Mr. Bowski >> here. >> Dr. Berlini >> present. >> Miss Brown >> present. >> Mr. Aia >> present. >> Miss Fovich >> present. >> Mr. Santana
>> present. Presented preview. >> Miss Yorman >> present. >> Miss May >> present. The New Jersey open meeting law to ensure the right of the public to have notice of and to attend the meetings of the public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is
discussed or acted upon. Inordance with provisions of this acton board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time and place thereof distributed to the persons on the approved list, posted in the board of education administrative office and sent to the burden record in the new the Herald news. The announcement posting for the
regular monthly meeting along with the date, place and time thereof was originally distributed on January 24th, 2025. Please join me in the flight. America and to the republic for it stands one nation
indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Good evening. We will open up with our student representatives. Sophia Mueller from Memorial Middle School, Anushia Gupta from Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and our Fairon High School
student rep who joins us monthly as refinement. Um, the floor is yours. One of Memorial's most beloved and fiercely competitive traditions has once again delivered laughs, gasps, and a few dramatic pumpkin tears. Yes, folks, pumpkin palooa has wrapped up for another year. And the creativity on
display was nothing short from gourd. Just see what I did there. Now, before we get to the winners, we must report some shocking news. Despite her bold and questionable Sciberty Toilet pumpkin entry, Miss Schwint did not place in the top three this year. We know. We're just
as disappointed as you are. But hey, you can't flush away the competition that easily, Miss Schwint. And now for the moment you've all been waiting for. The winners of this year's pumpkin pooa are in first place, Is It Cake by Miss Msia, Miss Guy, and Miss Pataznic. In second place, Spooky Cat by
Miss Aaron Cibia. Third place, Sick Seven by Miss Niza, Miss Analdo, and Miss Viscanti, and Miss Graph. We are so grateful to all of the staff who participated. And to everyone who voted, this fun and festive event helped support our beloved Salute to Veterans
celebration scheduled for November 10th. In addition, pumpkins were delivered to the senior center for the community to enjoy. They may even still be on display if you want to check them out. The pumpkins were fierce. The competition was tight and Memorial's creativity continues to re supreme.
>> In the spirit of smiles, fun, and parties, students, families, and faculty were welcomed back on Tuesday, September 2nd, in a way to bring our community together in celebration of our new TJ mascot, Captain Cutter. Thanks to our PTO led by Mrs. Sahori, students,
family, and faculty were greeted upon arrival with DJ food, a guest appearance by Captain Cutter, and giveaways like eye patches, t-shirts, and stickers. Our thanks to Mr. Yamashita who's working with students in the art club to create a mural on the wall outside of the main
office of our new logo. Memorial Middle School proudly joins forces with the district to support Kaye and raise awareness for pediatric cancer by wearing gold. Our school community came together with incredible spirit and compassion. Memorial staff alone raised $350 in support of this important cause.
Thank you to everyone who participated and helped shine a light of hope and strength for children and families affected by pediatric cancer. Together, we show that Falcons have hearts of gold. >> We are thrilled to announce that 12 incredibly talented students from Memorial and Thomas Jefferson auditioned
and were selected for the prestigious Bergen County Band and Chorus. This accomplishment speaks volumes about the dedication, hard work, and skill of these young vocalists. Competing against some of the finest singers in the county, they demonstrated both confidence and exceptional musical ability, earning themselves a
well-deserved place in the chorus. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding students as they prepare to perform and inspire through their love of music. And from TJ, Maiisha Bansali, Aaron Chen, Amelia Chen, Junyang, Jin,
Katherina Kv, Alma McGidd, Shisha Pnayak, Victoria Southgate, and from Memorial, Cassidy Bait, Alexander Ramos, Tablada, Dimmitri Fig Roba, Liam Rose.
>> The week of respect at Memorial was filled with energy, excitement, and school spirit as students came together to celebrate and their outstanding character. The fifth and sixth grade character cavalcade was a highlight with students proudly participating in team building events that brought out their best qualities and made an unforgettable
day. In their classes, students were assigned a pillar of character to represent. Each class went all out creating mascots, banners, songs, dances, and even their own flags to embody their character pillars. The festivities kicked off with a lively parade featuring these creative displays as students marched outside the school
with unity. For week of respect at TJ, students and teachers were throwing their kindness boomerang around the building to promote empathy and inclusion within our school community. We kick things off with this kindness presentation in each classroom to reinforce that being kind is a way to
express respect. And we would always like these actions to shine throughout TJ this year. Our focus for students is that respectful actions have ripple effects. What you put out into the halls of TJ matters and creates a happy environment for all. Throughout the month of October, our teachers have been
looking to catch students being kind and respectful and are sharing their stories of students who are excelling at creating a happy environment for everyone here at TJ with this display on our bulletin board outside of the auditorium. In addition to this work, our PE and health teachers presented a threecl
class lesson in our health classes to review behavioral expectations as well as the HIV law with scenarios to identify how and why certain behaviors can be hurtful to others. And now, big news from Memorial Drama.
We're snapping with excitement to announce this year's drama production, The Adams Family. Tryyous have already taken place and the cast and crew are set. Rehearsals are already underway as our talented students bring this delightfully spooky family to life. Stay tuned for more details as we creep closer to opening night. But for now,
save the dates, February 27th and 28th. >> At TJ, the drama club will be presenting the m musical Beetlejuice Jr. on March 6th and 7th. Join us as we meet a teenager named Lydia who moves into a new haunted house by haunted by you know
who. A guaranteed fun night for the entire family. Just don't say his name three times. Good evening everyone. I'm excited to share an update on recent and upcoming events at Fairlon High School. So to start, the masks will be performing
their fall performance, Daka Supa Palooa, from Tuesday, November 18th through Friday, November 22nd. Students have been working hard in preparation and we are looking forward to another successful production. Tickets are available for purchase on
the Fairlon High School website. Shifting to the student government association, SGA recently held our first general assembly meeting of the year. We heard reports from all our class council presidents, including myself, about upcoming class council events. More on
those later, and brainstormed ideas for our fall spirit week in November. In addition to our first general assembly meeting, we also held our first ever leadership conference for the SGA in class council officers. At this leadership conference, the officers
participated in team bonding and leadership activities. It was a great day and an event that we look forward to continuing in the future. SGA also just held Fairlon High School's second annual homecoming dance. Tickets sold well and
fast with over 350 people in attendance. The homecoming dance is unique because it brings together all the grades for a fun night and everyone had a blast. The student government is now shifting focus to our upcoming November pep rally. I
look forward to providing more details as we finalize that event. Fairmont High School recently had our annual club fair. Representatives from all our active clubs showcased their clubs and organizations and encourage students to join and get involved.
Following the club fair, most of our student clubs have begun begun hosting interest meetings and planning their activities and fundraisers for the year. It's great to see our students getting involved in our amazing student activities. Our class councils have also been
active, hosting successful food nights and movie nights to promote community and raise funds. The junior class council had our most recent food night at Habitburg in the Prominade just yesterday. And we have another dining night in the works for November. So stay tuned.
As we approach Halloween, our seniors are looking forward to the annual senior costume contest, which will take place during period 8 on October 31st. Dressing up in costume is a long-standing senior privilege and a tradition students look forward to throughout their four years at high
school. I always look forward to seeing the seniors costume. They're always pretty funny. Uh overall, student involvement is strong and we are excited for everything still ahead this year. That concludes my report for you all tonight. Thank you for your time.
>> Sophia, Anushka, and Ezra. Thank you guys so much. You are welcome to stay and participate in our community governance. However, um if you guys need to leave, please do so at your convenience. Um before we get started, I just want to
um formally welcome uh Mr. Jorge Cruz, our new business administrator. Um, congratulations and welcome to your first um, monthly meeting. Additionally, to my right um, is our new
regularly attending board attorney, Mr. Matthew J. Kobe. Thank you so much. And then lastly, before we get into business of the board, I just want to recognize and thank both Mr. Spidell and
Mr. Iken for joining us this evening. They are both former board of uh education trustees. Thank you for being here. So, Dr. Dianio, um it is time for our student superintendent comments and then we will roll into our presentation this evening. The floor is yours.
>> Thank you very much. Good evening, Board of Education. Good evening, members of the public and those at home watching. Um, we do have a few presentations this evening um that are required uh under the law to report and then we also have some context to be able to provide as
well um regarding some updates. But before so, we have the agenda that's up here um for this evening. But before we begin tonight's presentation, I do want to recognize the outstanding work of our communications officer, Rebecca Vote. If
you see Mr. Jorge Cruz right in front of him, I'm not sure if he picked up on it, but there are two awards that are sitting there uh in front of his desk. Uh a few weeks ago, the New Jersey uh School Public Relations Association honored Fairlong with two awards of
merit at their annual ceremony, the most competitive this year in the organization's history. with 140 submissions from 53 school districts judged by a national panel. Rebecca, who is behind me that we're
recognizing, uh, did an amazing job with her No Place for Hate video for Memorial Middle School, which has already been recognized nationally and this year also won at the state level. And the superintendent's corner column earned recognition in the newsletter category as well. So Rebecca, this is excellent
work and on behalf of the administration, the district, and the board of education, we'd like to thank you for your commitment to our students, to our staff, and to our families. So now we're going to shift into the first presentation this evening. Um, you
see here the HIV two-year analysis. HIV, for those of you who do not know, stands for harassment, intimidation, and bullying. And there is legislation um in New Jersey that protects our students. So, what I want to do is I want to talk about something that matters deeply to
every family and to all of us here in this room, and that's whether or not children feel safe at school. So, each year we provide an update in the state of our schools on student safety. uh over the past year as you can see here we have seen significant progress. So to
the left we have the 23 24 school year and in blue we have the total number of HIV cases that were reported and investigated. All cases that are reported are investigated in the district. And then
in red you see the number of cases that are found. And what that means is out of the total number of cases that were reported, 81 cases in the 23 24 school year met the definition of the law as it relates to harassment, intimidation, and
bullying. What you could see is when you take a look at 2425 last school year, 114 students in blue or I should say 114 investigations in blue and 48 cases were confirmed by the board of education for
HIV being found. >> So, so >> to make it clear, if we're looking at the red from 81 to 48, that's a 41% reduction in the number of incidents of bullying. Put another way, that's 33 less students that felt safe coming to
school that were not adversely impacted and could effectively receive their education. That matters. >> I also want to highlight one important statistic and that's when we reviewed the numbers.
The number of offenders that you see in red in 2425 represents less than 1% of the total students in the Feron public schools. I'm going to say that again. That represents less than 1% of the
students are identified as offenders in the Fairon public schools. That means 99% of our students are doing the right thing every single day, right? They're being upstandards. You heard our students tonight talking about kindness activities and being able to support
their peers. So what changed? There's a correlation here and we have three that we're going to share with you tonight. So first, No Place for Hate, which is our partnership with the Anti-Defamation League. Many of you have heard throughout the year our
communications on that about our partnership throughout the district. We make it part of our conversation on a frequent basis with our schools. Um, so No Place for Hate. Every school in our district partnered with the Anti-Defamation League, No Place for Hate initiative. Not one or two schools,
but every single building. Students and staff made the commitments to creating these inclusive environments. And in fact, last year we were recognized by the ADL as an ADL gold winner, and we were recognized at NYU for all the amazing initiatives that we've done at
our schools. Secondly, when we take a look at the middle, anti-bullying curriculum and professional development. So, when we look there, those are the targeted lessons and professional development that we're actually providing not only
to our staff, but to our students and you heard some of that as well tonight from what our students are talking about with the start of the year initiative pushing into the classrooms. Those are the ongoing interventions and instruction where the staff is positively impacting our students.
Third, >> the community leadership council. So, you'll remember back in 20 following October 2023. Um I had arrived here in the district. There was a lot of tension at that time.
um and we were managing the challenges that our students were facing in feeling fearful and coming to school. We created a community leadership council where we brought together educators, board members, civic leaders, um our faith
leaders within the community in order to be able to talk about the strengths within our schools and the areas that we can continue to hone and to improve. that council continues to meet and this work doesn't stop when the tensions ease. This work continues in order to
move this work forward. So these are not hopes, these are actions that we've had. These are not just intentions that we've had. These are results that you can actually see how they've translated in that correlation over the last two years.
Additionally, how do we handle situations when an incident of HIV is affirmed? So, when it HIV is reported and we investigate and it's founded, what do we do in order to remediate those
behaviors? So, we take a three-pronged approach. We approach it with discipline, we approach it with education, and we approach it with counseling. So what does that look like? Well, we apply the student code of conduct appropriately based on not only
what the infraction is, but also what the age of the children is in order to be able to address those inappropriate behaviors accordingly. So discipline is the first of those three problems. The second piece is education. We can't just
expect that we're going to discipline students and that they're going to learn just from the discipline. We need to also educate them. We need to make sure that we teach them why their behaviors are inappropriate, unacceptable, and can't happen again. So, if we want to
change behaviors, we need to educate. So, we have programs and curriculum to support that work. Lastly, we have counseling. So the counseling is for the alleged target or victim in the HIV case, but in addition,
it is also for the offender. Once again, another teaching opportunity to make sure that these behaviors do not repeat. And that's something that we also track. We track to see that the students who are committing HIVs, right, that less
than 1% are not repeat offenders. And then that way we can make sure that we're correctly supporting each of those families. So when we take a look each year our school district each of our schools
completes is required to complete under the HIV law a self assessment. And each school has a school safety team that's comprised of the principal, educators, parents, number of different stakeholders. And they have eight core
elements that they have to review. And you can see here what it measures. Whether we're training staff properly, whether students know how to report these incidents, whether investigations are following all of the legal procedures, and whether we're teaching prevention curriculum.
So those are the eight eight core elements. And there are There is a rubric that each school must follow and the scale is a maximum score of 78. And you could see here how each of our schools has done. And this is a way for us to assess how we're doing at each
school, but then also how to set measurable goals in order to continue to improve. So I can tell you that from the 23 24 scores which are published on our website, we'll publish these um following the board meeting that these scores have actually stayed the same at
schools or improved which shows you that the process is working. This is all tying together. So let me share a little bit about um what we see when we're talking about specifically students experiencing different types of harassment um and
understanding this to help us you know effectively support students. So there are a number of different categories and what you can see is that we've categorized them into four different buckets. You see identity based which will include race, religion, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, appearance based which which includes weight, height and body image, ability based which includes a disability um mental health or other factors, gender, family, other
distinguishing characteristics. So every child deserves to feel supported and to feel safe when they come to school and these are the different categories that are protected under the law. So, let me show you a little bit about the comprehensive work that's underway
and how we take proactive measures within the school district. Um, so before we move on to the next section tonight, I do want to address directly the fact that um I I recognize that there are people in the board has received a number of emails and a petition regarding Jewish American
Heritage Month and a petition in order to make a call to recognizing and I hear that. We all hear that. I know that the board hears that, members of the community hear that. Um, what I'm here to do is tonight is to be able to provide some perspective. Perspective
around what we currently do and perspective around a process that's inclusive of the Jewish community, but inclusive of all community members. So, this is work that we've been doing for years. And the first that I want to
show you is what's required by law. So these are the New Jersey Department of Education curricular mandates. So you'll see starting from the left and working to the right, we have American African-American
history. That's through the Amastad bill teaching the contributions and experience of African-Americans. It's required. We teach it LGBT and persons with disabilities.
Teaching political, economic, and social contributions of LGBTQ plus. It's required. We teach it. Holocaust and genocide. Teaching the Holocaust and other genocides in elementary, middle, and high school. It's required. We teach
it. AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander mandate. teaching the history and contributions of Asian-American Pacific Islanders. It's required. We teach it. Diversity and
inclusion on diversity inclusion within our curriculum. It's required. We teach it. One that's not up here is the stated recently stated mandated Latino and Hispanic history requirement mandate
that's coming in 2627 next year. It will be required. We will teach it. These aren't suggestions. These are state mandates. We teach those at a bare minimum. So now what I want to move into is that we don't just stop at compliance. We move well beyond that.
So, I want to share a little bit about some of the other curricular areas that we address within our schools in the elementary, middle, and high school level. So, I'll give you a snapshot. This is not a comprehensive list, but
this is something that we've had many conversations with the community leadership council, that group of 30 to 40 community members that I have mentioned earlier tonight. So this gives you a list of some of the foundational interventions and programs that we offer
at our elementary schools. So No Place for Hate, that's the student led program through Anti-Defamation League. Every school, every elementary school participates, our Lizzy Cider visits, anti-bullying presentations. We have month monthly CA character assemblies.
