Welcome to the A Harbor Township Board of Education's regular meeting for November 2025. I call this meeting to order. Mr. Smith, please read the open public meeting statement. >> On Thursday, January 9th, 2025, notice of this meeting was emailed to the press
in the mainland Journal. Notice was also delivered that day to the A. Harvard township clerk and posted on bulletin board in township hall. Couldn't hear you, Mr. Smith. Wasn't loud enough. >> Reread it. Sorry.
>> Better. Yeah. Roll call, please. >> Uh, Mr. Buyers >> here. >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd >> here. >> Mr. Ireland here. Mr. Price >> here. >> Mr. Sepy >> here. Mrs. Sullivan >> here. >> Mrs. Sloggy >> here. >> Missyman >> here. >> And Mr. Delbark
>> here. Uh, we are going to have our flag salute. After the flag salute, please remain standing for a moment of silence. Uh, we lost Mr. John Dilks, former teacher and board of education member, and also Miss Brandy Renoso, the teacher at Miller School.
>> Ready? Salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.
>> I need a motion to approve the minutes for 4.1 through 4.2. >> Mr. Price, I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Buyers, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd,
>> abstain. Mr. Ireland, >> yes. Mr. Price, >> yes. Mr. Sepy, >> yes. Mrs. Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sagi, >> yes. >> Miss Heyman, >> yes. >> And Mr. Delbark, >> yes.
>> Dr. Gio, superintendent report. Get too old for that. Here we go. Evening everyone and welcome to our November meeting. Uh I think winter is here. I walk every morning and this morning it was definitely winter jacket,
gloves, and hat and I was still cold. So uh it is what it is. We're used to the change of seasons. uh and we welcome it a great time. November is a fun month um in our schools especially around uh the word grateful. So, but this week we
celebrate American education week in our schools and there's different events going on. Um it's sponsored by NJA and we're very very proud to partner with them as we recognize our teachers and paris and um folks that work in our school from it to custodian cafeteria
and bus drivers. So, we thank everybody uh for what they do and we're very happy um that they're a part of our district. I'm doing good here with batteries falling out. There we go. No, I got to stand here. All right. So
each each month I review what's going on in the student achievement and we're proud to say we had some early college signings in the athletic world and these following students will be moving on from Harbor Township High School to these following uh universities and we're very very proud of them. Um I got
soccer players and softball players and girls crew. Uh anybody here? All right, your friends. >> All right. Well, congratulations. And uh just wanted to share that in literacy, we have literacy uh reading challenges going on, the relevant
textual evidence lessons at Alder and the quiz bowl in our middle schools. But also know um as you remember in July when we had a focus on our new district learning goals and the board expressed some had some questions and expressed
some concerns. Um we really started to hit that stuff right on the head. um professional development committee met working on planning for our January professional development days for our staff. Our behavioral committee met, our grading and data committees met, our
principal supervisors meetings and trainings have been occurring all around data. All the focus on our goals particularly literacy. Uh the universal screenings occurred, our data review, PLTS are having the discussions and the PD pathways. um people were trained on
that and they're well on their way and Lily and I will be giving a presentation at the end to focus more on that because I promised the board that we would be transparent in sharing the data as we collected it. Moving along also in student achievement our uh esports uh
program as you know uh the board approved a wonderful wonderful installation of uh esports arena and with our team is the garden state fall league state champion. So very very good. They have a great facilities and we have an all-star Allan Welsh Paulino.
So congratulations to Allan. More achievement are a girls high school girls soccer team or Cape Atlantic League champions for the first time ever. That game was very exciting. Nice crisp sunny day and uh a win over Mainland. Student achievement. Moving
on. Um our middle school teams at Fernwood. Uh we have champions in boys soccer and girls and boys cross country. So we looking for uh some great soccer players and runners when they get to the high school. So great feeder programs and our unified program. Just want to
give you an update that it's uh in action with our high school and middle team middle school teams and it's real great where the gened kids are working with the special education students and giving them the opportunity to experience athletics clubs um and and just being outside and being active. So
a great team effort and very very proud of all students who are involved. Under climate and culture, our theme this year uh from our wings program is grateful eagles giving heart and that's a focus on gratitude and a great month to do that. And some of the things that um
were going on in our schools over the last month and there's a lot going on. Our JR junior ROC car show was um phenomenal the amount of cars that were present. National Anthem Project again crushing numbers with the students that participated. Eht High School had their
open house showing off all the great things uh to our middle school students, interactive counseling lessons occurring um in our in middle school classes. Um students of the week we we recognize we have winter coat and food drives going on. Stockings for soldiers celebrated
Halloween parades and parties going on. Nochce Latina, we have World Kindness Day that that we celebrated. Pumpkin decorating context. Um election day education went on in our schools and um uh students learned about the process.
And speaking of election day, um as a public official, um things aren't official yet until the 20th or the 24th, next Monday. So I would say congratulations to some in the room. I personally cannot until it's certified
on Monday. So, I'll catch you on on on on that day. Um, wings Thanksgiving drive um that's occurring now. So, all great things uh happening in our schools and we'll see that in the video. But this was really neat. I was at Aldi Alder the other day and greeted by the principal
uh for the day and that was IA and she was uh decked out in her red, white and blue. we were celebrating veterans and she greeted me and was telling me all the things that were going on, but she did supervise the activities and the classes and had a great day. So, it's neat that that happened. Thank you to
our veterans. Thank you uh Mr. Ireland uh for for service and we spent the week celebrating Veterans Day and even tomorrow there's event at the high school at 9:00 for the wall um recognizing our veterans and the uh time
and effort and passion that they've given to our country for our freedom. So here example of some of the events. There was an event here that the um Egg Harbor Township Ed Foundation sponsored and you see some employees here. Um there was an event at Slayball.
There was a breakfast. There was lunches, there was lots of recognition going on. And uh we're in school for Veterans Day and and that's why it's important. The board believes in that that educate, educate, and celebrate district assemblies. I just wanted to
share with the public the assemblies that are going on this fall. Um, I'm not going to read all of them to you, but you can see some of our uh community partners here from Atlantic Prevention, Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, Rebird Foundation. Um, just all kinds of
um great information they have that they want to come in and share with our students. Thank you to our stakeholder partners that uh participated in events this over the last month. ACUA, Reed's Farm Market, Prosecutor's Office, Clean
Communities, or veterans that all uh attended. Lots of parents and uncles and grandfathers and friends that that joined us. Chick-fil-A for the food, Duncan, Dunkin Donuts, EHT Foundation, Ed Foundation, Electric Bagels, Hot Bagels, Coranes, Jersey Hot Bagels. We
had lots of bagels. Um, Baristas, English Creek from Wawa, BF Mazio, and Atlantic County Prevention. I just want to put a shout out for the Egg Harbor Township Ed Foundation who has a beef and beverage this uh weekend. It's Saturday night at the Oreos. Come
on out and join us. Um it's a good time just to uh just kick back and and talk to folks. So that'll be fun. And that sponsors our EHT seniors and mini grants for our teachers. Also want to share about our annual information night which we will have on December 4th. It'll be
held at the high school. It starts at 5:30. uh have a little mini town hall with me um f between 5:30 and 6, but between 6:00 and 7:00 there'll be information sessions that'll be about 25 minutes each. You get to pick four and rotate around.
