bring change to mind chapter which is a national organization whose mission is to end the stigma and discrim discrimination surrounding mental illness. She is the co-junior class
advisor. She is the advisor for our SAI alpha chapter which is a national honor society whose mission is to enhance America's high school students understanding and knowledge of the science of
psychology. As you can see, this year's recipient is so very deserving of this award, and I am honored to serve as her supervisor. Please join me in congratulating Taran Silverman for her exceptional
contributions and welldeserved recognition. Hello everyone. I think I should start by saying that I didn't actually believe Kristen when she said I would have to make a speech. So, I didn't actually prepare anything. Um, but I want to say quite a many thank
yous. Thank you to my amazing administrative staff at Collingswood High School. Um my colleagues, my students. Um I have to give a special shout out to Miss Christristen in Traasso. I know that she wrote a nomination for me and when I went to
thank her about it, she divulged that she has written one for me every year. And I felt so it it was just so emotional for me to know that I had made a connection with one of my colleagues so well that she
felt like she could nominate me for this award and so that was wonderful. Um, speaking of those connections, I want to thank my students and I have some of them sitting right in front of me right now. Every single day they remind me why I became a teacher. Um, especially fun
little anecdote when my AP psych test didn't work on Friday and Now my psych students have to study again to take the test next week. They were all completely fine. Like they're a little stressed, but they said, "We can do this. We want
to keep studying. We don't want to, you know, say it didn't work. We're going to give up." They were definitely in it. And so again, as I look at Andrea right now, who is giggling at me, um, my students at Collingswood are absolutely
amazing, and I wouldn't give them up for the world. Um, I want to thank my family. My family that listens to countless stories, probably some of which I tell over and over and over again. Um, and my children who are
smiling at me. Yes. Um, because Oh, and recording me. That's lovely. Um, because I do drag them with me all the time. I'm not quite sure they enjoy every single thing they come to, but I do know that my son loves running around this
cafeteria no matter what activity is going on. So, thank you to both of them. Thank you to my wonderful husband who was also recording me. Hi. Um, just for the love and support every single day. Um, I think that might be it. So, thank
you again [Applause] Next, we're going to recognize uh Bernardet Jefferson. Please come
forward. I believe Colleen and Heather are going to recognize you and maybe Doug as well. Thank you. I had to say a few things about Miss Jefferson. Get up here, Miss Jefferson. Uh without a doubt uh there, you know,
the high school can be busy. Can be a lot that goes on. Um and I'm just speaking from my own perspective. Uh it gets busy. Uh sometimes it gets tiring. Sometimes you I stand in the hallway and I'm just looking, you know, thinking, okay, you know, today was interesting.
Today has been interesting. Um but I can tell you one thing that always brings me back to center. It's Miss Jefferson, you know. You see, [Applause] she reminds me of my
mom. Um, you know, so without a doubt, you know, when I see her coming, um, it's it is a smile and I know it comes back to I get to calm down for a minute when I'm speaking to her when I see her. So,
she's always like, you know, hey, Mr. Newman, how you doing? U you know, but she's got that calming presence. Her her classroom is a wonderful classroom, but you know, the people that are in there to support what goes on matters as well.
And she is the right person for the job without a doubt. Uh and then she She just radiates that calmness on a regular basis and it's the thing that um I do look forward to when I see her coming. So I'll stop talking and crying, but uh
I'll have Miss uh Hart come up and cry. [Applause] So my name is Colleen Hart. I am the assistant principal and um I am probably
Mrs. Jefferson's second biggest if not first. I think I beat him out. Sorry, Mr. Newman, but I think I win. Um, she is my person at school. So, she is my
ray of sunshine, so I might not make it through myself. Miss Jefferson has poured her heart and soul into the Collingswood public schools Ignite 18 to 21 year old program and the impact of her dedication
resonates resonates deeply within the lives of each student she encounters. She understands that the transition to adulthood requires more than just the you know abs and c's. It's
a demand of character, resilience, strong work ethic, um, a lot of teaching, and time and patience and perseverance. Miss Jefferson has a unique blend of kindness, caring, tough
love, and unwavering fairness that is instrumental in fostering these qualities. Uh when I think about the students who've walked through the doors of Ignite, they feel unsure of themselves and overwhelmed. And the
minute she they walk in and they see her face, she greets them not as just the job coach, but as a compassionate mentor. Her caring nature creates a safe and supportive environment where students feel seen, heard, and valued
for who they are and what they bring to the table. She celebrates their triumphs. She brings no matter how big or how small, she offers a comforting presence during moments of challenges and she is there to be their
cheerleader. Miss Jefferson's support does not stop there. She understands that true growth often requires pushing beyond their comfort zones. That's where that tough love comes into play. She sets high expectations. She challenges her students to reach
their full potential and she doesn't shy away from holding them accountable. She still instills in them understanding that effort and perseverance are the keys to unlocking their success. Perhaps one of the most
enduring lessons Miss Jefferson gets and parts on her students is hard work. She is one of the hardest workers. She leads by example. She demonstrates this through her less commitment to the students and the program. She teaches
them success is not given easily that they have to earn it through dedication, through discipline and putting in the effort. This lesson transcends the classroom, equipping them with the fundamental skills and serves them
through everything they do. They walk out of that room confident with a smile on their face that they have learned and they are bringing joy to their community. Miss Jefferson is more than
just a job coach and a classroom assistant. She's been a vital a vital person in the success of the young adults in the 18 to 21 year old program. She provides unwavering support and guidance they need to navigate the
crucial stages of their lives. Her dedication is not just a job. She's not here because it's a job. This is a calling. It is a testament to her deep belief in the potential of every single student that she
encounters. Thank you, Mrs. Jefferson, for your tireless dedication, for your unwavering support and your profound and lasting impact you have on the lives of our students. And as I say, when I walk in. Hello, my favorite
people. And she is welld deserved. So, congratulations to everyone and to Miss Jefferson. [Applause] Hey, I don't know if I can do this. Colleings community. I'd like to say good evening to you. Um, I want to take
this opportunity to sincerely thank Collingswood administration, school, and my teacher for this incredible honor. I am especially grateful to Miss Heather
Brown who allowed me to step into this high school community and 2020 in 2018. Had it not been for her, I would not be standing here today.
This young lady was going through a lot and I came in and filled for her as a substitute teacher and I thank her for that. From the moment I walked into the main office of this school, greeted by
the warm and welcoming staff, I knew I was home. After 32 years of working for Camden County and the city of Camden, I never Imagine I would still be working at 74 years old. But this school has given me
renewed purpose and joy. Even when I faced the personal challenge in 2022 with cancer diagnosed, the love and support of this high school family carried me through. the staff stood by
me and another beloved colleague who is no longer with us today and I'm grateful for that. I am proud and humbled to stand here tonight alongside my
colleagues as a recipient of this 20 four 2024 2025 school year award. I thank you so much. And Mr. Jenna, you were the principal when I walked into this building. And now I have Mr. Newman. I
still love you. Don't worry. But I I got Miss And Mr. Newman was here, too. But, you know, I still love you. Just want to let you know that. But thank you, Collinswood. I am from Prince, so I'm not far from you, Collinswood. But Collinswood community
and school district, thank you so much for letting me be here. and getting this honor. Thank you. [Applause] [Applause]
Go ahead, Mr. Newman. Okay, we got one more one more special one. Um, well, they were everybody's special. Um, but uh we have Well, anyway, let me just move on. Um, Mr. uh Matthews, get up here, Mr. Matthews. Mr. Wayne
[Applause] Matthews. Mr. Whan. Okay. So, Mr. Matthews is our district support person of the year. And um you know, I can say that I you know, I enjoy my my um cafeteria workers,
right? Uh the aids that are that, you know, that are in there and serving food. I enjoy our maintenance staff. You know, they they just get busy. Something happens, they're on it. And I enjoy my security, my security staff. Mr. Matthews is um, you know, a member of our security team here at the high
school. And without a doubt, the most calmst, he's the calmst person in the building. Coolest, but the calmst. I don't care what goes on. Yeah, I'll take care of that. Mr. Matthews, we got Okay, I'll beat it. I got you guys.
