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e e good evening ladies and gentlemen this is a combined regular agenda meeting and business meeting of the Board of Education pursuant to New Jersey statutes and rules adopted by the Board of Education notice that this meeting was sent to the star alleger cable vision of Elizabeth on March 13 2025 in
addition this notice is posted in the lobby of 500 North Broad Street and has been filed with the city clerk of Elizabeth we want to welcome everyone present here at school 51 and to our television viewers since March 18 2025 meeting of the Board of Education we are here to govern provide management oversight and make policy for the
district the superintendent man the district and this is a meeting of the board and public not a meeting of the public this meeting is being recorded and will become become part of lisabeth Board of Education permanent record in order for the record to adequately reflect the proceedings please refrain from talking While others are speaking
we ask that you silence the sound of your electronic devices since it is legally mandated that these proceedings be accurately recorded we may have to ask periodically should noise begin to interfere with our recording capabilities there will be a public portion for citizens to address the board participants must personally sign
in prior to the start of the public comment portion so that they may be have an opportunity to speak the signing sheet States the name address telephone number and reason the person wants to comment whether it is an agenda item or general education comment we are pleased
that you have taken the time this evening to join us for the Board of Education meeting thank you for your interested in Elizabeth public schools this time Miss Ford can you take a roll call please yes Barbosa
balis carvalo here Cheves Jacobs Moreno Ortega here G Al pastana here Rivera here naron here thank you at
this time if I have everybody please stand we' like to take a moment of silence for retired kindergarten teacher from Christopher Columbus School Number 15 Miss Teresa Terry Bradley who recently passed and to the super the father of Rebecca orano uh supervisor
bilingual and ESL education Mr Lewis Miguel Sanchez thank you for the moment of silence please keep the families um in your prayers please remain standing for the presentation of Colors by the adal William F Hy junr health and Public
Safety Academy Junior RC e at this time board member vice president marel carvalo will please lead us in the pledges of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing for the pledge uh the star spangle [Music] B by
the what sooud we at the Twilight last GLE brought stripes and bright stars through
the fight the r parts we were [Music] so and the rocket glare the bombs burs
in gave proof through the night our flag star [Music] spangled W for the land of the free and the
home of the bra at this time board member Stephanie commissioner Stephanie pastana will lead us in the pledge of Ethics listen respectfully someone else speaking atton
of appro teach the and others so very successive care other for thank you to our Junior RC let's give them a big round of applause you may be
seated this time I want to take just a brief second just to welcome back commissioner Isaias Rivera let's give him a big round of applause welcome back Commissioners it's good to have you we truly missed and we're so excited to have you back on the
team um at this time I'd like to um turn it over to our superintendent and she will introduce our student representative thank you Mr President Jas Melly Cruz a senior at Thomas Edison Career and Technical
Academy serves as the senior class president a dedicated scholar she is a member of the National Honor Society and has maintained honorable stat status throughout all four years of high school Jess Melly is a New Jersey Stars
recipient a recognition awarded to students who maintain High grades throughout all three years and rank in the top 15 of their class Beyond academics she is actively involved in track and field and is passionate about
giving back to her community through her volunteer work Jas Melly enjoys decorating the school for various events and holidays throughout the year bringing a festive and welcoming atmosphere to the community Jas Melly plans to major in education with the
goal of becoming a preschool teacher Miss Cruz please welcome M Jas Melly Cruz you can keep clapping for us she's not here [Applause] yet for M Ford can you please add include our
student representative in the roll call to have to reflect the record that uh her attendance this evening yes thank you at this time microphones are open for public comment for those who have signed in prior to the session I shall call individuals to the microphone based on
the order of signing each statement made by participant shall be limited to 3 minutes in duration the total time for public comment will be 60 Minutes no individual is able to yield their time to another individual all comments shall be directed to the presiding officer no participants May address or question the
board members individually each speaker shall comply in all respects of the board policy 9322 copies were provided in the sign at the signin sheet the following rule shall apply time limits will be strictly enforced no personal attacks on individuals or naming of individuals no
vulgar or indecent language a person may address the board no more than once during a single meeting comments will not be debated any person in violation of the policy will be warned and their comments ter will be terminated if needed if such violation continues this individual may be
escorted from the meeting as a reminder this is meeting of the board in public not a meeting of the public at this time I want to call to the microphone Miss Janelle Warner 626 Adams
Avenue hello all my evening is Janelle Warner I'm here to speak on District policies for th series Personnel Pages 138 to 145 subject electronic communic Excuse excuse me we can I heard you can you hear me okay yeah can you
start it from the top please yes no problem hold on we're going to start the clock all right you're good okay thank you so my name is Janelle Warner I'm here to speak on District policies 4,000 series Personnel Pages 138 to 145 subject being electronic communication by School staff um to protect students
who attend all Elizabeth schools as well as teachers being mandated reporters as of recently my family has experienced the harmful effects of electronic communication policy policy my sister-in-law was a victim of one of the teachers who completely violated this policy in more more ways than one my
suggestions are as follows number one employees should not be friends with students on social media at all ever current policy states it's okay with principal approval number two employees should not give out private numbers to students ever current policy states it's okay with principal approval most if not
all communication should be between teachers and parents continuing on teachers should not be afraid to come forward when it comes to reporting fellow teachers regarding inappropriate conduct our family has had teachers coming forward anonymously to help get us Justice against said teacher they are scared to come forward because and I