So, we we hope that you come out and join us. It'll be informal um but very informative and happy Thanksgiving to everyone. That's uh I sometimes I have to look at the calendar. I'm like I cannot believe it's a week away.
All right, let's see our what Allan captured for us this month. I used to think maybe you love me. Now, baby, I'm sure. And I just can't wait till the day when
you knock on my door. Yeah. Every time I go for the mailbox, got to hold myself down because I just can't wait till you ride me. You're coming around. I'm walking on sunshine.
I'm walking on sunshine. I'm walking on sunshine. It doesn't feel good. Maybe you love me. I know that it's true. I don't want to spend my whole life just
to wait for you. Don't want you back for the weekend. Not back for a day. Baby, I just want you back and I want you. I'm walking on. I'm walking on.
I'm walking on sunshine. Heat. Heat. Heat. YEAH. I feel alive. I feel love. I feel alive. I feel love. >> All right. I'll end it. Okay. All right.
So that was uh last month here in the district. As you can see, so many great exciting things going on and we're very proud of everyone and all that they're involved in and all that they do each and every day, teachers, students, and parent involvement. So thank you. So now
we're going to move on to uh sharing results. So Miss Moss will explain. >> Okay. So um we're going to talk today about our fall universal screening process. Um, we're going to put a lot of numbers up here and the focus tonight
isn't so much on the numbers because this is our fall collection and understanding of where we're starting and then when we give our winter in January and our spring and April, that's when we're really going to dive in and be able to look at the great growth that's happening. So, we're going to
talk about it um tonight just to get that understanding. Um, but basically, as Dr. Dr. Guchio said before, what our goals are is to really um attack that strategic plan that we have in place and make sure that we're hitting all of the
goals that Dr. Gio has around student achievement. So, I'm going to pass back to her to talk about her goals under student achievement from the strategic plan. >> Yeah, we are on a mission, right? Because um you keep doing the same thing you're doing going round and round and round. That's the definition of crazy, right? So, we're really digging deeper
and looking at what we did, looking at things we need to do. So, these are the five um goals that the board approved for us to work on under student achievement because we want to improve student teaching uh student achievement. We want to improve reading. We want kids
to read on grade level and beyond. We want to improve on literacy um in math and in ELA. So, build teacher capacity for literacy instruction. All right. We we began the letters for K to5 teachers letters program on 2022. Um our K to3
reading and writing program last year and our we're right now piloting programs grades four and five and 6 through 12 um revision of the curriculum is ongoing. Our curriculum committee meets um every month a committee of the board and Miss Moss oversees the
curriculum work done in the district and it's shared with the board. they are updated and our professional development is wrapped around what we call PD pathways um and that was shared out um that Miss Moss sits on a couple committees at the state level and there
were like and even at the county level and they're like oh tell us more about those they sound very interesting well here they are enhancing the use of universal screening and tier one assessments um under under number two professional development for
administration is ongoing every month um in our administrators monthly administrators meeting and then sometimes even more so we we have meetings with administration so they understand the overall concept. The teaching assessing pathways are ongoing and the professional learning team
support through our reading specialists and interventionists are in place. Moving to the next goal of implementing the common assessments aligned to the standards the development of universal development of essential units we began that last year. uh development of common
assessments that's been in its ongoing and it just strengthens uh as we move through when our professional learning teams meet and they have these discussions about curriculum and content that's part of the PD pathway there under developing teacher understanding of tier two and tier three un um interventions very very important now
because now it's more intense laserlike look at uh student performance and what we need to do to assist those students uh professional development with that we started last year with administration telling that this was going to happen. What is data? Data supports in that PD pathway is ongoing. Tier 2 websites uh
are in place for ELA and math. That's new this year. And Iron RS um we've always had Iron RS, but a more intense focus on the professional development for those folks involved on those teams to make sure that they're including these goals. And then lastly, establish clear behavioral expectations and
improve school climate because student behavior, there's multiple reasons it affects student achievement and student achievement is affected by um behavior and sometimes it just students aren't taught at the level or given lessons at at their level. Maybe they act out
because they don't understand. Maybe something's too difficult for them. So, we need to drill down deeper and see what's going on. It's just not like suspend this kid because they they they acted out. there's there's more to it. I always say there's a thing behind the things, right? So, we're really taking a deep look in that in the September we
embrace, right? We looked at the first eight weeks schools at schools. We looked at behavioral data. What's behind those that behavior? Our character education programs and monthly themes are in place. Um we call that wings. Our life skills programs is new this year
and our behavior and life skills PD pathway is ongoing. And when I write to you folks every week and tell you it's been a busy week in office, it's a busy week. All right, we we have a lot going on because uh I'm an athlete. Uh I want to win and I I want these goals met, okay, at the at the end of the year. So,
we are going to work our tails off. Um not just we, teachers, administrators, we're all on the same page to get this done. All right. So, I'm going to turn it over to Miss Moss and she'll explain um how we tested and what we got for data. So tonight we're going to focus on
that universal screening piece um which kind of is that umbrella that helps us achieve the rest of these goals. Understanding where our students are, where that can drive our curriculum, where that drives our tier 2, um and really thinking about how that feeds into the rest of of these goals and our
availability to meet them. So universal screening is a systematic way for us to look at all students in key academic areas. Um it can be used as an early warning system. So students who are showing maybe a drop or we're looking at specific gaps in one year over the next
and it's a key for us that they may need additional support. So our process is all of our students in grades 1 through 12 took the MAP growth assessment um in ELA and math and then selected grade levels took it in science as well. And then any students who
flagged in tier three were then given a secondary uh level assessment in grades 1 to eight. Um all of our students also in K to3 were given um the Acadians which I'll talk about in a little bit. As you know under the the literacy um
framework and new state mandate where we update it we uploaded that information to the state last week all of our students in K to3 were given that in conjunction with the MAP growth. Uh then we had our district data teams meet. Our administrators all took a deep dive into
the MAP data as well. And this is where we start to identify our tier one instructional needs. What do where are we seeing our trends? How do we start addressing this now? And have we identified all of our students who are in need of additional support.
