To the flag of the United States of America for it stands under God indivisible and justice for all. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of
the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies of which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. in accordance with the provisions of the act before the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published on January 10th, 2025 and posted on the district website at
www.flboe.com published in the board's designated online media outlet newspapers the record in the star ledger file the third of the burough Fort Lee and mailed to all persons if any who have requested said notice. Please be advised this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and
online at a future date. The open public meeting act allows for remote participation at board meetings and defines meeting as any gathering whether corporal or by means of communication equipment which is attended by or open to all of the members of a public body held with the intent on the part of the members of the body present to discuss
or act as a unit upon the specific public business of that body. Roll call please. Missy K. Miss Kath here. Miss Curry here. Mr. Nay here. Tank here. Mr. Lopez here. Miss Morurell here. Mr.
Rabino here. Miss Rick here. The board will be convening to executive session to discuss legal personnel and other confidential matters. The board will reconvene into public session at approximately 7:30 p.m. I have a motion to go into executive session.
Motion Rabbino, second Curry. All in favor? I think Curry had me on that one. Any oppos? All in favor? Any opposed? Flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of the
act, the Fort Lee Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published on January 10th, 2025 and posted on the district's website at www.fle.com, published in the board's designated online media outlet, newspaper, the record, and the star
ledger filed with the clerk of the burrow of Fort Lee and mailed to all persons, if any, who have requested said notice. Please be advised, this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and online at a future date. The open public meeting act allows for remote participation at board meetings
and defines meeting as any gathering whether corporal or by means of communication equipment which is attended by or open to all of the members of the public body held with the intent on the part of the members of the body present to discuss or act as a unit upon the specific public business of
that body. Roll call please. Miss By Kang here. Miss here. Miss Curry here. Mr. Knight here. Miss Cotangs here. Mr. Lopez here. Miss Moral here. Mr.
Rabino. M here. The board convened the executive session at 6:30 p.m. to discuss legal personnel and other confidential matters. Dr. Kravitz, will you begin by sharing the superintendence report? Yes. Thank you, President Richtor. Good evening and thank you all for attending tonight. Uh I want to
begin by announcing several initiatives that are taking place over the next several weeks. On May 13th at 6 PM, the high school will be held in a high school forum on what's happening in our high school between and it's open to parents grades 8 through 12. More information will be coming out on a
daily basis, which should say in the next couple days and we will remind everyone, please attend at the high school. A survey will be going out on May 19th. That is part of our strategic plan. There are several questions regarding the future of the district as we plan long term. I would ask that all
parents uh fill out the information, give their opinion, have a a nice group of u people out there who want to share their thoughts. This can help drive the strategic planning. A few more strategic planning events. There will be a virtual community forum on May 29th. Again, more
information will be sent out in the next couple days. June 2nd, the board of education will be having a forum here on our specific plan. June 5th will be as for staff and June 9th for our administrators and of course the many events that take place from now until
the end of the year including my last day which is graduation. So I I encourage everyone to participate. I also acknowledge there are many questions this evening on the events that took place earlier in the month of April. As you most recently saw in a few press releases, the the investigation continues and hasn't has been going has
been ongoing, which means that if you are asking specific questions, the response has always been it's still an ongoing investigation as you saw recently, but we are we will be presenting some things again on May 13. I am happy to introduce two high school
students tonight, Chich Lee and Olivia Espa, who will talk about what's happening in our high school. Hello everyone. My name is Lee and I serve as the current co- vice president of 4B high school student council. Hi,
my name is Olivia Tes and I'm also part of the student post along with the four leaf fee collaborated to create a video for autism acceptance month. We hope it was as informational and engaging to watch as it was to make. Thank you to everyone
who helped and participated. Happy Autism Acceptance Month. If you would like to see the video, you can check it out on the 14 Instagram page. The science festival unfolded right before spring break without a hitch, showcasing seamless logistics from start
to finish. Volunteers rose to every occasion, keeping energy high and stations running smoothly. Experiment leaders orchestrated their activities with impressive clarity and engagement. Elementary and middle school students were captivated, leaving the event
buzzing with curiosity and excitement. Congratulations to Aaron Jim, who placed third in the Vernon County Sigmafree Sticker Contest. Several members of the Fort Le boys and girls track team competed at the
prestigious pen relay relays at the University of Pennsylvania last week. This meet has a rich history that started in 1895 and has since become an international event. Senior Alexa Castro, juniors Chelsea Lewis, Alice
Marcus, and sophomore Maddie Eastman represented the Fort Le girls at the 4x10 sprint relay. Seniors Amadu Trayor, Ron Lrosski, and sophomores Adriel Lee and Sha Lee represented the Fort Lee boys in the 4x10 while seniors Ron
Laoski, Dylan S, Gregory Derinci, and junior Christian Brutin represented the boys in the 4x400. Former standout student athlete Diana Valentini, class of 2023, was also there competing as a member of the John
Hopkins University women's track team. It was an incredible experience for these Fort League athletes. Janelle Lewis, Fort High School alumni and current Caldwell College women's basketball player was named first team allmet conference and first team
academic allmet conference. Congratulations and keep making us proud. On Thursday, May 1st, the student council in collaboration with the guidance department proudly hosted our annual career fair. The event featured
representatives from over 20 different career fields, offering our sophomores and juniors the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations, gather information, and explore a wide range of career options. And a special thank you goes to our junior, Chich Lee, for his
outstanding contributions as the coordinator in organizing volunteers and designing promotional posters. His dedication played a key role in the success of the event. And lastly, the Forly High School Academy of Finance and the NAF National
Academy of Finance Network has reached the Cathine Blastic Distinguished Level NF's highest level of achievement. Congratulations. Thank you very much for that report. Thank you, Mr. Lee, for waving your hand so we all know that that was that was
you. We do have on the agenda tonight two HIVs, one of which was founded, one was not. We do have a walking resolution 6B. Taylor, you don't mind reading the resolution? Thank you. This is a uh
resolution to resend the voluntary recognition of the Fort Lee Education Association's awarding representative of technology staff employees. So that will be 6B. And lastly, and never to be forgotten, this is the beginning of teacher appreciation
week. Thank you for all our teachers and the continued hard work that they do each and every day for the service to the 4 school community. Thank you very much. This concludes my report. Thank you.