Um not just sometimes, but all of the time. They're on a monthly basis in our elementary schools to talk about the pillars of responsibility, of kindness, and of courage. Social emotional learning is SEAL. That's the Sanford Harmony program. That's in our
elementary K5 daily routines. Um to K5 curriculum. Our elementary schools are K4. Teach empathy, conflict resolution, and inclusion. That's how you build culture in the foundations of our schools. We have diverse celebrations of various cultures across all of our
schools. We have inclusion opportunities and we have parent and family involvement with presentations in these collaborations. So these aren't just rules. We're not just following mandates. You can see already here that we're going above and beyond the mandates that are required by the state
that are sensitive to the needs of our schools and the needs of our community. When we shift to the middle school, gave you three of the main areas that we focus on. Once again, you see No Place for Hate as the studentled climate
improvement program that's had significant impact on our schools that's led by our middle school students. You also see an eighth grade field trip that we're extremely proud of that is supported that is inclusive of all of
our eighth grade students in TJ and Memorial Middle Schools. So, it includes all of our students. Um, it's three years running now. They attend the Rockland Community College, Holocaust Museum, and Center for Tolerance and Education. And that means that each year
over 400 of our eighth grade students attend that full day event and have that immersive um intensive educational experience. Lastly, for middle schools, we have Heroes and Cool Kids. So, this is a pure
leadership program that combat students risky behaviors. Um students are trained uh our upper level students are trained on areas in a program around substance abuse, bullying and peer pressure to be able to give peer mentoring. So I I want
everybody to hear this clearly that this is something that impacts all of the students so far K to8. So you already get a flavor of beyond the mandates that are required what our schools are doing. Um, and that field trip isn't random. It's something that we're deeply
committed to and has become an important part of our curriculum. And then lastly, when we shift to the high school, you see, of course, once again, No Place for Hate studentled initiative. Um, we have there it's a
much more sophisticated form because we have high school students who are older, more mature, and are able to be the leaders within our school community to really do this important work. Um, our student clubs, you heard a little bit about that tonight from our high school
representative Ezra who mentioned that we had the club fair recently. We have over 60 clubs at the club fair and they are of all different types from STEM to languages to business leaders to our
Muslim student association, our Jewish student union, our Christian student fellowship. Glow and Erase support our LGBTQ plus community. So it's very extensive. So, this is a way for us to make sure that we're creating an
inclusive environment and one where every student feels seen and feels heard. We have the diversity council on global education and citizenship. That's our partnership with Keen University's Holocaust Resource Center. Um, that's a
very productive uh and successful partnership that we've had around civil rights and teaching of Holocaust education and global citizenship. Um, And then there's also the prejudice reduction and holocaust education postback program that we have in
partnership with Keen University where we have teachers who've engaged in this intensive program at no cost to them. That cost is picked up by Keen University and by donors in order to be able to continue to support our staff members with professional development in these areas that then ultimately impact
our students. We've also sent three teachers to Europe with a Holocaust survivor through the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. Um we have dual enrollment program on Holocaust and genocide at the high school. Um we have had most
recently even last year a survivor speaks program where we had a Holocaust survivor uh who spoke with our students through the Jewish Federation of the Greater Metro West. Um, we celebrate Holocaust Remembrance Day every single year. Um, over the past several years,
we've had a very productive partnership with our students being leaders and partnering with our teachers and bringing in guest speakers. Um, and we make that a requisite event at the high school in order to make sure that that's infused as part of our curriculum. So,
we maintain that relationship with Keen University's diversity council. We have one of our administrators who is actually on the Ramapo College Holocaust round table. Um, and we collaborate with the town library regarding initiatives
around anti-semitism. So, this is not something that's new to us. We're very sensitive to the needs of our community of all of our groups. So, that gives you a little bit of a sense of some of the work that we've been doing. There's a lot more that occurs besides that. Um
and then we'll get into a little bit more of what the recommendation I have for the board to kind of take a more holistic comprehensive approach on this moving forward. So um I recognize what the petition asks. I give you that as just a very brief overview to touch on a
few points. Um, I could do the same thing uh for Hispanic heritage, Muslim heritage, uh, LGBTQ plus, um, all of the different groups that are represented within our community. Um, are very vibrant, strong, diverse community that
we have. Uh, I understand the request. I know that the board also understands the request. Um, you have seen how we are already exceeding the mandates. Um, the board has heard from me. you know how I feel about um making decisions, always make informed decisions that studies
these requests. And my recommendation to the board is to take the request, listen to members of the public, take that information, bring it back with the administration, uh do a study around more in depth around all of the different cultures that we have within
our community and what we currently do. uh where there are areas that we can continue to add and improve in order to continue to make our community even more supportive and inclusive. Um and I would recommend bringing that back to the education committee. You see some more
highlights here around our commitment to Holocaust and Jewish heritage education. These are things that have been going on for several years that we're very very proud about. Um, bringing the recommendation back to committee is a deliberative, thoughtful action and
approach that allows us to make sure that when we're making decisions, they're informed and that they're inclusive of all groups within our community. Now, I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Keller, who's going to talk to us a
little bit about DM and NJSLA before we then jump into All right, good evening everybody. Thank you very much for everyone watching and in attendance. I'm going to start talking about DM. So these are our spring administration test results. Um the
dynamic learning maps known as the DM is an alternate assessment that is given to students with the most significant intellectual disabilities in English language arts, mathematics and science. They take this in lie of the NJSLA. So this is a very small population of our students that end up taking this test.
It's about 60 students throughout the district. Uh the test measures the students understanding and their ability to apply content knowledge and skills. They call this the essential elements. Um and we're looking for students to be above or you know at target. Uh and it's information for parents and educators to
set high academic standards for students um for expectations for our students and to guide instruction. So this is a graph showing us the results from the last two years for each of the three subjects um English language arts, mathematics, and science.
So uh the bars on the left are from 2024 last year. So you compare how we did in previous years to how we're doing this year. So what you can probably see at first glance is we actually had less students take the DM last year or this past year, which is which is accurate. The line across the center of the um
screen is proficiency and everyone above that is advanced or considered at target. So if you were to look at you know this you can see in general it's similar to how we performed last year. Additionally if you look at other districts a lot of them are doing their same data analysis in September and
October. These are very similar results to um other districts and the state because it's despite it being an alternate assessment, it still is assessing grade level based skills and knowledge um to make sure that students are meeting those. And this is all IP
and programmatic driven for our students. The vast majority of our IEP students do take the NGSLA, which is what we're going to get into for the remaining bit of the slides. All right. So, moving on to the NJSLA.
So, the NJSLA assessment is given in grades three through nine. And we look and we assess three different content areas. English language arts. So, we're looking at the students ability to read, comprehend, and write. Mathematics. We're looking at their understanding of the major content and the minor content
as well as their ability to reason and model. And then finally, science. Science. We're looking at their scientific and engineering practices in the context of their crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas. There's two different ways it's scored.
So, English language arts is scored um along with mathematics, sorry, on a scale of one through five. Four and five are meeting and exceeding expectations. And then for science, it's one through uh one through four where it's three and four are proficient or advanced proficient. So, in general, the next few
slides we're going to look at, we're we're looking for more green. We want more students that are meeting or exceeding proficiency. So, the following slides, we're going to take the information that we have, our students proficiency rate over this past year, and we're going to look at it a few different ways. We're going to look
at it um just for each subject area. We're going to compare to the state. We're going to look at growth. We're going to look at cohorts. Um we're going to look at comp districts and a demographic analysis. So, we're going to take all that information. We're going to analyze it um in a lot of different ways so that we can get an in-depth look at the data. And we're going to start
with looking at the number of valid scores by content area. Um so if you So what this is showing us is for each of the either grade levels on the left or um subject area tests like in mathematics, the number of students that took the
assessment, the number of I'm sorry, not students that took it, the number of valid scores that we received, and then the percent of valid scores. So, English language arts, mathematics, and science. So, just if you look right in the center of the graph for grade 8 math, 296 students took the grade 8 math
assessment. You're going to notice that's actually less than the English language arts number and the science number because starting in seventh grade across this state, but in our district, we start to have different levels of mathematics. They're not all taking the same assessment. So, you start to see different numbers of students actually
taking the assessment. That's just important to keep in mind, especially on the future slides because if you see in the math chart as you go down, you know, past 8th grade, it's different populations and sizes of students. So, we're going to see some tests that only have 30 students that took the test, some that are about 300, but the top
part, grades three through six are their whole grade level are actually taking the assessment. Whereas in English language arts and science, regardless of what level enriched honors the the child is in, they're taking the same uh grade level assessment like the rest of their peers.
And we have about 3,000 students that that ultimately test the percentage of valid score. So what would make something an invalid score? If somebody refused the assessment, um if a student didn't complete enough questions, um or maybe they um missed they were absent
and missed the makeup window. Those will all be examples of invalid scores which you know ultimately attribute to our percentage but vast majority of our students take the test pretty much close to 99% and above. All right. So this is our English
language arts proficiency for 2025. If you look right across like right in the middle sixth grade um 50% of our students were exceeding expectations for language arts. That's really really impressive. 33% were meeting expectations. That means 83% of our
sixth grade students were meeting or exceeding expectations. And then we had 10% that were approaching and then collectively 6% that were not meeting or partially meeting. All of these seven grades, if you look all the way to the right, that bar combines all those seventh grades
together. So we have um 77% of our students in English language arts that are proficient. And what I was extremely impressed on, 39% of them are exceeding. That's extremely impressive. 39%. So almost the same amount that are meeting expectations.
Same information for mathematics. It looks a lot busier on the graph because we have all those different courses tied in. The left side of the graph are um all of the grade levels where all the students are testing. So you're seeing like 420 or so students grades K through
six or sorry not K three through six. The right side of the graph we're seeing smaller pockets of students maybe 30 maybe 300 um because those are the course sequences once we start in seventh grade. You can kind of even see the little dip in seventh grade where it
happens. The last grade with all students that are testing um is sixth grade which had 73% of students that were meeting or exceeding expectations. All the way to the right which you know, might be a little hard to see because the bars are just small with so many bars on the on the chart. Overall, 70%
of our students um sorry, yeah, 70% of the seven grades, I was getting myself done with the seven, 70% of our students were meeting or exceeding expectations for mathematics. So, that's that that's a really great number. And of that, um in the dark
green, we had 18% that were exceeding. And then finally, science. So science has consistently been lower in the state as well as in Fairlon. So if you look at the scores for collectively English language arts, mathematics, and science, you're going to see English language arts, a little bit lower math, bit lower
science. That's that's generally pretty consistent throughout the state in terms of our assessments for the last few years. So the two levels we're looking for, the green bars are proficiency. And so collectively we have about 41% of our
students in science that are meeting proficiency. So we're looking for more. We know that we're going to analyze it a bunch of different ways. Just we can get a lot of information from this and you know find helpful resources to be able to figure out what we can do to target instruction.
So now we're going to look at this information um but analyze it verse the state. So this is English language arts proficiency. So each of the red bars are the proficiency the totals of the two different shades of green bars on the previous slides that we saw for language
arts. Um so third grade 30% of I'm sorry 70% of our students were proficient. Um and then the blue bar is the state. So as you can see fair demonstrated significantly higher proficiency than the state across all grade levels. Um and then the largest gap was actually in
grade six which was um 83% versus 56%. So that that was our biggest gap from the state. We are outperforming the state by about 25%. Similarly, in mathematics, we're outperforming the state across all of the subject areas and grades. The
largest gap that we have is actually in eighth grade. Eighth grade is a a unique grade. If you were to go back and look at the numbers, that's the one I pointed out where it had 300 or so students. that that grade you're pulling out your some of your honors kids, the different kids that are in algebra 1, algebra 2,
they're taking a different assessment. So, those are the students the it's it's a smaller population across the state that is actually taking that test, but we have double the scores, more than double the scores than the state um 43% versus 21%. And then math is outperforming the state
by an even larger gap. It's actually by about 29% whether you count the smaller populations with the courses or if you don't um and just go with the courses um by just the grade levels. All right. And then for science, science
is also outperforming the state average. We're anywhere from 14 to 15% above the state average. In grade eight, we do see a dip, but so does the state. So, it's a dip for both. One helpful thing in looking at the
state. We are outperforming the state by by quite a bit. And it might seem like it's not worth looking at. We have to report it, but it might seem like it's not worth, but it is actually helpful to find trends and see things that are happening across not just maybe in Fairlon, but are happening elsewhere. So that is a helpful piece that we are able
to look at by looking at that information. It's also good for goal setting. So looking at the proficiency analysis, we're going to look at the same information but a course of the last three years. So from 23 to 25. So you can see for language arts there's been a lot of really nice improvement. Four of
the seven grades saw growth from the previous year. In some cases the scores um maybe dipped like for instance grade nine. grade nine had seen a really nice increase the previous year and saw a dip. We're going to look at it in a few slides. The state actually saw a really big dip in that grade as well. So just
it's interesting to to see those kind of trends in the numbers. And then just to highlight the sum of all of our results from 2023 24 and 25 language arts has seen a 3% gain in results over the course of those three
years. In mathematics, we have seen an increase in eight of the 10 areas. One of the areas is actually exactly the same. Algebra 2, it was 100 last year, it's 100 this year. So, eight of the 10 though saw an increase, which is
extremely impressive. And if you look at the growth from 2023 to 2025, we went from 64%, we're up six percentage points to 70% this year collectively. And then science. science saw an increase in two of the grade levels. Um
in terms of their proficiency, eighth grade did see a bit of a drop. And in terms of their growth, we are up from 2023 2% small but and but it was a little bit of a drop from from the previous year. One thing that is hard about science is you take it every three years. So
whereas math and ELA we have consistent data. You know this this same group of kids won't take another test for three years. They take it a fifth and they take it again in eth. So then putting this all together, let's look at the growth for our growth from last year as well as the state's growth.
So across the left are all the grade levels in the courses and then for each of the three subjects are our percent change from the previous year as well as the state's percent change from the previous year. I realize the colors there's a lot going on, but everywhere you see green, we grew. So everywhere
the lighter green was just growth from the previous year. The brighter green is growth over the state. So, sixth grade mathematics saw an 11.3% increase over the state. The state saw 75, sorry, 3.5. I I highlighted that because I was really impressive. We grew significantly
more than the state on that. And when you think about just the theory of how, you know, the ability to be able to grow by large percentage points, it's easier to grow when your scores are lower. Our scores are already significantly outperforming the state by almost 30% in mathematics. So to grow by another 11%
is very very big. Language arts seventh and eighth grade saw a really nice gain six both of them almost 6% increase over the collectively from last year. Now one thing to keep in mind when we talk about growth from year to year when I'm saying growth that is actually a different
population of students right so last year's third grade right isn't the same. So yes, it is growth. It is good for curricular trends and to be able to analyze curriculum because you want to see some level of consistency or growth so that you know programs are working and the changing changes you're making
are happening. That said, we will look at cohorts and look at what happens for actual individual students as they grow through as well. So we look at it both ways to be able to make informed decisions. So now we're going to look at a cohort analysis. So what does a cohort mean? A
cohort is tracking the same group of students. So in 2024 you were in grade three. In 2025 you're in grade four. What happened? So our students in language arts third graders two years ago went from 69% proficiency to 81% proficiency. So that's a huge increase.
Not only did that fourth grade do an excellent job, they had a very significant number of students that were exceeding expectations. If like you think back to the the fourth grade group, that was a really high bar. So that's extremely impressive. Three of our six cohorts saw an increase and one of them stayed exactly the same. The 671
was Oh, look at that. Oh, all right. Stayed exactly the same. So, but otherwise, three of the six saw nice impro improvements. All right. Mathematics. So, you're going to notice on this slide, it's actually a little bit different than the previous
math sides that I had shared because the previous math slides, there's algebra 1, there's geometry, there's algebra 2. Um, there's so many different groups. There's actually usually just a whole lot more bars on the slide. I we combined them for this. So seventh grade, eighth grade, and nth grade are the collective proficiency of all of the
students that are in that grade regardless of what math class they took. So if they took algebra, if they took algebra 2, if they took grade 8 math, they're all going into the grade eight proficiency. If they passed it, regardless of what class they were in, they count for proficiency. So by doing
that, we're able to look at cohorts and see the growth. Otherwise, we'd have to stop at grade six. So, four of the six cohorts saw growth. So, not only was just in general grade to grade we're seeing growth, but we're also seeing growth for cohorts.
All right. Now, we're going to look at a demographic analysis and we're going to do this as well through the previous three years. So, anytime you see purple in the next few slides, that's going to be language arts. on the right hand side are the percent breakdowns of the population of
students. I think that is really good to know for perspective because you know even though the bars are all you know going up to the total of 100% some of the populations are significantly larger or smaller than others. So it's just good to be aware. Um we're going to look at this with race, ethnicity, program
status as well as gender um and then the trends. So there's really nice growth in this across across the different subgroups. Um I think we see growth in almost all of them. Four of the five see growth here. Um all right. Now moving on
to math. So that is the same table for language arts. So the same breakdown. We'll see that for science as well. In math all of them actually saw an increase from the previous year. Uh, as a note, our Hispanic population is 22% of our student body. And the students
saw an increase of about 2% from last year and about 5% from two years ago. So, that's nice growth. And then science will be in green. We see some subgroups went up and some went down, which would make sense because we did actually drop by 1% for science. Um,
a higher proficiency by a subgroup does not necessarily make sure that that more students in that subgroup are proficient. So it really does depend on the size of the students. So smaller groups, changes of smaller numbers of kids are going to show in a larger way through the graph, but ultimately a a
little bit of um ups and downs through science. All right, language arts. Now we're going to look at programs here. So we have four programs we're looking at. We we say MLS, the state reports has it as ELLL, but um our ELM ML population,
that's about 5%. our free and reduced lunch population which has been growing that's about 18% of our population 504 is about 6% and special ed about 16%. So, language arts, we could see four of the programs saw growth. As a highlight, free and reduce saw 6% increase and our
ML students saw an increase of about 4% from the previous year. In mathematics, all four of the subgroups saw an increase. Free and reduced has seen a 15% increase in the last two years, and our ML students have seen a 14%
increase. and and especially you know free and reduce that population 18% of our population that's a that's a larger sized population so we're talking about quite a few number of students for that growth and then in science similar to math and ELA our free and reduced population has
seen a nice incline in science as well gender I did put them all on one slide for gender because gender is is pretty similar in terms of the male female comparison in terms of how they perform um our male population is slightly larger in the district in terms of tested grade it's 51% but um ac across
the board language arts math went up math just to note for all of our previous few slides on this all of the subgroups math did go up for so just as a highlight now I'm going to turn over to Dr. Dianio
to speak about comparative districts. >> So, we created some um new comp groups this year to better illustrate because conversations that we've had as a board is we're required to share out what M.
Keller has just shared in regards to our performance compared to the state, but we also want to compare ourselves to similar like districts, what our comparative districts would be and and what does that look like? So, the way we
identify the comp group districts that I'm going to show you is based on several categories. Number one, um they all must be K12 or preK to 12 school districts. And what I mean by that is from a financial allocation resource
standpoint, you would never compare us to a K8 district or a K6 district or a 9 through 12 district. So you're comparing apples to apples. So that's number one. Number two, geographic region. We take
the northeast corner of New Jersey closest to New York City. So, we're looking at Hudson County, Morris, Essex, Poseic, Union, and Bergen County. Thank you. I should have started with that one.
