[Music] Okay, good evening. >> Today is Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 6:30 p.m. We have a new board secretary today
in place of Brian, just temporarily. Welcome, Stephen. Can we have roll call, please? >> Sure. Mr. Deglio >> here. >> Mr. Grippo, >> I'm here.
>> Dr. Hopkins >> here. >> Miss Inencio. >> Mr. Jackson >> here. >> Miss Lort >> here. >> Miss Maris, Mr. Parker,
Miss Singh >> here. >> We have quum. >> Thank you. Can we also have the open public meeting act, please? Sure. In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, public law 1975, chapter 231, Sunshine Law, copies of the
public meeting notice were sent to the Courier News, the Home News Tribune, the Star Ledger, Franklin Reporter, tap into Franklin Township, the Franklin Township clerk manager, district schools offices and associations, PTO presidents, and
posted on the district website. >> Thank you. For the record, um, Mr. Parker will not be here for the meeting. Um, can I get a motion to move into confidential, please? >> Moved by Nancy. Can I get a second?
>> Seconded by Dennis. All in favor? >> Perfect. So, we're going to adjourn to confidential for the purpose of discussing confidential matters, including athletic director and Franklin Park school principal interviews, personnel negotiations, and a workers
compensation settlement. Minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists. We'll be back. Thank you. >> Hello. Good evening everyone. It is still October 28th, Tuesday.
We are a few minutes late because we were in confidential session for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including athletic director and Franklin Park school principal interviews, personnel negotiations, and
a workers's compensation settlement. Minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists. Erica, can you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? If you are all
able to, please stand and join us. indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Nancy, can you please read the mission statement? >> The mission of the Franklin Township Public Schools. Franklin Township Public
Schools embraces its diversity. What? >> Oh, like a like a >> like an ice cream cone. >> Yeah. >> Okay. The mission of the Franklin Township Public Schools. Franklin Township Public Schools embraces its diversity, fosters excellent educational
innovation, and empowers all students to achieve their highest potential. Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt the agenda with addendum A? Moved by Nancy. Can I get a second? Seconded by Walter. All in favor?
>> I. >> Thank you. We are on to our student representative report which is going to be said by Darthy Shastri. >> Hi, my name is Darthy Sashri and I am one of the student government BOE liaison. Here are some of the things
going on at FHS. Firstly, the senior class held a successful homecoming dance on October 18th. Franklin High School Model UN hosted a successful FHS Model UN conference in conjunction with Ruckers Idia. Also on October 18th, freshman elections were a success. The
class of 2029 is up and running. The student government will be holding its annual food drive for the Emanuel Cancer Foundation. Non-p perishable food items will be accepted and can be dropped off at the FHS office. Safe Halloween is on Friday, October 31st from 4 to 6:00 p.m.
in the FHS events lobby and cafeteria. We invite all of our prek and elementary students and their families to attend. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, we are on to the student achievement presentation by Dr. Daniel
Lurn. You Thank you, President Singh. Ah, thank you, Miss Clark. Welcome everyone to our annual student achievement presentation. Thank you for being here. I'm going to Here we go. Thank you. Great report. I'm going to point the
pointer at this screen, but if it's easier for you to see over there, that's fine. If you want to kind of settle in, we have um a number of slides to present. These are snapshots of how our students are doing at at a moment in time. So, are we going to dim the lights
a little bit more? All right. so we could see the slides. >> Thank you, Miss Clark. All right, so welcome everyone again. So we want to keep in mind these are snapshots in
time. Uh we continually use data to help guide our collective and individual decision- making in terms of student groupings and um levels of rigor that we're we're providing for our students to maximize their learning
opportunities. We're going to begin with our ELA um snapshot. And one thing we like to take a quick look at is, you know, an example of the different internal measures that we use. We're all familiar with I Ready, which
has five levels of um student performance that is measured from K through five. And here you can see um in English language arts, our kindergarten students from midyear to end of year. Green is mid or above grade
level. So about 18% at the time were in that and then by end of kindergarten that was doubled and that pattern holds up. By the way, this presentation will be on the website either later tonight or early tomorrow. So I'm going to go kind of quickly but you'll be able to
read everything very carefully uh tonight or tomorrow as soon as we can get it up. So grade 1, grade two, grade three, grade four, grade five and ELA, you see a similar pattern of increasing proficiency and reducing partial
proficiency. In the state assessment, the NJSLA, we have five levels of um of performance. Exceeded expectations, met expectations are levels four and five. And that's what you want.
And so you can see here it can it shows the 2024 performance and the 2025 at each of the levels with the state on the top row and the district on the bottom row. So there's level one, level two, level three. We want levels four and
five for our students. So you can see here that in 2024, 38.5% of our students in grade three were at levels four or five, but this year uh we're 2% higher. So our students at grade three were at
40.5%. This is grade four and you see we increase by a percentage point there. Grade five increased by a percentage point. And we love this slide. This is grade
six ELA. Um this is a nearly a 10point increase. Whereas the state increased by three, we increased by 10. We love that one. Um this is grade seven increased by five percentage points.
This is grade eight increased slightly. And then you can see here at grade nine slight dip this year. We're taking a look at that to see if that's a curriculum issue or perhaps some uh professional development can can help us
move the needle there. Uh these are this is a summary of everything just presented. So there's a summary slide and you can see uh except for one grade level which is slightly down, we had growth at all grade levels in ELA.
This is a bar chart showing the same thing at each grade level. And here's a a bar chart that shows our demographic uh racial subgroups. Here is a bar chart that shows special education, multilingual, and
economically disadvantaged percentages for again levels four and five. And so the overall result is that 44.5% of our students were in that level four or five and 22% were approaching. So
approximately 2/3 of all of our students were at or approaching uh the grade level expectation. For a bit of context, we thought it would be helpful to provide this slide. One of our partners is Linkit. And Linkit works with more than 300 districts in the state of New
Jersey. And what this plot diagram um represents is the average of the past five NJSLA assessments um not including charter vocational schools. It's typical K12 or K5
depending on your district schools. And this bottom uh this bottom row from left to right represents the percentage of students who are eligible to receive free and reduced lunch. So from zero on the left to 100% on the right.
Um and this left uh hor vertical side from zero up to 100 represents performance on the NJSLA average performance over those five years um for those for these levels. So
our district in 2025 we were 52.6 free and reduced lunch eligible. Um, we did achieve 44.5% which is plenty of room to grow. We're we're cleareyed about that. We are not satisfied with that number. But for
context, we are above the mean, above the average for districts that are similar to ours in terms of free and reduced lunch. This is each grade level. So grade three, past three years performance. These are different kids, different
years. There's grade four. There's grade five, grade six, seven, eight, and nine. This chart actually shows same kids over time. So in 2223, 38% of our students
were not proficient in ELA. since that time. So in the current, you know, two years later, this current assessment, uh about 35% of our students who were in this zone were now in either of these two zones, the yellow or the green,
whereas 21.4% two years ago were approaching. Almost half of those students are now in the proficient range. And the vast majority of students who were in the proficient range maintained that level of
proficiency. So how do we do over the past three years? This was another uh improvement from the previous year. So 41.9 42.2 44.5 and you see the levels of not
proficient have gone down as well. So what's next? We're going to continue to take advantage of our familiarity with our new uh benchmark K5 literacy program. We're also um doing different things with uh data and targeting our
differentiation and giving PD around that. At the secondary level, uh we are learning more and more. uh secondary literacy teachers tend to be less familiar with the science of reading and all that goes into reading than
elementary level teachers. Um but we're learning more about that because we're finding that those interventions help our middle school and even struggling high school students as well. Plus all of these other strategies that you can read about when you look at this online.