Uh do we have committee reports? I have one. Um, just prior to this meeting, the policy committee met. We continue to work on the electronic device policy um that we hope very soon
we'll be on the agenda um working through the different age groups and uh getting feedback from our administration. Um, we also review the eligibility of resident and non-resident students. Um, there are some mandatory
changes to our policy relating to um, payment of students who leave the district even if they leave a week before the end of the school year or even earlier. Um, and changes relating to charges that we are able to make to our teachers and other staff. Um, those
are in the works and will be on a future agenda. Oh, just on the negotiations front, um, we had a negotiations meeting on April 28th and I'm happy to say that we had a textive agreement in place with the
Portland Education Association. We're still working on some minor updates to the wording and the contracts. Um, so and there's a ratification meeting scheduled for May soon. So I expect that um this item will be on the agenda for
May 19th. On the finance front, we had a finance meeting on May 2nd to talk about the responses for the RFP for banking services. We have received five responses and so we we started to look
at those. Um there was additional information obtained at that meeting regarding interest calculations. So right now there's a validation underway um which will be shared shortly. We expect to have this as a vote on May
19th as well. So thank you. Thank you. Any other committee reports? Okay. Do board members have questions or comments on tonight's agenda or any other topic? showers a shout out, but this meeting
appreciation special. Um, also it's uh I believe it's Wednesday is National School Thursday as well. They respond to illness and emergency. We also promote [Music]
health security at the end. What do you mean motions? things I'd like to make about um now business. Yeah, new business at the
end. So, I too want to thank all of our teachers. They are definitely our biggest asset in the district and they make us proud every single day. So, a big big very big thank you to all of
you. Um, also I'll say it now before we get to the personnel resolutions, but um, congratulations on Diana Costa on her retirement and her 22 years of hard work and devotion to the district. Just want to congratulate the
Fort Lake High School orchestra band and also choir. Um, they put out an excellent performance on Thursday, last Thursday. Um, so thank you for all parents who came out because without the
kids seeing an audience there support them, their music wouldn't have felt as much as important. And so your presence matters. So please keep coming out to these performances and support them. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you. I saw you there. I was there, but she was there. Um, I love our teachers. Thank you very very much for everything that you do, Miss Aosta. Thank you um for putting up
with me the last four years. Um and I hope you have a wonderful retirement. Um I want to say that I've been following lots of different high schools in the area, some that do um some private schools. And I'm
extremely proud of our students in this district um for their acceptances across the board um without the guidance department. Our guidance department did a great job with uh helping students. And if anybody hasn't seen it, um I
suggest you go to u high school 25 commits or something like that. You can find it and you could see all of the wonderful colleges that the students are going to. Um So, I mean, across the board, it's not only just regular four-year colleges. You
have students going to trade schools, you have students going to the military. I mean, I I know that um for me has um a lot to be proud of. We have so many
successful students and people that come out of out of our district. So uh I feel very proud and um I like I said I have been watching and comparing even though comparison is the thief of all joy I have been doing
it but this time it's not the thief of all joy. Um for at least coming out very very good this year. Um we have so much to be proud of and I'm sure next year will be the same. Um the concert was amazing. There's just so many great things going on. Our baseball team I
mean look what they're doing. They got the first first time in history that the baseball team got as far as they've gotten. The varsity team, um the track, I mean, there's so many things that are going on that are wonderful within the high school. And um we just want to I
would like to see us continue those great things and and add to them. And I want to give everybody um love and respect that they deserve. I know that um to say there's not an elephant in the room would be silly, but we need to
stick together and be proud and uh be kind and patient. Um and now I'm going to switch real quick to 11B and um I see that 11B the siphon changed from um I guess it went half maybe not looking at
numbers half. So, does that mean maybe they didn't work the hours to get that much money? They're splitting the u the two individuals splitting at the same time. Okay. Thank you.
