##VIDEO ID:9EnC8k5uOfI## [Music] [Music] good evening today is Thursday October 17th 2024 um Mr banano can we have roll call please Mr grippo Dr Hopkins miss inocencio here Mr Jackson here m Miss Lort here miss Maris here Mr Parker Mr Shaban Miss sing here you have a quum thank you can you also read the open public meetings act statement please in accordance with the open public meeting 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 the Franklin reporter tap into Franklin town ship Franklin Township Clerk manager district schools offices and associations PTO presidents and posted on the district website thank you very much can I get a motion to move to go into p uh confidential session moved by Nancy seconded by Lori all in favor I so we're going to go into confidential session motion to adjourn for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including pupil Personnel matter minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists we be back thank you good evening everyone we're still on Thursday October 17th 20124 we just came back from confidential session and discussed confidential matters including pupil Personnel matters minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists Lori can you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance if you are able to please stand with us Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repu for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and Justice thank you and can I have Erica read the mission statement please 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 amending that we move C for up right after the student representative report so moved moved by Sammy seconded by Nancy all in favor I I thank you Vanessa welcome let's go ahead and hear your report hello my name is Vanessa Marino and I am one of the student government Boe liazon and here are some of the things going on at FHS fbaa is hosting a book drive from now until October 25th AP exam registration is now open the deadline is November 14th many clubs had their first meetings with the start of after school buses fbaa is hosting a pickle ball tournament on Friday October 18th at 2:45 p.m. on the tennis courts FHS robotics Club is selling team t-shirts to support their competition season the student government will be selling gertude Hawk chocolate to to support the NJ ASC State charity Ava's voice to battle Usher syndrome robotics Club will be her hosting a girl powered workshop for international girls day on October 24th the student government will be running another student for the NS njasc State office the homecoming dance is Saturday October 19th from 6:00 to 10: p.m. the class of 2025 and Mr fredman continue to sell tickets along with making final preparations thank you thank you okay so can I have Walter read C4 and then we can move and second that C4 Sudani Foundation Grant funds donation pursuant to policy 7230 gifts grants donations the board education accepts the following donations $10,000 from the Sudani foundation for the purpose of supporting the district's annual ftps invention competition can someone please move this moved by Dennis second second by Lori all in favor thank you Mary would you like to come or okay Dan's going to do it thank you just just want to take a moment to thank uh B madani and his uh lovely spouse uh Papu um for being here tonight um we've been working on this for a few years and it's getting better and better every year with last year are students um not only competing in Steam tank but actually a couple of the teams advancing to the regional finals and one nearly yeah I would say winning uh our Aviation Group that did so really beautifully well we had a chance to see them we're so excited about how this invention competition which began as an elementary only um uh sort of Enterprise that you know we knew it was going to expand from the beginning the goal was we're going to start with Elementary build into Middle School which we did the second year and then this most recent year our third incarnation of the program included the high school what vmol doesn't know but we only found out a couple days ago thanks to miss Singh who encouraged me to apply for a recognition for the program we actually won that program and I just wanted to read to you um very briefly if you will Dr rali um what we submitted as our nomination which I think is really a certainly a compliment to Mr sedani um so I'll just read it so this is the New Jersey School Board Association School leadership award for which we were selected our program uh which you know next month will be recognized at a county meeting the um 2024 nomination the mission of Franklin Township's annual invention competition is to provide students in this highly diverse district with exciting opportunities to use their imagination and Ingenuity to innovate solutions to real world problems in participating in this annual design challenge event students have a chance to apply their Mastery of the New Jersey student learning standards especially those found uh within the area of computer science and design thinking when a community partner fimal sadani and the sadani foundation uh approached the district in 2020 with the hope of supporting creative Innovative thinking via a generous Financial contribution District officials embrace the opportunity as the district Fosters strong relationships with its Community Partners especially around initiatives that promote steam learning opportunities doing so is important to our students many of whom belong to tradition under represented communities in STEM related fields and as a result of this partnership the district launched the invention competition in 2022 and has since expanded this annual Showcase from solely an elementary initiative to one that now includes all 10 of the district's K12 schools as a result approximately 7,200 students from New Jersey's second most diverse uh student population either participate in or are exposed to the invention competition so thank you vimal thank you Papo we are so excited to be receiving this award in November but we're equally excited just to see the program expand get better and better every year and as we compete at higher and higher levels so thank you very much for your [Applause] contribution I just want to add before Mr sadani comes up the recognition for the school is at the Somerset County School boards meeting on November 18th and I would invite personally invite both of you to come and attend so that you can be part of the recognition ceremony for Franklin Township uh public schools that evening and I'll send you the details thank you I hope you can hear me okay good evening thank you very much for your invitation to join the Board of Education meeting I truly appreciate your warm introduction and would like to express my gratitude to miss Singh uh ncy loor all board members Dr John relli Dr Daniel Lan and my wife Pap Sani on behalf of the Sani Foundation it brings me great