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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=5D2FGYN7cQs

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What are we starting with? >> Good evening everyone. I'm calling to order the regularly scheduled meeting of the Galloway Township Board of Education for this evening, June 8th, 2026. In accordance with public law 1975,

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section 231, the Open Public Meetings Act, both adequate and electronic notice of this meeting were provided to the public through the press, the Galloway Township Municipal Complex, and the district website on January 8, 2026. Could I have a roll call, please?

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Mrs. Chester here. >> Dr. Permentor. >> Miss Laia. Mrs. Avery. >> Mrs. Hermanel. Mrs. Hank >> here. >> Mr. D >> here. >> Dr. Basher Blau >> here. >> And Mr. Gentiel

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>> here. If everyone could rise for the flag salute led by Dr. Basher Blau. Could I have a motion to approve the uh minutes from the regular meeting held on April 13, 2026? >> So moved. >> Second.

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>> Anyone? >> Second. >> All in favor? I. >> Any uh abstensions? >> Any opposed? Motion carries. presentations, please. >> Thank you very much. At this time, I'm going to transition down to the uh floor. As we can see, there are a lot of

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student presentations, so bear with us tonight. Um and and we're going to get set up. So, if you can just give us a minute or two to get organized. Thank you. All right, at this time will Miss Fernandez and Miss Trippin please join me down here. Our science fair advisors,

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we're going to be starting with the 2026 Jersey Shore Science Fair winners. So, if you're a Science Fair winner, get ready because you'll be joining us down here in a minute. But I would like um both Miss Fernandez and Miss Trippition to just give us a little bit of background on what went into this um

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science fair and how hard the kids worked. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe they brought their their science fair um uh displays as well, right? Are they here? >> They are. Excellent. Outside. All right. Awesome. You want to go first? All right. >> Hi everyone. It's uh us again, Science

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Fair Crew, and uh again had a great a successful year at Jersey Shore. I took a group of I believe 17 kids to Jersey Shore. Uh many got uh recognitions whether by honorable mention or first, second, third place. We have uh two students tonight who went on to Delore Valley uh that placed first place in

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behavioral science at Jersey Shore and first place in zoologology at Jersey Shore as well. So they had the ability or the privilege rather of going on the Delaware Valley where it is much more competitive but they did a great job standing out in their fields. Did a great job on their boards a lot of great research and really proud of how far how how well they did and how far they've

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come since we started the club. What September October we start seems like all year but they do a great job when it comes time for competition. Our Smithville Science Fair is open to any sixth grade student who wants to participate. We do a science fair at Smithville school for all of our sixth

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graders. I think we had 37 kids this year that completed science fair projects and our teachers were awesome judges and we selected I believe eight students to go to Stockton with us and it's a huge honor for them because they

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are the youngest ones participating in the Jersey Shore Science Fair and they did a wonderful job. We had four winners at Jersey Shore and one of our students went on to Delaware Valley and won a prize there. He won a $100 special award

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from uh science society in Philadelphia, which was great. He's not here. >> All right. Lucas Delisandress, he won first place in microbiology. Lucy Bayerman. She won third place for

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her project. Does the amount of preservatives in bread affect how fast mold grows? Come on down, Lucy. Graham Miller won honorable mention at the science fair for which popsicle stick structure can support the most

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weight. Come on down, Graham. and Declan Stamalos, he's not here today, but he won honorable mention for uh his project. Do tomato seeds that spent time in space grow differently from conventional tomatoes? >> Thank you.

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Okay, for uh Gway Township Middle School participants, uh we have uh getting first place in behavioral and social science at Jersey Shore Science Fair with a project titled Ready, Set, Go, The Effect of Predictive Q1 Reaction Time. love. I come up

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uh getting first place at Jersey Shore in the category of zoology uh with a title project of phto versus fluffy comparing how quickly cats and dogs respond to rewards is Michael Denise. And although she couldn't be here tonight is Mari Pagota got second place

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in zoology with a her project with her guinea pig, the amazing race. Will Brownie find his way? It was a good one. Congratulations. Great job. All right. And as many of you are aware, right here in Galloway, we host the LPGA

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and that's sponsored by Shopright. Uh we also every year have participated in the ShopRight LPGA ticket design contest. Um is Mr. Clangelo here? >> No, Mr. Bardis. >> Okay, Mr. Bardis is filling in. Come on down, Mr. Bardis.