Got one other question. I have a quick question on the survey that you talked about that's going to go out to parents. Is that gonna be more than that where or the parents be able to type questions?
So, so it's actually using a program for the strategic planning called think central. It's part of the strategic plan that those who are on the uh strategic planning committee met. What that does is allow for comments um for people to make comments and then it groups them
together using AI so that people can start to respond and obviously it filters out people who are making inappropriate comments or anything that's said regarding personnel. Um and it translates into multiple languages so people get to here's the here's an open-ended question you get a comment
and then it respond it starts to make that list. So those forums will end up having those comments. what's the dominant theme? If 40 of the parent of this of the 100 respondents say we're interested in better facilities, this is and and people can comment off that and
people can see other people's comments. Um again, but it's filtered. So, it is it is more of a different kind of communication tool. the program itself, you know, we we will look at or can look at, but for the purpose of the strategic plan, that company that we recommended uses that and then they'll get a they'll
create a form at the end of what the the action steps that need to get taken. What was it called? Think central. Oh, thought exchange. Sorry. Thought Thought. Think central is an HMH program. Thought thought exchange. Thought exchange. Sorry. Thought
exchange. And it allows for that uh exchange of ideas. It's very it's I know Mr. Knight had brought up in the beginning a while ago about how do you get people to to communicate back and forth. This allows that for a theme. So some of the schools have started to use that as a program that allows for themes
to be created and then sent out there and again into different languages. Something new. Yep. It's very cool. Very cool program. Is correct. Okay, may I have a motion to open the floor to the public? Second. Motion
Kovat, second Curry. All in favor? Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, we will hear first from members of the public physically located here with us. Then we will take questions and comments from those participating remotely. Participants are limited to three minutes in which to make their statement. For remote
participants, please select the raise hand button. District technology coordinator, Mr. coordinator Mr. Roger will recognize each community member in order of a raise of hands. When you are called on, please unmute your microphone. Everyone, please state your name and address for the record and
limit your comment to three minutes. We have members here in public who wish to speak. friends. At the last meeting, I public comment by asking for line. After rewatching the video, I had two moms in the room as I was because they didn't
like what I had just said. I'd like to apologize. Yes. Okay. At the last meeting, I ended my public comment on Zoom by asking for less lying. Watching the video, I heard two moms in the room loudly ask who I
was because they didn't like what I had just said. I'd like to apologize to those two parents. My comment wasn't dependent for either of you. Now, about the last meeting. In the mix of parents correctly asking for a parents town hall, two things stood out to me. But first, let me share something I read
which feels to recent events. In a recent Financial Times article about the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby, it is a quote, "The reckless driver of a speeding car is what brings the Card Gatsby crashing to an end. It is a story about the wreckage left in the wake of rotten drivers like Daisy who break
things and move on. Carelessness and Gerald vision more than negligence. It is a way of moving power. It is a certainty that the world exists to absorb their damage." The reason I bring this up is because of two comments at the last board meeting that I felt were careless in this way.
At about 1 hour and 44 minutes, a board member said she knew the district had rumors of chicken buses and red shirts for years and then asked if he had smoke detectors in all of her bathrooms of the high school. The point was she known people smoke in the bathrooms and then specifically said smoking marijuana and
she's known about this since before 2020 when her son graduated. I was surprised that she hasn't pursued solving the residency question or the smoking of the illegal drugs in our high school bathroom before now. It feels careless to not have addressed these important issues earlier in light of less justice
in the second comment made by a different board member felt completely careless. The head of the security committee reported at around minute 4 and 44 seconds include personal opinions like that gang in every store in the United States. His opinion is his and
his alone. In fact, the board president had to correct him when he was finished so that the public knew that our local police chief actually stated there was not evidence of gangs at the high school. A careless mixing of personal opinion and incorrect facts creates a lack of trust from the students and
parents with this board, especially when those careless comments feel more [Music] familiar than our high school. For those who had attended the retreat early March or had watched the recording afterwards, you can know that students are your
number one customers of the board. You answer them first and foremost. They deserve your care of being provided with relevant facts and engender trust in public meetings and on social media. The purpose of my board retreat is in part training for current board members to be reminded how to do their job best. I
recommend board members fought so earnestly to make that recording available to the public. We watch it. It is important that this board, administration, and parents that we build our power with great care for the betterment of our schools academically and socio emotionally. I ask that
everyone's education singed to this collaborative purpose. Good evening everybody. Keith, 2185 Le Moy Avenue. Um, happy birthday young lady. I said that selfishly. It's my