So for math similarly we use I ready this is our kinderg oh let's go back this is our kindergarten in the be in middle of the year there's kindergarten at end of year so doubling the growth and you can see that's the pattern and within the school
year there's grade one grade two grade three grade four and grade five in math and at the state level similar to ELA we have five levels of performance. So you want to be in levels four and five. So
these are levels one, two, and three. Here's four and five. And this is for grade three mathematics. And you can see from 2024 to 2025, our grade three students uh improved by 7 percentage points and are approaching
close to the state average there. And in grade four, we increased by about five percentage points. Again, are pretty much in line with the state average for grade four. And we love this slide.
This is grade five, which improved about 11 percentage points and passed the state average so that our fifth graders are doing better than most fifth graders in the state of New Jersey. That was a big jump for us and we're very proud of the of the changes that have happened in
the math program K5. Uh at grade six we had a 5 percentage increase in grade seven. Now grade seven and grade eight have really wonky numbers. Um because in grade seven as you can see from this fine print here, this comes
from the state by the way. This is a standard slide that most school districts are presenting. uh many students take the algebra 1 or geometry assessment in grade seven and grade 8. So it's it's not indicative of the entire grade level these
percentages. It's the students um you know in seventh grade who are not yet taking algebra or geometry. So those are the percentages there from 24 to 25 it slight dip in grade seven and similar with grade 8 which again
isn't really grade 8 it's it's some of the students in grade 8 in algebra 1 we had a slight increase from last year to this year and that's students at all the different grade levels who take algebra right whether
you're you know uh high school or middle and geometry. We did have a dip. We are um we have been looking at this. So we went from 35.8 last year to 20 this year. Um while we have resolved uh staffing issues in our district across
the board, including now for the math department last year, we still had some lingering um you know staff issues. So, we had teachers covering a sixth class in the high school or a seventh class at the middle school who didn't have the same um typical ability to do some uh
team planning and we are certain that this had an impact on our on our performance last year. So, that's no longer the case this year. We expect this year's uh performance numbers to be much higher. This is algebra 2 where we saw a 9%
increase from last year to this year. Here's the summary side of all of those grades and all of those courses. Sorry, Malik, I'll do that. And here are the levels of change. So
again, six out of the nine courses we saw positive change. There's seven and eight, which is not indicative of the grade. And there's geometry which is a concern. These are the bar graphs that represent what I just presented.
Here are demographic, racial subgroups. Here are special education, multilingual, and economically disadvantaged subgroups. And so overall our math proficiency rate, this is levels four and five, uh,
plus approaching, it's about 59 60% of our students are either approaching or are proficient in the district. Here is a similar chart from the last one. Again, at 52.6% free and reduced lunch, the expected
mean would be somewhere down here. we were at 30.7 above the mean which you know again just for context for the past three years in math. These are you know grade three, grade four, grade five. These are different kids
different years but these are kids over time. So two years ago that was our proficiency or not proficient rate. uh and about 22% of these kids moved into these two zones.
Uh we had 27.2 in the approaching range. About 20% of them moved into proficient and the vast majority 67% stayed in the proficient range from two years ago. So compared to previous years, this
we're up 3%. So we're up 3% from last year. mathematics. And what are we going to do? Well, we uh want a grant that makes it easier for our uh teachers of math to access data
and use it for small groupoup instruction. Uh we also use many different tools for that purpose and provide PD to make sure um that we're looking at all those areas where um improvement is attainable
for 6 through 12. Um this is sort of all the rage across the country for a good reason. Building thinking classroom strategies has been shown to make math very accessible and authentic real life math for our students. Um and our teachers are learning different
strategies from that. Um I think groundbreaking book is safe to say. um also uh different PD and various other strategies that you can read about there. In science
um for the state assessment we have four levels not five. So levels three and four are are the goal. You want proficient or advanced proficient in science and this shows the levels one, two, three and four from last year to
this year at three three grade levels take the science assessment. Right? They take it in grade five. They take it in grade eight. They take it in grade 11. So you can see uh grade five from last year to this year increased by 1.2%. Grade 8 had a dip
uh and grade 11 had a slight increase as well. So this is just breaking that out further. And this bar chart shows the same thing, our district versus the state average. So, you know, we still have room to grow
for sure. Uh, and we're we're working on that. These are our different demographic, racial subgroups. Here are special education, multilingual, and economically disadvantaged subgroups.
And so, our percentage of proficient is at 17 and near profoficient 36. So about 53% of our students are either proficient or near proficient and we are definitely working on that. For context again
um going across at 52.6 we're not even near the mean. We're well above the mean. Uh and you can see science is a certainly a challenge across the state with you know districts who have um 0% free and reduced lunch achieving at
about the 40% rate. But we are well above the mean in science. These are the three years uh in a row. So grade five has been growing the past three years improving. Grade 8, as we said, took a dip this year. And grade 11
has also been improving the past three years. And those were different students, different tests, right? Different years. These are students again who stayed in the district for all three assessments. So 2 years ago 38.9%
about 21% of them moved into these two areas and 39.2% about 16% of them moved into proficient and 22% proficient 71 stayed uh proficient. By the way these numbers like right here you might wonder why
isn't that the same exact number? These are students who stayed in the district. So it only measures students who were here for all three assessments. So some students have come, some have gone. They're not in that count. So how has science done the past three
years? This year is very similar to last year. Uh slight dip percentage-wise, but as we saw in those previous slides, grade five and grade 11 did better. Uh grade 8 the dip, you know, kind of contributed to us being slightly lower
than last year in science. So using title 2A funds for fifth grade science PD uh is what we're doing to help them um get a better sense of the uh assessment questions and the methodology to be most successful with
those questions. Also reviewing student assessment data over the four years for trends to identify gaps and make requisite curricular and instructional changes. dynamic learning maps are used for students with the most significant
cognitive disabilities. Um so students um take this assessment and it's uh engaged at it's sort of measured at emerging approaching at target and advanced. So, as you can see, we had 55 students take the math and ELA dynamic
learning maps and eight 16 students taking the science. And those are the levels of performance advanced, at target, approaching, and emerging. dynamic learning maps as well as the
ABLLS and the AFLS are used to help um create individualized um education programs and appropriate programs of study for students with the the most cognitive um need
advanced placement results. Um we have talked about this um this has been a lingering issue in our district that we've had disproportional enrollments in our AP. Um but over time we've been doing better with that. Um so
for example at Franklin High School approximately 12% of our students identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. Um but 27.6% of our students in AP courses are Asian or Pacific Islander.
