Good evening all and welcome to our board of education board of ed meeting. This is a combined regular agenda and business meeting of the board of education pursuant to New Jersey statutes and the rules adopted by the Elizabeth Board of Education. Notice of this meeting was sent to the Star
Ledger of Elizabeth on September 12th, 2025. In addition, this notice is posted in the bulletin board of the lobby of 500 North Broad Street. And pursuant to this act, a copy have been filed with the city clerk of Elizabeth, New Jersey. We want to welcome everyone here today,
present at school 51, and to our television viewers and folks streaming online. We are here to govern, provide management oversight, and make policy for the district. The superintendent manages the district. This is a meeting of the board and public, not a meeting of the public.
This meeting is being recorded and will become part of Elizabeth Board of Education permanent record so that the recordings will adequately be reflected um the proceedings. Please refrain from take talking while others are speaking.
We ask that you silence the sounds of your electronic devices since it is legally mandated that these proceedings be accurately recorded. We may have to ask for order periodically should noise begin to interfere with our recording capabilities. There will be a portion
for the public to address um the board. The public portion must be uh you must sign in personally prior to the start of the public participation portion. The signing sheet states your name, address, telephone number, and the reason the person wants to comment,
whether it is an agenda item or a general education comment. We are pleased that you've taken the time this evening to join us here for our board of education meeting. Thank you for your interest in Elizabeth Public Schools. And again, welcome and thank you for joining us. Mr. Kennedy, roll call,
please. >> Barbosa, >> here. >> Baffilus, >> here. Carvalo >> here. >> Chevresz Jacobs. Marine Ortega.
Canavas Pastana >> present. >> Rivera >> here. >> Nara here. If everyone can please stand. At this time, we want to um present a moment of silence for Miss Nancy Holmes,
a retired administrative secretary at Admiral William F. Haly Jr. Health and Public Safety Academy. our prayers and thoughts to her family. At this time, please welcome the Admiral William Falsy
Health and Public Safety Academy Junior ROC for the presentation of colors. [Music] dress forward march. At this time, we'll have Commissioner Diane Barbosa please lead us in the
pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Please remain standing for the Star
Spangle Battle. Say by the dawn so proud we held at the twilight lastle [Music]
through the fight or The ramparts we watched were so gallare [Music] the bombs bursting in air
through the night. Oh, say does that star spangled yet for the land of the free and the home of the brave.
>> Thank you. Please remain standing for the pledge of ethics by Commissioner Charlene >> Baptist. public school by speaking and learning inspire myself
Thank you. At this time, Junior RTC will be dismissed. [Applause] Thank you. You may be seated. >> All right. Again, welcome deal board of education u meeting
public part public portion um is now citizens may now address the board at this time. Uh microphones are open for public comment for those who have signed in prior to the sessions. Um as stated participants shall be limited to three minutes in duration. The total time of
public comment shall be limited to 60 minutes. No individual is able to yield their time to another individual. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer. No participant may address or question board members individually. Each speaker shall comply
in all aspects with board policy 9322. Copies were provided by the signing sheet. Um, we have >> Miss Christina Morerero. [Music] >> Good evening everybody. >> Good evening. >> Um, under New Jersey Administrative
Code, every school district must have a special education parent advisory group or a CPAC. The purpose is simple. To give parents of students with disabilities a voice in matters that affect their children. And that means all students with disabilities, those
with IEPs and those with 504 plans. Yet many parents in our district don't even know what a CPAC is, let alone how to get involved. And that's a problem. Some of the proposed policy changes are steps forward. Providing written notice to all families of children with disabilities
about the selection process and posting the names online is progress. Just last year, I requested the names of those serving and the district, Mr. Kennedy, refused to share them. The policy doesn't explain how principles will
decide who gets chosen. Without clear guidelines, families are left guessing. And there are still some serious concerns. First, families of students with 504 plans must be fully included in all CPAC communication and representation. Federal protection
doesn't separate between IEPs and 504s, and neither should the district. Second, requiring one parent representative from the PTA or PTO is unfair. PTAs and PTO's often and uh PTAs and PTO's
uh some schools don't have them and they require dues which means parents are paying to participate. Even parents of a student with disability deserve the same opportunity to participate without financial uh barriers. Third, transparency must extend to posting the
agendas and the meetings publicly on the district's website. Just like the board of education meetings, parents cannot provide input if they don't even know what's being discussed at the CPAC meetings. To make the CPAC work as intended, the district must inform and
engage all families with IEPs and 504s. Remove barriers like PTA and PTO dues and unclear selection process. Provide public access to to agenda meeting minutes and contact information. And most importantly, listen and respond to
parent concerns. Finally, I need to raise once again the issue of school uniforms. Families are being forced to buy logoed shirts from only a couple of vendors. And now with Kidstown closing on October 1st, parents will soon be left with just one option. This drives
up cost and creates a real hardship, especially for families with multiple children. We have asked repeatedly for a simple fix. Make logos optional. So families can purchase plain polos, t-shirts, sweatpants from any retailer. This would keep a consistent dress code
without placing unnecessary financial burden on families. Let me remind parents, if you qualify as economically disadvantaged, meaning you receive free or reduced lunch, SSI, food stamps, the district is required to assist you with
purchasing uniforms. I'm almost finished. Our community needs policies that are fair, transparent, and responsive to families. I urge this board to take action on the CPAC and uniforms so that parents are left unheard. Thank you, Commissioner Neuron.
>> Thank you. Up next, we have Miss Patty Galante. I feel like it's old home week. Wow. Good evening, President Neron. >> Good evening, >> esteemed members of the board. Dr. Yugo Meyer.
On August 22nd, I sent an email regarding the non-implementation of IEPs in the district. Um, I think I got two replies. Nobody else replied,
but that's okay. Um, I know for a fact last year a student, which to me is one too many student went for an entire
school year without being given services that were in her IEP. I I don't understand how that happens. And then when she asked for compensatory ed,
she was told point blank no. I mean, I could see if we missed a week of speech. You know, the the speech teacher got sick, but an entire year of inclass support written in an IEP. totally poof
gone. Nothing happened. So, I've also talked to some teachers recently who told me that an administrator told the teachers that you no longer need to be special ed
certified to deliver specifically designed instruction as outlined in IDA, the federal law. That is not true.