you know, so he is absolutely um with he's he's he's cool, levelheaded um and great to have in the building. Um you know, I love talking to him about just different things, you know, that that go on um home, family, whatever. Uh but uh Mr. Matthews, you know, he he he he goes
deep as far as um just just that basic understanding of what it takes to to keep things going and keep the building safe, you know. So for that I appreciate him and I appreciate um you know just the the special moments that you know throughout the course of the year you know he's helped the school to have uh
just by being there and being a presence and reminding students. I love how he talks to kids. I love how he talks to them. Um doesn't matter what goes on you know he said hey come here let me talk to you. You know he's that guy. He's that he's that guy in the building that I know kids appreciated. when we broke
the news as far as you know trying to celebrate him. Um we did it in the cafeteria for that reason for students to be able to celebrate him as well. And you could just hear the loud applause that that went on and that was a special moment. Um but he is he's low he's he's laidback. He doesn't want the spotlight
but he's getting it. Um so Mr. Matthews thank you. Uh Mr. Wellen's going to say a few things about Mr. Jefferson very quickly. I couldn't let this pass. Mr. Matthews is a man of large stature but few words. So, he's probably very
shocked this year. I started dragging him in on our student mediations and it never fails. We sit there the whole mediation and he sits there and he smiles and he just makes eye contact with the kids and at the end of the mediation he comes in with this
oneliner that always sums things up and concludes everything so well. But the thing I want to say about Mr. Matthews that that that I think is a very powerful thing. He is the first here every morning and the last to leave. So
when you have those co-workers that you know you can always depend on if there's some type of emergency and you're running late or if you had to leave, he's the first here in the morning, the last leave. We can always pick that phone up and know that Mr. Matthews was present. So I thank him for that.
[Applause] Evening everybody. My name is Dan Whan, a proud assistant principal uh of the college of high school. Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real
strength. This quote from St. Francis the sales perfectly captures the essence of Mr. Wayne Matthews, our district support staff honore for 2025. I'm incredibly honored to say a few words about my friend and colleague this evening and I know as has just been
mentioned that he is far too un humble to enjoy the spotlight. So take a deep breath my friend because you have earned every bit of this recognition. Mr. Matthews is a true gentle giant in every way. His quiet strength, steady presence, and deep
kindness have left a lasting impact not just on me personally but on countless students and staff who've passed through CHS. Wayne joined us several years ago after retiring from a career in law enforcement. Since then, he's become an
indispensable part of our school community. While his official title is uh security and climate officer, that barely begins to describe the roles he plays each day. He's the first face to greet students each morning. The reassuring voice on the walkie-talkie.
The problem solver behind the scenes. Whether it's helping with lost items, assisting with investigations, or where he truly shines, diffusing potential student conflicts. Wayne approaches each situation with calm, care, and respect. His ability to deescalate, to make
students feel seen and safe is remarkable, and it flows from a genuine desire to see every young young person succeed. Wayne handles some of the most challenging moments our school community faces during the school day and long after that final bell. His calm demeanor
and steady hand have helped guide students, families, and staff through tough times. If there's anything bigger than his bench press numbers, which he recently revealed to me, it's his heart. He's built real relationships with students, especially those who need
a little extra care. And he never hesitates to go the extra mile for them. He does not seek credit. He just shows up again and again for the right reasons. High school guys, but I'm gonna say it.
On a personal note, we've laughed until we've cried and we've cried together, too. One of the most difficult moments we shared was in 2023 uh when we served as pawbearers for our dear friend and colleague Lisa Marion. Being beside Wayne during that
moment was not just meaningful, it was a quiet testament to the kind of man he is. loyal, steady, and present when it matters most. His support in that time of grief grief, like so many other moments, spoke
volumes without needing many words. So tonight, uh, we recognize more than a job well done. We honor the character, compassion, and strength of a man who has made CHS a better place simply by being himself. Congrats, Wayne. You are deeply appreciated.
[Applause] Hello everyone. I just just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate it. Um I don't have nothing prepared, but I'm
really honored. [Applause] So, can we give our 2425 honories
another round of applause, please? [Applause] We would like to thank everyone for helping us to uh celebrate uh these amazing individuals who make our school district and our community better. Uh
the term or the word thank you is insufficient. Um it doesn't uh speak to the invaluable um nature that each of them brings to the work every single day across our school district and across our community. Um, and so as a u a
district staff member, as a colleague, um, as a superintendent, but more specifically as a parent and a community member that is a direct recipient of their greatness and their brilliance, um, I'd like to personally say thank you for what you do. Thank you for pouring into our children. Uh, and thank you for
your dedication um, and sacrifice for our community. And so as we uh transition um we have a very special uh presentation uh from uh student leaders uh many of whom have been directly impacted by the
professionals that were honored this evening. Uh and so we'll take just a moment for them to get set up. Um and so I'll ask uh ESVAC to please come to the podium please. Good evening everyone. I am Miss
Llewellyn and I am here with Miss Romero and we are the co-advisors for the student voice action committee and we shorten it to So you'll hear us refer to it as ESVAC. And um we are really proud to work with this group of students this
year. They've been working very very hard. We are so proud of them. This is a group of students that Miss Romero and I interviewed uh towards the end of the last school year. They were trained over
the summer for being part of this group and they have been working so hard throughout this school year. Um, giving up their lunches twice a week as do I just as do we because we believe so
strongly in the work that we are doing for the better of our school culture and climate. So moving forward, um why was the ESVAC established? Um there has been continued concerns surrounding school culture
within our high school and that resulted in our principal uh Mr. Newman acknowledging the need for more student input within the school. Um, some of our current issues that were identified include discrimination on campus, the
lack of communication between student and staff, and some limited accommodations. So, what is the purpose of? Um, so these students have exemplified dedication and when we first got together over the summer, we were
asking them, we all got together and we're like, okay, what are some things if you can see changed would you like to change or what are some some concerns that you have with the school? And so we came up with some goals and strategies based on this. So um what the kids
expressed was that they needed a greater sense of belonging um more dialogue with the school with the students and staff um and with the school community. And some some other things are improved school climate and culture, finding ways
to better resolve conflicts and supporting engaging classroom learning. So we all realized that um one of the things we found that was missing is student voice. That's why we're the student voice action committee, right? And in our um making decisions for the
school, who's the biggest population in the school? The students, right? So, we believe that they needed a voice. They needed to have a say in some of our decisions. So, this is why um this is the purpose of our participants, some of them were not able to be here with us this
evening, but Some of them are Archie, Amandi, Angel is our secretary, um Landon, Tyler, we have here
Naim. Um Alistister is not here, Andrea, Selena, who is our graphic designer. And uh Miss Romero and I, like I said, we are the co-advisors. And then we have our consultant, which Dr.