Um, so that's that's the second piece. We're also looking at our socioeconomic status. So, that's the median household income. Um, the state of New Jersey for decades used to consider what's called district factor groups. They call them
DFG groups. Um, A is the lowest socioeconomic, J is the highest. U Fereralon is classified on the most recent DFG status as a GH status. It's that's actually a category. It's not one definitive letter. It's GH. So, we would
compare ourselves against all other GH districts. I districts have higher socioeconomic status and J even higher than that. So, we're going to analyze those results as well tonight. So, what Mrs. Keller just shared with you is really important perspective. But now
we're going to dive in a little bit closer. So here are some of the districts that I just talked about. They're similar size. They're K through 12. The counties, the DFG group, and you see an RGH group, Fairlon, uh, Morris School District, Mount Olive, Pamis,
Parcipony, Troy Hills, Roxbury, Springfield, Tene, Wayne, West Orange, and then you see the other districts in the eyes and the chase. So now what does that mean? So, first I'm going to start with mathematics and this is going to be a really interesting story and analysis because
we're now looking at apples to apples uh comparison here, right? We're not comparing ourselves just against the state. So I want to draw your attention obviously uh Fereralon is in red and the the tan or brown bars is the average
performance level on the NJSLA for our comp district. So essentially what we're taking is all of those school districts and we're putting all of that data into a spreadsheet and we're analyzing those results. So you can see how we're
doing. So I know it's a little small. We pulled this right out of Excel to the far left. I'll just read across the x-axis across the bottom. Algebra 1, algebra 2, geometry, grade three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. And what you could see is focusing just
on grades three through six, for every on average for every five students who succeed in math in comparable districts, six or seven feralone students are succeeding. Take a look at algebra and geometry to
the far left where students in other districts are taking those same exams. For every six students who pass elsewhere, eight or nine are passing in fair. The pattern holds everywhere. Grades
three, grades four, grades five, grades six, grades seven, grade eight, algebra, geometry, every grade, every test, fereralon leads, GH districts, right? That's an applesto apples comparison.
Are these scores perfect? No. I'll draw your attention to grade six 59.3% proficiency. That means that four and 10 students still need support. Right? We acknowledge that. We recognize that. We own that and we're going to act on that.
But what this also shows us, the truth is that we should while we should never be satisfied enough, we have incredible results here to be really proud of. Um so both things can be true. And now I'm going to take you over to
what happens when I expand this list and I keep the GH districts, but now I'm adding in the I's and the Jace because this is what's going to be really interesting as you add these school districts that have more resources,
higher socioeconomic status. So what we're doing is now making the comparison tougher on ourselves. Okay, this slide adds more districts. Districts like Milbour and Livingston
and Cranford, places with higher property values, higher median incomes, more resources, still apples to apples with this comparison. Um, if loan is going to struggle anywhere, it would be here. But what we're seeing is we don't
struggle. We're leading in those categories. You see the red bars are higher than those tan bars across the board. to the far left. Take a look at algebra. For every six students on that tan line on the far left in another school in the
average of the other school districts that are passing the exams, you have over eight students who are passing in Fairone. So, we're not just keeping up, we're maintaining our advantage and we're we're seeing that consistency across the
board. And these numbers tells you that it's very real in the results and the outcomes that we're getting. We'll talk more later about why we believe that's the case. Mathematics is one measure. Let's take a look at literacy. So now I'm back to the GH districts only.
So if we thought math was strong, let's take a look at literacy here and what this looks like. So fair maintains a significant advantage across the board over comparable districts. I'll also note we're not just exceeding by two or three points. We're exceeding anywhere
between 9 to 18 points when we look at these charts. Third grade far left for every student for every five students or so on average in the other districts were almost seven students in Fairlon that are passing
that exam. So this is our true comp group, apples to apples. grades five through nine including grade four. You see that pattern repeats year after year, grade after grade. So this
is not an accident. This is what alignment looks like. Um the curriculum builds from year to year. It's intentional. We provide the teachers with professional development. We hire top talent. We support that top talent
and we give them the necessary supports. So what this data is showing is that our current system is working. Does that mean that we don't have more work to do? Of course not. We always have more work to do. But this paints the picture of what we're really doing. Um and if we're
really meeting the needs of our students and the answer predominantly is yes because we're exceeding our comp groups. What I'll also note is this. It is a common misconception to take a look at how we're performing against the bar of 100%.
I don't know a district in New Jersey or in the country that is hitting 100%. Right? So that's why we use the comparative data in order to make our assessment of how we're doing and our growth. Now we make it harder for ourselves.
Let's expand. We bring in the I and the J districts. Take a look here. Grade three, we're ahead. Far left. Left to right from grade three to grade nine. Grade four, we're ahead. Grade five,
we're ahead. Grade six, we're ahead. Seven, eight, and nine. We're ahead in every category. So that's when you know it's legitimate. This is a repeated pattern that shows up
over and over and over again. We looked at math. We looked at literacy. Let's take a look at science. Now, we're back to only looking at the GH districts. Let's talk about science because this is where it gets a little bit complicated.
I think you heard Mrs. Keller talk about this from the state level standpoint. So, Fairlon, we're looking at the three grade levels, grades five, eight, and 11. Across the bottom, Feralon grade five 43.3% proficient.
Our comp group 36.2%. We're ahead 7.1 points. Grade 8 fereralon 35.5%. Our comp group 25.9%. You see that dip from 5 to 8. There
we're 9.6 points ahead. Feral on grade 11 red bar 44.5%. Comparable districts 32.5. We're 12 points ahead there. So I know what you're thinking because I'm
thinking the same thing. When we look at grade 11, 44.5%. That means that only 44.5% of our students are meeting that proficiency. That's not good enough. That needs to improve. We agree. Right. So, but what
also means is that we are still outperforming the states. So, this is beyond a fair lawn problem. This is a New Jersey problem, right? So, it goes into a lot of factors. For example, how the assessment is tied to what types of lab-based resources are being offered
within schools and how that is a limiting factor for those assessments. um the complexity of the science test on the NJSLA and the struggle that the state has had for years, four years. This is nothing new. And then lastly, um
something that's very near and dear to my heart is uh what I worked on in my dissertation, inquirybased science approach and how that's being assessed, but that doesn't necessarily translate with classroom instruction to the assessment. So, both things can be true
and it's something that we're going to need to continue to further examine and look more closely at. One final comparison, we're adding in now the I and the J districts to the GH's. So, here's where we include all of the
districts, including all of the wealthier communities. Ferlon continues to lead or achieve comparably. You can see we're either exceeding or neck andneck with even the school communities that have more resources
than we do. So across the board, Fairlorn students are performing extremely well against their peers. So let's step back and look at what we've seen over the last seven slides, eight slides or so. In math, this is that
initial slide of GH. Nine different assessments across eight grade levels. Fair lawn leads every time. In English language arts, seven consecutive grade levels from elementary through high school. Fair lawn leads every time.
In science, three grade levels against our comp group. Fairlong leads every time. So now I'm going to turn the program back over to Mrs. Keller because she's going to share with us what all of this means because it's not just about recognizing the
achievements and then the areas where we have improvements to be made but then what are the interventions that we've been maintaining and what will we continue to do in order to support our students who need the most support. >> Great. Thank you.
That was we both very much so enjoyed looking at that and diving into it and I know the supervisors also really enjoyed looking at it and it gave them target districts to be able to reach out to and ask questions. Um and we're looking forward to when the state does its board presentation in December and then
releasing its 2025 data because based on our achievements and whatnot from 2025 from this spring we're looking forward to also comparing to our comp groups as well this next time around. All right. So for achievements and interventions, the language arts department is
continually looking at best practices to be able to improve upon the department and reflect on what they're doing. Um there's support from this community, from the board for a variety of resources that our teachers and our students use on a on a daily basis. So on each of these slides, we're looking
at curriculum and instruction, highlighting things like NJSLA side style reading and writing units as well as tasks, intervention and targeted supports, which includes things like resources or our pullout reading intervention program, various supports specific to different populations of
students, coaching and professional learning. That is a huge, huge, wonderful piece of what we have here in Fair Law. We have such a wealth of knowledge and resources to be able to help and support our teachers. Coachled data days are really wonderful um ways
to support our initiatives like MTSS and INRS to be able to analyze the data, design small groups, target support for students in the classroom. So these are all really important uh work and pieces that we put together to support our students. And then that final row are the various different resources that we
have available to our students and teachers um throughout the district. in mathematics. Similar to language arts, math has done a lot of work in these four areas to support MTSS, INRS, the NJSLA units. They're constantly looking at NJSLA data, their unit
assessment data, analyzing to tweak pacing and add in different tasks. A lot of work was done last year in grade six. So, they were extremely proud of the growth that that that group of students saw because they had targeted specific things for that grade. So, we're always looking and reflecting and you can see
resources like even adding in algebra 1 ICR like all of these things are amazing investments and improvements that have been able to help our students um specifically programmatic changes, additional supports. They saw consistent growth um in in the subject area in the
cohorts by having these conversations and interventions and things in place. And then finally, science. So, Dr. Dr. Deucio and myself have both talked about one of the challenges or many of the challenges with science. Um the complexity of the content area that's that's a big piece of it. When I even
just read what was on the science assessment, it was a lot it was a lot it didn't flow as nice as language arts and math. The science is much more difficult. The standards are more difficult. They significantly shifted in the past few years. And that's good that will be good science teaching, but it is more difficult. So one crucial goal is
constantly making sure what we're doing, the work that we're doing is grounded in the standards. We have to make sure that what we're doing is what we're supposed to be doing. Do our programs match it? Is our teaching matching what we need it to be? So that's a big focus constantly bringing back to that. Another piece is
just ensuring that our methods are effective for that actual instruction. So across the top piece, curriculum instruction, two things that I want to highlight that actually piggy back off of what Dr. Dr. Diso was just talking about in terms of his dissertation and and his work was that science having in areas of argument writing style um
claims evidence reasoning as well as threedimensional assessments. Those are crucial pieces towards science instruction and assessment and actually do work very nicely with NJS style tasks. So it's good science. It also then practices to make sure we're actually showing those right skills for
our students for their future assessments. And then we would like to highlight our NJSLA achievements. We talked about a lot of things. So to just kind of put it all together, our language arts saw a nice increase overall. Our math saw a
really big increase, 3.5% in language arts proficiency. Grade six mathematics saw the biggest largest positive change um with about 11%. And then the exceeding expectation level five for that grade um reached 22.5%. That was really impressive. in language arts.
That was one of the first numbers I said 39% of students are exceeding expectations in this district. A level five, we had o over 130 perfect scores. 23 of them in math and 110 in language arts. And I thought this was extremely impressive. 37 students in grade three
earned perfect scores on their language arts assessment. Math subgroups saw every single one of them improvements from 2024 and some bunch of them even from 23. And we are outperforming similar districts. We're outperforming the state. We're out performing similar districts. We're outperforming a lot of
even wealthier districts um in soio economic status in nearly every assessment. And from there, I turn it over to Dr. Dio to speak about AP placement exam. >> Thank you, Mrs. Keller. So, uh, the last part of this presentation before we turn
it over to the board for, uh, questions and comments, um, is to take a, a look at the snapshot of how the school district is doing in advanced placement exams for college board specifically because it's advanced placement college board. This is, uh, related to Fairlaw High School.
So, here's what expanding opportunities looks like in real numbers. more students taking more challenging courses, earning more college credit. You see across the bottom over the past three years that we didn't just maintain
our AP program, we've begun to transform it. And that's a testament to the incredible work that's taking place at the high school with our administrators, our teachers, our counselors, and with central office support. Um, three
numbers tell this story. So, first I want you to take a look at participation. And if we look to the far left, in 2022, 283 students took at least one AP uh
course. Last year, to the far right, 2025, we had 362 students. That's a sizable increase. That's a 28% increase. That's 79 more students challenging themselves with college level work.
That's nearly one in four high school students is now taking an AP course which is up from one in five or 20% just several years ago. The second point I want you to take a
look at is volume or the number of uh AP exams that we actually have administered. When we take a look here to the far left in 2022, you see that the high school administered 641 AP exams.
This year in June, May um 851 exams. So that's 210 additional exams. Another sizable increase of 33% in three years. And here's what that means in practical terms. That our students aren't just
taking one AP course. they're taking more over time. Um, we're expanding the opportunities to more unique students, not just giving more exams to the same students. That's a really important piece to expand opportunity and to
remove barriers to rigorous coursework. So, our students are not just dipping their toes in the water with AP and rigorous coursework, they're diving straight in. And those percent increases do not happen by accident. That's a concerted strategic effort with a lot of
work that goes into it. The third piece that I want to show is recognition and that recognition is what the college board calls the AP scholars awards and that college board recognition is a national actually
international recognition um with how they identify students um on their exams and how they perform. So if we take a look again to the far left, three years ago in 22, we had 102 AP scholars at
Fairlon High School. In 2025, we had 159 students who were identified as AP Scholars. What does it mean to be identified as an AP scholar? That means on a scale of one to five, one being the lowest score, five being the highest
score, a passing score is a three. So you needed to earn a three, a four or a five. 56% increase is a marketked increase in that performance. From a raw number standpoint, the difference
between 159 and 102 is 57 students. That's 57 more students who are graduating feral high school with significant college credit than three years ago. That's 57 more families right now who
will be saving thousands of dollars on college tuition if they're able to use those credits to earn credit at the college that they will be attending. That's 57 more students who have doors open to them.
So, some people might say, "Well, we're taking more AP students, more AP classes. We're just pushing these students into the AP courses. what does it mean as far as our performance goes? So, that would be a fair question. So, we're going to take you there now to show you that not only are we expanding
opportunity, but we're also achieving at an even higher level. This chart shows you the AP student pass rate year over year since 2022. Same data set.
So, not only are students taking more AP courses, more rigorous coursework, but they're succeeding actually at a higher rate than ever before. In 2022, 84% of the students were scoring a three or better.
In 2025, 96% of the students are scoring three, four or five. All right, so let me break that down as to what that means. That means that 96% of the students are eligible to earn college credit which is incredible.
That means that we have for every 25 students who take an AP exam at Fereralone High School, 24 of them are earning college credit. For every 25 students who take an exam, 24 are passing and earning college
credit. Incredible. Three years ago, that number was 21 out of 25. That's that 84%. So, what we've actually done is we've cut the non-passing rate by 75%. While already achieving at a high level
so nationally, I want to put this in perspective that 96%. At the national level, College Board reports that approximately 60% of the students are scoring a three or better. At the national level, College Board states 60% of the students are scoring
three or better. We're at 96%. While expanding opportunities and letting more students in. So, that is a sizable difference. Next chart. Let's take a look at how our students are performing as far as our
schoolwide average scores. Um, our students aren't just passing, they're excelling. Look again to the far left. In 2022, the average AP score was a 3.5. Remember I said earlier, scale of one to five. Three is passing. Three is
what College Board calls qualified. Four is what college board calls very qual very wellqualified and a five is what college board calls extremely wellqualified. So the misconception is and I heard this
when I taught AP biology many many moons ago was that when I inherited six students from the year prior that those students performed well 95% of those students scored well and then we wanted to expand that and a lot of the fear and
anxiety from teachers in the school and administrators at the time this was 20 years ago was that the dip the scores would dip. We increased the number of students from six to 66 and the performance level of three or better was 93%.
And that's in a classroom setting. This is now a broader system setting that our fereralon teachers, administrators, and counselors have been working on and finding much success. So when we take a look at these numbers here, let's see what they actually mean. So, we've
increased enrollment by 28%. From a previous slide, we've increased exam volume by 33%. We've increased our passing rate by 14%. And now we have more students, more exams, and better results than before. Right?
Um, we didn't just lower the bar, we expanded it, and now we raise the preparation of our teachers and of our students for those exams. Now let's put that into perspective when we take a
look at the national context. So you see Fereralon on the left, the national averages on the right. And this is where I think the story gets even better. Fereralon's AP score last year, past two
years really, has been 3.9. The national average has been 3.1. That's a gap of8 points. That's 26% higher. that Ferlon's doing than the national average. Let's look at this from a consistency standpoint. If you look to the far left
and you take a look at uh Feralon High School, 3.5 to the right, national average was 291. The following year, 3.8 compared to a three. Two years ago, 3.9 compared to 3.1.
So, year after year, Fairlon is outperforming the nation. and in some instances by nearly a full point. That's significant. Um, it's also significant from a cost standpoint because if you take the average tuition
of a state school and even some of the most expensive private schools and you divide that total tuition, not room and board, just tuition by, let's call it 30 credits, 15 a semester, you'll get
anywhere between 1,600 and $2500 or so per credit. That's 5,000 to seven or eight,000 in savings per course. That's sizable on famil family's finances and a student um financing their education.