joy to confirm our partnership on an ongoing commitment to Franklin Township Public Schools we are proud to contribute to the steam invention competition with the grant of $10,000 it is our pleasure to present this check to the Board of Education symbolizing our belief in the students of the township and the Limitless potential it was a privilege to witness the impressive Innovation presentations from the elementary middle and high school students their creativity and enthusiasm are inspiring and reaffirm our belief in the power of you to shape the future the students of Franklin Township stand on threshold of an exciting Journey one that not only offers personal growth but also the chance to Showcase their Collective talents on a broader stage through this competition the Sani Foundation is proud to invest in their development as Future Leaders and innovators the challenges they face may seem daunting but it is within those challenges that their true capabilities will shine I encourage them to embrace each hurdle learn from every experience and grow stronger along the way success is not something handed to us it is earned through preservance preservance determination and the ability to learn from both Triumph and setbacks now is the time for these students to represent Franklin Township competing not just locally but on the state and also on the national levels their achievement will resonate within our community and stand as a testament to the hard work and dedication for Franklin Township's students and educators we hope to see them bring pride and recognition to our Township on larger stages in the future as the holiday season approaches I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a joyful and healthy holiday season and a prosperous New Year 2025 thank you [Applause] [Laughter] oh thank you thank you thank you thank you folks come a long way huh you thank you I'll your thank keeping on that great happy note we're going to pass on to Mr Wilson for the student safety data systems annual report thank you thank you Miss sing you know as I prepar for for this report I got got excited uh and you know typically when you're talking about student discipline Behavior it's kind of tough to say well why are you getting excited but the reason why I'm excited to give this report is because since the Inception of this department of education's student safety data system uh and these reports I've been giving and over that period of time I've had the opportunity to see the uh Frameworks and the programs that we put into place to uh improve the culture and climate of our schools I've seen how those programs have had a tremendous impact so probably the strongest of those is the thing that we depend on to change climate and culture in all of our schools and that is the PBS uh positive behavior support program that we we brought in sometime I think around 200 2009 I'm thinking um but the things that are um so I've had the exper the unique experience of watching our district grow and the culture in our schools change as a result of our Reliance on those PBIS Frameworks so as we go through tonight's presentation um and again the student safety data system is the Department of education's way to have schools report on what discipline looks like and what those programs look like in our schools so our goal is to increase academic achievement that's that's our our big mission throughout the district by meeting the social and emotional needs of students through current and expanding programs like PBIS uh um like restorative practices and to provide students and staff with a safe School environment which they teach and learn one of the Hallmarks of this presentation is this view of what discipline looked like of in in our schools uh during the 2023 24 school year um the circles represent the pop the total pop ation in those schools I always like to show that because when you look at it it proves that the overwhelming majority of our students respond to um the expectations that are that exist in our schools so that green section the big portion of those circles represents students who have no office discipline referrals doesn't mean that they're perfect but it means that they respond to uh our teachers they respond to our administrators they meet and and respond to the expectations and meet those expectations that are set for them in their schools the slice in that the blue and the red slice in this in these pies these circles that represents students who've had at least one odr one office discipline referral um and the red portion of that slice represents those students for whom that one odr resulted in suspension so as you look at it and as it should be the the largest part of these circles are this those students who had no office discipline referrals um and when you look at our total population at the elementary school 3,576 students looking at roughly 200 plus students who had office discipline referrals is you know certainly not perfect but it is what we try to strive for and I I want to point out when we do this that what the administrators do in our buildings so we come up with goals and expectations for all students but we and and we believe in that tiered system of response uh so we are providing uh support for students as they need it so those students who are represented in that slice those are the students who we focus on giving more tiered support so that they can meet the expectations that we have for our schools and by by the way it works okay um next slide so when we look at the total number of office discipline referrals and compare that to uh the previous school year um what you notice and I have to point this out have to give credit here at Franklin High School because they have been on a major downward trend for the past two years so so uh when you're looking at that total number of office discipline referrals what you're seeing it that go J it it almost was reduced by half the year before that that 1217 was also a major reduction so they're moving in the right direction we understand by the way too as you look at this that the middle school has been our Challenge and we're continuing to focus on that but there is good news as we look at it because they are making progress uh and their elementary schools while there is a slight increase in the number of referrals um when you're looking at that total population what we're seeing is that you know our efforts are continuing to uh to pay off there I'd like to point this out at the um now I'll point it out now um at the elementary level one of the biggest areas of concern used to be the bus had high numbers of discipline referrals we put a number of plans into place to address that now that doesn't even make our top 10 so I just just I'm always proud of those things these accomplishments because it shows the impact of what our efforts do so when we're looking at those top five OD uh types of odrs at the um at our elementary level comparing