So the purpose obviously is to support that strong instruction in the classroom. We need to teach to the kids sitting in front of us, right? We can't just as teachers, educators teach standards. We have to know and understand all of our students and make sure that when we're designing lessons
that we're doing so with the scaffolds and differentiation and supports that are needed by our students. So that is our primary screener. It is adaptive. Um so what that means is that as students get questions correct, it gets harder. If they get it incorrect,
it gets um a little bit easier. And the goal of this assessment is for students to get 50% of the questions right. So that has been a little frustrating for some of our students um who are especially you know students who want to get everything right on these assessments. But it's really important
for us so that we can find exactly where students need to learn. Um and as you know or may not the state has now um our new state assessment will also be adaptive. So students also took that field assessment this year um to help
the the state find those norms. So we'll be able to get good information on where our students are compared to their peers in the state of New Jersey. And this is nationally normed. So here's the percentiles that tell us which students fall into tier 1, tier 2,
and tier three. And then here are the results that we have across our district. So, because it is normed, 50% is what you're looking for. 50% is where students are like
their grade level peers. Um, I know that's a little bit different than when we're talking about achievement or a report card where you see a 50 and you're thinking of an F. A 50th percentile here is a is a good thing. It's the n it's the norm of where students are performing. So, here are
the results of our fall. most of our grade levels are falling within that range. Um we had high participation rate and as you can see that improvement goes through um to the high school where we start to see our students um really achieving above. I want to get to the
point where this is all green all the time. Um, >> but it's not red. >> But it's not red. And we're we are able now to kind of see the work that we've done and how we're going to continue to move forward going back and and uh looking at the instruction that's
happening in the classrooms. Now, these are the growth percentiles. So, this is looking at fall of last year, the first time we administered this assessment to the fall of this year and how our students grew in comparison to
their like peers. So again, that 50th percentile means we're we're in line with everyone else. And then anything above that means we're growing faster and anything below that means we're growing but not at that higher rate. So we obviously want to hone in and make
sure that those growth rates are moving so that students are moving in that achievement level from year to year and cycle to cycle. This is the Aadian um screener. So this is for all students in K to 3. This is a one-on-one assessment where we sit with
students. Um, probably the highlight of my life that I got to do this with kindergarten um, students. It it really is a joy to to watch them and I'm excited to continue to see them learn throughout the year. Um, but it is the way that we were able to capture this
information. So, keep in mind when you're looking at these different grade levels what they're asking kids to do at the beginning of the year. um this is the first time they took this kind of assessment. There were some things in there that students um were seeing for the first time being able to segment
words, nonsense words. There was a little confusion like the word count was in there and instead of segmenting this the sounds every time we said the word count the kids were like 1 2 3 4 which is you know fine. So we're continuing um obviously in our K to3 as Dr. Dr. Guchio
mentioned we have a reading and writing program called bridge to reading and writing. It's a heardy based program. It's founded in the science of reading. So founded in the um phonmic awareness and phonics. So we should see this this move and and we we're excited to see what happens um over the winter and the
spring with these results. So as I mentioned before, what happens next? So students who uh were flagged in that we then were giving those tier two the secondary screeners and that gives us more of an indicator of where the
exact skills are that students need to improve. So the universal screener just tells us hey there's something that the kid needs. The secondary screener helps us really pinpoint down to the exact skill of where students need extra
support. So we used a cadence reading in K23. We have the gloss for math which is an interview style u math assessment so that we can really understand how students are processing math and understanding um those foundational
skills and then we have our our additional tools through the programs that we have for our tier three like Sunday number worlds and and Wilson. So, secondary screeners that were needed because they were students who were not currently already being serviced through
our tier through this process from last year. In fourth grade, we had nine students in reading and nine students in math. You'll see in sixth grade it jumps a little bit and that's simply because once the students go to middle school, we do semester. So, some of those students who we know might need reading
are in math for first semester and then they'll do reading. Um and then seventh and eighth grade. 8th grade, even though those numbers look a little high once we did the um secondary screener, those numbers came down a lot. We're still working on, you know, making sure we're identifying everybody through that
universal screening. So students that we're currently servicing in tier three um services, grade one, that's a big number. Um that's because we really want to make sure that we are identifying the skills
early. So we're actually pushing into those tier one um into the first grade classrooms and doing small groups and making sure that we're targeting those specific skills. Grades two and above that is a pull out instruction. And then for math we do a
hybrid where the teachers are pushing in for teacher support during class and then pulling students out into a small group. So the numbers you see for math are the actual pull out numbers and this explains that a little bit deeper.
So what does the report look like? So if you are a teacher, this is what your class report would look like. You're able to see which students are where. Um it divides up your students by their scores. Then from there they can go in and see what that means according to each standard.
And then this is the family report. So, family reports went home last year. They will be going home next week before Thanksgiving. Um, we will be sending out information on again how to read it, what it means so that there's an understanding and then on that December
4th night, we'll go through this again with families so that we can answer those questions. So, next steps, we are continuing with professional development. Um, it is sustained. It is something that we're really trying to drive home the use of all this data and information to make
sure that the instruction that we're giving is truly meeting the needs of the kids sitting in front of us. We're continuing to build our bank for the interventions that our students need. We're going to continue to progress monitor. Um I know that was a big goal with the student achievement from our
strategic plan to be more open with that data and information. So we will be doing this in the board meetings every time we go through this process. So, we'll be back in the winter to show the growth. Um, and then we'll continue on through the spring
and that's it. Thank you. >> Unless you want to take it. >> No, that that concludes the superintendence report, but you know, as I promised that we would keep you a breast along the way of this journey and um we're digging deep, you know, and we're going to get to the root of the to
the issues and we're going to see improvement in the spring. So, thank you. >> Thank you both. Uh, any board members have any questions? >> I just have one. Go ahead, Mr. Question. Price, >> M. Moss. >> The um with this program, the full universal screening presentation,
screening presentation, excuse me, it's not replacing anything. It's just in addition to other um processes that are in place to evaluate this information, right? >> Yes. So, we we've we've been doing the
universal screening process. We just haven't formally presented that out to the full board. We've always kind of kept it in curriculum committee. So part of from the strategic plan of making sure we're communicating more about the >> I was going to say I don't remember this being presented out before. So that that's all. So I understand that. >> Yeah.
