##VIDEO ID:f6xAH1yLOO4## [Music] [Music] good evening today is Thursday December 19th we are at 6:33 p.m. Brian can we get roll call please Mr grippo Dr hop pres miss inosencio Mr Jackson pres Miss Lort Miss Maris Mr Parker Mr Shaban Miss sing here and can you also read the open public meetings act 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 Township Franklin Township Clerk manager district schools offices and associations PTO presidents and posted on the district website thank you for the record uh Miss inocencio Miss Lort and Mr Parker will not be at the board meeting tonight so it's just the six of us that you have the the pleasure of seeing tonight um can I get a motion to move into confidential session please moved by Sammy seconded by Dennis all in favor thank you so there is a motion to adjourn to confidential session for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including a pupil Personnel matter minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists we'll be back good evening everyone it's still December 19th Thursday and we're at 7:34 PM we just came back from confidential session minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists can I request Dr Hopkins to lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance so if you're able to please stand and join used Al to the the United States of America to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible jusice thank you and Sammy can you lead us with uh can you state the mission statement Franklin Township Public School Embraces its diversity Fosters excellent educational Innovation and empowers all students students to achieve their Highest Potential thank you can I get a motion to move the agenda with a little um correction on B3 section 7 where the amount should be 21111 moved by Samy seconded by seconded by Bill all in favor thank you the agenda is adopted we don't have a student here to do the student report so we'll move on to our presentation so Mary the floor is yours thank thank you very much good evening tonight we have two students two of our students who recently let us know of their success in the field of stem this fall our first student presented a research paper at the 224 20 24 MIT undergraduate research technology conference or urtc MIT URC is an internationally renowned research conference for undergraduates and by undergraduates their annual conference is themed around incredible breakthroughs in engineering and Technology research made by student researchers at the undergraduate level all over the country this students work was recognized as one of the top five papers submitted to the conference we are proud to say it will be published by IE and esteemed journal in the field to introduce Gia Patel and the staff members who helped to make this opportunity happen I would like to ask Dr logren to come up and say a few words after Miss Patel speaks I would also ask her to greet the board and pose for a photo I'm going to lower the lights a littleit well I think Miss Clark did a such a great introduction there kind of was exactly what I was hoping to say but that was so well done Miss Clark um but actually um so it's rare we get an opportunity to brag a little bit and I think um Gia's accomplishment here is certainly G's I don't want to you know that's an incredible thing that she presented a paper that has this title computation fluid dynamics analysis and modeling of spacex's Starship and Raptor engines wow um so she obviously should be extremely extremely proud of that and she has news that I'm not going to break that I'm hoping she'll share with you about her College uh search but I did also want to take a moment before we hear from Gia to acknowledge sort of the village right it takes a village to raise a child and um we have sort of the important folks in in the village of stem education here with us tonight namely um I've asked Mr Eric seagull if he could just stand up for a minute he's our science supervisor k12 and we have Miss Nubia Allen who's our secondary math supervisor and we also have uh Miss uh Dr excuse me Wendy Bordeaux who's a school counselor at Franklin High School right there there and if I could take a second just to say um it they really came together uh Dr Bordeaux had a conversation with Gia uh wasn't sure if we could you know fig figure out some resources to help with the application to participate in the in the conference she reached out to Mr seel who spoke with me and with Mr banano about it and of course this is a mathematics science paper and we know that our math supervisor has worked so hard to push all of us to push our students so this is really something we're all so proud about so I want to with no further Ado I do want to bring up uh Miss Patel and of course after she goes if any of the other folks feel like saying something that's also fine but Gia if you come on up here we'd love to hear from you um good evening everyone my name is Gia Patel and I'm a senior at the high school this past October I got the chance to um present my research in computational fluid dynamics analysis and modeling of spacex's Starship and Raptor engines at the 2024 MIT undergraduate research technology conference I'd like to thank the department of Science and Math for helping me get this opportunity and I conducted this search this past summer at the prestigious New Jersey Governor's School of Engineering and technology so over four weeks I learned how to use Advanced computational softwares such as solid works and Anis fluid to fully analyze the structure and efficiency of this SpaceX rocket and its engines we then submitted our research to the undergraduate research technology conference and uh were accepted to present at the conference I was able to hear from a bunch of different undergraduate researchers from colleges like Caltech NYU Cornell and MIT and we were competing against 154 other undergraduate research papers and we were honored to have our paper um recognized as one of the top five best papers presented at the [Applause] conference thank you um later this year um the paper will be published by i e which is the largest tech technical Professional Organization for advancing technology for Humanity so I would