it um 2020 uh 3 24 to 2022 23 um what you're going to see is there are uh some slight increases in some things and decreases in others um I'd like to point out physical aggression because physical aggression and you know it isn't just you know uh um fights it's pushing it's and that's one of the things that is a very common thing at the elementary level somebody hit me with you know uh hit me with the ball I'm going to push him somebody took the ball I'm going to push them or something those kinds of things that are uh but we do have to address them um the one thing that was kind of surprising is misuse of electronics uh which also typically focuses on cell phone use which is kind of one of the things that's been pushed down from the high school middle school and now showing up at the elementary school but again at the middle school again this is where we know our challenges are um I want to point out the fact when you look at physical aggression at the middle school in 2023 I mean 22 23 the 23 24 notice the efforts of the team at the middle at our Middle School campus it's continuing to address that and those numbers are decreasing we recognize we have work to do and we're still doing uh we're doing it we're doing our diligence with that and at the high school I think the high school really is in this the the lighthouse for a PBS effort uh for years cutting class was the number one source of odrs at the high school while it is still in the top 10 if you compare uh last year which was also a reduction to this year they've cut it in half and if you look across the board things are going down with the exception of CDs and tobacco use where there was a slight increase uh so I I always I I har I started off talking about the kinds of things that we're that the district is employing to change the culture and behavior of students to align with um you know more positive learning experience learning culture we do a lot of great things um but but we believe that punishment by itself does not change behavior in fact we recognize that we have to teach expectations and then not only teach them but expect that students do it and recognize when they meet those expectations we also provide a a number of Social and emotional kinds of supports for our students and I'm highlighting this one uh which is the helpme app you might be seeing the these advertisements and posters at the elementary middle and high school um hung on the walls we made uh we we kind of launched it at the end of last year and relaunched it this year to help me at provides students teachers families with a variety of different kinds of support um some of those uh 7 days a week 24 hours a day so um if there are uh if a student has uh some kind of an emergency need whether they're in school or at home that's on the weekend they can push one of those that top button that will connect them immediately to a resource that will give them support if there are issues with housing clothing food um they can also press the button and be referred to areas where they can get immediate support and lastly that last button gives them an opportunity to to seek out uh if they have if they issues within their school and they need someone either to talk to or if they need uh any kind of support while they're in school that will go to a school resource and they'll reach out to them and provide them with resources so this is just one of many kinds of supports uh we work with our student assistant coordinators we provide mentoring and tutoring so on and so forth um moving me right to our harassment intimidation and bullying the bottom portion of that colored uh with the kind of brown and yellow or green uh represents the 2023 20 24 last four year and then on top of that the year before that um one of the things that we noticed if you look at the total number of HIV investigations is dropping slightly okay um and the number of confirmed HIV incidents has dropped dramatically again I think part of that goes to the type of instruction that we're providing to our students now the fact that students feel free uh and parents feel free to contact the school to report I also think that that is a uh is a plus for this District we encourage people that if they see something to report it and we will act on it immediately um so uh this this takes me right into um a por of this report that focuses on providing uh some information about harassment intimidation and buing what our district policies are and how we respond to them I think it is important to understand many of you already know this but it's important for us to understand that is the Department of we follow the department of education's guidelines as it relates to addressing harassment intimidation and bullying and identify what it is so when there are two major pieces of criteria that we look at specifically when we're investigating an incident of harassment intimidation and bullying uh the first is the action has to be motivated either by an actual or perceived characteristic such as Rel race religion etcc or some other distinguishing characteristic that motivates the behavior and then secondly it also must take place on school ground School Bus a school function um and the behavior must cause a substantial disruption to the school so those two pieces of of uh those two criteria are things that drive what the anti-bullying specialist is looking for okay and then it has to be at least at least one of these criteria um the possibility of physical or emotional harm to the victim or had the effect of the meaning or insulting the victim and if it does either of those two we can infer that it's also creating a uh a a a a hostile educational environment so I want to say when we talk about consequences that whether or not an incident whether or not a referral for harassment intimidation and bullying satisfies the state criteria for harassment intimidation bullying or not whether it satisfies it or not we are as a district address that behavior uh so uh and we involve the parents of everybody who is associated with that behavior so that is an important thing to understand um for anything that is determined to be a violation of the district's harassment intimidation and bullying um we for the first and second offense um the student will be disciplined in accordance with the student code of conduct um and that report will end up in the students file so in addition to whatever the behavioral consequen are this the harassment intimidation report also becomes a part of their their file if a student has a third violation for harassment intimidation and bullying in the same school year there are some additional consequences and that additional consequence in addition to whatever the um code of conduct dictates whatever is appropriate for that um it it also is a uh there are a series of uh lessons that the parent and the student must go through together they take a series of Assessments associated with those lessons and those are