birthday. So, I wanted to um just remind everybody um in the district um parents and guardians of children in the special education parents group, we have our
next CPAC meeting on May uh 21st. 21st, right? Yes. 21st. deadline. So May 21st at 7 p.m. the deadline for um candidates to submit um excuse me the
deadline RSVP for child care is May 16th. That's why I was getting confused. So please RSVP for child care to CPAC and fl uh again meetings May 21st 7 p.m. that's here. Uh it is
kind of it is over there in the media room. We're moving the meeting. Um or they move the meeting. Um but we want to make sure anybody uh who wants to participate is there. Uh we have five candidates. We're very proud of that for
free leadership position. So that's very exciting. Um the candidates will be speaking about why they want to be in CPAC leadership. Uh so that's exciting as well. We hope that you all join us for that. Uh we also have police uh
chief Matthew Hints. Uh he'll be showing up to discuss the blue envelope program. Um that's basically for bad drivers that get pulled over a lot. Kids like mine. You give the envelope to the police officer and they know what's going on or they got a hint. So um Matt will be
showing up or chief and so will be showing up to present that. We're excited about that as well. Uh but most of the meeting will be all about the parents. Uh so the first 15 or 20 will be the police chief and then the rest will be the candidates and of course any other parents that um are nominated or
guardians as well. Um and that um and just one thing I had no voice so apologies for when I was in Africa calling in this terrible painful voice but I wanted to say and I couldn't because I had a terrible voice that night we really need to figure out a way
to not destroy each other when we disagree. We we really can do that and I plead to everybody in this town like we can love each other and figure out how to work together. So I just that's a plea selfish plea but that's it. Thank you. Oh excuse me. One question. How's
that lost traction? Well we will have it up and running. We guarantee it next year. Good. Thank you. Happy birthday and it's coang as well. Anyone else present in the audience
speak before we go online? Okay, Mr. Roger. Melanie Goodman, you've been promoted to panelist. Please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video. Please state your name and address for the record. You have three minutes.
This is just a town. Good evening. Actually, my name is Andrew. Good Melanie, my daughter Melanie's account 326 Bridge Plaza North here in Fort Lee. I just want to follow what Keith was mentioning about the special parents advisory group. Um that will be meeting
on May 21st. The meeting will site change of venue. The meeting will be in the Footley Middle School media center. Okay. not the school cafeterium as was previously announced. Information for the meeting is also posted on the Fort
Le BOE website. Again, we'll have representatives from the Fort Lee Police Department talking about the blue envelope program. Also on the Fort Le BOE website, there's a link also about the program and also um emails have been
sent out by Monica Hans, the director of special services. Thank you all and have a good night. Mi, you've been promoted to panelist. Please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video. Please state your name and address for
the record. You have three minutes. Uh, hi. Can you guys hear me? Yes. So, Miha Konesco, 254 Tom Hunter Road for Lee. U, so two things that I want to bring tonight on the agenda. uh one
thing is in regards to the policy change for electronic surveillance in school buildings and school grounds. So for that just going over the policy it seems that uh we as parents expect the kids to be recorded and these videos would be
stored with a superintendent or a trustee and then um is the equivalent of trust me bro right so with that in mind what I have as a question is could you guys adopt language that would prevent
and would uh guide how this material is stored and you know, preserved. And one thing that I want to push for is add verbiage that prevents the sharing for uh training, especially models and artificial
intelligence. Cuz at the end of the day, you're going to have years of video of these kids. And the companies out there, they're hungry to trade and uh have better chat bots, video recognition software, facial recognition software, behavior recognition software, and so
on. And while currently the state law might prevent this kind of usage of the kids video recordings in the future, you know, that might change. So with that in mind, please add verbiage to the language in uh to the to the rules. So
these cases would be covered when it comes to how this data is used by the companies that store the videos not the parents. Um another thing Dr. Kravitz mentioned artificial intelligence and one thing that he mentioned was that
based on the comments uh parents would be filtered out and their opinions might not pop out. Uh, one thing to bring up is that a lot of parents are contrary to some of the policies that the districts have pushed and they're very vocal about
it. So the question is with that software that you proposed to use would filter this kind of opinions out. And with that in mind, you know, it's about the policy 5756 or more recently the Hamas and Israel conflict of opinions that we had
in the school district. I would be really curious to see how would the the software in question would uh behave when the say you know it's tested with comments for pro and against these kind of issues and you know that be made public you know so in this way we build
some trust that parents are not filtered out based on their opinion and you know so that's the two topics that I've talked thank you thank Thank you very much for your question. So regarding the uh artificial
intelligence for filtering, if a if a teacher's name or someone's name is recognized or or mentioned, that filter would not that name would not be allowed to be posted. So it specifically looks for names. So you can't make a comment about someone specific, whether it's a
teacher or a board member or anyone. They just won't let you comment back and forth about somebody. Uh, as far as the other policy, if you'd like to speak about that, our policies are reviewed um and and revised by our board policy committee.