All right. So, what are our goals and why? So, our goals are to develop shared leadership opportunities. Like I spoke earlier, um having the students have a say in the leadership of the school, enable students to provide ongoing feedback about school policies and
practice, support responsive classroom practices, and establish a schoolwide understanding of the range of diversity of student ident students identities that are at Hi everybody. Uh my name is Dr. Brace. I'm the committee member here. Um and
then I'm here also my capacity someone who studied and researched and taugh about student voice for 20 plus years. uh the students and co-visors asked me to just speak briefly um about sort of like help to frame what
our strategy was this year. Uh so going to just make three quick comments so you understand as you enter into this um into the slide you can see what we've been doing. Um so student voice is often misunderstood and as young people
sharing their concerns and aspirations you know voice speaking that import is the lowest form of voice. Um instead um using an organizational capacity building perspective, student voice is an opportunity to engage and sustain
dialogue about the decisions that impact students on a daily basis using structures and processes that genuinely include them. Schools often times are not built to do these kind of things. Though research shows across the world that when schools do this and do this
well, we see a lot of beautiful things building. Um, and so using a capacity building perspective, instead of students, um, this group looking at individual issues that emerge in the school this year, we wanted to help them think about what kind of systems that
would need to be in place for them to contribute in a meaningful way into school processes. And so, as as sitting on this committee, my my job was to listen very closely to what students were talking about throughout the year
and them to develop strategies that would sustain beyond their existence in this school. So that's what you're going to see. That's what you're seeing today. So what you're looking at here are not a set of discrete recommendations how to fix the bathroom policy or how to fix x y and z. This is what they wanted was a
system which they continuously engage in conversations about their school. That's what this is about. And so what we have here is a a sustainable structure that is about not only young people conversation about schools but actually the adults in the building as well. And
so this is this is just about giving students an opportunity to exercise their voice as it is educators. Okay. And so it feels a little awkward right now to tell you about the first strategy because um we really should have students in front of you to do this
but our students that built this piece of the work just couldn't make it tonight for all sorts of reasons. So I'm just going to briefly talk to you about what this first one is. So this one is about how do you talk about policy in your school and what and how can we
create a system that enables um the policy and the practice to come closer together so that it's really responsive to the needs of kids. And so this is uh the students are proposing a youth adult leadership council where five students and five
educators the building will be meeting on a regular basis to talk about the policies and the practice in the school that are working for them and those that need to be shared. This is not something new. This is something that's done across the planet and this is something that the students are asking to have
happen. Hello, my name is Andrea along with my coarter who sadly couldn't make it today. But I am here to tell you a brief summary of what our team is currently doing to improve our school and practices. So to start off,
what is partnership? It's basic it's basically a type of partnership between students and an open and safe dialogue between students and teachers. Following up with the teacher and student collaborate with each other to adapt curriculum and
student learning along towards educators. However, it is not a way for not a surveillance nor is it a way to keep record of teaching that occurs
within classrooms and also not a way for the federal teaching assistance. But overall, recent studies have shown that when students and teachers are often in dialogue, meaning teachers, classroom learning and
school climate along with this, I would like to let you know that this is our blog. We made a page basically explaining the breakdown of what is what it's not also how you can
implement it in if you would like to learn more about this part to you guys. Good evening everyone. My name is research from Antonio and strategy is our surveys and interviews and we've been conducting
these to school from staff and students and helps us uncover issues and struggles that aren't being heard and consulting other experts in this field as well as validating and ensuring reliability
strategies. for example, like what works, how do we build capacity and to adjust goals and strategies to school needs what doesn't work, how to be better. Good evening everybody. My name is Tony and I have led the community
research team in interviewing teachers over the past few months. The purpose of this research at the beginning was to construct the student voice action committee a to determine what the community agrees with our goals and how we can alter our goals to agree with
most of the community. We developed a research question which states what are the participants perceptions of the ability of SVAC goals and strategies to improve the school. So basically our goal is to find out from the community of teachers
and administrators how our goals, our strategies can align with theirs and how we can improve it to align with theirs even more. The methods I did were to so far sample as many teachers in the school that I possibly could by having teachers sign up in the Google calendar. And I'd
like to thank the teachers in the building that gave up one of the lunch periods to come talk to me for a half hour instead of eating lunch. Um in these one-on-one interviews I ask questions such as what would they like to see changed? What would they like to see accomplished about the school? How do our goals and strategies align with
their goals, their strategies, and what would make them feel a greater sense of belonging in school? Through these interviews, I found that overall teachers do want to have a better connection and do want better communication with students in the in the classroom and in the
community. Teachers do feel uh pride in the school community and in the student body. Teachers want more teacher dialogue and see a benefit in students being more involved in dialogue around the school. This aligns directly with our goals of of a group and bodess well
for the future of our work. Teachers also want to learn more about the pedagogical partnerships, its benefits and potential limitations. That being said, teachers are concerned about the current climate culture on the building. This has caused
reservations in myself about how the programs will function practically during the school day. For this reason, the next goal for our work is to bring the school climate culture to a place where we can practically accomplish these proposed programs. We believe that with
administrator and teacher support for logistics of these programs, they can be a very very positive force for the dialogue and culture of the community. in future studies of myself and the group after I move on to college is to want to speak to student
groups and more educators as the work begins to unfold. In this way, we can find out the extent of these how these strategies work to improve school climate and culture at CHS. Evidence from the field already illustrates that these strategies can be effective as long as the structures are
in place and educators understand and are trained in its purposes. Thank you. So now if anyone has any questions, we'll have the students answer. Does anyone have questions?
When um this is great over here. Sorry. Where are you? Sorry. Thank you. This Thank you for this and for this program. I was just curious when when did the work start? We started working on this August of 2024. The kids came in during the summer and
started. Hello. Um, also just want to say thank you and and how exciting it is and to the students how good this experience is going to be for you when you go to college and are doing things like research. So that's wonderful. Um, I wanted to know if you um have thought at
all about what the pathway is to implementation of of some of these programs. Uh yeah, I appreciate the question and um I think that the the main purpose of me interviewing teachers is to find out how practically we can work out uh better pathways to accomplish all this
work that the rest of my team is doing which I do believe in. So hopefully if I can get to as many teachers as possible and implement what they have told me, then we'll have better communication throughout the school that allow us to have these programs properly.
I just want to thank you all for sorry turning around. Um thank you all for your your advocacy for your school. It's such a it's such a big deal. Um what has been the the response of your peers? Have you kept up communication with other students and what are you hearing from them about this program? And you
said that some people are going to college? Um do you have a way to recruit um additional students for next year? So yeah, as we as we talked about earlier um as Dr. Archie, Tyler, and
uh Alistar who couldn't be here have been working on how we're going to recruit um new students in the building. Now, um currently we're all juniors and seniors. Half of us will be moving on to college obviously. So, they have been working on like an interview process, a process of which we select students we
think would perfectly fit um for the group and how we can continue this work past this year on the years. I just had a question. I think this is a really wonderful project. Um I'm interested especially you guys sound like you've been working or pulling some
research from the center for engaged learning. Um this is something that a number of districts in uh around Burlington County where I teach are also doing um looking at student disengagement as a whole. But I'm wondering what other kind of research have you done? Have you done any other
readings or um I know Dr. office brought in any other um work from other colleges or districts or anything kind of official of that nature. I read prior to I read a book that was based on
pedagogical partnership and it was uh it talked about how students and come together, improve communication and that leads to classroom engagement, more students coming together and in a way like it will
result in less conflict. It will result in less of what's what we're trying to improve overall. And there's also more in a way teacher like engagement because they see that their students want And that's the whole purpose of it.
make adaptations for their curriculum that is based on needs. And overall, I also read what I read a 20 no I I read a 24
pager guide of what pedag that overall as you can see it wasn't really shown here but it was basically what is and what it's not and how you can implement it. really quick. I think first, thank you
to our students um for um a a year-long effort um to get us to this point. I think it's also important that there will be a more indepth u presentation meeting with handouts and real conversations internally within the high
school building. Um because the power in what the students are proposing comes from students and staff working together. And so the public presentation is uh is short. Um but the students have worked. There is an entire uh cadre of
additional resources, information um and discussions uh and information that will be presented um directly to the staff that they are seeking to uh to partner with. So I just wanted to make sure that that was also uh part of the presentation.
I want to jump in and say thank you for all the work that you all have all done. Um the pedagogical partnerships document if uh you can have that sent to us. We can we can circulate with the board. Love to love to see that. Uh it's a pretty cool listening to I mean even
even the idea of of going at you know surveying um your your teachers with with a set research question in mind, right? I think that's that's a really complex idea that that's being used I think well here to help
improve the the school that that you all are all part part of. And I'm really excited to see I guess more from you all and then next year you know when when the juniors become seniors and then and then uh there more uh uh new faces added on you know how that will grow and morph
and you know I think these type of efforts take time and it's really commendable especially for for the seniors for for saying hey like we might not be here to see it all mature but we're going to be here to to plant the seeds and so just want to thank you all for all of your work.
