Yeah. Okay, Winnie, are we all set? It's okay. The board met tonight in executive session. We're now ready to continue with the public portion of our meeting. Uh we have not had any written communications
uh since our meeting of April 29th. That is written communications addressed to the uh full board. Um in terms of the president's report, it will be short. I want to first um thank everyone for coming, but I also
want to encourage you to go to the arts and ecoair over on Saturday. Um it is a fundraiser for art scholarships. It is a chance to see our student art and um it is a wonderful time. So please uh do do
that. Also um today the commissioner of education Kevin Damer went before the New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee uh ostensibly to defend the departmental budget. Um but the questions uh many of the questions were more geared to federal
money either the lack of federal money when federal money is coming um they are anxious about at the department we get a very very large amount of federal money uh in the hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government as of today only 38 million of that has
arrived um we're hoping that the rest will arrive and then of course the United States Congress is working on a new budget we don't know what that will bring for us because it's working its way through the legislative process, but they are it is a source of um concern at
the DOE and something they're monitoring every day. Uh and that is the president's report. So, I will turn it over to the superintendent. Thank you, Miss Ginsburg. Good evening, everybody. Um later in the meeting I'd like to share a very specific personnel related update
and I want to ensure you that we'll address that as best we can in a few minutes with the attention it deserves. However, I also want to save space for two exciting curriculum and instruction updates. And we'll start there. So I'm going to turn the mic over to my colleague, Mr. Dit, our director of
student services, who will help celebrate another cohort of teachers finishing certification in an important program. Can you guys join me? Fran, can you come up to I'm sorry. We got our backs. You guys, I don't know. No, go ahead. Trying to get
in the camera. People would prefer to see you, not us. So, good evening. I'm honored to stand before you tonight to recognize the continued success of our Orton Gillingham certification program and to thank the Glenidge Education Foundation for its ongoing and generous support of
this work. Tonight, I'm proud to present our most recent cohort of staff members, three and a fourth, more about that later, who have just completed their 2-year graduate level training in the Orton Gillingham method through our
partnership with Fairley Dickinson University. With the addition of these three newly certified educators, we now have 18 Glenidge staff members who have completed the full OG certification program. Let's take a minute to reflect on how
far we've come. We began our Orton Gillingham journey back in 2018 with a summer institute, a week-long OG light class which was attended by 23 staff members, also granted by the Glenidge Education Foundation. That initial training
introduced multiensory evidence-based strategies for teaching reading. It sparked real interest and since then several of those original participants went on to become fully certified. In the summers that followed, we hosted additional multi-day workshops and additional participants from those
sessions have also completed certification. Funding for some of those initiatives were also provided by GREF. In 2020, we took a major step forward by creating a remote campus in collaboration with FDU at Glenriidge High School. Each cohort, including the
four ladies here, completed four graduate level courses across two full years, one course per semester. Each teacher is assigned two Glenidge students per semester, which provided them with individual one-on-one OG tutoring sessions twice a week for 60
minutes. That's 25 hours per semester, or roughly 100 hours over the two years per teacher. This tutoring is closely supervised and supported through weekly graduate level classes where our teachers both learn and apply their skills in real time. To
date, our certified teachers have provided over 2,000 hours of individualized reading instruction to struggling readers in the district. This is the immediate measurable impact of the foundation support. The long-term impact is just as significant. Our OG
trained staff includes general education teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists, and our learning consultants. This diversity allows us to support a wide range of learners from students with IEPs to those in general education who need targeted support.
We've also expanded our reach by inviting teachers from neighboring districts to join the program. That district pays tuition and their participation allows us to extend tutoring to even more Glenidge students. So, our four before I read these, our four certificate
uh W I was going to say winners. Our four people have completed the the program are Tori Fiori Lara boss Katie Brody and Jodie Su. A couple of quick things. So I asked them, "What has the Orton and Gillingham
experience meant to you?" One of them did not want to read, so I will read for them. Completing my OG certificate means that I will be able to help more children read. The Orton Gillingham training has honestly been a gamecher for me. It gave me a whole new way to look at how kids learn to read and how
to really support those who struggle. The OG experience has been transformational for me as an educator. Learning OG has deepened my understanding of the structured multi-ensory approach to teaching reading, spelling, and writing. It gave me a clear framework for helping students, especially those with
dyslexia, succeed where traditional methods often fall short. I also asked them, "What is one thing you would like to share with the Glenidge Education Foundation? I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to thank you for giving me the opportunity to complete the OG training.