Uh 32% of our students at Franklin High School identify as black or African-American and 25.4% of our students in AP are black or African-American. Uh Hispanic 41.8
26.3 in AP and that's actually an improvement over the previous year. It's a a less disproportional gap. So we pay attention to that. We also pay attention to outcomes on AP. A score of three is considered passing, but a score of four
and five is really what you want if you're going to have any hope of using some of that to transfer for credits in college. Um, but our vast majority of our students are in that level three, four, and five. And it's partly why we got one of those new banners as best
high schools in uh the country because we have such a high percentage of students who take the AP and we do well on our AP assessment. and still do better. We still want to grow and you know everybody has a five. That's where we want to be.
Another snapshot, not an academic one, but social emotional learning and culture climate contributes to students belonging in school and their ability to be successful on these assessments. We collect data. We have asked all of you to take the NJ Sky survey, right? Our
parents, our teachers, and our students take that survey and we use that to to program learning opportunities for our students to help with sense of physical safety, supportive staff and student relationship, student sense of
belonging, pro-social student interpersonal behaviors. So, that's another snapshot and you can take a look at that uh a little more carefully on the presentation. We also think it's important from time to time to solicit feedback on our level
of rigor. And for the past two school years, we've been engaged in a survey to the entire district. And then we met with a focused group of parents to re view the data and see what the larger takeaways are for our schools and our
our school leaders. And we helped learn a lot. and we've made some changes this year to make sure we are appropriately rigorous in um our classrooms. We also took great time to share how we place students in our enrichment and gifted
and talented programs. We had some meetings across the district last year that were very helpful and again we're ever improving and evolving those programs as well. So, as I said, this will be on the website soon. You can click on the links
to learn more about these assessments. You can also click on links to be in touch with any content area supervisor. And there's my email on the right. If you have questions for me, click on that one and email me. But before we end the presentation,
we are happy to make an announcement about something we've been working on. Um, we had the opportunity to uh meet with some some good friends over at SHI this summer and we wondered if we could
work on something significant with them and they agreed to help guide us and work with our supervisors and we and I'll tell you more about this in a minute are sort of in the midst of developing what we're going to call the warrior next
Tech Academy, which is a school within a school housed at the HSC campus that will emphasize interdisciplinary connections, 21st century learning skills using immersive technologies and projectbased
digital learning with real world connection through active business partnerships. So if you can imagine um a sixth grade cohort of students in September who are learning coding, they're learning about cyber security, they're learning about networking,
they're learning how artificial intelligence works. We are um going to be announcing this. Well, we're announcing it tonight, but we're going to be communicating this with our teachers because we're going to ask teachers who would like to be considered
to teach in the academy to be trained. And we expect to have more teachers than actually will be teaching in September get this training which we think is going to be a gamecher for us because of some of the stuff we've been learning over our almost
weekly meetings with our partners at uh certainly SHI but Intel and Meta and Victory XR. Um there's so much that we can do in developing students within the academy, but it's actually can change
the way that we teach and learn across the board. So we believe the exposure to what our kids will and our teachers will be exposed to in training for the academy, we think it's going to have effects really for all students because teachers will get the training who
aren't yet teaching in the academy at first. And the idea is over time to have a sixth grade, then a seventh grade, then an eighth grade cohort, and then on up into the high school where there's internship and career opportunities. And I'm sure we'll take some more questions
about that in a minute. But I wanted to share that announcement with all of you. And at this time, I say thank you very much. And what questions, board of education, do you have? >> Thank you, Dr. Logan.
[Applause] >> So, I'll start my right. Erica, any questions? >> Lori, >> I don't have any questions. Thank you very much, >> Bill. So, uh, two things.
One is tonight we're going to announce a couple of appointments. And if you want to hear the comments of the board of education till the end. In the past, people walk out and then the board speaks to an empty room. Just a
statement. The second thing, Dan, forget the scores for a minute. What you announced at the end is an initiative that we did 30 years ago. We have magnet schools in Franklin
Township. Anybody here remember the magnet schools? Okay. Dr. Clancy was the superintendent. He was a rough writer. I'll tell you that one. Dr. Ravali is very gentle compared to Clancy. But anyway,
parents flocked to the school district because we had science and technology, the academy, the arts program. I I was director of the magnet schools
also in my role and parents fought to get into various programs in Franklin Township. This is what we need in this community to stop the nonsense of people bad mouthing our school because when we
have this program Dan it will a rising tide raises all ships. This that's John F. Kennedy, by the way, you know who Kennedy is, right? Okay. Anyway, a rising tide raises all ships. This program will do that. So, I don't have
any questions. I congratulate you. I met SHI at the school board's conference. They were so excited with you and Dr. Ravali. Congratulations. >> Thank you, Bill. >> Nick, >> I have nothing. Thank you very much.
Good job, Dan. Walter. >> Uh, no questions. Great job, Dr. L. >> Nancy, >> I don't have anybody. Great presentation and congratulations on the shi >> all right. But as always, great job and
keep doing what you do. >> Thank you, Dr. Lorurn. No questions from me as well. Great presentation. >> We do have some work to do, but you know, we'll keep moving forward. >> Yes.
>> And with that, we are going to move on to the public hearing, which is done twice a year. And I'll invite Dr. Solomon now to do the student safety data systems annual report. Good evening everyone and u as mentioned
it's my turn to present uh tonight as Arman mentioned twice a year we have to present our discipline data if you will the student safety data system um so our our data on discipline you might recall call it June. Uh I presented reporting
period 1 which was last school year but that was from September to December. This report is for the entire year. All right. So it's the annual report for for all of last year. Um, not only I'm going to present some data,
discipline data, I'm going to also touch on uh harassment intimidation data and I'm also going to talk about uh the elements of HI and and and how we determine that. Um, then I'm going to close with a little bit of digital
citizenship uh public hearing I have to touch on as well as uh school safety drills. All right. So there's different components of this presentation. The bulk of it will be the data. Before I begin, you
know, I'm I'm really proud of what uh the data is is exhibiting. Uh I positive trends going in the right direction. There's always room for improvement. You know, one infraction is one too many. Uh but I I I'm proud of the work from our
teachers, our administrators, our pair professionals, our counselors, all that. All of us play a role. parents, we all play a role in help guiding our youngsters because we all at once needed guidance and we can't forget that. So, with that said, let's jump right into
it. Our goal is always to have um support our our our positive behavior or or help our students understand behavior impacts academic achievement. Um, we want to ensure that we support our students
socially and emotionally through our PBS programs. And obviously, we want to promote a safe learning environment so our students can learn and our teachers can teach. This is my favorite slide of the data because this is just perspective. Uh,
the three pie charts there represents our elementary school, our middle schools, and our high school. The green section represents all of the students who have no discipline data at all, no infractions.
The blue part of the pie are students with one infraction. And then the red slither represents students who have been suspended at least once.