So, this gap represents real advantages. So, we have more students taking AP courses than ever before, more AP exams than ever before. Um and they're outperforming the nation. And these aren't separate stories. Um they're all intertwined. It's all part of one story. And you see on the far right, we don't
yet have the 2025 national average. It's not yet released by College Board. Um they usually release that later on, but there's no reason to believe that the trends that we're seeing here will be any different once they'll be released out by College Board. So this doesn't
happen by accident. Um I do want to acknowledge that this is the result of our AP teachers refusing to water down college level curriculum. uh that this is the administration and the school counselors who encourage our students to take the leap, that this is our parents
who are supporting their children, and that this is our students who are actually putting in all of the hard work. They're taking the leap, they're making the commitment, and they're putting in all of the time that's necessary in order to be successful. Um, more importantly that we're looking
ahead to the future. We're starting to use a tool called called AP Potential. The board has uh heard me say this before. Um, last year we implemented and we pay for the students now as young as 9th grade to take the PSAT. The PSAT is
an indicator of future success. uh its research and statistically based methodology in order to help identify potential in students for success in rigorous AP college board courses. So as a result of that that's a tool that we're using that will be able to inform
our decisions. So then that way not only are we removing barriers but we're doing it in a way that's grounded in research. We're able to go to our students and our families and say when we tap them on the shoulder at counseling time for scheduling, hey, you have the potential to be successful in these classes and
this is how we know. Here are all of the data points. So, what we're doing is is we're removing barriers to rigorous coursework. We're identifying students who have potential to be successful and we're providing them with the high level of instruction and the support and we're
providing our teachers with the professional development that's necessary in order to be able to meet these expectations. So, Fairon High School is extremely successful. These data points are something to be extremely proud of. It allows us to
highlight all of the strengths that have been established here in this district for many years and continues to be able to move on. And I will go one step further and that's there. It's also highlighting the areas that we're going to continue to be able to identify where our goals and objectives will rest to be
able to continue to push the envelope further. I'll also close by just saying that these results here are not the result of just high school. We've talked a lot about K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. It is the foundation that is built at
the elementary school that then leads to successful middle schools that then leads to successful high school. Um, I just want to thank the board for all of your support over the years, um, and moving forward in the future to continue to meet the needs of our students and
our staff who are on the front line. Um, and I also want to, you know, extend gratitude to our teachers and our administrators and counselors and all support staff um, that make it possible. And um I I I would be remiss if I didn't
also recognize the incredibly hard work of our students who put it in day in and day out and are committed. Um and the support of our families. Fairlon is a strong, diverse, invested community and that's a huge strength and not everybody
has that. So to be able to do all of this work in a constructive uh and strategic manner is critically important because it lets us carve a pathway forward in order to be able to meet our students needs. So um to anyone who says
that our schools aren't performing high enough, um here's what I want you to hear. Uh I agree with your aspiration. We always want to be better. Um but I respectfully also challenge that premise and that I believe that both things could be true at the same time. We are
doing very very well um and we always have room to grow. Uh so with that I'm going to now um thank you all for your time and attention tonight. Know we provided you with a lot of context uh and that was a lot to process. The next
part of the presentation is to be able to turn it over to the board of education uh individually. So then that way we can hear from individual board members. Please share your comments and questions. Mrs. Keller and I will take notes. We will wait until all of the questions and comments are made and then
we will do our best to respond to all of your comments and questions at the end. Um and in some instances, as you know, we'll be able to answer holistically here on the spot and perhaps in other instances we will follow up with you via committee or via a report to the board
of education. So, I turn it over to Mrs. Mayhem as our board president. >> Dr. Berlini, >> I'd like to add a couple of things. First of all, I want to thank Dr. Dio and Miss Keller for a very thorough and lengthy presentation tonight. Uh we know
that the state mandates very lengthy uh the state mandates a lot of the information you provided but it also doesn't mandate a good part of what you presented. uh we often look at I often look at and I'm sure other people do look at the comparison of Fereralon versus the state and say of course we
should do better than the state because urban areas score very poorly and so the comparison between the state and feral 67 by the way uh the fact that we compared it to New Jersey it's nice but the fact that we compared it to uh the
GHIG factors is stunning it's just wonderful how well um we have done against those those other districts. Uh and the fact I I really thought and Dr. So I called him last week to say that I heard through the grapevine I didn't hear from him but I heard somewhere that
we had 96% success rate in APs and I thought it was a little voodoo math there to be honest because I was saying how do we get that and then looking after the explanation looking at it tonight again it's very it's just amazing that 96% of our students score three or higher on their AP exams that's
a stunning number and the fact that we average 3.9 and we've increased the number of participants if we had closed the gate and not let a lot of kids in and the numbers were reversed. I would say eh the fact that we've increased the number of students participating, increased the number of of tests that
are taken, still have a 96% rate. I I'm just stunned. Where's next? What's the next thing? And four, oh, I want to thank and congratulate our central office for everything they've done. Our building administrators, our faculty, our support staff, our students, and our parents because it does take a village
for this these kind of numbers to be there. There's no doubt about that. And just in closing, we're just kicking butt and I really appreciate that. Thank you. >> Miss Brownie, >> he's silent. No, I just um Ed kind of stole my thunder a little bit. Um even
though his hand didn't go up first. Um no, I I just want to I just want to point out a couple things. You know, I've been on the board now for two years, so I've seen like the behind thescenes work that we do in the committees and things like that. Um and it's a testament to
what our district is doing to push forward. I you know you've been here um our central office you know except for Camille has been here for you know a few years and you you guys have really hit the ground you've used you know uh
Camille's institutional knowledge and you've really hit the ground running. Um you know math curriculum has changed and updated. Um, I can personally attest to uh this the changes at the middle school level. You know, math teachers are looping with the fifth and sixth grade students. I've seen that personally and
I really appreciate that. Um, you know, and I really I think that's very beneficial to the students and it's beneficial to continue them to move forward um as our test scores have shown. Um, you know, I really think that a lot of what's happening right now is a
testament to what you guys do behind the scenes and how you lead. Um, and it is absolutely a testament to our educators and our students drive and our parents and our community. Um, and how we really band together to make sure that every everyone is successful. Um, I think the
next step that I'd like to see is taking that success, um, and really focusing in on how we, um, educate our students in science and how that that curriculum, um, needs to change and evolve and how
we implement science um, classes uh, needs to continue to to evolve. And I've already seen, you know, discussions behind the scenes about that and how we're going to move forward with that. So, I look forward to seeing that those conversations continue and the evolution
of how we um educate our students in science. So, and I thank you to you guys. That was so fascinating and I just really appreciate the time that you guys took to really parse out everything and, you know, not just look at the state and and the bare minimum that you had to
present to us, but you really took it a step further listening to what we've said in previous meetings. So, I really appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, also, thank you so much. Incredibly comprehensive, really insightful information. Um, I'm a numbers girl, so that was that was
really fun for me. Um, obviously, in addition to everything that everyone has already said. Um, there's one thing you mentioned, which is that, um, counselors, you know, perhaps look at those PSAT scores in the younger grades to help students identify who maybe have that aptitude for AP tests. I I would
love to see that taken a step further. There may be students who maybe aren't scoring traditionally well on the PSAT test, but since we are expanding that AP access, AP history, AP music theory, there may be students who aren't traditionally scoring well in the PSATs, but maybe have those opportunities in
some of those more unique APs to also excel to also have that. So I would love to see um more comprehensive sort of thought on the counselor's side perhaps looking at aptitudes and other areas of interest of students to maybe encourage them also um who may not be you know
traditionally considered high achieving but who may also really be um interested in taking some of those classes additional classes um obviously not my area of expertise but um I'd love to see that move forward to thank you
Missich. >> So, I'd like to say thank you to the two administrators that presented. I know it's a lot of data, especially the demographics and the district factors. I know it's a lot of data that you have to put for every single one. So, it's I know it's a lot of work. My question, my
couple question is one, will this be presentation put be put on the district website? Um, can the board see the numbers? I love to see numbers. I'm a big fan of all the hard work that you did since you did all the hard work. Is it possibility I can see the numbers on your Excel sheets? Not everyone but I
mean the whole board if it's possible to be sent to them if possible. My other couple of questions is uh when you did the self assessment for the HIP um you said 78 was the highest what is the lowest that a district can provide for
themselves for the score? So, and my last comment is I think the AP scores are ex extremely wonderful, but then I was looking at the fifth grade math scores, and I'm not trying to be mean in any shape or form. But in fifth grade, 32% failed. That's one out
of three. In sixth grade, almost one out of three, 27%. In seventh grade, one out of three. In eighth grade, 57% based on the numbers. Or maybe I misunderstood. To me, when I send my child to school, one out of three, if one out of the
three students fail, to me, that's not good enough. I know we need to do much better. I understand the demographic rules, but I think we can do a lot better. Fairone is an amazing community. We have an amazing group of people in it, and I think we could do a lot better than that. Thank you,
>> Mr. Santana. >> Yes. Um, thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Dr. Venio and Miss Keller and central office, our teachers, parents who support our students and our wonderful students, the next uh
generation, the leaders of tomorrow. Um, you know, I'm an educator. I've been teaching for 22 years. I'm a former AP teacher and AP reader. I like 90% proficiency. That's my goal standard for your for every everybody's child, everybody's
grandchild. That's my I, you know, I may I may sound selfish, but that's my goal standard. 90% proficiency. Uh that's my that that's what put smile on my face. I I agree with the superintendent and I appreciate
uh you know you've been here for two years and I'm very um I'm happy I'm very happy to see what you have been uh what you have brought to the district you know and I like what you said both things can be true we're doing very well
and there's room for improvement um I would I'd like to know what can the board do to provide uh the necessary resources so we can see uh greater increase in the DLM
uh scores for our students with significant intellectual disabilities. Um, also what can the board do um to help the district to provide what resources the district need so we can see greater
improvement in the achievement of uh our minority students, black, Hispanic and also whites on ELA. Um I am glad to to see that we are doing better as compared to uh GH uh
districts. Uh but just because we're doing better than them that doesn't mean uh those cores are to my satisfaction satisfaction. Uh you know 60 70% they don't bring a smile to my face. 90%
brings a smile to me. And I know the teachers are working very hard. I know the parents are are reaching out to the teachers, making sure the children are doing their homework, uh uh being supportive uh of the students. The students are working hard, but we we
have to uh set the bar higher. We have to set the bar higher. I know we're doing it, but we got to keep doing it. Um, I would like to see um I know you stated that the the PSAT for freshman is a is a
data tool to see which uh students go do well on on um on um AP exams. like my fellow board member step about. I I do think that we need to we need to use um other measurements and motivate our our
young girls to go into um science, math and and and engineering which many of them are often not encouraged. Thank you >> Mr. Elliot. >> Thank you Dr. Nidio and Miss Keller for that report. Um I very much appreciate
the details and owe the comparative report to the other districts and seeing that perspective. I do want to give a kudos to all the AP uh teachers and all those who took on that challenge and those who who have passed those numbers really are extraordinary. Just the
question that I I had regarding the science NGSLA is there a way that we could provide professional development for our teachers in the high school and any of those grade levels to be able to observe teachers in maybe those eye districts or
districts that are performing higher in science like being able to observe which which districts have high scores for those science levels, what's working for them and having our teachers be able to go out and see what their approaches are and what they're doing and seeing that
if that can make a difference over time for our science. >> Mr. Baldowski, >> having sat through a few of these presentations this season through my job, I will say that this is the most comprehensive one I have sat through. So, I appreciate that. Um, and I I I
specifically want to highlight the cohort DA data that was included since that's been something that I've asked for in the past and it's great to see. Um, I I want to highlight and I'm intrigued as to the decreases that we
see in ELA and math at the 45 89 then the 45. And I wonder if there's a transition me uh component with that as they transition to the different schools. Um, when it comes to 78, I I I question
whether that's the the change in math curriculum as you move from the grade specific math to the algebra um math. So, that was just something I spotted through that. But it's incredible to see that overall our cohorts are moving in
the positive direction. Uh, it is great also to see the comparative districts. Um, it just shows that Feralon is such a desirable town to live in. our schools are continue to exceed those towns that
we may consider more affluent. Um, but thank you for adding that data in as well. Um, when it comes to science, I think something that we often need to remember and I think it was highlighted quite well, but I'm just going to emphasize once again, it's every three
years. And so a student in fifth grade isn't going to remember the science they took because it's cumulative um um I believe of the type of science when you may be in the midst of earn learning earth science but now
you have to do something um from a couple years ago of physics or something that you can't remember and so there there has to be a better way I'm saying at the state level to to track those numbers uh and echoing what Ed had
mentioned of our AP scores increasing even while our participation is increasing. It's not that it's the same students or the same number of students that are excelling. It is more students are further excelling. Uh so I simply
want to thank the administration, thank the teachers and most importantly thank these students that have been doing the work whether it's in the AP classes or sitting through these statemandated tests that aren't all too exciting. Uh, but it's important data for us. So, thank you,
>> Miss Yerman. >> Thank you. Uh, just wanted to thank I'm gonna repeat what everybody else said. I thank everybody that was involved in the making of this presentation as well as the the teachers, the administrators and uh parents and students and everybody
else that's that's involved. Um, I did have a question actually two minor questions. One is um I am worried about um our science curriculum as it's taught now K to six about the regression and
recruitment of knowing that it's it's paired with social studies on on a yearly basis. So that that that concerns me. And then I just had a just a general question, not necessarily related to Fairborn, but um
on the AP exams, what percentage of um of students actually get um college credit based on a score because I I've heard both sides, but based on a score of three or four
actually get the college credit when they go to when they transferred over to college And the other thing which wasn't wasn't here was um our immediate uh and I and I see the difference um I'm glad
we have what we have um is our our demographic group just in Bergen County itself. So that not that I was hoping to see but I like I like what I saw but um I would really like to compare to our our the Bergen County demographic group of GH. Um and that's it and thanks for
everything. Greatly appreciated. I just had a one one clarifying question. So we referenced that K through six in math is standard. So does that mean the students that are taking 6A which is
pre-alggebra are still taking the sixth grade NJSLA? Does that mean that the kids who are in sixe, which would be identified as a seventh grade curriculum, are taking sixth grade and not seventh grade? I just to me I just want to make sure we're clarifying that because that would actually feel like an
inequity. We're asking a sixth grader who's taking pre-alggebra to then sit for the sixth grade NJSLA math. They're learning a level of rigor that is above. So, you'd think that they have the prerequisite skills, but they're not
explicitly taught it. So they should be sitting for the NJSLA that they were taught curriculum based. So if someone could just clarify that with me. Um that would be very helpful. Thank you >> Mr. Santana. >> Uh Dr. correct me well when you get to
answer this. Correct me if I'm wrong. The students take the test uh based on their prior year of instruction. For example, um uh the algebra one students uh will be taking the eighth grade math
tests. Um that's what I understand as an you know um other districts beside the the great idea of of Mr. uh which I agree. Um some districts do uh science fair district wide you know
uh math uh Olympics. You know I would like as a board member this is my opinion you know we have nine board members here. I would like to see districtwide math competitions. I would like to see districtwide science
competition. I would like to see more girls being encouraged to go into science, math and engineering. I would like to see a greater emphasis of that because remember you know the great the great the tomorrow's invention need
uh input from everyone you know and if we don't uh diversify the pool of scientists for tomorrow's challenges our country is going to be very disadvantaged. We are competing with nations that are putting a lot of resources uh into their their scientific
advancement. China, Russia, you name it. And our children need to be able to compete with those uh world powers. China, Russia, you name it. So um you know within the available means of the
community of the taxpayers because we don't have you know some of us don't have deep pockets but we have to invest the necessary resources to educate our children uh the proper way and you know um I I want to support our schools with
whatever they need so we can raise the achievement but perhaps if the district can consider having some math and science competitions districtwide uh science fair districtwide and and and and but not the oldfashioned ones with with with the you know with the how you
call that those three panel um boards. No, like advanced robotics competition districtwide. I would like to see that you know I would like to see that and like Mr. Elliot said, uh, in the areas where we need to show growth, perhaps
offering professional development to those teachers so they can visit other districts where there are some best practices to emulate and perhaps look at our curriculum, but perhaps look at our curriculum and our benchmark to see if there match the
standards because I have um, you know, I have heard, you know, stories of people in the community saying, "Well, my child does very well in class, but they're not doing well in the benchmark." So perhaps the benchmark have to be more aligned to the
standards. Thank you, >> Dr. Jio. >> Well, first, u Mrs. Keller and I and the entire administrative team appreciate the dialogue, the feedback, the insight that that's how we end up hearing the perspectives and then being able to
address them and then also to be able to kind of carve a path forward. Um, I'm I'm going to just address some of the issues more holistically just on some of the notes that I took. We will certainly be able to follow up at future committee meetings. Um and Mrs. Keller also will uh be able to provide some some support
and and response as well. So on the back end, you know, as you can imagine and you shared, there's quite a bit of work that goes into this level of analysis, right? This has been taking a considerable amount of time, but we did it because we find this extremely
valuable and this is a practice that we've consistently done, I've consistently done with team members and other districts, and I know Mrs. Keller has as well. So, um, that's the first part. The next part is is that on a granular level, the function and the operation and the responsibility of the
administrative team is to now that go and take this data and then make sense of it. So, we painted a picture of where we're doing well and where we can continue to improve, but now we're going to be able to go and take a look at what school districts and our comp groups are
outperforming us and what are they doing differently that we can learn from, right? So, that's the purpose of this exercise, right? Because then that leads to initiatives, interventions, professional development, and resources. So, I know some board members have mentioned, what can the board do? Well,
hold tight because budget season's around the corner and we're coming for you. So, we're going to come and we're going to have the recommendations, right? Because there are needs and we will have to figure out what can fit in the budget and where we prioritize these needs. Um,
to the point around science, you know, we heard Mrs. Keller talk about claims, evidence, and reasoning that feeds into inquirybased science instruction. So, continuing to commit to that and the professional development. Um, and I'll let her speak to that uh in a moment. As
far as the AP potential, we provide PSAT scores uh or administration of the PSAT to students not just in grade nine. We expanded it to grade nine um because of the value that's there, but we do that in grades 9 through 11. And then we use that score. It's not just to prepare
kids for the SAT. Um, but it's to prepare students for, yes, the test taking for the SAT, but we see value with being able to scale that AP potential work. We are in the infancy stages here now of using AP potential. So, it's fairly new. Um, it's something
that there's a lot of value in and we're going to continue to scale it. Um, but that takes time, that takes support. Um, and then the administration will do that with our teachers and with our counselors. Um, in addition, there are a number of different indicators that can be used. You know, I've used things as like
Angela Duckworth's grit scale and Carol Dwek's growth mindset scales, and you can use those as indicators as well. AP potential actually does work for AP art history. Um, and it's also correlated for AP music theory. So, these are measures that we'll continue to revisit
to identify students across all domains and all courses. Um we um the HIV self assessment the lowest score on that is a zero the highest is 78. Um we will um of
course publish the presentation um with relation to like what we could do regarding DM or our different demographic groups that goes to learning from other districts where we're seeing that they're outperforming us um and
doing a deeper dive on that. So I want to turn it over to Mrs. Keller to address maybe some of the other >> All right. And so um in terms of so doing this exercise with the comp districts was actually super useful. So um supervisors have been able to reach out and actually has already started in
science to reach out to other districts and besides just teaching strategies there's more to learn in differences from districts um that actually Miss Yerman kind of spoke to a bit with her point before. So there's other things we can look at in terms of K to2 um and how science differs in the district. So that has actually started happening.