Your support made it possible for me to grow as an educator in such a meaningful way. Thank you for the opportunity. It has been a long but rewarding journey. I'm incredibly grateful to my district and the GREF for supporting me in becoming Orton Gillingham certified
and I truly value the investment they made in my growth. I hope more educators are given the same opportunity as the impact on student learning is profound. In closing, before I give the mic to Fran, this program is transforming how we approach reading intervention in Glenidge. One teacher at
a time, one student at a time. We're deeply grateful to the Glenidge Education Foundation for believing in this vision and continuing to fund the professional development that makes this possible. Thank you. I just No. I think our part is actually very small
because you all put in all those hours and your dedication and your heartfelt um desire to to help our students achieve and those in Verona too. It just so happens that quite by chance
yesterday I met the uh president of the board of the Verona Educational Foundation at a state meeting and I made a pitch to him that you know they ought to Annie up. He said it's very expensive. I said yes it is but it's so worth it. So, uh, if you ever run into
them, do speak up. Again, congratulations to all of you and thank you for your, uh, dedication and to Jack, um, for for organizing such a wonderful program and to the board for their their belief in it.
And thanks to you, Fran. Thanks to you and the foundation, Fran, everyone and Jack, sorry. Thank you. Congratulations. um 100 years ago I did a something I guess we'd call here or in Gillingham
light and it was like tremendously laborious and time consuming and exhausting and so for you to go through the whole program is really um an impressive feat that I don't think lots of people realize how much time and effort goes into that and uh particularly in this day and age of like
science of reading being you know so important it's not lost on us I think as a community that the purpose of reading is comprehension, but you can't get to the comprehension if kids can't decode. So, I applaud your efforts to make sure kids know how to to decode and for you
to instruct in a way that really prioritizes word study. So, congratulations and thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I also just quickly also want to thank the Glenidge Educational Foundation for funding this important work. Uh, Mr. DIT for helping to organize it, our teachers who have
committed to its approach, and the parents who have helped lobby for the work and were passionate about bringing this type of systematic literacy instruction to us for many years. In the spirit of continuing on tonight with curriculum and instruction updates, I'm pleased to introduce our supervisor of
interventions, Miss Gabby Marx, who will present on our transition this year from an intervention and referral services model um to a multi-tered systems of support. A couple months ago, she presented to the board's curriculum committee, and I think uh the committee felt it was worthwhile to share some of
the great progress we're making as a district uh with the full board and the community. So, I'm happy to turn it over to Miss Marks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Arlington. Hi, everyone. Um I'm Gabby Marks. Uh nice to see you
all. Um, so I'm excited to share some updates uh to our MTSS model uh which stands for multi-tered systems of support. Uh this is something that we've been working on over the last three years. Um really trying to change how we
look at intervention in the district. So this past year was the first year we started using that word or that term MTSS. Um we're no longer following a traditional INRS intervention and referral services model. Um we have
moved towards this more normed and nationally regarded approach. Uh we've also moved towards utilizing linkit which is an intervention manager that it's a warehouse of all of our information and it helps um inform a lot of these decisions. We've also started
norming our data reviews to help inform these decisions. Um and we've created a a certain review process in each building. Um and we have three formal data reviews a year in addition to several other meetings um to look at information uh look at progress and
we've also increased classroom interventions which I'll go over in a minute. So why are we shifting towards this? Um INRS is a New Jerseybased approach to intervention. The intervention and referral service process um was created in the 90s and
hasn't been updated on the um New Jersey website uh the department of education website since 2001. Uh so most of the state is moving towards this model and everyone's in different phases. Um MTSS is also you may hear the term NJ um TSS
New Jersey tiered systems of support. It's the same thing. Uh every state has their own version of it. Um so one of the main reasons we are shifting to this datadriven approach is INRS um data when we look back on it was
very subjective. It was based solely on teacher referral. So each each uh school would wait monthly for teachers to refer their students. So it could be academic or it could be social emotional. So that really depended on how that teacher saw
that student. It was one snapshot. we didn't have a normed vision of what a a need looked like. Um so you'd have one teacher referring 11 students, another referring zero in the same grade with a very similar makeup of students. So moving towards this approach really
norms our expectations of what benchmarks are. Um so let's see um okay so MTSS a little background uh it's grounded in over 20 years offormational research. You may have heard the term response to intervention which started
actually in the 70s um and has evolved into a multi-tered systems of support um that has been researched for the last 20 years. It's all grounded in the same foundational practices of really looking at intervention as a lens to support students short term to help them meet
expectations and see if that's enough to help um make progress. It also promotes a normed approach to identifying areas of concern. For example, we're talking about comprehension with OG and learning to read, the foundations of reading. It
helps us identify where students should be at certain points and have a range of what is considered um appropriate or at risk or advanced. Um this also ensures that multiple data points are used. We're not just looking at one teacher's
referral. We're not just looking at one test, one task, one reading assignment. We're looking at multiple pieces of evidence to make sure that we're looking at a bigger picture. So, we can either see yes, we, you know, we we see with these three pieces of data, the student does need support, or no, that was a bad
testing day. We're not putting them in intervention group because they had one off day. Uh, but we will keep monitoring them. So, it does make sure we're really looking at the child and and uh taking the pulse of where they're at. It also um once you have a really strong MTSS
system, it should decrease your referral to child study team by up to 5%. Which means we're meeting students needs in the classroom and not identifying students that uh need an IEP that maybe could have their needs met by their classroom
teacher. So this is just a visual of what MTSS looks like. Uh the big components of MTSS are shared leadership. So all stakeholders need to be involved in this. The administration counselors to look at the social emotional side of things that could be
impacting academics or classroom behavior. Uh teachers uh have to be overseeing that intervention in the classroom ahead of time if they're not being pulled out for intervention. Um, we also need to make sure that uh the
child study team's involved so we aren't missing a student that actually does have a disability that maybe we really need to refer to child study team sooner rather than later. So it's really a shared approach with multiple eyes and a normed set of eyes to make sure we're
looking at the whole child. It also is uh looking at evidence-based practices. So again like I said there's been a lot of research in this. We're using normed screeners, normed tools that are recognized nationally to make sure students are falling within those range.