So I want you to turn your attention to the green and blue. Those are the students that represents no referrals or one referral. And if you do the quick math, you look at the elementary
94 and some change with no referrals, 5% with with one in elementary. If you look at that, that represents close to 99% of our students that fall in that
range, that is above the PBS average where they're saying, and you'll see in the next slide, that their data says that students in that age range, K to six or K to five, in our in our situation, you're they're they
have 90% that fall in between 0 to1 OER. So we're we're we're trending in the right. We're above the national average in terms of that. So I commend our our elementary schools and what they're doing. The same holds true for middle school and high
school. We trend better than the national average. So that just shows you that we are obviously by a cult status right here. we're doing the right things in terms of implementing the PBS model, implementing and all the counseling and
supports and interventions that we have to support our students. So, I'm proud of that. And just again to give a little bit more perspective if you were wondering, there's over 3,700 PBS schools nationwide. That represents 1.8
million students. So, that's where that data comes from. All right. So the next slide is just from their um publication PBS publication. This is where I got that information from. In terms of ODRs, and it's important
just to give you everyone a quick lesson. ODRs is office discipline referrals. So if a student violates our code of conduct, we write a a office discipline referral. So these are the
off office discipline referrals for the last two years. And again, as I mentioned, we continue to show a downward trend in the high school. And you'll see that's primarily because our class cuts are dropping tremendously.
And that's been the trend over the last few years. The middle school made great strides last year of it decreasing close to 300. Yeah, 300 or so. Um, office discipline referrals.
Elementary is up a tick at 20 or so. The next few sides we always point out and this helps us identify what infractions are happening in the building. What's what are some focus areas? These are incidents. Incidents
are not office discipline referrals. These are things that students do. All right? So, and it's important to know the difference because sometimes it can get confusing cuz two people could be involved with one incident.
Okay? But you can see the trends from one year to the next. So, in elementary, you know, I know that office disciplines is up a tick, but I know I can see that physical aggression is an area to address, right?
um everything else is basically the same. So this is what we do. This is what our principles look at. This is what our princ what's our our vice principles, our administrators look at to see, all right, here are some trends. Here are some areas that we have to focus on. Here are some areas our PBS
team need to focus on, our safety team need to focus on. Here are the incidents for our two middle schools. And again, I'm expecting to see a downward trend because the ODRs are down, right? And again, that's just good climate and culture in the middle schools that are exhibiting last from
from last year. But again, same order of incidents, still the same areas to focus on in the high school. Same order of incident. So these are the same areas that we need to focus on. And
as I mentioned with the high school, I know personally just seeing the high school the last few years, the downward trend has been cutting class. Um and that's due to the scheduling. That's due to just paying more attention to it and looking at different ways to address that.
Everything else is basically the same. Disruption is up and that's subjective sometimes. But with all incidents and all office discipline referrals, when we see that
this is how we support our students under the PBS umbrella, we have mentoring. We have mentoring with with community organizations, our counselors, our PBS, we have tier 2, which is checkin and checkout to support our
students, whether it's individually or as a group. We utilize restorative practices where we are meeting with students and families that are in conflict and and having that tough discussion and and walking them through the questions that we have to ask to
help them move forward. And we're training our staff to build more capacity with that with the help of Mr. Plameumber and his team. Our school assistance coordinators provide support through counseling whether it's groups or individual counseling or or
connecting with outside resources to support our students and our families. Then obviously we have our school counselors and they're they're providing their day-to-day support and also educating our our staff and our students on social emotional learning.
utilizing all of these interventions is just to name a few is under a PBS model to support the data that was just shared with you in terms of harassment intimidation bullying data on the top is from the 20
is from the 23 and 24 school year on the bottom from the 2425 school year and you can see the the numbers of in what's investigated and hey we something was reported we investigated. You can see
that we decreased in investigations last year. However, the confirmed cases remain the same. And you never know how those things go. But I also can say I'm I'm proud of our anti-bullying specialists or are our yeah anti-bullying
specialists where they are getting better at understanding what the investigation is telling them. And so you'll see about 25 to 30% um confirm rate at the bottom there.
So with that, just a quick little um recap of what qualifies or what's the definition of HIV. And this is what our anti-bullying specialists they have to review when they complete their investigation. And
it's so important to know these elements you see here, they all must exist to be to say that uh uh an an HIV investigation is found. They all must exist. Not just one, not just two, but
all of them that you see here on the on the screen. So harassment, intimidation, and bully, HIV is any gesture, written, verbal, or physical act that you have towards someone. All right? But it must
be a perceived perceived as being motivated by violating someone's protected class, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, identity, so on and so forth. It have to violate someone's
protected class. It has to take place in school or outside of school. Really, it could be anywhere, I always say. But what's important is it must disrupt substantially disrupt the school day.
Okay? So all of those things that those elements there, they must exist in order for us to say it's founded. If one is missing, it it's bad behavior, but it may not be
HIV. In addition to that, there's some secondary elements and this is this is just just to make sure that we are looking at uh the definition clearly. It must meet at least one of these in
addition to the this previous slide where the person knowingly um cause physical emotional harm. the person has they've uh insulted or demeaned the victim and also again
reiterates and creates a hostile environment. It causes disruption. Okay. So we ask oursel these questions. We review these questions very carefully because we want to know if it meets the definition of HIV.
Okay. This is important to note. Obviously, we we we capture everything in hipster and in hipster is is a platform that documents any investigation we do for HIV. So any uh first two violations of
the HIV policy um of course we handle it through our code of conduct but a third violation uh requires uh the student and the parent to participate in a course.
That's a state law. This is basic information, but we have to continue to tell our students and our staff this because if we want to solve an issue or resolve an issue, you know, we need to let people need to inform the
appropriate people. All right? So, if you see something, say something, right? Whether it's you or a friend see something, say something. All right? Same thing from as a of a parent. If you your child is being bullied or you see someone being being bullied, say
something. We have the appropriate people to investigate. All right? Because if you don't tell anyone anything, we can't stop it. We can't do anything. There's frequently asked questions on our website. I encourage you to take a look at that. Um, and that's that's
certainly there on our district website. As I mentioned, I just have to touch on internet safety. And just really quick, please note that uh we have an amazing IT department where they um they have um
the ability to ensure uh a secure environment on all the devices we use. Um we we we assign student email accounts so through our district server. So, if you were to try to email a
student, it won't go through. All right. We monitor what happens on our district devices. And the one thing that I'm really um you know uh I'm going to say proud of, but it's been a very valuable resource for us is this linewise.
Linewise is a filter on our devices, our our student devices where not only it detects them from doing things that they or seeing websites that they shouldn't see, but it also monitor what they type in.