Any other comments or questions for from board members here? Yeah. No, just a huge thank you to you guys. I think this is tremendous. Um it's a a really big effort giving up your lunch coming in over the summer. Um setting the example for other kids to join in on what you're doing. We think
it's amazing and thank you. And thank you, Mr. W, Mr. Romero and Dr. Brace off as well. Thank you. Okay, with uh that um we're going to close out of the Can I have a motion to exit committee the whole? So move and a
second, please. Second. All those in favor? All right. Uh moving on to section five, future dates and miscellaneous information. So quite a few dates coming up um in you know busy
June with a lot of events and and graduations and so forth. So um one thing I do want to point out so it doesn't get lost there is uh Thursday June 5th there there is a round table at the um at the um this is our last one I
think for for the school year. um at 6:30 at the Kindwood Library community room um for those who who are able to attend. Um yeah, and so many dates. Oh, it also goes on to a second page on the
back. So, so many many uh dates for this month. Um moving on to section six, routine business. uh seeking approval for the April 28th, 2025 regular board meeting and the May 5th special board
meeting. So approval for those minutes. Can I get a motion? So and a second. Second. Right. Is this all those in favor? All those in favor? I. All right. Thank you. Um Oh, so I think Oh, these I think got printed
before the the update. So we're actually going to uh do the superintendent report first. before public comment and then we'll move on to public comment. So, uh section 8 for now, superintendent's report. Dr. Okay. Um good evening again.
Section 8.01 is the attached enrollment report. April of 2024, uh 2256. Uh April 2025 is 2220. Um 8.023 and 04 are the safety drill,
suspension, and anti-bullying reports. uh those are also attached. Um and we just have a few uh really positive uh components that we would really love to share. Uh and so just special uh thanks again to uh not just the honores but
also the staff and the families that came out to celebrate our our staff of the year. Um, we'd also like to publicly thank all of our uh PTAs uh for their generosity and going above and beyond to celebrate to celebrate uh staff during
teacher appreciation week May 5th through the 9th. We'd like to publicly thank them for their continued support of our amazing staff. Um we [Applause] uh we would also like to uh this uh excuse me, last week we sent just a
calendar update uh with uh some exciting new components to our calendar. Um we will also uh be sending that out again. And so one of the positive changes this year um based on uh demand and feedback uh from our community was the ability to
be able to digitally upload uh the calendar uh to uh your phones. Uh, and so that whenever the calendar is, uh, whenever there's a change or an update, it automatically syncs with your phone. And so, um, instructions, uh, for how to
do that will also be sent out. On May 15th, preschool lottery acceptance and weight list letters, uh, went out for the 2526 school year. Um, we're also extremely excited at the opening of the calls at Park View location in September. Um, and there are currently
40 students uh on the wait list uh for our program. Um, kindergarten enrollment continues to increase with seats filling up quickly and so u please register as soon as possible. Uh, we'd like to especially thank uh the members of our
registration team uh for working so hard to ensure that students have placements for September. Uh, more details will also be sent out later this week. Uh, Healthy Kids is currently uh recruiting for their summer program. They will be hosting uh the program from June 23rd to
August 15th at the Oakland uh school campus with spots filling up fast. And so from water play to art projects to adventures and field trips uh each week will be uh hands-on and active um with a
focus on smiles. Uh and so uh we will be sending out uh uh registration uh options for families uh this week as well. Um, on May 14th, we had 68 outstanding
middle school students inducted into the National Junior Honor Society packed auditorium celebrated by friends and family and peers focused on their achievements in scholarship, leadership, service, character, and citizenship. And so, uh, we would like to publicly, uh,
thank, um, National Junior Honor Society adviserss, Miss Tosh and Miss Gillan for organizing this special event. and we're extremely proud of our student [Applause] leaders as you heard from one of our uh awardes uh this evening or honores this
evening Mr. talking about just the sheer talent and the integrated nature of our student performers, actors, uh, musicians. Uh, Collinswood Theater presented Broadway night on May uh, 9th and May 10th. Um,
standing room only. It was the fifth annual. So, this two night student showcase of musical theater and film uh included iconic music from Anything Goes uh Into the Woods, Descendants, La La Land, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and many, many more. Uh
this year's showcase was directed by students uh and members of the class of 2025. And we would just like to thank uh this year's group for an amazing year of student performances. [Applause]
We're also pleased to announce that the uh on May 14th, the Camden County Board of Commissioners joined high school seniors and their families to celebrate the best of class awards. And to the board of commissioners, best of class awards honor students in eight categories. Most courageous, community
service, leadership, performing arts, most improved school spirit, best overall, and all-star athlete from high schools across Camden County. We would like to send congratulations to Ben Arbach for being awarded 2025 best-in-class overall and Ben Sullivan
for being awarded best-in-class in performing [Applause] arts. Special point of pride. Uh the Lady Panthers are the Colonial Conference Patriot Division Champions for the first time in Collegewood High
School softball program history. We would like to thank uh head coach uh Rick Pence and uh the team for an extremely successful season. Um and uh there were individual accolades uh from many uh of our Lady Panthers and so uh
we're looking forward to a repeat next year. We'd also like to give a congratulations to uh the phenomenal uh filmmakers of Pause TV. Um TV3 student Raina Bar uh was awarded an Emmy uh for her
commercial uh called Unleash the Panther. It was a winter sports commercial. Uh overall, PAS TV students uh received five Emmy nominations. And so nominations were received for Theo Berdinski, uh Axel, Kamaya, Kelly, and
Raina. outstanding news magazine for the Panther playback holiday episode. Axel was also nominated for his documentary on Lacatrina along with Miles uh for his documentary on the history of Haden Avenue and Piper Wright received a nomination for outstanding talent. So,
special thanks to Miss Armano for continuing to run an award-winning uh film program. [Applause] In addition, our high school students uh also won the best film in the 2025 South
Jersey 10day film challenge. And so in addition to best use of dialogue and best genre, their film taken was produced by uh Kelly Adelot uh directed by Piper Wright with cinematography by Raina Bar and edited by Axel Tenorio
Mendoza. It stars Jake uh Gy, Kelly Adelot, and Leila Messik. And so the 10-day film challenge is an intense uh 10day u challenge where students have to work to make, write, shoot, edit, and
score a film in under 10 days. And they can only do it during their film class period only. And so on day one, the students will get a character, they will get a prop, a line of dialogue, and the genre to include in their movie, and they have 10 days in order to actually
submit. And so we commend all of our students for rising to the challenges because in addition to best in film, we had six additional submissions. And so, uh, hats off to, uh, our high school for, uh, rising to this film challenge.
And so we just like to thank um again our students in the ESVAC for presenting the proposed goals and strategies. Um and we look forward to uh the next phase which is meeting with faculty and staff within the high school and and making
these uh relationships come alive with real and meaningful action on campus for the betterment of culture and climate at our high school. Uh, and we would also be uh remiss in not uh gently reminding our folks in the back of the room we
have our Panther Pantry run uh by Miss Nishner. And so this is a a special [Applause] program run by another phenomenal staff member that supports local families in Collingswood, Oakland, and Woodland. And
so you can donate uh food items, hygiene products, non-p perishable items uh and uh cash is also king uh in the back. Um and so that concludes my report for this evening. Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Mal. So now we'll move on to public comments. So this is the uh first public comment section. So the purpose of for this public comment section is to discuss items listed on the agenda. There will be a second public comment section at the end of the agenda for additional more general
comments. The public is reminded that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and administrators. The intent of public comment is to give the committee opportunity to provide feedback to the board. We will be actively listening and taking notes so that we can take all that is being said in consideration. We
will also take note of any questions and if appropriate do our best to address them at the end of public comments. Members of the public are welcome to speak and expect to do so with utmost sensitivity for everyone in attendance. Uh in fairness to all who wish to speak. There's a strict three minute time limit per person during public comment and
Miss Coleman will assist by keeping time. Uh please remember to state your name and address for the record. Public comments is open. Hello, Liz Wilson, 109 East Franklin. Um, I was really encouraged to hear
about the um student voice project that's happening. I'm just um I'm wondering how that is going to be possible if teachers can't meet with them after school hours. Um, and also looking at all the activities in June, I just wanted to point out that there are quite a few that teach our teachers
can't participate in, including the CHS athletic awards celebration, the incoming sixth grade parent event, the Garfield fifth grade dinner, sharp black top bash, the eighth grade pool party, and uh, CMS 8th grade closing exercises. So, I just want to again implore the
board. Let's settle this contract and get these teachers what they deserve. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Mr. Goldberg, music teacher at Tatum and Garfield elementary schools. I'm here today speaking on behalf of the district music teachers, Miss Carlson, teacher of the
year, Mr. Gross, Mr. Mr. Hartung, Miss Intricaso, Miss Lewig, and myself. It is the mission of Collinswood Public School District's music department to provide every Collinswood student the opportunity to grow through a highquality, ability appropriate, universally accessible music education
that inspires the continuing study of music. In the final month of school, we, the music department, proudly present our final performances for the 2024 25 concert series. In the elementary world, elementary spring concert circuit continues with
the last two buildings, Newbie and Tatum elementary schools, presenting their respective art and music showcases. Families of fifth graders are exceptionally fortunate to get an extra musical performance made just for them in each of the five buildings unique fifth grade promotion ceremonies.