>> Very good. Thank you for the presentation. >> Any other board members? >> Thank you, Miss Moss and Dr. Gucci. I appreciate all the details and the uh we look forward to improving greatly during the course of the year. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Hopefully. Right. Um, I didn't get
to say hi earlier to Carter and Eva. Good evening to both of you. Glad you are with us. At this time, we have our student representatives report. They're going to report on all the exciting activities that are going on in our schools and it's all yours. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. Thank
you for being here tonight. So, first we would like to just start off by talking a little bit more about how our school celebrated Veterans Day. So, first off, students at Alder Middle School had the opportunity to hear from veterans directly in our community um as part of
MissWel's proud to be an American event. Along with a performance from the middle school band, students also participated in various patriotic activities. And we would also like to give a big thank you to EHT's educational foundation for making this event possible. At Eagle
Academy, students in Mr. Smith social studies class researched famous Medal of Honor recipients and they presented their findings to other classmates. >> All right. Um, at Slayball, can can everyone hear me? All right. Sorry. All right. At Slayball, students um in their
preschools actually celebrated Veterans Day by creating murals, banners, and listening to guest readers in their classes. Slayball also attended their annual Veterans Day breakfast where more than 60 veterans attended. At the high school, we will induct 20
veterans onto the wall of honor tomorrow at exactly 9:00 a.m. We are truly grateful and always look forward to celebrating their service and sacrifice with these very special events. Um, moving on to some STEM studies this past month. Um, this past month at the
preschools was actually tree stududy month. So, our preschoolers our preschoolers had a blast learning all about trees and animals. Students engaged in scavenger hunts to collect items from trees and then they used magnifying glasses to investigate their
findings up close. This surely sparked a lot of curiosity in their discoveries. Um, students also made delicious homemade hot chocolate recipes and they learned the patience and virtue of instructions through following these
recipes. Now, tying this back into their tree study month, they also learned about how seeds are harvested from the cacao trees to then become cocoa powder. Um, last Tuesday and Wednesday, our students at the Swift Slayball Complex
were able to enjoy an assembly performance by the Grand Faloons, which is an educational theater company dedicated to performing eco themed comedy shows. This show that they performed was called Ways of Water and
it taught students about the water cycle, recycling, and the dangers of pollution. So very similarly talking about water, Fernwood students in seventh grade got to perform a survey to learn about macro invertebrates like eels and catfish in
our local streams and they also evaluated the water quality of the South River in Mace Landing. Uh we would like to give a big thank you to our community partners in the Great Egg Harbor River Council who helped these students collect and ID water samples to study
all of their findings under their new digital stereoscopic microscopes. Now we would like to talk about the arts. So first Alder Wind Ensemble uh participated in a master class with future music educators, composers and
performance at V Rowan University. students had a very very good time working with over a dozen conductors as well as professor Dr. Joe Higgins and joining them was Mr. McCaffry and his eighth grade media class who recorded
video interviews to document this educational opportunity. Our high school marching band and color guard recently placed seventh in the United States Band's national finals where they performed their show The 13th Child. the legend of the Jersey Devil at
Metife Stadiums. Big shout out to Mr. Wyoff and all of his talented assistants for such an amazing season. Um, oh, this year the EHTHS fall drama is A Christmas Carol, which will be showing on December 5th through the 7th. Our cast and crew
have been working very, very hard preparing this amazing show for you all to see. Tickets are currently for sale at ehts.booktick.com. booktix.com. eh httths.booktix.com. >> All right. So, now we're going to talk about community service. Uh most of
these are part of the high school. So, the first one is our high school's interact club. They are partnering with the church by the bay for their winter coat and clothing drive. This drive has already started and it's taking place until December 5th. So, there's still plenty of time to donate some new or
gently worn clothing. Um, they're mostly looking for coats, sweaters, sweatpants, and winter accessories. So, like hats, gloves, scarfves, and donations from the community can be dropped off at the main office. However, if you are a student at the high school, you can drop off your
donation in the interact bin outside of C 209. Right. Sorry. Another high school club is the um Future Business Leaders of America or FBLA for short. They are partnering with the Atlantic City Rescue
Mission also for their winter coat drive. So, please donate any light lightly worn and clean clothing to help out um FBLA. And all donations should be dropped off at Mr. Bryant's room at B116.
Student council is hosting a November food drive. And this ends pretty soon on the 21st, but once again, there's still a little bit of time to help out. They are accepting non-p perishable donations for 1-hour volunteer service for students at the high school. And
students can gain up to a maximum of 4 hours for donating. And all of these donations will go directly to the Eagle Boutique in our high school. >> The EHT softball team is having their annual Candy Cane My Yard fundraiser.
Our EHT softball elves will be delivering 40 candy canes and a letter from Santa's elves on Friday, December 19th. For more information, the flyer and Google registration form are attached online to uh the daily posts on
Parent Square. Fernwood food drive. Um the Fernwood Middle School has been hosting a food drive in support of not hungry in EHC, which ends tomorrow. Students and families are still encouraged to donate many canned foods,
instant foods, boxed or packaged meals, and many, many more. Quick students shout out. Um, congratulations to our very own Elijah Goods from Eagle Academy. He won his boxing match at Tropicana this past week. He won by TKO,
a technical knockout. All right, so now bringing it back to FBLA and our CTE. So juniors and seniors from the Academy of Law and Business at the high school got the opportunity to visit Cantal Law School and here they
learned about what law schools look for in prospective students and also what to expect in their future legal studies. Students also got the chance to visit Borgata this week where they learned about hotel and restaurant management, hospitality, and tourism.
And for FBLA, our chapter, for the first time ever, got to attend the state fall leadership conference up at Keen University. So, our officers had the chance to talk to um the New Jersey FBA state officers as well as participate in
workshops talking about community service, networking, public speaking, and just leadership overall. And we hope that these students will be able to take what they've learned and apply to our chapter. Um, now we're going to talk about Dia de
Muertos. Uh, our high school's Latin American studies class celebrated this day, which is a celebrate a holiday, sorry, that celebrates and honors family members that have passed. To celebrate, they painted ceramic skulls and wrote
about and discussed loved ones. They created an ofrena and celebrated with lots and lots of food. Yesterday at the high school, we had our National Honor Society induction. Huge congratulations to the over 118
students inducted yesterday. These students have shown incredible scholarship, service, leadership, and character throughout their high school career, thus warranting this incredible honor and award. A huge congratulations to our incredible athletes who signed
with the NCAA in division 1 and 2 programs today. We are very, very proud of you. Among these are Belle von Collin for girls soccer going to Western Carolina University. Abigail Matthysse for girls soccer going to East
Stradsburg University. Casey Valardi for softball going to Monmouth University. Alana Mal for girls crew going to Ruckers University. And Lily Corkran also for girls crew going to Bucknell University. Thank you all for your time.
We are overwhelmed. >> Yeah. Ava and Carter, on behalf of all of us on the board and I believe our audience, thank you for all that detailed, exciting uh information that you've shared with us this evening. Uh I almost think we need a written report to remember all of the things you gave us
because it was really and and the enthusiasm that you share is also something that we appreciate tremendously. Thank you very much. Now I get to do something a little less exciting. Uh at this time we have the uh public comment for agenda items only.
I'm going to share this guidelines for these comments. Uh the board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents. This meeting will now be open to public comments. Three minutes per person on agenda items only. If your questions p pertain to litigation,
student or personnel items, please see the superintendent after the meeting as the board does not discuss these matters in public. Depending on the nature and complexity of your questions, the board secretary may ask for your contact information so that someone can get back
to you with a response. As a reminder, this is a public meeting and all comments should be appropriate for a public setting and made in a respectful manner. Please come up to the podium and state your full name and address on agenda items only.
Don't all rush up at one time. Seeing no one, we'll we move on to the next item on the agenda. At this time, we have our finance and operations report. Uh Mr. Smith, any updates? >> Uh we sent out some answers to questions
earlier today. There were a lot of questions, a lot of good questions that came in uh yesterday, so we set that If anyone has any questions, we can answer them. >> And our chairperson for finance committee, Mr. Price, please. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I'll give the report. Finance and Operations Committee
met on 11 11:25 at 6 p.m. The meeting length was 45 minutes. Members attending, Mr. Buyers, Mr. Delabara, Mr. Price, and Mr. Sullivan. Administrators attending, Dr. Gushio, and Mr. Smith. Um, transportation department. Mr. Smith noted that the transportation department
office received some muchneeded updating over fall break, including office furniture, carpeting, and painting. And the department is working with elementary schools to develop belt assemblies. The annual district report of uh transported resident students, DRTS,
will be submitted this week. food service. The department uh has rolled out a mobile breakfast carts uh program at the high school and Alder is looking forward to developing such a program with the prelim with the culinary students at the high school. In
addition, the department was proactive in providing food to the students and their families in need during fall break. uh facilities department. The committee reviewed the outside use of facilities linked to the agenda and discussed the pole barn project and the transformer replacement at the high
school that took place during the fall break referendum. All projects have been submitted to the NJDOE for review and the district is awaiting preliminary approval letters from the NJ DOE. Next steps. Once the approval letters are received, the district will review the
project list and fine-tune it to fit within the estimated budget. The board will be asked to asked to uh to approve authorizing the resolution at the December board meeting. Business office. The committee discussed a possible solar p power purchase agreement RFP and Mr.