Um, it also is a continuum of support. So, we always want to try to keep our kids in the classroom as much as possible. So, we're looking at ways to incorporate opportunities in the classroom for intervention before removing a student for pullout intervention. So, that's kind of where
we're at right now, which I'll get to in a second. I wanted to share this visual. Uh a lot of you have probably seen especially the educators in the room the triangle. There's a famous RTI and um response to intervention and intervention triangle
where the bottom is tier one which is good core instruction and then in the middle it's tier two which is the kids that need intervention and then tier three the students that need really significant support and intervention. In recent years, that triangle has shifted
to a diamond because we also want to recognize not all of our students will fall into those three areas. We're also going to have students that have opportunities for enrichment or um intensive acceleration, gifted and talented, um even just exploration in
new topics because they're already beyond where where they are testing. So we want to make sure we we look at the whole picture and the whole u tier three on one end the highest need to tier three on the other lend end which is the enrichment
piece. So I'm going to speak briefly about K to6 and then I'll talk about what it looks like for 7 to 12 because it is very different. So I mentioned before we have three we now have three data reviews a year. This is a sample of what the team will look at. So at the
beginning of the year, we'll look at universal screeners. So this is something that really just takes the temperature. We're not putting all our eggs in one basket that this student scored at this level, they need this. This is just taking the pulse. Which students that scored below a certain range should we look into further, give
some additional testing, get teacher feedback, see if they do need more support. So we use that first and as a team of the principal, myself, child study team members, interventionists, teacher representatives, uh, and counselor, we look at this list of
students and then we get that teacher feedback. Then we administer a secondary data assessment and with the teacher feedback to confirm or negate the original score. And then we look even further for that underlying need. what
is causing this this need for some type of intervention and is it something that we can support in the classroom or is it something that's so significant the student does need to pull out of the classroom and have a more intensive intervention then we're determining that
pathway so for example is it a foundational skill where a student needs something like an OG type of practice in an intervention group group group or is it something else is it an attention and focus piece and it's not actually a reading need. So, we're really digging to determine and diagnose what that is
as a team. And that's when we make our um our strategies and intervention choices and we'll look to group students together or re make recommendations to teachers. We also will look at uh social emotional needs as well. Uh we'll look at discipline referrals, attendance, and
things like that. But that's very individualized. So then after we do determine a student needs some type of intervention, we set up an 8 to 10 week cycle of support where they're getting some type of small group, whether it's in or outside of the classroom and we have progress
monitoring to see if the student is making uh progress there. And then at the end of the 8 to 10 weeks, we determine next steps. Is the student making progress? Should we continue? Do we need to go to child study team? Where are we at? And that's very individualized.