MidJune, the elementary afterchool ensembles, district band, district orchestra, and sentatonics district choir will be hitting the road to compete in Clement Park's music splash festival. Students will have the opportunity to be judged by expert adjudicators, then spend the rest of the
day celebrating their year-long accomplishments by exploring the park and having fun in the sun. This is in addition to their spring concert happening tomorrow night. In the secondary building, we have next Wednesday's high school coral pops concert, then a marathon of spring
concerts lined up each day of our final weeks of school. All in a row, we have the uh Collinswood Middle School Coral Pops concert, the middle school and high school band concert, the middle school and high school orchestra concert, the final fine and performing arts awards,
and then we, the Collinswood music teachers, start working on the music department concert series 202526. For more information on any of these events, please reach out to your school music teacher. As this will be the last music department update for the school year,
my colleagues and I want to give some special thank yous to all those who went above and beyond in supporting our students on their educational journeys. Thank you to the two administrative music supervisors, Mr. Steve Smith and Mr. Dave Olive. Thank you to the seven
building principles and numerous other school administrators. Thank you to our fellow staff members who put in extra time and effort to protect and advocate for the arts as leaders of the Collinswood Educators Association. Thank you to the music booster parents and
arts forward building PTAs. Finally, we want to thank all of you parents, families, and community members who have been tuning in to listen to our music department updates and supporting the arts and education throughout the year. Thank you all.
Hi, I'm Mrs. Caner. I've been an English teacher over at the high school since 1998. Um, I want to reiterate um all the wonderful things said about the teachers of the year this year. They're amazing people, but I also want to lament the
loss. Last Wednesday, Mr. K, our sole physics teacher for the last for most of the last 22 years put in his resignation. He is not going mountain climbing. He's not going skydiving. He's
not going back to college. He's not caring for family members. We can't even use the excuse that, oh, well, he lives in Philly, that's why he left, like we did for Miss Z. Or, oh, he's just going to go teach at the high school that his kids attend, like we did um for Miss
Wily. No, Mr. is going 4.3 miles down the road to teach for his last five years. Make no mistake, he is not going
someplace. He is leaving. He is leaving Collingswood. And all of the marvelous people that you awarded tonight and that you applauded, they had one thing in common. They've been here for a while. To be
truly fantastic, it takes time for you to figure out where you are in your space and how to function in that space. And as all of our long-term teachers are leaving, we need to stop saying, "Well,
this is a national problem or they're just going for some other reason." We need to look at what this board is asking of the high school and how it is being implemented. by the administration because pretty soon there's not going to
be anybody left who remembers how it's supposed to be run. Thank you very [Applause] much. Uh Jeff Herman, uh special education teacher at the high school. Uh last month I spoke twice during public
comment to bring up um issues that I felt were um a little bit alarming in terms of financials that were spent uh last year and then financials that were going to be spent this year. Um I was told that I would receive a response um and then I was surprised to read in the
retrospect that Dr. McDow um responded to one of my comments uh by saying that I should have taken my comment up with my direct supervisor andor building principal. Um, but Dr. McDow, you cut my direct supervisor last year. I met with
you and um, Mrs. Turner in January and I raised the concerns about not having a direct special educationbased supervisor at the high school. Uh, one of your most important populations in the building. Um, and I felt that was a pretty strong need at the high school. I have yet to
see any kind of res resolution there. Um, but that was not the reason that I brought up the the financials. The reason I brought up the financials is because I feel that um as a board, you know, you guys should be looking at how we're spending, you know, this money moving forward because there's still an
unsettled teacher contract that is out there. Um you know, we have probably very little separating us, you know, in in terms of this contract. And yet, you know, I have taken a look and seen the way that this board is kind of allocating its money. I did see in
tonight's agenda, which is why I'm speaking, that that issue that I spoke about has kind of been fixed. It's been put in this agenda. So, I appreciate that. Um, but I just want to reiterate, you know, what many people have been saying. It's time to settle this contract before the year is up. Um, you
know, we we've been putting in our time this year. We've been showing up. We've been doing what we can. Um, but we have a lot of good people here in this district and, you know, we don't want to keep losing anymore. So, it's time to settle the contract and do it now. Thank you. Hi, Robin Hogan, CA president. Um, I
want to acknowledge a lot of community support that we have felt um throughout this whole process in terms of um negotiating our contract. Um we have from the outset said that um our uh salary guide is in the lowest third and
our job What we hope to accomplish is to start on the path to raise that up. We know it's not going to happen in one contract, but we want to get on that path. Well, I just wanted to point out that this is true not just for the teacher salary guide, but also for our administrative
assistants. Our administrative assistants are significantly below um neighboring districts for their salaries. Um they are the very heart and soul of our schools. They are the fir they are the face of
our schools. They are the first face or voice that our parents hear when they reach out and contact the schools. They are a f of information. Um I don't know what I would do if we didn't have Karen Gowasa answering questions, keeping us all on the right path. Um and um that's
true for all the building and all of our administrative assistants in the district. They keep us moving forward. They also do things that besides, you know, things you'd normally expect. They do some unexpected things. They sometimes serve as a nurse when the
nurse is busy putting on a band-aid. They serve as a kind and gentle voice to the children, reassuring them. Um, they are invaluable. Um, and it is for them also that we are trying to improve their salary guides, get them on a path to
raise them up. Once again, we know it can't be done in one contract, but we want to get on the path where we're starting up this behind me are a couple representatives of our wonderful administrative assistants who can speak to this much more eloquently than I can.
But I am hoping that as going forward and we continue to work on resolving our contract issues that we can raise up staff members at Collinswood as they deserve. Thank you. Cecilia Tagling, 46 East Avenue. I have
been a Collingswood resident for 28 years. I am employed at Tatum Elementary School as a administrative assistant and I am finishing my 19th year. I also worked as a substitute in the district for approximately four years prior to my employment. I have two daughters who
attended the Collingswood schools from kindergarten through 12th grade and currently have a granddaughter in Collingswood School District. In all the years I have worked here, I have never heard staff feel so unsupported, disappointed, deflated, drained, and
depressed. The morale has hit an all-time low these past few years. I am currently on the negotiations team, and my hope was to settle a contract which is competitive in salaries to be able to attract and attain top-notch employees. And finally, a contract which is fair
and settled in a timely manner. Some examples, my salary in 2022 was $43,000. For the 2324 school year, I received a raise of $400 or
0.9% or $19 per day without taxes taken out. As you can imagine, I was disappointed and certainly didn't feel the salary was answer it with the work I perform each and every day. I have learned through the negotiations process and my research neighboring school
districts similar in size to Collingswood, the secretary gues are paid much more than Collingswood. For example, as I mentioned, my current salary is $43,400. In Oakland, a secretary on the same step is making
$51,847, a difference of $8,447. In Ottabon, again, the same step as myself is making $54,500, a difference of $11,100. Teachers and aids are also making less than these less than the
surrounding uh districts, and this needs to be resolved. How are we going to staff in our district when they can go elsewhere with higher salaries. Without a fair and equitable contract, more and more teachers, staff, and community community members will be
leaving the town of Collingswood. Therefore, it won't be the place where you want to live and learn because unfortunately, the school district does not want to support an integral part of our community. Thank you.
