[Music] there we go good evening and welcome to the frankco Township Board of Education meeting today is uh Thursday December 21st 2023 can I get a roll call please
Mr saai Mr grippo here Dr Hopkins here Mr Jackson Miss Maris here Mr Shan here miss Singh
here miss Lort here and Dr Smith here and for the record um Walter sent a text he will be a few minutes late his daughter's got a game that's the most important thing Mike can you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice thank you Mita would you 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 please moved by artman seconded by Mida
favor oppos agenda is now adopted um do we have a student Representative no okay um and now we are on to recognition of the warrior for Life Foundation everybody
okay the warrior for Life Scholarship Foundation was established in March of 2017 by a group of Franklin High School alumni friends family and community members with a simple mission to generate scholarships for students in
the Franklin Township community of Somerset New Jersey that exhibit excellence in the areas of academics Athletics Arts community service social Consciousness and philanthropy according to their website all the warrior forli board members
committee members and volunteers share four things in common they are all Warriors for life they are committed and accountable to the community they know Franklin is home and feel a responsibility for taking care of it as well as a responsibility to pay it
forward to help our students because someone along the way helped them the organization has had a variety of scholarships dedicated to some of those who helped along the way among these are the academic Al Excellence award
honoring Carl and Teresa Wade the Myra a Mitchell Financial need personal tragedy award the historically black college or university award in honor of Malcolm and Barbara Bernard and the Legacy award which was recently given in memory of Bruce medley
each of these Awards supports the ideals of the organization Excellence Community Education and Legacy the warrior for life has a organization has a website where you can volunteer your time or make a monetary
donation they have sponsored some events over the years including formal gathers G Gallas where the awards are presented a casino night an annual GF outing and a series of events in town during I love Franklin week over the years the warrior for Life
Scholarship Foundation has awarded 73 scholarships totaling over $76,000 we are pleased to have the founding members here this evening Darren and Adrian plumber and Nicholas and Rebecca Solomon I would like to ask them to say a few words and then greet
the board to receive their recognition and our appreciation [Applause] you well good evening everyone and thank you uh for having a platform uh to recognize uh the work that our
Scholarship Foundation has done uh but we are standing here as as founders of the Scholarship Foundation but there's people here that volunteered their time joined our committee and they
are alumni they are parents of Franklin um and and certainly can join us so we have uh Mr and Mrs Derek Peters and Keon Peters here and my sister here LESA Arrington and uh so it's great to
to have them here tonight as well uh so thank you I'm going to keep this brief brief but our work is about the kidss our work is about giving back and we want to thank you we want to thank everyone who uh volunteered and supported the school counselors in
Franklin High School and the other schools in Franklin Township that found uh help us find different um applicants for the scholarship we want to thank them all and uh the community of Franklin and and we appreciate everyone
so thank you for this night and anyone else all right oh oh oh um just to take an opportunity to remind that we are a Scholarship Foundation um so so any moment would not be complete without us asking for the
community to continue to support us um I know that every member of the board has supported us in in small and large ways throughout the years um but we appreciate this award obviously but there is no greater W than we can receive than having continued financial
support so that we can continue to to support the um the the young people of the township that we know and love and call home and are raising our kids here as well so thank you all again and any final welome thank you thank [Applause]
you for e [Applause] come on why you not going so thank you to the warrior for Life Foundation bill and I are warriors for life from the second year which is like and I wear my little
pin and I'm so proud to be a warrior for life out of every recognition I've ever gotten I think that was the most important one because it was so homegrown so thank you for that and Walter is the dad of a recipient of
warrior for life so how did it help Tiana so uh yes my oldest daughter Tiana Joy Jackson uh received the warrior for Life Foundation um and I think it
just help um support and reinforce what our district is doing with our with our with our students um the opportunity that you guys gave her to apply and and get it um
she went on to excel at UI I see um last about a week and a half ago she got her Masters so she marched um so it just it's a good staple I mean you guys are really leaving a legacy with Franklin I truly um
appreciate everything that you've done and everything that you will continue to do for these students because it's a beautiful thing um you guys are definitely Warriors for life you guys went through the ranks of this district and these school systems and now you're you're back doing the work but still
giving back as well so I truly appreciate everything that you do as well and I know we do so we will continue to support you like we always have and definitely continue to reach out to us for anything that you may need so any organization that gives as
much to our kids as you do is a is a fantastic organization and how much you guys give back like Walter said to the community is just um really what your conversation's all about so if you're looking for somebody to donate for the
end of the year for the tax deduction orri your for Life Foundation um so thank you Bill did you have something you wanted to say as my co- inductee in your two so it's um it is so heartwarming to see
alumni step up to the degree that some my colleagues here have done in the past and um it's a real inspiration uh to our kids uh our families I've been involved with them
for a few years and um your work is is great fundraising is not easy as you know so we we see you out there you know with the golf outings and with the casino nights or whatever and it's just inspirational so keep it up um I know
I'm committed we're committed as a board to see this kind of work continue this is a real real inspiration because you you were you were in the schools that you're now helping yeah you know my kids were in
the schools that they want to help and and you are an example to them so I just commend you it's all I could say God bless keep up the good work thank you and thank you and now we're on to our
superintendent's report thank you president L court and I thank the warrior for Life Foundation as well um Beyond providing resources to our families and our students especially uh the one of the other things that an
alumni association does is provides a link and a sense of community to those folks who have moved away and not everyone can stay um and some folks move away but having an active uh Alumni Association such as the
warrior for life for school district is vital because it provides that pathway for folks who were forced to move away or have to move away or even choose to move away um that link back to their amam moer uh back to their school district and you folks have successfully
done that and that has paid divid dividends in in more ways than just providing scholarships to students but um it it it models for students and shows them the importance of giving back and staying connected so I want to thank
you for that I think that's uh that's important work as well and I know that's no easy lift so uh thanks to you all um as far as the rest of this report I'm going to keep it very brief uh as we typically do in our December meeting but