Um, they actually come through as the service that we use TR estimates. a team of attorneys that review legislation and write policy for the board policy committee um to review and determine what um I guess revisions will be put in
place and voted upon. Um if the board policy committee would like to postpone um adopting this policy for second read, that's a um a resolution that I guess can be recommended. If not, I'd be happy to run a policy by our board attorney
following the vote um for further information. Katso, you've been promoted to panelist. Please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video. Please state your name and address for the record. You have three minutes. Hello, Stephanie Kotzo. Uh Tom Hunter
Road, Fort Le, New Jersey. I'm I'm very I couldn't really hear what the first person was speaking about that well as a panelist because it seemed like it was something about parents or what parents said. It's very muted the the microphone
tonight. Even Casey was a little bit hard to understand. My question is about the budget. Um we were 7 years ago I believe at 65 million. Our budget right now is around a hundred million. I
believe a few meetings ago. I spoke to um Superintendent Travitz and he said that our enrollment hasn't gone up that much. While I was looking over the numbers, I saw that we have a 3.5 million maintenance reserve, a $2
million legal reserve, $820,000 emergency reserve. Um the child study team is that 1.8 million I don't I 1.8 million does the study team people that
work there is that for salaries like what is the specific breakdown when you say child study team exactly and I think it looks like it's going up to 3.2 2 million. Maybe I'm wrong. I was just looking at the numbers. All in all, the special
education is a very large number. And then I see that the state is providing money. Does that go towards s does that go towards the children's 22,000 um that we're paying basically for the
district? I just don't understand. Is that an extra fee for those kids because of the special needs? I kind of wanted a more specific breakdown of what's in there. And also, I just like to thank the boys who spoke out about the
conditions that are in the high school and so many kids that have been speaking out about feeling unsafe. And I really believe that all the stakeholders in the district and the parents of children in
the lower schools and middle schools should be at these meetings so they can know and be prepared for what is going to be done. I think that would be the best bet for the district and how we deal with the security issues that are
going on. So, I on the budget, it's just unclear exactly um the way the funding is with the state and maybe if someone could just break that down or if there's somewhere you can point me to to look at it in more depth, I' I'd appreciate that. Thank you.
Okay, in terms of the budget, um we'll start with the general fund which is fund 10 mix of 10 funds 10, 11, 12, and 13. That is made up of the tax levy uh of about 78 million uh
633,952. Um and then you have your state 8 um which is made up of let's fight in the glasses. Total state aid is 7,624,880 but that but that includes a a
form called X8 which is uh discretionary that's not a part of the original state aotment. Um then you have your total amount for the operating fund uh which is made up of
$2,970,131 and I omitted some other revenues we have such as tuitions um interest um and some other miscellaneous other revenues that make up the total amount of 92,970,131. Then you have uh fund 20
which is your special revenues also known as grants. Um and that has been forecasted for a decrease. So we budgeted that way accordingly. Um and in 2526 that will make up uh 2,12,661.
And then lastly, you have your debt service, um, which is prior referendums going back to 2014. And I give me the other year me, but there two ends here in Fort
Le. Uh the actual tax levy is 4,272,52 and the aid from the state is $411,724 for a grand total of $4,683,776. That's just like paying your
mortgage, but it's just on a separate uh line or bank account. And that is pretty much all of our funds. And the total amount of revenue and appropriations that I have to balance is 99,666,568. The county has approved our
budget um fiscally with no changes from what we submitted uh and there was one minor minor change just to the programmatic piece. Other than that, um, your other
questions you had was related to the reserves. I apologize I don't have the reserves in front of me tonight, but I can email you the information in terms of the capital reserve amount that's based upon the last audit or we can get
back to you on that. Um, did I did I miss anything else? Thank you. Mike Asso, you've been promoted to panelist. Please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video. Please state your name and address for
the record. You have three minutes. All right. Hi everyone. Uh Mike Oso, 230 Warren Avenue, Fort Lee. First thing I just want to say big shout out to our boys uh varsity baseball team for winning this past Saturday in the Bergen
County game which the it's their first uh county win in varsity baseball in school history. So a big shout out to the boys. They work hard and um hopefully they get a Mr. Kravage you can find a in your heart to give them a day
off uh for their work. Um two they can have the day. Yeah, give them the day off. It's It's good. They work hard. We got We They got Don Bosco next, so they're going to need the day off to work. Um but um the next thing I um is a concern of mine um for two years in a
row, the middle school field does not have clay. For two years in a row, the middle school field does not have clay to to take care of the home plate area and the mount. And for two years in a row, we've
had broken lights for an extended period of time. For two years in a row now, okay, this is now like, okay, what happened? So my question is who is ultimately responsible a for
not having mound clay at the field by the beginning of April when the season starts. It's now May 5th. The season's coming to a close and for two years in a row we don't have
clay and we have broken lights on the field for the entire season. So, can you tell me what the process is? How? Why? Because I I I talk to people and all I keep hearing is we're looking
into it. We're looking into it and it's an entire month. Any other questions? No, not right now. No. I just want to know why we don't have mount clay and why we have broken lights for two years in a row.
Do you want me to start and then you can pick up? Sure. So, I know that Mr. Lopez, our athletics committee chair, has been in contact with the athletic director and he assures him that there is plenty of play for the mounds. So, yeah, that's Mr. Lopez's understanding.