And I I found this so supportive in our mental health efforts and mental wellness efforts um to support our students because so often we find information from students who are going through um some tough times and this
helps us be proactive and support them um right right at moment's notice. There's been times at night we have to call the police department this do a wellness check or you know make an appointment through uh with the
psychiatrist psych psychologist pest and linewise helps us um get ahead of that. So, I'm appreciative of this. It's it it comes up a lot because it's very sensitive sometimes and some things are not as high level, but when they do when
they are high level, um it it's certainly um I'm proud of the the efforts and the supports that we have in place to support our students. Um, our school districts, uh, excuse me, all of our schools in the district have been doing grade level assemblies,
reviewing these, uh, internet safety protections that we have. Um, and that's something we'll continue to do to review it. All right. Last but not least, this is you'll see this around our schools. Um these are we
follow the standard response protocol and these are the different types of drills we have in our schools. So if you're visiting you might hear us say shelter in place hold or shelter in place secure and that is used for oftent
times when we're assessing a situation or sometimes secure you see up there we want someone to come that is outside in the building. Okay. Lock down. Those are drills to you have an active shooter drill or something like that. We've utilized a lockown drill, evacuate fire
drill. Um you see the shelter hazard. Again, we had an earthquake, remember two years ago almost, and we hadn't shelter in place, right? We had to figure out what's going on. So that's the standard response protocol that we utilize and we use these drills to
support these particular situations. Right? So um these are common things you see common things that we we actually do with the buildings. All right. And I believe that closes my presentation.
Any questions? >> Thank you very much. Very valuable presentation. Before we open the floor for the public, um, I will start from my left this time. Nick, any questions? >> I have nothing. Thank you, Nick. Great job. >> Thank you,
>> Walter. >> Uh, no questions. Great job, >> Nancy. >> Good job, Nick. >> Questions, >> Dennis? >> None for me. >> Erica, >> Lori, >> thank you for a great presentation.
>> Thank you, >> Bill. Nick, this was a fantastic uh presentation. Um the tracking of the uh not the hibs but the behavior is such
a difficult as you know the tracking of uh behavior improvement that don't actually hit the hibs but hit the detentions and suspensions. Is there something in place for that? Yeah, I mean we track all of our
discipline. Dave, if I'm understanding your question correctly, those that are not HIPS, if it's bad behavior, whether it's a suspension, um whether it's in school support, uh whether it's detention, we track all of
our discipline data through our student information system called Genesis. >> Right. The ODORs. >> Yes. >> Right. The ODORs lead to hips eventually if they if they get out of control. It could. So what do you what do you say about the
ODRs? Is there some program? Are we looking at diminishing? Yeah, I mean we we utilize a program PBS, right? That's our umbrella of programs. We have different interventions as I touched on whether
it's mentoring support, uh whether it's uh counseling support, whether it's our restorative, we have that's a huge thing that's happening now. that we are growing and getting getting better at. Um we still need to grow in that area.
Uh um and and and continue to grow in social emotional learning because bad behavior um there's so many different ways to support a student not just through punitive manners. There's different ways to support a student to help them learn from their mistakes. So,
we have a lot of different programs in place and um and I'm appreciative of the efforts that you know of our staff um in in you know implementing those those interventions. >> Thank you very much. You're welcome. >> Thank you, Nick. Um I will entertain a
motion to open for public comments three minutes per speaker only on the SSDs report. Moved by Nancy. Can I get a second? Seconded by Walter. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Comments from the public is now
open. If you would like to ask any questions from Dr. Solomon only on the SSDS report, please come up to the mic. State your name and address and ask away your question. Three minutes only.
>> See no public question. Madame President, I move to close the public session. Second. >> Okay. Motion to close by Bill, seconded by Erica. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. We have our board secretary. If you can
please do roll call for A1 SSDs and HIP report, please. Mr. Demeggo. >> Yes. Mr. Grippo, >> yes. >> Dr. Hopkins, >> yes. >> Miss Inencio,
>> yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Miss Maris, >> yes. >> Miss Singh, >> yes. >> Thank you. So motion carries. and we are
on to our superintendent report. >> Thank you. Uh I'll keep it brief because there was two excellent presentations. First, I want to take another opportunity to thank Dr. Logan and his team for providing such a comprehensive data report this evening. As reported by
Dr. Logan, there are some areas that we've shown some good growth in and there are others that we haven't shown the type of growth that we would like. With that said, we'll continue to push forward and work alongside our talented teachers as they work to help and encourage our students make strides
along that learning continuum. And I just want to acknowledge we have some supervisors that are here with us tonight. Uh we have some that had to leave, but they were here earlier. So, if you could just wave and raise your hand, supervisors, I want to thank you for all of your hard work. and
I know your level of commitment is second to none and we're going to keep at it. So, good job. SSDS report. I also want to thank Dr. Solomon for the work he and his team did to bring us such a comprehensive report on both our discipline data and HIV data from the
previous school year. So, that was 2425. It's nice to see that we are trending in the right direction. As Mr. Grippo had stated, I encourage all to keep up the good work so that we may enjoy an even more successful school year this year and in years to come. So, and I know we
have some principles here. Uh you guys want to wave and um I want to thank you for your efforts and let's continue down that positive track. I just want to remind everybody and I'll end with this that the 2025
end of daylight savings time is this weekend. So on Sunday you're going to be changing your clock. Sometimes that has created some confusion with the arrival of school. Um so please make sure you change that clock on Monday uh on Sunday
rather so that on Monday you're on time for your bus, you're on time for school. So, Sunday night, end of daylight savings times. Remember, we fall back, right? So, fall back, turn that clock back, and just make sure you're on time
for school on Monday. That's it for us. Thanks. >> Thank you. I'll also keep my board president's report short. Um, I know we have a few Franklin Park staff here as well, and I will start with a moment of silence. Earlier this month, we learned
of the passing of Julie Rivera, a beloved preschool teacher at Franklin Park School. Since joining our district in 2021, Miss Rivera's dedication to her students was unwavering. According to her former principal, Miss Rivera created a warm, nurturing, and
joyful environment where every child felt safe and encouraged to learn and grow. Our deepest condolences are with her family, friends, and all those whose lives she touched. Please join me in a moment of silence.
Thank you. We also keep the people of Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas and other areas which are in the path of Hurricane Melissa in our thoughts and prayers this evening as well. Let's move to Franklin High School
students give back from our fine visual performing and practical arts department. Miss Finula McNeel's students combined creativity and compassion by selling their handmade ceramic bowls during back- to-school night, raising an impressive $525
for Franklin Food Bank. Each student created two bowls, one to keep and one to donate for the sale. This meaningful project allowed students to express themselves artistically while supporting a cause close to home.
As our student representative mentioned, I'll reiterate, Franklin High School is again hosting Safe Halloween on October 31st from 400 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the events lobby and cafeteria of the high school.
Families with young children are invited to check out the activities our FHS warriors have put together for the event. Since this meeting has been long and we have some great things to also cover, I am going to wave the committee reports
and I'm hoping that the board members have read the committee reports and I would encourage all of you to go on the website and read the committee reports. So in our strategic plan committee, I would like to say that we met this month and viewed a presentation highlighting
some of the recent progress towards the plan's goals. We invite you to check that out on the presentation which is posted in the about us district plan section of the district website later this week. And that ends my president's
report. Now I will again entertain a motion for comments from the public to open for comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker on agenda items only. Madam, >> any of the agenda items that are on the report today.