Additionally, um we're part of a Bergen County curriculum group and that is a big focus for the county because we're seeing this collectively across Bergen County that this is a need. So that's one of our PD focuses that we loop the science department in in with that. Uh Mr. Beldowski, there's a great point in
terms of the transitions and you know looking into that. So that was definitely part of conversations with the supervisors. Um so science does spiral at this point now the best practices with the standards. Um but it uh it is you know there is possible that something happened three years ago and
that it's such a detailed piece of it. So that is part of it and like looking and seeing in ways we can infuse and ensure things are current when we're actually being assessed. Um the question about uh what students take which test. So, as a middle school math teacher for 13 years, um the various different
levels when students are in like pre-alggebra or accelerated, um they're generally taking at or above their content level knowledge. So, in math, seventh grade, in order to be able to do pre-alggebra, which is really like seventh and eighth grade math, you have to really have a foundation in the vast
majority of your sixth grade ability. So, they still, you know, they they always perform very very well. Um and so that is how that works. So, the only ones that take separate assessments are algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2. Otherwise, they take it with their grade level peers. Um, and then in terms of
Mr. Santana, you asked about what tests they're taking. The field tests that they're taking right now, they are taking their previous year's grade. Um, but come in spring, they take their their end ofear assessment. Um, and then we actually do have math competitions in the middle schools and at the high school. We're actually, I think,
approving some field trips tonight for that. Um, they're super highly competitive. Um, you know, some kids go to national championships like that. You know, there's a lot we can do with those type of competitions. So, that's a great thing for kids that really love math and want to be enriched and are like the best, right? You know, just want to
challenge themselves. That's a really good thing to be part of because get to meet people on a state level, you know, throughout the county and the state. It's it's a great opportunity. So, we love the idea of challenging our students through STEM and math through fun ways like challenges as well. So, and I think I highlighted a lot of the
pieces and we'll follow up on >> Oh, okay. All right. Fair. Okay. Um, thank you very much for this evening. It was a really nice experience. First time with doing the NJSLA and I realize it is a very long night, but I appreciate all the feedback and thank you to everyone.
This while we worked on this, this was a collective effort of so many individuals um, between the actual work um, but also even just putting together and checking all the information and helping, you know, assist with all of the information. So, sincerely, thank you. >> Thank you everyone. I turn it over to
our madam president. >> Thank you both so much. Um it is 9:43. I am going to do a fivem minute recess. Please use the bathroom and then we will resume with uh committee reports. Uh so please return by 9:48.
When the next committee meeting is scheduled, avoid introducing new business that has not been vetted through the committee and submit any written summary reports to the superintendent and board secretary for inclusion in the minutes. Dr. Berlin,
>> I am requesting that I since we had a double meeting that I get six minutes. >> No. >> Okay. Can we vote on that? No, I'm just kidding. But we did have double meeting. Okay. Education committee meeting. I'll go over the topics and and the discussion that took place. First of all, the cell phone policy which was uh
at the request of Dr. Ditio, the major discussion for all the committees in the month of uh October. Mrs. DeFranco updated the committee on the fair cell phone policy. The process was thorough. 25 plus meetings throughout the year and with administrators, teachers, parents,
etc. nearly 3,000 survey responses and input from teachers and administrators at every level. The discussion covered updated language and possible limited phone use during lunch with two members wanting no hallway usage during the day. The action taken a draft will continue to be shared by other committees of the board of
education uh before uh the new policies put into effect hopefully in February. I'm sorry. >> That's the goal. >> That's the goal. Okay, good. Uh, district PDP, Miss Keller presented the professional development plan, which is posted. It reflects our district goals and and the board discussed it and made
updates. The induction plan, which is, uh, basically teacher mentoring. It's a four-year program. It's much more extensive than what the state requires. Uh, and it's it's it's very helpful for new teachers. Do teachers come into any district, including Fairlorn, and
struggle uh right away because they're new and they're inexperienced. Uh and that four-year mentoring program that we do is just a wonderful program for us. Uh updated elementary after school enrichment programs. Uh the first enrichment session was successful and
we're still working on re as discussed at the meeting. The district is working on ways to reimburse families who paid earlier but are free and reduced lunch and that'll continue until we do that and also for this uh the next session of enrichment.
We had a discussion on on anti-semitism and whether or not we want to have a specific policy on anti-semitism. Uh the board held discussions on the following topics. school calendar, Jewish Heritage Month petition, first amendment rights and flag policy. The board discussed consistency with past
decisions. Dr. Denisio made two points. First, creating one policy may set a precedent for creating others. Secondly, our current policies also protect all pie people from discrimination. That was a pretty lengthy discussion by our committee. Uh other future items for discussion, the Bergen Community College
contract, whether or not we want to continue to fund that regulations 5440, policies 9130 and regulation 9130. Uh and then discussion on whether or not we want to expand Edison into a preK to help decrease overcrowding at Mils and Radburn, math and social studies course
updates, uh artificial intelligence, academic integrity, uh needs to be updated, and then also chain of command. Our next meeting is November 13th, 6:30 here. Um, it'll probably run late. >> It always runs late.
>> Thank you. >> So, the policy that you mentioned, the 5440 uh regulation is is blank. I was wondering why didn't the committee not >> We can ask questions. >> That's what they said. That's what they said last board meeting. That's what the
attorney said. >> I'm sorry. Where your agenda? It says um reports then the board members ask questions. >> Anybody have another report? Um, I did I went to the pedestrian
safety committee and we talked about various different things they want to do. One of the things they're as thinking of doing, they're repaving Lori Street next to um school with the L. Linkers. Okay, my brain is tired. and they want to do a
bumpout so the parents can just drop the kids off as they're um driving so they don't have to stop and that was one way to alleviate traffic. Uh one of the things I talked about is by for a school how there should be some kind of hump or
like some kind of bump or something so that we slow down resonance. I'm mentioned it multiple times and the town says everything is fine and there's no blinking light uh blinking beaker for the uh for forest school or any other schools nearby. Another thing they want
to do next to forest is uh the stop sign with the blinkers. So that that's what they're petitioning right now. Thank you. >> I am going to comment on >> I have to report out. >> Oh, I apologize.
>> I need to report out on behalf of Mr. Maldowski for finance and buildings and grounds. Um, as the subchair in Joe's absence, um, Mr. Franco presented an update on our cell phone
policy. Um, we discussed the tentative fiscal year 27 tensative budget calendar um to start budget season. Um we will review all the agenda items to take place at our next public meeting just
this evening. Um we discussed our comprehensive maintenance plan, our health and safety evaluation, our 5-year maintenance garage lease, gov deals, um the auction of a large box truck, and the YMCA Gorefield rental agreement.
Um we also um discussed that our auditors completing the school year 2425 audit and we'll continue evaluate all professional services and go out for RFPs to ensure we're getting competitive services. Um, and it was important to note that the
AIM is part of our current priority list to be addressed and updated in the in the next year as well as the fact that the community school programs receive 98% registration from our current residents. Um and in regards to our 2025 2026 construction update, updates were provided on construction projects and
the cause for ones that are delayed. Um and we are in the process of evaluating the electric load and our next meeting which will returns um is 11:13 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Um anyone else have a report to provide? Okay, then we can take questions on committee reports. >> So my question did I get? So my question is the 5550
and the 9130 why wasn't that discussed and my other question should I say all the question at once? I don't know. How are we doing this thing? My other question is it's been like eight months since the chain of command been on the agenda for the education
committee meeting. I was just wondering why hasn't it discussed for the past eight months and then there was another question. I'll come back. >> Mr. Santana, you ready to finish? >> Yeah. uh for the education committee
meeting um did you discuss that there should be a policy in place where par children who wouldn't want to call home can call home regardless of anything K through eight because of the cell phone policy didn't discuss did we disc did was there a discussion
uh for K through 8 that if the cell phones will be uh with the cell phone policy that students who want to call home at any time can call home without any questions Did we discuss that? >> Mr. Santana.
>> Yes. I would like to ask uh both chairs of the fi the buildings and grounds finance and education committee why are we violating policy 0155? We have a board policy that states that when a committee member
in this case myself uh submits a topic the topic must be discussed within the two within two meetings. We had had more than two meeting we have had two meetings or more since I sent a a discussion uh a topic
for discussion. June 25th, uh, expansion of Edison School into a prek through fourth grade school to help decrease overcrowding at Mills and Rottman schools. Parents that send their kids to Mills and
Robburns uh are sending their kids to schools that are overcrowded and based on the the have been overcrowded are overcrowded and based on the demographic studies will continue to be overcrowded. So I follow the process the policy the policy that we have is we send the topic
to the to the committee and the the policy says it must be discussed within two meetings. I follow the process. This was done in June. Uh next week is November and this has has not been discussed. That's not acceptable. That's not acceptable when
people that send their case to Mills and RBurn are paying high taxes. Some of them are paying association uh uh dues. >> Mr. Mr. Santana, can you please pose this as a question? >> So, yes, my let me re uh restate my question. My question is uh to the chair
of the education committee and to the chair of the finance and build building committee, why are you not following board policy? If if we have if if if if there needs to be more meetings to follow the board policy, you need to have more meetings because the topics
that were sent within the time the the the the the within the timeline of the policy, those topics are priority otherwise there will be a violation of board policy. Right now both committee chairs violated board policy because my
topic was not discussed and according to the policy it should have been discussed within two meetings and if you didn't have enough meetings you shouldn't have enough >> meetings answer I would appreciate it. >> Yeah. Yeah. But I was I'm was finishing my sentence. Um
I would like to know why the board policy was not followed. Thank you. >> So I'm actually going to respond to that. Can I borrow that? Policy states, "Agenda items shall be decided upon by the chairperson in
consultation with the superintendent. Should a board member, whether a member of the committee or not, wish for a topic to be brought for the discussion at a committee meeting, they shall email the chairperson with it said request, clarify. The item will be put on a future agenda of one or of the next two
meetings of the committee. Unfortunately, you're not going to like this answer, but the polic states that it has to be put on the agenda. What supersedes our topics would be the topics that our administration put on
first. So there is no technical violation of policy. Is it fair? Probably not. However, Dr. Dianio and his team's topics supersede ours because their topics directly relate to the business of the board. point for
information. The education of the children in males and rapper is very important and they should not they should not be second put in the second. >> I have to tell you that if you were to review the enrollment you will see that over the last two
years enrollment has decreased at Mills. So I appreciate what you're trying to say. However, I'm going to be very clear at this point in time, there is no violation of the policy. Thank you. >> Point of information. Um to the chair,
Mr. Bore attorney, Mr. The B attorney can can uh tell us if there's a violation. I am I the >> the policy says word for word. I don't I know you this is your first meeting, >> but the policy says
>> shall be discussed. does not say that you're the policy says that the item will be put on a future agenda of one of the next two meetings of the committee. The discussion it says if you want it's
brought for discussion at a committee meeting they shall email it. There's no there's nothing in your policy that says it has to be discussed. >> It doesn't. >> It says the item will be put on a future agenda of one of the next two meetings of the committee. And I can tell you
that the board, again, let's let's back up for a second. The board makes policy. You do not run day-to-day operations. The person who runs the day-to-day operations is the gentleman sitting to my right and his
team. And so when they're putting together these committees, they're talking about day-to-day operations and what has to get done get done. So, can it be discussed at a future meeting? It can. and it's got to be placed on the agenda, but it's not mandated to be discussed at that meeting. Um, so if
this is something and this and there's nothing that precludes you as a board member, you have one of these issues to talk to the superintendent, see this is the issue, what's going on, if it's a TJ Mill School where I lost my two front teeth when I was 13. Um, uh, you know,
that's my recommendation to you would be to talk to the superintendent. You guys have access to the superintendent. you've got a very accessible superintendent. He can then have the discussion with you. It doesn't necessarily have to be on a committee agenda. And then if there's not a discussion, you can ask him why wasn't
it discussed? And he can explain to you we had these other items and this is why it wasn't discussed because and I don't know the details of it. But it the policy does not require a discussion. This requires place on an agenda. point of information. What the practice that we have been
doing ever since I got reelected this year is a board member emails the topic and is discussed within two meetings. What the board what the board president stated respectfully has not been the practice that we have been doing. And if
if any board member here can correct me if I'm wrong, correct me if I'm wrong. But what we have been doing is emailing the topics and the topics have been under the expectation that they will be discussed within two meetings. All of the sudden now
uh October 30th is a different interpretation. The children that the children that attend Mills and Rapper are going to school in a school that is overcrowded was overquarted and will be overcrowded. So we need to do whatever it takes to prepare for the future. What I want to do is not something that is
going to have an immediate effect. We are we have to think long term five years from now 10 years from now we have to make the we have to plan ahead forget about me forget about don't don't think is Wilkin Santana I sponsor we need to
plan ahead because it's not fair for two schools to have so much uh uh over capacity you know now later pardon the interruption you're doing >> okay no problem sorry >> board members an opportunity >> I would also just like provide some
context that I hope will be helpful. So, um, as it relates to agenda items for the the business of the board and the operations of the district, um, to some of the points that have been shared already, there are a number of time-sensitive
matters that have to be brought to the board via committee in order to conduct the functioning of the school district without interruption. Um, so that's number one. So those things will take priority. I think what will also be hopefully
helpful for the board to recall is back during the state of the schools presentation in May, we did an extensive presentation with our architects on the facility study and we also had a demographer come in and present on the
demographic analysis around enrollment. um aligned with that. Now, the goal for this year, which is actually part of our district goals and objectives that uh we reviewed with the board a few months ago and we approved, uh the long-term goal is for the administration
to review the needs in the facility study and the needs around enrollment. Um and the board can expect a recommendation around the impact of that once we get into late winter, early spring because we're analyzing the
demographic enrollment analysis moving forward and what impact that will have on the facilities. So the the administration is working on that this year. Um that's not something that uh can happen on the deis or even in a committee without that work getting done. So we're we're working on that and we'll be bringing that forward within
the next six months or so. Would you like to answer? >> M uh I asked the chair of the committee because we Isn't the chairs have to answer not the >> defer to myself or our superintendent?
I think in relation to um we discussed the cell phone policy. We had uh spirited discussion around the feedback. We had received over I think approximately 3,000 survey responses from the community with their input. We
reviewed that input in alignment with what the requirements are under the new law uh that will be coming next year uh from the governor's office. Um we are looking at the discussions and the feedback we receive from the stakeholder
committees that include students, staff, administration and parents. We took all of those meetings and all of that feedback um along with the recommendation template from Strauss Esme, our policy company, and as a result of that, we landed on a policy
and regulation recommendation that took in the consideration of over 3,000 constituent stakeholders. Um the board had an opportunity to deliberate on that. Um, we're taking that feedback into consideration and then I will then be making a recommendation next month
based on all of that input uh before the board as all board policies require. There will be two readings. Um, so the board can further discuss that at that time when that's recommended uh in the upcoming month. And my other question regarding the 91
the two policies where where they discussed one is regulation one is blank and one is completely mismatch from the policy. >> So once again those will be discussed at future committee meetings when we don't have other time-sensitive topics that were put on the agenda. Um as you will
recall um there were a number of topics that we did put ahead of that that board members had recommended for discussion. So we prioritize those. Um and the meeting was actually quite lengthy. If I recall correctly, that last committee meeting was well over an hour. It may
have been an hour and a half plus. So we will uh move those items to a subsequent meeting moving forward. >> Um and just to clarify for uh the trustees, our policy of the whole meeting, which will be in November, actually uh touches on several of the
policies that um trustees have stated are of concern. So stay tuned for that >> point of clarification. When is when is our meeting? I was never informed of anything >> for the palace November what? No, nobody ever did. >> It's at our meeting.
>> Uh dur during our meeting. Gotcha. >> So we are going to move into >> I have comment I have another uh >> is it specific to a committee report? >> Yes. I will be uh pursuant to our board
policy, I will be making a request to the committee chair uh for the education committee. Uh since we have several outstanding topics that have yet to be discussed pursuant to a board policy, I be I will be requesting uh an additional
meeting because we cannot wait until our next meeting for November 13. >> Not a question regarding Dr. Berlin's committee report. So it is 10:10. You're welcome to email him, but right now we have to get to the business of the board. Thank you.
Stop. Stop. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. So, we are moving into public comments on agenda items. This portion of our board meeting is specifically for comments on resolutions listed in tonight's agenda. It does not include
the committee reports or the presentation provided by Dr. Dianio. I apologize. I do realize that it is a late evening. Unfortunately, for those of you that are here regarding the petition, that is to
be discussed during other business. Um, so please state your name and municipality of residents. Specify which resolution you are addressing. Limit your remarks to three minutes. State law prohibits board members and administrators from discussing personnel matters, student discipline, or other
confidential issues. Please note, this is not a dialogue or a question and answer session between speakers and the board. While we may not respond immediately or to every comment made tonight, all input is carefully considered and helps inform our decisions. Responses may come through
emails, reports, board statements, website updates, or after the comment period closes. Thank you for your participation in our school community's governance. The floor is open to commentary on agenda items only. >> Point of order. Uh point of order, Madame President. Uh the superintendent
comments included the the the Jewish heritage. So according to Robert's rule since that those comments included the community should be able to speak on that. Now >> that's correct. >> You look at the board.
>> I apologize. Guys, guys, >> under under your under your >> I'm sorry. >> Excuse me. Please, please. Under your your your bylaws, you have two agenda
items. One is for agenda items only, which this is, and then the second one is for any item. And so that is not an agenda item. It's not on your agenda. The agenda items are,
we can go through them right now, but if you look at it, it's um you have the superintendent items, retirements, approvals of HIVs, approval of scholarships, um you have approval of appointments. That's the agenda. That's what this comment is for. If we you guys can move
this through, if there's not a lot of questions, you can get to the public comment for non-aggenda items, which would be anything at all, including something that's not on the agenda, like the um the petition that was circulated.