reviewed by our um Student Assistance coordinators who will then work with that student and the family to come up with with strategies to help change the behavior okay so what do you do and and really it's very it's simple in a sense if you see something that's not right if you think it's bullying or whatever then but really if you see something that's not right report it report it to your building administrator report it to the teacher report it to the antibullying specialist you can call this the central office reported to the superintendent who will make sure that it gets funneled to the right individuals and we get it addressed and we do it very well one of the things that I did not point out when we were looking at that slide on harassment intimidation and bullying know that the Department of Education requir school districts to investigate those um incidents within uh a window of 10 working days all of our schools the anti-bullying Specialists meet those requirements so know that we we do take very uh we take that very seriously so once they once a school reaches that uh their conclusion of whether they find it and whether they believe that it was a violation or not that decision gets reviewed at the central office and ultimately it's reviewed by the Board of Education so I'm not going to go through this but there are a number of frequently asked questions associated with harassment intimidation and bullying um we've we've included that on a number of different places that's in their your schools but it's also in the student code of conduct so if you were to look at uh the student code of conduct where it um the the policy on harassment intimidation and bullying right after that it has the uh those frequently asked questions okay one other thing that we're required to to share with the public uh is the children's internet protection act that requires school districts to develop an ensure that education is provided to every student regarding appropriate online Behavior Uh we do that in a number of different ways um we protect a student electronic communication by assigning students an email um account uh that's processed through our district server um that server has filters that block inappropriate uh materials so I um and then the last part is that We additionally we monitor student communication and use of our electronic equipment 247 so if they're accessing an appropriate sites or if they're commenting about things that are self harm or injurious or if they're commenting about things that might result in violence or um either in or out of school that information gets communicated to us almost immediately and we react and respond to that as as such so uh students in grades 3 through 12 are provided with education by assembly um um and also classroom part of their uh theed curriculum we focus on the correct way to uh to to use the internet uh so if you and again lastly there all of this is contained in the student code of conduct which you can use the last part of this assembly talks about some of the school emergency drills schools are required to do non-fire evacuation drills bomb thread drills active shooter drills and lockdown drills we also do something called a shelter drill um all of these drills are designed to address specific emergencies and we do them on a regular basis uh and not only um the focus is to teach individuals how they are to respond in each of these situations and you can understand that um you know students have a specific responsibility During certain emergencies ad administrators teachers safety officers police officer who is in our building so everyone has a specific role to play we get to drill them whenever there is a drill we also send that notice at the end of the day home to parents so that you know know that there is a drill and be please also be aware that during our drills our drills are really to teach so we don't do simulation so there's no loud noise there's not Blood on the floor simulation or people line around or any of those kinds of things it is really instructional all right as you can see from our crack team of uh professionals all right questions thank you Mr Wilson as always a great report I know this is going to be a Bittersweet thing this will be your last report since you have decided to retire and uh next year maybe you'll come back to do the report next year um I will open for the board members to ask questions first and then we'll open for comments from the public uh starting with Dennis as always uh Mr Wilson has put together a wonderful um report uh being on the Safety Committee last year and seeing um I guess two years I was probably on it but anyway um to see uh his continued uh input and the effort that he's put into the district to ensure for our kids is safe um for those parents that really doesn't see it upfront is an amazing job that he does and um as always um wellth out report and kolos to you and um I accept his report thank you Walter uh no questions great job as always Mr Wilson thank you thank you Nancy no questions thank you very much thank you Sammy yeah I have a few questions um so yeah great job with the the rates in the high school coming down I mean I know that postco we saw sort of a bump and a lot of aggression especially nationally and we were no no exception to that so what have you seen sort of change in the past you know I guess several months or year that I mean only two Hip cases in the whole High School I thought that was pretty pretty remarkable so there are a number of different kinds of supports at the high school and I'm just focusing on the high school this particular moment because there is such a dramatic change um but again um the support services uh you know uh we have two Student Assistance coordinators we had the OG mentoring program so it is really a lot of handson things that um help promote the the concept of what is acceptable and what is not um uh that whole concept of cutting class which used to be huge um isn't the thing anymore students recognize and starting to realize the importance of being in class and and our focus on making sure that we're trying to address the needs of every student I think all of that um plays out and the other thing is that you know the the expectation is that you know if students do something wrong yeah they going to be some consequences but there also is going to be some other things some of those restorative practice techniques that have helped students to take some accountability for their behavior so all of those things I think have have have really help pay off so yeah that's great and and and love hearing that the the work that you're doing is sort of having those those sort of results I guess my one thought around the the middle school because it seems like the Middle School historically has kind of had those higher numbers and it continues to have is is there anything that we're going to adjust or change to maybe approach it a little bit differently