>> Moved by Dennis. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Nick. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Comments from the public are now open. 5 minutes per speaker. Agenda items only. Once again, if you have a comment, come
to the mic, state your name, address, and please share your comment or question that you may have for the board. No comments. Madame President, I move to close the public session. >> Motion to close by Bill. Bill, you don't
even give people a chance to get up there. Chair, >> if they want to talk, they'll jump up. Believe me. >> Motion to close by Bill. Can I get a second? >> Seconded by Lori. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. So, since we've moved from
committee and leaison reports, do the board members have any questions on the committee reports? I'll start with you, Nick. Any questions on any committee reports? >> No, I'm good. Thank you. >> Walter, >> uh, no questions. >> Nancy, >> Dennis, >> good. >> Erica, >> oh, no, no question. Thank you,
>> Lori. >> No questions. Thank you. >> Bill, >> no question. >> Thank you. Okay, we're on to new business, Mr. Vice President. All right. I make a motion to move R1 monthly reports. M M1 minutes of the board
meetings. A1 travel and >> A2 I'm sorry. A2 travel and related expense reimbursement. A3 report of nonpublic accelerating and handicap
services. A4, school nursing services plan. A5 NJS annual state submission. A6 American Education Week, November 17th through
21st, 2025. A7, National School Bus Safety Week, October 20th through the 24th, 2025. A8 education support personnel recognition.
A7 memorandum of agreement. A10 semiaction plan. A1 donation. A12 revision policy. Second reading and adoptions.
A13, revised bylaws, second reading. A14, revised policy, first reading. A15, new policy, first reading. A16, facility use. A17, placement of recycling clothing bins. A 18 submission
of NJQ. Statement of assurance and district performance review for 2025 and 2026. A17 chronic absentees corrective action plan. A20 school bus emergency exit
drill report. B1 warrants and payrolls. B2 financial report. B3 contract approval. A4 change orders. B5 facility report
B6 award of RFP number 2026-21. B7 disposal of equipment food services. B8 budget goals in calendar 2026 2027.
C1 out of district students 2025 2026 school year. C2 field trip destinations. C3 field trip applications. C4 acceptance of the reading intervention
for secondary engagement grant. C5 new textbook. C6, Aviation Club fly over at homecoming football game. A7 new course and curriculum.
C8 Satan Hall University student social emotional learning study. P1 workers compensation. P2 FTSSA successor agreement.
P3 personnel report number four and that's it madame pet president. So there's a motion to approve R1 M1 A2 through A20 B1 to B8 C1 to C8 P1 to P3
with addendum A. Can I get a second? >> Seconded by Nancy. Can we get roll call, please? Mr. Neglio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Grippo. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Miss Inosencio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Jackson. >> Yes. >> Miss Lort. >> Yes. >> Miss Maris. >> Yes. >> Miss Sing. >> Yes.
Motion carries. >> Motion carries. So, we have two important announcements to make. >> We have our new principal. >> Not yet. We didn't vote on that. We didn't vote on the agenda. >> We just did. We included it at the end.
Yes. Yeah. >> We got you. >> So, we're going to announce our new principal for Franklin Park School. Where is she? There she is. There she
is. Okay, Miss Angela, the floor is yours. Thank you so much. Good evening, members of the board of education, Dr. Ravali, and members of the Franklin Township community. I'm deeply honored and truly grateful for the opportunity to serve as
the next principal of Franklin Park School. Thank you for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility and for your continued commitment to our students, staff, and families. For the past 13 years, I have proudly called Franklin Township my home. I began my
career as an ESL teacher at Pineroveve Manor, a close-knit, family-like school that celebrates our multilingual learners and their rich cultural and linguistic assets. Today, I have the privilege of serving as the vice principal of Claremont Elementary School, our district district's largest
elementary school, and a vibrant reflection of the diversity and excellence that makes this community so special. I want to express my deepest gratitude to my current principal, Mr. Rivera, who has been a decadel long mentor, my greatest champion, and a
guiding force who has consistently pushed me to grow into my full potential. Your leadership and belief in me have shaped the educator and leader I am today, and I will remain eternally grateful. As I step into this new role, I do so with a deep sense of humility and
purpose. Franklin Township is where I began my career, where my heart is rooted, and where I intend to stay. I look forward to discovering the heartbeat of Franklin Park School, learning what makes it distinctive, honoring its traditions, and working
together to continue strengthening the sense of unity, pride, and purpose that Miss Stein paved the way for. Thank you again to the board, to Dr. Ravali, and the entire Franklin Township community for this tremendous honor. I'm excited
to begin this next chapter in partnership with our outstanding educators, families, and most important importantly, our students. Thank you. [Applause] And while she's finishing shaking her
hand, we have our second announcement. We welcome our very own Mr. Anthony Bridto as the new athletic director.
[Applause] Well, I have to say that in a suit. >> I'm going to make it I'm going to I'm going to make a little short so I can put my shorts back on. So, good evening
everyone. I want to thank Dr. Ravali, the administrative cabinet, and the board of ed for this incredible opportunity to serve as district athletic director. I would also like to thank my wonderful family. They've always had my back for everything I've ever done.
This is my 27th year here in Franklin. I'm truly honored to be to be to trust you placed in me and grateful for the chance to continue supporting our students, coaches, and community in this role. Athletics has always been about more
wins than losses. To me, it's about teamwork, perseverance, and character. My goal is to help every student athlete grow, not only in their sport, but as individuals who represent our school with pride and integrity. I want to thank the staff coaches who've encouraged me, believed in me, and most
importantly trusted me. Their dedication inspires me every day. I look forward to working closely with them, strengthen our programs, and provide the best possible experience for all our students. Thank you again for this opportunity. I'm excited for what lies ahead and committed to building on the
strong foundation we already have. Thank you. [Applause]
Okay, the party's not over yet. So, we're open for I'm entertaining a motion to open for public comments. So, on any topic, so everyone can come and congratulate our two appointees. Uh 5
minutes per speaker, any topic. So move. Wait, we need to get a motion. So moved by Nancy. >> Oh, you have the book. >> Seconded by Seconded by Walter. All in favor? >> I didn't want to shut her down.
>> That was perfect timing. >> I tried to jump, but it didn't work out. So uh good evening, uh Wendy Ria, one Markham Road, Somerset, New Jersey. Um, I just want to say congratulations um to to both um of our to our new
principal at Franklin Park School. Um and also to Mr. Bridto. Uh Mr. Bridto, all of the all of the um kids and the parents respect you. Um they trust you and I think that I'm for me I'm really looking forward to a lot of positive
change and I know you're going to do it. Um, also here on behalf of the president council, um, you are a much welcomed face. So, I'm happy to hear that you intend to stay at Franklin Park School. Um, the parents there will be very happy to hear that. Um, and I think that was it. Mr. Dr. Solomon, I have a question
for you, but I'm going to leave it off record because it's not that important. So, but I just want to let you know. Thank you so much. [Applause] Anybody else? My name is Robert Wisakowski. I live at
28 Hill Avenue in Somerset, New Jersey. I just want to say congratulations to the new positions for those people. That That's awesome. Um, but I have a different topic that I want to talk about. Um, I just realized that in 2024,
2025, I did not get the reimbursement for my kids going to private Catholic school. And I called up the board of transportation to ask if I could get reimbursement and they said I missed the deadline. And I said, you know, I filled
out this form for 5 years previously. Could you tell me how this happened? And she's like, well, it possibly could have got lost in the mail. She's like, "But our mail gets delivered to a different building and then gets transferred to
their building and then it sits there for several months and then they open it." And she's like, "It's very possible we misplaced it or discarded it."