So after our first year of using this approach, we have some interesting findings. Um our referrals have decreased, but I do want to share that there's other factors for that too. We have smaller class sizes. We have OG trained teachers that are definitely supporting students. Um we have
capturing kids hearts which is supporting behavior management. And again, our number sizes are a little smaller, but we definitely have less students that are in pullout intervention groups and less students being referred to the child study team. So, uh, and this is a comparison chart
from 2021 to now, but we did also look at pre-COVID numbers and it's comparable. So, there is a decrease in total referrals. Um, again, it's not the end of the year though. We could still have a few more. Um, and then also classification rates. we have had a
decrease of students classified with an IEP. And also the purple is the K to2 level, just a subgroup. So you can see the difference because that is typically the age we'll we will see the most. Um and here is just the numbers that go along with that. So when you
look at the enrollment, uh here's an analysis of the enrollment um with those numbers and what the percentage would be. There is a decline in percentage as well. So now 7 to 12 a little different. our kids know how to read. So, we're not
checking out uh if they can't read or not. At this point, we're not using the same universal screeners. Um we're looking at different things now. We're looking for students that are struggling. Students that have are failing classes. Are they failing one class? Are they failing multiple classes? Um is this something that we
missed? Is this a new student to district? Is this uh behavior? Is this mental health? We're really looking at bigger picture things here. So, we have to look at different data. We don't have the same tools. Of course, we have NGSLA. We have things like that, but it's not giving us the same information
as what we have in the elementary schools. So, what we've done is we have our quarterly multi-tered support meetings for middle school and high school separately where we look at all students with 504s. We look at students that have had previous intervention uh
plans. Uh we look at attendance. We look at discipline referrals. We look at um we're looking at students that are in academic study hall to receive extra support. Is it working for them? Uh we also are looking at uh mid-marking
period check-ins. We get feedback from teachers. Who's in danger of failing? How students are doing? We look for trends there. Um so these are all systems are that are in place. Oh, and we also have our monthly support service meetings that were happening already, but we've uh made sure to add that data
driven lens to them. So, a lot of things are happening here to try and make sure we're looking at every student in such a big school and uh we are definitely um on the way to making some great changes here. We have great systems in place,
but for next year, there are other things we're looking at and that we want to explore. We want to explore universal screeners, which is a social emotional check-in. Um, a student, it could be a student survey, it could be a teacher check-in of students of concern just to
see if we have any students that maybe require some additional um, guidance or a check-in or additional support. And then we also want to strengthen our tier 2 and tier three um, social emotional programs that are in place. We have some
great things happening. We have the uh middle school guidance counselor teaches an SEAL class. We have um some great uh tier 2 c the tier 2 counselor that does some great initiatives around the school. So we just want to build that up even more next year. So that's kind of
where we're at with updates here. Um and then for the next year, a few other things we're thinking of um for academic inter intervention. Uh we definitely want to pursue additional training for teachers. Uh right now we have some great systems in place where we're identifying the students, but we want to
give teachers the tools to know how to diagnose what this need is and what to do with them in the classroom before having the interventionists work with them. So that's something we want to strengthen. Uh we also want to increase the linkit usage which is our data
warehouse um and put uh some data uh tools in there for teachers to use to track those interventions that they're you that they're doing in the class. And we also want to streamline the classroom assist assessments for consistency. In some buildings some teachers do
different types of teacherdriven assessments. So we want to help norm those as well as our universal screeners. We're also looking at uh social emotional interventions. Um again here there are universal screeners also for younger students where it's a teacher checklist and they uh look at
some indicators for a student and flag anything that could be a behavior or attendance concern down the road. Um and we also want to en enhance our communication. Uh so something we've done is uh we have these quarterly meetings uh but we want to start intervention group meetings where all
the interventionists are meeting together to collaborate and share ideas and then also um increase our progress monitoring with um parent communication each cycle to make it a little more detailed so parents can make that connection of what's happening in the
intervention group and what they can do at home. And the other final thing for communication is streamlining those systems in this link program and their workflow. So that's where we're at for
MTSS. Thank you. Do does the board have any questions? Yes. Board members, any questions? Sure. Yes, I just wonder if you could take a minute to explain how the students experience might be different now than it was historically under the
INRS system. Sure. Yes. I think with the uh the special ed education and services audit uh that was done a few years ago, it indicated how INRS was subjective. So I think sometimes there were students that may have
been referred because of behaviors and it wasn't always necessarily something that couldn't have been done through um how should I say this like the teacher and student relationship. I think sometimes that piece um there it clouds the lens when a
teacher is having trouble with a certain student that may have sometimes have caused some referrals that didn't need to happen. This creates a more normed approach to that getting extra eyes in the classroom to support not only the student but also the teacher. So I think that's one area where a student
experience could be very different. I also um think the piece about the in-class intervention is key. I think there are a lot of students I know there were a lot of students in the past that had attention and behavior challenges that were referred for intervention because they had trouble focusing when
it wasn't really a reading is issue. It was more of a an attention and focus issue. Um so then they would go to the reading group and they didn't have the need. So really it pushes that intervention in the classroom and tries to diagnose what the real issue is. So if it's attention and focus, we can work
on that instead of reading um with the interventionist. So, I think those those two are the biggest student impact um pieces that I would say stand out from this. Okay, other board member questions. On one of your slides, I saw an acronym that I didn't recognize.
Sure. D I E L S Dibbles. D Yes, that dibbles. So that is uh the dynamic indicator for basic early literacy skills and it is um you can do it through uh 8th grade but right now we've
been doing it for the last two years through 2 grade and we just started doing it at the third through sixth grade level as needed. Uh next year we plan to do it K through three. Um, it is also a universal screener for dyslexia if you flag in certain areas and it also
helps us diagnose where that area of need is. It shows um certain indicators like can a student rapidly name letters in kindergarten or can they um what's their oral reading fluency? It looks at different indicators to help you
identify where that gap is. So then you're not wasting time on other areas during the intervention. you're really focusing on those one or two uh areas of need. Okay. Other questions from board members? Yes.