The lights um we spent $35,000 in September uh to repair all of the lights in the district. We are told that there's another $7,000 now because some of the ballots were not working. Uh the process was for us to first change all the light bulbs. Once all the light bulbs were done, which we did pay for,
as I said, $35,000. They had to hire because we have to actually hire a buck bucket truck to get that done. Then they were checking all the ballast to make sure all the ballots were working. There's a discrepancy. From what I'm understanding, there's $7,000 difference, $7,000 more to fix the ballast on those lights that are not
working. So, we did look into it. Additionally, I know for the longrange facility plan uh that we are expecting any day now, there's an additional quote to redo all of the lights in both sets of fields to a more efficient and uh longlasting bulbs so we don't have to go
through this. But we did pay $35,000, have all the lights fixed in October. So just if there's clay, where is that? It is my understanding that we do have the clay and that um you know in speaking with the athletic director every year it's the same thing. After
the the comments are made we check with the athletic director who says that the clay is there. It just takes a request process. Where where's the clay? Sure. So what is the process? The clay is there. Where's the clay? Hang on. Ask a
followup question. Um which is probably align with yours. If if the clay is there, one, where where is it? Two, whose responsibility is it to place it? Get the field ready for play come April 1st? It is my understanding the athletic
director has had conversations with with the people who need the clay. Get the clay and and even requests have come directly to him and he's been told that I've been told that it's been rectified. If that's not the case, then then we'll do it the other way. Make sure it's being done. Talking about the field
right out here. Yeah, there is no clay anywhere near this middle school field. No, I know. We're We're We'll So, you guys are lying to me. You just lied to me. There is no clay. There is clay. We just need Where
is it? That's what we need to find out. It's not hard to find. Well, maybe I'm not in charge of the play. I know you, but I mean I'm not asking you, Kristen. I'm asking Mr. Krabbits. Where is the clay? I I don't know where the clay is. That's
Mr. Assa. But you're saying there's clay on the field, but there's no clay nowhere near this middle school cuz either either one of us would have t We're going to find the clay and we're going to get to the bottom of it. [Music]
There are no more raised hands. Okay. I have a motion from Miss Kath and a second from Miss Brell to close the floor to the public. All in favor? Any opposed or abstensions? Okay. May I have a motion
to approve items 1B through walk in 6B? Motion. Second. Motion Morell. Second. Roll call, please. Miss Colbat. Uh, yes, but I have my name on three.
Miss Curry, yes. It's noted. Um, Mr. Knight, yes. Miss Coten, yes. Mr. Lopez, yes. Miss Morell, yes. But I abandon my name on 3B.
Noted. Mr. Rabino. Yes, M. Richtor. Yes. I have a motion to approve items one BNG and 2BNG. Motion. Second. Motion Rabino. Secondel. Roll call, please. Miss Buyers K.
Miss Colbath. Yes. Miss Curry. Yes. Mr. Knight. Yes. Miss Cotenk. Yes. Mr. Lopez. Yes. Miss Morell, yes. Mr. Rapino, yes. Mr. Rtor, I mean, Miss Rtor, sorry. Yes. Sorry. We have a
motion to approve item one. C. Motion. Second. Motion. Morell. Second. Coten. Roll call, please. Miss. By K. Miss. Col. Yes. Miss Curry. Yes. Mr. Knight.
Yes. Miss Co. Yes. Mr. Lopez. Yes. Miss Moral. Yes. Mr. Rabino, yes. Miss Richtor, yes. Miss Byers K, we're voting on curriculum items. Yes. Thank you. I have a motion
to approve items 1 after 10. Motion. Second. Motion. Curry. Second. Morell. Roll call, please. Miss Kang, yes. Miss Co. Yes. Miss Curry. Yes. Mr. Knight. Yes. Miss
Cotenk, yes. Mr. Lopez, yes. Miss Morell, yes. Mr. Rubino, yes. Miss Rtor, yes. May I have a motion to approve items 1 P through 13P? Motion. Second. Motion. Morell. Second. Kobach. Roll
call, please. By K. Yes. Kobath. Yes. M. Curry. Yes. Mr. Knight. Yes. Wishing Major the best of luck on I'm sorry on 3P. Miss Major
Major. Yes. And also on 3P to see Miss and Major Major of Thank you for your service, Mr. Lopez. Uh yes
2P congratulations to voted Miss Morell. Yes. Mr. Rino. Yes. Mer. Yes. We have a motion to prevent one P and two P. Motion. Second. Motion. Kobach. Second.
Morell. Roll call please. As far as K. Yes to one P and um abstain on P noted back. Yes.
Curry. Yes. Mr. Knight. Yes. Miss Coten. Yes. Mr. Lopez. Yes. Miss Moral? Yes. Mr. Rabino? Yes. M. Re. Yes. Is there any old business?