love to thank Dr Bordeaux Dr seagull and all of you guys who helped me gain this opportunity um through the Governor's School and through attending this conference um and I'd also like to announce that I'm officially committed to the University of Pennsylvania the management and technology program or the Jerome Fisher Scholars Program as of 700 p.m. this day so but I'd really like to thank you guys for everything that you've helped me with through my journey in Franklin Township so thank [Applause] you one more ban right thank you okay okay our next student I'm sorry our next student is Char charville boure an eighth grader at SGS principal Solomon brought shal's story to our attention and we had we have to invited him to share with you tonight charel describes himself as an Avid Reader who has who who has developed a keen interest in the origin of the universe he has been inspired by Dr Steven Hawking and even visited Trinity Hall College in Cambridge where Dr Hawking earned his PhD one day in his at his science lab at at SGS Charo Came Upon a picture of Dr Neil Degrassi Tyson renowned astrophysicist author and director of the Hayden planetarium in New York City after doing some research shvo was drawn to the Simplicity and brevity of Dr Tyson's explanations of physics concept Concepts charel took it upon himself to seek an interview with Dr Tyson who graciously accepted the two spoke for over 30 minutes about con Concepts I think it would be better if charville explained so I would like to ask charville to come up and speak to us briefly about his meeting with Dr [Applause] Tyson you just let me know next slide okay good evening everyone firstly I'd like to thank uh Miss Solomon my principal Miss Clark and Miss Francis my English teacher for making it possible for me to speak here today and I recently met with Dr Neil degrass Tyson one of the most popular astrophysicists I met him at the Museum of Natural History in New York City uh we had a 30 minute long meeting schedule but this actually extended into a 1-h hour long conversation uh and Dr Tyson is simply a genius he Blends imagination with evidence and explains science in really easy to understand words he has uh simplified science for people and my dad has actually simplified life for me in a similar way but can we make this a little more interesting rather than just a dry monologue of what happened in my meeting with Dr tyon so let's suppose I'm meeting with somebody who's new to the United States and I want them to meet me at Time Square so I would say to them can you please meet me at Time Square however is this a good data point to tell someone who's new though no it's not but what if I tell them to meet me at the intersection of 8th and 42nd Street in New York City that's a better data point but it's still not good enough what if I tell them to meet me at the intersection of 8th and 42nd Street in New York City at the 50th floor of the building there that's a better data point but still again not good enough but what if I tell them to meet me at the intersection of 8th and 42nd Street at the 50th floor of the building there in New York City at 11:00 a.m. that's a great data point but what did we just do here we in uh we Define the coordinates of all four dimensions which are length breadth height and time length breadth and height come together to form space and if we add time to this it creates what astrophysical is it's called the SpaceTime fabric now make sure you remember this SpaceTime fabric as I'll come to it in a moment uh so next let's see what happens when matter comes in contact with this space uh SpaceTime fabric so let's say a star plan is coming in contact with the SpaceTime fabric we can see here that it causes it to warp and this warping is actually what causes gravity to happen gravity to happen because it makes smaller and lighter objects move in a circular path around the bigger and heavier one that's causing the warping gravity keeps our universe together however astrophysicists have demonstrated that there's not enough visible matter to account for all of the effects of gravity in the universe so then what must be missing this missing thing is called Dark Matter and that's actually what leads me to my hypothesis which I which I shared with Dr Tyson my hypothesis is that and remember how we talked about the SpaceTime fabric my hypothesis is that if this SpaceTime fabric is referred to as a fabric that can warp expand because we know the universe is expanding and possibly even rip then doesn't it have the properties of matter so shouldn't it contain mass and energy so is this SpaceTime fabric the source of dark matter and dark energy Dr Tyson gave a great explanation for this and said that we have top scientists working on it too he also explained about quantum mechanics being one of the most successful theories there ever was he said that quantum mechanics and like whenever it makes a prediction we should really listen to it one such prediction made by quantum mechanics is that in the vacuum of space where there's no energy energy there should be a fluctuation of energy in a place where there's no energy and I know this might not make sense to you but the universe is under no obligation to make sense to us well that's why it's a frontier of Science and we have top scientists working on it and I discussed many such topics with Dr Tyson including Dark Matter Dark Energy the Big Bang Singularity uh Singularity Dr Stephen Hawkings God religion and much more and he was also really kind and gave me two of his books autographed by him and also gave us vouchers to explore the Museum of Natural History it was a really enriching experience and I got to learn a lot from it lastly I would like to say a oneliner of my own just like Dr Tyson does in uh so the observable universe is 100 billion light years across out of this we have only TR to about one light second of it the farthest man has been to is the moon which is 200,000 M away from Earth and the speed of light is also 200,000 mil per second thus the Moon is one light second away from the earth and that's only the farthest we've been to thank you [Applause] [Music] all right he's a McAfee Road school graduate by the way thank you guys [Applause] so that was incredible I I have a few words when my report comes so hang on a little bit uh we'll move on to our superintendent's report ah but I'm going to get my chance to give my words first absolutely U but before so uh as per recent press release made by the Somerset County prosecutor's office earlier this week a now former District wrestling coach and staff member at Samson G Smith was arrested and charged although we're unable to discuss the specifics of the allegations against this in individual at this time it appears the allegations are not connected with school please take the time to read my letter posted on the district website dated December 18th regarding this matter as far as tonight's presenters on a happier note I want to thank Gia and chville for presenting this evening both of them did an amazing job I think we offer another round of applause to both of you I also want to thank the teachers involved I want to thank the parents I want to thank the entire as Dr logren described at Village that helped prepare not only the presentations but prepared them for the events for moving on to University of Penn for having a great opportunity once in a lifetime opportunity and uh someday folks will probably be writing you asking you for interviews that'd be my guess um yeah that's probably a fact I want you to both know we're very proud and I wish you both continued success uh you truly do give us hope uh you know so often we read about the bad things in this world and and and and and we don't celebrate enough of the good things you two are evidence that there is hope and that the next uh the future of our leaders and the next generation are really prepared to take over and I know there are others like you and I'm really proud that you know we had something to do with you moving on to the next level because you are all going to make your mark and we have others uh in that very same situation as well and I know Maya's here somewhere um and you know Maya too was um a promoter of one of our programs she does well in her own right and uh Maya I will say is probably the reason we have njsia volleyball in our high school right because she did the work to make that happen so the three of you are uh just a representative group of the larger Community within our school district that make us proud and it's the reason that we all the educator ERS here do what we do every day so uh thank you thank you for not only a great great presentation but really uh for being a role model that others really need to emulate um winter break after a full session of classes tomorrow winter break begins school starts up again on Thursday January 2nd um I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a healthy and happy holiday season and that's it from us thank you so on to my report um we'll start with a moment of silence late last month we were notified of the passing of former board member Ava NJ Mrs NJ served the staff and children of Franklin Township Public Schools as a member of the Board of Education from 199 3 until 2014 during that period she held the positions of policy committee chair vice president and president of the Board of Ed she was also active in the Franklin Foundation for ex educational excellence and the township Martin Luther King Day breakfast celebrations as well as the regional and state New Jersey school boards associations we appreciate her service and dedication to the district and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends also this week we learned of the passing of Dorothy Cynthia Barlett and Elementary School teacher in our district for over 30 years Miss bartletts retired in 2002 and had served the children of our district at several schools including Hillcrest Pine grve Manor and McAfee Road school again we remember her and send condolences to her family and friends so please join me in a moment of silence for these two women who served the district well thank you in another news earlier this month sustainable Jersey for schools announced their sustainability hero for the month of December and it was our very own Kira Sikorski Franklin town Public Schools green teams coordinator Miss Sikorski has been a teacher at Franklin Park School for 22 years and is also an alumna of our district her work as the green teams coordinator has greatly contributed to our schools certification by sustainable Jersey for schools as well as grants and other Awards congratulations Miss Sikorski you make us very proud so that calls for a round of applause [Applause] I also want to take this opportunity to thank my fellow board member and vice president of the board Mr Sami Shaban for his service on behalf of the students of Franklin Township we will be recognizing you Samy at our reorg meeting next month but since this is your last official meeting I want to say thank you you have been instrumental in the board current strategic plan as chair of that committee and with the board's work with the township on the FIS committee thank you again for your service and finally for Gia and charville on behalf of the board I want to express our appreciation for the time and effort you dedicated to present today your thoughtful update truly highlight the amazing things happening at Franklin High your professionalism Your Enthusiasm reflect the talent and dedication within our student body please know how much we look forward to and value your contributions thank you for being outstanding representatives of your school and our community keep up the great work we are incredibly proud of you and with that we are on to comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker agenda items only can I get a motion to open for public comment motion to open for public comment okay motion by Lori seconded by Bill all in favor okay public comments is now open if anyone would like to come to the podium agenda items only seeing no one Madam president I move to close the public session okay so Bill and Dennis set it together at the same time so we'll have one say motion to close and put the other one's name a second all in favor okay thank you and we're now on to committee and liazon reports Lori do you have a committee report please can you begin with that I can