So I was like, "So now that's my fault, you know. So, I was hoping that you guys could look into that situation and possibly get me my reimbursement for 2024 20 25. Um, because I did a little
Google search and only 1% of the mail gets lost and I mean I live in Somerset and it's going to Somerset. I can't imagine the post office would mess that up. That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone
else? Um, good evening everyone. My name is Leslie Sheret, 32 Russia, Somerset Township. I have two children that are currently in uh the Franklin High School, a ninth grader and a senior.
Um I was disturbed a little bit to see the NJ uh SLA scores for science for my children. They are both AP students, very talented kids. And when I questioned them regarding those tests,
they said both of them said in different scenarios that they were tested on material that they had not learned during that period of time. So my question is, we're showing these scores and I know that some of them are positive. We have a lot of work to do in
the district, but what is the justification for testing children in areas of things that they have not learned? Because the scores are always going to be skewed if we're testing our children in subject matters that they have not
learned. and it's always going to reflect negatively on those scores overall. >> Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Motion to close by Dennis. >> Can I get a second? Seconded by Erica.
All in favor? >> Okay. Thank you. So, we have to respond to two parents. John, would you like to take those? >> Sure. Uh, with regard to what we call Aiden Lou, the parent who came up to talk about reimbursement, that's called
an aiden loo payment. There is an application, there is a deadline, all of those kinds of things. I'm not certain what happened to your application, but I can certainly ask the business administrator to look into that. He works directly with the transportation
department. So, um, if that gentleman is still here at the, you know, if you could perhaps provide your name, if you haven't already done so, we certainly will have both the assistant superintendent for business and the business administrator look into the
status of your application and what may have occurred. Um, to the young lady who was at the microphone, uh, that is something we certainly do look at. That's called the tested curriculum, right? So you have the taught curriculum versus the tested curriculum. They don't
always line perfectly and at times what happens is the test is changed and therefore the curriculum needs to be changed. That is the job of our supervisors. I'm not so certain exactly what happened with your children and or
what course it was, what test it was, if it was an AP course. uh oftentimes that can happen as well because that's very much the same. The tests change and the curriculum has to do the same. So um I would charge Dr. Logan who gave that
wonderful presentation to look into that and perhaps right after the meeting you can give him a little more of the specifics and he will work with our science supervisor and we'll get to the bottom of that. But that is something that is a phenom in our world um in all
of education where we are constantly looking at that right there are three pieces if I may take this opportunity and I know it's late but there are three pieces to curriculum in general there's a written curriculum that's the guide
ours lives on a in a living breathing format in a computer program um and we're constantly looking at that that's what's written written. That's the objectives, those kinds of things. Then there's what teachers actually teach
that can sometimes be out of alignment with what is written, right? So that's the job of the supervisors and the principles and the vice principles to go in and assure that what is being taught is what is written. And then there's also that part that's being tested,
right? The specific objectives, we call that the tested curriculum. And those three have to be somewhat in alignment. And when there's a disconnect in any of those three parts, that's for us to work on. The good thing about those tests
oftent times is they do give you what's called an item analysis. And that's something that our folks and they're shaking their heads. they're looking at constantly because when those tests change, they give us an item analysis to tell us in our district where our students might
most be struggling and what kind of items they're struggling most with. And then we can go back and look at what's written and also analyze what's tested or what's taught in those classrooms to find out where there may be the deficiency, which is how we get the movement, how we get that little bit of
growth that we're seeing. It's difficult to get growth, but you know, we are being successful in getting it. Do we want more? 110%. I agree with you. And we need more. Um, but we're not going to go anywhere if we don't have somewhat of
an alignment between those three definitions of curriculum. So, uh, we'll get on it, I promise you, and we'll get a little bit more into the detail about your particular issue because it could be helpful for a lot of people. So, thank you. Thank you.
No, lessons are good. Um, and now we're on to the last part of our meeting, which is good of the order. And I will start with you, Miss Erica. Okay, good evening. Um, I just want to extend my congratulations to um, Miss Pa
and Mr. Bridto. Um, all the best. Yep. And, um, I also want to, um, wish our students a very safe and fun Halloween. That's all I say. Thank you, Lori.
I also would like to congratulate um Miss Pap and Mr. Bridto on their new positions. We're looking forward to wonderful things from both of you and um the best is yet to come. I'm confident.
Um thank you very much, >> Bill. So um I'll start with the two appointees. As we said in the interviews earlier, it is so important the charisma and the
gifts that you bring to this position. Angela and Anthony, the athletic program has so much potential in Franklin Township. What a great challenge for you, Mr. to make us the best in the state. And
Angela, you have so much enthusiasm. I feel sorry for Mr. Rivera. He's going to have to do all the work now. Have to bring Fico back to help him. Anyway, Angela, congratulations. You're going to do great.
But I also want to make a point that Tuesday is election day. I'm not going to mention any names. But it's in absolutely essential that you vote for the right board of
education people. This is a critical election on Tuesday for our students and for the state of New Jersey and we have got to get the vote out at
every level in this community. We have some exemplar candidates running for the board of ed. If you want to know who they are, go to my Facebook page. If you're not a friend of mine, something's wrong. So, you should go to the Facebook page, Bill Grio, and make sure you bring
someone to the polls. I'm not kidding. Now, I've done a lot of elections in Franklin over 50 years. I was deputy mayor. I know the business. This one's a gamecher. This one's a gamecher for our school
system. So, I am imploring you to take this seriously. I'm not joking around. I do. Usually, I kid around. I'm dead serious. You got to make some phone calls and you got to get it done.