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Mr. Mr. Bardis, principal of Arthur Ran. Mr. Cleangelo also our teacher uh is is highly involved in this process. He's the one that has brought it to our attention and and has gotten the kids to participate. Um but I I don't think he was able to join us tonight, but I wanted to make sure we gave him a shout

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out. But Mr. Bardis, why don't you uh go over our winners here for us? All right, we have uh two winners from Arthur Ran were recognized uh last Friday. Uh the gift bag was pretty awesome. Um they won uh a a gift

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certificate award, a a a um iPad, all kinds of uh swag. So they got they got definitely recognized. Pretty awesome. Uh first is Jordan Ireland. Come on down. >> I don't know. I think she's here.

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>> Oh, is she? >> I think she might be. >> And our second recipient is Amelia Majid. >> I didn't think she was coming. I wasn't sure though. >> Okay. All right. So, now we have quite a few

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students to recognize here for the 2026 All South Jersey Elementary Honors Band. You can see we have representatives from Arthur Ran, Roland Rogers, Smithville. I know Miss Cunningham couldn't be here tonight, so Mr. Bardis will be pinch hitting for her. Mr. Daly, are you here?

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I didn't see you. Come on down, Mr. Daly. and Miss Drega, come on down. All right. So, uh, everybody will be, uh, representing, uh, their schools and also, uh, we'll give a little background to, you know, all South Jersey. I know a lot of work and

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practice goes into this, so the two of you can speak a little bit to that. I don't want to put Mr. Bardis on the spot with that. Um, >> yes. So, why don't you give a little background in terms of how much work the students put into this and then we're going to have them come down. Okay.

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Uh yeah. So every year uh SJ Bodha um G uh gives the opportunity for uh our students to participate in the elementary honors band. And so uh us as directors nominate them and then through a committee um the SJ Bodha team they choose a select number of students from

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each school in South Jersey that participates. I believe there is around 60 schools in all of South Jersey that participates. So, it's a pretty big event and um these students uh practice from about mid-Marchch to May on their materials with us and um you know

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they're not easy materials as their honors band. Um so they work really really hard and then there's one day that they go into uh typically Absigami High School. We rehearse all day and then they have a performance um later that uh afternoon and they just work really hard and it's usually it comes

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together amazingly. So um let's give a round of applause for all of them because they work really hard. All right. Our first recipient for the trumpet is Abby Berseron. Next on the alto saxophone, Jordan

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Ireland, come on back down >> for the trumpet. Annabella Mano, come on down. for clarinet. Elelliana Natal, come on down. And for the flute, Parker Reynolds, come on down.

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All right, for Smithville, I know she wasn't able to make it tonight, but Colobby Crick on flute. All right, next up is Henry Feifer Herbert on alto saxophone. Um, we also had Jacob Murphy on trombone and finally Jason Smith on trumpet.

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>> And from Merlin Rogers, we have Matteo Ortiz on trombone. Gabriella Gabriella Koreah on clarinet who's also not here. Mattaline Elellman on clarinet who could also not make it. Roman Mrangelo on saxophone

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and Olivia Hudterwitz on flute. Everybody is Congrats. Next up, we're going to switch gears to the middle school, GTMS, all South Jersey High Honors. Uh, at this time, Mr. Schugarts, if you can come down and

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join us. Now, >> I know this is similar to elementary honors, but you want to give a little bit more background, feel free. Hello, I'm Mr. Schugart, band director here at the middle school. So, for the junior high honors band, um, a couple

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hundred students audition for a handful of spots and we had quite a few number of students make it, um, for the junior high honors band. So, here is uh Gigi Campbell. She could not be here

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tonight. Parker De Caesar, Chase Hammond, and Preston Hammond. Erica Resorowski and David Wiggins. We'll get a picture here. Awesome. Congratulations. Thank you, Dr. Brides,

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for assisting. >> Uh, I think we're transitioning. All right. Now to All South Jersey Elementary Chorus. So, first up, Roland Rogers. Mr. Little will join us. give us a little background in regards to the

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hard work that the students put into this program. >> Sure thing. So, similar to the All South Jersey band, um they put on a program that is separate from what they do in our schools here. Um and with All South Jersey Elementary, it is um open to

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fourth through sixth grade um students. And usually for Roland Rogers, we leave that as a sixth grade um thing. And we nominate similarly as the way the band goes. um they meet with about 200 other students from all over South Jersey region at Washington Township High School in Sul, New Jersey. This year was

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on February 28th. The way that it falls, it's usually the first Monday of March, uh the first Saturday of March. Um but February was what they chose. So the students usually get the music in January, so they had about two months. And with Roland Rogers this year, we had

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um a little less time for me to prepare with them. So I'm super super proud of them um for really working on their own. Um, we had three of our members from the chorus uh, be able to do it this year. Um, this year the theme was lights and so there was a really cool light show as