Question. I was just curious what programming you've got for those on sorry for those on the front end of the front end.
the diamonds or sure for the advanced students. Yes. So that's something we're also again this is the first year we're roll we've really rolled out this model. So that's an area we're also next year we're looking to enhance as well. Um something that each building has done it a little differently. Uh in one school
we experimented with something called win groups what I need which it could be an intervention or it could be an enrichment. So, we tried that in one building and we've learned a lot from that and we'll take that into next year into consideration. In another building, um the principal used a faculty meeting
to give teachers ideas of, you know, don't just give these kids extra worksheets. What are things we could be doing differently? And some examples were there was one teacher who at the beginning of the unit gave the end of unitit assessment to a student and if
they passed the whole if they got a 100 got a 90 they participated in some of the lessons but they had an an extra project they could do and it that was enriching and more appropriate for their level and just a little more rigorous. So they were still part of the group and they had mastered that content and they
were exposed to maybe some new ideas and ways to talk about that content, but they were given opportunities to do something more advanced. So those are things we're definitely still um going to consider and enhance. Right? Other board member questions.
All right. Thank you, Miss Marks. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Gabby. Your presentation is a reminder or MTSS is a reminder that kids learn from where they are, not from where we are, right? And so that that idea of a range makes such good sense.
Yeah, I'm really proud of your work and um the way you you'reing these efforts. Um, additional to all this good scholastic work, I'd like to take a second to recognize the girls lacrosse team. Uh the team defeated Montlair Kimberly Academy on Saturday by a score of six to
five to claim the 2025 Essex County Championship. So congratulations to our coaches and student athletes. We're looking forward uh next month to sharing more good news more broadly at our June meeting, including some public uh words about this year's
validictorian and saludiatoran along with recognizing this year's retirees. We'll also have a full a fuller slate of good news to share um including something that had to be postponed tonight which were these really impressive science posters. Unfortunately, the students who made
them had a conflict and so we hope that they'll be here in June to help uh showcase their good work. Uh I'm going to make a sort of hard pivot here uh to discussing a personnel matter as best I can. The Glenrich community is one that values uh
strong communication. As I wrap up and as I wrap up my first year here, um it's very clear to me that the board of ed and school administration matches that value as do I. As part of aligning our beliefs to our practices, we must also balance the communication we share with
accurate facts, keeping in mind what is legally permissible to share. These considerations inform not only what we share, but when we share it. Resolution P3 on tonight's agenda provides for the resignation of a teacher. Members of our community have
reached out to the board and the district asking questions and making comments with respect to rumors circulating. In response to those questions on behalf of both the board and the district, we wanted to address the concerns with as much information as we are able to share. Why are we sharing
the information now? We're sharing the information now because the district's initial communications were focused on those who were directly impacted by the matter. The district tries to strike a balance between putting the safety and well-being of students and staff first, being transparent with the community,
and respecting and following the legal restrictions placed on the board and the district with respect to confidential student and personnel matters. Given the given the fluidity and evolving nature of these matters and the fact that there is a resolution on tonight's agenda, we're now able to address the general
community. Again, we want to specifically note that we are legally procluded from discussing confidential student personnel matters at a public meeting. However, we also want to acknowledge that some of the questions that have re we've received touch upon the district's general protocols and
processes. While every situation is dependent upon its own specific facts and circumstances, the district employs the same set of general protocols when it receives notice of a concern regarding student safety. This is a protocol I followed with fidelity throughout my
career, including here at Glen Ridge. First, when a matter of student safety uh rises to a a certain level, law enforcement is contacted, including but not limited to uh in our community, the Glenidge Police Department, and in some
cases the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, also known as AIU. the district as well as all New Jersey public school districts working in partnership with law enforcement pursuant to the uniform state memorandum
of agreement between education and law enforcement officials. Pursuant to this agreement, the district is required to report certain matters to law enforcement agencies and the district takes this responsibility very seriously. This agreement also requires school districts to hold off on its own
investigation while law enforcement completes its investigations. During this time, the district fully cooperates with law enforcement, but they too are only able to share certain information with the district. Once law enforcement completes its investigation, the
district conducts its own internal investigation regardless of whether or not the subjects are currently employed by the district. Second, please note that simultaneously or simultaneous to any required law enforcement reporting anytime the district receives notice of
a safety concern, we take immediate steps to ensure student and staff safety. These steps may include, but are not limited to placing a staff member on administrative leave and ensuring that the individual does not have access to students, staff, or school buildings. As