Smith reviewed the items discussed with the township administration in a recent meeting. Um, several items on the agenda were reviewed for approval, including monthly reports, various tuition, transportation contracts, professional service contracts, asset disposals,
requests for proposals, and project change orders, and two grant opportunities. Uh, 2627 budget. Mr. Smith noted that the NJ DOE survey was shared with the board and if they wanted to provide feedback to the state regarding the budget process. Um the uh
the meeting the budget meetings with the principles will begin the first week of December. Uh committee recommends moving forward with the action items discussed. Um next date, time and place of the meeting will be December 9th, 6 p.m. at the board office. Uh and possible topics
topics to be discussed the upcoming referendum. So that concludes my report, Mr. President. If you have any questions otherwise um that that'll be it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Price. Any questions? Me board members, we need a motion, please, for in
>> for 8.2. Is there a second? Yes, >> Chad. Go ahead, Mr. Briers. >> Okay, we're all set. Moving on. No, no further discussion. Roll call, please.
>> Mr. Buyers, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd, >> yes. >> Mr. Ireland. >> Yes, >> Mr. Price. >> Mr. Price. Uh, is my microphone working? >> Yes. >> Okay, just double checking. Thank you. Uh, >> Mr. Sepy? >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Sullivan? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Slaggy? >> Yes. >> Miss Hyman? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Delabara? >> Yes. May I have a motion, please, for finance items 8.3 through 8.24? >> So made, Mr. Price. I'll second. >> Any discussion?
>> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Buyers. Yes, >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd. >> Yes, >> Mr. Ireland. >> Yes to everything except for 8.3 PO 6722, 600989
and 61272 for which I'll abstain. Thank you. >> Mr. Price, >> yes. Mr. Sepy, >> yes. Mrs. Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sagi, >> yes. >> Missyman, >> yes. >> And Mr. Barker. >> Yes. For our curriculum report, Miss
Moss, any updates for us? >> Uh, Mrs. Gilbert Floyd, please, our chairperson. Good evening, everyone. Please bear with me for my little cough here. And I also don't have my glasses. So,
>> yeah, you got some readers. Ah, let me see. I'm at that I'm at that age. >> Let me see. Let me see. Let me see. Oh yeah, this is good. Okay, so
the curriculum committee uh met on 11 11 at 7 o'clock p.m. The length of the meeting was 55 minutes. Board members that were in attendance were myself, Mrs. Salagi, and Mr. Dela Barka. Administrators attending the meeting were Mrs. Miss Lily Moss and Dr.
Kimberly Gushio. So the what we discussed were the following. Field trips and professional development were shared with the committee. A proposal to conduct educational research through a teacher survey was shared. Uh Miss Moss notified the committee that she will be
given a presentation at the next board meeting um around universal screening which she presented tonight. Um also updates on professional development, the new pilot pro the pilot programs at Miller and also professional devel and professional developments that were given. Um also the committee was the
committee was also notified about the familyformational uh night on December 4th uh 2025 at the um high school. So again the meeting was a total of 55 minutes and we had a great time during
the meeting and I can see And >> Dr. Thank you, Mrs. Gilbert Floyd. We always have a great time, right? >> Yes, we do. Thank you, Dr. Gelle. >> You get your glasses back. >> Appreciate it. All right. >> Embrace the age. You got to embrace it. >> All right. Any questions ready for Mr.
Gilbert Floyd? All right. May I have a motion, please, for items curriculum items 9.2 through 9.4. >> I'll make that motion. Second, Ireland. >> Any discussion? Uh, roll call, please. >> Mr. Buyers. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mrs. Gilbert Floyd,
>> yes. >> Mr. Ireland, >> yes. >> Mr. Price, >> yes. Mr. Sepy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sloggy, >> yes. >> Missyman, >> yes. >> Mr. Delbarker, >> yes. On to policy committee, Mr. West. Any updates?
>> No updates. Mr. Delbarka, >> our chairperson, Mr. Ireland, please. >> Good evening, everyone. So, on Tuesday, November 11th at 5:00 p.m., uh, we met as a policy committee. The length of the meeting was about 39 minutes long. Board members that are attending were myself,
Miss Hyman, Mr. Sepy, Mr. Dell Barka. Administrators that attended were Dr. Gushio um and Mr. West. Others that attended was Miss Alco. Subjects that were discussed. Policy 5770, pupil right
of privacy. Privacy 3160, physical examination. Regulation 3160, physical uh examination. Policy 4160, physical examination. Regulation 4160, physical examination. Policy 9320, cooperation
with law enforcement agencies. Um, regulation 9320, cooperation with law enforcement law enforcement agencies. Policy 9500, cooperation with educational agencies. Policy 1570, internal controls. Regulation 1570,
internal controls. Policy 6220, budget preparation. Conclusions that we reached. Policy 5770 pupil right of privacy uh was reviewed and discussed by the committee. The committee revised the search and seizure protocols for administration. Policy
5770 is up for one reading and waiting board approval. policy and regulation 3160 and 4160 physical examination were reviewed and discussed by the committee. The revision this revision states that the school district will follow the guidance from the New Jersey Department
of Health for TB testing for all staff. In addition, there are minor revisions for pre-employment physical examinations for all staff. Policy and regulation 3160 and 4160 are mandated revisions from Strauss estimate and are up for one reading and waiting board approval.
policy and regulation 9320 cooperation with law enforcement agencies were reviewed and discussed by the committee. This policy states that the school district must annually revise the MOA and work in conjunction with the law enforcement uh liaison for the district throughout the school year and adhere to
mandatory reporting procedures. In addition, there should be a point of contact in each school building for handle with care notices. Policy and regulation 9320 are mandated revisions by Strauss Esme and are up for one reading and waiting board approval.
Policy 9500 cooperation with education agencies educational agencies was reviewed and discussed by the committee. The committee would like to abolish this policy. Policy 9500 is up for one reading and waiting board approval. Policy and regulation 1570 internal
controls were reviewed and discussed by the committee. Policy and regulation 1570 are mandated revisions from SH's estimate and address the requirement for the business office as a condition of receiving state aid will establish procedures on internal controls designed to provide management to meet district
goals and objectives. Policy and regulation 1570 are up for one reading and waiting board approval. Policy 6220 budget preparation was reviewed and discussed by the committee. This policy has been updated to include revisions from the business office regarding
budget preparation, budget development, and budget submission requirements. Policy 6220 is up for is a mandated revision from Strauss Esme and is up for one reading and waiting board approval. Sorry. The next policy committee is set
up for Tuesday, December 9th at 5:00 p.m. That is all I have. Mr. West, did I mess anything up? >> No. Thank you, Mr. Arla. Thank you, Mr. President. I am done with the policy committee report. >> Thank you, Mr. Ireland. Yes, Mrs. Sloggy. >> Yes, I have a question for uh 9500.