I hope they don't continue to think that you must be certified in special ed to deliver specifically designed instruction. You can either go for your degree and immediately get to C or you
can go for your degree and years later after you've had some um classroom experience, you can go for your special ed endorsement. But you cannot teach special ed unless you have that special ed endorsement
or you have currently applied and have been accepted to do that. So you know it's a moral and legal obligation to provide special ed services to children.
They have federal rights and civil rights. Please don't deny those federal rights and civil rights to any child in this district. Again, Mr. Kennedy, my Oprah,
thank you, Miss Galante and Miss Morera. Um, Miss Galante, if you could um who can she talk to about the students? Miss M. Johnson, can you get the information of that student that she's referring to? Thank you.
Thank you everyone for your public comments. The public comment portion is now closed. As we start off the new year, we just want to take a moment and um just reflect on a really quick video
as we welcome everybody back. So, feast your eyes on the screen. [Music] Hi, I'm Elizabeth Board of Education President Stanley J. Neron and on behalf of the Elizabeth Board of Education,
welcome to the 2025 2026 school year here at Elizabeth Public Schools. Each new school year is more than a date on a calendar. It is a promise renewed. A promise that every student in this city will be challenged to think deeper, dream bigger, and rise higher than ever
before. Over the years, Elizabeth has built a reputation for excellence. Our students have been recognized in classrooms, on stages. Our educators brought home awards for innovative teaching. Our schools have been honored for academic growth. This success does
not belong to one person. It is the result of an entire community working together. So, let's begin this year with confidence, with unity, with determination that once again will set the bar high. Our students deserve
nothing less. Our families expect nothing less. And our city will accept nothing less. Welcome back. Let's make another excellent year for the Elizabeth Public Schools again. Welcome back. um
let's make sure that we are solutiondriven and we don't dwell in challenges but we come up with solutions to make our district even better than what it is today. Um at this time it's my honor to present our spotlight for the Elizabeth Board of Education. Every month we have a board member that takes
on an initiative and this month is none other than Commissioner Isaas Rivera. Ola buenas so and I am honored to serve the Elizabeth community as a member of the Elizabeth Board of Education
to once again sponsor Hispanic Heritage Month with all of his activities and events here in the Elizabeth Public Schools. Now let me ask you a question. When do you think Hispanic Heritage Month started?
It was back in 1968. Back then, it was only for one week. It wasn't until 20 years later, in 1988, it was expanded to a full month. Now, that's important. That's significant because there's a lot of Latin American
countries that are celebrating their independence. For example, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicarawa. Mexico's Independence Day is on the 16th and Chile is on the 18th. This month-long celebration truly
captures the spirit of independence and community. Over the next few weeks, I am looking forward to witnessing our students and our schools celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by sharing various Hispanic cultures and a passion for many Hispanic heritages represented
within our learning community. toos sos uno. Thank you for making our schools and greater Elizabeth community such a special place through our unique contributions, journeys, and stories. Vamos a cra. >> Big round of applause. Thank you for
taking on that initiative. And I believe on the 25th we will be celebrating um Hispanic Heritage Month right here at the board of education. So, we look forward to seeing everybody join us for that wonderful celebration. At this time, I want to turn the floor over to our superintendent,
Superintendent Dr. Ogal Huger, for a very special presentation. >> Thank you, Mr. Neron. Appreciate it. >> Like to be able to share with our community our uh our announcements this month. Thank you.
Next slide, please. So this evening we're going to be sharing uh some important upcoming events that will be taking place u in our uh schools in their district. And thank you very much. Fantastic. Fantastic. Wonderful.
So I'd like to turn everyone's attention to uh our amazing event that we have coming up, our senior seminar um uh boot camp that we have. We have the Elizabeth Public Schools that will be hosting this boot camp on Saturday, September 27th at Elizabeth High School at the Frank J.
Cigarella Academy for our students, for our families. If you're thinking about college, uh it's important for you to attend because you'll have the opportunity to be able to learn about the next steps at this special seminar. This session is going to include information as to the college
application process also essay writing workshops and also how to navigate the common app building a college list score and information about scholarships. This event is for seniors only. So parents
are welcome to attend. Bring fully charged laptops. It'll be critical because we'll have counselors that will be assisting our students uh with a variety of areas and also we're going to have sessions that will be available in both English and in Spanish. So once again we have our college application
boot camp that will be offered on September 27th. As we continue on, uh, the Union County Board of County Commissioners, Robert Wood Johnson, uh, hospital, Rawway, uh, Trinitas Regional Center in Elizabeth, and the Union County
Department of Public Safety will be hosting a back- toschool health fair on Saturday, September 20th. This will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wear and Ankle Sports Center in Rosel. The fair will provide our families with various free services and resources for
a healthy school year. They're going to be providing vaccines, screenings, foot care, dental cleanings, uh various tests that will be conducted, and also um information for parents to assist them with health insurance and SNAP,
information on child care and youth programs, as well as assistance with home and utility expenses. So, once again, this is going to take place on Saturday, September uh 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 2 pm. We'll be posting these flyers on our district uh website. As we
continue on, here's a second flyer that includes more of the services that'll be provided at the health fair, such as nutrition, physical therapy, emergency prep demos that will begin at 11:00 a.m. at 12 and will also be offered uh throughout the course of the afternoon,
as well as many wonderful sponsors and providers will be on hand to offer these important services. We're hoping that our families will take advantage of this opportunity by visiting the health fair at the Warren Sports Center this Saturday. And we also have uh the county is also
offering immunizations for eligible children and adults at the Union County Family Clinic. The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 4:30 and it's located on 40 Parker Road. Uh for our families to be eligible, individuals must uh be uninsured, underinsured, or
covered by Medicaid plan A. You must also be a Union County resident and provide documentation which includes the birth certificate, uh parents photo ID, as well as proof of your address. A school referral is also required. For more information to pre-register, uh the
information is on the flyer as to where you can call and there's an email as well with regard to questions that you may have. You can certainly write your questions and submit them via email. And we now move to um an update with
regard to our student assessments. So this evening we're going to have our director of research evaluation and assessment, Amy Gil, who will be providing the data as it pertains to the results of the spring 2025 performance.