and I'm sure not to steal a page from Mrs L court but I'm sure she's going to take an opportunity to thank our outgoing board members and and I would like to do that too so on on behalf of the administration and staff of the Franklin Township Public Schools I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Miss
Desai and Dr Smith for their service to our school district and for their support during their tenure on the Franklin Township Public School Board of Education your guidance and thoughtful contributions to our work over the last several years is much appreciated and I wish you well as
you move forward onto new endeavors also as is tradition the board has asked that I invite you back one last time in January after our reorganization meeting so that our new reorganized board is afforded the opportunity to celebrate
your years of service at the regular Board of Education meeting which once approved at the reorg meeting will be scheduled for January 25th so hopefully you're not going too far away and hopefully you'll be nearby and uh and if that doesn't work we'll get you another
month um so no fear but that is our tradition here that once we reorganize we get our new board members on board um that everybody join in celebrating the work that you did so um if if we can't make that work for January we'll get you
in February or or another meeting soon so please mark your calendars and you'll get a formal invite out of uh either Mr banan's office or from Mrs Clark uh just reminding you as the date draws near winter recess just a reminder after
tomorrow's regular school session all schools will close for winter recess and I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable break we look forward to kicking off the remainder of this the school year with our reopening on January 2nd
2024 and that's it for us thank you um I'm going to start with a moment of silence um or earlier this month we lost one of our young Franklin Warriors who had been ill and was attending an out of
District school so please join me in a moment of silence and support of the students family and friends thank you picking it back up Franklin cheer was recently awarded the opportunity to return to the UCA national competition
in Orlando Florida later this year so they're back again and it's great um SGS HSC players fundraiser and retirement celebration shortly after the New Year there will be a retirement party for Terry CIO who was driving who was the
driving force behind the SGS HSC players for many many years the party will also serve as a fundraiser for the a for the sgsh HSC players Alumni Association which also provides scholarships to Franklin students the party will take
place on Friday January 5th 2023 2024 from 6:00 to 10: p.m. at the little Rocky Hill volunteer fire department in Princeton so you can call the district office 732873 2400 or send an email to Warrior newws at Frankl booe for more
information and we hope that you can attend because she is a phenomenal phenomenal person and right bill um and Project Graduation they're having a used clothing drive on at um SGS at at um
Franklin Middle School on Saturday January 20th from 8:00 to 1 so please drop off your new and gently used clothes uh shoes handbags stuffed animals blankets or curtains to support this great cause more information on this and other events in town can be found on the district website under the
headline or Community event section and the used clothing drive that money goes to for uh Project Graduation which is an event that keeps our kids safe um on graduation day so it's a really important event um I would like to
congratulate my colleague and my friend artman Singh who is now um from New Jersey school boards a master board member so [Applause] congratulations um and like doc said uh
this is the last meeting for Mike and Nisha um they have been incredible board members making a Sy um providing um questions or ideas that in ways that we didn't maybe think of because everybody brings different perspectives um they
they've been incredible board members and I'm really proud of serving on the board with them but more importantly um they've been great community members and they're very active in the community and um and that's a big thing and they're very active in our schools um so we
appreciate that and then they're also they've become we We join the board together and we serve as colleagues but we become friends friends so our friendships will continue long after or long after you leave the board um so I want to say thank you thank you so much
for all that you've done and all of your service and um you will definitely be missed as you wink at me um so that concludes my um president's report and now we are on to comments from the public five minutes per speaker
agenda items only can I get a motion to open public comment so moved move by artman seconded by wal all in favor oppose public comment on any item is now open I'm agenda item
sorry madam president since um no one has stepped up to the mic for the public comment I may make a motion to close the public comment motion to close public comment by Dennis seconded by Sammy Bill all in favor
oppos public comment on agenda items is now closed now we're on to our committee and leaz on reports Nisha you have anything Sammy Fisk that's a leaon yeah that yeah so hello oh there you go yeah so in
terms of uh the work that we're doing at Fisk and we're going to get it are we going to do the the facilities report so we'll we'll talk about it during the facilities report um portion Miss Lort is that right okay yeah and uh
just to to also congratulate Mike and nasid on sort of what they're gonna go on to and thank you so much for being great board members and I know nasid is not going to go very far because she's going to be taking a much bigger role on Fisk which is the Franklin food and security and safety coalition she stepped up I didn't push her there I
pushed her a little bit but um but that that's a huge issue we're going to talk a little bit more about one of the ways that we're going to uh use the facilities to perhaps even further the food and security uh uh initiatives that we're working on but that's all so thank you so
much thank you Bill you have anything I'm sorry Lori I can't even see down anything I was being hidden we're all in a straight line um I just want to congratulate Mike and Nida and thank them for their years on the
board all of the Vibrance that they added to our discussions was very much appreciated fabulous perspectives and I wish you both well thank you thank
you I'm being constantly reminded point of order so we're only looking at committee reports um bill can you give us committee report yeah I mean I have the deepest respect for the work you've done on the board and um it's it's been
a pleasure to work with you and U you wish you the very best as you go on um that's it good health now you want to do this okay I'm going to do the safety report
now Nancy all right so the committee met uh Tuesday December 12th at consisted of myself as chair Lori meis Sammy saon AAL Wilson Dr ravali the committee reviewed the crisis
management emergency quick reference staff manual now the manual is printed on a flip chart and um I know for my days in the school the flip chart hangs in one in the back of the CL classroom so to speak so the
staff has quick reference and substitute teachers have quick reference to the uh emergency manual in case of an emergency the manual has been updated different procedures and it's on the agenda tonight for approval one of the questions I asked
during the meeting was uh is the staff being trained at staff meetings regularly by that I mean September M and January uh the staff should look at the the principal should go over the manual with the with the staff so that they
understand that this is a tool that could be used in case of an emergency that was an important part of the meeting the committee uh we also reviewed the Hib and suspension reports for the month of November and we'll be looking at
additional methods to continue supporting the schools to reinforce positive behavior uh the committee reviewed and discussed a snapshot of the odr data comparison from this year to last year and we
looked at some positive results we also discussed the district emergency School evacuation and student reunification uh tabletop drill uh reunification means how to how to kids find their