[Applause] My name is Kathy Mer. I live at 84 Kendall Boulevard in Oakland. Um I am not as eloquent as Miss Hogan or Miss Tanglin. Um I've been an administrative assistant at Garfield School for 11
years. I am currently on step D with a salary of $37,400 a year. When the contract was last settled, I was moved back three steps and was made to stay at that step for three
years. An administrative assistant in Ottabon with 11 years experience salary is $47,83. That is $9,683 less than my current salary. an administrative assistant in Oakland with 11 years
experience salary is 48,494 which is $11,94 more than my current salary. The administrative assistants in Collingswood deserve a fair and equitable contract. Dr. McDale, when you
started working in Collingswood, we had a very promising conversation where you start where you stated that you were going to the administrative assistance job titles and pay us the salary we deserve. Now is your chance to make good on that promise. Without a strong
contract, more teachers, staff, and community members will leave the town of Collinswood, and we will not be the place where you want to live and learn or work anymore. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Tom
Howard. I live at 16 Fraser Avenue and I am coming here as a parent of a student at Tatum and I want to uh congratulate all the staff and teachers who were honored tonight. And again, as a parent in the community, I can totally attest
to the professionalism and dedication and hard work of of the staff. Um, and as awesome it is to award those welldeserving members tonight, uh, it would also be great to award all of the
staff and all of the hardworking members of Collingswood schools with a fair contract ASAP. Uh, I think that would be an award everybody would cheer and celebrate. Um, I also am encouraged by the student
voice uh, initiative. As a teacher of 25 years, I know it's really important for kids as well as staff to have some input in what's going on. Um, but also, as much as student voice is important, also
listen to the teacher voice. And the teacher voice overwhelmingly is saying, "Please, please settle the contract. Please, please let them do their work and have respect so they can continue to make this district and help all kids do the great things they've been doing.
Thank you. [Applause] Hi, I'm Angela Kek. I teach fourth grade at Tatum Elementary School. Last meeting after the budget presentation, I really appreciated the follow-up questions some of the board members asked. Um,
particularly Mrs. I was excited to see updates were being made to the elementary MTSS um to strengthen the support for some of our neediest learners. I can attest to the fact that classroom teachers and students have felt the loss of the robust academic support services that
used to be available. We heard about the updates that were made last summer to prepare for the 2425 school year after the department was gutted. But what updates and improvements are being made for the 2526 MTSS services? Kids were cut from those based on teacher
availability and need. I long to return to the day where we can help all the students who need it and not worry if we have a body to fulfill that intervention. As well as provide some relief to the classroom teachers who were tasked with more than ever this year with less support. Classroom teachers were given new minutes for some
subjects but not new curriculum. We were left to figure out how to teach lessons written for longer blocks. Balancing the overflow from the mini lessons and literacy centers while also doing the dibbles targeted instruction and necessary and vital tier 2 interventions was an ever evolving task that we did with grace and flexibility but not
without struggle and frustration. So I ask what updates and improvement are being made with to with the replenish budget to support the MTSS services for the 2526. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Jennifer Mer and I am an employee along with a
parent. I am a 12month administrative assistant for the middle school. I'm not a 10-month employee. I make $38,000 a year. I have an associates degree. I do extras by doing different PDs that I search
for, but I get 38,100 a year. I also have three children that go to Oakland who are in special education. I'm going to echo what the women said in front of me that are also administrative assistant. This isn't sustainable. We
need to increase. You deserve a fair and equitable contract for teachers, staff, administrative assistants, IAS, there's a bunch of us on this umbrella. I just want to echo that. Administrative assistance, CST, we all deserve an equitable contract. This is not a part-time job for me. This is a
full-time job that I'm raising my family in. And I live in town. I live in the sister district. I don't want to move and I don't want to leave. It's just sad. Thank you. [Applause]
Okay, seeing as there uh are no more public comments, I'll close the public comment section and um do we have an update about the MTSS that we're prepared to give now? If not, that's we can look for it in so in uh in the next
uh board meeting. Um and so we'll be certifying the actual budget uh with the state this week. And so as we did last year, we will be uh presenting publicly a looking ahead uh presentation based on uh the 2526 budget. Uh and so that'll be
presented in the June meeting. Thank you. Um I as as was clear during uh public comments, the I think the big issue uh right now facing our our district is the ongoing negotiations for the teachers
contract. Um I I appreciate the many comments by the CA staff who've come up here to to express how how important that is and as we've stated multiple times before uh the board is is ready and willing and and eager to settle. Um I also appreciate the comments made by
the CA president um and I do agree that that One of the goals I think that we share as a board and as as the CA is that we want to be able to uh increase the salary guides and the pay uh for for
CA staff. Um and one of the difficulties is that we're going have to do this over multiple contracts, right? It can't be resolved in uh one contract. Looking into the history of this, one thing I I I saw after looking through the history of our contracts is, you know, this is
the CA contract to be negotiated since uh Dr. Randall joined uh the district. So the the previous the one that that covered uh 2023 2024 202 uh2 2023 and 2021 2022
that one was negotiated uh prior to Dr. Dow joining the district. So this is the first contract that's been negotiated with Dr. McDow here in the in the district. I looked in the history and what I noticed is looking 10 plus years in the past um I I can see the history
that that Miss Hogan has talked about which is that uh the settlement rates the percentage raises that the CA members have uh have received have been either at or below county average for the last 10 plus years. Right? So if we're looking at the last
three contracts, we see that right the last three contracts, we can see that the that the settlement rates, the percentage raises have been at or below county average for for you know looking at it uh last nine years, three of the
years have been at county average, six have been below county average. And so we see where uh uh Miss Miss Hogan and CA are coming from. And that's why this board has offered for the next for for these three years raises that are significantly over county average as an
attempt to try to uh uh make up those those differences. This cannot be resolved in one contract. It's going to have to be resolved in multiple contracts, but that is definitely an effort that that we're trying to make while also being fiscally responsible uh to the the district. Um you know, we
That is again why looking at the contract that we have offered the MOA that is in fun that we could settle now with it offers significantly above county average races in all three years which is a very market difference from
the previous contracts that have been negotiated here. And so we're eager hopeful that we can get this set up soon. I know we have a a meeting coming up uh next week and and hopefully we can get this uh done so that all the CAT staff receive their back pay and and that uh we can uh continue on with with
uh the school year. Um with that, we're going to move on to section number nine, which is the student uh yeah, there's still no student reports. So, we're going to move on to section number 10, which is the business administrative board secretary report. All right. Um
item 10.01 is a listing of your April uh monthly budget transfers. Item 10.02 2 is the board secretary and treasurer uh financial statements for the month of April. 10.03 is your student activity uh cash report and financial statement.