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well. If you were at the Roland Rogers uh, concert last week, we had done a song from um, that program which was really, really, really cool. Um, so without any further ado, um, we have one of our three students here tonight. So

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I'll read the two who unfortunately couldn't make it with us. Uh Gianna Mcan and Christian Larson. Give a hand for them. And they both sang treble 2 and uh treble one. Cali Kuroy. She took it all on by herself to do this. Working just

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by herself from our school. Well, well done. Come on down. All right, at this time we're going to transition from fine and performing arts to athletics. So, congratulations to the GTMS softball team 2026

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Atlantic Cape High League champions. So at this time, Miss Van Austin Bridge and also Mr. Jorgensson and Dr. Brides will be joining me down here. So why don't you tell us a little bit about the season? Rumor has it I think

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they're undefeated if I'm not mistaken. So that's great news. Um but why don't you give us a little bit about the highlights this year? Good evening. Um, the girls put in a ton of teamwork, dedication, uh, throughout the season and through

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all that they did go undefeated and win their league championship, which is not the first one. They actually won last year's two. So, the eighth grades are back-to-back championships. They put in a lot of commitment. I just want to wish the eighth graders also on their next chapter in high school. And

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again, congratulations to all the girls for an incredible season. Job well done. >> Hey everybody. Uh Kevin Jorgensson. I was uh fortunate enough to assist Coach B here uh with the girls uh the last four seasons on and off. I did spend a

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one season in hiatus at Absagami High School. Uh with all that being said, I just wanted to commend uh Coach V. She stepped into a role four years ago. Um never coached softball. Did you ever play softball? Okay. Uh but the leadership she shows these girls is

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impressive. Number one, she stepped up to the plate, no pun intended. She took a job that was needed and necessary to fill a role for these girls as a mentor and a role model. Uh in the last four seasons since Mr. Santilly has taken over uh the program so to speak in in a

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larger detail. Uh the girls are actually 38-2. So they have a dominant um record the last four seasons. So I just want to congratulate the girls. It's fun to watch them grow. Fun to watch them play together. Uh they're an outstanding group of young ladies. A lot of fun to be around. Thank you guys for the uh

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opportunity. Jason Andrews, Haley Boston, Cassidy Bister, Isabella Brown, Stephanie Carelli, Ava Coochie, She's not here.

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Alexa Grace, Cameron Jurgensson, Ireland Londonetti, Addison Molnar, McKenna Schultz, Ariana von Kessle, Olivia Wild. >> Thank you. Congratulations.

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And now listen, coach, if you haven't been to my office, you know, I got a lot of memorabilia. I'd love a signed softball by this team. I mean, we could we could put it on display, you know. I'm just saying. >> All right. To continue our athletic recognitions,

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now it's time for the GTMS boys track and field team 2026 Atlantic Cape Junior High League Champions. Will Miss Russell and Miss Trippin please join me down here along with Dr. Brides. All right, so

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I think I think we have another baton to add to the collection. It looks like I love it. So this is this is becoming a tradition that I get to proudly display. >> But why don't you tell us a little bit about the season

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the plastic? >> Good evening everyone. Um this is our second year coaching and we are so proud to see the growth in these last two years for both the boys and the girls team. We don't have a track here. We're running in grass. the kids don't get a chance to step on an actual track until

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their very first meet. And our boys went undefeated this year um winning our division. So, we're extremely proud of all of them and all of the growth that they have um achieved this year. Um so, we're going to call the students who are present,

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although 22 were on the team. All right. So, again, as Miss Russell said, it was quite a season. It was unreal watching the boys grow throughout the season on that track and they really pulled together as a team and we are so grateful to have our first ever championship. So, here we go. Uh Joshua

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Cap, come on up. >> I'm sorry. Sorry. Philip Barletto, Devon Cruz Foster, Shadrachantis, Araf Hassan, Ryder, Ivakola, Ryan Mossman, Eker Parata Colado Apollo Shab

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and Zarion Simmons. Do you want to tell why they're wearing medals? >> You may see some of our athletes wearing medals. And when they were at the championship in Ocean City, um, which is the fourth annual championship they put together for students across Cumberland

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County, Lena County, and Kate May County. And they may participate in an event with over 40 students. And so some of our students um, place first, second, or third in those events. So you see

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Apollo, Apollo Step Forward. Apollo um set a school record this year in the 400 meter. He broke his own record the same season for the 100 400 and he has a medal for second place for the for that race. He also was part of both the 4x1

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relay which placed second and the 4x2 relay which placed third. However, they did set a new school record the 4x2. You will see Eker wearing a medal. Eker if you can step forward. Eker was part of the 4x2 relay which placed third.