for students, we work collaboratively to provide any support they may need. Please know that the safety and security of our students and staff is paramount. Also, please do not interpret our comments tonight as anything less than transparent. However, please know and
remember that we are constrained by New Jersey law as to what we are permitted to share with respect to confidential student and personnel matters. Please also know that student and personnel matters are fluid and evolving. Where appropriate, we look to provide the public with information as soon as we
are able based upon each individual matter. And as I mentioned at the top of this statement, but worth repeating here again, we must balance the communication we share with accurate facts, keeping in mind what is legally permissible to share. These considerations inform not
only what we share, but when we share it. I'd like to close by saying on behalf of the Glenidge Board of Ed and the Glenidge School District, if anyone has a specific concern related to the district, staff, students, or otherwise, as always, we encourage you to bring
those concerns to our attention. Do know that any email we received about a student safety concern was is always will be uh continue to be responded to directly by me or by a member of my team. Further, as part of our protocols with all matters, we report concerning
information that parents or faculty may have to the appropriate agencies. Finally, the district's fortunate enough to have a robust counseling department that all students are able to access whenever they need it. If any child at any time is in need of counseling support, please know you can contact
your child's counselor or principal directly. Finally, please know that the safety and well-being of our students stands at the very center of every decision we make and everything we do. Thank you. Okay, it's now time for the first public
comment uh period. Um and I draw your attention if you're following along on our agenda uh either here or at home. Um I'll mention the protocols for public comment. And this is uh for this public comment session on agenda items only. Uh
during the course of the board meeting, the board of education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operation of the Glenidge public schools. The board reminds those individuals who take this opportunity to identify themselves by name and residency. you come up to our
lectern uh and to limit their comments to items listed on the agenda and or items directly related to the operation of the school district. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All the comments will be considered and a response will be
forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board. Students and employees
have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility nor will be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected by or identified in their comments and be
aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. I should add that we um each person who comes to the lectern has two minutes. My colleague Kristen O'Neal will time those two minutes. Um and we uh are ready for
public comment. So if you have a comment on agenda items, please come to the lectern. And I know the microphone's way up in the air. If you can lower it a little bit. The microphones are mostly for the people at home. So if you can speak clearly, it it helps us to uh to
understand. Gotcha. Thank you. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes. Okay. Great. Thank you. Um my name's Yina Moika. I met 327 May. Um appreciate the update and just you know understand the legal uh limitations of what you're able to share. So my question is not about sort
of specific details. Um my question is about what the students are being told and what the students are hearing from their from teachers from from administrators in terms of the message
that you shared around you know the priority is to make sure that students are safe. The the priority is to make sure that students are supported and that they have the resources um and the security that they need that they'll be listened to. And so I just would like to hear a little bit more like you said
there are a lot of rumors um out there and you know would like to hear from you know sort of your understanding from the students perspective what are they hearing from from our leaders. Thank you. Thank you. Other questions or comments?
And I should say as we go along tonight uh both in this uh public comment session and the one at the end which is also for items regarding the running of the schools uh we are taking notes uh with with questions. Uh we will be um getting back with answers as well. Yeah,
I'm happy to uh provide more details uh to you and so I'll connect with you after the meeting and and we can continue the conversation. other uh public comment. All right, reminder again there is a second public comment period at the
end. Uh right now we will go on with our committee and liaison report since it is our first meeting of the month and we will uh start with Maggie our student representative. Hi. AP exams started last Monday and will end this Friday with makeups coming
in the following week. The seniors had their decision day on Thursday, May 8th, and were able to capture a really nice class photo with everyone wearing their college t-shirts. The girls lacrosse team won the Essex County Championship for the second year in a row on Saturday, and they now look to defend
their state title in the state tournament. Scholarship opportunities are ongoing and recipients will be announced at the senior awards ceremony on Friday, May 30th. Also on May 30th is the junior senior prom at the Glennardge Country Club. The senior class is going to Six
Flags for their senior field trip on June 9th. And finally, standardized testing resumes Monday and Tuesday for select grades at the high school with the rest of students arriving at 10 a.m. for a delayed opening schedule. Thank you.
No updates. Sure. Finance met right before our last meeting to discuss um minor changes to the budget. There were some um the chillers at the central and uh the high school needed to be replaced and how that would impact our budget which you
guys saw at the last meeting. And then we also talked about the potential contract with the union and how that might impact our budget going forward. Okay, Anthony, your turn. Um, no personnel meets on Monday.