>> I do apologize. Um is there anything on the agenda that is related to a resolution on the agenda? Ma'am, >> is there anything on the
on resolutions on agenda items? >> Okay, >> ma'am, you've got to stop talking to me. >> Is there anything >> this? >> Well, you know what? But but we're also we also operate Excuse me. So,
>> point of order of motive point of order. Madam President, I would like to make a motion to allow the public to speak. Uh, can I get a second, please? >> Second. >> Second. Let's vote. >> Call the RO. >> I'm going to open the floor to
discussion on the motion. >> No, I have to open the floor to discuss. any >> Yes, I certainly uh I know it's a late hour and there is two parts of the agenda. One for comments on the agenda and one for any comments at all, which
is what you're here for. I appreciate that. It's been a very long meeting. Hopefully, we'll get through the agenda items quickly and then you'll be able to speak. No one's saying you can't speak. It's just a very long meeting tonight. So, again, there are two parts. The second part is where it's open discussion on any topic and you can be
part of that. It's not You're not going to be excluded. Shouldn't take that long. A little >> Thank you. >> Please do. As long as it's on a resolution on an agenda item. Absolutely. >> Well, we're in the middle of a motion. There's We're not done with the comments
with the motion. We're in the middle of >> a second. I'll have >> uh Anyone else have commentary? Yes, I made that motion. I understand the pro I understand we have the you know we have a process comments on the agenda. I I have a different of opinion
with with with that interpretation and the comments on on anything else but being that the the community was not aware that the presentation from the superintendent was going to take that long which was very important by the way Dr. Denio and being that we have to be respectful of the community's time. Some
of these people got here at 7, so they've been here for three hours. So, I can't look at my neighbors face and not be ashamed if I don't allow them the courtesy and the respect to to speak. You know what? They paying taxes. They're our neighbors. We have to see each other at the supermarket tomorrow.
Allow them to speak. Please vote yes on the motion. Um I did all the remarks of uh Mr. Santana. Um I look at the agenda of uh 1J and under superintendent comments which is part of the agenda. Um he
talked about the issue. So it should be in ag as part of the agenda items and also in the past we have made um we have allowed the public to speak during this
time in recent meetings because of timing and everything else. So I would just like to uh mention that >> make a suggestion my suggestion would be that Mr. Santana uh withdraws his motion and makes a new
motion and that motion would be to combine the discussion on agenda and non-aggenda items. So you'd have one public comment session now so people can get up and speak on agenda or non-aggenda items. There won't be a second public comment at the end and
that would take place before you have the vote on the agenda. >> Point of clarification, does that mean we're going to get doubled the amount of time we can speak? Because >> absolutely not. >> That's not fair. No, but that's not fair. Let's just keep it the way it is because they're going to blow. We are
not allowed to speak. >> Elected officials should not be We should not be micromanaging our own speech. >> Santal difference to you. You guys have bylaw that specifically lays out how your meetings are operated. And under the
Open Public Meeting Act, you're only you're only really required to have one comment period. You have two. You have one on agenda items and one on non-aggenda items. And the president made a good point. You guys could do another thing is you guys I know, but I
can just say you the other option you could do if you want to speed this up to get to the public comment on non-aggenda items is you guys could make a motion for a consent agenda and pass your do a consent agenda on your agenda
items. You just have it. You're not going through every one of them. That would speed this up. >> Point of clarification. >> You guys are asking like >> wait, can I mad person? Can I answer to the attorney, please? >> Right now, as the chair, holding the
chair of this board right now, I am recognizing Julie Maym to speak for her comments during this discussion. I'd like to make a subsidiary motion to complete a consent agenda. That way, we don't have to wait any longer for our
community to speak, right? It would go very quickly and it would allow us to follow our bylaws but ensure that the current members that are present
it's expedited. So I'd like to make a subsidiary motion for a consent agenda so that we can move through our current resolutions so then our community can speak. >> I'll second this.
So I'm the chair for the moment. >> Discussion on the subsidiary motion. Mr. Santana, I appreciate the subsidiary motion. However, it is not necessary because it is circumventing my motion
and I feel that my motion is being micromanaged. I think and Robert's rules gives the power to the chair, the board president to not need this uh procedure. The the
the chair of of of the meeting based on past practice, based on president, and based on my my understanding of Robert's rules, can allow the public to speak right now. >> That's sir, you're incorrect. And frankly, all this discussion, all we're doing is delaying the the public the
ability to speak. So what I would suggest you guys do if you want to expedite so these folks can speak on non-aggenda items is you take agenda items, you combine the subsidiary motion, have a consent agenda, and then they can they could be speaking within
the next five minutes. But all this discussion is just delaying this further. At the end of the day, you are a policy body. you follow the policy. The policy does not give the chair the right to deviate from your policy on
agendas. Point of information that that has been done many many many many times on this board for many years. >> Many many times I've been here tonight and I've only probably gone to about 4,000 public meetings in my 30-year career. And I'm telling you, we follow the policy. And the policy has agenda
items and non-aggenda items. You want to expedite it comments on agenda items. If you follow the the president's suggestion to to make it a consent motion on the agenda, you can get to the non com the non agenda item comments very quickly. But the more comments we
have, we're just delaying the public's ability to speak. >> Call the question. >> I have to recognize you first. And there was an outstanding discussion still with Miss Valdovich. Correct. >> Yes. >> Yes. Miss Valovich has the discussion first. I wanted to ask the board attorney before many times we did we
switched the public comments and the board comments we flipped it we always did it and we voted on it and everybody was happy and we called it a day why can't we do this before we did this multiple times if you look at our agenda At the end of the day, you're you you come together once a month to conduct
board business. Your agenda is your business. So, the reason that you have and this is very typical in almost every public body where they have comments on agenda items and then non-aggenda items. So, flipping it um I would not recommend doing that because you're deviating from
your board policy. If you guys want to do that, you should change the board policy or change board policy and you can combine the two. So it's comments on agenda and non-aggenda items. But then as you pointed out, it limits people to one comment of of length. So I think the
most expeditious way to do it is to vote on the subsidiary motion to combine to to make it a consent agenda. Have the agenda comments and then you can immediately pass consent agenda and then have non-aggenda items. Any other discussions on the subsidiary
motion? >> Miss Brown. >> Call the question so we can get them to speak. >> Thank you. Roll call, please. >> It has to be second. According >> already seconded by M. >> Mr. Ilia had seconded the subsidiary motion. >> No, I mean call the question.
>> Oh, the call the question. Ed, correct? >> You don't have to second. >> Second. >> That's what they said. School boards. That's what school boards taught us. Well, you don't have to do it. >> I'll second it. Second. >> Second. Second, third, fourth. >> Whether we need the second or not, Dr.
Berlini, may I have a roll call for the subsidiary motion that we uh go to a consent agenda for tonight with our items. >> Mr. Bowski? >> Yes. >> Dr. Bernill, >> yes. >> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. Ilia,
>> yes. >> Miss Fovich, >> no. Miss Casoy, >> yes. >> Mr. Santana, >> no. >> Miss Yorman, >> no. >> Miss Maya, >> yes.
>> Motion carries. >> I'm going to open the floor. Actually, do we have any Google Doc comments on agenda items? >> We do not. >> Okay. Going to open I'm going to close the floor to the public. I'm going to open the floor to um board member
comment on agenda items and the floor is now open. >> Okay. So, I wanted to say thank you to the administration for the wellness weekend. I think they're awesome. I think it's nice not to get homework uh and give kids more time to spend with their family. I would like to also thank
you. Thanks uh on 11. There's multiple gifts this um agenda and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed. is very kind of you. I'm going to vote no on the budget calendar. We get a book for the budget on a Thursday and then we
have to be back within like four days or five days. So my whole weekend spend on looking at a $700 700page document and it's just beyond ability to do that. So I I asked the administration kindly in my questions and they said no, we have to do it this way. So, I'm going to vote
no because I think we need couple I we need to look at the agenda, the budget more thoroughly as a board. Uh the next thing is I'm going to vote no on 8 D17. And there there's multiple reasons why
I'm going to vote on no on 817. Administrative assistant education is not a position in the district. I looked at my book that had the the red book in our district and I looked at the position. That position does not exist.
So I don't know what we're moving it from. Then I looked on May 1st, 2025 a agenda motion 7B7 and the position is called executive confidential secretary to the assistant
superintendent. Let me repeat it again. executive confidential secretary to the assistant superintendent. The new position according to the administration is confidential executive administrative assistant. So the word confidential and executive are switched and the word
secretary is changed to assistant. Everything else stayed the same. Why am I bringing this up to you right now? because that because of those three word switch uh the district is increasing this position salary by 14% for $9,788.
Again, that position is going to cost the district more $9,788. And the reason why I'm upset about this, here's a couple of reasons. It's in the middle of our budget. So, we did not plan for this. Therefore, I don't understand where the administration
found $9,788 for the to increase one position for of 14%. In addition, the administration was kind to provide us a wonderful presentation. But in most of the fifth through 8th
grade, onethird of the students failed the state assessment. That money should be spent on ancillary teachers or something for the children to do better on the state testing. I'm going to make a motion during when we Oh, I guess I
can make it before because we have a consent agenda. I don't know how to do how do we do it with the consent agenda. Can you explain that to me? I'll come back because we have another round. >> Mr. Santana. >> Okay. On five 5B,
I am concerned at the the the number of students suspended at TJ, as many as the high school on the report. That's concerning to me as a parent. However, I applaud the the district uh faculty and
staff for enforcing uh the student code of conduct. We have high expectations for our students. Um 6B BSM boy. Uh I would like to know from the district uh what is what is the plan
to improve those uh HIV self assessments for next year for all schools in particular for TJ? Um 8 A 8A A as an apple 8 F. Uh, I would
like to see the district uh advertising the the the the vacancies, the the employment opportunities in in more uh venues uh so we can get, you know, more applicants. Um,
I'm going to abstain on AD11 uh AD17. I'm going to be I'm going to keep it very brief the comment on that one. I want the money to stay in the classroom. I want the money in the classroom, not
in the office. Um, so I cannot support that. In the middle of the year, I don't know where the money is going to come from. Like, uh, M. Fell stated, where in the budget is that going to money going to come from? Uh, 10B.
Um, I'm going to make a motion on 10B. Uh, please let me know when do when do I make the motion for 10B. Madame President, attorney >> Okay. Um, the board should not for 10B.
The board should I'm going to vote no. And I'm going to make a different motion. I'm going to make a motion on it. The board of education should not make any profit on any after school activity that we provide. We should not make a profit on the backs of the
taxpayer who fund our schools. It's immoral. I am philosophically and morally against making a profit on the taxpayers's back who fun our schools. We should just charge at cost and that's it. Um 11 C again we have been told by
many uh wise uh men of the law that the bill should not be redacted for board members. Yes, for the members of the public, the bills, there should be some redactions, but for the customers, us, the board members of of of the that the
the bill should not be redacted. I should know how every single dollar is spent and who are we spending it and who are we paying to? Uh, I'll go a second round. Miss Brown. >> Um, I just wanted to congratulate our
retirees for their um, work in the district. U, Michelle Gaffne, Keith Stag, and Kathleen Tobin. Thank you for your service to our students. Um, it's much appreciated and you will be missed. Um, and I was hoping that Dr. Dianio
could explain to us the same way that he has explained in the past that um community school programs are not for profit. They are um self- sustaining
programs. all of the money that is that is collected for these programs go back into paying for these instructors and the community school um employees. So if you could explain that again clearly
that would be great. Thanks >> Miss Castle. Just very quickly, I just want to say on 8A of our new appointments, I'm always very excited when I see former Fairlom students coming back to work in district. So, I'm very excited to see some familiar names and very excited to have them back and
it's just a testament to what a great district it is that the students who go through the system want to come back and work here. So, that's all. Thank you, >> Mr. Velvich. >> Can my question be answered so that I know I can make it the motion now or the motion when we vote? would be doing a
consent agenda. So, I'm not sure. That's why >> she wants to know when she can make a >> motion to do what? >> I believe to amend >> to amend a motion that's currently on the agenda.
>> So, my suggestion would be we would pull that out, that one item out and vote that. >> Okay. So, can we pull that out? It's 8 D 17. that be voted on separate. >> So I wanted to finish what I wanted to
say. So what I I'm going to talk about is ancillary teachers. I wanted to add more ancillary teachers. Ancillary teachers in district are teachers that come into the classroom and help other uh the classroom teachers. >> Mr. I'm sorry that's not an agenda item. >> Well no I'm going to explain why my motion is that's my motion that actually
takes place during the motion. >> Mr. Santana Yes. Um, like I was saying, HC the bills the bills I understand there's some reductions for the members of the public but for those of us who are elected officials who were voted by the public
we need to know who is who are we paying every single cent out of the budget. Okay. um 11 11H. Um I cannot support the maintenance plan
because I would like to see more upgrades on Furlong High School, particular that A-wing. Uh I would like to see more upgrades on Ferong High School. We need to upgrade a lot of things on Ferong High School. We have the money. We have a lot of money for for in the in our in our capital
improvement. We Federal High School needs a lot of improvement uh on that uh uh building. So, we need to do more work on that on that high school. And I know I appreciate uh Dr. Donio's hard work and effort on this plan, but I would
like to see more upgrades to the high school 11F uh the budget calendar. Uh, I would like the board to be provided with sufficient time to review the budget once we receive it prior to the small
committee meetings because um it's a pretty thick book. So, we need to have uh plenty of time to study and digest the information. Um, I I appreciate the agreement for 11J. Uh, I just wish we
had it sooner. Uh and um last but not least, I want to thank the parents who donate money to the PTAs and PTO's. Uh in the agenda, we receive very generous donations from the PTO's and PTAs. Thank you to the parents who donate to the
PTAs and PTO's and to the volunteers in the PTO's PTO's for putting this together. Thank you, Madam President. And my and my motion, let me know when I can make Yes. I want to pull out uh 10B >> approval. So vote on that separately.
>> So vote on 11 D7. >> No, D17. >> D17. 8 D17 and pickle ball is 10B. All right, Miss Separate. So, we're just going to vote on the consent agenda
minus those two items. Then we'll come back to those two items. >> Miss, so is not to be repetitive um and make things run a little bit slower and quicker. Um I wanted to thank uh the administration and PTA's PTO's in
reference to field trips I think and professional development. Um also I will be voting um I I have a two have a same the same problem of 11C that there were
redactions and I think we advised via an interview but advised that no redactions should be made for board members and I'm going to recuse from 11F um as I'm not going to be part of um the budget
process this year so I'm going to recuse Uh, abstain. Okay, I'll abstain. I was going to recuse. Um, and that is all. Thank you. >> So, just to me clarify on the redactions. I just went through their bills. There's only four redactions on
the whole thing. You, as board members, as I said during my interview, have the right to go to the board office and look at them. If they're redacted because they're protecting the privacy rights of a student uh or a staff member, I don't know what the redactions are. um they should be redacted for the public.
>> Um but there's only out of the whole billis I think there's four redactions. So my suggestion to you is when you get the packet if you have questions you call the business office and say this one was redacted what is it? That's how you should should handle point >> protecting the privacy rights of the
public. Uh because people if it's a a child or something like that they have the right to privacy. You as a board member have the right to ask the question of the business office what was redacted and why. >> Point of information. I point of clarification. >> You guys are using point of information.
>> Well, we're learning. >> We're doing just keep on delaying these poor folks sitting out here. So, >> can No, I think we should I I was clarifying. We have So, what we have is you have a consent a motion on the consent. You're going to move the
consent agenda minus those two items and then we'll vote on those two separately or you guys can make amendments. Okay. Got it. >> The floor is the floor is closed. >> Um,
>> you need to vote. You just need to You already voted on the consent agenda. So, you're going to call the roll call on the consent agenda minus the two items. >> Can I get a roll call on the consent agenda minus D8 D17 and 10B?
>> So moved. >> Brown. Second. >> Oh, we need a second. >> Second. I'm sorry. >> Oh, sorry. Le >> sorry. I thought you >> Can I get
>> a roll a vote? Um, roll call. It is late. >> Mr. Bazdowski. >> Yes. >> Dr. Bernolini. >> Yes. >> Miss Brown. >> Yes. >> Mr. Elia. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Favor. No. On 6B, 8 D 11, 11 C, 11 F, and 11H. >> Yes, >> Miss Casoy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Santana.
>> Abstain on 8 D11. Uh, no. On uh well, we'll pull out AD17, right? Um, no. On 11 C. Uh, abstain on 11H.
>> Yes. >> M Y. >> No. On 6C. Actually, I'm going to abstain on 6C. Sorry. Um, abstain on AD11.
Uh 11 C I'm going to vote no. 11F I'm going to abstain. And that's it. Thank you. >> Sorry. Yes. On everything else. >> And
Miss May. >> Yes. Motion pass. >> So now we're going to use >> 817. >> So I would like to make a motion and then I say the motion.
All right. I would like to make a motion to amend AD17 so that the $9,788 will be put back into the classroom by hiring more ancillary teachers or
providing them the more hours for an for the amount of $9,788. >> Second. Okay, good. >> Okay. Welcome. >> Well, you said I can. No, I can't speak.
>> Yes. >> And we always have discussion. Now we don't have Okay, we're running. Call a question. >> On the amendment and see roll call. >> Mr. Mr. Bowski. >> No.
>> Dr. Burme. No >> Miss Brown. >> No, >> Mr. Elia. >> No, >> Mr. Fif. >> Yes, >> Miss Casoy. >> No, >> Mr. Santana.
>> Yes, >> Miss Y. >> Yes, >> Miss Mayan. >> No. So moved. >> Second. >> Brown was first. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Bowski.
>> Yes. >> Dr. Bernolini. >> Yes. >> Miss. Brown. >> Yes. >> Miss Il. Uh. Mr. Ilia. >> Yes. >> Uh, Miss uh,
>> five. That's fine. >> Five. >> No. >> Miss Casoy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Santana. >> No. >> Miss German. >> No. >> Miss. Mhm.