I'd like to make a comment and repeat some of the comments that I made at the last meeting concerning um the smoking and vaping and marijuana that are um at the high school. Those are issues that certainly I and many others have raised
um over the years, probably myself for the past 10 hard to um when things take place in bathrooms. I know our administration over the years has tried to address it and I know that you will continue to do so. Um, with regard to the smoke detectors, my understanding is
that um, standard smoke detectors um, aren't sensitive enough for some of the vaping and the things that that we're, you know, trying to chase down. And so, and I know that you're looking at all state-of-the-art type smoke detectors and what we can do to really address
this problem. But I just want to thank the administration for doing so. Uh secondly, just while we're on that baseball field, what happened with the scoreboard we had? I thought someone donated it or what they
would senator was gonna put. We have a buildings and grounds meeting on Wednesday to talk about where what we're going to do with it. It hasn't been donated yet, but okay. I noticed that we don't have it. And so I would just ask the building and grounds to take that
issue up. We are okay. Let me comment. So So um as far as the the smoke and everything and I know tonight so I did re research they are was it $4,000 I think each each unit. It does movement. It does sound. It can
count people number of people who enter and leave. Um it can do vaping. It's a very new technology. There are some kinks in the system. I asked for recommendations of other districts specifically in Bergen County who are using it. They were supposed to get back to us. They have not as of yet. Um
because there is what you said there is this whole this one unit that does all of that. Uh so we're waiting to get some more information to learn exactly the details and I'd like to see it in action. One of the things we did realize if we do something like that is that it will be constantly going off uh because
it's going to register everything. It's one alarm. So if seven kids walk in, it's going to go off. It's so it's just going to be a constant. So that's why we want to see the action. See it in action. As far as the scoreboard, so um we did have meet with the architect.
Okay. Yeah. We're on a light bulb went off when talking about the map. Okay. But then I challenge anyone to let us know what their favorite Great Gatsby quotes are. Um, you should all be getting an email
tomorrow or the next day from central office about dates for upcoming end of year items as far as graduation ceremony, all the awards ceremonies and things like that. And you all should have received an invitation for the awards dinner today at your seat. You
have the RCP. A couple things. Um, so first of all, I'd like to first of all, thank you Dr. that technology. I think it's really promising. Um, I'd like to take commitment from everyone uh that we can agree that we would have vape or smoke
detectors in all the bathrooms within a certain period of time. I think it's really important um as the kids are going to move to bathrooms where they know that they aren't. I think it, you know, we should make a a real effort to make sure that they're all couple other things. um you
know not that it was relevant in the recent incidents um that occurred but you know something that that came up a lot in conversations surrounding it was residency and uh it's my understanding that our current residency officer is a part-time employee and I think the size
of the district and I think just given the uh the amount of work I believe they should be a full-time position and I'd like to make a motion uh to explore making at a full-time position as soon as possible. Before the motion is just well just to extend that there's
a motion procedurally um the superintendent should hold off on addressing it until there's a second um because that would trigger the discussion. So I mean unless you want to withdraw the motion um is there a second? If there's no second then there
will be no discussion on the motion just from a proper school. Um but to not over complicate things if you want to kind of chime in I might help guide the conversation and I'll give my comments. So on a personnel issue obviously we're we recognize after the concerns are that
were addressed. Um we're just making sure our budget and that's why some of the motion some of the things that we're doing in the future might give us the ability to have an increase in the residency officer. So, it's something we are definitely interested in doing. And if I just may board members, um, you
know, respectively, if I can remind you of your board bylaws, which, uh, incorporate the code of ethics for school board members found at New Jersey statutes annotated 18A12-4.1. And I will specifically
reference number three, which is again in your bylaw 0142, where it says confine. This is for board members. took an oath to do this uh confine his or her board action to policym planning and appraisal and help to frame policies and
plans only after the board has consulted those will be affected by them. Um, when it comes to personnel actions or recommendations, that is a confidential matter that is more appropriately discussed in closed executive session prior to referencing it in the public,
particularly if when it may relate to past, present, or potential legal, personnel, student matters so as not to needlessly injure or expose this board of education, which you all have a fiduciary responsibility to, to needless
financial harm and their injuries. So my suggestion is that whenever you have questions or comments about personnel, student safety of persons or property that is a issue that is appropriate for discussion in close session. If for any
reason it is not appropriate for close, we will correct that, stop the discussion and entertain it uh in public. I'll also note that technically speaking, the recommendations for personal action pursuant to the code of ethics have to come from the
superintendent, not so much from the board. The way the question was posed, I think it was fair enough. Um, and that, you know, if you're willing to appropriate the funds for a budget, then the superintendent by all means can explore, you know, full-time, part-time, etc. But also, please note that may
trigger collective bargaining issues with your union, etc. All of which should not be discussed in public until after board members have consulted with those who will be affected by it pursuant to your board bylaw uh
specifically 0142.3 and the uh entirety of the code of ethics board. Thank you. Thank you. So so that motion I guess is it withdrawn or do you Thank you. All right. And then the final one is um at
New York City they've uh been working with this system that they call New York City's respect for all reporting system. I don't know if you've heard anything about this. I hope it's I hope I'm allowed to talk about it now. But um it's essentially a reporting system where students and
parents whoever can uh make they can report things in an anonymous manner where they they don't have to fear retribution or anything of that uh nature. It's been working really well for them and it can be used for things such as alerting authorities to vaping.