Okay, I I actually have four updates. Um, the negotiations committee is waiting to hear back from the full GRE membership. Um, we've signed anou with the GRE negotiations team. We've approved salary guides together and we're just waiting for a final um
majority approval from their membership which we're hoping to have before Memorial Day. My next three are student association. So the Glenidge Association for Special Education or Grace is having its last meeting of the school year. It's been rescheduled to Monday the 19th
at a later time slot which was deemed from survey results to be easier for parents. So, it will be on Zoom from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Um, there will also be a final coffee hour for the school year on Friday, June 6 at 9:30 a.m. at Skidu Cafe. So, if you're looking for support,
resources, or conversation over coffee, um, the leaders would love to see you there. And lastly, Grace is looking for parent liaison to represent each Glenidge school. So, it's a way for parents from each elementary school, the middle school and high school in Ridgewood to make sure that grace
updates go back and forth um from that school. So, please reach out to glenridgegrace@gmail.com if you are interested. Grumpa, the Glenidge Music appearance association is having an ice cream social tomorrow night for all families interested in the music
programs in Glenidge from 6:30 to 8. There will be ice cream um student musicians and music parents to answer questions about the music program within the high school. And then there will be a Grumpa meeting um to elect new leadership for next year. And lastly,
the Ridgewood Avenue Home and School meeting um occurred on the 2nd of May. The next one will also be uh Friday, May uh June 6th at 9:00 a.m. And we just want to celebrate a very successful Willy Wonka show. um a great capturing of Earth Day food waste in the
Rididgewood cafeteria and transition meetings that have been ongoing between all of the elementary schools in Rididgewood and between Rididgewood and the middle school with some upcoming dates of the 22nd is Rhino Romp so roads will be closed. Be anticipating that on the 22nd of May and field day on June
5th. Sorry. The Glenidge uh diversity inclusion association was supposed to meet at the end of April, but the group is in the process of reorganization and I believe going for their 501c3 tax exempt status. So, um pending
that reorganization, they will probably uh pick up their meetings again in the fall. I also wanted to report on a conversation that the superintendent and I had with um members of the library board. Uh many of you filled out the survey that the library board put out um
late last year uh having to do with their um strategic plan. they are moving forward um gathering input uh prior to implementing that strategic plan and they were kind enough to ask us to uh have a discussion uh look at their
findings and um offer feedback on on that. So uh we had in uh sort of connection with our our relationship building with the bureau which includes um regular meetings with representatives of the burough council on the board. uh
we had this opportunity to come together with the library board which we appreciate. And moving on down uh let's see uh Trica do you have a report? The middle school and high school HSA asked me to and Betsy you
mentioned this earlier but the arts and ecoair is this weekend so it's scheduled for Saturday. We are watching the forecast um so the rain date is Sunday but please come out and support. We have over 80 vendors. Musical performances
are back. There is a student art show featuring all schools. Um, kids activities and of course the eco vendors and the EV car show. So again, it's scheduled for this Saturday, but if we're rained out, the rain is Sunday.
And hopefully we're not rained out on Sunday as well. Kristen, I have an update from the um GRVA, the Glenbridge Visual Arts Association. Um they are looking for parent volunteers to help organize next year's fundraising. Um if any um they
need two parents who are willing to assist in keeping the scholarship um fundraising and uh the group activities going um parents who are interested should reach out to um Kelly Kelly and Tiffany at grvaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.infoggmail.com.
Um and they invited everybody to um out to support their next two events at this weekend's art and ecoair. the GRVA will have a table with an art supply basket raffle and I believe those proceeds go toward their scholarship and then um
from May 30th through June 30th um uh they are going to be participating in the GRHS select works show at the Glenidge train station. So please make um um please try to stop by if you can.
And then from Lynden, the um they have a bunch of fun activities coming up. They have international night um happening at the end of this month on May 29th. They're still um accepting um uh parent um
involvement and parent help for that. They are looking for parent volunteers for the art fair setup um this Friday morning. An email went out to um with a sign up link for that. Uh they are still recruiting u for board positions um
including I believe um president VP of fundraising and treasurer. Um they have field day coming up. Um Lynentock is in early June and their final home and school meeting of the year is happening
um the evening of June 5th at Freeman Gardens where they'll be um thanking their parent volunteers at that time too. Okay. Thank you, Javal. Yes. Hi. I have two updates. Um, the Glenidge Educational Foundation.
We have Fran here tonight. Um, they have uh recently approved several grants, several mini grants. Um, and those details will be shared soon, but we have uh we'll have good information, good news to share there. Also, um, at the,
um, arts and ecoair, the educational foundation will have a cotton candy machine. So, please be sure to stop by and learn a little bit more about the foundation and have um have some cotton candy or send some of the kids your way
um their way. Uh, also, Forest Avenue Home and School has had a lot of uh activities this spring. They um had the Monontlair Community Farms come for an enrichment program where they shared information about chickens um and
actually brought live chickens to the schools to to meet the children which was very exciting. Um for teacher appreciation week they completely spoiled their staff rotten. Uh they are running a sneaker drive collecting you sneakers. They had an awesome spring
carnival on May 2nd with bouncy houses, a DJ, bubble machines, firet trucks. Um, and the um spring concert will be coming up this Friday on May 16th. Uh, the learning garden is also gearing up to
plant next week in their new beds. They are looking hopefully to have an enrichment another enrichment program with a beekeeper when I remember going to when my children were very young there which was amazing. Um but the very very exciting news about the learning garden is that their plants and papers
have been delivered and they will be soon uh installed and they hope to have a big ceremony at the end of the year with their newly refurbished uh learning garden. So thank you. Thank you. Uh we'll now move on to the business
portion. We have in our packets minutes from exec session and public session from April 29th. Um does anyone have any changes to either of those minutes? All right. Um Joselyn, would you move the minutes?