>> Yes. >> Now you should. So that motion passed. Next motion is the motion that trustee uh Sant >> 10B >> 10B. >> Okay. I make I I make a I respectfully make a motion uh to ensure to direct the
district not to charge a profit for this program to taxpayers to parents and charge at cost. >> Can you clarify exactly what you were looking for the motion to state? The district shall charge at cost without
any profit. Break even >> second. >> No, team brown did roll call. >> We just had the conversation. >> Call the question. >> It would be it would now be unfair and it's still unfair to our community. Let's
Roll call, please. >> Mr. Powski, >> no. >> Dr. Bernolini, >> since I'm not sure of the specifics, no. >> Miss Brown, >> no. >> Mr. Ela, >> no. >> Miss Fovich,
>> yes. >> Miss Cassoy, >> I abstain on this one. >> Mr. Santana, >> yes. For the community, >> Miss Yur. >> Yes. for the taxpayers. >> Mrs. Mah. >> No.
>> Motion fails. >> Roll call, please. >> As originally drafted. So, resolution 10B. >> Second. >> Second. >> Mr. Bowski. >> Yes.
>> Dr. Bernolini. >> Yes. >> Miss Brown. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leia. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Favorovich. >> No. >> Miss Casoy, >> abstain.
>> Mr. Santana? >> No. >> Mrs. Yarm? >> No. >> Mrs. Mon? >> Yes. >> Motion pass. This portion of our board meeting is specifically for comments on any matter.
When speaking, please state your name and municipality of residents. Limit your remarks to three minutes. State law prohibits board members and administrators from discussing personnel matters, student discipline, or other confidential issues. Please note, this is not a dialogue or a Q&A session between speakers and the board. While we
may not respond immediately or to every comment made tonight, all input is carefully considered and helps inform our decisions. Responses may come through emails, reports, board statements, website updates, or after the comment period closes. Thank you for your participation in our school community's governance. The floor is
open, Miss Min. The floor is yours. >> So, we can talk about petition or not? >> Oh, wow. Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. So, good evening everyone.
I just want to say that I have a dream and just like Dr. Martin Luther King for a long time I had a dream about racial equality, freedom and justice for all
that old stigma that Jews have horns will be no more that 1938 will be no more. So, dear members of the Portland Board of Education, Dr. Dianio,
superintendent of school and board attorney, I'm sorry your tag doesn't say your name. Thank you for the important work you do to educate the children. As I mentioned at the last meeting, I have deep respect
for all educators from my childhood seeing my mom work hard to make sure that No students left behind. Uh she graded everyone by the merit and not by their nationality.
We Jews in former Soviet Union did not receive the same equality. However, I had to give up my dream of studying music or medicine because of the fifth line in my passport Jewish. It doesn't
mean Judaism, it means nationality. We came to America as Jew uh Jewish Soviet refugees escaping anti-semitism in here in New York City and then for long surrounded by large vibrant Jewish
community we finally learn about our heritage our holidays and what it means to belong. At last meeting Dr. Edward Betalini, thank you, spoke about developing anti-hate policy and Miss
Santana, a special thank you to you, emphasize that anti-semitism must be included, no doubts included. Getting news of rising anti-semites across US and Perlon, I felt heartbroken
that hatred we fled has found us again. Because we combo combat it through education by implementing nationally recognized Jewish American Heritage Months Jhm in May as it's already done in many
states and school district including New York City schools where I used to work in Queens. After the meeting, I was asked and I have started the petition seen by all school and government officials
and New Jersey Department of Education. You all seen it through the change.org and through all official email that I sent you every updates every week from September 18 till last update 1027.
Since then, I have been in touch with many government officials. Can I get an extension? >> I make a motion to give her an extra three minutes. >> Thank you, friends. >> Sorry. >> Pono, um,
the policy allows for her to go twice. She >> No, but I rather >> she can go twice. >> They waited a long time. That's >> Let me try. >> Let let can I speak? >> There's a threem minute thing if if you guys let people come back up. Yes, but we make motions and we'll let people
speak longer as long as the board allows it. That's we have done this multiple times now. We're going to change this everything now. >> Well, if there's a motion and a second to >> second, >> but then this is it. She can't come back. >> That's fine. I have a lot of people who could finish
the speech. >> Thank you. >> But do you have a motion and a second? Can we just vote? >> Listen, I cannot talk anymore. >> No, not right now. You can't >> there's a motion >> Mr. Bish
>> I'm sorry. >> It's pretty late. It's pretty late in the day. Mr. Bodski. >> Yes. >> Like the bird lady. >> Yeah. Uh I I think I'm I'm voting yes. I'm pretty sure. Yes. >> Miss Brown. >> Yes. Speaking by the time you vote Mr.
>> Yes. Yes. Miss uh >> yes. >> Yes. >> Miss Casoy. >> Mr. Santana. >> Yes. >> Miss Yur. >> Yes. >> Miss May
>> abstain. >> Motion passes. >> Okay. Thank you God. uh friends, parents, Jewish business owners, mine were a school network, other organization groups and people who
experienced anti-semitism, bullying and hatred in our town reached out to me. I started being contacted around the clock with people confiding me their heart stories, expressing support and asking for help. Clearly people won't change in
prolong petition signed by 355 people so far numbers go up daily as potentially seeing how it spreads it will be making big news soon on bright side no need to reinvent the
wheel in our petition on September 18 I posted the link to New York school district how it's already done in everyone in school in everyone in school and and JDO got this information into in advance to this meeting officially by
change.org and officially by mail. You were all informed how is done in New York City. And Dr. Santanius, thank you for your presentation. But Jewish heritage is not just about Holocaust and genocide. That's why I sent you down in New York
City where I used to work and live. I can explain to you what it is. I'm quoting from the website. JHM is fedally recognized celebration that takes place in every year in May and provides an important opportunity to
educate students about the rich cultural contribution of Jewish Americans throughout the history. It's a national monthlong celebration that takes place place every May. The month serves to highlight Jewish contribution to
American culture, history, and society. It's also a time to counter anti-semitisms through education and increase awareness. Jewish Americans have played a vital role in shaping the history, culture, and society of United
States, contributing to fields ranging from science and the arts to politics, business, and social justice. End of quote. In furong you developed gish goal number two 2025 to 26. It says quote
cultivating belonging and community also creating environments where everyone strives together recognizing JHM directly supports your goal and it's about inclusion in diversity but despite it
significance JHM has yet to be incorporated in the curriculum of schools therefore on behalf of our missionary scientist we we respectfully request. Number one, the board to officially recognize Jewish American
Heritage Month of May like in New York City schools. Number two, yeah, I'm going to let someone else to finish. Is that okay? >> Wow. Deja vu.
Good evening. for almost good morning. My name is Mark Spindell for those of you who know me and for those of you who do not know me, it's still Mark Spindell. I've served here as a board member for 12 years and I'm here tonight to talk on
two items. First, I realized that Gan Banter, who served on the board with me probably for about 35, 40 years, had this very room named after him. And that's quite an honor and he really deserved it. But it
got me to thinking that after 12 years of hard work, at least I'd have that air conditioner named after me or something. And sadly, I don't see my name on there. Just like me.
I am retired, but but I am grateful. I just came from the bathroom. And the urinal urinal isn't named after me either. But on a more serious note, I'm here because every year, every time this
year, people come up to me and they come up to my wife and they say, "Who should I vote for for the board of education?" So, I'm going to simplify matters this year for all those who ask me and all those who were going to ask me if they
watch this uh this channel. in telling you some of the things that why you should vote for a specific person. I used this in a debate of mine a few years ago and I listed those important
items. What to look for in a g in a good board member for those currently serving on the board and then who are running. People can just tune into this station and see how they acted, you know, during a meeting,
see how knowledgeable they are. For those who have not run in the past, they can go to the debate that was just held and ask friends or neighbors as to who they think is the best candidate for the board of ed.
But however, however though, these are the items that were the characteristics that I feel are important. A person who thinks seriously about the issues that are facing the district. An individual who works well with other
board members and can and can seek consensus among them. A person who strives to build a strong relationship between the school, the district, and the community. A person who is aware of the district's
needs and supports all the students, not just certain interests that they may have, regardless of their academic ability or their background. An individual who respects the different recommendations.
That's the bill. Okay, thank you. An individual who respects the different recommendations and the solutions that are offered by anyone serving on the board. A person who is committed to dedicating
the time and the effort that is necessary to fulfill all the board responsibilities. A person who understands district policies, the challenges of being on the board, as well as the strengths of the district.
A person, and here's the most important, too, a person who displays professionalism and a person who respects behavior and opinions of all people on the board. And the last one, a person who is able to
conduct and behave oneself in the proper manner all the time. Of course, these are only my opinions, but for those who have valued my opinions in the past while serving on the board,
you know that for me, I take everything very seriously and I thank you on that. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for giving me time. It won't take long. I just want to uh finish what my friend didn't have a
chance to complete. So regarding the petition, uh on behalf of our community and of our petition signers, we respectfully request number one, I will just repeat it because to have it in consequence, uh this board to officially
recognize Jewish American Heritage Month of May like it is done in New York City schools. Number two, for the superintendent to incorporate appropriate activities to celebrate JHM of May and to officially implemented in
our school's curriculum in accordance with 2020 diversity and inclusion legislation 1825-46A and in compliance with NJOE. Uh it is more than uh just a month. It is about integrating Jewish American
heritage months into K12 social studies. Link with all the information sent transparently to everyone in distribution list as open email on October 27th and it was made public in our last petition update the same day.
Let's teach our students together at schools and home that inclusion and respect begin with understanding and that every child regardless of background truly belongs. Thank you all. Merel
>> say again >> mira I r a m. >> Yes. >> Last name >> d for David. A s a l. >> Thank you. Good evening. I'm Marcy Ree. You probably all know I'm a board of education candidate. Um I'm going to
come back to talk about the agenda items after because I want to give everyone a chance to talk about the main reason why they're here tonight. But um the main reason why all of these people are here tonight, I am also here in support of adding Jewish Heritage Month to our curriculum in May. While I appreciate
all that has been shared in regards to Frell's commitment to Holocaust and Jewish heritage education, I feel that it's important to recognize Jewish Heritage Month. I'm not advocating that we teach any religious aspects of Judaism. I'm advocating that we celebrate the contributions made and the
achievements of Jewish figures in history. And that's not limited to just the instruction on Holocaust and genocide. My grandfather, Nathaniel Moss, was born in 1916. He was a teenager during World War II. After his father passed away, he and his brothers changed their last name from Moscow to
Moss to assimilate. They never should have had to do that, but they felt that it was necessary. My grandfather passed away in April of 2013 at the age of 96. But several years prior to his death, he told me and my mother that he felt anti-semitism was worse then than during
the World War II era. That was close to 20 years ago. And I can only imagine what he would think now, and that speaks volumes to me. My father-in-law was a Holocaust survivor of Awitz. Our family and many others understand the atrocities that people of Jewish faith
have endured. History repeats itself. I said it at the forum. I'll say it again. History repeats itself if it's not taught. The best way to prevent history from repeating itself is to teach it. If we celebrate our differences rather than allowing them to divide us, I believe
that is the first step to stopping hate and anti-semitism in our community. Come back for the rest. Thank you. M >> ma'am, we've we there's not going to be coming back for this. The expanded folks have six minutes. >> Okay, that's fine. The rest are um comments on agenda items. So, I didn't
feel that they were necessarily as important as our community um wanting to speak, but I just had a um just throw some questions out there. Um item 5C enrollments and for September 20, 2025 versus 2024. I was just curious as to
how um Bergentech out of district had half of a student. If someone could clarify that for me, I'm not sure if there was maybe some kind of averaging going on. Um items 8D uh 14, I noticed that there is an MA step five to step
six. They're getting an $1,800 salary increase. Um which doesn't really seem that much for teachers when I noticed that 8D17 which was changed. Um there was a secretary that was getting an almost $10,000 increase. I was curious if we were changing her title to give her that raise if she's a union
secretary or following a union contract. I also noticed that in items 8D uh 15 and 16 there's a paraprofessional and ancillary teachers. One is receiving a week extra and one is receiving two weeks extra. I'm curious as to why it's such a small amount of time when we have
students clearly in our report that could use that that extra time and could use the um the that $10,000. Um, and then just back to I guess item 1K. Um, I'm sorry 1J. Dr. Dio mentioned
that the community leadership council. I was curious if there was somewhere that we can see who makes up this leadership council. Item 1K. Um, the NJ NJSLA. I appreciate all of the hard work that has gone into presenting us with the various reports you've created for us and the
in-depth comparisons you've shared. I also want to echo the sentiments of thanking the teachers for AP. The increase in students taking AP classes and exams is impressive. I thoroughly enjoy the AP classes that I took at high school. Mr. Petraino, Miss Craig, I so appreciate you if you're by any chance
watching. Dr. Deio and Mrs. Keller, not to create more work for you, but in echoing what Lisa said, I think it would be important for us to see a comparison showing how we compare to our GH demographic group in Bergen County. Not just Paramis and Tene. This includes schools Edgewater, Emerson, Hillsdale,
Leona, Midland Park, Pamis, Rutherford, Teneek, Waldwick, and Westwood Regional. And while not in the same GH demographic, I think it would also be interesting to see how we compare to districts that perhaps have similar spending per pupil like Ridgewood because we have similar resources. Also,
u Mrs. Keller, I really liked the cohort comparison, but I would actually be curious to see a little bit further in depth of the cohort comparison and seeing if we can go as far back as to compare this eighth grad's class to how they've grown in proficiency since third grade. I'd be interested to see how one
full grade has grown in compar in its comparison. Um, in regards to science at JSLA, I'm wondering that um, perhaps as other parents might be if we could expect to see an increase in scores if we shift back to year round science instruction. And then um, a few other
non-aggenda items. I'd like to note how wonderful new digital welcome boards are throughout the district. It's been fantastic to see all of the events for the month. All of our teachers and staff being honored. I am fortunate not to live next to or across the street from one of these boards. past several weeks when you pass these boards at night,
it's literally like the sun in mid-after afternoon. I've seen a lot of complaints. I'm really glad that they've been turned to dark mode. I just want to ask that as the remainder of the boards are installed and turned on throughout the district that we can please be mindful of our neighbors and ensure that dark mode is on from the get-go.
And I have other comments, but I can wait on those. So, thank you. Have a good evening. Um, that's all. Thank you. This pen doesn't work. Wait, this one might work.
I got this one. Hi, good evening. Thank you so much. Um, as some of us have stated already, Jewish heritage is not just about Holocaust. As a Jewish mother and a parent in this district and someone who came to this country from a former communist regime where cultural identity
was often silenced, I cannot stress enough the importance of incorporating Jewish Heritage Month into the district curriculum. The Bora Fair has already recognized May as June uh as Jewish Heritage Month through the official PLA proclamation acknowledging the rich history and achievements of the Jewish
people. It is time our schools reflect the same recognition through education. This initiative directly support district goal number two, cultivating belongings and community, creating environments where every everyone thrives together. By incorporating
Jewish Heritage Month into the curriculum, we take meaningful steps towards assessing our assessing our community climate to ensure that assure our schools truly foster inclusion and respect, providing equal access and opportunity for all students to see their histories and identities
respected, building empathy and understanding that extend that extend beyond the classroom, and empowering our entire district by teaching our students about Jewish history, culture, and countless contrib contribution Jewish innovate innovators have made to art,
science, civil rights and American progress. We are not focusing on faith. We are focusing on education, heritage, and shared value that unite us as a diverse community. This is not just about honoring the past. It's about sharing a more compassionate, informed,
and inclusive future. Fairland has long been known for diversity and welcoming spirit. Let us continue this transition by ensuring our curriculum reflects it. Let our children learn that unity does not mean sameness. It means standing together, celebrating differences, and
learning from one another. I would like to ask the board I would like to request that we put a motion for a motion to recognize Jewish Heritage Month and incorporate it into our K through2 curriculum and also recognize the month
of May as a Jewish Heritage Month. Thank you for your time and your continued commitment to building a fair loan where every child truly feels that they belong. Thank you. Good evening members of the board, administration and community. My name is
Pashana Toinsky, municipalities fairon, and I'm here to address the systemic problem in our district, the continued resistance to acknowledging and celebrating the diverse identities of our students through meaningful heritage month recognition. In 2021, the board voted against
implementing black history month as an official initiative citing it was proclamation which is not board of education matters. In 2024 when failon students were here to educate came to advocate for greater black history month
inclusion, they were again dismissed. And now in 2025, as the community seeks to implement Jewish American Heritage Month, something that is aligned with New Jersey Department of Education legislation, we are once again hearing hesitation and
deflection. This is now a pattern, a pattern of minimizing student voices, disregarding community needs, and failing to follow state level educational standards and requirements. Failon is not exempt from the laws of values of New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Education states that
schools must incorporate diversity education that recognize the histories, struggles, and contributions of all communities, including black Americans and Jewish Americans. And as we mentioned um lately, the Hispanic
Heritage Month as well. These are not optional gestures. They are educational standards. So I ask, why does Fairon repeatedly avoid honoring these communities in a formal and meaningful way? Why do community members have to
return again and again to be heard? Why is the default response resistance instead of collaboration? This is not about politics. It is not about special treatment. It is about fair, equal, and lawful inclusion for every child, no
matter their race, religion or creed. We are public school district and our job is to serve all the students. Our job is to make sure that everybody feels included and that our social studies curriculum is implemented as we had seen
on New Jersey Department of Education. And if Black History Month was voted down in 2021, rejected again in 2024, and now Jewish American Heritage Month is facing the same push back, then we must acknowledge the obvious. This is a
systemic issue, and systems only change when leadership changes its mindset. So tonight, I urge this board to commit to formally recognizing and supporting all heritage months required or recommended by the New Jersey Department of Education
for collaborative with parents, students, and teachers to develop curriculum that reflects Fairone's diverse population and demonstrate through action, not just words, that all children belong here. And also, I would like to thank you for tonight's presentation. It was very informative
and I appreciate everybody taking the time today and giving us the opportunity to speak. Thank you. Have a wonderful night. >> Good evening. I'm here for dessert. I'm Vladimir. Just write my name.