It could be residency, could be anything really, but just a I'd like us to explore um a an anonymous recording system like New York City has. Thank you. We'll get to that. See what we can find out.
Couple things. Um, wanted to just give a shout out to school three, Mrs. Small and team club. They recently planted two planters in front of the school and a number of additional um, greenery
additions. Um, to add on to what Mr. also comments earlier. There are there are landscaping gaps that I've been seeing not just at school, but this past weekend when I drove by the high school,
the weeds were 3 weeks high at some point. I don't know. It's probably um I haven't passed by it, but in my years as a resident in this in this town, I have never seen the front of our
school in the [Music] Um, so this is something that I know we're hiring a landscaper. I don't know how far we are in that process, but I want to um it needs attention all the
landscaping um at least as we we have a landscaper. We'll reach out to them. I know you texted me on Saturday regarding that. So I made about Any other board members have new business? I don't have any new business, but I
have a comment. I noticed that the um the playground at school number one on the kindergarten side that uh the equipment that the PTA bought many years ago if they were able to move it. I'm not sure exactly um who who moved it or how it got moved, but I'm glad it got
what you used because you did a lot of fundraising for that and I'm glad it wasn't just thrown away. Um and as far as what was said about the building and grounds meeting, I'm looking forward to having the meeting. I'm looking forward to hearing some
stuff. I've been bringing up things since the whole year since I've got to be on that committee. Um so you know hopefully the strategic planning will come through and uh we will have uh something to uh talk about but um yeah
the I was at the high school the other day um some one I guess the custodians or I don't know someone um actually fix the bathroom doors so they do shut down now um which is an improvement but you know don't make the mistake and uh fall
into the to the tissue because it could fall. Um, it's that bathroom is it's just bad. It's bad. And we'll talk about it in the stateless. I don't want people to think that I'm not doing anything with it. I
have requested several times to have a building and grounds meeting. So, finally, there is going to be a building and grounds meeting this week. Um, for whatever reasons, many reasons, it didn't work out for enough people to be able to have the meeting. So,
buildings and grounds is very, very, very important. Um, you use it. This building that we're in right here, this is our showcase. Um, this is our our $15 million referendum. This is our building that I knocked on doors when I had little kids to get built.
Um, and our other buildings need to have things that make them feel, you can't build like this. You can't make up 200 or however many hundreds or however however how old are the buildings? 120
150 100. Yeah. Up there over 100. Um when I get 100 I'm going to need some tuneups, too. Um I'm going to make it. But the thing is is that we have to do better with the bathrooms. The bathrooms are really bad at the high school. They
are really bad at the high school. the middle school. Uh I these are the buildings that I've been in for whatever reasons for the sporting events and things. Um it's okay. The boys bathrooms honestly looks pretty good from what I saw. Um not that I hang out in the boys
bathroom. The door was open. The door was open. There wasn't anybody in there. I peaked my head in there. It has it has it has walls in it. It's new. It has new flooring. The girls bathroom's disgusting. It has to be We have to do it. And we're going to address it. I want the public to know we're not not
looking. Like it's not it's not that I don't say something. It's that we're waiting on the strategic planning people. I don't know who these people are. I don't like them. They're not my friends, but I want them to get it together. Thank you. It's a long range facility plan. Yeah. Whatever the heck
it is, let's do it. They're different. Strategic planning is for for the goals and the visions for long range facility planning. And and just so everyone knows what what it is out there. Again, if the long range facility plan is done by the architects and they employ engineers and they brought they bring in demographers
and they determine the population growth, the usage of the buildings, they start to list everything that needs to get done and they give you a chron chronological order of the life of everything from windows to doors to
everything that's in the district. It's supposed to be done every 10 years. It has not been done here for a long period of time. it will give you in today's cost and that is what drives our basis for our capital reserve. How much you can put in your capital reserve is determined by the total number total
cost of all of the projects that need to get done in your district. And once we have that, we can have the plan because as I mentioned and I agree that some of the things are not clean and and necessarily need to be renovated, but we have to look at, you know, we could have the nicest bathrooms, but the the walls are about to collapse. I'd rather do the
walls first, right? So that's we need Please don't tell me the walls are going to blast. No, but we have I I will tell you that we have in our in our school district a lot of electrical systems that are about 60 or 70 years old and and when we talk about so when we talk about what needs to get done and
prioritizing um we need to make sure that our our children are safe first and making sure that there's heat and and hot water and air conditioning and all of those things and and bathrooms as well. But we need an outside entity to do an analysis which we are meeting any
moment uh with an engineer that will determine everything that needs to get done and what needs to get taken care of. Thank you. Next. Okay. Anything else? All right. May I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion
second. All in favor? Any opposed? Thank you everyone.