quote I'm not allowed to speak on this because as a member of the board it's a violation But continuing on to say it was about time in response to a social media post asking people to come forward about said teacher teachers are mandated reporters who can call dccp if they feel a child is being abused in fact they
should feel uh they shouldn't feel that they could lose their job as a and that's a direct result of the board and lack of proper resources all teachers should be given a copy of the mandated reporting requirements children New Jersey which is easily accessible online this document also States in summary
anyone who reports in good faith and is discharged from employment or discriminated against May file a cause of action in Superior Court going back to electronic communications page 139 letter H there's supposed to be monitoring of all district devices there was more than enough inappropriate
messages on the remind app itself that was in fact not closely monitored including violations of sexism provocation harassment and bullying of students by teachers this policy needs to be enforced more frequently regarding the social media policy letter D in the Personnel youth
section on page 141 employees should not have students as friends on social media unless it is family said teacher was friending multiple students on his personal social media page his friends list was private but we have received numerous Facebook Messenger screenshots and text messages from prior students
with inappropriate contact some even at 2 3 and 4:00 in the morning I feel that any staff member who has active students regardless of their age on social media should be suspended without pay and investigated we send our children to schools to learn and we're made to believe that schools are a safe space
teachers who violate students should be fired not forced into retirement regardless of their tenure they should lose their pension and their teaching licenses as to not be able to work with children in the future as sincerely hope you take these policy revisions under careful consideration thank you for your
time and I look forward to a safer school system thank [Applause] you thank you this time i' like to call David bakier Rizo good after good evening everyone my
name is David bizo uh I'm a dad of the student uh that the young lady was mentioning um so today we had a lot of uh um emotional feelings uh we had the court date uh for the situation that occurred um and I just want to say if
these policies are not changed because this could have been avoided this could have really been avoided my daughter is going through mental anguish she has panic attacks she believe people or the guy is stalking so this could have been avoided
um long time ago before I even reached my daughter so please look at these policies over carefully if you have these reminder apps that the teachers are communicating with students please have a monitor preferably a independent Monitor and that's all I have to
say thank you Miss Tina Bigler I have one question for everybody other students were involved but no parents were contacted by
anybody how is that fair you guys are responsible for these children especially when they're involved in this situation that we're talking about nobody bothered to call their parents I'm getting phone calls
from parents I'm getting phone calls from kids from a long time ago that set was reported nobody did anything everyone just passes to the next person I cannot say anything to you
directly obviously but even you didn't reach out to my child to say hey are you doing okay after a big surprise was thrown to us plus while my daughter's in college now her first year of college that's not enough that's not enough
pressure she went through all her high school with no issues trusting every single body and nobody protected her nobody nobody nobody protected
her nobody and I don't understand why and you're still not protecting nobody because you haven't contacted the parents to say hey guess what your kid was involved in this your kid was involved in that I think you should take a look or talk to your child I don't
understand how come that hasn't been done or how come has nobody reached out to my child to ask her are you okay is that against the law is it I guess no one's going to answer that no you're just gonna keep
protecting each other that's how this is GNA go oh I there's I don't have nothing else to say thank you thank you Miss big Miss Michelle
Santos you can just it up good evening um it looks like it's around the time that the district starts to work on next year's budget I heard through the grapevine that there will be Cuts in programs I'm here to ask that the special needs swim program does not
get cut that is the only program that is available for them while there are so many for NP kids our special needs Community has one I also spoke a couple months ago about yoga and the benefits that it brings so I'm hoping that it is a program that you will also consider for next year it can be multiple
sessions classes for special needs C and some prur typical if you can please take that into consideration I will be greatly appreciated as I do understand that we special services has a five-week program for basketball and a five-week program for soccer that obviously is not enough five weeks is nothing while
everybody else gets the whole school year thank you thank you Miss Santos Miss Maria Len so I came here today to recognize two employees from the Elizabeth public school that have been absolutely amazing
and instrumental and getting me answers being as this board delayed payment of Transportation in Lee or payment in lie of Transportation Since I no longer have my child in the school so I don't have to worry about his safety and wellbeing although I still struggle to worry about
the other parents whose special needs kids are still in this District so I was not getting payment I was told it was uh advised that it would be withhold and delayed for other people and myself so I want to recognize Aran Espinosa from the
Transportation Department for getting me answers and calling me and Mr Gil Maus from accounts payable the supervisor for also providing me some direction and talking to me like a regular human being unlike his employee Mario who was an
absolute dis disaster uh she's pretty much to me I consider a person uh like an animal with clothes because that's the only way you can address somebody in this world um from that perspective she was extremely rude but I do appreciate
Gil and ir and Espinosa for their help and getting me payment in addition to that uh back to the way I was treated originally by this other employee it's no different than the way this board has treated myself and other special needs parents rude with with contempt and not
even listening to the basics right now I just heard about a policy that you again decide to ignore and not pay attention to but that's not the only policy that you've ignored I bought many policies when Mr stanan was president when five five years
ago so five five I think you know we passed the Baton maybe you're right maybe it's take so you know all of those policies that you should be paying attention to and you're not paying attention to this CPAC being one of them I mean what's a CPAC one Workshop a year