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There were some others who also did really well at this um fourth annual uh championship. Ryder Chapzy was third in discusets. Same Beverly was second in the 100. Jordan Hall Grandandy was third in the 200. Um and again obviously the other members of the relay teams. So,

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we're so proud of all your hard work that they accomplished this year and we hope that we see some of the seventh graders come back next year. And some of the students here were firstear track runners and did excellent. So, thank you.

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Great job, boys. Now it's time for some recognitions of the GTMS girls track and field for some of their special recognitions. So feel free to take it away. >> Thank you. So our girls did well this year um with six wins and so with the

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very close loss um and to Davies which have been um champions every year. So, we're getting closer with the girls, but in the cow championship, we have Shayla Moran, who placed second in discus. Come on down, Shayla.

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Shayla is a firstear track uh athlete. She was a manager for last us last year and decided, you know what? I'm going to try out for the team. And look at her come away with a medal. >> So proud of her. And this was, yes, out of 16 schools participating against

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maybe 40 girls in that event. Um, Sydney Davis was not with us today. She um set a new school record um in the 100 meter, which was a 30-year record that she broke. Um, Angelina Moya, come on Angie, come on down. She set a school record in

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the long jump and being a firstyear track athlete as a seventh grader. She was also part of the 4x1 relay who set a school record. So, we're really proud. You didn't wear your medal. We're really proud of Angie as well.

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>> So this year, um, between the boys and the girls teams, we set five records. Um, and again, this is students who are new to track, not having a track out here and we're running in grass, so they come together and work very well together. Thank you.

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>> Thank you for your support. Grab >> one more picture. All right. So, as you can see, we we are extremely proud. I mean, this this room was filled not too long ago from fine and performing arts recognition to our

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student athletes. Um, but most importantly, and I know a lot of folks have left, it's not just the hard work that our students put into this. Um, it's not just the hard work our adviserss and our teachers and our coaches put into this, but it's also it's our parents, right? Because let's

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face it, there's a lot going on in your worlds and you're running your your students, you know, from activity to activity. So, a huge thanks to our parents. I know many have left already, but a huge thanks to all of you because without your support, um, our programs also wouldn't be as successful as they

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are. So, thank you very much. At this time, Mr. Dace, will you please join me down here? Yes, you do. So at this time we would like to recognize Mr. Dace for his years of service on the Galloway Township Board

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of Education. And this is affectionately known as the Milestone Award. So from New Jersey School Boards Association, this is the milestone award. It is dedicated to Mr. Dace for 35 years

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of service. That's right, 35 years of service. So, it's in gratitude for 35 years of dedication to the children of Goway Township Board of Education and the state of New Jersey. And this presentation was also provided to Mr.

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Dace at a recent county school boards meeting. Again, congratulations and we are very proud of your public service to our students and staff here in Goway. Thank you very much. >> So, I'm gonna regift that back to you. All

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right. So, at this time, I'm going to transition to uh one more uh short presentation, and it's an update um regarding Arthur Ran Elementary School. So, since this is our last board meeting as we head into um the summer, uh there

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are a few things that I wanted to highlight and wanted to uh certainly just touch on as we get ready to transition into our our summer months. Uh as everyone's aware, the Arthur Ran Elementary School had experienced a variety of serious events, a variety of

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fires this year um due to newly installed HVAC units that that went in last summer. Um, so one of the things and in a previous presentation I had shared this information. I know some questions have arose in the community regarding those newly installed HVAC

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units. I wanted to reiterate to the community, to the board, to to all of our public that the HVAC units as of March 30th, all of those 14 that were installed have been removed. They were removed and it was part of an investigation that is taking place.

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Those were removed. they were taken to a warehouse and basically um at that time and and over the you know since March 30th these HVAC units are basically um being investigated for what we would refer to as um really what the cause is

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right so we know the source was coming from the HVAC units but actually what's causing it is what's being investigated here um so ultimately um you know we're in a situation that uh where it's a little bit of a waiting game uh for us. Um, but I wanted to make sure we put

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everybody's minds at ease that um, that was taken care of. And the vendor that actually removed those units was also organized through uh, the attorney that was assigned. We we participate with a joint insurance fund. And the joint insurance fund is the one who assigned um, basically who was going to remove

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those units um, from Arthur Ran Elementary School. Everything has been funneling through the joint insurance fund for this project. Some other updates you've heard me probably previously talk about um a group called Hillman Consulting. Hillman Consulting is an industrial hygienist. Uh this just