parents after their emergency so that's that's something that's always to be discussed finally the committee discussed the in a virtual Forum that took place hosted by McAfee Road School ptso concerning the uh water main
construction project that's due to happen in March and U and May and let's just hope that it's not like boundbrook where they had to close the bridge I hear there's a lot of controversy over that but anyway uh was a good meeting that we had this week
that's it thank you w no Mike curriculum uh we met on December 11th of this year at 6 PM um on a zoom meeting President were myself Mr Jackson
Dr Hopkins president L Court Dr logren and Dr rali we discussed uh a couple proposals for today there was a motion to accept the New Jersey high impact tutoring Grant funds and the amount of $36,000 to be used for virtual tutorials for students in grades three and four
These funds help address accelerated learning goals that the district has prioritized um there's also going to be a motion to accept and submit an amendment for Esa carryover funds these funds address supplemental and professional development learning opportunities for students and staff
there's going to be a motion to approve the book Class Act by Jerry craft as a classroom text for grade 6 Ela students beginning um the 2023 202 for school year this text supports the district District's Equity plan initiatives there's the motion to approve a new
course entitled AP United States history 1 for students in grade nine beginning in September of 2024 this full year course will be the first half of a two-year course sequence and serve as a prerequisite for AP United History 2
which culminates in students taking the up the the AP US History exam there's a motion to approve the following course name change introductions to architecture for students in grade 10 through 12 to architecture beginning in the 2024 2025
school year this change will make it easier for students to identify the course there's a motion to approve the following course name changes to better reflect the focus of the courses computer animation and web design one for students in Grade 9 through 12 to introduction to photoshop 1 and two
beginning in the 2024 2025 school year uh to change computer animation and web design 2 for students in grades 10 through 12 to Advanced Photoshop and gaming beginning uh same year a change in computer animation and web design three for students in grades 11 through
12 to introduction to Warrior television production again that same year change Advanced Warrior television production and Adobe suite programs to computer an animation and web design 4 for students in grade 11 through 12
beginning also again in 2024 20 25 years um and then we discussed a little bit about the Poetry out loud event uh at FHS that happened on December 13th the meeting concluded at 6:19 quick meeting that's all thank you thank
you Denis good evening everybody I have policy the policy committee um in uh we met on December 11 virtually the committee members was my self M Des Dr
Michael Smith Nancy Lor and Mary Clark the meeting open at 7:14 the committee reviewed and discussed the following revised policies policy 2270 religion in the schools has been
revised to include a requirement that the board certified to the doe annually that there is no policy which prevents or otherwise denies participation in a
constitutionally protected prayer in a public elementary and secondary schools as detailed in the guidance on constitutional protection prayer and religious expressions and Elementary and secondary
schools additionally revisions include updates of the terms used in the guidance policies 3161 and 4161 Examination for cause have been
revised and Rewritten to better explain the process which Boards of education and their superintendent must follow when they wish to require a physical or psychiatric examination of a staff
member to determine the staff memb physical or me mental Fitness to perform the position the staff member currently holds the committee also discussed a
clerical error which appeared in the revision to policy 8500 Food Services which was adopted at the November board meeting the error has been corrected and the policy is posted in the
manual online the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. and now I would take the opportunity number one pass off to the Warriors of Life crew out here special folks in the community keep doing what
you doing um love what you're doing um nashida and Mike yes um we have um you guys have um opened your arms
when I came on board and I truly appreciate it um was uh able to uh during that first year Mentor me um um uh on temperament or tone me down a little bit and um and showed me the
ropes of um being a good team member that already existed here on the board I truly appreciate that like uh Nancy said um uh yes uh we are board members but I have established new
friends and I appreciate the time and if DB I'll pick up the phone and ask for some help thank you thank you Sammy yeah it so I'm going to do
facilities now uh before I even get to that um I did want to give a shout out to iated as well uh within Fisk the Franklin food and security and safety Coalition she put I don't know how many hours but I think days to compile uh all of the different ways
that people can get uh food resources within our town so instead of having to worry about going to the food bank and figuring it out or or going to the board of education or the Somerset County we're going to we have a one pager we're just making it prettier it's going to be syndicated hopefully throughout the
schools and throughout the town the elderly centers that nishita was key in terms of bringing all the partners that are part of Fisk um and getting it so that if you're a child and you're hungry here are the resources if you're a parent and you're hungry here are the resources if you're a senior and you're hungry here are the resources and if you'd like to give back here are the
resources so that I think um Nisha deserves a lot of credit for for for doing that so thank you so much Nisha um another thing that came out of our meeting at Fisk which again it's a Fisk is something that came out of the Board of Education where we're partnering with the township but a lot of other partners
we've got the youth center we've got the Franklin Food Bank we've got 70 houses of worship represented we've got representatives from the community everyone is welcome to attend we're going to have our next meeting January 10th at 3M at the senior center but one of the ideas that came out of that last
time was the Franklin food bank is actually running uh short on space as many people know and so when they look around for space the places where there is space are not where the people need it and the places where people need it have no space and so um we were walking
out Dr Val myself and Derek and um the idea came up of perhaps using the property on Pine grve Manor which as some of folks here know has an 80% uh Title One meaning 80% free and reduced lunch and so one of the highest need schools that we have and so there's a
lot of property out front and so one of the things we discussed and we approved in the facility subcommittee was allowing a feasibility study for the food bank to look at that property to put their food bank so effectively the school would work out a contract basically almost nothing and
then the food bank would raise money to do that you'll hear a lot more details but we discussed that in the last meeting we also discussed the middle Bush lease update so the the building that's right here on middle Bush um if we can we're looking to see if the township can buy it and that we can lease it and if we do that we'd be able
to have more access to prek effectively we would have enough resources almost if not completely to have a complete pre program free of charge within our town so if we take a step back I think the facilities portion of what Franklin is
doing besides the the amazing accommodation I mean you're talking about a health center that just opened up just a few weeks ago that gives free health care no no co-pay no nothing for all of our teachers you're talking about another Center coming up on Hill Crest for the kids to get health you're