10.04 is the NeutriServe um food service financial statement for the month of April. 10.05 is a listing of all the purchase orders that have been issued during the month of May thus far. Um and 10.06 6 is a listing of the warrants to
be paid uh pending approval tonight. And just FYI, um I forgot to mention I don't if I mentioned this in the finance committee, but I have scheduled the school district audit um for the last week of July, first week of August. So just uh finance committee knows when uh
the financials will be audited. Uh section 11, buildings ground and grounds and finance committee. Uh Mr. Craig, chairperson will present. Thank you. The finance buildings and grounds committee reviews all financial statements, purchase orders, and warrants on a monthly basis. The committee also reviews all and approves
all contracts with outside service providers and oversees all maintenance and capital improvement projects districtwide. We're seeking approval of the following items tonight. 112 to 119 is the board secretaries report as just presented. 11:10 is the 2526 tax
remittance schedule. Uh 1111 is a contract with ESS to provide support services for the district. 112 is year two of five of our new serve food management contracts renewal. Uh 1113 is an agreement with better you program for
next school year. Uh this is 21st century skills for grades 8 through 12. Uh this is $9,500 a year paid through wellness grant funds. 1114 is submit grant is approval to submit a grant for optimal comprehensive universal screeners which is just over
$5,000. 11:15 uh is a project that we it's been on our radar for a while, but the high school gym entrance, the masonary project, uh we are approving a contract to go out and work on this. Um we knew about it a couple years ago. We went and looked at the the issue and as
we looked at the issue, found it was much worse than what we thought it was going to be. Um applied for a rod grant that was not approved and now we are um you have to pay out of capital reserves. project. 1116 is the purchase of Huddle online ticket sale platform to be used
for high school events. So people start buying tickets online rather than the paper tickets. U 11 17 18 and 19 are health service contracts um for BIATA for home health care for oneonone nursing virtual health for PT services
and BCBA for as needed service contract with spine health all for next year 1120 is shared service maintenance agreement withale uh and then 1121 to 1129 or different use of facility requests mostly for the burrow summer programs
that use our seeking approval of items 112 to 1129. Do we have a motion? And a second questions, comments from board members. Um, I have a question for the online ticket sales. I just wanted
to make sure that paper paper tickets still going to be an option, I believe. So, I can check with Miss Hart. I just um I know I talked about the audit earlier. This is the one area that drives myself, the auditor, and it drives Miss Hart up
a wall because we actually have to put in the, you know, big wheels of tickets. You've ever been to 5050? We have to account for every single ticket. So, when they come in and they, you know, so it's a mess when we're audited. So, this should make um I'm assuming she I'll
check with her. She should have a backup for paper, but this is going to make buying the tickets and accounting for the cash and accounting for the stupid little tickets a whole lot easier um for us going forward. But I'll double check with her. I'm sure there's Okay. Um and then I just want to I know that you said we're actually not paying
for the for the program. It's going to be incorporated into the ticket sales. Do we know how much the ticket sales are based on? I don't know. I can find out. Okay. Uh I have a question about the better you program. Uh is this program
grant funded uh or is this out of our budget and is replacing something that we already had? Yeah, it's uh it's being funded through the wellness center grant. So I just want to point out that or at least maybe get some background because
I haven't been to many of the sports games. So how does that normally work when the Um, do they normally are they're able to bring cash, I guess, to get into the ticket. So, now they're going to have to have their adult pay online or something like that. I'm just concerned how it's going to impact the kids. I get the mess of it, but I'm just
concerned about the impact. I'll have to check with Miss Hart. She's not here to speak to it, but we have we have it at our school. It's a pretty common thing now across high schools because it helps to keep out um, you know, uh, anyone who's like in like a troublemaker from another district, but
it helps to account for every there like you get you have to register your name and so like RV has been using it for the last two years and I do believe we were heavily encouraged by NJSIA to use this. This was the program that they they recommend. Just wondering how accessible
it is for students and people that you know kind of you can buy right on your phone. It's pretty easy to use. We've had it for two years. That's fine. I mean, it makes sense. I just It's going to be a transition. I have a question about uh 1120, the
shared maintenance services agreement with Somerdale. Um as a Oakland representative, I just wonder if that's going to change any of our service agreements, those shared services in Oakland with No, this is just as needed, just like we do. We have um if they need us what it is is um the BA from Clement
is now the shared BA in Summerdale. So he reached out. He just wanted to have a you know a phone a friend in case of a maintenance situation. So we extended the the same contract that we have like with Clement and Township and Autobon. We extended to Somerdale as well. It shouldn't it won't affect Oakland. Okay.
And I'll mention something about that which is just a thanks to our building services team for for for helping us there because that is actually one of the ways in which we can bring additional revenue into district and help bolster the uh the budget of the
district. So again thanks to to the BSA for that. Okay. See no more questions or comments. Uh we have a roll call please. Miss Coleman. Mrs. Brown, yes. Mr. Craig, yes. Mrs. Divine, yes. Mrs. Maya, yes.
Mrs. Mcowski, yes. Mrs. Seltzer, yes. Mrs. Sherman, yes. Mrs. Z, yes. Mr. McMillan, yes. I'm required to Mr. Ch. Yes. Moving on to section 12, curriculum
committee. Miss Sherman, the chairperson will present. The curriculum committee oversees and approves the district curriculum and assessment programs as well as field trips, home instruction, co-curricular programs, and school calendar. Tonight, seeking approval for following items. 12.02 um elementary
school trip uh field trips. This includes mostly fifth grade classes or visiting local performances. Uh Garfield fifth grade is going to Academy of Natural Sciences. Sharps fifth grade is going to New Creek Park. Um 12.03. Um the middle school, this is U the MD68
class visiting inclusion coffee shop 12.04 um this is the 18 to 21 year old program uh this group is visiting the funlex in Mount Laurel. Um there are two um home instruction placements both medical 12.05 and 12.06
um and so seeking approval for 12.02 through 12.06. Do we have a motion move and a second? questions or comments from board members? I don't have a question. I was just
going to share a few updates if that's all right. Good evening again, everybody. Um, a few quick uh notes from the curriculum and instruction world. Um first uh we are in the midst of our
state NJSLA testing which involves pretty much every third through 11th grader in our district who in the last three weeks or in the midst of it this week is taking an English ELA math or science assessment depending on their grade level. Um we won't get the results
until July. Um but um Mr. Olive and I have visited um every building that is testing and visited nearly room that is testing at this point and I can say that the if the thoughtful planning by the adults and the hard work of the kids is
any kind of signal I'm really excited to see our results in July. Um uh let's see number two uh we concluded um AP testing um for at Collingswood High School um earlier this month. Um a few quick notes
there. We have 125 students who participated in 2 66 AP tests. So, most kids were taking one or more of uh of the tests. I'm going to share out some of the um AP exams that our kids
participated in. This isn't a full list because the full list is pretty long. Um but just to kind of give a taste of what our kids are um exposed to at Collingswood High School. Um some of those are biology, chemistry, uh both macro and microeconomics, European
history, US government, English, psych, physics, environmental science, computer science, African-American history, statistics, US history, uh both Cal BBC, French, uh Spanish, and art history. Um,
and so, um, thrilled at the, uh, really like, uh, interesting array of options that we're able to, uh, able to offer at Collinswood High School. Uh, last but not least, um, we are working, uh, to pilot two K through five um, ELA
programs um, coming into the next school year. Um, Mr. and I have been working with a working group of um of staff as we further our implementation of science of reading programs. You hear me talk about this probably at every board meeting or so
we're chipping away at the next piece and the next piece. Um and so uh teachers will receive training this spring to then pilot free two free programs. Um our working group started with probably eight or 10 different programs that we were looking at and narrowed it down to our two finalists.
And so we'll actually be doing that live in front of kids in the fall um in uh classrooms across our elementary schools um so that we can further see what these programs look like in action with our kids every day to then finalize one um final selection um that we will move
forward with in the 26 27 uh cycle. Um so thanks to Mr. Alivary and the working group for all of the efforts there. Uh we're excited to be in in this phase of the process. Those are my updates tonight. Thank you. Any uh question or comments
from board members? Okay. Well, then um roll call, please. Mrs. Brown, yes. Mr. Craig, yes. Mrs. Divine, yes. Mrs. Maya, yes. Mrs. McCowski, yes. Mrs. Seltzer, yes. Mrs.
Sherman, yes. Mrs. Z, yes. Mr. McMillan, yes. Except for we're required to abain. Mr. Chu, yes. Moving on to section 13 personnel committee. Dr. Selzer chair person will present. The personnel committee reviews all recommendations for teaching and staff employment
considers co-curricular employment and considers all professional development opportunities for staff members. Um 13.02 to 13.06 are resignations. 13.07 is a termination. 13.08 8 is um approving an unpaid FML
FMLA leave of absence. 13.09 is a transfer of um Kim Henback from lead counselor to director of counseling services. 13.10 to 13.11 are contracts for elementary school teachers. 13.12
are contracts for grade preschool to grade five tenur teaching staff. 13.13 are contracts for preschool to grade five instructional assistance part-time. 13.14 um are contracts for grade six to grade
eight instructional assistance part-time. Uh 13.15 are for district and high school part-time instructional assistance. 13.16 are for high school uh and district full-time instructional
assistance. 13.17 are contracts for building service employees. 13.18 are contracts for unaligned staff. Um, and you can see them there. 13.19 are uh CST child study team stipens for the
2526 school year. 13.20 are 2526 elementary permanent subs. 13.21 are 2526 middle school permanent subs. And 13.22 um are high school permanent subs for
next year. Um 13.23 are are approving um uh elementary lunch supervisors. Uh 24 is elementary lunch aids. 13.25 are approving summer hours for high school counseling and 13.26 is
for middle school counseling. 13.27 27 is a student teaching uh and field experience placement and 13.08 is a school psychology student practicum. 13.29 are EDP stipens for high school
athletic head coaches. 1330 are um approving 25 summer buildings and grounds workers. 13.31 is um approving staff for AED automatic external defiill training.