or is it just a matter of giving it time reinforcement and things like that like what are your thoughts around how to address the the Middle School sort of up ticking a little bit it's not a huge uptick but it's an uptick and it seems like it's historically had that like whenever you show that pie graph I always expect that that Middle School to have that that larger chunk and I know there's transitions in life kids are going from you know being kids to teenagers and there's all that but um is there anything that we can do differently any thoughts around that yeah I mean and I think that we are doing some things that are changing uh I I think um and it might not sound like a lot but you might recall that one of the things one of the changes we made last year was a focus on having administrators have the the authority to um take away privileges rather than suspend so those kinds of things are starting to show some dividends at the middle school level too and I mean that's just that's one there and I think we and they're certainly looking to continue doing that using that but also this the other piece that I think is going to help uh at our Middle School level is um you know if you there's that philosophy that if you want students to show good leadership and to exhibit good behavior that you have to give them opportunities to do it so I know that both uh Rebecca uh at the uh at Samson campus and Tori at the um Hamilton campus are looking to do more of those kinds of things yeah and just my last question is are there any things that because we did have such a a nice um result from the work that we're doing at the high school are there any pieces of that that we can sort of bring down to the middle school that you think some of those support systems some of that the mentoring that we could bring maybe to that middle school that could perhaps help with that as well so interesting enough so you know that we meet monthly principles and we're looking at this data on a monthly basis so one of the things that u in fact when you look at your suspension report for um this for this September one of the things you're going to see is not as many suspensions at the secondary level I mean at at overall but also not at the middle school level um and it you know it's I think it's because they're looking at um mentoring specifically uh pairing teachers up with those students who are those tier two and threes who need those kinds of of supports so I think that's going to also pay off big de dividends Lori well thank you very much for the presentation I especially like the year-over year so that we could actually see the progress um and I don't have any questions because Sammy asked them all thank you just one question from me um Sammy was talking about you know what can we um take that's working at the high school and possibly you know apply it to the middle middle school level uh I'm thinking what what might we be able to do at the elementary level um to prepare them for middle school because I do think it's that transition that's part of the issue um part of the issue I think puberty is part of the issue I think that fitting in it's that age um so I think it's a a bunch of things sort of converging um that that may be uh uh you know contributing to to that but what what might we be able to do and and and are we looking at some of that what what could we do to sort of better prepare them and and hopefully maybe not see some of those behaviors uh get to sixth grade you know one of the things that we have really just started looking at is having middle school students because it's part of if you want students to show leadership you've got to give them opportunities to do it um is to have is having middle school students work with meet with some of those elementary students to give them advice about how to have a good experience at the middle school level I don't think that that's all of it I think we've got to do some other things as well but know that um we meet and Sharon who was my partner in crime here uh we meet with the PBIS teams at all of the buildings and they share they meet um Representatives all meet for a uh a districtwide meeting where we're going over those things that work and we're sharing those ideas so that they can pull you know what they what they need from those experiences thank you so much and and you will be missed okay with that we'll open for public comments can I get a motion to open three minutes per speaker only questions on the report moved by Nancy seconded by Dennis all in favor I okay if anybody has questions on the ssds report please come to the podium state your name and address and then you can ask your question I move to close public session motion to close by Sammy second second it by Erica all in favor I okay so public comment session is closed um since Mr grippo the chair for the Safety Committee is not here um can I ask Erica to move A1 I I request that A1 be moved or move can I get a second second seconded by Lori can we have roll call Brian Dr Hopkins accept Miss ensio yes Mr Jackson yes yes thank you yes yes thank you and now we're on to our superintendent's report thank you madam president I will be brief because it's a long night and Mr Wilson did a great job in his report and I just want to take this opportunity to thank Mr Wilson and not admit that this is his last report because he's not allowed to leave um but I also want to thank his team for putting together such a comprehensive report the data really does inform our next level of work we do use this data uh and as Mr Wilson shared he reviews it quite often with principles Vice principles um and in fact all of our safety team members so that uh we can highlight the bright spots and celebrate those areas and also we know we have some areas to dig in on and we'll certainly do that and we'll work a little harder but overall I think seem to you know things seem to be trending in a positive direction as you saw by the data so kudos to Mr Wilson and his team [Applause] homecoming homecoming next week is homecoming for Franklin High School it's an exciting week at FHS with lots of traditional homecoming events planned rather than ending homecoming week with the homecoming dance this year we're going to try something new and we're going to kick homecoming off with the homecoming dance so this year homecoming dance this year's homecoming dance will be held this Saturday so I know Dr Solomon and his team are looking forward to that uh usually a a great opportunity for our kids uh then we'll have a week filled with lots of fun activities including a pep rally toward the end and a homecoming football game and this year for the first time in the history of Franklin High School our very own Franklin High School Aviation Club will perform a flyover just prior to the start of the homecoming game so yes that's right you heard it our students will be piloting planes and will be flying over our Stadium um to perform a flyover