Thank you, >> Nick. Okay, I have a question for Steve first if that's okay. Um, on those bins that we approved that we have in each of the buildings, um, I just want to ensure that that money when that comes in that
goes to parent-based organizations, >> clothing bins. >> Uh, yes, I think those are being run actually by the PTO's now. There was some discussion about how the flow of money was going to happen there and uh
it was thought it's best to keep it off of the district's books and have the PTO actually engage, you know, a vendor uh to manage that with them. >> So, those go right to the organization. Okay. Yeah, I forgot to bring that up. >> We just have to recognize it because
there's a permit fee that we didn't realize. There's a permit. I don't know about a fee, but we have to apply where each of those bins are. we have to apply to the council. So, we're taking the formal motion in order to be able to get the permits to allow the folks to have
the bins on the campuses. >> Okay. >> I didn't recognize that we didn't know that there was a permit in the township necessary to be honest with you. >> Okay. Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that those funds don't run through the school and then out to the PT. Okay. And um congratulations to Angela and
Anthony. I just want to repeat one comment I made in executive about Angela last year when we had the teacher of the year awards and she came up because Miguel was homesick. She did a phenomenal job and I said that woman's
going to be a principal very soon. I didn't realize it was going to happen this soon, but okay. And Miguel, you're gonna have to start all over now. You know, it is what it is. Anthony, congratulations to you. I hear a lot of good chatter out on the street from
parents, teachers, and students. Um, you're going to do a great job there. Um, again, I want to remind everyone to get out and vote. Kudos to Miss Miles and Jason over at the high school for the homecoming event and the flyover,
which was phenomenal. Unfortunately, Mr. Grippo couldn't see it because it was too far up, but um and the start of the 20-year celebration for the Franklin High School building. Um and I also want to give a
kudos to Tim Lewis from the grounds department. Um Project Graduation was given this beautiful trailer where we keep uh clothes for the clothing drive. Um and we needed shelves in it. They
delivered the shelves to the high school not knowing who was going to put them up. and I get a text message from Tim uh with a picture of the shelves that were all put up in the um um storage facility. So, I wanted to just give him
a public kudos and thank you very much. >> Thank you, Walter. >> Short and sweet for me tonight. Um Angela and Mr. Berto, congratulations. It is very apparent that you have a lot of support from everybody who came out tonight. And of course, that support
won't stop here. So definitely know that you can continue to follow on us for anything that you need. Um you know what Mr. Gripple said, definitely make sure you guys get out and utilize your voice and vote on Tuesday. And um
kids be safe uh next week for Halloween. >> This week? >> Oh, this Oh, this week. I got to get my candy this week. This week. This week. Thank you, >> Nancy. >> Okay, so mine's a little bit longer and
I wrote it down. Yay. So, when I first ran for the board of education, it wasn't part of some long-term plan. Someone asked me and I said, "Why not?" Honestly, I never expected to win, which goes to show, be careful what you wish for. I'll never forget Evan's first
graduation, my youngest son. He had finished early, gone to boot camp, came home 3 days early um before graduation, and he wasn't planning to walk. I told him, "I've invested 14 years in your education. You're going to walk or you're going to crawl." He walked and he
enjoyed it. That moment reminded me that education is about pride and milestones, not just academics. When I first ran, I had two priorities. Televised board meetings and an independent audit. 2006. It took a year, but we got those meetings televised and
now they're on YouTube. So, if you have trouble sleeping, you know where to find them. And the audit, it taught me that we have checks and balances in place and that they're working. Board members don't just get elected and and wing it. We take mandatory training and annual
updates. I've had more homework as an adult than I ever did in high school. Like Artemis, I became a certified board leader, not just for the title, but to serve well. And just last week, we returned from New Jersey School Board's conference, connecting with other districts and learning what's working
across the state. Let me confess, believe it or not, I hate public speaking, but I talk a lot. I don't know if you notice that sometimes leadership means finding your voice even when you'd rather stay quiet. One year of board service includes
monthly meetings, committees, training, and prep. That's a minimum of 75 hours, and that's just the structured time. It's far more when you include emails, emergencies, and the emotional toll. It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't simple. It wasn't service. And I showed up. No
pension, no health insurance, just a belief in public education. So, what do we get? We get paid in moments. When a student's eyes light up, when a teacher is practically doing cartwheels presenting curriculum, when you hand a child their diploma, and for me, it was
a privilege to hand at least one of my kids their diploma. These moments remind us of why we serve. I was going through a tour recently and found a few pins I hadn't seen in a long time. One of them was from when I completed my new board member training
given to me by by Avonage. Another was from Somersa County School Boards Association. I don't remember the occasion, but I remember the feeling. They were tucked in the same place as my presidential gold award for volunteerism, which I remember, but hadn't seen in a while. And then there's
my warrior for life pin. That one I see all the time. Bill and I are very proud members. And that pin isn't just a keepsake. It's who I am. Each of these pins means something to me. They're quiet reminders of the work, the values, and the moments that shape this journey.
Once you're elected, you're always a board member. Whether you're in this room or at Shopright, but no individual board member can commit the board to anything. The board speaks with one voice, not nine. This board is not about politics. It's about children, fairness, and
access to quality education. I kept running because people asked me to, because I was proud, and because believe it or not, I was having fun. Walter and Artem and I are like Seinfeld, stepping away when the work is still strong. We'd rather end at our peak than overstay our welcome. As I
step down, I'm proud to see leadership continuing in familiar hands. Angela, who served as the VP at Claremont, will now lead Franklin Park School as its new principal. She brings deep knowledge of students and a steady, compassionate presence that will serve our community
well. And Anthony, who has been a dedicated assistant AD, now steps into the lead role. His energy, commitment, and understanding of our students needs both on the field and beyond, makes him the right person at the right time. Their promotions remind us that legacy
isn't about just looking back. It's about building. I forgot where is it. It's about building forward. When you walk into the room, you leave your ego at the door. Board service is about stewardship, vision, and keeping our students at the center. In other words, it's about
learning to play well in the sandbox because if you can do that, you can serve well. And that's a legacy that I hope to leave behind. The reason I bring this up is number one, we just promoted two Franklin people who have been with us for since the beginning of their
careers, which is really important. And the other thing is, like we're saying, um, Tuesday is election day and this is really what it's all about and this is why we do what we do. So, it's I think it's important to revisit what we're doing and why we're doing it and what you get out of it because it actually is
a lot. And that ends my board member comments. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy. You said a lot of things that probably resonate with a lot of us. And now we're on to Dennis. >> All right. Uh Angela, Anthony,
congratulations. Um you guys um did a outstanding job doing your interviews with us. And um remember the challenge the challenge cuz we we will be watching
and um but I'm sure that you will be successful and um building good leaders within our students and good citizens as they progress up. And just like everybody um a couple of
my um uh of the members said here um be safe out there for Halloween. Um be careful, be safe, and um that's all I have. Madam President, >> thank you.
So, I can't stop congratulating the two of you and um I know it time stands between my comments and my closing comments and all of you. So, I'll be very short and here's my message in closing.
Contemplate seriously how your job serves others. Often the least glamorous tasks are serviceoriented at their core. Consider those tasks as such. Do you quietly take on tasks that prevent other stress? If you catch errors before they
become fire drills, handle tedious compliance paperwork so nobody gets fired or track down missing information, you are serving others? Do you make complexity feel simple for your colleagues? When you disentangle data
and present findings in a clear report, you provide a huge act of service for others who depend on that data for success. This is for you, my two doctors here who presented. Do you make a product that improves lives? This doesn't have to be something
life-saving by any means, just something that makes a bit of a difference in someone's day. And finally, even more simply, as a leader, and I see so many few in this room today, do you provide well-paid jobs for your employees so
that they can raise their families comfortably? We're going to lose SNAP benefits come November 1st. So, think about, you know, helping someone here. To make this tangible, I really recommend each one of
you writing your reflections down. Keep that note in the inside of your drawer or your desk or in different spot where you'll see it every day. Make a difference. And I know each and every one of you at Franklin do make a difference to either one of our kids or
to one of your peers. And as a lot of people said here, go cast your vote. Whether it's early vote or on Tuesday, each one each vote makes a huge difference. Go Franklin. Thank you.
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