talking about a prek building that's going to have Universal prek for all of our kids in town and you're talking about potentially having a food bank collocated in our highest need area to allow for food resources for our entire town so when we talk about the Partnerships and helping to cure an
entire town the integral part that the Board of Education can play in that I really feel like a lot of that is happening on this board right now and so we should all be very very proud of that um one other thing that we talked about was the final eligible cost determination letters Mr banano
explained that the district will be awarded Grant funds to assist in paying for HVAC work and we did a transportation audit and we concluded I didn't say who was in attendance I should have so it was myself emman sing Lori Maris drali Mr bonano Mr Steven FR
and Mr Mark McNamara we concluded the meeting at 7 o'clock thank you so much before you go on yeah I just want to clarify one point the uh and and I think you may have just missed it the the the health center Zu fall Health
Center the Student Health Center that'll be constructed not on the Hillcrest campus but it's it's slated to be constructed on the Hamilton Street campus um originally was but we found it couldn't fit in the footprint so now it'll be on the Hamilton Street campus
in the area where Zu fall is currently bringing their mobile van um which was formerly known as the tentis the tennis court so one section of the tennis courts or actually a whole half of the tennis courts closer to Burger
Street yes closer to Burger Street that will be the location of the uh prefabricated building that we'll be going out to bid shortly after the holiday break um that we are in partnership with the township on to
provide the health care to not only students but community members as well through a partner a three-way partnership with the township the board and the Zu fall uh health care provider so we're really
excited about that um I just wanted to make sure because there was some uh space issues on the Hillcrest campus parking issues and so we have since then moved away from that um and uh the middle Bush thing thanks for mentioning
that because that's exciting as well um and a point of clarification the township has that building remember that was a facility we were once in but now we're talking about working with them making some modifications and then utilizing it again as a school for a pre
Center a much needed pre Center our prek numbers um were once around a 100 uh I want to say that's probably and I you know not to be quoted on exact numbers because I'm really going off the top of my head here but we were around a 100
probably in two 215 26 and we're closer to 600 if not over 600 prek 3 and four students um with potential for more uh because we know we have more folks that
would love to access the service we just we don't have the space and nor do the private providers that we're using they don't have the space any longer either um and it private providers have to be within the Township in order to qualify
under the grant program so um we're excited about the opportunity to maybe expand into that school work with the township to make it something prek Savvy and something that's usable by prek students so more to come on that we're
not there yet but we're close and um and and and hopefully when we return from winter break and really dive into this we'll have some more news on that as we exit the winter and head into the spring
thanks and thanks R um Communications and public engagement committee met on December 11th 2023 uh present were myself uh Dr Hopkins Dr Smith Miss Lort and um Mary
Clark the meeting began at 7:30 the committee discussed the grand opening ribbon cutting event of the Franklin Warrior partnership Health Center which occurred on December 5th the health center provid Prov services for employees and their families who received received their medical benefits
through the district the event included tours of the facility and opportunity to meet the staff there the committee discussed local press coverage of the district the committee was informed that the Franklin Township Public Schools mobile app has been released and will be
promoted later in the month to our student families and later in the year to larger community Through the township newsletter a comparison of the website Mass notification and mobile app vendors was shared with the committee as the contract with the existing vendor is due
to expire at the end of the school year a recommendation for services going forward will appear on the agenda for the board's consideration this month the Board of Education will be recognizing Warrior for Life uh Scholarship Foundation at its meeting on December
21st 2023 the current committee members were thanked for their service on this committee this year the meeting ended at 800m I want to jump in on um sami's report um what Sam what Sammy presented tonight
is something that the district set as a goal years ago many years ago and it's called the true Community Education model when you look at all the uh Partnerships that he spoke about it it
all ties around the school system and all of the inter agencies that we depend on the municipal I mean working with the municipality this closely has never happened before uh working with the food bank this closely has never
happened before I mean it's always people always doing good things for the food bank but this kind of planning is actually a milestone in Franklin Township for those of you who've been here a while you know what I'm talking about this is true Community Education
it's the Flint Michigan model of uh Community Ed it's it's called a CER model community ed and recreation and um that's what the that Dr ravali is spearheading uh I have a lot of it in my Council comments in a
little while uh and and um and then the facilities committee and all the Committees now we don't meet as a whole that's why I'm jumping in now because sometimes people leave the meetings so you got to really understand what's happening here in Franklin Township and so thanks Sammy
for your leadership uh and and Thea with the with the food insecurity these are real issues I spent time at the food bank each week this week you couldn't even get your car in the driveway I mean people are lined up tomorrow there's a
food distribution where people can come and just get packages uh it's a real concern so I I congratulate the board of vet I congratulate Dr rali for uh Visionary leadership and I'll talk about that a little bit later also but I want
to get it in in case any of you dare to leave thank you very much glad we could accommodate that bill Lori do you have thank you I have the finance committee report the finance
committee met Tuesday December 19th at 6: p.m. in attendance for myself laori Maris Mrs ardaman Singh Mr Samy Shaban Dr John rali Mr Brian bonano Mr Steven
freed we discussed financials and contracts the committee reviewed the submental bills list for the month of December committee also reviewed the board secretary's report transfer report bank reconciliation and for that prior
month Charter School payments the district paid 1,681 315 in tuition and $18,995 in transportation for the month of December this brings the total Charter
School costs to 11,435 412 for the year to date tuition year to date $1,236 415 Transportation year-to date
$18,995 we also discussed the New Jersey unclaimed property Administration Brian banano and Dr rali discussed the possibility of claiming some funds up to $10,000 from the New Jersey unclaimed property Administration
this is being looked into Financial audit Mr freed discussed the status of the current Financial audit and to expect the audit to be complete sometime in January or February he shared that most of the financial
work is complete but that there was some footnote work that still had to be completed the meeting ended at 6:30 p.m. thank you Lori
bman so the personnel and negotiations committee met on December 13th the meeting began at 6:2 6 p.m. in attendance were myself as chair Walter Jackson Lori Maris Dr John rali Brian banano and Jacki Schneider the personnel
and negotiations committee reviewed and discussed the following items the Personnel report December 21 2023 number 6 the committee reviewed the report which includes appointments of teachers