good evening Tuesday December 17th at 6:38 p.m. the finance committee met uh in attendance for myself laori Maris Mr Walter Jackson Mrs ardaman Singh Dr John ravali Mr Brian banano and Mr Steven freed we went over financials and contracts the committee reviewed the supplemental bills list for the month of December the committee also reviewed the board secretary's report treasurers report and transfer report for the month of November our Charter School payments continue the district paid 1,879 1855 in tuition and $ 24,73011 to 13,42 6,855 for the year to date uh and 12,584 um I apologize 12,584 525 for transportation year-to date uh the meeting ended at 6:50 p.m. thank you Dennis do you have a report I have policy the policy meet um committee met on December 9th 20124 those who was pres was myself Erica Ino uh Dr John revali and aan sing and Mary Clark the committee meeting began at 718 p.m. the committee discussed and revised uh revised discuss a revise to a policy 5112 interest age which speaks to the age and other requirements for admissions to The District programs and the grade levels current language requires that a child be toilet trained before entering the preschool program the current prechool program Grant prohibits the requirement so the language of the policy was revised to say that a child seeking admission to the preschool program should be in the process of toilet training teachers provided Provide support to families as they work with their children through the process since this was the last meeting of the current policy committee members were thanked for their service the meeting ended at 7:28 pm. thank you Bill safety okay we met on December 11th it was myself Erica Jimmy otaman Mr Wilson's Dr ravali and Dr Solomon the committee reviewed the November suspension and the November hip reports and Mr Wilson informed the committee that as a whole the district is on track to significantly reduce the number of incidences of student suspensions and he pointed out a couple reasons why there's such an improvement one is to continue teaching and reteaching of student performance and behavioral expectations through the PBIS framework second training provided to our teachers counselors safety officers and other support staff to address po potential areas of conflict and third the overall resources available to support students who are in need of Social and emotional support a more detailed dive into this data will be presented to the board at its regular scheduled U what they call period one student safety data system and that's usually presented at the end of the year second Mr Wilson also informed the Committee of the ongoing upcoming efforts of the district to revise the student deescalation and student restraint protocols and finally the committee reviewed new student assistant coordinators uh in the new the winter newsletter specific resources that will help students and family and on a personal note I want to thank Mr Wilson for the years that I've served with him on the Safety Committee as he Ventures off into retirement he's been a great resource working tirelessly uh for the safety and wellbeing of our students thank you Mr Wilson thank you Bill Walter can you do facilities please okay one second the uh facilities committee met on December 17th the meeting started at 6:05 p.m. in attendance were myself Lori Maris emman Singh Dr John Valley Mr Brian banano Mr Steven pred Mr Mark mcnamer and Miss Ryan Ellis updates change order s the committee reviewed and discussed two change orders for the zo fall Pro project the change orders will appear on the board's December 19th agenda change ORD Zu fall project change order one covers the cost of sewer application and replenishment of sewer escrow account for the total of $550 to be paid from the permit and testing allowance leaving the balance of $4,450 zua project order two credit of 23, 29344 for storm sewer layout change based on Franklin Township's recommendation the credit is applied to the general cont contractor's allowance increasing the allowance to $4 48,2 19344 zufall project update Dr Valley updated the committee on the zufall project the building is expected to be delivered late January Dr rali update the committee on agreement between Franklin Township and their use of the warrior Health Center the committee agreed to continue the agreement for one year under the current terms facility use the committee discussed the facility use requests that will appear on the board agenda today enery report Mr Brian Ryan Ellis presented the committee with the status of the Claremont solar system the meeting adjourned at 6:38 p.m. thank you and can you also do Personnel please Personnel committee met on December 11 meeting started at 6:09 p.m. in attendance where myself as chair Nancy Lor was not present Sammy Shaban Aran sing board president Dr John rali Brian banano Colleen delin manager of human resource was present as well the Personnel committee reviewed and discussed the following items Personnel report for today number six appointments include school counselor 12th month secretary par professionals substitute custodian substitute nurse substitute food service worker interm supervisor of secondary math and interm School principal extra extracurricular stien appointments included after school clubs tutoring home instruction and musicals leave of absences revisions and transfers were also discussed director of school management position transition Dr valy discussed the transition plan for the director of school management plan minimum wage increase Mr Brian banano discussed the New Jersey minimum wage increase to $15.49 which takes effect on January 1st 2025 intern Franklin High School principal Dr Valley discussed the intern Franklin High School principal transition plan and the good of the order Mr Brian banano and Dr joh R valy discussed confidential Personnel items and the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. thank you any committee leers on report s Adan I was at uh two sua County Ed Services Commission meetings uh to discuss the uh the movement with buses and a number of negotiations with teachers for the county somea county ed services serves the public schools in the county