and it's on guardianship you do a workshop when people are working during the day and you do it on a topic which strips rights away from the child and the parent gets the rights for life that's what guardianship is so pretty
much the way you strip our rights to advocate for our kids come after us in various ways and I fought each and every single one of you and I'm so proud to say that I have because I've been an example along
with Christina morera and many others in this District to fight you with attorneys and actually get what we need for our children which is what they deserved all along and you denied them so you do a CAC when nobody can attend on the one topic which is
stripping the rights of P of these children that are special needs that's what you want to promote kind of like you strip parents rights you should be proud of yourselves here's a [Applause] hand thank you Miss Loren you're very
welcome I'm seeing none no more comments from the Public Public portion is now closed um I'd like to turn the mic over to our superintendent good evening I just wanted to be able to provide a little bit of clarification with regard to our
board policy on electronic communication by School staff it is important for our community to understand that communication using any electronic device cannot be one-on-one it is very
clear in the policy that it states as a general rule that communication once approved by the principal has has to be sent to all of the team members and activity participants so in this case correct if you have an athletic team baseball team
as an example and there's a communication from the coach it would go out to the entire team if there are students that are participating in a club and there's a reminder with regard to an activity that's taking place the next day it would go out to all of the participants
in that Club One onone Communications are not permissible the policy also speaks to the fact that it has to be through a District's computer and that's important it has to be a device that is
monitored by the school district the policy also speaks to the fact that School Employees will not give out their private cell phone or home phone numbers to students without prior approval
of the principle it has to be clearly stated what the intent is most important approval by a school administrator the policy goes on to
describe to describe what is not allowable as communication also want to share that on an annual basis our staff members are provided with with an a proper orientation at the first faculty meeting
whereby all district policies are reviewed it is then the burden falls on that employee to follow through with abiding to by those policies thank
you thank you madam superintendent um so I want to thank everybody for their comment this evening um in regards to several matters um when it comes to our school district policy and I just want to uh make a comment and address um some of the concerns and whenever
there's a hint that there is some criminal activity or inappropriate interaction with um students and staff um immediately the district takes action when we become aware um furthermore if an employee has to be disciplined um ten
charges have to be brought there's a process that has to be followed and that's in accordance with policy along with state law so those things are things that are in motion and have been in motion and we take those things very seriously um we empathize with the
families that have been impacted and what is potentially has happened um you know with several students um in addition I think um the superintendent um well she did not mention that parents were contacted that were impacted and
that were U students that had to be interviewed um there may have been other students who have you know been talking to people but have not met with the administration or um the principal's office and you know I'm sure their parents have not been contacted because they haven't come forward but we do
encourage if there's any inappropriate behavior taking place um and things that should not be happening please bring it to your principal's attention the administration's attention immediately so that action can be taken and we will make sure that we take those matters um seriously and that they're handled um
also um based on the policies that you talked about um we'll definitely make sure that we review them again and go through them with a fine tooth com to make sure that um they are appropriate and are meeting state standards as well as protecting our students so thank you
everyone for your concerns and coming forward really appreciate it and um you know we look forward to making sure that all our students are safe throughout the district because that is extremely important all right um as I stated earlier this time public ption is now
closed um we're going to take a moment right now to um allow for our student representative um she has taken the stand today as a student um board member student board member representative and I know her time is brief so we're going to allow for her to make her statement
before we go into the spotlight of the Board of Education G good evening board members community members and our superintendent of school Dr hug Meer I am truly honored to serve as the student representative for Thomas a Edison Career and Technical
Academy as an Edison student I take great pride in representing presenting my school in this role currently I am a senior serving as both student advisor and class president this position has given me the opportunity to not only listen to the voices of my fellow
students but also to understand the proper ways to implement positive changes within our schools it has also allowed me to actively participate in various events clubs and activities at my school further enriching my
experience and connect connection with the school Community the CTE program at Edison have had an exciting month the cosmetology program has been welcoming local senior citizens every Tuesday allowing students to engage with the
community by offering offering haircuts blowouts and manicures shop right celebrated its grand opening last month giving students a chance to explore both the customer service and the behindth scenes aspects of the store after school
students can also buy snacks and drinks there the construct the construction technology program has been ALS has been busy building theater sets for school 7 and Jefferson School Musical throughout the process students gained valuable
hands-on experience with various tools and skills one of our physical education teachers Miss Dubin secured a 15 ,000 Grant through winter for kids first track
program which offers students life ening experience and me and mentorship this program which focuses on self-development health opportunity Mastery and a love for the outdoors
allow students to learn snowboarding Alpine and cross country scheme each participant is thrilled about the chance to get involved Additionally the safe driving Club partnered with the champion schools
program to address safe passing laws their project aims to work with the city of Elizabeth to install crosswalks in front of the schools enhancing safety for students and staff each program in making great strides and staying