However, however, in late August, the New uh New Jersey Department of Education announced that there would be a new assessment. It is called the NJSLA adaptive test. And this not only impacts the administration of the NJSLA, which
is now a new test referred to as NJSLA adaptive, but also the 11th grade assessment, which is referred to as the NJGPA, will now be a new exam as well, referred to as the NJGPA adaptive. We literally uh just attended
a state training less than 24 hours ago with regard to this. So, we're learning um as much as possible that's being shared with us by the New Jersey Department of Education with regard to these new assessments. So, just wanted to be able to provide our families uh the information that we have received,
be able to share it with you. A key feature of these assessments is their adaptive format. So, as students are progressing through the test, future questions are determined based on their responses, creating a more personalized and appropriate experience for each learner learner. This approach can help
reduce testing anxiety by presenting students with questions closer to their current level and encouraging confidence as well as the ability to focus. Um, adaptive assessments may also lead to more accurate uh results by measuring each student's performance with greater precision. And then we also wanted to be
able to share uh with you that we were just notified um few hours ago with regard to the fact that all schools in New Jersey will need to administer a field test this fall. Uh the NJSLA and
the NJGPA will be administered in grades 4 through 12. So, as you can see on the screen before you, uh, our high school students will be taking the NJ, uh, NJSLA and as well as the NJGPA on October 28th, 29th, and
30th. And then grades four to eight will be taking, uh, their exams on November 12th, 13, and 14. So, this is referred to as a field test. It's an opportunity for the state department and also the testing company to be able to gather data as to how students will respond to
these items as they begin to build the spring assessment that will be administered in May. So this year students will have to take sta uh standardized test assessments in the fall and then again in the spring. We will be providing uh further updates as
they become available to our families and to all of our team members as well. So, as we continue on, we move into inside EPS, our news from Central. And again, um, great start to the new school year. As Mr. Neron shared, uh,
fantastic, um, opportunity to welcome all of our team members, all of our administrators, all of our children. Um, as we welcome opened our doors on September 4 to officially kick off the new school year. Uh, so we certainly want to wish everyone a fantastic school
year. Um certainly was a great way to start. Beautiful day and uh children were smiling everywhere from preschool all the way up through um high school. So fantastic. Fantastic. We'd like to now continue on as we uh
acknowledge our administrators. We had an amazing uh welcome back on August 28th at school number 27th. And it was a wonderful opportunity to begin by celebrating all of our administrators by the years of service um in in their profession right number of years that
they have served as teachers as administrators total years of service. It was wonderful. We also had some learning activities uh throughout the course of the morning. Um and just one and we also had a wonderful speaker Dr. for Ruben Lambert who talked about mindful leadership and great opportunity
to be able to learn and grow together as we welcomed all of our uh district and school administrators. So, as we continue on, we as we continue on, we also had an
amazing opportunity uh to welcome a delegation uh from Taiwan, a group of principles um as well as uh education department officials that came to visit school number 26. They had the opportunity to visit classrooms to be
able to have a roundt discussion with our uh principal and vice principal and teachers and to learn about the instruction that we provide. They also were very interested in meeting with our guidance counselors and social workers to have a better understanding of how it
is we address social emotional learning. It was an incredibly moving day that we had Mr. Neron. amazing experience and we certainly uh welcome them back to our schools and I think we received an invitation as well to uh conduct a
visit. As we continue on, also would like to be able to uh recognize that we had a speaker Jordan Toma who visited the Dun Sports Center in order to welcome our teachers and inspire them with the
message. um wonderful opportunity. All our special education team members, child study team, classroom teachers, uh all all the personnel were at the Dun Sports Center and had this wonderful um opportunity uh the focus um on the my
struggle is my strength and and his journey and also uh how this uh changed his life and the opportunity to be able to share that powerful message with uh all of our educators. fantastic way to start the school year.
We also had a great opening uh with the uh International We Love You Foundation which donated 202 backpacks to our children at the George Washington uh Academy School number one. Amazing opportunity. Last year uh the We Love You Foundation visited our district and
um supported our students at school nine at Jerome Dun Academy. and this year wonderful to have them return and volunteer their time and be able to uh donate uh backpacks full of school supplies. So amazing amazing event. And
as we continue on, we also had the opportunity uh for ribbon cutting ceremony at Mabel G Home School number five where we opened a new playground. It is a phenomenal phenomenal opportunity for our students and I want to thank our board because it was their
vision that they communicated that this was important for Mabel G homeschool number five and uh it was brought to realization and uh just to see the expression on the children's faces as they enjoyed uh playing that morning. Amazing amazing opportunity.
also a moment to um honor and uh remember the lives that were lost on September 11th. Uh as you can see from the slide before you, the six residents that um of Elizabeth are are included on this slide
because um we can never forget the tragedy that occurred. So, it's opportunity to be able to honor their lives, honor um honor the the contributions, right, their families, the the impact that they had in our community. Um
so, it was really um an opportunity to be able each year to be able to ensure even though it's it's been 24 years since this tragedy and our children that are in our schools cannot connect to the impact of September 11th. Uh we
certainly ensure that through our social studies curriculum uh and all of our teachers have an opportunity to be able to speak to our children with regard to the significance of this day and the importance of of knowing how Elizabeth was impacted particularly. And next I'd like to be able to share uh
that we join schools throughout the nation on September 12th in uh celebrating AVID day. So for over the past 17 years, the Elizabeth Public Schools has partnered with AVID to help students unlock their potential, beginning with Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy in 2008. And since
expanding to 30 schools throughout our district, throughout AVID, through the AVID system, students not only rise above academic challenges, but they also develop lifelong skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and goal setting that prepare them for success in
college careers and beyond. So, we're incredibly thankful for this partnership because we have seen powerful results including increase in our graduation rates, shifts in student pathways after high school, um increasing our GPA, as
well as the opportunity to expand the uh courses that they are taking, advanced placement courses, technical training, direct um to career uh readiness as well, and most important of all, student confidence. So, like to be able to take uh two minutes to be able to share the
video um that we have celebrating um AVID in our district. Because of AVID, I became an extrovert. Because of AVID, I have a better understanding of college applications and my priorities. >> Because of Avid, I have grown my knowledge for college. Because of AVID,
I visited more colleges. Because of AVIT, I became organized and started focusing more on my grades. [Music] Welcome to Care.
