This meeting is called to order. It's the regular meeting of the Galloway Township Board of Education. In accordance with public law 231, both adequate and electronic notice of this meeting was provided to the public through the press. the Galloway Township
Municipal Building and the District website on January 8, 2026. Could I have a roll call, please? >> Mrs. Chester here. Dr. Parmentor. Miss Laria.
>> Mrs. Avery, >> Mrs. Hermanau, >> here. >> Mrs. Hank >> here. >> Mr. Mr. D >> here, >> Dr. Basher Blau >> here, and Mr. Gentiel >> here. >> Please rise for the flag salute led by Miss
>> Hermanau. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. With regard to the uh approval of
minutes, uh we have two sets tonight for approval. One is the regular meeting on December 8th, which is item 2.1, and one item 2.2 is the reorganization meeting on uh January 5. Could I have a motion
to approve? >> So move. >> Second, please. >> Second. >> All in favor? I don't think you need a roll call for that. No. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Hearing none, we'll move on to
presentations. >> Good evening. All right. So, tonight we are going to start off with our student council representatives. So, uh, welcome Trinity. Uh, if you're ready, you can, uh, provide your update. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Since the last time we've met, we completed the holiday spirit week as well as the
volleyball incentive based off student requests. As well as this, we have we have had a Rice Krispie sale before the holidays. All was a roaring success and we made over $130 in profit. As of just recently, we've introduced two promotional drives. One of these being the clothing drive and the other being
the Sunnyside Meadows drive for toiletries and hygiene products. We've just sorted both drives as of Tuesday and January 6th, and they will be ending the 23rd. For future events, we will be in the attendance for the Black History Museum as well as a slideshow that will
be shown for the entirety of February. We have also completed the ELF writing contest and received three winners from student council as well as the we have also just begun the Martin Luther King contest as well. Uh this concludes the student council report for
the month of January. Okay, >> thank you very much. was very comprehensive and you guys as usual are doing a lot of good work. Uh if during the meeting you have any questions about what we're doing, please feel free to ask them at the appropriate time or ask Miss Chester. She'll be more than happy to help you navigate the process. Thank
you so much Trinity. >> And also Trinity is the uh proud vice president of the GTMS student council. So thank you for your service. Um and I'm sure that we're going to be paying a visit to uh some upcoming meetings. So thank you. All right. All right, this
time I'm going to transition to the uh floor. We have um two other presentations uh tonight. So I'm going to transition uh down to the uh floor for those as well. First too long. Mckin Vento students. And for those that
aren't familiar, Mckin Vento students would be students uh and parents who are classified as homeless for a variety of different reasons and circumstances. But one of the things that we wanted to be able to do would be able to send care packages. Uh oftent times those students automatically qualify for free and
reduced lunch. So they automatically get breakfast because we're a district that provides free breakfast for all of our students. But those students also qualify for free lunch already. But the necessities at home, right, when they go home in the evening, um just the basic necessities that oftentimes I think we
all sometimes will take for granted um are things that are needed. Um and and sometimes these are families who may be doubled up with another family, maybe doubled up with a grandparent, aunt and uncle. They also may be living in a motel or hotel. Um, and again, it's it's not circumstances any child has has
asked for, but it's a circumstance that they're faced with. Uh, and we talked about being able to create these care packages. And give you an idea of some of the care some of the things within a care package would be again basic necessities that we take for granted. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, age
appropriateness, deodorant, let's say, things like that. And mainly because we all know going to the grocery store these days, I think we all realize what those things cost, right? Those basic necessities that we oftentimes take for granted have continued to skyrocket. Uh
and ultimately these are things that within a care package we'd be able to provide um to those families uh to be able to help offset some of those basic needs. Um, so with that being said, uh, you know, again, through some communication and dialogue back and forth, I know that they had some
submissions that they needed to do as an organization, um, which we really appreciate the leg work. Uh, and and really what it comes down to is is that they're here tonight to be able to, um, make that donation, uh, on behalf of the Rotary. Uh, so with without further ado, I know you have your team with you. U,
but Rose, why don't you come up and you can share some more information, uh, as well. There you go. >> $2,35 to help go to this um project. >> So, I will I will hold the uh the hold
the check. And here you go. >> Good evening everyone. Thank you, Mr. Santilly and school board for inviting us here to be with you this evening and for inviting us to help our community doing great things which is what Rotary
does. Oh, I dropped the most important piece. You don't want that one. Well, um, most people should know that Rotary's motto is service above self. And that's what we're doing today.
Guided by our Rotary motto, the Abssein Galloway Rotary Club is honored to present this donation for $2,035 to the Galloway Public Schools to assist families in need within our community.