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gives you a little scope of the work in the front hallway that's been taking place in certain areas. For instance, um matter of fact, in the entire building, I'll give you an idea. The entire building, every single ceiling tile, for instance, had to be removed mainly because it's porous and anything that is

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soot and smoke would get inside of there and it can't be cleaned. So that's just a large scope, every single ceiling tile being uh taken out. In addition to that, in the front part of the building, if there was any type of drywall, especially close to the source rooms,

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all the drywall had to be removed. Again, we're going through that remediation process. So, as you can see here, uh some updates. As of today, um about 80% of the building has been remediated and also tested and cleared by Hillman Consulting. So, that's great

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news for us because they're moving along with the remediation process. Um, and ultimately once we get that area tested by Hillman Consulting and it is cleared, that means it's safe for us to be able to access again. The only area that they are continuing to remediate is that

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front hallway uh and the entire front hallway. So, there's approximately 15 classes in that front hallway, a library, faculty lounge, main office, and also bathrooms. So, that is still being remediated right now. I'd say they're probably about 75% of the the

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way through the remediation process of the front hallway. Again, great news. Um, but we're still on this road to what I call recovery. The rebuild is also beginning this week. So, while they're working on remediation in that front hallway, the rebuild is still taking

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place and has started this week and is starting in the back of the building. So the back of the building, remember that 80% that I said was free and clear, they're starting to work backwards. So they're working from the back of the building and starting the rebuild process. And when you hear rebuild, that sounds pretty serious, and it is in some

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cases, but the rebuild would consist of a variety of things. Replacement of ceiling tiles again, going in and now being able to put all the ceiling tiles back, brand new ones. In addition to that, any of the insulated HVAC connections that need to occur in the ceilings, that's happening in the back

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of the building as well. In addition to other things, there are certain areas, especially within our music and choir rooms. We have extra insulation in there for obvious reasons um for some soundproofing. So, those are the types of things that are happening in that back part of the building and they are now going to continue to work forward

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and and that actually started this week. library. We were hopeful in the beginning, but the library because it was so close to the sources is a complete loss. So, the library unfortunately was a complete loss. That meant every single library book in the

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library um they're not able to remediate them. They did take out some of the library books to try to use a HEPA vacuum vacuuming system. Um, however, Hillman Consulting after opening the books, even after that process was completed with a small batch of, let's

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say, library books, they still weren't testing favorably. So, they determined that these aren't going to be safe. Hence, that they all had to be discarded. Um, and we're in the process right now with working with our provider being Filelet and luckily we have Filelet and we had software that

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captured the entire what I call catalog of the library and we were able to determine what books were in the Arthur Ran library without having to go through every single one of them. So now we're working with Flet as our vendor to determine what that replacement plan is going to be. As you can imagine, it's an

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extensive process. Um, but you know, thanks to our media specialists, I have to give them a ton of credit, as well as Mr. Garba, our super one of our supervisors. Uh, they have all been working together, uh, to make sure that this continues and this process continues to move forward. Um, so we're

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ready to place that order. Uh, in talking with Flet, just so everybody's aware, I mean, we're talking about a two-month, at minimum, a two-month process for an order this size to even be able to get distributed to us. Um, but we're prepared and we're hoping that

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we're going to have a finalized list soon to be able to get approval from the auditor and from the insurance company place the order. And if you think about it, let's say even if that happens, luckily maybe the in mid June, we'd be looking at even if they arrive mid August, we'd be able to then take them

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in, catalog them, and even Flet said they'd send representatives to help us catalog and also reshelf within a library, which I thought was great that they were offering their services to help with that as well. But definitely special thanks to our media specialists for their work with us.

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The biggest question that everybody continues to of course ask is that question that we have always talked about along this journey and that is you know Mr. Santilly what's what do you think when are we getting back into the building? What's the timeline? I can tell you that with the information I

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just provided the timeline is looking better each day. However, I honestly can't commit uh and I really won't commit to what that timeline is at this juncture. I think we're still too far out. Um, I honestly can't get a a concrete commitment from even all risk

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in terms of when the building will be turned back over to us, for instance. And mainly because they're starting the rebuild process this week. All right. They're still in the process of remediating that front hallway even if they're 70 or 80% done that front hallway. I think that within the coming

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weeks and I think that as we get into let's say early July, we're going to have a better indication of where we stand as a district and more importantly as a school in terms of when our return might be. Okay? Yes, like all of you,

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I'm holding out hope that we can return for the start of the school year, but I can't commit to that right now at this juncture. And I hope everybody can appreciate and respect that, and I know you can. Um but ultimately uh all I can

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say is just continue to monitor uh communications that the district will make sure that we get out once we have information and once we are confident that I can give a clear and concise timeline for our return. So monitor that communication over the summer um