[Music] >> AVID has helped me through the college process due to my amazing AVID teacher who's guiding my classmates and I through every step of the way. >> Because of AVID, I have gotten better grade scores, thought outside the box, and became independent. It has also
given me skills that I can develop for me. So I want to recognize our two district schools, Amoro School 12 and Johnny Dwire Technology Academy, both that have become a national demonstration sites and also our Hamilton Preparatory Academy that has also become an avid
showcase school. Amazing opportunity um afforded to our students, to our educators to be able to prepare our students for college and career. So as we continue on, we turn to our inside EPS and as Mr. Neron, our board president uh opened our
meeting uh this evening with an acknowledgement uh that it is National Hispanic Heritage Month. Uh Mr. Rivera as well, important message with regard to the significance of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is from September 15 through October 15th. And we also celebrate uh national self-care
awareness month uh which is also in September. And that concludes our community updates. And I would like to now turn my attention to uh our next presentation which is the results of our um NJSLA from the spring administration
and our director uh I'm sorry actually we're going to begin with the promise goals and our high school graduation pathways um and move into the NJSLA. Good evening. Each year we report on the achievement of our most recent graduating class, including our
district's promise goals and our graduation rate and pathways. This year we graduated 2012 students from our eight high schools. In our pursuit of excellence for all students, we have set a goal of 90% of
our students graduating by taking at least one advanced placement course during their time in high school. 57.7% of students who graduated this year took at least one AP class while they were in high school in their four years. Another
goal we have set for our students is to earn at least a 3.0 GPA. 58.8% 8% of our students in the class of 2025 achieved that goal. And our average GPA for our graduating class was over
3.0, coming in at 3.143. Upon entering high school in 9th grade, students are put into a 4-year graduation cohort. Students who entered 9th grade in September of the 2021 2022
school year were placed in cohort 25 because they were expected to graduate within the four years to be considered on-time graduates. 87.9% of those students who entered 9th grade in September 2021 accomplished this
feat. When we look back over the last five graduating classes, we have seen an increase of nearly 12% of our students graduating on time. And each of our high schools has made has made gains over the years. As you
can see in the graph here, we not only see gains in all demographic groups, but there's almost no gap between our students by ethnicity. When we look at cohort 25, our district had 2,184
students in cohort 25. 1,940 of them graduated this year. One requirement for a high school diploma is to pass the NJ GPA assessment that Dr. Hugal Meyer mentioned earlier. Um, each year the students take it for
the first time in 11th grade and then they have opportunities to retake the assessment if they don't pass either section. There are also substitute competency tests that can be utilized in um in exchange once they've taken the NJGPA if they do not have a passing
score. So, as you can see here, we had 1,54 students who actually passed the NJGPA um in the ELA test and just under a thousand passed the math test. 25 students needed the um substitute
competency test for ELA. 238 students used a substitute assessment for mathematics. And then the final way to demonstrate proficiency is to complete a portfolio of prescribed work as an appeal to the New Jersey Department of Education. So we had just under 400
students use the appeal process for ELA and just under 700 students use the appeal process for mathematics. Finally, some students with IEPs may have alternate assessment um requirements in their IEPs. So in our
cohort 2025, we had one student who used an alternate assessment criteria identified for them. And finally, we survey all of our graduates each year to learn of their plans for after they leave our district.
So here you can see that nearly 80% of our students have chosen or are planning to attend college or a technical or trade school with an additional almost 5% planning to um join the military or police or fire. Almost 4% planning to go
to work and just over 10% who have all of these options ahead of them and just have not decided by the time they left us what they were going to do. Each year we also present our performance on various state assessments. So we're going to begin
with the NJSLA. Federal and state regulations require all students to be assessed in elementary school, middle school, and high school beginning in grade three. Students in grades three through nine were administered the grade level assessment for English language arts.
Students in grades three through six were administered the grade level assessment for mathematics. Students in grades seven were administered the grade level assessment for mathematics or the algebra 1 course depending on the content that they were learning. And then students in grade 8 through high
school were given the mathematics assessment in either algebra 1, geometry or algebra 2. Again depending on the course they were taking. When we look at our performance in mathematics, you can see the blue bars are our district, the green bars are the
state performance. Um, so you can see that our performance is lagging behind that of statewide averages. However, as we look deeper into the progress over the last three years, um, we can see
that our performance is growing at a rate greater than the state's performance. So for example here when we look at grade three over the last three years our district performance has increased by 10.5% where across the state it's an increase of about 8%. Um
our fourth grade scores have increased by almost 18% yet the district the uh state average excuse me is just over a 5% increase. So we see in these grade levels as we go through the slides that even though our performance is still
lagging that of the state, we are very proud of the increases that we are seeing in each of our grade levels and our cohorts of students as they're moving up through our district. When we look at our demographic performance for math, this slide is a
one-year view of the combined performance on all of our math assessments by each of our demographic groups. And we're going to look at the same slides now um but for English language arts. You can see that the performance in um some of our grade levels is
lagging the state. But in our upper grades, when you start looking at grade six and above, we are either at almost at the level of the state or we're actually surpassing the state's performance specifically in grade nine.