It says that the committee would like to abolish it, but you're asking us to approve it. So, is there changes that can be made? >> So, we're you're approving the abolishment because the the policy was from 2002. So we just felt as a
committee that it was outdated. >> Committee would like to abolish this policy. It is up for one reading and waiting for board approval. >> So you want us to approve the 9500? >> The abolish >> the abolishment of it.
>> Okay. >> All right. Moving on. I need a motion for policy items 10.2 through 10.13. Motion >> second. Ireland. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Buyers,
>> actually, there is a question. >> Oh, go ahead, Mr. Buyers. >> What replaces the abolishment of that policy, if you don't mind? >> So, at this time, at this time, we don't have a replacement. We don't use we don't use the the policy at this time. So, we don't there's no need for it at
this moment. >> Thank you. Moving on. Roll. Roll. >> Mr. Buyers. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd. Yes, >> Mr. Ireland. >> Yes, >> Mr. Price. >> Yes, Mr. Sepy.
>> Yes, Mrs. Sullivan. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Sagi. >> Yes, >> Miss Heyman. >> Yes, >> and Mr. Del Barker. >> Yes. Moving on to personnel. Dr. Gusio, please. Updates. >> Oh, we don't have it. >> We don't have any. >> I'll speak for Dr. Charlton who is uh
not with us this evening but there are no >> uh updates of for personnel. >> All right then I need a motion for personnel items 11.2 through 11.10. >> So made >> Mr. Price I'll second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please.
>> Mr. Buyers, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd, >> yes. >> Mr. Ireland, >> yes. >> Mr. Price, >> yes. >> Mr. Sepy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Slagy. >> Yes. >> Miss Heyman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Del Barker. >> Yes. Now, Dr. Cuchio, you get the honor
for new hires. >> Oh, yes. That's my favorite part. I get to welcome some new hires and people that have just been approved um today. Carpet Township School District. So, we'll begin with Janine Asendowski, who is our new special education teacher at
Miller School. Jennifer Packer, also a special education teacher at our Miller School. Sheila Godfrey, classroom teacher, Miller School. Rosilia Eberwine, a power professional, Davenport.
Dossier Doani, a power professional at Miller School. Sadia Afrin, a power professional at the high school. Miriam Delgatada Cardz, a head cashier at our Swift Slay Ball Complex,
Kathleen Viola, cashier at the high school, and special education supervisor for the district, Christina Adamsick. Okay, so congratulations and thank you for uh learning more about our district. But at this time um you need to
celebrate. So you are free to go celebrate with your family and friends. Uh welcome and we will be in touch with the particulars that you have to uh have to do in order to join us uh in person and in class and in the school. So thank you and congratulations again.
>> Yes, congratulations and welcome to all of you. Thank you. >> Moving on to new business. Approve. I need a motion for business, new business items 12.1 through 12.6. >> Mr. Price, I'll make that motion.
>> There a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> I have a question. >> Go ahead, please. >> Um >> 12.3. Did we hear from about the sidebar? Did
we hear from the union about that? 12.3 is a sidebar. >> So, we did not hear back >> and you want to speak, Mr. Smith? >> Uh, yeah. So, we haven't heard back. Uh, so the plan is we can approve it tonight. Uh, if there's any changes, we
can bring it back to the December meeting. Um, >> or we could pull it >> or or we can pull it. The option is we can pull it off and wait till we have a final answer. Uh, we just thought felt if we left it on, we could be a little more efficient. um in case there's no issues from the association.
>> So the concern is that um there is a sidebar agreement regarding some items. We're just waiting to hear from the association if they agree with the final language. We have not heard back from them. Um so we can either continue to keep it on or we could go ahead and pull it for and bring it back for December's
meeting. >> Right. We and we did have a verbal conversation about it. We just don't have anything in writing uh accepting it. >> So, you haven't heard from them verbally? >> We had a discussion about it and then we drafted the sidebar and we haven't received their written agreement to it.
>> So, verbally they did agree to it. >> Well, we had a discussion >> and then we put it in writing. So, they didn't agree to >> So, Mrs. >> I feel like it's what we agree to verbally, but until we get something in writing, I don't want to speak for the association. >> I think I'd like to pull it. I think
folks, how do you all feel? >> Yes. Do we have agreement on possibly? >> Yeah. And we can look at it again next month. >> Yes. >> All right. That's what we are doing, Mr. Smith. So, which item on the uh is it is it number 12.3? >> 12.3. >> We'll get it pulled. All right.
>> So, I will have the motion as was made without 12.3. We already had it moved and seconded. Is that approved by everyone? >> So, I have roll call. Am I all right? >> So, the parties that made the first and the motion and the second, do you agree
with removing it and changing your motion to remove 12.3? >> Correct. >> Everybody's good on that. >> All right. >> So, it's approving the motion without 12.3, >> which is what I said. Yes. Okay. Moving on. Roll call, please. >> Okay. Mr. Buyers,
>> yes. Mrs. Gilbert Floyd, >> I'm I'm saying yes, but I just wanted to clarify. We're pulling it from from the agenda tonight, but it'll be on the >> December meeting >> depending on what they say actually >> once we get a get it in writing from the association.
>> Correct. >> Yeah. They have to approve it first before we Okay. Yeah. >> All right. Okay. Mr. Ireland, >> yes. Mr. Price, >> yes. >> Mr. Sepy, >> yes. Mrs. Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sagi, >> yes. >> Missyman, >> yes. >> And Mr. Delabarka,
>> yes. >> Okay. Under old business, I need a motion for all business item 13.1. >> Motion Ireland. >> Second. Hyman. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Buyers,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Gilbert Floyd, >> yes. >> Mr. Ireland, >> yes. >> Mr. Price, >> yes. >> Mr. Sepy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Salagi, >> yes. >> M. Heyman, >> yes. >> And Mr. Delbar, >> yes. Moving on to commut actually
administrative monthly reports you all received onto communications the board calendar Mr. Smith. >> Yep. We just wanted to point out we put the draft uh 2026 calendar on there just to note that we scheduled a retreat with Miss Kennedy from New Jersey school
boards for January 13th. Uh so usually we wait until reorg and she's booked up until like May. So, we tried to be a little proactive this year and we got her on the calendar for the 13th just to point that out to the board. >> Well, Mr. Smith questioned me on that. I said, "Yes, please go ahead with it." So, we have it on January 13th.