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especially through email. Um, I can tell you follow our social media. Um, not necessarily happenings all the time as I mentioned. Um, but follow our social media and follow your school email and I can guarantee that you're going to get the most up-to-date information that's accurate in regards to what our return

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might look like. Don't forget also all of the information like this presentation goes into the online backpack for Arthuran that's located on the uh website. You can access all the letters that have gone out this year. for any presentation we've had here in public. All that

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information is also accessible. And finally, I always continue to put um different thanks on here. So, this slide hasn't changed much. There's a variety of folks, you know, within the township between the board of education to our fire departments and police departments, how everybody has been super supportive

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in everything we've done. The donations continue to come in uh from the community. They have been over backwards for us. But this time I also highlighted another group that I think sometimes we lose sight of and that is really a special thanks to the staff, students

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and even parents of both Roland Rogers Elementary School and also GTMS by being in those buildings, right? Um Pomona was a standalone. It was waiting for us to enter. So there was nobody really there to quote unquote upset u when we had to

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pivot and and bring students there. But I know that it's been taxing to the students, staff, and parents of GTMS enrolling by having a lot of extra kids, a lot of extra staff in the buildings. And I didn't want that to be forgotten. Um because oftentimes we get into the

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throws of just doing what we do every day and we do it well here in Goway. But I want to I would be remissed if I didn't thank the staff, students, and and parents of both of those two school communities because we, you know, had to really shift and ultimately they've been

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more than welcoming. And let's face it, at this point since we've been in these schools since the end of January. I know in some cases we may have overstate our welcome, but trust me when I tell you um we're super thankful that everybody has gone above and beyond to make everyone from Arthur Rand feel welcome. So again,

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thank you very much to to those folks in that those school communities. And that concludes my presentation. Turning it back over to you, Mr. Gentiel. We're now moving into public comment on agenda items only. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from

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residents. This meeting will now be open to public comment. Three minutes per person on agenda items only. Public comments on non-aggenda items will be available at the end of the meeting. Your questions pertain to litigation. Student or personnel items, please see the superintendent after the meeting as the board is procluded from discussing

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these matters in public. Depending upon the nature and complexity of your question, the board secretary may ask for your contact information so that someone can get back to you with a response. As a reminder, this is a public meeting and all comments should be appropriate for a public setting and made in a respectful manner. Please come

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to the podium, state your full name and address and sign in. Seeing no one, moving on to the next item, superintendent's report. >> At this time, our attorney's report, Miss Halco. >> Good evening, everyone. Since the last

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time we met, I've had the opportunity to work with administration on a variety of student matters, staff matters, uh contractual matters. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Items 7.2 through 7.4 as listed and attached

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areformational items and there are no votes needed. >> Thank you. Moving on to curriculum and instruction. >> So, at this time, we're looking to approve items 8.1 through 8.4 as listed and attached. >> Can I have a motion and a second to

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approve uh items 8.1 through 8.4 inclusive? >> So, move. I have a roll call, please. Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Dr. Permentor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Avery, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hank,

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>> yes. >> Mr. D, >> yes. >> Vice President Basher Blouse, >> yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. Moving on to finance and facilities. Uh, Mr. Das, is there a committee report that you'd like to update the board about? >> Okay. The facility and finance

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committees met last Wednesday, I think. Was it Wednesday? Yeah. And uh we went over several items or a lot of items and everything seemed to work out good. Asked Joy about different agenda items and everything been brought up to date that we know of. Uh we went over

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purchasing projects and uh nothing else really to say. Alexa, >> thank you. Anybody have any questions for Mr. Days? >> Hearing none. Moving on to the other agenda items. >> Thank you. Items 9.2 through 9.39 are up

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for your approval. >> Have a motion to approve under finance and facilities item 9.2 through 9.39 inclusive. >> So move. >> Second. >> Have a roll call, please. >> Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Dr. Pertor,

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>> yes. >> Mrs. Avery, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hank, >> yes. >> Mr. D, >> yes. >> Vice President Basher Blau, >> yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. Moving on to personnel. >> At this time, looking to move items 10.1

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through 10.9 as listed and attached. >> Have a motion and a second to approve personnel items 10.1 through 10.9 inclusive. Have a roll call, please. >> Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Dr. Permentor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Avery, >> yes.