actively involved and we look forward to see to seeing what they will accomplish in the future there are several ex exciting events and activities taking place across the high schools in our district Jefferson Academy is holding a
poster competition where students create a tribute to a woman who has made a meaningful impact in their lives in addition Jefferson Academy will be showcasing their spring musical Sister Act which will take place on
March 27th 28th and 29th J Christian boage Finance Academy is organizing a women's business trip providing students with valuable insights and experiences meanwhile STEM
Academy is celebrating women History Month by hosting a day where students can dress as influential women who have made a significant impact on the world this is just a glimpse of the incredible
in initiatives our district and students are engaged in and I am proud to represent both my school and the district thank you thank you and again congratulations thank you for representing the students and yourself up here um as a true
professional um this month is women's History Month as you know we last board meeting we celebrated um women not only in history but in throughout our district and we're so proud to have done that and it would not have been possible without our the sponsorship of our board member board member Rosa Mareno um we'd
like to Spotlight her this evening and um go to her video um that she has uh been working on and and the work that she did throughout the district this month and you just want to thank you for all the work that you've done uh Rosa um thank you for sponsoring this month and
thank you for celebrating our women throughout the district um we celebrated our women who who have been working in the district for over 40 plus years and that was a TR true honor um to see the the women's shoulders who we stand on who have been Ed in education caring and
loving our students and educating them for many years so if we can go to the video hi I am Rosa Moren Orga as a board we are pleased to sponsor initiatives during the year that provide our student
with special learning experiences during the month of March under the leadership of board president EST Stanley Jor it is my honor to sponsor woman history m in 1987 Congress passed allow recognizing
woman history month for the first time here in Elizabeth at that time only five of the 23 school had wom principals and zal of the 23 School were
named after woman figures today Elisa Public School have 25 women's principal and see for school are now named after no woman great round
Applause thank you to all our wom here at Elisa po school thank you commissioner Rosa thank you again to our commissioner for a great job you like to say any words uh yes absolutely um this mon is
to recognize woman and I want to say thank you to each woman uh right here present and in our community and like you see and I presented in my video video video we see the differ how we start and how we
progress and also our district is lead leaded by the first ever woman superintendent and also we have a l woman representation at the main office and right here as you see in front of you
with six woman and it's a big chain and I hope we Inspire young ladies to dream and achieve their goals thank you Mr President happy women's day from your board of education thank you
commissioner at this time I'd like to uh turn over to our superintendent for Community updates thank you Mr President so we're going to begin with our uh monthly updates our announcements uh next slide please so as a reminder to all of our
families our early childhood Lottery registration is open for three more days for any incoming three-year-old who's a resident of Elizabeth registration is in person by appointment only through March 21st appointments are available on the link that you see before you and any
three-year-old who registers during the registration window of February 19th through the 21st has the same probability of being randomly selected for a lottery school all students currently in a three-year-old program will be automatically placed in the four-year-old program and just a clarification for our families this
Lottery is available for all of our placements not not just the lottery schools but all schools that have a preschool program next slide please a gifted and talented information session was held on Tuesday February
25th at school number 22 students in grades 2 to four are eligible to participate in the application process which they may do so by visiting the district website uh also the admission process includes an entrance Examination for grades 2 three and four 4 just a
reminder to our families that our application process is open through April 4th next slide please and we're proud to um announce that through our partnership with Panorama we're offering our family feedback and climate surveys to capture
the voice of our families that will help guide strategic Improvement planning and decision making at the school and also the district level the surveys are less than 5 minutes uh and they're available in multiple M languages once again less than 5 minutes to provide valuable
feedback to the district we encourage our families to take this opportunity to be an active participant in their children's um education next slide please and over the next few months the El Public Schools um Department of student services will be hosting
scholarship and financial aid uh completion nights school counselors will be available to assist our students by completing the FAFSA and applications for upcoming scholarships as well as showing students where they may find additional scholarship opportunities for
those who plan to attend uh please it's important that you fill out the application for scholarships uh by creating a going marry account prior to attending and the website is provided for you uh those attending to complete
the FAFSA form should create a federal student aid or FSA ID prior to attending and it's uh critical that you bring your laptop as well as your uh necessary paperwork that's on the flyer uh that is on the screen before you so once again
as you can see we have uh various dates that are coming up uh March 25th April 16th April 30th and May 14th uh special thanks to our uh Department of student services to Mr D denado for coordinating together with our guidance counselors
this wonderful Hands-On opportunity to assist our students next slide please information sessions hosted by each of our high schools for high school selection for the 25 26 school year
begins tomorrow March 19th with our session hosted uh by the Johnny dwire Technology Academy at the dwire 9th grade Annex and will continue until the final information session on April 2nd hosted by Thomas Edison Career and
Technical Academy and we have here this evening in fact our principal and vice principal from Thomas Edison an academy the sessions allow our eighth grade students and their families to have the opportunity to learn about each resp respective school and make choices of the high school that they wish to attend
uh this information is uh posted on our website and um all of our uh Elementary principles are sharing these uh important dates with the family so that you can properly um share with your child son or daughter with regard to the opportunities available to them to start