with the you know high-risk uh students and uh so I'm on their board and on their executive board also it's a it's quite an operation over there that's in sub that's in Bridgewater thank you and now we're on to new business great so like to move R1 monthly reports M1 minutes of board meetings A1 travel and related expense reimbursement A2 affirm harassment intimidation and bullying decisions A3 donation A4 settlement agreements a A5 revised policies second reading and adoption A6 revised regulations adoption A7 revised policy first reading A8 facilities use B1 warrants and Parole and payrolls B2 Financial reports B3 contract approval B4 change orders B5 contract renewal Group Medical and prescription drug benefits C1 out of District 2425 school year C two field trip destination C3 field trip applications C4 middle school math course sequencing change C5 new courses C6 course name change C7 Esa Consolidated carryover C8 New Jersey high impact tutoring competitive Grant additional funding C9 application for a Wallace Foundation Grant P1 Employment contract P2 salary allocations P3 Personnel report number 7 dated December 19th 2024 P4 separation agreement thank you so there's a motion to approve R1 M1 A1 through A8 B1 to B5 C1 to C9 P1 to P4 is there any discussion Lori any questions no questions thank you Bill Dennis good Walter Sammy okay Brian roll call please Mr grippo yes Dr Hopkins yes Mr Jackson yes Miss Maris yes Mr Shaban yes Miss s yes motion carries thank you very much so motion carries and with that I would like to welcome Kelly Guerrero as our interim School principal for Franklin High School [Applause] good evening I'm G remove this okay good evening everyone thank you for this Grand opportunity um I have a very brief blur to share they say the grass is an always greener on the other side but I beg to differ the grass is greener where you water it growth requires Care Effort and commitment as I step into this new role I'm excited to continue investing my energy into nurturing the continued growth and success of Franklin High School together we can cultivate an environment where everyone thrives I want to give a special thank you to the board to cabinet members to Dr Solomon who has continuously challenged me every step of the way to to my family for supporting me every step of the way as well my father my mom who still guides me even though she's not pres physically present anymore and I promise you I would not let you down thank you [Applause] everyone well Mrs Guerrero M Guerrero sorry thank you for the correction I I just want to say we're incredibly proud of you as well you only joined us a couple years ago and uh you have grown tremendously in the last couple of years I think Dr Solomon would attest to that and uh it's because of your commitment and your dedication to not only yourself but the school and the district and more importantly the students of the district that we're happy to support you and I don't want to say give you because you've earned it um this op opportunity to really step into some really big shoes and continue to keep the ship a float and heading in the right direction as we seek a permanent solution for uh what has now become the vacancy since Dr Solomon has moved into Mr Wilson's role as Mr Wilson departs so um all the luck in the world you know that we're going to continue to support you and um I know that this probably is you know about a 12 couple month opportunity but I know there'll be other opportunities in the future and I hope they're here because I think you have a very bright future you're a strong leader and you are going to make a difference not only in this short period of time but you're going to make a difference wherever you go for a longer period of time so um and hopefully that's here so congratulations and with that I would like to ask for a motion to open for comments from the public five minutes per speaker any topic moved by Dennis seconded by Bill all in favor I okay comments from the public are open please come to the podium stay your name and address and you can make your comments if you're a minor you don't have to State your address good evening good even my name is Chloe Alexander Jackson I am a senior at Franklin High School and this past June I became an Arts Ed New Jersey student Advocate representing the arts program at Franklin High School through this program I have had the opportunity to work closely with 22 other student Advocates where we share our experiences and insight on the art programs our respective School our most recent project was to take a look into our own schools and find issues and things that need to be worked on in the arts program and bring them to the board of education so I did just that I took a look at the 65 different art classes available to all students at the high school the numerous opportunities Franklin allows art students to have the supportive Board of educ ation and superintendence that support our art programs and provide us with the resources to be great yeah that's a whole lot of issues I thought to myself as I laughed out loud so instead of bringing up issues today me along with miss delera my dance teacher and on behalf of those who unfortunately couldn't make it today we want to give a special thank you to you all the arts program at FHS are thriving because of the resources opportunities and support you guys provide to us on a yearly basis so to close out the 2024 year the 65 art classes along with the entire art program want to thank you and can't wait for the 2025 year and years to come thank [Applause] you good evening everyone good evening uh my name is Lindsay de Sarah I am one of the dance teachers at the high school and I'm simply going to Echo Khloe sentiments we want to thank you tonight um just in the past month I was reflecting on a student like Khloe and what she has participated in um and if you'll bear with me she performed in the fall play uh in mid November she attended the ruter college Dance Experience field trip she choreographed and performed in our student dance concert our Winter concert um along with Chloe the other choir students they toured the elementary schools and sung uh for their magicals tour they had their winter