May I have a second? Second. Second from Anthony. Since no one has any changes, Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akenwandi. Hi. Mr. Bonnet. Hi. Mr. Dinard. Yes. Mr. Dorenzi. Yes. Miss Gotautle.
Yes. Miss Graham. Yes. Miss O'Neal. Yes. Dr. Yaris Ramos. Hi. Miss Ginsburg. Yes. Motion carries. Okay. Um Kristen, would you move the admin items? Yes. I move A1 and A2.
All right. May I have a second? Second. Second from Ray. Board members, any questions on those admit items? All right, Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akimandi? I. Mr. Bonnet. Hi.
Mr. Dad, yes. Mr. Dorenzi, yes. Miss Gotautle, yes. Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes. Dr. Ramos. Hi. Miss Ginsburg. I. Motion
carries. Anthony, would you move the personnel items? Yes. I will move P1 through P13 on the original um agenda and the additional
P1, P6, and P7 on the addendum. Okay. Uh may I have a second? Second. Second from Jocelyn. In keeping with the board members code of ethics, uh we do not discuss personnel matters in public session. Um that being the
case, Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akenwandi. I. Mr. Bonnet, I. Mr. Dinard, yes. Mr. Dorenzi, yes. Miss Gotautle, yes. Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes.
Dr. Yaros Ramos, hi. Miss Ginsburg. I motion carries. All right, Heather, would you move the curriculum item? Sure. Items C1, including item G on the agenda. Okay. May I have a second? Second. Second. Was that Trisha? Yes.
Okay. Board members, any questions or comments on the curriculum items? That being the case, Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akin Wandi? I. Mr. Bonnet. Yes. Mr. Dinard, yes. Mr. Dorenzi, yes. Miss Gotautle,
yes. Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes. Dr. Yarus Ramos, hi. Miss Ginsburg, yes. Motion carries. All right. Before we get to the business items, I draw your attention to the items under B4 on your agenda. Um,
we received a couple of donations. a monetary donation for 50% of tent rental for the second grade promotion on June 10th coming right up for Central School from the Central School Home and School Association. I know Ry that you're part of that. Will you extend our thanks to
the association? Also, a monetary donation for fall 2024 mini grants from our friends at the Glenroidge Educational Foundation. We can thank Mrs. Wong because she's here tonight. Thank you for that generous donation. Uh, and with that, um, Heather, would
you move the business items? Sure. I move B1 through B7. All right. May I have a second? I'll second. Second. Was that Dal? Okay. Uh, any questions or comments, board members, on the business items?
All right. Barbara, would you call the role? Miss Akenwandi. Hi. Mr. Bonnet. Hi. Mr. Dad. Yes, Mr. Dorenzi. Yes, except for item B4, sublet letter A from which I
abstain. Abstaining. Uh, Miss Gotautle, yes. Miss Graham, yes. Miss O'Neal, yes. Dr. Yaros Ramos. Hi, Miss Ginsburg. I Okay, we have now come to the second public comment period for comments on agenda items or other items pertaining
to the running of the schools. I will not read that whole long item again, but the same rules apply. Uh step up to the lecture and uh and you will have uh two minutes. Are there uh public comments? Yes. Thank you. Can everyone hear me? Good evening. Uh
yes, we can. Okay. a little short, so I'm going to bring it down a little. Um, some familiar faces. My name is Carol Park. I live on 18 Hamilton Road with my family. Um, I just want to echo the parent back here. I'm sorry I didn't get your name. Um, her question, her very
important question as a concerned parent. Um, and it's I thought we would get a public response, but it sounds like it's going to be a personal communication, so I would hope for the same. Um, again, my name is Carol Park, 18 Hamilton Road. been in town for 14
years. I have two children uh in 12th grade as well as the eighth grade. Um very similarly hearing um really horrible rumors. Um so we just really would like some more transparency as to how it's being handled. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you. Other uh comments. All right. Uh that being the case, uh may I have a motion to adjourn? Exact session. Uh yes. Um the board has concluded the public business tonight. uh we will adjourn for a short exec
session to uh consider exec session items that we didn't get a chance to consider in our first exec session but we will be no doing no further public business tonight so I thank you all for uh coming tonight uh for those of you with questions uh we will certainly try
to get back to you to the with the answers to those questions um board members may I have a motion to go into exact session motion um