paraprofessionals custodian vice principal for Franklin Park School vice principal and supervisor of math academic intervention k25 coordinator of enrichment program manager of HR and manager of payroll stiped appointments
that include CST case evaluations literacy leadership team literacy tutorials and site coordinators to name a few affiliation agreement with Columbia University Mrs Schneider reviewed with the committee the affiliation agreement with Columbia University to accept and
support speech language specialist students ftea request letter to enter into collective bargaining Mr banano reviewed with the committee the fte's request letter to enter into collective bargaining we will begin the process when we return from Winter
recess special education substitute bonus program Mr banano reviewed a proposed bonus program for substitute teachers working in special education assignments effective January 2nd 2024 until until the end of the school year
all special education assignments accepted will be paid out an additional $20 a day to the daily rate and $10 for halfday assignments to qualify you must work at least 5 days in a special education classroom this guarantees a
minimum $100 bonus each additional day will add $20 this will be paid out as a lump sum at the end of the school year minority teacher development Grant Mrs Schneider reviewed with the committee details of the minority
teacher development Grant through the N Department of Education the application has been submitted by CJ pride and Garden State Coalition of schools if the grant is awarded the district will be one of three recipients of comprehensive efforts to support the Recruitment and
Retention of diverse Educators provide financial assistance for candidates for certification fees Curr waved and promote the establishment of affinity support groups the meeting ended at 7:05 p.m. thank you thank
you and now we're on to our new business so I would like to make a motion to approve the following R1 monthly reports M1 minutes of board meetings A1 travel and related expense reimbursement A2 affirm harassment
intimidation and bullying decisions A3 student affiliation agreement A4 New Jersey unclaimed property Administration A5 revised policies second reading and adoption A6 revised policies first reading A7 revised
regulation adoption A8 facilities use a and b A9 accept donations A10 New Jersey Home Room submission A1 minority teacher development Grant B1 warrants and payroll B2 Financial reports B3 contract
approval a through L B4 change orders there are none for this month B5 contract renewal Group Medical and prescription drug benefits B6 disposal of equipment B7 Electric Supply for district power B8 regular operating
District construction Grant FEC letters B9 Esa carryover funds Amendment C1 out of District students 202 23 2024 school year C2 field trip destinations C3 field
trip applications C4 New Jersey high impact tutorial Grant hit C5 new classroom text C6 new course C7 course name change P1 salary allocations P2
Personnel report number three dated December 202 December 21 2023 once again R1 M1 1 A1 through A1 B1 through
B9 C1 through C7 P1 and P2 okay motion made by emman seconded by there's no p is there just P there's just P1 have a different okay apologize it's just P1 so moved by emman seconded
by Sammy okay discussion comments concerns Mida Sammy Lori Bill no Walter um Mike Dennis
Goodman roll call Miss um yes to everything abstain from check 11 19475 yes yes yes yes
yes motion carries and now we are on to comments from the public on anything can I get a motion to open public comment so moved move by orderman second to by Sammy all in favor oos welcome Mr
Connell Bill Connell 25 Spring Street how you doing everybody happy holidays um I don't know if this makes me a loser but I was actually watching another Town's Board of Ed meeting and a parent got up and lectured the Board of Ed on what the heath think St should do with
school discipline and what the teachers and the administration should do and it struck me that one word he didn't use and that was parent and you have teachers you have administrators and the Third Leg of the stool is parenting and every once in a while I listen to the
board of ed talk and I feel like they take on too much responsibility without acknowledging that parents are part of the process you're not servants and um that's my belief and more to why I'm here
um uh when I came to the board of ed when when I was uh supporting the middle school plays I would bring the you know a set piece or something like there and it was more than just being silly it was making you part of the process you guys
prove budgets you allow us to use the facilities you know what I mean and I'm was trying to make it part of a group effort okay and over the 16 years I was there I did some amazing things I met some amazing amazing people um people
way more talented than me and uh we did great things and so if you're a parent now you should go out and support your teacher support a group support the Warriors support something be do something because great things can
happen I'm here to tell you because a lot of great things happened to me over the last many years which brings me to you Mr Smith okay you knew was coming right um Mike Smith represents that journey to me and I need to make sure was here tonight um nisha's husband
Nisha and her husband you know were part of that as well um but um when you can take a load of lumber and throw it on a guy's lawn literally take it out throw it and um have it cut for you a couple
hours later and bring it to Samson G Smith All in part of keeping to his schedule that's a good guy um so um as his friend has became my friend and as a board member um I also acknowledged he
really very seriously took um being a board member very seriously and when you read the newspapers about Board of Ed members you know Board of EDS and Board of Ed members going off the rails being a singular event I can tell you personally Mike Smith actually stepped
back and always looked at the situation for what it was he didn't go in with a preconceived notion and um you know even me sometimes I get a little hot okay and he had to put me in my place um and that was all part of the fun and um I respect
the fact that he understood he was just a caretaker and just providing services for the schools and um I think he did a good job I'm proud of you and uh thank you thanks
Bill thank you is there anyone else from the public on anything seeing no so second motion close public comment by Mike seconded by Dennis all in
favor public comment on any topic is now closed after that glowing um uh farewell addressed for Mr con Mike that was a good thing to close on um and now we are on to good of the
order actually no we're not we're now on to um welcoming um our actually let's call it the principal from Franklin Park um because that
is so um Jen Stein who was losing a vice principal and gaining another vice principal hello everyone I am J Stein the principal of Franklin Park and it is Bittersweet to be saying bye
to miss m for the short amount of time we've been together we've done amazing things as a partnership but I'm very fortunate to know that she's going to do a lot more for our entire district with that said she's been my partner in
helping to select who will replace her which is Bittersweet when you have to sit at the table and be on a committee to know that this person is going to take your place but she knows that's her forever home and we are presenting Jessica young as her replacement as
Franklin Park's new vice principal she has been in education for 14 years she has been a guidance counselor so having that background of anti-bullying Specialists RTI being a classroom
teacher where she teaches secl so she has that Danielson background but overall our focus in this district is utilizing restorative practices so that our children are growing and excelling academically but having someone have
that background to know that we want a reduction and odrs and susp pensions because we need them in school and we need them to know that we are here for them and their school is their Community their safe place and we are just very excited for her to be joining our team
and I have to say there's a committee and it's intimidating to come in and know that there's 10 people making sure that you're the right fit and it's nice to say that she was the person that every committee members said yes to so we are very fortunate and excited and