That's it. And please call us for anything else that you might need. We're happy to work. We can be hands-on and we're hoping to help, you know, create these care packages. That's what the club loves to do and we're here for whatever you need, Mr. Santilly and
everyone in the community. We also are a Rotary club. We meet twice a month. We meet in Absin once um once during the month and in Galloway once during the month. We'd love you to be our guest at a meeting. Come and you know do good things in our community. You can look it
up on Facebook absinrot.org. We're rotary club of abscin galloway.org. So, thank you so much and hope to hear from you soon. >> Thank you. Why don't we uh why don't we have everybody come up here and we'll
we'll take a picture uh as well. I'm going to put this right here and I'm going to make sure I give that to our BA in a second. We go right. Is that good under here? There you go. We definitely will be in touch and um once we uh order all the
supplies u we have a pretty good partnership with our local um shop right believe it or not and last time we did this initiative they also provided a little bit of a discount for the items that we are purchasing which was a huge help because this this money will go much further than than even a normal
shopping spree might might allow for. So we'll be in touch to help putting those packages together one day. Um so thank you again. We appreciate it. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I know I know where this belongs, so
I'm not even going to put this in my pocket until later. There you go. That we we created a backup fake check. But see, ours wasn't as cool as yours. See, but at least we can put this on
display in our our office. So, thank you. >> I don't know if you caught that that on the mic. Um, but she had shared that I was pretty cool. So, just want to put out there. All right.
Next uh recognition tonight is uh and and for the community. Um January is schoolboard recognition month. Um so, what I wanted to do was keep keep the trend going. Uh, one of the things I started a few years ago, uh, was, let's face it, I I wish I could write you all
a big check, but let's, you know, let's face it, this is this is really you volunteering your time. Uh, you know, how much time goes into this work uh for this school community and and we appreciate it. Um, but really what it comes down to is the best thing that that we can do is keep your service
alive. Uh, and and one way we do that is keeping that service and recognition alive in our libraries. Uh so one of the things that we're going to continue to do is provide a little placard for you and ultimately you can submit that for a book to then be uh placed in our school
libraries. Uh and we will have a book plate in there and it'll have your name and also your this this particular year for service on the board of education. Uh it would remain there for years to come to recognize uh your service to the board. So ultimately, and let me put my
glasses on because these aren't as big as the large fake check, but it says, "Members of the Goway Township Board of Education in recognition of your service on the board. A book of your choosing will be purchased and placed in our school
libraries." And then you're going to be able to uh list that title of the book, have your board member name, and ultimately what I do is once all of those books uh come in, uh I'll bring one of the copies here for all of you to be able to see, and then ultimately based off of the age appropriateness of
that book, it would end up in our school libraries again for years to come. So, thank you very much. Please give our board members a big round of applause for their time and commitment to our students and staff. Thank you.
That concludes our presentations. The next item on the agenda is a time for public comment for agenda items only. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents. This meeting will now be open to public
comment, three minutes per person, on agenda items only. The reason that this segment is limited to agenda items is that if there is public comment, the board would like to hear that before it votes on those items. If your questions pertain to litigation, student or
personnel matters, please see the superintendent after the meeting as the board is procluded from discussing these matters in public. Depending on the nature and complexity of your questions, the board secretary may ask for your contact information so 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. Uh, if anybody's going to make the comment, please come up to the podium, state your full name and address, and sign in in the log there.
And seeing nobody coming for public comment. We'll be moving on to the next item on the agenda, which is the superintendent's report. At this time, we'll start with our attorney's report with Miss Hal Elco. >> Good evening, everybody. Since the last time we've met, I'd have the opportunity
to work with the district on some student matters and some personnel matters and some contract matters. Thank you. At this time, we see our student enrollment report, out of district suspension report, and harassment, intimidation, and bullying reports as listed and attached. There is no vote
needed, and they areformational items only. >> The next section on the agenda is curriculum and instruction. >> At this time, we are looking to move items 6.1 through 6.3 as listed and attached. I have a motion to approve
curriculum and instruction items 6.1 through 6.3. >> So moved. >> Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Mrs. Chester? >> Yes. >> Miss Lia? >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Hermanale? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hank? >> Yes. >> Mr. Dace? >> Yes. >> Vice President Basher Blouse? >> Yes. and President Gentiel. >> Yes. Moving on to finance and facilities. I know there was no uh finance committee
this uh month because we have uh you have to form the committees. They'll be formed after today's meeting. >> Thank you. For finance and facilities, items 7.1 through 718 are up for your approval. Can I have a
motion and a second to approve uh finance and facilities items 7.1 through 7.18? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? If I could have a roll call, please.
>> Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Miss Lauria, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hermanale, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hank, >> yes. >> Mr. D, >> yes. Vice President Basher Blau. >> Yes. >> And President Gentiel,
>> yes. Moving on to personnel. >> At this time, we're looking to move items 8.1 through 8.5 as listed and attached. >> Can I have a motion to approve uh personal items 8.1 through 8.5?