just prior to the start of the homecoming game so it's an exciting new Twist on an age-old event um we're very proud of our kids that's a very active club uh and two courses in the high school in the in in the field of Aviation and we have lots of our kids who are training to be pilots and we're going to have a few of them working with their uh instructors of course flying over our Stadium to uh kick off the kickoff I guess so to speak so we're very excited about that and uh look forward to uh that becoming a new tradition at Franklin High School and that's it for us thank you next time Mary steal that superintendent's report and put it in my report so I'm going to start my report in a somber way I would request everybody to sit with me for a moment of silence because we've lost three Warriors this past month two were retired employees who had served the students of our district Vivian cartrell was a duty Aid at Hillcrest from 1979 to 1985 and Anna strelli who was a substitute cafeteria worker at our schools from 2001 to 2008 and then Elizabeth Avenue school also lost one of their beloved Tigers a young lady in the fourth grade who brought joy and warmth to her school community so please join me in a moment of silence in their memory and in support of their families and friends thank you some upcoming events the Franklin Township Cultural Arts Council is putting on a show Franklin's gotot Talent youth Edition tomorrow Friday October 18th at 7:30 p.m. at the Samson G Smith Campus of Franklin Middle School there are a number of our students participating in the show and we say break a leg to these talented Warriors we are proud of you cheerleaders for a Day Clinic lindsy Grant and Briana Del piano our two cheer coaches will run a cheer clinic for our younger students ages 6 to 13 assisted by our high school cheerleaders the clinic will take place on Friday October 25th from 400 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. the younger children will then cheer with the High School cheer leaders for the first half of the homecoming game and have the opportunity to show their newly learned skills during halftime all the proceeds will go to the FHS cheer team please check the community event section of the website the newly enhanced website for information on these events and other events at the Franklin youth center and around town with that we will again open for comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker on agenda items only can I get a motion please moved by Nancy second seconded by Lori all in favor I okay we're going to open once again comments from the public five minutes per speaker agenda items only seeing no one okay motion to close by Dennis seconded by Sammy all in favor I okay thank you very much and we're on to our committee and leis on reports can I have okay I'm all confused here okay can I have Erica do the communications and public engagement committee as the chair I'm going to do the Safety and Security committee do you want me to do the communications can you do Communications first have a copy of this oh you don't have it open on the okay thank you that's okay I'll okay so the uh Communications and public engagement committee met on October 14th um 20 24 at 6:30 p.m. committee members present myself Aran asencio Dr Dennis Hopkins Mr William grippo board president emman Singh and Mary Clark uh the meeting began again at 6:30 p.m. the committee discussed the following topics a mural unveiling at the Franklin Warrior partnership Health Center which was held on October 9th where murals created by Candice gelly on FHS alumni were celebrated the anticipated opening excuse me of the Zu fall school-based Health Center building in a few months the committee agreed that student fam should play a role in the opening the district has recently created YouTube channels for the video production elective classes at our middle school campuses stay tuned for more information as content by our talented students is created recent safety messages were reviewed with the committee the committee discussed back to school events which occurred earlier this year as well as upcoming events such as the Franklin's Got Talent Show and the cheerleader for a day fundraiser at upcoming Board of Education meetings the board will recognize members of The District's restorative justice training team as well as the Green Team of several schools finally the committee was informed of the success of another FHS Alum khila Johnson who is performing on Broadway in an Juliet the meeting ended at 6:50 p.m. respectfully submitted thank you do you want to just continue and finish the Safety Committee sure so the um the board Safety and Security committee uh met on October 10th at 7:15 p.m. um present was uh Mr grippo myself Mr Jimmy Parker board president emman Singh and uh District St uh Mr Wilson as well as Dr rali items requiring Boe actions the committee reviewed September sub suspension and Hib reports which are on our agenda this evening the committee also reviewed the student safety data system period to report for 2023 2024 school year this report captures student discipline and Hib information for the entire school year September through June you saw this report earlier this evening items for review and discussion Mr Wilson informed the committee that the district provided CPR AED first aid certification classes for for the district on October uh 8th and 9th although it is not mandatory that District staff be certified in CPR AED and first aid the district encourages our staff to receive this training Mr Wilson also informed us that District Personnel are also receiving training on student deescalation and student restraint protocols District District safety officers administrators teachers and support staff can receive this training throughout the year also Dr rali and Mr Wilson reviewed the procedures in place to ensure that our schools are safe spaces for students and staff in light of recent incidents that have been posted on social media about possible School violence across our nation The District in collaboration with the Frankland Township Police Department and other law enforcement agencies take any Potential Threat to our school safety seriously and make every effort to protect the students and staff attending our schools the meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. respectfully submitted thank you um the next one I have is Personnel Walter the Personnel committee met on October 10th at 6:00 p.m. members of the committee where myself is chair Nancy Lor Sammy Shaban araman Singh president of the board Dr John rali Bri banano Colleen de delin the Personnel committee review and or discuss the following items Personnel report October 17 2024 number four Personnel committee review the draft of the personel Personnel report for the upcoming board meeting on October today October 17th appointments include teachers PA professionals food service manager and food service