looking forward to your blessing as we move forward into the new school year thank you I guess do you want me to welcome Jess yeah um actually let's call it gab okay let F know what G
is folks know G is lower this a bit before you go Mrs McGee just a Jen did a wonderful job so I certainly don't want to go beyond what she said but I do have to clarify one thing you are yes working for the district still and yes you are now the
new District level math supervisor for elementary schools um and during that transitional period you'll still be helping out as a vice principal a little bit um but uh we we congrat ulate you on your new role as District supervisor of
[Applause] mathematics so I just want to speak quickly good evening members of the Board of Education Dr rali Dr logren Mr Bano my scham colleagues and community members I'm honored and excited to stand
before you today as I accept the position of wait it's pretty long vice principal supervisor of mathematics and academic intervention support K through 5 and the core coordinator of enrichment I'm truly grateful for your trust that you have placed in me and I'm eager to
contribute my skills and passion to further the success of our schools first I'd like to thank my family my husband Charles my son Aiden and my daughter Avery uh who attend my both my students attend Franklin schools their support has motivated me to dream big and take
risks and this was a big risk for me again because I was excited to be with Mrs Stein and working so wonderfully I also like to thank Dr Iris bla for establishing a strong foundation in the K through 5 mathematics in AIS and
enrichment departments Dr bla has shared her knowledge and experience with all of us and with the Franklin Community for the last 16 years I want to wish her good luck in her retirement I want to express my appreciation to the board for this incredible opportunity to lead is a
privilege and I truly know that I am lucky to have that privilege as I look ahead my focus will be on fostering positive and collaborative environment among our dedicated Educators I believe for us to grow we stand at the
intersection of family engagement strong professional development making sure our teachers that are there are enjoying what they're doing and that love comes through to our students and most importantly it's motivating our students to love mathematics when I was an educator for
19 years the first thing I would ask on the first Day School how many of you love math and for the ones who didn't raise their hands I said I'm going to get you by the end of the year and for 19 years I never failed so my goal is to bring that excitement and passion for mathematics into the Elementary
classrooms so as the landscape of learning continues to evolve I'm just super excited to bring together my passions which are family engagement and Mathematics and to be able to grow our district even further thank you so much
[Applause] thank you very much and welcome and I'm excited to see how all that fits on your business card your title and now I would like to welcome the new vice principal of Franklin Park School Jessica
young okay so Dr rali of the board thank you very much for this opportunity and thank you uh for your approval this evening so I just want to thank the board the administrator the interview panel Miss stey for your time effort and support and belief in me uh I would also
like to thank Miss McGee for her time and support and belief in me and wish her well on her new Endeavor uh I am both honor honored and humbled to be appointed as the new vice principal at Franklin Park Elementary School I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work and learn beside Miss Stein I'm anxious
to meet the students staff and families and begin building relationships I will prioritize the Mission Vision and goals of the district and sharing the collective responsibility to ensure Equity within our school Community I look forward to sharing in the success of our students celebrating their
diversity and leading with the belief of setting high expectations for all thank you for the opportunity to grow roots in and serve in this wonderful [Applause] District thank you sorry do you want to
go up check hands shake your hands and now we're on to good of the order Sammy yeah just want to again wish Nashita and Mike best and you always have a home here and we're just very grateful for your years of service it's not easy
being on the board it's a lot of self-sacrifice but you all did it uh and you did it selflessly so thank you so much I want to thank our new vice principal who's busy taking pictures and but best of luck in your endeavors and I really want to thank the Frankin
Warrior Foundation for all that you guys do to inspire a next generation of Warriors and facilitate their Ascension and hopefully I'm imagining that that's going to also come full circle just like you all did so thank you so much for all your uh contributions and have a happy
holiday to everybody and New Year thank you glori well I'd like to wish everybody a happy holiday I've already um thanked nishita and Mike so um congratulations to our newest uh bass supervisor and our
vice principal and again for all that celebrate the holidays in December please enjoy and a happy healthy New Year bill yeah um so December's been a busy
month so let me go through some of the activities uh the ribbon cutting at the medical center on Veronica is an unbelievable feat for this school system and and our municipality so
congratulations Dr ravali your planning team and uh this is a great perk for our staff for their families and from what I hear in the street people are very excited about it so this is great um in December on the 8th I
attended the ribbon cutting at Elizabeth Avenue School for the new inclusive playground it's state of the art you should see it I mean you could uh kids that are limited could do anything and
it's just amazing Dr sofel has done a great job acquiring a grant for this and uh the staff um miss Emily Desai and uh there was another teacher involved I forgot her name right now but um they created this playground and the
parents were out with the kids and the ribbon cutting was just great as you know news12 was in town and did a uh tour of many of our businesses in the Chamber of Commerce and uh all the things that I talk about if you don't
think they belong in a board report let me redirect you business is good for our schools so when we promote our businesses through the chamber we're helping those people who donate to the
warrior for life to the food bank so everything ties in synergistically um the community band uh something that we started when we did the Gazebo never really came to fruition but recently this last week it did and
of course we had the honor of a solo presentation by Mr orille Wilson with his sacri saxophone so he was fantastic thank you Rebecca for using your school for the for the band we do the rehearsals there the band will be performing on the Gazebo and and the
reason I bring it up now is because we have alumni in the B and we had students from our school who sat in with about 15 different musicians it was a phenomenal night I mean I it
was a dream come true McAfee Road School donated to the food bank uh over ,000 this week a couple of kids read a penny drive and uh the pictures came out great my friend Jimmy Lee was there and he was he he he donates a lot to that school
yesterday I attended the road to success cookie and Coco uh Nikki Tatum does a great job with that program I only had one cookie but there it was really a well done event uh this week I attended the
sumerset county Ed Services Commission meeting uh some of our students go there and it's it's a good program and the only thing I want to say about sami's report that I forgot is that the YMCA is also an integral part of inter agency
uh cooperation so the the why because of Dr ravali I've been throwing his name out a lot tonight uh we have a before and after school program there working in connection see this is that Community Education model this has never happened
before and and and then we have second grade kids going for swim lessons in Hillsboro now I'm hoping Franklin Township uh moves a little quicker on getting why built in Franklin I'll talk about that when I'm sworn in on if you