their High School career next slide please Elizabeth public schools will be hosting a junior seminar on March 29th at our bulage finance Academy the seminar will be open to all of our high school juniors and their parents and they will be covering
critical topics including how to get the most out of college fairs the application process how to use score how to approach essays and personal statements exploring college majors and career planning time management stress reduction for our College applicants
financial aid and scholarships to register you may either uh scan the QR code on the flyer uh that is shown here um you can also certainly um obtain the information with regard to the location from which this will be hosted and once
again wonderful opportunity um on March 29th for our Juniors to attend and learn as much as they possibly can with regard to uh the pro the college application process next slide please and our high school selection
registration is going to officially be launched on April 2nd and will run through April 17th registration will be completed on Power School uh we ask that you please consult the high school selection guide for more information about our high schoolies that includes
eligibility requirement requirements special components of the registration process for certain schools evening hours at the high school's Welcome Center centers will be available on Wednesday April 9th and Wednesday April 16th from 4:30 to 7:30 for those who may need assistance with the registration
process all current 8th grade students attending Elizabeth public schools and Elizabeth residents not currently attending Elizabeth public schools who wish to transfer to one of our high schools should register for one of our eight high schools wonderful um opportunity a special thanks to our high school
principls and our assistant superintendents for collaborating on putting the brochure together which is incredibly informative and provides updates regarding uh course offerings to our students next slide please the Union County Board of County
Commissioners and the Department of Human Services invites residents to join the annual autism acceptance celebration and resource Fair on Saturday April 5th from 10 to 12 on turf field in Wen ankle Park in Rosell this year's superhero
theme celebration will feature a variety of exciting activities including a live DJ games A Touch of truck experience and light Refreshments childrens are encouraged to dress up as their favorite superheroes as the community comes together to celebrate and promote
acceptance for individuals with autism while this is a free outdoor event pre-registration is required by visiting uh the website ucnj.org scanning the QR code on the flyer or of course calling the number that's made available on the flyer and in case of lement weather a
rain date has been scheduled for Saturday April 12th this is always an incredible um opportunity to celebrate our children Dr o'a wonderful opportunity with all the supervisors and all of our special needs uh Department
staff that come out and have amazing activities for the children it is a fantastic experience next slide please and next slide updates now with regard Ard to assessments so once again
I had shared this last month um sharing with you the assessment calendar uh in order to remind our families with regard to important um assessments that will be administered in the month of March April and May so a reminder for our families
this is important uh put this up on your refrigerator uh door great opportunity to ensure that our children um have a good night's uh rest before they are taking uh the assessment the state assessments the following day next slide please and then news from
Central our next slide um wonderful opportunity to share our one Community uh one family Coalition that hosted their annual day of conversation at our Elizabeth Port community center this past February 28th and the members of the Coalition uh collaborated with
prevention links and the El Public Schools including students from school number one and our uh buwi Finance Academy and they engaged in the discussion on the me on Mental Health and Drug prevention uh it was a wonderful um afternoon and um it's as a
result of these uh Partnerships that we're able to extend opportunities for our students next slide please and now recognizing two of our talented seniors from Thomas Jefferson arts academy uh Karen Hima and uh laros
Molina and Anthony Ruiz have been selected as the recipients of the 2025 record high and devil youths Foundation annual scholarship award um this is a music education program and they provide an annual scholarship awarding $1,000 to
high school seniors demonstrating talent in music and Leadership a wonderful opportunity um on March 20th they will be attending a New Jersey uh Devils hockey game at the pention pention center and they will each receive their scholarship check during a pregame
reception and awards dinner so special congratulations to our students next slide please and recognition for our Alexander Hamilton prepatory Academy that was selected as the winner of the 2024 Union County um fairy Trail house art contest
the Union County Board of County Commissioners and the department of Parks and Recreation invited all middle school and high school students to participate in the contest um and this was a wonderful opportunity to be able to uh celebrate the theme growing
together in Union County and encouraging students from 6th through 12th grade to design and create magical fairy houses with a special prize awarded to the winning entry so wonderful opportunity our students of Hamilton Preparatory Academy art teacher Beth Barber who
submitted the fery trail house was awarded um $1,000 so special congratulations next slide please and turning to our ele one of our elementary schools to chesse dentley Roberts Academy school number 30 students were selected to have their
artwork included in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center sixth grade student uh chlo uh was still life peace and fifth grade student Danielle of abstract portrait will be prominently displayed in The Gallery at the entrance
of Victoria Theater and um wonderful opportunity to be able to celebrate our students and these two pieces will be a part of a late winter exhibit that will open to the public for viewing on April 1st so special congratulations to our students for this exciting honor next
slide please and then as we have our month of April coming up once again a reminder regarding um our special dates uh April 2nd our world autism acceptance day uh April 7th through the 11th our national vice principal week April 20th
through the 26th it's time for my glasses National volunteer week April 22nd Earth Day April 23rd Administrative Professionals days April 25th Arbor Day the whole entire month of April dedicated to
National autism acceptance month um the whole month dedicated to Jazz appreciation month as well as National poetry month and this completes our announcements uh for our community this month thank you madam superintendent um in addition I just want to highlight U
the 2025 unsung hero student recognitions um that um happened on the uh um what date was that March 12th um at Liberty Hall at Kane University where um several of our high school students were honored and I just want to um