choir concert they auditioned for the spring musical Cinderella and attended a field trip with our media aspects program all while trying to balance Sports home lives and academics um so I am just so blessed I was encouraging them to think about their busy schedules to be very blessed and grateful that they have all of these opportunities and we just wanted to thank you for your support and wish you a very happy holiday thank [Applause] you thank you hello is it still on okay uh I'm Wendy Ria I am a co-president at Franklin High School for the ptso and carrying the torch for Nick for the president Council uh representing the parent groups of the district so excited about that um this is Deb co-president I think you guys know us but we just wanted to say um thank you to Dr Soloman because yes that's definitely we know that we've tortured you a little bit you have been outstanding um executive Warriors Club um all the things you do helping us make coffee uh all of these things that you do for us and for the children we really appreciate it we want to say thank you uh Miss Guerrera welcome you guys are probably to the best dress at the high school so I'm like thinking that this is going to be an easy transition um but we just wanted to say thank you so much uh we really appreciate you we're going to miss you you did say you were not going too far um so thank you so much Deb I know I dragged you up here sorry no that's okay I'm glad that we did um as Wendy mentioned my name is z prello president of the um Franklin High School um ptso I'm going to try not to do the tier thing um and I wrote a couple things down which I'm not going to follow and read but um as gwendy said we just want to say thank you we've had the privilege of working working alongside with you in a volunteer capacity you've listened to our gripes our bitching like all of the things that you know most principles probably wouldn't have had the patience for because you know first and foremost we're not just co-presidents we're parents um we're volunteers and we've seen you work tirelessly um to ensure that our children are safe and happy and have felt seen um like Wendy said the leadership committees in all the different ways um that you've even called students out in the hallway by their name corrected them when they're wrong when you hear a student cursing in the hallway when she shouldn't have been I don't know where she would have gotten that from um with that being said we're really excited that Miss Guerrera will be serving as the interim she's got big shoes to fill um we're confident that you'll do a good job because I see how she is with the senior class um with that being said um I do have a rising senior I'm sorry a graduating senior in two um Rising ninth graders so we just take this opportunity not only to say thank you and we're going to miss you and we're grateful that you're here um but we humbly ask the board just moving forward to consider any you know applicants um one of the big things that provide security and safety for our children is the idea of continuity um the stability the knowing that there's going to be a principle that's going to be there for the Long Haul we've been blessed to have Dr Solomon for almost four years and I think that's been part of the success we just want to make sure that whoever is chosen for the job is somebody that you know will know the children by name will you know care to listen to parents will treat everyone will understand the culture and the unique creative beauty that is Franklin our diversity everything that we have to offer and they will continue to move that forward um and that they will stay with us that they're not just kind of coming into the high school as a stepping stone to go somewhere else because that creates insecurity and we do a good job at home trying to keep our children secure so we want the um next principal to make sure that they can do that that they're committed to the long-term Endeavor um so so that these children can move forward into life off of a really strong foundation so with that said we're going to really miss you we got hug thank anyone else would like to address the board seeing no one else to speak from the public I move to close the public session okay motion to close by Bill seconded by Sammy all in favor okay so we're almost to the end bear with us couple more minutes and now we're on to the last part of the meeting where we are at good of the order and I will start from my left Dennis you have anything for good of the order oh yes I do um test the season number one um tomorrow will be our last uh um day before we go into winter session so you know time to reflect on the beginning of the school year um give yourself a nice little holiday treat and reboot so you could uh finish up strong um it's um I was proud just to watch all the uh the two students and our intern principal uh step up and um hearing all the accolades with Khloe and the dance uh folks I I I guess since I've been on the board one one one thing that has that gravitated me to become a board member is just to get the message out that um month after month I always say that the U resources that Franklin um district has to offer sometime it's not spoken loud enough and the um and with the resources and then with the teachers and the um uh parents coming together building a village and just to hear these wonderful students um um Shine from the resources that we have in the district it's just I can't say enough you know yeah after year we have um our seniors going to uh great places um VI of college trade military um and I'm glad just to have moments like this so we could speak loud and shine overal my man um wow your last board meeting and um uh you will be missed like I said you have um uh when I came on board you you help guide me with the safety um committee and um you will be missed and um I know that uh I may be missing something but uh I'mma pass the mic but you know everybody be safe let's have a great holiday season and uh the class of 25 we waiting for for you orell why don't we have you stand up so we can give you a round of [Laughter] applause just so you know I clap prot Lori I want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and