know if I ever get sworn in on January 4th but the why is inal to the health and safety of our families child care and um and and the swim lessons um because some of the child care is just
problematic and and the other thing finally with the preschool thing that Sammy mentioned and Dr rali mentioned as an educator and the principles here tonight miss Stein Rebecca people that
have the elementary experience when you start the child at three years old when they get to kindergarten their social skills academic abilities are sharpened especially if they go through our school
system you plant the the tree right it's going to grow strong so this movement with the preschool is absolutely essential for Franklin Township so that's my Council C comments thank you Walter uh once again I just want to
personally thank NASA and Dr Smith U being on the board as you all know it's a volunteer position but you guys have made it a pleasure to serve on the board with you um every time I go to the Board of a convention in Atlantic City you
just sit and hear what other boards are not doing and the the fighting and the riffing and the disagreement but you guys have made it your your mission and your purpose to allow us to do the work in the district so I truly appreciate
you you will be missed um but I know you will still be close by so once again I want to personally thank you guys I remember when Mike was running with with Ed and I met him at uh he was doing the uh like the coffee yeah the bagel shops
and I met him and um you know I was inspired by him then and of course he got my vote um but truly appreciate the work that you have done on the board um and like I said you guys will be missed um Dr
Ry Orville Dr logran Jackie Mary Brian I appreciate you guys as well um because you allow us to do the work you guys have so much insight and vision that allow us to collectively work together and do the work in our district and everybody can see it to all the teachers
the staff the administration that are here um to the students have a safe and happy holiday um if you haven't reached out to a love one in a while reach out give them a hug and tell them how much you love them
thank you thank you Dennis yes T the season uh we are uh amongst um some great folks some uh out uh outgoing board members that um like I
said before um uh may not be here but be here they will be here in Spirit uh and continue on with the missions um yes we about to um uh the students about
to depart for their um winter um recess and um uh for what bill was saying and with the preschool initiatives and things like that um I I Echo what bill
is saying about um the if the foundation is not strong no matter what you try to build on it it's not not going to be as sturdy that it should be and to the class of 24 it should be about uh
exciting times upcoming in the sense of um uh College acceptance and um um seeing where their next journey is going to take them and um uh I I always um
stand on top of the rooftop and uh try to scream as loud as I can that if folks take advantage of what Franklin offers our students are doing well
wherever Arena they are placed in and um like I said uh we are doing great things here we are doing great things here on the board the superintendent and his staff is um doing great things
spearheading committees and as a collector group like uh my good friend gripple was saying that uh it it takes a village with the kids and and with the adults to make a um comfortable
Society but uh happy holidays be safe um it's time for family thank you Nish oh I'm sorry wait Aran so I'm going to steal uh Mrs Stein's
word it is a Bittersweet day today evening today um I have three special people uh departing it's it's you know it's celebration of the Warrior Foundation two new Vice principls but I
have very three special people leaving us today nishita and Mike and my special friend Jackie Schneider she is retiring um I'm going to miss the conversations as an you know HR person in profession there would be days that I
would you know call Jackie and talk to her about work issues that we would have and you know have suggestions and we would share information about you know Jackie there is this individual at work I'm dealing with help me out here and she would talk about you know of course
you know maintaining the confidentiality but I'm really going to miss you but I wish you luck with your retirement um Brian she her shoes would be very hard to fill I I hope you can find someone just like Jackie to fill
her shoes and nishita and Mike I hope you don't disappear you're still going to be in Franklin and you know we might just knock on your door and come where you know where those teammates we've really had great times together and um
I really get emotional when people leave so it's it's very hard for me to say goodbye and I hope it's a short goodbye just not being on the board but we'll continue to see each other you know every day as parents as friends as you know part of the community at different
events um and I just want to leave everyone with you know I'm sure um darl you'll understand uh Franklin is very big on diversity equity incl uion and belonging and um I follow um Lily Jong
on LinkedIn and I've had the opportunity to listen to some of the interviews and read the books and today's LinkedIn post was very very nice and um Lily jong's LinkedIn post said that um there are
five skills that we all should be prepared to exercise during the holiday season especially if we are seeing our friends our loved ones and family members and those five emotional intelligence skills are active listening
emotional regulation boundary settings establishing norms and practicing compassion and practicing compassion is what was highlighted that the holidays can be stressful for many especially in these days when there is so much strife
and pain and war going on in the world whether or not we're engaging in challenging conversations with our communities don't forget that regardless of your goals this holiday season we are
inherently enough the way we are and make sure we make regular time and space for the interactions that feed nourish and recharge us so happy holidays to everyone and best of luck and we'll see
you all in 2024 thank you Nish I want to start by congratulating you um Miss McGee and Miss Young on your new positions I'm sure you guys going to be great um I had to write something so
I don't start babbling um as my six-year Journey with this incredible team comes to a close I want to express my heart Bel gratitude for the support the dedication and cohesive teamwork um together we worked towards
the common goal of providing excellent education to our community we have now the become the best high school uh for this year and I'm sure we're going to continue on that progress um the what I found to be the
best asset was that this is not just a community that says we'll do stuff we all pull in it is the village that is making us great I have never heard of school trying to give Health Care um
working with the township and bringing food insecurity as a is a issue which is always an issue but nobody talks about it I'm so proud to be a resident of this Township but I'm even more proud that I had a chance to work with each one of
you and I've taken away and I've learned more than College ever taught me uh the equity inclusion diversity the the parts of all of that that I learned is what makes me want to
join Fisk and to do stuff to continue nourishing our young and that is going to help our children succeed um I I can't tell you how grateful I am to have this opportunity
uh to have served alongside each of you dedicated individuals thank you for all the effort and positive impact that um you have helped me U make alongside you um I love each and every committee that
I participated in it was it brought me great joy just to sit and laugh and learn um and I not going far I'm going to be sitting on the first row along with the friend which we're missing today she didn't show up uh but I really
want to thank everybody uh for allowing me a chance to serve our great Township thank [Applause] you Mikey i' I've been cold