And again, as we look at the growth over the years, we are really closing those gaps between our performance in our district and the performance across the state. And in certain grade levels, you can see that in any of the three years,
we have surpassed the state's average performance in some of those grade levels. You can see with our grade nine performance, we surpassed the state in the two of the last three years. And our gaps between our different demographic groups are much closer in
language arts than what we saw in mathematics. And next we look at our science. Students are assessed in science in grades 5, 8, and 11. Our performance in all three grade levels is about half of what the
performance is across the state. Here you see the three-year comparison for grades five and 8 and the three-year comparison for grade 11. And once again, we don't see very big gaps in the performance between our
different demographic groups. The next assessment that we're going to see is the dynamic learning maps. All students in the identified grade levels and subject areas that are required to participate in statewide assessments will either take the general
assessment, the NJSLA that we just saw, or if their IEP has identified an alternative assessment for them, then they would take the DM, the dynamic learning maps. Only about 3% of the students in Elizabeth meet the guidelines to take the DM.
Because the numbers of students who participate are so small, we don't really um separate this data out as much. Um we're able to see the performance on one slide. This is ELA performance um for 2025.
Students are typically tested in grade 11 at the high school level, but if they are not tested for a reason, sometimes it's illness related or other absences from school, they will take the DLM assessment in 12th grade. So, in total,
we had 310 students take the ELA DM assessment and 42.9% of the students have passed it. It's important to note that this assessment is only administered to the students with the most significant disabilities in the district. When we
look at math, again, 310 students participated and we had almost the same part um pass rate at 43.9%. And our science, again, just like the NJSLA, we only administer the science alternate assessment in grades 5, 8, and 11. or for students who did not
participate in grade 11, they took it in 12. Um, so we had 125 students participate in the science assessment with just under 42% of the students passing. At this time, I would like to turn the presentation back over to Dr. Hugel
Meyer to highlight the interventions and supports that are available for our students. So, uh, Director Gil, I'm just going to ask you to, uh, switch the slides for me, and it'll make it a lot easier. So, we're going to begin, uh, with the reason why we have intervention and, um,
and supports included in our presentation. So, the New Jersey Department of Education requires that we, uh, share with our families how, in fact, we are supporting our students in both English language arts and in mathematics. So on the screen before
you, you're able to see a listing of all of the appropriate interventions as well as resources uh curriculum and resources that are provided in our classrooms. I would like to note that as you uh the first bullet we talk about adopting the
Mclass Dibbles 8 and that was uh as a result of legislation that was passed in New Jersey. We are required to screen our students in literacy in kindergarten through sixth grade. So this is a universal screener that will provide us with very reliable data to identify the
reading needs of our students early and be able to adjust the instruction um accordingly. Uh our team members are probably most familiar with the DRRA. This replaces the DRRA. Uh and then from there on, you're able to see a listing
of all of the supports that are being offered across all grades. We include um a variety of approaches in order to support our students. On the next slide, please, you're able to see uh a continued uh listing of the
interventions and supports and literacy. So examples as expanding actively learn uh to grades three to 12 in order to scaffold and differentiate uh the instruction through a variety of supplementary texts and also through our focus on small groupoup instruction.
That's just as an example. Next slide please. We continue on with our English language arts um interventions and supports and you're able to see uh our partnerships correct with children's literacy initiative. you're able to see the uh trainings that are provided to
our teachers in order to support them in critical uh programs such as Orton Gillingham. Uh next slide, please. And as we continue on with the supports that are provided as an example in our bilingual K12 curriculum, you see once
again the universal screener uh MClass lectura in this case which is uh utilized in kindergarten through sixth grade as well as the partnership with u children's literacy initiative and additional resources that are made available uh in the native language in
order to support our students. Next slide please. And here we have for our families a listing of our English as a second language curricula and uh supports that are provided. Everything from small groupoup instruction that's focused on language development to formative assessments that are embedded
in our ESL curriculum uh project-based learning activities as well. Next slide please. And uh then here's a master list of all the professional development that is offered uh to our educators districtwide. Next slide please. And of
course ending with uh the support for our multilingual learners uh the importance of co-planning with content area supervisors to ensure that we are following our district's curriculum. Next slide please. And as we continue on you see the uh
variety of programs that are offered to support our multilingual learners. Next slide please. And here we turn to our students with disabilities and the supports that are provided in our classes. Correct. So everything from training on strategies to support
reading development uh in order to support our students with dyslexia to um ensuring that our special ed teachers are provided with targeted skills uh and appropriate data sources, the appropriate revisions to our curriculum as well and the
implementation of various programs such as learning. Next slide please. And then we end with the professional development opportunities for our special education uh team members. And now you'll see a very similar approach when we look at the mathematics interventions and supports. Right? Once again, beginning
with the general education uh listing of all of the um supports that are in place. Next slide, please. And as we continue on, you're able to see uh partnerships such as Carnegie Learning, correct? which supports our math
curricula uh at the middle school and high school level. The expanded use of STMath uh kindergarten through 8th grade uh math excel. Next slide please. And as we continue um we leverage our instructional coaches with their expertise in in particular content in
order to support all classrooms. Next slide please. And we um as you can see the focus right on on facilitated job embedded and ensuring that we're engaging our school administrators as we continue on with the supports for our
multilingual learners. You see the curricular resources as well as the professional development that's listed on the screen. And all of this information will be made available on our district website. I know we're moving a little quickly so I do apologize but I wanted to emphasize the categories um in order to ensure we took
a very comprehensive approach not just curricular supports but uh profession coupled with the professional development as well. The next slide, you're able to see the uh department support as well as the materials. And we are now on our uh student programs that
are offered, whether it's summer school, whether it's after school, Saturday programs, a multitude of opportunities for our students to receive the reinforcement. And lastly, once again, we uh we have our supports for our students with disabilities. As you can see here, everything from