workers in addition there are appointments for fall sports clubs ESL testing transfers and salary revisions uh we had the good of the order and the meeting adjourned at 6:16 p.m. thank you thank you we did not have a curriculum uh committee meeting this month so we'll move on to facilities Nancy the facilities committee met on Tuesday October 15 president were Walter Jackson Lori Maris myself emman Singh John rali Brian banano Stephen freed Mark mcamera and Ryan Ellis we discussed um the facilities use requests that are in the tonight's agenda the energy report um for Claremont solar system and updates on school-based Health Center um the construction of the school B school-based Health Center at on the campus of FMS at HSC is underway site work has begun we anticipate completion early in um 2025 SSP proposal um to identify and prioritize Capital needs Dr Ry Mr banana presented the committee with proposed um from SSP and this is big one FHS cell phone signal booster we were informed by Dr Valley Mr banano that the committee um is about to boost the cell phone signal vaa via a phased planned beginning with the events Lobby region of Franklin High School okay and the committee the meeting adjourned at 623 thank you um strategic plan committee can you read that Sammy since you were part of that sure so meeting was on October 10th virtual meeting uh in attendance for Mr grippo myself Miss emman Singh Dr Val Miss Clark the meeting began at 8:05 uh we reviewed uh the whole strategic plan anybody who's listening or anybody wants to take a gander at it I think it's a really impressive strategic plan and the progress made across almost all Dimensions is also impressive so I would highly encourage anybody to to look at it from top to bottom if we I said this when we first passed it if we pass through all this and accomplish the goals that are on that strategic plan we're going to really put Franklin on yet an even higher tier um so the update is not posted on the website the meeting concluded at 9:10 respectfully submitted thank you um Dennis policy all right the um policy Comm committee met on October 14th U virtually at 6: U p.m. um members that was present myself as chair Erica in censio Jimmy Parker uh adaman sing and Mary Clark the meeting began at 6: pm. the committee reviewed and discussed the revised Title One School parent and family engagement policies for the following schools Claremont element Elizabeth Hill Crest Pine Grove Manor and both campuses of Franklin Middle School these policies are annually reviewed and revised as needed by the individual schools to provide some details on how the schools will provide opportunities for the family engagement and support a partnership between families and schol School in this school year these policy are required for Title One funding the meeting ended at 6:25 p.m. thank you and finally Finance Lori finance committee met Tuesday October 15th at approximately 7:30 p.m. in attendance for uh myself Lori Maris um Mr Walter Jackson Nancy Lort AR Singh uh Dr rali U Brian bonano and Steven freed we reviewed the bills list and the financial reports to include the general warrants the payroll and the Enterprise fund warrants uh Charter School payments our monthly tuition payment um for the previous month was 1.8 million cjcp receiving 1 million $2 36,3 24 hatia $1,855 Thomas Edison $569,900 College achieved Central $3,538 greater Brunswick Charter School $56,950 team academy $1,714 and Princeton Charter School $1,116 our year-to date tuition is 8,824 8815 and our year-to day transportation is $432,500 total therefore year-to date for tuition and transportation is 9,257 668 paid thank you very much respectfully submitted thank you and now we're on to new business Samy yes so under new business we will I move to submit R1 M1 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 facilities use I should read the titles too A8 settlement agreement A9 revised policies second reading and adoption A10 revised regulation adoption A1 revised policies first reading a12 American Education week November 18th through 22nd 2024 a13 national school bus safety week October 21st to 25th A14 education support Personnel recognition a A5 2024 2025 school year calendar revision a16 2024 2025 paa budget revision a17 Kane University affiliation agreement a18 Walden University affiliation agreement a19 memorandum of agreement a20 donations B1 warrants and payrolls B2 Financial reports B3 contract approval B4 change orders B5 rece re seat of bids Food Services ice cream products sounds delicious B6 Awards of bids Food Services more ice cream products B7 receipt of bids recycling of technology equipment B8 Award of bids recycling of technology equipment B9 receipt of bids District waste disposal B10 Award of bids District waste disposal b11 Award of RFP youth development mentorship program FHS B12 facility report B13 tuition contract approvals with the Somerset County vocational and Technical School C1 out of District students 2425 school year C2 field trip destination C3 field trip applications C4 Sudani Foundation Grant I think we did that one uh P1 Personnel report number four dated October 17th 2024 awesome so there is a motion for A1 um A1 R1 M1 8 sorry R1 M1 A2 to a20 B1 to b113 C1 to C3 and P1 correct can I get a second seconded by Nancy Brian roll call please Dr Hopkins yes yes Mr Jackson yes Miss Lort yes Miss Maris yes Mr Shaban yes Miss s yes motions carried thank you and now we are at comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker any topic can I get a motion move moved by Dennis second seconded by Erica all in favor I thank you so it's comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker any topic please come to the podium state your name and address and you can address to the board when done just put your name and your address good evening everyone um my name is Jenny um my son attends McAfee um so just wrote a short Blur by know it's late I don't want to take too much of your time but it's a serious topic so I appreciate your attention so my son was recently a victim to a bullying and intimidation incident where a young boy walked towards him until he was against the wall in the bathroom and proceeded to cut my son's hair after my son asked an innocent question if he was a boy or girl because of his long hair since this incident occurred in the bathroom where there's no cameras the in investigation was found to be inconclusive and to my dismay it was implied that my son did this to himself it is alarming to see a situation where my child is left vulnerable and unsupported in the face of bullying it is disheartening to hear that my child is being held accountable rather than receiving the support and protection he needs trusting School administrators to safeguard our children is essential and incidents like this highlight the importance of proper intervention and support systems in place to address bullying effectively let's reflect on how we can ensure