13.2 uh 13.32 is the travel expense form only um two um uh professional development opportunities this month and uh so I am seeking approval for items 13.02 to 13.32. Is there a motion
and a second? Questions or comments from board members? Um I just wanted to make a comment uh considering and it was pointed out earlier by some of the staff about um some additional resations. I just think that uh you know we we've
done a lot to applaud our staff and also our students tonight and um you know they they deserve it and our kids really do deserve it and our kids also deserve their full end of the year experience including graduations end of year celebrations in some cases end of entire
careers here in Collingswood celebrations and those celebrations will be significantly different without staff present. So, I urge everyone to please come back to the table next week as you had said and let's get this done, please. I'm going to go off of what
Megan said, but I just want to take a minute to um first of all thank um all the ads tonight for the celebration for the futures. I thought it it was amazing. Uh really nicely attended as well. And I just want to give a shout out to all of the nominees and honores
of this year's awards. Um you guys obviously go above and beyond and we really appreciate that and uh I'm very sad to see a lot of resignations this month but I'm encouraged by some people also coming back to work for us which is reassuring as well. Um but huge credit to you guys. Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for going above and beyond. Um this is a personal section and the time to say that so we really appreciate it. Also a quick thank you to uh Nutrer for all the food they provided tonight. Seeing no more question or comments members roll, please. Mrs. Brown, yes.
Mr. Craig, yes. Mrs. Divine, yes. Mrs. Maya, yes. Mrs. Mcowsky, yes. Mrs. Seltzer, yes. Mrs. Sherman, yes. Mrs. Z, Mr. McMillan, yes. Except for
Mr. Ch. Yes. for section 14. There are no policies up for first or second read this month. So, we're going to bypass section 14. Thank you, Miss Maya. So, we're moving on to section 15, miscellaneous. There are, I believe, two
items here. Yes. So, 15.01 is the uh approval of the HIV reports from the previous month. Um, and then 15.02 is job descriptions. So, it is to move on the recommendation of superintendent to abolish the lead counselor position and uh adopt the new
director of school counseling position. So this is related to agenda item 13.09 which is the transfer of Miss Hanback from the counselor to director of school counseling. And so I'm seeking approval for items 15.02 15 sorry 15.01 to
15.02. Can I get a motion please? So move and a second. Questions or comments from board members? Should we have done this first? job description. Should we have done that first before we just curious? So, we we already had
an approved um director of counseling. The new the only new language was adding the wellness center. So, it's the it's the same job description just adding the bonus center, which didn't exist during the original approval. I'm not sure if this is okay or not, but I just want to clarify that this is not
just so the public is aware that this is not money that we have to be concerned about in case anybody is worried about the money that we're spending. It's it's budget neutral. Okay. Seeing no more questions or comments uh from board members. Roll
call, please. Mrs. Brown, yes. Mr. Craig, yes. Mrs. Define, yes. Mrs. Maya, yes. Mrs. Mcowsky, yes. Mrs. Seltzer, yes. Mr. Sherman. Yes. Mrs. Z. Yes. Mr.
McMillan. Yes. Mr. Ch. Yes. Moving on to section 16, our second section for public participation. Um, so this section is for additional more general comments doesn't have to be on the agenda. Um, so the public reminder that attempts to resolve all concerns,
complaints should first go through appropriate staff members, administrators. Tend public comment is to give the community opportunity to provide feedback to the board. We will be actively listening and taking notes so that we can take all that is being said in registration. We will also take note of any questions and if appropriate do our best to address them at the end of public comments. Uh members of public
are welcome to speak and expect to do so with the utmost sensitivity for everyone in attendance. In fairness to all who wish to speak, there's a strict three minute time limit per person during public comment and Miss Coleman will assist by keeping time. Please remember to state your name and address for record. Um the floor is is open.
Hi, Cara Boiler, 90 Summerfield Avenue in Collingswood. Uh, this is less of a comment and more of a PSA. Um, so this morning at 6:15 in the morning, uh, on 933 WMR, President Steve Show announced that Collingswood High School was
selected for um, teacher of the year. So, they are encouraging high school students to text into 69333 their favorite teacher and that teacher will be awarded uh, something very special. Thank you. Hi, my name is Bob Rup East Styles
Avenue. Uh I'm concerned about the uh activities and other events that students have been missing throughout the school year and potentially will continue to miss. I've heard a lot of the same things over the last six months about the ongoing uh contract situation.
Can you talk a little bit about what the next steps are and what will be different to uh ensure that we will be able to get this resolved? Thank you. Hi Robin Hogan, CA president and teacher
at Sharp Elementary School. Um, I just wanted to uh respond. Um, I do we appreciate the fact of all the work that's gone in to get to where we are with our contract negotiations, including the burrow um providing extra funds so that we can be at above um
county average. Um, and it made me smile. This is one of the times that Mr. Chu and I agree on some things. Um, I we've been saying from the start that this is going to take several contracts to fix. We already have our eye on the next contract
negotiations. Um, and I hope that as you are deliberating um, and budgeting that you also have your eyes on the next contract negotiations because even as we speak, contracts are being settled. The county average is on the rise. School
districts are realizing there is a change in the market when it comes to teachers. We all are competing now. Whether we like it or not, we're competing with Cherry Hill for teachers. Whether we like it or not, we're competing with Lynen Wall. Lynen Wall
just settled three years, 15.2%. And I know that there are other districts who are settling for less, so I understand it averages out, but the a county average is on the rise and the situation has changed. I just want to encourage you as you are making budgetary decisions over the next few
years that you are prioritizing growing that's the guides for not just the teachers the administrative assistants the aids so that we can retain and we can attract and we can give the community the stability they want in their staff.
Thank you. Right. Seeing as there are no more public comments uh up close public comments and I think there was a question about uh from human member about what will be different uh in the upcoming uh process of negotiating the
teachers contract. And so first thing I'll state is that I I do believe that the the board and and uh the CA are are close and hopefully that that we will something come to agreement soon. Um you know the but the next steps are we have
a session to to uh negotiate on books for for um May 28th. Uh and then if there needs to be additional sessions then then we can we also have uh on the books for June 12th another mediation session uh with the stateapp appointed
factfinder if we need their assistance there as well. Um and our our hope is to be able to close the last few remaining items um together with the CA. Um you know I I I think I'll echo Miss Hogan here. appreciate that we are on the same
page here uh tonight and and appreciate of course her advocacy for the CA and for the board to be thinking about the budgetary challenges that that uh will be necessary to continue uh uh growing the the um the salaries of CA members
which is definitely from my understanding um something that that all board members here and administration uh want to do. You know, that is, I think, one of the biggest things we have to keep on thinking about as a board, which is how do we continue to bring in um
additional revenue to this district um in order to continue to uh pay our staff the raises that that they deserve, you know, and and one of the big challenges I think what we're seeing across the state, across school districts, uh
especially this year, is an understanding that the status quo doesn't the the 2% t uh tax cap that our districts are held under make it extremely difficult for us to be able to uh uh pay the raises that our teachers,
our administrative assistants, our instructional assistants deserve because we cannot bring in enough revenue in order to meet those races. And so that's something that we have to keep on exploring as a board, ways in which we can continue to increase revenue to to uh to pay our staff what they deserve.
And one of the things that that I think I really appreciate about um the current administration is that uh we have one of the lowest administrative costs uh in school districts similar to ours and uh across the state. I mean our administrative cost is less than 9% of
our budget uh uh this upcoming year. And so one of those things that I know that we've been trying to do is is keep the administrative costs low so that we can do our best uh to to maximize the amount of money that can go to our staff. And so um you know looking ahead uh we're
hopeful that that we are close on on an agreement and and of course we as a board have the responsibility to continue to explore ways in which to bring in additional revenue so that the 2% tax levy capu uh uh does not mean that we would have to off staff in order
to provide uh additional um uh raises for our staff in the future. And I know everyone's on agreement there. And so um you know, thank you again for all the teachers and for the CA for speaking tonight. Um and it was a wonderful night to to hear all of the amazing work by
the uh by the um staff members and teachers who are celebrating tonight and also by the students. And with that, I'd like to move to section 17, which is German. Is there a motion to adjourn this meeting? And a second. Second. All those in favor?