Wars all right uh these are some some final thoughts here um I hope they're not too gripo segio esque but uh they may be that's a all right so to the broader Community uh it's been both a privilege and an honor to serve the
people of FR Franklin Township when my family moved from to New Jersey from Ohio to plant um you know to PL family here in Somerset I had no idea how the resulting Roots would goow grow both wide and deep it may be a stereotype that folks from the Midwest are more friendly and care about their Community
more this cannot be further from the truth in a place where people find themselves having all different kinds of economic situations educational backgrounds family histories Cuisines spoken languages places of worship and scientific comprehension it can be hard to feel like one Community Franklin has
shown shown to me that despite any differences we all are all aligned on wanting the best for our kids and community Franklin works not perfectly but it works we are more similar than different and this community is a shining example of how true that is thank you all for this opportunity I
also want to thank Malik and Bill uh Bowman for reporting on the community and showing the folks what Franklin Township Public Schools is all about and the district so nashida and I came onto the board as what seemed like a large shift in leadership and direction under Dr John revali's leadership and his team
the district's Compass was calibrated to point to better stability and better outcomes there's still work to do and I have no doubt better will come while it would be great to get everything right the first time there's a saying from the construction crew parents of the SGS hsse players that we have to do this at
least three times until we get it right that's growth mindset the ability to aim at a goal and work towards it despite setbacks is what will get us there keep the end in mind there have been many people that have been a pleasure to work with including John to Dr Dan Dr sofield
Miss Mary Clark Mr Valencia Mr banano Jackie Schneider uh and Mr Wilson it's been great thank you so to the teachers uh to the staff teachers AIDS coaches and principales some of you are here Dan Nick Rebecca
Darren Jennifer uh Miss Young and and Miss McGee uh you're a significant part of the backbone uh you're a significant part of the backbone and guides for the future for our children in addition to your passion for educ your professionalism in your jobs and
during contract negotiations have really stood out to me your hearts and minds are in the right place for our students I've appreciated your work educating my children and giving them the experiences to help them become the adults that they are to the board both past and present it has been great to work with so many
thoughtful and caring and committed people what I said about the community also applies to this board we are all different but we work and have have done great work for the district this board will continue to move forward when you work together towards common goals so
Lori Sammy Walter Mr grippo Dennis we've all shared hard discussions we've had good conversations about our kids and great times supporting our field hockey and basketball teams you will continue to do great things for this District emman I'm GNA nerd out here a
little bit uh I I always thought Yoda saying uh Size Matters not look at me Judge Me by my size do you from from empire ST Empire Strikes Back with cinematic lip service you're human proof that the only thing that matters is the
size of someone's heart and the size of the fight in the person keep up the good work Miss president speaking of presidents Nancy you are one of the kindest smartest team Builders anyone could encounter your dedication to the students in community of Franklin is without reproach you led
us through good times and as well as the co pandemic I have thoroughly enjoyed our discussions and if it exists did you would clearly win the Nobel Prize for phone conversations Nisha thank you for all the insights on being a science teacher it's
contextualized many of our situations for being on the board you will be both missed on this board and as a teacher I've I've thoroughly enjoyed our time together so thank you Ed's not here but I have to say a couple words about him uh until I met Ed pnik it never occurred
to me to run for public office I've always been someone who likes to make things figure stuff out and try to crack some jokes I remember the first evening we went we met having an adult beverage and connecting over chemistry thank you for asking me to run for the Board of Education it brought me way outside of
my comfort zone and I have grown tremendously because of it there's a couple others to thank Mr Connell and Scott glassen your insights and perspective on issues are always appreciated since that since many times they opposed each other I also want to
want to thank Terry segio watching her execute year after a year to put on the middle school plays has taught me more about leadership than any Harvard Business review article or learn to lead book I also think that's why these thoughts are going on for so long um finally I need to thank my
children Jake and Molly and most of all my wife Laura for putting up with me putting in long hours at work and then more time to the community on the bo I will miss being a part of the Franklin Township Public Schools board of education but I am energized to to be able to focus a bit more time on developing new oncology therapies at my
place of work it's been great everybody thank you I'll have to make a point not to call you anymore um I've already said what I'm gonna say about Mike and Nida and actually it would turn into that phone conversation
that Mike has just spoken about so I'm not going to say any more to you um but we do this as a team and part of the team are you it's our teachers it's our parents it's our all of our staff it's
the board it's Administration um and it's the community and together and and the council because we actually have we're an anomaly I was talking to Mayor Kramer about this was such an anomaly that no other Town works
with their Board of Education and their Library and other organizations within their town so closely to get things done and we do and and that's a lot to be proud of and um as you wrap up a year you want to look back at all the things that you've done in Education though our
year ends in June so it's kind of weird to end it now but we've done a lot in the in just um this past year like calendar year and it's um it's because of everybody together um it's because of
of people like Mike and and or people like Nida people like Mike um who are going to step off the board but be doing things from right there and still helping our community um like the plumbers and the Solomons and you never
go away um so to you guys thank you to Administration um you guys rock you totally are awesome and you're right you do bring those interesting ideas um the conversations the personal convers
ations the the academic conversations are incredible and and the relationships that we've built um and again it all helps us um and helps the community so thank you guys um all of you um to Jackie um so I'm like not happy about
your your retirement um but I know that um you have two little people um three now okay just had just had number n um so you
have your little people that um are depending on you and you're going to do an amazing job with them as you've done with with all of our staff so um good luck and um if you've ever seen a play in Franklin I I was I'm reading the Personnel report I'm reading about um
Terry which um killed me when she retired but also um Tim Walton so for their performances that they've brought Franklin Township um we really appreciate it and we now have a student um Malia Moon who was on Broadway in um
I to play Hell's Kitchen right yeah Hell's Kitchen which is um um going to be incredible so um um our kids do go on and do great things and to
everybody have a very happy holiday um as you said reach out to somebody um let somebody know that you care um say thank you and start the year off with um some good um positive things going on and um
to close out Mike had gotten me this massive um gavel because I always wanted a gavel that I got from otmc so Mikey goad you got the little one sorry our journ us for J
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