>> Yeah. So, she she'll be here on the 13th. Correct. >> Thank you, Mr. Smith. Um, New Jersey School Boards Association. I did attend the board of directors meeting last Friday evening. I will give a more detailed report at the county meeting coming up in December. And I
going to ask Mr. Ireland to talk about the and the county school boards association. >> Awesome. So, we're going to host it here. Um, and we have our own Miss Amy Halco presenting. So, I would hope everybody that can attend from the
board, if your schedules allow you to come do it. It's going to be a great night. Uh, we have a great topic and probably the best speaker. I may be a little biased, but >> What's the date again, Mr. Arland? >> So, it's in December. Um, it's >> 11th, I believe. December 11th. >> It's the 11th. Yes. So everybody look
put that on our calendars to be here on December 11th. >> That would be greatly appreciated. It's going to be a good night. >> Great speaker. >> That's all I have. >> Appreciate. >> Yes. Go ahead. >> I just have a comment. >> It looks like there's a New Jersey semiannual delegate assembly this Saturday.
>> That's a good question. Yes, I believe so. But I think it's virtual. >> Well, I signed up to go and listen virtually, but it says if I'm going to vote, I have to come in person. But I don't want to vote. I just want to listen and participate in the meeting.
So I'll be there virtually. >> I appreciate that, Mr. Price, because as >> a board of directors member, I wanted to attend virtually also, but I didn't get any information at all yet. So I'm going to have to go online and Yes. >> Well, I'll I'll see you on there virtually, but we can't vote, I guess, unless we're in person.
>> Right. >> Okay. That's all I wanted to comment on. >> And if anyone else would like to go in person, that certainly that's this Saturday morning up at the headquarters in Trenton. >> Yep. No, it's not. It's at the uh at Junior College. >> Yeah, it says November 2nd at 9:00 a.m.
>> Right. Thank you. You're exactly right. >> So, that's all I just wanted to comment on that. Thank you. >> Yeah. At this time, we have guidelines for public comments for the board of ed um >> good. >> Do I need to say something there with Dr. Vio? >> Yeah. >> Okay. The guidelines for public comments
at the board of education meeting. I'm not going to re restate everything I read earlier. Anyone who would like to comment anything at this time, please come forward to our microphone. >> Okay, >> turn it on. >> Hello. Is this good? Okay, cool. Um,
hello. I am Rocka Ricardi. I live um on 60 6602 Mil Road. Um I am part of our high school crew team and I am addressing the board today to ask for um busing to our practices during our spring season. Um we only uh usually get
the bus for the first month or so then after April 1st. Um many of our students rely on their parents to drive them to and from practice though this isn't very optimal because a lot of our uh team's parents have prior obligations such as work. So, um this often ends up in many
of our athletes missing practice, which is detrimental to us since, um if you have one rower on a boat of eight who isn't able to come, there's a good chance that all of those rowers won't be able to go out and practice that day, which is really damaging to um just us
as a team. And um another issue is definitely with like the cost like going back and forth um constantly to vet and we practice in veterary um veterary two times a day for parents. Um you know requires them to you know visit you know
gas stations very often and after a while that cost really builds up on the parents. So, it would be much easier and uh more beneficial if we um got busing um throughout um all of our spring season to bring us to practice
efficiently and safely. And so um I thank you for listening to me. I appreciate it. I hope you consider >> May I have your name again? >> Rocka Ricardi. >> Rock, you did a great job. Really appreciate you being here. Thank you. When does clue start actually start? Uh
we um usually get back out on the water either last week of February or first week of March. >> All right. Thank you. >> So, yes. >> Just want to comment and thank you uh Roco for your um for for the information and for uh dressing up for us tonight.
You look very very good. So, thank you. I'm very impressed. Very impressed. >> Yes, sir. >> Good evening. >> Hi. My name is Shane Butcher and I am a varsity member of EHT Crew.
>> I currently live on 327 Cine Drive and I'm here tonight to um respectfully request busing for student practices in spring to the bow house. Over the past, our team has won championships on national, state, and
also county levels where back in 2024, we were each boys able to take home their first boys championship from rival schools like San Gustin where we've we've also had we've also had um athletes who who were able to get at SC
scholarships for um colleges such as North Northeastern, Lasal, Jacksonville, and Nova Southeastern. Now we understand as athletes for for many parents missing work during
the day it put puts them at risk of losing their jobs and for many such as teachers they can't even leave their leave work to um get their kids to the bow house in the middle of the day. Hey, it it's almost an hour hour trip to and from the
bo o house and um if parents really can't leave work at 2:00 just to get their kids to where they need to be. So I humbly ask all of you as um members of a board
education to please help us reach more our students by um not limit not limiting um bus transportation this spring. And again, I thank you for your time. >> Good job, Jane. Thank you very much. Tell you >> good job, Mr. Butcher. I like your
school pride. >> Yes, you can tell your grandfather I said hello also. I do know him. Um, anyone else from the audience regarding any topic at this time? Yes, sir. >> Hello. I'm Daniel Corkran. I live on Explorer Lane. I don't want to be
redundant because we've had a lot of people from Ker come up, but I just want to capitalize on something we already said. Um, the school does not pay for a lot of our things. We pay for our own gas. In the fall, we pay for all of our own busing or we drive ourselves to races in the fall. The one thing the school pays for us in the spring is our buses. And we do a lot of our own
fundraising to pay for boats, materials, um, all of our equipment. So, I just hope that we can keep our buses. That's that's it. >> What was your name again, sir? >> Daniel. >> Hi, Daniel. Did a good job. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Appreciate it. >> Good job, Daniel. >> Anyone else from the public on any item
at this time? Thank you very much. Yes, come on up. >> I wanted to make sure all the kids got their chance up here. They're just so impressive. Um, I start out with looking at uh Dr. Huchio's uh superintendent
report and watching those videos and I've told you before it always makes me miss uh my teaching days, but great job with that. I appreciate. >> Can we have your name again, please? >> Barbara Makoski. >> Hi, Barbara. Thank you. >> Hey Arbor Township. Um, I also wanted to
commend you on uh being transparent with the uh the baseline with universal uh screening and I'm look forward to looking at seeing what the data looks like moving forward. Uh I want to also recommend Carter and Eva again. You guys
your enthusiasm. I just sit here and I smile and uh I just I just love your enthusiasm. I think you're going to go far. and these young people over here, I commend you for standing up for for what you think is right for you guys. And you don't always see a lot of kids doing
that. So, I appreciate that. And then last but not least, I can say congratulations to Mr. Sepy, uh to Mr. Delara, and to Miss Bird uh on your uh winning the seat to the school board. So, thank you. And I appreciate uh your
willingness, all of your willingness to run and to to serve our community. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else from the community? Seeing none at this. Yes. Come on up, Miss Mrs. Butcher.
>> Guess what, guys? I have also reached the age of reading glasses. So, Liz Butcher, good evening. 327 C Pine Drive. Congratulations to all of the board member elects and u Miss Sullivan. Thank you. Thank you so much
for your service. Really, we really truly appreciate you. Um, as you know, the students up here came tonight. Their busing for regular spring practices ends on April 1st. Um, you know, I won't reiterate again, but this sport really does give to these kids. Okay? I mean,
you can't look at any other sport in this district where you can say over 50% of the graduating seniors get scholarships at the division one level. 50 over 50%. You can't say that in football, soccer or baseball. So, they
really do make this school shine and they really are such incredible hard workers. Um, you know, we get the results and we also have a little bit of a problem when it comes to equity because crew can be seen as an elitist sport and I think you
know we talked about this in August when I came to offer comments to the board. We want to make sure that every child gets the opportunity to have these scholarship opportunities and to potentially row in college at the division one, two, or three levels. And
so when you are not providing transportation for the entirety of the spring season, you're inadvertently shutting people out, okay? You're sending a message to these students that we can't get you there. Guys, it's also a safety issue, okay? We've had kids
running down the Black Horse Pike to get to practice. As you all like to point out, we're not mainland. We're not Ocean City. And guess what? I don't think those kids are running down the Black Horse Pike in Ocean City or at Mainland. So, let's call a spade a spade, okay?