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>> Mrs. Hank, >> yes. >> Mr. D, >> I must abstain from item number 10-5, the appointments. Yes. And everything else. >> Vice President Basher Blau. >> Yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. So at this time uh after a very

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extensive process um which was a combination of a variety of different interviews we also included um many stakeholders from Roland Rogers Elementary School in search of our next Roland Rogers Elementary School principal. I am proud to announce the

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approval and introduction for the first time in public, Dr. Don Depalo uh who is here with us tonight. So, please uh stand. Congratulations. We look forward to uh having you as the next leader of the Roland Rogers Elementary School. Congrats.

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>> Moving on to old business, please. >> So, at this time, we're looking to move items uh 11.1. I have a motion and a second to move uh to item 11.1. >> So moved. >> Second.

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>> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Dr. Permentor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Avery, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hank, >> yes. >> Mr. Dase, >> yes. >> Vice President Basher Blau, >> yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. Moving on to new business, please.

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At this time looking to move items 12.1 through 12.4 as listed and attached. Have >> a motion to approve new business items 12.1 through 12.4 inclusive. >> Second. Roll call, please.

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>> Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Dr. Permentor. >> Mrs. Avery. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hank. >> Yes. >> Mr. D. >> Yes. >> Vice President Basher Blau. Yes. And President Gentiel. >> Yes. Moving on to boardformational items.

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>> Uh if it's okay, prior to moving on, I'd just like to highlight two uh quick things if that's okay, Mr. President. Thank you. Um so we've we've been working at our community partnerships and the board just approved um two different items. Um one has been a uh

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item or actually they approved one item at this time, another one will be forthcoming. Um but the one item is uh an agreement between uh Gowi Township Public Schools and Stockton University as part of our community partnership. We actually um work with Stockton to bring

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on board um many different interns and not just from the school of education but we have nurses uh speech OT's PTs a variety of different schools within the university. Therefore, we worked uh during the course of the year um with the university to develop uh one

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comprehensive agreement um for all of the schools within a university. This helps us streamline uh our partnership without having to have separate agreements, but also allows for us to move forward with u being able to support one another uh in getting uh

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interns, let's say, within um different programs uh into our schools, uh which certainly helped to not grow their programs, but also help to support ours as well. So, uh, we thank them for their, um, you know, continued partnership and more to follow in a in a

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minute or two in regards to another agreement. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, moving on to boardformational items. >> So, here we have the board calendar. Also, some special events. Um, so ultimately, uh, one of the biggest

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events coming up is going to be GTMS promotional ceremony. You can save the date for June 19th. Uh we have three teams so they are going to be uh done separately 3:00, 4:45 and 6:30. Uh little special note um for the board

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that are you know is attending. If anybody else would like to attend as we've been communicating in the bulletins, please reach out to myself or Miss Harris and then we'll make sure that we have a seat reserved for you to participate in the ceremonies. Uh the GTMS promotional ceremonies is is been

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uh one of my favorite events uh while being superintendent. As a former principal of a middle school, I've always enjoyed those events. Um I just want to share in transparent being transparent. I won't be at this year's uh 8th grade promotional ceremony. Um

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which saddens me, but I'm also happy in the same token because my daughter will be graduating high school on the same evening. So unfortunately I have a conflict and um I you know obviously I will be celebrating uh my own daughter's achievements uh on that evening but my

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heart will be uh with the students here as well uh as they celebrate their ceremonies. So in addition there are some summer performances coming up uh so you can mark your calendar for those as well. And then of course uh save the date for the education foundation golf outing that's going to be September

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15th. So you want to save that date on your calendar now. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is public comment. Uh this would be a non-aggenda items. Is there anybody in the audience interested in making a public comment?

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Seeing someone and I'm going to set forth the guidelines. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents. This meeting will now be open to public comment. Three minutes per person. If your question pertains to litigation, student or personnel matters, please see see the superintendent uh after the meeting as

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the board does not discuss these matters in public as it is precluded from doing so. Depending on the nature and complexity of your questions, the board secretary may ask for your contact information so that someone can get back to you with a response. As a reminder, this is a public meeting and all comments should be appropriate for a

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public setting and made in a respectful manner. Uh good evening. Welcome. And I see you're putting your uh name and address and signing in. Thank you. You can also move that sign if that's in your way of seeing everybody up here. Thanks so much. >> Thank you.

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>> Okay. Good evening. My name is Tony Capelli and I'm from the Smithville section of Galloway. First, I want to start with congratulations to all the awards presented to all the students tonight. I'm here to share a concern about the harassment harassment, imitation, and bullying investigations

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happening within the district. Some of the incidents occurring could have been addressed sooner, but was not due to class sizes and student supervision within the district. Teachers work incredibly hard every day to support their students. But when classrooms are the size of 27 to one,

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that's extremely difficult to manage. It becomes more difficult to notice interactions, address conflicts, and provide individualized attentions that students need. Bullying can affect a child's confidence, mental well-being, and ability to learn. When class sizes

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are larger, students who are struggling are less likely to be seen, heard, or supported before the problem grows bigger. There are incidents occurring that could have been addressed sooner, but were not seen, or brought to teachers attention until the impact of the child had already become serious.