Don't start the clock yet and I'm from far. Okay, first of all, thank you the administration for presentation. I know you put a lot of efforts into it. Uh, one thing that would be fun to see is uh when we compare ourselves to other towns, we're better than average. Uh so
if there are like 20 towns are we ninth or are we the second? What's the distribution? Just would be a fun piece of information to see. Secondly, uh district goals. Uh I had to really jump around the website trying to find them.
It would be great if they like displayed prominently at some intuitive place on the website. Right now I think at that intuitive place I only saw goals for uh 2022 23 school year. A little outdated. Uh last but not least, Jewish Heritage
Month. Uh yes, I'm here to support it, of course. Uh and it does fit well with the goals which call for inclusive environment for all. So that would fit right in. And also I went to the website of the New Jersey Department of
Education um under standards social studies. Uh the web page is called integrating history. I can leave this page if I may with the link. Uh it lists 11 uh months
that they uh talk they I guess recommend integrating. It says integrating diverse American histories into K12 social studies. So I take it they recommend doing it and Jewish heritage month is clearly one of them. So that would fit
right in. Um may I just leave this here somewhere? Thank you. >> Anything on the Google doc? >> We have four comments. Um, we have a Matthew Windman. My children attend Radburn Elementary.
My son attended afterare program past three years. This year we tried to enroll uh both children in afterare but we were later advised that they had been enrolled in beforeare. Since then they have been on the waiting list for afterare. Very surprised and concerned that they still have not gotten into the
program. Three years ago our child was on the waiting list just for a week before we got into the program. working parents like us depend greatly on afterare. While the exact relationship between the program and the school board is unclear to me, I hope the school board will look into this matter of great public concern for parents and
students alike. Uh second comment from Matthew Windman. My children attend Radurn Elementary School. My son attends the afterare afterare program. Past three years. Um it's a repetition. We're going to go to the
next comment we have. Um, Aiden Maloney. Uh, Aiden Maloney says, "Dear Dr. Janisio and board members, my name is Aiden. I'm a sophomore. Thank you so much for your feedback and the question I asked regarding in-class resource for science and social studies at the August board meeting. I have some questions
tonight. My first question is, which science course is the district considering having in-class resource for 11th grade school school year next year?" My second question is why there's no resource for science and social studies in the middle schools. Thank you so much. All my best. Aiden. Um, and
just to those comments, we'll have Mrs. DeFranco and our high school team follow up with Aiden to answer this question. >> The floor is closed. Um, I just want to recognize that I appreciate that um, on behalf of the board that you guys were all here and present and stayed for an
extraordinarily lengthy amount of time. Um, your words are important. They're valuable. It's what we teach our students in this community. Um, in regards to the one question asked, uh, Miss Ruiz,
sorry, M. Um, that BCT program is a half, it's a shared program. So, that's why it's a half, it's not a half body. So, thank you. Um, any other recognition um will come from the superintendent.
Do you have any? And do you have anything to recognize? Okay. Okay. So, I am going to open the floor to board member comments on any business. Miss Develich, as a descendant of a of two Holocaust
survivors, I think I think recognizing the Jewish American uh heritage month is important. So I move that the Fair I make a motion that the Fair Board of Education adopt the following resolution. Motion to
recognize Jewish American Heritage Month. Move moved that the Fairlon Board of Education adopt the following resolution. Whereas Jewish American Heritage Month is observed nationally each May to recognize the achievements
and the contribution of Jewish Americans. Whereas the Fairone the Fair School District is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and diverse educational environment for all
students, staff and families. And whereas President uh Jimmy Carter established Jewish Heritage Week in 1980, which was changed to Jewish American Heritage
Month in 2000 uh 2006. Now, therefore, it be resolved that the Fairone Board of Education officially recognize the month of May as Jewish American Heritage Month.
Second. >> Miss, can you provide me that written call? >> I will. I will email it to you. >> Now, just so we can I'm going to have to read it out loud when we review the motion. >> I can read it again.
You won't be able to read I'm my head right. I can read it again to you if that makes you >> however you would like. Yes. In the month of May, >> sorry. >> My Santana. >> Um >> Yeah.
Call a question. >> Open for discussion. >> I'll go. Dr. Berlin, >> I'm sorry. Julie should go first. You raised your hand. I'm sorry. Sorry, Julie. >> I didn't recognize him. Yes, we recognized in order for me to use a
>> Yes, we are. Miss Brown had the same thing. >> I This is confusing. So, I I appreciate. So, I though my last name is Casoy, my maiden name is Leavinsky. I am also an immigrant. I am also of Russian heritage. I've also came to this country
as a child with parents who had anti-semitism and and had to leave behind professions and and I recognize truly the contributions. Um I I believe we're talking about curriculum changes here and the the request that the
petition specifically said that they that the request has your motion. I'm just I I'm discussing. So we the petition was to adopt Jewish Heritage Month, Jewish National Jewish Heritage Month into the curriculum. We have a curriculum committee. We I I absolutely
support this, but I support this being advanced in a way that we can make sure to implement it effectively and implement it thoughtfully and implement it making sure that we that we don't just just do something and and miss
something important that we also take into account Black History Month. that we take into account Asian-American history month that we take in these things into account. So I don't know what this means with the motion on the table because >> merely to recognize
>> it's merely this is not impacting curriculum as it is >> to recognize Jewish American during the month of May. >> What does recognizing mean and maybe Dr. Dianio can can help. So in the past it has been to um note in the month of May
that a proclamation is placed on our agenda. In the past as stated by um other trustees a a proclamation was placed on the agenda and it was voted on. The most recent one being in 2021 and it
was voted down. So it's typically completed in the month that um we recognize it. So for example, um the council recognizes those proclamations in the month that they are taking place.
>> So what how what does that mean for the school? This is what this is where I'm I'm just trying to understand what the actual >> I unfortunately you I I wish Miss Mal I wish you could >> the public closed the public >> right but right now we can only focus on the motion at hand which is not
curriculum based which is not your petition it is solely based on recognizing Jewish American Heritage Month in the month of May that is it so >> that that that is this is not a curriculum impact that can be brought to the curriculum committ
Okay. All right. Thank you, >> Mr. uh Dr. Berlini and then Mr. Zena. You had your hand up. >> Oh, okay. Mr. Zana, >> we cannot have any hesitation. Any hesitation to vote yes is really a no vote. Even if anyone votes yes, if you
hesitate to even think about it, that's not full support. Um, although I'm not Jewish as a a person from the Dominican Republic, my ancestors were from uh
Western Africa and Spain. For anyone that knows history, Spain have to ask for to forgiveness to the Jewish people when they expel them. Uh, and they expel the the Moors also. Okay. So I have Jewish ancestry
culturally to the Sephardi Jews. Okay. So I am a ally. I don't have a flag. I wish I had a flag. Miss May has a flag next to her name. I want to have a flag next to my name. Okay. I'm an ally of the Jewish community. I don't hesitate. You have
Yes. vote here. >> Mr. Beldowski. >> Thank you. I I want to thank the community members for waiting so long to speak and apologize that our banter uh kind of delayed that. Um I think it's important that we recognize and celebrate
every cultural um group within our community and recognize that diversity. And I want to thank Mr. Idken for um pointing out that state website. I had not seen that where it does list all the months that it recommends that schools can incorporate different ways. I I don't think adopting
a resolution in the month of October does it justice. If this is something we want to do, and I think these are discussions we should have, it should be done in May to recognize the full month of it. Um, and I have the stand in
policy and many members of this board do that we don't vote on motions without seeing it prior. I have not seen this resolution beforehand. And so it just makes me uncomfortable voting on something without recognizing the full impact. And I'd rather make this a meaningful um discussion, have a a
fullon discussion with our administration, within our committees to make sure that we do this right for all committee me or community members. So thank you, >> ma'am. Ma'am, you can't yell from the public. You got your minutes. Let the board
miss >> call the question. Mr. Bowski >> abstain. >> Dr. Bernolini. >> I do support the the resolution.
As long as it doesn't as as Miss Coy said, >> Dr. Berlin, you have to give a yes or no vote. >> I was going to commentary the question. >> Okay. So, I will vote yes. Miss Brown.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Leia. >> Abstain. >> Miss uh Puvich. >> Yes. >> Miss Casoy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Santana.
>> Yes. >> Miss Yerman. >> Yes. >> Miss Mayha. I'm going to abstain as well. >> Motion carries. >> Motion passes. >> Madam President, I have another motion.
>> You haven't been recognized yet, Mr. Santana. >> Yeah, I'm I'm waiting to be recognized. >> We have to wait for everyone to get their turn. You've had a turn. We're going to start over. Okay. We're going to reopen. When we ask for somebody to be recognized, put your hand up. This is
not new. We are back to board comments on any business. Mr. Santana. >> Okay. February 22nd, 2021. I made a motion just like Miss Ferlli
made a motion to recognize because we have to it's good to get the communities here. We have to be fair. Okay, honest and fair. I'm an honest man, but I'm a fair person and I shoot from the hip. Okay, in February 22nd regular board meeting 2021, I made a motion to
recognize Black History Month and it was voted down. Three people voted no, six people voted no, three people voted yes. the three the three board members that voted yes uh uh are here. I thank them for for their vote. I think
I cannot go to sleep tonight without making a motion to bring uh fairness, equality, and justice to Black History Month and also Hispanic Heritage Month. So, I would like to make a motion to um
request that the superintendent uh um research the various um district um communities. the the various
district the the various communities rep um represented in our student population and offer a recommendation to the the curricular committee for further examination. >> Second.
>> Would you like me to repeat the motion? Okay. Being the Okay. being that we want equality and fairness for all groups and being that the board rejected uh recognizing Black History Month in 2021 and being that we have a national
Hispanic Heritage Month. You cannot be for Jewish Heritage without also being for Black History Month and also Hispanic Heritage Month. United we win. Divided we fall. So it's fair is fair.
The community got what they wanted. Now we want the community to support everybody. Okay. So that's the only way you got me in. I I will say yes, but all of us have to be together. So my motion is motion to respectfully
uh I'm trying to work in a very respectful way not to boss the superintendent around. Respectfully >> No, let me let me let me say it myself, sir. respectfully request the superintendent
to conduct the proper research to make a recommendation for any curriculum changes and proclamation for
the Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations, and any other group that the superintendent feels should be included to represent all of our students.
>> So, just to clarify, you are looking for research on our current population. >> Yes. to determine any other curricular changes and
cultural heritage >> month proclamations. >> Yes, culture heritage proclamation and any educational and cultural uh recommendations to the curriculum committee
>> to the education committee to the education committee. >> So that would be any fairlong community that is part of our part of our district. >> Yes. >> Okay.
>> Then I'll I'll second it. >> I'll just remind everybody that that's what I recommended about three hours ago. >> That was my opening 10 minutes. So it's something that I think we should be looking at. The strength of our community is the
diversity. We have a lot of cultures that are represented here. >> Call the role. >> So >> no, please call the call. >> Okay, that's fine. Okay. Um I am going >> our voices sound the same.
>> I'm going to open the floor to comment on the motion. Anyone miss >> does this need to be a motion if Dr. already said that this is something >> there's a motion on the floor. So now we have to discuss it. Anyone else? Okay,
here you go. I don't speak often. Um my role is actually to facilitate the meeting rather than provide any commentary. Um but I feel like it's really important to denote similar to what Missy did, which is that my last
name is Mayan, but my maiden name is Fishson. I am raising two Jewish boys. But when I sit up here on this Dis, we are not considering the personal um perspectives and our personal opinions. We are considering the perspective of
every single member of this community. And I want to be very clear that every single member of this community, regardless of how large the population is, needs to be considered. So, it's going to be very important that everyone
hear and understand that we have a very large growing population um of Ukrainians and Russians and Indians and Muslims and a small but growing population of Palestinians. And
so, we are going to recognize every single population when I sit at up here at this table. We have to be able to consider that we are recognizing every single small community in our town. And I understand that that is going to be
very hard for many people to hear. But because they are part of our community, they are entitled to that same recognition. So when you see us at a supermarket or you see us out in the community
and you feel inclined to come say to us that we are not considering your population when we sit up here. We have to consider every single one.
So understand that this is as hard for us sitting here and listening to you because I personally may have a very similar passion. But unfortunately our role as elected
officials and volunteers is to consider every single child and family. So Dr. Disio, should this come back to you, right? We all realize that you shared it. There's emotion on the floor.
I beg you to consider every single child because even if there is one child from a marginalized community, that child deserves the same respect and consideration as our largest population.
Oh, it's on the motion. No, I just want to talk about new business. >> Anyone else on the motion? Mr. >> I still haven't recovered from the Black History motion that was voted down. And this is why I feel that yes, supporting
Jewish Heritage Month, but also like Miss Mayan stated, we have to make sure that every child feels seen and heard. And as an immigrant myself who came to this country when I was 16 years old without knowing English, I know what it
is to feel ignored. And I don't want anybody feeling ignored. And I think for people back then who said, "But well, we have to celebrate everybody every month." Let's celebrate everybody every month because when we when we include everybody,
it makes us stronger. It makes us stronger. Otherwise, we're going to have to repeat it again, you know, and we learned the assignment already. >> Mr. Podski, >> yes. Dr. Bernolini,
>> no. because of the curriculum changes. >> Miss Brown, >> yes. >> Mr. El, >> yes. >> Mrs. uh Miss uh Filovich, >> yes, >> Mrs. Casso. >> Yes,
>> Mr. Santana. >> Yes, Miss Yur. >> Yes, >> Miss Manus. To >> be consistent, I'm going to abstain. Motion carries. >> Back to
other business. >> Miss, I just want to point out something to the member that says we do not vote if we don't see a resolution. This room was named after a board member, a resolution that I did not get to see the
resolution. They wanted to surprise the board member. Therefore, I didn't get to see and I had to vote. So, if that's how we're going to do it, that's fine. But let's not be hypocritical. Let me just talk about one more thing. The in 2021
in February, Mr. Ipken and I made a motion and it was carried. It says um to Miss Favlla to post uh second by Miss Favos to post criteria for allegible for gifted and talent and program including reach on a website of respective school.
The criteria should include required test scores. The criteria should be specific enough to allow parents to understand why the child was or was not included in the gifted and talented program. Just wanted to say I appreciate
the administration putting the scores but I as a parent by looking at it I don't I wouldn't be able to know how do you tell the difference between each tiers what's the test scores have to be for tier two tier one tier three it doesn't is there a way that they can
clarify that so that everybody could see thank you >> any other board comments Mr. Senna, I would like to thank Dr. Doni. You know what? In 22 years that
I've been in education as a teacher, I met very few superintendent with the patient, charisma, and ability to listen like Dr. Donio. Okay. So I really have to be very thankful and the motion that
was passed and agreed to by the board then which was uh second and and and made and second by Miss Fabig and and then u financial genius Mr. uh okay it
took how many years to be enforced and in the private sector when when the bos says you have to do this and it doesn't get done there's got to be repercussions there's got to be consequences because
if the if the board made a decision the majority of the board then made a decision and that board action was not carried through there should have been some consequences There should have been some disciplinary consequences
and I would like to see some accountability. I would like the superintendent to issue some recommendations maybe different processes or policies for proper enforcement
because if the if the board of education makes a motion and it's passed and it's not obeyed that is insubordination. That is also insubordination because if we had a policy that was voted second made and second by two elected
officials and voted by the majority of the members and that pal it took Mr. it took Dr. Don initial to come here for that palace to be fully enforced there I would like to see some accountability because when we when the
board decided to name this room after Mr. who I came here and praised him for all his years of service. Even though we didn't agree on many things, it was done. There's there's a name Mr. Bant outside in the banner. It was done. So
when the board makes a decision, even if people don't agree, it must be obeyed. Just like the policies of the board must be followed and obeyed. They're not open to interpretation. That's why we have regulations on how to
carry them. So, thank God we have Dr. Denishia in this district because Dr. Donia with his leadership, he's guiding the ship to the to the to the right course. But I would like to see some accountability because why did it take so many years for that policy to be
enforced? I still can't think I'm having dream nightmares about this. I cannot believe that policy was not enforced in so many years. But if it was a policy to name this chair after a board member that you love, it would have been done. And that's not right. And what what the
board member was stating is we have to follow what we the policy even if we don't agree. Even if we don't agree, >> Mr. usm of this room discussed with members prior to that meeting. Board members
were well aware that resolution was coming up to the the board. Same with when we recognized Miss Hayek two years ago, a similar uh process. The resolution was shared with shared with board members prior to that. I also want to note that uh Mr. Santana's uh
um prek through fourth grade expansion of Edison uh that was recommended to the finance committee was placed on the August agenda of finance. We did not get back uh to that on time, but it is on the agenda uh as requested or as
required by policy. The community school, so the community is well aware just because miscommunic or misinformation continues to come out every board meeting is a nonprofit entity that is fully self-sufficient and simply want to wish our students a
happy Halloween and be safe tomorrow. Thank you. >> The floor is closed. Upcoming meetings on November 20th, 2025 is there's policy of a whole meeting at 700 p.m. Eugene and Bantto public
meeting room 19 at school. Additionally, following the public policy of the whole will be our regular monthly board meeting commencing at 8:00 PM at the Eugene Manta public meeting room, room 19. Both these this date and December
18th, 2025, which is the regular monthly meeting of December at 7:30 p.m. in the Gene Amba public meeting room, room 19 to note from our standard, which would is the third um Thursday of the month. These are the fourth Thursday of the month. And then
uh January 7th, 2026 is our organization meeting at 7:30 p.m. Edison School Eugene Manta Public meeting room 19. This also denotes a deviation from the fourth Thursday of the month and will be taking place at this point in time on
January 7th, which is a Wednesday. Can I please get a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. Brown. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Have a good night.