highlight them and congratulate them again uh Gabriella Elizabeth Santana Vasquez from Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy Nathan Martins from Thomas a Edison Career Technical Academy Elena Evans from jvj STEM Academy Victor
Victor De Leon Garcia from di Technology Academy IAH Holly from the J Christian boage Finance Academy Emily Herrera from the Frank J sarel um Brian Mato um Chan Chan from
Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy and Samantha Butler from Willam F Hy um health and Public Safety Academy all these students are shining stars in our district and we're so proud of them for um you know being unsung heroes here in our district they were honored with
other Union County High schol schools throughout um Union County and is truly a great honor at this time uh we will now review the agenda and I want to start with um item 1B the treasur report from January 31st
2025 are there any questions from the board seeing none hearing none Miss Ford please add it to the agenda next is tab 2A Personnel report are there any questions from the board seeing none hearing none that's
forward please add tab 2A to the agenda tab three tuition's report board members do we have any questions for tuition's report seeing none hearing none Miss Ford please add tab three to the agenda Tab four to
4C any questions or comments is superintendent report seeing none hearing none Miss Ford please add Tab 4 through 4D to the agenda tab five authorizations
report any questions or comments directors were doing good huh any questions comments seeing none hearing none please add tab five to the agenda tab six to 6A Finance and Accounting reports are there any questions from the board Mr President
yes Madam vice president uh page T six uh page one number 12 just wondering if maybe um Raj was that amount because we waited or
as the projects finish number 12 it is Honeywell International your mic's out so we pay the bill as it comes in so if the January bill came in it got paid within a week so it's just the timing of the billing you're talking about honey well right yes so that was their bill for one
month oh yeah it's actually that's a light bill it's normally over a million dollars I'm going to respectfully request a breakdown of the work that they're doing for our district please got it yes thank you
table are there any other question questions or comments tab 6 to 6A hearing none seeing none hearing none uh M Ford please add that to the agenda um tab seven Award of contract
reports yes Mr President yes uh commissioner pan and and commissioner Moray thank you Mr President um Tab S page five for director glacken the contract with Black River def the solutions I see that we're training 20
security guards is then the plan then to train the others once those get training or yes with this uh training of the 20 that should bring us up to close to 140 guards that have been trained and sto the bleed and we plan to do over the
course of the next couple years training every guard in to stop the bleed gotcha okay so they don't come back and train the others these guards physically go out for training and once you get trained and you're issued a a kit that God forbid a traumatic incident
happens whether it's a an active shooter or a kid falls on the playground and it cuts himself our guards are trained on how to stop the bleed right um just a side question then follow up with that the first guards that we've trained
throughout the years do they get retrained after no once you're trained and having that okay thank you you're welcome commissioner Mor yes uh Mr President thank you I just want to make a comment right here I'm happy to see two great
Contra right here and it's important our parents know about it uh that this B care about our our students the first contract and I can we have the proof right here on page uh number two we have
a contract with prevention link to provide for a new safety Initiative Program before you go to the pr you know how important is for our parents and students uh the board we want to educate
our community especially our student how they need to prepare uh before they go to prom and Elisa po school and this Administration and board member is always try to be teach then different
initiatives to be Sav during this uh party and celebration that's mean I happy to see this and the second contract is on page four we will uh I want to invite the parents always pay attention on our
website because not every professional development work shop is in person right here we see a contract for virtual parents uh education about social media
and how parents can prevent and this is proof how our board educate our community and know everything is in person or at the time parents can attend we offer online I want to invite our
parents a student and Community to always check our website is the best way to youate in for our website thank you Mr President Mr President Mr President yes
a question on page three uh tab seven page seven yes correct tab seven page three and this is for director Sam aten can you just explain uh so our children go to the Hope Hospice and paliative care what are you doing there
exactly so this is a opportunity for our kids from our health aid program to receive um it's more of a a connection where they're just learning they get receiving hours um part of our CTE program our
kids have to conduct hours just from just like shadowing so they are just doing some minimal work of just uh what just to kind of get their credit and their certificate through conducting those hours so it's just a partnership
with them perfect thank you so much any additional questions or comments to tab seven yes Mr President yes commissioner Jacobs um I have a question for Mr milanes uh page
seven the contract with Murray Paving and concrete in reference to Williams Field what is that for by uh Green Street I'm sorry they're going to repave the you know the parking area behind green uh by
Green Street where all the uh the bathrooms are so they're going to be doing that whole area back there um there's some Paving work and the some sidewalk uh work involved in there so that you're saying the area where you come in through the gate right right
where the bathrooms are in the back by Green Street that area on the other side yes by the baseball field the back of the baseball field yes thank you you're welcome any additional comments or concerns Mr President yes commissioner
on page six for director Milan is contract with open systems integrators I know it says this installation of additional IP video coverage security systems I just want to confirm that do do these schools now have all the security coverage needed
after this after this we probably be like almost 100% because uh those are uh through MD's uh you know uh leadership with uh Richard they've been uh reviewing our schools and they're looking for any gaps
in our security systems so they we've been you know addressing that by adding uh cameras in places where we didn't have them before you know stairwells Etc you know the back of schools you know the you know the surrounding areas so that that's once we do this we'll probably be you
know pretty well off okay yes that's going to enhance our coverage good but we're up over 21 schools so this is going to enlarge the area and it's going to make our basically make our schools that much safer and without your help this wouldn't be done so we thank you