It's really also about safety when you think about our seniors and our juniors who are piling kids into their car illegally to get to these practices because you're not providing the busing. So, I really ask you tonight to strongly consider the safety aspect and I know,
thank you, Dr. Gio. I did receive your email follow-up. I know that you're working on it, but as you can see, I'm so so proud of these kids for coming out tonight. We have eight, we had eight rowers here total, and it's really important to them that we get all the kids out that we possibly can for this
sport because it is so rewarding and it does give so much to them. And every kid deserves the opportunity to compete. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Butcher, and and students who accompanied you um this evening. Had the courage to speak out.
We're all about student voice and and you know that I especially uh want to hear, you know, concerns and um you know, I love passion. So, I heard a lot of passion tonight. Um but as I told Mrs. Butcher in the email, we are seriously working on it. It is November.
we are getting closer to uh the January review uh that we anticipate uh for transportation and you are at the top of our lists. I I promise you that. So um you you've been heard um and uh I'll sit at the table and fight for you. So
know that. >> Thank you, Mrs. Butcher, and thank you students for being with us. We really appreciate it. Thank you. You did a great job tonight and your presentations. Any other board members? Go ahead, Mr. Silver Floyd. I commend the students as well for coming out. Um, so I guess I guess just
and I Dr. M says she's working on it. I do believe that you know that process is taking place. I guess my question is just what time do the practices start and what time do they end? That's my question for the crew. >> Um, I don't I'm directing the if they is
up to you all because I know they know. >> Okay. >> Don't go back to fill us in. Yeah, >> I was just trying to stick to protocol. >> So, our practice is um we leave straight from the school. We head up to Ventner. We try we try to get there around 2:30
and um get on the water at 3. And again, a lot of parents are working during that time. Hence is why usually that's really an issue we have. So, >> but what time does it end? >> We usually end around like 5 to 5:30,
sometimes 6 at the latest. >> Okay. And I guess my other Okay. So, okay. >> Any other board members have any questions? >> Just a question, Mr. Mrs. Heyman. Go ahead, Mr. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> I just want to say I feel you.
>> Um, my granddaughter is in crew camp and I had to take her there every day. So, I know I know how you I know where you're coming from as far as the expense and I'm rushing trying to get her there on time. So, yeah, a bus is needed and I'm all for that. I'm gonna push for it,
too. >> Thank you, Mrs. >> Thank you so much, >> Mr. Price. >> So, the question, I just want to clarify it. I'm sure you're putting together some kind of a proposal so that we can get a better understanding as far as the schedules and locations and times and everything, but I guess you you'll pretty much assemble at the high school
and you need a ride to the rowing house in Bentner and then you need somebody to come back, >> pick you up, take you back to the high school. >> Uh, well, take us home, but >> pretty much. >> Yeah, pretty much. >> And then they're pretty much the same days, right? And >> it's um during our spring season it's like six days a week, >> right? >> Yes.
>> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody any other board? Go ahead. Mrs. Cobber Floyd. >> I was just going to say that um just to what Miss um Heyman was speaking of far as picking children up from practices and making sure they have rides and safely getting home. I think it's
something honestly that um just in general that maybe we could look at um for the high school sports um because there's some practices that if the bus let's say if they have practice after school the practices don't allow for the children to take the
after school bus. So if the pract they're supposed to practice till 5 to take the five what the 5:15 bus >> 5:30 bus so the practice is cut short if the practice is over at 4 and the students have to get a ride home. Um,
so I just think we need to just kind of maybe take a look at just the different um sports and activities and there it's not just not just crew. There's other sports that they have they have access to the the buses but their practices are
like over at four and then the students have to find a ride home >> and it's you know if they're older and they drive that's great but the you know freshman and sophomores people who you know may not be to drive they have to find a ride or parents are racing down
to pick their children up at 4:00 when the practice technically I guess should be till 5ish. So that that's that's an issue. If I can just >> Yeah, I'm just saying I think that that needs to be looked at high school level. >> Thank you. Go ahead. >> I can just say something real quick like
again like um >> definitely with our main concern like it's more of getting to practice rather than like coming home like as long as we can like get from the school like to our practice like it should be good from there. We that's really all like we we're like asking for and need. So
>> thank you. Any other board members? Mr. Ireland. Nothing about crew though. Can I >> else on crew on that topic first? >> Sorry. >> Appreciate you guys again for being with us. Really, Mr. Ireland. >> So, I just want to say uh to Dr. Gushio
and the rest of the staff, thank you for all of your Veterans Day um events. I've attended many throughout the years uh being a veteran of almost two decades now, still serving. Um >> and he's so young. >> Sorry. and just a great appreciation
that the district does. Um, not every district does this. Um, and to the point that when I went to after one event, I went to the parking lot and there was this Vietnam vet that was there and he was visibly choked up from the event that he attended because he was never
welcomed back home. So, um, that was very good. So, I just want to say thank you. >> Thank you again, Mr. Ireland. Thank you again for your service. Go ahead, Mrs. Gilbert Floyd. >> Um, so I just wanted to make sure I didn't know if the student reps I was trying to listen to what you about the different activities and events that
they shared on um from the different schools and I didn't know if they mentioned the um college fair. >> It was at one of the H.B.CU, right? >> Yes. Did you mention that one? >> We didn't get to mention that, but >> Okay. So, I was just going to mention that um Yeah. Was it yesterday? Yes.
Monday. um that the November 17th um there was a H.B.CU college fair and HB.CU stands for historically black college or university. Um and there's over they it was 30 about 30 schools there. There's over 117 in our country.
Um and it doesn't mean you have to be African-American to attend that university. It just means that it was founded to educate u people of color um at a time where they weren't allowed to attend other universities. So those universities are still um taking place. and I had the opportunity I actually went with my daughter and I when I was
there I saw um a carpet township students there for Mr. um Bell's class. So um it just was a wonderful event. Students um were they received on-site acceptance um they had their transcripts they were you know they received a letter saying hey you know you're
accepted to college and some students received scholarships. It was just really really a nice event. So, I just wanted to mention that um that that took place and that Aar Township School District was was there. >> Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Just a reminder to all the board members that
there's ribbon cutting this Friday at 12:30 at our greenhouse at the high school. So, uh that we look forward to that program on this Friday afternoon at 12:30. And uh may I have but before I say motion for adjournment, may I wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving uh time.
Be safe. enjoy that turkey and enjoy the time off. Uh, may I have a motion for adjournment, >> Mr. Price? I'll make that motion. >> Second. All in favor? >> Opposed? And thank you everybody.