revisions to the uh uh curriculum in align uh aligning it to the gened curriculum to ensuring the uh appropriate implementation of math programs to support our students and then ending with the professional development for our teachers. Uh and
this concludes the presentation. So we certainly encourage actually it does not conclude our presentation. We actually have a very exciting portion of our presentation which is really celebrating uh the success of our children. And as we continue on, we'd like to be able to
celebrate our uh perfect scores. So we had 36 uh students that had a perfect score in third grade. As you can see the schools that are represented there uh grade four, five, and six the number of students. Uh the next slide, I think
it's supposed to be 2425. So, I apologize that was a bit of a typo there. Our students in seventh grade, a total of third of 17 students across multiple schools. In eighth grade, we saw 17 perfect scores. In ninth grade, we saw five. Next slide, please. And in
11th grade, we had a total of 91 perfect scores across multiple high schoolmies. So we celebrate the incredible success of our students and we look forward to honoring them in person and provide and
and with their families as well. Fantastic. Fantastic. >> That was just ELA. You're absolutely correct. We are moving on now to the mathematics portion. Thank you, Miss Gil. We wouldn't want to leave that data out. So we now have our math u eight
students in third grade. We have then uh fourth, fifth, sixth and algebra one uh schools that are represented with our perfect scores. And uh as we move on, we have then fifth grade and uh we have
student from 11th grade we have five students that had a perfect score mathematics. And then let's take a look at the uh total once again um my apologies should be 2425 total perfect scores. So here you can see the total number. So in ELA we had 85 students in
16 schools uh with a perfect score on the NJSLA 91 students with a perfect score across seven high schoolmies on the NJ GPA for a total of 176 students in 18 different schools and that is phenomenal and in math we had 16
students across five schools and in science six students in three schools. So our total perfect scores uh across 23 different schools is 107 students on the NJSLA, 91 on the NJGPA,
198 students with a perfect score both on NJSLA and NJGPA which is incredible. And that we have listed also the students at the elementary level who had a perfect score
both on NJSLA, ELA and math which is just uh truly something to celebrate. So congratulations to our children and once again we look forward to celebrating and a special thank you to all the hard work of all of our teachers uh because
without our teachers our our children would not be able to excel in this manner. Uh so really very appreciative for being able to uh recognize this amazing uh product of of uh of our district. And that officially ends the
presentation. Correct, Mrs. Gil? Thank you, >> Mr. Neon. Awesome. Let's give him another big round of applause for our perfect scores in that report. As I stated earlier, um it's about being
solutiondriven and looking forward to working to improve where we need to improve and continually expanding on where we've done phenomenal. And we want to celebrate our young people um and our students with a phenomenal celebration as we u honor them for being perfect
scores because that's not easy. But um you know we have a great number of students who did phenomenal and we want to make sure that they feel and they feel rewarded and understand the hard work does pay off. And um to our teachers and everybody who has worked on this um our entire support staff and
everybody who's been a village for our students to uh reach this feat we celebrate them as well. So thank you. All right. So as we move forward um at this time >> Mr. President. >> Yes sir. >> Thank you. >> Commissioner Jacobs. >> Thank you Mr. President. I just would
like to uh make a couple of comments. Uh first, I'd like to thank Madam Superintendent, her staff for uh sending out this report early, but also, you know, in my eight years on the board, this report and the way it was displayed and presented. It just shows the
transparency that has taken place in making sure the board is informed on our progress for these important tests that may happen because this is a central mission of our board to make sure our students are able to perform uh comparably uh across the state. My
concern um that I that I have is on the math side, but we see that math is struggling nationally across the state and things of that nature. And you know, it's just troubling that our children are not getting those math concepts after the pandemic. Before the
pandemic, uh this board uh spent a lot of time looking at different achievement gap measures for the NJ LSA ELA portion and the math portion. and we see that our uh ELA portion I think has remained steady but our our our math portion
along with everyone else in the state has decreased. So that is a little uh concerning I think to all of us who sit in these seats and making sure how can we make sure that our children are are best prepared as they move on to into the future. But again, I do want to
commend um madam superintendent and along with their staff on this excellent report that showed the that shows the board and gives us the opportunity to see how well our students do. Uh one last thing, I'd like to make a recommendation that in the past there
used to be assemblies by school that celebrated all the students for their perfect scores. I think it's a wonderful idea that we have an assembly for all of our students here at one of our board meetings for the perfect score so that we celebrate the successes of our
students um in the district. Thank you, Mr. President. >> Thank you, Commissioner Jacobs. Actually, um I'm happy you said that because we are going to make sure that there is a pep rally and and major celebration for our students. So, thank
you for echoing those thoughts and great minds think alike. So, it's a good thing. Any other commissioners? All right, seeing none hearing none at this time, we want to review the agenda. Again, thank you Mr. Jacobs for those comments and again uh thank you to our
superintendent for your leadership. Um at this time, I want to review the agenda, Mr. Kennedy. Um item on the agenda 1 A, official and private minutes of August 9th and August 21st, 2025 and 1B, treasures report. Are
there any comments or concerns? Seeing none, hearing none, Mr. Kenny, please add items 1 A and 1B to the agenda. Personnel reports tab 2A and 2B. Are there any questions from the board? >> Vice President
>> um my question is for um Mr. Qua. When will we be able for next meeting to have a breakdown of all of the not necessarily openings but on the vacancies that we have for across the
across the board. >> Are you talking about the vacancy report? So what exactly we're looking for? I always have the vacation report. >> Well, how many math teachers were missing? How many science teachers were missing? So that we have a better understanding because we we get all the complaints and my child doesn't have a
math teacher. I don't have a science teacher. and then we we harass you and and the team asking these questions and then we're told yes there is someone or someone's being processed just so that we have a better understanding of what's going on in October. >> Is that fair?
>> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Kennedy, please add items 2A and 2B to the agenda. Items three, tuition reports. Are there any questions from the board? Seeing none hearing none, please add the
tuition's report to the agenda. Item 44D, superintendent report. Actually, that's 424D. Any comments or questions from the board? I have a question. >> Yes, madam vice president
>> 4B. Uh, but Mr. Candalino is not here. But my question is, is the the battle, it's the center for basketball, is that us or is that an outside company or agency coming in? >> It's a um outside organization that runs
>> the answer to basketball, of course. But um we're our basketball team will be one of the teams playing along with um I'm not sure how many games are but we're we play one of the games in that tournament. >> This is not to be confused with the coalition one.