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This has happened a few times this school year, especially within the last few weeks. There have been incidents of students being called names like fat, big back, fenboy, and gay. This is all happening in class, the bathroom, lunch, and recess. There are

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also games being played at recess with inappropriate war themes, targeting kids to be on the losing side consistently. Other games that are also being made to single a kid out, to be chased or treated to have a plague, causing no one to want to play with them. This is happening daily and it's not

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being seen. There seems to be nowhere for the targeted students to go when there's limited access to sections at the school available and larger classroom sizes within the grade. And that is a problem. The kids are being targeted manifesting physical ailments like stomach pains, increased anxiety.

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Affected children have been found reasons to constantly leave the classroom to avoid being bullied. In some cases, the increased anxiety has led to trips to the hospital late at night. There are daily debates at home to miss school or daily phone calls from the school nurse stating that the child

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is not well. There are missing instructional time and ended the year of activities due to this growing issue. Some teachers are unaware that there are issues of bullying within their classroom. Some kids do not have the confidence to go and speak up for themselves because they are being targeted at all times of the day from

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class transitions, lunch, recess, bathroom breaks, in line for the bus or waiting to walk home from school. How can they have the time to ask for help when they are dodging remarks from all directions? How can teachers help when they are being asked to look after so many students at one time? I

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encourage the board to look at ways to reduce class sizes when possible and provide the staff with resources needed to create safe, positive learning environments. Every child deserves to feel safe, valued, and respected at school. Thank you.

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>> Thank you very much. So, knowing that you had um put down your name and and contact information, someone will be reaching out so we can have a uh more in-depth conversation with you uh either tomorrow or the next day. Okay. Thank you very much.

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Any other public comment? Seeing none, uh, any, uh, board member have anything for the good of the order? Mr. Davis, Miss anything? >> Um, just that I attended u a, a couple of concerts and the nature

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fest and GTMs concert and with all the kids being honored here today, it's just really great to see how many wonderful things are going on in our district. >> Thank you. If I can say Jim, I also had the honor of attending Smithville concert, coral and band concert

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>> and the the children of this district are outstanding, very talented and uh I didn't unfortunately I couldn't attend any others because family things going on but uh our our children I think are doing a great job in this school

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district. >> Thank you Mr. Chester. >> Yes. Um, I just want to say al I also attended NatureFest, but I attended as um I I was working there um not as a board member, but um and that's why I really want to bring it up. It really is an amazing program and if you've never

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been to it, I highly recommend you go. Um it it really showcases our students and all the work that they're doing. And my colleague, I've had different people attend with me every year and every year they say the same thing, how polite our students are and how wonderful they are

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as they come through. And we see um we counted through stickers this year. So it was well over um 1,200 people I think that took a sticker and they didn't all take stickers. So it's a lot of people rolling through and um and all of the kids were just wonderful and the

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teachers and everything. So a great event and as a board member if you haven't been please go next year. It's it's really amazing um all the work our students are doing and the teachers as well. >> Thank you Dr. Gorman. I also attended a concert at Roland

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Rogers and I really enjoyed watching the students. I I love watching them like peek out and wave to their family and I enjoy seeing them getting the flowers afterwards and watching them play and and remembering as a child squeaking through a concert myself on the

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clarinet. But it it was a great experience for me and it was a great experience I know for the children and I have to commend the staff. They did a great job um as the conductors. I see one music teacher here and they did a great job. I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much.

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>> Thank you, Miss Avery. >> Dr. No, myself. >> I just want to highlight also one other agreement that the board had supported um with Stockton University. Um, and it will be communicated to our staff uh as

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well because in reality this agreement benefits uh our staff and that is uh a partnership now with Stockton University where we are the uh only school district at this time that would have a discounted tuition rate a 20% discounted

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tuition rate for all of our district employees. This doesn't just account for any graduate or doctor uh level work but also for those um wishing to pursue their bachelor's degrees. Uh as you know that as a you know public education institution we take professional

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development but also continued education seriously. Uh and that partnership with Stockton University also um I think uh shows our our commitment to uh our staff as well as their commitment to us. Uh so we'll be excited to share that with our staff uh in the coming days as well. So

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thank you for your support to the board for that as well. >> Thank you. >> Right. We've already held executive session as announced previously. So if I could have a motion to adjurnn. >> All in favor? >> Motion carries.