>> Some move. I have a second. Thank you. >> Any comment, questions? >> Roll call, please. Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Miss Laria, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hermanel, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hank,
>> yes. >> Mr. D, >> yes. >> Vice President Basher Blouse, >> yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. >> There's no no new hires. Moving on to policy. >> At this time, we are looking to move
items 9.1 through 9.6 as listed and attached. These are for second reading. >> I have a motion to approve policy items for second reading 9.1 through 9.6. >> So move >> second. >> Any discussion?
Hearing none. Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mrs. Chester, >> yes. >> Miss Lia, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hermanale, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hank, >> yes. >> Mr. D, >> yes. Vice President Basher Blau.
>> Yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. >> Business. Moving on to old business. >> So, we're looking to move item 10.1 to affirm the HIP determination reports. >> I have a motion to approve old business
item 10.1. >> Move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Hearing none. Can I have a roll call, please? >> Mrs. Chester. Yes, >> Miss Laia. >> Yes,
>> Mrs. Hermanale. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Hank. >> Yes, >> Mr. D. >> Yes, >> Vice President Basher Blau. >> Yes. >> And President Gentiel, >> yes. Moving on to boardformational items. >> So, item 11.1 is our board calendar as
attached. In addition to that, 11.2 are special events, especially for our board to start saving the dates for these particular events. Uh there are a variety of steam nights listed. Uh a multicultural night, of course, the announcement of Winnie the Pooh and the
really big machine that's going to be performed by the GTMS drama club. There are three dates uh that are listed there, so you can save the date for any of them. Uh there's one matinea on the final um day. And then of course the big event, the Goway Township Education
Foundation people of the year dinner, which is a combination of not just people of the year, but also our retirement dinner um on May 1st of 26th. Registration will be out shortly uh for people to register, but please make sure you save the date. We'd love for
everybody to join us. >> Moving on to agenda item number 12, public comment. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from our residents. This meeting will now be open to public comment, three minutes per person. If
your question pertains to litigation, student or personnel items, please see the superintendent after the meeting as the board is procluded from discussing these matters in public. 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 public setting and made in a respectful manner. Uh if anyone has a public comment to make, please come up to the podium, state your
full name and address, and sign in. Seeing no public comment, we'll move on to uh the question about whether or not there is any executive uh session this evening. Hearing that there is no executive session, uh before adjourning,
I'd like to canvas the board to see if anyone has any comments for the public. >> Mr. D. attended the Arthuran winter concert and I was really amazed at how well the band and choir did after only being in school for a few months. Uh it was really
fabulous and their teachers do a wonderful job. >> Thank you, Miss Herman. >> Um yes, I also want to thank the student council and um just everybody here on the board. Everybody does a great job. I hope you have a happy new year. Vice President Sherbla,
>> I just wanted to add uh to some of the events that are going on this Wednesday. I believe is um a book swap at Arthur Ran. There was a notification that went out for families to pre-register. If you're able to attend, I believe it runs from 4:30 to 6:30. If you've heard me speak about this before, we love the
book swaps. It's a great opportunity to bring in um some of your books and swap them out for for some books that perhaps your children have not read. My kids love this event. Um, and Smithville families, the soulmate dance is Friday, January 30th. Notifications about that has also gone out. Um, it was a great
event last year. It had a great turnout. The students loved it and parents loved it as well. So hopefully we see a great turnout for both those events. Thank you, >> Miss Chester. >> Um, just echoing everyone everyone else's sentiments and happy new year to everyone.
>> And Miss Lar, any comments? >> Yes. Uh, thank you, Trinity. I spoke with you. I love your name and thank you for all you do. It's a it's a big thing being on the student council. I know that my grandchildren are on there. So, thank you again and to Rose for the
Rotary for presenting that beautiful needed check. I'm so thankful that we have people out there that really care about our community and the children and those that really need something. So, usually it's some other people doing it, but I'm
glad that we're, you know, we have people out there doing it. And I thank God for the board, the new board, some of us, the new president that we have and uh the other one down there that I haven't met before. So, yes, God bless you. And so, it's just a privilege. It
is a privilege to be on the board. It's and I'm thankful that I'm on it. So, have a very happy and healthy new year. And on behalf of uh the board, I wish everyone a happy new year. Our staff uh both administrative and teaching staff,
of course, the children. And it is, I think I speak for the entire board, our honor to serve this district and to serve the public and to do everything that we can to continue to provide meaningful services to our our children, our families, and our communities. So,
thank you all. Does anybody have any new business to be brought before the board? Can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Can I have a second? >> Second. All >> in favor? I I meeting
>> adjourned.