very much for this okay thank you Mr President yes commissioner Jacobs so to pick it back on commissioner Rivera's comment what about our coverage as far as school five then school school 5 is one of the
schools that we uh that we already done so but there's complete coverage at that school yes thank you Mr President just for point of clarification this went out to bid or not going out to bid no that was uh
through uh the coop is there a reason for that such a large amount of money that we wouldn't go out to bid the because the yeah so the question was um when they part of the co-op you don't have to
go to bid or you you don't it doesn't require you to go to bid because they have a they have a state contract in the part of it you don't have to correct uh doesn't necessarily give you what you want at that moment uh um the advantage of going through the
co-op is twofold okay our system is uh if you you know because of the you know Preparatory you know uh systems that we have in place already cameras viewing softwares and and access if you
go through a uh bid process you're probably not going to get an integrator that can deliver that system so you're probably going to have to pay double the amount to for them to uh to do that through a bid process so for us to go through a co-op it's an natural uh transition and
the coop usually secures the lowest biders anyway the coop usually has you know the coop that we that's been used here is the uh middle sex County Co-op is probably the largest one in the state of New Jersey um every every contractor that participates in there has uh uh bid
bonds and everything everything is detailed about whatever the the cost of the materials and whatever the cost of the hourly rates are for each uh item that they that they put out to bid thank you Mr milanus can answer the
question any other questions or comments Mr President yes commissioner so the piggyback offer commissioner car's comment are you saying that the camera system is proprietary or open source it is an open source but in order for us to transition you know to program
it it would be you know it becomes uh the problem you cannot just you cannot just come in and and uh install a camera in our in our system you need to you need to program it and then there is some uh licensing
that takes that has to be uh part you know to be uh integrated into our system thank you Mr M any questions or concerns Tab S hearing none seeing none please add tab
seven to the agenda at this time we want to add some Communications to our agenda and tab eight we'll first start off with the education management report presented by chairperson uh commissioner Stephanie ban thank you Mr President the education management committee met on
March 3rd at 4M the superintendent presented to the committee the district's performance following the end of the marking period two the categories reviewed includeed student attendance chronic aism suspension data and academic performance inclusive of Benchmark and marking period performance
for all students prek through grade 12 the next presentation to the committee included the annual indicators on a district scorecard this included a review of the state assessment performance in ela and Mathematics attendance marking period
performance and other interm indicators such as school safety lastly the committee engaged in a discussion regarding 24 425 amended Essa state plan the amendment included amended targets for Content areas Ela and math raduation
rate and English language proficiency the committee discussed the impact on the school's Proficiency in ela math as well as student growth in both categories that concluded our meeting thank you commissioner um our special education committee report uh by chairperson commissioner
Cheves thank you Mr President speci committee met on March 6 at noon the superintendent and the director of special service presented the 2025 2026 budget for the division of special services the presentation include the
proposal opening for new classroom supplies and related Services the cad policy revision were discussed and referred to the legal committee for review at this oncoming meeting the committee also discussed the communication plan for both the workship for parents on Guardians chip esum for
March 26 and the community fair is scheduled for M May 27th and that conclude our meeting thank you uh negotiations committee report commissioner uh Jacobs thank you Mr
President uh Mr Kennedy provided the committee an overview of the NJ doe State a notice issued on February 27th the committee engaged in a discussion regarding the main drivers of the increases and decreases referenced on the State a notice uh consultant de Lurch brief the
committee on the analysis of medical plan enrollment thank you Mr President also Mr President I'd like to ask um the superintendent when the reports that were discussed in the Ed management meeting will be available to the board
for review in accordance with our goals alignment yes I will make sure that all the reports are uploaded we're having a little issue with syncing but we will make sure all reports are available to all board members thank you madam superintendent Miss Ford please add tab
eight of the reports the committee reports to the agenda please at this time uh tab nine the claims list are there any questions or comments on the claims list hey hearing none seeing none Miss Ford please add tab nine to the
agenda at this time I want to review Tab 10 to tab 10j resolutions um I'll read the resolutions that we have we have the adoption of tenative budget for 2025 2026 we have 10A agreement with Warren
County Special Services district for coordination of transportation services for the 2025 2026 school year we have the resolution tab 10B Autism Awareness Month we have the Tab 10 C National Library week we have tab 10d the
appointing of bgd Contracting LLC to provide bathroom Renovations at the Elizabeth Board of Education administration building mitual building to be exact tab 10e payment fund sick used days tab 10f payment fund sick unused vacation days tab 10g renewing
the contract with creol land dairies LLC for provision of dairy products Food Services you have 10 H uh transfer of Maintenance Reserve funds you have 10 10 I transfer of capital reserve funds tab 10j maximum travel expenditure
for the year 2025 2026 any comments or concerns from the board for Tab 10 to 10j Mr President yes commissioner Jake um in reference to um as we all know we received our
state a number numbers this month and we only received a $14 million increase which was 2.45% over the last year's budget um as has been noted um throughout the state that uh the majority that many districts
either received the 3% cut but no more than the maximum of a 6% increase um we have to note that this is um significantly less than what we received in the past but we are grateful that we did not get cut in our budget and that
we still are able to try to provide um a free and appropriate education to our students here in Elizabeth but I think that we still have to acknowledge and make the community aware that there still our challenges as we see the changes that are happening in Washington