that all children feel safe supported and protected in their learning environments free from fear of being blamed for the actions of others it's crucial to create a culture of empathy accountability and zero tolerance for bullying to foster a safe and inclusive space for every child to thrive age of course is a factor but early intervention will prevent further escalated situations such as these articles I have with me where schools ignored early warning signs with a six-year-old that shot his teacher um here's another article for high school where they avoided warning signs here's a chance to prevent further escalated situations and be the support for my son and also for the child to clearly exhibit psychological issues in your code of conduct policy 5512 page 36 States remedial measures shall be designed to correct the problem Behavior prevent another occurrence of the program of of the problem protect and provide support for the victim of the act and take corrective action for documented problems related to harassment intimidation or bullying in closing as a resolution I believe no no child should have access to scissors in their desk they should be provided to them when they need and collected back there needs to be accountability for the child that did this to my son also wanted to share sorry this is upsetting to read um also wanted to share what my son asked me the other night what is going to happen to the boy that did this to me I don't want that kid to be in school I don't want to talk to the school people they think I'm fire thank you for your time thank you anyone else seeing no further members from the public I move to close public session motion to close by Sammy seconded by Nancy all in favor I thank you um just to address um the board is not uh liable to respond any um student issues so we will um not be answering or responding to the statement that you've made but we've made it as part of the minutes and noted that down thank you and now we're on to good of the order Erica anything um just that uh we are we've wrapped up um Hispanic Heritage Month um I know that there was a lot of um wonderful ways of acknowledging um all of the contributions made by um people of Hispanic and Latin descent um I saw some beautiful pictures of the event at Pine grve um I know that there was um there was a lot shared information about um famous Hispanic Americans um during morning announcements at McAfee and so on and so forth so again just wishing um all all of our community members um of Hispanic descent uh hope you enjoyed your um your National Hispanic Heritage Month that's it for me thanks thank you Lori not much to say but a quick plug for safe Halloween that will be held at Franklin High School on Halloween um this is a wonderful event for you to bring your kids to so hope you all enjoy a happy and healthy Halloween be safe thank you Dennis as we um approaching homecoming week uh is a time for us to uh and alumnist to come back to um celebrate in Safe Way and um Embrace what the district continues to offer so um let's go forward uh with a safe homecoming and those who are I guess the next time we'll meet will be after Halloween so let's be safe out there folks thank you Walter uh once again thank you to the sedani foundation for your gracious donation and I just want to read a quick quote Nancy actually sent it to me this week um something that I actually posted two years ago um your vote is what you want your world to be so just make sure that you all go out and vote and uh continue to be safe thank you thank you Nancy I sent some amazing quotes um I'm gonna I literally was just looking for a quote I was like I'm gonna find a quote too Walter and there's a lot so um um BB King said the beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you Bo you um but to Walter's comment about um making your future what you want to be you have a choice um on Election Day to see your future in so many different ways and make that choice um do your homework um vote your conscience and vote for your future and your children's future that's it thank you thank you thank you Samy yeah sure um so just a a few things so for the Fisk initiative the Franklin food and security and safety Coalition um I know many of you attended but um for those that didn't uh we were recognized at the county level where Mark digon who is the food security expert and advocate for New Jersey state so this is the position that Governor Murphy created to end food insecurity actually went in front of all of our Somerset County Commissioners and recognized the work that we started um and even noted that we are the only town in all of New Jersey to be doing this work so it's really fantastic that it's being um not only recognized and emulated and Derek also told me that in the food bank circles up and down New Jersey from top to bottom they are talking about the work that we were doing at Fisk and so a lot of um a lot of good good news there uh there was a a food insecurity Summit which I think was the first summit to ever have food insecurity as the only reason for it in the entire country that Mark dlon ran and I I went sort of as a as a liaison for our Board of Education um just and again the amount of information I sent a few of the opportunities to Dr rali that uh the connections with ruers and what could be available to us um as a district the the way that we can sort of bring a of this to to late so just wanted to bring that up to you all that the the work continues and that the Partnerships that we've established in so many dimensions whether the health care centers or this battle against food insecurity are really um making moves not just for our ourselves but for for the whole state so thank you thank you and I want to close with something that with you know uh we have a lot of celebrations in October October is also mental health awareness and we all know that there is data coming out that one in five Americans suffer with some form of mental issues so make sure you take care of people around you check in on people and uh I also want to share that next week the board members will be out for New Jersey school board's conference Workshop um great topics if you my fellow board members have not downloaded the app uh sessions begin on Monday at 10:30 a.m. I'm really excited to hear from the keynote speaker who is Marita Chang she's the founder of Robo gals and I'm really excited to see what she has to say and another great topic that really interested me was collaborative leadership best practices for board and superintendent Synergy I think we're a role model for that so I really want to hear what else do they have to say so that really caught my attention so make sure you download the app and attend these sessions and then maybe we can have like a session together to see what sessions we all went to and share that information amongst each other so have a great time everyone and meetings adjourned [Music] all [Music] [Music]