>> Not to be confused. Not to be confused. >> That's it. Thank you. We we got our basketball on. Thank you. Okay. Uh, Mr. Kennedy, please add items 4 D, four to 4D to the um agenda. Superintendent report
5A, authorizations report. Are there any questions from the board? Seeing none hearing none, please add items 55A, authorizations report to the agenda. 668, a finance report, finance and accounting reports. Are
there any questions from the board? Seeing none hearing none, please add item 66 6A to the agenda, finance and accounting report. Um item seven, award of contracts. Any questions or comments from the
board? I have a question. >> Yes, madam vice president. >> Uh the page page one of seven. >> Yes. >> Um the contract with Coplin Auto, will they be coming on site or our students
going there? It's a Crystal Ahern question. >> Yes. So it will be our students um going there. So it's just give them opportunity for to gain hours. Um, so they'll be going there. >> I'm excited to hear that because for a
very long time they didn't go offsite and everything had to happen in house. So the fact that they're traveling and they're going to be in a real mechanic shop and they're going to get hands-on experience there brings it to a whole other level. So thank you. Thank you.
>> It's not always bad. Are there any questions? If none, seeing none, hearing none, please add item number seven, award of contracts to our agenda. Items eight, um, negotiations committee report. Um, like to welcome our
chairperson, Jerry Jacobs, um, as he, uh, presents it. Thank you, Commissioner. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, please bear with me because I don't have my reading glasses on today. Actually, you know, I'm going to defer to my uh committee member
>> to read this report for us. Thank you, committee. >> That's what you call teamwork. >> I can't. Thank you very much, chairman. >> For both. >> Yeah, he's not going to get his glasses anytime soon. >> You keep us busy. The committee uh I'm
sorry. Sorry. So, negotiations committee met on September 9th. The committee was briefed on a September on September 8th, 2025 administrative meeting with the EA. The meeting included discussion of board input with the development of salary guides and finalization of open
non-financial EBOE and EA proposal items. The EA continues to process the process of salary guide development for submission to the board's financial consultants for accurate review and distribution of funds across the guides in accordance with the memorandum of agreement. A follow-up meeting with the
EA scheduled for September 24th, 2025. That concludes the negotiations committee report. And then our finance committee met on September 10th. The finance committee discussed discussed the impact of
reduced title 2 and state of New Jersey funding for 2025 2026 by Union College of New Jersey for the adult education program. The program which in 2024 2025 served 45 adults will now be reduced to 14 adults. The finance committee
discussed adjusting 2526 use of facility fees charged to community groups to cover the full cost of afterhour security being incurred by the district. Previously, such costs were discounted at 90%. The committee recommended
scheduling a larger discussion of facility usage fees and discounts, including assertaining what community partners could afford to pay to continue after school programs. The finance committee requested an overview of cyber security and insurance coverage to be
presented at the October 8th meeting. And that concluded our finance committee. >> You're very welcome. >> Legal committee. >> Thank you. The little committee that >> um Yes. I'm sorry. Legal Committee Commissioner um chairperson Isaiah
Rivera. >> Thank you. The committee was brief on a proposed settlement agreement involving additional speed language services counseling and transportation. A resolution for adoption was recommended and the committee asked for review and expansion of definitions of electronic devices containing related board policy
on technology use and also suggested the use of artificial intelligence be included in the review as a related service to be ongoing negotiation meeting with the EA. The superintendent briefed the committee on the revision to various job descriptions. The committee reviewed the seedback policy to ensure it does not imply a fee for
participation. An update review of all the matters with the district attorney will be scheduled for the next committee meeting on October 9th. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner uh Rivera and Commissioner Jacobs and Commissioner Pastana for those reports. Um special
education committee um presented by our chairwoman, Miss Ilana Chevers. Okay. A special ed committee met on September 16. The special ed committee reviewed the focus area of the 2025 2026 school
year and discuss the timeline for SEA of the item. The agenda include a discussion on the update for the beginning of the school year including the current enrollment and the new registration. The special education committee discussed the transition of the new director, including the
introduction to all teacher and CST member at the full day professional developmental day held on September 3rd and the recent launch of the new newsletter for the parents. The committee discussed the recent work conducted by the director that includes systematic improvement. Lastly, the
committee was briefed on the recent ECPAD meeting that took place on September 15, including the review of the ECPAD mission to address systematic concern that impact the majority of the identify ways to create positive chain for a student. In addition, the CPAD
bylaw were reviewed and topic of the interested were discussed. That conclude our report. >> Thank you, Commissioner Chevres. at this time. Um, >> Mr. President, >> yes. >> I have, um, something to add to miscellaneous communications if I could,
>> please. >> Um, each year the board confirms its code of ethics and I'm going to have >> Mr. Mahan pass out the form and we read the um, code of ethics that the board confirms. So, if I could do that
reading, I'll do that now. Members of the board of education recognize that they hold authority not as individuals but as members of the board. In order to make a clear public statement of its philosophy of service to the students of the district, the board adopts this code of ethics. A I
will uphold and enforce all laws, state board rules and regulations and court orders pertaining to schools. Desired changes should be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures. B. I will make decision in terms of the educational welfare of children and will
seek to develop and maintain public schools which meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex or social standing. C. I will confine my board action to policym, planning, and appraisal. And I
will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them. D. I will behave toward my fellow board members with respect to their office, demonstrating courtesy, decorum, and fair play at all public meetings and in
all public statements. E. I will refrain from inappropriate conduct in public meetings and in making public statements, refraining from any dispar disparagement of my fellow board members or others on a personal, social, racial or religious basis.
F. I will carry out my responsibility not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are wellrun. G I will recognize that authority rests with the board of education will make no personal promises nor take any private
action which may compromise the board. H I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interests or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends. I will uphold I will hold confidential all
matters pertain to schools which if disclosed would needlessly injure individuals or the schools but in all other matters I will provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community
for its schools. J vote to appoint the best qualified personnel personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief school administrator. And K, I will support and protect school personnel and proper performance of
their duties. And L, I will refer all complaints to the chief school administrator and will act on such complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution. So the form that was passed out is acknowledging the code of ethics for the
board members that I just read and we've met our responsibility under DJQAC to do this at a board meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. Board members, please make sure you sign the document and submit it back to our business administrator.