I want to especially wish Miss Guerrero all the best uh in the upcoming school year you have our complete confidence and remember we're all here to support you should you need anything at all and I want to thank our students I was truly inspired by both of your um speeches the information that you shared was truly spectacular and I just want you to know how proud We Are of you so thank you for sharing that and thank you Khloe for coming to talk to us about the arts program we really um take a great deal of joy in all of the Arts that are presented to us as um members of Franklin Township we have the the benefit of being able to see the fruits of your labors and um we just want to thank you as well for all of those efforts so happy holidays to all thank you Walter just a few things um once again thank you to the absolutely amazing students that we have in Franklin um one thing I like about Franklin is we give our our students an opportunity to utilize their voice hence us having a volleyball team and um just many different things because we we see them and as you can see tonight we have some very absolutely amazing talented students I'm glad I got pictures with them so when they blow up remember me I was a board member back in 2024 um but kudos to you guys continue to do the work continue to be um inspiration for your other fellow students because I know you guys are truly doing that um so continue to keep up the great work um Sammy thank you for your service on the board you will truly truly truly truly be missed um a lot of folks really think this is a an easy spot behind this desk but it it truly involves a lot of work and dedication so once again thank you for your service and um I know you won't be too far but I appreciate um you doing what you do and uh being a service to our district orvo you will truly truly truly be missed if you guys stick around he's going to play I did it Orville's way on the way out um it I'm excited for your next Journey um enjoy it um relax recoup um but once again thank you for your many service many years of service to our to our district um Dr Solomon I know you uh have a good Mentor I know you're ready and and excited about the opportunity that's um in front of you so we're once again here to continue to support you miss Guerrera uh congratulations again um for stepping up and um being filling in that Gap when we needed you to and um as always I have a quote when you choose Joy you feel good and when you feel good you do good and when you do good it reminds others of what Joy feels like and it just might Inspire them to do the same Franklin Township is an absolutely joyful district and I'm so glad to be a part of it happy holidays to my fellow board members the cabinet members and everybody who's watching and listening and be safe and enjoy your holiday season thank [Applause] you Mr grippo you have 30 seconds so I'm going to uh keep my remarks to avash uh the board president made a nice presentation about AA you mentioned the arts program Chloe the champion of the arts program in Franklin Township Public Schools was Avage for those of you who were here she was a Pioneer for what we have at Franklin High School now with Betty and Jim demonic Tim and right into generational she fought for all of this stuff the music programs uh you know I go back with her to the early 80s when she said to me like you did Lori how do you start know I said get on the PTO it would run for the board and uh she ran for the board and took took a prominent Road in leadership now in leadership students you are not always popular and once in a while AA rubbed sticks together but she did things for this District that today today we benefit Franklin Park School Franklin High School the renovation the the the renovation of of the district she hired and worked through four superintendents I did nine but she did four and one of them sitting up here um on January 4th there will be a Community Memorial I don't know how that's being advertised it's at the somerset Presbyterian Church I don't know you may see it on Facebook but I know that on January 20th we're having our annual ml breakfast this year will be very big uh Bonnie Watson Coleman is the speaker it's at the Double Tree uh it's also inauguration day but we decided to have the breakfast and uh we're going to celebrate the legacy of M so what does that have to do with Avage she founded the breakfast 20 something years ago 25 26 years ago at at the middle school the Hamilton Street Middle School was the high school and at that breakfast would be superintendent Frank Pepe a co-founder of the breakfast and Sheriff former Sheriff uh former Chief of Police Dan levac and the three of them really pioneered that breakfast which has raised thousands and thousands of dollars for you guys for scholarships so I like to put things in perspective that she truly was a Franklin warrior hero truly was so that um I could say that because I witnessed it I did events with that lady that I I can't even go over she didn't always like what I did but yeah that's what you going to do but we had a great time we got a lot done so God bless her and you guys have a great and you students are Chloe every time you are on that stage I remember avaj standing in that Auditorium when they had no seats in it nothing the place was a shell and she's telling people what color curtains what color thing superintendent used to say oh my God that's what I'm supposed to do she would just take over me to was just an amazing person and I stood there with my daughter Mariah once and I said someday you'll be on that stage she was in elementary school whatever it was the pace of the leader is the pace of the group that's my quote Walter the pace of the leader is the pace of the group we're fortunate in Franklin we have a superintendent who's a great leader and uh I'm very thankful for for avash thank you [Applause] Sammy you have the floor now great yeah I just want to reiterate a lot of the stuff that's been said props to my neighbors ju give him one more round of applause I mean the contributions that that you guys have made great job Gia um with your presentation and then also getting it to pen nice ivy league university and then Maya that was