with the decimation of the US Department of Education staff to are being cut in half um we can anticipate that you know there may be a delay or changes to our federal aid which covers our Title One
title two and title three programs and I'd like to also commend the um Madam superintendent Mr Kennedy the finance team and business office for taking the necessary steps to protect um those positions of Title One title two and
title three by incorporating them into our general fund budget to make sure that we're still able to provide these services that are so desperately needed by our children in this District but even though that our um we are still even though this month we're approving
the budget to to submit to the county superintendent uh we still have to recognize that we're not out of the woods yet as we won't receive um our federal aid or know what our federal aid will be until the end of May early June so hopefully we can um
count on those funds um still being dispersed to us uh for us to function as a district but we still need to keep that in our radar of the challenges that may lie ahead uh not so much maybe not so much as this year but definitely uh
next year with the change um in governorship and things of that nature and I think that the community should just be aware that we are still trying our best um to provide as many services that many other districts are not able
to provide um to all of our students thank you Mr President thank you commissioner Jacobs for that meticulous explanation and and uh description of the current state that we're in um although it is not a loss um there are some challenges and uh we are
aware of that and we want to make sure that we stay conscious of um you know doing appropriate fiscal management over the district dollars all right any other comments or concerns from our board members seeing none hearing none at this
time the president requests a motion to go into a private session to consider matters exempt under the open public meetings act specifically for discussion of legal matters specifically workman's compensation VC o DL JM and settlements
fa a and NG the board will reconvening public and make and take formal action may I have a motion and a second I make a motion to go into private session motion has been made second impr properly seconded any comments or concerns seeing none hearing none Miss
forward roll call please Barbosa yes balis carvalo yes Cheves yes Jacobs yes Marina Ortega yes
Galas past yes Rivera yes naron yes let's do this e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e thank you Miss Ford now to fast forward you made a statement earlier of the items you wanted to add to the agenda yes I was that it yes that's all
okay so board members um you've heard the items needed to be added to the agenda are there any comments or [Music] concerns hearing none seeing none please add these it additional items to the agenda thank you Miss Ford at this time
our superintendent will present the HIV report thank you Mr President pursuant to board policy 51311 harassment intimidation and bullying New Jersey statute 18a col 37 the results of each investigation shall be reported to the Board of Education notated than the date
of the next board meeting following completion of the investigation and include any Services provided training established discipline imposed or other action taken or recommended by the chief School administrator since our last board meeting on February 20th and through March 11th our school counselor
school-based social workers and supervisor of anti-bullying have completed 54 HIV investigations of these investigations 14 cases were founded for HIV as per New Jersey Law there were 31 males 26 females 48 regular education
students nine special education students that were the alleged victims there were 47 males 34 females 67 regular education students 10 special education students and four non- students that were the alleged offenders of the 14 cases founded for Hib one case was founded
based on race national origin one case founded based on sexual orientation three cases were founded based on on gender one case was founded based on gender identity and expression and 11 cases were founded based on other identifying characteristics of the
services provided and actions taken for these investigations there were 16 skill development lessons trainings 44 counseling sessions four behavioral interventions 15 referrals for outpatient mental health treatment five changes of classroom two administrative
counseling sessions 10 in school detentions 40 parent conferences three referrals to outside agencies 21 out of school suspensions and seven cases are continuing to be monitored the Hib statute further requires that at the next regularly scheduled meeting after
board members receive the initial report of Hib investigations that the board issue a decision in writing to affirm reject or modify uh the superintendent's decision pertaining to the 52 cases that were reported to you at the last board meeting on February 20th in order for you to do so the investigation summaries
from those investigations which were reported to you at the last board meeting have been provided for your review prior to voting and this completes uh this month's Hib report thank you thank you
superintendent okay at this time I'd like to have a motion in a second to approve the entire agenda Mr President I make a motion to approve the entire agenda I'll second that uh motion has been made and properly seconded any
questions or comments seeing none hearing none roll call please Barbosa yes with the exstension on Tab 7 page two Tab 7 page 4 Tab 7 page
five carvalo yes with the extensions on Tab 4 a item number three tab 4B item number three and tab five Cheves yes with extension in Tab four
item number three and tab seven page number two Jacobs Moreno Ortega yes G pastana okay Rivera
yes and naron yes with an extension on Tab 4B Tab S and tab five the agenda has passed thank you for members that any comments or
concerns before we call for an adjournment again just want to welcome our commissioner Isaiah R back thank you for joining us again we are happy you are well and ready to go and uh welcome back and we hope and pray that all continues to be
well and um again um we want to wish all the women in our district and throughout um our city and our country a happy women's history month we celebrate you and for all my fellow Irishmen happy St Patty's Day as we celebrate the green
and the Luck of the Irish um yes and um our prayers and concerns go out to Mr Kennedy who is um getting better and we pray for his Speedy return and speedy recovery so thank you again
everyone and thank you to the IT department and thank you Miss Ford for stepping in and doing an amazing job and all the great work that you do and uh also want to thank Delila for making uh our women's history month program come to fruition and working with our
commissioner Rosa Marina um thank you everyone and thank you to all our fellow board members for being here and serving and giv of your time talents and your energy may I have a motion and a second to adjourn a motion to adjourn second
motion has been made and properly seconded roll call please Barbosa yes good night everyone carvalo yes good night Cheves yes good night Jacobs good night Moreno Ortega yes good night Gales
pastana Rivera yes good night and niron yes good night everyone thank you