Thank you again. Um Mr. Kennedy, we are now on tab nine. Any questions or concerns? Seeing none, hearing none, please add tab nine to the agenda. Tab 10 to 10p resolutions. Are there any questions, comments, or concerns?
>> Mr. President, >> yes. >> I have a question on 10 L. Either grant or cool. What is that for, Mr. Milan? Yes. 10 L. >> The cool the cool grant is from the U uh
New Jersey New Jersey state of New Jersey and it's for uh if we participate, they pay up to 50% of the cost of um of the grant. So like for example if we are going to replace a um
one of our chillers uh because of the age of the chiller they have the old u uh refrigerant so that if we replace it with a new refrigerant then it's 50% you know the cost of that. >> So we have to come up with 50% of that.
>> Thank you Mr. Mo. >> Any comments or concerns? Seeing none, hearing none. Mr. Candy, please add resolutions 10 to 10p
to the agenda. At this time, um, the president requests a motion to go into private session to consider matters exempt under the open public meetings act, specifically for discussion of legal matters, specifically workers compens compensation,
VA, A, G, MP, DR, LL, and NA. Personal matters, specifically interviews and reorganization, award of contracts, specifically to additional services, registered behavioral texts, behavior analyst, certification board and consultant services, board authorization
of of naming athletic facility. The board will reconvene in public and may take formal action. May I have a motion and a second? >> I make a motion to go into private session. >> Motion has been made and properly seconded. Uh, Miss Kennedy, roll call,
please. >> Barbosa, >> yes. >> Bathless, >> Carvalo, >> yes. >> Chevresz, >> yes. >> Jacobs, >> yes. >> Pastana, >> yes. >> Rivera, >> yes. >> Non, >> yes.
>> And we will be back after private to conclude our meeting. Thank you everyone. Thank you for being here. Mr. Kenny, are there any additional items that you would like added to the agenda? >> Um, before we do that, I think I'll go
with Dr. Hugoire as the HIV report. >> I do. >> May I, Mr. President? >> Sure. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh, pursuant to board policy 5131.1, harassment, intimidation, and bullying, New Jersey statute 18A col37, the results of each investigation
shall be reported to the board of education no later than the date of the next board meeting following completion of the investigation, and include any services provided, training established, discipline imposed, other actions taken or recommended by the chief school administrator. Since our last board of
education meeting on August 21st, 2025 and through September 9th, our supervisor of anti-bullying has completed one HIV investigation. This investigation was founded for HIV as per New Jersey law based on other distinguishing characteristics. There was one female and one male regular
education student who were the alleged victims and one male special education student who was the alleged offender. of the services provided and the actions taken for this investigation. There was one referral for outpatient mental health treatment and one parent conference that were conducted to
address this incident. The HIV statute further requires that at the next regularly scheduled meeting after the board members have received the initial report of HIV investigations that the board issue a decision in writing to affirm, reject, or modify the superintendent's decision pertaining to the one case that was reported to you at
the last board meeting on August 21st. In order for you to do so, the investigation summary from that investigation which was reported to you at the last board meeting has been provided for your review prior to voting. Uh this completes the HIB report for our September board of education meeting. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Madam Superintendent. Um at this time, may I have a motion to um Mr. Kenny, do you have any items you want to present? >> Yes. Thanks. >> Okay. >> Um yes, we do have a few items. First is a resolution for settlement of workers compensation NA. Another for settlement
of workers compensation NL. Uh we have resolution for your organization including adoption of revised job descriptions. We have personnel report 2C.
We have award of contracts report 7A. And we have some resolutions for appointment. The first being appointment of vice principal Margaret Margodona for vice principal at
school number six. Um appointment of vice principal for Maria Petro Letos logo vice principal at Christian J. Bowage Finance Academy. Appointment of supervisor of physical
education and health, Gyro Labrador. Appointment of interimm director of food and nutrition services, Feliche Salvatore. Appointment of interimm assistant director of food and nutrition surface services, Frank Lazola.
And we have a resolution for dedication of the new athletic fieldhouse in the name of Gil Chapman. And those are the additional items that can be added to the agenda. >> Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. May I have a
motion and a second to approve the entire approve the entire agenda? >> Motion to approve the entire agenda, Mr. President. >> I second that motion. >> Motion has been made and properly seconded. Mr. Kennedy, roll call, please.
>> Barbosa, >> yes. >> Bathus, >> Carvalo, >> yes. >> You have a few >> abstensions. Tab 4 B items one.
Tab 4 B item two. Tab 4 B item three. Tab 52 and resolution number 10. >> Thank you, Chevress. >> Yes. With extension type seven, page
three and four for all provincial contacts. >> Thank you, Mr. Jacobs. >> Yes. Congratulations, >> Marina Ortega. >> Yes. >> Gavas Pastana. Yes, congratulations to
all. >> And Mr. Rivera, >> yes. Felicas, congratulations. >> And Mr. Mara, >> yes. With an extension of tab 4 B, tab five,
tab 7, and resolution number 10. >> And aside from that, I say yes and congratulations. So, the entire agenda has passed this evening, including our new appointments.
[Applause] Are there any comments and questions from the board? >> I know you're excited. >> Seeing none, hearing none, again, we want to wish everybody a wonderful uh
new school year. wish you all um nothing but success. Um again, let's be solutiondriven and let's try to achieve our highest and our best um as a team, as a family, as a community. So, at this time, uh Mr. Kenny, can I have a u can I
have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting? >> I make a motion to adjurnn tonight's meeting. I second the motion. >> Motion has been made. Is there a second? >> Yeah. Okay. Second. Uh, motion has been made and properly seconded. Mr. Kenny, roll call, please.
>> Barbosa, >> yes. Good night and God bless. >> Bathless. >> Parvalo. >> Yes. >> Chevresz, >> yes. Good night. >> Jacobs, >> yes. Good night. >> Marina Ortega, >> yes. Good evening. >> And Kavas Pastana. >> Yes. Good night, everyone. >> Rivera,
>> yes. >> Neron, >> yes. And congratulations once again. Have a good night everybody.