really great I mean you a legacy with volleyball now right you can always look back and say that you had your your fingerprints on on Franklin young man I mean uh it's not often that we have a student come here and like teach us something like we actually learned something from you I was sitting attentively not only because of your ability to uh understand the science but to explain it in a very simple way much like you were saying the gentleman at the Museum had done that I think you uh you're also an example of of that so congratulations and great job Dr Solomon I know you're going to fill these great shoes you started doing it already and I know the sadness of leaving the high school but you're now doing a district-wide responsibility and we're really you know happy Mr Wilson uh nobody will be able to adequately ever fill your shoes just yet I know Dr Solomon will grow into that but it'll probably take a long time you grew in so many ways and did so much for our district that probably most people here don't even understand all the different facets you were covering for the district so thank you so much from the bottom of my heart and from all you've taught me personally and what you've done for our district Miss Guerrero you're going to do amazing as our intern principal and holding it down so we're really looking forward to your awesome leadership you know thank you so much and you know as my final board uh meeting I'm just very grateful to my fellow board members I see what other towns look like and how they sort of handle um a lot of these things in our board is nothing like that our board is very cohesive and we get a lot of stuff done because of that the three years that I've been on I feel really proud of the work that we've done we have a banner behind us that we're one of the best high schools and a designation that I think was one of the first in our history we opened up a medical center for our teachers we had one of the highest raises in teacher salary in our history I think like eight and a half percent super proud of that we have a medical center coming for our students in the coming months um we've done a lot to do uh work in terms of equity with more of our students of color taking advanced placement classes more than they ever have and being elevated to to so many um distinctions so really proud of a lot of the work that we've been able to accomplish as a board sad to go but I'm sure you guys will keep going I think Nick is here I'm sure he's going to do a fantastic job he brings a lot of passion and and drive to this so really looking forward to to that uh work and Dr rali is an amazing superintendent so round of applause for him my my only leaving request is that the work that we started with Fisk the food and security and safety Coalition where the board of education has been a huge part of um doing that work and Fisk has a very simple Mission To End Food insecurity in Franklin permanently and so the district is a part of that and we are making huge moves I would only request that somebody um take on that mantle on the board of education and keep moving that forward for our district and keep moving it forward for our entire town thank you so much [Applause] all okay my turn so first of all I want to give a message from Nancy who's not here today because of her knee surgery she wanted to wish everyone uh merry Christmas and happy holidays and then she was talking to me we were talking about aaaj Bill and she said AA used to say one thing when she used to go to the board meetings and she used to say to all the women on the board Lori that's very interesting that always have your lipstick on because you never know where you go where you are and I know that we don't have as board members we have no decision-making power when we step out from here but the community sees us as a board person so we should always be prepared for that that was very interesting so she's like you can share that story from the platform uh but I want to begin by saying you know start with the same thing Miss Guerrero we're very excited to have you take on this role Mr Solomon I should say Dr Solomon Dr Solomon very excited that you'll be filling the shoes of your mentor and I'm sure he's prepared you well and you know we know that the Solomon family always does great things in Franklin so you know we're we're there with you all along the way and to my dear students my own children have come through Franklin and I am so proud of you my head goes even higher when I see you present and see you talk it it just fills me with so much pleasure you know Khloe Gia Maya I've seen you grow in front of my eyes it's it's just an incredible feeling so I want to end with saying that as the year draws to a close I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation to our staff and administration for your dedication leadership and unwavering commitment to our schools and students your efforts have made a profound impact on our community and we are truly grateful for your service and I write this down because I don't want to make a mistake when I'm saying things out verbally wishing you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season filled with peace happiness and well-deserved rest May the New Year bring continued success good health and opportunities to make a positive difference to my POS uh to my fellow board members it's been an incredible year serving as your president and as your voice from this platform I am humbled for this opportunity you gave me and the trust you gave me in 2024 I want to share a quote from a keynote speaker friend that you are somebody you matter and you are enough it rang true to its words this year for me going forward into 2025 I welcome Nick demeglio on the board and I'm sad to see Sammy leave but you're all here as members of our community I want to follow this quote in 2025 the boldest adventure is a journey inward where The Whispers of the heart become the Roar of transformation I am onto my inward Journey roaring to continue to do the right thing with the right intentions for our students our staff our Community see you all on Tuesday January 7th for our reorg meeting and our 2024 meeting is now adjourned [Applause] [Music] [Music]